#Samuel Seed

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday, OC First Encounter, Seven Sentence Sunday & Top Ten Songs on Repeat

Tagged by the lovelies @inafieldofdaisies @voidika @raresvtm @imogenkol and @josephseedismyfather

Tagging @direwombat @noodlecupcakes @socially-awkward-skeleton @adelaidedrubman @josephslittledeputy @cassietrn @g0dspeeed @aceghosts @cloudofbutterflies92 @derelictheretic @icecutioner @shallow-gravy @strangefable @statichvm @carlosoliveiraa @wrathfulrook @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @alypink @shellibisshe @skoll-sun-eater @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins @florbelles @minilev @justasmolbard and @yokobai + anyone else who'd like to join.

Music for an original character, Rouske, A Radioactive Calamity of Love, Bombs & Gore and The UnTitledverse, Seven Sentences for a Life, Despair & Monsters WIP, OC First Encounter for The Silver Chronicles and my top ten songs on repeat. Listen and read below the cut:

In my Fallout 4 WIP A Symbol For A Better World from my A Radioactive Calamity of Love, Bombs & Gore series, I take a lot of joy in writing out my Sole Survivor OC Nate Gust Sarid being in charge of the Minutemen, especially with Ress' influence. Like Nate is pretty charismatic (in an odd sort of way) and has a fundamental understanding on how recruitment works, but Ress has been apart of her family's crime boss management and has witnessed how other factions use certain values to recruit others, including her own brother. Considering how low in numbers and scattered the Minutemen are, Nate devises a plan with Ress to start making advertisements (with the help of Piper) to convince people to join the Minutemen, a form of passive-aggressive combat against the Brotherhood of Steel's propaganda, with one core value being "belonging". This also helps Nate better convince Danse to join the Minutemen when the latter is found out to be a synth; especially since Danse has come across/heard the advertisements and even teamed up with Nate at that point in the WIP, that the idea of joining the Minutemen doesn't seem that far fetched of an option when presented.

"Young man, there's no need to feel down I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground I said, young man, 'cause you're in a new town There's no need to be unhappy Young man, there's a place you can go I said, young man, when you're short on your dough You can stay there and I'm sure you will find Many ways to have a good time

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A They have everything For young men to enjoy You can hang out with all the boys It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A You can get yourself clean You can have a good meal You can do whatever you feel

Young man, are you listening to me? I said, young man, what do you wanna be? I said, young man, you can make real your dreams But you've got to know this one thing No man does it all by himself I said, young man, put your pride on the shelf And just go there to the Y.M.C.A I'm sure they can help you today!"

Rouske is a character who is as covered in layers as he is full of contradictions. He's the archbishop of Yahar'ghul, practically it's leader, therefore representing Yahar'ghul itself (the violence, depravity, callousness towards life and just the horrible self-inflicted nature of it all) and yet, in spite of this horribleness that he acknowledges within himself, aspires to save people by taking them into the Paragon of Extinction's dreamscape while it burns the multiverse out once awoken. He is often the most calm, self-disciplined and speaks with a refined vocabulary, which contrasts him from his fellows. He is closer to the disposable Pthurmerian Snatchers who barely make a noise beyond a snarl than he is to his self-interested human cohorts who are either loud and obnoxious or as refined as he is, just with less politeness. Rouske both has faith in his plan and yet has various doubts, but in the end never backs down from completing it. But everything gets even more ambiguous with his relationship with a woman from his past. She isn't named beyond being referred to as a "yūrei" (hence the quotations), which if the translator is correct is a Japanese word for "specter" or even "ghost". Which by Rouske's POV, she is; an apparition from his past only ever viewed in one memory of his. In no other circumstances is she ever shown beyond this one muddled memory Rouske has of her. Sometimes the older cohorts of Yahar'ghul refer to her but their information on her are often contradicting and vague, merely rumor. Rouske is the sole person to even have an interaction with her, although the reliability of Rouske's memory of her is questionable. Descriptions of her often change, the setting too, and their relationship is intentionally left unclear; is she his mother? Sister? Family member? Her vocabulary is described as being just as refined and similar to his own. A friend? Lover? Crush? Rival? Enemy? Outcast? Stranger? Future successor or the previous Archbishop? Nothing is clear... and will never be clear, since Rouske has been alive for so long that traveling the Multiverse that his memories aren't what they used to be. The only consistent thing he remembers about her are her words to him; something that rattles him to the present day. Makes him question Yahar'ghul's horrible traditions. Regardless, his refusal to fully remember her and his interaction with her has a thematic reason; the main theme of this concept of a WIP I'm not going to write is "Memories" and "Remembrance", which also acts as a key to being able to "change yourself as a person". Whereas the protagonists succeed in this, Rouske is showing an utter refusal to do so; whatever pain he associates with "Yūrei" and the truth behind her words hurt more than acknowledging he has done wrong and should cease this destructive plan and face the unfairness of the multiverse instead of running and escaping from it. He refuses to remember "Yūrei" fully, and being the one person who even managed to crack his faith in Yahar'ghul's traditions, he also refuses to see himself beyond what he's been taught; only that he is from Yahar'ghul, and Yahar'ghul is nothing but horrible.

"I hurt myself today To see if I still feel I focus on the pain The only thing that's real

The needle tears a hole The old, familiar sting Try to kill it all away But I remember everything

What have I become? My sweetest friend Everyone I know goes away In the end

And you could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns Upon my liar's chair Full of broken thoughts I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time The feelings disappear You are someone else I am still right here

What have I become? My sweetest friend Everyone I know goes away In the end

And you could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down I will make you hurt

If I could start again A million miles away I would keep myself I would find a way."

And finally, some OC stuff on Leslie Who from The UnTitledverse series and how his bond with his son Samuel Who and his mentorship over Joaquin Cobalt shape their lives. For Samuel, Leslie's parenting of him allows the boy to carry the values of kindness and faith even in the Pride Ring of Hell, looking out for his loved ones (especially Charlie Morningstar) and the little guy. Meanwhile, Leslie's mentorship over Joaquin gives the young boy a stable adult figure in his life, one who instills in him the values of mercy and forgiveness and to focus on what matters (like his friends and family of choice) rather than his own short-term pursuits (instant vengeance against Edward Carmine and being of service to an authority that seemingly aligns to his moral ideals). Love my grandpa OC rising to his mid 70s who has a son that's an advisor to Hell's royal family and a kid he's basically a parental figure to who's the leader of a multiverse task force that regularly kick the asses of fascists and whatnot. And both Samuel and Joaquin are trans, so trans ally old man for the win.

("Hey!") "Once upon a younger year When all our shadows disappeared The animals inside came out to play When face to face with all our fears Learned our lessons through the tears Made memories we knew would never fade

One day my father, he told me, "Son, don't let it slip away" He took me in his arms, I heard him say "When you get older, your wild heart will live for younger days Think of me if ever you're afraid"

He said, "One day, you'll leave this world behind So live a life you will remember" My father told me when I was just a child "These are the nights that never die" My father told me

When thunderclouds start pouring down Light a fire they can't put out Carve your name into those shining stars He said, "Go venture far beyond the shores Don't forsake this life of yours I'll guide you home no matter where you are"

One day my father, he told me, "Son, don't let it slip away" He took me in his arms, I heard him say "When you get older, your wild heart will live for younger days Think of me if ever you're afraid"

He said, "One day, you'll leave this world behind So live a life you will remember" My father told me when I was just a child "These are the nights that never die" My father told me

These are the nights that never die My father told me

My father told me!"

Here's a six sentence snippet of my Guenevere WIP where recently married/crowned Guenevere ends up (somehow) lost in woods far from wandering in the kingdom's gardens earlier. So she takes aid from a noble gentleman who seems to know the way back. If only she knew what awaited her...

When I looked down and met his eyes, I found myself briefly still; never before had I seen such rings be as dark as the pupils within. I would go as far and say they were almost void.

A chill rippled across my skin, goosebumps summoned and a minor thought said, Run.

But it was fleeting, the thought, for how ridiculous it is that I should be afraid of such a short, non-threatening nobleman. Especially when he was wearing such an oddly square hat.

I didn't have much other option either, considering he was likely my only way back to the wedding and out of the woods. And I doubted he'd risk doing nefarious deeds on Camelot's newly crowned queen of a beloved king. At least I hoped not...

"Shall we get going, your majesty?" Sir Enigma asked with a smile, gesturing to his odd carriage, breaking me out of my thoughts.

And lastly my top ten repeating songs:

"This Comes From Inside" by The Living Tombstone

"Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

"Silence" by Marshmello ft. Khalid

"Let You Down" by NF

"Genghis Khan" by Miike Snow

"Skin And Bones" by David Kushner

"Outro" by M83

"Sweet Oblivion" by David Kushner

"At All Costs" by Chris Pines & Ariana DeBose

"The Line" by Twenty One Pilots

[austin-friars]

My Medieval Persephone!! Just know when I color this--it's gonna be bomb.

[mariocki]

New Scotland Yard: Hard Contract (1.5, LWT, 1972)

"I was just wondering what it was like to kill somebody."

"Well, that's a nice thought to start the day, innit?"

"In all my stint in the army, I never did. Not like -"

"Not like me."

"Yeah, well, you bagged a few terrorists in your time, didn't you? I was just wondering..."

"What it was like?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it... it was like... like nothing. You just sit on a roof and wait. For movement. The sun on a rifle. Just a flash, a glint. The first bullet gets you - or gets them, it's as simple as that."

"No involvement?"

"None."

[thaoworra]

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association recently released the poems that made it to the finalist stage for consideration for the 2024 Rhysling Awards for Short and Long Speculative Poems of the year. Congratulations to all of the nominees! This will be the 46th year these awards have been conferred!

Short Poems (50 finalists)

Attn: Prime Real Estate Opportunity!, Emily Ruth Verona, Under Her Eye: A Women in Horror Poetry Collection Volume II

The Beauty of Monsters, Angela Liu, Small Wonders 1

The Blight of Kezia, Patricia Gomes, HWA Poetry Showcase X

The Day We All Died, A Little, Lisa Timpf, Radon 5

Deadweight, Jack Cooper, Propel 7

Dear Mars, Susan L. Lin, The Sprawl Mag 1.2

Dispatches from the Dragon's Den, Mary Soon Lee, Star*Line 46.2

Dr. Jekyll, West Ambrose, Thin Veil Press December

First Eclipse: Chang-O and the Jade Hare, Emily Jiang, Uncanny 53

Five of Cups Considers Forgiveness, Ali Trotta, The Deadlands 31

Gods of the Garden, Steven Withrow, Spectral Realms 19

The Goth Girls' Gun Gang, Marisca Pichette, The Dread Machine 3.2

Guiding Star, Tim Jones, Remains to be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, ed. Lee Murray (Clan Destine Press)

Hallucinations Gifted to Me by Heatstroke, Morgan L. Ventura, Banshee 15

hemiplegic migraine as willing human sacrifice, Ennis Rook Bashe, Eternal Haunted Summer Winter Solstice

Hi! I am your Cortical Update!, Mahaila Smith, Star*Line 46.3

How to Make the Animal Perfect?, Linda D. Addison, Weird Tales 100

I Dreamt They Cast a Trans Girl to Give Birth to the Demon, Jennessa Hester, HAD October

Invasive, Marcie Lynn Tentchoff, Polar Starlight 9

kan-da-ka, Nadaa Hussein, Apparition Lit 23

Language as a Form of Breath, Angel Leal, Apparition Lit October

The Lantern of September, Scott Couturier, Spectral Realms 19

Let Us Dream, Myna Chang, Small Wonders 3

The Magician's Foundling, Angel Leal, Heartlines Spec 2

The Man with the Stone Flute, Joshua St. Claire, Abyss & Apex 87

Mass-Market Affair, Casey Aimer, Star*Line 46.4

Mom's Surprise, Francis W. Alexander, Tales from the Moonlit Path June

A Murder of Crows, Alicia Hilton, Ice Queen 11

No One Now Remembers, Geoffrey Landis, Fantasy and Science Fiction Nov./Dec.

orion conquers the sky, Maria Zoccula, On Spec 33.2

Pines in the Wind, Karen Greenbaum-Maya, The Beautiful Leaves (Bamboo Dart Press)

The Poet Responds to an Invitation from the AI on the Moon, T.D. Walker, Radon Journal 5

A Prayer for the Surviving, Marisca Pichette, Haven Speculative 9

Pre-Nuptial, F. J. Bergmann, The Vampiricon (Mind's Eye Publications)

The Problem of Pain, Anna Cates, Eye on the Telescope 49

The Return of the Sauceress, F. J. Bergmann, The Flying Saucer Poetry Review February

Sea Change, David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Ann K. Schwader, Scifaikuest May

Seed of Power, Linda D. Addison, The Book of Witches ed. Jonathan Strahan (Harper Collins)

Sleeping Beauties, Carina Bissett, HWA Poetry Showcase X

Solar Punks, J. D. Harlock, The Dread Machine 3.1

Song of the Last Hour, Samuel A. Betiku, The Deadlands 22

Sphinx, Mary Soon Lee, Asimov's September/October

Storm Watchers (a drabbun), Terrie Leigh Relf, Space & Time

Sunflower Astronaut, Charlie Espinosa, Strange Horizons July

Three Hearts as One, G. O. Clark, Asimov's May/June

Troy, Carolyn Clink, Polar Starlight 12

Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary, John Grey, Medusa's Kitchen September

Under World, Jacqueline West, Carmina Magazine September

Walking in the Starry World, John Philip Johnson, Orion's Belt May

Whispers in Ink, Angela Yuriko Smith, Whispers from Beyond (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Long Poems (25 finalists)

Archivist of a Lost World, Gerri Leen, Eccentric Orbits 4

As the witch burns, Marisca Pichette, Fantasy 87

Brigid the Poet, Adele Gardner, Eternal Haunted Summer Summer Solstice

Coding a Demi-griot (An Olivian Measure), Armoni “Monihymn” Boone, Fiyah 26

Cradling Fish, Laura Ma, Strange Horizons May

Dream Visions, Melissa Ridley Elmes, Eccentric Orbits 4

Eight Dwarfs on Planet X, Avra Margariti, Radon Journal 3

The Giants of Kandahar, Anna Cates, Abyss & Apex 88

How to Haunt a Northern Lake, Lora Gray, Uncanny 55

Impostor Syndrome, Robert Borski, Dreams and Nightmares 124

The Incessant Rain, Rhiannon Owens, Evermore 3

Interrogation About A Monster During Sleep Paralysis, Angela Liu, Strange Horizons November

Little Brown Changeling, Lauren Scharhag, Aphelion 283

A Mere Million Miles from Earth, John C. Mannone, Altered Reality April

Pilot, Akua Lezli Hope, Black Joy Unbound eds. Stephanie Andrea Allen & Lauren Cherelle (BLF Press)

Protocol, Jamie Simpher, Small Wonders 5

Sleep Dragon, Herb Kauderer, The Book of Sleep (Written Image Press)

Slow Dreaming, Herb Kauderer, The Book of Sleep (Written Image Press)

St. Sebastian Goes To Confession, West Ambrose, Mouthfeel 1

Value Measure, Joseph Halden and Rhonda Parrish, Dreams and Nightmares 125

A Weather of My Own Making, Nnadi Samuel, Silver Blade 56

Welcoming the New Girl, Beth Cato, Penumbric October

What You Find at the Center, Elizabeth R McClellan, Haven Spec Magazine 12

The Witch Makes Her To-Do List, Theodora Goss, Uncanny 50

The Year It Changed, David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Star*Line 46.4

Voting for the Rhysling Award begins July 1; a link to the ballot will be sent with the Rhysling Anthology, as well as with the July issue of Star*Line. More information on the Rhysling Award can be found here.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

I haven’t seen the 2020 series but my absolute favorite show is ACGAS 1978! Siegfried is so iconic haha. Do you have any thoughts on Siegfried in the 2020 series vs the 1978 one? Actors, portrayal, opinions, etc.

(Totally free to ignore if you don’t feel like talking about it of course, my feelings won’t be hurt)

Siegfried Farnon, I love all his incarnations. As a kid, I saw a lot of my faults in him (and still do), but also a lot of what I aspire to be - clever, charming, and generous. All 3 of the Skeldale vets shaped how I internalize my masculinity. (James' work ethic & determination, Tristan's ability to go with the flow and roll with punches.) I binged both shows (not quite all of 1978, tho) within 8 months, having avoided them until last year. The books are very special to me and I was afraid to engage with either show for fear they wouldn't Get Siegfried. I was very, very wrong.

Robert Hardy had some very cool interests- him being a longbow expert is absolutely fascinating and I keep meaning to watch the documentary he was involved in. Wild he was a consultant regarding the longbows of the Mary Rose. Absolutely was living the dream.

His Siegfried is such a little shit and I love him -- Hardy really captures the "beautific" mode his book counterpart would shift into when giving his hypocritical lectures. His side hustle schemes are favs of mine, because he doesn't actually want to do the work, just come up with the idea.

1978! Siegfried has a fantastic manic energy he flips on and off like a switch, though seeing book!Siegfried's temper on-screen vs Tristan played for laughs makes me uncomfortable -- that's a change I think the 2020 show tackles better, as it explores why the Farnon brothers are Like That.

Samuel West also is a fascinating human. We're both Gen X kids and I've love to have a board game night or go birding with him. His Siegfried has a melancholy streak that speaks to me (I took book!Siegfried as having some brand of mood cycling) and I really enjoy seeing him soften into a family man as the series progresses.

Not to say West doesn't also inject Siegfried with an enjoyable kinetic energy, it's just a different brand than Hardy's. (I was very skeptical the 2020 series would be any good given how faithful the 1978 show was, but by the time S1E1 Siegfried first pulls that mangled job list out of his pocket, I knew West understood the character, even if other details about the show had been changed.)

I feel like S5 took some steps backwards wrt Siegfried's relationships with Audrey and his brother. I hope S6 finally allows certain seeds to sprout & flourish (a relationship with Audrey, and greater trust in Tristan). That said, I also hope Siegfried doesn't soften too much - he still needs to be boisterous and ridiculous and have a certain kind of anger -- book!Siegfried could be a terror towards those who abused animals, and I'd like to see more of that.

What's interesting is both TV Siegfrieds took on the role in their 50s, when the book character is like... barely 30 in the first volume. West plays Siegfried more as in his 40s (fun for me, because I headcanon him as my age, so, 48 going into S6), but the age difference still shapes how I think of each version of the man.

Siegfried's traits - good and bad - come off different based on what age you perceive him as. I think the 2020 show's decision to have a 19 year age gap between the brothers is a brilliant way to address why Siegfried is so hard on Tristan, being somewhere between brother & surrogate father -- the closer in age the boys are (and they are not all that far apart in the books), the weirder that hostile disappointment wrt his exams and work ethic feels.

For me, 2020 series S1 Siegfried is my favorite. He's a great blend of cocksure, self-doubting, charming, off-putting, self-aware, and absolutely oblivious. His contradictions are one of my favorite things about him. But I don't really like pitting the TV Siegfrieds against each other -- both actors have given the source material the most utmost of love and respect, and it shows in their performances. I own both series on disc.

I think a lot of one's preference boils down to which Siegfried you meet at what point in your own life; after imprinting on book!Siegfried as a 10-year-old, the fact I'm knee-deep in writing trans!Siegfried fics for the 2020 series at age 48 probably says a lot about which one I feel the most like. XD

Honestly, my ideal version of the man is an amalgam of all 3 of his incarnations: He'd be mid-40s when we first meet him, and we'd see more of the mood range -- from Hardy's manic energy to West's more soulful touch and what they both brought in-between.

[passivenovember]

Steve's never tried a weed brownie before.

Hasn't really wanted to, if he's honest, because the rag-weed shit he gets from Tommy all throughout high school is fine. Even though it's mostly shake and stems and seeds, and the bag Tommy puts it in always looks like it's been mauled by Scotty, his 15 year old schnauzer.

It has to be the same bag, Steve thinks, but maybe that's the 20 minute high talking.

So he's never tried a brownie.

But. Billy Hargrove comes into his life like a storm cloud. Black and gray with impending doom, snagging the air around him with little fish weights until everything is heavy. At first.

But. Then Steve makes him laugh once during a game of shirts and skins, and. It's like the belly of the thing has ripped open, y'know, and the streets of the thing flood with rainwater, and all that existed before is washed down some swallowing, insatiable gutter along with mulch and twigs and the shaky belief that Steve's straight.

They're friends and Steve watches Billy laugh and smile, feels all ten fingers against his chest when Billy shoves him, some sort of atomical reaction to Steve making him laugh, and.

Steve can't believe he ever thought Heaven was in Nancy Wheeler's pants.

--

So.

Billy Hargrove is the Earth after the flood, and the ark carrying everyone to safety. He's the animals inside and the God that sits, watching the world swallow itself.

He feeds things, to Steve.

Lines. You got a really pretty mouth, Harrington. You're smart, you know that? Not. Book smart, but street smart. Dirt road intelligent, I guess, in this shitty fuckin' Hickville hellscape--

Feeds Steve art. That's Samuel Baruch. He's my favorite. Look how he paints cloth, how he tracks the divets and the folds and the shadows. It's like a photo. It's like a window--

Steve makes Billy laugh when he says, "That lady kind of looks like you." Feels all ten fingers on his arm, pushing, when he says, "You'd look cute in a bonnet." Steve nearly falls over. Almost goes easy, but he doesn't.

Billy grabs him. Holds him as he smirks, "Where the fuck would I find a bonnet?"

Steve looks around the art hall, eyes wide and owlish, "Indiana?" He says, out there. In here. And.

Billy stares at him. He's the canvas and the lady in her bonnet, the divets and the folds and the shadows, the artist himself when he wets his thumb and sticks it in Steve's ear. "Dumbass," He says.

Steve finally gets everyone's thing about art.

He snaps a mental image of the afternoon and tries not to smother it in his hands.

--

So.

Steve. His eyes open, bit by bit. And what he finds is blinding. Like he fell asleep in the back of his mother's station wagon and awoke to the screaming light of high noon.

Billy's like the sun, longer Steve knows him. Storm clouds be damned.

Like. He talks about art. And he feeds lines and compliments for shits and giggles, never really noticing that Steve falls for it, a dumb catfish stuck on Billy's sharp, unforgiving hook.

He does all that but he smokes. Weed and cigarettes. He drinks.

He takes Steve to parties and says, "Ever try this before, Bambi?" But it's just Jack Daniels. But. Billy leaning with his elbow on the wall next to Steve's neck, close enough that he can smell Billy's sweat and cologne. He's smiling and his lips are cherry red, rio red, and.

He wants to roll in it.

So. He says, "No," Because, "I haven't."

It's the truth.

So Billy feeds it to him right out of the bottle. Makes him get on his knees. Slaps Steve's wrists away when he tries to hold the vessel himself, because.

Something's happening. Here. There.

Steve stares up at Billy through his eyelashes, trying not to go blind.

--

He blacks out and wakes up in the face of some bitch in a red bikini.

He's still drunk, so it takes him longer than it should to realize she's a poster tacked to somebody's, and he's not at home, and someone's snoring on the rug next to him.

Steve wiggles his toes. Fingers. Tries to remember what happened after Billy's hair caught the dining room lamplight but it's all a blur of sea stone eyes and bright white teeth and all ten fingers, rubbing at him while he threw up under the four way stop on Douglas Street.

Steve groans.

He rolls onto his side and tucks into himself and falls asleep, hoping Billy got home okay.

--

It's silver when a warm, flat palm shakes him alive. "You gotta go," Someone says, their voice rough like flannel bed sheets.

Steve blinks up, into the silver light, and sees Billy. Considers padding from the mattress to sleep inside of Billy's throat, where he'll be warm. It's a familiar urge. It's entirely new.

Steve aches. "What time--"

"--Just before five. My dad gets up early for work," Billy says, like that's supposed to mean castles are crumbing in their kingdom, but he's staring at something on Steve' face.

Really puts things into perspective, because maybe it's supposed to be an emergency. The first wisps of smoke from a forest fire, but Billy has bed head. And pillow lines on his face. And he's looking at Steve like there's something stuck in his throat.

Steve rubs at himself, trying to clear exhaustion and embarrassment. Really, just rubbing it into himself like lotion. "It's Saturday." He says.

"We're poor," Billy tells him, "My dad--"

"Where am I?"

Billy stares at him for a moment and then chuckles, shaking his head, "With me," He mutters.

Steve wants to curl into it like a cat.

--

He's rushed out of the room. He has to climb through the window while Billy keeps watch like a guard dog, and Steve lands on his ankle funny so it isn't until later when he's showered and hung over and falling onto his own mattress that he realizes Billy was in a panic.

That was Billy panicking, like Steve gets when his dad tells him to clean his room before he gets home from work, but Steve was full of concrete and wouldn't do it. Just like that, but worse.

Steve tosses and turns and tries to decipher what there was to be panicked about. Billy's room was clean.

Not just clean but spotless, like someone took a billow pad soaked in bleach and scrubbed every wall and baseboard until nothing remained except that bitch in her red bikini.

The only witness to Steve crawling out through an open window.

--

The more he thinks about it the more it feels like an episode of The Twilight Zone.

He combs through the memory of waking up in Billy's room. He tries to piece together hazy, half-baked image of beige carpet and the bookshelf and the little makeshift vanity that housed all of Billy's hair products.

Steve searches for a spot of the boy he knows. He calls Samuel Baruch's name and hears it shatter against empty, maroon-colored walls and the bikini girl's airbrushed rack.

He tries to envision a wayward sock, left out in the cold. A cup of water on the bedside table. Used tissues on the bedsheets.

Anything.

Steve blinks around his own room and wonders if clutter is a luxury only afforded to boys in houses paid by Monday through Friday workweeks.

He tries to imagine Billy in that room inside the house on Cherry Lane, happy, sleeping until noon in his own boyhood nest while his father gets ready for work.

It sits heavy in Steve's chest. A fairytale.

--

So.

Billy asks him during homeroom on Monday if he's ever had a weed brownie. Really, he scribbles it on a note and has Mary Sandoval stick it under Steve's elbow on her way to the bathroom.

Steve presses the note open on his desk until it's delicately wrinkled, mulling the question over in his mind. He spent the weekend driving himself crazy trying to come up with a reason to invite Billy over, a nook to slip into so he can ask the hard questions.

This could be it.

Steve peeks over his shoulder, flushing pink when Billy wags his tongue.

He has a black eye.

Steve snaps like a piece of rotted driftwood. He turns back to the note and scribbles no, but I'll try one if you have it. Has Mary take it back with her.

Figures. Billy should see his room. Steve should open his eyes.

--

"Why does it smell like that?"

"Like what, pretty boy?"

"Like. Gasoline."

Billy tilts his head back, laughter shooting like fireworks against Steve's ceiling, "It's just the dope. It's how it smells when you bake it into the--"

"--I don't like it."

"Why not?"

"I just think brownies are supposed to smell like chocolate," Steve says, handing the bag over with a wrinkled nose, "It's not a very appetizing smell."

"It's just weed."

"Weed smells gross, too."

"You don't like weed?"

"No, I just--"

"--We don't have to do the edibles if you don't want--"

"--I want to," Steve tells him. "Please." Instead of I'd do anything you asked me to. You're the influence my grandma warned me about. You're the lighter and the cigarette and the smoke in my lungs. Getting me high.

Billy nods, "Since you asked so nicely," and severs the baggy, tearing the first brownie in half.

"Woah," Steve says, embarrassed, "I know I've never had one before but I think I can do more than half."

"They're strong."

"I'm strong too," Steve says. When Billy blinks at him, confused, Steve flexes.

The noise Billy makes is like a duck getting run over by a clown car. It reverberates off the walls and Steve aches to stand and chase it. "You can always start out small and take more if you need to, hot rod."

Steve crosses his arms over his chest. "How strong are they?"

Billy shrugs, fiddling with the chewed plastic lip of the bag. "I kissed a boy on half," He says.

It's the first time since Billy came to town that he won't stretch to meet Steve's gaze.

Steve takes the bag from him and shoves the brownie into his mouth, coughing over the dry exterior.

"Easy, man, easy," Billy smacks him between the shoulder blades, grinning and rubbing his back once Steve swallows.

[spnbangbang]

Handfasted

Author: tiamatv

Artist:  anyrei

Primary Ship: Dean/Castiel

Other Ships: N/A

Length:  28,000

Warnings: N/A

Tags: AU- Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Temporary Marriage, Prince Castiel, Prince Dean Winchester, Strangers to Lovers, Internalized Homophobia, Cultural Differences, Misunderstandings, Rope Bondage, Pining

Posting Date: November 9, 2024

Summary Dean Winchester never wanted to wear a crown. He had no idea that he even could. It wasn't until the Campbell royals all got themselves assassinated by demons that he and Sam found out that King Samuel was actually their grandfather, and well, shit.

But Dean was a soldier before he was anything else. So maybe that's why he'll do anything to stop this awful demon war--anything. Even try to make an alliance with the angels.

They think they're gonna scare him off by telling him he's gotta be magically married--okay, okay, handfasted, but call it what it is--to some snooty noble angel for a whole year? They think Dean's gonna back out because the angels want him to be handfasted not to a proper princess, oh no, but to a prince?

Bring it on. Excerpt Gods and goddesses. Dean hasn’t even kissed the guy. Is he supposed to? The thought makes his whole face tingle–the thought of pressing his lips to that rich, pink mouth–but… that’s not what this is about, is it? Right?

“Look, I know you're not… I know this wasn't your choice,” Dean says, low. “Mine either, not really, I just… Lemme do this, okay? Pretty sure I can make it feel good for you.”

Shit, Dean's babbling, but what the fuck else is he supposed to do? He’s been thinking about how to fulfill the handfasting magic without everything going wrong for a while. Too long.

‘Consummation,’ right? Seed going into… somewhere? Yeah.

Castiel doesn't stop him, his hands falling back to hang loose by his side when Dean carefully untangles their fingers and then undoes the buttons of the placket of Castiel’s snowy white, coarse linen breeches, one by one. He does say something in that low gravel of his language, but none of them are the few words of Enochian that Dean understands. Dean just hopes he's not commenting on how Dean's hands are shaking.

His little sigh against the side of Dean's face as Dean starts nudging his breeches downwards with his fingertips, a warm, sweet, shaky puff on Dean’s cheek, sure doesn't sound like he's mad about it, though. His halo is glowing soft and bright, brighter than the lantern lit in the corner of the room, not that angry lightning flash that Dean’s gotten way too used to in the past week.

That does make Dean feel better. A little.

“You doing okay?” Dean says, pulling back and running a hand over the jut and arch of Castiel's hip, under the linen. And then doing it again, ‘cause. Huh. It's weird to feel those hard, firm planes, the jut of bone, rather than softness and curves. Weird, but not bad. He’s not wearing smallclothes under the stupid sacred pants–neither is Dean–but unlike Dean, Castiel hasn’t got any hair on his legs or his belly to catch on the rough woven cloth.

Cas nods and voices a low Enochian affirmative that Dean recognizes. Well, at least there's that.

But the quizzical look on Cas's face, the lilt of his voice, says volumes when Dean carefully pushes him down to sitting on the bed and then gets slowly down on his knees on the rug, shuffling his way forward between those spread thighs–shit, it's gotta be obvious to him by now what Dean's up to, right?

Because sure, Dean was in the Campbell army a long time, he’s heard some things about the kind of activities that men can do with other men… but like hell is Dean going to be sticking his bits into someone who can barely understand what he's saying.

He's not thinking about how hard–no, nope, difficult, difficult–it was to shimmy those breeches down and off Castiel's thighs, because well, fuck, the dude might be a prince of the angels, but he’s juicy like a game chicken, and–

Nope, nope, nope.

So here Dean is, down on his knees, staring face-level at another guy's floppy dick, surrounded by the same thick, dark curls that Castiel has on his head but nowhere else on his body, smelling of incense and linen and… something musky and heavy. Not sweat, something darker than that, sharper, and…

And Dean’s mouth is fucking watering. It's watering. And he can feel the heat on his cheeks. On his neck. Spreading into the line of this stupid, scrubby, itchy linen tunic. Twitching in his breeches.

Gods of sea and stars. Is this the handfasting magic? What if it is?

But what if it isn’t?

[electronickingdomfox]

Star Trek TOS crew biographies

There are plenty of detailed biographies of the TOS crew, both online and in reference books. But I wanted to check what actually appears in the Original Series and the six TOS movies about this subject (that is, not counting secondary sources or later series). And the result is... very little, actually. I was surprised by the amount of data that I took for granted, just to find out it came from a novel or wasn't 100% set in stone. This is what I could find about each major character, just judging from the TOS series and movies. Feel free to add to this or correct mistakes.

This is the corrected version of the post. So if you're going to reblog, please reblog this one.

Note on chronology: The series and movies are hardly consistent when it comes to actual dates. Most episodes suggest the mid-late 22nd century (Tomorrow is Yesterday, Space Seed, The Savage Curtain). But The Squire of Gothos takes place 900 years after the XIX century setting of Trelane's house! In the movies, however, Kirk says he comes from the late 23rd century (The Voyage Home). And in the second film, Kirk receives a bottle of romulan ale dated 2283. The ale is said to take a while to ferment, so maybe the current year is 2284 or 2285 (but could be much later). The events of Space Seed are said to have happened 15 years ago (so around 2269 or 2270, at minimum). The five-year mission dates established in later series, don't really match any of this. Star Trek Generations reworks the chronology, though subtly. The present plot is set seven years after Encounter at Farpoint (which should be the same year of The Neutral Zone, that is, 2364). Thus the current year would be 2371. Kirk disappeared in the Nexus 78 years ago (2293). And it's said that he had taken command of the Enterprise 30 years before this (2263). As he had been captain for a while before the five-year mission, the start of such mission could be 2265 (and I think the date on the bottle at the beginning was symbolic for this). More explicitly, Voyager canonized 2270 as the end of the mission. But as seen above, nothing of this matches TOS canon, not even in the movies.

James Tiberius Kirk:

Although in the series he's referred just as James T. Kirk, his middle name "Tiberius" appears in Star Trek VI. "Tiberius" was also his middle name in TAS episode Bem, and the novel The Galactic Whirlpool (both by Gerrold), as well as in Roddenberry's TMP novelization. So yeah, no doubts about his name.

He was born in Iowa (Star Trek IV) and had one brother, George Samuel Kirk, and three nephews (What are little girls made of?). Sam married a woman named Aurelan (Operation: Annihilate).

Kirk was 34 in The Deadly Years. Assuming each season is a year of the five year mission, he could be 33 at the start of the series. And this is the only reference for his age I could find. At age 13 he witnessed the massacre of Tarsus IV (Kodos was governor twenty years ago, in The Conscience of the King).

At age 18 he had just entered the Academy and was tormented by Finnegan. At this time he also met Ruth (fifteen years before Shore Leave).

He served in the USS Republic as an ensign, at some unspecified time after his Academy years, where he reported Ben Finney for negligency (Court Martial).

At age 21 he visited the planet Neural and befriended Tyree (thirteen years before A private little war).

He was a lieutenant in the USS Farragut at age 23 (eleven years before Obsession), where he first encountered the cloud creature that massacred his crewmates.

He teached at the Academy as a lieutenant. One of his students was his friend Gary Mitchell (Where No Man has Gone Before).

Kirk had a relationship with Areel Shaw when he was 29 (four years before Court Martial).

He became captain of the USS Enterprise after Pike. If we suppose TOS first season happens during the first year of the five-year mission, Kirk was around 37 at the end of this mission.

There's a big gap of fifteen years between Space Seed and the second movie. And apart from the five-year mission, most of those years are unaccounted for. Kirk's been an admiral for two years and a half at the start of TMP. But we don't know if he became an admiral right after the Enterprise's mission, or much later. That is, we don't know at what point of that gap take place the events of TMP. However, the fact that he only cites his "five years out there dealing with unknowns like this" as proof of his experience with the Enterprise, suggests he left the ship right after the end of the five year mission. The TMP novelization also agrees with this placement in the chronology. Around this time, both Spock and McCoy had retired from Starfleet, though they both returned when Kirk took the Enterprise again for the V'Ger incident.

By The Wrath of Khan, Kirk should be 48 years old (fifteen years since he left Khan stranded in Space Seed). If David is around 30, Kirk's relationship with Carol could have been at the Academy, but it's also possible that David is younger.

The third and fourth films happen shortly after The Wrath of Khan, but no idea how much time elapsed since then and the fifth and sixth films (though see the info for McCoy).

Spock

Known simply as "Spock". His full name is considered unpronounceable for humans, though the novel Ishmael gives it as "S'chn T'gai Spock".

His parents are Sarek and Amanda (Journey to Babel). Amanda's last name was never given, though TAS episode Yesteryear, some novels, and the 2009 reboot film establishes it as "Grayson". Spock also has a half-brother: Sybok (Star Trek V).

He was betrothed to T'Pring at age seven (Amok Time). We also learn in Yesteryear that he went through a coming-of-age ritual around that time: the Kahs-wan. It's possible that he had to pass the ritual before bonding with his future wife.

He probably joined Starfleet eighteen years before Journey to Babel, since that's the time he spent not speaking with Sarek. If he joined Starfleet at 18 years old, he'd be 36 by season two. Yesteryear happens 30 years after Spock's Kahs-wan, making him 37 in the episode, which more or less fits the info in Journey to Babel.

He was part of Pike's crew thirteen years before The Menagerie, during the events in Talos IV. He'd be 22 by then. Spock served under Pike for eleven years (also from The Menagerie). That means Kirk had been captain of the Enterprise for at least two years before this episode.

After that, Spock's career runs more or less in parallel with Kirk's, so I won't go over it again.

Leonard H. McCoy

His middle initial first appears in Star Trek III, as well as the name of his father: David. The novel Provenance of Shadows explains the middle initial as "Horatio", but other novels call him "Leonard Edward McCoy" (???).

Much of his biographical background comes from the "Writer's Guide" by Roddenberry and Fontana, but never made it to the series. That includes the fact he's 45 (by season one?) and born in Georgia. As well as the fact that he's divorced and joined Starfleet as a result of this, and that he has a 20 year old daughter (Joanna). Presumably, the story of his divorce and Joanna would have appeared in The Way to Eden, but the story was severely altered. His daughter is mentioned, but without name, in TAS episode The Survivor, and in several novels. The Gold Key comics call her "Barbara" instead. His ex-wife is given different names in the novels and comics: Honey, Jocelyn, Joan, Gillian...

No idea when he joined Starfleet (that depends on how long was his marriage), or when he met Kirk.

Nineteen years before Albatross, he led an inoculation program in Dramia Two. He may have been around 30.

Ten years before The Man Trap, he had a romance with Nancy Crater. Though in the episode he sometimes says he knew her twelve years ago, and other times ten years ago. Either it's a mistake, or the relationship simply lasted two years (though McCoy's doubts about Nancy remembering him, imply the relationship wasn't very long).

At some point, he visited Capella IV for a few months (Friday's Child).

By the time of The Pirates of Orion, he had been a doctor for 25 years, so he may be near 50 during the episode.

He served in the Enterprise for 27 years (Star Trek VI), but only under Kirk, it seems. If he was 45 when he started, he'd be 72 in the last film, and Kirk would be 60 years old.

Note on McCoy's age in later series

The "Writer's Guide" statement that McCoy was 45 at the time of TOS, was contradicted by later series. In TNG episode Encounter at Farpoint, he's said to be 137 years old. While in the episode The Neutral Zone (also from TNG season one) the year is 2364. As both episodes probably happen in the same year, McCoy would have been born in 2227. Since, according to later series, the five-year mission lasted from 2265 to 2270, McCoy would have been 38 at the start of the mission. I'm following the Writer's Guide figure, however, because I consider this document more relevant for TOS itself. After all, many things that are facts in later series, aren't the same in TOS, and viceversa. Also, considering that the age of the characters seems to be close to the age of the actors, I find more likely that McCoy was 45, and not 38, at the start of TOS. To give you an idea, Shatner was 36 in season two (Kirk was 34), Nimoy was also 36 (just as Spock) and Kelley was 47. The twelve year gap between Kirk and McCoy, would be almost the same as the eleven year gap between Shatner and Kelley.

Montgomery Scott

Very little about him, but at least we got his full name in the series. He's supposed to be Scottish, and has lived in Aberdeen (Wolf in the Fold).

Apart from being Chief Engineer in the Enterprise, he was engineer advisor in a freighter, running from Deneva to the asteroid belt (Operation: Annihilate).

Uhura

We never knew her first name in TOS! This is one of the things that surprised me the most. However, "Nyota" is her first name in the reboot films, the new series, and well before that, the novel The Entropy Effect.

She was probably born in east Africa, since her native language seems to be Swahili (the language she reverted to when her memory was wiped in The Changeling). Thanks to user @sapsuckers-and-stardust for pointing this out.

Very, very little about her bio background. Most of it has to be collected from novels or comics, and those never intended to be coherent with each other.

Hikaru Sulu

Though his first name was unknown for a long time, it was revealed to be "Hikaru" in Star Trek VI. But before this, he was also called Hikaru in The Entropy Effect.

Sulu was born in San Francisco (Star Trek IV).

Again, almost nothing of his bio in the series/movies. Though the DC comics explored his character significantly. And in Star Trek: Generations, he had a daughter, Demora.

By Star Trek VI, he was finally a captain of his own ship, the Excelsior.

Pavel Andreievich Chekov

His full name appears first in The Way to Eden, where we also learn he had a romance with Irina Galliulin at the Academy.

Chekov has no siblings (Day of the Dove).

He's 22 by season two (Who mourns for Adonais?).

After serving in the Enterprise, he was first officer in the USS Reliant during The Wrath of Khan, though he returned with Kirk after the Reliant's destruction.

Christine Chapel

She abandoned her career in bio-research to sign aboard the Enterprise as a nurse, and search after her fiancé Roger Korby (What are little girls made of?) Strangely enough, a few episodes before, she had confessed her love for Spock. She chose to stay in the ship after finding out Korby was dead.

By the time of TMP, she was a doctor in the Enterprise, though she doesn't appear as part of the crew in the later movies.

Janice Rand

She served as a yeoman in the Enterprise during the early five-year mission, but disappears from the series afterwards.

In TMP, she's the transporter chief. And in Star Trek IV, Janice is seen at Starfleet Command, along with Chapel.

By Star Trek VI, she was the communications officer of the Excelsior, under Sulu.

[mushynka]

𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐬

Chapter 1/3

Character: Sabretooth (Victor Creed) Angst!

!This story contains themes of child abuse, religious fanaticism, emotional trauma, and graphic psychological distress. Reader discretion is advised. This chapter is not suitable for younger audiences or sensitive readers! The events and characters in this fic may differ from those presented in the canon. English is not my native language. I apologize for any mistakes.

“Every child deserves a parent. But not every parent deserves a child.”

This is the story of Victor Creed before he became Sabretooth.

A brutal tale buried beneath snow and scripture, of a child born cursed in the eyes of a fanatical father. Locked away in darkness, starved of love and warmth, Victor’s humanity withers as the beast inside begins to stir.

In three harrowing chapters, this fic delves into Victor's childhood—his fear, his hunger, his cold rage—and the choice that led him down a path with no return.

Not a monster by birth.

But by creation.

Chapter I: The Seed of Rot

The woods of Alberta, Canada – 19th century

It was winter when the child came into the world, and the cold that year was cruel. Snow clung to the wooden slats of the Creed family cabin, hissing against the flames in the hearth. The cries of the newborn were sharp, piercing through the howling wind outside like a curse uttered in a church.

Samuel Creed stood at the foot of the bloodied bed where his wife lay panting, her face wet with sweat and tears. He didn’t look at her. His eyes were on the child.

"Boy" the midwife said, wiping the newborn’s face and wrapping him tight. "Healthy. Strong lungs."

Samuel didn’t move. Elisabeth Creed reached out weakly. "Let me see him" she whispered, her voice trembling with hope.

The midwife placed the swaddled infant in her arms. For a moment, the world softened. Elisabeth’s eyes filled with warmth. She traced the child’s pale cheek with trembling fingers. His eyes were strange—amber, deep-set, gleaming in the firelight. His little hands were clenched fists. When he opened his mouth to cry again, she noticed the tips of two white, pointed buds where his canines would be.

"What is this?" Samuel’s voice cracked like a whip.

Elisabeth froze.

He stepped closer. "Let me see that."

The midwife backed away instinctively.

Samuel bent down and pried the baby's mouth open with calloused fingers. His face twisted. "Fangs" he spat. "Like a damn beast."

"He’s just a baby, Sam" Elisabeth said quickly. "A little tooth. Maybe... maybe it’s just early—"

"It’s unnatural" he snapped. "You see his eyes? That’s not the gaze of a child. That’s the gaze of something cursed."

Elisabeth clutched the baby closer, but Samuel was already pacing. Muttering. Quoting scripture under his breath.

"He that is born of sin shall bear its mark... The devil walks among the lambs..." He turned. "You brought a monster into this house."

Tears spilled from her eyes. "He’s your son."

Samuel glared at her with fire in his chest. "No. He’s His."

From that moment, Victor Creed was not seen as a child by his father—but as a trial.

† † † † † † † † † † †

Victor grew fast. Stronger than other boys. Quieter too. He didn’t cry much after infancy—not because he didn’t feel pain, but because he learned early that tears were punished.

The first time his claws came out—small, curved, ivory-like nails that cut his fingertips when he got excited—he was five.

Samuel saw him scratching at a wooden post behind the cabin, drawing symbols in the bark with those claws. They came out when Victor got... agitated, like they had minds of their own.

Samuel beat him with a leather belt until his back was a welted mess.

"I’ll drive the devil out of you if it takes fire and salt." he said through clenched teeth.

Elisabeth screamed. "Stop! He’s just a child!"

Samuel shoved her aside. "He is not!"

Victor remembered that night not just because of the pain, but because of the silence afterward. His mother didn’t speak for two days. She just sat by the fire, rocking back and forth, while Victor lay in the corner, afraid to move, blood drying on his shirt.

† † † † † † † † † † †

Samuel Creed's faith was a weapon. Their cabin was decorated not with love, but with crucifixes—nailed into every doorframe, every bedpost, even the cradle Victor had once slept in. Each cross was a reminder. To Samuel, everything had to be earned in suffering. His own father had beaten the Word of God into him, and now he did the same with his son.

At meals, Victor was made to sit with his hands bound. He was not allowed to speak unless asked to. "The beast inside you listens" Samuel would say. "If you starve it, it grows weaker."

Victor didn’t understand what the beast was. All he knew was that his father looked at him like he was already condemned.

† † † † † † † † † † †

One day, when Victor was seven, there was cake.

It was his birthday but his brother, an older boy named Luther was the centre of attention, he was everything Victor wasn’t: perfect son, mild-tempered, and beloved by their father.

Elisabeth had somehow scraped together enough ingredients for a small cake—hard, dry, and cracked at the edges, but sweet. Victor had never tasted anything like it.

Luther got the first slice. Then Samuel. Elisabeth took none. Victor reached for his portion. "No" Samuel said. "You get nothing."

Victor’s hand hovered. "But... It's my birthday. Mama said—"

"I said no!"

The boy froze. His claws twitched under the skin. His stomach growled. His eyes locked on the last piece—left on the table for someone, for anyone but him. The sweetness in the air was intoxicating.

Then Luther laughed.

"Beast doesn’t get cake" he said, mocking.

And Victor snapped.

The memory after that was fractured—flashes of movement, heat, blood. A scream.

When it was over, Luther lay limp, his neck torn open by something sharp. Elisabeth was shrieking. Samuel’s voice thundered, his hands dragging Victor across the floor. The boy didn’t fight. He didn’t speak. He just kept staring at his brother’s blood on his claws.

That night, Samuel locked Victor in the cellar.

No food. No warmth. No light.

"You took his life" the man said through the door. "You proved me right."

Victor didn’t cry. He sat in the dark, alone with the beast inside him. His own breathing sounded like growling in the silence.

"I didn’t mean to" he whispered. "I didn’t mean to..."

But the cellar didn’t forgive.

† † † † † † † † † † †

Days passed.

Victor was let out only to be beaten, starved, or dragged to church services where Samuel made him kneel in the back pew with his hands in chains.

"Confess your sin!" the priest would shout.

Victor stared at the floor.

Elisabeth no longer smiled. She moved through the house like a ghost, her eyes sunken with shame and fear.

Victor didn’t blame her. She had tried. But Samuel had broken her just like he broke everything else.

The child learned that silence was safer. That hunger was normal. That love was a currency he would never be rich enough to afford.

One night, he woke with a fever. His skin burned. His bones ached. His teeth grew longer. The beast was changing him from the inside out.

Elisabeth found him in the corner of the room, shaking.

"I’m scared, Mama" he whispered.

She knelt beside him, fingers brushing his damp forehead. For once, she didn’t flinch.

"You’re not a monster" she said. "You were never the monster."

He looked up at her, eyes wide. "Then why does he hate me?"

Her voice cracked. "Because he’s afraid."

"Of me?"

"No" she said, her eyes wet. "Of the truth."

Samuel entered then, holding the old family Bible like a weapon.

"There will be no lies in this house" he hissed.

Elisabeth stood between them. "No more, Sam. He’s just a child."

"He’s a demon!"

He struck her. She fell. Victor saw red.

He lunged, claws slashing through the air, and for the first time, he made his father bleed.

Samuel didn’t scream. He laughed.

"There it is" he said, blood running down his face. "The beast. Just like I told you. Just like I always knew."

Victor panted, frozen in place. The laughter echoed in his skull.

"You’ll never be free of it, boy" Samuel whispered, gripping his own bleeding cheek. "It’s your inheritance."

And Victor Creed believed him.

He carried those words for the rest of his life.

___

Thank you for reading this ♥️ Hope that you liked this chapter. If you're interested:

This is my masterlist and my Ao3 where i'm also posting - Mushka025

[wannaeatramyeon]

Masterlist of Gun Park + Goo Kim ✨Bullshit✨

Guess who hit the link limit again

Lookism Masterlist | Part 2 ☞ (multi-character headcanons/dynamics) more Gun + Goo here

Lookism Storylines ☞ (fun shit. mix of x reader and with reader)

You're here! Gun + Goo | Part 2 | Jake + Samuel | Vin + Ryuhei | Everyone Else ☞ (single character-centric standalones)

... Even More Lookism Masterlist ☞ (different characters in same scenarios series) more Gun + Goo here

How To Fight/Viral Hit Masterlist | Seong Taehoon

Character-Centric Standalones

Gun Park x Reader: Fairground/Haunted House Shenanigans

Gun Park x Reader: Fighting Dirty

Gun Park x Reader: Retirement

Gun Park x Reader: Soft

Gun Park x Reader: Holding his attention

Gun Park x Reader: Enough

Gun Park x Reader: Waiting

Gun Park x Reader: Red flag miscommunications

Gun Park x Reader: Eat your vegetables (feat Goo)

Gun Park x Reader: I do | After I do

Gun Park x Reader: Fried chicken

Gun Park x Reader: Just moved in

Gun Park x Reader: Marked

Gun Park x Reader: Funny

Gun Park x Reader: Masterpiece

Gun Park x Reader: Holding Hands

Gun Park finding a new successor - YOU

Gun Park x Kind!Reader: Opposites

Gun Park and his Emo Band

Gun Park x Reader: The Learning Genius | Good

Gun Park with Reader: The 'Learning' Genius. Except-

Gun Park x Reader: Early morning

Gun Park with Reader: Your biggest fan

Gun Park x Reader: Fifth Affiliates

Gun Park x Reader: Three kisses

Gun Park with Reader: Junkyard shenanigans

Gun Park x Reader: Crystal Choi

Gun Park with You, his successor

Gun Park x Idol!Reader: Questions

Gun Park x Sensitive!Reader: Making up

Gun Park x Reader: Physical Touch

Gun Park x Reader: For You

High School!Gun x Shy!Reader: Blush

Vampire Hunter!Gun Park x Vampire!Reader

Gun Park x Reader: Daydream

Gun Park x Reader: Sesame Seed

Gun Park x Reader: Arranged Marriage

Gun Park x Reader: Name

Gun Park x Reader: Home

Goo Kim x Reader: Mario kart

Goo Kim x Reader: Cosplay

Goo Kim x Reader: Fake Dating

Goo Kim x Reader: Reverse Isekai

Goo Kim x Reader: Money

Goo Kim x Reader: Cookies (feat Gun)

Goo Kim: Gen + romantic headcanons

Goo Kim x Reader: Checkmate

Goo Kim x Reader: Tired

Goo Kim x Reader: Silly questions at bedtime

Goo Kim x Reader: Kneecaps (feat Gun a lil)

Goo Kim x Reader: Brownies for your boyfriend

Goo Kim x Reader: Pinky promises

Goo Kim x Reader: Ring shopping (feat Gun)

Goo Kim x Reader: Partner 'privileges'

Goo Kim x Reader: Outfits

Goo Kim: Office Routines

Goo Kim x Reader: what's it worth?

Goo Kim x Reader: Comfortable silences

Goo Kim x Reader: Mystery guy

Goo Kim x Reader: Coffee Shop AU

Goo Kim with Reader: Summer afternoon

Goo Kim x Reader: Generous (feat. Gun Park)

Goo Kim x Reader: Dating (feat Gun)

Goo Kim with Reader: Injuries

Goo Kim x Reader: Hair

Goo Kim x Reader: Suspicious

Goo Kim x Reader: Making Space

Goo Kim x Reader: Cat

Goo Kim x Reader: Cycling through the love languages

Gun + Goo as YOUR older brothers hc

Gun Park + Goo Kim: Ice cream

How did Gun get his scar?

Gun + Goo: Time travel fuckery

Even more Gun + Goo shenanigans

Gun + Goo: Duo headcanons

Gun Park + Goo Kim: Theme song

Gun Park + Goo Kim: Sammy

Gun Park x Goo Kim: Equals

Gun Park x Goo Kim: Bruises

Gun Park x Goo Kim: Steal

Gun Park x Goo Kim: Nabe

Gun Park x Goo Kim: Whittling

Gun + Goo with Reader: Nobody talks like that | Gun Park x Reader: Somebody asked

Gun Park x Reader x Goo Kim: Soulless

Gun Park x Reader x Goo Kim relationship hc

Gun + Goo with Reader: Manga Raws

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday & WIP Wednesday

Tagging @voidika @raresvtm @josephseedismyfather @noodlecupcakes @imogenkol @socially-awkward-skeleton @inafieldofdaisies @aceghosts @cloudofbutterflies92 @cassietrn @direwombat @adelaidedrubman @derelictheretic @davrinsgriffons @shallow-gravy @strangefable @statichvm @carlosoliveiraa @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @alypink @shellibisshe @josephslittledeputy @skoll-sun-eater @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @turbo-virgins @florbelles @minilev @justasmolbard @yokobai and @seedsplease + anyone else who'd like to join.

Now onto the Hazbin Hotel songs for The UnTitledverse, Life, Despair & Monsters and one song centered around Arraknis and the Arachnoids in regards to their envy and hatred towards humanity, and a WIP Wednesday for The Silver Chronicles. You can listen and read below the cut:

First up is more on Smile Tunes and more on Samuel Who's side of the story helping Charlie with the Hazbin Hotel alongside the other staff. Samuel is like 50-50 on the whole redemption thing since he knows that some people like Angel Dust don't deserve Hell but people like Alastor definitely do (also he has complex feelings towards "redemption to get into Heaven" since he himself is barred from Heaven for like eternity, not out of any wrong doing, but because his murderer, Edward Carmine, didn't take the ritual he was conducting seriously and unintentionally sent Samuel's soul straight to Hell and barring him from Heaven, instead of the original plan which was Edward sacrifices Samuel's soul so he himself can get a one-way ticket straight to Heaven or be barred from Hell for eternity). Samuel pretty much follows Charlie everywhere and acts as a younger/older adoptive brother (ageing gets weird in Hell), but their dynamic is like "she's the passionate dreamer and he's the guy that uses the fancy sometimes political words to sell the dream" and add Vaggie and you get the additional "call out the opposition's BS while keeping the dreamer grounded". This side of the plot for Smile Tunes is to prove to Heaven that redemption can work before the next Extermination; and what better way than to send one of their apparently fallen/lost exorcists (Kingsley) back to them along with some redeemed sinners. Though Kingsley is noticeably a little different from a regular exorcist as both Vaggie and Samuel come to figure out...

[CW: Mentions of violence and sexual themes]

"I can do this, somehow I know it I'll get Heaven behind my plans ("Charlie, hold on.")

There's just no way I could blow it Not in this once-in-a-lifetime chance ("It's just a meeting.")

To change their minds and touch their hearts Or whatever angels have ("This could be bad.")

Cheer up, Vaggie This could be swell Something tells me that today will be a happy day in Hell!"

"Okay, but just don't sing to them." "That bitch is halfway down the street." "Is she-?" "Oh, she's dancin'." "Ugh, no..."

"There's a warm fuzzy feeling that wafts through the air Every street so revealing, it's hard not to stare It's a realm so appealing, it beats anywhere If you don't mind the smell It's a happy day in Hell!"

In Life, Despair & Monsters, sometime during the midway point, there's a conflict between two antagonistic groups; the Ruins of the Midnight Rise, the main antagonistic force of this series led by Sir Enigma Malvolio and his fucked-up science fair rejects, and the Occult, the secondary antagonistic force comprised of undead magicians and magic-using zealots determined to bring back the Kin (reality benders who were akin to Gods) lead by a lich named Aggravor. They both are an issue towards the protagonists, although both Malvolio's Midnight Rise and Aggravor's chapter of the Occult are rivals to each other; one former a symbol of progress and the future (albeit to unethical degrees) and the latter focused on tradition and the past. The song below pretty much sums up the relationship between these two groups, albeit it would have been Malvolio's progress winning rather than Aggravor's stagnated approach.

"Is Aggravor as strong as he purports? Or is it based on his support? He'd be powerless without the other zealots he's amassed!" * "Oh, please!" "And here's the sugar on the cream He asked me to support** his team!" "Hold on!" "I said no, and now he's pissy That's the tea!"

"You old-timey prick, I'll show you suffering!" "Uh oh, the TV is buffering." "I'll destroy you, you little-" "I'm afraid you've lost your signal

Let's begin I'm gonna make you wish that I'd stayed gone, tune on in When I'm done, your status quo will know its race is run Oh, this will be fun!"

"Fuck!"

[* The Occult is made up of a lot of zealots, not just a few individuals with Aggravor leading this chapter of the Occult. ** The Midnight Rise would never join the Occult and the Occult would never want the Midnight Rise to join them, especially since Aggravor's in charge and has a strict definition of the characteristics they seek for in applicants. However, Aggravor would most definitely have sort out Malvolio for support in the Occult's endeavours, believing himself to understand what a Displacement like Malvolio would want (due to his own experiences with the Occult's founder, the Arcane Urias), however, gets proven very wrong very quickly].

In my LORE, the Arachnoids are beings from another dimension that were called by the Omniscience (basically the living will of the uni/multiverse) to help it expand. The Arachnoids made several sacrifices to enter the realm of the Omniscience such as replacing all their flesh with technology (given the realm of the Omniscience had gravity which crushed the Arachnoids as soon as they crossed the border between dimensions) and straying from their pacifistic roots (especially when building the Exterminators). The Archnoids utilized the Omniscience's power and helped it create worlds and structures and whatnot. They were pretty much the Omniscience's little helpers that built pretty much every natural force and element there was. Until the Omniscience learned to do so by itself, eventually doing what the Arachnoids could never do; which was create life (the Eldritch which were basically the Omniscience's children, and humanity + animals and stuff). The Arachnoids were surprised and curious and wanted to replicate this by making their own life... which resulted in the "Lost Ones" and the "Old Ones" who were swiftly abandoned. It wasn't until they discovered energy from a creature known as a "Paragon" which they utilized to create "the Kin", reality benders and reality-warpers that were the drafts for what would eventually become "the Old Gods" (until those were replaced by "the New Gods" after an incident involving Olympus warring with the other Old Gods). However, it wasn't an event known as the "Extermination Purge Wars" (a conflict that involved a vanished universe, Discord becoming "the Mad Kin of Carnage", and the Arachnoids' use of the Exterminators to wipe out around four generations of Kin). Due to the lack of explanation for such extreme action, especially to the Eldritch, Old Gods and the Bronze Era of the Time Bureau Authority, the Arachnoids were banished from the Omniscience's realm, and were forced back to their own home dimension (with the Exterminators and Boss Series deactivated and locked away in some dimensional pocket prisons/tombs). The Arachnoids have hated humanity for a long, long time, due to the fact that humanity is "important" to the function of the Omniscience while the Arachnoids basically built everything that allowed the Omniscience to become what it is today. Arraknis did not take his species banishment well, and has made plans for vengeance and to prove everyone wrong that the Arachnoids are the superior beings, and not humanity. I believe this song exemplifies this well:

"Let me stop you right there, save us all precious time ("Oh, okay?") If what you're suggesting is letting them climb Up the ladder, oh, they'd rather cross the Pearly Gates? ("Well, um...") Sorry, sweetie, but there's no defyin' their fates

'Cause Hell is forever, whether you like it or not Had their chance to behave better, now they boil in a pot 'Cause the rules are black and white There's no use in tryin' to fight it They're burnin' for their lives until we kill 'em again ("Okay, but-!")

Just try to chillax, babe, you're wasting your breath Did I hear you imply that they don't deserve death? Are they winners? Are they sinners? 'Cause it's cut and dry ("Well actually, if you take a look-") Fair is fair, an eye for an eye

And when all's said and done ("Said and done!") There's the question of fun And for those of us with divine ordainment Extermination is entertainment

Bow-now-now-now-now, guitar solo, fuck yeah!

Hell is forever, whether you like it or not Had their chance to behave better now they boil in a pot ("Where did all you come from?"*) 'Cause the rules are black and white There's no use in tryin' to fight it They're burnin' for their lives until we kill 'em again

Fuckin' Hell is forever and it's meant to suck a lot So give up your dumb endeavor, 'cause you don't have a shot Long as I got your attention I guess I should probably mention That we've made the determination To move up the next extermination!" ("What?!")

[*Whoever's speaking probably just got freaked out by the amount of Arachnoids that there really were in the room]

First snippet is of my FC5 WIP Oh, I Love It And I Hate It At The Same Time. You And I Drink The Poison From The Same Vine. Hiding All Of Our Sins From The Daylight... or as I like to shorten it as, the Daylight AU, because David Kushner's song encapsulates Silva and Paul's relationship. In this AU, essentially Paul escaped with Silva (instead of being separated during the Tumultite Massacre where Silva ends up with her sister and daughter like in her canon story). So the experience leaves them scarred together and worsens their codependency with one another. Silva's a deputy and Paul is a wasp "beekeeper". The Seeds want Silva to themselves but Paul is a significant obstacle in the way:

Jacob shifted on the couch, still stiff, still cautious. Beside him, Joseph was as calm as ever, patiently awaiting their host to return from the cabinet behind them.

It took all of Jacob's self-control to not just take a glance behind him to know what exactly Paul was getting, but given how observant the older man was, he decided against it, not desiring to be put on the spot.

He could hear the sound of glasses clinking and the cabinet creaking close, and it wasn't long until Paul rounded the corner of their couch and sat on the sofa across from them, placing three short glasses and a bottle of an alcoholic beverage down on the table that separated them.

Jacob hardened his eyes on the bottle, the cork plugged in at the mouth of it; a kind of scotch, from what he could read from the label.

Glancing to Joseph, he could see his younger brother's shared blue eyes narrow on the beverage. Neither had requested for a drink, and it bugged him that Paul picked an alcohol drink specifically.

It couldn't be for hospitality, the older man was already well-informed on the Project's rules, so it confused the men to what their host was doing.

Unscrewing the cork, Paul filled the three glasses half way with scotch, placing the bottle back before taking a glass for himself, making no gesture nor indication for either of the eldest Seeds to take a glass for themselves either.

Neither brother moved to take a glass for themselves, and Paul didn't comment on it.

The beekeeper sipped from his glass, a smirk spreading from the taste of the scotch. He focused his pale hazel eyes onto them, intrigue practically written on his face as he spread his legs and crossed one flatly on top of the other, though his face made a strange twitch when he did that.

Jacob finally noticed Paul's clothes were different; similar, but different. The color was still yellow and black, however he was wearing a Henley shirt, two of the top buttons left unbuttoned, revealing some of his dark skin. A contrast to the buttoned shirt he wore underneath his vest and suit. His pants were also different; they were missing the loops and belt he wore in their first meeting, and one of the legs seemed more baggy than the other. A minor mistake, likely another of his self-woven clothes.

It was casual attire; fitting, considering his casual attitude.

Swirling the glass in his hand, Paul didn't waste any time in asking, "So, what brings the eldest two Seeds to my figlia and I's home?"

Jacob looked to Joseph, his younger brother subtly leaning closer as he directed his words to Paul, "We were hoping we could speak about a very dire matter."

Paul raised a brow and tilted his head. Jacob noted that he didn't look worried, just curious. It was the same kind of tic Silva herself had.

"And what would be so dire that Silva and myself are unaware of?" Paul questioned in response, taking another sip of his glass. His tone lacked concern. Gratingly to Jacob, he looked more amused, his smile placid.

Joseph didn't waste time beating around the bush, as they agreed on previously, "I speak of the coming end. The Collapse that will bring upon flames and destruction across the valley, on the mountains and along the river."

Paul lost his smile, pausing mid-sip. His hazel eyes looked to Joseph, expression indiscernible. Jacob couldn't tell whether the older man's mind was racing or shocked into a forced stop.

Not even a minute, Paul finished the rest of his glass, placing it gently back onto the tabletop, empty next to the two filled ones. His eyes never left Joseph.

Paul changed his posture; taking his leg off the other, he sat up and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees while his hands interlocked, nose resting on his hands while his focus narrowed on Joseph.

Jacob tensed, eyeing the man before him as he studied his younger brother. Paul didn't bat an eye to Jacob, making him more suspicious.

Admittedly, his first mistake when meeting Paul was regarding the older man as weak; his previous clothes gave off the impression that his stature was slimmer than it actually was, and his nonchalant and carefree attitude blindsided him.

In actuality, Paul had muscle, clear enough from the clothes he wore now. Not as obvious as Jacob himself, but still well toned. The suit he wore in their first meeting merely gave off the illusion of a lack of strength. And his jocular behavior was likely played up as well, to maintain a distance from his other qualities, such as his sharp perception.

It had Jacob curious. Who exactly was Paul Yellowjack? Was the man before him an illusion of his true self or did he simply exaggerate some of his present traits?

Most importantly, how did Silva fit into this? Does she know who the man before him is or was she as unaware as they were? For some reason, that didn't seem right to Jacob.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Paul let out a hum, breaking eye contact with Joseph as he leaned back up, seemingly satisfied by whatever conclusion he came to.

Paul grabbed another of the filled glasses, holding it by the rim, watching the liquid as he watched it swirl.

He gestured towards Joseph, stating, "Continue."

[elvensixpm]

Mindless Yap Sesh: Eurylochus headcanon— he didn't open the wind bag.

Hear me out.

I love Eurylochus! My personal favourite headcanon is that he didn't open the wind bag — but shouldered the blame anyways so that if Odysseus was vengeful, it'd be more on him and less on the crew. Which I think could explain why he didn't apologise for opening the bag— he didn't have a reason to. He wasn't the one who opened it!

This headcanon hurts me more when Odysseus tells Eurylochus to light up six torches when they were in Scylla's cave, because I think he'd give them out to people he liked the most— his closest companions amongst the crew. So, everything he did to protect their friends was worth nothing in the end, haha.

To me, Eurylochus is cowardly, and I think that was ultimately his downfall. Maybe his constant pessimism, too, because every time he voices his concerns— the crew gets more and more discouraged by Odysseus' leadership.

Eg. In 'Storm', he says 'at this rate we won't make it home alive', and the entirety of 'Luck Runs Out' just showcases how he worries and doubts Odysseus' plans.

BUT I also think he genuinely cares for Odysseus, for the crew. I don't see 'Luck Runs Out' as him trying to undermine Odysseus — I see it as him advising him, as a friend, as a brother, to not do anything rash, lest he get hurt. He emphasises Odysseus losing his life before even mentioning him potentially invoking the gods' wrath.

Eurylochus is Odysseus' brother, in the sense that he is married to Ctimene (making him his brother-in-law*). I think it's safe to say he cares about Odysseus' well-being as much as he does every other crewmember. From beginning to end, he cared. For the 600 men that were starving, to the handful left after Scylla.

He's loyal to Odysseus, but he's also cowardly. He trusts Odysseus when he says he's going to find another way to get them food without bloodshed. He leads the hunt to Circe's palace. He lights up the torches. BUT at the same time he doubts Odysseus (sowing the seeds of distrust little-by-little)— and his trust in his captain shatters when he finds out he sacrificed those six men to Scylla just to get home.

His pessimism got to him in the end. He's lost all hope of returning to Ithaca— and he's starving. Why not have one final, selfish meal? They're not going home; the trials they went through already solidified that. It's easy to lose hope in a situation so despairingly terrible as theirs.

So, he convinces them it's better to die quickly (after they sacrifice the cows + eat them) than to die starving.

Exerpt from the Odyssey (Samuel Butler):

‘Listen to me,’ said he, ‘my poor comrades. All deaths are bad enough but there is none so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the best of these cows and offer them in sacrifice to the immortal gods? If we ever get back to Ithaca, we can build a fine temple to the sun-god and enrich it with every kind of ornament; if, however, he is determined to sink our ship out of revenge for these horned cattle, and the other gods are of the same mind, I for one would rather drink salt water once for all and have done with it, than be starved to death by inches in such a desert island as this is.’

or: lets take a 50/50 chance – it's either we live after sacrificing the cows and filling our bellies, and repay helios by building him a temple in ithaca when we get home OR we don't live, but hey! at least we didn't die hungry!

So, they sacrifice the cows. And they pay for it, because oh, the Greek gods aren't that merciful. Odysseus lives, which is deserved.

So, the crew opened the bag because they wanted to. They followed Eurylochus to their deaths because they wanted to, and accepted his reasoning. Odysseus is not at fault here, haha. Though, you could say he is, because he was the one who revealed his name and jeered at Polythemus, but that's a conversation for another time.

I think it's really funny how in the book, the crew actively tried to pull him away and stop him from doxxing himself 😭 like CAPTAIN NO. NO CAPTAIN DON'T MOCK HIM!!! and he just starts bullying Polythemus again:

‘Do not,’ they exclaimed, ‘be mad enough to provoke this savage creature further; he has thrown one rock at us already which drove us back again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the death of us; if he had then heard any further sound of voices he would have pounded our heads and our ship’s timbers into a jelly with the rugged rocks he would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a long way.’

“But I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage, ‘Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.’

Just goes to show if Odysseus heeded the crew's warning— and if they did the same vice versa, they wouldn't have ended up like they did at all! It's so funny 😭

So, all-in-all, I believe that Eurylochus is a genuinely caring (albiet cowardly) individual and he didn't open the wind bag, that he has the interests of the crew in mind (not the best interests, nope! Ody has those.) and that he was genuinely tweaking when Odysseus sacrificed their six friends.

I also headcanon Ctimene and him have a daughter together, but that he didn't know because he went off to fight in the war. That makes her a younger cousin to Telemachus!

I also like to think Ctimene wouldn't have the privilege of waiting for Eurylochus as Penelope did, so she was married off again and their daughter was left as an afterthought and not really looked after— but her heart still lies with Eury, haha.

Disclaimer: * there is no indication that Eurylochus and Ctimene are married, haha. It just says that in Wikipedia— but I like to think of their marriage as widely accepted fanon turned canon since (in Wikipedia) it states his name is Eurylochus of Samos, and Ctimene was married off to someone in Samos.

Just a headcanon! From a highly biased Eurylochus enjoyer! Who wrote this at 2am! Would love to hear anyone's thoughts on the matter! 😊

[queen-of-deans-booty]

The Bad Seed: Final Part

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.4k

Warnings: canon angst and violence, extra angst, feeling broken and utterly helpless to the point of depression, wanting to die

Summary: You're on the hunt for Rowena for her to fix whatever she did to Castiel. The kids are back home where they belong, but you're not sure if you're fully home yet. If you're going to start to fully heal, you're going to need outside help.

Season Eleven Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. I love seeing any and all comments <3

x

She stays in the backseat of the Impala while you and Dean are up front. Castiel can't fly with broken wings, so he must not have gotten far. Without a car, there are only so many places he could have gone on foot. Dean made sure to put a GPS locator on his phone, so that's what he's tracking.

"It's so absurd, driving in circles looking for your unhinged angel," Rowena scoffs.

"We're not driving in circles. We're locked onto his phone's GPS. We're tracking his location."

"I have no idea what you just said, but I'm sure I could do it faster."

"Maybe you could but you'd have to do a spell which means we'd have to take the cuffs off, and we're not going to take them off."

"There's no trust? Are we not a team?"

"No!" you and Dean say at the same time.

You think she'd shut her mouth but three seconds later, she opens it right back up.

"You wouldn't think a road trip with two such strapping folks could be this tedious. Shall we have a wee sing-song?"

"No!" you and Dean say at the same time again.

"I have only myself to blame. I should never make deals with Winchesters since they seem unable to hold up their end of the bargain."

"Meaning what?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that thing between Sam, Crowley, and myself."

"What? What are you talking about?" you ask and look at her.

"Oh, surely, you know Sam made a deal with me to kill my son if I removed the Mark of Cain from both of you. Is the Mark gone? Yes. Is Crowley dead? No. Oh, I'm sorry. I should have known you wouldn't know anything about it, Y/N. You were too busy killing your way to your children. Or so I heard," she smirks. "Dean, on the other hand, I expected to know."

You put your elbow on the lip of the window and press your fingers to your temple. You knew it was a bad idea to jump back into things this early on. You're not ready. You're not ready to do this because you need to heal yourself first.

"I know what you're thinking. Your wee pal Castiel wouldn't be in this pickle if Samuel had done what he'd promised. I would've had no reason to cast the attack dog spell if Crowley were already dead."

The car falls into silence, and Dean continues to track Castiel. Suddenly, he stops and you look at him and his phone.

"Did he stop?"

"Yeah. He's close." You get out of the car, grab Rowena's arm, and pull her out of the car harshly. She knocks into your body with a gasp but you ignore her. "Alright, he's gotta be around here somewhere. I'll head up the street and you guys head the other way."

Dean knows that even in your state, you'd be able to take Rowena on. You hope it doesn't have to come to it but you'll be prepared for it if it does. Dean takes a gun out of his jacket and hands it to you just in case you aren't able to use your magic. The gun is riddled with witch-killing bullets which is your back up plan.

"Come on," you say and yank her along.

"Are you joking? I'm in heels."

"Shut up unless you're spoken to," you growl.

You know he's inside this closed warehouse so you walk with Rowena around to the back. You enter through a side door and head inside, already hearing the choked screams of a young woman. You round the corner and see Castiel with his hands wrapped around a young woman's throat with the intent to kill her. Dean enters moments later and tries to defuse the situation.

"Cas! Cas! Don't do this. Okay, this isn't you. It's the spell. You can beat this. Cas... Let her go." Castiel looks at his friend and has enough strength to listen. He lets the woman go and she stumbles back with a cough. "Go! Go, go, go." The woman immediately runs off with tears streaming down her face, and Castiel turns to Dean angrily. "Hey. Okay, okay. It's gonna be okay, buddy."

Castiel lunges at your husband and starts attacking him. He throws Dean into the chained link fence behind him and grabs the collar of his shirt. He repeatedly punches Dean in the face as if that will satiate the spell in him. You immediately remove the handcuffs off Rowena and press the barrel of the gun into the side of her head.

"Do it," you order.

"Desiste!"

Castiel immediately stops the assault on Dean and looks at Rowena. You press the gun deeper into her head and she scowls at you.

"Do I need to remind you these are witch-killing bullets? Finish it!" you shout.

"Fine," she sighs. "Adlevo onus tuum."

Castiel starts seizing immediately and falls to the ground in a fit of coughs. Dean, despite the blood on his face, crawls over to his friend.

"Cas? Cas? Hey." Castiel opens his eyes which are free of blood. He seems to be normal. "Come on. Come on." He helps him sit up. "Are you okay?"

"Permitte telum!" The gun in your hands flies out of your grip. "Abi!"

You go flying into a stack of boxes and you cry out in pain. Dean gets up and starts running at Rowena who casts another spell. The roller door that separates the workshop to the rest of the warehouse closes and locks before you, leaving her separate from everyone else. Dean stops running and goes over to you to help you up.

"I'm sure you had every intention of honoring our deal, but why take chances?"

She smirks and leaves, free of the iron shackles. Castiel is fixed. That was the most important thing to do. Yes, Rowena got away but Castiel is fixed. That was something you should have done yourself. Will you ever be okay again? With Rowena in the wind, you have no choice but to go back to the Bunker and figure out the next steps.

You wake up early the next morning and sip your coffee silently in the library. A couple of hours later, Sam and Dean come walking in. Bruises have set on Dean's face since he refused to let Castiel heal him of his injuries. Sam tosses an ice pack to his brother who then puts it on the damaged side. Castiel walks in with a solemn look on his face.

"Dean, I... There aren't words," the angel sighs.

"You're right. There aren't words, Cas, because there's no need. You were under a spell. It's fine."

"Yeah, but you had Rowena. Because of me, she's gone."

"We've got the codex. That's a start," Sam says. "It'll slow Rowena down some. If we'd killed her, the Book of the Damned would've been lost."

"Besides, we got bigger fish to fry."

"The Darkness. What does she want?"

"The big question is, where the hell is she?"

Castiel gestures to the wounds on Dean's face. "Dean I can fix that."

"No, it's fine. Besides, I had it coming."

"Castiel." All three men look at you. "Please heal him because I can't and I hate seeing my husband in pain." Dean can't argue with that logic and allows the angel to heal his wounds. Your phone rings and you see there is a message from Molly. "She's here. Castiel, can you stay? I think it's best if she meets you, too."

"Sure," he nods.

You walk to the front door and open it to reveal a young beautiful woman. She has straight light blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and is very fit-looking. She can't be more than five-foot-three but you can tell she is a good person. Maybe it's the witch in you or the mother but you feel like she's a good one.

"Molly?"

"Yes, you must be Y/N."

"Yeah. Come on in." She steps into the Bunker and gasps at the interior. She has never seen something like this before in all her years of doing this but she's not going to let it stop her. You lead her down the stairs and into the library where Sam, Dean, and Castiel are. "Molly, this is my husband, Dean, and his brother, Sam. This is Castiel, a family friend."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," she smiles.

"Castiel is an angel. From Heaven. You should know that if you decide to take the job."

"Wow, I've never met an angel before. I heard they were real but those were just rumors."

"Please, sit." She sits across from all four of you at one of the tables. "So, I should first tell you that we're not your normal hunting family."

"Yes, I've heard of the Winchesters. Everyone knows who you are. I know the trouble you guys get into, and I know about the Sapphire Witch. Now, those were rare rumors. Once I saw your post, I had to do some research. Not everyone believes you're real."

"We deal with shit that's not normal like the Scribe of God and the Darkness and even God himself. If you're looking for a family that hunts vampires and werewolves, you're not gonna see it here." You look at Dean who shrugs. "I'm not saying it to scare her. It's fact."

"Don't worry, I don't scare easy," she chuckles. "You want the best for your children, right? I am here to provide that for you while you fight the Darkness and God himself."

"Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How long you've been doing this? Why did you start doing this?" you ask and lean back in your seat.

"I have eight sisters and one brother who all came from hunters. My parents are lifelong hunters as well as their parents. Our lives growing up were... hard to say the least. My parents had to hunt and take care of all nine of us. Now, my brother is a hunter, and my sisters and I are able to give other families what we never had. Security and stability. I think hunting is noble and a necessity, so I watch kids so that their parents can hunt without worrying about them. My sisters and I travel the country to families who need us."

"That's... I admire that," you smile.

"Thank you."

"So, if you want this job, you will be living here with us. There are plenty of spare bedrooms that you can choose from, but that doesn't mean I want you to feel suffocated here. If you want to hang out with friends or a boyfriend, I encourage you to do so. There'll be times when we can take the kids hunting or one of us can be here.

"You'll be responsible for taking the kids to and from school and taking care of them when we're out. Sometimes, we're out for days at a time, the longest has been a week. I know they'll make friends, and I'm okay with them having playdates and stuff like that. However, we need to know about it before hand.

"There is also a backyard I have created. Yes, created. There is a magical dome around the backyard that I feel is safe for my kids to play in. They know the limits so I'd feel comfortable if you left them alone in there. It's not visible from the street and no monsters can get in there so you'll be safe, as well. It's in ruins right now but I'll fix it soon."

Dean doesn't look at you when you mention the backyard. He knows he fucked it up and doesn't comment on it.

"I've been doing this since I was eighteen, and I'm twenty-nine now. I know the stipulations that come with the job. In fact, I just got done with another family so I am ready to give this my all."

You look at Dean who doesn't seem like he is fully on board with this.

"Can you give us a few minutes?" you ask.

"Sure. I need to call my sister, anyway."

She gets up and heads into the war room, and you turn to face your husband. He doesn't look like he is fully on board with this, and you're not going to force him into anything.

"What do you guys think?" you ask.

"I think it's a smart choice to make," Castiel says.

"I think you should do whatever is easier for you. I'll get on board if everyone else is," Sam says.

"Dean?"

"Will this really help you?"

"I'd like to think it will. If it doesn't, then we tell her to leave. We have the money. I told you when I first got pregnant with Joanna that I would not raise my kids the way John raised us. If they want to hunt, they will do so after they graduate high school. They need an education. This cycle needs to stop with us."

"Okay, I trust you. Hire her."

"Molly, you can come back in now," you call out. She ends the call with her sister and walks back into the library. "Would you like to meet the kids? I think we'd benefit from you being here. You're not allergic to dogs, are you?"

"No, I'm not. Thank you for allowing me into your home," she smiles widely. "How long do you need me for?"

"As long as you'll stay, I guess. How long were you with your last family?"

"Three years. They were forced to stop hunting due to an injury. I'm ready to give you three years or more if you need it."

"We'll touch base every few months."

You bring the kids from their bedrooms with both dogs trailing behind you. Maryann is immediately shy and buries her head in your neck, Noah stays by your side, and Joanna waves happily at Molly.

"Kids, this is Molly. She will be living here with us and taking care of you when we go on hunts. She'll be taking you to and from school."

"Hi, I'm Joanna but you can call me Jo," she smiles. She bounces over to Molly and hugs her. "We're gonna be best friends!"

"Hi, Jo," she grins.

"This shy girl is Maryann. Mary is just fine if you want. She's a little shy but she'll warm up to you in no time." You smooth down her hair and kiss her temple. "This is Noah, my son."

"I don't need anyone taking care of me," he says.

"Noah," you hiss and he sighs. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. Noah, I'm only here to help and give your parents some ease. They can do their job better knowing you're safe."

Noah doesn't say anything to that but looks away. Both dogs approach Molly and sniff around her to get used to her scent.

"The Rottweiler is Zeus and the German Shepard is Colonel. They're very protective of the kids but they're huge sweethearts. They don't bite and are very good at listening."

"Don't worry, we had four dogs growing up," she chuckles and scratches behind Colonel's ear once he allows it.

You think this is going to be good for you and your family. While Molly takes care of your kids, you can finally start to take care of yourself no matter how long it takes.

x

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[ayylovley]

2 - taking shower and 4 - aftercare with my big boy Sam <333333333

2. Taking a shower/bathing with them, 4. Aftercare ❤️

After a long day of work, Samuel had to blow some stress away, he didn’t expect you to be in the shower once he got home to you. With a mean grin painted on his face with the idea of scaring, surprising you while you’re vulnerable and naked. Finding himself undressing in the bathroom as you were completely unaware, too busy with your back turned humming softly to yourself. Squeezing a bottle of coconut scented body wash on the palm of your hand. When suddenly the glass shower door behind you was slammed shut making a big ‘BANG’

You jumped out of your skin, dropping the bottle to the ground as the water runs down the drain. As soon as your eyes meet Samuel’s your heart decreases a little from the brief fear that someone broke in while you were showering.

“Samuel! You fucking bastard you scared me!!”

“That was the plan.” He didn’t hide his enjoyment of the success. He steps forward to your frame, once he was close enough he placed his hand on your thigh and gripped it gently. “I had a shitty day again, I’ll need to relive this stress.” You know how Samuel gets when he comes home from a long day at work, he’s always primal in bed but he gets twice as much when everyone was on his case. With your back pressed right against the glass, your backside squished against it from the help of Samuel pushing you up, his strength and speed wasn’t just useful for fighting.

Because within seconds you can feel his thick cock stretching your tight hole, his fast pounding fills the steamy air with both of your bodies slap together. “Mm fuck this is the best pussy I’ve ever had!”

His crude praise along with his tip harshly punching the softest and squishiest spot inside leaves your eyes rolling back full of nothing but bliss and heaven. You could hear a laugh in your ear, “that’s right, (y/n). Only my dick can make you feel like this. You like that?”

You were too busy screaming his name to respond to anything, your nails dragging deep in his back. Encouraging him to repeatedly bang your ass on the glass more intensely. “Don’t you dare cum.” You already know his way of this, he fucks you like an animal and never lets you cum the first time you feel the thick need to release. You still most of the time obey his orders especially on the days he came home from a bad day at work not wanting to know how much worse the punishment is compared to the times he’s just being playful and needs to be in control.

It feels like an hour has gone by when you try your best to edge yourself, in between fast paced thrusts, Samuel would painfully slow down while still inside of you. He loves how you’re begging and crying for your orgasm, it makes him continue with fierce movements again. His balls following with brutal smacks on your ass, “You’re being such a good girl. You know what, maybe I’ll make you edge a little more and then I’ll let you cum around my dick.” A couple more primal thrusts leaves you overstimulated, your core aching and throbbing from the endless momentum.

“You’ve earned your reward now, you slut. Go ahead and cum for me.”

With a moan filling your ear, his thick cock pulls out slowly with a slight fill of his own seed purposefully wasn’t being fast enough. With the intense climax it’s made your body clench and tense up caught up in the heavenly bliss, your throbbing entrance oozing with the salty liquid as it dripped down Sam’s balls. His own seed rubbed and coated against the surface of your pussy, letting you feel the hot load on your skin.

You need to take a deep breath before moving again, feeling your legs like jello once Samuel unwraps your shaking legs and let your feet back on the wet floor.

Once you’re both on his bed, the lights dim in the room and he flips you on your stomach to straddle your ass just to give your shaking legs a nice massage. He has no problem taking care of you when it comes down to how he pounded you into oblivion. You can already feel the wobbling feeling and sore pain in your inner thighs fading away as he has one hand groping your ass.

“You want some water?”

“…no I’m ok. I do want to be in your arms though.”

You look behind him over your shoulder to catch any approval, he sighs “You’re so needy, (y/n). Fine.” He meets you laying down beside you, immediately intertwining his muscular arms around your frame “wait a minute, this isn’t an excuse to touch my chest again is it?”

There’s a laugh heard from you “what do you think?” Your teeth nibbles on his pecks “Careful, (y/n). You seem to forget who can be in charge here.”

[walkswithmyfather]

“Jesus in the Old Testament” By Bible Love Notes:

“Don't miss the wonderful list that shows how God was "whispering" about Jesus in every Old Testament book!”

“After His resurrection, Jesus met two disciples walking to a village called Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). They didn't recognize Jesus, but "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:27).

Christ's redemption was part of God's plan from the beginning (Genesis 3:15). When we recognize this important truth, it enhances our understanding and appreciation of both Old and New Testaments.

Enjoy this list of "whispers" (clues, foreshadowings) that God placed in each Old Testament book, preparing us for the coming of Jesus.

In Genesis Jesus is the Seed of the Woman

Exodus…………………...Our Passover Lamb

Leviticus……………………..Our High Priest

Numbers........Guiding Pillar of Fire and Cloud

Deuteronomy……….The Prophet Like Moses

Joshua………………..The Mighty Conqueror

Judges…...…....………....…...Our Rescuer

Ruth………………...Our Kinsman Redeemer

1 & 2 Samuel……......…..The Seed of David

Kings & Chronicles…….....….Our Mighty King

Ezra & Nehemiah…..Re-builder of Our Broken Walls

Esther………………….....Our Way of Escape

Job……………...Our Hope in Times of Trouble

Psalms…………..…..Our Shepherd and Sacrifice

Proverbs & Ecclesiastes…….…..Our Wisdom

Song of Solomon…Our Lover and Bridegroom

Isaiah…………………...Our Suffering Savior

Jeremiah……………....The Righteous Branch

Lamentations…..…Prophet Who Weeps for Us

Ezekiel………..The Watchman Who Warns Us

Daniel……..The 4th Man in the Fiery Furnace

Hosea………………….Our Faithful Husband

Joel…............Our Baptizer in the Holy Spirit

Amos……………………..Our Burden Bearer

Obadiah……………..The One Mighty to Save

Jonah…………....The Sender of Missionaries

Micah……..The Messenger of the Good News

Nahum………..The Avenger of the Righteous

Habakkuk……....The One Crying for Revival

Zephaniah & Haggai….Giver of Another Chance

Zechariah…….…………...The Pierced Son

Malachi.........Sun of Righteousness w/ Healing in His Wings

As you read through the Bible, remember that you are reading the greatest story ever written—the story of mankind's inexcusable fall and God's Unreasonable Love.

💙💙💙

I did not create this list. I compiled and edited it from various non-copyrighted lists.”

There are a lot of links to devotions on this webpage. Check them out!

[verecunda]

The book I'm reading just now featured this wee aside about Samuel Pepys:

On 26 April 1662, [he] visited the grounds of the earl of Southampton at Titchfield (Hants). He 'observed a little churchyard, where the graves are accustomed to be all Sowed with Sage'.

- Gods with Thunderbolts: Religion in Roman Britain - Guy de la Bédoyère

I know my brain immediately jumped to Adar. Maybe the Elves recover his body and raise a barrow over it, sowing it with sage like the simbelmynë on the barrows of Edoras? I already headcanon Arondir doing that with the last of the simbelmynë seeds on Bronwyn's grave.