#I knew it was minimally invasive

[salemssimblr]

I got my fallopian tubes removed today! The surgery was fast and easy AND THEY’RE LETTING ME KEEP THEM!

& my husband and mom got me this cutie from the gift shop.

We named him Jimmy Fallopian (get it lmfao)

[fantasylandloser]

Winner

Pairing: Coach!Tashi x fem!Reader x Coach!Art

Warnings: 18+, smut, too filled with shame to proofread, dom!tashi, sub!art, sub!reader, mentions of spanking, tashi is so mean in this, art is basically a prop with minimal lines, idk

*******

Training with Tashi Duncan and her husband was an honor. You knew that. You did your very best to remember that; which was hard to do when she had days like this. 

“Are you scared of the fucking ball?” You shake your head, but you know better than that at this point. 

“Speak up!” You flinch before you can stop yourself. 

“No, I'm not scared of the ball.” You say.

“I would hope not- considering how long you’ve been doing this. That’d surely be a disappointment to your little fan club that you love so much. “ Tashi watched the way your eyebrows tinge only for a moment, at the mention of the onlookers who follow your career closely. 

It was no secret that you had a great appreciation for the love that they’d shown you, but it was almost like you were completely unaware of how quickly it would be gone if you weren’t up to par at all times. 

From afar Art watched the scene play out. You were the player that Tashi was the hardest on. He was sure it was to do with the fact that you were just like her. Well except for the fact that you lacked confidence in your abilities. Another reason she was hard on you. She wouldn’t see your potential wasted. But you worked hard like her, tennis was the love of your life like her. 

He watched as Tashi served to you, intense and laser focused. Then you, playing back with the same intensity and just as passionate. It’s almost magical to watch until you hesitate and miss the ball. 

Tashi’s on your ass before the ball can even hit the ground. “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you in it?” 

You stammer a reply that Art can’t hear. Probably an apology. His feet are moving closer before he can even think of a reason why. 

“No, tell me. What’s got you so off your game lately? Because you’re not going to fucking embarrass me at your next matches because you can’t get your head out your ass.”

“Tash lighten up.” He’s ignored which is to be expected. She stares at you intensely awaiting your answer. 

“How am I supposed to lighten up when she’s playing like she never held a racket before, huh?” Again she sees the twitch in your eyebrows. Good, you’re angry. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know-” Tashi holds up her hand. She doesn’t want your apology. 

“You know what- if you don’t want to tell me what the problem is,” She grabs your phone which has been continuously lighting up since you started. “I’m sure this will.’

You draw in a breath of air in surprise but you make no move to stop her. Your eyes wide at the invasion, but still ever so respectful even when your privacy is being violated. 

Almost immediately her eyebrows sprout up. “I thought we agreed on no boyfriends for this reason?” she shakes her head continuing to scroll through your phone as if it were hers. Art draws closer to her in interest, now intrigued about your phone as well, 

“He’s not my boyfriend.” You’re embarrassed, your grip on your racket tightening as you get angry at the way she’s shaming you.

“Obviously.” She mutters. She pauses a moment, both her and Art sharing a look and you know they’ve gotten to the most mortifying part. 

“Well if something would shake someone’s confidence it would be that.” You cringe, finally going to take your phone back only to be pushed back by Tashi.

“What did we talk about when it came to how you let people talk to you off the court and how it affects your game on the court?” You barely refrain from rolling your eyes.

“I can’t control what other people say” You can’t stop the edge in your voice. 

“But you can control what you say. You didn’t even try to stand up for yourself. This-” She shoves the phone at you with a picture of you half naked with the word unfuckable, in the center of the screen. “Is pathetic. “ You look away when she starts scrolling more like you don’t already know the rest of the verbal assault that had been issued towards you, and then a video of your so-called boyfriend with your next opponent and the lewd graphics that came with it. 

“What the fuck am I supposed to say to that?” You don’t mean for your response to be so angry. Or for the hot tears that started burning your eyes to fall. But the frustrations of your day had started to take a toll on you. So when you finally snatch your phone back from Tashi and get ready to storm off you miss the pleased look on her face. Art doesn’t though, he almost shakes his head knowing it was her intention to rile you up in the first place.

She raises an eyebrow at him, and just as she expects him to, he wraps his arm around you and pulls you close. The perfect good cop. “It’s okay, kid.” You’re tense in his arms, it reminds him of the times he’s tried to comfort Tashi and she wouldn’t allow it, but after a few moments of him rubbing your back you finally relax. .

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” You start, but Tashi interrupts. 

“Apologize for standing up for yourself and I’ll make you run until you pass out.” You wipe your eyes roughly and nod. Stepping away from Art’s hug and trying your best to put your game face back on. 

“You got that out of your system now?” You nod again, but after a pointed gaze you speak.

“Yes.” 

“Good now let’s talk about how you respond to this kind of bad sportsmanship.” 

******

The outfit Tashi has you in, is just barely appropriate, You look focused, despite the whistles you’ve received on your way in. You look a little angry actually. 

Art glances at Tashi beside him, who looks all too pleased. “What’d you do?” 

“I didn’t have to do anything.” She’s almost bragging. He follows her line of sight to Tashi’s opponent and sees her and your not boyfriend smirking at you. 

He wants to ask Tashi if she thinks this will shake your confidence more, but then he looks back at you laser focused as you stretch and he decides not to question it. 

The match starts off intense with your serve. Your opponent looks surprised and even though she quickly recovers. Art can tell that this will be a win for you even though he knows Tashi despises that kind of over confident thinking. 

As the match continues Tashi is gripping her seat for support. So enthralled in the game and invested in the fearlessness you’re displaying she can barely contain herself. 

At one point during a break you’re caught trash talking your opponent. Tashi is sure to get you for it later. Even though the only thing she hears clearly is “enjoy my sloppy seconds” with a saccharine smile on your face. The deduction you receive is definitely worth it. 

When you win as expected. Tashi is nearly buzzing and Art can’t hold back his excitement either. 

****

“See this is what happens when you’re a winner.” Tashi tells you. She quite literally holding Art’s balls as he fucks into you. 

“Winners are fuckable, tell her Art.” He gasps, feeling her squeeze him. 

“Fuck-” He breathes. “Did so good.” You spasm around him at the praise, pulling a loud groan from him. “Knew you were gonna win, kid.”

Your whines and whimpers are muffled by Tashi’s hand. “Fuck her faster, she’s gonna come.” Art obeys immediately despite the fact that he is much too close himself. Your eyes roll back at the change of pace. 

“There you go.” She squeezes Art’s balls once you start cumming so that he can too. He tries to pull himself out of you before but he can’t and leaves a sticky mess all over your cunt. “Fuck”

Tashi mounts you before you can stop twitching, lining her pussy up with yours, holding your leg over her shoulder. “Now next time I tell you to do something,, you’ll listen to me.” She starts slowly, spreading the mixture of both you and Art’s orgasm on both of you. 

“Isn’t that right?” You nodding makes her speed up, giving you that look of disapproval. 

“Use your words.”

“Yes, yes, yes I’ll listen to you.”

“Yeah I know you will, because now you know what good girls get.” She continues to grind against you skilfully.

“And next time you don’t listen to me-” You feel your core tense up again. “I will spank you until you cry.” Just like that you’re gone again. The masochistic side of you envisioning the picture that will haunt your fantasies until you get it. 

You don’t realize the loud moan you hear is you, until Art is kissing you sloppily to silence your cries. ‘You like that don’t you?” You hear Tashi say. You want to tell her yes but you can’t with Art’s tongue down your throat. You think she knows the answer anyway.

The contrast between the way that Tashi is fucking you so vigorously and the slow kisses Art is giving you puts your head in a spin. On top of that your overstimulated clit is making it hard for you to think at all. 

“Coach please-” You beg. “My pussy can’t;” You’re cut off immediately. 

“Who knows what's best for you? Me or you?”

“You!” By this time tears are flowing down your face, as you feel another orgasm building all too quickly. Art wipes them, then moves his hands down to pinch your nipples. 

“Exactly. Now cum.”

[eudaimaniacs]

Imagine Hugh presenting (soft-launching) you as his girlfriend to the paparazzi.

word count: 1.3k words

warning/s: age-gap relationship, paparazzi being annoying, and other things i forgot about.

notes: it's been almost a week since i didn't post an imagine and i also turned off my notifications here. i have upcoming prelims and it's been stressing me out. i decided to write fluff since i feel like i have been writing smut too much. also, i inserted my crochet hobby in this. enjoy reading!

You were a rising movie actress and happened to meet Hugh at a party. The two of you immediately hit it off and began to date secretly. Unfortunately, some of your friends found the relationship weird as there was a significant age gap, and Hugh had been divorced. You heard their criticisms and assured them that the partnership was fair despite the age difference.

While the comments of your circle can be minimized, the general public can’t be. Although social media embraced the thought of age-gap relationships, it can be scrutinized if there is a power imbalance, what age the younger one started dating the older one, etc. However, you didn’t feel that with Hugh. He was caring and understanding and didn’t manipulate or make you feel like a child. Hugh wanted to launch the relationship because he wanted to be comfortable when discussing the status of his love life in the interviews. Although you loved his enthusiasm to show you off, you were worried about the attacks you would receive when the secret was out. Hugh’s fanbase might start nitpicking about your life, news outlets criticizing the age difference, etc. Your partner was dismayed to hear your nervousness about showing off the love you two had for each other but understood how your reputation could be tarnished early in your career.

One day, Hugh planned a picnic at a New York park after finishing filming your new film. You wore something plain and safer than you usually would wear when going outside. You rode the train to the destination and saw Hugh laying out the picnic blanket and the food.

“There you are, darling. How are you?” Hugh kissed and hugged your waist. You snuggled in his chest and giggled about how good your mood was today.

“Can’t wait to have my first New York picnic with you, Hugh,” you cheered wide-eyed as you sat down to eat. The older man chuckled and passed you some of the food he prepared. The two of you caught up on anything like the film you’re doing, Hugh’s press tour, any gossip, and many more. The joy of having a picnic with an older man, acknowledging that you’re a woman, was indescribable. Hugh listened to your thoughts, admired how you spoke, laughed at your jokes, and matched your energy. His green, hazel eyes reflected the sun’s glow, and the creases that formed at the corner whenever he smiled or laughed made you love him even more.

After the picnic, the two of you went downtown to run some errands. You looked at every corner, hoping that a silhouette of a photographer wouldn’t appear. The change in energy didn’t go unnoticed, as Hugh reassured you that no paparazzi would be there. You smiled and passionately kissed him at the store’s corner.

You decided to buy some yarn to get back to your crochet. You wanted Hugh to wait in the car, but he wanted to help you. The two of you go inside, occasionally taking pictures, and Hugh is in awe of the yarn selection. You laughed at how many yarns you decided to buy and apologized to Hugh about your addiction. He kissed your forehead and complimented how unique and cool your hobby was. As Hugh puts the bags in the car trunk, at instinct, you immediately feel the flash of a camera. The dread of getting caught with the man you love during a great day made you want to crawl into your hole and disappear. You hear the paparazzi’s invasive questions and try your best to ignore them. You wanted to run away and tell Hugh you’ll meet him again at his house. However, you knew that the paparazzi already had pictures of the two of you as soon as both of you got out of the shop. Maybe they even had more pictures than you realized.

You kept a straight face and greeted the photographer with the fakest smile you could put on. You dodged the question of whether you and Hugh were official as he revealed that there was a rumor about the two of you dating. The man looked punchable; however, you knew that they had to make a living by following celebrities and making news with the photos they took. Conversely, you hoped they would get the message and respect a famous person’s boundaries, especially when trying to live an everyday life for once.

“Let’s go, sweets.” Hugh’s deep voice breaks the awkward conversation between you and the photographer. You stared at his beautiful eyes to seek comfort and escape from this feeling. Hugh noticed your shaky smile and the stare that said you wanted to drive off from that moment. As much as he tried to show the world the relationship, Hugh didn’t like your feelings hurt if you were not ready to tell them about your love for him.

He greeted the photographer and made his way towards you. You held Hugh’s hand and squeezed it hard. His touch comforts the anxiety and anger rising inside of you. You leaned on his chest as Hugh and the photographer continued to converse.

“So, are you two dating? I mean, I have to hear it from the two of you,” the man interrogated, excited to finally confirm the rumors. Hugh awkwardly laughed and looked at you for a green light to say something. He wanted to say yes; however, with your shaken aura, he had to subsidize his eagerness to confirm the relationship finally. Trying to process that the paparazzi were miles ahead of you, you slowly squeezed Hugh’s hand and gave a slight nod.

“The secret is out; me and [Y/N] are dating! You got the two of us on a great day,” Hugh chuckled as he kissed your forehead. You nervously giggled as you snuggled on his chest, not wanting to look at the photographer. The man remarked how great it was and started to show some of the photos he had taken of the two of you earlier that day.

You looked up to Hugh and wanted to say that you weren’t ready for the photos to be released. The older man rubbed your back and kissed your forehead. Hugh wanted you to be fully prepared to launch the relationship, and with this man breaking the progress, you had angered him.

“Sorry, mate, but my lady here isn’t yet ready for the world to know. I hope you understand that we may want the pictures not to be released for now,” Hugh explained, trying to alleviate the situation. The photographer frowned and expressed disappointment in not letting this new gossip out to the world.

“I’m s-sorry if I’m not prepared for our relationship to be out, but I’m still scared about the reception I’m going to get,” you whispered and tried to plead with the photographer to keep it in the vaults for some time. You knew it was hard to persuade the paparazzi not to release something unless you were a powerful celebrity. However, you had hope that this man was different.

Hugh stood his ground and offered something, “How about this? When we decide to share the relationship news, you’ll share the pictures and have a better article about it. You’re the first photographer to capture us in public, so keep the photos first and release them when the time is right.” You slowly look at the photographer, who now has a softer gaze and relented about releasing the pictures immediately. You smiled and thanked him for accepting Hugh’s condition, assuring the photographer that it wouldn’t be long until you and Hugh shared the news.

As the three of you started parting ways, Hugh asked the man if he could take another picture. The photographer smiled as he knew what was going to happen.

Hugh pressed his lips against yours as you heard the camera’s flash crack. You smile as you deepen the kiss. The photographer took more pictures as the two of you broke the kiss. You weren’t yet ready to share your relationship with Hugh; however, you were getting used to Hugh showing you off and the pictures of the two of you in love being captured.

eudaimaniacs - 2024

[summercreolefanfictioner]

all on my tongue I want it || ua! touya x recovery girl! y/n

(shoujo touya todoroki save us all)

summary: in which you saved your first kiss for a certain cremation quirk user

note: I didn't edit anything bcos I wrote this on a whim

Honestly, it was a miracle you got into UA in the first place. While there were probably more students who held more promising skills that could battle against villains, yours was just the typical. Well, not really; it could be a valuable asset in the least. After all, you inherited a healing quirk similar to Recovery Girl. Many people thought your healing lies with your kisses, but the truth is, it was a lot different than what people make it out to be.

You see, you can heal people with just a touch, hence why some would constantly try to take hold of a finger or two. This made you alert and conscious of people around you, though, because sometimes, some of them would just make an excuse to harass you. And it's so unfair considering how you're just a girl thriving in this world full of scums who apparently have no idea about invasion of privacy and spacial distance.

And on the topic of your healing kisses, well... let's say, it was your most powerful shot. Your healing kisses can heal people much faster than your touch can do. Heck, it can even stop someone from an almost death (depending on the circumstances, of course). You have only tried your kisses to your parents when you were young, so when some boys of your age would try to take your most precious golden kiss in disguise of a bruised knee or a bloody cut, you immediately back away and wish this wasn't the quirk bestowed upon you.

The downside of this quirk was painful though. You can't tell anyone that aside from healing the wound, you take the pain away when you heal them. So, let's say, if you heal your friend who scraped her knee from falling down the stairs, you manage to close up the wound. However, you will feel the pain she felt when she fell down and the sting of the bruise left on her. Some of the pain were minimal; some of them rendered you to sleep for days until you were also healed.

Todoroki Touya was another different story in your life, and you were foolish enough to like the oldest son of the number 2 pro hero, Endeavor. You two were in different classes (obviously) and the first time you watched him in the sports festival, you were captivated with the way he fought despite being so foul-mouthed and sarcastic yet nonchalant as he stood against his opponent and burned him in one go. In your head, it was all, "The movement was so smooth. He watched the opponent carefully before landing his mark without burning too much. He controlled his fire even though it's a lot stronger than his father's. So amazing." And that was how you found yourself, constantly trying to secretly regain your breathing whenever you pass by him in the hallway, pretending you didn't harbor those feelings of crush for him and how you got it so bad you swore you could die of heart attack if one day he touched you or stared at you so intense with those blue eyes.

Then come one day, you got involved with him. You were in the school garden, reading one of those books about enhancing your healing quirk when you secretly saw a fight break out between him and this one senpai with his friends. The reason? Touya was arrogant because Endeavor was his father, and apparently, kind of stole his girlfriend (or at least, according to his claim because Touya said he has no idea who the girl was anyway). Of course, Touya had the upperhand, but you could see how small patches of burnt skin started showing around. That's when you knew the downside of his quirk despite the fact that he still carried the same ice quirk that his mother had.

When senpai and his friends were distracted, you seized this chance to grab him and you two ran as far and as fast as you could despite his protest that you let him go, hiding in one of those empty science labs. Suddenly, Touya noticed the burns earlier were gone. It was like his skin was brand new. That's when you quickly pulled away.

"Sorry, I..." you stumbled for words. "I noticed your skin was burning due to your fire so I healed it."

Touya narrowed his eyes in confusion, scratching his head. "Healed?" he repeated, analyzing what you said before making a face of realization. He heard his classmates gush about this one cute girl from Class C with a healing quirk. They went on to say, "They said she can heal just by a touch, and her best power move would be a kiss." Of course, there were perverts who hypothesized, performing intercourse with her would be the best healing method. Gah, how disgusting they were.

"You didn't have to bother," he muttered in annoyance, gritting his teeth as he looked away. Touya was prideful, and he wasn't weak enough to let a medic girl like you help him.

You breathed out in pain, feeling the burning sensation he had earlier. Gosh, it was so hot you were thankful it didn't mar your skin. When he noticed your expression, he asked worriedly, "Did I burn you?"

You shook your head, assuring him. "N-Not really. This is just a side effect of my quirk. I can feel the pain you felt from your wound. That's all. I won't get your scars earlier or what," you explain with a smile. "I guess you endured all this before you could use your quirk, right? That's so brave of you, Todoroki-kun. I wish I was that strong."

That was how you caught his eye, and since then, he has been teasing you nonstop and trying to touch you like how a boyfriend does to his girlfriend (not because he was in dire need of healing.) You could even say he had claimed you publicly and made sure no one would dare touch you. He was a menace, and if he found out someone tried to take advantage of your quirk or you used your quirk on someone else, he will raise hell. Like literally. His cremation quirk wasn't made for him for no reason. He would go on to say that you were his, and you almost died of cardiac arrest when you heard him yell that for the first time at the hallway. Yes, the same place where everyone could spread gossip on how Endeavor's oldest son made the medic girl from Class C his girlfriend.

You liked the attention obviously. After all, you fell for him so bad that even his annoying cheap tricks to touch or hug you so close were getting you to have those heavy drumbeats in your chest and the way the butterflies would come swarming. He was a criminal, stealing your heart like that, and you were committing sin by just indulging this attention and meekly telling him not to tease you so much or let you go even though you yourself was not pulling away from his grasp. Your hypocritical self wanted more of Todoroki Touya that even his mischievous and cunning person was enough to make you swoon.

But mostly, he would trick you into kissing him just because he found out you purposely did not give your first kiss to anyone. You were quick to retort that first kisses were special, and you didn't want to give your first one just for medical reasons. "I want my first kiss to be romantic," you mumbled shyly, cheeks blushing. Gah, the ground should swallow you whole now. "I want it to happen while I'm on a date with the person I love, or even during our wedding."

"That long?" Touya complained. "You'd be a granny if you keep that up."

"I don't care! My lips are off limits until I say so."

Touya snickered, ruffling your hair and purposely messing it even though you spent hours doing it just so you would look cute for him. You were cute alright. You just didn't know his emotionally constipated teenage ass was jealous that the others were looking at you so much.

"T-Todoroki-kun! My hair!"

"Well, I wouldn't mind if you were a granny, Y/N." He stuck out his tongue teasingly, his silver piercing peeking through. "As long as you're mine."

You could only pout, realizing he wasn't that serious at all. You like him, but his teasing jokes aren't equivalent of real love confessions. You needed to hear him say he likes you in a serious way, not in this kind of joking way because if you could easily believe everything, then it would only be a recipe for a broken heart. You didn't want to nurse a broken heart, after all.

This charade went on until third year, and there were instances when you almost gave in, the cherry flavor of your lip balm fresh on your lips as he almost kissed you for many times yet you were interrupted. It was either one of you wasn't able to get the timing right or someone dared interrupt the romantic setting or you would suddenly get nervous and realize you weren't ready at all. You would miss your chance and get depressed you wished you could've went ahead and confessed first. This way, he would be aware because things were getting too real you were in this delusion like "maybe he really likes me too but is just shy so he jokes around?"

That was all until—

"Pro Hero Medic Girl. You are requested to assist in [location]. Pro Hero Medic Girl. You are requested to assist in [location.]"

It was the usual greeting of the intercom as you readied yourself for the worst case scenario. There's a killer villain on the loose, someone who had a grudge and wanted to destroy the world with him. As you prepared for the worse, you felt your heart grow heavy at the next words.

"Pro Hero Medic Girl. You are requested to assist Pro Hero Frost Flame. He doesn't have much longer."

Frost Flame. It was Touya's hero name.

You quickly rushed to his side and learned the villain stabbed him in the stomach as he made his final hit. Touya still got the victory, but at what cost? There was still a chance for him, but the thing was, the nearest hospital was far from your current location, and Touya already needed assistance or he won't be able to make it.

He was lying on the ground, almost lifeless as he tried to stop the bleeding in futile attempts with the ice quirk he has yet to master. You couldn't afford to lose him, not when you haven't told him your feelings. He knew you wanted the romantic first kiss, the fireworks, the warm sunset, the works, and everything. But what good would all they be if he was gone, though? Touya was more important than your romantic dream.

"I will kiss him," you announced to the pro heroes boldly. "My quirk will give him life, but we'll need to take him to the hospital quick afterwards."

They stepped aside to give room for you as you laid Touya's head on your lap, his consciousness almost fading away as he could only see a blurry vision of you caressing his face gently. A few teardrops from your eyes fell on his skin, and you tried to calm yourself. This was no time for sappy moments. You have to save him. You can save all the words later.

"Y/N..." Touya tried to make out your name, his voice hoarse as you took his hand in yours. "D-Don't..."

"It's okay now," you whispered. "Just let me."

It felt like time has stopped to witness this moment, your lips finally crashing down against his softly. You weren't given experience but you made sure to put passion in it so you would be able to convey your feelings for him. It made your heart race the moment you felt him try to reciprocate your deed but to no avail. It was fine for you, though. He's the one who needed healing, not you.

"Y-Y/N..."

"I know this is not the right time, but I had to," you explained to him, his head still on your lap as you kissed his forehead, "and it's because I love you, Touya-kun."

And after a few moments, you felt your vision going hazy, the stabbing sensation in your stomach growing deep as you felt the burning pain. It was completely draining your energy, trying to hold out as Touya coughed out to signify his sign of life.

Everything went black.

------

You woke up to a breathtaking, orange sunset view from your window after 3 days in the hospital, and when you look to your side, Touya was there, sitting on the couch and donning a straight and serious face. Judging from the way he moved towards your and sat on your bedside, it seemed that he has already healed from the damage he took from his previous battle.

"Todoroki-kun!" you greeted in relief. "You're okay now."

You expected him to smile and tease you as usual, but somehow, he looked kind of bitter and regretful. You were confused. Shouldn't be happy at least? You kissed him. You professed your love to him finally. Why was he looking at you like that?

Then it dawned on you. Perhaps he felt indebted to return it back. Maybe it was just you imagining things. Maybe he really didn't feel the same. Maybe he just went along because of the moment, not because of you. If that was the case, you would really be devastated.

"Shouldn't you be calling me by my name?" Touya corrected with an angry tone. "You called me 'Touya' back there."

You blushed so hard. So he remembered. "Uhh... I—"

"And your first kiss?" He finally mentioned the topic. Touya wanted to avoid it, but he needed to settle this once and for all. He knew there will come a time when you'll heal someone in need and experience the same thing over and over. The best thing he could do was take this chance. "I thought you said you'll only give it during a romantic date with someone you love or during your wedding."

"Yes, I—"

"Then why did you give it to me at the battlefield?" Touya winced at his harsh tone, reminding himself that he was speaking to you, and that the last thing he wanted was hurt you and let this drag on. "You could've made your dream happen. I could've made them all happen. You didn't have to—Fuck!" He loathed everything. Why did everything turn out this way? "You didn't have to share my pain and sleep here for 3 days!"

So that's what it was. He was worried you wouldn't make it out alive given how grave his wounds were. You bet he barely got any sleep and he wouldn't leave your side until you awaken because he was worried about your wellbeing. And deep down, maybe he was thinking he missed his chance to confess. You wanted to be delusional. That must be it. He was not giving his usual pranks. There was no sarcasm. He was being the boyish Touya that no one knew about.

You held his hand. "It's true. I've always wanted that romance dream," she affirmed then added, "but when I heard about your condition, I just couldn't—" the tears were now flowing, the waterworks you held back were showing itself to him, "I couldn't imagine a life where you're gone too soon. You can't leave me like that, not when I haven't told you how much I've fallen for you since our sports festival during our first year."

You felt his fingers wiping your tears, trying his damnest to be cautious or he might burn your skin. Touya hated it when you cry, after all. "Is that true? You like me? You love me enough to give your first kiss to me?"

"You idiot!" You pouted. "At this stage, and I even confessed to you!" You bet the other pro heroes at that time must have heard your declaration of love. Maybe Endeavor would find out about his son's love life sooner than expected, after all.

Now the smug smile was back on his face, and you wanted to wipe it off so bad. The nerve of him. "I just wanna make sure because there's no taking backsies, Y/N."

"Jerk."

"You love this jerk unfortunately," he joked, finally getting close to you as he kissed your forehead.

This wasn't the most picture perfect scenario. You were on your hospital bed and he was sitting near you, his hand caressing your cheek as the sunset turned into a more vivid orange in the background. It was warm, or maybe it was his quirk? You didn't bother knowing as you noticed how he flushed so hard but did not shy away from you like how you would expect a teenage boy in love would do. This moment would do. You just hoped for the best.

"I love you, Y/N," he whispered, leaning hus face towards yours as he rubbed his thumb across your lips. "Let me give you a taste of your own medicine."

Ah. You were in heaven when he kissed you.

PS. Fuyumi took a secret picture of you kissing Touya while Natsuo covered Shouto's eyes and mouth.

tagging: @rueclfer @crookedherringcolorclod @suksatoru @skiiyoomin @allurearia @m-4399 (bcos I wanna spread dabi love huhu)

[metranart]

My one and only wants you, so he’ll have you (Part 9)

ft. Sensei! Gojo Satoru, sensei! Suguru Geto, reader insert, slight! Megumi x reader.

Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto happily married, you, their lovely student and the cause of their ragging temptation. The problem: their son, Megumi, your best friend.

𖦹 Warning tags: Gojo x Reader x Geto, threesome, married couple, Suguru and Gojo happy married couple, polyamory, Teacher-Student Relationship.

-

You were paralyzed, uncomfortable in your own skin. Sweating and shivering without the most minimal control. Sukuna had caught you. The bastard had the nose of a bloodhound, without a doubt he had smelled Gojo sensei's saliva on you, you should never have let him eat your pussy that same morning, you should never have fallen asleep in his house- Your lips trembled as if you wanted to give an answer but felt utterly inadequate to find the right words to deceive the King of Liars.

Ryomen Sukuna stared at you with those sickeningly smug eyes, waiting patiently for you to answer his question. 

He knew he had hit the nail on the head, because Megumi's protests stopped the second, he spoke. Young Zenin was quiet now, his frame, maybe even tenser than yours and even though his forehead was smooth as silk, Sukuna could detect the negative feelings rushing out of him in waves. It was an interesting mix of betrayal, anger, jealousy and... hatred. The king of curses looked at him with something that resembled soft smugness, feeling more than pleasantly surprised at having find such a sublime mixture in the young Zenin’s aura. 

Undoubtedly, YOU are the key to reach out to him and make him do whatever he wanted; YOU were his ticket to the body he wanted.

"I asked you a question, girl." Sukuna stressed. He felt amused, depravedly amused, yet kept remarkably composed for how ruthlessly he actually wanted to burst out laughing, "if you don't answer me with the truth in the next..." he glanced at Megumi teasingly, "what will it be, Megumi, in the next sixty seconds?" 

Megumi just stared at him but did not make any judgment, his gaze blank, empty and lacking at the moment. The skin borrower ignored him with a snicker and continued his threat. 

".... I’ll kill you, pretty girl.” 

The king assured with a toothy, sharp grin stretching his lips, and just to put more pressure on you, slowly, more like sluggishly, caged you against the wall and his massive frame, pushing not only at your sanity by slowly moving his body closer and closer, until your back hit the wall and you could almost only see the tattoos marking his skin. 

“One more thing, I’ll know if you are lying.”

Your gazes met and soon, the wicked countdown began.

“One, two, three-” his smile was mocking, nothing good about those canine incisors peeking out lethally, crimson eyes narrowed as if waiting for you to give yourself away, “four, five, six….” He sang without caring, avidly more pressure, your chest rose and fell agitatedly, your pupils were dilated, and your face had turned pale, and it was not only because of the invasive closeness of the king of curses but also for the situation, he had pushed you into.

Meanwhile, Megumi just stared at you, it was like he couldn't move either, his body was tense, and you could see a vein popping in his neck, his eyes were the most expressive thing about him, the more striking. Almost begging you to deny Sukuna’s foul statement, almost dying for you to say that it was a vile lie, and that Sukuna was wrong, Megumi would believe you, you just had to say it—he would believe you. He would gladly avert all suspicion and turn a blind eye just for the good fortune of returning to his blind and delusional fantasy in which, he was courting you to become HIS girlfriend. He was willing to let it go for now- later when you married, he would force you to vanish his tutors from your entire life, but first he needed you to love HIM and realize how good he could be to you-…. just please, disprove Sukuna, even if it is just a vile and pathetic lie, he tells himself every night, be on his side just this time and tell this Demon that his claim it's not true— 

"Seven, eight, nine—" You didn't know what to do, could you lie to Sukuna... will it cost you your life to try?!

Sukuna smiled more evilly if that was even possible. His careless teasing made your stomach churn with horrible nausea; his voice so close felt even worse, everything spoken with his smirk seeped into it. You realized the very sound of Yuuji’s voice now would probably make you shiver in all the wrong ways after this, even in casual conversation.

Sparing you a moment, the king of curses glanced at his future body, Megumi, who did not move an inch, stiffer than a fucking rock, although the posture of his body spoke more than anything the boy could actually say… it was a clear afront to the King, screaming to him that if he dared to harm you, without a minute of delay, he would attack him. He would protect you even if it cost him his life. This handsome vessel, this Zenin boy was in love, madly in love with you... if a fight broke out, Sukuna would see himself forced to hurt him and that was the last thing he wanted to do, that body needed to be intact, perfect till the day he inhabite it—…. So, using his Machiavellian mind, the older spirit hatched a plan that would work best for his long-term goals.

“Seriously?” he huffed, staring at you in disbelief. "You certainly awaken many passions, girl." A glimpse of irritation twitched his brow but despite it, did not make a considerable split in his composure. He still could pretend to be aloof about this for much longer. 

Once his mind was made, Sukuna began to lean his forehead until it was pressed against your shoulder, a movement slow and harmless enough that Megumi didn't feel compelled to act on it, and once close to your ear, he whispered just to you.

“You obviously don't want Megumi to find out what a little skank you are,” The pathetic gasp he received in turn made him chuckle, nevertheless, made Megumi narrow his beautiful blue eyes suspiciously, “so I have something to propose to you, little girl—”

You gulped shakenly and listened to Sukuna using Yuuji's borrowed lips whispering atrocious things to you, your pretty eyes widened from one moment to the next and out of the sudden, Megumi had his full. 

“Stay away from her!”

A breathy, muffled snicker left Sukuna’s throat and then he went back down to whisper at your ear, filling your eardrums with far worse obscenities than he had previously. Straightening up, his dangerous gaze fell on you once again, and his knuckles caressed the blush painting your cheeks in a pretty pink before snicker a calm hiss and raise a hand in Megumi’s direction. 

“Calm down, Megumi, no one likes jealous boys. It’s not an attractive quality.”

A pitiful wail climbed its way up your throat as Megumi's cheeks painted amusingly red and you felt your skin crawl uncontrollably. You couldn’t breathe; a tight gulp of air was caught in your lungs as his mere words thrashed against you wildly. 

“Please —” you begged, eyes clamped shut, face hot, body going rigid with the promise of his mercy. “Please Sukuna— ”

"Just choose, princess."

You blinked back the hot tears and stared him down with as much of a pout as that of a frown.

“So do we have a deal, sorceress?” He whispered once more only to you, and you just looked at him with the same doomed shock as at the beginning.

“—I would accept it if I were you,” Sukuna continued, “Megumi would hate you otherwise, you don't want that, do you?”

A tear that you didn't even know was ready to burst out of your eye rolled down your cheek and Sukuna's grin sharpened, watching it roll away to then calmly stop it in its tracks with a thumb, your eyes on him as he stuck that salty, wet thumb into his mouth with a loud sound of satisfaction.

“Come on, ain’t that of a big deal. We both know you're not new to that—”

Your lips pursed in annoyance and unable to keep looking at the monster that wear your friend’s skin, you nodded your head with a deep, remorseful frown.

Sukuna snorted before letting out a laugh and taking a couple of steps back, he glanced at you and then his eyes went to Megumi.

“A pleasure to see you as always, Megumi.”

And just like that, the tattoos on his body started to fade away, leaving behind a totally and irrefutable, confused Yuuji.

“—(Y/N)? Megumi? What happened?" 

You were too shocked to answer, and Megumi was as well, your stares meeting for a long minute before Megumi ended up breaking the awkward silence.

“You are finally back.” The raven-haired said in a monotonous voice. Yuuji grinned at him, and he responded with a certain determination but when he grinned at you, you didn't even see him, as if he were transparent. Making the goodhearted boy walk closer to you to wrap you in his strong arms, it was the warmth of that hug and the effusive aura of familiarity from him, that was so typical of Yuuji, that brought you back. Both young adults, sighing in relieve when you finally hugged him back.

“If Sukuna did something—” Yuuji asked worried and you denied your head, mutely.

Megumi remained silent, he wasn't stupid, but he refused to think badly of you, you certainly didn't make any deal with Sukuna, or anything like that—you certainly weren't desperate enough to do something so stupid—

“Megumi-” The boy in question glanced at him.

“—Was the curse even defeated?” Yuuji asked from the crook of your shoulder, “—is everyone okay?”

Megumi sensed the place and did not find the trace of cursed energy that there was before. So, he nodded once. 

Yuuji sighed awfully relieved. “Well, at least we achieve that.” His arms wrapping tighter around you.

Soon the three of you heard the recognizable voice of Nobara calling at the distance and you unwrapped yourself from Yuuji, who allowed it just after he planted a sweet kiss on your forehead, to then playfully bump the tip of your nose. “Whateva Sukuna did or say, I won’t let him hurt anyone, I promise, (Y/N).”

Your eyes teared and you agreed weakly. If you only knew.

Eventually, the three of you started to head towards Nobara’s voice with Yuuji guiding the retreat, you just followed in silence and at a calm pace, and that's when you felt it.

Megumi's hand latched strongly in yours, his body now walking alongside you, his eyes never sparing you even a glance, only steady on the path ahead while he almost pulled you to follow his lead. Your confusion, palpable and he could easily sense it, even feel it since your heartbeat was drumming against his palm.

“—I'm the most understanding boyfriend, don’t you agree?” He said all of the sudden, “but even I have my limits, (Y/N).”

Everything was like a soft murmur except the title which was supposed to still be under discussion.

“Wow, are you guys already a couple?” You heard Yuuji ask, glancing over his shoulder without stop walking, cheerfully.

Finally, Megumi's blue eyes landed on you, and you felt again out of breath, you didn't know what to say, you couldn't say no, but you couldn't say yes either... You didn't want to lose Megumi, you didn't want to lose Gojo and Geto, shit! Say something, you have to say something—

Your lips parted hesitantly and in a pitiful and ephemeral whisper you condemned yourself, because without a doubt, that answer would make you lose someone.

COMING SOON PART 10....

➡️ NSFW ARTWORK OF THIS STORY

[daintcas]

can you write something where you go into mean!rafes tent when you’re camping with friends late at night, claiming you heard a noise but he doesn’t believe you and he discovers you’re true intentions was just to get in his pants🙏

oh my god this is so creative 😭 switched it up just a lil but i think it still fits ur idea !! apologies it took me so long to finally get around to it!

the leaves crunch under your feet as you approach the insanely massive and luxurious tent just a few feet from your own.

you knew it was risky since everyone else was already asleep in their equally as expensive sleeping arrangements. it must have been the long night of partying around a bonfire because the only sound filling your ears were the crickets lingering at the nearby creek.

with nobody to interrupt your poorly thought out and drunken plan - after a few too many hard seltzers - you slowly unzipped what you were pretty sure was the zipper of rafe's tent. in all honesty, you didn't know him. he was just one among many guys a mutual friend invited, but you were coherent enough to recognize the suggestive glances he spared you.

you bit your lip while carefully stepping inside, attempting to minimize the ruffle of the uncomfortable material. it's pitch black in the tent - which is tall enough for you to stand at your full height. that is until the light of a phone screen exposes you standing in the unwelcome space.

"the fuck are you doing?" the voice is low and mean, clearly irritated at the invasion.

blinking your eyes open and looking straight into the only source of light, you pause for a moment before remembering the excuse you prepared earlier. "i, um— there was a noise. i thought it was coming from here?"

a scoff is what you get in return and the click of a lantern replaces the accusing spotlight from the device. that's when you get a good look at him, clad in grey sweats and a dark hoodie, socks bunched at his ankles. "a noise?"

blinking your heavy eyelids and looking up at him through your lashes, you can't help but feel adrenaline at the sarcasm in his tone. the drinks weren't working in your favor, that's for sure.

"mhm," you all but bob your head "in— in here. a noise." the amusement spreading across his face in the form of a smirk seals the deal, suddenly making you feel so small under his tall stature steadily approaching.

"riiight.." he draws out, raking in your form just like he had been before, but this time really taking it slow. from your fluffy socks up to the tiny victoria secret boxers, up to the lace bra peeking out from under your baggy sweatshirt.

if a cold night in the woods didn't give you goosebumps, his gaze certainly did. you let him encroach on your space, eyes glued to his face and tilting your head back to keep contact.

"you lyin'?" he finally questions, though his expression shows he already knows the answer - and already knows how you intend on responding.

"no.." you reply in a weak effort to keep up your story and use your hands to symbolize a crash as you add, "it was like a.. like a bang!"

his smile is a bit softer before returning to the menacing way it was before and he nods along with a taunting hum. nodding his head to end the discussion you both knew ended before it started, he acknowledges you directly. "why don't you tell me why you're really in here? not very safe sneaking around at night, is it?"

with a defeated sigh, you shake your head, tucking some hair behind your ear and standing calmly in a way you normally wouldn't if sober and well-rested.

a million thoughts run through his mind of exactly how this situation could play out as he tongues at his cheek and watches you closely. eventually deciding to think with the tent in his pants rather than the one sheltering the two of you, he leans right in your face and nudges your chin up to face him with the knuckle of his pointer finger.

"i'm sure your lil tent is cold, huh? why don't you uh— let me keep you warm, hm?" he offers while letting the scenarios run wild in his head. a pretty girl willingly bringing herself to him in the middle of the night, secluded, with nobody else in earshot.

it's like that's all you were waiting for because an eager yet still sweet and innocent smile finds your face. only able to squeak out a "'kay" before he's leading you gently by your upper arm to an air mattress - as of now still completely inflated.

[lilacxquartz]

Don't Make Me Feel Alive I Chapter 8

kenjaku x f!reader

chapter summary: as halloween approached, the final preparations were made and you would reluctantly follow suit.

warnings: dubcon, season 2 spoilers

< Previous Chapter • Next Chapter >

8. Truth

As Halloween finally approached and the plans were all becoming clearer by the day, Kenjaku did his part to prepare you for what was the start of a very long mission underway.

Training on and off with you, he ensured that you were able to at least hold your ground, and the once invasive touch that violated you, was now common enough, even if you did struggle to adapt to the abuse.

You didn’t really know all too much about the plan just yet, though.

You knew that it wasn’t anything good though because he mentioned one or two times about needing to involve the identity of his vessel. He also purposefully kept your involvement largely a secret and your tasks minimal.

Mahito’s group knew you were going to be there, but your purpose wasn’t clear.

And right before the night of Halloween rolled over, the event just lurking around the corner, Kenjaku decided to make one final adjustment to the battery. Tweaking it so that the energy couldn’t be used when you were doing something as simple as walking to further strengthen the chances of you keeping up with him tomorrow.

It was surely a risk, though.

He didn’t quite have the time to properly test it all out, but it should be fine. Either way, he felt stressed again, restless too—about to carry out his entire life’s work before him and like those many times before, he sought a release for such frustrations.

(And you were right there. Always there.)

Besides, by now it was routine for you and nothing could no longer surprise you. Even if it did hurt all the same.

As per usual, Kenjaku initiated by snaking his arms around your body while you were most often still asleep. Today, he reeled your back in to press against his chest before turning you face down against your stomach, hovering over you and taking his good, sweet time to appreciate the small of back arch and squirm for him as he lulled you awake with a deceptively gentle touch, enticed by the curve of your bare ass to cushion the abuse he craved to deliver.

Pulling you up initially so that your hips would be in a raised position, he slipped his hands parallel against your hips—fingers clawing around the meat of your ass and guiding his already throbbing erection into your entrance from behind, not waiting to savour you during this moment, but rather seeking out a way to satisfy his hunger quickly instead.

Kenjaku bucked his hips roughly as he continued to bury himself inside of you; his length filling you, bruising you from the inside—pushing, pounding you into complete submission as much as he could. Your sopping heat clenched from the inside, sending him over the edge as he continued to deliver an almost maddening pace. You felt almost feverish from the intensity, delirious even, as fire swept through your cheeks, tears forming, your body flustering with such passionate burn.

“Fuck, take me,” he would repeat again and again, “take it all, fuck, you feel so good, so good.”

It felt as though his body weight almost crushed yours as he topped you. His form acting like a fleshy anchor rubbing sweat against your back, thrusting forward with unrelenting energy—one hand slipped underneath to squeeze at your breast while the other held onto your throat, rutting manically as he approached his desperate end.

Continuing to tear you apart as he impaled you—you felt him sink his lips into the back of your neck, leaning closer as he attempted to pepper sloppy kisses, dampening your flesh with such heavy bruised love bites forming suckled petals like you were the finest clay.

He grunted—moaned, almost growled as he rolled his hips harder, your fingers tore at the bedsheets as you cried out in pain; your body was very much past its limit of what it could handle, but that never stopped him before. His assault on your heat continued, pushing your head further into the mattress to stifle—silence your protests—pulling himself back up as his palm now pressed flat against your shoulder, keeping you perfectly positioned in place, underneath him, fully submitting.

In a final attempt, his pace quickened as his cock speared within you while spilling tears absorbed into the mattress below, rubbing your face raw with friction. He enjoyed keeping you perfectly grounded until finally, he milked himself into your clenching core, finally reaching his peak and in turn, releasing his intensive hold over your body.

“Fuck, I think I lo…” he gasped, but trailing off before he could say it. Refusing to tell you, despite already being so sure of it.

Like many of the times before, he liked keeping you close after he finished. In a normal setting, this could be perceived as aftercare, but it didn’t feel quite as warm as that. Perhaps it was more so done as a reminder, you considered, as if to say that even after he got what he wanted, he wouldn’t be letting you go after.

Something sickening, not caring. Something mocking, not kind.

You were a prisoner here, after all. Confined with a conditional death sentence, so in order to live, you gave in—again and again.

Eventually though, he broke the silence as he slipped out from within you, coating the bed in his own mess but he didn’t care.

“Are you awake?” he asked you, intending to run something by you.

You softly hummed with a sleepy nod, not wanting to talk to him again so soon—not that he’d let you completely shut him out.

(He never did.)

“Good,” he said before continuing, “so for tomorrow night, you don’t have to worry about much. Just making that part clear.”

“I’ll be using just the… shocks, right…?” you murmured, attempting to pull away from him but he didn’t let you go just yet.

“If that,” he revealed, pulling you back to him again, this time holding you even tighter, “just being another set of eyes should be enough. I don’t want you involved with my original plan.”

Being around him was already confusing though and your curiosity was beginning to peak, for months at a time, he kept changing up your involvement and now you were left once again, with more questions than answers.

“What was the original plan?” you asked, hoping that he’d finally shed some light on it since he had never done so before to you. He kept your involvement refined to a cryptic understanding, so you never quite got what you were originally supposed to do.

“The cursed spirit alliance, Mahito’s group, has a common task to keep a certain sorcerer distracted for enough time for me to execute what is a risky plan,” Kenjaku explained calmly, his fingers tracing along your skin, “given your gradually worsening state, you would just be in the way if you got involved.”

“So… you don’t trust me to fight at all?” you asked, equal parts relieved but also disappointed with how little faith he had in you. Another part of you felt thankful also, knowing that you didn’t have to hurt anyone.

Kenjaku smiled, pulling you just a little closer, “Not at all, actually. If you can’t even handle being roughed up just now, then how do you expect to survive something serious?”

Your eyes squinted in confusion, “…Roughing up?”

“You should know by now, but I do suppose that I can show you exactly what I mean again if you’d like,” he smiled, dipping his lips onto your shoulder, “I can go for a lot longer you know, I only stop myself because I don’t want to break you entirely.”

“That’s different-“

“—it’s actually all the same,” he purred, planting a kiss onto your shoulder, “your body would take a hit one way or another and as a result, you’d only slow yourself and others down.”

“So, what am I doing exactly again?” you asked in a resigned tone.

Kenjaku smiled in response as he let an air of mocking silence hang between the two of you, amused that he managed to tease you in such a way. You were quite cute when you were flustered and it was almost too sweet for him that you couldn’t make a single decision without his input—even though that’s what he wanted all along to begin with.

“To be alert,” he finally replied.

You tried to pry yourself away again once more with little success, “And that’s really just it?”

He hummed, flattening you on your back so he could look down on you while he rested on his side, “It’s something even you could keep up with.”

You really didn’t like how he continued to downplay his plans with you and how he sounded condescending with every response he fed you, but that wasn’t the pressing issue here. If your purpose was simply to just be his eyes and ears, then what was preventing him from doing it himself? Or to have anyone else do it? As far as you understood, the sorcerer allies that followed him to his plans were present because they were loyal to his original vessel—so, why couldn’t he have used someone else for that instead?

“I can keep up…” you sighed, ignoring his teasing, “I’m just struggling to understand why it has to be me,” you persisted, watching his nonchalant smile drop even if it was for just a split second. You were acting too relentlessly and he didn’t like seeing you that way, feeling hints of deja vu surface from your last attempt of independence just months ago.

(That’s how he perceived it all, at least.)

“Your role is to help me, that’s all there is to it,” Kenjaku replied as his voice took on a more serious tone, “that was what we agreed upon when we first met, but the circumstances have changed.” He paused as his tone returned to being teasing, “If only your body could properly function then you’d have something more fun to do, but you couldn’t even manage that—could you?”

Ignoring his mockery, you continued to try and probe the issue, “So, I’m just helping you for the sake of it…? Even if I’m doing nothing?”

“A role is a role,” he replied, feeling slight annoyance creep back.

“But-“

Swiftly interrupting, he fed you a bleak reminder, “—you want to live, don’t you?”

“Yes but-“

He interrupted you again, his hand pushing up against your lips and muffling your speech, “—then stop asking me questions.”

(It partially pained him to silence you actually, since he loved a curious mind. But he also wanted to keep you compliant and so he had no choice but to shoot you down.)

~~~

The next night finally rolled around and the evening was steadily approaching. You were forced to comply with him regardless of your opinions on the matter, tethering yourself to his side as he walked you through the bustling parts of the city—all the while you failed to disclose that something seemed off about the battery as it would occasionally jitter, leaving you feeling a little weird on the inside.

Maybe it was just nerves, so you dropped the issue. He had better things to worry about than to fiddle with a glorified necklace.

The subway he led you into was awfully bright, too. More so than you had remembered such places to be. The harsh lighting was almost as clinical as the hospital fluorescents, bathing the train station in a cold, pale glow.

Taking on the role of his eyes, your sights roamed around the the station as you internally logged all of the potential exits, just in the case that you had to retreat from potentially overwhelming danger. While he kept your involvement and the details under a lot of cover, you could already tell that from the way he treated this whole operation and from just the sorts of people (and cursed spirits alike) that he got involved, that it was no walk in the park.

You started to wonder if you could even run away from the face of danger if you wanted to, remembering the confines of the binding vow. Given how sketchy he was, you wouldn’t put it past him to have snuck in a hidden clause in there just to keep you properly contained.

Finally seeing off the cursed spirit alliance, Kenjaku had you glued at his hip for the remainder of the next twenty minutes, ensuring that you wouldn’t stray away from him.

“So… they’re just fighting him?” you warily asked, feeling some slight relief surface knowing that you didn’t actually have to fight the six eyes user; you heard the rumours surrounding his strength and you likely would have been barely even battle fodder.

“They’re buying time so that I can seal him into the cube,” Kenjaku corrected you, his fingers drumming around the prison realm he held in his hands.

“Is that… even possible?” you asked, watching the fight from a concealed location, the distance hidden away from a direct line of sight.

“Oh, it very much is,” he smiled, finding your naïveté almost charming, “it’s very much possible to keep even the best sorcerer busy with a couple of special grades thrown at them.”

You gulped in response, feeling some sort of unease wash over you the longer you watched him toy around with the cursed object. You remembered reading about such a thing back when you were a student; some sort of forbidden tool that was designed to seal the victim inside by cutting them off from the world completely.

It didn’t surprise you that such a thing existed, but you didn’t feel particularly good about him having access to it for whatever reason.

In an attempt to push that troubling thought away, you focused your sights on the fight instead. Your mind conjured up a curious thought, eyes narrowing as you watched the fight in progress, “…was I supposed to shock him were I to be healthier?”

“Ideally, yes. I wanted you to electrify him into place, maybe numbing him to keep him and steal a minute of his time,” Kenjaku calmly replied, “however, since this body I’m occupying used to belong to his old best friend, I think I could get those sixty seconds from surprise alone.”

Your eyes twitched as your expression soured, feeling a little conflicted, “…And that’s not a bit too cruel?”

Kenjaku snorted in response, finding your question to be humorous, especially what with what he had planned and just what sort of things he got up to before, “It wouldn’t be the worst thing that I’ve ever done.”

Your eyelids fluttered a couple of times in response, choosing not to give into the undying curiosity to ask what exactly he meant for that. Your sanity was already on the verge of collapse and you could only imagine what sorts of evil that this guy got up to in the past.

(Or could you? You didn’t have a clue, actually. His smile faltered as he waited for you to ask just that, feeling just a touch disappointed when you didn’t ask, but didn’t let that much show.)

“So why a minute?” you asked, pressing on.

“The prison realm requires certain conditions to be fulfilled in order to work,” Kenjaku revealed, adopting a casual tone once again, “it will only activate to successfully trap the target if they’re in the vicinity for a full minute, with the catch being that they can’t leave the radius.”

“And then it just… traps him?” you warily asked.

“Not quite,” he smiled, happy to talk about exactly how it all worked, “in order to render the target’s abilities useless, it will puncture a seal through their body and limit their flow of cursed energy. Then, it traps them.”

“T-that doesn’t sound t-too good,” you stammered, feeling unsettled.

“Oh? I personally think it sounds incredible,” he smiled as he checked the time, “there’s nothing that this thing can’t seal. Don’t worry though, it’s only one at a time in that place so you can’t join him.”

“That’s not funny,” you shuddered in response.

He didn’t reply as he simply waited around with you, occasionally casting glimpses of what could have been perceived as affection towards you—only when you weren’t looking though. He focused on you more than the amulet, once again not quite noticing that it seemed to flicker in a strange way nor how it made you on occasion twitch.

And after a short while he spoke up once again, gesturing with his hand for you to follow, “Now, come along.”

You reluctantly followed suit, stepping closer into the main area of the station with him, remaining shamefully quiet as you watched the six eyes user, Satoru Gojo, stiffen at the sound of his name being called out by Kenjaku. Just the idea alone of him using a body familiar to him was unnecessarily cruel to you, even if you did understand why it was the easier route for him to take.

You glanced at the cube that Kenjaku placed down just moments before, activated itself and effortlessly ensnare what was the strongest sorcerer of today’s world. Your demeanour continued to tighten as you watched his blue eyes widen in anger, recognising that the man before him was in fact not his friend—but a shell, Kenjaku then flinched as he felt his vessel work against him, choking him, reacting in favour of Gojo’s aid.

“You’re not him, are you…? I can smell it,” he growled.

“Whaaa…?” Kenjaku’s face lightened up, removing the hand from his neck, feeling off guard in response, “That’s so creepy, or maybe incredible? Nobody has ever been able to tell these things so easily.”

It was then that you flinched again, but for a different reason. Your eyes scrolled off to the side as you watched in frozen fascination, how the person you had come to get to know (albeit against your will) for nearly a year, quite literally unscrew the top of his head and pop it off like a lid to a container. You watched on with slightly widening eyes as a gushing flow of cerebral fluid escaped through the cap, revealing a pink, fleshy brain with a set of teeth—understanding perfectly well (or maybe not at all), what exactly this entity truly was.

Even though he had already told you this before—that he hopped bodies—you didn’t quite expect it to be exactly like… like that? A moment passed and another strange and troubling thought surfaced.

You have been receiving abuse and had been getting assaulted from something that you weren’t even sure was human at this point. You were held against your will, taken care of and at times even caressed by someone—something���masquerading to be a regular old sorcerer, when the reality was far from it.

Such a thought only continued to nauseate you and you didn’t dare to look back again, pointing your sights on the ground instead while frozen into place from utter shock alone. Swallowing a hard lump that formed in your throat, you just barely paid attention to the words he now spoke to Mahito who had just caught up.

Careful not to drain the pendant sooner than you had to from the quickly building stress and fear alone, you forced yourself to calm down, at least for now. You didn’t want to be near this thing at all however and despite whatever you were entangled in as far as the binding vow meant, you knew that you had to leave and soon. As soon as you could move, as soon as you could do anything at all, then you would… do something at all—but then your attention was briefly captured as the six eyes user spoke up, begging for this whole process to hurry up already as it felt like a drag.

Kenjaku then further distracted you from such troubling thoughts as he finally acted to close the gate to the cube; the block lighting up with flickering eyes on cursed crimson flesh, watching as he packed up Satoru Gojo, humanity’s strongest sorcerer into a mere compressed cube, held in the mere palm of his hand—putrid eyes widening and then finally, blinking shut.

You stared at the cube for a moment longer with him and Mahito as the three of you seemed curious about the object (all the while you also harboured strong feelings of disgust in addition to that). Maybe it was foolish to think you could side with him even when he kept up his promise, but now, as that part waned and your will to live dampened, you no longer quite cared about staying alive if it had meant participating, no, contributing, to something that this monster was orchestrating.

Just as your thoughts however met their peak unease however, the cube started to jitter around in his hand, forcing Kenjaku to drop it. The cursed object now splintering the tiled ground, splitting the surface broken as the sheer vast power alone weighed the realm down.

And as the remainder of Mahito and his group dispersed, Kenjaku led you elsewhere, telling you that the main part of the plain was now underway so if all goes as according to plan, it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

However, your sickened unease only continued to fester—rendering you unable to think, let alone focus on his words.

You still had your mind on escape, wanting nothing more than to run away, somewhere else, somewhere that wasn’t at his side.

Thinking quickly of a potential out, you needed some time to plot and so with a slightly agitated tone you asked him a question, “Can I, uh, use the bathroom for a sec?”

He noticed that you were on edge but his composed demeanour didn’t reveal that he knew, nodding you off instead with his eyes blinking into the direction of the public restrooms, following slightly behind you as though to settle a hunch, a suspicion of some sort; your mood seeming off to him, a little too much to be just a coincidence.

It was that same strange feeling that ate away from him internally—the one where you kept challenging him and questioning his authority, with both the possibility of independence and relentless questioning, leading him to interpret both the way you asked such a simple question as well as how you acted to be something similar, not liking the implications a single bit.

Whereas in your mind, you thought you successfully slinked off with only one goal festering in your mind.

You wanted to—needed to get out of here.

Dead or alive.

[veliseraptor]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, please reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love.💛💛💛

ooh interesting interesting. I actually did this one not too long ago but I can do it again, with a different set of fics this time. these are pretty much all pulled from my Author's Favorites series on AO3

our love would live a half-life on the surface (MDZS/CQL)

Possibly I'd rate this one as the most fucked up xuexiao I've written; definitely it's the most fucked up ostensible fix-it fic. and like! I did fix it! sort of! some things anyway!

It was really fun to write because of how deeply it's set in Xue Yang's POV, and the fun of trying to convey what's going on outside of his blinkered and undeniably skewed understanding of the world. I also had a lot of fun balancing between the genuinely fucked up nature of what Xue Yang is doing throughout this fic and his genuine desire to make things better and just completely failing to understand how to go about doing that.

“Why’s it matter?” Xue Yang snapped. “It doesn’t. Or it doesn’t need to. So you killed some people. So what? I get you’re upset about it right now - obviously - but it’s not like you need to be. They weren’t anyone important.” “Everyone is important,” Xiao Xingchen said. “Bullshit,” Xue Yang said firmly. “Most people aren’t. Why do they matter so much to you anyway? It’s not like you knew them. Most of them,” he amended, before Xiao Xingchen could bring up fucking Zichen. “So just - forget about it.” Xiao Xingchen made a faint sound at the back of his throat. “Is there anything human in you at all,” he said, and Xue Yang sank his teeth into his cheek, the taste of blood spreading across his tongue. He yanked the bandage the rest of the way off. “Probably not,” he said hoarsely, and started cleaning the blood off Xiao Xingchen’s face where it’d gotten smeared all over his cheeks and around his eyes. Gently. He didn’t want to actually hurt him.

what little girls are made of (MCU)

I went back and forth on a few different MCU fics but decided on this one because it gets a little less love than a lot of them and I'm deeply fond of it. I love Natasha dearly and one of the things I love about her is the potential for how weird she can be. And also I'm always on a campaign to give her more female friends.

“Is that how you usually make friends?” she asked. Natasha cocked her head to the side like she was thinking. “I made one of them by pretending to be someone else so she’d hire me,” she said. “That’s different.” It sounded like a joke. Sharon suspected it was also serious. “Then there’s Maria – I was a hundred-ten pounds of pissed off at the world when I met her. The other ones…one I met through an alien invasion and one was trying to kill me. Then there’s Wilson – I did knock on his door first.” Sharon stared at her. Romanoff smiled, a little – still sharp but maybe a little brittle. “I don’t really do usual, Agent Carter.”

Ground Zero (MDZS/CQL)

I wrote this one in an afternoon and I'm happy enough with it that I've never written another version, which is kind of saying something. I'll often circle around pivotal events in a characters' life and write a few different versions of them, and the finger-crushening is so central to Xue Yang's story that I might've done the same, but I ended up satisfied enough with this version to pretty much leave it alone as my Definitive Account (more or less).

I think what I was trying to convey here on a visceral level was the horror and the pain of that experience, which I think sometimes gets minimized into "just lost a finger." And the surrounding circumstances that shape and define Xue Yang's understanding of the world going forward because of it.

“What’s one more dead beggar?” A sigh. “If I cut off the hand there’s good odds he’ll bleed to death. If I don’t there’s good odds it’ll go foul and he’ll die in a week. What do you want?” Don’t take my hand, he thought dazedly. Don’t. Please don’t. “Start with the finger,” said the other voice. “Then we’ll see.” “Fine, fine.” Xue Yang could feel his breathing coming faster. He opened his eyes just long enough to see the man weighing a butcher’s knife, then slammed them closed again, heart pounding in his stomach. He screamed when the man touched what was left of his little finger, pulling it away from the others. Thrashed, reflexively, trying to get away. “Hold still, you little cur,” the man said harshly, and the knife went through easy like it’d gone easy into Xiao Hu when the bodyguard had stabbed him for cutting a gentry purse. Honestly, he barely even felt the cut itself.

The Sad Heart of Ruth (A Song of Ice and Fire)

An old fic but I'm still happy with it! Which isn't always the case. Throwback to a fandom I haven't written for in years but a relationship I still have a lot of feelings about. A serious outlier, in terms of my ships, but one I'm inexplicably fond of nonetheless.

And yeah, me writing about grief again. I'm always writing about grief.

It was small things she remembered. The warmth he radiated when they lay in bed together. The way his forehead crinkled when he was thinking hard about something. The strange, shy, hesitant (naïve) joy she’d felt on their wedding day. The way he’d cried into her shoulder when he’d heard of his brother’s deaths. “The King in the North is dead,” the Blackfish said, his face like carved stone. “Oh,” she said.

The Season of Grace Coming Out of the Void (Black Jewels Trilogy)

Another throwback to an old fandom that's kind of an eternal fandom in some ways; I'm very proud of this brief snippet of an AU. I think it came out well and (surprisingly) concise for what it is; it could've gotten very elaborate but I think it's stronger as the short piece that I left it.

He’d had them back a week when Daemon turned up in his study halfway through the night and announced casually, “If you do anything to Lucivar, I’ll kill you.” Saetan set down his pen and looked at his namesake. He expected to see anger, or suspicion. He found nothing. Just blank gold eyes looking placidly back at him. A shiver crawled down his spine. Saetan nodded once. “Understood,” he said. Daemon ghosted back out the door. Saetan stared after him, and wondered if he was supposed to be happy that his boys were talking to each other.

passing this one on to @ameliarating, @brawlite, @mostfacinorous, @maester-of-spreadsheets, and @feralkwe!

[kkvqwrites]

Neighborhood Watch

The news had reported some unsolved break-ins. If you thought Simon took it overboard with his protectiveness before, you were in for a shock.

Word count: 2,047

Characters: Fem!Reader, Simon "Ghost" Riley, John "Soap" MacTavish

CW: violence, breaking and entering, SA mentioned/alluded to (not on-screen)

A/N: This is based on a dream I had that I thought was cute (can you tell I watch a lot of Forensic Files and Criminal Minds?). It ended up being WAY longer than I intended, but once I started I just couldn't stop! It's also minimally edited because I was excited to get it out but I'll update this note if I make any changes or clean it up!

As often as Simon was away, you cherished your rituals together while he was home. Perhaps your favorite of these was lazy mornings together after breakfast, your legs over his lap as you sipped your coffee (and he his Earl Grey). Today the news was on in the background, sports highlights and local politics droning on as you chatted. That is, until a specific headline caught his attention.

"Our top story as we start the hour, a robbery and assault was reported in the early hours of the morning. The victim, a 26 year old young woman, is a university student who lives alone in her second story flat. This marks the fourth such attack in as many weeks in the area, prompting police to urge residents to act with caution."

Simon stiffened, eyes darting to you. "You've heard about this?"

You nodded, expression turning serious. "I didn't want to tell you while you were gone, I knew it would only make you worry. But people are nervous about it - overheard a lady at the supermarket saying her neighbor was one of the first victims."

"We'll hear from the police chief shortly, but in the meantime all households are encouraged to keep doors locked and report suspicious activity immediately."

Simon sat forward, placing his tea on the coffee table and holding your legs in place when you moved to slide them off his lap. "Fuckin' hell. Moved us here because it's supposed to be safe, and now this."

"We are safe, Simon. You think anyone's coming to the SAS Lieutenant's house to try anything? They'd be out of their mind."

"Knowing how often the Lieutenant's gone, it's not impossible. You remember everything I taught you?"

"Aye aye," you replied with a mock salute, trying to breathe levity back into the moment. "I know how to shoot and where all the knives are hidden."

"Good girl," he smirked, leaning back into the sofa and resuming rubbing his hand up and down your thigh absentmindedly. Despite the day going on as planned, you had an inkling this wasn't the end of the conversation.

_____________

"Simon, you've lost your mind."

"Ages ago, sweetheart," he replied with a smirk. "But it's non-negotiable. I can't go with you, so MacTavish will be."

In the weeks since Simon had first heard the news report, the attacks hadn't ceased. Quite the opposite, actually; they'd escalated in frequency. More home invasions, but also a jogger on a trail, a waitress walking home after a night shift. All women, all 20-something, all caught by themselves by an opportunistic sicko. There was buzz everywhere in the small town the two of you had settled in, which you knew irked Simon to no end. He had specifically wanted somewhere quiet and safe to put down roots and hopefully raise a family, so it perturbed him greatly that someone so heinous was on the loose.

He kept up with the case as much as possible, cursing creatively under his breath at the inadequacy of the local police department. He also began going everywhere with you, no matter how small the errand. Going to the corner store to buy toilet paper? Not by yourself, you weren't. Walking to work because the weather was lovely? Sure, but so was your 6'4 escort. And you best believe he'd be there at the end of the day to walk you home, too.

It was cute and fun, at first. As much as Simon was away, it was lovely to spend so much time by his side. But after a week or so it became a bit grating. After all, it wasn't like an evil man in a trench coat was going to tie you to the railroad tracks and laugh maniacally, right?

When Simon mentioned he had to spend an afternoon on the nearby base meeting with his superiors and getting his annual physical, you had breathed a sigh of relief - finally an afternoon to yourself! At least, so you thought, until Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish showed up on your doorstep.

You liked Johnny, really you did. The few times you'd interacted with Simon's squadmates, you'd gotten on well with all of them, and had found Soap's humor and incessant need to annoy Simon to be endlessly amusing. But that was very different than this.

"I don't need a babysitter, Simon," you hissed, trying to keep your volume down so Soap wouldn't overhear in the next room. You had dragged Simon aside in a desperate attempt to talk some sense into him before he left.

"Of course not, love," his voice dropped the humor it had held moments ago. "It's not babysitting. It's protection. I will not send you out there with that monster running around without someone to watch your six. I can't do it."

You squeezed your eyes shut, dredging up all the patience you could muster. Simon's protectiveness was overkill, but you understood it came from a vulnerable place. "Fine, this once. But we need to talk about this. I can't live like this."

Simon kissed your forehead. "Alright love, we'll talk about it. But please stay with Johnny while you're out today. When we're home later we'll order from that place you like."

Never one to turn down Korean barbecue, you pulled him in for a real kiss before turning him loose. "Take your jacket, it'll get cold later. I love you!" you called after him.

"I love you too," he echoed as he gathered his things in the foyer. He turned, finally acknowledging the man standing there with a stern nod. "Johnny."

"LT," the man grinned back. "It's nice to see you so domesticated."

"Shut up Soap," Simon snapped, shrugging into his jacket. "You go where she goes today. And bloody hell, make yourself useful while you're at it." The Sergeant smirked and saluted before giving Simon a playful punch in the shoulder. "Sir yes sir!"

After your husband was out the door, Soap turned to where you stood with your arms crossed. "Where to first, lass?"

_____________

It turned out, Soap wasn't bad company. First up was the hardware store, where you picked out a paint color for the spare bedroom you'd been meaning to redecorate. Your companion gamely offered his opinion when asked and waited patiently while you compared Fresh Artichoke and Misty Moor with a fraught expression. Without being asked, he carried the paint cans to the car. "LT would skin me alive if he found out I had you doing the heavy lifting," he joked.

Next was the pharmacy, picking up some prescriptions as well as makeup remover and tampons. You sheepishly tried to avoid eye contact while placing the box into your basket, but the sergeant just shrugged. "Seen my fair share of blood." The two of you shared a giggle and moved on.

Finally, you stopped at a boutique to buy a birthday present for a cousin. You knew this would bore Simon to tears, though he wouldn't complain, and you had wanted to save it for an afternoon where he wasn't with you to spare him the tedium. Unfortunately for the poor sergeant, you had run out of weekends to complete the task. Like the rest of your errands, however, he dutifully kept his mouth shut while you weighed the options before deciding on a nice cashmere scarf and some pretty earrings. Once again, he wordlessly took the parcel to carry it to the car for you.

"You know, I could get spoiled having a doorman follow me around," you joked as the two of you settled in the car to make your way home.

"From how the LT acts around you, I'd wager you're pretty spoiled as it is." It was said with humor, but Soap's voice turned warm as he continued. "He's head over heels for you, you know."

You sighed, fighting a beaming smile at the observation. "I know. It's why he has you guarding me like I'm the Prime Minister. I am sorry, by the way. I tried to talk him out of it."

"No need," Soap waved the statement away, looking out the window at Main Street passing by. "He told me what the situation was, and I don't blame him for worrying. Sick bastard running around. He frets enough as it is when he has to be away, but on this I can say he's dead right." You grimaced at the admission; you were as worried as the next person that they hadn't caught the culprit yet, but you had found some comfort in the idea that Simon was blowing it out of proportion. Not wanting to stay on such a negative topic, you made small talk the rest of the ride home, asking Johnny about his family in Scotland and him asking you about yours in America. His boisterous sense of humor was refreshing after Simon's lovable but dry deadpan jokes, and the two of you fell into easy camaraderie.

It had gotten dark while you were out, and your street was off the beaten path and thus minimally lit. You usually appreciated the lack of noise and light pollution, but recent events made it a bit off-putting. Thankfully, you had a six foot special forces escort with you, though you'd rather die than admit to Simon that it helped ease your mind.

As you pulled up to the house, your heart stopped as your headlights caught movement in the front window. Is that Simon? Why is he inside with no lights on? Maybe it's the wind blowing the curtain. But it's cold - I wouldn't have left the window open. Your thoughts continued to come up with rationalizations as you put the car in park. You thought of mentioning it to Soap, but didn't want to sound hysterical. It was just the news reports and Simon's paranoia getting to you; you repeated it like a mantra as you steeled yourself to open the car door.

"Don't," Soap's voice was quiet but firm, a far cry from his infectious laughter at the bawdy joke he had been telling just moments before. "Don't move. Stay in the car." His face had gone stone cold serious, like a switch had been flipped. Turns out he hadn't missed the movement either.

"Johnny, I'm sure it's - " but you were cut off by a commotion from inside. Faster than you would've thought possible, Soap was out of the car and halfway to the front steps before a running form slammed into him as they were coming around the side of the house. The two fell to the ground, but the sergeant quickly regrouped and moved to pin the stranger to the ground with a knee to their back. There was a brief tussle, but Soap's military training made easy work of subduing whoever this was.

"Get off me you asshole!" a man's voice barked. "He's right behind me!"

"Good work, sergeant." You wheeled at your husband's voice, finding Simon stepping out of the shadows from the direction the man was running from. You had hopped out of the car at some point, but were standing there uselessly watching Soap manhandle the stranger.

"Simon! What are you doing here?! What's happening?" Your voice sounded shrill even to your own ears, your heart in your throat.

Your husband moved to where his body was between you and where Soap was kneeling on the other man's back. As he came into the light of your headlights, you saw he was donning his infamous skull balaclava. "Got here not long ago myself. Found this individual inside, waiting to surprise you. Decided to give him a surprise of my own."

"Good thinking, LT." Soap smirked from where he knelt on the man's back. He pulled the hood away from the intruder's face, which was already bloodied. When he saw Simon staring down at him, he began to squirm to try to get away, eyes widening in fear.

"Go inside and call the police, love," Simon said gently over his shoulder. "Tell them we've got someone they're looking for." You took in the scene for a few more seconds before obeying. As your shaking hand fought to get your key in the door, you overheard Simon speak quietly to the man, "And my friend, for your sake I hope they get here quickly."

[the-habitat-ring]

Today’s Rose Adventures

I’ve never been particularly into roses, but after moving to the habitat ring and rescuing a lovely old fashioned rose from being smothered by invasive Amur honeysuckle and adding rosa setigera, the native climbing prairie rose as my version of Stardew Valley’s fairy rose, I have come to appreciate them more. My prairie rose is currently blooming and looks lovely growing against the fence, but I wanted another prairie rose or two to continue down the fence line not only because I think it would look beautiful in bloom but also for the wildlife value.

In the Midwest, native roses serve as host plants for the caterpillars of over 100 different species of butterflies and moths, which are vital for the food web. Those caterpillars are perfect food for baby birds, and the thorny canes provide shelter for all sorts of animals. The rose hips (it’s fruit) feed birds and mammals in the fall and winter. This is another reason why I wanted more plants — unlike most roses, prairie roses are dioecious, meaning they have separate male and female flowers on different plants and thus require two plants to pollinate and fruit. My single prairie rose hasn’t produced any rose hips, so obviously he needs a mate (or two). Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of places around here selling native roses and they can be pricey.

Fortunately, I drive past this beautiful patch of roses on the side of the road to and from work, and after my success growing elderberries from cuttings I knew I had to try again and see if I could successfully propagate rosa setigera.

Today I was finally able to take some cuttings, but I was confused. Although I was sure that this was rosa setigera (it’s the only native rose that gets this large), all of the canes I was seeing and cuttings I took had 5 leaflets.

I have always seen prairie roses with 3 leaflets, which is unique and a useful identifying feature. However, everything else pointed to it being rosa setigera, and it didn’t seem to match any other rose species.

I posted pics in the state native plant group just to be sure, as I wasn’t interested in propagating anything else. The other native roses aren’t climbing and I don’t have a good place to put them other than on the fence, and although I formed an emotional attachment to the rose that came with the house I’m not interested in adding more non-native roses to the habitat ring. Fortunately the experts in the native plant group confirmed my ID — while rosa setigera typically has 3 leaflets, it can also have 5, so they’re not the norm but still climbing prairie roses.

The plant experts gave me a better key feature for identifying prairie roses — rosa setigera is the only rose to have combined styles (the thing in the center), whereas in other roses they are separate. I love learning new things!

I went ahead and planted the cuttings (with minimal blood and tears) in a pot covered with an old juice container to keep them humid. I would’ve taken a picture but by the time I finished it was dark out and I was being eaten by mosquitos, so I’ll try to post pics later. Hopefully my propagation is successfully and I get some roots! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

finnish!! question for you if it's not too invasive: is it true that finnish -> english learning gender pronouns is very weird because there's minimal distinction in finnish? I heard someone talk once that he got really confused with he/she/him/her and his english is completely legible and almost error-free except he'll say things like "And then she pulled out a pencil and then he drew a picture" when talking about the same person, etc. Is that a common thing for Finnish -> English?

Not invasive at all! You’re right on the money. As a young girl I was always very annoyed by learning gendered pronouns. I kept thinking over and over, “What if I don’t know? What do I say then? What do I say when I don’t know?” Note that when pronouns were introduced to me I only knew “he” and “she” as singular, and “they” I only knew of as a plural pronoun. I don’t know if or when I was ever taught that “they” can be a singular pronoun too, perhaps I learned it by myself by surfing the net? Anyway yeah, it’s a real head scratcher! I don’t know how common it is for Finns to mix up gendered pronouns — I’ve never heard my friends do it, but we’re on the high end of the fluency scale — but I have heard other such cases besides your friend here!

[am-i-soup]

Hot Wheels (a tfp fanfic)

Chapter 1: Uncanny Valley, Nevada

AO3 || Chapter 2

Summary: So, Lena was abducted by aliens. Robot aliens. That's- no, it's not cool! She could die at any moment! So what if the red guy was hilarious to rile up and watched horror movies with her? And his husband was like the fun uncle she never had? Their boss wouldn't hesitate to step on her, and the screechy beanpole had already threatened to stab her, like, five times. She can only bullshit her way into being useful for so long. If she could just find a way to contact Miko... oh, and get help. That, too.

-----

When Lena thought of aliens, she pictured xenomorphs and flesh abominations like that thing from The Thing: vaguely man-ish shapes that make your brain go "Hey, I don't like that" because why does it share the same body plan as a human? Why is it trying to look like us? She was all over that uncanny valley-type shit. Invasion? Get that girl a baseball bat and some vaguely spherical objects and set her loose. Unleeess the aliens had plans to abolish capitalism - because then she'd switch up lickety-split. She was ready to bash in some billionaire brains (what little they had, heheh).

Lena never would've guessed alien cars. She didn't even think 'alien' when the door of the speed demon she giddily tried to get an autograph from opened to reveal no driver at all. The only thought running through her mind when a taser popped out of the dash was, Even the cars are opps, followed by, Jean's gonna be so pissed. Her skateboard clattered to the pavement as her body fell limp into the idling sports car. A melodious beep-beep, beep, beep-beep twittered from the watch around her limp wrist, falling silent after another light zap.

"Ohh, I'm so fragged," said the sports car. "Breakdown, how mad do you think Lord Crazy-eyes will be if I show up with a fleshie?"

Had Lena known she'd get abducted that night, she would've at least packed a sweater. Or, y'know, avoided it altogether. Catching up to the shmancy red racer with those hard-as-hell yellow rims after he dusted everyone else probably wasn't the smartest move, but excitement had won over caution. Her foster parents would be giving her the most baffled reactions if they knew, and then another conversation about impulsive thoughts that should stay thoughts and, "Where is your survival instinct, pastelita? Look: you're already giving me greys."

The day had started good. Correction: decent, considering it was hot as balls and she had a math test. On a Friday. Lena shambled through her morning routine and tied back her side-swept hair to avoid brushing it. Her baseball cap covered the shaved side, proudly displaying the number 04 stitched above the red brim. Wyatt emerged from his bedroom, a similar case of bedhead making his brown curls wilder than usual. His casual formalwear was more put-together than he, and would remain so because brushing was for dumb losers, probably.

Jean, notably not dumb or a loser, had pulled her hair up into a thick bun of dark waves; a colourful bandana laid overtop. Remarkedly more effort, made obvious by the minimal effort of matching with work overalls.

Jean squinted and gestured to Lena's hair. "You're leaving so much out. What's even the point of putting it up?"

"I like it," Lena drowsily defended, flicking her head aside to adjust the free chunk of blonde hair framing one side of her face. "It's cool."

"'Cool' when we were your age meant being able to see your whole field of vision. Eesh, at least clip it back - how do you expect to see the ball like that?" Lena responded with a shrug and Jean exhaled in a huff. "Alright, pastelita, get your 'cool'-lata in the car." Jean carried out her husband's mobility aid and said, "You want your cane, hon?"

"Eh, might as well," Wyatt said whilst fighting a yawn. "My knee doesn't want me dead today."

The three of them piled into the car and Jean pulled onto the road. Lena decided now was a good time.

"I was gonna go to the skate park after practice," she announced.

Jean glanced at her in the mirror. There went the eyebrows. "For how long?"

"Couple'a hours."

"Uh-huh." And the dubious tone...

"Promise I'll be back before dark! And Jaiden and the other skaters are gonna be there. I won't forget again."

Wyatt twisted around to see Lena better. "That's fine. Just set your watch, 'kay? Seven o'clock. I better hear that front door open before seven thirty or I'll sic Jean on you."

"Like a sack of potatoes," Jean said. The car's engine rumbled fiercely as they paused at the stop light, amplifying her threat.

Remembering last time - and the times before that - Lena's face contorted. A set of rapid nods turned her into a great impersonation of a bobblehead. "Yep. Yep. Seven. Understood." She set the alarm on her vibrantly pink watch under Wyatt's scrutiny. It beeped. He smiled, satisfied, and settled properly in his seat.

Lena helped Wyatt extract his walker from the trunk and Jean drove off with a goodbye that was far more cheerful than anyone should be this early in the morning. It was pay day, wasn't it? Lena should ask Wyatt to sneak her some coffee from the break room. He caved easy.

Wyatt went through the side door up the ramp while Lena trudged her way toward the main entrance of the school. He was thrilled for class, which made one of them. Only he could make computers and programming somehow fun. Other students waited on the sparse lawn and parking lot of Jasper Memorial High School, walking in early like punctual weirdos or loitering like her. Lena dropped her backpack and stepped onto her board, rolling around the tiny parking lot. She sourly eyed the spot of the missing bench, removed for exactly the reason one might think. Lena mourned the sick moves she got off that metal bench.

Lena spotted a kid from class studying and groaned. She'd skip, but she didn't want to disappoint her foster parents like that again. She cringed when she recalled the first time she did skip - or, rather, the first time they becameaware she'd skipped - back when she wouldn't bat an eye because what did they care? They just wanted a cheque from the state like every other family that tried to claim they 'Just want what's best for you' and then sent her back when what she wanted didn't fit those rigid little boxes.

The devastated looks on Jean and Wyatt's faces when thirteen-year-old Lena exploded at them was forever burned into her memory. She'd ran afterward, down the driveway and into the night, no destination in mind. And then Jean had found her, curled up on a kiddie slide. Lena faintly remembered the confusion of seeing Jean exit the vehicle, the tentative hope when Jean sat on the slide beside her and just... listened. No adult had ever listened to her before. That was the night Lena knew they were for real. Lena couldn't call them parents - she might never utter the words 'Mom' or 'Dad' - and that was okay. The cool couple that saw a feral pre-teen and said, "That's the one" was good enough for her. They joked about wanting a kid, but not the stress of pregnancy or toddler years. "Pre-baked," Wyatt had once teased.

Lena's hip bleeped. She paused her skating to fish out the hungry Tamagotchi clipped to her cargo pants. She'd made it her mission to care for the digital pet since Mi-

"Leee!" a voice squealed, followed by a pair of arms wrapping around her waist. "Hi!"

Hey, speaking of!

"Hi," Lena greeted with a big smile on her face. "Plans still solid?"

Lena heard Miko's grin. "Oh, yeah. I'm so pumped. Weekend Wreck-fest is in. The. Bag! I got Raf to download basically every slasher and horror onto a USB for me." Miko dangled the USB in Lena's face, and Lena stored it in her pocket.

"Suh-weet! Jean's letting us have the garage. We're gonna move the TV and couch in."

"Uh, don'tcha mean Jean is gonna move them?"

"Hey, I got muscle!" Lena flexed her arms, squishy with stubborn baby fat. Miko poked an unimpressive bicep. "These babies got me top batter."

"Is that even a real title?"

"It totally is."

"Okay, 'batter baby'."

"Batt- what?"

"Nothing, baby, what's the batter with you?"

Lena scoffed out a laugh and spun around to gently bop Miko on her massive forehead. "Dude," Lena said, "that was so bad."

"So bad it's good?"

"No, just bad." Lena playfully pushed Miko away and kicked off on her skateboard. "Where are you getting these, Puns 101 for Dummies? You gotta step up your game, dude."

Miko trailed after Lena, a bubbly bound to her gait. "Hey, I'm always at the top of my game!" A loud-ass horn honked and Miko spun around to wave enthusiastically at the green SUV. "See ya later! Put some dents in those junkheaps for me." Its headlights flashed, then Miko's friend drove off.

Lena was wary of the guy at first, but she'd never seen Miko so ecstatic as the few months she'd known him. Military, Miko had said, and then snickered when Lena mimed gagging herself.

"Not American military," Miko had clarified before going off about something else.

Lena had spoken to the SUV's owner a couple times. He went by the nickname Bulk and seemed genuine enough, nothing sinister on the surface. Friendly and loud - songs Lena recognized often blared from the speakers when he picked Miko up for sci-fi club. A goofball, and the kind of energy that got along with Miko's like a house fire. Lena was just glad Miko was making friends. Small town middle-of-nowhere America was super rough, especially for a foreign kid who couldn't fit in, and who didn't want to. A flash of orange hair caught Lena's eye. She met Vince's bitter gaze and put her finger and her thumb in the shape of an L on her forehead, sticking out her tongue for good measure. He sneered and turned back to his buddies. Lena smirked.

The bell rang. Kids funneled into the building. Lena made it halfway to homeroom before she had to navigate backwards against the sea of teenagers to fetch her forgotten backpack. She collapsed into her chair just as the pledge and national anthem started over the PA system. As per usual, Lena remained in her seat. Also per usual, the teacher glared at her. Lena passive-aggressively adjusted her baseball cap, drawing attention to the pins clustered on it that sported all sorts of slogans such as THIS LAND IS THEIR LAND and LAND ISN'T FREE. Yeah, none of the teachers liked her. But Lena wasn't here to be liked. Supposedly, she was here for an education. In a system that squashed individuality and trained students to sit down, shut up, memorize, and obey.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lena spotted Miko doodling in her sketchbook. Lena texted a sequence of emojis embodying all the joy Lena couldn't contain (unamused, several Z's, sleepy). Miko replied, equally as zealous (sick, skull, ghost).

"Girls! Phones away!" the teacher barked over announcements, tapping a ruler on her desk. "Do I need to take them?"

Lena shot over one more emoji (barf) before tucking her phone away and exchanging it for a textbook to inanely flick through, one knee persistently jiggling as it so frequently did the moment she became idle. She glanced at the clock, which hadn't moved in five minutes. Lena leaned back, suppressing a groan. The day could not be over soon enough.

Soon enough, the day was over. Thank fuck.

School dragged on and on and on, the only reprieve being lunch - when she got to lounge around with Miko at their spot - and gym class, where Lena was able to go batshit during dodgeball and climb on things that were actually meant to be climbed on (trees didn't count, according to faculty). Lena had softball practice after, and boy, was she glad Jean made her carry around a tube of sunscreen. Whoof, that Nevada sun would kill a man. Miko hung around to cheer her on and snap some pics of Lena eating dirt to touch base. Those were going in the scrapbook, for sure. A shower and chugged water bottle later and Lena was off to the skate park. Miko's ride whisked her away, her cries of, "Don't miss me too much!" on the wind. Miko hung out the SUV window, dramatically reaching for Lena like some cheesy romance flick. Lena tried to keep up on her board, and when it was time to split off, blew Miko a kiss that was caught and turned into devil horns.

Jaiden and her gang were chilling on the play structures when Lena rolled up. Jaiden and Kayla were perched atop and hanging upside-down from the spiderweb dome, respectively. Kayla spotted her first and beckoned her over.

"How's it goin', fireball?" said Tami.

"Hello, Padawan. Welcome to my zen zone," Vee said from the ground, flat on their back under a tree and beanie pulled over their eyes. The distinct scent of weed hung around Vee. Lena claimed the free swing next to Tami, who was being pushed by Theo. The group chatted. Theo made the executive decision to skate, and they all migrated over to the cement playground that served as Jasper's skate park. Jaiden, Lena, and Tami joined him while Vee and Kayla spectated, conversation topics leaping to and fro at the whims of neurodivergent teenagers.

"Yo, Lena, you hear about the race later tonight?" Jaiden said.

Suffice it to say, Lena did not stay at the park. The race location was scribbled in her science notebook, which had also coincidentally become a second doodle book for Miko. She rolled till the dirt roads forced her to kick it on foot, board strapped to her backpack.

Honk-honk!

A bright blue muscle car rumbled past. Lena trotted after it. The older teens that she stuck to like a determined burr had no interest in street races, but they kept an ear out for Lena, who absolutely did. She found the small crowd huddled around and the line-up of vehicles raring to go. Lena preferred being early to ogle at the cars and mingle, but she was happy just to be there. She recognized most of the faces. Street races were one of few recreational activities in Jasper, and they happened every other week if you knew the right people. Considering everyone knew everyone, you'd be hard-pressed not to have at least heard about it.

The blue muscle car sat in its spot, driver cool as a cucumber as she leaned on the door and chatted to whomever. Lena eyeballed the woman's cropped leather jacket and unbothered, confident demeanour. She found herself leaning against a rickety wooden fencepost, totally not mimicking the badass in blue (dammit, she totally was). The driver noticed her and smiled. For some reason, Lena's face heated up.

She called Lena over. "Hey, kid! Nice board. You get that custom done?"

"Yup," said Lena. "I love your car." And your jacket.

"Ah, thanks. Ritika's my baby; I built her from the ground up. You like racing?"

"I love racing. The speed and the- augh, the, y'know, the everything. Boom! Wah-cha!" Combined with pantomimed punches, Lena filled in the blanks. "The whole feeling."

"Ha, yeah, I getcha. Hey, you know what? I'm part of a racing league. We're always looking for new players. If you're interested someday- dhhatt. You got a pen, kid?"

"Lena," Lena said, digging a pencil out of her bag.

"Lena? Thanks for comin' out to cheer me on. My name's Sharwa." Sharwa scribbled on a wrinkled scrap of paper and passed it on. "That's our business number. Hit us up if racing for profit - or just for the hell of it - strikes your fancy. Finish school first, though, huh? Get your education. Don't wanna be a dropout like me."

I wish, Lena thought. Someone yelled; they were about to begin. Lena went to join the crowd of onlookers, but the glossy red sports car pulling up to the function stopped her in her tracks. Lena gawked. Purple flame decals embellished its crimson flanks and eye-sore yellow rims distinguished it from the rest of the competition. Sharwa called out to the driver; Lena didn't hear the reply. Sharwa was grinning. Oh, shit, did they have a rivalry going on? Racing drama!?

Lena inched closer.

"Give it your best shot," oozed a roguish masculine voice, punctuated by a rich rev of his engine. "Victory tastes so much sweeter when they try."

Sharwa laughed. "Put your pedal where your mouth is, batuni."

"Oh, I will."

Racing drama. Cool.

Engines growled. Spectators cheered. The starter raised their hat. Lena held her breathe.

The hat dropped. Dust billowed up in thick clouds as cars roared to life. Lena held her cap in place. Her eyes stung, but she couldn't look away from the beasts tearing up the road, becoming shrinking shapes on the impromptu racetrack. The setting sun burned red on the sand, transforming the desert into a sea of rust. Or blood. Lena scampered over to a cluster of boulders and scaled them. She watched, enraptured. The racers completed one lap, and there was a noticeable lead.

The red car seized a strong first. Chasing his tail was Sharwa and third place, the rest of the pack lagging behind. Red slowed down - or Sharwa caught up? - and then the 180 happened.

Red spun around, keeping his speed and maintaining his position backwards. It was the single most peacocky maneuver Lena had seen, and she was living for it. She wasn't big on NASCAR or actual cars: this is what she loved. Being in the moment, feeling the wind on her skin and the excitement in her veins. It was the thrill she chased when she rolled down steep ramps and pulled a risky stunt mid-air. It was the feeling of rejecting limits and just going for it.

The moment red finished first was the same moment the cops showed up.

"Scatter!" someone shouted, but the crowd had already dispersed. Lena dropped from her watchtower and bolted in the same direction as the victor. Cracked pavement replaced packed dirt and Lena jumped onto her board. Distant sirens wailed behind her. Shadows elongated. Lights of Jasper blinked in the low glow of dusk. Lena caught up to the taillights, to her surprise. Possible introductions ran through her head.

"Hey!" The car jolted in response. Did she startle him? "Wait up!" He sped up, and Lena yelled, "You were awesome back there! Nobody even stood a chance!"

He slowed to a crawl. Lena beamed and kicked her board up into her hands. The car's windows were tinted almost black.

"Hmm. Do go on about how awesome I am," he said.

Lena appealed to his ego with genuine compliments. He was receptive, but that changed when Lena asked him to sign her skateboard. If a car could recoil, this one would. Audible disgust dripped from his tone.

"Keep your primitive twig on wheels to yourself," he said. "There's enough filth clinging to my paint already."

Lena wrinkled her nose. "A 'no' would've worked just fine. Jeez, man. You a dick to all your fans?"

"Just the whiny ones."

Lena wasn't about to let that slide. "Alright. Why don't you come out and say that to my face like a grown-ass man?"

Now, Lena... well, she never claimed to be a genius, but picking a fight with a random man on the outskirts of town - illuminated overhead by a sketchy streetlight - would be obvious to anyone as a bad idea. If this was a horror movie, she'd be yelling at the idiot on-screen to get the fuck outta dodge. Lena, however, functioned on two modes: chilling, and throwing herself at the closest douchebag. Her street cred was insane. So when she rapped on the nearly opaque window, she expected some guy to step out and underestimate her because what could a fifteen-year-old do to him? But nobody did. She cupped a hand around her eyes to peer inside.

The wind was knocked out of her when the door flew open. She stumbled, then rounded the door to confront the-

There was no one inside the vehicle.

A taser shot out of the dashboard and delivered a hearty zap! between her eyes. She toppled forward. A seatbelt snaked around her and hauled her awkwardly into the seat.

Lena's watch beeped. 7:00 lit up the digital display.

Getting kidnapped was probably a good reason for missing curfew, right?

AO3 || Chapter 2

[roguesscribbles]

Sorry I've been so dead recently! I've got a little project going on that's taking up my art time. Hoping to unveil it soon!

In the meantime, here's my new OC! I made her for a Mass Effect DnD group I'm joining! Her name is Raina Akiyama, she's a human engineer that abandoned her smothering military life to explore the galaxy, settling on Illium following the Reaper invasion.

You can read the full backstory under the cut:

Raina Akiyama was always destined to join the Alliance Military. From the day she was born on an Alliance ship to two parents with a decent military ranking, she spent the majority of her formative years on various Alliance ships or bases following wherever her parents were stationed.

At the time, she could count how many times she has been to Earth on one hand. Her father was from Japan and her mother was from Britain, so she had been to visit family members that she doesn’t remember the faces of. Her upbringing was lonely at times, her parents were busy working and other children were not that common. However, with the absence of people, she found her love in the mechanical instead.

She could always be found tinkering away at some piece of tech she found, sneaking into the engine room to look at the inner workings or pelting the engineers with all sorts of questions. And the Alliance were happy to support these dreams of hers, educating and pushing her towards a career as an Engineer.

There was just one problem, Raina didn’t like the way the Alliance ran things. She was never a fan of the authority, of the training exercises and the expectation to give it everything she had, with instructors and crew members who were always a bit too strict with a child, most likely already seeing the soldier she would become. She always felt trapped, forced into enlisting, because where else would she go? She was raised here, with a line of family all expecting her to join as the next generation as they once did, and she knew very little of the habited planets that dotted the galaxy.

Eventually, when she turned 18, she enlisted officially as an Engineer, continuing her training and enhancing her skills. If there’s one good thing she can say, it’s that the Alliance provided her with almost unlimited funding to tinker with whatever gadgets were put in front of her. She became intimately familiar with both the massive hardware of the Alliance vessels to the weapons and armour the troops relied on. She never fully felt like she belonged, but she could at least surround herself with the things she loved.

Things changed about 2 years later. She was stationed on a small base with an equally small squadron. Something that was meant to be safe, somewhere to train her and other recruits. For the first time in her life she felt like she had friends, people she could rely on and actually talk to, who had her back. Things finally started to fall into place, and she started to feel that yearned-for feeling of belonging.

Then, the raid happened.

A group of bandits attacked the base in the night, where there was minimal activity. They wanted the equipment that they had in storage. It wasn’t even very much, they most likely saw them as easy pickings, and they weren’t entirely wrong. Almost all of her squad was killed in the incident, though in the end Raina’s squad managed to barely win. During the scuffle, a confrontation with one of the assailants left her scarred after they slashed her face with an omni-blade. When she came to in the medical wing of an Alliance vessel, she found herself blind in her left eye.

Her entire world came crashing down. Almost all her friends were dead, that belonging ripped away from her in an instant. She was back to the cold, sterile vessels with people who saw her as little more than an asset, who wanted her back up and running as soon as possible as if a great tragedy hadn’t just occurred. As soon as they were able, they installed a cybernetic eye in the one she lost, patching her up like a broken piece of machinery.

Not even her parents were here. They contacted her as soon as they knew she was awake, but neither of them could leave their post to see her. Something in Raina just snapped. She needed away from this place, away from the military. She expressed her concerns to her parents, but they disapproved, encouraging her to just get better and push on. This was the family way. That just made the need to leave even more prevalent.

She was able to push for her to be medically discharged, quoting physical trauma and PTSD. She sent one final message to her parents telling them she was leaving and not to contact her. She grabbed all her belongings and money that she saved, grabbed the first civilian shuttle she could and started exploring the galaxy.

Over the next few years, she moved from planet to planet, exploring and experiencing and just living. She met so many new people, made new friends and went on her own adventures. She used her skills for work, either taking on odd jobs or temporarily joining a crew, which improved her abilities even further. She began to discover herself more as a person, get better at social interaction and just breathe for the first time. Life was good.

Then, the Reapers arrived.

Once more her world came crashing down, but this time it was different. She wasn’t alone. She had been staying on Illium when the news spread, and it wasn’t long before the Reapers made their way to them. Raina sprang into action, helping wherever she could to help the planets militia fend off the invasion, as well as help the people who had been displaced and evacuated to the planet. It kept her busy, and when the Reapers eventually fell, her positive presence put her on a lot of people’s radars as someone who was reliable.

Following this, she decided to take up a more permanent residence on Illium. They may have fended off the attack, but there was always work to be done. Plus, as a mercantile hub, other planets more affected turned to them for aid. She never found herself short for work, and she was keen to continue to improve her skills with the variety of machinery and tech that passed through. She dreams that one day, she can open her own mechanics shop, and make her role on Illium that much more permanent. Because she belongs.

[izunias-meme-hole]

3, 18, 23, and 49 for Doctor Doom?

3. What first drew you to this character?: I've always respected Doom since I saw him actually be a one-shot menace and the guy who knew about the Skull Invasion in Avenger's: Earth's Mightiest Heroes after being introduced to him through Super Hero Squad. I'd end up seeing him in some more shows and games, and hear a slither of his origin, but at the time he never clicked for me despite my respect. Then I looked closer at his comic history, especially that damn origin. I knew that his face got fcked in some accident, but I had zero idea that the damage was originally minimal before Victor BURNED HIS OWN FACE WITH HIS NEWLY FORGED MASK.

My guy really said "if my glorious face is no longer glorious then I'll give myself a new one" and its such a good showcase of his ego and how wounded it was after his face got fcked by his own miscalculations. Miscalculations that Reed Richards, someone he deemed his inferior, was right about.

18. Do you prefer to see this character suffer or know peace? Angst or comfort? Both?: Peace is honestly impossible for a man like Doom, so naturally I don't mind seeing him go through it.

23. Has this character permanently altered or impacted your psyche in a way you won’t forget? Considering the amount of fckin' old ass comic and some modern comic reblogs I've been making, especially on the Marvel side of things, I'd say Doom re-awoke an old interest and made me dive into a rabbit hole.

49. What’s your favorite personality trait in this character? His ego. It's his biggest flaw. Like Doom has shown that he can do so much good, and even as a tyrant he's done some actually good things, but what keeps him from doing so is the fact that his need to be at the top of all existence, to be the perfect ruler, to ensure that no one rivals Doom. This man cannot settle for being anything less than to the point where he comes off as over-the-top and its great.

[arlana-likes-to-write]

Hey, can you write one from that big sister!reader universe where it’s been a few months since they destroyed the red room (the avengers are back together) and the russian family makes a surprise birthday party for reader? the first one she got. like melina found out their birthday documents and they make one bc she needs this normalcy and the stuff she was deprived 😭😭😭 you can include the avengers bc they want to meet her too like nat told them what she did for nat and yelena and the sisters make an emotional speech for reader. i need to cry with them more jdjfk

Loved this request! I hope you like it!

Promise? (Part 2 of Lean on Me) 

Word Count: 4.3k

Warning: Angst with Fluff, mention of Red Room, reader has some issues but they are working on it.

It was a daunting and heartbreaking work as Melina scrolled through the hundreds and hundreds of girls still under Dreykov’s control. The map behind her was littered with pins of different colors. Green ones were Widows that were exposed to the gas, yellow were ones they weren’t sure if they’ve gone through the chemically subjugation, and red were ones that still needed to be saved. Unfortunately, there were more yellows and reds than greens. Melina sighed, seconds from calling it a night when she came across a file. Your file. It seemed like an invasion of privacy. Although, your relationship had improved in the two months based. But Melina had a curious mind. “Mama,” you said, opening the door. She minimized the file. “Is everything okay?” You always had a way of knowing when someone’s emotions were off. Melina shook her head. 

“Just tired.” You nodded. Melina knew you were too. You’ve taken the lead on organizing the Widows that stayed to help. But you took on the higher rank Widows on your own to prevent the others from getting hurt. Too many times, Melina has had to patch you up. 

“Well, I made dinner. Come take a break and pick this up tomorrow.” Melina smiled. 

“Let me finish this and I’ll be right out.” You glared at her. 

“5 minutes. If you aren’t out I’ll drag you out of here.” Melina knew you were serious. 

“5 minutes.” You smiled, leaving her office. “Thank you, dorogoy (sweetheart).” You nodded and closed her door. Melina reopened your file. You needed a break. No matter how hard you tried to hide it, Melina saw how tired you were. To her surprise, your birthday was in 2 weeks. Black Widows didn’t celebrate birthdays even in Ohio. Pictures were taken to fill a photo album to give the illusion of an American family No presents. No decorations. She pulled out her phone and texted Natasha, ‘I have a plan. But I need help. I’ll call you.’ 

*

“I can’t come to New York.” You said to Yelena as you stepped out of the bathroom. It was a quick walk down the hall to your room. You closed the door behind you. Your youngest sister was with you for a month before returning to New York. You knew the Accords were dissolved and Yelena had to go help. The blonde groaned. 

“And why not?” She asked. 

“Because there are too many Widows that need saving,” you said, sitting on your bed. The number seemed to be growing everyday, 1 Widow saved and 10 more were still trapped. “I can’t abandon them.” 

“You aren’t.” Yelena said softly. But you were. If only you acted quicker. You saw the signs but you stayed quiet. You followed orders. If only you were brave enough to stand up to him. “Hey,are you still with me?” Her voice startled you out of your thoughts. 

“Yeah, sorry, I’m here.” You told her. 

“Look, you are no good to those girls if you don’t take care of yourself.” She was right, you knew she was. “You could assign some lower level Widows to Soyna and the others and take a break.” You didn’t respond. Did you deserve a break? “You could meet Maria.” The idea of giving the shovel talk to Natasha’s girlfriend did sound like a good time. “And we want you to meet everyone.” You sighed. 

“Fine, give me a few days to get things settled here and all catch a flight.” You said. 

“No need. Just tell us when you are ready and Tony will send a Quinjet to pick you up.” Fancy. 

“Alright, I’ll see you soon, sestra.” You said your good-byes and hung up. You laid on your back staring up at the ceiling. It was going to be a busy few days. 

*

You stood by the back of the Quinjet landed. The door opened and your sisters were waiting for you. You smiled as the ramp descended and you walked out into the New York sun. The sun felt different than in St. Petersburg. Yelena smiled and hugged you as soon as you landed on solid ground. You laughed, hugging the youngest tight. “Welcome to New York.” She said, letting you go so you could say hi to Natasha. She cut her hair to a bop and dyed it blonde. You felt a little left out not being a blonde. 

“You look,” Natasha paused. “Tired.” You rolled your eyes. 

“You always know how to make a girl feel welcomed.” You pulled her into a hug. “I like the blonde.” You told her. 

“She just wanted to be like me,” Yelena joked. You laughed, shaking your head. Natasha glared at Yelena and began to walk towards the door. “She doesn’t like that joke very much.” You smiled, putting your arm around her shoulders and quickly followed Natasha. “So, how was your flight?”

“Good,” you told her. “Where was that when we were breaking dad out of prison?” Yelena chuckled. 

“It would have been handy,” Natasha was waiting by the door with 2 men you recognized immediately; Captain America and Iron Man. 

“Well Rushman,” you didn’t recognize the name. “This is the infamous sister Black Widow Jr. won’t stop talking about.” You caught a slight blush on Yelena’s cheeks. 

“And you must be Tony Stark.” You said, offering your hand for the man to shake. He took it. 

“What gave it away?” He questioned. “The dashing smile or the good looks.”

“The annoying personality.” You deadpanned. Your sisters laughed. Tony’s smile didn’t falter. 

“I like her.” You rolled your eyes and looked at the super soldier. 

“Steve Rogers,” he said, shaking your hand. His grip was strong and firm. “It’s nice to put a face to the name.” You smiled 

“It’s nice to meet you, Captain.”

“Come on. We’ll show you your room.” Natasha said. You nodded, following her into the compound. Tony explained the features of the building; from the AI system ro the training area and everything in between. You entered the kitchen and saw a brunette and a man (you weren’t sure what he was). When the brunette looked up from a bowl, she gasped and ran over to you. 

“It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She hugged you. You were surprised by the sudden hug. “Sorry, we’ve heard so much about you.” You looked at your sisters, who wouldn’t meet your eyes. 

“So I’ve noticed.” You said. 

“I’m Wanda,” the brunette said. The man came up to stand next to her. 

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I’m Vision.” You shook his hand and you were surprised by the feeling. You said your hellos and continued to follow Natasha and Yelena to your room. 

“We are right down the hall,” Yelena said, opening the door and letting you step it. The room was spacious and it had a window overlooking the property, a private bathroom, and a walk in closet. You set your bag down. 

“Thank you,” you said. Natasha shrugged as if it was no big deal. It was to you. 

“We’ll let you get settled in. Wanda is cooking lunch.” She said. You nodded as they began to leave you alone. 

“Wait,” you said. Natasha turned back to face you. You smiled, walking over to her. You saw her get a little nervous, an emotion you rarely saw. “Where’s the girlfriend?” You questioned. “I met everyone else except her.” Her eyes widened slightly but she recovered quickly. Yelena giggled. 

“Technically, you didn’t meet Sam and Rhodey. Thor and Bruce are off-world.” You crossed your arms, one hip popping to the side. You weren’t buying it. Natasha sighed. “She’s on a mission.” 

“How convenient.” You said. 

“You aren’t going to threaten her,” she said, pointing her finger at you. You pushed her finger out of your face. 

“I wasn’t going to, Natalia.” Maybe a little bit. “I just want to meet the woman who makes my little Tasha so happy.” You cooed, pinching her cheeks. Yelena laughed as Natasha swatted your hands away. 

“I don’t like you.” You rolled your eyes. 

“You’ll get over it.” You put your duffle bag on your bed and began to unpack. You were grateful to be with them. 

*

To be fair, you lost track of time and you expected Natasha or Yelena to come find you. You were sitting on your bed, back resting on the headboard and typing on your laptop. You promised Melina that you wouldn’t work and worry about them in St. Petersburg. But you couldn’t resist. “What are you doing?” Yelena asked, walking into your room. You slammed your laptop close. “Are you working?” You were caught. 

“I well I,” you sighed. “Yes.” You admitted. “I was just making sure everything is okay.” Yelena sat next to you. She took your laptop off your lap. 

“They are going to be fine.” You knew they were more than capable of dealing with it. But your entire life you’ve followed orders and worked to accomplish a mission. You didn’t know how to do nothing. “But you aren’t if you don’t take a break.” You sighed, looking at her. 

“I thought I was supposed to look after you.” 

“And you have,” she said. “Now it’s our turn to look after you,” she stood up and held out her hand. You took it and allowed the blonde to pull you to your feet. “Now come on! Steve is in the training room and everyone wants to watch you kick Captain America’s ass.” You laughed, shaking your head. 

“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” 

*

You made it 2 days before opening your laptop again. You really tried to do it for Yelena but the guilt was eating you up. So, you were sitting at the kitchen island with your laptop and a cup of coffee. Things were fine. Soyna and the other girls were doing great but you needed to do something. “Well you're new,” a voice behind you caused you to turn around. You recognized the woman right away. Maria Hill. Her brown hair was damp from a recent shower and she was wearing sweatpants and a SHIELD shirt. She must have returned from her mission. 

“Maria Hill.” She didn’t look surprised that you knew her name. She walked into the kitchen, grabbed a glass, and filled it with water. 

“They said you were good at what you do,” you did your research on the agent as soon as Yelena told you about the new relationship. But you did catch a picture of her on Natasha’s phone. You smiled. 

“Of course,” she said. “I have to know the most important people in both of my sister’s lives.” You went back to work on your laptop, taking a sip of your coffee. You felt her eyes on you. She was waiting for the threat but you weren’t going to give her the satisfaction of offering it now. You were one of Dreykov’s best interrogators for a reason. 

“Moya lyubov' (my love), what-” you turned around to see Natasha. Oh this was becoming a great night. Her face was in shock. 

“Natalia,” you said. “Why don’t you join us?” She slowly walked over to you, moving to stand next to her girlfriend. You had to admit, they were cute together. A strange feeling formed in your chest. You pushed away the feeling and smiled at the couple, taking a sip of your coffee. 

“Yelena already gave me the shovel talk,” she admitted. 

“It wasn’t really threatening,” Natasha added. “It was cute.” Awe, that’s adorable. You made a mental note to talk to Yelena about that. 

“So, can we get the threat to kill me if I break your heart out of the way? I’m tired.” You closed your laptop and rested your head on your hands. You were still smiling even though Natasha looked like she was going to pass out. 

“I’m not gonna threaten to kill you or list all the many ways I could because you know what my sisters are capable of,” You almost laughed at the shocked expression on their face. “So I’ll give you this. I don’t know you well and you don’t know me but I know that you managed to do something very special.” You looked at your sister. “You captured  her heart, which is not an easy thing to do. So that speaks volume to the person you are. Don’t waste that gift.” Maria stared at you, blinking slowly. 

“Uh thank you,” she said. “I won’t.” You noticed the tears forming in Natasha’s eyes. 

“That being said, if you do break her heart, I won’t kill you because she’d never speak to me again.” Natasha smiled. “But I will make your life a living hell that death will be a blessing.” Maria stood up straighter at the threat. “I was Dreykov’s favorite for a reason. Do I make myself clear?” She nodded. 

“Yes.” You smiled. 

“Good, now go get some sleep you crazy kids.” Maria chuckled. 

“It was nice meeting you.” 

“You as well.” She walked back to where you believed her room was. But Natasha didn’t follow her. Instead she walked over to you and kissed you on your cheek. The action surprised you. 

“Thank you,” she said. “You need sleep too.” You nodded. 

“I’ll be going to bed soon.” You watched Natasha walk over to Maria, who waited for her and took her hand. You smiled at the sight and stopped yourself from opening your laptop. You headed to bed. 

*

They were up to something. You’ve been at the Avenger compound for a little over a week and were loving every second of you. You trained with Steve, had late nights with Tony and Rhodey in the lap, Wanda was teaching you and Vision how to cook, and you went on runs with Sam in the woods near the compound. But your favorite was spending time with Yelena and Natasha and getting to know Maria. With all that, you were a trained Black Widow so something was going on. It started with a girls weekend trip to New York City. It was your first time in the City so you allowed them to drag you around the city like a tourist. You went to the Top of the Rock, visited the Statue of Liberty, and ate your way around China Town and Little Italy. It was the most fun you’ve had in your entire life. 

It was Sunday 1830 and you were packing up your duffle bag to head back to the compound. “So, how was your weekend?” Maria asked, standing by the door to your room. Tony rented out a small apartment for your weekend trip. 

“A lot of fun,” you told her. “Never had a girl’s trip like this before.” You knew the Avengers knew some of the details of why you were separated from your sisters for so long. But you didn’t know how much they knew, the things you had to do for him. Maria sighed. 

“Thank you,” She said. You gave yourself whiplash on how fast you looked at her. 

“I’m sorry?” You questioned. “What are you thanking me for?” She walked over to you, arms still crossed against her chest. 

“Thank you for what you did for them.” Oh. You weren’t expecting a thank you from her. “You sacrificed a lot for them and because of that they’ve accomplished a lot and saved lives including my own. So thank you.” You were rendered a little speechless. You cleared your throat. 

“Uh of course. They’re family. I'll do anything for them,” you scratched the back of your head. “I’m gonna be honest I don’t know how to accept a ‘thank you.’” Maria smiled, patting you on the shoulder. 

“They were the same way,” she told you. “Just surround yourself with good people and it will get easier.” You nodded. “I’ll let you finish packing.” She walked back to the door. 

“Maria,” you called out to her. She stopped and looked back. “Thank you for making sure they were okay while I was still in Russia.” She nodded. 

“Of course, they’re family.” She left you alone to finish packing. 

You were quiet on the flight back to the compound. You used the quick flight to observe your sisters. Natasha was cuddling up against Maria while she read a book. She would run her fingers through your sister’s hair. Yelena was showing Wanda photos she took on her camera, she was becoming interested in photography. That weird feeling formed in your chest again. It was tight and it hurt to breathe. You closed your eyes and swallowed the lump that was forming in your throat. Yelena said your name. You opened your eyes. 

“Are you okay?” She asked. You put on a smile and nodded. 

“Yeah, just a little tired.”

“Get some sleep. We have about 30 minutes.” Wanda said. You got comfortable and closed your eyes. You slowed your breathing to give the illusion that you’ve fallen asleep but you couldn’t sleep with this feeling still here. 

*

Natasha stopped you before you could enter the compound. You raised your eyebrows at her. “We debated if this should be a surprise or give you a warning because sometimes Black Widows don’t react well to surprises.”

“She almost broke my arm when I planned a date for her.” Maria said. The group laughed but you were focused on your sister. 

“What’s going on?” You questioned. 

“There are people in there,” she said. “Waiting for you. Just don’t attack them.” You nodded as Natasha opened the door. Yelena grabbed your hand and grabbed you into the compound. You immediately heard voices and music. Soon the common area came into view and Steve was the first one to see you. He made a motion with his hands. 

“Happy Birthday!” The room cheered. The sound startled you. You looked at Yelena. 

“Happy Birthday, sestra.” You looked at the group. The Avengers were there along with Melina, Alexei, and a few of the Widows you’ve saved. 

“Birthday?” You questioned. Widows don’t have birthdays. As soon as you entered the Red Room your past was erased. You became a new person as they rebuilt you. 

“Melina found your file with your birthday,” Natasha said, standing on your other side. The older Black Widow walked over to you at the mention of her name. “She figured that since you needed a break this would be a perfect opportunity.” In one day you were stunned into silence twice. 

“Is this okay?” Yelena asked. You nodded. 

“Yeah it is.” You put on a smile. “Thank you mama.” You said, hugging Melina. 

“Of course,” she said. “Now let’s eat before Alexei eats all the food.” You laughed and walked into the party with your sisters and Melina. 

You weren’t sure how to act at a birthday party as this was your first. But you put on a smile and acted like nothing was wrong. You drank, ate food, and laughed along with the people around you. You did a great job ignoring the looks Wanda was sending you. You even got to open presents; which consisted of books from Steve, a kitchen knife set that was engraved from Wanda and Vision, Maria gifted you a vest, Rhodey and Sam got you tickets to a Yankees’ game, and Tony got you a motorcycle that matched the ones he made for Natasha and Yelena. But the best gifts were from your family. Melina made you a photo album, it was filled with pictures from Ohio but also current ones and there were little notes from the Widows that you saved on some of the pages. Alexei gifted you a necklace. The charm was a blue jay and he explained that the bird symbolizes protection and fearlessness. You were surprised by how much he knew about the bird. You let him place it on your neck. Natasha and Yelena did a joint gift, they gave you a ring. The ring came in a set of 3, one for each of you. “It’s a touch ring,” Yelena explained. “So when you touch yours ours will light up.”

“No matter where we are, we will always be together.” Natasha smiled. You put the ring on your finger. You swallowed the lump in your throat. 

“Thank you. Thank you all of you.” You said. 

“Cake time.” Wanda said, disappearing into the kitchen. She returned with a chocolate cake. 

“Before we dig in I like to have a toast,” Tony shoved a drink in your hand. “I would like to thank Tony for helping through this party at the very last minute.” The billionaire waved his hand as if it was no big deal. “But the biggest thanks goes to our sister,” Natasha looked at you. “Because without you, Yelena and I would have none of this.” 

“We can never repay you for the sacrifices you made for us,” Yelena continued. “But I hope one day we come close to repaying you.” 

*

You determined that you disliked birthdays. You didn’t like being the center of attention. You were outside on a small balcony, looking up at the night sky as the party raged on inside. It was calmer, peaceful out here. You sighed, staring into your drink. The feeling was still in your chest. You let out a shaky breath trying to get rid of it. But it wasn’t going away. You crushed the paper cup in your hand and the rest of the drink splashed on the ground. “There you are.”  You heard Steve say behind you. You didn’t acknowledge the super soldier as he moved to stand next to you. “Are you not enjoying the party?” 

“No I am,” you said quickly. “I’m grateful for everything.”

“But?” 

“But-,” you sighed, turning to face the party. You watched everyone through the window. Alexei was having an arm wrestling competition with Tony’s Iron Man gauntlet with the help of Rhodey. Sam, Yelena, and a few of the Widows were playing some sort of card game. Melina and Wanda were in the kitchen together, looking over a cookbook. “Do you ever get a tight feeling in your chest? Sometimes it hurts to breathe and it won’t go away.” You looked at him. “But I can’t pinpoint the feeling. Am I going crazy?” He didn’t answer right away. The super soldier stared through the window watching the party. 

“It happened a lot when I woke up from being on ice for so long,” he finally said. “I thought I died that day but I woke up in a different world.” 

“What is this feeling?” You asked. 

“I can’t name it for you. Anxiety is different for everyone. Sometimes it manifests itself in guilt,” Guil? You’ve been dealing with guilt since the moment you stepped foot at the compound. Was it far for you to be enjoying yourself while so many were still trapped? Did you deserve this party? “And jealousy.” Jealousy? You heard Natasha’s laughter from within. Maria’s arms were wrapped around your sister with her head resting on Natasha’s shoulder. “It could be anything.”

“How do you make it go away?” Steve sighed. 

“It really never goes away. You just learn to deal with it.” Yelena opened the outside door and shrived when she felt the cold. 

“Sestra, we are playing a game and I need a partner.” She said. “We need to beat Natasha and Maria.” You laughed. 

“I’ll be right there.” She nodded excitedly, jumping on the ball of her feet and going inside. You looked back at the super soldier. 

“They help too,” he said. “Lean on them. Don’t try to be strong by yourself anymore.” You smiled at him.

“Thank you, Steve.” 

*

They party settled down and everyone called it a night. You found yourself on the couch with Yelena and Natasha. Yelena’s head was resting on your lap. Your fingers were running through her hair. The constant movement was putting her to sleep. “Can I ask you a question?” Natasha paused the movie and gave you her full attention. She nodded. “When you were planning on escaping the Red Room, did you ever think about taking me with you?” You asked. “Be honest with me, I won’t get upset.” Natasha sighed. 

“No,” she admitted. “If I ever had a chance, I knew I’d only take Yelena with me.” Her truth didn’t hurt as much as you thought it would. “You were the strongest one out of the 3 of us.” Her confession surprised you. She played with the matching ring on her finger. “That day in Cuba, I remember it so vividly. I was so scared but you didn’t seem scared at all. You threatened those guards and Alexei and you offered yourself to take our spot. I knew from that day you were far stronger than me.” Your hands stopped moving and Yelena shifted in her sleep. You continued to keep her asleep. “Do you regret it? Your deal with him.” 

“No,” you said, with hesitation. “I would do it again. But,” you bite down on your lip. 

“You can tell me,” she said. “I won’t be upset.” 

“I’ve been having this weird feeling in my chest,” you told her. “Steve calls it anxiety.” You looked down at Yelena. “He says it can manifest itself because of guilt or jealousy.”

“Jealousy?” She questioned. “Are you jealous of Yelena and I?” You shrugged. 

“I think I was at first when I saw you and Maria together. But now I’m happy that you are happy,” you reached for Natasha’s hand. “I’m happy that you found this place, Tasha.” She squeezed your hand. 

“I promise, sestra, nothing is going to get between us again.” 

“Promise?” You held out your pinky. She wrapped her pinky around yours. 

“Promise.”

[fourchuu]

Day 19: Palette 2

Character(s): Isabela

wc: 811

Hope County was never the problem, it was the family.

Hope County was full of nature and wildlife. Full of old trees fragrancing everywhere. From the roads to stores. You couldn't find a single home without it being in front of nature. Dark forest greens, rough brown tree bark. Bushes of soft leaves with small budding flowers. Newborn does and bucks when peering just enough into shaded woods.

The Seed family was from outside of Montana, they brought an invasion into Hope County. They were occupying space they never should've had. Fanatics.

But when Isabela got to escape, she could forget about them. When she could walk across the Holland Valley and into the woods of the Whitetail Mountains. When she could smell the mist of past rain, the musk of animals that had been there earlier. She felt free.

She may never be free, but in those moments, surrounded by deep shades of green and brown, she couldn't feel the pulsing burn of the scar. She could feel like her old self. The girl that ran away into the world and was making it.

Rough bark scraped against Isabela's hands. Warm red-brown bark, small insects crawling along the dirt, the smell of grass intoxicating her nose. This was healing. The crunch of the leaves as she smelled earth everywhere. Whether it was the oak from a cabin, the flowers wafting over from a breeze, or just the unearthing of deep dirt permeating the air.

Between the bouts of depression Isabela found herself feeling catharsis in nature. Whether she was alone or being escorted around, she felt herself heal a little more every time she walked around the forest floor.

She enjoyed walking around the ranch, smelling the minimal plants that grew. Walking over to the docks with a Chosen watching over her. Looking over at the rare animals she'd find, swimming in the rivers, even just sitting looking over the scenery. Sometimes she'd bring a pad of paper with her, sketching the scenery. Even if it was just the cool blue water and some flowers that stuck out to her. Isabela loved drawing the deer, drawing each one's special spots or markings. After some time her watcher would stop being weapons, nothing ever happening during their walks other than admiring nature.

Now, Isabela was free to roam wherever she liked, she could visit the water, hike the Whitetail Mountains, even travel through regions without any need of someone watching her. She knew this was faux freedom. Joseph knew she was too far gone, that they could just grab her again and "Take her home" as Jacob once said to her. The thought crept up her spine in the most bone chilling way. Her only freedom would come from the most extreme measures. But for right now, climbing a really tall tree would suffice. Climbing the top of the mountains, isolated with only eagles to keep her company can do.

And that's what she began doing.

The further up the mountains Isabela climbed, the thinner the air got. The leaves also grew lighter, a more olive and soft green compared to the deep forest colors of the base of the mountains.

Looking down at her feet, Isabela realized she wasn't prepared for heavy walking. Her soft fabric shoes with thin rubber soles wouldn't last in these steep mountains. But she didn't care. Wearing a thin, cotton dress and pathetic shoes were the least of her concerns.

Climbing higher, she took a break along some large rocks. Looking at the horizon, the sun was nearing sunset, rays of sun shone into the soft mist of low clouds. A dancing cloud of yellow moving throughout the open air.

It's such a nice view, if only the Seeds weren't freaks. Maybe she could have a life here. Feeling her heart swell, the soft breeze flowing through the trees.

'It's not bad, I just, I can't go back there.'

Looking around, she hears no one. No animal, no person, no sense of eyes watching her. But she doesn't trust it, she doesn't trust Jacob didn't rig the trees with cameras or traps. Raising to her feet, Isabela began walking. Higher, lower, through the mud and the rivers. She continued walking even when her ankles grew sore.

Seeing the light go through the golden lens of sunset, walking through woods, she began climbing higher and higher. Finding a spot among the rocks, she settled in there. As dark as the woods became, she felt no fear of whatever was out to get her. Any animal couldn't hurt her as bad as those brothers could.

'Peace.' Isabela thought. 'Here I can be free from them.'

Laying against the stiff rocks, she felt uncomfortable but she stayed. It's better here than any bed in the ranch.

Looking around, she saw some people with flashlights looking around.

'Stay away.'