#and just wanted to write fun fic of their ocs hanging out with each other | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

xxnashiraxx · 2 months ago

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Pairing: Astarion/f!Durge ◇ Astarion/f!OC (Ofelia)

Word Count: 6,119

Tags/Warnings: Mature (slight spice), Soft Astarion, Fluff

Summary: It's December in Baldur’s Gate and the snow is falling on Act 3 of Ofelia's adventure. After falling ill to a cold that prevents her from spreading the joy of Christmas to her companions, they decide to band together and prepare it in secret as a surprise for her. As they look for decorations, gifts, and a tree, Astarion reflects on his time with her and contemplates whether or not his gift will convey the depth of his true feelings...

divider here!

AO3 | Song Reference: Let it Snow!

Hi everyone!!! My apologies for this trainwreck, I tried my best on little time, but I really wanted to write something sweet for these two, and I owe inspiration for this oneshot to @caffeinatedmunchkin ! Thank you again friend!!! I also tried as far as the elvish, so please bear with me 🙏🏼

Please enjoy- fluff was needed for the season, and I hope everyone has a lovely day if you celebrate!!! ❤️ You do not need to read the main fic to read this one- it's its own little standalone! 💕

“So, you expect us to believe that some jolly old man goes around to every child in your world and delivers gifts on this ‘Christmas Eve’?” Gale's tone, while incredulous, remains cheerful. “That does not seem feasible, given your planet's population.”

“Well, not every child celebrates Christmas, so not all seven billion. But yeah pretty much,” Ofelia’s eyes light with amusement as Gale begins another spiel into logic and probability, causing Astarion to roll his eyes and grumble into the chalice of blood Ofelia had filled for him not but a few minutes ago.

“It's just make-believe!” Ofelia spouts around giggles, her smile bright. “Not real! Something you tell kids so they behave, but the holiday is still the same- parents get their children gifts, blame it on Santa, make cookies and leave milk out for him for his journey, hang stockings on the mantle to see if they get coal if they’re bad or sweets and little toys if they’re good. It's all for fun- I myself most enjoy the snow and decorations.” She sounds wistful as their ragtag group listens. He watches her face twist slightly as if recalling a bad memory, and he pays attention to the warble in her voice when she next speaks.

“I haven't had a real Christmas since I was still young enough to believe… my parents did everything for me, those first nine years. It was always so magical… pazole, tamales, candy, gifts- I wished they wouldn't have, but they'd do everything, take extra shifts just so there was something under the tree for me�� I miss them this time of year. Just a little bit extra.” No longer afraid of the warmth that blooms in his chest, he reaches for her and when his hand rests over her shoulder she turns to him and quickly wipes the moisture from the corner of her eye. Her cheeks crease with an appreciative smile and she squeezes his hand in thanks as the others look around.

“Would you want to celebrate it here?” Karlach asks, setting her cleaned plate off to the side on one of the many little tables littered around their common space in the Elfsong.

“You guys want to?” Ofelia asks with a soft huff, hefty emotion washing from her voice amid the sweet hope that spreads over her face.

“We may not have Santa, but why not? The spirit of gift giving and love isn’t foreign here,” Gale smiles, patting Ofelia’s opposite shoulder.

“Okay… yeah! We’ll have to find a tree, and ornaments, and gift wrapping of some kind- paper will do! Stockings to hang over the fire for each of us… day after tomorrow!” Her eyes brighten at each syllable, and for all the teasing he’d love to utter, he can’t find it in himself to poke when this is the happiest she’s looked since they’d arrived in Baldur’s Gate.

And gods, if it isn’t the happiest he’s been, as well. Since Cazador fell. They still have the brain and two of the Dead Three's chosen left, but curse it all to the hells. Right now perhaps they can indulge in some respite from it all. The calm before the storm.

They move through the rest of the day restocking their supplies, tracking down various needs, and chasing some loose ends. They discover more of Orin’s handiwork littered throughout the city, much to Ofelia’s chagrin, but decide to turn in early in the hopes of getting started on their decorating. Unfortunately, fate has other plans.

“I’m afraid healing magic really only works on injuries and the like- I’m sorry, Ofelia. I know how much this meant to you… perhaps we can have it later in the week?” Shadowheart strokes the human’s face softly, her pale hand meeting russet, clammy skin. Ofelia nods, eyes shifting to a corner of the room as the half-elf leaves and shoots Astarion a pitying frown. When the door shuts, he sinks down beside her and strokes the hair off her cheeks and forehead, fever hot against his cold undead hands.

“This sucks…” She mutters, cheeks ruddy with heat as her body fights against an infection they have no hope of combatting with anything but time and herbs. Already, Jaheira had mixed what little items she had into a concoction Ofelia had knocked back minutes ago, and though a bit of color has returned to her lips, she’s not exactly the picture of good health.

“I’m sorry, darling,” He murmurs, resting the back of his hand against her cheek. He knows she likes it when he does, and she typically runs hot, but this is something else entirely and it pulls at his unbeating heart.

“No, it’s okay… it’s been so long since I’ve tried to decorate, but I did try last year- look.” She strains to her right to grab the object that always manages to mystify him and she starts to scroll through the little frozen pictures on her device before holding some up to him. “I got this really stupid fake tiny tree and I put all those little things on it, got some tinsel and hung it up around the doors and windows.” He peers down at the small room she’d once called home- bright metallic garlands trimming the entryways with twinkling lights adorning the small tree that sits on a table in the center of it. His lips tick up at the corners as he sees her in the next photo, bright red painted lips and golden eyelids, some terribly gaudy red and green jumper covering her chest.

“Beautiful, and loud. As always,” She rolls her eyes at his attempt to poke fun, leaning down more fully onto his right elbow as she tucks herself closer to him.

“I wanted to get a big one this time… really show you guys what it looks like, though I’m not sure what the hell I’d do about the bulbs, or lights, or star on top…” She smiles up at him and he feels his chest twinge with guilt. Of course she’d gone and gotten herself sick somehow…

“There’s… always next year,” He says around the strange doubt in his mind. It’s nothing but disbelief- disbelief that she’s with him at all. That she keeps telling him she loves him. That she keeps promising they’ll defeat the brain and get rid of Orin and Gortash and be able to breathe once it’s all over… together. Sometimes the incredulity of it all still catches him off guard.

“You’re such a big softie, really,” He huffs a laugh, reaching down to pinch one of her cheeks before pressing a terse kiss to the crown of her head.

“And the mistletoe, gods, can’t forget the mistletoe!” She groans, pressing a hand over her eyes as she collapses into the pillows.

“Mistletoe?” He questions. She sighs, spreading her fingers enough so that one eye peeps up at him.

“It’s silly, but you hang it up over a doorway- it’s got these spiky green leaves and cute red berries on it- and if you pass under it with someone else you have to kiss. It’s just the rules,” He smiles, lost amid her explanation though enamored by the wonder in her voice as she speaks. “I've never been kissed under the mistletoe, you know…”

“Hmm, you haven't? Seems we'll have to change that in the future.” She giggles under the kiss he presses to her forehead, careful and full of promise. When he stands he strokes her cheek once more before adjusting the blankets.

“Get some rest, I’ll bring back some soup in a little while.” He whispers, taking her device from her to set back onto the nightstand. She pouts up at him, curiosity in her gaze, and he finishes tucking her in. “I’ll be back, promise,”

Once out in the main room, he finds the rest of his travelling companions speaking in hushed voices around the fireplace, Scratch pacing near Astarion’s feet. The dog quickly ducks in before Astarion gets the door shut, and he smirks knowing Ofelia will at least have some company before he returns to bed. Nearly every morning that mutt’s laying between them or with half his body draped over her legs. She doesn’t seem to mind, and he’s starting to grow accustomed to the beast as well, much to his disdain…

“Vampire- what are we doing about this Christmas?” Lae’zel demands as soon as he’s within a few feet of them. He simpers and sits on a lush ottoman, draping one leg over the other as he accepts a glass of wine from Gale.

“Gods, Lae’zel. We’ve only been travelling together for the last few months, I’d expect you’d have remembered my name by now.” His sly remark is met with the githyanki’s signature Tchk! before Shadowheart grins.

“Now, now, try to get along you two. Your mediator isn’t here,” The half-elf snickers, and Astarion sighs, waving a hand towards the others.

“So, what were you all murmuring about before I came out here? I’m assuming it has something to do with dear Lae’zel’s questioning?” He takes a sip of the wine- an expensive sort that flows easily down his throat- and casts his eyes amongst the others as he watches them exchange nods.

“We want to put it on anyway,” Gale explains, the dark liquor in his glass catching the light of the fire. “She spoke so fondly of it this morning, and to get sick now… it isn’t fair.” Astarion hums, pondering the silence that settles over them once Gale is finished.

He’d been of a similar mind as she’d shown him her pictures- it’d be no easy task to find a tree, especially with them being in the heart of the Gate. Then there was the tinsel he’d seen… they’d perhaps be able to find something like that in the city, the baubles…

“My, my, it’s odd being amongst you all once you actually experience an intelligent thought.” Their murmurs of disbelief and annoyance fuel the smirk that spreads over his lips as he waves a hand “I’ve been snooping through her photos and I’ve got some references we can likely use, though wrestling her away from the damn thing will be a feat in and of itself.” Astarion grumbles around another swig.

“Leave that to me,” Shadowheart assures, clapping her hands together once. “I’ll run her a bath in the morning and make sure she stays in it for a few hours. To ‘leech the toxins’ so to speak. It isn’t as if she’s well versed to our healing methods to know I’m making it up,” Astarion nods, pondering, as the others chime in.

“The tree… we won’t be able to sneak that into the city,” Wyll laments, forefinger stroking over the fine hairs on his face.

“If you were able to secure a sapling, I’m sure I’d be able to encourage it to grow quickly enough.” Halsin adds, earning a nod from the Blade.

“I’ll help with that as well,” Jaheira offers, smile on her softly lined face.

“What about the decorations?” Minthara asks, frowning.

“We’ll figure something out- I’m sure there are plenty of merchants with trinkets and baubles around- Sundries may also have something. We should ask Rolan and his siblings, as well. I seem to remember that Lia had some dolls and things made for the children once they got to the city.” Astarion nods at Gale’s words, contemplating.

“And do not forget gifts for her,” Astarion murmurs crossly, eyes flashing around the room. “At least have the common sense to wrap them first,”

“Course not,” Karlach grins a wide, toothy smile, the likes of which sets his teeth on edge. He'll never let on that it does somewhat please him, however. “We'll get gifts for Ofelia and each other!”

They scatter to their personal rooms or beds, plan worked out in the dim candlelight and hearth as if they’re a secret society. He crawls into bed with his lover, her’s and Scratch’s soft snores filling the room much to his amusement. He checks her temperature, sigh soft on his lips as he rests back against the pillows when he finds it unchanged.

As he lays in bed, his mind spins with the possibilities of all the gifts he could possibly get her- if it were up to him, he’d likely not get one at all. Perhaps steal something.

Images of her adorned with pretty scarlet jewels and glistening pearls flood his vision, though something about jewelry feels almost cold and distant- too obvious a choice. Or possibly even too meaningful, something he isn’t ready for…

No… despite her expect-nothing nature, he’d like to at least try to make this sentimental and meaningful. It could be their last celebration, after all, and gods does he care for her too much not to indulge this simple, saccharine wish. He’ll need to put in the effort- just as she puts in the effort to make him feel cared for each day. He wouldn’t be where he is now without her… without her kindness. It’s a blessing he tries not to take for granted, though he does slip up from time to time. He cannot make that mistake now.

He rises from the bed, trancing left for later, as he pulls some items out of his pack and retrieves a tool kit from the main stock supplies. He’s not sure if he’ll be any good at this, but he doesn’t trust someone else to do the job.

***

“I feel better this morning, I swear…” Ofelia grumbles as Astarion kisses her awake. For the umpteenth time, she thanks the gods that he can’t catch her cold. It’s nice to indulge in a tender kiss first thing, though she’s sure she looks positively awful. Pale skin, scarlet cheeks, sweaty and clammy. She huffs a laugh and pushes him away, making to sit up and use the restroom, but her vision tilts and she stays seated, clutching her head.

“You feel better, hmm?” He trills softly, last syllable enunciated with a haughty laugh. Smug bastard.

“I swear, if I didn’t know better I’d say you’re actually enjoying this.” He stands above her, back of his hand pressing against her forehead, and she lets out a soft moan at the relief. The heat behind her eyelids slowly recedes beneath his touch, and she clutches his hand to hold it still as he hums quietly.

“Well, you do push yourself far too much, darling. Though your pain is something I do not take pleasure in, under these circumstances at least,” She rolls her eyes at the smirk over his lips, longing curling low in her belly in spite of the state of her body.

“Yeah well, you and me both.” She sighs, kissing the back of his hand, and he stoops down to place one of his over her forehead.

“I have some errands to run with Gale of all people- Shadowheart volunteered to stay with you, said she would like to try some kind of healing bath? Silly in my opinion, but who am I to question a cleric’s healing skills?” She groans, lying back on the mattress to stare at the ceiling. She’d really wanted to see if she could convince them to let her go out and find decorations, at least put them up… but it’s not looking probable. That and she’d lied about feeling better to worm her way out of staying in today.

“Ughhhhh,” Her long drawn out groan pulls a light chuckle from the elf and she reaches up to pull him down, knee between her thighs on the spare bit of mattress available, hands at either side of her head. She wraps her arms around his torso and clings to him, trying to absorb as much of him as possible before he leaves for the day.

“I’ll be back later, just relax and enjoy your bath. Maybe there'll be a reward in it for you,” She sighs into his neck, pressing a hot kiss to his skin fueled by the promise of his words, and she smiles when his muscles stiffen. “Patience, dear,” He murmurs as he pulls away and she squeezes him one last time before letting go. There’s a knock at their door and Shadowheart appears, arms laden with towels and supplies. Ofelia smiles forlornly at her, her own far too empty in Astarion’s absence.

She doesn’t notice as she’s ushered into the washroom Astarion’s quick swipe of her phone off the nightstand, or his soft smile in her direction. She doesn’t see that smile widen into a pleased grin as his fingers snake around the gift in his pocket, clutching it with a light squeeze.

***

“Do you think she’ll like it in the morning?” Gale asks Astarion softly, the fruits of their labor casting the main room in a festive glow. Somehow, he’d been able to obtain a lighting spell scroll- something Rolan had insisted upon them not paying for once he’d heard it was for Ofelia’s benefit. Astarion had rolled his eyes- that tiefling wizard ever hopelessly infatuated despite Ofelia’s vehement denial- and they’d stopped for some books as Gale’s gift to her before Astarion had found something for the man as well. His eyes also caught on a crystal carved into the shape of a crescent moon for Shadowheart, and upon realizing his gaze was tracking items for his companions, promptly huffed in annoyance. He’d grabbed the item anyway.

“I think a twig in the corner with lights on it would send her into a fit, but this is much better.” Astarion sighs, thanking the help from the Midwinter celebrations going on around the city for the garlands of pine and the berries that now hang in the frame of every doorway. It’s not as gaudy or brightly colored as the decorations in her apartment from the photos he’d shown them all this morning, but it’ll do. Even he’s feeling a bit of wonder gazing at the lovely spruce the two druids in their group had spent nurturing, as well as cladding in brightly colored glass sphere’s Karlach procured from a friend she’d known before she’d been cast into Avernus.

Presents wrapped in paper of varying colors sit beneath the full branches, a blanket protecting them from the cold floor as Scratch paws restlessly at a long, stick shaped present wrapped in blue paper with his name penned gracefully across its front. Astarion smirks- she’ll get a kick out of that one.

“Great job, Fangs. I almost forget you don’t have a functioning heart sometimes.” Karlach’s teary voice scrapes against his nerves and he sneers, shrugging his shoulders.

“Don’t go spreading that around,” They poke fun at him some more, and thankfully he’s saved by Minthara’s short temper as she demands they all get to bed. It’s almost midnight and she’s not missing a stop from the old geezer- much to his amusement. He just barely manages to duck into his room before they dissolve into a debate about whether or not she’d paid attention to Ofelia’s story, shutting it with a soft click as he stalks over to the bed, shedding clothes on the way.

He hears even breathing- her airways finally starting to clear- and just as he slips beneath the sheets he nearly yelps.

“Hiding from me all day- what, I’m sick and you’re out there looking for a replacement after I wither away?” Her tone is playful and he smirks, admiring the color returning to her cheeks and the brightness of her eyes beneath the light of the full moon. Beneath him.

“Hmm, yes, I was shopping for a new lover today. Pity they all didn’t seem to match your prowess at being irritating. And none of them had these- seems I’m doomed to solitude.” His hands cup her breasts, separated from him by the thin layer of her cotton shirt, and she rolls her eyes and pouts.

“All you’d miss are my tits and my attitude. Rude,” A smile at the corner of her lips betrays her and he grins, fangy and wide, before claiming that smile with a kiss. “Missed you…” She hums, arms winding around his waist, and he matches the sound with sincerity, finding that his day while busy was severely lacking her presence. A travesty, indeed.

“Your fever’s gone,” He mumbles, enjoying the taste of her mouth and the way her hips slightly buck into his own, the hands still firmly anchored to her chest kneading softly. She sighs, baring her throat, and it’s all he can do to not sink his teeth in. Just a bit more recovery, and he’ll indulge in her blood again. He’s holding over with animals in the meantime.

“Mmm, whatever was in that bath made me feel a lot better. And whatever the hell concoction Jaheira made me drink earlier, too- tasted awful but I think it helped.” Her eyes find him and he brushes the hair from her face, slowly sinking onto his side and off of her.

“Good, perhaps we can get back on schedule tomorrow since you’ll be done lazing about.” She scowls and smacks his arm away before yanking the sheets up beneath her chin.

“And I was going to offer you my mouth- jerk.”

“I’ll still take it.”

“Haha. Goodnight.” He smirks and presses a kiss to her lips before lying back, eyes tracking over the beams on the ceiling as she snuggles up close and rests her head over his bicep.

“Goodnight, love.” He whispers, heart tethered to the small gift he intends to give her tomorrow, hope brimming at the fringes of his mind as he pictures her opening it.

***

“Astarion! It’s snowing look, look, wake up!” He does with a start as her hands shake his shoulders, startled out of the trance and back into the real world. For once, his reverie was clouded in visions of her and not nightmarish memories, and as he opens his eyes he yawns.

“It’s been snowing the last couple of days,” He murmurs, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he rises and lets her drag him to the window.

“Yeah, but this one’s stuck,” Her grin is nearly contagious and he fights back the compulsion to instead press his cold nose to the back of her neck as he pulls her into his arms, hands resting over her belly.

“It’s cold, white, a pain to deal with… I’m not sure what you’re so excited about.” He mouths lazily at her pulse point, delighted as her heart beat speeds up, and she laughs.

“You realize you’ve just described yourself, right?” His lips idle over her skin and with an annoyed sigh he bites enough to leave the impression of his teeth but not pierce, earning a satisfying gasp of surprise from her.

“Get dressed, I think you can leave quarantine for breakfast, today,” He knows the plan- pretends that the routine is back to normal. She slips from his arms and goes to her pile of clothing- gods, is she messy- and pulls out some comfortable pants and flashes him a look.

“Get out, I’m going to change.” She demands and he scoffs.

“I’ve seen you naked more times than I can remember, why can’t I stay?” He plays the part of mock dissatisfaction, though he’s silently pleased. It’ll give him an opportunity to check and make sure the dullards outside are ready.

“Just- out!” He huffs, pulling on a pair of pants before making for the door. His tadpole seeks Gale’s, and upon confirming that they’re aware it’s just Astarion exiting the room, he slips out and closes the door behind him.

“She almost ready?” Wyll whispers, tweaking some of the garlands over the mantle as Lae’zel places little rocks in each sock. She’d been far too amused at the prospect of coal for naughty behavior, and had been adamant that none of them deserved candy and would all get a piece each to keep them in perspective. He has to admit, it is a little amusing.

“Getting dressed- should be any moment-” Just as the word leaves his mouth, the door behind him opens and he steps to the side with his heart in his throat.

She’s completely silent, hair brushed into soft waves laying down her back, proper attire donning her body save for the slippers on her feet, and they all hold their breath as her gaze sweeps over the room.

“Hu-huh…?” She mumbles, breath catching, and he watches intently as moisture begins to bead in the corners of her eyes. They all exchange glances, frozen in anticipation, before her hands cover her mouth and she starts to sob. “You guys? Are you serious?”

“Merry Christmas!” Most of them chant- Astarion forgets, Minthara’s nose is buried in a fragrant chardonnay but she tilts the glass in acknowledgement- and they all rush her before he has a chance to dodge them. He’s swept up in Karlach’s large wingspan as she tucks them together and squeezes until white blotches dot his vision, yet the delight from Ofelia keeps him from complaining too loudly about it. Mostly.

She turns to him between embraces, eyes round and soft, and his chest goes tight as he offers her a smile reserved for no other but her. It’s sweet when she returns it- steals the breath he doesn’t need from his lungs, and when she goes to pull him in she clings to him and whispers little reverent ‘I love you’s into his ear as if he’d hung the moon itself. Pride and affection blooms within, and he presses kisses to the side of her head where the others can’t see, though he wouldn’t mind if they did. He’s long past the notion of hiding his feelings for her. From himself or otherwise.

They push her into the best seat- one the others usually fight over- and Karlach excitedly pulls gifts from the pile to start passing around. Astarion’s gift to her is tucked behind the tree and hidden- saving the best for last. Hopefully. No, he’s confident.

Ofelia laughs at the coal in the sock, munches on fudge from the bakery near the entrance to the upper city, enjoys the books Gale’s gifted her and the plush dog that Lia had sewn and stuffed. She remarks about the lights, face brighter than he’s ever seen it, and forces Minthara into a tight hug and kiss on her plum cheeks as Ofelia clutches the necklace adorned with a single ruby charm and spider etched into its stone. The drow protests and growls in annoyance, but it’s all really just for show. Once turned away, she smiles into her cup and quickly clears her throat afterward.

They all offer her small trinkets or treats, and he’s content to just sit and watch, but he’s swept up by the spirit of it all as he opens small packages with his name on it. A silver pocket watch from Shadowheart, a silken kerchief from Wyll, a new scabbard for his dagger in dark leather from Lae’zel. He’d not expected anything, even vehemently enunciated that this is for her, not him, but despite his claims it seems no one listened to him. What else is new?

“That’s it!” Karlach proclaims from beside the tree, tossing candy and pastries in her mouth by the fistful as the others sip on warm beverages or partake in alcohol around the heat of the fire. His eyes go to the frosted window, the entire city covered in a blanket of white. He decides, for the first time, that it looks much better this way.

“You didn’t get anything for Ofelia?” Gale asks, and Astarion’s hackles raise as he feels the ire rise and claim the atmosphere.

“I saved the best for last,” He stands with a flourish, calming the mood before his head ends up on a pike. “Besides, who went to all this trouble?”

“Don’t take all the credit!” Shadowheart snaps and he smiles as he turns his back to them, going behind the tree to pluck his gift from beneath an alcove in the wall. His eyes linger over shiny red paper- this, at least, he'd stolen. For a moment, he hesitates. His fingers wrap around it, her name glaring back, and he wonders if this will be good enough. He'd seen everyone's carefully thought out gifts, hells, had even managed to hit the nail on its head a few times for the others. But Ofelia? She's the one he needs to get right. Above all else, he can't fail.

He steels himself and turns, each step towards her smiling face making him question the object in his outstretched hand, and when she takes it he stands stiff and still- making no move to breathe or blink or talk. She gingerly unwraps it at the seams, her pulse racing in his ears as she continues to pry back the paper, and he watches her stop as a soft breath vacates her lungs.

“Star…” It feels as if a century passes before his eyes when she finally speaks, pulling the dagger from the paper to hold up and admire. The metal flashes, light glancing off the engraving near the hilt- one she speaks in hushed tones as if in prayer.

“Nin anor,” Her lips shape around the elegant script as if she's painting it in the air, and once it's hanging around them he knows it's right. Knows it's right in the way she looks at him, in the way the sun, through a break in the clouds, casts a golden glow around her. It breaks on her skin and sinks in, frames her like it did that day in the sand, that day he'd first tasted freedom. The first day he'd met her and had heard her heart quicken beneath the sharp edge of his blade- the blade she now cradles in her hands.

Purpose, like a compulsion, stole his mind the moment chisel met steel. Illuminated by candles, he'd carved in elvish the words he's said to her over and over, again and again. Against her lips as he makes love to her, into the crown of her head as he pulls her into an embrace. Softly, against her forearm as she returned to herself enough to let go of his neck and fight the urge…

“My sun…” He breathes back, and she's out of the chair faster than he can blink. With a laugh that's no more than a huff, he wraps his arms around her and squeezes back, smiles as she laughs and sniffles and sighs.

“I love you,” It's quiet against his ear, and a barely perceptible shiver trembles through his limbs in reply. He'd been worried for nothing, and that's cemented further when she pulls back and the grin on her face renders him speechless.

“A knife? You got her a knife?” Karlach asks, bewildered, and the tension in his limbs falls away when Ofelia looks at him and laughs. This time, he doesn't fight the impulse to join her and it's freeing and juvenile, but worth the joy it brings.

***

“It's the one he threatened me with when we first met,” Ofelia smiles as she finishes off her plate of roast meats, fresh greens and potatoes. She pushes it towards the center of the table, leaning back in the chair as she admires the way the fire looks as it dances in his crimson eyes. He's beautiful, and her heart slams into her ribs like it's trying to break free- that look he gives her never failing to stir an ache in her chest that feels like it consumes just as much as it grows.

“Hmmm… and how is that romantic?” Gale asks around the cookie in his mouth. Ofelia chuckles at his muffled words, about to speak when Minthara beats her to it.

“Is it not provocative to feel the sting of your lover's blade against your skin? The dance between pleasure and pain, the testament of your trust in them not to supply too much pressure lest they end your life?” Gale swallows thickly, stiffening when the drow places her hand on his arm. “If you do not understand, I will show you tonight, wizard.”

Their group laughs, partaking in drinks that almost remind Ofelia of home. Something that tastes like hot chocolate fills her belly as Astarion holds her close, swaying softly to the music that pours from Ofelia's speaker- an old favorite.

“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow,” She murmurs against his shoulder, echoing the melody as he squeezes her hips.

“You liked your gift?” His voice is quiet- almost shy. Her arms circle him tighter, letting him guide her through the room as their companions slowly start to filter off to bed. The entire day had been like a dream- a perfect, beautiful reprieve from pain or worry. Something rare and sweet- sorely missed in the years since and filling the empty hole in her heart with so much that it almost hurts to contain. Family. Love.

“I'll cherish it forever, Star,” She smiles, pulling away to stroke her fingers over his cheek. It's cool beneath them, and his smile is relaxed as it spreads over his face. She bumps the door frame to their room with a soft laugh and his gaze lifts up above her head, causing her to redirect hers and stop almost disbelievingly over green leaves and white berries.

“There weren't any red,” He hums softly, but her throat is dry and her ears are filled with cotton when she looks back at him. Moonlight turns his hair to silver and his skin to marble, and as she looks at him and watches him lean closer, she's not sure if she'll ever deserve the affection he now presses to her lips.

Hands tangle in her long hair, chest to chest, the taste of wine on his tongue- her stomach clenches in fear of the future, of losing it all, of making a mistake or failing to free them from the brain. All of it looms like a dark cloud, trying to swallow her whole, but then he's pushing them into the room, shutting their door and latching it. He's driving her back, legs folding until she's forced to collapse onto the mattress, heat pooling in her belly low and needy when he goes to push her sweater up over her head.

“I feel bad I didn't get anyone else a gift,” She whispers and he snorts, discarding his shirt onto the floor as he starts to untie the shirt barring him from further access.

“Anyone else? What did you get me?” She laughs when he stops, frozen at the sight beneath her clothes.

“I got these a few days ago… was going to at least do this since I couldn't get presents or decorate.” His irises narrow into thin lines between the enlarging of his pupils, gaze dragging down her form as he tugs her pants down and off. Ribbons and lace, scarlet and black, cradle her breasts and expose the underside of them while big red bows conceal her nipples. Her underwear leaves nothing to the imagination, either, and his lips part around a raw hum of appreciation when he discovers with his eyes the way the fabric conveniently vanishes beneath the waistband.

“Gods…” It's brittle and needy and she smiles wickedly when his clothes fall to the floor.

“Unwrap me?” She whispers.

“Yes,” He breathes.

She laughs as his fingers find give on the bows and he pulls them apart, mouth chasing his touch as he pushes her thighs back and sinks inside. She sobs his name as he sets a feverish pace, mind nothing but foggy desire and heady affection. Affection for him, for this, for them. She clings to him like her life depends on it, canting her hips in time with his, every sensation as intense and lovely like she's experiencing it for the first time.

She leans in and kisses his ear, revels in the shivers that shake through his body when she tightens her grip. They're teetering over the edge, now- drawing to a close. But even so, she knows it won't be the end. Not when she's right where she's supposed to be.

Like the phantoms of quivering tree limbs, the warmth of the sand beneath her body, the flash of a blade while rubies danced in her vision she feels him. Feels him in every pore, every beat of her heart as he meets her eyes and opens his mouth to speak. Soft and full of promises they never knew were made that day on the beach.

“Nin anor,”

#merry xmas!!!#bg3 #astarion fluff #astarion fanfic #bg3 christmas #christmas fic

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morgana-larkin · 10 months ago

Text

Got a prompt messaged to me by someone who wants to remain anonymous. The prompt is: Melissa likes reader or OC that looks like Jodie. And the woman in the picture with Jodie is the reader/OCs best friend. Melissa thinks the brunette is dating reader/oc but they aren’t dating.

I had a lot of fun writing this, I’ll be honest. Also I would have had this up yesterday but audition season is here and I’ve been really busy going to those. I left this on a steamy cliffhanger, I might make a part 2. I’ll post the picture it’s referencing at the end of the fic in case you want to see it for reference. Anyways, as always not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: After I’m finished with all the prompts I currently have, I’m thinking of writing Marilyn and reader (redheads are my biggest weakness… I regret nothing)

Part 2

Blood As Green As Her Eyes

Warnings: Jealous Mel, references to smut, small not very detailed unfinished smut scene, good luck! 😉 😈

Words: 4.4k

Melissa walks into the break room and looks over to try and find you and sees you near the couch but you’re talking to someone she’s never met before. She walks a little further in and gets the tail end of the conversation.

“Alright see ya later beautiful.” You tell her.

“Right back at ya sweets.” The woman says and then leaves.

You see Melissa is there now and you go to her and sit at the table with her and Barb.

“Hello ladies.” You tell them and Barb smiles at you and Melissa glares at you.

“Who was that woman you were talking to?” She asks.

“Nicole? Oh she’s my best friend!” You say as you straighten your posture. “We’ve known each other for years. We met in high school and it was like instant connection.” You tell them excitedly.

Melissa doesn’t buy it though. With the way you talked to her and about her, it was obvious to Melissa that you’re dating her. Melissa ignores the sick feeling in her stomach.

The next morning you walk in the break room and your blonde hair is wet from the rain.

“Did you forget an umbrella hun?” Melissa asks you and you nod with a pout.

You go to sit down but then Nicole rushes in and you turn around.

“Hey you forgot your lunch on the way out. I gotta get to work but just wanted to drop it off quickly for you.” She tells you and hands you your lunch.

“Oh thanks love.” You tell her and Melissa scrunches her eyebrows. She knows you’re British, you have the accent and you told her, but the nickname threw her off.

“No problem sweets.” Nicole says and gives a quick kiss to your cheek then leaves. Melissa glares at Nicole the entire time. She clenches and unclenches her fists a few times to calm down. You put your lunch in the fridge then sit down at the table.

“Maybe I should go to the bathroom quickly and use the blow dryer to dry my hair.” You say with a chuckle and Barb laughs with you. Melissa just gives you a forced smile and you give her a confused look.

Melissa is bringing her kids to gym class that you teach. You see her and her class and you put your phone away instantly and give them a smile.

“Hey kiddos! Go on and get changed!” You tell them with a smile and they all run to the change room. You see Melissa still hanging around. “Hey, aren’t you gonna use the break to relax or whatever you do during this period?” You tell her curiously.

“No, I think I’m gonna hang around this time. Watch why they’re always so excited about gym class.” She tells you with a smile and you blush a bit.

“Alright! That’s not a problem at all! I would love for you to stay actually.” You tell her and the smallest blush makes its way to her cheeks.

“What were you doing on your phone btw? You put it away rather quickly. Are you sexting or something?” She jokes with you and you giggle.

“No! I was just texting Nicole something but it’s not as important as gym class.” You tell her and her blood boils a bit at the mention of her name. The kids start coming in with their gym clothes on and you turn to face them. “Alright guys! Today we’re playing dodgeball!” You tell them with a one clap of your hands and they all cheer. “And before we split up into teams, remember, no aiming at anyone’s face. And I’m looking at you Niyah.” You say and the girl just shrugs. Melissa goes to sit on the edge of the stage with her legs dangling off.

She watched as you picked 2 team leaders who then chooses their team. You then blow the whistle when they’re all ready with the balls in the middle of the gym. And then they all run to the middle to get a ball. You walk onto the stage and sit beside her and watch everyone. At some point, a ball comes directly at Melissa and you catch it then hand it to whoever is near you guys. You two end up talking while you still keep an eye on the kids.

And then Niyah throws a ball and hits a kid in the face and they fall. You immediately jump down and blow your whistle. “FREEZE!!!” You tell them and they all immediately stop and you run to the kid that was hit. “Niyah, we talked about this.” You tell her and she just shrugs again. You help the kid that fell to get up and make sure they’re alright. “Are you ok sweetie?” You ask very soothingly to him. He nods but looks upset. “Do you want to come sit with me and Ms Schemmenti on the stage for a bit?” You ask him and he nods again. You guide him to the stage and once he climbs up, you blow your whistle, signalling for the kids to continue the game. The boy ends up sitting in between you and Melissa and you look at his face again. “You have a small bruise forming but other than that, I don’t think there’s anything else.” You tell him and he seems upset that he got hit. “You know you’re very strong.” You tell him and he looks up at you. “You got hit in the face, fell down and you still got up.” You tell him with a smile. “That’s the mark of a strong person.” You continue and he smiles at you when you tell him that.

Melissa looks at you and sees how you are with the kids and can’t help but think of how beautiful you are, inside and out. 5 minutes later the boy asks if he can rejoin the game again and you nod at him. “Of course, you can rejoin whenever you want.” You tell him and he jumps off and runs back to the game.

You and Melissa continue talking and you notice how her hand is subtly touching your hip and you blush. The power this woman holds on you with just a touch.

In the morning the next day Melissa is on her phone scrolling through instagram. She’s mindlessly doing it until she comes across one of you and Nicole sitting together on a couch and you both have big smiles. Melissa freezes and stares at it and unconsciously grips the phone tightly.

“Melissa, are you ok?” Barb says and gently puts a hand on her upper arm for comfort.

“What? Oh, fine.” Melissa says and you walk into the room then and she smiles, then that smile immediately drops when she sees Nicole following you. “Actually I gotta go.” Melissa then says and grabs her stuff then stands up.

“Morning Melissa! Oh are you going somewhere? We were gonna join you.” You say innocently and with a big smile.

Barb sees how Melissa grips her pen so tight that her knuckles are turning white, while you are none the wiser.

“I’ve just got some stuff to do before school starts. I’ll see you later Barb.” She says with a frown and then walks out of there.

“Is she ok?” You ask Barb and she just looks at you confused as well. Then she replays in her head what happened. Melissa was scrolling on her phone through instagram and obviously saw something she didn’t like, then you came in and she smiled, and then it dropped. Why?

“Did you post something on instagram lately?” Barb asks and you nod. You showed her the picture you posted an hour ago that you took yesterday afternoon, then suddenly the pieces fall into place for Barb. Melissa likes you and she’s jealous of Nicole. Barb has to do some digging, cause while she doesn’t think you and Nicole are dating, Melissa might, and Barb has to be certain before she talks to Melissa. “Just out of curiosity dear, are you and Nicole going out? I mean like are you dating?” She asks and you shake your head.

“Me and Nicole?” You say while pointing towards you both, even Nicole is confused by the question.

“Why would you think that me and y/n are dating? I mean not that there’s anything wrong with y/n, it’s just, she’s not my type. Gender wise.” Nicole says.

“I mean ya I guess we can come across as a bit flirty but we’re just comfortable with each other.” You say with a smile. “Besides she’s not my type either, personality and looks wise.” You say and Nicole nods.

“Ya y/n is a great friend but would be a terrible partner for me.” Nicole says and all 3 of you laugh.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is your type dear.” Barb asks you and you have to think about that. You know your type, and it’s Melissa, you have a crush on her and the only person who knows about your crush is Nicole and she’s been pushing you to get closer to her and ask her out. You want to tell Barb but she’s Melissa’s best friend, and while you know Barb won’t tell her if you tell her not too, it’d still be awkward if she knew. So you have to say your type without letting on that it describes Melissa.

“Well I guess women that have like a lot of spice to their personality, like they’re not plain.” You say with a big smile. “And I guess I do have a soft spot for fiery redheads.” You say a bit cautiously and you see that Barb’s expression hasn’t changed so I guess she hasn’t figured it out yet, so you continue. “And older women, I think they’re hot.” You say and Nicole playfully smacks your shoulder.

“Ya you and those milfs, I swear.” She tells you and you giggle. Barb looks at you two confused.

“What’s a Milf?” She says and you both look at her.

“It stands for Mom I’d Like to Fuck. But it’s also meant to describe older women that you think are hot.” You explain to her and her eyes widen a bit but you think it’s because of the description of Milfs and not of the woman you like.

“Is there anyone that you like right now dear?” She asks you and you nod timidly.

“Ya she does!” Nicole says and you glare at her. “I’m gonna leave now, gotta get to work, see ya sweets.” She tells you and waves at you and Barb goodbye.

“Is it Melissa?” She asks you and you snap your head at her and eyes wide a bit. That was all the answer Barb needed but of course you try to defend yourself.

“What?!? N-no…of course not! Why would you think I like Melissa?” You say, stuttering and stumbling through the entire sentence.

“I’m just wondering dear that’s all. I have something to do before school as well. I’ll see you at lunch dear.” She tells you and you say goodbye to each other.

Barb gets to Melissa’s room in time to see Melissa throw a pen across the room, and she sees no others on the redhead’s desk.

“How many pens have you thrown across the room?” Barb asks her and Melissa whips her head to her.

“I lost count.” She says to her, then goes to collect all of them. She picks up what looks to be about 10 pens and a couple markers and highlighters.

Barb wants to tell Melissa what she knows but thinks that Melissa might brush her off, so she decides to tell her tomorrow after she has time to blow off some steam. Which in retrospect, turns out to be a mistake.

Melissa goes to a gay club after to blow off some steam, and she ends up chatting it up with a girl there and then makes out with her at the club. You end up seeing that, as you also went to the club to try and move on from her since you think Melissa will never have an interest in you. Melissa ends up taking the girl home and you were watching her the entire night, she never saw you though. You really have to move on now. You end up telling Nicole what you saw and she said she can be around with you more in the mornings and after school so when you see the redhead, she can provide comfort for you.

So on the Friday morning, Melissa comes in with a small pep to her step as she had sex with the girl last night and you notice it. Nicole is with you though on the couch, you decided to stop sitting at the table with Melissa and Barb to avoid the redhead. As soon as Melissa walks in, she sees you and Nicole on the couch, and Nicole has an arm wrapped around your shoulders. Melissa gets angry at that and ends up taking it out on Jacob and throws his android at the wall with a “GO BACK TO THE BLUE BUBBLE!” She yells at him and Jacob tries to act like that didn’t faze or scare him.

You look over at Melissa when that happens and she catches your gaze. You two lock eyes for a second then you turn back to Nicole and Melissa stomps out of there. Melissa ends up telling Barb that she went to the gay club last night and hooked up with a girl, and later you end telling Barb that you went to the club as well when she asked what was wrong.

“I went to the gay club last night and being there just didn’t help anything.” You told her and even if you don’t say it, Barb knows you saw Melissa there, and she knows Melissa didn’t see you.

Over the next couple of weeks, Nicole has been coming with you into the break room in the morning or you go to your classroom with her to avoid the redhead, and she meets you after school to avoid Melissa as well.

“Hiya sweets!” She greets you one Friday afternoon and then you end up catching Melissa giving a glare in your direction. You see that it wasn’t directed at you though, it was directed at Nicole and you got confused.

You and Melissa both end up at the club again only it was reversed this time. She sees you there and you don’t see her. She sees you there alone looking upset and Nicole nowhere to be seen. And then she decides to go and talk to you. Before she gets to you however, a girl comes up and starts talking to you before she does. She freezes and sees that the girl is flirting with you and you seem to be liking it. That makes her confused because as far as she knows, you’re dating Nicole and you’re monogamous. She starts to get jealous again and stomps out of there before she starts a fight with either that girl who’s flirting with you or some random person.

On Monday morning she decides to talk to you at lunch. She knows that for some reason you seem to avoid the break room now so she’ll have to go down to your classroom. You at the moment are having a discussion with Nicole before school starts.

“What are you going to do y/n? Cause you can’t avoid Melissa forever and I can’t always come down to support you.” She says and you sigh.

“I know, it’s just hard right now. I mean ever since I saw her take that girl home a few weeks ago. I just keep thinking about it.” You tell Nicole and she nods.

“I keep telling you to talk to her.” Nicole tells you and you sigh.

“You know I won’t. You don’t have to come with me in the mornings anymore you know. I can just hide out in my classroom. I mean there’s what? 16 weeks left until summer break. And then I can spend the summer just getting over her. And then she’ll never even know how I felt cause then it’ll go back to normal next school year.” You say confidently. Melissa sees your door mostly closed and decides to keep walking, knowing that Nicole’s in there too. You hear her heels and you go and look out your door and see her walking to her classroom. You think it’s good that she didn’t stop by your classroom or else she might have heard your confession and you let out a sigh of relief.

“If you just tell her then you’ll know if she likes you or not. I mean what if she likes you back?” Nicole says and you shake your head at her. “Honestly you lesbians are so dramatic.” Nicole teases you and you flip her off. “I love ya too y/n.” She says and then leaves for work.

At lunch Melissa comes to see you after grabbing her lunch from the fridge. She runs into Barb and tells her she’s going to see you and Barb smirks and tells her good luck.

She arrives at your door then Melissa takes a deep breath and knocks on your door. You open it and almost slam the door back in her face but instead you just freeze.

“Hi.” She tells you and leans on the doorframe. She’s so cute you think and then remove those thoughts, not the time to check her out.

“Something you want Melissa?” You ask her as neutral as possible and she’s slightly taken back by this. You usually have a big and bright smile when you greet her.

“I just wanted to know if you were ok? I haven’t seen you as much lately.” She says and you look at her eyes then look away from her eyes as fast as possible.

“I’m fine, just don’t feel like being in the break room.” You tell her.

“Why?”

“That’s personal.” You tell her with a bit of a snap to it.

“Can I come in?” She asks you and you shake your head.

“No.” You tell her flatly.

“Why not?” She asks you confused. “You always were happy to have people around in your classroom to visit you.” She tells you.

“Well I decided that I’m going to avoid people from now on.” You say and go to close your door, but Melissa with quick hands, stops it and pushes it back open and you stumble back from the force a bit. Melissa takes the opportunity and walks in and closes and locks the door. She then turns to look at you with an unimpressed look. “What?” You ask her and she walks towards you, you however began to walk backwards to avoid her and she keeps walking towards you. You then get stopped by your desk and Melissa traps you there and looks at you closely.

“What’s going on with you hun?” She asks and you begin to breathe deeply. You don’t reply and she continues to try and get you to talk. “I saw you at the club on Friday night, flirting with that girl.” She tells you and your eyes go wide then you narrow your eyebrows at her.

“So?” You question her.

“You seem to be enjoying it and playing along. I thought you were dating Nicole.” She tells you and the built up anger that was starting inside you immediately disappears and all that’s left is confusion.

“You think Nicole and I are together?” You tell her and press your lips together to try and suppress a laugh.

Melissa looks confused. “Um ya, I mean it’s kinda obvious. She’s always with you, you guys constantly are talking, she comes in with you to school and picks you up after. You’re constantly flirting and posting pictures of the both of you together.” She says those last 2 with some anger and you quirk an eyebrow at her.

“Melissa, her and I are just friends. We may sometimes seem flirty but it’s innocent. She’s straight and she’s not my type.” You say and Melissa leans back, immediately releasing you and you get out from her entrapment. “Melissa what is all this about? You’re acting distant lately.” You say and she looks at your desk and has her fingers on it.

“I don’t like seeing you two together.” Is all she says.

“Why?”

“Because I thought you were together.” She says plainly and then it all hits you at once. The way she leaves when she sees Nicole with you, the glares she sends at Nicole, the way she ignores you both when you go to talk to her, the way her personality changes as soon as Nicole is in the room. Melissa is jealous.

“Is it because you don’t have a partner? Because it can be so easy for you to find one. I mean you found someone to hook up with a few weeks ago.” You tell her and her eyes widen.

“You were at the bar that night?” She asks and you nod.

“I saw you make out with her and then take her home with you.” You say disappointedly.

Melissa pieces it all together right then and there and smirks. She stalks towards you and traps you against the wall on the side where your doors are.

“Did you get jealous by that?” She asks you and you shake your head.

“What?!? Me? Jealous of you with another girl? Why would I get jealous of that?” You say and your voice gets high in pitch and she grins. You gulp as she gives you a look that she doesn’t believe you.

“I think you are jealous by that.” She tells you and lowers the pitch of her voice. “Tell me, did you want it to be you that I took home that night?” She asks and you look at her with a huge blush and you can’t find it in you to lie to her, so you nod. “Well do you want to know what I was thinking when that girl flirted with you?” She asks and you nod again. “I thought that I wish it was me flirting with you instead of that girl. She is just a girl who probably doesn’t know how to properly satisfy another girl yet.” She tells you and then leans in to your ear. “I’m much more experienced and know how to satisfy a girl all night.” She whispers in your ear and you shiver. “Ugh I was so jealous when I thought you and Nicole were together, I was mad. And then you started avoiding me and she was over every day and I wasn’t able to keep taking it. I went to that club every night and kept sleeping with girls to get my mind off of you and blow off some steam.” She tells you and you look at her surprised.

“You’ve been sleeping with a bunch of girls?” You ask her shyly and she nods.

“And either they weren’t experienced or maybe it’s because they weren’t you, I don’t know which one but it wasn’t any good.” She says and you look at how close she is.

“Can you let me go?” You ask her and she shakes her head.

“Do you know how much time I’ve spent picturing you in my bed, underneath me or up against my wall at my house. How many times I’ve spend fantasising about you when I’m touching myself?” She asks and you shake your head. “I mean fuck y/n, you drive me crazy.” She tells you and you’re a blushing mess right now but find enough strength in you to speak.

“I… I fantasise about you too.” You tell her and she smirks at you.

“Really?” She asks and you nod. “What do you fantasise about?” She whispers near your ear and you gulp.

“I-I picture you on top of me, domi…dominating m-me.” You start and you’re very nervous, but her smirk makes you continue. “And I imagine what it would be like to feel you inside of me and making me beg to let me come.” And while you speak, she drives her knee closer and closer to your core. Until she hits it and you squeak and buck your hips.

“Keep going.” She tells you while grabbing your hips and you gulp again before continuing.

“I thought about…about what your breasts would look like and-” you get cut off by you gasping as she moves your hips forward, making you grind against her thigh. “I thought- I thought about what your lips would feel like on mine and all over me.” You continue with difficulty and eventually you don’t need her hands guiding you as you’re turned on enough and you continue grinding her thigh on your own. She removes her hands from you and places them beside your head and then places her lips on your neck and starts kissing and sucking. She then tells you to continue. “Omg, Mel-Melissa.” You say a bit loud and she has to cover your mouth with her hand.

“I guess you can’t continue, since you’re loud.” She says against your neck. You’re close to coming about a minute later and she pulls away and you whip your head at her in shock.

“What? Why’d you stop? I was so close.” You say and she smirks.

“Oh I know. But I want to see your whole body and be inside you while you come underneath me.” She says seductively. “I want to take out all my jealousy on this pretty body of yours.” She says and bites your ear then pulls back again. “Why don’t you come to my house after school?” She asks and you immediately nod. “Good, now don’t touch yourself during the rest of lunch, I want you begging me for release tonight.” She tells you and you nod her head.

Melissa then grabs her lunchbox and then goes back to the break room. She enters with a grin on her face and the trio looks at her confused, Barb sees the grin but doesn’t comment on it. She just smiles and shakes her head.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

@sexysapphicshopowner

@dvrkhcld

@lilfartbox1

Let me know if you want to be added!

#melissa schemmenti x reader #melissa schemmenti x oc #melissa schemmenti x you #melissa schemmenti #x reader #fanfic

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cursedhaglette · 1 year ago

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Shoutout Sunday

it is so freaking kind of @littlejuicebox and @tallymonster to tag my work in their shoutout posts, so i wanted to add my own recs of fics i am currently wishing I could leave 1000 kudos on.

also fair warning, i'm a long fic girl. give me an OC to be obsessed, someone i can imagine my own hanging out with, and hopefully one that their author is also obsessed with. i wanna feel that through the writing. and with these, you can.

Pieces Left Stuck in Your Teeth by @howlsmovinglibrary / @wetcatspellcaster - i couldn't put this down when i started it, to the point i was reading it in the car when i should have been grocery shopping. i couldn't stop. it is witty always, devastating at times, and this version of Astarion is just terrible and hilarious in all the best ways

Not Your Sweetheart by @kittenintheden - the most natural dialogue I've ever read, and also the most hilarious. kitten also has such a talent for writing every character in a way that has me laughing each time anyone in her fic speaks. unless it hurts, in which case, it's gonna hurt a LOT

I Want to be Better; Let's Make Each Other Worse by @redrook - my frequent writing bud who's ideas outdo my own more often that not, Jack is an absolute genius and their fic shows it with every word written. the strange ox like you've never seen him before, dolphin riding, ceiling sex - you name it, it's in here AND it makes sense

Pour One Out by the absolutely delicious mind of @aevallare - auristarion supremacy for always. we all know kindred but if you aren't also reading Pour One Out you are, unfortunately, a fool

Sonnet of the Lone Cardinal by @brain-rot-central - neech is doing something truly different with this devastating and delicious A!A piece. and for it to be her first long fic??! the talent is insane

Made for This by @olivedrop - Olive's fic brings me so much joy, not just because Olive herself is an absolute delight, but because her writing is so real and the way she captures the companions feels like it was cut dialogue it's so good

now you want some SMUT? OKAY lets talk - take these and call me in the morning

Think of Me by @scaryanneee is the smut fic of all time for me. i've recced this an unhealthy number of times, probably bordering on it being obsessive

inevitable by @aevallare the smut fic i rec the second most because it's just so easy to place myself in the moment alex writes and as always, i love when the tadpole gets thrown in while folks get nasty

Where were you when I was new? by @kittenintheden - just shut the fuck up and read this and you'll get it. also i'll never stop thinking about how kitten writes dialogue in smut because holy cow

Pent Up by @underdark-dreams - this isn't even Astarion I'm sorry. it's Rolan. i don't even know if i like Rolan. BUT I LOVE THIS FIC. it is so fucking good oh my god.

Careless Whisper by @tallymonster - okay i might be biased because Tally offered to mention Halia here and made her the goddamn prima ballerina, but this is also just So Good and such a fun read. modern AUs don't usually work for me, but this one is that charming

and of course, though i doubt you need my rec to know her by now, anything written by miss @fangswbenefits will make your toes curl. and i mean anything.

#astarion fic writers #astarion fic recs #astarion fanfic recs #astarion fic #astarion fanfic recommendations #fanfic recommendation #fanfic rec #bg3 fanfic #hagbabbles #fic recs

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friend-of-giants · 13 days ago

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Sujamma Sundas

Thank you for the tag @theoneandonlysemla! Going to tag @sheirukitriesfandom @juniperberries-canisroot @umbracirrus @vervayyn @snowy-weather let me know if you want me to tag you!

Topic: This week, Sujamma wants to know about YOUR OC's special someone. What makes their relationship special? How did they meet? Were they enemies to lovers? Lovers to enemies? Lovers AND Enemies? Are they romantic or platonic? What's their favorite way to cuddle? Favorite date night? Anything and everything you can think of 💕

Alright, ramble time. As you might know, I pair Wren (my Dragonborn) with Teldryn Sero (who I hc as the Nerevarine), and I will get to their relationship soon. BUT prior to her meeting Teldryn, she was in a serious relationship with Faendal until his death, which happened near the end of the Main Quest... which I may never get around to writing, but it will be touched upon in my main fic which takes place after canon events.

I haven't put much thought into Wren and Faendal's dynamic, mostly because I have no plans to write their life together. But my headcanon is that, like Wren, he has a history as a bandit - namely the poacher camp north of Whiterun. The two of them worked together briefly, Faendal went off to make an honest living at the Riverwood mill, while Wren literally whored it up in Windhelm for a while, did some mercenary work, then found out she was Dragonborn. They met up again as she was on her way to see the Greybeards, he had just been dumped by Camilla for Sven, and they hit it off. I can't go into too much detail because it's spoilers, but he was her first love, and she blames herself for his death, which made it hard for her to open up again.

Roughly half a year after defeating Alduin, Wren traveled to Solstheim to confront Miraak. She got wasted at the Retching Netch, accidentally hired their resident mercenary, then woke up to discover she had an unwanted tagalong. She loathed Teldryn at first, since he underestimated her abilities and doubted her claims as Dragonborn. But later, when Teldryn discovered that she truly was who she claimed to be, he gained immense respect for her. Being an ex-hero himself, he realized how important she was, and vowed that he would remain with her as her bodyguard, basically. That platonic respect grew into friendship, loyalty, and eventually something more.

At the point I am currently at in my fic, they're on the cusp of admitting their feelings to one another. They're ALMOST there. Wren is extremely closed off due to what happened in her past, and to Faendal, but is slowly breaking free of her shell and allowing herself to care for Teldryn. And Tel... he's just disgustingly in love with her and is afraid to admit it. He sees a lot of himself in her, as a fellow hero, and wants her to learn to enjoy her life despite being chewed up and spat out by prophecy.

(The kicker is at this point, he hasn't admitted to her that he's the Nerevarine. To Wren, he's just a merc. She will find out soon enough.)

Cuddles, you ask? Well, they're both dirty old bastards, and many of their cuddle sessions lead to sex. But they can absolutely be soft with one another. Teldryn has Big Protector Mentality and likes to be the big spoon, or invites her to lay on top of him. Wren likes to rest her head against his chest and listen to him breathe, and will often fall asleep like that.

Wren owns Honeyside and she loves her salmon, so for dates, she often suggests fishing or simply hanging out on the lakeshore, swapping old fight stories, and of course, EATING. Wandering the Rift woods and sparring with each other are always fun, too.

#sujamma sundas #wren indoran #teldryn sero #nerevarine teldryn #otp: telwren

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vesleezyon · 6 months ago

Text

the hunter.

—aemond targaryen x original oc

just a snippet from the first chapter of my fic on ao3. literally in its fetal stages im writing the third chapter rn 😭

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

—takes place while Prince Aemond and Princess Viena are eleven, so just innocent fluff here :) plsssss lmk any opinions pleaseeee I wanna switch up the style to be more renaissance-ey but we will see

Preparations for the afternoon's feast are in full swing. The castle is crowded with lords and ladies from all corners of the realms, dressed in their best, smiling and greeting the Princeling as he rushes by them. Aemond gives them cordial nods and curt hello’s but nothing more, making his way to Viena’s room before Rhaenyra could sequester her away.

At last, he sees her. She turns the corner in a soft turquoise dress, adorned with flowers and hummingbirds beaded into the bodice, chiffon draping from her shoulders and skirt. Dainty, heart-shaped diamonds and delicate sapphires hang in her dark curls, pinning her braids into pretty little twists.

She scans the crowd and her eyes are led to him like a moth to flame. “Aemond!” She screams, breaking into a sprint, and he runs to meet her halfway. They throw themselves at each other, bursting into laughter as they nearly fall to the floor. “What’re you doing here?” She asks him, gently pulling away and taking his hand in hers.

“I was looking for you.” He answers plainly.

“Well, I’m not doing anything fun. My mother wants me to go out to the courtyard to listen to the music with my brothers.” She whines, rolling her eyes.

He chuckles. “Since when do you follow orders so easily?” Aemond challenges, but Viena looks over her shoulder and points to the two kingsguard following behind them.

“Since they’ve been babysitting me.” She says, looking back at Aemond. “I can’t do anything on my own anymore. And I used to sneak away sometimes, but I guess they’ve… adapted,” she shrugs, looking up to the lords and ladies as they greet her and Aemond. She gives them that pretty little smile, a polite nod, all the while squeezing on Aemond’s hand.

Aemond felt his heart flutter at her touch. “We’ll find a way.” He whispers, and she scoffs.

“I know we will. Just you wait. I have a surprise for you, remember?” Her eyes sparkled with mischief, and Aemond nods, soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I haven’t forgotten, Princess. I have a surprise for you, too.” He says, watching her face light up with excitement.

“Really? What is it?” She asked eagerly, but he shook his head.

“I can’t tell you. But you’ll get it at dinner. I promise.” Despite her protests, some of the lords caught her attention as they pass and greet her, quickly distracting her.

Oh, Viena. She shone like a star among these nobles, her charming smile and that enchanting spirit making her a cherished little delight, just as her mother was at her age.

Hand in hand, giggling and whispering to one another, Viena led Aemond into the courtyard. The music is loud and lively, Viena skipping her steps in rhythm as they bounce down the steps. The courtyard was a riot with color and sound, the bands playing cheerful melodies as the nobles chatter loudly over each other.

Viena’s laughter is infectious. The expectations to be prim and proper were forgotten in her presence. They spent their day lounging in the shade, playfully pushing and pulling on each other and calling it dance, screaming with laughter while they weave through nobles and play chase. Together, they’re more than Prince and Princess. They’re children.

As the golden hues of the afternoon rolled in, the servants wove through the crowds ringing the dinner bells. Aemond and Viena sit knee to knee, seeking refuge from the summer sun under the leafy embrace of a bushy oak tree. They share a shortcake between them, gossiping and giggling with each other quietly. Despite the crowds of people surrounding them, they felt alone in their own little world.

Their solitude was serene until Jacaerys and little Luke found them, insisting they come in for dinner. Jace pulls her up off the grass and, despite her whining and dragging her feet, coaxes all the children inside.

Still brimming with energy, Viena squeezes Aemond’s hand while chattering all the way. And he listens with a smile and occasional laugh, because despite talking about nothing particularly interesting, he delighted in hearing her voice. To him, she sounds like the morning birds that woke him, with the gentle coo of dragons woven into her tone. She was the sound of home.

Their family waits for them near the entrance to the ballroom. Viserys, already tipsy and wobbling on his feet, beamed with pride as his little grandchildren round the corner. Viena let out a joyous scream, releasing Aemond’s hand and sprinting into Viserys’ arms.

The King let out a hearty chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her. “There’s my devilish little girl,” he says, giving her a warm squeeze before pulling back to look at her. “You look lovely. The little belle of the ball. Did you choose this dress, Rhaenyra? Such exquisite beading-“ He goes on, turning his attention to Rhaenyra.

Aemond, ignoring his mother’s watchful eye, grasps Viena’s hands and guides her into their proper place, front and center. They enter together, sit together, and leave together. It’s assumed that, despite the hardships, they’d spend their lives together as well.

Aemond reaches into the pocket of his tunic and pulls out a small, decorated wooden box. The craftsmanship is simple yet delicate, the shapes of dragons and fires carved into the wood. “I have your surprise,” he whispers, offering her the gift. “Happy early name-day, Princess.” He said with a tender smile.

Viena tilts her head at him and her eyes soften. She releases his hand and takes the box, giggling as she carefully unlatches the top. When she opened it, her giggles halted, replaced with a sharp gasp and a face glowing with delight. “Oh my—Aemond! Where did you get this?!” She screams, pulling the necklace out of the box with a gentle hand. Sapphire teardrops hang from a silver chain, the gems glimmering in the evening lights.

“It was made for you.” He says, trying to maintain a stoic and nonchalant demeanor but failing as a wide grin spreads across his face. Her joy is more contagious than a plague, and she hopped from foot to foot, bubbling with glee. “I made the box myself. You’ve always got all this jewelry scattered around and-”

Before he could finish, Viena tossed herself at him, cutting him off with a burst of laughter. “I love it! The necklace, the box, all of it,” she gushed, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him.

Aemond holds her gently, his heart swelling with pride. He knew she’d adore it. Who knows sweet Viena better than he does, after all? “I’m glad you do.” He murmured.

Viena pulled away from him, a bright smile glowing on her lips as she held the necklace out to him. “Can you help me put it on?” She asks.

His body softens. He nods, “Of course.” He says, taking the necklace from her. She turns and pulls her curls into her hands, careful not to ruin her braids as he gently fastens the chain around her neck. Then, he wraps his hands around her wrists and watches her hair fall down her back, heart shaped diamonds glimmering like stars in the darkness.

Viena touched the necklace with a certain softness that made Aemond’s heart flutter. “Does my hair still look okay?” She asks, looking over her shoulder to meet his soft eyes.

Aemond’s eyes fall back to those curls, the braids, the sapphire pins and heart-shaped diamonds. Doesn’t she realize? “It looks perfect, Vi.” No part of her would ever look any less than flawless in his eyes.

Her smile widens. “Thank you.” She says, turning to face the doors again. “I really do love them.” She tells him, her hand finding its proper place in his again.

She deserves nothing less, Aemond thought, but before he could voice the sentiment, Alicent laid her hands over her son's shoulders. She whispers to the children that it’s time for them to be announced, asks if they’re ready, to which they both eagerly nod.

The lords and ladies of Westeros have found much joy in watching the young royals grow up together. Aemond’s modest and courteous demeanor lent him a certain charm, especially when his cradle-mate who, in her spirited exuberance, flits about like a little bird, stirring delightful disorder wherever she graces.

Together, they’re harmoniously leveled. They’re the sun and moon locked into a celestial dance, the oceans and earth united in a timeless waltz, ice and fire congealing into a magnificent spectacle, one soul reborn and split in time by just one day. The grand doors swing open before them, a respectful hush falling over the dinner guests. The herald’s voice rips through the crowd, announcing their names with a tone of reverence. Prince Aemond Targaryen, and Princess Viena Velaryon.

Even as the names of their esteemed family were proclaimed, all eyes were on them. Viena squeezes his hand, lingering close to him. The whispers around them fade into nothing as Viena leans into his ear, forging a path through the throngs of nobility.

“Did you see how drunk Aegon was already? Such a slob. I meant it when I said he’s a pig.” She whispers lowly, forcing Aemond to betray his stoic expression and giggle as they make their way to the great table.

“Shut up, Vi.” He mutters back, trying to maintain his composure.

“What? I’m just saying. He’s probably drunk more than a braavosi sea lord already.” She whispers, her tone playful, “And my mother worries about me embarrassing the family. Unbelievable.” She scoffs, lifting her dress slightly to follow him up the steps.

Aemond’s grin widens. Some call her mean and nasty-mouthed but Aemond thinks she’s honest. She tells the truth as it is, a trait he’s found hard to find in anyone but her. Her irreverence has always had a strange way of lightening his mood, reminding him he isn’t alone in this world.

They take their seats at the center of the table, side by side. Viena’s quiet whispers, telling him her every thought and observation, granted a sense of comfortability to the grand occasion. In a room full of people watching him, she still managed to make him feel like they were hidden away in their own corner of paradise.

The room was alive with laughter and chatter as the music swells into soft, smoother rhythms as the night wore on. Meals filled with exotic foods were served, as well as simpler dishes the children could stomach a bit easier. Viena and Aemond got to sip an expensive wine, which made the Princess especially giggly.

After their fifth course of desert, Viena and Aemond excused themselves to dance, running off before Alicent or Rhaenyra could tell them no. They sprinted and jump down the steps, their laughter echoing through the room as joined the nobles swaying on the floor below.

They lock hands and jump and spin, playing more than dancing. They apologize gently as they bump into lords and their ladies as they sway on the dance floor. Their mothers could never guess where those two get all the energy from, but if they were honest, it’s a relief to see them choose youth over duty. It’s a luxury many children in this family aren’t granted.

Viena leans in close to his ear. “We’ve got to go now. They’re not watching. Come on.” She whispers urgently. Without waiting for a response, she grabbed his hand and dove into the crowd, running past the exit and slipping into the servants’ passage without being spotted.

She’s always so quick to disappear. Her insatiable desire for adventure is the root of all her trouble, he thinks. Mayhaps the root of all his, too. It doesn’t matter. He jogs to keep up with her as she pulls him through the narrow corridor.

“Where are we going?” He asks.

“It’s my surprise for you.” She answers, navigating the winding corridors with ease. “Did you think I forgot?” She asks.

Viena leads him down all kinds of steps, all kinds of twisting turns and winding passages that easily scramble his sense of direction. These tunnels are dark and damp, save for a few torches hanging here and there, but Viena acts like she’s running through the lines of her palm. She’s ecstatic, bouncing and skipping, brimming with energy as Aemond struggled to keep pace.

“Okay, we’re close.” She whispers, turning to him as the corridor opens into a cave. “Cover your eyes.” She says, walking backwards and releasing his hands. She’s smiling ear to ear, biting her lip, and the sapphires on her neck glimmer in the soft torchlight. He chuckles and covers his eyes with his palms, hearing her giggle and hop behind him, resting her hands on his shoulders and guiding him through the cave.

Slowly, he began to hear the crashing of waves against the rocky mountainside, then the stone give way to sand under his shoes. “Where are we, Vi?” He asks, curiosity piqued. She giggles and pushes him a bit faster.

“Not yet! Don’t look yet!” She exclaims. She brings him out onto the sand, the cool night air hitting his face with a soft chill. He could smell the salty sea from where he stood, furrowing his brows as he listened to Viena run to stand in front of him.

She tilts his head upwards towards the sky. He hears her shuffle in the sand, then sigh with contentment. “Now open your eyes,” She says.

Aemond removed his hands, going still as he stared up at the sky above him. The heavens stretched out above them, laying out an intricate kaleidoscope of stars, their lights shining against the inky darkness. The moon, full and luminous, casts a silver glow onto the waves and leaves its reflection dancing with the water's wake.

“Vi… this place is…” he trails off, realizing he didn’t have the words to tell her how beautiful this is. His vocabulary simply was large enough to capture the wonder he felt.

“I dreamt of it. That I was here with you.” She says, watching the stars fade in and out between the soft clouds. “I didn’t want to come looking for it without you.” She skips ahead of him, kicking her shoes off.

His eyes fall to the back of her head. Diamonds hang in her curls like heart-shaped stars, sparkling in hues of pink and blue as she kicks off her shoes and sinks her toes into the soft sand, staring up to marvel at the night sky. She never knew the night could have so many colors, gems of blue and brilliant white painting the sky above them.

“The stars almost look like sapphires,” he says, following her out onto the beach, tearing his gaze away from her to look at the stars.

She giggles and nods. “They do, don’t they? It’s so beautiful. Please tell me you like it.” she pleads, turning to him with eyes large as the moon.

He looks down at her with a softness that only she could pry from him. “I love it, Viena.” He tells her earnestly, watching her grin grow with satisfaction.

“I’m glad.” She replies. “Happy late name-day, Aemond.”

He stares at her as she turns to the ocean, lifting her satin dress above her knees and pressing her bare feet into the wet sand, her shoulders shivering as the cold sea rises to tickle her toes.

Her curious eyes follow the tiny fish and tadpoles fleeing through the shallow water, wiggling her toes to startle them when they’d get close. She’s adorable, making him smile as he inches closer to the water’s edge.

“Do you remember the stories I used to tell you about the constellations?” He asks, watching her nod as she curiously wades deeper into the salty sea, the water now lapping at her bony ankles. “Do you remember the Hunter?”

She looks aimlessly up to the sky, drawing in a sharp gasp. “Can you see it!? Oh, you have to show me! Show me!” She squeals, jumping back to the shoreline and standing with him.

He looks down at her with a grin, holding her shoulders and turning her away from him. He took her hand and told her to stick her pointer finger out, listening to her laugh as he guided her to point up at a row of three bright stars.

“See those three in a row? That’s his belt.” He says, and knows she’s seen it once she gasps.

“Where’s the rest of him?” She asks.

Aemond slowly guides her finger to trace the three stars. “Follow the line of his belt, Princess. To the left is his arm holding the bow, to the right his other arm is drawn back, ready to release.” He softly explains, her big brown eyes following her finger, tracing the stars, grinning ear to ear.

A silence lingers between them as Viena slowly outlines the constellation, finding his head and legs on her own. She holds his hand at her side, too distracted with the stars to notice him staring at her.

Devilish Princess Viena. She’s more beautiful than a hundred starry skies. Without her, this cove would be a desolate and lonely spot with no worth to him. Such sentiments, he knew, would fall short on her innocent ears. His mother would say he’s too young to harbor such thoughts, but he couldn't help it. He cannot control his emotions no matter how he battles them.

He couldn’t tell how long they spent there. Long enough that by the time they returned, the party was long over and the guards were scouring the castle for the Prince and Princess. She’d tried to sneak as much as she could, but Ser Harwin stopped them as they crossed a hallway trying to slip into the servant’s passage.

Before Harwin could take her away, Viena reached her hands into her hair and pulled a heart shaped diamond from her bed of dark curls. A section of hair came loose, falling over the side of her cheek. “Here.” She offered, holding the thin hair pin out to him. “Happy late name-day, Aemond. I’m sorry it’s not the best.” She says.

Gently, he took the hair pin from her. The edges of the diamond turn pink and blue in the soft candlelight. Ser Harwin rested his hand on her shoulder, making her turn her head to him before Aemond could catch her eye.

He watched the diamonds and sapphires glimmer between her dark curls, clutching her gift tightly in his fist. “I like it, Vi. Happy early name-day.” He returned, and she turned back to him as Ser Harwin began to pull her off. She gave him a smile and reached her fist out to him. He touched their knuckles and earned her giggles.

“Tomorrow, my Prince.” She bidded, yawning as Ser Harwin hoisted the small girl into his arms.

“Tomorrow, Princess.” He replied.

Nobody came to retrieve Aemond and guide him to his room. No one ever does, and he figures that’s okay, because he’d never run off like Viena would. She needs it more than he does, of course.

#aemond #house of the dragon #fluff #aemond targaryen #aemond one eye #hotd aemond #writeblr #aemond fluff #soft aemond #s1 aemond #house of the dragon s1 #fanfic #prince aemond #aemond x reader #aemond x oc #oc #beta reader #feedback open pls im too embarrassed to show my friends

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marley-manson · 2 months ago

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what are some of your favorite xena fics?

Thanks for asking! Fair warning, most of these are on old archives and can be hard to read, like, visually. I generally copypaste the fics, convert them to epubs, and read them on my kobo, but firefox reader view is also an excellent option for either laptop or mobile reading. Not sure if chrome has an equivalent.

I will warn for rape and specify the gender configurations (f/f, f/m, or m/f) when I can, because I know that matters to me when I'm choosing what I want to read, but for the fics I haven't read recently it's more of a crapshoot because I just don't remember well enough.

And if you just want my current top faves, I've starred those.

Xena/Gabrielle, fics I've read or re-read recently and remember fairly well:

Aftermath: The Tree of Life and The Hanging Gardens Conqueror AU - imo Gabrielle falls for Xena a little quickly considering how it starts lol, but it's well written, fun, solidly plotty, and the second is a pretty good mystery (though with a caveat for some racialized stereotypes.)

The Paradox of Dying Short glimpse into Gabrielle's state of mind in the later seasons.

*Storms of War A long, plotty, and quite dark exploration of Xena and her relationship with violence. Surprisingly well paced and engaging imo, considering how 600ish pages covers about a week of time. (mentions of m/f rape, past f/m rape)

As Long as Earth Endures Plotty, fun, entertaining OCs, violence and sex as themes (though not really intertwined lol) (mentions of past f/m and f/f rape iirc)

Been There, Done That Revisited Fun one shot set during the eponymous episode.

Confession An angstier take on Xena and Gabrielle's relationship.

Xena/Gabrielle, fics I've read years ago and enjoyed then, but I can't be 100% certain they hold up:

Infamia Conqueror AU, Gab is a gladiator, Xena is Empress of Rome. I actually have re-read about half of it lol but haven't finished it. It's a lot of fun, and the author has a way with words.

Pretium Silenti I plan to re-read this soon, it's another gladiator Gab/Empress of Rome fic, though more dark and serious, and very well written from what I recall. (m/f rape iirc)

Conqueror Series This is a hesitant rec lol because even in 2014 I thought it was very cheesy and tropey in that classic bodice ripper-y way, but like, I honestly had a lot of fun reading it. ymmv of course. (past m/f rape and csa, present f/f sex with a slave that isn't fully acknowledged as rape iirc, past f/f rape. Also warning for some racist tropes, about on par with what we see in the show as far as I recall.)

The Charioteer: In the City of Har and The Amazons of Dahomey I remember thinking these were extremely well written, but I haven't re-read them and I remember very little so I can't warn for any content.

Queen fun pwp

Appetite I remember loving the writing style. Post-finale.

Tarot Conqueror (well, warlord) fic. Fun premise, present day Gabrielle meets a younger, warlording Xena thanks to magic.

Other ships, recent reads:

*The Destiny Series Mostly gen, some het. Conqueror AU but in a very unique way. Focused on Caesar and Gabrielle after Xena has been killed, and it's an excellent depiction of like... everything I want from a good angsty darkfic. Eg the way it could've been hurt/comfort but the hurt character sucks and constantly self-sabotages and the comforter is way out of her depth and stops trying soon enough and they make each other even worse instead. Just about every choice made goes wrong. The world is a miserable, violent mess because three wonderfully, viscerally epic warlording women have been destroying it with their battling. Speaking of, I loooove how this author writes Xena, Callisto, and Najara.

Like the vibes are just immaculate to me <3 (f/m rape)

Payback is Hell Xena/Lao Ma, missing scene

*Equal To the Gods Xena/Gabrielle, Xena/Ares. I've read this twice now and it was an emotional rollercoaster each time, which is rare for me - like, I sobbed for basically the entire last third or so lol. And I'm not usually into poly fic, especially mixed gender, buuuut boy do I love a good trainwreck and this is a novel's worth of well-written, devastating trainwreck. And I do feel that ultimately it's very fair to both ships, despite the author being primarily a Xena/Ares shipper. If you buy into the premise that Xena does love Ares, all the characterization choices work great for me as well.

The Apology A missing scene set between Adventures in the Sin Trade and A Family Affair.

Other ships, old reads:

Among the Tigers and Approach of the Greeks Xena/Lao Ma

The Legacy of Lao Ma Xena/Lao Ma, The Debt from Lao Ma's pov

Aphrodite's Prayer Gabrielle/Aphrodite

The Joining Xena/Ares, I have actually re-read the first two relatively recently, and they're well-written and a good exploration of Xena's heroism versus Ares' job. Gabrielle and her arc gets a lot of focus in the second too. Don't remember the third well though, but I enjoyed it enough to bookmark it.

#this has drawn my attention to how many xena epubs i've made in the past few months that are still waiting to be read lol #marley on xena #fic #recs #text post

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tearitar · 2 months ago

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2024 Annual Fic Review

Guess who's back, baby!! Wrote a lot this year and I'm pretty happy about it. Anyway, I did a write up with the usual questions on my dw page HERE.

Or you can read it below: (where tumblr has shot all my formatting through the head, so dw is preferred)

Destiny (1)

Seven on high - Andal/Cayde-6

Hornblower / Temeraire (1)

Off the Starboard Bow - Archie Kennedy/John Granby

barter

Team Fortress (23)

It’s all sniperspy, unless noted otherwise.

thrifty

All bite

No bark

ARMSTOPPER - Engineer/Spy

Critical Provocation

Happy Hour

hindsight

positive reinforcement

Tell You Everything

Conflict Resolution

Get This Feeling, Feel This Static - Engineer/Medic, Sniper/Spy

Last Stage Fashionalism - rule 63-verse

Part 2

Part 3

Various Ficlets/Prompts:

Gun Maintenance

Fluffy

Domestic

Yuri

hypnotic

ostentatious

Idle

Post comic 7 ficlet

just might come crashing

Top Gun (2)

Been Told

rings around

I’m in the not so unique position of where I wrote at least 4 of the fics at least 75% of the way done 13-15 years ago, which is a huge chunk of words. I would estimate 12k written over a decade ago. The Top Gun fics were leftover WIPS from last year. Minus 20k words in total? So more like 71k. Which. Still a massive amount for me.

Total number of completed stories: 26

Total word count: 91,005

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted?

I published 1 fic last year and it took all I had in me. But, privately, I wrote a bunch of OC stuff. I definitely blew myself out the water this year. I don’t think I’ve ever had that much output in a loooong time.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?

Bruh. Team Fortress 2 after 14 years of moving on. I’m still fervently shipping sniperspy—and I’ve always been a same fraction girlie. Not much has changed with how I think of them but now that I am older and wiser and better at pwp… I know they’re both bottoms. I know it in my heart. I think the me from 14 years ago would be pretty pleased that I can now write decent pwp (or I just don’t care to be self conscious about it anymore).

What’s your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?

lol, I love all bite to pieces. It was fun to write! Truly joyous. I answered this question on a tumblr meme so here’s the answer:

I was on an absolute mission with that one. Knew what I wanted, from top to bottom. Wrote it VERY fast. I love how it flows; it’s easy to read, easy to understand the dynamic. (At least, for me.) Sniper bottoms. Spy bottoms. They’re both extremely clear with what they want, and aren’t, like, blushy-shy about it. There’s a lot of characterizations I crammed in as well and, tbh, the jokes still make me chuckle. (Awoo, biscuit, and LET’S TEST THIS PUPPY OUT, being the top three.) That fic was all for me, HAHA!!

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wouldn’t say it was a risk… but I feel like I really showed my ass with just might come crashing. I think it’s an indulgent fic, which is not inherently bad, but I wasn’t going to post it. It started as a collection of somewhat melodramatic scenes that I didn’t plan to make cohesive, didn’t make a plot other than “they go up to the mountains and don’t even hang out with each other for the majority of it”. I drew a lot of scenery inspiration from my own mountain trips.

Admittedly, I don’t much like reading “I Love You” confessions in fic, especially during sex. I wanted to play around with what I would consider…. a neat confession, of sorts. Mind you, this is only the tip of the iceberg with that fic.

Oh, and something I learned from all that… I truly believed this was written pretty poorly for an audience (that wasn’t me!). I didn’t think it would get compliments, like, at all. LOL. Imagine my surprise by all the nice things people took the time to say, haha. So thank you to everyone who did take the time.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?

Nah. Just keep chugging along, I guess. I wanna finish foresight, and I wanna write more not-so-sub-but-yeah-he-likes-it!sniper. u_u

My best story of this year

Ooh, a toss up between ARMSTOPPER and hindsight. Unfortunately, my thoughts on hindsight have kinda been tainted by the follow up I’m trying to push though so I think hindsight is a bit of a pain in the ass atm, but ARMSTOPPER also had that same kind of suffering. ARMSTOPPER made me take the biggest victory lap, while I reread hindsight more often just because I do like it a lot.... both of them have Spy suffering so maybe that's the real entertainment for me.

My most popular story

Critical Provocation has a baffling amount of hits to me. Well. Not baffling. But it sure is funny. Thrifty actually has the most kudos as of now, but not by much, and it was written earlier in the year.

Critical Provocation was something I knocked out in, like, two days. Because I saw a funny tumblr shitpost, and also I was determined to write Sniper as a bottom, but not… like… being shy about it? I’m not super into extremely shy-blushy-mewling sexually inexperienced bottoms, especially with Sniper. idk, I think Sniper would really put on a gameface about it. Then I think it’s a really cute narrative payoff when he does break. That’s just my two cents. Anyway critprov was fun to write. I’m glad people enjoy it. perhaps the people also long for confident bottom!sniper..... :/c

Story of mine most under-appreciated, in my opinion

Oughoguh it’s not anyone’s fault but Off the Starboard Bow is another one that I’m super proud of but it combines two very niche Age of Sail fandoms that are quite…………….. quite old. I think it’s nicely written, fun, and true to voice. I miss writing for Temeraire. Granby is also a fun character to write for. Things are always happening to him, all of the time. He should be able to suck dick in peace. Archie also deserves to get his dick sucked. rip archie kennedy you would have loved to be granby's normcore boyfriend.

Most fun story to write

I’ve said this with all bite already so my second choice would be Happy Hour, which I sorta wrote buzzed on martinis and melatonin during an 18 hour flight to South Korea, where I didn’t sleep for 48 hours (had to take a third flight to Jeju). It was the only thing keeping me sane on that wretched plane. I had a woman digging her feet into my thighs so ironically when I do reread the fic, Spy going apeshit on the other spies was just me channeling the same violence, and I think of that unhinged plane lady often.

Editing that fic was wild, let me tell you. There’s so many post-dinner minific parts because I wrote the concept of them on the plane. I wish I saved a screencap of an early draft. Utterly incomprehensible.

Most Sexy Story

Thrifty? I’m not sure on this one. I wrote a lot of oneshot PWPs and all of them have sexy scenes, but I think thrifty hits that spot of having adequate build up throughout the fic, with all the flirting and whatnot, and like.. the payoff sex scene, which I think it is very cute to write sniperspy being super into each other and not so fussy with the physicality of it all (just the emotional). Spy especially putting himself in a less dominant position but still being in control is fun.

Oh. I just remembered gun maintenance as well. Conceptually, that was pretty hot. (gun puns....) Non-explicit build up is what I enjoy writing a lot.

Story with the single sexiest moment

positive reinforcement. Another fic inspired by a tumblr shitpost but

Sniper leaps from his chair, grabbing Spy by the face, thumb and forefinger circling over Spy’s mouth to shut him up. Spy jumps, surprised into reaching for Sniper’s wrists, but it’s been a while since Sniper touched him, and the burning stare is enough to make him freeze in place. Sniper gives Spy’s face a little shake for emphasis. He leans down, fingers digging into Spy’s skin through the mask. “Then. Figure. It. Out.”

lol. I love sub!sniper with all my heart but in those moments when I write him calling the shots, I do have fun with twisting the dom/sub dynamic around. I mean, what’s cuter than teaching your normally calculating attack dog the command to “go feral” on you? :’)

Most “holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you” story

Nah. All my fics are in the category of “I’m Not Surprised”. hindsight, in fact, was such a ME fic to write. No one should have been surprised about me writing this kind of time travel fic.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters

LMAO, I GUESS THE FIRST TF2 FIC I WROTE AFTER 14 YEARS? barter? I wrote it, got a bit dissatisfied with falling into “oh spy of course gets on his knees and sucks sniper's dick” trope and so I was like… I’m gonna turn the dom/sub dynamic around a bit. and wrote it twice?????? i don't claim to be reasonable. but i think i did make it clear that Spy was running the show the entire time.

Hardest story to write

ARMSTOPPER TOOK ME 14 YEARS TO PUBLISH. Prior to this year, I had not open the document since 2015 but the creation date was 2010. That file has survived three computer changes, all my years of uni, 10 years into my career. that's my teen child. i can get it a drivers permit.

On a more serious note, ARMSTOPPER’s unfinished state was due to a lot of high expectations from myself at the time, combined with me just drifting away from TF2 around 2015. I got into other fandoms! I also wasn’t a deft enough writer to fully pull off with what I thought I had to write. ARMSTOPPER was supposed to be long and plotty with a sex scene, confession, and courting. And I didn’t know how I wanted to end it at the time. And so it languished!

Years later, I opened it back up again and thought what I had written was still good. I’m not sure if it’s really noticeable, but there’s a distinct shift in writing in the middle of the fic where I simply continued where the early 20s me left off. I think towards the later half, it’s just a bit snappier and the narrative humor is sliiiightly different but I think I was able to emulate my older style of writing, which is a wild thing to say, haha.

I also had to pull out an unbelievable amount of meme jokes from the fic. There is a “Deal With It” falling sunglasses meme gesture Spy does at the very beginning and in my heart of hearts I knew I could not totally rewrite over it.

Most disappointing

(puts my hand on ur shoulder) Those Aren’t Posted.

But!! Honorable mention goes to rings around — where I forgot to write an entire scene (THE ENDING I PLANNED?!?) and posted the fic, panicked, and had to, at great speed, write that missing scene in. WHICH IS WAY THERE WAS A WEIRD TIME SHIFT EPILOGUE AOUGHGOGH MY GODDDDDDD. I wrote a different ending (with Carole), which I did not initially plan because I completely forgot my original ending (with Ice). Incredible work, by me. What a blunder. Other than that, I very much like rings around. It deals with my favorite time travel themes of guilt, longing, and a character looking into their future and just simply hating it because they end up being happy, LOL.

Easiest story to write

Critical Provocation. I saw the shitpost “griping and complaining on it” and a demon possessed me. I slapped that one down quick since I was looking for any excuse to write bottom!Sniper being on the inexperienced side but totally up for it. Wrote out the banter I wanted (WHICH SOME ENDED CUT, THEY WOULDN’T SHUT UP ENOUGH TO GET THEIR DICKS OUT..), and then the rest fell into place, thank god. It was a very Point A to Point B type of writing experience.

Fun bonus fact: I have mulled over a pillow-princess!Sniper follow up but I genuinely think I’d write it in such a way where it’d be more like restraint kink than being pampered. Idk, imagine they attempted it and found it lacking.

Biggest surprise

Bruh. TF2. all of them.

But, more seriously just might all come crashing, which I will get more into in the next question. I’m not surprised I wrote it, I’m just surprised I published it since I tend to not post stuff I find embarrassing, lol. That fic was really supposed to be for my own practice and entertainment.

So… what I mean to say is…… JMCC was written …… from the heart and … (grits teeth) very sincerely. Not that my other fics aren't sincere but. Like. This one was….. hrm …this was written with genuine affection and earnestness for the ship. And I truly didn't care to put in any more than what I wanted (hence the gaps). I don't think it's very polished, and the pacing is something I did not focus on. I’m a pretty confident writer, so to put something out there where I’m kinda like “lol, that was meant for me to read myself, not for others” is… eh. Kinda revealing, I guess.

Most unintentionally telling story

Right. Here we go. I’m gonna yap at length about just might come crashing. Because I feel like it’s a bit different from the other tf2 fics I put out there. Like I need to justify myself, lol.

I put a lot of boring themes in that one. Career burnout. Now’s-not-the-right-time romance. His-Happiness-Over-Yours. The importance of time away from something or someone you love (a job, a partner). Being perceived in what you think is the most cringiest way possible (gee..). I love dynamics that play with mutual attraction/awareness of feelings, but both participants actively choose to not go forward for whatever reason. It’s emotional purgatory, and that’s fun to me.

It’s my ideal, self-indulgent version of sniperspy; love as a responsibility you're taking on. Love being a cold little cabin you are caging yourself in, with all these monitors and trackers you aren't using. The one time you do, there's a huge truth being blurted out that you can't beny but you're also not surprised by it. And the only surprise Spy feels is his own deep, unrelenting happiness. He disassociates, compartmentalizes, because he knows he’ll choke on it.

All this, and he still lets Sniper go out for days, freely, despite being lonely, because Spy knows Sniper will come tapping against his window eventually. Sniper is an independent spirit, but he also knows the lengths Spy has gone, and that's also daunting—being invested in someone's happiness that might not be in line with your own. I think, in the end, they are two fundamentally different people that just happened to cross paths due to circumstance. If early on they had met other people more compatible.. I mean. I don't think they're each others' first choices. They both know it.

This isn't even addressing the mercenary careers they both have, and there's a high chance either one of them will find the other dead in a ditch eventually (in THEIR minds, at present). To them, being in love is a burden you take on so you make damn well sure it's worth it.

Then, I suppose after all the mutual pining’s been addressed, they’d deal with it in their typical mercenary way, by being absolutely ruthless with it. For them, being in love is a job, one you can also burnout of. These are two people who take joy, pride, and satisfaction from their careers. They are going to care a whole lot. So, you know, other than that being a completely deranged way of thinking, that’s just their take.

(I touch on this in hindsight, the time travel fic when Spy is having a moment and thinks about the work and effort of a relationship.)

Don’t get me wrong, JMCC is a hopeful romantic fic—but there’s a tragic undercurrent to it, lol. I don’t resolve the career burnout. I don’t have them confess directly. They don’t talk about it. I don’t go into the UFOs. I don’t even write an explicit sex scene. They don’t even see each other for the majority of their two weeks in the mountains. At the end, Spy comments on Sniper being intentionally hurtful. Is it mutual? Yes, it is.

Fourteen years ago I wrote all that matters, which I belatedly realize was kinda the prototype for this, the first iteration of that underlying sadness and the work that goes into maintaining a relationship. There's a bookmark comment on it by nik_knak, "Maybe it's just me, but I myself find it rather depressing, even in the end." Haha, they've nailed it even before I did. Funnily enough, it’s also from Spy’s POV; love as extra work you’re willing to take, and you’re just lucky to have that other person return it, and that you might be happy doing it.

So, yeah. That was a telling fic. The most unintentional part of it was me revealing that Spy is my little meow meow. My sweetie pie. My silly pookie. My dipshit clown dolly I like to continuously waterboard in an iced tub just to see him suffer while I put Sniper into the woodchipper but give him a nice mug of hot chocolate afterwards.

Story I’d like to revise

Brother, once them fics are up I don’t touch them. Unless to fix typos or sentence structure.

Story I didn’t write but will at some point, I swear

This will get me blacklisted but I think about a BLU Spy/BLU Scout with RED Spy/RED Sniper comedy hour fake dating situation a lot. Wherein BLU Scout attempts psychological warfare with his sperm donor, R!Spy, by pretending to date B!Spy, who goes along with it because it would be so fucking funny. R!Spy sees through their plan and doubles down, ALSO pretends that he’s SO HAPPY his SON has FOUND a GOOD GUY to DATE and he hOPeS THEy aRE soOoOoO hapPY tOGeTHer.

In the meanwhile, R!Sniper proceeds to reconsider his life choices. Relationships go down the pisser. RED and BLU teams implode. All because B!Scout and B!Spy are fucking and committed to the bit.

And that’ll be the fic.

Closing statements:

Never delete your WIPs. Never say die. If you're not feeling it, put it away. Maybe in 10 years you'll come back to writing and it'll be fun again. Maybe you'll love tf2 again.

Anyway. What a nutty year. I hope to continue the trend! I've got a few more fun sniperspy pwps to finish so I'm actually hoping the first fic for the New Year is either Sniper shaving Spy or being in a maid dress. Who could say. The man contains multitudes.

#you can absolutely see me get unhinged about sniperspy towards the end #typans #annual fic meme

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the-sky-queen · 7 months ago

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Here we are. One year to the day since I created my account here on tumblr. It feels . . . almost surreal. I don't exactly remember where I thought I'd be by this point, but I don't think I pictured this! I've made so many good friends here, seen so much AMAZING art, and overall just had so much fun. For every one of you who follow me, and even those of you who don't, thank you. You all make me so happy. I treasure each and every like, reblog, comment, and ask.

I'm sitting here in awe as I rapidly approach another big milestone here and I couldn't be more thankful. Back when I made this blog, sure I had dreams of finding an audience and connecting with some of my favorite people here, but I didn't get my hopes up. So many instances in my life of never getting picked for one thing or another taught me that the odds are low and not in my favor, but the community here is just so different. People are good. They're nice and supportive and they love it when new people show up. The beginning was hard. There are quite a few of my early posts that still have zero notes. But I've got people hanging around now that like what I make and that honestly means the world to me. I feel seen. I feel like I matter.

Thank you all so much.

I wanted to shout out a few of my mutuals real quick for a super special thank you:

@cattyanon was my first ever follower and it nearly made me cry when I got the notification. It gave me so much hope and joy. It took me way too long to follow you back, Catty, but I'm so happy that I did! your AUs are all so creative and fascinating. Thank you for being my first supporter.

@boom-fanfic-a-latta is without a doubt my closest friend here on tumblr. It all started when I stumbled across Lily's original concept post for Tachophobia. I was instantly obsessed and before I knew it, Lily was DMing me. The rest is history. :) Lily, I can't thank you enough for being my friend. Words don't do this justice. I'll always be grateful to you for caring so much about me. I love all our AUs together and I love writing them with you. Thank you so much.

I followed @totaleclipse573 for Eclipse and stayed for everything else. I love how we feed each other's angsty thoughts. XD Total, I absolutely adore your OCs and I'm so happy that you've taken interest in mine. We may not have a DM together (I suspect that's because we're both too shy to be the one to start it XD) but our interactions are still beyond fun! Thank you for being a crazy fangirl with me.

I followed @estellardreams immediately when I found her here after reading one of her Sonic Prime fics on Ao3. I was caught so off guard when I got the notification that you followed me back, Estelle! XD I instantly rushed to plan a Christmas present drawing for you. (Yeah, I drew presents for each of my mutuals. I only had FIVE then.) Since then, I've gotten to know you better and I've had an absolute blast with you. You single handedly fueled the Tachophobia obsession over winter break and it was so insanely fun. (Seriously, you were posting like three or more chapters some of those days!!! You had me screaming XD) Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being Tachophobia's biggest fan and such a supportive friend.

@skywriter97 reached out to me to talk about TMOM and I followed her soon after that after reading some of her AMAZING writing. The two of us are writing buddies, exchanging advice and feeding each other ideas whenever we need it. Girl, I can't thank you enough for letting me ramble about Immortals to you and fueling my obsession enough that I finally started writing it for real. Whenever the prologue goes up, I'll be shouting you out in the notes because it's because of YOU that I finally got moving. Thank you so much.

This isn't all my mutuals. I have more that I don't talk to as much, but even if I didn't mention you by name here, I want you all to know that you mean the world to me. Four of you are personal heroes of mine that I never in a MILLION years dreamed that I'd actually get to be mutuals with. The rest of you are all around EXTREMELY cool people that I am super blessed to have you in my life.

As I end out this post, I once again want to give a massive thank you to ALL of you for sticking around. And thank you so much for making this year absolutely incredible in more ways than one. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

#keep a look out over the rest of today! I have a few more celebration posts that'll be going up! :D #goodness i almost made myself cry during a few of these paragraphs #thank you all again #just so so much #Sky Queen #Sky's Tumblrversary #long post

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b00m-b0mb · 6 months ago

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do u have lore/a storyline in ur head for wandering karate perchance? i love them a lot :')

AHHH... Wandering Karate, my truest beloved!!!! I do!! But I am rewriting my canon :3c so this is kind of messy and due for a little bit of changing maybe?! Orz !!!!!!!!

UH.. WEOW... cringe...

The basis for a lot of this is a really old fic I wrote for myself that doesn't exist anymore waaa qwqq sorry if this doesn't make sense!

• Joe's family lives in one of the villages Ronin (Wandering Samurai) has rescued.

• Specefically I imagine the one in "Super Samurai Slice", since he leaves unnoticed.. However, Joe saw the whole thing! (Imagine this is some like, 3rd incident lol)

• I like to think Joe would attempt to jump into action and help out (foolishly brave!), but due to being a teensy bit of a clutz he ends up being carried most of the way.

• But he still helped out you know, and like, real danger! Ronin is impressed. And gave compliments where it was due

• Samurai is invited for a drink / some steak and rice. They hang out!! They just chat. I think both of them are a little lonely, and it was just easy to talk. And they did, for hours.

• Joe's inspired by Ronin's skill. Ronin thinks Joe is inspiring for jumping into the situation despite his misteps. Like the desire, but weak energy for skill (Joe, who i project chronic fatigue onto lol), in contrast to the unstopping precise performance, that could fear nothing more than a mistep.

• To me, Joe is a guy who's embarrassed a lot, but he keeps trekking! But hes also frozen still into his current situation, unable to free his wings. While Ronin has light feet when it comes to his embarrassments. And, ofc, cannot let himself stay too long, anywhere! I think due to his nature, he's lonesome and is locked into a endless cycle of self reflection/percieved redemption (over critical)

• Anyways the family comes home. And Ronin's like, ah, I shall go. (Not wanting to be a disturbance) and heads out the door.

• BUT Senior is like "Joe, I need you to pick up my epic gi from -inserts convenient far away comical temple post office-" and Joe, somehow not irritated, and now given a journey, is like 💡‼️ and chases after Ronin.

• He really wants to tag along for just a while. He helped after all! Whats some more time together..? Ronin briefly attempts to decline, before deciding the company wouldn't be a bother... letting Joe come along- call this a ROADTRIP!

• Anyway, the idea was they had two nights of travel / chitchat, with a bit of shenanigans to themselves. Learn about one another. Kind of can see a glimpse into the others perception. And like.. yah... Dudes who want to be friends so bad, everytime they talk there's a silent spark inside both of them bc they're so lonely and a!!!!

• My oc, Karate Maccie, played into my fic uhmm,,, she became the unwanted child tagalong. She's the comic relief pretty much lol!!! but she also is like really trying to set them up as friends you know? She sees these two introverts trying to make it happen. She thinks Joe could use the friend :] She's also just nosey. I know what you are (lonely.)

• More shenanigans & silly adventure for Senior's mail... In the end, Joe and Ronin would have to part ways, but, they would keep touch in letters!!!! Joe being given a post office to write to, and Ronin promising to be there in time to recieve it!

Also I think Maccie + Ronin would have a mini rivalry arc, but it's mostly one sided from Maccie's end lol, and by the end it's somewhat resolved, and Ronin actually offers to train with her or something some time! They all had fun okay! Ugh!!!

I think from there their relationship is just you know, they get each other I guess? They share their thoughts in letters, and are honest and discuss anything and yeahaha... Sometimes a letter is just. "I saw a bird :)" -drawing-, and they get it...!!! they repeatedly will express in their letters how much they truly treasure the others company. Idk man!!! Queer platon guys okay!!!!!

Ronin would definitely make time to come around and visit the village, and Joe would up and leave the house w/o anouncing for mini trips to travel and meet the wandering samurai when hes close to the area!! Skipping practice?! For the samurai he holds dear?! It's serious, you know!!!

But I think the tension takes forever to boil over into melting their boundaries with one another. These dudes need to embrace. So bad. I think. But it's so hard, when you know the lack of it can hurt???? But one day.. I will feel confident enough in both of us, to hold you...??? And know that even when we part, ill see, and hold you again? Wails???

Uhgrhrbrbmammamaaammama 👍👍👍 normal about burnt out souls that are maybe a little mentally ill <33333333 I LOVE THEM SO MUCH ugh,h,m,m,,,,,,

Also they both have a somewhat similar family life in my hcs. Dead mothers, somewhat strained relationship with father, tradition, a clash in how they want to live? Something. They can't be together, but they treasure and hold their shared time dearly, and hold their long distance relationship with nurture :) I lovegh. Them.

Also, food for thought- Bon Odori is also in the village Joe lives in. (And I hc the toss boys are kids in this village, so fourth) maybe Samurai Slice Endless (DS) is there too :] I think he'd do that anywhere needed, but I like the idea of him going from not well known anywhere aside from few legends, to becoming apart of this community because of Joe? Or something? Sobs...??? Sorry idk...

Also I imagine a mini plotline of their relationship regarding the fact Ronin doesn't have a true name + Joe's rise to doing things outside the house ??? Things.. !!!

and and UHHHGGGGGGG rhythm heaven head canon world I missed you.....

#rhythm heaven #wandering karate #my otp... my favorite rh ship.. my beloveds....#theyre also 100% both autistic i think this matters #ALSO IM CONSIDERING THEM BEING T4T AS WELL bc i can who will stop me???#they see each others top scars accidentally and assume THERES NO WAY and backflips to “battle scars” and then its like -spiderman pointing⁉#karate joe #wandering samurai #<< do we use a different tag for him ?#IS THIS LAME? I FEEL LAME... /lh lh lh #they r a qpr ship to me but i think its definitely a grayspec relationship given time?? who knows! i love them #SORRY I DONT MAKE SENSE #got kind of excited even if its a mushy slop brain #UGH #wails and weeps #this IS an invitation to input or give me any wk idearsgh i will eat you (pos) HFKZLFMVMMX..#inbox #considered soft traumatized queerplaton old man yaoi okkkkk #txt

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mysteroads · 8 months ago

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🔥It's Nice Here in Rare-Pair Hell!🔥

I feel weirdly accomplished!😎 It's as if I have evolved to a higher level of fanfic authordom. 👑 Did a search and my fic was the only one on the site with this ⬇ particular pairing! (Mr. Compress/Lady Nagant)

Does this mean I get to pick the ship name? 😉

On that note, just for kicks and giggles, if you have a good ship name, put it in the comments! 🚢

(I already talked a little in a previous post why I decided on these two as a ship, but if you want to know more, look past the break for my explanation with gifs!)

Alright, so, cliff notes on my series "It Doesn't End Here.": Tomura Shigaraki died, which he decided was no excuse not to hang out and party with his friends. All the rest of the League except Mr. Compress (because he was safe in prison), ended up getting invited to Tomura's after-death party.

Which, you know, sucked for Atsuhiro Sako, aka, Mr. Compress.

But I wasn't about to let the poor guy live a crappy life in prison. So, as per the MHA tradition, he gets involved in villain reform! Also, as the only beneficiary of Tomura Shigaraki's will, who in turn inherited All For One's fortune (completely legally, with a team of lawyers to boot), he decides to put the money to good use and creates the largest non-profit in Japan.

I REALLY wanted him to embrace all aspects of his new life, so I wanted him to find a significant other and a kid. I really don't like to write OCs to pair with major characters, so I had to find a canon character. Also, important: Compress mentioned once that someone in each generation of his family had a quirk that was good for theft! So I had to include that in my calculations. Then I had a thought:

That would be VERY useful for stealing things, wouldn't it?

And WHO ELSE in MHA has magical hair? That also happens to be purple and pink? And who would be considered a villain, and also consider herself a villain for all the lives she took? Gee... I wonder...

Now THAT'S a woman. I figured they'd also get along, since they both hate corrupt governments and spent time in villain prison, they'd have a starting point to become friends, and things would progress from there.

If you read all this, A thousand blessings be upon you, starting with my favorites: May your pillow always be cool, May inspiration come upon you often, and May your pets live long, healthy lives.

Drink water and have fun ya'll!

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allmoshnobrain · 2 years ago

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𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

part 13 of ? | masterpost

word count: 2785 | ao3 link | fic's playlist

I let myself get lost in the warmth of his embrace and his touch, forgetting about the nagging thought that he would soon be leaving. I couldn't help but recall earlier, when I was told I "loved too much." Maybe there was some truth to it because right then, I loved him so much that I'd do anything he asked - even ditch my plans of not going with him to New York.

✦ summary: Dave and Nore cherish their last day together before the band’s departure to New Jersey.

✦ on this chapter: NSFW!!!, dave mustaine x female!oc,oc is cliff's cousin, +18, language, slice of life, angst (mild), fluff, mxf sex (explicit), recreational drug use

✦ a/n: this is my attempt at writing a cute/romantic chapter for dave and nore before things start changing and chaos comes. hope you like it, feedback is welcome!

✧ kiss me hard before you go ✧

The afternoon of my date with Dave started off cool, with a nice breeze that wasn't enough to make us feel cold. We took the opportunity to have lunch together and then catch a movie. Despite everything, I felt happy. I tried not to dwell on the fact that it would be our last day together for a while, as Dave and the guys were leaving the next day. But even with that in mind, it was nice to have some alone time with him. It was a new thing for me since we usually had fun with our friends, whether we were hitting up the bar or partying after their shows.

"So, what's the plan now?" I asked as we left the cinema.

It was still early, with the sun slowly setting in the sky. I knew we were heading to the beach cottage Dave had rented later in the evening, but for now, I let him take the lead on what we should do. He pulled out a joint, taking leisurely puffs before passing it to me.

"I've got a cool idea. Come with me," he said, flashing a warm smile as he held my hand.

I couldn't help but smile as our fingers intertwined. After almost two months of being together, these little affectionate moments had become part of our routine. Maybe part of why their upcoming absence, even if just for a while, bothered me so much was because I couldn't imagine life without Dave by my side. Being without him was something I didn't even want to think about anymore.

We strolled through the city, chatting and laughing while passing the joint that Dave had brought along. As the sun started to set, we ended up at a small amusement park near the beach, with the rides lit up and twinkling in the twilight. Families and groups of teenagers were having fun, enjoying the late afternoon.

"An amusement park?" I grinned at him. He returned the smile, clearly seeing the excitement in my eyes. "It's been forever since I've hit up a place like this!"

"I figured it'd be a cool place to hang out with you," he said. "Hey, wanna jump on that Ferris wheel?"

"Sure thing." I flashed a grin.

He took my hand and led me to the line, which luckily wasn't too long. After a few minutes, we hopped into one of the cabins and settled in next to each other. I burst out laughing as we started going up, and he sparked up another joint.

"Dave! I don't think we can smoke up here."

"Who cares?" he smirked, making my heart skip a beat. I playfully rolled my eyes, grinning back at him. He brought the joint closer to my lips, and I took a drag. His thumb traced the outline of my lip. "You know, it's not too late to change your mind, right?"

"About what?" I asked, curiosity taking over as I glanced away from the view, which was getting higher and higher.

"About coming with us tomorrow."

I chuckled softly.

"Dave, I already told Lea I'm crashing at her place for a while. It's all good." I held his hand, gently stroking it. "But you know I'll be right here when you get back, right?"

He smiled, a hint of disappointment in his eyes, but then kissed my forehead tenderly.

"You're trouble, you know that?" he whispered, and I laughed.

"What are you on about now?"

"That I can't stay away from you," he said, his lips meeting mine in a kiss. He pulled back, a mischievous grin on his face. "I think I'm addicted. And that's a dangerous thing."

"Well, what if I told you I feel the same way?" I whispered, gazing into his eyes.

"Then I'd say I'm damn lucky," he replied with a smile, before leaning in to kiss me again.

We made the most of the late afternoon, jumping on all the awesome park rides. From the goofiest carousel to the craziest roller coaster, everything was way more fun when we were together. Even though we'd been dating for a while, I still couldn't believe how much I was head over heels for Dave, how effortlessly he brought me joy, and how damn lucky I was that he felt the same way about me.

By the time we left the park, it was dark outside. The electric lights of the rides lazily blinked in green, yellow, red, and blue. I gotta admit, things seemed way more intriguing to watch after an afternoon of smoking — everything took on new shapes, colors popping in a whole different way. I casually glanced at a group of teens cracking up and chatting as they strolled out of a tent covered in blue and white stars.

"Predict your future with Madame Vasilova," Dave read the sign next to the tent entrance, a smirk on his face. "Wanna give it a shot?"

"No way," I replied, grinning back at him and raising an eyebrow. "You're not gonna ask her some cheesy question like if we'll be together forever, right?"

He burst out laughing.

"Nah, are you? C'mon, I know that cute look on your face when you're curious."

I chuckled as he grabbed my hand and dragged me into the tent. I blinked, adjusting my eyes to the dim lighting and taking in the smell of incense. Madame Vasilova sat at the table, an old lady with a serious expression. She looked up as she shuffled her cards.

"First time?" she asked, a smile on her face. She had a heavy accent that matched her name. "Have a seat."

I sat down on the chair in front of her while Dave stood next to me, clearly intrigued by the whole scene.

"Hmm... I don't know what to ask," I admitted. The lady grinned.

"Don't need to ask anything. Just pick three cards," she said, spreading out the deck face down. I glanced at the cards, curious, and randomly grabbed three. She gathered the rest of the deck and laid out the chosen cards: The Lovers. The Hanged Man. The Wheel of Fortune. She pursed her lips, slowly running her fingers over the cards before starting to talk. "You've got a big heart, my dear. Someone who loves too much. But that can also bring pain to the soul. Important choices are coming your way... They'll shape your life. Choose wisely."

"Thanks," I mumbled, unsure how to react to that information.

She simply smiled at me. I pulled out a few bucks from my purse and paid her, and then Dave and I stepped out of the tent.

"Well, that was... different," I remarked, and Dave chuckled softly.

"Yeah, I guess it's normal. Those people always say these confusing things."

"And you didn't even want to ask anything!" I pointed out, and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I figured I didn't want to ask if we'd be together forever or not. What if she said you were gonna dump me?"

I huffed and rolled my eyes.

"I'd make her swallow that whole deck of cards," I grumbled, and Dave burst into laughter.

"That's my girl," he playfully said, planting a kiss on my forehead. "You hungry? Let's grab some dinner, and then we can head to the cottage later."

"Sounds good. I'm starving anyway," I grinned, holding his hand tightly.

The beachfront restaurants were pleasant and beautiful. We picked one that didn't seem too expensive and snagged an outdoor table. The night was getting cooler; even though it was spring, now that the sun was gone, the late afternoon breeze made me shiver a bit from the cold.

Once we finished eating, we strolled along the beach promenade, hand in hand, enjoying the cool night breeze and chatting softly. It didn't take us long to reach the cottage, a cozy little house tucked near the beach. I had no clue how Dave managed to afford the place; all I knew was that he adamantly refused when I offered to chip in.

He unlocked the door, and I walked in, flipping on the lights. The cottage had a cozy living room with a couch and a doorway leading to a tiny kitchen. The bedroom was roomy, with a dark wooden bed and light blue sheets that matched the wall. There was a backpack sitting on the bed, which I knew Dave had brought earlier in the day, packed with towels and a change of clothes for both of us. In the back of the room, there was a glass door that opened to a small balcony, giving us a view of the moonlit sea. I tossed my purse on the bed and opened the door, totally enchanted by the breathtaking view. The moon was casting a peaceful glow on the calm sea; I could see some boats parked far away. I looked up at the sky, filled with a bunch of stars I'd never seen before, and let myself get lost in the sight.

My heart raced when I felt two strong hands sliding around my waist, his arms wrapping around me from behind and pulling me against his body as I felt his warm breath against my skin. My own breath faltered as his lips touched my neck, kissing and exploring it slowly. I sighed as one of his hands left my waist, moving to my back and unzipping my dress.

“I don’t think you’re gonna need this anymore.” he whispered against my skin as he lowered one of my dress’ straps. I chuckled softly, turning to face him. He smiled. “Wanna come inside?”

“Yeah.” I whispered, allowing him to take me back inside the room.

He sat leaning against the bed’s headboard, pulling me onto his lap. I sat on his legs, straddling him, and chuckled softly, feeling my face grow warm, when he put his hand under my dress’ skirt, squeezing my ass firmly. I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting him pull me closer, meeting my lips with his in a slow kiss, and whined softly when he squeezed my thigh, his rough hand against my skin.

I pulled away from his kiss, blushing, as his hand went to my face, gently caressing my cheek and tracing the outline of my lower lip with the tip of his thumb. Dave looked at me, his brown eyes deep with lust, his hand pulling down my dress and revealing my breasts. I shivered, feeling the night’s cold air against my skin. He took my dress off, leaving me in only my underwear on his lap, and kissed me again slowly, his tongue moving against mine while his hand explored my body. He let out a low grunt when I moved my lips to his neck, leaving small kisses on his skin as I settled in his lap.

“So you’re getting braver now?” he asked in a husky tone, and I pulled back, feeling my face grow warm. After two months together, we had already fucked several times, but I still felt a little shy when it happened. He laughed softly. “I’m just kidding, babe. Come here.” He grabbed my hand and pressed it against his pants.

I blushed when I felt his erection against the palm of my hand; I moved my hand slowly against his jeans, my fingers searching for his pants’ button. He moaned softly, pulling me closer as I unzipped his jeans. His lips crashed into mine again, his kiss was now intense, hungry. He pulled back and took his clothes off quickly.

“Ah!” I exclaimed, surprised, when he pulled me back close, almost aggressively. He moved my panties aside quickly before penetrating me forcefully, one of his hands holding my ass firmly while the other gripped my waist. “D-Dave!”

“Sorry.” he whispered in a husky tone. He moaned, tilting his head back as he helped me move up and down on his cock. I held onto his shoulders, burying my face in his neck, feeling my whole body warm up and letting small moans escape while I felt him move inside me. “Am I… Hurting you? Are you ok?”

“I was just… Oh, my God. ” I moaned, and he chuckled breathlessly. “I was just surprised. It was… Hmmm… It was so sudden.” He held me tighter, pushing his hips forward as I rode him slowly. I moaned, surprised by how good I was feeling. “Dave, I… Oh… ”

“You like it?” he asked, his breath quickening as he tugged my hair lightly, pulling my face away from his body so I could face him. I moaned as he held my waist with his other hand, helping me ride him, up and down, slowly, the sound of my skin slapping lightly against his filling the room. "Feels good, right?" I nodded, my face heating up, and I let out a moan as he brought his hand to my clit, massaging it softly. I picked up speed, my fingers tangling in his hair, moaning low as I moved in his lap. He growled. “You're so good at this. You're gonna make me.. Oh, gonna make me cum. Fuck, Nore… Wait a sec.”

I got off his lap and sat on the edge of the bed, both of us flushed and breathless; I watched him as he got to his feet, opening the bag and looking for something. He took a condom out of the bag, opening it and putting it on quickly before walking back to me. He leaned over, still standing, and grabbed my waist, laying me face down on the bed and pulling me close to him by the hips, resting his body weight on his other hand as he held me by my waist. He climbed onto the bed, his knees wrapped around my legs, and leaned over me, biting the side of my neck and then my ear as he pulled my panties off. I let out a low moan as he penetrated me again, gripping my hair tightly in one hand as he moved forcefully inside me.

“Feels so good inside you.” he panted, and I moaned softly in response. “So tight, oh, fuck…” he increased the pace of his movements, resting his head on my shoulder as he moved on top of me.

I knew he was getting close to coming just by the way his movements grew more intense, desperate for more contact, moaning escaping between his clenched teeth as he held my body tightly. He kissed my neck, moving faster and faster until he shuddered, letting out a deep groan when he finished. He collapsed onto the bed next to me, and I giggled at the sight of him, face flushed and eyes closed, trying to catch his breath.

"I waited all day for this, you know?" he said, his voice husky. I settled on the bed, moving closer to him, and smiled when he hugged me.

"So, you just took me on a date to fuck me afterwards?" I asked, teasingly, and he scoffed.

"Don't even think about it," he grumbled, opening his eyes with a furrowed brow, and then chuckled softly. "But I can't deny it was one of the best parts of today."

I laughed softly, burying my face in his neck. He took off the condom, and tossed it in the bin at the foot of the bed before kissing me lightly on the lips.

“Don't even think I'm done. I'm not leaving here until you come too.” He whispered in my ear, and I felt my face heat up. I pulled away, giving him a look with raised eyebrows, realizing that my face was totally red. "What's up? I told you I wouldn't let you sleep tonight," he chuckled at my reaction before planting another kiss on my lips.

The night flew by as I let myself get lost in the warmth of his embrace and his touch, forgetting about the nagging thought that he would soon be leaving. I couldn't help but recall the tarot reading earlier, when I was told I "loved too much." Maybe there was some truth to it because right then, I loved him so much that I'd do anything he asked - even ditch my plans of not going with him to New York.

But he didn't ask for anything. He just held me tight in his arms and loved me in a million different ways, between sighs, moans, and eager kisses that left us both worn out and wrapped around each other. I dozed off with his arms still wrapped around me, his soft snores against my neck, full of all the love bites he had left on my skin.

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