#⟦ the same sad story over and over again. ⟧ mark ⟶ lore.

[makeslegend]

well, i make a post like this on just about every blog, so i thought i'd detail my stance on shipping with these particular muses:

mark.

it's complicated with him. on one hand, it actually does very much delight me to throw him at every person who looks even a little bit like they might genuinely like or genuinely hate his company. on the other hand ...

well, he could honestly use more people who are just his friends. or pseudo-family members. or enemies, even. or partners, sure, but there's not one definable relationship that matters more to him than any other. he's had one real romantic partner who i had to cut for 'time' in his bio section because that relationship was ultimately less important than the relationships he had with his friends and coworkers.

he's also just a very flighty person in general. he feels very intensely and is afraid of his own feeling, because he thinks he's a unique curse upon the people he gets attached to. he's overwhelming and he knows it. he gets crushes very easily, but tries to bail the moment they start to turn into something more, or the moment things start to get a little too honest.

of course, that's the same sort of thing that happens with friends, too, or at least those he's not forced to be around by virtue of sharing the same underground organization. he's easy to hang out with, but difficult to get to know, in any case.

finnegan.

he's easier. he's the type who gets infatuated easily - falls fast and hard. like orpheus in a lot of ways. he cares deeply for other people as an intrinsic feeling; the absolute baseline of his feelings for any given person is going to be extremely positive anyway.

he tries to keep himself closed off and push himself away, but he's not very good at it. so, 'easier'. he doesn't really have the same fears mark does about expressing himself, and his doubts about relationships compared with his wandering nature are far more easily dispelled than mark's deep-set disconnect with the rest of the world.

but he's doomed when it comes to relationships. unlike mark, who once you get past his difficulties will bite and claw his way back to the people close to him no matter what, finnegan will always get up and keep going somewhere else. without fail, he always leaves. there are far less avenues to achieving a 'happy ending' with him.

[sharp-silver4795]

Liu X EJ headcanons 🙏 :)) I love your writing and lore

EJ x Liu HCs

Hehehe gladly!! There are gonna be some story elements to this as well, so bear with me.

The first part is story (TW) and the second part is HCs!

Thanks so much for the compliment! I’ll say it again: I will never get used to people seeing my stuff and liking it 💖

How they met (Story Elements)

This part can be triggering

After Eashar became EJ and Selcra disappeared (died), he wandered around looking for someone to know and someone who he could take care of and would take care of him.

While walking in a wooded area of (some city in Florida- idk) he finds Liu against a tree, very sad in the aftermath of some very traumatic events.

Liu is prepared to be humiliated and defiled further, but is shocked to see what he thought was a man take off his hoodie and offer it to him.

WHOLESOME TIME

From that point, EJ would follow Liu to his house so he could find his window.

EJ visited him every night.

Sometimes he would find Liu crying. So he would cuddle him and lick away his tears.

Other times, Liu would try and communicate with him.

At the time EJ wasn’t too confident in speaking due to his demonic strange voice. So, he would just write shit down.

One time Liu told him that his English wasn’t great either. EJ never told him that if he learns one human language (doesn’t matter which) he can learn all of them cuz ✨demon magic✨

When Liu died, EJ begged death (Fox) to take him to Hydra so that he can see him again. He’d lost too many friends and loved ones to let Liu go.

Life (death?)

So, I’m gonna do this after the fall of the OR, so they’re in Hydra again.

Liu always wakes up lying on top of Jack. Whenever he tries to get up- EJ will stop him and hold him there until he doesn’t have another choice but to let Liu go. (Like needing the bathroom, food, water, etc)

Jack isn’t allowed to cook for obvious reasons. Their mornings are spent apart so Liu doesn’t puke at seeing his husband eat a human heart.

Liu has to force this man in a shower and to brush his teeth before being allowed to kiss him.

They have to buy toothbrushes in bulk cuz EJ rips em up- his are single use.

Their bed is fucking huge cuz they both giants

Night time cuddles is a god death-given right

Because EJ wants to make sure Liu is safe at all times, he HAS to be touching him skin-on-skin.

Just because of that ⬆️ Liu sleeps shirtless

They have an ass ton of blankets bc Liu is naturally very cold he’s dead and ain’t got hot acid tar running through him

Their bedroom door is always locked because of Liu’s issues from trauma and the fact that EJ sleeps naked even though his junk is inside his body smh

EJ

He can’t keep his hands off of Liu, mostly his sides and back. Because that’s the way he holds Liu while they’re cuddling.

Anytime Liu is sick or in pain, he’ll put his hand on his chest with a little bit of pressure since the weight is grounding for him and he likes the reminder of how strong his husband really is.

Liu has a bite mark on his left shoulder from EJ. If it starts to fade, he’ll throw Liu on his lap and bite into him all over again. Liu usually grabs something to do if he notices it in morning cuz he’s gonna be there for a while.

Liu is the only one who can pet him.

Liu likes to hear and feel him purr, so he doesn’t mind being vulnerable enough to just purr at random. Being in the same room, putting his hands on Liu’s back, intimate activities, being pet, anything- he will always purr without holding back. EJ usually felt it was embarrassing. But around Liu- nahh!!

He will sometimes grab Liu to the couch or bedroom just to lay, nuzzle, headbutt, or knead on him.

Liu

He can’t sit on the couch. It’s like EJ knows when he sits down because he will just throw himself on there and lay his head on Liu’s lap. Buddy needs pets.

He likes flustering, gently frustrating, or making EJ giddy cuz his ears move a lot and he thinks it’s silly.

Sometimes pretends to be sick so EJ will take care of him and so he doesn’t have to go to work. EJ knows he’s lying but indulges him anyway

If he wakes up from a nap, and there isn’t a 6’9” demon laying on him, he will cry.

If he feels insecure he will grab EJ’s hands and just put em wherever it is that he’s worried about. His hubby usually gets the hint.

The fucking king of pets and scritches

Cuddle time is all the time- if he has a chance he is hugging EJ like he’s gonna fade away

Is secretly horny as hell and has to take some deep breaths every morning, basically

Likes to act like an idiot so EJ throws him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Melts when EJ calls him “his lil potato”

Teases EJ by calling him an oversized cat

Omfg I love them so much-

[gnashingwailing]

GIRL (gender neutral) HELP NOT THE PEER REVIEWED HOMOPHOBIA

@fireflywritesgt sending u my ch 24/25 thoughts <3

⬆️How Harry looks processing how upset he is that Joe nearly died in a lake while lovingly making him tea for his hangover

Meanwhile, Joe: I hope sober Joe knows how to deal with this Sober Joe:

First off. this is primarily a reflection on Joe & Harry throughout these last two chapters but I would be remiss not to mention how EXTREMELY fed I am by the Gutters lore ... was HE a pet or was it someone he cared for... either way... woof. Plus Calloway coming to Joe's rescue once again... even though there are now rumors and Gutters saw something. In parallel with the marking scene ... this story does such a great job of balancing the horror with the levity. maybe it's for the best Joe isn't telling Harry the particulars of his visiting Calloway's bcuz Harry might just have a heart attack if he stops and thinks through the implications of all this. Wonder if he realizes how much danger he might have put Joe in... he seems to kinda forgor everything else where saving/supporting Joe is concerned (as seen in ch21 when he wanted to bring Joe to see O'Grady...)

(Btw I love the way (sober) Joe will NEVER admit anything re: Harry saving his life lol. “You just threw me into a curtain 🙄“ “I don’t even remember the turtle 🙄”)

“He knew what the medical journals had to say about homosexuals; hell, he had read them! He had to give himself some credit, however. The little bastard had been drunk as a skunk, lying helplessly in his hand, and the worst Harry had done was march him straight upstairs to tuck him into bed. Whatever pathology Harry himself had, it had not gotten the best of him yet.”

GIRL (gn) HELP NOT THE PEER-REVIEWED INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA… The Harry chapters always hit soooo hard for me when you read between the lines of what he’s thinking. He is SUCH a poor little guy… We can see pretty clearly that Harry thinks of his affections as something poisonous but Also apparently as something predatory? “his pathology” “getting the best of him” being like… what? That he’d take advantage of him because he’s attracted to him ? Is that the kind of thing the research said? UGH IT BREAKS MY HEART. I hope he’ll reject his coping mechanism of rationalizing and dissecting everything and just let go and trust Joe to know what he wants! It would be really tragic if Harry tried rejecting Joe much the same way Georgie rejected him :’(

“Harry, though he hated to admit it, was afraid – not of Joe himself, but what Joe represented.” - OUUUUUGHHH THE PARALLELS… the way Joe thought the exact same thing after the night of the thunderstorm… ouuuuughhhhh save meeee...

And the parallels continue in their tendency to self-harm… Joe may be more overt about it (lol if Harry ever learns that Joe has purposefully eaten poisoned chocolate three. times. and fully thought he was doing it a 4th with Harry’s own offering … #girl…) but Harry’s absolute repression of any self-expression or vulnerability is equally a form of self-harm… questioning Joe’s ability to make his own decisions is such a sad expression of how Harry (maybe unconsciously?) views things — safety and staying alive is worth more than authenticity. Maybe he won’t stick Joe in a cage anymore but he still wants to exert control over him — in the relatable way many of us do when we feel like our loved ones are making bad decisions. And Joe is making some of those! But so does everyone! And in Joe’s case the worst of them are likely driven from years of internalized self-loathing and self-neglect !! He would probably chill out if he just had a good man waiting for him at home……. Taking Harry by the shoulders and shaking him. U are both two sides of the same coin

Except

“Unseasoned. The word crept back into Joe’s mind. Calloway had a point, he realized; Harry wasn’t acting all that different from some of the lesser-experienced boys of Joe’s own size that he had toyed with. Surely, though, Harry didn’t find Joe attractive. That would be absurd!” Holy shit this whole chapter is so good but this part is hysterical. 1. TOYED WITH⁉️ 2. Watching Harry’s brain overheat in real time while 3. Joe getting to enjoy flirting shamelessly (clapping and hollering that he got to do that AND got to be sober to remember it) WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY BEING LIKE 🤨 there’s no way he finds me attractive tho. How do they both manage to be such conniving little bastards and also so innocent. So clever and yet soooo dumb. 💕

But even tho he’s somewhat in disbelief about how Harry feels about him, Joe knows himself so very well lmao. At first I thought he was lying about not remembering their conversation but. I don’t think so. Harry telling him he said “something very nice” to him and Joe being like. Was it that you had a nice ass. LIKE HE WAS THIS 🤏 CLOSE TO THE MARK BDDJSHHD but ALSO even just calling Harry handsome made him a blushing mess!! It fascinates me that Harry is so terrified of receiving affection but he felt much more at ease when he was giving it. I mean, he was calling Joe handsome two chapters ago‼️ I think Joe can be forgiven for his romance-novel-brain idealizing Harry as a seductor. It says something interesting about Harry’s character that he’s been so comfortable complimenting Joe until it might lead somewhere … Is that open, easygoing kindness, the sort that compliments other men readily, the ‘real’ Harry? Was Joe seeing his unvarnished personality before it got hidden under the internalized homophobia that has come out in force since ch22? I get the sense Harry is just the sort of guy whose true feelings sometimes spill out of him in a way he is barely cognizant of. We know that’s true for his anger, but I could see that being true for his affection, too. I’m guessing that is why his internal monologue goes “wow! He’s like a movie star :) and he’s so brave and cool and I respect him so much. He looks like a dancer. And his clothes look so good on him. And I notice his haircut and whether he’s getting enough sleep and every scratch and scrape and other intricacy of his appearance immediately. Yeah, I can’t help but love him - you know - like a brother or a friend!!” 👈 UNSEASONED

"“So you admit it. I’m up here because I manipulated you, and not because you manipulated me.” Joe said." — omfg. On the one hand, I love that these two are so good at unhanding each other, and it’s very cute to me that they’ve both at different points felt proud for “catching” one another. On the other hand, Harry & Joe when they are tasked with cultivating a mutually nurturing and vulnerable relationship:

WHAT IF NEITHER OF YOU ARE MANIPULATING THE OTHER AND DOING THIS BECAUSE YOU LIKE ONE ANOTHER AND YOU’RE BOTH CHOOSING THE UNKNOWN. WHAT IF THAT WASNT BEYOND BOTH UR KEN RN. What then. One day they will quit playing Tom and Jerry-esque mind games with each other but not today. I know the rituals are intricate. I know. I know they’re intricate 😔😔😔

On a lighter note so glad to see Joe’s other go-to behavior is back. If he doesn’t wanna Just Walk Out then he wants to Fuck Around & Find Out <3 I luv how compatible the two of them are… Joe is not only moving in he's turning Harry into the u-haul service and Harry is just enamored with him for it. Faithful hunting dog retrieving game indeed. Submissive in the way a livestock guardian dog is submissive to its sheep. 10/10 Joe got his ass so good.

"“I’m sure you[‘ll listen to me]. You have to. If I’m gonna be the tiny, then it means you have to be the giant and do everything I say all the time.” He said." — Hmm. Joe and I have the same g/t fics bookmarked I think 👍 I sort of get the same sense that Harry got when Joe was talking about “luck” — that maybe the idea of “being the tiny” vs “being the giant” has some cultural connotations for him we don’t quite grasp.

OH this reminds me of the question I meant to ask you and promptly forgot about. If miniatures have a taboo against taking things without giving something in return… what does it feel like for Joe when Harry just keeps giving him stuff? Does “paying me in sleep” really work in borrower cultural norms? Hazarding a guess, I’m assuming romantic partners don’t necessarily operate on the same principle of equivalent exchange… given “Joe’s got a rich boyfriend that’s spoiling him” being something Calloway reads as normal/expected … That is to say. Hmm. Is Harry giving Joe all these things something that a romantic suitor would do? 🤔 Harry the unknowing seductor…

Parting thoughts… Miss Wilkins’ dad suddenly came down with tuberculosis, huh. Gang, do we know how Harry’s mom died, other than that it was sudden and traumatic? How do we think Harry is doing re: pushing all his feelings & unprocessed trauma down at this time. 👍/👎?

[carrinth]

Whelp I've done it. Just finished Witch Hunt which now marks the end of my Dragon: Age Origins run. 10/10 would recommend. Especially Awakening and Witch Hunt DLC.

And y'know what? Witch Hunt was worth it for this moment. A fitting end for my Warden. Reunited with his love (and baby mama) and peaces out of work and responsibilities via magic mirror. Just look at that face. I think this is honestly the first time I've seen my Warden-Commander smile in a LONG time. Poor guy.

Minor DA2 rant below cut;

Actually I finished it awhile ago but had been procrastinating by replaying Awakening.

Because uggghhhhhh... I don't want to play DA2.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I'll grow to love Hawke again but right now my mood is just... meh. Replaying Origins and all its DLCs just made the differences in quality and content between the two all the more jarring. Aaaand on a more personal level -- I don't want to stop being a Grey Warden. ಥ_ಥ

For the last near 150 hours, I was sold on being a Grey Warden. In fact, I think my best fun was Awakening where I actually got to BE a Grey Warden doing Grey Warden things WITH OTHER GREY WARDENS. We ALL drank the nasty juice! It was a bonding experience! This game spent so much time building up the lore and excitement of being a Grey Warden -- leaving so many unanswered questions about the Taint, the Blight, what it all means, dO wE GET griFFONs -- only to just... drop it all in DA2.

I'm just so confused by the direction DA2 went. Replaying Origins with the knowledge of the upcoming mage/templar plot in DA2, the conflict in Origins felt... minor. Sure we get hints here and there that things are Kinda Bad. But nothing major. Heck, I played a Circle Mage as my Origin and I never felt that 'Oh wow, mage rebellion should totally be Main Focus of the next game!' Like don't get me wrong, mage/templar conflict is 😌👌but the Darkspawn and Grey Wardens was what set Dragon Age apart from other fantasy.

"Well the Blight's over Carrinth, there's no more story to tell about Grey Wardens" you say. And yet, Awakening did a fantastic job of making an entire campaign post-Blight.

Part of me feels like if they didn't want to keep the Main Character the same (ala Mass Effect with Cmdr Shepard) then couldn't they have still made the DA2 MC a grey warden? Like a junior(?) Warden that's investigating Corypheus or whatever in Kirkwall but gets caught in the mage/templar mess. Sure we would have gotten a very different story but would that have been so bad?

In the end, I will likely end up playing DA2, if only for the excellent companions and to reunite with my Sad Mage and Angry Spirit Husbands. But at the moment... *sigh*

So goodbye Marzel Amell. You were the best Warden-Commander and I had fun throwing Storm of the Century on fools, flexing my maxed out Coercion, and painstakingly working out TACTICS. I will probably still keep stubbornly drawing Awakening fanart (because I am Not Normal about those idiots) but DA2 stuff will likely eventually bleed in. ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

Farewell Marzel and go live gloriously in mirror land with ur spider lady and kid.

[lunabonita]

My Webtoon Recommendations

These are webtoons that are all 10/10 for me. Of course it doesn’t have to be a 10/10 for you, so just a reminder, do not attack me for liking a webtoon that you do not. These are my opinions and we are not going to have the exact same taste. Please be respectful.

Your Throne

Genre: Fantasy

Chapters: 75

Status: Ongoing

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“Tensions are brewing under the seemingly calm surface of the Vasilios Empire, a kingdom ruled by the Imperial Family and the Temple. Lady Medea Solon has lost her place next to Crown Prince Eros, but resolves to win back whats rightfully hers. Will she reclaim her throne?”

You know whats amazing about this webtoon? The summary leads you to think that what shes winning back is the prince. Wrong. Shes trying to win back the throne. I love how this webtoon doesn’t try to make it a girl focusing her goals on a man, but on power. Medea is such a strong and well written character that you can’t help but love her.

The second protagonist Pschye, who of which is the person who took Medeas place as Crown Princess, is the complete opposite of Medea. At the beginning you hate her, but as the webtoon goes on and Medea and her get a better understanding of eachother due to them switching bodies as a wish from God, you begin to root for them as they team up to take over the throne from the Crown Prince.

The art is so beautiful and I constantly found myself at awe from the amount of detail put into it.

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The Makeup Remover

Genre: Romace

Chapters: 78

Status: Ongoing

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“After years of being told to focus on studying, Yeseul feels lost when she starts college and is suddenly expected to pay attention to makeup. When a chance encounter with brilliant makeup artist Yuseong leads to her taking part in a televised makeup competition, Yeseul begins to question the role that makeup and appearance play in society.”

This was created by one of my favorite webtoon creators Lee Yone. Their art is just so amazing and their stories always include such good topics.

For instance, The Makeup Remover’s theme is loving yourself for who you are. It shows how people treat you based on your looks and as someone whos struggled with that kind of thing for a while, this webtoon really touched me. The main character Yeseul is such a relatable character, even when trying to reject beauty standards, she still came subject to the pressures of living up to the people around her. She struggles with trying to love her own appearance and I really like that this webtoon didn’t try to be like, ‘fuck the beauty standard im better than that screw pretty people!!!’ it actually showed realistically how people struggle with self-image. I also love the main love interest because oh my god, we need more men like him please. He doesn’t care about Yeseul’s appearance and genuinely loves her for her personality.

Also, art is amazing. The author is so talented and you should support them by reading and liking the chapters.

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Surviving Romance

Genre: Horror

Chapters: 14

Status: Ongoing

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“When Chaerin Eun becomes the protagonist of the romance novel she is reading, she expects a fairytale ending with the novel’s love interest, Jeha. But when a bizarre twist makes her realize the story is not playing out as it does in the book, she’ll need the help of an unlikely character from her class to defy the new storyline and find her happy ending - if only she can figure out who this ‘Unknown Extra’ is first!”

Hands down one of my favorite webtoons by a long shot. You ever see a webtoon and think, ‘oh yeah, thats going to be a good webtoon’? Thats how this webtoon was for me. It was so good that I spent hours searching for other chapters that hadn’t been uploaded to webtoon yet on other manhua websites. I discovered it because it was also by the author of ‘The Makeup Remover’.

If there is one thing you need to know about me, its that I am a huge horror fan. So when I saw that my favorite author on webtoon had a horror themed webtoon out? You bet your behind that I binged it. Let me tell you, best choice ever.

Think of it as if ‘Ino’s Law’ and ‘Quarantine’ were combined with amazing art and a badass MC.

The Remarried Empress

I love how it is set up to the point where she cannot ‘quit’ until she completes the novel. Creating scenarios where she must survive while meeting the standards in the book. It is such an amazingly written webtoon and I cannot wait for more chapters to be released.

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Genre: Fantasy

Chapters: 82

Status: Ongoing

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“Navier Ellie Trovi was an empress perfect in every way - intelligent, courageous, and socially adept. She was kind to her subjects and devoted to her husband. Navier was perfectly content to live the rest of her days as the wise empress of the Eastern Empire. That is, until her husband brought hone a mistress and demanded a divorce. ‘I accept this divorce… And i request an approval of my remarriage.’ In a shoking twist Navier remaarries another emperor and retains her title and childhood dream as empress. But just how did everything unfold? “

Am I in love with Navier? Yes.

I absolutely adore how this story was set up. The first chapter begins with the big divorce scene, followed by Navier saying that she was going to be remarrying someone else since he wants to divorce her. This sets up a picture that gets completely shattered as you read the chapters. How everything falls into place with the reason behind the divorce and the remarriage is just so well written. The art is so good and and everything is just so insanely well done.

I absolutely love Naviers character, from her regalness and devoted loyalty to her role as empress, all the way to her petty moments and times of sadness. She is truly a character that you want the best for, and I cannot image anyone not liking her. Also the story is just so capable of making you feel emotions. I’ve laughed, cried, and got angry during the course of reading this webtoon. I love how betrayed I felt when the emperor brought home his mistress. It felt like I was in Navier’s shoes!

This is such a well done webtoon and I'm so excited for Navier to get all of the good things she deserves in her new Kingdom and with her new husband.

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Witch Creek Road

Genre: Horror

Chapters: 74

Status: Ongoing

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“A survival horror about love, acceptance, death, and revenge. And sexy flesh-eating demons. Yeah, it has those, too.”

This series seriously mind fucked me. The way that this story is set up, you don’t see the full picture until the later chapters. Season two literally blew my mind. It is also very gorey so keep that in mind if you don’t like that kind of stuff, but for me that makes it all the better. It is just so wild and crass that you can feel your heart pumping in anticipation.

They even have their own website that goes further into the lore because it’s just so wild. Also the art style is just so amazing, because it complements the story and horror theme so much. You hate most of the characters because they suck, and it is so satisfying when they are killed. Also it has it’s sad moments but I think it is a nice break from the horror so it isn’t so overwhelmingly scary.

I binged this series and I recommend reading only a few chapters a day so you don’t overload your brain.

Other then that, an amazing webtoon. Seriously, go read it, support the author, so much work goes into the story and art that it’s insane.

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Dating With A Tail

Genre: Romance

Chapters: 36

Status: Ongoing

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“On the dawn of her 29th birthday, unlucky-in-love Yunha discovers a shocking family secret: she’s started growing a fox tail, the mark of an ancestral curse. She must find her fated love before her 30th birthday or she is destined to become a fox forever! Even with her new-found enchanting power to attract men using her scent, will one year be enough to break the curse before it’s too late?”

Oh my gosh this is just such a good webtoon. It has amazing art, story telling, and characters. The true love interest was there the whole time, the villain isn’t who you’d expect it to be, and the spirit who cursed her is just! Im not going to spoil it but go read this webtoon!! It is so good and deserves more love.

Also Yunha is just so relatable?? Like she put off finding the woodcutter (her fated love) for 29 years and waited last minute to find him. Homegirl is me trying to do a project for school. Also to get rid of the scent that makes men attracted to her, she just starts eating a ton of garlic and that is just so funny to me.

Also I would go to church for the priest anytime if you know what i mean ;)

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Omniscient Reader

Genre: Action

Chapters: 53

Status: Ongoing

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“Dokja was an average office worker whose sole interest was reading his favorite web novel ‘Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.’ But when the novel suddenly becomes reality, he is the only person who knows how the world will end. Armed with this realization, Dokja uses his understanding to change the course of the story, and the world, as he knows it.”

I cannot get over how high quality this story is. The world building is phenomenal, the art is fantastic, and the characters are very fleshed out. This deserved all the hype it has gotten so far and more.

I love the ‘mc thrown into a different reality’ trope so much. Just like with surviving romance, Dokja’s world became the story he was reading. Also a very cool aspect of the story is the level up and the fact that its like a game. Earth has turned into this show for god like creatures to watch and it follows Dokja trying to survive. I also really like that TWSA has a protagonist, but Omniscient Reader’s protagonist is not the protagonist that was in TWSA. There is just so much lore and I’ll say it again, the world building is just phenomenal.

The Ddokkaebi’s and Dokja’s interactions are also just some of my favorite moments from the story so far. And oh my goodness I would die for Lee Gilyoung. Thats it, thats the tweet. That little boy could probably kill me with his giant praying mantis and I would let him if it would make him happy.

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Not So Shoujo Love Story

Genre: Comedy

Chapters: 45

Status: Ongoing

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“Romance super-fan Rei Chan is ready for her first boyfriend and she knows just who it’ll be: the most handsome boy in school, Hansum Ochinchin. But her plans for the perfect story are derailed when the most popular girl in class declares herself a rival… for Rei’s heart?! This is the year her not so shoujo love story begins!”

This is just such a cute webtoon. The style is very appealing and while the humor can be childish and weird sometimes, it still has made me laugh a lot. I know the humors not for everyone but just keep in mind that it does get better as the story progresses and gets more serious.

Also its a gl! I’m really unable to find good gls these days that don’t fetishize wlw relationships. Rei being painted as a mean trouble maker whos just misunderstood and Hana being the ‘perfect girl’ who only wants Rei’s attention is such a cute dynamic. They balance each other out and better each other. Also stan Rei for constantly sticking up for Hana even if she doesn’t necessarily like her in the beginning, she has very good morals and sticks to them.

Also the defying stereotypes in this webtoon? Just god-tier. Really makes you think twice when you judge someone just on first impressions alone.

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Odd Girl Out

Genre: Drama

Chapters: 264

Status: Ongoing

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“After a successful winter break makeover, Nari is finally ready for her high school debut. But somehow, she ends up friends with the three prettiest girls in school! Follow Nari as she tries to navigate her brand new high school life surrounded by beauties.”

This story has made me cry multiple times. A lot, even. It is just such a beautiful tale of friendship and finding support in people who are unlike those around theme. It also tells a great story about how anybody can be the ‘odd girl out’. Be it the fat girl, the beautiful girl, the rich girl, or the laid back girl.

It goes so deep into its characters that you even feel bad for the minor antagonists. It really makes you feel for the characters and the reasons behind their actions. Also I know its long, believe me I binged all 260 chapters in the span of three days, but oh my god it is worth it. Also I know the art is kind of off-putting, in fact that’s kind of why I put off reading the story, but I’ve honestly grown to love it and the writing is so good that the art could be literal stick figures and it wouldn’t matter.

The story is amazing and also I just love Nari. She’s just the best.

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Gremoryland

Genre: Horror

Chapters: 67

Status: Completed

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“Six old school friends are invited to be the first visitors of GremoryLand, a new horror theme park that promises an experience as unique as it is spooky. But once this experience starts there is no turning back, and they find themselves tested beyond what they imagines, facing their most desperate fears in order to survive.”

This is definitely one of those stories were you kind of need to turn of your brain and choose to ignore ‘plot holes’ while reading the early chapters because this story definitely gets crazy if you don’t know the ending. Believe me if you stick with it it will all make sense and the satisfaction you get from finding the ending is just so worth it.

The story is so good, and who Gremory is you would literally never suspect. When it was revealed who Gremory was and how he was able to create Gremoryland is so fucking mind boggling that you would never guess. I had to do a double take. It wasn’t like one of those random characters with a vendetta type of twists, but like one you can pick out from clues throughout the story.

Its so good and twisted and just so worth at least giving it a chance.

-

These were some of my favorite webtoons on the app! Of course it’s not all of them because unfortunately there is a 10 image limit. I also made this because I’ve run out of new webtoons to read and would love if you guys commented some of your own recs. I can also do a part two with other ones I liked if y’all want more recommendations. You guys can even request specific categories like Drama or Sci-Fi and I can tell you my favorite ones from that genre.

Also a reminder - if you disagree with any of my praise of these webtoons be respectful about it. At the end of the day it’s my opinion and you don’t need to be rude when disagreeing with that opinion.

[spencereliotwinchester]

That Summer Storm Chapter Two

Title: That Summer Storm Chapter Two

Chapter Title: Once Upon a Midnight Dreary

Author: Kat

Reader Gender: Female

Word Count: 2k

Series Summary:

Jensen kept his eyes on the floor, but nodded his understanding. He was too scared to look up into the guard’s face; he didn’t even trust his voice not to break. He didn’t look up until he heard the click-lock sound of his door. The room was very small. Along one wall was a set of metal-framed bunk beds. The far wall had a small desk with a stool. Opposite the bunk beds was a toilet and sink.

He sat down on the bottom bunk, head in his hands. I shouldn’t be here, I’m only fifteen, the thought ran through his head on a loop. This was not how his life was supposed to go. Jensen rubbed his knuckles into his forehead, hard. The sobs of his mother would haunt him. It had been all he could hear the entire van ride back to juvenile hall.

Warnings: There will be feelings!

Chapter Warnings: Solitary Madness, anxiety attack

Catch Up HERE

A/N: Little bit longer of a chapter. Next one may be a bit shorter. Please please please reblog or let me know what you think!!

Character: Jensen Ackles

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Tags:

@iwantthedean@lyarr24@janicho88@deans-baby-momma@sandlee44@mrswhozeewhatsis@blacktithe7@torn-and-frayed@the-jette-blog@supernatural-jackles@sacriceria@siospins@negans-lucille-tblr@eve-loves-apples@myinconnelly1@mariekoukie6661@stoneyggirl2@thisisallicansay@jjrp-obsessed67@amyzombie1013@mrskcreeves95

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The door click-locked shut and Jensen pressed himself into the corner of the room. He was hyperventilating and failing to calm himself down. Pressing his entire side into the cool wall and squeezing his eyes shut, Jensen tried to block out everything except the feeling of the wall. It barely registered that the door to the room opened and shut again.

“What are you doing?” It was the same voice that came to his rescue out in the yard, though it sounded reproachful. Padalecki moved around the room for awhile, pacing, then Jensen heard the top bunk bed creak. “Don’t let Roger catch you like that. He’ll throw your ass in solitary-”

“There’s too much space!” Jensen gasped. He slid down the wall, crouching in the corner.

“Jesus, did Tito dose you or something?” The bed creaked again, then there were footsteps coming toward Jensen.

Jensen started trembling, thinking back to Padalecki’s words: “he’s mine.” He’d heard stories about detention centers, stories that made his skin crawl. Now here he was, about to live through it. Instead of the rough hands Jensen had expected, a blanket was wrapped around him, tightly. The pressure around his body let him relax, finally. Jensen opened his eyes and was met with the hazel-brown eyes of his roommate.

Padalecki was tall, taller even than Jensen. He was lean and well built though. His eyes were hard, though, unkind, which was completely unmatching his actions. Padalecki had the blanket in his hands, pulling it as tightly as he could around Jensen’s body.

“Chill out, will you, Jensen? Fucking stupid name, by the way,” Padalecki said, rolling his eyes. He tied the blanket and moved away from Jensen, climbing back up to the top bunk.

Jensen moved to his bunk, slowly. He curled up as close to the wall as he could. He pulled the blanket tightly around him.

“It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea, that a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Annabel Lee; and this maiden she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me,” Padalecki’s voice was soft as it drifted from the top bunk. “I was a child and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea, but we loved with a love that was more than love - I and my Annabel Lee - With a love that the winged seraphs of Heaven coveted her and me.”

Padalecki read the entire poem in his soft, calming voice. By the end, Jensen’s breathing had finally returned to normal and he felt better than he had since he’d been arrested.

“Thanks, Padalecki,” Jensen whispered; he was unsure if Padalecki had even heard him.

“You can call me Jared,” came a few minutes later.

--May 1996--

Life at Travis County Correctional became a mundane routine for Jensen. Monday through Friday they had school and on the weekends they had more recreational time, but the schedule never deviated. Jensen and Jared had even fallen into a nightly routine, at nine pm they were sent to their room and had one hour of quiet time before lights out. They would get into their respective bunks and Jared would quietly read from his one and only possession: The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. They’d gone through the whole book at least three times, but neither of them seemed to care.

Late one night, Jensen was suddenly startled awake by the sound of laughing. It started as a low snicker but quickly worked itself up into shrieks. Jensen scrambled out of bed to find Jared sitting at the desk. He turned quickly and locked eyes with Jensen. There was no mirth in his laughter and his eyes were black and dangerous looking. Jensen’s heart was suddenly in his throat and he backed up until he came into contact with the door.

“Jared?” Jensen’s voice quivered in fear.

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious of forgotten lore - While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door…” Jared’s voice was suddenly smooth, even, and it scared Jensen even more. Jared pointed a finger at Jensen, indicating to him to continue.

“‘Tis some visitor,’” Jensen squeaked, but his voice failed him. He turned and pressed the emergency call button that was located to the right of the door. Jared started laughing again, low and evil. He was still laughing when Barney, the night guard, came through the door. Jensen threw himself into the corner.

“There better be someone…” Barney’s voice died out as his flashlight fell on Jared, still laughing maniacally.

Barney called into his radio for backup and it was quick to arrive. They carted Jared off, but Barney stayed behind. He was a middle-aged black man, with kind brown eyes, and a little extra weight around his middle. His radio crackled, but Jensen couldn’t understand a word that was said.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said, helping Jensen to his feet.

“What?” Jensen’s brow furrowed.

“We gotta toss the room for drugs.”

Barney silently led Jensen through a labyrinth of dark hallways then through a door marked “Pod S.” A guard at a desk glanced up at Barney, nodded, and went back to his book. Barney prodded Jensen through a barred gate. They were now in a dead-end hallway with doors on either side. Barney opened door number one and lightly pushed Jensen inside. Barney gave him a sad, almost guilty look, before shutting the door. It click-locked with a finality that scared Jensen.

The only reason he wasn’t shrouded in complete darkness was the window in the door. The room he was in was small, much smaller than his normal cell. Everything was padded and the only furniture in the room was a small cot on the floor. A low rumble of thunder startled him and he wished he were back in his normal cell. Within minutes the building shook and shuddered from violent crackling booms of thunder. Jensen curled himself on the cot and wrapped the blanket around himself as tightly as he could.

He couldn’t sleep with the raging storm outside and his heart was still hammering from what had happened with Jared. Jensen looked around the padded room. Another clash of thunder. Jensen wondered what time it was, he wondered how long they were going to leave him here, and he wondered why they’d left him here. Jensen closed his eyes and started humming, trying to drown out the noise of the storm raging outside.

The storm was still going full force when the fluorescent lights clicked on. Six am. Jensen sat up on the cot, wrapping the blanket more tightly around himself. Soon, the door would unlock, and Roger would take him to breakfast. Jensen would welcome the sight of even Roger’s unfriendly face instead of the white padded room he was in.

Jensen counted the minutes until seven am. Nothing happened. At seven forty-five, there was a clicking sound. Jensen walked over to the door, expecting it to open. Instead, a rectangular hatch in the door was opened downward, creating a little table and a tray of food was set down.

“What’s happening?” Jensen yelled.

There was no response.

Eventually, the tray of food was taken out of the door and the hatch was closed and locked. Jensen paced the small room, seven steps, turn, four steps, turn, seven steps, turn, four steps, turn, seven… Alone. His thoughts matched in time with his steps. Completely alone. No one will come for you. All alone.

“Alone…”

Jensen froze. It had been a whisper, sure, but… It couldn’t be. Jensen took a deep, shaky breath. Get hold of yourself, Ackles, he thought. He rubbed his knuckles hard into his forehead. It was nothing, his mind was playing tricks on him.

“It is nothing but the wind in the chimney,” Jensen recited out loud. “It is only a mouse crossing the floor,-”

“Or it is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp!”

Jensen whirled around, his heart hammering in his throat again. The door to the padded cell was open and in the doorway was an old gentleman in a collared shirt, an argyle sweater vest, pressed pants, and loafers.

“Poe at his best! That’s one of my favorites as well. Care to have a seat, Jensen?”

Jensen slowly sat down on the cot, not taking his eyes off the man. Jensen realized the room was very quiet now, the storm must have died down while he was lost in his thoughts. The man brought with him a stool as well as a briefcase and he sat down across from Jensen. A young woman brought in her own stool and sat down in the corner. The door closed and click-locked.

“My name is Dr. Langstrom and this is one of my students, Abigail. I want to talk to you about what happened last night, and I’ll need to take some blood,” the man introduced himself, then took a small journal from his pocket along with an expensive looking pen.

“Is Jared okay?” Jensen chewed on his bottom lip.

“Don’t worry, now are you scared of needles?” The doctor asked and he began to take some plastic wrapped items out of the briefcase.

“No, but, why are you taking blood?” Jensen asked, holding out his arm.

“Just make sure everything’s alright with you.”

Dr. Langstrom took an alcohol wipe and rubbed Jensen’s arm. With his tongue sticking between his teeth, the doctor squinted at the needle. Then he paused for a moment, and pulled out a package of gloves and put them on. He took the needle again and pricked it into Jensen’s arm and Jensen hissed. Then, Dr. Langstrom actually moved the needle around, attempting to find a vein.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, sorry, let me try again,” Dr. Langstrom said vaguely.

“Doc, the tourniquet,” Abigail prompted.

“Yes, yes! That’s right!”

Dr Langstrom pulled the strip of rubber from his bag and wrapped it around Jensen’s upper arm. His second, third, and fourth attempts were no better than the first, however.

“Um, Doc, would you like me to do that? I just finished my lab rotation,” Abigail spoke quietly from the corner.

“Of course Abigail, that would be wonderful. I haven’t drawn blood in fifteen or twenty years.”

Abigail put on a pair of gloves and switched places with the doctor. She adjusted the tourniquet tighter and then she calmly took the needle and palpated Jensen’s arm. With one smooth movement, the needle was in and blood trickled into the waiting vial.

“Now, Jensen,” Dr. Langstrom started after Abigail finished drawing his blood. “Can you tell us what happened last night? Did Jared take anything?”

“I don’t know. I woke up and he was laughing. I hit the call button and Barney came in,” Jensen explained simply, picking at a loose thread on his jumpsuit.

“That’s all?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jensen shrugged.

“Were you attacked? Did he bite you or spit at you in any way?”

“What? No,” Jensen’s worry bled into his words.

“Good, good. Are you feeling well? No feelings of euphoria or despair?”

“I’m fine,” Jensen said through gritted teeth. “What’s happening with Jared? Where is he?”

“Good, good. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything about Jared.”

Jensen mulled that over for a moment. Then, his bladder reminded him it’d been way too long since his last bathroom visit.

“Can I go to the bathroom?”

“I’ll let the guard know.”

Abigail and Dr. Langstrom gathered their things and knocked on the door. It opened for them and closed behind them. Then, the hatch opened.

“Present yourself to be cuffed, Ackles,” came a deep baritone voice.

Jensen slid his hands through the hatch and winced as handcuffs were tightened around his wrists. Jensen stepped back and the door opened. He was taken to a small bathroom and then straight back to the padded cell. All attempts at talking to the guard were met with stony silence. Once back in the room, handcuffs removed, Jensen sat down on the cot.

Added/Subtract from taglist HERE

Let me know what you think! Send me a message, reblog, or send an ask! However you’d like!

[tsukikoindreamsmp]

Dream SMP, But Make It Hardcore

Aka. What if you only have one canon live

This is written before 30 Days SMP, I know there’s no connection with DSMP but just in case XD

Before we start, we need to lay down several rule.

There should be at least one player death for each war/arc, with possible some exception.

In this au, there are majority two ways to cheat death: using the totem of undying and the resurrection book. Totem of undying can only be used if the victim is holding it when they on the brink of death. The resurrection book can only be used with equivalent exchange: a life for a life. Any methods outside of this won't be acknowledged temporarily. Except one that we’ll discuss later.

Thirdly, the existence of ghost. As far as I knew, the only ghost characters are Ghostbur, Glatt, and Mexican Dream. All of them are formerly death people. But so far, at least from what I know, there is no actual reasoning of how the three of them came to be. So, temporarily, we will pretend ghost doesn't exist.

Fourthly, if the characters have crucial role in the Arc, the role will be passed on to someone else. This is still in the juggling process, so there will be possible contradictions.

Lastly, I'm not versatile in Dream SMP lore. I only join after Tommy resurrection, but I have a vague knowledge of the previous season. Even so, I haven't watch all the POV, so I might mot know which canon death is important and which is not. I'll try my best and follow the wiki, you any of you can argue with me. I'm open for discussion.

Now with that out of the way, let's begin the body count.

Acknowledged Death

Fundy

Cause of Death: The Final Control Room

There is no denying that Eret’s Final Control Room is one of the most iconic scene in all of Dream SMP, thus any death that happens here would have bigger meaning: they died because of a betrayal, they died fighting for the independence of their beloved country. If they die here, they die as a revolutionary hero.

However, if we look in the L’Manburg gang, everyone has importance in future role: Wilbur with the Season 1 finale, Tommy with the Season 2 finale, Tubbo with the Manberg Festivavl, Eret with the Final Control Room, Fundy with the Schlatt Administration. But, if we hae to choose one, unfortunately, we have to choose Fundy. Wilbur and Tubbo has bigger role in the narrative of Season 1 and Tommy is the central character throught Season 1 and 2. However, knowing the future and Quackity lore, we don't know how far Fundy would go in depth. So we'll put a pin on this.

Tubbo

Cause of Death: Manberg Festival Execution

Canonically speaking, so far, Tubbo has lost two canon life: in the Final Control Room to Sapnap and the Manberg Festival Execution to Technoblade. Both events are crucial in the DSMP lore however I chose the execution because it kick-started the Manberg vs Pogtopia War even further. Tubbo’s death leads Nikki and many others to join Pogtopia and Tommy vs Techno Duel at Pogtopia. Unlike Techno, Tubbo doesn’t have the Totem of Undying, thus his execution is inevitable.

However, as we know, Tubbo’s role at the end of Season 1 and beyond is important. He’s the president of L’Manberg, he exiles Tommy, the Butcher Army, and the Disc Confrontation. If he dies very early in the story, many plot will be lost. So, temporarily, unless by divine intervention his execution is stopped, his lore will be given to Lani or Ranboo.

JSchlatt

Cause of Death: Heart attack at the the end of Manberg vs Pogtopia War

This is probably the first ever canon permanent death, so we had to put in here. Schlatt other two death are during the Manberg Festival, having caught in Technoblade fireworks, and Quackity assassination at The White House. Since we already have Tubbo’s death during the Manberg Festival, that only leave with Quackity assasination and his heart attack. But, considering his heart attack death ends the Manberg vs Pogtopia War, I choose this. I’m sure anyone would agree in this.

My only worry is the potential of Schlatt’s resurrection by Quackity. In rule two, you need one soul to resurrect another. Who would Quackity kill to resurrect Schlatt?

Mexican Dream

Cause of Death: Killed by Dream during Exile Arc

Poor Mexican Dream. The best character always die too early. But, according to this wonderful analysis video, Mexican Dream is very crucial to Tommy descend to depression during the Exile Arc. With Mexican Dream being the few people who visit Tommy during exile, his presence becomes quite importance to Tommy. Which is why when Mexican Dream dies, Tommy is left with no one else (but Dream) which leads him down a harsher path to depression and suicide. 

Tommy

Cause of Death: Killed by Dream in the prison

We know that Tommy is the main character throughout Season 1 and 2, so why is he chosen for death? One reason: Wilbur’s resurrection.

All of Tommy’s death are actually important in the history of Dream SMP, but as we know, his role in Season 1 and 2 are too important that I can’t think of anyone else who can replace him. His death in the prison is a shocking moment and I’m pretty sure everyone remembers that. The main character is killed by the antagonist. Tragic isn’t it? And going back to Point 2, with Tommy’s death, Dream can resurrect Wilbur for whatever he’s planning for the future.  A soul for a soul; Tommy death’s for Wilbur’s resurrection.

Antfrost

Cause of Death: Killed by Puffy during the Red Banquet

The Red Banquet is once again a staple event on the server. Even if it’s count as a side-arc, we can’t ignore any awesome moments surrounding this event (plus, nearly all characters that Quackity recruit in Las Nevadas Arc were invited to the Red Banquet). Thus, any death happening here will effected the Eggpire gang and the guest invited there. Back then, Antfront was the one suggesting that Foolish should be sacrifice first, which made him being a bigger target for Puffy and for her to gain revenge for the death of her son. Plus, Bad mentioned that the egg required energy gained from death to hatch, thus Antfrost (and Foolish) death will fed the egg more... 

Survived

Quackity

Currently, we have Las Nevadas Arc with Quackity as the central characters, this there is no doubt that Quakcity is an important character. Heck, even before this, his role is very crucial in history. He challenged Wilbur in the election, becoming the vice president of Manberg and New L’Manberg, conducting the Butcher Army, and in Dream’s imprisonment.

Quackity has one canon death: his duel with Technoblade (the one death on the Manberg Festival by Technoblade has been retconned). So, knowing the imortance of his role in future Las Nevadas Arc, he didn’t die after the battle with Technoblade.

Jack Manifold

Jack Manifold probably had the most unfortunate deaths of all. He was killed by Wilbur because the dude just felt like it. He was killed by Tommy because he was too surprise. And he was killed by Techno during Doomsday. He’s like the SBI kids personal victim.

Now, out of all the death he suffered, I can only count his death to Techno to be the most crucial. However, Jack and Techno doesn’t have that strong relationship except Jack thinking Techno was an enemy because of Doomsday. Heck, even Jack isn’t written in Techno’s relationship list. Thus, I can’t make Jack to have a battle to the death with Techno. Compare this to Quackity vs Techno which already lit up during the Butcher Army incident, thus making Quackity vs Techno much stronger than Jack vs Techno.

Dream

Skeppy-BadBoyHalo

Originally I was going to count this as a canon death. However, their death happened before the Red Banquet, which was a bigger event. But I won’t deny that Skeppy and Bad’s fight is heart-wrenching in a way. Both of them are very close and it’s just sad to see them had a big fight like this. You can blame the Egg for messing with their head, but it lead to Skeppy’s death and Bad soon followed. You can’t deny how Bad and Skeppy’s lives are connected is quite cute.

Because both of them are the main players of the Eggpire Arc, we need to keep them alive until the end of the arc.

Cheated Death

Karl Jacobs

Origin Cause of Death: Manberg vs Pogtopia War

Method of Cheating Death: Time travel power awakening

Karl is an interesting character regarding the lore in Tales of the SMP. It had been confirm that Karl is a time traveler, however I don’t think we actually know when he got that power. Thus, if we want to incorporate this in lore we can take his death in canon and make it he could time travel for the first time, only returning when the war is over or before he was killed to avoid it. So, this is the only resurrections outside the usual methods I’m willing to acknowledge. 

Technoblade

Origin Cause of Death: Butcher Army excecution

Method of Cheating Death: Holding the Totem of Undying

Canon, this is the first canon cheated death in the series so I’m keeping this, there’s no really a further connection. The execution, along with the whole Butcher Army is the start of Quackity Villain Arc, Tubbo descend into mirroring Schlatt, Bedrocks Duo, thus marking this moment as an important staple. Also, SAD-ist Hog Hunt, my beloved. But also, Technoblade is possibly the strongest member on the DSMP, seeing that even the strongest need to cheat to avoid death is interesting.

Foolish Gamers

Origin Cause of Death: The Red Banquet Sacrifice

Method of Cheating Death: The embodiment of Totem of Undying

Foolish is a god, the embodiment of the Totem of Undying, thus he has a personal connection with cheating death and resurrection. Same case with Technoblade but with more sinister condition. Even a god like Foolish can’t escape death and need to cheat to survive. But also, his death only fueled the Egg into hatching, which wouldn’t be good in the long run.

Wilbur Soot

Origin Cause of Death: Season 1 Finale

Method of Cheating Death: Resurrected by Dream with Tommy’s soul in exchange

Wilbur’s death is definitely an iconic moment considering this is the peak of his madness. The only problem is the existence of Ghostbur. Going back to Point 3 of ghost doesn’t exist, this would means Ghostbur doesn’t exist in this au. Which leads to Point 2 where you need a soul to resurrect another soul. If Ghostbur doesn’t exist, then who should Dream kills to resurrect Wilbur? Dream had only ever kill one person, and that’s Tommy. A soul for a soul; Tommy death’s for Wilbur’s resurrection.

[mattzerella-sticks]

Sunrise (Dean/Cas coda to 15x19 “Inherit the Earth”, 1.7k)

(ao3 link)

Dean and Sam were free. Finally, unequivocally, free.

But this wasn't the happy ending Dean had expected. Maybe in the past, having Sam in the passenger seat tearing across an open stretch of highway as the sunsets, it'd be what he wanted. But that was years ago. He's not that man anymore. Dean's tired of sunsets, of saying goodbye. He yearns for a different ending. One that's less of an ending, and more of a beginning. A sunrise instead of a sunset.

Sam has his. Dean lost his. Despite this setback, he won't stop. He'll live in memory of his sunrise.

Except, what can he do when he feels those rays on his face again?

           Early morning sunlight streams through half-closed motel window blinds, striking Dean directly on his face. Stir him from unconsciousness, shuffling Dean out of his dreams. Warm blue and familiar stubble replaced with an ugly, orange patterned wallpaper that makes his stomach unhappily flip. Groaning, he turns. Hopes he can reclaim his quickly fading fantasy. It escapes his grasp, Dean left in the loneliness of reality.

           Truly. He checks Sam’s bed, finding it unoccupied. “Figures…”

           They crossed paths with Eileen coincidentally. Not like Sam’s pointed questions and giant thumbs hid his intentions. Even his terrible acting (“Eileen? What are the odds of you being here?”) couldn’t throw him off. Dean played along, however, letting them think he was in the dark. Knew exactly why his brother and his brother’s girlfriend hadn’t told Dean about this. Salt only hurts a wound that’s fresh and open. While badly healed, Dean’s grown numb to that missing chunk of his heart. More pained that his sadness made his loved ones go behind his back, act in guilt.

           Sam and Eileen don’t deserve shadows because of his pain.

           Which is why he’s happy for them. Left the bar so they can chat without his presence. Catch up, let Sam tell her about those kitschy tourist traps they’ve been hopping between since Chuck’s defeat. Show pictures of Dean in an upside-down house, Sam’s head peeking out from corn fields. Hold hands. Sit on the same side of the booth. Kiss, without worrying if Dean is steadily killing his liver at the bar because of them.

           Drinking lost its flavor anyhow.

           Free from Chuck’s influences, Dean decided he might cut a few more strings. Namely beer. He’ll enjoy a bottle every now and then but, reflecting on it, booze never offered comfort he really needed. Only aggravated a different sort of hurt, distracting him for a while. He abandoned those distractions. Instead of asking their bartender from last night, with his tanned skin and wavy, blond hair, for whiskey, neat, until he dropped, Dean stood from their table and paid his tab. Carried his longing out the exit, drove with it, laid down in his bed and held it close. Hugged it, imagining his arms. Praise whispered in his ear, about choosing a different way. A better way. A healthier way.

           Cas would be proud of him. Prouder than he already is. And Dean… felt the same.

           Rising, Dean stretches. Winces as a new disc pops and cracks in his back, “Motels ain’t what they used to be…” He throws his legs over the side, scrunching his toes in the shag carpet. Smiling, “But at least some things’ll never change…”

           It’s going to be a slow morning. Dean doubts Sam will swing by before noon, meaning he has hours to kill. First, he leisurely showers. Scrubs at his scalp with gentle scratches, humming Zeppelin under his breath. Keening ‘A Whole Lotta Love’s chorus, coming into his hand. Lets that melody fade while water makes his come sluice off his hand, into the drain. He switches tracks, dries himself while softly singing ‘Going to California’. Thinks about their next destination. All those beaches he and Sam plan on visiting. Finally making good on their promise.

           Not how he always envisioned it, but…

           Dean drapes the towel around his neck, staring at his reflection. Marks new wrinkles he hadn’t noticed, gray hairs where dirty blond were. Sees how small his eyebags shrank.

           Sleeping was surprisingly easy. Some days Dean wished it weren’t. Others, it’s his only chance at being with him again.

           “Nope,” he says, leaving the bathroom. Jumping out from the mirror. “Not going there… not this early…”

           He bides his time dressing, debating where he should get breakfast. Wonders if a diner they passed entering town might serve pie as he hops into his jeans. Waffles between a t-shirt or purple-and-blue plaid while rubbing deodorant on. Then, tugging his tee’s thin fabric over his head, he decides he isn’t that hungry. Can eat later, Sam driving so he can attack snacks he squirrelled away when they last stopped for gas.

           Knock Knock Knock

           “Sam?” Dean asks, glancing at the door. No one answers. “Sam is that you? You forget your keys or…” He checks his phone. Nothing.

           Knock Knock Knock

           “Sam, if that’s you – this isn’t funny.” He grabs for his socks, sitting on the end of his bed. “Pulling a poor joke on your brother, leaving your girlfriend alone in bed… shame on you.”

           Knock Knock Knock

           Dean squeezes his socks, glaring at the door. His irritation fades, weirdly, the longer he stares. Replaced with a different feeling, comforting. Without needing to, Dean guesses it’s not Sam on that other side. Tossing his socks, Dean stands and slowly inches forward. Drawn by gravity, a name perched atop his tongue. Waiting there, scared of being spoken. Of being wrong. He doesn’t feel wrong.

           Is this still a dream, he asks himself. Did I actually wake up? Dean waits, hovering near the doorknob. Remembers rushing last time, what waited there then. What he almost threw himself onto. Cycles through who might be waiting now. Something worse, a more terrifying monster. Or maybe mundane, like the motel manager. He’ll never know if he drags it out. Whether that’s motivation or warning, Dean can’t decide. What he does choose is flinging open that door and facing whoever was there.

           “Hello, Dean.”

           “Cas -?” Dean gasps, knees buckling. Laughing, he leans his weight on the door. Grins wide enough his cheeks must splinter, twin tracks of tears already spilled over. “Cas, is that…” He coughs, wiping at his mouth. “Is that really you?”

           Like nothing happened, Cas crosses the threshold. Dressed spectacularly… normal. Trench coat, suit jacket, and white button-down paired with his crooked blue tie. Dean’s hand drifts close but can’t touch. Not yet. “It is me,” he tells Dean, “you… probably have a lot of questions. About why I’m here, and – and what was said when the Empty…”

           Of course, there are questions. None were as important as Dean snatching Cas’s tie, dragging him into a heated embrace. “Later,” he promises, closing the door. Guiding Cas onto his bed. Falling, his angel’s body collapsing atop his. Weight proving further and further how real this is.

           He’s back!

           “I can’t believe…” Dean kisses along Cas’s neck, threading his fingers through hairs resting at his angel’s nape. Feeds a fire burning across his body, flames roaring with a desire for more. “Can’t believe I could be this lucky…”

           Cas chuckles, “Good things do happen, Dean.”

           “Never to us.” Pausing, Dean tears his eyes from the dip of Cas’s collarbone and to his face. “I searched, Cas. I did. Back when it was me, and Sam, and Jack, I did everything I could but I… there wasn’t any lore. Nothing about contacting the Empty, breaking through I – how?”

           Shifting, Cas rolls off Dean and onto his side. No sooner than it started, those flames eating at Dean’s insides tempered. Became a more manageable heat, containable. Dean tucked himself against Cas’s chest, hearing his heartbeat. Awed from that simple rhythm it gives. Lulls Dean with a gentle song. “Jack,” Cas explains. Rubs Dean’s shoulder, along where his handprint was. Teased the edges of his tee, part of his memorial tattoo revealed. Cas traces his palm outline. “In fixing Chuck’s mistakes, he… he mounted a rescue mission from Heaven.”

           “For you?”

           “For everyone.” Cas kisses Dean’s crown, continuing his story. Whispers it into his head. “All the angels. Jack rescued us all.”

           “Everyone?” Dean asks, “Meaning… Michael? Gabriel?”

           “Uriel, Balthazar, Anna, Hannah, Metatron – even Lucifer.”

           “What the hell?”

           “He was fixing what Chuck wasted. Saved Heaven,” he says, “Gave everyone a second chance, to do right by humanity. Be its guardians like we were supposed to be. And…” Cas lays his hand where it belongs, Dean shivering from contact. Wraps his arms tighter around his angel’s waist. “Jack offered me all my powers back, and then some. Said I could be his archangel… second-in-command, in all of Heaven.”

           Dean lifts his head, frowning. Studies Cas with a suspicious wrinkle creasing his brow. He deflates somewhat, disappointment rocking into him like heavy waves. Routine. Expected, since Cas was exactly where he wanted. But then, isn’t that answer enough? Dean asks regardless. “Did you take it?”

           “I thanked him for the offer,” Cas says, “however my place was elsewhere, here on Earth… with you.” His hand moves, cupping Dean’s cheek. Thumb brushes his lip. “And when our time comes, I’ll rejoin Heaven at your side.”

           Cas’s heartbeat makes sense, now. It never did that before.

           “We’ve got a long time before we croak, Cas,” Dean jokes, crawling higher up his bed. Enough that he can press their foreheads together. “You think you can handle it?”

           “I waited millennia to meet you, and then years just so I can hold you like this.” Cas closes the distance, capturing Dean’s lips. “I’m hoping our future is excruciatingly slow.”

           “Our future…” He relaxes, allowing a few more kisses before he starts again. “Y’know, I… I thought I’d never get to say that. Figured, after Jack took the reigns from Chuck, this was all we’d get and – and having everyone back was nice. But you weren’t there, and I hurt. When you died, I wanted to sit there and let myself waste away and join you. Except if I did, you’d be so angry and – that’s what’s been keeping me going. You loved me so much – and were pained whenever I was… I couldn’t do that to myself. Punishing myself wouldn’t be fair. So I thought about my future, how I can live it for those I loved. Be there… the person I’ve become, and not who I used to be. But now…”

           “Now you can be a little selfish,” Cas says. “We can be selfish.” He tickles Dean’s chin, hands roving across his body. “What should we do, for the first day of the rest of our lives?”

           Dean doesn’t dawdle. “I want to lay here,” he says, “Lay here the whole day, in your arms, telling you how much I love you.”

           “…I don’t see any problems with that.”

           Neither did Dean, which is why he suggested it. They fix themselves, first. Cas sheds most of his outer layers, leaving himself only in his boxers. Dean hurls his jeans off fast, jumping under the covers. Giddy as Cas joins him, both men facing each other. Hands joined above their sheets, Cas’s palm fitting perfectly.

           “Well?” Cas arches his brow, “How much do you love me?”

           Dean kisses him, ruining it by smiling too hard. “I love you too much, and not enough.”

[sleepyowlwrites]

find the word tag CCLXVII

I said I was going to go to bed when I got home. but also, I did that yesterday and it got me 3 1/2 hours of sleep and a terrible headache. so I didn't do it. but now I might spend too long on the internet binging twosetviolin videos. oh dear. @emelkae

gaze (youth story d0 - R, you're so dramatic)

“Five minutes.” It came out as a croak, and Mark looked positively miserable after saying it. “I’ll do five minutes.”

R swung his gaze around to his former enemy. “Why? Because Nyks wants you to?”

Mark slide his eyes to and from Nyks meaningfully.

race (youth story d0 - yeah, Cal, in on the plotting, I see)

“Ah.” His thumbs dragged along his index fingers as he thought about that. “So this was Evie’s idea, not yours.”

“No.” Nyks stopped smiling long enough for R to catch his breath. “It her idea to do a competition, but I suggested a race. And she told me to come tell it to you.”

R nodded, his eyelids brushing up against his skin. “’Cause she knows I hate running.”

“Cal was there, though. Wouldn’t he know? He said it was a good idea.” Nyks was almost frowning, which R felt guilty about even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. It just always seemed to break the rules of the universe whenever Nyks appeared even remotely sad.

accurate (youth story d0 - Nyks is everyone's guardian angel)

“He seemed nice,” Jae agreed. “I don’t, if that, know if he’s that, that angelic.”

“No, he is.” Savannah rounded the corner and flung an arm over Jae’s shoulders, the latter visibly slumping with the added weight. “I had my doubts, but trust me. He’s literally an angel.”

Jae looked back at R, seemingly hoping for a more accurate description.

“He’s our guardian angel, don’t question it.”

true (summon story d0 - spirit lore is my favorite thing)

“How many days are we contracting it for?” Shae set her stick aside when she completed the outline. “Should we say a week?”

“It’ll take longer than that to get any credible information that isn’t just hearsay,” Zan reasoned, carefully passing the bag of ashes to her. “So let’s mark it for three, since one sacrifice is enough for whatever stipulations we add.”

“Won’t the begar start to lose memory by then?” Shae adjusted the bag in her hands, feet planted apart so she could see the array pattern.

That was true. “Alright, fine, two weeks. And make sure you use Erin’s signature. I don’t need a spirit haunting me at the crack of dawn with blood trailing everywhere just to tell me things I don’t even want to know.”

flat (technically that's how you write a song, 2020)

Sure, it’s not the same That’s why it has a different name But it’s familiar - like a song you sang in choir A poem given music to change the pace of sound Clipped wings complaining that they’d just like to sing now Did you see me on the offbeat? Did you catch when I fell flat? I used to joke about parades I saw you on the stage You are a star, imagine that My eyes are kinda blurry I’ll try again next week But I think I’m lying

doubt, description, dawn, drop, drag. BONUS: delirious, deliberate. @zmlorenz @spacetimewraithwrites @diphthongsfordays @vellichor-virgo @asomeoneperson OR ANYBODY or nobody

[thatgirlonstage]

I'd be very interested in a ficlet about the Witcher daemon AU you messaged me about a while back, if that's something you ever meant to actually write out. 👀👀👀 If not that, then, hmmm, some soft geraskier, maybe with this sentence from a prompt list that went around: "Is that my shirt?"

I got too into writing Sad Jaskier Hours + puppy therapy and the length got away from me but here is that inciting scene I talked about, in full prose

(And now that I’ve done this one scene I feel freer to do more stuff in this AU, so more later possibly)

Witcher & HDM fans please forgive me my lore sins, I have only seen the Netflix Witcher and I haven’t read HDM in like over decade, so please hand wave any wrongness as crossover changes

———

The words still stung.

They felt physical, still crawling over Jaskier’s skin like ants four days since he had come down the mountain. Whenever I find myself in a pile of shit, it’s you, shoveling it. He half expected to wake up to them tattooed across his arms like the mark of a pariah. “Stay away from this one. No one who knows him wants him around.”

Geralt was prickly and stubborn and rude and what friendship Jaskier got from him came quietly. It came in his perfect recollection of all the stories Jaskier told him, no matter how inconsequential or how much he professed to be annoyed by Jaskier’s prattling. It came in those rare, sardonic smiles Jaskier had gotten better at drawing out over the years. It came in his acquiescence to let Jaskier wash his hair whenever they could afford hot baths, in the yellow-eyed glare he sent anyone who tried to cheat Jaskier at cards, in the way his shoulders would relax and he would start humming along under his breath when Jaskier practiced music by their shared campfire. It came in the softest press of lips against his forehead, when Geralt finally came back from Yennefer’s the night after the djinn and thought Jaskier was asleep. Until the mountain, Jaskier had thought it came in the lack of any serious objection to his presence, in the way Geralt seemed to take it for granted that they would travel together for a while each time they ran across each other. Now, he was starting to wonder if he had misunderstood. He was starting to wonder if he had misunderstood a lot of things, and only imagined others.

He poked listlessly at his fire. His lute sat with his pack, untouched for a week. Kazia, his daemon, perched on a fallen log opposite him, preening her feathers for lack of anything else to do. Even she had been almost entirely silent the last four days, making none of her usual songbird chirps as she and Jaskier made their lonely way back—Jaskier wasn’t even sure where he was going. Away. That was all. Away.

Some rustling in the woods made his back stiffen. He tossed another log on the fire, hoping to deter whatever was out there. It had been a while since he’d camped this far out in the woods without Geralt to scare off anything that stalked the nights. He’d been so unable to face running into Yen or Geralt or even the gossip about them back in town that he’d just struck off into the wilderness. Hopefully that piece of stupidity wouldn’t be enough to actually kill him.

He held out a finger for Kazia, and she hopped onto it. He deposited her on his shoulder. “Fuck him, right?” he asked. Despite his best effort he found no flippancy to put into his voice, only bitterness.

“He didn’t mean it,” she said. “You know he didn’t.”

“No,” Jaskier said. He poked the fire, flipping over a log, sending a burst of sparks skyward. “I wish he didn’t mean it.” He leaned back, careful not to jostle Kazia on his shoulder, bracing his palms on the ground. Tilting his head up, he could see the light of a few stars, just managing to poke through the canopy. “I tried,” he said, and hated the crack in his voice. “I’ve been trying for so long but— what else could I have said? What else could I have done?”

She nuzzled her head against his cheek. “I don’t know, Jask. Maybe nothing. I’m sorry.”

He kept staring up at the stars. Silence fell again, Geralt’s final terrible words scraping him raw.

Witchers didn’t have daemons. When people said they felt nothing, had nothing human left in them, they pointed to that fact. You couldn’t possibly be human without a daemon. Even the likes of elves and dwarves had daemons. Witchers were monsters in the shell of something that had once been human.

Jaskier thought that was a load of horseshit. He hadn’t wavered on that point. Geralt had his own fears and feelings and wants like anyone else. Jaskier was just beginning to believe he might have misinterpreted what some of those feelings were.

He nudged Kazia to get off his shoulder and pulled his blankets up. Blankets, plural, because his own had proven woefully inadequate for the mountain and Geralt had, with a grumble, come over in the middle of the night to the miserably shivering Jaskier and dumped a thick, scratchy wool blanket over him, and when Jaskier had protested, Geralt had said it wasn’t cold enough for him to need it, and then Jaskier had forgotten he had it before he fled. Gave him a blanket, and then a day later screamed for fate to get Jaskier out of his life. Jaskier hadn’t quite managed to parse that yet. It hurt too much to look at.

“Do you expect me to keep watch?” Kazia quipped. “I can hear something moving around out there. I don’t like it.”

Jaskier curled his hands around the blanket, tugging it around himself. “Hopefully the fire is enough to scare it off,” he said. “I need to sleep or we won’t be able to make any progress tomorrow.” He turned, a little petulantly, on his side, facing away from Kazia. “It’s not like I can do anything if something decides to come eat us, even if I am awake.”

He heard the flutter of her wings as she took off into the low branches of the nearest tree. “Sleep lightly all the same,” she told him.

Jaskier didn’t respond, tugging his knees up to his chest, closing his eyes, and willing the world to disappear for a while.

**

Kazia’s frantic chirping woke him with a start.

“Jaskier! JASKIER! Jaskier WAKE UP!”

He blinked his eyes open, squinting in the dim light of the dying embers of the fire, and found himself staring directly at a giant white wolf.

He shot up and back in instinctive terror, hands scraping against rocks and roots. “Geralt—!” he squeaked, on reflex, and felt his heart twist somewhere beneath the terror as he remembered no Witcher slept beside him. Kazia was fluttering frantically around his head. He stared at the wolf. The wolf stared back.

It was a gigantic thing, its shoulder probably higher than Jaskier’s hip if he were to stand next to it. It was white from head to toe, shining like a ghost in the firelight. Its eyes gleamed yellow, a misplaced pang to Jaskier’s heart. Something about it felt off, not-quite-a-wolf, almost as if it were a daemon, but that didn’t seem right either. He wondered for a moment if it were a mage’s daemon — out here apparently alone as it was — but that wasn’t right either. He’d met Yen’s daemon, a sleek black feline thing with four eyes and two tails. He’d known it for daemon instantly, despite its strangeness. This wolf just seemed not quite right, somehow. He tried and failed to place it in Geralt’s endless bestiary, and came up blank. If there was a monster that looked almost exactly like a wolf but wasn’t one, Jaskier hadn’t heard of it. At least it wasn’t eating him. Yet.

He stayed frozen for a long few minutes, he and the wolf just staring at each other. Kazia landed on his shoulder, puffing herself up as much as she could, her claws digging in just shy of breaking skin. He tried to calm his thundering heart. Maybe the wolf would just go away. Maybe it had smelled what meager rations Jaskier had left. Should he make a go for his saddlebags and toss his last piece of salted beef at it? Would it attack him if he moved?

The wolf did not leave, nor did it attack him. Instead, after a long enough pause that Jaskier was afraid they’d be stuck at this impasse all night, it ducked its head and whined. It shifted forward, almost cautiously, as if it wanted to avoid spooking him. It snuffled around his feet, at his blanket, and whined again. It took another step closer. Then, to Jaskier’s terror, it butted its head into his chest.

Jaskier inhaled sharply, quickly, trying not to hyperventilate. The wolf whined again, one ear flicking. It moved its head back and butted against him again — not with any force, just pressing its head into Jaskier. It reminded him of...

“Do... do you... want... pets?”

His voice sounded hysterically high in his own ears, but the strained tone didn’t seem to scare the wolf. It butted into him again and whined emphatically, almost a quiet howl. Very, very tentatively, Jaskier lifted one hand and, telegraphing his movement so the wolf could pull away, gave the wolf a quick little scratch behind the ear.

The wolf gave a little huff and — of all fucking things — wagged its tail. It whined and turned its head into Jaskier’s hand, so Jaskier gave it a longer scratch this time. He could still feel Kazia’s heart thumping a million miles an hour, but her panic had abated somewhat. She hopped off his shoulder and onto his head, letting him lift his other arm to pet the wolf’s side. Up close, now that Jaskier could focus on something besides just size and eyes and teeth, the wolf seemed nearly pitiful. It was far too skinny beneath its fur, with mangy patches here and there. He caught sight of a line of scratches across its haunches. One eye looked crusty and swollen, as if it were infected.

“Poor thing,” Jaskier murmured. “Did you get left all alone too?”

The wolf howled, a low and piteous sound. It butted its head against his chest again and pressed into him. Jaskier wrapped his arms around the wolf, taking comfort he hadn’t wanted to admit he was craving in its solidity and warmth.

“Jask...” Kazia took off from his head again. “I don’t know if I like this. I thought she was a daemon at first but she’s not. I’ve never been mistaken about that before. I’ve never even heard of anyone being mistaken about that before.”

“She?” Jaskier leaned sideways, peeking between the wolf’s legs.

“That’s not the point!”

“I know, I know.” Jaskier leaned back from the wolf, getting another look into her face. “You’re... not a daemon, are you? You can’t be, you wouldn’t have come up and asked for pets if you were a daemon.” The wolf looked back at him, her gaze almost too steady for mere animal intelligence, but she didn’t speak, and no one jumped out from behind a tree to strangle Jaskier for molesting their daemon. “Where’d you come from, huh?” he murmured. The wolf only whined and pawed at the blanket where it had pooled on Jaskier’s lap. “You want to sleep with the blanket and the fire, I bet. I don’t blame you, it’s cold out there tonight.”

“Jaskier!” Kazia wailed. He looked over and shrugged helplessly at her.

“Do you want to tell the giant wolf to go off and mind her own business?” he hissed. “If she were going to eat me, I think she’d have done it by now.” He looked back at the wolf, one finger still idly scratching behind her ear. “You promise you’re not going to eat me?” The wolf huffed, blowing in his face. Jaskier, for the first time since he’d arrived at that godforsaken mountain, laughed. “I think she’s telling me I’d taste bad,” he said to Kazia. “You’re probably right,” he confided in the wolf. “I haven’t had a proper hot bath in two weeks.” The wolf huffed in his face again.

Kazia fluttered down to a nearby branch, and then again to the log she’d been on before, and then up near the wolf. The wolf looked at her, her gaze steady. Kazia landed on the wolf’s head.

“Kazia!” Jaskier yelped, but the wolf went still, and then let out another very quiet howl. Jaskier felt Kazia soften, saw her feather down smooth.

“Oh,” she said. “She’s so sad.” She looked up at Jaskier. “I still don’t know what she is but— I’ve never heard a sound that sad.” Jaskier’s fingers curled into the wolf’s fur. He leaned forward, resting against her shoulder.

“That makes all three of us,” he said. “A fine group of sad, lonely outcasts, hmm?” He shifted, trying to spread the blanket so the wolf could lie on some it without leaving Jaskier cold and exposed. Kazia took off again, landing back on her perch on the branch. “Here,” he said to the wolf, patting the blanket. “You can stay the night with us, if you want.” The wolf’s tail wagged again — just a brief lash back and forth — and then it turned itself in a circle, settling down against Jaskier’s side.

He was not going to cry for how all the times he had wished Geralt would lie down beside him, to keep him warm in the night. But he curled a hand in the wolf’s fur and let himself be lulled by her quiet breaths. “You know,” he mumbled, just on the cusp of sleep, “if Geralt did have a daemon, I bet she’d look exactly like you.”

**

After breaking camp the next morning, Jaskier got barely a hundred paces before he found the carnage.

The graveir’s throat was torn out — arduously, ripped along the edges, its thick skin snagged again and again until its head was all but severed from its body. It smelled of rot, its fingers were bloody, and it had white wolf hair sticking out of its wounds. The wolf gave a quiet whine when Jaskier froze at the sight of the thing. He glanced down at her, back at the graveir, and back at the wolf.

“Did—” He swallowed thickly. “Did you do that?” he asked. The wolf looked up at him and barked once. She stalked over to the graveir, growling at its body. Jaskier felt suddenly very faint. He steadied himself against a tree. Kazia flitted around his head, concern radiating off her.

“That thing got so close to our campsite,” she said. “Way too close.”

“Yeah,” Jaskier said, not quite hearing himself. “Yeah.” He shook his head. “Hey,” he called the wolf back over, and gave her a scratch behind the ears. “Good girl,” he told her. “Very good girl.” He looked up at Kazia. “I think she ought to come along as long as she wants to.” Kazia flitted down to land on his shoulder, puffing herself up territorially.

“As long as she understands that I’m your daemon.” Jaskier almost smiled, and tickled a finger over her head.

“Don’t worry, you’re still my favorite, Zizi,” he teased. He glanced down at the wolf again. She was smiling, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. She was clearly enjoyed the scratches. “Thank you,” he said, quietly. She howled in response, that low, piteous noise from last night, as if she dared not be any louder. Jaskier stood back up, hefting his pack, shifting the lute case against his back. “Right. I am not spending another night almost getting eaten alive, so let’s try and find the road again today.”

He traipsed off through the woods, leaving the mangled graveir behind him, Kazia flitting about his head and the mysterious wolf loping along at his side.

—————

(if it’s not super clear, that 100% is Geralt’s daemon. the conceit is that in this world part of becoming a witcher is being severed from your daemon, but Geralt’s escaped after that happened and she’s been wandering the wilderness. she’s lost a lot of herself, which is why she can’t speak and it’s iffy how much she understands, but she still remembers the smell of her lost human :’) and hopes that Jaskier can lead her back to him)

[makeslegend]

actually ? i forgot it's my blog and i can just post about things related to the muse. wild. this is in regards to two of the npcs featured in mark's storyline and why i chose the characters i did.

ISHMAEL.

one of two majorly relevant npcs in mark's story who was, like mark himself, adapted from being a bungou stray dogs character and slotted into this narrative. part of my adaptation was renaming him from herman melville to just ishmael, but i actually did this because melville himself was often conflated with ishmael as the narrator of moby dick.

his presence in mark's story is actually fairly minimal but he serves a generally large emotional impact as being an older male figure who doesn't inspire fear in mark, which is slightly ironic because his power is actually that he can choose to incite blind rage in anyone who speaks to him.

he's a passive figure who lets himself be put into a lot of different positions. mark and gatsby both favor him as a leader BECAUSE he does very little, thereby giving each of them more control over their respective branches of the guild.

in a lot of my original drafts he served as a pseudo father figure to mark, but i ended up phasing that interpretation out when mark's storyline ended up getting really serious. i didn't think the new dynamics for the organization they were both in suited that sort of familial closeness, especially considering the roles they both filled. mark respects ishmael a lot, but mostly just because he's pretty old for someone with an ability; most don't make it past their 30's due to a factor of bad luck.

(in the world mark was born in, ability users kind of get edith finched into believing they're cursed to die young. this is also a big contributor to why mark himself is so willing to resign himself to his fate of losing his Everything. but i digress.)

JAY GATSBY.

so modelled after bungou stray dogs's interpretation of f. scott fitzgerald, though influenced far more by the personal interpretation of my close friend meechi (hi meechi!) from back when we were all writing bsd.

i chose to rename him as well because i thought it was generally in-line with the idea of his character; someone who shines way more brightly through the eyes of others than through an actually objective lens. i wanted his self-chosen name to reflect the presentation of the character from the narrative perspective of nick carraway without taking into consideration, meta-wise, how unreliable he'd been as a narrator.

gatsby has a lot more happening behind-the-scenes than i thought it was necessary to actually include in the timeline of events featured in mark's bio, but he's actually a fairly important person when it comes to the wider world they both inhabit. unlike most members of their organization, gatsby is a very public-facing person with a lot of money and influence. he owns a lot of higher-end businesses like luxury hotel chains, weapon manufacturers, and railroad lines, and is effectively the reason the coup worked as seamlessly as it did.

he's a mostly selfish person, and mark knows that, which is why they fight. he had a lot of money even when he first joined the guild and was in the same team as mark, so mark didn't tend to enjoy being around him even back then. they've got a strange sort of friendly relationship now; mark feels generally uncomfortable around him, but they trust eachother. i think mark and gatsby are really the only actual friends the other has anymore.

[mittensmorgul]

Hi, I have a question, and I hope it would be interesting for you too... Could we talk about angel's wings and feathers?..

I always thought that angel's wings were a part of their true form, a kind of energy which we can only see as a shadows or electric sparks or ash or something like this.

And I didn't think that it could be a real wings with feathers as bird's. Until, while rewatch, I've noticed that angel's feather were mentioned in SPN at least twice (maybe you've noticed more?):

1) In 8.12 when Henry Winchester time travels he uses an angel feather in spell. And then Dean tells that Henry stole an angel feather from the trunk of the Impala. So feathers are reall??? Why did the Winchestets keep the feather in the trunk of the Impala and where they get it? (ok, maybe they found it in the bunker)

2) In 12.13 Sam uses a white feather in spell returning Gavin back in time (we know this spell needs an angel feather)

So now we can see how the real angel feather looks like???

Does that mean that the angel's wings can be presented in physical world like a real wings with feathers and this is not fanfiction? I like this idea so much.

I think that the creators of the show didn't let us to see it, as many other great things, that is sad...

I would really like to know your thoughts about this.

(Sorry for my bad english, it is not my native language...)

Hi there! First off, your English is fine! (lol it’s my native language, and I just typed it “Inglish” by accident, so you’re already doing better than I am :’D)

ETA: DON’T REBLOGGY THIS YET. I forgotted something that @thayerkerbasy just reminded me of, and I’m editing this post... brb... okay NOW YOU CAN REBLOGGY!)

As far as I know, those are the only times in canon we ever see or hear mention of an angel feather, and both times it’s for the same exact spell. They reference that it’s Henry’s spell when they use it again in 12.13, but make no mention in dialogue of it being an angel feather. Yet Sam had a whole jar of fluffy little pin feathers, so the assumption is that they’d been collecting them for a while (unless those were either found in the Men of Letters’ spell ingredient stockpile when they moved into the bunker, or otherwise given to them by Cas at some point).

It’s weird, because they seem like a very limited commodity, especially after the angels fell and their wings all burned up. Even after Cas got his original grace back, his wings never seemingly recovered. When we did finally see his wing prints in 12.23, they were still... not healthy... So my thinking is that any spell that would require them will become impossible to cast when their current supply runs out. All the other angels-- at the end of the series-- were either dead or locked in Heaven with their broken wings. We never learned any of their fates. Maybe they were all rendered obsolete under the Heaven Remodel?

A little behind the scenes from the early days of SPN as a bonus, since it’s tangentially relevant:

When they were filming the very early episodes of SPN, they had a lot of choices to make about what to show us based on what their budget would allow them to portray. Think of an episode like Wendigo, 1.02. One thing I see people say often was that it was a shame we didn’t see more of the monster, but only saw like... bushes shaking, or a vague form moving through the underbrush, or a blur. They made a stylistic choice right there to keep it within budget.

The options they faced were showing us a “dude in a rubber mask” type monster and showing it more, versus one really terrifying shot of a Proper Monster™ dying in spectacular fashion. Rather than go full-on cheesemonster, they chose to leave most of it up to our imaginations, giving us glimpses or hints of the monster.

They went back and forth on this a bit over the years, attempting to show us more on occasion, but most of those times the audience reaction has been varying degrees of wtf... Think about some of the scenes where they attempted to give us more than a glimpse at the supernatural, or a blood splatter, or whatever. It didn’t always work well. Think: the wire fight from 13.23...

I mean, it took us until 11.14 to ever see an angel “flap away,” when we saw Casifer zap Dean off the exploding submarine.

For the most part, I appreciate the fact that they understood the limitations of their own budget and didn’t give angels cheap little wings just to be able to show them on camera. Over time, only being able to see them as shadows, or as char after the angel died, became part of the lore of the show.

I blame Adam Glass for writing that spell, because he probably thought it sounded cool or whatever, that it was effectively a throwaway line because no other spell they’ve ever used has required an angel feather as an ingredient, and in story it was only linked into this larger Men of Letters Legacy plot that in retrospect feels like Chuck tying up loose ends and putting previously “deactivated” plotlines back into play.

I do find it kind of interesting that both iterations of this spell (the second resurrected by Bucklemming) were both tied to Abaddon. Henry’s spell in 8.12 brought her into the story from the past, she eventually travelled to the much further distant past to bring Gavin into the present (presumably with her own power alone, no angel feather required), and then after she was killed, they used the spell to return Gavin to his own time. So in a a way, the spell was part of a closed narrative loop, never to be referred to again.

Kinda wild that we’d never heard of angel feathers being a thing for spells until we learn that Dean apparently had some just stashed in the trunk, though... :’D

As for how corporeal angel feathers are/were, they exist in the earthly plane enough to leave char marks when they burn, when an angel is killed, so they must always have had the potential to manifest physically. I can’t imagine they ever would’ve had a budget to show us anything more than what we usually saw, though. It did give them a LOT of flexibility over how exactly they presented them to us when they DID show us. And I can’t even imagine the suffering Misha would’ve endured as an actor spending all those years wearing some weird wing harness rig. It would’ve been... impractical. And the CGI the show could’ve afforded-- especially in earlier days-- would’ve been... bad...

But what they were able to show us? Was often awesome. Remember when Raphael showed off his wings in 5.03? LIGHTNING!

And when we finally did see actual corporeal-appearing wings in 8.23... it was Dramatique™

And for More CGI Is Sometimes A Bad Thing Science, please have the attempt at Michael’s “true form” from 14.01:

It’s kinda a super-letdown after AU!Michael’s previous shadow wing displays from 13.01, but more specifically from 13.22:

those... were... badass... 

Even the pre-wire-fight wing shadows on Dean were badass:

But if they’d tried to show us more of them, to make them move through action scenes for example, it would’ve been... bad...

So what we’re left with is the knowledge that there is some sort of corporeal element to wings that we simply can’t see most of the time, but clearly angels have the ability to show or hide them at will, even from other angels. Could it be an act of will on the part of the angel that manifests a bit of their grace in the form of a physical feather? Honestly, that’s the theory I’ve personally adopted toward canon. In fanfic, I’ve read tons of various headcanons about what angel wings are and how they function-- everything from “a manifestation of their true form” to “angels share a lot of traits with birds” to “an extension of their grace,” and everything in between.

I personally, in canon, like to think of it as akin to how they’ve used angel grace for other spells. I mean, when we recall that angels haven’t been on Earth much for the last few thousand years (aside from at least a couple of known incidents where angels interfered with humanity, like Ishim and Company in 12.10, for example, and the presumptive extension that the Men of Letters knew of the existence of angels and likely summoned one up a time or two the same way Lily Sunder had, giving one explanation for how Henry Winchester knew of this spell and had an angel feather to use for it, but also recontextualized when Lily Sunder taught us that humans can use their own souls to power spells in the same way angels used their grace... which sort of makes the notion of needing an angel feather AND his own soul to charge that particular spell in 8.12 a bit redundant unless Lily’s knowledge of angelic magic was more advanced than Henry’s... hrmpf.... so much tangent... back to the point)...

We did eventually learn of other spells that required an angel’s actual grace, not concentrated in the form of a feather. The Angel Fall Spell in 8.23 being the prime example. Metatron took ALL of Cas’s grace for that one, even if he didn’t use all of it for the spell and left a “fragment” (Metatron described it as “not a lot, but enough.”). 

ETA: HECK. I have 9.03 on the tv right now and it’s distractedly made me disgusted enough to have forgotten something that Thayer just reminded me of: Lucifer’s “fossilized feather” in 12.07. It held enough grace to restore and heal him after Rowena’s spell in 12.03 had degraded him. Which really only adds to the theory that “feathers” are simply bits of grace that have been rendered solid somehow, but that can be transformed back into grace as needed.

And then there was the Rift Spell for travelling to alternate universes that required archangel grace, as well as the time travel/ward breaking spell that Sam found in 11.14 that ALSO required archangel grace specifically. Would these spells have worked with an archangel “feather?” Possibly, if material feathers are somehow just crystalized bits of grace, but since we never got a full explanation in canon, and never even really saw corporeal feathery wings that dropped feathers or could be plucked, and never even had mention of corporeal feathers outside of their use in this single spell, it’s really up to our own interpretation. And I kind of like it that way, because that way we get to have fun little discussions like this one. :D

I know this isn’t a definitive answer, but it’s how it all makes sense to me, in the hand-wavey sort of way that all of canon works. :’D

[bluerosesburnblue]

Now that KHUx ending has been out for a week a or two and you've dissected it, I wanted to ask you how you would rank the various KH game endings, if you have the time?

Oh, wow, yeah. That's really an interesting question. I never think of the endings much, despite how important they are. Let's see...

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - The nostalgia's got me bad with this one, but I've gotta put it at the top. It was my first KH game and I can only think of two other video games from my childhood that had endings that impacted me as much as this one did. It's clear-cut and succinct, it capitalizes on all of the character development shown in the game while wrapping up almost every plot thread it introduced, playing as Another Side Roxas is intense... and I think it's the only KH ending that's entirely tragic, but that just makes the tone so much more clearly defined than if it had been a mix of emotions. I don't know if I ever would have gotten into the series if the ending of this game wasn't as good as it was and didn't make me desperately crave more just to see how the Sea Salt Trio's story effected everyone else

Kingdom Hearts χ - It's kind of wild that I'm ranking a browser game so high, but the KHx ending (also known as The Keyblade War questline for KHUx players) was magical when it happened. And the thing is, it wasn't unexpected but still managed to be engaging. People were freaking out trying to fight the Foretellers who introduced you to the world of the game only to try and take you out of it. And the ending with Ephemer and Skuld coming to save you at the last minute was beautifully open-ended, while wrapping up all of the storylines from earlier in the game. It went from intense, to sad, to hopeful again and it did it all with chibi sprites. And not just that, but the external community came together just to see it happen. It was really special

Kingdom Hearts II - This one's just very emotionally satisfying, finally seeing everyone get to return home again after a three-game arc. Riku and Sora have a nice character moment where they finally respect each other that draws on their earlier rivalry in a satisfying way, then Mickey, Donald, and Goofy rush over to the boys in such a sweet way, and we even see Sora finally return Kairi's good luck charm! It feels like it really ties the KH1-CoM-KH2 arc to a close, and then leaves on a high note of even more adventures to come. It's beautiful and it feels like an actual, tonally-consistent conclusion

Kingdom Hearts III - On the one hand, this one gets big bonus points for managing to deliver on an ending that saw almost every character who'd suffered from terrible fates get happy endings in a way that felt earned, and to this day I cannot believe that they actually did the beach party ending that had been joked about for a long time. On the other, though, Sora's disappearance feels like a cheap hook to continue the story when it really should have been focused on just ending the Dark Seeker Saga without setting up for the next game (you could have had Sora disappear in the Re:Mind DLC though, I would have been okay with that). The highs are high, it's just really the last few seconds that bring it down for me

Kingdom Hearts - KH1 is a classic, but its ending is pretty basic all things considered. The world is saved! Kairi gets to go home! There's more adventure to come as Sora, Donald, and Goofy set off to find their friends lost to the darkness! It's perfectly acceptable, it's set up in a way where if they never made another game you'd be satisfied with it, but it's nothing remarkable, either

Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, & Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory - I'm lumping these three together because I feel the same way about all of their endings. They're fine, but they're mostly setup for future games. Sora's promise to Naminé is cute, Riku teaming up with Mickey and DiZ and choosing dawn over darkness or light is nice setup for his future arc, the Wayfinder Trio's fates are sad but make sense in future games, MoM has some neat lore teases... but all of them rely on the existence of future games to bring the emotional satisfaction of those endings so they don't feel "final," and thus not particularly satisfying on their own

Kingdom Hearts coded/Re:coded: It exists. It's entirely a plot hook. Same issue as the three above, but it has even less substance since we never see Data Sora again. The only real purpose it has is letting Mickey know things that the audience already did. It's not awful, but it's not good either

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage- - It's not really a full game, but I put KHx on here so I may as well. I think overall it's fine, and nobody was really expecting much from a short side story anyway. My issues with it mostly stem from the contrived way that it tries to shove Aqua into the KH1 finale without actually changing the finale, and that what Nomura said the original draft was is much more interesting and leads better into KH3 than the actual ending (originally Aqua was supposed to break down in despair and cry about how she wants to go home, which flows better into KH3's Anti-Aqua storyline). As it is, the ending is tonally discordant with the rest of the game

Kingdom Hearts Union χ - I think we all know what I think of Union X's finale. It's going here, because while I think that most of it should be ranked around where I have CoM and BBS, the parts that I didn't were so bad that it ruined the entire experience of it for me. It's only beating out the next entry because the parts that I did like were better than anything that happened in the next finale

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance - This game ends with a tea party and Sora in goofy glasses, which is so absurd that I have to give it some bonus points... and yet it's still at the bottom. I can't get over the decision to have Yen Sid fail Sora for being actively sabotaged (while Yen Sid did nothing to help) while promoting Riku, who was not a primary target and in less danger. They both should've been forced to retake the test. This decision is so bad that I don't even care about any good that it does for Riku's arc, because it's not like Riku even uses the Master status that he gets from this anyway so why was it important for him to pass the Mark of Mastery exam? They don't even have the decency to show Sora being all that upset about it, even in private. It's just brushed off! And the way that Lea gets a Keyblade entirely offscreen is so cheap. DDD is the only KH ending that I would classify 100% as a bad ending. It's frustrating to sit through, and that frustration can't even be ignored because it has a major impact on KH3

[xmxisxforxmaybe]

Benjamin #5 (smut list)

5. restraining the other

In my Twilight days, I came across a thread that talked about how Meyer originally wanted her story to be a human/faerie romance. Her publisher said, NAY, beetch! Vampires sell! and as it turned out, Meyer didn’t know much about vampire lore and violated many of the core concepts that make vampires interesting. Sparkling, vegetarian vamps without fangs, with venom in their saliva, that are seemingly indestructible aren’t nearly as fun, in my opinion.

What I love about the True Blood vamps is that Charlaine Harris honors much of the canonical lore. My biggest complaint with Meyers is that I just can’t fuck with a vampire that doesn’t have fangs that go … *snick*

So, the version of Benjamin in this fic will be more in canon with vampire lore. 

Warnings: Blood sucking, wrist restraints, jealousy, and copious smut

“Benjamin! You’re not playing fair,” you pouted as you struggled against your restraints.

“You wish to talk to me about fair? Let’s start from the beginning.”

You narrowed your eyes and waited, knowing it was useless to interrupt.

“First, you come into our home smelling like … like him.”

���Second, you spend all day with … him … and then lie about it to me.”

“Third—”

“How many points do you need to make? I am human and will eventually need to use the bathroom.”

Benjamin appeared beside you, moving too quickly for your eyes. You turned your head from where he had been standing and looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes weren’t wholly black. Little starbursts of crimson remained around his pupils to indicate that while he may not yet be starving, he was definitely hungry.  

Waving his hands, the wooden slats on the headboard tightened around your wrists. You were sure that if he could breathe, he’d be taking short, shallow breaths as he wrestled with his jealousy. Instead, you concentrated on his eyes, watching the way they narrowed as he manipulated the earthen molecules that moved through the wood.

“Too tight?” he asked with a casual raise of his eyebrow.

“Nope,” you lied.

“You’re lying.”

Benjamin flexed his fingers and the slats loosened their hold, not enough for you to escape, but enough for you to wiggle your wrists if they grew uncomfortable.

As soon as night fell, Benjamin had been on you, running his hands over your body, inhaling along your pulse points, and with a growl, he had stripped you down to your bra and panties then restrained you in the bed.

He could sense your emotions, but watching your body gave him an even keener insight into what you were feeling. He could smell your arousal, then watch as your panties darkened at the juncture of your thighs; he could observe the blush that crept across your chest when he began to shed layers of his own clothing; and he could uninhibitedly listen as your pulse quickened or steadied.

With a frustrated sigh, your eyes ran over his torso. The lithe muscles covered by his olive skin, his dark nipples hard as he continued to look at you, clearly torn between wanting to ravish and wanting to punish.

Belonging to the undead had its perks, and its detriments. Benjamin loved you, needed you to sustain his own existence and you let him take that from you, delighting in the power you felt when his teeth slipped into your neck, or better yet, into the femoral artery of your thigh. He wanted to make you his, sire you so you would be bonded for eternity, but you weren’t ready yet.

The daytime still offered so many things, namely, the sun. Your current predicament began two weeks ago when you went to the beach with a few friends. As it turned out, your best friend wanted to set you up with one of her brother’s friends: a sweet, good-looking, pre-med student. Because Benjamin was a secret, you couldn’t say no without hurting a slew of feelings, so you figured you could go out on a couple of dates, then discreetly break it off with the whole “it’s not you, it’s me” thing.

None of this you felt was pertinent information for Benjamin to know—that is until he saw you with him.  

“Third,” sounded Benjamin’s voice from a shadowy part of the room. You blinked and looked for the movement of his form. “He can give you everything I can’t.”

Your heart ached at the sadness in his voice.

“Benjamin—no. I don’t want anything you can’t give.”

“Children. Safety. A life in the sun and not in the shadows.” His accent was thicker, his tone less controlled, as he shared his deepest fear.

“But you can give me forever.”

Benjamin slowly stepped back into the light, his muscles flexing beneath his torso as he walked. His face was a mask, a perfectly carved Adonis that conveyed nothing its owner didn’t wish to share.

“So, you will not see him any longer?”

“I’ll break it off tomorrow morning.”

“And you will never do this again?” Benjamin asked, but underneath the question was a warning.

“Never again.”

“Then I’ll release you.”

Before he could loosen the slats, you cleared your throat and shifted on the bed. “Or . . . you could fuck me like this? Restrained and at your mercy.”

Benjamin shivered, like the visual equivalent of a cat’s purr as he circled the bed, waiting for any sign you weren’t being honest.

“Please,” you begged, flexing against the wood. “Teach me a lesson.”

Benjamin’s mouth popped open as his fangs snicked out, his tongue poking between them to wet his lower lip. A quick glance at his trouser fronts told you he was very excited to have you at his mercy—not that you weren’t naturally a creature of lesser power, but this game . . . this was new.

“You,” he began, his accent once again thick, sultry, “belong to me.”

He removed the rest of his clothes, once again too quick for your mortal eye. Your breathing quickened with excitement as your eyes roved over his body, travelling from his face, down his chest to the dark patch of hair at the base of his fantastically hard cock.

You watched the muscles of his thighs flex as he stepped toward the bed, and in another blur of movement, you were naked, too, another set of underwear torn to shreds.

“Look at you,” he whispered. “Exposed. Vulnerable. Your body begging for my touch.”

He ran his tongue along the front of his teeth, and you watched, wanting to do the same, to curl your tongue around those deadly points.

“Please, Benjamin,” you whined as your wrists twisted in your restraints, your fingers flexing.

“Tell me,” he said, crawling onto the bed and straddling your thigh. “Did you kiss him?”

“Of course not!”

“Why?” Benjamin’s hands ran up your body, feather light and leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

“Because I’m yours.”

Benjamin grasped your breasts, gently squeezing before he took your nipples between his forefingers and thumbs, rubbing and pulling lightly.

You gasped, your hips bucking up, but restrained by the weight of his body on your thigh. Your wrists were caught in the slats as you unconsciously moved your arms, wanting to touch him.

Benjamin’s eyes flickered to this movement and his face broke into a smirk.

“Did you want him to kiss you? To press his lips to yours as his tongue slid along them, seeking permission to claim you?

“No,” you shook your head, your eyes locked on his. “No.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m yours.”

Benjamin’s fangs retracted with a hollow snick and he descended on your mouth, claiming you with a bruising kiss. He sucked and nipped at your lips, his cock grinding into your abdomen while his tongue explored every inch of your mouth until you were struggling to breathe. He pushed, kissing you to your limit, and when he pulled back, your chest was heaving, your body tight with an ache that only he could soothe.

He looked down at you, his eyes predatory, and he opened his mouth, his fangs popping out.

“You are mine,” Benjamin stated with finality and when his fangs slid into your neck your body arched, rolling against his as your eyes rolled back from the sting of pain that was quickly followed by a surge of pleasure as he sucked, drawing your blood into his mouth and swallowing before he licked at the wound. He pierced the tip of his tongue with his fang and used his blood to heal the puncture marks, leaving nothing but your smooth skin looking as if it had never been touched.

“Please, Benjamin. I need you. Please,” you begged, tugging again at the headboard, your fingers tapping into the wood, pressing with the desire to angle yourself so he could slide into your soaking pussy.

Benjamin ignored your plea in favor of kissing down your body at an agonizingly slow pace. There wasn’t a patch of skin left on your torso that he didn’t press his lips against, that he didn’t taste. Tears stood in your eyes as you wriggled under his weight, your clit swollen with need.

You’d given up begging, and instead were reduced to whimpers as he teased you, and when he finally moved his weight to spread your thighs open two fat tears leaked from your eyes. Benjamin chuckled and caught them on his tongue, licking along your jaw and up your cheeks before he returned to his spot between your legs.

His mouth was sinful considering his tongue could flick across your clit at a rate no human man could match, but your pleasure wasn’t a part of this game, not yet.

Benjamin asked you to watch him, drawing your eyes open so you could look down your body at him, his curly head moving across your abdomen, drifting over your upper thighs, and when he kissed your mound, he looked up at you, his eyes more red than black now.

“Who do you belong to?”

“You—I be-be-belong to you,” you stuttered as his tongue touched your clit.

He smirked and licked you again, unbearably slow.

You groaned, desperation making the muscles in your abdomen and your thighs tremor.

He flicked his tongue across your clit in earnest, building you up to a climax, but before you could tumble over the edge, he stopped and moved up your body so quickly that he seemed to just disappear and reappear. He clutched your jaw and your eyes opened wide as he spoke, his lips just close enough to yours to touch, for you to feel as he said, “You. Are. Mine.”

And in another blink, he was back between your thighs, sucking on your clit and sending you over the edge, and just when you thought your orgasm was ebbing, Benjamin’s fingers slid inside of your pussy and stroked your g-spot as his fangs slid into your thigh. The pinprick of pain was mixed with the pleasure of another orgasm, this one full-bodied and so intense that it coated Benjamin’s fingers and hand in spurts of your arousal.

Noises of pleasure thrummed from your throat and your body chased after his fingers, needing more.

With a groan as he licked off his fingers, he released you from your restraints. You shook your wrists, but in a flash your legs were hooked under his arms and pushed nearly up to your chest as he thrust inside of you, and for the first time, he moaned, a low, deep rumble.

“Mine,” he growled against your lips before he kissed you, the taste of yourself, your blood and your arousal, mixed bittersweet on his tongue.

“Yours,” you panted. “Yours. Yours. Yours.”

Benjamin fucked you, alternating between deep and hard and shallow and sweet until you were on the brink again, wanting nothing more than to come with him, another advantage of the control Benjamin possessed over his body and yours.

He had you on your hands and knees now, his cock pistoning into you at a fast pace, your breath coming in pants, and this time it was Benjamin who begged in a display of humbling reciprocity.

“Can I come inside of you now, my love? Please—can I come?”

“Oh, fuck, Benjamin! Yes, yes!”

You tumbled over the edge together, Benjamin’s hips never faltering as the cool sensation of his cum filling you up made you shiver, then shiver again as he pulled out and pumped himself dry, more ropes of cool cum splashing onto the cheeks of your ass.

You collapsed, out of breath and strength. Benjamin was gone and back in a flash, a warm washcloth rubbing between your legs and over your backside to clean you up.

You felt Benjamin’s body hover over yours as he pressed soft kisses up your spine.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked with genuine concern.

“God no,” you mumbled into the mattress, your breathing still erratic.

He continued to pepper you with sweet kisses until you rolled over, pushing your tangled hair out of your eyes.

His eyes had become that beautiful, deep red and his features seemed softer, even younger than they had an hour or so ago. Reaching up to trace his cheekbones and his nose, you watched him as he watched you, love radiating from his gaze.  

“I want it to be like this, always.”

Benjamin smiled, a full grin of joy, as he answered, “My love. When you are ready, it will be better than this. For always.”

“Why? Because you’ll have no one to be jealous over again?” you teased.

He narrowed his eyes and his grin faltered to a thin-lipped smile. “I will make sure to remind you, often, who you belong to.”

“Can I get that in writing?”

Benjamin laughed, the carelessness returning to his features that made him so boyishly handsome.

“Haven’t you yet learned that I will give you anything you want?”

“Anything?” you asked, reaching between his legs and pumping his cock, once, twice, before he grew hard in your hand.

“Anything,” he growled, his fangs flashing.

[naktergalen]

Rivamika Fic Suggestions List

Hello! First time posting on the Rivamika side of Tumblr. I just wanted to leave some of my personal recommendations for Rivamika fan fics on here to possibly help pass the time. I know that some people in the Rivamika chat will ask or put down some fic suggestions and it sucks that the messages get deleted after 1 week. Some of these stories are widely known in this community and some I think need a little more love lol. But I hope that you enjoy these stories as much as I have. I’ve split this list up into four categories. I wanted to let people know the status of some these fics in case they did not want to start an incomplete or in progress story. I know that many people are going to noticed that the Western Passage is not on this list. Sadly, I never got around to reading it when it was written for Levi and Mikasa and I can’t seem to find it anywhere for the life of me.

All of these fics can be found on AO3. I would link them but Tumblr apparently has an issue with links. If you guys want another list of fics, just let me know or you can tell me to GTFO and I will take the hint lol! If you have any fic suggestions for me, feel free to message me with them and I can add them on to the next list if anyone wants that. If any author sees their story on here and they want me to take it off the list, please let me know I don’t wish to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Also, last thing, I highly recommend leaving comments and kudos to the authors. I know that they greatly appreciate it and it helps them with improving their writing through feedback. I’ll shut up now.

DISCLAIMER: I know that not all of these stories are not for everyone, these are just my opinions and suggestions.

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Completed:

- Finding Comfort in Burning

Author: LittleWhisperer

Rating: Mature

This is a classic Rivamika fic and I know that the community loves it (as do I). If you are looking for superb character development, look no further than this baby right here. LittleWhisperer’s writing is so well done I can’t believe that this ain’t just a famous author writing in their spare time (oh wait I think they are). They’re so descriptive with the environment that you feel as if you are there watching as the scenes unfold. It’s a captivating story from start to finish and the building of Mikasa and Levi’s passionate relationship is soo scrumptious.

- Part of Me

Author: kenken_chan

Rating: Mature

Every Rivamika fan out there has to read this story!!! I cannot describe how absolutely wonderful this fic is! I was literally left speechless after finishing the last chapter because my mind was just blown away by the conclusion of Levi and Mikasa’s relationship. This really takes you on an emotional roller coaster and you can really grasp each character’s emotions through out the story. I will give a warning before hand, there are heavy subjects and situations presented that some people may not feel comfortable with. I personally think those subjects and how they are handled is what makes this fic such a diamond in the rough but if you are feeling uncomfortable then I understand that as well. I also know this fic has been out before and that the author had made changes to it since it was first released. If you haven’t read the edited version of this story, I would say give it another read now. I would love to hear what people think after they finish reading this gem.

- A Dangerous Game

Author: LittleWhisperer

Rating: Explicit

OMG! What a ride this story was! Once I started to read the first chapter, I could not stop! It just sucked me into the story’s world and I felt like I was actually there seeing the action and environment that the author was describing. This story keeps you in suspense and on your toes for what is going to happen next in this crazy Mafia AU. The relationship between Levi and Mikasa is magnificently done as they come to realize they have more in common than they think. I enjoy LittleWhisper’s work and I recommend checking out more of their works.

- The Taste of Pomegranate

Author: alienheartattack

Rating: Teen/Explicit

I have to say that I would have not expected me to like a Ballet AU story for Rivamika, but I absolutely enjoy every second while reading this one. The way the author creates the tension between Mikasa and Levi is splendidly done in this story. There are two more one-shots that follow after the original fic but they honestly feel like two more chapters that are just continuing with the story. I would certainly read the two one-shots after your finish reading part 1, you will not regret it!

- The Song Remains the Same

Author: MoraLeeWright

Rating: Mature

I enjoy MoraLeeWright’s writing so much! I think I binged read this story in about a day, I couldn’t stop myself. This fic does a really great job of slowly building the relationship between Mikasa and Levi. It gives their perspectives on the challenges they are facing together as well as the conflicting feelings each have about the growing bond between the two of them. I know that this is a Rivamika classic among fans but if you have yet to read it, definitely check this story out!    

Ongoing:

- Who Are You Calling a Bitch?

Author: xx_ciela

Rating: Mature

I was terrified that this fic would not ever get updated again, but good news its BACK! I am so excited to see where the story leads and whats going to happen to Mikasa, Levi and the other characters that are present. WAYCAB does an amazing job of mixing and twisting many different types of lore together to pull you into this fantasy type AU. Just when you think you have finally received the answers to your questions, it only lead to more questions lol. This story will keep you pensive and excited to find out what exactly is going on in this city. Its a slow burn in regards to Mikasa and Levi’s relationship, but I have a feeling that the wait will be well worth it. Undoubtedly recommend checking this out and leaving a comment for the author telling you want more!

- I Just Miss A Good Cup Of Tea

Author: EJelly

Rating: Mature

I discover this fic because of how it was blowing up in the Rivamika tag on tumblr lol. I’m soo happy that I decided on checking it out because I binged read the 28 chapters that were out already. Attack on Titan meets The Walking Dead in this baby. The way that EJelly writes action is spectacular, it feels like I’m watching a TV show. I also love the way they write in each character’s POV in order for you to understand the mind set of the characters during this zombie apocalypse. The relationship between Levi and Mikasa is beautifully built over the course of this story and I cannot wait to find out what lies ahead of them. Again, another slow burn that I have a feeling will be well worth the wait (it already has been)! Go check it out and leave a comment telling EJelly that you are excited for more!

- Just Until The Storm Has Gone (?)

Author: MoraLeeWright

Rating: Explicit

Put a question mark by this one because I’m not sure if this is still ongoing or not. Regardless of that, I urge everyone to go read this indescribable work of art. MoraLeeWright’s writing has just blossomed into such beauty and she does nothing but keep getting better as time goes on (I don’t even know how that is possible but she doing the damn thing). JUTSHG is in a class of its own, for me, in the world of Rivamika fics. This baby is from Mikasa’s perspective and it delves into her psyche as she is dealing with the after affects of war. Her relationship with Levi is so mesmerizing in this story and the way that MoraLeeWright creates their smut scenes is so yummy I just want to eat it for lunch. I can’t even call it smut because its so much more than that. You can feel the connection of two souls finally finding the other they have been looking for as well as passion they have for each other. I could go on about how much I LOVE this story but I’ll stop. This one is on my top 3 favorite Rivamika fics of all time.

Incomplete:

- No Rest for the Wicked

Author: Hallow17

Rating: Explicit

Freaking love this story and I’m SOOO SAD that its incomplete! Mikasa has to deal with the paranormal while also running a business in this fic. The budding relationship between Levi and Mikasa is well paced and so gracefully displayed that even though it is an incomplete story, it’s well worth reading the 19 chapter that have already been published. Everything you could ask for in a paranormal story is presented; ghost, action, spirits, and lots of angst! This is such a unique story its literally burned into my brain and I will never forget it. I hope that Hallow17 miraculously comes back to finish this baby off one day!

 

- Romance and Rivalry

Author: AmayaOkami

Rating: Explicit

I AM SO HEARTBROKEN THAT THIS STORY IS NOT COMPLETE I CANT EVEN BEGIN TO EXPLAIN MY FEELINGS!!! Ugh, this story is soo freakin good! I know that this is another story that is popular in the Rivamika community but I have no choice but to put it here! The build up in this story is amazing that you can’t wait to read the next chapter to see what happens with Mikasa and Levi. This is such a great take on a typical romantic trope but AmayaOkami puts so much personality into the characters that it gives off such a fun and exciting vibe. The comedy and awkwardness is displayed so well that I have to stop reading because I get bad second hand embarrassment lol! Omg please read it even though its incomplete, its too much fun to pass up on. AMAYAOKAMI PLEASE I BEG YOU COME BACK AND FINISH THIS RIVAMIKA ROMCOM I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!!!!!

One-Shot:

- Intertwining

Author: Livysan

Rating: Explicit

I’m staring off these one-shots with two of my favorite Rivamika “smut” stories. This is such a wonderfully written love scene between Mikasa and Levi. Livysan really expresses the yearning passion that Levi and Mikasa have for each and unfolds it in such a sweet and loving way. A must for any Rivamika fan to read.

- Until the Stars Disappear

Author: noiresetoiles

Rating: Mature

This is just an exquisitely done love scene between Levi and Mikasa I almost have no words for it. Its just down right BEAUTIFUL that pretty much all I can do to describe it. I really enjoyed how noiresetoiles decided to not use any dialogue in this story, it really shows how Mikasa and Levi’s actions tell how they really feel about each other. Again, a must read for Rivamika fans.

- Clean-Shaven

Author: hashire

Rating: Mature

The cute domestic fluff that we need from Levi and Mikasa! This is a one-shot but it is part of hashire’s Happily Ever After collection. The whole collection is about the domestic bliss between Mikasa and Levi after the war has come to an end. I definitely recommend reading the entire collection, you will not be sorry.  

- Pure Dawn

Author: sulkyfuckingcat

Rating: Explicit

A Holiday AU that has sexual tension and smut? Count. Me. In. Pure Dawn has all the build up and smutiness that any Rivamika fan needs if they are craving it. Go check it out if you haven’t, I know that its pretty popular in the Rivamika community and I can see why lol.

- Begging for Thread

Author: villanelle

Rating: Explicit

I believe that this one has been talked about a lot in the Rivamika community but I still have to leave it here just in case someone hasn’t heard about it. Its a must read. Written from the perspective of Levi the story explores his mindset as he is trying to deal with his emotions towards Mikasa. Mikasa has some taunting tendencies in this fic which I love as well.

- Looking Into the Heart of Light

Author: hashire

Rating: Explicit

Again, another domestic bliss fic about an eventful evening between Levi and Mikasa. Its a pretty quick read but its too cute to pass up. If your looking for a quick Rivamika fix then this is the fic for you.

[araminakilla]

Huey and D'jinn possible parallels

As we know, Huey is the center of this season and even if he wasn't present in all the episodes, the ones in which he appears are excelent and contribute for some character development. I bet we are going to see paralels between him and other characters. Dewey has Della, Jormungandr in the neutral side and Don Karnage in the villain side, Louie has Goldie and Gladstone. Huey has Fenton, maybe Gyro, Donald and definetly Fethry Duck, Boyd and Violet Sabrewing. But what if he had parallels with someone who isn't science-related? Someone who has more common grounds in terms of liking history other than Violet (who is now a recurring character)? I have a feeling that it's a side character who is going to return not that soon but in the last episodes.

I'm talking about Faris D'jinn and in this (long) post I'm going to explain why.

First of all, their (brief) interactions. Huey was the first member of the Duck family to meet D'jinn and he was the one who asked if him and Amunet were ok in Moonvasion!

Now this may be very brief but I theorise Huey is going to have more conversations with Faris the next time he appears. They have many things in common after all.

What are those things you may ask? Apart of wearing red in their clothes.

Well, that is the second point. Both like order and things going their way because it makes them easy and in Huey's case, secure.

D'jinn had one thing in mind in all the Treasure of the Found Lamp! episode: To find the lamp of his ancestors in his birthday or devastating consequences would happen aka he's going to be sad. This could count as hyperfocusing on something, that would be the lamp and the story behind it.

He was so concentrated on that matter that he involved the duck family in a quest that some of them (Scrooge and Louie) didn't want to be part of, but felt they have no choice.

This reminds me of the episode where it was Scrooge's birthday and Huey wanted to prove that he could be a better party planner than Duckworth (the already deceased buttler) to the point of only for one second to transform into "the Duke", you know, that facet of Huey that cames to life when a great injustice was made like when Mark Beaks made Dewey the superior of Huey despite the fact that the Blue One didn't put as much effort as the Red One or when a boss character ruins his carefully cultivated farm plot in Legends of Legendquest and the older sibling went mad.

Well, D'jinn had moments that from his point of view count as injustices too. First the lamp was stolen centuries ago, then he finds where it is and goes to Scrooge to have it back, then the old duck tells him the lamp was misplaced. Since Faris had a schedule that he must complete before it's too late, he proposes to find the lamp in a rather...intense way that ends up scaring the ducks. Then he goes to Itaquack and spends maybe hours solving riddles and he knows they are stalling him and gets more impatient. THEN he discovers the lamp was stolen AGAIN under his nose by Ma Beagle and that he was SO close to obtain it right there. These last things of course couldn't happen as the quest was fake but Faris didn't know that.

While I don't think D'jinn has a whole "Duke" persona, he has little moments of intensity that instead of helping him only makes things worse.

It's because these moments of intensity and misunderstandings that the ducks had to make a false quest to obtain more time and stop D'jinn for...wanting to kill them.

No, seriously, the family thought they were death duck meat if they didn't find the lamp which again it's a big misunderstanding, as we found out Faris isn't the kind of guy who is violent just because and he wouldn't kill enemies.

Look, D'jinn is my favorite side character in all Ducktales and I even made a big analysis of why he is a great character a year ago. But... guy has poor communication skills. Let's admit it, many of you wouldn't stay in the same room as someone who not only is very (very) dramatic but also has weapons at their disposition.

Anyway going back to Huey...the Red Bean also has problems with communication. For example, as @pholux-twg pointed out, many things could have been resolved if only Huey had the time to explain his insecurities and point of view in The Trickening!, something he didn't do well in Scrooge's birthday.

And talking about that episode again, he was pushing his siblings to do the perfect birthday for Scrooge, something that Scrooge himself didn't want to. Huey had good intentions when trying to organize the party but his actions and considerations of other people's feelings were not productive, just like D'jinn had good intentions at getting the lamp back but the way he tried to obtain it just scared everybody.

Also to me it is very amusing that D'jinn is a warrior who trusts everybody so much (I mean, he didn't stop to consider if Ma Beagle was lying about the lamp, he believed her inmediatly) and falls for simple jokes as the "got your nose" joke. It is possible that he's not that naive but simply he doesn't really know when somebody is lying or not even if it's very obvious. Just like Huey is Mister "I'm not good at imagination stuff" D'jinn could be "I'm not good at detecting lies and metaphorical jokes"

Then we have the scroll that D'jinn owns and it has the story of his family, his quest for the perfect birthday gift and maybe more information, he writes on it what he has accomplished and that reminds me of the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook that Huey has for guidance. We don't know what could happen if Faris lost the scroll because it seems that he also uses it for guidance in his quests (or in the quest of his life)

Gif belong to @pholux-twg , @stevenfallsvs and @greatgamedota

Also I would like to point out that Huey had moments of stimming in Season 3 and I think D'jinn had moments of this in his debut episode...if spinning his sword many times counts as stimming, because maybe is a cool thing that he does when trying to impresionte those around him but maybe...just maybe he spins his sword when experiencing strong emotions like:

Anger

Determination

Hapiness

But wait you would say, that doesn't make sense as he has the same stoic face in the three gifs.

Yeah, but the thing is, and this is one of the theories that I have...he's masking.

During all the journey he's excited but mostly reserved and it's only when he understood that everyone thought there was a genie in the lamp and said object was now at his disposition that he broke his stoic and serious presence and began to show more than just one emotion.

But from a brief moment before the battle with the Beagle Boys we see the moment he discovers all his quest was a charade to stop him from getting angry, we get this:

He's confused, sad, hurt and angry again when facing the ducks. Then as he questions if everything was fake he seems sad again.

This is of course justified in that he's a tough warrior. Heavens forbid if he shows emotions that could be perceived as weak in front of his allies and enemies.

But we have to consider this: D'jinn lives for epic and little quests. It's his hobbie, his favorite activity, he sees life as a big quest and him as just another player and he takes that very seriously.

The thing is... the others don't. They only pay attention to him for fear of their lives. This is just a guy who you can't ignore. Like I said before Scrooge and Louie only want to escape the problem they got into and even Huey is amazed at how much dedication the warrior puts on the lamp and the quest.

Huey (to Louie): D'jinn monologued about this lamp and the Ifrit's Dawn for ten minutes without blinking!

Taking into account that, let's go back to Faris realizing the ducks lied to him. They used his favorite hobby and interest as a joke. Without saying it, the ducks practicaly said: "You know, we don't care about being part of your quest or your lamp or listening to your dramatic stories. We just don't want to get destroyed. We want you to leave us alone as soon as possible"

And all I have to say is...ouch. OUCH

I mean, of course that supposition is not true because Dewey enjoyed the adventure and Webby was living the dream! But D'jinn didn't know that.

I also have to wonder if him not getting into drama over the lie was because he was very focused in obtaining the lamp or maybe he's just used to it. And for "it" I mean having to deal with many lies made to get rid of him and his dramatic actitude, and that actitude is not wrong or bad but some persons just don't have time or patience for that and we don't know how many people encountered the warrior in the past.

We don't know if his family is as interested and passionate about their history as D'jinn, or if he still has a brother or more siblings but (theory) if he turns out to be the only member of his family to have that passion for history and adventures then he would have another thing in common with Huey. Both love their families deeply but they feel they don't understand them.

At least we have one thing clear for sure and it is that in his last birthday, D'jinn wasn't alone.

I hope he continues to make more friends or how he puts it "allies" and please let him interact with Huey! It's the Red One's season after all.

Also as a sidenote it is interesting that in the last picture Webby, Beakly and Huey (who are confirmed to have more presence and lore in this season) were in one group together. Foreshadowing?