#despite this being the day of a funeral (the whole reason I was here) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ryukatters · 8 months

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swipe right — k. bakugo x fem! reader

✮ a/n: i remember seeing a post on here a long time ago about a character making a fake tinder profile for their gf and realizing how many people want her. (if someone knows the OG post please lmk so i can link it!) so now i present to you: bakugo falling to his knees in the middle of your apartment bedroom for the exact same reason.

✮ content/warnings: dubcon, quirkless/college! au, jealousy, possessiveness, breeding, creampie, unprotected sex, cum eating, cunnilingus, overstimulation, praise, biting, bkg gets a little rough with you, and bkg's also a fucking simp but when do I ever write him as being otherwise??

✮ summary: your boyfriend decides to make a fake tinder profile for you just to see how many matches you get. he comes to a realization just how many other people want what’s already his.

✮ word count: 4.2k (i'm so sick)

Bakugo can remember how this all started. In very vivid detail, actually. He remembers because Kaminari had pissed him off so much to the extent that it took him a very substantial amount of effort to refrain from bashing his friend’s face in.

It all started during the last monthly hangout amongst Bakugo and his friends— one day out of the month designated to make sure that they all had time to catch up with one another despite their busy schedules.

Everything was normal, with all of them getting more than enough of their fill of food and alcohol while idly playing video games and talking about random topics to fill in the silence in Kaminari’s living room.

Perfectly normal, until Denki decided to open his stupid mouth, at least.

He goes off on a tangent about a trend he saw on social media where someone makes a fake Tinder profile for their partner to see how many matches they’d get. He proceeds to tell Bakugo that he should try doing it, for “funsies,”— to which Bakugo scoffs at.

“Aren’t you curious, Kacchan?” Kaminari smiles cheekily, wrapping an arm around his blond friend’s shoulders, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Bakugo’s becoming visibly more upset with every passing moment.

“Your girlfriend is really pretty,” Mina chimes in, sticking her tongue out when Katsuki whips his head to glare at her. “I’m still surprised she’s with a grump like you.”

Kaminari butts in, “I bet there’s a whole line of guys around the block just waiting for a chance to get with her. I mean, just look at her! Hell, I’d even let her peg m—”

For a moment, Bakugo swears he wants to bash Kaminari’s face into his flatscreen. And for a moment, he lets that impulsive thought win— getting up and grabbing two fistfuls of Denki’s shirt before promptly getting cut off by Kirishima.

“Alright alright,” Kirishima forcibly pries Bakugo off of the other blond, pushing him off to the side. “That’s enough, you two. Kaminari was just messing around. I’ll admit, it wasn’t a good joke, but no need to hurt the guy, okay Bakugo?”

Kirishima knows that Kaminari wasn’t being that serious, but Kirishima can also admit that what he had to say held some ounce of truth. And Kirishima knows Bakugo well enough to see how your boyfriend tends to be rather skittish and protective with matters concerning you— which is exactly why Eijiro had to stop him before it was too late. He really didn’t feel like preparing for Denki’s funeral or helping hide Katsuki escape from a homicide charge.

And that was that…up until a few minutes ago.

Katsuki’s tried to forget that conversation. But try as he might, his mind betrays him and can’t help but wander back to what Denki said that night.

He trusts you of course, and has complete faith in your relationship. However, he’s curious to a fault, just about perhaps too curious for his own good.

How badly could this end?

As it turns out, this whole scheme seems to be playing out very poorly.

Dozens of photos of you— screenshotted from your social media accounts— fill Katsuki’s screen. He had to choose photos you uploaded yourself, because most of his photos of you were either too…suggestive or too domestic (and he wants to be the only one to see you in those moments).

He swipes through “your” profile one last time before clicking “done” to officially put you on the market. And just like that, Bakugo’s met with the faces of men who are nowhere near your level. He goes through the batch of profiles, scrutinizing each one he comes across. He’s (un)surprisingly selective with the ones he chooses to swipe right on— making sure that they’re at least somewhat conventionally attractive. To his surprise (or dread, rather), his phone pings right away with a notification from someone who swiped back. Another ping. A message.

You free tonight?

Bakugo scoffs. He looks through the guy’s profile— a picture of him at a party with his arms around some girls, another with him doing a victory pose presumably after hiking, and one with him holding a fish. He feels his mouth curl in disgust, about to give into the urge to reply and give this guy a piece of his mind, before he realizes he’s pretending to be you. He takes a deep breath, closes out of the app, and puts down his phone.

He’s starting to regret this.

Bakugo’s phone has gone off 15 times in the last hour. Bakugo has also felt the need to strangle some stranger through the phone 15 times in the last hour. Your (read: his) profile has existed for less than 60 minutes, and you already have a whole address book of nobodies trying to link with you and get a quick fuck.

He feels the familiar beginnings of a headache creeping up the back of his skull. He thinks he might need a drink. Why did he decide to do this again?

In hindsight, he probably should have known this is exactly how it was going to go down.

What was that saying? Curiosity killed the cat?

Yeah.

He was never great at self-preservation in the first place. So this, the feeling of overwhelming jealousy, frustration, possessiveness brewing up a storm threatening to pour out of every single fiber of Bakugo’s being— was no surprise.

He watches as the numbers at the bottom of his screen increase steadily, before tapping on the star icon.

‘99+ likes!’ it reads. Over 99 people who saw your profile and thought you were beautiful. Bakugo pales, and he can feel the cold sweat building on the nape of his neck. He grips his phone, knuckles turning white. Is he shaking from anger or nervousness?

Anger because all these guys think they even have the slightest chance with someone as amazing as you. Nervousness because what if you decide that they do? You wouldn’t actually leave him for one of these guys, right? Right?

None of these men would walk through hell and back for you. They don’t know how you like your coffee, the details of your skin care routine, how you like to binge watch shows and talk Katsuki’s ear off about them (not that he ever minded, of course). They don’t know you, not like he does. Katsuki looks at you like you hung the moon. In fact, he’s pretty convinced that you did. Everything good in his life— the warmth, the color, the joy,— is encompassed by you. He’d be damned if he lets some greasy little nobody take that from him. Because the moment Bakugo fell in love with you, you became a part of him— inextricably and indefinitely. Loving you has become so intrinsic to him, that even the mere thought of another person loving you or looking at you the same way he does has him going insane. Not that anyone could love you like he did, though. That thought brings him some comfort, but not for long.

One last notification he sees sends him spiraling. Bakugo swears that he can see red. That’s when he deletes the app, and throws his poor phone in some random corner of the living room, which is markedly one of the smarter choices he’s made as of late. He marches to your bedroom with a fire burning in his chest.

He stops short of the door and finds you sitting at the edge of your shared bed, fresh out of the shower. You’re applying lotion, and he watches the cream absorb into your skin wordlessly, in awe at how overwhelmingly beautiful you manage to look in the most prosaic of tasks. For a second, he almost forgets the reason he was upset in the first place.

Your hair is still damp, water droplets accumulating at the tips, and Katsuki feels his mouth run dry the minute he watches a stray bead fall and make its way down your neck and stop perfectly in the dip of your collarbone. Your very existence is forever etched into his heart, every inch of you carved into his memory, but even still he can never get tired of looking at you. At every angle, in every lighting, he needs to see you in it. You could call him obsessed, but he’d simply laugh and agree, because what’s so wrong with that? Especially if it’s you.

You’re one to be studied— to be adored, Katsuki thinks, to the greatest capacity. It’s what you deserve. And what better person for that task to fall upon than him?

He finds himself naturally gravitating towards you, his finger tracing the same exact path the water had carved just moments before, wordlessly. You try to pay no mind, but it’s difficult as you realize just how close Bakugo was and how your towel barely manages to cover up your most intimate parts. One wrong move and you’d be exposed. With how things were playing out, and the predatory glint in the blond’s eyes, you don’t think your boyfriend would be too perturbed with your current predicament.

Katsuki presses a delicate kiss to your forehead before he crouches down. Suddenly, you’re at eye level with one another, his hot breath tickling your lips. You think for a moment he’s going to kiss you so you lean forward, lips waiting. But he merely grazes them before he sucks a deep bruise into the juncture of your neck, biting slightly.

You’re barely given any time to react before he’s grabbing the hand that’s securing your towel and ripping it away, the offending garment falling off your body. Your flesh prickles with goosebumps as its exposed to the sudden chill. It’s quickly replaced by the heat of Bakugo’s body as he pushes you lightly, your back hitting the mattress. He crawls on top of you, muscular thighs on either side of your hips, your head placed conveniently between his forearms. He’s trapped you, a nonverbal challenge for you to try and escape.

You’re a work of art, he thinks, but much more valuable than any pièce de résistance framed in any museum.

Beautiful, yes, but far too blank for his liking. He wants to ruin you, make you his own personal magnum opus. And so he does.

He presses a clothed knee against your bare cunt, pressing firmly. His lips continue their assault on your neck, leaving angry purpling bruises in their wake. Rough hands find your breast, and you moan in surprise when he gives both of them a harsh squeeze as he shoves his tongue into your mouth. Katsuki kisses you like a man dying of thirst, hungry for everything you can offer him and more. It’s all too much already, the way he’s kissing you has your mind reeling, and you have to turn your head away for a moment to catch your breath. Katsuki thinks it’s a moment too long without you, so he coaxes you into locking lips with him once more. A wave of mischievousness washes over you, prompting you to take your boyfriend’s lower lip in between your teeth, biting down lightly.

You feel his breath hitch, before he lets out a low groan as he grinds his clothed dick against your bare wetness. He returns the favor, sucking on your bottom lip before letting it go with a wet pop. He pulls back with a lazy smirk, his lips pursing together to scatter messy kisses down the base of your throat and down your chest, alternating between sucking and biting at the flesh.

He gives you a good once-over, scanning every surface, committing them to memory. You feel the need to curl into yourself with how intensely those vermillion eyes are piercing into you, memorizing every single curve, scar, freckle like he’s done time and time again.

He drops down to his knees, broad shoulders bullying their way in between your legs, forcibly prying them open. He grips your hips, fingertips digging into the soft flesh, and drags you down the mattress until your legs are dangling off the bed.

“Jesus, Kats, be more gentle.”

“Shhh. I know you like it when I’m not gentle,” he chuckles. As if to prove a point, he pulls you down even further, giving a harsh bite to your inner thigh. He smiles deviously when you yelp. You try to pull at his hair but his reflexes are too quick, pinning both of your wrists down on either side of you easily. “Besides, this is the perfect height for me to eat you out, dontcha think baby?”

You want to chastise him for being so crass, so Katsuki, but the words die on the tip of your tongue the minute he gives a sweet, loving kiss to your clit, sucking lightly.

“You’re mine. I don’t want anyone else seeing you like this except for me.”

You’re not entirely sure what brought this on, but you find it hard to complain when Bakugo drags his tongue from your throbbing clit to inside your pussy, drinking everything you have to offer.

Your hands automatically try to find purchase in his blond locks, struggling against the vice grip Katsuki has on your wrists. He decides to take pity on you, loosening his hold so you can slip your hands into his hair, moaning appreciatively when he feels you tug. He rewards you by flicking his tongue on your clit over and over again, just the way you like it. He does it until your moans begin to pitch higher and higher, the same way that they do when you’re close. He doesn’t stop his ministrations even after you cum, riding out your orgasm until your thighs are shaking from overstimulation. He pulls away from you with a loud pop, taking in the sight before him.

He runs a hand up and down your thigh soothingly. “So fucked out already and we’re barely getting started, baby.”

Your mind is barely processing his words before you feel Katsuki’s erection brush against your stomach, his clothing haphazardly discarded on the floor. He taps the head of his dick against your clit to tease you, a feeling of satisfaction swelling when you cry out from under him.

He watches in fascination as strings of your arousal cling to him. He positions his length at your entrance, locking eyes with you as you hold your breath in anticipation. Katsuki likes you like this. Needy for him.

“You’re the most beautiful girl in the world, you know that?” He slips into you with a stuttered groan.

Katsuki’s always been big. You never get used to the initial stretch, no matter how many times you two fuck. Still, that doesn’t stop him from sliding in with ease from the slick of your last orgasm. It easily coats his cock as he gives a few experimental thrusts. He groans in rapture. How do you manage to feel so good every time? It’s enough to drive him insane. Perhaps he already is.

“So fucking perfect, no wonder why all those losers want you.” He mutters out the last part, and you’re not sure if you caught that right.

“What?” He chooses not to respond, and you aren’t given the opportunity to think any further before your legs are thrown over his shoulders, Katsuki’s weight effectively pinning you in place. The stretch knocks all the wind out of your lungs, and all you can do is cling to Katsuki, nails leaving red, angry lines on his well-defined back.

He wastes no time before he starts drilling into you, hips slotting in between your legs perfectly. The position has him pressed against your clit, and your entire body feels like it’s been set ablaze, with Katsuki holding both the power to have it burn even brighter and the ability to extinguish it. And you’re almost there, you can feel your soul slowly ascending, your room filled with hymns of pleasure, the coil in your stomach winding tighter and tighter, threatening to unravel along with your sanity. Katsuki can feel it too— the way you’re squeezing him tighter, how your gasps and moans have climbed just a note higher, how absolutely ruined you look, how he’s responsible for your current state. Which is exactly why he wants to push it even further, he wants to see how much you’ll break for him— and only him.

Katsuki cuts you off right before you can reach your peak, pulling out but making sure just his tip is inserted. You come to and take a look at your lover and marvel at the sight. He has a crazed look in his eyes. The way he smirks is absolutely wicked.

You feel distraught— having been so close but having it ripped away from you. You give your boyfriend a petulant pout.

“Katsuki,” you whine, slapping a hand against his sweaty chest, “Why’d you stop? I was so close!”

“Because I didn’t want you to cum yet,” he says simply. “You’ll be good for me, yeah? I’ll give my baby what she deserves, as long as she’s good.”

You roll your eyes, huffing. That won’t do for him.

As much as he loves seeing you indulge, he feels a need to punish you— at least a little bit to even begin to atone for being the wicked temptress you are.

“Don’t be a fuckin’ brat,” Bakugo growls, gripping your face with one hand, squishing your cheeks, causing your lips to purse slightly. “I said be good, okay? Wanna take my time with you.”

There’s a moment of respite, until you sigh in defeat, knowing better than to argue with him lest you wanted to dig your own grave. “‘Kay, ‘ki.”

He flashes you a smile. Obedient, just how he likes you. “Good girl.”

Katsuki draws his hips back, thrusting just enough to fuck his tip into you. He’s teasing. The amount of willpower on his end it takes not to cum is nauseating.

“You’re so pretty, aren’t you?” he rasps, one hand finding their way around your neck, squeezing just enough to make your head spin. Your hands reflexively grab his wrist.

All you can manage is a fucked out moan. Katsuki has to resist the urge to coo, about how he’s managed to turn you into a cockdrunk mess in such a short matter of time. The wave of possessiveness that’s been gnawing at the depths of his soul begins to seep out, and he’s reminded of the reason why the two of you are in this position in the first place.

He gives your throat another squeeze and a rough slap to your clit. “C’mon princess, answer me. Say it.” He slowly adds more and more pressure until your ears grow hot and air feels like a precious commodity.

“I-i’m pretty,” you manage to gasp out, tears spilling from your lash line as you begin to lose yourself between the space of pleasure and pain.

Good. Always so pliant for him.

“That’s right, baby,” he concedes. “So fuckin’ beautiful.” He punctuates the last word with a deep thrust, right against that spongy spot that feels so good. You’re so sensitive that it’s enough to send you spiraling into your second orgasm, walls spasming around him uncontrollably.

Katsuki stills, staving off his own release with all the restraint he can summon. He silently thanks whatever divine forces are out there that he didn’t cum the minute he felt the first clench of your orgasm.

He grits his teeth as he wills himself to move, trying not to get lost in the wetness that envelops him. You’re babbling now, senseless moans filling Katsuki’s ears like a sweet melody.

“Kats, please, I’m too sensitive—” You’re shaking now, muscles trembling with every thrust.

“But I’m not done with you yet,” he says simply, drawing his hips back with a particularly rough thrust. You choke back whatever you were going to say with a loud cry. “What’s your color, baby?”

You take a moment to answer, brain trying to comprehend the words just uttered to you. You look at Katsuki firmly, “Green.”

“Atta girl,” he praises, the drive of his hips beginning to shallow. He’s close, and he doesn’t know how much longer he can hold out. But for you, he tries. “You’re mine, right?”

“Yes,” you breathe out, shivering as goosebumps dance across your skin.

“Say it,” Katsuki pleads, thrusts growing sloppy by the second. “Say you’re mine.”

“I’m all yours, ‘ki.”

With that, Katsuki’s fate is sealed. He’s left groaning as a flash of pleasure shakes his very soul, filling you up with so much cum that it dribbles onto the mattress even while he’s still inside you. You follow suit, an embarrassingly obscene rhythm of squelching noises fill the silence as you spasm around his dick. He collapses on top of you, but he’s still coherent enough to not dump all his weight on you.

Your labored breaths fill the room as the two of you come to. Katsuki pulls out of you with a wince, still a bit sensitive. He gives you a peck on the lips before he drags himself down, settling in between your legs much like he was earlier.

You tense up, “Kats, wait—”

Any and all protests cease the moment Bakugo works his tongue inside of you, slurping lewdly as he drags out the mixture of your cum and his, swallowing. He tries not to stimulate your puffy clit in an attempt to be merciful, but you still feel yourself steadily climbing to what would be your fourth orgasm this session. While the past three have been intense and drowning, this one comes to you in waves, dull pleasure invading your senses as Katsuki continues to eat you out to clean you up.

He pulls away when you finish, your slick and his saliva coating his chin before he wipes it off on the back of his hand. You stare at his half-hard erection with a half concerned, half quizzical look. “Do you…” you lick your lips, “need help with that? I’m a little sensitive down there but I could use my mout—”

“Nah, I’m good babe,” he says earnestly, flashing you a smile that he only ever shows around you. “I’ll be back.” With that, your boyfriend leaves the room only to come back with a bottle of water.

“Drink.” You comply, finishing half the bottle graciously before handing it to him. He downs the rest before he settles next to you on the bed, laying on his side. You mirror him, shifting your body so that you’re both facing each other.

Katsuki reaches out, finger idly tracing random shapes and lines onto the bare skin on your hip. He has a pensive look on his face, one that he usually doesn’t hold after stolen moments like this; it’s an expression he wears when he’s in deep thought.

“Baby,” you call out. His eyes snap to yours, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah?”

“Whatcha thinking about?” You watch as a hesitant look flashes across your boyfriend’s face before he shakes his head.

“S’nothin’. Just thinkin’ about us two.” He speaks lightly. It’s always been difficult for him to voice his inner thoughts and feelings, so he tends to beat around the bush. You’ve learned that if you ever want something out of him, you’d have to pry a little. Katsuki always indulges you though.

“What about us?”

“Do you- do you think you’ll ever get tired of this?” He repeats himself, clearing his throat. The question is followed by a weaker, “...of me?”

You think it’s the most ridiculous question he’s ever asked, because the answer should be obvious. “I’d never get tired of you, Katsuki. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” he replies automatically, “but if I ever do anything that upsets you, or if I get too much for you, or if I—” he’s rambling now. Yes, it’s difficult for Katsuki to talk about his feelings, but once you manage to get him to open up, all the walls of his self-made fortress come crashing down and it’s up to you to pick up the pieces.

“Baby,” you giggle, pressing a kiss to his lips, cupping his sharp jaw with one hand. “Look at me.” And he does— ruby eyes meeting yours. “I love you because you’re you. And I choose to be with you everyday. It’s not always gonna be perfect, no relationship is. But I know that I will always wake up and choose you.”

You can see the anxiety melt away from Katsuki’s body, shoulders slumping as he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Love you too, sap,” is all he says before he’s pulling you against his chest, squeezing you into a bearhug. You two stay that way until both of you are lulled to sleep.

You’re laying in bed with Katsuki, both of you dozing off when you hear a slight buzz from your phone on the nightstand. You squint as you try to read the notification, and make out that it’s from your friend.

Denki Kaminari: So did it work?

You bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from laughing, giving a quick glance over your shoulder to check on your boyfriend— fast asleep. You turn back to your phone, your thumbs making quick work at your keyboard.

You: Just like I said it would. Thanks Denki :)

Writing belongs to @ryukatters. Please do not share my work on Tiktok.

#bakugo x you #bakugo katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #katsuki bakugou x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou x you #bakugo x y/n #mha x reader #mha x y/n #mha x you #bnha x reader #bnha x you #kat's writing #kat's demon time #tw.dubcon #cw.dubcon #tw.overstimulation #cw.overstimulation

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missglaskin · 6 months

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i feel like Otto would use Daemon and Rhaenyra’s secret wedding, mere days after their partners funerals, as the sole ammunition to have Rhaenyra disinherited and second-born!Reader named the Princess of Dragonstone after Otto reminds Viserys the sole reason Rhaenyra was chosen was to prevent Daemon from having the throne. and Alicent will begin planting the seeds of a doubt in Viserys mind that some may not want a the Reader on a throne because she’s adopted but if she married Aegon, the firstborn son, she wouldn’t be contested. that Aegon was better fitted as a consort anyways.

and the Velaryons have mixed feelings about the whole ordeal because Corlys really wanted his blood on the throne but Rhaenys believes the reader will be a much better ruler.

she’s kind of like the “peoples princess” if that makes sense. from a young age she began serving as the king’s cupbearer, allowing her the opportunity to watch the council work, and even there were times when she spoke up. advocating on behalf of the servants for better living conditions or pushing for repairs on the sewage system underneath the city.

not even Rhaenyra could deny that the reader would make a good queen but there’s some resentment directed to her father, angry he still won’t accept that she loves Daemon and there confusion as she watches Daemon wrap a beautiful necklace around the reader’s neck

I apologize for the long haitus, I wanted to return with something so here it is.

The plot just thickens

Before Daemon and Rhaenyra secret wedding, Alicent was already sowing seeds of doubt in Viserys's mind (the reader doesn't have any bastards, last she checked but even so it doesn’t count).And it would be a great irony if Viserys sent Otto away thinking he wanted Aegon to be king (which might be partially true), when in reality it’s the reader he desired to be in the throne. With Lyonel's death, and Rhaenyra's decision to move to Dragonstone with Laenor despite wanting to stay with her sister. Otto and Alicent are only given a better advantage to continue casting doubt on Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra and Daemon's marriage seals the deal, and soon after, they are summoned by a raven from King's Landing.

While the Velaryons may have mixed feelings, they are all in support of the reader in being the chosen heir. It’s Rhaenys who encourages Corlys’ decision to swear his fealty to her. It doesn’t help that Rhaenys believes Rhaenyra and Daemon are the cause for her son’s death and them marrying right after Laena’s death only adds salt to the wound. Rhaenys genuinely believes the reader will be a much better ruler.

When the reader is named heir, there is one final step for both Alicent and Otto to ensure her position (or as they like to say). So it comes as little surprise when the reader is revealed to be wed to Aegon. She already has gained a great deal of knowledge regarding politics throughout the years she was compelled to relocate to accommodate the entire family, from Driftmark to King's Landing to Dragonstone. Alicent and Otto took a step further in letting the reader act as the king's cupbearer, and Viserys naturally agreed. Unlike Rhaenyra who felt undermined in the council, the reader isn't cut off when advocating for herself, rather, she's backed by the green council.

As you mentioned, she has earned the title of the "people's princess” through her charity, her advocacy for improved living conditions for the castle's servants as well insistence on repairing the sewage systems and for better roads. Tales abound in the city about the princess who visits orphanages, escorted, of course, by the finest knights, among them Ser Criston Cole. With all of that, simply wedding the reader to Aegon, already wins him favor at king's landing, besides, it's evident to the court that it's the reader who holds all the power.

It's an internal struggle for Rhaenyra; she feels waves of resentment and anger, sometimes aimed at her father and other times at the reader. But, she can never take the reader's actions personally, not after she offers Rhaenyra dragonstone or when she vows to make her the hand when she ascends the iron throne. So how can she ever be genuinely upset at her beloved sister whom she also thinks would make a wonderful queen?

And for Daemon, whom she observes draping a beautiful necklace—akin to the one he gave her years ago—around her sister's neck. She observes as her ever naive sister turns to face him, beaming as thanks him for the gift.

And for Daemon who she watches wrapping a beautiful necklace around her sister’s neck, similar to the one he gifted her a long time ago. She watches as her sister turns to him, beaming and thanking him for the gift, her sister so naive and innocent. But it won’t be long before Viserys catches wind of it, and if not him, Otto and Alicent will and this is the last thing they ever wish to happen. For they know, no matter how many times they Banish Daemon, he will always find his way to return to your side.

#hotd x reader #yandere concept #yandere hotd #yandere house of the dragon #aegon ii targaryen x reader #daemon targaryen x reader #yandere platonic #hotd concept #house of the dragon x reader #heir!reader

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melrodrigo · 8 months

Text

When The Night Falls - W.A.

Wednesday Addams x Fem!Reader

Summary: Wednesday isn’t soft. But when it comes to a certain someone…

Warnings: Angsty fluffy crap mixed together, mentions of cheating

Word Count: 1.1k

A/N: HA! You guys thought I would do something from the poll? I’m an uncontrollable creature. Also, this is semi inspired by ‘reckless’ by madison beer.

Wednesday Addams was not soft. In fact, that was the last word she would ever use to describe herself.

But today, when she had swung open her door, ready to give whoever woke her up at 2 a.m. hell; she was surprised to find out she felt a little bad after seeing your crying figure.

“Wednesday?” You sniffle, swiping at your eyes desperately in an attempt to look somewhat presentable.

The raven-haired girl stares at you blankly, refusing to give away any of the emotions she was feeling.

Eyes all red and puffy, nose tinted pink; she hated to admit it, you look cute.

The thing was, for the past few weeks, Wednesday’s been feeling weird around you.

At first, she thought that maybe you were using your powers to cast a poisonous spell on her. But on further inspection, she realized you were casting a spell on her, just a very different one from what she expected.

It’s a peculiar feeling, having feelings for someone.

She doesn’t think she’s ever really experienced all that “crush” or “love at first sight” nonsense Enid keeps gushing about.

But right now, with you standing in front of her, she thinks she finally feels those funeral flowers budding all throughout her chest, wrapping itself tight around her heart.

“Do you mind if I come in?” You ask timidly.

Wednesday steps back without a second thought, still staring hard as you walk in. She’s suddenly struck with the realization that you came to her first, out of everyone in the whole school, even her bubbly roommate. It makes her heart sing.

You and Enid had a thing going on. The whole school knew that. You weren’t exactly together, but the look on your face when you talked about Enid was enough for Wednesday to keep her mouth shut about her feelings.

But she came to me, Wednesday thinks.

She walks towards you, tapping you softly on the shoulder.

You whirl, and immediately throw yourself at her, letting your whole body engulf hers.

You hear Wednesday let out a quiet gasp and it makes you giggle a little.

You know she’s not uncomfortable, and you know the tap was an invitation or at least an allowance for you to touch her. You have a bit of a reputation for being the only person Wednesday was willing to let hug her, apart from Enid.

Days spent with Enid usually meant days spent with Wednesday, and by now, you were fluent in the language of her.

“What happened so suddenly that you felt the need to wake me in the middle of the night?” She finally asks, failing to sound sympathetic.

She doesn’t expect it to sound mean, and you know that, so you pay her tone no mind.

“I found Enid w-with Ajax.” You tell her, voice cracking at the end of your sentence, tears welling at the corners of your eye.

Wednesday wasn’t an idiot. She knows what “finding them together” means, and despite all her fondness for the young blonde, she can’t help the anger that stirs in her immediately.

Here you were, crying and troubled over her stupid roommate (crying very prettily might she add), and what, Enid was with Ajax? Of all people?

“I’m sorry to hear that, Y/N. I know how much you adored Enid.” She murmurs, ignoring the instant tugging in her heart at the sight of you wide-eyed and looking up at her.

To her surprise, you giggle a little, and it sends shockwaves through your and her own body.

You reach up gingerly, pausing long enough for Wednesday to refuse your touch if she wants to, but the goth girl stays quiet, and so you brush away some of the bangs that are covering her face.

“It’s okay.” You whisper, staring at her eyes and then her lips. “To be honest with you, that’s not even the whole reason I was crying.”

“Why were you crying then?” She inquires, and you notice her hands flexing at her side.

“I think…I might like someone else. And I was kind of upset, because- I thought Enid really liked me. But I guess not, so it all works out doesn’t it?” You laugh dryly.

Wednesday’s eyes widen at your confession, suddenly feeling squirmish underneath your gaze. Her whole body freezes, and her mouth feels dry.

It would work out if I was your partner, she thinks.

“Relax, Wends.” You murmur, placing your head back down to her chest. Your words seem to calm her down a little.

“It’s funny, I don’t like her anymore, but when she gets with someone else, I get sad. How messed up of me is that?” You tilt your head up, watching Wednesday gulp once before speaking.

“It is a stupid thing to feel.” Is what she answers, racking her brain to think of something better to say.

You hum, and everything goes quiet for a while. You feel safe, in Wednesday’s arms, in her bed, and you don’t care if Enid comes back to the dorm and sees this.

Before you know it, you’re drifting off into some walmart heaven- the smell of Wednesday encompassing you and the softness of her skin pressing against you.

“YN?” She whispers, stirring you from your so-close-to-sleep state.

You hum in question.

“Now that you aren’t interested in Enid, are you interested in anyone?” She asks, trying her best to not sound too interested in what you have to say.

You smile soft, the drowsiness making your critical thinking skills all mushy.

“Yeah, I told you that already.” You tell her and promptly snuggle yourself further into the girl.

When Wednesday finally gathers up the courage to ask you who it is, you’re fast asleep, snoring quietly on her.

The next morning, when you wake up alone, feeling the most well-rested you’ve felt in a long time, you barely notice the dark colors of the bedsheets.

It takes you a minute, but you prop yourself up on your elbow, trying to figure out where the hell you are.

But as the events of the night prior come back to you, you find yourself grinning.

“Stop smiling like that. You look weird.” Wednesday quips, and your eyes dart to where she is, hunched over by her typewriter. There’s a glint in her eye that tells you she’s joking.

You flash her another toothy grin, surprised when she sends you a tiny smile back. And then, as if she’s just gotten shy, she turns back to her typewriter and ignores your teasing remarks.

You sigh dramatically and flop back onto her bed.

“I’m gonna sleep here from now on!” You announce.

You take her silence as a quiet acceptance.

#wednesday addams #wednesday addams x you #tara carpenter x reader #jenna ortega x reader #wednesday #mine #wednesday addams x reader

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dlanadhz · 4 months

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Last Twilight Ending Reaction

As someone who can't see without a strong prescription, I really felt connected to Day's struggle. How his vision was shown is like mine but with that extra level of fuzzy. I can't see further than a palm's distance either. The longer the show went on, the more I noticed myself in the way Day did certain things - like leaning in way too close to see things and patting his hand around to find an item he knows is around there somewhere.

Obviously Day was worse than me. I put on my glasses every morning and go about my day. I don't need a caretaker. But without my glasses, we are so similar.

So I spent a good portion of the show wondering why the heck Day didn't get glasses for the time he was waiting on a potential surgery. They never explained that glasses wouldn't work for him, so it seems like a logical step to try.

Because of this, and because corrective eye surgery is actually so common, I walked into this show on day 1 fully ready to accept an ending where Day got his eye surgery and was able to see again.

We spent 12 episodes following Day's journey of learning to accept himself as he was, disability or not. He learned how to love his life, how to care more about the people around him, how to appreciate the things around him - not just what he could see. He gained a new understanding of who he was and what he needed to be happy.

Episode 12 has whole speeches about how going blind is the only reason Day knows how to be happy and what he truly wants out of life. This a beautiful message that we got throughout the whole series. He was loved when he was blind. He was loved when it seemed he would stay that way forever. He accepted himself and loved himself. And he was still loved when he got his sight back. He became a better person.

So to come online and see the absolute vitriol being thrown around like somehow this ending ruins the entire series, like somehow him getting a very realistic eye surgery to correct damage done in an accident erases all the character growth and the message of loving yourself, finding people who love you regardless of illness or disability, and appreciating the world around you....

It's really ruining the show for me. Day's surgery didn't do that. The fans are doing that.

Day getting his sight back does not erase his experience as a blind person. Just like a cast and pt doesn't erase your experience with a broken leg. Just like time and healing doesn't erase your experience with traumatic brain injuries. Just like getting a prosthetic doesn't erase the experience of losing a limb.

Like, damn. Someone get me some eye surgery pronto. It still won't change the last 27 years of my life.

And to suggest that bad things should happen to the director for such a choice is a really terrible thing to do.

When I saw Day looking at Mhok while they knelt by Rung's grave, I felt overwhelmed with emotion, because Day has been wanting to see clearly for so long and here he was, staring lovingly at his boyfriend - the boyfriend who chose to be with him despite everything. I thought it was beautiful.

And all these haters are really making it hard to even search for gifs. I wanted to roll around in the joy and emotion of the episode, but there are too many people treating it like a god damned funeral protest.

#Last Twilight #last twilight the series #spoilers #gmmtv #like if you're gonna be mad be mad that we never dove into Mhok's trauma #be mad that the mom got a blanket forgiveness for her treatment of everyone while Mhok had to try and prove himself #Be mad that Mhok's trauma was passed off as feeling pity and was used against him 3 years later #heck be mad at the implication that fatherhood makes a man suddenly need glasses if you really wanna be mad about eyesight #but being mad about the eye surgery is the lowest hanging fruit

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n0v4t33z · 9 months

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The Syndicate - Chapter 5 : A last goodbye?

Pairings: Choi San X Female Reader, Park Seonghwa X Female Reader, Ateez X Female Reader

Genre: Lots of angst, Romance, Crime Fiction, Psychological Drama

Word Count: 6.7k

Tags/Warnings: For Mature Audiences, Language, Graphic Violence, Mentions of Illegal activities (i.e Kidnapping, extortion, assassination etc.), y/n gets roughed up by Wooyoung like twice , Slow Burn, Fluff sometimes, Work In Progress, Non-Idol AU, Mafia AU, Very suggestive at times, y/n cries alot, y/n having inner turmoil, Ateez being bad boys, Wooyoung and Yeosang are a little mean in this story tbh, Guns, Gunshot wounds, Assassination attempt(s), mentions death and acts of violence

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!!

Spotify Playlist🎵 | Series Masterlist📝

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆.

It’s been about a week since the police discovered my “body”, so a change in hair color and style completely shedding everything from past me thus turning me into Someone whom I don’t fully recognize anymore. I just didn't realize how weird that was going to be. From the start I decided I wanted to attend my funeral and see my family and friends one last time and today was the day but of course I wasn’t allowed to attend by myself. San for obvious reasons wasn’t going to be the one going with me since his face is already widely known by the police. A mafia kingpin attending a police funeral was out of the question and dangerous so Seonghwa volunteered to come with me since he’s not in any of the federal databases. Not to mention the funeral will be a public one so many civilians of Ulwood and Lulens along with others from the surrounding towns will be visiting so we have a very low chance of being discovered.

While I look at myself one last time in the mirror, I make sure that nothing appearance wise was out of place. My once dark makeup has now been replaced with a more sophisticated and more glamour take on it, a tight form fitting black dress and a black trench coat over the whole ensemble with some black Mary Jane high heels to tie it all together. Definitely not something I would have normally worn but none the less it's cute at least. I stare at my freshly dyed and styled hair making me realize that seeing myself in the mirror is so haunting. I get the chills to the point it makes me feel physically sick. Internally I’m not ready to let go but on the outside I look like a completely different person now meaning I kind of have to. For my family's sake at least. I don’t look like y/n anymore so there’s no reason to hang on to my old identity. It hurts even more knowing that I’m going to have to live like this for the rest of my life all because of one selfish person. I wish I could stop feeling because maybe, just maybe it’ll make everything much more tolerable or who knows maybe i'll just grow to live with it. A knock at the door startles me, and shortly after when the door is opened I realize it’s San. He holds my hand and gently places a kiss on it looking deeply into my eyes. “You look stunning angel eyes, Seonghwa says everything is ready to go but please do me a favor and stay close to him and be careful.” I nod and tightly hug him “I really wish you could go with me.” He wraps his arms around me and kisses my shoulder “I know baby, but you know why I can’t.” I sigh burying my face in his neck, his hand immediately rests on the back of my head for a bit until he pulls back and gives me a pained smile “I promise when you come back I’ll be here okay?” I bite the inside of my lip and nod. San leads me out of my room and helps me make my way outside holding my hand down the stairs.

Immediately upon stepping foot outside I see it’s very downcast, how fitting. Shitty weather for a shitty day. Either way I decide to put on some sunglasses realizing my eyes are probably not going to be open unless I’m wearing them since despite it being cloudy and a bit rainy it was oddly bright out. After San helps me make my way into to the car where Seonghwa was waiting, he looks over at me and chuckles “Wow, you really do look like a different person now but, in a good way.” I force a smile and say under my breath “Yep, now to keep up the act. If anyone asks I’m Lola, one of y/n’s friends and you’re my boyfriend. Got it?” He turns on the ignition and he turns to me with a slight grin on his face “Okay, got it. Luckily we somewhat match.” I look over and notice Seonghwa wearing a simple black dress shirt and black tailored dress up pants with a black wool overcoat, his undercut slightly styled for a more dressed up look. I bite the inside of my lip and stifle a laugh. “Well I mean of course it’s a funeral Hwa.” He turns away hiding his smile. "Right, my mistake darling."

Once we arrive it was raining, but not very hard to where we needed an umbrella. Just in case Seonghwa takes the umbrella in the glove box. He gives me a very faint smile and offers me his free arm “Ready?” I nod and link my arm with his, while walking to the ceremony site I notice a lot of familiar faces, some being the commissioner of the Ulwood police, Detective Chris, my family, and Captain Lee just to name a few. The ceremony begins and Seonghwa gently nudges me and leans in and whispers “If you need to cry, do it. It will give you closure.” I nod and I stand there watching my own funeral. For a few minutes I can’t wrap my head around what I’m watching until I see my own mother and father cry over their own daughter’s death. I don’t know why but it broke something in me, I felt it. I tighten my grip around Seonghwa’s arm while I swallow hard to try and get rid of the huge knot in my throat. Seonghwa looks over at me and has my head rest on the side of his arm. It isn’t until I notice my former partner Chris who was there comforting my mother while my father stood there with a very empty look in his eyes that my vision slowly blurs and I silently begin to cry. I hug Seonghwa’s arm tightly and he pulls me into a hug gently patting my head. Never again after this will I see my family and the people I care about, I can’t even give them a proper goodbye. My heart hurts for my family and friends, the fucking balls that old geezer has to even show his face here. This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for him. Once the commissioner makes an opening speech Captain Lee stands close by the commissioner where he calls him up to the podium. Before anything he briefly looks around to the attendees before speaking. “Detective y/n/ln was a one of a kind subordinate, she worked hard and was great at her job. To her being a detective wasn’t just a job, it was in her blood to serve and protect the community she loved and grew up in. Sadly she was taken from us too soon and she will be dearly missed. I promise we will bring justice to her and her memory, just how she brought justice to many people in her community. I, Captain Steven Lee will make sure those people pay.” I clench my fists in my pockets.

Seeing that man lie through his teeth makes my insides churn, and if it wasn’t for all these people I would have risked it all to kill this dirty old man already. A few moments after Captain Lee finishes his speech Detective Chris takes the stand and unfolds a piece of paper presumably his speech “Well, I never thought I’d be having to stand here recalling memories of how great my partner Detective y/ln was but here we are, the sad reality of it.” Chris stops for a moment, takes a deep breath and continues. “She was someone you could really count on, the amount of times she saved me from getting in trouble was pretty comical. She was also very hardworking and was determined to always solve the case she was working on because in her own words she “Wanted to bring peace to the victims and family.” She was also the kindest person I knew, so much so that she always bought me coffee every morning just to help me wake up because of my tendency to stay up working. Me and her were a dynamic duo, the best partner anyone could ask for but at the same time she was a prodigy in the making in her own line of work. So to you y/ln, I hope you’re doing alright. I’ll finish what you started and will always be a great inspiration to me.” Chris’ gaze lowers, his eyes looking very sleepless and tired. He folds up the piece of paper and walks over to retrieve my parents. He helps adjust the microphone for my mother and stands next to her in case my parents needed help. She then says in the most broken tone of voice I've ever heard my mom speak in “Burying one’s child is a mother’s worst nightmare, but the way my daughter was killed was a very violent and horrible death. My only wish is for those people to be caught and bring my daughter the justice she deserves.”

Hearing my mother’s broken voice causes tears to begin running down my cheeks again, seeing those eyes of sadness. “My daughter was the sweetest girl you’d ever meet, so caring and loving. I’m proud to say that I’m her mother because she was so talented at catching the bad people out there, she was committed in blood, sweat and tears to helping people because it was something she really loved. She was a very kind soul. Sweetheart…” Her voice trails off and both my dad and Chris gently hold and pats her back. “Sweetheart, my little y/n I hope you’re in a better place. You know mom, dad and everyone close to you loves you so much. Especially me and your dad, we love you so much and we very much miss you everyday that you’ve been gone, I love you so much my little angel and may you be in peace my beautiful little girl.” Right after finishing her speech my mom begins to cry, while my teary eyed father and Chris help walk my mom off the stand. I heard the pain in her cries, she was hurt. Who could blame her, she thinks I’m dead. Almost like if it was on queue a low rumble of thunder echoes and the rain begins to fall heavily. I turn to Seonghwa and in a very hushed tone I say “Let’s go.” I turn around with a huge knot in my throat and begin to walk away as fast as my legs could take me not caring how the heeled part of my shoes sunk into the already muddy ground. Eventually when he catches up to me after I've come to a hard halt, and in one swift motion he puts the umbrella over me. One of my aunts looks over to Seonghwa and I slowly approaching us

"Hi sweetheart I don't want to be a bother but I swear you look familiar, I don't think I've ever seen you before though." My stomach drops and I gently squeeze Seonghwa's arm while a small smile forms on my lips "I'm very certain we've never met before ma'am I'm one of y/n's closest friends. My name is Lola and this is my boyfriend." Seonghwa extends his hand and shakes my aunt's hand and says "I'm Jun, another close friend of y/n, It's very nice meeting you ma'am." My aunt reaches over to shake Seonghwa's hand and while reaching over to hold mine she says "Wow, looking at you closely you look and sound kind of like her too but I think it's just my head playing tricks on me. It still just hasn't dawned on me her she's gone. None of this feels real." I nod then I rest my other hand over hers gently squeezing it and not letting go. Something inside me isn’t letting me let go. "Yes, few people have commented we looked alike pretty frequently and even called us sisters but in all honesty we're polar opposites. She was always way funnier that's for sure but I see where you're coming from because me and Jun miss her so much, right babe?" I look back at Seonghwa and he nods and says in a somber tone "Yes we do miss her alot, she loved coming over to our place and have dinner with us since she lived alone." My aunt smiles "I'm glad she had some very sweet friends who looked out for her and helped her feel less alone. She always did tell me she felt lonely." She looks over where the gathering was being held and says "Well I'll let you guys go now, it was nice meeting you two, please take care." I wave goodbye in fear of her hearing my voice break and under my breath with the smallest whisper I respond "You too, please take care."

I don’t even make it inside the car before I remove my sunglasses and I break down, my legs giving out from under me causing me to kneel holding onto the side of the car. Seonghwa gives me a look of worry and kneels over to my side making sure he's covering the both of us under the umbrella and he holds me tight. He stays quiet for a while listing to my sobs then he lets out a sigh “I’m so sorry y/n. I can’t imagine how you feel, it must be the worst pain imaginable.” He helps me up while I bury my face in his chest unable to keep it together “Hwa...It hurts. I can’t live with myself knowing I’ve inflicted so much pain. I can’t do it. I can't live with this for the rest of my life.” I hold the fabric of his wool jacket tightly. I feel him rest his chin on top of my head while clearing the stray hairs away from my face. He slightly lowers his face down to my ear and with a voice low enough so that only I could hear him he gently rests his forehead on the side of my head “Please don’t say that, I know it hurts but just remember they’ll be okay. The pain they’re feeling now is only temporary. Think about it this way, he can’t threaten you with anything because he thinks you’re dead. I promise you we’re all going to help you, San is going to help you. You both have the same goal and it’s to get rid this guy, you’ve got the upper hand now he’ll be gone much sooner than originally planned.” He gently pats my head and steps back gently wiping away the tears under my eyes. I look up at him still teary eyed and bottom lip still slightly trembling “Thank you for being the brother I never had Hwa.” He furrows his eyebrows and gives me a melancholy expression clearly forcing a smile “Of course, I’ve grown to care a lot about you so It hurts to see you hurting like this.” He breaks eye contact causing us to both look around and realize the ceremony was about to end so he turns back to me and softly says “Come on let’s go, you need some rest. You’re probably exhausted.”

When we arrive back at the headquarters I kick off my shoes immediately upon stepping into my room, I remove my coat and wrap myself under my covers and lay there not really caring that my dress and legs are still slightly wet from the funeral. I lay there crying to the point my eyes could no longer cry feeling completely numb for what felt like hours, it wasn’t until there was a knock at my door. I decide not to answer from the lack of energy I had left in me. Suddenly the door opens and it was San, he walks in and quietly closes the door behind him. He glances at me and notices I’m awake and sits next to me. “Hey, how are you doing? Seonghwa told me what happened, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to comfort you. ” He gently strokes my hair and continues “Look at you, I can’t stand seeing you like this, I’ll stay here for as long as you need me.” I shake my head and finally gather up the strength to say in a low voice “Just go. Just leave me here, I don’t have the energy to talk to anyone.” He gently strokes my cheek with his thumb and says “We don’t have to talk, I can just sit here and give you company. You’re in a really delicate state right now and I can’t just leave you to dwell in your own thoughts like that. I know how dark it can get.” I lay there staring at the ground with an expressionless gaze, San lays down behind me and turns me around so that my head is comfortably resting on his chest. His scent being something that’s become a thing of comfort, something to help remind me that I’m not alone. Sadly at the moment, my emotions aren’t registering it at all and I lay there completely still with my brain constantly replaying everything again from the way my mother cried and my dad’s empty gaze to Chris’ sleepless and exhausted look in his eyes. I don't think any of that is going to leave me anytime soon. San presses his lips on my shoulder from behind me “What am I going to do now?” he hums in response and I continue "After all this is over, will I have to start over or am I going to have to come clean to my family?” San rests his chin on my shoulder “Well, I think that’s your call babe. It all depends on what you feel is right. I think when the moment comes you'll figure it out.” Well that didn’t help. Maybe I should just wait until it happens, maybe things will change for the better. I turn in San’s direction and gently stroke his cheek with my thumb. “You’re right, I guess I just need a little more time to think about it.” He smiles and kisses my forehead showing me his dimpled smile.

“Don't think about it too much right now. How about we just relax and get your mind off of it." San clears my hair from my face and lovingly looks into my eyes and leans in to place his lips onto mine while holding onto my face. His free hand slowly roams around my body before settling on my lower back. He slowly kisses down to my neck gently leaving a soft trail of kisses. "I can make you feel good baby." His hand gently squeezes my thigh and bites my neck causing me to let out a soft sigh. I can't do this, it doesn't feel right. I'm supposed to be mourning, or at least for tonight. It'll be so wrong of me to give in to temptation under this circumstance. Before he's able to kiss me any lower I pull away "Wait no, San. Stop." He worriedly furrows his eyebrows and responds slightly out of breath from working himself up "y/n? Is everything okay?" I gently cup my hands onto his face "Please let's not do this.. I-I can't right now. It doesn't feel right. I know you wanted to help me forget but I can't right now. " He gives me a soft dimpled smile "Of course princess. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to. I'm so sorry I even tried something like that it was very disrespectful of me." Wow, he apologized and accepted the boundaries I set? Any other guy would have definitely gotten upset about that. "It's just, it's not the right time right now." He kisses my forehead and pulls me closer to him "I understand angel eyes you don't need to apologize, just close your eyes baby. I'll stay here with you." He really is very convincing at being someone's boyfriend, I just can't help but to think how nice it would have been if we were both just regular people. If maybe I still wasn't so scared of him. Maybe I can dream about it without it breaking my heart because in all honesty I can only imagine how he'd feel knowing I still struggle to see the "real" San despite how kind he's been. I close my eyes slowly drifting off to sleep while he gently strokes my hair.

Eventually my thoughts put me to sleep till the next morning, San was sleeping next to me only to realize my makeup wasn’t on anymore. Did he actually remove my makeup while I was asleep? If so, that was very thoughtful of him. I get up and walk into the shower and just stand there with a blank mind until I find the strength to finish showering. As much as I want to stay in bed and mope around and just dwell in my sadness I can’t, and I won’t rest until that man has paid his debts. I know I'm pretty weak minded in things like love but for sure not when it comes to getting people back. Once I’m done I slowly open the door to the bathroom, careful not to wake San up from his sleep. I tippy toe back into the bed and cuddle with him for a few minutes, he realizes my soapy scent and buries his face on the crook of my neck clearly very comfortable until I very delicately and gently stroke his hair and kiss his cheek “Sannie, time to wake up.” I hear a pouty groan escape his lips and says under his breath “5 more minutes.” I gently kiss his cheek and I say “Sannie please?” He sleepily looks up at me, gives me a small smile and pulls me into a soft kiss and says “Well, good morning angel eyes.” I smile and I say “Good morning.” San gently cups his hand on my cheek and gently rubs my cheek with his thumb giving me a dimpled smile “Your smile, it came back.” I nod and look at San reassuringly “Well, as much as I don’t have the strength for anything and I wish I could lay here and do nothing but be sad and cry. It’s not going to fix anything.” San sits up and sighs. “That was me when I lost my father, I felt exactly that same way. So, I know where you’re coming from. I know you didn’t exactly lose anyone to death but the fact that you won’t be seeing them again kind of counts as one.” I nod silently and feel San’s arms wrap around me and says “Again, I’m sorry I wasn’t there but knowing Seonghwa was there to comfort you makes me feel a little better. Although I’m jealous because he’s not recognized at all meanwhile the whole police department knows who I am and what I look like. I hate to think that at one point I didn’t think it even mattered, I just wanted to be feared. But now it hurts knowing that for being so easily recognizable I couldn’t attend an event so important to you.”

He takes a small pause and says in a very broken tone “I’m so sorry.” He buries his face in my neck while I gently pat his head “Hey it’s okay, I understand your situation but look to be fair you didn’t even know me back then anyway so how could you have known? It really is okay, as long as I have you here now it really doesn’t matter at all so don’t be so hard on yourself.” I sit there waiting for San to answer but he never does. “Come on, please don’t feel bad for me It really is okay I promise. Yes, I’m still sad about yesterday but seeing my parents and other people I care about brought me so much peace and closure. Even Seonghwa told me how now that Captain Lee thinks I’m dead he has nothing to try and threaten anyone with because I’m already dead and he doesn’t know I’m working for you.” I’m going to try and hide how much I’m dying on the inside for you, so I don’t make you feel responsible for any of my pain. The thought of burdening anyone with it doesn't settle well with me. “Ah come on, let’s go eat I know you’re hungry come on.” I get up and I grab both of his arms and try to pull him up “Come on!!” He looks at me with a and finally gets up “Okay, I am kind of hungry actually” While he buttons up his shirt he pulls me in for a kiss. I giggle amid the kiss and pull back "I was talking about food silly" He raises his eyebrow and feigns innocence "Yeah, that's what I was referring to. What were you thinking of you dirty girl?" I stammer feeling my cheeks burn "I thought that's why you-" He chuckles seeing me struggle to form a sentence "You're so cute when you're flustered, it makes it even more satisfying knowing It was because of me." He rolls up his sleeves and leans in to kiss my forehead "I'll see you downstairs in the kitchen angel eyes."

San manages to sneak out of my room unnoticed leaving me alone in the room trying to compose myself from whatever "that" was. Giving me plenty of time to get ready for the day but a few minutes later while heading down the hall I bump into Hongjoong “I was just about to come look for you but if you’re up for it could you come and help me?" I look at the white haired man and realize he was waiting for me to answer so I let out a small hum queuing to continue speaking "So I’m trying to overload the police department's servers...” I slightly raise an eyebrow “Wait, why do that? We have access to all of their documents, reports and stuff like that on the servers.” A small smirk creeps onto his face and says “True, but we’re going to override the security camera servers which is conveniently and stupidly connected to the police department servers and no, we’re not doing this to take information” I tilt my head “What’s it for then?” He shrugs realizing asking me was a mistake “I’m not sure?” I slightly narrow my eyes “What? I'm so confused. Please don’t tell me San is planning something..” Hongjoong shakes his head “Nah.” I cross my arm in front of my chest “Okay, then what’s it for?” He rolls his eyes and begins to walk past me “Nevermind..” I walk behind Hongjoong and grab onto the sleeve of his hoodie and immediately he turns and gives me a glare “Please don’t.” I hold onto his sleeve a little tighter “Just tell me, is it bad?” Hongjoong looks at me then shifts his gaze behind me and stays silent. “Wasn’t expecting you to ask so many questions, maybe you should just do as you’re told. That’s all you’re good for anyway.” A familiar voice booms behind me scaring me half to death, which is none other than Wooyoung. It was only now that I notice the delicate mole under his eye decorating his signature scowl so I let go of Hongjoong’s sleeve and fully turn to Wooyoung “Can’t I just ask why I’m doing something?” He forces a very ill intended smile narrowing his eyes “You do as you’re told around here last time I checked no questions asked.” I shake my head “Sorry, I’m under San’s command not yours because last time I checked San was the boss around here.” He darkly chuckles and slowly walks towards me “You really love to run your mouth don’t you?”

I only now realize that not only is Hongjoong long gone but Wooyoung is now cornering me in such a way where my back hits the railing to the indoor balcony right before going down the stairs. Without another word Wooyoung grabs me by the throat catching me off guard from how sudden it was and pushes me so far back to where my feet are off the ground and I’m teetering between falling down onto the marble floor below and being able to stand on my own feet. By instinct I reach over and claw at Wooyoung’s iron fist. “I hate you, you know that? I wish I could just see your itty little cop brain splatter onto the floor below.” He says with anger seething though his words “Wooyou-” I manage to hoarsely utter before he cuts me off “You wanted to know why I had Hongjoong ask you to help him overload the servers?” Without waiting for me to utter anything else he continues while keeping a constant iron grip around my throat. “Because we’re breaking into the Evidence room to get what we need. There, happy? See how anti climactic that was? And here you were making a huge deal about it by asking too many questions when you could have just agreed as you were asked.” He pulls me back and lets go of my throat causing me to fall to the ground and immediately reach for my throat while violently coughing. The dark haired male stifles a laugh “Oh come on I wasn’t even squeezing that hard.” I glare up at him while coughing only receiving a taunting smirk whilst he walks away “You won't speak to San about this or I'll make sure you don't speak again, see ya around..” After a few more seconds of coughing I mange to catch my breath and head downstairs. Fuming not only from the situation with Wooyoung but the fact that San is willing to not only sacrifice lives but also get ourselves caught all over something he could wait to retrieve.

I head to the kitchen and notice San was there eating a bowl of cereal, he smiles and waves at me while he signals me to sit next to him “This is sudden but, can I ask you something?” Feeling my eyes already threatening to betray me San nods while shoving a spoonful of cereal in his mouth “So when were you planning on telling me about AS breaking in to the police department’s evidence room?” I sit next to him and noticed he stopped chewing, and very carefully swallows his cereal “Who told you?” My stomach drops seeing him slowly turn his head to look at me. I know Wooyoung threatened me not to speak but I can't just take it silently and watch San screw himself over like that so I manage to swallow my fear and respond with an expressionless look. “Wooyoung, he told me needed me to help override the police department’s servers. San, you do know that most of the people that go on that heist might not come back at all right? Not only that but do you realize you’re risking all of us getting caught? ” He sits back on the chair and crosses his arms in front of his chest and lets out a sigh “Yeah I know, but just as easily as people die I can easily replace them and for the getting caught part that’s not going to happen because we’re all going to be extra careful..” I look away slightly taken a back from his statement trying to find words to answer him. Why am I not surprised? I know who this man is and what he does. I guess my love for him has somewhat turned into me seeing him with rose colored glasses. Something that if you asked me about a few months ago I would have refused to believe but here I am remembering the harsh reality that this isn’t just any guy. “Okay then why exactly am I here if we’re going to do things the way you’ve always done them, reckless and messily?” He shrugs “You know why, we’re not going to talk about it here.” He's shutting down. I look at him slightly irritated and tilt my head “Excuse me? You’re acting as if that cufflink is your top priority right now and it shouldn’t be, we need to take down Captain Lee before we even get to the cufflink understand that. Barging in like that will only upset him and you know that. Being impatient won’t work in your favor and it’s only going to get you caught much faster, you’re so reckless. It’s not all about you anymore, you promised we were both going to take him down. So either we do it the right way or I go and do it on my own. I’m sorry but I can’t leave that man to walk away free. He ruined my life!” He turns to me with a darkened gaze “No, you’re not going anywhere. You can’t leave.” I stare him down with anger seething in my gaze causing his to soften, in a soft voice he says while reaching over to hold my hand “Please...Don’t.” I get up, pull my hand away “Then think about it.” I get up and leave before he's able to respond.

I decide to walk around the headquarters aimlessly trying to calm myself down. It's the beginning of the day and already way too much has happened. Wooyoung is a problem, especially with the part where he nearly threw me off the second floor just because I asked a simple question. I really need to be careful around him, I need to tell someone but It can’t be San though. I know for a fact that he’ll make a rash decision, something tells me that he's crazy enough to kill him if I say something. I just can't let San be reckless anymore either, not just because of the Captain Lee situation but because I really grew to care about him and I don’t want him to end up in jail and possibly get murdered for his affiliations and ties in the Mafia world. I need him to realize he can’t just do what he wants without there being consequences for his actions. He has to understand things will never be solved if he keeps being reckless, because someone will always find a way to take advantage of that recklessness and it'll lead to what I fear the most these days which is him getting hurt or worse. San getting killed.

While stuck in my thoughts I bump into Jongho, he looks over at me and smiles “Hey y/n good morning.” I force a smile and say “Oh good morning Jongho.” He cocks his eyebrow with a puzzled look “What are you doing here, you’ve never been all the way over here. Are you looking for something?” I shake my head slowly and look down while fidgeting my hands, he puts his hand on my shoulder “y/n? Is something wrong?” I clasp my hands together and I very carefully look back up at him “Well, Wooyoung almost threw me over the railing and I thought I was going to die but I'll get to that later, because I also kinda got upset at San and told him he was being reckless because I’m sure you know of the heist he was planning to do right?” Jongho’s jaw drops and pats my shoulder and whispers “What?! What do you mean you almost died?! And yeah, I knew about it. In fact we all do.” I shake my head “You’re all going to get yourselves killed.” He blinks in confusion and I answer back in an increasingly irritated voice “Is everyone dumb around here?! We’re supposed to kill captain Lee first this heist is basically a suicide mission, you won’t get out alive and if you do you'll for sure be followed. I’m telling you this because I know.” Jongho pats my back again trying to calm me down “Okay, calm down. I think maybe San isn’t thinking very clearly but then again he isn’t really the type to care if any of his foot soldiers get hurt because he can always find new ones.” I cross my arms in front of my chest “Yeah, I’m trying to get him to be more low key about everything now, there’s no way we’ll get rid of Captain Lee if he’s expecting us.“ Jongho presses his lips together and lets out a small exhale “Yeah but San is...you know. He’s obsessed about making everyone fear him. Not to mention his father's death just made his hate towards Lee and everyone else more evident. He gets drunk off of feeling powerful which is why he’s so reckless, of course for a while he calmed down when you first arrived for some odd reason but he’s going at it again. The sad part is we all have to follow his orders even if we don’t agree with them..” I slowly nod while I focus my gaze at a distance. “Well, I made it very clear that if he doesn’t change his plans I was going to take matters into my own hands and handle it on my own.”

What else am I supposed to do? As scared as I am to defy San I can’t let that person live without paying for what he’s done. “Did he get upset?” he asks in a slightly worried tone, and I shrug. “I don't know, all I know is that it got him thinking.” Jongho stands there for a few seconds processing everything “Well, if you manage to change his mind that would be nice. If not, seeing you go off by yourself will most certainly worry me and Seonghwa considering you have nowhere to go.” I smile and I gently pat Jongho’s arm “Nah, don’t worry about me I’ll be fine. I have a feeling San isn’t going to tell me to leave.” San can’t be that selfish right? He's been nothing but caring and sweet, I hope he wasn’t just being nice to me and asked me to be his girlfriend just so he could find a way to control me. Jongho chuckles and says “Wait, what makes you say that?” Instantly I realize I just hinted at something I wasn’t supposed to. I shrug while I take a strand of my dyed hair and tuck it behind my right ear “I don’t know, I mean San and I grew pretty close, there’s no reason he'd send away a friend like that.” He approvingly nods “Honestly despite how violent San's schemes are he has a big heart. He protects it behind that tough exterior and pretends he doesn’t care but in reality I can tell he knows his heart is his major weakness which reminds me it’s actually rare for him to immediately trust someone so quickly and become so vulnerable. How did you do it?” I slightly force a laugh and say “Why the sudden interest? Is it really that weird?” He crosses his arms and gently taps his foot on the floor “Okay don’t take this the wrong way because I’m just being honest, but yes it kinda is a little weird.” I stand there with a million thoughts running through my mind then I blurt out “Not as weird as the hatred Wooyoung has for me, I’m still in shock I was a hair away from dying.” Jongho sighs looks around and slightly lowers his voice again “Wooyoung unfortunately acts on his own, and no one can keep a grip on him except San. I’m sorry you’re continuously having to endure trauma back to back. I'm sure it's very distressing.” I nod “I understand, I just wanted to tell someone here in case he actually does end up killing me.” He reaches for my shoulder again and gives me a squeeze of reassurance “Rest assured he won’t, he knows this because if he does San won’t hesitate to kill him. Wooyoung also respects San too much to ever defy him so I’m pretty sure he’s just picking on you because it’s the only thing he can get away with.”

Part of me has a feeling that most likely the simple answer is also because he hates cops, so he picks on me because he can't kill me. Which I understand. He just always seems to point it out. Before I’m able to even say a word San calls my name out from down the hallway. Both Jongho and I turn and look at San then at each other and while he walks towards us Jongho says under his breath “We’ll talk later, this stays between us.” Jongho looks over at San who was now a few feet away from us he says “ I’ll leave you two to talk” San grabs Jongho’s shoulder and stops him from walking away “No, actually I want you to listen too so you can help me tell everyone else but we’re actually postponing this heist. y/n made me realize we’re putting a lot at steak with the heist.. ” San looks at Jongho almost like he was telepathically telling him something, then Jongho nods in understandment “No need to worry, I’ll let everyone know.” A small smile grows onto San’s face as he pats Jongho’s shoulder “You can go now, I just wanted to let you know about this as soon as possible. You should gather everyone to let them know, I’d do it now but I have a special job I need y/n to work on that I need to explain to her.” I look over at San with a blank expression, I have no idea what’s happening or how he managed to change his mind so quickly. So he really does care about me and was serious about not wanting me to leave.

Jongho walks off leaving both San and I alone, eventually a few seconds later he breaks the silence. “So, I realized you’re probably bored and you probably want something to do right?” San shoves his hands in his pockets and we begin walking down the hall “I mean yeah I do kinda get bored sometimes why? Are we going to do something about Captain Lee now?” San presses his lips into a feigned smile “Actually, about that. Right now I have a few things up my sleeve but I’ll let you know about it later. What I really want you to do right now is I was wondering if you could run a few errands for me” My eyes immediately narrow and I turn to look at San “What kind of errands?” He fixes his rolled up sleeves “I’m going to give you a list of a few people I need you to investigate for me, we’re planning on working with these people but I’m still not sure if we should trust them. I need you to find their connections and see if they’re reliable. The moment I find out they’re working with the enemy I’m going to drop them. Also, you’ll also be able to leave the headquarters as you please in case you need to observe them.” I smile and tightly hug San, he responds by gently patting my back then returning my hug. “Oh?” I pull back and clasp my hands together “I'm sorry. I just got excited because I finally get to be of use now and because you trust me. That really means a lot. Not to mention this might benefit us...I mean you, not me.” His mouth curves into a warm smile “No, you’re right it’ll benefit you too. You’ll be able to gain more experience from this and you’ll be able to maintain your abilities sharp. I know you’re able to take care of yourself but remember that if things get difficult don’t hesitate to let me know, I don’t want you to get hurt. “ San walks up to a door in the hallway and opens it then looks back at me “I also made sure to get you your own workspace, I know it’s still somewhat empty but I was thinking maybe you’d like to decorate it yourself and make it your own.” I peek my head inside the dimly lit room and l notice there was a small desk and a computer. The room was small but not small enough to where it felt cramped. It was the perfect size. I turn to look at San who was already looking at me with a shy smile on his face “So, do you like it? Or is the room too small?” I quickly shake my head and reach over to grab his hand “No, It’s perfect. Back at the station I only had my work desk and computer in the same cramped room as everyone else and that’s it only higher ranking people had offices so this makes me feel a bit special. Thank you.” He walks over to the desk and gently pats it for me to sit down. I sit down on the crinkly new leather chair. When I meet San's eyes he gives me a weird indecipherable look.

He then pulls out a phone from his pocket and hands it to me and says “Please don’t make me regret giving this to you.” I take the phone and I shake my head “No, of course not. I promise I’m not going to do what you’re thinking. I promise I don’t have any plans of helping the police and you should know that. I'm all yours.” I give him a soft smile and he immediately says “Alright, so I’ll leave you to it. I have to go but remember, I love you.” I let out a soft scoff and I say “Stop phrasing things so weird, you sound like you’re going to die or something.” San forces a half hearted smile and says “Of course I’m not going to die I just wanted you to know that’s all.” He leans over to me and gently kisses my forehead reaching into his pocket and putting a fat wad of cash in the palm of my hand "I’ll get going now, get yourself something nice you deserve it.” Before I'm even able to say something I stay seated in my chair and stare at the phone and the wad of cash he gave me. He’s acting a bit weird, something tells me something bad is going to happen.

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆.

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#ateez series #ateez fanfiction #choi san x reader #park seonghwa x reader #ateez x reader #ateez imagine #ateez angst #fic: the syndicate #mafia au #ateez fanfic #non idol au #slow burn

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vickyvicarious · 10 months

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I greatly fear that she is of too super-sensitive a nature to go through the world without trouble. She will be dreaming of this to-night, I am sure. The whole agglomeration of things—the ship steered into port by a dead man; his attitude, tied to the wheel with a crucifix and beads; the touching funeral; the dog, now furious and now in terror—will all afford material for her dreams.

I think it will be best for her to go to bed tired out physically, so I shall take her for a long walk by the cliffs to Robin Hood's Bay and back.

This might be an answer to the question of why Lucy sleepwalks to the graveyard. I know a lot of people say it's Dracula's doing,and even her earlier sleepwalking is easier to mistake as his influence when not paying attention to dates. But we know that she's been sleepwalking for over a week now, when he was still way out at sea. Even if she is vulnerable to his mere presence in some way that doesn't require any direct intervention, that wouldn't explain her sleepwalking with that much time/distance between them. So it starts perfectly naturally.

Then, the question is, at what point does that change? And tonight's sleepwalking is such a departure from usual, one that leads her right to him to be drunk from for the first time. So it's tempting to say now is when he starts. But honestly, I don't think that's true.

Mina points out here that she thinks the events of the day will provide material for Lucy's dreams and influence her sleepwalking. Later on, we get Lucy's own account of what she remembers from that night:

"I didn't quite dream; but it all seemed to be real. I only wanted to be here in this spot—I don't know why, for I was afraid of something—I don't know what. I remember, though I suppose I was asleep, passing through the streets and over the bridge. A fish leaped as I went by, and I leaned over to look at it, and I heard a lot of dogs howling—the whole town seemed as if it must be full of dogs all howling at once—as I went up the steps. Then I had a vague memory of something long and dark with red eyes, just as we saw in the sunset, and something very sweet and very bitter all around me at once; and then I seemed sinking into deep green water, and there was a singing in my ears, as I have heard there is to drowning men; and then everything seemed passing away from me; my soul seemed to go out from my body and float about the air. I seem to remember that once the West Lighthouse was right under me, and then there was a sort of agonising feeling, as if I were in an earthquake, and I came back and found you shaking my body. I saw you do it before I felt you."

While there are other reasons for several of these elements, there are parallels to the events of the funeral as well. Dogs always oppose Dracula, so they may well have been truly howling... but Mina doesn't mention it, so it's possible that was part of her dream. If so it could have been related to the terrified dog she saw at the funeral. Similarly, the idea of water and drowning men, while perhaps just part of the experience of being drunk from, could have been an impression influenced by her thoughts of the story of the Captain and his companions. Another detail, admittedly more tenuous: while the lighthouse isn't in the same area as the cliffs that she and Mina walked to, or the Demeter's crash site, Lucy's spirit still goes towards the edge of water and land... towards the direction the Demeter blew in from?

Even Lucy wanting so badly to go to their spot in the graveyard despite being afraid... It could be due to the incident at the funeral making such a deep impression upon her. It scares/upsets her, but weighs heavily on her mind, and things that are on her mind can influence her sleeping behavior. Mina took her on a long walk that day as well... what if that plays in to sleeping Lucy wanting to go on a longer walk away from the house?

Mina is tired herself tonight, and perhaps doesn't hide the key as well, since she feels like the long walk will have done the trick to get Lucy to rest quietly. And we've seen a build of Lucy being more determined to try and get out anyway, with her having an odd concentration and searching for the key...

#dracula daily #dracula daily spoilers #lucy westenra #after this point dracula certainly influences her #but i think if he does so now it is at best a passive effect from her sitting over him during the funeral #and possibly nothing related to him at all yet #dracula dreams

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wheredafandomat · 2 years

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Someone great 💚P10💚

Loki x Divorced! Female reader

Previous Part Next Part

A/N: for some reason this gif is now I see Bucky in this fic 😂 idky. I think he’s still likeable despite the fact that we hate him 🤣

As soon as you saw Alexis, you pulled away from Winnifred before smiling politely at her as Bucky entered behind you with your bags.

“I’ll just go and put these down.” He spoke, glancing at Alexis as she hugged Olivia before his eyes met yours.

“I’ll take mine it’s fine.” You offered, not wanting to be near Alexis.

“No worries.” Bucky dismissed you, beginning to make his way towards the stairs.

“I said it’s fine.” You said again, trying to grab your bag as you walked up the stairs with Bucky.

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked once you both reached the top.

“You didn’t tell me she’d be here too.” You answered causing Bucky to roll his eyes as he started walking towards the room you usually stayed in.

“Be nice” he said, putting your bag down “she’s family too now.”

“Family too?” You began, knitting your brows until it clicked “you mean you—”

“No, I haven’t proposed.” He assured. “And don’t worry I haven’t called you here to do it this weekend.”

You breathed a sigh of relief knowing that your ex husband wasn’t about to propose to his new girlfriend infront of his ex wife and daughter as well as his parents who were so happy at your engagement party. That would just be awkward.

“Well, I’ll ‘play nice’ as long as she keeps her distance and doesn’t try to discipline my daughter.” You decided, sitting on your bed.

“That was one time” Bucky chuckled “and it was literally at a funeral.”

“Still happened.” You answered, opening the bag Bucky had placed on the bed and strangely feeling embarrassed when a pair of your underwear flew out. Luckily for you, Bucky didn’t acknowledge them and continued the conversation as you quickly picked them back up, shoving them deep into your bag.

“Olivia will be in the room next to my one so this whole side of the floor is pretty much yours.” He smiled, beginning to step out of your room. “Dinner is at 8, call me if you need anything.” He added over his shoulder.

“Will do Mr Barnes.” You smiled causing Bucky to stop walking for a second as he heard you. Your own smile fell as you realised what you had said. Being in this house served as a reminder that you and Bucky were once married. From the moment you first became his fiancé, you called him Mr Barnes and he always replied with a toothy grin and a Mrs Barnes.

“And as always, make yourself at home Miss y/l/n.” He spoke before leaving. You wasn’t sure whether you felt hurt or embarrassed, probably a combination of both. You took a deep breath hoping that as you exhaled, the ground would just swallow you whole. Unfortunately it didn’t and you were very much still present in one of the first rooms you and Bucky had had sex in. Recently you hadn’t really thought about you and Bucky’s past marriage or the fact that he had broken your heart considering you had been a little preoccupied but this house was doing no favours when it came to suppressing your memories. Pulling your phone out, you messaged Loki.

Y/N: This is definitely not going to be a fun weekend 😒

Loki replied a couple of minutes later

Loki💚: What’s the matter?

Y/N: Boobs is here

Loki💚: Boobs? Alexis?

Y/N: Yes Alexis 🤮

Loki💚: 😂😂

Y/N: It’s not funny!

Loki💚: It’s only for a couple of days, just try to ignore her

Y/N: 🙄

Loki💚: If you do, I’ll take you away for a weekend. How about that?

That made you gasp

Y/N: A weekend where 😏

Loki💚: Just get through this one first xx

You were about to message him again until you heard a knock on your open door. Looking up, you smiled as your eyes met Winnifreds.

“Win—mother.” You welcomed her inside.

“He told me she really wanted to come.” She said, rolling her eyes. “She’s already getting on my nerves.”

“Winni” you laughed “it’s not good to speak ill of people, but tell me everything.” You said excitedly as she walked further into the room, closing the door behind her before pulling out the dressing table chair and sitting down.

After about half an hour of catching up with Mrs Barnes, she left leaving you in the room alone. You unpacked a few of your things before making your way downstairs where Olivia was plying hide and seek with her grandad who Bucky shared an uncanny resemblance to. Your eyes met and you waved a silent hello to the man before leaving. Seeing that Liv was more than alright, you made your way towards the room she’d be sleeping in before unpacking her bag. You laid her pyjamas out on the bed and then left, bumping into Alexis on your way to dinner.

“Y/n.” She smiled, seemingly a real smile so you greeted her with the same.

“Alexis.”

You both walked down to dinner in silence. Instead of taking your usual place next to Bucky at the table, you sat opposite him, tucking Olivia into the chair next to yours whilst Alexis sat next to Bucky. The dinner passed calmly, not too much conversation save the odd group joke. As you ate dessert, Olivia discreetly feeding some to mr giraffe, you thought about what Loki said. A weekend away with him sounded perfect. You’d probably not be able to walk ever again afterwards but it’d be worth it. As your mind drifted further onto the activities you’d both get up to, perhaps involving a swing, you noticed Bucky leaning over and kissing Alexis as she giggled about something. For once, you didn’t feel sad or alone or hurt, you felt fine. Your mind didn’t drift to the days when it’d be Bucky kissing you, it drifted onto the feeling of another man’s lips against yours. You thought of how it felt to kiss Loki. It was a welcomed change.

Once dinner was over, Bucky told you you were free to roam as he’d look after Liv and put her to bed. You decided on going for a small walk around the house before brushing your teeth and going to bed realising how tired you were. Just before you closed your eyes, you saw a notification from Loki.

Loki💚: Night sweetheart x

In your half asleep state you replied.

Y/N: Love you, night x

Y/N’s dreams when she subconsciously knows she’s made a mistake but can’t work out what

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#loki x reader #loki x female reader #loki fanfic #loki (marvel)#oc fiction #loki fanfiction #loki smut #loki x y/n #bucky x you #bucky x reader #dad bucky #loki fluff

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spectres-scribbles · 7 months

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Countdown

Prologue

May 3040

“It’s over, right?” Erend asked as he hugged Aloy from the side as the squad gathered around each other, reunited and victorious.

Aloy said nothing, for now.

Let them revel in this hard-earned victory. They’d earned it.

The truth could wait for a few days, until they were back at the Base.

“Let’s get out of here, shall we?” She said instead.

Enthusiastic agreements met that question and together, the squad retraced their steps out of the base, eager to be gone from the place.

- - - - - - - - - -

They set up camp once they were back on the mainland so that they could tend to their injuries.

Unsurprisingly, Sylens continued on his way up the coast without stopping or saying anything other than a quick “I’ll be in contact” to Aloy.

“Where’s he going?” Erend asked, watching the fake-Banuk’s Charger disappear into the darkness.

“Tilda’s mansion, I think.” Aloy responded. “It’s just up the coast from here.”

“What for?”

“Knowing him, he’s probably going to start going through the base, now that the Zeniths are no longer a threat.”

“More shiny toys for him to play with?”

“I guess we’ll see.” Aloy responded with a shrug.

“What was he talking about, with that whole ‘You people will need my help’ bit, anyway?” Erend commented.

Aloy and Beta shared a look at that.

They’d hoped to wait, but now that the question had been asked, there was no way that they could blow it off completely.

“We thought the fight was over with the Zeniths, but in truth, it’s barely just begun.” Aloy told the group.

“Barely begun?” Kotallo repeated. “What do you mean?”

“We’ll explain it all when we get back to Base. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all, in truth.”

“Must be serious if even you’re having trouble with it.” Erend noted.

“Understatement of the century,” Aloy mirthlessly told her Oseram friend. “For now, we focus on getting back to Base, then we plan our next move.”

τ - ι - κ - μ - χ - θ

After Zo had checked her and cleared her, Beta went straight to work, beginning to check GAIA’s rig. Shortly after, Aloy found her when she was cleared as well.

“The rig seems okay, no external damage.” Beta reported as Aloy approached her. “I haven’t started any diagnostics on GAIA herself, though.”

Despite the clinical air she was trying to project, Aloy seemed to sense that something was bothering her sister, for she reached out to put a hand on the younger clone’s shoulder. “Hey, you okay?”

Without warning, Beta turned away from the rig to bury herself in Aloy’s arms.

“He was my first real friend,” Beta murmured thickly into Aloy’s neck.

Unlike the others, Beta hadn’t had any chance to mourn Varl. Literally the minute the Zeniths returned to the base, they’d shoved Beta into the chair, chained her, and forced her to work on integrating HEPHAESTUS into GAIA. Whatever little rest she had, she was tortured via virtual reality dissociation.

Gerard had even used Varl’s murder to crush Beta’s spirits so that she wouldn’t try to fight what she was being forced to do, which had anguished her to no end. It had only been when Aloy contacted her via Tilda’s data channel that she had regained some hope, enough to hold on until Aloy and her other friends had come for her.

“I know.” Aloy murmured back, trying to comfort Beta, but feeling awkward while doing it. “I’m sorry I was so impatient and ignorant back then. I treated you the way I was, and I shouldn’t have.”

“Did you guys…?” Beta quietly asked but was unable to finish the sentence.

“Yeah, we buried and held a funeral for him.” Aloy answered with a nod. “It was the main reason why we took so long to rescue you once I stopped Regalla and her army from slaughtering Hekarro and forced Sylens to join us. His memorial is outside the eastern exit to the Base-”

“So he can see Plainsong and the Sacred Lands like he and Zo liked to do.” Beta finished, nodding. “I’m glad.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Zo, who turned her focus to the evening meal after having finished the squad’s medical exams, announced from her place at the campfire.

Aloy pulled back a little to look at Beta. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

ψ - σ - ρ - ξ - ζ - ε

Their meal was quick and easy: Beanweed Bites with canteens of water to wash it down. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to sate everyone’s hunger. Even Erend, who preferred ale to water, didn’t complain, glad to have food in his belly.

“You can have that when we’re back at Base.” Zo told him with a roll of her eyes, earning a chuckle from the rest of the squad as they rolled out their bedrolls.

Aloy tasked her two Clawstriders to watch duty patrolling the area around their camp to act as a deterrent for troublemakers, while the Sunwing perched in nearby ruins for a bird’s eye view of the area. Their herd of Chargers were grazing peacefully nearby but would react to fight alongside the Combat machines if there was trouble during the night.

With all that done, Aloy turned her focus to her own bedding. As she was doing that, Beta approached her.

“Can I sleep with you?” Beta asked Aloy timidly, as around them, the rest of the squad got settled for bed around the campfire. “I just… don’t think I can… I don’t want to be alone…”

Beta could still see Erik Visser stabbing Varl, hear his taunting words to the Nora Brave as the light had left Varl’s eyes, every single time she closed her own.

The psychological torment she’d endured was still too fresh, and she needed a physical connection with her kin to anchor her and keep the darkness at bay, to show her that all of this was real and not a figment of her mind.

That her sister and her other friends had really come for her and ended the Zeniths, once and for all.

“Yeah, of course. Not a problem.” Aloy didn’t hesitate to nod her head, understanding her twin’s trauma, raising the blanket so Beta could climb in.

It wasn’t long before the sisters drifted off to sleep, Beta clinging to Aloy’s arm that rested between them to ground herself.

- - - - - - - - - -

Beta’s sleep didn’t last.

Sometime in the night, the younger clone bolted upright in bed, screaming out in terror, which quickly woke the rest of the camp.

“Wha’s happening?” Erend asked, sitting up but still mostly asleep, as he frantically grabbed blindly for his warhammer. “Who’s attacking?!”

Zo scowled at him. “Stow your hammer, Erend. We’re not under attack.”

“Then why…?”

“Why do you think, given what the Zeniths were doing to Beta? She had a nightmare.”

“Easy, sister. Easy.” Aloy murmured softly to Beta, mostly ignoring the exchange between Zo and Erend, sitting up and gathering the younger woman in her arms to offer physical comfort to her sister. “You’re safe, Beta. You’re safe.”

“The Zeniths…” Beta whimpered out.

“Are dead. They can’t hurt you anymore.” Aloy assured.

“Or any of us.” Alva said softly as she sat down beside Aloy and Beta and began to rub Beta’s back to offer further comfort. “We all made sure of that.”

Eventually, Beta calmed down, but it was a while before sleep claimed her again.

Alva and Aloy stayed with her the entire time, even as the rest of the squad dozed off around them, offering comfort and assurance until she felt safe enough to try again.

“Thank you for that,” Aloy said softly to Alva as she lowered Beta back to the bedroll.

“Don’t mention it.” Alva replied just as softly as she went back to her own bedroll. “I imagine that it’s going to take some time for her to feel completely safe again after what she was put through. Makes you wish you could strangle the shitheads, doesn’t it?”

Aloy could just make out Alva’s scowl as she got settled back in her own bed, and couldn’t help but grin a little at how well and truly stirred up the Quen Diviner was on Beta’s behalf, as she only swore like that when she was really pissed off and didn’t care about being polite.

“Oh, strangling would only be the start of what I’d do to them if I could, trust me.” Aloy replied darkly before trying to clear her mind so that she could also get some more sleep. “Night.”

“Goodnight.” Alva replied.

Sleep didn’t claim Aloy again for a while after that as well, but she contented herself with watching Beta as she did, glad that the younger clone at least was getting her much needed rest.

- - - - - - - - - -

The next three days were spent travelling, their pace steady to give injuries time to heal.

Beta rode with Aloy on one of her Clawstriders, cuddled up to her elder’s back, occasionally drifting off to sleep as they journeyed.

They stopped at Fenrise the first night, Gattak happily welcoming them into the settlement and giving then food and beds for the night, and The Grove the second, where Hekarro was relieved to see Aloy and her squad return in one piece, and had happily put them up for the night as well.

From there, they made the final push to the Base.

Throughout the entire trip, it was clear that the questions about what Aloy had said about the fight having only just begun burned bright in the minds of the rest of the squad, but they respected Aloy’s need to be given a chance to wrap her head around the revelation of Nemesis and kept their talk inconsequential and light.

Even when they got back to Base, Aloy and Beta were given their space, Beta focusing on restoring GAIA after Erend and Aloy had brought the rig inside, though the squad did come together to celebrate their victory against the Zeniths with a feast the following night after their return, the feast food coming from every tribe to represent their unified efforts against their enemy.

Initially, Aloy just watched her friends enjoy the celebrations from the sidelines, not really participating herself, but eventually, Erend dragged her in, before raising a toast to their success, and she gave in and joined the revelry.

When she had retired for the night, she’d hung Elisabet’s and Rost’s pendants side by side on their display rack, contemplating them as she thought about the battle that was coming, before someone knocking on her door pulled her out of those thoughts.

Beta was on the other side, a blanket and pillow roll in her arms, and Aloy didn’t hesitate to let her in.

ψ - σ - ρ - ξ - ζ - ε

There’s another battle ahead, Elisabet.

Very different from the one you fought.

It’s not about the distant hope of creating a new world, it’s about preserving the one we have.

ψ - σ - ρ - ξ - ζ - ε

The next day, the group gathered in GAIA’s chamber after lunch, where Aloy delivered the news about Nemesis to her friends.

“Fire and spit!” Erend exclaimed as Aloy finished speaking.

The rest of the group, sans Beta, were likewise stunned.

“How in the name of the Ten are we supposed to fight such a thing?” Kotallo breathed out, tearing his gaze from the digital representation of Nemesis that GAIA was projecting for the squad to look at Aloy.

“I don’t know, honestly.” Aloy earnestly told her friends. “But this is why Sylens is going through the Zenith base; in the hopes of finding something - anything - that may help us fight it.

“When will it arrive?” Alva asked.

“According to GAIA’s calculations; sometime between May 3041 and December 3042. It should be noted that GAIA hasn’t detected it yet, as Nemesis is too far out of range of what she can hear right now. That range is based on a few assumptions about how long the Zeniths were planning to stay here. Once she detects it, she estimates that we’ll have about six months to finish up preparations for it.”

“And what’s happening with HEPHAESTUS? Are we going to try and capture it again?” Zo queried.

“HEPH’s going to be a bit of a wild card.” Beta spoke now. “Contact with the Zenith network will likely have supercharged it, giving it access to new technologies, tools and upgrades.”

“So we’re going to see even more deadly and dangerous machines popping up from now on? Lovely.” Erend drawled.

“Even though the merge with GAIA was aborted, she was able to copy some of the original HEPH code base. On top of that, Sylens has already extracted some extremely helpful data from the Zenith copy of APOLLO. Combined, these developments should enable GAIA to exert significantly more influence over the terraforming system.” Beta informed the squad. “She won't be able to take direct control of machines, or stop HEPH from building new combat units. But she estimates that by deploying a variety of workarounds, she can stabilize the biosphere within a year. So we don't all die, at least not before Nemesis arrives.”

“But to answer your question; since GAIA now has some of HEPH's source code, we should be able to develop new strategies to contain it.” Beta told Zo. “It'll take time, of course, since HEPH will likely write Omega Clearance out of its code like it did with Alpha Clearance, if it hasn’t already, so a repeat of GEMINI is out of the question.”

“So what’s the plan?” Erend asked Aloy.

“Right now, getting word out to the tribes about the coming threat is paramount.” Aloy told the group. “We need to find allies that can help and are willing to fight when the time comes. We need to be united, all of us, if we’re going to stand a chance at stopping this thing.”

“I can talk to Morlund. His family is well known in the Claim, so, between the two of us, we should be able to grab some people’s attention.” Erend offered after a few moments of thought.

“I’ll return to Landfall to inform Bohai.” Alva told the squad. “I’m sure he’ll want to return to the Delta now that the storms won’t sink what ships we have left. He’ll speak to the Emperor on our behalf.”

“And what about you? Will you go as well?” Erend asked Alva.

Alva shook her head. “I can’t, in good conscience, leave now, not knowing what’s coming. Like Aloy said; we have to fight this thing together. I choose to stay and fight. For my sister, for my parents, for my people.”

“Thank you.” Aloy said to Alva sincerely. “I know it won’t be easy to stay when the ships set sail.”

“I came to this land to find a way to save my family. I can’t leave now.” Alva reiterated. “And I’m sure that once the word spreads through Landfall, I won’t be the only one who’ll make that same choice.”

“I would like to give Bohai one of our Focuses before he departs, however, so that we can expand the network to the Delta, once GAIA’s completely up and running again, if that’s okay?” Alva continued, turning to Aloy to make her request.

Aloy nodded her head. “Of course. Take as many as you want. The same goes for the rest of you when you go. We need to start expanding the network with allies that we can call on when Nemesis arrives.”

“He’ll find a way to use it to his advantage with the Board of Overseers, I don’t doubt it.” Alva warned, regarding Bohai. “No Diviner in the history of the tribe has ever had access to a later model Focus before now, and he’ll exploit that to the fullest. But I’m sure that he will petition the Emperor for aid.”

“I figured as much.” Aloy nodded, having expected that Bohai would do as Alva described, but was willing to turn a blind eye to it if it meant that the Quen homeland would be warned of the threat and potentially send help. “Do you think the Emperor will listen?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. But I hope so.” Alva freely admitted.

“Time will tell, I guess.” Aloy responded.

“The Chorus will likely take some time to convince, but I’m sure that I can do it.” Zo spoke next. “Then I’ll head east, to the Sacred Lands. I owe it to Varl to tell his mother of what happened to him, and about her coming grandchild. And to tell the Nora of the coming threat.”

Erend looked to Aloy in surprise at this. “You’re not going to tell them?”

“I’ll have to face them at some point, being the Anointed, but for now, I’ll be staying here.” The Nora huntress replied. “I’ll have to head back east at some point, to speak with the Banuk about Nemesis, so I’ll probably visit the Embrace then. Of all the tribes, the Nora are probably going to be the trickiest to communicate with, since they’ll more then likely refuse to wear a Focus, outside of a few brave souls.”

Aloy quietly wondered if Teb, or even Nakoa, might consider it.

She’d have to see when she went there.

“Just be mindful, you might not get the warmest reception when they learn of your pregnancy, with it being unsanctioned. Especially with Varl being the War-Chief’s son.” Aloy warned Zo.

“Varl warned me when we started trying to have a child, that he’d face the wrath of the Nora for it, and me as well, because of that.” Zo nodded. “I’m prepared for whatever they throw at me. But thank you, for thinking of me.”

Aloy smiled. “It’s what friends do, right?”

“We owe you for stopping Regalla’s slaughter, as well as for what would have happened if she had succeeded.” Kotallo spoke last. “The Chief wants to repay that debt. The Tenakth will answer your call.”

Aloy nodded back, even as a plan started to form in her mind for something she could do to help Hekarro and the Marshals to rally and unify the Tenakth.

The Focus network would be part one of her plan.

Mentally shaking her head, and stowing those thoughts for later, Aloy focused her thoughts back on the meeting. “All of you, be careful, okay? Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help, and I’ll do what I can. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to have squad meetings via holo every couple of weeks for us to keep checking in with each other for status reports and the like.”

The squad didn’t hesitate to agree to that request, deeming it essential going forward.

With the meeting done, the squad trickled out, no doubt to start their various preparations for their departure the following day.

“The fellowship is breaking up.” Beta murmured to Aloy after the others had gone and it was only them and GAIA left, clearly saddened by what was happening, even if it was necessary.

The squad were family to each other now, as well as the first real friends Beta had ever had.

It would be so different, for both of them, walking around Base from now on and not hearing Erend’s music at full blast, or helping Zo with meal preparation, or playing Machine Strike with Kotallo, or talking with Varl about whatever latest thing he’d been reading up on, or helping Alva with her research.

“For now, we are.” Aloy replied, hugging her sister from the side. “But I’ve no doubt that when Nemesis arrives, we’ll all come back together again to face it.”

ψ - σ - ρ - ξ - ζ - ε

My friends have a new mission - to spread the word and ask for help.

They’ve taken it in stride.

I think it’s because they’ve always known what I’ve only just started to understand.

That the people of this world have the strength to fight any battle, the ingenuity to solve any problem, the courage to overcome any obstacle. And the resilience to rise after any setback.

ψ - σ - ρ - ξ - ζ - ε

After having one last breakfast together, the squad, sans Aloy and Beta, began to depart.

Kotallo and Zo were the first to leave.

“A word? Aloy asked Kotallo as he was collecting his things from his room.

“How can I help?” Kotallo asked.

“I’m not sure what the Tenakth do regarding the dead, but I was wondering if Hekarro would want Regalla’s body, if we can find it?” Aloy asked, getting to the point.

“For all the heinous things she did, she did redeem herself in the end.” Kotallo replied. “I believe the Chief will want to bury her with full honours at the Grove.”

Aloy nodded her head. “Meet me at the Sunwing site above Base when you’re ready to go.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Overriding all three Sunwings without them attacking each other took timing, and a little bit of luck, but Aloy succeeded just in time.

To say that Kotallo was stunned when he emerged to find Aloy standing by one of the newly tamed machines would be an understatement.

< < < JTF-10 > > >

“Commander?” The Marshal asked, even as his heart began to soar at what he thought was happening.

“It’s yours.” Aloy told him, gesturing at the machine, confirming Kotallo’s thoughts. “I figured that if you’re to spread the word among the Tenakth about Nemesis, that you’d need a little help.”

Kotallo was speechless for a few moments.

Aloy had seen the harm the wrong people could do with tamed machines.

That she trusted him like this, giving him his own Wings of the Ten…

“You honour me, Aloy.” Kotallo, finding his voice, bowed deeply to his commanding officer.

“I’m assuming that Hekarro and the other Marshals would also appreciate their own Sunwings?” Aloy asked, but Kotallo could see that she already knew the answer, knowing what she did about how the Tenakth revered the Wings of the Ten.

Already, many Tenakth were calling Aloy ‘She Who Flies on the Wings of the Ten’ for what she had done stopping Regalla’s attack on the Grove, and Hekarro had mentioned to Kotallo, during the GAIA Gang’s stopover there days prior, that the tribe’s Painters were planning on coming together to paint a mural in the Grove to honour Aloy’s heroic actions.

“To help get the tribe ready? Most definitely.” Kotallo responded, his mind already imagining how things would change going forward.

The combination of the Sunwings and the Focus network would make the Marshals far more effective in their jobs, allowing them to travel the Clan Lands quicker than before and also be able to report back to the clan Commanders and Hekarro without having to return to a clan’s capital or the Grove in order to do so, and would make them considerably more formidable against the remnants of Regalla’s rebels, or any other trouble-makers, if they tried to act against the Chief or the tribe again.

“It’ll probably take me a week or two to override the rest and deliver them to the Grove.” Aloy told him, partially in warning.

“That’s fine.” Kotallo assured. “It’s better that you take your time doing this.”

Kotallo understood that the process could be tricky if Aloy was trying to tame more then one machine at a time, that a tamed machine could start attacking wild ones due to its programming being changed before she’d moved on to the next.

“Alright then. Ready to learn how to fly?”

All Tenakth dreamed of being able to do this, of flying in the air like the Ten had once done.

That it was becoming a reality for him…

“I was born ready.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Kotallo was a natural, as it turned out, mastering the basics of flying fairly quickly, and before long, he and Aloy, along with the two spare Sunwings, were on their way back to the Zenith base, Kotallo smiling subtly the whole time, clearly revelling in what he was doing, of the feeling of the wind on his face.

- - - - - - - - - -

Once they were flying over the base, they were greeted with an unexpected site; the previously pristine printer was now a smoking ruin of twisted metal.

“HEPHAESTUS’s work?” Kotallo asked Aloy.

“Or Gerard’s, to prevent it from spitting out any more Zero Dawn machines.” Aloy surmised. “Either way, it’s one good thing in our favour. Nemesis won’t be able to use it against us.”

“That’s certainly true.” Kotallo agreed.

“Though I suspect that that will only be a temporary setback for it, if it really wants to use it.” Aloy added realistically.

Kotallo chuckled.

It was typical of Aloy to see all sides, but that was what made her such a good leader: because she took everything into account.

Though that also worked against her, when something occurred that she hadn’t planned for, like Varl’s death, and she acted like it was her personal failure that she’d failed to predict everything.

“There is that.” The Marshal agreed.

After that, it wasn’t long before they arrived at their destination, finding a small mound of Spectre corpses and some debris waiting for them.

“A fitting death, indeed.” Kotallo commented as he took in the sight. “But how are we going to get to Regalla’s body?”

Aloy answered with action, flying her Sunwing to the topmost Specter and used her machine to start shifting the felled machine by gripping one of it’s arms in the Sunwing’s talons and pulling it down one side of the mound.

Kotallo quickly followed his commander’s lead on the other side.

- - - - - - - - - -

In the end, they moved one shy of a dozen machines before they found Regalla’s battered body, mostly intact, her greatsword broken on the ground beside her.

Aloy steered her Sunwing away from the site to land in a clear spot nearby so that she could dismount, taking something from her machine’s back before she approached the fallen woman.

Kotallo also landed his Sunwing in a clear space and followed Aloy in.

“Give me a hand?” Aloy asked Kotallo as she dropped what she was carrying on the ground, revealing that it was a bag of some sort as she unzipped and opened it up, though it looked big enough that Regalla’s body would fit inside. “I don’t think I can lift her body on my own.”

“You take her legs.” Kotallo directed as he bent to slip his arms under the body’s shoulders and Aloy did the same on her end. “On three. One… Two… Three.”

Between the two of them, they manoeuvred the body into the waiting bag.

Afterwards, as Aloy was rigging up grips for the Sunwing to carry the body with from her grapple rope, Kotallo gathered up Regalla’s sword, and her mask, and placed them in the bag as well before Aloy zipped it up.

Once Aloy was sure that her knot-work was secure, she stood to face Kotallo.

“You want to carry her, or me?”

“I will.” Kotallo volunteered.

With a nod of her head, Aloy gestured to Kotallo’s Sunwing, indicating that he should mount up. “I’ll help you take hold.”

Nodding back, the Marshal mounted his machine and took to the air, bringing it to hover where Aloy was waiting, holding up the grips until Kotallo’s Sunwing had a good grasp on them, then she stepped back out of the downdraught.

“Alright, take her up a bit so I can see if the rope will hold.” Aloy called up to him. “I’d rather test it now while we’re close to the ground then when we’re on our way back and high in the sky.”

‘Wise.” Kotallo returned with a nod, before doing as Aloy asked.

After a few minutes of hovering in the air, and seeing that the rope was still holding strong, Aloy nodded her head, then made her way back to her own waiting Sunwing.

“Ready to get out of here?” She asked once she was also in the air.

“More than ready.”

With a chuckle, Aloy recalled the spare Sunwings, who had been set to a patrolling watch once Aloy and Kotallo had started excavating for Regalla’s remains, and then they were on their way back to the mainland.

- - - - - - - - - -

As they flew, Kotallo studied the aftermath of the battle beneath them as they passed, the sparking heaps of machines - Specter and Zero Dawn alike - as well as the bodies of the fallen Zeniths.

Part of him had wished that he could have been a member of the main attacking force, to see HEPHAESTUS churning out machines to take on the weakened Zeniths and their army of Specters for himself, as well as to fight alongside the rest of the squad, but he contented himself with the knowledge that what he and Alva had been tasked with had been just as important to the mission’s success.

Not only had they given the squad a fighting chance against their enemies, but they’d also made the discovery of what would eventually lead to Aloy and Beta uncovering the truth of what was really going on, and that was something he’d always be proud of.

- - - - - - - - - -

By the time they got back to the Grove, it was late afternoon, and the sun was just starting to set in the west.

Even so, the arrival of the four tamed Sunwings caused a stir among the Tenakth who were posted there, the young soldiers gawping at the sight as Aloy’s and Kotallo’s Sunwings came in to land, though Kotallo had to carefully drop his cargo on the ground first before his Sunwing could, the spare Sunwings following their lead, which quickly brought Hekarro, Dekka and Ivvira to investigate the hubbub.

“Marshal. Champion.” Hekarro greeted them both as they dismounted from their machines.

“Chief.” - “Hekarro.”

Kotallo and Aloy returned tandem greetings.

“What brings you here?”

“We bring Regalla’s body for burial.” Kotallo told his Chief, gesturing to the bag in front of his Sunwing.

Hekarro crouched down and touched the bag. “She died a good death?”

“Her help was instrumental in helping get the rest of the squad, minus myself and Diviner Alva, past some Specters and further into the Zenith base.” Kotallo reported. “She felled nearly a dozen of them before they killed her.”

Hekarro nodded as he stood back up.

“I’m glad to hear that for her sake. She got the death she was seeking that I was unable to deliver.” Hekarro then called to two of the nearby posted guards. “Nexx. Drevva.”

The two snapped to attention and came over.

“See that the body is taken to Tevvona to begin preparations for burial.” Hekarro instructed the two young soldiers.

“Yes, Chief.”

“The rope is yours, I assume?” Hekarro asked Aloy, noting that the young woman was missing her normally ever-present grapple.

“My grapple rope.” Aloy confirmed.

“Tell Tevvona that the rope is to be returned in one piece to the Champion.” Hekarro further instructed.

“Yes, Chief.”

The four Tenakth and one Nora watched as the two young soldiers carefully shouldered the body between them and departed the throne room and trekked towards their intended destination.

“Is there somewhere we can speak privately?” Aloy asked Hekarro, her expression solemn, once the two men were out of sight.

“Follow me.” Hekarro said and led the way to the strategy room.

- - - - - - - - - -

“Does this have something to do with the mission you’ve just completed? Your attack on the mysterious island next to the Valley of the Fallen?” Hekarro asked Aloy as they gathered around the planning table, Aloy and Kotallo on one side, Hekarro, Dekka and Ivvira on the other.

They’d stopped and spent the night at the Grove on their way to the Zenith base as well as on their return back to Base, so Hekarro had been aware that something was happening, and where, but not the specifics of it, and that it was therefore no coincidence that they were back just days after completing said mission and looking quite serious to boot.

“It does. The island was home to some living Old Ones called Zeniths. They kidnapped my sister, killed one of our squad, and took something from us that was imperative that we get back.”

Kotallo could see that Hekarro and the others had questions regarding the Zeniths, about how any of the Old Ones could still be alive after the Time of Ashes, so he intervened to get their attention back on the reason that Aloy had asked for this audience with him.

“I’ll explain about the Zeniths at a later time, Chief, but for now, it’s imperative that you hear what Aloy has to say.” Kotallo told Hekarro.

“Very well.” Hekarro nodded at the younger man before focusing back on Aloy. “And what did these… Zeniths take from you?”

“A living Vision called GAIA.” Kotallo told his fellow Tenakth. “GAIA is the reason that any of us exist after the fall of the Old Ones.”

“GAIA was created by an Old One called Elisabet Sobeck while the Metal Devils were wiping them out.” Aloy picked up the explanation, projecting an image of Elisabet for them to look at. “GAIA was tasked with bringing life back to Earth once the Old Ones had been wiped out. And as Kotallo said, she succeeded.”

Dekka was quick to pick up Aloy and Elisabet’s similarities. “You look exactly like her, Aloy, albeit younger, but how can that be?”

“Because I’m a clone - a copy - of her.”

“And why is that?” Dekka asked, puzzled but curious.

“Because twenty years ago, something threatened life on Earth. To protect us, protect all life, GAIA sacrificed herself to stop it.” Aloy explained before turning to address Hekarro. “That day that AETHER fled here? The day you saw the Faraday Vision here in the Grove? That was the day GAIA destroyed herself in the east. It’s also when I was created.

“GAIA knew that only someone with Elisabet’s blood and bone would be able to gain access to certain special Old One ruins through them, be able to fix what was about to happen by bringing GAIA back to life. The Derangement, the storms, the famine, the Blight, and indirectly, the Red Raids, all of that happened because GAIA wasn’t around to guide the machines trying to fix the world.”

“And you succeeded in that mission?” Hekarro asked, though he clearly had already guessed the answer, as things had started to get better in the months since he’d first met the flame-haired huntress and she’d spoken of her mission to him.

Aloy nodded in conformation. “I, with the aid of Varl and Zo, was able to revive her shortly after entering the West. She’s in our base in the mountains above Plainsong. But even though she was restored at that point, she couldn’t yet start to fix things.”

“And that’s where what you came here seeking comes into play?” Hekarro guessed.

Aloy nodded. “AETHER, and the others like it, which we called sub-functions, are the tools GAIA uses to repair and maintain the world. When GAIA sacrificed herself, they fled, seeking refuge wherever they could find containers big enough to store them, including here, and once they’d done that, they tried to continue with their work, but without GAIA’s guiding hand, their efforts led to what happened: ruin.”

“But we weren’t the only ones seeking to fix GAIA, the Zeniths were, too. Which is where my sister comes into this. Just as GAIA knew that only someone of Elisabet’s blood could fix her, the Zeniths knew it as well, creating Beta in the same way that I was so that they could also gain access to those same special ruins.”

“But your sister defected from these Zeniths and joined you and your squad.”

Aloy nodded. “At the time, we believed that the Zeniths intended to use GAIA to clean slate the Earth, killing all human life, so that they could make the world they wanted. Beta couldn’t stand that and hated them for how they’d treated her while she was growing up, so once we discovered each other’s existence, she escaped them as soon as she was able to, sending a distress call to GAIA that she knew I wouldn’t ignore.

“But even without Beta or GAIA, the Zeniths knew that my squad and I were working on fixing GAIA, so all they had to do was sit back and wait, putting a watch on the final sub-function, named HEPHAESTUS, knowing we’d have to go after it eventually to capture it as well, as it was the most important tool for GAIA to fix the world.”

“And what does this HEPHAESTUS do?”

“It creates the machines. The Derangement is entirely its work, as it was trying to protect the machines from human hunters.” Aloy explained. “Trapping HEPHAESTUS wasn’t as easy as it was with AETHER or the others, as it had grown too large for the container I used to return them to GAIA in once I’d retrieved them, and it was spread throughout the Cauldrons. Sites where the machines are created.” Aloy added at Ivvira’s puzzled look.

“To trap HEPHAESTUS, we had to corner it in a special Cauldron, the one south-west of Scalding Spear, the one the Desert Tenakth revere as the Gate of the Vanquished.”

“Special how?”

“It has two cores, due to earthquakes occurring while it was being constructed. GAIA needed to install herself in one core and contain HEPHAESTUS in the other so that we could begin to return it to her. But the second we did that, the Zeniths knew where we were, and they came for us. They killed Varl, incapacitated me, and took Beta and GAIA. They would have killed me also, if one of them didn’t turn on the others to save me.”

“One of the Zeniths defected to your side?” asked the Chief.

Aloy nodded again. “Yes. Her name was Tilda. She helped me plan and carry out the attack on the Zenith base. She also told me about the bomb I dropped on the Grove to stop Regalla’s assault.”

“Impressive.”

“Which leads to our attack on their base. During the attack, I had Alva and Kotallo split off from the main squad to strike a critical target that would help the rest of the squad’s infiltration.”

“You speak of the knowledge-seeker, yes? The young woman with the different looking Old One relic? The one whose tribe is on the Isle of Spires?” Dekka asked Aloy.

“The one with a thousand questions to ask you about the Visions during our stopovers here?” Aloy finished with a slight chuckle. “Yeah, she’s the one.”

“Anyway, the other part of their mission, once that was done and the Zenith computers were vulnerable, was for Alva to go through the Zenith files to find out if Tilda was hiding anything from us, as I didn’t fully trust her motivations.”

“I take it from your demeanour that they did find something?” Hekarro asked after studying Aloy for a moment.

Taking a breath, Aloy began to tell Hekarro, Dekka and Ivvira about what they’d learned.

“Yeah, Alva did. And this is what I found out…”

- - - - - - - - - -

“Blood of the Ten…” Hekarro breathed out, leaning heavily on the table, as Aloy and Kotallo finished their report.

Dekka and Ivvira were likewise shell-shocked, though they stood back from the table, also trying to wrap their heads around what they’d just been told.

“That’s why we’re here now; seeking allies. No single tribe will be able to defeat this thing alone. We have to come together if we’re to stand a chance at stopping it. Because if we don’t…” Aloy trailed off.

Hekarro understood the unspoken.

“The Tenakth will answer your call. Our arakhs are yours, Aloy of the Nora.” Hekarro, pushing off the table to stand straight, pledged to Aloy without hesitation. “We will gladly fight at your side against this threat.”

Kotallo nodded, having expected that Hekarro would swear to Aloy once he heard about Nemesis.

All Tenakth loved a good fight, and there would be no greater battle for his tribe then fighting to protect their world, and all life in it, from being snuffed out.

“I assume that you want Kotallo to spread the word on your behalf amongst the Clans?” Hekarro perceptively asked, looking between Kotallo and Aloy.

It was well known that Kotallo was a member of Aloy’s squad, so it was only logical that he do this task within his tribe for his CO.

Aloy nodded. “It’s why I’m returning him to your command for the time being.”

Hekarro nodded back before he addressed the younger man. “Marshal.”

“Yes, Chief?” Kotallo responded.

“I will still require you to do your duties as a Marshal from time to time, but henceforth, your primary task is to do what your Commander has asked you to do.”

“I understand, Chief.” Kotallo nodded his head to Hekarro, then repeated the action to Aloy. “Commander.”

“Marshal.” Aloy returned the nod.

“I will endeavour to make sure that he’s returned to your command, when the time comes, in one piece.” Hekarro told Aloy seriously, understanding that the GAIA Gang would be front and center when the fight finally began.

“I’d appreciate that.” Aloy thanked Hekarro. “And I actually have a couple of things to give you to help with that, as well as to help unify and rally the Tenakth. The first are these…”

Reaching into one of her back pouches, Aloy brought out three Focuses, coming around the table to give one each to Hekarro, Dekka and Ivvira.

“Your Old One relic?” Hekarro asked as he studied the tiny piece of metal in his fingers.

“It’s called a Focus.” Aloy explained, then gestured to where her Focus sat on her temple. “They go on the temple, just like mine.”

One by one, the three Tenakth did as instructed, the Focuses adhering to their skin when they were close enough and activating, which startled them at first as they experienced the Focus’ Second Sight and what it revealed for the first time.

“This is how you see the world?” Dekka breathed out as she got used to the display around her.

“Ever since I was a little girl.” Aloy responded, sounding a little wistful as she spoke those words, and Kotallo knew why: that was what she’d said to Varl the first time he’d donned his Focus.

“You activate and deactivate the Focus by tapping it, just like this.” Kotallo told his Chief, the Chaplain and his fellow Marshal, showing them how, so that they could deactivate them for now. “I can teach you the rest of the functions with time.”

“Kotallo has the rest of the Tenakth’s Focuses, to be distributed to the rest of the Marshals, the Clan Commanders and the Chaplains, as well as anyone else he deems worthy and trustworthy of them.” Aloy explained to Hekarro. “You’ll be connected to our greater network from now on, be able to contact any member of it, if you wish, including myself and members of my squad, but GAIA can set up a seperate network, just for the Tenakth, if you want her to.”

“I thank you.” Hekarro nodded.

“The second part are the Sunwings. Kotallo has his. The first spare is yours.” Aloy said to Hekarro. “And the last…”

Ivvira perked up and looked hopefully at Aloy. “Is mine?”

“A training tool, for now, to allow the Marshals to get used to flying. You’ll get yours soon enough.” Aloy corrected with a chuckle before turning back to Hekarro. “I should be able to tame the remaining machines - for the Marshals, at least - over the next couple of weeks and will bring them here as I do. If you feel that there are others who deserve one, who won’t abuse the privilege, let me know, and I can tame more at a later date.”

“You have my thanks and gratitude for this, Aloy. These gifts will make the Marshals far more effective at their jobs.” Hekarro thanked Aloy profusely, clearly recognising, like Kotallo had, the show of trust and faith that Aloy was putting in him and his tribe in doing what she had.

“And far more formidable against what remains of the rebels, or any other trouble-makers.” Ivvira enthused. “I almost wish that they would try something, though, if only to see the look on their faces when we show up on our own Wings of the Ten.”

Kotallo chuckled at that, having imagined it himself.

“There’s one last thing that the Focus can do for you.” Aloy told Hekarro. “Perhaps the most important thing.”

“And what might that be?”

Activating her Focus, Aloy displayed a table containing the Latin alphabet for Hekarro, Dekka and Ivvira to look at.

“Carja glyphs?” Hekarro asked after a moment of studying the table, clearly remembering Fashav’s journal.

“The Old Ones called it the alphabet.” Aloy corrected. “It’s how they read and wrote. Each Focus contains an educational module that will teach you how to as well.”

Hekarro blinked at that, then pulled his Focus from his temple to look at it. “This little relic can teach me and my people the written language of the Old Ones?”

Aloy nodded. “Just as I learned when I was a girl. Just as Kotallo did when he joined my team.”

“Of all the things you’ve offered today, this is by far the most precious. Thank you, Aloy. We won’t forget this.”

“It’s why you were reaching out to Avad, isn’t it? To learn how, so that the Tenakth could record their history in another way, and not lose it?” Aloy asked rhetorically in return, already knowing the answer.

Hekarro simply nodded his head in answer.

“For you and the others who have a Focus, you can learn at your convenience, but for the rest of the Tenakth, I was thinking that the Chaplains could expand their duties and become teachers of the written word as well.”

“As they should.” Hekarro nodded in agreement, seeing that Aloy understood his tribe well enough to give this task to the ones best suited to it, even despite being an outlander, before turning to Dekka. “Do you agree, Chaplain?”

“I do, Chief. Thank you for this, Aloy.” Dekka offered her own thanks to the young woman for the opportunity she was giving them. “I’ll get word to Jetakka and Gerrah.”

“If you’re ever stuck, or need help, with this, or anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out.” Aloy informed Hekarro. “I’m staying in the West for now and I’m more than happy to assist wherever and however I can.”

Hekarro nodded his head. “I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Aloy.”

- - - - - - - - - -

“You’re more than welcome to stay here for the night, if you wish.” Kotallo told Aloy as they made their way back to where Aloy’s Sunwing was waiting, pausing as one of the guards returned Aloy’s grapple and the bag to her.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass. We all saw how fragile Beta was after we rescued her, and with the Base now empty, I’d rather not leave her there alone right now, at least until she’s feeling a bit better.”

They’d all seen how shaken Beta had been, and they’d kept themselves in her sights at all times those first few days after her rescue, so she knew that what had happened was real and that she was safe.

Not to mention that her nightmares continued to plague her nightly.

“I understand. Fly safe, Aloy.”

“Will do. I’ll see you in a few days with the next lot of Sunwings.” Aloy offered in parting as her Sunwing took to the skies.

ψ - σ - ρ - ξ - ζ - ε

“Erend and Alva get away okay?” Aloy asked when she returned to the Base, not surprised to find Beta in GAIA’s chamber, checking over the reinstalled AI.

“Yeah. Erend was going to escort her to the ferry to make sure she got there safely, then return to the Hidden Ember.” Beta told her sister as Aloy came to a stop beside her and embraced the younger clone from the side as she worked. “He said he’d call when he got back, so we knew he was okay.”

Beta looked up from her work, suddenly timid and uncertain about what she wanted to ask. “Hey… um… you wanna watch some eps of Second Time Around with me after dinner?”

In the past, Aloy had deemed such things as irrelevant, preferring to remain focused on the mission, so she understood Beta’s hesitance to ask her about it now, but after they’d hashed out their differences, Aloy had vowed that she would start treating Beta with the kindness that she was overdue to receive, which included showing interest in the things her sister loved.

“Sure. Why not?”

Beta beamed in response. “Really?”

“Really.” Aloy affirmed. “Though speaking of dinner…”

Beta just smiled, knowing of her sister’s love of food, and let herself be led out of GAIA’s chamber and towards the kitchen.

ψ - σ - ρ - ξ - ζ - ε

As for me, I can’t say that I’m not afraid.

What lies ahead will be harder than anything we've faced before.

But I know I can put the fear aside, because for the first time in my life... I feel like I’m not alone.

ψ - σ - ρ - ξ - ζ - ε

#horizon forbidden west #horizon burning shores #aloy x seyka #seyloy #my writing

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horizon-verizon · 7 months

Note

I had a legitimate question/complaint that I wanted to send you and I'm still going to do so but while I was thinking about it something else occurred to me and I wanted to share it but I wanted to tell you something first.

The change in Rhaenyra and Laenor’s relationship is the ONLY change I am willing to wholeheartedly accept because it was a wonderful change.

The canon versions aren’t much related to speak of. Rhaenyra has her reasons for not wanting to marry Laenor and at one point she makes a homophobic comment and Laenor did the bare minimum by showing up to a couple of events and visiting so he could say “oh yeah, that baby is definitely mine🤭 Can we call him Joffrey?☺️” (which still means he recognized them as his own and they were legally Velaryon)

But in the show Rhaenyra and Laenor quickly create a mutually beneficial partnership, Rhaenyra cares for Laenor very clearly during 1x05 trying to reach him and I interpret her expression while they are getting married as her acknowledging Laenor’s pain, Laenor is obviously much more present in the children’s lives and at court, we can see a little how complicated that dynamic must have been with Laenor having the freedoms of a man and Rhaenyra being technically superior to him (and none of them seem resentful of each other!), Laenor also worries about Rhaenyra and blames himself for some of their problems (it’s not them, it’s Alicent) and failing Rhaenyra and the children. Rhaenyra in turn takes the time to assure him that she doesn't blame him, that she doesn't see him as defective or wrong.

A I have no idea where the shot came from that Laenor was uncomfortable holding Joff (I thought he was uncomfortable because of Alicent, you know, the woman who made his wife walk after giving birth and that insults him at least twice) but I don't think he is any more uncomfortable with children than most parents of that time, I would even go so far as to say that their relationship is close. We see Laenor carrying Joffrey both on the way back and when Rhaenyra leaves the court, in the second case they could have given him to a nanny but no, Laenor was the one carrying their son. Another moment I really like is the low-key shot of Laenor and Luke holding hands during Laena's funeral or the whole thing with Laenor, Rhaenyra and Harwin with the kids. There is no discomfort, children are not distant or uncomfortable when dealing with him.

In all the ways that matter Laenor claimed the children as his own, he had a pretty good relationship with Rhaenyra despite it not being sexual in nature and the problems that brought about for reasons and it is shown that he loved them.

The real queer friendship in the show was Laenor and Rhaenyra not Alicent and Rhaenyra. And that's my controversial opinion today.

I talk about Rhaenicent HERE, how it didn't and still doesn't make sense to me due to the writing not bringing enough reason as to why it exists. I also must remind people that I am not queer (I don't think bc IDK these days) or of the LGBTQAI+ community. So if I am missing something that could explain some stuff about queerness in fiction or real-life sexually-incompatible relationships, let me know, please!

I am torn about this relationship--book AND show-wise but what I am sure of is that this relationship wasn't as "mutually" beneficial as some might think. Most of it was neither of their faults, but Rhaenyra's situation vs Laenor's is enough reason for her to be resentful not just of her father but him as well. Their relationship was consequently emotionally distant from Laenor even while living in the same spaces as him for a decade. So instead of being a "sweet" thing, it was more a "bittersweet" thing.

Book!

Context for the comment Rhaenyra made against marrying Laenor ("A Question of Succession"):

"My half brothers would be more to his taste".

And Laenor naming their last child ("A Question of Succession"):

"Laenor was at last permitted to name a child after his fallen friend"

And these are when and where the V boys were born (114, 115, 117).

There are layers to each part of these quotes: Laenor is "permitted" to name his own child. More likely barred by Corlys than Rhaenyra because the first two have Velaryon-sounding names and Laenor thus has been made to push aside his first (known) great love/disconnect from his own gayness/"repress" for the sake of patriarchal-heterosexual tradition WHILE Rhaenyra's comment about Laenor reveals a parallel to the preference shown towards boys and men in her society. He would "prefer" someone else, a male, over her. Her concern is not primarily "owning" him sexually but it mirrors/parallels/reminds her that her father/patriarchy diminishing a woman's importance or decentering her for the man's centering and sociopolitical elevation. The "man" here is Viserys and Corlys.

But in the inverse, Laenor named their kid after his past lover when Rhaenyra couldn't give a Targaryen name or any name of her choosing to their last two boys.

Of course, that is a little self-centered of Rhaenyra but the bubble of resentment comes from a valid place and is not completely unfounded and she sorta has to be bit more self-centered...more tragic for them both.

And Laenor naming their last child after his dead lover when he's supposed to keep his relationships a secret for the better of their kids if not for himself is also sort of self-centeredness. Again, when Rhaenyra seemingly couldn't name her own first 2 children.

In a way, Young!Book!Rhaenyra takes Laenor's sex acts (bc Westerosi do not have the conceptions of sexuality being an identity element so much as an act of pseudo-taboo sex acts) as his being another person/obligation/worry who is forced on her, not going to add to her life and not caring for her or prioritizing or supporting her to a certain degree that she needs--another "burden" aside from the one political benefit of tying the Velaryons to her...which is necessary in the first place bc she is female and Viserys pissed Corlys off.

It's like it touches on that wound girls/women carry. In-text/world, I felt it moves through Rhaenyra-the-person/character as unconscious resentment towards another instance where she cannot access what she desires and becomes stuck with a person who cannot even desire her at the very least, as she finds Harwin can later. The show actually does well enough to bring out what was likely true from the original story here when she's talking to Daemon in episode 7 about Harwin: "It felt good to be desired". To have someone be there for her.

(bc despite that injury he had that might have taken months to heal, I still think it's too strange and non-coincidental to ignore how Rhaenyra's first three kids all do not look at least like herself in coloring, not in eyes or hair...Alysanne was one Targ with Andal blonde hair and blue eyes while Alyssa had one purple eye for goodness sake! and the Targs after Daeron II's generation had traits from either one or both parents, Targ or not Targ...this is a fiction piece and while it models real life, it is less random as real life, and "85-90%" of stuff is done for a reason)

And with Laenor, as I mentioned, he must have felt pulled apart from himself--resentful of his forced marriage and further repression from such marriage to Rhaenyra, thus his staying away.

I don't think that they didn't come to respect each other or even not care about each other in the book NOR that they were horrible people for how they felt feelings and their circumstances, how they moved around each other, and probably interacted. Especially after Laenor began spending more time with Rhaenyra after their sons' confrontation with Aemond at Dragonstone.

But it never came across to me as particularly close or Laenor taking up the responsibility to those he apparently did see as a family until said family was hurt. And I have not seen anything to suggest Rhaenyra was concerningly hurtful or homophobic towards Laenor after they marry in canon. So, do we really know if she actually hated him in the original story, or thought his queerness made him less than or worthy of hate, esp with what I said about it more about expressing her frustration?

Show!

You:

It seems like Rhaenyra still got the shorter end of the stick to breed a stronger sort of resentment. I think that their relationship was actually more or less the same as it was in the book, and the space they shared only affected Laenor's time spent with the kids and not time spent helping Rhaenyra elsewhere. I could argue it should have been even a little worse bc they live in the same space and Laenor is doing the same things as his book counterpart.

That unequal position, in my view, actually kept them emotionally apart enough for Laenor to not really understand Rhaenyra as a person while Rhaenyra seems to understand Laenor pretty well. To look at this doylistically, honestly, this could be a fault of the writers and the time jumps, but let's dive in.

FIRST - We have not actually seen, at any point, Laenor approach Rhaenyra to ask what's up/check-in. Any time he's there, he's there for either the most dramatic things (birth of a son and climbing the stairs), complaining, or inadvertently make her seem an anomaly (comments about breasts). At the end, again like in the book, he offers to be closer to her and focus on her and the boys...and that is the only time we see some sort of action of the sort of support Rhaenyra sees she will get from Daemon, thus her decision to have Laenor "killed".

After Joffrey Lonmouth's death, Laenor found Qarl Correy and Rhaenyra had allowed the man to be close to Laenor despite the rumors. Laenor doesn't mind and even seems to like Harwin. But unlike Rhaenyra, Laenor does not need nor want a good image as much as she does. Rhaenyra needs Laenor more than the reverse.

SECOND - In the 5th episode after Joffery's death, yes, she is acknowledging his pain but you'd have to be self-involved to a particular degree or just plain unobservant to not sympathize and acknowledge that pain...plus she knew they were together as Laenor told her and they made that a private arrangement on the beach presumably just a few days before. Finally, in that episode, she has not actually lived with him yet.

THIRD - Due to the time jump, we do not know how Laenor got to be a permanent resident in the Keep of King's Landing when he should have been at Driftmark as he is in the book before Laena's death/Vhagar's "claim". Does either Viserys or Corlys order him to stay with Rhaenyra? Did Rhaenyra order him to stay by her side with her? Did Laenor choose freely or under a nonverbal pressure from those around him and what exactly did that look like? Did he have a confrontation with his father concerning his sexuality and the image its open-secretness presents to the family and he just needed to get away from Corlys--did he and Rhaenyra bond over that? Even so, how does the court treat both Rhaenyra & Laenor, both of whom are in court with their respective lovers: Laenor being cuckolded (doesn't matter that he's gay, he's a man and "gayness" is not an identity to these Westerosi) and Rhaenyra, as the future ruler, cannot be made to be seen as weak through her husband's/partner's open "infidelities".

More Notes

Many have noted how unaware Laenor is in the show. Both are resigned, but Rhaenyra is less..."blind", I'd say, because she has to be "on" and aware of others all the time. This alone shows that they cannot be as close as some people claim, because they are not on a similar page of observation of each other or their situation.

This is Rhaenyra & Laenor says about his desire to go to war:

War is afoot again in the Stepstones, Rhaenyra. The Triarchy takes new life from its alliance with Dorne. They're waylaying ships and cargo. Qarl's been fighting there. He showed me a... ( laughing ) He showed me a sack of sapphires big as walnuts he took from the pirate he slew. Ah... After all this time, this is just what I need, a little adventure. A good, honest battle to enliven my blood again. He says there is a Tyroshi general there, a giant, they say, who dyes his beard purple and wears women's frocks. ( laughs ) A few months, maybe...

AND

I am a knight... and a warrior. And I have played my part here, faithfully... for ten years. I am owed some...

AND

Rhaenyra: You are owed nothing! For ten years, you have indulged yourself at court, bought the finest horses, drunk the rarest of wines, fսckеd the lustiest boys. This was our agreement. I have not begrudged you. But... you do not desert your post when the storm lashes. Laenor: The wise sailor flees the storm as it gathers.

Aside from me not liking how Rhaenyra's decision to go to Dragonstone is compared to what Laenor meant by leaving (bc she is doing it for the sake of family and people's lives versus him trying to abandon said family...this is not some modern tale where the newly out and thriving queer person incidentally has kids who can survive their absence or at least not have it threatened after all):

Laenor had been trying to get out of being in KL with Rhaenyra for, as he calls it, "adventure" as if he weren't already in some sort of agreement with Rhaenyra to protect those he himself decided to treat them as his own sons. If it weren't for the fact he sees those kids as his own AND that agreement before they were even born, I wouldn't 100% begrudge him. Add to the fact that, because he's a man, if he weren't so lower-ranked or actually cared for his non-trad family he could have just gone and no one would disparage him in the slightest. Her having to remind him of his promise and stop him from making comments about her body to--who is to her--a stranger while she's trying to stop herself from leaking and coming back from a council where her stepmother/former friend has tried to humiliate and undermine her the whole time -> her reminding him it was not her who put him in their position so as not for him to make it seem as if she were the one imprisoning him in the first place when he said he had the right to is itself a stack of emotional labor. It truly read to me that Laenor was trying to escape the life he has with Rhaenyra as much as he did in the book. It wasn't actually much of a real change.

At the same time, we must remember that show!Rhaenyra is a very different person from book!Rhaenyra. This is a woman who would not go to war for the throne her father gave her because her father was a man who tried to be as nonconfrontational as possible AND for a prophecy that she should have reasoned her father never would have told Aegon, of all people, about and how he took the time to drag himself out of bed for her & her kids' rights/protection in episode 8. The show unconsciously makes a more quietly repressed woman of Rhaenyra in an attempt to make her more "likable", to her own, more-avoidable detriment.

One reason why show!-her may not feel like ordering Laenor more--other than realizing his being forced like her--is the inevitability of his freedoms despite his queerness. Why make a "fuss" when it will not actually go anywhere and it will actually hurt Laenor? Another reason is by how she looks at Laenor, she feels guilt at being the person Criston was actually angry with--thus indirectly leading to Laenor losing his lover so traumatically, thus maybe trying to take it upon herself to make sure Laenor has little reason to either resent or begin to actually hate her more (bc he is both one of the only people there in her camp to keep her some sort of company aside from Harwin in some way) and/or she feels like she must take the responsibility of making him happy. Both of these can give another "responsibility" along with being a mom, the court images, Alicent, her father's social self-blindness, etc even though Joffrey's death is not her fault as much as it was Criston's. All/more eyes are on her and her behavior and she is the one having to birth a kid one minute and walk up a flight of stairs the next. And she was absolutely going to do it alone because Laenor was not there until he decided to be. She is the one who will receive the least grace or attention and thereby the most blame. This is definitely not Laenor's fault...but his using that ability to be away, it certainly adds to the burden, potentially becoming a polyp of the main problem. This is, why again, they both decide that Laenor should "die", to repeat myself.

These things are inevitably going to breed resentment from Rhaenyra and travel against Laenor, esp when he's deciding to make it that much harder without acknowledging that he is or thinking how it could be. And if she were more resentful, or really even a bit more expressive towards him than she was in the show, I do not think that is a moral flaw on her part, doesn't make her the bad guy. Not expressing your anger more often doesn't make the relationship closer/better...in fact, it shows how disconnected they are emotionally. Not only is it possible she cannot feel as if she has all the right to "too much" of Laenor after Joffrey's death and how it went down, but she nevertheless "needs to" demand "more" from him because he's still not doing much, he agreed, their kids' lives and reputations are in danger, and by the near end of epi 6 he's even trying to get out of that much. No man could really understand or appreciate all of this, but again, that distance and trying to get out of things really clinched it for me.

Just because she doesn't hate him or lash out at him, doesn't mean the resentment against him isn't there and that it isn't strong. It shows itself in her sarcasm at his asking her if it hurt; her looks at his drunken talk about her leaking and swollen breasts to Qarl Correy (how fond would one be of a person after that tactlessness because it also shows how little Laenor really minds how his words will come across to her at specific moments?); her having to make it clear to him he must stay by her side and explain to him why she must (the mental load we modern talks about is paralleled here), etc.

And just because show!her was more accomodating, doesn't make her an actually better human than her book counterpart. Same with Laenor--just because he seems like he was around more often--especially since they here share the same space--doesn't mean he is there with her because he absolutely wants to be and is performing the duty he said he would. This is what Rhaenyra was talking about after she dismissed Correy so she could demand Laenor stay.

If anything, Laenor's proximity to Rhaenyra and still not being as there as he should makes it easier for him to be closer to his sons and have a relationship of sorts with their elder selves (because in the show those kids are also older--by appearance--than their selves in the book by this time, and thus they have had more time with Laenor as their dad). It didn't bring the married couple closer so much as give Rhaenyra visible, everyday proof her husband was not her partner.

Thereby, again, it wasn't actually all that "mutual"--he didn't have to put as much energy as her and he didn't and he didn't really think of how he could...but like you said, he did more than most fathers in that the little initiative he does give is more than what most fathers in his position would give Laenor does take a bit of initiative than most men would give in his position even if they wanted to be her Prince Consort for the influence, title, and power alone. He tries.....but then that still makes me question if he actually is there by circumstance, order, or choice and how he feels about that. Still, it's not good for him, so does he, if ever, blame or lash out at Rhaneyra and how does he express that.

The show tells us "unlikely", but that doesn't seem psychologically or emotionally realistic to me. On Laenor's end, he's told he cannot be that one masculine thing--be a brave adventurer/traveling knight--because his class/station has to lead him to marry a princess who depends on his voluntary discretion the balance between security and public respect when he never asked for any of it but he's told that he's a horrible person if he doesn't do this for his ambitious father.

It is because of all this that I do not see Rhaenyra as necessarily being hateful toward Laenor in either book or the show for his sexuality as much as his not being compatible with her needs after a whole life of subtle and unsubtle constraint while acknowledging that it isn't either of their fault...until in the show Laenor was headed there.

Their kindness (to a degree) for each other and Laenor's obvious willingness to at least perform when told or encouraged certainly make things easier. It's still far from what's needed, with it not quite meeting the bare minimum.

So for me, the change that I liked was their coming to a verbal agreement for them to look for other intimacies. It could have happened in canon, but we'll never know, GRRM chose to write this like a very unreliable history book written by misogynist, homophobic, etc. "men of learning". This wasn't a dumb choice, without its own storytelling merits (there's a reason we continue to use frame narratives), or even fun to read through...it's that you're trusting your readers a lot to know what's in their hands and some are just not going to get it or want to.

#laenor velaryon #rhaenyra targaryen #book vs tv comparisons #asoiaf asks to me #hotd queer #hotd writing #hotd praise #rhaenicent #asoiaf shipping #hotd ships #rhaenyra and laenor #hotd characterization #laenor's characterization #rhaenyra's characterization

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