#aka if i ever finish it its going to take SO much time to do

[sweetbans29]

Teach Me: The Art of You (THE END) - PB

Pairing: Paige Bueckers x Reader

Previous Part

Summary: You and Paige have been best friends for the last 6 years. You trust her completely. And it is because of that trust that you ask her a rather forward question. AKA - You ask Paige to teach you.

Warnings: mature, like mature - mature

Word Count: 3.2k

Sweetbans Masterlist & Teach Me Masterlist

AN: Here we go...for the last time 🫠

Paige's lips met yours for what feels like the first time in forever. The kiss starts off gentle - her hands cupping your face as your hands rest on her chest. You can taste the saltiness of both of your tears mixed in with her lips.

You pull away, resting your forehead on hers.

"Can we go to bed?" You ask.

"Of course," Paige says and helps you up from the couch. The two of you make your way to her room. You crawl in her bed and open your arms to her. She looks down at you with the biggest smile and finds her place in your arms.

"Never wanna sleep without you again," Paige whispers into you.

"You never have to, B," you say and kiss the top of your head.

Over the next few weeks, life goes back to normal - well mostly normal except for the fact that you and Paige have actually started dating. No more having to restrict touches or steel glances. Paige was free to show the world she has been and will always be completely in love with you.

The regular season is coming to a close as the team prepares for March Madness. You alongside the other coaches are spending a lot more time reviewing film and watching other teams. Paige isn't a fan of how much time you are spending in the office but can't be mad that you, without fail, come home to her.

The team decides to go out for one last hurrah before they lock in and decide to do it at their favorite bar. Everyone is over at your apartment getting ready for your fun night out. You are in your room finishing getting ready as Paige is lying on your bed and scrolling through her phone. When she sees you are almost done she gets up.

"Mmmm ready?" She asks as she comes behind you snaking her arms around your waist. Her head finds its place on your shoulder as she looks at you through the mirror.

"Yep!" You say. "It's been so long since I've been out, long overdue."

Paige would be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking about you. Ever since the two of you officially got together the lessons had stopped. She didn't mind the fact that they stopped but each day kept getting progressively harder for her to keep her hands off of you.

"S'not the only thing overdue," Paige says as she moves your hair to one side of your neck and begins to leave a trail of kisses down the other.

You sigh, leaning back into her and letting her grace your skin with her lips. She holds you firm against her front as she makes a meal out of your neck. One of your hands rests on top of hers while the other comes up and holds her head in place on your neck.

"No marks," you moan as she sucks on your sweet spot.

"Gonna show them your mine," she breathes out sucking a little harder, her teeth grazing your skin.

You try to move away from her but she isn't having any of that.

"B, no marks," you say again. "I'll show them whose I am another way, trust."

She kisses down to your shoulder. "And how do you plan on doing that?" Paige asks.

"Well, you will just have to wait and find out," you say, your eyes struggling to stay open. "But won't have to if I'm all marked up."

Paige immediately removes her lips from your skin and you want to whine but know you are the one who stopped your girl in the first place. You look at her through your mirror and take in how beautiful she is. Your eyes trace every feature of her face.

Paige feels your gave and her cheeks begin to brighten.

"Why are you staring at me like that, ma?" She asks and hides behind you. You found it to be incredibly cute when she would get nervous around you even after knowing you for years.

"Can't you just let me admire my girlfriend," you say and turn around to face her. She no longer has a place to hide. Your eyes burn into her skin. "Stunning."

"Yo, you two ready or what?" You hear one of the girls yell and you respond.

"Ready, B?" You ask.

"Could just stay here," she says. You laugh.

"Ya right, come on B," you say grabbing her hand and leading her out of your room.

The team heads to the bar. Once you are through the door Paige grabs drinks for the two of you. When she comes back you down half of it in the first sip.

"Woo, slow down there. It's not going anywhere," Paige says, grabbing the glass from your hand.

"Hey!" You say, your hand reaching for the glass she just stole from you.

"Let the girl have some fun," Azzi says. "She has been working her ass off for us."

Paige looks betrayed that Azzi chose your side over hers. Azzi grabs the drink from Paige's hand and gives it back to you.

"Woooow, I see who the favorite it," Paige says.

"I have always been Azzi's favorite," you say and lean over to the curly-haired girl and away from Paige.

"As long as I am your favorite, we won't have any issues," Paige says grabbing your hand and intertwining her fingers with yours.

"Well..." both you and Azzi say at the same time. The look on Paige's face practically has you and Azzi laughing on the floor.

You pull Paige into a hug, moving your head to whisper perfectly in her ear.

"Don't worry, B - you know you're my favorite. Always have been, always will be," you say as you bring your tongue to the shell of her ear. A move you have learned riles her up faster than most.

Paige jerks away knowing it is way too soon to be leading you out of the bar. She wants to enjoy hanging out with the team before taking you home. She gives you a warning look and you just smile up at her and take another sip of your drink, a smaller sip than the first one.

You both spend time with the team, enjoying each other's company. You are three drinks in when you start dancing with some of the girls. All of which are letting loose and having a good time. Moving your body to the music, you raise your arms and sway your hips. It doesn't take you long to find your girl leaning against the bar watching you dance. You smile at her and make your way over.

"Dance with me B," you say grabbing her hand. She puts her finished drink on the bar and follows you to the middle of the dance floor.

You face her and wrap your arms around her neck, connecting your bodies and moving to the rhythm of the music. Her hands rest on your hips as she looks down at where your bodies connect.

You turn around, making sure her hands stay planted on your hips. Your arms go up in the air again as you begin to grind on her. You hear her let out the lightest gasp as you bend over. When you come up again, you move her hands to rest on your boobs. She gives them a squeeze before running her hands down your stomach, bringing your shirt slightly higher than it already is. Your hips never stoping.

One of your hands comes to cup the back of her head, guiding it to yours as you turn your face to the side meeting your lips together. The kiss is sloppy and rushed, filled with lingering hints of alcohol from your drinks. You turn to face her cup her cheek.

Your tongues fight for dominance, Paige desperate to win.

Before she can, you break the kiss and begin down her neck like she had done in your room. You pay attention to all right places causing the blonde to throw her head back. Your free hand toying with the string at her waistband.

"Take me home," you whisper in her ear.

Before you know it you are being pulled out of the bar. Paige storms past the team, your hand firmly in hers as she makes a beeline to the door.

"Where are you two going?" Evina yells.

"Evina, just enjoy your drink. We all know where they are going," Azzi says sipping her drink.

Paige has you back at your apartment in no time. The second the door shuts she has you pushed up against it. Before her lips connect with yours, you put a hand on her chest.

"What?" She asks until she sees your next move.

You push her back, taking your shoes off in the process, and have her walking backwards all the way to the couch. You push her to sit down as you ever so slowly move on top of her, straddling her.

She watches you in awe as your hands come to her torso, moving your hands up under her shirt. You lean down and plant a kiss on her shoulder.

"Imma need a little more than that, ma," she says, her breath already rigid. Paige has never been a fan of slow - all the hookups she has had have been quick and straight to the point. But as she was teaching you, she slowed down to match your speed. Now though, now she feels like she has made a mistake as she is eager to get to the finish.

"What's the rush babe?" You ask. "Plan on taking my time, still new to this ya know."

You bring your lips to kiss all along her collarbone. She leans her head back against the couch and lets you work. Your hands move to cup her breasts under her shirt and she removes it for you.

Your lips find their way to one of her nipples, swirling your tongue around it and sucking it lightly. Removing your lips from her skin, you cup both of them and kneed them.

"I love these," you say as you continue to massage your girls chest.

"All yours, ma," Paige's voice husky as she struggles to get the words out. You smile.

You kiss down her stomach, peppering kisses over the waistband of her pants. You hook your fingers in her waistband and look up at her for approval.

"Fuck ya, ma," she says as she lifts her hips up and you pull her pants down.

She is now watching your every move as your hands rub up and down her thighs and your lips sprinkle little kisses along the inner more sensitive parts of her legs. She spreads them for you as you park yourself on your knees in front of her.

Your trail of kisses makes its way to the bottom of the last piece of fabric separating you from where she wants you most. You begin to kiss over them, inching closer to her center. When you finally get to the place Paige has been patiently waiting for your lips to meet, she jolts forward.

You look up at her and kiss it again.

"So sensitive baby," you tease her as your hands bring her boxers down. She watches your every move anticipating the next. Never in a million years would she expect you to be the first to please her, she always imagined her pleasing you first. Yet here you are, on your knees just for her.

"May I?" You ask, your eyes trained on her center. Paige doesn't trust her voice and nods vigorously.

"Need to hear you babe," you tease her again. "Can't forget the rules now."

"Fuck the rules," she says and you take that as a green light.

You spread her legs even further apart as your tongue licks a strip of her. The moan she lets out is ungodly. One of her hands is placed on the back of your head while the other shoots its way to cover her mouth. You kiss her bundle of nerves and begin to work.

"Fuck ma, so good. So so good," she mutters as you work on her. One of your hands comes up to massage her left breast. You pick up the speed as moans fall freely from her mouth.

"Just like that, YES, oh fuck," her words coming out in breathy strings. "Close," Paige yells, not able to think of any other words.

You slow your movements to a stop and Paige whines. You look up at her with raised eyebrows as she looks down at you with furrowed ones. She watches you as you bring two of your fingers into your mouth sucking on them. She bites her lip as she watches you - anticipating your next move.

You brush over her sensitive bundle of nerves and her hips jerk forward, begging to be touched again.

You smile as you slowly line your fingers at her entrance. You kiss her thigh as your fingers enter her. Paige moans your name and you watch her in awe. All you want to do is make her feel good.

Your fingers work in her as your begin to suck on her center again. Paige is fisting the couch as she lets out moans left and right.

"Don't stop. Please don't stop," she moans as her back arches off the couch pushing her core closer to you. You work her through her high as she repeatedly says your name.

When she slumps against the couch, you remove your fingers and begin to kiss back up her stomach.

"That was so hot," you say as you kiss her lips.

"You are so hot," she says breathlessly. Her hand coming to cup your face and kissing you again. She tugs at your shirt and you break the kiss, allowing her to remove your shirt.

Paige stands and tells you to jump, which you gladly do, and wrap your legs around her waist. She immediately establishes dominance in the kiss as she walks you to her room. She lays you on the bed and in one swoop has your shorts off. You stare at her with your mouth agape and she just smirks down at you.

Paige crawls over you, causing you to squirm, and comes to kiss you. Your hands come to cup her breasts as she hovers over you. She breaks the kiss and laughs.

"What?" You ask.

She looks down at your hands on her chest and you feel yourself blush, immediately removing them.

"Don't stop," she says shifting her weight to bring your hands back to them. "Touch them, kiss them, suck them as much as you want - I meant it when I said they're all yours."

You smile and bite your lip.

"Never thought you would be a boob girl," she says chuckling, lowering herself to kiss you again. She kisses down your neck leaving all the marks in the world.

"Just yours, you say. "S'cute and little."

"Hey!" Paige jokes but you just pull her back to you. Your hand s come to claw at her back as you stifle moans whenever she finds a particularly sensitive spot.

She kisses down your stomach and grabs the waistband of your intimates, pulling them down with her teeth. You watch her as intently as she watched you just ten minutes ago.

Her lips meet your inner thighs as she hooks her arms around your legs to spread them and grab your ass.

"I've been dreaming about this forever," she says as kisses closer to your center. "How you would look spread out on my bed." You moan at her words and buck your hips craving any sort of friction.

"How you taste," she says as her tongue finds your center. She then goes to work making you feel good. You are a moaning mess as she is now the one feasting on you.

She slows down, removing her lips from your skin uses her thumb to keep a rhythm.

"Open up for me, ma," she says bringing two of her fingers up to your lips. You obey and welcome them in, swirling your tongue around them.

"Good girl," she says as she removes them, sinking down to where she just previously was. Her fingers begin to work in you as her lips attach to you once again.

"Paige," you moan. "Yes, Paige. PAIGE."

You are releasing in no time. Body twitching as you ride out your high. She removes her fingers from you but Paige doesn't stop. Her tongue keeps working on your overstimulated center. Your hands come to her head as your thighs close around her head.

"Paige!" You scream but she keeps going. She doesn't care if you suffocate her - hearing your moans and tasting you has her on a whole new high she never wants to come down from.

"Paige! Ahhh!" You are now trying to pull her head from you. She is relentless. Before you know it you are on cloud 9 once again.

After your ride your second high you fall back against the bed. Paige finally removes herself and lays next to you.

"Holy shit," you say breathless.

Paige laughs and pulls you into her side.

"Babe, we are just getting started," she says and begins to kiss your shoulder.

Your relationship with Paige grows. The two of you continue your time at UConn and are now known as a couple but will always be best friends first.

The two of you walk side by side into Paige's multiple injuries - you being there every step of her recovery and keeping her sane when she feels like she is going crazy. Encouraging her to work on her mental game and not rush the healing process, knowing she wants to get back on the court as soon as possible. You keep her grounded.

Side by side when she decides to stay at UConn for a fifth year - which Geno gladly accepts and knows you would be staying on the coaching staff. He hires you full-time after you graduate but knows you will be going wherever Paige gets drafted.

Side by side when she carries the team back to the final four and then to the championship. Although if anyone were to ask you, and they did, you would say you played a major part in getting them back to the championship. Ultimately winning it all.

Side by side when Paige goes to the draft and gets drafted to the WNBA - moving to a new city and beginning life outside of Storrs.

Side by side when she asks you to marry her, with your dad's permission of course. Letting you plan the wedding of your dreams which really only included her. She watches as you plan the perfect day for both of you and always makes sure that she is okay with your decisions.

Side by side in life. When you tell people about your story, Paige tells them that the two of you have been together since before high school. She likes to say she knew you were the one for her when you walked into the gym during summer training before freshman year. This always gets you to roll your eyes, knowing she actually didn't like you until the end of freshman year but you let her tell the story her way. And you do, you always let her tell your story her way because it never ceases to amaze you how her eyes light up even brighter each time.

You look at Paige and you know. Know that there is no one else on this earth who is a better fit for you. No one who could ever love you better or be better for you than she. You know when you are side by side with her, you have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about because it's Paige. And to you, Paige is your home.

AN: WE DID IT BAN-FAM! WE DID IT! Let me know how you feel about this whole journey, I would genuinely love to know. And as always, thank you for the love and support 💙

[excalibur-gone-missing]

Paring: Toru Oikawa x female reader

Requested: no

Genre: smut, female receiving

Warning(s): cunnilingus, figuring, degradation

Summary: Toru eating out his freeuse slut aka you

Word count: 743

Other works

Beta reader: none

disclaimer: this is my first time writing smut, so dont expect it to be stellar (do lemme know if it was good or not)

a/n: I request each and every one of you to comment on this fic don't be a silent reader it helps me as an author to understand my readers and i would love to communicate with all of you. Constructive criticism is always welcomed by me so do talk about this fic or send me an ask.

[permanent taglist] [only for those interested, don’t fill the form otherwise]

-----------------------smut under the cut--------------------------

Oikawa was your pretty cute roommate. You both had met during your college days and as dorm partners and had bonded over time. Now, three years after finishing, you both are still going strong as roomies.

He has settled into his big-boy job of playing volleyball full-time, and you have the most boring nine-to-five ever. Although the big-time celebrity he is, plus the wealth that is flowing into his bank, says he is a richie rich dude, but the boy still refuses to move out, and who are you to say otherwise?

Now, the refusal to move has some ulterior motives, but it's not like you were not aware of that. The man is obsessed with you, more like your pussy, so much so that he refuses to let you have a moment of peace in the house when you both are alone.

The fact that neither of you are in a relationship helps a lot in contributing to it, not like a simple boyfriend would stop the man from bending you over in the most obnoxious place and ramming his cock into you, but surely it would create a bit of hindrance, and no one likes those.

To put it in the most simplest from, you are his personal free-use slut; that’s what you are. You could deny it, but you know it as well as he does, that you'd bend in the middle of a crowded street if he wanted you to.

Not like he actually wanted that to happen, but you get the point. So, as a general rule in the house, it is forbidden for you to wear panties or a bra, not like you liked to do so anyways. He liked having access to your pussy at all times of the day so that he could always take you anywhere and everywhere.

 Just like this time, when he came back from the gym all sweaty and thirsty, for your pussy.

Walking into the house, he looks around for you only to find you on the balcony tending to those basil plants you have started growing a few months ago. Leaving his gym bag on the couch, he strides over to you and without a single word, he pushes you towards the railing of the balcony and, bending down, he settles himself between your legs.

“Been thinking about you all day,” he says from between your legs and without letting you answer, he pulls down your shorts to get the view of your glistening pussy, with its puffy lips.

“Did you play with yourself while I was away?” he asks, looking at you, only for you to let out a flustered whine.

“I just edged myself, Toru, I couldn’t cum,” you say, thoroughly flustered.

“Dumb whore can’t even make herself cum without my cock, that’s what you needed, wasn’t it?” he laughs as you vigorously nod.

Without wasting another moment, he dives into your pussy, licking a long stripe of it and sending waves of pleasure coursing through your body. With each and every lick it becomes even harder for you to keep your voice lower, eventually your screams pierce through the quite evening, making sure to let all the pedestrians know who is eating you out so well.

Latching his face further into your heat, he adds two fingers inside you and immediately starts curling them. Your essence dripping onto his tongue is like heaven, sweeter than any candy he could ever have.

While letting out lewd breathy moans, you grip his hair hard as he keeps abusing your cunt.

“To-toru, ahh-”

“Yes, scream my name, slut, let the world know who makes you go all dumb over his tongue,” he groans.

“Toru, I’m gonna-”

Before you could complete your sentence, the waves of pleasure hit you harder than anything else. With a loud scream of his name, you come all over his face and like a starved man, he drinks you up till the last drop of your cum is gone and you are shaking with overstimulation.

Emerging from between your thighs, he gives your pussy a quick slap, saying, “I'm gonna go take a shower, I expect you to be naked on your knees beside my bed, slut.”

With that, he is out, leaving you to shakily walk into the house towards his bedroom, because what Toru wants he gets, and you are no one to deny him the pleasure he so politely asked you for.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

a/n: again if you have read till the end do tell me how you liked it, and thanks for reading.

[morverenmaybewrites]

Hiya! First of all your blog’s interface is so cute i’m rolling on the floorrrrrrr

Second of all your writing is absolutely amazing, i’ve just finished reading “the pizza delivery girl’s survival guide to gotham city” and lemme tell u i can’t wait for the next chapter cause absolute gold-

I wanted to ask what your thoughts are on Jason and day-to-day life outside of costume. Like, dude HAS to go outside as himself at least every once in a while, out of pure necessity. How do you think he goes on about it?

Aw, thank you, I'm glad you like my blog interface and my fic. I think it depends on how much he's progressed in processing his trauma, to be honest!

I imagine when he first moved back in Gotham, he avoided going out as much as possible, for a multitude of reasons. First, because he was still reeling emotionally from Bruce enacting project Knightfall (aka faking his own death), he was recovering from the injuries he sustained during the events of Arkham Knight (and of course, the injuries he got from the Joker). Most importantly, he is adjusting to living in a city he once hated enough to want to destroy.

I feel like those first few weeks were painful for him. Every place is filled memories, and while not all of them are bad memories, they often feel too painful to revisit. He likely spent most of his time cooped up in a safehouse (which was established as something he makes no effort to make comfortable), only going out when he absolutely had to. Interacting with the city and its people as little as possible. While I don't think the Joker ever meant him to survive his torture, the amount of scars and physical injuries he bears means that a lot of his interactions bring a lot of (misplaced) guilt and shame. Did that shopkeep spend too long looking at his face, his scar? Maybe he'll pass by some hole-in-the-wall shop and remember that he and Dick and Barbara would cool down there after patrols. The ramen, he'll think, is surprisingly good. The owner is a smiling, heavyset man who insists that they never pay for their meals. Maybe he'll even take a single step toward the shop, only to remember that the scars on his hands make it so it's hard to hold cutlery without shaking. That there are days when it's physically painful to eat. And he'll shake his head and walk away.

But I think the more he interacts with PG in the story and the more he fixes his relationship with his family, the more he'll be able to interact with Gotham City. Maybe going to the grocery won't be treated like a military supply run. Maybe he'll look up from his carefully-curated list and realize a type of candy Barbara used to be obsessed with is back in stock now. Maybe he'll put it in his cart, and for the first time in a while, he doesn't have to think about what he did to her as the Arkham Knight. One day, he'll wake up before his alarm and remember that you used to talk about watching the sun rise over Gotham Bay. He'll take a long walk along the shoreline and watch the way the sky turns into soft shades of pink and orange, and he'll be surprised at the realization that there are still beautiful things in Gotham. Maybe your face will flash in his mind, and he'll think that perhaps he shouldn't be so surprised, after all. Maybe one day, after a long night of patrol, he'll pass by the ramen shop again and this time, he decides to stay. The only thing that has changed is the owner, who's gained weight and a few gray hairs, but his smile is still the same. He'll bring Jason's order without asking, and he'll insist that he doesn't have to pay for it. Eating doesn't hurt as much as he feared. In fact, some days, he can move his hands without feeling pain. This is one of the good days. Maybe on that good day, he'll be surprised to find that the ramen is still good. That he can think of the days he used to stay here with his family after patrols, exchanging combat tips and juicy bits of gossip. And this time, he's able to smile.

[dead-girl-tells-stories]

Almost finished reading Dungeon Meshi and I got an idea

So in Dungeon Meshi or Delicious in Dungeon, there are these... dungeons.

And from what I have gathered dungeons can be made naturally or artificially but both types have the same few things in common.

They are made to contain demons

They attract adventures

The dungeons have lords who manage/control the dungeon and are given the power to do so by the demons

I know that I'm skimming over some important bits, but long story short, the demons come from an alternate dimension called 'The Infinite Realm' and feed off of people's desires, the Lord of the Dungeon's specifically.

That being said... (incoming dp x dc prompt)

Beings from the Infinite Realms aren't ghosts but demons. And while they do still have obsessions, they lack desires. And so, they've become something they hunger for.

Danny learns this the hard way when he accidentally eats his parents' desire to hunt 'ghosts'.

When the endless, all-consuming hunger, that had been growing inside himself became just a bit satisfied by the action, he got scared. He ran to Clockwork, who immediately explained everything to him.

From there he became terrified. He didn't want to eat people's desires, especially considering that he had some of his own. But CW explained that while other demons will most likely never be satisfied no matter how many desires they consume, because of Danny's halfa status he may be able to. (Also it would be a bad thing if the baby starves itself. No one wants the baby to starve!)

To test out this theory, CW pulls (more than) a couple of strings, and soon his dungeon was set up in Gotham City in the DC universe.

He felt a bit bad since he had to set up shop in another ghost's/demon's territory, but Lady Gotham seemed to have taken a liking to him.

Danny takes his time searching for the most desperate person he can find, (Lady Gotham is leading him to some of the most desperate people in her city, aka the Batfam.), and appears to one of them as a fawn (signifying his hunger and current 'lack' of power). He then looks deep into their mind and offers them the power to fulfill all their desires.

The Batfam? They should be better than this, but damn they were in a tight spot and the city is going to shit because the rouges have been more active than ever, and their family is on the verge of crumbling!... And the answer to fix it all was right there, just within their reach.

They held the fawn in their arms gently. Its ivory wings, coat of starlight, and piercing Lazurus green eyes. Gotham began to change.

A few years later, some members of the JL and the JLD are once again trying their hand at clearing the dungeon but are a bit discouraged because last time their team was wiped out completely.

It was inconvenient how their powers were nullified whenever they were inside the dungeon, but they had yet to find a spell to counteract it.

In an attempt to get past the third floor, they teamed with a team called Team Phantom, which comprised two young adult siblings, their 12-year-old sister, and a few teenagers.

Morally, they were against this. No one this young should be trying to clear the dungeon! But on the other hand, this team was the closest to getting to the fourth floor.

Sucking it up, they teamed up with the young dungeon dwellers and quickly found out why they were so close to getting to the third floor.

These kids were skilled. These kids were powerful. These kids were trained. On top of that, they didn't care about their lives! Because these kids? They wouldn't- no! They couldn't die, and they were using it to their advantage.

The JL/JLD now had much more to worry about than clearing the dungeon.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Canon Compliant Masterlist

4 Ways to Spice up your Sex Life (ao3) - Full_Moon_Lover

Summary: Phil thinks it's time for them to move out of their apartment and into a house of their own and what better way to surprise his boyfriend than to look at some property websites to try and narrow down their options for potential houses. If only Dan didn't stumble on one of these websites on Phil's laptop and come to a completely different conclusion.

Phil was tired of him and wants to move out. It was now up to Dan to get back Phil's interest in him and what better way to do that than to look on the internet for ways to spice up a relationship? Follow Dan's adventures as he follows the steps on a love article to try and spice up his and Phil's sex life. Nothing can go wrong....

again and again, even though we know love’s landscape (ao3) - JudeAraya

Summary: After a small fight, Dan finds Phil in bed with a migraine and spends the day taking care of him in many, many ways.

all men do is lie (ao3) - antiadvil

Summary: What they told us about Dan's eye hospital visit versus what happened.

As He Goes, So I Go (ao3) - cloej88

Summary: It’s November of 2015, and Dan and Phil have just finished their UK leg of The Amazing Tour Is Not on Fire. They’ve sworn off the romantic side of their relationship in order to protect the rest of this life they’ve built. However, with all of the close proximity of touring, their connection feels headier and more charged than ever. As soon as the UK tour ends, they fly to the US for a quick book-signing trip, but they become snowed in by a blizzard in Chicago. In the solitude of their shared hotel room, can they fumble their way back to one another?

Featuring: Pining, lots of fluff, the TATINOF UK afterparty in all its glory, an arcade bar in snowy Chicago, a NYTimes How to Fall in Love quiz, lots of introspective musing about how much these idiots adore one another, and some well-earned smut.

Basically I'm Gay (ao3) - ChainedKura

Summary: Dan is editing his coming out video when a deep sadness takes over his body. Lucky for him, he counts with a Phil Lester on his side that will do everything in his power to make his partner feel better.

black and blue (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: dan and phil lie in bed and trade stories of the various injuries they’ve sustained throughout their lives

Building a Wardrobe (To Hide From the World In) (ao3) - husbants

Summary: Based on the prank Phil pulls on Dan at the end of THE WARDROBE; fluffy boyfriending ensues because their love holds strongest when it's challenged.

buttons on a coat (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: dan meets up with his mum while he’s wearing phil’s coat

IKEA hot dog introspection (ao3) - sierraadeux

Summary: Dan is craving an IKEA hot dog.

or

the time I tweeted "I think I could romanticize ikea hot dogs" at 3:33 am and couldn't stop thinking about it until I wrote it.

japhan 3.0 (ao3) - danhoweiis

Summary: snapshots of the japhan trip 2023

laid bare (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: 2010 dnp get tested and bareback for the first time

lost in forever (ao3) - manchestereyes

Summary: Phil makes a very special video for his and Dan's future child.

Or, Safiya and Tyler's proposal video, but make it dnp.

memories for ourselves (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: quarantined dan and phil have a screen-free day

Nostalgia / Revival (ao3) - yonpote

Summary: Phil was just feeling nostalgic. He couldn't help it, it's been five years.

an introspection and a decision

one night stand (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: Dan meets a stranger in a bar during after one of his shows on the We're All Doomed tour.

One Thousand Midnights or More (ao3) - JudeAraya

Summary: A decade of love told in moments.

Precious Baby Angel (ao3) - toadsappho

Summary: Phil shows Dan his new t-shirt, but that's not the only surprise he has for him.

sativa (i said im ready) (ao3) - catbearbunz (bunnieovadamoon)

Summary: it’s 2009, and phil really wishes dan would call. he does, but he comes greener than expected.

aka they get drunk and high and have esex.

Send Me A Picture (ao3) - Tarredion

Summary: Dan has posted a new picture onto Dailybooth. It manages to do a bit more than getting Phil just hot and bothered.

shining, just for you (ao3) - bunnyslipper

Summary: a little fic about sitting back and watching each other shine.

Slow Down (ao3) - intoapuddle

Summary: Phil knows that Dan can hear him. Phil knows that Dan thinks that two can play at this game. Phil knows that that absolutely isn’t true.

so easy to come back into you (ao3) - dvp_95

Summary: The story has some humour in it, Dan supposes, but Phil looking wide-eyed at the camera and saying, "and I was like, who's this giant man threatening to call my mum, I was freaking out," isn't something Dan will be able to laugh about anytime soon.

sometimes i really think it would be cool to rewind (ao3) - r1caner

Summary: I used to watch the pigeons and be so afraid that they would die. But they will, and maybe some of the ones I used to see outside already have. I will too – I know that, always have. And I love to live, to drink coffee, to kiss you, to look at a dog and think about having one. I love to live, but I can live with life ending.

And then I think about it having to happen to you and I can’t do it.

the art of not thinking about it (ao3) - sasiml (orphan_account)

Summary: dan and phil and the week where things had to fall apart before they could come together.

the dominoes cascaded in a line (ao3) - danandphilbeats

Summary: dan accidentally goes to a taylor swift themed cycling class, and hears a song that makes him think.

the hoodie bow incident (ao3) - antiadvil

Summary: they were kissing.

The Money Summits (ao3) - LetGladnessDwell

Summary: You might think you’re talking about numbers, but it’s always more than that, Kath had said.

(Or, what Dan and Phil talk about when they talk about money.)

the scariest part (is letting go) (ao3) - huphilpuffs

Summary: Dan's journey with sexuality continues long after he meets Phil.

they grew up so nicely, didn't they? (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Cornelia doesn’t just get a boyfriend when she starts dating Martyn, she gets a whole second family too. Kath and Nigel welcome her with open arms and she becomes a pseudo older sister to Phil.

She is there watching from the sidelines as a boy bolts right into Phil’s heart and sets up camp. She gets to watch as Dan and Phil build careers and an internet community and all the trials and tribulations, as well as the pride and happiness, it brings along.

we never change (ao3) - nivi_chip

Summary: different decade same laundry problems

when the train came it was so big and powerful (ao3) - r1caner

Summary: a dnp fic for the 15th 19th of october.

[adonisbeloveds]

Hello. I was wondering if you could make a platonic Jing Yuan story with the reader being his child and but they ended up running away because they keep messing things up and it takes awhile but a few months later the reader suddenly returned to the Loufu and Jing Yuan saw this as an opportunity to talk the reader so he could finally apologize. (If this is too much or you don't do requests at the moment that's completely understandable)

"Your perfect just the way you are"

-Reader: They/them + no gender implied -He/him for Jing Yuan

Requested: No/Yes

Warnings: If you squint and turn 360 you can see I slightly projected myself into the reader but don't worry its all a-okay! (っ＾▿＾） Disclamer: Characters personality, looks, ect may be different from canon due to either hc or author has just forgotten.

A/N: I am so so sorry this took so long, (╥﹏╥) I'm very busy rn because end of school is almost here aka prime test weeks, but I had so much fun on this and I hope you like it! Also I didn't color the names this time just to see if you guys would like it better like that!

^ Made by me

Being the generals kid you had a type of "special treatment" some would call it, you weren't spoiled you just got to be with your dad whenever he was in his office or training with yanqing, you also got treated with kindness and got special items from people around the loufu.

With all this special treatment you figured you should repay their kindness by doing little chores to help out others, but no matter what you did you would always end up messing things up...you couldn't understand why you always messed up, what where you doing wrong? it wasn't even big things but you still messed them up, everyone always forgave you and said that its okay to mess up sometimes but this wasn't sometimes, it was everytime!

Jing Yuan was always understanding and there for you everytime you made a mistake, talking to you and being there when you needed him, if you where having a very bad day he would drop everything just to be there and comfort you, but even then that wasn't enough to stop you.

Jing Yuan was finishing some work so he could go train with Yanjing while you watched when the doors to his office slammed open, revealing a gaurd, already knowing something was wrong he stood up quickly "general, [Name] is missing" just a few simple words made his blood run cold, he soon collecting himself and ordered the gaurd to get the others and to start searching the loufu, when the gaurd left Jing Yuan stood there and tried to think, did you run away? where you taken? where were you...

It has been a few months ever sense you went missing and Jing Yuan wasn't taken it well, restless nights was shown in his eyebags and messy hair, drowning himself in paperwork to help with the pain of his missing child, everyone was concerned for the general but understood his situation.

Jing Yuan was finishing his work when the doors to his office squeaked open, he looked up slightly expecting a gaurd or someone to give him more work, what he wasn't expecting was to see you...his missing child standing infront of the doors, he quickly rubbed his eyes thinkign you where a hallucination when infact you where not, you where real and you where back in one piece. He quickly stood up and ran to you before engulfing you in the biggest hug ever, making sure you where never leaving him ever again.

After your renunine you told him you ran away because you always messed up in the most simplest things and that you thought you where useless due to messing up so many times, after telling him all that Jing Yuan lookewd heart broken that you felt all this and kept it bottled up inside, he gently held you close to him and whispered to you in the most lovinly tone,

"Your perfect just the way you are"

[pooplyface1423]

~Hidden Love~

YandareHuman Al x Reader

Warnings: none i think

⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧

"Y/n i want you to meet Alastor hes going to be the newest Radio host aka hes going to take up Daniel's part so that means you'll be Al's new Assistant okay"

"Okay!"

"Well as you heard i'm alastor pleasure meeting you!" Said Al leaning down to kiss your hand

"Well thanks i'm Y/n"

After that you felt something different never knowing what it was..................... Al was always nice to you unlike to anybody else. But why?

⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧

The party was a success Daniel was happier than ever You got to dance with Al you (in your opinion is kinda cute). Afterwards you and everybody else was heading home. You were a good 20 minutes away from ur house. A very long way home ugh....

"You know a pretty lady shouldn't be walking home this late all alone right?you never know what can happen" Says Al walking up to you

"Oh hi Alastor yea i know but I'll be fine I've done this many time and i'm alive" you say being slightly sarcastic at the end

"Oh dear you never know what could happen and so I shall insist taking you home"

"Oh you don't need to i ca- "I insist dear imagen the guilt i would feel if something happens to you when you leave"

"Well fine if you insist"

"Wonderful!"

You both went on your way home everything was going well Al wanted to "chat" so he knows more about his new assistant's schedule and so on but they both knew he just wanted to know more about Her.

Until it started to rain you both quickly ran Alastor handing you his jacket so you don't get as wet as him.(wow such a gentlemen)

You both ran quicker once you told him you saw ur house come up.

Once at ur door step you let Al in mostly cuz hes soaking wet.

"Get in" "No need dear im going to head home thankfully its not far"

After Al says that a strong lightning strikes.

"Oh Well now you are getting in"

You quickly indicate where the shower in a guest room would be and say ur going to hand him some clothes.

After some digging in ur closet deep down you found a flimsy but formal shirt which looks slightly to big but who cares you find everything else and go into the guest room and knock on the bathroom door say the clothes are in the bed.

After a good 10 minutes Al comes out looking funny since the shirt fits him big

"why do you have a shirt this big?"

"Well it was my fathers"

"Oh well its an honor to wear the shirt of a proud father"

"haha yea thanks"

"Well i made some soup so you don't get sick come so you can eat it"

"No need dear I'll be fine"

you looked at him with a stern face and tell him to come and eat before it gets cold.

He obliged and sat down with you to eat and not get sick (ha lol)

When he took a bite he felt like he could marry you right then and there it tasted very similar to his mothers so good and full with love.

After the both of you finished you talked some more while you quickly washed the dishes.

"Well i should head out dear"

"No need its still raining and i have a spare bedroom u can use"

"Are you sure dear?"

"Yes i'm sure why else would i offer it?"

Then you both went to bed.

⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧

After that your bond was very nice both of you had feeling for each other but didn't say for some reasons.

First Al didn't want you to find out he was a f'n serial killer.(what would you think of him?)

And you were just scared of what people would say to you like why date a radio host you can definitely score a hot rich man with all ur beauty.

But either way both of you were satisfied with being just friend/coworkers for now.

⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧

Until you had suspicions he was the killer. you didn't have much proof but you confronted him

"hey Al? can i talk to you bout something"

"Sure thing! what is it?"

"Um well just wanted to know are you the killer that has been going around killing the innocent?

"Oh no dear no i'm not why would i be"

"oh well there was some staff saying it might be you"

"oh well who was it?"

"well a lot of the male staff was saying it like mike don and Sam"

"Well you don't need to worry ur little head about it I think i can handle it with them"

"Oh okay, then i'm going to head out for the day bye Al"

"Bye Y/n see you"

⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧⬧"

Hello finally finished part 1. Part 2 will hope fully come out Wednesday.

Hope ya'll liked it.

~Hidden Love~

Tag-list

@rl800

[lunchtimebedamned1997]

Commission for @hashbrownwut <3

(alt. versions, lineart, concepts and general process under the cut along with a speedpaint :3)

I was commissioned by Hashbrownwut, AKA Shiningnight on AO3 to do this piece to go alongside their fanfic "Shadows and Light"!

Thank you so so much Shiningnight for being my first ever commission and an absolute joy to work for <3

So in Shiningnight's fic, its 1957 and Vox comes over to Al's place to show him the movie he's starred in, and our favorite Radio demon get a little too jealous of the doe demon starring alongside Vox >:3

The film Vox stars in takes inspiration from the film Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn and so Shining wanted this comm to take inspo from that film as well, sending me these beautiful references:

Our first image on the left was the general inspiration, but then they made the fantastic request to give Alastor a suit inspired by the dress Audrey is wearing in the image on the right!

Based on that I made a few concepts, and we ended up settling on the sketch in pink below, after which I got to line it, which was a really satisfying process this time around! it's probably one of my favorite bits of lineart I've done in a good long while.

Overall, this comm was a blast and a half, and I cannot think SN enough for their support - for going out of their way and asking if I offered commissions, you have no idea what that meant to me. Thank you so much for supporting me and my art <333 I've wanted to be an artist my entire life, and your support makes me feel like I'm a huge leap closer to my dreams.

Sap hours will continue silently over here on my end, but how about a quick little speedpaint to finish things up?

You'll see couple other refs they sent me for smaller elements pop up here and there, but this post is long enough as is XD

If anyone else would like to commission me, pls lmk! If anyone else has interest I'll put together a little ref sheet of prices and work examples! <3 My asks and DMs are open :D

[avatarkurukdefender]

Since the adhd brain refuses to cooperate and let me finish chapter two of A Literal Team Avatar...might as well talk about it instead

Specifically about the Boiling Rock arc

Aka the arc where I get to go full whump writer and torment the beloveds

:3

Kuruk and Roku are gonna get captured after the failed invasion during the eclipse (fpr reasons that I will not spoil)

And they are going to be taken to the Boiling Rock and will be there for about three weeks, maybe a month since that seems like how long that time period was.

That will be the worst time of their new lives

They will be separated almost immediately upon arriving, with Roku being taken to solitary confinement in the freezer (where he will stay for at least like sixty to seventy percent of his time in the prison) while Kuruk is taken deeper into the prison.

Ans the Warden will take EVERY possible precaution to make sure Kuruk cant bend. Because its one thing to hold a powerful firebender, just lock them in the freezer and they cant bend. No problem.

But keeping a WATER bender from bending in a prison that is literally SURROUNDED by water is a much more difficult task.

So Kuruk will be kept in a very hot, very dry room. Dry air will be filtered through at all times, he will be guarded at all times, there will be MULTIPLE locked metal doors before even reaching his cell, and most importantly

He will be heavily restrained.

Hands completely covered in metal cuffs, more restraints on the elbows, knees, and thighs and ankles, even a shackle around his NECK to really keep him as still as physically possible.

Oh did I mention that they will only give him the BARE MINIMUM amount of water needed to keep him from dying of dehydration (like once every five days)

They'll feed him even less.

Anything to keep him weak, prevent any chance of him breaking out.

Because Kuruk is definitely the most dangerous person in the prison and if he got out all hell would break loose

Meanwhile Roku is just gonna be left alone with his thoughts, with his guilt because this was all his fault, it was his fault that they got captured it was his fault that Kuruk was suffering and he was helpless to stop it, hell it was his fault that this entire war was even happening!

Because even thought he's in solitary, in the freezing cold, unable to bend, he's not actively being STARVED to death (even though he's only getting fed a bit more frequently than Kuruk) and being constantly kept on the brink of dehydration and close to heatstroke.

It will be such a relief when Sokka, Zuko and Yangchen come to rescue them and eventually Suki, Sokka's dad, and the other inmate guy whose name I cant remember.

The only reason Kyoshi wasn't allowed to join the rescue mission was because both her mentor and her former pupil being held hostage would make it be an absolute BLOODBATH.

It will still be a mass homicide when Yangchen sees Kuruk in his current state. Jst not as bloody, because she can just make people's lungs collapse, trap them in an airless void or just obliterate them with a close ranged scream.

Kuruk will get to drown people with boiling water, as a treat.

Zuko is gonna realize just how lucky he was that Aang is a pacifist because air nomads can become absolutely terrifying when "all life is sacred" goes out the window.

There will be three chapters before the actual boiling rock arc begins

One when Roku and Kuruk are first brought to the prison.

Another on how they're doing during the Sun Warriors arc

And a final one the night before the rescue trio arrive at the prison.

(The chapters will be titled "No Mind To Think." "No Will To Break." And "No Voice To Cry Suffering." Yes that is a Hollow Knight reference that game is a masterpiece, one of my favorite video games EVER and I cant wait for Silksong so bite me)

Why does this arc have to be so far away :(

Anyways enjoy

[fivekrystalpetals]

Core of the Abyss and 'her' Children of "Misfortune"

(aka I can't stop thinking how the Core always welcomed and reached out to the Children of "Ill-Omen"— just some observations)

So, once again quoting Lacie's words from Retrace 101:

Yes, always alone and lonely...without even knowing what loneliness is. Still, 'she' kept yearning.. for someone to push through the cold darkness and reach her. —'She' longed for 'someone' who could do that.

[Anyway I am ignoring everything the Glen(s) and the Jury ever said about the Core of the Abyss or the Children of Misfortune (because I don't trust them at all) —and taking only Lacie's theory here to be the truth,]

so, a few theories:

1] Break would have been drawn into the Core of the Abyss whether or not the Intention wanted his eyes

When his illegal seal finished a full turn, Break reached the Core of the Abyss unlike other illegal contractors who fall into the Abyss.

I had assumed this was possible only because the Intention of the Abyss herself summoned Break there so she could pluck out his red eyes for her blind Cheshire before he turns into a chain.

Even the other dolls mention this situation as unusual. The Intention never lets a human/illegal contractor into her room.

You don't usually bring humans here when they drop into the Abyss.

Meaning, the other illegal contractors on completing their contracts get dropped into the abyss and turn into chains without ever meeting the Intention for whatever they wished of her. So much for going through all this trouble lol

So, I imagined that only those whom the Intention permits could enter the Core of the Abyss (that is, her lovely toy room);

But.

Vincent does "waltz" into her "room" without any problem???

Now, I don't think Vince entered her room to purposely antagonize her as he usually did, because he was pretty shaken by all the bloodshed and massacre he just witnessed at Sablier. It was a coincidence and even he seemed shocked he was meeting White Alice in her "other" room when he was sure "Alice" had died in the real world. In fact, he wonders if there being another Alice and all the madness going on in the toy room was his fault as well...

Secondly, this is a feat none of the other older and more experienced Baskervilles could achieve, right?

All the surviving Baskervilles got swept into the Abyss during the Tragedy of Sablier. Yet not one of them came in contact with the Intention. They were only able to traverse the Abyss and come out at various points of time. They did not know what the Intention looked like; neither do any of them talk about actually having met her. They merely repeat what Xai or Glen told them that it was the sudden appearance of the Intention that changed the very configuration of the Abyss as they knew it before.

That's why I think the Intention's words are only partially true (but I don't think she realized this either).

That is, she does have complete control over who enters the Core of the Abyss/her room—

Except for the Children of Ill-Omen.

Because the Children of Ill-Omen are specifically birthed by the Core and are very precious to 'her', the Core wants them to reach out to 'her' at the very depth. So that whenever a Child of Ill-Omen falls into the Abyss willingly*, they are directly led to the Core that used to be a dark shapeless form during Lacie's time, but took on the form of a toy room after the Intention became its vessel.

Lacie insisted that she could see "someone" at the depth of the Abyss and that the "someone" couldn't answer her—

but of course, the Glens and Jury only regard the Core as something not to be touched or approached unless "a serious crisis occurs"

and every time the Core produces another Child of Ill-Omen, hoping, waiting, over and over again that they will reach out to 'her' at the very abyssal depth... instead, they are meted out the punishment of being dragged down by Black Chains and left to die in the very Abyss that wanted to cherish their company. They are being "returned" to the Core because of the misinformation/falsehood that the presence of a Red-Eyed child is an accidental distortion created by the Core and pose danger to the integrity of the world

whereas the actual reason is that Core just wants someone to help her not be lonely anymore.

See:

How sweet is it that the Core loved her toy so much that 'she' gave it a tiny spark of life and trembled in grief when 'she' hears that Lacie will never visit her again? ;_;

The Core never asked for the "ill-omened" children to be punished for being born; on the contrary, they are the ones most precious to her.

That's why I think they inevitably end up in the Core to keep 'her' company, whatever be the reason they fell into the Abyss in the first place, whether the completion of an illegal contract or being swept into the Abyss.

(willingly*: I mean, when the Child of Ill-Omen falls into the Abyss by any other means than being held down by the Black Winged Chains. Because Lacie could descend into the Core by herself but held down by the Black Chains, she could only wait out her permanent death.)

(Since Gil was with Vince, he too winded up in the Core, but he was not cognizant of his surroundings so that's a moot point anyway.)

2] That Break listens and commits himself to the one and only request of the Intention of the Abyss

This is in continuation to the first point; hence, kind of a paradoxical situation—

Because only a Child of Ill-Omen could have ever reached to the depth of the Abyss; and so, only a Child of Ill-Omen could have ever got to listen to her request at all.

But by the end of the story, (thanks to Lady Shelly, by the way, because if not for her, would Break have lived on to pass the Intention's desire to the kids? I don't think so), everyone came to know what the Intention really wanted and worked towards the goal.

So that, knowingly or otherwise, Break did fulfill his role as the bridge between the living world and the Core of the Abyss before his death.

As Leo asked of Vince in Retrace 104:

[mel1rose]

Prologue

As flame reduces even the stars to ash, as ice seals away even time itself, as great trees swallow even the sky...

Fear not the power of darkness.

And so, we start where it all began. Come, let me show you a real happily ever after...

~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~

Word Count: 1.7k

Inspo Music: Toccata & Fugue in d minor - comp. Bach, arr. Stokowski; Thinking Time - TWST Soundtrack (aka post-overblot flashback theme part 1); Beauty and the Beast Prologue Instrumental (1991) - comp. Menken

Warnings: Gender-neutral reader, hello darkness my old friend, existential questions, spooky ambience, and the slightest hint of blood if you squint, but nothing recent.

~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~

Darkness is the only thing you know.

You can’t move, for the shadows envelop you in their embrace. You can’t hear, for the eerie silence snuffs all sound. You can’t see, for the void is all that exists.

Well, the void, and apparently you, are all that exists.

…That can’t be right.

Wasn’t there supposed to be something happening? Something important?

You wrack your brain for something, anything, that could illuminate your reason for being here. You try to remember what happened. Nothing. You try to remember how you got here. Nothing. You try to dig deeper, to the first memory you have, any memory, really, to tell you who you are. All you know is you and the void.

But one thought, strong and clear, crosses your mind.

Find them.

…Find who?

Find them, the thought insists.

Why? You ask. Why do I need to find them?

Find them, the thought insists again.

But somehow it feels right. It feels like what you’re supposed to do. But…how? You’re trapped in a never-ending, cold, dark void…

…Not for much longer.

You feel something start to grow in your heart. You look down and see light for the first time. It’s small, unassuming against the ever-expansive darkness.

But it’s there. It’s shining. It’s…warm. Your warm light.

Little by little, it expands to the rest of your body, chasing away the cold from your chest, your shoulders, your torso, your limbs, your neck, all the way to the top of your head and the tips of your fingers and toes.

This is not where you’ll stay, not if you have anything to say about it.

You stretch out your hand, finally able to move, focusing all your being on finding a way out. Your hand starts to glow, growing brighter and brighter until it bursts and fractures into a million stars. They swirl around you in a beautiful dance of light and color that almost look like…strings. In fact, the longer you look, the more shapes start to take definite form. You swear you can hear a firm, yet gentle melody pierce the silence with its rising and falling tones. The lights finish their dance in a grand flourish, coming together in a flash and a shower of sparkles to reveal a door.

You step forward and open it.

~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~

You find yourself standing in a garden. The sun is shining, the air is clear, and the scent of roses hangs on the breeze. You feel soft grass cushioning your bare feet. You hear the leaves rustling in the swaying trees and birds chirping as they fly overhead. Vine-covered walls line the border on one side while towering hedges line the other.

It’s warm, you notice. So warm.

Find them, you hear the breeze whisper.

There it is again. No time to rest, you suppose.

Guided by the breeze, you walk through the garden, stepping onto a path of mossy stones, passing beds of tulips, daisies, and dandelions. A few rose bushes guard the exit, framing a well-traveled walkway that becomes more overgrown and unkept the farther you travel away from the garden.

You don’t have to walk very far to see where the breeze wants you to go. Past a towering tree, its trunk thick and strong, you notice that the same stone wall from the garden stretches out along the path. It ends at a rounded stone archway that opens into a dark, interior hallway; the closer you are to it, the more you notice the cracks that line the archway’s surface and the increasing lack of sunlight shining down on you.

Find them, you hear the breeze whisper in a chorus of voices.

Against your better judgement, you cross the threshold into the hallway, following where the breeze takes you. Dust clouds hang in the air. Cobwebs decorate any surface or corner they can stick to. What were once grand carpets, drapes, tapestries, and tables now bear the scars of ravenous colonies of moths and termites.

Find them, the whispers on the breeze say. But the breeze doesn’t feel inviting anymore.

It feels cold. So…cold…

As wind whips past you, you rub your arms together, trying to salvage whatever warmth you had left from the garden. You look up to see the raggedy crimson drapes sway one after the other down the hallway until an old wooden door at its end slowly creeeaaaaks open.

Find them, the whispers say. You feel the return of the wind, now buffeting you from behind towards the open door and into the dark room beyond.

It’s too far for the sun’s rays to reach you here. But as you step forward, small square braziers by your feet activate with a puff of smoke one after the other until the entire room is lit by soft, blue flames.

You’ve entered a room lined with cracked columns. Frayed navy blue strips of patchy velvet limply decorate the walls, some parts stained a dull yellow. Eight pedestals stand in the middle of the room, forming a walkway towards an elevated platform accessible by worn marble stairs but covered by those same navy blue drapes like curtains on a stage. Curious, you take a closer look at the pedestals and their display of a…varied assortment of objects.

A broken crown, wilting like a dead flower despite being made of a sturdy metal. Obviously, it wasn’t sturdy enough to handle the pressure.

A curved claw, adorned with a large chasm that threatens to split it in two. Parts of it are discolored with patches of dark yellow and reddish brown. Something bad must’ve happened to the poor creature that this belonged to for the claw of all things to retain damage.

A seashell necklace, worn with holes covering its cracked surface. Its faded golden luster and threadbare black chord testify of numerous uses. Interesting choice for a display that’s nowhere near the sea.

A red gem, dulled from countless scratches. It’s still attached to a torn scrap of black fabric and the frayed remnants of a feather. Maybe with a little bit of polish it’ll look good as new?

A dagger, its blade covered with rust and threatening to fall off. Gem-shaped indents in the hilt are little more than forgotten craters in the metalwork. Pity. That could’ve been useful if things go south.

A skull-shaped brooch, the pin on the back bent at an odd angle and hanging loosely from the spring that once kept it in place. Oh come on! That could’ve been perfect for…something.

A sharp needle about a foot long, miraculously spotless and kept in good condition compared to the other objects. But upon closer inspection, there’s some slight discoloration at the bottom and a single track of a reddish brown substance that spans from the tip to most of the way down its length. This feels…oddly…familiar…maybe from a dream?

An antique gold key, its bow bearing a simple design of a raven’s skull. A strip of black-and-white striped fabric tied around the shaft droops downward as a lifeless little bow. What does it unlock?

You analyze the objects one by one, taking in all of their details and imperfections. Only one catches your eye. You return to it, inexplicably drawn to the artifact like a moth to a flame. You reach out to touch it.

Find them, the whispers say, urging you on.

But before you can make contact, you feel the wind return once again, this time flapping the drapes covering the platform until you hear fabric tearing from the force. By the time you run up to stabilize them, the frayed drapes fully separate from their base and fall to the ground, taking you with them in a puff of dust, debris, and a sneeze or two.

From your vantage point on the ground, you notice two things. One - the aged drapes are not stained. In actuality, they bear a faded yellow pattern of stars and crescent moons. Two - those drapes were covering a rather large, rather clean, rather expensive-looking oval mirror.

Golden snakes twisting around themselves form the frame, accented by a few shining rubies. At the top sits a crown of feathers, molded from the same metal that houses the mirror itself. You expect to see your reflection as you stand up, but you see nothing except an empty void.

Well, you see nothing except an empty void and a shadowy figure walking towards you.

It stops at what would be just in front of the mirror. All you can make out are long, flowing, black robes, making it appear as if it were a being risen from the shadows themselves. It holds out its bare, clawed hand towards you in a silent invitation.

Find them, the whispers in your heart say, stronger than ever.

You hesitate for a moment. You look down at your hand. You look back at the mirror. You reach forward, expecting to hit glass, but your hand passes right through the rippling surface. You take the figure’s steady hand.

As you step through the mirror, you glance all around you and see not one, not two, but seven lights, all coming from their own mirrors, all following the shadow holding your hand. Each light glows a different color at a different brightness, even compared to your own, but all chase away the feeling of dread that briefly settled in your heart at seeing the void again. You realize that you’re not alone anymore. You look back towards the figure again, each step more confident than the last.

The figure stops, turning around to face you and the gathering of lights. The same flowing robes that obscure the shadow’s body shroud its face. You hear a voice speak in your mind, sophisticated yet slightly grating, distorted somewhat by the whispers that echo its words.

To me. To them. To yourself.

The hour grows long, and time is scarce.

Keep steady your grip, no matter what may come…

And as you fall back into the darkness’ cold, soft embrace once more, a revelation crosses your mind.

You…are you, right?

No. You are…you…but…not…at the same time.

You are @$#%*&$%&^.

You are…Yuu.

And you’re about to become the meal of a large gray chimera with blue flames shooting out of its ears.

Welcome to the Villains’ world, Yuu@$#%*&$%&^

~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~

A/N: It's finally done!!! I'm so happy to share this with everyone and to actually put an idea down on paper that I've had for a long time now. I've got more stories to share, so stay tuned!

I do not own Twisted Wonderland or any of its characters; those rights belong to Yana Toboso, Aniplex, and Disney.

I do own any stories that I write. Please do not modify or repost my work.

[thesrctsoftheuniverse]

it took me two weeks but i finished season 5!!!! because i was on holiday for some of it i assumed it would take much less, but the wifi was shit and then once i got home something in my apartment broke so i just couldnt deal

anyway!!! here's my thoughts:

im sorry but no other disaster will ever compare to the tsunami. the earthquake came closest, but what in the world was this one??? especially because it didnt even get resolved, what do you mean the hackers just gave up? WHAT? that makes absolutely no fucking sense.

athena's storyline throughout the disaster episodes was fucking amazing though. i love her. and i love that harry had a bigger role too!! honestly, the way that dude was able to simply walk out of the courtroom was .... ridiculous but well i dont watch this show for its realism!!! but the way the storyline from the beginning of the season affected the entire grant-nash family was really great

michael and david???? hello that episode was amazing, the fire at the hospital, bobby going in and telling david that michael was going to PROPOSE!!!! i loved that episode, honestly big calls like that one are soooooo good!!! very sad that michael and david just straight up disappeared wtf

may!! i love you may. you are amazing may. you deserve the world. i loved seeing her grow and her conflict with her coworker. and I LOVED getting to know the other employees at dispatch even more, seeing their personalities shine through.

speaking of dispatch THE FUCKING BOSTON EPISODE??? i mean maddie straight up leaving and shit already affected the entire team ect and it was clear to see throughout the season but the boston episode was (to me) a kind of "maddie begins again" episode, where she slowly heals and gets back on her feet.

chimney is so fucking in love with maddie, i dont really understand why they broke up but i know they'll find their way back to each other. also. he's an AMAZING father. he loves his daughter so much and its wonderful to see. and the comeback of eli? i love that character, truly amazing to see him come back for a bit. and chim is just... SO GOOD!! he is so underrated imo but he's just an amazing friend and coworker and just kind. i know he fought with buck and whatever but thats kind of understandable imo

idk why the writers this season thought they should just make ALL of the grant-nash family go THROUGH it this season but bobby??? i felt like he was so close to relapsing so many times, i was truly afraid more than once. he cares about his team and his family so deeply. having him relive his trauma of losing his family in the fire not just with david but with MAY??? god that episode was amazing. truly. bobby nash i love you. and may calling him her dad? im sobbing. the almost relapse? wow.

this season has been really good and doing callbacks to earlier incidents and forcing characters into situations similar to previous traumas, especially with the mayday episode with both bobby and chim. when him and albert were together on that roof my heart dropped, even before albert almost fell in.

i hated lucy at the beginning but i liked her when she wasnt focused on buck. i know he's hot or whatever but you're literally hotter and can do better, please go find lena bosko and hook up. i feel like she finally became a more fleshed out character towards the end of the season and thats when i really liked her. i hope she shows up again in the next seasons, but this show seems to have the habit of forgetting some female characters exist after some time aka after they served the purpose of helping with character development for a male character (LIKE LENA FUCKING BOSKO???)

i love albert, i hope he finds something that fits him better and that he still shows up occasionally.

i want more ravi. what the fuck. bring him back. he's so cool.

i loved hen's mom!!!!! and her love story this season??? UGH amazing

hen and karen truly are just *that* couple. i love them together, i love them seperately, i need karen to interact with the other members of the 118 more often. also where did hen's med school storyline go????????? im lost. anyways hen was so fucking cool this season, she was an amazing fucking friend and she was so supportive of chim and her instincts are once again right and no one should ever doubt her because she is amazing and smart and stunning and beautiful and kind and spectacular and i love her and her family. i missed her and chim together tho. i just want them back. but also i want her to mentor new paramedics, i feel like she would be amazing and at the same time would force her to learn to trust different paramedics again.

buck this season. you pissed me off when kissing lucy and then asking taylor to move in instead of confessing. but i like that he then DID tell her. but not cool. i really like that this season buck seemed to just show what good of a friend he can be. especially to eddie. also, buck didnt see his sister for like six months, i do wish we had kind of seen how that affected him a bit more. i liked his relationship with taylor, i like taylor. she is clearly more focused on her career than building a relationship and trust ect. but i dont think she's a terrible person. i think they will be better off as friends and i hope we see them interact again from time to time.

eddie. eddie. eddie. my love. i lvoe you. pls. i am VERY glad he finally had a mental breakdown and dealt with at least SOME of his trauma. he is such an asshole sometimes, i love his comebacks to his coworkers and friends. i love him and i love his love for christopher. those two love each other so much. but yes i loved seeing eddie cry this season, i loved seeing him talk about his feelings and learn and grow and i loved seeing him with his friends and new coworkers at dispatch. him and josh being frenemies is so funny to me, maddie should invite the two of them over for dinner or something and watch them interact while eating popcorn. i think she'd enjoy it. him and buck's friendship this season was everything to me, they were able to lean on each other. and when chris called buck while eddie literally trashed his room?? jesus fucking christ. i love the three of them. eddie's breakup with ana was COLD. that woman just looked after your son while you were on shift for longer than expected, you couldn't have let her go home and rest before breaking up??? please free the women of la from him. perfect breakup for gay storyline btw, but anyways. and him knowing right away that bobby was drowning in his guilt and going to drown himself in a bottle and going there to stop him? without even mentioning his suspicions. i love him learning to talk to his friends and family more about his and their feelings.

sad to know that that dude from the mayday episode has not yet shown up again in josh's life, because they would be cute together and josh deserves to have a personality outside of work.

the episode about the prison break ect was super cool and interesting. and also the episode about that bitch ass jonah. i hope he rots for hurting chim and for traumatising hen. asshole. i wish bobby had punched him some more.

comeback of clipboard buck. we need one per season minimum.

anyways this season was super good and fun and i loved it especially because eddie had a breakdown this season and because so many of the 118 and friends had to learn how to cope with their ptsd or relive their trauma in different ways, it felt like it gave closure to a bunch of storylines (except for helping eddie move on from the death of his wife).

[cactusspatz]

June recs

Quiet month for me, I was doing a lot of re-reading, so have a small random assortment of four stories!

Guanyin's Gift by Potboy/ @galadhir (Untamed/MDZS, JGY/LXC)

You can't build a goddess of mercy a large temple and pay for priests to worship her every day without earning at least some merit. Aka, by divine mercy, Jin Guangyao gets a chance to do his life all over again.

Excellent time-travel fix-it, JGY-style (so: subtlety and rumor and spycraft, with a side of making sure His People are all happy).

Reunion Dinner by vivisextion (Untamed/MDZS, gen)

Jiang Cheng realises that his own nephew has never tried his mother's signature dish, and takes it upon himself to rectify this.

Definitely a premise I've seen before, but his journey to re-creating the recipe draws in a lot of other characters in sweet ways - and also uses the author's own recipe/experience. Very satisfying.

Ready for Love by @idiopathicsmile (Singin' in the Rain, Cosmo/Don/Kathy)

Don and Kathy would move in together. They would have a dog or two and then inevitably, a small parade of adorable little brats who would call him Uncle Cosmo, and they would spend less and less time with him, not on purpose but busy with the rest of their lives, and ultimately Cosmo would learn to make his peace with it because he’d have no other choice and he would have to try to move on and not live too much in his memories. He could picture it so clearly, he figured if the songwriting gig with Monumental didn’t pan out, he could always return to the backwater circuit with a new act: The Amazing Cosmo of the Cosmos—ladies and gentlemen, he sees the future, he reads the stars, he silently pines for his best married pal and all the while tap dancing! Don and Kathy inviting him along on their honeymoon, though—that part was a surprise.

Hilarious, darling post-movie get-together featuring note-perfect banter and pining ADHD Cosmo.

Running Behind by @asidian (Final Fantasy XV, gen)

There's a tag hanging on his storage pod, instead of the clipboard that documents his progress. On that tag, there's a single word stamped in red: defective. NH-01987's feet stick on the metal of the catwalk. Behind the ever-present metallic mask, his eyes grow huge. He knows what that tag means. It means that, in the morning, while the other MT units are collected for training, a guard will come for him. He'll be restrained and escorted down the metal corridors toward the east wing, into the double-doors that house the correctional facility. But he won't be up for re-programming, not this time. This time, they'll strap him down to a table for the last time ever. They'll pick him apart, to try and learn what caused his failures – and he has so very many of them, no matter how hard he's tried. When they're finished, they'll take what's left to the crematory. That will be the end of him: a pile of ashes and a wisp of smoke.

I don't even go here, but I just could not resist a return to my fannish roots of reading fic about a fugitive child soldier with a barcode tattoo learning how to be a person - and it's a gorgeous h/c fic in its own right. 10/10 will comfort read again.

[just-here-with-my-thoughts]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Tagged in the 20 Questions game by @the-little-moment and @kybercrystals94! It was fun to read both of your answers too! :D

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

15, although one of them is a collection containing multiple short stories :)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

160,403. That's 3x 30k multi-chapter fics and the rest short stories :)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment, The Bad Batch. I have fond attachment to older stories for Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West, and Iron Kingdoms as well.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1/ System Upgrade The Kaminoans upgrade Echo's cybernetics before he is cleared to join the Batch, and then he has to bond with his new squad. 2/ A Fair Price To Pay Crosshair is determined to break Omega out of Tantiss. Along the way, she saves him too. 3/ Test Subject Originally a one-shot, now the prequel/first part of System Upgrade. Echo being experimented on by the Kaminoans. 4/ Beach Days & Hair Braiding Nothing but sweet, tooth-rotting, brotherly fluff. Hunter, Omega and Crosshair on Pabu. 5/ Phobia 300 words, Omega helps the Batch deal with an unwelcome 8-legged guest ;)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I'm an inherently social creature. I always want you to know how much your comment means to me, and it's even better when we get a conversation going.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm, this is probably a draw between Soup Of The Day and Presumed Dead. Definitely no positive outlook at the end of those.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Another toss-up between Beach Days & Hair Braiding and Human Weapon aka. the Birthday Cake Fic. Both set with everyone living happily on Pabu and both end with Hunter and Crosshair starting to regain some of their old brotherly closeness :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Haven't yet, apart from getting caught up in the AO3 bot comment fiasco!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do ;) My flavour is more to do with the emotional connection and closeness between two people who trust each other very much, M rather than E rating. I love a love story :')

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No but I get to brainstorm them all the time with @ninjadeathblade! The craziest one? There's been so many! But I want to say The Bad Batch/Mamma Mia crossover. Nobody was finding out who Omega's dad was in that because all the clones have the same DNA XD

11. (Question 11 was missing! So I wrote my own!) Which fic are you proud of but wish had gotten a bigger response from your readers?

Welcome To The Outpost got off to a slow start, and I wonder if it's because for half of the story it didn't include a single main character from the show? But the people who did read left such wonderful comments so I shall continue to consider this fic my underrated gem!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Adrenaline Crash by the fabulous @tech-o-mania

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

None of my published ones, but I literally spent my teen years writing fic by passing notes back and forth in class, me and my friends taking it in turns to add a few lines to the story!

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

I don't think I have one? I am fairly open to reading anything and know how to use the back button if I don't like it. It's less about the characters involved and more about reading the same idiots-to-lovers trope in as many different ways possible.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Well it would be lovely to finish all my Iron Kingdoms inspired stories because I'm so attached to them, but it's also so sprawling and I have only me to motivate myself so... I guess that's not happening ^^;

16. What are your writing strengths?

I like to think it's the occasional absolutely devastating heart-breaking descriptive prose that sneaks its way into my writing :P

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Over-punctuation ^^; I tend to add punctuation every time I pause for thought, which means at times, there really isn't a lot of flow, to my writing, because the little reset counter in my head, forgets when the last time I stopped for a proper break is. Then I have to go back and edit it into sensible length sentences!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I have only used fantasy languages, but in Iron Kingdoms a large part of my main character's drive was her heritage so language played a significant part in that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Final Fantasy 8! Oh so long ago and sad to have lost it in many computer transfers since then. I think everyone should keep the fics they wrote when they were 14. I worked so hard on that story ;_;

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I have a lot of favourites but my number one is probably Adrenaline Crash. I am feral for Feral Hunter.

Tagging if you'd like to play! :- @royallykt @theproblemwithstardust @lifblogs @holdingonforheaven @tech-o-mania @fanfoolishness and anyone else who fancies copying the questions and letting me know about your writing ^_^

[midnightfire830]

Smol ask, can u draw Holly's design in the Villains Au? Or just a little itty bitty mini sketches? I wanna see her more :]

And, uh, Alice too? Also i wanna know more about 'em:))

Day 13: Problem

Sorry for the late response! I honestly struggle with drawing women! 😅

I made this AU before I finished the labyrinth so Villain!holly is pretty much Mayhem.

So! After being expelled from Yen Sid academy for looking through private records and having her name practically scorned by the public, being fired by her job, and living practically homeless, Holly decided that she would start her own business of secrets.

She set up an interconnected network of information running through the majority of organizations, businesses, and government branches of the US through spies and favors. She runs her business finding and selling secrets. Blackmailing the rich, trading favors and secrets, manipulating the people who have things they don’t want to come to light to the public. She got the journalist whole publicly shamed her, Jeremy Fairfax, fired. And sued Yen Sid.

She and Bendy are good acquaintances, both work in similar fields and work quite well together as work partners, so Holly got on the quest because her knowledge in runes, ancient history, and literally everything had Bendy go to her for a little help. She became invested and fascinated by the quest and joined as an official member.

The questers then of course got the cog and Holly got possessed by it. The questers managed to restrict the cog’s powers and allow her to remain tied but still in control while using the cog to boost her abilities a bit to help with her rune magic so she can do more for the quest. And it allows Holly to study the parts a little better too.

(Also sorry I don’t have too much time to draw Villain Alice (AKA I’m scared to attempt to draw another woman and its 1:30 AM and Art block is creeping up on meeee TwT) So I’ll tell you her backstory bc I don’t think I ever shared it!

Now Alice is a bit more of a heartbreaking story. She was an innocent angel who went to the surface for her act of charity. In staying on the surface she fell for a demon. When the upper found out about her love for the demon they rejected her and she either fell or ran away from the Upper to live her life with the demon. I haven’t decided which outcome I’m going to do for her. But if i go with the first the demon she fell in love with was Bendy and she’s still in love with him. If I go with the second option the demon was either bendy or a random demon that we never know. Either way she runs away if it’s the demon we don’t know, then the demon breaks her heart and leaves her for dead. If it’s bendy he either leaves her and she’s really bitter about it or they’re still in love.

From there she begins to take a huge hold of the black market (you know, the ones that took her to the dark circus?) and starts running things her way. OR She starts some kind of rebellion against the Upper with other fallen angels. I haven’t decided.

Enjoy the doodly sketch! And I hope this answers your ask! Thanks!

[vagabondfandoms]

More Than A Moment

Falls On Me Part Two

Day Nine: Rosymorn Pilgrimage Route

Rating: Teen

Previous Parts: Falls On Me

Tags/Warning: Gale POV, Gale x Female Tav. Gale needs reminders to eat, a brief mention of Gale's past sexual escapades, and light-hearted teasing from the group. Approx: 1300 words

Sorry for the delay in uploading the second part of Falls on Me. I was fighting with the second half of this chapter. So I decided to expand the more playful part so I could release it as its own. The next chapter will contain more serious story points aka Githyanki Creche.

---

The Tadpole Troupe has been on the road a couple of days since they left the sanctuary of the Druid’s Grove. They encountered gnolls and a Zhentarim hideout on the road to Baldur’s Gate but nothing proves too perilous for the group of now eight. 

Halsin decided to join their team, having both knowledge of the Shadowlands surrounding Moonrise Towers and a personal vendetta to see that area free of the darkness plaguing it. Gale doesn’t mind having the druid on the team, the wood elf brings a certain level-headedness to the group that only a man who lived as long as Halsin could provide.

Knowing the area the best, Halsin recommended two routes to Moonrise. The first was through the Underdark and the second was through the mountains. Lae’zel was still keen on visiting the Githyanki Creche, claiming the zaith’isk could purify their minds of the mind-flayer tadpoles. Since the tadpoles were still a huge concern for the majority of the group, they headed to the mountain pass with only mild grumbling about “not trusting the gith” from Shadowheart.

The Mountain Path proved treacherous with the road not being maintained for several years. The locals living at an inn claimed it was once a popular pilgrimage route for the followers of Lathander but ever since the Githyanki took over the area, nobody travels to the monastery anymore.

Even with the road being rough, Gale can see why the area was once a popular destination. The scenery was breathtaking with its spectacular mountain vistas, waterfalls, and views of the vast landscape below. The trees are lush and just starting to turn their autumn colors. Gale wishes it was a few weeks later into the year so he could see the valley in its full colorful splendor. 

On more than one occasion Gale finds himself stopping to enjoy his surroundings while giving his legs a well-needed break. During these rests either Copper or himself will wander to each other and share a snack between them. It was nice getting reminders to eat and drink because Gale was extremely bad at remembering on his own. His mind was always too occupied with his research and education, to think about caring for his body. 

The wizard often wished he had a spell that could take care of all the menial everyday tasks, such as eating, drinking, or going to the bathroom without him having to stop what he was doing. But once he eats a delicious meal he remembers why he loves food so much and feels a little guilty (in a voice that sounds awfully like his mother) for denying his body such nourishment. Being on the road, however, is making Gale miss any type of food that wasn't dried, salted, or half rotten. 

“I wish we were back at my tower in Waterdeep,” Gale grumbles sourly to Copper as he takes a bite of dried fish. “I have an excellent kitchen and a wine cellar to rival Ondal himself. I could make us a sumptuous home-cooked meal of quipper fish topped with my mother’s famous hundur sauce.” He waves the half-eaten fish in the air wanting to throw it away but takes a bite to finish it instead. “A far *munch* better meal than this pathetic thing.” 

“You would want me there? At your home?” Copper asks with a slight blush on her cheeks. Gale always likes when Copper blushes but instead of getting distracted this time by the adorable redness of her cheeks, he notices the surprise in her voice. 

“Of course!” Gale encourages, placing one of his hands on hers. “You can meet my mother and Tara as well. But I might not invite them to dinner… they can be awfully nosey and I want our first real meal together as pleasant as possible.” 

“What else are we going to do?” Copper says happily, playing along with the fantasy. She even laces their fingers together and slightly swings their hands back and forth as they start walking.

“Well, after keeping up our appearances with my mothers. Tara likes to think I’m her kitten even though I outweigh her 10 times over.” Gale adds quickly. “We can take a walk down near the waters. There’s a lovely stretch of beach between Watching Tower and Habor Watch. If we are adventurous we could even travel up to the beaches near West Gate. But to be honest, I would like to stay close to home. It makes for a quicker getaway if the mood takes us on more romantic routes.” 

“Gale!” Copper shoves him playfully in the shoulder, stifling a laugh. “Are you telling me in a roundabout way that you made love in the sand before?”

“Well it wasn’t my most proud moment,” Gale confesses, a playful glint in his eye. “I had sand up my arsecheeks for a good day or two after the encounter. Not even a spell could fix it. But I expect no wizard ever fully committed themselves to try to develop a sand-in-the-bahoochie removal charm.” 

Copper starts laughing and Gale can feel the vibrations through their cusped hands. He’s on the verge of laughing too when Copper gives him a heated stare. “Soooo, since we established the beach isn’t your favorite spot to make love. Where is Mister Waterdeep’s preferred locat….” 

Before Copper could finish her sentence, Astarion comes barging between the flirting couple, breaking their hold on each other’s hands. “Urgh, enough of all this sweet talk! It’s making me feel sick,” the pale elf complains.

“HEY!” Karlach and Shadowheart shout in unison. 

“It was just getting to the good part,” Karlach whines as Astarion sticks his tongue out to taunt her. 

Scratch and Owlbert Dark Feathers sensing the playful energy, start to run in circles, jumping up at their human companions wanting to join in on the fun. Their joyful antics just upped the chaotic energy that erupted around the befuddled couple.

“I was looking forward to hearing more.” Shadowheart sighs as she leisurely passes Gale and Copper as Karlach, Scratch, and the Owlbear Cub barrel past them after the teasing vampire. 

Gale quickly catches sight of a mischievous gleam in the tieflings eyes and sees within seconds that she captures Astarion and gives his head a noogie before quickly letting go so he doesn’t catch on fire.

The cleric smirks as Astarion lets out a big yowl and fixes his hair. Shadowheart continues talking, ignoring the chaos around her, directing her next words back towards Gale. “Walking gets awfully dull and a good fantasy story makes the time go by faster. But next time, avoid yapping about sand in your bum and get right to the good stuff.”

“Rude!” Gale calls out after Shadowheart. “They were listening in to our conversation.” 

He huffs in annoyance, looking at Copper for agreement but noticing she was shifting her feet, looking flustered. “Well, we shouldn’t expect anything to stay private with this group.” She mumbles, chewing on her lip. “Not with how close we have to travel and the tadpoles connecting our minds.” 

“That dampens the mood a little.” Gale sighs at the reminder of their current tadpole situation but perks back up when he reclaims Copper’s hand, giving her a flirty smile. “I liked where this conversation was going. Should we continue anyway?”

“Gale. Not in front of the others.” Copper cautions, her eyes shifting around, giving Wyll an awkward little wave as he passes. Both sensed the young man was trying to suppress his laughter since he witnessed the whole silly event from the rear guard. 

“I can only stand one embarrassing incident per day.”

Gale chuckles at the woman’s nervous antics, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry dear. I’ll keep your modesty intact for another day.” He pulls her close for a quick side hug for extra reassurance as they join the group up the mountain path.

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Author's Note: A small heads up. This story might update slower than Part One since it's summer and I need to enjoy the warm weather while it lasts. *lives in a cold northern climate.*