#also also do you know how hard it was to not say ball sack

[zahroreadsthings]

Planning...

Question: Do you start up a new conversation?

Response: 'Can you tell me about your tools?'

Check notes for previous instalment

You suppress the urge to tell him more about Reginald and decide to learn about what else you're missing.

'Can you tell me about your tools?'

Hakim sounds relieved to be on firmer talking ground. He shows you the pouch the metal balls are in - the inside is lined with heat sigils and the outside with cold ones. 'It's reversible,' he says. 'One of the best things I own.'

You make a quick mental note to recreate it.

He pulls out a smooth disc with a blue-green glass centre that fits comfortably in his palm. 'This changes colour according to air pressure.'

'I think we have something similar,' you say. 'There's a sparrow whose eyes turn red when pressure drops enough.'

'It sounds like an older version of this - this one has a range of colours it cycles through. It's not useful for telling temperatures but it lets you know how fast pressure is changing without having to pay attention to your joints. I use it all the time - it's usually colder across the mountains.'

'This is pretty cool!'

Hakim laughs. 'Some people call them gimmicky but I don't care.'

He sets the disc on the floor in front of him. 'The glass is already turning greener. Looks like your mentor was right.'

'Where did you get this stuff?'

He packs the pouch away. 'The bigger cities have craftspeople who specialise in making witch tools. Keep an eye out at your next meet.'

You watch the glass in front of Hakim brighten slowly to yellow and rub your fingers. He hums a tune you don't recognise, drops it, and picks it up again. The shadows to your left lengthen slowly.

'Here's my plan,' Hakim says. 'The balls in the bag are already warm. I'll take out a few and you'll fan out the heat from them. Once they've cooled down they'll go back in the bag to warm up again. We'll move along then take the unused ones out and repeat.'

You go back and forth to smooth out a few details. Hakim speaks to the driver, the wagon changes direction, and the ground suddenly becomes a lot more uneven. He closes his eyes and waits.

You look ahead and see trees shaking in the wind. You quickly realise you won't be able to go off on your own to collect Deema's samples.

[buckyalpine]

2025, lets GO. 18+ Minors dni. A teaser of my thots. Don’t know what's wrong with me and tbh I don’t think we’ll ever find out. But I can’t stop thinking about this man’s cock. Such a pretty, pretty, super soldier cock. In the most descriptive way imaginable. Imagine a touched starved menace Bucky. The way he’d want to be touched, how fucking good it feels when your lips wander to his most sensitive areas. Getting him so horny, he’s telling you every damn thing his cock is feeling without holding back because he’s so desperate. 

“Suck the tip angel, please” The last word nearly melts into a sob because you’ve been teasing him for far too long and you know exactly where he wants you. 

“Yeah? Why should I baby?” You coo, rubbing the sides of his thighs, “What’s so special about that, m’already sucking you here” Your lips drag up his shaft, letting your tongue lave up and down, ignoring the little mess he’s making with precum dripping from his slit. 

It’s torture.

Beautiful, delicious torture. 

“C’mon, please, don’t make me beg doll, it’s swollen n’sensitive there, just suck it a little, m’so hard” You love the way his thighs squirm on the bed, spreading wider for you because he needs to much more. 

“Poor baby, you like it when I suck your cock?

“Y-yeah baby, fuck yes” His head is thrown back on the pillow while he chest heaves when you move down to take one of his balls in your mouth, his soft sack throbbing each time you toy with him. They’re so full, he has no idea what to do with himself. 

He’s fucking aching because there you are, worshipping him in places he’d doesn’t expose to just anyone. His length stands tall and proud, a sheen of sweat covering his body because each time a drop of precum slips out, you tap your index finger against his slit to collect it, just to lick it with your fingers. 

“Angel, just-please-mph-” He cut himself off when you brush over his frenulum with your tongue, he didn’t even know he was capable of making such a sound when he whines for more. He was being such a needy thing, you give into his pleading, taking that plush tip between your lips, the cry he lets out makes you drip. “Is it right there, baby? That’s where you wanted me to suck you?”

“Right-fuck, right there, don’t-don’t stop, don’t fuckin’ stop, please angel, please-shit-” The rest of his voice dies into a series of whimpers when you begin to nurse on him and he swears his soul leaves his body. He looks down to find your eyes looking up at him, your mouth so full, the veins along his length pulsating. “I can feel it fuckin’ swelling in your mouth, it’s so hard, fuck it’s never been this hard” 

You start to take more of him in, letting his tip hit your throat, suppressing a gag and that really sets him off, he’d never been this mouthy before, to be fair he’d also never gotten head like this before, also he considered himself a gentleman but God you made it so difficult with the way you sucked his soul-

“Just like that baby, sucking my cock so good, so fucking good, my balls are so full of cum for you, m’so full n’hard-”

“Don’t stop-don’t-st-stop, mph, yeah, yeah-” his eyes struggle to stay open, those pretty nipples hard, his muscles tensed when you move faster, “I can’t-need to be inside you-fuck”

Before you can do anything, he pulls you off his cock and manhandles you onto your back, spreading your legs apart and tossing them over his shoulders. He can smell how fucking soaked you are, slamming his cock in all the way with a brutal pace.

“FUCK J-JAMES” Your nails dig into his skin to hold on for dear life with the way he’s selfishly taking, his voice muffled with the way his lips have found their way to your neck, needly sucking between rambling about how good you feel-

“Say my name again, fuck-again doll, need it, wanna hear my name on your lips with my cock in you, s’all for you, fuckin’ hard n’aching for you baby, say it-

“JAMES-Oh god- I”

“Fuck, m’already making a mess” His hips work faster already feeling his orgam ready to blow, “You make my cock so fuckin’ leaky, can feel it squirting out of you-y/n, I can’t-gonna cum, m’gonna cum so fuckin’ much-

His hands come to lace with yours, his full body weight dropping while he start to grind into your cunt, burying himself as far as he could go. He doesn’t pull away from your neck hiding away, his breath panting against your skin.

“M-cu-fuck, m’cumming-shit” He makes the most obscene moan you’ve ever heard, his body stilling with his cock bursting with streams of his seed. You can feel him twitch inside you, the sensation alone enough to make you squeeze around him, clinging onto him as you cum with him, “Oh God baby I can feel you -milking my dick,-gonna-oh fuck m’cumming again!!” His hand slams the mattress, giving you a few harsh sloppy thrusts, slamming into you fully unload every bit of him into your pussy.

Now, don’t get me started on how this man spends the night pumping you full, only pulling out (reluctantly) when he’s soft. He’s used to having clothes on by now so he’s a little self conscious when your eyes drift down to his no longer hard length covered in a mix of you and him. His cheeks warm at the way you look at him, he’d about to cover until you lick him clean, he’s so fucking sensitive but it feels too good, he’s still leaking, his very pink, silky an soft cockhead continuously making a wet mess and if he hadn’t died before, he definitely did now-

So this was in the drafts for years months. I have so many more that I have to finish but one at a time. Also, I really need to post a life upate. 

[aliteral-ghost]

This writing piece was inspired by this art by @azaleastobloom, mostly the pose used and their name for e!False (obsessed, by the way) and also @theminecraftbee's vault hunters aufest fic for the idea of children in the vaults in the first place. Lmao I had fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She’s so much smaller than you remember. This only reaffirms the doubts you had earlier, about taking a child into a Vault. Companions make it dangerous enough, always underfoot, and making them a child will only muddy things more.

She looks at you, all spindly arms and legs, and you realize with a jolt of horror that this is not you. See, Iskall had said this event (special for today!) was in an attempt by the Vault Gods to allow the players to reconnect with their inner child, by forcing every hunter to play with themselves as a child. But something must have gone wrong in the portal, somehow, because although those eyes (just barely a shade darker) are not your own you recognize them.

You and your twin are not identical, of course, close enough that the untrained eye wouldn’t notice, close enough that you were able to pass as one person for nearly ten years, but you are not identical. And this is not you, sitting folded up as if origami. You were never this lanky. You caught up to her as you grew older, but she shot up first.

“Vera?” You ask slowly, using the name that she would have known at this age. “Uh… hi?”

She widens her eyes at you, in surprise or maybe fear. You don’t look the same as you did at this age, face longer and with no baby fat, taller, wearing strange armor that covers your eyes and face.

“Do you know where we are?” She asks, and you almost laugh. Of course she wouldn’t know. Her eyes are wild, terrified, looking around at the Vault room and hallway that leads off it as if trying to find an exit. There won’t be one, of course, there won’t be one until (as the popup at the edge of your vision says) you collect enough elixir. Should be easy enough.

“We are in a Vault,” you say slowly. “You were meant to help me get out, although I’m not sure Iskall thought this through very well.”

She-Vera-is still sitting on the ground, having chosen to fold her legs up to her chest and hug them. That’s something you recognize, a sign that she is very much not interested in moving from this spot, thank you very much, and that it will take physical force to move her from the tiny ball she’s wrapped herself in.

You are not interested in picking her up like a sack of potatoes, because that feels dangerous to do in a Vault with many many mobs and a child (and you have strong words to say to Iskall later about this, because who thought it would be a good idea), so you sit next to her, cross-legged. The timer hasn’t started yet, thank goodness, because neither of you have left the portal room, so you have all the time in the world. Hopefully no one questions how long it takes you to get out.

Vera looks at you, long bangs nearly covering her eyes. Her hair is longer than you ever remember it being, before you became one person. She never liked having long hair, cutting it short whenever she got the chance to. You were the opposite, and your hair has stayed long throughout all your life. It is, even now.

“I’m sorry I’m not brave,” she says quietly. “My sister is brave. She would be better to have here.”

You swallow hard, trying to think of what to say to comfort her. You are not the person for the job. “I know for a fact you can be-you will be very brave,” You say. You’ve fought a lot with Vera, over the years, and she just gets bolder. “And right now you are the only one that can help me get through this Vault. But you have to get up, because I’m not interested in carrying you through it.”

She just keeps looking at you, eyes narrow and calculating. Vera was always thinking, you remember that. She did enough thinking for the both of you. That thinking caught up to you, of course, when she got out of control. She was always half a step ahead, and you had to run twice as fast to keep up. You’re sure Vera is still thinking, wherever she’s ended up.

“What if I can’t, though?” She asks. “What if… you die?” Her eyes go wide, and you’re reminded of just how small she is.

“I won’t,” you say. “Not forever, at least. That’s what makes it fun.”

Vera curls up further on herself, and you scoot closer, wrapping your arms around her like you used to as a child. She fits better, now that you’re finally taller. “Brea?” Vera whispers. You freeze at the sound of your given name, one you haven’t used in years.

“Yeah,” you say. “I’m sorry for scaring you. I’m so… so sorry.” If you apologized to her now, wherever she is, she wouldn’t accept it. That’s part of the reason why you haven’t. But Vera just tucks her head deeper into your chest and takes a deep breath.

“I know,” Vera says. “I’m sorry, too.” Her voice sounds stronger, older, as if she is possessed by the older version of herself, even though you can feel she’s still smaller than you.

The pair of you sit there for a bit longer before you stand, extending a hand. Vera has uncurled a bit, legs tentatively splayed in front of her, and she takes it, standing for the first time. You take her through the Vault, cautiously leading her to all the spawners and ore rooms and treasure rooms you might need, until you’ve fully collected the elixir you need and have found a lodestone.

“I don’t think you can go back with me,” you say to her. “I’m not-not sure where you’ll go, what time magic has been placed on these Vaults that allowed… this, but I don’t think it’ll be with me.”

Vera nods, standing up straight, hands clasped. “I know,” she says, quiet. “That’s what I thought.”

You walk towards her, wrap her in an embrace that you both relax into. It’s a hug that you haven’t felt in a long, long time. She’s so much smaller than you remember.

[xenaisnumber1]

Legend of Korra Rant incoming so buckle in

Every time I attempt to rewatch the series, I'm reminded yet again that Mako ruined the series. Any scenes with him in it is ruined because of what an emotional abusive sack of shit he is and because I'm reminded that people still think this soulless garbage is a hero.

Let's go through the reasons for why he's garbage.

He doesn't give a fuck about his brother. People defend him using the fact he took care of his brother after his parents died to pretend he's an amazing dude and that him and Bolin have an amazing relationship. So amazing that he warns Bolin off of Korra because he was jealous despite Mako rejecting her then when he finds out about Bolin having a date with her, he confronts Korra as if she did something wrong. They kiss and when Bolin sees them, he then blames Bolin for having feelings for Korra. Then when he finds out that Bolin told Asami about the kiss he blames his brother. Man he's such a loving brother isn't he? FYI Bolin still acts like he's a great brother through the entire series. Not to mention how the trash bullies Bolin the entire series. He continuously dismissed Bolin's feelings to make himself look better, he's always screaming at Bolin about something like when Bolin is using Pabu to free the trash's useless ass. Bolin is the only useful one of the two. His earthbending and later lavabending actually helps throughout the series unlike Mako's useless firebending and the ligteningbending the writers forget about until they need to make him look heroic. Asami makes better use of electricity than the trash does. Take the trash out and you lose nothing but horrid abusive relationships between Mako and Asami and Mako and Korra. What a loss that would be. There's also the fact that they had a funny, sweet guy that was interested in Korra and the writers put her with the abusive trash who treats his brother like trash. Gotta love those healthy heterosexual relationships am I right? Can't have two women kiss on scene but we can have Mako emotionally abuse the female characters because he's a cis het dude and can get away with it.

Now let's go to Korra. That sack of shit is trash to Korra the first time they meet for no reason at all and when Korra expresses interest in him, he rejects her. But when she has a date with Bolin, the trash attacks her for it as if he has any say in anyone she dates. But then the sack of shit starts to date Asami. So apparently he doesn't want to date Korra but he'll make damn sure no one else will date her. She's nothing but a possession to him. But do you know what really made me want to explode. When Korra finds out that Asami's father was a terrorist, the heartless garbage had the balls to accuse Korra of being so petty and jealous over his worthless ass that she would accuse a man of being a terrorist. And when it was revealed she was right, the spineless sack of shit deflected responsibility yet again by saying it was hard to believe that the man whose wife was killed by a firebender would hate benders. And the shit writers want us to believe that he was such a genius they needed him to become a detective to make him relevant the rest of the series. Oh and the horror show isn't done yet. The piece of garbage that was pretending to care about Asami when he could use her to attack Korra suddenly doesn't give a fuck about comforting her after she learns her father is a terrorist. Korra has to tell his bitch ass to go comfort his girlfriend. And there are actually brain dead people who try to blame Korra to defend this soulless monster. That's why I automatically dismiss anyone's opinions if they claims Mako is a good person.

And oh my God what he did to Asami. She is one of the kindest people ever and that piece of human filth treated her like she was nothing. She was nothing to him but a weapon to manipulate Korra into staying with his manipulative ass and once he was done with her he threw Asami aside like she was nothing. He's always screaming at her like any time she's driving. He thinks he knows who to drive better than the woman who races cars for fun. And she always end up saving his worthless ass while he gets his ass handed to him. Anytime Korra's around, this snake had his hands all over her right in front of Asami without giving a damn about how he's hurting her. Because he's never given a shit about her. Oh and they still do this in the final two seasons. They have Korra hug the trash heap while Asami is right there. But I guess since they're not dating they have him keep doing the exact thing he did while he was emotionally abusing them when they were dating. And his narcissistic ass had the balls to go to Asami expecting her to heat up the tea for the woman he's obsessed with despite him actually being able to create fire. It's so petty and heartless and it's obvious he just loves to hurt Asami. Because the only respect I'll give the trash is not believing he's stupid enough that he doesn't know that every action he does hurts Asami. And she still allowed this snake to stay at her place because he had no place to live. And she allowed his family to stay instead of punishing them for what he did to her. She's one of the most forgiving people ever.

And the fact he suffered no consequences at all for what he did infuriates me. Asami and Korra immediately forgive him and the shit writers have them act like they need his useless ass along to help find airebenders. And they yet again try to make us believe that Bolin needs his trash brother to come with them because they need him. And of course he ends up being useless the entire season until they need to make him look heroic in the final fight scene.

And they have Korra talk to this trash at the end so he can cry that he'll have his back. He's never had her back and he's always been garbage. But the writers prove they are shit writers by doing what shit writers do. Force the characters to act like the trash is a good person by telling you he is when his actions show otherwise and by writing scenes specifically to try to make him look heroic to get people to forget what he did because they're lazy and couldn't actually put in effort to redeem him. They also couldn't have given us a final scene between Lin and Korra to parallel their first scene together to show how their relationship changed to one of caring? Oh that's right, they needed to force the trash on us to make us believe that he has a deep relationship with the woman he claimed falsely accused a man of terrorism because she was jealous he was with Asami. They have such a deep relationship don't they?

The fact that Su Beifong gets more shit than this garbage pisses me off. Idiots act like she's evil because she made a mistake that hurt her sister as a teenager even though she's shown she's changed after 30 years and actively tried to make amends. But the trash abuses the female character for two entire seasons then never apologizes and refuses to even be around them because he's spineless and they act like he's a hero because the writers stop reminding you what garbage he is every scene. It really is pathetic how easily people forgave the trash just because the writers stop reminding them he's trash. That's why anyone who likes Mako but hates Su isn't worth listening to. Because unless they are spoon fed that a character is good by the other characters they can't determine what a good character looks like. Lin and Su actually care about each other even if they have fought. Mako has always been trash to Bolin and has never apologized for anything he's done but people act like Mako's a caring big brother.

And he's trash to everyone in general. Every sentence out of his mouth is the most negative shit and he's the most unbearable character to watch for those who don't immediately forgive him because they want to bang him. He's trash to Wu but people think that was hilarious because Wu was selfish when we first met him and he hits on Asami and Korra. And yet he didn't treat them like trash like Mako does. And Wu actually has an arc. He actually cares about people once he pulls his head out of his ass unlike Mako.

And what infuriates me is that the writers acknowledge the horrid love triangle in season 4 but played it off as a joke. They had the asshole act smug as he's telling the story because he manipulated Korra and Asami into fighting over his worthless ass. Then in the reunion he whines that Korra didn't write to his narcissistic ass when she was experiencing PTSD. Then the writers had him attacking Asami and Korra over and over again for everything they were doing even going so far as to asking Korra if he should trust her Avatar feelings only to acknowledge that they're doing the same thing that they did during season 1, getting on each other nerves ie Mako being abusive to Korra. And the writers portrayed this garbage as a hero.

The writers ruined this show with their desperate need to make us like this horrid character. I can't watch a scene with the trash without wanting to deck him. I have to subside on fanfics now or just not watch any scene with that trash in it. I don't trust anyone who wrote that trash to write anything ever again.

[myauditionfordrphil]

Do you think the BCCI should ask Rohit to retire gracefully (as in not sack/drop him) at the end of this the WTC cycle? in any other situation this kind of a series loss would have called for sacking of the captain and coach.

Is Bumrah ready to captain ICT full term? That includes him staying fit for almost all matches of a series.

And I agree with you statements on Gambhir. Now he's going to realise how hard it is to coach a cricket team. Every time that mf opened his mouth it was to spew nonsense about Dhoni, Kohli, Shastri, etc. Karma is just coming back for that man.

Thank you for the ask!!! Already apologizing because I have a lot to say on this matter and this will get very looonggg, you've been warned.

See I believe that ICT will undergo a transitional phase very soon. The seniors will hang up their boots soon after the finals (if we reach there) or in the midst of the next cycle cz I definitely don't think most of them will play another full cycle. As much I hate to see them go, it's kind of inevitable though about Rohit (and by extension Kohli) retiring, I think it's still too early to make statements like this before BGT because that will be their last chance to step up otherwise I think some harsh calls need to be made. I desperately hope that they get their form back because Jaddu and Ash are doing well tbh, they won't be dropped or asked to retire because of their performance.

And I also agree that Dhoni or Kohli would have been publicly slandered after this kind of loss but Rohit did come forward and took responsibility (atleast after the 3rd test) although the interviewers should've been sterner rather than asking about the positives and feelings (I remember clips of Atherton properly grilling MS in 2011 after 3-0 loss in England). But we also have to keep in mind that a huge series is coming up and we can't afford captaincy changes now considering Rohit is actually a good captain in most situations. Though I do think that a transition should be placed into effect with Bumrah playing a bigger role in leadership and daresay even captaining dead rubber matches. His availability will be an issue taking in point that he's India's main bowler in all formats but his fitness won't cause problems imo if he doesn't play pointless bilaterals.

Lastly on Gambhir, what do I even say? I grudgingly respect him as a player but his constant credit narrative and baseless statements do bother me a lot. I don't know about limited overs but his position as a coach in red ball cricket should be reviewed and, same as the seniors of the team, BGT should be the stage for him to perform. His performance (mind you as a mentor, Chandrakant Pandit was the actual coach who literally built the side) in IPL got him the position but he will have to prove himself.

I may be criticizing them right now but I'll definitely be the happiest if they perform well (yes even GG) and chahe jitna bhi gussa karlu at the end of the day sabse ladkar inhi ko support karungi. So to all the people sending me asks calling players names and all, pls stop. Even if they're going through a bad patch, they're still national players who have done more for India than all of you combined. Learn the difference between criticism and hate.

[maria021015]

Zaida drilled quick and clean punches into the thick training pads Xander held up, forcing him to step backwards with the amount of force she was using. Sweat rolled from her forehead and dripped off her back as pushed herself beyond her limits, firing combo after combo.

“Woah! Easy there,” He cooed, pulling back to give her a moment to breathe. To say that she was angry was an understatement.

“There’s gotta be something you can do!” She exclaimed for the third time since hearing the news the night before.

“The orders are coming from the FBI - there’s nothing any of us can do,” Xander repeated his same answer tiredly, dropping the training pads and bending his knees into a sparring position.

“That’s such bullshit! Why does Scott’s dad have it out for Sheriff Stilinski anyway?” She huffed, launching into another combination of attack moves, only this time Xander responded with defence manoeuvres. “Is he jealous that Sheriff has been a better father to Scott than he’s ever been? Or does he just enjoy being a wrinkly ball sack?”

“Raphael claims that it’s strictly business - that Noah hasn’t solved many cases and the crime rate in Beacon Hills has skyrocketed since he was elected. Of course, we know why, but we can’t exactly tell Raphael that it’s because the town is crawling with supernatural creatures.” Xander huffed and switched to offensive strategies, forcing Zaida to dodge and block. They were both pleasantly surprised with how well she was progressing after only a few weeks of training - but then again, she’d always been a fast learner.

“Maybe we should just set a werewolf on his ass - scare him away, you know? Or better yet, get Scott to ask him to do something fatherly - that seemed to drive him away last time.” Zaida grunted with effort as she ducked beneath Xander’s swing, gripping his arm to hold it in place as she struck with a low jab at his ribs, landing the shot for the first time with a proud smile. “Boom! Take that!”

Xander recovered from the blow quickly, using her grip on his arm to tug her forward and spin her into a chokehold. “Don’t celebrate too early.” He tutted and then released her before she could try and escape. “I think that’s enough for today. I’ve got to head to work, and I’m pulling a double, so I won’t see you until tomorrow morning. Stay out of trouble.”

“Since when am I ever trouble?” She grinned mischievously and he shot her a pointed look before gathering his things and leaving. Turning to where Chris and Allison were executing target practice - which was not going well at all - Zaida rested her hands on her hips. She watched as Allison pulled her arm back and launched a dagger through the air only for it to clatter to the floor a whole foot away from the target.

“It’s no use! This isn’t helping,” Allison groaned in frustration, packing away the remaining knives into their sheaths.

“You’ll get there - you just need to push through it,” Chris encouraged his daughter, glancing at Zaida as he closed and picked up his briefcase full of weapons. “Need a ride, Zaida?”

“Yes please, I’ve gotta shower this sweat off.” She wrinkled her nose at the stickiness coating her skin. “You guys really need to find a better time for us to train because before school? It’s not working for me.”

“You know, if you go to bed earlier, waking up won’t be so hard,” Allison teased playfully, knowing the naiad’s sleep schedule was awful.

“No, waking up is always hard,” Zaida shook her head insistently.

“What’s he doing?” Zaida leaned across the aisle towards Scott, her brows drawn together in worry as her eyes flickered towards Stiles, who was scrawling rapidly across his open notebook.

“I- I don’t know,” Scott stuttered, watching his best friend in bewilderment whilst Coach Finstock paused mid-sentence, also picking up on the bizarre behaviour.

“Stilinski, you wanna tell me what the difference is between GDP and GNP?” The man asked, but the boy kept his head haunched over his page, not stilling his movement for even a second. “Stilinski, are you paying attention back there?”

Still no answer. With a frustrated huff, Finstock brought his shiny silver whistle - a new one after Stiles had launched the last out of a bus window - to his lips and blew, letting a long, loud, and shrill sound fill the classroom. After several seconds, Stiles finally snapped out of his trance with a gasp, bolting upright with wild eyes. “STILINSKI!”

“Uh-huh?” The boy breathed out heavily, clearly disoriented as he tried to figure out why he was being yelled at.

“I asked you a question!” Coach yelled in his booming voice and usual aggressive tone.

“Uh... Sorry, Coach. What was it?” Stiles cleared his throat and shuffled in his seat, righting his posture.

“It was, ‘Stilinski, are you paying attention back there’?" Finstock glared at him pointedly and the boy’s face flushed sheepishly.

“Oh. Well, I am now…” He trailed off awkwardly with a nervous half-grin and Zaida shared an expression of concern with Scott - both of them knew something deeper was going on rather than Stiles just not paying attention as he usually did.

“Stilinski, stop reminding me why I drink!” Coach grumbled, then added under his breath, “...Every night.”

“What was he writing?” Zaida whispered to Scott, unable to get a good look from her seat - the three of them were across the row with Scott in the middle.

“Does anyone else want to try the question on the board? Callis! How about you?” Coach’s eyes narrowed on her as he caught her speaking.

“Gross domestic product is the value of the domestic goods and services produced within a nation, whereas the gross national product is the value of all goods and services produced by the citizens of the country, including domestically but also abroad.” She answered confidently and Coach almost seemed as though he had wanted her to get it wrong, simply so he could admonish her too.

“Yeah, that’s right,” He muttered bitterly, turning back to the board to wipe off the chalk. She tuned into the conversation happening next to her once she was in the clear.

“I'm okay. I just fell asleep for a second.” Stiles assured Scott but the werewolf and naiad remained unconvinced.

“Dude, you weren't asleep…” Scott shook his head and Stiles looked down at his notebook in alarm. Zaida peered over, her chair legs lifting off the ground as she tilted to get a good look at the messy writing covering both pages.

Wake up.

The page was covered with the two words over and over and over again in various patterns and directions and forms. Stiles had mentioned how his nightmares felt so real that he couldn’t tell fiction from fact, but now it appeared that it was bleeding into his waking hours as well. They needed to find a solution for whatever was happening to them, and they needed to find it fast.

“Ooh, this is cute, where did you get it?” Lydia brushed her fingers over Zaida’s denim skirt as she slipped onto the bench between the redhead and Allison, admiring the outfit.

“Lyds, you bought me this,” Zaida rolled her eyes at the girl’s knowing smirk.

“What can I say, my taste surprises even me sometimes,” She flipped her long strawberry blonde locks over her shoulder, but Zaida had already had enough of the small talk amongst them.

“Guys, I know none of you particularly want to talk about this, but it’s time we stop ignoring it and start facing the music. You’re all only getting worse.” She broached the subject they all seemed to be dancing around as of late.

“Okay, so…what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?” Scott questioned apprehensively from his seat opposite Zaida.

“And is unable to tell what's real or not?” Stiles added from the werewolf’s right.

“And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?” Allison jumped on the bandwagon with her own struggles.

“They're all locked up because they're insane.” Isaac barbed from across the table.

“Can you at least try to be helpful, please?” Stiles shot back at the beta irritably, growing defensive at the tasteless joke and leaning forward to get a better look at the boy on Scott’s other side.

“For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer…” Isaac crossed his arms over the table, his tone sharp and drenched in sarcasm. “So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me.”

“Hey, dude, are you still milking that?” Stiles scoffed, and Zaida shook her head at the two of them tiredly.

“Yeah, maybe I am still milking that!” Isaac spat and the brunette held up her hands for both of them to stop.

“Would you two quit measuring your disco sticks and focus? We have a real problem here,” She snapped at them both.

“Hi…” A small and quiet voice chirped up, calling all of their attention to the short girl standing before them awkwardly. “Hi, sorry...I couldn't help overhearing what you guys were talking about...And, I think I actually might know what you're talking about…”

“You do?” Zaida raised an eyebrow at the girl, recognising her from history - she was the new teacher’s daughter, Kira. Never mind the fact that the girl had overheard what was definitely a concerning conversation, what with Isaac’s trauma-dumping and all. She seemed relatively unshaken.

“There's a Tibetan word for it - it's called ‘Bardo’. It literally means ‘in-between state’. The state between life and death.” Kira answered with a hopeful smile. The in-between. That was the only way Zaida could describe that place - that state - she had been in when she’d gone to meet her mother from the other side.

“And what do they call you?” Lydia looked the girl up and down condescendingly with analytical green eyes, the same way she had upon meeting Zaida. The brunette sent her best friend a warning look.

“Kira,” Scott answered for the girl, grinning at her with a friendly disposition that contrasted the icy looks she was being shot by Isaac, Lydia, Stiles, and - now after noticing his apparent interest - Allison. “She's in our history class.”

“So, are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?” Lydia asked, but her question was more of a challenge. It was safe to say that none of them was particularly open or trusting - save for Scott - but Zaida was of the opinion that they could at least avoid being rude about it.

“Either, I guess...But, all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo.” Kira shrugged. “There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful or wrathful deities.”

“Wrathful deities?” Isaac repeated. “And what are those?”

“Like...demons!” Kira spoke brightly, completely unaware of their current predicament as her words left dread in their wake. Zaida recalled when she’d seen her mother in the in-between, and the warning she’d been given about the spirits who were trying to get in. Her mother had held them back from her, but Scott, Allison, and Stiles hadn’t been afforded that luxury. Was something trying to get into their heads? Or…had it already succeeded?

“Demons.” Stiles sighed and the sound was full of exhausted stress. “Why not?”

“Hold on - if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?” The huntress spoke up.

“Death.” Kira nodded. “You die.”

“Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic,” Zaida let out a shaky breath. They were so screwed, and if the others refused to get help for themselves, she'd have to take matters into her own hands.

“Hey, Doc!” Stiles’ voice echoed from the front of the clinic through to the back room where Zaida and Deaton were already mid-conversation.

“You didn’t mention others would be joining us,” Deaton commented to the brunette girl leaning against the metal table opposite him.

“That’s because I didn’t know there would be,” She answered truthfully, not having expected anyone, but it appeared Stiles had the same idea she had.

Deaton moved through the open doorway and there was a slight squeak of un-oiled hinges as he opened the Ashwood gate. When the man returned to the room, Scott and Stiles were in tow, pausing to look at her in surprise. “Zaida, what are you doing here?” The alpha frowned at her curiously, both boys having been caught off guard by her presence.

“The same thing as you, probably,” She answered, crossing her arms over her chest as she and Stiles exchanged soft yet tentative smiles of greeting. That slight tension between them hadn’t yet lifted.

“Zaida was just telling me about your…experiences.” Deaton put their situation into nicer terms.

“He means I told him all about the night terrors, the sleep paralysis, hallucinations, Allison’s tremors…the whole nine yards.” Zaida clarified - as if anything needed to be made clearer.

“Yeah, we gathered,” Stiles smirked sarcastically, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Why are you guys here?” She questioned them, and the boy’s lips pursed.

“In class when I thought I was asleep, it was like I was dreaming, and in my dream,” Stiles stumbled slightly over his words as he tried to explain the phenomenon. “Everybody in the class was signing all in unison. It was the same movements over and over again.”

“That’s…freaky,” Zaida wrinkled her nose

“It sounds like your subconscious is trying to communicate with you.” Deaton nodded, following along.

“Well, how do I tell my subconscious to use a language that I actually know?” The boy drawled lazily.

“Do you remember what the sign language looked like? The placement and movement of the hands?” The doctor asked and all three teens raised their brows.

“You know sign language?” Scott was clearly impressed.

“I know a little.” Deaton’s shoulders modestly lifted into a half-shrug. “Let me give it a shot.”

“Okay, the first one was like this…” Stiles tried to demonstrate the first sign, one of his pointer fingers standing upright and the other making a circle above it.

“That's ‘when’." Deaton nodded, translating the sign.

“Then, there was this, twice…” Stiles flattened his palms next to one another and pulled one back before moving it forwards into place once more.

“That's ‘door’." The doctor continued.

“And this in between it.” Stiles then closed his hand into a fist with only his thumb sticking out, pulling his arm towards and then away from his chin.

“That's it?” Deaton clarified with a slightly confused arch of his brow and Stiles nodded in confirmation. "When is a door not a door?"

“When is a door not a door?” Stiles repeated the phrase in disbelief.

“Ooh, I know this one!” Zaida straightened excitedly. She’d always loved riddles. In elementary school, she’d won a riddle competition.

“...When it's ajar,” Scott answered before Zaida could finish and she pouted at him.

“Hey, I was gonna say that,” She grumbled.

“You're kidding me. A riddle? My subconscious wants to tell me a riddle?” Stiles scoffed with a shake of his head.

“Not necessarily…” The druid corrected. “When the three of you went under the water, when you crossed from consciousness to a kind of superconsciousness? You essentially opened a door in your minds.”

“So, what does that mean? The door's still open?” Scott’s brows lifted towards his hairline in concern.

“Three open doors…” Zaida muttered under her breath, her mind going towards what she had painted earlier that week in art class. Three doors - two were slightly ajar, but the third was wide open. Cold and ghostly fingers tickled down her spine, sending a shudder through her body. Strange predictions were usually Lydia’s thing, not hers. So how had her painting acted as a premonition of sorts?

“Ajar,” Deaton specified, but Zaida was too enraptured with her own thought process, only half following the conversation. Some Naiads were recorded as having prophetic qualities, but it was never something Zaida had presented with before. Zaida’s brief chill settled into a deeper icy grip over her heart as she remembered what Isaac had pointed out upon seeing her painting. He’d said it had looked as though there was a figure behind that open centre door.

“...A door into our minds?” Stiles’s expression settled firmly into a worried apprehension. If the rest of her painting had been true, was there really a figure looming beyond one of those doors? After what Kira had said at lunch about being visited by wrathful deities and spirits in Bardo, Zaida wasn’t feeling too hopeful of the contrary. Her insides twisted almost sickeningly as she thought about it. But out of the three, whose was the centre door? Scott, Stiles, or Allison?

“I did tell you it was risky…” Deaton pointed out that he had indeed prefaced his suggestion with a warning.

“What do we do about it?” Scott questioned, looking for a solution.

“Well, that's difficult to answer-” The man tilted his head at the two boys and Stiles interrupted him quickly.

“Oh, no! Wait a second, I know that look - that's the ‘we know exactly what's wrong with you, but we have no idea how to fix it’ look!” The boy interjected bitterly.

“One thing I do know is that having an opening like that into your mind? It's not good. You each need to close that door, and you need to do it as soon as possible.” Deaton pursed his lips.

“He’s right, you know. When I visited the in-between to talk to my mom, she told me that there were spirits trying to get in, but she held them off. I have a feeling something might be trying to get into one of your minds…” She trailed off, debating whether or not she should tell them about her painting.

Ultimately, she decided against it until she could determine what exactly had happened. Whether it had been a premonition of her own accord, or someone from beyond was communicating with her, she wasn’t yet sure. On one of the nights she’d gone to comfort him. Stiles had mentioned that her mother had visited him in a dream. At the time Zaida had thought that the warning was meant for her, but what if it hadn’t been? What if her mother had been trying to protect Stiles from something that was coming for him ?

“Well, aren’t we all going to be having a great sleep tonight?” Stiles muttered sarcastically, his humour failing to disguise his concern as he led the way through the doorway into the reception area of the clinic.

“Thanks for your help, Doc.” Scott shot the man a tight smile on their way out and he returned it warmly.

“Again, I wish I could be of more help to you.” He confessed genuinely.

“You do plenty, Doc,” Zaida smiled at him gratefully and followed the boys into the car park, pausing when they were met with the unexpected sight of Sheriff Stilinski before them.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” Stiles asked his father.

“I'm here because I could use some help.” Noah looked at Scott, revealing he had come here thinking that the werewolf might be working a shift. “Actually...your help.”

“Why me?” Scott frowned, stepping forward.

“Because eight years ago, almost an entire family died in a car accident. One of the bodies, a young girl named Malia, was never found. There's enough evidence to have me thinking that a werewolf could have caused the accident and dragged her body away.” Noah gave a brief overview of one of the case files Zaida and Stiles had seen on his desk at the station the night before. “If you could somehow get a lock on her scent, if you could somehow help me find her body, it might provide the missing clue…”

“But what if it was a werewolf?” The newly appointed alpha questioned.

“Well, there's somebody out there that murdered an entire family - someone who still needs to be caught.” The man answered grimly.

“What’s the bet it somehow had something to do with Peter?” Zaida snorted and the others looked at her sceptically. “What, he’s caused like eighty percent of all of the supernatural problems in this town - it’s not that far-fetched to think he might have caused this one as well.”

“Well, if you want me to track her scent I’m going to need something of hers - something with a potent smell.” Scott agreed to help instantaneously.

“If I can distract Mr Tate and buy you some time, could you sneak into the house and find something?” Noah requested and the werewolf nodded.

“I’m coming,” Stiles interjected excitedly, looking to Zaida expectantly.

“I don’t think I’d be much help on this one, guys.” She admitted truthfully with a subtle shake of her head. “I’m gonna let you three have a boys' night and head on back to the apartment.”

“Do you want a ride?” Stiles offered immediately, not liking the thought of her being out at night on her own.

“No, I’ll be fine walking. I’ve got some new tricks up my sleeve,” Zaida winked at him confidently, bidding them all goodbye with an overexaggerated salute as she ventured off into the growing darkness. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, bathing the sky with warm light.

Leaving the clinic behind her, she wound through the suburbs of North West Hill, crossing over the Northern Bridge and into downtown. The entire way, she could feel a pair of eyes on her, burning into the back of her head and making the hairs on her arms stand up. She caught the glimpse of a shadow shifting in her peripheral vision every so often, but of course, that was exactly what she had wanted. It was that very same presence that had been following her over the past few weeks, she was sure of it. Only this time, she didn’t feel scared. She felt prepared.

The sun had completely disappeared by the time Zaida strolled leisurely down an alleyway, coming to a large and tall metal gate and turning into an alcove as if it were a continuing path. She waited there, hidden at the dead end until she could hear light footsteps approaching, her nerves jittering with anticipation. Her knees bent and her hands raised upwards, already connecting the moisture in the air as she readied herself for what she’d been planning for days now. When she stepped out into the moonlight there was a cold smile curling at her lips as she was faced with the very man she had been expecting.

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s not safe to be out alone at this time of night?” Zaida taunted with a satisfied smirk. “There could be dangerous people lurking in the shadows.”

Deucalion chuckled in amusement, his healed eyes landing on her as they finally came face to face for the first time since that night on the hospital roof. “And here I was wondering the same thing about you.”

[theradicalscrivener]

Just want to say that this is by no means a criticism, merely an observation followed by a couple queries. I've noticed a recurring detail in your writing where the size ratio of the cock and balls are always disproportionate to each other, wether or not they're being shrinked or enlarged. For example, if you're writing a dick growth fic, the balls always seem to be much larger than normal when compared to the length and girth of how the penis itself is growing along with it. And if you're writing a dick shrink fic it's the other way round, where the balls always seem to be much smaller compared to the length and girth of how the penis is shrinking along with it. Have you ever considered a story where, if the genitals change size, the balls look comparatively normal in tandem with the cock when the size change happens? Also, when you do dick shrink fics, why does penis itself always seem to end up unusually skinny? That's not how micropenises look in real life, though I'm well aware your stories have fantasy elements that aren't set in realism. It would be nice to see a dick shrink and still maintain a realistic sense of girth and normal ball size, chodes exist too. Anyway, I sincerely love your work and you are a very talented writer, hope you are doing well and keep it up. <3

A lot of the growth/shrinking is about the aesthetic and not about hard numbers. It's less about the hog to stones ratio and more about how the nuts and sack interact. I know that as I write about cocks getting larger, I have the sack hang lower and looser to reinforce how heavy they are. Conversely, for small dicks/shrinking I'll focus on the sack being high and tight. This is both to show that the nuts aren't heavy enough to hang/ evoke the imagery of "Balls haven't dropped yet". As the nuts get pulled in tighter, more of the the mass ends up buried into the actual groin area. I know I have had a few scenarios where I have mentioned in the final stages the sack is mostly flush with the taint. By this point the balls are mostly an internal organ.

Ironically, I tend to keep a relatively steady length/girth ratio for the dick itself. Sometime's I'll have it shorten faster than it gets thinner, but pindick aspect is part of the fun.

And yeah, I'm well aware that chodes exist and things like that. In the right scenario, it'd be fun to play with, but I often get a little swept up in the extremes.

[foodandfolklore]

Masala Chai

So how many of you reading enjoy Chai Tea? Now how many of you want to cry out "Chai means, Tea! You're just saying Tea Tea!"

Indeed, Chai does mean Tea. But it's normally just the shortened version of "Masala Chai" or "Spiced Tea" as today it's seldom to see someone from South Asia drink plain tea. The Masala is a spice blend brewed with the tea, and tends to be unique from family to family. Or even person to person. Cardamom and Ginger are popular ingredients, but you can also see cinnamon, star anise, all spice, black pepper, nutmeg; all kinds of stuff.

The Origins of Masala Chai have never been quite pin pointed. Historians can't seem to agree if the Drink is 5000 years old or 9000 years old. It seems to have been a drink developed over time by many people. But there are still some stories to try to explain it's start. One of which gives all credit to a King Harshavardhan, who added Black tea leaves given to him by his Chinese Friend, helping him stay awake and alert. Another version talks of a Buddhist monk taking a trip to china and chewing on some tea leaves. The black tea perks him right up and he goes "Ya know what this would be good in...."

So we do know that early Masala Chai was not made with black tea. That was an addition later. Hard to believe, right? Another addition that was not standard until around the 1990s was milk. Which honestly shocked me considering every time I've had Authentic Masala Chai, it's been like a Milk Tea. But sweeteners were always there from the beginning. Just don't add so much it over powers the spices.

No matter how you make it, Masala Chai invokes hospitality, individuality, and comfort. I actually buy my Masala from the Grocery store like I do my tea leaves. Check your spice isle, tea isle, and international isle. And if you still can't find some, try making your own with ground spices. Start with Ground cardamom and ginger and see where that takes you.

But now let me share a recipe someone gave me after I tried the most Delish Masala Chai at a Diwali celebration and was screaming for more. I've since tweaked it slightly, making it more my own.

Masala Chai

Need: 1 Cup Water -2 Cups Milk (non dairy fine) -1 Tbsp Sugar -1 bag of Orange Peko Tea (I use Red Rose since I grew up on it. You can use Any Black Tea you like.) -1 small knob of ginger, peeled and grated -5-10 mint leaves -1/2 tsp vanilla -1 tsp Masala blend

In a pot, heat your water with tea, ginger, mint, and Masala blend. Let it simmer and step for about 3-5 minutes on high.

Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Return to a medium heat. Warm your milky tea until you see steam coming off and everything is heated through.

Spoon the tea bag out, and strain the tea. Serve hot, or let it cool and drink cold.

Notes and Tips: You can use other kinds of sweeteners other than sugar. However, I found Honey muted many of the other flavors in the masala.

Use more or less ginger depending on how much you like these in tea. I recommend Fresh.

More flavor of the ginger is released via grating. But you can just cut it up.

If you don't have a way to strain, put everything in a tea ball or cheese cloth sack. Makes removing easier.

[chairteeth]

Fic question! Which one of Touka and Nemu is more likely to derail your plot? (I know together is probably the worst, so who contributes the most after that)

Oh boy! Lovely question thank you, let me just elaborate for you. So as you said, together is peak plot derailment, but besides that, the one who makes it impossible to have something normal and simple is Touka, but only if Nemu is there. Also Nemu's role is often just, riling Touka up which then causes the plot derailment. But let me go longfic by longfic, outlines included. There will be some level of spoilers for all of them, though I'll try to keep them mild or vague enough, so I'll put it under a read more just in case:

Ascent of the Fourth Beast (130.4k): This was supposed to be a fun little pokemon crossover, following the story of the Black & White games with only a little adjustment, such as Touka being Professor Juniper's assistant instead of just a normal kid and Nemu being well N (for obvious reasons I think). Needless to say, that did not happen! They got tangled up in a whole mess and then TOUKA threw a curveball at me, the curveball being "oh you know how I'm actually from Johto (because I have a Japanese name and it'd be weird for me to be in the US-based region with a Japanese name)? Well actually I died when I was 11 and got juiced up by a god and so now I have to deal with a second puberty and all that it entails and also I want to roast Nemu's father over an open flame" (this is completely valid considering she's talking about Ghetsis and as we know Ghetsis is the scum of the earth).

Pragma (18.8k): This is the ONLY "longfic" that was actually normal, and the only reason Touka did not yeet it off the rails was because I struggled very hard to end her necromancy arc early and did not want this to be any bigger. I wanted it to be an exploration of grief and mourning and also Nemu really didn't want her to go down that route or the meguca wish route. Luckily we managed to keep it self-contained! It is the only time I have succeeded in that regard.

Cage of Briars (wip): This was supposed to follow the plot of Ib, but then the lesbians lesbian'd and suddenly it's way longer than it was supposed to be. Plus I have a chapter that goes before the main plot so I can introduce the changes to the cast and then two more chapters after the supposed end of the game in order to tie up loose ends. However, the worst part is most definitely the lesbians unnecessarily lesbianing. Literally, please explain to me why the ball was necessary. And so on and so forth.

Roadkill AU: THE WORST EXAMPLE. Mad scientist Touka is like the worst possible idea anyone could have ever had. If you thought she was intense in Cage of Briars, you have NOT met motherfucking roadkill!Touka. I cannot even begin to explain the extent of her insanity in this AU, and almost literally everything in it is her fault. It was supposed to be a horror/mystery thing that would end once the mystery behind Tasuke and Nayuta's untimely demises was solved, and that is not what it became. She has zero excuses too because she is a whole ass 29 years old in this one, she's just Like That. To give you an idea, though I think I've mentioned it before, in the very first chapter she finds a wounded dirty naked woman in her property during a stormy night and first kicks her to see if she's alive, and upon hearing a grunt in response, she tells Ui to put her in a sack and stuff her in the trunk of the car, then gets to the mansion and chains her in an observation room in the basement. As far as she knows this is just some homeless person that snuck into her property. You can probably tell this is already unhinged behavior but she gets EXPONENTIALLY WORSE as the chapters go on. Sure it's not like Nemu's attitude is doing anything but encouraging her, but solely because of Touka's shenanigans in this AU, this fic might even cross into explicit territory (more for the graphic depictions of violence than anything else though, the cannibalism will likely be, considerably graphic, but also please do not underestimate roadkill!Touka because she is fully capable of putting in some wildly nsfw scenes that are not quite smut but still "??????????" in nature).

Fairy AU: This one, hopefully, will remain relatively self-contained, but I do not really trust the shenanigan potential that a Stardew Valley-esque farm setting combined with the Satomi cousins has, particularly considering Touka is 100% going to be drooling for several chapters at minimum. Plus of course detective shenanigans with the Rabi subplot and whatever Nemu is hiding and the fairy hunters that Touka thinks are lunatics, then Touka's secret that of course she has, the human experiments subplot, the Mikoto plot... Somehow I feel like Touka's shenanigans, drooling, and investigations are going to take up way more words than they're supposed to and she will get immensely distracted from the very simple premise of "dethrone the Fairy Queen (Mikoto)".

Teacher AU: This one is super grounded and has zero magical elements, however Touka's trauma in this is Very Very Intense and highly tied to relationships which will cause more friction than ever with Nemu, plus there's a child in the midst. To sum it up, Touka is an elementary school teacher (yes, elementary, there is a very important reason why she's an elementary school teacher), Sakurako is an 11 year old adopted child with a single mother. Sakurako thinks her mom is very very lonely and that she'd get along with her favorite teacher, thus tries to set them up not knowing that Touka has Very Very Intense trauma that will cause issues later down the line, ft. emotional support Ui. I expect this one to get derailed less because of Unhinged Touka BehaviorTM and more because of the sheer trauma this girl is packing in this AU, she will be avoiding a lot of things very hard.

[liviavanrouge]

Meeting Up

Livia: *Appears at the schools gates, and coughs, touching her chest* Man, shouldn't have teleported...

???: *Appears beside Livia as a ball of smoke* ARE YOU ALRIGHT??! I SENSED PAIN!

Livia: Shhhhh! Vapula! I snuck out to go to Playful Land!

Vapula: Don't scare me like that....

Livia: Silver and Sebek will be here soon, and I'm too tired to continue...can you help me?

Vapula: ...too tired?

Livia: Teleportation magic tends to weaken my body, I'm still getting used to having an ACTUAL body...

Vapula: *Sighs, smoke clearing from around him*

Livia: *Smiles at the male, her eyes sparkling* You kept your hair short!

Vapula: *Wraps an arm around Livia's waist, holding her like a sack of potatoes*

Livia: *Blinks surprised*

Vapula: Hang on...

Livia: Huh?!

Vapula: *Dashes down the path in a blur of speed, Livia closing her eyes*

---

???: WOAH!

Vapula: *Stares at Trey and skids to a halt*

Denzel: Livia...

Livia: *Beams as Vapula set her down* Hi!

Trey: You too....

Denzel: And I thought you were a good girl...

???: Livia Garcia Vanrouge

Livia: UH OH!

Leona: *Snarls, glaring at her*

Vapula: *Scowls, his eyes glowing*

Trey: Leona, Livia might not be apart of the shenanigans, let's allow her to tag along

Denzel: Agreed, this might be a wrong place wrong time thing...

Leona: Fine! Let's go!

---

Cater: There it is again, Ace saying that kind of thing...

Cater: *Smiles and waves* The vice dorm heads anxieties never decrease!

Ace: Hm, Cater are you waving to someone?

Ace: What's up is someone behind...e-eeh!?

Trey and Denzel: *Walks over side by side*

Vapula: *Walks after them, his face devoid of expression*

Ace: Trey, Denzel!? Since when!? And who's this guy?!

Trey: Thanks for the good reaction, Ace

Denzel: We're not the only ones here though...

Livia: *Beams, waving*

Leona: *Holds Livias hand, stepping out from behind Vapula*

Golden: *Walks over, looking livid*

Vil: G-GOLDY!

Jack: Eh...L-Leona! Why are you here!?

Trey: Denzel and I followed Ace out

Denzel: After Riddle got mad yesterday, you were incredibly sulky, right?

Trey: We figured Ace would definitely try to sneak out anyways and...we were right

Ace: F-found out from the start...eh, then does dorm head know too!?

Denzel: *Grins smugly* As if! If he did, you would not be standing here right now!

Trey: *Grins* Masking the sound of a door closing and footsteps with magic was pretty hard, you know?

Ace: Shut up, I totally didn't notice

Trey: We actually wanted to stop you, but...Deuce and Bandit talked to us too

Livia: *Skips past and leaps into Kalim's arms, giggling*

Ace: Huh? Deuce and Bandit? Talk?

Denzel: Yeah, both knew they had done something bad to you and fretted about it

Ace: ...hmm, they're worried over something like that? It's like Bandit but not like Deuce

Trey: What they were really worried about was that you're the extra stubborn will absolutely hold a grudge type, right?

Trey: So I figured that supporting you in not getting found out was the best way to resolve this peacefully

Denzel: And for the peace of the dorm... we'll help you get back in quietly

Cater: How nice Ace, even if Riddle happens to finds out, now Trey and Denzel will be there to apologize with you

Trey: Eh, that's a little...if that happens the four of us will have to divide Riddle's fury between us

Cater: Me too!?

Ace: Trey, Denzel and Cater...tha-nks! When the time comes, let's all go together!

Trey and Denzel: Please try not to get found out!

Jack: So basically Trey and Denzel followed after Ace

Jack: Then maybe...Leona also....!?

Leona: Not a chance in hell, seems like your poor little brain is asleep

Leona: I came to stop you carefree idiots

Vapula: *Narrows his eyes, looking somewhat relieved*

Leona: Hopping on this sweet deal with just a little bit of flattery...do you not know how to doubt someone?

Leona: And who even came to see? If it were just first and second years, but...

Valpula: Even you idiot third years came out all happy and ready to go! The absolute impudence and nerve, I'm almost envious!!

Lilia: Really, I'm blushing~

Vapula and Leona: That's not a compliment.

Leona: And if something were to happen, I'd be blamed as dorm head

Vapula: All of you, back to the school

Leona: And don't cause anymore trouble

Golden: Vil, you're a dorm head, don't you find this is just the tiniest bit strange?

Vil: Don't take me for a fool Goldy Baby, I do think it's questionable

Vil: As someone involved with the stage, I know you can't trust Fellow at his word

Vil: But, even as I explain that, do you really think they'll listen and not go?

Jack: *Smiles, his arms crossed*

Livia and Ortho: *Laughs together smiling*

Ace: *Chuckles, placing a hand behind his head*

Jade and Floyd: *Smiles, standing with Kalim*

Kalim: *Laughs*

Vil: And if he can deceive Ortho's eyes and Livia's emotion sensing, he's someone who is strangely good at lies and deceit

Golden: *Stares in surprise*

Vil: If he can handle speaking lies as if they are the truth, then these potatoes will be useless against him

Vil: *Steps closer and boops Golden's nose* So the best way to ensure nothing happens is to keep an eye on them personally

Leona: *Walks over* Yeah, yeah, so good at excuses

Leona: You're just gettin' reeled in by the word show anyways

Golden: *Glares at Leona*

Leona: You just can't fight the temptation of the 'stage of the fabled amusement park'

Vil: No! I...a-although, saying the stage means nothing would also be a lie...

Vapula: *Turns sharply, hearing footsteps approaching*

Fellow: Oya oya~ everyone is here early

(Translation belongs to Ekala from YouTube)

[placegrenette]

Thoughts on the Astana concert (because who knows how much more often we'll get to do this).

I was talking to friends today who serve the valuable and underappreciated role of I'm Not Into This Thing You're Into But I Love When You're Into Things So Tell Me More, and pointed out that I know of maybe—maybe—one or two other people in the entirety of North America following Ninety One. So the burden falls to you, Tumblr. I have Thoughts and you have to hear them. Feel free to mute and let me howl into the void.

First let's get to the very important topic of men in suits:

(Photo taken without permission from the Instagram feed of an Eaglez who was there, apologies, I haven't seen professional photos yet.)

It's easier to tell from video but Bala in red looks terrific; Alem's yellow suit is belted at the waist, which reads (to me) as slightly daring on a man, and therefore very appropriate for him; ZaQ looks dignified; and Ace is a damn sack of potatoes. And y'all know I don't hesitate to criticize Bibotta's work so let us note, for the record, that she is not to blame for this round: when she posted on Instagram about her pride in her work and the team as a whole (as she should!), Eaglez came into her comments to say, "yeah but Ace looks like a sack of potatoes," and she replied that the man himself feels more comfortable in oversized clothing. Which hopefully is about physical comfort and not about body image and self-criticism, YOU LOOK FINE, HONEY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE MODEL-THIN TO WEAR FITTED CLOTHING, ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU OTHERWISE CAN GO SOB USELESSLY INTO THEIR SCREENS. BIBOTTA HAS PROBABLY ALREADY HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU MORE THAN ONCE, LET YOUR TALENTED AND TRAINED FRIEND DO HER THING, UNLESS YOU ARE COSPLAYING AS DAVID BYRNE CIRCA 1982 THERE IS NO NEED TO LOOK LIKE A SACK OF POTATOES. I HAVE SPENT WAY TOO MUCH TIME OVER THE LAST SEVEN YEARS CONTEMPLATING YOUR PHYSICAL IMAGE ALONGSIDE THOSE OF YOUR BANDMATES, TRUST ME, YOU LOOK GOOD.

...sorry. I'm a little frustrated with these dudes these days.

So is this the next-to-last concert? Maybe? Probably? They've got something scheduled with Irina Kairatovna in October (I think?) and then possibly, IIRC, a date booked at Rixos Water World in Aktau, which they've played several times before. The fansite weloveninetyone posted an excerpt from the concert suggesting strongly that they are still talking about some sort of hiatus. I've been monitoring their social media output as best I can, not being able to understand anything, and they've seemed pretty cheerful, but who knows if that's relief or a show or something else altogether. I will go ahead and predict (and remember, my predictions are usually wrong) that more will be said at the end of the Almaty concert next week, and if they really are bidding a public farewell to Eaglez then it will be accompanied by some onstage crying. (From most to least likely to cry: Bala, Ace, Alem, ZaQ.)

I'm frustrated for obvious reasons: if they really are calling it quits after next week, more or less, then my odds of ever getting to see them live, already small, drop to indistinguishable from zero. I like their music and their goofiness and their willingness to think out loud. Are we really losing all of that? But also: they have a whole company to take care of now, that produces one product! They have staff members who've been working hard on this concert: the dancers, Bibotta, the merch team (there was merch! finally, there was merch!), whoever was in charge of putting Jeff-Koons-esque imagery up on the big screen. Is all that hard work and knowledge going to atrophy now? And is it all going to atrophy because our lead foursome didn't do decent worst-case forecasting and ZaQ got pissy DJ Khaled-style? Like, you guys overcame repeated threats of actual physical violence to get here, you're really going to leave us with the impression that you're taking your creative ball and going home because Eaglez didn't stream "Ego" enough?

I'm also frustrated because I know how much I don't know. Which is a lot. No one should ever have been satisfied with some random woman from Atlanta being the one to try to broadcast about this group. I've got multiple Kazakh-language resources here and haven't been able to prioritize learning the language enough to actually make any progress beyond a couple words here and there, or understanding that suraqtar is a plural noun. There's so much left to do! And learn! And it's vanity, admittedly, but part of me is now wondering whether if I'd worked harder, or been a more conventional (read: younger) superfan, whether it would've made more of a difference, whether they'd have more of an English-language following now.

But y'all feel free to ignore my grumpiness. We'll see what happens in a week. And if the Almaty concert really is the end of an era, well, the guys never owed me or any other fan anything. It's going to have to be one of those "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" moments. Baqytty bol, us to them, them to us.

[burnwater13]

The view from the Mandalorian’s shopping bag wasn’t a bad one, all things considered. This particular shopping bag was softer and more comfortable than some of the other ones he’d had to ride around in. It was a pretty good place to hang out or hang on, depending on the circumstances. 

Grogu liked being close to his dad, despite all the drawbacks that it usually entailed. Beskar wasn’t exactly soft stuff and when blasters hit the stuff, sometimes it went arcing off in unpredictable directions. There had been a few near misses and neither he, nor the Mandalorian were happy about them, but that was just the way things were. Neither of them had been hurt which was the important part but after that, his dad had been a bit more selective on deciding how Grogu was going to get around. 

Din really liked using the pram because it was able to do so much. It protected Grogu from a lot things, moved quickly, allowed him to take a nap, and was an excellent location for stashing snacks. The big problem with the pram (you know, the floaty thing) was that it was also an excellent target. People knew it wasn’t some sort of egg. They figured out that it carried stuff and since it never fired back at them, it clearly wasn’t some sort of advanced weapons system developed by the Mandalorian or anyone else for that matter. 

That’s why sometimes Din just carried Grogu around in his arms. They’d already gone through a couple of prams and someplace, like the inside of the Razor Crest, really didn’t rate Grogu using a semi-autonomous personnel carrier (still the pram with a more official name). So Grogu was carried around like a smash-ball. He liked that from the closeness perspective, but didn’t like it from the hardness/sharpness of beskar armor perspective. 

Now that had gotten better when the Armorer made him some beskar armor of his own, but it still wasn’t perfect. The cuirass wasn’t bad. It was mostly flat and even the bits that had seemed sharp had been eased a bit and didn’t cut into him. Grogu could not say the same thing about the pauldrons. Sure, they were curved to fit over his dad’s shoulders and around the top of his arms, but the ridge at the top was all wrong. He couldn’t hold onto it with his toes and if he sat on his dad’s shoulder, he’d quickly find that one butt cheek or the other went all pins and needles. He really didn’t like needles. 

So when Grogu finished complaining about how uncomfortable he was and that no, the vambraces were not actually any better, considering that one time he’d accidentally activated the whistling birds, Din had pulled the shopping bag out. Grogu was happy to climb into it and just relax. 

It wasn’t as comfortable as the pram and it definitely wasn’t semi-autonomous, it did have the advantage of being close to his dad, big enough for him to bring a toy and a snack with him, and deep enough that if he needed to hide, he could. And while he occasionally bumped his head on the hip protector the Mandalorian wore or accidentally grabbed onto one of the detonators, it was, overall, a good way to get around. 

He had a good view of what was happening. People didn’t often notice him, except for that Lang guy on Corvus. And his dad could rest his hand against the bag and no one but Grogu knew that he was actually holding the Mandalorian’s hand through the soft fabric. It was a good compromise. 

Grogu did have one significant gripe about the shopping bag, and it had nothing to do with the fact that sometimes the Mandalorian forgot that he was in there and Grogu found himself sharing space with a box of disruptor cartridges, a can of armor polish, and a small sack of Mandalorian hot spice. Wow, that shopping trip had made his eye water. 

Nope. It wasn’t that. The problem was that Din Djarin left those shopping bags everywhere but the Razor Crest. It was like he was related to Obi-Wan Kenobi, forgetting his cloak every place he had to fight someone with his lightsaber. The people who managed stores at the Jedi Temple were always complaining about that anytime you asked for new socks or another coverall. 

“Thinks he’s Master Kenobi, this one does, losing things in the practice yards all the time.” 

Grogu sighed. That was the one thing he had in common with both Master Kenobi and his dad. Oh. Well. He was thinking of keying a bounty fob to the next bag so his dad would always be able to find it, even if he didn’t always remember to bring one with him. Now Grogu just had to find a bounty fob to program and they’d be all set. Easy peasy. Right?

[leonsliga]

Sorry to come into your inbox with this but I was wondering if we could spread some love for our Serge Gnabry?

I used to not mind Tuchel but wow that man is really making me raging mad. I can’t believe that he is insulting players in interviews for injuries that they are not at fault for getting. Serge can not be blamed for breaking his arm against Münster, nor for his muscle tendon injury against Frankfurt.

Serge has been with bayern since 2017, Tuchel only since March 2023 -not even a full year- and has the audacity to pull a “Serge who? Serge who? Ah, Gnabry.” The journalist literally said his name like two seconds before that (while tuchel interrupted him in the middle of the question for “just a quick joke”)

I swear this man is going to ruin the club, bringing the moral down and showing no respect for the players.

Hi anon! We can absolutely give Serge some well-deserved love. I adore our gourmet chef ❤️ Not only is he lethal on the ball, but he’s a genuinely good guy with an impeccable fashion sense to match. It’s hard not to love the guy!

I feel like with every match, I’m getting more and more frustrated with Tuchel; that’s probably no secret 😅 I want team stability after Nagelsmann’s shock sacking as much as anyone, but I don’t think TT’s really steadying this squad, at least not in any noticeable way. In fact, they’ve looked shakier than I’ve seen them in a long time. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way.

9 times out of 10, injuries are out of a player’s control. Footballers want to do what they love most—football—and most of them would do anything to avoid jeopardizing that. That’s definitely the case with Serge. His injuries were not his fault in the slightest.

I can’t know the intentions behind Tuchel’s “joke,” but it did come off a little mean-spirited to me. And who knows? Maybe he didn’t mean for it to. But it’s hard not to feel like it’s just another sign of the times. First we had to stomach Tuchel starting Thomas Müller on the bench nearly every match. Then it was the sloppy performances in recent matches. Then came the costly loss against Leverkusen, which showed so perfectly just how deep the cracks in our beloved club had become. And now we’ve got him joking about Serge’s absence due to injury? It just feels like one thing after another these days. I can’t help but wonder what the hell is going on in that dressing room, if this is how TT already treats the players when they’re not around. Serge deserves so much better. Like you said, he’s been with us since 2017 and has given his all for the club. He didn’t ask to be injured; I’d fact, I’d wager he’s pretty torn up about it, and I’m sure TT joking about it only made him feel worse.

For context, here’s a clip of that moment:

I don’t like to take the easy way out of arguments like this and say “it’s the manager’s fault,” but it’s hard not to feel that way these days. We need a coach who unites the squad, who gives respect to the players and gets it in return. The last thing our team needs in a recovery season like this one is a manager that further divides them, and that’s exactly what we’ve gotten.

Also, you don’t have to apologize at all :) drop by my inbox anytime!

[ragnarssons]

do you know to which degree mike and bryan were involved in shyamalan’s film? i cannot remember any talk about them making any serious impact on the film in the immediate years during and after it was released. i just remember a lot of shyamalan being defensive & yapping about whitewashing. i do know mike said that he expected they were going to be busy with the movie when it was first announced in 2007 but all that amounted to were their names in imdb.

unrelated note: i wonder how much worse the film would have been had jesse mccartney stayed on as zuko. he got sacked once the whitewashing and racebending critiques got to the studio, but they kept everyone else white lmfaoooo

So, without a doubt, it's hard to say nowadays, 10+ years later how things went, like most of the informations are lost and gone. But there was a post made by someone else down here, just [x] here, compiling all the infos concerning Bryke and Shyamalan's movie. They did promote the movie with Shyamalan, as can be seen with them actually doing an interview with him and discussing the movie and all. It is safe to assume that no matter what, Bryke had at least a creative consultant role in the making of all of this. To me, they could've easily done something when they casted white people, especially since Nicola Peltz was the defining point to that, and only because she's a nepobaby and not at all out of talent or anything. (like there actually are rumors, idk if they're true or not, that they had cast an actual Asian Sokka but recasted when Nicola Peltz was "forced" on them as Katara, basically). So I just found out recently that Jesse McCartney was originally cast as Zuko. Lmao I have never seen the guy acting so I can't say whether or not he'd had been good on that, but at least I can say that Dev Patel was easily the strongest actor in the movie (and yes, that includes Zhao, Ozai etc etc). Also does that mean the whole Fire Nation would've been white as well? 🙄 And no matter what, a White Guy being named Zuko would've been weird like tf. It's like Goku in Dragon Ball Evolution, HELP. But given the state the movie was in, I'd say casting Zuko as a white dude wouldn't have made things worse, I mean all the good guys were already casted as white, he would have just been more of the same. 🤷‍♀️

[jacquelinemerritt]

Dragon Ball Z: Abridged Episode 28 Review

Originally posted December 7th, 2015

Where voice-work replaces character-work.

I don’t believe that it will be a particularly controversial opinion to say that Dragonball Z’s greatest strength is in its wide cast of interesting characters. This is something that based on the small amount of Kai I’ve seen I believe is true for both the Abridged series and the original, and with the caveat that I’ve only seen a small amount of Kai in mind, I feel safe saying that Goku is one of the least interesting characters of that cast.1

In the Abridged series, Team Four Star does a good job of playing against that weakness by giving him a lot of interaction with more interesting characters2 and by playing up Goku’s stupidity to an absurd level, but he still remains fairly uninteresting on his own (if you want proof, he’s barely been around on Namek and the story has been just as compelling without him).

“Leave it to Freezer” then, while not being a bad episode of this show, is one of its weaker episodes, since it almost entirely focuses on the fight between Freeza and Goku, who simply don’t mesh in as interesting a way as both of them do with the rest of the cast.

I suspect this is the result of both Freeza and Goku having the least specific characterizations on this show (I feel like I know more about Guldo than either of them), and so when they’re thrown against each other for the full episode, there’s not enough character for either of them to effectively bounce off of. The most specific characterization we’ve gotten for Goku have to do with his relationship to Gohan, and with Freeza, everything interesting about him had to do with his crew, brother, and father. In both cases, none of those aspects of their character has anything to do with their relationship to the other.

Thankfully, when you’ve got as good a cast as Team Four Star does, you can sell the episode on the strength of the actors alone, which is what makes this episode solid overall. LittleKuriboh and MasakoX are both delightful as their characters, and their chemistry is perfect: Goku brings out Freeza’s superiority complex in all of its glory, and Freeza brings out a seriousness that we don’t see often in Goku. It also helps that the jokes in this episode are pretty great, and Team Four Star’s knack for bringing out the comedy in violence shines through here.

Rating: 4/5

If you liked this review, please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Stray Observations

1He’s definitely not the least interesting in the original show. That award would probably go to Bulma (and that’s just because Toriyama doesn’t know how to write women).

2Goku and King Kai’s relationship is particularly excellent, and I give full credit there to MasakoX and KaiserNeko’s excellent chemistry

Vegeta: “You are the last… remaining… Saiyan. Oh god, you’re the last remaining Saiyan.”

Goku: “Wow, Gohan sounds like he’s really had a hard time. Piccolo should have a talk with him.”

Freeza: “I’m going to drown you like a sack of dumb puppies.” Goku: “Why would you drown puppies?!” Freeza: “Because they’re cute and cuddly.” Goku: “Are… you coming on to me?”

Krillin Owned: 27, delivered by Freeza puke.

[long-hot-stories]

Married To A Goddess: Part 4

The Gods & Goddesses add drama to Dan’s life.

Based on a post by DustinMidnight, in 9 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.

 “So, from your file it says that you recently got married,” said Mr. Liesmith, making a show of jabbing at a piece of paper in his hand.

 “Um, yes, it was quite recently, actually. I didn’t think that you’d have that in my file. I haven’t changed my tax filing status or anything.” Dan was curious. Something really wasn’t right about this man. The way his eyes twitched, the way he was moving his hands, it was as if he couldn’t stop moving and really didn’t want to be sitting down.

“We get that information from various databases. Now, please, tell me, what’s her name? How did you both meet? When did you meet?” His fast-talking confidence made Dan imagine he was a car salesman, trying too hard to push an old clunker.

“I really don’t think that’s any of your business, I met her on my personal time, and she’s not an employee.”

“It’s for insurance reasons. I’ve got some paperwork. But, please, why not answer the question?” He tapped his fingers on the desk as he watched Dan. For a second, Dan thought Mr. Liesmith’s eyes were flashing slightly, but he was distracted by those pearly white teeth.

“I really think this is something that HR should talk to me about, not you— Besides, this is rather personal information.” Dan was about to get up when Liesmith slammed the desk.

“I demand you tell me!” He raised his voice. Suddenly his countenance altered, revealing an angry man, his eyes sunken in.

“Fuck, what the hell!” Dan muttered, shocked by the outburst.

“Sorry, lost my cool. Annabelle has always gotten on my nerves,” Liesmith said with a chuckle.

“Um, I didn’t tell you her name,” Dan pointed out. Liesmith sighed as he realized he was caught.

“Fine, you caught me. It’s Joe Liesmith. I’m a god.” He reached over to shake Dan’s hand. but something told Dan that wouldn’t be a good idea. Joe eventually pulled his hand back.

“What are you a god of?” Dan asked. He hadn’t run across the name “Liesmith” in any of the occasional research he’d been doing.

“Oh, you know, god of life, god of this and that, yada, yada.” He gestured to show it really didn’t matter.

“The point is, I’m a god. I’m one of the big ones. I was old when your great-great grandfather wasn’t even a sperm in his daddy’s ball sacks. Now answer me, why are you married to Annabelle?” His fingers clawed the desk as he looked down his nose at Dan.

“It just kind of happened. Wead a few drinks, and we just got married. Simple as that.” He chose his words carefully. It was clear that Liesmith was not one to play around or even tease, unlike Annabelle. No, this god was not in a good mood.

“It just happened, you say? I’m curious, Mr. Fremont, mind if I call you that? Not that I care. Do you know the dangers a mortal faces when married to a god?”

“Well, among other things, I guess death and misfortune.” Dan had come across plenty of stories about Apollo and Zeus in his reading

“In a way, though also the fact that sometimes a god is married to another god, and gods don’t like to share, especially with mortals.”

“Well, I didn’t know that. Hell, I’m getting used to the situation., And maybe I don’t like to share with gods. So maybe you should calm down, Joe.” Dan’s spine felt as though it was freezing, but he tried to keep an angry expression on his face. He wouldn’t show fear to this god.

“Well, maybe you should leave her before you get too used to things. It’ll be good for both of you. Keep a balance, you might say” Liesmith now had a friendly expression on his handsome face, but Dan could see past it now. The veil had cracked, and it would be harder for Liesmith to hide anything.

“Well, I don’t think I will,” Dan said in a low voice. “She seems happy, and quite frankly, I’m starting to fall for her even more.” He crossed his arms and decided this Liesmith was a complete jackass.

“If you say so. Though you should be careful. Annabelle can be obsessive with what she wants. I want to ask, did she tell you why she chose you?” He smirked and leaned forward, his wrinkled tie draped across the desk

“She just said she thought it would be interesting,” Dan answered calmly.

Joe leaned back and guffawed, holding his sides.

“No, no, not Annabelle, not that simple. She doesn’t just randomly choose someone. So let me ask you, how do you think your little ex cheated on you?” Liesmith smirked as he leaned in closer. Dan had to pull back. It almost looked as if Liesmith’s teeth were sharp like a shark’s.

“Well, I trust her. She’s never lied to me” Dan muttered, hoping the god didn’t notice him sweating.

“If you say so. Though you should ask her. After all, she’s never lied to you.” Liesmith chuckled and waved his hand. Dan heard the door behind him open with a faint creak. He turned to look, but no one was there.

“Go on and have fun with the interesting life you’re getting used to, but remember, we gods can be cruel and horrible.”

Dan got up as quickly as he could. On the way through the door, he turned around to look back at the mysterious god, but the office was empty.

Annabelle sighed as she began walking through the dark abyss. Her fingers curling around the scythe. Her fingers adjusting as she went through her work day. The numbers of death’s seemed to go by without a hitch. Though seeing the people was saddening. Some asking the usual questions: Why me? How could this happen! What did I do to deserve this?

It was those questions she had trouble answering. She had to do what she could to calm their souls while leading them to the next life. The way it went caused her to sigh. As she began stepping through the void.

She couldn’t help thinking of Dan— her Dan with a light smile spreading on her face. It had been such a good time. She began thinking of their marriage. It’s been such a great time. Hell she never felt so alive. In the last few hundred years. Her time had gone stale. Boring as she did her daily duties.

Though since she had met the mortal. She remembered the first time they had met. She had seen him one, long before they were married. She couldn’t forget the look on his face. Though it was such a hard time for him. Annabelle sighed as she felt her heart racing. As she tightened the grip of her scythe. While she walked on as she curled her toes.

Then she began thinking of the lovemaking. The way he help her. The way his hard throbbing cock slid into her as they made love. Faster and harder. His hips slamming into her. His lips pressed against hers, as she thought of the sweet talk of nothingness. While just groaning hard. It’s those little moments. Sure she had amazing sex. She’s had lovers who were beyond words. Who fucked her into multiple orgasms. Who could satisfy her every whim.

But Dan, Dan did something to her that made her toes curl The way he talked. Those awkward moments. How he had eaten her cooking. She remember how other gods refused to eat her food. She didn’t understand why.

“I mean I’m not that bad of a cook. I mean Gizzy likes eating my food and Dan never complained.” She smiled more as she walked onward. She had a few more appointments.

A man with Cancer that was ready to slip away.

A Girl who accidental feel of a cliff that she never noticed.

A child dying from the hands of her mother. Annabelle sighed with sadness. Children were always the hardest to deal with. She felt tears. In many ways she wanted to spare them. Let them live a long time. The problem was she couldn’t she knew the consequences of letting a person meant to die, live. It could end badly. In fact; she remembered the one time she allowed someone who died to live on.

She had gotten into a lot of trouble. She got punished and had to deal with the issues. But for her it was worth it. She smiled as she knew that he was doing fine. It seemed he was one of the special ones. Those rare few who wouldn’t go mad after death. So maybe fate had a plan for him. But she shook her head. She looked down at her list when she suddenly saw it. A pair of names listened on the bottom.

“What the?” she was confused. It was something that had rarely happened. The way names appeared was already preplanned so more being added meant something was unusual. Such a thing as she sighed and moved onward. She’d deal with those at their time.

She would eventually make it to those last two names. Margret, O'Connell, and John O'Connell. She sighed as she appeared in the room. Though what she saw next. It made her eyes widened. It was as though she had walked into a slaughter house. The room covered in blood. The walls smeared with it.

The words written on it said: “I love my mom, and Dad, Daddy is a good man. I won’t let them leave me!” Smeared more as she saw the two bodies. Her eyes widened more as she saw the bodies. Throats slashed. Stab wounds on their face, and much more. Whoever did this had clearly had a grudge. Though they were alive barely. But Annabelle raised the scythe. She slammed it down as she had done, a hundred. No thousands of times as she watched their souls slowly leaving their mouths. As they around appear next to Annabelle. They were a little older in their forties.

“Why, why did she do this to us?” The man said there was tears in his eyes. Those eyes they looked as though they were the eyes of someone betrayed.

“We were just wanting what was best for her. We might have had our problems but… we couldn’t handle it we weren’t meant for each other. I wish… I wish we got that divorce sooner, maybe took her to therapy.” The woman said as she looked as though she was crying. Rather a simple situation, from Annabelle’s point though one that was rare times that she saw a soul crying. Normally they were angry or not shocked. Usually they were curious. But these souls. They were sad. They hadn’t even noticed her at this point. Annabelle. Did one thing that she had rarely ever done.

She was exploring the house. It was a large house two story, five bedroom house with an attic and basement. Looking outside a window showing the white picket fence. The sun set, it was clearly the ideal suburban homes.

“What happened?” Annabelle asked it was beyond curious as she was confused. It was clear they weren’t meant for death. It She suddenly heard humming. She wasn’t worried as she knew that in the end no one could see her. She left no evidence. Annabelle was nothing more than dust in the wind. As she began following the humming. It sounded soft a child’s voice.

Her voice humming and talking to herself, as Annabelle walked over towards it. She passed a window. The full moon shining right beside her. Though she ignored it. The wind blowing particularly hard, As Annabelle could hear it’s whaling call. It reminded her of how some humans, had imagined that her kind the gods of death would ride the winds towards those who would die.

The whaling call of the wind reminded Annabelle of the Banshee’s in Ireland. For a time She had meet those creatures. Truly beautiful creature sad and lonely but they are needed; those Fairies of the emerald isle. She began reaching the end of the hallway. The laughter. Annabelle kept a straight face. Her curiosity overwhelming the god as she opened the door. No locks would work on her as she moved inside. There it was a child’s bedroom.

Toys scattered all over the place. Her eyes scanning the room and saw her. Sitting in the corner. Turning back and forth as she hummed more. It was a little girl. She looked to be twelve and barely much older. She was holding a hatchet and knife in each hand both covered in blood. Though it was clear that none of them are her’s.

The parents’ spectors appeared next to Annabelle as they muttered,

“We were good parents. We did our best what did we do wrong?” they asked Regret in their voice.

“These things happen.” Annabelle said as she raised her hand ready to send them off to the afterlife. It was not good to leave spirits in the world for two long. They sometimes never want to leave. Becoming ghosts, and ghosts caused more harms for humans than they realized.

Though she looked over and realized something. Something wasn’t right about the little girl. A stain on her, not some stain that was on her clothes. But a stain that rested on her very soul. She reached over and touched it. Vision running over her. She felt something impact her felt her body twisting and crumbling. Before it was nothing. She realized something. This little girl had been meant for death. Yet still lived.

Someone had interfered with her own death so that she could live longer. A light sigh.

“I am so sorry little one. This was never meant to happen. But someone messed with you and cursed your soul. I can’t fix the damage you’ve done. But I can end your pain. Lay your wounded soul to rest.” Annabelle said as she reached over touching her shoulder. In the back clocking on the window Annabelle could hear the crowing of a Raven calling off for its master who may never come to retrieve it. As she made the small child’s heart stop.

How mortals might interpret it. Annabelle may never know. They might question it more but soon they would forget. They would imagine the stress of killing her parents caused her heart to give out. Maybe they’ll think she was murdered. Only the other gods would know but at this time. It was coming to an end. The little girls spirit would be free, and hopefully go on into the next life. She hoped her parents would forgive her.

Death was one of the things she did. As she walked on. Her suit slightly coming undone. Doing her best to forget about the child who’s soul was stained by something. She needed to relieve some of the stress. So Annabelle walked forth. She passed over random bars. As she touched some patrons. Letting them feel lustful, desired for others and those that managed to catch their eye.

She giggle being somewhat playful, and messing with some mortals. She slink ed her fingers over, as she took a homophobic man, and pointed him over to a gay man. Whispering how cute he was maybe he should take a walk on the wild side.

She giggled doing that, especially with the end result they seem happier. Though she motioned over. She had touched over a woman, one that hadn’t been with a man since her husband died. Annabelle remembered as she had to take him those long five years. She touched the woman, slowly caressing her breast making them harder. She blew in her ear, as she imagined getting the woman horny. Before whispering like the little devil she was about how the pizza boy was off soon, how he stared at her tits more. How he seemed to have a nice large bulge. Maybe she should invite him inside so that they could have dinner. Now wouldn’t that be nice.

She giggle gently as she watched as the cougar did so and the Pizza boy was shocked especially when the older woman grabbed his hands and said she had a tip for him inside. A tip he certainly wouldn’t forget with that virgin mind.

Annabelle couldn’t wait to get home. Maybe she would distract Gizzy with a task. She loved her subject but she wanted a bit of privacy with her husband. Forget about the day and move on have a bit of passionate love making. Her heart fluttering at the idea. Maybe they would share a bottle of wine.

Maybe something a little old. Sweet tender music. As some netflix plays. Get them nice and comfortable before she leans in kissing his neck. Her fingers caressing his body. As she played with his nipples. She adored the noises he made when she played with them. Maybe she’d mess with her own body make her tits bigger. Her ass a little more rounder. As she teases him.

Then feel his firm hot cock slide into her. It was her cock in many ways. One meant for her, and those she shared their bed with. She giggled imagining letting Gizzy try. Maybe when Dan wasn’t so made at her. She shuddered imagining her hubby fuck a gremlin. She giggled more as she began walking through her portal. The other lust gods, could handle the rest. Hell she could take a few days off and no one would notice.

For Dan she had all the time in the world. Annabelle stepped in the living room as she gave a light smile. Dan wasn’t around at the moment, Probably still working. She giggled as she had an idea as she twiddled her thumbs snapped her finger as she began allowing her suit and scythe to vanish as she replaced it with a maid outfit. A sexy French maids outfit that showed off cleavage, and her but as it barely covered much her scythe transforming into a feather duster. She would soon begin cleaning ready for her man to come home.

She would begin cleaning a light smile as she whistled for the time being.

Dan eventually walked into the house. The sun long since set. As he moved on inside. His neck feeling stiff along with his back as he stood on his feet for hours. Than there was his meeting with that Liesmith. In many ways he had some questions for Annabelle. Though he imagined that he would save that for the morning. He reached over flipping the switch. When suddenly he heard a slight squeal.

“Gah Bright light! Bright light.” Before watching Gizzy running over turning the light off. Dan looked at her confused as he noticed her puffy eyes. Looking as though she hadn’t blinked and exhausted.

“What have you been doing all day?” Dan asked his eyebrow raised as he looked around the room. It was spotless except for the fact that the couch was covered with cases of games and his PS5 controller.

“Video games!” Gizzy screamed as she suddenly made a jump for the couch and controller. Her hands fumbling over as she suddenly began playing. She was playing a random shooter, as she was going hog wild. The giggling and shaking as she went at her virtual opponent. Dan sighed though laughed a bit. As he walked past her. He wasn’t prepared to have a tussle with the Gremlin. Just as long as she doesn’t destroy his console.“

Dan walked over into his room his hand grabbing his shirt as he wasn’t hungry as he walked into the bedroom and suddenly saw Annabelle.

No matter how many times he saw her she was absolutely breath taken. The way she can look adorable and sexy at the same time. Though admittedly his pants got harder as he suddenly saw her in that maid outfit. As he groaned. She hadn’t seemed to notice him yet. As he reached over closing the door trying to make sure that she wouldn’t notice him. After a long day he imagined a little fun would help him sleep tonight.

He tip-toed over to her as he watched her fixing the bed. Her ass shaking some as he suddenly moved giving her rump a firm smack. Annabelle suddenly screamed as she bounced falling on the bed. Her head turned around a slight giggle as she called out,

“Dan, what was that for?” she winked as Dan gave a light smirk.

“Oh; nothing much I just saw the opportunity and I took it.” He leaned down kissing the back of her neck. His body pressed against hers as she moaned with such delight.

“Hmm naughty boy. Though I want to let you know, I’ll be having a few friends over. I hope you don’t mind.” She giggled as she turned around. Her ass pressing against the bed as she reached over her finger rolling on his chest. Admiring him while biting her lip.

“Who are they?” Dan asked curiously as he raised an eyebrow.

“Oh no one special just a few gods I haven’t met in a while, Aphrodite, Kali, Hel. Bast will also be there. They heard about our marriage and wanted to meet you. Trust me it’ll be a good time.” She giggled as she pulled herself up nibbling his neck. Her legs wrapping around him. Pressing their hips together. Dan groaned as he pushed in closer.

That was when there was a knocking on the door. Dan sighed in annoyance as he was about to pull away, though Annabelle refused to let him go. Her legs were like vices. She lifted a finger up and suddenly the door opened and Annabelle called out.

“Yes?” she said as she looked over Dans shoulder. Standing in the door way. It was none other than Bast. She walked into the room looking more human. No it was more than that. Instead of having her cat-head it was more human like. Except for the eyes. Her eyes were a glowing Emerald Cat ears on top of her head. While she walked in. Annabelle saw her cat like tail swaying back and forth as she moved her hips.

“Bast what are you doing here?” Annabelle said a slight smile as she seemed to hold onto her hubby for dear life.

“I can’t take it; I’m going through this fucking heat; and I smell you two fucking, I mean seriously This room stinks of Sex. Then that Gremlin is masturbating in the closet moaning out your name Annabelle. I don’t know where it got the dildo, but it has one even saying your husband’s name. I haven’t had a good worship in months. Beside the crazy cat people. And I feel like I’m about to jump on the next man I see, and the only man I’ve seen is your god damn husband with his big fat dick!” She grabbed her long silk black hair like she was close to ripping it out. Dan; Dan wasn’t sure what to say. He felt his mouth drop as he shuddered more. Especially when Annabelle had a wide smirk on her face.

“Hmm is that true, you’re going through a really bad heat huh?” It was clear that she was having an idea, a sexy idea as she looked back at Dan with a chuckle.

“Dan maybe we should help Them. It’s not fair that I have you all to myself.” She leaned down giving him a soft kiss. Dan returned it as he caressed his arm. Bast Raised an eyebrow at that though suddenly groaned bending over. A fire growing in her body. This damn heat. Every instinct in her body demanding that she craws over there. And mark that mortal fuck his brains out. Though she tried fighting it.

“Maybe we should.” Dan groaned slightly feeling Annabelle grind against her. He wasn’t a stupid man and Annabelle was offering.

To be continued.

By  DustinMidnight for Literotica