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ladykailitha · 14 days

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Across a Crowded Room Part 5

Here we go! The last chapter of this short story that was only supposed to take a couple hours and be absolutely light and fluffy.

*checks notes* yeah this thing was none of that!

But I hope you like the ending!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

****

Eddie found a table quickly. That was the best part about going in the morning on a week day. While the colleges were out, the school age kids were still in class so the zoo was practically empty.

He pulled out his phone to check any messages he may have gotten, when his phone lit up with Nancy’s number.

He sighed, wondering if he should just let it go to voicemail, but he figured he might as well rip the bandaid off.

“Hello!” he said.

“Eddie!” Nancy said. It was clear she was already irritated. “Did you hear that Robin is staying with some stranger when she moves out to New York?”

Robin had in fact called him after she called Steve because she was avoiding calling Nancy.

“It would be no different if she was moving into the dorms,” Eddie reminded her. “The girl she’s staying with is the cousin of one of her friends so she’s not a total stranger. Plus they talked first to see if they could tolerate each other enough to be roommates.”

Nancy sighed. “It’s just I was really looking forward to having her on my couch, you know? After Jonathan left me, I really wanted the company.”

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose. After Steve opened his eyes last night, he was starting to see a pattern to Nancy’s relationships. She was in a word, a serial monogamist.

“Yeah,” he said instead. “But it’s good she has a place to move to right off the bat so she isn’t living out of a suitcase, like she has been all this week.”

Another sigh. “You’re right, of course. I just worry about her. She’ll be on the other side of the city and we won’t be able to see each other that often.”

Eddie silently cheered. “That’s too bad. Look, I’ve got to go, Steve’s due back any second.”

“So how is Steve these days?” Nancy asked. “I heard he graduated from college.” But the way she said it, she made it sound like a fucking miracle.

Eddie chuckled. “Things are great! We went apartment hunting yesterday and decided to go to the zoo today.”

There was silence on the line for a beat too long before she said, “It’s good you two are reconnecting.”

“Oh there has been a lot of connecting all right,” Eddie said with a smirk. “With our hands, our mouths, our dic–”

“What?!” she shrieked. “You and Steve are dating?”

He puffed out his chest in pride. “Yeah. We finally got on the page on Monday after I got into Chicago. It’s been really great.”

“And you’re already moving into together, isn’t that fast?” she asked, her voice quivering.

Eddie looked up to Steve smiling down at him. “Look, he’s here. I’ve got to go.”

“Edd–”

Nancy didn’t get to finish his name because he had hung up on her.

Steve rolled the cooler over to the table and hefted it onto its surface. “Nancy I’m guessing.”

Eddie blinked at him for a moment. “How did you know that?”

“Robin called me,” he muttered. “Said she was really upset that Robin was moving in with Cassie–”

“Chrissy, love,” Eddie gently corrected.

Steve snapped his fingers. “That was it, yeah. Chrissy. Anyway, Robin said Nancy was upset that she wasn’t staying her because she wanted ‘girl bonding time’ or some shit.” He started unpacking their food. “Like Nancy didn’t recently come out as bi.”

Eddie sighed as he got to work, too pulling out the plates and utensils. “You said we shouldn’t call Nancy last night to blast her, so I called Jonathan. I wanted to know what he said about their break up.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm,” Eddie hummed. “He told her wanted couple’s counseling because he felt like the relationship had become more unbalanced lately and he wanted to make it work out.”

Steve opened their sides and sat down next to him. “I’m guessing that went over like a lead balloon.”

Eddie took a chip from the bag and munched. “Pretty much,” he said around the chip. “So he gave her the ultimatum and she chose to break up.”

“I give her three weeks before she goes running back to him.”

Eddie snorted. “I bet she thought with Robin coming up to New York she could scoop up a new girlfriend.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her.”

They settled into a comfortable silence as they ate their food. They cleaned up and walked back to the car.

“This was a fun idea,” Steve murmured. “Even if Nancy decided to call and put a damper things a bit.”

“Yeah,” Eddie said. “But I’m glad you had fun today.”

Steve chewed his bottom lip. “Would you like to go to dinner with me to that Italian restaurant I was telling you about yesterday morning?”

Eddie’s eyes lit up. “Like a proper date?”

“Yeah.”

“Hell yeah,” Eddie said, pumping his fist. “I’ll drop you off at your place so I can shower and change. And maybe tonight you could spend the night with me at the hotel?”

Steve grinned. “That sounds like great idea Eds. I’ll pack an overnight bag and bring it with me to dinner. Is that okay?”

Eddie pulled him in for a deep kiss. “I’m game.”

****

Steve showered and shaved. Whistling a happy tune, dancing to the song to the music in his head.

His phone rang and he walked over to the counter to see who it was. He rolled his eyes when he saw it was Nancy.

He sighed. It seemed that she had gone the rounds with Eddie and Robin and having gotten no where with them, decided to go to Steve.

“Hey.”

“Steve,” Nancy said, her voice clipped. “Eddie spends two days in your company and suddenly everything has changed. And certainly not for better. So I have to ask what the hell did you say to them?”

Steve threw his head back and laughed. “You’re afraid I told them the truth about us.”

“There is no truth, Steve,” Nancy hissed. “You believed one thing and I believed another.”

“You can keep telling yourself that,” he said. “And Eddie and I got together when he got into town. We were to meet up for drinks. Originally he was supposed to get in around three and meet us for drinks at seven, but because of a tropical storm, his flight was delayed three times. So he got in, came to the bar, and kissed the hell out of me. I had barely got a hello out before we were kissing. So I literally didn’t have time to tell him anything.”

He could feel her brooding on the other end of the phone. “And as for Robin, when we met up for dinner after a disastrous apartment hunting her and Eddie commiserated about having to find a place in a new city. I suppose she was still feeling that when she spent the night at Kendra’s and told her all about it.”

The brooding intensified.

“Is there anything else you would like to accuse me of or can I go on my date with Eddie now?”

“That’s all,” Nancy huffed. “It just seems so sudden.”

“Life is like that,” he agreed. “And oh, never call me again. I’m blocking this number.”

He hung up and proceeded to do just that. He felt lighter than he had in days.

He grabbed his stuff and left the apartment with a smile on his face.

****

Eddie tapped on the wheel as he waited for Steve to come down. He was glad that things had smoothed out after that disastrous second day in ole Windy City.

The zoo was just what they needed to take their minds off of things.

When Steve came thundering down the stairs, Eddie wolf whistled. Holy fuck.

Steve was wearing a grey vest over a light blue button up, first three buttons undone, sleeves rolled up, and messily tucked into the tightest blue jeans Eddie had ever seen.

In other words, Eddie was doomed. He would be writing songs about Steve’s ass in those jeans for years to come. The boys were going to murder him, but god it would be worth it.

Steve opened the door and slid into the passenger seat, throwing his pack onto the back seat.

“You ready to go, baby?” Eddie asked brightly.

“Yup!”

Dinner was amazing. The conversation flowed as easily as Steve’s wine. Since Eddie was driving, he only had one beer that he nursed throughout the meal.

When they got back to the hotel, Eddie was relentless in his pursuit of Steve’s pleasure. He loved mapping out every freckle, every mole. Finding out which parts made him moan and which ones made him giggle.

Finding out he was ticklish under his right knee was a revelation to Eddie, because Steve would scrunch up his nose when he giggled and god, did that melt Eddie’s heart.

Sex was less intense then their first time, but more enjoyable for it’s learning of each other’s bodies.

They cleaned themselves up and got ready for bed. Eddie licked his lips when he saw that Steve didn’t bring any pajamas.

“Is this how normally sleep or is this a show just for me?”

Steve looked down at the one scrape of clothing covering his body and shucked off his underwear. “I usually just wear briefs to bed because our apartment is awful. It’s freezing in the kitchen and front room, but ass hot in bedrooms.”

Eddie eyed Steve’s body as he thought about joining him in the naked sleeping thing. “Why don’t you go full frontal?”

Steve snorted. “Robin.”

Eddie’s eyes snapped up to Steve’s. “Oh. Right. Roommate who doesn’t like man bits, not wanting to see said man bits even accidentally. Got it.”

“And depending on my next place I might need to sleep with five layers and twelve blankets or nothing at all,” Steve said with a giggle.

“Can I vote for nothing at all?”

Steve laughed.

They crawled into bed. Eddie had chosen to at least put on pajama bottoms because he didn’t like the idea of having his balls touch those sheets.

Once they were cuddled up in bed Steve murmured, “Nancy called me right before you showed up.”

Eddie sighed. “Because of course she did. What did she want?”

“To blame me for you two turning on her,” he explained.

Eddie frowned and moved back enough to look Steve in the eye. “What? I don’t think Robin and I said anything to that affect.”

“Oh I know,” Steve agreed. “But she thinks I tricked you into dating me and conjured Chrissy from thin air all to ruin her life.”

Eddie snorted. “Once you told me about the cheating I told Uncle Wayne about it, and he said that there were a lot of things off about Nancy that he had noticed over the years and wondered why I hadn’t seen them, too.”

Steve let out a long sigh. “Because she didn’t want you to see them. I don’t blame you for it.”

Eddie kissed him. “Thank you for that. But anyway, the point is that once he said that, it was like someone had turned on the light and could see everything so much cleared and everything was only ever for her benefit, she was just really good at making you feel like it was for yours too.”

He pulled Steve in close. “But the blinders are off, babe. I’m one hundred percent yours.”

Steve smiled. “That’s all I could ever ask for.”

Eddie kissed him soundly and then they settled into sleep.

****

Steve rarely slept in, but sleeping in Eddie’s arms apparently made his internal clock line up with Eddie’s instead.

He woke up and groggily looked at the digital alarm clock on the bedside table and blinked at it. He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn it said 10:54am.

That couldn’t be right. He picked up his phone and nope. Apparently that was the correct time.

Then he realized what had woke him. Eddie came out of the bathroom with a fond smile on his face.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” he greeted, bending down to kiss Steve on the lips. “I’ve ordered us some food, but alas it has to be lunch at this point.”

Steve chuckled and slid out of bed. “I blame you entirely for that, by the way. I never sleep in like that.”

“It’s good for you,” Eddie grinned. “Especially after the roller coaster of emotions that has been the last few days. Your body needed rest, so you got it.”

Steve nodded. “I figure we can go out today and look at more apartments, if you’re up to it.”

“Sure thing, babe.”

There was a knock on the door and Eddie went to go answer it as soon as Steve was in the bathroom.

Eddie tipped the guy and they settled down to eat their brunch, such as it was.

While they ate, Eddie and Steve pulled up several different apartments that could work for them with their budget and made a list of out of the links based on how close they were to Eddie’s hotel.

Steve showered and got dressed. He packed up his stuff and threw it in the back seat of Eddie’s rental.

The first one was a bust. Literally. A pipe had burst the night before and the owner had been working on getting it fixed, so he hadn’t updated the site. It wouldn’t be livable for two months. Well past when Steve or Eddie needed to be moved in by.

So they moved on.

Crumby landlords, obvious signs of pests, and high prices struck again.

They stopped for dinner.

“Fuck,” Eddie groused. “I’m going to be making a fair amount, but not enough for these prices.”

Steve nodded. “It’s why I was living with Robin. Everything is just too expensive these days.” He chewed on his lip for a moment.

“Move in with me!” he blurted.

Eddie looked up at him with wide eyes.

“What?”

“We both loved that third apartment we saw,” Steve explained. “It had two bedrooms and two full baths. It had a nice kitchen and was already wired for internet. Neither of us can afford it alone, but...”

Eddie gulped and pursed his lips. “And you’d want that, with me?”

Steve nodded.

“Yeah,” Eddie said with a fond smile. “Let’s do that, then. You can move in right away and get things set up and then when I move to Chicago at the end of the month, I can just slide right in.”

Steve kissed him fiercely and then called the landlord.

Two hours later they were the proud renters of a brand new shiny apartment.

A lot of their friends thought that they were moving a little too quickly getting an apartment together, but Eddie and Steve knew it was the start of something wonderful.

And really that was the best outcome either one of them could have hoped to dream for when they had made plans for Eddie to come out to Chicago.

Robin and Chrissy got along so well, that before classes even started in the fall, Robin had moved into Chrissy’s bedroom and they turned the second bedroom into a dance studio for Chrissy.

Nancy tried getting back with Jonathan a month later as Steve predicted, but he told her to get therapy and moved back to California to be with his mom, who had retired out there.

Steve didn’t know if she ever got the therapy she needed, but he hoped she did.

Eddie’s band was making lots of great progress on their album and the company was getting ready to release their first single. A little song about finding love right when you needed it most.

Steve had gotten a teaching position at a middle school as their basketball couch and US history teacher.

He was happy with the life he had, he didn’t need to worry about the life he’d lost when he broke up with Nancy all those years ago.

It was too soon to think about marriage, but Steve had a ring that he had bought years ago that he thought would look good on Eddie’s hand. But they had time.

And wasn’t that just amazing.

****

Tag List: @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @gregre369 @a-little-unsteddie

@chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @danili666

@goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

@justforthedead89 @vecnuthy @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690

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@cinnamon-mushroomabomination @dragonmama76 @scheodingers-muppet @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

@useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes

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armoricaroyalty · 2 months

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𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄'𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 / ❛ boy crazy ❜ part two (@nexility-sims)

When Zofia walked into a room, everyone noticed. It might have been the enormity of her hair or the constant noise of her rings and bracelets or else the overwhelmingly sweet scent of her favorite body mist, but she was captivating in every sense of the word. Hannah had been jealous of her, once upon a time. It would have been impossible to grow up with her without any jealousy: next to Zofia, everyone became shabby and dull. Ranks didn't matter at all, no title or royal honor could ever compete with that kind of natural charisma. Hannah loved her, but there had been days when she'd hated her, too. Now, though, she was only grateful. When Zofia walked in, nobody noticed the rest of them slipping out.

read part one here

author's note: @nexility-sims and I have been working on the zofia/rui romance since....early 2022? some time in 2021? since #rufia has completely dominated 2/3 of our joint brain power for years, it seemed fitting to finally let them out of our DM's to celebrate Love Day Valentine's Day. Happy V-Day, everyone!

Transcript under the cut.

CHEF | Aren't long nails against dress code, anyway? SERVER | [laughs] Girl, I don't give a fuuu— SERVER | You wanna know who else is wearing acrylics tonight? CHEF | [bored] I dunno, who? SERVER | Oh, nobody, just the Princess Zofia. CHEF | [gasps] CHEF | Shut. Up. You actually talked to her? What was she like? SERVER | She's fucking gorgeous. Like, obviously, but up close, she's even more beautiful. CHEF | Yeah, yeah, but what was she like? SERVER | Okay, so I didn't actually talk to her because she was all over her new boyfriend. They were like, so into each other. It was so sweet. CHEF | Really? I heard it's just a PR relationship so people will think she's over Sigis. SERVER | No way! They're obviously crazy abut each other. You can't fake— UNIDENTIFIED MAN | [offscreen] EVERYBODY OUT! HUGO | What, do I gotta say it again? All of you, clear out! HANNAH | [sighs] Please excuse us. HANNAH | My cousin and I need somewhere to speak privately. Will you please excuse us for a moment? CHEF | ??? SERVER | [shrugs] HUGO | ...anyway, did you see it? HANNAH | See what? HUGO | That stupid little hair flip. He did it a million times. HANNAH | He's growing it out for her. HUGO | Really? Hard to believe, he's so fucking vain. HANNAH | She told me she asked him to grow it long. [deep, beleaguered sigh] She thinks it's sexy. HUGO | What, are you for real? HANNAH | Oh yeah. She's always had a thing for guys with long hair. HUGO | ...huh. HANNAH | Anyway...what's your take? Personally, I don't see what she sees in him. HUGO | [snorts] He's better than Marshall. HANNAH | That's the world's lowest bar. Subterranean, in fact. HUGO | So what are we going to do? HANNAH | He's not a dog, we can't just run him off. HUGO | Well, you can't, but maybe if I— PIDGE | [offscreen] HEY! What are you two talking about? PIDGE | ...and why are you hanging out in the kitchen? ARTHUR | ....hi. HUGO | [icily] Farrier. HANNAH | It's late, Pidge. What are you still doing up? PIDGE | Uh, excuse you. Mama said I can stay until midnight. ARTHUR | ...you two aren't talking about Rui and Zofie, are you? HUGO | ... HANNAH | ...no. PIDGE | You two are such LIARS! PIDGE | Both of you are judgy control freaks! I thought he was really nice. HUGO | He could barely string a sentence together. ARTHUR | I mean...Armorican is his third or fourth language, isn't it? HUGO | Whatever! He gives me the creeps. HANNAH | Well, she says she's in love. HUGO | [scoffs] In love? They've known each other for six months. PIDGE | So? What if it was love at first sight? HANNAH | [exasperated] Pidge— HUGO | Just ignore her, she's fourteen. PIDGE | For your information, I'm fifteen. And I'll be sixteen in May, sooo— HUGO | Yeah, a baby— ARTHUR | Can I remind everyone that Zofia is twenty-two? She's an adult, she can make her own choices, and this is none of our business. HUGO | You're right, Farrier. It's none of your business. HANNAH | [offscreen] Hugo, enough. PIDGE | [mouthing] Rude. HANNAH | Arthur, what was your read? ARTHUR | I don't know, and I don't want to form a judgment until I've actually gotten to know him. He seems...fine? On par with the other guys she's dated. HANNAH | [sighs] "On par with all her other boyfriends" is the entire problem. HANNAH | I just don't want her to get hurt again. This happens every time, you know? She falls hard and fast and then the guy turns out to be a scum-sucking lowlife. PIDGE | [laughs] Hellooooo, what about Van? He was— HANNAH | Probably thw worst of all of them. Trust me, Pigeon. He's...he's no good. HUGO | [jokingly] You see, baby bird? That's why you're not allowed to date until you're thirty and why Hannah's gonna join a convent— PIDGE | No way, that's not fair. HANNAH | [tiredly] Hugo, shut up. No one asked. PIDGE | Yeah, Hugo. No one asked. ARTHUR | Look, I think we should at least give the guy a chance. HANNAH | [sighs] I guess we owe her that much. PIDGE | Guys, I actually talked to him, and trust me: he is like, sooo nice. HUGO | ... HUGO | I bet I could take him. PIDGE | Hey! Hannah, did you hear what he just said—

#armorica story #behind the scenes #character: hugo st. fleur #character: hannah st. fleur #character: margaret st. fleur #character: arthur farrier #holiday special

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apollos-boyfriend · 11 months

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what's a festa junina if you don't mind my asking?

i don't mind at all!!!! i love sharing stuff about brazil <3

okay SO. festa junina directly translates to "june party", and are sometimes also referred to as "festas de são juão" (saint john's parties) because we're in brazil and everything has to be related back to religion somehow LMAO. they are festivities that take place in, obv, the entire month of june, although some can last up until like, late august because by god do brazilians love a good party. traditionally, they're held to celebrate the harvest season, rain, and marriage (*cough* which is why it'd be great to celebrate it now with the spiderbit wedding on the horizon *cough*). it's brazil's second-biggest festival, second only to carnival ofc, and has very rural roots in its celebration style due to largely being a harvest/farming based celebration!

so!! festa juninas are typically held in wide open areas and absolutely COVERED in colorful decorations. largely banners, as shown above, but there are also different tents/stalls full of food, games, and other stuff for people to enjoy!! festa junina is kind of heralded as the best time for food/snacks bc it's FULL of sweets and other treats that aren't that common to find en-masse during other times of the year. as shown above, it's also super common for HUGE campfires to be lit (fogueiras) for ppl to dance around and stuff :]

due to being so heavily inspired by/created in rural areas, the standard dress code is very much of a stereotypical rural farmer (called caipira in portuguese!). the standard is for men to adorn straw hats, flannels, and working boots/pants, while women wear their hair in ribboned braids, dot freckles on their faces, and wear rustic dresses on top of it all! the dresses can be EXTREMELY over the top sometimes to the point of camp and i fucking love them so much. genuinely some of my favorite memories are shopping for dresses for festa junina.

as i said, games are a BIG part of it too! a lot of festa juninas are hosted by schools so they need stuff to entertain the kids, but honestly, as a grown adult i still will go to them in a heartbeat. they're largely the typical festival games of ring toss, three-legged races, etc, but i cannot put into words the certain Charm of them. like. by the time festa junina starts it's at least sundown, if not fully night, so all the stands are lit up by the yellow-orange glows of shitty lanterns/fairy lights and. ough. that is my heaven. (fun fact, me and my cousin once won like, a dozen goldfish from one of these. good times.)

and last, but certainly not least, i GOTTA talk about the dancing!!! we call it quadrilha, and it's kind of like square dancing, i guess? it's a very silly and over-the-top dance that's The biggest even of the night. the dance follows the story of a wedding ceremony (rehearsal? i can't recall) which again would be PERFECT for the current events on the smp.

and yeah!! there's a lot of other stuff and they can vary from region to region (i'd love for other brazilians to share things i may have missed :Oc) but overall they're just a HUGE event in brazil and for brazilian communities that really just unite everyone in one huge night (or nights) of partying!!

#muse talk #shortguyswag #I HAD TO REWRITE THIS ENTIRE THIGN BC TUMBLR LOST IT #BUT YEH!!!!! i love festa junina :3 #some of my fondest memories of home r held within the month of june for this very reason #there r so much love in these parties and there is so much love on the qsmp that it is perfect to hold one i think #<- extremely biased

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hoedamn-eron · 1 year

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he found the box of condoms - part 2

You’re telling your parents and Paul about your relationship with your neighbour; who happens to be your best friend’s father.

Warnings: Age gap, but it is appropriate/legal. Some swearing, from a very angry Paul. An awful lot of dialogue. I have never seen nor read Dune (yet), so there may be some inaccuracies (Duke and Paul being OOC, stuff like that), but it's Modern!AU anyway. Slightly proof-read, as per usual. Word count: 2,815 GN!Reader, no use of Y/N.

Finally this is out! This isn't my best work and I was conscious I hadn't actually posted for a while so I wanted to get this out as soon as possible. Apologies to everyone! Also, this may have suddenly turned into a 3-parter.

Part 1 ● Part 3

Your parents were always supportive of you, whatever you wanted to do.

From when you didn’t want to go to college to travel, when you took up those piano lessons before deciding to give them up; they even supported you when you were fifteen and made the bad decision to go to that house party where the police were called. Of course, your parents weren’t exactly happy with the outcome, but they were firm believers that you could make decisions for yourself, whether they were right or wrong. You had always dealt with the consequences of your own actions, you’d always learned from them.

They were never really ‘disappointed’ in you; or if they were, they’d never said it out loud. You were terrified of doing so, since they had been so encouraging of you, and giving you the freedom you had. Now, though, as you prepared to tell them that you were in a relationship with a man twenty years older than you, who happened to be their very good friend, you were terrified they wouldn’t be able to look at you the same. Not that there was anything they could do about it, you were both adults. And it was your relationship.

And really, it was 2022, age gaps in relationships was becoming more the norm. If your parents -

“Is that okay for you, honey?”

Your mother was looking at you with a questioning look on her face, glass of red wine in her hand. You were having dinner with your parents, having decided to let them know about Leto. You and Leto. You and Leto being a couple. Your nerves had kicked in as soon as your mother called everyone into the kitchen to plate up and you had merely picked at your food since, a heavy feeling in your stomach, making you feel nauseous. You just knew your parents were going to flip out over it.

You stare at your mother again as she called your name. Your eyes widened. She was talking about something. What was it?

“Sorry?” you asked, realising you had taken too long to answer.

“You’re going to travel up with me and your dad for Rebecca’s wedding?”

Rebecca was your older cousin. Her and James had been together for five years before they got engaged, before finally deciding to actually plan the wedding two years afterwards. Now your family was treating this wedding like it was the next Royal Wedding, so everyone was going to be there. You were going to sit out, you were never overly close to Rebecca, since she was a few years older than you and you hardly saw her, since she lived a few states away, but your parents were keen for you to join them.

You knew why. Although supportive in your decisions, your parents were still traditional in the sense that they hate to see you ‘on your own’. They were not-so-secretly hoping you would start settling down soon, and thinking about your future, maybe getting married and having a family of your own (they had been mentioning grandchildren a lot recently) but would they still feel the same knowing that you’d been seeing Leto Atreides? Because you hadn’t even thought that far ahead. Of course you really liked Leto, it wasn’t just a passing fling, you’d been together for seven months already.

But surely it was far too early to think about that. You cringe at the thought of having to explain to your parents that you just might not want children. Would Leto even want kids anymore, he’s twenty years older than you? Would he even want to get married? He’d said so himself, after losing Paul’s mother, it took him a long time to even start considering dating again, never mind marriage. And you were only twenty-five, nearing twenty-six, and you didn’t quite have a career yet, you weren’t even remotely thinking about extending your family. Would your parents understand, if you didn’t want children? Regardless of if you wanted them or not, Leto and your father had been friends since Leto moved to the neighbourhood, and you were his child, would your parents even accept that you would even have children with Leto?

You’re getting ahead of yourself. You’re panicking. Your parents haven’t even said anything yet. You need to get a grip.

You’ve taken too long to answer your mother again.

“Do I get a plus one?”

Your mother raises her eyebrows at you as your father stopped eating, also looking at you with a look on his face that you can’t quite distinguish. You looked between your parents with an unsure look on your face before your mother clears her throat and answers, “Unfortunately not, but was there someone you were thinking of asking to come along?”

You didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything. Your mouth was open but nothing was coming out. Your parents were staring at you expectedly, not trying to push you but you could see how curious and more worried they became as time went on.

You groaned as you buried your head in your hands, leaning your elbows on the table. This might be easier if you didn’t look at them. “You can’t be mad at me because I’m a grown adult and I’m working with a full-time job and I nearly have enough to move out – “

“Where’s this going?” your dad asks, his usual no-beating-around-the-bush tone.

You swallow thickly. Just tell them. It’s not like you were hooked on drugs or doing God-knows-what at God-knows-what-time (not that you were an adult, like you said. Plucking up the smallest amount of courage you have, you blurt out. “I’mseeingsomeone.”

Your parents stare at you before your mother grinned, your father chuckling and going back to his food. “Oh honey, we know.”

Your mouth falls open as you look between the two. “You…you know?”

“You’re not exactly smooth about it,” said your dad. “You’re sneaking out like you used to do in high school. You don’t have to do that, anymore, you know.”

Was this a joke? Some sort of trick? You felt a cold chill go down your spine, and you were still sweating. They were acting way too calm about it. They’d already gone back to eating, so nonchalant about the whole thing. How long had they known about you and Leto? Why hadn’t they ripped you a new one when they found out? Your dad was ex-military, you were sure he was going to storm over next door, all gung-ho, guns a-blazing.

“So…you’re both okay with it?” you look between both of them, who were both still casually eating their food.

“Why wouldn’t we be okay with it?” your mother asked. “Like you said, you’re an adult and we trust you. You’re being safe though, yeah?”

“Oh God, mom, yes,” you said, feeling your cheeks burning as you avert your eyes.

“Well that’s all we ask for,” she replied, giving you a smile.

“So when do we meet him?”

You look at your dad with wide eyes. “Pardon?”

“Your new boyfriend, when do we get to meet him?”

Oh shit, they didn’t know as much as you thought.

“So you don’t…know who he is, then?”

“Why would we know?” your dad asked.

Your mother suddenly gasped. “Oh my goodness, is it Paul?” your mother laughed. “I always thought you two would be cute together, but you’d always said you were just good friends!”

You were already shaking your head. “N-no, not Paul. He’s got a new girlfriend.”

Oh God, what do you do?

You can’t lie to them, because you’re a terrible liar and they always know when you’re fibbing. They were expecting it to be someone they might know, someone your own age. Oh this was such a bad idea to do this today, you should have waited until you’d moved out. You couldn’t bear to think about the looks your parents would give you until you do.

“If it’s not Paul, then who is it?”

You had almost forgotten what you were doing and your mother’s question made you jump. You looked at your parents, who were looking at you with raised eyebrows. You had obviously taken too long to answer them. Again. You were getting a headache.

“I-I don’t want you guys to be weirded out by it, but I know you will.” You swallowed nervously, your throat suddenly feeling incredibly dry. “Just know that it…I like this guy a lot and it’s becoming a bit more serious – “

“Just tell us who it is, honey,” your mother said, looking at you nervously.

You clear your throat, averting your gaze to your mostly untouched plate of food. It was now or never. “It’s…it’s…uh, it’s – “

“You’re fucking my dad!?”

Paul had fantastic timing.

You hadn’t even heard him come in. You looked over at Paul, who was breathing heavily from his place at the kitchen door, as if he’d ran over here as quick as he could (he probably did). It was as if he couldn’t see your parents, his gaze locked on you, a mix between confusion and anger. Your eyes were wide as he stared at you, his hands curled tightly into fists at his sides, his jaw clenched tightly.

You had seen this expression on Paul before, but you never thought it would have been aimed at you.

“Well?” he demanded through his teeth at your silence.

You didn’t know what to say. You were just staring at him like he’d grown a second head, aware that your parents were looking between the two of you with equally as shocked looks. Your parents were thrown in at the deep end, and not gently told. You know your dad is about to go on the rampage to Leto’s house if you don’t calm the situation down in the next five minutes.

“I was…it just happened, one night, okay, and now we’re – “

“Fucking?”

“Paul!” you snapped, eyeing your parents, who were still looking at you with that shocked expression on their faces (although your dad’s complexion was slowly reddening as his jaw tightened). “Can you calm down?”

Where was Leto?

“Calm down? Calm down?”

“Please.” You stood from your chair, practically pleading, begging Paul to just let you get your side of the story out, for his sake and your parents. Your dad’s breathing was getting heavier and your mother’s mouth was opening and closing, like she couldn’t find the words to say. It was bad. It was worse than you thought it would be. “Just let me explain…”

Paul looked at you expectantly, waving his hand out dramatically, giving you an impatient, “Go ahead.”

You finally looked back at your parents, your mother looking at you with confusion, your father with barely contained fury. You gasped through your teeth, scrambling to calm the situation. “Look, it isn’t just a…we’re serious about each other.”

“Yeah, my dad, who you’re fucking, made it pretty clear how serious you both were.”

“Paul – “ you cut yourself off by closing your eyes tightly and pinching the bridge of your nose. Your headache was getting worse.

“When did this happen?”

Your eyes widened, practically giving yourself whiplash as you turn your head to look at your father, who had seemed to have regulated his breathing. But he still sat stiffly in his seat, his forgotten glass of water gripped hard in his left hand. You stuttered out, “When you and mom were away, seven months ago. Well, nearly eight months ago now.”

“You and…you and Leto?”

You grimaced. “Dad, it’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“No, of course not, it’s just that my very good friend has been sleeping with my kid.”

“Dad!” you snapped, appalled at his wording. “That’s not what it is!”

Paul took a step towards you, his anger flaring up again. “That’s exactly what it is! It’s weird, and sick, and you have no right – “

Your mouth fell open in shock. “No right? No right? I’m an independent, fully grown adult, as is your dad! We can date whoever we want, including each other.”

“Well I’m telling you to stop!”

You scoffed at him, actually even laughing at his sheer entitlement. You knew Paul wouldn’t be happy about the news; he was protective of his father, and of you too. But you didn’t think it would come to this, that Paul would ban you from seeing Leto. You wondered how their conversation went. Did Paul react the same? Did he ban Leto from seeing you? Is that why Leto was still MIA?

You cross you arms over your chest and shake your head at Paul. “You’re unbelievable.”

“I don’t think it’s so unbelievable that I’m asking you to stop dating my dad.”

“We’re both happy, Paul! Why can’t you just be happy for us?”

“Because it’s you, and my dad!” Paul cried, his hands flailing.

“My parents aren’t even making this much of a fuss!”

“That’s still in court,” your dad muttered, your mom giving him a swat on the arm, shushing him before she turned back to you and Paul, watching carefully.

She had yet to say a word.

Paul gave a laugh of disbelief as he ran his hands through his hair, turning away from you, barely able to calm the anger that was burning hot in his chest. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this is happening. My best friend. My best friend and my dad! Why? Why is this happening?

You couldn’t answer him, because truly, you still question yourself every day why Leto chose to be with you. You didn’t know why he gave you the chance, why that night happened that seemed so long ago, on the couch that you could actually see from your place in the kitchen. The memories cause your cheeks to warm, your hands to sweat, and you suddenly felt like you need to go and see him. You needed to check if Leto is okay.

You give a light shrug to Paul. “Your dad makes me happy. He’s a great guy, he’s kind and he treats me well.”

Paul rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You’re ridiculous, the both of you. You need to end this, like yesterday.”

“I don’t think you can dictate who I can and can’t be with and love, thank you,” you snapped at him.

The silence that followed was deafening.

That was new. You and Leto had never spoken the ‘L Word’ before. And you hadn’t planned on saying it for the first time shouting at his son in anger because he was disrespecting you and Leto’s relationship.

Because he wasn’t taking you seriously.

Because he didn’t think that you were deserving of Leto.

Because he didn’t think you both should be happy together.

You swallow nervously, averting your gaze from everyone in the room. “I need some air.”

You turn and head towards the front door, ignoring your mother’s calls, the first thing she’s said in ages. You grab the nearest jacket to you, which happens to be your father’s, opening the door before leaving the house, closing the door with a little more force than you meant to.

Slipping the jacket on, you set off walking, not sure where you were going. You should go and check on Leto, something must have happened with Paul since he didn’t come over. Or he was avoiding your parents, because he knew your dad well enough that he would have no qualms in putting Leto in his place (honestly, at this point, Leto would probably let him).

You turn to Leto’s house, walking up the path and quickly knocking on the front door. Your nerves were on fire, and you were already picking at your nails, still not being able to kick that nervous habit you’d had since you were six. You bit your lip as the front door opened, your heart skipping what felt like twenty beats in your chest as Leto’s brown eyes came into view.

You look at Leto, inhaling through your teeth at the beginnings of a black eye growing on his right eye. You reach forward, your body nearly colliding with his as you cup his cheeks in both hands as you look over him. “What happened to you?”

Leto gave a small grin, despite the hurt look in his eyes. “Paul didn’t take my news very well.”

You give a snort of laughter, your gaze finally meeting his. “You’re telling me.”

Leto reached up to wrap his hands around your wrists, bringing them down so he could hold your hands in his. His hands were always so warm, always enveloping yours and making you feel secure, and loved. You gave him another smile but it falters at the look on his face. “What’s the matter?”

Leto gives you a serious look. “We need to talk.”

Tagged - @shes-not-alone, @dd122004dd, @sofsofsposts, @prakhyanair

#dune #duke leto atreides x reader #duke leto x gn!reader #duke leto atreides x gn!reader #leto atreides x gn!reader #leto atreides #duke leto x reader #duke leto atreides #paul atreides #paul atreides x platonic!reader #paul atreides x reader #oscar isaac

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venus-haze · 2 years

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The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter - Prequel (Yandere!Austin!Elvis x Reader)

Summary: There was no way you could have seen it coming…right? Or four instances where you could have noticed Elvis blurring the boundaries of personal and professional.

Note: This is based on an anonymous request, and as of right now will be the last thing I plan to write for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, because there’s other requests and series I’d like to focus on writing. I appreciate everyone’s support for the series, and hope you all like it! Please consider the warnings before deciding whether or not you want to read this fic. Do not interact with my blog or posts if you are under 18 or post ED/thinspo content.

Word count: 4.5k

Warnings: This is a yandere fic, so expect dark themes such as emotional blackmail, obsessive and manipulative behavior, and abuse of power, which some people may find disturbing or triggering. Mentions of drug abuse. Kathy makes a brief appearance and I know y’all do not like her so I guess I’m including her as a warning. Do not interact if you are under 18.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Graceland, 1968

Being Elvis Presley’s personal assistant hardly felt like a job, if you were being honest with yourself. Something was always happening, and you never found yourself bored even in your downtime with all of the friends and relatives rotating in and out of Graceland at all hours of the day. It seemed like every day you were introduced to someone new—a friend of a friend from high school, an old army buddy, a cousin from Priscilla’s side of the family. You were having so much fun being part of such a chaotic new world that you almost forgot you were being paid until Vernon handed you your first paycheck, almost triple what you’d been making at NBC.

You were still getting the hang of being part of Elvis’ entourage, but you must have been doing something right, because he entrusted you with more tasks and responsibilities as the weeks progressed. Since you’d quit your job at NBC almost as soon as Elvis asked you to work for him, you needed to prove to your skeptical friends and former colleagues that you made the right decision by choosing the King of Rock n’ Roll over one of the biggest television studios in the country. The special wouldn’t be released for another few months, but you knew it’d shut them all up once they saw for themselves what Elvis could do.

Whenever he’d ask for your opinions on his reinventing his career, you still felt a bit of shock that he even bothered to ask, much less seriously take your opinion into account. It helped that whenever Priscilla was around, you and her seemed to agree on a lot of things. There weren’t many women in Elvis’ entourage, so you and her became fast friends, which meant hanging out poolside or having her do your makeup and bring you up to speed on the decade or so of inner circle gossip you hadn’t been aware of. Naturally, your friendship with Priscilla made you feel that much more guilty over the crush on Elvis you’d developed since filming the Comeback Special.

A few weeks into the job, Elvis had asked you to meet him in the living room, where he seemed to do most of his business. People always filtered in and out of the room, but it never seemed to phase him. As the two of you sat on the couch, your gaze landed on the mock-ups of his new private plane the ‘Lisa Marie’ and his plans for his upcoming world tour. That day, however, Priscilla had brought Lisa over to her parents’ place to visit.

“You likin’ things here, Y/N?” Elvis asked, pulling you from your thoughts.

“Yes! This is the best job I could have hoped for,” you said.

“You’re not just sayin’ that, are ya? I know things can be crazy around here if you’re not used to it.”

“I promise I’m happy,” you said, waving your hand toward the mock-ups. “I mean, who wouldn’t be?”

“A worldwide tour,” Elvis whispered, almost to himself. “You know, I’ve never toured outside the country before.”

“I’ve ever left the country either,” you said. “I’ve already applied for my passport. I’m so excited.”

“Y/N, where do you want to go?” Elvis asked. “Anywhere in the world, where do you think I should play?”

“I think Japan would be fun,” you answered.

He gave you a big smile. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“I know the tour schedule might be tight, but I’d love to be able to do some sightseeing in Tokyo,” you said. “You know, your fan club there is one of the biggest in the world. You should try to meet with them, or the fan club president, at least.”

“Yeah, I get a lot of letters from over there,” he said. “You’re right; it’s the least I could do. I wouldn’t be anything without my fans believing in me. Sometimes I still can’t believe how much people like my music, or liked, I guess.”

“Once your special airs, you’re all anyone will be able to talk about,” you said. “Especially when you announce your international tour.”

“Thanks, Y/N. I know I can trust you to be honest with me.”

“Always,” you promised.

He had another meeting to plan his international tour later on in the afternoon, while you were stuck on the phone stalling with the people from Singer Sewing who were still on Elvis’ back about the special. You’d gotten good at coming up with reasons and excuses for why he couldn’t come to the phone, and no, you wouldn’t be accepting anything from their lawyers. It frustrated you, because the Colonel should be the one taking care of it, but it seemed like Elvis was trying to distance himself from his manager, which meant everyone trying to figure out who’d pick up which responsibilities in the meantime.

The meeting had long since ended by the time you hung up on probably the sixth person from Singer who you’d spoken to. Wandering into the living room, you looked over the notes that had been posted on the touring mock-up board. There was one for each country he planned to hold a show in, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Australia, but you looked most carefully at the one for Japan, which had more written on it than the others. ‘JAPAN - per EP: 3 days minimum, Tokyo show, meet fanclub, sightseeing (?)’

“Did I get it all, darlin’?” Elvis asked, startling you as you hadn’t realized he’d come in.

You turned to him. “I like the question mark next to sightseeing.”

“No questions about it; I’ll be sure we go somewhere nice in Japan.”

“We?” you asked, trying not to let your excitement show.

“Well, if you don’t mind an old man taggin’ along,” he teased.

You laughed. “Old man? You’re not old.”

“C’mon, Y/N, I’d have gray hairs by now if I didn’t dye it,” he said.

“I think you’d look good gray,” you said.

“Yeah?”

“Definitely.”

He smiled, giving you a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, darlin’.”

You couldn’t help how your face heated up at this, bashfully averting your eyes from him. He carefully lifted your head so that you were looking at him again, and you could have sworn he would have kissed you, if not for the front door opening, and little Lisa Marie toddling in. You quickly shifted to the other end of the couch before Priscilla could walk in. Priscilla. Elvis was your boss, and at the very most you were friends, but he wouldn’t do anything like that with his wife around, and certainly not with you of all people, you reasoned to yourself, determined to shake off whatever crush you had on him.

Las Vegas, 1969

Somehow, the Colonel had convinced Elvis to postpone his world tour and take up a temporary residency at the newly built International Hotel in Las Vegas. After the six-weeks of shows, you all would finally be off to see the world. Still, the International was a gorgeous hotel, and you were thrilled when Elvis informed you everyone would be getting their own rooms for the duration of the residency, and to not worry about using room service or any amenities. Sure, the first few nights you went a little wild in the casino and ordered steak and lobster up to your room, but after that, everyone seemed to settle down and focus on bringing the upcoming show together.

All things considered, you figured it made sense for Elvis to test his new show for smaller audiences before bringing it to larger stadiums abroad, especially since the International was covering everything. He could afford to make changes and go as big as he wanted. Electricity was in the air, and you couldn’t get enough of it. The sky wasn’t even the limit with the newly minted ‘Lisa Marie’ ready to fly.

Elvis had asked you to join him in the showroom, as he looked over the stage again and spoke to some of the people who’d be working on the technical aspects of the show. There wasn’t much for you to do, so you wandered around the opulent auditorium, taking in your surroundings. It was the perfect place for Elvis to perform, and with how much Elvis had been talking up the new ideas he had for his show, you couldn’t wait to see it.

“Pretty impressive, huh?” an unfamiliar voice said, as you reached the back of the showroom.

You turned around to look at the man, “Yeah, it’s the biggest on the Strip, right?”

“That’s what they say,” he nodded. “I’m Jake, by the way.”

“I’m Y/N, it’s nice to meet you.”

“You gonna be in the show, or?”

“No,” you laughed. “I’m just Elvis’ assistant.”

“You work with Elvis?” Jake asked incredulously.

“Is that surprising?” you wondered aloud.

He grinned. “I just figured a woman pretty as you would be one of the showgirls or something.”

You giggled at the compliment. It’d been a long time since you’d been flirted with, spending so much time with Elvis’ inner circle and all. Jake’s attention definitely wasn’t unwelcome. He was handsome, with blond hair and eyes that were blue—or were they green? You weren’t close enough to tell. He wore a t-shirt that was definitely a size too small on purpose, because his muscles looked like they were straining against the thin fabric.

“What do you do around here?” you asked.

“Stage lights,” he answered. “I used to bartend at this other hotel, but I got roped doing lights one night when there was no one to fill in for one of my coworkers and–”

Elvis shouted your name, his voice echoing through the showroom. “Y/N!”

“I’m so sorry. I have to go,” you said.

“Don’t want to keep the king waiting,” Jake said, a playful grin on his face. “Why don’t you meet me at the bar later? Say, nine?”

“Nine is perfect,” you smiled.

Elvis yelled for you again, louder this time. You rushed down the stairs to the stage, where he was standing with his hands on his hips. He was frowning, his eyebrows furrowed as he glared in the direction where you had run over from.

When you approached him, he shook his head, clicking his tongue at you. “I don’t pay you to play heart-eyes with stagehands, Y/N.”

Taken aback, you stammered out a response, “I–he just came over to me and–”

“And nothin’!” he snapped. “Both of you should be workin’. I shouldn’t have to call for you twice, especially at a time like this.”

“You’re right. I’m so sorry,” you said.

You were trying not to let it get to you, but Elvis had never been angry with you before. It was the worst feeling you’d ever experienced, a pit forming in your stomach at being the subject of his ire. He’d done so much for you, and now, at a pivotal moment in his career, you were letting yourself get caught up with a stagehand you barely know who said a few flirty things to you. Your eyes stung, and you were sure if he scolded you more, you wouldn’t be able to hold back your tears.

He stared at you silently for a few moments, his hands clenched into fists before he sighed, his expression softening. “I need you more than ever, darlin’. Just try to stay focused, okay?”

You nodded, your voice cracking a bit as you whispered, “Okay.”

Despite Elvis’ best attempts to reassure you throughout the day, you still felt guilty. People kept stopping you to ask if you were okay, and you were embarrassed that you let the small altercation affect you so much. Even when Elvis dismissed you early for the day, you couldn’t bring yourself to follow through with meeting Jake at the bar that night. He’d probably hate you, but you’d rather he hate you than Elvis.

Instead, you called it an early night, waking up far too early the next morning by Vegas standards, but you couldn’t fall back asleep as much as you tried. Feeling cooped up in the luxurious hotel room you were calling home for the time being, you decided to get ready for the day and hang out in the hotel restaurant for a few hours. You grabbed a few fashion magazines and made your way down to the first floor of the hotel. The restaurant was practically empty, and you didn’t have to wait long for your breakfast to be done.

About an hour later, the restaurant started filling up more, and you noticed Jerry walk in. You waved at him, and he walked over to your table, taking the seat across from you.

“Hey Y/N, how’s it going?” he asked.

“I’m alright,” you answered. “How about you?

“Good, I got all that shit with Jake taken care of. What a sick motherfucker.”

“Huh?”

“EP told me all about it, why you were so upset yesterday. I got it worked out with the hotel manager. You won’t have to worry about him anymore,” he said before scoffing. “It’s like these places will hire anyone nowadays.”

“Yeah,” you agreed, despite not having a clue as to what he was talking about. Jake seemed nice, but from your brief encounter with him, you didn’t really know much, but he certainly hadn’t made you upset. You supposed if Elvis found out something bad enough about Jake to have to go to the International’s manager about him, you were better off not worrying about the situation. Besides, like Elvis said, you had your job to focus on, with opening night only a few weeks away.

Denver, 1970

The US tour was busier than you could’ve expected, and you didn’t even want to imagine what the world tour would look like in comparison. It did trouble you that the tour dates were so close together. Elvis didn’t have time to rest and relied on Dr. Nick to shoot him up with whatever he had in his bag to get him to sleep. You knew the Colonel recommended Dr. Nick, but you didn’t trust how he seemed to prescribe Elvis all sorts of pills and potions without a second thought. Besides, what kind of doctor only went by their first name anyway?

Regardless, the American leg of the tour was well-received so far, and you were spending more time with Elvis than ever despite the chaotic schedule. You had been especially excited for the Denver show, since your sister Kathy lived in Boulder. When you mentioned it, Elvis didn’t hesitate to offer you two tickets to the show and the night off to catch up with her before jet-setting to the next city.

You were looking forward to seeing Kathy again, even if it would only be for a few hours. The two of you were close growing up, and though you’d drifted apart as you went to college and settled down in different states, you kept in touch as much as you could. You took a cab from the airport to the restaurant in Denver that Kathy wanted to go to, and practically ran over to her when you saw her waiting outside.

As soon as the two of you were seated, she went ahead and ordered a bottle of wine, and you knew you’d be in for a whirlwind of a dinner.

“So, what’s he like?” Kathy asked, wiggling her eyebrows as soon as the waiter left.

“Who, Elvis? I’ve already told you, he’s nice and funny, and he always seems to care about what I have to say.”

“Not that, I mean in bed.”

You stared at her, dumbfounded. “Why would I know that?”

“You’re telling me you haven’t made a move?” she asked. “From what I’ve heard he fucks anything with a—“

“He’s my boss, Kathy. I don’t think of him like that,” you lied. “It’d be inappropriate, and I couldn’t bring myself to do that to Priscilla even if I were interested.”

“Seriously? Y/N, when you said you dropped your job at NBC like two years ago I figured it was because you and him were sleeping together, and he wanted to keep you around. I mean, why else would you have done it?”

“Because I believe in him, and he’s a good friend, and—what kind of person do you think I am?”

“Okay, I’ll drop it,” she conceded, clearly displeased with your answer.

The rest of the night was nice, but you couldn’t shake the discomfort at what Kathy had said at dinner. You’d made it clear you were Elvis’ personal assistant, but if your own sister assumed you were just there to scratch his itch whenever his wife wasn’t around, you didn’t want to consider what everyone outside of the Memphis Mafia and the backing band and singers thought of you.

The schedule was far too busy for Kathy to meet Elvis, which you were previously apologetic about but had become glad for. You and Elvis were close, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to give you hugs or kiss you on the cheek. He was just a sweet guy, not afraid to be affectionate with the people he cared about; it was something that you loved about him. After shows he would run off with girls sometimes, but he always went out of his way to see you beforehand, just to talk and ironically check on you. The last thing you wanted was for Kathy to misinterpret that.

You and Kathy parted ways after the show, and you half-heartedly promised to call her when you got back to Memphis and fill her in on how the rest of the tour went. You had to book it backstage to catch up with everyone and not miss the plane to the next city. A security guard didn’t seem to believe your all-access pass was authentic, and you found yourself arguing with him.

“Can you just go back there and get someone? They all know me,” you said in exasperation. “I have my pass. I don’t know what else you need.”

“That Colonel guy said people might try to get back here with fake passes.”

“Mine is real!”

The security guard didn’t answer. You felt like you were slamming your head against a brick wall. Even if you did make it outside in time to catch up with everyone making their way to the cars, you weren’t sure you’d be let through now. Just as you were about to try arguing again, one of the doors opened, and Jerry walked out, looking surprised to see you.

“What’re you doing out here? EP keeps asking for you,” Jerry said.

You glared at the security guard, who was emotionless at the confirmation that you weren’t lying after all. Following Jerry backstage, you waited for the door to completely shut behind you.

“He thought my pass was fake,” you said.

“It looks like everyone else’s.”

“Not to him, apparently. He said the Colonel told him that people might make fake passes to get to Elvis.”

Jerry rolled his eyes. “The Colonel’s got some nerve talking about fake paperwork.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it right now, Y/N. Like I said, Elvis has been looking for you,” he said, pointing to where Elvis was standing backstage.

You walked over, and he engulfed you in a sweaty hug.

“Y/N, I’m never lettin’ you take a night off again. Every time I didn’t see you there I felt like my head fell off.”

“I don’t think I’ll need another one for a while.”

“How’d things go with your sister?”

Before you could answer, everyone was being ushered out of the building to the cars that were waiting out back. You ended up in a different car from Elvis, which gave you time to think on the way to the airport, but you knew that it wouldn’t be a long conversation, since Dr. Nick usually gave Elvis whatever medication to help him sleep within ten minutes of him stepping onto the plane.

You followed Elvis to the back of the plane, where you sat across from him. You didn’t want to talk about Kathy or what she said, it would be humiliating. As soon as he sat down, though, he picked the conversation up right where it had left off backstage.

“Alright, Y/N, how’d it go? Y’all catch up? She like the show?” Elvis asked.

“Yeah, she loved it,” you said. “She thought it was amazing.”

“Well that’s good, but you suddenly don’t seem so excited.”

“I just—she said some things that made it seem like I gave her the wrong impression of our relationship. I’m just worried other people might get the wrong idea too,” you confessed.

“Darlin’, you and me both know we ain’t doin’ nothin’ wrong. You’re one of the only people I really trust anymore,” he said, placing his hand over yours. “Maybe you should be careful who you talk to from now on. People outside of our circle, they don’t understand what this life is like.”

You smiled. “You’re right. I don’t know why I let her get to me.”

Dr. Nick walked over, and you nearly failed to hide your disdain as he opened his medicine bag. “Wonderful show as usual, Mr. Presley.”

You couldn’t stand to look, let alone be around, when Dr. Nick would inject Elvis with whatever poison he’d chosen for the night. You didn’t know how to bring it up to Elvis, though, but you knew it would catch up with him eventually. Sitting toward the front of the plane, you chewed on your nail, waiting for Dr. Nick to finish up giving Elvis his ‘prescription.’ When the so-called doctor emerged from the back of the plane, you wasted no time in returning to where you had been sitting before to check on Elvis.

“Y/N,” Elvis muttered drowsily, “you’re back.”

Tears pricked your eyes. “Of course I am.”

He hummed. “You mean everything to me. Y/N, I–”

He passed out before he could finish his sentiment, and you took his hand in yours. You couldn’t bring yourself to call it sleeping, did he even dream when he was in that state? Was he lucid enough to feel or hear? You would drive yourself crazy thinking about it, but you mostly didn’t want to admit that you loved Elvis too much to keep seeing him like that, but you couldn’t leave, it’d be the opposite of helping him to abandon him when it seemed like no one else was looking out for him. If no one else was willing to take up the responsibility, you supposed you could handle it.

Graceland, 1971

After Elvis’ second national tour, you took a week off to visit home and see your family. You called home as much as you could, but it was tough to get anyone on the line when your schedule was so unusual. Having a full week with them would give you the time to catch up on all of the details of working for Elvis that they could never seem to get enough of, and also spend quality time with you, which happened less and less as the years went by.

The longer you stayed there, the less it felt like home. You hadn’t realized you’d replaced memories of your childhood home with those of Graceland, confused when your house didn’t behave the way the bustling mansion did, from the building itself to the people. Even your childhood bedroom was unfamiliar compared to your room at Graceland or even the International. You were almost relieved when your vacation was cut short on the fourth day by a call at three in the morning that you could hardly understand.

“Y/N, darlin’, you need to come back, please,” Elvis sobbed over the phone.

“Elvis, please slow down and explain to me what happened,” you said gently.

“‘Cilla left me, took Lisa with her and I–I need you right now. I’m sorry but please come home.”

Home.

“I’ll take the first flight out in the morning,” you promised.

“Call me as soon as you know which one so I can send the car for you.”

“I will.”

He mumbled something under his breath that you couldn’t make out, but when you heard him sobbing again, the line cut out. Sighing, you began to pack your bags, to the chagrin of your parents who had not only been woken up in the middle of the night but also losing three days of seeing you. You gave them apologetic hugs and promises to come back soon before leaving for the airport to try to figure out how soon you could get to Memphis. The stewardess informed you there was a flight to Memphis at seven in the morning with seats available.

“Hey,” you said.

“Y/N, when are you gonna be here?” he asked.

“There’s a flight at seven I can take, so I’ll be there before noon.”

“Noon, I’ll see you by noon,” he repeated.

Your flight seemed to take forever, and you were sure the flight attendants wanted to throw you out of the emergency door for how often you asked what time it was and how much longer until you landed. The sun shined strong on Memphis when you walked out of the airport and to the car that was waiting outside for you. Drab city streets blurred past you into greener suburbs and finally to the estate that was Graceland.

As the car pulled up to the curb, you practically tumbled out the door as you rushed into the mansion. The curtains were open, the only source of any light in the place. It was chillingly empty, almost feeling like you’d arrived too early to a funeral.

Taking in a deep breath, you called out, “Elvis? It’s Y/N!”

The response you received was a loud sob which echoed through the nearly vacant house. You ran upstairs, and opened his bedroom door, only to find it empty.

“I’m in here,” he croaked out.

You saw him on the other end of the hall, standing in the doorway of his parents’ room. Walking over to him, you felt your heart break at how pathetic he looked–hair unkempt, face red, tear tracks dried on his cheeks. As soon as you were within arms’ reach, he grabbed you for a hug, crying into your shoulder.

“She’s gone. She don’t love me anymore.”

“Elvis, I’m so sorry,” you whispered, stroking his hair.

“Did you know?”

“No,” you answered honestly.

He stared at you, where you looked and how you spoke when you answered. He was trying to see if you were lying or not. Oh, that’s why the house is empty.

“Will you stay with me, Y/N?” he asked. “I know I made you leave your folks’ place early and you probably hate me, but I can’t be alone right now.”

“I could never hate you,” you whispered. “I’ll be here as long as you need.”

He seemed to take what you said to heart, because he settled down enough to sleep not long after that. You felt strange, watching him sleep in his parents’ bed. When you shifted to try to get up, he stirred, and you definitely didn’t want to wake him when he was clearly so exhausted. Through the night, he clung to you, and you woke up entangled with him.

#elvis x reader #austin!elvis x reader #elvis presley x reader #yandere!elvis x reader #yandere x reader #elvis #elvis 2022 #austin!elvis #yandere elvis

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neptune-lover · 1 year

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Pregnant? Pt 2

hi guys welcome back this is part two to my pregnant series I'm working on a few ideas rn they are just in the starting phase but hopefully I can get those out and start a master list if the stories I plan to do anyways I hope you guys enjoy

Tag list @moxkindagirl

Tw: talks of pregnancy, mentions of death and miscarriage, mentions of vomit/throwing up and mentions of sex(this is through out the entire story btw and this will be multiple parts)

It was now 10 am both Y/n and Rhea never went back to sleep. Everyone was now awake in the house. Dominik decided to make strawberries and cream crepes as it's y/n's favorite breakfast to eat. She didn't feel sick the rest of the morning and because of it being smackdown tonight and it just so happened to be in the city where the couples home was they didn't have to travel far today which made Y/n very happy. All 5 of them were members of Judgement day but the group already knew Y/n wasn't scheduled to be on the show tonight so she called Hunter (triple H for those who don't know) and let him know she wouldn't be in the building as she didn't feel good. The others however all had either fights or promos to do so Rhea took the lead and called in reinforcement. Who was the reinforcement you may ask well it was three of Y/n's best friends in wwe who they knew weren't scheduled to be on tonight. They were Becky, Seth and Liv. All people who either helped train her or had been by her side dating back to her NTX days especially Becky and Liv they were her best friends and Seth decided to come with Becky to come help cheer Y/n up. "So how exactly did you feel last nigh" Liv asked curious as she had a cousin who was a nurse so she knew a bit about health and medical stuff. "Well it was kinda just out of the blue I woke up and felt super sick and like throwing up" Y/n said "Ok well have you felt like that at all the rest of the day" Becky now asked as the wheels in her brain started turning. Y/n replied "Nope I've actually felt fine the rest of the day just a but restless and sleep and haven't been tired since I woke up" "ok and remind me what time this was again" Seth now said now believing he was thinking the same as his wife. "Ok I get you guys are trying to help but what's with all the questions" Y/n asked slightly agitated now with all the questions. Becky replied "Well what's your description sounds like morning sickness which is common in pregnancy" "That's exactly what I was starting to think" Liv and Seth said at the same time. Seth chimed in again "I remember Becky struggled with that a decent amount when she was pregnant with Roux"." Wait so you guys think I'm pregnant " Y/n said in a shocked tone "Well I'm not saying you 100% are but it's possible especially if you guys have been having unprotected sex especially recently" Becky explained. Silence filled the room Liv was the one to break it "Do you have any tests here or do you need to buy one or two" "Two would be more ideal because it's better to do two than one I remember my first test was negative then I took another it was positive I went to the doctors later that day and turns out I was pregnant" Becky said. "I can go drive to a store real quick and pick up a two pack if you don't have any" Seth offered. "Well this was never expected this early so we don't have any so if you wouldn't mind running to grab some I would appreciate it" Y/n said in a hushed tone. "Ya I'll go run right now" and with that Seth left the three girls alone while he went to go buy some pregnant tests.

That's all for part 2 I hope you guys enjoyed and part 3 will be out soon beyyyy

#the judgement day #damian priest x reader #demi bennett x reader #dominik mysterio x reader #finn balor x reader #rhea ripley x reader #wwe x reader #becky lynch #seth rollins #liv morgan #Poly! Judgement day x reader

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multi-fandom-simp · 9 months

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My soul, my heart, my fault

Part 1/3

Jacearys Velaryon x Velaryon!Reader (platonic, sisterly), Lucerys Velaryon x Velaryon!Reader(Platonic, sisterly), Aemond Targaryen x Velaryon!Reader(mentioned throughout)

-Reader is Laenor's legitimate child in both past and present parts of this fic.-

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the House of The Dragon or Fire & Blood characters. I do not claim any of them as my own. This work is purely fictional.

Summary: What's dead, is supposed to stay dead. However, the fates decide to make an exception in the case of your younger sibling's unjust deaths. You, who lived through the dance of the dragons, are brought back for the soul purpose of watching them grow again...or perhaps it was die again, you couldn't quite remember. (This will be a three part series)

Side Note: The areas in italics are memories, or moments of the past.

❗TW❗: Mentions of character death and actual character death, murder, angst, blood, incest?(I mean reader was Aemond's niece in past mentions), angst

(A/N: Hello! This is the first HOTD fic I've posted where the reader has a set house and set parent, but nonetheless I am not forcing you to imagine those specifics as their appearance. The reader's legitimate father in this story is Laenor. Simply because I feel like I don't see enough stories/fics with a true Velaryon reader. That being said, if you have any other fic Recs or even requests that involve a Velaryon reader, please send them my way👀. I've also thought about making a series involving a pair of Velaryon twins, so I'd love to know if anyone would be interested in that. Aside from my rambles, I tagged this as both Velaryon reader and just reader so that people may read it if they please. As always, I love to hear your thoughts and see your reactions, enjoy!)

Word Count: 3,924

“Kepus” Your small voice echoed overtop the waves that surrounded your father.

Laenor, who had been previously focused on the sea turned at your call,“ Yes, Tala”

You stumbled through the water until you were able to cling to his side,“ Why do they whisper about Jace and Luke?”

“ Because your brothers are different” Your father explained softly. His hand swept lovingly over the back of your head as you gazed up at him.

“ How so?”

His hands came down to cradle your face,“ It matters not. What matters, is that they are still your brothers. You must not let the whispers get between you and them.”

“ Nothing could ever take me from them, Kepa, I promise” Your tone was fierce, just like the blood that ran through your veins. Laenor smiled and squatted to your level, paying no mind to the water that soaked his clothes. He seemed to study you for a second as if he was committing the moment to memory.

Finally, he took a breath to speak,“ That’s good because you must protect them, Tala. You are their big sister, their fate rests with you.”

“ I can no-” Your father was quick to spot your hesitancy. The hands that once held your face now held your hands. While his features remained soft, fear was evident in his eyes.

“ -You must have no doubts. Doubts lead to death, and fate is already not on your side. Heed my words, Tala, history will repeat itself,” Whether or not he was referring to him and Laena or you and the boys, you’ll never know. What you did know was that history indeed would repeat itself.

In 129 AC, you watched your brother Lucerys Velaryon die, and in 2006 you welcomed him as he was born again as your cousin. Three-year-old you was immensely confused on why these people kept referring to him as your cousin, but as you got older you came to the realization that no one else remembered who they were and that things were different. Whilst Laenor Velayron remained your father, Rhaenyra Targaryen was not your mother. In all honesty, you were not sure who your mother was. One thing was for certain though, your brothers had been taken from you. They now grew up in a different house with no memories of all you did for them eons ago. It was as if fate itself had placed a curse on you. Still, you weren’t one to let the gods dictate your life. Once your eleventh birthday came around, you begged Nyra to let you babysit the two youngest boys. She agreed without hesitation and suddenly you were back to seeing the boys almost every other day rather than in the summers. You thought you had outsmarted time and fate themselves. Six years went by and you had managed to watch the boys grow without problems. Well aside from the fact that your father and Viserys had agreed that you and Aemond would be together for the sake of both the Velaryon and Targaryen dynasties. That was six months ago, and everything had started to decline since then. Your father had mysteriously vanished, Rhaenyra’s husband Harwin had died, and tensions between the families were at an all-time high. It wasn’t Aemond’s fault per se, he was a great partner, but you knew how this went. In the end, you would be torn between his family and your own. More specifically between your brothers and him. The mere thought of it all happening again sent your stomach into knots. If only there were a way to prevent everything, prevent time from repeating itself. Maybe then you could save your brother-

" Hellooo, are you there? Hey-" Your thoughts vanished as Jace came into view. Were you having a nightmare again? No, surely not in the middle of the day, not while the boys were here.

The realization of your whereabouts sat you upright, forcing your eyes to the couch where you had last left the youngest boys, who still sat there much to your relief,"-Shit, sorry! Did I space off again?"

"You looked like you were asleep with your eyes open, to be honest," Jace snorted, his hair was wet and a gym bag hung from his shoulder, " Rough night?"

His question was answered with a groan as you laid your cheek against the cool countertop, "I’ll take that as a yes?"

"Every night is a rough night when you have nightmares like mine" You mumble between the space in your arms, “Do you ever have weird dreams, Jace?”

Jace sat beside you, mirroring the position you had slumped into. You turned your face towards him as he spoke, "I had a dream once where I was in archery club...but I was naked, like bare as can be-"

"-You can not be serious"

"Oh but I am, and my grandfather's creepy friend Otto was the teacher. It was definitely weird, but I didn't lose sleep over it" Jace shrugged.

" Why are you guys talking like that?" Both you and Jace lift your heads to face Luke. The curly-haired boy stood on the other side of the kitchen island with his eyebrows raised.

You shrugged, “Why are you not talking like this?”

“ Because I’m a normal human being?” He questioned sarcastically, “ anyways, while I have the attention-”

“You always have the attention” Jace scoffs.

You nod in agreement,“ Mhm, it’s because he’s the favorite.”

“ Can I talk or..” Luke stands there staring at the two of you patiently, much like his mother would. Actually, it reminds you of the first time Nyra caught you sneaking the boys into the kitchens during the hour of the owl.

“You must be very quiet. Some say the kitchen maids have special abilities that let them know food has been stolen” You whisper to the boys with a suppressed grin. Each of them held lemon tarts as you securely closed the door.

Luke’s doe eyes widen with fear, “Do you think they’re witches? Will they curse us?”

“ The kitchen maids are not the ones you should be worried about” The three of you whipped around at the sound of your mother’s voice. She stood tall in the firelight, a red robe covering her as she stared down expectantly.

A nervous grin stretched across your features, “ Muna! We were just collecting lemon tarts to bring to you!”

“ You know, your father has this knack for flattering me when he’s trying to cover a lie. It would be a shame for my daughter to try and do the same” She hummed suspiciously.

“ I would never!” You cringed as you realized how identical you sounded to your kepa, “Alright, we were trying to sneak lemon tarts for ourselves, but it won’t happen again! ”

“ If you were still hungry, you should have told me so. Now, Jace, Luke, take the tarts to your chambers and go to bed please.” The boys bid Rhaenyra a good night and took off down the hall swiftly.

Your fingers fiddled with your nightdress nervously, “ I’m sorry, I did not mean to cause trouble.”

“ Oh my heart, you did not cause trouble. It is natural to sneak out at a young age, but you need to be careful here. There are people in this world who seek to hurt your brothers, and you must be their protector.” She cooed, her thumb stroking your cheek.

The fire in your eye returned once more, “ No one will hurt them. Not while I’m by their side.”

“-I’m starting to think she had a medical condition at this point” It was Jace once again who pulled you from the past, but with Luke beside him this time. The two of them both stared at you with confusion. The dry itch in your eyes became apparent as you came back into focus.

“ Maybe she’s just tired from dealing with Aemond all the time-”

You cut off Luke’s jest with a groan, “ Okay, can we not start up the hate train for my boyfriend today? I was just daydreaming, good gods.”

“ No need to start the train up when it was never off in the first place” Jace spoke teasingly. Any rebuttals that were set to come from your mouth were ceased by the constant buzzing from your phone, which laid on the counter for everyone to see.

Luke’s eyes bugged at the sight of Aemond’s contact,“ ñuha zaldrīzes?! You call him your drag-”

“Shut up!” You reached over to slap a hand over his mouth as you answered the phone, “ Aem, hey, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on? Have you looked at the time recently?” looking over to the clock, your face fell. It was twenty past seven, which meant you were twenty minutes late to your dinner with Aemond.

“I thought you would be here as soon as Jace got home, has he not arrived yet?” From beside you, Jace held a thumbs up, as if he was allowing you to use him as an excuse.

“He was a little late getting home and then we got to talking and I just-”

Aemond’s sigh drowned out your words, “-Lost track of time, yeah. It seems like that happens a lot when you’re with them.”

The boy’s watched as you visibly deflated, “Aemond, that’s not fair.”

“ Not fair? You constantly put me second to them. I am- your husband and lover. Sooner or later you will have to choose, either me or them, and I will not tolerate a bastard being put before me. Not in this lifetime or the next.”

“You are being unreasonable, Aemond!”

“ The unreasonable one is you! There is a war afoot and you insist on playing both sides. If you think this will end in a happy ever after..then you’re- mistaken. Are you even listening? Hello?” Time was running out and you could feel it. The last time Aemond had spoken those words, Luke had ended up dead hours later. With fear clouding your judgment you hung up without another word. Which probably didn’t help the situation, but what else could you do? Tell Luke what you thought would happen? No, he was only fifteen, he would be terrified. You couldn’t tell Jace, because as close as the two of you were he would still think you’re crazy. And Aemond, he was absolutely out of the question. Accusing him of something like that would drive the wedge further between the two of you.

“ You must protect them, Tala. You are their big sister, their fate rests with you.” What if I don’t know how?

“There are people in this world who seek to hurt your brothers, and you must be their protector” How can I be their protector when I brought the danger to them? Is it me? Am I the variable that needs to be changed? What if I take Luke’s place?

“ Luke-” Your throat tightened as you looked forward. The spot Luke previously stood in was empty, as was Jace’s spot beside you, “ Luke?!”

Jace reappeared from behind you,“ He went out to ride his bike.”

Confusion and worry clouded your eyes,“ It’s raining, he can’t possibly ride in this weather?!”

Jace shrugged, “I suppose the rain didn’t matter after he heard your conversation with Aemond.”

“Wha-” Fear suffocated your heart like a python. He wouldn’t confront Aemond over a silly argument, would he?

“ Before you ask, no I did not just let him walk out the door to go confront our sociopathic uncle. He isn’t that fast of a peddler, so I’ll just catch up to him in the car” You snatched the keys from Jace’s hand before he could even finish his next thought.

“ Hey-”

“- This is my fault, I’ll fix it” You spoke while making a beeline for the front door, “ I promise I’ll bring the car back in one piece, and Luke too!” You didn’t wait for Jace to reply, there was no need. Nothing he could say would change your mind.

The rain barely touched you, that’s how fast you had made it to the car. You used one hand to whip out onto the street as your other hand pulled up Aemond’s contact. It rang four, five times before going to voicemail. You tried again and again to no avail before it finally went through.

“ Hello? Aemond?” Your voice was as shaky as the car on the slick roads.

“ Are you going to hang up on me again?” His tone was short, meaning he was upset.

“ No, I was just overwhelmed-” The familiar click of a turning signal sounded throughout the car, but you weren’t turning, “ Aemond, please tell me you’re at home.”

“ I’m not. I’m on my way to pick you up” Oh gods. You couldn’t do this, not now. Why was it all happening so fast?

“ I’m not there. I went out to look for Luke. Just go back home and I will meet you there” You pleaded, which was entirely out of character for you.

“I’m not far-”

“-Aemond, please! Just this once, listen to me” You hoped the urgency in your voice would persuade him to listen. Alas, it did not, and part of you knew it wouldn’t.

“The rain is too thick to turn back now. I can barely see anything as it is” Aemond argued, “ I’ll wait at the boy’s house until you get back. I promise I won’t do anything, I won’t even get out of the car.”

Your fear regressed a little. If Aemond was out of the way, then nothing could possibly happen. This could work, or so you thought. Straight ahead, racing through the storm was Lucerys. He was completely drenched from what you could tell and barely pedaling straight. You hit the brakes and jumped out of the car.

“ Luke, get in the car!” The storm roared loudly over your voice, but he still managed to hear you.

Luke shook his head, “ I won’t let him treat you like that, not again.”

“What do you mean not again?” That’s when you noticed, Luke’s eyes were different, older, “You remember, don’t you?”

He nodded slowly, unsurely, “ When Aegon hit my head against the table at dinner last week it all came flooding back. I thought they were dreams at first, but then I noticed how different you acted. How you had changed then to now.”

“ You never said anything”

“I didn’t know that you remembered, I’m sorry” He apologized through chattering teeth.

You smiled softly, “ It doesn’t matter anymore, just come with me. Let me take you back home.”

That’s when Luke’s own smile fell, “ I can’t. I ran away from him the first time, but not this time.”

“ That wasn’t your fault, Luke. I was the one who told you to run, so please, just- take my hand!"

"I won't leave Arrax!" Luke screamed from below you, ignoring the hand that you held down towards him.

"Vhagar is set to kill Arrax. You must take my hand Lucerys, please!" Eyes as green as sea moss flashed through the heavy downpour like lightning. Eyes that held fear that chilled your bones more than the freezing rain. Next came the hand, the hand that held scars from dragon riding yet looked as soft as a handful of clouds. You reached for it amidst the haze, only it never seemed to get any closer.

“Reach further-” and that’s when you saw it, rather than when you saw him. It was Aemond atop Vhagar who appeared in what seemed like a split second. Your heartbeat quickened and you reached for Lucerys once more, except something was blinding you this time- headlights, that’s what was in your way. The beams of light raced down the street with no intention of slowing down. You would be worried about them hitting you if Luke wasn’t in between their path and you. Like before, you weren’t fast enough. Every step you took towards your brother seemed to push him father away.

“Lucerys, Move!” Your screams mingled with his as he turned too late. In what seemed like slow motion you watched as Luke rolled atop the car as it completely mangled his bike. Much to your horror, the driver slammed on their brakes, propelling Luke forward.

“No!” Your feet were moving before your brain could even process what happened, “ No, no, no, please no.”

The pavement cut into your knees as you knelt beside Luke. You pulled his head to rest on your knees, paying no mind to the blood that soaked through your pants. His eyes were open, yet lifeless. The vibrant green that they held before now shone as a dull gray. You leaned down to place your ear on his chest. Nothing. Not a single sound.

“ Lucerys please, you can’t leave me again, “ Your tears mixed with the rain, “ Come back to me, Ñuha prūmia”

“ You did well, Ñuha prūmia. Do not fret” Your sincere words traveled in one ear and out the other for Lucerys. Jace had beaten him at dueling practice yet again.

He scrunched his nose as your endearment, “ Must you call me that? It sounds girly.”

“It is a simple endearment, I mean no harm to your pride. I refer to you as my heart in the same manner that I call Jacaerys my soul” You explain softly, reaching over to ruffle his curls.

“What is Joffrey then?”

“I’m not sure,” You hum in thought, “ Perhaps he is my mind.”

He peers up at you in curiosity, “Which of the three would you say that you can not live without?”

“Mhm, my heart would be the answer. I fear I’d go mad if I ever lost you.” His cherubic smile faded to a bloody gasp. The sight alone smothered out the fire in your heart and set off a drum in your skull.

“ Is he alright? I couldn’t see him through the rain. I swear- oh gods…” Whilst still regaining focus where you sat on Storms End Avenue, you looked up to see none other than Aemond Targaryen speaking to you through the rain. His hair lay limp against his face, almost covering the grim expression he held, which seemed to darken as you came into view. You gently laid Lucerys’s head on the road below before standing on shaky legs.

“ Don’t. Don’t you dare tell me it was an accident, not again” You advanced toward Aemond until the tip of your finger dug into his chest. The patience you once had now worn thin and making way for eons of repressed anger and guilt.

Confusion danced across Aemond’s face, “ Again? What are you talking about-”

“Stop acting like you do not know!” You screamed, shoving him backward, “ I am tired of everyone acting like they know nothing when everything else is happening according to the past!”

“We can talk this out, just calm down” Aemond almost sounded like he was pleading as he reached out for you, but in truth, Aemond never pleaded to anyone. Not even the woman he claimed to love.

"Calm down?! I am to watch my brothers be murdered AGAIN and you want me to CALM DOWN?! You are wrong if you think I will sit by an.. and.. a-", the longer you stood, the worse your vision got. At this point, the pounding in your head had gotten so loud that your vision swayed. Through the dark spots blotting your eyes, you could see silhouettes of dragons dancing in the clouds and the water surrounding you turning red. Everything began to feel weightless, except your head of course.

“ Woah, hey” Aemond was there to catch you as you crumbled, “ Keep your eyes open for me, okay? I’m going to call for help, but I need you to stay awake.”

You tried to stay awake, you really did, but it was all too much. The weight of it all dragged you into the darkness without a fight. It was hours before you awoke, and when you did it was in a hospital bed. A warm weight against your leg is the first thing your brain registers. Well, that and the blinding white hue of the hospital walls.

"Luke.." your throat was dry and scratchy, almost as if you had been screaming for days. Your eyes surveyed the room wearily until they landed on Jace. He must have been the warmth you were feeling. His arms lay atop the bed next to you, crossed snuggly beneath his head. You could tell the skin around his eyes was puffy and red despite them being closed. He had been crying, but over what? Was it Luke? Had last night not been just another nightmare of the past? You reached out, brushing against Jacaerys arm lightly, but still firm enough to rouse him from his sleep.

His eyes fluttered for a moment before fully snapping open, "You're awake!"

" I don't remember falling asleep.." you spoke in true confusion.

Jace's eyes seemed to soften, whether or not it was in pity or sadness you did not know," You didn't fall asleep, you collapsed. Aemond brought you in-"

" and Luke? " A part of you couldn't help but be hopeful. If you couldn't remember passing out, then perhaps Luke's death was a hallucination of your foggy memory as well. Even if the look in Jace's eyes already told you differently.

" They said he was dead upon impact. Aemond killed him." your heartbeat picked up on the monitor as Jace spoke, "I know it's not what you want you to hear, and that you love Aemond, but it's true."

"Aemond claims that he didn't see him in time. That the rain made the roads too slick and that he lost control of the car, but he’s lying" Jace seethed, paying no mind to your reaction.

"Jace-"

His eyes held fire and the smallest hint of disbelief as they flickered back to you, "Please don't defend him. Whatever you're going to say, just don't. My mother has already retaliated and I've opened a lawsuit against Aemond. There's nothing else you can say."

" You don't know that unless you let me speak" You waited for a beat of silence before continuing, "I was not going to defend Aemond. On the contrary, I was going to tell you that it wasn't an accident. It's just like before."

Jace s eyes widened, " Like before? Has Aemond killed someone else?"

You shake your head quickly, "No, not this lifetime. You misunderstand, I'm talking about when he killed Lucerys the first time."

" I'm not sure what you're talking about. None of this has ever happened before-"

The patience you once had before Lucerys's death is now long gone, "-Yes it has! You just have to remember, like Luke did. I need you to remember Jace, please, before the same happens to you."

Jace leans forward to encase both of your shaking hands," If it's the lawsuit that troubles you, then you need not worry. Nothing is going to happen to me. I've taken many precautions. Otto Hightower has agreed to meet us halfway to our beach house in Dragonstone to receive the papers. He's bringing Criston Cole as a witness and I'm bringing Corlys. Everything will run smoothly."

Halfway to Dragonstone, the gullet. You sucked in a trembling breath as images of Jacaerys' arrow-riddled body flashed before your eyes. He was close to his death and yet he didn't remember, not like Lucerys did. You were the only one left with the knowledge of what was to come… Or So you thought.

#hotd #hotd fanfic #house of the dragon #aemond targaryen #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond x reader #aemond targaryen angst #jacaerys velaryon #jacaerys x reader #jacaerys velaryon x reader #lucerys velaryon #lucerys x reader #velaryon reader #aemond targaryen x velaryon!reader #Jacaerys Velaryon x Velaryon!reader #Lucerys Velaryon x velaryon!reader #hotd angst #angst

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astro-rainbow777 · 7 months

Text

Astrology Observations ⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤐 Volume 3 𖤐⋆⁺₊⋆

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Good Afternoon friends! I hope you enjoy my observations that I’ve gathered. I am not a professional astrologer so please take these with a grain of salt 🫶

Take what resonates, Leave what doesn’t! Only you know what is best for you 😊

✨Enjoy! ✨

✧ Sagittarius Risings usually have family from different countries/parts of the world. If not, family can have a different cultural background and distance from the native. They also tend to get a lot of attention and comments because of the way they walk/have a generally noticeable lower half…hehehe

✧ Libra Moons are sooo sweet, good intended and charming. Me being a spiritually passionate person, the topic of soulmates never escape a conversation with a Libra moon. I want to remind allll Libra placements that there is more to Love than the romantic kind! Again it is very endearing, but you guys have the tendency to form peer relationships around the topic of romantic love at the center. So when y’all are finally in a relationship- there goes everyone else in your life. Of course this is not all Libra placements but there are some I’ve met like this. If you are a friend of a Libra moon, please try being supportive of whom ever they decide to crush on- even if you don’t agree. When you reject who a Libra moon loves, it’s like you’re rejecting them. Remember that they tie a big part of their ability to love others. In doing this you may forfeit them being authentic with you. Bonus points if they have Aquarius personal placements! You may get ghosted 👻

✧ Virgos, especially Virgo stelliums, why are you so good at EVERYTHING?!?! Like, y’all are the prodigies of life! So unfair, I have zero earth placements- there are days where I’m lucky if I can walk straight. But y’all? Y’all will try something once and be consider a master. Virgo risings have usually have Gemini midheavens- so you may be consider a jack of all trades. So much versatility and flexibility. I’m obsessed with y’all 😐

✧ Venus in the 12th: you guys are just the kindest, most selfless, beautiful souls! I love love love love you. I’m so close with a lot of you. That being said, you have THE WORST taste in romantic partners. No actually. At least one relationship in your life you have been a secret to someone. I genuinely feel for you people because y’all are so loving. Have the type of broken, egoic, heartless people- your intentions are good, but you can’t let people take advantage of you! You are just as guilty if you reward bad behavior. In health tho, yalls love is just so pure. Beware of substance abuse with this placement. Can also love fall in love with the idea of someone. Prone to day dreaming about potential partners, than falling in love with your thoughts about them <3 it’s kind of sweet in a way because your brain is so beautiful it falls in love with it’s self. These people turn trash into treasure in their own dome 🤕

✧ Sun in the 7th people are so popular! Everyone knows them-they usually have a pretty clean reputation too! You guys are pretty likable, at work y’all have sooo many connections.

✧ Saturn in the 9th can be very dogmatic in their beliefs. Now, the ones that I have met have experience some traumatic events to make them so opinionated. But there seems to be a disconnect between that one experience and the collective. For example) one guy I work has a Transgender cousin who SA’d some woman, so now he really believes that all people who are transgender are bad people. Which is not the truth obviously. But that’s their truth…so it is THE truth 😬 yikes

Mars in 1st house people can come off very strong…yes, but if you don’t know these people they can come off as just rude, aggressive, or annoying. When you really get to know these people it’s very common though to find that they are just very protective of themselves and that’s why they can be an intense personality. Y’all have a Sand paper first impression..does that make sense? Haha, no but for real y’all are warriors- usually these people have had violence/aggression in their home at a very early age. That being said, it’s very important when meeting new people that they establish their “dominance”- does that make sense?

Mars in Libra-ruled by Venus, these people had to have invented being fashionably late, always! Y’all need a timer strapped to you at all times! Love you tho, always thinking of how their actions will affect others.

Cancer Risings are sooooo pretty and soft. No fr! Your skin is so soft and plushie! Also your eyes twinkle, especially the woman. Y’all are sooo beautiful too when you’re taking care of someone you love, your just in your element.

Moon in the 3rd/Gemini don’t stick with one feeling for too long. As a result, if you are venting to some with this placement, don’t expect them to wallow with you in your feelings. Their type of cheering up is distracting you from them! That’s only what they know though! They do the same thing for themselves. But if your a sensitive soul, try a fire/water moon if you want someone to feel with you.

Individuals with a fifth house stellium may have an earlier introduction to parent hood or struggle with infidelity. Especially if Saturn is here. Life of the party tho!

Jupiter in the 8th, do people just give/buy you things? I have mine here and I don’t even have to ask people just give me stuff! Especially like hand me downs and food. I don’t even ask! It’s weird. Jupiter shows abundance and the 8th rules over other peoples possessions, so It’s a possibility that this is a manifestation of that placement 😏

Some Scorpio + Taurus Big 3 women I’ve met are VERY open about their sexual kinks- like post on social media about sex a lot. The ones I’ve met have a fascination with being a dominatrix/bondage? I know this doesn’t apply to all but just some that I’ve seen. Also posting about money, posting things that they want others to buy for them?

Thanks you for Reading✨

Let me know what you resonate with or don’t resonate with in the comments! I love feedback 💕

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brekkie-e · 9 months

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I love your inquisitor so much! May I ask what happened to her left ear though?

Great question, I would love to tell you. (Also I’m sorry this took 10 years to answer. I really wanted provide visuals because this was already a topic I had planned to post about, and unfortunately I’ve been in a complete art block since January ish.) There is a TLDR at the end if needed.

To understand what happened to my darling little Nira’s ear a few things about her family need to be explained. Now, Nira is Dalish™️. But her mother was not born so. She grew up in Antiva city, and only joined the clan when she was about 19/20. Eloped with a dashing craftsmen, it was very romantic. She left family behind in the city, and Nira grew up visiting them on a semi-regular basis. My personal clan Lavellan is a really large one that has kind of commercialized itself to survive. They’ve found success setting up outside human residential areas and putting on shows and fairs where they sell “novelty” items as a way to make ends meet. So it wasn’t uncommon for them to be in the vicinity of the city, and it afforded them unusual freedom in trading with it’s inhabitants.

Nira also had a few cousin’s that lived in the city. And despite the exorbitant amount of siblings I have given this character, her dearest friends during her childhood were her cousins, Tara and Islene. Fraternal twins. And being girls from the mother’s side of the family, still descendent from the Ghilan’nain priestess who received the magical bloodline trait. Due to this, Islene was born a mage like most women in her family. (Luckily the city elf side had for the most part been able to keep this under the radar of templars.)

Much of Ama’nira’s story is defined by this trio and their overall narrative.

For all that Nira was allowed to visit her cousins in her childhood, most of the time was spent almost exclusively with the clan because the Keeper and her mother did not want to tempt fate by letting a young child gifted with magic run amok in the city without intense supervision. Also she was notoriously fussy as a child due to sensory needs and having pretty strong preferences about food and things like that. Her mom even early on liked to keep a close watch over her because of this. But after a few years of begging, Nira was finally allowed to spend the night at her aunt and uncle’s house during a visit when she was about seven.

Everything started out okay, normal fun childhood sleepover type stuff. Nira was sent with some hearth cakes to bring for dessert. They played cards as a family. It was a lovely evening.

But as bed time drew near things started to veer off course. The girls were tucked in and put to sleep like normal. But shortly after the parents went to bed, Tara popped her head up and said they should go to the vhenadahl. “Maybe it will work if all three of us try it, and not just two.”

Nira had no idea what they were on about, but she was excited to be included as her sisters often left her out (they were much older than her.) So the little group make their way out of the house and down to the alienage center where the tree of the people is. The girls explain to Nira that according to legend, a spirit of Love lives in the tree and if someone manages to run around the it 3 times while only one moon is covered by a cloud and the other isn’t, the spirit will bless them. They tell her how they’ve tried and tried a thousand times, but no matter what they do they can’t get it to appear.

Naturally, the girls start giving it their all. They run around the tree dozens of times, tripping more than once because they were staring up at the moon while doing so. Giggling and squealing as they ran into eachother. This was not an uncommon thing for children to attempt in the alienage, so at this point most people tended to ignore them. It was basically a childhood rite.

However, most children that tried this weren’t also mages. Now, seeing as how there never was a spirit in the tree to begin with, luckily no demon summoning happened. That didn’t stop Tara from suggesting her two mage friends should try to “touch the fade” so it knew they were there. So for a few laps, Nira and Islene ran with their arms in the air, reaching out with their magic in whatever way they could to see if they could do what Tara was saying. As they had no idea what “touching” the fade even meant. Of course, this was a very ill advised thing to do, but they’re babies. And babies do dumb things.

No spirits were there to listen, but Templars on city watch were and arrived at the scene shortly after. The magical night that the girls were having crashed down around them as they turned to see the knights. Tara, being the scrappier one of the bunch, shouted at them to run. And they did. But Nira tripped on one of the cobblestones, and was nearly over taken. Islene seeing this turned back for her cousin and pulled her off the ground, pushing her forward. In the process, she was grabbed instead. Nira ran with everything she had.

The templars upon realizing that a frenzied, terrified, and untrained mage was fleeing into the city, and they were about to lose her made the call to attempt to “neutralize” her as a last ditch effort to ensure she could not become an abomination before they found her again. So arrows were loosed as she ran, and one pierced right through her ear. Nira, in a state of complete panic and terror, grabbed it and ripped it off- causing the missing chunk that she bears to this day.

Tara was able to make it home without being caught and in a state of shock explained to her parents what had happened. Her father left immediately to try and get Islene back from the Templars, but was beaten terribly and returned home empty handed. They ran to the clan and told them of what happened as soon as possible, and search parties were sent out for Ama’nira whilst also packing for an emergency move because they did not want the Templars to turn on the clan in their hunt for the young girl. They were forced to leave before finding her.

Nira meanwhile ran blindly through the city, stopping only when there was nowhere left to run. Which happened to be the docks. She found a barrel underneath a pier and hid in it for two days in a state of complete shock, not even noticing how much time went by. When her senses eventually came back to her, she managed to sneak her way around the city before hitchhiking in the back of a wagon and sneaking out the gates. She was too terrified to go back to the alienage as that was where it all happened. Unfortunately, the poor thing had no idea how to actually get to where the clan had camped, and to begin with they weren’t there anymore. So when she eventually saw some woods, she jumped out of the wagon and started wandering. In a complete stroke of luck, one of her brothers who had not given up the search had been heading back to the city and was able to find her and bring her home.

To wrap this up, the event left Nira deeply traumatized and she would continue to struggle with using magic for many years afterwards. She only truly is able to break through her barriers with it once befriending Dorian. It left Islene in the circle, and she is made tranquil only a few years after. And it would lead Tara to grow up in what would quickly become a broken home, her mother leaving to prevent the templars from discovering her magic and her father descending into alcoholism to cope with what had become of his family. Few people foster as much hatred towards Templars as Tara, she blames them for everything bad that’s ever happened to her and her loved ones.

Nira and Tara actually start Inquisition as a pair, with Tara becoming her pseudo enforcer during the course of the game. When Ama’nira was chosen by her keeper to attend the Conclave, a decision aimed at allowing Nira to find closure and give her the opportunity to grow outside of her mother’s influence, Tara decided to go with her as a guide/protection. The pair hoped to find Islene at the Temple and discover what had happened to her.

TLDR: Her ear was injured during an altercation with templars in her childhood where cousin was taken to the Antivan Circle. It is the foundational event that ties Nira’s story with her cousins which is very important to the overall arc of my canon Inquisition plot.

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #Lavellan #inquisitor Lavellan #oc: ama’nira #dai #mage rights #brekkie asks #also thank you thank you thank you for asking this #when i saw it (which was admittedly much later than you asked) I was giddy #this one of my favorite bits of her story #Tara and Islene and her have me on my knees #their theme song is carried me with you by Brandi Carlile #dalish #dragon age elves #oc: Tara #oc: Islene #i am so sorry for how long this got i am not a succinct person

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iambutmortal · 10 months

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Chapter 4 for @elucienweekofficial Day 5: Sunshine

Summary: When Elain signs the divorce papers she’s sure she’s done with Lucien Vanserra. Until they’re offered the chance to recreate their honeymoon as a part of her job. For free. But reliving all those memories with Lucien proves leaving may be more difficult than she thought.

Word Count: 2.8k

Authors Note: I had a bit of a brain crash yesterday, so this was supposed to be for day four. I'm either going to post three chapters in the next two days, or two longer chapters to make up for it, sorry.

Read on Ao3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

True to Lucien’s word, Elain was confined to the bed for overnight, while he ran around actin as a dutiful nursemaid and she grumbled and complained.

“I don’t think laying under an umbrella outside is going to change anything,” Elain moaned, for what felt like the thousandth time. “And I’m sick of this room.”

“Too bad,” Lucien said, handing her a mug of tea. “Interview is in three hours and you’re not stepping foot outside until then.”

“But—”

“Nope,” Lucien said. “And both Nesta and Cassian agreed before you start complaining about how mean I am. You need rest.”

Elain pouted, but took a sip of her tea. She felt the warmth work its way down her throat, and was relieved to find the sip didn’t leave her running to the bathroom. After a night of sleep her stomach had settled considerably, but she would much rather play it safe than sorry.

“Can I at least start to get ready?”

Lucien huffed and glanced down at his phone. “Give it another twenty minutes. I’ll get you a piece of toast to gnaw on.”

Elain muttered something rude at him, but grabbed the kindle from where she’d discarded it across the bed. She was still only halfway through the book she’d started on the plane, and the heroine had ended up in a small town. With her ex. Really it was getting far too realistic for her tastes.

Lucien, cruel warden, did relent when he came back and saw Elain was managed to keep the bread down.

“Go take a shower.”

Elain practically bounded out of bed, slamming the door on him.

“But sit down when you blow dry your hair,” he shouted at the wood.

Elain opened the door a crack, just enough to show him her middle finger.

Lucien’s laughter followed her, something warm burning in her chest. She did concede to sit on the bed to do her hair, definitely for Lucien and not because she felt a little light headed after standing on her feet for too long.

“Ready,” Lucien asked, when the clock hit four. He’d thrown on a pale yellow polo shirt and stiff tan pants, to match the white and yellow flowered sundress Elain had pulled out to wear. His hair was back in a neat ponytail, a few strands escaping to frame his face.

“Do we look home and garden approved?” Elain asked, sticking the last bobby pin in her hair. She’d done her best appropriation of beach waves, pinning the front sections gracefully behind her ears.

Cassian wasn’t officially on the job as photographer, but image had more power than anything in an interview.

“We’d fit right in Cassian’s magazine,” Lucien said, offering her a hand.

Elain took it, letting him pull her to her feet. And then held it as they walked through the resorts, savoring the feeling of calluses earned from the gym against her fingertips. Outside the air was so humid she could feel her hair curling in rebellion, frizzing around her temples. She cursed herself for not bringing anything to tame it with.

She reached up a hand to try and smooth it down.

“Your hair looks fine,” Lucien whispered, before throwing open the door to the conference room they’d be using.

Elain was almost instantly wrapped in a hug. “Oh my gosh it’s been so long,” gushed Mor, giving Elain a squeeze before pulling back to embrace Lucien.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Elain said. She had met Rhys’ cousin a handful of times, at the wedding and a few dinners around the holidays, whenever she could come from New York and had always liked the blonde woman. They’d had several long conversations over coffee on the latest fashion trends, or whatever celebrity was currently acting like a fool.

“I wasn’t,” Mor said. “But when I heard Viviane had you as an assignment I made her switch. She’s currently in Brazil covering fashion week.”

“That’s a hell of a trade on her part,” Lucien said, lacing his fingers with Elain’s and leading them over to the makeshift interview space set up. Three chairs, for Elain, Lucien, and Cassian, who was joining them later, stood across from the one Mor had already draped her red purse across.

“But I get to see you guys,” Mor replied, sweeping elegantly into her seat. “So I think I got the better deal.” She reached into her purse to pull out a small notebook and pen, both matching red, and flipped to an open page. “So,” she said, clicking the pen. “How are things going?”

“Good,” Elain squeaked.

Mor’s eyebrows arched dangerously close to her hairline. “Just good? A sharp decline from Christmas then.”

Elain could feel her face burning under the scrutiny.

Lucien tightened his grip on her hand, placing it on top of his thigh. “We’re in paradise, all expenses paid, with each other. What could be wrong?” His voice was innocently neutral, a perfect deflection of the question. God he would make such a good politician.

Mor tilted her head, golden blonde hair sliding over her shoulder in a silky sheet. “Alright, so what makes here paradise?”

“It was the first place we went while being married,” Elain said, meeting Mor’s brown eyes. “So it’s always going to have good memories associated with it.”

Mor tapped her pen against the notepad. “Bad answer. You could have stayed anywhere after your wedding. Why here?”

“Because I’ve always loved the beach,” Elain admitted. “We only got to go twice growing up because of money and both times it was magical seeing that much open water. Lucien took me to Santa Monica for our second date, so it only made sense to come to a beach for our honeymoon.”

Mor was nodding along to her story, scribbling furiously with her pen. “And Lucien? Why this resort?”

He cleared his throat. “I like to see Elain happy. And she never stopped smiling on our honeymoon.”

Mor gave a disapproving hum and Elain was reminded of why Mor was the top of the top in the industry. Every other interviewer would have gushed over that answer, and how romantic it was.

“And I didn’t get the chance to make a lot of good memories as a child,” Lucien continued after a moment. Because he’d grown up with his step father, Beron, who was by all accounts horrible. “So anytime I get to see someone I love happy I get a strong attachment to the place.”

“And how do you feel being back now?”

“It’s…different,” Elain said. Mor gestured for her to go on. “After three years we’re in a new place in our relationship retreading someplace old.”

“New good or new bad?” Mor asked.

“Just new,” Lucien answered quickly.

“So bad.” Mor underlined something on her notepad. “Elaborate.”

“It’s called a honeymoon period for, I don’t think people can be expected to stay in it forever,” Elain said defensively. “Not three years after the actual honeymoon.”

“Feyre and Rhys are still in theirs.”

“They’re the exception,” Elain said. “The rest of us don’t live in a fairytale.”

“Hard truth for a story about a fairytale honeymoon,” Mor said softly.

Elain was saved from responding by a knock on the door.

“Just a minute,” Mor called.

Cassian walked in anyway. “You’d leave me in the hall like a dog? I’m wounded.”

Mor rolled her eyes, but stood to press a kiss to his cheeks. “I missed you, you big oaf,” she said.

“Move back to LA then,” Cassian begged, taking the third seat. “Then I’ll never leave you alone.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Mor flipped to a fresh page. “We’ll come back to that conversation later.” She gave Elain a pointed look. “For now, Cassian, what’s the best part of working here?”

Cassian launched into a spirited discussion about the lighting and angles the resort offered, how he framed his shots, and what he was planning tomorrow when they went into the jungle.

“A lot of houses today are sharp angles,” he finished, “which is interesting, how do you make set shapes look dynamic, but this is just so different and it’s really pushing me to the limits.”

“Amazing,” Mor muttered. She looked up. “Anything to add, Nesta?”

Elain turned around to see her sister standing in the doorway. She’d been so engrossed in Cassian’s explanation about his work she hadn’t noticed her arrival.

Nesta cleared her throat. “I hadn’t quite realized how much work Cassian put into this, it’s nice to know I can trust my sister to him. I always thought this was just some blow off beach job for him.”

Cassian shook his head. “It was never a blow off job, Nes. None of them were.”

Nesta looked the most regretful Elain had ever seen her.

“So,” Mor said, “then what is it like to work with Cassian?”

Lucien was nice enough to take that question, gushing about how good of a director Cassian was while Cassian looked sheepishly pleased with himself.

Elain watched over his shoulder as Nesta slipped out of the doorway and back into the hall, with one final look towards Cassian, and made a mental note to talk to her about it later.

Mor worked her way through several more questions, teasing answers out of Elain, Lucien, and Cassian, until Cassian’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out with a frown, scanning the message before quickly typing out a response.

“Is there a problem?” Mor asked.

“Sorry,” Cassian said apologetically, setting the phone down face first on the chair arm. Only to pick it right back up when it buzzed again. “I sent some concept photos in and they’re just now getting back to me.”

Mor nodded, waving for him to carry on, and turned back to Lucien to discuss what his possible political career held. Cassian was still typing, his frown deepening.

Elain leaned towards him. “What’s wrong,” she hissed.

Cassian startled. “It’s nothing.”

“Is it about what happened yesterday?” Elain asked, feeling guilty all over again.

Cassian shook his head emphatically. “Absolutely not. It’s something I’ll handle.”

His phone rang and he sighed deeply. “I have to take this,” he whispered, sliding out of the room.

Mor and Lucien were still deep in conversation, and Elain made the split second decision to follow Cassian out. She had no doubt it was about yesterday, and had every intention of begging for forgiveness to the producers.

She made sure to shut the door behind her, lest Lucien find out and chastise her for making it her responsibility.

Cassian was pacing the hall, agitated. “I’m not doing it,” Cassian snarled at whoever was on the other end of the line. “So tell them to shove it.” A long pause. “What do you want me to say? Sorry your face looks like that, I'm only photographing the other side from now on?”

White hot anger shot through Elain at the words. She’d never quite understood the concept of seeing red before now, but her body felt like it was on fire. She cleared her throat, catching Cassian’s attention, and motioned for him to mute the phone.

“Tell them I’ll walk,” Elain said. “I’ll walk and they’ll have none of their photos then if they want to say a single thing about Lucien.”

“Elain—”

“And tell them that I’ll also make sure everyone knows what ablest assholes they are.”

“I can’t—”

“Tell them,” Elain ground out.

Cassian unmuted the phone and put it on speaker. “It’s going to be a no from Ms. Vanserra on retaking from a different angle.”

“Tell Ms. Vanserra she’s not the one in charge of this shoot.”

Elain cleared her throat. “Well Ms. Vanserra would like to remind everyone that her brother in law is Rhysand Night, and I’m sure he has a magazine that would love to cover what Cosmopolitan had to say about people with facial scarring.”

Elain could almost hear silent panic on the other end of the line. Because Rhys’ dad had given him full control over their media empire, and he was currently trying to expand into the fashion space. Something Elain was sure had the executives on the line very, very worried.

“I think there’s been a miscommunication,” said a voice through the speakers after a pregnant pause. “We just wanted to make sure Cassian was capturing a full range photos from all perspectives. To make sure he wasn’t missing something special”

“I think Cassian’s photos are very special,” Elain countered. “Especially with the framing he chose to use.”

Another long pause. “Looking at them again, I think you might be right, Ms. Vanserra.”

“I know,” Elain said, her tone far too prissy for any model. There went her reputation for being easy to work with. “I’m glad we could come to an understanding.”

Cassian took the phone off speaker to say a few farewell remarks and then hung up.

“This is a new side of you, El,” he said.

Elain flushed. “Sorry.”

“No, no, I like it.” Cassian swung open the door. “Besides, knowing your sisters I shouldn’t be shocked.”

They both took their seats. Mor didn’t miss a beat, shifting her attention back onto Cassian to ask about the logistics of planning a shoot like this.

“All good?” Lucien whispered as soon as Elain sat down.

Elain smiled weakly. “Peachy.”

“Okay,” Mor said, slamming her notebook shut. “That’s all I need for now.”

“Really?” Elain asked.

“No, but I have a dinner reservation with Cassian in twenty minutes,” she said with a wink. “And I have both your emails if you need anything else.”

“Plus you two also have a dinner to get to,” Cassian added.

“Do we?” Lucien asked slyly.

“A little treat from us,” Mor said. “For putting up with my questions. And yes, what you have on is fine.”

“Now go,” Cassian said, shooing them off. “Do something fun that’s not photographed.”

“Roger,” Lucien said, taking Elain’s hand and pulling her out of the room. Elain had a sneaking suspicion Lucien was in on it as he led her straight to the beachside restaurant in the resort and to a table overlooking the sea, candles already lit. The same one they’d sat at on the second night of their honeymoon.

“You know,” he said after they sat, “you’re sexy when you’re angry.”

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” Elain said, mortified.

Lucien shrugged. “You don’t need to spare me. I already knew they were thinking it.”

“They shouldn’t have been,” Elain muttered. “Assholes.”

“See,” Lucien leaned back in his chair. “Sexy.”

“And it’s not sparing you it’s—” Elain searched for the word.

“Sparing.”

Elain sighed. “Okay maybe a little.”

“You can tell me things,” Lucien said, eyes imploring.

Elain smiled at him weakly. “It’s just hard for me sometimes,” she admitted. “I don’t want to rock the boat.”

“Calm waters are boring. Speaking of which,” Lucien’s eyes gleamed, “how long after dinner will it take for Nesta to find Cassian alone somewhere.”

Elain choked. “Oh god, you don’t think—” Lucien raised an eyebrow. “An hour, max.”

He snorted. “Ten dollars says he leaves halfway through dinner.”

“Twenty says he tries and Mor makes him wait.”

Lucien held out his hand. “Deal.” They shook on it. Their hands hung suspended, neither willing to let go. Lucien’s thumb ran down Elain’s skin, causing her to shiver slightly. It felt like middle school all over again, with how agitated she was getting by mere contact with Lucien. My romantic life has reverted to hand holding. Perfect.

“Dinner menu?” asked the waiter, appearing with copies in arm.

Elain went to drop Lucien’s hand but he tightened his grip, resting their hands atop the table. Another stroke of his thumb.

“We’ll take whatever you recommend,” he said, not looking at the waiter. His gaze was focused entirely on Elain, with an intensity that made her feel like she was burning.

“Of course sir,” said the waiter before disappearing.

“Your stomach feel okay?” Lucien asked.

Elain nodded. “I’m starving honestly. I think I could eat anything you put in front of me.”

“Good,” Lucien admitted. “Because I have no clue what I just asked for.”

Elain feigned shock. “And I thought you were so smooth too.”

“I aim to impress.”

Thankfully, the waiter had an excellent pallet, and the evening passed quickly, the two of them talking so easily Elain could almost convince herself the last couple months weren’t real. That this was their relationship.

And on the way out of the restaurant Lucien slid an arm around Elain’s shoulders. She leaned against him, resting her head on his chest. “You don’t have to set the pillow wall up tonight if you don’t want to.”

“Trust us to behave ourselves then?”

Elain hummed. “We’re both adults aren’t we.”

“I do want to do very adult things to you, yes,” Lucien said.

“That’s not what I meant,” Elain protested, smacking his chest.

Lucien pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I know. But let me have my fun.”

Elain rolled her eyes, but didn’t pull away.

#elucienweek2023 #elucien #elucien fanfiction #elucien fanfic #acotar #acotar fanfiction #acotar fanfic #elain archeron #lucien vanserra

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cerealmonster15 · 2 months

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[background template source!]

hmm yknow what. maybe i was supposed to describe the unique magic in that bottom box. oh well teehee!!!!!

updated references for twst rsa ocs Char and Dañarte!!!!! for now. i'll add them to artfight soon!!! I was gonna do another one for Dañarte's Scarabia Era but I worked on these all week.... so i'll just do that one separately sometime maybe lol. anyway i've posted about these guys a lot as u can see from the tags i gave them on my blog, BUT my main origin post about their soap opera lore is really long and intimidating to read.... I have a shorter lore post here, but JFKSJLDJFKLDS.... finding these templates made nice, more condensed intros for them lol. and I [slightly] updated their looks so they aren't just carbon copies of what the seven dwarf characters are wearing!!!! but i'm bad at clothing design so i didn't really change them much!!!!

also i tried to be careful but my handwriting is Bad so i'll retype the info / talk more under the cut.

First guy: CHAR

Age: 18

Best Subject: Animal Languages

Birthday: March 19

Class: 3-C

Club: Fencing [does rsa have a fencing club. idk. they do now.]

Height: 175 cm

Hobby: Horseback Riding

Homeland: Shaftlands

Likes: Arts & Crafts, Shellfish

Dislikes: Keeping Secrets, Beets

Unique Magic: Unknown [I haven't decided one for him yet, and I may simply make him a late bloomer who hasn't discovered his yet lol]

Extra info:

Favorite Stones: Pink Opal & Chrysoberyl

Older Cousin to Dañarte

Long-lost childhood friend + new love interest to Cater

Source Character: Prince Charming from Cinderella

Second guy: Dañarte*

Age: 17

Best Subject: Ancient Magic

Birthday: February 13

Class: 2-C

Club: Equestrian Club

Height: 182 cm

Hobby: Writing Speeches

Homeland: Shaftlands

Likes: Planning, Grain bowls

Dislikes: Tenderhearted people, Undercooked meat

Unique Magic: Kiss of Frost: He kisses something or someone and temporarily freezes them ICY STYLE!!!!! or something like that. idk it doesn't kill people[???? maybe it could. idk.] but it don't feel good. Perhaps the area of frost can vary as well, like a small smooch spot vs spreading through the whole body? We gotta workshop it a bit more I'll get back to u on that someday. maybe.

Extra info:

Favorite Stone: Apatite

Char's younger cousin

"Love interest" to Cater + later on, Jamil...

Source Character: Hans from Frozen

RSA -> NRC -> Scarabia [He gets expelled and/or leaves RSA for whatever reason, I still haven't come up w/that part LOL... and ends up at NRC post breakup with Cater and gets sorted into Scarabia.]

* Disclaimer bc I feel the need to point out whenever I bring him up about his name lol- Dañarte isn't truly a name, it's just a spanish verb that's like "to hurt you". his character literally spawned from a convo I was having with a friend when I was trying to think of a name for Char, and something I said got autocorrected to Dañarte, and we made jokes about an evil princely character... so he became his own thing and I just kept that as his name lol.

anyway. i like talking about them but i also get shy and embarrassed about it klfjslfjks. also i probs did not draw them to scale bc life is hard. so are colors. i went very basic bc im scared but im trying to remember how colors work again in our year 2024 or whatever. WAHOO FUNNY LITTLE GUYS!!!!

shoutout to op of this template [@unfinished-projects-galore] making me sit here and consider the lives of these boys a lil more w/that bio layout. i was tempted to put summoning as Char's best class but WHAT do they summon. tell me idia what does that MEAN - jk it's probably like how juice bb summons cauldrons lol. I also considered Potionology for Dañarte but I think he'd like stuff like history and all that jazz and older [perhaps FORBIDDEN] ways of doing things.

#twisted wonderland #twst oc #ocs #twst #cereal tries to draw #oc: char #oc: Dañarte #ummm did i have a caterella tag. idr. but they technically spawned from my caterella multiverse so #caterella #was that all the catalogue tagging. i think so. ok im going to go play persona now byebye.#but also. twst oc havers. our kids should hang out 👀#well maybe char should. Dañarte's a bitch. but i'll make him go on play dates LOL JFDSKLFJKSDLJFLJ ok jkjk. or am i. jsklfjdskljls #ok actually im gonna slap these new refs on artfight and THEN go play persona #unless im at the pic limit then ill deal w/it later #ONLY A FEW MORE MONTHS TIL ARTFIGHT HANG OUT W/ME ON ARTFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT PLEEEAAAAAAAAAAASE #ok. bye. 🚶

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charalysis · 10 months

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Darksiders: Death

In this post, I am starting my series of analyzing the Four Horsemen from the Darksiders series. I will be pulling from the games and Abomination Vault (canon debates aside, I thinking the book is well written and a bit more of a view into Death as a person). I will reference real world psychology terms and try my best to avoid using outdated terminology.

Trigger Warnings: references to abuse, manipulation, gore and body horror, mentions of incest, sexual assault

So, to discuss Death, we must first establish a baseline for who he is.

Death was a Firstborn Nephalim, said to be the most violent and powerful of their kind, having so close a relationship to their angel and demon ancestry. In fact, it could be argued Death and Absalom were the strongest.

It seems to be also, Death and Absalom were close, close enough that Death felt immense regret over the older man's demise, so it may be implied that Absalom had a hand in bringing up his fellow Firsts.

In Death we can see the cruelty that so clearly marks all Firstborns.

After conquering their first world, the home of the Ravaiim, Death suggested he and his brothers craft their own weapons using the skills of the Ravaiim.

The Ravaiim were akin to cousins of the Makers, but among the oldest Old Ones. A race so old that "the line between craftsman and crafter was blurred". The Ravaiim used flesh to craft their weapons and items, imbuing them with power too.

Death, being the closest thing his kin had to a crafter, set to work using the technique himself... With the Ravaiim themselves as parts.

Thus were born the Grand Abominations, weapons so vile that eventually even the cruel Nephalim found it necessary to lock them away. These world ending creations are/were alive in a way; they are semi-sentient, at least enough to know what was done to create them. Their creation poisoned the Ravaiim homeland and created a stinking place so grotesque, even Hell was considered nicer. The Abominations, due to their awareness of what was done to them, loathe all of Creation and people often feel uneasy around them. An undisciplined mind may go mad wielding one, purely from the hatred they possess.

These things were Death's idea, made under his instruction. This, along with the dozens of genocides he partook in over centuries, is enough to paint a starting point of who this man is and how far he is willing to go for self benefit.

Now, to contextualize his behavior, I believe it'll help us to use some psychology terminology. Death, in our terms, shows signs of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). He shows a clear disregard for the safety of himself and others, a disregard for others feelings, and acts impulsively. He's prone to being manipulative, a liar, and seems prone to risk taking behaviors.

NOTE: This was once called sociopathy/psychopathy. THESE TERMS ARE OUTDATED AND NOT OFFICIAL DIAGNOSTIC TERMS. To many they may be considered offensive. People with ASPD do still experience emotions, but perhaps not the full range of emotions, a common one being empathy. This can result in cruel behavior, especially in children and teens, however therapy can be very helpful to individuals suffering from this condition. My reference here is not to diagnose this character, but to draw comparison and give an easier starting point into dissecting his personality and behavior. Do not go and demonize the people with ASPD over a post over a fictional character. I am simply trying to make this discussion simpler.

Now to start, I do fully believe Death is capable of genuine compassion and kindness, as shown in interactions he has with the Makers in particular. Its shown he experiences familial love with his reactions to Absalom's demise, and to War's imprisonment. It may also be seen in a small bit of Darksiders 3 with Fury's Nephilim's Respite flask, as he saw her penchant for trouble and chose to help make sure she didn't die from her own hubris.

However, despite his care for others, Death is not above using his own family for personal gains, even going so far as to nearly killing War for a plan of his. And he ends up not telling War the truth, leaving War believing he nearly died of his own failure, not because of Death's selfishness.

And ultimately, Death is selfish.

Death lies to people for his own benefit if he can get away with it. He lies through his teeth, or at minimum omits the truth. He keeps secrets because he is distrustful of others, even his fellow Horsemen. He also seems to view everyone else as idiots, insulting them and being needlessly mean.

I think maybe the reason he ends up helping the Makers so much is because they bite back. They banter with him and they're not afraid of him. They're there to help as long as he helps them. He's surprisingly honest with them too, telling him exactly what his intentions are. I think its safe to say that Death actually respects them to an extent, though Karn gets the brunt of his comments.

Back to his secrets, one of his biggest lies/secrets, in my opinion, is the Nephilim phylactery.

I don't think he hid the Nephilim souls out of guilt, not wholly. I fully believe he hid them with The Crowfather so he could find a way to bring them back one day. I think this because of his pause at the Well. He has the choice to bring them back and the only reason he doesn't is because of War. Even Lilith was convinced that he'd choose his dead kin over War, but he doesn't.

And War us truly where Death's snarky, uncaring half act breaks.

I'd say his choice to run off to gods know where to erase the crime War allegedly committed was extremely impulsive. Which, allow me to restate, HE WANTED TO UNDO A MASS EXTINCTION TO SAVE WAR FROM PUNISHMENT. He dove headfirst into his quest with zero regard for what was going to happen to himself. He jumps into the Well of Souls, sacrificing himself to bring back humanity and liberate his brother.

And what is it about War that makes Death so emotional?

We don't have a canon answer so far, but I do have to wonder at just how close they are.

I do possess a theory or two.

Theory One: Death is mildly obsessed with War as War is the youngest and last of the new Nephilim. War is a remnant of the last generation of their people and Death is keen on preserving his people in one fashion or another. War is very likely the first if them to speak against the violence of their people. War is violent himself, but not necessarily without cause, so I absolutely believe he spoke up first.

Two: Death views War as an innocent and naive boy. War is much, much more law oriented than the others, his angelic heritage shaping much of his views in seems. And to Death, perhaps, this is a sign of naivety and lack of experience. A baby to be shielded.

Three: Death raised War and sees him in a more parental manner. We don't know what raising kids was like for Nephilim, but I wouldn't be too surprised of it was a "everyone raises the young" over "parents raise their own". If that was the case, perhaps Death ended up watching War growing up more than he had other young Nephilim. That's not to say their " parent-child" bond would be healthy, clearly, but it would make sense as to why Death outright says he'd do anything to save War, and why he goes on a huge quest to revive humanity to save War. Why he ultimately sacrifices himself in the end too.

I do think that despite being incredibly self serving, selfish and arrogant, Death is ultimately self loathing. He hides his true thoughts under a thin veil of snark and dry humor, under anger and sharp words. In the book, he claims he never regrets his choices, only the execution, but I don't believe that. I do think he regrets creating the Abominations, not because of them necessarily, but because HE created something so vile.

I think he regrets killing the Nephilim because they were his kin and he was someone they all looked up to. Absalom trusted him and respected him. And he killed all of them because his beliefs had started to change.

And I firmly believe his mask isn't one of accessory. I think its a manifestation in a way of hiding from everyone.

After becoming Horsemen, Death runs away. Death hides from his brothers for ages before coming back to them in Abomination Vault.

He hides his feelings of self hate, guilt, and even affection behind snark, sarcasm, and cruelty. If he pushes others away, he needn't face the pain of their loss like he did with Absalom. But again... War is different. Before his descent into the Well, Death removes his mask.

The removal of his mask does seem to be a willingness to face forward and face the world. To face his future. I believe this for the fact that that room was the place where he metaphorically and literally faced his past, his demons. He finally let go of the Nephilim and his past with them. He let go of Absalom.

The Well is also where we seem him at his most vulnerable.

He defeats and lets go of Absalom, then goes to make his choice. Then he pauses and talks about getting to that point and still not knowing what to do. He sounds tired, broken, and like he's smiling to hold back emotions. The Crowfather consoles and councils him, and then Death makes him choice to help War by sacrificing himself and the Nephilim.

And taking off his mask is the most vulnerable he could be. He discards his physical mask, and likely in doing so its symbolic if him ridding himself of the metaphorical one.

Another character worth mentioning when discussing Death is Lilith.

Lilith, for context, is the "mother" if the Nephilim. She created Absalom first, but for all intents and purposes, she can be considered Death's mother.

Now, her tone when talking to him, in both game and book, is unusually... Flirty. And his reaction to her is visceral. He recoils and is tense, seemingly disgusted by her.

(Image Credit to @another-darksiders-blog )

These pages aren't exactly overt in what happened, but its very, very heavily implied that Lilith took advantage of Death and slept with him. Given his reactions to her, I dint exactly think he was very willing in these... Acts.

And further more, Lilith was actually counting on Death to resurrect and choose the Nephilim at the Well, as if he were the same Death she once knew, as if he hadn't changed. So I would be very, very unsurprised if she had sexually assaulted Death in some manner and abused him in other ways.

Overall it seems as if Death has had awful life experiences and copes by pushing others away and being angry. He's sarcastic and tends to not respond when called out (ie. Eideard asking "Isn't that what frightens you" when Death makes a snide joke about not having a soul).

In short, Death isn't a good person. He is a man shaped by horror and brutality and he struggles to adapt to new thinking, and struggles with emotion. However, I do think by the end of 2, he's changed for the better.

#character analysis #darksiders #darksiders 2 #darksiders death #horseman death #four horsemen of the apocalypse #darksiders 2 dethinitive edition

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mariana-oconnor · 11 months

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The Beryl Coronet pt 3

Come on, Mary! I believe in you.

Weird, how it's this one and The Naval Treaty that I had such strong ideas about whodunnit from the first introduction of the character and they're both about people making poor security decisions that could lead to national disaster. But on this one I'm supporting (one part of) the criminal duo, and in The Naval Treaty, I particularly disliked the culprit.

Mary is kind of horrible for not saving her cousin, though. He's willing to go to jail for her (if I'm right) and she's just telling everyone 'oh, he couldn't have done it!' and not actually coming up with a good reason. She didn't even get interviewed immediately because she 'fainted'. She had plenty of time to come up with a story. Maybe being woken up by a loud snap and then hearing Arthur moving around. But no, she's instead trying to get her maid framed for it all.

You can really go off a girl.

“I think that this should do,” said he, glancing into the glass above the fireplace. “I only wish that you could come with me, Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few hours.”

Oh yeah, Holmes is in disguise in some attempt to win back the beryls.

I like how he says 'I wish you could come with me, Watson' but is vague on the why not. 'It won't do' - translation: you are a terrible actor and no one alive would ever be fooled by you, also you'd blurt something out right at an important moment and ruin everything.' Let's be real. We all know.

Watson is not made for undercover work. I love him, but he would be about as useful a spy as a giant panda in an aquarium.

Or Captain America in a trenchcoat. (I love this picture).

I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that his lateness caused me no surprise.

Firstly, Watson is definitely living in Baker St atm. Either his wife is visiting her 'mother' again, or she's thrown him out. Also, him staying up until midnight although he knows that sometimes Sherlock doesn't come home for days is sort of nice, sort of a bit excessive.

Apparently Holmes does not need sleep. This is probably because he lives on tobacco, caffeine and cocaine. The fact he isn't constantly bouncing off the walls is impressive.

It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter.

That's not how white hair works, Watson. It's not that all of your hair gets lighter... that's not... Fine. I guess you're the doctor.

This is quite a transformation overnight, though. I'd suspect poison if it wasn't fairly common in these stories for people to suffer massive and immediate health conditions from sudden shock.

“I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried,” said he. “Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, Mary, has deserted me.”

What you have done is be a massive idiot who doesn't understand the meanings of the words 'secure' or 'discreet'.

I'm still kind of mad at Mary for trying to pin her crime on someone else while simultaneously not offering her cousin who saved her ass any real help. BUT, having said that...

"I had said to her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had married my boy all might have been well with him."

Wow, dick move. Blaming her. Yes, I literally believe she is guilty and it is her fault entirely but Mr Holder here still believes her a perfect little angel woman, so going 'if you'd have married him, none of this would have happened'.

My dude. I had no sympathy for you. I am now in negative sympathy for you. All my care for the victims of this situation is going to Lucy, because all Arthur has to do to give himself a chance is tell the truth. Mary, if she hadn't tried to throw Lucy under the bus, I would be supporting completely.

I'm still supporting her, like 75%. I'm glad she's out of there. I hope this is one of the stories where the culprits never get caught and she and Sir George Burnwell (who maybe is not such a cad as I presumed) go on to steal many more priceless artefacts from rich people who don't take care of them.

Her letter is so fucking funny when read from the POV of someone who thinks she's guilty.

“‘My dearest Uncle: “‘I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in death, I am ever “‘Your loving “‘Mary.’"

"Hey Unc, Whoops, my bad! If I hadn't stolen the jewels with my lover then my cousin wouldn't have been arrested for stealing the crown jewels and you wouldn't be in trouble for having lost them. I feel so guilty that I'm running off with my lover, but it's okay because we've sold the jewels so we're rich! Gonna change my name and live a life of luxury in another country. Thanks for making this so easy for me. Love, Mary xxx'

Or... at least... that's how I read it.

“No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible solution."

Holmes is with me on this. Mary needed to get out of that house.

“That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. And there is a little reward, I fancy."

A reward for finding the beryls. Is Holmes asking for the reward here or saying that Mr Holder will get the reward? Because Mr Holder deserves 0 rewards. No rewards for him.

"Have you your check-book? Here is a pen. Better make it out for £4000.”

Ah, no. Sherlock is getting the reward. Lolol. Well yeah, you deserve that.

£4000 is the equivalent of about £414,000 today. Which is an insane amount of money to write a cheque for. And it means that Burnwell and Mary (or whoever it was...) got away with the equivalent of over £300,000 which is a nice little amount. Holmes got the equivalent of £100,000 for a few days' work. Nice.

“You have it!” he gasped. “I am saved! I am saved!”

I mean... the coronet is still damaged. The police still had to get involved. I'm pretty sure the bank knows, and HRH Bertie knows and his mum the queen knows so... are you saved? Are you really? There's no way you can get your job back after you showed how utterly terrible you are at it. You clearly cannot keep a secret to save your literal life. The heir to the throne knows exactly how incompetent you are. This feels like 'I'm probably not going to be hanged for treason' not 'everything will be sunshine and kittens'.

“No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to have one.”

Substitute 'idiot' for 'lad' please. Very noble, sure. But don't get yourself thrown in jail for something that could genuinely be considered treason just because you want to protect a girl who doesn't love you back. Don't do it. It all sounds super romantic, but it's actually just dumb.

“You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him know that the truth is known.” “He knows it already."

Holmes, telling people in the right order. Yeah, he went to talk to the man who was falsely imprisoned before the idiot who was sort of responsible for him being there.

"...that which it is hardest for me to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now fled together.”

I'm glad Sir George turned out to be a good sort in the end. I was pretty sure he'd just done a runner and left her, but no. The couple who steals together stays together, and I think that's beautiful.

"Neither you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most dangerous men in England—a ruined gambler, an absolutely desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing him nearly every evening."

I mean, he could have just left her behind. Could absolutely be worse. Also, way to take away Mary's agency in the matter. She absolutely knew that stealing the crown jewels was against the law. That's not exactly a difficult one to work out. She made her choices. I support them fully (apart from Lucy). She's 24 years old. Earlier you called her old and now she's too young and naive to know what was going on? A four year old knows stealing is wrong. She conspired to steal (part of) the crown jewels and run off with them. She let her cousin take the fall for her and pointed suspicion at two other innocent people. The girl was not just a victim in this mess. Don't pretend like she didn't know what she was doing or getting into. She absolutely knew it. And she did it anyway. Get your heads out of the misogyny juice and just accept a woman can commit a crime.

Honestly, men get the credit for all female accomplishments. Lolol.

"His footmarks had pressed right through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he bent her to his will."

Did you hear this conversation? Were you there? Was it recorded? How tf do you know that it was his idea and not hers? Maybe they planned it together. Maybe she was like 'hey, my uncle's an idiot who brought a 10 million dollar crown home and stuck it in his old desk that opens if you hit it in the right place, want to do a heist?' You weren't there. You've got no clue how it went.

I want to think you're saying all of this just to make Mr Holder feel less bad about it all. Just making stuff up and making Mary seem like an innocent victim in order to soothe him a little. Because you've got no evidence she wasn't just as culpable as Sir George.

"...walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared into your dressing-room. [...] Presently she emerged from the room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed down the stairs, [...] He saw her stealthily open the window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then closing it once more hurry back to her room..."

Yup, you're telling me she was practically blameless and only did it because she was manipulated by the terrible, evil man, and she did the actual deed single-handedly and with no sign of doubt or hesitation? The equivalent of £10 million in her hands and she just walks to the window and passes it out? Yeah, she's absolutely a helpless naive victim. I totally buy that.

Or... y'know, Sir George actually is an archfey and he enchanted her to do it.

“As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved."

I mean... I feel like he could have revealed himself and whispered 'Hey, Mary, what are you doing with that very valuable coronet?' and made her put it back by interrupting the whole affair. Rather than, you know... just standing back and watching.

“He could not explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her secret.”

"He took the more chivalrous foolish view..." <- fixed it for you.

“It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Drink!

"But if it were the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in their place? There could be no possible reason."

"I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of his cast-off shoes."

Who had 'to buy shoes' as the reason for the disguise? Because I definitely did not have that one. Oh, the good old days when people would turn up at your door to chat up your servants and buy your old shoes.

"It was a delicate part which I had to play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our hands were tied in the matter."

But also, getting rid of something that identifiable would be a tricky business. They needed a buyer, you needed a secret. Mutually beneficial arrangement.

Holmes pointing guns at people off screen, why do you so rarely show us the action, ACD?

"‘Why, dash it all!’ said he, ‘I've let them go at six hundred for the three!’"

Omg. LOL. Nooooo. George. You were doing so well. You only got 600 for them? A fifth of what you could have got. My dude, my dude.

Mary, get a better guy. This one done fucked up. 600 might seem a lot for now, but it's going to disappear super quickly.

“A day which has saved England from a great public scandal,” said the banker, rising.

How? Like I said before. The police were involved. The coronet is still broken. How is this all being covered up so easily? A man has been arrested.

“I think that we may safely say,” returned Holmes, “that she is wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than sufficient punishment.”

...

Is this like 'she will be a ruined woman' kind of punishment, because...? Yeah, no. 'She's going to receive her karma because the guy will leave her and society is broken and punishes women for not being pure, virginal angels?' I do not like.

I reject your conjectured ending and substitute my own in which she and George (although he needs to get better at haggling, yikes) travel the continent and steal priceless artefacts together and she's the brains of the operation.

We're not going to leave it with 'despite the fact I have described this entire story as though she is the blameless, brainless puppet of an evil man, she will receive punishment for her naivete in the form of being "ruined" and all that comes with it.'

Fuck that shit. Mary has to bear some responsibility for her actions, and there's a decidedly creepy rapey sort of undertone to the implications here. Much ick. Do not like. Badass crime couple for the win.

Oh, next one is The Final Problem. I mean, of course I remember that one.

#Letters from Watson #Sherlock Holmes #The Beryl Coronet #long post

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