#{ i love how a lot of thread ideas popped into my head because of this. }

[drchucktingle]

Hello Dr Tingle! I wanted to ask you about that re: your post about how all your books are serious literature (hell yeah Love is real). How do you personally deal with the whole traditional publishing institution? It attracts a whole different level of coverage and it seems that they're very quick to try and box you and like turn you into a brand. Is it stiffling? Is it freeing? Does the attention help more people understand your trot? I don't know I've never been published but since you have experience in both traditional and self publishing I'm interested in knowing how that's feeling for you

well this is a pretty complex question with lots of different trots but i will try my best to answer. lets start with WHO I AM as buckaroo name of chuck

what i create has a very strong voice and my way is pretty recognizable. while buckaroos do not know what most authors look like, i REALLY stand out in a dang crowd with a big pink bag on my head. if you see 50 random author photos and mine is mixed in and then you ask 'which photo do you remember the most?' it is probably gonna be chuck. i also have a VERY UNIQUE STORY with what i create and my artistic sensibilities, not a lot of buds are out there making trans mothman erotica along with their big five traditional publishing bestsellers (SIDENOTE preorder BURY YOUR GAYS)

now if you were going to take 'CHUCK TINGLE' to a marketing department they would FALL OVER BACKWARDS IN THEIR DANG CHAIR with excitement. it is hard to think of an author with a stronger BRAND than i already have in the sense of 'instantly recognizable trot and specific unique style'. even in answering this you can tell that i dont even TALK like other dang authors.

what i am getting at is this: i am VERY VERY LUCKY because my existence just so happens to equate to what a company would see as GOOD BRANDING. it is not intentional on my part, it is just the hand of fate i guess. im out here expressing myself in a FULL ON WAY that is PRETTY DANG STRANGE TO SOME and it just so happens to work as mainstream branding too

on paper you might think 'what the heck no way chuck tingle will fly as a mainstream trot' but honestly the main thread of this timeline can be surprising sometimes. ive been saying the key ingredient for years and i will say it again: LOVE AND SINCERITY RESONATE. when you make art with this fuel, the timeline will feel it. when you stand up tall and shout with your whole chest THIS IS MY WAY AND I LOVE MYSELF. I AM THE WORLDS GREATEST AUTHOR TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, the timeline will listen

so all that said, i do not mind the idea of myself as 'brand' because i am not CHANGING myself to create this effect. what some might see as 'brand' i just see as another part of my art. i have always believed that art is THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE not just the painting but what is outside of the frame. WHO I AM is just as important as the books i write, and interacting with my way is a whole MULTIMEDIA experience that INCLUDES YOU TOO. it is the feeling when your friend shows you your first tingler cover, or the feeling when you realize that i am not playing a character. this is ALL a part of the tingleverse and it is all a part of my honest raw expression as a queer and neurodivergent buckaroo.

YOU ARE PART OF THIS ART TOO

it is my nature of have a PUNK ROCK trot. always has been. but to me that does not mean just angrily going against everything for the sake of going against everything. for me, this punk rock trot means fighting to EXPRESS MYSELF IN THE MOST HONEST AND PURE FORM POSSIBLE and to create the art that i want to make without any boundaries

somehow i have threaded the needle in this really interesting once-in-a-dang-lifetime kind of way. my pure punk rock self as an OUTERSIDER ARTIST just so happens to resonate with this larger system of brand and traditional publishing and popular culture. i COULD reject this, but rejecting it would be LESS HONEST.

this is just who i am. i LIKE pop culture. i LIKE joy. i LIKE dressing in all pink and wearing my custom suits. I LIKE PROVING LOVE IS REAL WHAT THE HECK ELSE EVEN IS THERE? i love being a queer outsider artist and using my small voice to shout at the big bad devils and i like that every time i shout a few more of you buckaroos join the chorus and together we are just getting louder and louder and louder and WHO KNOWS what comes next for us all trotting together.

when i post something like 'WHAT A GREAT DAY TO PROVE LOVE' it is not me sitting here in a bad mood thinkin 'well i gotta make todays post to keep up with my brand'. i am ACTUALLY FEELING THAT FEELING and i actually believe it with every fiber of my being. honestly, half the time i post about the beauty of this timeline i am probably over here literally crying tears of joy (chuck is an emotional bud i get riled over the joy of existence A LOT)

and heres the best part of this trot: because i really have this punk rock way it makes me very powerful. others can pretend not to care about success and brand and all that but I REALLY DO NO CARE. i would write tinglers whether buds were reading them or not, this is just my natural state, and that makes me incredibly strong. if some big corporation says 'YOU MUST DO THIS' and i dont want to do it i just say 'no thanks'. it is not some big debate about my career or anything like that because I REALLY DO NOT CARE IN THE SLIGHTEST. i care about the art

because of this, my relationship with my GIANT TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING MACHINE is great. we trot like equals and we get along really well. i tell them exactly what i want to do and they let me do it. i really do not have to answer to anyone and they deserve a huge amount of credit for respecting me in this way.

and heres the thing, THEY ALSO HAVE SOME GREAT IDEAS

SPECIFICALLY my imprint of NIGHTFIRE is very dang cool. yes, they are the head of a giant hydra of a BIG FIVE PUBLISHER, but nightfire is SO DANG ART-FOCUSED

there is no right or wrong way to be an artist, and my path is not the only one, but i can tell you what WORKS FOR ME. this is the advice i would give myself, and buckaroos can take it or leave it

here it is: never beg the big book publisher, or record label, or movie studio to pay attention to you

do not let it become a lotto ticket in your brain. do not think that you are some weak little creature and maybe if you trot just right they will scoop you up and take care of you. do not go to their door begging to be let in

LET THEM COME TO YOUR DOOR

create something so incredible and beautiful and honest and powerful and unique and important that they would be foolish to miss out. create a community or a system or a timeline or a world of imagination that thrives on its own and THEY SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO BE A PART OF IT

then when you sit down at that board meeting it is not 'please brand me, ill do whatever you want'. instead, it is 'lets make a deal and see how much love we can prove together.'

now lets trot buckaroos

[imagines--galore]

||The Thread of Fate|| Part Ten

Summary: Soulmate AU. They say the Thread of Fate connects you to your one true love. It may tangle. It may stretch. But it will never break. Wrapped around your little finger it tightens when it feels your soulmate is close and loosens when they are far. And becomes visible with the colors of your soulmate’s Nation when you finally fall in love with them.

Pairing: Zuko x OroraOC (ATLA)

Rating || Genres || Warnings: T+ Romance. Adventure.

Previous Chapters - Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine,

A/N: This one is an absolute doozy! Be prepared for a lot of feels people! And a scene that literally popped up in my head as I wrote this. I dunno I just wanted to include it! Please excuse any mistakes I made!

"This place is huge!"

Thats it. Those were the only words Orora could think of to describe Ba Sing Se.

Once they had crossed the Inner Wall she had felt her mouth open in amazement. Rows and rows of houses, as far as the eye could see. The chatter of more then a thousand people echoing in the air as they went about their daily lives. She had never seen so many people in one place. Not even the Northern Water Tribe had this much population.

Iroh chuckled beside her, amused by her reaction. "That is an apt description for it, my dear." They had stepped onto the platform, after making sure they had their belongings with them. They were really only small packs containing objects that had some sort of sentimental value. And money of course.

"Woah!" The young waterbender breathed as she gazed around from the raised platform they were standing on. The wind played gently with her hair, prompting her to push the strands behind her ears. Iroh stood just beside her while Zuko stood on the opposite side. He hadn't said anything the entire train ride, though she knew he had been just as amazed by the sheer magnitude of the city as she was. His eyes had widened slightly. A rather subtle movement, but then again she had started to notice everything subtle about him.

Only because of her observation of him. And not because she had stared at him out of the corner of her eyes on more then one occasion.

"Now! The first thing we should do is get some clothes. After all we are no longer refugees but citizens of Ba Sing Se." Iroh stated, leading the way down the platform with the two teenagers following after him.

"I'll have to find some work to earn money for that." Orora muttered to herself, thinking back on just how little coin she had left. Iroh turned to her, frowning. "And what makes you think I will not buy clothes for you as well my young pupil?"

She stopped short, prompting Zuko to almost walk into her. Orora ignored the glare he threw in her direction as she blinked at her smiling Master.

"Y-you..." She trailed off unable to find words. Iroh's expression turned to one Orora had seem him give Zuko when comforting him. "You are my responsibility Orora, and I care for you just as much as I do my nephew."

They were standing together, the three of them, with Iroh and Orora facing one another and Zuko standing to the side. His attention had been at a nearby weapons shop but a soft sound had him turning his head to look at Orora.

She had a tight grip on the strap of her water satchel, as if to keep her hands from trembling. But that was not what caught his attention. It was the fact that for once her icy blue eyes had a warmth to them he had never seen before. And they were swimming with tears. The soft sound he had heard, was her giving a small gasp as she tried to control her emotions.

Though she was failing at it, because even as he watched, a tear escaped her eye, sliding down her cheek.

Crying people had always been a weakness of his. He had no idea how to deal with them. Crying girls was even worse. But seeing Orora cry, at something so insignificant as his Uncle buying her clothes, had him feeling equal parts awkward and..........concerned.

Laughing softly to himself, Iroh reached out to take her still trembling hand and placed a pouch of coins in it. "Why don't you go ahead and buy your clothes my dear? I'm sure we will all benefit from having a pretty young maid such as yourself as our companion eh Zuko?" That last part was directed at him, prompting the banished prince to snap out of his stupor and stare stupidly at his Uncle.

"Wh-what?" But neither Pupil nor Master heard him as Orora quickly engulfed the old man in an embrace that reminded Iroh of the ones his son would give him as a young boy.

"Thank you...........Uncle." If he was surprised at her calling him that he did not show it. Though he did show his pleasure at being called thusly by her. "Now go buy your new clothes and do something about your hair. I shall meet you both here in two hours. And you also buy anything that catches your fancy."

"Wait! Both?" Zuko barked out. Iroh nodded. "Yes both. This city can be dangerous my boy. Especially for a young lady. And though I know she can protect herself, I would much rather she have you with her. For my peace of mind." He finished giving his nephew a look that clearly said, do not argue.

Pursing his lips, Zuko gave a small nod. Though there was no pleasure in his stance as he took his own pouch of coins from Iroh. "Enjoy yourselves then."

With a cheerful wave and a wink he was off to do his own shopping.

Zuko sighed to himself, pocketing his pouch and turning to Orora who was now tear free and already looking around at the different shops on either side of them.

Good, he preferred her tear-free.

Shaking his head, he pursed his lips before speaking.

"Come on. I think we can find a shop that sells clothes for us both." He had already started to move, prompting Orora to follow him with quick steps to catch up.

While Zuko had been of the opinion that their impromptu shopping spree would be awkward, it was anything but. Orora having never been in a city before, was flitting from one stall to the next shop. Eagerly pouring over the wares the shop keepers were selling, though she didn't buy them. Zuko was left to follow after her, trying to keep up with her surprisingly fast pace.

"Would you slow down!" He finally puffed out after loosing sight of her for a good few minutes, nearly making him panic before he had caught sight of her entering a weapons shop. She turned to look at him, a slightly apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry, I'll try to slow down but I just saw these and they reminded me of the swords you had when we met in the forest." Zuko looked to where she was pointing. And indeed it was a pair of dao swords, much like the ones that had been confiscated from him a good while ago.

Apparently there was a strict rule of no bringing weapons into Ba Sing Se. However you could buy them once you were inside.

A stupid rule really.

Still he had managed to hide the dagger Uncle had given him, but the swords had to go.

"They do look the same." He agreed with her. Before he could stop her, Orora had reached out and was lifting both of the swords from the stand and holding them out for him. "Well try them out. If its a good fit then you can buy them." She suggested giving him a small smile.

Maybe it was the fact that they were back in civilization. Or perhaps it was the interaction she had had with Iroh that had resulted in her being in a pleasant mood. Whatever it was, she had no desire to ruin it by squabbling with Zuko. Besides it wasn't that difficult to be nice to him.

Zuko glanced at her briefly, before reaching out to grasp the handle of the swords. His fingers briefly brushed against Orora's prompting them both to freeze momentarily. But he quickly shook off the feeling, turning his attention to the swords.

The weight was perfect as was the balance. Obviously they were of fine craftsmanship. Feeling that familiarity one felt when picking up a weapon they knew, Zuko swung them around to test further. After a couple more swings he stopped, seemingly satisfied.

Lifting one of the swords to eye level, he stared at the blade, watching his reflection stare back. "Well? What do you think?" Tilting the blade slightly he was able to catch a glimpse of Orora as she stood behind him.

Maybe it was the familiarity of the swords, or perhaps it was the soft yet hopeful look that he caught in Orora's expression which made him give a small nod.

"They're perfect."

                                           ————————–

The next step was finding new clothes.

And as soon as they entered the shop each teenager was whisked away by an employee. Orora was guided towards the female section of the shop, while Zuko went the opposite way.

A little annoying since he was supposed to be keeping an eye on her. However he did keep a sharp ear out, in case she called out for help. He made no complaint as the shop assistant began to pull out clothes that would be perfect for someone his size. Zuko stared dismally at the various shades of browns and greens that greeted him. He missed the red, black and gold colors of his Nation. For a brief moment he wandered if he would ever get to wear them again.

The thought had a sting of bitterness running through him, prompting him to pick out the first garment the assistant showed him. And he would've bought it as it was if the Assistant hadn't insisted that he alter it to his size. Something about the shop not looking good if he sold frumpy looking clothing. It would take some time though, so Zuko marched to the entrance of the shop to sit in one of the waiting chairs.

With his arms crossed and a grumpy expression on his face, any passerby would assume he was there against his will.

While Zuko seemed to be having a miserable time, Orora was having the time of her life. She had always adored dressing up, as typically feminine as it was and while she would've preferred to dress in the blue of her Nation, she wasn't opposed to wearing green so long as it got her out of her baggy clothing. She figured she didn't have to hide the fact that she was a girl in the city so, why not go all out?

"This color would look lovely against your complexion." The assistant, who had introduced herself as Hana, placed the green fabric against her shoulder to better assess the color alongside her skin. Like any member of the Water Tribe, Orora's complexion was darker then of those around her. And given that she had been traveling under the sun for so long, it had only darkened more. The color did stand out, and the fabric was so soft.

The young waterbender hummed. "Well I have an idea in mind. If I could explain it to you, would you be able to find something for me?" Hana grinned. "Its always good to have a customer who knows exactly what they want." She praised, picking up a writing utensil and paper to write down Orora's instructions.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked, looking like a woman on a mission. Orora grinned.

                                           ————————–

Fifteen minutes later, she walked towards the waiting area with Hana beside her.

"We have everything you just asked for Orora. I just have to alter it to your measurements, but that won't take long." Hana said with a reassuring smile to which Orora nodded. "Thank you for all your help Hana. If I may ask for one small request."

So saying, she quickly darted forward grabbing Zuko by the arm, and pulling him from his chair to stand beside her. Zuko, who had been busy examining his new swords, and pretending not to eavesdrop, was more so surprised at the sudden motion that there was no resistance on his part.

"My friend and I have to be at a dinner party tonight, but we do not have a place to bath or clean up. Do you know any bath houses around here?"

There was no way she was about to wear her new clothes without cleaning herself up first. She hadn't had a chance to bathe since the desert, a thought that had her shivering in disgust. Zuko glanced at her. "Is that your subtle way of saying I stink?" He asked to which Orora smirked.

"Subtle? I must be loosing my touch. I meant it to be more direct." She grinned at him before turning her attention back to the softly laughing Hana. "Luckily for you two my brother owns a bath house. And it is not so far from here." She moved to the door, gesturing for the duo to follow. "Just go down this street then take a right. First door on the left." She instructed. "I shall have both of your clothes delivered there within the hour."

"Thank you." The ever polite Orora said, even as she poked her elbow into Zuko's stomach to remind him to do the same. He did so, albeit in a rather grumpy manner. Still it was better or nothing.

Once they had paid for their clothes, the two set off down the street as Hana had instructed.

"You know we could've cleaned up at the new place we will be staying at." Zuko suggested, to which Orora gave him a disgusted look. "Zuko, we're filthy. We've been traveling for days. If you want to wait and dirty your new clothes, go right ahead." She made a hand gesture to that effect, but s topped midway as her blue eyes caught sight of something.

Zuko followed her line of sight and groaned loudly. "I have to buy one more thing." So saying Orora quickly made her way to the display of pretty hair accessories that had caught her eye. She yanked Zuko along with her, not having dropped the hold she had on his arm where she had looped it through his earlier.

A fact that neither of the them noticed.

At least Orora wasn't like other girls who would spend hours poring over pretty trinkets only to not buy them in the end. It wasn't even ten minutes later that they were once again making their way towards the bath houses, with Orora admiring the new hair comb she had bought.

"Isn't it pretty?" She sighed, watching how the blue stone set in the middle of the comb caught the mid-morning sunlight and shimmered beautifully. "And its so detailed, just look at the dragon." She held it to his eye level. He gave it a brief once over and, reluctantly, nodded. It was a pretty piece of jewelry there was no denying that.

"I thought I should get something blue to represent my Nation." Tucking away the comb in her pouch. Glancing up she saw him clench his jaw even tighter. At this rate he would grind his teeth to dust. "Maybe you should do the same?" She suggested her voice soft as they reached the bath houses.

His gaze snapped in her direction, startled and surprised. That was certainly not what he had been expecting her to say. Glancing around from the corner of her eye, Orora met his gaze with a look of understanding. Reaching out, almost hesitantly, she grasped his wrist, stepping forward so she could whisper the next words to him. "I don't condone what they have done. But they are still your people, and I know you miss your home."

She had to lift herself up on her toes slightly to be able to whisper to him properly. The action allowed the front of her chest to press against his slightly. To any onlooker it would look to be nothing more then a lover's embrace. To Zuko, the barely there embrace, was one of comfort. Something he did not realize he had needed for so long. He closed his eyes, but only briefly, before he gave Orora a small nod. While he wouldn't voice his appreciation for her act, he could acknowledge it.

Orora smiled softly before she stepped back. Turning she quickly walked into the bath house, and after a moment Zuko followed.

                                           ————————–

Steam curled from the water as Orora stepped into the square space in a robe, having gotten rid of her clothes as soon as she could. Locking the door securely behind her, she turned her attention to the tub in the middle of the room. It was just big enough for her so she eagerly shrugged off the robe and settled into the warm water. A sigh of utter contentment fell from her lips, feeling a sense of comfort as the water surrounded her. Quickly submerging her head, the girl picked up the sweet scented soap that had been left for her and began to scrub her hair and body. The water itself had some sweet smelling oils in them, and if it were up to her, she would stay there for hours.

Once done cleaning herself, she bended the water separating whatever dirt she had scrubbed off herself. Casting the dirt aside, she allowed the water to settle back down into the tub. Orora had barely leaned back to rest her head against the back of the tub when the sound of voices from the other side of the wall had her listening in curiously.

"You can wash up here." Said an unfamiliar voice. She heard the sound of a door opening on the other side. Make sense that the room next to her was also a bathroom. "I'll leave your clothes outside the door once they arrive."

"Thank you!"

The waterbender sat up straight, water sloshing around her as a small squeak of surprise fell from her lips. A sound the echoed in the otherwise quiet space, and since the wall on her left had more then ample space between itself and the ceiling, it was clearly heard by the person who had just entered the bathing chamber on the other side.

"Orora?"

It was Zuko.

Spirits help her! Zuko was in the room next to her own.

The thought alone had a blush stealing across her cheeks, and she could feel it as it traveled down her neck to her shoulders. How that was even possible she had no idea.

"Orora is something wrong?" His voice sounded closer now, like he was standing right next to the wall. And his voice sounded urgent. Clearing her throat she shook her head, even though he couldn't see her. "No, no everything is fine." Her voice sounded strange even to her ears.

On the other side of the wall, Zuko's brief flash of panic dissipated and the reality of the situation started to set in. He blushed just as brilliantly as Orora did, a fact that was unknown to both of them.

"I'm going to ask for another chamber." Zuko stated, already moving towards the door. The sound of water reached his ears followed by a two words that made his heart stop. "No, wait." Silence followed her soft exclamation as he waited for her to continue. Finally, after a rather lengthy silence, in which Orora was berating herself for speaking out like that, she spoke. "These two were the only bath chambers available on such short notice. Not to mention they'll charge extra since they have to warm the water again and get a new chamber ready so just.............stay."

Despite her affirmation and assurance, there was no denying just how awkward the situation was. Orora could hear every splash of water as Zuko settled into his tub, and Zuko was acutely aware of the fact that she could hear everything. So he just decided to sit in the water once he had hastily scrubbed himself clean.

The one fact that neither of them were even allowing themselves to think on was the state of undress they were both in. To distract herself, Orora began to create small patterns using her water bending, while Zuko made the water as hot as possible without letting it evaporate completely.

The silence and the awkwardness of it was slowly grating at Orora's nerves. She had always hated silence, it reminded her too much of the time when she would spent all those hours in her room while her father entertained guests. Why? Because a proper young lady said her greetings before excusing herself to her rooms.

Her patience only last five minutes before she finally snapped. "I believe we have reached a whole new stage of awkwardness then." Zuko didn't respond, though her acute hearing and bending sense did pick up on the water moving. Indeed, Zuko had been a little startled at hearing her voice, having supposed that the two of them would remain quiet for the remainder of their bath.

"And since they can't get any more awkward I'm just going to come out and say something I've been thinking since we reached Ba Sing Se." More silence, and for once Zuko was sure she actually wanted him to speak, as opposed to all the times she had told him to stay quiet.

"Whats that?" His tone was soft and his voice low, matching her in almost perfect pitch as he leaned his head back against the back of the tub, looking at the ceiling above.

"I know that we have a lot of differences between us." The statement had the young prince letting out a small unexpected chuckle. "Thats putting it mildly." He interrupted her, he could practically picture her pursing her lips at being interrupted. "Well yes, but I don't want to make you any angrier then you already ar-"

"Who said I was angry?" Zuko protested, half rising from his position to glare at the wall. Clenching her fists Orora shook away her annoyance before continuing. "As I was saying, I think tha-"

"I can feel other emotions beside anger you know. I'm not angry all the time an-HEY!" His exclamation was followed by a loud splash as the bubble of water Orora had bended over the space between the wall separating them splashed on his head. As Zuko spluttered and shook his hair out of his eyes, she started again.

"I know that we have a lot of differences between us, and that we would never see eye to eye. And I'm sure not a day will go by where you do not vex me, or I annoy you in some form." Hugging her legs to her chest, the young waterbender hoped the Fire Nation prince wouldn't reject her offer of peace.

"But since we will be living together until...........well we don't know when." Zuko's heart twinged at the reminder, but he stayed quiet. "I thought we should have a truce of some kind? Where we don't fight, at least not all the time, and try to get along."

That dreaded silence once more. Though this time it was heavier, weighing down on her just as much as it weighed down on him. She heard him stand up, prompting a sigh of defeat to echo in the two rooms. She could hear him as he opened the door and took his clothes where they rested on the floor. Zuko's mind raced as he dried himself off and began to pull on his new clothes.

After a few minutes, and accepting that perhaps she had humiliated herself enough, the girl quickly stood from her bath tub, bending the water from her body. Her new clothes rested on the floor in front of her door the same as Zuko. She quickly took them inside and unwrapped the items. Despite the sorrow tugging at her heart, she gave a small smile at the sight of her new clothes.

They were perfect.

Neither of them spoke as the dressed. Though Zuko finished first, and quickly exited the chamber. Orora took a few extra minutes, adjusting her clothes properly, before moving to stand in front of the small mirror and combing her hair with her new comb. Picking up a small section of her hair from her temple, she adjusted them so that she could place the hair comb through the strands. Now with the loose unruly tendrils out of her face, she was able to see her face properly in the mirror.

Satisfied with her appearance, she exited the bath just as she finished adjusting her water satchel, and promptly bumped into Zuko who had been standing right outside her door.

Her hands came up to steady herself, which he quickly caught to keep her from falling. Whatever insult that had been about to fall from her lips vanished when she saw who she had walked into.

Ice blue eyes widened, as she took in his newly dressed state. The clothing suited him, but what caught her eye in particular was how long his hair had gotten and how the strands at the front fell over his forehead. She had to physically restrain herself from reaching out and pushing them back. Not only because she wanted to feel how soft his hair was, but also because she wanted to see his pretty gold eyes properly.

Eyes that were now taking her in. The first time Zuko had met her she had been wearing her blue parka that had been blood stained and rumpled from her run in with the Fire Nation soldiers. Other then that, he had only seen her in shapeless short kimonos and pants that were dull in color and hid the fact that she was a girl.

The outfit she wore now did not hide any aspect of her being a girl at all.

She had opted for a light green Cheong dress with no sleeves to allow her arms to move better. The shirt she wore under it had long sleeves though, sitting snugly against her skin. The sides of the dress opened starting from her hips down the entire length of the dress which stopped a few inches below her knees. The edges of the dress had a pretty swirling design to add a hint of flare to it. Underneath it she had chosen a pair of pants that was dark green, the ends of which was tucked into her new leather calf length shoes.

She had styled her clothes exactly like the fashion of her Nation, except in green and lighter in material.

It had been perfect, though the dress was still a little loose on her. So Orora had taken the green sash the garments had come tied in and wrapped it around her waist. Not only did the dress look much better, but the belt accentuated her waist and made her look almost as if her body had an hourglass shape.

And while Orora was not the most vain girl, she did like looking pretty.

And for once, after so many months, she looked, smelled and felt pretty.

And Zuko was acutely aware of all three facts as he continued to stare at her. It wasn't unnerving in any form. There was no malice in his eyes. Only an emotion that she had never seen on his face before. Which was why she was having a hard time to place it.

She could puzzle over it later, she figured as Zuko released her hands and stepped back. Blue met gold before the latter disappeared behind closed lids briefly. But once they opened, there was a determined look in them.

And Orora saw the reason for it when her eyes dropped to the hand he held out to her. A beat of silence, in which Orora felt her breath hitch in her throat and a bright smile to bloom across her face as she reached out to grasp his hand between both of her own. And this time, when blue met gold, Zuko gave a small smile back.

"Truce."

                                           ————————–

The two teenagers had barely reached their destination when Iroh suddenly appeared at their side. Holding a vase full of flowers.

"I just want our place to look nice, after all, we have a rather pretty young lady living with us, do we not?" He gave Zuko a nudge with his elbow, though his smile was directed at Orora who blushed and smiled in return.

"You look lovely my dear." He complimented, though it would seem Zuko had reverted back to his moody self as he spoke. "This city is a prison. I don't want to make a life here." He sounded so bleak and hopeless about his situation that Orora frowned.

"We don't have a choice." She kept her voice soft so that no one would overhear her. "This was the only way to ensure our survival in the long run."

Iroh, sensing his pupil's rising annoyance with his nephew, quickly spoke. "Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not." Without pausing for breath he continued. "Now come on, I found us some new jobs, and we start this afternoon!"

Zuko stopped short, staring in disbelief. "A job?!"

Orora snorted to herself, clapping a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing, earning a glare from Zuko. Watching a Prince who had probably never worked a day in his life do an actual job?!

Oh, she was in for a treat, she thought smiling wickedly.

                                          ————————–

It came as no surprise when Iroh led them to a tea shop.

"And here I was thinking you had gotten a job at an apothecary shop." The young waterbender teased as she followed after her Master. Iroh simply grinned in reply. The two of them didn't bother to see if Zuko followed. He stood outside the shop, staring glumly at it before heaving a resigned sigh and following after his two companions.

It wasn't long before Pao, the shop owner, had handed them matching aprons and was telling them everything they needed to know about the shop. He prattled on as Orora finished tying the string behind her back.

"Argh, ridiculous." Zuko muttered under his breath, looking just as annoyed as he sounded. Orora nudged him with her elbow where she stood at his side. "Be grateful that we will have a steady income. Do you even know how hard it is to get a job in such a big city?"

He turned to glare at her. "This is humiliating. I'm not meant to be working as a servant. I'm supposed to have people working for me." He gritted through clenched teeth.

The girl gave him an unimpressed look. "Well I'm not meant to be here at all. I'm supposed to be married by now and living a miserable life." She caught sight of the surprised look that crossed his features, but continued to speak. "I wouldn't trade my current predicament for anything in the world." With that she turned her attention to the shop owner, who was still speaking with Iroh.

After a good few minutes of feeling Zuko's stare at her, she looked at him, raising her eyebrow in question. "You were supposed to get married?" His voice sounded hoarse and strange, even to his own ears. Orora nodded before giving a shrug. "It was arranged by my father. I had no say in it." She stated shortly, her eyes flashing with that iciness that served as a reminder to him to never cross her.

"Uh, does this possibly come in a larger size?" Iroh, who had been struggling to tie his apron finally spoke up. Pao gave a nod. "I have extra string in the back. Have some tea while you wait!" Before leaving he quickly poured hot tea into three cups and handed them out to his new employees.

Orora glanced down at the contents of her cup, making a face at the questionable color of the liquid. Iroh seemed to share her sentiment since he barely took a sip of it before his face contorted to one of disgust. He held the cup away from his body, as if it had done him some personal offense. "Blech! This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!" He declared. Zuko gave his Uncle a dead-panned look. "Uncle, that's what all tea is."

But the old man wasn't having it as he gave a look of utter disappointment and heartbreak. "How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?!" He exclaimed before a look of determination crossed his face. "We'll have to make some major changes around here."

"Well lets hope our boss doesn't fire us for taking over his shop." Orora stated softly, setting aside her cup and glancing around the bare shop.

"Though this place could do with some decorating."

Zuko groaned. Between Iroh's fanatic obsession with tea, and Orora's stubbornness to get her own way, he knew he was going to have his hands full.

                                          ————————–

Tag List - @wavesofchaos​ @violet-potter​ @rennysketch​ @emma-andrea1 @lovesammikinzz @fuzzyfestcat @msrawog @notsaelty

[eds6ngel]

hi, b!

i love your account and i saw that you’re okay with writing smut.

i was thinking it’s eddie and reader’s first time and he’s really soft with her? maybe he’s worried about her losing feelings or of him messing everything up by his inexperience?

thank you! <3

hey darling!! i actually made them both virgins in this, just to amp up the sweetness <33 (and because i have no experience at all) also, i made this a part 2 to my 'new girl' fic, so if you wanna check out part 1, you can read it here!!

warnings: SMUT. fem!afab!reader. p in v. fingering. handjob. blowjob. cunnilingus. lots of kissing. sex talk outside of the smut. basically just your basic sex stuff. swearing. vulgar language. fluff. comfort. established relationship. r is 18, eddie is 20 [4.1k].

You and Eddie have been dating for three months by this point. You had done the most that normal horny teenagers had done: kissing, making out, grinding, hell, you even tried your part at having sex. However, it didn’t go successfully the first time.

The both of you had no idea what to do. Eddie condoms expired, so you agreed to do it without one, which was mistake number one. You weren’t wet enough whatsoever, the both of you skipping all foreplay. And to top it all off, Eddie pushed in all the way without thinking, causing you to scream out in pain and call it quits for the night.

Since then, you both avoided ridding of any clothes closely tied to a sexual nature, the pair of you scared to death that your mutual lack of knowledge was going to cause harm again.

You and Eddie both agreed that the failed first attempt was not going to be classed as your ‘first time,’ despite what society would try and argue against. You both wanted it to feel special, the relationship going strong so far, a failed ‘first time’ not ruining that for you.

You actually went out to the library both together and on separate occasions to research about sex. Eddie’s first recommendation was to sit down and watch porn together, you having to explain that in no shape or form would a woman in real life ever want to live out the fake fantasy of a porn film. Besides, it was also a very fucking weird thing to do.

Hawkins was a very religious town, you searching high and low for anything that didn’t bring up the topic of abstinence. And even when looking past that, the woman’s pleasure was always disregarded, the term ‘submit’ popping up more times than you and Eddie would like to recall. With you just turning 18 and Eddie 20, Hawkins Library gave you permission to access the restricted section, much to a very pleased Eddie. You had to keep him on track most of the time, Eddie getting distracted by the mature content.

“Baby, come on. We’re looking for books on sex, not Satanism.”

With even the restricted books being more sanitised than you would’ve liked, at least some of the authors knew what they were talking about, especially the female ones, to no surprise. You learnt about safety, to foreplay, to pleasure points, to techniques, your joint knowledge growing by the minute.

It had been around a month of research for the two of you, preparing for whenever the appropriate time would be to try again.

Which was tonight.

You and Eddie were sat on his couch watching a cheesy horror flick, Wayne working a night shift, leaving the two of you in the trailer alone, with no interruptions.

You were lying on Eddie’s lap, his ringed hand mindlessly threading through your hair as you focused on the killer slashing the victims on screen, fake blood pouring out of them as they perished to the ground.

“Babe?” you pipe up, Eddie humming in response, “How’s research been going?”

Eddie chuckles as you both look at each other, “Is that what we’re calling it now?”

“We’re studying sources to learn new facts, sounds like research to me,” you smile.

Eddie kisses the crown of your head, “Just doesn’t sound very manly, does it? ‘What have you been up to recently Eddie?’” he says, putting on an overexaggerated posh accent, “’Oh nothing much, just researching how to have sex with my girlfriend.’ People would think I’m insane, sweetheart.”

You shift yourself so you are lying on your stomach, wrapping your arms around Eddie’s neck and shrugging, “You can make anything sound manly babe. You could word in a way such as ‘I’ve been reading up on ways to pleasure my girl better.’ That’s such a hotter way to put it.”

Eddie raises his eyebrows, “Yeah,” he drags out, “But, I’m not looking into how to make the sex better, I’m looking into how to even start having it.”

“Better than most people,” you reply, “Many of my friends have told me that they don’t even get to cum when they have sex with their boyfriends. At least you’re trying.”

“Isn’t that the whole point of sex?” Eddie asks, as if a stupid question, “To make your girl feel good?”

“Unfortunately baby, most men just have sex for themselves. They just want the feeling of a vagina wrapped around their dick.”

Even though the two of you had a horrific first attempt, you were both still very sex positive. Just because you didn’t have it didn’t mean you were in any way uncomfortable talking about it.

“Stupid,” Eddie mumbles with a shake of his head, “They could just jerk themselves off for the same effect, stop wasting a girl’s time.”

“Is that what you do?” you tease him, “Just in between the research, you have a ten minute jerking break?”

“I get hot and bothered sometimes, okay?” he laughs, “There’s some very graphic images in there. S’hard to concentrate.”

And from your position sitting in his lap, it might not just be the research that gets him that way. “You sure you’re not feeling the same way now, baby?” you purr, looking deep into his eyes.

He groans slightly as you grind your hips into his, “Jesus sweetheart, if I wasn’t already before, I definitely am now.”

Your lips connected together in a passionate kiss, the pair of you grinding into each other as your tongues explored each other’s mouths. This was something you’d done before. As your relationship developed, you realised how easy it was to dissect society’s words surrounding sex. If it were society defining your relationship by its standards, you two would’ve technically lost your virginities to each other in the first month of the relationship. Grinding was a simple task to get the two of you going, even making each other cum by it. It was just further than that where you guys had an issue, which is why both still class yourselves as virgins.

As you break apart, you lift Eddie’s shirt off, him doing the same to you, looking into your eyes, asking, “Are we really about to do this?”

“I’m game if you’re game,” you reply.

He smirks, “Baby, I’m always game.”

You giggle as you begin to litter kisses down his neck, him moaning out as you find his sweet spot, his hands gripping tighter at your waist. You make a trail down his chest to his stomach, him gripping your hair as you do so, his head falling back against the couch. There was just something about your lips that were so intoxicating to him.

You reach the waistband of his pants, Eddie switching into his grey sweatpants the minute he stepped into his trailer. He was a metalhead at heart, but keeping up the physical appearance wasn’t always the comfiest.

He lifts himself up, allowing you to pull down the sweatpants, his white and blue checkered boxers on show, a visible bump from where he had gotten hard from the mere mention of you talking about sex. He hates to admit it, but this happened every time, you had just failed to notice.

You look up at him with the softest look in eyes, making sure that he was comfortable with you going further. As every book said: consent was key.

“Yeah, sweetheart, take ‘em off,” he verbalises, you nodding as you pull down his boxers, his cock springing free in front of you. You look up at him with a glint of worry, Eddie immediately taking notice. “It’s all about practice, okay? It’s you, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it regardless.”

You wrap your hand around the base of his cock, Eddie already groaning above you by the mere feeling of your touch on his body. “I, um—” you stutter out, “Do I just go up and down?”

“Yeah, babe, just—” he wraps his hand around yours, the size difference sending shivers down his spine as he moves your hand in the same motion he would when he’s on his own. Yet, the slight change of you doing it in comparison to him made it all the more enjoyable. It was true what they said: it was the person, not the action.

He shudders as you begin to create a steady rhythm, you asking, “Is this good?”

He sighs, “Nothing could be better than this baby, thank you. God, fuck,” he moans out. However, what shocked him was how quick you became accustomed to him, the feeling of your tongue licking up the side of his shaft sending shivers down his spine. “Jesus fucking Christ, God.”

In your head, you were trying to recall the steps that the book you read taught you, trying your best not to mess up and cause your boyfriend to become uncomfortable. You lick the tip of his dick, seeing that Eddie loudly moans out at the feeling, hearing him say, “Just like that baby, take it down further.”

And so you do, hollowing out your cheeks as you take him into your mouth, Eddie grabbing your hair into a ball as he lightly guides you up and down, giving him maximum pleasure. You look up at him with innocent eyes, continuing to bob your head, Eddie swearing he just died and went to heaven.

He can feel his balls tightening up, Eddie yelling out, “Baby, wait, wait!” in a manner that came across a little too panicked, causing you to immediately jump off of him.

“I’m sorry!” you squeak out, beginning to ramble, “Did I get you with my teeth? Or was I too rough? God, I was probably too rough, wasn’t I—”

But, your nervous state gets cut off by Eddie grabbing your chin and pulling you into a soft kiss, you instantly cupping his cheek back. As you part, he leans your forehead against his, “It was nothing you did sweetheart, don’t worry. I just… don’t wanna cum yet,” he shyly smiles.

“Oh,” you giggle softly, “Okay.”

He kisses your cheek, making trail down your neck, “But, I do think it’s your turn to cum for me, sweetheart.”

You whimper at his words, the eagerness oozing from his throat. “Can we, um… go to your bedroom though? This is technically Wayne’s bed after all.”

Eddie chuckles, “Yeah, I don’t think he’d be too happy with that.” He shocks you by lifting you up underneath his arms, laughing to himself as he guides you to his bedroom.

As he kicks open the door with his foot, he carries you over to the bed, placing you down gently and hovering over you, placing a tender kiss to your lips. “You’ve given me all your love sweetheart, I’m here to give you mine.”

He litters kisses all over your chest and collarbones, sucking a little to visibly show that you belong to him. Nobody else was gonna get his girl.

Despite your eyes being closed, basking in the pleasure of his soft lips on your skin, you feel him reach around the back of you, trying his hardest to unclasp your bra.

Helping him out, you sit up, wrapping your arms around his neck, smiling at him, “You need help with that, my love?”

“No, no, I got it,” he grits out, trying to get the hooks to come apart. “Why the hell is this so difficult?”

You giggle into his neck, deciding to press little kisses there as a form of distraction.

“Baby, don’t tease me. I’m struggling enough here.”

You laugh as you reach around yourself, pushing his hands out of the way and instantly un-hooking your bra, tossing it onto the floor.

Eddie can’t be drawn away from your breasts, his eyes practically bulging at the sight, his mouth agape. “I… um…” he stutters out, “I was gonna ask how you did that, but your tits baby… Holy shit.”

And no word of a lie, your boyfriend does grabby hands, like a child in a candy store, “Please can I touch them? Please let me touch them… Oh my God.”

You cup his face with your hands, smiling, “You can do whatever you want with them, my love.”

He breathes out, shakes his hands as he mutters, “Okay.” He pushes your breasts together, massaging them in his hands as he genuinely gawks, “Jesus… They’re perfect. You’re perfect. Fuck…”

You press a kiss to the underside of his jaw as a ‘Thank you,’ Eddie rubbing his thumbs over your nipples, a loud whine escaping your mouth.

He stops his motions, “That feel good?”

“Mhmm,” you hum, “It’s sensitive. Keep doing that.”

And he does exactly that, flicking over them, surprised that such a simple action could cause so much pleasure for you. “You need to go braless more baby, holy shit.”

“If I knew you would’ve had this reaction, I would’ve shown you them sooner,” you giggle.

“Better than any porn magazine I’ve ever seen,” he mumbles, leaning in and taking your left breast into his mouth, him pulling on your nipple, letting go with a pop. “Who needs porn when I can have you?”

“I better see the ones under your bed gone by tomorrow then,” you smirk back at him.

“Easiest decision I’ll ever make.”

He traces his thumbs over the sides of your hips as he makes a trail down from your cleavage to the bottom of your stomach, tugging at your belt, a much easier task for him than your difficult bra.

He pulls down your jeans, adding them to the increasing pile on the floor. The next thing surprises you, Eddie beginning to laugh as he places his head down on top of your cloth-covered pussy, his hair tickling the bottom of your stomach. “Shit.”

You laugh too, despite not knowing what he was giggling about, he was just infectious like that. “What, my love?” you ask with a smile.

“Took off your bra before I got to see the matching set on you,” he frowns over-dramatically.

You thread your fingers through his curls, “I’ll give you a fashion show one day.”

“That day better fuckin’ hurry the hell up,” he grumbles, delicately taking your panties off of your body, him not wanting to wreck them for the future fashion show you had just planned.

“Okay, he mumbles, situating his head between your legs, “I’ve heard that eating you out gets you wetter, so can I do that?”

You sigh happily, “Tell you what baby, we’ll do the colour coding system, okay? I’m giving you permission to do whatever you like. If I find myself uncomfortable at any point, I’ll say either ‘orange’ or ‘red.’ Deal?”

He nods, “Yeah, deal…” sighing out, “I’m sorry if I mess this up.”

You smile lovingly, “It’s you baby. You could be totally shit at this and I would love it regardless. Just like you said to me,” you reassure him.

“Well, I learnt some techniques anyway, now I get to put them to practice.”

You laugh as you hear him sigh out, “Relax baby, you got this.”

He nods, “Yeah… I got this.”

He takes his tongue and moves it straight up your pussy, causing you to push your legs in and let out a loud whine. “That easy, huh?” Eddie smirks.

You give him the same wide smirk back, “Depends on whether you can make me cum or not.”

“Challenge accepted,” he replies, moving up towards your clit and flicking it up and down, causing you to moan out in pleasure, “Eddie, fuck. Just like that baby.”

That spur encouraged Eddie to speed up his movements, flipping between an up and down motion to a side to side one, you grabbing onto and tugging at his hair, him discovering a new kink as he moans out loudly.

Eddie takes his middle finger and moves it down your folds, collecting your slick and pushing it into your hole, you immediately clenching around him as he sucks on your clit.

“Jesus fucking Christ Eddie, keep doing that and you’ll make me cum,” you truthfully whine out.

“God, sweetheart, already?” he asks, speeding up the movement of his finger as he tries his best not to rut against the bed, relieving the uncomfortability of his dick straining in his boxers.

“I’m an easy girl to impress,” you sigh out, giggling at your own statement and how truthful it actually was.

Without a doubt in your mind, you begin to rut against his face, trying to get yourself to the edge as quickly as possible, which was evidently working.

“Fuck, baby, I’m gonna cum. Please let me cum,” you mewl out.

Eddie drills his finger in and out of your pussy, sucking on your clit and shaking his head back and forth, sending you into a spiral as you fall over the edge, whining out, “Eddie, I’m cumming, fuck!”

As you come down back to reality, Eddie looks up at you, gripping tightly onto your thighs, a smile on his face as your juices drip down from his mouth, falling off of his chin. “Fuck me baby, I can’t believe you just did that.”

“I’ve never cum that hard before,” you sigh out, still relieving in the height of your orgasm, “Guess it really is the person, not the action.” Exactly what he thought.

He licks up most of the juices on his face, crawling back up to you and connecting your lips in a soft kiss, you humming as you say, “I taste better on your lips.”

Eddie groans out at your words, “I’d love to be sweet with you and all angel, but I really need to be inside you right now.”

You nod, “Then do that,” you smile back, “I noticed you got a new packet of condoms the other week.”

He leans over to his beside table and rips open the packet, replying, “Yeah… Well, I felt like my research was coming to an end.”

He takes out the condom and rolls it onto his dick, pinching the end and looking down at you, “You want it just like this or—?”

“Extra lube? Just in case?” you ask nervously, Eddie nodding as he reaches over to grab the bottle and squirts some on top of the condom, rubbing it over the entirety of it, making sure it would be comfortable for the initial entrance.

This was the part you were most nervous about. This was where it all went wrong last time. But, you took the pre-cautions. You were already wet, Eddie had a condom on, and it was well lubricated. Eddie was a little over average in terms of length, which increased your worries. But, on the flip side, a little under on the girth, the part that would make the stretch worse if he was bigger.

Eddie lines himself up with your pussy, leaning his forehead against yours, whispering, “Please sweetheart, I beg of you, use that colour coding system. I’ve heard it hurts for most women, but it should soon fade away, okay?”

You breathe out, “Okay… I’m ready.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

And that was the conformation he needed, slowly pushing into you, letting you take in the feeling and get yourself comfortable. “You doing okay?” he asks.

And for you, it wasn’t even that bad. Maybe you were one of the lucky ones, you don’t know, but it was more of a mild discomfort from the stretch rather than a sharp pain that the research told you. But again, Eddie being under average in his girth may have helped, something you were thankful for compared to how most women would have judged that.

“It’s actually not that bad,” you smile, “Just keep going slow, okay? We haven’t even gotten halfway yet.”

“Okay,” he nods, pushing in another two inches, the discomfort becoming a little bit stronger as you predicted, but not unbearable. It actually caused you to moan a little, something Eddie had been doing the second his dick pushed half an inch into your vagina.

“Only a bit more, okay sweetheart?” he says softly, you nodding as he slowly pushes in the final three inches, the discomfort subsiding into pleasure as you whine out.

“Fuck…” Eddie moans, “You are so incredibly tight.”

You giggle, causing yourself to clench around him, a growl erupting from his throat. God, he was vocal, and you loved every second of it.

“You can start moving now, my love.”

This was now where Eddie basically took over, his inexperience making him nervous, especially with how much he hurt you the last time. He wanted this time to be special. This was gonna be the first time for both of you, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to ruin that. He needed this to be perfect with the girl he loved.

He tried his best to find a steady rhythm, but was struggling. It felt good, but he sighed out frustratedly, you noticing his change in demeanour, “Baby, look at me. Just go in and out, don’t worry about being fast or anything. Just set a pace,” you tell him, cupping his cheeks.

“Yeah. In and out,” he mumbles, slowly pushing in and out, the two of you moaning in sync as he repeats his motion, before he finds himself a rhythm that you both enjoy, noted by a series of whines an groans.

“That’s it, you got it baby,” you say, supported by a sigh.

“That feels so fuckin’ good,” he groans out, deciding that he could speed up now that he found a good rhythm.

“Oh fuck,” you whine, your head falling back against the pillows on Eddie’s bed.

You had always heard that wrapping your legs around your partner’s back would somehow push them even deeper, sending women spiralling down the route of an orgasm.

So, you tried it, reaching your legs around Eddie’s waist, pulling him in closer, hitting something at the back of your pussy that you could only describe as mind-blowing. “Harder, Eddie, please!”

And so he complied, pushing himself both deeper and harder into you, the boy falling apart on top of you. You could only imagine how good this felt for him.

But, once he changed angles, it was over for you. This is what the G-spot must’ve been. You could feel his dick sliding across the top of your vagina, hitting a spot that sent shivers down your spine.

The atmosphere was constant skin slapping against skin, a series of “Fucks” and “Shits” being moaned out by the two of you. You were praying to God none of the neighbours in the trailer park could hear any of this.

“Baby, I’m not gonna last much longer,” Eddie chokes out, his pace already faltering as you reply through broken moans, “Me neither baby, cum with me.”

He moves his hand down to rub your clit, making sure you reach your peak since his thrusts were no longer as hard as they were a mere few minutes ago.

That sensation combined with his dick brushing past your G-spot over and over again caused you to see stars, a loud whine erupting from your throat as you choke out, “Baby, I’m cumming!”

The feeling of your orgasm causing your walls to tighten around him pushes him over too, him stuttering before coming to a halt. You can feel his whole body shake against you, a loud groan mixed in with a whine being let out as his dick pulses in your pussy.

As you both come down from your highs, your pants are the only thing heard in the all but silent atmosphere. Eddie smiles, trying to not let himself fall on top of you as he lets out a “Whoa…”

“Yeah, whoa…” you giggle, Eddie slowly pulling out, taking the condom off and tying it up. “Shit, I don’t have a trash can in here…”

You laugh at him, “You don’t have one in here?”

He begins to walk out to the kitchen, yelling back so you can hear, “Why do you think I have all that shit lying around my room, sweetheart?”

As he appears back in the doorway, you’ve tucked yourself under the covers, replying with, “Good point.”

He shows his goofy smile, one where he shows off his teeth. Your favourite kind of smile on him. He tucks himself under the covers with you, the pile of clothes being left in the middle of his room. You could sort that out tomorrow.

Eddie presses a soft kiss to your forehead as you lay your head on his chest, “Get some sleep, sweetheart. You deserve it.”

You hum in response, closing your eyes, your mind fading away as the final words you mutter are: “I love you.”

And although you can’t see it, Eddie smiles widely, gripping you tighter as he leans his head on top of yours, whispering back, “I love you too, sweetheart.”

And that was the day he knew, you were definitely a keeper.

i hope you enjoyed this my love! and if anything is inaccurate, don't be afraid to let me know <33

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Listen can you make one with blackmask and the other rogues find out that some random college student made a dedicated sub reddit fan account that just posts random supportive messages and borderline wtf how did that bitch know what i ate last night or what body wash I use 😂

www.wtf-

When did the Internet get so scary?

TheRiddlerLover88: Convinced my parents to paint my room Riddler green 😍

Quackingduckquakes: If there's no Penguin fans in the world then I am dead x

Quittakingallthegoodusernames: spank me Two-Face and then send me to jail, thanking you.

HarleyQueen04: AYO, I heard Roman Sionis uses a new cologne. Internet do your thing, I need to spray down all my clothes with it x

N0turfanboi: low-key penguin can bend me over and-

It was a nightmare. Stuff of pure nightmares.

IamBatman96: guys, I found the same jacket Roman Sionis wears.

Igivemetheick: send pics or it didn't happen.

IamBatman96 sent an image.

Igivemetheick: ...omw.

Candyblues92: wait if I burn one half of it would I have Two-Face's jacket? Asking for a friend x

There truly was such a thing as too much Internet and no one dared to go too far into the rabbit hole.

Black Mask: He hated that the most commonly asked question on his thread was where he lived. He also hated how many were dangerously close to figuring it out. Apparently, triangulating his businesses and club gives a rough idea where he lived. Apparently he had to move because he just read one of these crazy bitches just said they wanted to feed him pie with their hair in it. He took out his phone sending an account URL to one of his goons. 'Make sure this one never finds me.' He'll appreciate the support...from the other side of the planet for safety.

The Riddler: The Riddler had hoped for some kind of decent intellectual discourse to laugh at. Instead he got nightmares. He saw a lot of discourse about his fingers. About how long they were and somehow that brought comments about how...skilled...he must be in various things. Then people were volunteering as tribute- whatever that meant- but then someone said. 'BRB, writing the fanfiction right now x' and that comment got too many likes for comfort. 'No man has pulled off green before the Riddler and no one will pull it off after the Riddler.' Finally the voice of reason has arrived. The riddler soon types up a response. No one knows its him but he'll argue with everyone until everyone sees things his way. It's practically a public service. He's educating the masses more than the pathetic excuse of an education system ever will.

Victor Zsasz: "I'd polish that bald head any day of the week, daddy. Hm. Good to know." Victor said aloud as he read. After some scrolling, he cracked a smile. "Aww SniperKnife really loves me." He never makes himself known on the Internet. Never cared for it beyond the occasional funny pet video. However, that username popped up all the time. It made him smile. Even on the hardest of days he could rely on SniperKnife to cheer him on. He read another. "What that gun do tho? ...well someone struggled in English class." He hummed. "Poor kid doesn't even know what a gun does."

Two-Face: First of all- he and Roman don't shop in the same place and how dare those little assho- ahem. He was a little salty after someone started a thread asking what the difference was between Two-Face and Black Mask and all anyone coukd really come up with was that Two-Face was burned and Black Mask...wore a mask. Which turned into people questioning what made everyone sure that they weren't the same person if one was masked. That sparked a debate before someone pointed out their different heights. That Two-Face was taller. That then turned into people analysing the heights of doors and other surrounding objects to determine each person's height. Then someone through off the conclusion by mentioning stilted shoes. He didn't really care who supported him or not. He found the public to be flimsy anyway so he never really notices the regulars.

Penguin: Who the hell started the rumour that Oswald was raised by penguins? And why is it STICKING!? The next thing was how big was a certain appendage and someone did some anatomical research to determine very much in his favour. That was definitely his favourite part of the conversation. He chuckled. "Oh Babycakes224, you're this close to getting a job." There was a pause. "Oh wait this one wants to buy me a boat!" "Eh?" A bartender asked. "I want to motorboat him-" "boss that's not what that means!"

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

02/07/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast & Crew Sightings; More Rhys Cameos; Damien Gerard; Hugo PIerre Martin; More Samba BTS Feat. David Fane; Cosplay Day; Feb 8 Events: #WeLoveSamson; Upcoming Watchparties; UK Fan Effors: Radio!; YouGov Tutorial; Stats; Schadenfreude; More Clowning; Morale; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika.

= Cast & Crew Sightings =

Another Rhys Video on Cameo! This one in particular had a lot of folks clowning today. You can watch the video on cameo-- it's the newest one 3:51 seconds long with him in the hat and the red shirt. I tried to download it and upload it, and tumblr literally lost all my drafts because of it, I have no idea what happened so I'm not doing that again lol. Instead, here's the short video of what triggered the clowning.

"Thank you so much for all your support on Our Flag Means Death, they'll be more stuff happening in the future, keep listening and watching, and uh, yeah, peace out, Rhys Out, Don't let that Octopus out! BuhByeeee!"

Thank you @Jodegg for sharing this video with us!!!

== Damien Gerard! ==

Damien Gerard gave us a new BTS photo for #WearFineThingsWell

== Hugo Pierre Martin ==

Hugo, aka our friend the french doorman from The Best Revenge is Dressing Well poked his head out! We'd love to have you doing venues sir!

==More BTS from Samba!==

It's a David Fane themed day! Wanna see the videos too? Head on over to Samba's IG!

==Cosplay Day!==

Today was cosplay day and lots of folks shared their awesome costumes from today or over the past couple years! These are just a few highlights! Please feel free to hop over to IG or Twitter for more!

== Events for Feb 8! ==

Tomorrow is #WeLoveSamson Day! Let's show Samson Kayo some love for all his hard work and various characters! Feel free to reach out across platforms to send him some love! Pic Src: Samson's IG

Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

=Watch Party Reminders=

No watch party for Feb 8, but Feb 9 we've got:  Love Birds Watch Party on Feb 9th - 9 pm GMT, 4 pm EST, 1pm PST.

Watch Party Hashtags:

#AdoptOurLoveBirds

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

== UK Fan Efforts ==

Fans are reaching out to radio stations in the UK! Very cool guide put together by @TeeHeeSeason3 on Twitter for contacting BBC radio stations in the UK regarding what to place to help support the OFMD Renewal.

== Focus Groups ==

Remember the focus group/surveys we mentioned yesterday on yougov.com? Well some folks have been trying to sign up and been having some issues finding OFMD, so our lovely, sweet, amazing @libbyroseitm was kind enough to make a tutorial for everyone! Twitter Thread. YouGov rating tutorial! Make an account first, then follow these steps. If you'd like to see what kinds of questions it asks for you to sign up, visit here. Step 1: On your Account page, scroll down until you see a link for "View All Ratings", and click that

Step 2: You'll be taken to a screen that says "Rate Everything", click on the link for "Not What you're looking for?" and it will pop up a model that gives you a button to click that says "Previous Version" Click that.

Step 3: Once in the new version, type the name of the show (or actor, writer, etc) you'd like to rate

Step 4: Select your show when it pops up, and then rate it and add an opinion if you'd like!

Special Notes:

People probably aught to be careful to keep personal information to themselves.

You can search for actors and other films and tv shows related to OFMD, not just the show itself.

Vote on things other than OFMD so they don't get suspicious.

= STATS STATS STATS =

As always, special thanks to our dear friend @meowzawowza_ over on twitter for their constant stats updates

== Schadenfreude ==

Awww, looks like WB Discovery Inc is still trending downwards. How sad. Thank you @btweenhisteeth for keeping us up to date on these sad sad times for WB!

== More Clowning ==

So today I learned of this "Honk Weather Control Center" account on twitter (@HonkForecast) and I have to say it's pretty great. So far for several days they've had "clown" forecasts for how much we should be clowning. Love it.

== Morale ==

Definitely head on over to Rhys' New Cameo video if you haven't already because as always his sunshine is a big ol dose of Vitamin Darby right to the soul and there's nothing that can replace that feeling!

== Love Notes ==

Done with your Rhys love? Great! But now you have to endure my unconditional love as well! *Maniacal laughter*

Are you aware that you are so very loved, my dear?

But also, did you know you're worthy of love?

All the love--- Like every kind you want (platonic, romantic, parental, agape, etc)

You are not difficult to love. Not at all.

You are not too much, or too little,

you're exactly the right amount,

and you are worthy of love just the way you are.

I've probably said it before, but I want you to know just how imperfectly perfect you all are, and every moment of every day you deserve love and happiness and everything you want in life.

The world is such a better place with you in it and all of your crewmates want you to know that. We care for you deeply my friends.

You matter, don't ever forget that.

= Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika =

So I just got done watching a bunch of Radiradirah on youtube (which is goofy AF btw, like New Zealand Monty Python style fun) and I can't get over Space Waltz, so tonight that's the theme. Look at these two stinking goofballs and their faces.

Night lovelies <3

PS: I never say it but thank you for all the lovely comments in the tags! They always make me smile, yall are the best!

[greyskyflowers]

I like the idea of Zosan for a lot of reasons, and my best friend adores them so that's definitely part of it, but I also just really really love the idea of Sanji coming to terms with not only liking Zoro but also that men are much different than he originally thought.

Zoro is rugged. He's a big, tough guy that probably doesn't shower very often and drinks his body weight regularly. He's not what someone would consider delicate or beautiful or soft.

I personally imagine Zoro would have the body of a strongman, not perfectly chiseled but strong. Solid. Meat on his bones and a thick core like a barrel (titsfordays).

But I also think it's worth mentioning that even with those things, there's no reason he can't also be delicate and beautiful and soft.

Why does it have to be or instead of and? Isn't Nami strong and beautiful? Isn't Chopper soft and capable of harm? Isn't Robin gentle and wrathful?

I bet he's soft when he helps them up from the ground, huge hands so careful of injuries or hurting them more. When they drag him into a hug or cling to him when they're running from something or even just stand next to him, he's got to be soft. All that muscle and power hidden under a healthy layer of fat, scars and stretch marks etched in lines on his skin, and he's so warm all the time. He radiants heat under their hands and against their sides.

I bet he's delicate when he's sleeping, lashes fanned out and whispy shadows on his cheeks from the sun. When he moves more like a prowl, instincts sharp and sense pulled tight in awareness. He's a taunt thread, a knife's edge, a spider's web... He's delicate when he takes care of his swords, and in how he holds himself when Chopper climbs all over him.

He's probably beautiful when he's happy. I always picture him with big dimples when he throws his head back to laugh and those wonderful crinkles by his eyes from how they scrunch up with his smile. He's one of those people who looks good sweaty and worn with life. Dirt and blood have settled into the creases of his skin and no amount of cleaning will get rid of them. He smells like sweat and salt and sea.

His eyes are multicolored in the sunlight, all the hues popping out as he squints while looking out over the water. He looks healthy and happy, taken care of and loved.

I like Sanji taking all that in without really noticing and it just hits him one day.

Maybe he passes Zoro sleeping on the deck, the fleeting thought that he looks especially beautiful today going through his head. And he has to stop because today? As in he thinks Zoro is usually beautiful but he's just looking extra fine today?

Maybe they're all curled up to sleep together on cold waters and windy nights, just a big pile and everyone snuggled in close. And Zoro is surprisingly soft under his hand. There's a give to him that Sanji wasn't expecting from where his hand had ended up on Zoro's hip.

Maybe Zoro gets dragged into helping cook and Sanji is so surprised with how careful Zoro is with the dish. How delicate he is with the small tarts, trying not to bruise any of the fruits, and carefully adding things to the top of the finished dish.

Another post that's been sitting in my drafts forever because I never could get it to where I wanted it to be or finish it, but I'm trying to clean them out sooooo... Here it is.

[the-modern-typewriter]

Would you talk about your process of writing short stories, if you don't mind? Do you outline it before hand? do you make it up as you go? is it the same w the prompts you get vs stories like The Blue Key or The Art of Turning 30?

It's different for stories that are prompted on here and stories like The Blue Key, The Gallery of Broken Things or the Art of Turning 30 which I have come up with entirely independently and unprompted.

It's also sometimes different for stories that are prompted on here, and other stories I've written based on a prompt from a friend, such as Escapology, Half Sick of Shadows and My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose - but these are more similar because they are still varying degrees of prompt based.

The first question, when I have an idea/prompt, is how big do I want the story to be. Some ideas require novels, some are perfect for short stories. Figuring out which is which comes with practice.

Writing from a prompt

Stories that are triggered by a prompt come (to a point, some prompts are more specific/detailed than others) with a certain amount of inbuilt scaffolding or clues as to what the story must be about.

I talk about different sources of ideas, including writing from a prompt, in this post. The prompt bit gives a sense of my general process when writing tumblr stories with more specific prompts.

For a non specific prompt...

The next tumblr inbox prompt I think I'm going to write when I have a sufficient moment is:

ah, could you write something about a vampire x mortal who always reincarnates

It's a tumblr drabble, I'm thinking 2000 words max, so fairly simple without an elaborate planned plot. It's just for fun. I don't go into the story assuming I am going to continue it. I also don't assume someone on tumblr is going to read loads of backstory and set-up, so I just skip to the most interesting scene that comes to mind with as little set-up as possible.

So, I know I have a vampire character and a reincarnating mortal character. The 'x' implies that the story is going to have, to some level or another, a romance thread.

However, the prompt otherwise immediately raises a lot of questions; the decisions/answers I make to these questions shape the story. Examples of questions that pop to mind.

Am I writing in the POV of the human or the vampire?

Does the mortal remember that they reincarnate or do they start from scratch every time?

When the story starts, does the vampire know that the love of their life reincarnates, or is this the first time that they are seeing their love after thinking they were going to live the rest of their immortal life alone?

How did the mortal die the first time? Was it happy or traumatic?

If it's not the first time they are seeing each other post reincarnation, how did the previous lives go? This will colour the relationship dynamic.

Why is the mortal reincarnating?

Why are the two of them seeing each other in the present of the story? What does each character want out of the scene?

I love an antagonistic dynamic and conflict is brilliant for short stories, so I might go one step further and immediately decide that I want the vampire and the mortal to be opposed/in conflict in some way.

If conflict, what conflict should I pick?

After a certain amount of this, it's just pick whichever answer I am in the mood for on any given day and go.

Writing without a clear prompt

This is more difficult, but I also tend to love these stories more when I do get inspiration for them. There also isn't one process that works for all of these as it tends to change a bit with every story.

(Although I don't tend to outline short stories.)

More often than not, when these stories happen it is because a very clear idea or nugget pops into my head or a strong urge to write about something in particular, and I tend to write the whole thing in a matter of days or hours. They have a lot of iceberg time in my head where I'm sort of thinking about them, then there's a click.

As an example:

I wrote The Blue Key because I love fairytales, the mythos of Bluebeard and haunted houses. I knew I wanted to write something inspired by Bluebeard in this instance, so I knew that I needed a house, a couple, a key and a locked door that must not/should not be opened.

Because I love these stories, I had them on my mind so I wanted them to play into the story. What does it mean to have so many stories about curiosity and its consequence, about having a love that you are not allowed to look at? I re-read some of my favourites and I came across this quote about Bluebeard by Margaret Atwood. I read people talking about how they would be smarter than the wife, or how they just wouldn't look, as if it's always that easy.

What would happen if you didn't know which story you were in? What would happen if the Bluebeard character was also trapped in a story that he didn't want to play out, where there was love as well as horror? What happens if you are in a story where you have the fairytale rules where you must give your wife a key and you must not tell her what is behind the door.

What happens then?

The Blue Key was my answer to that general brain mulch.

[amoirsetpacis]

Long overdue, but here's finally Vash's permanent starter call.

Liking this post means you're letting me know it's okay to hop into your inbox with either memes or whatever random ideas might pop into my head-- and vice versa! It also means that you'd be up for either receiving semi-spontaneous starters or just throwing them like so many rocks in my general direction, whether they be event related or not.

It's also an invitation to create pre-existing relationships with Vash, given some discussion, in the event you want to skip directly past the initial meeting thread.

Finally, it means that even if I post a starter call with a cap, I might ignore the cap for you if we've already worked through some relationship dynamics, hehe.

A list of what I'd be interested in is below the cut! Feel free to either IM me over tumblr or find me on the isola d/iscord as well if any ideas jump out at you!

★ Friends! Most people end up here by default, especially if you've known him for longer than five minutes. He considers a great many people friends, even if they're not close. Vash could make friends with a literal rock if you gave him more than a couple of minutes. But in reality, Vash is the sort of person who either turns others off immediately, or he grows on them like a vine-- whether they particularly want him to initially or not. He has a tendency of worming himself into other people's lives with how much care and love he has to give. He's always willing to lend a helping hand or give advice where he's able. However, he also has a tendency to keep others at arm's length while simply giving them the illusion that they're becoming just as close to him. While he cares so deeply about others, he still has a lot of trouble letting most people get any closer than surface-level with himself. There are very few people who have seen him deeper than he's wanted to allow, and even fewer among those on the island.

★ Frenemies! Despite Vash making a fair few enemies over the course of Trigun, he's also got quite a few antagonists that end up giving him some grudging respect even if they don't agree with his point of view on life. He's got a bad habit of accidentally 'befriending' people who he very much shouldn't-- and by befriending, usually it means he's managed to get himself tangled up in their schemes and has to get himself un-pretzeled. It's just that most of the time this ends up keeping said frenemy alive as well-- or sometimes also accidentally breaking them out of prison. Who's to say. A lot of antagonists end up in this category specifically because of his usual tendencies, even if he remains fairly warry of them. His self-preservation may be in the dumpster, but it's not entirely zero.

★ Enemies! Sorry, you've gone past the point of Vash's high propensity for shenanigans. You've directly threatened someone he loves in ways that he can't easily forgive-- and this is saying a lot, considering he forgave his genocidal twin. He'll still have the belief that you're worth saving, that you are capable of good and change, but he won't sit idly by if those he cares about are threatened, nor will he do so if you treat human life as disposable or lesser-than ( and go on to act upon it ). He is a pacifist though, so more than likely he won't be the first to jump to violence unless it's absolutely called for. Even then, he's committed to being non-lethal; and has significant trauma around when he had been lethal, if you'd like to toy with him about it. There's a chance he'll push himself past the brink of his capabilities, if you find the right buttons to press. One of my favorite categories, because throwing him against the wall like a wet piece of spaghetti repeatedly is one of my favorite hobbies.

★ Interactions with child characters! Vash loves kids, and has a great time horsing around with them, playing games, etc. He's very protective of children while also being just as playful as them if given the chance. He's been treated as a walking-talking-screaming jungle gym on many an occasion, and will often go out of his way to make sure that kids are safe and happy and having a good time. He's already an over-dramatic clown, but with kids it gets even worse just to crack a laugh and a smile out of them.

★ Interactions with humanoid-non-human characters! Some of my favorite threads that I've ever done have been exploring the differences in life; Vash has spent his entire life feeling othered, in some form or fashion, no matter how much he loves humans. He knows he's different, and for a long time considered himself a monster because of it-- and still does, sometimes. At the same time, he's also felt disconnected from others of his kind; before the end of the series, he and Knives were the only independent Plants on their planet, and his destructive powers vary greatly from the creative ones of his immobile sisters. Connections with others that aren't human, that have something else about them, are really interesting for him to explore.

★ Discussions on religion/belief! Challenge him. He doesn't believe in God, not really, and his ideals rub most the wrong way. Despite his bending into grey areas at the end of the series, he's still a pacifist and doesn't believe in the taking of life. Despite his goofy personality and the way he tends to phrase things, he's got a lot of philosophical thoughts-- no matter if they're hesitant to budge or not. A lot of enemies/antagonists tend to get spawned this way, honestly.

★ Annoy the shit out of him. A la Spamton and Zelos. For funsies. Why not.

[kevlarcrack3d]

Oho what's this? I'm making Skullgirls headcanons?

I ain't kidding. Yes, I am. I actually have super mixed feelings about the many open-ended threads of lore in the game. I kinda like it because it allows me to make headcanons like this (ignore the Medici fuckup), but at the same time, I don't really think it had a good impact on the story. Lots of interesting stuff could be put there.

Without further ado, LET'S GO!

BEWARE OF LEWD: MILD/COMEDIC NSFW FOR THE LAST ONE!

Samson helps Filia pickpocket and steal credit cards. Samson also helps her gamble at the casino because Samson had gambler hosts. They do this sparingly, and they're pretty average. They prefer the lotto tickets.

Skullgirls world technology level is close to that of our current time in the 21st century. However, the uses and people's mannerisms are more of the 40's with many tweaks for the rule of cool.

Speaking of tech, Brain Drain is an AI bro, the sort who screams, "AI ART IS REAL ART AAAAA," and gets into fights over it. Valentine is neutral on AI. Dr. Avian is also pro-AI, but is ethical and knows the limits and challenges. Brain Drain types out whole text messages about AI and instigates LEGENDARY arguments among the labs.

Irvin fights in an ambidextrous manner like Revy from Black Lagoon (can't help it - his two guns remind me of her). Many chicks dig him because TALL, DARK, AND MYSTERIOUS IS VERY HOT 🥵😭🍑💖🔥🔥🔥.

After Umbrella's story mode, Parasoul heard of Filia and Carol's plight and arranged them to have certain support and properties under the proper officials. Filia and Carol now live together and will be having scholarships for college.

Aside from working for the Anti-Skullgirl labs, the previous squads of the Last Hope participated in King Franz's war campaigns. In this headcanon, the SG world has a rule like ours that states combat medics shouldn't be shot at. King Franz took advantage of this and used these squads for biological warfare and effective surprise attacks.

Double also supported herself in the human world as an actress. She was always bitchy and mean to Annie, Selene, Eliza, and literally every celebrity that breathed in her face in that disguise. She was the number 1 drama instigator in their media. Every damn time, there would be something wild popping out about her.

Albus (the bodyguard of Eliza that looks like Anubis) is not a jackal but a black dog feral. This is based on how Anubis may not really be a jackal but a Pharaoh hound (I love long-faced dogs they're sooooo cute 🥺).

The first head of the Medici family had Leviathan as his host. He enjoyed art and music and gave Leviathan as a gift to the Contiellos. He once had the life gem, so when he took Leviathan from his body, he didn't die. (My most preferred one. The other have this head be Lorenzo's parent or boss). This head was more pragmatic than Lorenzo, though, and preferred to be stealthy and smart. He was also more of a fighter, too. Lorenzo is the more hedonistic, narcissistic, flamboyant one who likes being on the front pages of magazines like Bugsy Siegel and buying expensive stuff.

Since Leviathan stated that he and Samson were present before the Skull Heart, then I'll make this headcanon - parasites have been around since the prehistoric ages. Once humans, ferals, gigans, elves, dagonians, etc. grew more complex and the parasites began spending more time with them, that was when they learned to talk in their languages and articulate their ideas as such. Parasites always had complex minds and were able to form long-term memories, they just didn't know how to articulate them until they crossed paths with civilization.

Ferals procreate like the Mink Tribe in One Piece. When the parents are two different species, the kid may come out as another species that isn't their parents'. Same with Dagonians. (One thing I noticed is that these two races in Skullgirls remind me of the Minks and Fishmen in One Piece).

Cerebella didn't attend school. She was homeschooled and trained by the mafia since day 1.

Not my headcanon, but I support it. Beowulf is actually very smart. Has actually taken PhDs and loves to read. Aside from having side roles as the big bad wolf in Annie's show, he is a librarian. He also used these smarts in the ring, where he'd calculate his strikes.

When simply patrolling, The Last Hope also gives medical treatments for free.

Peacock also watches cartoons in the Skullgirls equivalent of Adult Swim. She does prefer the sillier, kiddy ones, though.

Parasoul likes Annie of the Stars because that was her comfort media. Ever since her father started his wars, ever since she was training to be a worthy queen, especially after her mother died, Parasoul deep down looked up to Annie's lessons of standing up for good, never giving up, and protecting the innocent. Though being a real-life head-of-state has more complexities, deep down, Parasoul would always love Annie, her inspiration.

The one with the real political power in Canopy Kingdom is actually a prime minister. However, the Renoir family will always find a way to have the final say if the situation calls for it.

New Meridian is actually like what Hong Kong is to China. It's considered separate, but the Canopy Kingdom has a degree of dominance over it.

The reason why Queen Nancy was a very powerful Skullgirl was, aside from the wish she made to stop the wars and the fact that she was in a warzone most likely filled with dead warriors, especially powerful ones, the umbrella Todd had something to do with it.

Big Band once played gigs at nightclubs to support himself in police academy. He had to be very careful because many of those nightclubs were run by the mafia, and it's not just the Medici Mafia.

When not angry, Carol/Painwheel likes to fly around with the Buer Drive. No thoughts, head empty, just fly around wheeeee ✈️.

If told to draw, Robo Fortune cannot draw hands (a jab at some AI art engines drawing hands so badly). She can't even trace a hand on a paper for whatever reason, and it's driving Brain Drain mad.

The second person in Fukua is actually Shamone on her head. Regarding the two people used to create her, the warrior good at close combat was actually Delilah - Brain Drain actually found an artifact confirmed to be Delilah's and it was fortunate that it had her DNA stuck on it. The assassin who specialized in ranged combat was one of Black Dahlia's best bunny girl assassins.

Taliesin can master any stringed instrument in a short period of time ( the longest is like 2 weeks) except for piano.

There is a pro-Medici Mafia series super beloved in New Meridian, which I could see as their equivalent of "the Sopranos." It's called "My Outlaw Darling." It's a live action just in case some of you think it's animation like My Little Pony or My Dress-up Darling because of the title reference. Bad - or maybe good hehehehe 😊 - news: it's very smutty, risqué, sexy, and 🍑 PASSIONATE ✨️. Embarrassingly, Lorenzo was walked in on many times doing "self-love" to the dirty scenes, particularly the ones between men for whatever reason. IDK, he's bored. This series gets on the Renoir's nerves. Since King Franz isn't really doing much in public, if he uses his TV as background noise, once he hears the "My Outlaw Darling" opening song, he has to stop himself from smashing the TV if he's doing something that requires him to keep sitting down. Peacock also hates it and actually gets up to fire lasers at the TV once she hears the theme! She and her gang have a joke about the airing time of the series where they call it "the witching hour."

Regarding the sexual narute of "My Outlaw Darling," I don't know why it isn't called "OutLewd" 🤔.

[vigilanterenaissance]

let me put my lips to something

warnings: smut but make it soft and loving, established relationship, a bit of clothes ripping but no hard kink, reader wears a bra but gender is not specified/no mention of readers genitals, handjobs, the author hasn’t written fic since middle school, the author hasn’t written smut ever, the author is a fan of run on sentences… also breast worship, because every man looks better with a tit in his mouth let’s be real. no beta we die as is our canon event.

banners by @cafekitsune

author’s note: you can thank the wonderful artworks of @guruan-is-not-here for this piece, specifically those from her most recent poll with miguel. if you didn’t catch her most recent stream, you are in for a pleasant surprise with what secret option number 7 is hehe. if y’all like this i’m up for a part 2!

Miguel is pissed.

Yet another day when the multiverse feels like it’s about to fall apart, anomalies popping up endlessly, and one too many versions of Peter Parker thinking they’re so funny.

So yeah, Miguel is pissed.

All he wants is to come home to you, the only person who can calm the storm in his mind. He has the courtesy to use the door like a normal, non-universe traversing person; he knows you hate it when he opens up a portal and upsets the entire living room. Shutting the door behind him and leaning his weight back on it, Miguel searches for you in the shared space.

“Hey, cariño, how was work?” You ask from your spot on the couch, wrapped in a throw blanket and pursuing through your phone mindlessly.

“Don’t get me started…” he grumbles, running one of his large hands down his face. Pushing himself off the door, Miguel walks over and collapses on the couch next to you. The tension in his body is obvious, and his eyes look exhausted.

“Was it Parker again?” You smirk. The lot of you are friends, hell, you even babysit Mayday when Peter and MJ have date nights, but that doesn’t stop the two men from running each other up the wall at work. Miguel turns towards you, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

“I just want to forget what happened today,” he mumbles into your skin.

“Would you rather I give you some space, lovey?” You ask softly, not wanting to crowd him. His arm shoots out and wraps around your waist, pulling your thighs flush against his.

“Of course not, I always need you, mi vida,” Miguel whispers, and you know by his tone where this evening is most likely headed.

“…you want me to stick around and help you forget?” You purr back, threading your fingers through his dark hair. The hand that’s resting on your waist begins to sneak up your shirt.

“Please…” he groans, pawing at your bra. You giggle at his half asleep attempts at foreplay.

“Patience, Miggy, let me take care of you,” you slip away to lift your shirt over your head. “I have an idea: lay in my lap, cielo.”

He stares up at you, puzzled. With a gentle tug on one of his broad shoulders, he relents, draping himself across your lap like a house cat. Miguel’s eyes, normally harsh and cold, look up at you with warmth, vulnerability, and a bit of wonder. The way they keep drifting to your chest is not lost on you.

“See something you like?” You tease, smiling at his unguarded expression. He can only nod in response. “Can you take your suit off for me, baby?”

Miguel clicks a button on his watch, letting his suit disintegrate into pixels, revealing his broad chest, firm middle, and half hard cock between his plush yet strong thighs. You hum in delight; nothing better than having a boyfriend who will strip at a moment’s notice, right?

“Atta boy… care to do the honors?” You arch your back, offering him access to your bra hooks. Miguel has other plans, though, popping out his claws and dragging them through the delicate fabric, throwing the garment behind the couch. “Miggy! I liked that one!” You scold, glaring at him a bit. This man and his passion for literally ripping your clothes off, good lord.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” he murmurs, too entranced with your newly bared breasts to really care about your stern words. Miguel’s tongue slips out to wet his bottom lip, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. “M-may I?” he nearly whimpers, too tired to be suave or demanding.

You nod, leaning over him a bit. He captures one of your delicate buds between his pouty lips, moaning as he swirls his tongue around. You shiver from the feeling, and begin trailing your hand down his abdomen. Tracing the handsome line of hair that starts below his bellybutton, down to his sweet spot, you find him now fully hard and leaking onto his stomach. Miguel groans and sucks harder when you finally wrap your soft hand around his weeping cock.

“This better, Miggy?” Unable to keep the grin from your face, the odd pleasure of being the one in charge taking over you as you pump him steadily.

“Mhm… this is perfect, mi vida,” Miguel pops off of your breast, a string of spit connecting your nipple and his lips. He begins on the other one feverishly, letting his fangs nip at your sensitive skin just enough so you can feel it, but it won’t hurt. You’re his life after all, he’d never want to hurt you.

Miguel’s cock begins to pulse in your grip; he’s close. He gets more vocal as he sucks on you, a steady stream of huffs and moans pour from him. His hips buck up, begging for that release he so desperately needs, that which only you can give him. You stroke him a few more times before he fucking mewls around your tit, biting down slightly. The two of you cry out in pleasure while Miguel paints his abs white before melting in your lap. You lean your head on the back of the couch, skin on fire, panting. Both Miguel and yourself need a moment to recoup.

But your boyfriend isn’t one to take these types of things laying down.

He reaches towards your hips, hooking a finger into the waistband of your lounge pants.

“I should be making you feel good now,” he whispers, brow furrowing.

“No, you shouldn’t. You take care of so much Miguel, let me take care of you. How about we take a nice, hot shower and head to bed? Does that sound good?” You run your fingers through his silky hair.

“Mhm,” Miguel hums in agreement, turning practically boneless in your lap. Maybe the shower can wait a few moments more…

[eashmo]

7 minutes in hell, or is it heaven? Part 2

-Call Me Babydoll-

Warnings: eventual smut, fluff, and lots of angst. Billy is a soft bean to y/n.

------------------

The door opens quickly. Seeing Tommy coming into view, I rip my arm out of Billy's grip and run out of the room.

"What the fuck is her problem? Stupid fat bitch is such a goody two sho.." Tommy got cut off by Billy punching him square in the jaw. Not holding back a few punches.

"DON'T EVER TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!" He yells as he races out of the bedroom for you.

Nancy, where are you? I thought, almost taking me 10 minutes to find her and successfully avoiding Billy, finding her with a very drunk steve.

"Y/n, I have to take Steve back home. Will you be ok by yourself?" She says as she slings Steve's arm around her neck, struggling to get him off the couch.

"Wait, sweetie, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Noticing your red rimmed eyes and mascara that ran down your face.

Shaking my head, "I'm just being an emotional drunk, that's all, because they didn't have pop in the fridge." I pouted. She didn't need to know about the drama with Billy.

Nancy smiles a little at your childish confession. "Are you sure, sweetie?, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call Steve's house... ok?"

I laugh a little and salute "yes mom, I'll be ok to walk home, i need the fresh air from all these teenage hormones." I wave a finger around the living room of drunk and horny high-schoolers.

"Oh, by the way, Nancy, good luck with Steve he looks like he's dying," saying our goodbyes quickly, I started walking home.

"Jesus H Christ, I should have asked someone for a ride. It's freezing." sighing tiredly as I pulled down my short dress that Nancy dressed me in.

Walking barefoot with heels in hand, i didn't hear the roar of a familiar car because of my exhausted state. Flying passed you, I glared at the car due to the sudden noise and wind to find that the car screeched to a halt and was reversing back to me. Scared of being kidnapped, I started to walk faster.

Window rolled down. i heard a husky voice. " Hey loser, get in."

I stop walking to find Billy peering through the other side of the window.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Hargrove." I Spat as I continue to walk away from the car. He had other ideas, continuing to drive slowly right beside me. Stopping in my tracks "the hell you want Hargrove?"

"I want your cranky ass in this damn car Y/L/N, RIGHT NOW!" He growled.

"How about no, I'm not going anywhere with you!" I snapped.

He angrily laughs and grips the steering wheel tight. I would have been lying to myself if I didn't find that attractive. But then I noticed that his knuckles were bruised. They weren't like that when I left him in the bedroom. Right?

"Get. In. The. Car" is all he said.

"Ugh, fine, whatever you say, dad," I say, dripping with sarcasm. I was only giving up because I was exhausted from tonight's events. Opening the door and silently got in.

"Good girl," he said smugly, rolling my eyes. I decide to take a little nap to the soft sound of a Duran Duran song playing in the background. Refusing to talk to him.

*Billy's pov*

Halfway through the drive, I notice how her breath slowed and how her body leaned towards mine. "What am I going to do with you, babydoll?" Softly smiling, I stretched out my right arm to scoot her body next to mine. I relax into her when I felt her cuddling into my side, seeking more warmth.

Her head slid down to my lap as I continue to drive through dark backroads of Indiana. I took my right hand to grip the steering wheel as I used my left hand to thread my fingers in her soft h/c. Looking down at her, I wondered how it was possible to fall in love with her even more when she started to lean into his hand as she slept. she had him wrapped around her fingers, but he's not gonna to admit that to her.

Can I really be seen with a person like her? It is actually more like the other way around. I was a nobody, a person that doesn't respect anyone, a player, an asshole. Y/n was someone. She respects people who are good and bad to her, she's innocent, and she's an angel.

I was shocked that she became feisty towards me tonight. She was always painfully quiet and timid. That's why i always bullied her to get her to at least yell at me once, but she never did.

Ever since I came into history class late on my first day because of Max, I was assigned the seat right next to hers. I didn't believe in love at first sight, but I fell head over heels for her e/c eyes. That day, I viewed things differently when it came to her.

Never thought in a million years that she would even be my type, having H/L H/C, thick nerdy glasses, a bit of chub around the waist, and thick thighs. She was a goddess in his eyes. I just wish she wouldn't call me just Hargrove, I want my first name to fall from those pretty lips.

*Y/n pov*

A bump slowly woke me up. As I did, I saw Billy staring at the road. I thought I was dreaming again, reaching out to touch his face, I missed the fact that he went stiff underneath me. He slowly looked down at me.

"Why are you so beautiful, You were carved from the Gods themselves, " I lazily ask.

"I don't know, babydoll, you tell me." He says with a small smile as he continued to drive.

Humming to myself, I try to think of the answer. I start to realize this was not a usual dream. Shooting up, I almost head butt his face if he didn't dodge so quickly.

Scaring him, he halted the car into an abrupt stop, causing whatever was in the back seat to go flying to the floor.

"Jesus christ, babydoll, what the hell is wrong with you?" He says quickly.

I stare at him wide eyed, he never calls anyone babydoll. "What did you just call me?"

"Nothing, now get the fuck out." He snapped.

What the hell is his problem, I thought, seeing that we were barely parked in my driveway. I quickly got out. "Thank you for the ride, Hargrove. I'll see you at school, I guess." I say as I run to my front door at full speed. Slamming the door closed, almost waking up the parents.

*Billy pov*

I didn't mean to snap at her, but I freaked out from the sudden jump scare and almost having to explain the pet name I gave her. Naturally, I lashed.

Luckily I live on the same road as her as I drive to my house I take deep breaths to prepare myself to enter the pit of hell I call home.

As I got through the door, I immediately felt the sting of a fist connecting to my jaw.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN FAGGOT? SCREWING AROUND WITH ALL YOUR WHORES ALL NIGHT?" an angry voice shouted through the quiet house. The voice that came from the person he most dreaded, his father Neil. The devil himself.

Previous Chapter

Part 3

Masterlist

2023

[gaygoetia]

Helluva Boss Theories

Caught up with Helluva Boss and now idk what to do with myself so have some theories!

(Not including my next episode/Asmodean crystal theories cause I already discussed that here)

There are so many plates spinning at this point in the story so here are my current theories/hopes/ideas in where each thread is heading:

Stella (and her brother)

Stella is a simple woman with simple goals - to kill her husband and take all his money (not necessarily in that order).

But as established in S2 E4, if Stella kills Stolas all his money and possessions will pass to Via, leaving Stella with nothing. Of course he also won't give her anything willingly on account of how she, you know, tried to kill him.

This leaves two obvious avenues that I can think of that Stella is likely to take in pursuit of Stolas' fortune:

1. Blackmail - It's only a matter of time before Stolas' deal with Blitzo is going to come back and bite him in the ass. It's pretty much an open secret that he's been loaning out his Grimoire so that Blitzo can illegally access the human world and at some point someone is bound to leverage that fact to their advantage.

As soon as Stella realises (or more likely, her brother points out to her) that this is prime blackmail material, I think she'll jump at the chance to squeeze as much money out of Stolas' as possible.

2. Ransom - I think this is much less likely because it's too similar to previous storylines and is likely to feel repetitive, but Stella could also potentially hire Striker to kidnap Blitzo and demand a ransom in exchange for his safety.

Mammon

Given that S2 E7 ends with Mammon warning Asmodeus that he'll regret crossing him, I imagine that Mammon has a plan of his own that will emerge in future episodes.

I don't know how likely this actually is given it would be pretty large scale and would likely impact the plot of Hazbin Hotel too, but I would love it if this leads to a civil war across Hell.

Mammon is all about money and he'll be losing a lot of it now his top money-maker has publicly decried him (and I doubt Asmodeus will continue production of the Fizzy fuckdolls either).

It could also be an opportunity to finally introduce Satan (Demon of Wrath) and Leviathan (Demon of Envy) as potential allies to Mammon (whose desire for vengeance is motivated in part by the sins they embody), leaving Beelzebub and Belphegor as potential allies to Asmodeus. Of course the other sins might also have beef with each other that we don't know about which could exacerbate the situation further.

Striker

Striker has been a major player in season 2 in particular, popping up over and over again as an antagonist to IMP due Blitzo's connections to Stolas and Fizz respectively.

While he's ostensibly killing for money, he clearly has a more personal agenda stemming from his hatred of the upper class.

At the moment it's hard to know how exactly his plan will come together but in the last episode we saw him approach Crimson with the intention of forming some kind of alliance, though the details weren't specified.

I think this must be the first step in Striker's long term plan to bring down the monarchy and topple the hierarchy of Hell, though how this will play out is unclear.

I don't see the show killing off Stolas but I can imagine Striker's next appearance being in conjunction with the assassination of another royal character like Stella or her brother or even one of the Sins like Mammon or Bea.

I can also picture him trying his hand at kidnapping again in order to lure in a royal target - maybe kidnapping Blitzo or Via to draw in Stolas.

D.H.O.R.K.S

Thanks to IMP's consistent failure to keep a low profile, they've drawn the attention of D.H.O.R.K.S, an organization on Earth that appears to investigate paranormal activities, and as of S1 E6 we know they have video evidence.

I don't see them finding a way to hell without dying but I suspect they'll continue to cause problems during IMP's visits to the surface. They might even find a way to bind or command a demon.

That said, rather than the D.H.O.R.K.S themselves posing a serious threat, I think major consequences for IMP and/or Stolas are more likely to arise from the D.H.O.R.K.S drawing the attention of Higher-Ups in Hell.

What do y'all think?

I'd love to hear alternative theories on where all these storylines are leading!

Do you think all the different threads will end up intersecting?

If so, how do you think they'll tie it all together?

[basedkikuenjoyer]

If Only There Were a Word to Describe the Enormity

Big doesn't quite cut it. So things went a different route, but walking a line along what our less recent arrivals did. This is a big, huge (no that isn't it) chapter for the Nika mythos. Sets the stage for a divine presence to cap off the end of another's story. I definitely feel that vibe with Bonney's role in all this, what a turning point and one that definitely reminds me a lot of little Otama. We've been here before with trying to predict Egghead. Opting for repetition of core themes, doubling down on what we had and making it bigger in scope over moving towards resolution. Interesting crossroads. This could swiftly turn towards that surface-level resolution but honestly I wouldn't be surprised at this point if we spin our wheels for a little more then go into that third cutaway, ending up with an arc around WCI-length.

The hook is an idea we're familiar with. Keep your eye on Luffy. Never see his eyes, how he just kinda leaps back in leaving this little gap about being fed and ending up downstairs unresolved. Mostly though, he's full-blown teeheemaxxing in a dire moment. Which is on brand for Nika but our whole idea is there's an undertone based on the notion the drawback to G5 is losing control. It all goes back to that observation our finale could be constructed a little more like a YuYu Hakusho type series than other shonen; you've gotten your ultimate power a little early because our ending will be more about learning to control it.

Oh hey, these guys. Seriously...nice. The Giants are very important to my fandom. Y'all know how much I love Miss Goldenweek and by extension Little Garden. Oimo & Kashi are where I caught up the first time. I remember being about two weeks away from starting freshman year of high school at the tail end of a summer binging the hell out of so many anime thanks to this newfangled DSL high speed internet. The way that came up again blew my mind, and seeing Dorry & Brogy almost twenty years later is so damn cool it makes me forget all about the not being the Grand Fleet aspect.

I mean, that was always just a specific and early guess. They still have sprinkled into these cutaway segments though. This pair just saw the paper and hurried over. Maybe they were expecting Luffy to head to Elbaf next after his time in Wano? Which is a very interesting concept when we've talked about Egghead being a somewhat "lateral" move with no clear goal set to advance our main progress through the Grand Line.

It's also pretty interesting to blend two long-running threads through this Nika lore. How do Bonney/Kuma & the giants intersect? Does it reinforce the need to pop the mystique of the spectacle? Does Luffy jump from one legendary story to another? The Fleet was the way to end it here. The giants tease it out more. At least as long as Shanks isn't following. But there's one last little element that makes me interested in the undertone like always, as we started off pointing out how that's still very much an element if you watch for it:

Robonosuke! Interesting how he's finally coming back around. It does look like he's reacting to the heartbeat but I'd point out we did let most of the chapter roll before showing this when Luffy went G5 at the start. The idea was always asking if that's a potential blip of something weird. The kicker with the Giants to me is how Dorry and Brogy seem to both be coming for Luffy and for the Sun God. We'll talk a lot more about them tomorrow and especially a titanic (oooh, yeah that's the stuff) wrinkle all around our beloved Strawhat Sniper Usopp I feel silly for not thinking of already. It's justified through what we learn of Elbaf in the Big Mom flashback.

Oddly enough, gets me right back to where I felt about Bonney right around the time this arc started. Remember? We're puzzled about Kiku's odd ending to Wano and all of a sudden Bonney picks up those threads in a big way. Now moving into more of that alternate protag space a lot like Yamato. Never forget, we know there was a rewrite behind that hiatus for a reason. So now...even if it's not the Fleet I can't help but notice how Dorry and Brogy specifically amplify the same ideas.

Either way, Robonosuke is coming online. We still have a little weirdness in the gaps. I'm curious as hell were it's all leading so bring on the big bois.

[deficd]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN.

respond to the prompts out of character!

what made you pick up the current muse(s) you have? oh man. uh. i guess, following my url's general meaning, i choose to write muses on here that have defied their fates/expectations in some shape or form. this is true for more of my older muses on here, as i've definitely added some recently where i have to kinda twist that a bit. aside from that, i really just write muses that i can connect with on some level. my apparent calling is sad men who are prone to violence and are also incredibly sad/lonely. the mains i have floating in my head are usually there because it's the current media i'm consuming (i.e. star wars: the old republic). i could write long metas on why i adore all of my muses though. c':

is there anything you don’t like to write? uhh, you know. i'm actually pretty open to most things. i need some sort of action going on, regardless of the type, to keep interested i suppose. like, if there's a lot of conversation, i tend to get stuck. that's just because i struggle with it and i don't want to bore my partner, though. aside from that, pretty much any genre you throw at me, i'll be interested in writing.

is there anything you really enjoy writing? I'm a sucker for redemption au's, even if it takes thirty threads to get there. i enjoy writing the aftermath of a character's worst arc, and all of the guilt, pain, and sorrow that comes with it. so do i want to write arcann's redemption? yes. do i want to write about nihilus somehow healing from being a literal wound in the force? yes. (or even, writing who he was before malachor.) ragnar going back to being a farmer? please. all of it, yes. aside from that, i really, really enjoy hurt/comfort, violent/gore threads, general sci-fi adventure, and general fantasy adventure (the campfires, the fights, the enemies in between destinations, etc.)

how do you come up with headcanons?  it's kind of a mix between being inspired by outside sources, such as media, music, mututals, and things that pop into my head after hyperfixating about a muse for three straight hours or something. i do adopt headcanons/partial headcanons from other people, but like sparingly and if it's appropriate/i know them/have asked. most of the time i really just get hit in the face with them though.

do you write in silence or do you play music? i am someone that requires music to write. i need to drown out distractions however i can. i really struggle with being easily distracted (getting tested for adhd soon lol) because i can very easily lose a thought before i'm able to write it down. i find that with music i can focus better, and i have playlists that help with whatever mood i'm going for in the reply.

do you plan your replies or wing them? i usually just sort of write what comes to mind first and then, if i have questions about something, i'll either approach the other mun or write things in the tags. sort of referring to the previous question, i try to write my ideas down as soon as i see a reply, or i'll be prone to forgetting them.

do you enjoy shipping? yes, 1000% yes. i love all sorts of relationships, not only the romantic ones. i don't really get to write about platonic/friendships too often, but i really enjoy the times i can. that said, re: romantic ships, i'm usually on board if there's chemistry between muses. i also encourage other muns to approach me if they think they might want to ship because chances are, i'm already on board.

what’s your alias/name?  Lee

age?  old

birthday?  December 25th

favorite color?  silver, purple, black

favorite song?  i... don't think i can choose? there are all sorts of songs that hit me in the right way. i can tell you a song i'm listening to on repeat right now is The Wind Weeps Eleanor by American Murder Song.

last movie you watched?  Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse, but I hope to go see Dune 2 this week.

last show you watched?  just started Shōgun and it's wonderful.

last song you listened to?  Dwamn by Tech N9ne 🫣 

favorite food?  fry bread! or a step further: navajo tacos.

favorite season?  winter

do you have a tumblr best friend? um i think i'm close to a few people on here, but the only one i know i can tag for sure is @vuulpecula starbuck has put up with my nonsense on here for years and somehow still talks to me lmfao we have the greatest and the worst ships and honestly i am always always always excited to write with her❤️❤️❤️

and idk if i should tag u because this is an rp meme and this is one of my rp blogs but @oolathurman is my other bestie and i've known and adored them for literal years so. yeah sflkjdslf❤️❤️❤️

TAGGED BY @valorums thank you<3

TAGGING @vuulpecula @riiese @hcxcd @fasciinating @juramentum @mistrdctr / @respondedinkind @auroradicit @red-white-and-trauma @blue-eyed-banshee @helreginn @astridnorddottir @brittlefcrged and YOU!

[bearlydruid]

A brief intro!

Hello :) 

I enjoy roleplaying immensely and if you’re interested, please don’t hesitate to contact me! I am 36, very much fine with smut, only 18+ players involved. See below for the off limits in that regard. I range from one to 5 paragraphs, usually whatever the situation requires. I can be contacted via my inbox - if you’d like my discord I’ll send it to you privately.

RULES

PLEASE give me at least a couple sentences to work with. I will -always- give you at least a paragraph between actions and speech, so give me something to go off as well! I hate sounding pretentious or elitist but it makes me way more invested in the thread if I’ve got lots to respond to from it.

I will not play with random family members of Halsin's without first talking about it. I’m totally open to the idea, but just gimme a heads up and some info first? 

OC’s - Yes / No - For me OC’s are hit or miss because I prefer to have a knowledge of the character so I can actually reply by mobile when I’m work. I don’t hate OC’s though! I just might be MUCH slower and more selective with the OC’s I play with. That said though, I don’t like playing with Mary or Gary sue’s. If I end up not replying to something, don’t take it personally, it might be that I just don’t see how they would properly interact. 

I will play with multiple ships / characters. Lines are all separate! - once we’ve established a few threads each relationship will get it’s own name and tag. Feel free to toss suggestions at me for names! AU's: I absolutely love alternate universes! Lets absolutely play with the world and adjust things as we please!

I keep an eye on ‘bearlydruid’ as much as I can in tags! I have noticed though that not everything that gets tagged shows up in my tags. If you think I’ve missed a reply, shoot me a link for it.

If something is marked open you don’t have to ask - just hop on in! 

If you’d like me to reply to something of yours pop it in my ask box!

I browse / reply via the mobile app a lot which sometimes swallows up replies (both yours and mine!) if I miss something, take more than like a week to reply, please send me a message about it! 

Pairings I adore:

Halsin x Astarion (my OTP!) Halsin x Other Tadfools Halsin x Chemistry 

Things I am particularly fond of:  - Reunion Tropes (I will happily establish an au for this!), found family, omegaverse (I cherry pick from the concept, we can discuss what to use / not! <3), primal play, soulmates

Things that are off limits:

Non-Con, Feet, Outright torture (without discussion first!), Watersports, Scat, Underage Characters

Advancing situations without prior discussion: For example, I had someone reply to an open and through the course of 4/5 replies they laid out that their muse and Halsin were divorced, had a child together, and Halsin had been neglecting them long before their divorce. Don’t be that person, okay? Lets discuss important details like that before hand!

If it’s obvious you haven’t read my rules and push situations on me, I will disengage. You are welcome to discuss it with me before hand, but, I prefer not to waste either of our time.

[arcielee]

Interview With a Writer

Thank you so much @inthedayswhenlandswerefew​ for allowing me to pick your brain again, and giving us a glimpse into your process for your amazing stories. 💜  

This series is near and dear to my heart, completely self-indulgent, but I am glad others are enjoying it too. You can look over the masterlist to see the other amazing authors I have spoken with; this series is just a BTS of some of the talented minds on Tumblr and ao3.     

Name: inthedayswhenlandswerefew

Story: Now I’m Covered in You

Paring: HotD/War of the Roses AU Aemond Targaryen x Reader

Rating/Warning: Language, sexual content (18+), dubious consent, miscarriage, pregnancy, childbirth, violence, warfare, murder, alcoholism, sexism, infidelity, illness, death, only vaguely historically accurate, lots of horses!

Where did the plot for Now I’m Covered in You come from?  I’ve always, always, always loved British history. I’ve read countless books (mostly nonfiction, some fiction) about it and when I studied abroad in college, out of a hundred possible locations I chose to go to the United Kingdom. London is still my favorite place on Earth and I would love to live there someday. It’s truly where I feel like I belong. NICIY is definitely inspired by my love of British history (especially Renaissance-era) as well as two phenomenal television series: The Tudors and The White Queen.

I had the idea for NICIY but was still warring with it—I desperately wanted it to just go away so my life could be nice and simple, haha!—when I was driving to work listening to my Spotify playlist. I have a long commute, about 40 minutes, so I listen to a LOT of Spotify. And Taylor Swift’s song Ivy came on and I was like…about to drive off the road it hit me so hard. It struck every chord of this story and made it louder, unignorable. The forbidden pining. The wintery, mournful, timeless quality. The idea of someone growing over you and through you, like ivy, and turning you into a whole new version of yourself. And ivy (the plant) is indomitable, it’s very difficult to get rid of and it ends up destroying a lot of other foliage. The love that Aemond and Ivy share is like that, but Ivy herself is too. She’s adaptive, resilient, and…under the right circumstances…a bit ruthless. She was always going to survive. What is your planning process? How do you know the steps that need to unfold? I really adore foreshadowing. But I have to be careful because there are a few people (like @aemcndtargaryen​) who have this superpower where they seem to be able to latch onto EVERY little hint. So I'm always working on perfecting that balance between foreshadowing and being the right amount of mysterious!

My planning process always starts with a chapter list. For each chapter—starting with the last few and then looping back to the first one—I give it a name and a few key words to remind myself of which major events go where. Then as phrases, scenes, and conversations occur to me, I write them non-chronologically. 

For example, one of the first parts of NICIY that I wrote was the miscarriage in Chapter 3 and the disjointed exchanges between Aemond and Ivy as she’s floating in and out of consciousness. I fill in the gaps when it’s time to publish each chapter. I think this helps me maintain a consistent thread of foreshadowing that runs throughout the story because when there’s a certain metaphor or phrase that I like, I’ll go ahead and drop it into every chapter where I think it’ll end up fitting, and then tweak it later if necessary. 

But honestly, there are a lot of aspects of writing that I still can’t really explain. Sometimes a phrase will pop into my head and I’m thinking “what??” and then, weeks later, I finally see how it fits in the design. It’s all rather mystical in a neat sort of way. Explain your interpretation of Aemond. What drives him? Why is he the way he is in NICIY? NICIY Aemond is, to me, a mirror image of canon Aemond and also the version of Aemond that appeared in my first HOTD fic, Have You No Idea That You’re In Deep? 

He’s a bit more sensitive, reserved, emotionally intelligent, merciful, and of course poetic. Sir Criston tells Ivy in Chapter 9 that Aemond had changed for the better since she arrived in England, and that is what allows him and Ivy to get their happy ending. NICIY Aemond is affected by his past, but he’s not ruled by it. He is ultimately motivated by the future—by the possibility of having a family with Ivy, and the need for England to be stable in order for that to happen—rather than retribution for past wrongs. So he tends to be less reckless and more forgiving. He does lose his temper at times, he’s still human (and watching your brother be married to the woman you love is stressful), but he tends to be able to move past that wrath quickly and shift to something more productive, for example strategizing or comforting.

However, it must be said: Aemond is rather unhinged when it comes to Ivy, like he behaves in a way that is borderline obsessive. I think that’s a natural consequence of someone who does not connect with 99% of humans finally feeling like he’s found a perfect match that he never believed would exist. But Aemond cares greatly for Ivy’s wellbeing and respects her autonomy/preferences, so it’s a partnership that works.

Was his poem to Ivy a Maggie original? So my main writing medium is fiction, but I do occasionally write poems. I don’t feel especially comfortable with poetry but every once in a while the inspiration strikes and I’ll write like five in a week, and then none for months at a time. They usually fit with one of my stories rather than as standalone pieces, for example the way that “Ivy” only occurred to me because it was an aspect of NICIY. It’s an unapologetically deranged poem, especially in the way that Aemond uses it—he confesses love that he can’t bear to express out loud and then runs away to hide in the chapel—but the sentiment is heartwarming, I think.

What was the inspiration for Ivy?  I spent a lot of time thinking about the values that were instilled in royal women of this time period (1400s) and how different personalities would cope with those pressures. Ivy is (generally) a dutiful wife and does genuinely want to be the mother of a large family, but she’s also more scrappy than a typical princess. I think this has a lot to do with her upbringing. 

Ivy is from Navarre, which was a relatively small and undistinguished kingdom, and we have hints that her family life was a lot less stifling and formal than Nico’s, Kunigunde’s, or Alicent’s. She did a lot of rough-and-tumble activities like sparring and horseback riding, and seems to have genuinely warm relationships with her parents and siblings (Alonzo!!! 😍). She has an innate willfulness and ferocity that Aemond is mesmerized by.

He was instantly attracted to her when she arrived in London—hence being too shy to interact with her—and then when he saw how bravely she handled challenges (Aegon, Daemon, the miscarriages, court gossip) he fell absolutely madly in love with her. Aemond values nothing more than strength in the face of adversity, and he desired AND respected Ivy in a way that transcended anything he’d felt before.

Aemond and Ivy’s first interaction in Chapter 1 is this odd moment because for Ivy, it seems random and confusing (although welcomed), but for Aemond it’s this culmination of a year of all-consuming clandestine longing. Aemond finally talking to Ivy is sort of by chance—he runs into her and is caught off-guard, therefore he hesitates too long to excuse himself gracefully—but he’s also pushed into it by how much she’s suffered in England up until that point. He genuinely feels tremendously sorry for her and feels that she deserves better…and he also feels a drive to protect her from further harm. Aemond wants Ivy to be happy, and that eventually overpowers his paralyzing shyness.

Why do you feel Ivy complements Aemond well? Ivy and Aemond complement each other wonderfully. She is amazed by him—his competence, his beauty—and gives him the tender, protective, unconditional sort of love that he has always craved. Ivy is also not disturbed by Aemond’s disfigurement and has difficulty understanding why Miss Kuni has such trepidation about it in Chapter 6. Ivy can understand the trauma that Aemond carries because she has suffered similarly—in both her miscarriages and in her marriage to Aegon—but she does not consider him limited by it. 

They are equally dutiful yet passionate, and have the capacity to be both extraordinarily gentle and selectively ruthless. They are a bit of a power couple, and accomplish more together than either could separately.

What was the inspiration for the character creation of Kunigunde? Kunigunde—who I always refer to fondly as Miss Kuni, it’s cute but also proper in a way that I think suits her—is the perfect Renaissance-era princess. 

She’s wealthy, she’s honorable, she’s loyal, she’s beautiful, she’s clever, she’s sporty, she’s confident, she’s all the Spice Girls rolled into one. But Aemond feels absolutely nothing for her. This is a manifestation of the fact that Aemond is truly changed by Ivy at this point, and that she has covered him; the old Aemond never would have dreaded a match that was THIS advantageous to the Greens, nor spurned a bride that is supposedly everything he’s always wanted. 

Furthermore, Aemond’s prior sexual experiences (with the exception of Ivy and the Bearskin Rug Incident™️) were not what we would consider to be consensual, and the trauma that he carries from that adds another layer to his inability to be intimate with Miss Kuni, someone that he not only doesn’t have feelings for, but also cannot touch without feeling that he’s betraying Ivy.

Miss Kuni does her absolute best in a terrible situation and demonstrates steadfast loyalty to Aemond and the Greens. This is in part because honor demands it, but it’s also because her upbringing was very different from Ivy’s. 

Kunigunde grew up in a very formal court, and her family was not as warm as Ivy’s; Miss Kuni mentions in Chapter 7 that her family would blame her if her marriage failed, a stark contrast to how Ivy’s family has already plotted to bring her back home after feeling that Aegon wronged her. 

Miss Kuni confronting Daemon also illustrates just how cemented her traditional beliefs are—women aren’t combatants, princesses can’t be harmed—and it ultimately dooms her. But that sacrifice paves the way not only for the Greens’ military victory near Castle Rising, but also the Holy Roman Emperor taking Rhaenyra’s youngest children hostage as revenge for his daughter’s murder, which helps to neutralize Rhaenyra as a threat once the war is over.

Were there any other characters in your story that you enjoyed writing? I always adore writing Aegon. In every fandom, there are a few characters whose voices are so clear and so impactful in my head that their lines just feel like they write themselves. Aegon is like that for me. He is damaging without being malicious, pathetic and yet unpredictably heroic at times, weirdly insightful but also a dumb babygirl. I just love, love, love writing him. Especially since the Aegon who exists to me is Tom Glynn-Carney’s more nuanced and sympathetic interpretation, not the HOTD show canon version.

I also really enjoyed writing Nico. She is light and bubbly and enthusiastic and innocent, and compulsively honest in a way that is cringey for the royal family but hilarious to us readers. She adds some much-needed levity to an, at times, deeply tragic story. She’s also brave in a way that is sometimes unwise and childlike, which is consistent with her personality.

Lastly: Alonzo, as one wise anon message said, is a vibe.

So, I have to ask, you were “retired” but... Does this mean my “retirement” is over? Well…at the moment…yes. 😂 

I’m a lot more open to new fic ideas now because I’ve learned how impossible it is to predict when inspiration will strike, and I’ve also gained the perspective of what a loss it would have been if I’d never written NICIY. 

I think I’ve accepted that fics are likely just a part of my mental landscape and will be indefinitely. For example, after I finished up NICIY two weeks ago, I immediately dove back into my novel, write 20 pages…and then was assailed by a new fic idea! Of course I tried to ignore it, but as we have all learned, I am not very good at that. 

So a new HOTD fic is on the way! You will know more about that soon…very soon…very very soon… 👀