#GET HIM OUT OF MY FUCKING SIGHTLINE

[calliemity]

orin moments that fill me with indescribable bloodthirsty rage

[nebulaafterdark]

The Rats Pt. 2

Aegon Targaryen ii x Velaryon(Strong)!Reader

Summary: Aegon attempts to make peace with Rhaenyra after being forced to usurp her throne. Lucerys’ death complicates things.

18+ ONLY, MDNI

Part 1

“Princess Y/N of house Velaryon.” The guard announces.

Rhaenyra’s heart skips a beat, surely he is mistaken.

“Mother,” Y/N says, racing toward her. “Your grace,” she corrects herself.

Rhaenyra wraps her eldest child in her arms. “Mother will do just fine.”

Y/N buries her face in Rhaenyra’s shoulder.

“How did you get here?” Aegon would never let her go of his own free will.

“Daemon,” Y/N breathes. Knowing that her stepfather will owe her for the half truth.

“Where are the children?”

“In King’s Landing.” Y/N tells her, “to keep Aegon’s wits about him in my absence. He wants to come to an agreement, he’s more than willing to bend the knee. I only ask that he and Helaena be spared…as for Aemond Targaryen, he is a murderer.” Y/N’s voice breaks, “we will avenge the murder of my brother.”

Rhaenyra’s strokes a hand over her hair, feeling the dark waves that remind her of Lucerys. “Aegon and Helaena will receive full pardons based on your testimony. Rest assured I appreciate what you have done on my behalf.”

“Thank you.” Y/N pulls back marginally, realizing her mother’s pregnant belly should be between them. “Where is the babe?”

Rhaenyra shakes her head.

Y/N covers her mouth with her hand, “I am terribly sorry.”

“It is no fault of yours, darling girl.”

“I should have been here with you.”

“When I offered your hand in marriage, I had no idea Aegon was capable of love. It has complicated all of this.”

Y/N nods, “speaking of my husband. I should send word that I am well, lest he take out his frustration on Dragonstone.”

Rhaenyra taps her chin, affectionately. “I will fetch a scroll.”

————————————————————————-

Aegon’s youngest son is the only one of his children to share Y/N’s dark locks. His wife insisted they name him Aegon. After my dearest love. She said.

Aegon agreed of course as he can deny her nothing. The child wails nonstop, in the absence of his mother. At all of four months old, Aegon is the only one who can quiet him besides Y/N. As such, the King is now attending the small council meeting with a babe in his arms.

Their daughter, Dahlia, the eldest of the twins will sit the iron throne one day, through his line of succession and Rhaenyra’s. At all of six, she is sitting at the table. His other children Visera and Laenor have not been properly protected under the guard, they too must stay in his sightline.

“Gods be good.” Alicent frowns at her son.

“What is it?” Aegon huffs, arching a brow at her.

“The small council is no place for children, your grace.” Alicent explains. “They would be better tended by their maids.”

Aegon nods, “right. As you all know, two nights ago, the Princess Helaena was attacked in the children’s chambers. Our heirs were threatened and Queen Y/N was taken from us. During which time, not a single guard could be found on the entirety of the royal floor! Because you were-”

Aegon looks to his children in turn, “cover your ears my darlings.” He smiles, waiting until they have done as they’re told, holding his own hand over his infant’s ear. “Where were we, mother? Oh, that’s right, no one was guarding my children because you were fucking the royal guard.”

The council members lower their heads in acknowledgement.

“The men who carried out this attack, entered under the guise of rat catching. I want them found and swiftly executed.” Aegon demands, patting his sleeping son’s leg.

“We have been interrogating rat catchers for days, thus far we have no leads.” Otto explains.

A slow smile spreads over the King’s face. “Then hang them all.”

Alicent blanches.

“Anything else?” Aegon asks, watching Visera begin toying with Otto’s chair.

“A letter arrived from Dragonstone, your grace.” Lord Tyland informs him.

“Oh?” Aegon says, “from Rhaenyra?”

“From Queen Y/N.”

Aegon swallows, “did you read it?”

“No, my King.”

“Good,” Aegon reaches for the rolled parchment.

‘My dearest Aegon,

Please know that I am well. We would like to begin negotiations to end the blockade and create a peaceful transfer of power. This will require your cooperation, I hope you will meet me at Dragonstone to discuss this matter farther.

Forever yours,

Y/N’

Aegon exhales, sharply.

“What is it, your grace?”

“The children and I are off to Dragonstone.”

“Whatever for?”

“To negotiate the terms of Y/N’s return.”

“My King…”

“And if you cannot agree on said terms?” Alicent asks.

Aegon frowns, lifting a shoulder. “To war then.”

“He is unhinged,” Otto whispers to his daughter.

“As I warned he would be.” Alicent rises from her seat. “He is quite…devoted to her.”

————————————————————————

“It has been three days since you sent word to King’s Landing. We must assume Aegon’s silence is his response.” Daemon seethes, around the drawing table.

“Give it time.” Y/N insists, “you owe me that.”

Daemon smirks, “I owe you nothing, spoiled thing.”

“Mmm,” Y/N hums. “My mother does not yet know how I came to be here.”

“And you are not going to tell her. Otherwise, my distaste for your usurping cunt of a husband will be demonstrated at length.”

Sunfyre roars, calling their attention to the nearest window.

Daemon huffs, “I’ll be damned.”

“And he’s brought the children.” Y/N rejoices, running out to join her family.

Jacaerys is already helping to unload her children from the makeshift carriage on the dragon’s saddle.

“Mother!” Dahlia and Visera charge Y/N nearly knocking her backwards.

Laenor runs after them with his little legs as Aegon the fourth, stares at her, babbling in his father’s arms.

Y/N is moved to tears, “you came.”

“You didn’t think I would?” Aegon cocks his head to the side.

“It’s a rather large ask,” Y/N explains.

“For you, the world.” He replies, with a kiss to her temple. “Now, where is Rhaenyra? We have much to discuss.”

“Her grace will join us soon.”

Aegon nods, “I request a small audience, before the council.”

“That can be arranged.”

“After which your brother might tend the children whilst you show me your quarters.” Aegon whispers.

Y/N smirks, “of course.”

Part 3

Taglist: @minttea07 @callsignwidow @fallout-girl219 @syraxnyra @vickynephilim @jeondeluxe111 @geeksareunique @arya-brooke @7minutes-tomidnight

[g1rld1ary]

you never disappointed me ; luke castellan x aphrodite!reader

part one part two part three part four

➻ synopsis: charles beckendorf wants to go out with silena beauregard more than anything. one problem: she's not allowed to date until her shrewish older sister does, so he and percy come up with a plan. (10 things I about you AU)

➻ word count: 2783

➻ warnings: swearing ooc/kind of loser!luke, ooc silena, she/her pronouns used for reader

➻ this'll be a few chapter so this is p1!!!

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

Charles Beckendorf arrived at Camp Half-Blood when he was fifteen years old. It was a wonder he’d lasted out in the mortal world so long with his significant stature, height enough to attract monsters, but Percy — his tour guide — guessed it was probably his more reserved nature which had kept him under the radar.

“Thank God it’s you showing me around,” Was one of the first things he’d said, “When you start things like this it’s usually all the kiss-asses that greet me.” With six schools under his belt, Percy knew what he meant all too well.

“Nah man, we’re chill. And if we get this done quick then you can meet my friends, we know how to have the real fun here.”

And so they embarked on their tour, Percy dutifully pointing out all the most important places around camp. First was the Dining Pavilion, where they met Grover as he chewed on some of the tin-can remains of lunch. Then came Thalia’s Tree, under which Annabeth was drawing out a map that Charles didn’t understand in the slightest but Percy explained was a strategy for capture the flag. After that they walked past the sword fighting arena, where they caught a glimpse of Luke in the middle of a fierce duel. They both passed quickly, and Charles got the distinct impression that you weren’t supposed to interrupt Luke when he was fighting.

As the two got to the lake, Percy explaining it was where most people hung out when they had the time, Charles faltered in his steps. Percy looked back to where he was frozen and followed his sightline to Silena Beauregard and rolled his eyes.

“Who is that?” He breathed.

“Don’t even bother, bro,” Percy replied. “She’s off limits. It’s a well known fact that the Beauregard sisters aren’t allowed to date — they’re only here over the summers and their dad is crazy strict about it for some reason.”

“But she’s so—”

“Self-centred? Shallow? Silena is all looks no substance, dude. You can do better.” Percy ushered him away but Charles was still daydreaming about the beautiful Aphrodite girl.

The tour was just finishing up by the Climbing Wall when they first saw you. You held the camp record for it, and so had been delegated the responsibility of teaching the younger kids. Today though you’d had to rescue a cocky bastard from getting obliterated by lava, singeing the fabric of your camp shirt all over your left shoulder, and you were not in a good mood.

Just wanting to get back to your cabin for a change of clothes and some ambrosia, you were certainly not in the state of mind to stop and chat with a new camper. So when Percy and Charles came along blocking the whole fucking path, you didn’t hesitate to yell “Move!” Pushing past them in a huff. You wouldn’t usually be so rude, but you were pretty sure your shirt was fusing into your skin which was so not what you needed. Plus, they were in the way. Beckendorf’s bicep was warm from where you’d shoulder-checked him with your injury.

“That’s your dream girl’s older sister,” Percy snorted, used to your disagreeable personality.

“That’s Silena’s sister?” Charles asked incredulously, “But she’s…”

“A shrew? Yeah. I’d watch out for her, and kiss your dreams of going out with Silena goodbye. Now c’mon, I’ll show you to your cabin.” Charles followed mindlessly, still thinking about the two Beauregard sisters.

When people thought of you, the consensus was pretty much this: Silena Beauregard’s older sister, and the most heinous bitch at Camp Half-Blood, a title you were extremely proud of. Whilst you really didn’t think you were that bad — in fact, you considered your actions quite reasonable — younger campers cowered away when you marched through camp and the older ones rolled their eyes when you spoke. Just the way you liked it. It wasn’t exactly unusual, camp had all sorts of kids living there, not everyone was going to get along, but it was pretty unexpected for you as a daughter of Aphrodite.

You didn’t get along with most of your siblings, despite all your efforts as one of the elder campers. You thought it was ridiculous that they wouldn’t participate in camp activities, regardless of the reason. What good was having all that beauty if it was wiped off the face of the earth by a monster? There were a hundred rumours flying about to explain you and your attitude, the most popular being that you were the secret lovechild of Aphrodite and Ares, which explained your affinity for fighting and permanent bitch face. You knew better. For one you shared too many of your dad’s traits not to be his child. Plus, Aphrodite had a long history of being associated with war in Ancient Greece which everyone at camp just conveniently forgot in favour of writing her children off as useless and vain. You hated it, and you refused to be who they wanted.

Even your favourite sibling was the polar opposite to you. Silena was a few years younger than you, and by all accounts was the model of a perfect Aphrodite child. Gorgeous, of course, and usually kind and patient. In your opinion, she was kind of annoying and self-absorbed, but you chose to believe she meant well so you could keep tolerating her. You didn’t know how the only two blood-related siblings in your cabin could be so different from one another, but it had been that way since you were fourteen and she was twelve.

You had made it back to your cabin, and your shoulder was all bandaged up after your shower. You were just flipping through The Bell Jar, your latest novel, when Silena came stomping into the cabin, waving a letter frantically through the air. You could assume what it was about.

“This is so unfair!” Silena whined, “Daddy doesn’t even know Ethan!” Ethan was the new boy Silena had been obsessed with recently, writing incessantly to your father in an attempt to get him to take back the no dating rule.

“What, can’t go swap spit with the vermin of the earth?” You exaggerated a pout. She sneered at you in the mirror.

“Worse. Now he’s saying I can’t date until you do, so now I’m going to die a stupid old virgin because of you!” You rolled your eyes and sighed.

“Have you ever considered there’s more to life than finding a boyfriend? Or, big shock I know, maybe I’m just not interested in the sweaty, uninspired pigs that are supplied here?”

“You suck!” She huffed, turning on a kitten heel and barging out of the cabin.

“You suck!” You mocked, turning back to your book. You knew Silena was really pissed at you for being so stubborn, but you hated the thought of changing your opinions over a man of all things.

Silena, in her frustration, was wandering around Camp Half-Blood to let off some steam. Charles, fresh from a kayaking lesson, spotted her across the beach and scrambled to catch up to her. Remembering what Percy told him about her not participating in many of the camp’s activities, he came up with the idea to offer his help to finish a project in the forges to get Chiron off her back. Silena seemed surprised but happy enough to agree, and Charles was ecstatic.

“She’s agreed to go to the forges with me!” He told Percy excitedly, and Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Do you even know how to weld?”

“Well, no, but I will!” As much as Percy liked the new kid, he was definitely a handful.

Charles’ first session with Silena didn’t go exactly as he’d hoped. She showed up already looking bored, and not keen to start off with a simple sword as he’d proposed. Soon he gave up with any welding, choosing instead to try and get her know better.

“If you’re not really into this we could try something else? I saw someone welding some metal flowers, you know, for like a date?” That caught her attention.

“Are you asking me on a date?” At his shy nod Silena couldn’t contain her slight laugh. “That is so cute! What’s your name again?” Charles told her quietly.

“Well, my Dad’s just changed our family rule — I can date when my sister does.”

“That’s great! So all you’ve gotta do is find someone who’ll date her!”

“One problem, Cameron-”

“Charles.”

“My sister is, like, totally antisocial?”

“Yeah, but people jump out of planes and stuff all the time! It could be, like, extreme dating!”

They both looked across the forge where you were working, fixing up your favourite sword after an Ares kid had done quite a number on it. You had on both your signature outfit and expression — long, practical jorts with your camp shirt tied in a knot and a dangerous bitch face.

“The oversized look is out, Beauregard, didn’t you read last month’s Vogue?” Ethan was hovering around you, trying his hardest to get a rise out of you in front of his friends.

“Run along, dickwad.” You refused to blow up at him, knowing it would only be used to make you look hysterical and unbalanced later. Plus, Ethan would get bored sooner or later and find someone else to taunt.

As Charles recounted this story to Percy later that night at the bonfire, all Percy could do was groan.

“Charles — Charlie — I really wanna like you, man, but this is probably the most stupid thing you could have done. I know they’re hot, but it’s not even worth getting involved with one Beauregard sister, and you’ve just gotten yourself tangled with both — and not in the way that most guys dream about.” Charles flushed at the innuendo.

“I think you’re wrong about Silena, I think she’s worth it. I just have to figure out how I can set her sister up with another guy.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Percy laughed, hitting Charles’ knee twice before turning away to talk to Annabeth. Charles spent the rest of the night trying to hatch a plan.

Early the next morning he got Percy on board, albeit very reluctantly. Percy brought Charles over to every single guy he could think of in your age range, begging them to take you out. The responses varied from a nervous shake of the head to Travis Stoll laughing in both boys’ faces.

“Why would I go looking for a kick in the balls?” He asked, still wheezing from his initial outburst.

They found themselves once again at the bonfire, both disheartened. Percy at having wasted a day all for this new guy he barely knew, and Charles that he was no closer to getting a date with Silena. Finally, somewhat eager to get this distraction over with, Percy came up with an idea.

“What about you just pay someone to go out with her?” He asked, and Charles considered the idea for a minute, it wasn’t half bad.

“I have literally no money,” He settled on finally, and Percy rolled his eyes.

“So you get someone else to do it for you,” He suggested, and Annabeth joined the conversation with suspicious interest.

“Like a backer?” She asked, at Percy’s nod she bit her lip, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, guys, it seems like it could really backfire on you. I mean, what if she finds out? I heard she once tied a camper to the lava wall just for looking at her wrong.”

“She won’t find out! I mean she only has to date so Silena can, it doesn’t have to be a long term thing. She goes on enough dates for it to qualify, then they break up while it’s still casual and I can go out with Silena!” Charles explained excitedly, but Annabeth still looked skeptical.

“Plus, if we have a backer, none of the blame will go to my man Charlie here,” Percy added helpfully, which swayed Annabeth a little.

“Okay, well be careful,” She said, leaving for the dining hall to be distanced from the plot.

Percy thought the answer to who the backer would be was pretty obvious. Whilst most of the boys at Camp Half-Blood wanted to sleep with Silena, Ethan White was both rich and desperate enough to agree to it. Plus when Percy Jackson was telling you you’d look great with a girl, you generally listened.

All that was left was to find someone to set you up with. The boys used the bonfire to scope out their options, but it wasn’t looking good. For one, you didn’t even show up to bonfires if you could help it, and it was anyone’s guess what you did instead. Rumours said blood sacrifices but Percy was almost completely sure that was a lie. Truthfully you were sitting up on the roof of the Aphrodite cabin, enjoying the peace and quiet of the camp when no one else was around.

They were about to give up, Percy trying to find the right words to let Beckendorf down easy, when they saw Luke. Luke, with his brooding eyes and his cigarette, sitting on his own at the bonfire with headphones connected to a mortal mp3 player. Luke, who had never quite been the same since he returned from his quest — rumours swirling about the horrors he’d faced that he refused to speak on.

“I think we’ve found our man.”

It was easy to convince Ethan to get on board, he was so overconfident in himself and his looks he would never suspect that Percy or Beckendorf had any ulterior motives. It was equally enjoyable to watch Ethan try and approach Luke to get the plan in motion. Percy and Beckendorf were sitting with Percy’s friends on the beach the very first time Ethan spoke to Luke. He was all macho confidence, still trying to play the tough guy. Luke looked up at him from his place sitting on a rock, barely moving his head to give him any attention. The moment of eye contact meant Ethan knew Luke had seen him speaking, and the abrupt walking away communicated his absolute lack of interest. It took a gargantuan effort from Percy not to burst out laughing then and there.

The second conversation went a bit smoother. Ethan had a metaphorical tail between his legs, temporarily giving up his ego to be the smaller person in the conversation. That got Luke’s attention, having known Ethan and his antics for years at that point. And then Ethan explained his plan. Luke couldn’t contain his laughter — a sound Camp Half-Blood was rarely graced with anymore.

“Yeah sure, Sparky,” He laughed, almost wheezing in an uncharacteristic show of emotion.

“Look,” Ethan stressed, “I can’t take out Silena until her sister starts dating — their Dad is super strict and has this rule—”

“Touching story, not my problem.” Luke moved to put his earbud back in when Ethan stopped him.

“Could it be your problem if I provided generous compensation?” Luke had forgotten Ethan’s mother was filthy rich. He looked him dead in the eye.

“You’re going to pay me to take out some chick? How much?” He asked, entirely disbelieving.

“Twenty bucks” They both looked down at you on the volleyball courts, spiking a ball into a girl’s stomach with so much force she keeled over on the ground. You had the decency to look mildly apologetic while the opposing team glared at you.

“Fine. Thirty.”

“Let’s see,” Luke smiled something devious. “If I’m taking her out it means leaving camp. That’s a lot of risk I’m pursuing for you, plus the costs of taking to her somewhere — the movies maybe. And you know inflation lately, let’s say seventy-five bucks.”

“This isn’t a negotiation, burnout.”

“Fifty bucks and we’ve got a deal, Fabio,” Luke countered, knowing he had the upper hand. He had nothing to lose. Reluctantly, Ethan forked out a fifty. All that was left was for Luke to get you to go out with him, how hard could that be?

[anonomi]

Everytime I see sniperspy, it's usually opposite teams, which is lovely but I also believe in same team sniperspy, because of this match I had while playing Sniper on Thunder Mountain. I was using the bullshit countries away sightline by the BLU spawn on the first stage, the one on the rocks. I can't see shit but I feel like every sniper needs to use a bullshit spot at least once in their life so I'm sticking to it. Though I can't hit shit. Anyway I hear a spy decloak behind me and I turn, ready to throw hands.

But the only spy there is my team's, and he's busy running to the fight. I feel like he glances at me a bit, but he's gone before I can think about it.

I feel silly but I figure he's just testing his cloak, because I don't hallucinate decloaks, not yet anyway. A few minutes later, and there it is again. Someone decloaks behind me. This time I turn and there is my spy, but he's acting very suspicious. Has a mask on and everything. I run over to rip him up, and he starts dancing around, dodging me and feinting. We're jumping around for at least a minute before I run right into and through him.

It's my fucking spy. I've been juggling around for the past minute with my own spy.

He realizes the jig is up and he looks at me for a long moment, probably laughing at me behind his impassive face, before he's running off to fight again.

I go back to sniping, feeling horribly embarrassed. I move around and eventually get caught by a scout. After coming out of spawn, I go to stand on the rocks again to check things out. Can you guess what happens next?

I hear a decloak behind me and I'm sure this time this is the enemy spy. It has to be. No way my spy would still be screwing with me this deep into the match. I turn, and yep, there's a spy, wearing a mask and everything. Knife at the ready, I take a few steps forward.. before I just stop.

I stare at this spy. He stares at me. I look at him for a looong moment before I grab my rifle back and turn around. He comes up to my side and I tense, because shit maybe it is actually the enemy spy, but the stab he hits to my side bounces right off.

My team's spy looks at me, opens up VC and chuckles, before telling me in this smooth, soft little voice, "Sniper you should move up. You're not gonna hit anybody from here."

And he runs off again. Bastard.

[zahri-melitor]

This is just a random snippet that’s been rolling around my brain.

***

He hated fighting magic users.

As the explosion cleared, Dick looked around trying to get his bearings. The surroundings had shifted. Dirty snow lay on the ground. The everpresent glow that surrounded Gotham at night was oddly absent. The air tasted slightly of smoke. And the skyline…Dick knew that craggy, broken skyline.

No Man’s Land.

Beside him, Jason started muttering. “I hate dimensional travel.” Damian had drawn his sword and was gripping it the way he tended to for comfort. And Tim? Tim’s eyes were flickering from building to building, cataloguing everything, before catching on the spraypainted territory marks and sticking.

Get up and go, Nightwing, Dick told himself. This is a bad place to be. You need food, shelter, and a read on the exact territory rules right now. And you’re too far away from Leslie’s hospital to get in safely tonight.

“Robin.” They both looked at him. “Damian, watch the sightlines. Tim. I know you spent more time with Oracle working on the earlier maps than I did. Can you get a read on exactly when and where we are?” Tim nodded and headed straight for the graffiti, tilting his head to look at the obscured tags.

“It’s some post-apocalyptic Gotham universe, Nightwing,” said Jason grumpily. “What’s he going to be able to tell?”

Tim snorted and turned back to the group. “Upper East Side. Somewhere between about 130-150, but probably closer to 130 given the snow and the blood on the wall isn’t that old. Pretty near the Two-Face territory border too; we’d better keep an eye out for the Bat.”

Dick flicked back through memories he’d suppressed as no longer relevant, especially the early moves he’d not been present for. He wished for a second Barbara was here, then suppressed the thought guiltily. She’d be so much more across this.

“Mask?”

“We’re far enough east to be out of his territory right now but I wouldn’t want to risk it. And of course there’s the usual issue with Leslie.” Tim was stating the obvious, in his worry. Dick could feel how much he could no longer remember. It was too early in the period for proper stability, he’d spent most of his time based in the south near Blue Boys territory once he’d left Blackgate, and while he still remembered where all the satellite caves were, there was always the issue that Bruce would notice.

“Faith sector?”

“Probably our best bet tonight but I don’t like taking resources from them.” Tim’s forehead wrinkled. Dick didn’t like it either, but needs must. They could resupply from a cache.

“What the fuck are you two talking about?” Jason was getting more aggravated.

“There’s movement on that broken roof,” muttered Damian, tilting his head to indicate which one.

“Shit.” Dick could see the flap of a black cape as well as the rest of them. There were two options right now and both of them were going to be a problem. “Hood, I’m going to need you to keep quiet. Little D, stick close to me. I’ll explain in a moment. Tim?” Tim looked Dick in the eye for a moment and nodded.

“Yeah, it’d better be me.” He cracked his neck, idly drew out his staff to use as a walking stick, and headed straight for the building.

“What is this?” Jason hissed. “Why are you two acting so weird. And…fuck is that Batgirl?” A familiar black shape had dropped from the roof to land in front of Tim, full face mask and all.

Dick sighed. “No. It isn’t. And please don’t call her that. Robin is about to have to talk very fast. This is almost certainly time travel, not dimensional travel. We’re in No Man’s Land.”

[kokofromwattpad]

Dearest tutor

Plot: Star student of the Royal Academy has been sent to tutor the only Prince of the Imperial Royal family of Lilabett Corona. They then somehow enrapture the interest of the prince and his elder sister, the Crown Princess.

Cw: Crown princess! Female! Yandere x Tutor! Gn! Reader x prince! Yandere, mentions of torture, mentions of cult(briefly), blood, yandere tendencies.

A/N: Holy fucking shit it's finally out, I'm sososo excited.

Word count: 5.3k

The student stood outside the gate of the Imperial palace with sweat streaking down the side of their face from the harsh blaze of the sun. They had textbooks held under their armpit, tightly to their right side as their left had awkwardly tried to fix the hair that had begun to fall into their sightline.

[Name][Lastname] was an extraordinary person when it came to academics. They excelled in any subject they were put in and always came out on the very top of the board when the exam results had been revealed.

But they were born with common blood flowing through their veins. Their father was a poor baker and their mother was a school teacher for the orphans by the local children's home. Because their mother had always prided herself with the fact that she believed that knowledge was a better virtue than beauty, their mother would make [Name] read and memorise any textbooks she could get her hands on.

While [Name] considered it good luck that they were able to enrol in the royal academy and had gotten a full scholarship, they were petrified when they found a neatly folded envelope on their dorm bed with a wax seal baring the Imperial family's coat of arms.

The summarised version of the letter read that the imperial advisor acknowledged their extreme academic prowess and wanted them to visit the imperial palace to tutor the empire's only prince in the few subjects he had been recently struggling with in his own classes.

Terrified out if their mind, [Name] agreed in the most cursive calligraphy they could muster with their violently shaking hand.

And now, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the young student will have to spend their afternoon tutoring a bratty prince. Honestly, they were shaking in their boots from the mere thought of having to interact with royalty.

A cough abruptly interrupted the student's thoughts and made them shoot their head up in surprise. A tall man with long midnight black hair stood on the other side of the twisting gate. He looked to be in his late 30s, with a face and aura that screamed 'strict' and 'do not get me mad'. His dark hair was swept up to a waterfall like pony tail at the back of his head. He wore thin lensed glasses that seemed to be nearly falling off the tip of his nose. Hie eyes however were a lovely soft sage colour.

The man placed his right hand above his heart and bowed only his head at the young student. "Good evening mx.[Lastname]. My name is Von Alaric-Holloway. It is the Koinig family's honor to have you tutor your young master." he greeted. His voice was as smooth as his hair. The student nodded at his words. "The honour is all mine Mr.Alaric-Holloway." they said back, not trusting their voice to say anything else without stuttering, or falling over their own words.

Von nodded his head at the guards, giving them the silent order to open the sill closed gates.

The gates swept open as swift as the wind, letting the advisor and the student stand in front of each other face-to-face. Von nodded his head again at the student, signaling them to follow him as he pushed his falling glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He walked gracefully, with both of his hands held tightly behind his back and his head raised high in pride. The student trailed after him, struggling to keep up with his pace.

"The young master is about two years younger than you are, so he is around your age. The empress hopes that you and her grandson will become good friends with each other." Von said in quick voice, not giving [Name] the chance to actually process the words he was saying.

The student nearly nodded their head at his words and kept their head down. Every guard or maid that the pair walked past, bowed their head down, and gave sympathetic looks towards the two. Obviously, [Name] was going to notice by the third or fourth time that they had done this.

"Mr.Alaric-Holloway, why is everyone giving us such pitiful looks?" they asked the him.

Von cocked his eyes towards the sound of [Name]'s question. "I suppose it is because of the rumour that the young master is a troubled child." Von pushed his falling glasses back up the bridge of his nose. [Name] nodded at his words and continued to follow his pace down marble walkway.

Finally the two came to a grandiose staircase with gold linings that supposedly lead to the prince's study.

A young girl stood at the very top of the stairwell.

She looked around a year younger than [Name], so possibly 17 years old. She was short but not too short. She had long golden, nearly glowing blonde hair that was tied into a flattering bun to the back of her head. She wasn't wearing any makeup, which was odd for a noble to do. Her eyelashes were blonde as well. She was also wearing what seemed to be a military training uniform. [Name] noted to themself that this woman looked like a sinister fairy. The only reason she seemed sinister was from the deep red eyes that was embedded into her sockets and the very real and very sharp sword being held in a leather scabbard attached to her left hip.

"Von, may I ask who this commoner is, who is trespassing into my home?" she quipped at the advisor.

Von kneeled on his right knee with his right hand covering his heart again. His face had a thin layer of sweat covering it as he stared intensely at the ground.

"Crown princess, Frieda. The commoner behind me is prince Beta's new tutor. They are here to assist the prince in a few academy subjects that he is having trouble grasping." Von answered in a wavering version of usual tone of voice.

'Wait... what did he say? Crown princess...?' thought [Name] as they stared blankly at the blonde woman.

'SHIT!'

Once they're sense of self preservation finally returned to them, [Name] fell to their knees and buried their head into the cold flooring.

The Crown princess stayed silent at the student's sudden movements. She gracefully walked down the flight of stairs, and stood infornt of [Name]'s bowing head.

"Please raise your heads you two." she commanded in a gentle but firm voice.

[Name] raised their head, only to see that the princess was kneeling infront of them. She held the student's jaw in her right hand and lifted it higher. She turned their head left and right, checking both sides of their face.

She then got back on both of her feet and looked down to the student with a grin. "Take good care of my little brother, alright?"

The student was stunned into silence, but quickly shook their head in agreement. Satisfied with their answer, the princess strieded away, down a seperate hallway from the pair and disappeared from their line of sight.

Von let out a what sounded to be a strangled out sigh of relief. He then whipped his head to look at [Name] with an odd look to his face. He then got up and helped the student back to their own feet, while their feet wobbled from how scared they were from the encounter.

Surely the prince couldn't be that bad if that was the CROWN princess?

He wasn't as bad as they had originally thought.

[Name] had introduced themself to the Sixteen year old prince of the empire, with no response.

He looked nearly identical to the Crown princess. Same glowing gold hair, same deep red hair. His skin wasn't tanned, rather it was a pale white colour, showing how little time he spent outside, the complete opposite of his sister.

The prince was quiet, scarily so. Whenever he was finished answering an exercise, he would look ominously at the young student until they noticed and would mark it for him and then explain how he got whichever answers wrong.

"Do you understand Prince Beta?" [Name] would ask.

The prince would then just nod at their words and write down his corrections next to his wrong answers.

The main sound that echoed throughout the study was the grandfather clock that stood in the corner, signaling the end and beginning of every second. [Name] almost every ten minutes would quickly whip their eyes towards the clock, checking to see when they could leave and run back to their dormitory back on school campus.

Once the Prince was finished with his exercises, he pulled out a thick, leatherback book from a drawer in his office desk. The lettering on the front read in gold cursive 'The rise and fall of cults.'

'Holy fucking shit. This brats' into cults' thought the student.

Instead of feeling an impending sense of neverending doom, they almost squeeled in absolute delight.

[Name][Lastname] was a true crime junkie.

Every murder mystery case, every cult, they knew all about it. The reasons as for the murders, the childhoods of the cult leaders. They. Knew. Everything.

The student cautiously stalked closer to the Prince, like how naive prey checks to see if it's predator is asleep. The Prince lifted his head from the inside of his book to look at the person coming closer and closer to him.

The student asked prudently, "Prince Beta, are you a fan of true crime?"

His eyes almost immediately grew a light in them that was not there before. His cheeks tinged a bit with pink as he looked curiously at the young student. "Are you?" he asked back.

Quickly, the student nodded their head aggressively, agreeing with the prince's question.

A smile stretched onto the boy's face almost immediately. "You are?! You don't think it's an odd interest?!" he screamed out.

[Name] nodded again with an even larger smile on their face. "Yes of course! I find true crime ever so fascinating! I'm even studying to go into criminology when I graduate!"

The Prince's eyes nearly sparkled like a small child's. He immediately got up from his chair and ran up to the young student. He wrapped his fingers around [Name]'s hands and brought them up in a clasp.

He then burst out in exclamation, "You, as of now, are my best friend!"

Being the new best friend of the only Prince of the Empire came with a lot of responsibilities. He now follows the commoner student around the academy grounds like a lost puppy. People had begun to whisper about how [Name] had cast some sort of spell on the prince to make him lighten up so much.

Because of his much more friendly nature, a lot of people had begun to approach him, hoping to become as close to the prince as [Name] did, but all he would do is wrap his arms around [Name]'s left arm and drag them away as he ranted away about a new cultist book he got his hands on a couple days ago.

At the end of the school day, [Name] went back to their dorm room to rest until dinnertime. They did not have to tutor Prince Beta that day since it was a Thursday, so [Name] was able to catch up on their loss of sleep.

They fell onto their creaky bed and groaned from the ache they felt in their bones. The young student shoved their head into the sunken-in pillow and nearly fell asleep.

Suddenly, a loud knock echoed throughout the small bedroom. [Name] groaned loudly again and got up to answer the person outside the door. The student opened their dorm door to be met with a maid in her early thirties. "Mail." she stated and then gently handed the student a neat envelope. That was unusual. Usually, the maids would shove their mail, tear it up, they would even spit on their mail. They did all of this just because the student was a commoner.

The maid walks away from the open doorway, leaving [Name] alone with their thoughts. They closed the door and stalked back to their small, wobbly desk.

The envelope was sealed with a ruby red seal, bearing the seal of the Imperial family. [Name] fingered the envelope open and took the letter out with soft fingers. The letter was written by the Crown princess, written in curly and swirly handwriting. It was an invitation to a small tea party with a couple of other noble ladies who were friends with the Crown princess.

[Name] wrote in simple print lettering a thanks and acceptance to the invitation. They licked and sealed it closed. The student then left to go to the on campus post office to send it to the Crown princess.

The student then went back to their dorm to go and try to fall asleep again.

[Name] stood outside the large glass greenhouse in the back garden of the Imperial palace. Abruptly, a young maid opened the door of the greenhouse to let the student enter.

"Welcome Mx.[Lastname]. The Crown princess has been waiting eagerly for you. Please follow me." greeted the maid as she bowed shallowly. [Name] nodded as well in greeting and followed behind the maid as quickly as they could.

The maid lead the young student through different sections of flowers ranging in shapes, sizes, and colour. What specifically caught [Name]'s attention was a small patch of pink Azaleas. 'How lovely.' thought [Name]

After a little bit more walking, the maid had lead the young student to an elevated seating area, where several tables and chairs were sprawled about.

The Crown princess sat at a table right in the middle. She was wearing a lovely red dress, with a cascading skirt that swept below her ankles. It had puffed out, see through red sleeves thst reached up too her knuckles. Her hair was tied up in a pretty up-do hairstyle, leaving little bit of hair hanging on her shoulders. Overall, she exuded an air of elegance and superiority.

Crown princess Frieda noticed that [Name] was standing on her left side, making her sweep her head in her direction. A small smile graced her face as she welcomed the student, "Good morning Mx.[Lastname], a pleasure to see you once again."

Frieda then stood up, showing her velvet red heels with a large diamond studded into the front of it. The princess pulled out the empty chair that was next to her, and gestured for them to sit down next to her. Understanding her intention, [Name] sluggishly walked up to the princess and sat down in the seat she wanted them to sit in.

The Crown princess sat back down in her original chair and sipped on her tea. Slowly, [Name] reached out and took a cookie from the large platter of baked goods. A maid came to the student's side and poured some tea into their cup as they nibbled on the sweet treat.

"So Mx.[Lastname], you are the commoner who attends the royal academy, correct?" quipped a young daughter of unnamed Baron. She placed her teacup back down in the saucer and with a smile, rested her smiling face on her intertwined fingers.

The student looked up from their cookie with a confused expression painted on their face. Recovering quickly from their confusion, they answered in shaky voice, "Indeed. I am able to attended the Royal Academy due to a scholarship I was gifted on my 16th birthday."

The baron's daughter giggled and whispered something into the woman's ear right next to her. The commoner looked down embarrassingly into their lap, wondering what they had said to warrant such a reaction from the other woman.

The Crown princess was sitting at the head of the table, her head held high, making everyone aware of her presence. The tutor sat on the seat on Frieda's left side, which definitely caused some stares from the other attendees. Definitely wasn't a good look for the poor tutor.

Frieda coughed into her clenched fist and looked at Alicia with a blank look on her face. "The honourable Alicia Crusainia. Please mind your manners towards my guest. Don't forget your place here."

Alicia's face became a bright, hot tomato red and looked down at her lap, similarly to the young student. "Mx. [Lastname]. Lift your head."

Almost under a spell, [Name] lifted their head from their lap and looked at the Crown princess in awe. Frieda was looking at [Name] with an odd looking face with her eyebrow raised. It was a mix of boredom and curiosity.

"You are my honored guest. My little brother treasures you quite a lot, therefore, so must I." She stated as if it was a well known fact.

"Yes, your royal highness." They said in a calm and deft tone.

Freida nodded her head, making her golden curls bounce. She then turned and took another sip of her tea.

"So, [Name]! How was the tea party with my sister?" questioned Beta during one of his and the student's tutoring sessions.

The student looked at Beta with a confused look on their face. "It was alright, nothing special happened." They answer the prince.

Looking confused, Beta's head knocked to the side. "Really? Because from what I heard, my sister ripped some Baron's daughter a new one for making fun of you!"

'Making fun of me? Was that what she was doing?' [Name] thought to themselves.

"It seems that you were unaware. Maybe I could ask my sister to invite you to balls more often so that you can get better at catching on to these things!" Beta suggests with a large smile on his face, proud of his brilliant idea.

"No no no no no! I could barely handle a simple tea party! No way I'll be able to survive a ball where I have to dance!" [Name] panicked.

The prince pouted at their words, disappointed in their answer. He slumps over his desk and makes his head fall into the crook of his arms. His blonde hair fell over his arms, looking like a veil over his arms.

"Mhm.... I mean.... if you can convince your sister, and I don't have to dance... then I'll agree." [Name] softly said, scratching the back of their neck in nervousness.

Beta's head immediately shot up and with an absolutely large smile, he nodded aggressively convincing the student that he may be half bobble head.

"Then you will come to my birthday ball, right?"

[Name] answered, "Of course your majesty."

The student then sat down across from the young prince with their textbook and continued on with their lesson.

After the lesson was completed, [Name] was walking steadily through the velvet covered floors of the castle's hallways. The student placed their hands on the back of their neck and rubbed tough circles into the nape of their neck, relaxing their muscles after two and a half hours of being on the tip of their toes. Even though Prince Beta had claimed them as their best friend, [Name] still stayed on guard around him, just incase he was the type to have extreme mood swings.

[Name] groaned in pleasure as they passed through another hallway of the residential wing of the Imperial castle.

"Mx.[Lastname], have you finally finished your lesson with my brother?" a voice asked behind the student.

The student whipped their head around and caught the eyes of the young Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess was wearing a light cream colored dress with many flowy layers that what [Name] assumed was to let wind in more easily to cool the princess down.

"Your Royal Highness, you are correct. I have just finished mine and the prince's tutoring session." answered the student with a cautious look on their face.

Frieda giggled maturely at the look of [Name]'s wary expression. "Have no worry Mx.[Lastname], I don't bite." she joked.

They nodded at the Princess's words.

"Then why don't you join me in my office for some tea? I'd like to discuss something of importance with you." she proposed.

The student nodded, making the princess walk past their side and leading them towards the direction of her office. The pair walked past several paintings of similar blonde haired individuals, who the student assumed was members of the Imperial family who had unfortunately passed.

The two came to two large wood doors that lead to Frieda's office. One of the guards who were standing on duty, opened the doors for the pair to let them in.

[Name] realised that the Crown princess' favourite colour was a red and gold. Many of the furniture was lined with a deep velvet including the long curtains with gold linings and stitches. The only things that were not those two colours were the floor, her desk and her book shelves that lined every wall of the office.

In the middle of the room were two overstuffed couches with a coffee table in the middle, most likely to hold meetings such as the one the student and princess were about to have.

"Tell Isabella to prepare some tea for my guest and I. Also tell her to bring some of the new pastries we received from the Levan kingdom." The princess ordered one of the knight, making him turn is tail and gallop to where [Name] guessed was where the maid was.

"Please Mx.[Lastname], take a seat." Frieda says while gesturing to the couch.

With unprecedented caution, they shift over to the sofa and sit down and nearly sink in due to cushiness. The princess giggle from their distress as they tried to sit up in the embracing seat.

A maid enters the office with a cart being pushed by her. Ontop was a large teapot and two teacups with saucers. On the level below it was a tower of pastries which [Name] recognised from it's appearance at the tea party from the day before.

The maid sets the teacups and saucers down in front of the pair and quickly prepares the tea and pastries. She then curtsys to the Crown princess, bows her head at the young student, turns on her heel and leaves.

Frieda languidly picks the teacup up and takes a long sip of the steaming hot tea. While [Name] is wandering how the princess is not reacting to the pain of the most definitely hot beverage, Frieda speaks up, "I have asked you to come here with me today because I would like to apologise to you."

She places the teacup down in it's saucer and looks and [Name] with a sympathetic look on her face. "What the honorable Alicia Crusainia did at my tea party was extremely rude and uncaring. She simply has no idea how tough one's life can be."

[Name] stunded in silence. Why was the Crown princess apologising to a commoner like them? Not wanting to deny the princess' words, the student looked down into the light brown of their tea and said, "It's alright. Honestly speaking, I didn't even understand what she had said, so I didn't feel anything."

Frieda looks surprised at their words. "But aren't you the top student at the Royal Academy? How could you not know?" She questioned.

They look embarrassed as they quickly answer, "I am just book smart! And I honestly have a lot of trouble applying my knowledge in real-life situations. I read a royal etiquette book before I left for the palace, but it honestly didn't come in very handy..." they muttered off.

The Crown princess' face morphed into a look of conviction. "Then, after school every day when you don't have to tutor Beta, you will spend it with me, and I will teach you everything you need to know about social cues, etiquette, conversations, everything!" the princess says in a voice that screamed determined.

Nearly jumping out of their chair, [Name] tries to plead that the princess did not need to go out of her way to teach a commoner. The princess merely ignored them and gently ordered them to eat the prepared pastries.

Now the young student's weekly schedule would consist of every Monday, Wednesday and Friday being spent tutoring Beta, and every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday being tutored by the Crown princess. They would almost always leave the palace absolutely drained of their energy, a mere husk of their former self as they rode the carriage baring the Imperial coat of arms back to the dorm houses on the school campus.

The days were feeling longer and longer as Beta's birthday ball's date came closer and closer. The blonde prince would chat with the young student about anything and everything that came to his mind. The friendship between the two of them had become even stronger than before for no particular rhyme or reason. Beta would lug behind them during school hours, despite not being in the same year, and would frighten off the little amount of friends that the student would have had before the prince.

Soon enough, Beta's birthday ball came up.

A formal invitation had already been sent to them, written personally by the spry prince himself in loopy lettering.

The student got dressed in the most formal clothes they had on hand. Sure it was a bit tattered and a few small holes were sprinkled on the ends, but it would be fine as long as no one looked at them! And besides, they're a commoner! They are probably just going to sit in the corner of the hall and only get up to get more food and drinks.

With that plan in mind, the student climbed carefully into the imperial branded carriage once again and rode off to the party.

Soon enough, the young student arrived at the Imperial palace. They stumbled out of the carriage and brisket walked into the large building, not wanting to be noticed by the announcer so that they could hide away as best as can from the nobles attending the ball that night.

They had finally reached the banquet hall, entering and hiding away from plain sight from the noblesmen and women.

"Now then! Announcing the entrance of Crown Princess Frieda Köinig and Prince Beta Köinig!" announced a high ranking servant from the top of the large staircase in the middle of the banquet hall.

The entire hall was decked to the nines with red, gold and white. The diamonds hanging from the chandelier were burning even more brighter than what the young student assumed was usual. Long banquet tables were lined with finger foods of all varieties.

A servant walked up to the scholar and offered them a tall flute of champagne. Gingerly, they took the glass off the tray, making the servant walk away, and taking a few sips and proceeding to nearly lurch it out from the taste. Okay, they are definitely not a fan of champagne, duley noted.

In that moment, the Crown Princess and the prince entered through the doors at the top of the stairs. Beta held his elder sister's hand in his as he lead her down the stairs. All of the noblemen and women stared in awe of the siblings.

Beta was wearing a lovely white suit with light red and blue jewels sprinkled all of the jacket. He wore blue cufflinks and large rubies were studded into the edges of his collar. This was a big upgrade from the white tunic and black pants he wore during their tutoring sessions, or the navy blue military styled uniform they wear at the academy.

Frieda looked stunning as usual. She was wearing a new cream coloured ball gown, embedded with small diamonds across the fabric. Elbow length gloves covered her arms and gold sleeper rings were slid up her fingers, making them glimmer in the chandelier light. A floral styled tiara sat on top of her head, the same coloured diamonds were set in it as well.

The siblings came to the end of the staircase and gracefully smiled at the crowd. Frieda and Beta were quickly surrounded by the stuffy noblemen and women. [Name] stood aside and stayed out of sight of the siblings.

Beta leaned into Frieda's ear and whispered something to her. His words made the princess look around, almost frantically. The curls in her hair bounce from the movement of her head. Frieda quickly caught the eyes of the commoner, making a graceful smile spread onto her face. She tapped Beta's upper arm and pointed into [Name]'s direction, whispering something into his ear. All of this happened while the said student was slowly sipping on their champagne and gazing outside the stained coloured window.

Frieda and Beta walked past all the noble people, making them gasp and quiet down immediately. "[Name]! You're really here!" announced Beta as he unhooked his sister's hand from his arm.

Frieda smiled in happiness from the sight of Beta speaking animatingly with his tutor. "I am quite glad to see you here Mx.[Lastname]. I hope that you have so far been having a good time."

[Name] nodded at the Princess's words with a chuckle. "I have. No need to worry your royal majesty." Frieda nodded at their words and let her younger brother control the way the current conversation is going.

The cusp of the birthday ball was on it's way. Everyone was jovial and talkative. Frieda had left [Name] and Beta to themselves to that she could converse with the other invitees. Beta stuck to [Name]'s side like usual.

The duo had moved closer to the end of the hall, nearer to the food lined banquet table.

Suddenly, a loud trumpet sounded through the hall, bringing attention to a well dressed servant standing at the end of the staircase. Frieda stood in the middle of the staircase, her dress flowed down the stairs like a flowing river.

Frieda with a calming smile, announced, "I would like to present my gift to my little brother. He and I had a long discussion together about what would be the best present for his birthday. And I would like to present to you all what I had come up with. But first, I would like [Name] [Lastname] to come near the front."

[Name] stood in fear from the sound of their name leaving the princess' lips.

'Shitshitshitshitshitshit.' thought [Name] while they cautiously approached the front of the thick crowd of loudly dressed nobles. When the commoner finally reached the front of the crowd, they stood there, shifting there weight from foot to foot, shivering under the eyes of the Crown princess.

Soon enough, the princess signals at someone from behind her to do something. The large doors open up and a young woman comes tumbling out. An imperial guard grabs what little left of her brown, wet hair and roughly shoves her down the stairs. She stops rolling conveniently infront of [Name]'s feet, dirtying it with blood from a large gash on her right cheek.

Frieda climbs down the stairs and grabs the girl's hair and forces her head up to look into [Name]'s terrified eyes.

"Do you remember this girl Beta?" questioned the Crown princess, looking at her younger brother who was standing right next to his tutor. Beta looked down in awe at the beaten and bruised girl kneeling infront of him and [Name]. He then leaps from his tutor's side and falls into his sister's embrace. "Thank you thank you thank you! Oh, I love this present so so much!"

The young student stared at the bloodied girl with a look of terror in their eyes. This girl looked so oddly familiar. As if they had seen her before.

"Who is this girl, may I ask your royal majesty?" asked the tutor, not looking away from the nearly catatonic girl.

"This, my dear, is the honorable Alicia Crusainia, the one who had made fun of you at my tea party two months ago." answered the princess in a matter of factly tone of voice.

'Holy fucking shit she's fucking crazy!'

Beta made a nearly inaudible squeeling noise of happiness and quickly when back to [Name]'s side. "Now I get to take care of her properly for making fun of you! Aren't you so excited!?"

A thick sheet of sweat covered [Name]'s face as they stared down at their bloodied shoes. Frieda took notice of this action and nearly flung herself to [Name]'s side when she saw the blood on their shoes.

Frieda stomped on Alicia's head making her lower her head for the commoner.

"Now then, let's discuss our future from this time onward. How about we begin with giving you a proper title and moving you into the palace with my little brother and I"

Posted on: 30 August 2024 23:46

[remedyturtles]

dw x 2al ficlet

for @intotheelliwoods here ya go...

[]

“Did you make a tree?”

Sprout turned towards the sound of Poptart’s voice, finding the little guy staring upwards. He followed his sightline and found, instead of his cozy expected mindscape, a bigass tree in the middle of everything. The branches extended out with reaching arms, cross-cutting a map of sparkling stars and a rough root system underneath his feet. 

“I did not make a tree.” Sprout replied, approaching fearlessly to press his flesh fingers against the thick trunk. “This is new.” 

A little push did not make it vanish. It stayed firm, solidly rooted into the ephemeral soil. He had a moment of mystified confusion, turning back to look at Poptart. 

“Huh.” Sprout said, unsure. 

“Don’t say it like that.” Poptart complained, striding over to give the trunk a poke as well. “You’re gonna make me think something’s wrong. You told me this place was cool.”

“It is cool. I just think that’s not where we are right now.” Sprout said, uncertain. 

“Hands off the merchandise, dude, that tickles.”

Sprout removed his hand in surprise, turning towards the familiar voice – familiar as his own, which was not a new experience, but still. Another Leo?

About the same age as Poptart, missing arm and all, hand on his hip and giving the two a very unimpressed look. 

“Woah!” Poptart said. “You didn’t tell me there was another one of us!”

“I have had enough multi-verse shenanigans.” Leo sighed. “I had a ghostly one of us here earlier. What are you? Me and Sensei in a funhouse mirror or something?”

“Multi-verse.” Sprout said, enlightened. “That makes more sense. Why does your mindscape have a tree in it?”

“That’s Sensei.” Leo pointed at the tree. “He’s trying a new foundation, really brings out his eyes.”

“Smartass.” Another joined their little group, stepping behind Leo and putting a huge hand on his shoulder, to which the smaller Leo threw an easy grin up at him.

Sprout’s heart skipped a beat, breath stolen directly from his throat. The new Leo was… he was… 

Unmistakably from the future, that same ‘big’-ness, missing arm and tired eyes. But when he looked at Sprout and Poptart, he smiled, and … 

Fuck, it hurt. Sprout took a step back, off balance, staring with wide eyes. 

“Woah.” Poptart caught his arm, looking up with a flicker of worry. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Sprout rasped, immediate, not wanting the littler turtle to worry, shaking his head and trying to shake off the fog of grief that soaked his mind and fumbled all his faculties. “I’m fine, it’s fine.”

Poptart glanced back over at the two mirror’ed Leo’s, visibly thinking, and asked hesitantly, “Are you Big Leo?”

The undeniably bigger turtle snorted. “Is that a nice way of calling me old? Leo usually goes with oyaji for that. Otherwise I go by Sensei.”

“That’s because you are old.” Leo chimed in, obnoxious. “Is your guy okay? He looks pale as hell.”

“I’m fine.” Sprout repeated louder, for the room to hear, catching exactly how unconvincing it sounded. “I just… Sorry. You reminded me of someone.”

“I am a one of a kind.” Sensei laughed, squeezing Leo’s shoulder and stepping around him to approach the two by the tree.

“There’s four of you here, actually.” Poptart said, helpfully. 

“Aren’t you just a joy.” Sensei stopped directly in front of Poptart, dropping to a crouch to see him better and offering a smile with crinkled eyes. “I can tell you’re taking very good care of your Leo. Good job, kid.”

“Thank you!” Poptart said, beaming. 

Sprout, meanwhile, had a rock jammed in his throat and it was prickling his eyes. He wasn’t sure what was more overwhelming – seeing someone that looked like Big Leo again, or imagining that it would be the words he’d say if he was there. He’d never know. But in this moment, he could pretend. 

Then Sensei glanced up at Sprout from his crouch. “How’d you get here? You’re not my age, yet you’ve managed to get your own little Leo.”

“It’s complicated.” Sprout said, glad his voice didn’t sound as wrecked as his mind was. That fabricated control. He tried to tuck his shaking hand behind his back but Poptart caught it, holding tight.

“I bet it is.” Sensei’s tone was nothing but fond and it could seriously stop hurting so much any damn second now. The rock tore up his throat and left no capability of reply.

“Come on, leave him alone.” Leo came up from behind and dragged on Sensei’s bigger arm. “How many times have I told you to stop poking people in sore spots? Look at the poor dude.”

“Sorry.” Sensei’s smile went wry, and allowed his little Leo to pull him back a few paces. “Welcome to our humble abode. This tree is a representation of my being rooted in Leo’s mind or something, you know how it is when Barry talks, it’s all blah blah blah whatever.”

“Rooted?” Poptart poked the intertwined roots with his foot and the two Leo’s in front of them shivered in perfect unison. 

“Careful.” Sprout squeezed Poptart’s hand, clearing his throat and struggling through this situation as best he could. “It tickles, they said.”

“That’s fun.” Poptart laughed, but at least didn’t kick the roots again. “But what do you mean, rooted?” 

“He’s actually dead.” Leo jerked a casual thumb at Sensei. “And his ghost is possessing me. We share a body.”

There was a small, incredulous beat. Sprout felt a wave of hysterical dizziness, and figured. Okay, why not. And maybe a little bit of longing. He was not going to dwell on that, thank you very much. 

“Cool.” Poptart said, a little more awkward. “We don’t have that. We have our own bodies.” 

“Lucky. I hope you bother him as much as you can, then. It never works for me because it just comes back to bite me in the end.” Leo gave a weird laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Oh yeah.” Poptart grinned at him, that faltered a little. “Does that mean you guys can’t hug?”

Sprout glanced at his little Leo, surprised that was the first thing on his mind. Or maybe not that surprised. 

“We can in here.” Leo tucked himself into Sensei’s side thudding his head against the bigger plastron. Sensei automatically squeezed him close. 

“Why don’t you do something other than a tree for your mindscape, then?” Sprout suggested. As pretty as the landscape was, there were so many infinite possibilities. 

“Because my mind is stupid and – ow. Sorry. Labelling. Because we can’t control it?” Leo said, interrupted for a moment in the middle from Sensei smacking his arm gently. 

“That sucks. That’s the best part of the mindscape.” Sprout told him. “Me and – um. We can control ours to show memories and play games, like make a giant Jenga, or whatever.” 

“Dude.” Leo said, full of jealousy. At least that emotion was shared, Sprout watching him hug his bigger Leo close. Once a little Leo, always a little Leo. Sprout wouldn’t trade Poptart for the world, he made him feel strong, but … he missed being small. Feeling small next to his broad protection. Feeling safe.

“We do share memories.” Sensei said, dry. “But more often than not it’s not on purpose. Your mindscape does sound cool, hopefully one day we can be the ones travelling and maybe I can kick your ass at Jenga.”

“Bring it on, old man.” Sprout said, and his voice cracked damningly. 

Something cleared on Sensei’s face. He squished his Leo and said, “Hey, why don’t you go show the new kid around?”

Leo glanced up, a moment of thought, then caved from whatever he saw on Sensei’s face. “Whatever, you two can chat about old people stuff. Come on, obviously-superior-Leo. If we go far enough out you can really see the stars.”

“I’m not that old.” Sprout said, weakly. 

Poptart laughed. He didn’t step away immediately, glancing nervously up at Sprout. It took a moment for Sprout to realize he was doing the same thing the other two had done – silently asking if it was what he wanted. 

“Go play.” Sprout dunked his head affectionately. “I’m fine.”

Poptart batted his hands away with another laugh. “Okay, okay!”

The two little Leo’s left. Sprout couldn’t meet Sensei’s eyes. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Sensei offered, once the sparkling laughter disappeared into the fading pollen-hung air.

“Hell no.” Sprout scoffed, turned away, rubbing the back of his neck. Inexplicably nervous. It was Big Leo. They didn’t have the same history. It wasn’t the same.

The emotion crowding in his throat said it might be nice anyway. 

“Do you want a hug?” Sensei said, because he could read his mind or something. Jerk. 

Sprout didn’t know how to answer. He was polarized in either direction. It wouldn’t be the same. What if it felt like a mockery to his memory? What if – 

“I can hear you thinking from here, kid. Relax.” Sensei said. “Just an offer, if you wanted. No strings.” 

“Not a kid.” Sprout said, rough.

“Not old, not a kid.” Sensei mused. “What an anomaly you are.”

“That’s me.” Sprout couldn’t do this. He still couldn’t even look at him, trying to spot the specks of the little Leo’s across the horizon. He was pretty sure they were hugging, actually. Poptart had been raised on hugs practically, it was as easy as breathing. 

Sprout had raised him on it, so why was it hard for him in this moment? He took a deep breath, refusing to outdone by his kid, and said, “Yeah, okay, come here.”

Sensei approached, and stopped before actually touching him. Sprout was forced to look up and meet his eye, the spots of tears stinging at the precipice of falling. 

“Everything I’ve said just seems to make you more upset.” Sensei said, wondering. 

“Not your fault.” Sprout told him, and it just. Hurt. 

“I don’t know what happened to you, but I know a hurting Leo when I see one.” Sensei opened his arm and slowly and with such intent care tucked Sprout against him. It trembled something weak in his knees, a wash of sudden emotion overwhelming and strong. “And you are doing so, so, so good. Just keep going and you’ll get there. Okay?”

Sprout was too busy choking on tears to reply. He nodded damply against the bigger Leo hugging him. He felt small. He felt safe.

[michverdun]

It really only took a picture from him and the text "Waiting for you." to have me come running. I honestly never expected him to text me in the first place, months later I just know to go around to the fence gate to his backyard. He always left it open when he was outside.

I turned the corner to see him in all of his tanned, masculine glory. He was out lounging on the same beach chair which could barely hold him. He told me he liked the sound of it struggling to hold him, and right now it seemed to be on its last legs. He glanced over to to me, his traps almost getting in the way of his sightline.

"There he is," He smiled and motioned with his hand for me to come over.

I walked over, trying to keep a pace that still let me seem cool, until I was close enough for his hands to then grab me and sit me on his lap, my head resting right on top of his massive pecs. I sighed, feeling his muscles surround me.

"That's better. I knew there was something missing from today." He said.

I laid there, just soaking in his glorious body. His pecs just seemed to bulge bigger every time I saw him, and that wasn't at the neglect of the rest of his body. He had to have the muscle of at least 2 bodybuilders at this point, and even still he kept growing. Not only that, but he was a handsome man, complete with a perfect amount of stubble and a fuck mustache. Fuck, it was hard to not kiss him when you saw his face.

"Hey, you're getting some muscle on you." he said, feeling my body. "Flex for me."

My face turned red as a sheepishly flexed an arm. I had a little muscle, but it was nothing compared to the cannons he already owned. Despite that, he started complimenting me on my progress, even going so far to say that he'd basically help train me if I asked.

"I mean, I don't know what your goals are, but if you wanna get some freaky mass, I can get you there." He flexed his biceps as he said that, the masses of veiny muscle hitting his fists.

The thought made my dick twitch, but I had to ask him something first.

"Is there a reason that you keep inviting me over so often?" I asked.

The question stopped him from flexing for a second, and it might have been the first time I ever saw him look embarrassed.

"Well, besides the fact that being fucked by you is one of the best feelings I've ever felt, I just, I don't know, I keep finding myself wishing you were with me when i was doing things. Life just feels better when you're around." He said.

I smiled, hearing that response. He was so genuinely sincere, so caught up in how embarrassing it is to admit his feelings. It felt nice to not be the awkward one with this pillar of masculinity. Maybe it felt good to be around him too.

"Well, I am trying to gain some muscle, so if you have any tips I--"

"Hell yes!" He yelled, punching the air as a sign of victory. "Don't you worry dude, I'm gonna make you a beast. You're gonna be rocking muscles like these, I guarantee it."

I couldn't wait.

[definitelynotaminion]

Rated "R" - Part 2

A continuation of this 7k fic which can be found here.

-

Last time: Tim had said "I always thought you were the most interesting person in the room" re: Robin!Jason at Wayne Galas

-

“I guess I certainly thought so.” Jason allowed, smoothing down the rough edges of memory. Those fucking galas were so monotonous, so fucking boring. A trial through which the reward was flying, long after even the busiest socialites had gone to bed.

“You hated them so much,” Tim huffed, “I did, too. It was—rare—when my parents were in town, we always went. Had to put in appearances since they were gone so often.”

“That’s right, the Drakes were always on trips.” Jason worked it out, “Malta, Thailand, Abu Dhabi. How did you find the time to stalk us?”

“Oh.” Tim’s voice, quieter now. A rush of laughter. “Jay. They didn’t take me with them.”

As though it’s ludicrous, as though of course not. Tim was rolling his eyes a little. Jason’s chest stuttered, jerked into the portrait of the perfect manor house next door, always empty—and suddenly not just a waste, yet another family with an extra, unused home they rarely visit, but a horror scene; a gaping maw that could swallow a child in shadows and loneliness as easily as young Bruce in the godforsaken Wayne Manor.

At least he’d had Alfred. Who had Tim had?

“What the fuck!?” Jason shouted, looking uselessly over the sightline. Tim was letting him see a lot of yellow, the flash of black. Too far for even a glimpse of skin, much less an expression.

“Jay—” Tim started, voice tripped in surprise.

“They just left you alone? Those galas—they always made sure to attend. The biggest ones, at least, four or five a fucking year.”

“Yes?” Tim bit out, cautious. Questioning? Jesus fuck.

“You were—how often did you slip up? Did Dick ever come close to catching you? Did I?” Jay punched down his pillow, rolling violently to the side. Facing Tim, facing Robin’s chosen perch.

“What does. That—”

“Just answer the fucking question, Replacement.” Jason breathes in, exhales rough. Fucking corrects: “Tim.”

It’s a peace offering and Tim snatches it up, exactly like the kind of kid who didn’t get presents as a child—who didn’t get anything. Not even his parents at home, fucking noticing that he existed. And were they any better?How did they not notice the kid-- he’d gone to those galas--

-

I'll post more on tumblr in the next few days but if you want to jump ahead, there's a patreon tier for that. Fic is currently 11.7k rn.

[humiliatingsluts2]

The Good Neighbour: Part 8

The very next morning, Simon woke to a text, “Come over” and a photo of Lauren’s tits. He texted back, “Getting ready, be there in 30” and rushed to get showered and dressed. He crossed the road, George’s car wasn’t in the drive. He rang the doorbell and heard Lauren shout, “Come in”. He pulled open the door. It opened to reveal Lauren naked, on her knees. He still couldn’t believe what a slut she was now. He stared in shock and Lauren smiled, “Let me suck your cock, I’ve missed it.” He stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind him.

Lauren undid his jeans and pulled his cock from his boxers. She looked up at him and stuck out her tongue, lapping at the tip of his cock. Simon moaned. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she slowly and teasingly kissed and licked down his shaft. She took the head in her mouth and gradually fit more and more into her mouth. Simon held onto the wall and breathed harder as she enveloped his cock.

Suddenly she released his cock with a pop, “I want you to fuck my face. Like last time, but rougher. I’m a slut for you, Daddy.” Simon almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He took a handful of Lauren’s hair and pushed his cock back into her mouth. She opened her mouth wide and let him force his cock deeper. He felt it reach the back of her mouth and she gagged as he pushed at her throat.

Lauren’s eyes widened as Simon pushed past the resistance and forced his entire cock into her throat. He relished the power over her, and slowly fucked the entire length of his cock in and our of her mouth. She gagged slightly at each thrust, and spit started running down her chin. Simon sped up. He used Lauren’s face as a sex toy, fucking her throat until she had a string of drool running down to her tits. He felt himself nearing orgasm and Lauren must have known too; she started stroking and playing with his balls, moaning to encourage him to cum.

Simon managed to moan out a warning just before he came, and Lauren pulled back suddenly, and started jerking his cock off with her hand. He groaned in pleasure and two ropes of cum painted Lauren’s face. She opened her mouth wide to catch the third and the fourth covered her tits. Simon felt his legs nearly buckle as he covered her in cum. She grinned and swallowed the cum in her mouth. She looked like a slut, on her knees in her marital home covered in another man’s cum. And she looked thrilled.

After basking in the pleasure and both getting their breath back, Lauren stood and led Simon to the kitchen. He sat at the dining table – the same table Lauren had stripped for him the very first time. She poured them both a glass of water and they sat and chatted. Lauren seemed thrilled to be sitting naked covered in cum. Simon still couldn’t believe this was real, but he desperately wanted to ask Lauren what she planned to do about her husband.

Before he could build up the courage to ask Lauren had started slowly rubbing her cunt while they talked. Simon felt his cock harden too at the sight. She grinned at him, “Come with me.” She stood and led him upstairs. Simon followed and nearly bent her over the stairs as he watched her ass.

She led him to the bedroom and climbed onto the bed. The exact same bed that Simon had seen her strip and masturbate on, and watched her fuck her husband on. He looked out the window and could see his house and the clear sightlines to the spots he had watched her from. He easily forgot about all that as she positioned herself on all fours and spread her ass. Simon spanked her and took a few seconds to grope her.

Simon didn’t spend too long before fucking her, part of him still refused to believe any of this was real. Lauren’s pussy was almost dripping and he slowly filled her again. Fucking her on her marital bed was an extra thrill, and he could tell Lauren was loving it too from her moans. She started talking between her moans, “Fuck me hard, I’m a cheating whore, I’m a slut, use my like a slut.” Simon fucked her harder,

“Good slut, your pussy feels so good. You’re my cumslut.” She moaned in response and started thrusting back to meet his cock.

“Fuck. Don’t stop. I’m going to cum. I’m going to cum. I’m cumming!” Simon kept his rhythm, pushing her over the edge. Lauren started moaning uncontrollably and shaking as he fucked her into the mattress. She was cumming for nearly a minute, and Simon didn’t let up as she convulsed. Watching her cum was pushing him closer and closer to cumming too.

Just as she seemed to reach the end of her orgasm, Simon came. He grabbed Lauren by her hips and pushed as deep inside her as he could, grunting as he pumped cum into her pussy. She moaned as she felt it fill her. Half way through his orgasm, they both heard the sound of a car outside. Simon kept cumming, moaning and holding Lauren in place. But as his orgasm ended, he looked outside and saw it: George’s car, pulling into the front drive. Lauren had seen it too, and she looked over her shoulder at him in horror. Her face was still coated in his cum, while a second load was overflowing her pussy.

–

Follow me for new writing every Friday.

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

prompt: spider takes the bullet, not neteyam. quaritch will do anything to get his son back, anything. he'll even work with augustine's recom.

(warnings for discussions of past torture and character death, although really an astonishingly gen ending to this magnificent journey)

ao3

"They won't help you," he says. "You know that, right?"

Augustine stares at him, face studiously blank the way it used to get during long board meetings. He can see her tail twitching, though, ears flickering like she's trying to ward off a nonexistent fly.

Behind her, farther down the bloodstained rock, Mo'at'ite hisses, knuckles white around her bow (that bow, that fuckingbow, but Quaritch won't look at it, anymore than he'll look at the body at Augustine's feet). She and Sully both have their weapons drawn, but Quaritch isn't the slow target he was in the AMP anymore and Augustine's standing tall, fucking up their sightlines.

"Kiri," Sully says, voice taut. "You gotta get out of the way, babygirl--"

Quaritch barks a laugh, the ragged kind that comes when you're teetering on the edge of hysteria. "Babygirl? You shitting me?" He shakes his head. "Come the fuck on, doc. The Augustine I know would've put out her cigarette on any man who tried that shit with her."

"She isn't Grace," Sully says hoarsely. "Kiri, stand down now. That's an order."

Quaritch doesn't even dignify that shit with a response, just rolls his eyes (easier to avoid looking at the ground, at the body). Augustine doesn't seem particularly moved either, her fingers flexing as she adjusts her stance.

She could kill him, Quaritch knows, without any help from her so-called mommy and daddy. He can feel the power crackling in the air around her, buzzing around her fists, blood-metallic on his tongue. It makes his kuru ache, same way it had in the woods--back then, he'd been too focused on Spider Spider Spider to really pay attention.

He knows better, now. He'd seen what she'd done to Lyle after Sully's voice has crackled over the line, sharp and cold and still shaking ever so slightly: your boy's dead, one of your dumb fucking grunts shot him. Let my daughters go, or you're next. Sully's always been a shit liar, but it was the panicked look at Lyle's face that made it impossible to deny.

Fucking Lyle. He's lucky the way Augustine turned his brain to slurry when she did, before Quaritch could get his hands on him. Lucky he doesn't have to fucking stand here and not look at the thing on the ground, the thing, the body--

"You think they'll even let you bury him?" he asks. "The locals won't stand to have this shit in their holy grounds--they'll probably give him back to Spellman so he can get dumped in a fucking crematorium. You'll never see your Monkey Boy again."

The pipsqueak with the eyebrows, tail lashing. "Don't you talk to her--" he growls, but Augustine cuts him off.

"I'll never see him either way." Her voice is hoarse--Quaritch remembers the way she screamed on the ship, like something had been torn loose in her and would never be put right. He knows that feeling.

"Kiri," the older boy says, the one Lyle had screamed something about trying to shoot instead as his blood ran out of his eyes. "Kir, please, come on--"

"We've got his memories," Quaritch cuts him off fast, can't let her get swayed by her fake family now. "At Bridgehead, we--we scanned them. Got a copy." If they're still there; they better be still there. The kid had thrown a shitfit in the scanner like every time before, but he'd still gone into the revamped Soul Drive with the rest of them.

"You hurt him." There's blood dripping from the tips of her fingers; he wonders if Sully and the rest have realized it's not hers.

"I did," Quaritch admits, because he doesn't have any time to fuck around. "Whatever you want to call me, whatever I've done, you're right. But I want him back, you understand? I mean it, you know I do."

She does. He can feel this fucking eyes of hers burn into him, bright with whatever wacky upgrades she got from her own trip through the other side, flaying him deeply enough she can see Spider Socorro's name written on her heart, same way it's written on hers. Kid's always had that fucking way about him.

"I want him back and none of these assholes will help, none of them could if they fucking wanted to, but I can." Quaritch takes a step forward and the Sullys tense, knuckles white on their weapons. "And you--you've got the know-how, you're the egghead I need in my corner. You brought yourself back, didn't you?"

"She didn't--" Sully whines.

"Didn't she?" Quaritch doesn't bother looking at him, keeps his eyes firmly on Augustine as he holds out a hand. She looks at it, then at him, those little flashy lights twinkling across her skin like she's rebooting. Remembering.

"I offered you a chance to make amends and work on this moon together, once." She knows what he's talking about, he can see it. "You told me to go stick my dick in a woodchipper, and you were right. But I don't care about that anymore, I don't give a fuck about this stupid mudball we're on or the stupid mud ball we're from, I just want my son."

His gaze flicks to her family, just for a second, then back to her. "They don't see anything about you except the meatsuit, same way those RDA pukes did with me. And they don't see anything about--" His breath catches, twists, "him, except that he's a big fucking mistake, and they'll do everything they can to forget he ever existed."

Silence. Her jaw works and he wonders if she wishes she had a cigarette right now--seeing her without one feels more jarring than the baby face or the blue skin. 

"Kiri," the little girl whines, reaching out before the Metkayina girl carefully tugs her back. "Kiri, please."

Augustine's hair rustles with a wind that doesn't exist and her fists curls tight at her side, fingers trembling. Quaritch wonders if she's going to burn him like she burned Lyle, or maybe just call up something big and toothy to rip him apart.

And she might have, if Sully hadn't decided to lunge across the island in a few big, stupid strides, clapping his hand down her shoulder. "Kiri," he gasps, tugging her back. "Come on--"

Her eyes flare (panic anger fear, quick and smashed-up the way it always came with her) and she whirls, queue crackling, palms raised high. Sully goes staggering backward with a yelp, clutching his bleeding nose, and Mo'at'ite lunges to catch him before his head hits the rock. Augustine watches him topple, stunned still, gaping in horror.

Then she moves. Turns and scoops the...body up from the ground, cradling it (him) carefully to her chest even as she hustles down the rock. No vocalization, but her banshee swoops down from the sky, landing with a whomp of wings next to Cupcake, and she's hauling the body (Spider) onto the saddle before Quaritch's got his first leg up Cupcake's side.

"Kir!" Pipsqueak yells, rushing to their side, frantic. "Kir, wait, don't--"

She holds out a hand and he jerks to a half, from his own volition or hers it's hard to say. "Look after them," she says, and then Quaritch is fitting his own queue home, not that Cupcake needs more encouragement to go go go as they soar into the sky.

They go swoop out over the smoldering sea, Augustine's hair--Spider's hair--whipped gently by the wind. Quaritch glances over his shoulder to see the Sullys vanishing, a scatter of blue dots rapidly fading from view.

"They won't follow us," Augustine calls flatly. "Their ikran won't listen until we're out of range." She shoots him a cold look, hand resting on his son's spine--Quaritch doubts he's getting near that body any time soon, but that doesn't matter, he'll make it not matter. "Lead the way, Ranger Rick."

"Yes, ma'am," he says, just to be an asshole, tossing off a snide salute before leaning into the next turn. She bares her teeth the way the kid used and follows, banshees swerving together to meet the rising sun.

[bengiyo]

I Feel You Linger in the Air Ep 7 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Jom and Yai began their romance officially, and we saw further evidence that Jom's drawings are connected to the time travel or dimension hopping experience. Yai took Jom to a gay speakeasy, where James came out and expressed his attraction to Jom. Yai got jealous and turned a bit petty with Jom for a bit. However, the two had a beautiful moment where they agreed to try this. I really hope James doesn't betray us, because I liked him encouraging Yai to step up for Jom. We also confirmed that Euangphueng and Maey intentionally brought Fong Kaew to the house to distract Robert, and that Robert may be involved in the fire that killed Fong Kaew's dad and scarred her mother.

I am glad I saw a post earlier giving context that the poor women being murdered here are based on real people. Tee always has something to say about the real dangers queer people face in their lives, and it's a tense warning at the beginning of this relationship between Jom and Yai.

Unsurprisingly, the parents are anti-gay as their two queer kids suffer in front of them.

I already know this party is going to involve pairing Yai with a girl as a way to further secure the dad's power.

At least Jom has some sense.

Yai basically described what Fong Kaew is going through with this short story.

There goes Lamyai clocking them, and she's a gossip.

I have thoughts about them introducing Nuey last week, who cannot hide themselves, and Yai now being unable to do so now that he's connected with someone.

It's a good thing that Jom stood up for Prik. He has an ally who also cares about Yai to tell Lamyai to hush.

I find myself worrying about windows and sightlines a lot this episode. Euangphueng and Maey are having a moment and I'm worried that someone will see or hear.

I suspected that Maey has survived some horrible things, and this is as horrible as some of the things I imagined.

One of the things this show is getting right about existing under homophobic is the constant sense of surveillance hovering over you. Robert represents that so clearly.

Oh, sensual oils. This is promising.

This use of both mirrors with Jom out of focus is driving me insane.

Big fan of the little bit of stubble they keep showing on Yai.

Jom was loyal to Ohm. It's probably been a while since he was intimate with someone.

Intercutting the massage with Jom masturbating is one of the most erotic things I've seen that wasn't overly sex since ITSAY episode 3. The way this was shot and scored clearly indicates that they both came, or at least Yai was close.

As much as I like seeing Nonkul and Bright do sensual things as their characters, we gotta get Jom out of here. He comes from an era where he isn't a slave.

Guide is absolutely crushing this role as Ming. He has built incredible chemistry with Nonkul.

There's something private about the way Nonkul smiles that draws me in every time. Bright has a similar thing with his brows.

Yai is running around making mistakes while Lamyai is running around righteous.

And now Uncle Dech caught them, and immediately went to Yai's dad.

Even Ming, the fan favorite, is struggling with his friend being queer.

Oh, Ming, don't confess when you're drunk.

And there's the pairing Yai with a girl part of the party I expected.

Now why the hell are Euangphueng and Maey running off now? I'm gonna need all of the gays to get it together.

Absolutely obsessed with the possibility that there is a picture of Jom that survived to the modern era.

Yai, my dude, you cannot abandon the heteronormative rituals so publicly like this if you want to protect Jom.

Thinking about O'Shae Sibley, who was killed for voguing as these two dance outside.

I am not immune to BL fantasy sequences involving dances.

Why...are we rapping?? What in the Marty McFly is happening?

I am not immune to boys making out in the rain.

Okay, that horny want in Yai's face, and Jom nodding yes? They are about to fuck for sure. This is about to go south so quickly.

Yep, gay turmoil begins next week, but we may get some nice love scenes first.

That was a fantastic episode. They really balanced the danger of being outed with the inherent need to connect that bubbles over in all of us. I felt the fear for everyone's safety, but I actually really like how badly everyone was hiding this week. That's basically the point. You can't win. The only way to be safe in the closet is to be perfectly quiet and alone. You cannot have anyone if you want to be undiscovered. Two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead. Like Nuey last week, Yai and Jom cannot hide. There's no amount of careful that can hide the warm feelings between two people. This was perfectly executed.

[thefallennightmare]

Moment of Weakness-fourteen

*credit to whoever created the gif. found on google/Pinterest *

Pairings: Mob!Bucky Barnes x reader

Warnings: language, smut, angst, fluff, affair, cheating, violence.

Summary: Reader is the assistant to New York's most feared mob boss, James Buchanan Barnes. He had the picture-perfect life: status in the mob, friends, and beautiful wife. So why can't he keep his mind and eyes off of reader?

Authors Notes: I'm thinking of possibly getting one more update out today.

Tags(open): @splendidreads @sebsgirl71479 @mdpplgtz03 @pattiemac1 @unaxv @elizacusi-blog @alana4610 @broadwaybabe18 @themayzittcha @playboystark @raajali3 @ozwriterchick @ragamuffin285 @screamingdying @themorningsunshine @kenziekugler22 @calwitch @sebastianstansqueen @stanaddict @stucky-simp03 @sleyeveryday @loustan90 @lyra-black13 @valsworldofcreativity @cjand10 @tesseract69 @batprincess1013 @subwaysurf45 @arsonfrogger @winters1917 @yoruse @5moremin @lipstickandtanqueray @mandijo17 @joannaromanoff @justsebstan

The office was a comforting quiet, the noises of my keyboard clicking, soft music playing from Bucky’s office, and me humming along to that said music. It was Friday, which meant the end of the week and a nice relaxing weekend in the sightline ahead. I didn’t have much planned, maybe seeing if Bucky would come by for a late night rendezvous but as he mentioned to me countless times, the weekends are harder for him to leave Natasha because she always had something planned for them. 

The jealousy nibbled away at my heart, picturing the two of them getting to do all of these sweet, romantic things out in the open while I was hidden in the darkness, almost forgotten. 

It’s what you signed up for. 

Shaking the thought from my mind, I forced myself to focus on my work. 

“Where the fuck is he?!” 

I glanced over the top of my computer screen and saw a very angry Clint Barton barging his way into the building, making a straight line towards Bucky’s office. 

Bucky was on the phone, unable to deal with Clint, so I quickly stood and shut his door. 

“He’s busy,” I told Clint, blocking his path from Bucky. 

“This doesn’t concern you,” Clint stated. 

He tried to walk around me but I was a tad bit faster, blocking his path again. 

“You can come back when Bucky has time to see you. Make an appointment.” 

Clint’s jaw clenched. “Barnes didn’t have an appointment when he barged into my house last night to drag Natasha away.” 

I swallowed. “Well, it must have been for a good reason if he dragged his wife away.” 

“Do you know how disrespected I felt, having him come into my home, in front of everyone I had there, to drag out his wife? He’s so jealous that he refuses to let her have a friendship with me.” 

I ignored the pain I felt and shook my head. “It doesn’t sound like Bucky.” 

Clint chuckled darkly. “You don’t know him well enough then. Now, move out of my way.” 

“Can’t let you in there,” I backed up against the door.

The anger radiated off of him now and he gripped me elbow tight, undoubtedly leaving marks, and practically dragged me away from the door. I ripped my arm out of his grasp and swung my fist into his cheek, knocking him away from me as he stumbled back over his feet. 

“Keep your fucking hands off of me,” I seethed. 

Clint pulled his hand away from his lips, blood dripping from it onto the ground. Darkness clouded his iris’s and as he advanced towards me, Bucky stepped out of his office and leaned against the frame of the door, arms over his chest. The amusement on his face didn’t go unnoticed by me. 

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here and putting your hands on her, Barton.” 

Clint scoffed while wiping the blood from his lip with the sleeve of his shirt. “You’ve pissed off the wrong guy, Y/N.” 

“Oh, fuck you Barton. I’m not worried about you,” I spoke. 

Bucky nodded towards the door of the building, telling him to leave before it got worse and reluctantly, Clint walked out while licking his wounds. 

“Asshole,” I grumbled while looking at Bucky. 

He was already watching me and slowly licked his lips, desire pooling in his eyes. 

My panties soaked with my own desire at the look he was giving me. “What?” 

“That was fucking hot,” he moaned. 

Our naked bodies lay tangled together in a heap on the couch in his office, both coming down from our shared high. Bucky’s vibranium fingers dragged up and down my back while I pressed my cheek deeper into his bare chest, my own fingers ghosting over the scars on his shoulder, leaving a kiss there every so often. 

“Bucky?” 

He hummed; eyes closed from the pure bliss he felt. 

I linked my hand with his vibranium one. “I’ve noticed you never wear a wedding ring.” 

Bucky shrugged. “I’ve never been big on jewelry.” 

With a nod, I snuggled closer into his embrace and allowed myself to enjoy the last few minutes of quiet solace before Steve or Sam came to work and caught us. It was risky being together at work but yet Bucky and I continued to fall into one another when we were alone here. 

Figuratively and literally. 

Suddenly, Bucky’s phone began to ring quite loud, eviscerating our solace together and with a sad sigh, I pulled myself away from him. He reached down to the floor and dug out the phone from his discarded pants. 

His eyes jumped from the phone to me, a frown pulling at his lips. He didn’t need to say who was calling, it was evident in the way he stood and walked to the other end of his office. 

I marveled at the way his back muscles twitched with every movement, as he stood with his backside towards me, naked, baring his entire self to me. My bottom lips caught between my teeth as I fought the urge to go up to him, wrap my arms around him, and kiss his entire back. 

“Hi, Nat….wait, slow down. What are you saying?......Yeah, he did show up about an hour ago, upset about last night….You can’t get upset with me, you knew what you were walking into last night when you went to Clint’s house. I’m glad I got there in time. I don’t care that the two of you are good friends, he put everyone there in danger. Including you.” 

I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly happened last night that Bucky had to drag Natasha out of Clint’s house. 

“I'm not going to fire her, Nat. Barton put his hands on her first. She was defending herself…..Of course I'm defending her actions because she did what anyone should do….. You're being ridiculous, she works for me.”

Bucky never said my name, he didn’t have too. I knew they were talking about me. 

He turned to face me with guilty eyes and breathed deep. “Nat, there's nothing between us. I would be doing the same thing if it happened to Steve or Sam….Yeah, we can have a date tonight, just me and you…Of course sweetheart.” 

I could hear Natasha’s voice rambling on about something but it was white noise to Bucky as his eyes raked over my bare body while I lounged on the couch, legs spread wide for him. It wasn’t my intention to distract him from his call, this was the only way my body would fit on the small couch. 

Bucky’s pupils were blown wide with lust, the blueness of them a thing of the past, as he chewed roughly on his bottom lip. 

“I have to go, I’ll call you when I leave the office.” 

He didn’t bother to wait for her to say goodbye, him ending the call and placing his phone on his desk, making sure to silence it this time. 

“You’re such a fucking tease, doll.” 

I didn’t have a chance to explain myself before Bucky was on top of me once again, the tip of his cock pressed at my entrance. 

A small grimace crossed my features as I did my best to gather up my things, ready to go home for the weekend. My knees were weak and the bruise forming on my ass from the smacks Bucky pressed with his vibranium hand were causing me a bit of pain as I walked. 

This time in his office was rough, in the most euphoric way. I blamed it on the sheer thought of us getting caught that caused Bucky to act so dominant. 

Not that I complained one bit. 

Vibranium fingers wrapped around my throat while Bucky slammed his hip with vigor behind me, pulling my back close to his chest, flesh fingers digging deep into my hips. 

Absent-mindedly, I rubbed at the small bruises on my hips as the memory of us together kept replaying in my mind like a movie. 

“Bucky, we’ve got a problem!” 

Steve’s voice boomed throughout the office as he came running out of his office. His eyes landed on mine as Bucky emerged from his own office, curiosity on his face. 

“What’s going on?” He asked. 

Steve didn’t say a word, simply handed his phone to Bucky, who read whatever was on there. The fear that took over Bucky’s expression made my stomach flip. 

“What is it?” I asked, taking the phone from Bucky. 

“Doll, don’t-.” 

He tried to stop me from taking it but I smacked his hands away, eyes scanning over the email that had both Steve and Bucky scared to death. 

Hit for Y/N Y/L/N. Preferably alive but dead works too. Half a mil. 

C.B. 

All of the blood drained from my body, it began to tremble with fear. I stood frozen, unsure of what to say or even do. 

“Clint put a hit out on me,” the words forming but faltering just the same. 

Bucky punched the wall behind me with his vibranium hand but the noise did nothing to deter my current state. 

“Motherfucker,” Bucky cursed. “He’s dead.” 

Sweat gathered at my forehead, the thoughts of some random people trying to either kidnap me or worse taking over my mind. 

“What are we going to do?” I asked, looking between the two men. 

“I’m going to stay with you tonight, make sure you’re safe, until we can think of a plan,” Bucky said. 

I nodded. “Wait, aren’t Natasha and Clint friends?” 

There was a flash of something unreadable in Bucky’s eyes. “There’s no way she knew about this. She wants nothing to do with the mob part of my life.”

Even with his own words, Bucky couldn’t believe it one hundred percent. 

“I think we should keep this between us, as far as Clint goes, he has no idea that I know about this. One of my informants forwarded this email to me,” Steve said. 

Bucky nodded, the idea of keeping a secret from his wife becoming easier to him. 

Then the front door to the building open causing both Steve and Bucky to put me behind them, ready to fight whoever stepped inside. 

“Woah, jumpy aren't we?” Natasha chuckled. 

The three of us breathed a bit easier; for now. 

“Nat, what are you doing here?” Bucky asked with a pinched expression. 

Her face faltered. “Our date. You promised.” 

Bucky’s shoulders dropped. “Right. Well, something came-.” 

“Nope,” I interrupted him. “His schedule for the night cleared up.”

We needed to make sure that Natasha had no idea about Clint and the best way to do that was to keep up the same appearances before, even if that meant Bucky wouldn't be with me tonight. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she had to know something and the only one of us that could possibly find that out was him.

His eyes sliced into me. “I thought that-.” 

I shook my head, stopping him. “Steve can come with me. It’ll be a fast errand, won’t take up most of his night. Right?” 

Steve quickly picked up on what I actually meant and nodded towards Bucky. “I’ll make sure nothing happens.” 

Bucky’s jaw clenched with spite but eventually nodded in agreement. 

“Perfect, let's go!” Natasha linked her arm through Bucky’s in hopes to urge him along. 

“I’ll check in later, alright?” Bucky said while being pulled from the building, gone from my line of sight.

Steve placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze, and I looked up at him with an immense amount of fear. 

“I’m scared, Steve,” I admitted with a shaky breath. 

He pulled me into his warm embrace, lips ghosting over my hairline.

“It’s alright. I’m not leaving your side tonight.”

[sigynpenniman]

The frustrating thing about being a Disney adult is that sometimes Disney will make a decision or an announcement I don’t totally love (tearing out Tom Saywer island and the river to fit in cars and villains) but I remain generally optimistic about the overall thing (I’m very excited for cars and villains) and even though my feelings are sort of complex I basically have to settle into full Disney defense mode and get ready to act like it’s the best idea ever because when you go on Twitter everyone who’s mad about it is straight using fascist dog whistles. I don’t think it’s really a known thing outside of Disney people just HOW MANY staunch Disney people, very specifically Magic Kingdom people, are extremely extremely right wing. The biggest Disney passholder group that has over 300K members is run by a man who wears custom trump shirts and ears to the parks, posts photos of himself wearing them, and then starts going ARE YOU TRIGGERED? IT’S JUST A SHIRT when people point out to him he’s breaking the “no political posts” rules HE SET in his own group. I’m not super jazzed to be losing Tom Sawyer island but any time Disney does something like this if you dig into the pages of almost anyone who’s Extremely Loudly Angry they’re busy CLAIMING it’s because Nostalgia and Sightlines ans Park Design but when you scroll for five minutes it becomes increasingly obvious that they’re actually pissed off because Magic Kingdom is very slowly removing the bits which uncritically play acted some very dark parts of America’s history and while I honestly don’t think Disney actually gives a shit and won’t give them the credit to claim they’re doing it on purpose, the people who are upset about it very much always are even if they don’t quite know it. It’s very very hard to articulate without actually being inside it but there’s this very specific contingent of people who get EXTREMELY UPSET about these sorts of changes and use extremely charged language like “shameful” “disgraceful” “dancing on someone’s grave” “Disney is dying” about a theme park ride that makes it very obvious they are in fact just deifying some fantasy idea of squeaky clean white conservative Americana and they’re very very angry about “tradition” and “legacy” and “removing what matters” but suddenly get realllllly uncomfortable and completely unable to pin down exactly what “legacy” we’re losing. And I know it sounds like it’s not that serious but I ASSURE you it is. If you go scroll almost any Twitter account that’s like, unhealthily angry about the removal of Tom Sawyer and start reading their posts deeper I absolutely promise you they will all be about how we’re “losing American history” and “Disney hates America” and “this is a disgrace to Walt’s vision” and like straight up posting photos of old plaques from Frontierland that talk about the great American colonizing spirit of faith in god and going “I wonder why Disney hates this now 👀👀👀” as some sort of stupid conservative gotcha. Like yes I am quite unhappy they’re taking out Tom Sawyer island because I fucking love those spooky ass caves but I have no intention of saying that out loud because I want absolutely nothing and no association with the spectacularly loud group of people who are using Theme Park Drama to post literal fascist dog whistles and whine about how they’re Erasing Your History. Shut up

[scavengerssuccotash]

Where is Barney in your head canon? How well or how little does he know about adult Clint?

My headcanon backstory for the Barton brothers isn’t exactly canon so it’s different but still has a lot of the same beats just jumbled around a bit.

Basically I wanted to keep the major elements ie Circus, abusive childhood, and tumultuous sibling relationship and play around with others. So the basic rundown is this:

Barney is older by about four years, the pair were orphaned when Barney was four to Carson and his traveling circus and remained with them until the cops busted Carson’s money laundering business when Clint was nine in what they refer to as “The Big Bust.” After that they were placed in foster care and adopted by a widowed man that hit the bottle hard and the boys harder. Barney unable to stand the abuse quickly turned to numbing himself with illicit substances and a life of petty crime. The hairline fracture in their relationship happened when Barney fell asleep at the wheel and Clint had to guide the car into a ditch. First full on fracture happened when Barney woke a thirteen year old Clint up in the middle of the night with a backpack slung over his shoulders and six hundred dollars buried at the junkyard down the road.

Barney didn’t want to abandon his brother but a criminal venture/position opened up in Hell’s Kitchen. (What Clint later figures out, the real reason though is like soooooo much worse). With Barney out of the picture the abuse at home got so bad Clint ran off to the military at sixteen (his recruiter fudged the birthdate when he saw the bruises). Clint fucks around in the military and then gets recruited for SHIELD because he’s just that fucking good.

In Hell’s Kitchen Barney rises in the ranks, and eventually meets Laura who he later marries in a Las Vegas wedding drive thru. He also meets [REDACTED] and in turn catches Phil’s/SHIELD eyes and they send Clint.

Finally the pair meet after nearly a decade of not speaking or seeing each other and it’s not under happy circumstances.

Due to his influence with [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]’s criminal empire Clint’s forced to choose between old family and his new place with SHIELD. Ultimately Clint chooses SHIELD.

Barney would understand, at least that is what Clint tells himself when he’s too racked with guilt to sleep.

Now I can’t reveal much after this point as what I’ve planned would contain spoilers for future installments in the Sightline Universe (?)

But I will leave you with this line…

“Hey Clint.”

As for how little or how much Barney knows about Clint’s adulthood after the military, I would say he only knew the bare basics. He really only knew that last he heard his baby brother was making a man out of himself by joining the military. He didn’t know Clint had joined Shield until they reunited. He figured Clint was on the right path, no sense in his useless druggie brother fucking that up when he was the one to abandon him.

Eventually (possibly in the future, wink wink) they reunite again, maybe they are able to salvage some of their relationship over a couple beers and a trade of fists. Maybe Barney joins one of the alphabet agencies, and maybe they have to revisit that fateful night so long ago and reveal the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Who knows! The world is a crazy place and fate is fickle.

(Oh! And totally fancasting Daniel Craig as Barney Barton, credit to whoever came up with that first because it’s brilliant)

[deadweightwritings]

TWD 09x02

TWD + Dixon!Reader [S9 Spoilers]

Kit dropped another plank of wood onto the next panel of the bridge and sighed through her nose, as she saw Henry with the water job for folks.

“—no, no. There’s not enough to go around.”

“Give it a rest kid!” Henry gets knocked on his ass and everyone shifts. The kid grunts, taking his staff and giving that guy a taste. THUNK. Kit laughs, seeing Henry floor a grown man. Her head shifts to keep working at the wood in front of her, and the thud of running made her look up again. Daryl yanks him back,

“Kid’s just doing his job. Get back to work.”

“I don’t need your people telling me what to do. You aren’t my babysitter anymore.” He turns his back to lunge at Henry and Daryl acts, stopping him again. Arms and fists go flying, and one hits her dad’s nose. Kit bolts up and toward the fight.

Ocean eyes become a dangerous lightning in the sunlight as she trapped her foot around the man’s ankle. THUD.

“Ay, what the—!” Kit’s spurred boots thumped on top of his sternum, and he coughed. She leaned into his face. Nobody spoke. Daryl secretly wanted to figure out what she would do. If she would still be violent with normal people, the way she has been with Negan for weeks.

“Listen here, lumberjack, we’re all working the same fuckin’ project, exhausting th' same muscles. If there ain’t enough to go 'round, yer ass is getting a fair share like everybody-fucking-else. Clear?” He nods as Kit lets up, standing in front of him. She put her hand out for a shake but was punched right in her face. THWAP.

“HEY!” Feeling blood dribble from her lips, she acted:

“Ah, he wants to play, ay now?” Kit hiked up her leg and nailed him square in the chest with her heel. Followed by grabbing him by his shirt before he hit the ground and slamming her forehead against his, blurring his movements. Daryl winces. The man throws a fist at the wind and Kit nails him against his cheekbone, ring leaving a bruising mark.

“Hey! Hey, ENOUGH!” Her dad grips her shoulder, as her chest heaves from the adrenaline. Rick appears in her sightline and corners the man, preventing him from lunging back at her. He points to Kit,

“Enough.” Kit knocks her eyes to the ground, spitting a liquid glob of blood into the wood.

“It’s just a few more days.” Kit scoffs, rubbing at her eyes.

“A few more days might ‘ave a few people bludgeoned t’death, Rick, I don’t know.”

“They’re strong. The saviors are over half our work force.”

“Some of that work force, ain’t never gonna fall in line, man. That’s who they are.” Carol’s voice breaks the tension, light and honest:

“We can’t expect them to just forget what happens.”

“It’s not about forgetting. We need to move forward, all of us, together.” Kit’s finger swipes at her bloodied lip, anger rising in her blood.

“Rick, who’s fuckin’ side are you on?”

“Ours, Kit! Are we on the same side?” Her hand slams against the table, gaining Rick’s unclouded attention. She stands on her feet, eyes icy.

“You tell me. S’ what we’ve been tryna tell you, but you don’t wanna fuckin’ hear it.” Her boot heels squeak quietly as she turns and exits, Daryl following his hot-headed kid.