#More or less 20 years - I remember how old I was when I read The Hobbit for the first time and I remember that it was autumn

[caenith]

Uh, guys, guess who is seeing The Lord of the Rings Musical in less than a week (Tolkien-themed tour in Oxford with fandom friends included!) on her 20th anniversary of discovering Middle Earth?

[schmergo]

Today I learned a fact that kinda blew my mind, and I'm almost astonished I didn't know this before as someone whose chief interests include zoo animals, the U.S. Presidency, true crime, and D.C. history. What an opener, right? How could those topics possibly combine?

Well, buckle up and get ready to hear how negligent National Zoo leadership potentially could have killed a US President or started a local epidemic. Spoiler alert: They didn't. But only because luck was in their favor.

First, the part that I DID already know. In 2004, Lucy Spelman stepped down as the director of the National Zoo after a spate of controversial zoo incidents, including a string of unfortunate (and often preventable) animal deaths, misleading and missing zoo records, and other signs of negligence. The AZA even "tabled" renewing the National Zoo's accreditation for a year until they made some significant improvements. Spelman was also a vet and some of the cases she was accused of bungling happened at her own hands, not just under her supervision. It was a major disgrace for a zoo that was meant to represent the nation's capital.

I was in elementary school during these fraught years and I remember devouring articles about this in the newspaper, riveted with shock and dismay. Some of the deaths were just bad luck, but others were obviously negligent. The most infamous case was two red pandas killed by rat poison shallowly buried in their enclosures as a slapdash solution to the zoo's pest problem. A young zebra died of starvation and hypothermia after Spelman ordered the zebras' feed be cut in half, an orangutan was euthanized due to a recurrence of cancer that didn't exist (she actually had salmonella), a lion died after being administered over twice the usual amount of anesthetic, and more. I remember the names and details of these animals from when I first read these cases 20 years ago. But the one I'm talking about today is that of Nancy the elephant.

Nancy was a 46-year-old African elephant whose health had been steadily declining for several years. She suffered from a bone infection in her foot that seriously affected her mobility and quality of life. She had lost a lot of weight, she was fatigued, she even lay down at times. Nobody could be blamed for deciding to euthanize the obviously ill animal.

But they could be blamed for what was discovered in the necropsy after she was euthanized. While she did indeed have a diseased foot, the bone infection was only "moderate." Why, then, was she so obviously unwell? Her lungs had been destroyed by the effects of untreated tuberculosis. It was the tuberculosis, not the sore foot, that most contributed to her decline in health.

Here’s the scary part: nobody knows how long she'd had it because she hadn't been tested for tuberculosis, a known concern for zoo elephants, in TWO YEARS. All this despite the fact that it's MANDATORY for all zoo elephants to receive a tuberculosis test once per year-- and in fact, it was a National Zoo staff member who pushed for that reform in the first place. And the elephant was on Prednisone for her foot issues, which zoo staff noted in her records made her more vulnerable to illnesses like TB. In fact, none of the zoo's elephants had been tested recently, which meant any of them, including one who was pregnant, may have had tuberculosis, too.

There are documented cases of humans catching tuberculosis from elephants. Now, Nancy the elephant had bovine tuberculosis, which seems to be less contagious to humans and which elephants haven't so far spread to humans... BUT it has spread to humans from black rhinos, a fairly close relative, so it seems likely that elephants COULD spread it. It can also take a while for TB for incubate (and can also be latent without symptoms), especially for elephants, so the elephants OR keepers who were around Nancy were at serious risk for TB.

NOW HERE IS THE PART THAT I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT UNTIL TODAY:

Spelman actively tried to COVER UP the situation, potentially putting many more people at risk. The elephant house was closed to zoo guests, but they were only told it was for "renovations." (The actual renovations, incidentally, were to improve ventilation so that illness would be less likely to spread.)

A BBC news crew that came to film the elephants was asked to keep a healthy distance from the elephants for their emotional health and the crew's safety-- the explanation given was that the elephants' group dynamics had been thrown off by Nancy's death. Spelman instructed zoo staff not to mention the TB situation to the BBC crew and, if asked why Nancy died, they were to respond that it was for multiple reasons and that the official test results weren't all back yet.

And here's the most shocking part of all, the part that made me GASP out loud. Spelman still personally gave some special VIP behind-the-scenes tours of the elephant house during the months that the elephant house was closed, a time when the remaining elephant inhabitants could potentially still develop active TB.

One VIP who received an elephant house tour was PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON and five family members!!!!

BILL. CLINTON. THE GOSHDARN PRESIDENT.

While zoo staff says that the tour was deliberately distanced and nobody got close to an elephant, there are photos of Bill Clinton's nephew about a foot away from an elephant's trunk. You know, their nose. The part they can spread disease with. So, uh, definitely in the danger zone there.

Hillary Clinton's brother, Tony Rodham, was on the tour and he said that nobody in the party was warned about TB risk or asked if they had any medical conditions that might (a. make them susceptible to communicable disease, or (b. be contagious to the elephants. This is especially egregious because according to zoo guidelines, all behind-the-scenes tour participants MUST be asked these questions-- not just when there's a very real possibility of a TB outbreak at the zoo.

Fortunately, none of the zoo's other elephants OR keepers ever tested positive for tuberculosis. But it was certainly a close call! And imagine what would have happened if a US President caught TB from a close encounter with an elephant thanks to poorly managed zoo staff.

Presidents meet a lot of people. In fact, this zoo visit happened only 2 weeks before the inauguration of President George W. Bush, which Clinton attended. He very well could have started a TB outbreak there. Heck, TWO US Presidents could have been infected!

Now THAT is something I will be thinking about for a long time!

[watermelon-jooce]

OKAY dont flame me for this, but heres a Saiki K hot take that I think shoukd be talked about more.

I feel like people REALLY have to start taking what Kuusuke did to Toritsuka more seriously, because its pretty bad the more you think about it.

⚠️Large TW for emotional manipulation and gr00ming undertones. ⚠️

(‼️if you're gonna debate please read all first‼️)

I can't find the specific panels, but what Kuusuke did to Toritsuka was taking advantage of him, he pried on his insecurities.

Kuusuke was seen telling Toritsuka how much "better" he is than Kusuo, how he has better powers, how he should be put on a pedestal instead of stupid old Kusuo.

Toritsuka is seen before hand disliking his own powers. He want's more from them, he wants them to be less useless. Kuusuke knows this, because Toritsuka is honest and probably told him.

Instead of offering help, he pried in on that insecurity. By telling Toritsuka that he's better than Kusuo, that he's more important, Toritsuka was drawn in so quickly. He'd never really been told or praised for his power before, most people not believing him for being a Medium or others saying his powers are useless.

When Toritsuka was finally told by Kuusuke that he was better, that someone finally believed he was better than the person he always compared himself to.

Toritsuka seems easily impressionable, we don't get to see his father much if at all, and we haven't heard about his mother at all. Im assuming he lives in the temple with little to zero family, being raised by the temple instead of his own parents.

He probably lacked good life lessons, Toritsuka always goes to others for help, he begs because its all he most likely knows how to do.

Kuusuke knows this, and he uses it against him. He knows Toritsuka has a grudge against Kusuo for his powers, he knows Toritsuka is insecure about his own, he knows Toritsuka is vunerable with this information.

And what does he do? He emotionally manipulates Toritsuka into helping him attack Kusuo with the Cat Tank.

Yeah, you could be thinking, well Kuusuke is a bad person mostly in a whole(I could go on and on about why he is the way he is), and that he's bound to manipulate others into doing what he wants, but when you really think about it, Kuusuke is an 19/20 year old adult that took advantage of a 16 year old kid.

Could it be considered that Kuusuke technically groomed Toritsuka? Grooming is not always 'adult takes advantage of a child for something explicit', grooming can be taking advantage of a child for something in return. It's not always for the other, much worse, option, I'm not saying Kuusuke is a kiddy diddler, im saying he groomed Toritsuka to get what he wanted, which was to attack Kusuo.

I have seen someone talk about this before, I can't remember who but someone had mentioned the gravity of it and the strange undertones of what Kuusuke did to Toritsuka, finding a child and taking advantage of his insecurities to get what he wants through emotional manipulation.

I know you could say that 'Kuusuke is about only 19/20, he's not much older than Toritsuka who is 16/17' But that is heavily, heavily besides the point. The point is that Kuusuke is still an adult. Kuusuke is known to be one of the smartest people to live. Toritsuka is a child, and Toritsuka is still in school.

Again, please understand I'm not saying Kuusuke is a kiddy diddler. I don't want people to flame me for 'thinking that.' Kuusuke obviously has a lot of problems of his own, and emotional manipulation is something he is used to doing and probably doesn't even realise he's doing it because it helps him get what he wants.

I can see how its just emotional manipulation, and I am willing to hear anybody out on this and debate(politely), and if i'm wrong I will admit I am wrong.

But AGHH this has really been eating at my brain. Kuusuke manipulating Toritsuka using his insecurities and stuff to get what he wants is just super weird to me. Kuusuke is obviously a more creepy character, and I believe if the anime were more serious it would play a lot more on that fact.

But yeah, this is what I believe what happened. Again, its a really heavy topic so if you guys wanna tell me im wrong you can tell me im wrong and I will hear you out. I was just thinking about it and after seeing one person mention it a while back its been in the back of my mind for a while.

Not saying its wrong to love Kuusuke, I know the fandom is split on him. I personally don't care about whether someone loves him or not, cause one side you can say he got his freak off to his brother, but the other side says he was just excited and not doing anything weird. Kuusuke is a really interesting character and I really wanna do a big essay on him like this soon.

But yeah thats all I had to say, just remember if you guys wanna tell me im wrong you can tell me im wrong and I will hear you out.

(can you guys tell i dont wanna be destroyed)

[sl-walker]

Booster's Queer af

Something I wrote on Reddit on a thread asking 'what's your DC hot take??', because if you're gonna kick a hornet's nest, kick it with your best steel-toed boots and then smile:

Booster's queer. That man hasn't come across as straight-- ever. Like even when I started reading DC in 2003, he came across as queer to me, pretty much from his inception. Seriously. He comes across like someone closeted and decidedly not-straight who just stays in the closet initially because it was a very bad time to be anything other than heterosexual when he landed in the past and later because it's habit and expected of him. I don't think he's gay, I think he probably leans pretty pansexual or maybe even demisexual, but any which way, you'll never convince me he's not at least a little bit queer. He's had one in-universe romance that hasn't been retconned (Firehawk) in his entire time existing and one that was a joke and maybe not even real canon (Gladys). After almost four decades. His thing with Firehawk lasted, I think, like less than a year, too. I'm pretty sure you can count his on-panel kisses on one hand, but not more than two. He's never had a 'morning after' scene. The one seriously emotionally intimate relationship he has is with another guy. When he does flirt or attempt to, it comes off as being awkward and a bit desperate and a bit like a man who is kinda using it as cover. And like-- that really makes way more sense for him than anything otherwise. I'd sincerely hope by the 25th century that we'd stop giving a damn who loves or wants whomever else based on gender presentation. It also makes for a pretty compelling tale, a guy getting dropped into the middle of the AIDS epidemic learning a very quick and ugly lesson about what happens to queer folk in this time period. I dunno how hot a take this is, though, because at least some people up top agree (he's canonically hooked up with Ted in Teen Titans Go! and like-- any time Tom Taylor writes them, he all but says it aloud), but if TPTB were brave, they'd finally confirm it mainline. Like you don't even have to ship him with Ted (though that's my preference), just confirm he's queer. Here's my essay. What's my grade? LOL!

--

Since it's relevant, tho, here's a few pieces I wrote from a long email back and forth (since us old people still do that) with another very long-time fan of his a couple weeks ago:

But anyway, to me, he acts about like how a kid who got dropped into the 80s during the height of the AIDS panic and rampant homophobia and the wholesale death of gay men might, especially if he were queer himself. I'd probably try to straight-wash myself, too, in his boots. (I remember that time period, if distantly. I didn't realize I was queer myself until I was well into my 20s, despite falling in very desperate and intense love with another girl when I was 12. I do remember being in high school when a boy was murdered for being queer by being tortured and left tied to a fence to die, though. It was that kind of world back then for people like us. In some places, it still is.) Still, where Booster fails at any hetero romance (oh god does he), he's so devoted to Ted that a big part of his second solo was dedicated to him either trying to save the man or actively mourning him. It's heartbreaking and amazing and really actually quite good stuff, from a literary POV. Whether DC meant it or not, somehow they managed to write one of the greatest love stories I've ever seen in a comic across most of twenty years, no kidding, and I've read a lot across a lot of companies, even back when I was a twelve year old girl and ridiculed for it. And not just a great queer love story, it's a great love story period. A person can make a credible argument for it being a one-sided -- romantic and therefore non-platonic -- love, but it's pretty hard to argue it's not a very intense one regardless.

And

I guess what I'm trying to say is: This is another read on him. And I think also a very valid one. He's one hell of an amazing character, I wish DC had handled him half as well post-Flashpoint than they did pre-Flashpoint, and I don't think a queer reading of him detracts anything from how amazing he is. If anything, I think it makes the older stuff several shades deeper (and so, so relatable, god), and I think if they decided to write him as explicitly queer now, not too many people would actually be all that surprised. With or without Ted. I can't really identify with Alan Scott, love him though I do, even though I can acknowledge that a generation of gay men likely could quite strongly. But I can identify with Booster Gold, who grew up poor and wrecked his future in part for love of family, who clawed his way out of poverty and fell back into it, who has brilliant and shining moments of courage and heart, and moments where he lands on his face, who was tough enough to survive a lot of shit but devastatingly vulnerable to exploitation, and who looks like a fellow queer kid who might've fallen for his best friend, but was surrounded by homophobia and hate and terror and buried that part of himself because the alternative might have been getting beaten and left tied to a fence to die.

[slut4thebroken]

bite me

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Pairing | Jason Todd x vampire!reader

Summary | Jason is an annoying little shit who likes to tease you.

Warnings | Sexual content, 18+, cutting? (barely), blood drinking, oral (male receiving), face fucking, vaginal fingering, hand job, praise, degradation w a sprinkle of humiliation, flirting, kissing, grinding, bad puns.

Words | 4.7 k

Notes | Idk I had a vision one day and this is what came of it. (Also this is part 29373928 of me not being able to find a good gif/pic for Jay 😔)

Ao3 link | <3

Masterlist

You’ve never been an optimist. Ever since you can remember, you’ve had a glass half empty view of the world. There’s no specific reason why, that’s just how you are. Which is why if someone told you you’d be working with crime fighting vigilantes, you would’ve laughed in their face. 

People are bad. That’s what you’ve learned so far in your 40 years of life. People are bad and there’s no saving them. “That doesn’t mean we can’t save the good ones from the bad.” He had said. “What good ones?” You asked, but the more you thought about it, the more you understood what he meant. 

That’s how you found yourself working with the bat. Or more specifically, the bat boys. Mostly Dick and Jason though. 

Mostly Jason. 

You tried not to think too hard about that. When you first met, you just clicked. His energy was a near perfect match for yours. That’s not to say you don’t like the other bat boys… Jason’s just different. He’s Jason.  

“So you like- drink people’s blood? Or…” That was the first thing he said to you. 

“I try not to. But stealing blood bags is a hassle and I love animals too much to do that. I mostly try to hold off for as long as possible so I don’t have to feed as often. That makes me weaker though.” And Bruce couldn't have a weak vigilante underling, so he arranged for you to have a fully stocked fridge of blood bags. You didn’t ask where or how he got them. You can get anything if you have enough money. 

“How old are you?” You didn’t mind his curiosity, it’s a natural reaction. After all, it's not everyday people meet a vampire. But you’ve always hated this question in particular. It’s embarrassing. When people think of vampires they think of 100+ year olds. Not someone who’s literally younger than their parents. 

“40.” 

“How old were you when you turned?” 

“20.” 

Another reason you and Jason click so well is because of shared trauma. Kind of… You both died. His death was a lot worse than yours and at least you came out of it with abilities, rather than enhancements, but it was nice finally knowing someone who gets it. Most people can’t fathom what it would be like to die and come back to life so they don’t understand how bad it can actually be. 

And then there was the flirting. It was less flirting and more just him driving you up the wall to be honest. But either way you loved it. You’d never tell him that though. 

It started with more casual jokes like “Are those fangs or are you just happy to see me” and asking if you wanted to “get a bite to eat.” But obviously, because it’s Jason, the more comfortable you got with each other, the more sexual they became. 

“What kind of sex do vampires like?” He was trying to hide his smirk and you just rolled your eyes, not acknowledging him. “Vein-illa.” You scoffed and his smirk widened. “What, you don’t like it?” 

“No, Jason. I don’t. You’re not funny.” You feigned seriousness but you knew he knew you didn’t mean it. 

Another time, he walked into the living room where you were sitting, sipping on a blood bag and reading a book. He sat down next to you and you could feel his eyes on you. 

“Is it true what they say about lady vampires?” He asked and you raised your brows as you looked at him with a deadpan expression. “That they really know how to suck.” 

Rolling your eyes, you muttered, “Bite me.” Which instantly proved to be a mistake as it gave him another way to tease you. 

“I thought that was your thing?” He smirked and you considered moving your foot to kick him in the head. “Come on, don’t be such a sucker. It’s just a joke.” 

“Jason,” Your voice was eerily calm, “if you say one more vampire pun, I will rip your throat out so you can’t talk anymore.” 

“Not even just one more? To really hit the nail on the coffin.” You slammed your book shut and glared at him as you stood up. 

“Come on, babe. I’m just teasing.” He smirked and you started walking away, but he grabbed your wrist and yanked you backwards, making you fall on top of him with your back pressed to his front. “Don’t be mad. Please?” He said lowly, against your ear, making you shiver. 

“You’re so annoying, you know that?” You mumbled, settling into your position. He let out a low chuckle and moved his hands to run up and down your thighs. 

“Yeah but you love it.” 

“Do I now?” Against your will, your voice was turning breathless because of the prolonged proximity. 

“Oh definitely.” His hands gravitated toward your inner thighs, but he kept up the motions. “Just like you love me. It was love at first bite.” You groaned in annoyance and moved to stand, but his grip on your thighs tightened and he pulled you back onto his lap. 

“Jason,” You warned, trying to sound threatening, “if you don’t let me go, I will rip your throat out.” 

“Why? You don’t like being in my lap?” He teased and you huffed. 

“No.” You gritted, trying to ignore the way you could smell his arousal and how that made you want to grind your ass back against his dick. 

“I think you’re lying, babe.” 

“Stop calling me babe. That’s like the worst pet name you could pick.”  

Only a week later, you were standing in front of the fridge as you chugged a blood bag. You didn’t really need one yesterday, but today you did so much training that you felt like you were going to collapse any second now. 

“I'll let you suck me dry.” You could hear the smirk in his voice as he walked in. 

“Shut up.” You muttered, just barely pulling away long enough to get the words out. He chuckled and moved toward you, making you step back the closer he got. When you hit the counter, he placed both hands on either side of your body, caging you in. 

You finally finished the blood bag and pulled it away from your mouth, wiping the blood that had dripped onto your bottom lip. When you looked up at him, you found his gaze on your lips for only a second before it moved up to your eyes. 

“That’s not very nice, princess. I’m just making a proposal, no need to be so rude.” He said, making you raise your brows. 

“A proposal? To what, suck your dick? Hard pass.” You scoffed and tried to push past him, but his grip was unmoving on the counter. You could move him… technically. But… you’re enjoying the game. 

“That’s exactly what I’m proposing.” He grinned, making you roll your eyes. 

“And why would I do that?” Your confidence never wavered, even as your cheeks started to grow warm. 

“Because you like sucking. It’s not all that different, really.” 

“No?”

“Nope.” 

“What, so anyone who drinks with a straw automatically likes sucking dick? How do you even know I’m not lesbian.” That made him chuckle lowly. 

“Princess, you’re not lesbian.” He condescended

“Fuck off.” You groaned, pushing his chest lightly. He retaliated by moving his body forward until he was completely flush against you. 

“One of these days I’m gonna fuck that attitude right out of you.” He growled and you swallowed thickly as you watched his eyes darken. 

“I’d like to see you try.” You said through a breath. 

“I’m sure I will soon.” He smirked, then just walked away from you. 

“Do you even like the blood bags?” 

“I don’t know how to explain it. They’re not bad… they’re just- it’s like a freshly made pizza versus reheated pizza, you know?” 

“Do you want the fresh stuff?” 

“Obviously,” You laughed dryly, “but the first and only time I did that, I killed them. So it’s not worth it.” You tried not to focus too much on the memory. 

“What if you drank from me?” Your eyes widened as you replayed his words in your head, making sure you heard him right. 

“What? No- did you not hear what I just said?” 

“You won’t kill me.” He scoffed a laugh and you just stared at him. 

“Jason, I’m serious. I can’t control it. And plus, it’s… a lot more- um… erotic, than media makes it out to be.” 

“Even better.” His lips curled into a smirk and you felt your cheeks grow warm. 

“I still can’t control myself.” 

“I think you can. You need to give yourself more credit. What were the circumstances of the last time you drank from someone?” 

“It was a few hours after I… woke up, so to speak.” 

“That’s completely different. You were starving and barely even knew what was happening. You had a blood bag yesterday and have spent 20 years controlling yourself. Here, I’ll prove it.” 

“What?” Before you even finished asking, he was taking a small knife out of his pants. “What are you doing?” You asked nervously, watching as the knife flipped open and he presented his arm. 

“Relax, babe.” He brought the blade down to his arm and you stiffened. 

“Jason, don’t-“ You cut yourself off with a sharp breath when the scent immediately engulfed you. He removed the knife and you watched a drop of red trail down his arm. 

You could feel yourself turning- your eyes changing color and fangs coming out. You squeezed your eyes shut and dug your nails into the palms of your hands. 

“Jason…” Your voice was a strained whisper, then you felt his thumb on your lips. Your eyes snapped open as your chest heaved at the scent of his blood right in front of your face. 

“It’s okay.” He said quietly, his gaze moving between your eyes and mouth. You couldn’t help it anymore when your lips closed around the digit. Letting out a low groan, your eyes fluttered shut as you sucked his thumb into your mouth more, careful to avoid your fangs. 

“How’re you feeling?” His voice broke you from your haze and he removed his thumb, making you whimper. 

“More.” You whined, reaching for his arm. He let you take it and watched as your mouth closed around the small cut. 

You’d forgotten what fresh blood tastes like. It’s like a cold glass of water when you wake up in the middle of the night. Or a dessert that’s so good, it makes it feel like your mouth it’s having an orgasm. 

Your grip on his arm tightened considerably and distantly you heard him wince but he didn’t pull away. The cut was small enough that the amount of blood you got was basically like a shot. And you wanted a full glass. 

Your fangs grazed his skin as you panted, getting ready for more. But before you could bite, his free hand grabbed a fistful of hair and he roughly pulled your head away. You whined and sat up on your knees as you tried moving his arm to your mouth but he just tightened his grip and pulled your head back until you were almost looking at the ceiling. 

“Please.” If you weren’t so blood drunk, you would've been embarrassed about how whiny your voice sounds. He said your name in a warning and you finally looked at his eyes. The color was almost completely gone because of how dilated his pupils were. 

“Don’t be greedy.” The way he reprimanded you was infantilizing. But god if it didn’t make you even needier. 

“I need more.” You whimpered. Your mouth was still watering as you panted, desperate to get your mouth back on him. “Please, Jay. You taste so good, please I- I need more.” 

“What did I just say?” You let out a choked sob as your hunger rivaled your need for his praise and approval. 

“I- I promise I won’t take too much. Just- I just… please.” You cried, practically on top of him now. He removed his hand from your hair and helped you settle on his lap, then placed it on your neck. Your head felt even lighter as he tightened his grip and you couldn’t deny that not only were you drunk on blood but you were drunk on him too. 

“Baby… Look at you. So fucking desperate for just a drop. I bet you’d do anything for it, wouldn’t you?” He cooed, the condescending tone flying right over your head. You nodded eagerly and he let out a low chuckle.  

“You poor thing. If only there was something I wanted in return…” He pretended to think and you whined once you caught on to what he meant. 

“I’ll- I’ll do it.”

“Don’t just say that because you want more blood.” 

“No I- I want to. I have wanted to.” His smirk returned. 

“Yeah? You were just playing hard to get, is that it?” You hummed in agreement and nodded. 

“God I want to so bad.” You groaned. “I can- I can smell you and it’s making me so fucking wet.” 

“The smell of my blood makes you wet?” He was teasing you, but there was still a hint of surprise in his voice. 

“No- no… I can smell how-“ You let out an embarrassed whine and closed your eyes. 

“Tell me, baby.” 

“I can smell how turned on you are. And it’s driving me fucking crazy— I can barely think.” He stiffened and you opened your eyes to find him looking at you in shock with pink cheeks. 

“Have you always been able to smell that?” He asked quietly and you bit your lip as you nodded. 

“It always smells so fucking good. You smell good normally but that just— god I think it’s my favorite scent.” You don’t know why you’re saying all of this. You’d normally be too shy, but something is just making you want to confess everything to him. 

“That’s so fucking hot.” He groaned, closing his eyes and throwing his head back. The sight of his neck bared to you made your hips buck forward into his as your mouth watered and your mind went blank. He opened his eyes to find your gaze on his neck and you watched as he swallowed thickly. You could practically hear the blood rushing through his veins. 

“You look like you want to eat me.” He chuckled nervously. 

“I do.” You whispered, bringing your hand up to drag a finger over his pulse. His breathing grew heavier the longer he watched you. When you subconsciously started leaning toward him, his hand tightened on your neck and he pushed you back a little. 

You could overpower him. You know you could. Sure he’s a far better fighter than you, but you’re ten times stronger than he is. When you looked into his eyes though, all fight just evaporated from your body. The only thing you wanted was him. In any form you could have him. 

You slowly started moving your hips, grinding your cunt on his length over the far too many layers of clothing. He let out a low groan and took his bottom lip between his teeth as he eyed you. 

“What do you wanna suck first?” He gruffed, bringing both hands to your hips to guide your movements. 

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to get rid of the fangs in my current state to be honest.” You said through a breath, placing your hands on his shoulders and grinding harder against him as you grew more desperate. “It might be better to do that last anyway cause I wasn’t lying when I said blood drinking is more erotic than what everyone thinks.” 

“Okay, princess. Have at it.” He leaned his head back on the couch, baring his throat to you.

“You have to stop me though. I don’t want to take too much.” Despite your desperation, you were still terrified of killing him. He agreed and you slowly moved forward. The closer you got, the stronger the scent became. When your nose brushed the delicate skin, you inhaled deeply and closed your eyes. His grip tightened on your hips and his already fast heart rate increased slightly. 

“Your heart’s beating really fast.” You whispered, trying to hold off at least until he replied. 

“That’s kind of what happens when I have a hot girl on my lap breathing against my neck.” He chuckled breathlessly, but abruptly cut off with a sharp inhale when your fangs brushed his throat. 

Your patience finally ran out and you tried to be as gentle as possible when you bit him, but the second the blood rushed into your mouth, all thoughts of that disappeared. You felt the vibrations against your lips as he let out a deep moan when your teeth pierced his skin. You started sucking now and his grip turned bruising on your hips, but after only a second or two, he thrusted up, meeting your movements halfway. 

You whimpered at the constant grinding of his bulge against your clit and the taste of him. God you wanted to taste him forever. 

“Fuck…” He said through a moan. You snaked a hand up to his hair and gripped it tightly, holding him against your mouth- not that he was trying to move away. 

“God- I feel like I’m about to come.” He whined. By now, he was basically using your body to get himself off, you weren’t moving your hips on your own at all anymore. You moaned in acknowledgement but never removed your mouth, wanting to get as much as he’d let you have. 

“Fuck- princess, I’m gonna come if you don’t stop.” While a distant part of you wanted him to come in your mouth instead, you couldn’t bring yourself to stop. Unfortunately, he made that choice for you. He grabbed your hair again and pulled you away from him, making you whine loudly. 

“As hot as this is, I’d rather come in your mouth.” He rasped, trying to catch his breath. You nodded absentmindedly, but never removed your gaze from his neck. The sight of a drop of blood trailing down had you moving forward before he could stop you. You licked a stripe up his neck, doing your best to control yourself and not dive back in for more. When you reluctantly pulled back again, he gave you a proud smile, making your stomach flutter. 

“Think you can get rid of ‘em now?” You nodded and closed your eyes, trying to focus. It took a moment, but once you started focusing on the scent of his arousal rather than his blood, it was pretty easy. Opening your eyes, you gave him a small smile and he pulled you closer, pressing his lips to yours. You gasped but quickly recovered and kissed him back, melting into him and pulling on his hair, trailing your other hand up to rest on his shoulder. His kiss was bruising, but you loved it all the same. When he pulled back, he pressed his forehead against yours, both of your breaths fanning across the other’s face. 

“Why the fuck does that feel so good?” He finally asked, both of you releasing breathy laughs. 

“I have no clue but I’m glad it does.” You pulled back a few inches so you could look at him. “Now if you don’t mind, I believe you promised me something else to suck on.” You smirked and he raised his brows. 

“Wow, a little blood straight from the source and now you’re eager for it, huh? I’ll keep that in mind.” He smirked, making your cheeks heat up. “How ‘bout you show me just how eager you are?” You looked at him with furrowed brows, trying to understand what he meant, even though you were pretty sure you already knew. “Go on, baby. Beg for it.” Your entire face and neck flushed at that. 

“You’re pushing your luck.” You narrowed your eyes, playfully. 

“See, I don’t think I am.” He raised his brows again, as if he was waiting for a protest that you both knew would never come. “Go ahead, then I’ll give you what you want.” You bit your lip, your pride and neediness waging a war inside you.  

“Please.” You muttered, bored. 

“Not convinced.” He shrugged, making you glare at him. 

“You’re the one who wanted me to do this in the first place!” 

“Really? Because I remember you saying you’re the one who “wants it” and “has wanted it.’” He smirked and you clenched your jaw with a huff. 

“Please can I suck you off.” You tried to put a little more emotion into it. 

“Suck what?” You let out an annoyed groan and rolled your eyes.  

“Your cock. I wanna suck your cock… please.” You mumbled, not being able to meet his gaze. 

“There we go,” He cooed mockingly, “that wasn’t so hard was it?” You scowled, making him chuckle. Sliding off of him, you landed on your knees between his legs. You eyed his bulge and bit your lip, not being able to control your thighs squeezing together. He placed his hands behind his head and settled into the couch with a smirk. 

“Keep looking at me like that and I’ll bite it.” You growled, making his smirk widen. 

“Just admiring the view.” Ignoring him, you reached up to undo his pants, then tentatively freed his cock. He really did look like he was about to come any second now. The tip was so red it almost looked painful and you watched as it twitched in your grip, desperate for more stimulation. 

Slowly leaning down, you licked the bead of precum on the top as you looked up at him through your lashes, making him let out a low groan. 

“Fuck my face.” You whispered, breath fanning his cock. 

“Fuck- are you sure?” Even though you didn’t answer yet, his hand was still making its way to your hair, running his fingers through it before gripping lightly. 

“Yes.” He didn’t need any more convincing. Wrapping your lips around the head of his cock, you swirled your tongue around it as you waited for him to start. He all but whimpered as he slowly pushed you down his length, not stopping until your lips reached the base. You watched his chest heave as he moved his other hand to join the one already in your hair. He adjusted his grip, then started moving you up and down his length. 

When he threw his head back with a low moan, you eyed the remaining blood that was starting to drip down his neck. Even though you wanted nothing more than to taste him again, you had to force your thoughts elsewhere before your fangs reappeared. 

He started moving your head faster now, still pushing you all the way down, despite your light gagging and choking. It wasn’t long before he was holding your head still and thrusting up into your mouth, bucking his hips wildly as he chased his orgasm. 

“Shit- I’m not gonna last,” He said through a moan, only thrusting a few more times before pushing your head all the way down and holding you there. You felt hot come hitting the back of your throat and you let out a garbled moan, making him whimper. 

Fucking whimper. 

That made you push a hand down your underwear and start rubbing fast circles on your clit. Which he seemed to appreciate, since it made you moan around his length again. His sounds died down until he sagged into the couch, chest heaving. His grip on your hair relaxed and you slowly pulled off of him, making sure to swallow any remaining come that didn’t immediately make its way down your throat. 

“Jay,” You whined, voice raspy and needy. He opened his eyes and looked down at you, then trailed his gaze down your body. Even though him watching was making you nervous, you couldn’t stop touching yourself. “Please.” 

“What are you begging for, princess?” He gave you a sleepy smile and stroked your hair gently. 

“Wanna come.” You whimpered, leaning into his touch. 

“Yeah?” All you could do was nod. “You poor thing.” He cooed, cupping your cheek before pulling you up to straddle his legs. His hands rubbed up and down your thighs teasingly, making you whine. 

“Please.” You gave him your best puppy dog eyes and it wasn’t long before he folded. He brought his hand to the apex of your thighs and lightly brushed his fingers over your clothed heat. Your breath hitched as your hips bucked into his touch and you were about to tell him to hurry up but his hand was already making its way inside your pants and underwear. When he ran two fingers through your dripping folds, he cursed under his breath. 

“Sucking my cock did this?” He asked breathlessly. All you could do was whine and nod. “Or was it sucking my blood…” His fingers just barely brushed over your hole and your clit, teasing you. 

“Both.” You whined, hips squirming. “Jay, c’mon.” Before you could even finish those two words, he was inserting a finger. You choked on a gasp and brought your hands up to hold on to his shoulders. He moved it fast inside you as the heel of his hand stimulated your clit and you could already feel yourself nearing your orgasm. 

You squeezed your eyes shut, head falling forward as you panted and moaned. When you opened your eyes, you were met with the sight of his cock, still wet from your mouth, getting hard again. So you moved your hand down and grasped it, immediately stroking to bring him back to full hardness.  

“Shit— fuck, princess… Sensitive,” He gasped out, hips bucking up into your hand despite his words. You raised your head to look at his face and almost moaned at his expression. His brows were furrowed, mouth open in a silent moan, eyes dark and half lidded. 

“I wanna come…” You whispered, biting your bottom lip and stroking his cock faster. When he pushed a second finger inside, you whimpered, grinding down on his hand. 

“I bet you do.” He said, trying and failing to hide the smirk growing on his lips. 

“Jay,” you whined, almost obnoxiously, “please.” 

“I dunno… doesn’t really seem like you want it that bad.” He shrugged, fingers picking up the pace. 

“I do! Please let me come, I need it.” He let out a low chuckle and raised his brows. 

“You need it, huh?” You replied with a whimper and a nod. “Okay, princess. Since you need it so bad, go ahead.” He smirked. You all but breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Thank you.” You whispered, closing your eyes to ready yourself. 

“Look at me.” Your eyes opened, wondering why he was prolonging it. “Good girl. I want you to keep your eyes on me as you come, understand?” You clenched around his fingers at the praise and agreed. You did your best to focus on stroking his cock so he could maybe come with you, but as you neared the edge, it became increasingly more difficult. Your eyes flickered between his face and his cock, and when you saw the precum beading at the tip, you dragged your thumb over it and lifted it to your mouth, moaning at the taste. He cursed under his breath and moved his fingers even faster inside you. 

When you finally fell over the edge, you squeezed your eyes shut, but quickly opened them again when you remembered his words. His fingers never even faltered as your walls fluttered around them. When you started unconsciously humping his hand to get the most of your orgasm, you felt his cock twitch in your hand and you looked down, finding spurts of come shooting out, landing on his shirt and your hand. You whimpered at the sound of his moans, feeling your fading arousal start to return. 

When his fingers slowed to a stop, you did the same with your hand, then let go of his softening length. You winced when he slid his fingers out, but your lips parted when he sucked your arousal off of them, letting out an exaggerated moan at the taste. 

“Stop being a tease.” You frowned, making him smirk.

“You love it.” 

You just rolled your eyes, biting your lip to hide your smile. 

[friendlyshaped]

WRITEBLR INTRO :D

hello! my name is scottie! i am a 20 yr. old nb college student trying to write a fantasy series (among other minor projects!), looking for active writers to be mutuals and interact with (bonus if ur open to beta reading! or want a beta reader!) :D ask/tag open! i love talking to people, so don't be afraid to say hi :)

my current focus is coming-of-age queer fantasy, but i also focus on dystopian themes, horror, romance, and a sprinkle of futuristic sci-fi

CURRENT WIPS!

mya laine and the world of wonder (main)

generally, about creation! coping with being created, and then in turn having to create yourself. also, because i only knonw how to write two things, almost every relationship in this is a lesbian relationship! i am currently trying to make it a bit less Only Lesbians, but also? who fucking cares if it is a fantasy coming of age with literally only lesbian relationships. like... i dont? i'm well aware that i am biased but i still dont care

dehisce

(of a pod or seed vessel, or a cut or wound) gape or burst open.

also lesbians! contains time shenanigans and dragons. set in a world sort of exactly like the Modern Pre-Crown World in fionna and cake. i reference this because my main lady penny is a silly little history buff and decides to go on this expedition to find more information on a lost goddess, and ends up getting entangled with time. after a long, emotional trek that goes wrong more times than it goes right. penny somehow manages to get sent thousands of years in the future when the world has been ravaged by magic and godly power. and then she meets a girl who has a dragon and a dude that does everything she says, and more shit happens!

untitled crime story (now: unorthodox methods!)

i will not stop calling it untitled crime story!!! but i had to come up with a silly and catchy title because i chose this as a premise for the feature film script i'm writing for class. but untitled crime story i'll remember you

you guessed it.... lesbians.............. but they're exes with sooo much unspoken beef and they go off-grid together anyways so neither of them get put in prison ??? it's in a world where magic is normal and a bit frowned upon, now getting out of have because there's a global shortage of the one drug that suppresses magical powers. and this girl's ex calls her one night! the fun ex---she's supposed to be fun!! but she sounds super terrified and serious and chaos ensues! lesbians running from magical authorities and having to face their very long, very loud shared history.

finally edited it! this post just doubles as my wip masterpost :) i do not feel like doing a whole new post i am just here to have fun

ok <3 thats kinda it. thank you for reading!

[wholahoop]

Writing Interview

Thanks to the excellent @xalandrix, @lqtraintracks and @saintgarbanzo for tagging me! ❤️

how many works do you have on ao3? 61 (though I think technically it's only 59, as I'm pretty sure I still have double versions of a couple of old Yuletide exchange fics back when they moved the collections over to AO3)

What’s your total ao3 word count? 1,242,791

Your top 5 stories by kudos?

A big hello to most of my hd_holidays and Erised fics, lol!

Tea and No Sympathy (52k 😮)

Written on the Heart

The Sleeping Beauty Curse

The Potter-Malfoy Problem

Star Quality

(My remaining hd_hols and erised fics are numbers 6 and 7, haha)

Do you respond to comments? uh, sometimes? I usually respond to comments that come in shortly after I've posted. Otherwise, I tend to have a burst of energy every now and then and leave a heap of replies that can be summarised as "lol this is 3 years late, but thanks for your comment ilu!!!" I've caught up on comments on everything, pretty much, apart from my four H/D longfics. I probably won't go back and reply to everything on those, because I suspect it would take me a full working week 😅

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? My ends range from happy to extremely, extremely happy, haha. Even the one fic that has an open ending I view as happy, because it leaves the characters in a really good place where it's pretty obvious (to me, at least!) that everything is going to go beautifully well.

Oh! I did write an origfic take on the Bluebeard fairytale once, Jam Tomorrow, which has a less straightforward ending? This is the only time I've ever tried second person pov, and it's a more experimental/literary-style fic than is usual for me. I was really happy with it!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? What a difficult question 😂 For non-H/D, I'd say Best Nightmare Come True (SK8, matchablossom) lingers the most in the afterglow, and I think Kyoya Ootori's Guide to Self-Deception for Fun and Profit (Ouran High School Host Club, Kyoya/Haruhi) is pretty lovely.

For H/D, I'd say either Star Quality or The Sleeping Beauty Curse. Though I only exclude Written on the Heart, haha, because the ending is a bit rushed - I think it works well enough and I'm not unhappy with it, but if I hadn't been writing to a deadline oh god I was so late then it might well have been 30k longer, with more aftermath of them fixing the spell.

Do you write crossovers? I was going to say no, but I remembered I did write one once! And Then It Bit Him, a Harry Potter/Petshop of Horrors crossover for the amazing painless_j, who was a really respected and influential reccer back in the day. I think it has Snape's animagus form being a worm 😂

I haven't reread Petshop of Horrors, for years! It's a light horror manga series, with a Japanese nature god, Count D, who basically sells people animals with rules attached, which they inevitably disobey to their peril. Like the film Gremlins, haha. There's a great ship with him and the local cop, Leon, who's VERY suspicious of him, but who somehow becomes his closest friend against both of their wills. It's not BL but it's very shippable. I loved it, but it's also 20? 25? years old, and Count D is androdgynous leaning towards feminine, while Leon is, er, a cop who's clearly resistant to the idea he might be gay and falling for D, so there's a good chance it has some nasty dated humour lurking in there.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Maybe a few times a year? It's mostly hate towards the fic rather than hate aimed at me, haha, although sometimes it's both. I usually just ignore it or delete it. If it really, really winds me up, then I reply 'lol', so they know I've read it, and then delete it 😂

I usually consider it positive, in the sense that if I've really wound someone up, then at least I'm making them feel something with my writing, right?! Usually people who leave rants fall into a couple of categories:

They really, really love Draco, and think he's perfect and pure and blameless, and how dare Harry be even slightly shitty to him, Harry is the WORST. At the pinnacle of this, is the lengthy comment that still makes me laugh/grind my teeth about how Harry was abusive to Draco and I was a terrible person for presenting such abuse as romantic. (I mean, that sounds like it could be a hot, fucked up fic 😂 But it's not one I wrote!)

They are OUTRAGED by the unfairness of McGonagall re-sorting Harry into Slytherin in an eighth year fic, rather than the hat doing it, lolol. Have they never considered that the idea of sorting people into school houses based on the goals and personalities they have when they're 11 - and one of the personality types is 'ambitious and evil', while another is 'everyone else' - is a particularly fucking stupid one? That maybe their school house isn't all that important when the kids have grow up, and have fought a war? And that the only thing the houses are actually used for in the books turns out to be dormitory allocations, house points and sporting rivalries?

They are triggered by Harry taking up the arse, when obviously it is Draco's role in life to be ploughed instead

I did not tag for [rimming, a bad joke, that the couple are fifth cousins twice removed so it's INCEST you freak, etc etc]. Strangely, I don't remember ever getting any hate on my actual incest fic, The Evil Devil Child and the Perfect Gift, where Scorpius is a charming teenage psychopath who finds out his dad is hot for Harry, and manages to persuade Al to roleplay Harry/Draco in his mission to get their parents together. It's even filthier and more fucked up than it sounds 😂 I still love this Scorpius with all my soul.

Do you write smut? Maybe?

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yes. Frequently.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! ❤️ A lot of my fics are in Chinese and Russian, and some in French, and I think a couple in Italian and Spanish too. It's so cool!

Have you ever co-written a fic? Nope. I drive myself up the wall trying to get a fic written. I couldn't inflict that on another person 😂

What’s your all time favourite ship? H/D (yes, I still prefer calling it that to Drarry, lol!)

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? A long time ago I completely failed to finish a Snarry fic I'd promised to someone who'd won an auction :( She was very gracious and understanding, and completely forgave me, but I still feel shitty I didn't come through. I used to love Snarry, but it was a complicated ship for me with competing love and ick feelings, and the pressure got to me so I lost my Snarry mojo completely.

What are your writing strengths? Oh, that's a hard one to answer, but with my self-confident hat on: I think I can write a bloody good love story.

What are your writing weaknesses? Overwriting, for sure - I don't always need to use so many words, or have such long sentences. I overuse italics and ellipses and dashes. If you think my posted fics have a lot of these, you should have seen them before :D

I love an adverb! I replace a lot in editing, because showing rather than telling is so much more effective, but a lot also stay.

I also get stuck on particular words/phrases and repeat them. I try to catch the worst offenders in editing, but in a long fic sometimes you just have to go with it - so please forgive me if you spot I used the word ridiculous a billion times, or someone runs their hand through their hair as a nervous tic a billion times, or whatever.

I also repeat a lot of ideas in fics, though I'm not convinced that's a weakness. If I do reread my fics though, it's pretty obvious what my narrative kinks are though, haha: significant gifts, fireworks, proposals, dining at a fancy restaurant, I could go on.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic? Mostly I avoid it - I don't see the point in including foreign dialogue when my reader won't understand it, unless my viewpoint character doesn't understand it either. (And even then, it's risky unless I speak that language - which I don't - because you can guarantee a reader will, and they'll lol at your ropey Google translate attempt.)

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? I have plenty of ships I haven't written anything for yet, but nothing I'm actively longing to write - if I was, I would have already started something.

What’s your favourite thing you’ve ever written? Oh, that's mean. I'm proud of basically 99% of everything I've written. I think maybe my favourite H/D is Star Quality - I think it's the best paced and plotted, and there's something about pop star Draco covered in glitter that feeds my soul 😂 Plus I love the journeys they both go on in terms of coming to terms with their sexualities - Harry's self-acceptance of something he was ashamed of, and Draco's bravery in doing what always felt impossible to him and coming out to his parents, because he wanted Harry so much he couldn't stand it any more ❤️

I also adore my Ouran fic. I don't write much het, and I don't usually write teen-rated fics either, but it's quiet, and heartfelt, and somehow the most romantic fic I've ever written. Plus I did a ton of research about Japanese culture so I think it does actually feel relatively Japanese. Oh, and I did a ton of research about Harvard too, where part of the fic is set, and I got a comment from someone asking if I'd been to Harvard too, so I considered that the highest of praise!!!

I don't remember who hasn't done this already to tag 😂 So, uh, @bewarethesmirk, @sweet-s0rr0w, @tackytigerfic, @eleadore, @epitomereally, @letteredlettered, @kamaela and any other writer friends scrolling on by who haven't!

[20dollarlolita]

My friend is getting some crap on instagram about perceived classism in the lolita community, and as someone who runs a budget-focused lolita fashion blog, I'm going to rehash some of the old "but I can't afford burando!" conversation.

For some background reading, here's where I bought three "lolita" "dresses" off ebay, and what I actually received for my money. And here's a breakdown of one of those specifically. I'm linking to these because I want everyone to remember that the pictures on ebay, amazon, wish, etc do not represent what the actual piece you receive will look like.

Lolita fashion can be expensive, but the less expensive end of legitimate lolita fashion is not actually as expensive as many people think it is. It's not all $300 for a dress and $60 for a pair of socks. There are options that bring the price down to other fashions. It cannot compete with the hyper-fast fashion of Shein and H&M and other places where the clothing is designed to be disposable. This is because lolita clothing is not disposable. Even modified or damaged, lolita fashion pieces have resell value. It's very common for people to be wearing garments that are over ten years old. There's also a lot of documentation about how hyper-fast fashion is damaging to the environments where it's made and the people who made it.

Okay, so that's all very fine and well, but it's true that recognizing that something is worth the money doesn't actually get you the money to buy it. There's a lot of things that I recognize are worth the money it costs to buy them, but that I don't have the money for. I don't drive a high-end electric car, even though I think it would be a better choice for me, because I don't have the money for a high-end electric car. So I do, very distinctly, understand that. I'm not about to tell someone "just save up for it!"

But, when someone tells you that you cannot buy lolita fashion on wish dot com, they're not actually saying "you won't be accepted in a wish dot com dress." They're saying, "any money you spend on a wish dot com dress will be wasted, because you will not receive a usable garment." Let's play pretend for a second. You come up to me with $20 and say, "I'd like to buy clothes." I say, "Good. I'll sell you some clothes." I then take your $20 bill, rip it into small pieces, eat all of the pieces, and say, "that's your clothes." Now, you didn't actually get any clothes from that, and there's no way you're getting your $20 back because I have consumed it. Your friend comes up to me and says, "Hi, I'd like to buy clothes." You say, "Don't give her that $20! It will be a waste of money!" Your friend says, "That's classism, because I only have $20." That's the conversation that's happening right now on my friend's instagram.

Classism does exist in the lolita fashion community. It can even come from people with good intentions. But, when it comes to buying on Ebay and Amazon and Walmart.com, people who are saying, "you can't buy lolita fashion on walmart dot com," aren't saying, "we won't accept your walmart dot com dress, because it was cheap." What they're saying is, "the thing that the site is telling you that you're buying and the thing that you will receive are going to be two different things. The thing you will receive will barely be a garment." There's a reason why, when I say "lolita dress from ebay," I have to typeset it as "'lolita' 'dress' from ebay," because it will probably be neither lolita nor a dress.

If you're new to the fashion and want a good shopping resource, 42lolita is a reseller/shopping service that will tell you what the shipping will be up front. Many other resellers will send you the shipping costs after you make the purchase, which makes it harder to predict what you'll be paying. You won't be getting a dress for $20 on 42lolita or anywhere else, but the prices they charge are more in line with shopping at a department store, rather than shopping at a big name designer store. There's a lot of other ways to purchase lolita fashion, and I just used 42lolita as one example.

The number of people who genuinely want the fashion to be as expensive as possible is not all that big. Even people who occasionally buy a $300 dress enjoy finding inexpensive accessories and support pieces. Finding lolita-usable jewelry on the Walmart clearance rack is a thing that's exciting to most people in the fashion. If there was a secret to buying $20 dresses on ebay and getting something that could be used in the fashion, people in the fashion would absolutely already be doing that.

So anyway, yeah, there's classism in the lolita community, but telling someone that they should not give me $20 for clothes when experience shows that I'm just going to rip it up and eat is not classism. Friends don't let friends spend money on badly made replicas on aliexpress.

[celtigxr]

THE PINK DREAD - CH. 38 (Masterlist)

Chapter Summary: The aftermath of Storms & Sirens; awkward conversations, feuding houses, confessions and familial betrayals. Word Count: 5515 CHAPTER WARNINGS: Medical emergencies, PTSD, anxiety attack.

Series tags: Aemond x Plus size!OfC, Aegon x Plus size!OfC, Celtigar!ofc, Plot with Smut, mdni 18+, Aemond End Game, Angst, Comedy, The Dragons Don't Dance, slow burn, friends to enemies to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers.

Credits: Lace Banner by V6que pearl divider by Pommecita

Notes: Haiiii.... It's been... over 20 days. I know... I hope this is worth the wait. More information of my prolonged hiatus at the end of the chapter, please read, it's important for future updates.

His heart, his thoughts, his world all stopped simultaneously in that moment. The world moved slowly as Aemond turned, his eye wide, his body feeling cold with dread. The first thing he could see was Valeana’s own saucer-sized eyes stare ahead of her like she was already lost in the void of her shock and past trauma. For a moment Aemond saw Valeana’s face as a 10 year old girl, the same expression she had when he had pushed her at these very stairs. 

As the world rushed back to him, as Valeana teetered back on the edge of the first stair, Aemond immediately sprung back to life. 

“Valeana!” Her name came out in a rush of panic and urgency, his body flying forward before she lost her footing at the edge of the stair. In a flash, Aemond was behind her, his arms wrapped protectively around her waist as he pulled her away from the stairs immediately and as far as possible.. 

Valeana felt as stiff as a board in his arms; when he looked upon her face it was blanched and her eyes were fogged over as if she was lost somewhere else, and not present with him. What’s more, her hands and legs were trembling and her breathing was rapid and short.

“Valeana, Valeana, speak to me,” Aemond pleaded as he pulled her further back until he reached a wall, then slid down onto the floor. Seating himself properly, he cradled her body in his lap and started to feverishly tap her cheek to get her to look at him. Her stare was still wide-eyed, frozen in terror, her pupils blown wide. 

Argumentative voices of the girls around him faded into muffled sounds. Shyla had run to his side and took Valeana’s hands in hers, and started to rub her frozen fingers in her warm ones. Her gentle, yet desperate pleas for her sister to wake up from her paralysis mixed in with Aemond’s. Meanwhile the Baratheon sisters were yelling at each other—and to no one's surprise, elder Floris was completely silent. Aemond was not looking at her, couldn't care less to remember she was still there, but he imagined she stood there frozen in shock, not knowing what to do or say. 

The sound of metal clanging against each other rapidly came from down the corridor, snapping Aemond’s head to attention as two Kingsguard approached the situation. They took one look at the Prince holding onto the frozen Lady Valeana on the floor and immediately asked what happened. 

“Arrest Lady Maris Baratheon!” Aemond commanded, his teeth bared as he pointed viciously towards the woman in question. “She has attacked Lady Valeana Celtigar with intent to harm. Seize her at once!” 

Chaos had begun instantly when the guards seized the protesting, mad woman, who actively fought and spewed lies about how she was the one who was attacked and was defending herself. Cassandra and young Floris even had the audacity to try to explain it was a misunderstanding, despite the fact they had witnessed the assault and had berated her for it. 

It all did not matter to Aemond anyway, because at the moment, Valeana was convulsing and twitching and she was making noises, short and brief like the breaths she was taking. 

“SOMEONE GET THE MAESTER!” 

“Where is she?!” Lord Bartimos burst through the door to the infirmary, Aemond’s head snapping in his direction as the panicked father marched through. Behind him followed the rest of the Celtigars, the worried Ursula, the fuming and panic stricken older brother, and the youngest brother who trailed behind, a soft expression on his usual stoic facade. 

The infirmary was already crowded with people before they came in. A team of Maesters led by Orwyle, Aemond, Shyla, and Ellyn Baratheon, who chose to come in lieu of dealing with Maris and her family. Aemond had been in a chair by Valeana’s side, his hand gripping hers, but when Bartimos flew to the bed, Aemond had the decency to stand up and allow the man to reach his daughter’s side. 

“What happened?! What is wrong with her?!” Bartimos demanded as he held onto Valeana’s hand, his fingers pressed on her pulse on instinct. 

“She suffered from a seizing fit, my Lord,” Maester Orwyle informed as he took his place on the other side of the bed. “A Stress Fever.” 

“A Stress Fever?” Bartimos echoed the words, foreign on his tongue. But the word ‘fit’ he knew all too well. His violet eyes turned back to his daughter, who laid asleep, her face pallid, and her eyes appear sunken like she had been sick for days. His head whipped around, landing on Shyla immediately, but settling on the Prince with a fierce gaze of accusation. “What happened?! What did you do to her, you–?!”

“Father, please,” Shyla sat up from her seat, rushing to Bartimos’ side before he could launch himself at the prince. “Prince Aemond saved Valeana.”

Bartimos’ face whipped to Shyla’s direction, his face a mixture of disbelief and surprise, “What-what do you mean ‘saved’?”

Aemond’s chest swelled in air and determination, his body still tense at the altercation that happened not even an hour ago. He was still in a state of shock from everything Maris had the gall to do, from forcing her lips upon his, right down to pushing Valeana to reenact the very fall that she suffered from ten years ago. 

“Lady Maris Baratheon attacked your daughter, Lord Bartimos,” Aemond spoke, his voice painfully controlled, his jaw taut as he looked down at the slumbering Valeana. The face of terror flashed in his mind’s eye, and he felt his heart tug painfully as the recent and old memory of that very expression flickered between each other like the quivering light of an unsettled candle. 

“Attacked?! Maris Barath– That bookish girl attacked my dove?!” Bartimos swiveled his head towards Shyla for confirmation. When she nodded, his eyes widened and he immediately returned to Aemond, “Why on earth would she–?”

“Pardon my interruption, Lord Bartimos,” Ellyn spoke up, saving Aemond from a rather embarrassing and convoluted explanation. “As a friend of your daughters, and a sister of her assailant, I can provide insight on what happened. Prince Aemond had rejected Lady Maris, and she reacted in a fit of jealous rage, impairing her judgement. 

“There was an altercation in the floor above the lower courtyard, in which Lady Maris attempted to trap Prince Aemond into a betrothal, but Valeana valiantly interfered before a scandal could be made. Though, as a result…your daughter became a target of my sister’s desperation. Maris had pushed her while she stood near the edge of the stairwell, and Valeana would’ve nearly fallen down them hadn’t it been for Prince Aemond’s quick reaction.” 

“Oh, Seven,” Ursula put a hand to her lips, as she looked down at Valeana while seating herself upon the edge of the cot and held onto her hand. “My dear girl, no wonder you went into a fit…” 

Bartimos was breathing heavily, his shoulders caved with the weight of the stresses and worry of being a father. He hunched over, his hands planted on the side of the cot as his head hung low. Aemond could see the conflict in the Lord’s eyes, which were tightly shut, and the rest of his weathered face etched with deep lines. The poetic irony of the situation was not lost on a single person in the room—that Valeana had nearly fallen down the stairs (the very same ones, at that), but was saved by Aemond this time around.

After a minute of tense, emotionally conflicted contemplation, Bartimos pulled himself up and fixed Aemond with a look the prince couldn’t really identify. The older man pointed at him and silently gestured towards the door, “I need a word with you.”

Aemond’s lip thinned with uncertainty, his eye flickering over to the unconscious Valeana before giving a deep sigh and following the Lord of Claw Isle out of the infirmary. His fingers were curled into fists as if bracing himself for the unknown— of what would become of this private conversation with who he would hope to be his future father in law. 

As they exited into the corridor, the door clicking shut behind them, Bartimos immediately turned to Aemond, his face taut, brows furrowed and his lips were a thin line. Though that expression didn’t last long, because suddenly the older man’s face softened to that of a broken father. With a sigh, Bartimos ran his fingers over his tired eyes before looking back at Aemond with a new kind of pained expression, one that was more conflicted. 

“It is difficult to be a father, you know, especially to daughters,” The older man began, every word heavy with burdens Aemond knows not of. “When they hurt, you feel it in your soul… And it makes past transgressions difficult to forgive, even if she, herself, has.” Bartimos leaned his hand against the wall as he studied Aemond, who remained respectfully quiet. 

He was quiet, but his mind was less so. Muddled with a thousand thoughts and feelings, his chest had been tight with tension ever since the incident occurred. Now he was subjected to an uncomfortable conversation with Bartimos Celtigar, a man who he has not spoken directly to in… Gods, probably ten years. Not even when he arrived here did Aemond dared to be alone in his presence. 

“My lord,” Aemond began, his carefully controlled signature tone not very controlled presently as he struggled to speak. “I understand–”

“No, no, you don’t,” Bartimos interrupted, though it was not done unkindly. His hand ran over his bearded chin, his shoulder sunk. “You won’t understand until you have children of your own.”

Aemond’s lip thinned at the comment; it wasn’t the first he heard it, likely won’t be the last. Parents of all kinds loved to use that statement to undermine the intelligence of unwed youth, and there was nothing he could do to argue against it. He understood in theory, of course, the bond between parent and child, though the way he was brought up… Well, he imagined his bond with his own parents was vastly less sentimental than what Valeana had with her father or step mother. 

“While my dove has not said to me explicitly that she has forgiven you for… the incident,” Barty spoke the two words through his teeth. “It has become plain in my eyes, and to the members of her family that she has, somehow, found it in herself to forgive you. And what’s plainer is that… Valeana clearly still harbours feelings for you, despite all that has happened.” 

Aemond felt his chest swell at those words, though he does not know why. He knows Valeana still has feelings for him, she has thus proven that time and time again despite the fact that he has given her every ample opportunity to loathe him until the end of time. 

“Valeana and I have discussed things at length, my Lord… And I will spare you the details, but know that I have dedicated myself into being worthy of her forgiveness, and of your daughter. She is precious to me, and I regret that it took me ten years to realize that…” Aemond surprised even himself at his act of vulnerability, especially before another man with whom he has no sentimental attachments to. Though he supposed if he truly wanted Valeana to be his in every meaning of the word, he would have to earn Bartimos’ approval.

The older man peered at him for a moment, his expression both difficult to read, yet Bartimos made no attempt at disguising the emotion on his face. It was a bit disconcerting to Aemond, who was usually so keen on deciphering expressions. Perhaps the princes’ own nerves were hindering this ability, he realized, which made the situation all the worse. Worse, yet necessary in the grand scheme of things. 

“I hope that you do, my Prince,” Finally the man spoke, his voice a bit lower, graver. “While I do not understand the entirety of the complexity of what happened today, what I did grasp is that my daughter cares about you enough to intervene before that… deranged Baratheon girl–” He gave a huff, shaking his head before continuing. “Caused a scandal upon you. And… And I am grateful that you were there to save her from… another…”

Bartimos’ head hung low—it was plain as the sun in the sky that it was beyond painful for him to express gratitude towards the Prince who he has resented the most in these last ten years. Aemond swallowed thickly, feeling uncomfortable and a bit relieved to hear those words. 

“As a fellow Valyrian and a man, you know well as I that our pride is our greatest strength and our most cumbersome fault. With that, I am sure you understand it is no easy feat for me to say this to you, Prince Aemond, but… if you wish to court my daughter, you have my blessing…”

Aemond’s face went slack, his bottom lip fell open a fraction. He nearly stepped forwards towards the man, the need to take a hold of his shoulders in gratitude nearly making him forget to read the room. Instead, his brow furrowed in his earnest appreciation, a slight bow towards the Lord of Claw Isle, “Your blessing is an honour, my Lord, and a privilege. I do not know what to say other than… you will not regret it.”

“Be sure you don’t,” Bartimos spoke, his gruff, authoritative voice coming back to him as he collected himself. “Because this is your one and only chance— And speaking of courtships that I regret ever allowing to happen… Where in the Seven Hells is your brother?”

Aemond opened his mouth to answer, but he found himself surprised by the question itself, as well as that he did not actually know. Aegon was openly courting Valeana, that much the entire damn Kingdom knew at this point, but he was not here.

“I…do not know, my Lord,” Aemond confessed.

Bartimos scoffed, “When you find him, Prince Aemond, do the pleasure of letting him know that he treads on thin ice.” 

It was the day after and much has happened in the last twenty-four hours. King Viserys was deprived of sleep due to the tragic, unforeseen events that transpired between Maris Baratheon and Valeana Celtigar. The tensions between these two houses were already strained, doubly so due to the fact that his youngest son was caught between Shyla Celtigar’s legs, forcing the two to be wedded, spurring Floris Baratheon in the process. 

The Council room was teeming with activity, of shouting and pleading, as the King sat at the front of the table, spectating both sides of the table arguing. Bartimos was yelling at Borros about how his daughter assaulted his ‘precious dove’, and Borros was yelling that Shyla had stolen his daughter’s ‘precious’ intended. It was quite plain to see who was in the right there, though even the King could not deny the transgression between Shyla and Daeron had been an unfortunate and unnecessary slight upon the Baratheons. Daeron was intended to marry Floris Baratheon, and while that had not been publicly decreed, it was a fact that everyone knew, including the young Shyla who had been friends with the girl as well. However, given the circumstances, Viserys’ hands were tied in that matter. 

“Enough!” The King shouted, rapping his cane against the table to get everyone in the room to shut up. They did, though with reluctance as each side clung to their last words. With a sharp eye from their king, their mouths clamped shut. Viserys gestured harshly to their seats, and one by one they pulled out their chairs and sat down across from each other. 

Ursula and Bartimos were on his right, and Borros and Otto were on his left. Queen Alicent sat before him, her face taut and unsure of the circumstance that fell on the lap of the crown. Then there was Ser Criston Cole who stood by, as well as Harrold Westerling, the commander of the Kingsguard. The other members of the Small Council were not present, because this matter would only be settled amongst the families involved.

But there were others that needed to be present, and that were the witnesses to the crimes and events. 

“Now we must first discuss the matter at hand, and that is the assault on the Lady Valeana Celtigar,” The King began. 

“There was no assault,” Borros insisted, his chest swelling in bravado. “It was self defence! My own daughters saw the incident… Bartimos’ reckless girl went to attack my Maris–”

“That is not what happened! Lies, all of it!”

“Enough!” The King banged his cane on the table again. “Neither of you saw what happened, and I will not make judgements based on hearsay from third parties. Ser Criston, bring them in, will you?”

With a curt bow of his head, the broad knight sauntered over to the door and opened it, allowing the witnesses to filter into the room in a single line. First came Floris the younger, then Ellyn, Cassandra, Shyla, Floris the Elder and finally, Prince Aemond. 

The six youths stood before the table in a line, facing King Viserys. His son, Aemond, at the far right, kept his arms behind his back, while the women had their hands clasped demurely at their laps. 

“I am sure you lot know why you’ve been summoned here today,” The King leaned back in his seat, his cane sitting between his legs as he balanced his eight-fingered hands upon it. “I shall hear each one of your accounts of the events that transpired yesterday. Lady Cassandra, I will hear yours first,” His head inclined to the eldest Baratheon daughter’s direction. 

Cassandra weaved a tale of scandal immediately, claiming that she had been walking around the bend on that floor with Ellyn and Floris the younger when she came upon Aemond kissing Lady Maris. Viserys caught the glare of his son when she had confessed this, his jaw grinding as he fought the urge to speak. The King was no fool; Aemond was not like Daeron nor was he like Aegon by any stretch— he would never be persuaded or seduced by a woman, especially one he had expressed disinterest in. Especially knowing that his son’s eyes were on only one woman.

Younger Floris gave a similar account, though much meeker and not as detailed or passionate. The two major factors that he gathered in both stories were that they both believed Aemond kissed Maris out of his own free will, if not initiated it in the first place. Though when it came to the attempt on Valeana's life, Cassandra was more confident in saying that Valeana made a move to take a swing at Maris, and Maris pushed her away before that could happen. Floris’ account was not so detailed and she had only said that she ‘believed’ her sister was defending herself, and it ended up horribly. 

It was Lady Ellyn’s testimonial, however, that surprised Viserys the most. He knew vaguely that she and Valeana were friends, though he was not privy to the friendships of ladies of court, so he couldn’t know the depth of the friendship. He had assumed that Ellyn would side with her sister—as blood was thicker than water for all the great houses—but that was not the case. Ellyn’s account of what she initially saw was simply that Aemond and Maris were kissing, but she made an emphasis on the fact that in her position, there wasn’t a way to tell who was forcing who, or if it was mutual. 

“However, your Grace, I may include that if I were to make an assumption based on the character of Aemond, I do not see him acting upon public displays of affection like that so brazenly, especially prior to marriage.” 

“And you believe your sister is capable of it?!” Borros asked immediately, his tone defensive and outraged at Ellyn’s betrayal of her kin. 

“Lord Borros, please hold your tongue,” Viserys raised a hand to stop him from speaking further. “Lady Ellyn, continue.” 

Ellyn’s lips were in a firm line when she inhaled deeply and continued, “Under normal circumstances, Maris conducts herself as a Lady should. But it was not under normal circumstances—she was a woman scorned.” 

Ellyn then goes on to describe the events that unfolded in more detail than her sister, Cassandra, including the insults Maris flung in Valeana’s direction. Though the catalyst for the shove itself greatly differed from the testimonials of Cassandra and young Floris, as she detailed that Maris seemed to snap when Aemond emphasized he did not want Maris. It was then that Valeana was unpredictably pushed. 

It was then Shyla’s turn to recount what she saw. The different perspective was from the lower courtyard, though she confessed she did not witness who initiated the kiss, but had stated she very clearly saw Prince Aemond push Maris away and kept her at arm's length. Shyla then went on to say that Valeana had run up the stairs when she saw what happened, and by the time she and her sister Floris reached the top of the stairs, Maris was arguing with Ellyn and Valeana about who kissed who. When Shyla began to account how Valeana fell, it was nearly identical to Ellyn’s, though spoken with less detail and more emotion. Shyla seemed to put great emphasis on the emotional turmoil of Aemond when he reacted in saving Valeana, and how both she and him tried to coax Valeana out of her seizing. 

When it came to Floris Grafton speaking, there was a notable shift in the room. Bartimos was fixing her with a fatherly glare, and Aemond was side-eying her, his jaw grinding in anticipation. Floris was, for once, visibly uncomfortable. She did not hold the usual snooty air about her—with her nose turned upward, or her lips pinched and pursed— but she appeared more like an apprehensive hen, wide eyed and fidgeting, not knowing where to put herself or her eyes. 

“Lady Floris?” The King tilted her head at her as she hesitated. 

Floris pulled her lips under her teeth for a moment before clearing her throat and looking down at her folded hands for a brief moment, then forced herself to lift her eyes back up to Viserys. “I witnessed Lady Maris pull Prince Aemond by the scruff of his doublet and kiss him by force, your Grace,” her confession caused a visible wave of surprise. Aemond’s jaw had relaxed, but his eye widened. Borros scoffed, and Cassandra and younger Floris stared at her as if she had just conducted the most vicious of betrayals. 

“Did you, now?” Viserys put down his hand from his chin and danced his fingers on the table. “Of all the girls present, you are the only one who witnessed the action being initiated. How is that possible?”

“Well, your Grace, I suppose it was just the right timing,” Floris continued, her voice so painfully controlled as she nervously tried to find the words to speak. “I looked up from the Lower Courtyard and saw it, then I pointed it out to my sister, Valeana… And when she saw it, she immediately fled up the stairs to them. Shyla saw it last, just when Aemond had pushed away Maris. After that, we ran to catch up.” 

“That is interesting,” Viserys mused, eyeing the girl carefully. “You were the only, if not the first to witness the act that started it all. Please continue, Lady Floris. What happened after?”

Floris ran her teeth over her bottom lip, her eyes trailing off as she tried to recall the events that unfolded, “When we ran up the stairs, they were already arguing about who had kissed who. When my sister, Shyla, had mentioned what she had seen, Lady Maris called her a tramp–”

“She did what?!” Bartimos nearly shot out of his seat, but the King shot him a glare, which effectively made him sit back in his seat and stew. 

“Valeana defended Shyla, and then many barbs and words were exchanged back and forth, between Valeana, Maris and Prince Aemond. It became clear that Maris was not dealing with Prince Aemond’s rejection. It escalated, Maris called Valeana a pig at least three times, if I remember correctly. The Prince warned her of the repercussions of doing so and made it adamantly clear that he did not want Maris as a wife. That is when she snapped and… pushed my ste— sister.” 

There was a beat of silence as the King absorbed everything she said, though he couldn’t help but allow his eyes to flicker between Borros and Bartimos to gauge their reactions. The former seemed to be silently fuming, his hand running down his face as he subtly cursed under his breath. The latter seemed to be eyeing his step daughter closely, his face stern, but his eyes light with pride as he gave her a subtle nod. 

Viserys hummed in response, his hand moving over his muzzle before his eyes settled on his son at last. 

“Aemond,” He finally addressed him, leaning back against his chair, his head tilted up as he peered up at his second son. “As the figure at the center of all of this, your account of the events are invaluable.”

Aemond bowed his head as she took a step forward, his arms swinging to his sides as he dominated the floor when he approached the table. His one eye landed on Lord Borros, not a single sliver of intimidation on his face when he addressed the Stormlord. 

“It will be of no surprise to you, my Lord Borros, that my interest in your daughter has waned these last few days,” Aemond began, earning a heated glare and a grunt from the lord he’s addressing. “Two days ago, I approached Lady Maris in the library to express this. She did not take the rejection well, and had threatened the crown on your behalf.” 

Borros seemed to be taken back by that; his brow furrowed and he leaned back as if he had been struck, “She did what?” 

“Yes, she had heavily implied that you would retaliate against the crown simply for two princes spurring your daughters, on top of expressing her entitlement to not only myself but of my brother, Daeron,” Aemond spoke matter-of-factly, his attention pulling from Borros and onto his father. “Of course, when she had said such treason, I had warned her of the repercussions, and it seemed at the time, she had sense enough to listen. 

“However, by the next day that was not the case. Lady Maris intercepted me in the hall, having no intention in heeding my warnings nor respecting my decision; she stated so herself before she put her hands upon me and forced her lips upon my own. Her intention was clear, to cause a public scandal, to force my hand into marriage in sheer desperation. What she did not account for was that not only would I never allow myself to be subjected to such an act, but that there would be other witnesses other than her sisters,” He looked over, emphasizing on the Celtigar girls. 

Aemond then went on to explain the situation that followed, which mirrored a lot of Ellyn, Shyla, and Elder Floris’ account, though with much more mechanical detail. Though he expressively made emphasis on Maris’ clear jealousy of Valeana, and had concurred with the testimonials of Maris insulting not just Valeana, but of Shyla as well. He didn’t, however, throw elder Floris under the carriage wheels by outing her betrayal that day. She had redeemed herself by actually speaking the truth where it mattered, so for her sake, and the sake of the merit of her story, he left that part out. 

“And the final thing Maris had said before she had pushed Valeana was: ‘I will never be your wife… And neither shall Valeana Celtigar.’ It was… an act of intent, your Grace, that Lady Maris wished to cause harm upon Valeana.”

With that final statement, the room rang with tension and silence. There was no rebuttal or attempt at contradicting his words, not from Cassandra or younger Floris. In fact, Viserys noted that they both shared a look of worry with each other. He watched every one of the girls’ expressions carefully before looking back at his son, who’s stoicism was on but a thin thread as he had to recall the traumatic experience.

The King heaved a deep sigh as he shared a look with his wife, who had surprisingly been quiet during this entire interrogation. Her lips were in a thin line, much like her father’s was, and that is when Viserys ancient violet eyes settled on Borros. 

“Lord Borros,” he began, lacing his fingers on his lap. “Out of respect for your house, I would have your opinion on the evidence given before us. It is clear that your daughter, Maris, has been the one to cause strife, despite Cassandra and young Floris’ efforts to protect her. Your third daughter, Ellyn, had even testified against her.”

Borros' hands were balled into large fists on the table and his face was as red as a ripe tomato, but he did a damn good job at containing his anger as he inhaled deeply and exhaled through his nose. The evidence was damning, not even he could deny it and judging by the look of disappointment etched with his anger, Borros was aware that Maris was very much capable of everything that she was being accused of. 

“Lord Bartimos,” The stormland began, fixing his eyes on the lord across the table. “I wish to apologize on the behalf of my house for the grievousness that was inflicted upon your daughter at the hands of my turbulent and misguided daughter. If it pleases you, my Lord, and your Grace, I shall be the one to punish her accordingly.” 

Bartimos leaned back in his chair peering at him curiously, as did King Viserys. The latter of which tilted his head and asked him what he had in mind. 

“I will enlist Maris into a motherhouse to become a Silent Sister. Her future and fate sealed as penance for the dual sins she has committed against both Lady Valeana and Prince Aemond—” Cassandra gave a gasp at her father’s words, her hands flying to her mouth. Floris the younger and Ellyn both had widened eyes of shock, not expecting their proud father would actually go as far as to rip Maris’ future from her hands. Ellyn especially would have assumed her father would beg for forgiveness, and simply ask for the mercy of just having her hands whipped. “-- As well, I believe it is best that I take my girls back to Storm’s End.”

“Father–” Cassandra immediately spoke, but was interrupted by the gesture of his raised hand. 

“I have decided. Maris’ crime is humiliating enough, but I cannot forget that my darling Floris has also been humiliated,” Borros’ tone turned icy at this reminder, but he quickly reigned it in when he cleared his throat. “This Conclave has not benefited my House, it would seem. To preserve our dignity, I believe it is best–”

“Lord Borros, if I may,” Surprising everyone, Ursula spoke up for the first time. She shared a look with Queen Alicent, a silent communication that told that this was a conversation they both already had. “The business between Prince Daeron and our youngest was never our intent. My heart bleeds for your dear Floris. As a mother myself, all I ever wanted was to see my children not just content but happy. And it does destroy me to see your daughter’s happiness taken away from you.”

Alicent hummed in agreement, making her presence more known as she leaned against her laced fingers on the table, her eyes fixed on Borros in that diplomatic and placating way women of power knew how to do. “Me and Lady Ursula have conversed in length, and we both agreed that you and your daughters deserve to be compensated for your injustice. We propose marriage betrothals for your girls, sans Maris, of course.”

Viserys’ eyebrows reached his hairline, but he did not seem perturbed that he was kept in the dark about this— he seemed almost delighted and intrigued. “You’ve been conspiring betrothals under my nose, Alicent?”

“Apologies, husband, but I did not get the opportunity to speak to you about this sooner. With the events that unfolded yesterday, it feels like today is the best time to bring it up,” Alicent explained, clearly prepared for Viserys’ surprise. 

“Alright,” The king tapped his fingers, clearly interested in this new development. He looked between Borros and Bartimos and then back at his wife, “I am intrigued. What are your betrothal offers?” 

SNEAK PEEK When she fled, Aegon was left standing in his bedchamber, a vision of sweat and tears, a pool of red wine at his feet like a mocking reminder of what he had done— what he allowed himself to get lost in.

Notes: So, yes, no Valeana in this chapter, but necessary. Girl's in a medical induced coma, give her a break. So, the Baratheon drama arc is closed. Now the next drama. :3 Also, where's Aegon--- Wait, what is he doing? AEGON-- Hokay, but for reals now, let's get serious. I've been dealing with a lot these last few weeks, doctor appointments, bad news, good news, medium news under that umbrella. My muse has been burnt out, to be completely honest, and I'm really *trying*, but it's a struggle lately. I was going to use the 14-20 (now a month) days to catch up on my quota and work on that one shot, but I didn't end up doing that. I ended up working on other distractions unrelated to fanfiction. I'm not giving up on this story, I made a commitment to myself that I'll actually see this through. But that means updates will be a lot slower, I'm sorry. I'm hoping once I push through chapter 43, I can get my momentum going, or at least find a way to spark my muse up again. I hope you guys understand and aren't too impatient! I appreciate the patience this far, especially since I left y'all on a cliffhanger.

Tag: @queen-of-elves, @keylin1730, @anakilusmos, @weepingfashionwritingplaid, @sugutoad, @desireangel, @t0biasparabatai

( if you wish to be tagged for this story, just give me a reply! )

Please do not re post, redistribute or plagiarize my work. The only other place this story is posted on is ao3 under the same username.

[olderthannetfic]

You've encountered site changes over time as a fan elder, what do you make of Tumblr potentially being put out to pasture? Tumblr was my coming of age fan site, and im looking for advice to transition to the next thing with grace and less bitterness than I feel now.

--

Ahaha. God, you should have heard the howling about LJ. "Fandom is over!" "Never again shall we dwell in fandom's True Home!" etc.

Hell, this endless "only LJ was good" crap turns up in replies here on posts where I as OP have very clearly laid out why that's rose colored glasses nonsense and you can so make friends on tumblr, have a conversation on tumblr, etc.

I had my crabby phase about this during the transition from Yahoo Groups to LJ. A lot of the real olds had it over paper zines and the transition to the internet.

I don't know if reading these hilariously samey old posts would help. It does give perspective, I think.

--

As for what you should do, do what I did with Tumblr:

1.

Look around to identify the Next Thing fandom is going to camp out on.

It may take a few guesses and some time to figure this out. You will likely not be an early adopter. Fandom was well established here by the time I joined at the end of 2010. Of course, by now, all those 2009 and before accounts are long gone, but at the time, I was a n00b joining other people's space despite having been in fandom for ages.

2.

Don't expect to enjoy it

I didn't join tumblr because I liked it. In fact, I despised it. I kept right on despising it until a brief stint in Sherlock fandom, a fandom that was so active here at the time that I was able to finally see the good aspects of the site's structure and features.

This is the mistake a lot of people make. They give things a cursory try, don't enjoy them, and go "not for me", forgetting that the last site also had a steep learning curve that was either difficult or that they didn't notice because they were in a different phase of their life.

Bitterness and grief are, frankly, an inherent part of the process. You can try not to be a debbie downer in your public comments, but you can't just not feel those things during the awkward part of the transition. Sometimes, acting positive and cutting off excessively negative thoughts can make you feel less negative overall, but it doesn't happen immediately.

3.

Accept that feeling cranky and old is both a you problem and a state of mind, not a property of the new site

Relatedly, the way we remember fandom platform X feeling usually has more to do with us being in college with fandom friends down the hall or having discovered Our People for the first time or some other time when we had a lot of energy and positive emotions. Often, we were in the throes of a first or new fandom love too, probably for some megafandom that other people also cared about at the same time.

When fandom is leaving some site, there's a grieving process anyway, but we're also often in a worse part of our lives for starting new things. We're busy. We're tired. We're between fandoms. We feel like we already paid our dues to build up our community. Why should we have to start again?

But let me tell you, you always need to start again eventually. I go to a weekly vidders' zoom chat, and a lot of the people in there are old as balls, including Kandy, the person who invented vidding back in the 70s. She's a lot of decades and a few cancers in, and she had to relearn how to vid on a computer after transitioning from slideshows to VCR vidding back in the day. If bad health, platform changes, and dead friends were going to stop her, she'd be long gone.

It's like sharks: you stop swimming, you die.

This isn't just about fandom, obviously. It's about avoiding a midlife crisis and, later, about avoiding feeling emotionally geriatric even when your body is falling apart.

Change gets us all, but being mentally old is a choice. The real reason I gave tumblr such a try was that I had been so resistant to getting on LJ. I was 20. Even a year later, it was fucking embarrassing to have been a crotchety old hag as a college student. I promised myself I'd soldier through the next change instead of dragging my feet about it. And it totally worked in the end! But boy did it not make the transition any less unpleasant emotionally!

4.

Find your joy

As is obvious from the above, the vast majority of the problem is just emotions. Fandom has been on a million broken sites with shitty features. We go where the people are, regardless of whether it has the technological aspects we liked at the last place. The actual shape of that platform is largely irrelevant.

What does matter is whether we as an individual fan are still excited and happy about something. I was between fandoms recently and went looking around for BL series I hadn't watched yet. People kept suggesting things set in the present day with too-cheesy production values and too many banal schoolboys in modern day settings without even anything spicy going on. I realized that the BL/danmei scene wasn't really cutting it for me and I should go for production values and genre and non-canon ships. You probably scrolled annoyedly past the picspams that resulted.

(Of course, hilariously, someone has now shown me the trailer of Red Peafowl, so someone may be making BL that feels like it's for me after all. Look at all that badwrong and very dark color grading.)

When you're in a good place emotionally, it's a hell of a lot easier to weather any change, and when you have a new fandom, it's a lot easier to connect with other fans.

A lot of people wait around for lightning to strike twice. They found their first fandom by accident, and they expect it to happen seamlessly again. For me, it's far more productive to brute force it: collect up a big list of what's popular or what's new and go through it till you find things you might like, then try them all.

And part of this, obviously, is not waiting for other fans to make the party happen. The more you need to join something other people are already doing, the less choice you'll have in fandoms or in platforms. If you aren't picky and just go where the tropey longfic is, that can work, but even then, favorite authors disappear or go to fandoms you hate and former megafandoms dry up. If you're the one bringing the party, it's a lot easier to find a new fandom or platform or community to have fun in.

[goddessofmischief]

Hey, thanks for tagging :) I am 34, so the "old men" are not so old to me and quite frankly, watching Shanks, Buggy and Mihawk in OPLA is feeling like coming home to old friends back from 20 years ago. (I was crushing on Shanks and Buggy so much...😅) So I thought, maybe you could write something where fem!reader already knows them and has a soft spot for each of them, since back when they were flirting and making fun when they were young. Now as adults they meet again and the chemistry is still there.

I remember one of my stories from back then. I was jealous of mermaids, because all the pirates got stupid once they're around, and a drunk Shanks said: "nah, you wouldn't like to be one; You'd be missing slamming doors and Buggy would drown on daily basis just to say hi-." Both Buggy and Reader: "shut up! So not true!". Just like young stupids are... :)

Anyways, thanks for your writing and I can't wait to read more about the "get-shit-done"-squad Mihawk, Shanks and Buggy

     — MERMAIDS (YOUNG SHANKS X READER, YOUNG BUGGY X READER)

A/N: Hope this is alright: since your formal request was so in line with what the theme of the series will be anyway, I used the excerpt of your line as basis for this particular fic. All credit of course goes to you for coming up with the lines and the idea. On a personal note, I just want to say how much I respect that you were an OG fic writer and still have interest in and love for these characters. Welcome home.

...

You would have believed that you had been at sea for years, until Buggy reminded you that it had only been weeks.

Granted, this is how he reminded you:

"It's been wee-eks," Buggy whined, stretching out on his hammock. Shanks was collapsed against the wall, fingers knotted together, eyes not really focused on any particular place.

And you? You were lying on the floor, gazing up at the wooden ceiling, wondering if it would be a good idea to leave the cabin and see the stars.

Being on the ship for weeks was highly irregular for your crew. Great captain he was, Roger knew he could only keep this ragtag group sane if they stepped onto shore and ate an orange every once in awhile. This concern was triply inflated by the fact that he had three young adults onboard who became very antsy if they had to stay in one place for too long. Your patience certainly rivaled Buggy's or even Shanks', but even you had your limit, and you had met it long ago.

The ship would have planned to make port nearly a week before, but the World Government was closer to finding you than ever. It was simply too dangerous.

You soon learned how your friends reacted to a situation such as this. Shanks had retreated mostly into silence, with exception of the odd joke or attempt at conversation, and Buggy had decided he blamed you both somehow for this situation and that any words exchanged with either of you would only be of the complaining nature.

"I know, Bugs," said Shanks, and you were surprised to hear him answer Buggy's complaint. You exchanged glances with him, then turned back to Buggy.

"Let's go outside, yeah?" you suggested. "Do something fun."

"Everyone's outside," Buggy complained. "They've been yelling over something for hours."

"And you didn't think that was important to mention, Bugs?" Shanks asked, irritably. Buggy shrugged.

...

The thing that had sparked such interest in the crew was simply that, as your ship had sailed very far into the deepest waters, much farther than usual, you had sailed into a home of mermaids. Extremely dangerous, and the crew knew it.

It did not negate their interest whatsoever, though.

Pirates get stupid when mermaids are around. It is a core trait of pirates and no less than a sacred tenet of piracy itself. More than a few decent men have been seduced to the sea by the very concept of mermaids, and to that end, the idea of finding one.

Shanks and Buggy were no exception.

You had never really taken the care to notice how they behaved with girls. Their flirting was of no interest to you, and so you didn't bother to surveil it. But it came to your attention now that they had terribly different styles: namely, that Buggy was mostly content to sit and watch from the edge of the deck, and Shanks was more interested in yelling, waving, and nearly falling off the boat.

Granted, by this time, alcohol had become involved, and all bets were off.

Despite all the excitement, the first in weeks, Shanks had begun to notice how quiet you'd become. He approached you, somewhat cautiously, hoping you wouldn't react with a retort or a threat.

"You okay?"

You nodded, staring at the drink you held.

"You sure?"

You shrugged, whispering something under your breath that Shanks struggled to hear.

"What's that?"

You spoke again, slightly more than a whisper, but Shanks heard it all the same.

"...I wish I was a mermaid."

"You wish you were a mermaid?" He repeated loudly, almost outraged. You shushed him, and he just laughed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just... nah, you wouldn't like to be one. You'd be missing... slamming doors, and Buggy would drown himself on a daily basis just to say hi-"

"Shut up!" you giggled. "So not true!"

"And then, of course, there'd be all the pirates. I wouldn't like sharing you with them."

"I'm a pirate. You're a pirate."

"I'm a different sort of pirate. And you're barely a pirate at all."

You shrank back, inexplicably hurt by Shanks' drunken offhand insult.

"I'm as much of a pirate as you."

"Of course you are. I didn't mean that. Not like that. I mean, you're just... you're very careful, you're much too good for us. You're not messy or mean like the rest of us are."

"What do you think I am, then?"

"A princess," he blurted out, and you tried not to laugh. "I've always thought so."

"Always?"

"Mhm. The whole time."

You studied Shanks' face, seeing him in a new light that you'd never glimpsed anyone in before. Had he always been this cute, or charming, or kind?

Well, it didn't matter if he always had been, because he was now, and before you had given much thought to it at all you were pushing his straw hat back and he was meeting your lips in a kiss, your first, his first.

"You're a terribly nice pirate," you mumbled.

"You're a terribly beautiful princess," he replied.

You both parted awkwardly, staring at each other with confused half-smiles and resigning to focusing your attentions back on the ocean. For now, it was merely a strange evening, a shooting star, but later on, you would remember that night as the precise moment you began to love Red-Haired Shanks.

And Buggy, watching from across the ship, would remember that night as the second time a deep knot of resentment grew in his chest, one that would only become larger with time. The first time had been as a child, when Shanks had done something exceptionally well where Buggy had failed, and Roger placed his famous straw hat onto his head.

The second time was tonight, because of you.

taglist: @sawendel @twinklesnake

[yuri-is-online]

Hey, remember the soulmate au by tiyoin(?) I recently read your post abt idia and Leona reacting to yuu being their mates, but I wanna take it a step further since I saw idias line abt the family curse (this has yandere implications so if it's not your cup of tea please feel free to just ignore, nothing is outright mentioned tho)

What if yuu has a family curse similar to the aishi family in yandere simulator? (It's been years since I touched the game so if the lore changed I'm basing it off of 2018 ish lore, just with my own twist) basically yes, yuu CAN feel emotions, they're just muted and barely there. Given the right conditions (like falling in love or spending time with friends) and/or antidepressants they'll basically be like any other person, without them it's like a less severe version of the aishi women pre-falling in love

So, afab ppl born in yuus family, once falling in love, start losing their sanities and adopt yandere like behavior (stalking, increasing rage and jealousy, willingness to murder, etc) unfortunately this means they usually die young (20s or 30s) how quickly/young they die is based on their willpower (resisting the urges) and when/if they fall in love (so someone falling in love for the first time in their 40s and having insane willpower, caving in 20 years later in their 60s has more luck than a 16 year old falling in love and caving in almost immediately). Unfortunately everyone is a carrier, men carry the gene and can pass it to their daughters, but it only presents in the women/afab ppl, so transfems won't be affected but transmascs will.

What if yuu fell in love already (in their own world) and has just been doing a really REALLY good job at Resisting The Urges™️. Like, sometimes they slip up and cave in to anger or get ridiculously jealous, but they try their hardest to tamp down the feelings. Yuu has sworn off falling in love (again) and has given up their dream of having a big family bc of the curse, they're even distancing themselves from their object of affection in an attempt to "be normal again" at the cost of their own sanity.

So yuu gets transported to twst, and without their darling, they have the chance to be normal again, assuming they can get past the initial panic frenzy. Then the soul bond is revealed and they just go "nope. Not this shit again" and spouts cryptic messages about a family curse and swearing off love. I'm pretty sure most of the boys would feel a bit hurt by that lmao

This is mostly made for idia since his segment is what sparked the idea in the first place, but which characters from most to least likely do you think would try to pursue mc and figure out the truth to leave them alone and try to move on? I personally can't see someone like kalim giving up on both but I think the octatrio would try to look for the truth but be 50/50 on pursuing yuu or dropping them like a hot potato. Idia I think would try to relate to yuu and try to pursue them, but I think he'd probably be a bit put off once yuu starts dropping hints about the curse (he's a weeb so it won't take long for him and maybe Ortho to put 2+2 together and figure out the curse)

tiyon's soulmate au can be found here, their first post inspired some asks, which led to my own soulbound au the rules of which can be found here. Please support tiyon and interact with their soulmate au! They're a very creative blog and deserve the attention~ give them some reblogs!

so. uh. I got this ask when I first woke up and 1) very happy to hear from you Rose, always lovely to get a new ask and 2) yandere? sim? has lore? I did not think people actually played the game? help. i've fallen and misplaced my life alert. As a rule I don't really write for a Yuu who is just x character from y game/anime (it is in my rules) so while I was at work realizing I might be old I was trying to think of a way to do this that wasn't just yan sim (I wanted something properly gn) and I think I've got something? I am currently beating away the desire to info dump on you about the myth of Sigurd and Brunhilde (i could scream about that for hours oh god oh please i have written an actual au for that but efkjbekjrgbjrthnytrh) So here is the basic idea:

Yuu ran afoul of a witch in their world and was appropriately cursed. Given the myth I was inspired by I don't think Yuu did anything bad, but they still made the witch mad so they got cursed to lose all reason should they ever fall in love.

"You will be thine own destruction!" Cackles the witch and Yuu, who is actually normal unlike trey this person takes a deep breath and resigns themselves to researching a way to minimize the effects and maybe break it? They don't know they thought magic was fake until they thought they were just doing a favor for someone but turns out they pissed off Baba fucking Yaga.

They start to isolate themselves since they notice the curse starting to eat at them when they are around anyone the love; they consider going back to the witch and asking for further clarification but they can't seem to find them anywhere so they take some deep breaths and do their best to just be normal.

When they end up in Twisted Wonderland, and start feeling... weird. And it only gets worse when Crowley speculates that they might have been brought to Twisted Wonderland because they posses a soulbond.

And Yuu immediately freaks out because they don't want to kill anyone.

Now as for your question for who would try to pursue Yuu vs just leave them... well I don't really like writing un reciprocated feelings so I hesitate to say any of the cast would drop Yuu. In my au it isn't possible for soulbonds to not be reciprocated, and they are already sort of seen as a curse by mages so this... complication might not be normal but it isn't unexpected if that makes sense. Which would probably make Yuu swearing off love hurt even worse.

Kalim wouldn't want to abandon Yuu. Not ever, no matter how much of a danger they could be to him. Hell, he's willing to forgive people who are trying to poison him on the off chance they might regret it. But he is the heir of House Al-Asim, and I could see his dad paying someone to take Yuu out to keep his son safe. Something Jamil sees coming from a mile away and has to just keep quiet about. Something I can see Jamil feeling bad about, he might not like Kalim but you didn't ask for anything that happened to you. And yet the Asim's took your life from you anyway.

Have to disagree about the octatrio just a bit. Floyd would be into this. And so would Jade. But especially Floyd, oh hee hee ha ha his soul mate wants to kill him? Say less he is on his way to get his ass eat beat with an engagement ring in hand. Both he and Jade would be a little disappointed when the curse is broken and you aren't actively trying to kill him anymore... maybe you could try and poison him huh? Like old times?

I wrote 20 paper pages of soulbond au stuff for Azul so I will try to be brief here but... I don't think this situation would be one that made him try to break the bond. He has... complicated feelings about soulbonds already. If anything I could see him thinking he deserves this.

Now Idia. He's complicated. Pre-overblot he has given up on the concept of breaking his own curse, and I could see him feeling the same way about yours. Ortho on the other hand... even before he gets his soul he wants to help. After the overblot I can see Idia pursuing Yuu determined to find the truth and save them. Not that he wouldn't interact with them before that, he's a bit nihilistic so I can see him just making a bunch of jokes about the situation or promising to let Yuu kill him "after this next round." Or just straight up asking them to when he has to hit pity in one of his gachas. It's just cringe enough that it snaps Yuu out of the curse fog for long enough for the two of them to be normal around each other. And by normal I mean incredibly awkward

Anyway that's all I've got. Thank you for the ask ♡

[eternal-love]

Austin and Me

“Taste”

“Wife to the ‘king’. Icon to the world. Destined for more.”

Summary: At 18 years old, she fell in love with Austin, at 20 years old, she became his wife, by 22, she was his doll. In which Cynthia’s life changed drastically after falling head over heels with a man that promised her the moon and the stars. She takes us down the memory lane of what could’ve been— the perfect marriage.

Inspired by the book: Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley.

I do not condemn any of the portrayals I decide to do about certain people, it’s just fanfiction. And it would be divided in parts

English isn’t my first language so I’m trying my best!

MASTERLIST

I was pregnant. Goddamn it. Look, I was married and I knew this would happen, just not so fast. I know that Lori was four years old but it was still pretty fast for me.

However I grew to accept it, now I was less lonely during my pregnancy. I had Lori, I wasn’t mopping the floor like I did when I was pregnant with her. I hoped it would be a girl, I wanted to be able to reuse all the cute clothes Lori used. But if it was a boy, I wouldn’t mind him looking like Austin. I’ve seen pictures of Austin when he was a kid, a baby if you will— he was the cutest baby you could ever see.

But it pained me, I wanted to be able to resume my career but I guess I had to wait. I spent days reading scripts that came in.

I wanted more challenging roles. My dream role was to play into a medieval drama. Play a Queen or a Princess. That would totally be fun, it was something I desired to do for a long time. I have played mostly in horror movies. I was a scream queen. But I wanted something more.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Lori called me, bringing me out my thoughts.

“Yes?” I responded, pinching myself as I felt like daydreaming.

“Horsie!” Lori said excitedly as she held her little gloves.

“Sweetheart. I’m pregnant you know I cannot—“

“But I want to! Please?” Lori gave me her cute puppy eyes and I could not resist her.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

I hadn’t spoken about this before. Remember our house? Strawberry Fields, well. It was in Rodeo Drive, fair enough— the land was immense. We had a stable with our horses.

My horse was named Dolly and Lori’s was Cookie. It was a small horse, and it was Dolly’s child. Our bond went beyond that of mother and daughter. Even our horses were mother and daughter. Austin liked horses too, that’s why he had his own— Whiskey.

I loved riding horses. Most of my life I grew up on a ranch with my grandparents. I knew how to treat cattle and how to treat horses. But I loved horses too much. Unlike having our dog, I felt like the bond with my horses was much more stronger.

I knew I shouldn’t be on horseback but Lori wanted to. So I took Cookie from her box stall and placed Lori on top of the horse. Getting her firm on the saddle.

I walked around with them, gently holding onto Cookie. Lori reminded me so much of me when I was little. That innocence one had when you were oblivious to the world surrounding you. I remember being her age, not knowing the economic situation my parents were going through, or their marriage problems. I began to wonder, if it’s really worth it growing up. If it’s really just the physical changes or if also your whole soul changed.

Because I knew that if my younger self looked at me now, she’d think I was the coolest woman she’d ever seen. And just because— she didn’t have a sense of what suffering was.

Callum was in town, the man really thought Austin was oblivious to his once affair with Cynthia. Dumbass. He should’ve known. He accepted Austin’s offer to go to a bar.

Callum arrived with good face, smiling at Austin. They ordered their drinks. It was a cozy closed bar. Austin smiled at Callum as they both took sips of their drinks before he spoke.

“Listen, man. I know you’re sleeping with my wife.”

Callum almost spat out his entire swig, Jesus Christ above him would punish him once he time came.

“What? Mate, that’s a reach.” Callum laughed, sipping his drink awkwardly.

“You can’t fool me. You know? I was stupid back then before noticing it.” Austin could kill with the look he was giving Callum, really. “Did you enjoy screwing with what was mine? With— what gave me my beautiful daughter? I bet you loved the feeling of burying your pathetic dick onto her.”

“Listen. Okay. I did it, and as a matter of fact— I enjoyed every second of it. Sorry.” Callum said, putting his glass down, his finger gently tracing the edge of the cup.

They were both drinking the same goddamn drink.

“You know, she used to make me this drink every time we had sex. Uh— the sex was good.” Callum smirked. It took everything in Austin to not punch him, because they were in public.

“Watch it.”

“Why? It was good, you know if. You knocked her up once. You must absolutely know how tight she is.” It was like Callum enjoyed taking about it.

“I was here first. I took her first. You don’t get to come here and steal my wife just because you thought you could be fucking Robin Hood and help her out.”

“I couldn’t leave a wife out there feeling neglected. This is your fault, mate. You should’ve been there for her. I’m sorry she chose me as her company.” Callum smirked.

“She won’t choose you, you know? She’s too tied to me now that she won’t be able to even think about it. She’s pregnant again.”

Callum’s smirk faltered a bit but he kept his composure. Leaning in.

“Every time you kiss her, you will taste me too. You know? She gave me head many times. And every time you go down on her, you’ll taste me too. You can have her— I ain’t complaining about sharing.”

Austin clenched his fists before he slowly spoke, leaning in, whispering.

“You son of a bitch.” Austin slammed his fist on the table, catching the attention to himself but he was able to get it off him. “You son of a bitch.” Austin repeated before getting up.

“We can be a little threesome one day.” Callum said with a smirk.

Austin came back to the house an hour later, I didn’t notice him coming. Until I heard his voice.

“There you are!”

I turned around from petting Cookie. I sighed, I thought I had a little more freedom before he came back. I couldn’t bear to look at him. Shame consumed me. Sometimes I felt I was too dumb. Why was I ashamed when he never felt ashamed of doing the same to me.

“My favorite girls.” Austin said, smiling at us. Lori immediately got excited. She loved her daddy.

“She wanted to ride.” I said, patting Cookie once again.

“I want a ride too…” He said, squeezing my waist then his hand traveled to my ass.

I was surprised that he was— horny. Damnit, I should’ve known. Every time he was like that, it was because he had thought about or SEEN Callum.

Next thing you know, he made me passionate love all night. I didn’t remember him being this gentle or sweet. He told me that he did his homework and investigated about pregnancy sex I didn’t know that he was doing this because he wanted me to stop TASTING like Callum, as if he could erase what Callum had once done to me. His hands, his smell, his taste.

Afterwards, Austin cuddled up with me. Kissing my shoulder and neck softly.

“You do love me, right?” He muttered to me. “More than him.”

I stayed silent. Of course I loved him, but I was used to him rejecting my love at times.

“Do you love me?” He asked me once again, sitting up and looking at him.

“What a stupid question.” I responded and he stayed quiet.

Now he felt self-conscious of himself. Perhaps I cheated on him because Callum was fitter, taller, more charismatic, better than him

It was a cold answer.

But now he knew what it feels like.

UNI IS KILLING ME. I finished writing this at my English class.

Love y’all. 🫶❤️

I have another version of this but the character is different. But it has a MUCH MORE EXTENSIVE LORE.

[fancyfade]

Story ideas below:

Laura Fell: Darla Aquista has a crush on Tim Drake in Robin 1993 before she is shot and killed then brought back to life by some dude named Warlock (after her dad pays him) and he makes her do crime for him .At some point she trains with enchantress after spending 1 year in magical jail. I don't have any story ideas for her but I think she should get to beat up Tim with her magic powers as a treat. Or a fight then team up. DC seems to like putting Tim and Bernard in anthology comics sometimes and she's friends with both of them so.

Lionmane: Lionmane is a hawkman and batwing villain (and possibly others) who looks like a lion sort of. his is technically cheating b/c he appeared in Luke Fox's Batwing comic, which is less than 20 years ago. But his motive in Hawkman seemed partially to be wanting to have money to hire women to hang out with him, I think his valentine day special would be about finding furries exist.

Eric Forrester: He gets into a relationship with Raven because he wants to have sex with her and steal his soul to prevent his body from becoming... IDK a robot? Can't remember. No story ideas for him.

Paul: a dude who has a crush on raven at college and stans azarath. he brought back brother blood who had a crush on raven and wanted to make her marry him 20 years ago we should bring back the original raven hanger on except. he was a civilian and not a supervillain so he just punched a guy who made her made in college and then she was like "Do u understand what pacifist means bitch?" He'd be like trying to contact her on superhero social media IDK. Maybe he and Eric can be in a Raven's regrettable exes/near misses flashback

Linda Page: she's a socialite turned nurse who wants t od osomething with her life and who dated bruce in teh 1940s. I think we should see flashback panels of her shaming him when they are dating and now that bruce is more actively involved in philanthropy in his public ID present day her can be like "My shaming worked <3"

Koryak and Kako: Kako is an Inupiaq woman who arthur has a one night stand with when they are both teenagers and he's living in her house. She eventually gives birth to Koryak, Arthur's biological son, and then dies and becomes a fire elemental and Koryak inherits some water powers despite aquaman not having water powers. Anyway I think Aquaman should hang out with his ex and his son and we should remember that Koryak and his mom exist. They can be fighting magical crime or whatever.

Lori Lemaris: I don't know much about her besides her being Superman's mermaid college sweetheart, but oh well it's a valentine's day issue.

Letifos: a shark mermaid (automatically makes her badass and hot) who never wears a shirt and is fed up with Garth but also concerned about him, and he mistakes her for being Tula, his dead ex GF. I think Letifos and Garth should get together. As a treat <3

Degaton and Mechanique: I only read the Young All Stars plot Mechanique showed up in once so the details are hazy. she might have been acting like she was in a relationship with Degaton? Anyway, Degaton is here because he's amusingly pathetic. Like in a JSA issue he was talking about how he got a victory over the JSA because he was using his time traveling powers to watch stargirl cry after being dumped by her boyfriend. I think he'd posting on incel boards about how women only want to use you for... whatever mechanique was getting out of the relationship I strongly feel she betrayed him but I can't remember the details well.

Trevor Barnes: He's Wonder Woman's boyfriend from Phil Jimenez's run I think people should remember he exists. He works for the U.N, and is insanely busy like she is. IIRC he had a younger brother who wanted to be wonder boy but this can be another comic i only read once and misremembered details of.

[artificial-transmutations]

Transformation Letter: Michael

Hey, I'm Michael, a 20 year old guy at a top university, but it's not exactly the experience I thought it would be and I just want a change. I'm just kinda an average looking guy with short brown hair, blue eyes and an unremarkable body, pretty average all round. I still wanna be a man at the end of this, being an object isn't exactly appealing to me.

Being accepted at a top university has always been a dream of yours, but boy didn't you anticipate how much work it was going to be. At first, the orientation phase had been pretty fun. But after the first semester was over, you realized just how hard the courses were. It was certainly no comparison to the school you went to before and sometimes you even found yourself envying the people that were in the normal degree program.

Still, you had a dedication to make the best of it and managed to stay in the top tier of your classes. That came at a cost, however. Your social life was pretty much non-existent. It was always late evening when you finished up studying and most of the time you were simply too tired to even think about partying or meeting friends.

You are at your desk now, surrounded by tons of books, and have just begun a new chapter, listening to some lo-fi music from your laptop to help you concentrate. It has been weeks now since you sent that letter to the shady internet company in a moment of weakness. Everything you wrote was true: You don't really hate the university, but it isn't at all how you imagined it to be: A relaxed and laid back episode of your life filled with friends and parties. Everything in you longs for a change, but your ambition keeps you on track.

Still, you normally wouldn't express these thoughts to a stranger like that, and you don't really know why you decided to write the letter in the end. Regardless, it has been weeks now and you doubt there will be any kind of answer. Perhaps the company has gone out of business or has never existed to begin with.

You turn the page of your textbook, looking sighingly at yet another page filled with formulas when suddenly the music coming from your laptop changes.

Where before it has been more of a rhythmic lo-fi noise, the track that just began to play is clearly a pop song, something you have heard at the radio before. You frown. Perhaps Dotify has reached the end of your playlist and has entered that arcane mode with 'recommendations'. You always wondered how in the world the algorithm choses those, as they more often than not have nothing in common with the previous playlist.

You reach over to your laptop to change the music back, but you stop in your tracks. Even though you're not exactly a fan of pop songs, it is quite a catchy tune, so you let it play.

You quickly realize, however, that it's distracting you from your lecture. After you have read the same formula twice over, you lay down the book. Perhaps it’s time for a short break. You lean back in your chair and close your eyes for a moment, rubbing your temples and just listen to the music, trying to recollect what you've learned so far in this session.

However, the more you try to remember and connect the dots, the less you feel like you understand the subject at all. It's like whenever you try to concentrate on a connection you have already made, the cheery tune invades your mind and snaps it in two. The whole thing is just two complicated, beyond your mental reach. You feel dumb admitting that, but perhaps you have to start being honest to yourself. You're just not that bright, and it has probably been a mistake trying to pretend you were and enrolling in this university.

The song ends and a new one begins. This one is more powerful, rock music from the 80s or 90s. It is surprisingly relaxing to just admit defeat, and you open your eyes again, leaning back in your chair, arms crossed behind your head. For a good few seconds, you just stare at the pile of books in front of you before you notice something is off. There's a faint smell of... sweat? Following it with your head, you notice your armpits. You are smelling your own sweat and somehow it is not unpleasant at all.

Additionally, however, you can see that your pits are filled with a generous bush of hair - which is something new for you entirely. You normally don't have any body hair to speak of. Curiously, you take a closer look and sniff, try to pull on them - but the pit hair is clearly here and clearly yours. Weird!

You scratch your chin and are surprised when your hand meets stubble. You have definitely been smooth just a few moments ago. Yet, the bristly texture feels good under your hand. You rub your cheeks, where your facial hair seems to be even denser and smile. It's the kind of manly and mature look that you have always dreamed about, even though it is somewhat unexpected. It's a bit sad that you don't have a mirror, but you can feel it with your hand just fine as the beat of the music continues.

You get up from the chair, stretch your limbs and feel a weird pressure in your crotch. As you look down, you notice that your dick is pressing hard against the fabric of your pants. It's hardly surprising, with the weird changes going on to your body! You wonder...

Sheepishly, you slip out of your shirt and are rewarded with a pretty alien sight: Not only is your chest covered in short dark hair, it is also much more impressive than what you're used to. In fact, there is visible definition, not only in your chest but also in your abs where a thick treasure trail of hairs disappears into your pants. But not only your torso is changed. You can practically watch as with every beat, another pulse goes through your body, adding a bit of manliness, a bit of muscle here and there. Your biceps bulge out as if you work out regularly and even your legs gain a bit of definition.

The music keeps playing, and so do the changes. You are no longer the skinny, nerd boy who struggles with calculus. No, you are a real man, a guy that knows his way around a gym, a guy that is respected by other people. You are not only a man, however, you are a real fine specimen of man, with a powerful aura, a confident smile and a dick that is so hard that it could cut diamonds.

When the next track begins playing, you have to smile. You know that song! It's metal, of course, heavy metal. Your fingers begin to drum on the desk as your body changes further. Now, not only does the hair spread further, it also becomes a bit longer, more shaggy. Even more intelligence flees your eyes as they change from the bright blue to a dull brown, but you don't care. You are going with the rhythm of the music, let yourself being carried by it. Every time you hit the wood of your desk, your motions become more precise and more powerful, the bangs louder and exactly on point. Your muscles bulge out, and the smile on your face widens, until you are full-on grinning.

You don't need any books, any lectures, or anything else anymore. The music is the only thing that is important. As you give yourself over to the rhythm, something important changes. No longer is the beat carrying you, you are carrying the beat. Around you, reality changes as the desk and books dissolve, giving way to an expensive drum kit in front of you. Your clothing melts away until you are only wearing a pair of black leather shorts filled to the brim with your erect cock. You know you're in public but you're too dumb, too careless and most of all too manly to care. Let them see your erection bulge! Your powerful arms bring down the drumsticks with force while the rest of your mates play other instruments, and the frontman shouts the song's lyrics into the microphone. Sweat covers your face and your chest, your hair sticks to your forehead as you put every ounce of strength you can muster into producing the loudest beats possible. You can see the crowd going wild through the light of the stage and a feeling of power surges through you, causing your cock to leak a bit of precum into the front of your shorts.

You're no longer a student, and you're no longer a wimp. You are the drum-man of a heavy metal band, and people love you. They adore you, the way your muscles shine with sweat, the way the drums bang out their beat and the way you seem so happy and carefree, as dumb as a brick.

Wow, I think Michael definitely changed for the better here - and all because of a half-forgotten letter. What do you think, does this body suit him better now?

Over at my riot page (just a tip jar!), you can find a few different versions of Michael.

[xn3city]

And finally: the one I've been waiting for, the young man whose face leapt into my mind's eye when I read @romanceyourdemons's wonderful idea about SVSSS as an American nineties TV series and led me to draw all this, your blorbo and mine: Winter Mississippi, and the useless fake silver crucifix his adoptive mother gave him.

And yes, his cutie mark is an inverted cross. He's a demon!

Notes on the supporting cast:

Pablo Escobar was still kicking around in the early nineties, and I knew I wanted the Heavenly Demons to be narcos, in conflict with the USA armed force cultivators. Huan Hua Palace's shady vibe works especially well with the CIA.

"Old Palace Master" is actually a great spy handler codename, but I was not about to give a black character a boss called "Master." I mean, you could do it in a fic. I can think of three authors just off the top of my head who I would trust to sensitively explore the hideous resonance that would give to the way Su Xiyan was abused and exploited by the OPM. But I'm not a good writer with a lot of prose to work with, I'm just a mid artist with one panel and most of it is taken up by a horny joke. I just said no.

My favorite joke in this whole thing is that the Heavenly Demons are named Jesus and Lover-of-God.

Tried to capture that devoted gege-spitting wet cat dynamic between YQY and the Original Goods.

Shen Yuan pre-novel is such a cipher. I understand that the general consensus is that he died at about around 20, but…that's not the impression I got when I read SVSSS, actually. I get it now, but when he says something about not having gotten laid for twenty years: to be honest, I read that, and assumed he was, you know, 35 minimum, and having the mother of all dry spells.

And I think it makes the story better. A twenty year old wasting his time in his mom's basement reading crap webnovels and yelling on the forums: that's just a kid having a less than maximally productive gap year! He might well have had a stellar career of his own in real life eventually! It's not super surprising that he blossomed on Qing Jing Peak! But a thirty-five year old incel NEET angrily posting in that basement….that's a man who has had something go wrong in his life. I'm not saying you can't turn it around at thirty-five, you absolutely can, but I tell you: it's harder. Something is wrong, mentally or physically or both, and in a way that leaves a mark. Fifteen years are gone. Opportunites have passed that will not return. For that guy to be handed the responsibility of Shen Qingqiu's life, and do such a goddamn virtuoso job of turning it around: that is some bestselling-loveseat-level portrayal of how a different context could pull radically different capabilities out of a person. That makes SVSSS just as much about how the PIDW!world transformed Shen Yuan, and for the better, as it is about how Shen Yuan transformed Luo Binghe and his world. And that's a better story.

It does make the relationship age gap more disturbing - but if you weren't here for disturbing relationships, what are you doing reading SVSSS?

The cell phones are of course terribly anachronistic, but here's the thing - there is no equivalent, and there's no story without it. There is no Peerless Cucumber yelling at the frustrated PIDW author for hacking out the 6000th boring papapa scene, without creators being financially dependent on direct contact and support from their fans in a way that just didn't exist in the nineties. I remember how novel and exciting it was that J. Michael Straczynski hung out on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5; he absolutely did not have to. Eventually I decided that The Demon Heart of Winter Mississippi was, somehow, a nineties TV show about the 2010s, and everyone could have their phones. You know Minnie Liu is writing RPF on hers.

In case any of these weren't clear:

Demon Heart = Xin Mo Winter Mississippi = Luo Binghe (from @romanceyourdemons) "Don" Teófilo Lanza = Tianlang-Jun Chucho Lanza = Zhuzhi-Lang Sue Sheehan = Su Xiyan Codename: OPM = Old Palace Master Saul Czerniak = Shang Qinghua Wally Shen = Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu Julius Shen = Shen Jiu/Shen Qingqiu Adam Montague = Yue Qingyuan Helmut von Nordwüste = Mobei-Jun (from @romanceyourdemons) Shelley Howe = Sha Hualing Minnie Liu = Liu Mingyan Max Liu = Liu Qingge Néné Young = Ning Yingying Michael Ventola = Ming Fan

Fun game: guess whose likenesses I used for reference for all these characters!