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wososcripts · 5 months

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I've Been Getting Lost in Translation (Part Two)

(these kits are god awful but you didn't hear that from me)

stina blackstenius x reader; part one can be found here

Summary: You finally get to meet your girlfriend’s parents, but you aren’t sure they’re aware the two of you are more than just friends.

A/N: Here's part two finally! I hope it's worth the wait for you all lol, make sure you read the first part as well as that author's note for clarity! As usual, nothing I write is intended to speculate or infringe upon player's personal lives, it's all 100% fiction and done in good fun.

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings⚠️: very very slight mentions of anxiety and self-harm behaviors, but it really isn't featured here more than a passing mention

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You could feel Stina's eyes on you as you came down the stairs and joined the group in getting ready to go, you felt them on you in the car, and once you got to the skating rink. She never seemed to not be looking at you, sending worried little glances your way that you just couldn't interact with right now if you wanted to keep it together.

"Here are Linnéa's extra skates." Stina's mom held out a pair of ice skates for you to grab. "I'm not sure they'll fit, but Stina said you were around the same size as her sister… otherwise you can rent a pair here."

She gave you a warm smile and left you to try them on, already lacing up her own and taking off on the ice.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and cold with a thick layer of snow on the ground from a couple of days ago. And the rink was amazing. It was well maintained, but still had the feeling of a pond you'd have skated on as a child.

Stina's sister came to sit down next to you, explaining some of the quirks with the skates. You had to pull the laces hard to get them to fit in the clasps at the top before you could tie them, she showed you, yanking on your ankle a little roughly for your liking.

"Linnéa, be careful with her foot!" You heard Stina call from the ice.

Linnéa waved her off, turning to you.

"Does it hurt?"

You shook your head.

"That ankle is just a bit sensitive. I broke it in June."

"Well the laces being tight will make sure that doesn't happen again," she laughed, then glanced to make sure Stina wasn't looking at you two and said something lowly to you. "How is she doing in London? I mean she says everything is going well, but it's hard to know when we're not there to see her."

You smiled, genuinely for the first time in hours.

"She's doing great. Everyone loves her, she's been playing fantastic this season, she gets along well with the coach and the players. I really don't think there's anything for you to worry about."

"It's good that she has you and Amanda there. She seems reserved but without a few good people around her I know she gets lonely."

"What are you two slow pokes waiting for?" Stina's father skated by, gesturing for you to come on.

Linnéa followed him, starting a conversation with him in Swedish you could hardly grasp onto. How this family managed to speak so quickly, you were lost on.

You joined the rest of them on the ice, trying to ignore your poor mood from earlier. Moping around was no way to make a first impression. So you tried to suck it up and let the joy of the moment overtake you. You hadn't skated in years, having played in Italy for a bit before moving to London. There never seemed to be enough time, or good rinks close by. And when you were back in Germany you mostly wanted to see your family and Laura.

You ended up skating with Stina’s nephew, a boy around seven. He was already impressively steady on his skates, something you would not have been able to say at his age. But still, he held your hand and talked your ear off in Swedish you only partially understood.

"Did you come with aunt Stina?" He asked, to which you nodded.

"We play for the same football team in England." You explained in your slow Swedish.

"Did you come here on a plane?" You nodded again, smiling.

"We flew here yesterday, from London."

The boy considered you for a moment.

"You speak funny," he proclaimed, letting go of your hand, "watch what I can do!"

And with that he skated in front of you, circling around you playfully as you stood still. You grinned at him, giving a round of applause when he was done.

“Hey,” you heard Stina come up behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder as to not startle you.

You gave her a smile which she softly returned.

“What are you two up to?”

“He’s showing me his incredible skating skills,” You replied.

Stina’s nephew nodded and twirled around again, clearly looking for more praise.

Stina cheered him on, catching one of his hands and spinning him once more.

“Very impressive,” she praised, “Unfortunately we’ve got to go eat some lunch. It’s getting dark out.”

You looked up at the sky, having not realized that she was right, the sun was setting already. You checked your phone and saw it was barely one pm.

Stina’s nephew nodded and shot forward ahead of you two, rushing back to where his parents were.

“How are you doing?” Stina asked.

You could tell she was still unsettled by what had happened earlier in the bathroom by how careful she was with you, how she treated each interaction tentatively. You felt badly for making her worry, for turning this visit with her family into yet another stressful situation rather than the relaxing break you both needed.

“I’m doing all right.” You gave the hand on your shoulder a squeeze and started to skate in the direction of the exit, a little further away from her than you would normally.

You felt the distance seemingly in every stride you took, agonizing over your choice to move further from her. You were upset by the lack of any physical affection, and yet here you were removing even the chance that she might initiate it. It was self sabotage, you knew. Yet it was still difficult not to indulge in it. Whether she felt the distance as much as you did, you couldn’t know.

“Why does Aunt Stina’s friend speak so funny?” You heard Stina’s nephew ask his mother, to which you couldn’t help but chuckle as she scolded him lightly.

“She’s still learning Swedish, baby, she’s from Germany.”

“You’re from Germany?” The boy asked you once you were in front of him, skates in hand. He said it as if it were some far away land, not in the same continent.

You nodded and ruffled his hair a bit, giving him a smile. You sat down on the bench, unlacing your skates and indulging the boy as he asked you several questions about Germany and what it was like there. You noticed Stina had a firm watch on you as you started to take your left skate off—the one that Linnéa had tugged on. It was aching a bit, that was true. But you simply massaged it for a moment and stood up like you couldn't feel a thing.

“Thanks again for lending me the skates,” You said to Stina’s mother, giving them back carefully.

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The eight of you decided to eat at a small restaurant not far from the rink. Sunset was already in full force, vibrant orange and pink staining the sky around you.

Stina had borrowed her sister's car that morning, preferring not to be squished in the back seat all day. The drive over gave you a bit of privacy, which you spent in relative quiet, Stina's playlist playing softly through the car speakers. Her hand was on your thigh innocently, and every once in a while she glanced over. Maybe she expected you to say something. But you knew if you started now, you wouldn't be able to stop.

You were thankful for your sturdy sneakers as you stepped out of the car, a twinge in your ankle rippling up your leg. It was more sore than you would've expected, but nothing you were overly worried about. The doctor had warned you that some days might give you more trouble than others, and that was normal. You would just have to take care to ice it this evening before you went to bed.

And by the looks of it, Stina would be making sure you did anyway.

She was robbed of her chance to ask if it was bothering you by her nephew, who seemed to have taken a real liking to you. He came barreling at you, arms open for you to lift him up. You weren't all that tall, and he certainly had inherited his family's height, so lifting him was a bit complicated. Eventually the two of you decided on a piggy back after some awkward maneuvering.

"He likes you," Stina's brother commented, tickling his son lightly. "He's normally quite reserved around new adults."

You smiled at him, feeling your heart soar. This, this was what you wanted from the trip. You wanted Stina's family to love you, for her not to have to worry about you fitting in or being accepted.

"She's going to sit next to me!" The boy announced once the waiter had shown you to your booth.

"Do I need to be worried?" Stina joked, to which her nephew stuck out his tongue.

She returned the favor playfully.

"No need to fight, there's plenty of me to go around."

The booth wasn't all that big, which was how you explained Stina's closeness. Most of your right side was pressed right up against hers, something you initially tried to rectify, only to receive a strange look from her. You cursed yourself for how unsure you were being. You'd spent months like this before the two of you had started dating and it nearly drove you (and your teammates) crazy.

You let Stina order for you since she had been here before and she knew what you liked. The tiredness was beginning to hit you. It was dark outside now, and between skating for a few hours, entertaining a seven year old, and worrying over your relationship, you'd had quite the day. Thankfully you had ibuprofen in your bag in case of one of your headaches.

Whatever Stina had ordered you looked delicious when it came out. You dug in, realizing then how hungry you were. Usually you had a snack in between breakfast and lunch particularly on training days.

You were surprised to feel a hand on your knee a little while later. You were listening to a story her nephew was intently explaining to you as he colored in one of the books his mother brought for him, and suddenly it was there. It was something so completely normal you couldn't believe how much it shocked you. If anything, that was proof of how much you had gotten in your own head. Back home it would be impossible to imagine sitting next to Stina without her hand resting lightly on you somewhere. It helped ground her, she said.

But now, your thoughts were racing with every move she made. Stina's fingers drummed absentmindedly on your thigh, the rhythm of them distracting you slightly from her nephew. She didn't usually tap unless she was feeling fidgety, which meant she was anxious. Was Stina feeling something similar to what you were? Was it out of anxiety that she was keeping things secret? The idea of your relationship inspiring such emotions in your girlfriend made the lump in your throat that much bigger. Maybe she was picking up on your mood. Stina had always been very perceptive (because she spent so much time quietly watching, you often teased) and seemed to pick up on your moods without issue. But you’d been trying to hide this.

You caught her eye and sent her a quick smile. A piece of hair had fallen into her eyes and you wanted desperately to push it behind her ear as you normally would. But the gesture seemed too intimate now. It was as if you were in a glass cage, every move observed with the chance of exposing your feelings. But what was the problem in that, you asked yourself. You loved Stina, openly. Why were you letting this affect you so much?

Stina's sister declared that she wanted to do a bit of shopping after lunch, which the rest of the group was perfectly amicable to. It wasn’t all that late, and you’d get a chance to see the Christmas market all lit up. Stina's nephew certainly hadn't taken much convincing once Linnéa mentioned stopping at the toy store to look at something.

"Am I your favorite now?" Linnéa asked him, looking at you with a sly grin on her face.

"Yes!" The boy cried, smiling wide.

"You can't buy true connection, Linnéa," you teased, still helping to color.

"Can't buy connection." The boy repeated wisely. "I still like Stina's friend too."

You smiled and ruffled the boy's hair, suggesting quietly in his ear that you move to another page and make a drawing for Stina.

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Linnéa joined you and Stina in the car on the way back to their parent’s house, adding to the tension that had been building since the eight of you had gone shopping. Stina had stuck close to your side, and you’d done your best to act normally while keeping some distance. You needed to sort your head out, and being close to her wasn’t helping. Thankfully her nephew provided a good excuse to be tugged in all sorts of directions—he had decided you were his favorite once more, leaving Linnéa to hang behind with her siblings.

Once you had reached the Christmas market, after a short detour in the toy store where you had agreed to get matching dragon plushies for you and the young boy, each of you wandered off on your own. You, Stina’s brother, and her nephew headed first for the big tree that had been decorated in the square while the rest went to get something hot to drink. You had managed to sneak off under the guise of having to find the toilet, Stina’s brother covering for you if you needed. You wanted to get a small gift for Stina, something in addition to what you’d already purchased. Most of it was back in London since bringing it all on the plane was a hassle.

You’d found a perfect gift at a small stall tucked away near the edge of the market where an older woman was selling vintage jewelry. You picked through it slowly at first, not sure you would find anything. Most of it was too gaudy for Stina, and too impractical. But then you found a simple pendant with two stones in the middle—an amethyst and an opal, each of your birth stones, set in a complex circular pattern that reminded you a bit of some of the celtic designs Katie had shown you. You had purchased it immediately, no matter that it was overpriced.

Now you were sat listening to Linnéa’s music quietly as the three of you drove, trying not to nod off. You were unsuccessful, because the next thing you remembered was being jolted awake by Linnéa’s door falling shut. You heard Stina chuckle next to you and put a hand on your shoulder, likely amused by how suddenly you had shot up. You chuckled along with her and patted her hand, putting your coat back on to brave the cold once more.

“Is your ankle bothering you?” Stina asked you quietly as you all began to walk back to the house for dinner preparations.

You thought that you had been hiding the slight limp in your walk well, certainly nobody else had noticed, but nothing escaped your girlfriend apparently.

“Only a bit. I’ll ice it later and it’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“You should’ve said something if it was hurting, I told Linnea to be careful—” she was beginning to ramble, but you cut her off.

“Stina, it’s fine. I said I’m fine. I know what I can and cannot handle.”

It was a lie, and the both of you knew it. You were a stubborn bastard. Stina had been with you through your recovery, through every incident where you pushed yourself too hard only to have to face the consequences. She’d found you on the kitchen floor, comforted you after a physio session, seen you train with the team for the first time again. It was insulting to allege she didn’t know when too much was too much.

“Sorry,” You mumbled, already feeling bad for snapping at her. It wasn’t fair, she didn’t even know what was wrong and you were what? Punishing her?

“I just don’t want to see you hurt again. Do you know how horrible that was? To see you in that much pain?” Stina’s eyes were glossy with just the memory.

You weren’t sure what to say to that. You and Stina didn’t talk much about your injury and recovery. It was still too fresh, barely more than a couple months old. The crack of your ankle, the blood, her tears, her gentle shaking hands, it was all still at the front of your mind.

You were saved from having to formulate a response by Stina’s mother calling her to the kitchen. She left you, only looking back once to give you a slight smile, showing that the two of you were okay. But you knew the time to confront what was going on needed to come quickly.

You sat with Stina’s brother on the sofa and watched some Swedish Christmas program mindlessly. Mostly you were thinking about how to go about talking to Stina later. “Directness is key”, Laura's voice reminded you. You just had to say it, without blaming anyone. Just focus on yourself, your feelings.

It wasn't clear how long you sat there quietly before dozing off again, but Stina’s nephew was the one to wake you for dinner, doing so by climbing into your lap.

"It's dinner time." He said, poking at your shoulder.

You forced your eyes open, giving him a drowsy smile.

“Okay, Prinzi” you replied, picking him up off your lap so you could stand. He managed to hang on to your side though, and you ended up lifting him onto your hip anyway.

Fuck, you cursed silently as you noticed your ankle was even more tender than when you had fallen asleep. You’d have to check for bruising later and keep off it for the rest of the night. But still, you carried Stina’s nephew to the table with ease, setting him in his seat next to his mother who shot you a sheepish smile.

“Tired, aren’t you?” You heard a voice behind you, and then a gentle hand at your back.

It was Stina, who smelled of something sweet in the kitchen. You wanted to lean back into her and not move for the rest of the night. Instead you just nodded.

“Sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

“You’ve been playing babysitter all day, that might be part of it.” She smiled.

You nodded in agreement, a smile on your face as well.

"You're so good with him," she whispered into your ear, "it's adorable."

You had caught her taking pictures of you with her nephew a couple times throughout the day, and now, as you briefly as her phone light up with notification, it seemed she had set one of them as her lockscreen.

"I try my best. He's a good kid."

"Well, he's in good hands."

Dinner was delicious, but relatively uneventful. After an entire day together everyone was happy to sit quietly and enjoy the food. Stina’s nephew joked with you a couple times, still wanting all of your attention, but even he seemed to be winding down for the night.

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After the table was cleared and the dishes had been washed (a task delegated to Stina’s brother this time), the group splintered off. Linnéa was going out to meet with a few friends, Stina’s brother and his family had to go home before it got too late, and Stina’s parents had settled in the living room. The two of you were welcome to join, they offered, for a nightcap. But it was clear that maybe you and Stina needed some alone time.

So you bid everyone good night, thanking them for a wonderful day, and giving Stina’s nephew a big hug goodbye (even though you would be seeing him the next day). You tried to prepare for what you knew was a difficult discussion coming your way. In and out, you tried to remind yourself.

“Go ahead, I’ll be in in a minute,” Stina told you when you reached the bedroom door.

You nodded, thankful for the extra minute to think. The room was quiet around you. You felt the quilt beneath your hands, taking another deep breath. You didn’t need to overthink this. It was simple. And Stina loved you, you reminded yourself.

There was a knock at the door, after which Stina slowly opened it and slipped inside. She had a bag of ice in her hands, presumably for your ankle. Already you felt tears spring to your eyes.

“Here, for your foot.”

She lifted your leg, grabbing a chair for you to prop it up on, and pressed the ice to it.

“So,” Stina paused, still standing before you, “What’s wrong?” You opened your mouth, but were cut off before you could say anything. “And don’t say it’s nothing, I can tell it isn’t. And I want to know, I want you to tell me, whatever it is.”

You chuckled internally at the similarity to Laura’s demand earlier. Stina knew you too well for you to hide from her either. That made your heart ache a little bit.

Your lack of response seemed to signal to Stina that you needed more convincing because she knelt down in front of you, taking your hands in hers.

“What were you doing in the bathroom earlier? Why did you look so upset? All day, I can see you trying to hide it, but I know you’re hiding something. It hurts me too, to see you like that. It’s like a thorn in my ribs.”

Your lip trembled, and you bit down hard on your cheek until you could feel blood in your mouth. It rushed onto your tongue, the metallic taste distracting you from the urge to cry. Stina had caught your gaze, and you couldn’t bring yourself to look away.

“Do your parents know we’re together?” Your voice held steady as you asked.

Whatever she had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. Stina let out an airy chuckle, looking relieved. You brought your gaze to the floor, eyes wetting rapidly, which Stina quickly noticed.

“Hey, hey, hey,” She brought a hand up to your face, brushing the hair away from it. She sat next to you, moving up from where she was kneeling, and pulled you into her. “Look at me.” She put a finger under your chin, drawing your gaze to hers. The sight of your eyes nearly broke her heart. She hadn’t seen your face crumple in on itself like this since you were injured. The idea that something she had done could have caused you pain like that made her feel indescribably awful.

“Of course they know, of course they do.”

You let out a sigh of relief, putting your head in your hands. You felt a hand on the back of your neck, rubbing the skin there tenderly.

“Then why have you been so…distant all day? And yesterday? This morning at breakfast, I couldn’t even hold your hand. It seemed like you didn’t want your family to see us together. I thought maybe you… I don’t know, that you were unsure of us, or afraid, or—”

“That’s not it, I promise,” she said, wiping a tear away that had fallen from your eye. Fuck, you hated crying this much. “It’s just odd for me to be affectionate in front of my parents. They never were very touchy with each other in front of us, so it just feels like some unspoken rule. And then when my brother married his wife, they were the same way. But I promise, tomorrow I’ll try—”

You shook your head. You could tell Stina was upset too now, and you didn't want that. That wasn't the point of this. Tears continued to stream from your eyes, and you continued to swipe harshly at them.

“No, no. It’s all right. I don’t need you to be affectionate in front of them, I understand. It just seemed strange when I didn’t know the reason. I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”

Stina seemed at a loss for a moment, truly shocked. She pulled you into a kiss, pressing her lips firmly against yours once, twice, three times before pulling back.

“You’re in this house too. And we’re a team: you don’t just have to do things the way we do. I’m supposed to meet you in the middle, okay? We’re in a relationship—if something hurts you, or is important to you, I want to know.”

You nodded, squeezing her hand as a small thanks. The taste of blood trickled through your mouth, reminding you of the wound. You did your best to swallow it down.

“Come on, let’s get you into something more comfortable,” Stina said, helping you up.

She opened the dresser, looking for some of the pants you had brought. When she turned around, in her hands were a pair of grey sweats and one of her long sleeve Swedish national team shirts.

“Sit,” she requested, pointing at the bed.

You followed, sitting and allowing her to help you undress. It was totally non-sexual, Stina was wholly concerned in caring for you. Once you were dressed in the casual clothes she had picked out, Stina returned to your side, your ankle in her lap as she massaged the skin gently.

“Was that what made you think I hadn’t told them?”

“It seems silly… but I also overheard them talking to your aunt in the kitchen last night.” You took a breath, trying to banish the tears for good. “I know my Swedish isn’t that good, but I was doing my best to keep up, and they kept referring to me as your friend, your friend, Stina’s friend.”

Stina looked at you, confused.

“They did? What did they say?”

You did your best to repeat the word, cringing at your own pronunciation.

“Väninna?” She repeated, and you nodded. “Who told you that means friend?”

“Amanda.” you replied, “She said it was like a female friend.”

Stina shook her head, laughing.

“What?” You asked, a bit indignant.

“It does mean that. But it also means girlfriend. I don’t think Amanda thought you’d ever run into the word. It’s a bit old fashioned.” Stina explained.

“Oh…” you said, feeling very stupid, and very relieved.

“Come here,” Stina said, leaning back against the headrest and gesturing for you to settle against her. She grabbed the bag of ice on your foot and shifted it to lie comfortably again. “I’m sorry you had to go through the day thinking I’d invited you here under friendly pretenses.”

You could tell she was making fun of you, just a little, but that there was sincerity in her voice too. One of her hands crept under your shirt, resting comfortingly on your stomach.

“I hope you don’t treat all your friends like you did yesterday morning.” You replied, snuggling closer to her. For the first time in days your head wasn’t full of doubts, and you could relax wholly. You just wanted to enjoy her warmth around you. You had faith that tomorrow would be great, that you could finally enjoy your time here the way you were meant to.

She chuckled, hugging you closer to her and pressing a kiss to your upward-turned lips.

“No, definitely not. I usually have better decision making skills around most people.”

“I guess I’m just special then, huh?”

#hope you all enjoy !#and happy new years eve-ish #arsenal x reader #stina blackstenius #stina blackstenius x reader #woso community #woso imagine #woso fanfics #woso x reader #laura freigang #stina blackstenius imagine #my writing

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buckybarnesss · 10 months

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Bro, the noise I just made. I literally cannot stand the fanon for Stiles or Derek. It is so so soooo bad, I think these people literally have only seen the 2 hour sterek compilation. Every day I am like "who fucking told you people that Derek never smiles and has no sense of humor?"

Stiles gets turned into this big eyed, kitten twink who wouldn't dare to misbehave because he's the sheriff's son (the kid who gets drunk in the WOODS, and gets his dad drunk so he can steal casefiles!!)

Derek like... He is either completely useless and cannot dress himself for a date without fanon!Laura (do not get me started) telling him what to do, or he is so emotionally repressed and damage that he can barely handle someone kissing him without him falling to pieces.

LIKE. Derek smiles. Derek makes jokes!! Derek laughed at Stiles right before the pool scene. Derek knows how to use a cellphone and a laptop. Derek is a goddamn millenial, he knows what grumpy cat is. He knows he's hot, he has a mirror!!

Also... the man lived in New York fucking City. He's not afraid of crowds or talking to people or making out, he uses sex to get his way (Erica and the deputy at the front desk!!)

i know.

like, there's a period of fics that are usually from the s1-2 period that lean pretty hard on derek's dark, brooding and grumpiness from season 1 but of course he was like that. he was going through The Horrors during season 1. he was grieving laura, he was being retraumatized by kate and dealing with scott, stiles and fucking jackson.

he wasn't one dimensional though. his anger was a mask for all the fear, confusion and trying to be in control.

do you know how many fics i've read where people have stiles think about all the apparent physical violence derek has done to stiles as if he's always slamming him into surfaces? way too many to count and it's incorrect. off the top of my head i can count 3 times derek did something like that to stiles. the shove into the wall and slam into the steering wheel in wolf's bane both of which had a point to them. whether or not it was a good emotional response doesn't matter. what matters is that they were not random or part of derek's personality. he didn't just shove stiles into things every time he saw him. the wall shove in s4 with de-aged derek was a deliberate call back to that very instance in wolf's bane. it was literally coupled with the whole cousin miguel bit.

fandom doesn't like to acknowledge that derek hale isn't particularly violent over the course of the show. he hardly even wins the fights he engages in and he is often forced into fights knowing he cannot win.

our boy mostly ends up on the fucking floor.

derek also does make jokes. dry ones usually he thinks they are hilarious too. he thinks he's a funny guy. his dad joke game must've been off the charts, sorry eli.

he and stiles trade barbs a lot and he thinks stiles is funny. stiles amuses him and he indulges it a few times. he shows off to stiles too like a loser.

he likes to fuck with scott and stiles and enjoys taking the piss out of peter. he genuinely enjoyed fucking with liam in s4.

he's not a luddite either. he has a cellphone and we see him use it. i bet he plays games on it. i bet he plays candy crush and words with friends.

and fanon evolved to strip away that stiles is an asshole. he a violent little freak. he threatens people, he expresses regularly his desire to kill people or have them die, he cares about a very small selection of people in his life and if you're not in that circle than god be with your ass because stiles most definitely won't.

he loves and respects his father but this doesn't mean stiles respects the law which is why i don't know why the law enforcement route was chosen for him. stiles hates rules and boundaries. he chafes at them.

stiles casually helps kira and scott break into evidence to get her cell phone. he tells scott's fbi agent father to fuck himself. he got his dad drunk to get access to case files. he copies people's keys. he's a nosy shit.

the whole show started because stiles was a nosy punk kid who wanted to see a dead body.

but i digress.

fanon stiles had a lot of scott's characteristics projected onto him so they could bash scott. i know there's a lot of people who don't like scott which is fine or whatever but there are so many that do it so they can make a pinata out of a character they've extracted all the good points from and give to their favorite little white boy fav.

stiles "i will beat you with a bat" stilinski is a freaky little shit who will bite you.

do you know how hard i laughed when in s3 stiles and isaac genuinely just like could not stand each other? they couldn't be in the same room with out insulting one another and it was the complete opposite of stiles being oh so sensitive to isaac's past and history than straight up in 3b stiles the epitome of insensitive says to isaac something about still milking it (his abuse). stiles is a dick.

i also genuinely have umbrage with the pack mom trope that stiles gets saddled with. the way fandom has oft feminized stiles leaves a bad taste in my mouth too.

derek and stiles are both assholes and i love them very much.

#my blog #teen wolf #thoughts on teen wolf #sterek #derek hale

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burr-ell · 1 year

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"the tendency of this fandom to only engage with what THEY want these characters to be#as opposed to what their creators are trying to do and the stories they want to tell" slap this on a bumper sticker, you just summed all cr discourse (about PCs at least) in 2 sentences

It truly is maddening (and it's not by any means exclusive to the CR fandom). The reason why the discourse always goes the way it does is that at the end of the day, the loud fanwanky people only see what they would do, if they were self-inserted into the story, as a valid choice; and they are, more broadly, fundamentally disinterested in what others think or feel. There are several examples of this, and the variety of spaces within the fandom that produce these ideas is an indicator that this isn't endemic to one specific group of people.

-Keyleth is an important character whose feelings and choices are validated by the other PCs and cast even if they still disagree with them, in spite of how she and her preachiness get in the way of the Murderhobo Jubilee? It's not because the cast are all friends and they genuinely believe Keyleth is valid and are interested in how these discussions and choices can guide the story. It's because Marisha is the DM's girlfriend, and also here's my totally unbiased theory that my pet favorite players Sam and Travis secretly hate Marisha and Keyleth.

-Vax's presence is still felt and nodded to in the post-canon VM oneshots? It's not because he was an important character who mattered. It's because Liam wants to make everyone talk about his tragedy because he has Main Character Syndrome. Scanlan Wishes for Vax to appear at the wedding? It's not because he cares about Vex or because Sam and Liam wanted a sweet tribute to Vex and Vax's relationship and by extension Liam and Laura's friendship. It's because Liam thinks Vex's life should always revolve around Vax, and Sam wants to enable him and jerk himself off as the one who facilitated it.

-Beauyasha and Fjorester become canon? It's not because the players wanted it and it happened naturally. It's because there was a secret behind-the-scenes push to "force" those ships to become canon instead, and like, Dani Carr is some sort of shipping puppetmaster who made the players do it, and "they" (whomever "they" is) decided to sink Beaujester or Widojest because it was "obviously" going to become canon before the pandemic hiatus gave them time to "make the corporate-approved ships happen".

-Beau and Caleb try to reform the Empire and dismantle the Cerberus Assembly from within? It's not because it makes sense for their stories or that people who would take this position regarding a corrupt government might have a valid perspective that differs from your own. It's because the people at Critical Role Productions LLC are all spineless neoliberal cowards who won't commit to real activism. The best activism, after all, is violent, and violent revolutions have always resulted in stable aftermaths, and the real world has never demonstrated that this mindset is foolish.

-Relatedly: Caleb doesn't kill Trent personally? It's not because the most poetic justice would be to deny Trent the thing he wants most from Caleb. It's because "Limo Brain" is too obsessed with tragedy to have the stones to do "what needs to be done".

-Asmodeus, DnD Satan, turns out to also be CR Satan? It's not because it fits with the cosmology and the lore; it's because Matt Mercer is too attached to the "establishment", and the Prime Deities should have actually turned out to be the bad guys because of my personal baggage about Western religion and Christianity they're a little mean to my blorbo sometimes.

There's a pattern here: fans had expectations that they'd built up for themselves after projecting and building up fanon and deciding what players meant before they explained themselves fully, and when the players strayed from that, they were derided for all manner of reasons. I think we're seeing that same pattern play out in C3 as the story progresses in a way that fans dislike, and in fact we have seen fanwank spread whenever someone does anything that interferes with personally catering to a) the favored ship and/or b) the favored philosophy. (Orym, Ashton, FCG, Percy, Pelor...all valid when they affirm the Fandom Opinions and all disdained when they don't.)

Don't get me wrong, I think there's a place for comfort stories that deliver a personal catharsis. And I'm not going to dismissively say "well if you want it so bad make your own" because, as an artist, I am very familiar with the fact that creating is hard and draining and sometimes you just need to consume instead. But when you become so wrapped up in yourself and your feelings to the point where your perspective is the only valid one, someone else's feels like a betrayal when it isn't. It's always "They aren't doing what we wanted and here's why they're terrible people because of it" and never "Hmm, why is this what the cast wants? Let's examine that."

This isn't a new phenomenon, but I think it ultimately stems from not assuming that other people can differ from you in major ways in good faith. There are a lot of reasons for that (some more understandable than others), but I think you rob yourself of the potential to enjoy something new when all you do is demand what you already want. No matter what you're doing or where you are in life, you tend to become a better and wiser person when you open your mind to what other people have to say, no matter how mundane the subject matter. Sometimes the stories people have to tell are challenging—and the only healthy way to deal with that is to engage with them on their own terms.

#critical role #cr discourse #asks #long post #for the record i think VLD fandom became such a shitshow partially for this reason #but also. and admittedly i'm biased. VLD was basically a show for no one #this by the way is part of why a faction of fe3h fandom capes so hard for crimson flower (which is basically a glorified bonus route)#and absolutely abhors the idea of byleth being religious and enjoying her job as a teacher #and why some cr fans are so vehemently opposed to the prime deities being good and characters being connected to them #religious trauma that leads a character to reject religion and that being framed as a valid choice is okay to want to see #but it is also just as valid for a character to find religion to be a healing and positive experience #seriously 'gods bad' stories are not that difficult to come by. they're just not doing that in THIS story and you're mad about it #instead of doing the work of finding a story that WILL do that meaningfully

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wheredidhiseyebrowsgo · 1 year

Note

Hey, I wanted to ask if you know some fan-fics where Derek is CEO/Manager and is in a relationship or married with Stiles?? Stiles works in the company too. Thank you!

I sure do!

Love Me So (let it snow) by Innaz (zanni_scaramouche)

(1/1 I 5,573 I Explicit)

As CEO, Mr. Hale is used to spending more nights curled on his office coach than his bed, but this time it isn't an impending merger or new client deal keeping him hibernated on the fortieth floor this Christmas Eve. A city wide blizzard warning, a power outage, and a dismal lack of tea leaves him hours away from what he expects to be one of the more pathetic Christmas mornings of his life.

That is, until the new bright eyed intern scares the living crap out of him.

That Thin Line In and Out of My Bed by fadedhues

(4/4 I 5,611 I Explicit)

“Ow,” Derek says, scowling, rubbing his bicep where Laura hit him.

She retorts, “That’s what happens when you zone out and eye-fuck your new assistant, Derek,” crossing her arms and jutting a hip out.

(aka the one where Derek is a CEO of his family's company; enter Stiles, his new assistant, who happens to be extremely fuckable)

12 Days of Hale Publishing by relenafanel

(2/2 I 7,533 I General)

Something must have poked his Christmas Spirit. It might be the way Hale was watching the proceedings with a scowl on his face, unable to hide what was clear derision. Earlier, his eyes had lifted when Stiles entered the work pen with the presents, and Stiles had been under the impression he had been vaguely pleased. The only thing Stiles could think of that would make someone such a gloomy grump was not getting a gift.

“What?” Hale asked, staring at him through the glass wall that made up the part of his office facing the work area.

“I’ve got something for you!” Stiles said, waving the small rectangular present as he walked in.

“That’s not mine,” Mr. Hale said, staring at the box like it offended him. Then he stared at Stiles like he was offending him more. “You’ve made a mistake.”

“No mistake, sir. It’s a special delivery from magical Hale Holiday Elves.” Stiles gestured to his head. “See the hat. A man wearing this hat makes no mistakes.”

Mr. Hale and the Lumberjack by isthatbloodonhisshirt

(1/1 I 15,407 I Teen)

“Derek,” Stiles whined, draping himself across Erica’s desk. She patted his back comfortingly. “Derek, why doesn’t the lumberjack like me? What can I do to change that?”

“If you’ve opened your mouth around him, that explains everything,” Derek told him coldly. “Maybe try shutting up for once. And standing still. Not breathing would help your cause, too.”

Stiles let out a wail of despair, and everyone quickly moved in to comfort him. Derek scowled, annoyed, and clapped his hands loudly.

“Enough. Back to work. Stiles, get the fuck out of my department.”

“Language,” Stiles chided, pointing one finger at him while still draped across the desk.

One Way or Another by Anyshe

(11/? I 28,262 I Mature)

“A deal?” Stiles asked slowly, keeping his gaze eyeline to Derek’s even though his boss was practically looming over him as Stiles sat in his chair. “Yes, a deal. I won’t fire you. I will even give you that recommendation you want so badly and turn it into the dean of admissions myself. All you have to do is accept.” Derek’s voice oozed with promise. Like molasses, the sweetness of his promises consumed Stiles. “What would I have to do?” Stiles gulped. Derek’s mouth spread into a full grin as he leant forward, both arms caging Stiles as they rested on the arms of his chair. Derek’s face was inches from his own. If Stiles just leant a little closer he could…. “Be my boyfriend.” Wait... What?

Rules & Restrictions by DamnSterek

(11/11 I 49,795 I Explicit)

“I want you to dom me.”

Stiles had dropped his bag and had turned around to gape at Derek. He what now?

Derek had still been staring at his food, angrily, as if he wanted it to disappear.

“You want what?” Stiles asked, just to be sure. His ears must have played a trick on him. Only they hadn’t.

“I want you to dominate me,” Derek had said to his food.

“Excuse me? Are you talking to me?” Stiles had asked again.

He still couldn’t believe it as he stared at the ceiling. Derek had blushed and sputtered for a long time, especially when Stiles walked back into the room and sat down on his spot.

Stiles barely got any answers from his boss, so he had proposed to talk about it on Monday.

He had never in his dirtiest and darkest mind thought Derek Hale would be a submissive. That was just insane.

___

Or the one where Stiles and Derek indulge in a BDSM relationship without love. Also, Derek is Stiles's boss.

The New Guy by MeshackDiva

(28/28 I 59,997 I Mature I Sterek)

Stiles is new to Beacon Hills. He finds a job at Hale & Co. where things are different then any other job he has had. Though, when he starts to fall for the company CEO, Stiles is unsure of what to do with himself. Does he pursue his wants, or back off and continue to work like any other employe.

#teen wolf #sterek #stiles stilinski #derek hale #office au #anon

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gingiesworld · 10 months

Text

The Woods (3/?)

Wanda Maximoff x GN! Reader

Warnings: angst. Death. Blood.

18+ MINORS DNI

A little over a year ago

Nat looked over at Y/N who stood there holding Wanda. Anger and hatred flashed through her eyes before she stormed towards the two.

"You!" She hit them as Wanda stepped away. "You did this!"

"Nat." Wanda tried as Y/N just let her hit them. Knowing she was in pain.

"You're a murderer." She yelled as she hit their chest over and over again.

"It wasn't me Nat." They told her as she continued to hit them repeatedly. "I would never hurt you or Maria." They told her. When she started to get worn out, Y/N wrapped their arms around her. Allowing her to cry.

"If it wasn't you or us, who was it?" Wanda questioned as Y/N looked passed Wanda to see Tony stood down the hall. Well what they had thought was Tony.

"We're all going to go." Clint drew their attention to Laura and himself as they had their luggage in their hands.

"Where's Tony and Pepper?" Y/N questioned as they looked back down the hall to see it in darkness.

"They were downstairs last we saw them." Laura answered as Y/N nodded. Nat went to stand beside Wanda as Y/N went towards the darkness, where they thought they saw Tony.

"The stairs are this way." Wanda told them as Y/N turned back to look at her.

"Get to the cars, I'll get Tony and Pepper." They told them with a smile.

"Not on your own." Wanda said as they smiled at her, cupping her cheeks.

"Nat is going with you to the car." They told her. "Don't let her out of your sight."

"What about Maria?" Nat asked as Y/N smiled at her.

"I'll bring her out." They told her before dissapearing to find Tony and Pepper as the others made their way downstairs.

Present

Laura lay in the hospital bed, the tubes still down her throat as the machines helped her breath. She was the only one who would be able to clear Nat's name. Especially since no one could take Wanda's word, since she had lost both Y/N and the baby. Everyone claimed her to be delirious and thought that Nat was just agreeing to her story to stay in the clear.

Steve visited her as often as he could with the kids. Hoping that she would wake and clear everything up. But one could only wish.

"We still need Laura's account of things." Jennifer told Nat as she scoffed.

"How could I kill five people and hurt two of my best friends?" She questioned. "I loved them, all of them."

"I know Nat but the judge needs a solid statement from someone who isn't either mentally ill or just playing on their friend's account of things in hopes of getting out of a life sentence." Jennifer told her as Nat shook her head. Tears running down her face.

A little over a year ago

Everyone made their way downstairs to find Pepper stood in the living room. Her eyes widened when she noticed the blood on Nat's hands.

"What happened?" She gasped as she watched everyone head to the door.

"We're leaving." Clint stated as he tried the door.

"Is it locked?" Laura questioned as he shook his head.

"No. It just won't open." He groaned as he tried again. Wanda stood closer to Nat as Y/N looked around upstairs for Tony. When they came up empty, they went back to Maria and wrapped her in the comforter and carried her downstairs.

"Is Tony down here?" They questioned as they placed her down on the sofa.

"No." Pepper answered just before the power went out. "Seriously? I am going to kill him." She groaned as the only light they saw was what was shining through the windows, and that wasn't much.

"Are you ok?" Y/N asked Wanda as they cupped her face.

"I guess so." She whispered. "But the door won't open so we can't leave."

"Did you try the back door?" They questioned as everyone shook their head no. They grabbed Maria and carried her with everyone on their heels. Stopping just as they saw a figure stand infront of the door. "Tony? We've been looking for you everywhere." They stepped forward as the rest remained frozen. "Come on, open the door. We're leaving."

"Nobody." He growled, his voice sounding sinister. "Is leaving."

"We are bud." They said. "Look I am literally carrying our dead friend, Nat's wife."

"Nobody. Leaves." He growled once more before disappearing once more.

"How did he?" Laura questioned as Y/N shrugged.

"I don't know." They whispered before placing Maria down. "But we need to get out of here and I will be damned if my kids don't have at least one of their parents to raise them." Y/N went straight into the kitchen. Grabbing a few knives and the axe from beside the door. A lantern, lighting it so that they had some illumination.

"What is going on?" Pepper questioned as she held onto Laura. Clint was lost in thought as Y/N handed the knives to Nat, Clint and Laura.

"I think there is something evil about this place." Clint stated.

"No shit." Y/N mumbled as they held the axe as Wanda had the lantern.

"No. I remember my dad telling me about this cabin up in Alaska." He started, Y/N held onto Wanda as Nat remained the other side of her. "A group of people went out there for a weekend, and only a couple survived."

"How do you know this?" Y/N asked him curiously.

"My dad was one of the survivors, along with his girlfriend at the time." He told them. Everyone just listened as he told them about it.

"So what you're saying is that this is some sort of possession." Pepper questioned unsurely. "And Tony has been possessed."

"That is exactly what I'm saying." He told her. "It explains everything. Why we can't open the door. Maria and Tony."

"It does seem like the most rational idea other than Tony being a homocidal maniac." Y/N backed him up. Wanda gripped onto them tighter.

"So what should we do?" Laura asked.

"Wait it out." Clint told them. "Is their salt?" He questioned.

"How are we supposed to wait it out?" Wanda questioned.

"When the sun came up was when my dad made a run for it." He told them.

"Why don't we just smash a window?" Nat questioned.

"Wanda can't climb." Y/N stated with raised brows.

"I think I would make an exception." Wanda whispered.

"Ok then." Y/N walked towards the window at the front of the cabin. Raising the axe ready to smash the window as the other's watched. When the axe came into contact, Tony had reappeared behind them. All they could hear was the screams as he stabbed them repeatedly in the side.

Present

"I had to watch as they died." Wanda whispered as her doctor sat before her. "They were trying to get us out and they got stabbed. If it wasn't for Clint, I wouldn't have gotten a proper goodbye."

"I'm so sorry Wanda." They spoke tenderly.

"Me too." She wiped her eyes dry. "I just, I hate them for agreeing to go for that weekend away, but also seeing what else is out there. It's eye opening."

"So you think there was some sort of possession taking over Tony?" They questioned as Wanda nodded.

"Yes." She told them. "On a normal day, he wouldn't be able to take on Y/N or Clint. Hell, even Natasha could kick Tony's ass."

"How do you feel about Natasha's whereabouts?" They questioned as Wanda just scoffed.

"It's rediculous. Her wife was murdered first. She and Y/N were like siblings." Wanda stated. "Natasha wouldn't be able to hurt anyone like that, she is too pure." With that, Wanda was sent back to her room where she lay in her bed. Playing with Y/N's wedding ring which she wears around her neck. Wanting to keep them close.

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff #marvel #wanda x y/n #wanda x you #wanda x reader #elizabeth olsen #wanda maximoff x you #elizabeth olsen x reader #natasha romanoff

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your-turn-to-role · 1 year

Note

is there a canon reason why percy and vex broke up? did tal or laura ever say why exactly?

not to my knowledge? they mentioned a lot about the secret wedding, but the break up was mentioned offhand in the campaign wrap-up talks machina, when they were asked if there was anything anyone did during the year off that never came up in the campaign

i will say though that in quite a few talks machinas tal and laura talk about perc'ahlia like a celebrity relationship (or specifically say "yeah we're one of those couples"), and that's a thing you tend to see fairly often with celebrities that end up in tabloids - they have a complicated life, they break up and get back together quite a bit, so i think part of it is tal and laura having fun playing that drama and letting them be those disaster celebrities

if you want my speculation on an in-canon reason though? i think the commitment freaked them out

like vex has always had issues surrounding stability, she's not had it in her life since she was a little kid, and she's just made excuses to herself her whole life that she's fine because she doesn't want stability - she just wants her brother and to keep moving and to never have to worry about putting down roots or forming emotional attachments because it hurts less that way. it's why she gets so jealous and snippy when vax starts showing interest in keyleth, and why she keeps shutting down his attempts to tell her he's moving to zephrah - she can't keep being flighty and only attached to her brother if he wants to settle down with someone else

as much as she loves percy, and they're good for each other, we know from the grey hunt trial that the idea of settling down with him scares her, because it's new, and because it means for the first time in a long time she has something to lose

percy is almost the opposite, he lost his entire family once already and he doesn't ever want to do that again. it's why he gets so vicious when scanlan leaves, because vox machina is his new family, and no one's allowed to tear that apart again (also why we get the really tentative "i know we don't always agree and i know i can be unkind, but... you know you're family, right?" to grog immediately after)

but a relationship is a whole new step, he trusts vex about as much as he does anyone, but this isn't just trusting her with his anger issues, or trusting her with his city, this is trusting her with the future, with his future, with always being around. i don't think he's confident enough to believe she loves him that much, that anyone could, and if he lets himself take that step fully, he has so much more to lose if something happens like it did last time

so it's all well and good when the relationship is new, when they're still trying things out, when it's flirty and it doesn't have to be serious if they don't want it to

even in moments where it's emotionally heavy, like percy's resurrection, it's still new and in the moment, they're not looking past what's immediately in front of them

(and even after that heavy moment, vex got nervous percy didn't like her back and decided to push it all to the back of her brain and not think about it - vax straight up told her to go chase him bc she deserved to be happy and she instead got drunk and changed the subject)

but then the fighting's over. they're not worried about their lives every day. no one died, they're both still here. and it starts to sink in with them that this isn't going anywhere. that this can be their forever, if they choose it. and that scares both of them, and when they get scared they tend to either wall themselves off or lash out, and both would cause a schism in their relationship. and then one day it turns into an argument and in the heightened emotion one of them says they should break up and the other agrees

and now they're emotionally safe, because if they cause the relationship to end on their terms it can't be pulled away from them unexpectedly

but they're not actually happy

and maybe they come to that realisation on their own, more likely they talk about it with their friends and vax and keyleth tell them they're being idiots

and then the question is what to do about it

it's possible they went slowly back into it

or, since we know their first marriage proposals were a dare, maybe they weren't even together again yet

i could see that being exactly the sort of thing they'd do if they wanted to get back together but they didn't want to be the first one to admit that they wanted to

skip the dating phase we already did that i dare you to marry me

and maybe they talk about it much later, maybe they don't

but i think by the time they got to the marriage, they'd realised they wanted this to be more than a casual thing, and it's still probably scary, but there's no one else they'd trust to get them through that fear and come out the other side

#cr1 #percy de rolo #vex'ahlia #ask #meta #cr thoughts

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cellard0ors · 10 months

Text

"Truth or dare!"

"...are we really doing this?" Laura asks incredulously and Trish rolls her eyes, "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

"Yeah! Besides, it's kind of a camp tradition!" Bruce adds excitedly, "About halfway through the season, all the counselors," he gestures all around them to signal to the fact that, indeed, they're all here, "sneak away after the kids are asleep and we play!"

"Okay, but you also said it's a camp tradition for the last counselor who shows up to go swim naked in the lake." Laura glares at him when she says this and - apparently - this is news to everyone present as they turn to Bruce with scowls.

"... can't blame a guy for trying." He admits softy and Nancy swats out at him, earning herself an 'ouch!' one she rolls her eyes at, "I barely hit you, you baby!"

"David, your girlfriend hit me!" Bruce whines.

"That wasn't a hit." David argues before unceremoniously hitting Bruce upside the back of his head to get an even louder cry of pain, "This is a hit!"

"You bastards!" Bruce cries and Vicki edges closer to him, "Aw! Poor baby! Let me kiss it better!"

The baby-ish voice she uses makes Laura's nose wrinkle in disgust almost as much as the kiss Vicki delivers to Bruce's cheek does. Trish pointedly clears her throat, "ANYWAY, the skinny dipping might be bullshit, but the Truth or Dare isn't, so - Laura, Truth or Dare?"

Laura looks at the group around her and lets out a defeated sigh. She's sure she wouldn't have had to do something so cliche at the summer camp in the present - if she'd been able to go to the summer camp in the present. Still, she relents, "Um, truth?"

"Do you have the hots for ol' Trav here?" Trish forks a thumb in Travis's direction and Travis looks as if he's been slapped, eyes wide circles, cheeks bright pink.

Oh no, Laura's not falling for this (And it's not as if she's unsure of the answer... because she totally is! She knows how she feels about Travis and - a few kisses aside - it's not that) and she quickly changes tack, "Okay then, dare."

"Oh ho, ho ho! And I thought I got hit!" Bruce cries as Travis deflates and Laura feels like shit and hates that she feels like shit only for Trish to counter with, "Fine then. Take your panties off and give them to the cutest guy here."

"Trish!" Nancy hisses, scandalized, and both David and Angela look disapproving. Vicki looks ecstatic and Bruce has one of his hands held out, clearly expecting Laura to deposit her underwear in them.

And Travis?

Travis looks sad. And small. And all because Laura tried to side step the truth question.

...goddamn it.

Laura shoots daggers Trish's way but Trish, if anything, looks as if Laura's reaction is just what she hoped for, "I mean, you don't have to...if you're chicken."

The last is such an unoriginal, childish, uninspired insult. Laura could care less. Vicki's added chicken clucks and wing flaps more so. Fuck this! Laura should just leave! Just walk off!

But Trish just looks so boastful and Bruce (hand still out) so smug and Vicki so vindictive and the other three so sorry and Travis! Travis is the worst with that hangdog expression that somehow manages to pierce the armor she thought she had around her heart to the point where Laura just throws up her hands and cries, "Fine!"

The word thunders out of her even as she leaps to her feet and charges off into the darkness of the woods behind them. Laura doesn't even struggle much with her shorts or her underwear, just quickly peels the two pieces of clothing off and puts only the one back on before marching back towards the campfire.

Bruce's open hand does the 'gimme' gesture even as Laura approaches Travis and, with a heavy sigh, she reaches down and grabs one of his hands. Travis's eyes shoot up to hers, even wider than before, his round glasses almost highlighting their size as she pushes his fingers open and presses her panties into his palm.

Travis holds them as if, with the slightest movement, it'll spell danger for him. As if they're a bomb with a hairpin trigger, his whole body rigid, even as Laura turns to Trish and asks acidly, "This answer your truth question too?"

Trish preens, clearly thinking she's clever.

It takes all of Laura's willpower to remind herself that she's only a murderer under dire circumstances. She turns her attention to Nancy, "You can have my turn."

Nancy just blinks blankly and then clears her throat, "Oh! Um? Travis?"

His wide eyes swing to her.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Ah? Dare?"

"I dare you to return Laura's property."

Laura recognizes Nancy's intention and appreciates it. She appreciates it even more when Travis holds his hand up, his expression meek and apologetic and so stupidly cute that Laura can't help but shake her head, her voice soft as she says, "No, Travis. You keep it."

She curls his fingers around it, almost holding his hand as she does so, "I dare you."

Travis swallows thickly, Adam's apple visibly working and this is exactly why the kisses keep happening. However, Laura resists this time, retaking her seat even as David nudges Travis, "Hey man, it's your turn."

Travis holds the panties closer, a tic in his jaw and a sudden light in his eyes that Laura recognizes. It's one his older self would occasionally carry, one that hinted to his temper but she knows it's not directed at her and the heat of it...

...god, she's so fucked up! The way she finds it attractive...

Especially when it's turned in Bruce's direction and she hears, "Bruce, Truth or Dare?"

Bruce, clearly not thinking Travis is capable of anything truly terrible, crosses his arms and boasts, "Dare, baby! I'm no chicken! I'll do whatever you want!"

"Good. I dare you to go swim naked in the lake."

(A mixture of ideas from my post asking for inspiration! Might add more to this to do more of them 😍)

#hackearney #travis x laura #my writing #a full deck series

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dannymillerfansite · 7 months

Text

Danny Miller, who plays Aaron, recently caught up with Digital Spy and other media to discuss his surprise comeback.

How has it been to return to Emmerdale?

"It's been amazing. It's almost like a new job for me, because I see it completely differently now. I've been back a couple of times, but this time I'm very appreciative of the job and very thankful for being back here.

"Obviously I've got a family now that needs feeding, and it's a fun way to do that! I'm living round the corner now because we've relocated over here, which shows that I really want to commit to Emmerdale. I want to show everyone how much I love it – and how much respect and thanks I've got for it."

Has this been a hard secret to keep?

"Yes, because when [former executive producer] Jane Hudson and [producer] Laura Shaw pitched the idea to come back, I was over the moon and so excited. But they said: 'There is something we want to do with it, which means that you're going to have to keep it quiet'.

"This was at the beginning of the year, so it's been months of not being able to tell people. We relocated and people were asking where I was moving to, but I wasn't able to tell people.

"Some of my closest friends and family don't even know what I've been up to, so it's been hard to do but the respect and appreciation for the show meant that I wanted to keep the secret.

"I wanted to be part of something that will hopefully be a shocking soap moment, so that made it easier because I knew that people would understand."

Are you expecting your phone to buzz with messages now that you're back?

"I don't know, it could go one way or the other. It could go: 'Oh God, he's back again!' Or it could be that they're happy he's back – I'm hoping it's the latter."

Did it feel like the right time to come back?

"Absolutely. I enjoyed the time away and I did I'm A Celeb, which was something I'd always wanted to do. I had the opportunity afterwards to go and do various other shows off the back of that.

"I left for time off with my family. You don't get that here at Emmerdale because it's very busy. I've done that and I feel like I've achieved a lot since I've been away.

"When the offer came back in, I was very thankful and appreciative. It made me think, 'This is for my family' and I feel very honoured to do that here."

Are you back for the foreseeable future?

"Well, it's soap, isn't it? In my eyes, they'll have to drag me out kicking and screaming. Whether that happens, I don't know. I'm certainly very happy here and we'll see what happens."

What can you tell us about Aaron's return story?

"Aaron has been away for a couple of years, apart from his brief return last year, trying to live a new life in Italy with his friend Adam and his partner Marco. Aaron has got himself into a lot of trouble since the death of Liv, which sent him off the rails.

"It was a quick exit when Aaron left last time, so he didn't have time to process everything. He's done his grieving off screen and it's not gone the way he imagined. Liv's death has made Aaron very angry at life and quite a few characters within the village.

"He's now been dragged back by Caleb and Cain, after taking something that wasn't his from some gangsters. He's also been lying about that. In previous years, Aaron was loyal, very honest and very family-orientated. Now it's time to see a completely different side to him."

Can you describe Aaron's state of mind?

"Aaron's state of mind is that he didn't want to come back. He was on a self-destructive path, which meant that he was happy to kill or be killed over there in Italy. It was Adam who made the call to warn Cain about this, explaining that Aaron is off the rails and has lost the plot entirely.

"Aaron's state of mind is that he's selfish, angry and depressed from everything that happened. He hasn't dealt with the grief very well, so he's angry with everybody and just constantly looking for a fight.

"It doesn't bother Aaron whether he wins or loses – just as long as he can have a fight and maybe feel a bit of pain at the hand of someone else."

How will Aaron cope with being back in the village for the first time since Liv's death?

"Most of the time he just wants the ground to swallow him up, really. It just brings back so many dark memories of what happened with Liv.

"Aaron blames Chas for that, because he believes Liv wouldn't have been out there in the storm if Chas hadn't been playing away with Al. He also had to hide the truth from Paddy and leave with that secret. It makes him even more angry at everybody."

How is Aaron's relationship with Chas?

"Toxic is probably the best way to describe it. Chas almost thinks that it's old ground and it's buried, while Aaron is at the opposite end of that. He blames Chas for the way he's feeling and the fact that he didn't get the chance to grieve Liv before he left the village.

"Granted, some of that was contractual! But a lot of it was because, story-wise, Aaron had to get away to avoid telling Paddy what was going on and he kept Chas' dirty little secret. That made him even more angry because Aaron is not that person, but Chas made him that person."

Do you want Aaron and Chas' relationship to be repaired?

"I do like playing this side of things. There are some times when I'm playing scenes and I think: 'Oh God, the audience are going to hate this and they're going to hate me!'

"But it makes it interesting for the character to change. Aaron has had that character change, which is interesting for me to play and hopefully the audience will see that it's a self-destruct and self-loathing path that he's on, as opposed to just doing it for no reason.

"It makes it fun for me to play, but Aaron is very nasty to a lot of characters. There's no remorse, which adds to that darker side to him. It is very interesting to play, but he's got so much hatred for so many people."

Does being friends with Lucy Pargeter, who plays Chas, make it harder to film those angry scenes?

"It's been amazing to play because we know that eventually – hopefully – there's going to be a reunion in that relationship. We were so used to playing nice scenes where Chas was supportive and Aaron was protective of her. He was always very respectful and if anyone even looked at Chas the wrong way, he'd snap and be the first to protect her.

'This is now the opposite. It's almost like Chas is a stranger to him and he can't stand everything that she's done.

"Aaron can't understand the fact that Chas is now very sorry and remorseful for what's happened – he thinks it's too little, too late. So soap is great at really exploring such an angry relationship, with hope that there'll be a light at the end of the tunnel, which I'm sure there will be at some point."

Can you tease what's ahead over the rest of this week?

"Aaron is adamant that he's been set up and hasn't taken this money. But there is a reveal there that Aaron is lying, which sets a tone for the character that he's changed. It makes for a really interesting story arc and eventually it's going to come out why he's done it.

"That money will be put to good use at some point. Whether it's through Aaron or not is a different story!

"It's a case of Aaron eventually getting back in the village. He's got a lot of repairing to do with various different characters and that should hopefully make for an interesting arc."

What was it like to film such dark scenes as your comeback?

"The scenes were dark but it was great. It all changed because I had a small issue with my knee, which made it easy to write it into the story that Aaron had been given a good hiding before he came over! Not a lot of acting was required with limping, because I was in agony throughout most of it.

"It was just great to work with Jeff Hordley [who plays Cain] again and to work with Will Ash [who plays Caleb].

"Obviously Lucy and Nat [J Robb, who plays Moira] came into the fold – and maybe another character or two turns up at some point, so it was nice for us to play scenes with each other again.

"It was really good to film and play a different form of Aaron, although in the heart of it you see moments which show that he's still in there somewhere and someone needs to just bring it out of him. When that will happen, we'll have to wait and see."

Would you like to see Aaron working with Cain and Caleb more?

"It'd be good to see that triangle of Caleb, Cain and Aaron. They're all very like-minded and the Dingle DNA is in there throughout. It makes for a very interesting story that they work as a trio, but whether that happens I don't know.

"We discussed it with Will and Jeff – how interesting it would be if they all bang heads together and come up with ways of making money. How Dingles do that is always very interesting."

What's it like working with Will Ash?

"I've known Will since I was about 18 or 19 playing football. We always used to say 'Will Ash, nicest guy in the business' because everybody loves him. It's interesting to work with him and act with him.

"There's a couple of scenes where Caleb gets in Aaron's face. It took me a couple of takes as I thought: 'This is so weird that this is now happening with Will'. He's a great addition to the show and the character is as well. I was made up that Will was going to be part of the team that I was re-joining."

Can you give us any final teasers on what's ahead?

"I was just reading new scripts and it stays on that darker arc. Laura and Jane were saying: 'We're keen to keep that because we don't have that kind of character – who's looking for a fight, who's winding people up, who's got these smart comebacks and lines'.

"For me, that's quite good to play because Aaron keeps making smart remarks. It's good to play that character, and then eventually in the future hopefully he'll return to some form of who he used to be."

#danny miller #aaron dingle #spoilers #emmerdale #digital spy #cain dingle #caleb miligan #chas dingle

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stardiveatnight · 2 years

Text

an unnecessarily long rant about dylan and ryan not ending up together

okay so i absolutely utterly love this game, and i know that in the end, it's just a silly little horror game and there is a lot more i could criticize about it, but i've been thinking about this for a little while now so here we go.

the more time passes, the less everything around dylan and ryan's romance in the quarry makes sense. like, they make sense, sure, but then the whole laura x ryan thing? ryan merely acknowledging that he is closer to dylan than to kaitlyn but then dismissing it all by claiming he isn't sure if he'd want to date either of them? nothing about potential romantic feelings, and then there being no ending where they end up together?

like, out of all the couples at the camp, they had the best chemistry. i love abi, but dear god did i not buy her and nick, especially not after he got infected. at first i genuinely thought she was going to end up with emma, so idk what that says about abi and nick. and jacob and emma... he is overly possessive and can't take no for an answer, and she deliberately leads him on and then treats him like shit for no reason. like, no, i don't want them to end up together, sorry.

as far as i know, there isn't an ending where either of the others end up together, too, but with emma and jacob we know jacob still loves her and there is a moment where emma can potentially admit that she still has feelings for him but thinks that they're not meant to be together. alright, but at least you can get some kind of resolution for them.

and abi and nick... i think i'm just not that upset about these two because as i said, i just didn't really buy their chemistry? and then nick turned out to be kind of an asshole so i'm just glad it didn't end up working out between them, i guess.

in the beginning the writers set up this sorta love triangle between kaitlyn, ryan and dylan which goes nowhere. like we all know that if ryan kisses kaitlyn in truth or dare the little text shows up that says dylan is disappointed (and he certainly looks like it), but when ryan kisses dylan, it says nothing about kaitlyn and dylan just sits there all smiley and flustered. and everyone's happy for them, too, whereas when ryan kisses kaitlyn, no one reacts. even kaitlyn herself looks uncomfortable which i guess could just her being nervous, but still. and for the rest of the game, her crush on ryan isn't brought up again once, there isn't even a way for kaitlyn and ryan to end up together, and the whole love triangle literally stops being a thing right after the campfire. what i'm trying to say is, the writers obviously never intended for kaitlyn and ryan to be a thing, they hardly interact alone at all, so why did they even include it? it's all about dylan and ryan, like, the entire time (until laura shows up but i'll talk about that in a bit), it's so obvious that they wanted an ending where dylan and ryan end up together and that their relationship is canon, so why drag kaitlyn into all of this only for her crush on ryan to disappear, like, immediately?

at first i thought it was to add some drama, but then laura shows up and i think we all agree that there was absolutely no romantic tension between her and ryan and i'm still wondering if all the characters were high when they pointed out ryan's crush on laura like wtf r u talking about

and i mean, i haven't tried to play it any differently, but laura and max are happy together, right? like, their only problem is that max didn't tell her about the rejection letter, but for her to know that she must have gone through his stuff which is also not cool. so, they might have some issues, but i didn't really get the feeling that they were on the verge of breaking up or something.

so, when the writers tried to make this laura x ryan thing happen because boy and girl alone? they must be in love, it really feels like they chickened out of making a gay couple endgame, like, last minute. and that's why the whole kaitlyn love triangle thing frustrates me bc it kind of feels like the same thing.

the only reason i made ryan be somewhat nice to laura (and vice versa) was because i heard that this was the only way to get him to admit to her that he was closer to dylan than to kaitlyn. but it also felt extremely out of character considering the situation they're in, like, it's obvious ryan doesn't trust laura at all, he literally only goes with her because she wants to kill chris who is like a father figure to him and he wants to stop her. also, he saw her kill kaylee, she is getting frustrated with him because he doesn't really buy anything she tells them in the pool house, they literally do not get along. hell, she has more chemistry with dylan in that scene than with ryan?? they don't even have an enemies to lovers type of vibe; to me, it was more like a i-really-don't-like-you-and-i-don't-trust-you-but-i'm-kind-of-forced-to-because-these-people-want-to-kill-us-frenemies type of relationship.

i literally, and i mean this lightheartedly, felt like the game was trying to gaslight me into believing there was some unresolved sexual or romantic tension between laura and ryan like hello? you've known each other for ten minutes what are you even saying? laura you're on a mission trying to save your boyfriend what is going on??

and then they still don't end up together, like ryan x laura never happens, like it was nothing but a weird fever dream, so why tf did the writers include this? it wasn't even to build up some weird jealous tension between ryan and dylan because they never end up together. why not??

it's like the game tried so hard to convince us that ryan and dylan are definitely in love, they're crushing so hard and ryan is a little oblivious and dylan is a little insecure but yes the feelings are mutual!! only to then rub it under our noses that ryan could also like kaitlyn, though, and he totally fancies laura, too, so maybe he doesn't like dylan after all! it was all just an illusion he never had a crush on him!!

i know that dylan and ryan's kiss was the first same sex kiss in supermassive game's history, though they're not the first openly queer characters. so, i guess out of fear that homophobes are going to boycott the game, especially considering ryan is somewhat of a protagonist, they chickened out of canonically acknowledging ryan and dylan (yet giving all sorts of hints that they are supposed to be endgame), they added kaitlyn's crush on ryan to give players the choice between kissing her or dylan, and that's also why the whole laura x ryan thing happened, just to be able to say see, ryan didn't like dylan after all! and just for us to be left all confused because what the fuck is happening.

i also wouldn't be upset about the kaitlyn thing if they at least went somewhere with it, but like this it just feels so halfhearted. in the end, ryan is bisexual, so it wouldn't be impossible for him to like kaitlyn.

i think in the end i'm just a little upset that they gave us the illusion of choice when it came to the romantic relationships only to then take it all away from us halfway through the game and shit all over it by pretending ryan suddenly has a crush on laura and we didn't even get a say in it. and yes, i'm also a little sad to see that emma and jacob or abi and nick don't end up together no matter what because it would have been interesting to see, but as i said, both of these couples just didn't have as interesting of a chemistry as dylan and ryan had (in my opinion, i know i keep shitting on abixnick and jacobxemma, i still liked them okay!!). and i also understand that the game would have gotten so much more complicated if they had added all sorts of relationship outcomes to it. i just think it's a little disrespectful to your own story to just let the strongest (or second strongest idk, depends on your preferences, i also really enjoyed laura and max), relationship in your game fizzle out like it was nothing or pretend that it was utterly one sided and all just an illusion just because you're too scared to make a same sex couple end game.

(i just hope the developers see the overwhelming response to dylan and ryan and will take that to heart. also abigail and emma please they were so gay in that golf cart pls)

#i know this was harsh but i had to say it #i'm just so upset they didn't get a conclusion #like at all #they are too precious for that #dylan did not introduce ryan to dylan dylan just for them to not end up together #this game is gonna make me lose my mind #dylan lenivy #ryan erzahler #laura kearney #kaitlyn ka #the quarry #radioheads #dylan x ryan #ryan x dylan #rylan

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supervillain-smut · 2 months

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You should do a Ruben/Ruvik fanfic or headcanons about what dating him would be like, also about being intimate together >///.///< Like what his turn ons would be, favorite body part of his SO, and stuff along those lines 🙌🏻

I can't believe I haven't written Ruben headcanons yet... either that or my own tags lied to me. It's Tumblr, there's like a 50/50 chance. Anyways!

SFW Dating hcs:

Unfortunately the only way you're getting to date Ruben Victoriano is if you knew him at a specific point in time; once he's working at Beacon/for Mobius he has 0 interest in anyone around him no matter the... pleasurable qualities.

You'd have to know him from childhood. Maybe your parents knew each other and you had play dates before the accident?

Regardless, dating him comes with many downs and not a lot of ups; you'd have to really understand him, his emotions, his mental state; he'd be very obviously torn in his affections.

On the one hand, Laura. His world, his entire reason for living and creating STEM... on the other, there's you, staying by his side, understanding, helping any way you can, keeping secrets, not attempting to pull him away or discourage him from his work, dealing with the seizures, the outbursts, the accidental hurtful words, the violence and sadism...

You know you're sharing his love with someone that isn't even on this earth anymore. You can't deny it, try as hard as you'd like, he makes it painfully obvious, so find comfort in the fact he's choosing to share his love at all.

But in the lighter side of things, he's attentive. To things you like, say, feel. He's noticeably softer with you then he is with anyone else. He cuts out time for you, and does his best to ensure you don't feel neglected.

Soft touches, spending time curled up watching a movie under a hundred blankets; he knows he's difficult, and he praises you for all that you do when he gets the chance.

He doesn't miss a thing that you do for him. Not one, even if he doesn't bring it up immediately. You'll have cleaned the house early in the morning, and he'll pass by you occasionally as you do so without a word. You'll be having dinner that night and out of the silence... "The house looks amazing. It'd fall apart to ruins with just me living here. Thank you for that. I appreciate it greatly." He'd hold eye contact with you to make sure it all sank in and that he's saying it directly to you, not just staring down at his food and making a passing comment about it, his eyes soft with a small smile on his lips.

NSFW 18+ only beyond this point

Ruben despises how little mobility his burns give him, but god he just can't lie to himself that you don't look fucking incredible riding him like this.

Ruben isn't very vocal, but his hands wander frequently, grasping at you like you'd dissappear if he let go.

He likes to pleasure you, likes studying your reactions to stimulation in different areas; are your breasts more sensitive then your clit? When he finds that spot inside you and curls his fingers into it, how much louder do you get? Will you arch your back off of the bed? What if he adds his mouth? Do your hands clench the sheets impossibly tighter?

Similarly, he's curious about the things you manage to do to him; those eyes, it turns him on so badly when they're so obviously needy, dilated with lust only for him, he can never say no to those eyes. So he diverts them in an attempt to resist. But then your hands, your hands wander his torso, the affection always welcome, but when they're driven by your need, they feel so much warmer; they search.

Oh, and when you palm him through his pants, he can't help but buck into your touch. When your mouth kisses along his neck, he can't help but sigh. You're always so careful and conscious of his burns, so delicate. He gets hard sometimes just thinking about it.

His favorite thing is when you suck him off and you decide to focus your efforts on just his sensitive tip; he never can hold himself back for long, no matter how hard he tries. He loves how obedient you are to him, but those moments when you take control are everything to him; you're not afraid of him, you're just choosing to listen.

Your independence is the most attractive quality, he loves how he has to work to keep you, to satisfy you. So many people let him walk all over them, but not you. You push back, and he loves it. Likes to rile you up on purpose just to bring you back down. Or, even better, simply bend you over a table and get both of your aggression out that way.

#ruben victoriano #ruvik #ruvik the evil within #ruvik victoriano #headcanons #sexcannons #99 luftanons

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honey-minded-hivemind · 2 months

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Beast Anon back again xP I apologize for the late reply and I'm sorry to hear you were stressed. As always I would encourage you to take it easy where you can, friend :) I'm doing well, thank you for asking, and to answer your question, the reason I like those kinds of AUs and relationships isn't anything that complicated, I just...find them really wholesome ^^ With them, you're always guaranteed a certain level of fluff and slice-of-life goodness that's easy to imagine and can help get you through your day when you need that extra little bit of warmth in your day, ya'know? :D As for why I prefer it with some X-Men characters, well, I have two reasons. Firstly, with the multiverse being an extremely canon thing in Marvel, especially X-Men in this case, it makes the idea of these relationships and stories a kind of canon in themselves, and it's always so fun to explore that ^^ To explain that a little more and get into the second reason, when you're dealing with the X-Men, some of the most exciting and complex Marvel characters of all time, you know these situations are going to be more than just a daily routine, there's always going to be some twist/emotional adventure to explore along the way, and it adds a whole new depth to the situation. True, you could argue that to be the case with just about any fictional character but...c'mon, it's the X-Men! xD As for your soon-to-be recent viewing of the first two episodes of X-Men '97, I promise you a real treat, but, I am obligated to not spoil a thing ^^ Except this: OMG HANK FINALLY SAID THE THING!!! :DDDD

No worries, Beast Anon! I am glad to hear from you again, and there is no set time or need to respond immediately. What happens happens. And I finally started watching the first episode of X-Men 97 and so far, my thoughts are as follows:

• Roberto you sweet, poor child... You don't know the half of it-

• Who the f*ck is hiding Sentinel parts?! They're fr*cking HUGE, how does someone just move that around?! Someone knows something, how can you not when a single Sentinel arm is bigger than a car-!

• Go Morph! Mighty Morph-ling Power Ranger! (Well, X-Man)

• Wolverine, dude, please get over the love triangle; you and Scott were friends once, can you two get some team or friend therapy and try to talk about it for once?

• Where is the official team therapist? Nor the therapist friend, the actual certified therapist-

• Let the kids have fun!

• Roberto, they viewer-insert/new guy who is how everyone would react to the crazy shenanigans of the X-Men and Marvel

• Mr. Xavier, I am starting to believe you and Magneto really WERE more than friends, or were some form of QPR at the least

• And Magento is back! And more... oddly looking well for someone who is in their... 70s, I think? Wow. He's doing good (if you aren't counting losing his best bud and possible boyfriend, not to mention inheriting aforementioned friend's family, school, and property)

Aaaaand that is about how far I've gotten. I need to play a little catch-up😅😊

And now I really want to see Beast and Carla get together/have a secret date, watch Wolverine and Morph or Wolverine and Storm become a couple, get more Sabretooth and the Brotherhood in this show (please please please let them be brothers) (sorry fandom members who ship them, I view them platoncially!), hopefully they introduce Laura/X-23 at some point, someone let Rogue and Gambit get together, we know that is likely endgame, and yes yes yes Roberto can be Jubilee's friend (and maybe sibling?) (Whatcha wanna bet she's wanted one since the first year?)

And woo! Yes, platonic yandere genre! I get the points you've made: Platonic yandere could be canon in some way, and it's Marvel, so canon is a bag of 40+ flavor jellybeans and a 45+ flavor milkshake stand... Also, yes, X-Men add a certain flair to the platonic yandere trope. Surprise, super-poweree genetically enhanced people, and this random teen/young adult/child who they somehow procured. Que a normal Tuesday of crazy villains, more insane humans, some weird relationship issues and the break-up then make-up, and (gasp) surprise! You have been blessed with this new character to love! They're called Reader, they can be sweet at times, they are willing to use a metal bat as a weapon, and oh, and they are as addictive to y'all as catnip is to cats!

May I ask your top three favorite X-Men characters? Top three favorite heroes, and favorite villain, so four favorite characters? Do you enjoy how I write them (if I have written for them) as platonic yanderes? Do you want an older teen/adult cartoon or anime where the X-Men are platonic yandere over someone? I myself do, and I would have so manh ideas on it! Are there any duo platonic yanderes you like, where two team up over Reader or are both interested in the same one? (Ex. Rogue and Gambit, Kurt and Rogue, Wolverine and Sabretooth, etc.)

I hope you have a good night/day! I will hopefully get to the second episode of X-Men 97 tomorrow, and once the first season is finished for the series, I can add X-Men 97 to the X-Men media I will write for😊 (And if you want to discuss any if this more, I am all ears!)

#honeycomb thoughts #platonic yandere marvel #platonic yandere xmen #yandere x-men #platonic yandere #xmen 97 #go beast anon go!

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mermaidsirennikita · 1 month

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I started reading Regarding the Duke from your posts and wow I'm really loving this, I giggled when Adam threatened Parnell to make sure that Gabriella's dance card would be full, except for the waltzes, which are his :D do you have other HR recs where the hero marries for revenge/vengeance before falling in love?

Adam Garrity: sadly I cannot love

Also Adam Garrity 2 seconds after meeting this woman: he was MEAN to you?????

(Fun fact: the concept of a romance hero going "they were MEAN to you?" before doing something ridiculously petty and OTT and/or violent is encoded into my brain, as that is in fact one of my favorite moments in Pretty Woman.)

The Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe comes to mind. It's not a MARRIAGE for revenge as much as a SEDUCTION for revenge, but the emotional fallout is pretty much the same. And Florence isn't a marriage type of girl anyway, so falling in love was pretty much on that level for her. This has one of my favorite "hero realizes he has in fact played himself" moments.

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean. CLASSIC revenge marriage situation. Bourne and Penelope were childhood friends; then he lost his entire estate/inheritance in a game of chance. The family home ended up in as a part of Penelope's dowry (her dad didn't win it from him, it got passed around basically). So Bourne basically seduces her and forces her to marry him as a part of his long game, which involves getting all the stuff he lost while exacting revenge. It's hot.

Beyond Scandal and Desire by Lorraine Heath--another seduction vs. marriage situation, but effectively the same as Mick is basically seducing Aslyn as a part of his long-term plan to get revenge on his father (Mick is illegitimate and Aslyn is engaged to his legitimate younger brother).

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas is again more seduction by revenge (seduction is kind of easier for revenge, as often, the idea is ruination) but it's worth it imo in part because it's just an excellent book... McKenna and Aline fell in love as teenagers, but her dad forced her to do the whole "I don't love you" thing while sending him away. He ended up having to make it on his own and became self-made, and he comes back with the intention of seducing Aline and destroying her life, basically lmao. He's kinda demented tbh. He's like "AND THEN I'M GONNA GET HER PREGNANT. AND IT'S GONNA BE SUCH GOOD REVENGE." Like okay dude you're lowkey planning a life with her but whatevs

The Madness of Viscount Atherbourne by Elisa Braden IS a straight up revenge by marriage book. Atherbourne is mad because the heroine's brother (a hero I love even more) killed his brother in a duel (and he did it like he did everything else--EFFICIENTLY) so he compromises the heroine on a balcony (in an insanely graphic way) so that she has to marry him. Great times.

Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale. Allegreto forces Elayne/Elena to marry him (the consummation is also forced, as a heads up, though I still encourage people to give this book a shot if they're open to it--it's a very psychologically interesting scene that I think is hard to explain without you just reading it) in what is in some ways a long game political "the same thing we do every day--TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD" scheme, and in some ways a revenge plot to take back what is his (is it tho), etc etc. In what is one of my favorite things, the villain hero takes the heroine captive and realizes that oh! She's kind of a nightmare!

#romance novel blogging #romance novels #book recs

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buckybarnesss · 9 months

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How do you think Lydia perceives the whole Sterek relationship? I just know that it was the huge elephant in the closet during her and Stiles's relationship.

this particular question is something @dear-massacre and i have discussed before and i've given it some thought.

admittedly it's actually a lot of thought. in my opinion the answer to this is more complicated than you would think.

i have a lot of thoughts on the subject.

lydia martin and the memoir entitled me, my boyfriend, his unresolved feelings for derek hale and my repressed feelings for my dead best friend.

i don't think lydia quite knew what she was getting into with stiles initially. she doesn't know there's something to perceive.

on the whole i think the romantic relationship lydia and stiles have is one based on a shaky foundation of idolization, trauma, obligation and confused feelings.

i do not consider it healthy for either of them. especially at the time they enter into it. there's no time or space for them to process their emotions or feelings about what has happened to them let alone their actual feelings for each other.

lydia also didn't really interact with derek very much. in season 1 lydia is on the outside of the main plot and in season 2 she's in the main plot but she doesn't know it because she's purposefully isolated.

so her and derek's interactions are incredibly limited. does she even know derek hale exists lol?

their first barely there interactions are when he's trying to kill her when he thinks she's the kanima and than when she wolfsbane roofies him to resurrect peter?

when derek brings this up in chaos rising during one of his rare interactions with allison and lydia her reaction is so funny to me though. the judgement.

she also isn't there for much of the development between stiles and derek. she doesn't know the derek-n-stiles part of derek and stiles.

she knows stiles likes derek and is friends with him i don't think she necessarily understands that stiles has feelings there let alone about possible reciprocation.

even when she sees them in the finale she's amused by their banter. or that could be holland delighted to see her ship interacting.

the narrative often puts derek, stiles and lydia into this sort of odd love triangle. except it's not a love triangle in the traditional sense. it's almost like they're put up parallel to each other and stiles is forced to chose one path or the other.

lydia and derek are very similar. they both even have defrosting the ice queen arcs becoming two of the most compassionate and selfless people on the show.

in code breaker he's kidnapped by peter to locate derek and forced to leave lydia on the lacrosse field. in abomination stiles leaves lydia crying in her car and cannot return because he gets trapped in the pool by the kanima with derek.

derek even uses stiles's words about lydia being cold-blooded as justification for him attempting to kill her thinking she's the kanima.

there's the scene that plays over peter's love monolog in battlefield that's focused on derek, stiles and lydia despite peter talking about jackson.

lydia is the one who goes with stiles to try and pay for derek's release in mexico in the dark moon.

it's an interesting repeated thing all the way up until derek leaves.

however i don't believe this was the only issue as stiles's unresolved feelings for derek isn't the only elephant in the room. there are actually two elephants in the room. the other elephant is named allison and before you ask yes i'm saying exactly what you think i'm saying.

i've said it before and i'll say it again. there are three woman who haunt the narrative of teen wolf. laura hale, allison argent and claudia stilinski.

laura hale's murder was the inciting incident that started the events of the show, allison's death in the middle of the narrative is transformative to the story and claudia's ghost being exercised is the close.

the more i watch the show for my deep dives the more i notice just how profoundly changed lydia was by her friendship with and her love for allison.

allison was the great love of lydia's life and she is never able to fully move on. it's a wound that won't heal.

like, i'm not gonna get into a treatise about it but the subtext in season 4 about lorriane martin and the loss of her wife maddie compared to lydia and her loss of allison. 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

allison died to save lydia and lydia has never, ever forgiven herself for it.

the death wail that lydia let out for allison was so powerful, so full of pain and terrible that it spurred meredith's benefactor plan. meredith obviously isn't completely mentally sound but hearing that come lydia made her think they were better off dead than experience that.

lydia learning to use her powers to save malia is like watching a mother lift her car off her child. lydia cannot lose another person she cares about. this also fuels her desperation to bring stiles back.

lydia tells lenore in ghosted when they're in cannan that she doesn't have a caleb except yes she does. it's allison. not to mention the symbolism in lenore's name. the lost lenore is a trope is a reference to poe's poem and usually is about the main character's deceased love interest.

as for stiles. well. there's been a lot of words written about him and derek. i don't know how many people have watched how i met your mother but in the words of robin sherbatsky "if you have chemistry you're only missing one other thing -- timing. but timing is a bitch."

that's stiles and derek. derek is the great what if for stiles.

it's not that lydia and stiles didn't love each other. of course they did. that isn't in question. it's just that love isn't always enough. ultimately they were both carrying love around for other people that they couldn't let go of.

lydia let go of stiles because she recognized how unfair it was for the two of them.

#my blog #thoughts on teen wolf #teen wolf #sterek #allydia #otp: you need me to survive #teen wolf is so queer and yet so mad about it

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koneko-pi · 1 year

Text

Ask and you shall receive, Laura

Let your hair down

Summary: Briar goes on a hunt for Nozel, and what she finds appears to be a bundle of distress. So she helps him relax a little.

Fluffy

2700 wordcount

A bored Briar was never a good thing. She was the kind of person who never set free time off for herself, she was always working on some project or out doing something, be it in the woods or off in the city. Even at night she would for-go sleep in favor of something that stimulates her mind, though that situation was something entirely different.

So when she had her plate clean, schedule empty and, unfortunately, no friends; Briar would become a nuisance. And she was well aware of it. The hovering nature over other people's projects at the research division, the pestering of people in the library under the guise of offering help, stopping by Julius office to hand off a new little tool he would probably run off with. And then she could watch an estranged Marx go on a scavenger hunt for him.

Yes, she was well aware of this childish-like behavior, in its most subtle ways. Perhaps it was the remnants of who she used to be still finding its way up into her more hardened surface. And she would let it, because the bottom line was: she was still bored.

So today's unfortunate target would be the King Eagle himself. A man famously known for that royal stick up his butt in any situation. She wondered what kind of reaction he would have to her sudden arrival, or to whatever annoyance she would victimize him with.

Should she talk about his braid again? The Silva's odd choice of clothing? Bringing up that odd rumor about him and Fuegoleon was always good ammunition.

The knights in the Silver eagles base had no idea such thoughts were running through her mind as she strolled right in. Rather they were more taken aback by her clothing.

"Briar, what are you wearing?" Curtis had frozen in a doorway she was attempting to enter, it was a hallway that led down towards the more superficial part of the base. The personal library, storage, offices and such.

"Hm?" The woman glanced down. "Oh."

She had completely forgotten about it.

Her original plan for that day had been to attend an auction of magical items -A particular mirror had caught her attention- so she was somewhat dolled up. It wasn't anything fancy, but she did suppose… compared to her usual attire it was nice.

An off the shoulder cream dress with floral embroidery around the bottom. She had a bit of makeup on and her usual green clunky looking headpiece was swapped out for the fluffier white earmuffs she usually slept in. She had a shawl tightly wrapped around her torso to hide her scar and stones on her back.

Sadly the Auction had fallen through when one of the items intending to be sold reacted to something and took out almost half the building. Hence her now free schedule. She remembered thinking at the time this is exactly why her division existed, to regulate and prevent situations like that from occurring. But the world would be perfect if they managed to catch every magical tool in the city. The black market did exist after all. And witches were always making something new.

Her fingers played a little with the lace of her shawl. "I just dressed up a little. I'm actually looking for Nozel right now."

Many of the other eagles were suddenly very interested in the conversation. Curtis' eyes went surprisingly wide as the smallest of blushes appeared on his face.

"Oh… I see."

'Eh?' Briar blinked at his reaction, finding it out of place.

He coughed into his fist as if he was trying to compose himself. "Th-the captain isn't here right now."

"Oh he's been at home all day." Nil's was suddenly standing with them- when did he get there? "He said he had something important happening today and wouldn't be coming in."

Many heads suddenly turned to Briar; dressed up, looking for Nozel and the time of day was conveniently dinner time, now that she thought about it.

Oh wait…

"Ah-" her eyes widened slightly. "No, I don't have plans with him." She tried to wave her hands and deter anymore thoughts they might be having but…

"Sure sure." Another eagle said, rubbing his nose. "Nozel's always been a private guy."

"And you too. You like to keep things to yourself."

"This isn't-"

"You better get going, Clover Castle isn't very far!"

Briar couldn't get a word in until she was suddenly standing outside the base, her back to the door after she had hurriedly been shooed away. Unfortunately though, now she was alone.

"Huh…" she slowly looked up at the darkening sky. A flicker of constellations starting to make themselves known between the cloud cover. "This is a big misunderstanding…"

…

……

That was a problem for another day. She still had a bird to catch and was losing daylight.

Clover Castle was something else to her. It wasn't the biggest castle she had ever seen in her long life, but she still could be impressed with it, mostly because it was a rather nice blend of 3 completely different architectures.

If she remembered correctly, each part of the castle actually represented, and belonged to, each of the noble houses. The Vermillions stood out the most with their intense marble and squared off designs. Most likely due to their magical affinity, one would not be living in a wood house with fire magic.

"I wonder if Solara is there." She wondered curiously as she watched shadows move across warmly lit windows.

She turned instead to the section of castle off to the right. With elegant spire-like towers pointing up into the sky and pointed roofing, this was definitely Silva Manor. If it wasn't that then it was the metal Silva emblem hammered into their front doors. It was really hard to miss.

She knocked on the door, and as she expected, a maid swiftly answered it.

"Hello-" She looked taken aback to find Briar there. The maids' blue eyes flicked up and down to look her over. The first pause was at her earmuffs, the second was on her eyes before she jolted. "Uh- are you… Miss Rose?"

The brunette looked a little concerned. Why did the maids of the house know who she was?

"P-please come in!" She moved aside swiftly and ushered the woman inside. It was so sudden that Briar's old training just kind of kicked in and she quickly strode right into the building. A few other maids, who had been cleaning up nearby, all now stood in a line, bent at the waist to greet her.

"Welcome, Miss Rose."

'This is unnerving…' Briar thought as she stood there, suddenly very stiff. It had been a very long time since she had been treated in such a way. 'Why is this happening?'

"Please, stand up straight… I'm just looking for Nozel." She held a hand up to raise the Maids from their bent position. She almost felt bad now, being treated like this but having come to bother their Master…

"He's in his private office." The original maid stood beside her. "Right this way." She gave a small bow and ushered for Briar to follow, and what else could she do but? She followed the woman upstairs and down the halls. Only briefly pausing to look at paintings of previous patriarchys. The one of a young woman in a ponytail appeared to be the largest. She looked almost exactly like Noelle, the youngest Silva.

"He has her eyes…" Briar muttered out loud to herself.

"Here you are, ma'am." The maid bowed as she pointed towards double doors. "His private study."

"Thanks…" Briar gave a small nod to the woman who then quickly went on her way. The brunette took a deep breath and pretended not to notice the group of women peeking around the corner at the far end of the hall. She knocked once on the door.

It took a moment but there was a muffled, "Who's there?"

"It's Briar."

She definitely heard the sound of him dropping something in confusion then quickly picking it up. "Why?"

A valid question since she was certain this was unplanned, despite everything happening around her. Before she could respond though he spoke again.

"Are you alone?"

Briar blinked once then glanced down the hallways (Watching the maids vanish un-stealthily) to really make sure. "I am." Her tone made her sound confused, which was different from her curt nature.

"You may enter."

She was surprised by that reaction. She was certain her showing up here unannounced would have created some sort of kink in his day. Any other time she suddenly entered a room he looked like he needed to prepare himself for a headache.

But as she opened the door it seemed that the headache was already there without her intervention. She also noticed why he wanted her alone.

As usual his outfit didn't make any kind of sense to her. It appeared to be a short sleeved version of his normal attire, but it nearly hung off his shoulders. The thing about this outfit though is that it was lacking the high collar and gold choker he usually wore, which left his curse out in the open.

Briar was… surprised to say the least. Was he that comfortable with her..?

She almost didn't notice the sheer amount of paperwork covering both a desk and his coffee table. Which is where he currently sat, with more papers in one hand and his other hand against his forehead as he read through them slowly.

"What do you need?" He asked without looking up from his work.

"Uh…" Now she really felt bad. She couldn't just tell him she was here for her own entertainment. Especially after now seeing him in an obviously stressed out state. "The maids let me in."

Somehow that was enough for him, because he didn't argue with it. He just let out a frustrated sigh, as if this situation had happened before.

"How do they know who I am?"

His shoulders jolted a little, and the glance he gave between his fingers indicated he was not ready to relinquish the answer. Which was fine.

Just another reason for her to swing by in the future.

"What are you doing?"

"Work."

"Well, obviously." She narrowed her eyes slightly even if he wasn't looking at her anymore. But her tone demanded a better explanation.

Nozel let out a frustrated and guttural sound, something she really hadn't heard before. Was this a rare moment of actually catching him at a low point? "My work got backed up because another squad was interfering, so now I have all these reports to read and sign off on and double check property damage we might have to pay for. Or not, if I can find a decent reason to tell the parliament 'NO'. Now if you don't need anything, PLEASE LEAVE."

Ah…

Briars' hands balled up into her shawl for a moment. Her first thought was maybe another spar between their loving rivals, the lions, had gotten a bit out of hand. Then her mind quickly shifted gears into thinking… he has probably been sitting here all day going over word after word of paperwork, trying to get it all done within a reasonable time so it didn't affect the rest of his schedule.

When did this start?

Did he eat at all?

Was money that big an issue somehow?

All questions she could have asked the maids, but that opportunity had passed. Is this why everyone seemed so eager for her to be visiting him? To make sure he was okay?

She felt her cheeks heat up just a little. For a moment. She wouldn't give herself anything else.

Rather she pulled her shawl off and draped it over one of the chairs. She then slipped off her shoes so her heels didn't clack around loudly and finally walked around the couch so she stood behind him. The poor man was still so deep in his paperwork he didn't suspect the claws coming down upon him.

Nozel's whole body seized when he felt Briar suddenly grab hold of his head. The placement of her hands, one under his chin and the other on the top of his head, made him think she was going to snap his neck. But her grip was strong only to hold him in place should he try and run.

"What are you doing." It was not a question, it was a demand wondering why she had the audacity to be interfering with his work so suddenly.

"Put the papers down." She said.

"What-"

"Put them down."

He wasn't sure what compelled him to do as she said. Maybe it was the threatening position of her hands. But slowly he placed the papers in his hand down into his lap. Not really relinquishing them, out of spite.

And then she tilted his head back. Wide purple eyes looking up at her in confusion and surprise. And she stared back at him, her expression softer than usual, but nothing more.

"How long have you been here?" She asked.

He didn't answer her at first, but she didn't move to leave no matter how long they just stared at one another, so he let out a defeated huff and finally, "Since this morning."

"How early is this morning?" Her hands moved so that both palan were against the top of his head, fingers gently pressing down. It didn't hurt, quite the opposite actually.

"Six am."

The woman let out a sigh. "And have you eaten today?" Her fingers slowly began to move in soft, gentle, circular motions. The sensation immediately sent a reaction through Nozel's body to relax. Even his eyes fluttered closed.

"No."

Another noise escaped her as her fingers moved to his face. He was nervous, body tensing for a moment, till he realized she was undoing the clasp at the end of his braid. She put it to the side and then began to undo his hair, his scalp cried out in relief after having to hold the tight braid all day long. Normally he didn't feel it, but the headache overtaking his entire skull seemed to have made a difference.

He let her comb her fingers through his bangs several times to make sure all of it was undone and no tangle was left behind. She then pulled all of it back so it was out of his face, and once again began to dig her fingers in gently to massage his scalp.

Nozel didn't consider himself pampered. Sure he was a noble, but many times he forsook his own interests for family affairs and work. Hell his interests were those exact things most of the time. So he wasn't like some nobles where a maid would come in and give a massage, or a nice soak of hands and feet to relax.

He wasn't used to the heavenly feeling of fingers gently rubbing against his scalp in circular motions to alleviate the pain. Rubbing back and forth, against the backs of his ears and even down his jaw. He wasn't sure what compelled this woman to do this but dear god he was not going to question it now.

She even managed to pull a soft groan from him as she gently pulled her fingers back through his hair like a comb. And with his eyes closed he didn't see the flushed look of surprise on her face.

"Feeling better?" Briar asked after ten minutes of nice rubbing. Her fingers still played with his hair though as she spoke.

"Yes, it felt good." He would give praise where it was due.

"Good… will you eat something now?"

His eyes peeled open to stare at her. "Are you inviting me to dinner." She noticed the flick of his eyes to her dress.

"If it will get you to eat." Her tone was actually playful…

"I suppose… though I will have to change." He pulled his head away from her, albeit reluctantly, and cupped a hand around his neck to hide his curse mark.

"Tell me what you want, I'll have the maids bring it here." Briar offered.

"That does sound more appealing…" he wouldn't have to leave his office at least. "By the way… what are you wearing?" He turned his body to look over the back of the couch to really get a full view of her outfit.

"Ah… its a story. Which reminds me…" she glanced away looking a little sheepish, which made his eyes narrow at her. "The eagles… may have gotten the wrong impression of something…."

#black clover #black clover oc #black clover fanart #nozel silva #nozel x oc #oc x canon #Brizel #i think thats their ship name now #Laura is the reason this exists #credits to her #silva outfits still confuse me #oc: briar rose #they can be soft sometimes #pardon my typos #its one am #Solara mini cameo

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