#It would just take too long and might not be doable in places

[ihavetoomanyocsdealwithit]

Moments the boys fall in love with Yuu  

Romantic or platonic, mostly fluff, a little angst with comfort  

Ruggie Bucci, Jack Howl, Deuce Spade, Ace Trappola, Rook Hunt  

Ruggie Bucci

Yuu had been helping Crowley with all sorts of paperwork this year, as she had taken on the apprenticeship under him for education. She was already doing most of it anyway, might as well get paid for it right? But it gave her access to a lot of information other people don’t.  

So when she found the grant and looked at the details, she knew she at least had to offer it.  

Yuu knows better than to pull Ruggie out of class, he hides it well, but it pisses him off. He can’t afford to get anymore behind than he already is compared to these rich bastards. So, she slips a note to the teacher to give to him to arrange a meeting in the next few days.  

It ends up being over dinner at Ramshackle a few days later, after a late shift at the Monstro Lounge, that she finally gets to talk to him.  

“So, you can tell me off, but I ain’t doing it out of pity or nothing,” she starts, pulling out a stack of papers. He cocks his head, starting to skim over the complex and small text. “Long story short, it’s a grant for schools under a certain income bracket to receive additional help, including a three-meal program. If you can convince instructors to continue using the building over breaks, you can even continue with meal program during the breaks so that the food comes around all year, all shipped in and paid for on the governments dime. It lasts around 5 years.”  

Ruggie’s ears are flat against his head, flipping through the pages. She gets the impression that he would have set his plate down if she hadn’t waited until he had scraped the pot clean.  

“NRC obviously makes too much in donations alone,” especially from the royal families, no nepotism rules her ass, “but if you could give me some more details about your place, I might be able to-” 

“Set up an actual school.”  

That makes her pause. There wasn’t...no.  

“I know you said that you learned from the hard knock school of life but...there’s nothing?” she asked. 

“Naw. So, this grant would guarantee that a school could stay and that the kids might actually attend, especially with the promise of food.”  

“Well, I’ll need to find the forms for that, but I'm sure it's doable, especially if I can make a good case. It was pretty buried in there, so I don’t think I’d have to try too hard, I don’t imagine a lot of folks even know about it.”  

He squints his eyes at her, leaning back in his seat.  

“What do you get out of this?” he asks, folding his arms, “You don’t know my home. You don’t know my people.”  

“No, but I know you love them and you work hard for them every day.” She gestures to the apron folded over the chair. “And if you do, I will choose to. Besides, you and I both know these rich bastards have no problem taking our taxes and doing stupid shit with it. Might as well take it back and apply it where it needs to be.”  

He huffs, covering his mouth as it turns to a full cackle as he curls in. He might have said something in between his laughs? She can’t tell, but he’s cheeks are ruddy and glowing when he finally collects himself.  

“Alright Prefect, what details do you need?”  

Jack Howl

There were lots of places boarded off at Ramshackle that Yuu was still exploring. Finding a sunroom was the last thing she thought Ramshackle Dorm might have, but after sweeping and cleaning the place, it’s charming. Open windows, dark frames lining the three out of four walls, and the furniture actually isn’t too bad, just needing a wipe down and some wood oil to make it shine again. The fact that Ramshackle was also being used as an oversized storage unit helps since it has upholstery, furniture and fabrics for repairs for every dorm that she can really make the place shine.  

She knows that Riddle and the boys would love to decorate in Heartslabyul colors, line rose boxes and vines and lilies in the hanging baskets, but she has a better idea.  

“Hey, Jack!” She calls out after track practice. He raises a hand at her, giving his body a light shake to get rid of the soreness in his muscles. “Do you have any succulent or cactus cuttings you could spare?” 

His ears narrowed in straight on her, standing a bit straighter.  

“Ah, yea...I could have some sent from home too.”    

“Is this about the sunroom?” Deuce asked. “We could have some rose bushes sent in from Heartslabyul too. Riddle would be ecstatic to have the Queen’s roses out.”  

“No offense to Riddle or Heartslabyul,” Yuu rubbed the back of her neck, “But there are roses everywhere. Queen Heart’s Roses, Fairest Roses, Thorn Fairy Roses, you get the idea. Besides, I like plants that are heartier and don’t require alot of tending too. Just free to do their own thing.”  

The only reason Jack’s tail wasn’t wagging is because he was holding it. Deuce snickered behind his back, cackling as he avoided the swat at his head.  

“Let me bring what I have at the dorms right now. Besides, it’ll be nice for my dormmates to not be able to mess with it at least some of them.”  

Jack wasn’t able to bring anything big with him when he came to NRC, but the cuttings would grow quickly. The fact that his Mom paid for some of the bigger ones to be sent carefully through the mirrors helped fill out the space, and Leona donated some of the ferns and larger faunas when Ruggie mentioned it. It was in exchange for having a daybed in there so he could nap whenever he wanted, but it was a small sacrifice.  

By the time they finished putting the room together, including sewing together some pillows in Savannaclaw colors and tightening a few screws on the benches and chairs, it looked like a slice of his dorm. Mainly yellows and oranges, with the soft greens of the succulents and more saturated green of the cactus to accent it all. His cactuses were clearly the center point though, blooming like nothing else.  

His Mom had also taken the opportunity to send Yuu a few old clothes that his sister no longer fit in, warm sweaters and shirts that were very much in the style of home. Jack hadn’t known until they started unpacking the box, but Yuu had loved them and he couldn’t find it within himself to be too upset. Afterall, Yuu didn’t have much to begin with, and he knows that fall will be coming in soon.  

When he comes in a few days later He sees her curled up on a chair with her study materials. The tap of her pen against her lip, the smell of heat and fauna thick in the air, snuggled into an old hoodie of his, he can’t even blame his heart for skipping a beat.  

It’s only natural, he tells himself. Instinct even. He doesn’t have to think too hard about it.  

“Why’s your tail wagging?” Yuu asks, pointing to his back.  

“No reason!” he barks, ignoring the way he’s heart does it again as she cackles.  

Only natural.  

Deuce Spade

Deuce would tell you that he’s not the smartest guy in the room. He knows that academically he struggles, and even sometimes with common sense. There’s a lot of things that he never learned or forgot because he made some stupid shitty decisions in his past.  

Maybe that’s why he prefers studying with Yuu one on one instead of a group. Yuu is having to teach herself the basics too, history, spell work, math, literature, they aren’t exactly on the same page, but they are closer than he would prefer to admit.  

Riddle, bless him and his tenacious ways, kept his notes from all his grades. It’s binders and binders worth of material and even if they are slow at it, Riddle never says anything about how long the binder is gone from his bookshelf. He simply continues to offer help.  

Yuu gets the idea after she sees Riddle’s magicam and puts 2 and 2 together with Cater’s exam results.  

So, the next time they get together, she takes him to a side room where a broken radio is.  

“What’s this?” He asks, looking at the tools set off to the side.  

“I have an idea,” Yuu says, sitting on the floor. “I’m going to quiz you while you fix the radio.”  

“Huh?”  

“I have an idea, I think it’ll help, I just need you to trust me.”  

He shrugs his shoulders, rolls up his sleeves and starts answering questions as he pulls the panel off. The quiz is tomorrow and anything is better than nothing at this point.  

Professor Trein smiles at him a bit as he passes the quizzes back at the end of the period.  

“Well done Mr. Spade. Your studying is paying off well.”  

83. He had gotten an 83.  

“Dude!” Yuu jumps on his back, hugging him, “Awesome! It worked!”  

He knows the blush on his face isn’t pride or joy. Neither is the goofy grin. But if that’s what Yuu thinks when she sees it, she doesn’t need to know.  

If they dance together with that fixed radio and his hands linger a little too long on her hips or waist, he doesn’t think too hard on that either.  

He isn’t a very smart man, but he knows he is a happy one.

 

Ace Trappola

Ace will admit that he’s an asshole sometimes. He is self-aware enough and selfish enough to not care. But he isn’t a complete asshole, and really, he’s just preventing you from being stuck with another Overblot like what happened on Winter Break!  

That was the only reason he invited Yuu over. No other reasons.  

He of course does the polite thing and introduces you to this family, including his brother. He doesn’t dislike his brother, he’s actually pretty cool, but he’s aware that he is cooler than Ace. And smarter. And more handsome.  

He isn’t purposefully keeping Yuu away from him, but if it so happens that every time his brother is home that you two are out doing things, that’s just a weird coincidence.  

It’s sunset on the last day, and his family insisted on a cookout all together. They like Yuu a lot, and for the most part try and keep him out of trouble. Which meant lots of talking, family telling stories and comparing between the two of them, like they always do. It isn’t malicious, he knows that, but it hurts sometimes when his brother has a seven-year head start. It’s winding down now though, with his parents and brother going to bed already for work in the morning. They should have been, the train leaves early the next morning, but neither of them can sleep, so they are trying to wind down with cards. Ace always has a pack on him, but in his room he has multiple. He’s even nice enough to let Yuu pick the deck she wants.  

“You ready for tomorrow?” she asks, laying a card down.  

“Totally. I love my folks but being here just makes me itch to leave again.” he makes a pair, chuckling at her huff, “Besides my brother is...well he’s my brother, you know.”  

“I mean, he’s ok, but I much prefer hanging out with you.”  

It’s such a small thing that it shouldn’t matter. It shouldn’t. But damn if he’s face doesn’t twitch into a genuine smile. Prefers him. Yuu prefers him.  

“Ah, you gotta crush on me?” He teases, poking her cheek, “You got something you want to tell me?”  

“Oh, fuck off.” She snips, kicking his foot, “You got an ego that makes Vil look humble.”  

He can only laugh, muffling his delight into a pillow. He tucks the memory away with a breath, making another pair.

 

Rook Hunt

The gardens of Pomefiore aren’t as well-known as some of the other dorms, but they are beautiful, nonetheless. Carefully cultivated and trimmed, it has more of a nature tamed by man aesthetic, but it was still beautiful.  

Rook knows them better than most students, spending so much time amongst the trees, bushes and flowers to practice his hunting skills and photography. When Yuu asked him for pointers, he was more than happy to give her a hands-on lesson.  

“And that is how you achieve this effect!” He says, setting the glass off to the side.  

“Nice!” she nods, finishing the note she was writing. “That is so much easier than what I was picturing. I can’t thank you enough for this Rook, this will help so much with the commission that Crewel gave me. What got you into photography anyway?”  

“Having pictures of Roi De Poison and Monsieur Curiosity that nobody else has? Bliss! But also, I do so enjoy the thrill of the hunt. Photography gives me the means to shoot and not kill my target. Their beauty must live on until fate takes them. Or my arrow.”  

Yuu cannot help but chuckle a bit, figuring that was the case.  

“Vil told me a bit about the day you two met. It makes sense. He also said you started in SavannaClaw?”  

“I did. Transfering dorms was the best decision I have ever made!” He touches the leaves above him, the apple tree swaying a bit in the cool breeze. “Why do you think I switched dorms, Mon Trickster?”  

Yuu zips up the ghost camera into her bag, taking a moment to try and phase her words. The Rook that Vil described reminds her of herself here. Ambition with no direction. Goals of survival with no room for anything else. Of being so cautious and gentle with everything around, but the people aren’t with her. Even those that care for her bruise her, even when they don’t mean to.  

“I think...you got tired of your life feeling like a museum.” Rook cocks his head at her. “Before, you kept your hands behind your back, quietly observing, scrutinizing and praising the beauty around you but never interacting. I don’t know if you thought you didn’t deserve it or that you couldn’t have it, but I think you got tired of imagining what softness would feel like. I think you decided that you would rather be an active participant, in your life, even if it meant changing, however scary it is.”  

It is quiet behind her. Yuu secures the last of the props into the tote, still waiting.  

“Rook?”  

She doesn’t get a chance to turn around. His front thumps into her, arms wrapping around her shoulders.  

“Apologize Mon Ami. I was stunned by your wisdom un moment.” He whispers. She feels him take a deep breath into her shoulder, but he’s hat completely blocks him from her view. “You might be the closest yet.”  

“Huh?”  

“Nothing, nothing!” He jumps in front of her, grabbing the tote with a bright smile. “Let us return, Roi de Poison does hate one being late!”

“We are meeting Vil after this?” She asks, jogging to keep up his pace that’s more like a skip.  

“Of course! We have traveled much today. We must replenish with good food and drink!”  

He goes on to describe what is on the menu, but inside it is taking everything within him not to gather you up and take him home. Oh, Mon Trickster, you read him too easily. He will have to keep you close in the years to come to just keep himself safe, in whatever capacity needed. There is, after all, more than one way to be a lover.  

[manic-marzal]

hot take but i think the novelty of ancient breeds and their line breaking genes has worn out a little and i don’t think it makes up for them not being to wear apparel at all or breed with normal dragons

imo aethers, dusthides, gaolers, sandsurges, and veilspun aren’t wacky enough to be ancient breeds. we’ve got bug with horns, smooth boi fat tail, big shaggy moose tundra, not quite ridgebacks, and bug (?) with hair. they all fit the head neck torso arms legs wings tail layout modern breeds do, it’s literally just the line breaking genes that are the issue and the customization from apparel feels better than what the terts offer anyway imho

abberations, auraboas, banescales, and undertides i understand a little more, but…

abberations literally just have two heads and two tails. you can make head and tail apparel just go on both. some people might not want that but there’s a lot of things on the site some people don’t want already so that’s kinda a moot point

auraboas, okay. they don’t have legs or anything analogous to legs. i get why they don’t wanna have a dressable dragon with no legs. i’ll accept that

banescales don’t have arms, but i feel like that’s more manageable since the wings are in the place the arms should be. i think it’s workable putting arm apparel on wings though

undertides i can understand the most. they don’t have arms or legs and the best they have in their place is tiny fins. i can live with them not being dressable

“but the terts are so cool! it would take too long to draw all the apparel for all the breeds! you’re breaking the rules!”

i don’t think the line breaking ancient genes are cool enough to justify it. i’d rather wait longer for them to draw all the apparel stuff than get something kinda mid quicker. people make fake clothing accents for ancients all the time so it’s definitely doable. hell just get creative with how the clothes lay around the line breaking terts. put the terts on a different layer so they can overlap when needed. idk

don’t get me wrong, i’m really appreciative of the art team and everyone else on staff, i just don’t think this is working as well as intended or paying off enough to justify continuing. make the terts crazier (if you can even do that within the square they’re stuck in) or just make them modern breeds <:/

edit: i don’t expect them to change existing ancients if they change anything at all. that would be an enormous backlog and frankly unreasonable. i just think going forward they should be more lenient on what is a modern breed that deserves time put into drawing apparel for them and what should be dug deeper into to make truly weird and crazy enough to justify not being able to customize them with the thousands of different apparel pieces on site when that’s like half the game

also if they’re gonna add parallel genes anyway why can’t you breed them with other ancients or moderns. if it’d result in a gene the other breed doesn’t have just make it default to basic or something

second edit: just make the weird terts some kind of apparel. no it wouldn't have the same color range as genes but looking at clothing stuff like roundhorns and antlers and feathered wings and claws and whatever else, they could make 90% of the weird tacked on line breaking terts into apparel pieces with a good variety of colors and it'd be more or less the same thing

[lynxgriffin]

OKAY there were a lot of asks specifically for the most recent comics, so I figured it'd be easiest to just try and respond to all in one big block rather than clog up your dash with multiple asks!

Yeah, the problem with where Kris is now is that no one's really going to discourage them from going on a revenge quest, and there's no one around to really help them process the feelings of what happened. Not a good headspace to be in!

I would say they are about 17 now, so a little older than I would have them be in canon. So yeah, they were already living with the Dreemurrs for a few years.

He would be happy to share a cup of tea and some cake with friendly humans!

Maybe he's got a lot of practice at it! And yeah, usually not a good sign when a demon prince wants your soul.

Yes, the ceremony done incorrectly could have sent a human to the wrong place in the Dark World. The mark they put on Kris's forehead to show "who the gift was intended for" was actually very important in getting Kris directly to Ralsei.

Yeah, I suppose that may be inevitable since UT and DR themselves have so many overlapping elements! And some folks do think that Kris is DR's version of Chara (although I have my own thoughts on that, personally). At least with Chara, Asriel was there to dissuade them from actually carrying through on their intentions!

I think you mean Ralsei, but yup, he's just trying to be helpful!!

Kris at the moment doesn't have reason to suspect that Asriel was a part of the cult or the plan, but is also definitely primed to act rashly. Unfortunately, they probably can't actually talk until Kris gets back to the light world.

Yes, Ralsei would have let Kris stay at his castle as long as they wanted. Might have been all right, but after awhile Kris probably would have gotten bored and angry enough to want to leave.

Yes, they do, which is why they were suspicious of Ralsei offering them a bunch of desserts at first.

Well, hopefully parenthood (or adoptive parenthood) isn't the same as soul ownership! ;P

Thank you! I admit, I'm a giant sucker for that imagery.

Aaaand now they've lost that, too. Oops!

Ralsei is just all smiles about this arrangement!

There really is nothing quite so demonic as fine print, honestly.

Well, they quickly read through the main part of it. They may have skipped over a lot of the fine print, though.

Ralsei's just like... "Ambitious, but doable!"

It's more about what Kris now is to Ralsei than the other way around!

Oh Kris didn't exactly trust Ralsei fully, but was pretty much like "well, this seems like my best option, so I'll just take what I can get and worry about the consequences later."

Ralsei is being honest when he says that he wants companionship from Kris. The problem is is what "companionship" looks like to an immortal demon prince may not always be mutually beneficial for Kris. And there's no distance restrictions now; Kris can move as far away from Ralsei as they want, and Ralsei's still the one with power over their soul.

[the-psyco-simp]

Ignite

Pairing: Tattoo Artist!Sano Manjiro x Fem!Reader

“…like a starship speeding into the night, you and I get lost in the infinite lights…”

Warnings: Fem!Reader, MINORS DNI, kinda edited but there are probably still mistakes, smut, slight age gap (reader is 20, mikey is 27), mentions of needles, oral (Fem!receiving), unprotected sex, creampie, praise, name calling (angel, princess), teasing, aftercare, probably more

Word Count: 4.4k I went just a bit overboard, oops 😂

Authors Note: This is one of my entries for @sweet-seishu Body Mod Collab!! This is so much longer than I meant for it to be, and it took me way too long to write, but it’s finally here. (Please take the Mitsuya cameo as an apology, my love.)

The little bell above the door chimed as you and your best friend walked into the tattoo parlor. The cool air of the shop helped calm your nerves as you walked up to the counter where your best friend's boyfriend is sitting, looking through a sketchbook. 

Mitsuya looked up at the sound of the door opening and gave you both a smile as he saw you. His eyes quickly moved to your friend who didn’t even pause as she went behind the counter and put her arms around his shoulders from behind. 

“What are you two doing here so late?” He asked as he placed a kiss onto her hands. 

You give your friend a look as she just smiled at you, only tightening her arms around his shoulders. Diverting your attention to Mitsyua you answer his question with a smile, “I’ve decided to go ahead with my idea of getting a tattoo for my birthday this year.” 

“That’s great! Do you know who you want it done by?” Mitsuya opened the appointment book next to him and looked through the openings for the next few days.

“I was going to let you decide that, based on the design and who you think would do the best.” You open your phone to pull up the design and hand it to him. He contemplated the design for a few minutes before handing the phone back to you.

“Personally I think Mikey’s style would be the best for this, and he’s available for a few hours tomorrow, if that works for you. Do you know where and how big you want it?” Mitsuya picked up a pen to put your name down, still listening to what you wanted.

“I’m thinking of having it pretty big on my right thigh.” You nervously chuckle, thinking about Mikey, and having his hands on you as he works, making you blush.

“Yeah, that should be doable. It might take more than one session, though, with the level of detail you probably want. Mikey’s pretty meticulous about-”.

“Meticulous about what?” Mikey himself asked as he walked out of the hall from the back rooms. His dark eyes looking between the three of you. He was as beautiful as always, his dark hair framing his face perfectly. The lines of the tattoo on his neck peeking out from under his shirt. All you can think about is licking the lines of the tattoo…you give your head a slight shake, trying to focus back on the conversation.

“Hey Mikey, you heading out?” Mitsuya asked, turning around in your friend's arms. He put his own arms around her waist and gave her a proper hug which made your friend hum. 

“Yeah, got an appointment I have to get to. You didn’t answer my question, though.” He pointedly said while keeping his eyes on you. You and Mikey knew each other in passing, you’d hang out as a group, but never alone. You couldn’t deny you had a small crush on him, which your friend loved to tease you about. Especially when she caught you looking at him.

“Oh, she’s decided to get a tattoo for her birthday.” Mitsyua said, pointing his thumb in your direction. “She asked who would do the best with it and I recommended you.” 

Mikey raised a brow as he walked closer to you, making you almost want to back up from the intense look in his eyes. “What design are you wanting exactly?” He asked, stopping a bit too close to you. 

You took out your phone to show him the design, knowing you wouldn’t be able to speak without stuttering and embarrassing yourself. You hand him your phone and silently hope he doesn’t notice your slightly shaking hands. 

If he does, he doesn’t say anything, just takes your phone and looks down at the photo. “Yeah , I can do this. Did you know where you want it?” Mikey looked back up at you, still holding your phone.

“Um, on my thigh, the right one, if possible.” You answer quietly, not being able to keep eye contact with him for long. 

Mikey seemed amused at your nerves. “Do you know how big you want it to be?” 

You steel your nerves, reminding yourself that it’s just a  crush and you wouldn’t let it get in the way of what you want. “I want it to be kinda big, taking up most of the front of my thigh.” You use your hands to show him about where and how big you wanted it. 

When you looked at him again his eyes looked contemplative, keeping his eyes on your legs. “That should be doable.” Mikey says as he walks over to the desk, rolling his eyes at Mitsuya and your friend being lovey. “Get a room you two, We’re in public.” He comments as he looks over his appointments. 

“Oh don’t worry, we will.” Your friend gave Mikey, and you, a sly smile, while Mitsuya just blushed. She went back to placing light kisses on his face and ignoring you two. 

Mikey rolled his eyes again and looked back at you. “The appointment tomorrow is only for three hours, and it will probably take longer than that to get this done.” Mikey held up your phone and continued. “Would you mind if I send myself this photo so I can work up a sketch to go on?” 

“Yeah of course.” You say, your eyes roaming over his face. Out of the corner of your eye you see your friend smirk at you, but you can’t figure out why. Once Mikey is done, he hands you back your phone, your figures brushing, sending goosebumps up your arm at the contact.

“I’ve gotta go now, but I’ll see you tomorrow for your appointment.” He gives you a smile and waves at Mitsuya and your friend as he leaves.

Your friend gives Mitsuya one last kiss on his lips with a promise to see him later and takes your hand as you two walk out, you send Mitsuya a wave as you get dragged out of the shop. 

“So, after a year of pinning you finally got his number huh?” Your friend teases you as you get in the car. You freeze for a second in your seat before pulling out your phone to check your messages. There, sitting at the top, was a new message and contact, the name simply reading ‘Mikey’. You smiled to yourself and locked your phone, not wanting your friend to catch you staring at it. 

– 

The next day, you showed up five minutes early to your appointment. As you walked in you saw Mitsuya and Mikey talking at the desk. You walked over to them, catching part of their conversation.

“Finally getting your chance, huh?” Mitsuya teased him.

“Shut up, it’s not that big of a deal.” Mikey grumbled, staring at his phone.

“Just saying man, try not to waste it. Everyone but you can see the way you two-” Mitsuya cut off what he was going to say as you walked up. “Oh hey! Ready to finally do this?” Mikey looked up at you as you approached, quickly locking and putting away his phone. 

“Let’s go to my station, so you can see the design and we can get started.” Mikey grabbed your hand and tried to move you away from his friend quickly.

“You know, wearing jeans when you’re getting a thigh tattoo wasn’t the smartest choice right?” Mitsuya’s voice caught your ears but you didn’t think about his words as you focused on Mikey’s warm hand holding yours. 

Mikey pulled you over to his designated area, letting go of your hand to pick up what looked like a sketch book. He motioned you to sit in the chair and pulled up his stool to sit closer to you. He flipped open his book to a marked page and turned it towards you. “You can take a minute to look it over and let me know if you want anything changed.” 

You took the book from him and looked down at the drawing. It was beautiful. Your eyes danced over the sketch he had drawn for you, taking in the intricate details and flowing lines. You looked up at Mikey with a smile, “It’s perfect. I love it.” His intense eyes studied your face, a smile curled at his lips as took in your expression. 

“Perfect. I prefer to do tattoos free hand. Will that bother you?” Mikey asked as he started to get his equipment ready. 

“If that’s what you want, it’s good with me. You’re the expert here.” You watch as he rolls up his sleeves, not being able to look away from his hands flexing. 

Mikey looked over at you and seemed to hesitate before speaking again. “Since you’re getting this done on your thigh, I’m going to need access to your leg…” He trailed off, his eyes fixed on your legs.

The words Mitsuya called out to you finally clicked. You would have to pull your jeans down to let him work. Your mouth went dry and your face heated up. “Oh, right, of course.”

“I can get something to block off the space if it will make you feel more comfortable.” He offered, running his hand through his dark hair. 

“I would really appreciate that, if it’s not too much trouble.” You can’t look up at him, so you just keep your eyes on your hands.

Mikey walks away and comes back a few minutes later with a partition, maneuvering it to block off the space from wandering eyes. You stood up to pull your jeans down, while Mikey continued to get his things ready to begin, pointedly keeping his back  to you giving you a bit of privacy. 

When he turned back around, you were sitting on the chair, your pants pulled down to just below your knees. You pulled your tank top down to try to save some modesty, but it didn’t seem to do much. Mikey turned back around, his gaze drifted down to your legs, but you couldn’t decipher the look in them.

Mikey cleared his throat before looking back up into your eyes. “Ready to get started?” He sat back on the stool as you simply nodded your head. He grabbed the wipes next to him. “I just need to clean the area off, then we can start, ok?” All you could do was nod again as Mikey placed his gloved hand on your knee. 

He rubbed the wipe on up and down your thigh, seeming to take his time. Once He deems the arena clean enough, he picked up his tattoo gun and looked at you one last time. “This is probably going to hurt at first, but once you get used to it, it can be relaxing. Just let me know if you need to take a break, ok?” He explained while situating his arm between your legs to get a better angle at the space he would be working on.

You give Mikey a small smile and nod, focusing more on the arm he put between your legs. Your breathing gets heavier as his fingers unconsciously stroked your knee. You hear the buzzing and jerk your head towards the sound.

Mikey chucked a little at your expression before focusing back on his work. As the needle touched your skin you took a sharp inhale and clenched your hands together. Mikey seemed to notice you tensing under his hand. “Just breathe angel, close your eyes and relax.” You closed your eyes and relaxed into the chair, choosing to focus on his soothing and warm hand. It wasn’t too long before you drifted off to sleep.

–

You woke up to a warm hand on your face, opening your eyes to see Mikey smiling softly at you. “Is something wrong?” You ask sleepily, rubbing your eyes.

“No, angel. We’re done for today, you slept through the whole thing.” He chuckled at your confused look. “It’s really not that uncommon, a lot of people fall asleep while getting tattoos.” He held his hand out to help you stand up. When you put weight on your right leg, you falter, almost falling but Mikey quickly puts his arms around you to keep you steady.

“Don’t rush, your leg is probably a little sore. You can sit as long as you need.” He didn’t seem to want to let go of you, keeping his arms tight around you. You stood in his arms for a few more minutes, slowly putting your own arms around his shoulders. 

When you looked up at him you noticed your faces were centimeters apart, your breaths mingling. Looking into his eyes, you saw as they looked between your eyes and lips. “Mikey..” you breathed out his name just before his lips connected with yours.

You melted into his arms, kissing him back. His lips were so soft against yours, moving hesitantly, almost like he was worried you would pull away from. You would never pull away from him, not when you had been wanting this since you met him. You move your hands to his hair, pulling him closer, and moan into the kiss, forgetting everything around you.

He runs his tongue along your lips, and you open for him, letting him take whatever he wants. His tongue explores your mouth, making your hands tighten in his hair. You push your body completely against his, wanting more of him. He groans at the feeling of your body against his, he moves his hands down to your ass and squeezes.

You can feel him getting hard where your bodies are pressed together. You grind on him, trying to get more friction for burning heat inside of you. Mikey pulls away from the kiss, ghosting his lips over your check, moving to your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

Mikey chuckles at your eagerness, “Not here, princess. You’ll get what you want, but somewhere more private, where I can make you moan as loud as I want.” His words do nothing to help the need inside of you.

“Please, Mikey, need you so bad.” You breathe out, moving your face to kiss him again. He meets you halfway and gives you another heated kiss. It’s shorter than you want, Mikey pulling away before you’re ready.

“Come on, let’s go somewhere more comfortable.” He pulled his body away from yours, leaving you cold. He took your hand in his, pulling you behind him and towards the door. As you walk past the desk, Mitsuya looks up at the two of you, a small smirk on his face.

“About fucking time you two got togther.” you hear him mutter as you leave.

–

Mikey kept his hand on your thigh the entire drive back to his apartment, using his thumb to draw circles over your skin slowly getting closer to your core but never quite touching you, keeping you on edge and needing more.

He barely waited until the door shut behind you two to have his hands and mouth on you again. He pushed you up against the wall, his hands going to your hips, his mouth on yours. His kiss was frenzied, his tongue licking at your bottom lip, asking for entrance. All you can do is melt into him, letting him take what he wants from you.

You part your lips, his tongue tangling with yours. His hands move down to your ass squeezing, before moving down further to the back of your thighs. You lift them, wrapping your legs around his waist. You grind yourself against his already hard cock, needing more friction. Your hands wrapping around his shoulders, wanting to be as close to him as possible.

He pulls you from the wall, supporting your weight, and walking with you in his arms. His lips haven’t left yours, still kissing you as if you were his air. He took you into his room and only pulled away from the kiss to lay you gently on his bed. He loomed over you, raking his eyes over your form. 

 He groaned at how disheveled you already looked, lips swollen from the kissing and your eyes blown out with lust. “I’ve wanted to have you in my bed for so long, and now that you’re here, it’s better than I could have imagined.” Mikey murmured, leaned down over you and placed another teasing kiss on your lips before you could respond, moving off you again, just as quickly.

Your head was swimming with his words, but they were quickly pushed to the back of your mind as his hands reached for the edge of your shirt and you lifted up off the bed a little to help him get it off of you. Mikey eyes immediately going to your breasts, you reach around to unclasp your bra tossing it to the side. 

You watch as Mikey licks his lips as he stares at your bare chest, before he leaned down and places teasing kisses around your right breast before taking your nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around, making you moan. His free hand moves to your other breast, kneading it. Your hands in hair tug his head head up to have him look at you. 

“Mikey, please, need you.” You breathe out, your hands reaching for his shirt trying to get it off of him. He helps you, lifting his shirt over his head. Your eyes roam over his muscles, watching them flex, and wanting to run your mouth over them. You shake your head, promising yourself that you would indulge in all your fantasies later. You hoped this wouldn’t be the last time you were with him.

His hands quickly moved to your jeans, unbuttoning them and looking up at you, seemingly asking permission. You nod, and Mikey quickly pulls them down, along with your panties. He drops them to the floor, unable to pull his eyes from your naked body in front of him. He takes off the rest of his clothes and you finally get to see his body, fully exposed to you. 

His already hard cock makes you lick your lips. Mikey chuckles seeing this, “Next time, angel. Right now is about you.” He places his lips back on your neck, teasing his way down your body, before settling himself between your legs. He uses his hands to keep you spread, giving him the space to do what he wants. 

Mikey places teasing kisses on your upper thighs, making you thrust your hips up wanting him to stop his teasing. He gives in and moves to place an open mouth kiss on your aching cunt, causing you to whimper, your hands threading through his hair. 

His tongue swirls around your clit, sucking it lightly, you arch your back at the intense feeling. One of his hands moves from your thigh, pushing one of his fingers slowly into your pussy, your eyes rolling back. He pulls his mouth away slightly, “So tight, baby, gotta loosen you up if you want my cock.” He groans before you feel his tongue toying with your clit again, his finger slowly starts to pump in and out of you, building up a steady pace, before adding another moving them faster.

You can feel your orgasm getting closer as he plays your body like a finely tuned instrument. “Mikey, please need to cum, need it so bad.” You whine loudly, making Mikey groan, feeling your cunt clench around his fingers. 

“Go ahead, angel, cum on my fingers. Want to feel you let go.” His words sound slurred, he curls his fingers and the pressure inside you snapes, your vision going white and your hands tugging his hair with the pleasure coursing through you. 

He removes his fingers, his tongue moving to lick up all your release, helping you come down from your high. He sits up on his knees the moonlight streaming in from the window bathing him in soft light, making him almost ethereal to your hazy mind. His tongue darts out to lick your wetness off his face, lifting his fingers to clean them off as well. “You taste so good princess, could send hours eating this sweet pussy of yours. But I want to feel you to come on my cock now.” 

You reach your hands out to him, wanting to feel him on top of you again. Not able to ask him with words, your mind still not functioning properly after your orgasm. He takes in the view of you fucked out in front of him, your breast bouncing with the quickness of your breaths. 

He leans down, letting you wrap your arms around his shoulders, his arms resting beside your head, keeping some of his weight off of you, your mouths meeting in a heated kiss. You can taste yourself on his tongue, focusing on this kiss so much your breath hitches when you feel his cock pressing against your slit. He paused for only a second before pushing himself into your wet cunt. 

You mewl at the stretch, digging your nails into his shoulders, trying to distract yourself from the pain. He groans at the feeling of your pulsing around him, your pussy feeling like it’s trying to pull him in further. He does his best to go slow, trying not to hurt you, but he can’t stop himself from bottoming out in one thrust. “So good angel, you feel so good around me.” He breaths into your ear, placing a small kiss on your jaw, breathing heavy from the pleasure of finally being nestled in your warm walls.

“Too much, s’too much.” You manage to get out, feeling tears gather in your eyes.

“Just relax for me, princess, relax so I can make you feel good. Y’er squeezing me so fucking tight.” Mikey moves one hand down your body, pressing his thumb to your clit slowly rubbing it in small circles. Adjusting to his size, you relax your hold on him. His thrusts start slow and shallow, before he works up his speed, pulling out more with each thrust, until only his tip stays in you, thrusting back into you hard, his tip hitting your sweet spot. 

Your moans and whimpers spur him on, until he’s pounding into you. The tears gathering in your eyes start to fall as he abuses your sweet spot, his hand that was rubbing your clit moving up to massage your breast, his fingers rubbing your nipple sending waves of pleasure through you.

“Please…Mikey…need to cum, need it so bad…” Your words were slurred, barely understandable,  tears still falling from your eyes, you can’t think straight with how good his cock is making you feel. 

He removes his face from where he was nipping at the skin of your neck, seeing the tears on your face he leans in to kiss them away, never stopping the movement of his hips. “Go ahead and cum princess, wanna feel you make a mess.” His hand moved from your breast and up to your neck, squeezing  just enough to cut off your air, but still leave marks on you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care.

That was the last push you needed to fall off the edge, your mind blanked, back arching off the bed, as you moaned his name. Mikey groaned, feeling your pussy clench tight around him, pounding even harder into you, lessening his hold on your neck, but not letting go.

All you could say was his name, chanting it while trying to come down. Your nails dragging down his back as you feel the overstimulation taking over. “Mikey-too much, can’t take anymore.” You're sobbing now, all the feelings in your body clashing with each other.

“Yes you can, princess, just a little bit more. Want me to fill this little cunt up don’t you?” He kissed his way to your lips, before sealing them together, swallowing your whines.

“Yes, yes, fill me up, please, want your cum.” you try to say against his lips, not sure if he could even understand you. Mikey thrusts become erratic, seeking his own high. After a few more thrusts, the image of your face, so beautiful and fucked out underneath him, is what did him in. 

He pushed as far as he could into you, not wanting to waste a drop of his cum, groaning as your pussy fluttered around him. You moan at the feeling of his hot cum spilling into you, making you feel even almost too full.

Mikey’s thrusts turned shallow, trying to keep his high as long as possible, not wanting the moment to end. He breathes coming quickly, his cock softening inside of you. He didn’t want to pull out, but knew he should. As much as he wanted to keep going his energy was leaving him, and he still needed to take care of you and make sure you were ok.

He fell beside you, putting his arm around your waist. “Are you ok, princess?” He murmured quietly, not wanting to break the peace surrounding you two now. The smile on your face, taking his breath away for a second. He knew that he was hooked on you, on your smile, your taste, even your presence. 

All you could was nod at his question, your brain still muddled from the pleasure. He smiled at you, before rolling over and standing up. You whimper, thinking the moment is over, but he shushes you, leaning down to place a quick kiss on your forehead. “Just getting a towel to clean you up, princess, I’ll be right back.”

True to his word, Mikey was back a moment later, wet washcloth in hand. He was gentle as cleaned you up, the coolness of it felt wonderful against your heated skin. His eyes roving over your body, stopping on your neck. He could see bruises forming from when he choked you, a bit of guilt swirling in his mind. He took the cloth back to his bathroom, cleaning himself up while in there.

When he was done, he climbed back into bed pulling you close, and murmuring sweet words in your ear, helping lull you into a peaceful sleep. Mikey stayed awake a little longer, finger brushing up and down your back, sighing as you nuzzled your face into his chest. Your now even breathing and steady heartbeat helping him find his own way to sleep, looking forward to waking up with you in his arms.

[heliads]

platonic!aragorn x reader? i requested a bunch of these a while ago and i just adore how you write him. perhaps something in rivendell where the reader is overworking themselves because their productivity is really low so they work longer (bonus points if reader is a writer) and aragorn gets them to relax. ooh and sibling-style banter pls!!!

bonus points?? i didn't realize i was getting points at all this is fantastic

masterlist

Spring is a soothing time, it always has been. Winter is dark and dangerous; the sun sets early and tempers snap quickly, even amongst the elves. Those who claim to only proffer peace can lose it faster than you think. Grey skies spell trouble, early frost kills each and every bloom that thinks itself tenacious enough to come out before its time.

Every winter you think the cold will never end, that warmth and light will stay dead forever. Every spring, you are reminded of the one truth in this world that everyone seems to forget:  it will get better from here on out. There will, at some point, be a surrender of darkness, and you will heal. We all will, and we will do it together.

You are remembering that now as you walk through the gardens of Rivendell. Stormy nights made the stone and wood structures look cold with gloom, but with the way the sun shines upon them now, you would think yourself in a wholly different place. This is your home, it has been for the last ten years. You were not an elf born, but you came to their city and they welcomed you anyway. Swords can only do so much good. Sometimes poets and scholars are more necessary than guards.

So you found a place tucked away in glen thickets and stone walkways, so you learned to pursue your craft of words and thoughts until a foreign place felt like home and accepted you as one of its own. No life is easy, not while monsters like orcs and trolls still roam the uncharted territories in between cities, but Rivendell is a peaceful life, and it does good by you.

If you cannot find strife in the danger of fighting for your life, however, you will make it yourself. Resting is a difficult thing, even though it shouldn’t be that way. If you rest too long, you start to think, and if you think, you start to realize that you are technically an outsider here, not born within the stone spirals of Rivendell but of some other place, and that means you must prove that you deserve to stay here for longer. Those who stay must have meaning. What, then, could possibly be yours?

You’re a writer, then. Fine. Could your writing compare to those around you? Even the least of the elves still have centuries on you, so much time to hone their craft. By comparison, your scribblings must look juvenile at best. You’re trying, sure, but effort can only get you so far.

You’ll have to catch up on time, then. That’s doable. It should be, at least. You pour hours into the study of manuscripts and texts in the library, force your quill to paper so many times you think you might as well never lift it up. You may not have time as your virtue, but you can force it to work for you anyway.

The problem is getting your brain to cooperate half as well as your hands. Your pattern of frantic writing starts to wear away from you as you attempt to keep up the pattern from dawn until dusk day after day after day. It is exhausting work, but it shouldn’t be– isn’t this writing, what you decided you wanted to do forever? If you were truly gifted at it, this wouldn’t take so much effort, and it certainly wouldn’t drain you the way that it does. Maybe that is another failing, one more thing that separates you from the elves.

You hadn’t realized others were aware of your inner strife until you got a visitor one month after winter ended. He comes with bloodied hands washed clean, armor placed in an unlocked box for quick access, sword still within reach. Peace does not come easily to him either, son of the North, but it does not come easily to anyone. Aragorn might disguise his torment better than you, though. Or so he pretends.

You were not aware that he was stopping by. Perhaps you should have known, if you had spent more time outside of your study instead of unsuccessfully trying to burn through the latest chapter in your work. Regardless of what you could have learned, the result is the same:  your old friend stands in the doorway, shaking his head with mock solemnity even as he fails to hide a grin.

“Y/N, friend, have you ever been able to let yourself enjoy your time here, or must you always suffer yourself to your pages?”

You stand up with a smile and walk over to greet him. “Aragorn, how lovely to see you. What brings you this way?”

He lifts a shoulder. “Tracking business. There are rumors I don’t like about goings-on near Mount Doom, but that’s neither here nor there. Also, I heard that you weren’t doing as well as I would care to imagine.”

You stifle a groan. “You’ve been in contact with Arwen, haven’t you? Tell her she has nothing to worry about.”

“I would if I believed I wasn’t telling her lies,” Aragorn muses, “you seem too tired, my friend. Your brow is lined, your eyes are weary. What is the meaning of this?”

He does not say it angrily, or in any demand for information, just a concern for his friend. It is this and this alone that finally convinces you to open up.

“I need to do it,” you tell him at last, “I need results. I need pages of writing to make up for the fact that I lack the experience of the elves. I may be tired, but I feel like I have to prove that I deserve to be here.”

Aragorn shakes his head, looking surprised. “That cannot be. Who has told you that a person cannot merely live and have that be enough? Not every task must be proven right or proven useful, Y/N. You do not have to outwrite the elves, that truly is impossible. You are here to follow your own path, not theirs.”

You sigh. “It is difficult to not compare my writing with theirs when we live in the same place.”

“I remember that,” Aragorn says thoughtfully, “growing up and learning the way of the sword from elves with many decades already more than me was challenging, but it teaches you things that you would not know from mankind. Do not let them affect you, Y/N, intentionally or not. Only do what you wish to do. That is why you are here, not to do what they can but what you can. That way, they can learn from you as well.”

You run a tired hand across your face. “So you really came all this way to tell me to relax?”

His face splits in a familiar grin. “I figured you would need some advice. Besides, it truly is good to see you. It has been too long since we last spoke.”

You agree with that. “That means you could visit more often, you know, instead of tracking random animals through the wilderness.”

He frowns with pretend indignation. “My tasks are more important than that.”

“I wouldn’t know,” you tease, “you never visit long enough to tell me. And when you are here, you spend all your time following a certain Elf-maiden around. It makes for difficult conversation.”

He laughs. “You’re impossible.”

“Of course I am,” you say gleefully, “that’s why we’re friends. Thank you, though, for your words. I do appreciate them.”

“They are true,” he reminds you, “it is okay to rest. It always will be.”

It is a good message, this. Hard to remember and even harder to practice, but still good. You will try to apply its power in the days to come.

lotr tag list: @rogueanschel, @retvenkos, @gods-fools-heroes

[monstrouslyobsessed]

Hey,I have a question, if the Beastfolk cheat on their human mate… the human mate can get a divorce?the cheater Beastfolk can force the human to go back to them by the law? Is there a famous example of something that happened simular to this situation in this fictional world?❤️

oh, good question! for clarity's sake, here's the part one of the cheating taboo in beastfolk society.

this post sadly got long with my nonsensical rambling so it's all under the cut!

so considering the fact that the cheating is considered the "scarlet letter" in beastfolk culture, yes. it's easier if you're in more progressive area and depends on what era you're living in. it wouldn't be easy, but doable for the human spouse to file the...i wouldn't say divorce because the beastfolks hold different views on marriage* (more on that below), but severance to free themselves from their (ex) beastfolk partner.

severance would probably be a more fitting term for the dissolution of the relationship (regardless if the relationship's against the human's wills in the first place).

anyway, it's much easier to end the relationship if there are no children involved (which is unheard of, given how driven the beastfolk society is to have children, particularly with their declining population to the human's, but it can happen). if there are children, however, it's...difficult. complicated, even. but if you happen to have the ex's family's support (or even any beastfolk's support, actually), they will vouch for you to dissolute the relationship in court. there may be stipulations in order to be freed from the ex (such as having to hand yourself over into another beastfolk's custody, staying under the ex's family's care, etc.), but this is mainly for the child/ren's benefits though.

again, keep in mind, this is highly dependent on when and where you are. if in a more progressive area and era, you actually do have a fighting chance to get out. but if in a more conservative area, unless you have a friend (sugar daddy/mama who fell in love with you) who is made of money, you're SOL. more progressive regions may even provide you a lawyer pro-bono, especially if you have evidence of the ex's cheating. reminder, cheating is extremely taboo in beastfolk society--far more so than ours, where it's often forgotten within a few months. It's so taboo for the beastfolks that it's often a lifetime of shaming. even incest isn't as looked down upon to that extreme.

in conservative areas, the cheater will just be publicly shamed, but society will still pressure you to stay with them ("for the childrennnnn!"). however, they won't force you to remain with the cheater physically, they will drag out the process (such as screening the cheater for STDs, which can take months, even though while you were already cleared long ago), and may even place the cheater behind the bars. they'll encourage you into staying with the cheater's immediate family and expect you two to find a "compromise" for the sake of your children (if any or presumed).

of course, this creates a huge loophole for any cheater with a working brain cell to exploit to crawl their way back into your life though.

now, suppose that the severance did go through, but the ex wants to get back with you? anything could happen, really. considering beastfolk society's heavy focus on children's well-being, no severance is ever truly permanent. it's just a basic independence card for the human until they become involved with a(nother) beastfolk, without being labeled as a cheater. in some areas, there might be extra layers of legal protection from being attacked and taken by a beastfolk (be they the ex or otherwise), but this, too, is very area (and era) dependent, unfortunately.

one example i could think of that would be made into a hallmark-styled movie is probably something like...

a gorilla-based treefolk businessman who often travels and his human spouse who they had a child with. the treefolk is soon caught for cheating and having another family--whoops! the human, being smart and having lost love for their cheating spouse, files for severance and presents all the evidence to their lawyer. within three months, they clear out the house and leave with their child, leaving the cheater fuming and desperate.

i....actually imagined that this movie got remade several times lol in the original, there's a 'bad ending' that upset so many sensible viewers, since the human returned to the cheater after constant harassment and probably adopted the second family's kid/s when something happened to the affair partner (probably implied to be murdered by the cheater, idk). considering beastfolk society's consistent views on cheating yet focus on the kids' welfare, this movie probably got very mixed reviews. the next remake probably featured a much better ending, casting the human in a more positive light (humans were viewed in negative light back then by the beastfolks) for putting their beastfolk child first and being sensible to keep contact with the ex's family.

so, anything can happen regardless of the relationship status. i'm sure if the cheater beastfolk is very wealthy/influential even in the progressive region, no laws can prevent them from getting their human back anyway.

i'll have to think more on this one, but i hope this helps answer your questions! <3 it's a complicated set to answer, and tbf i cannot speak legalese, I can only share the concepts of inequities between two races swirling around in the nugget that is my corrupted brain.

*to the beastfolks, "marriage" felt too...politically charged. in our own irl history, marriages have often been used as political tools. now, don't get me wrong, the beastfolks do have a history of doing the same (indigenous chiefs surrendering children to protect or merge tribes to better benefit everyone was and still is a very common example)--but they are very driven by their own instincts. In most cases, this instinct produces stronger and healthier children, so they tend to trust themselves to find compatible mates. ofc, this isn't always true for every beastfolk though. anyway, for the reasons above, they prefer terms like "mating" over "marriage". i'll probably talk more about the political involved relationships another time to keep this short...er. er. yeah. tl;dr, they're more romantically inclined.

[mslanna]

A Lesson In Patience

A lesson In Patience up on AO3

Raphael is horribly bad in bed. But he wants to impress somebody with his prowess. Who is Tav to refuse their favourite fiend help?

"Alright, what have I told you about people being individuals?" Tav crosses their arms and looks down at the devil crouched between their legs.

"That they are and they like different things," Raphael replies slightly bored.

"Right and how do you find out if your lady love likes what you are doing?"

"I watch for her reactions." The devil clearly considers this a waste of his time.

"And what signs are those?" Tav waits for a reply that doesn't come. "Alright. I'll show you. Get back down there."

Raphael lowers his head, slipping his tongue between Tav's leg. It is a pleasing sensation, soft and – offering. Then the tip of his tongue finds their clit. Tav exhales slowly as the devil works them. He is getting better at it.

"Okay, let's say, this is feels really good for your girl, she might do this." Tav thrusts their hips up and Raphael sucks up their whole pussy in return. "Excellent save. Yes. Go for it, more intense, not necessarily with more pressure. Oh, yeah. That does it."

Tav takes a moment to calm their body's reaction. "On the other hand, she may just moan. That is good. She may whimper." Tav displays the sound as well. "That is very good because you are hitting a nerve and she is trying to keep it together. Watch out for hints of pain though. Not everybody is into that."

"Unlikely." Raphael raises his head to reply, mouth dripping and puckered in objection.

"Trust me on this one. Not everybody is and you cannot make them. Not while you're still in the impressing phase. Anyway," Tav pushes his head back over their clit. "Some people freeze up when things are really to their liking. Like this."

They hold very still while Raphael circles their clit with his tongue. It sends quite an amount of desire through their body by now. Some day soon these little sessions would have to end. Not that starting them was a good idea in first place.

But the devil wants to impress in bed and far be it from Tav to let a hapless guy flail and fumble. Women deserved better. And it wasn't as if he'd ever bed them. Which, considering how this started, might have been a blessing. Not anymore though. Tav lets out a long sigh.

"I assume this means the performance is going well?" Raphael props himself up.

"Indeed." Tav scrambles to return to the task at hand. "Remember what I said about sensitive skin and- ah, yes." Tav inhales sharply. "Nipples. Regardless of gender, those are very sensitive so use them well.

"To think you barely reacted," Raphael purrs, obviously happy with his progress. "No more staged responses, dear. Let me take it from here."

"We've been over this, Raphael." Tav cups his face with a hand, relishing in the soft tingle of his hair. "Getting me off doesn't mean anything for you lady. Make her walk the edge for a while before you start actually fucking and you should be fine however short it lasts."

"How do I know this even works?" He moves closer, face inches from Tav's. "Are you afraid I'll find you out?"

"If this worked on me, it would have worked already," Tav insists, concealing the main reason why it didn't work; even though devil dick was of a fortunate shape where g-spots were concerned. Tav pushed Raphael's head away with both hands.

"We covered human and devil shape, do not forget the tail, it may be a true asset." Tav pets the body part in question when it rises beside their head. "Do you intend to show her your ascended form, too?"

"I don't think she will like that."

"Ah. Alright. Her loss." Tav shifts in devil's arms.

But Raphael picks up on something. His eyes narrow, blaze increasing. "You consider it – doable?"

"Well," Tav swallows. "This isn't about me."

"Indulge me, for a moment." There is a subtle shift in his words. "The huge fiery fiend that can snap you in half with one claw?"

Tav has to swallow again because, hot damn. Yes. "Can't see what's not to like?" They confess under the burning gaze of the devil. "Huge monster, searing fire barely contained by black exoskeleton, skull faces, mane of fire and wingspan of a whole fucking house. Mind you, considering assumed size it may take some – work, to get it in."

"It will, yes." The words roll from Raphael's lips like velvet gravel.

"Anyway." Tav licks their lips which it is surely prompted by rising nervousness. "A moot point considering where you are headed."

"Going to a destination doesn't mean you cannot make stops along the way." Hunger drips from the words and the devil grips Tav's arms with strong hands. In the moment it takes Tav to blink, he transforms.

Tav swallows at the fiend before them. It's wings take up the whole room. Long claws curl around their arms and where the devil fit snugly between their legs, the ascended form presses them wide almost painfully. Three skull leer down at them, crowned by fire.

"Accelerated breathing, widened pupils," a fingers forces Tav's mouth open and slips its talon inside, "dry mouth." Raphael cites their own signs of arousal back at them. He leans down until Tav's head is caught between the mandible framing his face. The talon retracts from their mouth and wanders down their chest.

Tav gasps as it caresses its path over their belly and between their legs.

"Panting, wetness." The claw moves between Tav's folds before dipping into their cunt. "Whining, without pain. So far. I think I will take my chances."

Tav can't reply because bones close against their lips and a rough tongue forces its way into their mouth. So they reach for the fiend instead, hands grasping on the wiry surface of the burning body. But the ascended form it too big and Tav's arms reach barely to its waist, still far from the desired cock.

Raphael leans back, surveying his work so far. Tav squirms in his grip, breath heavy and interspersed with small whines. If he had know that it was a simple matter of shape. "On the edge until they are desperate with need, you said." Dark amusement laughs in his words.

Tav groans when he slips them onto their back, holding their upper body down with one hand easily as his head presses down between their legs. Teeth graze the sensitive skin, long canines digging deep into soft flesh. Tav wails when the hot tongue joins in and slips up into their body.

They taught Raphael well to look out for the signs. He digs in a little deeper, caresses a little rougher and a content rumble rises from the fiend's chest. He will take his time and whatever desperation washes over them, Tav brought it onto themself.

Beat, Tav thrusts their hips up into the relentless mouth. It earns them a deep lap and the tip of Raphael's infernal tail in their mouth. He paid close attention. Tav sucks on the tail as if it would ease their need or hasten Raphael. This would not end soon and not without several layers of desperation.

But as the fiend bears down, Tav doesn't even care.

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

Could you please write an Eddie Munson x reader. The reader is Eddie’s girlfriend. For this story could you please do angst and fluff. Thank you!

The reader gets injured (bit) the same way Eleven does in season 3 and same wound except this takes place in season 4 episode 7 where Eddie, Nancy, Steve and Robin are fighting the bats. At the end of the fight one of the tentacles grabs and bites the readers leg and Eddie is the first one to grab onto the reader as she is lifted into the air by her leg the same way Eleven was. Eddie, Steve, Nancy, and Robin are all fighting to get the reader down and finally do but the reader is severely wounded and losing a lot of blood. Eddie carries the reader as they all rush to get to safety as they try to hide in the upside down and just like Eleven they have to cut her leg open to get what’s inside her leg out. Once they do the reader passes out from blood loss and Eddie carries her as they all rush to Eddie’s trailer to get out of the upside down. Once they get the gate open Eddie helps get the reader through the gate as she is still passed out. They are able to get her through the gate and are able to tend to her leg. When the reader wakes up Eddie is sitting right next to her holding her hand and tearfully tells the reader he thought he lost her. Eddie and the reader comfort each other over the events that just happened and fall asleep cuddling with each other.

Hi, thanks for your patience on this and allowing me to take this request in a sightly divergent route! I really appreciate you. 

Requests have resumed. You can submit yours here!

Currently writing for Eddie Munson. I write for a variety of reader inserts (male, female, gender neutral, readers of color too).

The more details you had to your request, the better it is for me. EX: “What about some fluff for Eddie after he’s had a long day?”

Feel free to look through my masterlist here!

Eddie Munson x Female Reader.

CW: Injuries, blood, passing out, etc

___________________________________

You’ve never felt what it truly means to have the fear buzzing under your skin. You always thought it might just be something that you can only really register in retrospect. No one can really feel the thundering of their heart and how hot their skin in and not freeze. You always thought that when fear kicked in like this it would make all your limbs seize. 

And they feel like they should be. But there’s the voice in the back of your head begging you not to freeze. There’s the voice in the back of your head telling you you’ve got to fucking make it out alive. It doesn’t matter if you shit yourself. It doesn’t matter if your skin boils alive with how hot you are. It doesn’t matter if you are dripping wet from the lake. It doesn’t matter if your limbs feel like lead. You have got to fucking survive. 

The screech of the bats echoes in your ears, but all you can think is that you’ve got to stay the fuck alive. You notice just behind Eddie a bat trying to swoop in but you call out his name and tell him to duck. Thankfully he doesn’t think twice and just crouches in just enough time for the bat to just miss and you follow up with a harsh swing to its body. 

It screeches and you shout back, “Bastard!”

You have to stay alive. It’s all you can think to yourself even as Steve slams the body of a bat to the ground over and over again. “We’re not safe out in the open,” you state, watching the scene in front of you. 

The bats have too much of a clear line of all five of you. They can circle and have nothing in the way to make it harder. A few more crowd around and when it seems like it’s just a few more that are approaching the odds aren’t pretty but they might be doable. 

That is until more of the swarm pops up in the distance. 

“The woods. Come on,” Nancy calls out and the group doesn’t think twice about taking off. 

“Great. More running,” Robin huffs. 

You’re careful as you can be to avoid vines on the ground. Stay alive. Stay alive. Stay alive. Don’t anger the beast. Stay alive. Stay alive. Don’t anger the beast anymore. Your group finds some refuge under a fallen rock. The screech of the bats echoes, filling your ears to the point that you’re shocked you can hear Eddie calling your name quietly. “Baby, you okay?”

It’s the brush of his hand over your ankle that truly captures your attention. “I-I don’t know,” you whisper. It’s not that you think you’re physically injured but you’re not sure you’re actually living through this. You’re not sure any of this real. 

Eddie looks over you quickly. The blue of your top doesn’t seem stained, but it is dark. He hates that he can’t really see, so Eddie reaches out, back of his hand gliding over your torso. “You-did you get bit?”

You shake your head. “No,no, just freaked out, Eddie.”

He relaxes, shoulders dropping as he nods too. “Yeah, yeah me too.”

You know he’s freaked for different reasons. He’s got his life on the line. Then he’s worried about you--being in this place, with the danger. “It’s all very freaky,” you muse. 

The conversation doesn’t make it far before Steve sways and in the midst of Nancy getting him patched up, the lot of you are trying to decide how to get through that portal again. If bats are swarming it, just walking back through won’t be possible. 

Robin suggests the police station. The idea barely sprouts legs before Steve’s shooting it down. 

“I have guns,” Nancy offers, like she’s pissed she forgot just a little. 

“You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns--plural--in your bedroom?” Eddie clarifies. 

“Full of surprises isn’t she?” Robin chuckles. 

“It’s our best shot,” you offer, slipping an arm around Eddie’s waist. The lack of his denim vest over his leather jacket makes his outfit feel foreign to your eyes. Your sentence just lands before the quake hits. You tighten your grip to Eddie and Robin, as uncoordinated as a freshly born giraffe, falls into the two of you. 

 As you all recover, you set out to Nancy’s place. You don’t care what you’ve got do it just as long as you get the hell out of his place. The trek to her place is flled with your inner mantra, Don’t anger the beast anymore. Stay alive. Don’t anger the best. Stay alive. 

And it seems like you would’ve followed through on it. You get to Nancy’s--her guns a bust due to Upside Down being in the past--but then you manage to get Dustin to lead you all to another portal at Eddie’s place. The place Chrissy died. 

It feels all so close. The sight of Eddie’s trailer though it’s covered in vines brings a wave of relief to your body. It feels like the first deep inhale you can take since jumping into the lake. 

You’re not even paying attention to Eddie, too focused on just getting into the trailer. But he’s in front of you so when he pulls up short, the sight of his own home making his heart thunder in his chest because he knows. Inside, though it was technically in Normal Hawkins--inside is where Chrissy needed Eddie the most. 

You collide into something solid enough to knock you a couple steps back. “Oof,” you huff out, trying to gather your footing fast. Your foot slides, and it’s not solid ground. 

You know what you’ve done before you can even get a sound out. The vine pulses beneath your foot, slithering now a life you’d feared seeing. It’s slimy and you look down to your ankle to see the vine sliding up your leg. “No, no, no,” you chant. 

Before you can reach down to attempt to untie the shoe, leave it behind, you lose your balance. “Eddie!” you screech. “Anyone! Help!”

The whole group spins at the blood curdling scream. There you hang, being pulled upside down, reaching out for Eddie, fingers splayed and stretching as far as you can. It feels like you can’t reach out far enough. Stay alive. 

“Oh, shit,” Robin whispers. 

Eddie’s reaching back for you, grabbing onto your wrist to keep you from going completely into the air. His feet are sliding as the vine pulls back on his weight. Not you. You can’t get caught in this, Eddie thinks. And he can’t run either. He can’t run away from you. 

Eddie tugs, half his mind worried that he’ll end up hurting you but the other half of his mind focused on keeping you safe. 

It’s tight--the hold on you ankle. But it’s mostly fear and some anger. You were so fucking close. So fucking close to freedom. Now, you hang, caught in a vice grip and the world titled in nearly a 45 degree angle. 

Nancy rushes over, taking hold of Eddie’s waist to help give him more counter weight. It’s not well thought out. It could very well topple him over, but she gets herself planted firmly and she holds. 

“Eddie, do you have anything around here? Axe? Something?” Steve is shouting, but already poised to run inside of the trailer. 

“You’re okay,” Eddie shouts up at you. “I’m not letting go.”

“Please don’t!” you return. 

“Eddie!” Steve screeches. “What have you got?”

Eddie tries to think, but the sound of your cry rings and bounces around his skull. It pierces his chest. “Uh,” he starts, eyes closing for a moment. “Porch--under the porch. There should be an axe.” It’s the one that Wayne hide away when Wayne was 12 and they kept it there because there was no other place to stash it in the trailer. 

Steve hops down and finds under the sloped wooden slabs an axe. Robin’s anchored herself to Nancy, all three of them trying their best to keep Eddie from being pulled up. 

“It hurts, Eds.”

“Just hold on, baby!” he begs. “It’s going to be okay!” It has to be. It has to be okay. 

The first hit to the vine is wet, some black goo flies out. Steve doesn’t relent, pulling the blade out and going in for a second swing. Eddie keeps his hold. Not you, not you, he prays. 

It’s uncomfortable now, the way you’re in the air, but not fully upside. You are trying so hard to keep your grip on Eddie. Every hit Steve lands seems to only make it worse. But you don’t want to crack. Maybe it’ll get worse before it gets better. 

“C’mon!” Steve screeches. “Let her go!”

Another squeeze and then behind it something is crawling. You can feel it slithering up the vein from the inside. It scampers up and up and your heart races at the feeling. “No, no, no,” you beg, tears blurring your vision. 

The sharp pain comes not a second before the vein releases. Your screech rips over your throat--the pain and the drop both startling you. The string of people holding onto Eddie fall when the resistance suddenly cuts out. But Eddie’s pulling and pulling and you fall into him and onto hip and leg. 

You sob into his chest, trying to tell him that something bit you. Something hurts. But all you can get out are the sobs. There’s still white in your vision from the pain. The sensation of it crawling makes you want to rip your own skin open. “It hurts,” you hiccup out. 

Eddie’s rocking your body, lips pressed into your chair. “I’ve got you.”

“I really hate to break up the re-union, but we’ve got about three seconds before the whole ecosystem comes for our throats,” Steve announces. 

Nancy and Robin have recovered but you’re still buried in Eddie’s chest. He tries to coax you up but it hurts too much. You can feel it in your skin. 

The thing about staying alive is that there are times to do and times to die. Staying alive means you have to do. 

You manage to push up, grit your teeth and hobble into the trailer. Staying alive means doing. 

The feeling of your blood seeping out etches itself into the prickles of your leg hair. You want to sob. You want nothing more than tear your own insides out. But you’ve got to stay the fuck alive. 

It’s blurry. Once you’re inside, you catch faintly the sounds of the kids’ voices--Dustin and Erica and maybe some others--but you’re not sure. All you can think to yourself is stay alive. 

Stay alive. 

Stay alive. 

“We’ve got to get it out!” Eddie’s panicked, pacing the living room and watching your barely conscious body, slumped in one of the chairs at the dining table. The creature in your leg still slithering underneath the skin. The sight nearly rocks Eddie’s gut and he can feel the bile rising. Not that he can’t handle blood. He can--he’s had his fair share of bloody noses, split lips, skinned knees. But it’s you. It’s you panting and trying to stay conscious. It’s you with something from the Upside Down under your skin. 

Eddie managed to get the injury tied off--a shitty tourniquet if he’s honest made of his belt--to hopefully slow the bleeding. But there’s no way you can make it without them getting whatever it is in your leg out. 

“We can--once we’re through,” Nancy returns. “Get her up and ready! We will die here if we don’t move.”

No--Eddie won’t let you die here, that’s for certain. 

You’re up before you realize you’ve been sat. Eddie’s in your ear. You can’t make out his voice coherently enough to piece together what he’s saying. You think you hear hospital. 

Stay alive. 

When you wake, you realize there’s a harsh streak of light cracking through the blinds. You don’t recognize the ceiling. It feels silly to say it’s the ceiling you don’t recognize. But you don’t. You turn your head and realize you don’t recognize the coffee table or the couch. 

You’re on a couch. 

As you go to sit up, a soreness radiates up your leg and the groan of pain slips from your lips without realizing.

“You’re awake.” The voice next to you is breathless. But you know it anywere in the world. 

“Eds?” you turn back and see him kneeling next to you. 

The tremble in his hands is evidence as he pushes back some of the hairs from your face. “Ye-yeah, it’s me. How-how do you feel?”

“Like I got hit by a bus,” you laugh. Your eyes slip close and the vine comes back. You’re in the air. The slithering and crawling. Then the bit. You whimper at the thought, willing it out of your mind but it lingers. “Please--is it? Is is still inside me?” you whisper around the tears forming . 

“No, no,” Eddie reassures. “It wasn’t pretty, but you’re okay. It’s gone, baby. It’s gone. Red’s good for something.”

The tear slip down your cheeks. “Max?”

“She knew someone. They were close by and trustworthy. It’s gone, I promise.” Eddie rests his forehead against yours and you pull him in by his shoulders closer to your body. “You’re alive, okay? And safe.” 

Eddie’s voice cracks too as he speaks and he wants to say more, but the emotions have swallowed up all the words. There’s nothing else to say when his heart feels like it nearly fall out his ass. He’s relieve just to have you still. 

You can only nod as the tears choke you, chest tightening as you try not to cry. You stayed alive. There’s no doubt more shit to worry about--how exactly the lot of you would proceed and how to be prepared for Venca/One. But for now, you stayed alive. 

[sara78]

Family don't end in blood - chapter 9

Summary: Jensen stumbles into a familiar, but not-so-loveable face and learns how far and how bad things can go for him, his friends and his family, including Y/N. Everyone is alarmed and has to work together if they want to stay as safe as possible

Word count: 5,000 and some more

Warnings: Scary situations, angst, mentioned death/murder (nothing major but SKIP IF IT TRIGGERS YOU), angst, SO MUCH DRAMA

Transcription - Y/M/N: Your mother's name ; Y/H/C: Your home country

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x foster!daughter reader

A/N: Whoops...

3rd person POV

After meeting with Jensen's and Danneel's lawyer most of the things got cleared up.

Y/N's mother must be working with Jane. Disowning a child is a felony in the US, therefore when she got disowned there would have been absolutely zero records of it here in the States, but Jane had no trouble finding Y/N and obviously scaring her and everyone else to death.

They also found out that Jane is in the dirty part of CPS. Just what they heard she did to some kids made shivers run down their spines and they definitely didn't want to see that woman ever again. But, since she is probably working with Y/N's mother, she won't be able to get a hold of warrants for forcefully taking Y/N away for a long time, maybe she never gets them in the first place. And that made everyone sleep a little easier at night.

What had all three of them a bit under the weather was the fact that pushing Jensen and Danneel into the foster care system will take much more effort and it might not be doable. There were too many things to do and some people are corrupted enough to just fuck people off for no good reason. This time, the reason was the supposed publicity Jensen and Danneel wanted that came with adopting a child. Which was of course pure bullshit. But then, how do you explain that to someone?

But as of now, Y/N's been staying with Jensen. They flew back to Vancouver to finish filming for the season, second semester of high school started for Y/N and she really didn't have a lot of time to worry about the whole disowning thing. She couldn't care less if she was being honest.

Jensen's POV

I was waiting outside a pizzeria, getting some fresh air while waiting for my order to be done. I wanted to surprise Y/N with her favorite pizza and a shake, as I knew she has a documentary to watch in her history class which she enjoys and she could use a little dinner beforehand.

I was looking around the dimly lit streets that led to where I stood. This part of Vancouver isn't always crowded, but in the evenings, just like this, a lot of teenagers and grown-ups walked around these parts, in search of some good fun or just a place to grab a bite and hang out in.

Until I saw a face that made my blood boil.

The first person my mind went to was Y/N. I had to act quick, so I dialed Jared,

"Jared, Poughkeepsie."

"Poughkeepsie? What?"

"Poughkeepsie. Now," I ordered sternly as I ended the call, seeing the face walk up to me and tug me for my sleeve,

"You and I need to have a little chat," Y/N's mother spoke as she pulled me to an alley behind the pizzeria. I followed her, not planning to make a scene in a more or less crowded street,

"You need a little visit to the mental ward but here the fuck we are," I growled back, "What the fuck do you want?"

"I want Y/N," she said, slamming me against a wall,

"I told you this weeks ago and I'll repeat now - you won't go near her ever again."

"Now, now, you can already tell how big of a waste she is, how worthless and stupid she is. How about you drop that little game of yours and we can talk the real shit. We could both benefit really well if we work together."

"I don't have to drop any games because I'm not playing," I said, getting into her face, "I'm not faking a thing when it comes to that child."

"I could give you money," she said, making me huff a smile, "She'll get her master's and doctorate in 10 years tops and I'll give you a part of her paycheck. Don't tell me you don't want some money, just to be safe if your job ever goes to shit."

"And I'd rather die than work with you, so I'll happily reject your sick offer and whatever sick game you have planned in your twisted mind."

"I don't have a problem with you dying," she laughed evilly, "Especially if I get to be the one end you. So, choose wisely."

"You're insane," Jensen breathed, "Why can't you just let her go? She's old enough to have her own life. She's done with you to the point where she won't even sue you for everything you did to her. Just go back to Y/H/C and forget about her. Let her go."

"I am either leaving here with her or I die. I do not accept failure."

"What was your point?" I asked, "In disowning her. We know you work with Jane. I know that was some poor attempt from your side to take her in with a fake name on you or something. We know many things you think we don't. We can put two and two together and we're not stupid, especially not Y/N. But then, you would know that. She's everything you never were. And now, you're nothing without her. And that hurts a whole lot, doesn't it?"

Y/M/N had no problem kicking me in the stomach, making me double over but I managed to push her away, not wanting to attack her but just to defend myself. But something shifted in the way she looked at me after that punch. Something told me that she was scared, that she didn't expect us to put things together and read her master plan as easily as we did. Hell, she probably counted on us not even thinking of it.

"Oh, how sad," she mimicked, "Poor Y/N, always being the victim. What other lies did she feed you with? How awful of a mother I am? Or how she didn't have a daddy to love her?"

"Yeah, she told me all about that," I huffed as I leaned against the wall again, "She told me how he never loved you. And you punished her for it even though it wasn't her fault. She never cared about the man. She, a ten-year-old child, went over a stupid, worthless man. But you never did. I think that should tell you a thing or two about maturity and all. I know heartbreaks are hard, but there was no reason to punish Y/N. She didn't do anything wrong in the whole situation."

"She existed!" Y/M/N exclaimed, "She ruined me!"

"You could have ended her existence," I spoke, gulping, "You could have aborted. But you didn't. Instead, you made this master plan where you make her into a robot and try to get revenge or whatever you thought you were gonna get. But you ran into a little problem, a little flaw. Me. And, well, you didn't expect Y/N to act the way she did. That's definitely why you're chasing her now. You didn't see it coming and it's killing you and you can't explain yourself to all those people you brag to about how amazing your daughter is."

"As I said, I have no problem with killing you. Her too. So, are we going to work together or are you going to die? Or is it gonna be her who's gonna die? You pick."

"I'll take the rain check," I smirked, knowing she was bluffing. She didn't have a weapon on her. I couldn't spot one, with how light she was dressed, "Maybe some other time."

"You have a family," she spoke up as I walked away. I froze, turning around, anger flailing,

"You don't want to do that."

"Ooh, how scary you are. Who is it going to be, Y/N or your family? I saw how cute your boy is. Shame to shoot that little smile."

"You can't cross the border," I smiled at her, "You can't hurt them. You're a wanted fugitive. No fake names can rub out how ugly you are."

"Well, as much as I'd like to hurt them with my own hands, you're right about that. But then, I have my ways."

"If you try to come at them, there's going to be one big difference in who's chasing you down."

"Oh really? And what is that, sweetie?"

"Y/N," I said, "She doesn't want to have anything with you. But, see, there's something very important about her that you never seemed to notice about her - she loves. She has a big heart that loves with all it has."

"What the fuck are you talking about!?" she exclaimed, making me smile,

"Nothing. Just pointing out something obvious about your daughter that you should have known by now. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get dinner and go back to the set," I said, walking away. As soon as I made it to the street, I hid behind the first object I found, seeing Y/M/N walking away furiously in the opposite direction, where the set was located. I gulped, taking a deep breath before going to the pizzeria.

As I walked out of the pizzeria I could finally answer my phone which went crazy as soon as I ended the call with Jared.

"Dude, for fucks sake! What the hell is going on?!" Jared's worried voice rang on the other end,

"Are you at my place?"

"No, but Misha was there already. I asked him to stay until you come back. What is going on?"

"Y/M/N found me."

"She-are you hurt?!"

"No," I breathed, "I'll be at your place in a few."

I'm greeted with a big moose hug as soon as the door to Jared's apartment flew open. I returned it before entering the apartment, looking around for a second before slamming the door shut and locking them fully,

"Dude, you're white as a sheet," Jared said, guiding me to the couch, "Sit down, breathe. Here," he made a few long steps to his kitchen and gave me a bottle of cold water, "Drink."

"Thanks," I breathed, gulping down the content of it,

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Jared asked and I nod,

"She hit me in the stomach but nothing bad."

"Fuck, she's been here this whole time," Jared gulped, "What did she want?"

"To persuade me into working with her to get Y/N. Probably bring Y/N back to Y/H/C. I didn't even let her spit out the entire thing. I got sick by just looking at her."

"She's really a stubborn bitch."

"Yeah," I breathed, looking up to Jared, "She threatened."

"She what?"

"Murder," I whispered, "Murder me, Y/N, take your pick."

"What?!" Jared exclaimed, "Is she out of her fucking mind?! Jensen, you have to get security for Danneel and the kids. Cliff will have you and Y/N covered here. And we have to report her too."

"I'll fly Danneel and the kids here," I whispered, "I can't sleep without them all here."

"But the kids are in school," Jared frowned, "And if Y/M/N sees them-"

"I'll think of something. Dee will think of something," I gulped, grabbing my phone, noticing how shaky my hands are, "Fuck. They gotta pack and leave as soon as possible. They might be able to make it by tomorrow morning if they can catch a plane tonight. When I have them within arms reach we will discuss further into their safety."

"Yours too," Jared added, "I'll call Cliff and have him send someone he trusts over to follow Dee and the kids to the airport and Gen to help. Jensen, look at me," Jared tried, making me look up at him, "Everything will be okay."

"Yeah. Yeah," I nod, "Just, be fast. I... I gotta get back to Y/N. She must be worried by now."

"Did Y/M/N follow you here?" Jared asked and I shook my head,

"I told her I'm going back to set."

"Okay. Misha is with Y/N, don't worry. I'll tell him to let her know you'll be late and he'll keep her safe until we make it there."

Not 10 minutes later, Jared and I set everything up. Danneel will fly with the kids over tonight and Cliff and me will pick them up tomorrow morning.

I had to take a quick shower and gather my shit together before going back to Y/N. When I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror I now understood why Jared told me I look white like a sheet.

I shook my head, turning on the faucet. She can't see me scared. She can't know any of what happened tonight. I washed my face, taking deep breaths to calm myself down.

She's gonna be so scared and she might run away again and this isn't downtown Austin and Y/M/N is here too. I can't risk her knowing what went down tonight.

"Hey, Dee and the kids are on the way to the airport. Cliff's friend and Gen are following them. Dee's gonna let us know when they board it and what their arrival time is," Jared informed me as I left the bathroom,

"Okay, yeah, sounds good," I nod, taking a deep breath,

"We should go to Y/N now. Misha is worried too probably."

"Y/N can't know," I spoke up, Jared frowning,

"What? What do you mean, Y/N can't know? Jensen, her mother-"

"I know what she did and that's the exact reason why she can't know," I said, "I'll tell Dee to lie to her, to tell her that there was a problem with the house in Austin and they had to leave here until it's fixed. She simply can't know, brother."

"Jensen, I don't think it's smart to hide this from her."

"I don't want her to run away again!" I yelled out, tears welling in my eyes,

"Jens, hey," Jared walked up to me, giving me a hug, "Brother, she's not going to run away again. She promised me."

"She-she promised me too," I whispered, Jared breaking the hug,

"See? She's not gonna do it again. I know you trust her."

"But I-I don't know what would happen if she found out. What if-what if she tries to find her and turns herself in? Jared, she'd rather suffer than have any of us in danger. I know the lengths she's ready to go to protect the ones she loves. Especially if she heard... "

"Heard what?"

"Her mother said I have a cute little boy," I breathed, "She threatened to kill Zeppelin. If she were to hear that she'd go rampage and hunt her down. She loves that kid more than she loves herself."

"Brother, first of all, she loves you too more than she loves yourself and second of all, no matter who she threatened to kill, Y/N would go rampage. Now, I get what you're saying, but we must be honest with her. Whatever went down, she has to know. She trusts us, more importantly, she trusts you. You have to be honest with her. In this moment you're everything she has. And I am sure she won't try and do anything stupid again. She learned some things that night back in Austin. We gotta trust her to make the right calls and I trust her. I know you trust her too and this is just your fears taking over, which is totally fine, but lying won't solve anything. Come on brother. You're not alone. We'll win this together. Let's go now."

"She can't see I'm scared," I whispered,

"That's bullshit," Jared spoke up, "She's already seen you scared and there's nothing, absolutely nothing you should be ashamed of. She's your kid."

"Exactly. She's my kid. I'm supposed to be strong for her."

"I'd very gladly kick your ass right now," Jared sighed, "She's not gonna think any less of you if she sees you scared, Jens. Showing her this version of yourself, you're sending her a quiet 'I trust you'. She's not a little kid either. There's no reason to lie to her. In any way."

Your POV

You didn't expect to see Misha in your doorway but you surely didn't mind his company. He's a crackhead but also a teddy bear.

You saw him frown at the phone a few times but he didn't mention anything, so you let it be, knowing that if it was something important he'd tell you.

At some point he told you that Jensen will probably run a bit late because he had to do a few things on top of filming. You shrugged your shoulders, knowing that happened sometimes, and you were in his shoes quite a few times.

So, here he is, sitting next to you on the couch as you both watched the documentary in your history class.

As the class ended, the door to the apartment unlocked and you smiled as you turned around and saw Jensen and Jared enter the apartment. Jared carried some pizza, and Misha immediately jumped from the couch, helping him, but you couldn't miss Jensen's pale, scared face.

Jensen couldn't miss the frown you made and he's fast to make a few long steps and give you a bone-crushing hug. You returned it, letting him hug you for as long as he needed to.

When he let go, Jared was the next one to give you a hug and you now found this behavior rather suspicious. The three sat down on the couch and you came up to them and found a spot right next to Jensen,

"Guys. What's going on here?" you asked, looking at everyone for a few seconds before locking your eyes on Jensen, "First, Mish just comes in and makes weird faces at his phone, then you're late from filming and then Jare shows up with you. Is something wrong?" Jensen gulped, looking down.

Chills ran down your spine.

"Did she hurt you?" you asked but Jensen kept quiet, "Did she hurt Dee or the kids?" he didn't respond, "ANSWER ME!" you yelled out, abruptly standing up.

"No," Jensen's voice was quieter than a whisper and you could have missed it if you weren't looking at him. The way he hunched over himself and made himself as small as possible didn't give you any good feelings. You slapped Jared's hand off as he was biting his nails and he smiled sadly at you. You kept looking him in the eye, waiting for some sort of words to come out, to tell you something, anything that Jensen hid so well, but Jared shook his head. He didn't want to tell you. He wanted Jensen to be the one to tell you.

So, you sat down on the ground, facing Jensen as you crossed your legs and made yourself as small as possible, finally being able to see his face. He gulped, just looking at you and you nudged his leg gently,

"Jense. What happened?"

"She found me."

You froze, but took a deep breath,

"She hurt you, didn't she?" you asked, standing up and pushing Jensen to sit straight, "Where?" you asked but Jensen shook his head. You grabbed the collar of his hoodie, "Jense. Where?"

"She didn't hurt me," he whispered. You looked to Jared who didn't say anything, again.

"Then what did she say? What did she want?" you asked, letting go of Jensen's collar,

"You don't want to know," he whispered,

"I very much want to know," you responded, "Come on. Talk to me. You're upset and scared. Did she threaten to kill me?"

"Amongst other things," he whispered,

"What other things?" you asked,

"Uh, can we go back for a second to the part where she said she's going to kill you?" Misha pointed out but you shook your head,

"No. I don't care about that right now. At least not until I hear the rest."

"She said I have a pretty son," he whispered, finally looking up to your eyes,

"She..." you gulped, grabbing your phone, "I gotta call Dee. Jare, ask someone Cliff trusts to guard their home. I-"

"They're flying here," Jared spoke up, "Dee and the kids. They boarded the plane half an hour ago."

"Fuck," you breathed, "Fucking fuck. I told you," you said as you began to pace around the room, "I told you that you'll be in danger if you kept me. See, now she's threatening Zeppelin! If she just thinks about threatening you too I'm going to find her and kill her and I don't care about the sentence I get."

"Jensen," Jared warned, making you look to him and see Jensen shake his head in a negative answer, a tear rolling off the bridge of his nose, his head still bowed down. It took you a moment before you realized why Jared had that reaction,

"She threatened you too, didn't she?" you whispered, "She threatened to hurt you."

"Kiddo, please," Jensen breathed as he stood up and came up to you, getting a hold of your shoulders, "Please, don't..."

"She didn't say she was gonna kill you, did she?"

"It doesn't matter what she said."

"She said she's gonna kill you," you whispered.

You didn't know what to do.

Your mind kept going to running away, but you promised. You promised Jensen and Jared not to do that again. You can't break their hearts, the trust they have in you.

But then the face Jensen sported hit you like a train and the only thing you thought of in that given moment was to slam your body into his, squeezing him into a tight hug.

You felt his arms wrap around you and you shook your head as tears began to fall and the threats kept repeating in your head. You could hear her say it, you could hear her say it in every language she knew, in every expressive way she had up her dirty sleeve. You could see her, clear as day, as she spoke those words, as she threatened to kill two people you loved more than yourself.

"She-she can't kill you. She-she can't hurt Zepp or-or anyone else," you began, not even knowing how long did the silence last, "I-I have to give her what she wants."

Jensen's arms only wrapped tighter around you and you could feel his head shake in a negative answer by the way he leaned his chin on the top of your head,

"Not in hell you're doing that," Misha spoke up, "She's gonna have to go through all of us if she wants to get you."

"That's the exact problem I have!" you yelled out, breaking Jensen's hold, "I don't care about what she's got planned for me. What I have nightmares about all the fucking time is her hurting all of you! Because she knows I hurt the most when people I love hurt. She knows me, Misha! And she has no problem with killing anyone if it meant that she's gonna get her hands on me. I'm not willing to sacrifice any of you or the kids. If she wants me that bad then she will get me."

"No!" Jared exclaimed, "We never thought about the fact that she might be bluffing, or something else."

"She's not bluffing," you breathed, "You don't know her. She's insane. Insane enough to kill. She's killed before. And I don't want you to die."

"She killed before?" Jensen breathed and you gulped,

"I can't say for sure but I think she could have saved my grandpa when he was dying," you turned to look at Jensen whose eyes were glued on you, "And that little fact, that's why we can't keep this up anymore."

"We can," he whispered, "We can and we will. Just don't leave."

"Jensen, I have to."

"No you don't," he breathed, "Maybe Jared's right. Maybe she's bluffing. To scare us, to scare you. To make you come to her. She's a master manipulator."

"I... I don't know what to believe anymore," you whispered, running your hands through your hair, "It's the safest option we have right now."

"Do you trust us?" Misha spoke up and you moved your look to him, "Trust Jared, me?" you nod, "Trust your dad?" you nod again, "Then trust us when we tell you that everything will be okay. It might hurt a whole lot and it might take a while to get to that point, but we're gonna get to the point where everything is okay. You just have to trust us."

"Do you think it's worth it?" you asked, looking down, "All this? For me? For a stupid human?"

"You're my kiddo. Not a stupid human," Jensen whispered, giving you a warm hug, "No matter how old you get, no matter what it says on a stupid piece of paper, no matter what tomorrow brings. You're worth everything."

"Your real family is in danger because of me."

"You didn't tell your mother to kill them, did you?" Misha asked and you violently shook your head when Jensen let you go, "Then how is it your responsibility?"

You were about to respond but Jensen's phone rang. He looked at it, seeing Rich's phone number,

"Take it," you whispered, looking at Misha who nod, walking away to another room with Jensen. You stayed behind with Jared.

"She took it too far," you whispered, "I don't care if she were to kill me. But she threatened my dad and my baby brother. What do I do?" you asked Jared, tears quietly rolling down your cheeks, "He's so scared. Mom too, for sure. You and Mish too. Fuck me, I'm scared. How do I make this right? How do I fix this?"

"Stay here with us and keep up with your promise," he reminded you and you nod, gulping, "Mish and I will stay the night here. Cliff's on his way, he'll stay alert and we can all get some sleep. Stay with Jensen for me. Please."

Misha walked out of the room and towards you, giving you a warm hug for a few moments before nodding you to Jensen's room. You nod, walking away quietly,

"There's some of Jensen's shirts in the dryer. Help yourself."

"Don't worry about us," Jared smiled, "Night, munchkin."

"Night, angel," Misha added,

"Night guys. And thanks."

You walked into Jensen's room, to where he was sitting, at the side of the bed, his head leaning against his palms, his elbows digging into his knees. You moved his arms away and hugged him tightly, Jensen returning it immediately. Your heart shattered at the sob he let out, taking you back to that night in Austin from a few months back and the aftermaths you faced.

"Don't run away," Jensen whispered as he clutched the back of your shirt and you shook your head, "I'll do everything. Just don't run away."

"I promised not to do that again. I want to leave, but only if you know and agree, which doesn't seem to be the case right now."

"Please, don't," he choked out, "Please."

"I won't. I'm staying here, with you."

"We-we just have to stick together," he murmured, "Just stay close to each other and we'll be safe. No way she's getting her hands on any of us - hey, shhh," he shushed you as you sobbed.

You knew the stunt with running away you pulled a few months back hurt Jensen, but you didn't know he was this scared of you running away again. And that, as a cherry on top of this shitshow of a cake, just made you lose it altogether,

"She's not going to hurt us. Y/N, look at me. Please, look at me," he begged and you had to do as told, meeting his swollen, red eyes, "I know how much you love us. You might not say it with words but knowing that you're ready to sacrifice your life to protect us tells me more than you think. I know how much you love us and I assure you, she's not gonna hurt me or Zeppelin."

"He's just an innocent kid," you whispered, "And you didn't ask to be a part in any of this."

"Hey, you said it yourself," Jensen sniffled, tugging at the sleeve of his hoodie and wiping your tears, "You said it yourself, she knows how to get to you. She didn't have a weapon. She dragged me into an alley but all she did was hit me in the stomach once. She threatened to kill me right there but she didn't have a weapon."

"She has one back in Y/H/C. What if she brought it in?"

"There's no way she could have," Jensen shook his head, "Only weapon she could get is a kitchen knife."

"That's more than enough to harm people."

"That's not the point I'm trying to make," he said, "I'm trying to tell you that she's not going to hurt us because she's bluffing. She didn't have balls to hit me again. She retracted as soon as I pushed her away. She was scared. I told her we're not as stupid as she takes us for and something in her expression changed and she became more reserved."

"She's not scared, just waiting to bait you. If you were to make a move, she'd report you to the police. And that would throw all of your work to get into the foster care system down the drain and she'd win."

"Well, she's got nothing to report me for because I just gently pushed her away in self-defense. She's not going to hurt us and she's not going to win. Dee and the kids will be here until this all is sorted out and until you become an Ackles."

"You know that might not happen."

"It will happen one way or another. Besides, I don't care what a stupid paper says. You're an Ackles and that's a done deal," Jensen said, finally breaking a soft smile, "We're gonna win. We're scared and that's okay. And what we feel is okay too and there's no shame in that. But we'll win. Just like Mish said. It might take a while, it might hurt, but we will win."

"I love you," you whispered, going to hug him again, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, kiddo," he said, squeezing you tight to his chest, "She's not gonna get us. She doesn't have one important thing."

"What?"

"Love," he smiled, kissing your temple. "She isn't driven by love. She might as well stick her money, fame, and insults where the Sun shines. Love will win. Always."

"Thank you," you said, burrowing your head into his shoulder, "For everything you do."

"There's nothing to thank me for, kiddo. It's my job to protect you."

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY @crasmuna ONCE AGAIN, HERE'S A BELATED BDAY PRESENT FROM ME TO YOU (don't kill me pls (but then if you do you won't find out what happens hehe)) SINCE YOU LIVE SO FUCKING FAR AWAY AND I CAN'T GIFT YOU AN ACTUAL PRESENT AND GIVE YOU A HUG. Thanks for being there for me and keep being the amazing human being you are!!! Oh, also, we're in our 20s, when are we talking about options for nursery homes?

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

I (almost) finished my first-ever campaign of DnD! Here's some things I noticed and lessons I've learned. Probably nothing revolutionary, but maybe someone might find it helpful!

Notes on the module:

we ran an adventure loosely based on Lost Mines of Phandelver, but I changed the backstory significantly to tie into one of my players' backstory and that became a large focus of the story, so I can't necessarily speak to the story of the module. I personally felt it was a little lacklustre, with a lot of plot points feeling very skin-deep or like a last minute add-on (*cough* Venomfang). But

the NPC names are very classic fantasy, but they didn't feel very organic to me - everyone at the table had huge trouble remembering most of them, except for Gundren, Agatha and Reidoth (again, grain of salt, neither me nor my players are native English speakers)

the locations are great, they're very evocative and fun! The dungeons were often way too big for us, I retconned almost half the final dungeon just to give us a hope in hell to finish it in three (very long) sessions. But if your party moves more quickly or you plan on running this campaign for a good bit, there's a lot to do.

since LMoP is (or was) advertised as the ideal intro to the game, I was a little surprised at how challenging I found it to run some of the combat. Especially the ones that contained a bazillion goblins or bugbears etc. to keep track of... but a friend with much more experience pointed out to me that LMoP is a great intro to the game for players. Which is an excellent point! I'm not saying it's necessarily super hard to run, either, I'm sure it's not! But for someone like me who struggles with visual orientation on a good day and yet decided to run combat in theatre of mind, it got pretty confusing a few times.

it has a really annoying little plot hole right at the end of the first encounter, which I caught, hoped I could ignore, and then it came up immediately: The PCs start out defending a wagon on the way through the woods, which then gets attacked. Once they defeat the attackers, the module expects the PCs to abandon the cart they just risked their lives for to pursue the attackers into the woods. Make your peace with the fact that they're probably not gonna do that.

Mistakes I made:

maybe my main regret is Sildar Halwinter, the main friendly NPC. I gave him a backstory and personality that I thought made sense and that I hoped fit the vibe and hinted at a larger world. And it did! I really liked what I did with him. But he was also a terrible NPC to give to my party. I brought a real fiction-/tv-writer sensibility to the character design and gave him a very matter-of-fact and relatively quiet personality... and discovered that my party does not ask NPCs personal questions unless HEAVILY prompted. At all. Not even after the DM repeatedly helplessly says stuff like "well, you've never asked them" lol. I literally only managed to give them some of his backstory by having him proclaim "wow, my wife would have liked this place!!" in a kinda unsubtle way in the final session. Meanwhile, characters with more proactive character traits - like the shepherd who was a real dragon-fanboy and talked about them whenever he could - were immediate hits with my players. So it's not a lack of interest in the NPCs, I just need to work on signalling that there's something there for them to ask about, I guess.

I didn't like the main villain of the campaign, so I made my own and statted her like I would a PC, but I didn't give her nearly enough class levels. She was lvl 6 against a party of three lvl 5 characters, so once they'd dealt with her handful of minions, she was pretty much toast. She could have been at least lvl 10 and still be a doable fight, and would have felt much more like a final boss.

I did not guess correctly how long their "brief" final encounter with the local dragon would take (they were somehow WAY too trusting and would not get scared and run away, so the dragon actually had to slap them around before they got the memo - I refuse to take the blame for this, they refused two separate opportunities to do research on dragons and our wizard did so terribly on the social encounter that a way nicer creature would have probably tried to eat her for it). The encounter was fun, but it happened under a huge time-crunch and we had to end what was the last real session of the campaign on a "and you excape from the dragon's lair and are safe, cool bye go catch your bus!" and had to table our epilogue for a ten-minute window at the start of next session. With is both annoying because it really butchers the flow of the narrative for the players and also because it will cut into the time for a one-shot one of the players is running next session. Idk what the lesson here is, timing is hard.

I should have used some rudimentary maps to keep track of the fights that had a ton of enemies in them tbh. I didn't like that because it seemed like a lot of work, but constantly going "wait fuck, which of the 15 goblins is the one I'm standing next to and is that the one that just took damage?" was no fun for anyone.

I came up with a cool regional effect inside the mine, but I wasn't fastidious about enforcing it so we all forgot about it, which is a shame.

I haven't been nearly as attentive to attacks of opportunity as I should have been and neither have my players, and they're not using Help, Disengage or Dodge actions nearly as much as they could yet

Notes for next campaign/ Stuff that was really popular with my party:

they loved all characters that I gave voices to, even though my voices are objectively BAD (no, really, I can do 1.5 accents outside of "generic British" and I really struggle to keep them consistent)

again, NPCs with obvious, proactive interests or character traits, no matter how irrelevant or borderline annoying were always a hit

my group will constantly volunteer to roll for stuff. Our youngest has firmly established that they roll initiative after every long rest to see who wakes up first, and has been 100 percent consistent about this.

our wizard player is really interested in her character's personality and backstory and is clearly prepared to antagonise a green dragon in service of it. She loved fun magical items, but I haven't sussed out if that was a character trait of the character or the player

our artificer is a little mechanics nerd and would pour so much love and care into her homunculus and golem and their design and abilities

our druid player picks a main theme for her character and zone in on that above everything else. Her character was extremely nature- and animal-loving so I had one of the NPCs teach him Find Familiar (yes, that's not a druid spell, but the player isn't exactly a power gamer so it didn't overpower anything) and I honestly think the chicken familiar was the high point of the campaign for the player (Clover the chicken acquired a bandana from the local tailor and is very fashionable)

she is also much more ready to kill her character than the other two

they like nuance, but they won't accept an impasse situation as conclusion of an arc, even if that's the most realistic

[lunawings]

Animaniacs in Concert, 2/17/24 in Bristol, CT

Or, the story of how I ran into Rob Paulsen and immediately threw up.

Not on him, thankfully.

Where to begin? From the beginning, I guess.

I talk a lot about Japanese voice actors on this blog and I have almost no thoughts about American anime dub voice actors (no offense, I just don't know their work). However, if you asked me my favorite American cartoon voice actor, it's Rob Paulsen. I knew his voice before I even knew he existed, and if you ask me, he's one of the most recognizable male voice actors in Saturday morning cartoons.

He's probably most known as being Yakko on Animaniacs, and "half the Ninja Turtles" as he puts it. ("Maybe if I live to 102 I can voice all of them!") I also personally really liked him in The Mask cartoon, I think it's some of his best work. (Even though he was doing Jim Carey, he kind of wasn't at the same time. He made it his own.) But even beyond his leading roles, he just seems to pop up all sorts of places, and it always makes my day when I recognize him as additional voices.

While Japanese voice actors are often young and excessively beautiful people you're supposed to swoon over, 80s/90s American cartoon voice actors aren't... quite... the same. And yet. I sorta do, in a weird way. I mean I've known Rob Paulsen's voice for as long as my brain has been making memories and that's a pretty huge impact on a person. A few years back, I stumbled upon a few videos of him on YouTube attending cons performing Yakko's World and such, and I just loved his personality and energy so much. So, I added seeing him perform someday to my mental list of goals to accomplish if I ever returned to the US.

Fast forward again to the 2020s, the Animaniacs revival comes out on Hulu (I don't care what anyone says I freakin loved it) and I hear he's touring again with Animaniacs in Concert. I looked up the dates and none of them were remotely near me. As I checked back one day, mourning the possible missed opportunity and debating how far I might go, a new show popped up in Bristol, CT. How random, I thought. I checked if it was doable for me, and it was! It wasn't feasible as a day trip, but still doable. And once I saw there was one FRONT ROW SEAT LEFT, the deal was sealed as I quickly bought the ticket and reserved a room at the only hotel I could find in the area, the Bristol Double Tree.

Fast forward to yesterday. I arrived in Bristol just after noon following an uber and FOUR different buses. I'd woken up way too early, I was hungry and tired, and not feeling too great. I decided food would be my first plan of action, and since I didn't quite understand how to order room service (the menu wasn't loading on my phone anyway) and there wasn't anything within walking distance, I decided to just head downstairs and eat at the hotel restaurant/bar.

As I was waiting for my impossible burger and fries, I decided to take off the Yakko's World hoodie I'd been wearing.

I bought it specifically to wear to the show, and I'd already spilled a little coffee on it this morning and didn't want to risk having to wash it again. So I tucked it behind me in the booth.

Shortly after that, another group walked in and sat at the table next to me. An older guy and some ladies. I wasn't paying much attention to them as I thought they were maybe a part of the wedding party I heard was at the hotel. My food came and I focused on that.

But then someone else walked in and joined them. Someone I very much DID recognize. "Oh there you are!" "Hi, I'm Rob!"

The next moment is kind of a blur so I'm not exactly sure whether I jumped a little or if I did the dramatic eyes widen slow turn, but I definitely had some kind of a visible reaction as I looked over to the table. It was then that I locked eyes with who at that moment I first realized was Maurice Lamarche, voice of Brain (from Pinky and the Brain) and many MANY Futurama characters (more than I realized as I learned later). He was the older man I mentioned earlier, and had been sitting there the entire time. And at that moment I thought perhaps he knew everything. (Both the fact that I recognized the new person who had just walked in, and the fact that I hadn't recognized Maurice himself until now.)

So I'm pretty sure I have at least mild prosopagnosia (face blindness) so it is hard for me to recognize people right away.

But there was something I could never fail to recognize, and that was the voice of Rob Paulsen, who was the person who had just walked into the room and joined the table with Maurice.

I'm not sure how they knew the women they were dining with, but they were all catching up, asking them if they were going to the show, etc. I listened a bit as Rob happily talked to them about the impact of the show and its fans. Such as how devoted fans would actually fly in to see them and how the average age of the audience was about 40 (hah ha... not yet but I'm getting there). He even mentioned Tress MacNeille at one point! Maurice was right in my view, but Rob was at an angle where I couldn't see him without turning my head but oh lord it was definitely him.

I had no idea what to do at this point. Do I say something? Do I not? Would it be terrible to just say hi and that I'm looking forward to the show??

I've been to a lot of events with voice actors in the past, especially in Japan, but I still just... cannot handle meeting famous people that I admire. Actually seeing them up close is intense enough, but actually TALKING to them? I don't know how anyone can do it.

I'm reminded of Amari in Idol Land PriPara, that episode where she meets Hibiki...

Yeah, basically me. For the people who visualize in their head while they are reading something, just replace whatever you imagine I look like with Amari and this story will fit very well.

All while this is all racing through my mind, I'm still shoveling french fries into my mouth while trying (and probably failing) to stay calm and act normal (even though I'm pretty sure Maurice is onto me) and I soon realize I've got a couple fries stuck in my throat (as often happens when I'm eating without paying attention, as I'm a very fast eater). I exaggerated a little in my previous post when I said I was choking, but it was hard to swallow and I realized I'd have to sneak off to the bathroom to deal with it without causing any more of a scene. I basically threw my credit card on the table and ran, though (which was dumb in hindsight, but I didn't want anyone to think I was dine-dashing).

In the end, after I came back, I decided to just quietly pay the bill and leave without saying anything, scrunching and hiding my Yakko hoodie the best I could. I didn't want to interrupt them during their private time, and for that reason I didn't try to take any photos or videos either. So I have no proof that this happened but it very much did.

And it made sense, I realized later. I already knew that the Double Tree in Bristol was literally the only hotel in the area, where else would they be!!?

After leaving the table I was so worked up I basically walked straight out of the hotel because I didn't know what else to do and headed to the Carosel Museum of New England where I killed at least two whole hours sitting on a bench looking at intricately carved 100+ year old wooden animals while nursing my exhaustion and caffeine cravings. (The museum isn't that big, I just literally did not know what else to do with myself.)

But I learned that most carousel horses are only decorated on the side that faces the customers. And since they were all hand-carved back then, the opposite side would often be carved by a less experienced carver in training or something. ISN'T THAT NEAT?

I thought that was neat.

Anyway.

Eventually I downed an energy drink I bought from a convenience store as I went on my way to the venue of the show.

I was still super early since I ran out of the hotel super early but there was already a crowd gathered outside. At first I didn't know this was the reason people had gathered, but the first 40 people to line up were eligible to sign up for a "meet-and-greet" with everyone after the show. And when I reached the front of the line, it was still open.

"Sure?" I said, not really fully understanding what I was signing up for. And so I headed inside.

The show opened with Yakko's Universe (SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SONG) and of course closed with Yakko's World as the finale. What came in between was quite random. Despite not being an actual cast member, the real star of the show was composer Randy Rogel. Rob of course voiced Yakko and his other characters, and Randy voiced... almost everyone else haha. Just using his own voice most of the time, but still. He sang as Dot a lot.

And it seemed like he picked the songs they played not necessarily by what songs were popular, but by what songs he and Rob had stories to talk about. For example, they did a bunch of songs from the failed show Histeria when Rob literally broke into tears (he was acting) while talking about how Randy had to actually, physically, go to a library to research the topics he was writing about back in those days. Randy also played an alternate version of the song LA DOT that had sat untouched in a folder for decades.

Rob's voice doesn't sound quite the same as it used to, as anyone who has seen the 2020 Animaniacs series would know, but he can still do it all! And considering he survived throat cancer, and came back to not only work again but sing live!? He sounds amazing!

Maurice Lamarche was also of course a part of the show, and although he only "sang" one song as Brain, his interactions in character as Brain with Rob as Pinky were probably the highlight of the whole show. (They did a whole "Who's on First" sketch talking about what countries to conquer, with Pinky misunderstanding "Hungary", "Turkey" and "Chili".)

Maurice also did a showcase of his voice, including so many other Animaniacs and Futurama characters I had no idea were him, not to mention frikkin Toucan Sam and the narrator of Lexus commercials.

The only thing that disappointed me a little about the show, was they didn't really do anything from the 2020 series, but I guess Randy wasn't as involved with the music in that. So, oh well.

I didn't take many photos/videos during the show, since I wasn't fully sure of the etiquette (still kinda have my Japan brain for these sort of things) and since I was in the front row I wanted to give them my full attention. I think there are plenty of videos online anyway, since at least one segment was one I'd already seen before.

So, after the show ended, people began to line up for the meet-and-greet, and it was then that I fully understood what I had gotten myself into.

Each of us would get about a minute to talk with them individually, get their signature, and get a picture if we wanted. I was really kicking myself for not bringing anything to sign! I really had no idea it would actually be an option! (In the days leading up to the show I had been looking at Rob's website where I noticed he normally charges $60 for an autograph, so I didn't think he would do it for free.)

But more importantly, I realized I was going to have to actually face them. TALK TO THEM. The exact thing I had run away from earlier in the day.

And again, I considered just running away. But I had taken a spot on that list. A spot that could have gone to someone else and it was too late to give away now. So, I told myself, I had to see this through. No matter what.

As the line inched closer I panicked over whether they would recognize me from the hotel or not as I rehearsed in my head over and over again all the things I could say. I was honestly juggling between two or three entire scripts by the time it was finally my turn and when realized... after all that...

I did not need to say anything.

Rob saw my hoodie ("It's me!") so he knew I was there for him, and he knew I was nervous. So he did all the talking. (After all, that is his job. Literally!) He took my hand and complimented my hoodie, my hair, and everything. He said so many nice things about me (I even got a "Hellooooo nurse!") and even broke the ice by introducing me to "his friend the Brain" so I got to shake hands with Maurice as well. (I STILL THINK HE KNEW. So I felt a little awkward then but other than that) it was just such a wonderful interaction. Rob was so nice and kind and I got the impression he really, really cares about his fans.

So I missed out on the autograph, but I did get a picture, and I left the entire experience feeling so warm and fuzzy and oddly complete. Childhood dream achieved.

It took me another four busses and an uber to get home today (I left around 8am, walked into my door after 4...) but it was all very worth it.

I'm mostly at peace with how things turned out, but if I ever get the chance to see them again, at a Comicon or whatever, I'll be sure to bring a Futurama DVD boxset for Maurice to sign and maybe try to acquire an old Animanics or Mask the Animated Series VHS for Rob!

You know, it's pretty ridiculous how easy it is to meet and get signatures from famous voice actors in this country. That almost never happens in Japan. I mean, I'm planning to go to an actual Love Live concert in Japan next month, and here I am oddly depressed I can't fly out to Seattle to see Chiemi and Coco at Sakura-con instead because I might get to actually meet MEET them there haha.

Even though it would be another disaster if I actually did.

Hahah...

[pebblysand]

Hey! So I’ve been scrolling through some of your writing advice post and I have a question. I’ve written stuff before and I’m getting back into it and I really want to write a long fic that’s canon compliant but idk how to do that without just like rewriting the story that’s already written ? I always get so focused on making sure that I’m writing true to the existing plot/story, like even down to copying the dialogue and stuff out of the show/book/movie, and sort of push my oc/insert character to the side and they end up making very little contribution to whatever is happening and I wanna not do that anymore haha. Also like a way to outline a long fic bc I’ve never really outlined a story, I just sorta wrote and did what I was talking about before.

Pls if you have any advice I would be very grateful 🙏🙏

hi anon! thanks for your message!

first of all, congrats on getting back into writing, that's awesome! in terms of your questions, here are (some) answers which will hopefully help. i don't know what fandom you're in so i'm taking most of my examples from HP as i assume most people are (somewhat) familiar with the canon, but you get the idea.

I really want to write a long fic that’s canon compliant but idk how to do that without just like rewriting the story that’s already written ?

i don't know what precisely you're trying to write but i've always said this: i think there's a subgenre of fanfiction that many new writers tend to gravitate towards without realising how incredibly hard those stories are to write, and that's stories that happen during the canon timeline. for example: stories made up of missing scenes, AUs of canon events (e.g.: what if Harry was in slytherin? what if Sirius lived? etc.), or stories told from alternate POVs (e.g.: the seven books from Hermione's perspective).

i think the reason why so many people tend to gravitate towards these stories (especially when they're starting out) is that as a newer writer, your imagination is still in "training". there's this idea that writers are just born making up stories in their heads but i think imagination is actually more like a muscle. the more you engage it, the better it gets at venturing further out. so, when you're starting out, it's much easier to answer the question: what if sirius lived? than it is being like: what happened in tom riddle's childhood?

if you're writing to answer the first question, you have a lot of material that is already provided for you by canon. you know about the horcrux hunt, you know about the hallows, you know about harry giving himself up, ect. all you really need to do is what happens at the margins (i.e. how do i integrate sirius into these plot points?) rather than having to reshape an entire story. whereas if you're trying to write about tom riddle's childhood... you know he was in an orphanage. you know he was mean to the other children. and... that's about it. it's pretty much a blank slate from there, and it's much harder to come up with things. canon becomes a crutch to do the difficult plotting parts for you.

the thing that a lot of people don’t realise though, is that under the guise of being “easier” to write (due to the canon crutch), it’s actually much harder to be “original” with the former. because you very quickly end up falling into the trap you’ve just described: rewriting canon. so, your story feels like you’re just copying and pasting events from canon into it, with just a tiny addition at the margins. and taking it further (taking it to a place of true originality) is much harder. it’s definitely doable, but it takes a very skilled writer to actually add real substance and not make that feel stale.

but the thing is: i don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. you say you copy a lot of dialogue/lines from the original material - so what? i definitely did a lot of that too when i was younger. your fic might not be of the best quality, sure, but i think that's a very natural and normal step in your growth as a writer. you'll naturally train your imagination and learn to gradually step further and further away from canon. i really don't think you should be worrying too much about this. just keep writing - you'll get there eventually.

if you do want to speed up the process though, here are a couple things that could help:

set yourself the challenge of writing one short fic without quotes from canon. see how you get on, see where you reach to express those thoughts now that incorporating these is "forbidden" and then try to build on that. you don't need to go for a long fic right away if that's too scary/hard.

challenge yourself to a story where you have very little canon material to go on. say, a story about a side character for instance. i think a good example of that is writing something like listening for that angel choir. i wrote that fic about the child of two of the main characters on the show. we see him a couple times in canon, but we mostly know his parents. the challenge was to try and determine what he and his life would have been like, given what we know of his parents' story. i'm sure there's someone in your fandom that fits the bill. doing this allows you to have a little bit of a canon crutch (knowing the parents well), but still forces you to get out of that comfort zone.

I sort of push my oc/insert character to the side and they end up making very little contribution to whatever is happening and I wanna not do that anymore haha.

i think this might be a different problem though. is it possible that your OC isn't really needed in your story? this happens to me regularly when i make up an OC for something and envision them to be a much bigger character than they end up being, because in the end, they're not really needed. it can be heartbreaking because we love our OCs dearly, but you have to remember that unlike in original fiction, OCs in fanfiction are primarily functional in nature. even when they have their own arc, they (and their arc) should serve your plot/characters, first and foremost. there are a lot of OCs i've built for my fics that end up being in one scene (maybe two) in the end, because that's all they're needed for. it's normal and it's your job as a writer to know when using your OC/or not is useful to your story.

i know i generally don't stand by most of stephen king's writing advice but i do think he's right on "kill your darlings". you do sometimes have to scratch plotlines/characters/etc. you otherwise love, if they don't serve your story.

Also like a way to outline a long fic bc I’ve never really outlined a story, I just sorta wrote and did what I was talking about before.

okay, first - just writing for the vibes is super valid. however, if you do want to start outlining more, here are some tips:

first, i've gone through many methods of outlining. i think the main thing is that outlining should serve you, not the other way around. you should find a method that suits you. if the method starts being a burden, switch it up. one method might only fit you for a limited amount of time. it might fit one chapter, but not another. but so far, since i started writing long fics, i've used the following:

for my first long fic, i had two outlines: one for the general overall plot of the story, and one for specific chapters. the "general" outline was a big-picture outline of big "events" that needed to happen in each chapter, in chronological order. it was kind of a brain dump of all the scene and plot ideas i had. not everything ended up in the final product (or in that specific order), but it was a good "high-level" idea of where i was going. i had this just as a list in my notes app. then, for individual chapters, i followed this method which is closer to a visual storyboard.

i continued with this system of two outlines for the first "act" of castles (my current wip) (chapters 1 through 7). then, for the second act, i felt the need to "formalise" the "big picture" outline more, and moved to a spreadsheet. it looked like this:

(this is the template i created - it's blank because those are actually act 1 chapters, but you get the idea. i'm using this because some of the act 2 stuff later got moved to act 3 so i don't want to spoil and can't be arsed to redact)

i would fill in, for each chapter, in a few lines, what was happening for each of the categories (if anything). it made it easier to move things around as needed as well. note that this is not particularly chronological. it lists the events by category, but it's not necessarily the order they happen in within the chapter.

then, when it came time to actually write the chapter, i would build the chapter outline on the basis of this bigger outline, and get more granular (and chronological) in the storyboard, then even more granular on the page.

now, for my third act, i've switched to miro (bc of a tiktok recommendation from another writer, but i find that it works really well for me). things are looking like this:

(for sneaky castles readers -don't try to zoom in - you can't, i've checked)

as you can see, i've done away with the general outline, and only have the storyboard left, but in electronic form. i did have some stuff planned from the old spreadsheet that i moved into here, but i don't feel like i need the spreadsheet as a constant reference anymore. it might be because i'm reaching the end of the story that i don't need the broader view as much. i have, however, created a timeline like this, which i felt i needed to keep track of the big "milestones" of the story:

(ah, go on, you get the kids' birthdays.)

to give you an idea of the level of detail i go into in these, here is the last couple of chapters:

as you can probably see if you've read castles, even those i don't follow to the letter. there's a lot of things that get moved around (if you look at that table in chapter 16, you'll see the locations are totally off) and if you look at 17 (the order of scenes changed, and the redacted stuff got moved to later chapters). for 17, i also turned black the sticky notes as i was done writing them, which i didn't do for 16. also, you can see that for a chapter that's *twenty-two thousand words long*, 16 has very little outlined lol. everything was just in my head.

for me, while these (and outlines in general) are essential to the mapping out of a story, it's essential that i remain flexible in terms of what actually goes into the final product. if i'm not "feeling" something i'd planned, i change it/move it.

.

anyway anon, i hope this helped! thanks again for your question!

[sweetfirebird]

anyone who's being a dick about asking for more after you're doing the whole writing thing at your own pace can fight me behind a waffle house. (especially if it's about the albert thing) i have no idea why people are so impatient?!?! i have been waiting on the last kingkiller trilogy for over six years. i have incomplete fanfic bookmarked from nearly a decade ago i still check for updates occasionally. take your fucking time or don't write whatever they're asking for at all! it's your choice and not ours and i have yet to be disappointed with your work and i'm even keeping a few books unread for a future rainy day because it's a little treat. jesus fuck let authors write and take their time and do it how they want and can people please stop being a nagging wet tissue paper eater because it just makes everyone have a bad time and i'm sorry you have to deal with that.

anyway you write good. thanks for writing good. i'm sleepy and this is a weird awkward ramble sorry about that and it's been a whole fucking week so i hope you're fine and if not everything will be fine <3

ha no it is not about Albert, surprisingly. (That sweetheart) No, two separate people, both using a post about something else to ask me (for the second time, yes both of them for the second time) for something they would like to see.

And I get being excited. And I get wanting more of certain settings or characters. But there is a time and place to tell me what you like about other, past books and it's not when I am talking about something else I have JUST done. And it is definitely not after you (the general you) have already asked me to write that specific something new for you that you want so much and I have given you as much of a soft No or at best vague maybe someday but I don't know that I possibly can.

I think... in addition to what you said, because yeah, most authors are doing it on their own. Even the ones working with traditional publishers are still writing while contending with the stresses of real life, and frankly, traditional publishers do not offer much help these days.(As far as I can tell anyway.) And they will write at whatever pace they can, and most cannot put out a billion stories a year. It's just not doable. It's mentally and emotionally taxing, and also... they have lives. They have families. What the hell.

But in addition to that, authors are also doing their own marketing, their own PR. Like, it's not agents. It's not a team. A few might have assistants but most do not. ...and readers maybe forget that? There is no wall separating the authors from this. They perhaps imagine their words as being more like, paper fanmail going to a publisher, who forwards it on, where an assistant or agent reads it. Like some sort of filter situation.

Then also, people like me who are too tired or weird (or semi feral) to maintain a colder public persona and *do* publicly let friends tease me or call me bitch or whatever, perhaps give the impression that we are cool with more informal requests.

And then also the internet tends to instill weird close/distant relationships, so some people either not think of the people they are talking to/authors as real people, while also giving those people a distorted sense of friendship and familiarity.

....

That's actually me being kind. I worked retail for a long time and the general public are demanding and will ask for stuff they shouldn't without any shame. Because every person thinks they are the only one doing the naughty thing so it's okay. (If they even know it's naughty.)

Anyway, thank you for also seeing it as rude. Get some sleep now maybe?

And to everyone else, a few things:

if you want to ask a writer about upcoming stories and you aren't following them on social media or wherever, then I bet you they have a fanmail option somewhere. Use that instead of hopping onto a post about something else.

and... as my family will tell you... the more you insist I should do a thing, the greater the odds that I will never do it. :)

(also, i do charity prompts all the time. these people could pay charity money for the stories they want and somehow never do...)

[okruchlodu]

Two weeks since their reunion had passed, and she found herself embodying the impatience that she felt in something of an insatiable itch; a feral, wild animal caged somewhere deep inside of her, scratching to get out. All seemed to be well - for now; Ciri was safe and unhurt, away from every thing that meant her harm; Geralt was here, with them, and the likelihood that she could steal the witcher away for this, if only for a short time, appeared doable. She shelved what guilt she felt if only for Ciri's sake. Too soon, one might have said was it for her to set out on this adventure, and yet the enchantress would not take any chances— not if it meant doing everything within her power to keep her daughter of Chaos safe and alive. She preferred to harness what power she could, now, before what most she feared once more came calling for them… And even though she deigned neither think nor speak of it —she was not foolish enough to truly allow herself believe the peace would last; there was just too many enemies hot on their trail; half of the Continent had been hunting them down for such long a time now, Yennefer felt as though they had not stopped running for years, now; there was still too much at stake, too many battles to be fought, obstacles to overcome. And even though, here, sheltered away on the edge of the world where naught but wolves & witchers dwelt, felt safe, Yennefer would not risk it.

Last night, the sorceress, after demanding the Witcher meet her here come the morn, proclaiming him the very best of trackers and herself in dire need of his skills, had then went on to pack a basket full of elixirs and potions ( meant to aid the Witcher track the creature she was after ) for their travels. The place of power she wanted to take Geralt was a few miles east, so they would be traveling on horseback; she was still recovering from the floods of dimeritium Vilgefortz had flown into her bloodstream and the atrocious abuses inflicted upon her, and the fact this Witcher of hers absolutely detested portals had not somehow escaped her memory.

Standing in the stable area, now, swathed in a sable black cloak and with her violet eyes blazing like a river of purple mist in the sunlight, Yennefer pressed her palm to a restless mare’s flank, soothing her, ❝  a' caelme tedd…❞  she whispered the incarnation in Elder, tiny flickers of magic spilling from her fingertips in wisps of lilac light as she soothed the animal; she moved next to Geralt's horse, readying it, too, for their travels. ❝  easy, Roach… He won’t be too long now…❞  she uses her magic to conjure up a treat for the mount, delicately offering it up as she awaits his arrival, ❝  if he values certain parts of his body, that is… and what shall we name this one, hm? ❞ she indicates the mare she intends to ride herself, gloved hand still caressing Roach's mane. GODS, was she now, too, talking to horses? Perhaps surviving capture by Vilgefortz had left her short of a marble, after all!

@taleswritten

[aspd-culture]

piggybacking on the last anon... i sorta... ran off my friends when i finally noticed- at 30- that i was not behaving like a normal adult emotionally or generally. in retrospect i see that i got self conscious about my "differences" and tried to manipulate everyone into simultaneously propping up an image of me as a very put together mature person- while still expecting everyone else to do virtually everything for me and generally let me occupy a "child role". and i found that while i was not so great at showing appreciation in that little kid role i naturally default in... when i'm intentionally dissociating to seem more mature? i am not only my regular unappreciative self but actually overtly cruel to people when they help me in ways i want and expect them to do. then i get mad if they stop helping me too. so i just hated them more and more because they weren't doing the impossible contradicty stuffs i wanted. what would you do? i wish i could just go back.

Honestly? Whenever I've had issues with my own past behavior like this, I've done two things.

First, anyone who is important to me and has not asked me not to contact them again, I try and send a "hey, I'm really sorry about how things went/what I did/specific thing if you want and if you'd be willing, I'd like to talk about it". If they don't answer, or they are unwilling, or you just don't wanna do that - all three of which are valid - then onto step two.

I work personally on changing the things I don't like about myself. It takes time and generally is not easily done without a professional, but it *is* doable. Work on how you respond to things and get your brain used to forming new habits. It sounds like, for you, the first step might be privately getting used to accepting that feeling of not being like prosocials. It takes time to learn to stop holding yourself to every prosocial standard. You've probably heard the phrase "you wouldn't judge a fish by its ability to walk," and that goes for this. You can't ask yourself to be everything a prosocial person is. It's ok to accept how you are - even if that doesn't match what they call mature.

They can call our relationships codependent or toxic or whatever, but the only things that really matter are if anyone involved is getting hurt, and if everyone involved wants the relationship (of any variety - friend, partner, etc.) to end. If no one wants out and no one is getting hurt, work on "yeah sure whatever"-ing your way out of the conversations where people not in the relationship call you codependent or toxic. Nod along and act like you're intaking that info (if you do that they won't keep talking for as long) and then disregard it.

I cannot stress enough how many times my partner with BPD and I have been called codependent or toxic or told we should "take time apart because separation is important in a relationship". "Yep, ok, sure" and then disregarded every time. Why? Because when me and the person - the only two people affected by it - talk about it, we both agree that would make things *worse* or just not make us feel any happier.

It sounds like what you're saying is that your friendships were relatively happy and/or healthy before you started worrying about seeming mature by normal standards besides the need to learn to show appreciation more. So, once you've gotten through that to a place where you are unlikely to get shaken again, you can by all means make new friendships with that knowledge and changes you've made to get back to accepting yourself for who you are and being more appreciative. Try not to feel pressured by people around you because literally no one is as mature and put together as they seem. I know it's easier said than done, but it can be done. One at a time, over time, rebuild and make friends again and this time go into it knowing what you know now about what didn't work before.

You may not be able to go back with the same people, but you *can* learn to go back to the version of yourself you were - with new knowledge about things that didn't work back then. You can start again with new people and go back to the things you felt worked better for you before you pushed the old friends away.

It is never too late to make those kinds of changes and everyone - prosocial, antisocial, literally everyone - does this throughout life. We are all learning and growing every day, regardless of what anyone wants you to think.

You've got this.

[eyesofshan-if]

"in this story it's hard to implement female characters who can contribute to the plot" i really don't understand why tho? don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to be rude nor am i trying to get you to make changes you don't want to make, and i absolutely don't think you had any malicious intentions, but this is an attitude i've seen from multiple IF authors and i just... don't understand it. even in your game, most male ROs could just as well be female and the story would still very much make sense. there would be changes, yes, especially since they do live in a patriarchal society, but it would absolutely be doable. so i don't understand why it was possible to come up with compelling roles and plotlines for 4 different male characters, but more than one female character was too hard.

as i said, i'm not implying you should flip your ROs genders, make more of them gender selectable (it's not even that good a solution when the RO in question was initially intended to be a man, in my opinion) or even add more ROs at all since there's already 6 of them and i understand the nightmare writing and coding more than that would be. i didn't come in your inbox to make any sort of demands at all, as i think you should absolutely write what you want and not make changes for other people, because that will only make the process of developing your game less enjoyable. but i did feel the need to comment on this, because i find it frustrating how widespread this kind of mindset is in the IF community and i think we should start challenging it a bit.

for what it's worth, even if i don't understand this particular choice you made, i really did enjoy your story and your writing, and i'm excited to meet the female RO and see what comes next. i thought the plot was interesting, the characters enjoyable, and the commander themself is a great main character. i hope this message didn't come off as rude or harsh, cause that really wasn't my intention, and i hope you have a good day!

answer under the cut because it's pretty long!!

don't worry either, i totally get where you're coming from!! the thing about this story is that it is very based on traditional east asian values, which means certain things such as there no being a standalone empress (which is why the emperor is unlikely to be female) and how there are no women in the army (which is why hansol won't be a female). since this part of the story focuses more on the commander's role in the army, which is more male dominated, it's hard to introduce the female characters now or have them contribute significantly to the plot - until later in the story when things become more political or tactical, which is when i'll introduce the female ROs!!

while i'm personally a big fan of significant female characters in stories, this specific story is meant to reflect those cultures, where women's positions in society were extremely restricted to the house or serve as maids in the palace. this struggle is something that is meant to be touched on for one of the future female characters, hence it would be out of place if everyone in prominent positions are female. i would also just like to say this thought of characters not contribute enough doesn't apply to just females. insu (the male RO) might also get axed as an RO because i might not be able to have him contribute enough to the plot.

but i do understand what you meant, and it's something i believe as well!! both female and male characters should be equally significant and have compelling storylines. however, in this story, this is the considerations i have gone through with considering the above. i hope this answer was satisfactory enough, or at the very least coherent. thank you for taking out the time to send this ask!!