#and then BAM SURPRISINGLY YOUNG

[nerevarswritingstuff]

Everytime I read a paragraph with him in it i unconsciously tuck my hair behind my ear and grinning like a dumbass.

HEHEHEHHE

No one can resist the hot uncle

Especially with eyes like those

[dixons-sunshine]

Drunken Love—Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Summary: A few coworkers from your job as a teacher invited you out to a bar to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation. You brought Daryl along with you, and it also happened to be the first night you saw your husband drunk—and it was a hilariously sweet to experience for you.

Genre: Fluff.

Era: Pre Apocalypse.

Part of the Shopping Spree, Hangout Dreams AU, but can be read as a standalone.

Warnings: Swearing, alcohol, intoxication.

Word count: 1.2k.

A/n: I don't really like this, but I wanted to get this done. I have another young!Daryl fic in the works that will be much better than this (hopefully). This was just a filler to make up for my lack of actual writing.

“To the beginning of our few months of freedom.”

“I'll salute to that, Chloe.”

“Hear, hear!”

You laughed and brought your beer bottle up to clink with those of your coworkers, before taking a swig from the bitter yet delicious liquid. Your coworkers and friends—Derek, Chloe and Aubrey—invited you out for a rare get-together to just unwind and relax. The evening summer air calmly blew into the bar whilst some song played on the jukebox. Earlier that evening, your husband had disappeared to play a round of darts with your friends' partners—a singular round that turned into more than just one—and he was surprisingly having fun, and so were you.

“Mhm,” Derek hummed in approval as the taste of the drink flowed down his throat. He placed the glass bottle down on the table before leaning back in his chair, a contented sigh leaving his lips. “This is the life. No worries, no having to get up early tomorrow morning, nothing. We're free.”

You laughed and shook your head. “You're saying it as if your job is a death sentence.” You took another sip from your beer. “Do you hate working with the little kiddos, Derek?”

“Not at all. I love working with those kids.” Derek leaned forward, as if sharing a secret with all of you. “It's their parents I have beef with. One cheek kiss from Matt and bam, I'm trying to corrupt their kids.” He rolled his eyes in annoyance, grabbed the bottle again and took another swig from it. “I'm happy to be free of those judgemental, two-faced bitches for the summer. Matt and I can enjoy our lives for a while.”

“For what it's worth, at least you'll always have us to back you up.” Aubrey pointed the bottle in Derek's direction in a half salute. “Consider us your wing women. As long as you have us, those bitches won't stand a chance.”

“I'll drink to that,” you voiced. Another toast happened, filled with laughter and friendly chatter. “So, do you guys think—”

“Y/N!”

At the sound of your name being called, you turned around in your chair and saw your friends' partners approach the table you were sitting at, your husband being helped by Julian, Chloe's fiance. You raised your eyebrow questioningly at Matt, who had called your name. “Yeah?”

At the sound of your voice, Daryl perked up and stumbled out from under Julian's helping arm, sluggishly walking over to you. “Peach, hey.” He leaned down to hug you, almost tripping over his own feet. “Missed ya so much.” He hiccupped once, his arms never leaving their place around your body.

You shot an unamused look at Matt, Julian and Pierce, but you were met with amused laughs and equally drunken stumbling. You shook your head and sighed, downing the last of your beer and standing up. You wrapped and arm around your husband to steady him.

“What the hell did you guys do to him?” you inquired questioningly.

Matt shrugged and made his way over to Derek, leaning down and wrapping his arms around his shoulders from behind. “A game of truth or drink happened. Not our fault your husband chooses to be so secretive.”

“Ain't my fault y'all ask such damn invasive questions,” Daryl hiccupped defensively.

You chuckled and shook your head again. You turned towards your friends again, about to reach into your bag to grab some money to pay for your drinks, but Derek waved you off. “It's okay, I've got it. Just get him to bed.” He stopped and looked up at Matt, shaking his head with a small laugh. “I have to do the same as well.”

You laughed and nodded. “Thank you. See you all next time?” Everyone sent you their own greetings, and with that, you walked out of the bar towards Daryl's truck. On the way to the vehicle, your husband almost tripped over his own feet, eliciting a loud, amused laugh from you. It was rare for you to see Daryl even a slight bit drunk in your presence, so seeing him in this state was a bit amusing. As long as he didn't hurt himself or others in this intoxicated state, you wouldn't be mad at him. He deserved to let go every once in a while.

The drive back to the apartment was spent in relative silence, save for Daryl's hiccups. However, the same couldn't be said for the trek up the stairs to your apartment. Daryl kept stumbling and swearing every time he almost fell, and you couldn't stop giggling at him. When you finally reached your apartment, you gently pushed Daryl to your bedroom and tried to help him out of his vest, but he protested and pushed your hands away.

“Baby, what are you doing?”

“Dun' call me tha', and keep yer hands to yerself,” Daryl grumbled, slowly starting to unbutton his vest himself. “I have a girl already. M'sure yer nice and all, but I ain't interested.”

You laughed lightly in realization and shook your head fondly. “Well, at least I know you're loyal, but I never doubted that to begin with.” You walked forward again and gently cupped Daryl's cheek, his foggy blue eyes meeting your eyes. “Babe, it's me.”

Realization dawned on Daryl, and he gave you a lopsided smile. “Hey.” He turned his head and kissed your wrist, his kisses trailing all the way up your arm until he reached your collarbone, and then your neck. “So damn gorgeous. M'the luckiest bastard on the planet.”

You giggled and gently pushed Daryl away before he could kiss you. “Slow down, cowboy. There won't be any of that stuff tonight.”

Daryl slowly nodded as he allowed himself to be pushed onto the bed, barely noticing you prying his boots off of his feet. “Righ'. M'sorry, Sunshine. Didn't mean to make ya uncomfortable.”

You smiled at him and shook your head, sitting down next to him on the bed. You gently treaded your fingers through his hair, a contented sigh leaving his lips. “You didn't make me uncomfortable,” you began softly. “It's just not the best idea to do that right now. You're drunk and I don't intend on taking advantage of you like that.”

“Ya wouldn't,” Daryl denied, closing hi eyes under your gentle touch. “I wanna make ya feel good.”

“Not tonight, okay?” you gently urged him, continuing your gentle caress through his hair. “You need to sleep. You're gonna need it. You're gonna be so hungover tomorrow.” When you didn't get a response from your husband, you frowned and looked down at him. “Dar?” A light snore came as a response, eliciting a fond chuckle from you. “Goodnight, love.” You sighed as you stood up, shaking your head with another chuckle. “You're really gonna hate yourself for getting drunk when you wake up.”

That was the understatement of the century. Luckily, Daryl had you, his considerate, beautiful wife who loved him beyond belief, to help him get over his hangover. And if the price of having you take care of him was some light teasing about his drunken state, so be it.

©dixons-sunshine 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified, adapted or translated to any other site or platform without evidence of my given consent.

[itstheimpossibledream]

Bam

Pairing : Jungkook and reader(y/n)

Word count: 3856

Summary: You drop off Bam from his grooming appointment and finally meet his owner. From there it's sexual tension city !

Warnings : Uprotected sex, domJK, smut , oral, all the things

“Bam!Get out of the tub- Get o-” 

The doberman’s eyebrows knitted and he seemed to question why it wouldn’t be fine for him to stay in the bathing tub all day. It wouldn’t have bothered you as much if you didn’t have the most splitting headache,your body begging for the day to be over. The rest of the groom went by without contest. Your coworker had already left for the night so, it was your job to finish up Bam’s look and drop him back off at home. You pulled up to the intimidating building and Bam eased out of the car, leading the way through the halls to his place. Your apron was dusted with an assortment of dog hairs and wet splotches where dogs had shaken to their heart’s content. You had groomed Bam a few times. He was becoming a regular client , and you chuckled to yourself, always finding it funny that people with short haired breeds would choose to get their dog groomed instead of doing it at home themselves. Must be rich you snort to yourself raising your hand to knock on the door. Not that you were mad. After his first groom, the owner had requested you. What you did to make him look so much different than other groomers you had no idea but, you were grateful for the client as well as the consistently generous tip. Even if you never knew who it was coming from. The door opened and the music in the background was much louder than it had seemed in the hallway. He was young and surprisingly attractive. His t-shirt fit loose but, you can see the canyon between his pec muscles through the shirt leaving no illusion to the fact that he was incredibly fit. You wanted desperately to reach your hand out and run your fingers over the hard mounds of flesh but, alas your professionalism was unmatched. 

He clears his voice “Thank you.” he extends a colorful arm out to grab Bam’s leash, the large doberman moved accordingly; completely unphased by the facial symmetry of his owner. You feel yourself staring at the tattoos but, each time you think to look away another picture catches your interest. He uses his other hand to put his glasses on his head,creating a temporary headband.

“Was he good?” he asks. While every bone in your body wanted to tell the truth you found yourself unable to disappoint the light in his eyes. The slight dimple, the questioning smile, he was ridiculously good looking. “Yea- ummm he was great !”  You lie shifting yourself in the hallway, finally realizing that you have to pee and your headache has not let up.

“ you okay?” He asks noticing your attention change.

“Mmmmhmmm.”  you turn to leave but, find yourself immediately turning back. “Actually would you mind if I use your bathroom?” You’re almost embarrassed to ask but you convince yourself to be cool. Everyone has to use the bathroom, be an adult. But let’s be honest ,your only thought  was how grateful you were right now that you only had to pee.

“ Ofcourse !” He smiles backing out of the doorway. He clearly thought there was something seriously wrong with you, if asking to use the bathroom was that much of a relief to him. He pointed in the direction of the bathroom and you ran. Embarrassed but aware there was a time stamp on this activity. You relieved yourself quickly; washing your hands and checking your appearance in the mirror and then searching the medicine cabinet for something that would help your headache. You were partially annoyed that you hadn’t found anything and the fancy ass cabinet/mirrored door was so elaborate that it slipped through your hand and crashed into place. You double checked yourself in the mirror and decided to just go with it. Post work you was not your hottest you but, there was really nothing you could do about it now. You chide yourself for that less than helpful pep talk and head out the door. 

As you entered the room he turned from the counter gently placing the small glass of soju on the island infront of you and then leaning on the countertop behind him. 

“What’s that for?” you ask a smile creeping into your cheeks with the thought that he might want to spend more time with you. 

“You look like you need it.” he jokes, extending his arm to grab the other glass that he had filled for himself.

“Cheers!” he smiles like a little kid and downs the liquor. You taste yours as well. He pulls his lips back with a short intake of breath before leaning forward, forearms on the island, bangs beginning to fall free of their glass barrier and floating into his eyes.

“So did that wash down whatever you stole?” his eyes were intent on you studying your face. 

“I mean I know I don’t have anything good.” he says, turning to pour again. 

“I didn’t take anything. I just had a headache and was looking-” you trail off. 

“Ooooo. well you could have just asked!” he brushes past you and goes into the bathroom laughing. He comes back out with the container gingerly twists off the top and you watch as the veins in his fingers work delicately to pull out two pills for you. Your eyes shift to Bam on his dog bed squeaking his toy, happily ignoring the humans in the room. 

“Here.” he rolls the pills into your hand and you mumble a thank you. He reaches across the counter for his glass and the bottom of his shirt rides up the smallest bit. You roll your eyes because it's all you can do to keep from tattling on yourself with stares. AVERT YOUR EYES is all your brain is thinking. He hands you the small glass. 

“Wasn’t this yours?” you ask.

“Scared of drinking after me?” he plays with you, stepping in closer. 

“I don’t know you but, I don’t trust you.” you say mimicking his action and not breaking eye contact. You wonder if it was too much but, you can tell by his body language he was more focused on continuing the conversation. 

“I don’t have diseases, if that’s what you're worried about.” he turns and crosses the room petting Bam on the dog bed. 

“Says the wealthy, hot man in his 20’s” you snort taking a sip to wash down your medicine. Now, you make a grimace. The alcohol and the ibuprofen create a disgusting fizz on your tongue. 

“I’m hot and wealthy you hear that?” he mimics, talking to Bam.It wasn’t like you didn’t stand by your words but, you felt the heat rising in your cheeks as he said it. You look down at the crystal glass in your hand, your thumb picking at the design. 

“You can take off your apron if you want.” He says finishing a scratch on the top of Bam’s head, Bam to invested in his toy to notice. 

“ O ! Yea…” you begin pulling your apron over your head. You feel it get caught in your hair and almost die of embarrassment. He notices your need for assistance and quickly closes the space between you. You hear him let out a small laugh before you feel his warm hands on top of yours. 

“Let me try.” He says calmly.

You huff and put your arms by your side. Acutely aware of the fact that you seemed like a stubborn child but, he soon had you released, popping your hair tie in the process.

“You broke it on purpose.” You joke in a deadpan voice as he presses the broken fibers into your palm. You look up at him and he walks backwards towards his soju again.

“It’s pretty down.” He says winking before he turns to the counter. He moves so quickly you almost weren’t sure if you saw it.

“So you use Bam to lure women back to your home and kill them with compliments?”

“  mmmmm.You started that.” he says between swallows. 

“Well don’t get used to it.” You say. “ I’m usually not that nice.”

He snorts at that. “ you work with dogs, I find that hard to believe.” his glasses fall onto his face but, he doesn’t seem to mind.

“ Ahhhhh there’s where you’re wrong.” You smile “ The dogs don’t care if you’re nice, Just consistent. Plus, they’re easy to get along with. They don’t talk.”

“ You think I only intend to talk with you? “ he asks, raising his eyebrows over his glasses. The act itself was enough to make your breath catch in your throat but you somehow manage to stay calm and collected. For a moment it felt as though all the air had left the room. You quietly held your glass, picking again at its intricate design. Listening to the music of his footsteps as he gently pads his way to stand in front of you. 

“Do you think I poured you a drink and invited you in, only to talk to you ?” You finally looked up from your glass, he toyed with the piercing on his lower a boyish smile playing on his face.

“Am I not a riveting conversationalist?” you say blankly.

He laughs over your dry humor, using it as an excuse to move closer to you.

“You definitely are.” he promises,stepping closer into you. You can’t help but smile at his smile.Your eyes flicker up to him and you find yourself screaming ‘just do it!’ in your head.

He swings his hand to the crook of your neck  and pulls you in for a kiss. It’s simpler than you expected, soft but confident. He holds you like that for a while, his mouth working on convincing you, his hand holding your neck and playing in your hair. His other hand comes to the small of your back and you finally feel contact between your lower region and his. He goes slow, pressing into you to test out the levels of your comfort. You focus on the kiss deepening and at the right moment he pulls back and you're able to bite his lip a bit, piercing the opposite side of his mouth. He smiles, bringing his other arm up to your throat, choking you a little bit. His kiss makes your stomach flip. You’re  lost in the comfort of his arms but somehow manage to work your hands into his hair. He holds your hip and slowly starts to grind into you. Instinctively you let out a moan , which causes him to break into another smile. 

“I’m that good ?” He whispers in your ear. Unable to tolerate his smugness you grab a handful of his hair and pull. 

‘O? Really ?’ He asks. You look up at him , unable to respond but not letting up on your grip either. It almost feels made up but, you swear you can see his eyes darken. ‘Let go’ he commands , voice lower than normal. You open your hand and he pulls his shirt over his head slowly only momentarily breaking eye contact with you. ‘Race You!’ He says, throwing the t-shirt at you and you run behind him practically chasing him into his bedroom. He spins around, scooping you up as you run through the threshold of the room.He holds you so you have no option but to wrap your legs around him so as not to fall. ‘Good’ he whispers , pressing his forehead to yours. You knew, it was too smooth.  You knew he must have pulled that move a million times before. But, at that moment you didn’t care. He must have felt the hesitation in your body though, you momentarily stiffened and he lets you go. Setting you down,you take a few steps back and watch as he removes his socks and pants. He sits there in his underwear,his thighs thick through his clean Calvin Kleins.

“Your turn”  he says, peeking through the bangs of his hair, and folding his glasses on the nightstand. He cocks his head to the side and for a second you can tell he doesn���t know if you’ll oblige him or not. He leans back on his forearms, lip playing with his piercing and the view alone is enough to make you commit to fucking him as long as you physically can. Taking off your shirt makes him illicit a deep hmmm. You feel your stomach flip again at his approval. But, the jokester inside you wins,you turn around and shoot him an overly sexy look. You unhook your bra and let it float to the rug of his room. 

“Whooooo Hot!” he cheers you on. You put your all into it, quickly jumping out of your jeans and turning your back to him. You hook your fingers into the sides of your underwear.  

“Come On….Sell it !” he screams jokingly. You slowly shift it down your hips until they fall to the floor. You turn your back to face him, your hands barely covering all of your chest.

He tuts with his tongue “show me” his voice is soft, as he reaches out a hand towards you. You step forward, taking his hand and revealing yourself fully to him. He sighs, bringing you in close. You get on your knees in front of  him. Somewhat out of want but partially out of habit. 

He frowns down at you .

“What are you doing?” his voice is low and gentle. You look up at him, eyes wide and are almost embarrassed by the position you found yourself in. Completely naked on a stranger’s floor after a bit of conversation and one drink. He must be reading the self judgment on your face because he lifts you up, placing his forehead on yours again.

“Hey - we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” 

You relish in the intimacy of being this open to an absolute stranger. 

“O there’s nothing I don’t want to do right now.” you whisper to him. 

He laughs and the dimples in his cheeks deepen,making it impossible for you not to return his smile. You kiss him and he immediately gives in, lending you confidence that shatters all previous reservations. 

“Let’s just go slower “ he says, breaking from you and sitting at the edge of the mattress. 

“Ride” he says, slapping his thigh. A shiver races throughout your entire body and you feel your stomach flip as you look at him. He’s serious, you can tell. You slowly close the space between you, lifting one leg to straddle his. You look up at him, face innocent. You kiss him again, this time grabbing him by the throat and adding the slightest bit of pressure. You pull back and he is giving a wide, toothy smile like a kid. “Ride me , please” he jests with a lifting of his eyebrow. You allow him to pull you in again; this time as you kiss you find yourself slowly grinding into his thigh. He lets out a low growl in response and your stomach flutters. He sits his large hand in the crook of your hip and helps to move you on his leg. He can hear your moans becoming higher pitched and right before you get to release all over his leg he lifts you up, swinging your leg to his hip. Now you’re fully straddling him and his hands cup your face as he kisses you.  

“I’m sorry I couldn’t wait any longer.” he smiles , you lean in to kiss him but, he pulls back, playing  coy. 

“I thought you couldn’t wait any longer,” you joke.

“I just wanted to see you beg.” he says , lightheartedly.

“ Well I won’t” you say teasingly as he slips a hand between your bodies, smacking at your pussy. You jump a bit at the surprise and his other hand rests at the back of your neck.You omit a low hum as his hand moves in between your legs, coaxing a moan from your body. He smiles, pleased with his work.

“Good girl…. Good girl. Now beg.” You bite your lip, willing to moan but not give in to his demands yet. He uses his hand on your neck to angle your forehead to meet his. You kiss and his lips are unbearably soft. He finally uses two fingers to enter you and your breath hitches in your throat. You rest a hand on his chest and use it as leverage to help you ride his hand. He praises you while you move your hips faster, chasing that feeling. You feel yourself building up to it, almost tasting a touch of ecstasy, right when he removes his hand entirely. Your voice betrays you as you let out a sound in disappointment. He kisses you, soft and slow, holding your neck but extending a thumb to your chin to run the finger over your bottom lip. He sits it on your lip, slowly moving it in and out of your mouth, you suck it instinctively. 

“Say please baby.” He kisses you again, and you break the contact to whisper “please, please “ into his lips. As if making a pact with the devil , he immediately flips you over, removing his underwear and carries you into hell. He is a flurry of creamy skin, tattoos and dark hair as he positions his head between your legs beginning with a slow and consistent lick , eventually building to a mouth and hand combination that makes your legs shake. You lock your hand in his hair, grabbing tightly  and he laughs up at you reminding you to “be nice.” But he doesn't seem to actually care as you go back to suffocating him in your heat. After your third or fourth orgasm he decides it’s finally time for him to enter you. He speaks, sweetly , angling himself at your opening. His smile holds a mirror to the little boy he once was and while your attraction to him is unparalleled you can’t help but find him trustworthy, to feel as though you know that little boy would grow to be the kind of man who wants to keep you safe. 

“I got you , I got you.” he whispers into your ear before trailing his lips down your neck. He can feel your fighting for control of your body again, after coming down from the high of your last O. Your eyes roll to the back of your head and for a moment it feels like floating, him holding you, him filling you up, his voice whispering comfort to you. You watch from below him, as the veins in his neck bulge in the pursuit of his bliss. 

“Mmmm” he seems to say to himself , unaware that every sound he makes, assists in sending you over the edge. He held you down by your neck and you scratched at his back while he pushed into you a few more times, creating a space for himself. Carving out a moment of comfort and oneness between the two of you . His eyes closed, and his brows knit together as he pressed his forehead to yours.

“You feel amazing.” he whispers, into a smile. 

You kiss him and you feel the shiver that runs through his body. You’re momentarily pleased that he's just as surprised as you are by your physical connection. 

“I want to make you cum now.” he says ,sure of himself.

“Oh sooooooo confident !” you joke before he grabs your hips and swings you on top of him. With your hands on his chest you press yourself up and down bouncing on him. He holds the crook of your hip, his tatted arm coming up to grab you by the neck.

You dig your nails into his chest and he tightens his grip on your throat, challenging you as you wind your hips on him. You lean forward and whisper to him “I think I’m going to be the one to make you cum” before sucking on the skin at the side of his neck. 

He groans, letting go of your throat to run a hand through his hair. You lean back up to allow him a better view of you while you continue to ride him and you can see the resolve in his face beginning to break. His bicep looks large against the headboard and taking in his body from up top is too overwhelming. His hand makes its  way to your chest, gripping at your breast, your nipple nestled safely in between his fingers. It begins quiet but, it doesn’t escape your attention. He keeps closing and reopening his big brown eyes, his chest rising and falling with his moans as he lets you ride him. You’ve fully checked out on pleasing him and are focused on your own pleasure which seems to only intensify the sensations for him. You cannot watch your mouth as you near your orgasm and find yourself letting out a slew of curse words as you use him to reach your apex. His moans get louder and seem partially controlled until he feels you cumming. The contractions around him are too much for him to bear and he lets out a guttural noise you had not yet heard from him. He closes his eyes, head titled back towards the headboard trying to steady his breathing as he recovers from spilling inside you. You’re panting on top of him but find yourself unable to move and grateful for his supportive hands at your hips as you bring your lips down to meet his. 

“My god.” he exhales , and you laugh down at him through the wisps of his hair that had fallen in between you. He joins you chuckling, catching your breath as Bam paws at the bottom of the bedroom door. Not in a bad way but, just enough to let you know he is there. Which only makes you both laugh even harder. “I don’t want to move.” he whispers.

“ Well I think  Bam would disagree.” Your eyes read his face, trying to sear the memory of this intimacy into your brain forever. 

“Well Bam gets to see your beautiful face every few weeks, he can wait a little longer.” He smiles, leaning in to kiss you but you move away. His dimples deepen, attracted by your unwillingness to give in so easily. You turn your eyes to Bam’s pawing at the door. 

“Fine.” he rolls his eyes rolling out of you and off of the bed. You watch as the muscles in his back contract as he redresses. He crosses in front of his record collection, coming back to the side of the bed to kiss you on your forehead.

“I’m not done with you yet.” his smile is cheeky as he leaves the room, you can hear the excitement in Bam’s footsteps as they race down the hallway. It was by far your most unprofessional thought of the day but, you found yourself secretly praying he never would be done with you. 

[high-on-the-dying-sun]

London After Midnight CKY crew x Fem!reader

Warnings: bit of "suggestive" mentions of adult content and grass AKA weed

INBOX OPEN FOR REQUEST

Words: 1,215

London was quite a beautiful place. It was large with beautiful architecture. But of course you and the boys were destined to destroy it.

You, Bam, Ryan, Dico, Rabb and Rake all were shacked up in a small cheap rundown cottage. Bam stood by an open window with some type of melon in his hands. “Dude! What are you doing?” Ryan asked, “waiting for a victim.” Bam Declared. Isn't that just nice. “Oh dude look somebody's coming drop it! Drop It!” Dico edged on and right as the person walked under the window Bam dropped the Melon. And you only made it close enough to the window in time to see the aftermath of it. The person underneath freaked out and was cursing out Bam and Dico. “Man we have been here for not even a day! Don't get us kicked out of the goddamn country!” Ryan screamed at Bam. This week is going to be killer.

Midnight. You all decided to go out to a bar, well “pub” as the Londoners called it. But thanks to Dico doing his mocking accent you were all thrown out rather violently. But that's not going to stop any of you.

Bam was on his skateboard doing tricks as we followed his lead. It was painfully late in the morning now and chaos had just begun to brew. You all shortly arrived at a new hotel because someone - Bam to be exact got you all kicked out of the last. You can only wonder how long this one would last. And guessing by the current events maybe 12 hours at the most.

You and Bam were now skating in the hotel's hallways looking for Rabbs' room. You two had come up with a plan to prank every one. Finding his room you slowly opened his door. Rabb was curled into a ball snuggling up to his pillows holding onto it as if it was a person. Damn, that's sad - relatable but sad. Bam made his way into the bathroom and scooped up a cup of toilet water. you stood by with the camera in your hands. “Dude, the water had piss in it! This is gonna be great!” “This is going to be gross.” you corrected “you filmin?” Bam whispered; you nodded at him. “I'm Bam and this is the potty mouth.” “the potty mouth?” “It's a working title!” Bam explained “anyway - I'm Bam and this is the potty mouth!  he whispered, he crouched down to Rabb slowly opening his mouth and dumping the cup into his mouth. Rabb awoke with a gasp inhaling the piss water.  you and Bam jumped up into the air with laughter “What the fuck?” Rabb Coughed out as you and Bam ran down the hall to Dico’s room. 

You and Bam had a rather helpful prank for Dico in your eyes. you see Dico has started balding at a rather young age. So you and Bam thought you would help him out a bit. “Bam take the camera.” you directed. Bam took the camera away from you and silently you walked into the room's kitchen and found a pair of scissors; walking back to Bam and Dico as Bam was getting close up shots of Dico’s sleeping face and balding head. Slowly you kneeled down next to the both of them and Bam pointed the camera at you. “Hi, I'm Y/N and this is midnight barbers.” You announced and started to clip Dico’s hair and Bam put out his hand to grab  it and put it into a small plastic bag that smelled faintly of weed. “Oh yeah this is fantastic!” Bam exclaimed 

After cutting Dico’s hair and learning that he was a surprisingly heavily sleeper it was off to Ryan's room for the both of you, but that needed to wait. You went back to your room and grabbed some tape and some green hair dye. “Y/N let's get this show on the road!” Bam yelled, shoving the camera in your face. “alright!” you told him and walked away but turned around suddenly and hit Bam in the stomach. “Ow, you bitch!” he said, doubling over in pain as you laugh. “That's pay back.” “for what?” “you know what.” you informed.

After fighting with Bam for a few minutes that left you with a soon to be an absolutely haggard bruise on your thigh in the next few hours. You two finally got to Ryan's room. You took the camera from Bam to film him. He took the bag of Dico’s hair out of his back pocket. “Im Bam and this is mustachio.” he said as you passed him the tape. He got down on his knees and pulled out a few strands of Dico’s hair, putting tape on it and sticking it onto Ryan's face. Ryan twitched a few times that made both you and Bam jump. Finally yall had Ryans face covered to make it look like he had a beard. “That looks horrible.” you say to Bam:  it's not that Ryan looks bad with a beard it was the fact that Ryan's hair was blond and Dico’s hair was almost black. “It could be worse, it could always be worse.” Bam said, turning on his heel and walking away eager to get to your last victim.

“Hey, do you got gloves for this?” Bam asked as you were  walking to Rake's room. “Absolutely not and you're doing it. I'm not turning into the wicked witch of the west today. “ you retorted. 

Finally you got to Rake’s room. He’d gotten a room at the other side of the hotel. He was probably trying to get away from everybody's hijinks. But it was Bam there was no escaping him. The only way you got out of it was to help him. Once you got into the door you didn’t find Rake in bed but on the couch sleeping sitting up. “Perfect, he's just in the position I want him in.” Bam whispers, putting the camera on the table. “That sounds gay.” you committed but he just ignored it. “I'm Bam and this is the mad scientist” you rolled your eyes at that. Given the fact Rake hangs out with you and the Jackass guys it was common to forget that he was an actual scientist. Bam took out the electric green hair dye and started to coat Rake’s hair in it. It was mostly patchy and uneven. But it's gonna be great in the end. “Wait Bam how are we going to wash this out?” you asked as Bam got up and whipped his hands on his pants. “That is not are problem anymore; Y/N look! It looks like I fisted a goblin!” He said, shoving his hands into your face. 

It was around 4 in the morning now. You and Bam were sharing a room so you two could come up with your plans. You were laying down comfortably now nursing a warm beer you found laying around the room. Without warning Bam came running out of the shower and  jumped up onto the bed making you spill the beer “Bam!” you yelled all he did was smile. “Thanks for helping tonight.” Bam said, wrapping his arm around you and pulling you into a side hug.

[rendy-a]

For the follower event, can I have an arm-wrestling scene after the dance with rival Sebek? Well, unless you can think of a better battle scene?

A battle scene, that made me laugh.  This fic is shorter, but it was very fun to write.  I hope it makes you smile.

“How dare you!” you shout after his retreating back.  Sebek turns and points at you dramatically, “HOW DARE I?  HOW DARE YOU!”  Then his eyes waver and you think for a moment he might cry before he speaks, “First you take the Young Master to the dance, then you steal the last dance with him and now you want to walk him home as well?  PREPOSTEROUS!”  You knock his pointed finger away and remind him, “I’m his date!  Of course, I’m going to walk him home!”  Lightning crackles as Sebek replies, “I’M YOUNG MASTER’S PERSONAL GUARD AND I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!”

You were fed up with the disagreeable fae.  You’d tried so many times to win over Malleus’s friends, but Sebek refused to meet you halfway.  Or any distance at all.  “I don’t see Silver over here whining,” you grumble as you sweep the room for your date, looking to abscond with him before Sebek can cause you more trouble.  “Silver is out patrolling the corridors for Young Master’s safety!”  Then he sneers down at you, “That is something a human such as yourself could never understand.”  That was it, you were done trying to play nice.

“I challenge you,” you whisper softly.  You’d spoken it quietly, but you could tell from the sudden intake of his breath and the widening of his eyes that he’d heard you.  “What was that?” Sebek asks in disbelief.  You slam your palm down on the lunch table laid out with the remnants of celebratory snacks and shout, “I CHALLENGE YOU!”  At this Sebek is taken aback.  He scoffs at you, “As if you could challenge me.  What sort of martial arts do you even know?”  You point at the table, “I’m not talking swords, I’m talking arm wrestling.  Right here, right now.”  

You see his widened eyes sweep from you to the table and back.  His mouth hangs open in shock and a slight flush crosses his cheeks.  What?  Was he embarrassed to arm wrestle you?  “I’m not backing down.  If you refuse the challenge, then you lose.”  You stick up your chin haughtily and attempt to stare him down.  He scoffs again but comes to the table, “As if I’d be afraid of losing to a weak human.”  Then he sits down, plants his elbow and offers you a gloved hand across the table.  You look at him in disdain.  “Take off your glove.  I’m not going to have you crying that it wasn’t fair when you lose because you couldn’t get a good grip.” 

He leans back and the flush on his cheeks returns.  His mouth opens and closes as he searches for words but nothing emerges.  You sit and extend your bare hand into position and roll your eyes, “Its not that big a deal.  Let’s go already!”  Sebek snaps his mouth closed in a disapproving frown.  He considers your hand for a moment before he sighs and removes his glove, tucking it carefully in his pocket.  Then he sets his elbow back on the table, waggles his fingers in a sort of hand stretch before extending his hand to grasp your own.  “You understand that you can’t possibly win,” he says calmly as he stares you directly in the eyes. 

Honestly, this is a concern you also have.  Sebek is large and intimating when it comes to strength, but you have determination.  You can’t just let him steal your date from you!  You must win.  With that fire burning inside, you shout to begin, and the contest starts in earnest.  Sebek is surprisingly cautious, choosing to not use all his strength at once but instead to guard against your full assault.  You push with all your might and DO make some headway but the crocodile fae isn’t defeated by this.  You make the mistake of catching his eye and know he sees your fatigue in the glance.  You frown and a bead of sweat trickles down your forehead.  You had to finish this somehow, you just had to!

Bam!  Your hand hits the table so suddenly you are caught by surprise.  You look at Sebek and find him equally unprepared for this outcome.  Standing between you, pinning down a hand with each of his own is a smiling Lilia.  “Kids these days,” he mischievously comments.  Then he shrugs his shoulders in an exaggerated fashion and declares, “It looks like little old me gets to walk Malleus home.  What a shame for you two.”  Then, with a wicked smile, he bounces off to collect his liege. 

You and Sebek can only gape at each other, overwhelmed by your sudden loss.  The you look at your rival and declare, “That was SO COOL!”  An eager grin crosses Sebek’s face as though the compliment was for him, “Master Lilia is most skilled at all manner of contests.  It’s a thousand years too soon for you to plan to challenge him!”  You laugh with him and gaze admiringly at the departed fae senior, “Where did he even come from?  I didn’t sense him approach at all.”  Sensing an opening, Sebek launches into some reminiscences from his training days with Silver and Lilia. 

As Lilia escorts a somewhat confused Malleus back to the dorm, you and Sebek trail them, trading stories all the way.  Somewhere between the cafeteria and the dorm, you swap over from gushing about Lilia to being jointly amazed over Malleus.  By the time you wave goodbye at the drawbridge of the dorm, you and Sebek have become much better friends.  You’ve already made plans to come over for tea and listen to more of his training stories from back home.  In fact, it almost feels like your rivalry is over until you ask, who gets to be President of the Malleus and Lilia fan club?  Lightning crackles once more as you battle Sebek for dominance.  Lilia chuckles and pushes Malleus off toward the stairs and bed, ignoring the budding battle below.  He thinks to himself, ‘Let them fight.  After all, rivals can make for the best of friends or even lovers.’  Down below in the lounge of Diasomnia, something was definitely starting but as to what, only time would tell.

[kamilah-is-queen]

Her

Pairing: Ina Kingsley (Hispanic) x MC (Sofia) x Poppy Min-Sinclair

Warning: Language

Tagging: Tagging: @ta-sayeed, @kamilahtopme, @nydeiri, @rhonda-sayeed, @helpconfusedpersonhere, @millasayeed, @vonda-be-real, @livvynka, @queenkamilah, @leenasayeed, @skylarkxxyy, @choicesgrp, @ilove-kamilah-sayeed, @justavampirefan, @iamsimpforpoppy, @friendlybuddy

Author’s Note: At last, the introduction of Ina Kingsley’s fandom onto this page! 🎉 This is going to be a medium length series. Each and every comment, like, and reblog is special to me so come and support the dying fandoms, and let me know your thoughts. Also, message or comment if you’d like to be added/removed from the tag list.

What’s more refreshing than a crisp autumn day in New England, where the leaves have matured into a beautiful honey-brown and a delightful breeze cruises the skies, especially on this sunny day.

What’s even more thrilling, for Sofia at least, is it’s the start of her college story, at none other than the private, posh, and oh so exotic Belvoire University. This school is nothing but a school playground for the entitled little princes and princesses of New York.

It’s a circus, really. The horror stories weigh heavier than the school’s prestige and accomplishments but who the heck cares? If it’s expensive, it’s got to be good.

Thankfully, Sofia isn’t of the norm. Growing up in a rural town in Kansas taught her that money isn’t everything, persistence and respect is, first and foremost. And if you’re going to go places “girlie, you better work your damn ass off” as her mother likes to put it, politely.

So, this should be a breeze. Fitting in with young adults who have worked not a minute in their lives, who have never been generous to donate even a small share of their inherited wealth to those that genuinely need it?

Yeah, it’ll be a breeze.

Or at least that’s what Sofia thought.

Map in hand, the young cowgirl set off to class in her red flannel shirt, the buttons revealing just enough of her cleavage underneath and her bootcut jeans, a style she never got tired of showing off.

It was surprisingly a short, precise route to her first period from the car park, prompting a smile to dawn on Sofia’s face before she suddenly noticed all the curious eyes, directly on her.

Dirt poor…

“Wait, they’re talking about me?” She internalized.

Stupid cowgirl…

“Hey! I’m not a-“

Horse shit…

The calloused fists of Sofia’s clenched tightly together, so much so the tips of her knuckles turned white. Her eyes scanned from figure to figure, as they all laughed and snarkily insulted her under their breath.

God, she just wanted to sort them straight. Who were they to judge her so quickly? She hadn’t even made any companions, and already her status was lowered, to the very, very bottom.

“Hey, hey you! Shit face!”

Chad, a 6’4, brute of a jock snapped around to meet Sofia’s furious gaze. “You talking to me, you horse turd?”

Oh was Sofia getting riled up.

“Yeah I’m talking to you, you walking hunk of junk.” Knowing Sofia, she never backed down from a fight. Never. If she learnt anything from the farm, it’s that the fittest survive and the weakest don’t.

The cowgirl shoved aside her backpack, and stormed towards Chad, her face full of fury and her fists ready to strike.

“You better watch your mouth little bit-“

BAM!

A sturdy body punch to the liver.

BAM BAM!

One feisty uppercut to the jaw which left Chad in a state of dizziness, before she knocked him unconscious with a powerful left hook.

A sea of phones whipped out immediately to capture the incident, definitely destined to make the school’s breaking news the same afternoon. “Holy shit dude, she knocked Chad out!”

Murmurs and shocked gasps came from the enormous wave of students, who flooded in to witness the scene. But only one girl led the pack, Poppy… Min… Sinclair.

“Ew, get out of my way, creep.” She pushed her way to the front and gasped dramatically at the sight of Chad face flat on the ground, with cowgirl Sofia just behind, who was pulling her back back on her shoulders.

“Ugh, excuse me? What the hell just happened?” Her high pitched tone caught Sofia’s attention, her blue eyes flicking up to meet Poppy’s own. “He got what he deserved, I don’t take nobody’s bullshit.” Her southern accent was thick like her mama’s buttermilk biscuits, the velvety tone that ensued, surprisingly, sent a shiver down Poppy’s spine.

“And who the hell are you..?” Poppy’s eyes raked across Sofia’s muscled figure, her throat choked for air the further her eyes reached.

“Sofia, Sofia Nassib.”

Poppy’s eyes flicked fearlessly to Sofia’s lips, as she slowly pressed closer, and closer, until she was just centimeters from Sofia’s bronzy face.

“You better not do anything stupid like that again, do you understand me?” Poppy’s sharply filed nails raked down, and up the cowgirl’s arm, instinctively drawing goosebumps on the girl as soon as her nails touched Sofia’s skin.

“I said, do you understand me?” She gripped Sofia’s collar and tugged her even closer, Sofia’s neck bending in the process to reach her small height. “Or what?”

A challenging, daunting game was yet to be played and neither wanted to back down for the seat of power.

“Well, he’s my boyfriend of course. I’ll handle you like I’ve handled every other bold little bitch whose stood in my way.”

Poppy never once stuttered, nor did she even hesitate to slash her nails across Sofia’s face to permanently remind her of the incident, and the trouble the cowgirl was yet to face.

“See you later Farmsville!”

———————————— 1 PM ———————————

Professor Kingsley, room 660… Sofia read off the blue transcript in her bruised and bloodied hand. She peeked up to the find the classroom door open, with the lights dimmed inside.

Peculiarly, Sofia looked around before entering the somewhat dark classroom, the lack of artificial light setting her in the mood for a well deserved nap.

She picked a seat in the middle row, a decent distance from the Professor Kingsley’s sleek desk which was just a few spaces ahead.

After settling in comfortably, she took in the awe inspecting decor of the classroom. Maps as large as dining tables filled the walls, marked to shit with photos and cute little captions to go along, as well as posters of Winston Churchill and FDR dancing together in sailor uniforms, in a silly political cartoon.

Sofia was so intrigued by it all that she failed to feel the warm palm that rested upon her forearm.

Ahem…

She quickly spun around to lay her eyes upon, who else than Professor (Mommy) Kingsley. The professor’s makeup exaggerated the shimmering light in her chestnut brown orbs, a sight that had Sofia fluttering inside. It didn’t stop when her eyes quickly glanced over the tight fitting, racing green pencil skirt and blazer that the professor had on, purposely to flaunt her muscled calfs and hips.

“I couldn’t help but notice the wound on your cheek, are you alright sweetheart?”

Goddamn, her voice sounded like pure honey…

Sofia quickly blinged out of the daze and touched her cheek, wincing at the pain as she felt fresh blood drip down her flesh. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just a little incident this morning.” She put on her best smile, her dimple smile that she was renowned for.

“Honey you don’t look fine, oh come with me and don’t refuse.” Professor Kingsley had already set off before her student could answer, as she searched through her desk drawers frantically.

“Your classroom decor is incredible, by the way.” Sofia stated to break the silence, looking around again to avoid any further embarrassment.

“Why thank you darling, no one ever appreciates a historian’s passion for a well-decorated office and classroom. It just… brings everything to life, you know?”

She’s so cute when she rambles… said the little teeny voice inside her brain.

“I think you’ve done a fantastic job.” Sofia goofily smiled again, Professor Kingsley offering a broad grin back before placing a small cleansing kit in the cowgirl’s palm.

“It’s an anti-infecting wipe, soothing cream and a bandaid. I’ve got plenty so holler if you need some more for that wound.”

“By the way… what’s your name again?” Said Kingsley.

“Sofia Nassib, Ma’am. Nice to meet you.”

Professor Kingsley’s eyes crinkled slowly, grinning again, “likewise. Now off you go, go patch your cheek up darlin’. Don’t want that getting even worse now do we?”

“No Ma’am, we don’t.” Sofia, clutching the little packet made her way towards the door of the classroom before halting abruptly in the doorway.

“Well, well, well… lookie here.”

Not Poppy!!!

[just-here-for-iolaus]

Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur

The great HTLJ/XWP/YH (re)watch continues!

Real talk, I watched this March 11 (it is now June 20) and then some things happened but I'm back now to type up my thoughts and my notes don't currently make any sense, so I'm going to have to skim through the movie again to remind myself.

Before I reorient myself, I want to highlight my favourite no-context notes I made to myself:

HORSE

Dei looks HOT tits out at dinner lmao

CLips show

Now to remind myself what the hell this movie from 3 months ago was...

OH RIGHT. Okay.

So these chuckleheads traded cows for a map to this place, and they think they're gonna get the treasure of the god or something. I immediately noticed that the door was locked from the outside, and (to his credit) one of them also realizes this halfway through trying to open it, and they have a moment of debate about opening the door, but sadly the titular Minotaur busts out!

From my notes: "That guy fainted haha" Seriously IDK why the one guy just fainting while the other runs for his life tickles me, but it does.

I think the "HORSE" note was just about the massive horse that Hercules has at home because that was my reaction on this rewatch as well haha.

Hercules's sons are fighting, and when Herc tells them the rule is no fighting they argue with him that he fights people all the time. Herc says he only does that to keep people from getting hurt, and when he asks if they understand they're just like "No" and shake their heads like "you make no sense" and honestly that's such a real scene kid reaction. "I am choosing not to accept this rule, thanks!" XD

We then get the first of many extended flashbacks to prior movies.

HILARIOUSLY, it did not occur to me the first time that this was going to be a recurring thing. I was like "huh that's weird they're referencing the last movie. I guess this will be important".... Ugh.

Zeus shows up and asks Hercules if he misses adventuring. He says he does, which I thought was interesting! He first starts off saying nobody has come to him for help in a while, but then he sort of implies that he's staying at home with his wife and kids because of an agreement he made with her? I felt a bit weird about his line delivery there because I think we're just supposed to think he misses the fun of the adventures, but it comes off as a little like "well, I love my kids, but...". (Even tho in the last movie he got distracted staring at them.)

Anyway then Zeus gives him a sea serpent scale (which I was immediately very suspicious of, because I don't trust Zeus) and then we get another flashback, which I literally fast-forwarded through, and this is where I went "oh no..."

I'm not a fan of clip shows. 😅

Then we get the tits-out dinner scene I noted before. Damn, Dei is pretty (though her hair is a bit untamed here). How do they only have 3 kids?

We then get a bunch of shots of the Minotaur's lair and a few teaser shots of the Minotaur.

Then it's back to the house, Herc is putting his kids to bed. They request a story before bed, and since the first two the boys suggest didn't happen in the movies, we instead get a flashback to the movie where Herc meets Dei.

(Fast forward...)

The kids fell asleep, but Dei was into it and she takes our man to bed.

SURPRISINGLY, Herc didn't have a flashback dream overnight! So Herc is going about his morning and BAM!

Iolaus attacks him in the barn. (Playfully.) Now, can I just say, as someone coming from having watched the beginning of Young Hercules first, how nice a callback this is? Like, I realize they were conceived out of order, so the Young Hercules episode 1 scene where Iolaus attacks Herc (playfully) is a reference to this, but what a lovely little parallel! ♥ I love them. Look at how they look at each other.

They start talking about their farms, which honestly seems like exactly what they would talk about since they're both trying to manage farms? But I guess they thought the audience would be like "this is boring" because Iolaus launches into his own "remember the time"...

They then chat fireside and there's so much like, flirtatious vibes from Iolaus? Though I thought their banter was really cute, platonic or otherwise. They kinda tease each other but they're both so happy, it's really nice. I just love when characters clearly like each other this much.

But Iolaus manages to goad Hercules into a sparring match, which leads to the best line in the movie: "Mommy, what's Daddy doing to Uncle Iolaus?" And not just because it's a hilarious line, but also the little girl's line delivery is so precious.

We then get a really sweet scene where Dei and Iolaus talk privately and she confides that Herc has been going a bit stiry crazy. I really believed the worry Dei had for her spouse and her genuine grattitude for Iolaus's friendship with Herc for Herc's sake. We then find out through Iolaus confiding his own hardships to Dei that he's struggling with losing his wife and having to raise their child (I think just the one?) alone. Dei comforts Iolaus a bit. I really liked this whole part.

Then it's ruined by the original guy (who ran) coming to get help from Herc with the Minotaur.

Hercules turns down the request for help - shocking both Dei and Iolaus. And also, understandably, disappointing the dude who came for help.

Dei convinces Herc to go - more for Herc's sake than the people he'd be helping (such a good wife!). Iolaus invites himself along. (And is cute about it, trying to get Herc to admit how helpful he is.)

Another stupid flashback about the giant Herc fought.

Brief interlude where Zeus shows up, and then it's another fucking flashback. (I was fast forwarding so much, my husband thought I didn't like the movie.)

There's a little fireside scene with the three of them where Zeus mocks them for acting like kids when they have kids, and I again got this weird vibe of like "we don't like being parents" which I honestly find really uncomfortable. I understand that parenting is hard and some people genuinely don't enjoy it, but it's kind of a weird impression to give because of how into his family Herc was in the movie before this one. You can love your kids and still like adventure, no? Anyway it's a subtle thing, they don't come right out and say "I wish I'd never had kids", it's just a weird vibe that I think is more meant to convey the desire for adventure.

Zeus then gets weird when he finds out where the boys are going, and immediately fucks off after a half-assed attempt at dissuading them. By now the audience would know this means Zeus is hiding something about his involvement/knowledge of whatever is going on there.

There's a brief bit where a couple is sneaking away from town to boink and they end up in the Minotaur's lair and he captures them. It's kinda gross as we see them put into these weird coccoon things.

The boys get to town but are told there's no monster and everything is fine.

The Minotaur is then shown to be stoked Herc has arrived, and talks about how much he wants to kill him. Zeus then shows up where the Minotaur is and it's revealed that Zeus turned him into this monster as punishment for something, and that they haven't seen each other in 100 years. Zeus says he should have killed the Minotaur before, and tries to again, but just can't bring himself to do so. The Minotaur announces that he just keeps getting bigger and stronger and he won't be satisfied until he hurts Zeus (which Zeus doesn't think he can do). We as the audience know that the Minotaur is after Hercules, but does Zeus?

Then we cut back to the boys in the pub and get the worst flashback of all!!!

Iolaus apparently tells this random woman all about the plot of Movie 1, which he absolutely should not remember, because the plot of that movie ends with Hercules going back in time to NOT let the plot pan out as it had (in order to save Iolaus's life). The memory he relays is one from the series of events that was undone by the time rewind, so Iolaus should not have been telling this story.

It's bad enough to have a clip show, but the internal logic doesn't even make sense. Not that this series of movies has been really careful with "canon" anyway, but dang!!

Anyway then there's a really long fight scene where the whole pub gets thrashed and all the patrons decide to try to fight Hercules for... saying his name is Hercules. Herc wins (Iolaus also does well but gets knocked out at the end) and then takes Iolaus to bed. No, I'm just kidding, he rents two rooms, and deposits Iolaus into one before taking the second for himself.

While Herc is sleeping, some of the losers of the bar fight decide they're gonna kill Hercules, but the Minotaur kills them and frames Hercules for it. The entire town sees Hercules standing over their dead bodies holding a sword (that he literally picked up at the scene) and they mob after him.

Hercules wakes up Iolaus and punches a hole in the wall so they can escape. The mob catches up to them anyway, though, because they head down a dead-end alley (in a rural village?). Luckily the ground swallows some guy and also Iolaus and the mob is confused enough to pause. The brother from the beginning of the movie shows up and Hercules asks if he knows where the monster lives, so off they go.

They run into Zeus on the way. Zeus tries to warn Herc not to go down there, the thing is a terrible monster, etc. He reveals that it was once a very handsome man, but eventually tried to turn a bunch of people against the gods, etc. Zeus cursed him to be "as ugly as his heart". Zeus bemoans not being able to kill him when he had the chance. Hercules knows there's something more to the story, but Zeus won't say what.

Zeus then claims to have never asked Herc to do anything for him... which... I call shenanigans on? What about the previous movies? The Circle of Fire in particular comes to mind. Anyway. Whatever. Zeus wants Herc to kill the monster.

Herc enters the lair with a couple guys from town who the Minotaur kills and it's kinda gross.

Once Herc gets to the Minotaur we finally get a full reveal, and because they seem to have used practical effects, I actually think the visuals on it aged really well! His mouth moves when he talks and he really moves in the space in a believable way (which is not always the case in these movies/shows).

The Minotaur claims that Herc's been "given" everything his whole life, like fame and glory... which Herc denies, saying he's worked for what he has. I think you could probably unpack a lot there, but I think we've seen Herc's life hasn't been easy by any stretch, demi-god abilities or not.

Eventually the Minotaur reveals that he's Hercules's brother, that he's the son of Zeus and that Zeus couldn't kill him because he couldn't kill his own son. At this point, Hercules refuses to fight him, despite the Minotaur insisting.

But the Minotaur forces his hand, saying if Herc won't fight him, he's gonna kill Iolaus. This is enough for Hercules who then kills the Minotaur in a fashion similar to a death we saw flashbacked early on.

Zeus then shows up, and it's kinda cold? The Minotaur is still dying, and Zeus is just like "Sorry son" to Hercules and they just talk like the Minotaur isn't there? DYING? Hercules says he understands why Zeus couldn't tell him, and says he's just sorry Zeus had to lose a son.

I was really surprised there was no mourning for the loss of the possiblity of getting to know his brother or change his nature or anything... which I assume was why Herc didn't want to fight him a minute earlier? But whatever, they beat the bad guy...

Zeus then is like "I loved you, son" to his dying monster kid, but like, in a "and I don't now" tone. The Minotaur begs Zeus not to let him "die this way" (I think meaning ugly?) and then dies, and then Zeus turns him back into a (dead) man, and says "You're free now" and IDK MAN, it just didn't really work for me... Did not like.

Then Hercules saves Iolaus from the pods, and they let everyone else free. They decide to go home.

On the way home, Hercules remarks that he doesn't want to go on any adventures for a while, and Iolaus agrees...

...which makes me SO CONFUSED how the show ends up starting after this movie, so I can't wait to see!!

Final thoughts:

A bit thin on plot? I clocked that the Minotaur was Zeus's son right away, and it felt like a weird reveal.

Herc and Io were soooo keen on an adventure, but then came home wanting to not do that for a while... When do they decide to go on their Legendary Journeys? I'm starting to wonder if I'm stupid and these movies take place after the show chronologically haha.

On that note, Herc still has a wife and 3 kids, and Iolaus has at least one kid (no wife tho...)

Boo to clip shows. I hope there aren't many in the show proper. I kinda forgot they were a thing.

Hercules and Iolaus are a great dynamic! I love Michael Hurst.

I trust and like Zeus less the more I see of him. I don't think he will protect my boys and I don't like that haha.

What is going to happen to Dei????? I like her... I'm scared haha. Anya got written off without even an explanation just "she's gone" kinda thing.

Overall I'd say the relationships between Herc, Dei, and Iolaus were the standout bits. 🥰

Now I get to start the show proper!!

[fire-but-ashes-too]

*sobbing* @justremuslupininamask soooo ummm turns out you were right. (i just finished all the young dudes for context)

surprisingly, i didnt cry that much over lily and james cause i knew it was coming so i was kinda prepared, BUT MARLENE. I DIDNT EVEN REALISE MARLENE DIED! IT WAS LIKE, BAM GUESS WHAT ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTERS JUST DIED FOR?? NO REASON??

but yeah. cried. not just internally.

gonna go read some more fics 🤭

[quincyhorst]

One of the things I've been always the most weirded out by Big Waves is the fact that despite their australian nationality, both main and reserve keeper have both motifs in either title or name about greek mythology. Summarizing, Jean's called the 'true Poseidon' in most of his profiles, and Quincy while referencing real-life seahorses could also refer to the mythical creature Hippocampus that pulls off the chariot of the sea god. (This could be a coincidence, BUT COME ON, it all gets into place way too well).

But now the question comes into place, why greek mythology?

In my personal opinion, I think Level 5 just wanted to reference a sea god; so they went with the most known Poseidon. Sure, he might be greek, but after him there aren't many other water gods or deities known to the japanese public, and specially when it comes to actual australian (First Nation) mythos (Which are all obscure unfortunately). I guess that with that set they quickly realized about the seahorse/hippocampus (And the irl animal's relation to coral reefs) and BAM. Perfect reserve keeper motif. Let's all ignore the fact that there's already both a character and a Keshin named after the sea god, because that's another whole topic for later.

And here's on the superficial level of why; but now I'd like to add here a little headcanon that I got from this idea. First off, curiosity time: Greek people are one of Australia's biggest migratory groups, having come to the country since the 1800s and still having a strong community/culture to this day.

So, here's my proposal: Jean and Quincy's references to greek mythology might be just thematic choices, but I really like the idea in-universe of both either being or descending from Greek Australians.

Now in more detail:

Quincy's mother (Demi, original surname being Samaras) descends from greek people that had been living on WA for a long time already. Their story wasn't perfect at all, and in some cases they had to go through difficult situations due to discrimination and prior violent riots, but their resilience made them be able to persist until this day. Though while they were a bit more lax on passing down their culture unlike other GA communities, she and her parents still like to honour their traditions, blending within the already vibrant celebrations of the german Horst. In fact, whenever they get to visit Grandma Samaras in Kalgoorlie, they always take a stop in a nearby greek cafe installed a long time ago. Said place also sells homemade greek yoghurt, a specialty recipe passed down generations. And one of Quincy's favorite foods!

Now as for Jean, I tend to see his father to be part greek, though more disconnected with the culture due to few factors. Add ALSO his absence from his son's life since he was young, and... :( Unlike Quincy, Jean barely cared about the mediterranean country at all; only knowing few things thanks to his caretaker Jonah and his favorite "japanese cartoon" ever: The Great Tales of Greece. But after that, Jean just couldn't care less about what or where he comes from.

But I honestly like this idea as a way to make both keepers bond with each other. Jean shows a surprisingly big knowledge about greek mythology (Blame the anime mentioned earlier), which makes Quincy curious and a chance for him to share his interests. And maybe later on as adults they'll find out Jean's greek side, making Quincy want to help him "reconnect" with it in a way or another...

[saltynametag]

Still working on Beetrix and her backstory. My main train of thought is what if Solo Movie but different?

So the classic: orphaned on Corellia, grew up scrounging around the junkyards, longingly watching the ships take off. Graffitying the alley walls… (“stormpoopers was a big hit with the other 9 year olds…”)

Ages out of the orphanage. She speculates she stayed there so long because the elderly Twi’lek woman running the place priced her too high (“and she refused to sell to brothels… probably the only good thing you could say about her”).

Then bam, Galactic Civil War. She enlists, but for the Rebellion. She’s young, idealistic and really wants to kick Imperial ass. For the first time in her life, she feels her life has meaning (she has friends and a purpose, who could ask for more?)

Then it ends and all she has to show for it are a medal (“They were handing ‘em out like candy…”) and some nightmares.

More bullet point type things:

-Her first kiss was with a Chiss boy when she was a teen. They barely spoke, but she would steal extra food for him (“he was too big to sneak around.”) and he would help her carry the extra heavy scrap. He was sold to a mining company on Mustafar (“I’m not surprised, he was built like an ox. The night before he left, he asked if I could be his first kiss. I said yes. I never told him he was my first too.”)

-Never actually learned how to fly (“It was wartime! I learned on the fly, ha.”) Is surprisingly good for someone who doesn’t know the names of the switches she’s flipping. (“The Rebellion was held together with gumtack and a whole lotta hope, they weren’t sending any of us to flight school.”)

-Once, during a particularly heated skirmish, she crashed her X-Wing, but came out unscathed. The rival Tie Fighter she shot out of the sky was not so lucky. She pulled the pilot out of the burning wreckage. It haunts the pilot to this day

(“Why’d you save me?”

“You asked for help.”

“But I was your enemy.”

“Not in that moment. You weren’t an Imperial soldier then, you were just… frightened. Like me.”

“I would’ve let you burn.”

“I know.”

“…”

“That’s why I’m better than you. : P”)

[adventures-of-the-creeping-bam]

NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: THE ADVENTURES OF THE CREEPING BAM,  BOOK THREE: WARMER - CHAPTER 17

If you’re new to the story, please go check out Book 1 first …

Book 3 Chapter 1 is here …

MPORTANT:  Please note this story includes content that may be considered mature, such as moderate battle violence, some strong language and occasional mild sexual scenes.

If you want to support my writing, feel free to swing by my Patreon or Ko-fi.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:  SHAY

Whatever this spell is that Gael pulled on this guy, it’s impressively effective.  Where before he was being stoic and stubborn, now he’s perfectly compliant, answering every one of our questions without hesitation.  The fact that it’s left Gael entirely out of it the whole time is … less than ideal, I know she’d prefer to be part of the interrogation instead of just left lying on the floor, albeit made as comfortable as Shul and Krakka have been able to make her with blankets and pillows.  Then again, I get the impression she can’t feel much of anything right now, so I doubt she’d even have noticed if we’d just left her alone on the cold hard tiles.

I’ve done my best to carry the weight of the questioning in her stead, like I did the other day back in the tattoo shop, allowing Kesla’s lead but speaking up when I  get ideas of my own.  So far it’s been surprisingly illuminating, or maybe not, since Vik was supposedly the man in charge of the gangs they’ve mostly just been using for muscle.  The surprise is that his connection to Jammund and his people runs deeper than just hired help.

The wizard is called Luthan Tavarrat.  We know this now because she was born and raised in Untermer, and Vik grew up with her.  Turns out that yes, she was once a Silver Order wizard, but before she went to the Academy she was the daughter of a shop clerk for a local merchant who manifested in her late teens and was given an introduction through her father’s employer.  Apparently the woman who came back years later was very different from the girl who left.

Honestly, there are times listening to him talk about this woman that I wonder if perhaps he was in love with her.  Certainly there’s a fondness, and I get the impression it was definitely reciprocated, even if it might simply have been in the form of friendship.  And she was the reason Vik was brought in when they needed manpower.

Turns out, down in the docklands in particular, Vik’s becoming a big deal, even if he is still mostly just a hood for hire, or perhaps more of a facilitator now.  When he was young he worked as a paid thug, but as he grew up it turned out he had a talent for wrangling the men under him and making arrangements for the people who employed them.  Most of all, though, it was his discretion that won many of his particularly discerning employers over.  He saw the Guild’s repercussions against non-affiliated criminals encroaching on their territory first hand, he knows what they’re really capable of.  He knows how to keep his head down and his nose clean enough to pass muster.

He's never had direct dealings with Refik Hontiresk himself, but he knew enough about him to know he’s a big deal in Untermer, even within the Authority.  And deeply corrupt, too.  His most frequent clients have strong ties to the Administrator, so he’s done indirect work for him in the past.  So he wasn’t too surprised that Hontiresk had heard his name before it was suggested to him.

He tells us he’s lost a fair amount of resources in this endeavour.  Resources.  That’s an interesting word to hear someone use in reference to people.  The men under his command … yeah, I saw Kesla get very quiet when he started talking about that, the way he talked about his men.  It’s strange … the way the younger boy, Wull, talked about him, I could perhaps be forgiven for thinking this guy might’ve been some kind of great leader, or at least a good, honourable man, the kind of commander men are proud to follow into hell.  They do it because they believe such a man would do the same for them.  They lead from the front, the first to go into that very same nightmare …

It's becoming clear, though, that Vik’s become a paper tiger.  Maybe once upon a time, in his youth, he might have been something, but what spark he once had has clearly been squandered and snuffed since, starved by years of him looking out more for himself than his men.  Now he mostly just cares about the money, the prestige, the opportunities that his position and talent for hustle have made available to him.  And under the cover of Occupation, it seems, business has been very good.

No, his men follow him because he’s good at pretending to be the kind of man they want to follow.  The kind of man he hoped he could grew into, at least before he finally realised who he really was.  It makes sense that the half-elf, Tog, was so determined not to leave him.  He thought he had a father, of sorts, in this man.  What he really had was a pimp.

Kesla’s dislike for him is definitely understandable, and I wonder if she might have enjoyed roughing him up a little, at least once she learned what kind of man he really is.  I suspect she would’ve seen through a good deal him quicker than most, and she wouldn’t have put up with this kind of shit for a second.

Taking a deep breath, Kesla regards him for a long time before finally letting it out in a long, weary sigh as she plants herself in the chair she’s brought over to sit in front of him again.  “How does Vandryss figure into all of this?”

The way Vik’s head swivels to turn her way again is not getting any less unnerving to me now.  It’s not a natural motion, it’s like some twisted fleshy marionette being manipulated by unseen hands and invisible strings.  The same with the way he’s slumped against the back wall, still more spawled across the bed than reclining on it, his head the only thing that seems capable of moving, at least beside his face … and even then he’s not overly expressive, no real emotion showing through since he’s started to speak to us without concern since Gael took control.  Nor has his manner of speech changed in any way either, every word delivered in the same monotone manner.

“She’s … to be honest, I ain’t too sure.  She has some kind of connection to Hontiresk, but I know she knows Jammund too.  I think she’s some kinda facilitator in this business.”

“Like you, you mean?”  I venture, shooting a look to Kesla now.

“No, I don’t think so.  She seems more concerned about the cargo.”

“The cargo.”  Kesla looks at me for a moment longer, her frown deepening as she finally turns back to him, and I catch enough of a glimpse before she does to see the gears turning in her head now.  “You mentioned cargo before.  I remember … when we asked you about what it was the rest of your people were doing, while Tog and his … idiots were making trouble for us.  You said they were … collecting cargo.  Or at least trying to.”

“They were, yeah.  But not so much now.  We’ve had to pull right back on that side of the enterprise since you lot got involved, crawl under a rock was how that weird bitch put it.”

The enterprise.  Apparently that’s how Jammund’s been referring to this whole business since they started it.  As if it was some grand undertaking, something vital for the betterment of … gods, I can’t think who.  No god or leader of men with any morality would be all right with stealing innocents out of their beds for … whatever unholy purpose they’re being taken for.

Finally I can’t hold off any more, I have to ask straight out, so I step closer, looming over him somewhat now, I suppose.  I don’t realise I’m putting my hand on my sword again until I’ve already done it, but I suspect the effect is rather lost on Vik right now.  “Why are you taking these people?  What the fuck for?  I don’t understand –”

“I don’t know.  None of us do.  I asked Luthan once, when we were just starting, why this was happening, if they were being shipped north as slaves, maybe.  Like … I dunno, you hear stories sometimes, ‘bout the shit goes on up in Tektehr, in their far north.  Where the sun barely rises, I mean.  They’re fighting a war up there, that’s what I heard.  ‘Gainst whatever it is lives in the Borderlands, or on the other side o’ the world, where there ain’t no sun at all.  Maybe they need arrow fodder or something.  Bodies for the machine, the Great Terror War Effort.”

“So what’d she say?  When you asked her?”

“She didn’t know, any better’n the rest of us.”  He looks up at me for a moment, and while his face doesn’t change at all, I wonder if he’s being more thoughtful now, considering me, perhaps.  It’s unsettling being watched by him, however it is.  “She don’t know Vandryss.  That bitch makes her nervous, I can tell.”

Kesla watches him for a moment or two more, and she certainly is thoughtful right now.  Then she puts her hands to her knees and starts to push herself upright again, and she has to grunt a little doing it.  Like the day’s getting to her now.  I thought I was the one who’d been through a fight today, not her.  Thorin knows I haven’t had time to change yet.

For a long beat she turns to regard Gael, still stretched out on the floor nearby, with Krakka still sat cross-legged by their head.  When I’ve looked back at him periodically over the course of this he’s mostly been tending to them, but every once in a while he’s clearly paying real, close attention to what’s being said and revealed here.  Like now.  He looks at me as he catches both of us turning, and his frown is deep.

Meanwhile, seems Kesla’s regarding Gael themselves, and the reasoning’s clear when she asks her next question before even turning back.  “What about the other wizard?  The one your people made disappear before we came?”

“Another wizard?”  When I look back at him, there seems to be the very slightest crease between his brows, and as he looks up at Kesla now I hear a subtle, somewhat discomfited mutter from Gael, almost in response.  As if they’re reacting to his consternation.  As if perhaps he’s trying to lie now, but they’re having to exert a little more of their own pressure again to make him comply.  “I … I don’t know …”  That crease deepens, his brows furrowing now, becoming a genuine frown, and his hands, limp until now, twitch just a little.  As if he’s trying to move.  Yeah, looks like I was right.  He’s trying to fight them now.  He doesn’t want to give this up.

“Darion Foxtail.  That’s his name.”  Kesla takes her own steps forward now, leaning over him now with her hands on her hips.  “The guy you disappeared.  The reason we’re here in the first place, as a matter of fact.”

“I … I didn’t know … Luthan never gave his name.  Just said he was a big deal, a real big deal.  That I shouldn’t just use any men for that grab, I needed my best.  Sent Tog along, with a dozen others, hand-picked.  Luthan went herself too.  And that orc fella.  Granzun.  The one hangs out with Jammund, mostly.”  He looks at me, then back at Kesla, his face starting to smooth out now as he must just give in to the inevitable now the words are coming.  “I didn’t go in myself.  Stayed outside with the reinforcements, but they weren’t needed.  Guy fought hard, but we surprised him.  And Granzun hit him hard too.”

“Is he alive?”  I lean forward myself now, planting a knee on the mattress now but stopping myself before I reach out to grab him, maybe start shaking him.  I can’t keep the urgency out of my voice though, I’m getting desperate in Gael’s stead, it seems.  “Is he?  Tell me you didn’t kill him.”

“We didn’t.  He went down hard, but …”  He looks at me again.  “He was a bloody mess, but he was alive.  Granzun took the worst of the hits, Luthan said.  He’s … it’s weird, he’s got a thing for her, I reckon.  He’ll do anything for her.  So he took the hits, so she could put this guy down.”  His head lolls a little as he continues to regard me for a moment, and again I get that weird absent impression of thoughtfulness.  “Luthen fixed him up, though.  After.  I mean … well, not exactly healing, cuz she ain’t a cleric.  More just repair.  Stitched the wounds with ‘er magic, but … well, he was still a mess from it.  Lost a bunch o’ blood, got beat up, so … but yeah, he’s alive.”

When I pull back and straighten up, wringing my hands now to prevent myself from just balling them into fists in fear I might start throwing them, Kesla backs up too.  Our eyes meet and there’s another electric moment when I feel like she’s feeling the exact same way I am.  Darion’s … well, he is alive, then.  But he’s not well.  Gods … Gael, I’m so sorry …

“Where is he now?”  Kesla asks after a long beat, clearly having to pick her tone as much as her words right now.

“No idea.  Once we got ‘im fixed up we delivered ‘im to Jammund, as agreed, an’ Luthan went with ‘im.  Ain’t heard one word on ‘im since, and I decided might be better not to ask.”

“Means she’s got him.”  Kesla growls under her breath, meant mostly for me and herself only, I think.  I see her working her own fingers too, not quite balling them and I know she’s fighting as hard as I am.  “Fuck’s sake … all right.  So … where do you go then?  When you gotta communicate with Jammund?  Or do you do everything through this … Tavaratt?”

There’s clear distaste in her mouth when she says that name, I think she might be offended on Gael’s behalf by the idea of an Order member turning against one of their own.  It doesn’t sit at all well with me either.

If Vik’s even capable of noticing right now he doesn’t make any more sign of showing it than before.  “Mostly I go to the Late Bone.  It’s a tavern down by the wharves.  Jammund owns it, it’s where he spends most of his time since he retired.  Nobody looks twice cuz it’s all his business.”

“Mostly?”  Gods … please let us get an actual lead here.

“There’s a warehouse down in the docks too.  It’s where we sent my boys to get those tattoos.  Jammund don’t own that, he just borrowed it.  Far as I can work out it’s a loan from one o’ the smuggler crews works for Hontiresk.  I dunno why he did that, but I guess he’s got his reasons.”

“Must be so Hontiresk can keep it from getting back to him if anything happens to Jammund.  Levels of obfuscation, I imagine.  It’s smart.”  When I look at Kesla I see her nodding along, and she’s relaxing again as a subtly sly smile starts to touch her lips at the idea.  “Oh, obfuscation, it means that—”

“Yeah.”  She breaks out into a brilliant smile as she nods this time, clearly amused by my unnecessarily trying to jump to her rescue.  “I know.”

Feeling a touch of heat in my cheeks, I look away quickly, instead scrambling to pick my thread back up so I can continue my thread.  “Um … well anyway …”  I look back at Vik, starting to get back on point now.  “Yeah.  Well … so did you just go there the one time, or have there been any times since?”

“Once or twice, ain’t really been keeping count.  It’s where they’ve got my other crews sending the cargo.  Jammund’s got his own people set up there, or maybe they’re the other smugglers’ folks, I dunno.  But I seen Jammund there before.  And Vandryss was there every time.  Reckon that might be where she’s based out of.”

“Shit.”  Kesla breathes low, and when I look at her again she’s still smiling, more excited now.  That’s … yeah, she’s right. That’s a big deal, a serious lead.

“Tell us where exactly.”  I turn back to him, trying to keep my game face on now as much to stay intimidating even though I don’t think it really matters right now.

Then again … that frown starts to form across Vik’s face again, and he’s a long time answering, while Gael starts to grumble where they are on the floor, letting me know he’s fighting again.  I can’t stop myself, I just step forward and settle my knee on the mattress after all, leaning forward to I can wrap my fingers around his jaw and twist his face up towards mine, glaring right into his eyes now.  Putting on the fiercest face I can now, I growl:  “Spit it out.  Please.”  My tone makes that sound entirely like a demand.

For a moment more he resists, then he works his mouth a little and lets out a low sigh, and his eyes never leave mine, widening just a little now as he finally loosens his tongue again.  “The waterfront, farthest north stretch.  First Point.  Company’s name is Hardward, but it ain’t owned by dwarves, that’s just a cover.  Big place, expensive too, reckon it might’ve been used for legit business up the hill, ‘least before the Occupation.  Not anymore, mind.”

“Yeah, sounds about right.”  Kesla muses, folding her arms now as she dips her chin, thoughtful now.  “Might be worth looking at.”

“Maybe.”  I try not to get my hopes up too much, the way our luck’s been lately I’m not overly confident.  But it’s a start.  Taking a breath, I look down at him again.  “So these kidnapping raids that you’ve been sending your people on, how does that even work?”

“I never asked.”  I know Vik’s monotone answer is of course due to the spell, but it still makes me want to punch him again.  “I just sent them the crews when they were needed, and then Vandryss or whoever was in charge of it at the time would tell ‘em what to do.  I felt better that way.”

“You never cared about what they were doing to those people?  Never?”

“These are … that Vandryss bitch scares me.  I was not gonna fuck with that.  They’ve … disappeared other people for sticking their noses into this.  Didn’t particularly fancy ‘em pulling that with me too.”  He lolls his head a little, and I wonder if perhaps he might be trying to cock it, give me a quizzical look, perhaps.  Whatever, under the circumstances it just looks odd.  “So I took the money, and sent my people to ‘em, and didn’t think too much about it.”

“The other woman, this Tavarrat …”  Shul surprises both of us when she finally speaks up, moving close now and giving him a particularly dark look.  “The one you know … you say she’s a Silver Order mage, yes?  How can she go against her own?”  Hmm … seems she’s been thinking the same thing we have, it’s just been weighing on her too much to stay silent.  Not that I’m surprised, being part of the Order herself she’ll be taking this very personally.

“Because they tried to murder ‘er.  She ain’t got no loyalty to them anymore.  She gave ‘em eighteen years of her life an’ they betrayed ‘er.  So she’s been doing what she can to survive since.  After that, well … guess this is the work she found.”

Shul’s frown deepens, and she takes a step closer, then stops before she starts to speak again, faltering as though she’s not sure how to address this revelation.  She looks my way, but can’t maintain eye contact, then down at Gael, but again she looks away fast.  When she turns back to Vik she looks almost stricken.  “I don’t … why?  I don’t understand, why would … they wouldn’t just kill her, surely.  There must have been a reason.”

“She don’t like to talk about it, an’ I don’t blame ‘er.  Impression I get is they hurt her bad doing that.  Far as I’m concerned all you Silver Order bitches can go fuck yourselves.”

When I catch Kesla’s eye this time I know she can tell what I’m thinking about.  Garnon … is this the way they could have gone if they hadn’t found us?  Something much worse, much darker?  So far I’ve been trying very hard to think about these folk we’re up against as enemies, not as actual real people, with actual reasons for what they’re doing.  But … no.  No, I don’t want to think that.  Garnon wouldn’t have gotten involved in something like this.  The way they sided with me so quickly when I broke from my mother over Ashsong … surely that proved as much.

Still, I can tell that Kesla’s wondering now, and I’m starting to think that could be something too.  I know there are surely all kinds of people in the Order, just like in any other part of society, but … well, my own experiences so far have led me to believe they’re just … I don’t know.  They’re surely too moral a group to be okay with this.  So if she was once Silver Order, no matter how it ended …

Then Kesla just turns to Shul and leans in close to whisper to her, and I’m torn between wanting to listen in and keeping my eye on Vik.  Wondering if there are any other questions we should ask him.

Then there’s a knock at the door and everyone’s attention shoots to it at once.  I can’t see whoever’s out there, the walls are lined with small, thick square bricks of some strange looking glass which is oddly opaque, letting a lesser, more sickly version of the light outside through but making it impossible to make much else out through it.  The door has a single pane, but this seems to have some strange frosting effect, so all I can see is a shadow, unable to pick out details … although given the height of the individual waiting out there it doesn’t take much for me to work out who that actually is.

For a moment none of us do anything, we just look around at one another, then Krakka just frowns, muttering under his breath as he starts to fiddle about, then he pushes himself up, although it clearly takes a significant amount of effort for him to find his feet this time.  He rises with a great, winded grunt and gives Kesla a particularly pointed look before starting to move across the floor to the door, and he’s definitely hobbling somewhat now, taking it slow.  I know that tengu don’t tend to live all that long, and he’s clearly not young anymore, so it’s clear that Krakka’s most certainly feeling his age.

Shul, meanwhile, is standing with her head bowed and eyes closed, fingers laced together in a manner I’m becoming familiar with.  Frowning, I turn to Kesla, who catches my look.

“I asked her to summon Master Saxiros.  Seemed prudent.”

Cocking a brow at the somewhat quizzical lack of information I actually got there, I let a little sigh go and turn back to Vik, pondering for a moment before turning back again.  “Anything else you want to ask?  I can’t think of anything right now.”

“No, I reckon that’s it.  We got some good leads.”  She shrugs.  “Sides, we got any more questions, he won’t be hard to find.  But I reckon we got enough to go on now.”

Yeslee frowns as she ducks into the room, and I’m surprised when I realise just how low the ceiling actually is in the room seeing the way she has to stoop just as little to make her way to us.  That being said, she is significantly taller than many people I’ve known in my time, even my own mother.  Which is impressive in itself.

“Yes, what the hell?”  Kesla seems a little perturbed, which takes her friend a little by surprise, I think.  It’s very subtle, just the slightest widening of her eyes as she stops just short of us, a tiny pursing of her lips, then a sidelong glance my way.

“What?”  is the unsurprisingly deadpan response.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Her eyes narrow somewhat at that, and there’s a slight ticking between her brows that’s the start of a frown.  “Did Gael not pass on my message?  I made it quite clear before when they contacted me.  At a most inopportune time, I might add.  I’m lucky I didn’t break my neck.”

“Yeah, they did.  That ain’t what I meant.  You know what’s goin’ on, we can’t have anyone going off on their own right now.”  She sighs, and the way she looks up at her old friend, there’s so much weight to her frustration right now.  She doesn’t want to be lecturing her like this, and while Yeslee doesn’t seem to be at all fazed by it I wonder if, coming from Kesla, this might not be hitting home after all.  “I mean, I know you’re ‘bout the most dangerous of the lot of us, but still …”

As it is, there’s a long moment when the Fir Bolg just looks down at her, and that subtle frown might tighten up just a little more, I can’t quite tell.  Then she nods, lowering her eyes, and it could almost be a show of genuine placation, looking at it.  “Of course.  I can appreciate the thought.  Just accept that I had good reason, please.”

“You were following Darwyn, that’s what Gael said.”  I keep my voice cool and level, trying to sound as placating as I can as I cut in before Kesla can respond.  Hoping I’m not entirely out of line here trying to play mediator.  “Thel was … she didn’t like that she stepped out on us.  I got the impression that you felt the same?”

Turning her strange violet eyes my way, her stare once again makes me feel like I’m being judged by an incredibly astute and unpredictable predatory animal, and I can’t help growing deeply uncomfortable under that gaze.  It’s too much like being a mouse trapped by a very large housecat.  “That’s not exactly how I meant it, but … I did it for my own peace of mind.”

“Did you get any, at least?”  Kesla’s still frowning, but she looks more cool about it now all the same.  The implied meaning behind the question hangs in the air clear enough.

“She didn’t go to the Arrowhead.”  She says it so matter-of-fact it’s like she doesn’t even have an opinion on the matter.

Kesla’s frown deepens considerably as she shoots me a look.  I just turn back to Yeslee, trying to gauge her feelings, but still coming up short.  Finally I just sigh, giving my simple observation:  “You know she never said she was actually going there.  Just that she’d be checking in with Cobb.  Maybe she did it some other way?”

There’s the slightest quirk to one of Yeslee’s brows at that.  “It’s possible.  While I was tracking her, she did cross other unfamiliar scents.  I couldn’t comment on that, but …”  She shrugs.  “She stopped in a terrace in the Drumhalt before she came back here.  She was in one of the apartments for a while.  Long enough for me to be there when she left.”

Folding her arms, Kesla dips her chin, pondering for a long moment.  “What the hell’s that all about?”

“I suspect Mistress Frostforge might jump to a very particular conclusion on that.”  Yeslee shrugs again, turning back to me.  “I suspect she’s following a similar urge to my own, now.”

That makes Kesla look up quickly, her look turning very sharp.  “What?”

“She’s not in the lounge.  Neither are her companions.”

“Oh for the love of Thorin …”  Kesla turns away and just starts walking, heading for the door, then stops, seeming to ponder for a moment, before turning back, and she looks ready to spit now.  “This really ain’t the fucking time.”

“It doesn’t mean they left.”  I venture, although I’m not sure how much I believe these words myself.  “They could just be getting food, or … maybe they were tired?  All three of them …”  My words falter even as I realise how wishful that idea really is.  Kesla’s face doesn’t help.

“Wake Gael up.”  she growls at me, looking ready to skin someone alive now, I think.  Then she turns to regard Shul, who seems to surprise her when she realises that the wizard’s just been stood by for a while now, waiting.  “Oh!  Did you –”

“Master Saxiros will be here momentarily.”  She gives Kesla a somewhat complicated look as she says that.

“What the hell are they doing?”  Yeslee’s words grab my attention as I turn away from them to go to Gael now, finding the Fir Bolg already standing over them, hands on hips now as she frowns down at our prone friend.

“Something really dumb, apparently.”  I let out another heavy sigh as I look back at Kesla.  “Are you sure you want me to?  We’re definitely done here?”

“What?”  Kesla blinks at me, not catching my drift for a moment, then she seems to make the connection.  “Oh!  Yeah.  We’re done.”

Frowning myself, I step up and drop to my haunches at Gael’s side, catching Krakka’s eye as I come down to his level.  I have to ask.  “How are they?”

“Honestly?”  he almost laughs  “I really haven’t a clue.  I’m worried, though.  This … doesn’t look right to me.”

That just makes me frown even deeper, and as I reach out, very carefully, to touch their cheek, I find it’s unusually warm, close to hot in fact.  Like they’re burning a very high fever.  “Gael?  Hey, snap out of it.  We’re done.”

There’s no response, they just lie there, staring up at the ceiling now, and while their breathing seems even and deep enough not to worry me her eyes are strangely glazed now.  Reaching up, I snap my dingers over them now, and they don’t blink in response like I would’ve expected.  Oh shit …  “Shul?  Hey, Shul?!  Can you get over here right now please?”

Kesla blinks in surprise as she takes in the scene, while the half-hob’s already hustling over, her face business-like now.  “Oh bloody hell … I warned them.”  She crouches down so close to me she almost shoves me aside as she drops, and I have to adjust myself quickly to keep from falling on my arse, but I don’t snap at her like I feel like doing.  I understand where she’s coming from right now, she’s as concerned for her new friend as I am.

Shul starts muttering under her breath as soon as she’s down, and once again I recognise in the way I don’t so much hear the words as feel them that this is an incantation.  Reaching out, she starts weaving a sigil in the air with her long, deft clawed fingers, displaying a particularly impressive focus and efficiency that easily rivals Gael’s own.  I have vague memories of when she was working on me the other night, when Gael brought me back after that abortive fight in the rain and they were all working to heal me from  that nightmarish stomach wound.  She’s got great skill in her own right, definitely.

Finishing the sigil, Shul stretches it out between her hands as it starts to glow brighter, then finishes her incantation and pushes it down into Gael’s face.  For a moment it seems to stretch as if meeting resistance, then it’s less like the strange, ghostly blue light simply melts into their face as they just seem to absorb it.  Certainly their characteristically pearlescent skin takes on an unusually blue sheen for a beat before normalising as the effect seems to dissipate.

“Damn it, Gael …”  Shul growls as she leans in closer, her frown deepening now.  “I told them this was a stupid idea, but …”

“They’re just being Gael.”  I sigh, reaching out and gently touching their cheek.  It’s still warmer to the touch than I’d like, but it’s clearly cooling now.

Then they blink, once, twice … and sit up with a great loud gasp of such sudden ferocity I genuinely topple onto my backside in surprise.  For a long moment they just sit there, doubled over while they drag in big gasping breaths, before finally looking up at us.  “Oh … oh Minerva … no, you were right, Shul.  That was stupid.  Shay?”

Still a little shook myself, it takes me a moment to answer her.  “Yeah, I’m here.”

For a beat they just look at me, a complicated look on their face and particularly in their eyes now, then they finally lick their lips and sigh:  “Oh … please don’t ever let me do that again.”

I can’t help it, I have to start giggling at that, and they smile too as I drop to one knee so I can lean forward properly and kiss them on the forehead.  Their temperature’s already returned to normal, now.

“What the … what the FUCK?!!”  The venom of the words is enough to grab my attention, and I turn quickly to see that Vik’s already sitting up too, and while he still seems somewhat stiff he definitely looks a good deal more mobile now than he did before.  Mostly, though, he looks pissed, and his anger makes him particularly ugly now.  “Oh you … you fucking BITCH!!  How … how could you –”

He's clumsy pushing himself off the cot, but moves with surprising speed all the same, but in the end I imagine it’s rage driving him as much as anything else.  He’s not a small man either, I realise he could do Gael some significant harm if he got hold of them, which is clearly his intention.  I react without even thinking as he stumbles into a furious charge, already grasping for them.

At the very last I pull my punch, but only a little.  Thorin knows I still hit him with significant force, using the leverage as I push myself up off my knee to strengthen the blow as I follow through and crack him square in the face, and it’s more than enough to stop him on the spot.  In the end not only do I completely arrest his own advance but I knock him clean off his feet, and as he flops back down on the cot and bounces his eyes are already rolling over white.  His head snaps back hard, but the most potent sign that I really did do some real damage was the brilliant fountain of blood spraying from his well-broken nose that arcs out wide as he drops.  For a beat it looks like he might drop on the floor after all, but in the end enough of him lands that second time on the cot’s mattress that he just dangles there with his limp legs outstretched.  And he doesn’t stir again …

Even so, my fists stay balled and my whole body’s still tense as I feel the potent bubbling of the adrenaline surging through me, ready to respond to another attack that clearly doesn’t look like it’s coming.  My breathing’s heavy, but I slowly start to acknowledge that it’s also the only sound in this room now, and I slowly turn as I fight to get it back under control, suddenly feeling very sheepish as I realise what I’ve just done.

“Shay … Shay, what the fuck?”  Shul looks strikingly rattled for a hobgoblin as she straightens up and hustles forward, making straight for Vik, clearly too stunned by my act to actually admonish me right now.  Even so, her concern for a man who is still a charge in her care quickly takes hold of her again as she sweeps past me without ceremony.

Kesla, for her part, can’t keep the amused grin from her face as she starts to help Gael to their feet, while my half-elf friend mostly just looks perturbed now, cocking a particularly incredulous brow at me as they take in the scene.  Krakka, on the other hand, is looking the other way much like Yeslee as he starts to rise, and I realise why a beat later.  We’re no longer alone in the room.

Taphun Saxiros is stood a little inside the now open door, regarding the scene with a particularly stony face while one of his brows quirks particularly high.  He’s unimpressed, clearly.  Suddenly I’m distinctly aware that I have fresh blood splashed on my knuckles right now, even if I’m sure I’ve long since shed my fierce expression in the face of my contrition.  My hand goes to my mouth as I stand very much to attention now, but I worry this might just make it even worse …

For a long stretch he just takes in each one of us, his piercing yellow stare particularly lingering on me and, I’m sure, the blood on my hand, before finally clearing his throat as he draws up to his full height and lacing his hands together.  “Mistress Shoon, you asked for me?”

“Oh.”  Kesla straightens up too, propping Gael up as best she can while she’s at it, and her smile’s already long gone as she simply covers.  “Yes.  Of course.  My apologies, something’s come up we should really attend to so a conversation might have to wait.  I was just hoping that maybe you could do us the courtesy of finding out everything you can about a former Silver Order mage called Luthan Tavarrat.  It’s … pressing.”

That brow quirks again as he ponders for a moment.  “This is information you’ve acquired from … this gentleman?  Directly pertinent to Darion’s case, I would imagine?”

“Exactly so, yeah.”  Kesla nods, quickly scrambling to add:  “Master Saxiros.”

Once more his eyes flicker to me, and he gives me a more curious look now.  I just hope he came in early enough to see I was simply reacting to protect my friend.

“Of course.  Very good.  I shall attend to it immediately.  Please call upon me when you’ve dealt with … whatever it is.”  He waves his hand vaguely and starts to turn, before pausing for a moment to look Gael over.  When I look to them I see their eyes are about as wide as they’re capable of getting now, their own second-hand embarrassment clearly affecting them far more than any lingering effects of the spell.

“Good evening to you all.”  He tips a quick but very respectful formal nod our way before sweeping out of the room again.  I wait for a good long count before finally letting the breath I’ve been holding out, and it’s all I can do to keep from doubling over in my own mortification.  The way the others are reacting I can tell I wasn’t the only one.

“Shit.”  I finally manage to gasp, looking at Kesla now.  “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.  You did exactly what I would’ve done.  Prick deserved it.”  She shrugs, giving Gael a very gentle nudge with her shoulder.  “You good?”

“I … honestly … haven’t got the first clue.”  They look ready to drop, actually.

“So what now?”  Krakka wonders, the voice of reason cutting through our awkward reverie.

Kesla starts to frown again.  “Darwyn.  I want a word.  Right now.”

TO BE CONTINUED ...

[macgyvermedical]

A $100ish 30-Day Box

When I think about the word prepper, I tend to think about individuals who store guns, ammo, and freeze-dried food for a singular Event(TM) that they will have to survive, probably involving roving bands of marauders coming for their wives and guns.

I personally think the risk of this exact type of scenario is low. But given recent events (It's 2022 and I don't think we're ever seeing 2019 again, etc...), I do think a stepwise semi-collapse- one that could most heavily impact low wage workers and minorities- is currently happening and will continue over the course of our lives.

And if you feel you may be vulnerable to some of these steps (another pandemic, say, or unchecked inflation, or a housing crisis, or a series of major natural disasters, or a period of civil unrest in your area, or a combination that adds up to you living in a van with no usable monetary resources), you may want to consider having a box with everything you need to live for 30 days in a bad situation.

This is not a bug-out bag. It will have 30 days worth of food and supplies in it. You are not going to be able to carry it. This is the bargain version where you will need to either shelter in place (like non-essential workers in 2020) or leave in a vehicle (say you get evicted suddenly, or need to evacuate because of a disaster).

And listen, you can get some of these things used or at salvage if that is an option near you. Sometimes that will be cheaper, sometimes not. Use your best judgement. I recommend a mix of new, used, and salvage based on your needs and access.

Containers:

18-gal tote ($8-10 new, you'll need one for every 2 people, but easy to find used or you may already have some)

Gallon freezer bags or other smaller containers ($3-5 depending on number) these are to help organize the rest of the stuff

Supplies: Note that most of these are the cheapest of the cheap- you're looking for things you'll be fine with putting in a box and forgetting about and not actually wanting to take out and use unless you have to. Don't put cool stuff in here.

Metal mug or other food-safe container (pick one you already have)

Microwave-safe mug or other food-safe container (pick one you already have)

Cutlery (recommend fork and spoon, assuming you can pick some you already have)

Pocket knife or multitool (you can get weird keychain versions for like $3, but if you already have one or want to invest in something slightly better this is a good place to do so, but again, nothing cool)

Matches ($1)

A flashlight and batteries or rechargeable with charger ($5 online or at a grocery store checkout line. does not have to be fancy)

Phone charger cord and block ($2-5)

A large tin/aluminum can (to make a crappy lil rocket stove with if you need to- here's a slightly more elegant 3-can version). If you're smart put one in that still has something tasty in it.

Car cigarette lighter USB charger if your car has a cigarette lighter (these used to be given away with brand names on them so they're surprisingly not hard to find used for less than a$1, but if you can't find one used you'll spend about $5)

Fuel- put some wax in the box (maybe like a big-ish old candle you got as a gift but don't really like). If you can melt it over some tightly packed cardboard and put it under a 30oz can with some holes punched in it, bam you have a stove. When you run out of that cut a bigger hole in the base of the can and build a lil fire under it. Free rocket stove baby.

Permanent marker (assuming you have one of these)

Pencil and paper (assuming you have some of these)

Food: This will be about $50 more per additional person, maybe less for young children.

20lb/person White Rice- this is a cheap filler that takes up relatively little space. (about $10/person)

10lb/person Brown Rice- this is a slightly less cheap filler that takes up little space but has fiber and other nutrients please don't skimp on this (about $8/person)

10lb/person Dry beans- get a variety here. Protein and fiber. You can eat these or sprout these for variety and more nutrition in very little time (About $10/per person if mostly pintos)

1 gal/person Vegetable Oil- this is your fat. You need fat. Get something you're not allergic to and if you can splurge this is where to do it- get something like olive, coconut, grapeseed, or canola ($8 for canola, the cheapest I could find this in pure olive was about $21)

NOTE: You may have done the math and thought (Gee, that's like twice the number of calories I need in a month! Yeah, but now you're cold and scared and eating your feelings. You'll want plenty of something, and it might as well be beans).

Multivitamin- get enough for everyone to have one every other day or so, since you're living on rice and beans. Does not have to be a good one. Whatever the cheapest one they have at whatever pharmacy or supermarket you're in is, even if it's for kids or whatever. You're not going to get serious deficiencies without it over the course of 30 days, but it may help you feel better and dampen food cravings).

Flavor- garlic, chili, and onion flakes, spices, herbs, soup mix packets, dip mix packets, hot sauce, vinegar powder, lime or lemon granules/concentrate, you really want this and it takes up so little space, trust me. (Put in what you've got or this can get pricey ...but it's kind of worth it)

Water:

Get a cheap filter (like a replacement filter that fits on a standard disposable water bottle) for sediment only and boil if unsure of water quality on your stove (see supplies)/in a microwave ($3). You can also just pour through a piece of old tee-shirt and boil.

OR get a nice filter like a sawyer or lifestraw, though these will easily put you over budget ($20)

Medical:

OTC Meds: I recommend acetaminophen, ibuprofen (can be taken with acetaminophen if needed), diphenhydramine, docusate sodium, loperamide, and anything else you use regularly (about $2 each ($10 total) generic)

Prescription Meds: if you take prescription meds, ask your doc for an extra 30-day supply of each for an emergency. You may have to pay out of pocket for this as insurance may not cover it. If you cannot afford that ask for a paper script with a year-long fill window (or however long they can give you for a particular med). Note that this will probably not work for controlled substances like testosterone or narcotics.

First aid supplies like band aids, cortisone cream, petroleum jelly (use instead of neosporin, seriously it works better, has far more uses, and no one is allergic to it), tape, and an ace wrap (spend about $10 total on this).

Caffeine if you consume it or get headaches frequently- tea is usually cheapest and easiest to prepare but instant coffee works here too (100 pack of the cheapest tea bags at aldi is like $2)

Nicotine if you consume it. Get lozenges instead of patches. I don't have a price on this but crises are not historically the most successful time to quit and you're probs going to need to be functional. If you have something to use instead you're less likely to buy crazy expensive cigs. Consider quitting or decreasing use in prep if you can, but, you know, keep these in your kit.

Hygiene:

Bar soap 2-4 bars. Get like two of the cheapest bars possible and one fels naptha. This sounds like a lot but you're probably going to be using it for everything- clothing, body, hands, dishes, etc... ($2-3)

Toothbrush (1 per person) and a full-size tube of toothpaste ($3)

Bug spray (you can get 2oz of 100% DEET for like $3 and mix with a carrier liquid)

Sunscreen ($5, though you can get it cheaper at expiration, it will only last about a year after)

You want me to say toilet paper but I'm not going to. Get a small plastic cup or a squeezy water bottle and boom you have a bidet. Wipe the water off with a wash cloth and hang to dry. Everyone should have their own and wash their hands after with soap.

Throw some masks in here. N95s if you have them but at the very least cloth ones and I know you have some you may not be using right now.

Entertainment:

Put some books or small games or something in here if you have extra space. And learn some games and recipes for the beans.

Put the rice and beans at the bottom. Sort everything and put it in bags, then layer those bags up to the top. Done.

Also, make a list of everything in the box and tape it to the top, possibly sorted by what bag each thing is in, which will help keep it organized. Next to anything with an expiration date, write the expiration date. Check the list yearly 2 months prior to your normal disaster season. That should give you time to update and replace things if needed.

You're also going to want to get some knoweldge- think about what you'll need to know to use this stuff. Do you know how to use a cup of water as a bidet? How to stretch DEET? How to use bar soap to wash dishes? All 4-6 uses for diphenhydramine? How to sprout beans and/or brown rice?

[yhwhsdaughter]

dating sangwoo headcanons ༄

content: gn reader, nsfw, unhealthy relationship, possible murder-suicide

yoonbum ver.

— unfaithful. at the beginning of your relationship, he didn’t think you guys would last; thus, cheating. as his feelings deepened, he stopped, only seducing people to kill. why would he need anyone else when he has you to fullfilll his needs?

— possessive. he’s like a dog, territorial. should anything or anyone disrupt your feelings for him, sangwoo is quick to dispose of that. you’re for him only. not above acting petty if people approach you with lustful intentions. this is one of the reasons he agrees to tie the knot. he’s seen too much of you to let you go

— protective. sangwoo can be very dismissive of you at times; partly because he’s an asshole and doesn’t consider other’s feelings. however, if anyone else makes hurtful remarks towards you, he’s onto their ass. no one but him, is allowed to cause you pain. also, he’s your man and it would reflect badly on him if douchebags insulted his weak partner.

— jealous. if he thinks you’re even staring at someone else he will say “whore” like damn you can’t even daydream because he thinks you’re fantasizing about the ugly ass cashier. he blames you too tf. in his warped mind, you belong to him. you should only have eyes for him. fights the urge to take you in front of them, to claim you publicly. basically, he can’t handle the thought of you being with someone else

— surprisingly accepting of your flaws. he’s not completely delusional; sangwoo knows you deal with a lot of shit from him, so he thinks it’s fair to accept you for who you are. even if you turn out to be a killer or something. obviously, he will use it against you but only if you threaten to leave. actually kinda glad since he doesn’t have to feel morally inferior. it’s a secret that only you two share; a bonding moment.

— high libido. wants to do it always and everywhere. he really can’t have enough of you; he’s young so he has the stamina and strength to keep fucking for a good while. is it his fault your cute little ass gives him a hard on?

— dominant. if he’s feeling particularly playful he might let you think you’re about to top and then bam! he will never be the bottom, so sorry. sangwoo loves to be in control.

— sadist. something about him and inflicting pain on others, especially you. don’t ask him why but it get him going. maybe it’s the erotic faces you make when he sets a brutal pace. he likes to see you like that and be the only one to do so.

— probably into s&m. it depends on his mood. sometimes he doesn’t feel like using chains and just wants it to be you two. having you at his mercy always does it. sangwoo also prioritizes his pleasure. once you’re married (perhaps before), he will make the effort to make you cum and please you, which is like the bare minimum but go off I guess.

— occasionally thoughtful. yes, sangwoo’s a fucking psycho, but not completely heartless. when he’s feeling particularly soft, he will take you out on dates. nothing too fancy, maybe like a coffee shop, a movie, shopping or to the carnival. he’ll take you on trips and act frisky; I say it’s the adrenaline of doing naughty stuff in public.

— won’t admit it, but he’s one of those couples that like to match. sangwoo wants people to see you’re together, it’s his way of marking territory and also because he refuses to be with someone who doesn’t dress well. he might choose your clothes depending on the occasion.

— if you have a uterus, children are a no go. trauma. hates the idea of sharing you with someone; a baby growing in your womb will definitely take away time from you. wouldn’t want to have sex with a pregnant person and won’t wait for 9months. sangwoo probably got a vasectomy to prevent this; or will want his partner to be sterile. also, he doesn’t like to use protection and has a breeding kink

— will absolutely charm your family. they will be wrapped around his finger. sangwoo is anything but stupid. if they’re important to you, he will find a way to get on their good side, which isn’t hard. he’s a good looking young man. your parents may even love him more than you.

— has very… old fashioned ideals. regardless of your gender, sangwoo will want you to take on the role of the ‘wife’ which means cooking, cleaning, and servicing him. sangwoo helps; he’s excellent at cleaning evidence away and he had to cook for himself prior to you. if you don’t know, he’ll teach you,, but mostly he’s the breadwinner and does the heavy lifting.

— attachment issues. doesn’t want you to leave him. ever. would go as far as involving you in his life of crime, making you his accomplice, to have you with him forever because he can’t ask for marriage like a regular person.

— separation anxiety. having you with him is a must. you’re the only person on earth who will see him vulnerable. he also panics internally when he thinks about death; he wants you to die together. like if he finds out either of you have a terminal illness, he might just take you for a ride, crash the car and end it all.

[honey-milk-depresso]

Hey Honey may I Request headcanons with Azul, Malleus and Jamil who find a lost child and look after it and the child finds quite the liking to them and constantly swoon how they would look good with their older sibling (who they are looking for) just to bump into their crush who IS the childs older sibling?

TWST S/o's little sibling saying they'll be a good match for them

Azul Ashengrotto

He was just walking around, minding his own business and BAM-

A child-

Azul raised an eyebrow, wondering why there was a child just roaming around by themselves with no parents or guardians supervising them. So, he approached them with a kind smile.

"Hello. What's a young one like you doing all by yourself around here."

The child's (your eye color) eyes innocently blinked at him baffled, before they smiled at the octopus, grinning. "You look like my older sibling's friend!" they started, happily jumping around Azul much to his confusion.

"You're older sibling? Were they with you?" "Erm... about that..."

Turns out s/n left their older sibling while getting distracted only to lose their way, thus standing in the same spot and hope they would find them. Very naive, but Azul's around so don't worry-

"Alright, that's a little unfortunate. But I can wait for them here."

And they proceeded to share all about their older sibling and... they surprisingly sound similar to you. What you hated was the similar, what you loved was similar... but nahhh-

"Yeah! You know Mr Azul... I think you'd make a great lover for them! They're really fun to be with! And I'm sure you'll be tons of fun with them since you're the same with me!" they smiled.

"Hehe... maybe."

"Oh! There they are!" s/n cheerfully stated as they made a running start towards... holy shit-

Azul glasses tilted, face doused in pink when he saw s/n hugging you, the one they said would be great together with you.

"S/n! Where were you??" "Oh, I was just with Mr Azul! He's really nice to me!"

"Azul?" you approached the octopus, to which he tried to regain posture, though the heavy blush on his face didn't go away.

"So, you've met my little sibling, huh? Well, I'm glad they bumped into you!" you smiled sweetly at Azul, which only worsened his obvious blush.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, hoping to tone down his blush (which failed- obviously-). "Y-yes, I... enjoyed being with your sibling, they were fun to be with, too." <3

Jamil Viper

Oh my god-

WHY IS THERE A CHILD HERE-

Jamil looks around awkwardly, seeing if there were anybody older nearby that knew this child.

But nobody looked like they new them at all.

"Um... where're you parents, kid..?"

"Oh, I actually came here with my older sibling but.... I kind of got lost when I went around the area..." they stated, shyly shuffling their feet.

"Well, okay... I can wait here for them. It's not safe going about here on your own you know." And Jamil actually had a full on conversation with a child named s/n. Apparently, their older sibling sort of reminds him of you. You liked this and they liked the same thing, you hated this and they seem to hate something similar to it as well.

And it seemed that s/n also enjoyed talking to Jamil.

"You know, Mr Jamil?"

"Hm?"

"I think you'll make a great Mr Boyfriend for my older sibling!"

Jamil snorted. He barely even knew their sibling, but it was cute to see the pure innocence and enthusiasm of this child. So he just played along.

"Oh? And what's their name, s/n?"

"Their name is s/o! And they're really cool, I promise!!"

"Wait, wha-"

As soon as s/n said your name, Lord and behold, you finally appeared, eyes landing on you younger sibling. "S/n! There you are!" "S/o!"

Jamil blushed, the epiphany of seeing s/n and your features are so similar that he felt stupid for not noticing it in the first place.

"Jamil! Gosh, thanks for sticking with s/n. I was really worried, so I'm glad you found them first!" you smiled sweetly.

Jamil just averted his eyes away. "Oh, um... i-it was no problem.." <3

Malleus Draconia

Usually, he scares children away.

But this child,

who just randomly spawned from nowhere with nobody around to be with them, seemed to really like Malleus.

"Hi Mister!"

And he was stunned. Kind of reminded him how you treated him so kindly on the first day of meeting him. "Why, hello there. Are you all by yourself?"

Malleus finds out that this child named s/n has lost their way after being separated by their older sibling.

Malleus might have had a few experiences when he was much younger when getting lost in the forest when walking with Lilia.

So he stayed with the child because one, it was unsafe for them to be all by themselves, and two, Malleus seemed to enjoy being with this child, just as it seems this child likes Malleus' presence.

They ended up rambling away about their older sibling, and something about them... reminded him of you.

They were sort of similar to you based on what s/n shared. What they liked and disliked seemed to be just as similar to what you also liked and disliked.

"Mr Malleus?" "Yes?" "You know, I really liked talking to you!" "As do I," Malleus smiled, genuinely happy with what the sweet child said to him.

"I think you'll make a really great partner for my older sibling! They're really cool, and I really think tha- S/o!!"

Pardon, what-

S/n ran to whoever was round the corner and sure enough, you appeared while embracing your little sibling. "S/n! Gosh, I found you!"

Your eyes turned to Malleus, stunned as he was. "M-Malleus! Gosh, thank you so much for taking care of them! I was really worried for them, and I'm really glad you found them!" you smiled softly at the fae.

You couldn't see it, but there was a faint, pale pink blush that bloomed on Malleus cheeks, but he smiled calmly nonetheless.

"I'd say, s/o, that you have a very nice younger sibling." <3

[sxlver-sweet]

Hey darling arba!! Ur new blog is so pretty and i hope u take care of yourself can i request for mikey? Imagine him praying to God that he gets to marry you. You can work with your imagination in this maybe some full fluff ig?? Ur choice!! Love you darling <3

— WHAT I WOULD DO TO PUT A RING ON YOUR FINGER <3

|| m.lists || taglist form ||

ROSTER . . . manjiro sano

SYNOPSIS . . . mikey’s cold, and he wants to marry you.

CONTAINS . . . swearing, major spoilers

NOTE . . . hello, my love!! thank you very much for the compliment :) also, i ADORE THIS SM YOU HAVE NO CLUE. i made it dramatic for no reason LMAO i hope you like it!!

the breeze is warm, carrying the scent of wildflowers and sweet moss as it sweeps through the open walls of the dojo. mikey inhales deeply from his seat on the edge of the engawa, listening to the faint shouts of his grandfather’s students a few rooms away and basking lazily in the sunlight warming his skin. days like this are few and far in between. for once, he doesn’t have to worry about brawling, conducting meetings, or handling the internal turmoil brewing in his gang, courtesy of his sprained ankle and his significant other’s insistence to take a few days off to recuperate.

he imagines that this period of rest is supposed to be peaceful—relaxing, even. but now that all of his distractions have been stripped away and he can no longer fully immerse himself in his delinquent activities, he’s left with nothing more to focus on than the darkness clouding his mind and eating away at his sanity. it isn’t long before he feels his body fall numb to the ticklish kiss of the sun’s rays. the tendrils of shadowy guilt and sorrow that he’d forced into confinement in the back of his mind begin to slither from their boundaries. they curl around his mind in endless loops of self-blame, constricting around his chest until he has to actively fight to breathe and his hands quake. shinichiro, baji, kazutora, emma—he’s suffocating, fading away into the recesses of his negative thoughts. 

all my fault.

all my fault.

all my fault.

everything is my fault.

yet, all he does is lay there, letting the light drain from his eyes.

then, he hears something.

it’s laughter, familiar and warm.

it’s… yours.

you’re warm.

you’re warm.

you’re warm.

i’m cold.

mikey’s ankle is throbbing by the time he finds you, but he barely feels it. i’m cold. you’re standing in the kitchen preparing a meal, the apron that emma had gifted to you before her untimely death adorning your figure. there’s a wooden spoon in your hand that you use to slowly stir a simmering pot of stew, your attention primarily fixated on the three little boys at your side. he recognizes them as the younger siblings of one of his grandfather’s students, all boisterous and looking up at you with pleading, doe-like eyes for a reason unbeknownst to him. he watches with wonder as one of the little boys clings to your apron.

i’m cold.

“tell us what happened next!” he begs, swishing the fabric of the apron beseechingly. 

another one of the boys bounces dangerously close to the stove, and mikey instinctively shifts forward, only for your hand to outpace him. “whoa, careful! you could burn yourself!” you chide, shielding the top of the boy’s head with your hand with an intuition that seems surprisingly natural. “if you’re going to roughhouse with your brother, then go outside, okay?” the young boy pouts but nods anyway, and you smile graciously. “thank you.”

“will you tell us the rest of the story, big sis?” he asks, reaching up to shake your wrist. “please? it’s my favorite one!”

“oh, yes! the story!” you chirp. “where did i leave off?” after a moment of thought, your smile morphs into a mischievous grin. “right, so it was twenty versus one, and the invincible mikey stood alone...”

wait, huh? mikey raises his brows. you’re telling them a story about him?

“the odds were against him, and his opponents were sure that he would be beaten.” you proceed in an intense whisper. “when, bam!” you abruptly shout, flinging your free hand in the air. the boys giggle with glee and blink up at you with starry eyes. your hand abandons the spoon, your fist sailing through the air for an added, dramatic effect. “he knocked down their leader just like that!”

“whoa!”

“were they scared?” the third boy, the quietest of the trio, questions meekly.

you squat down to his level, grin now more light-hearted. “heck yeah, they were scared! they wanted to run, but they also wanted to avenge their leader, so they stayed to fight. so, you know what mikey did?”

“what?” the third child’s eyes round with anticipation.

“he jumped—”you leap to your feet, extending your foot as high to mimic your boyfriend’s trademark kick. mikey chuckles to himself at your abundance of energy, “and beat them all down with those super cool kicks of his! it was like he had wings for feet, and—”

“wings for feet?” one boy repeats enthusiastically. “like he could fly?”

“yeah!” you respond, matching his energy. “it was like he jumped through the sky itself! and he didn’t get a single scratch. that’s how tough he is!”

“mikey’s the coolest!” mikey cracks a small smile at the boys’ words.

“he is, isn’t he?” you laugh earnestly. mikey’s heart swells in his chest at your affectionate words. your praise is nothing he isn’t accustomed to. you’ve never been shy about telling him how pretty he is, how much you love him, and how awesome you think he is. it’s always managed to satiate the ravenous appetites of the demons that lurk within his soul and yearn for someone—anyone—to reassure him that he isn’t the barbarous beast that his mind portrays him to be. it’s always been enough.

but this… this right here… this is something completely different—so different that for the first time in what seems like forever, mikey shifts back out of sight, presses his hands together…

...and prays.

he knows that he doesn’t deserve to have his prayers be answered or even heard. he knows that he has blood staining his hands. he knows that he possesses a dark impulse that he hasn’t yet figured out how to tame on his own.

but still… the sight of you standing there in that cute, little apron, cooking away to your heart’s content while adoring children tumble and bounce around at your feet does something to his heart. it fills the gaping abyss that’d been carved out by his own self-hatred and failures to the brim with an indescribable, immense warmth that tingles in the tips of his fingers and stuffs his mind with sugar-sweet daydreams of what it would be like to have a family of his own. you’d looked as if you fit right in, as if you were completely in your element. the compassion with which you doted on the children is undeniable, and the more he watched you interact with the children and glow in their presence, the more certain he became:

he has to marry you.

thoughts of you greeting him with a chaste kiss on the lips after a long day at work while his children rush to tackle his legs and cling to his arms affectionately, you and him sneaking off to munch on snacks and sip on wine after your children retire for the night, and him being present for all of his children’s firsts—hell, just being a father—flood his mind, completely overwhelming and dissipating the haze of darkness that’d been plaguing his thoughts. the fleeting taste of domesticity he’d sampled from watching you cook for the dojo’s students had left him craving more—craving something that’s purely his. he wants to marry you—to become your husband. he wants to start a family with you. he wants to grow old with you. he wants you.

so, he prays.

he pleads with the heavens until his desires ring almost unbearably loud in his mind, dripping forth from his lips as shaky whispers because they’re just too intense to contain. please. his hands tremble. please. he vows he’ll never ask for anything ever again. he vows he won’t complain when the darkness threatens to swallow him whole. please. he vows that even though he knows he won’t be the perfect father or ideal husband, and even though the thought of having actual children terrifies him, he’ll try his hardest to be a man that his children can admire and you’d wish to spend the rest of your life with. please. 

please. please. please.

he’ll take anything—everything—because he knows that no matter what, you’ll always be there.

a small shudder skips through his body. i’m cold.

“mikey?”

your startled voice lances through his prayers, but he doesn’t so much as twitch until he finishes his prayer. slowly, he raises his head to see you peeking around the corner at him, eyebrows quirked upward in surprise and a pleasant smile of greeting curving your lips. you’re as radiant as the sun itself, skin awash with a youthful brilliance beneath the golden rays and eyes glimmering with such intense adoration that he has to actively ward off the urge to fall against you and engulf you in his embrace. 

cold.

“what are you doing out here?” you ask.

he smiles, then. but, it’s secretive and small. “nothing.” he claims breezily.

“you shouldn’t be standing for long periods of time, you know.” you frown at his wounded ankle. “it’ll make your ankle swell up again.”

you reach out to him and wrap your arms around his neck in an intimate gesture, the skin-to-skin contact sending an electric shock arching down his spine. mikey stiffens and his eyes widen briefly, but his hesitance swiftly dissolves as he leans into you, allowing you to support him and lifting his ankle off the ground. “you look exhausted.” you mumble. your touch is soothing as you run a hand calmly along his shoulder, and you hum idly to yourself as you turn to press an innocent kiss to his temple.

“here, you can lean on me,” you murmur. “i’ll support you until i can get you to the kitchen to sit down.”

his eyes flutter closed beneath your ministrations, and he can’t manage more than a nod of acknowledgement. your skin is warm. 

you’re warm.

he’s warm.

i’m… warm.

[teddy06writes]

Charlie Dalton Friends to Lovers hcs

requested by this anon: "charlie dalton x reader friends to lovers??"

{Yessssssss friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes}

{finally some good fucking food /j}

Charlie Dalton x reader

trigger warnings: some swearing

premise: hcs for Charlie falling in love with his best friend

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

okay so

you and charlie have been friends since like forever

your families had been friends, and so naturally, you were introduced at a young age.

you'd easily become friends

and as time went on, you became friends with Neil too

you three ended up like a package set

{cause you know charlie and neil were friends from the moment they popped out or something}

Now, because your family was alot like Charlie's you both ended up going through the same sort of stuff

The usual high expectations, responsibilities, yada yada

but mostly you started growing even closer when you turned old enough to start attending family events/dinner parties/ boring adult functions

Your first one had happened while you were on winter break, finally away from welton. You'd been excited to hang out with Charlie outside of school for the first time in what seemed like forever

but then you got dragged along to some gala or something

you'd been bored out of your mind, lost in the sea of plane evening dresses and black suits

that is until Charlie appeared out of no where asking

'well is that ms/mr (y/l/n) I see? hhhhhmmmm?'

so basically you snuck out of that party together, and that became tradition whenever you were stuck at boring functions

sneak out and go to some diner in town, still all dressed up for the event, and honestly just live your best life

Now, for the most part, as the years go by, charlie's feelings for you were totally platonic, and yours for him were the same

until one day they weren't

it was the middle of summer before junior year, and yet again you'd been dragged to a going event

yet again, Charlie had also helped you sneak out, and you'd wandered all along town together, before returning to the party, right before people started leaving and your parents would've realized you were gone

the adrenaline rush had still been on as you managed to sneak back into the building, and you'd just been headed back to the main area when someone called Charlie's name

he'd grinned at you, 'well- just in time- call me tomorrow, okay?' 'sure thing Charlie' in the distance someone called his name again and he laughed 'well duty calls'

and as he disappeared again you couldn't help but think, 'god I love that boy'

bam from then on your smitten

Junior year starts, and things are a lot different than normal

your friend group, which over the years had grown to fit Meeks, Pitts, Knox and surprisingly Cameron, added yet another with Neil's new roommate , Todd

There was a new English teacher that year too, Mr. Keating

he wasn't like any teacher you'd ever had before, and that was fantastic

then the dead poets society was uncovered, and Neil decided that it had to be brought back

it was that first night in the cave that Charlie's feelings for you changed

you'd volunteered to read, standing up with the book and acting out a poem by Byron, and seeing you there, laughing at lit by firelight- something about that was it for Charlie

it took him until he'd made it back to his dorm for him to realize what that new feeling was

he loved you

It took a while for either of you to confess

but after a long talk with Neil, some months after he'd realized, Charlie finally decided to do something about it

In the moments after Hagers warning of lights out, Charlie had slipped a note into your hand

you chuckled, reading the scribbled, 'meet me in the senior lounge- midnight'

it wasn't entirely uncommon for the two of you to sneak out of your dorms, hanging out in the senior lounge until the early hours of the morning

but something about the look he gave you seemed more earnest

So you waited anxiously until midnight, before creeping out of your dorm

Charlie had already been waiting for you

'what's wrong?' you'd asked quietly

'I just- i need to tell you something' he said, biting his lip nervously

you frowned, 'what's wrong Charlie? is everything okay? is it your parents again?'

"I just-' he sighed, cutting himself off before looking at you properly in the moonlight that swept through one window, 'i think i'm in love with you'

you had frozen up, a flurry of realizations hitting you at once- but the biggest one of all had to be that your feelings weren't unrequited

'(y/n)? god- i'm sorry- I shouldn't have said that-'

you ended up cutting him off by pulling him into a kiss

when you broke away the only thing you could think to say was 'about time... I love you too.'