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#i might have gone over board 😅

away-ward · 3 months

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The horsemen have been around the block and have had their fair share of women. They didn't really treat girls in the most respectful manner, either. So given their past and knowing how guys can be, what kind of dads would they be to their teenage daughters once they start dating?

I find it rather funny that all of them are girl dads now, and honestly see a bit of karma coming their way. 😅

The Dads and Daughters and Dating -

Hey. You’re absolutely right that they’ve been around the block once or twice. Regarding their daughters, they might be irritated when the subject of dating comes up. But only because they think no one is good enough, not because they're daughters are dating.

Kai, for his part, would be highly suspicious when Jett starts dating. He knows though, that he taught Jett and all of the girls how to defend themselves from someone bigger and stronger than them. Drilled that into their heads. Still, he wouldn't let just anyone take his daughter out. He's already does background checks on all her friends, so the second he hears whispers of a date or a dance or a name that's more than a friend, he's already knows if he's okay with them or not. And people he's not okay with don't get to hang around Jett, so it's a moot point.

Damon's thankful Tavi is intimidating. That, plus Mads, really cuts down on what he has to worry about. But if someone does manage to get over how wild she is, he's confident that she will be able to keep them in line. And if something does happen, she's got four older brothers, a cousin that's already killed for her, and him. She'll be fine. He doesn't stress it.

In Fire Night, Michael comments that he didn’t raise Athos to accept “no” as an answer, even from him. Which indicates to me that he pushed her to go after what she wanted regardless of who was standing in front of her. Even though he’s complaining, he’s actually very proud. When Athos starts dating, he's much more likely to have a problem with who she picks and that she won't listen to his advice, than the fact that she's dating.

Will’s daughters also seem very comfortable voicing their thoughts and desires to their parents. They'll probably have the same confidence in a relationship. Most of the fandom headcanons that they'll eventually end up with a Torrance boy anyway, and Will would be fine with that. As long as they're happy and treated well, which he trusts them to do.

Overall, the Horsemen are confident in how they've raised their daughters, and expect them to know their value. They are also aware that if anything troubling does befall one of them, they have the means to make the life of whoever hurt them difficult. However, they've gone out of their way to make sure Thunder Bay knows their unspoken laws of respecting women, and expect them to be adhered to. Additionally, they've raised their sons to look out for the girls when they can't.

They're watchful of potential suitors, but they won't stop their daughters from dating. (side note: Unless it's an insane psycho criminal. I think Michael might have a problem with Athos dating Micah's sister... but this dating in general.)

First, and this is probably a hot take, I don’t know if I’d consider the boys to have always been disrespectful. Really, this idea assumes all the girls they had encounters with felt disrespected. This interpretation comes from the idea that all girls want to be somebody’s special someone, which isn’t always the case. Some girls just want to casually hook-up and would prefer a guy that doesn’t want them to stick around. Not to say that all girls got what they wanted, but to say that the boys were intentionally deceitful across the board would be an overstatement.

For the most part, I think the guys were pretty up front about their intentions with girls, and specifically selected girls that would meet them on that level, instead of going with just any girl. I think they probably avoided the ones that would try to cling to the idea of something more between them.

Also, the narrative of the story makes it a point to separate the Horsemen from boys like Ethan and Anderson, who very clearly did use and take advantage of women. Further, in the Thunder Bay short story, the Horsemen go out of their way to save Alice’s step-brother because he was willing to end the team when he realized what they’d done.

All signs indicated that the guys had at least some respect for women, and expected others to rise to do the same.

(also, the whole point of their part in the thunder bay short was that they had seen how the boys at tbp had started to abuse girls, and then got involved to clean it up in preparation for their daughters. the message being the guys aren't going to just allow boys who don't get it to thrive in thunder bay)

I would also hope that anyone in Thunder Bay would be aware of the reputation these men have. The whole town still seems to treat them as if they’re kings. The dads would probably rely a lot on that to ensure their daughters are respected just the same.

Moving on, we do get some indication of how each man will raise their daughter. In Fire Night, Damon and Kai argue over it, with Kai wanting to create a space where women will be protected so his daughter will feel safe, and Damon wanting to raise a daughter that could protect herself because the world would never be safe enough.

I mean, of course any dad that loves their daughter is going to be anxious of their daughters getting their hearts broken. They want the very best for their girls and for them to be free to experience the great things world has to offer. These girls were not raised to tolerate being used as objects, or to feel shamed for going after what they want. At the same time, they're also creating in environment where boys know the difference between being open and honest, and using and abusing someone.

Their daughters may get their hearts broken once or twice, but I don’t think any of these dads would go on a war path. They may hate the boy or girl who made their daughter cry, but that’s just part of growing up, and they’ll help their daughter deal with it (unless you count some petty revenge. I can see them sinking the car of a boy that broke their daughter's heart in the river, or otherwise generally inconveniencing them until they left for college.)

Don’t discount their sons, either. Damon also takes note of how his boys are constantly helping their mother, indicating that they’re raising their boys to be aware of when she needs help and offering it freely. I think this is something they’d carry into their personal romances, and would probably have the same standard for any relationship their cousin, sister, and whatever they consider Indie and Finn to be, gets into. The fathers probably have no issue using their sons to send a heavy message.

I know this probably isn't the response you were expecting, and I get if some of my ideas don't connect. I just don't see them panicking over their daughters making their way in the world and having experiences, since they all wanted women who did the same.

But please feel free to share your thoughts too!

#asked and answered 234 #asked and answered #devil's night series stuff #the horsemen of devil's night #the women of devil's night #ko's headcanons #michael crist #kai mori #damon torrance #will grayson iii #character discussion #devils night #ko's dns tag

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shinsengumi-archives · 9 months

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Hey there, I may have a possible Shinsengumi blade. It came back ID'ed as made by Aizu Kanesada and the koshirae is a match for what they were using. Is there someone I could reach out to to get possible verification of this blade and koshirae being Shinsengumi?

I think the best bet would be if you could find the previous owners and trace it back to the family of a Shinsengumi member.

You might be able to submit the blade for shinsa with the NTHK or NBTHK. This would mostly be for verifying the authenticity of the blade and whether it was really made by Kanesada rather than finding out its history, but I remember hearing stories about how people sent a blade for shinsa only to discover that it's a long-lost national treasure belonging to someone famous.

That said, I can't imagine how someone could determine whether a blade belonged to the Shinsengumi without knowing its ownership history. Unlike national treasures, I don't think there are detailed records about all the blades owned by the Shinsengumi members that we could use to match the blade to its original owner, but I could be wrong.

Another possibility would be to contact a Japanese historian or museum that specializes in the Shinsengumi. Or better yet, a Hijikata family descendant such as the Hijikata Toshizo Museum that's run by a descendant of Hijikata's older brother, but I'm not sure if it's possible to make inquiries in English. The Hijikata family might potentially know whether Hijikata Toshizo owned any other Kanesada swords, since he already had at least 2 katana, a wakizashi, and a tanto by Kanesada (did he collect them? 😅). They might have the documents to identify any of Hijikata's swords that might have gone missing over time.

Just wondering, is the sheath red with a design similar to this?

Most of Hijikata's were red. That must have been his style 😅

And do you see any Hijikata kamon on the koshirae? If that's true, then there's a very good chance it could be one of Hijikata's swords, but even then, it would be hard to tell for sure.

The Nihonto Message Board is another resource. While they probably couldn't verify it for you, they might have more ideas about how you could get verification.

Even if it couldn't be verified as Shinsengumi, it's still really cool to have a sword made by Kanesada.

I would love to see some photos 😊

BTW: Did you get it from the SF Japanese Sword Show by any chance? I went there last weekend and bought a nice late-Edo tanto koshirae:

#kanesada #sword #sword hijikata #original

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cynical-mystic · 1 month

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Commentary prompt!

Not for the first time, Claude wonders just why Sylvain invited Felix to join their weekly tea and chess time, despite Sylvain’s explanation that he wants the two of them to get to know each other better. Instead of learning more about Felix, Claude’s guard has gone up tenfold, helped along by the fact that he soon realizes he can’t ever really know Felix, not like Sylvain does. The face of the one person he’d ever thought of as a friend as a child flashes behind his eyes and he has to focus on not breaking the teacup in his hands.

“That’s just because you don’t care about strategy,” Sylvain says, waving off Felix’s complaint as he studies the board. “You’re all go, go, go, you rarely stop and think.”

“Look who’s talking!” Felix snaps. “You’re the fool who’ll throw himself in front of anyone being attacked if there’s the slightest chance they might get hurt.”

Crack!

Umber and vermilion eyes turn to him, but Claude is already grabbing for a napkin to wipe up the small amount of tea that was left in the cup he just broke. Thankfully it was his turn to provide the tea set, so he doesn’t have to worry too much about replacing the damn thing. Sylvain leans over to take the pieces from Claude while Felix watches, eyebrow raised.

“You okay, Claude?” Sylvain asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says, still not looking at him. “Just a stupid accident.”

Claude knows that the only reason why Sylvain accepts this as easily as he does is because Felix is there; otherwise, he’d press Claude for what actually happened.

Once everything is clean, he realizes his hands are shaking, so he clenches his fists.

“I think I’m going to have to bow out early,” Claude says, reaching out to knock over his king. “Sylvain, do you think you can take care of all of this?”

“Sure, but–”

Claude all but knocks his chair over getting up and walking away.

Jose, I love you, but did you really have to pick the one scene in that fic where I wrote it and was like "I'm not even quite sure why this is the way it is?" 😅😂🤣 Thanks for the submission! I love this fic so freaking much. I'm putting the rest under a cut because we get kind of long. Hope you enjoy!

This excerpt is from Chapter 9, "Proof of Pain," in Tangled Winds, the first entry in my Green Sarabhas series. I wrote this fic in a month and a half, and it's the longest thing I've ever written.

Okay, so you know that writing advice that says to write what you know? When I write, I put so much of myself into what I'm working on that sometimes I can go back and say "ah yes, I know exactly what I was trying to work through while I was writing this."

This is not one of those times!

In this fic, Claude is so insecure. There's this through line of this childhood friend that betrayed him and essentially ruined his ability to trust other people. For this scene specifically, Claude is struggling with the concept of letting Felix into his life. He's built a relationship with Sylvain to the point where he trusts him, but he knows next to nothing about Felix, and the one thing he does know is that Felix has been friends with Sylvain since they were children. Claude's assumption here is that, no matter how close he and Felix may wind up getting, Felix's first loyalty will always be to Sylvain.

For someone trying to build allies to help him when he takes the Almyran throne, that won't work.

For a scared, lonely boy who wants absolute assurance that he's the most important thing to the people he cares about, that won't work.

“That’s just because you don’t care about strategy,” Sylvain says, waving off Felix’s complaint as he studies the board. “You’re all go, go, go, you rarely stop and think.”

“Look who’s talking!” Felix snaps. “You’re the fool who’ll throw himself in front of anyone being attacked if there’s the slightest chance they might get hurt.”

Crack!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Claude hasn't seen Sylvain in real battle yet, and has no idea how much of a self-sacrificing idiot the boy he loves is. The fact that this revelation comes from Felix reinforces the idea that Claude will never be enough for Sylvain, and that he'll always need Felix too.

While emotionally healthy, well-adjusted adults know that you can be the most important person to someone while they still have other friends who fill niches you can't, Claude is none of those things here.

The reminder that Sylvain could die and therefore leave Claude by doing something Claude can't really fathom doing himself at this point certainly doesn't help.

Okay, I will claim this paragraph as me protecting and not just being possessed by these idiots like I was while I wrote this entire series.

When I'm panicking, I tend to focus on mundane details as well, and when I try to remember things later, sometimes I'll pick out those mundane things instead of the thing that made me panic. It's a comfort thing, something I can relatively control.

“You okay, Claude?” Sylvain asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says, still not looking at him. “Just a stupid accident.”

Claude's thoughts here: Don't show weakness, don't show weakness, don't show- because in Claude's world, weakness is severely punished.

Claude knows that the only reason why Sylvain accepts this as easily as he does is because Felix is there; otherwise, he’d press Claude for what actually happened.

Anyone else use situations like this to their advantage? No, just me? 😅 Maybe there's more of myself in this scene than I thought.

Once everything is clean, he realizes his hands are shaking, so he clenches his fists.

“I think I’m going to have to bow out early,” Claude says, reaching out to knock over his king. “Sylvain, do you think you can take care of all of this?”

I'd like to focus on Claude's king for a moment. This fic was supposed to be "Sylvain and Claude get to know each other over chess after Claude harbors Sylvain for a night and gets curious," and while it spun widely out of my control, I went into this with no plan, so we're still clinging to the vestiges of that original idea here.

Also, I really don't think Claude would be able to stand leaving a game hanging like that.

Now that I think about it, it's also kind of symbolic of Claude's general submission in this situation. Instead of facing his fear and talking it out in the moment, he's leaving.

“Sure, but–”

Claude all but knocks his chair over getting up and walking away.

This is meant to portray the haste with which Claude gets up and flees. I'm not quite sure how exactly he would go about almost knocking his chair over while he stands, but that level of detail is typically irrelevant to me.

I love this ship, I love these three, and I love this entire series. Thanks again, @astaraxion, for the ask, and for being the best beta a person could ask for, and for being my friend. 🧡💜

#ask game #director's commentary ask game #green sarabhas #fe3h fanfiction #mystic speaks #astaraxion #claudesylvix

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sewingconsumesmylife · 1 year

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Hi it's been awhile. In between work I've been working on time I might have gone a little over board with the white streaks. He definitely is an old man now sorry time.😅

#sewing #linked universe #button eye dolls #plush doll #diy #lu time

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drabbles-mc · 2 years

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Again and Again

A Mayans!Juice Oneshot

Whumptober 2022: No.10 Poor Unfortunate Souls- Waterboarding

Warnings: 18+, angst, language, mentions of suicide, murder, torture (it’s literally a fic about waterboarding like you must know what you’re getting into lol)

Word Count: 1.8k

A/N: I have mentioned many times wanting to write a Mayans Juice AU. That being said, this was not the plot that I was planning for any of them. 😂 It just felt like the right time to sort of try it out though. It’s not a fully fleshed out AU obviously. But I cannot say no to a good Juice & Marcus dynamic. My other AU’s for Mayans Juice aren’t quite as brutal as this, but I hope you still enjoy 😅 Also, very special shout-outs to @narcolini and @yourlocalspacewitxch for coaching me through this one. Love yous.

SOA Taglist: @garbinge @espieviolet99 @mijop @chibsytelford @thanossexual @anditsmywholeheart @i-just-read-stuff @bport76 @withmyteeth @unicornucopia-fuckers @buckybarneshairpullingkink @shadow-of-wonder @punkgoddess-98 @paintballkid711 @black-repunzel99 @lexondeck @jitterbugs927 @fanfic-n-tabulous @mijagif @frattsparty @winchestershiresauce @redpoodlern @beardburnsupersoldiers @mveggieburger @choochoo284 @littlekittymeow @beardsanddetectives @juicyortiz @i-love-scott-mccall @passionatewrites (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

It didn’t feel like the water was ever going to stop. Every muscle in Juice’s body ached from fighting so hard against everything that was happening. His wrists and ankles were rubbed raw from him pulling against the restraints, his chest ached from the coughing, from being brought to the brink of drowning over and over again. Each time it ended, and he thought that maybe it was over, it would start up again.

They peeled the cloth off of his face, and Juice immediately began coughing and spitting up water. He was soaked at this point, water mixed with the sweat from trying to free himself from this impossible situation.

“Are you ready now?”

All of the voices had started to sound the same at this point. His brain was so rattled from everything that was going on, he wouldn’t have been able to tell who was speaking even if they were directly in front of his face. His head lolled back against the board behind him, chest heaving.

The same man spoke up again after the silence had gone on for too long. “Guess not.” He motioned for the other men to put the cloth back over Juice’s face.

Juice’s eyes went wide with panic, knowing exactly what he was in for and not wanting to be subjected to it again. He opened his mouth to protest but it was too late, they were already holding him back down.

All the ways that he thought he might go, drowning really hadn’t been one of them. There was no opportunity for it. Until now, that is. He’d been shot, stabbed, drugged, chased down by cranked-out junkyard dogs, and somehow had managed to survive all of that. Even when he tried to go out on his own terms, it hadn’t worked. He couldn’t believe that he made it through all of that just to get captured, waterboarded, and drowned by the goddamn cartel.

No matter how much rage he had bubbling up inside of him, it was being flushed out by the feelings of hopelessness as they continued to douse him. He didn’t know how it was possible to be stripped of all his senses and yet still be in so much pain. At this point he was just hoping that they would take it too far and kill him. He didn’t see himself coming out on the other side of this.

Then it stopped. Again.

They peeled the cloth off of his face and another fit of coughing ensued. He just wanted to sit up. He wanted to scream. He wanted them to just kill him already.

“Ready now?”

Juice shook his head, still coughing. He forced the words out, but it didn’t sound like him at all. “I told you. I don’t know shit.”

The man roughly grabbed the sides of Juice’s face. The sensation of it hardly registered, his body so overrun with everything else that was happening to him. “I don’t believe you.”

Juice coughed, trying to get his vision to focus in on the man standing in front of him. As things started to clear up a bit, he was fairly certain he recognized the man standing over him. It was the same guy who was always stuck doing the cartel’s dirty work. Maybe stuck wasn’t the right word, because he didn’t seem to mind what he was doing to Juice.

“I’m,” he wheezed as his lungs fought to get him enough air to speak, “new. They don’t,” he shook his head, coughing again, “they don’t tell me shit.”

“You’re a shitty liar.” He let go of Juice’s face. He stepped back and allowed them to cover Juice’s face back up again.

Juice shut his eyes tight, tears spilling over onto his face not that anyone would’ve been able to tell. It was soaked up into the cloth with the rest of the water that was being poured onto him. No one would know that the tears even existed. He also wondered if anyone was ever going to figure out that he was here. Maybe he’d just be left here. That felt fitting.

It started all over again. A bright light was shined into his eyes, forcing him to go from having his eyes completely shut, to squinting to the point where they may as well have been shut. Despite the fact that it hadn’t worked a single time before, Juice still pulled against the restraints around his wrists. He wasn’t even pulling against them to try and escape, he just wanted to shield his eyes from the light, maybe wipe the water off of his face. He hated how quickly he’d resigned himself to just being stuck there. Hoping took too much energy that he didn’t have right now.

“You don’t tell us now, we’ll just get someone who will.”

Juice didn’t doubt that if he didn’t give them what they wanted, they’d get rid of him and move onto their next target. But he also knew that no matter who they brought in next, no one was going to tell them anything. No one was going to break. He was the weakest link and if he was managing to keep it together, there was no way that anyone else was going to cave.

“Just,” he coughed, “just fucking kill me then.”

“You don’t owe these guys shit.” The man crouched down so he was more level with Juice. “Said it yourself—you’re new. You really wanna die for these guys? Would they die for you?”

Juice’s first feeling was relief at the fact that this guy was giving him some sort of guarantee that this was all going to be over soon. He knew that that wasn’t the intent of the statement, but Juice just wanted to be done. No matter where he went, a mess always followed. This was the most painful piece of proof of that. He didn’t want to die, but he did. Sure, when it was all over, they could say that he died for the club. That sounded good. But Juice knew that deep down, he was dying for no one other than himself. It didn’t matter if anyone else would do the same for him, because he wasn’t really doing it for them. Maybe before he would’ve thought that he was. Truthfully, he didn’t know who he was doing anything for anymore.

Juice was yanked from his scattered, blurry thoughts by the clicking of a gun. Even though the room wasn’t silent, the sound still stood out. Juice’s eyes widened against the harsh light of the lamp as he looked for the source of the sound.

He fought to lift his head off the board behind him, only to feel the cool metal of the gun pressing directly into the center of his forehead. Juice gasped, and immediately coughed once he did. He didn’t try to pull away, though. He tried to see past the light of the lamp and at the face of the man who was doing this to him.

“C’mon. Don’t make me do this.”

Juice managed a sad, defeated laugh. “You’re gonna do it anyway.”

The man sighed. “Alright.”

Juice knew that he should’ve been thrashing and screaming and fighting against this, but he wasn’t. There was no point. He wasn’t going to break free. He wasn’t even sure that he wanted to. He took a deep breath, letting his eyes close. He was ready for all of it to finally be over.

He was so focused on what he thought was about to happen, that everything that happened next went by in the biggest, loudest blur. He heard the gunshot, he felt the tearing motion along the side of his head, but he also heard a slew of other gunshots and footsteps. People were yelling but Juice couldn’t pick apart anything that anyone was saying.

The lamp was abruptly pushed away, the blinding light going with it. The burning pain along the side of his head made it difficult to focus on who was standing over him. They were talking to him. He could see their mouth moving. But none of the words registered—his ears were still ringing too much.

Then he was being moved upright. He felt people working at the restraints that had been digging into his skin for hours now. It was more painful than it was relieving.

The second that he was free from the binds, he was falling over. Someone managed to catch him before he hit the ground, and it was only then that Juice realized who was there. Or, at least, one of the people who was there.

“I got you.” Marcus’s voice was calm as ever as he reassured him. He could’ve easily swept Juice up off the ground if he had to, but for now he stood beside him as Juice painfully and slowly stumbled his way towards the nearest chair.

Once Juice was safely in the chair, Marcus knelt down in front of him. He waited there for eye contact that never came. He saw the way that Juice was trembling, his breathing still ragged. Blood was leaking from the graze left behind by the bullet that was supposed to go straight between his eyes.

Marcus rested his hand on Juice’s knee, knowing better than to take it personally when Juice still didn’t look at him. “You’re good.” Those two words got Juice to finally look up from the floor. When Marcus saw the look in his eyes, he fought to keep his composure. He’d never seen someone so sad, so disappointed about being saved. He amended his statement, “You’re gonna be good.”

Juice’s gaze flickered around the room, taking in the carnage left behind. The whole setup seemed so much less daunting when he wasn’t strapped to it, the men who had held him captive seemed much less imposing with their blood and bodies splayed out on the concrete floor.

“How,” Juice coughed, his voice still sounding like it belonged to another person, “how’d you find me?”

It wasn’t quite a smile, but something soft and reassuring crossed Marcus’s face for a moment. “We always take care of our own, huh?”

Juice coughed again, wiping at the water and blood trickling down his face. “Right.”

“Yo, Padrino,” Angel’s voice cut into their conversation, “we gotta fuckin’ go, man.”

Marcus nodded, not saying anything as he stood upright again. He silently offered to help Juice again, and he saw Juice’s hesitation to accept the offer. The thought crossed Marcus’s mind that if all of them left without Juice, he might not even try to fight it.

“You heard ‘em,” he said, “We gotta go.”

Juice nodded, allowing Marcus to help him stand upright again. His legs still shook, everything still ached. He leaned more onto Marcus than he wanted to admit, but the man didn’t say anything about any of it. Marcus wasn’t even looking at him, just focusing on making sure Juice got one foot in front of the other. Whatever conversations needed to be had, would be had later.

“I’m sorry.” Juice’s words were so soft they were nearly inaudible.

Marcus didn’t miss a beat, though. “No sorry’s. Let’s get you home.”

#whumptober2022 #no.10 #waterboarding #sons of anarchy #soa #juice ortiz #fic #mayans mc #marcus alvarez #my writing #fanfiction #drabblesmc

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grelleswife · 2 years

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The baby boy or Doll for the board game ask!!!

(Link to the original ask game may be found here)

Even better—I’ll answer for both!

O!Ciel

He’s committed more than his fair share of reprehensible acts, but our earl is also an adorable smol bean, which automatically exonerates him. Despite not being overly fond of children, this poor sad baby tends to activate my maternal protective instincts. Ironically, however, he’d probably scare the living daylights out of me in the real world. 😅 Just imagine being seated across from this kid, drinking tea together, and knowing that at a whim and with a flick of his wrist he could order his butler (who stands nearby, face wreathed in shadow, eyes glowing a sinister red) to annihilate you on the spot? And that his other servants are almost as deadly? Merciful heavens. 😭

“They work better as part of a dynamic” might seem contradictory given his crushing emotional solitude, but O!Ciel’s relationship with his garbage demonic foster dad is such an integral component of the series that it’s difficult to speak of one without mentioning the other. Even when writing fic, I usually have the most fun with the boi’s perspective when his personality can bounce off another character’s, especially during those snippy exchanges with Sebas.

Of course, I trust that “they got done DIRTY by fans” needs no explanation. Some adults are really out here lusting over this teenage CSA victim. 😒😒😒

Doll

I love her character design and the way she varies her gender presentation, from her enchanting, almost fairy-like circus costume to the casual, masc style she adopted as Freckles. As with the other Noah’s Ark Circus troupe members, I was sad to see her go, despite knowing from the beginning that tragedy was inevitable. However, Doll’s loss hit particularly hard because she sincerely viewed “Smile” as a friend. Watching her come to the realization that O!Ciel had actually been spying on her family the entire time, and then gone on to be directly responsible for their downfall, was excruciating. To rub salt in the wound, Yana denies us full closure on Doll’s fate; we only see her anguished, futile charge at the boy who ruined her world, and the plaintive sight of a Funtom lollipop tumbling out of her bag as a symbol of their ruptured relationship.

Obviously, I can’t condone the troupe’s involvement in serial child kidnapping, but Lord Kelvin is the real villain of this arc, making them beholden to him and then coercing them into doing his bidding. Also, Doll is very good. She therefore did nothing wrong. 😤

#kuro asks #kuroshitsuji #o!ciel #freckles #doll #ask game #thanks for the ask!

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itsstraykids · 5 months

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hello june!! nice to meet u too! ur name is actually so close to the name i use too lmao. hope ur doing well! u dont have to answer all the questions! just whatever u think might be relevant or helpful(that can let me know abt what u like!!) and hopefully the questions are not overwhelming! im just a tad bit nervous as its my first time participating in a secret santa event of any kind! with that said!-

when did u get into skz? and! if there was a particular moment/reason han became ur bias? (apart from him being amazing lmao)

what genre or era of hannie might be your fave, if u do have one?

do u have any beloved moments that u really like? of either han or skz?

if u could choose, would u want a gift only of han, or would you like to include other members or even the whole group as well?

do u have any favorite mvs? !! or any other content video or solo stuff?

hope u have a good day!!!! stay warm if its cold wherever u are!!

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG i was really overthinking it hahaha 😅 Don't be nervous! Though i'm a little nervous too, this is only my second time participating in a fandom secret santa. I'm sure whatever we make will turn out nice!

when did u get into skz? and! if there was a particular moment/reason han became ur bias? (apart from him being amazing lmao)

I got into stray kids shortly before Maniac comeback, originally because i was curious about Felix haha, but over time Han won me over with his talent and hilarious sense of humor. His personality is just so great, he’s super talented and silly and knowledgeable and ridiculous all at the same time. I was really blown away by his episode of the Lee Mujin show, he is such an incredible vocalist but it isn’t even his main focus in the group. And don’t get me started on his rapping! 😤 Not to mention I love his songwriting, i’m always so impressed by him. Chill, Collision, Miserable, etc. have all been songs I end up with on repeat.

what genre or era of hannie might be your fave, if u do have one?

that silent cry fancam hmm the outfits from maniac and (more recently) rockstar era were top tier. The rockstar musiccore outfit from 11/11 is legendary to me 😳 Orange-hair han also has a special place in my heart.

do u have any beloved moments that u really like? of either han or skz?

I recently re-watched skz code episodes 25/26, the christmassy ones, and han was so funny and adorable the whole time! They all were actually. It’s hilarious how they bicker with each other.

if u could choose, would u want a gift only of han, or would you like to include other members or even the whole group as well?

Hmmm I’ll leave that up to you! All combos of the members have their own charm and I love them all, but especially Hannie’s vibe with Chan or Changbin. Can you tell I’m 3racha biased

do u have any favorite mvs? !! or any other content video or solo stuff?

Ahhhh there’s too many to choose from 🥺 Chill has SUCH an amazing sophisticated vibe that I love from them. Super Board, Cheese, and Gone Days are so fun, while Venom was sick, Ex is beautiful, and hello stranger has a simple concept but it’s so gripping (i love that song)…the range is truly amazing. But I think my all time favorite is Easy. And my favorite skz content is definitely Code 😬 they’re just too funny i love them sm

Wow that was way too much info haha. Anon, who is your skz bias?? When did you join the fandom? I’m curious about you as well! Hope you had a good weekend!

#skz secret santa 2023

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survivor-north-sea · 1 year

Text

Episode Five: "i will not relent!!! u will like me!!!" - Bethany

Hairie

I am not happy with the tribal council but I am also not entirely mad. I’m sad to see Chelsea go. Someone flipped from ex Tromoya and I have a strong feeling it was Zach

I partially feel guilty for not choosing Chelsea for tribe swap. She was my alliance and now she’s gone.

Esteban

idk what to expect on this round. I am hearing that bethany is rallying the non-women again and staining my name that I did pushed aj and trinica that much on idol hint. Wth! I would never respect that move. But good for you. Now you are givigng me much time to think and a fire to probably play the game still til the end.

Raffy prob is neutral on which way he wanna go with either bethany’s story or i. Brandi profess that she wanna work with me and she thought jayjay would love too. Jayjay is so welcoming on me and said the same way that she wants me to stay on the game and she is skeptical about bethany and that it make sense she is saying she is like pulling all the ladies again in this new tribe and on her own words she said, “let vote bethany out the first time we will get a chance.”

Hairie, i am still in doubt of him. Idk where he is on this thought process but i told him my truth may it be wrong or not but i am not lying to what i felt is right. 😅

Tyler hopefully he is still on my side. He told me that bethany was caught on the act when she confirm that there is a non-men alliance when tyler was confronted her lying that jinx leaked that information.

On the lighter note: i look horribly crazy in my lip sync. And please let that video just stay here in this ORG. 🙈🙈🙈

Late confessionals (strike 1)

Sorry been very busy lately.

We’ve won the music video challenge. Kudos to tomoya 2.0 for giving all the effort and it is worth it.

The vibe went positive in the camp. People sharing thought about have kore advantages so we can win another round of challenge.

I am loving this tribe more than the old one. I hope we will not see the tribal earlier before merge happens.

So far i feel like jayjay and brandi had my back and tyler too. Hoping hairie too. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

That tie vote of the hidra tribe is crazy. And chelsea going home i hope will give the og tromoya a chance for us to infiltrate the group.

Cheetos we are holding on. Take care!

Jayjay

Im pretty shocked that it was Chelsea who got voted out this tribal council! I’m sad to see her go she was such a great person! Wondering how the dynamics and alliances are working over on hidra considering I thought the vote was going to be for a male with the info I got from ex hidra team members.

Arvin Bentonon

Oh noooo! My survivor cool mom was voted out. Now I'm in the bottom.

I really want Julia to be the gesturer. I think in the music video, Julia showed everyone that she communicates well with actions by giving us nice clean movements.

I told Julia that it's either one of us should be the gesturer. So I nominated her in the GC and seems like everybody is on board with it. I'm just so afraid that if one of the rest of them would gesture, they might throw the challenge by confusing us. So I really need to try hard and guess what Julia is trying to act. Just in case they want to throw a challenge, to even out the numbers.

Raffy

Is it weird that I don't really want to win this game? I thought about it and realized that I just want to have fun and meet the newbies. My feelings will probably change sooner or later. But, for now, I'm content with going whichever which way.

Tyler Frazier

So I’m growing a bit concerned about my relationship with Esteban. Prior to the swap he mentioned wanting to work with Raffy and that plus the fact he was able to seemingly instantly integrate himself into the old Tromøya makes me feel like I’m no longer a main priority for him

I'm honestly pretty hyped for charades. I feel like it's the one in which we have the most even odds. I'm honestly so proud of the femmes and thems alliance rn. Highlight of last round was Zach "uniting" us. Anyway just a short confession until I can give a larger one after the challenge

Raffy

I found an idol! That climbing gear finally came in handy haha. In any case, I think I'll keep this to myself. No use telling everyone and having me be a bigger threat than I already am. Though it does make me question just how many idols are in this game.

Brandi

I’m really hoping to just ride the tromoya train and stay low until the merge - tribal is scary

Arvin Bentonon

I have to made up an advantage, like a legacy advantage if they will believe it, I will be saved by this vote.

Trinica

At this point, Jay's gotta be sick of seeing us at tribal. AND YET.

These advantages/disadvantages are really killing us. We came so close to winning charades!! Julia honestly did an amazing job, and I told her that she doesn't deserve to go home after that performance. I hate to send Arvin home, but I'd feel awful sending Julia home after how well she did.

There are no more idols to be found in the game anymore, which is nerve-wracking. Arvin or Julia could very well have one, so this next vote is going to be tricky. And I'm assuming we've as well as lost the next challenge because AJ and I both landed us with 10% disadvantages. It's not looking good for Hidra (but when is it ever...?)

Esteban

When you thought you don’t care anymore and that you are gonna voted out early then here comes the gods of the seven kingdoms blessing you a safety. Congratulations to tomoya 2.0. raffy did well tbh

Champ

So nervous about losing a challenge! I need to make sure bethany and Tyler stay in this game! If we lose I’m assuming Esteban tyler or bethany will go, and I really want to make it to merge with my entire tribe! Once we merge I feel like I’m in a really good position to make it far

Hairie

We won ... AGAIN! I'm so happy that we did. On top that, the idol or idols has been found and someone or a couple of someones has it. The game is elevating yet again!

Tyler Frazier

So I have the weird sword advantage which would be great if I was certain I’d make the merge but…I’m not. I mean if things go really wrong and Bethany Champ or I get booted then obvi it can be played (I think for them im gonna need to re read) which will be great if we can get out of our current position

Bethany

slayyyy tromoya wins again!!!! im very happy with that because i still dont feel safe here lol but im hoping esteban is starting to see the light and is going to not immediately try and flip on tyler and i

so tyler, champ, and i have a little trio going called brayden's angels which is so cute and tyler and i went idol hunting together today and everything that was good was sold out so like no slay EXCEPT for the 100 coin item

tyler and i had 70 coins combined so we decided to go beg champ for her money too and ms girl is way too loyal and just handed them right over

so tyler bought the sword and it forces a battleback if one of us is eliminated once jury starts which is so fun i love it and im excited because im usually good at comps so that would be perfect if i get voted out lolol

hopefully we can keep the winning streak going and then at the merge i can reunite with all of pink venom and play both sides mwahaha we will see though not trying to get ahead of myself, i just want to try and keep social gaming when we don't have tribal because i don't think tyler is trying as hard with people but it's hard when they leave me on read all day *cough cough* jayjay. but i will not relent!!! u will like me!!!

Arvin Bentonon

Right now, I don't want to talk too much. I just really want to enjoy the process, and maybe someone would talk to me and possibly save me from this vote. The former old hidra tribe thinks I'm running the show with the former tromoya already because I want to talk to almost everyone of them. Now I'm definitely in the chopping block.

Esteban

i don’t know if i am only one of the few people who is happy that the hinting is over. Respect to the host and the fun twist but i still stun a back to basic game where it seperate people who are playing a social, strategic and amazing game to those who are just hoping for luck. 😅.

Do you agree?

Now that it is all over let the survivor back to basic game start! Sorry i was born to play back to basic games. 😂😂😂🤞🏻No more hiding.

So bad news and even worse news lmfao. We lost the challenge, all idols in the fucking idol hunt have been found, and now idol hunt is closed. Which means we're probably losing up till and into the merge. I can only hope the other tribe has a bunch of disadvantages. We're most likely going into the challenge after next with a net 20% disadvantage unless someone was able to find something. I have my 10% AD at any time, but I will not be using it when we'll still be in the negative and probably still lose.

This next challenge is going to be a 24 hours challenge. What does that mean for AJ? If you guessed zero sleep, you'd be correct!! No matter what it is I'm going to do my absolute best to get us to win it. We NEED a break at some point, honestly, and if it weren't for the advantages we would have won that last challenge. Being on a losing streak isn't fun, but we'll get through it. We always do.

Jayjay

The last charade challenge was a lot of fun. I think Raffy killed it being the gesture, you could tell he definitely gave it his all! Super proud of our team and winning all these challenges. Tromoya strong forevaaaa!!

Hairie

Solidifying my number 1 and we gonna make it to final 3 I’m confident!

Strong feelings that either Arvin or Zach going home this next tribal. I’m also thinking Julia might have flipped more so than I initially thought it was Zach. I could be wrong but my guts telling me just that.

Zach🤠

Cant believe we’re going to tribal again. Not a slay. Love that our little panic alliance has stuck together after that one vote to save my ass. AND we have an in with AJ. I have no idea how Julia and Arvin still trust AJ after that last flip, but here we are. I asked Julia why not try to take me down today and she explained to me how similar our games were and how she thought that made us closer and stronger together. And I agree. I can really see myself going a long way with AJ and Jinx.

Arvin Bentonon

I'm not going home without a fight.

Julia

Welp I was blindsided last time and it’s my time to go here. I tried so hard during charades but it wasn’t good enough and I’m heartbroken

jinx

imma keep it so real right now i will ride and die for my alliance but i think we might be the …bad guys…like…we’re really about to be THAT majority alliance huh….erm….chile anyways…did anyone have the chicken?? the chicken was lovely! like we’re girlbossing gaslighting and gatekeeping but at what cost? anyways. i swear if pink venom is reading this post season ITS ONLY BECAUSE WERE A MAJORITY ALLIANCE MAKING THINGS BORING 😭 but we’re a majority of minorities….like WIG!!!!! taking the power back!!!! but are we taking too much??? who’s to say! anyways no jinxcast this round simply because i aint got shit to say! saving it for my actual journal. love y’all! xoxo gossip jinx

Toni

Theme: Anxiety and Alliances

Hello World.

What a shaky Tribal we had on Sunday. We were still strategising by the initial tribal time - thank god it was delayed. The feeling of having my name out there is a feeling I did not enjoy. If anything had gone wrong I would have gone home. The game is getting harder. I started this game confident in my gut feeling but even though I've never been on the wrong side of the vote I can feel my anxiety rising.

I'm grateful for the alliances I've built here and over on the other tribe but the game is getting harder. You do genuinely connect with some of these people and it starts to creep into your heart when you choose to vote them out. We're voting Julia out today and even though I initially misunderstood her I've recently really connected with her on our mutual love for the WNBA. I'm sad. I do have to stay true to my word and loyal to my alliance. Still I'm sad.

Signing off safe but sad.

Can't remember if I've submitted one of these this round or not. Better safe than sorry so I'm doing that now. We're betraying Julia which is sad because I do really like her, but there's been some good points made for her vote out. Julia when this comes out ily, sorry for my vote

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just-another-blog-of-fluff · 2 years

Text

Swing

Word count: 10,600

Pairing: Loki x female reader (pre-dating romantic)

Warnings/Disclaimer: I have no formal dance training, so please accept my hodge-podge of knowledge from youtube and from my high school swing team days 😂 Also, do NOT try aerials at home, kids - take it from someone with experience, you need spotters and a soft place to land 😅

Here it is - the swing dance competition Prompt by 🩰 anon! I’ll admit, it was difficult to write out some of the swing dance aerials in words, so bear with me (and YouTube it if you want a visual 😉)

"Oof. I don't understand how anyone manages to wear these godforsaken torture devices."

You collapsed into your seat the moment you boarded the quinjet, practically ripping the stiletto high heels you'd been wearing off your aching feet. Nat sat down across from you, her eyes twinkling with amusement at your heaving sigh of relief as you finally planted your feet flat on the floor for the first time in three hours.

"You just haven't built up a tolerance yet," she quipped, crossing her legs daintily with her own heels still secured to her feet. "Maybe you should add that to your training regimen."

"Absolutely not," you groaned, letting your head fall back against the headrest behind you.

"Or - here's a thought - you could wear flat shoes," Clint countered teasingly, dropping into the seat beside Nat as Steve headed to the pilot's seat.

"No, that'd be a dead giveaway," Nat argued.

"Yeah, any villain would be able to tell I'm an undercover spy from a mile away."

"Are you sure villains are that up to date on their fashion?" Steve called back, firing up the engine for takeoff.

"I'm not taking my chances." You pulled your phone out of your purse and began to peruse through your email, reviewing the messages you'd missed while the four of you were gone. "Damn, we missed cupcakes for Bruce's lab intern's birthday today."

"Aww, what the hell," Clint whined. "All the good stuff happens while I'm out."

"Anything else that I should actually care about reading?" Nat asked sarcastically. You scrolled through a few junk mail messages, landing on one from Tony. Attached to the email was a flyer for the fundraiser he'd been trying to help Pepper plan for weeks.

"Looks like Stark finally picked a theme for the charity event," you announced, reading through the document. "It's going to be a dance."

"Like... prom sort of thing?" Clint asked quizzically.

"No... oh, interesting. They decided to hold a swing dance competition."

"Wait, really?" Nat pulled out her own phone, scrolling through the message herself. "Did you read the actual email? He wants us to sign up."

"I have some dance experience, actually," you noted. "Might be kind of fun."

"I call dibs on Mr. Roaring '20s over there," Nat declared, nodding her head toward Steve.

"Damn. Wait, I'll ask Bucky then." You began typing up a text to send to the metal-armed soldier:

Hey. Wanna be my dance partner? 😁

"I just know Laura is gonna make me do it," Clint grumbled as you typed.

"Not if you don't tell her about it," Nat suggested. He sighed, grinning defeatedly.

"She asked Tony to be added to his email list months ago. Said I was 'boring' and never told her about any of the fun stuff he planned."

Your phone buzzed, a text message response from Bucky flashing on the screen:

Sorry, Wanda beat you to it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Scowling, you immediately began typing a message back:

What?? 😠 Why doesn't she dance with Vision??

"Ugh, Wanda already snagged the other swing era expert," you muttered sullenly. "Now who am I gonna ask?"

"There's plenty of other guys in the tower - just ask one of them," Clint suggested. You scoffed, lifting your phone to glance at the response from Bucky:

She says he's too robotic

You let out a huff of breath through your nose in annoyance as you responded back:

So she steals one of the only two people who actually swing danced back in the day?? 😒

"I can't just ask anyone," you responded to Clint's suggestion, rolling your eyes. "Not everyone will be able to learn how to dance."

"You should ask Bruce," Nat interjected.

"Why? Can he dance?"

"Not sure. But it'd be damn funny to see his reaction."

Your phone buzzed again - another message from Bucky:

Are you calling me old?? 😠 Now I'm glad I'm dancing with Wanda. 😝

Grunting, you tossed your phone onto the seat cushion beside you. Bucky wasn't getting any more responses from you now.

Through the remainder of the ride back, you ran through your options in your head. A few text messages later and you were still coming up short. Thor had asked Jane. Bruce said 'absolutely not' (which made Nat chuckle at least). Stephen had 'better things to do than participate in Stark's nonsense.' You were fast running out of options.

There was only one other person you could think of to ask. And you knew he wasn't going to be easy to convince.

You had to do this strategically. Loki was quite vocal about his distaste for the less elegant Midgardian dance formats. As a royal Prince of Asgard, he was well trained in the art of dance, but his style was very balletic and graceful. His movements were broad, polished, theatrical in nature. A flowing waltz might get him up on the dance floor, but it was doubtful that you'd ever find him willingly participating in a jaunty jive or a choppy cha-cha.

Fortunately, you had experience in such matters of persuasion. The key to convincing someone to do something you knew they wouldn't want to do was to elucidate their intrinsic motivation and exploit it to your advantage.

For example - with Tony, a surefire way to get him to do something was to stroke his ego. Flattery would get you anywhere with the overcaffeinated billionaire. Peter typically needed a bribe of some sort. Thor was satisfied by the simple notion that he was making someone happy by doing whatever it was you were requesting.

Loki was more of a challenge to sway. He saw right through adulation, the price of bribery was always far too high to pay, and he could care less about altruism. With Loki, you had to outwit him. Make him think it was his idea. Flaunt the potential benefits of the request without blatantly suggesting them out loud.

You had one shot at it. Better make it count.

Some time after arriving back at the tower, you stretched out on the sofa in the common room with your laptop perched atop your legs, setting the scene for Loki to stumble upon when he inevitably wandered in with a book that afternoon. Making no effort to hide the screen from prying eyes, you popped your headphones into your ears and began sifting through videos of swing dance routines on the internet. Loki was particularly nosy, and you knew you wouldn't need to say a word to bring up the subject with him - his own curiosity would land him right inside your trap.

A few others team members shuffled in and out of the common room while you waited for the trickster's appearance. One or two of them asked what you were up to, but most simply minded their own business when they saw the headphones, clearly recognizing you were engrossed in something. Growing tired of waiting, you began to actually pay attention to the videos, bobbing your head subconsciously to the music as you watched a lindy hop routine on the screen.

Then suddenly, someone tugged one of your earbuds out of your ear. With a startled yelp, you tilted your head back to look up at your antagonizer. The God of Mischief stood gazing down at you with a self-assured smirk on his face and a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

"You know, Loki - most people just tap someone on the shoulder or wave in front of their face or something when they need to get their attention while they're clearly listening to music," you chastised. He blatantly ignored your griping, gesturing toward your computer screen.

"What are you doing?"

Perfect. He took the bait.

"I'm looking at swing routines," you responded simply, returning your attention to the screen with an air of nonchalance.

"Why?"

Feigning exasperation, you paused the current video and removed your other earbud, shifting to sit up on the sofa so you could hold this conversation without craning your neck. "Stark's fundraiser."

Loki shot you a look of confusion, tilting his head. You let out a single breath of a laugh at his reaction.

"Do you ever read your email?"

"What for? It's mostly Stark rambling on about nonsense - parties, galas, fundraisers..." Loki rolled his eyes, seemingly unamused.

"Well, you can't pretend like nobody tells you anything if you won't read your email." He scowled at you. "Anyway... he's holding a swing dance competition as a fundraiser. Ever since we watched that movie the other day, he's been fixated on 'capturing the feel of a 1920s speakeasy' in one of his events. Really, I think he just wants to see Pepper wear a flapper dress."

"And you intend to participate?" He stepped past you to take a seat on the newly opened sofa cushion by your side, setting his book unopened on his lap and twisting to face you.

"Why not?" You shrugged, glancing at him through the corner of your eye. "I took dance lessons for years. I think I've got a pretty good shot at it. I just need to find a partner."

"Have you not asked Barnes and Rogers? They certainly must have first-hand experience with this sort of thing."

"Yeah, but they have partners already. Steve's taking Nat, and Wanda beat me to Bucky before I could ask him."

"And the others?"

"Tony obviously has a partner already, Bruce won't tell anyone if he can dance because he's already refused to join, and while I appreciate Peter's enthusiasm, he's too young to participate." You sighed, preparing to drop the bomb. "I'd have asked you, but I'm really hoping for a win, and I know you don't know how to dance anything but a waltz here on Midgard."

"Now hang on a moment."

Hook, line, and sinker.

"What made you discount my dancing abilities so quickly? I am a wealth of knowledge of various styles of dance. Far more than you could possibly have learned in your short lifetime."

"Do you know how to salsa?" you asked.

"Well, I-"

"Samba? Rumba? Tango-"

"Ah-ha!" He snapped his fingers, pointing. "I know that one!"

"Have you ever swing danced before?" you continued, ignoring his outburst. He folded his arms haughtily across his chest.

"I'm certain I'd be more than capable of learning any Midgardian dance style should the need arise."

"I don't know... there's a lot of tricky footwork. It's nothing like a waltz - you have to be three steps ahead to keep track of what you're doing."

Loki scoffed. "Darling, I am always three steps ahead. I would master any 'tricky footwork' in a heartbeat."

The irony in his statement was not lost on you.

You turned to face him more fully, shooting him an expectant look. "So you're saying you want to be my partner?"

He was silent for a moment. You watched the phases of realization play out on his face. Surprise, confusion, deep thought... finally ending in a narrow-eyed glare. He knew you had him backed into a corner of his own making. Say no, and risk being teased for being unwilling to put his money where his mouth was. Say yes, and he would be willingly offering to participate in an activity he had very little desire to do.

"You sly little fox," he growled, the corners of his mouth curling up into a grin. "I suppose I'm rather impressed that you managed to swindle me."

"Oh, I learned from the best," you hummed, flashing him a mischievous smirk. "So? What do you say?"

Loki let his head drop in defeat, chuckling self-depreciatingly. Then, he looked back up at you with a renewed intensity in his gaze.

"I certainly hope you are as excellent a dancer as you purport yourself to be. I expect nothing less than exceptional if we are to win this competition."

A giddy grin spread across your face. "Oh, don't worry. You won't be disappointed."

* * *

Not one to waste time, you scheduled Loki's first lesson for the following evening. Tony set up a sign-up schedule to use the training room in two-hour blocks. Not that it was his idea - it was Pepper who had the foresight to prevent the inevitable brawls that would occur with so many enhanced beings fighting for time in the only wide-open space in the tower. As the last pair to sign up, you were left with the latest time block. No matter - Loki preferred the later hours of the evening anyway.

Loki entered the training room behind you for your allotted time block and let the door close, causing a silence to fall over the normally bustling room, interrupted only by the nearly inaudible echoey hum of the fluorescent lights overhead. It occurred to you, then, that you'd never actually spent any time alone with the God of Mischief prior to this arrangement. Sure, you worked together frequently, and you often found yourself in one-on-one conversations with him in the back of the room during team gatherings, but there was always someone else around during those times.

You made your way toward the center of the room, stopping there and turning around to face the sullen and unamused-appearing god. He gazed at you with an expectant look on his face, wordlessly awaiting instructions. Clapping your hands together, you decided to fight his bored façade with your own enthusiasm and jumped right into the lesson.

"Ok, so - the first thing you need to learn is the basic footwork pattern." You pointed down at your feet to direct his attention to your movements. "Before moving anywhere, let's just go over the step. I assume you want to be the follower, yes?"

Loki shot you an indignant look. "I think not."

"Kidding! I was kidding!" you assured with a laugh. Under your breath but loudly enough for him to hear, you added, "Your ego is too big to be the follower anyway." Before he could open his mouth to retort, you plowed on. "SO - for leaders, you'll start with your left foot. It'll look like this."

You demonstrated the one-two-triple step count in place, glancing up from your own feet to get a read on Loki's expression. He was watching you with one eyebrow raised, his mouth drawn into a flat line. Pausing your demonstration, you motioned toward him.

"Now you try."

The god sighed with a roll of his eyes, repeating the step you'd shown him without looking down. "Ta-da."

"Great. Could use a bit more bounce."

"A god doesn't bounce."

"Well, this god is gonna have to if he wants to have a shot at winning this competition." You folded your arms sternly, nodding your head down toward his feet. "Again. With bounce."

Seemingly startled that you had the courage (or the audacity) to order him around, he nevertheless obliged, repeating the step and adding the jaunty bounce you were demanding of him. Nodding approvingly, you held up a hand to stop him.

"Now - same thing, except now with some forward and back movement." You demonstrated the change in step, and he followed without questioning, mimicking your movement. "Excellent."

"You say that as though you expected any less of me," he boasted.

"Still needs more bounce," you countered with a grin. "You know, you're gonna make yourself dizzy rolling your eyes like that."

"Let's move on, shall we?"

"Ohh, alright. We'll work on the bounce later." Ignoring his murmurings at your persistence, you continued on to demonstrate more of the basic steps he'd need to know.

Admittedly, he wasn't lying about being a fast learner. You barely had to demonstrate a full eight count before he'd picked up on each step, performing them in exact sync with your movements. It was the energy you'd need to work on. He was dreadfully regal and proper in his movements. For a waltz, his style fit perfectly. But for a lively lindy hop, it was really putting a damper on the overall spirit of the dance.

"Ok, Mr. Dancing Expert - let's see how you do with music," you declared, scrolling through your phone to find a good beginner's swing song. Pressing play, you set it down on the floor in the corner of the room and returned to join Loki. Swallowing the awkward anxious butterflies that bubbled up in your stomach, you boldly reached for his hand and pulled him into a closed partner hold. His brows leapt up his forehead, but he didn't say a word as he placed his free hand on your back. "Alright... one-two-three-"

"I beg your pardon - but am I leading or are you?"

Scoffing, you shook your head in defeat. "Go on, then. Lead away."

With a satisfied huff, he took over the count, pulling you into the basic step and rhythm you'd taught him. While the step was technically correct, the mismatch between your pep and his smooth elegance was painfully obvious now that you were dancing together. You found yourself tripping over his feet on occasion where he didn't lift enough or hop back out of the way of your intended path.

"Loki." You stopped and grasped his arms above the elbows after the fifth time you stepped on his toes, staring him straight in the eye. "You have to work with me here. This isn't a waltz. I need you to-"

"Don't tell me to 'bounce.'"

"I know, I know. Just... a little peppy energy might be nice?" He scowled. "Feel the music. No one cares about your regal posture - they want to see liveliness and vigor."

"Yes, yes, alright."

You glanced down at your watch. "We have enough time for one more run through tonight. Let's go through all the basic steps once more to the music."

You swore he was dragging his feet on purpose. Clearly this was punishment for tricking him into this.

"Alright... let's call it a night." Pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration, you turned the music off on your phone. "I'm assigning you homework tonight."

"Homework?"

"Yes. Go on the internet and look at videos of lindy hop dance. You're getting the footwork, but the technique is lacking." Loki scowled at you, eliciting an exasperated sigh. "Don't you want to win? You must want to beat Thor at the very least."

"Thor is participating?"

Why hadn't you thought of this before? If there was one surefire way to motivate Loki to do something, it was to make certain it was at the expense of his older brother.

"Yes. Thor and Jane signed up. Didn't he tell you?"

"He may have mentioned it during his ramblings over breakfast this morning. Honestly, I wasn't listening to a word."

"Nice." It was your turn to roll your eyes. "Well, now you know. Maybe that will motivate you to bounce a bit more, hmm? Thor certainly has that part down."

"Fine. I'll complete my assigned homework before our lesson tomorrow," he drawled.

"Thank you." You motioned for him to head toward the door ahead of you, following him out. "Same time tomorrow, then?"

"Looking forward to it," he responded, voice drenched in sarcasm.

"And here I was thinking you enjoyed hanging out with me," you teased, nudging him with your elbow. He let out a puff of air through his nose, but you were pleased to see his mouth twitch upwards into the beginnings of a grin.

* * *

The following evening, you arrived to find Loki standing outside of the training room ten minutes prior to your two-hour time block. He was gazing at something on his phone screen in his hand, seemingly so invested that he didn't notice you approaching.

"Bucky and Wanda still in there?" you asked, nodding at him in greeting when he glanced up. "Wait - are you doing your homework now?"

Loki gestured broadly around himself. "I do reside here. Is it not still 'homework' now?"

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head and trying to suppress a grin. "You know, when I was in school, if the teacher caught me doing my homework in the beginning of class, I got in trouble for it."

Chuckling deep in his throat, he took a few steps closer to you and brought himself to his full height in an intimidation gesture. "Are you suggesting that I am in trouble with my teacher?"

You tried to suppress a blush at the involuntary thoughts that ran through your mind at his phrasing - thoughts he surely hadn't intended to invoke. Rather than shrinking away, you stood up straighter and squared your shoulders, holding his gaze firmly.

"Are you suggesting you're not afraid of me?"

Loki began to genuinely laugh at that, though he clearly tried to recollect himself and regain his serious and intimidating façade. "Tell me - what exactly is the consequence for not completing my 'homework' on time?"

"I could make you run laps."

"Make me?"

You shrugged. "I found a way to make you join this competition with me, didn't I?"

He leaned closer to shorten the distance between your faces, narrowing his eyes. As he opened his mouth to speak, the door to the training room swung open, drawing both your attention and Loki's toward the open doorway. Bucky and Wanda emerged from inside the training room, appearing winded.

"All yours," Bucky offered, motioning to the now empty room. "Break a leg!"

"I hope you mean that figuratively," you jested, taking a casual step backward to put a respectable amount of distance between yourself and your dance partner.

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that," Wanda interjected with a teasing edge to her tone. "He nearly broke my leg trying to teach me how to do a backflip."

Bucky clicked his tongue at Wanda, shaking his head in disagreement. "Excuse me - I had control over your fall the entire time."

"Yeah, and that's why I twisted my ankle on the landing," she retorted sarcastically, shoving his shoulder playfully. He threw his head back in exasperation.

"Alright, we'll work on it on the sparring mats next time."

"Why in the name of Odin are you doing backflips during a ballroom dance?" Loki asked, clearly both confused and curious.

"It's one of the aerial moves we're doing in our routine," Wanda explained. "Here - Bucky, let's show them."

"I thought you said I was going to break your leg."

"Yeah, well I'll take my chances."

She snatched his hand up in hers, standing with their arms stretched straight between them before spinning inward. Bucky fell straight into step, pulling her into his side and shifting his arm to her waist before using his free arm to scoop up her legs and flip her backward, his outstretched arm at her waist serving as the fulcrum for her to pivot in a full backflip before landing gracefully on the floor.

You winced as you saw a spark of interest and amusement flash in Loki's eyes. You'd been hoping to avoid this aspect of the dance for many reasons - the primary being that you were dancing with a literal god who could likely throw you clear across the room if he used his full strength. Especially considering that god was the God of Mischief.

"That was much better," Wanda praised Bucky with a smile. Turning to you and Loki, she waved in parting. "Have fun you two!"

"And don't actually break a leg!" Bucky added as the two of them stepped past you and headed down the hallway and out of sight.

Bracing yourself, you turned to look at your partner, who suddenly appeared much more earnest to head into the training room and get started. You followed hot on his heels, shaking your head with an incredulous laugh before he could say a word.

"Oh-ho no, I know what you're thinking."

"Why have you not informed me of this aspect of swing dancing?" he demanded, spinning around to face you with a smirk playing on his lips as he continued to walk backward. "It would seem there are far more interesting moves to this style of ballroom dance than these choppy basic steps you've been teaching me."

"Why - because you'd get to throw me around?"

"What's not to enjoy about that?"

"First of all - the fact that you find that enjoyable makes me concerned for my own wellbeing." Loki shrugged, his smirk only growing wider. "Second of all - you can't do an entire routine of just aerials. You do need to know the basics. And third - I never learned how to do them myself."

"Perhaps you should be doing homework as well, then."

"Perhaps if you had done your homework on time, you'd have learned about aerials before Bucky and Wanda went and put crazy ideas in your head."

"If we are to win this competition as you suggested, should you not be thorough in your training?" he countered.

"'Thorough' as in... teach you how to swing me around and risk injury?" you laughed.

"Pfft. Please. I would never drop you."

"How do you know that?"

Loki held a hand to his chest over his heart, mocking offense. "Darling - do you not trust me as your dance partner?"

"As my dance partner? Maybe. As the God of Mischief? Absolutely not." You busied yourself getting the music set up on your phone as Loki sucked the back of his teeth in annoyance.

"Ooh, you're no fun," he griped. You glanced up from your phone and sighed defeatedly.

"Alright, here's the deal. You prove to me you're invested in this - learn the steps AND the technique - and then I'll consider learning a few aerial moves to appease your curiosity."

"I beg your pardon? You are interested in winning this competition, are you not? There's no reward without risk, darling."

"Oh-ho, we're using proverbs now? How about - 'you have to learn to walk before you can run?'" you retorted, setting your phone down on the floor as the music began to play so you could rejoin your partner. "Do we have a deal?"

Loki stared long and hard at you before extending his hand, offering it to you to shake on your bargain. "Deal."

"Wonderful. Maybe now you'll add a little bounce in your step, hmm?" You flashed him a sly smirk, to which he responded with his characteristic eye roll before taking your hand and pulling you into a closed partner hold.

Suddenly, Loki was a much more enthusiastic dance partner than he had been the evening prior. Not only did he repeat the basic steps, but his technique was damn near flawless. You were able to move on quickly to some intermediate steps - turns and kicks like the tandem Charleston.

You'd finally found a way to motivate the sullen god. But of course it would be at your own expense.

By the end of your two hour rehearsal, you were breathless and Loki was smug as ever. He'd left you no room to complain about his degree of effort this time. And while you weren't exactly excited about it, you weren't someone who went back on their word.

"Well then, teacher? Have I proven myself invested enough?" he gloated, smirking as you glowered at his suddenly upbeat demeanor.

"You were... passable, yes."

Loki folded his arms haughtily, undeterred by your indifference. "Then we'll be learning aerials tomorrow, yes?"

You groaned, massaging your temples with your fingers. "Yes, alright. But I reserve the right to veto any that I don't like."

"After we've at least attempted them once," he bartered. You glared at him through narrowed eyes, although you were beginning to find it difficult to maintain your irritated front with the spark of giddy excitement in his eyes.

"Fine. But if I get injured, I'm telling Tony he can sub you in on any missions I would have had to go on." You wandered over to collect your phone and turn off the music.

"I assure you, you'll remain completely unscathed."

"For your sake, I hope so." Phone in hand, you motioned for Loki to follow you out. "I do a lot of undercover missions, and I'm not sure you'd look quite as good as I do in a dress."

"Oh no?" With a shimmering green flash of light, you were suddenly walking beside an exact mirror image of yourself, wearing the little black dress you'd donned on your most recent assignment together. While you were naturally startled seeing your own clone smirking back at you, something about it made you blush furiously.

Perhaps it was the fact that he'd recalled every detail on that damned dress.

"Cut that out," you muttered, shoving his (your?) arm playfully. Snickering, Loki dropped the illusion, looking pleased with himself at your reaction.

As you parted ways, you promised you'd 'do your homework' and research some aerial swing dance moves for the following evening's lesson. Your muscles ached as you rinsed off under the steaming hot water in your shower, only marginally improved by the time you slid under the covers of your bed.

While lying there scrolling through videos on your phone, you were both surprised and a bit unnerved to find there was a lingering buzz of excitement in your chest at the thought of your next lesson. And you could say with certainty that it wasn't the prospect of learning the aerial stunts. You had a nagging feeling it was more about your student than the lesson itself.

* * *

"Alright - we're going to start with some easier ones first before moving on to anything crazy," you insisted sternly at the start of rehearsal the next evening.

"Makes no difference to me," Loki concurred, "I will have no difficulty lifting your mortal self off the ground."

"I'm... not sure if I should take that as a complement or an insult." You pulled up one of the videos you'd saved on your phone the night before. "Ok - this one was the easiest one I found. It's called a 'frog jump.'"

Loki's eyebrows bumped upward skeptically as he leaned over your shoulder to watch the video. "Why would you mortals name a dance move after an amphibian?"

You gestured to the screen as the follower jumped up with a boost from her partner. "Does that not look like a frog jumping to you?" He shrugged. "Alright, not important. Should we try this?"

"Seems rather simple."

"Exactly the point." You grabbed Loki's hand, pulling him into closed partner hold to prepare to try the move. As simple as this aerial was, you already felt butterflies in your stomach at the thought of executing it. "Ok - now... don't launch me to the ceiling, alright?"

"Nervous, agent?" he drawled with a smirk.

"Very. Now focus - I'll count us off."

With a four-count lead, you stepped back into the rock step shown in the video, then planted your feet and sprang upwards in a hop. Loki boosted your momentum, pushing upwards against your hand held in his. You let out an embarrassingly high-pitched squeak as your jump peaked at Loki's shoulder height, stomach somersaulting as you dropped back down and landed on your feet. True to his word, Loki stabilized you with his hand at your back, preventing you from falling over on landing.

"Whahat was that noise?!" he asked teasingly with a laugh. You scowled, releasing his hand and running your fingers through your hair to self-soothe.

"Don't laugh!”

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights.”

“No! Just… well, only when I don’t have control over how high up I am.”

Loki placed both his hands on your shoulders, ducking to capture your gaze. He was still grinning, but he had a serious look in his eyes. “I swear to you, I won’t allow any harm to come to you.”

You gave him a hard look. “… promise?”

“I promise.”

“Ohh… alright, let’s try again.” You stepped back from Loki, pacing around a moment and shaking out the nervous tremors in your hands as you let out a heavy breath. Then, returning to your place in front of your partner, you nodded to confirm you were prepared. “Ready. Ok.”

“Ok.” His blue-green irises shimmered with amusement, earning him a scorning look.

You allowed him to count off this time, executing the lift once again, sans squeaking. You were pleased with yourself on that, although the same embarrassing sound had nearly burst out of your throat once again as your momentum peaked at the top of the jump and gravity took hold. Once again, you landed safely with Loki’s hand on your back to steady you.

“That went quite well, I’d say,” he praised with a grin, his eyes still dancing with the unspoken teases he surely was suppressing. “Shall we try another?”

“Ugh, alright.” You searched your video files to find another seemingly simple lift. None of them seemed nearly as easy as the one you’d just learned, and even that was a struggle. After grappling with yourself internally for a few moments, you showed Loki another lift you were willing to try. “This one is called an A-frame jump. It sets the framework for additional, more complex lifts later on.”

“Alright then. Let’s give it a try.”

You turned your back to your partner, heartbeat ticking up in anticipation of the lift. As demonstrated in the video, Loki placed his hands firmly on either side of your waist, and you clasped your own hands around his wrists. You allowed him to count off once again, preparing to spring straight upwards so Loki could boost your jump height by lifting you at the waist.

At the end of the count off, you bent your knees to jump as Loki’s fingers dug into your sides to get a firmer grip. The suddenness of it made you splutter and laugh and fold in on yourself at the ticklish touch, all efforts to jump into the lift forgotten. You knew before he’d even said anything that there was no way to spin a lie around what just happened.

"Oh dear. A bit ticklish, are we?"

"N-no... Lo-KI!" You squeaked as his fingertips contracted into your sides just once. Squeezing his wrists in protest, you twisted to free your waist of his hands, but he held fast. "Nohoho! Thi-HIS" - another jab at your sides - "Loki this isn't h-HA-helping!"

"On the contrary - you appear much less tense," he argued teasingly, shifting his hands forward a bit and scratching gently at the sides of your belly where his fingertips rested.

"Ohokay I'm relAHAXED damnit!" you squealed, knees buckling a bit underneath you. "LOKI! We hahave to practice!"

"Ohh alright." He relented, allowing his hands to rest more firmly on your sides while you recollected yourself and straightened your posture. "Shall I count off again, then?"

"Yes, go on."

"Are you going to burst into giggles this time?" You whined, throwing your hands over your burning cheeks. A rumble of a laugh escaped your dance partner. "I've never seen you this flustered, agent. I'm learning such interesting facts about you this evening."

"Sh-AHAH-shut up!" you growled, jolting as he threw in one last squeeze for emphasis. "Now count off before I change my mind."

He obliged finally, careful this time not to dig his fingertips into your waist so much as he hoisted you up in tandem with your jump. But the God of Mischief couldn't simply let this slide. At the peak of the lift, he began tickling your sides once again, causing you to jerk and involuntarily slam your heel into his stomach. With a grunt of pain, he lowered you back down to the ground, still careful to place you steady on your feet before doubling over with his arms wrapped around his abdomen.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" you gasped, throwing your hand over your mouth as you turned to face him. You did feel badly, of course, but you mostly wanted to hide the self-righteous smirk that spread across your face. "Are you ok?"

"Mmhmm." His voice was a bit strained. "Darling, I'm a god, you can't possibly injure me that badly."

"Well you sure sound like it hurts." Folding your arms across your chest, you gave him a chastising look. "Maybe that will teach you not to tickle me, hmm?" He didn't respond as he recovered from the sting of the blow, slowly lowering his arms from around his torso as the pain ebbed away. "Can we try the lift for real this time?"

He conceded, setting himself up behind you to attempt the aerial once more. This time around, you successfully executed the move, testing it out once more after that for good measure. You were beginning to feel more at ease. Loki's hands were steady, his arms strong. Safe, even. Familiar.

When did that happen?

"A-alright, let's try another one," you suggested, fumbling to hide the feeling of the sudden burst of butterflies in your stomach. You selected a more complicated lift this time, now that you were feeling more comfortable with the notion that he, indeed, wasn't going to launch you across the room with his godly strength. Avoiding his gaze, you passed your phone to him to view the video instruction for the move.

"Are you certain you're ready for this one?" he asked, an air of surprise in his tone.

"Yup. I'm just gonna rip the band-aid off and give it a shot."

"You know..." The wary edge to his voice drew your gaze up to meet his. "... you have to trust me completely if we are to do a lift this complicated."

"I know. I... I trust you."

"Are you certain?" he pressured. You nodded, taking your phone back to place it off to the side in a safe corner. "Alright, then. On your count."

You stepped out beside Loki with your hand held in his, arms outstretched between the pair of you. The lift required you to leap into his arms, where he would catch you in a cradle hold position. Following this, he would have to swing your legs around and catch them behind himself across the back of your knees. The final, most challenging piece was when he'd need to maintain his hold at your legs and swing your upper body back around to catch you in a cradle hold once again. The move was aptly titled 'around the world.'

After counting off, you turned and kicked your legs up so Loki could catch you in his arms. You wrapped your own arms around his neck and braced your core muscles for the next part, but he simply held you there a moment.

"You know... you really shouldn't put such trust in the God of Mischief," he hummed, a smirk breaking out across his face. As you opened your mouth to ask what he was playing at, you felt his fingers scratching at your uppermost ribs under your arm where his hand rested. You screeched, kicking frantically as you were consumed by ticklish laughter.

"LOHOKI!! YOU JEHEHERK!!" you cried, bringing your arm down from around his neck to block your side with your bicep. Undeterred, he continued wriggling his fingers rapidly in the shrinking space between your arm and your ribs, adding a gentle scribbling of his fingers on his other hand where they rested against the side of your leg. "PUHUT ME DOHOWN!"

"Mm, no, I think not. We haven't yet addressed the fact that you kicked me."

"Ihit wahas YOHOUR FAULT!" You were squirming harder now, twisting in your best attempt to get him to let your legs drop to the ground. He paused to toss you up a bit and adjust his grip, then re-initiated his efforts, digging his thumbs each into the back of your thigh and the back of your ribs.

"Care to say that again?" Your thrashing was clearly beginning to make him nervous about dropping you, so he slowly lowered you down to lay on the floor where he could safely continue his ticklish assault, latching both hands onto your lower ribs.

"I-hi... LOHOKI! IHI APOHOLOGIZED!!"

"Yes, but your heart wasn't in it, I think." His deft fingers kneaded and pinched their way up your ribcage. "Especially considering you are still blaming me for the incident."

"I STAHAND BY IHIT!"

Loki cocked his head to the side with a pitying click of his tongue. "You're just begging for me to tickle you senseless."

Heat rushed to your cheeks at his teasing remark, eyes widening as his tickling fingers shifted to a particularly sensitive spot on your belly just below your ribcage. "No-no-nohoho - OHOKAY I'M SOHORRY!!" You hooked your fingers underneath his in a desperate effort to block his access to this newfound spot, only serving to make him increase his efforts, scribbling rapidly with all ten fingers against the fabric overlaying the soft skin. Giving up, you threw your head back and beat your heels against the floor in desperation. And at last, he ceased his attack, grinning impishly down at your disheveled state.

"Perhaps now you'll find the aerials less stressful?" he suggested tauntingly, offering you a hand to sit up as the residual giggles escaped your lips. "Now that I've discovered a foolproof method to make you laugh."

"Yohou are the wohorst," you grumbled, hardly sounding annoyed with that silly grin still plastered to your face. "Can we please rehearse now? You've wasted like ten minutes of our rehearsal block."

He feigned offense at your statement. "I believe you know as well as I that we are far beyond where you anticipated we would be in terms of learning the steps. As I understand it, we still have a week remaining before the competition, is that right?"

"Well... technically, I suppose..."

"Then you've got nothing to worry about," he assured.

"Yes, but we still have to finish learning these aerials, and then I need to choreograph a routine, and we'll need time to practice it-"

"Darling, if you don't relax, I'll be forced to make you."

Heat prickled in your cheeks at the implication. "Ok, ok. I'm fine. I'm relaxed. Let's try it again, but for real this time."

You refused to admit to him that you were more relaxed after he'd tormented you into a fit of giggles. It took a couple of attempts to get the lift completely right, but you succeeded eventually. With each new move you attempted, you felt less and less nervous. Loki - a powerful, sometimes vengeful being - was so uncharacteristically careful and delicate in the way he swept you up in his arms or lifted you up off the ground. And while he was persistent in his teasing, he always kept things light-hearted - never causing you to feel inadequate, even when you accidentally elbowed him in the face or stepped on his foot.

"I think next rehearsal we're ready to start building a routine!" you declared enthusiastically as your two hour time block came to a close. "We really could have a shot at winning this."

"Did you ever have any doubts?" Loki asked haughtily.

"Well..."

He raised his eyebrows, tilting his chin down to gaze at you warningly. "Consider your answer carefully."

"Nope! No doubts," you spat quickly, eyeing his hands at his sides warily. A teasing smirk spread across his face. "Same time tomorrow then?"

"Looking forward to it."

That night, you found your mind drifting blissfully to the feeling of being cradled in Loki's arms.

* * *

As the days passed and time drew closer and closer to the night of the competition, your thoughts strayed to your dance partner more and more often between rehearsals. Now that Loki had stopped being so sullen and cranky about having to participate, your practice time was productive and, dare you say, enjoyable. You'd always been personable with Loki, but outside of any group gatherings or team missions, he didn't otherwise occupy much space in your brain. But now, having grown accustomed to the teasing and playful banter between the pair of you each evening throughout your rehearsals, you found your heart aching at the notion that this was all going to end in just a few days.

You couldn't help but wonder if he'd miss your rehearsals as well. Not that you'd ever ask.

The evening of the competition arrived far too soon for your liking. The anxious, excited energy was palpable in the tower throughout the entirety of the morning. With the training room off limits, couples were finding anywhere they could to practice - the hallways, the kitchen, the common room... Tony even dragged Pepper outside to practice on the sidewalk in front of the tower at one point. Fortunately for her, the city of New York already knew of Tony Stark's eclectic tendencies.

Gradually, the participants began to disappear into their rooms to get dressed and ready for the event. Tony had hired a limousine to transport the attendees to the venue from the tower, and so you had a deadline to meet to catch your ride. You pulled out the vintage-styled dress you'd chosen for the occasion and slipped it on, smoothing out the wide-flared skirt against your legs as you gazed at your reflection in the mirror. With your hair and makeup done up to fit the theme, you looked like you were straight out of the 1950s.

A quiet knocking at your door pulled your attention from the mirror.

"Door's open," you called, turning around. The door opened to reveal your Asgardian dance partner for the evening, already donning his own swing dance outfit.

Maybe it was the dress shirt, vest, and tie combination. Or, perhaps it was the black fedora he had settled upon his dark locks with the brim tilted slightly downward in the front. Either way - damn he made retro look good.

With a debonair grin, Loki crossed the room to close the distance between the pair of you, scooping up your hand and lifting it over your head to twirl you around. The skirt of your dress flared around you, settling back against your legs as he caught you in his arms and dipped you backwards. A giggly squeak of surprise burst from your throat.

"Loki! You're supposed to warn me when you're going to dip me," you scolded half-heartedly, trying to give him a hard look but failing miserably at hiding your grin.

"Ah, yes, you mentioned that. But where would the fun in that be?" He pulled you to stand upright once again just as you were beginning to lose control of the blush forming in your cheeks. "Are you ready to depart?"

"Lead the way."

He offered you his arm, and you slipped your hand around the crook of his elbow. Together, you headed down to the lobby of the tower where the limousine would be waiting outside to pick up the group.

Seeing everyone in their swing attire really began to set the scene for the evening's soiree. The guys were all dressed in various degrees of formality, ranging from a simple dress shirt, suspenders, and tie that Clint sported all the way to a full fledged zoot suit worn by none other than Tony Stark himself. For the ladies, various flouncy dresses and shirt-skirt combinations, all with brightly-colored fabrics and bold patterns.

The venue itself, though, was what really tied everything together.

Tony had rented out a dinner theater hall, complete with a broad platform stage and show lighting. The room was brightly lit for the wait staff to begin serving the donors and ticket holders as people gradually filtered in and found their tables. Outfits ranged across decades, including attire as early as the flapper dresses from the 1920s to the wide-skirted shirt dresses and poodle skirts of the 1950s. The décor was reminiscent mainly of the 20s era, with glittering golds, blacks, and whites throughout the tables and the walls.

Tables had been reserved for the dancers toward the front by the edge of the stage to allow couples to watch one another's performances (and, also, eat their own dinner of course). Tony directed your group toward the corner table, where twelve chairs had been set around a circular table set with black and white place cards and a feathery centerpiece in a vase. As you took your seats, a waiter stopped by to hand out champagne flutes filled with sparkling wine.

"Shall we toast to a fun and friendly competition, then?" Thor declared, holding up his glass.

"Friendly? Who said anything about friendly?" Tony jested. Pepper nudged him hard in the ribs with her elbow. "Ouch, alright I'm kidding!"

"Cheers to our fine-looking band of misfits," Bucky toasted, tapping his glass against Wanda's before turning to meet Steve's glass next. You laughed, joining in the clinking of glasses before taking a long sip of the bubbling liquid.

As the salad course began to come out, Tony took the stage to provide his characteristic grand welcome speech and to thank all the generous donors for providing to the charity fund. He then turned the evening over to Happy, the emcee for the evening, and ducked backstage to prepare for his and Pepper's dance.

The nerves began to set in as the lights dimmed overhead and the stage lights brightened, spotlighting Pepper and Tony on the stage. You barely ate a bite of your salad, pushing a tomato around your plate with your fork as you watched their near flawless dance routine. Who knew Tony could actually dance?

A hand suddenly rested atop your knee beneath the table, startling you. Whipping your head around, you shot Loki an annoyed look.

"Nervous?" he asked over the round of applause erupting throughout the room.

"N-no, of course not. What made you think that?"

"Your knee has been bouncing for the last ten minutes."

It was only then that you noticed you'd been anxiously bouncing your leg under the table, even despite Loki's hand pressing down against your knee in efforts to make it stop. Now that you were conscious of it, you allowed yourself to relax and try to sit still.

"I'm fine. Not nervous at all."

"Good, because we're up next."

"What??" You nearly leapt out of your seat, much to Loki's amusement. He laughed, shaking his head teasingly.

"It was a joke. But I'd say that proves my point."

"I'm not nervous."

"Darling, you can't lie to me," he whispered, pinching the muscle above your knee ticklishly to emphasize the word. With a squeak, your hand shot out involuntarily to grab his wrist under the table as you shot daggers at him with your eyes.

"Don't you dare."

"Don't I dare... what? Do this?" He squeezed your knee rapidly a few times, making you giggle and squirm to escape his touch.

"Yes. That- Lohoki!" You shrieked as he released your leg to slide his hand around to the underside of your knee, scratching gently at the bare skin just below where the hem of your skirt rested. A playful swat to his arm made him stop and retract his hand, smirking as he gazed at you out of the corner of his eye. "You're flustering me right before we're supposed to dance."

"Perhaps I enjoy flustering you, agent." His hand latched onto your side and pinched swiftly, just enough to make you double over sideways to arch away from his touch.

"Not before we dance."

"After, then? Is that explicit permission?"

"... No." Your face was white hot. Luckily he couldn't see you well in the dim overhead lighting. Glancing up to find anywhere else to divert your attention to while Clint and Laura got set up on stage to dance, your eyes met Natasha's across the table. Her eyebrows bumped upward as her eyes flitted down to the table where clearly she'd elucidated something was going on underneath. You shook your head wildly when you realized what she must be thinking, covering your face in your hands much to her amusement.

One by one, each couple was called up to dance, each outdoing the previous couple before them with their skill and artistry. There were a few other couples from outside of the Avengers who'd signed up to compete, but none could hold a candle to Bucky and Wanda's amazing and technically challenging routine.

And then, Happy was calling you and Loki to the stage.

You couldn't recall the last time you'd felt this nervous about something. All the dangerous and terrifying stunts you'd had to pull on missions, and yet this was what did you in. Although, in all fairness, there weren't hundreds of people watching when you performed your crazy moves on missions.

The white stage lights were blinding when you reached the center of the stage and gazed out into the crowd. At least you couldn't really see the sea of faces with such bright bulbs shining down in your eyes. You turned toward Loki to prepare to start the dance, and he took your hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

"You'll be wonderful," he whispered honestly, no hint of a smirk on his face for once.

"Thanks," you breathed in response. You took your starting position then, waiting patiently for the music to start.

And then, you began to dance.

The rhythm of the song was infectious, with a bold brassy melody and a syncopated drumbeat driving the percussion section. Loki had complete control as he led you twirling across the dance floor, executing every step in perfect synchronization with yours. All the nagging about adding 'bounce' to his step had really paid off - his technique was near flawless. The nervous butterflies in your stomach slowly ebbed away as you lost yourself in the dance. The buzz of the crowd swelled with each lift you performed, but you barely paid any mind - you were too focused on the strong, safe, confident grip of your partner as he effortlessly swept you up in his arms.

As the song came to an end, Loki tugged to spin you inward toward himself and whisked you into a dip, one arm securely wrapped around your waist. The radiant applause filled your ears as you smiled giddily up at him, breathless from the energy of the dance.

"You were amazing!" you praised, throwing your arms around Loki the moment he'd stood you upright without giving it much thought. Hesitating only a moment, he returned your embrace, squeezing you tight. You took your bows before stepping off stage to head back to your table.

"Did you expect any less of me?" Loki asked teasingly. "Though, I suppose I must admit, your lessons helped some."

"Oh, did they? Just 'some' you say?"

"Yes, I already possessed the natural prowess for the art of dance, even before your lessons."

You snorted. "Without my help, you'd have been as robotic as Vision."

"Brother!" Thor's booming voice captured your attention as you reached your table in front of the stage. "I'd no idea you had it in you!"

"Oh, believe me, it took quite a bit of practice," you muttered, earning a pinch to the side from your partner.

"Ah, yes - you should win an award of your own for putting up with Loki's mischief for so long, agent," Thor bellowed, patting you on the shoulder heavily as you took your seat between the brothers.

"Heh. Yeah," you concurred with a half-hearted chuckle. In the back of your mind, you wondered if it was really all that tedious. The reminder that you would no longer have these evening dance rehearsals together made your heart sink.

With the dancing part of the evening over, you were much more relaxed as you chatted and ate dinner with your fellow teammates. You were acutely aware of the fact that Loki had reached over and draped his arm across the back of your chair casually as he engaged in conversation. Secretly, you wished he'd have just wrapped it around your shoulders to pull you closer.

"Alright everyone - the results of your votes are in!" Happy declared as the wait staff cleared dinner plates from the tables. "I'd like to call our lovely couples to the stage for one last round of applause."

The room erupted with cheers as you stood with the other dancers of the evening. Loki took your hand in his without a word, lifting it to usher you up the stairs to the stage as he trailed behind. Happy was making some dig at Tony's suit as you and Loki took your place between Thor and Jane and Steve and Nat. Loki released your hand in favor of sliding his arm around your waist, resting his hand at your hip.

"Our third place couple this evening is..." Happy glanced down at the paper in his hands, chuckling. "Obviously Pepper did the heavy lifting here - Tony and Pepper!"

"You're just jealous you don't have moves like I do," Tony retorted, nudging Happy with his elbow as he and Pepper stepped forward to claim their title.

"Oh I don't have moves like you do, but jealous might not be the right word for it," Happy countered with a grin. "Anyway - our second place couple is... Wanda and Barnes!"

"Wow. I'm surprised they didn't win it after executing that crazy aerial," you mumbled, applauding with the others as Bucky and Wanda took their bows.

"And now... our first place winners of the competition this evening..."

Loki's grip on your waist tightened, tugging you closer to his side in anticipation. You'd resolved yourself to the fact that you hadn't placed this evening. Steve and Nat had a flawless routine, and Thor and Jane were bubbly and bouncy enough to draw raging applause from the crowd. One of them had clearly won the competition.

When Happy announced the winner, your ears were ringing too loudly to catch the names. It was only when Loki suddenly turned toward you with the most excited expression you'd ever seen grace his features that you realized it was your own name Happy had announced.

"We won?" you asked, wide-eyed. Loki laughed at your dumbfounded expression, grasping your waist with both hands.

"Yes, darling - we won!"

An excited shriek burst from your throat at his confirmation, and you threw your arms around his neck. Loki used your momentum to wrap his arms around your waist and lift you off the floor, twirling you around once in his hold. The pair of you stepped forth to take a bow, overwhelmed by the loud applause of the crowd - the loudest coming from your teammates behind you.

The remainder of the evening was a whirlwind of congratulatory wishes from your friends and colleagues as the fundraiser wrapped up. Tony closed by announcing he'd be matching the total amount donated for the evening before submitting the funds to charity, earning himself a roaring round of applause. By the time you'd all climbed in the limo to head home, the exhaustion was evident on every one of your teammate's faces. The steady rumbling of the tires rolling down the road and the scrolling of the streetlights shining through the window lulled you to sleep, awaking to find you'd slumped over onto Loki's shoulder once you'd arrived home. You muttered sleep-rasped apologies as you sat up and exited the limo to head inside, to which Loki insisted you needn't worry about it.

Collectively, everyone opted to retire to bed for the evening. Loki continued to be the gentleman he'd been all night, walking you to your room. For someone who had taken so much pleasure in pushing your buttons, he'd been behaving quite out of character for most of the evening. You certainly weren't complaining.

As you approached your bedroom door, the reality of this being the end of your one-on-one time together weighed on your heart. Of course you'd see him around the tower as you always did, but it just didn't feel like enough.

"So... was it really all that terrible doing this competition?" you asked teasingly as you paused in front of your door.

"While I'm still a bit resentful that you found a way to trick me, I'll admit... it was... enjoyable."

"Well, thanks for earning me a win."

"The credit goes to you, darling."

You were silent a moment, trying to decide what to say. Resting your hand on your doorknob, you smiled weakly up at Loki. "Well... I'll see you around?"

"Yes, I suppose you will." His expression was blank, unreadable. With a nod, he turned and began to head down the hallway to retire to his own room. Your heart was pounding in your chest as you watched him recede, battling internally between the desire to call out to him and the innate instinct to hide your feelings. The end result was somewhere in between.

"Loki!"

He turned at the sound of his name, those fiercely blue-green eyes of his capturing yours and trapping the words in your throat. His head tilted slightly, urging you to continue.

"I... uh..."

"Yes, agent?" he asked, the corners of his mouth curling up into a devilish grin as he realized you were stammering.

"I just thought maybe... er..." You choked on your words as he took a few steps towards you.

"You seem rather flustered again, darling. What is it you're trying to tell me?"

"Oh, shut it, you."

"That's rather rude of you. I am merely trying to be polite and listen to whatever it is you have to say." His grin broadened as your eyes narrowed and your cheeks began to burn. "Go on, then."

"You know what? Never mind," you stated with a huff, folding your arms across your chest.

"But now you have me curious, agent. Tell me what it was."

"Nope. You're out of luck - no-no, don't you dahare Loki!" You shrank backwards as he reached out suddenly and grabbed your waist, gently kneading his fingers into your sides. "Nohoho! Noho, that's nohot fair!"

"Then spit it out, darling." His fingers darted up your ribs and you grasped his wrists, giggling helplessly and squirming away from his ticklish touch.

"I-hi... Lohoki! I juhust... HEHEY!" You squeaked as he slotted his fingers up under your arms, doubling over and squeezing his forearms in protest. "I JUHUST WANTED TOHO... LOHOKI I CAHAN'T!"

He tickled his way bad down to your sides to allow you the wherewithal to speak. "Well?"

"I-hi wanted toho ask if you w-aha-wanted to doho something tomorrow."

Loki's fingers stilled at your sides, hands resting firmly against your waist. "Do something?"

"Y-yeah, like... I don't know... hang out?"

A fond grin broke out on his face. "Agent - have you taken a liking to me?"

"Pshh... I-I just figured that you'd miss me now that you're done with my lessons."

"Oh-ho, did you?" He gently pushed against your waist and you stepped backward, your back hitting the wall behind you. You held Loki's gaze, noting how his expression softened.

"Well... wouldn't you?"

He chuckled deep in his throat. "Yes, darling. I would."

With that, he ducked down and captured your lips with his. You melted into his kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck as his slid around your waist.

As it turned out - you hadn't tricked Loki into doing anything. If you'd simply asked him to dance in the competition with you, he'd have said yes in a heartbeat. Because, when it came to finding Loki's intrinsic motivation, there was one surefire thing that could get him to do most anything:

You.

#loki fluff #loki x female reader #loki x reader #ticklish!reader #tickle fluff #loki tickle #tickle fic #marvel tickle #dancing with Loki #swing dance with Loki #loki x you #marvel fluff

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astrque · 2 years

Text

GETTING ME THROUGH THE NIGHT › 𝕳. 𝕸.

pairing: hope mikaelson x fem!reader

summary: while waiting at the airport for your flight home, you and hope exchange some steamy texts.

warnings: sexting in public.

MASTERLIST⠀/⠀TAGLIST⠀/⠀REQUESTS

likes, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated <33

𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗗𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧⁺¹⁸

you sat wearily at your airport gate, trying not to think about the long flight ahead of you and the fact that you wouldn’t get to see hope at the end of it, not until tomorrow. your flight home had already been quite late in the evening, but the busy holiday travel had delayed it to be a little over two hours later than your original departure time, and flying later and then driving the extra hour or so from the airport to your apartment sounded like too much on top of everything else for the night. you had already texted hope and let her know of the change of plans, and had started looking for available rooms at nearby hotels for once you’d landed back home, when another text from hope arrived.

❛ hey, i thought you might like to know i’m not wearing any underwear 😏 ❜

the stress from the current flying situation had you slightly flustered and anxious and unable to know how to reply, but a moment later another text came in.

❛ with you coming home tomorrow instead, it gives me a chance to do all the laundry i haven’t done while you’ve been gone so all our things are in the wash 😅 ❜

despite the travel stress — and the slight exasperation from knowing your girlfriend hadn’t done the laundry while you were gone — the reply you ended up typing out and sending surprised even you.

❛ i could have some fun with this. ❜

you leaned back against your seat, staring down at the text you'd just sent and wondering where it had come from. you didn’t have much time to think about it before you got a reply back.

❛ oh? what are you thinking? ❜

as if someone else had taken over, you typed out another reply.

❛ are you comfortable with doing what i say? ❜

what were you doing ? whatever it was, the seed had been planted, and a bright idea had sprouted in your otherwise overworked and tired mind.

❛ there’s, like, 45, minutes to kill while waiting for the wash, so... ❜

your heartbeat suddenly picking up, you bent over your phone, carefully typing each letter out and hoping no one around you could see what you were doing.

❛ can you be a good girl and play with yourself for me? just rub your clit and see how wet you get. ❜

you felt your face flush as you quickly looked over your message for typos, and laid your phone on your lap face down after you’d sent the text, only picking it up again after hearing hope's special text tone after what felt like forever.

❛ LITTLE ONE 😳🥵🥵 ❜

you felt yourself blush even harder, half regretting the last text but also slightly proud you’d been able to evoke such a response from hope.

the slightly proud emotion ended up winning out, with hope's next text that arrived.

❛ i think that can definitely be arranged though. you little minx. ❜

you took a quick look around at your immediate surroundings — a handful of people had gathered around the waiting area of your gate, but there was still a while before they were set to board and no one had sat down next to you — so you sent a quick reply.

❛ good girl. ❜

the wait for the next text felt like it took forever, and as soon as your phone went off with hope's special tone, you grabbed for it.

❛ i’m going to use the balls too, since it’s been a while. if it’s okay with you. ❜

you sat up a bit straighter in your seat. it had been a while since you’d broken out those toys, usually reserved for hope's practices that involved a lot of moving around and practicing for a new routine, so the balls' intended use could be satisfied, and made only better since you were the only ones who knew about them.

❛ absolutely, hope. ❜

you sat back in your seat once more, looking up to check the board at your gate to see that there was still a good amount of time before boarding and takeoff. a few more people had gathered at the gate, but it was still relatively quiet — and, still, no one had decided to sit by you.

you waited patiently for the next text, reaching for your phone again as soon as it went off.

❛ the balls are in and i'm playing with myself. it feels so good. ❜

you ignored the shiver that went down your spine at reading the words, quickly typing out your next reply.

❛ i bet it does. do you have your batteries charged for your other toy? ❜

you took a quick look around to make sure you were still in your own world with your girlfriend while you waited for the next reply — which was slightly delayed, understandably.

❛ i do! can i play with myself with that now? ❜

the telling someone else what to do thing was exciting you more than you were expecting — as you were usually the one on the opposite end of this.

❛ yes, but keep the balls in. i want you soaked for me. ❜

your phone went face down on your leg once more, and you tried to calm your rapidly beating heart between replies, the excitement from what was happening making you realize that your own panties had gotten slightly damp. you rubbed your thighs together as inconspicuously as possible, quickly forgetting everything else as the next text came in.

❛ it feels so good to play with myself like this for you. ❜

you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding and wrote out your response.

❛ good girl. now i want you to find a corner of something to rub up against. ❜

you looked up just as a family of four sat in the row of chairs in front of you and blushed slightly, setting your phone on your leg face down almost guiltily. you were still excited, but couldn’t help feeling the tiny bit of guilt? shame? whatever it was that was creeping up on you, due to the texts. you quickly pushed it down with the next text.

❛ mm, fuck, i can’t move, this position feels too good ❜

you bit your lip.

❛ good girl. ❜

you looked up after sending your next text and were a bit surprised to see the flight time had been changed yet again, and boarding would actually begin soon. you wondered if you’d be able to finish before you boarded lest you leave hope hanging.

❛ fuck, the vibrator is right on my clit and one of the balls is right on my gspot. it feels sooooo good ❜

you were used to normally hearing hope's filthy mouth in person, so while it was different to hear it in texts, it wasn’t completely unwelcomed.

❛ i bet you look wonderful all turned on for me ❜

an image of hope lying in bed, flushed and spread out on your bed, her hand between her legs and her head thrown back against the pillow, little moans and whimpers coming from her mouth as she played with herself came to your mind and you had to clear your throat and cross your legs, trying not to blush at the sudden little fantasy your mind had given you. you seemed to go unnoticed, thankfully.

you were still blushing when the next text arrived.

❛ am i allowed to come? i'm getting close ❜

you considered replying no, not until you got home tomorrow and could make hope come yourself, but decided against that — despite tucking it away for another opportunity.

❛ since i won’t be back tonight to make you come myself, yes. but make it count. ❜

you found that you were enjoying being in charge here, telling your girlfriend what to do, and filed it away that it was something you'd maybe like to try more often in your sex lives. there would be time to think about it on the flight in a while; for now, the next message had arrived.

❛ i'm gonna see if i can make myself squirt, for you ❜

your face immediately flushed at this text; hope's secret talent had accidentally been discovered recently and had become your new private joke.

you debated over your next message for a moment, typing out your reply.

❛ if you’re comfortable, mind showing me? ❜

the next message took a bit longer to arrive, and you had no idea what it meant at first.

❛ uhhh.... ❜

you quickly began working out a reply — a combo of an apology for asking what you had asked but also what had happened — when you were interrupted by a photo message notification. curiously — and cautiously, you opened it, and immediately felt yourself blush again.

hope's vibrator and pair of kegel balls were sitting in a small puddle, the outline visible against the towel she’d laid beneath herself. she had squirted.

you had to take a moment to compose yourself before replying.

❛ fuck, hope 🥵🥵 ❜

after sending that, you scrolled back up slightly to look at the picture again, feeling yourself get even more wet — belatedly realizing you were soaked at this point.

you were cut off as another text arrived, and scrolled back down to read it.

❛ that was really fucking hot, you telling me what to do. see what you made me do? 😏 ❜

you cleared your throat again, composing yourself to write a reply.

❛ it was, and i do. we need to try that in real life sometime. ❜

you sent the message and looked up, and felt your heart leap at the message that boarding would begin in five minutes. you felt good that you had been able to finish the session with hope, even though you’d now have to deal with wet panties on the flight. and the flight in general.

you looked down to your phone screen just as hope's new message arrived.

❛ please, like you’d be able to boss me around in bed in real life, baby. but sure, we could try it. tomorrow after you get home, maybe 😏 ❜

you felt your heart flutter.

❛ that sounds fun. i hate to leave it there, but boarding is about to begin, so i need to go now. ❜

just as you sent the text, the announcement for the a boarders to start lining up was given. you watched as the handful of a’s lined up — including the family that had sat in the row of seats in front of you — until hope's next message came.

❛ alright, safe flight. love you, text me when you land. ❜

you quickly wrote your own reply.

❛ love you too, and will do! ❜

you sent the text and stood up, just as the a boarders finished with ticketing and boarding. despite being busy with your family, you had been ready as soon as your check in time had come, so you’d managed to snag a b boarding ticket. you closed out of your texts with hope and flipped to the page open on your phone that had your boarding pass, getting it ready to be scanned.

as you waited in line to board, your thoughts moved from between safe flight vibes, your and hope's messages, and the comforting if not bittersweet thoughts of having to check into a motel room still miles from home instead of going straight home to hope.

it would be a long night, but hope had helped you get through the first part of it.

#legacies #hope mikaelson x y/n #hope mikaelson x reader #legacies imagine #legacies x y/n #legacies x reader #tvd x reader #tvd x y/n #tvdu x y/n #tvdu x reader #hope mikaelson #tvd #tvdu #𝕳. 𝕸.

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moonsugar-and-spice · 3 years

Note

Who are some of your other villain faves? Was there a moment where you realized you had gone from hating an antagonist to feeling something a little more complicated?

Oh, this is a fun question! This might be more answer than you were expecting, anon, but I really love villains. 😅

Outside of Avatar the Last Airbender, here are some of my favorite baddies and why they make the grade for me.

Hannibal Lecter

“Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me.”

Maybe it’s because the heroic and villainous co-exist within him. Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty merged into one. Maybe it’s because he has all the best lines and could pass a polygraph test while tearing out your tongue and eating it. Either way, there’s nothing pedestrian about Hannibal. His intelligence is shown in not only the clever ways he negotiates for himself, how he escapes imprisonment, his ability to track down the killer eluding the FBI, but also in his insane rationalization for his bizarre behaviors.

The people he kills are not usually random victims, but targeted for committing insufferable crimes or those who insult his cultural sensibilities. He hates rudeness and discourtesy, and people who show these traits are put on his chopping board. He may be gruesome as a serial killer and a cannibal, but he has a certain code of conduct that he lives by, and that complexity is what makes him a great villain, in my opinion.

Victor Vale and Eli (Eliot) Cardale in V.E. Schwab’s Villains duology

“All Eli had to do was smile. All Victor had to do was lie. Both proved frighteningly effective.”

There’s a reason this series is titled “Villains.” Victor and Eli both see themselves as the hero of their own story, and the other, the villain, but in truth, they’re both reprehensible people who believe the ends will justify their cruel means. Of course neither of them are evil to the core, because few (good) villains are and Schwab is the high queen of character development. They’re complicated men. Toxic, petty, angry, but also thoughtful and aware. Neither were driven to their paths by fate, but instead, they set their own courses because they wanted to, because they could. Because they liked it. And while, over the series, Victor may lean more toward what could generously be considered a semblance of redemption, he’s far from a good person and acts mostly out of selfishness.

While we all like to root for the hero, sometimes I want to see characters who get to be their raw, unrepentant selves and wreak havoc, as long as they have the complexities and ideals to back it up.

Magneto (Max Eisenhardt/Erik Lehnsherr)

“My name is Max Eisenhardt. I’ve been a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz for almost two years. I watched thousands of men, women, and children walk to their deaths. I pulled their bodies from the gas chambers. I dug out their teeth so the Germans could take their gold. And I carried them to the ovens, where I learned how to combine a child’s body with an old man’s to make them burn better. I saw my fellow workers buried alive under an avalanche of rotting corpses. I saw thousands of murdered people burning in giant outdoor pits. I have seen at least a quarter million dead human beings with my own eyes…and I couldn’t save a single one.”

Give me a villain with a tragic backstory that garners my sympathy and I am putty in your hand, every time. A German Jew, he was confined as a young boy to Auschwitz when his mutant powers manifested, only too late to save his family. Though the mutant supremacist views he came to adopt were extreme, it’s hard to argue with his logic when we see where he came from. His story is heart-wrenching. He is a man who watched helplessly as those he loved were slaughtered, watched as his people were led to the gas chambers. And he is unwilling to stand by again when he has the power to do something this time, for fear that another Hitler will rise – treading a path that risks turning himself into just that.

Honestly, I think THIS is where it all started for me (to answer your second question). I grew up on Marvel and particularly loved the X-Men comics and cartoons, and later the movies (and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine – you can’t top his portrayal). I also grew up in a very religious, overprotective household, and specifically remember being surprised as a kid, and feeling like a little hooligan, at the complicated feelings I was having for a *gasp* villain. (But they’re bAd GuYs, doing bad things, that indoctrinated little voice whispered. You’re not supposed to feel that way about them.)

I LOVED it. Not because I wanted to be like them, but because it gave me a lens through which to see others and the world outside my sheltered bubble. I ate it up like I was starving. And maybe I was, at the time, in a way. I think that’s why I first fell in love with the idea of damaged, imperfect characters so much – burned out from the religious pressures to be perfect and good all the time. This idea that a villain could make me feel something other than loathing, that there could be so much to them beneath the surface, that he is the hero in his own story stuck with me, and the rest is history.

#thanks for the ask!#anonymous #ask game #villains #hannibal lecter #victor vale #eli cardale #magneto

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gloynporslen · 3 years

Text

TWC Playlists

I am about to be seen - my music tastes and a snippet of my playlists on display for all to see 😂 the lovely @smalltowndetective tagged me to do this, so I'm gonna do it! I only hope I'm doing this right 😂💕

I'm pretty sure, seeing how late to the party I am, that most people have been tagged already 😅 but if you haven't been tagged please feel free to take this as your tag should you desire to do this 🥰 I'm always up for sharing music 💕

Songs under the cut because I'm sharing 2 from each detective's and one from their relationship playlist! Also there is no guarantee these are the original artists, these are just the versions on my playlists.

Ariana Langford

Speechless - Cristina Vee

Kings & Queens - Ava Max

'Cause I'll breathe

When they try to suffocate me

Don't you underestimate me

'Cause I know that I won't go speechless

No damsel in distress, don't need to save me

Once I start breathin' fire, you can't tame me

And you might think I'm weak without a sword

But if I had one, it'd be bigger than yours

Not Strong Enough - Apocalyptica

Adam X Ariana

I'm not strong enough to stay away

What can I do

I would die without you

In your presence my heart knows no shame

I'm not to blame

Cause you bring my heart to it's knees

Lorelei Lin

Bonus (from aesthetic board): Clarity - Kurt Hugo Schneider & Sam Tsui

All You Wanna Do - Six

Fight Song - Rachel Platten

I thought this time was different

Why did I think he'd be different?

But it's never, ever different

'Cause all you wanna do, all you wanna do, baby, is touch me, when will enough be enough?

Can you hear my voice this time?

This is my fight song

Take back my life song

Prove I'm alright song

Nate X Lorelei

Ten Minutes Ago - Santino Fontana and Laura Ones

In the arms of my love, I'm flying

Over mountain and meadow and glen

And I like it so well

That for all I can tell

I may never come down to earth again

Layton Greene

Bonus (from aesthetic board): Look At Me - Carrie Underwood

Recipe For Me - Thomas Sanders

Overwhelmed - Royal & The Serpent

I'm no authority on anything but me

I couldn't tell you why I am who I've become

But I can tell you the parts that

Make me up, and you can calculate the sum

I should be fine, but it's all too much

I get overwhelmed so easily

My anxiety creeps inside of me

Makes it hard to breathe

Morgan X Layton

Head & Heart - Joel Corry

Oh my God, oh my God

This feeling's just begun

I'm saying things I've never said

Doing things I've never done

Oh my God, oh my God

Can't believe what I've become

I'm thinking things I shouldn't think

Singing songs I've never sung

Adrien Kingston

Bonus (from aesthetic board): Not Another Song About Love - Hollywood Ending

Old Me - 5SOS

Gone Too Soon - Daughtry

All of the mistakes I made,

Whatever the price I paid,

Shout out to the old me and everything he showed me

Had to fuck it up before I let you get to know me,

Not a day goes by

I'm always asking why

Not a day goes by that I don't think of you

I'm always asking why this crazy world had to lose such a beautiful light we never knew

Felix X Adrien

Say You'll Be Mine - Steps

You're the one I've been waiting for

Say it, all you gotta do is say it

Baby please, this heart's on the line

Don't waste this precious time

Say you'll be mine

It's not hard to do, just tell me you feel it too

Bonus (from aesthetic board): Rewrite The Stars - Zac Efron and Zendaya

#tag #this was harder than I thought! I really need to neaten up my playlists they're a mess asdfghjk #thank you for the tag sweetie this was really fun 🥰💕#aria langford #lori lin #layton greene #adrien kingston #the wayhaven chronicles #twc detective #playlists!

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