#and its just. a wild mentality to wrestle with.

[timeconqueror]

I haven't seen Aftersun yet but pretty sure I just lived a part of it IRL and thats fucked, really

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

hands and knees begging myself to be responsible tonight bc i have so much to do but i can feel in my heart irresponsible brain is going to win and im gonna end up drawing and making myself more behind and stressed but like i spent 8 hours researching and writing art history texts at my internship do i fucking want to research for my history class tonight even tho i should so i can let the professor know if my topic is viable? no i want to draw. and like even research aside i need to do dishes and laundry and pack

[fiendishfables]

I would love to see this- Lucifer is the strongest entity in Hell, and it turns him on like nothing else when his lover wrestles him for dominance. He will go straight up feral over that.

Lucifer Morningstar wrestling his S/O for dominance...

Headcanons + Drabble

warnings: nsfw, hints at degradation, mentions of blood, biting, scratching, power-dynamics, rough(er) love

words: 806

a/n: I had way too much fun with this- thanks for this lovely, unique ask, I hope I did it justice! It was a bit difficult for my pee brain to come up with things to write, but the people need to be fed; here is your feast

�� It's hot, its rough, and it's primal

✡ Ideally, Lucifer never tended to like it when anyone challenged his authority, no matter what over

✡ But if you, his lover, did so, he had the benefits of being able to take you however he pleased after you get the chide out of your system (with consent of course), knowing damn well how much it riles him up

✡ When the two of you wrestle, its almost like two wild animals, fighting for a meal that could very well end up being your last before a harsh winter rolls in

✡ It doesn't take long for his demon form to make an appearance during your steamy game, allowing him a decent advantage over your regular strength capabilities; you often call him out for 'cheating', but seeing him in such a feral state turns you on like nothing else

✡ You can feel him getting hard the first few minutes of your rough-housing, telling you all you need to know about how much he really enjoys doing things like this with you. His deep, guttural groans are hard to ignore, his wings flaring up as they batter your body with feather-light touches

✡ His claws and fangs are really coming out now. His claws are dug deep into your skin, leaving light (yet effective) scratches on your skin, as he watches the blood well up on the line of the cut, proceeding to then lean down and let his forked tongue lick off the excess mess his claws left behind

✡ Bite marks will litter your body, blood complimenting those areas as well. The stinging sensation they leave can not go unnoticed and they only help add to the different emotions you are feeling in the current moment

✡ Having someone to challenge him, both mentally and physically, gets him going; its admirably hot how you continue to protest that you could take him down if you wanted to, and he likes seeing that smug, confident smirk of yours turn to one of pure pleasure and ecstasy as he proves you wrong, over and over again

✡ Knowing he holds the most power possible for a being in any hellish realm, makes it all the more fun when you try and downgrade that title, even if just in the slightest bit; it's your own little game you like to play with one another, a common game of cat and mouse, or rather, Devil and prey

✡ Lucifer is ravaging your body, fully claiming you this time, letting you know that there is no one but himself that can hold this power over you; it reminds you that he will always be in charge one way or another, no matter how much you question

✡ In the long run though, you both love these feral moments in your relationship, getting to express your shared love for one another even in such a strange, somewhat brutal way

✡ He loves fighting for his right to dominate you, and he never fails to claim it.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

The heavy panting and notable scent of sweat on the pair of your bodies seemed to go unnoticed, as the two of you were locked in both an intense staring contest, and a physical fight between your bodies; fingers were locked together, arms continually pushing at the other in an attempt to overthrow them. Your bare skin rubs against each other feverishly, his hard cock still buried deep within you from earlier.

"Do you really think you can overpower me in a battle for dominance, darling? I suggest you give in and just let your King take care of you."

His voice was smooth, soothing almost, aside from his heavy breaths filling your ears. He still sounded like an angel to you all the same.

A feral one.

The two of you had been at this now for a good half-n-hour, trying to secure your position as the dominant party in the sheets for the night, but Lucifer had you pinned underneath his own pale body at this point, using the enhanced strength from his demon form to keep you where you were.

The fight for dominance had been over just as soon as it had started; you both knew this from the beginning.

No matter if you were to be above or beneath him, he would always find a way to end out on top of it all, including yourself.

And by all the Gods, if that didn't make him even sexier in your eyes.

You would easily give yourself up to Lucifer whenever he wanted or needed you; there was no doubt about it and you both shared that same knowledge.

But maybe, if this is where challenging him for dominance got you, then you'd have to indulge in the action more often.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Hey pumpkin, what do you think the zoos in ff7's world are like? Do they have behemoths, dragons and malboros or more like our world's zoos? We know they have cats and dogs and chocobos, but do they have cows, goats and other cattles too? WHERE DO THEIR MILK COME FROM

also, what's ASGZC's day at the zoo like? (Sorry if somebody has already asked this before)

I'm going to use the reasoning that if they have chickens, they also have cows and other cattle. Their zoos have regular animals, but also have creatures of their world, but in a controlled environment.

• Zack is so excited to see the tigers that he's wearing his tiger-print hoodie, and a baseball cap with I <3 tigers on it. He's SO HAPPY when a tiger runs up to the glass and starts scratching and jumping on it.

Zack: Look! Look! He likes me!

Sephiroth: Actually, the tiger might perceive you as a rival and is trying to engage in a confrontation to assert dominance within its territory.

Zack: .....

Sephiroth: Either that, or it's exhibiting predatory behavior with the intention of attacking and consuming you.

Zack: .....

Sephiroth: Or it could just be insulted by your hoodie.

Zack: Aww man.

• Cloud brought his camera with the intention to take as many pictures as possible to send back to his mom. Somehow he has the worst luck possible today.

Cloud, taking pictures: Look, these Nibel dragons are wrestling! That's so cool, I can't wait to show my mom. We've never seen them do that before.

Angeal: ......I don't think they're wrestling.

Cloud: ......dang it *lowers his camera sadly*

• Sephiroth is growing more and more concerned. Sure, he's killed a good portion of these animals in the wild before, but that was monster extermination and self defense. This is inhumane. These poor animals are locked in cages, stripped of their freedom, taken from their natural habitats, forced to perform and be a source of entertainment for a bunch of greedy onlookers.

• Genesis spends a good 30 minutes at the monkey exhibit trying to teach a flock of them (who were attracted by his red coat) how to put up their middle finger. He's pleased when one of the monkeys learn.

*The monkey sticks up his middle finger*

Genesis: Excellent!

*The flock of monkeys show their middle fingers to Genesis*

Genesis: ALAKSHSJAKA

• Overall they had a pretty good time! Time to get in the car and go home now. Angeal is in charge of driving, so he does a head count—There's Genesis with his ice pack after he infuriated a peacock who attacked him, Zack with his giant komodo dragon plushie that he plans on gifting Lazard, Cloud having a mental breakdown as he realizes that in all of his pictures, his finger is in front of the lens, and.....

Angeal: H-How—when did you—WHY?

*Sephiroth has a meerkat in his lap*

Sephiroth: I couldn't leave her there to suffer. I plan on taking her home and preparing her for reintegration into her natural habitat.

Angeal: I'm actually surprised you took just one.

Sephiroth: Don't be ridiculous, Angeal.

*Sephiroth takes a baby meerkat from his pocket*

Sephiroth: She's a mother.

[samwisethewitch]

In Defense of Fluffy Bunnies, or Witchcraft in Times of Burnout

At the very end of 2023, I used my Christmas bonus from work to buy myself a tarot deck I never would have purchased six months earlier.

This deck was from a creator whose work I had really enjoyed in the past, but when I had looked at it earlier in the year, I'd had concerns that it was softening the meaning of some of the more "difficult" cards in the tarot. For example, The Hanged Man is replaced with "The Patient Witch" and Death is replaced with "The Broom." I'd had concerns that replacing these cards, which are traditionally associated with more dire or upsetting readings, meant the creator was trying to whitewash tarot into something cute and fluffy, sacrificing a lot of its depth in the process.

The deck is The Cozy Witch Tarot by Amanda Lovelace, and I'm so glad I gave it a try. This deck has an incredibly kind and gentle feel, but it is absolutely capable of giving serious readings. The depth of the tarot hasn't been compromised at all by Lovelace's changes, and her version's greater emphasis on agency and personal empowerment is exactly what I need in my practice right now. I use this deck to read for myself almost every day.

So what changed? How did I do a complete 180 in my thoughts on this deck in only a few months?

I've always been very opposed to "love and light" or "fluffy bunny" witchcraft. For those who aren't familiar, these are both terms used online (usually negatively) to describe witches who only do "light" or positive magic. According to the Witchipedia, "Generally, the 'fluffy bunnies' have based their practice on only the most delightful aspects of their spiritual path or romanticized, fictional Hollywood or literary accounts of witchcraft or Wicca." From what I can tell, this term came out of Wiccan Internet forums in the 1990s, and it refers to someone who dons the aesthetics and mythology of Wicca or witchcraft without actually engaging critically with magic theory. Fluffy bunnies also tend to focus on feel-good magic, at least according to stereotypes.

Similarly, "love and light" witches are known for only focusing on the lighthearted side of witchcraft. In an opinion article for The Wild Hunt, Storm Faerywolf writes that, "On the surface it seems harmless enough: a philosophy of love, kindness, non-violence, and a concerted practice of positivity." This type of witchcraft is very closely tied to the "spiritual but not religious" movement and borrows a lot of concepts from New Age spirituality, like crystal healing, the Law of Attraction, and chakras. While fluffy bunnies are very much a product of the 1990s, love and light witches are very much a product of the New Age boom of the 2010s.

I've been very vocal about my dislike for both of these types of witchcraft on this blog in the past, and I still 100% agree with Storm Faerywolf, who says in that same article: "But to assert that pain, and fear, and even anger are somehow less important than our joy, our courage, and even our love, is to do a grave disservice to our collective mental and spiritual health... groups that embrace this mode of thinking have effectively ensured that they can mutually avoid anything that might challenge their cultish mindset. Angry over injustice? You’re just living in a lower vibration. Afraid of contracting a deadly virus? You just don’t trust Jesus enough."

I think accepting and working with challenging emotions is an important part of what it means to be a witch. Spiritual bypassing and cries of "good vibes only" do more harm than good. But for a while I got so caught up in rejecting anything even remotely fluffy or love-and-lightish that I ended up with a magical practice that, to be honest, kind of made me miserable. And I don't think I'm the only one.

I spent a lot of 2022 and 2023 wrestling with injustice, both in my spiritual practice and in my personal and professional life. My practice is inspired by witches like Starhawk and Christy C. Road, and politics play a key role. Most of the spells I did in 2023 fall into the category of justice magic, including breaking family curses and hexing rapists. At the same time, I was working a series of direct services jobs that saw me working closely with homeless teenagers, domestic violence victims, and people battling addiction, just to name a few. And that's not even getting into my personal life and recovery as a queer, disabled survivor of abuse.

And let me tell you: By the end of 2023, I was fucking exhausted. I was beyond burnout. And I didn't even want to do magic anymore, because magic had become just another part of my life where I had to face the injustice and harm happening in the world around me.

I was in desperate need of some fluffiness, some love and light. And that was when I bought the Amanda Lovelace tarot deck.

I knew something had to change. In my burnout, I desperately needed to be tenderly cared for. I needed my spiritual practice to be a source of peace and comfort, not a drain on my energy. I needed to get out of the dark for a bit so I could remember how to see the stars.

What I've realized in the last few months is that yes, anger, pain, and fear are important in a balanced magical practice and a balanced life -- but joy, love, and comfort are equally important. And if you spend a lot of time in one part of your life dealing with pain and fear (like I do in my day job), focusing on love and healing in your witchcraft can help keep things balanced.

"Comfort" and "care" are definitely the keywords for my magical practice right now, and that means my magic looks a lot more fluffy than it has in the past. And that's a good thing.

[dirtytransmasc]

I was thinking about the AU where all Eywa’s creatures just love Spider and a funny thought came to me.

So we know that Ikrans are pretty aggressive, the normal (cut to Kiri giving a middle finger) way to bond with one is by fighting them while they try to kill you. And the AU dictates that the animals of Pandora mostly interact with Spider in much softer ways.

So this disconnect of normally being very aggressive with people they aren’t bonded to and not actually wanting to hurt this kid put in my brain the image of an ikran “biting” Spider the same way that pelicans “bite” capybaras

Spider sits there totally unbothered, the Ikran is all “haha! I have bitten you, I am big and mean”, and Jake or someone panics going “fuck fuck fuck tHE TEETH” and being so confused as to why there’s no blood anywhere

blessed spider hands out heart attacks by the handful, cause he likes to play rough with these creatures who could bit him in half, split him in half, crush him, swallow him whole, and or drown him in the blink of an eye.

he turns titanothere and sturmbeasts into gentle giants, slinths and thanoters into glorified house cats, ikran into puppy dogs.

most ikran, bonded and "unbonded" (that boy will find a way to claim his ikran, if not completely on accident) take to spider like he is part of their flock, they treat him like one of their young. so they nestle up to him, they play with him, attempt to teach him hunting and fighting skills. so while jake has a crisis cause they're play-mouthing on the boy, spider's just full of giggles. and its not like its just the ikran getting in on this play fighting, no no, its spider too. he'll latch onto their beaks, hanging off of them, or hiding under their wings, wrestling with their tails. with younger ikran, ones that are still young and immature, they definitely feel a sense of playful pride when they play with the little child, carrying their heads high when spider concedes the match and declares them the winner.

this is in fact, what it looks like.

so while jake downs his blood pressure medication, spider is having the time of his life being the baby of the flock. he spends a lot of time with the ikran, wherever they stay after hometree is destroyed. it gets him sorta accepted into the clan, cause no one dares go against their ikran, so when they force everyone to be nice to the baby, they get their way. plus, when you literally share a mind with another creature, they have some influence. I just imagine spider waiting for a hunter to land, and the hunter just feeling their ikrans joy at seeing the boy, and despite all better judgment, also feeling a swell of joy because of it.

wild ikran tend to mess with him when he follows his siblings and other hunters (cause I'm giving this boy friends) to claim their ikran. never once getting to rough with him, but curiously approaching him, sniffing at him, and with some help from spider, initiating play. now because they don't have any close human or na'vi experience, the play can come off a bit rough, but spider swears they never hurt him

and just some soft thoughts I had; spider will fall asleep, practically in the claws of an ikran, as they're basically the size of him, and its the sweetest mental image ever.

all in all, spider is basically pandora's snow white meet wild child, making domestic pets out of dangerous creatures.

[alicewritingstories]

Febuwhump Day 1: Helpless

CW: Blood, mental magic, seizures (they're not, but they could look similar, so warning to be on the safe side)

AO3

---

Another harsh scream cut the air, ripped from a throat already raw. It descended into wet coughs and Time quickly helped to roll Sky onto his side so he could cough up the blood.

"Damn it, I thought he'd sleep this time," muttered Warriors, grabbing Sky's hands as he struggled.

"Never thought we'd see the day when we were hoping Sky would sleep more." Legend had moved to kneel at the chosen hero's back, keeping him on his side.

Sky whimpered. "Let… let me go…" he rasped out before descending into another coughing fit.

Time let out a breath through his teeth. Sky had been like this for three days, since the last dungeon they'd tried to clear had ended in disaster. The final monster - a demonic mage of some kind - had ambushed them as soon as they walked into the last chamber of the dungeon and Sky had been caught by its spell before it escaped. Now he was lost in delirious dreams, unable to sleep, barely able to eat or drink, and nothing the Chain did for him seemed to help.

Sky shrieked again, his back arching, wrenching a hand free of Warriors' grip with panic strength and dragging his nails down the captain's face, barely missing his eye. Warriors swore, instinctively jerking back. Twilight lunged in to replace him, catching Sky's wrists and holding them.

Hungry and exhausted, Sky didn't have much fight left in him. He relaxed, his cries turning into sobs, blood still oozing from his mouth. Time kept supporting his head, watching with gritted teeth as the boy's blue eyes fluttered shut, listening to the quick, harsh breaths that told him that Sky wasn't asleep or even unconscious; he was still suffering, still trapped by whatever curse had him in its grip.

They'd hoped it would wear off with time.

They'd tried all the healing they had.

Everyone who knew any magic had tried to break the curse.

Even now, Hyrule and Wild were searching for herbs that Hyrule thought might help and Wind lay curled up in his bedroll, resting after they had almost had to wrestle the windwaker out of his hand. Even from here Time could see his shoulders shaking as he tried not to cry. Four sat by him, turning the pages of an old book they'd found in the dungeon, his eyes shadowed and blank, one hand on the sailor's shoulder.

But all their resolve and skill and power seemed to end up right here, watching their friend and brother crying and screaming, struggling against assailants only he could see, helpless to do anything to even comfort him.

"Sky…" he said yet again, stroking the matted, sweat-soaked hair under his hand. "Sky, can you hear me?" A few times Sky had managed some lucidity, just enough to swallow a few mouthfuls of food and water and to give them some false hope that he had finally recovered. But this time he just trembled, trying to struggle against the grip Twilight still had on him.

"Leave me alone," he whispered. "Please… please just…"

"It's OK, Sky," said Time, continuing to stroke Sky's hair. "Can you hear me?"

"I won't… I won't let you…" Sky's words faded into a faint, agonized whimper.

Warriors stepped back up beside Twilight, holding a cloth to the bleeding scratches down his face. "What do you think we're trying to do, Link?" he asked.

Sky gave no sign of having heard him. Warriors and Twilight as one looked up at Time. On Sky's other side, Legend was doing the same. Time had nothing to give them. Nothing to give the trembling, mumbling boy lying between them.

"We keep trying," he said, his voice as steady as he could make it. "We keep him alive. This will break. It has to."

He didn't say what they were all thinking: if it didn't, there was nothing else they could do.

---

Continued on Day 8

[noodyl-blasstal]

Maff Guy

It's @taznovembercelebration day 22 and we're still on the train, baby! Today's prompt was "fix it" and this happened. I think it's prime for the expanding at some point though?

Read below or on Ao3, catch yesterday's here if you missed it!

-

Maff Tutor Wanted

That definitely wasn’t on the notice board last night when Kravitz was closing. The request was polite though, kindly worded, enough to make Kravitz believe that “Taako” really did want some help. Kravitz snags the poster, he’s not going to reduce his chances by letting anyone else apply. What was another job to add to his collection? Orchestra did not pay as well as people seemed to think - especially in the season break that Gerald insisted they have because when else was he going to visit the second house his family bought him as a treat for graduating. Not that Kravitz was bitter. No no, it’s fine. It’s even more fine that Gerald got all the solos because his parents were very generous with their donations. Totally and completely fine.

Kravitz carefully adds the number to his phone and forgets about it until break time when the poster falls out of his bag as he attempts to wrestle his reading out. His manager had banned him from reading at the register, even when the place was empty.

Kravitz [10:32] Dear Taako, Are you still looking for a maths tutor? My name is Kravitz and I would be willing to work with you on your math ability. Kind regards, Kravitz.

Kravitz is face first in a paragraph about orchestral arrangements which seems to be trying its best to be as incomprehensible as possible when his phone buzzes.

Taako - Maths Tutoring [10:48] That’s what it’s called here? When can you start?

Kravitz reads it again, just in case he’s missing something, but nope. What the fuck do they call it anywhere else? Oh… Unless it’s the math/maths thing?

Kravitz [10:49] Dear Taako, Thank you for getting in touch. I’m free Thursday evenings between 7am and 9pm, Fridays 10am to 3pm, and Sundays any time. Would any of these slots be suitable for you? Kind regards, Kravitz

He’s rereading the paragraph for the four(…teenth?) time when Taako replies again.

Taako - Maths Tutoring [10:58] Taako’ll take all of the above.

All of them? Kravitz does some quick mental maths (to warm up for the tutoring) the wage on the poster times all of those hours is many many of money. So many of money he might be able to jack in the survey job. He loathes having to con people into filling out their personal details on the stupid little tablet computer for a ‘chance to win’. He especially hates that they’ve started using GPS to make sure he’s ‘on the move’ i.e. not holed up in the toilets making up answers for a variety of fake people he’s busy inventing… in his defence, it was very rainy. Taako might be a murderer, but there’s not really a way to ask that that won’t lose him the job. Taako’s also probably not going to reply with yes I super duper am, swing by at 7 and give him a heads up on said murdering. He’ll give it a go, then decide whether to quit the Pulse of Neverwinter role or not.

Kravitz [10:59] Dear Taako, Okay, shall we meet at the library? We can start tomorrow. Kind regards, Kravitz.

He rehouses everything in his bag and makes it back to the counter before Jenkins can yell at him for going over his allotted break time. When he’s allowed his 15 minutes for lunch (Jenkins’ break schedule is bordering on sadistic) there’s one final text waiting for him.

Taako - Maths Tutoring [11:02] CU there.

Kravitz stands nervously in front of the library. He’s swiftly realising that describing himself or setting a meeting point other than ‘the massive fuck off library’ may have been helpful.

“KravitzSaysWhat” Says a voice from behind him.

“Wuah!” Kravitz jumps and spins to look at the speaker.

“Well that’s no fun, you’re supposed to say what.” The man, the very handsome man, stood behind Kravitz pouts adorably.

“What?”

“Better late than never.” The man smiles wide and wild. He has a gap between his front teeth and what looks like days old eyeliner under his eyes. Kravitz thinks he might be the most most handsome man he’s ever seen. “The handle’s Taako, I believe you’re maff guy?”

“I… uh.” Kravitz says intelligently, tutor-ily, super responsible trust me with your education-ily. In his defence, he didn’t expect to have to use his being-normal-around-hot-guys brain alongside his thinking-brain today. “Oi oi, pleased to meet you.”

Oh good.

Fucking perfect.

He’s cockney now apparently. He truly thought he was past the anxious accent. Shit.

“Ooooh, a man with an accent, Taako loves it. So, shall we get down to it?” Taako gives him a slow once over and Kravitz wonders if they’re still talking about the tutoring. Honestly, Taako could teach him anything any time, he’d listen. Maybe they could take turns?

“Sounds good to me.” He remembers the accent, thank the lady. “I booked a study room.”

Taako tilts his head and frowns at Kravitz. “You’re not a murderer right? If you are and you don’t tell me it’s entrapment.”

“No.” Says Kravitz. “But that’s probably what a murderer would say… Are you one? I wanted to ask, but just picked a public place as I thought you’d probably lie if you were.”

“Cool.” Taako shrugs and doesn’t say anything about his murderous intent or lack thereof. “My sister made me ask.”

“Do you need to tell her you checked?”

Taako scoffs. “Already did, handsome.”

He’s walking away before Kravitz can decide whether he’s more interested in the fact Taako definitely didn’t text his sister during their conversation or being called handsome by him. Apart from he can, and it’s the latter, even though it probably shouldn’t be. Kravitz sets his shoulders back, stands tall, and follows behind. Handsome! Taako thinks he’s handsome.

–

“Okay, so I’m gonna level with you. Cha’boy gave up learning maff like mmmm, 50 years ago, it kept being different and I was just passing through, but now cha’boy’s staying put there’s no escaping it. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

Kravitz is baffled. Those are definitely all words he knows, but they sure aren’t in an order he can comprehend.

“So now that you’ve decided to stay here…” Kravitz pauses, hoping Taako may decide to fill in a blank for him here.

“You forgot about your accent.”

“I mean…” Kravitz tries in his very Cockney twang.

“Nope!” Taako cuts him off. “Too late. You can tell me all about why you decided to do that later, but right now, Taako needs to know how to add shit because he keeps fucking up in shops and apparently my sister and brother in law decided to fall in love with a place that has taxes.” Taako glares at the concept of taxes which is apparently currently inhabiting the corner of the room.

“Okay. Where would you like to start?”

“Just gimme everything. You don’t need to know baby speed, I know gangals.”

“I’m sorry, you know what now?”

“Nevermind, let’s build it from the ground up. I bet you’d construct some lovely foundations.” Taako’s eyes linger on Kravitz’s mouth.

Kravitz has no idea what the double entendre is entendre-ing at, but he’s a big fan of whatever is happening right now.

“Are you familiar with the Arabic numerals, like 1-10?” Kravitz asks. There’s something he’d like to be familiar with, but it’s not number based.

“I can think of something I’d like to be familiar with.” Taako has no shame, he doesn’t even look vaguely embarrassed.

Kravitz ploughs on valiantly… he can think of something else he’d like to plough. Oh shit. No. This was bad teaching. Could you get fired for impure thoughts? “Maybe if you write here the numbering system you’re used to we can work from there?”

“Whatever you say, kemosabe.” Taako takes the pen from his hand and begins scribbling. A few minutes later the page is full of incomprehensible squiggles and a number 5.

Kravitz points to it happily. “I know that one.”

“Everywhere does, it’s the one thing that never changes. Taako doesn’t count on much, but he can always count on five.” Taako laughs then, like he’s just told a great joke, like he’s the funniest man alive.

Kravitz laughs too. Taako can be whatever he wants to be.

An hour and a half later and Taako’s got the hang of the numbers. He knew most of them, it was just the order that was tripping him up. Kravitz is almost disappointed when he realises they’re at a natural stopping point.

“So, you said all of Sunday was free… Wanna come see my ship? Taako’ll cook you dinner as a thank you for the numbers.”

Kravitz should say that it’s fine, he should say he doesn’t go to clients’ houses, he should say that Taako doesn’t need to pay him back for anything because he’s literally paying him.

“You live on a house boat?”

Taako cocks his head and looks at Kravitz for a moment, then smiles. “That sure is a thing you can call it.”

-

Hope you enjoyed! Wanna read more? You can find the next prompt here.

[deathmetalunicorn1]

ヾ(•ω•`)o

Can you ask for something NSFW from 'Wolf Child'? In the scene, Thor invited the Vanir girl to a party in Valhalla a few days, and she agreed to go. But she would take a pair of her wolves. Thor and the Vanir woman are already in a relationship, but no one knew about it so many were surprised, especially Loki, Aphrodite and some of the Valkyries (Loki and Aphrodite just want to gossip). Odin already knew it before his son confessed it to him. (Forseti is in a corner having a mental breakdown not knowing this from his greatest hero) At first everything was calm, the Vanir is happy living with gods as with human participants in Ragnarok. Her (she beat Raiden in a wrestling match, and told how she had to tire the millennial deer in a race since she had no weapons and needed the animal alive) But Thor began to see the undignified looks of the lesser gods, while y/n began to notice the not-so-disguised whispers of the various female deities criticizing their braided hair or their beads in their hair and woven string necklaces, or his muted-toned clothes that he wears to hunt in Vanaheim. Y/N tries to ignore him but his instincts tell him to back off, and he does. Thor then goes to her and tries to calm her down, but she tells him that Odin's son should be with someone less wild. So Thor decides it's better to show her how she makes him so happy to be by her side, as well as leaving other men a warning. It should be said that she and/or she is a virgin since helping her father with the hunt does not leave much time for such things.

Hello dear Anon, I apologize that this request isn't spicy like you requested. It didn't flow for me in the way that some of my other spicy works have. I do hope that you like what I have written.

-The gossip that went around Valhalla was like an unstoppable tidal wave when you walked in, holding Thor’s arm to the Summer Solstice Ball held in the Norse pantheon.

-Everyone was gawking except for Odin, who knew of and approved of the relationship as Odin knew that you were a powerful warrior as well as an honorable maiden, as he had seen you honor your father before you came to the ball with Thor, leaving mead at his grave.

-You were flanked by two wolves, your largest, the parents of the other wolves that you called your pack, your family.

-Forseti and Loki were both gawking, seeing you with Thor, they had no idea that he was courting you, beside themselves in anguish; Forseti because he didn’t know this about his Lord Thor, and Loki because he could have been teasing the thunder god for who knows how long!!

-You were welcomed warmly by the humans who were in attendance, Lu Bu and Raiden could both easily tell that you were strong, despite being a petite little maiden and Thor could only stare with pride and amusement as you had easily taken down Raiden in a wrestling match, making it look easy.

-Odin himself spoke with you, shocking many who had not seen you as worthy to be here, seeing you only as a forest woman.

-Odin inquired about how you had caught the deer you brought to him, the deer still alive, now living peacefully and in luxury in Valhalla.

-You told your tale, approaching the creature with no weapons, your wolves remaining back, challenging it to a race and that if you won, it would go with you quietly and it had won, it would have made its own request of you.

-Odin and many others were impressed with your skills, as you had proven yourself by bringing the deer to Odin.

-Thor was relaxed, seeing you speaking with his father, the two of you conversing warmly, but he began to see other goddesses looking over at you with cruel eyes, whispering behind their hands.

-He wandered around, listening closely to these catty gods, speaking of your leathers, as you were wearing browns and greens, colors that helped you move through the forest you called home, the beads and braids in your hair, symbols of pride that you have earned over the years, the scars on your arms and a few on your face, trophies that someone else, warrior or creature, had earned, and the one that made his blood boil, that you didn’t deserve to be with Thor.

-The mug in his hand immediately shattered and eyes quickly turned, seeing Thor there, staring down at them in fury, instantly shutting up.

-Aphrodite couldn’t help but coo, thinking his reaction was cute, seeing him so angry about those speaking poorly about you.

-You had looked over and your eyes fell only slightly, as you had been hearing the cruel words for most of the night, as your hearing was very sharp, having grown up in the dense forest, you honed your senses.

-You felt embarrassed that Thor had heard their words as well and got angry over it.

-Odin left to speak with Zeus and you stood, your wolves perking up and they were quickly by your side so you could slip away.

-Despite being happy to be at this party with Thor, as you had been enjoying yourself, you felt a bit uneasy, being around so many people at once, people with poisoned tongues.

-You didn’t get far, slipping out a side door, “Y/N?” you turned, seeing Thor coming after you, he saw your shoulders relax but you didn’t meet his eyes, looking almost hesitant as he approached.

-He said nothing, grabbing you by your hips and threw you over his shoulder, a small yelp leaving you before he looked at your wolves, their tails wagging, “Go back and enjoy the party. We’re going to be busy.” They trotted off, leaving the two of you alone before he turned and headed down the hall, heading to his private quarters.

-You propped yourself up on his shoulders, “Thor, put me down.” He refused, giving your ass a firm swat when you tried to wiggle out of his grasp, “You’re not leaving, Y/N. We have something to discuss.”

-His words confused you, only slightly as he opened the door to his private quarters, locking it shut behind him before he threw you onto his bed.

-He was quick to kneel before the bed as you sat up, looking up at you as you moved to your knees, “Y/N, I-” you cut him off, your confidence gone as you felt a bit ashamed, “Are you okay… okay with someone like me?”

-He frowned, hearing your words before he reached up, brushing your hair out of your face, “There’s no one else I would want by my side, Y/N. You are everything to me.”

-Your eyes were wide at his words, his hand moving to cup your cheek gently, as you softened, your hand coming to hold his hand to your cheek, turning your head to peck his palm softly.

-Thor then stood, looming over you, a fire in his eyes, “I need to prove to all those who doubted you that you do belong with me.”

-He couldn’t help the smile as your whole head seemed to flush, starting from your neck, rising up to the top of your head, steam coming from it before he was quick to descend upon you.

-Thor carried you back to the party two hours later, as your legs were too shaky to walk, making him feel like a peacock.

-Aphrodite and Loki were holding their cheeks, gushing as they saw the kiss marks covering your neck and chest that wasn’t covered by your dress, similar marks on Thor as well.

-People burned with jealousy at the both of you, seeing the remnants of your passion.

-Odin rolled his one eye, knowing what Thor had done as you fetched your wolves and the two of you decided to return to your home for more privacy for certain activities.

[astralfrontier]

I think I've figured out what I don't like about Star Trek Discovery. But to explain it, I have to talk about what I do like, and where I am - which is midway through Season 2.

First, Michael Burnham, herself, is a good character. She's confident, talented, driven, capable of making mistakes (and makes a very big one at the opening of the show), but also capable of taking big risks and coming out on top. She admits when she's wrong, but she's not afraid to tell other people when they are. For the most part, she's the sort of character we're told Starfleet wants to have as officers.

Second, she's surrounded by interesting oddballs. Stamets is a wonderful academic who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, and he's got a loving and tender relationship which is a fucking rarity in Starfleet. Tilly is like a visitor from a more mature Lower Decks. And so on. It's really Michael's show, but she's got a good crew around her - some of whom can give her orders.

Third, the ship's concept is really neat. It's a combination flying science labs and black-ops project, like Half-Life's Black Mesa in space.

So I'm still watching the show, because I feel all this potential there, but I sometimes wrestle with it. And here's why.

Every plotline has to orbit Michael Burnham. Most recently, she takes a mentally tortured Vulcan to a planet for help and the point of being on that planet, seemingly, is to just tell her a story about what happened, then see some exposition. That trip could have just happened, she could look angsty while specialists do their work, and then there's a scene of truth if not reconciliation.

But this isn't an isolated case. Just over and over, the writing pushes her to the center of the action. She's got personal connections to every single thing that matters. Some hypothetical time traveler could apparently screw up the Federation for centuries just by messing with her timeline a tiny bit.

The times when this doesn't happen - like when it's Stamets, not her, in a time loop - are so delicious, because she's smart and clever and has this out of context problem thrown at her repeatedly, and she prevails. It's episodes like this that convince me Burnham is a good character independent of the spotlight the writers seem intent on locking onto her 24/7.

(This is also my problem with Voyager - some of the characters there are good, some are meh, a few are fantastic, but MY GOD the writing is like a vampire that just sucks the enjoyment out of watching it)

The show is having wild hate-sex with TOS-era canon. The show really, really wants to remind you that it's the immediate prequel to TOS. Like look, here's Captain Pike, here's Spock, there's the Enterprise, but we're also going to drop this multiversal mushroom network on you out of NOWHERE, we're going to a lot of stuff with Klingons, we're just doing all this wild shit.

I'm glad they're swinging for the fences though. The Sphere is probably the most impactful encounter they have in Season 2 in terms of its story impacts, and it's just such a wonderful TOS-era thing. There's this big weird object in space, there's literally nothing like it anywhere else, it's dangerous but not malicious, we're going to pit Federation ingenuity against the puzzle it represents, and we're going to have a good outcome if we're lucky.

The show sure likes to sleep on its ensemble. I love Saru and Stamets and Tilly, but I wish we'd heard more about that weird cyborg lady, Airiam, who's on the bridge before she's under it. They dropped TIG NOTARO on us as a sassy engineer, give her more love. Detmer clearly has a ton of emotion she's processing. I want to see her actress, Emily Coutts, in more stuff. It feels like they almost put in too many characters and then shone spotlight on the same few all the time, and then would pull others from their back pocket for moments of drama.

All of these things are why I'm looking forward to Season 3, where it seems the writers hit the reset button on a lot of this and are trying something new. I don't know if it'll be a better new, but it'll solve the problems Season 1-2 have given me. And I want to see what Strange New Worlds does.

[supersoakerfullofblood]

Great Books About Gender Identity

Seeing some posts about how new-adult romance novels popularized by BookTok don't show genuine queer experience and largely tokenize queer characters. And look, the prose of these books is ass too. One of my reading interests is how themes of gender/masculinity/femininity interact with other elements in a novel, and with the culture from which the novel was written. I've read a lot of great books on the topic!

As a disclaimer, most of these books don't have explicit queer representation. I read a lot of old books where that wasn't a thing you could openly write about, but you could write about cultural perceptions of masculinity/femininity (a lotta people still didn't like this, but like, you usually weren't stoned for it), which is where modern queer theory and identity comes from! So if you want to feel understood by a novel, here are my book recs on gender, in no particular order:

The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin: a series of children's fantasy novels that build the foundation for modern children's and YA fantasy (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, some Neil Gaiman, Brandon Sanderson, etc.). Men and women's roles in society and relations with magic are a major theme in the series, and while no character is queer (though there's a reference late in the series about witches living together), characters are always bound or freed by the gender they express. Also, all the characters are black, which was unheard of at the time of the first book's publication (1968) and is frankly still unheard of today. And it's just a fun read!

The work of Virginia Woolf: My favorite author and one of the largest players in what we today call gender studies. Highly recommend Orlando, where the titular character changes inexplicably from a man to a woman halfway through the novel (it's tempting to call them "the first trans character," but the label feels disingenuous. Transsexuality as we know it didn't exist then, and Orlando didn't choose or want to switch genders. It just happened to them); A Room of One's Own, Woolf's essay on life as a woman author; and The Waves, a book less about gender identity and more about wholistic identity.

The work of Kate Chopin: Chopin is a huge player in starting the feminist literary movement of the 20th century, influencing the work of many authors on this list. If you can stomach Victorian prose, Chopin is for you!

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: Plath's novel is written from an intimately feminine perspective and wrestles with questions of mental illness from such a perspective. A must-read.

The work of Oscar Wilde: Thrown in jail for a bit for likely being at least a little gay, Wilde's writing frequently riffs on and critiques gendered social customs. Highly recommend The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere's Fan, and definitely other stuff of his I haven't read yet.

The work of Madeline Miller: I think Circe is the only "BookTok book" I've read that I thought was good, and boy is it fantastic. Its ideas of gender feel a bit cliche or elementary at times (Circe sometimes reads like an "empowered girlboss" stereotype), but how it plays with this identity at the same time it plays with Circe's identity in her family and pantheon make this book special. And Miller really is a delightful prose stylist. Galatea is also pretty good, and I haven't read Song of Achilles yet.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham: based on Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, Cunningham reprises Woolf's themes for a book set in the 90s! Great read, and another master of the craft.

The poetry of Sappho: The popular conception of Sappho is that she's this girlboss prodigal lesbian in a patriarchal society, which isn't true. There's definitely some truth there, but it's much more nuanced, and certainly Sappho couldn't conceive of the labels we put on her today and those labels' connotations. In any case, her poetry is some of the first, if not the first, love poetry from a feminine perspective.

Any piece of literature about slavery/colonialism written by a woman: This is a broad category, but the intersection of femininity and race is a broad topic which many writers fall into. You really can't go wrong here. My recs are Toni Morrison, Jean Rhys, Zora Neale Hurston, Oroonoko by Aphra Bein, and Jean Toomer. I still need to read Gwendolyn Brooks, Octavia Butler, and Alice Walker.

The work of Shakespeare: You can't go wrong here. Obviously not explicitly queer, but many of his plays deal with cultural gender perceptions and, of course, crossdressing! Twelfth Night is probably his strongest play on this front, but The Winter's Tale and Measure for Measure are both great here, and most of his plays have at least a little commentary on the gender front.

Leave other recs in the comments/rts! :)

[ahiyashi]

Happy Anniversary

Snyopsis: For your 3 year anniversary, your boyfriend got you a special gift

Tw: nsfw, oral, vaginal

Authors note: this story takes place three years after Temari and Shakmaru's wedding.

The night air sunagakure was cool and close to chili. The atmosphere however was plesant and light as everyone enjoyed the night festival.

You stood outside the kazekage's office, watching everyone enjoy them selves, waiting for your boyfriend to exit the building. You waited for 10 minutes, before he rerurned with a nervous look on his face. " Hey. You alright." You asked him while studing his firghtned expressions. Kankuro paused for a second, a scared look on his face. " Yeah why wouldn't I be. It's not like i'm hiding something."

In reality he was. Today's the day he would do it. He put it off for three years,he decided that it was time. He just hoped he could do it. "Anyway," he started out. " Let's go. I wanna get to where the best view is before the fireworks start."

You let out a light chuckle, and snaked your arm around his. As you two walked you took notice of your surrondings. Children playing in the streets. Shop owners closing early, wanting to see the fireworks them selves. Other couples making out or cuddlung. You then looked over at Kankuro. He had a blank look on his face and dead stared the road ahead.

He led you to the darkest side of the village, before he put a blindfold around your (e/c) eyes. The path Kankuro led you on felt like it stretched on for miles as he continued to lead you. "Wh-where are we going. I thought we were going to see the fireworks." "We are. This is the best spot to watch. I discovered it as a child and we are almost there."

After anorher two minutes of walking you finally stopped, and Kankuro stood behind you, and removed the blindfold. The view of the entire city was breathtaking. Kankuro even had a (f/c) blanket set out along with roses,strawberries, wine and two crystal classes. You had tears in your eyes, as he led you to the blanket to sit down on the buttery soft fabric. Kankuro then turned you to face him. "Happy anniversary."

"You remembered," you said through tears. Kankuro replied " how could I forget. Its the anniversary of the day you agreed to be my girlfriend. One of the happiest days of my life. I've been love with you the moment I saw you at the chunin exams." " The day you stared at my ass." You chuckled. Kankuro the grabbed your hand " the day I felt true happiness," he said making you blush. " The day I wanted you to be mine. I even imagined what our family would look like. You completed me back then, and my heart spit in two when I had to leave after the war." Kankuro reached out, and tucked a wild strand of youe (h/c) hIr out of your face staring deep into your (e/c) eyes. "The day you decided to come home with me after my sister's wedding was the day my life was complete."

Kankuro leans in and plants a gentle kiss on your soft lips. It honestly took you by suprise, but after a moment you start to kiss him back.

The kiss gets a little heavy, and Kankuro pulls you onto his lap. You two start tounge wrestling for dominance and after a minute you relent and let his tounge roam freely. You made a mental note on how his tounge tasted like peppermint.

You two broke and Kankuro immediatly started to pull your top off. He started to assault your neck, smothering it in gentle kisses before he moved to your collarbone. You let out soft gasps and sighs as he left a generous amount of hickys across your chest while unvlasping your bra and gently sliding the soft fabric off your shoulders. You pull off his shirt and admire his toned chest gently sliding your hands up the soft skin as you push him down on the soft blanket.

you then start the assault on his neck,giving him as many hickies as he gave you. You make your way down ,kissing licking and sucking the soft flesh, stopping at the waist line of his pants. You paused to see the outline of his stffining cock straing inside his pants.

You slowly begin to pull at the elastic of his pants, gently tugging them down his waist. Kankuro was a complete mess at this point, breathing heavily as he watched you pull the last of his clothing off.

You kissed at his thighs, slowly making you way to his twitchig erection. You gently grabbed the shaft of Kankuro's cock and started to slowly move you hand up and down, sending chills down his back.

"Baby dont tease me," he pleaded. You give a sexy but teasing smirk and reply " why? im having so much fun. Lets see if I can't make you beg for mercy."

You leaned in and placed several gentle kisses on the tip of his cock. You then took the tip inside of your mouth gently sucking and licking at it. Kankuro let out a low groan at the sensation of you mouth wishing you would stop teasing him and give him what he wants. You slowly take more of him into your mouth. You began at a slow pace bobbing your head and massaging his soft balls in your hand.

Kankuro let out a series of moans "baby dont stop" and "give me more". you realeased him from your mouth and started to pump his shaft in one hand while your other remained gentally massaging his balls giving light squeezes. Kankuro could not form actual sentences at this point. You felt his cock twitch in your hands and knew he was going to cum. You stuck your mouth back on right in time for thick sweet and salty ropes of his seed to fill your mouth and you swallowed every last drop.

Kankuro thought that after you sucked him dry,you would stop, but you kept going sending strong shockwaves through his body. This was a new expirence for him and the sensations drove him mad. " baby please its too much. Theres nothing left. Stop please." After another minute you gave him mercy and released climbing back on top of him to claim his mouth.

Kankuro flipped you over so you lay one the soft fabric of the blanket. He broke the kiss and had a mischivious smile on his face. "Now, its your turn to get tortured." His voice was low and husky making you immediatly regret torturing him.

Kankuro started to kiss sown your soft body. He stopped to suck on your right breast, and massage the left one gently. After assuring the right one was stiff enough, he gave the left one the same treatment. You were gasping and sighing wishing he would just hurry up.

Kankuro started an assault on your soft stomach,leaving a trail of saliva and hickies all the way down to the waist line of your pants and immediatly pulled them off, leaving you in your favorire (f/c) panties.

He placed his finger on your cloth covered clit and began to slowly move it in small torturing circles. You let out a small moan. "Somebodys all wet. Did sucking me off make you this soaked?"he pushed your panties aside and began to slide his hand up and down your slit collecting your juices on two fingers. Kankuro pulled his hand away and sucked on his fingers while looking dangerously into your eyes. He made a soft moaning noise. "Fuck you taste delicious. You might be my faveorite meal."

Kankuro rougly pulled your panties off and began to roughly assault your pussy with his tounge. You let out a series of loud moans grasping at his hair tugging on his soft locks. Kankuro made good on his promise to torture you. He roughly sucked on your clit as he added two soft fingers in your drenched hole searching for your sweet spot. You arched your back in pure bliss as he found you spot and began to roughly massage it and lick at your clit at a fast pace. You were close to cumming, when he started to slow his pace eventually comming to a complete stop. He released you clit from his mouth and looked up at your shaking form with a playful smile on his face.

"You don't think I'm just gonna let you cum that easily do you?" He said in a seductive low tone as he started to slowly finger you again sending vibrations in you body at the new sensation. " I'm gonna take my sweet time working you up, and denying you a sweet realease until you cant speak no more. Let see how far I can go till you cry for me to fuck you."

Kankuro made good on his word. He denied you three orgasms before you finally released on his fingers screaming his name. You felt total bliss as he replaced his fingers with his mouth and gave a few hard sucks onto your spasming pussy sending shockwaves through your body.

When he finally realeased, he climbed back on top of your trembling form to claim your mouth. "You think you're ready for me?" He asked in between kisses. You shook your head as he lined himself up.

He slid in slowly, your slick aiding him. Feeling Kankuro inside you was a feeling you never get tired of. You could feel every vein on his thick cock as he kept going stoping when he could'nt go farther. He paused for a moment staring at your rising and falling chest. He lockd lips with yours as he slowly started to slide out bwfore ramming back into you earning a loud moan as you nearly orgasmed again.

His thrusts were slow and gentle earning soft whimpers from you. You locked your lips with his as his pace begins to pick up. Your moans were getting louder and louder as his thrusts were getting deeper giving you another orgasm. All of a sudden, he stops. You give him a confused and annoyed look before he flipped you both so you were on top. "I wanna show while im cumming in you".

You rolled your eyes and began to bounce yourself on his hard cock. Kankuro threw his head back and groaned at the sensation. He put his arms behind his head as he watched your boobs bounce wildly while you are riding him. You were a moaning mess on top with how deep Kankuro's was inside you stiring your insides. After a few more bounces, you began to cum making a mess all over his twitching cock.

Kankuro felt himself getting close, so he flipped you over and began jackhammering into your shaking form while wildly rubbing his palm on your soaking sex. After a few more hard thrusts, he joind you cumming deep inside your shaking form. He gives you one final kiss as you both pass out with him on top of you.

~~~~~

You woke up sometime later freezing as the night air gotten colder and the entire village was dark. You realize that you and Kankuro fell asleep and missed the fireworks. "Kankuro. Babe wake up we missed them." You tried to sluggishly push him off. He sat up and looked you in the face. "Damn that sucks. The fireworks are the best part of the festival." You giggled at his response,pushed him off of you and you two began to get dresed by the light of the full moon. "You ready to go," you asked. "It's starting to get cold." Kankuro does not face you. "Yes," he replies. "But before we head home, there's something I want to ask you."

You look at him with a confusing stare on your face. Your expression changes to pute shock and happiness. Tears start to pour down your face as Kankuro turns around and gets on one knee with a beautifu ring in his right hand.

"This was my main reason to bring you here. I don't want you to leave my side. The day after the war ended and you left me was the most crushing day of my life. It made me realize that I don't want my happiness to leave me. (Y/N), will you marry me?"

You body shook and the tears in your eyes worsened. "Y-yes. Yes yes yes." Kankuro's face lit up as he stood and placed the ring on your finger. You two embraced and shared a passionate kiss under the moonlight.

[shotaumino]

My coord for Forbidden Door! Simple look, but I liked it. Wish my accessories had come in on time, but I'm happy.

I put my thoughts on the PPV under the cut. Theres a lot, and its the good, the bad and the ugly. So proceed with caution.

- I'm used to going to shows in NJ and PHL, so we were impressed by efficiency and organization at UBS.

- Like I said, great seats. We were in the 100s, row 10. Would choose seats like that again.

- I've only been to two live wrestling events and forgot how annoying wrestling fans can be when they aren't engaged with what they are watching. Just talking about anything and everything if they don't know the wrestler in the ring. I get not everyone wants to do research, but be a little curious? Be engaged and see wbaf they have to offer?

- MJF got a massive pop, but once the wrestling started it was pretty quiet. I still don't get his thing and I think a lot of fans are more there for his persona than in ring ability.

- Hiromu was pretty over which made me happy considering the over-under of foreign talent reception.

- ZSJ v Orange Cassidy was excellent and following it up with Jericho felt absolutely criminal.

- I absolutely would never be able to tell from online how over The Acclaimed are. The crowd went wild for them AND loved their rap. The match was honestly pretty fun! And seeing Okada and Tanahashi IRL felt pretty special.

- Dragon match felt like it was a "for the wrestlers" match. Also some peoplle left right after. I guess thats what they paid all that money to see.

- Ladder match was fun! I think it was sligntly dampened for me because half the people involved were very obviously not going to win. CM Punk chants were annoying. No one knew ELP which was a crime. Takashita should have won and taken the belt with him to Japan idc. 

- Takeshita is so over. And hes so impressive IRL. Heard a lot of people shocked by how big he is.

- I love Stephanie Vaquer so much! Shes quickly becoming one of my top favorites. Her and Mercedes had a Top 3 match last night. Shes a superstar! The way people were trying to derail the match and she MADE them care. It was also crazy how quickly the crowd turned on Mercedes? She did one move which looked cool to me but the arena shifted to Stephanie on a dime. Obviously knew she wasn't going to win but I'm glad she made such a strong impression.

- Just to reiterate. Just because you don't know someone, doesn't mean you should just mentally check out. Why are you talking about the fourhorsewomen during this match? Its absolutely insane to me how some wrestling fans can't watch a match unless they are familiar with the lineage of both wrestlers.

- The Naito v Mox match was bad. Just... felt bad. Naito didn't seem right the whole time. Personally I think he came out looking worse and I know who he is and how great he was. Look, Naitos legacy is secure but if the goal is to get people interested in NJPW that was the worst mstch to showcase it. And I can't blame the fans on this. Stephanie and Mina both won over the crowd. If you didn't know Naito (and plenty of people didn't, I heard them asking who he was) then this match certainly wouldn't make you want to learn. 

- I was looking forwad to people no longer complaining now that Naito has the title except now the complaint is that he has it and NJPW is screwed because they don't have anyone worth taking it off him. Glad I got into DDT because NJPW discourse is going to be annoying until the G1 starts.

- Swerve v Ospready was out of this world. Genuinely felt like it could have gone either way. The timing on the counts was immaculate. You should have heard the boos when Don Callis appeared. And Nana got to be the hero! The whole arena was absolutely rocking with Swerve.

- There were two weird Ospreay fanboys who kept yelling 'Fuck Swerve'. No one was joining them, even other Ospready fans. It felt weirdly racist because they KEPT DOING IT even though no one else was paying then any attention?? I think people were also getting restless because someone started shrieking intermittedly in the crowd and then people started screaming for them to shut up.

- Speaking of bad fan behavior. Absolutely fuck fans who try to make the show about them. When Stephanie and Mercedes were going hard this asshole in a celtics shirt stood up and of course the crowd started chanting at him. You freaks only do that shit during womens matches.

- Back to Swerve v Ospreay and in any case the end of the show. Beautiful finish, surprising finish! Definately thought Swerve was going to TD91 him but it was a surprisingly kinder finish? Which I'm hoping is where Adam Page comes in. Speaking of which I think a lot of us were lingering around waiting for a confrontation. People almost started booing when it just ended like normal.

- All in all, a lot of fun! I definately want to see more live events when they're in my area! Worth the three hour drive

[jennilah]

2023 Wrap-Up!

Every NYE I spend some time going over my diary and reflecting on all of the good and bad that happened over the year. Its nice diving in and seeing what the real highlights were, and just having a moment to go over it all

Like every year, I don't want you to compare your life to mine. I encourage your own reflection and I genuinely hope you find your own happy highlights ♥ every happy thing, big or small, is worthy

I definitely didn't top last year as the Best Year Fucking Ever, but I tried!

I tried.. too hard!

I overloaded myself with slightly too many fun things, I think. The fun was definitely FUN, but I booked so many events that it got a bit overwhelming at times. This year was characterized by chaos and uncertainty and just getting wild and wacky with it, and having a shit ton of anxiety nearly the whole time! woo!

there were so many entries this year just completely laced with nervous wreck energy. It's kind of a miracle I was able to wrestle it all.

Okay.

Apparently, according to the ole diary, I started off the year incredibly stressed about work, and oh yeah... yeah, yep, I remember now. I was working on by-far the most stressful film of my life and that's precisely when I became a full-blown stoner LMAO. I won't elaborate more.

Holy fuck I went to the movies a LOT. There were so many bangers this year that I often saw things twice. I went a total of 29 times, unless I missed any other time I'm forgetting. In addition to that, I kept going with watching slasher films on my own, which I still thoroughly enjoy even if they're taking a backseat to Saw right now.

I had a HANDFUL of exciting releases this year! Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Landscape With Invisible Hand, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Napoleon! Each one was a completely different experience to work on, but each one was special in its own way. Every day I wake up and I am fucking thrilled that this is my job, this is my life.

I went to a Muse concert which was definitely a highlight of the year, it was so fucking awesome, and now they're up there amongst my very few other favorite bands.

One of my best friends in the world, my old college roommate, came up and visited me for a few days in Montreal. We had a lot of fun together and I can't wait for the next time I hang out with her- hopefully much sooner than 6 years :D (but really, it felt like no time passed since I last saw her.)

Then my parents moved out of my childhood home pretty suddenly. It was partially a mid-life crisis, but it was actually a blessing. They were starting to feel really cooped up and everything was changing around them. The beautiful woods that surrounded the home were slowly getting torn down and replaced by construction and power generators. It was really sad to see the place where I grew up slowly become cold and industrial and unrecognizable.

But now? Now they have the lake house of their dreams. It's gorgeous, and its a hit with the whole family. Also, in our old house, we were so secluded from the rest of the town. Now, they are already popular in the new neighborhood and everyone already knows their names and invite them to all of the local lake parties. As caring, outgoing people, I think they really needed this. They finally feel like they're a part of a tight-knit community, which our old town didn't really have.

Also: LAKE!

They grew up on Long Island, and all of my family is on Long Island, so I think a part of us always belonged to the ocean. The water always called me, too. They bought a boat in 2 seconds flat and are really enjoying living on the water again, and I get to live vicariously through them every time I visit home.

But first- Between the new house and the INDUSTRY STRIKES (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA) upturning just about everything around me, I, just like my parents, needed to take hold of my life and start changing things too. I was feeling mentally cooped-up and kind of exploded.

I really loved my last studio, but after a series of some really extreme layoffs, it was also becoming unrecognizable. I wanted to try something new, so taking a leap of faith in the middle of really unreliable industry times, I decided to say a very tearful goodbye and join a new studio.

It has been a really positive change so far. I really enjoy it there, and I am meeting so many new amazing people that I am having a lot of fun working with, and I think I am performing pretty well there too. The atmosphere is also very nice, and the projects are really cool. I can see myself working there for a very long time! We'll see!

In addition to quitting my job and starting a new one as a wild new change, I also started getting TATTOOS. Just fuckin decided to GO FOR IT- and now look at me, addicted. I already have three, and next week I start my half sleeve! We're only getting STARTED. I want to be a canvas for other people's beautiful art, which is something I've been wanting to do for yearssss.

I made a new cosplay, Michael Myers :) It is also some of the most fun I've had cosplaying in a long time- people LOVE him. Kids, blushing women, grown men, everyone! I can't wait to wear it again next con season.

I tabled at Montreal Comic Con, which was.... an experience. Not a super positive one, but it was fine. It was definitely a memory I made, lmao. (The people I met were the best part! ♥♥)

I still need to make that Etsy page so I can sell my leftovers (yeahhhhh)

Between jobs, I got a whole MONTH off to do whatever I wanted, so I spent it watching movies, going home to visit the new lake house, and getting more tattoos.

Before the new job, I attended Osheaga again. I only went for one day and got ridiculously high and spent most of it hiding in a tent, crawling back to planet Earth. I still had a lot of fun though- I just don't think I'll be getting high at Igloofest in February. I learned my lesson.

I went to a wedding! I love weddings! It was a lovely wedding! And I got to see many of my college friends again for the first time since graduating, which was just so nice and it made me really happy.

Then I went to LA! WOOOOOOOOOOO This was by far the most fun Ive had traveling in my life yet, that whole trip was so much fun. I have to go back one day, there was so much I have still yet to see. I got to see another one of my best friends from college again, the Tar Pits, DisneyLand, museums, and go to Halloween: 45 Years of Terror, which was so much fun!!!!!

Then I got back from the trip and got really into Saw, which has been obvious lmao. WOops! You never know what the ole autism will latch onto!

Having a new fandom to enjoy is always its own bundle of fun. And because of it, I was able to book tickets to Saw: The Musical for when I went home for christmas. As you know because I talked about it literally two days ago, I saw it with my cousins and we all had a bucket full of fun. It was really nice getting to spend time with them alone without the rest of the family and truly just bond as cousins- I dont have siblings, they are the closest thing to it for me. I adore them.

And now... I am home... and I am happily SITTING STILL!!!

I kind of overbooked my year and it left me feeling a little more overwhelmed than I meant to. I am definitely more of a homebody than this round-up suggests.

Next year, I will still continue to push myself to go out and do exciting things, but maybe not so back-to-back!!!!

It also didn't help that this year there were a few really stressful family health moments which are still ongoing and affecting me. It's rough and still happening in the background. Next year might be really difficult, and I will have to more heavily lean on my support systems. I am just thankful I have them

Also, I didnt realize how many times this year I reconnected in-person with my college friends who I havent seen in years. That was so nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope I get to see even more of my long time friends next year.

This entry is all over the place, lmao

I think thats it!!

[lifesver]

@meatriarch said: [ 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 ] : sender attempts to stab the receiver. ( mama luda, does lee have the heart to hurt a poor older woman? 😞 ) + [ 𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐢𝐫 ] : sender is holding the receiver by the throat. ( thomas ((: )

it's obvious, by the way he nearly stumbles straight into her kitchen knife, that he doesn't expect to see mrs. hewitt — although he was certainly standing in her house, suddenly. hadn't paid enough attention to know where he was in the tunnels — just ripped a shard of rib from a carcass, and sprung for the first set of stairs he came across. anything — fucking anything to get out of that rot-smelling basement.

❝ mrs. hewitt — ❞ comes the beginning of an instinctive, startled apology.

she must have heard him come up in a stumbling hurry. must have heard the metal door thrown on its hinges. hands comes up instinctively, to shield from the wicked edge. instead, it catches across his palm, spatters new red on the peeling wallpaper.

leland hisses, clutching injured palm. shoots a wild look around him — trying to mentally re-orient. prolonged time in the tunnels had a way of making you lose your fucking mind.

' you stay right where you are, son. where's johnny? '

leland blinks; johnny was probably already looking for him. mind reels with the very real possibility that this was another test of some kind. wouldn't be a big shock, anymore.

leland doesn't dare answer her — her look of consternation and grandmotherly disappointment was piercing enough. her knife points outward, a warning, and he skitters back slightly. run — just fucking run, you have a chance just take it just run — she's just like all the rest of them. she'd kill you, all of them would kill you, they're fucking crazy —

— she's all that stands in his way between an open back door. he can feel a touch of night air. it was that close.

he could get by her. he could get free.

— but he freezes. has the truly stupid, guilty thought that she could be one of his aunts, or a grandmother. that he'd never hit a woman before, let alone an elderly one, and — she was kind to you, wasn't she? one of the only people here that was. the first face you saw waking up, after you fell down half-dead in that sunflower field at johnny's feet. patched you up after he was finished with you — as per johnny's request, he understood.

but it still mattered, to him.

even if he still didn't understand why. ( why are they doing this to you? )

his eyes flutter a dizzied blink, the walls of the front hall threaten to close in on his sides. threaten to warp and bend like a funhouse maze. floorboards give a low, tell-tale crr-reak. he can hear heavy, recognizable steps. then, an equally recognizable monstrous silhouette, stepping into the kitchen light behind the hewitt matriarch.

breath freezes. the big guy. now you're fucked.

he think he whispers a curse; harsh, fireworks adrenaline overtakes exhaustion, and leland staggers in a backtrack, away from luda mae and into the hallway.

straight into charlie hewitt's chest.

leland whirls around, having to think fast. having to immediately wrestle for the shotgun in the sheriff's hands. who laughs in his face, with fake, sinister cheer;

' well, look who it is — '

leland growls, slams the sheriff into the wall with force. operates on instinct, on some animal baseline of survive, survive, fucking kill him if you have to — he pins the man by his unrelenting grip on the shotgun. reels free fist back, nails the man in his ugly scowl so hard it reverberates back through the bones of his wrist. makes the sick bastard bleed, and that's satisfying, but —

click, bang. the shotgun goes off. feels like it shakes the hallway. his right ear blasts with everything and then nothing but a ringing white noise. dust from the ceiling lands in his hair, his eyes. he can hardly take inventory of himself — if he's been fucking shot — before the the side of the sheriff's shotgun cracks him across the cheek, spins his vision out.

hits the ground before the world can stop spotting and bleeding together.

boot slams firmly between his shoulder blades, shoves him down to the floor with a grunt. and before he can move to throw him off, he feels the barrel of the weapon nudge the back of his head, press his stinging cheek into the floorboards a little harder. reddened eye rolls up under his mussed, sweat-stuck hair. he scowls at sheriff hoyt — charlie hewitt — around bloodied teeth. but he goes still.

at least he hasn't been shot. yet.

' ain't you supposed to be tough? '

crackling, mocking laughter, and the man removes boot from leland's back — only to deliver a swift kick to his side that knocks him flat before he can recover.

' — what's that, son? you wanna speak up? ' charlie leans down a little further. he takes notice of the injury to leland's hand — drops boot down hard there, instead, to pin it in place. leland's back jolts against the floor with a cry. he groans with crunched expression, gives a sputtering cough around his bloody nose. still blinking back colour and shape while the man talks to hear himself talk, crouches downway too close. so close he can smell the man's whiskey-stinking breath wafting down on his cheek. he can feel the shotgun muzzle move, while charlie idly decides what part of him to threaten with it next.

leland's breath quickens, rabbit-fast, hearing the weapon adjust. a million horrifying images pass through his mind at once. every sound is muffled, or painfully-clear. no in-between. distantly, he thinks he can hear luda mae hollering something about ' don't you fire that thing in this house, charles hewitt. '

jesus christ. this fucking family.

( come on, you're not dying like this. )

fingers curl tighter around the scrap of ribcage he hides under his opposite palm.

❝ hey. asshole, ❞ he growls. dark eyes turn down to him for just a moment — and leland promptly spits a mouthful of blood up into the man's face. sheriff snarls a string of curses. with free hand, white-knuckle grip plunges bone shard into charlie hewitt's ankle. this time, the man jolts back with nothing short of a howl — weapon twists in the muscle, and rips free with a spatter across leland's cheek. he doesn't think much, then — uses the moment to scrabble out from under the man. he forces himself up to his feet, staggering to drag himself along the wall. back to the kitchen, chased straight back into luda mae.

square one. the door, the night air. can't get to the front of the house. can't run into that shotgun again. can't go back to the basement —

down the hall, it rings out again; the sound of the man he hated — truly fucking hated, who's shouting something to the effect of ' goddamnit tommy — '

worse, maybe; the crr-eaak-thud across the floorboards. it makes his blood run fucking cold.

— just get by her. just run. you have to just run. the bloodied piece of ribcage in his hand feels unwieldy, suddenly. suddenly he feels like he's done something wrong. hadn't she helped you? wasn't she the only one that had been kind —

it's all too much noise. his head hurts — you can't. you can't do it. not to mrs. hewitt.

❝ wait, please, ❞ breathless rasp; his hands come up halfway in a surrendering motion, eyes wide and sharp.

❝ — i don't … want to hurt you, mrs. hewitt, i — ❞

— just want to go home. you just want to go fucking home.

but there's no point in saying it. not one of them cared.

— it's just that you care. you care that this old woman doesn't get hurt in the middle of all this — and you're going to get killed for it. he can hear the big motherfucker coming up at his back. thomas hewitt. he had just threatened his mother, attacked the sheriff. pretty damning list, so far. he might as well be dead, actually.

leland can hear the low, rasping breath from behind the mask. breathing down his neck. he makes a show of dropping his makeshift weapon — but it's too late for good faith, as far as the monster in the mask was concerned. leland turns halfway, just to get a rough hand around his throat, all but tossing him, with little effort, into the nearest wall.

violent thud, quake of every bone in his body — a few picture frames are shuddered off their nails. new starry patterns blacken his vision for a half-second, but neither thomas, nor his own body are forgiving enough to let him fall into unconsciousness so easily. the heavy hand around his throat is dragging him up the kitchen wallpaper, harsh, and reopening cuts in his back. pained gasp — but no real coherent sound making it past the bruising chokehold.

eyes pinprick wide, helpless, when he stares at luda mae over her son's shoulder, as he seems to take immense satisfaction in crushing the the life out of him. heels try, fail, to catch purchase on the wall, fingernails clawing at thomas' arm — felt like the only sound, besides his strangled gasps for air. consciousness slips; and eyes draw up toward the ceiling, blink full of saltwater. the pressure in his skull, behind his eyes, feels impossible. and just as his world threatens to swoop dark and empty — a voice speaks again, distant, sounds underwater;

' — think the boy's had enough, thomas. '

a pause. sound of gruff assent in his un-ringing ear, and the pressure around his throat releases abruptly. thomas drops him without ceremony, and his body immediately crumbles like a ragdoll. painful shocks bounce up wrists and knees as he hits the wooden floorboards. every breath compresses into one tight ache in the center of his chest.

leland blinks, exhausted, hardly able to breathe, at the blood spots landing between his trembling hands. it always ended the same, didn't it?

( these people are all you have, don't you know that by now? )

… and maybe if you give up now, it won't be so bad. when johnny gets here.

he's not allowed much space at all by the brute, who makes sure to stand between him and his mother. but still, he scrabbles back like a cornered animal, eyes flicking between thomas hewitt, and the doorway, where he expected the sheriff to appear at any moment. he doesn't regret what he did to the sheriff.

❝ — i'm sorry, ❞ he gravels out, stinging lungs heaving, ❝ i wasn't … i wouldn't have … ❞ tries to string together another few incoherent apologies, before thomas roughly pulls him to his feet, iron grip closed around his arm. leland grits his teeth, pride long dead, and doesn't fight him. head bowed slightly, he stares at the floor — at his blood on the floor — hiding the burning look on his face.

quietly, softly, he draws stinging gaze to luda mae;

❝ … please just. take me back. i swear … i — i won't try anything. just … take me back down. ❞

[incompleteth0ts]

American Pie 🥧

SUMMARY: Chap. 1 Chap. 2 Chap. 3 Chap. 4

Dying wasn’t as painful as he feared it would be. After fighting all his life, Jason was sure his death would be long and drawn out on the battlefield alongside enemies and allies.

____

Jason Grace is dead and his life flashes before his eyes

__

WRITTEN FOR Percy Jackson Gift Exchange Winter Solstice 2023 OFFERED PROMPTS THAT WERE USED🏃🏾♀️💨

1)"We will not go quietly."

2)Major Character Death

3)"Pity not the sword, nor its wielder."

__Bye-Bye, Miss American Pie__

Dying wasn’t as painful as he feared it would be. After fighting all his life, Jason was sure his death would be long and drawn out on the battlefield alongside enemies and allies. Jason could envision so many battles that should have ended him. The battle with Krios, the prophecy of 7, talking to Frank in the morning before he brushed his teeth; anything but traveling on the back of a venti pushing 30 m/ph in a duel to inevitable death, not to mention while on a Yacht with at least one arrow in each limb hundreds of miles away from New Rome

 Anything but dying alone.

 But Jason knew he had to keep going. It was him or Piper; he wouldn’t let her die on this ship. Jason lifted his sword and prepared for another lap around the too-small jousting grounds. The lack of space made Tempest even more stressed and the metallic scent of blood clogged Jason’s senses. With his gladius raised to the mighty heavens of his father Jason made one last oath as Tempest reared up for another challenge, ‘Let it be known that neither Piper nor Apollo will die on this ship.’ A crack of lighting broke the sky.

 Tempest and Incitatus galloped past one another once more. Incitatus kicked at Tempest with his golden front hooves jostling Jason’s heavily injured body. Tempest responded with bursts of electricity that left a battery tased in Jason’s mouth and scorched the evil stallion's white flanks.

 As Jason and Caligula passed by each other Jason turned and caught the fallen god's eye from across the ruined throne room. “Go!” He screamed at his ex-girlfriend and God. “Remember!” Jason desperately pleaded. It may be selfish but he needed Apollo to pull himself together and save not only himself but Piper too. He was willing to end his life for them earlier, hopefully, he was still holding on to that hero mentality.

 ‘Just one more round,’ he thought, holding Apollo’s gaze. ‘If I can make it through one more round then they should be able to’

 Caligula threw his spear.

 The weapon landed in between Jason’s shoulders shoving Jason’s body into Tempest's neck. From what felt like a much further distance Jason heard the sound of Piper's scream of terror. Jason’s eyes widened.

 5 pounds of gold made itself home in the ex-praetor's rhomboid muscles. Jason slumped forward into his stead and wrapped his arms around Tempest's neck to keep balance. “Get them out of here. Please, Tempest, save my friends.”

 The spirit did not owe him anything, but Jason prayed Tempest would give him this.

 Jason felt his vision swim. It was like his life was falling through his fingers like sand on the beach. ‘How embarrassing,’ he thought. ‘I used to wrestle with wolves and now I’m going to die on the yacht of a lunatic nicknamed Little Boots.’

Jason began to lose strength as his body fell off the wild Venti.

Jason Grace died before his body even hit the floor.

When Jason came back to himself, he was face to face with a beautiful man.

“Hello, Jason Grace. How are you feeling?”

How was he feeling? That was the issue, that Jason couldn't feel anything. He tried to wiggle his fingers and toes the way the nurses at his school told him to when he passed out after a long day, but he wasn’t even sure if he had them anymore.

Was Caligula known for taking the toes of his enemies?

“The correct answer, Mr. Grace, should be nothing.” The man straightened up from his bowed position and pulled out an iPad. The man wore a dark toga layered with various sashes, and on the man's back grew two mighty wings as black as night. He was dark-skinned with meticulously kept dreads that were pulled into a bun against his nape.

“You’re lord Mors, aren’t you.” The god stopped what he was doing on the iPad and returned to Jason.

“Yes, I am Mors. I will admit I did not know how to approach you at first. My other half and I were in disagreement for a while, trying to figure out what form was the most appropriate to appear in. After all, nowadays you're neither fully Greek nor Roman.”

Jason almost felt like he should apologize to the Death God because not even he knew what he was.

Mors put the iPad back in his messenger bag and pulled out an envelope that read, ‘Jason Grace, express shipping to the Underworld, first-class packaging’. Jason was feeling more and more important by the minute.

“If you want I can change the color, but we must get going.”

“The color is fine, you're right, let's get going.” Jason didn't know why the color of the envelope mattered- well he didn't know until Mors pinched at his shoulder the way someone would with a dirty sheet. There was a loud ripping sound, and then everything went dark.

Jason was in an airport.

Sure the airport had horrible lighting, was crawling with ghosts and ghouls alike and the only security dog onsite was a giant three-headed hellhound. Still, it was most definitely an airport security station. Jason watched as once-living men and women were guided through the velvet rope lanes. Children who died with their parents were ripped from the screaming arms of their mothers and carried down a separate path. A skeleton wearing a dark gray jumpsuit with the words, ‘Dog walker’, in bold black lettering held at least ten leashes in each hand. Golden retrievers, Dobermans, Pinchers, and Poodles dragged the poor man of bones through a gate marked as, ‘Easy Elysium’.

Jason looked at the ghouls in front and behind him searching for the young faces of Meg and Apollo, he was relieved when he couldn’t find either of them haunting the line. His heart grew lighter when he also failed to see Piper anywhere in the line.

The prophecy had come true. Jason was dead, but Piper had been saved.

“Next in line please.”

Jason had unknowingly made it to the front of the line. How long had he been standing here? Two minutes, an hour, a week? Stepping forward with his chin held high Jason tried to look more confident than he felt.

“Hello dear. If you could give me your name and godly parents I’ll get you sent off to where you need to go.” The woman had a strong Jersey accent and a high pouf. If she had solid flesh it would probably be coated in an ugly orange spray tan, but wisely Jason kept those very personal thoughts to himself. The last thing he wanted was to be sent to the fields of punishment or worse, the back of the line.

“My name is Jason Grace, Son of Jupiter.”

The receptionist began scrolling through her screen without a care in the world. She’s probably gotten far used to greeting sons and daughters of various Olympian and minor gods.

“Ok, here you are dear; Jason Grace, you have been scheduled for our express shipping.”

The Dead Jersey woman printed out what looked like a train ticket and stamped a red express seal of authenticity on it.

“Take this and go down that path,” She pointed off towards Jason’s right where the earthy ground of the underworld turned into a red carpet. “Give this ticket to the conductor and he’ll take you to meet the judges.”

Unlike Jason's walk to the kiosk, his walk to the train was devoid of others. Looked like not many people were able to get express shipping to meet the Council of the Dead.

When Jason made it to the station he was taken aback. The platform was made of carborundum that had been ground down into a flat and polished flooring. Four 20-foot columns of neptunite worked together to form a pavilion of pink ivory and diamonds, most of the architecture was marked with a Delta symbol like the one on Annabeth’s laptop.

None of the history books in Camp Jupiter talked about a train station in the afterlife.

“Ticket please.”

Jason embarrassingly tripped over himself. He hadn’t heard the conductor approach until he stood over Jason’s shoulder. The train driver wore a uniform that reminded him of ‘The Polar Express’. His name tag identified him as, ‘Jeff’, and Jeff was made entirely from bone.

The underworld truly was an interesting place.

Giving the skeleton his ticket Jason watched with rather childish amusement as the conductor punched several holes into it with his teeth.

“Stand back please.”

Jason backed into one of the back columns as the ground began to shake. A loud train whistle broke through the underground silence announcing the arrival of his travel vehicle.

The train was gorgeous. It was an all-black steam locomotive with golden wheels and doors, hooked to the back of the coal cart were eight passenger cars. It was the type of vehicle that you would see rich people in the UK ride on to get from one side of the country to the other.

“All aboard.” Even though Jason was visibly the only passenger waiting at the station the skeleton waved its arm in an urgent arc as if to say. ‘One at a time now and no pushing’.

The inside was just as expensive looking as the outside. The booths were either covered in black velvet or leather. The tables were numbered 1-20 events on the right and odds to the left. Lining the path were lanterns full of hackmanite. Jason sat down as the train began to speed through the underworld. During the trip the train made no stops, they were moving so fast that the long almost still-standing lines of ghosts blurred by like pavement markings.

In under five minutes, the train managed to cut across the underworld and stopped at the only other station lining the railroad.

“Now arriving at your final destination. The judges await you.” The doors opened with an ominous hiss. Jason walked through the doors and entered a room that looked like the courtroom on SVU.

In the judge's seat sat three men—the three judges of Pluto's court.

The three kings of the past, Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus sat on elevated thrones carved from black cassiterite. To Jason’s right sat an empty jury and to the side of the three kings sat a court reporter. The witness stands were composed of men and women wearing Nobel clothing from various periods. There wasn’t a bailiff present for the trial because once a person died they couldn’t be harmed until after they’ve been sentenced to an afterlife. Nothing Jason said or did in here mattered, nothing in his life would change. He’d either land someplace or the other and that was that.

Judge Aeacus slammed his gavel against his sandalwood sound block. “May the court rise for the judgment of one Jason Grace, son of Lord Jupiter and the deceased mortal Beryl Grace.” Around him, several undead witnesses rose to their feet awaiting the judge's next orders.

“Mr. Grace steps forward and enters the witness stand.”

Jason approached the stand on light feet. He did not fear what awaited him once he left this courtroom he was a soldier and a good one at that. He’s done plenty of amazing things that others would have crumbled under. Jason had nothing to fear.

The witness stand, rather than being to the left of the three judges, was built in front of them allowing the three kings to stare down at Jason like he was a bug under a microscope.

“May the plaintiff present all the evidence the court will acquire for today's hearing.”

A shawled figure crept into the room holding a black briefcase. Long purple chains dragged behind the plaintiff's legs and made a sound equivalent to a sword scraping against a stone.

Jason recognized the metal as Stygian Iron. It was the same material his young friend Nico Di Angelo’s sword was forged from. The people in the witness stand hissed at the glowing chains. Jason personally felt incredibly lucky that he was guarded on the witness stand.

The plaintiff presented the metal box on the judge's table, handing Aeacus the key before leaving the courtroom just as silently as they got in. Inserting the key into its designated slot Jason waited with bated breath at what he knew the kings were about to pull out.

A golden light bright enough to rival that of Apollo’s sun illuminated the room. When the light died down enough for Jason to gaze upon the judges again his breath caught in his throat. Lying in the palms of Judge Aeacus was a golden thread the size of Jason's 

“I present to the court the unbiased life of Jason Grace.”

____

Ik this chapter is short but each of the chapters get longer😤

Toward the end of writing this I was remembering minor details of the original series and Daedalus and his 'punishment' came to mind

You can also find this fic on my Ao3 under the same name and user

WORD COUNT: 2,192 Words