#Can I Grow A Grape Vine From

[realisticpregerotica]

Ripe Fruit

18+ MDNI, 5400 words +, First Person Male POV

Contains: Pregnant sex, Lactation, Orgasmic birthing, Oral sex during birth, Size difference, Aphrodisiacs

“5 silver for the camel feed. Ask again and that price is going up!”

I groaned at the underwhelming result of my bartering as I coughed up the coins. If I wanted any transportation out in the desert I needed to feed my camel. Parting from the stand I counted my coins and calculated that between an inn and a meal, I could only afford one. And it was looking to be a cold night in the desert town. 

My stomach rumbled as I approached the camel pen outside of the inn. A wooden cart with display cases of the largest fruit I had ever seen in my life. I wasn’t sure if my eyes deceived me. It must have been months since I had seen fresh produce, but the fruit was beautiful. They could have been their weight in gold. Grapes like clusters of smooth amethyst, apples that glistened like rubies, every individual specimen in each crate made my mouth water 

“Good afternoon, traveler, has something caught your eye?” a smooth voice glided from above my head. My neck craned in order to find the source of the voice

As I looked up I caught the eyes of a woman with a dark tan hidden under the shade of the wooden cart. She casted a shadow over me. Her features were sharp. Her eyes, her lashes, her nose took to me with her undivided attention. All while she towered over my head. The window opened up space for her body, namely, a round, full stomach that rested heavily against her lap.

She rested against the counter, the dried fibers of a half eaten date between her fingers, and providing a perch for her body was the round of a greatly pregnant belly that poked through the window of her cart. I couldn’t imagine the inside of the cart to be incredibly spacious, I wondered how it was possible for such a woman to be inside of the cart

I hadn't realized how close I had gotten to her while observing her products, and right before me was her chest. Her gigantic breasts sat against either side of her belly, casually covered by loose purple fabric that drew their full teardrop shape closely.

“Um… Ah… Melons.” I spit out. A cringe crept around the corner of my lips.

The woman chuckled, amused watching the movements of my face. “Melons? I have a few” She replied without any ounce of offense taken. She set her date down, and held her belly in place as she huffed, pulling a variety in a wooden bin from behind her. Her eyes dropped as she found a crate of fruit behind her, 

“The rain's have been plentiful. These may be overripe…” Her fingers drew closer across the wooden counter towards the reptile-like skin of the cantaloupe between us. Even as she brought them out I could smell the fruit from within. They shined among every other product on display. 

“That shouldn’t be a problem. What’s wrong with overripe melons?”

“These plants bore their fruit too soon. Pollinators are scared away by the burgeoning melons that grow on the vine, hiding away the other flowers on the plant.” Her eyes drifted from the fruit. A hand subconsciously drew across the stretched fabric of her dress. She grounded herself to the touch against her unborn child.

“They grew much further than the capacity of their skin. The flesh is taut, the flesh may be juicy, but at a cost of the fruit's body. It's more than that poor skin can contain. How much  more could that fruit take… Nobody can tell for sure…”

The merchant shrugged, the gaze from her sharp eyes narrowed onto me, watching with intention. Her fingers seemed to barely hover over the loose clothes covering her heavily distended midsection. Her tone hid feelings of longing melancholy, one that felt especially unusual for an expecting mother.  Whatever her background was I knew she wasn't just talking about fruit. 

A flick of her fingernail sent a crevice snapping throughout the entire rind of the melon, loud enough to make me flinch. 

“Pop.” She cooed playfully. The flesh parted on the inside was engorged freshness, juices dripping onto the table in front of us. She gestured towards the exposed section of fruit before me. “Have a taste.”

My emaciated body could not hold back any longer. The crisp flesh yielded under the most bare pressure of my tongue. I was slurping the fruit down voraciously. The flesh was sweet and nourishing. The cart owner looked down at me with curiosity and stroked her stomach gently, watching with enough intent to make me self conscious. 

“Please forgive me. I’ve never had anything like this before.” The merchant not only. Id  ever thought twice about the concept of pregnancy, it had felt so far from me. Her fertility was right in front of me on full display. The way her clothing hugged her growing body, how she had to maneuver around her large bump only intrigued me more. Surrounded by the bounties of nature, the shop owner, carrying her own. 

“I can’t imagine I’d have anything like this again.” 

“I’m glad you’re satisfied.” She nodded. 

“How much for the melon?” I asked, attempting to hide these overwhelming emotions behind my coin shack. She waved her hand. “Take as much as you’d like. I’m not sure if I’ll find somebody with your perspective.” The space between our words was palpable. I felt regret, witnessing such an ephemeral beauty pass me by in real time.

“Thank you, miss. I hope I can repay you soon. May I know your name?” 

“Isme.” she extended a hand. It was natural for a merchant and a customer to exchange a handshake. But as mine were embraced by her especially large hands there was a line that was crossed. Our hands lingered a second longer, interrupted by another shopper that lined up behind me. 

“May we be reacquainted soon.” She pointed towards the field on the outskirts of town in their magnificent display of the entire spectrum of colors. The sun started to go down as I brought my arm full of fruit to the inn. The air was looking to be much warmer than anticipated with a subtle scent of flowers beginning to waft through the air. 

~

Night fell as I rested in front of the long day ahead of me. My stomach is as full as it could be. I rolled in my bed with the thoughts of Isme clouding my mind. The scent of cherry blossoms began to waft into my room even stronger now. I had a moment of peace before the commotion came in. The lobby filled up immediately, not one person had come in alone and their partners for the night were draped over each other’s arms. 

On the first floor the scent of sweet pollen hit me like a tsunami, the experience dazed me to lose my footing under me as the embers of desire began to ignite within me. My heart began to race, I felt needy for attention, the touch of another human being. But none of the people who had filled into the lobby could satiate the craving I had developed in the day.

The sound of pollinators buzzing through the skyline with their gentle symbiosis. Not a fig wasp nor moth moved with any aggression. The smell of nectar wafted intensely into the air. Lines wrapped around the pubs and brothels alike. The silhouette of opened windows behind curtains echoed passionate sounds of pleasure where couples were clearly making love. Strangers would seemingly pass each other in the street and disappear into the inns and alleyways only to emerge from them minutes later. 

The scent of nectar was overwhelming now. Into my sinuses and directly into my brain that felt like it was melting. My heart began to race. It was as if my peripherals were highlighted in a pink hue. There was something in the air, literally and metaphorically. In the sweet miasma there was a lust catalyzing hysteria, and I was also a victim.

“Haa… Haa…” my lust was verbal now. It was even hard to control my motor function. Even the rubbing from my underwear was overwhelming. My erection was twitching in my pants. From our short interaction she was the only thing on my mind. Nobody had ever left an impression on me as she did. I retraced my steps into the dark inn where people were attached to their lovers along the walls. The sounds of pleasure echoed further into the alleyway as I pursued the location of the fruit cart. 

The cart was gone, and in my lust driven daze I felt deep regret as I saw the fruit cart gone from its morning location. I had missed my opportunity, and I may never see a woman like Isme again. How long would it be before I devolved into a horny monkey.

“You made it, traveler.” 

The sight before me filled me with a primal sense of purpose. She dawned the same color violet fabrics, though far less draped over her bronze skin. Two pieces of clothing were held together by a  couple of thin gold bands supported by her dramatically distended stomach at the center of her torso that were at my eye level.  Her stomach distended far past her hips than my arms could ever wrap around. My head only reached the bottom of her ribs. I noted the strength of her backside to carry such a weight in preparation to birth her child. As she came to a stop her exposed skin rippled. Though heavy with a child in her womb she was still a flower in full bloom

The apt description of her ripe melons were hers alone now. The exposed skin let me marvel at the miracle of her life giving body. “Isme…” I uttered in relief, my cheeks lit aflame for her to see me in such a state, but as we got closer I realized we were under the same condition.

Her chest rose and fell, also under the spell of the night breeze. Under her translucent veil I could see the redness on her dark cheeks. One knee pointed inwards “You must be feeling it as well. You were just in time for the mass pollinator migration.” She took my hands into hers, picking up exactly where we had left off in the afternoon. 

“I… apologize for being so… Mmh… forward…” I looked her in the eyes. The desire against either of our touches answered it so clearly that the verbal agreement was only a formality. “May… May we have sex?” 

With the same haze in my eyes, Isme nodded with enthusiasm. She guided my to the hidden corner of the alleyway where her cart rested and her stalls of fruit were hidden, a little closet of space where the moonlight shined into the room.

Hinges unlocked and the bottom of the cart flew open. An entire wall had to come down in order to fit the pregnant woman who followed behind me. Her arms rested on my shoulders, guiding me to a bed that made up the majority of the cart's space. Her cart was illuminated by the moonlight. Her sheets were fuchsia under the azure moonlight. 

I felt the warmth of her breasts and belly, our bodies pressed together, as we craved touch immediately. She turned me around and set me gently against her bed to see her from underneath and recognize the scale of our size difference. 

“Was it melons that caught your eye earlier?”

She unclasped the top of her bra, freeing her heavy breasts that dropped heavily with their engorged fullness. Her amber droplets rolled readily against her dark breasts leaving behind a wet trail to her nipples. “Don’t be shy. There will be more than enough for my child. Drink.” My body desperately gave into her instruction. Her heavy breasts required physical labor from both hands to guide her into my mouth. Every touch caused her nipple to leak, down my chin beofre her heavy supple flesh filled my mouth.

Her body rocked back and fourth as she sucked air sharply to the sensations of lactation. Her milk filled my mouth with every suckle, nourishing me as she did before as I was indulged in a way only a mother can indulge me.. I was on fire. Her hands stripped me until my bare skin exposed itself to the night breeze before she explored my body. Her fingers slowly familiarized her with the shape and size of my body, it was as if she was evaluating how much I could take. Whatever she assumed, I wished that she would give it to me twofold. Last of which to be touched was my erection that had been growing against her body. 

“Keep suckling. Let me feed you.” Her large hand enveloped most of my shaft. The bottom of her thumb rolled against my most sensitive spot at the bottom of the head. She began to stroke. Firm pumps gave the stimulation that my body crazed under the humid haze of aphrodisiacal pollen in the air.

My moans were muffled into her breast as she bit her lip to my sounds. Her touch directed the fire igniting all over my body. Nursing on her leaking teat became second nature. My airways were surrounded by her breasts, her scent, and the taste of her milk. My brain was overwhelmed by Isme. My hands began to explore, finding any foothold to reach Isme closer as she continued to work me agonizingly slowly. 

My hands sunk into her flesh. The new grooves of a pregnant woman's body. The sensations of her body against my fingertips. The softness of her sides, her wide hip bones, and finally, the firmness of her belly parked up against my side as she leaned forward to nurse me. She pressed her midsection into me, allowing myself to enjoy the part of Isme’s body that truly caught my eye.

A pound, almost like a muffled thump. I would have thought to look at the entrance if it hadn't been for Isme's reaction.I looked down to find her belly contorted to sharm angles as limbs poked through her drum tight skin. My eyes could deceive me into seeing the details of a toe through The surface of her skin. 

“Your nursing is making me have contractions.”

Her white stretch marks decorated her body like those on the burgeoning melons from before. They only looked more stunning while highlighted by the yellowish metal that draped over her maternal frame. She huffed. Her sheer size was too much to handle. Anxiety grew on her face, like she was watching a fleeting moment pass by. She took her hand off of my cock, leaving me to sigh in sexual frustration. She wore no bottom to cover her sex. 

“Will you have me, traveler?”. She arranged every massive pillow on her bed to support her body. Her heavy, milk laden breasts were parted by the massive dome of her midsection, the undercarriage spread twice the width of my shoulders. She spread each of her tree trunk thighs to invite me into her. I was drawn to her belly as proof of her stunning fertility.

Her pussy was glistening in ways that I never thought imaginable. The entrance of the especially large woman was proportional. I couldn’t forget her tangent from earlier in the day. She was every bit the ripe fruit that she spoke about, and under the spell of the night  I felt like if we didn’t have sex, I would die. 

My whole body needed to accommodate her to take form to the love we’d make. As my hips pushed into the plush padding of her crotch my body parked against her firm midsection. There was a baby in here, one that had been growing inside of Isme for 10 long months.

I had to lift her heavy malleable belly to access her sex. I felt the weight of her child shift as she was relieved from the heaviness of her womb. She sighed, satisfied and exposed while my hands carried no less than half my body’s worth of weight. 

With her child in hand, I finally thrusted. “Mnnnhhhhgggg.” came from my throat as her warm sex enveloped my body, sending a chill down my spine. Her insides were warm, nearly hot and full as they pushed against me in every direction with softness to give. Every angle of every thrust parted her walls in new exciting ways that made her moan and shutter in excitement. There was so much woman to make love to, and I only had one night to do it.

Her walls began to collapse around me. She gasped as she was forced to address the cramping that took hold of her abdomen. A contraction took hold around me and her uterus that went solid under my hands. Wetter, together, I felt every ridge around me as Isme's body tightened to ready herself to begin labor. She winced in pain as her fingers began to dig into the mountain of pillows behind her

Her pussy, pulsing and contracting. Her breaths steadied as I moved. Isme's stomach began to tighten, receding inside my arms. Her firm belly hardened around the shape of her uterus and refused to yield.

“Hooooooo…” left her lips. Her chin pointed towards the sky as she took in a deep breath and let a long exhale groan from her relaxed jaw. She stroked her stomach, quelling the movements that bobbed against her stomach between us.

“Please keep moving…” She begged to keep taking her as the contraction. Her walls pulsed and contracted with every thrust. I felt like I was interrupting her body as it labored, but I was privileged to feel Isme’s most intimate process. Every thrust was a fight as her body clung onto me as I pulled out, but hungrily took me back into her. Our moans blended together,  releasing the feeling of her contractions against our sex.

Isme’s hands held my body, stroking my back and hips with idle lust as the powerful contraction came to an end. The area  around her popped naval was red under the tension and the rest of her body grew hot. There was an intoxicated look in her eyes before she lifted her hips from between her legs.

Effortlessly she dragged into the pile of body size pillows. While she rotated her cumbersome body around me, her gold chains jingled against her stomach and before I knew it one of her soft, heavy thighs straddled my hips and swallowed me into the soft ocean of her warm body. 

The weight of her round dominated my torso and pushed my breath out of me. “Mnnha-” I sighed, a breath was forced out of me as the weight of her hips and her belly sat against my torso. In an unprecedented erotic peril I realized that the pregnant merchant was going to use me.

“Forgive me traveler. We don't have much time.” She slurred as she maneuvered my cock against her entrance. I gasped, feeling the size of her entrance that was going to swallow my throbbing member whole. Isme’s soft, wet sex was intimidating to the sheer size of the pregnant woman on top of me. I flinched at the feeling of her wet juices subconsciously dripping from her wet hole like nectar from a flower begging to be fertilized. Her lust only made the developed young she carried in her uterus only more alluring. “I understand. Your body as it is… Haa… Is the greatest privilege.” 

She took a deep sigh with a softened gaze to my comment. With the overwhelming anticipation of sex Isme plunged into me. “Mnnnnhhhh!” was forced out of my crushed lungs as my body sunk into the pile of pillows as I was swallowed into  her gravid body. She groaned with heavy satisfaction as her body buckled forward. Her baby thrashed against me. The pressure of her womb was tangible as I felt the healthy life inside of her body.

It wasn’t enough for either of us. She maneuvered her large body over me, and slammed down all of her weight against my disproportionate member again. The sounds of our bodies filled the room as we collided onto her massive mattress. The bedframe groaned under the power of her pregnant body.

She couldn't hold all of her weight, causing all of the weight of her baby laden belly directly onto my shaft. My hips were crushed by each one of her heavy pumps. Her back arched as she threw her weight into me for her pleasure. Her body rippled with the effort, her breasts leaked a trail of milk that rained over my face and stained her bump.   I could feel my body bruising and I didn't care. No price was  too great for a lover her size

I could feel the pressure building in her hips as she rode. One hand sat atop her belly, steding her and digging into my body more and more. She held my hands against her mattress as we indulged. Her stomach began to tighten from over me this time. Her stomach receded back into her body

“Annnhhh~” I groaned, feeling the weight of her womb as it descended into her birth canal. With the mother in control she continued to ride through her labor pains. Her folds contorted around my cock, her gel-like juices stained my cock and ensured I could glide against her contracting vagina.

“Hnnggh!” She cried sharply as I felt a hard, muscular lip at the tip of my penis. With a quick inhale she moved again. “I-mmnnh-can-haaaa… Feel you against the baby.” she moaned through clenched teeth  We climbed, further and further amidst her pains.

Her hips dominated me, her ass crashed into my pelvis with recoil sending vibrations to her dilating uterus. “Oh fuck…” I groaned. “Your baby is so low…” My comment drew a smile on her face. Her hands lifted and supported her belly at the height of the contraction. From below her I took control, thrusting into her heavy body as best I could as her face contorted in the characteristic features of sexual pleasure. “Nhha~ Yes-Yes!” she cried as her whole body tightened.

She felt every one of my thrusts sending vibrations to her womb as I hit her harder and faster. I prodded her dilated cervix until finally her hips gave in and sunk into my body. My cock jabbed into a thin, rubbery layer before releasing my seed into her exposed uterus. My ejaculation released a pent up sensation from within her that had been building for 10 long months. 

“GUUUUUOOOOOOOAAAAH!” Isme cried. Her hips spasmed as she grinded over me. Her pussy twitched wildly to accept every drop of semen her pussy demanded from me. Her fingers ran through her scalp as she gyrated her nude body over mine. We panted, our sensitive sexes riding the sensations. My hands drew across her engorged womb between us, worshipping her virile round  under its weight. As my palms contacted the surface of her red, taut skin the thin layer separating my penis from her baby ruptured.

Isme took a sharp gasp as the protective layer within her audibly popped from within her. Immediately a bathtub of warm waters erupted onto my waist, leaving myself and a majority of the pillows under me drenched. We took heavy breaths in disbelief against her stained sheets. 

“Your… Waters…” I said, half in observation, half in question. Isme nodded with a look of shock and disbelief on her face. 

“You… You popped me, traveler. It looks like you picked another overripe specimen” She joked. Her smile disappeared quickly with a wince of her labor pains. “A-ahhh~” she cried, the pains forcing her to keel over my body.She held onto my body, vulnerable and afraid on top of me as intense labor pains reduced her to tense, shaky breaths. 

“Stay with me, traveler?” she asked, as if leaving my lover of the night to labor alone was an option. “Of course.” I reassured her. I assisted her as best I could onto her side where she rubbed the bottom of her stomach in the new, overwhelming pain. 

“Mmmnhhhh-” she groaned, pressing our foreheads into each other once more. “Ah~ Ah~” her knee swayed side to side as the effort of childbirth and adrenaline coursed through her veins. I wanted to relieve her

I pressed my forehead against hers. Slightly, she let go of some tension she carried in her face. She took deeper breaths and allowed the contraction to do the work of sending her child downwards. We both watched as her belly changed shape at the end of the contraction. The gravity of the moment was palpable. Isme was giving birth and I was watching her. 

Between contractions we heard the moans and sounds of sex around us. Sweet pollen still lingered in the air. Our warm bodies still craved more.Her sounds blended in with the sounds of the lovers around us, filling in the air with erotic sensual background noise. The atmosphere was not lost on us

Our lips met and we began to touch. Through kisses her jaw released the tension she held. She opened her mouth, her tongue explored the inside of my mouth, leaving us longing for more. “Can you feel my baby, traveler?” She requested.

“From inside?” I asked.  She nodded. My hand followed her hot, red midsection down to between her legs. My fingers led a journey across her gigantic body before I found her outside lips from under her belly. Isme let out a sigh at the contact. She spread her legs further, making it easier to find her labia, and deeper, her entrance. 

“Mnnnhhhh~” She moaned as my fingers parted her delicate folds and pushed into her. Her chest rose as she softly thrusted against my fingers. My fingers grazed a warm, round mass. “Haaaa-nnnghhh!” Isme groaned suddenly. Her thighs began to shake as the walls of her vagina began to close around my fingers. I watched her stomach crunch itself again. From within her I moved my fingers 

The lip of her cervix hugged the head as it descended. I held my breath, watching the large, round head of her child separate the lips I had passionately thrusted into just minutes before. As she let go of her push the head receded back into her slightly. Tired, childbirth was every ounce the endeavor I understood it to be. My fingers slowly exited her body with the effort of her pushes. “You’re making such good progress.” 

Through deep breaths she smiled and nodded, her face lighting up with pride. Isme demanded more kisses by leaning her face closer to which I obliged. Between her contractions she pressed her forehead to mine and we kissed under the illumination of the moonlight. Sweat stained my forehead as she whimpered into my body. Her tender noises of sex, she ended her contraction with a smile.

Her face tightened in the middle of our kiss. “A-annghhh!!!” She groaned against my lips. She sucked air in sharply and bore down with power, My fingers were forced out of her as the head occupied her entrance and spread her labia open. “Mnnnghhhh!” Isme moaned before she moved with the contraction again. The head spread her open, the round shape stayed as she pushed but as soon as she let go the head receded back into her slightly. 

“Oh goodness, it burns.” She groaned. “That must be what the head feels like.” I communicated. The update seemed to stun Isme who looked at me with a glint in her eyes.

“Would you like to feel?” I offered. She nodded and I slowly guided her hand across her large body. Isme gasped, her hand patted the little head between her legs with relief. We felt the delicate little orb that was slowly being born through Isme’s grueling effort. Her crotch was still sensitive as we felt her body accommodating her baby’s head. Slowly, I drew circles around her stretched skin.

“Touch me, I’m having another contraction-ohhhhhhh.” There was a head engaged between her legs. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as I drew my fingers in a circle around the head. 

“Unnnnghhhhhh!” Her pushes came directly from her base. Every graze against her sensitive clit got Isme to take a deep breath and relax to feel all of the sensations of the crowning head, the pleasure and the pain. “Nnnnghhhh!” Through the steady stimulation her breasts began to leak again. The droplets were whiter now. Her body must have known that her baby was almost here. The head stretched her vulva even more. I could feel the head underneath my fingers as it passed through their mother’s opening. 

Between isme’s legs was the size of a cantaloupe. Her clit poked above that head. With one finger placed upon her sensitive nub I massaged her outer lips as they stretched around the orb. Her eyelids fluttered  as she moaned, exposing more of the child's head. “You're making me so wet…” 

The crown was a beautiful sight, a provocative, indulgent sight that I needed to savor every moment of. Isme’s laboring pussy was every bit the flower that attracted her mate. She gasped as she saw that I was headed between her legs as she readied herself for the next intense feeling to claim her partially born head and her trembling clit teased me to pleasure her more. 

To indulge every one of my ambitions I buried my face between her gigantic legs. “Mnnnnhaaaa~” she gasped as her pitch raised. Her folds were saturated in juices, making my tongue slick against her most sensitive areas. 

The sensations made her tremble as her sharp moan elevated into a high pitch squeal. “I didn’t know a laboring mother, mnnhhfff, could feel so much pleasure!” Isme cried. Her hands found the back of my head and held me in place against her pussy as she labored.

“Ohhhhh… Fuuuuuuckkkk!” She chortled as she suffocated into the throws of cunnilingus and labor. “I’m going to cum, you’re going to make me cum while giving birth to my child.” Isme squealed as her toes curled against the sheets of her bed. 

“Push, Isme.” I instructed. “Deliver your baby.”

“Mnnhhh.” My attention towards her erogenous point lightened for her to build the energy for a decisive push. “Nhhhh-haaaaa-hooo-hooo-hooooo.” 

Isme's fingers dug into the sheets. Her calf began to rise over my head, its size blocked the moonlight above me. The leverage focussed more energy on the mother. The cavern created by her massive thighs tremble around me. She hummed, low and powerful, her voice peaked, growing as her body’s tremors climbed into an earthquake of pleasure. She held her thighs open for her child and my tongue. The weight of her belly sat directly on my forehead, and the mass was only going down 

“MnnnnnhhhaaAAAAA!!!!”

She lifted her hips and thrusted against my face. A shoulder popped free from her first violent jerk. “GUAAAAAAAOOOOOHHH!!” The second shoulder followed. 

But the heavy child still sat in her birth canal. The rest of the body needed their mother’s effort to be born. 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! Her vocal chords rang until they grew hoarse as she exploded into a shrill scream that silenced the entire block as her orgasm shot the rest of her child's body onto the bed. Isme’s body spasmed as they returned to her laid down position. Her child was heavy as I took the slippery, squirming newborn into my arms and onto the mother’s chest for her to witness the first breaths of her child. 

With relief she embraced her young with her arms as I got to witness a new milestone of life, the very moment a woman became a mother. In a pool of her own fluids, covered in sweat, with her child still attached to her body, Isme was beautiful.

The first moment Isme could let her head rest against her pillow she did. She looked at me. “I never asked you for your name, traveler. I want to know the name of the man who gave me this pleasure.”

“Rayn…” I answered. She panted, cradling her newborn son in her arms. “What a wonderful name. Perhaps next season we will make a child that has that name.”

I blushed. “They may have that name as long as I have the privilege to watch their mother as she bears that fruit.” 

[love-that-we-were-in]

pretty as a vine (sweet as a grape)

pairing: luke castellan x reader summary: luke castellan might be everyone's favorite councilor over the summer. he might be a little too sweet for you in the fall. word count: 1.7k warnings: none

authors note: thank you to @wlntrsldler for letting me steal this concept from you even if making luke a real tried and true loser was a struggle. hope y'all enjoy!!

It was rare to see Camp Half-Blood’s golden boy without his signature smile on his face; always ready to help, always ready to please. 

You’d only had a handful of conversations with Luke Castellan, passing words in the height of hectic summer heat. Most of them in the middle of the night, when all the campers should be tucked away in the cabins, but you’d take the brief moments of quiet to wander the grounds with a lit cigarette hanging off your lips. 

Luke would approach you every time, always the same way, a pink flush on his cheeks and a quiet, timid voice telling you that he had to enforce the rules, that he had to send you back to your cabin because it was past curfew.

You’d roll your eyes, lick your lips, wave the smoke obscuring your view of him away playfully and promise to head back after this one. He’d nod and walk away, and you’d pretend not to notice his silhouette hidden behind one of the trees, not quite obscured enough by the lack of lighting to go wholly unnoticed, waiting for you to make your way back to where you’re supposed to be. 

He was sweet, too sweet, sometimes. Making sure you were safe, that nothing bad would happen to you even after taking his supposed leave. It was cute, really, how he acted around you underneath the starlight, always so nervous and flustered, like he’d never seen a woman before. You supposed, confined to the parameters of camp for so many years, he really hadn’t seen many of them.

It’s something you carry with you this year, watching as summer fades into fall, how camp suddenly empties. You’re not sure what to make of it, how still everything seems now, how the usual noise dampens into almost nothing and you itch for the hurriedness of July to return. 

You’re lucky, really, to have spent so long exploring the world beyond camp, seeing what growing up had to offer as if it were normal. A lot of the kids you see now, they haven’t experienced a half of what you have, trading high school for battling dragons at someone else’s request, and it shows each year like clockwork. 

If you’re honest, hidden behind the treeline near the lake, camp makes you uneasy like this. Less busy, less extreme - walking the thin line between a place to train and a place to live - and it has you more on edge than before. It could be that you’ve grown accustomed to the bustle of the Boston streets. It might just be that Luke has been hiding just beyond view since you lit your cigarette.

“I know, I know,” you say when he finally approaches. He stumbles, familiar flush blotching the skin of his neck, climbing the tips of his ears. “Just let me finish this one.” 

He nods and you wait for him to walk away, follow his usual path back into the forest. He doesn’t, standing on the damp grass nearby without saying a word, and you look at him again. 

You’re used to seeing Luke Castellan in different forms - it’s part of how he lives. Nervous and unsure and so confident with a sword that it’s a little insane that he’s the same person during training as is standing in front of you now. 

He’s got this little dip to his shoulders, fingers tapping against his own thigh as you stare at him. His curls are slightly longer than when summer started, curling around his ears and resting just above his brows. He’s got a sweatshirt on, dark green and oversized, and his teeth sink into his bottom lip the longer you take to look away. 

“You can head back,” you say eventually, flicking ash to the ground at your feet. “I promise to be good and go straight to bed.” 

It’s not meant to be anything, merely an assurance. But there’s this way Luke reacts to it, how his fingers stop tapping in favor of clenching his first, how he breathes deeper for a few breaths, how he swallows around nothing, that ignites something under your skin. Makes you want to push that little bit further. 

“You really need to stop coming out after curfew,” he mumbles in the end, tucking his hands into the front pocket of his sweater. It’s soft and a little warm and you wonder if it’s the humidity or Luke himself that’s responsible. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“You’re sweet, Castellan,” you crush the butt of your cigarette out, brushing past him to start the trek back to your cabin. “It’s kind of adorable.” 

You hear him suck in a breath. You don’t hear his footsteps directly behind you as you walk through the foliage. You kind of wish you’d turned around to see the blush rise on his cheeks. 

Maybe you will next time.

*

Next time doesn’t come for weeks. It gives you space to observe Luke now, when he’s being pulled in fewer directions, when there’s lower expectations. You learn that neither of those things exist where Luke is concerned; that he has this inability to not be helpful, to not put himself forward when no one else will. He somehow takes up more responsibilities as fall gets underway, smiling wide when you know you’d be stretched thin. 

It’s admirable, to a point, and you want to know how he does it.

A few years ago, you convinced yourself Luke was only on when the sun shone brightest. Watching him demonstrate a throw to a young Athena kid, you think he might be the sun itself. 

“Nice arm,” is what you greet him with when the little girl runs off, ball in hand. He pauses his hands where they rest on the fabric of his pants, still slightly bent at the knees from helping and lips parted as he glances up at you. “She seemed happy.” 

“She just needed some help with the technique.”

He shrugs and stands to actually face you. 

Mid-afternoon at camp has never really sat well with you. Always slower, sun burning and campers left to fill their own time before dinner. You’ve never really known what to do with it; Luke squints at the grounds before you as if he’s searching for who needs him next.

“Do you ever take a break?” Is what you say when the silence drags on for too long. 

Luke blinks, lips parting. A group of Hephaestus kids laugh from down by the lake. You wait. 

“I go to bed at midnight.”

“And what time do you wake up?” You kick at the grass below your feet, taking in how Luke stumbles for an answer, brown eyes darting each way as if it’ll fall from the sky. 

“The apollo kids really love watching the sunrise,” he chokes out in the end, digging his hands into his pockets. You wonder if he thinks it makes his nerves less obvious. “It’s a really nice sunrise.” 

“Come watch it with me tomorrow.”

You say it partly for the reaction itself. That same quick breath Luke takes each time you say something that shocks him, the red tint to his cheeks, the tip of his nose, the harsh movement of his adams’ apple. You kind of also really want to see how Luke Castellan changes between day and night - if it’s a version of him you just haven’t read yet. 

You don’t mention that you’ll have to force yourself out of bed, unused to early rising. 

He nods, three quick nods like he thinks you’ll take it back if he’s not enthusiastic enough. 

You smile then. “I’ll see you later, Luke.”

*

He meets you where he usually does, further north than anyone tends to go at any hour, let alone this early. There’s less hesitation to his steps than a few nights ago, your invitation dangling between you both something like a promise. 

“I’m not gonna bite,” you say when he stops just short of the rock you’ve claimed. You glance over at where he’s just feet away, bright orange camp tee peeking out from his grey hoodie. “It’s too early for that.”

“Oh.” 

There’s some shuffling before Luke is perching himself on the stone next to you. He’s close enough to touch from here, the makeshift seat just barely big enough for two people to share, and you take in how he tucks his hands into his pockets, makes himself take up as little room as possible. 

Outside of his swordsmanship, you’ve never seen Luke take up much space at all.

“This is nice,” he says eventually, the sun starting to peer over the lake. 

There’s something almost beautiful about what the sunrise does for him, you realise. Neither of you have moved, Luke’s gaze still locked on the horizon, but you’ve transferred your attention to him. You’ve seen the lake enough times. You’ve never seen Luke Castellan’s chest rising and falling with each steady breath, or the way his eyes turn a little gold when the sun hits them just right. How he relaxes in the autumn chill.

“You’re really pretty, Luke.”

It slips past your lips before it fully forms in your mind. His head snaps to the side, cheeks flushing and lips parted. You hadn’t meant to say it, too caught up in the slow start to the morning, but it’s out there and you don’t want to take it back.

“Such a pretty boy,” you mutter, shaking your head. 

“I-“ Luke starts, before clearing his throat. You see his hands twitch in his pockets. “What?” 

You twist on the rock underneath you, lifting your legs so they’re crossed, knees brushing the edge of Luke’s thigh. His eyes drop at the movement.

This should feel weird at camp. You’d fallen into the habit of flirting back in Boston, something to fill the gaps and score you a cigarette when you really needed help to get them. Never like this though - like the moment was delicate and its shattering was solely in your hands. 

The ability to shatter Luke Castellan, Camp Half-Blood’s golden boy, rests on your shoulders in an early sunrise.

When his breath hitches as you push yourself closer, you think you’d like to watch him shatter in the sunlight. 

Pretty doesn’t even come close when it happens.

[holylulusworld]

Darkness and Sunshine

Summary: Bucky hurts you deeply.

@buckybarnesevents „Hot Bucky Summer 2024”: Week 10 “Shhhhhhhhh…”

Pairing: Mobster!Bucky Barnes x Sunshine!Reader

Warnings: angst, Bucky being a douche, unrequited feelings, BBF trope, unwanted touching (not Bucky), fluff

A/N: The story to this random thot & this poll.

Bucky's POV

She does it again. A quick glance at me, and back to her girly drink. I know she’s interested in being more than my friend’s sister to me, but this can never be.

Just like her drink, she’s too sweet for me.

You know you're bright as the morning, as soft as the rain Pretty as a vine, as sweet as a grape If you can sit in a barrel, maybe I'll wait Until that day I think I'll take my whiskey neat My coffee black and my bed at three You're too sweet for me You're too sweet for me

I’m the whiskey-neat kind of guy. Bitter and dark. Rough and violently. My soul is black, just like the coffee I drink.

She’s the sunshine, but I am the darkness. A beautiful but vulnerable flower like her could never grow in my shadow. She would wither away and die before she got the chance to bloom.

I don’t know when, or how I changed her mind about me. I was only ever the dangerous guy her brother met to get drunk, and punch people. How often she scolded her brother for being friends with me, I don’t know.

But somehow, over the years she changed her mind. Now she looks at me like a lovesick puppy, and I cannot bear it. Not because I do not wish for her to be mine. It’s the opposite. I cannot let her in. If I do, I’d paint a target on her back.

Damnit, she bites her sweet lips while stealing another glance at me. I sigh deeply and sip at my drink. Tonight, I must show her that a goody in two shoes can never be the woman by my side. As much as it pains me, it has to be done.

“Buck, what’s wrong with you?” Her brother asks, clueless as ever. He’s not the smartest when it comes to acknowledging love, or other people’s feelings. “Something wrong?”

It has to be done. I tell myself, repeating the words like a mantra. Steve, my best friend since childhood worriedly looks at her brother. He knows about Y/N’s feelings for me, and that I must extinguish the flame I ignited in her heart.

Sadly, this can only be done by crushing her heart.

“Bucky, maybe there’s another way?” Steve gets up when I do. He wraps his hand around my wrist, stopping me for a second. “You should reconsider your decision. Peggy is sweet too. Just give it a try.”

I think I'll take my whiskey neat My coffee black and my bed at three You're too sweet for me You're too sweet for me

“No—” I harshly free my metal wrist from Steve’s grasp. He means well, I know he does, but I cannot allow Y/N to fall for me even more. I’m a dangerous man, deadly even. I won’t steal her light nor let anyone hurt her even if I have to be the one breaking her heart.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

So, I turn away from my friend and his disappointed look. Away from her brother. Away from the future fate held for me to protect what could’ve been mine.

I nod at the girls I hired for tonight, and they immediately take my offered arms. I breathe in and out before walking in Y/N’s direction.

The girls begin to chat, and as I’m about to walk past Y/N I say, "Luckily I found you ladies. All the girls at this place are so plain and boring.” I look directly at Y/N and scrunch my nose up in disgust. “Some are only allowed at my club because their big brother begged me to let them come.”

My heart chatters as a pained wail leaves Y/N’s lips. Her eyes water and her lips tremble. Those soft lips I yearned to kiss for so long. Forsaken to me now.

Still, there’s something in her eyes. A sliver of hope I must kill.

“I can’t believe a wallflower like her believes she can be anything but a pity fuck to me. If it was up to me, I’d make sure she stays away from me,” I hate myself the moment she drops the glass in her hands to run out of my club. I shattered her world and broke her heart.

I watch the door slam shut, telling myself it’s for the best.

Your POV

You run, as fast as you can. It doesn’t matter that your brother drove you to the club, or that you forgot your jacket.

Bucky just confirmed your worst fear. He hates everything about you. From your plain outfit to your character. All the things he said, are true. You’re not like the girls hanging on his arms tonight.

All you had was a glimmer of hope that maybe, he sees more in a woman but a pretty face and good looks.

Your whole world got shattered when he said all those awful things.

You know now that James Buchanan Barnes is just like every other guy.

It’s almost two months later that Bucky sees you again. That day, you glance his way. Your eyes sadden and you immediately walk the other way. The flowers you wanted to buy long forgotten you almost run away from Bucky to not feel the hurting all over again.

His eyes follow you until you’re only a tiny dot in the distance. Bucky shakes his head and sighs deeply. This is not what he intended to do.

He not only lost a good friend that night but hurt you so deeply that you’re scared to even look his way.

“Fuck,” he curses under his breath when Steve steps out of the flower shop. He carries a huge bouquet of roses for Peggy.

“What’s wrong, Buck?” Steve follows his friend’s eyes, frowning. “What happened?”

“She ran away.” He shrugs, shoulders slumping. “I didn’t want her to be scared of me, Steve. Only to make sure she looks for someone better.”

Hiding in your bedroom you ignore your ringing phone once again. You assume it’s your brother, or maybe your friend Tasha trying to get you to go out.

No way you will go out there, facing the world ever again. Bucky embarrassed you in public, in front of your brother and all his friends. You’ll never recover from this.

Rolling to your side you grab your phone from the nightstand to silence it. For today, you will shut yourself out from the world.

Another month later Bucky is fuming. Not because of you, and your presence at his club. No, not at all. Your sweet smile, and the cute sundress you’re wearing make his heart flutter.

The person making his blood boil is your date. John Walker - the man trying to get under Bucky's skin for years. That bastard brought you here for a date. A date at Bucky’s club.

Walker did this on purpose. Bucky is sure about it. He doesn’t know how his concurrent found out that he likes you, but he did. Now you’re sitting at a table with Walker, looking at the untouched drink in your hands.

Vodka. Bucky knows you hate vodka when it’s neat. You like the sweet drinks, the girly drinks he laughs about.

“What’s wrong?” Steve regrets his question the moment John Walker dares to put his hand on your thigh.

You tense, and uncomfortable shift in your seat. Maybe this date wasn’t the best idea. You agreed to go out with John, and even willingly entered Bucky’s club to show the very man that you moved on. (At least you like to tell yourself so.)

“Relax, and smile for me,” John’s voice hardens. This is his chance to get back at Bucky Barnes, and he won’t miss it. “You look like you’re at a funeral. Smile, you’re having the honor to be my date.”

Biting your tongue, you look anywhere but at John. He’s not as nice as you believed he was. Tonight, he showed his true face.

His hand creeps higher and under your dress. You’re about to stop his hand from slipping between your legs when he’s suddenly gone.

John makes a gurgling noise because Bucky dragged him off his chair from behind. He struggles against Bucky’s iron grip. Bucky has his metal arm wrapped around John’s throat, choking your date.

“You don’t touch her ever again,” Bucky growls in John’s ear. “And she doesn’t drink vodka, you piece of shit.”

“Buck—” Steve laughs watching John tug at Bucky’s metal arm. “I see you’ve got it handled.” He holds out his hand for you, murmuring your name. “Come with me, Y/N. This is not for you to see.”

“She’s having a strawberry daiquiri and get her some chicken parmesan. I bet that bastard didn’t order food for her,” Bucky grunts while keeping John in a chokehold.

Your heart flutters. Bucky remembered your favorite drink and food. But wait. He hurt you and broke your heart. Why would he attack your date?

“I should go home,” you slip off the chair and grab your purse. “Never call me again John.” Your voice is barely a whisper, but John gives you an angry look.

“You’ll regret fucking with me, missy.”

“You wish she’d fuck with you, but she won’t,” Bucky slams John’s head onto the table, making you shriek. Steve brings you into his arms and presses your face into his chest.

“Let’s get you to the VIP area, Y/N. You don’t want to see what happens next…”

The moment you follow Steve, Bucky smirks. He leans over John, whispering in his ear.

““Shhhhhhhhh…, don't make a scene, Walker," Bucky snarls. "If you even look her way ever again, I’ll break every bone in your body. And then, I’ll put you back together only to break them again.”

“Why am I here?” You nervously glance at Bucky. He sits next to you, pointing at the food Steve got for you. “I should head home.”

“Doll.” You whimper at the pet name. “I’m sorry…for tonight and the other night,” he grabs your hand, holding it tightly. “I tried to protect you from myself. You’re too sweet for me. A ray of sunshine and I’m…”

“A big grump,” you giggle. “I know you’re a grump.”

Bucky chuckles. You still don’t understand that he’s not a good man. He killed people, and his profession is far from legal. “Doll, you don’t understand. I got a gun and…”

Your eyes drop to his crotch. Bucky’s eyes widen when you lean closer to get a better look at his lap. “Why do you call your cock a gun?”

He laughs. Bucky wholeheartedly laughs for the first time in years.

“What I tried to tell you is that I’m a criminal with a gun. You’re a sweet girl, and too good for me. I wanted to keep you away from me, and said all those things.”

“So, you hurt me to make me leave?” You sniffle. “Why? If you don’t even like me.”

“I like you too much, doll,” he whispers in your ear, hot breath fanning over your skin. “That’s the problem.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Bucky laughs. Not even the toughest criminals dared to call James Buchanan Barnes an idiot. “You’ve got balls, Y/N. No one ever called me an idiot.”

“You deserve that much,” you pull away and cross your arms over your chest. “What kind of man does things like that? How could you do this to me? I didn’t leave my place for weeks, hiding in my bedroom.”

“I wanted to keep you safe, only for you to walk right into John Walker’s trap.” He huffs. “I guess to keep you safe, I must keep you around from now on…”

Part 2

Tags in reblog.

[a-roguish-gambit]

I made a turn of the century x men evolution au

Hey everyone so a big special interest of mine is the period from 1900 to about 1928 so I decided what if I took the kids from the X-Men evolution cartoon from their point at the turn of the 21st century and put them at the turn of the 20th century instead...and also added a few characters. I hope you enjoy this. I have a lot for this au, and I'm gonna put it all under the read more.

So Au thoughts

 The year is 1912. Xavier has started his institute a few years prior with scott summers and jean grey as students. Scott was adopted by Xavier after his parents died in a train crash and jean comes from a family of doctors and scientists Xavier is friends with. 

Because no computers yet, as the microprocessor  has yet to be invented, Forge didn't get stuck in a pocket dimention and got to grow up he works for xavier. He helps design and build a modified danger room that's more steam punk/dieselpunk. Lots of things are gear powered and Holograms are projections onto steam curtians. Because no computers, no cerebro. But jean and Xavier have trained themselves to be able to sense those with mutant powers around them and have been working with a network of underground individuals, some cases literally like the morlocks, to find out about new strange individuals popping up in the states. The morlocks are much more involved in this. they are good friends with Xavier and frequently helps young morlocks train their powers. 

One of those individuals is Gambit. Gambit is 17 in this and does various jobs for xavier. One is listening through the grape vine for odd individuals popping up. The other is essentially working the danger room with forge. As The danger room  is more steampunk/dieselpunk in this, with storm's help as well it can simulate weather events, earth quakes, fires, unstable ground, flooding, (bb gun based) old west shootouts, explosions (thanks to Gambit), search and rescue, avalanche / rock fall settings, and much more. 

Gambit helps set up the room and make the mechanisms work.  it functions well with automatons, steam engines, pistons, and a lot of theater special effect tricks. Gambit helps forge scrap hunt for machinery to repurpose for it. He has befriended the local street children and finds out from them wherever a factory tosses out a machine. 

Speaking of theater though, we have morph as well as a staff member. Kevin is well known fairy(period equivalent  to someone who does not fit into either gender) and drag expert from New York where they worked on broadway and a very close friend of Logan. So close they share a bedroom....;)

Morph is there to help with tailoring as well as helping kids who need disguises to pass in public cause of their time in broadway and avoid harassment, like Kurt. 

They also help simulate battles in the danger room with foes they have faced off against before.

Kurt doesn't have an image modifier in this obviously. No computers, no digital holograms. But with forge and morph they are able to help him pass. Morph designs pants for him that have a  special pocket for his tail to tuck away, as well as boots with  special braces that help disguise his digitigrade feet. Morph also helps him with makeup and hair in the morning to hide his blue face and pointed ears. 

For his hands forge has built some prothstetic fingers that are controlled by the other fingers in his hand like a puppet, so it appears he has five fingers on each hand covered by riding gloves, as well as colored contact lenses for his eyes to disguise them as brown. 

Kurt's parents came to America from Germany with him as a toddler. People found out about their adopted son and they had to flee. They settled in a small German speaking community in the middle of nowhere Iowa where they could be safe. They would have a priest visit Kurt to give him mass in private for his own safety and had a nun come to tutor him. Xavier found out about Kurt through gambits grapevine. 

Ororo came from Africa as a citizen of  British colony egypt to Jamaica where she met Charles she has family living in the states via her sister who do  are wealthy merchants.  they were british colony  expats that moved to the states to control British imports to the states easier. Thus how we get Evan. Skateboard hasn't been invented yet so he is big into the turn of the century cycling craze as well as roller skates. 

 Rogue is still a goth. A very very classic goth. Victorian goth. She still dresses like it's the 1800s to in part keep others from touching her skin but also she is just a great appreciator of Poe and Shelly and stoker. 

One thing that is different for Scott is that on top of the train crash his brother havoc is still with him at this time. His parents are very, very dead tho. No alien rescues. (Forgot to draw Alex tho but he's there as are the minor character students)

Beast is also there more from the begining as a teacher he helps take care of the kids medical needs. He got kicked out of his scientific circle, not cause of his mutant ness that came later, but because he insisted doctors must wash their hands before interacting with patients. 

Jean grey is a highly educated absolute Gibson girl. She and Kitty sneak out to do suffragette stuff regularly.  Speaking of, kitty is definitely a girl of the new century. Wants to go to college one day with Jean. Insists on wearing riding/sports pants wherever she goes. She is girly in certain ways, but defs is a very modern young woman. She likes helping Forge out with his projects. 

Magneto's hatred for humanity in this case comes from his survival of the pogroms of eastern Europe only to see there is still antisemitism once escaping them. And mystique has a boarding house where the brotherhood kids live, but she wasn't principal of the bayview school. 

Wolverine is a cowboy in this au yes. He has a horse, but he's also toying with some of the very few motorcycles. They are more of dirt bikes at this point tho, so his horse his still his go too. It's a deep black mare named Blackbird. He does not have an adimantium skeleton but his claws have been capped with silver to help protect them. 

No x jet but they do have a few biplanes they are training with. Forge is modifying them to be able to cary more people. So far he's made one that can vary five. 

 Gambit introduces everyone to jazz cause it hasn't left Louisiana yet. He brought his Grammaphone and all hell broke loose from there. 

Also rogue having a bit more of a high society upbringing thanks to irene. Gambit hasn't had a day of real school as public school wants universally established until the 1910s. He knows his reading, writing, and arithmetic from Sunday school and such and whatever jean luc  had him taught, but he's excited to learn about what the kids are learning about in their normal school. 

Rogue brings him her study material and teaches it to him and in return he teaches her the various crafts and skills he learned in the bayou and as a member of the theives guild. 

Hope you guys enjoy all this!!! Please feel free to share your thoughts!

Tried to keep things period accurate outfits wise.

[aphroditelovesu]

Hi! Love letters are open now and I realised Dionysus doesn't have one yet, if possible could you write one from him? Thank you! 💜

Dear (Y/N),

In the vines of your eyes I find the sweetest fermentation, the divine intoxication that makes me lose myself in ecstasy. Like a passionate winemaker, I taste every trace of your essence, diving into the depths of your being like someone tasting heavenly nectar. As a god of wine and feasting, I am used to being worshiped, but you awaken in me a deeper desire, an insatiable need to have you all to myself.

Oh, how your beauty is like a field of ripe grapes in the sunlight, exuding a divine aroma that intoxicates my soul. Your every gesture is like a sacred dance, every word like a celestial melody that touches the deepest corners of my being.

In your embrace, I find the ecstasy that only the gods can know. Your kisses are like the nectar of the gods, flooding me with a sweetness that transcends the limits of mortality. Your presence is my source of inspiration, my reason to celebrate life in all its fullness.

I promise you lust and devotion, intense emotions that only a god like me can offer. But I also warn you, my beloved, that I will never share you. I will not tolerate challenges to our union. If necessary, I will do everything possible to keep you by my side, even if it means resorting to madness. You have been mine since the moment our eyes met.

My love for you is as vast as the oceans, as eternal as the starry sky. May this letter express just a fraction of what I feel for you, as words cannot capture the magnitude of the love that burns in my chest.

May our journeys intertwine like vines in a vineyard, growing together in harmony and fertility. May each sip of wine be a toast to our love, each laugh a symphony of shared joy. So accept my love, my control, my protection. Be mine and mine alone, and I will lift you to the heavens, give you pleasure beyond the limits of mortality.

With devotion and eternal desire,

Dionysus.

[vxlentinescookies]

This is a sequel of the previous Dark Cacao one were they fought and everything

Things have calmed down now, the awkward moment has open space for some time, peace and some further talks

But Dark Cacao has come into term with a little something

He likes Reader Cookie: (use any pronouns) are/is strong, resourceful, agile and very skilled, he could see so much potential, and it's a surprise to find someone who not only knows their way in a fight, but ALSO can match HIM

He wants to ask her out, the issue is: how!?

He was not a single clue, time to ask his soldiers for advise I guess?

Maybe even contact hollyberry?

(To resume, this is Dark Cacao finally knowing he likes Reader Cookie, asks others for advise to ask them out and fails miserably, but Reader Cookie is so amazed at the brave [though failed] attempt that decides to give the idea of a date a try)

→ ❛Between the sword and your opponent, pt. 2❜

→ Pairing ; Dark Cacao Cookie x Reader → Quote ; ❛❛It surely didnt go according to plan but, to say Hollyberry, who had been listening intently from behind one of the pillars, wasnt satisfied, would be an understatement.❜❜ → Genre ; Drama , Romance → A/N ; This was very fun hahah, pt 1 is here!

Its been a good few days after the incident, the one where you shamelessly flirted with Dark Cacao in the middle of a fight. To say the king hadnt been thinking about it was… an understatement, he had thought about it, quite a lot. It had leaked into his daily like like the growing vines of grapes, and in return, they were twisting and shaping around his brain like a deadly respite. This, paired with the following talks you both had about the help the kingdom of Rose Champagne wanted to offer to the kingdom of Cacao, and the inevitable flirting that came with your personality, Dark Cacao seemed to inevitably start falling in love. It was a force of nature he didnt expect, that he didnt take in consideration, but as time passed, he realized that these feelings were ever present, and that there was no way he could keep them hidden.

Love, for Dark Cacao, was something he had long since given up on. He no longer seeked it, and he no longer expected it, especially after the falling out with his previous wife and the loss of his son, that he still deep down loved dearly, he no longer felt he had a place in the grounds of love, therefore, he simply stayed on his own place, allowing himself to be moved by the currents of life while focusing on the current moments with his kingdom, his subjects, and the war ever present with Dark Enchantress Cookie.

Thats perhaps what made this moment the more jarring to him, to be flirted with after he felt unlovable, after he felt undeserving of being loved—And then, the fact that his heart was starting to beat with fervor and energy yet again, for someone he once hurt unintentionally… It put his mind and heart at a standstill, confused as to how to proceed, confused as to what to do exactly.

“Damn, sounds like you’re deep in the trenches of love, old friend” Hollyberry would tell them once Dark Cacao sought them out for help, after all, out of all his comrades, the hollyberrian was the most capable when it cames to matters of love.

“Sigh, Im just, confused as what to do… I’ve given up on love a long time ago…” He said, looking down for a few moments, before turning back at her.

His hands were tainted with blood, and his mind haunted by the warriors long lost in the wars the cacao kingdom had been part of, not to mention the small guilt that followed him for having fallen in the trap that was Affogato’s tricks. He sighed yet again, because then there was you, someone hurt unintentionally by his hand, even if he was under the tricks of the snake, he still felt like he owed his people something. 

“Oh c’mon, rid yourself of that long face, Dark Cacao!” Hollyberry would snap him of his thoughts, as she’d laugh heartily “Its clear what you must do, you must act upon your emotions!”

“Act… Upon my emotions?” He felt like he stayed in square one, unable to think of what exact way to move thorough this new challenge. “Right, but, how exactly?”

“You speak as if you hadnt been in a marriage once!” She spoke yet again, frowning for a moment before patting his back lively, and perhaps a bit too strongly “Fret not! What you must do, is confess and ask her out on a date! Dosent that sound logical?”

Right, a date… If only he wasnt rusty in these themes, perhaps the idea would’ve seemed more appetizing, but as it stood, he was confused and didnt know exactly what to do or say. Hollyberry, noticing this, would just sigh and shake her head, she thought Pure Vanilla was THE challenge in the ancient’s groups when it came to love, but Dark Cacao? Now he was winning second place.

You had been resting in your quarters, quietly taking a nap when it happened, a soldier knocking on your door causing you to wake up startled, and once the door opened, you would look confused at the soldier in question, looking at you with seriousness as he spoke the words sent by his majesty. He was requesting your presence in the throne room, words that left you dumbfounded as you brushed hair out of your face before nodding. You didnt put much thought about it, as you dressed to come see Dark Cacao in the throne room.

Walking towards the castle suddenly felt colder than usual, and your steps felt heavier, as if you were expecting something bad to happen, but thinking about it, the worse that could happen would be Dark Cacao shaming you and sending you back after your constant flirting… which didnt seem to be the case, if anything it did seem quite… out of character? The king didnt seem to be that fazed by your flirting, so… But on the other side, you could be expecting the end of the trip as he declared that all was well, and that the Cacao Kingdom would continue relations with the Rose Champagne Kingdom… Not really out of character and far more viable… still, if it were to be the case, why were you hesitating? Why were you feeling so heavy? Confused, you simply approached the door before stopping.

Were you, were you falling in love? No, there was no way, there was simply no way that you were falling in love with the King of the Cacao Kingdom, was it…?

“Your majesty, I’ve arrived…” You spoke as you finally took a step inside, bowing in front of the king, before he’d dismiss the other cookies in the room, letting you both alone in the room. “Is there, something you wished to discuss with me?”

“Yes, ahem… (y/n) cookie, there are some matters I must get to… involving you”

You lifted an eyebrow as he spoke, his nervousness apparent as he left the throne and walked towards you. Each step felt dangerous yet filled with a certain sense of unknown that scared you in some way. Yet you persisted, until he was right in front of you.

“Will… Ahem… Will you go on a date with me?”

“Huh?”

Now it was your turn to be taken aback. You stared at him dumbfounded as you felt all your worries and fears fade away into the dark. He looked at you curiously and you simply coughed before looking at him, smiling.

“... S-Sure, I dont mind!”

“You dont have to if you dont want to…”

“No-No, I do want to! Lets go on a date!”

It surely didnt go according to plan but, to say Hollyberry, who had been listening intently from behind one of the pillars, wasnt satisfied, would be an understatement.

[nanawritesit]

Twice Headcanons: How They Act When They’re Jealous!

Nayeon:

on the outside, she’s completely calm. she gives off such calculated control, you’d never even know she was jealous

however on the inside, she’s having a complete downward spiral

her jealousy just validates the insecurities she already has; that she’s not pretty enough, not smart enough, not cool enough… not good enough for you.

she’ll start overanalyzing everything about her personality until she’s drowning in her own self criticism

all of this introspection makes her grow distant, which is your ONLY sign that something is wrong

the only thing that will snap her out of this is if you sit her down to her and explain in vivid detail how much you love everything about her, and how no one could ever replace her 💞

Jeongyeon:

scarily quiet

doesn’t like feeling threatened, so she gets insecure whenever someone seems to be making you happier than her

will start digging for dirt on whoever seems to be interested in you, doing a full background check

“hey Y/N, did you know they flunked out of college? no? oh, i just heard that through the grape vine.”

gives you a cold glare every time you mention their name

will protectively place a hand on your lower back the whole time you’re out with them

it’s not that she doesn’t trust you, it’s them she doesn’t trust.

if she gets pushed hard enough, she won’t hesitate to call them out on it in front of everyone

“why don’t you find your own girlfriend/boyfriend/ partner instead of chasing after mine? it’s honestly really pathetic.”

Momo:

the opposite of jeongyeon, she’s loud and fiery about her jealousy

not afraid to make a scene whatsoever

it’s kind of hot honestly

won’t hesitate to publicly humiliate someone for coming onto you

“Oh, you thought they were interested in you? That’s cute. Why would they want you when they already have me?”

would get violent if anyone put their hands on you

“get your filthy hands off of them before i break every bone in them.”

will kiss you in public if it makes people stop staring at you, and will smirk at them from across the room afterwards to rub it in their face that she’s the one who gets to kiss you

you would never even think of trying to make her jealous, she would be far too terrifying 😭

Sana:

her? jealous? no, never. jealousy is barbaric and petty, something totally beneath her!

at least… that’s what she tells you

if it’s just some average person, she wouldn’t care and just brush it off

but if it’s someone she perceives as more successful than her, she’ll start getting insecure

she doesn’t like competition, so if someone manages to shake her, she turns a little sour 😙

very passive aggressive

“why don’t you go hang out with them, since you two are so close?”

however, she’s adorable when she’s jealous, and has the cutest little pout… you can’t stop yourself from grabbing her face and kissing her, which 9 times out of 10 makes her feel better

Jihyo:

she doesn’t get jealous very often, she trusts you a lot and knows you wouldn’t run off with someone else just because they showed interest in you

she doesn’t see other people in your life as competition, she’s secure in the fact that she’s the one you chose as your partner

she would pretty much only get upset if she felt that you were blatantly disrespecting your relationship by shamelessly flirting with others

she doesn’t like to be controlling, but there are times when she’ll tell you not to associate with certain people anymore because of how they don’t honor your relationship. it’s not an ultimatum, more of a test to see how much you really care about her

but that’s only in the worst case scenario. most of the time she’s very open about her feelings. she’s not afraid to be vulnerable with you :)

Dahyun:

she doesn’t get jealous too often, but when she does, it can be intense

she doesn’t like coming off as insecure so she tends to keep it to herself

if it starts getting to her, she might start mirroring your actions

you start hanging out with your friends more than her? she can do that too. you have friends of your preferred romantic gender? she has some of those too

it will either go two ways: one, you’ll feel hurt and realize how you’ve been making her feel, and then the behavior will stop on both ends

or two, you’re perfectly fine with what she’s doing, and she realizes her jealousy was silly and lets it go

after this, she would FINALLY feel secure enough to have a talk with you about spending more time together 😑

Mina:

turns into a completely different person

she’s highly competitive, and will immediately double down and turn their little game into a death match

if you don’t seem interested in the other person, she’ll go to extreme lengths to secure your love by making extravagant public displays of affection

that person needs to know that she loves you more than they ever could

however, if you decided to play with her heart and act interested in this person? you’ll surely regret it

she has a ph.d in revenge, and will make you 10x more jealous than you made her 💋

she hates feeling replaced or forgotten, so if you start making her feel that way, she’ll immediately try and flip it back on you before it sinks in.

Chaeyoung: 

she’s highly possessive in her relationships. you belong to her, and she belongs to you. that’s the agreement you both made when you made things exclusive

and she’s not likely to stay with someone who doesn’t honor that commitment, so if you think she’ll tolerate you flirting around and playing the field, she won’t 😬

however if you’re not actively trying to make her jealous, she’s way more calm in how she handles things

she won’t lash out on you, but rather explain to you that it bothers her how this person looks at you/ talks to you. that way, if you continue to let it happen, she can’t say she didn’t set clear boundaries with you 😗

Tzuyu:

probably the least jealous member tbh

has a mindset of “if they want to, they will.”

i.e, if you want to cheat on her, you will. then she’ll leave you and move on with her life 💁🏼‍♀️

but obviously you don’t want to, because HELLO you’re dating chou tzuyu???

for real though, she’s super confident in herself, so she doesn’t get threatened easily

if you ever did manage to make her jealous, she’d probably just tell you straight out

and you’d apologize profusely because you’re WHIPPED for this woman as you should be

[nyxvamps]

Dionysus Children:

so, im not really basing this off of specifically the books, movie, musical, or tv show. its kinda a mix of all of them and vibes mostly. (personally i really like jason mantzoukas as him tho)

so, it doesn’t matter which dionysus you picture in your head, the child will almost always look like the other parent. but they always have dark curly hair (all different curl types included) and his purple eyes. as well as his resting default/resting faces. which is usually a small amused smirk or like they’re wishing death upon you and your future children.

the amount of passive aggressive sass that can ooze out of these kids is insane. it’s usually the type of sarcasm that you don’t realize was sarcasm until the conversation has already changed.

or it’s very blatant that they want you to know they’re being sarcastic.

they’re the type of people who dress for comfort but when it’s time to dress up, they dress up. they pull out an outfit they’ve been planning for months in advance. on par with the aphrodite cabin.

they’re the type of people (even if they don’t like to party) the party heats up as soon as they show up.

Let’s get into some powers:

they can turn people insane. ya know, mess with their mind and forcibly make different mental illnesses appear and develop. it’s easier if you already have the gene for certain illnesses and disorders so they don’t have to create it from nothing. this power takes a lot of energy if they want it to last more than a few seconds.

they can also ease (but not get rid of) certain illnesses and disorders. this takes even more energy. this is important because, in the past, his children have used these powers for selfish reasons so if they do something stupid, they need to live with the consequences. (dionysus will usually fix whatever his children have done but he lets them suffer in their mistakes first.)

you know how in some horror games there’s a sanity meter and when your sanity goes down your vision starts blurring, the room shakes, your hearing is staticy, you start hallucinating. they can do this. they need initial eye contact but after that, as long as they have eyes on you, they can keep it up.

they are so good at acting. some of it is just acting clueless so others believe them when they say they don’t know what’s happening or they didn’t know a prank was being planned. some of it is that they are able to just, put themselves into another mindset and lie flawlessly.

they have the ability to grow and manipulate plants. mostly plants that can be used in wine so grapes, strawberries, etc. this includes vines and ivy.

thanks for reading, if you have any ideas, feel free to comment.

[lot-of-nothing]

Can I Call You Rose? (Ch. 1?)

Chessy x Reader

As the new viticulturist (grape-growing expert) at Nick Parker's vineyard, you fall for a certain nanny. (Post-Parent Trap movie I think)

Warnings: SOFT SMUT (with a little plot and romance)

You wondered if your fingers were going to go numb, or perhaps your heart would just explode first?

You had finally worked up the courage to kiss the auburn-haired beauty mere hours ago and now Chessy’s lips were finally attached to her neck. You had met during your first week as Nick Parker’s head viticulturist. Her warmth was magnetic and you always tried to find reasons to tend to the grapes closest to the house in case you could start a conversation with the nanny. You spent many afternoons together, flirting while she brought you her homemade lemonade or while you walked her around the rows of vines handing her grapes to try. Chessy always seemed to wear a smile when you were near, filling you with butterflies in return. You had been dreaming of this moment since you first met the beautiful woman and now you were filled with pure unfiltered anxiety. 

Chessy’s open mouth kisses to your throat and collarbone were unlike anything you had ever experienced. Were you supposed to crave her as much as you did? There was a fire ignited in the pit of your stomach that hungered for something that felt so forbidden.

As nervous as you were, you wanted more. You needed more. You wanted to feel Chessy’s hands setting every inch of your skin aflame… but the thrum of energy winding through every cell in your being had you wondering if you would have a panic attack or pass out before that could happen. 

“Hon… Hon? Honey!” 

You must have spaced out entirely as Chessy’s voice drew you back to reality. Next thing you knew, Chessy’s hands were now cupping your face, staring intently into your eyes. 

“Hm?” You hummed, your eyes brimming with tears as you felt like you could finally breathe again. You felt incredibly embarrassed that you felt that you couldn’t handle the physical intimacy. It was hard when you were so in love with Chessy and lacked the experience you thought necessary to please her.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Chessy’s voice was just above a whisper. She was terribly worried that she had pushed the bounds of your relationship too far too soon. Little did she know that it would be your own slip up that would be the culprit of a ‘too much too soon’ relationship. 

“I-I-I…” You quickly stopped herself short, not wanting to make yourself cry.

“It’s okay… Wanna finish our movie, honey?”

You shook your head furiously, determined to push yourself through the anxiety and nerves.

“Honey…” Chessy seemed skeptical, her hands squeezing your cheeks. The extra bit of care Chessy showed was all you needed to lose your head, tears pooling in your eyes and spilling onto your cheeks.

You stared into your hands, trying to explain to Chessy why you were struggling to get through your anxieties. “I just… don’t- I just don’t know how to pleasure a woman…” 

“Tell you what. Come’re…” Chessy cooed, drawing you in so you could sit between the auburn beauty’s legs. From there Chessy gently caressed your arms, speaking in a firm but gentle tone. “I am going to turn on a different show and you are gonna sit right here and enjoy it, okay?”

You sniffled and nodded, reclining back in Chessy’s arms as an attempt at relaxing. A few moments passed of Chessy tapping away on her phone. The audio sounded off before you even comprehended what was playing, “I hope you are nice and wet for me.”

You certainly weren't expecting Chessy to stream a guided masturbation from her phone onto the television. 

Your cheeks flushed a deep red, “Wha-?”

Chessy’s hands fell to your sweatpants, pulling out the band a couple of inches as she spoke, “I want you to just relax. Just do what she tells you to, okay?”

Your hand was shaking as you pushed it into your sweatpants, never having experienced anything like a guided masturbation before. While daunting, it was incredibly hot.

The audio rang over the tv speakers once more, causing butterflies to swirl in your stomach, “Now, why don’t you see how wet you are for me? Slip your fingers in your panties for me.”

As you slipped your fingers in your underwear, you let out a whimper at first contact with your cunt. What else would you be in for with this nanny? What other tricks were hidden up her sleeves to drive you wild? 

Even though all of your building anxiety, you had grown incredibly wet from Chessy’s touch. You rolled your head back onto Chessy’s shoulder, earning a kiss to your temple as you did. Chessy’s voice was gentle in your ear, “You are doing so well, honey.”

The video instructed you once more, telling you to focus on your clit. Considering the pacing of the video, Chessy must have found a video long enough to help you relax, but short enough that she could find more involvement in your pleasure sooner rather than later. 

Doing as you were told, you circled your clit and felt yourself melting back into the auburn beauty’s arms. What you couldn’t see was Chessy’s smile as she felt the tension in your body fade. Her hands wound up your front, working your t-shirt up your torso to access your breasts.

The audio emanated from the tv was filled with the performer's moans, but you were becoming enraptured by the soft, encouraging hums from the woman behind you. Chessy’s hands drifted up and down your stomach, stopping at your breasts to give a gentle squeeze before shifting back down once more. 

“Let me hear you, sweetie…”

You bit your bottom lip and turned your face into Chessy’s neck, unsure if you were ready to be heard. 

Without a response, Chessy hummed disapprovingly, her hand slipping its way into your sweatpants and then underwear in search of your wetness. At the feeling of her fingers mingling with yours in your cunt, you withdrew your hand and dropped it to your side to allow her to take over. You couldn’t keep yourself from softly sighing at the feeling of her gentle fingertips working against your clit. 

“God, you are so wet…” Chessy whined at the way your wetness coated her fingers. 

You bucked your hips up into her hand, desperately wishing for this sensation to last forever. With her arms around you, fingers dancing around your clit, and her hot breath against your neck, your head was spinning. You couldn’t help but moan before blurting your thoughts to Chessy, “You- you’re so beautiful…” 

“Mmm… thank you, honey.” Chessy cooed, her arm winding around your waist to cradle you close as her fingers continued working against you. Your entire being was set aflame by Chessy’s loving embrace and skilled fingers. 

Your breathing rate was growing faster and faster, the coil in your stomach tightening as you grew closer to your orgasm. 

Chessy’s teeth nipped at your earlobe, tenderly nibbling as she added extra pressure as she circled your clit. Her voice came as a soft whisper, forcing warmth to spread across your face. “I can feel you getting close. You are so beautiful when you fall apart like this for me.” 

“Fuck, I love you~” You exhaled, not registering your words while your hands clung to her forearm. 

Sadly, you were too lost in the throes of your eminent orgasm to notice her lack of a response. She only nuzzled you with her cheek and held you tight as your orgasm washed over you.

Your back arched and your hips thrashed, unable to contain yourself. Your eyes squeezed shut and you let out a lengthy moan, trying to enjoy every ounce of the orgasm Chessy guided you through. 

Chessy sighed with a soft smile and withdrew her hand from your pants. She was trying to ignore her own anxiety building from her lack of response to your omission of love. While she felt she loved you as well, it all felt like too much too soon. In years past, she had dove head first into relationships and had only been burned in return. She had no intention of ruining your relationship over the omission of her own feelings. 

“How do you feel?”

“Mmm… good.” With a deep breath, you roll over in her arms, pressing your cheek near the base of her sternum. You tucked your hands under her wide hips and enjoyed the feeling of your bodies pressed together. “How do you feel about me returning the favor?”

Chessy pushed her anxieties deep down, not wanting to ruin a perfect moment. She had been falling for you since you started at the Parker estate. “Maybe in the morning…”

“Are you sure? I would love to-”

There was that word again. It made Chessy’s stomach drop. 

“No. It’s really okay. We could just… finish our movie.”

She seemed curt in her reply. It lacked the typical warmth you always received from her. It made you terribly self conscious until her hands wandered to the skin of your back, drawing loopy circles with one hand while her other turned the tv back to your movie.

“Mmm… you better be careful or I’ll fall asleep.” You murmured, testing the waters of how likely it would be for you to spend the night with the nanny. 

“Whatever shall I do. I would hate for someone so cute to be in my bed when I woke up.” Chessy was being incredibly sarcastic, her hands continuing to scratch your back in lazy loops. 

You allowed your own hands to wander her hips and thighs as a different form of self-soothing. You obsessed over the soft dips of cellulite and the slopes created by the widening of her hips. Her baggy clothing hid the curves you wanted to memorize through all of your senses. 

Chessy’s eyes drifted shut as she pushed herself to enjoy your loving touch. It was hard for her to accept such unadulterated affection, but she desperately wanted to try. It felt so good for her to be wanted and desired, but the vulnerability required for a deep and meaningful relationship lurked in the back of her mind. 

[silverynight]

Underworld

<--Previous

Part XXV

Before he can think about what he's going to tell Todoroki, Aizawa appears for Izuku's daily training.

"I think it's time to take you to the Olympus; Toshinori wants to train you too."

Izuku can't stop himself from beaming; Aizawa had told him that All Might wanted to train him, but it was difficult for him to believe it at the time.

Well, it still is.

However, it's a good thing that he's going to the Olympus because that way he can tell them both at the same time about the courtship.

He goes home quickly to say goodbye to his mother and promise her to be back at night.

The Olympus looks a little bit empty now that there's no party, but it's still very impressive and beautiful to look at.

There's some sort of garden with a golden apple tree in the middle of it all; Izuku can't help but stare at everything and notice how much life is in every inch of it.

He can feel it everywhere.

"Midoriya!" All Might is very different from Aizawa; he greets Izuku like they have known each other for ages and hugs him in such an enthusiastic way Izuku's feet stop touching the ground for a moment.

"You're going to crush him!" Aizawa scolds the other god after a while, although Izuku feels completely fine.

"It's a pleasure to see you again!" The demigod beams, slightly flustered.

"Are you ready to test your power against me?" All Might grins, posing like one of those statues the mortals have on his temples; he flexes his arms, showing off his muscles.

Izuku gets immediately nervous; he doesn't think he's ready to test his abilities against the king of the gods.

Aizawa rolls his eyes before standing in the middle of the two.

"No. There's not going to be any of that; we agreed." Aizawa sighs, looking like he's about to have a headache. "First, you're going to watch him train on his own so you can see his progress so far."

The fact that he's going to be aware of them watching him makes Izuku feel even more nervous, but he tries to focus.

He needs to know what kind of life grows in that garden; the plants and flowers are not used to Izuku's presence, but they welcome him anyway.

Izuku is not sure if it's because he has had a lot of practice or it's that life is buzzing with energy there, but it's easier to control. He manages to catch Aizawa once with vines, although he makes sure not to use thorns.

All Might puts a hand under his own chin and just as Izuku waits for him to point out everything he's doing wrong, he smiles and claps his hands together once.

"Let's eat!"

If he doesn't count that time at the party and when he was in the underworld, Izuku is almost sure he has never seen that much food on a table before.

Gods don't need to eat, but they still enjoy the taste of food. That's why a lot of the offerings mortals made to them are meat, grapes and sometimes wine and juice they make with their own hands.

"You have done an amazing job with the boy, Shota," All Might says after a while, making Izuku relax somewhat. However, when he turns around to face the demigod, he looks slightly more serious: "Even though you are obviously working on your technique and have better control over it, you still hesitate a lot, Midoriya."

Izuku turns slightly pink before looking down; he knows he's right.

"Don't be afraid of your own power, young Midoriya. I promise it won't betray you or consume you like you seem to believe."

Aizawa quirks a brow at the other god, almost as if he's quite surprised by his wisdom.

"And don't hesitate to use it on Shota!" All Might chuckles before giving the other god a slap on the shoulder that almost makes him fall face first over his own plate. "He can take it!"

Aizawa glares back at the blond god, but when he turns around to look at Izuku, his expression softens considerably.

"He's right. You shouldn't hesitate."

"Let's go back to training!"

"Wait," Izuku cuts in, looking at both of them. "I need to tell you something first."

He gets slightly nervous when he notices Aizawa's worried expression and All Might's excited grin.

"Kacchan is courting me!" Izuku blurts out, knowing that if he doesn't say it as soon as possible he never will.

"He's... WHAT?" All Might doesn't seem that happy about it. "But you're too young for that!"

Even though the god doesn't seem to agree with that, Izuku worries a bit more about Aizawa's eye twitching. He hasn't said a word, but it seems that whatever he's thinking is definitely nothing good.

Maybe he should've waited a little longer to tell them.

***

It's been a while and Aizawa is still pacing around the room; Izuku is not sure why he doesn't seem to like the idea of Katsuki courting him.

"It's okay!" All Might says then, he's not completely happy, but it seems he has come to terms with it. "I mean, young Bakugo is not bad! He doesn't like to come here often, but I know he takes care of his realm and the people in it quite well!"

Izuku is ready to agree and tell him how kind and gentle Katsuki actually is, but he realizes that All Might is talking to Aizawa.

The other god pauses, pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath before looking back at him.

"I know, I know," Aizawa sighs. "I don't have anything against Bakugo and he seems to have learned his lesson after what happened the first time, but..."

"You don't want Midoriya to suffer because you care about him," All Might says, surprising Izuku. "I care about him too."

The demigod feels the tears in his eyes before they start sliding down and he realizes he can't stop them.

Izuku already knew they cared about him; they wouldn't be there at the moment if that wasn't the case, but now he thinks that he doesn't quite understand how much they care. A couple of years ago, Izuku firmly believed that his mother was the only one who could care about him like that.

It seems he was completely wrong and he's never been happier to be wrong before.

He jumps into Aizawa's arms first, but this time the god immediately hugs him back.

"You still have to bring Bakugo here because I want to talk to him, alright?" He says after a while.

"Sure!" Izuku beams before giving another hug to All Might.

"Actually," Aizawa adds, almost like an afterthought. "I think it'd be better if he meets us in your mother's house in a couple of days, if your mother is okay with it."

Izuku nods, knowing his mother will agree.

"Great!" All Might cuts in, cracking his knuckles. "I have a couple of things to say to young Bakugo too!"

Even though they kinda said they're okay with the courtship, Izuku gets slightly nervous about the upcoming meeting, but he doesn't have time to think about it too much because Aizawa puts a hand on his shoulder.

"You still have to train, Midoriya. It's time you use your powers on Toshinori."

Right. Another thing to be nervous about. At least it takes his head off the courtship for a while.

Then he realizes that he's not a good opponent for All Might; the god defeats him every single time without breaking a sweat.

It's going to be a long day.

***

You can rea part XXVI, part XXVII, part XXVIII, part XXIX, part XXX, part XXXI and part XXXII on my Patreon already.

Patreon

[johnwickb1tsch]

A Walk in the Clouds/Don John crossover outline Part 2 ~

Paul Sutton x fem!Reader x Don John triangle

You grow up at Las Nubes vineyard, and have to go home to your dying father. You take your fake new husband, Sgt Paul Sutton, with you... Warnings: some rough handling, ptsd nightmares, period correct misogyny, sorta nsfw <----Part 1 chapter map

-Paul has trouble sleeping. Maybe you don’t know what PTSD is yet in 1945, but you understand nightmares all too well. You have them too, mostly about the night your mother died, screaming in pain. You invite him up to the bed one such night when he wakes with a yell, and he’s too fragile to resist. You hold him on your breast and he falls asleep there. You feel like you would fight the whole Axis singlehandedly to keep this man safe, and you know you are falling hopelessly in love.    

-Meanwhile, don Juan has been trying to get you alone. He has the girls in the house spying for him, and they find the bedclothes on the floor sometimes. When at last he corners you in the cool dark of the cellar he asks with a smirk why your new husband is sleeping on the floor? “That’s none of your business.” You try to brush past, but his arm around your waist may as well be made of iron. 

“Everything that goes on in my house is my business.”

He tries to kiss you but you duck away. Once upon a time you might have folded for him, even if you would regret it later. He's so magnificent, especially when he's like this, eyes flashing and that full mouth pulled in a smirk. But...you have Paul here with you, and that gives you strength.

“You know what I think?”

“I’m not sure I care.” 

“I think you’re not really married. What a scheme, you wicked girl. That boy clearly loves you.” 

“Let go of me.”

He goes on, like you’ve said nothing, the way he always has. “But so do I. You broke my heart, when you ran away.”

“I didn’t know you had a heart to break, don Juan.”

Done playing, he hauls you on top of a table, wedging his lithe body between your legs and pinning you down. You hate how being handled this way fills you with equal parts titillation and dread. He's always treated you like a spirited horse in need of breaking.

“This is where you belong. With your people. You insult us, bringing that man to my door. I made you a woman in the soil of my land. Your virgin blood feeds the roots of my vines. You will live and die here, with me.” 

He kisses you, hard, and you only lose yourself for a moment before you bite him. He hauls back to strike you, but there’s a voice at the top of the stairs. “Y/n? Are you down here?”

It’s Paul, your hero in the nick of time, as ever.

“Coming!” you answer, before Juan can clamp his hand over your mouth. He glares at you, but lets you up. You do your best to right your dress, knowing your hair is a bird’s nest. 

“This isn’t over,” he tells you in a whisper. You want to tell him to fuck off–yes, you have learned some unladylike words out in the real world–but you know it would not end well for anyone. Instead, you just go, throwing yourself into Paul’s arms at the top of the stairs. He holds you, but can’t get you to tell him what’s wrong. 

-The frost scene?? It was cute but there’s no way you’d actually be out there in your silk nightgown with your nips out in the 1940s? 🤣

-The day of the harvest, you all work yourselves to the bone. You’re a “married” woman now, so you take part in the smashing of the grapes. The more beautiful the woman, the better tasting the wine, as the saying goes, and Las Nubes has a reputation as the best around. Paul watches, clapping for you, enchanted and mystified like he is for everything that goes on around here. It’s like he’s fallen through the rabbit hole, into a whole different world. Don Juan is watching too. You feel the possessive weight of his gaze from across the crowd. You do your best to ignore him, your eyes all for Paul as you dance, grape juice all over your body, streaming down your thighs. (as a wine drinker and from a sanitation standpoint I thought this scene was kinda gross LOL). 

-There is heady magic in the air the night of the Harvest, something ancient called up by your singing and dancing, your celebration of the bounty from the earth. The wine flows, and you know Paul feels it too, even if he doesn’t entirely understand. The two of you slip away to your room in the hacienda, giggling and running, half tripping in your lustful haste. The way he holds you in those strong arms–the way he kisses you–you think to yourself drunkenly, on wine, and him, that maybe it’s all you need. He lowers you onto the bed, your bodies undulating together in that ancient, timeless rhythm between man and woman, even through your juice-soaked clothes–you look at him stupidly when he pulls back from you. “Y/n…I want you more than anything–but we’re not really married. I don’t want to hurt you.”

You blink up at him, floored, as usual, by his pure goodness. How was he even real? It makes you want him even more, if that’s even possible. 

“It’s ok, Paul,” you tell him, smoothing back his [admittedly sticky] hair. “I want you too.”

“But…”

“I’m not…the blushing virgin you think I am.”

For a moment he seems confused by this, but then he thinks. His brain is working better than yours, you have to hand it to him. “Don Juan?”

“Yes. A long time ago.”

“He still loves you.”

“He thinks he owns me, like I am a part of his estate. It’s different.” 

“You do belong to this land though. I see it in you. This is your home.”

“Maybe. It doesn’t mean I can stay.” 

He looks down at you so earnestly with those lovely dark eyes, and you can hear the words hovering on his lips. I could be your home? 

It scares you, what you might answer, if he manages to say it. You know that he was an orphan, and that a family is the thing he longs for most. The thing he deserves most, and you’re equally afraid you can’t give it to him, and that you want to.  

You hold his cheek, able to think a little better, even with his delicious weight pressing down on you. You both are a mess, and now you feel gross, laying in your bed like this. “Can I show you something?”

He nods, and you take his hand, leading him out.

Part 3 ---->

[balkanikabg]

Balkanika's Special Grapes Bundle

What Winery would be without a proper Vineyard, am I right?

This project includes 9 brand new types of Grapes that your Sim can take care of, and harvest. All grapes function as my indoor harvestables!

When you first buy the plant you'll see only the watering interaction and after some hours you'll be able to collect the first patch of grown produce. Afterwards the interaction will be available once a day.

Water the plant 1 a day.

Harvest grapes 1 a day.

Tagged as fruit

Toddlers can eat it

It can be eaten raw or cooked

Compatible with SCCO

Types of grapes:

Vinelines (you can place them next to each other and build a real vineyard with them). They come in two types - regular with three vines (note that they are high poly!), and single with only one vine.

Cabernet

Merlot

Chardonnay

MORE UNDER THE CUT

Trellis (grow them vertically on a trellis, you can place them close to each other, maybe even on a wall to imitated that they are build on it)

Rubin

Mavrud

Dimyat

Pergola (it's fully functional with empty space under it, where you can place a bench, table with chair, or anything you wish, and your Sim can go under it without a problem)

Pamid

Gamza

Keratsuda

Since my custom harvestables are not like the regular ones from the game, I let myself some frivolities.

When your Sim collect fruits, they will get basket with grapes, instead of single fruits, in their inventory.

From each pergola they can collect 4 baskets, each trellis 2 baskets, each vineline 3 baskets, and if it's a single vine - 1 basket.

1 basket contains 20 grape fruits.

Each type of grape has individual moodlet after consumed.

Grab fruits one by one from basket

First you'll see 'Check Basket' interaction, before the option to 'Grab Grape'

The baskets and the fruits both have fruit/ingredient tag and can be sold or used in cooking, if required any fruit

I also made Rail fence (see below gif), so you can build your perfect vineyard.

Known issue: Note that my harvestables don't use the code of the EA harvetables interactions, therefore you'll need to manually click on every single grape to be watered/harvested. It doesn't work like the regular gardening where your Sim will collect from all automatically.

That's all from me for now, it's only a few days until the Wine Making Vat is ready as well, yay! I hope you enjoy this content, and please don't be shy to tag me, if you decide to use/build a vineyard with my items. I'd looove to see what you create (and I'll reblog everything :D)!

DOWNLOAD (Early Access)

Public Access: 4th of June, 2023

@sssvitlanz @maxismatchccworld @twentiethcenturysims

[jedi-lothwolf]

Whumptober Day 3: Set up for Failure

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Warnings: Multiple character deaths, violence, and strong language.

Summary: What if after The Battle of Manhatten, the Gods decided that the half-bloods were too dangerous to be left alive? Even after winning the war, they could fail to keep their lives.

    No one tells what you are supposed to do after you win a war, especially when you have been preparing for it your whole teenage life. Percy stared at the water. The battle had been over for two days now. Everything was settling down.

    It was noon by the time anyone realized something was wrong. Dionysus was pacing on the deck of the big house. It wasn't uncommon to see him distressed since Caster died. The god had taken it harder than expected. He seemed to be arguing with someone that was just out of sight.

    Annabeth walked down to the beach to meet Percy. They sat together and watched the waves get higher and higher. "Is that normal?"

    "Not really." Percy said uneasy. "Maybe Dad's upset about something?" Lightning flashed in the sky. "That's familiar."

    Looking at each other, Annabeth and Percy felt the need to go back into camp. They stood and ran back as the waves started to rise higher.

    Inside camp, things were a mess. Not that they hadn't been anyway. There were people grieving and weapons that needed to be put away. Funerals were still being planned for some and for others, send offs with no body.

    The sky darkened. Travis walked by Annabeth and Percy. "Did Mr. D give up on the weather or something?"

    "Something's wrong." Annabeth said matter of factly. The two stopped walking as the grass around the Demeter cabin started to rapidly grow.

    "You can't do this!" Dionysus yelled. His voice was loud but still far away. "It's not fair to the kids! They fought our war, leave them alone! You can't just break your own rules!" Anger seemed to motivate the tone of his voice as well as heartbreak.

    Looking at the big house, Travis, Annabeth, and Percy froze. "What the hell?" Travis whispered.

    Grape vines grew on the deck of the big house. Chiron left from the front door and started to make his way to the Demeter cabin. At the same time, the door was being overgrown with plants. Connor had been nearby and ran to the cabin. "What's happening?"

    "I don't know! I can't stop them!" Katie yelled back. "Get to the window!"

    The two cabin leads went to a back window where they started to evacuate the building. Chiron said something to them when he got to them. Tears fell down Katie's face and Connor looked betrayed. "Come on!" He yelled to Katie as she got the last kid out of her cabin.

    "We need to help them!" Percy started to run to the cabin. As the three half-bloods ran, the cabin started to crack.

    "Take my hand!" And Katie tried. Vines grew around her ankles and legs. She screamed as they overtook her body. As the cabin was completely taken over by sharp vines, Conner tried one last time to reach her. His hand touched her arm before he fell back into the ground.

    It took a moment for Connor to process what happened. Chiron dragged him away from the cabin as he tried to go back to Katie. The boy looked down to see a large amount of blood in the grass. Looking for the cause, Connor realized his hand was tangled in the weeds. "My hand." He said breathless.

    "Connor!" Travis screamed. "Where the fuck is your hand!?"

    Slowly Conner looked down and realized his right hand had been cut off by the overgrown vines. Trying to process everything that happened, he just stared blankly where he hand should have been. Quickly Chiron pulled off his jacket and tore off a sleeve. After that he handed the torn sleeve to Percy and gave the jacket to Connor. "Tie that around his arm as tightly as you can." He told Percy. "Travis, get your brother to the hospital."

    "Why not the infirmary?"

    "Camp is no longer safe for you. The Gods," the Centaur looked pained as he spoke. "The gods believe the demigods are too dangerous to be left alive after the war. They believe that you might try to rise against them."

    The teens looked at each other. "You mean to tell me that we won their war for them and now they want to kill us!?" Percy yelled.

    "Oh so they can kill us but not help us?!" Annabeth shouted. She felt betrayed. After so long of trying to defend the gods, they decided to stab the demigods in the back.

    Trying to move the demigods away from the Demeter cabin, Chiron continued. "It's unfair, yes, but nothing can be done about it right now. They kept Dionysus and I away from the conversation or we would have fought for you."

    The ground shifted as Percy fished tying Chiron's shirt sleeve to Connor's arm to make a tourniquet. Connor hadn't stopped watching the Demeter cabin. Quick and thick vines snapped to the top of the wooden cabin. It snapped under the pressure, sending pieces of wood flying through the air. The remains started to be pulled under the ground.

    "No no." Connor whispered. "No, Katie!" Struggling to get to his feet, the boy tried to go to his friend's cabin. Percy grabbed him and pulled him into a trap hug. "Katie!" The demigod yelled, his voice breaking. "Katie!" Pulling him to the ground, Percy tried to calm him down. "We are supposed to go to college after this! Percy let me go, I need to help her!"

    "She's gone buddy." Travis fell to his knees, trying to comfort his brother. "We need to get out of here. Someone has to take care of you."

    "Please no." Connor sobbed. "She was the only one left. We were supposed to go to college. We were-." The boy could no longer talk. Instead he fell into his brother, sobbing uncontrollably.

    "Annabeth, go grab some wood. We need to make the tourniquet tighter." Chiron helped Connor off the ground as the girl found a piece of the Demeter cabin to tighten the tourniquet with.

    "Here." Travis took the wood from Annabeth and then grabbed his brother.

    "Come on. I'll get you out of here." Travis took Connor into his arms. "Percy, take care of our cabin please. I'll try to get him somewhere safe and come back to help."

    That was the first time the group decided to look around. The stray pieces of cabin and stuck campers. Many of them were Demeter's own children and most of them had been killed. Annabeth tried not to cry. After so long, you would think the demigods would just be used to this.

    "What are we going to do?" Percy turned to Chiron. Annabeth ran over to one of the surviving Demeter kids and helped her.

    "Evacuate camp."

    "But then we have to fight gods and monsters!" The son of Poseidon argued.

    "Not all the gods believe you should die. They will protect you. Lady Artemis has offered the assistance of her Huntresses and you have the fun support of Dionysus."

    "Great." Sighing, Percy looked around. "We should split up." Chiron nodded then went to meet Annabeth.

    On the deck of the big house, Dionysus looked over camp. The yelling had subsided. A crack of lightning  pushed the god up against the railing. He fell to his knees as he was struck by the unkind hand of his father, Zeus.

    Anger filled Percy but he knew he couldn't do anything for him. He watched as Dionysus tried to get up but was met with another strike of lightning. Then the God didn't move. The quick thought of Mr. D being killed crossed Percy's mind but gods can't be killed.

    Clarisse sent her cabin member out of the cabin. One of them approached Percy and asked where any of the Apollo kids were. "I'm not sure. We need to find them."

    As if the gods had heard them, the Apollo cabin caught fire. There was screaming from the cabin but it didn't last long. One after another, the Ares and Hephaestus cabins also caught fire. The fire in the Ares cabin spread the slowest while the other two cabins were engulfed in seconds.

    Young Will Solace came running from the infirmary to see his cabin in flames. "No!" He screamed out in terror. Like his older brothers would have, he ran towards his cabin. Grover, who had just come from the infirmary for a nail in his hoof, caught Will before he could get too close. "Austin and Kayla are still inside! They went to get some blankets!"

    Grover pulled him into his arms and away from the building. "It's okay. It will be okay."

    In the Ares cabin, Clarisse tried to get her brother away from the wall as the fire spread. He had been leaning against the wall when he was implied by debris from the Demeter cabin. It had come through the wooden walls of the cabin and pinned him to the wall.

    "I'll get you out of here." Clarisse started to cough as smoke filled her lungs. The fire crept closer and closer to them.

    "It's okay. You should go." The teen struggled to talk.

    "No. I'm not just going to leave you here to die." The cabin leader's voice shook.

    "If you can't get me out safely, just pull me off the wall."

    "That's crazy. It'll kill you!"

    "So will the fire."

    Taking a second to make her decision, Clarisse sighed. "Alright, let's do this."

    Outside of the cabin, Percy helped any injured Hephaestus kids. "We need to get the infirmary evacuated!"

    As Annabeth and Percy ran to the building, there was an explosion inside it. The blast knocked the two back. They could hear Will's distress. People had left their cabin by now to see what was going on. Helping each other up, the demigods looked at each other for a moment.

    "Is this really happening?" Annabeth said with tears in her eyes. Had they been set up for failure by their parents.

    "Maybe Luke had a point." Annabeth didn't seem very amused by Percy's comment. Looking at the fire, Percy dragged them away from the infirmary.

    Grover tried to keep from crying. Will didn't need that. As soon as the boy had seen the fire that engulfed the infirmary, his knees gave. The satyr lowered him to the ground as the boy screamed.

    "Nice of you to join." Percy said sarcasticly as Thaila came out of the woods.

    "What the hell happened?" The huntress started to run with them.

    "The gods never intended for us to survive past the war!" Percy yelled. "If we lost, we died and if we won, we died."

    "I'll get the girls to help." Thaila said.

    "Thank you." Annabeth started. "Percy, where are we going?"

    "Chiron said Mr. D was on our side. Thaila, your dad just did a number on him. We need to see if he could help or if his still laid out in the deck."

    "Alright."

    "I think Percy and I handle that. Thaila, can you go help them." Desperation filled Annabeth's voice. Camp had been her home and she had trusted the gods.

    "Okay." Thaila ran off as the Athena and Hermes cabins started to be overwhelmed by vines. The Poseidon cabin was stuck by lightning, setting it on fire.

    "That was personal." Percy joked.

    "Come on, let's go."

    The fires started to spread to the ground and the woods. Clarisse and another Ares kid came out of their cabin. Blood poured to the ground. The cabin leaders got her brother to the ground. "I need a medic!" She yelled. Then she looked around. Almost every cabin was on fire. The infirmary had gone up in flames and so did her hope of saving her bother. "Damn it!"

    Looking back, Percy tried to distance himself from the situation. Most people had left their cabin when the buildings started to catch fire. As the Aphrodite cabin caught fire, the last person who needed.to leave the cabin came out with blankets and some kind of medicine. It was like someone had been protecting him from the fire.

    Camp half-blood was in chaos. Kids were running everywhere, just trying to survive. Percy looked back at the deck of the big house. Mr. D was nowhere to be seen. The thought that he had left them invaded his mind.

    "Pollux!" A pained voice yelled out.  

    Percy looked to see Dionysus leaning against a tree. It looked like he had been crying. The demigod knew the god had a responsibility to his own child first and he had to respect that. "Come on, we gotta help everyone else."

    "Pollux, come here!" Dionysus screamed, just hoping he would be heard. In the midst of all the chaos, he reached out for his child. The teen raised his head when he heard his name.

    "Dad!" He yelled out. Then he stopped running and looked for his father. When he found him, he sprinted to him. Wrapping his arms around him, Dionysus grabbed his son. The two looked at camp as tears fell down Pollux's face. Not letting him go the god pulled his son away from the battle, letting him bury his face in his shoulder.

    No one could blame them. After all, they were all tired of fighting.

    "Dave." Clarisse spoke. "Just hang on."

    "It's getting cold. Clarisse, you can let me die. I'm tired it's okay."

    Tears attacked her eyes. "Dave."

    Reaching his up to her face, he sighed. "You did everything you could." His breathing started to slow. It wasn't long before he was gone.

    Standing, Clarisse joined Percy and Annabeth. "Are you okay?" Percy said, concerned.

    "Fine." She spoke harshly. Annabeth stopped running and Percy and Clarisse stopped. They scanned camp. "Is everyone out?"

    "Maybe. Camp just got way too quiet that fast." Percy was talking quickly.

Travis startled them when he walked up to them. "I'm back. I got two of my brothers to help Connor." Thaila joined them as well.

"The girls are ready to help if need be. Lady Artemis says she'll take anyone she can."

"Okay. We need to get out of here." Clarisse to few steps forwards. She turned to face the others. Grabbing Annabeth's hand, she pulled the two being a tree and to the ground. "Get down!" The others ducked as lightning went over their heads.

"Oh come on!" Percy yelled.

"Let me talk to him." Thaila tried. "You need to get out of here."

"I'm not doing that again." Annabeth said. "I'm not letting you sacrifice yourself again."

Sighing, Thaila pushed her sister into Percy's arms. "I'll distract him."

"No, we stand together." Clarisse grabbed her sword.

Pushing the sword down, Percy sighed. "How about we run together instead? That works too."

"Fine."

"This way." Annabeth took Percy's hand and guided them out of camp. After all, she knew the camp the best of all of them. The group grabbed Grover and Will, who had hidden in the woods near Thalia's tree.

"Where do we go?" Clarisse asked.

"My home. We can figure it out from there. I'm sure Mom won't mind that much." He looked back at camp. The boy saved the Gods for their children and this is what they get? The first real safe place Percy had, gone. Most of the people he cares about are gone. Percy sighed and started to lead the way to his home.

Part 2: soon

[intergalactic-garbage]

dakota campjupiter headcanons

hi! in my 13 years of age, i was a proud cabin 12 kid, so you know what that means! i was sad we never got a properly developed child of dionysus character

uses they/them. obviously. dionysus is the patron of transmascs and enbies (at least according to percy jackson's greek gods), and dakota is a neutral name

just. properly fat. doesn't feel bad about it. they got it after their father, and they love their belly and chubby cheeks!

a really laid back half-blood. there isn't a lot that can rock them, they're mostly just happy to be here, and you'll find yourself also catching their relaxed attitude when spending time near them

knows a lot, if not all of the other campers by name - they're very sociable, and often the life of the party. they love a good prank, but often chose to deliver their humour to the faces of the one or more recipients by words. theatre is in bacchus' domain, after all. though this is usually exacerbated by the kool-aid sugar rush, when they do sometimes get really silly ideas

their outlook on life is the one you'd find when having a conversation at the campfire with someone. there's a beauty to living, and it's worth it to enjoy the birdsong and the sun, and swim in the ocean and love your friends. just a stark contrast to all the ambition often seen in roman campers

relatedly, they aren't that much of a sportsman. they do enjoy the occasional game of frisbee (which has become very popular at camp jupiter in the recent years), or a good dance at a party, but they aren't too keen on physical exercise in the hot californian sun (tbh, who would be?) they do like a good swim though, especially in the sea

despite this, they do know how to wield a sword quite well. they have been through the standard training, after all - they know how important these things are, it's just that they'd rather do other things

not only do they know the campers by name, they also know most of the fauns and spirits that exist around cj, and often stop and strike up conversation with them - don the faun is one of their good friends

they're the centurion of the fifth cohort, and they're happy that way - they don't usually talk much at meetings, but do make sure to stick up for their cohort and anyone who needs it

the near-constant stain of red kool-aid around their mouth seems even redder because they have quite red lips, naturally. i'd say quite plump, too - they have this face that kinda has almost cherub-y features, with the dark curly hair and everything

sugar helps them gain energy (i do the same trick with sugary drinks and my adhd), but caffeine makes them sleepy. they got offered a coffee by jason once when they had to wake up early for patrol, and poor dude had to patrol all by himself, next to a sleeping child of bacchus

they come from a family that has their own vineyard and have been making their own wine for generations. they'd always helped with the winemaking process and the grape harvest since they were little. they do, of course, know that they have the power to help vines grow, it's just that they hardly ever use it - the terrain of their vineyards has been used for them for a long time, and things work just fine without magical intervention

they do host many gatherings and parties for the campers of camp jupiter (post boo, they do have parties that invite the camp half-blood campers as well once in a while, which is usually coupled with a senate meeting for greek demigods to sit in on if they're interested, and discussion of exchanges between the camps. there's tours of new rome for those interested in potentially moving there after their tenure at chb, and there's an obligatory war games evening. there's usually a handful of greek campers who are interested in a tour of the camp itself, to take some inspiration from it.)

one thing they're pretty cool and good at is the connections they make. adhd helps a person connect pretty much everything that's going on in their head, and sometimes, there's even a point to it! in this case, i mean with how many campers and new rome residents they know, they'll often help someone solve a problem by listening to them vent and then interrupting them with "oh, i know who can help you!" and dragging them across half of new rome to meet some guy with a bakery in need of an apprentice

and it's not like that's an uncommon thing! people do genuinely find themselves gravitating towards dakota's easygoing nature, and conversation just flows and they often find themselves talking about what bothers or tires them

please ask me about dakota and camp jupiter i'm rotating them in my mind always

[superkooku]

Dionysus' iceberg (part 2)

Here's part 1 :

Yes, I know, I took my time with this one 😅. But part 2 is finally here on Tumblr !

And, since there's a lot to say about Dionysus, I'll probably need to do a third one... yes he's that interesting.

In this part, I'll talk about Dionysus' connections to theater, nature and vegetation.

Despite Apollo being the god of the arts, theater is one of Dionysus' domains.

1. Theater 🎭

In fact, his theatre (in Athens) is considered the first in the world! Dionysus is like an entertainer, not only through parties, but also through a performance on the stage.

Okay, more seriously: one of his festivals, the Dionysia, even had five days dedicated to drama. In fact, theater plays are said to be set in competitions honoring Dionysus himself.

This festival in and of itself is quite complex, as it's divided in two categories (rural and city festivals) and has quite a history. So, I'd highly recommend reading more about it.

Even the idea of theater masks come from there ! They were parts of disguises actors (always men) wore to play the roles of women or gods.

I'm gonna stop a bit with the informations to talk about two interesting things :

It's actually really cool that the god of theater is a good actor.

I say that because he managed to fool Pentheus and a WHOLE pirate crew into thinking he's some inoffensive boy. And then, dramatic plot twist : he's not.

Another cool thing : he appeared both in a comedy and tragedy. Probably in other lost plays too. It's part of his duality, which I'll talk about more in part 3.

Anyways, ancient Greek theater, the ancestor of our modern plays, is very closely tied to Dionysus.

2. His link to satyrs

This bearded man is Silenus, son of Hermes and one of the satyrs. The baby he's holding is an infant Dionysus, who was forced to go in hiding because of Hera's wrath.

Edit : forgot to complete this part. So, Silenus is considered Dionysus' tutor, kinda like Chiron and Asclepius, but wilder.

Like Dionysus, he appears to be a funny drunkard, but in reality, he can be very wise too. Heck, he even has some prophecy powers when intoxicated. How cool is that ? I like this little duality.

He notably appears in Midas' myth. Silenus was found by peasants and given to the king. Since Midas took good care of him and showed a lot of hospitality, Dionysus decided to reward him. And we all know how the story goes at that point.

Another important satyr (in the Dionysiaca, for example) is Ampelos/Ampelus. He was a young satyr who could very well be Dionysus' first love. What's so interesting about him is that, after his death (R.I.P), Dionysus transformed him into the first grape vine 🍇 !

(this time, not a flower, unlike Hyacinthus and Crocus).

Yes, if you drink wine, you're technically drinking Ampelos' blood.

In general, the satyrs, along with the maenads, are Dionysus' companions. We all know what satyrs are, but it's not surprising to see two symbols of sexuality, drunkenness and wilderness so closely tied.

Also, coming back to theater, there was something called "satyr plays", a mix between tragedy and comedy that were played during the Dionysian festival.

3. A god of nature and vegetation

There are many other nature gods. They each show their connection to nature in their own unique way.

Of course, there's wine and grapes (and Ampelos), but also a lot more stuff.

Dionysus was said to live his youth on Mount Nysa, in the nature, among nymphs and other satyrs. So those ties would come from very early on in his life.

He's not only the god of grapes, but fruits and plant life in general. It's interesting to see the same domains shared by multiple gods (here with Demeter).

The multiple water and wind gods are another proof of that.

And yes, he can grow vines as much as he pleases, like when he punished the thyranean pirates.

4. A fertility god

Yeah, don't listen to LO, male fertility gods exist too 😂.

He's not even the only one, since there's Priapus as well. And he's often (not always) considered his son, with Aphrodite as the mother.

It's honestly not surprising to see a god of nature and fruits, but also one known for his orgies, being associated with fertility.

So...

There aren't many myths about it, so I'll just include that one because it's interesting.

I went through these informations pretty quickly, in order to keep this post at a normal length. I'd love to see you complete on these particular aspects.

In part 3, I'll talk about Dionysus' duality, but also his link to madness, mortals (like Semele and Ariadne), and other gods.

Part 3 will be the longest, since I'll include a lot more references (to myths like the war against India, the Bacchae and more infos about his cult and stories)

[soffsketches]

Wines Inspired by Characters Henry Oak from Dungeons and Daddies [FULL EXPLANATION]

Starting off the series with one of my favorite characters from the podcast here's some notes I've written down for the wine.

Grape Type: So Henry having a vegetarian/vegan diet I wanted something that would pair nicely with this. There were mentions of foods like Trail Mix, Nuts, Mushrooms and dried oats and a few wines fit perfectly with this but since Chardonnay is known for it's buttery taste due to it's fermentation in OAK Barrels the choice was a bit obvious.

Dry or Sweet? Plus, this type of wine is known for being either sweet or dry depending on the temperature it was grown in. I feel like this reflects Henry's personality as he's both super sweet caring and very much a pacifist but also dry, angry and stressed.

Body So, the body reflects not only on the amount of alcohol the wine has but also, it's acidity, color and tannins.

Acidity is sour and makes your mouth water but tannins dry your mouth. That being said, medium body just means that there is a balance between both tannins and acidity and that it's within a 12.5%-13.5% alcohol level. Oaked Chardonnays are known for this.

The alcohol level is reflected on the amount of natural sugar the grapes have which can vary by the soil type, climate and variant. This does NOT reflect on the overall sweetness of the wine. Sweet wines usually have lower alcohol levels than bold wine since most of the glucose is broken up and fermented during the process there for making more alcohol.

Flavors and Aromas: Several sommeliers have explained that flavors and Aromas AND will vary depending on the pallet. There are a few that are more noticeable to several but others that aren't. That is part of the magic and art of wine tasting. That being said for Henry's Inspired wine I did use some fruits mentioned in his dialog during season 1. More specifically this quote:

What the freakin ding dang, gosh darn, dilly willy, heckin' shark tooth, banana chicanery, rootin' tootin', raspberry freaking FUCK are you two doing here?! -Henry Oak (Dungeons and Daddies Season 1)

Although banana and shark tooth aren't main notes for this wine, I feel like Henry would use these terms to describe it. Raspberry on the other hand WOULD be a nice main note, alongside the classic vanilla and Oak combo from classic chardonnay with a hint of green apple, Jazmin and general minerals. Those last three I feel reflect Oakville a lot beside the obvious OAK.

Bottle Design The main label reflects the physical appearance of the character both in its podcast cover and in the character's intro from Will Campos.

"Henry Oak is the Birkenstock rocking, crunchy, munchy, hippie, nature druid dad of the group."

Wanted to stick with the colors from the Cover art but with a more neutral tone so that it matches the colors and hue of this hypothetical wine.

Having the iconic Berkenstocks in the background on a rocky stone grown with vines growing around it, just felt like the perfect vision for Henry. And as a little homage to on of the several dadfacts I added a Trilobite insignia on the top of the wine cap.

Finally, I added the important info such as where it would have been produced, by what bodega and when. Obviously, Oakville in the Forgotten Realms would have been an interesting place to grow grapes. Bodega Daddies because it sounds both funny and well fitted and finally it's from 2019 because that's when Henry Oak first appeared in the first episode of that same year.

And I think that just about does it!!!

Thank you so much for reading and I'll be following up with the next wine of the series. Which character should I make a wine for next?