#Ten Ten helps him realize that this isn't a world he wants to raise a kid in. And his childhood isn't one he'd want Spitfire to share.

[demaparbat-hp]

Hiii I love your spitfire au it's sooo cute!! I was wondering since this version of Zuko isn't as hell bent on finding the Avatar, what does he do during book one after Ursa gives him Lu Ten? Does he go back to looking for Aang? I noticed he still has his bald pony tail so I was curious XD Hope you're having a lovely holiday season! <3

Hi and thank you!

You can imagine the sheer mayhem when Zuko returns to his ship and crew with a three-year-old in his arms. Iroh, of course, is ecstatic, and Zuko's been holding off a panic attack or two since finding out he has a little brother. The first thing he does upon spotting his Uncle is giving the kid at him, no explanations offered, and shut himself down.

It takes him a year or so to recover and figure things out. Parenting a young child isn't easy. Especially when you're a recently scarred and traumatised fifteen-year-old with a near-decommissioned ship for home and a mismatched crew of disgraced soldiers for company.

As it is, he never does figure things out.

It's reasonable that he doesn't look for the Avatar since...well, he's quite busy during that first year. And when time passes and Ten Ten grows and Zuko does have the time and resources to search for the Avatar—he still doesn't.

Somewhere along the way Zuko's priorities have shifted from going home to protecting Lu Ten II.

[zaceouiswriting]

Fairy Prince - Hearts of Leviathans - Ch.34

Character: Sky x male reader, Riven x male reader, Brandon x male reader

Universe: Somewhere in Winx Club/Saga

Warnings: Non-consensual advances

(Please welcome our beloved, golden retriever-like, loyal, maybe a little possessive guy, Brandon…I mean…Sky.)

When we finally get to the house, I ask the soldiers to let us down again. Although my new friend's knees were still pretty wobbly, she could stand mostly independently with some help.

“I give you permission to leave!” The two soldiers salute once more before disappearing into the ground and returning to where they belong.

“They were good men, weren’t they?”

I couldn't help but sigh heavily. "According to legend, they were the best in every sense of the word," I tell her, unable to hide the sadness in my voice. "Apparently, there was once a ritual where the best soldiers of each generation were sent to join the ranks of the legendary hidden military unit of the Deep Rock Legion in case we needed an army of incorruptible and fiercely loyal soldiers. But in the long run, it ruined our population. Of the ten million we had left after the orbital crash, there are now just over seven million left, and my grandfather isn't helping."

"Your grandfather? But that would mean-"

I quickly realize my mistake. Until now, everyone thought I was trying to boast about myself by calling myself a prince. But now that I've talked too much and I'm desperate to make new friends, I know I can't lie to her anymore.

“I am the crown prince of Gyonos and, therefore, its guardian fairy, the last fairy in my world after my grandfather.”

She gasped when I shared my revelation with her, and before I knew it, she had come over to me and pressed her slightly plump body against me in a way I hadn't experienced often in my life: a hug so warm that a few tears rolled from the corners of my eyes.

For the first time in ages, I feel like I can let myself be seen crying in front of someone, and maybe it's selfish, but I take full advantage of it. I cry into her head, as she is tiny compared to me. To my surprise, she doesn't walk away but stands there and speaks in a warm, comforting voice, telling me that everything will be okay in the end and how much I want to believe her words, but I know better. I have seen the truth behind people's attentions, fallen victim to the betrayal of those closest to me, and experienced death many times. I didn't cry when he died, not after I had to let him leave my arms when our posts were overrun by those monsters. I will never be able to forgive the Scallierds or forget what they did and what they forced me to do.

I hold her for what feels like an eternity. But when I finally let go of her, she looks straight into my watery eyes. Her blue-green eyes shimmer with what I can only describe as a motherly concern, a desire to be there for me emotionally, and I couldn't be more grateful.

“You should go inside, it’s late and cold,” I tell her quietly.

She smiles kindly. "You should, too. After all, you're probably just as exhausted as I am." Her voice is warm, really like a mother's.

"Sure, but I would like a few minutes to myself before I return to my personal dark world or, more commonly known, my dorm room.“

She nods understandingly, wishes me goodnight, and goes inside, leaving me under the star-studded night sky. I wait until she's gone before turning around and looking across the large, empty field into the forest beyond. I take a deep breath, raise my right hand, and see it shaking. My magical reserves feel depleted; the healing processes and summoning of those soldiers were too much for my fairy core. I need to train; I can't even fight a specialist like this without being knocked to the ground in seconds.

I feel frustration building up inside me. How could it be otherwise? I've gone from being a prodigy in magic and weapon combat to this pathetic excuse of a fairy. I would be unstoppable if only I could access the abilities contained in the crystallized cores of my ring. But how? I hold out my hand holding the ring and marvel at it. Somehow, it only looks normal now that the two cores are in it, surrounding my family's crest in its center. Many have an initial letter, but my family decided to fill it in with our entire crest, as detailed as possible in this small form, with the only exception being that the two sword-shaft-like pieces of metal always hung off the sides. I always thought that happened over the eons the ring was used, but now that the two cores are safely clammed underneath them, I realize there should be something in them. But what? If it's for magic cores, then why aren't there three? What does my family or planet have two of?

I ponder these questions for a while, only coming back to myself when a cold breeze sends a shiver through my body. This is the best time to go back inside. As soon as I step into the building, a fleeting sigh of relief comes over me. 

With my eyes closed, I enjoy the warmth heating my cold bones. But when I open them again just a minute or so later, confusion fills me. I try to reach out to protect myself, but before I can, I'm pulled off my feet, my rear end grabbed, and my front pressed against a warm, muscular body. Before I know it, my legs are wrapped around that person's waist, and we are no longer in the foyer. He carries me around until he finally forces open a door and mindlessly slams my back against a metal shelf and then my head against some boxes. A groan of pain escapes my lips as the metal stabs into my back.

But before I could react, soft lips were on mine. Shock floods through my entire being as the moment has taken me completely by surprise. My eyes widen, forcing me to stare at him. There, pressing me against the shelves and trying to push his tongue into my mouth, is Sky. I couldn't believe it. He was always so gentle and kind, but now he's carrying me around and kissing me without my consent. I try to push him away, but he feels like an immovable object, heavier than a mountain. I even punch at his rock-hard pecs as I feel myself slowly falling into him. And before I know it, our lips move in perfect harmony; my mouth even opens slightly as he grips my ass a little tighter. His tongue swallows my moan. My hands land on his back. But suddenly, I can feel him smirking against my lips, making me wonder if this is what he wanted.

My hands quickly move from his chest, where I have only shown him aggression, to his neck and pull him closer to me. What is that feeling—this warmth deep in my stomach? Or this tingling further south?

Even though hundreds of these thoughts of the strangest feelings are racing through my head, I can't let go of him. His woody smell, mixed with the sweetness of something in his mouth, intoxicates my senses. I feel the desire rising for him to continue and take what he wants.

This time, not even the thought of him and his senseless death could spoil my mood, as I feel safe and even desired in Sky's arms.

"I fucking knew it." I hear him suddenly grumble. When I open my eyes from the daze, I see Sky's blurry image, his pale face flushed and his expression serious, if not angry. When I try to say something, he pushes me roughly against the shelf, his legs pushing up. "You've wanted me since you first saw me."

I can only stare at him in confusion, but he is already kissing my neck, biting me gently, and whispering things in my ear that were dirtier than anything I'd ever heard before. Something was clearly wrong.

I hold his face in my hands and try to get him to look at me, but when he finally does, his expression turns angry. Before I know it, his hand is around my neck, his grip is tight, and he is choking me painfully.

"But then I saw you with the girl and these two huge men. I couldn't believe it! Before I could make a move, you had already gone out and found yourself some toys."

When he calls my stone soldiers "toys," my heart starts to burn. How dare he call honorable men that? He has obviously misunderstood something, but when I open my mouth to clarify, his grip on my neck tightens even further, so much so that I can hardly breathe. He seems to have lost his mind, but what can I do?

"Sky!" I barely manage to say, but he's not listening. Instead, he talks about me, telling me what a selfish wanker I am for allowing both Riven and Sky to touch me and defile my body for him. 

I can't believe the Gaul of him thinking I would stay pure for him, and then suddenly, something bursts out of him that he probably didn't want to say. He shouts out what I already suspected, namely that he and Sky have switched identities.

The fact that he lied to me for so long hits me the hardest. I thought I could trust him; after all, he always came to my cell when I was a prisoner, cleaned me, and fed me one by one to torture me like the wild animals they are, but that was obviously just wishful thinking. It makes me angrier than I probably should have been, so I turn the tables. Finally, I grab him by the neck and hope he lets go, but he starts grinning in a sinister way. It sent cold sweats down my spine to see something so vicious on the face of a man who always seemed like a puppy.

"I fucking dare you," he said through pursed lips, staring madly into my eyes, "Squeeze harder, I dare you!"

I've never felt so intimidated before. Is there something wrong with him? Suddenly, his grip on my neck tightens enough to easily snap it; no doubt there will be many bruises afterward. I have to make a decision. If he keeps this up, I will surely die.

"Brandon!" I yell, making him stop. Confusion is clear on his face, his eyes glowing with dawning realization. His hand quickly withdraws. As I gasp for air, he holds me upright, one of his hands behind my head and the other trying to protect as much of my spine as possible. He begins to apologize endlessly, like a child found with his hand in the cookie jar.

I try to breathe, but my throat burns painfully. Yet, I push against his chest again; this time, he lets me down but still holds my body upright for a minute. My body is at its limit from the rapid healing before, and the now compromised state is just too much. Thankfully, it only takes a short time before the rest of the healing magic still coursing through me at least helps to ease the swelling in my throat, just enough to let me breathe evenly.

I want to lecture him, scream at him, and let all my feelings out, but his glassy eyes tell me he's not there. Hopefully, it's just the clearly smuggled alcohol and not something more serious.

I try to get past him, but he quickly tries to hold me back. He mumbles something about me catching my breath, giving me hope that even in this situation and condition, he's still trying to help me. But it feels wrong because none of this was consensual, as if he's trying to clear his conscience of what he did to me here in this... in this supply closet.

Somehow, the place we ended up in while making out makes me feel even worse. Am I just a toy to him? Did I misjudge his personality? Is he really a player who breaks people's hearts? I feel so stupid, so silly. Why did I let this happen? I could have prevented everything, but I didn't. Why?

"Please, I- I was just so overwhelmed-"

Before he can spit out his lies, all I see is red, and anger shoots through my veins, just like it did on the battlefield. Can I control it this time? My anger had always been uncontrollable, like I was an explosion just waiting to go off. But this time, in this small room, surrounded by Brandon's intoxicating scent, it doesn't seem to be able to happen, even though my anger threatens to boil over. The overall emotions just weren't there. It was almost as if the last explosion had balanced me unknowingly out. 

But that couldn't be. How could the death of my true love be the catalyst for my anger to subside?

[Masterlist]

[jhoneybees]

Hi! i read your other Elvis oneshots

can you make one with early 70s elvis

him and the reader just had a baby, and he doesn’t really help and it turns into this whole big argument. and one day the reader finds him singing the baby to sleep?

idk random though😭

This idea is real sweet :( And I love random ideas! Thank you for requesting 💞☺️

Realization

Characters: Early 70s!Elvis X wife!reader

Warnings/triggers: arguments, crying, avoiding Elvis

_____________________________________________

It is known that it’s the wife’s job to take care of the children while the husbands go out to work but something that you never got as a child was having a father who was present, there for you when you needed one most and you don't want your newborn baby to go through that as well.

You understand that people have very busy schedules and can’t exactly pause their lives to make you feel happy and satisfied and you definitely understand that Elvis is one of those people but his schedule is ten times as busy.

But he could at least try to make time for your child, right?

“Honey, you know my schedule is hectic all the time. '' Elvis exhaled as he placed his glass of bourbon down on the kitchen island. Keeping his head lowered with hands set on the cold marble “Yes Elvis, I know…but- you have to understand that he is our son…we brought him into this world together and-” your eyes lift up “We gotta raise him together, Darlin’ I understand that but again my work is go go go all the time and it’s hard enough as it is…makin’ time for Jesse is almost goddamn near impossible these days'' Elvis replies sharply, your breath being caught in your throat “You can at least try…” your voice soft and quiet.

His eyes shifting to look at you as you look down at your fingers playing with the fabric of your shirt “Try? Y/n you know damn well I try” pushing himself off with his hands “You don’t think I do?” bringing his hands up to rest on his hips “Try to make time to spend with my family? Honey- I hafta fight with the colonel every damn time to get away from the studio to be with you…” you gulp “Elvis I-” he stopped you with a lifted finger “I give you everything, anything you could ever want, Jewellery, clothes, cars, I ain't only working for the fans, Y/n, I’m working to make sure you and now Jesse to have the best life you could ever have and that’s final-” his words came to a halt as you cut in “I don't want all of that, I just want you to be present and be here for Jesse! Is that so hard to ask?!” Elvis' eyes grew with fire and as he was about to say something “I don't want my kids to not have a father figure-” your voice started to break and tears brimming in your eyes, silently shaking your head “Honey-”

“I DON'T WANT THAT!”

Elvis' eyes flinched at the sudden outburst and watched as you stormed out of the kitchen.

_____________________________________________

After what had happened a few weeks ago, it still made your heart sting. You didn't mean to yell at him like that, you just wanted to get your words across.

To possibly make him realise.

You're ashamed of yourself and as much as you cherish the moments of falling asleep with Elvis in your shared bed, you can't bring yourself to even look at him to which you insist on sleeping on the couch, leaving Elvis in the large bed alone.

_____________________________________________

“Darlin’ you don't gotta sleep on the couch, it ain't comfy-”

“Go to bed, I'm sleeping here”

_____________________________________________

He was right, the couch isn't comfortable but you just don't want to be in the same room as him for too long.

You really are ashamed.

Why did you say that to him?

Maybe you should apologise.

Fiddling with the edging of the blanket, you nod to yourself. Breathing in deeply, you get up from the couch and make your way to the bedroom.

Walking up the steps, you breathe in again. Seeing the bedroom door being slightly ajar, you push your fingertips against it “Elvis?” You say softly, scanning the room only to not see him in there. You thought you'll have to wake him up from his much needed rest to apologise but he's not even in the room.

So with a quick look in the bathroom, to see if he's in there. You walk out and begin to walk the halls, poking your head in each room before you stop in your tracks just a couple of metres away from the baby's nursery.

Singing.

Cautiously, you tiptoe towards the door, being careful to not make too much noise.

The sight you see makes your heart melt.

“Love me tender, Love me true..all my dreams fulfil, for my darling… I love you…and I always will'' His chuckle, deep and quiet.

“Ya quite a good-lookin' fella ain't ya?” he snickers softly, as he gently swipes his thumb against the baby's small cheek. A soft grin growing on his face “Gorgeous…” he whispers.

You really can't hold in your tears.

Bringing your hand up to open the door lightly, watching as Elvis lifts his head, his eyes softening at your sadden face.

“Oh Honey…”

[kpopsexstories]

One-shot #16: WayV Ten Tries Straight Sex Pt. 2/2

This is the 16th story (second part) of my broader Mixed One-shots series.

Story: Ten is gay and tries straight sex with you, his female friend. Taeyong is watching you do it, but is it really Johnny you want there in the room?

Celebrity: Ten (ft. Johnny & Taeyong)

Sex Content: Missionary, Taeyong is watching

Type of Sex: MEDIUM/UNCONVENTIONAL

Word Count: 2.7k (5.6k including Part 1)

Read part 1.

Ten is standing on his knees between your legs, with his recently lubricated hard dick in his hand, and confusion written all over his face. “But where does it go?” he asks.

Both you and Taeyong raise your heads to look at him. “In the hole!” you exclaim simultaneously, and all three of you laugh out loud.

“Yes, I know that!” Ten says. “But… how?”

“Don’t think so hard about it,” Taeyong suggests. He's seated in an armchair in the corner. “Just… point and aim.”

You look up at the man, who is in the room by your invitation, to help guide Ten in this endeavor. “That's terrible advice,” you say.

“Okay, yeah,” Taeyong says. “I mean, don't think about it. Just relax.”

The light mood helps. Ten does feel more relaxed now than last time you tried. The laughter and Taeyong's words help ease his mind. Maybe he has been too technical about the whole thing in his head, and Johnny was right in suggesting that he's been overthinking things. He just needs to enjoy it and go with the flow.

But he's already in place over you, and he already has his hand on his dick ready to guide it. He will let go of his inhibitions and just let it all happen naturally, but he wants to be certain that he can he penetrate you first. Now that Taeyong is in the room watching, the last thing he wants is to be a disappointment to not just one, but two of his friends.

“Imagine it's an asshole,” Taeyong's voice says from the corner, mostly just as a joke.

Ten scoffs quietly. He doesn't need to imagine things to enjoy having sex with you. There's no way he isn't going to be able to penetrate you in this position, with a full view of what he's doing.

You close your eyes and wait for something to happen. You've been staring at Ten's chest and crotch, now you feel him moving closer over you between your legs. You wait with anticipation and the fact that you know Taeyong is watching adds so much to the thrill.

Maybe the issue has been that it isn't as easy for Ten to enjoy it as he'd like to pretend. He is gay after all. Or maybe it's been your fault, challenged by the fact that he's your close friend. Whatever the case, Taeyong's presence is more crucial than you've realized.

Ten has a hand on your raised thigh and gently pulls you closer. He plays with head around your folds, observing how your vagina functions and reacts to his movements. Slowly, he pushes the head inside and expands your hole.

You're not wet. All the talking has been fun and exciting but not arousing in that way. The dick, however, is. The slippery gel has been smeared around the entrance. Your body is more than capable to receive it.

The hard and throbbing shaft slips further and deeper inside you. Slowly it expands and fills you up. For a moment you actually forget all about Taeyong’s lingering presence, and the fact that Ten is your best friend.

Until about a week ago you never imagined you'd have sex with him. Now, in the very moment he slips inside you, it's the only thing you want in the world.

You open your eyes when Ten has come all the way in and slowly pulls back again. You catch him staring straight down between your legs with a serious expression on his face, at his erection and the small reflections in the transparent gel on the condom and around your lips.

He feels you looking at him. He lifts his gaze and meets your eyes as he pushes back in again. You burst out in big smiles, and you suddenly remember how much you love the man.

Taeyong has been sitting silent and still in the corner. Secretly he's incredibly hard. He has a huge boner in his pants, and now he suddenly clears his throat and adjusts his position in the chair.

He pulls on his tight pants to make his boner more comfortable. “Good job,” he says and quickly removes his hand from his crotch when you suddenly look up at him.

“It's okay,” you say and chuckle. “You can touch yourself.”

You haven't confirmed it with Ten, but you feel certain that he's totally fine with it. He's always been so open and confident about sex. If there's anything you've learned recently it's that his friends have seen and heard even more than you ever have. He's likely told them the same wild and crazy sex stories he's told you, but unlike you they've sometimes been in the apartment while they happened.

Ten doesn't even seem to care about Taeyong's presence behind him though. He remains fully fixed on you, or rather on his dick and the technicalities of your activity. You start to realize this when he plants his hands on either side of you and leans forward over you on his out-stretched arms.

His eyes return to the shaft between your legs as he studies the effects of his movements. You put a hand on his chest and look up at him.

“Ten, look at me,” you say in a soft voice. “Just go with the flow.”

“Okay, right,” he says and smiles sweetly. He finally comes down to give you a kiss on the lips, and the sex can begin for real.

Ten may be balancing on the edge of giving in to the moment and thinking about the technical side of things. Taeyong, however, is getting increasingly comfortable with the situation. He has quietly decided to take your words seriously, and he's no longer ashamed to hold and rub his boner over his pants.

Several times while Ten is rocking back and forth in your arms you turn to glance at the man in the corner. You smile at each other, a satisfied look of approval.

Ten's body has been sliding back and forth as he pushes and pulls his dick into your hole with his elbows pressed into the mattress. Now he starts moving his ass up and down, intensifying the wonderful sensation his warm body and strong erection produces in you both.

The bed gently squeaks with each thrust. The lube has dried up but you no longer need it, because Ten feels amazing and you find the situation to be incredibly hot and arousing.

Your lips are dripping and the dick remains slick and slippery. It fits you naturally and its rubbing and throbbing has you so fucking horny.

Whether it's Ten or Taeyong who does it for you is unclear but it doesn't matter. What matters is that it feels so good, and that both you and Ten are relaxed and totally into it.

Taeyong, however, grows increasingly hot and suddenly feels uncomfortable the way his boner is trying to escape his pants. Eventually he can barely stand it any longer. You're taken out of your intimate bubble of pleasure when he unexpectedly stands up.

“I've got to get out of here,” he says when your eyes meet. His face is flustered and he turns his hip away from you, suddenly feeling like he has to hide his bulge from you.

“Why?” you ask. Ten gradually stops thrusting in your arms and looks up.

“This is too hot,” Taeyong explains.

It makes sense to you that he's too horny to just sit there, not being able to do anything about it. You know he isn't uncomfortable with watching you. But you also wonder why that means he should leave. If you're all enjoying it, what's so wrong with him at the very least jerking off beside you?

Taeyong is already at the door and he quickly opens it. To your surprise, Ten is the one to initiate an escalation.

“You don't have to go,” he says and twists his neck to look at his friend in the corner of his eye.

“I can't stay,” Taeyong insists. ”If I do I'll explode.”

Ten giggles. “So explode,” he says. Then he turns to look down at you. “It's okay, right?”

He knows you well enough to feel certain that it is. While you've never done anything like this together before he's not the only one who's open and likes to share his sexual exploits.

“Yeah,” you say and smile wide.

Taeyong is suddenly hesitant. He doesn't actually want to leave. In fact it's the last thing he wants to do. If he can help it he'd love to stay on the chair, watch the act, masturbate while admiring your hot bodies as Ten fucks the first woman of his life.

This is a milestone moment to his friend, and an incredibly hot experience to himself. Of course he wants to be there to witness every second of it.

His mind is racing to make a decision. Should he stay or should he go? If he stays, what would he even do?

Does he take off his pants to be able to stroke his dick? Is this in fact what you're suggesting or is his horny mind making assumptions? Do you mean that he should join you in bed? God knows Ten would love that, but this is his straight moment and Taeyong isn't going to ruin it for either of you.

He's about the close the door and return to the chair but doesn't get a chance to. He's revealed his location in the dorm and Johnny has returned home. A curious head suddenly pokes in and the situation is about to take a drastic turn.

“What the hell is going on?” Johnny asks and laughs out loud. You see his figure appear in the doorway over Ten's shoulder.

“Ten is having sex with a girl,” Taeyong says with a grin. It's a fact and what else is there to say in a moment like this?

“Congratulations!” Johnny exclaims. He means it and the word is not just directed to Ten, but to you as well.

“Thanks,” Taeyong says, the only one the word was not directed to. He wasn't at all uncomfortable with watching you have sex, but it's getting clearer to you that he is uncomfortable with standing there horny and hard with Johnny right next to him.

You were caught in the act by Taeyong earlier. Now he's the one who feels caught.

“So what are you doing here?” Johnny asks.

“Helping,” you say in a happy tone on Taeyong’s behalf.

“Oh,” Johnny says. He looks at his friend with a puzzled expression. ���How?”

Now, that is a good question. It's not certain that any one of you have the answer to it. But you are certain that you don't want Taeyong to leave, and you've got to find a way to make him stay.

“Wanna join?” you ask without thinking.

Johnny and Taeyong both quickly lift their heads to look at you.

“Who?” Johnny asks.

“Both of you,” you say and wink at him.

“Guys,” Ten says before the bewildered men have a chance to respond. He adjusts his hips and you feel his dick expanding inside you. “We're kind of in the middle of something here.”

Taeyong chuckles. “Sorry, we're leaving,” he says.

“No, that's not what I meant,” Ten says to stop him. He looks you in the eyes and smiles as he speaks to his friends. “Just get in the fucking bed, okay?”

Johnny and Taeyong look on with their mouths half open and thoughts racing, as Ten begins to thrust inside you a few more times before pulling out. He rocks gently back and forth while pushing himself up on his arms. He looks down between your bodies and carefully studies your lips around his shaft as he pulls out, with genuine curiosity.

It's funny. A week ago you were honestly disappointed by the sex which never happened. Now you couldn't be happier with how things have turned out. For a gay guy and considering that you're just good friends, Ten feels pretty amazing to be with.

And he is feeling great too. He smiles wide when he sits up on his knees and the dick falls out of your hole. You close your eyes and let your hand glide down his chest and stomach when you feel your lips release the throbbing, slippery boner.

Behind him, Taeyong and Johnny look on with fascination. They've helped you make this happen and now you've invited them to join. Or is that really what you've done? They struggle to believe it, because it sounds too good to be true.

You suddenly feel kind of naked, figuratively speaking, now that Ten's body no longer covers your bare front. You lay there flustered and exposed for his friends to see, and Johnny and Taeyong certainly have a hard time keeping their eyes off you. You like the feeling a lot.

Ten gets out of bed and stands naked and hard beside it. Taeyong's eyes follow his movements as he pulls the condom off the shaft and tosses it in a bin. Johnny comes to sit down on the bed beside and you catch him eyeing you from head to toe, while Ten bends over and opens the bedside drawer.

Your friend takes out two wrapped condoms. He smiles at you and throws one to you. You catch it mid air, look at it, then smile wide at Johnny's exhilarated face.

You're all thinking the same thing, or at least very similar things. You reach a silent agreement with Johnny, and simultaneously Ten does something that takes you by complete surprise.

He walks naked and with confidence toward Taeyong and gives the man a kiss on the lips. Taeyong responds well to it. They immediately begin to make out, and Ten's hard dick rubs against Taeyong's hip and still large bulge. They touch and kiss as if they've done it many times before, and the truth is that they actually have.

Ten has always been open with you about his sex life. He's told you all the stories. But he's never mentioned Taeyong by name in this context. Now, as you look on with shock and amazement, it dawns on you that the clues were always there.

It was never your body Taeyong was looking at. It wasn't you who turned him on so bad. At least not only you, though maybe you did help and play a small part in it.

As your friend begins to take off the clothes of his lover, you realize that Johnny isn't going to make a move on you. He's only just arrived after all, and though he appears calm this must all be a surprise to him too. Not Ten and Taeyong perhaps, but your naked presence on the bed.

He’s sitting right next to your naked body, looking at you with a grin on his face. He seems completely unfazed by what Ten and Taeyong are doing. You have a condom in your hand and Ten obviously meant for you to use it. Is there something the three men know that you don’t?

The pieces are beginning to fall into place. Something clicks in your mind. You hold up the condom in front of you and smile at Johnny, whose name you called out when Ten initially failed to penetrate you.

“Do you wanna?” you ask.

Johnny's eyes widen and his smile expands. “I thought you'd never ask,” he says.

Ten was perhaps intrigued by the idea of having sex with you – a woman – but Taeyong is the one who really turned him on. And, he might have realized it way before you even did. You never wanted to have sex with him. It was his friend, Johnny, whom you desired.

That was always the case. And now, it appears as though you’ll all be getting what you wished for.

[boothillssugarmomma]

Fake It Til You Make It

(Atsumu Miya x Fem!Reader)

cw-: Suggestive jokes at times, fluff all the way, mutual pining, fake!marriage trope, suggestive scene

🎀 authorsnote: THIS ONE IS HELLA LONG SO I HAD TO SPLIT IT UP INTO THREE PARTS ☝️😀...took so much time to edit and fix too...English was not Englishing...

please don't steal my work!

Pt 2: Fake It Til You Make It

Taglist🎀Haikyuu Masterlist🎀Other Lists🎀

 Atsumu takes a deep breath as he opens the door to his apartment. "Hey…my love…" He smirks, he takes a pause before sighing. “What do ya think…too much? This has to be believable…"

He stares at you as you take your headphones off, glaring at him with a playful gaze.

Atsumu and you are definitely not married, you're not even dating. But a few weeks ago…he blabbed about his perfect wife to his old teammates to make them jealous. So, after realizing he fucked himself over, he begged you to help him out. As his best friend, and roommate, you naturally said yes (he begged for hours). 

"Excuse me?" You hum 

“You heard meeee." He whines, walking over to the couch and laying on it, looking up at you in amusement. “Honey” He emphasizes, a teasing lilt to his voice. “Would it kill you to not make a sassy remark?”

"Do I seriously have to pretend to be your wife at the party tonight?" You sigh before flipping through the magazine you were reading. He knows this isn't ideal for you as you hate lying…and he knew he'd have to pay you back ten fold for this. "You could always just tell the truth!" You groan before the magazine shuts.

“I told you…” He sighs dramatically, throwing an arm over his eyes. “It’ll be fine! Just pretend to be the best wife. One who dotes on her husband and never says a word back.” Wincing as you bonk him on the head.

"Uh huh..." Atsumu can feel the heat of a glare on his head. 

“And.” He adds, taking his arm from his face and opening one eye to look at you. He raises a brow. “Try to seem at least a little bit happy to be with your dear husband yours truly, Atsumu-chan!”

"I'll do my best..." You roll your eyes. Glancing over at the ticking clock hanging above the front door, it reads as six o clock…almost time for the party.

“I hope so…” He says, sitting up and leaning forward a bit. His smile turns a little more serious. “You do know what happens if we can’t pull it off tonight, right?”

"No...what happens." 

Atsumus face looks utterly disgusted and betrayed as a gasp fills your ears.

“My entire team makes fun of me.” He pouts before looking away. “Then again, they already do. They’ll just be more obnoxious about it.”

"That's true they'll never let you live it down..." You tsk your tongue. Laying back more on the couch to stretch without a care in the world. 

“Exactly!” He emphasizes. “I will be ridiculed by everyone even my old teammates and rival teams! I won’t have peace in my own home!” Atsumu pouts, looking up at you innocently. “You wouldn’t want me to suffer that… right?”

Taking a minute to answer, your eyes glare daggers into his before you sigh, dropping your head and shaking it. "No I guess not..." 

“So, all you need to do is pretend to like me!” He says with a huff. “Act like I’m everything you could ever want in a man. Even though you don't have to pretend." He sniffs and sighs. "I already know I am…” Giving you a sly wink before stretching out onto the couch. 

 Rolling your eyes, you sit forward and nudge him with your foot. "Yeah ok..." 

“That’s the spirit!” Your stupid stupid friend hums, laying back down on the couch. “So, go change into something cute...” He says, waving a hand in the air. “It can’t hurt to sell it, right?”

"Ouch!" You smack his arm and gasp. "You don't think this is cute?" Whining as you get up, your sweatpants practically hanging off while your tanktop is particularly tight. 

Raising his eyebrows a small smirk crawls onto his face. “Oh, it is. It really is….” His eyes slowly move up and down your body, stopping at your ass as he bites his bottom lip before looking back up, a faint red tint on his cheeks. 

The blonde clears his throat, looking away. “But, like, it’s not party material, you know?”

"True..."

“Right. So, go put on a cute sundress!” He says, waving a hand. “That’ll sell it for sure.” 

He glances over his shoulder to look out the window, his cheeks still tinted pink.

You roll your eyes before walking off to your room to change into something more party acceptable. You'd never admit it to the stupid blonde…but you were happy to play his fake wife. 

Now all he has to do is wait. He sits on the couch, scrolling through his phone boredly, before tossing his phone aside and glancing at the wall clock.

“Why does she take so long?” He mutters to himself, looking slightly annoyed. Atsumu hums as he hears clacking of heels on the hardwood floor.  "Finally took you lo-" He trails off as he sees you. 

"How do I look?" You whisper. You look gorgeous wearing a cute little halter top yellow sundress, a tiny white diner apron, paired with tights and cute black heels. (I'VE SEEN THIS DAMN OUTFIT ALL DAY AND I NEED IT)

You take notice of his eyes widening slightly as his mouth falls open, eyes eventually trailing up and down your form. A small, genuine smile forms on his lips. 

“Perfect.” He quickly stands up and steps closer, taking your hand and bringing it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss against it. As he pulls back, the small smile turns into a cheeky smirk.

“My gorgeous wife.”

"Yeah yeah...my lovely husband..." You roll your eyes and smirk. Nudging him playfully as your eyes meet. 

He laughs quietly. “See? We’ll be fine at the party.” He releases your hand, instead substituting is for your chin, tilting it up. He raises an eyebrow with a smirk, leaning just a bit closer.

“We should probably practice the kissing a bit more, though…” He whispers, his breath fanning over her lips. “Since we’re practically newlyweds.”

You roll your eyes. "Save it for the party Atsumu..." You nudge him.

He laughs again, pulling away and throwing an arm over your shoulder. “You’re adorable…” He says, pulling you closer and kissing the top of your head. “But we’ll never get better if we don’t practice.” 

Glancing at the clock on the wall he hums. “It’s six fifteen…” He smirks, leading you toward the couch. “The party doesn’t start for an hour. We have plenty of time to practice…”

You hesitate as you watch his pleading face, your eyes weaken and he knows he hit your weak spot for him. "Fine...one kiss..." 

He grins. “Yeah? Then come’re and give me one!” Pulling you down onto the couch beside him. He cups your cheek almost immediately and presses his lips to your own, kissing you for a few moments before pulling back.

Atsumu's thumb gently rubs your cheek as he stares at you, a faint smirk/smile on his face. “One’s not enough…” He whispers with a small pleading tone, leaning in again he hovers over your lips. “Another, please?”

"I mean…its just practice…so its not weird..." You whisper with a gentle gulp, swallowing nerves. 

His smile widens considerably as his nose brushes against yours. “I like the sound of that…” He hums before pressing his lips to yours again. This one lingers longer than the previous one, but he once again pulls away with a teasing smile on his face, his thumb still rubbing at your cheek.

“You know, we could easily be better than the other couples at the party if we practiced more…” He says, voice barely just above a whisper.

"Oh yeah?" 

“Mhm…” The brown eyed bundle of nerves hums, his hand trailing down to rest on your hip, rubbing small circles there and holding you tight. He presses his lips to yours once more, kissing you for a few moments before moving down, lips brushing along your jaw before gently nipping at the nape of your neck. He pulls away after a moment, letting out a quiet groan, eyes closing.

“You taste so good…”

"You're a great kisser...never expected that..." You tease softly.

“Oh yeah? What did you expect?” He asks in amusement, his hand shifting from your hip up under the hem of your dress, running up along your outer thigh. He presses a kiss to the side of your jaw.

"No hickies!" You scoff as he suckles on a spot. Ignoring his previous question. 

Atsumu laughs quietly at the request. “I wasn’t planning on it…” He mumbles, obviously lying,  pressing a few more kisses to the side of your neck before stopping and pulling away slightly to look at you fully, hand still rubbing the skin of your thigh. 

He leans back into the couch cushion behind him, staring at you, a faint smirk and a look of mischief on his face. “You know, if you really want to sell it at the party, we should make it known that you’re my wife in more ways than just kissing…”

"And what do you mean by that?" You nudge him gently with your elbow. 

He gives you a knowing look, a smirk on his face as he sits back up, hand slowly moving further up the plush of your thigh, stopping just shy of your panties. “You’re a pretty smart girl…" The man murmurs, moving closer. “I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Brown eyes flick from yours to your rosy lips, and he slowly leans in. Instead of kissing you again however, he stops just before your lips make contact. “Let me show you…maybe?”

You nod quickly and shift to give him better access.

Without any hesitation, he closes the remaining distance, pressing his lips to yours. But…this kiss is very different from the other kisses: it’s desperate, deep, needy, and slightly sloppy. It only lasts for a few moments before he’s pulling away though, his eyes meeting yours, breathless.

“There are lots of ways to make it known…” He says, his voice hoarse with lust. “Do I need to keep showing you?” Atsumus eyes connect with yours, and you know what he's hoping…for you to say yes…and you're more than ready to give him that answer.

You pull on the collar of his shirt softly and nod. "Please..."

He leans in again, brushing his nose against yours for a moment before meeting those precious fuckin lips again. Like the previous kiss, it’s needy, hungry, and desperate. He kisses you like a man starved, tongue slipping into your mouth.

He pulls away for just a moment to catch his breath again, panting slightly. “You taste so good…” He whispers, pressing another soft kiss to your pink, swollen lips. “So good.”

Suddenly it hits you both…you're kissing. You both freeze.

Atsumu’s gaze travels down to those lips he thinks he'll never stop thinking about, taking in their plumpness and slight pink tint, before he shakes his head and looks back up to your eyes. The look of desire and love in his eyes remains, but he pushes down any other thoughts.

Right now is just to practice. Nothing more.

…But damn, he really wishes for just a moment (always) that this were real. That this wasn’t all just for show. That you really actually did love him that way.

You straighten your hair and clear your throat. "Well I think we did good…nice practice?" 

“We did…” He laughs softly, adjusting his clothes and running his fingers through his hair. His eyes flicker down to a few small blemishes on your neck, and he resists the urge to apologize again, instead nodding. “I think we’ll do great tonight!” 

He stands from the couch, his cheeks flushed. “I need a drink real quick. Do you want one?”

"U-Uh water thanks." You hum softly, trying to stop the blush from coming back to your face. 

He gives you a questioning look but doesn’t say anything, instead turning away and walking to the kitchen. He grabs one bottle of water and one bottle of beer for himself, returning with both after a moment. He hands you the water before popping open the beer and taking a sip.

“We have around thirty minutes before we leave…” He says, checking his watch before looking back up at you. “Anything you wanna do while we wait?”

"...well...I don't like your tie...so let me pick out a different one." You hum, quickly getting up and walking back to his room. 

He lets out a quiet groan, tilting his head back and looking up at the ceiling for a moment.

She’ll be the death of me…

He sighs and follows you down the hall, setting his beer on the bedside table when he reaches his room. Leaning against the wall, he watches you look over his selection of ties, arms crossed over his chest.

"Hmmm this one?" You hold one up to him to see the contrast. "Nah..." Putting it back to just find another one. 

“So picky…” He says, shaking his head with a small scoff. Despite that, he smiles softly, watching your determined look as you sift through his ties. 

He stands beside you and reaches for a tie himself, turning to you so you can see. “Maybe…this one?” He suggests, holding up a royal purple tie, leaning towards you, your faces near.

"That's not really you though..." You scoff and roll your eyes. 

He purses his lips, thinking for a moment before glancing back at his ties. He reaches past you and pulls out a gold one: very similar in color to his hair. 

“How about this one, then?” He holds it up beside his head, matching the contrast of his hair with the tie. “It accents me quite well, you see?”

"Yes!" You clap your hands and grab it from him before undoing his original tie. 

His cheeks darken slightly at the enthusiasm, but he does a good job of hiding his embarrassment. Despite that, he still smiles. Your behavior was too cute for his heart.

He steps closer so you can remove the old tie easier. He rests a hand on top of yours, steadying it as you undo it.

You place the tie in his closet before turning back to him to tie the new one. 

He raises his chin slightly to make the task easier, watching with a growing smile as your hands quickly begin to work.

If only she really were my wife…

“You’re very good at this…” He murmurs, watching you intently. “Have you tied a tie before?”

"I used to tie my dad's ties..." You smile with a small laugh. "My mom used to say I begged to learn..." 

Atsumu chuckles softly, smile widening slightly. “Really?” He hums, tilting his head slightly to give you better access. “Well, it certainly shows. I’d almost think you were a professional.”

"Professional?" You scoff in a laugh. "I don't think thats a profession dumbass…"

Atsumu’s smile widens and he chuckles again, shaking his head. “Yes, professional...” The setter teases. 

He rests a hand on your hip, pulling you closer as he looks down at you. From this angle, you looked a bit smaller then he usually saw you, but in a cute way. He almost wants to pull your cute ass into a hug.

"... you're very good at being a fake husband." You tease, poking his nose with your index finger.

“Of course I am!” He laughs, giving a self-confident smile. “I’m good at everything.” His ego shows and he raises his chin. “Even being a real husband, if I needed to be.”

"Well whoever ends up with you is lucky." You hum gently. "I hope you'll say the same for me?" You tease.

His smile falters slightly at your teasing words, and he looks at you with a conflicted look in his eyes.

Why did that bother him so much? Why did the image of you being married to someone else make his stomach twist…?

He quickly composes himself though, clearing his throat. He lets out an overconfident laugh, stepping back away from you. “Well, of course they will be! I’m great...and you are too I guess…” You hit his arm playfully.

You laugh softly and nod. "Perfect...except…" You snap your fingers and grab a hairbrush off his nightstand, leaning upward to begin fixing his messy hair.

A faint tint of red forms on his cheeks and he raises a brow, watching you work. “I’m fine, you know…” He mumbles, but he makes no attempts to stop you. In fact, he doesn’t even step away, tilting his head down for better access.

"Nope, your bangs needed fixing." You smirk and huff.

He lets out a quiet scoff, but doesn’t reply. Instead, he simply stares at you as you fix his hair. He could feel his heart beginning to beat faster as he stood here with you, watching this perfect girl fix his hair with no hesitation or shame. 

You couldn’t possibly ever be his, could you? But the way you acted around him, the way you spoke and teased him: it all made it seem so real.

As if you were really a couple… 

It was almost maddening…

But he loved it…

And he wanted you to love him…just as much as he loved you…

"Ok there!" You smile and stand back to give him a once over. 

He takes a step back and looks at himself in the mirror, running his fingers through his hair. He looks himself up and down before turning back to you with a smirk. 

“I look amazing!” He says, putting on a fake, overconfident tone of vanity, one hand on his hip. He holds his chin up and gives you a teasing once over as well. “Don’t I?”

"You just fucked up your hair again..." You groan and shake your head.

As he moves to reach for his hair yet again, he realizes that he actually did mess it up again, and he drops his hand with a sigh. 

“Well, now it just looks normal!” He huffs, a half-hearted shrug. He gives you a small smile though: the type of smile that’s full of fondness and appreciation…and maybe…even love. “Thank you, though, for your effort.”

Your roll your eyes and loop your arm with his, standing next to him and glancing in the mirror. "We look good together... people will believe it."  

He chuckles quietly before looking at the mirror, a genuine smile settling onto his face as he stares at the reflection. 

“I think we look very good together… as husband and wife.” Astumu lifts a hand off your arm to run a hand through his hair again once more, this time just styling it to look nice. “We’ll be perfect at the party, don’t worry.”

You nod softly and fluff your hair once more. "Ok...ready to go?" You hum

He nods in return, pulling you closer with a smile, resting his arm around your waist. The contact between you and him is intoxicating, but he pushes the thought away for another time.

“Let’s go, my love” He teases, leading you toward the door. “This party won’t know what hit them with how believable we are.”

🎀 Continued in Next Part🎀

(I will be posting Pt 2 tomorrow, ask if you want to be tagged!)

[charalysis]

Kratos Part something or Other: Dynamics Between Faye vs Lysandra

In God of War, Kratos has been married twice. I would like to take the time here today to analyze how he functioned as a husband in each relationship, how it succeeded or not, and the difference between who he was at each stage in life in each marriage.

I think here, I'd actually like to begin with the second marriage, his marriage to Faye.

Faye

Starting off with some background, when Faye and Kratos met, it's canon that the two fought, nearly killing each other. But they stopped the fight, both being world weary. Eventually they got to know one another and fell in love. Ten years after their meeting, they built their cabin we see in game, and that's about when Kratos confessed his past and his true nature to Faye. Then twenty-two years after that (yeah zero idea how Kratos didn't realize his wife wasn't mortal after she barely aged in 32 years), they had Atreus.

Now! In the game (from the dream sequences obviously), we see Faye is playful with Kratos, teasing him and calling him Grumbles, while Kratos seems stoic and unresponsive to much of it. Though, it must be something he actually loves about his wife because otherwise he'd be annoyed by it, which he isn't. He just... Let's it be. And Faye seems to always be giving him sly little smiles, knowing he isn't as annoyed as he may try to play with his vague grunts. Faye is also the idealistic one, wanting to help all she can, when she can, and maintain a certain balance in the world. She's open and kinder and believes it's her responsibility to fix the problems she can, and encourages Kratos to do the same.

On Kratos's end, he's quiet, content to watch Faye and listen to her over speaking himself. He's softer with her, though, than others. Gentle and he actually tries to express his feelings with her. At times his own emotions can come out in him trying to dissuade Faye from her own course of action (wanting to bury her instead of cremate her and trying to tell her he dislikes the notion of cremation), but he ultimately listens and heeds her wishes because he loves her. In terms of ideals, Kratos is Faye's opposite. He's overly focused on attempts at practicality and self preservation to the point of ignoring others, and attempting to avoid what is reasonably easy for him to fix.

As a couple, they're essentially the epitome of opposites attract in terms of personality. Faye is the lighter, happier one. She's open to new ways of thinking and living, often going out of her way to try and improve conditions around her or protect others. Kratos, on the other hand, is reserved and a bit depressive. He often outright rejects new thinking because it goes against his own deeply ingrained way of thought from his Spartan upbringing. And because of his history, he's a bit reclusive and often only seeks to sustain and protect those dear to him.

The difference in their personalities is also reflected in how they raised Atreus as a couple.

Faye taught compassion and kindness and love. She taught Atreus to think outside himself and feel for others.

Kratos taught Atreus to shut himself off so he couldn't be hurt. He taught Atreus self preservation above all else because it would keep him alive.

Unfortunately, because of Kratos's attempts to control his temper and never let it get the better of him, thus being away frequently, balance was never brought to Atreus's foundations growing up until his teens.

Faye and Kratos were very in sync as a couple, but parenting seemed to be difficult between them because they clearly had wildly different styles, and because of Kratos's avoidant nature, it was never reconciled.

Faye often encouraged Kratos to be better than he was before, to push forward and look towards a brighter future. Something he struggled with especially after her death.

Lysandra

In the assumed canon, by the time Kratos is God of War he's around 38 years old after his ten years of service. This places him at at least 26-28 when he made the deal with Ares, then broke his oath to him. Spartan men were encouraged to marry at 20, but not allowed to live with their family until relieved of active military duty at 30, at which point they'd be legally required to marry.

This means it's likely Kratos married Lysandra at 20-ish, then they had Calliope around one to two years into the marriage. This is just timeline establishment.

Now, similar to their daughter, Lysandra held no fear of Kratos, unlike many. By the time she met and married him, Greece knew him well as a fierce captain and warrior. But it seemed, to Lysandra, he was a man like any other. She loved him as he was, flaws and all.

This is not to say she had any real personal reasons to fear him. He was far from abusive to her. He adored his wife and brought her beautiful gifts when he did come home.

One thing it is known about her in relation to her lack of fear of her husband was her ability to call him out. To tell him what she felt and thought of his actions. She was not afraid to tell him her concerns that at times he didn't seem to be pushing for the glory of Greece. She felt he was often pushing for personal power instead. She tried to encourage him to find less violent methods of solving problems.

According to Kratos in GoW: Valhalla, Lysandra saw in him a goodness and a better path long before he could.

Lysandra was absolutely one of the few things keeping the younger, more impulsive and brash Kratos somewhat grounded.

I think their marriage was probably a bit tense at times, but still very loving and affectionate. It's clear Lysandra was a loyal and loving wife, and Kratos did his best to show he loved her in return.

However, Kratos outright calls himself a bad husband to her and says she deserved better from him.

This shows that, perhaps in hindsight, Kratos knew his behavior and actions were negatively affecting Lysandra, whether he meant them to or not.

Kratos also says that in the way Lysandra tried to help him be better, Faye reminds him of her. They both pushed him to improve himself and be a kinder person, to be thoughtful and selfless.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.188 thoughts

[That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Fencing Prodigy]

(Contents: Apocalypse speculation, lore, thematic analysis - nature vs. nurture)

Huh, so Master Rule VIIII really was Language. Looks like I owe Nico an apology, I wasn't really familiar with your game. This just goes to show how much of a beast Nico was in the last loop, I guess, if he was able to take down a Master Rule 1v1!

Also, evidently, there's been a little update to the terminology - the ten Rules of the Master Room are being referred to here as Superior Rules, which I think is meant to differentiate them from the more generic "Master Rules" term that encompasses all 100 on the tablet. Might send a tweet to David Evelyn for clarification later, hopefully he can help

The big thing for this chapter, aside from the confirmation that Juiz and Victor really did get trans'd at some point down the line, is that we got some insight into Apocalypse of all characters! The first time we met him, he bit off Andy's hands for grabbing him, and yet he just kind of grumbles when Juiz flips through his pages. He even lets her cuddle him! How cute!

Could he have been rougher with Andy because he knew he was Undead and could take it? Is he sweeter on Juiz specifically? Or was he mad at Victor for forgetting Juiz and finding someone else? Or all of the above?

Either way, it definitely seems likely that Fuuko's assessment of him is right and that he doesn't want to see Juiz getting hurt anymore. Perhaps it was the mere exposure effect, and he got attached after seeing so much of her, or perhaps she said something that touched him in an earlier loop. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I hope we get to learn more about Apocalypse through Juiz's arc!

Of course, the thing that's the most interesting about this chapter to me personally is the lore drop! Any new info we can get on the mechanics of the loops is greatly appreciated!

I've always wondered about what happened to Juiz and Victor's families since they've been looping and therefore wouldn't need to be born again, but I never considered the possibility that parenthood was a rule that didn't exist at some point. Were there even people other than Juiz and Victor in the initial world? Were Juiz and Victor Adam and Eve?

It makes sense, then, that if Juiz didn't have parents originally that her soul would need to reincarnate somewhere, so going to a couple that never had children seems like a very elegant solution. On the reverse, this also suggests that Fuuko's parents are still a couple in this world, but never had her at all. That's kind of sad to think about, isn't it? That even with her parents alive again, it's not like they can become a family like before. Maybe she can use Remember, but the ethical implications of going up to a couple and forcing them to realize that they lost an entire lifetime with their daugther AND to remember their horrible explosive death? I'm sure it'd be handwaved away for the sake of narrative catharsis, but putting it in real terms like that is pretty upsetting

Then there's the implications of reincarnation as a concept, but fortunately they're a lot more hopeful than they appear. As Apocalypse says, Julia's name and appearance are dictated by her parents, so for all intents and purposes, Julia is a distinct person from Juiz. However, Julia was never technically supposed to exist at all, this is effectively just a new body for Juiz's soul to inhabit, so as evidenced by her retaining the same non-verbal tics and a talent for fencing, this is most likely the same Juiz in terms of personality!

While her nature is undoubtedly the same, we can't rule out the effects of her new nurturing. What kind of parents did she have? What sort of environment was she raised in? What friends did she make? UU has always taken a pretty hard stance that people are defined by their relationships, so there's almost no way that Julia will behave 1:1 with Juiz, even if the most important aspects of her are retained. How different Juiz and Julia are will likely be an extremely important detail to consider when weighing the options of whether or not to use Remember once all of the Union has been assembled, but we'll likely have to wait a while on that one

Finally, I'm very interested in what Juiz meant when she said there was a way for someone to understand her relationship with Victor without him cheating on her. Obviously I get that Fuuko is the person who understands her, and I know it happened because Juiz used Remember to reset Victor's memories, but is the implication that Juiz was always planning to do that? Or did she have something else in mind that we'll understand better later?

This conversation does paint Juiz and Fuuko's discussion about the Rio mission a lot differently, though. Juiz told Fuuko to fall in love with Andy so she could draw out as much of Unluck's power as possible, but now it seems like her motive was to raise Fuuko to be her successor from the beginning, knowing that Fuuko would be the one who would help the new her reenter the fight without letting Victor keep her out. I really do wonder how many steps ahead Juiz was looking or how many contingencies she was accounting for, again I really hope we get some exposition on that

Tangentially, I'd also like to point to the panel of Fuuko saying she fell in love with the same man as Juiz: look at Gina's smile! She knows she fell in love with him in the previous loop, and now she's absolutely in love with Fuuko too! She knows exactly what it's like to be on one side of a love triangle, and she is sympathizing hard. UU's gonna end up having the best polycule since 100 Girlfriends, just you watch!!!

Until next time, let's enjoy life

[eikichi-supremacy]

If i analyzed a mitski song through a kuwameshi lens would u care…

i just think it kinda fits as a yusuke pov is all! like here let me just-

what if yusuke wanted to be held. he hasn't been held since he was a child and had no one but a mother too young to know how to do it right. what if all of a sudden he had someone to depend on no matter how hard he bit and fought and clawed. kuwabara has his back in fights, in life, so why not be at his back in the quiet intimacy of night. maybe i can kiss your fingers for a change instead of breaking them. i can be soft. i can want soft sometimes. but it's a pointless desire because kuwabara has potential yusuke doesn't see in himself. a chance to be "normal" and "successful" away from the destruction and strife that seems to lick at yusuke's heels. all yusuke has is this man eating demon heritage and a ramen cart. so he can send kuwa off with a smile, call him college boy to further separate himself from what kuwa has the chance to achieve.

i will compare kuwabara to the sun until i die. he's bright, he saves with his light. when he smiles he beams. even his aura is yellow and hot and beautiful like the sun the very center of our existence. of yusuke's galaxy, his universe even if that doesn't make sense. and kuwabara knows what it's like. his childhood wasn't much better than yusuke's. and still somehow he came out the other side shining while yusuke belongs to the night. a creature of the night. not even a part of the grand solar system just some thing that is wrong and rough and hurting that wanted to hurt in turn. still he can't help but open a little for the sun. maybe like a morning glory. he can't bring himself to be direct can't take that leap. but he can sing for the birds to pass messages for him. little touches, sweet moments that can be laughed off if necessary, hugs they pretend didn't happen. those are his song.

do not wait!! i'm not for this place and you're meant for better so don't waste your time on something like me. there's this divide. human and demon. sun and the monster undeserving of its rays.

you'd think that because their situations were similar shizuru and atsuko would be thick as thieves but i feel like there'd be a disconnect. a sort of envy on atsuko's side and judgement on shizu's. maybe shizuru sees this child her brother brings home unattended and mean and unwilling to be cared for and she gets it but also she doesn't. because kazu isn't like that so what could've happened? yusuke knows shizuru feels bad for him, for how he was brought up but he can't bring himself to share the sentiment. he's glad for his mother even. her willingness to tell him how it is. to make sure when the world punched him he punched back ten times as hard. to not get to attached because it only hurts when you get left behind.

Kuwabara is...he really is a man amongst men. he is just that good. he's got honor, he has respect, he can do the yes ma'ams and no sirs, he can also rile you up if need be. he can raise his abysmal grades just by believing he can. he can defend he can protect he can be strong he can be sweet. he can be confident and vulnerable. he's just everything you can wish for in the guy you wanna take home to meet your parents. and yusuke wants. he doesn't want to want but he does. he wants to be worthy of that guy.

if. well when it all comes crashing down because yusuke cannot keep things afloat he doesn't keep connections he breaks and breaks and breaks. kuwabara is everything he could ever want wrapped up in one person and that's exactly why he knows he'll fuck it up because urameshi yusuke cannot keep a good thing. he shouldn't have tried it in the first place

and maybe his mom was wrong. wrong in what she taught him. the lessons she gave. but at some point down the line yusuke can realize it's not always learning what to do. but what not to do. and because kuwabara is this perfect guy he will never give up on yusuke even if he fucks up. so the least he can do is put that same effort in. maybe he understands his mother more the less he becomes like her.

[wintereign]

Just a few headcanons. Well, I say a few but there's like ten. Also content warning for abuse, although I don't specifically go into detail? But just figured I'd put a warning out anyway, since there are a few headcanons that dive into it a little bit. Just remember the Schnee family isn't exactly a healthy family dynamic! Especially when it comes to Weiss and her relationships with her parents.

Will put them under the cut so y'all can read if you'd like!

Despite the age difference between Weiss and Winter, Weiss has always looked up to her and would go to her for help and advice. Some advice Winter has given her is to carve her own path. Don't always listen to their father and what he tells you. Her rebellious nature is partly because of Winter's influence and the fact that she knows it would piss her father off.

Before attending Beacon, Weiss has always been taught to care about her appearance. Be mindful of what she wore, what she did and how she acted. Always having the best manners wherever she goes. But since Beacon, she’s realized that all of that isn’t important. There’s more important things at stake than having the fanciest clothing item, putting makeup on and how one wears their hair.

Due to the injury sustained during the battle with the Arma Gigas, she doesn't have complete vision in her left eye. It doesn't hinder her natural abilities to fight nor daily life. (this isn't technically anything I came up with, I've seen some people in the fandom have this and it's something I agree with, tbh. This is the only thing I've ever really paid attention to, tbh)

After her tenth birthday, birthdays were never really celebrated in the Schnee household. Whitley would still celebrate his birthday, often doing things with their father. But as for Weiss or Winter? They didn't care for their birthdays. (elaborated more on a different post)

Her father is the reason why she doesn't often allow people to touch her or to give her hugs. She's also not a big fan of when people yell. Whenever someone raises their hand or even their voice, she is reminded of her father and she panics. She's constantly having to remind herself that her friends are not him.

Since her mother took to drinking, she's never once stood up for her children when they are under Jacques wrath (in this case, usually Weiss or Winter. Whitley was always the golden child in their fathers eyes). She will enable his behavior by throwing in her own snide comments or refusing to do anything to stop him, even when Weiss asks.

Weiss's views used to mirror that of her fathers. And that's only because she didn't know any better. She was young, naive, and her father was trying to paint her in the same image as him. But as Weiss grew older she realized that wasn't right. She's discovered things about the world, the people in the world, like the Faunus, that she realizes aren't true. And wants to help by any way she can to change things.

Klein is like a father figure to Weiss. Jacque didn't do much to raise her, hiring Klein so that he could focus on what really mattered. The Schnee Dust Company (and other matters). Klein knows all of what goes on in the household and every time Weiss is physically harmed by her father, he always informs Winter of the situation.

Like Winter, Klein is the other person that she will go to for advice, or if she's feeling lonely and sad. He knows how to cheer her up. Often bringing her hot coffee and trying to get her to smile or laugh.

After the fall of Beacon, the moment Weiss was given to her father, he made her give up her scroll. Not allowing her to communicate with her friends, in hopes to regain control. 

[thatsnotmygunflash]

Rules: Pick any ten of your fics, scroll roughly to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.

Not tagged and not going to tag, just saw it and thought it would be fun. I am going to do my WIPs to give you guys some teasers of what's cooking. If you like any of them let me know and maybe I'll pour some love into them.

1. A Brighter Future

"Why don’t you like them?”

“How could you be so careless Barry? How could you get into bed with a criminal? A murderer? I raised you better than this! No son of mine would ever stoop this low-” Barry shut his eyes tight to try and push away the illusion Sophia was conjuring from his emotions, tears starting to fall from his eyes when Iris’ heartbroken voice joined in with Joe’s disgusted one.

“He’s dead because of you! It should have been you! I lost the man I was going to marry for a future I don’t even want! I wish I’d never met you Barry Allen!”

“Soph-Soph, please stop.”

2. Cause Maybe You're That Thing I Need To Save Me

"Cisco and Lisa-they're engaged now and they were going through a bunch of the Rouge's abandoned safehouse and Cisco-he found an old sweater of yours and he vibed you. He said you were alive but we weren't sure so we uh-went looking. It took a few months but we finally got a lead and I sped here as quickly as I could to see if it was really true and it is! You're alive! The Legends are going to be so exciting to know you survived! Wait, how did you survive?"

"You can't tell anyone I'm alive Barry, you weren't meant to know I was alive. No one is supposed to know."

"But why? Are you retired now or something?"

"I am actually, so having trouble magnets like yourself show up on my doorstep isn't exactly my idea of a good time. You need to leave and tell your friends at STAR Labs that this was a dead end. No one can know I'm alive, and I'm not above killing you to keep it that way."

3. For Better Or For Worse

“Look,” Laurel sighed heavily, lacing her fingers together over the table as she met Len’s cold stare head on. “I don’t know all the details-yet-but your husband is a very resourceful and connected man, whether he realizes it fully or not. He said part of your vows was to get Mick Rory and you out of here. That’s what I’m here to do, if you want the specifics to how exactly we’re going to pull it off I suggest you ask the mastermind behind all of this craziness.”

“If you think it’s so crazy, why help?”

“Because people's lives are at risk and Barry’s not wrong, if anyone can pull something like this off it’s you and him. Quiet the power couple you two are, honestly. Besides, I’ve never met a person who could say no to that boy’s sweet face. Isn’t that why you agreed?”

4. Got A Lot Of Sins, But You're My Favorite

"So," Angie spoke up from behind the register, leaning her chin on the palm of her hand as she smirked wickedly at Len. "When were you going to tell me you had a crush on the Flash?"

"I don't. I just threatened to kill him-he stole my gun!"

"Yes, and he also looked like he wanted to kiss you senseless while you were pointing said gun in his pretty face."

5. I'd Cross Galaxies To Find You

Waking up next to a crying baby and someone sleeply pushing at his bare shoulder had Barry freezing in terror, not wanting to know how he would die next in this world.

“Baby, baby-go get Nora,”

“Nora?”

“Our daughter, Nora, you know the one you begged my sister to carry for us, the daughter who won’t sleep through the night because she isn’t being rocked at superspeed because her father spoils her rotten. Ring any bells?”

6. It's The Second Glances That Ties Your Hands

"What are you doing here, Len?"

"Well, let's just say my lady and your lord don't really get on–she's cleaning house now that she's free of the Time Masters. Speedsters mucking up the timeline were at the top of her priority list."

"You're here for me?"

7. Love Me Silently

"So help me-you are not proposing to me right now Barry Allen-so think before those next words come out of your mouth."

"See! You want the big grand gesture and a huge wedding to show me off! You want to marry me! He said you'd say no, he said you weren't the type-"

"He's a worried father, Scarlet, I'm not surprised.” Len muttered as he pulled the younger man into his arms, one hand rubbing soothingly over his back while the other cupped his neck lovingly. “Look, I don't want to be the reason you never talk to your foster father again-"

8. You Need To Allow Me To Help

“Did you hear that, Cisco? That dying whale noise? I think it was the last shred of my dignity being forcibly removed from my body, so if you’ll excuse me I’m just going to go drown myself in the boy’s bathrooms—” Barry muttered in panicked embarrassment, rushing off down the hall almost too quickly to see, ignoring his friends calling his name to get him to stop.

“Go after him, you idiot,” Mick huffed, pushing Len forcefully in the direction Barry had disappeared.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Len answered slowly, his jaw set in a tense line and his eyes hardening over with realization.

9. You Got This Heaven In Your Eyes

'Keep up the exceptional work, Barry Allen, Central City is lucky to have you on their side. -L.S.'

"What's it say?" Eddie questioned, trying to peek over Barry's shoulder to get a look at the snow-white card, his eyes widening comically when he caught sight of the message.

"Uh-to keep up the good work," Barry muttered in confusion, his eyes drifting from the elegant handwriting to the memorising bouquet, not knowing what to think.

"You ruined the guy's fifteen year long not guilty streak and he tells you to keep up the good work?"

"This is weird, right?"

"Very."

10. Side Effects May Include

“It’s complicated, okay! I don’t know how it works. I just know when I’m not here-near you-it's like there's this overwhelming need to run as fast as I can to this-this pull. It never stops, not unless I wake up with you, when I’m near you-it’s like everything freezes.” Barry takes one look at Len’s face and lets out a drawn-out whine.

“Shut up okay, I know you want to make a joke-but it does! It’s like for the first time since I got my powers I can just stand still or sleep since that’s never exactly come easy for me-”

“Do you have a point Barry?”

“The point is for whatever reason my subconscious is latching onto you. Whenever I’m awake I feel this pull like I’m meant to be running somewhere, but I haven’t had the time to really figure out what it means when I’ve been running around stopping bombs and searching for evidence to get my dad out of jail while also trying and failing to stop the man who really killed my mother! I’ve been dealing with a lot lately okay-I barely sleep more than a few hours a week if I even manage that-and every time I do fall asleep I wake up next to you! I’m having these bizarre dreams you keep popping up in and all I want is to sleep for more than an hour at a time!”

[greylight32]

So, lets ignore everything that happened yesterday! (For now atleast, don't y'all think I'll spare you from my angst)

Lets talk more Nick and Nicholas AUs! I've got a new one and I'm wondering if you guys might like it!

So it's based in a apocalyptic-medieval world where, elves, humans, dwarfs, etc, all lived in relative peace. Until one day demons and angels decided to move their fight to the mortal plain.

But the story takes place after that shit has happened, around 20 years into the future, at the sacrifice for the local Demon overlord. He refused to take kids but obviously doesn't want them staying in town to make their revenge plots easier. So when Glenn gets chosen to be the sacrifice only a few days after Morgan's death, Nick has some disagreements with it. But the demons laugh as they separate the two of them, Nick yelling for his dad as he's dragged back to his home to collect his final things, Glenn yelling for him to take his lock box.

Nick takes the lock box from under the floor boards and finds a note and a map, telling him that if something had happened to him to go to a camp called the Odyssey. That people would take care of him there. He grabs the rest of his things and when he was thrown out swears to the demon overlord that he'll come back and kill him, when he least expects it and that he would bring the rage of the ten hells with him. The demon then looks at him with a look Nick can’t decipher. And then Nick gets thrown out of the town, meets the other dad and their kids, and learns that his mom was "other worldly" (she was an angel he learned it by the fact he started growing wings). Over the years he learns, he trains, he loves, and he's prepared to make Jodie lose everything. Him and the Oak boys make elaborate plans on how they would burn the place to the ground with holy fire.

But when the day comes, no one comes with him. Not because they didn't want to, the kids all begged Nick to let them come with, to help him, to make sure he didn't lose himself out there. But Nick stood firm, he was the only one to avenge his father's death. No one else could come (because he didn't want them to see him take pleasure as he watch life leave each man's eyes as he puts a sword through their gut)

Now here comes Nicholas's side of the narrative

His Mom died when he was really young, and he was raised as the prince of the east, by his Dad with the help of his Uncle Glenn. They've spent 10 years (1 year less then how long he's been gone) looking for Nick. And currently Nicholas in running away, it's not like this isn't a common occurrence. But he's gotten pretty far this time, and his dad might actually ground him this time! But Nicholas bumps into an interesting looking guy! An angel with a gun on his hip, white wings on his back, and a halo tipping a bit father then it should. And hey! He has his face!

Nicholas decides that he's gonna start following Nick around, especially after finding out that he's gonna kill a guy to avenge his dad, because now he plans on helping!

Nick got a new unwanted travel mate, one that only brings trouble wherever he goes, seriously how important could this guy be that demon and angel alike are trying to kidnap/kill him? And no! He does not enjoy the company of this Narc, even if when he makes a joke it's the first time Nick has given a real genuine smile to anything in months. But he letting stick around because he promised he'd help kill Jodie, well he didn't ask for the name but he said he'd help in any way he could.

But when will Nicholas realize that the man he agreed to help kill is his own father?

And when will Nick realize that he's trying to avenge a man who's not even dead?

[xterrafael]

Meet Rafael Calderon-Mendoza

Name: Rafael Isadore Calderon-Mendoza

Age: Twenty-Nine

Birthdate: July 26th

Zodiac: Leo

Height: 6'3

Sexuality: Pansexual

Gender & Pronouns: CISmale & He/Him

Previous Occupation: Handyman & Sex Worker

Deity Connection: Son of Pachamama, Incan Goddess of Earth & Fertility

Family.

One of the most fundamental things that every child needs, and yet Rafael didn't get it. Thrown into the foster care system at an early age, the son of Pachamama had found himself surrounded by a bunch of kids that were, more or less, rough around the edges and if you wanted to get a bite to eat, you had to stand up for yourself and let the other kids know you wouldn't be pushed around - and it's where Rafael realized that the only person you could really rely on was yourself. Sure, Rafael often did give a scrap or two to the smaller kids, the ones that couldn't fight back against the bigger kids, but at the end of the day, he knew that the only one that would have his back would be himself.

Once he got a little older, and he understood that the foster home he had found himself in only seemed to care about the money that their taking him in brought to their pockets, he started to work odd jobs to save up a little cash. Cutting grass, raking leaves, cleaning gutters... He did what he could around the neighborhood to make money however he could, and with his charming personality and good looks, he was able to convince most people to give him a chance. Every little penny he made, he would put aside but he also made sure to keep up with his body, knowing that he needed to stay in shape if he wanted to keep the other kids from messing with him or his stuff.

And by age eighteen, Rafael had managed to save up enough to get his own apartment. It was shitty, sure, but it was still a place of his own that he could say was his and his alone. Of course, he didn't spend much time there. When he wasn't working his ass off with menial chores that no one really wanted to do, he was hanging out around the casinos, looking for anyone that wanted to take advantage of his boyish good-looks, dimpled grin and chiseled body... and he'd charge them.

It worked, he thought, given the fact that he had a relatively strong libido - even for a warm-blooded male - and he could charge a pretty penny more than he did his handyman work. One thing he had been quick to learn, though, was how to use his tongue and his fingers as he had quickly found out that being endowed isn't entirely a blessing but a curse. Still, work was work and he was able to find some patrons that yearned for the challenge he provided...

Only, it wound up backfiring as she had approached him a couple of months later, insisting that he had gotten her pregnant. And while he had been skeptical at first, he stepped up - after all, as someone without a family, he didn't want a potential child of his to wind up feeling the same that he did. And so he continued to work harder, work more, to be able to take care of the child that he had unwittingly fathered.

Being a father had been something he didn't know he wanted, but it was everything he needed. The child that was born, a beautiful baby girl, became the apple of his eye and he vowed that he would always be there for her - that she could always rely on him - and the tough exterior that he had made for himself had slowly disappeared. And for a good ten years, things had been beautiful.

At least, until his daughter's birth father finally came home from prison, and then his world crumbled. The woman that he had slept with, the one he thought he had knocked up, admitted the truth - that she had just used him to help her raise her child while she waited for her boyfriend to get out of prison so that they could be a real family again.

And so the exterior of his began to harden, and he began to search for a way out of Vegas and away from the pain he was feeling, when he was visited by someone that claimed they knew who he was. They claimed he was the son of a Goddess, that she had called for them to search him out so that he could answer the call of his blood and fight to protect the Earth and everyone living within it.

Though he thought the other was crazy, he agreed and soon was whisked away to the remote island known as the Ark, and he soon found out that his mother was Pachamama - the Incan Goddess otherwise known as "Mother Earth" - and there had been a reason why he had enjoyed working outside, working with nature, and a reason why he had been "blessed" the way that he had been.

And though he's only been there for just over a month, Rafael has quickly shown he has a rock-steady focus to his training and he has all but mastered the basics of his abilities.

[innerpalaces]

THE PRINCESS WEI YANG - 151 PART 2

CHAPTER 151: THE PRINCE IS CORNERED

He glanced at Li Wei Yang, pain appearing on his expression, and said in a harsh voice, "Princess, in fact, I don't mean any harm. I had a younger brother who was kidnapped before he was born, and I don't know where he lives. My father misses him very much. I have searched for him everywhere over the years, but unfortunately I have found nothing. This time I came to Dali and met your cousin Li Minde by chance. My first feeling was that he was the member of my Yuexi royal family. However, I dare not recognize him rashly. My imperial brother was not born to my mother, so my mother has always hoped that he would not appear again. I am afraid that if I rush to recognize him, I will cause trouble for him, that's why I want to find the truth from you. Don't worry, I definitely don't mean any harm. It's just that my father asked me to secretly search for him ..." At this point, his voice choked up, and his eyes were filled with tears.

Li Wei Yang looked at him with an expression completely different from the one just now. She immediately guessed that he must have originally planned to scare her and force her to tell the truth, but now that he saw her tough attitude, he immediately changed from intimidation to coaxing. Unfortunately for him, she doesn't care whether his attitude is soft or hard.

"Your Highness Grand Prince Yan, I don't know what you are talking about, but I can tell you that my cousin Minde's surname is Li. As for his life experience, you must have investigated it. I don't know what makes you associate him with your imperial brother, but if he is really the one, I would definitely tell you. After all, it is a good thing to recognize your ancestors and return to the clan, isn't it?"

Yuan Yu stared at Li Wei Yang and didn't say anything for a while. He realized that he couldn't deceive her. He blinked and the tears in his eyes disappeared as if by magic. He changed his expression and said: "The princess is indeed a hero among women, and I respect her even more. If I marry you, I will definitely cherish you and love you, and I will never neglect you. But you have to think clearly. If you don't answer honestly, I will have many ways to humiliate you and force you to speak."

Hearing that, Li Wei Yang raised her head. The look in her eyes was cold, but she chuckled as she said, "Well, I can help. There are various forms of torture in this world, and I am familiar with them all. If Grand Prince Yan is interested, there's no harm in using me as an experiment."

Since Yuan Yu is not planning to kill Li Wei Yang, he will naturally not leave obvious scars on her body, so torture is simply not feasible.

Li Wei Yang saw that he was getting more and more agitated, so she couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, I forgot, you want to preserve my life. Then, how about pricking the acupuncture point with thousands of silver needles? It is said that the feeling is like tens of thousands of ants gnawing, leaving no scars on the surface, but still extremely painful. Is Grand Prince Yan willing to give it a try?"

Yuan Yu saw that her face was full of smiles, but her eyes were extremely serious, and she didn't look like she was joking at all. He couldn't help but feel a slight chill in his heart.

"If pricking the acupuncture points with silver needles doesn't work, how about other methods?" Li Wei Yang spoke without any trace of fear. She just looked at him coldly, as if she was really giving him advice.

Yuan Yu's beautiful face was almost distorted. He quickly turned around and walked out, and the curtain fell with a snap. Soon, guards came in and forcibly took Zhao Yue and Bai Zhi out. Li Wei Yang glanced at Zhao Yue's staggering steps and closed her eyes slightly.

She could have asked the other party to treat Zhao Yue's injuries, but in this case, Yuan Yu would have grasped her weakness, knowing that she was protecting her maid, and he would use them to threaten her. Therefore, the more Li Wei Yang pretends to be indifferent, the more he will feel that those two people are worthless and will not embarrass them too much.

Li Wei Yang was left alone in this gorgeous house and spent the longest night in her life.

She kept her eyes closed to rest her mind, but she couldn't fall asleep. She kept thinking about the whole situation over and over, sitting like this for four whole hours. It was already evening when she suddenly glanced at the door alertly. Sure enough, she saw it being pushed open, but it was not Yuan Yu who came in, but two beautiful young maids carrying trays. On the trays were gorgeous clothes and hairpins. One of them knelt down respectfully to Li Wei Yang and said: "Princess, my prince invites you to change your clothes and have dinner together."

Others were polite before fighting, but Yuan Yu obviously did the opposite. Li Wei Yang knew that Yuan Yu seemed to be a very strong person, but he was also very cautious. If she had shown a hint of cowardice about torture just now, he would have used such a method to deal with her. After all, there are many secret methods in the world. It is absolutely possible to force people to tell the truth, especially since Yuan Yu grew up in the palace and he could have thought of all sorts of terrifying ideas. But Li Wei Yang showed no fear and even actively helped him with suggestions, making him even more confused. Unable to guess what she was thinking, he simply changed his approach.

Li Wei Yang refused to dress up, but wore her own clothes and walked out first. The two maids looked at each other and did not dare to say anything. They walked respectfully in front and led the way for Li Wei Yang. They quickly brought her to a room. One of them took the initiative to open the door for her, and then she and the other person retreated.

Li Wei Yang walked in slowly. This room was even more luxurious and magnificent than the one just now, but it was not vulgar. Instead, it created an elegant and refined atmosphere. There is not a single unnecessary decoration in sight. Even a potted plant or a painting is placed in the most appropriate position, showing extraordinary taste. During the trip, the other party bought such a house in Dali even though he could stay at the embassy, ​​which shows that he was well prepared.

Li Wei Yang walked in and saw a handsome young man sitting in front of the table, seemingly waiting for her. If he was a vicious kidnapper before, but now he has now become a refined and elegant young master. Seeing her come in, he smiled slightly.

No matter what kind of person he is, as far as his appearance is concerned, he is indeed extremely outstanding.

Li Wei Yang knew that the royal family in Yuexi were all incredibly beautiful. She had seen the charming and beautiful Princess Anguo before, and now she saw the outrageously beautiful Yuan Yu. No wonder people say that all Yuan clansmen are beauties, and men's looks are often a hundred times more outstanding than women's. It's easy to imagine that all the young ladies in Yuexi would want to ask him to be their husband, and all women would even be willing to abandon their family to elope with him. Such was how handsome these men are.

She heard that when the Yuexi Emperor was still the crown prince, whenever he appeared on the street, young girls would follow him crazily and flirt with him. In order to win his favor, some girls fought with each other, disregarding a woman's modesty. Reservedness was tossed aside, and some women even committed suicide because they were not allowed to enter the palace because of their humble origins and could not win his favor. In anger, he simply put on a mask to go out, but despite this, he still attracted countless desperate suitors. Now, his sons had also inherited such a devestating appearance, and it seemed as if they were even more outstanding than their father.

Yuan Yu's smile looked very charming: "I was too reckless today, and I feel deeply ashamed. I hope that the princess will forgive me! Fortunately, those six foolish guards have died to apologize, and the princess has not been harmed. Otherwise my sin would be great."

Li Wei Yang looked at him indifferently, without any emotion in her eyes.

Yuan Yu frowned slightly. In the past, when he smiled, countless girls would fall in love with him. Why is Li Wei Yang turning a blind eye now?

In fact, Li Wei Yang also knew that he was handsome, but after seeing Li Minde's face for so many years, no matter how handsome he was, it was still nothing to her. What's more, Yuan Yu's appearance was even inferior to Li Minde's. Furthermore, Li Wei Yang is a cold-hearted person who is somewhat disgusted with beautiful appearances. The gentler Yuan Yu smiles, the more disgusted Li Wei Yang feels. Fortunately, Yuan Yu didn't know what she was thinking, otherwise he would have vomited blood.

"Today I invite the princess to have dinner with me. I will take you back in person later." Yuan Yu acted very seriously and spoke with certainty, as if he really regretted his actions and sincerely repented.

The dinner on the table is also prepared to perfection, with eight meat dishes, eight vegetable dishes, eight soups and eight cold plates, all kinds of dim sum, candied fruits, steamed and fried snacks...and they are all in the taste of Dali cuisine. Obviously some thought has been put into it. But giving her a slap and then a sweet date, does Grand Prince Yan think she's so simple?

Li Wei Yang smiled softly. In fact, this is not surprising. From the outside, she is indeed a young and inexperienced girl. Since he has no other way to deal with her, he wanted to use beauty to entice her.

Yuan Yu's attitude was impeccable, and since one doesn't slap a smiling face (t/n: there's an idiom in China that loosely translates to "you shall not slap a person in the face when he is smiling at you". This means if a person is showing a positive attitude, you'd should forgive them even if they have made a mistake), Li Wei Yang just said: "Where is my maid?"

"I have sent a doctor to diagnose the injured Miss Zhao and give her medicine. As long as she goes back to recuperate for a few days, she should be fine." His tone was extremely calm. In his eyes, Zhao Yue is just an inferior maid who needs no mercy, let alone an apology.

Yuan Yu looked down on her maid so much, but the anger in Li Wei Yang's heart was still burning. However, she did not show the slightest upset. The current Grand Prince Yan looked so elegant and gentle. However, he would turn hostile at any moment and put them to death. Li Wei Yang originally thought that Tuoba Zhen was the only enemy, but this idea was wrong. Even if you don't look for some people, they will still take the initiative to look for you. For example, the provocative Princess Anguo, or the King of Yan, Prince Yuan Yu who kidnapped her.

However, she was not prepared to accept the situation. She would make them cry bitterly for what they had done today. Of course, if they can still cry by then.

Grand Prince Yan looked at her and said slowly, "As long as you tell me who Li Minde is, who he has been in contact with in recent years, and who is secretly helping him behind the scenes, then I will not only let you go, but also I will welcome you back to Yuexi in a glorious manner, and I will never break my promise!"

Li Wei Yang looked at him in surprise and said: "Grand Prince Yan asked me to give perjury. Who do you think I am? And who do you think you are?"

Li Wei Yang's expression of indifference and innocence made Yuan Yu stunned. "Don't you want to marry me? I am the King of Yan in Yuexi. I have countless wealth. Yuexi is far richer and more powerful than your Dali. It would be much better for you to marry me than to be a princess who does not deserve the name in Dali. I heard that no one even dares to marry you because of your fierce personality? Marry me, I promise you will become the high and mighty Princess Yan. Don't you want to be like an ordinary rich lady, caring for your husband and raising your children, and be a good wife and mother?"

"Princess Yan?" Li Wei Yang suddenly laughed and said: "What good wife and mother? What husband and a child? So what about wealth and glory!" There was clearly unspeakable sarcasm in her smile.

Yuan Yu said in confusion: "Don't you know what all this means?"

At this time, a piece of incense was burned on the jade table next to him, and the smoke was floating. Yuan Yu's eyebrows slightly furrowed, he took in a deep breath of this fragrance, then his pale face gradually flushed red. Li Wei Yang smelled it from a distance and felt that the fragrance was extremely sweet and indescribable, as if she had an ethereal feeling. She sneered, but her face was clear.

She said slowly: "A good wife and mother is just to make men happy, to deceive themselves and others! Being a wife and raising children is just to keep women in peace and contentment! Wealth and glory are other people's in the blink of an eye. How could I be complacent just to be rich in a cage? Even if I marry you, what can I get? The title of Princess Yan? Grand Prince Yan, stop joking with me, I don't want those things, and I don't even bother to get them!" In this life, she will never do it again. Nor will she live to make others happy.

Yuan Yu was stunned. Out of an innate intuition, he vaguely felt that the girl in front of him must have strange and profound thoughts. But he really couldn't guess that she seemed to have everything. Apart from the fact that her marriage was not going well, what else could she be worried about?

Yuan Yu apologized and said with a smile: "Princess, there is no need to be angry. I am just telling the truth. Even if you really don't want to get married, I won't force it. Everyone has their own ambitions. Well, if you tell everything about Li Minde, then I'll propose to the Emperor of Dali to replace you with someone else. What do you think?"

There was no trace of joy on Li Wei Yang's face. "I have said it countless times, Minde is a member of my Li family and has nothing to do with your Yuexi royal family. You insist on me unjustly accusing him like this, and you are trying to learn more from me. There are so many secrets, since you want to know, why don't you go to him instead of asking me?"

Yuan Yu thought to himself: If I could catch him, would I still bother to catch you? Who in Kyoto doesn't know that the third son of the Li family has the best relationship with Princess Anping. It would be strange if she didn't know his secret! He glanced at the incense burner not far away, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face.

Li Wei Yang, you keep saying that you don't care about innocence, but if you really lose your innocence, can you still be so calm and composed?

Li Wei Yang noticed Yuan Yu's eyes, and her eyes also fell on the incense burner. There are many secret incense powders in the royal family, but they are different from the obscene incense outside. They are just used to improve mood. The type of incense used by Yuan Yu was the Xiaoyao incense that was once popular among royal families in various countries. Not only was it worth thousands of gold, its effect was also first-rate. However, it can only increase the interest when the person is already confused and infatuated. Yuan Yu used this kind of incense because he was obviously too confident in his own appearance and thought he was invincible. Even if Li Wei Yang pretended not to be attracted by it, he was sure she'd be fascinated.

It's really ridiculous to be so narcissistic.

Li Wei Yang didn't know that Yuan Yu was not narcissistic, but because he had many beauties in the country who threw themselves into his arms, he also regarded Li Wei Yang as the kind of woman who could be easily captured. Thinking about it, he knows that as a daughter of a famous family, she can not be afraid of various punishments, and she can also be indifferent to soft words and pleas. But if her innocence is lost, doesn't she have to follow the man wholeheartedly? When the time comes, it's not him who comes to beg her, but she who wants to come up and tell him everything.

Following the order of Empress Pei, he secretly investigated the whereabouts of the baby boy, and Empress Pei suspected that there was a spy around her, which allowed the child to escape first. For so many years, Empress Pei has been secretly investigating who is the spy and who has been protecting this child for so long. In her opinion, besides the Emperor of Yuexi, there must be other people among them... This means that if she wants to get rid of this child, she must also remove all the forces that oppose her in the country. That's why Yuan Yu had to get the faces and names of those people from Li Wei Yang. Maybe those people didn't have direct contact with Li Wei Yang, but as long as she was willing to cooperate, he would have a way to find those people and catch them all!

Yuan Yu slowly stood up and walked towards Li Wei Yang. He got closer and closer, almost so close that Li Wei Yang could feel his breathing. His voice was very gentle, almost coaxing: "Princess, from the first moment I saw you, I thought you were very smart and the kind of woman I want. But why do you want to help Li Minde? He cannot give you anything. On the contrary, everyone wants him to die. If you stand on his side, you will only be affected by him. But it is different for me! Why would a little beauty like you want to destroy yourself —"

Yuan Yu's next words seemed more for himself rather than for Li Wei Yang, "Although he is the son of my Imperial Father, he will never be recognized as such, and even my Imperial Father will not dare to announce his existence openly and honestly. You must know that he is the product of a pair of siblings, so everyone is his enemy. If you blindly protect him, you yourself will suffer." Growing agitated, he suddenly grabbed Li Wei Yang's hand and murmured: "I'm not any worse than him -"

Why are these words so familiar? Li Wei Yang couldn't help but find them laughable. If she just laughed in the face of this handsome man, she was afraid that he would think she was crazy, or that she was blind and couldn't see his appearance. So she just said, "It's really hard for me to understand you."

Yuan Yu's eyes suddenly shed tears, and he actually cried in front of her. He was begging and seemingly pleading: "I'm so scared. Although I told you that my father sent me to look for my younger brother, I was deceiving you. In fact, you are right. It was Empress Pei who asked me to come! She said that if I can't bring back the heads of Li Minde and those who resisted her behind her back, I will pay the price! I'm so scared! I shouldn't have to bear this, right? Are you willing to let someone like me die?"

Yuan Yu wanted to use his handsome appearance to arouse Li Wei Yang's sympathy, pity, and even love. His tears seemed genuine, as if he was truly filled with fear of the misfortune that would happen in the future. If Li Wei Yang was a girl who had never experienced love, she would be involuntarily confused by him, because such a beautiful young man begging you is much cuter than the fierce Grand Prince Yan just now.

The man in front of her, who was just a ferocious beast a moment ago, has now turned into a helpless young man. He has changed in thousands of ways, with only one purpose. The former is to deceive Li Wei Yang into fear, and the latter is to deceive her into pity. His Majesty, the majestic Grand Prince Yan laughed when he was joking and cried when he cried. His acting skills were simply better than those of an professional performer. Li Wei Yang couldn't help but shake her head. It was really unbelievable that a man like him begged her without feeling any shame at all. However, Grand Prince Yan's methods were indeed very high. At least, Tuoba Zhen had used all the methods of coercion and inducement, but he still didn't bother to do such a thing as begging with tears. This kind of thing is not something ordinary people can do.

Li Wei Yang looked at him and her eyes seemed to be very gentle, but there was a sharp edge hidden in the softness: "Grand Prince Yan, Xiaoyao Incense is a good thing, but if you use it too much, it will gradually become addictive. Looking at you, it doesn't seem like it's your first time using it. I advise you to think about how to relieve your addiction."

Yuan Yu's tears suddenly froze on his face. Half of his extremely beautiful face was still filled with tears, but the other half had become extremely distorted. The corners of his mouth twitched for a long time. He slowly stood up, took a few steps back, looked at Li Wei Yang and said: "You clearly know that I lit Xiaoyao Incense, but you still watch me perform. Do you think I am an actor?"

Li Wei Yang sighed and said: "Of course I won't treat you as an actor, but you spontaneously want to perform for me, why should I refuse?"

"You——" Yuan Yu has never met someone like her. In the past, he had sometimes wanted to get information out of women. If the woman was afraid of death, he would use torture. If this didn't work, he would use wealth and glory. If that didn't work, he would use his appearance and status. Finally, he would plead hard. The most effective one was the last one. This is especially true when dealing with young girls. They are the gentlest and most affectionate. No matter how chaste they pretend to be, they will eventually bow before him. As long as they have that disease common to all humans called compassion, he is very sure of success.

Who can refuse a beautiful boy who admires you wholeheartedly and seems like he would die miserably without your help... so he has never failed!

"Li Wei Yang, you have been playing tricks on me!" Yuan Yu's last trace of patience finally ran out. He overturned the table and let the exquisite food shatter to the ground, instantly tearing apart the gentle, elegant and affectionate facade and revealing an extremely ferocious look!

This whole day, he had exhausted all means, and now he was completely driven crazy by Li Wei Yang!

[tired-sky-lian]

Hero of the Dreaming Worlds, Ravio and Hero of The Waking World, Link.

Mirrored counterparts from Lorule and Hyrule respectively. The game would take place a majority of the time in Lorule, following Dreamer/Ravio. It would follow Ravio as he beings to learn of all the corruption festering within Lorule, and how its also affecting his Princess Hilda, who he's sworn to guard as her personal knight. He, in an act of desperation, uses his magic to brute force his way into the Spirit Realm where he uses the Lorulian Triforce to ask for the Goddesses help. This... *doesn't go as he had planned*. The Goddesses take everyone from Lorule and basically trap them all within three different Dream Realms. So now he's all alone. In Lorule. And the only other thing around is Ganon and his malice infecting the world. He hears the voice of another Goddess in his head, Lolia (Lorule's Hylia ofc) and she tells him to make his way to the Sword Of Dreams, draw it, and she'll... *summon someone to help*. It takes him a while to get there because of all the monsters jacked up on rage who won't actually *die* and all the Lorulian technology just keep trying to *Kill Him*, ***Lolia I could use some fucking help here***. He gets to the sword placed in a pedestal in the middle of a garden and he wastes *no* time in pulling it out. At the same time, this bright ass light appears and another person falls right on top of him, oh shit it's Awake/Link!!! They take a bit to introduce themselves and Ravio apologizes for a good solid ten minutes before he realizes Link has the Hylian Divine Blade, the Master Sword! Link can actually fucking kill things and purge Ganons malice from everything and Ravio can just breathe for a few minutes. Together, they get to Ganon, and Ravio in a fit of his own spite and rage, uses the Sword of Dreams to subject Ganon to waking nightmares for everything he's done to Lorule. As the guy writes on the ground, Link is just.. "Ravi? Do you need a hug? A glass of milk? A kissie on the top of the head?"

They have a good hug, Link reassures Ravio that everything will be fine after Ganon is gone again. Together, they raise the Master Sword, and if it burns Ravio's hand a little bit he doesn't mention it, as they strike the blade between the Gerudo's shoulder blades.

After Link dissappears back to Hyrule in a shower of golden light, Ravio is alone in the final battle room, covered in his own blood and Ganons and Links. He's not really used to this whole "fighting a great evil" thing so he just kinda walks home(hah, home. His room in the castle.) and promptly passes the fuck out on his bed. It isn't until a few hours after he wakes up that he realizes that the world is still so quiet and *fuck everyone's still trapped in the fucking dream worlds.* ***Are you fucking kidding me.***

So Ravio has to find a way to get into where the Goddesses has trapped the rest of the lolians and it really does take him a little longer than it should to think of their temples with worship springs in them. He breaks his way through because there isn't anyone around who can keep him out and he makes his way through the first temple to find the spring of the Goddess of Wisdom. And as he places his sword in the pedestal in the spring, something glows on the back of his hand. Oh wow, has that been there this entire time? Maybe. He's got the Triforce of Wisdom!

Now, he has to venture inside of the Dream Worlds.

Inside the Dream Worlds, he has to fight off monsters called Nightmares and convince the Goddesses to let the Lorulians go back to their homes in the real world, no matter how amazing the Dream Worlds are and no matter how carefree everyone can be. They need to back to their own lives in the real world. The Goddesses are all like "Wait a second, you *wanted* this. You *wished* for this. Why are you trying to take it back now." He has to admit he couldn't save everyone when Ganon was around and he was too much of a coward to do much else than beg for divine intervention. He gathers pieces of the Triforce back every time he returns to Lorule from one of their dream worlds. In the Spirit Realm, as he reverts everything back to normal as the Triforce reforms, he can distantly see, if he looks down through the glassy floor, another golden Triforce. He returns sometimes to the Spirit world after he realizes this is the only connection he'll ever have to Link. He never sees him again. Ravio goes back to normal life as personal knight and newly appointed advisor to her grace Princess Hilda. The other Royals and Lords don't like him because he keeps undermining their schemes to exploit more money or land from her highness. He's attacked and sedated one day one of the more temperamental lords, Ghyrheim who *sews his mouth shut*. Hilda cuts the strings herself the next day because neither of them trust the castle doctors yet, which ends up leaving scars all around his mouth. He takes to wearing a mask around in public after that.

[And now, from the top]

Link/Awake is the sole Heir to a small fortune and the lordship title from his parents, who died a few years ago. The Haten manor not to far from the beach was his once he reached the age to claim it. Princess Zelda is holding the keys hostage to keep him in the castle because they've been roming the castle together since they were toddlers. He gets the same tutors as Zelda and they eat at the same dining table with the King. Link does sneak around the castle with Zelda sometimes while they were young children, watching the knights and practicing sparring in her quarters with hidden legs of one of her old dressers. It wasn't until he was 15, sneaking into the royal guard caravans that he found himself somewhere outside of castle town. They were escorting someone with dirty blonde hair in lose tunics to somewhere in the middle of deep forests. It isn't until they get to the Master Sword's pedestal that he realizes that the dirty blonde man is probably also named Link and they're here to see if he's the Hero of the era. The man tries to pull the sword, to no avail, and all the guards sign and turn back around and the man in heartbroken. Link watches as they all turn to leave and, very slowly, he drifts into the treeline until everyone else is gone. If he's wrong, he doesn't want anyone else to see this.

He pulls the sword, and in a blinding light, he's somewhere else. He's holding the Master Sword, he's wearing royal guard armor on top of his lounge wear, and there's an extremely haggard looking kid with dark purple hair, bags under his eyes, cuts and bruises and he's *bleeding*, but he's looking at Link in relief. Then Link realizes he's holding the Master Sword, *Then he realizes he has no idea where he is.* He plays 21 questions with this Ravio guy who's very literally the same age as him (same birthday, who knew?) And he finds out that this entire world is empty because of *Ganon*. Holy shit he never thought he'd see the guy in person because all the stories of his are *fucking terrifying*, but here he goes, he guesses.

He follows Ravio, who is *fucking amazing* with that sword which looks so cool, btw. They watch eachothers backs, and Link's pulls up the most fake bravado and courage he can because Ravio looks like he's going to shatter if one more thing goes wrong right now and Link definitely just wants to help him. Most of the minor monsters they have to face are quickly dispatched by Ravio who sends them into waking nightmares with his blade and Link quickly learns how to purge corruption with the Master Sword which is kinda cool.

They face Ganon.

Link almost throws up.

Ravio is outsmarting the scariest monster in the universe and Link barely gets some swipes in before Ganon falls to his own nightmares from a seething Ravio. And wow, the guy is going through a lot right now, and given the moment to breathe, Link makes Ravio look him in the eyes as they breathe. Just for a bit. Link hurts, he was thrown across the room a while ago, he's pretty sure he's got a few broken ribs, but Ravio needs grounding. They look down to Ganon. Link offers the Master Sword to Ravio, because the guy could really use it and kill him for all he's done to Lorule, but Ravio just curls his hand around both the handle and Link's hand and together they seal Ganon's soul back into the blade. Link doesn't have long and he can feel his body getting lighter but he rushed forwards to hug Ravio anyways.

When he gets home, most of his armor is gone, he's bloody and bleeding, and there are tears on his shoulder.

He makes it back to the castle after wondering in the forest for a while, the Master Sword hanging from his back, and he's barely two steps inside the castle walls when he's tackled by Zelda who looks likes she's been pulling her hair out for weeks.

He gets patched up and nothing really happens for a while. He's officially recognized by Hyrule Castle as the Knight who Seals The Darkness and he doesn't really want to mention how he's already killed Ganon because *Lorule feels like such a dream*, so everyone's nerves are on high end waiting for an attack by anyone. Any evil sorcerer or person from another dimension, or someone with a grudge against the Kingdom or Royal Family, but nothing really happens for weeks. Link gets formal training and life moves on. He does visit the spirit realm sometimes, and just below his feet he can see another Triforce, but no reflection kof himself. He thinks Ravio would be down there if he was real.

It isn't until a year later that shit starts getting real again.

Link gets attacked by his own fucking shadow, which, what the absolute fuck. It leaves his room in the castle a mess and all the guards on high alert. Link is hesitant to fight his own Shadow because *one* that shouldn't be happening in the first place, and *two* his shadow looks.. well, familiar. Which makes sense because he's sees that face in the mirror every morning... but it's also. It just. Well, it could just be that he misses the guy but his own fucking Shadow reminds him of Ravio. He wonders how he's doing. (He's clawing at thick cords laced through his skin).

He keeps fighting the Shadow and sometimes the shadows of the other guards or random civilians and it really feels like the world is out to get him for a while there. He meets his Shadow who's planning on merging this world with another and it isn't until the guy starts fucking explaining things that Link realizes the guy is trying to combine this world with Lorule is order to retrieve Ganons corpse and also something called a Demon Blade. It hurts because Ravio was *real*, Lorule *exists*, and he can't fucking go see him because this Shadow is trying to get Things on Ravios end. And while they're fighting, Link does realize that the Shadow really is *his* Shadow because it screams "*Don't you want to see him again?*" in his distraction, his sword arm is loped off. He grabs the Master Sword with his right and seals his shadow away.

Princess Zelda finds him in the Temple of Time, the Master Sword placed in the pedestal still covered in blood and something black, and Link only half conscious, crying, and missing a fucking arm.

He learns how to use his right hand to fight, how to write, how to button his shirt with only one hand. It takes a while but he's not helpless. He practices writing again by writing letters to someone he will never see ever again.

[believemetheodore]

Northern Attitude pt. 1

Ted Lasso x Rebecca Welton

Divorce is hard. it doesn't matter if you're the one who got left, or you're the one doing the leaving. When an unexpected blizzard puts a dangerous twist in Ted's hiking adventures he's rescued by an axe-wielding, lumber-chopping, blonde angel. Oh, and there's only one bed. Warnings: divorce mentions, mentions of Ted's dad, snow storms, let me know if you want me to add anything.

thank you, thank you, thank you to @scuttle-buttle for accidentally inspiring this fic, and to @thisismysecondrodeo for encouraging this madness! @exit-goat thank you, as always, for listening to me ramble

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Divorce is hard. it doesn't matter if you're the one who got left, or you're the one doing the leaving. 

Michelle went on a beach vacation with some friends after the paperwork was finalized.

A trip she'd planned before the ink of his signature had a chance to dry. Not that he blames her. He's seen first-hand the stress the last few years of their marriage had caused. The good lord knows he's gained his fair share of grey hairs too. His temples sprinkled, salt and pepper where a year ago he'd have been lucky to find ten grey strands total. But Michelle has always been better at knowing what she needs and looking after herself. Ted has admired that quality about her since they met, but he can’t help but feel a little bit lost knowing that right now leaving him is what she needs. 

Ted hadn't been offended by Michelle's vacation. It gave him an extra week of the summer break with their son. He'd spent it wisely; taking the time to visit his Ma, knowing how desperate she's always been to spend time with her only grandchild. Ted and Henry spent their days fishing, and helping to fix the front porch, welcomed each night with a home-cooked meal and enough pie to last a lifetime. 

Ted hadn't thought he needed to take a vacation. Henry started school, and Ted returned to work. But, with winter right around the corner, the l impending weight of spending Christmas alone, and six months of introspection under his belt Ted wonders if he too should've found himself a nice beach somewhere. 

Ted's pal Beard is the first to recognise the downturn in his daily disposition. As a great friend and potentially a former spy not much escapes Beard's notice. 

“You're like a Wigwam and a Teepee, Ted”.

“Too tense?” 

“Bingo. Your shoulders haven't lost contact with your ears in days. Your stress has stress. Cut yourself some slack, my friend”.

Ted sighed, “not sure how to go about it, Beardo”. 

“Take a break. Go on a vacation. Michelle did it,” Beard shrugged, as if it was obvious, “I know you think that weighing yourself down with all of this stress is some kind of penance. But, you're not on time out. There's no guilty party here”.

Beard raised some good points, and Ted swallowed them down with a bottle of beer, rolling the pros and cons of all his own considerations around on his tongue. He's never been very good at looking out for himself and he's sorry Beard has to do it for him. 

The trouble, Ted realized in talking to his friend, later on, was never whether he could take a vacation, but rather, where would he go?

There's a lot of the world he'd like to see, but a week or less doesn't seem like nearly enough to do any of his sight-seeing bucket list justice.

Resorts are nice, a chance to enjoy a tropical island breeze and warm sandy beaches. But, he's always burned easily, and with all the thoughts rattling around his head, lounging isn't an option. He’s learned that he needs to keep moving to help release some of his restless energy. While he doesn't pretend to understand the science of it, his mind does seem more compassionate, and each conclusion and assumption feels easier to process when his feet are moving as fast as his brain. 

so, now here he is, hiking through the woods in the middle of winter.

After much consideration, Ted signed himself up for a 5-day, 4-night hiking retreat. 

Day one was spent with a group of fellow adventurers, and a park guide going over survival tips, and trail options; how and where to find help; what to do when encountering a pack of coyotes. Night one is spent in tents provided by the park, falling asleep beneath the stars with a belly full of baked beans and hotdogs cooked over an open fire. 

In the light of day, Ted admires a half-frozen waterfall where one stream becomes another. He takes the time to listen to the birds still chirping in the trees despite the chilly weather, and he stops to munch on a protein bar, and rehydrate while he watches a chipmunk running around looking for snacks. He wishes he was allowed to feed the little guy, but he was told multiple times during the orientation day that sharing snacks with the wildlife is very much against the park rules.

Unlike the first night, Ted will be alone for the rest of his trip. But, fortunately, he doesn't need to set up his own campsite. For the next couple of nights, he’ll stop at the various cabins available to himself and the other hikers in the group. All of the little cottages are set up at convenient checkpoints along the trails. The bare bones of a structure. No hotel by any means. But, it's better than sleeping on the ground. 

As night falls, Ted watches the sunset. The pinks and oranges cast a brilliant glaze across the dusting of snow on the ground.  The stars are just as brilliant a sight, shining brighter, and brighter over the blanket of a darkening sky. 

He lets himself into the nearest vacant cabin with the key code he was given for the week. It's simple but cozy. A cot and fireplace in one corner, a small kitchenette and table for two in the other, and most importantly, a bathroom complete with indoor plumbing and a shower. 

Ted appreciates the quiet. The muffled sound of owls and nighttime critters outside is a nice distraction from his worries and anxieties. Laying in his sleeping bag, on the cot, he stares up at the ceiling, tracing the beams and the knots in the wood with his eyes. After his active day, his body is heavy, but sleep evades him. 

With his eyes shut he watches memories of the last camping trip he took with his father play like a melancholy highlight reel. He only remembers the good parts of those days. His father's laughter, and singing songs by the campfire.

 Ted had been 14 when the two of them drove halfway across the country pitching their tents in 3 different national parks along the way. It had been one of the few times his dad had been able to get time off of work and they took full advantage of it.

 At the time Ted hadn't bothered to take inventory of all the memories they were making together. It was just another spring break. 

At the time, Ted only saw it as a week away from his friends. Days he wouldn't be able to spend at the mall or arcade. He'd been irritated by the lost opportunities to flirt with the cutest girl at school, who happened to work at the ice cream shop around the corner from his house. 

Now, he can see the buried sadness seeping from his father. He can understand how desperately his dad wanted to spend time with him. 

Ted regrets viewing his father as a hindrance to his plans because now he'd do a whole heck of a lot to talk to the man again, to be able to apologize for all the moments he took for granted. But, hindsight is 20/20 and he tries not to hold too much against his younger self. 

He decided years ago when his son Henry was born that he'd do a better job at communicating. He promised himself he'd remind his little boy how much their time together meant to him so that Henry would never have to guess at his motivations. Now, more than ever, Ted hopes Henry knows how much he loves him, even when he's not around every day.

Directing his attention to happier thoughts, and lighter feelings, Ted's chest swells with pride when he thinks about the last time he and Henry saw each other. 

His insomnia left him reeling, as it continues to do most nights, and Henry had found him sitting alone at the kitchen table.

“You've gotta count sheep, Dad!” Henry told him, “that's what mom tells me to do”.

“Your mama's a smart cookie, but I don't know if I can count enough sheep to fall asleep, buddy”.

“Sure you can!” Henry insisted dragging him by the hand back to his bedroom, “I'll help you”.

Henry made it to 12 sheep before drifting off with his face smushed against Ted's shoulder. Ted counted 167 more sheep before finding sleep. 

Ted counts sheep now too. Only 72.

The world is silent when he wakes up. The whole forest has been trapped beneath a heavy fall of snow, glittering white, and untouched. A marshmallow world, Ted grins to himself as he boils water at the fireplace to make a flask of coffee. The small, square breakfast table is big enough for him to spread his park map and trail guide. He traces his path for the day with his finger committing convenient resting points to memory while he enjoys his hot oatmeal for breakfast. 

It's the first time since Ted and Michelle separated that he's felt truly relaxed while he goes about his morning. He focuses on himself, taking the time to trim his mustache and brush his teeth. He makes sure to layer up more than he usually does, expecting the day to be extra chilly. 

He's got about 5 hours of walking ahead of him today. Half of his planned trek is uphill, the other half is downhill on the other side. Ideally, he'll take his time, stopping to take more photos than he did yesterday. 

The sun is still rising slowly, just touching the tops of the trees, when he heads out with his camera hanging around his neck, and his coffee still piping hot in the thermal mug. 

A deep breath of cold winter air fills his lungs, and it tickles his nose, but it smells like moving on-- moving forward. 

He's almost at the top of the hill when the snow starts to fall. It begins slow, light fluffy flakes landing in his eyes lashes. But it grows heavier-- icier. It's cutting and borders on painful as it hits his cheeks, the wind howling around him. 

Stopping for lunch isn't on his list of priorities anymore, instead, he focuses on getting sheltered in the nearest cabin. By the time he's descending, the weather is worse. It's snow like he's never seen before, and his visibility is poor. 

Wet socks are a bad feeling, and Ted starts to regret his choice to take a hiking trip in the winter. His knees ache with the task of shuffling through the deepening snow. But disaster strikes when he makes contact with a patch of ice. With his footing lost, he tumbles. Falling not only to the ground but off the side of the trail. Somersaulting, rolling down the forest incline like a mustachioed snowball.

The world is all white, and he struggles to see even the outline of the trees or the grey sky overhead between his rotations. His shoulder hits what he can only assume is a rock, and he's sent flying. Ted hits the ground with a tremendous thud, and the polar white world turns black. 

[thebardscipher]

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🤩 Who is your favorite character to write? Oh this depends on fandoms and fic and au lol Let me go look at my AO3 to see what I'm currently playing in lol or played a lot in in the past...

For Sonic in general its probably Tails (there is a reason like 90% of my AUs center around him). He's just this kid that's smarter than most adult but at the same time is still a kid. Also I like writing him having a slight rebellious streak because I write him at like the age of ten, and "I'm not a child anymore, I don't need to be guarded at all times, I've done things on my own, I can help out here!" (And also, his role model is AND he was raised by Sonic who is also very much a "I'm going to help out even if the situation could put my life at risk" person) so I like writing him going "I'm going to do this potential dangerous thing!" "No, you could get hurt!" *Already leaving to do said thing* "You can't tell me what to do!" Except in one of my AUs, where my favorite character to write is Kero (yes, Kero for Cardcaptor Sakura) because its such a DIFFERENT setting and set of characters. Sakura is this NORMAL 4th grader who is suddenly flung into having magic, questions the fact that there IS magic but not HOW THE MAGIC WORKS. Isn't willing to pick a fight (which is part of Sakura's charm DON'T GET ME WRONG! Her being an absolute sweetheart even to things that could possibly be threatening her life is one of my favorite things about her) and creates a whole new card due to her emotions. And instead of dealing with a kid like Sakura, Kero is now dealing with this chaotic ten year old who goes on world saving adventures every week. Who's response to "If the cards are not caught, a great disaster will befall the world" is "Is it going to break into pieces? Surely it can't be worse than that, so I think we can handle this." Who doesn't question the magic, BUT ASKS HOW THE MAGIC WORKS and has a full notebook of what Kero can tell him up to that point and who, again, is in a fight on a near weekly basis. And again, Kero and Sonic will tell Tails "Hey, this cards sounds dangerous and life threatening....maybe we should wait until you have a card powerful enough to take care of it" and Tails is like "No." and sneaks off in the middle of the night. For Disney Dreamlight Valley currently, its my self insert/the player character. You could argue Oswald and coming up with all the little stories that the characters in the valley are slowly remembering, but I think writing The Player Character is more fun because she can be as chaotic as I want her to be or as "Okay let's solve this mystery" as I need her to be. Also I can throw in little bits about myself (there's this section of her walking on sand with Donald laughing at her because she hates the sand. That's me....sand is no...) and have it still completely in character. I feel like this might be a cop out though soooo sorry. For when I wrote a lot of Ducktales fanfics, it was Lena. I like characters who have a small dip into villainy but throw the show of kindness and love and just the fact that people care about them, they realize that they don't have to be. And relationship she had with Webby and its just *bounce bounce bounce* vs "yeah sure whatever" was fun. Its been a while since I wrote in that fandom though... Its like 2:30am and I feel like my thoughts are a bit rambley now, sorry about that lol