#and i couldn't sleep

[likeafairytale]

"The first times always hurt the most. Or so I've heard..." - an amused Aeron to Calypso while watching her trying to escape after her aquarium was broken but being slowed down by the pain

Calypso wasn't a stranger of pain. The young girl was used to hurt herself quite often now, so no, she wasn't a stranger of the pain, nor of the view of blood –although she did not like the latter. Nonetheless, the little mermaid never felt so much pain in her life. It was atrocious. She did not know how her aquarium broke, it was probably made with cheap material, for she knew Aeron to be greedy. But in any case, the aquarium broke, and everything inside slipped. Calypso followed against her will the flow of the water and fall on the cold hard ground.

That's when the pain started. She wanted to scream when her tail was split up, but she was aware of Aeron's eyes on her, and she did not want to give him the satisfaction to hear her cried of pain. She bit her tongue so hard that she could taste the blood in her mouth. Her right hand found a broken glass that she squeezed as strong as she could. She was thinking that if she could diverted the pain from her legs to her hand, it would be less hurtful. Weird thought, to be honest, but pain made people do desperate things. All she succeeded was opening her hand who was now bloody.

Her pain was so strong that she did not realize that Aeron's, maybe by pity or decency, he put a sheet over her naked body. Yes, the sheet was enough to hide Calypso's nudity, and in some regards she was thankful to the fae for that, but the white sheet help show the blood easier.

And then she brought the sheet closer to her body, and stood for the first time. She needed to hold the wall next to her to be able to stand the way she should, and it was still painful. But that was nothing compared to the first stepped she took. Her mouth open in a silent scream, she was actually crying with pain, tears that she wiped up so quickly, hoping that Aeron's did not see that. Indeed, mermaids' tears had powers, they weren't to be wasted, but the little princess did so many things she shouldn't lately that a few tears were the last of her problem.

Calypso walked, she tried at least, holding the sheet with one hand, and the wall with the other. The pain was excruciating, it was as if she was walking in broken glass each stepped she took. She couldn't help but wonder how her brothers, Malachai and Nathaniel, could do it so naturally.

“Shut up!” She said to Aeron's when he decided to break the silence, her voice full of tears and pain. She turned to look at him and his smug smile that she hated so much right now. “I asked nothing from you!” Was he right though? It hurt the most the first time? She did not want to know more.

She kept walking to the exit, and she was a bit surprised that he wasn't following her. The fae was still against his wall, arms crossed, an amused smile on his face, looking Calypso struggling. Was he getting satisfaction on seeing her in pain and disoriented? Probably, fae were cruel, after all. The prince looked at Calypso slowly but dangerously coming to the exit door, which made him frowned. To be honest, he thought she would quit sooner. But the girl was determined, he respected that, at least.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you.” He simply said, shruggling, distracting his mind by playing with compass.

“Once again, I did not ask your opinion!” Calypso answered with rage this time. But slowly, her rage faded, letting place to curiosity. He couldn't lie. So there were a part of truth in his words. The little mermaid was tired, and needed to lead against the wall, looking at Aeron, frowning. “... Why not? Just so you can keep me hostage?”

“Sure, but not only.” He admitted, matter-of-factly. “A half-naked woman covered in blood who barely can walk without the help of a wall? You're like a lamb amongst the lion.” He laughed, but Calypso did not get the joke. But she did understand that it wasn't in her best interest to go out right now. “The sea is far away, little mermaid, are you ready to take that bet?”

Calypso stayed silent to his question. Being up was tiring, and painful, so slowly, she let herself go against the wall, until she sat on the ground, with the want to cry. She was trap. Aeron knew that, that's why he did not try to stop her. Because she couldn't go far away. She was weak, and too new at having legs. She hated that. This time, Calypso couldn't hide her tears of rage, tears she wiped the moment she saw Aeron coming closer to her.

The fae crouched down in front of the mermaid, looking at her silently. Calypso did not like this amused looked, so she looked away, sighing heavily. All this time, she did not realized she was breathing harder and heavier due to pain. She was shaking, and tried to hide her hand from him, but it was hard to hide blood. Aeron took her right hand and looked at the cut who was quite deep, before quickly bandaging it.

“Don't be disappointed.” Aeron finally said with amusement, while he carried Calypso, who was surprised. “You've tried. That was stupid, considering I still have what's binding you to me. But still.” He smirked, laughed, and it was enough to set off Calypso. She went feral at the mention of her bracelet; moving around so he let go of her –which he didn't seem to want to– and punching his chest multiple times. Obviously, the girl was so weak that Aeron was barely feeling a thing.

“Shut up, I didn't ask you a thing!” She screamed, full of rage.

“Is 'shut up' the only thing you can say? That's not really princessy.”

“To you? Yes!”

“That's sad. I can be quite charming, but you already know that.”

He smirked again when he heard her sigh. He didn't know if it was exasperation or pain, but he didn't care. Calypso rested her head on his chest, which surprised him. Five minutes ago, she was ready to fight him, like a lioness, but now she was just as fragile as a kitten. Probably due to her first time being out of the air.

The man did not have another aquarium to put her too, and he wasn't stupid, he knew she needed seawater, all of that made him sigh. All he did for now was putting Calypso in the bathtub, the only thing capable to contain seawater right now.

“Moose!” Aeron called, and rapidly, a little man came running, which made Calypso frowned. She suddenly remembered about the simple sheet covering her body when the man's eyes were lingering on her. “Bring some men with you and come back with seawater. Enough to fill the tub. And bring me that engineer, he promised me it wouldn't break, this liar needs a lesson, and I need a new aquarium.”

“Yes, Captain.” He said before leaving.

“No way I stay in a tub, I barely can move.” Calypso said, before leaving the bathtub the best she can. Her attempt made Aeron's laugh, and she was even more pissed. She was out of the tub, ready to walk, but as soon as she was up, her legs refused to cooperate. She fell on the ground, and the fae sneered.

“Why are you so desperate to suffer little mermaid?” He asked while carrying her back to the tub. “I don't want to hurt you. If you give me what I want, I'll set you free.”

“You, liar”

“You know I can't lie. So what's a simple trident against freedom itself?”

“I would never betray my father. Not for a fae.” Calypso said with conviction.

“Suit yourself then.” Aeron shrugged before turning to the exit.

“Wait! Don't leave me alone in a bathtub! That's cruel, even for a fae!”

“Yeah, well, you'll have to wait for it to be filled with seawater, and wait for me to have a new aquarium. So for now, tub it is.”

“Or you can give me back my bracelet, and bring me back at shore.”

“Nice try, sunshine, but I'm not stupid. Have fun in your tub, I know you are going anywhere.”

[mroddmod]

they are like puppies. 2 me

[cursedlemon]

god didn't make me a man because he knew i'd get hard every time i'd look in the mirror

[wanderingibon]

[sanjiafterhours]

being a sanji fan is an intense experience because it takes you like 200 episodes to finally understand why sanji's eyes turned lifeless for a flickering moment at those words

[greenbergsays]

I'm going to say something that will make sense to the Fandom Olds and will probably be slightly controversial to the younger crowds, but I'm going to say it anyways

TPTB becoming increasingly aware of fandom and fanfiction over the past two-ish decades and thus, the spawning of the expectation of your ship going canon has ruined fandom a little bit

I mean, fandom does a great job of ruining itself a lot of the time, but this idea that a ship isn't "real" or "valid" if it isn't canon

or the idea that one ship is superior to the other because one is canon and the other isn't?

it's absolutely bananas

I grew up in an era of fandom where characters didn't even have to be from the same media source to ship them. I mean, do you know how many BtVS/HP crossover fics I read back in the early 2000s???

That shit was never gonna be canon, but we had fun with it, anyways

Like. Yeah, a lot of fanon speculation is bullshit, but it always has been and always will be. You have hundreds and/or thousands of people riffing off each other, the observations and the meta will always be deeper than what TPTB intended, and that's okay! That's what makes it fun!

I just think more people would be a lot happier in their fandom experiences if they realized that fandom is supposed to be an escape instead of a crusade

[iwasbored777]

The guy at the bar: Are you two gonna fuck or fight?

Wade and Logan, few hours later:

[scribeofmorpheus]

Why Dragon Age Veilguard isn't a "Cathedral"

Concept art by Matt Rhodes

"To disinherit the storylines of past games goes directly against the notion of building cathedrals."

What is inherent with Veilguard that keeps bothering me is the fact that the world's choices truly didn't matter--and it doesn't simply bother me from a player perspective, it's not simply a grievance borne of frustration to what I (as a longtime fan) have lost. It's about the very culture of the arts under capitalism's new media habituation cycle [x][x].

Yes, I spent hours of my life playing and replaying each instalment of Dragon Age. Yes, I painstakingly curated a 'canon' world state by replaying what came before in preparation for Veilguard. Yes, I am even more unsatisfied with the end product--time hasn't helped, it's just widened the divide. But, and I can't stress this enough, these very personal gripes aren't what hit home the most. It's the inherent disregard of legacy. A legacy that the previous writers and game developers were building towards.

In the DAV artbook, "cathedral" is the word used to describe the process of making a game. Matt Rhodes' exact words are: "One artist can make a painting, but it takes a team to build a cathedral." Cathedrals took centuries to build. The architect who drafted the first blueprints would likely never see his work realised, he had to rely on those who came after him, like-minded and passionate, to see it through--for the culture, for the future, for legacy. Painters took on several apprentices for this reason too--giant frescoes were not completed by one man's hand, even if it is one man's name that immortalises them. Similarly, if you weave a narrative around choice, what good does it do to take it away at the final act if not to fall to caricature?

To disinherit the storylines of past games goes directly against the notion of building cathedrals.

Late-stage capitalism and profit-margin-obsessed game producers forcing developers to churn out meager content, to make a known brand into something it's not, to chase a fad or a popular trend... o, how reductive and cliche you've been forced to become Bioware. We have lost the cultural thought patterns relative to Cathedrals. We know only of barn-raised churches--done in a day but unlikely to last the turn of the seasons.

And don't even get me started on the music of Veilguard either. From Origins to World of Warcraft to Everquest to Baldur's Gate to Dungeon Siege, you can hear the intricate interconnected weave of sounds inspired by the Dungeons and Dragons-esque fantasy genre. You hear it in the repeated use of certain instruments, in the harmonic weeping notes of a bard-like singer or the foreboding echoes of drums as if of war. In tavern songs. But then, rather than hire someone who loves these worlds and this genre, who is a hungry artist looking to make a name, a legacy if you will, for themselves with a spectacular score, you hire any already sated composer, one well-into the encroaching years of career fatigue, whose notes repeat in countless projects, who feels less concise and more uninterested with each new project. One who has long since cemented his legacy. Someone in it for a paycheck and nothing else! And, to top it off, you let him compose something so minimalist? I am offended actually.

Cathedrals! We should have witnessed the final tile being placed on the Dragon Age cathedral. Instead, some architects walked up, tore down the interior and installed IKEA furniture and called it authentic before having to call the previous architects to come and fix the "load-bearing issues", forcing them to rush and add a coat of varnish and a few 'aged' details for authenticity.

[hinamie]

cursed kids v2 ⚠️👹

i've been a jjk first years stan since day one and have been wanting to redraw the first art i did featuring the three of them

[drawsmaddy]

[ID: A digital drawing of Essek Thelyss from Critical Role. He is facing three quarters to the right with a neutral expression. He has shoulder length hair. End description.]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

[sunderwight]

I love fics where Shen Yuan transmigrates into one of Luo Binghe's wives, but consider:

Shen Yuan transmigrates into a female character who has never been mentioned as one of Luo Binghe's wives. However, he looks around, goes "I'm a beautiful woman in the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way" and subsequently decides that he absolutely must be a wife. Alas, curses, what a horrifying fate for an extremely heterosexual young man (who was definitely a man yup except no longer alas), but there is just nothing for it now she's gotta marry Luo Binghe and have sex with him.

Shen Yuan: I can't believe you're FORCING me to marry Luo Binghe

The System: actually user doesn't have to--

Shen Yuan: C L E A R L Y as a beautiful woman I have NO alternative so even if you don't make it an express order, there is nothing else I can do!

The System: marrying the protagonist is not a requirement for--

Shen Yuan: NOTHING ELSE I CAN DO

[twice-in-a-blue-moon]

when solomon has sex with you for the first time, he makes sure to absolutely worship your body. during the first kiss scene with him, he said he's been waiting for a chance to do it. so with this, he's going to make sure his patience will pay off. not an inch of your skin will be unloved by him. it may have taken so long, but the end result will be perfect as the two of you are satisfied, love growing by the second

(Ooh, thank you for the food, anon!! Solomon's first kiss scene will forever have my heart) Reader is GN! :)

Minors DNI!

"Why don't you come just a little closer?"

You shift a little closer until there's no space between you two on the bed, and his lips are back on yours. His hand comes up to cradle your jaw, softly rubbing his thumb along to solidify in his mind that you are here and that this is happening.

Somehow, miraculously, he finally got you alone...and you want him too.

Though he fears he'll get too eager and move too fast for your liking, leading to crossing a boundary or scaring you away. So, he's careful, treating you as if you were glass, slow to do anything more than kiss you like this. Truthfully, he could just do this all night and he'd still be over the moon. But he can't deny in his heart the need for more.

His hand on your jaw slowly slides down your neck, simply letting his fingertips brush against the sensitive skin. It's warm, and he can feel your pulse thrumming just beneath. He wonders how it would feel against his lips.

Solomon reluctantly pulls away from your lips, leaning down to instead kiss along the column of your neck. It elicits a soft gasp, and he feels giddy that he can get such a cute response from you. It only serves him to want to hear more. A secondary motive.

With each article of clothing he removes from your body, he falls deeper in love as he sees his person bared completely to him. It signifies the trust you've built together. And he'll do everything to never lose it - a promise he quietly makes to himself.

From your neck, he lavishes kisses along your collarbones, down both of your arms, your shallowly rising and falling chest, your soft stomach, all the way down to your naval. Any further is iffy territory and he wants explicit permission before he does anything more.

Through a husky tone, he asks, "is this okay? Can I continue?"

Your approval and reassurance are resounding. The weight of worry eases a little, but he's still tentative to continue. He wants you to feel good. He wants this first time with you to be perfect. He can't help it, he's an ancient sorcerer in love for the first time in a very long time...if ever.

So, slowly, he ventures onward to where he sees the obvious impact he's had on you tonight. His talented silver tongue makes you squirm on the bed, your hands tangling in his soft locks as his name tumbles out of your mouth like a prayer. The taste of your sweet arousal is something he fears he could get addicted to.

Solomon can feel his own arousal growing past anything he's ever experienced before. He didn't know he had the capacity to feel so needy for someone else. Good lord, just what are you doing to him?

Once he feels he's prepped and pleasured you enough with his tongue and dexterous fingers, he pulls away to finally undress and bare himself to you. His eyes shift away nervously as he feels you studying his body now. He knows his skin is marred from centuries of living; the countless pact marks, scars he doesn't remember the stories of, and burns from experiments gone wrong. He's never felt self-conscious like this before, but it's another product of what you do to him.

When you sit up on the bed, crawling to him to brush your fingers along his skin, it takes his breath away. You aren't afraid to explore him. Tracing his pact marks, kissing his imperfections, never once showing disgust like he might've thought.

No, only care.

Solomon gently chases you back down onto the bed, crawling over your excited form with smiles and giggles exchanged in the otherwise quiet room. Once again, he gets your staunch permission before continuing. And once again, you reassure him that this is what you want. Any lingering doubt subsides, and with that, he lines himself up with your entrance and slowly slides in, letting you adjust once he's fully settled within you.

"D-Deus meus..."

His forehead rests against yours as his breathing turns ragged, reveling in how goddamn good you feel around him. It takes all of him to be patient, but he waits for your signal, and once he has it, he doesn't hesitate to start moving.

His hips snap against yours in deep, measured thrusts. Passionate kisses are shared, soft moans and grunts fill your ears, and his hands never once stop exploring your body. The love he gave it earlier wasn't nearly enough.

There's no rush. It's not frantic - it's not even desperate. It's slow and intimate as he guarantees you both feel good in this one moment of solitude.

Solomon isn't even thinking about afterwards or what those brothers might say. He's fully entranced by you. He makes love to you as if it's the last time he ever will.

Soon he brings you both to a mind-shattering orgasm. His body shudders above yours as he buries his face in your neck. The way you clench around him makes him consider asking for a second round. Though, he wants to take a break more - to love and care for you as needed. As carefully as he can, he pulls out, already missing being enveloped by you and your sweet body. The second his fatigued self hits the bed, you instantly cuddle up to him, locking him in place for the foreseeable future.

To say he's a little shocked is an understatement. Sure, you both just shared a moment of passion and pleasure, but there was still some part of him that wondered if you really wanted him. For you to take the initiative to cuddle up to him in the afterglow touches his heart. Solomon wraps his arms around you, humming at the shared warmth between your sweaty bodies and shielding you from the world outside of this room.

Tonight you're his. And he knows he'll always be yours.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

finally at that age where i'm thinking i should get a tattoo. not bc i feel strongly about it, just seems like a waste not to. i've got so much skin i'm not using

[sleepanonymous]

Legend has it if you listen to this soundcheck on repeat it will clear your skin, water your crops, and cure your depression. I hope this heals all of you like it has healed me.

[khaopybara]

❝I wish I could see you more clearly.❞

FILM RACHANUM as MAY METHAWI episode 9 of PLUTO

[cyrafoam]

so. um-

*leaves this on the table and runs away*