#and even if i do have a bit of savings i constantly have to shell out big chunks for shit like car rego

[peter-weir]

does anyone else feel weird/slightly ashamed about having like no savings lol. like idk if its just the Mental Illness but i’m imagining the mechanic asking me why i haven’t had my car serviced since march 2023 and i say ‘because i have no money’ and then i imagine him replying ‘but you have a full time job on the average australian annual income’ and i have to be like ‘but i have no money!’ and then i want to shrivel into a ball. even though this is an imaginary scenario. can anyone hear me

[pearl-tarotist]

₊˚ପ⊹ Chose a pile: PACs that I never ended ༻¨*:·.

In this Pick A Pile, I bring different piles of various tarot readings that I never ended/ write more than one pile each.

It's random piles that focus on various areas, none of them are +18. I hope all of you enjoy it!

Not all those who wander are lost.

PILE 1: What will your future spouse find beautiful about you?

They like how intensely you are you. They are at aw that no matter how many styles and physical changes you go trough, there’s something unchangeable.

They ardently enjoy the look on your eyes, they think that they are always recognisable. Firmly, on the quote “the eyes are the window of the soul”.

They do also enjoy the touch of your hands, they like how soft they feel and how they can engulf your hands with theis. They like how, sometimes naughtily , you trace their skin with the tip of your fingers.

There’s also a freckle, for some, close to the eye or upper lip, that they enjoy kissing.

With the moon card, they enjoy the part of you no one can see, yes, emotionally and physically-wise. Emphasis on the chest zone. Your future spouse is always eager to see you naked. They deeply enjoy seeing you in the “purest” way, naked, with no make-up, no clothes nor masks that can hide who you are.

They are fond of your curves, the softness and the reaction of your skin, they could enjoy hugging you so hard that they leave some redness on you. You are just too cute not to annoy a little bit.

They also see behaviours on you that they find beautiful. You are strong and mature. They will feel safe around you. They could see you and think you are the perfect person to build a family with.

“There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a person being themselves. Imagine going through your day being unapologetically you.” (Steve Maraboli)

(4oP - The Chariot - The Moon - 10oP - King of Shells - Queen of Gems)

PILE 2: Your life as a fairytale

i.-Your “new” self: skills, magic.

  In a fairy-tale you would wake up in the middle of the night to be the underdog.

You would live in a big city, surrounded by commerce and loud noises, probably, a coastal city. Technology has no place in this city and you constantly hear stories of dangerous sea pirates and magicians. You like to watch through your window how people make business and speak to each other… to understand the real self of all of them… to not suffer the fate of being betrayed. Your skin holds a golden tone due to the sunlight and your cheeks are always sun-kissed. You dress with flowy clothes and leather boots.

You walk through people as a ghost, comfortable on seeing and on not being seen and when you found yourself involved in any drama you unroll the drama enough to end in the position that you want.

              In dangerous situations you would be forced to use your cleverness and intelligence to survive the obstacles of your adventure.  You would have to decide what you want and which option to choose even when both options are dangerous and unfavourable. There wouldn’t be time to smell the salty air of the shores nor to pay attention to the sand between your toes. Self-reflections and risking decisions are your thing. “For the skin of your teeth” would define your path and personality.

Surviving, barely, everything.

Your skills would involve: wittiness, the observation of details no one else sees, always being two steps in front of everyone and in general: finding the answers no one could have found. When someone asks for the answer to the riddle, you will be the only one answering.

“ What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?”

When everything’s lost, you save them.

ii.-Your group of friends:

You have lost friends along the way in this fairy-tale. Some adventures ended and you had to return to your normal life and your daily projects. You do not keep contact with them on the regular, but sometimes at night you stay under the moon’s gaze and think of them. To the ones you can see and the one you are not able to reach.

At least two of them are fine and you can see them from time to time. Once you saw him in the market corner, convincing someone to make an unfavourable business, you smiled and thought about how they have not changed.

Then, you saw her, dancing heavily and breathless in the bar with a little child, hair messy and a smile that reached her eyes. Her skirt flowed graciously at the sound of the music and the cracks of the fire. She saw you looking and asked you to dance with her but you were tired, so you just sat down in a chair drinking a soft drink.

To the ones you have lost, you think about them at night, thinking about if you could have saved them if you had done things differently. You know you need to stop this self-pitying, but you are not ready yet to let them go.

iii.-Your lover/companion of life:

Your lover was a breath of fresh air, he was the beginning that you needed to leave all the pain and sadness behind. He is happiness and a reason to drink… to cheer for the Gods that have put both of you together and have made your cups full of love.

He is a warrior, always ready to defend you and to take care of you. Reckless and unafraid, your lover stole your heart without doubts. In the same way he charges for battle, he charged for you… You love the warmness of waking up in his arms and the coldness that leave your body when he hugs you at night. He cleans your cheeks with affections when you get dirty and is not afraid to argue with you if it is for your well-being.

You have found stability and the person you do not need to convince to stay, he has chosen you.

 2 of swords //The moon + 5 of Cups// Ace of cups + knight of wands.

PILE 3: Shufflemancy:romantic messages 

۵♡۵ Let’s forget about the problems, worries and economical issues. I just want to party and enjoy this beautiful night with you. Let’s forget about anything else that’s just not us. (Time of our lives- Pitbull).

۵♡۵ I want to have a date with you at the beach, next to the water, let’s have the perfect summer date. (Water-Brad Paisley)

۵♡۵ I just want you to be mine, but I know we are not together. That’s why I hate when you keep secrets from me. I worry about every guy you set your eyes on. (Secrets-The weekend).

۵♡۵ I am going to try my best to earn your trust as it seems that you have trust issues, but I cannot do it if you give up and start going after every guy you want because you get bored of the routine. I am also getting tired. (Emergency -Paramore).

۵♡۵ If maybe…I stoped chasing you, would you come to me? Would you lay next to me? Just like butterflies… (Chasing cars - Snow Patrol).

۵♡۵ I don’t want to be friends, I want the all or nothing. I don’t know how to make it more obvious to you, please understand. ۵♡۵ I wonder why you let me get to close to you if you were just going to push me back. I do wonder too if all your words and what you said was a lie. (Fingers crossed - Lauren Spencer Smith).

In general there is someone kind of disappointed about the fact that you decided to break up with them or just stop talking to them; this person is definitly still into you but it’s unable to handle all of your trust issues. This person still thinks about you daily.

[burningcheese-merchant]

@cuppajj

You're 👀👀👀👀👀 you're what 👀👀👀👀👀

Instructions unclear, I have now created terribly drawn angst (I used that one drawing in this post as a reference for Spice in his container, I'm sorry it looks so botched, lvl 0 artist here lol)

And some written angst too, because I only really sort of know how to draw with words, not a pencil (under a cut so nobody has to bother with it if they don't want to)

"Father?"

Nothing.

"Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

Pepper Jack already knew what answer Burning Spice would give: none at all. Had eavesdropping on Celestial Cheese and the cheesebird in charge of "Energy Management" (this is what they meant by that?) not told him so ahead of time, then the sight that awaited him while he tiptoed through the halls and fluttered down the stairways would have instead. A man he'd always known to be larger than life, now a shell of his former self. Reduced to nothing but someone else's battery. Trapped behind glass, never meant to exist in the world again.

He knew all of that already. He knew in his heart that there was no point in talking to him. But he would try anyway. He had to.

"You look..." He paused. "You look thin. Thinner than... than the other you. You look weak."

The room itself felt warm and stuffy from the heat and electricity constantly pulsing through all of the machinery, and yet the glass felt startlingly cold when he placed his hand on it.

"I hate seeing you like this, Father," he said. "It isn't who you are. It's not who you're supposed to be. It... hurts. A lot."

The glass vibrated faintly; just enough for him to notice the pushback against his fingertips.

"Do they... really never let you out? Are you stuck inside of this container all the time? They never let you out to eat? Or move? Or even breathe?"

He leaned in a bit more, trying to get a closer look at Burning Spice's face. His eyes were closed, eyebrows slightly furrowed. His mouth was set in a small frown. Pepper Jack's gaze flickered downward - there was no rhythmic rise and fall of the man's chest like there should have been. The Light of Destruction - still embedded in his chest, to Pepper Jack's surprise; why wouldn't Celestial Cheese just take it while he can't fight back? - still gleamed, even submerged in that strange water and with the glass trying to hide its shine.

"I don't want you in there. I want to let you out..." His fingers curled into a fist. "I'm strong... Stronger than I look. One good knock and it'll rain glass all over the floor. It's nothing to me. But..."

He knocked on the glass once. Just the edges of his knuckles pressing against it, not even hard enough to make it rattle. Just for the sake of hearing the sound.

"But what would it do? What would happen to you? I know they're... draining you, but I don't understand how. I don't know how this container works. What if breaking it while you're still inside only hurts you more? What if it kills you?"

The thought of the glass shattering, granting Burning Spice his freedom back, only for him to slump and crumple to the floor completely lifeless made Pepper Jack's chest ache.

"I... I can't. I can't do it, Father. I'm scared of hurting you. Everyone else has hurt you enough already, haven't they? I won't make it worse if I don't have to."

He paused again. "Father... I..."

It was silent for a little while before Pepper Jack broke it with a soft sigh.

"... I know you're not really my father," he murmured, eyes downcast. "My father is... at home. Somewhere far away from here. You..." He stopped again, unsure of what to say next. "You... You're the version of him that's still a Beast. You're the one who hasn't changed."

He placed his other hand flat against the glass, feeling the faint vibrations latch onto his skin and crawl up his fingers and wrist. "Gold- Celestial Cheese told me you're a monster. That you've hurt and killed thousands. That she defeated you soundly and saved the world from your reign of terror..." He tilted his head. "Well... I guess that technically happened. But... Celestial Cheese... She scares me. She looks like my mother, but she isn't her. My mother would never act the way she does. She..." A lump rose in his throat that he quickly swallowed. "She wouldn't do any of this. She's not a conqueror, she's not a Beast. She wouldn't trap people in jars and lock the jars in a basement, taking away all of their strength until they're nothing but husks. She wouldn't even do that to her worst enemies. I don't even think she'd do it to you."

The Golden Cheese of this world wasn't always like this, was she? She was a hero like his mother - like his Golden Cheese - once. Even if only once...

"I hate to admit this, but... another reason I don't let you out is because of who you are. You're still a Beast, just like her... If I let you out, won't you just go back to hurting people again? What proof do I have that you wouldn't? If you did, would I even be able to stop you?"

Memories of his many spars with his own Burning Spice flooded his mind. Even holding back, the man was so powerful. Pepper Jack always improved, he walked away from every challenge his father gave him a better fighter than before - but he's never walked away the victor. Not yet. And he doubted that a battle against this Burning Spice would be any different.

"Whatever happens after that would be all my fault... I can't allow it. I can't let you be a monster again. I'm sorry."

Somewhere in the back of his mind and the bottom of his heart, Pepper Jack hoped Burning Spice would turn to him and say that it was alright. That he understood his decision. That he respected him. That he was proud of him.

Like his real father would.

His eyes started to blur.

"I..." Both of his hands balled into tight fists now, trembling with raw emotion. "But I still want to. I want to let you out. I know I shouldn't, but I- I don't want to see you like this. She's hurting you. You might deserve it, but- but I don't want it to happen. I want you to be free."

His lip began to quiver. "She scares me. She really does. When she smiles, her eyes don't. She's... I know she's lying. She's lying to somebody, somewhere, all the time. She treats me well, she dotes on me, she tries to act like my mother. But she's not. All she does is wear my mother's face like a mask. I don't understand who she really is, I just- I know it isn't good. She's greedy, but the wrong kind. The kind that leaves everything and everyone hollow, then scratches and howls at the empty space because even that isn't enough. It's scary.

"I just... F-Father, I-" He didn't mean to say that. He knows that's not his father, he really does. He really does... "I don't know what to do. I don't know where I am. This isn't the Golden Cheese Kingdom, not really. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be around Celestial Cheese. I don't even want to be around the cheesebirds, they- they sound like robots sometimes. Like all they know how to do is bend to Celestial Cheese's will. My mother doesn't expect that from our cheesebirds, she's kind and generous and- and she doesn't make them help her hurt other people! My- m-my mother-"

The memory of his mother - of his Golden Cheese, the only Golden Cheese that should ever have existed - made the warm tears that been threatening to spill over for ages finally do so. "I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. Everything is all wrong here. There's something wrong with everyone, every single person I meet. I try to pretend, I try to act like I'm happy and grateful, I-I let Celestial Cheese hug me and take me places and pinch my cheeks even though I hate when she touches me! But I- I don't know if I can keep it up! I don't even know if she actually believes me!"

Never before had he ached for his mentor's guidance more than he did now. Smoked Cheese always told him he was clever and sought to make him more so. No blade could ever be sharper than one's wit, he said. He taught Pepper Jack to lie. He taught him to be crafty. To do what he had to, when he had to. He had to now, more than ever before - and he was cracking. The mask he wore in this place was ill-fitting. Every day, he felt it slip off further. His only solace was that Smoked Cheese wasn't there to tell him how disappointed he was in his failure.

"You're all I have," Pepper Jack cried. "There's nobody here for me. I'm all alone. I don't even know how I got here! I came here because- 'cause there's nowhere else for me to go! I don't have anyone to talk to! You- Y-You're in here, you're in this container, you can't lie to me or hurt me or- or do anything else! You'll sit there and listen and you won't interrupt me or talk down to me like she does!"

For a moment - just one moment - he thought he saw Burning Spice stir, just a little. It only made him cry harder.

"Please, Father!" he cried, raking his fingers over the glass - right above his chest. Right above the Light of Destruction. "Please, you have to wake up! I need help! I-I need your help! I don't know what to do, I hate it here, you're all I have, please!"

Nothing. Just like when he first called to him. Just like when he'd bothered saying anything else.

He crossed his arms and laid his head against them. "I just want to go home... I don't belong here. Please... You have to wake up. You're all I have in this horrible place. Please, Father, I need you. I-I want to hear your voice again. I want to hear you laugh at something. You're all I have anymore."

Through his tears and down through the glass, into the strange water, right at that godforsaken Soul Jam, Pepper Jack's lips curled into a small, bitter smile.

"You're all I have now... And you can't even hear me, can you?"

His only answer was the steady thrum of all the machinery.

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

I mean... Can he? Can Burning Spice hear him in there? 🤔

Lol imagine he can and he's just like "wtf is this kid on about I don't even know you Jesus fucking Christ"

[jxsterr]

i just might not be in the right circles but i don’t think we realise just how fucked up puppet zelda was for link to have to encounter. like the one thing that stuck out to me SPECIFICALLY was the crisis at hyrule castle questline that has link hopelessly run around after something that looks like zelda and sounds enough like her but you know there’s something deeply wrong. it was enough to disturb me when i played through it, just how close her voice was to being correct but being too solemn, being just a little too wispy, too repetitive. there’s so many things about the way she speaks that’s only a little bit off, something that a man like link, blinded and delusional by grief, would miss. he’d know deep down in his gut something is wrong, it sounds so much like her but nothing like her at the same time. every time she beckons for him his chest tightens and he feels sick and he doesn’t know why, but he does deep down. he knows this isn’t her, can’t be her, or that if it is something is deeply wrong and both outcomes are less than desirable. it’s so fucked up because realistically he isn’t going to know if he’s ever going to see her again. for all he knows she could remain wandering the putrid soils of the depths for the rest of time, but here her corpse is, being paraded around as if she truly was zelda when she’s nothing but an imposter in the skin of his lover.

so he runs and runs and fights tooth and nail for her and continuously gets close enough to just about touch her but then she disappears and almost taunts him, tells him she’s waiting and he’s growing frustrated because goddess why won’t you just stay put and let me come to you?? i’m coming, i’m trying but you keep running from me. please stop running from me. his mind is begging, pleading for her, screaming i need you i need you like a lost child because he is without her. he’s lost and a shell of the man he used to be, she is his other half and without her he’s downright nonfunctional. and despite the heartbreak of her constantly disappearing he still keeps trying, keeps following her and grows more and more desperate because he’s so close and now they’re in the sanctum and she’s stopped and maybe this is his chance so he takes a step forward and she’s doing it again. she’s taunting him, dancing around him while all he can do is turn around aimlessly in an attempt to follow her. but even then he doesn’t stop for a moment to think if this is zelda, what she’s doing is cruel because he’s far too hung up on the possibility of her being with him again he doesn’t even stop to get upset at her, doesn’t question why she’s torturing him and keeps his focus on getting to her. it’s things like this that show you why zelda has so much trust that he will be able to defeat ganondorf because he’s never stopped chasing after her and saving the world for her and he never will. she could fall and he would catch her, she could die and he would save her, she could be a husk of who she once was and he would still love her. it’s undying loyalty, unwavering love and determination to make sure she’s okay because to him, zelda is everything.

but then she stops and gets so close he could walk over there and hold her again but it’s a lie. it all was. it’s nothing short of desvastating because even though he knew something was awry it still hurts to be proven right. to have scars so painfully ripped open again knowing that he’s back to square one. the emotional turmoil that that must have put him through had to have been insane, if not soul crushing. he’d be inconsolable, sobbing and cursing the very ground ganondorf stood upon to the point where the sages would have to escort him out of the sanctum only for him to fight them because they’re the only people he can take anything out on right now. but it’s not fair because it’s not their fault, and the way that riju hushes him and does her best to speak soothingly while sidon rubs his back makes him feel all the more guilty. so they all stay there, tulin and yunobo on high alert while link is sat on the ground, knees to his chest and weeping because he was so close. he cries and cries until his throat gives out and he’s dehydrated, until sidon has to scoop him up and take him back to lookout landing and he can’t even bear to tell purah what happened but she already knows. nothing breaks through that tough exterior but the dangled hope of zelda’s return being ripped from him. none of the sages want to leave him in this state, so they camp out in lookout landing. tulin does his best to chatter on about all the cool things he’s been doing to stop link from falling completely numb and shutting everything off and it does kind of work, link cracks the slightest of smiles when tulin tells him how he took out an entire monster hideout by himself. he’s lost his world but maybe he can figure out how to keep fighting for her with friends by his side. he’ll just have to see.

[wayfayrr]

Hello! If I may, I’d like to make a request.

When I was little (between 4 and 8), my brother and I played Ocarina of Time constantly. It was our go-to game when hanging out. We replayed it and found all secrets and stuff. I was wondering if you could do a platonic self aware OOT!Link one shot? One where Link considers the player to be like a sibling to him since they grew up together in a way?

Thank you so much! I really enjoy your work ❤️

you're very welcome anon! this was such a sweet request to write!! I went with the post timeskip link for this seeing as I've already written one for Majora's mask link and I thought it would be more interesting to have that difference between the two pieces <3 I hope you'll enjoy this

[masterlist]

“Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask for a while… do you still have that old copy of Ocarina of time we used to play together? I’ve been kinda wanting to replay it. It’s a bit of a pain to get a new one or an emulator though so…”

“Uh? I think so, I can check in my attic later and drop it around your place tomorrow if I can?”

“That sounds perfect, thanks for the favour man.”

That was a fairly productive phone call, now I hopefully won’t have to mess about with an emulator or shell out for the subscription to play it again. Seeing as Nintendo doesn’t want to make their old catalogue accessible. All I need to do on my end is to wait and possibly google how to set up an N64 in the meantime.

Turns out that we did still have the old thing, and that it isn’t all that hard to set up either so it’s not like it takes too long for me to hear the calmingly melancholic tones of the game’s opening theme. Our old save file is still there too, although some of the stats on the file seem to have gotten a little bit corrupted because I’m convinced we completed it fully. Although it’s been what like 10 years or more since I would’ve last played, it makes sense that I might just be misremembering things. No harm in seeing where we left off though is there?

Well even though the file says otherwise, looking through Link’s inventory really wants to disprove that - there’s something with the same sprite as Zelda’s letter where it should just be an empty slot. It’s not got a name, if I hover over it it simply brings up a missing value error and the button prompt me to read it. It’s not like there’s any issue if I did open it, it’s an old save file so even if it does corrupt I won’t lose anything. 

Nothing happened, just a fade to blank before it glitched out and the inventory screen popped back up so that I could close it and have a look around…

How did Link turn around as I was paused in the inventory and how did his face get so close to the screen?

“[Name]? I knew you’d be back at some point! I knew you wouldn’t just leave your older brother for good… you wouldn’t would you?”

“...How do you know my name..?”

I know that Ai has gotten incredibly good recently but this is an N64, an unmodded one at that, so whatever the hell is happening right now can’t be due to that. This feels like it could be the start to a creepypasta though with everything going on right now - is this like a real life ben drowned - no it can’t be, he’d be crying blood if it were the case and he wouldn’t be as friendly either. 

“Because you told me it all those years ago when you first played through the game? You always spoke to me like I was a real person, like you saw me as your older brother, so it’s only natural that I started to see you like a little sibling right? Then when you disappeared I got so worried, It’s been so long but you’ve gotten so much older! Did you pull the mastersword yourself, because this much time can’t have really passed can it?... Can it?”

He looks almost like he’s about to cry, I should be caref- why am I so worried about hurting the feelings of a fictional character? Is it cause he sees me like a sibling, a younger one; because he knows me from when I was younger; or because he seems so attached to me already? Maybe I should just… turn it off so I don’t have to deal with it.

“I don’t remember how long it’s been, a good few years at least, Since I’ve played it. I wasn’t exactly planning to-”

“Is that what you used to control me!? I’ve never been able to get a good look at it before. Would you mind bringing it closer?”

“...Yeah I can bring it closer.”

The way he interrupted me was so so sad, he’s forcing himself to be cheery when he looks like he’s about to break down, like how an older brother would act. He really sees himself as my older brother doesn’t he? I have to admit that the way he’s leaning against the screen like an excited kid is also pretty cute I won’t lie to myself, if it weren’t for how insane the situation is I don’t think I’d mind him being my younger brother. He’s younger than me now anyway so that makes far more sense. 

Is the screen cracking beneath him? 

It’s definitely cracking under his weight, there are seconds left before it shatters.

“It’s so simple and yet it was the reason that you were able to-”

Glass can only last so long. And now he’s out, lying on my floor in a shocked heap with glass shards surrounding and covering him. After a couple of seconds of neither of us knowing what to do, we both snap into action at the same time, while I try to help him up and check for any serious wounds… he’s just laughing with the widest goofiest smile on his face, grabbing at my arms like I’m nothing but a wisp of a dream. 

“I - wow I - I could never have imagined that I could - that this - that this was even an option for me…”

“But I can be your brother in person now can’t I?”

[biggie-chcese]

This is the post where I talk about Yakou, Vivia, and Yuma

(buckle up, buttercup it's a spoiler-ridden ramble)

so these three knuckleheads (and makoto, but this post ain't about him) just so happen to be my favorite characters in the game. and part of the main reason for that is, well, *gestures vaguely at all of Chapter 4*, but also just the dynamic that these three share. a long time ago, i made a memey post about this dynamic, and while i'm sure you can very easily infer what i'm trying to say in it, i'll still clarify it here:

vivia and yuma both have very, very similar feelings towards yakou.

now, this is not a sentence i'm saying with shipping goggles on- i want to make it clear that this post is not about romantic ships. it's a joint canon character analysis, and i think it's important to stress this early on.

let me start from the end of the beginning: the part in chapter 0 where yuma just left the labyrinth, and despite his best efforts in fighting the peacekeepers with facts and logic, still finds himself about to be arrested. it's important to consider just how yuma's state of mind is at this point in the game. thanks to both the brutal massacre on the train and his amnesia, yuma is helpless. he's traumatized, and aimless, and feels like he has no one on his side. this even includes shinigami, because while they develop into incredible partners later on, at this point in the game, yuma does not see her as such.

it's not shinigami who saves him from this predicament, despite how much she brags about allegedly doing so. it's yakou who comes to his rescue. and when he's under yakou's protection, yuma even internally voices his relief: "finally, an ally."

now, yakou is the first person yuma sees this way. when he got onto the amaterasu express, he was immediately thrust into a situation where he couldn't trust anyone on board, including himself. the people he could've trusted died before he had the chance, and the peacekeepers are most certainly his enemies. so yakou is the one that yuma latches onto. over time, that submarine, the friends he'd meet, the memories he'd make, yakou himself, and everything he represents would become home to yuma. but that's a bit later. for now, yakou guides him through the city, and then to the roof where they'd look over the vast expanse of neon lights and share a much needed moment of solace. a moment of peace... and quiet.

speaking of that phrase, i am going to start talking about vivia now.

from vivia's DLC, we learn a lot about his first days in kanai ward. he arrives to the city depressed, constantly searching for his own peace and quiet. thanks to his forte and his upbringing, he's traumatized, and aimless, and feels as though he has no one on his side. when yakou gives him the rooftop talk he gave the other detectives, vivia is notably pretty cold with him. he immediately makes it clear to yakou that he doesn't intend to go around saving people, or solving mysteries, or even making friends. he even tells yakou to leave him alone.

this i find really interesting, because when yuma approaches him in the prologue, vivia is very receptive to him to the point of even calling him kind for bothering to speak to him. i think this is because of yakou. it's yakou's persistent kindness that eventually helps vivia inch out of his shell, bit by bit, until he's finally happy to be receiving that kind of attention from others. in that DLC, yakou showing just how much he cared over and over again saved vivia in a very different way than yuma. but don't get it twisted- there's a lot they share in common.

let's look at the way vivia talks about yakou and the submarine itself. in chapter 3, he calls the fireplace within it his "beautiful bed of peace and quiet." in chapter 4, he stresses it again, saying "Surprisingly... I liked it there... The little bit of peace and quiet I found at the Nocturnal Detective Agency." and in the epilogue, he looks back at the chief's empty chair, and says "It was rather... comfortable in here."

from this, it's easy to tell that the submarine, the friends he'd met, the memories made, yakou himself, and everything this man represented, was home to vivia. sound familiar?

and i wanna touch on the other detctives too, because i am not implying that vivia and yuma have stronger bond with yakou than them or anything. they, too, deeply care for their chief and vice versa. in fact, yakou treats all of the detectives pretty much the same way (this is also part of why the yakou fathero trope doesn't personally appeal to me- it's almost always exclusive to yuma, which i dont think is the case in canon. the only thing exclusive to yuma is the pushing around and light bullying from yakou, and this is because yuma lets everyone treat him that way). yakou sees the detectives not only as colleagues, but also as people he needs to protect. even in chapter 4, when he puts everyone in danger, he still had their safety in mind- otherwise he'd only bring fubuki and desuhiko along for his plan. halara and vivia were there to keep everyone safe, and yuma was to not be involved at all. of course, he didn't account for yuma's impeccable ability to get into trouble... but more importantly, he didn't account for the possibility that the detectives would bother to stay with him and try to save him.

they all love their chief so much. they all try to save him. they all break down when they can't. and while i don't find vivia and yuma's love for yakou greater than the other detectives', i do think it's different.

halara, fubuki, and desuhiko all have these implied outer lives from what we see in the game. once they're out of kanai ward, they still have people, passions, and duties to return to. but the same can't be said for vivia and yuma.

in his dlc, vivia says himself that he has no one. this means that, despite the big family he was raised in, it's likely none of them are keeping contact with him. he says he has no regrets- only things to do before he quietly passes on. the man came to kanai ward looking for a place to die. this is the attitude of someone who fully believes he has nothing to lose.

yuma has amnesia for most of the game, so he quite literally lost everything. he even says so. as far as he's concerned, everything he holds dear is localized entirely within kanai ward. also, it's not like the man he used to be- number one, who famously works alone- had anyone to begin with. even though there is a very different set of issues from vivia's happening here, selling off your memories is, frankly, also the attitude of someone who fully believes he has nothing to lose.

this very similar setup is why i think they see yakou as someone who takes up a large portion of what they consider their entire world. vivia simply sees this in a more metaphorical sense while, for yuma, it's much more literal. in a way, this also kinda parallels how these two act.

so you may be wondering why any of this matters. like, okay, they both feel the same way towards yakou. then what? well i just think it makes chapter 4, an already amazing chapter, even more compelling!!

think about it this way: chapter 4 is a clashing of ideals under the same exact desires- to protect yakou. to protect their home. to protect everything they hold dear and return to how things were before.

but the ways they go about doing this are completely different. yuma chooses to protect his home by revealing the truth and weathering the oncoming storm, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. vivia chooses to protect his home by sticking to a comfortable lie, preventing anyone else from seeing the cracks in the walls and skeletons in the closet.

but, regardless of their methods, everything they do is because of love. it's because of care. it's because of gratitude. it's because of this deep desperation to cling on to what they believe is all they have left...

...despite the fact that it's already slipping between their fingers like sand...

and this. this is what i think makes vivia's choice to let go of that desperation, take yuma's hand, and fight at his side as a detective all the more powerful.

[smilesatdawnmain]

a question from the Author of the tragedy of the six how would you define the boys' personalities? (English is not my original language, I don't know if it will be understood)

Oh my gosh okay okay! I put a summary of how they are in the Tragedy of Six Au below~

-- Red Son:

As the oldest member of the group, Red Son takes his responsibilities very seriously. He is often trusted to watch over the others and as a result, has become quite strict when it comes to following rules. Though he may come across as overprotective, it's only because he cares so deeply for the well-being of his peers. Despite having a quick temper, Red Son always keeps stress toys on hand to help him manage his anger. In fact, he goes through so many that he has quite a collection. However, one thing that can easily soften his demeanor is seeing something cute. This is especially true with the younger children in the group; their innocence and adorableness make it hard for him to stay mad at them, and he often lets them have their way.

He can be stern and serious, but it's evident that he wants to let loose and experience life as a normal child. He yearns to fully immerse himself in the things he enjoys and openly express his passions, but fears letting himself be too open like that. Only the other children can draw out his more playful sides and creativity when it comes to machines.

Fully aware of the wild and unpredictable nature of his powers, he dedicates himself to mastering them. He is deeply afraid of what he could do if he lost control. In his mind, the woman known as LBD is not a mother figure, but a savior. He clings to the belief that she saved him from certain death after being abandoned by his birth parents, still having faint memories of them and a flash of… burning his Mother. He cannot remember anything after that other than screaming and fire.

During missions, Red Son is the one who stays focused and ensures that they stay on track. He does not allow himself to become distracted by the wonders of the outside world.

Mei is often the person he confides in the most, as she has a completely different demeanor from his own. He finds that her contrasting nature helps to ease his worries and fears.

Emerald:

Even though he is the second oldest, he's always been the smallest one in the group. With his fluffy hair and gentle demeanor, he's often likened to a tiny ball of cotton. He's a kind and caring soul, but he startles easily and lacks the strength of the other children. He's painfully aware of this, especially since LBD never misses a chance to belittle him.

Although she treats all the children with a maternal warmth, Emerald can feel the distinction in her treatment towards him. He tries his hardest to earn her love and approval, but nothing seems to work. This has created Guilt Complex in him, making him constantly question if he's at fault for everything and refrain from defending himself when wrongly accused.

He struggles a bit with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, constantly aware of his physical differences from the other children and trying to seem more… normal, such as hiding his ears with a his hoodie or tucking in his tail. Whereas they are easily identified as specific animals - a bull, a monkey, a dragon - he is both lion and dragon. This uniqueness causes him great discomfort and he has no explanation for it. He usually keeps these feelings to himself, only sharing them with Bai He in hushed tones.

The outside world is a scary place for him, thanks to the manipulation and deceit of LBD that has plagued his mind. He may follow the other children out to experience it, but he always stays close by their side, seeking comfort from Red Son, Mei or MK- as he deems them the strongest in the group.

Interacting with strangers and making new friends is a challenge for him, but within his family, he never stops talking and engaging with them, coming out of his shell to show is very bright and bubbly personality.

He holds a phobia to the Emperor of the Celestial realm, Azure Lion- due to the lies of LBD.

Mei:

As the third child in the family, she is known for her mischievous spirit. With no memory of her origin, she often leads the way in their escapades alongside Xiaohua. She is fearless, outspoken, and a bit impulsive when it comes to trying new things. While most would heed Red Son's stern warnings, she charges ahead driven by her love for adventure and fun. As a result, the rest of the group typically follows along with Red Son's objections ignored.

Although she does call LBD “Mother,” it is more of a title than a term of endearment used for a parent. In reality, her true father figures are Nezha and Erlang - and that’s how she sees them, despite Erlang stubbornly claiming otherwise.

She has a strong desire to explore the world and discover more about her dragon lineage. She dotes on Emerald, treating him like a little brother despite being younger than him. She feels a special connection with him due to their shared Dragon blood and frequently suggests teaming up with him.

She is fiercely protective of her family, always stepping up to the plate when things go awry. She has no fear of any potential consequences that may come from LBD, perhaps earning a bit of admiration from the Witch in the process.

Despite often getting annoyed with Xiaohua, as one would a sibling, she often turns to him in hours of need as well, as he can often get her back on her feet and into a good head space again.

MK (Xiaotian):

Born as a twin, he is the second one to arrive in the world. He has always been a gentle and affectionate child, but there is a hint of darkness lurking within him. However, deep down, he is inherently good and pure. His senses are heightened, making him sensitive to loud sounds and strong smells. This can be challenging for him as he constantly needs to adapt to his surroundings.

He is considerate to others, outgoing, often forgetting to use his brain before acting.

He feels the weight of his “Mother’s” expectations pressing down on his shoulders. She sees him as her champion, a title that he doesn't quite grasp, and he worries about what it will mean in the end.

He is often conflicted about his path, torn between the opposing ideologies of his "Mother" who advocates for a brutal and cold approach as true strength, and his Master Nezha, who believes in the power of compassion and forgiveness. His young mind struggles to reconcile these conflicting perspectives.

His role as a protector has instilled a savior complex within his personality. While he acknowledges that others can also protect themselves, he tries to restrain himself from becoming too overbearing. However, this restraint often leads to an intense anger towards those who still pose a threat to his loved ones, despite his clear warnings for them to leave them alone.

Thanks to LBD's manipulations, he has developed an unhealthy sense of protectiveness towards Emerald and an irrational hostility towards Azure Lion.

Xiaohua:

Xiaohua, the twin of MK, possesses a playful nature and a sharp mind. He is always up to mischief with his partner in crime, Mei. Despite his mischievous tendencies, he is also full of energy and excitement for new experiences and adventures. In fact, he is the most eager among them to embark on new missions and explore the world around them.

Despite his outward appearance of confidence, he harbors a deep sense of inferiority towards himself. This stems from his "Mother" constantly comparing him to his brother, who surpasses him in strength and speed. Though he possesses impressive talents, they are overshadowed by the brilliance of his brother's abilities. To match MK's level of ability, his Mother regularly subjects him to personalized and rigorous training long after everyone else’s is done.

He has a connection with MK, often able to share thoughts, emotions, and even feel the physical pain of the other at times. This keeps the two often close together, as they are strongest when together.

Among his family, he is the most curious one, always sensing when something is not quite right with their actions. Despite knowing that the "Celestial court and Monkey King" are seen as malevolent and deceitful, he can't help but feel intrigued by their story and wants to know more about it.

Bai He;

Being the youngest in the family, she is often coddled and shielded from conflicts. But behind her sweet demeanor lies a sharp mind that many underestimate.

She possesses a brilliant mind and can decipher any text, read any book, and seem to have an endless wealth of knowledge. Despite this, she often doubts her own strength and abilities and remains unaware of her true talents. Her family is constantly in awe of her intelligence and quick thinking, and even Xiaohua turns to her for strategic advice as she always provides helpful tips and suggestions.

She constantly seeks her Mother's approval and attention, though she only receives a small amount. She can't help but feel envious of MK, who clearly holds more value in her Mother's eyes. However, Nezha often steps in to balance things out. He has a soft spot for the girl and frequently shower her with gifts. Even Erlang seems to value the child more than the Witch herself, enjoying the more poetic and political debates he can engage with the child, as the other children only stare at him blankly.

Among the children, she has the strongest bond with MK. However, this sometimes leads to feelings of guilt when she experiences rare moments of animosity and jealousy towards him. She feels comfortable sharing her thoughts and emotions with him, often confiding in him about her feelings and desires.

Previous:

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[renren-006]

The Hearts Want | Daryl Dixon x reader

Summery: you just cant get him out of your heart. good thing he likes you too, maybe more than you thought

word count: 1806

warning: smutttttyyyy

a/n: ahhhh i just love daryl so much!!!

It was another hot day in the Prison. The heat of summer makes your skin crawl with sweat. You sat out by the picnic tables in the common area. You sat watching the man that was constantly on your mind. 

“He's older than you,” Carol pointed out. You knew this, of course you did. It was the one thing that constantly went through your mind whenever you looked over towards the archer.

“I know” You answered, already knowing that some of the members from the other community would rag on you for ever being with him, not that you were.

 Daryl had found you in the woods back on the Green farm, you were paranoid, lost and convinced you were going crazy. You were a little older than Beth and just around Maggie's age, but you stayed away from the older Green. Beth became your best friend, saving you from yourself more times than you can point out. While you may be older than her the two of you lived in your youth around each other. 

“He's Daryl, he’s harmless plus the world did kinda end” Beth said from beside you at the table. It was just the three of you today, Sasha and Michonne being off somewhere. 

“You girls know I trust Daryl, he’s my pookie but he’s weird with feelings”' Carol defended, knowing we only meant to point out the obvious about Daryl. He was a recluse, only hanging around a few and you had only just started to crack his shell.

“He's just so stubborn but so…” You started, your words drifting off not being able to fully say the rest of the sentence out loud. 

“Attractive?” Beth supplied for me, you nodded your head. He was handsome and lord did you want to know what he could do with his hands.  “Omg stop” Beth squealed from beside you. 

“What?” you asked, shocked by your friend's outburst. 

“You are thinking about what he would do to you” Beth exclaimed loudly, followed by your hands covering her mouth. The two of you continued to wrestle with each other until the man in question approached the table.

“You girls fighitn’ ov’r here?” He asked, the southern drawl coming out heavy.. You swallowed slowly. Beth kicked you from under the table, you hissed and clutched your leg. “You good darling?” he asked, using that damn nickname again. 

“Oh…yea im fine” you told him hesitantly, a small blush crept up your cheeks, making it look like the sun's heat was getting to you. Beth snickers fom beside you. Carol was here to save the day, and more importantly save you. 

“I think the girls should go help out Lori with the laundry, hm?” she questioned. You both shot up from the table, saying a small goodbye and dashing back inside the prison to a little bit of cooler air. Carol still sat, and Daryl joined her. He didn't say anything at first, still wondering why you had been acting weird around him.

“It's not my place to tell you so don’t ask'' Carol started, “but the girl has a special place in her heart for you, so don't be mean to her pookie." She stood up from the table, leaving a startled Daryl and walked away.

The days following Carol's words to Daryl he started over thinking many things, the way you looked at him, the small touches, even the way you walked. Every single thing you did clouded his mind till he knew he was in trouble. He figured that it was some sort of cold, then he realized it wasn't a cold that was making him hot it was you. For a week he let his feelings be mulled over, and after having many conversations with Carol and Rick about it he knew he had fallen hard for you. The two of you had not hung out in a while, courtesy of Daryl avoiding you, but you figured he was busy and not that he was grossed out by you. Daryl also avoided you knowing that he was older than you and thinking that it wasn't a good thing to be attracted to a woman significantly younger than himself, but Daryl continued to watch you. He watched you leaving the prison, watched you enter all the while you didn't see any of the looks he gave you. He did this for weeks, just watching you still afraid of the things going through his head. 

“Oh pookie” Carol said to her best friend. Darly shook his head. 

“Ah! how could i ‘av been so stupid?” Darly asked her, she smiled at him.

“Your not stupid Daryl, just a little blind” She told him, when you walked out of the door to the prison Daryl's eyes immediately found yours. You smiled over at him, someone probably Sasha called your attention away from him and you walked down the gravel path towards the gate. He trailed your body with his eyes, watching the shape of your ass walk away from him. Carol got up and stood beside him, pushing him in your direction. She nodded, giving him a bit of encouragement.

“She’s not going to reject you,”Carol assured the man. 

“What if she does?” he asked

“She wont” Carol said, giving him another push. Daryl kept his eyes on you watching the way your hips moved or the placement of your hands. You were talking to Sasha about another potential run for supplies further out, you were willing to go with but needed to check in with Beth and the others in case you had another job they wanted you to do. You didn't want to admit it but you hoped Daryl would be going as well. Daryl walked down the path towards the two of you, Sasha waved him over.

“Hey, I'm trying to get some people to go on another run further out tomorrow. I need you man, your good out there” Sasha told him. He glanced at you.

“You goin’?” he asked, you looked back at Sasha who had some sort of mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Yea, I was planning on it” You told him, he nodded.

“Good, ill see ya’ tomorrow then” he said, walking back up the hill towards Carol.

When the sun rose Sasha, Daryl, Michonne, Bob and yourself met up at the gate. You had on your jeans, a tank and a flannel shirt to keep the sun and the bugs off your arms. The heat of the morning was variable, seeing as the sun hadn't gotten to peak height just yet. You carried your bag with you, loaded with water and a few cans of beans, your hip had your gun holster and an assortment of knives on your belt and boots. You could never be unprepared going out into the world you lived in now. Daryl took in your appearance, turned on by just the sight of you standing there with all your equipment. Once the car was loaded Daryl offered for you to ride with him. 

“I don't want to be a burden, I can just ride with everyone else” You told him, he shook his head.

“Nah” Daryl said, “I want ya’ to ride with me.” You hopped on the back of his motorcycle, and hugged his middle, once you got comfortable, and felt the flex of his mussel under his shirt. He didn't flinch, and he didn't move when your hands roamed a little. When the journey started you didn't realize how much the rumble of the motorcycle engine could entice you, or even the way he felt while you were hugging him. Daryl knew that if you stayed on the bike long enough he may have you unraveling. He knew what he did to you, because he watched you too often to know about the hungry looks you gave him. Beth would often slap your arm or flick your head when you were lost in thoughts about him. It made him want you closer, just thinking about the way your eyes looked at him, or the way your mouth contorted when you thought about him long enough. When the group had stopped for the night, in one of the town they had scavenge everyone stayed in the two closest houses. Daryl, Michonne and yourself in one and the other had Sasha and Bob. The whole night you wished you were next to him, drawing a straggled wine from your mouth. The room you were in was cold, no one else was staying with you since the only bed was yours. Michonne took the room downstairs while you and Daryl took the rooms upstairs. You heard one of the bored squeak outside your door, and a soft knock came from it. You walked over to the door and opened it to find Daryl standing outside your door. 

“Daryl?” you asked. Before any more words could leave your mouth he kissed you. It was needy, sweat and a little rough. You felt him move forward making you cling to him and follow his movements. He shut the door behind you before continuing the kiss he had started. You didn’t question it, your mind to hazy now from the breathless kisses with Daryl. He moved to lay you down on the bed, his hands came to roam over you.

“Woman, you have any idea how many times a day I wanted to do this?” he asked you, feeling his hands all over your skin, he started a trail of kisses down your neck till he found your sweet spot. “How i wanted to see you unravel on my bike, make you ride it out behind me?” His words sent a moan out of your mouth and shivers to travel down to your core. You felt hot in your clothes and attempted to rip them off. Daryl however stopped you, taking the lead by taking them off you himself. “I want to see you squirm, Y/N, I want to see you unravel underneath me as I take you” he told you, and you only nodded our heads. “I need confirmation sweetheart or ill stop right now”

“Yes! Please Daryl” you moaned, you wanted all of him, his mouth, his voice, the throbbing feeling of your core didn’t stop and you couldn't take it. Cloths ended up on the floor and Daryl crouched over you watching you breath. You nodded your head, waiting to feel him inside you. Both of your breathing increased and the moans coming from both of you filled the room. He helped you ride out your orgasm and you did the same for him. His hands fell from your hips and the two of you collapsed on to the bed.

“God Darlin, you really are somthn’’” Daryl said to you.

[shentheauthor]

Leshycat thoughts… mm… thistle n leshy…

Thistle was given a fighter’s name. It’s thorny, prickly, and protective. Before they were declawed, their name fit them well. They weren’t the most adventurous cat, but they would fight tooth and nail if anyone threatened their family.

Fighting tooth and nail didn’t save them, though. When the Lamb found them, they were the last of their village. They’d been declawed so they wouldn’t fight back. It was pure chance that they were chosen for a proper sacrifice, rather than wanton destruction.

They were shy and terrified for years after. They still have chronic pain in their paws, and they’re constantly stressed. They never pick fights anymore, and they’re essentially a shell of their former self.

Leshy is the one to pull them out of that, ironically, even though he was the one they were meant to be sacrificed to. He didn’t even do it on purpose. Leshy was just… such an asshole, Thistle eventually snapped and put their foot down.

Once they stand up to Leshy’s bullshit, he actually takes a liking to them. They’re not boring, they’re just hiding. Leshy has fun trying to get Thistle into trouble, but he also encourages them to stop being a pushover.

Leshy also happens to calm down a lot around Thistle after they snap at him. He’s suddenly more conscious about how they feel, and he excuses it by saying he’s trying to “keep them loyal,” but that’s bullshit. He just wants them to like him lmao. I think Leshy would have the easiest time adapting to being mortal, so he ends up acting like a mortal when he gets a crush. (A mortal with a god complex but still)

Thistle has known since day one who Leshy is, but they didn’t tell him that they knew. It was kind of funny watching Leshy get mad about how nobody recognized him. Thistle can be a bit of a little shit sometimes.

Leshy brings Thistle out of their shell, and Thistle helps Leshy not be a total dick. I love them dearly.

[thewintersoldierdisaster]

a/n: it’s done!! it took me forever and i hope it lives up the expectations, but purple tie smut is here, as requested by the wonderful @smileysvech when she sent the middle picture, that really got the whole thing going 😅 also the title means “tie me up” in russian, allegedly, according to google translate

word count: 5.5k (which is wild bc i really thought it was longer whoops)

tw: use of a tie to restrain, dirty talk, smut

summary: andrei ties you up and has his way with you

Andrei presses his lips to the spot below your ear, sucking gently. His beard, grown in thick after weeks of being lazy about shaving, scratches deliciously at your skin. You wiggle under his attention, tugging gently at the fabric in your hands. He ignores you, trailing warm, soft kisses over your skin.

“Stop, Andrei,” you giggle, his nose brushing against the shell of your ear. “I’m trying to fix your tie.” You tug at the tie’s fabric again to emphasise your words. The breathless quality to your voice really undermines the effectiveness of your command. So naturally Andrei doesn’t listen.

His hands smooth over your hips, squeezing gently. “Fuck the tie,” he mumbles, kissing the side of your jaw. “Let me get you off before I go.”

Your cheeks heat up and you shake your head even though you want nothing more than to push him back on the bed and have your way with him. “You’ll be back home in like six hours,” you murmur, fingers working expertly to knot the purple silk tie at his neck. His proximity makes it hard for you to work quickly, the loose ends of the tie flipping up into both of your faces as you make the knot. You fucking love this tie, something about the brightness of the purple against his skin and hair color. “If you can wait that long, I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.”

And whatever Andrei wants to do to you is usually something you can agree with. Half the time you’re convinced that you’re a sex addict, the way you constantly want his body on yours.

“Whatever I want?” Andrei repeats, fingers trailing along the waistband of your jeans. You shiver a little at the rough scrape of his calloused skin against your stomach. His index finger dips under the denim, blunt fingernail scraping against your side.

“Mhm,” you affirm, brushing imaginary lint off the lapels of his suit jacket, your fingers finding their way into the little hair wings at the nape of his neck and tugging gently. He makes a quiet purring noise, like an overgrown house cat.

He ducks his head and kisses you hungrily, tongue sweeping across your lower lip. You grasp at his collar, holding onto him when your knee buckle a little from the intensity of his kiss. Dazed, you barely comprehend him when he says roughly, “be ready for me, solnyshka. Because I’m taking control tonight.”

Heat pools between your legs and you subconsciously press your thighs together. “I…that sounds like a plan,” you stumble over the words, your brain short circuiting a bit from the heated look in Andrei’s eyes. He kisses the corner of your mouth, positively chaste for him, and pats your ass gently.

“I’ll see you later,” he says, letting you give his tie one final adjustment before raking his hand through his hair and heading out the door. The Lamborghini in the driveway revs and you press your thighs together, wondering just how annoyed he’d be if you took a little bit of the edge off before he gets home tonight.

You twist a shaky hand around the end of your hair and huff - just like Andrei to get you all hot and bothered when you won’t be satisfied for at least six or seven more hours. Luckily, or unluckily, you have a to-do list as long as your arm so you head out to your own car to run errands before the game.

The game is, to put it mildly, an unmitigated disaster. Andrei practically spends more time into penalty box than on ice, taking five different penalties over the three periods. Brady has to go down the tunnel after taking a puck to the face - luckily he’s fine save for a handful of stitches. Pyotr gets pulled after letting in the tying goal and there’s a minor scrum after the whistle to end the second. Worst of all, the Canes give up a 3-1 lead to lose 5-3.

You know Andrei is going to be cranky as hell when he gets home, but at the same time, he’ll be more aggressive in bed, which is something that you need right now. You’ve been trying to ignore the spark of desire that Andrei left you with before the game, but watching him play and argue with the refs from the penalty box, even though the TV, has you all hot and bothered again.

Sure enough, while you’re trying to kill time by cleaning up, you get a text from Andrei: Be naked for me when I get home. I don’t want to waste any time getting my mouth on you.

You blush at his text, grinning toothily to yourself.

But obediently and with shivers of excitement running up your spine, you change into a matching lace set - deep purple to match Andrei’s tie. You’re waiting at the door when Andrei pulls up, the Lamborghini’s engine cutting off and leaving an anticipatory silence in its wake. When Andrei opens the front door, you’re leaning casually against the wall, a small smirk on your face. He drops his bag to the floor and nearly growls when he sees you, muttering, “thank fuck,” and surging forward to kiss you.

He’s rough, one large hand coming to rest at the base of your throat, fingers pressing against the column of your neck, squeezing and tilting your chin up so he can kiss you hungrily. His mouth slants over yours, the force of his lips against yours almost bruising. Andrei’s other hand is on your waist, holding tightly and pulling you flush against him. You kiss him back, fingers threading through his hair, rocking against the front of his pants, his cock hard against your core. His body is hot through his suit.

“I said to be naked,” he mutters, keeping you pressed against the wall as he trails hot, open-mouthed kisses from the hinge of your jaw down your neck. His hand is still wrapped at the base of your throat, his thumb caressing the jut of your collarbone. He squeezes, fingers flexing around your neck, and you gasp a little, feeling dizzy for a brief second before his grip loosens. Your head is thrown back against the wall so Andrei has easy access to your neck. His teeth scrape over your collarbone and he bites down, brief but sharp pain flaring and sending a rush of heat through your core.

“Thought you might have fun tearing these off,” you murmur, twisting your fingers in his hair and tugging. He hisses at the sensation and flexes his fingers over your hip. Those same fingers slide down to tangle in the thin lace covering your ass. He caresses one ass cheek before giving it a little pinch. You jolt in his grip, your panties completely soaked. A little moan slips past your lips and you press harder against his cock. He grins against your skin.

His teeth catch on the strap of your bra snapping it a little. “Did you pick this to match me, solnyshka?” He breathes the question, voice hoarse, while his hips roll lazily against yours. The press of his erection against your cunt is making coherent thought difficult. Your legs open a little more, your stance widening, and Andrei’s thigh moves in between them, lifting up so hard muscle is up against the throbbing heat of your cunt. You whine and rock your hips against him, the sensation of lace against your clit nearly enough to get you off.

“Mhm,” you hum, riding Andrei’s thigh while he moves both hands to your ass, gripping and kneading and pulling you harshly over his suit pants. His lips are on your neck again, biting and sucking marks all over your skin.

“Ty ne slushayesh', malen'kiy otrod'ye,” he says against your neck. Even if your brain wasn’t a lust-soaked puddle of goo, you’d have no idea what he’s saying. But the rough edge to his tone clicks in your brain and you know he’s reprimanding you for something. “I said I wanted you naked when I got home,” he continues, sliding you over his thigh again. His hand smacks against the side of your thigh, stinging a little. The rough drag of lace and suit fabric against your soaked cunt is heavenly, your hips rocking into the friction, eyes rolling back into your head.

“I…I…” you gasp, breathless from the building orgasm. Suddenly, Andrei’s thigh is gone from between your legs and you’re left wanting. “What?”

Your stomach twists, the throbbing between your legs incessant. Through the haze of the denied orgasm, you look up at Andrei and register that his mouth is twisted in a smirk and his eyes are dark from his blown pupils. “Little brats don’t get to come when they want. They have to earn it,” he says, voice like gravel. His fingers dig into your hips, bruising.

“Andrei…” you murmur, reaching for him. He shakes his head, dodging your touch.

His fingers hook in the waistband of your panties, tugging experimentally. You whine, trying to get him to bring his thigh back where you want it by wrapping your hands around his belt and pulling on it, and he snaps the elastic against your skin. “Ah, little brat. When you don’t listen, you don’t get rewarded,” he wraps one hand around both your wrists and holds them over your head, scraping his teeth against your jaw. His other hand, still tangled in the lace, yanks, and the fabric shreds, falling to the floor and leaving you completely bare.

You shiver at the sudden exposure to the cool air, Andrei’s fingers dipping lower and teasing at the crease where your thigh meets your pelvis. He makes a low sound in the back of his throat, “not wet enough for what I want to do, solnyshka, we have some work to do.” He cups your cunt, the heel of his palm grinding against your clit. A strangled gasp stutters past your lips and you drop your head back against the wall, murmuring his name. “Upstairs,” he demands, releasing your hands and swatting at your ass to get you moving.

A giggle rips through your body and Andrei smiles at you, a full, genuine smile that shows off his missing tooth, breaking his character for a moment to kiss the side of your head. “Upstairs, solnyshka,” he growls against your hairline and you shiver again, practically skipping upstairs with Andrei hot on your heels, grabbing your ass as you go. Your thighs slip together, dripping with your arousal.

The bed is only partially made, the covers pulled up but rumpled and pillows haphazardly set at the top of the mattress. Andrei grabs at your waist and pulls you flush against the front of his body, hips rocking so the hard ridge of his cock presses against your bare ass. The fabric of his suit pants creates a delicious friction and you press your ass back against him, moaning a little. His hands splay out over your stomach, covering so much skin. “Are you going to listen now?” He asks lowly, breath tickling your ear and moving wispy strands of your hair.

“Yes,” you breathe, nodding as Andrei knocks his foot in between yours, spreading your legs apart and pushing down on your upper back so you bend at the waist. Your hands brace against the mattress and Andrei’s down between your legs. He bites one of your ass cheeks, soothing over the spot with his tongue, stroking lazily at your clit with the tip of one finger. Your legs shake and arousal floods your stomach, dripping down your thighs. “Andrei…” you murmur his name, bending further and resting your weight on your forearms. The new position pushes your ass higher in the air and closer to his face, giving him the opportunity to attach his mouth to your cunt from behind. A shriek rips from your throat when he sucks at your clit, hands wrapped around your thighs to keep you in place. He hums against you and it’s only a matter of heartbeats before you’re coming on his face, gasping for air.

“Good girl,” Andrei’s voice is muffled, “but you can do better.”

He flattens his tongue over you and your hands scrabble at the sheets, fisting the fabric until your knuckles are white. You chant his name, voice getting higher and higher pitched as he licks at you, sliding one hand up over the front of your thigh and circling your clit with a calloused fingertip. As Andrei works you over, you raise up on your tiptoes, pressing your face into the mattress and screaming his name. He presses his fingertip firmly against your clit and you see stars, your entire body going liquid. He holds his finger in place, never letting you get relief from the overwhelming sensation.

Andrei strokes at the back of your thigh with one hand, using the other to coax you through the aftershocks of your second orgasm. You slump against the bed, turning your head to the side so you can breathe. “That was…” you mumble, shaking your head.

With a low chuckle, Andrei gets up, leaving you feeling empty, and manoeuvres your limp body so you’re on your back, ass and legs hanging off the edge. The entire lower half of his face is shiny with your arousal and he looks self-satisfied. “I have so much more I want to do with you, solnyshka,” he rasps, shedding his suit jacket and tossing it onto the chair in the corner of the room. He reaches down and winds his hand under your back, unhooking your bra with practiced fingers. The lace is tugged off your breasts and tossed to the floor in a dismissive gesture.

You stretch a little, arching your back, nipples pebbling under Andrei’s heated gaze. He trails the backs of his knuckles over the side of one breast, running his thumb against the underside. Your nipples tighten painfully, pinching under his light touch.

“Like what?” You murmur hazily, eyes heavy lidded.

Andrei hooks his index finger into the knot of his tie and wiggles it back and forth, loosening the fabric. His full lips curl up into a smirk and he tugs at the purple silk, pulling the tie out from under his collar. Loosely, he wraps it around his fingers and flexes them. “Arms up,” he commands. “Over your head.”

Oh.

Excitement zips down your spine and you manage to scoot back up the mattress, your arms over your head and crossed at the wrist. “You’re in charge,” you grin, the post-orgasm haze fading away as fresh desire blooms in your stomach.

Andrei rests one knee on the mattress next to you, tracing his hand up your arm before looping the tie around your wrists and expertly tying it off and keeping you attached to the headboard. “Good?” He asks genuinely. His hands wrap loosely around your wrists, fingers running under the tie’s fabric to make sure it’s not too tight.

You give your arms an experimental tug - tight enough to keep you in place, but not tight enough to hurt you. “Very,” you nod, rubbing your thighs together.

“If you start to hurt,” he says, popping the top few buttons on his shirt with his fingers, “you tell me.”

It’s an order, not a suggestion, and you nod again, obedient. He grins at you, working the rest of the buttons through their holes and letting his shirt hang open. You enjoy the glimpse of tanned, toned stomach and press your thighs together again, wiggling against the mattress as desire rolls through your body. “You’re dripping,” he murmurs, voice low. The shirt gets dropped to the floor, his muscles flexing with the movement. He runs a hand over his pecs, flicking at a nipple with the tip of his middle finger. You watch as the bulge behind his zipper grows, straining the fabric to its limits.

“It’s all for you, baby,” you reply, licking your lower lip. “Touch me, Drei. Please.”

Andrei’s hand drifts down his stomach, scratching lightly, before he roughly runs the palm of his hand over his growing erection. “I thought I was in charge here?” The question is rhetorical. Your wrists are tied over your head and Andrei’s not about to touch you before he’s decided you’re both ready. His palm works lazily over his cock and his jaw is tight, so you know he’s feeling the pain of the confinement of his pants.

You let your legs fall open, baring yourself to him, and Andrei sucks in a breath. A muscle tics in his jaw and his hand stops its lazy path. “You are,” you whisper, “you’re in charge. But you know you want to touch me, baby. It’ll feel so good.” Heat rushes between your legs and you can feel the sheets growing damp underneath your ass. Your breathing grows shallow with the effort of keeping your legs open. All you want is relief from the ache.

Andrei kneels at the foot of the bed, his hands running up your calves. He lifts one leg up and kisses the inside of your ankle, the scrape of his stubble making you shiver. “Good for you, solnyshka? Or good for me?” His breath his hot on your skin.

“Both of us,” you stumble over the words - his other hand is moving further up your leg, thick, strong fingers squeezing at your thigh. His fingertips stop inches from where you want them and his grip on your ankle, keeping it at his shoulder level, is preventing you from rubbing your legs together so you’re left to suffer through the throbbing of your clit, the unbearable desire for him to fill you up.

Andrei kisses the inside of your knee before putting your leg back down on the bed. He’s lightning fast, grabbing your ankle again before you can press your legs together. “Ah,” he admonishes you, “legs apart. You’re only coming when I say so.” He spreads your legs and taps the tops of your feet. “Keep them here.” His tone brokers no argument

You nod and watch his every move, his hands going to his belt buckle and undoing it, the metal clinking softly. He grins, watching you watch him, and makes a show of it. The button on his suit pants is flicked open slowly and he takes his time with the zipper, letting out an involuntary groan when his cock is freed from the confines of his pants. The fabric covered bulge of his erection is prominent between the open v of his zipper and your mouth waters, your hips wiggling on the bed with your legs still splayed open, trying to remain obedient.

Andrei kicks his pants off, leaving them in a crumpled heap on the floor and all you can see is his gorgeous body. Smooth, tanned skin covering lean muscle. And he’s all yours.

“Should I get rid of these?” He asks, hooking one thumb in the waistband of his boxer-briefs, tugging them down slightly so the line of his hip bone is exposed. His other hand dips below the fabric, and you watch hungrily as the fabric stretches obscenely around the movement of his hand fisting his cock and stroking roughly. Your eyes are glued to the movement, watching his hand work.

Your head bobbles on a nod, back arching as you try and get some sort of relief from the ache between your legs. At this point, you’re so turned on just seeing Andrei’s cock will probably be enough to get you off. Now that you’re mostly recovered from the two back to back orgasms, you’re desperate for another. “Wanna see you,” you murmur, kicking a foot at him weakly before planting it flat on the mattress and opening yourself up further for him. “Wanna have you in me.”

“Be patient, solnyshka,” Andrei’s voice is a low growl that shoots straight down your spine, warming your stomach. He grins when you shiver, finally pushing down his briefs, letting his cock free. He’s still gripping it in one strong hand, but you can see the red, weeping tip and you can’t help it - your legs snap together, thighs clenching and twisting, trying to get some relief. You close your eyes and breathe heavily, struggling to keep your arms over your head when they want so badly to rub between your legs and relieve the pulsing ache.

The next thing you know, your legs are wrenched apart and Andrei’s shoulders are keeping your thighs spread. “Andr-“ you gasp his name, cutting off in a moan when he brushes his nose against your clit, licking at you and flattening his tongue over you. He stiffens his tongue and plunges it into your cunt, fucking you hard and fast. Your arms jerk, instinctively trying to reach down and tangle your hands in his hair, to hold his face against you. An unintelligible wail leaves your throat while Andrei works you over, holding your inner thighs still with both hands.

You chant his name, babbling and kicking your feet out as he tongues your clit, sucking down on the sensitive nub and ripping an orgasm from your body. Andrei keeps licking, drawing more from you until there’s a gush of fluid between your legs and you wriggle, trying to get away from his face. It’s too much, too fast, and tears stream down your face, overwhelmed. Your back arches off the bed, hips pushing up into Andrei’s face while he sucks at your clit.

“Too much, too much,” you cry, nudging at Andrei’s side with your heel. The aftershocks of your orgasm have your legs trembling, stomach muscles clenching. Andrei pulls back, leaning on his knees a little. His face is soaked with your arousal - again! You didn’t think that you could come like that, hard and fast and gushing - and he swipes a hand over his mouth, licking his lips.

His eyebrows are drawn together in concern and he runs a gentle hand over your shin. “You are okay? Should I stop?” His cock bobs in front of his stomach, looking painfully hard, and you suck in a shaky breath, evaluating.

“No, I want,” you hiccup the words, catching your breath, “I want more. Keep going. But slower.” You can’t even form a coherent thought, but every nerve ending in your body is on fire and you just want more of Andrei. “Too many, too fast,” you murmur, dropping back against the pillows, shifting your ass out of the damp spot on the sheets.

“Okay,” he runs calloused palms over the tops of your thighs, thumbs stroking at the sweaty skin, “slower for my baby. You’re so good.” He croons the praise. “So good for me, taking my fingers and my tongue like an angel.”

Andrei’s words are slurring in a mix of English and Russian and you know all the blood in his body is in his cock, making him distracted. You grin at him, looking at him through your eyelashes, and shift your wrists over your head. The silk tie twists and rubs at your skin, warm from your body heat. You want to be untied so you can get your hands on Andrei, run them over his shoulders and chest, wrap your fingers around his cock, but he’s not done with you yet.

He lies flat on his stomach between your legs, giving you a perfect view of his muscled back and ass. Andrei bites gently at the inside of your thigh, running his tongue over the spot to soothe it. His beard rasps against your skin, making your whole body shake, and he winds his left arm under your right thigh, holding his fingers against the inside of your thigh and resting his cheek against your skin. “We go slow, solnyshka,” he promises, as if he hasn’t already given you three mind-blowing orgasms, as if you hadn’t come in a gushing flood all over his face. The fingers of his free hand trail up the outside of your left thigh, dancing over the jumping muscles. You relax under his touch, loose-limbed and hazy, brushing the sole of your foot over his side, making him twitch when you reach a ticklish spot.

“I think about this all day,” Andrei says roughly, pressing the pad of his thumb against the crease of your thigh, swiping it through your sweat and arousal. “From the time I leave,” his breath is hot and tickles your thigh, making you clench your core muscles. Andrei’s eyes darken as he watches your cunt squeeze around nothing. “All I want is this, you, tied up, sitting there like a queen.” His fingers skate over your skin, swiping through your folds, making you shudder and clench. The tip of his index finger dips inside of you, pumping slowly, lazily, providing no real satisfaction. You clench around it, the single fingertip no comparison to the length and thickness of his cock. You need more than one finger in you for any satisfaction.

This is just Andrei teasing you, making sure you’re desperate for him.

“Andrei,” you whine, wriggling in his grip, engaging your stomach muscles and trying to sit up more. He presses his fingers harder against your inner thigh, scraping over your hipbone with his teeth.

“Moya koroleva,” he mumbles against the mark he made. “Purple for royalty, my beautiful queen, wet and sweet for me. Waiting for her king to make her happy. To make her scream.”

Your back arches off the bed when his thumb circles your clit, still swollen and sensitive. Andrei’s dirty talk always makes you wetter than you thought possible. He grins against your skin, plunging a second finger inside of you and moving his wrist. You let out a keening wail when his fingers curl, bending your free leg at the knee and pulling ineffectually at the tie around your wrists. As Andrei works harder, pumping his fingers in and out of you, reaching his other hand up over your stomach to splay out and keep you in place, you force your eyes open, hating to miss the show.

He adds a third finger, stretching you to your limits. His hand and wrist is damp, the insides of your thighs sticky and trembling.

His head is buried between your legs, licking delicately at your clit, the smooth expanse of his back shining with sweat. The perfect round globes of his ass jerk and move with his irregular rutting into the mattress. The bed shakes under you, Andrei’s hips pistoning. “Drei, baby,” you gasp, wanting him inside of you. It’s a fucking crime for him to get himself off against the bed instead of inside of you. “Please, please, come…” your words are slurred and unintelligible, “in me. On me. Drei, please!”

“One more, solnyshka, then me,” he mumbles, curling his fingers. “One more. Give me one more. I want to see you fall apart.”

He plunges his fingers to the second knuckle and you scream, clamping your thighs together around Andrei’s head. His laughter is muffled and the vise-like grip you have around him makes his movements shorter and sharper, his fingers pumping in quick little bursts. Pleasure coils low in your stomach, building up your spine, your thighs clenching around Andrei’s head until the dam breaks and you scream, Andrei’s fingers pressed firmly against your G-spot, his tongue relentless against your swollen clit. You cry, writhing under his palm, feet flat on his shoulders. His face pushes against your cunt, hips working into the mattress, your back sliding up the bed until your arms are a little bent at the elbows, the tension from the tie going slack. Breathing heavily, you grind against his face and hand, chasing the last of the aftershocks.

Your body goes limp, completely wrung out. Satisfied with himself, Andrei pulls his fingers from your cunt and sits back on his knees, cock standing proudly at attention, looking impossibly hard. “Andrei,” his name is a dreamy, weary sigh on your lips and he grins, cocky as hell.

“My turn,” he says simply, leaning over your body, covering it with his, and jerking his hips forward. He enters you in one easy slide, settling himself in the cradle of your hips. He plants his forearms on either side of your head, face inches from yours. “I’ll do all the work.”

Andrei closes the distance between your faces, kissing you lazily as his hips pump, the head of his cock hitting deep inside of you. You groan into his mouth, pain and pleasure mixing and setting every nerve ending in your body on fire. You’re so wet and slick for him the glide of his cock is seamless, so turned on that there’s no burn from the stretch of him filling you. His mouth trails hot, wet kisses over your jaw, biting at your earlobe while he snaps his hips into yours. “So wet, so tight,” Andrei mumbles into your ear. “All mine. Only mine. Ya tebya lyublyu, moya solnyshka.”

You wrap your legs around his hips and squeeze tightly, urging him to go harder, faster. He does, grunting into your hair, the powerful muscles of his legs and back working hard. Your heels dig into his ass cheeks and Andrei buries his face in your neck, your skin muffling his shout. Above you, his entire body tightens before he comes, finishing in you with a few powerful, stuttering strokes of his hips. You’re not going to come this time, but you’ve had your fill of orgasms and really just want to get to the point of the night where you can cuddle with Andrei.

“Come on, baby,” you murmur in his ear, desperate to get your hands on him. “Fill me up.”

Andrei bites at your neck, making you squeal and laugh, lifting your hips up to meet his. When he’s done, still half-hard inside of you, his body drops on top of yours, a warm, sweaty weight. You brush your nose against his temple, legs still wrapped around his waist. He’s still for a minute, kissing lightly against the side of your neck and tucking his hands under your head to tangle his fingers in your hair. You wiggle a little under him, starting to feel a little crushed.

“Andrei,” you whine a little, “I feel kind of gross.” There’s cum dripping out of you and down your ass cheeks, sweat and spit drying on every part of your body.

“One minute,” he mumbles, tugging on your hair gently before rolling off of your body. He looks at your seriously, a frown line forming between his eyebrows. “You didn’t come.” His pout is sweet, a stubborn glint in his eyes telling you that he’s ready to dive back in and give you another orgasm.

A laugh bubbles out of your chest. “Andrei, baby, I lost track of how many orgasms I just had, I’m good. I promise,” you grin sleepily, rubbing your legs together against the stickiness on your thighs. “Untie me and carry me to the bathtub.”

Not that you’d tell Andrei, but your shoulders are starting to go numb. He kisses the underside of your arm and reaches up to undo the knot. The silk tie loosens and Andrei wraps it around his hand while your arms fall into your lap. You sigh happily, stretching your arms to the side and rotating the feeling back into them. “I love that tie,” you grin, sitting up completely now that you have full

movement back.

“I love the purple against your skin,” Andrei replies, running his silk-wrapped knuckles over your side.

You roll onto your side and throw your leg over Andrei’s hip. “We should get silk sheets,” you suggest. “Think how nice those will feel…”

Andrei shifts back and tugs you closer, rubbing his hands over your shoulders, loosening the tension that had built up. You sigh and let your head flop back onto the pillow, mumbling “oh, that’s nice.”

His hands work down your arms, massaging the tight muscles and encircling your wrists, rubbing his thumbs over the reddish marks left from your struggle against the restraint. Andrei lifts each wrist to his mouth and kisses the marks, melting your heart. “Whatever your serdtse desires, solnyshka,” Andrei mumbles against your skin, “I’ll give you.”

Giggling lightly, you sigh, “right now, all my heart desires is a hot bath with my fiancé and a fancy sandwich the size of my head. With like three different kinds of cheese.”

Andrei’s answering laugh rumbles through his chest and vibrates your entire body. “I can give you both of those,” he says, kissing your forehead. “Stay here and I will make the bath for you.”

He climbs out of bed and pulls on his briefs, leaving you to stretch out happily, the pleasant post-sex soreness settling into your entire body. You blink slowly, listening to Andrei run the bath water, thinking how lucky you are to have a man who’ll tie you up, have his way with you, and then treat you like a queen afterwards.

“Flower bubbles or citrus bubbles?” Andrei calls from the bathroom.

A goofy grin transforms your face. God, you love him so much.

[lady-quen]

4, 7 and 8 from the new commander ask!! I want to Know, i look at you and Mael with big wet eyes, completely invested in the story

Commander ask game!

As a special treat, I prepared a wall of text 😂 most of it will be put under readmore for the sake of the dash. Thank you very much for the ask!

4. Is there an NPC your commander doesn't care for at all?

Smodur.

IBS just became that much more interesting to me ever since myself and @commanderteag started working on joint lore, which led me to develop the Drizzlewood campaign era of Mael's story a bit more closely.

Following Mael's revelations courtesy of Raven - that no choice is ever truly the "correct" one, that even the best intentions can lead to catastrophe, and sometimes a lesser evil can help avoid a greater evil in the future, his transformation into a ruthless leader is complete. He can no longer afford to doubt himself, resolving to kill Ryland even if his friendship with Rytlock is forever soured. Following the death of Drakkar and an unexpected near-death experience courtesy of a friend's dragonslayer bow in very much the wrong hands, he receives a summons from the United Legions to assist in the war effort against Bangar's Dominion.

One Imperator stands out from among the rest: Smodur the Unflinching. While charr have always been a race of warmongers, with a specific relationship with honor and self-worth in the context of the Legions - Mael does not care much for either Smodur as a person, or his methods.

Smodur believed in might over everything - victory at all costs. But while the Commander was no stranger to sacrifice and the reality of war, he quickly came to recognize Smodur held no respect for his people as people, but rather as disposable tools, nothing more than cannon fodder. In his ambition to become the next Khan-Ur, he thought himself so far above and detached from the "lessers" whom he commanded that often he would not even make an effort to take a path that would save more lives. To him, charr soldiers and civilians alike were as disposable as spent shells: a sentiment further made true by Smodur's willingness to trick Mael and Rytlock into committing a horrific war crime with the use of a Searing crystal.

The height of the Commander and Smodur's animosity came with Cinder's needless murder, an act not only cruel but strategically unsound to say the least. It was clear the Iron Imperator had gone insane out of hubris, believing himself so powerful that Steelshot's slaughter at his hands would terrorize Ryland instead of stoking a new flame of hatred and conviction in his heart.

It's after the Frost Legion's debut that Smodur and Mael were forced to work closely together, much to the latter's disgust. But a master tactician knows to keep his cards close and his true emotions secure - where Smodur was very open about his disdain for the Pact field leader and constantly asserting dominance, Mael played wholly into his diplomatic persona for the good of the campaign.

Still, he had seen enough of the Imperator sending his troops on suicide missions against the overbearing Frost - and then, should any dare to refuse or desert, executing them for treason. Such a strategy served only to terrorize his own soldiers and the United Legions slowly but surely began to lose the front against the seemingly neverending tide of Dominion, Icebrood and Svanir.

There was only one thing a necromancer - and a powerful one, at that - could do to bolster the ranks: round up the fallen, Dominion and Legions alike, and raise them as his personal army. Naturally, this did not initially sit well with Smodur, despite gaining the approval of Malice and Efram. In spite of the sheer utilitarian value of Maelmordha's plan, the paranoid Smodur already saw the Commander - and Aurene - as a threat to his power and wanted the sylvari necromancer kept firmly in line. Most charr still didn't trust magic, and morale would falter once soldiers were forced to see their former bandmates risen as mindless corpses, which led to Mael preemptively employing the aid of Kasmeer, Maolmuire, and the Seraph mesmers to scramble facial features. In this way, at least the already shaken troops did not have to come face to face with what was once their loved ones shackled to dark magics.

The Dominion would come to call this army "The Shadow Legion", dubbing the Commander himself "The Shadow Imperator" to further drive the propaganda of the United Legions' weakness - to allow a non-charr to play such a vital role in their campaign whereas the Dominion stood strong as only charr, the true image of what their species should be: the sole rulers of Tyria under Bangar's bloodied banner.

Though Maelmordha successfully convinced Smodur to allow his undead to take on the more perilous missions, the Imperator' paranoia continued to eat him alive. Afraid to be seen as weak due to relying on the Commander's magic, he pushed more and more risky strategies, threatening the United Legions' cause. While he had once been a true visionary and formidable leader, the final stretch of the campaign leading up to his eventual death was the sloppiest leadership of his life.

Though he knows better than to publicly admit such thoughts, as well as is well aware of the charr leader's accomplishments, Commander Maelmordha feels Smodur's death was self-wrought and ultimately beneficial to the Legions.

7. What was their relationship to Trahearne?

They were roommates dearhearts, your honor.

I've tweaked Mael's canon for him to sprout in 1320 AE instead, spending five years realizing his Wyld Hunt of uncovering the truth of Riannoc's fate and finding Caladbolg, only to then return it so that the Mother may elect a new wielder. Awakened as a necromancer to aid him in his Hunt the same way Trahearne himself was, the two were very similar yet also opposites in many aspects.

Where Trahearne was shy and indecisive, burdened with the weight of his seemingly impossible Hunt, Maelmordha was a Dawnborn bursting with charisma, a natural in leadership scenarios yet lacking the expertise in Orrian matters necessary to lead the Pact. As such, the best arrangement was for Trahearne to step up as the Marshal with Mael as his second and the field leader, handing a large portion of troop management while simultaneously coaching the Marshal to improve his confidence and leadership skills. Together, they complimented one another very well, coupled with the fact Maelmordha felt it was his destiny to assist the Knight of Thorn wherever he went, his Hunt now focusing on allowing Caladbolg to enact its whole purpose.

Suddenly, Trahearne wasn't alone with a calling that threatened to devour him whole. Suddenly, he had another, with their Hunts so closely intertwined - a friend lifting him up towards the light he once thought he would never see. Armed with the sword from the Pale Mother herself and side by side with a man who had spent his every waking moment working to find it - just for the purpose of finally realizing Trahearne's destiny - he was ready, and for the first time he felt the future was truly bright.

It was towards the end of the Zhaitan campaign - after the cleansing of Orr - that the two realized what they had might be love, after all. Because how could it not be? They were soul-bound, linked in Wyld Hunt and one another's perfect companions, standing at the end of the world and facing it with a resounding "No."

They would not fall to Zhaitan. They would not let its foul magic claim the heart of Tyria as it had once claimed Orr. Together, but only together, they had enough strength to defy a force of nature given flesh and inspire the world to take up arms against the remaining Elder Dragons, a tidal wave of change that would one day usher a new dawn on the world they had come to love and fiercely wish to protect.

...That dawn did come, but only one of them lived to see it - if we go by a looser definition of "lived", anyway.

Even after all these years, Mael still misses Trahearne. Though his grief and codependency issues improved upon eventually passing Caladbolg on to a new wielder, reflecting his thematic fate as the "Keeper of the Thorn" before he was ever the Knight. Though the roles are inverted now, with Mael as the older, experienced party mentoring a young Knight, he feels it's the right thing to do. That in this way, another bright destiny may be realized, and he will be there to watch over it and see it through.

He will be there to take Maolmuire under his wing, into the most comforting shadow where one's destiny is so often a scorching light: to make sure the curse of Caladbolg does not repeat and the fourth wielder does not die alone like each of the Three Knights once did. Henceforth, the immortal Commander will vow to be there to watch over the future generations of the Pale Mother's heroes, being ever the one to bestow the sword with Her blessing.

He hopes that in this way, he can both atone for his failure to save Trahearne, and finally grieve properly by reliving the joy of companionship that made their time together worthwhile in the first place.

"Deartheart, this I promise: from this day on I will remember you with a smile."

Aurene is his daughter, even if his race does not know the term in the same ways others do.

8. Is your commander's relationship to Aurene parental, sibling, or something else?

She was the light that kept him afloat in his despair following Trahearne's death, and the force that pulled him from his all-consuming hatred of dragons. Indeed, though the Elder Dragons were the enemy of Tyria's races, there was more to these mighty creatures that met the eye: the Scions - Glint the Prophet and her offspring, who had found a kinship with the mortal races and sought to protect the world much like the Commander and the Pact themselves. Aurene was a beautiful creature, the most pure soul he had ever known, and becoming her Champion was a spiritual experience that most likely saved Maelmordha from drowning in his darkest emotions.

He would do anything for her, and she for him. Even when he begged her not to come to his aid, held at the brink of death under the blade of Balthazar - and subsequently, once he returned as something he felt was far worse than who he used to be. She gave purpose and direction to his newfound magic so that it would not consume him whole like his despair nearly did all the way back in Maguuma. Shaped the Soul Eater's horrific mark into something that could be used productively, and the Champion became also the Mouth of Aurene.

Together, they represent the beginning and the end of a star: She is the newborn sun and he is the singularity, the devourer, the end-wolf Fenrir wreathed in chain. Though she sees timelines where reality breaks and their delicate balance can no longer hold, it is purely because they are perfect opposites that the Eternal Alchemy can keep turning as it is in the absence of the other Elder Dragons. Though he is no Dragon himself, he is forced into the role of a balancing force, the immortal lich, bearer of the aspects of death and shadow to her aspects of life and light. Though he knows better than to assume he'll live forever, having an extended lifespan may at least help the Alchemy settle into the new rhythm - to truly and wholly welcome the Age of Aurene.

But at the core of all things, she's still simply his daughter, and the reason he is still alive and sane.

[ashbub]

turtles hanging out w/ shy!reader

rotmnt turtles x gn!reader

contents: cute fluff between you and the turtles

LEONARDO HAMATO ¡! ❞

━━━ leo is known as the most easygoing of the group amongst the turtles, with his nonchalant catchphrases and somewhat dramatic demeanor, the guy breezes through life like a piece of cake.

━━━━ but even so, leo cares about you a lot. probably more than he would care to admit even to himself. sure, he puts up a laid-back front for you, but he quite frankly worries when you aren't around playing video games with him in the lair. sees you going through a rough time at school or struggling to interact with your peers? leonardo hamato portals his ass to sit with you outside on the bleachers during lunchtime without missing a beat.

━━━ you find it quite endearing that despite sitting on the cool metal bleachers outside with a stale hotdog and quite possibly expired milk carton, leonardo happily opens a portal next to you and shares a freshly bubbling pizza slice with you

━━━ this man is practically sweating bullets.

━━━ he purposefully occasionally asks donnie to hack into the security cameras of your school to make sure you are doing alright from time to time- especially if he knows that there is a big event going on that might make you nervous

━━━ "donnie, c'mon, mano! just check for me on how they are doing? they haven't texted me yet and it's their first day! what if they haven't found anyone to sit with?"

"leo, i believe that is what many consider to be stalking." 

━━━ he taught you how to skateboard for a while and even offered to help you customize the board that he bought for your birthday! (he pretended to be in a street costume and offered to take pictures with tourists for a couple of weeks to save up the cash.)

━━━ he lets you ramble all about your interests when you guys hang out on your favorite rooftop spot when you have trouble sleeping- just contently nodding with a bright smirk over the fact that he has managed to get you all excited to talk about your favorite movies or artists.

━━━ when you notice how long you have been talking, he reassures you with an easy smile and waggles his three fingers lazily in the air. honestly, the man could listen to you for hours.

RAPHAEL HAMATO ¡! ❞

━━━ spoilers. raph is the biggest teddy bear around you.

━━━ he was the most nervous among his brothers concerning interacting with you when you had met for the first time. raph was terrified of scaring you off with the way he would tower over you and how you would initially avoid eye contact with him when he would try to spark up a conversation. he even avoided smiling for a while because the big guy was a lil' nervous that his fang was intimidating you.

━━━ nottomentionyouaresotinycomparedtohim

━━━ raph honestly melted into his shell when you comfortably rested your head on his arm while watching a movie together. you didn't even seem to notice your slight shift towards him, he almost forgot to breathe for a second as he just watched you quietly enjoy the film, buttery popcorn gathering close to your lips. you just seemed so happy.

━ he always wants you to feel comfortable. perhaps a bit too comfortable. raph is constantly knitting you soft scarves and mittens when winter begins approaching in new york. warm and fuzzy yarn being crocheted into cute hats. (despite his brothers teasing him over how they could practically only see your eyes peaking out from all the layers he has managed to throw on you)

━"raph, hermano, give it a rest! that is way too much yarn-"

"but i gotta make em' some a scarf, a hat, gloves, some leg warmers-"

"or you can have them looking like a sesame street character, that works too."

━ he is always asking about what you are interested in doing when the gang hangs out. if he notices you want to speak up or your eyes begin to brighten up, he'll always turn the focus of the conversation toward your suggestions.

━ even though it's rare when you do, sometimes you'll mumble out whenever you need a hug from raph. a soft glance in his direction and he already had bent down with his large arms scooping you up tightly. 

DONATELLO HAMATO ¡! ❞

━ donnie is probably the most reserved when it comes to his affection towards you, but when he sees you scratching your arm or nervously glancing at the ceiling frequently, he does what he can to make sure you feel alright and to soothe your nerves.

━ you are probably one of the few people he lets into his workshop willingly to roam around- the only person he doesn't quite mind that tinkers around with the unfinished inventions scattered across his desk with crumpled-up coffee cans and random sticky notes. he'll let you peek over his shoulder to admire his blueprints and ask questions as he works, even when you think he doesn't notice.

━ donatello always has the mini fridge in his workshop filled with your favorite snacks and drinks in case you happen to come in for some company. he would always give you a small shrug and claim that he just so happens to like the same refreshments you do or that the local store April stopped by only carried that kind of chips currently. it had nothing to do with you, or how he knew your eyes would light up munching on your favorite snacks. really. nothing to do with you at all.

━ "i didn't know you had these, donnie!" you murmured excitedly, the surface of your thumbs running over the bright plastic of the salty treat with a light astonishment. 

glancing over his shoulder at the sound of your voice, donatello's eyes flickered over the snack you had been gripping tightly between your hands- his furrowed expression remaining casual before turning back his attention to the burning slight sparks emitting from his project.

"oh, those old things?" he replied with a small laugh, sliding down his mismatched goggles down his face, his brow slightly quirked upwards plainly and his squinting eyes at the snack you lifted towards him, "i eat those all the time."

"really?" your head tilted at the claim, scanning all the neatly stacked snacks lined up neatly on his shelf that were organized by brand, looking almost completely untouched. "this is the first time i've ever seen you-"

"I EAT THEM ALL THE TIME, [y/n]-"

━ donnie plays your favorite music on his speakers while working on new inventions. he remembered when you were excitedly smiling at him, raising your earbud sheepishly towards him about the newest album of a band you liked and offering him to listen- he still could recall from when you showed him your Spotify playlist one time and the glimmer of pure joy in your eyes.

MICHELANGELO HAMATO ¡! ❞

━ THIS BOY LOVES COOKING FOR YOU (it's his love language really)

━ he is always asking you about your favorite meals and searching up tutorials online to perfect them with the proper amount of spices and garnishes by the time you visit the lair for supper.

"raph? can you try this please~?"

"mikey, they ain't gonna be here for another hour and dinner is practically done- it already tastes great!"

"but i need it to taste amazing for them!"

━ if you have a cultural dish that is dear to you, mikey puts extra attention to the details to make sure he has it down to make sure it tastes exactly like how you adore it- it makes his day when he watches you contently take a sip from a dish he has prepared from you and begin to glow up at the turtle's accuracy on perfecting each dish

━ cooking was one of the ways you both bonded with one another. mikey was determined to become your friend, even at your slight apprehension at the sudden brightness of the bumbling turtle waving his cookbooks towards you or dragging you to sketch with him.

━ he also loves drawing for you! sketches and such, he will always eagerly smile at your requests for your favorite comfort characters. he could spend hours dragging his pencil across the paper of his sketchbook, tongue cutely stuck out in concentration before flipping his eraser to clean up the fine details.

━ he thinks the world of you

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Do u think mai and zuko do a good job emotionally supporting EACH OTHER, I’ve seen a lot of hate towards mai dismissive stupid joke from their first scene buut if i remember correctly she does support him a little more in the next episodes!! Or she tries given her circumstances ¿? Idk what would u do differently in their relationship?

As I've already said before, the only thing I'd change about Maiko is actually showing the start of their relationship (first date, first kiss, that kind of stuff). Everything else made absolute sense and the fandom only hates on it due to a criminal lack of good taste/being bitter that Mai "got in the way of Zutara" (someone should let these people know that one cannot get in the way of something that does not exist and never a chance of existing).

Mai dismissed Zuko's feelings exactly ONCE and the people have been holding that against her forever - even though Zuko himself, who is infamous for being quick to anger and takes nearly everything to heart, did not seem to mind it one bit.

Even in Ember Island when she doesn't like the shell he gets her or makes a sassy comment because he accidentally dropped some ice cream on her, she did not sound like anything beyond just the typical teenager. Zuko had full on meltdowns over stuff that was just as minor.

Zuko needed emotional support from his girlfriend exactly twice: during the group therapy session by the fire on The Beach, and in Nightmares and Daydreams. Mai was there for him in both times, even though during the first she was still REALLY mad at him. Everyone always focuses on her not letting Zuko use his trauma as an excuse to be a dick to others (which is a GOOD thing), but never on how she says she cares about him, kisses and hugs him, and takes him back even though he is yet to apologize for the bad behavior that led to their break up.

Not to mention, she ended up in prison to save him from harm, and in the finale, when she sees him struggling to get dressed up due to being injured, she helps him out.

Mai is a loving, caring girlfriend.

As for Zuko, there is only ONE episode in which he is snapping at Mai constantly, The Beach, and the whole point of it that is Zuko is directing the anger he feels towards HIMSELF at other people because he's starting to feel guilty over betraying his uncle and joining Ozai again.

All the other times? He wants Mai around as much as possible, explicitly said he didn't ask to leave the Fire Nation with him BECAUSE HE FELT HE COULDN'T DRAG HER INTO THAT MESS, and everytime he sees or mentions her after the day of the eclipse he has THE dorkiest smile ever.

They love each other. They had their issues because they're two teenagers trying to figure out how relationships work AND because they're both deeply traumatized, but THEY LOVE EACH OTHER.

[14muffinz]

when worlds collide

inspired by @blackfire-fanfiction 's soul switching au

words: 1819

~~~

The day starts slow.

Maybe it’s just Leon’s imagination, but it’s probably not. Being in this body is just not his thing. Their knee is hurting like crazy, as always, and every time he shows up he swears that everyone around here gets angstier.

He loves these guys, don’t get him wrong here. But he’s always more at home in the other body, with his overly energetic and constantly loud brothers, where he’s almost expected to wind down.

The other guy likes it around here, though, and Leon can still see why. After all, these are the guys he grew up with, before the swaps started. And Leon’s are the others. Plain and simple.

Anyways, back to the point – things start slow. He and Mikey gather together on the couch to watch a few episodes of a cartoon that Leon’s blanking on the name of. Leon’s itching to do something more active, but their knee is protesting and they’re not far from training time anyways, he might as well save the energy.

Right when he’s preparing to follow the usual schedule, the peaceful morning is interrupted by a sight that instantly has Leon on edge. A bright blue portal, a very familiar bright blue portal, lights up the room, and Leon’s already rushing before he processes anything else about it, like the purple sparks flying out of it for one.

Mikey’s not far behind, and because it’s still an unprompted portal in the middle of their home, both turtles draw their weapons.

The sinking feeling doesn’t come until figures start flying out of the portal, all screaming at varying volumes. Donnie – as in, yes, the softshell Donnie – lands first, scrambling back to his feet and hand quickly reaching for his bō. He’s quickly followed by Mikey, who’s pulled completely into his shell and only leaves once he starts sliding against the floor. Finally comes Raph, who’s curled around a light-green turtle that Leon’s used to seeing in the mirror.

His first thought? Holy shit. His second thought? Ah, shit.

The local Raph enters because of the noise, eyes blowing wide as he registers the scene around him. Donnie’s not far behind, not even shutting the lab door as he rushes into the main room.

Raph – oh, great, this isn’t confusing at all – releases the fourth turtle from his hold, and within a few minutes both sets of turtles are staring down one another, all hostile except for…

It’s him.

Leon needs to keep up the leader thing, as does Leo, but it’s clear they all have forgotten that in favour of just staring at one another like they’ve never seen themselves before. Because in a way, they haven’t. He’s known that the other guy is real, of course, but knowing that and seeing one of his bodies moving on its own is a whole different experience.

“I think that we’re doing the alternate universe thing again,” the local Mikey notes, still holding his nunchaku but his stance quickly beginning to slip.

Yep… seems so…

Okay, so there’s probably a great story for how his other set of brothers managed to land themselves in this dimension, but Leon really really really needs to pull the other guy aside for a chat. Or conversation, definitely not a short chat. There is a lot to be said here.

“Again?” Other Donnie – okay no that is not better what the heck should he be calling everyone – blurts, taking on a familiar kid in a candy store expression. “Ohmigosh, have you breached the barrier before?”

More than you know, bro.

“I am not about to blindly trust you,” the local Donnie states, staring down the alternate set of turtles. That seems to snap the other guy back into his performance, and he adjusts his stance to something a bit tenser, and Leon has to suppress a snort as he watches the guy pretend to scan the room. “How did you get here?”

Oh, if only he were in the other body. As the three more colourful turtles all slowly turn to glare at their Donnie, Leon nearly joins in. This is prime bullying time! It’s a betrayal to twin code to not be at one another’s necks! The other guy does it for him, though, so he supposes that’s good enough (for now).

Donnie’s not the type to hesitate under a glare, in Leon’s experience, and it certainly showed. “Awkward cough– technically the blame cannot be 100% assigned on me, because Leo—”

“You are not pinning this on me,” the other guy (Leon hesitates around calling him by his own name) argues.

“Well it was your interference that caused—”

The other guy crosses his arms and scoffs. “You asked for my help, Donnie.”

“And you provided i—”

Bigger Raph, already bored of the twin fight (wow it’s weird to be on the other end of that. Is that really how they act? Weird), grabs Donnie by the battle shell and yanks him away from the other guy. Donnie keeps up his glare, but the other guy doesn’t give one in return. Leon wishes that he could.

Leon realises that he’s already sheathed his swords, he didn’t even notice. The other brothers from this dimension are hesitating, but they haven’t warmed up to the concept quite as much as Leon.

Rude. They’re the ones who have already done this song and dance. Someone needs to pass around some chill pills.

Younger Mikey clears his throat, bouncing slightly on his feet. “Anyways!” He says actually. The bouncing picks up energy as he scans the room more thoroughly. “Donnie, your thingy worked! You did it!”

Smaller Raph steps forward to say something, and while that distraction is going on, the two blue-clad turtles meet eyes yet again. Leon tilts his head a little, the other guy nods, and Leon knows that they’re on the same page. We need to talk.

⠀

⠀

“I can certainly… try to recreate the portal with the help of Donatello,” Leon’s twin says carefully, a few minutes later, when the turtles are all settled in the pit and not gripping any of their weapons. “Though it will be quite the challenge without the blueprints for the machine on hand. The last copy I have of them saved is a few nights of work out of date.”

Great. Coolcoolcool.

“…Is that it?” Bigger Raph asks.

The eight turtles all hesitate, all wondering where they’re supposed to go from here. Luckily, Leon already has a pretty good idea of what he’s doing next, if he can pull this off while staying in character.

Good news, he’s the son of an actor, and he’s been acting for a good portion of his life.

“I believe so?” Local Donnie replies, also hesitant.

Leon’s first instinct is to clap his hands and stand up, but he hesitates right before he actually claps, realising that maybe that’s not the best approach. Instead, he fidgets for a moment or two, making sure nobody else plans on speaking up.

“Is it alright if I speak with other-me for a few minutes?”

Local Raph (someone should have brought up a naming system, but whatever, too late now) looks up, startled by the question. Nobody has any reason to stop them, and when Bigger Raph meets the other guy’s eyes, the other guy shrugs and stands up.

“O– my bedroom?’

“Sure.”

Awkward.

Leon’s been awkward around here, sure. It’s still his body and in a way his brothers, but at the same time it’s always been more of the other guy’s place. Leon plays his role while he’s here, and in return the other guy pretends to be him whenever they’re swapped. And up until now, when they’ve finally met, he’s thought that he’s done a pretty good performance. Now he feels like he’s being judged.

The two disappear down the hallway with all of the turtles’ bedrooms, and the moment Leon shuts the door to their bedroom, he can’t help the hysterical laughter that begins to bubble out of him.

It doesn’t take the other guy long to join, flopping down on their bed and letting out his own set of hysterics.

“This is so weird,” Leo admits.

“Did you ever think we’d actually…” The other guy trails off. It’s a bit weird hearing in Leon’s own voice, but to be fair it’s not the oddest thing of the day.

“Of course not!” Leon responds, joining his other self on the bed. There’s room, and standing just makes him feel even more awkward. “I don’t even know what to call you, man.”

“That’s what you’re focusing on?”

“Duh!”

Because the other guy is apparently an absolute hog, he decides to steal the pillow and lean it against the wall, using it as a backrest. He stares around their room as if seeing it for the first time. “Do you think we’re going to be able to switch back while everyone’s here?”

Leon’s first thought is what if this stops us from switching back at all but he stops that thought fast because it’s too scary, and this is supposed to be a good moment, one where he finally gets to have a real conversation with the guy he’s spent a good chunk of his life pretending to be. “Maybe? We don’t have any proof that it has to do with which world we’re in.”

“We also don’t have proof it has to do with which body we’re in.”

“Are you trying to be negative nancy right now?”

“I’m just making sure that we’re thinking about all the information we have.”

“Can we sit back and just appreciate this? For two seconds?”

The two seconds don’t take long to get awkward, so Leon makes a pop noise that quickly snaps the other guy back into motion.

“For the record? It’s still Donnie’s fault that I’m here.”

Leon chokes on a laugh, and then several more, and even if it does irritate his throat a bit, he still thinks that it’s way too funny. “You sure?”

“Yes!” The other guy responds, throwing his hands up defensively. “He was asking to see how our ninpō would work with his machine, and I guess I wasn’t as good at controlling it as I thought.”

“That sounds like your fault,” Leon responds flatly.

The other guy crosses his arms in a dramatic way that Leon didn’t think was normal for him, and executes a pretty impressive glare. “Well, he’s the one who trusted me.”

Leon would argue, but he’s pretty down for teasing his twin, as long as it’s not taken too far. Plus, they can have Leonardo solidarity, or something.

There’s a lot more to be said. Leon’s still trying to prioritise everything in his head, but after years of having painfully slow, hard to read conversations, they finally have a chance to sit back and actually talk, and he’s not about to waste it.

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

Hello I'm wanting to participate in the bg3 matchup please, if it's closed I'm sorry. I'm gonna do my tav (my pfp), thank you ^^ Name: Nixie Stormchapel Age: 27 Pronouns: She/Her Sexuality: Pansexual (Monogamous) Class: Sorcerer (Storm sorcerer) Race: Tiefling (Mephistopheles) Background: Sailor/Criminal (Pirate) Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Likes: Rum, jewelry, her "crew", kids/animals (secretly but not so secretly), whale blubber, a good erotica, the sea, her ship the "Dazzling Pearl". Dislikes: Pirate hunters, slavers, racists (especially against tiefling), people who don't respect/tip barmaids, people who don't know how to take a joke, scurvy. Hobbies: Pickpocketing, map making, singing sea shanties, drinking rum/tea, building model ships, and reading pirate erotica. Feats: Became a pirate captain after slaying a kraken that killed the former captain, "successfully" made out with a siren and survived when she ripped out her spleen, has freed hundreds of slaves from ships. Fears: Getting scurvy, adds lemon to her daily diet to avoid it, like adding it to rum/tea, her food or just eats it like one would an apple. Letting her "crew" down, constantly worries about their wellbeings but is to prideful to admit this fear. Personality: Is very charming and witty, loves to socialize, is always seen smiling or making jokes and can be a bit flirty but when she gets mad it can be pretty unsettling since it's so rare. Bonds: Tends to compliment people a lot, usually to get what she wants but if she likes you she means it genuinely, also loves to give gifts, like the treasures she found. Is loyal to her "crew". Ideals: Believes freedom to be the upmost of importance, the sea was freedom to her. When she was a pirate captain she not only pillaged other ships for loot but freed slaves being transported via sea. Faith: None Flaws: Has a bit of a drinking problem, but rarely gets wasted due to infernal blood, also loves shiny things, can't resist the shiny, so she often steals stuff under people's noses. Has a mouth of a sailor, no filter once so ever. Strength: 14 Intelligence: 12 Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 9 Constitution: 13 Charisma: 17

A/N: Because you @lilly-pad02 didn’t specify a gender preference, just that your Tav is Pansexual and monogamous, I’ve given you one of both below. For your matchups, I think Gale (Male) and Karlach (Female) would be best suited to you. 

☸ Gale would be a great match for your Tav, Nixie! He’s always excited to learn more about the world, especially about lands, cultures, and magics from far away. He’d love nothing more than for Nixie to regal him with all the tales of her and her crew’s grand adventures on the high seas. 

Gale has made it very clear that to him, the most important thing in a partner is personality and commitment, not looks. He’s not against dating a tiefling, or a halfling, or even a mind flayer! He thinks Nixie looks amazing. She has this strong, adventurous aura about her which intrigues him greatly. 

Gale may be a bit intimidated even by Nixie’s outgoing demon and sailor mouth, but that just becomes another one of the things he loves about her. He thinks it's very admirable, Nixie’s choice to save slaves from their slave ships, to grant them freedom. Gale knows freedom is not something to take lightly, it's a treasure, and it should be protected accordingly. (He’s also a little teensy bit intimidated by her sorcery, being a wizard and all, but he keeps that tidbit to himself.)

Gale’s home is in Waterdeep but he’s not against joining Nixie for one or two adventures on the high seas every year, so long as he can come back to his tower now and then to check in on Mrs. Dekarious and his old friends. On that note, Tara adores Nixie, for getting Gale to finally come out of his shell. Although the tressym may have a habit of making a passive-aggressive comment or two about the pair finally “settling down” lol. 

Knowing that she wants to avoid scurvy, Gale takes it upon himself to find all the recipes he can that include lemon or orange, promising to make them for her. He loves cooking and is more than happy to adjust his ingredient list to suit her needs. 

The both of them are constantly in pursuit of something more, something greater- a trait they admire in one another. They encourage each other in the best of ways, all while understanding that even though they're committed to one another, they’re committed to their unique goals as well. 

Overall the two of them work great together! Their goals in life and love align just perfectly! Thanks to Nixie’s travels and Gale’s teaching, they become one of the best-known couples in Baldur’s Gate. Bards and poets alike write songs and prose dedicated to their relationship. It’s very safe to say they’re basically couple goals. 

❂ Karlach would also make a good match for Nixie! She’s just as loud and adventurous and always down for a good time. Plus, Karlach is a tiefling as well, so she gets the discrimination that can come with the horns and tail. 

Karlach and Nixie together are like the life of the party! They’re both so compassionate, even though their lives haven’t always been easy. Karalch admires Nixie so much for her rebellious spirit, choosing to free the slaves on slave ships she and her crew come across. Karlach herself was a slave once, and she would have given anything for someone like Nixie to come and rescue her before she was dragged to Avernus. 

A date between the two of them involves A LOT of rum drinking. And singing. And karaoke. (Do they have karaoke in DnD? Well, whatever, they do now!) 

So long as Karlach’s infernal engine gets fixed, I could see her enjoying a life spent mostly on the high seas. She’d love feeling like part of a crew/family and getting to stay by Nixie’s side. Just promise to keep the rum stocked for the journey, throw in a pirate’s hat, and Karalch’s on board!

The two of them are a fierce couple. They become well known as renegades, especially amongst other tieflings. In fact, they sort of become tiefling legends- being hailed as heroes for freeing many of their people from slave ships and never being afraid to punch a racist in the nose. 

With the two of them together, there’s nothing they can’t face!

[space-woomy]

*throws pan at your head*

talk about it

please...

AUUUGH-

Okaysssssss Mooty

Basically the whole villain 4 stuff happens because Callie dies in Splat 2. Marie's low tide ink doesn't work, and agent 4 ends up using g the rainmaker, which really fucks up octavios robot...a bit too much... it explodes, and Callie ends up dieing in Fours arms.

Everyone's sad, and it hits Four the hardest. She believes that it's her fault entirely, and she quits the NSS. She eventually starts doing Grizzco jobs to distract herself. She realizes that "Ah fuck, this is like, genocide or whatever because this is a sentient species and all that." But continues anyways. She eventually makes her way up to the upperanks and meets Mr. Grizz (either through promotions or a some kinda coincidence or whatever). After a special interview, Grizz is like "wanna help me bring back Mammals? You seem like you hate the world." And Alex (4) is like "yeah. Yeah this world fucking sucks. We're obsessed with fashion, world ending threats happen every day, whole species is trapped underground, YOU'RE literally running a genocide company...fuck it, why not? I hate everyone." And they decide to help grizz with his mission.

O.E happens at the same time as this, and it plays out as it does in the games. Eight moves in with Alex, and she shows her around inkopolis and how to live in the city. Eight can practically taste all the nihilism and edge coming from her, but she sees the kindness and joy in her, and wants to pry it out of the shell of hopelessness.

Molly (3) also becomes friends with Alex, and gets a bit closer to her than 8 does. But the still has a shell up, and they still try to break through...

But before they can do that, the world tour happens! And she goes with Pearl and Marina. Alex also takes part in the memverse, with a piece of her soul getting trapped just like the game.

Now, return of the mammalians is going on, and it's all the same, except there is no Mr. Grizz...instead, there's a masked inkling that's at the top of the tower!!! Neo is able to hold them off until Cap (3) gets there, and they run away. In the end, they're able to stop the rocket from launching in the first place and they destroy it.

S.O starts more towards the end of ROTM, and ends well after it. And when 8 gets out, she can't find anyone belonging to the NSS. They've disappeared. She finds clues to go into the Grizzco headquarters. When she gets there, she finds Alex, having captured everyone in the NSS. Marie, Craig, Molly, and Neo are all tied up. Theyre all very bruised and beaten up too. There's also a big plush doll thing of Callie. Button eyes and everything.

Alex is fucking insane right now. They're all cocky and are acting like a typical Villain type. (Think Will Wood's "Main character" for this...thats...honestly what this entire thing spawned from...) and they fight eachother. There are MANY fuzzy octolings that they're fighting as well, and Alex is very dodgy and swift with fighting. It's revealed that their plan is to cover the world with fuzzy ooze with like, 12 rockets. The one in alterna was a test one.

Alex at this point has completely given up on everything, and thinks of herself as a "hero" in a twisted way. She's saving the world by destroying it, a big reset on everyone. Alex is all cocky and shit too, and is constantly talking and mocking them all. 8 eventually frees them all, but She's out if commission for a bit, and Molly steps up to take on Alex. Alex, frustrated with not being able to beat 8, has an idea. They basically Inject fuzzy ooze directly into herself, and gains claws, sharp teeth, heightend senses, she becomes digitigrade, and is stronger overall.

Now...there are 2 ways that this story goes........

""BAD"" ENDING

Molly and Alex fight, it's intense, and Molly is struggling. Alex is screaming and yelling shit like "YOU WERE ALWAYS THE BETTER AGENT WERENT YOU?!?! HUH!?!? LOOK AT YOU KNOW!!!! CANT EVEN STAND UP TO AN INFERIOUR AGENT" and "COME ON "LIVING TSUNAMI"! COME SPLAT ME!!!"

and Molly is like "...fuck dude...I really wish I talked to you more...man I Hate seeing you like this.. please...you were never the worst...why did this happen" in their head.

It ends up with Alex getting a chainsaw, and tackling Molly to the ground. She trys to push it into them, and manages to really fuck up their arm a bit, but Molly gets the strength to push it back...and gets Alex right in the neck...

She lives for a single second, with a smile on their face...and a single tear running down their face...

Molly and 8 now have double trauma. Yaaaaay!!!!!!!

Marie has even more trauma to!!!!!!

All of them do!!!!!

They stop grizzco, but they're not in that good of a mood for celebration...

(Also, I say "bad" ending because it's, like, a negative ending more like. A non-ideal ending really. I don't like "good" and "bad" endings or whatever...)

"GOOD" ENDING

Same shit happens, except Alex ends up breaking down more in the middle of the fight. She says more stuff that's more like her telling the truth about how she feels, instead of just taunting. At one point, Molly tackles her into a hug and says "Alex, it wasn't your fault! Inkopolis wouldve been attacked if you didn't stop them! Please! Callie wouldnt be mad at you!!!"

Alex breaks out, and they fight some more. Three's arm still gets fucked up, but Alex drops the chainsaw, and she dosent die!!! Yay :D!!!!!!

But she's got so much bottled up and fucked up trauma that they become physically ill afterwards. They beet grizz, and Fours recovery starts.

I've gotten all of this from Will Woods "Main character"

I keep imagining an animatic to the song where 8 and 4 fight with "main character"

And another one which is only the lyric portion of "Silly billy" from that hit single fnf mod. Those lyrics are F I R E

Thank you for hitting me with the pan AAAANDNSNFKFKKDNDNFBRBRNGLSLGJNRNSLALAKCNCNC. XBDJDJFJT9RIEIOEKSJELWLRJNFNFKVPXLABEBTKCKSNRNTJFHDHJFNFNFKGOGJVEAKFIJSHWMXNCNSHWI

If anyone has any questions, please ask!!!