#and then i could see what the general consensus is matched with my own impression of the charas

[natsmagi]

I want to cry your fem koga looks so good

THANK YOUUUU I LOVE HER!!!!

ive had this vision for her for a while now but i only draw like. 2 charas. So i never got around to properly visualizing her BUT! she had been on my mind for a while and i thought fuck it, i need the world to see how i envision her

[one-winged-dreams]

Word Find Game

Rules: search for the given words in your WIP(s). If you don't have a word, you can use a variation on it or a word with a similar meaning. Then choose new words for the people you tag to look for in their WIP(s).

Ty so much @derelictdumbass for tagging me because this is SO fun. there are a couple tagged cws and it's kind of long but ;_;

My Words: anchor, intertwined, twist, lost, flicker

divider

"Anchor[ed]"

ship: terra x adriel x angeal (so i stayed in the darkness with you, what do angels dream of)

Circumstances considered, polyamorous and consensual as they were, it was not ESPECIALLY odd to be nervous about meeting your boyfriend's husband.

Admittedly, Terra had never even seen so much as a picture of Angeal, all he had to go on as far as current impressions were was that he was intimidating. Adri did his best to reassure him that he wasn't to be feared but also refrained from lying and telling Terra that he was anything less than firm.

Most of the time, anyway.

So many stories and anecdotes had begun to build an intimidating picture regardless of the reassurance, but Terra would not disrespect Adri OR his husband. And so now he stood at the literal doorstep, letting out a breath until he felt Adri squeeze his hand, a quick glance over earning him a reassuring smile and nod that anchored him a bit. He did his best to return the motion, the nod easy enough, the smile not as much, before he allowed Adri to release his hand to open the door.

As he did, the warmth of the house's interior washed over the both of them, a welcome feeling from the cold night air of Radiant Garden, bringing along with it a peculiar sensation. He could smell it clearly - this was Adri's home for sure. It was a soft, warm scent. Similar to how Adri's pillow back at his own place smelled. Intermingled with it, however, was something with more mass to it. Masculine, almost… Steely? It didn't overpower Adri's scent, by any means, but its presence was heavy.

And not… Unpleasant.

"Angeal! I'm home, Terra's here!"

"Intertwined"

(cw: mild cybergore)

ship: adri x viktor vektor (make your heart beat in reverse)

"Hey, Vik? I need you to come pick me up, and uh, promise not to freak out, okay?" he had said.

That was before Viktor had rolled up to a literal crash scene where Trauma Team was departing, thoroughly ignoring the colorful character propped against a wall despite his blood oh so generously puddling on the sidewalk beneath him. Of course, the mangled mess of a cyberware-infused right arm was of no concern, the mechanisms for the mantis blades intertwined with... everything else. Let alone the malfunctioning optic that twitched around, thankfully, still in its socket. And, of course, not to mention the road rash that lay beneath holes ripped through clothing that stood no match for the velocity the Mox had most definitely slid across the pavement.

As the ripperdoc approached, Adri looked up at him with a squinty and undoubtedly agonized smile. "Hey Vik. You wouldn't believe the day I've had."

Viktor was, of course, concerned. It was a given, considering what he was currently looking at. Still, he crossed his arms and shook his head, "You wanna tell me what happened here?"

"Corpo fucks! Who even taught 'em how to drive?" Adri sounded more inconvenienced than anything as he threw his non-mangled arm outward. He let out an exasperated sigh and was only able to half-shrug. "As you can see, I'm not being hauled off by NCPD right now, so I guess they at least know how to take responsibility for their fuck ups SOMETIMES. And look, look! My Kusanagi took a beating, but she's still standing!"

Viktor's eyes were directed by Adri's pointing towards a damaged but still functional-looking motorcycle. "Right. So looks like YOU took the brunt of beating, then?" his tone was almost stern, and Adri clearly got the message.

Flinching slightly, the Mox offered an uneasy grin. "Well, I was going to upgrade the chrome eventually anyway, right? Cheaper than a whole bike," he trailed off with an awkward chuckle.

Viktor sighed, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Twist[ing]"

(cw: emeto, suggestive, body horror)

ship: adriel x valtiel (i'd make a deal with god)

There is no face to glean so much as an ounce of recognition, and he wonders if It so much as thinks about him. If Its gnarled embraces and things he prefers to leave unspoken are some obscene compulsion to force-feed him his repressed licentious dreams. The ones that fester and rot in his guts, sometimes he feels like if he could just shove his fingers down into the depths of his throat and purge it that it will all go away. It'll all go away, the heat of blood that rushes up to just underneath his sinful flesh, the way he parts his lips, the sweat, the fluids, oh GOD, the fluids.

It leaves him wanting and then punishes him for doing so, an endless cycle of carnal loathing that settles in places, or one place, or everywhere all at once.

That visage that incites revulsion only makes his heart skip, and he can feel it twitching in his chest, writhing beneath his ribcage. The most vital of all the organs, its charismatic leadership incites the twisting of viscera, and his insides are dancing for It.

"Lost [Lose]"

ship: adriel cisne x daval prestor/neltharion (the gift of ruin)

The creature had no right to be as delicate as it was. The subtle grace of his movements was a testament to his noble upbringing, he flitted about like a bird in a manner that vexed Daval to no end. Soft, delicate, piercable skin, limbs so narrow and breakable. Large brown eyes that would water and weep at the pain he could bring him. Soft, flushed lips that would part to gasp in agony-

"You're gawking again, father," Katrana's voice grated in Daval's ears, summoning a scowl to his face.

He turned to glare at her with a rage unseen by anyone present. He upheld an image that would be tarnished by even a fraction of that hate.

"We do not GAWK, dear daughter," he sneered before his expression returned to stone-cold neutrality. Shameless to the definition, he turned to watch the Cisne offspring again. What a miserable sight he was, playing a part not unlike Daval himself, though the semantics couldn't be any more different.

"Father's upset that the Cisne boy hasn't approached him to fawn yet," Nefarian spoke next, quite possibly taking advantage of Daval being in no place to deal out consequences. He had enough self-control to store the rage of the Destroyer away where it could not be felt by these senseless mortals. For now.

Terrible irony guided fate's hand as his attention was suddenly drawn to Lord Cisne approaching him with far too much familiarity. A charming smile materialized on Daval's face, the thought that this man was played far too easily placating him for now.

"Lord Prestor, it has been far too long!" Typical greeting from an unoriginal mortal.

"Indeed it has, Lord Cisne. Your recent absences from these gatherings have been almost concerning." Almost meaning 'not at all.' Though he did retain a certain asset that would be troublesome to lose.

"Flicker"

ship: howl & adri x knull (can't tell where you end and where i start, traitor cut down the altar)

The bleeding was deceptively intermittent, just when the flow seemed to cease, another movement would send the wound running red again. A slice wound to make it all the more painful.

Down, down, and down his leg it runs.

Despite how excruciating walking on it proved to be, Adri's mind was overflowing with endorphins and other fun chemicals that gushed on queue with his crackling synapses.

And no symbiote to slurp them up.

The connection was muddled static. Like his ears were ringing in his head. Every time he cried out its name, he couldn't hear himself. He didn't even wonder if it was doing the same. He didn't have the time.

Traversing this scene of mock domesticity, the house would have been nice, as flooded in darkness as it was. But the broken chairs in the dining room were a good enough transition to a new genre.

It was so stifling in here, the radiator on in this weather? Fucking insane. It's already December, and, in his stupor, he makes an off comment about climate change.

He was doing his best to keep his blood full of oxygen, but he always forgets that hyperventilating doesn't count.

"FUCKER!" he managed to scream out in frustration as he continued to drag himself around as one does a sack of meat.

That's all he really was, though, wasn't he?

An angry, bleeding sack of meat.

But he was meat with a sense of self-preservation.

"I'm going to fucking kill you when I find you!" he called out to the entity that simultaneously hunted and evaded him.

'…ILL THEM!'

The sound of a wooden thud to his rear turned him around. Wide eyes struggled to make anything out in the dark, pupils dilating to desperately adapt to the gloom.

The acute stress response was beginning to flicker to life, ever more skewing to fight rather than flight. It was more than anger, more than rage.

It was hate.

The next scream was loud but not so vocal as to speak. He didn't need words right now. Working on pure unadulterated spite, he would obliterate this thing that tormented him

Finding himself at the base of the stairs boiled his blood and the words that bubbled up with it.

"DIE!"

'…IE!'

"DIE, you piece of shit! Just fucking drop dead! FUCK!"

'…EAD!'

The screams of frustration silenced to heaving shoulders and grinding teeth. And then his head snapped up to the top of the stairs, as would a man cursed by gods, determined to break the cycle of this infernal ascent.

The first step was weighed down with the pain creeping directly into his dorsal posterior insula. It weighed its judgment and found him wanting, by all evidence. Sentence?

Agony.

SGHKSJDGHKGJDS it's always the most eloquent or fucked up WIPs that I tend to abandon

your words: amount, obscure, relevant, taste, definite

I tag: @dearly-beeloved @kylilah @goldenworldsabound and whoever else wants to do this honestly, it's a really cool tag game

[vivianleighwishesshewasme]

The Devils Mate 2-part 5

Don't interact if under 18. Former abuse talked about, sex and underage consensual bonding.

Esme finds out they aren’t blood related*

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

“Rosemary, come elp me.” I commanded rather than asked. The girl had been squirrely for the last few days as had my son. Tommy and I had talked on the phone last night, he said he’d found records of Rosemary and Albert. 

Rosemary was born to Albert and his wife May before she’d succumb to a fever after giving birth. Out of all the advances we were making back toward civilization I couldn’t understand why we didn’t advance in childbirth care faster. Be a priority to me but I was a woman in this fallen dirty world made of men again. 

She walked in a flowing long dress and her brown blonde tresses flowing behind her. She was very pretty. If Duke liked her, I could see them looking quite well side by side. She snaked around the other side and started helping me with folding Ruby and Charlie's clothes.

She was a mouth breather that was the only way I knew she was in the room. Her breaths were deep and frequent. 

“Tommy found out about your mum, May. I’m sorry you lost her at such a young age.”She watched me now and I saw the sadness behind them. 

“I’ve only known one mother, so I guess I'm lucky.” She said softly. I snorted, causing her to startle. I saw a small smirk creep up on the left side of her mouth. 

“She still leaves you on your own to fight your own battles and guilt trips you when you think different from er?” I laughed as she smiled brightly at me. 

“So it's not just me.” She said laughing. I liked her. She was sweet and sunny but honest. I saw a little minx in her too. 

“So, what do you like to do when you're not schooling eh?” I finished Ruby's clothes and added them to the basket. Reaching down I pulled out two more baskets. Rose’s eyes widened.

 “I have six people to look after, now nine with you three added. Laundry never stops.” I said. It really didn’t here, neuter did dishes. For as comfortable as we were financially, I wished Tommy would hire help. I hated laundry, to be fair I’d never asked him either.

Men generally had to be told things rather than be able to figure anything out on their own. 

“Ummm, I like to listen to the radio and dance. I used to sneak out to the dance hall once a week in Pickford when dad was there on business. I think he knew but he never told me. He kept inviting me out on Saturday nights so….” Her sweet voice trailed off as she blushed and buried her head in the clothes. I nodded my head and smiled. I loved dancing too. I’m glad she was doing little things for herself. 

“I’m impressed, we may not be blood but we definitely are related. Sneaking out to dance and meet boys.” My eyes glittered at her as she laughed and continued to bury her face embarrassed. It was cute. We continued to fold the silence quietly but not uncomfortably so. It was nice to have help. Finne and Duke were boys so Tommy kept them busy with “men’s work,” not that the great Tommy Shelby didn’t help me, he always did when he was here. Ruby and Charlie were young and did chores on the weekends when not at school. 

“Duke seems nice.” She said it so quietly like she was trying to whisper it. I almost missed her statement. Crimson flushes dotted her cheeks and neck. She liked him. We’ll at least physically. He rarely spoke and I knew he’d been hiding out away from her. 

“Tommy and I agreed before he left, what you two decided is between you. We don't want to get involved unless you have questions.” I watched the younger girl's face fall a bit. Did she have questions? Did she think we don’t like her because we both did. 

“Tommy and I think you are a good match, don’t expect Duke to come round anytime soon though. I don’t want to discourage you but he's out working with his da, could be two bloody months before I see them.” I watched her face like a hawk. She was actually disappointed. Good, If Duke decided he liked her, she’d wait for him and also understand what it was like to love a working man. They traveled a lot or worked extremely long hours. She’d have things to think about. 

 Duke was uncertain if he wanted to mate at all or even ever Marry. When they approached him the night before Tommy left, he made it known that he really liked to be by himself and he didn’t want kids, ever. He seemed to acknowledge that he may end up alone but seemed content to think about Rosemary at least. 

Truth be told Esme and Tommy hadn’t met until they were well into their twenties. It was an easy decision for her. She wanted him and wanted a baby. He did too. They weren’t kids trying to make adult decisions about mates, marriage or life right away. 

“I like crocheting and embroidery.” Rosemary pulled Esme out of her thoughts and back into a more comfortable conversation. 

“I knit because I have to with the way these kids outgrow their bloody clothes.” Esme said irritatedly. She loved her babies but they grew so rapidly, she had to do something. A tailor every year was too expensive even passing things down from child to child. 

“Oh, I like horses. Do you ride? I saw Tommy and Duke had some in the barn by the house.  Mom says I cant because, well you know.” I rolled my eyes, oh I knew what she was saying. Because God forbid she be unable on her marriage bed to prove she was a virgin. Honestly this world wasn’t too different from the old one depending on your parents. 

“I’ll take you. She’s gone today to some women's retreat thing with er church. Won't be back until dark.” I winked at her. It was nice to have a girl around to corrupt and talk to. Ruby was sweet but everything was candy, school and animals. 

“We can walk the trail and I’ll show you where I met Tommy by the creek and we’ll picnic after the kids get out.” I watched her whole face light up. I really needed a female friend. Rosemary was sweet but probably wouldn’t be sticking around much longer. 

“I'd love that.” She said folding a little faster.

“It’s not a bloody race, slow down.” We giggled. I hope at some point Duke picked her. 

_______________Tommy’s pov________________________________

I hadn’t been too surprised when Duke said he wanted to come with us. I knew after our little family talked with him, he wanted to clear his head so I invited him out to the city to help me with the factory restlessness. He seemed more willing to do what was necessary than Finn who wanted his creature comforts. 

I’d already told Finn what I expected of him, but I didn’t mention Duke. Honestly, I wasn't sure where to put him. It surprised me when he volunteered to drive a truck and deliver a shipment. He’d asked me a few questions, smart questions and was off. 

When I spoke to Esme tomorrow, I’d let her know that I'd offer Duke a position or offer to help him figure out what he wanted to do and lend him the money. He was showing promise. God knows I needed that from one male family member. 

Polly's son Michael held down the fort on some of our business when we came home. 

With Declan being fixed now, I could afford to stay and deal with the issues here. 

[witchofstarz]

I wish women would stop falling for and perpetrating the whole “ older men are better” myth.

edit: some errors

I feel like age gap relationships between older men and younger women are so normalized that even women themselves will bend over backwards to either defend these relationships or not bat a single eye at these pairings. They are everywhere you look, and I think it’s so strange because growing up I’ve always heard women ( or girls) say things like “ EWW I would never date a guy 1-2 years younger than me because I see them as younger brothers/babies lmao” or “ I like dating older guys because they’re so mature and men my age are immature” , but they never seem to critically think about applying these things to the older men that want to date them. They never put themselves in the shoes of older men ( and emphasis on older men, not just an older person but a man) and think about why these men might go for them ( the younger women). 

It’s not a coincidence that older men/ younger women pairing is common and it’s rooted in misogyny that places an importance in: a women’s youth ( which is associated with beauty), an older man having more experience and therefore taking the ‘lead’ and can ‘guide’ the younger women ( he can mold her as the person he wants her to be), men seeing young women as a status symbol/ trophy to feed his ego ( having an youthful wife/girlfriend vs an older wife girlfriend which is seen as an “ old hag” by society), older men thinking he can vicariously live through her youth even when he’s old, having a younger wife/gf that can be his caretaker as he ages. etc you get the point. 

Under the patriarchy there is such a huge emphasis on women only being valuable during their youth yet so many women will overlook the fact that men will look for and pursue women that fit these qualities. And this is important to note because women also forget that men don’t have the same intentions as them or just assume that older men pursuing them are decent and their standards for finding a wife/gf aren’t influenced by patriarchal ideals.  Women aren’t socialized to value ~youthfulness~ in men. 

And this brings me to the whole choice feminism consensus that as long as you are a women making a ‘choice’ ,then all it takes is for a women to give the green light to said choice is okay, no questions asked. No critiquing what influences might have been led her to a choice ( in this case it’s choosing to get into an age gap relationship with an older man without thinking about his intentions [ but hey that doesn’t matter *shrugs*] , and if you question this very common phenomenon your a misogynist who doesn’t respect women’s agency or whatever. ) IMO choice feminism is dangerous in this aspect because it sets precedent to having younger women date older men without the reflection needed that could prevent them from getting into unfavorable relationships. 

It’s important for women to always questions men’s intentions and analyze how living under that patriarchy might have influenced their own views on what an ideal male partner should be. ex ) men lying about how they ‘get better with age’ and ‘are more mature’ as they get older and thus might influence younger women into pursuing older men thinking it will guarantee them an ideal partner, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The only people these lies benefit are older men whom are trying to secure younger women by somehow showing that they are inherently being of more value than their younger male counterparts. The same does NOT apply to older women, in fact they are seen as bitter old hags past their prime that are just jealous of younger women. 

It’s important to see who benefits from  these “ older men are better “ tropes because unfortunately some women have fallen for them, hence women’s ridicule and aversion to younger men and thinking they won’t get the same bullshit from older dudes. The whole “ older men are more mature” thing is bs especially when you constantly hear about women behaving like managers and caretakers towards men who refuse to do their fair share of emotional labor + housework. Age is irrelevant, women still end up playing the role as older men’s household managers despite being younger. And it doesn’t stop there they are also supposed to bring a ~youthful touch~ to a relationship and help coax emotionally constipated older men into sharing their feelings ( emotional labor + playing therapist). If anything I think younger women are convinced that going after older men will somehow make them escape a lot of the labor and pain associated with being a women in a ssa relationship but they fail to realize that these are just issues that relate to dating men in general and the age of the man doesn’t change that......because men miracuously don’t grow out of their misogynistic ways as they age. 

(sidenote 1: Younger women themselves that think that they are best matched with older men is also weird since it perpetuates the whole ‘ younger women age faster / mature faster than men’. Like, let young women/girls be youthful and immature? Let them act their age?? It’s sad to see women internalize this whom mindset that somehow they need to match some older dudes mental age and believe that they are inherently more mature than guys their own age. Younger women don’t need to pair up with some dude at a different stage in life and he’s not that impressive, he’s literally just in another stage in his life and when they get to his age they’ll find out that he’s not that impressive.

(sidenote 2: Also wanted to say that wanting an older man for security is odd since it just screams traditional gender roles and tbvh idk why the hell are so called ‘ empowered’ women still looking for ~security~ from men. I don’t find why they find older ~secure~ men more impressive for being more into their careers when it's a given at an older age ). 

[a-long-walk-in-the-forest]

Astrology of Sasuke, Itachi and Naruto: a semi-comprehensive analysis

I’ve been wasting away months of my life on this task and I’m finally reaching relatively passable results. This is the fruit of my labour thus far.

I really tried to be as unbiased as possible and keep several different interpretations of the characters in mind but I can’t guarantee that my personal feelings and opinions didn’t seep through to some extent (specially with regards to that whole genocide thing). I also don’t like some of these characters as “people” so I’ll warn you beforehand, I ended up bad-mouthing Naruto and Itachi a bit.

This post is broken up into four sections. 

Section one is a quick run up of the planets (only the ones I’ve been working on), houses and aspects. 

Section two is about the signs I’ve chosen for the characters, how I’ve chosen the degrees, and natal aspects. 

Section three is focused on degree interpretations. 

Finally, we will have a quick look at synastry and composite.

I’ve used equal temperament house system and cross check with placidus though because I don’t have Konoha’s longitude and latitude I’ve used Japan’s ones. Also, in this post we are assuming that Naruto’s planet is earth and their moon (and other planets) functions the same way as ours.

The degree interpretations are supposedly translations of La Volasfera published by Sepharia in 1898 (the translations. La Volasfera is older), Walter Henson’s interpretations and Kozminsky’s interpretation in that order. Keep in mind that they lived in different times and some of the things they say reaaallly reflects that.

For aspect and midpoint calculations, I couldn’t be bothered to calculate everything by hand so I wrote a short program for it; however, I didn’t debug much. It should work fine but just in case something slips by, I’m giving a warning. I also didn’t proof read so please excuse any mistakes.

This is a long post. Any additional comments, opinions, ... are welcome.  

Section one: Planets, houses, aspects and additional notes

Planets:

sun: ego, the father, vitality, stamina, core personality, the self, takes around a day to move a degree, ...

moon: the emotional mind, the mother, comforts, instinct, habits, moods, need, takes a couple of hours to move a degree, ...

mercury: the logical mind, petty daily habits, communication, rationality, learning style, ... 

venus: values, things we like, wants, love style, sensuality, takes around a day to move a degree, ...

mars: our drive, how we get and go after things, aggression, passion, takes a little more than a day to move a degree, ...

saturn: restrictions, the mentor, the somber and sober, constraint, structure, the serious things, takes around 8 days to 2 weeks to move a degree, ...

neptune: the collective unconscious, allusion and disillusionment, spirituality, the veil, deception, intuition, takes around 6 weeks to move a degree, ...

pluto: control, power, transformation, magnetism, fears, death, rebirth, takes around 8 weeks to move a degree, ... 

Houses:

first (the cusp is the ascendant): shallow identity, our first impression, temperament and constitution, presentation, ...

second: self-esteem, tangible values, possessions, material gains, ...

third: communication, siblings, the everyday things, short distance travel ...

fourth: roots, family, the mother, home, comfort zone, ...

fifth: fun, children, light-hearted romance, hobbies, creativity, ...

sixth: health, coworkers, servitude, pets, work, routine, ...

seventh (the cusp is the descendant): interpersonal relationships, ideal partner, open enemies, part of ourselves that we have a hard time integrating or accepting, partnerships, aesthetic preference, ...

eighth: death, crisis, what we hide, other peoples stuff that we want, taxes, death and rebirth, occult, fears, intimacy, painful transformation, ...

ninth: travel, philosophy, higher education, wisdom, expansion, world view, ...

tenth: public perception, career, reputation, ambition, greater community, admiration, delayed gratification, ...

eleventh: friendship, aspirations and wishes, where we are more accepting, humanity, how we relate to society, liquid income, ...

twelfth: what is hidden from us, the unconscious, spiritual things, the vague and boundaryless, idealization, escapism, ...

Aspects:

square (90): tension, dynamic, needs adjustment, major, ...

opposition (180): polarized, projection, can be tense but less than square, dynamic, major, ...

conjunction (0): blending, can be dynamic, major, ...

trine (120): comes naturally, can be taken for granted, harmonious, major, ...

sextile (60): similar to trine but slightly weaker and more moving (a fun spark sort of energy but not dynamic), major.

inconjunction (150): awkward, can’t be compromised, has to be tolerated, minor, ...

semi-sextile (30): similar to inconjunction, some say it’s more workable, minor, ...

semi-square (45): like square but weaker, minor, ...

quintile and biQuintile (72 and 144): creative, dynamic but compatible and comfortable, minor, ...

sesquiquadrate (135): making a mountain out of a molehill, acting energetically without understanding consequences, putting a lot of energy but the more you try the less you get results but when you don’t try they work really well, minor, ...

Additional notes:

on a full moon sun opposite moon occurs. The moon would be 180-225 degrees away from the sun. 

during the last quarter phase, the moon is 270-315 degrees ahead of the sun (Sasuke was born on this phase). 

mercury is up to 28 degrees away from the sun and venus is up to 48 degrees away from the sun.

aspect between sun and moon could denote how you perceive the relationships between your father figure and mother figure.

neptune retrograde happens every year when neptune is opposite sun.

plutonian relationships tend to be controlling, obsessive, disrespectful, painful and manipulative but can be transformative and life-changing.

neptunian relationships and about falling for an idealized image and not seeing things for what they are, rose coloured glasses, a feeling of betrayal and disillusionment once those glasses are shattered, forgiving easily, lack of boundaries in both good and bad ways, worshiping someone and putting them on a pedestal and never seeing them for what they are (humans), overlooking vices that shouldn’t be over looked, ...

both neptunian and plutonian relationships can manifest in nice ways but generally they tend to not do that as both people involved would have to be quite “evolved”, mature and level-headed for that among other things.

Section Two: natal signs and aspects

We will start this section with Sasuke, then we will have a look at Itachi and then Naruto. I’ve checked to make sure that it is mathematically possible (though I didn’t get into retrograde cycles much) for the characters to have these placements both on their own and relative to each-other. 

I put a picture of each character’s natal aspects and wrote which degree I used. If it is between several possible degrees I wrote it in orange, otherwise, it's green. I didn’t discuss the aspect interpretations much because this post would become far too long if I did. I also used pretty wide orbs because the exact degrees weren’t certain but the overall range was extremely likely.

Sasuke’s planets and house placements:

Ascendant: Capricorn 21-22 or 23-34 degrees

Sun: Leo 0-1 degrees (7th)

Moon: Taurus 22-23 degrees (4th) 

Mercury: Leo 12-13 degrees (7th)

Venus: Cancer 15 degrees (6th)

Mars: Scorpio 12 degrees (10th)

Saturn: Cancer 28-29 degrees (7th)

Neptune: Libra 4-5 or 5-6 degrees (8th)

Pluto: Aquarius 10-11, 13-14, 15-16 or 18-19 degrees (1st)

His sun was decided by the author and fits him quite well so there is no need for speculation. Sun in the 7th seems iffy but he does only go for people he respects, deems as reliable/competent and all that (that sun-saturn conjunction in the 7th house) and some of his identity is based on his interpersonal relationships. He also has that passive, non-confrontational way about him where people intrude on his personal space and disregard his boundaries all the time and he really doesn’t react as strongly as one would expect.

There seems to be a common consensus about his Ascendant in the anime astrology community. It is also worth noting that capricorn ascendants are often mistaken as scorpios for some reason. He is driven, comes across as standoffish and serious, has a slight aloof way about him, it puts his mars in the 10th and his moon in the 4th which is perfectly him, ... (I actually considered cancer ascendant for him at first because he had those doe eyes, soft features, youngish face, paler than his brother/father, family oriented, ... but I was torn between that and capricorn and everyone said capricorn so capricorn it is.) 

With regards to his moon, as I’ve already mentioned in my previous posts, I saw how Naruto was born on a full-moon and how the relationship between his parents had that masculine-feminine polarization and some other things and decided to put his moon in aries and if we were to calculate Sasuke’s moon with consideration to the moon’s average speed and the time between his birth-date and Naruto’s, we get moon in taurus (3rd decan, in his 4th house), and the degree will be explained in the third section but the house placement is apparent, given that Sasuke’s heart and comfort has always been with family, home and roots (clan). The cancer one also works because, again, heart with family and an innate gentleness and the 6th house can bring a need to be of use and good organization skills and an attention to order, efficiency and good dietary habits which he certainly does posses. 

Mercury in Leo is self explanatory. It’s either this or cancer and his style of communication is blunt, straightforward, sarcastic, confident, direct and to the point, dramatic, ... and his learning style matches leo more than cancer.

Venus in cancer is one that I doubted quite a good deal and there isn’t a common consensus about it either. The options are gemini, cancer, leo and virgo. I’ve heard mostly leo and virgo but I personally think Cancer in the 6th house makes more sense than in Virgo in the eight. This is based on his aesthetic sense, my understanding of his values and his love style with the only person whom I’m 100% sure he loves (his brother). He really needed quality time to feel loved, he valued competence (6th house) and family (cancer), he cared about receiving compassion from loved ones more than many of the other characters, he expressed affection mostly through acts of service (6th house), he was verbally expressive and hugged his brother and all that so he wasn’t that distant or somber in his approach to expressing affection in general (cancer), he got sulky when his brother refused to spend time with him and pouted and blushed a lot (cancer), ...

Mars in scorpio is another thing where everyone is of the same opinion and it falling into the 10th house makes it even more fitting as he will be very driven and hyper focused on one thing and he can also spend a very long time not having anything to do with fun or sex or any of that. The 10th house is disciplined, it delays, it makes thing serious and it has much to do with self-restraint. This placement is very action oriented and Sasuke is exactly that (he doesn’t spend time just thinking about doing things or just talking about them, he does them).

Saturn in cancer aspecting both his sun and venus. He was only expressive and affectionate with people he was comfortable with and his relationship with his father and authority figures and his general demeanor practically scream saturn in hard aspect to sun. Misfortune in the home and family life and a rigid upbringing (military parents) which saturn in cancer can bring are also there.

Pluto is a generational planet but I’m convinced that it falls into Sasuke’s first house. He constantly attracts plutonic people, he has a mildly plutonic energy himself and if it’s there, it aspects a ton of his planets which would mean that in his relationships with people of his own generation, he would have a pluto heavy synastry (composite is a different matter). 

The aspects didn’t quite turn out how I wanted but they do make sense in my opinion and he has that grand cross with pluto, moon, mars and mercury which is just perfect. His heart, his head, and his drive are all in conflict and there is quite a bit of intensity, issues related to power and control, ... involved.

Itachi’s planets and house placements:

Ascendant: Virgo 20-21 or 26-27 degrees

Sun: Gemini 17-18 degrees (9th)

Moon: Scorpio 20-21, 21-22, 24-25 or 26-27 degrees (3rd) 

Mercury: Cancer 6-7 or 11-12 degrees (10th)

Venus: Taurus 6-7 or 8-9 degrees (8th)

Mars: Taurus 1-2, 3-4, 14-15, 16-17, 18-19, 24-25 or 28-29 degrees (8th)

Saturn: Taurus 24-25 degrees (9th)

Neptune: Virgo 23-24 degrees (1st)

Pluto: Aquarius 2-3 (I chose this but It still isn’t concrete enough, the last one also works), 5-6, 7-8 or 10-11 degrees (5th)

Again, his sun is canon and very fitting. Sun in the 9th house of philosophy and all that also fits his interests (this doesn't say anything about his competence). 

He is very into that whole “I’ve plan everything” and he talked waaay too much about perfection and all that for him to not have some sort of strong virgo/6th house. His ascendant in virgo puts the house cusps in nice places too. I’ll copy this part from my previous post on the subject. 

I considered virgo rising for him (but I’m not particularly attached to this idea)  since that would put scorpio as his 3rd house (intense relationship with siblings) capricorn (ruled by saturn which is restrictions and stuff) on his 5th (fun, children and all that), gemini on 10th (can easily change their persona and know by the general public as intelligent), taurus on 9th (likes philosophy and all that, tends to have different beliefs from what he was raised with (likely by family) and can be very stubborn about beliefs and once he finds them, is very unlikely to change them) and some other stuff.

Moon in Scorpio because I calculated and given the distance between his birthdate and Sasuke’s (if they are 5 years apart) his moon would either fall in sagittarius or scorpio and honestly, I think scorpio fits him more. 

Mercury in cancer because he’s somewhat verbally non-confrontational (would rather deflect and run away, in his case he does that with lies and that stuff) and passive-aggressive and speaks in a vague way instead of just getting to the point and being clear and concise and he’s good at emotional talk in a sense (although that doesn’t necessarily mean he is comfortable with it).

venus in taurus because when he isn’t busy being genocidal or dishonest, he likes some pretty taurusian things like hanging out at traditional coffee shops and getting some sweets. He’s also aesthetically very close to his root (traditional japanese stuff) in terms of preference and taurus likes the familiar. 

I calculated his mars and saturn sign after deciding Sasuke’s mars and saturn. It does match him in a way though. He has a taurusian feel in a way and he really seems to adore the look of security and stability (even when it’s not really there). Venus and mars in 8th because of his fascination and acceptance of the morbid, death and human nature. Also he has an inclination towards extremism in both his actions and adorations (that isn’t the same as being showy though).

Neptune in first because he obviously would have neptune in first. Those acting skills, a habit of dishonesty, being extremely inconsistent and unknowable, weak constitution, slow and lethargic movements, ... He has one of the worst manifestations of neptune in first in my opinion. And he should have more Than one planet in virgo.

Pluto in aqua in 5th solely because of sasuke and calculations, not because of what it says about him (though I also took synastry into account).

Naruto’s planets and house placements:

Ascendant: Leo 1-2, 3-4 or 5-6 degrees

Sun: Libra 17-18 degrees (3rd)

Moon: Aries 12-13, 13-14, 16-17, 17-18 or 20-21 (9th or 10th depending on house system)  or taurus 24 or 28 (10th)

Mercury:  it’s between virgo (2nd), libra (3rd) and scorpio (4th)

Venus: Libra 23-24 or 26-27 degrees (3rd)

Mars: sag 24-25, 25-26 or 29 degrees (5th)

Saturn: Leo 8-9 degrees (1st)

Neptune: Libra 6-7 or 7-8 degrees (3rd)

Pluto: same as sasuke since pluto is a generational planet and their birthdays aren’t that far apart (7th)

His sun is also canon.

His ascendant in leo makes sense because he was born late at night on the 10th of October and he has that leoish persona. There really isn’t much to say here, he embodies it. He has big movements, flamboyance, an outgoing “sunshine”y demeanour, ego-driven, loves to make everything about himself, ...

Moon in the 10th because his emotional security and self-worth and all that are very tied to what the general public thinks of him and he tries to achieve that through his career. Moon in aries and moon in taurus both fit him and the anime astrology community is also divided on this.

For mercury I have no clue. 

His venus could be in virgo, libra, leo, scorpio or sagittarius. I calculated venus in libra from Sasuke’s venus in cancer and then I looked at the degrees and plenty of them fit Naruto and he does have the power of charm so I just left it at that. I eventually narrowed the degrees a bit and found a range I’m comfortable with (in terms of both aspects and degree interpretations).

I used to think his mars makes harsh aspects to both his moon and pluto but it could be just one of them, in the end it ended up being neither of them. I calculated his mars sign from Sasuke’s mars and sag in the 5th seemed pretty fitting specially since his hobby was pranking people and he is a bit of a trickster, his earlier battles also had some creativity.  I used to think his mars is in taurus but it didn’t work out. And honestly he talks about working hard more than he actually works so mars in the 10th was kind of off either way.

Saturn was also calculated based on Sasuke but saturn in leo works pretty well. He got reprimanded for his “fun” and he has a lot of self-esteem issues and simultaneously has a bloated ego and a pretty low opinion of himself. He was so insecure that he had no problem taking credit for other peoples work so there is that. Saturn conjunct ascendant can cause people to have a hard time expressing their true self, often receiving criticism for the way they present themselves/the way they are, they can also often feel like no one will every truly love/like them (as people).

Pluto in the 7th house is extremely fitting for him, in fact, I would go so far as to say that I can’t imagine it anywhere else. He’s controlling, he’s manipulative, he’s possessive, obsessive, he’s all about taking what he wants/needs from relationships while not giving an iota of care to what the other party wants or needs, he’s stalkerish, ... he manifests pluto in the 7th house in one of the worst possible ways. 

Section Three: degree interpretations

Like the previous section, we will start with Sasuke and make our way to Itachi and then Naruto. 

edit: these need to be updated

SASUKE

Moon: 22-23

It signifies one who will suffer misfortune in the height of his career and whose fall will be dangerous in proportion to the height he has attained. The native will be too apt to depend on his own powers and will essay feats which will be beyond his natural powers. Ambition will lead him into dangerous positions, and at a weak moment he will fall. Let this be taken as equally affecting his physical, moral, and social welfare. It is a degree of COLLAPSE.

Doctors; art; projecting and the arts; medical fields; painting; homicidal tendency; alcoholism; has some unique quality (affected, may be an abnormal trait); an enthusiast who can inspire others with his plans, but thy may not always be successful; teeth.

Denotes one with strength of purpose and ability to sustain trials. The Dragon is lust, corruption, end the cold moistures of the earth. St. Michael is the life, solar energy, conqueror of decay; the black rain the evil which corruption draws. So when the native realizes his soul force he becomes a veritable victor over the monster into whose jaws so many unwarned and unguarded fall. It is a symbol of Victory.

Venus: 15-16

It indicates a person of much tenacity and strength of purpose; who by dint of extreme power, whether physical or mental, will overcome his greatest and most terrible enemies. The native will have much to contend with in life, and will encounter many dangers; but, as indicated, will finally overcome them. Together with this native strength, there may be blended a softness and gentleness of manner, which may induce others to attempt an advantage over him; but those Philistine who may have this Samson out (shorn and eyeless though he be) to make sport with him will rue the day. It is a degree of CONQUEST.

Business; music; good at mathematics, writing, or making money; a fortunate degree; taciturn; blindness or defective eyesight; gastric nerves.

Denotes one who is entrusted with a high mission and who is deeply inspired, having a spirituality entirely serene. To him has the mandate “Co forth and teach the people” been echoed from the heavens. He will be granted power and influence, so that the people will hear him call. The evidences of this peculiar mission are made manifest in his twelfth year and mature between the twenty-fourth and thirty-sixth years. It is the symbol of the Inspired.

Saturn: 28-29

It indicates a person of docile and tractable nature, combined with a certain subtlety of mind and high order of intelligence. One who will be held in restraint by others, or whose freedom will be taken by the hand of Fate and the force of circumstances. Although thus held in check, the native will be subject to dangers of an unknown character from secret enemies and jealous foes, and will be in peril of an untimely end. It is a degree of forced RESTRAINT.

An interesting person but sometimes unreliable and uncertain, conscious awareness of hair, often acts on inspiration or impulse; spleen.

Denotes one liable to be bound soul and body, who will be restricted in action and desire. But even so he may yet release his true self and meet the force flowing from the fountain head. Thus, though one side may frown and obstruct him, the other will smile and release him. It is a symbol of Obstruction.

Sun: 0-1

It denotes a person of extreme dignity of character, with much self-reliance, fearlessness, nobility and freedom of nature; an ambitious person and somewhat jealous of honor, being much subject to praise and flattery. The native will be apt in the government of others, and equally so in self-control; but unless the heart be kind, the native will be a mere pompous tyrant. It is a degree at DIGNITY.

Magnetic, brusque, and forceful; homicidal tendency; often seems to know things without taking the trouble to learn; left coronary artery.

Denotes one who will be enabled to grant or to refuse to grant the wishes of others. He will reach a position of importance and will receive many honors, and benefits will accrue to him. The demand is for an understanding of the use, not the abuse, of power. It is a symbol of Authority.

Mercury: 12-13

It indicates a person of firm and steadfast character; one who will resolutely hold to his own beliefs and principles, though it be to his disadvantage. In some ways the mind will be precocious and there will he some degree of self assertion shown; but, whatever the native may determine upon as the right thing to do will assuredly be done if within the compass of resolute striving. It is a degree of CONSTANCY.

Music, a degree of beauty; strong beliefs and disbeliefs; fortunate but restless; intentions are good; may be an orphan or may care for a parent or other relative; usually has special talent for some work where a well-trained eye and hand, plus his idealism and artistic tastes, enable him to excel al others; right heart chamber.

Denotes one of rugged, conservative, and patriotic nature who will be blessed with the goods of the world and who will use his blessings well. His position in life will be distinguished and his sincerity will command respect even from his enemies. He carries about him a fine and pure aura which benefits all who come within its radiations. It is a symbol of Exaltation.

Mars: 12-13

It shows one of a powerful and independent nature, relying on his own counsel and capable of standing alone. A degree of taciturnity and reserve will add to the general inscrutability of the mind of this person, and dispose him to command the respect and regard of others. His position will be elevated, his success in life will be assured by his own innate strength, and his fortunes will remain untouched by the hand of change. It is a degree of’ STADILITY.

Business: degree of attraction and repulsion; electricians; independent and self-reliant; stability; magnetic healing; dignity; artistic sensibilities; inclined to poetry; may be either mystical or unfeeling

Denotes one whose work is destined to live and influence men long after he has left the earth, one of an intensely psychic nature, sensitive, and mediumistic. He will have many earthly struggles and will find many sharp rocks in the way of his progress. He suffers more from his absolute lack of sympathy with earth matters as they are at present. His wanderings in the summer lands, however, bring him infinite peace and joy in the midst of pain. It is a symbol of Reveries.

Neptune:

4-5

It indicates a person of high intelligence and lofty aspirations but very prone to the use of force instead of persuasion. A man who is always getting in front of himself, so to speak, losing his temper against his desire, and letting his energies run away with his reason. He will be in danger of hurt by the sword or by fire. He must be careful of the martial element. It Is a degree of IMPULSE.

Fastidious, intellectual, optimistic, and sagacious; some women with this are dreamy and apt to have unsatisfactory love affairs; fear; honor, congeniality, order, and a lovable nature; benefics here a true friend and home lover, malefices here denote energy but sometimes misdirected. Oriental philosophies and painting; surgeons, sharp edges or clearly defined edges, martial arts (straight lines); sharp, incisive gestures, placing things side by side in deep contrast; goiter. Malpighi’s pyramids.

Denotes one who attains influence and a degree of power through aggression, forcefulness, and fighting. He is of an adventurous nature and endures a wound for the glory of getting it and the honor it gains him, and he will have many wounds. It is a symbol of Encroachment.

5-6

It denotes one very unfortunate, who will be constrained to severe and hard work for a certain period of his life. The native is patient, enduring, and capable of much self-government. In the end he will assuredly reap the reward of his labors, It is a degree of LABOUR.

Comparison; cruelty; homicidal tendency, sometimes a critical or top heavy mentality; apt to be fickle and indecisive; works hard for a living; degree of fear; pubis.

Denotes one of an artistic nature and a plodding but powerful disposition who is called to do work of a pioneering nature. He is an advocate of force, and the discipline with which he has been bended he would use on others. It is a symbol Pioneering.

Ascendant:

21-22

This symbol belongs to one that is capable of arduous and protracted labors. His inherent force of character will carry him through all difficulties and beyond all obstacles. He is endowed with much definition of purpose, determination and incisiveness, so that he will make headway against all obstructions and cut out a line in life for himself. He will in all probability find the recompense of his labor in association with agricultural projects, and in the utilization of old and waste materials, it is a degree of DETERMINATION.

A scholarly degree; active mind; persistent in his efforts; studies the past to guide him in his future; usually has more than one hobby; music; muscle endings.

Denotes one whose power is directed to the uplifting and advancement of his race—a stayer of war and strife, of plague and riot. He looks directly ahead, far ahead into the years to come when the new sun will illuminate the glory of a new age of gold. It is a symbol of Renewing.

23-24

This denotes a steadfast and capable person, whose life will be orderly and useful, whose mind will be open to the reception of truth and knowledge and whose passions will be well regulated. He will display a frank and even blunt nature, being free from all craftiness and subtlety; and his mind will have a sincere regard for all that is simple and natural in human nature, and a rooted distrust of the non-transparent. It is likely that he will be disposed to seek his livelihood in the vineyard or hostel, but in the highest capacity he can be will aspire to become a teacher and purveyor of spiritual truths. In any case, he is a man of the common walk and his sympathies are with the people. It Is a degree of SINCERITY.

A blunt, steadfast, and militant person; music; gastric ulcer; from upper to lower legs.

Denotes one who will escape three great dangers by reason of a faith which draws to him the protection of the higher Powers. The most threatening is the third danger, but his faith is proof against this also. He will have moments of intense feeling and will not permit others to usurp his position nor rob him of the fruits of his toil. He is a peculiar child of destiny, and destiny does not design him for a low position in earth life. It is a symbol of Favor.

Pluto:

10-11

This symbol is related to one in whose nature there is more force and energy than power of direction and self-restraint, and who in consequence will be continually running into dangers which to him will be wholly unforeseen though obvious enough to others. He will rely upon his strength and pushfulness to overcome his enemies, but it will be shown to him that there is nothing so insignificant as the strength of a man. Since he cannot overcome Nature let him learn to use her forces with discretion and moderation or he will be wounded in the conflict of life, and unseen dangers will lurk within the hour of exultation as snakes beneath the flowers. It is a degree of FORCEFULNESS.

Fame, leadership and skill at handling men when tact and courtesy are required; can smooth out difficult and antagonistic relationships; when inspired by an ideal; these people have tremendous power; where the cause is great; his work may have its effect on future generations; right crural band.

Denotes one of gifted mind and exceptional qualities, a singer of songs and a bearer of light, whose works gain for him respect and dignity, and whose name will be remembered long after his form has left this earth. Beautiful thoughts will cling to him as the ivy clings to the garden wall, and pleasant minds will come to him as the flowers which entwine the scepter. It is a symbol of Taste.

15-16

This symbol is related to the one who will show considerable aspiration in things of a spiritual nature and will be instrumental in awakening in the breast of man a belief in things supernormal, by fanning the spark of intelligent faith into a flame of conviction and consuming desire. His profession will be allied to the useful arts and his walk in life, although simple and devoid of ostentation, will nevertheless be of singular service to humanity. Great in soul and of immense aspiration, he will prove a veritable Vulcan. It is a degree of INSPIRATION.

Oil producing, literature; appreciation of the beautiful; the artist; often prominent in charts of those who have achieved literary eminence; judicial with good mentality and mathematical ability; fond of sports, music or reading; usually suited to law, finance, statistics, or literary work; lymph vessel of left lower leg.

Denotes one of a trusting spiritual nature who will have trials in life threatening and bitter, and who will often be storm-driven and held in the grip of hard circumstances. Now and then there are breaks in the storms of life which bring relief, no matter how small. But he must go on; his way is difficult and the night is dark, but in the morning light will come. It is a symbol of Experience.

13-14: 

This is the symbol of one whose life will be beset with unforeseen dangers, and who should therefore go warily and with much circumspection into the narrow walks of competitive life. About the middle of his life there will be a great catastrophe, by which he will either lose the use of a limb, or will suffer a total collapse of his affairs. He will then be in danger of liquidation and may become involved in serious trouble. Almost from his boyhood he will have to be self- supporting, and while he is sure to be of considerable service to others, and may even be author of much wise counsel, he will himself stand in need of help and sustenance ere his days are half completed. His future thereafter is in the keeping of Heaven. It is a degree of COLLAPSE.

Literature; idealism; music; “Jack of all trades”; apt to be a child of fate; fortune may push him up or down in unexpected ways; appreciation of the beautiful; degree of an artist; versatile ability; rheumatic fever; rheumatism; artery of left lower leg (fibula).

Denotes one who strives to do more than he can accomplish, who has “ too many irons in the fire,” and, while thinking to accomplish much, does but little. He may be two-sided or have two philosophies obtruding themselves at the same time. The life is restless, anxious, and over it hangs a threatening hand. Peace comes from the cultivation of the higher and the rejection of the lower. It is a symbol of Difficulties.

18-19

This symbol is related to one in whose life some great catastrophe will occur at a time when providentially there will be a friend at hand to rescue him from his danger. It indicates that a deficiency of tact and skill is liable to reader him subject to adversity of fortune, and he will suffer financial disaster and even peril of death. But there will be raised up to him a friend capable of sustaining him in his extremity, and he will not therefore sink into the depths. This will be in response to his great faith. The nature, although daring, is lacking in tact and strength. All his troubles will arise from failing to admit his own incompetence. He will travel afar. It is a degree of INSECURITY.

Musical ability; medical fields gain and recognition in any field; good intellect; well adapted to literary work. Bright’s disease; nervous system of the spinal cord.

Denotes one who has a graceful method of expressing his thoughts and who will reach his place when life’s midway has passed. He will accomplish much, and his words will ring so that many will stop to listen. His actions harmonize with his beliefs, and his soul is serene. It is a symbol of Proclaiming.

ITACHI

Saturn: 24-25

It indicates a powerful and haughty nature; one who is disposed to justify himself by force of arms rather than by intrinsic merit. Such a person will make many his servants but few his friends and in the end his state will be a pitiable as that of a dying lion. It is a degree of PRIDE.

Sometimes have theories and ideas of doubtful value; homicidal tendency; alcoholism; men with planets here are careful with their money; lower jaw.

Denotes one of natural talent who will be beset with difficulties in gaining recognition, but whose mental strength will be the more determined because of them. When his time comes his power will be felt. He will force acknowledgment by sheer ability and energy. It is a symbol of Premeditation.

Sun: 17-18

It indicates a person of lofty aspirations, keen mental powers, penetration and executive ability, one who will cut out his own line in life and excite attention, but who may, by his destiny, fail in achieving the result aimed at. It is a degree of EXECUTION.

Good imagination; cordial but caustic; energetic, enthusiastic, and intellectual; a dual personality - men may sometimes have feminine traits; homicidal tendency; Bright’s disease (kidneys); second rib.

Denotes one of great bravery who, feeling himself unconquerable, becomes a mark for the attacks of his enemies, who, thinking to smite him at the point of his weakness, raise about themselves the power which arises from his pain. It is a symbol of Invulnerability.

Neptune: 23-24

It denotes a person of misanthropic spirit and unsociable disposition, who will be estranged from his kindred and may be exiled or outcast from his country. In addition, the native will be short-sighted or have some moral obliquity. so, that be will incur severe troubles through this defect in various ways. It is a degree of LONELINESS.

Painters; “a ship at full sail”; a hard worker who has many ups and downs; sometimes hard to understand because he is not a good mixer and t other times he does not understand himself; benefics are favorable here, but other planets here may denote a lack of chastity; spine; tendons of liver.

Denotes one who may become vain of his earthly power and may use it for purposes which can be of no real benefit to him and no real gratification. Suffering may force him to hold himself in check and to understand that” he who conquers himself is greater than he who conquers a kingdom.” It is a symbol of Violence.

Ascendant:

20-21

The native will be of a penurious~ acquisitive, and mercenary nature; always counting the cost of all he does, and looking well to it that whatever be performs shall first be remunerative; then, if possible (though this is not important), just. He will acquire wealth by easy means, and will indulge in some very notable speculations. It is a degree of COVETOUSNESS.

Talent for mimicry; has the soul of a poet, but necessity often compels him to work along more prosaic lines; interested in diets, health, and laws of nature; gall bladder duct.

Denotes one of resourcefulness and determination who can be trusted to protect and safeguard his vital interests. Others, perhaps even amongst his own kinsmen, may interfere or attempt to interfere with the liberty of the native and prevent his free actions, and he may have to use craft to protect his rights and himself. It is a symbol of Finesse.

26-27

It denotes a person of a peculiarly incapable nature, unhappy disposition, and a certain awkwardness in his bearing. He will suffer ills through want of practical ness and executive power, and by reason of his backwardness will be liable to be victimized and deceived by the more active and wary. It is a degree of BLUNTNESS.

One of the strongest literary degrees. yet, unless the rest of the chart favors writing, Mercury here merely denotes interest, and Venus a love of literature, painting, good philosophy and honest bluntness along with artistic taste; combative but beneficent; strength of character; alert and aspiring; suicide; denotes art and literary ability; intelligence; honor, and riches in disgrace; hip veins.

Denotes one of a quick and critical mind who is gifted with powers of observation and discrimination He is able to turn points to his advantage, and does not hesitate to push forward with energy and activity to gain his desires. It is a symbol of Keenness.

Moon:

20-21

It is the symbol of a bold, independent and forceful nature, that knows either restraint nor law, and that will suffer great privations in order to maintain the semblance of freedom. It is a degree of INDEPENDENCE.

Doctors: music (variations of pitch); not as strong as most Scorpio degrees; alcoholism; violence; homicidal tendency; has little respect for rules and conventions but usually abides by them. Often so reserved that few people understand him.

Denotes one who conceives the dualistic nature of man. He holds that the connexion of spirit and matter is the initial force from which all other forces are brought into being. He admits no intermediate force, pressing home his beliefs with all the certainty of proven facts and with all the vehemence his powerful nature is capable of. It is a symbol of Forcing.

21-22

It is the index of a nature that is impelled by force of circumstances to precipitate and hazardous projects. A restless and impulsive mind, defective in foresight and never aware of danger till it is encountered. The life will be narrowed and confined, and so largely determined by the force of circumstances that it will be in danger of falling from one level to another until it is lost in obscurity and swallowed up in the sands of time. It is degree of COMPULSION.

Doctors; alcoholism; now; homicidal tendency; often found in charts of painters, poets, and astrologers, impulsive and restless yet loves home, solitude, and contemplation; (Unukalhai) immorality, accidents, danger of poison; ethmoid bone and ligaments.

Denotes one who is forced by circumstances to undertake duties which are not always of a pleasant nature. His destiny is to adjust and to demand, and the necessities of his life are opposed to investigations of an ideal or psychic character. It is a symbol of Gathering.

24-25

It is the indication of a predatory and adventurous spirit, a mind that is avaricious and cunning, quick to perceive and enforce its owl advantage, but slow to cultivate the more useful and sociable habits of life. Such will lead a distressful and contentious life, and will not long enjoy the benefit of his conquests. He will snatch an advantage and will be forced to surrender it to others; and because of his selfishness his own friends will berail him. It is a degree of SEIZURE.

Alcoholism; homicidal tendencies; strong desire to gain wealth or power, a malefic here usually denotes trouble with the opposite sex; some connection with magicians; ovarian ducts; coccyx.

Denotes one who is lost in the maze of worldly gain and whose sole happiness is in his ever- increasing wealth. His nature is hard and his estimate of his fellow-creatures is judged by his own standard. His motto is: Treat every man as a rogue until you find him out to be honest, and when you find him out to be honest, think again before you trust him. It is a symbol of Hardness.

26-27

It denotes one who has a forceful and yet pliant mind, a persuasive tongue and a brave spirit. Such an one will lead others by the power of authority which is vested in reason and sustained by the ability of expression. From such a man an appeal is equivalent to a command, and an exhortation equal to a rebuke. He will undertake high duties and grave responsibilities in life and will largely be moved by a power that is within him, unrecognized but potent. It is a degree of PERSUASION.

Usually seems well-balanced, genial, sympathetic, and philosophical, may be placed in positions of trust only to meet personal misfortune.

Denotes one capable of lofty thoughts and high mental flights. There is a subtle, strong diplomacy about this native which cannot be easily gauged by others, but he knows himself, his own ambitious spirit, and his ever-growing faith—a faith which never wavers, no matter if he basks in favors or shields himself from frowns. It is a symbol of Distinction.

Pluto:

2-3

This symbol is related to one whose life is liable to many and severe shocks of misfortune, the severing of ties and the disappointment of hopes. Nevertheless, he will show a spirit of steadfast resignation to the will of Heaven and therein will find consolation for his grief’s and sorrows. The task which he will have to perform in life will be honorable but unprofitable, and many will be the difficulties which encumber his upward path. He is nevertheless equipped for a long and arduous journey, and being endowed with a patient and firm will, he must eventually attain his goal. Only in the interval he will have to surrender all that he holds most dear in life. It is a degree of PERSEVERANCE.

Inquisitiveness; obesity; brings strange events into one’s life; women are much loved; men are natural leaders and follow some unusual line of work; right fibula.

Denotes one of a truly religious mind whose career will be as full of incident as the many pieces which go to make a mosaic pavement are full of color. Material life is not without its dangers— moral and physical—but the native is not born under the heel of fear. He sees beyond his times and bears his cross. It is a symbol of Faithfulness.

7-8

This symbol is indicative of a nature that is strong forceful and independent, loving freedom above all things and desiring death by hunger rather than servitude or restraint. Such a one will prove himself to be of greater service to the race when left to his own resources and given full freedom of action than when bound to a narrow or restricted walk in life. Nevertheless, he is liable to captivity or imprisonment, whether it be as a prisoner of State or as the victim of a hard and unrelenting Fate, and this will be entailed by his inordinate love of freedom. He will, suffer and will serve, and thus gain both wisdom and freedom for all time. It is a degree of ESCAPEMENT.

Hearing; anemia; may be especially good or clever at some particular thing; afflicted; an extremist; hitting at truth of life (something universal); vein of lower left leg.

Denotes one of a vital, vigorous, and martial disposition who endeavors to cut his way by mind or sword. Danger in early childhood may be overcome according to the power of the horoscope, but danger is never absent from him, and he is liable to be constrained or oppressed with enemies of his own making or he may be a dangerous enemy to himself. To pass through a barred window self- conquest alone knows the way. It is a symbol of Limitation.

5-6

This symbol is related to one who has considerable faculty for teaching (prophecy), and skill in manual crafts. As a director of thought, an exponent of religious teachings, as traveler, lecturer, even handicraftsman, he will show himself capable and will meet with distinction. He will be ambitious and will have a mind set upon things that are remote from his environment. Careful in his methods, and ambitious in his designs, he will have to travel far, nevertheless, for the results of his actions, and of him it may be said that what is remote from the sense is ever more attractive than things corporeal, and that which is afar than which is near. It is a degree of APPERCEPTION.

Medical; healing airmen (avoid air travel if Jupiter is afflicted); if prominent; it warns against accidents when traveling especially by air; inventive, unconventional, loves new and experimental schemes; interest in Oriental philosophies smoothness - silk, peace; singers, chanting, nerve of left fibula.

Denotes one on whom Fame smiles and who is fitted to receive her favor. For this native there is dignity and honor, which follows a degree of struggle, disappointment, and comparative obscurity. He is moved by many and varied feelings and is blessed with a vivid and fine imagination. He is cultured, neat in style, and artistic, with considerable psychic ability and occult understanding. It is a symbol of Ascending.

10-11

This symbol is related to one in whose nature there is more force and energy than power of direction and self-restraint, and who in consequence will be continually running into dangers which to him will be wholly unforeseen though obvious enough to others. He will rely upon his strength and pushfulness to overcome his enemies, but it will be shown to him that there is nothing so insignificant as the strength of a man. Since he cannot overcome Nature let him learn to use her forces with discretion and moderation or he will be wounded in the conflict of life, and unseen dangers will lurk within the hour of exultation as snakes beneath the flowers. It is a degree of FORCEFULNESS.

Fame, leadership and skill at handling men when tact and courtesy are required; can smooth out difficult and antagonistic relationships; when inspired by an ideal; these people have tremendous power; where the cause is great; his work may have its effect on future generations; right crural band.

Denotes one of gifted mind and exceptional qualities, a singer of songs and a bearer of light, whose works gain for him respect and dignity, and whose name will be remembered long after his form has left this earth. Beautiful thoughts will cling to him as the ivy clings to the garden wall, and pleasant minds will come to him as the flowers which entwine the scepter. It is a symbol of Taste.

Mercury:

6-7

It indicates a person of strong personality, but of a tyrannous nature, who, by force of arms and aggression, generally will press forward regardless of the merits of others and insensible of their feelings. His hand, though strong, is frequently unjust and cruel in its action, impelled by the motive that might is right; and, when opposed, is capable of extreme cruelty and selfishness. In certain natures, the influence of this degree generates the common-place bully. It is a degree of SELF-ASSERTION.

Not always diplomatic but appreciates diplomacy in others; physically fearless but sometimes emotionally vulnerable; well aspected, discipline; afflicted, sometimes denotes a bad habit; thoracic canal.

Denotes one who will by his own skill and ability receive and profit by impressions and reach a position which gains him the recognition due to him. To such, perseverance and faith are the essentials, and if he regards the meaning of these two words apart from the words themselves he will crown his labors with success. It is a symbol of Fame.

11-12

It denotes one of fatal tendencies, destructive to a degree; inclined to cruelty and oppression. This person will need to hold his passions in strong check or some fatality will surely come upon him. The nature is melancholy and taciturn; yet silently discerning, and capable of keen feelings. “It makes not, but it mars; and with the hollow eyes of death looks back with secret self-condemnation upon its unfruitful work.’ The end of life is tragic. It is a degree of UNDOING.

History; can work in solitude; degree of retentive memory; usually prudent, bright, and charming; magnetic personality; poison, possibly in working with chemicals; alcoholism; Bright’s disease; cancer; highly occult (the owl, dark subjects, collects owls, night owls); religious; large gastric curvature.

Denotes one of brave and generous disposition who is an earnest and sincere champion of the oppressed and who is one of that great band who cannot be deaf to the moans of the suffering many. He is a militant, generous force, and in his philosophy “charity covereth a multitude of sins.” It is a symbol of Humanity.

Venus: 

6-7

It indicates a person of strong personality, but of a tyrannous nature, who, by force of arms and aggression, generally will press forward regardless of the merits of others and insensible of their feelings. His hand, though strong, is frequently unjust and cruel in its action, impelled by the motive that might is right; and, when opposed, is capable of extreme cruelty and selfishness. In certain natures the influence of this degree generates the common-place bully. It is a degree of SELF-ASSERTION.

Not always diplomatic but appreciates diplomacy in others; physically fearless but sometimes emotionally vulnerable; well aspected, discipline; afflicted, sometimes denotes a bad habit; thoracic canal.

Denotes one who strives to stand erect. Time does not cast him down, for grandeur and beauty are his companions; but beauty, however sublime, is never without a flaw, for the flaw intensifies the beauty. The erect column indicates strength, the crumbling at the base fear, which alone can destroy if permitted to infect the whole. Where faith is, then fear will be never. True faith is knowledge absolute, and what knowledge so perfect as the consciousness in man of his own strength? It is a symbol of Gracefulness.

8-9

It denotes a man whose chief interest will be in his home, and in the care of his children; one who is attractive to young persons, and whose mind is pacific and benevolent; one who has the ability to inspire confidence and faith in other; whose footsteps will be followed in security and whose life goes by easy way to a peaceful end. It is a degree of MINISTRATION.

A born teacher and scientist; hearing (afflicted - may in - cline to deafness); inordinately fond of food; afflicted - gluttons; if the will is weak, may become a drunkard; a tendency to be contrary and stubborn, especially with planets in 27 degree Aries-Pisces; frequently their own worst enemies; has much to do with healing; cervical vein.

Denotes one who acquires much by work and application, but who lacks the faculty of watchfulness in protecting his gains from the greed of others. He has an easygoing tendency, but gains come from labor, craft, and the management of his own affairs. He may be the victim of deceit or treachery, and should never put himself in the hands of others when his own well-being is concerned. He should avoid things and circumstances he does not understand. It is a symbol of Misleading.

Mars:

1-2

It denotes one for whom life will be a severe lesson; whose ambition is likely to outstrip his power; one who will attempt great his discomfiture; whose efforts will prove futile, and whose hopes a will vanish as the clouds. It is a degree of SELF-PRESERVATION.

Magic; a pleasing personality; a person who is above petty things; loyal and serious-minded; some interest in occultism; magnanimous; opening of throat.

Denotes one capable of immense sacrifices who surrenders self, expecting no reward. The life will be often lonely, but ever threatened by storms. In the end wisdom and worth will triumph and the second half of life brings good promise. It is a symbol of Devotion.

3-4 (likely)

It denotes a person in whose life much sedition will prevail, whose affairs will be marred by his own violence, and whose house will be dismembered through strife, in whom wrath will affect great evils, and whose force will be turned against himself. If is a degree of DISINTEGRATION.

Literature (skill in working out plots); writers of detective stories; one accustomed to the exercise of authority; favors playwrights; military men. organizers who work to uphold the law; degree of plot; planning, tact, and scheming bodily injuries; destruction by fire, war or earth-quake; unscrupulous defeat; throat or larynx.

Denotes one whose destiny it is to come before the public in some professional capacity. The native will be impulsive, bold, and brave, and will be gifted with controlling and magnetic force. He will travel and move about a great deal, and will be exposed to danger with little or no hurt. It is a symbol of Intrepidity.

16-17 (this is also linked with explosions so I think Dei is likely to have something here)

This symbolizes a life of toil without much fruits; the misdirection of effort through ignorance of natural laws; a straining after that which Nature has not designed, and consequent failure in life. The native will be unpopular, moving against the stream, and by much exertion, hurting himself alone. It is a degree of FUTILITY.

Painting; business; musical ability (variations of pitch); singers; oratory; a powerful degree for men; color; and original person who has much influence on his sphere of society; ideas or popularity may grow by spurts, but unexpected falls sometimes follow too; homicidal tendency; abscesses of neck if with 25 degree Leo-Aquarius or 21 degree Aries-Libra; associated with explosions (of nuclear plants or bombings); often a tall person; tonsils.

Denotes one free as air, brave, spiritual, restless, and unfitted for the regular routine of daily life. Care in infancy is essential. He is of a wandering disposition and frequent changes are for him. It is a symbol of Wandering.

14-15 (likely)

It denotes a studious and intuitive nature, whose mental vision will see where others arc in the darkness; one devoted to the inner meaning of Nature’s workings, and acting from obscure motives; one of much self-reliance, inclined to solitariness, and yet always surrounded by friends; one who will be sought after while himself seeking none. It is a degree of MYSTERY.

Business; singers; a degree of exchange and barter; some times traveling salesmen or financiers; may live or die in foreign lands; circulation of blood as well as ideas and propaganda; causes disease, disgrace, ruin injury from beasts, sickness, and loss of fortune; epiglottis.

Denotes a person whose tastes and desires are directed to the understanding of the secrets which rest beneath the veil. He has brought to earth from other sources the knowledge which enables him to find the entrance to the cavern of hidden jewels, but it is doubtful if he can enter, for the gateway is guarded by sublime and intense colors caused by more excessive vibrations than can be endured by the human body. The light vapor approaching the “Ultra” stage is more powerful and effective than dragons of fire. It is a symbol of Initiation.

18-19

It denotes a gentle, inoffensive but weak nature, inclined to indolence or hopelessness, and thus while Nature is luxurious and fertile, and all around speaks of wealth gained by industry, the native remains in a poor condition for want of determination. It is a degree of INCOMPETENCE.

Music ( a trumpet); a person who rises from a humble birth place to a great renown through a process of unfoldment; hair; leader of party; often a tall person; maxillary artery.

Denotes one who is unable to estimate his abilities and who attempts things foolhardy and useless. There is a tendency to irritability and aggressiveness and lack of self-restraint. Thus he will court unpopularity and will suffer from his own actions. It is a symbol of Futility.

24-25

It indicates a powerful and haughty nature; one who is disposed to justify himself by force of arms rather than by intrinsic merit. Such a person will make many his servants but few his friends and in the end his state will be a pitiable as that of a dying lion. It is a degree of PRIDE.

Sometimes have theories and ideas of doubtful value; homicidal tendency; alcoholism; women with planets here are usually intuitive, poetic, lively, and flirtatious; men careful with their money; lower jaw.

Denotes one whose life is harassed by other people, and who will be held to a position to his disadvantage from which he will free himself and go where better conditions prevail, and where he will have better opportunities for employing his skill for his own good. Consult the horoscope. It is a symbol of Restraining.

28-29 (honestly, now that I think about it, this is Tobs through and through)

It signifies a tyrant, who takes delight in power apart from its uses, and whose opinions are bigoted and selfish. To rule, without regard to qualifications, is the passing ambition of one born under this degree. Death, which frees the slave, will bind the hands of a tyrant in irons forged from his own heart. It is a degree of DESPOTISM.

Good organizing ability; strong will; usually magnetic, proud and stoical; heavy drinking; suicide; a degree giving “something to cry about”; Trapizius.

Denotes one who is continually beset with difficulties and who finds it hard at all times to decide his course of action. He is ever between forces of opposite natures, and is quite as likely to do the right thing as the wrong one. These conditions must be subdued by the steady cultivation of the will. It is a symbol of Embarrassment.

NARUTO

Sun: 17-18

It denotes a person of hospitable and homely nature, ever ready with the best of fare to entertain friends and acquaintances. The native will grow to be much beloved for his open handed ness and sincerity of feeling. He will be both prosperous and happy, and will rejoice in the company of his friends. It is a degree of HOSPITALITY. 

Electricians; a romantic degree; rules poets; oratorical ability; violence; a person who will get considerable publicity; has many friends; ambitious to be the greatest; kidney illness; liked with sexual problems; subtle mind, shamelessness, and loss through friends and company, fatty capsule of kidneys.

Denotes one of a simple nature who is gifted with a strong spirit of self-sacrifice and endowed with inherent bravery. His way in life will be tangled at times, and he will need his energy to set it right again. He is a helper of himself and of others, and he does not count his own needs first. It is a symbol of Self-sacrifice.

Moon:

12-13

It denotes one who through suffering, pain and hard work, will at the close of life rise to much dignity and receive many honors. This degree is capable, of lifting, the native from obscurity to prominence as the reward of enduring effort. It is a degree of REWARD.

A degree of movement; medical fields - doctors (along with 23-24 deg Leo, Aquarius); sportsmen or athletes (with fixed signs); electricians; wrestlers (with fixed signs); lawyers (along with 23-24 Leo, Aquarius); hair, spiritual intuition; if afflicted - may start many things he will never finish; corpus callosum (band of nerve fibers).

Denotes bravery, love, and sincerity. Honor will come to this native, his thoughts and ambitions lead him upwards. By Love’s guidance he passes over obstacles and pursues an honorable course. His nature is somewhat proud, but he is generous and noble-minded. Influence and favor come to him. It is a symbol of Light.

13-14

It denotes loneliness and indigence in life; one who will lead a strange and outcast life, with few friends and those either unwilling or unable to help him. It. seems to contain the idea of much traveling, perhaps exile, and finally a lonely grave. It is a degree of ISOLATION.

Bakers; dietetics - food and drink; music (the beautiful); love of words; often found in charts of those who compete in games or sports, especially tennis; the physicians; gluttony; independence; freedom, love of wealth and honor, and keen intellect; gives a sixth sense. One cannot tell them a lie because they see through others. They are seldom mistaken in their judgment of others; rheumatic fever; rheumatism; frontal lobes .

Denotes one who reaches a position of responsibility, power, and influence, and seeks to find in man the spark which being agitated blazes forth in glory, guiding by its perfect light. Here we have the teacher who strives to lead men from the valley of darkness into the light of understanding, but who himself is threatened by Error and Hate, which if he permits to influence him will drag him from his throne. But if he join his own great soul to Truth and Love, what wonders may he not perform! It is a symbol of Intercession.

16-17

This is a degree indicating one of a speculative nature, selfish, and luxurious; one whose heart is divided between pleasure and wealth, but who knows not the true use of either. Such would gain wealth by. speculation, but waste it in extravagance. “The fool and his money are soon parted.” So here. It Is a degree of EARTHINESS. 

Music (a trumpet); electricians; interest in occultism, spiritualism, metaphysics or magic; persuasive oratory; public life; spinal cord canal.

Denotes a lotus-eater, a lover of pleasure, who delights in ease and the sweets of life. The fortunes are favored, but the native makes no personal effort to increase them. The mind is romantic and art- loving, and the form graceful. It ii a symbol of Luxury.

17-18

This denotes a person of an amiable and pleasant disposition, friendly to all, and beloved of his kinsmen. One who desires peace and concord, and who will meet with success through the intervention of some female friend. It is a degree of AMITY.

Oratorical ability; electricians; poets; children; a romantic degree; with Virgo-Pisces novelists; with Leo-Aquarius or Gemini-Sagittarius poets; often connected with tragedies of violence in either the chart of the attacker or the victim. Associated with divorce and separations; sexual emotionalism; linked with sexual problems; nerve connections.

Denotes sympathy. Many times will the native stumble and fall by the way, but ever will there be a bright light before him to dispel the darkness of the night and to dissipate his fears. The mind is aspiring, but to reach its ideal, pain and struggle are involved. The native must not falter, for very nigh unto him is his hope—a little sacrifice and endeavor will unite him to it. It is a symbol of Upraising.

20-21

It denotes a generous and hospitable nature; one that will succeed through good and worthy actions, yet has some sense of his own merits and powers, and is desirous of recognition. A steadfast and sincere man, who will make many friends and be held by them in respect. It is a degree of CONSCIOUS MERIT.

Electricians; active and adventurous; a degree of supreme sacrifice; abscesses; accidents; a traveler who makes plans and lives them; preparedness, steadiness, determination, and final success; a fortunate degree; eye muscle.

Denotes one who will be assailed by secret and open enemies, who will be liable to troubles and false accusations. In his dealings he should always exercise great care, and should not rely on word- of-mouth agreements. He will not be without devoted friends, who will not neglect him in the hour of his greatest need. His intense feelings will cause him trouble, danger, illness, and regret, and he will have to strive with the dark serpent. Let him unite himself with noble and good-living people, and put away from himself votaries of evil. It is a symbol of Contention.

24-25

It indicates a powerful and haughty nature; one who is disposed to justify himself by force of arms rather than by intrinsic merit. Such a person will make many his servants but few his friends and in the end his state will be a pitiable as that of a dying lion. It is a degree of PRIDE.

Sometimes have theories and ideas of doubtful value; homicidal tendency; alcoholism; women with planets here are usually intuitive, poetic, lively, and flirtatious; men careful with their money; lower jaw.

Denotes one of natural talent who will be beset with difficulties in gaining recognition, but whose mental strength will be the more determined because of them. When his time comes his power will be felt. He will force acknowledgment by sheer ability and energy. It is a symbol of Premeditation.

28-29

It signifies a tyrant, who takes delight in power apart from its uses, and whose opinions are bigoted and selfish. To rule, without regard to qualifications, is the passing ambition of one born under this degree. Death, which frees the slave, will bind the hands of a tyrant in irons forged from his own heart. It is a degree of DESPOTISM.

Good organizing ability; strong will; usually magnetic, proud and stoical; heavy drinking; suicide; a degree giving “something to cry about”; Trapizius.

Denotes one who is continually beset with difficulties and who finds it hard at all times to decide his course of action. He is ever between forces of opposite natures, and is quite as likely to do the right thing as the wrong one. These conditions must be subdued by the steady cultivation of the will. It is a symbol of Embarrassment.

Ascendant:

1-2

It denotes a person of an extremely vacillating and uncertain disposition; weak. minded, and subject to be driven about from one opinion to another; generally moved by consent to prevailing sentiment, and incapable of any firm and independent decision. The native will be liable to experience strange caprices of fortune; and will wander, with many a change of object, from one place to another, but little permanence for good will be assured to him. At times exceedingly hopeful, and anon depressed and nervous, the native will make little headway or progress. It is a degree of WEAKNESS.

Have a way of making themselves pleasing to the opposite sex but often seem monotonous to those of their own sex; prodigal sometimes vacillating; apt to use the other fellow’s ideas because he lacks confidence in his own; sometimes not dependable and apt to wander from place to place; aorta.

Denotes one whose early life is threatened and who in later years will gain possession of material secrets discovered by another which he has long sought to obtain. Having obtained them, he claims the discoveries as his own, gaining thus further professional advancement and reputation. His triumph may last till he breathes his last breath, then he will learn what in spite of all his learning he does not know, and his action of yesterday brings remorse on the morrow. It is a symbol of Artifice.

3-4

It denotes a person of the most prudent, circumspect, and patient mind; capable of sustaining great fatigue in the accomplishment of his desires; a mind gifted with much diplomacy, suavity, self-restraint, and watchfulness; keen in observing but slow to draw conclusions; capable when aroused, of much malice, but not of open anger. Firm in his attachments, a fast friend and unrelenting enemy. The native will succeed in life by dint of caution and perseverance. It is a degree of CURCUMSPECTION.

A benefic there or any planet well aspected there inclines too honesty and integrity; anarchism (not going with any thing); an active person; not easy to anger but capable of malice when aroused; usually sensitive and often hurt by lack of harmony in the home; a critical analyst, but sincere with good intentions; left carotid artery.

Denotes one who may be deceived by smiles and promises. He should be especially careful of those in power, and should be wary lest in negotiations he betrays his plans and aspirations to keen and subtle adversaries. Wisdom is in silence. It is a symbol of Treachery.

 5-6

It denotes a person of a proud, martial nature, with considerable tastes for athletics, deeds of daring and prowess, contests, feats of arms, and the like. Somewhat given to argument and contention. ever ready to rush into disputes regardless of danger. The native will succeed as a soldier, or in active service requiring courage and strength; but will be liable to some reverses of fortune following upon undue self-assertion. It is a degree of PROWESS. 

A medical or healing degree; hair; a martial nature with a liking for athletics; a leader, usually in some physical or military way; usually well-liked by inferiors; a person of great energy who may drive himself to ruin unless he controls his passions; entrance of pulmonary artery.

Denotes one who will be compelled to fight and struggle during a great part of his life and who will often have to use his ingenuity to release himself from entanglements and troubles. He may have financial difficulties or difficulties over property or estates. In the end—perhaps even in the midst of worry—his star rises and he triumphs over enemies and evil conditions. It is a symbol of Strategy.

Saturn:  (honestly these both sound kind of off)

8-9

It denotes a person of tasteful, but luxurious habits; one who will spend much upon mere show, and will depend much upon appearances to the neglect of more desirable uses. Together with these characteristics, there is a great deal of pride, which in the uneducated may run to ostentation and snobbishness. Yet, in any sphere of life the native will be fortunate among his compeers. It is a degree of DISPLAY.

Sense of hearing; anemia; skin; afflictions to planets here; love of solitude; generosity; travel in connection with business; talkative but incapable of pettiness; often misunderstood because they do not fully understand themselves, looks at things from positive standpoint; knows that even his troubles are of his own making; care and responsibility; a charitable and fostering nature; afflicted brings danger of a violent death, serious accidents or burns; the eyes; vena cava.

Denotes one fortunate, but somewhat vain, whose desire it is “to make a good appearance’ and who expends much money for this purpose. But the glories which shine forth from a great soul glitter more than the choicest diamond in the daintiest setting, giving a lasting beauty which age cannot change nor time obliterate. There are two sides to this symbol, and both reflect, for it is a symbol of Reflection.

9-10

It denotes one whose chief ambitions will not come to completion; but, either through disaster or untimely death, ‘will be prematurely brought to naught. To whomsoever this degree may appertain, the warning goes forth :—build not for the future, but for eternity, for it is very nigh; and if thou sowest aught, make no count of the harvest, for the seasons are not to thy hand; yet both sow and build for the greater good, and work in hope! In character the native will be versatile, somewhat morose and despondent, but strong in trial; and giving shelter even to the worthless out of pure goodwill. It is a degree of PERIL.

Alcoholism; army and navy; versatile, fearless, firm and sure but sometimes morose; often interested in the mystic secrets of life and death; sudden friendships and estrangements; bladder afflictions; jugular vein.

Denotes one of brave, fearless, and noble disposition whose natural greatness of soul is moved by the necessities of others, and who always puts the well-being of another before his own comforts. Envy is directed against him and malice turns her evil eyes on him. He will be exposed to many and grave dangers, for duty to him is ever the first thought. It is a symbol of Daring.

Venus: 

23-24

It denotes a person of much independence of spirit, self-confidence, pride, and no little love of distinction. The native will suffer on account of his isolated feelings, and will be in danger of betrayal by the machinations of perfidious enemies. At a time when he has reached a height of isolated distinction, he will fall under the jealous hand of his enemies. It is a degree of PRIDE.

Often associated with homosexuality (depending on aspects); gives success, renown, and riches; a love of arts and sciences; adversely aspected; unscrupulousness, unfaithfulness, and injustice to innocence; “sweetest star of the heavens”; “star of the artists” and promises honor and fame; prefers to work and plan in privacy, but his work may achieve great renown; vascular circulation of the renal cortex.

Denotes one who will suffer from an overconfident nature that neglects those details which, insignificant as they may appear, are as necessary for the safeguarding of his interests as water is to earth. His mentality is good, and he is capable of useful mental work, but he may lose the results of his labor. and suffer thereby in many ways. It is a symbol of Entrapping.

26-27

It indicates a nature that is attuned to works of benevolence and homely simplicity, careful in the affairs of daily life, solicitous of peace and comfort, and ever ready to shelter, befriend and succor the wayside traveler without neglect of those within his doors. It is a degree of BENEVOLENCE.

Detectives; artistic and sensitive; a lover of children; sympathies often on the unpopular side; peculiar mental quirks such as a mind that can do only one thing at a time; a cool courage; lack of moral and physical suppleness; slow-witted and slowly aroused; vascular system of the skin.

Denotes one who if saved from malefic planetary action is contented with little and is pleasant and kind to men and animals. His nature is devotional and sensitive, and is capable of obtaining knowledge from astral sources and atmospheric conditions. He influences others for good, spreading content in the halls of inharmony. It is a symbol of Harmony.

Neptune: 

6-7

It indicates a person of susceptible and weak nature, easily led away, and liable to be drawn to his destruction by the agency of the opposite sex. The native may attain to a high position in life, but whatever his position, he is in danger of an untimely fall. Let him take heed against the allurement. of the world. It is a degree of FALLING.

Aviation; birds; a child of fate; strange things happen to them; often psychic or intuitive; dancers, love of danger; goiter; nervous system.

Denotes one with a great message who will travel everywhere and whose thoughts and feelings are expanded and uplifted thereby. His wanderings are often directed beyond this earth to the heavenly fields and, to the lands dosed to those held in material bodies. He is capable of performing many good acts for others and is ever ready to resist actions unworthy of a true man, holding meanness in contempt. It is a symbol of Movement.

7-8

It denotes one of a melancholy and retiring nature, very sensitive, and of keen sympathies. The native will be in danger of early bereavement, and will at an early age be left devoid of family ties and friends. It is a degree of EFFACEMENT.

Rules animal life, usually loquacious; given to speculation; paint, perfume, or chemicals may play a part in the vocation; sudden death, dancers, love of danger, jaundice of the renal pelvis.

Denotes one who will have need to exercise very great caution as to the safe keeping of his worldly possessions. Such a one should keep away from speculations, ventures, and crafty people, and undertake nothing of a nature involving risk. It is a symbol of Forfeiting.

8-9

It indicates a person of quick, impetuous, quarrelsome, and aggressive nature, who will cause many disputes in life on account of his Irascible disposition, and will make many enemies. The native will be in danger of losing his life while engaged in sonic affray or quarrel, and should know bow to forefend himself by self-command, which Is the greatest of all conquests. It is a degree of FIGHTING.

Publicity or scandal (if Venus here, over a love affair or divorce); often causes one to become a widow; immorality; courage, talent for science, literature, or leadership; aggressiveness; linked with sexual problems; jaundice of the kidney and renal pelvis.

Denotes one who should avoid law and disputes. Inharmony is to him a state of evil which forces him into a groove of fate and holds him in bondage. He should endeavor by the power of his soul to keep the scales even and do nothing to prejudice his peace. It is a symbol of Unevenness.

Mars:

24-25

It is the index of a mind that is given to excessive indulgence and undue enthusiasm in matters of a spiritual and mental nature; one who will follow out his projects regardless of consequence, impelled as it were by a species of mental intoxication. The substance and form of this symbol is allied to the higher nature, but should the carnal appetites gain an ascendancy over him, he will in all probability degenerate into a debauchee. Moderation should be his watchword even in spiritual things. It is a degree of EXCESS. 

Usually quick perception; remarkable memory; good imagination; condyle of right femur.

Denotes one of romantic mind, loving and leaning to the philosophy and thought of other days, in which he is a master. The forces play around him and attempts from the two worlds will be made to draw him from his deeper thoughts to the frivolity, folly, and transitory joys of earth. Many times will he be shaken, but his power is too great for sensual over comings. Instead he throws to the world the wine of life that those who are able may drink. It is a symbol of Spiritual Struggles.

25-26

This is the sign of one to whom appearances are apt to count or much, but who will nevertheless be possessed of a really deep and sympathetic nature. Fidelity and friendship will be prominent characteristics of his nature. Fidelity will be dexterous in the use of arms, apt in the imitation of mannerisms, and would make a capable actor,. being gifted with powers of dramatic. representation. Of a kind and sympathetic nature, he will readily attract friends, and yet few will know him for what he really is. It is a degree of IMITATION. 

Anarchism; literature; better for benefics than for malefics, which bring trouble through the opposite sex; associated with nervous troubles, especially in his speech, if afflicted by Mercury or Uranus, sometimes due to a glandular deficiency; tyrannical disposition; love of liberty; good mentality; inventive, intutive, and emotional; gout; neurasthenia; if conjunct or opposition an afflicted luminary or its afflicting planet; impaired eyesight, perhaps blindness.

Denotes one who is attracted to the sport and gaieties of life, and to whom physical pleasures constitute the essence of existence. The native may indulge in extravagances and will feel the ups and downs of life. His philosophy favors the pursuit of happiness, and his mental gifts will be directed to the furtherance of his thoughts. It is a symbol of Pleasure.

29-30

It is the symbol of mind that is capable of sustaining great and arduous work, one to whom some of the dark secrets of Nature will be revealed. He may show some taste for agriculture culture or may follow the fortunes of some great mining industry or archaeological research, and in such he will be a discoverer. Whatever his walk in life, his work will be difficult and protracted, but success will ultimately crown his labors. Endowed with a sharp, incisive mind and strong purpose, he will ignore the advice of friends and rely wholly on is own efforts. It is a degree of DISCOVERY. 

Clairvoyance; imitators; aptitude for studying human nature; angina pectoris; large or peculiar teeth; especially if on the Ascendant; wants to be the “head man” unless a benefic is here; good intellect; sometimes art ability but better suited to commercial enterprises; gives an immoral; mean; slovenly nature; pear-shaped muscle.

Denotes one of active mental power who is indispensable to his friends and a thorn to his enemies. He is capable of seeing events far in advance of their materialization and counts the years of human progress in its pendulum-like motion. He has in him a strong spirit of fight and a feeling of naught else but victory. It is a symbol of Supremacy.

Pluto : Same as Sasuke.

Section Four: Synastry and composite

Based on the degrees I used for natals, I drew up a composite chart and a synastry chart for sasuke and itachi as well as for sasuke and naruto but I wont be providing interpretations since that would make this post far too long. Note that some of these aspects might be wrong as not all degrees are certain.

Before we get started let me just clarify the difference between synastry and composite. 

Synastry is conversations between different parts of people. An example would be if my mercury and your moon are in a nice harmonious aspect, I say something in my style of communication based on my thinking process, now you get what I’m saying at an emotional level because you feel the same way, your feeling process and my thinking process are similar, the way you express your emotions and the way I express my thoughts are close, so I get how you feel on a logical level and you get what I think on an emotional level. 

Composite is the overall, combined energy of the relationship. Lets say you have a very rational and to the point way of communicating but then you meet this person and with them, for some reason, as soon as you meet both of you seem to communicate in an emotional, passive-aggressive way (strongly aspected composite mercury in cancer). Or if you have tons of things in common with someone, you communicate in a similar way, you like the same things, but you just can’t seem to think of a single thing to say to them. You meet and your mind goes blank, there should be a world of things to talk about but literally nothing comes to mind, the conversation is dry and an absolute chore and then you look at that composite and there’s a tight saturn (restriction, block) conjunct mercury (communication) and everything makes sense. It also says things like why you got together (composite sun), how people perceive your relationship (composite ascendant), ...

So lets go see how these characters relate to each-other on a cosmic level.

edit: I removed the composite to natals part because they require extremely tight orbs so it’s kind of risky for something so uncertain.

Sasuke-Itachi synastry:

I forgot to erase that sun-sun semi-square (it’s out of orb) so just ignore it. Lots of harmonious saturn could lend itself to commitment and respect, lots of harmonious aspects to sasuke’s venus along with itachi’s sun in his 5th shows how fun and loving this relationship was for him (sasuke). Both their moons are getting lots of close aspects too. Those moon ascendant aspects and quick comfort and easy relating, an immediate emotional connection, Itachi’s mars aspecting Sasuke’s moon, ...

Sasuke-Itachi composite:

So this composite sun (purpose, nature of the relationship) in cancer (family) is perfect. I wonder if this was a coincidence or if Kishi really looked this up. Ascendant in scorpio is pretty nice as well. Plenty of neptune, lots of pluto, ... 

Composite sun in the eight very much paints their relationship, intense, obsessive, transformative and full of death (both metaphorical and literal). Composite moon in the third, communication is important to the health of their relationship and emotional security regarding it, ... There is plenty of stuff to unpack here so I’m not going get into it, specially since we don’t know much for certain.

Sasuke-Naruto synastry:

An interesting point here is that naruto’s moon would be in sasuke’s 4th house of family so that explains why he sees his family in him. Also, like I mentioned, plenty of harsh pluto, harsh mars-pluto giving lots of energy which if directed well, can contribute to good teamwork against outside forces and if not will lead to petty yet emotionally volatile arguments and controlling behaviour.

I put the ascendant opposition aspect there even though it’s out of orb because kishi went out of his way to make them opposites in the way they present/carry themselves and their aesthetic so this aspect would probably exist.

Sasuke-Naruto composite:

There are two extremely important personal planets missing here (jupiter and mercury) so the picture isn’t complete but based on what we have, we can tell quite a bit of the story.

Venus conjunct sun is a very good aspect which means the relationship makes the people involved in it feel good, have fun, ... Sun trine moon and venus trine moon are also great aspects to have so that’s nice. Mars trine saturn could make them more organized and better at acting together in a systematic way. Neptune trine mars could mean that they understand each other’s actions and drive (in a physical/tangible sense, not necessarily the reasons behind them) intuitively.

Sun square mars is similar to my previous point, lots of energy which will at best lead to working effectively together against outside forces and at worst will lead to violence, unhealthy rivalry/arguments and constant irritation. 

Mars-neptune, not seeing the nature of the relationship properly, delusion, illusion, escapism, an unwillingness to see the relationship for what it is, ... neptune-saturn and lack of proper boundaries. 

Ascendant in aries and the rival look, sun in virgo (coworkers, a work relationship), composite sun in the 5th, a fun, dramatic and creative relationship, composite moon in the first, projecting feelings about the relationship all over the place, it just can’t be hidden and the outside world sees you as emotionally tied together, perhaps more so than you actually are unless there are other strong moon aspects to personal planets, ...

One thing that is oddly not here is major pluto aspects, however, if lack of aspects to a planet in a composite chart is similar to a natal chart then it could make that planet’s themes more prominent because the energy has no proper outlet so it pops up everywhere.

Thank you for your time, any input is appreciated :))

[drwcn]

discordance!verse part 8(2/2): there are consequences to their actions, consequences they can’t avoid.

in which wwx is lxc’s husband through political alliance, and there is an affair.

[8.1] | [7] | [6] | [5] | [4] | [3] | [2] | [1] [synopsis] OR

see [discau tag] or [discordance navigation page] for all installments  

Both 8.1 and 8.2 are posted on AO3 Chapter 4

The verdict came at dusk.

Yinzhu, Madam Yu's handmaid and bodyguard, bows to Jiang Yanli, "Da-xiao'jie, Wei-gongzi's presence is requested."

Over at jingshi, a senior Lan disciple does the same. "Zewu-jun, Hanguang-jun's presence is requested."

.

"Not to worry, A-Xian, we will go together."

"I shall go with you, Wangji."

.

"Da-xiao'jie -"

"Zewu-jun-"

.

"- the Elders request that he goes alone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Wei Wuxian arrives at the Lan family's sacred ancestral hall, Lan Wangji is already there, kneeling alone before the altar, flanked by Gusu and Yunmeng's elders and their stern and silent gaze. He braves it without any signs of distress. His back is straight, his posture unbent and his spirit unbroken. Like him, Lan Zhan is dressed down in a plain white robe, no guan to hold up his hair, only a bare strip of white cloth.

To see him relatively well, Wei Wuxian releases the anxious breath he's been holding high in his chest. The last thing he remembers is passing out in Lan Zhan's arms in front of Songfeng Shuiyue. They were beating Lan Zhan with the whip…they were… And then Zewu-jun had arrived.

Of course Lan Zhan is fine. He is Hanguang-jun, Gusu's Second Jade, the second ranked cultivator of our generation…Lan Zhan is fine… he's fine…

Shijie tells him it's been seven days. Has it really? He wonders. Only just? Why does it feel like a lifetime has passed?

Eyes turn on him as he makes his first step into the abbey, and he's never more thankful for the potion the healers fed him pre-emptively than at that moment. He knows he must look a sight, as much as shijie has tried to clean him and make him proper. It could be so much worse; at least he is walking independently instead of being hoisted by disciples. The mixture of milk of poppy and cannabis extract dulls the fire burning along his back just enough for it to be bearable.

Shijie was none too unhappy that he has to trek all the way to the ancestral hall by himself, but Wei Wuxian is not so bothered. When one decides to bed one's husband's brother, it is only natural that one must prepare for the possibility that one's ass is going to get flayed. The situation as it is, his affair is a thing of public knowledge and his reputation is in tatters. Once, he had boasted to Xue Yang that if he, Wei Wuxian, is the second most shameless person in the cultivation world, then nobody would dare to be first.

It was truthfully a bit of an exaggeration, for he had been a beloved ward of Jiang Fengmian, Head Disciple of Yunmeng Jiang, the son of Cangse Sanren, and the fourth ranking cultivator of his generation.

Now… now he's just a problem. Even His mother would be ashamed.

Wei Wuxian stumbles, and the sound of his shuffling steps has Lan Wangji whipping around, eyes growing wide at the sight of him.

Do I really look so awful?

"Wei Ying!" He pushes to his feet but a single pulse of spiritual energy from an elder strikes him in the leg and forces his back onto his knees again. His porcelain mask crumbles and the raw pain underneath bleeds through.

A tinge of red seeps through the white of his robes, like a plum flower blooming amidst snow.

Wei Wuxian is suddenly acutely aware of the waning of Lan Zhan's cheeks and the pallor of his skin. Lan Zhan seems subdued somehow, almost as if… he's still confined by spiritual locks.

Without his cultivation, his wounds won't heal.

Worry lances Wei Wuxian in the chest, hot and sudden. Beneath his breast-bone, his physical heart aches within its cage. Struggling another three steps, he falls gracelessly onto his knees. His breath shakes, beads of cold sweat breaking across his temple and clinging to his hairline. The potion's numbness is starting to wear off, and the wave of pain rising inside him is almost enough to topple him to the ground. Still he holds on. He squeezes his eyes shut and gathers his breath, but he knows he must appear pathetic like this, half wasted before the Lan and Jiang Elders, Uncle, Madam Yu, and all of Gusu Lan's ancestors. No amount his usual shield of devil-may-care attitude could protect him now from his own sense of embarrassment.

"Wei Ying." Someone whispers his name. A firm grip finds his elbow, pulling him up.

Lan Zhan has shifted closer, so close in fact their thighs are almost touching. Cool, gentle fingers caress his face. He holds Lan Zhan's hand out of need and desperation.

Inexplicably, the elders allow this, but it doesn't bode well. Rather than perceiving it as leniency, Wei Wuxian is seized with dread.

Kindness is something one shows to a prisoner sentenced to die.

~~~

Lan Wangji is terrified.

The fact that the elders of Gusu Lan and Yunmeng Jiang are able to deliberate and come to a consensus within half a day, that Yu Ziyuan and Lan Qiren can peacefully tolerate each other's presence without devolving into a shouting match, that neither xiong’zhang nor Jin-xiao-fu'ren are permitted to attend - are reasons for his frightful premonition.

There are candles and oil lamps lit all along the hall, illuminating the tomb plaques stacked neatly one row above the next up the wall of names.

With a nod from Madam Yu, Uncle rises from his seat and approaches him and Wei Ying. His expression is sullen and sad.

"Wangji, Wuxian. The Elders have discussed at length. Initially we had considered xiu'fu to be the most direct solution, but Yunmeng Jiang Sect has made it clear a divorce is not acceptable. After some convincing, Gusu Lan Sect concedes. Despite the rumours and the gossips, we recognize that you are both equal participants in this affair. Neither one is more guilty than the other…and in any case, Xichen himself is not the least bit bothered by any of this. The dissolution of your marriage, Wuxian, is not why we've summoned you both here today before our family's ancestors."

With a permissive gesture, Uncle beckons a Lan healer to enter the hall.

Lan Wangji's blood grows cold as the healer stops before him and Wei Ying, bows once, hands a tray to Lan Qiren containing two identical jade cups filled with clear liquids, and shuffles out without glancing once at either of them.

He hears Wei Ying inhale sharply, the fingers laced between his own squeeze impossibly harder.

So this is what it shall be.

Two cups of poisons to end the scandal, to wash them of their sins, and to restore honour to its rightful place.

Lan Wangji looks to the man he loves with his entire being, and finds Wei Ying's equally panicked eyes staring back at him.

This can't be real.

"Shufu -" Lan Wangji inches forward on his knees. Wei Ying has already taken three hundred and one lashes for him and nearly lost his life in process. He's never owed Lan Wangji anything, and even if he did, surely the debt's been paid in full and then some. He doesn't deserve this. "Shufu - shufu, forgive Wei Ying! This is my fault - "

Lan Wangji is the instigator. Since that first night at the wedding banquet, he's lost control of himself. Wei Ying annoyed him, yes, but only a little. Even since day one, Lan Wangji was able to recognize that Wei Wuxian from Lotus Pier has wit, spontaneity, and heart. His talent with a sword impress even those that disliked him, and he wields it with a sense of right and wrong that is fluid and innate, and has nothing to do with the rigid precepts carved in stone.

Lan Wangji fell without realizing, without warning, slow and sudden all at once.

He envied Lan Xichen who had all of Wei Ying and didn't know it, didn't treasure it. He envied Jiang Wanyin who held Wei Wuxian's sworn loyalty as brother, as family. He envied Jiang Yanli, who could draw the light to Wei Ying's eyes with a simple well-wishing letter and a smile from his lips that was warmer than the hearth in a winter storm, than the sunrise on a summer day.

He envied them because they had so much of Wei Ying and he had so little and wanted so much, but now he has everything…

…and what a price his desires demand.

"Shufu - Madam Yu -" Lan Wangji turns to the matriarch of Yunmeng Jiang and knocks his forehead to the ground. "Please believe me, this is entirely Wangji's doing. Wei Ying is innocent! If anyone is guilty, it is Wangji!"

"No! Lies!" Wei Ying protests, pushing Lan Wangji out of the way to say, "Don't listen to him, it's my fault- I -"

"That's enough." Lan Zonghui interrupts the youngsters' panicked tirade, always the cold voice of reason. "Perhaps you should allow your uncle to finish."

Lan Qiren grimaces, as though he can't make himself continue. Tightening his grip on the tray, and he says, "This transgression goes beyond the breaking of vows or the marriage of two individuals. The dignity of two great sects are at jeopardy. Since you are the ones who started it, you must be the ones to finish it. You must've known the consequences of your sins when you both chose this insane course of action, so we ask nothing but that you find the decency and courage to face them. Neither Gusu Lan nor Yunmeng Jiang are the deciders of your fates. As you are both equally at fault, to blame one over the other would be unjust. Therefore," He presents them with the cups.

"Only one is laced with poison. Which one you choose to drink is entirely up to you."

Lan Wangji's head is light, and he barely thinks before he asks out right, "Why not both?"

Lan Zonghui tilts his head curiously. "Do you think you deserve to die together?"

Of course not. That would be too kind.

Wei Ying closes his eyes as tears fall.

"What do you intend to do with the other?" ask Lan Wangji, glaring up at Lan Zonghui with mutiny in his eyes.

"Seclusion, to repent for your sins -"

"Wei Ying!"

Lightning fast, Wei Wuxian has already swallowed the content of cup closest to him and is reaching for the second cup.

It did occur to Lan Wangji earlier that if he moves quickly enough, he can grab both and drink both, but while he wrangled with how to best execute his plan, Wei Wuxian is already in motion.

Lan Wangji shouts something incoherent as the others in the room gasp. His powers may be sealed, but Wei Wuxian is carrying the wound of three hundred lashes. Even now, they are evenly matched. Lan Wangji knocks his hand out of the way at the very last second, stealing the second cup right out from under his reach and downs it in one go.

The drink tastes like nothing. Like water.

No…

He stares at the cup in hand then up at Wei Ying, assuming the worst, but Wei Wuxian is staring back at him with equal terror, seemingly not in any kind of danger. He must've tasted water too.

Was it… was it a test?

Lan Wangji dares to hope. He looks to his uncle, "shuf-", but then he feels it.

It's not pain, but he feels it, crawling up from his belly and overtaking him inch by inch. He lurches forward, falling onto his palms, the jade cup clattering to the ground.

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying collects him in his arms and shakes him furiously. "Lan Zhan!! Stop fooling around! You can't die, they're not going to let you die, I'm not going to let you die, so - stop it! Stop messing with me!! Stop pretending - Lan Zh- Lan Wangji if you die now I will never forgive you!!"

Lan Wangji tries to say something, but he can't. Death is heavy, like a woolen shroud coiling tighter and tighter around his body. He's already lost sensation of his limbs, and even his vision is starting to blur. Whatever the poison is, it works fast.

Wei Ying is full on sobbing now, all pretenses of composure gone.

Wei Ying… I couldn't protect you when I should have.

He wishes he could speak these words aloud, or to touch that lovely face one more time, but he is relieved nevertheless that fate chose him. It is the intolerance of their world that demands one of their lives, but Lan Wangji finds he cannot regret his actions, despite his life coming to an end. To have met Wei Ying was a gift, to have loved him was a blessing, and to die for him now is an honour. Even when he's gone, he knows Wei Ying will be taken care of; xiong'zhang would ensure that much even if he is powerless to stop the will of the Elders.

It should shock Lan Wangji how quickly he's made his peace with death.

Wei Ying's cries drown out his senses, and he wishes again that he could somehow comfort him. Of all the things that has happened since Su She discovered them in the back mountains, his own demise is one which he willingly accepts. Above all else, he refuses to go with a broken heart, because then it would all have been for naught.

Lan Wangji smiles. To spend the last moment on this earth in Wei Ying's arms is indeed not so bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wei Wuxian feels it the second Lan Zhan grows still in his arms. Eyes closed, a smile lingers on his peerless face.

"L-Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan!! Lan Zhan!!"

He's still warm, pliant. Soon, soon he won't be. No, no Wei Wuxian refuses to let this be the end. It just can't.

Still holding onto Lan Zhan, he lunges forward and grasps onto Lan Zonghui's robe hem beseechingly. "Elder, elder please help him!" But Zonghui shakes him off.

Wei Wuxian glances frantically back and forth at the stone faces around him, desperation and despair brewing into hysteria inside him. Then, he finds it, the one pair of eyes not glaring at him in cold condemnation but pity.

Gently setting Lan Zhan on the ground, Wei Wuxian tries to get up, but his body does not obey. The back of his thin white robe is already soaked through, the vigor of his earlier movement having undone all of the healer's work. Too far gone to care now, Wei Wuxian crawls forward on his elbows and knees until he reaches Yu Ziyuan.

"Yu-fu'ren, please, please I’m begging you, give Lan Zhan the antidote! There has to be an antidote, right?! There can still be a chance - I'll die- I can die right now if you want me to! But save Lan Zhan, save him please! He is Gusu's Lan-er-gongzi, Gusu's Second Jade, my husband's little brother! I've already ruined my marriage, my reputation, my standing amongst the cultivators! Zewu-jun is kind and magnanimous, but even he won't want me now, especially if Lan Zhan is dead because of me! What is the point of letting me live?!! There is no future for me anywhere, but there still a future for Lan Zhan! Yu-fu'ren - no - shimu, shimu please, A-Xian has never begged you for anything in this life, please, if for nothing else than the fact I have been raised under you wings, help me save Lan Zhan, please…"

Madam Yu slowly bends down, hooking her index finger under Wei Wuxian's chin and lifts it up. "You would die for Lan Wangji?"

His face blotchy and snotty from sobbing, Wei Wuxian hiccups. "I - I would. Right now if you wish it."

There's a beat.

"Wangji isn't dead."

It is Lan Qiren that speaks. Yu Ziyuan releases him. Wei Wuxian twists around to see Uncle's hand pressed against Lan Wangji's left carotid. "Just out cold. You'd know if you thought to check instead of letting appearances fool you."

Disbelieving, Wei Wuxian struggles back to Lan Zhan's side to verify for himself. With trembling hands, he turns Lan Zhan over and gathers him in his arms. Though he knows there is nothing to fear, he still can't help pressing two digits to Lan Zhan's neck, checking to make sure the precious pulse is still there. Sure enough, Lan Zhan's heartbeat is strong and his breathing deep and unlaboured.

Alive.

Wei Wuxian blinks, still reeling from the mental whiplash of the sudden revelation, but the steady thrumming beneath his fingertip coupled with comforting sight of that warm, flushed cheeks give him the courage he needs to face what is to come.

Lan Zonghui steps up to him and says, "You said so yourself. There is no future for you. Now you understand now why it always has to be you." From his qiankun sleeve, he retrieves a small porcelain bottle.

The real poison. Wei Wuxian realizes, sagging in relief. The irony of his emotions is not lost on him.

"What did you actually give us?"

"A strong anesthetic."

"Then… how come I'm not affected."

"The antidote to the anesthetic was laced into your pain medicine, which the healers gave you before you were summoned," Lan Qiren explains.

Sleeping…he's just sleeping. Thank god, oh thank god.

Lan Zhan is alive. He's going to be fine. But…Wei Wuxian grows worried again, imagining how Lan Zhan will react to his death once he comes to.

"What will you tell him? When he wakes up, he's going to realize you've tricked him." Lan Wangji can be the most stubborn when he's fixated on a goal. There's no telling what he would do. "You have to… you have to protect him from himself."

"He won't know. We will tell him that one cup had the poison and the other an anesthetic. The poison is slow acting while the anesthetic is fast."

"He will question it. Why the anesthetic? Why the smoke and mirrors?"

Lan Zonghui looks from him to the boy lying unconscious cradled against him. "Does he really want to be awake to watch his lover die in his arms as you just assumed you did? We will tell him it's mercy, so that the remaining party won't have to watch the process happen. He will be allowed to say goodbye to you at the sect funeral. We will grant him that."

"Sect funeral?" Echoed Wei Wuxian, surprised. "You… Gusu Lan Sect would bury me with honour? Even after…"

"That is the compromise." It is a Jiang Elder - Jiang Liliang, Wei Wuxian believes -  who explains to him. "The Lans will recognize you as one of their own. No ceremony will be spared. In death, you will be given all honours and decorum befitting the husband of Sect Master Lan. The action of an individual should not affect the relations of two sects. This is a stance the elders of both our families unanimously share."

Wei Wuxian nods, understanding, finally calm after all that crying.

"I'm still worried about Lan Zhan. You must swear to -"

"Wangji will be under guard at all times until the funeral, after which he will be sent to sealed seclusion for three years. He won't have access to his powers or means to harm himself. Time dulls all pain. So too will Wangji's. Someday, you will just be a mistake of his youth."

A mistake of his youth…

Indeed.

Lan Zonghui picks up the cup Wei Wuxian had discarded on the ground and pours the content of the vial into it.

Wei Wuxian wonders what it actually is.

"Do you have any more questions?" Lan Qiren asks him, sullen but not unkind.

"None."

"Requests?"

Requests? Ah yes. Last rites. At least they let him have that, and if he may, there is in fact something he'd like to do.

"One."

"You may name it."

"Turn around."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'd like to kiss Lan Zhan. One last time. So unless you'd rather watch me do it, turn around."

"Look around you, you insolent scoundrel!" One Lan Elder whose name he can't recall cries out in anger. "You're in the ancestral hall, Wei Wuxian! How dare you?!"

But Wei Wuxian hugs Lan Wangji close and swallows his pride. For what seems like the thousandth time since he arrived, he begs, not for himself, but for Lan Zhan.

"Please."

He expects that even after his death, he would be the smear in Hanguang-jun's otherwise pristine history, but he doesn't want to be just that, not completely. This, he will leave with Lan Zhan. Even if only one kiss out of their thousands is sanctioned, it will still be better than nothing.

One kiss, just one.

Perhaps they understood him, for Lan Qiren and Yu Ziyuan turn away without further protest, and Lan Zonghui too. Grumbling, the rest of the elders follow suit, displeased and somewhat disgusted by his shamelessness, but Wei Wuxian is due to die any second now, so they allow him this one offense.

"Sleep well, Lan-er-gege, I've gotta go now," he whispers for no one to hear.

Their last kiss is slow, chaste, and Wei Wuxian prays.

Lan Zhan, for yourself sake, I hope you can slowly feel less for me. I would hate to know you spent the rest of your very long life sad. But maybe...don't forget me completely? How does that sound? Or else I'd be a very sad ghost…

Lan Zhan... next life, let's not be brothers-in-law, hm? If you want, I'll wait for you, however long it takes I'll wait. When we meet again, I hope it's still at night. I never did tell you how beautiful you were under the moon.

I promised, I would never leave you, so I won't. You have me, as long as you want, you'll have me. As long as you want me with you, I am not gone.

Wei Wuxian says none of those things out loud, but the soft expression on his face as he smiles down at Lan Zhan must've spoken volumes. This is a man close to death, and yet his smile is kind, soft, and sincere.

Lan Qiren makes a low cough in the back of his throat, telling him time is up.

Wei Wuxian presses his lips one last time to Lan Zhan's forehead, and lets him go.

"I'm ready."

The healers on standby transport Lan Wangji's body to the infirmary.

Lan Zonghui stands before him with the solution to this disaster.

Wei Wuxian knows that as long as he dies, all of this can end. A decision unanimously agreed upon by Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan, to all those who hear of his story, his death will not be an unfair sentence. There is no bias. No undeserved blame. It is...it is Wei Ying's lot in life to be the one chosen by fate to die. The gods must've seen that Lan Wangji is good and worthy of redemption. As long as he dies, faith and righteousness will be satisfied.

"What is it?" He asks Elder Zonghui curiously. 鹤顶红? Crane's crimson crown? Probably. That is the most likely.

"天子泪."

Emperor's Tears. Wei Wuxian almost laughs. Of course, of course it is.

"It tastes like Emperor's Smile, but it is not. It is a gentle poison and will take some time to take its effect."

It's funny, Wei Wuxian muses as the jade cup is presented to him, how such a lovely thing is to be the instrument that ends his life. He accepts it with both hands, obediently, bringing it close to his lips. The familiar aroma of the clear liquid makes him smile.

He bows thrice, properly, his forehead meeting the marbled ground with a dull thud each time.

Wei Wuxian takes his last drink with the same vigour as he took his first. Eyes closed, savouring every drop. Then, clasping his hands before his chest, he draws all the energy in his body and rights himself onto his knees, facing the altar.

"I, Wei Wuxian of Gusu Lan, repent before the forefathers. May you forgive my transgressions and release me from my mortal sins."

And protect Lan Zhan. He prays. For I will no longer be able to do it.

Briefly, he wonders if there are Gusu Lan forefathers with a sense of humour. For all this to play out front of them, surely the less uptight ancestors must be thoroughly entertained by the dramatics of it all. Death, he imagines, must get boring after a while. In any case, he'll find out soon for himself.

.

"I'd like to spend my last moments alone."

.

Lan Zonghui looks to Yu Ziyuan and then to Lan Qiren. An unspoken agreement passes between them. One after another, elders of the Lan and Jiang clan vacate the ancestral hall. The heavy doors grind against the hinge, a low somber moan, as it is pulled shut, leaving Wei Wuxian kneeling amongst the candlelight.

The slow poison is not so slow. Perhaps in his reduced state, its effect is amplified, for soon after he is left to himself the air in his lungs begins to burn. A gush of blood surges up his throat filling his mouth.

If he's honest…okay, he's a little scared. Just a tad.

Hey demons, it's me. Eighteenth level of hell here I come…

In his last conscious moments, his thoughts linger on the sweet tang of Gusu's Emperor's Tears, and of Lan Zhan that very first night standing alone under the eave, away from the wedding festivities, an ethereal figure basked in the moonlight. There is a force pulling him down, and he collapses under the weight of it, right there in front of the altar.

The world is dark before he even hit the ground.

.

He does not hear the clash of Shuoyue's energy against the entrance, blasting open the doors, but he does perhaps hear the fainting voice of his sister calling his name.

A-XIAN.

.

Dusk falls, night arrives, and Wei Wuxian is gone.

---

Note: 

[shimu 师母] - shi = teacher, mu = mother. The wife of one's shifu

[s-c-r-i-p-s-i]

Desperate Measures

[Dead by Baelight’s Kinktober // Day 1: Ritual]

🖤 🖤 🖤 Seeking privacy, you stray a little too far from the campfire to perform your... daily ritual. Ghostface has been watching and decides it’s time for a little audience participation.

🖤 🖤 🖤 Pairing: Ghostface (Danny Johnson) x Gender-Neutral AMAB Reader

Rating: Explicit

CW: non-consensual voyeurism, choking, spanking, canon-typical violence, smut

Word Count: 3,219

When you first started this ritual, you weren't planning on making it a habit.

Here, every minute of your life was survival mode. Nonessential functions closed until further notice. You were a heart, some nerves, and sometimes, sometimes a brain.

You didn’t get bored; hah, that was rich - there was always something that needed to be done, even in Limbo. You were perpetually exhausted, yeah, but sleep was an impossibility. For the most part, you didn’t get hungry; you didn’t have to eat anymore - although sometimes you were struck with the overwhelming desire to eat one of the offerings meant for the Entity, just to taste something other than blood for once.

And for fuck’s sake, you thought you didn’t get… You know.

Horny.

See; for all intents and purposes your appetite for anything like that was dead. For the longest time. It wasn’t even something you thought about, so… not on your radar, that you didn’t even mourn it. There were other things to worry about.

And then one day Ghostface came around, and it’s like he slammed a live AED on your libido.

Maybe this place was getting to you. You knew you shouldn’t have found a serial killer so goddamn hot… but when death was just a setback, it kind of fucked with your sense of morality. At least, that’s how you tried to rationalize it.

So, how did it happen? You’re still asking yourself that. Assholes weren’t exactly your type. At least… you didn’t think so. Not back on Earth.

But he had your attention immediately. Mostly because you’d never heard a killer speak before. That is, not to you. And in your own language no less.

And boy, did he speak. (And speak, and speak…)

The first time you faced him, you’d been working on a generator and felt a chill rock your body just as it finally hummed to life. That random little bite at the back of your neck that prickled down your spine. Except here, it was rarely random. Here, it always spelled danger.

“Nice work,” He’d cooed, stepping out of fucking nowhere. You’d later learn that he… tended to do that. “Haven’t seen that in awhile. Must be getting slow.”

It was obvious what he was - the mask was a dead giveaway. Killer. But you didn’t move. You were too stunned that he was actually talking to you. “Thanks,” you’d kind of snorted, “I try.” You were still asking yourself ’what the fuck was that’ to this day.

“Oh...” He breathed. “You talk back. I like that.”

And he sounded so genuinely - if maliciously - interested that you had to assume that didn’t happen often; survivors talking to him. That your shitty little, what, comeback? if you could even call it that - pleased him.

“I hope you run, too.” He’d cocked his head - a not so subtle hint to get this show on the road.

“...Is that what-” He wanted, you were about to ask, although you weren’t sure why. Looking back, you think you were just stalling for time, not for any tactical reasons, but just because this was such a novelty to you.

The thought that maybe, just maybe you already wanted to please him was simply too annoying to entertain.

But he interrupted you.

“Yes.”

And this strange mix of almost playful and ruthlessly efficient would be a running theme in your trials against him. He didn’t waste a whole lot of time - even though he very well could have, with how adept he was. No one was ever spared. You never got the impression he was taking it easy on you, or drawing out a chase, or anything like that. Ninety percent of the words you ever exchanged were while you were looping him, or dangling from his shoulder as he strode towards a hook.

And yet, you still found yourself oh so fucking fascinatined by him. It was definitely conceivable that you were just attention starved. That there wasn’t anything else to it. Even among the survivors, there weren’t many you could count as real friends. And yet...

It was to the point where getting caught almost felt like a reward, because it always carried the positive reinforcement of you being able to banter with him for a minute. Which - you like to think you’d gotten a little better at. Always through bouts of struggling, of course; you tried not to be completely useless. For your own sake, if not your team’s. Getting hooked hurt.

Anyway, it was during one of those struggles, one day, wriggling around in his grip and beating his back and being a general nuisance, that it happened. You’d been bitching about -... you didn’t even remember.

And then he decided, “You know; you’ve become awful mouthy.”

And you were immediately riled up, because if anything, it was him that liked to talk just to hear the sound of his own voice - not that you could blame him, because what a sound it was. But you opened your mouth to protest, but before you could get anything out beyond an offended, “You-!” his other hand came down on your ass with a resounding slap.

You’d jolted straight, heat flooding your body at an alarming rate as you suddenly forgot how to string syllables together. Don’t worry. You made several embarrassing, aborted attempts.

“Well.” He mused, and you could hear the smile in his voice as he grabbed your hips to string you up. “Now I know how to shut you up.”

You screamed as the hook pierced through your chest, but he shushed you, breath stuttering with chuckles as he raised a finger to his mask, “Shh, shh, shh, shh, shhh. Don’t ruin it, now.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you ended up in the middle of the fucking woods with your hand down your pants after every other goddamn trial.

It started, as all addictions do, with the simple rationalization ‘It’ll just be this one time. Just to get it out of my system.’ How many times have you told yourself that? Only to end up exactly where you were now - breath quivering like a goddamn junkie as you threw your back against a tree and shoved your shaking hand down your drawers.

Your fingers finally wrapping around yourself was both sweet, sweet relief, and at the same time not. Goddamn. Enough.

It’s just, you couldn’t stop thinking about it. Him. It. Did it really matter? God you wished he’d done more than spanked you. Done more than promptly tossed you on the hook afterwards. That’s how goddamn bad you had it. He hadn’t even done anything else, but for you, it was the sexual awakening of a century.

You hastily stuffed your shirt in your mouth to grant yourself access to your chest, eyes rolling back as you gripped yourself and began to pump, other hand quickly trailing up your chest to tease your nipple between your index and middle fingers.

Always a frantic means to an end. Mechanical abuse. No time to really even fantasize. Which was fine, because that’s all you seemed to fucking do in between these little affairs.

Infuriatingly, though, this constant throttling of your bits meant you were starting to build up a tolerance to your own rough treatment. Still, you tried to get yourself off as quickly as possible. You knew you’d be missed, and -

You felt a bite at your neck, a chill down your spine. The kind that spelled danger.

“Slowly, slowly, it’s too nice a job to rush.” Ghostfaced chuckled, emerging from behind a tree. You saw the mask first, a shock of white in the darkness that nearly sent you into cardiac arrest.

With all the frenzied, nonsensical urgency of someone who’d just seen a bug crawling on them, you flailed in your rushed attempts to make yourself decent, yanking your hand from your pants, spitting the shirt out of your mouth and trying to frantically smooth everything down. It didn’t even occur to you at first, in your lizard brained panic, that he’d already seen everything. Or that no matter how you fixed your clothes, you still looked thoroughly debauched; panting, blushing all the way down to your chest, and your hair all mussed from the tree you were leaning up against. Oh yeah, and the fucking erection you were still sporting.

Your mouth was still bone-dry from the shirt you’d just had stuffed in your mouth all but two seconds ago. “What’re you-?!”

You had about a million questions on your mind. For one - How was he even here? You thought this kind of pocket realm - the one with the bonfire, the holding cell for survivors in between matches - was a sanctuary. The only place you were safe from these fucks.

“We all come here when it’s our time to play,” He explained smoothly, “We burn our offerings in the same flames as you. You just don’t see us. But we see you.” Ghostface sung, stalking closer.

“Besides. I’ve been here a long time. Long enough to know how to traverse the fog. Useful,” he sighed the word as if conceding something, even though you hadn’t said a word, “when one doesn’t have a home.” He stopped right in front of you. “...Useful for watching what naughty little survivors do when they stray far enough away from the flock.” Even with his face hidden behind that mask, you could feel the accusation in the way he cocked his head and crossed his arms expectantly.

“I-” You choked the word out, a second wave of mortified heat rising.

“But you, you were such a good little lamb until just recently. I wonder what changed.”

“Please just…” Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up, you mentally pleaded. You wanted to die. You’d rather melt into the ground than hear another minute of him taunting you. You were far too embarrassed, and far too wound up to suffer through whatever the hell he was monologuing on about. Any other time you might have appreciated the opportunity to talk to him without all the pretense of trials. But not. Right. Now.

“You’re having trouble with that today!” He observed gleefully - about your inability to put together a complete sentence, you assumed. “And usually you’re so vocal. That’s alright. Here. I’ll make it easier on ya.” Reaching for the damp, wrinkled up hem of your shirt, he pulled it up, and two gloved fingers stuffed it back into your mouth, feeding it to you until your mouth was full of cotton and he was satisfied.

You just stood there, stupefied.

“What, do you prefer my other method?” And he- he fucking reared his hand back and mimed a spank in the air. Oh my god. You hated him. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here,” he chuckled.

Placing his hands on his hips, Ghostface hummed, long and deliberate. “Come to think of it, you’ve been acting awfully strange for the past, oh, say the past few weeks or so. Ever since I…”

Oh. Oh no.

Your glare morphed into a look of sheer horror. That bastard. He knew? Or was he just a goddamn narcissist and automatically assumed it was about him, and just happened to be right on the money? It’s not like you’d been screaming out his name while you did it. Maybe you just weren’t half as subtle as you thought.

“So - here’s how it’s going to go. It’s been fun, just watching you. Really. But I’ve seen this show enough times that I think I deserve some front row seats, don’t you?” When you don’t respond, he just takes you by the chin, forcing you to nod for him. ”Great!” He throws up a hand, “Then we’re all in agreement. Keep going.”

Ghostface crossed his arms over his chest expectantly, settling in.

He wanted you to…? You push at the shirt with your tongue, intending to speak, but he stops you.

“Nope. Nah. Keep that in.”

O...kay. This was probably the kinkiest thing you’ve ever done, but you were still so stunned that it wasn’t... wasn’t quite sinking in yet. In the back of your mind, you were lowkey convinced this was a prank. A joke. That any second he was going to bust out laughing, tell you ’psyche! Oh my god you actually almost did it.’

But that moment never came.

Slowly, and with no small amount of hesitance, you began dipping your hand back in your pants. You half expected him to complain about how long you were taking, but he didn’t say a word. You guess he did tell you to go slow. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking under the mask, his posture impassive. But you eventually reached your sex and gave it a slow, experimental tug, inhaling sharply at how much more sensitive it felt just knowing that his eyes were on you.

You looked back up for any sign of approval, some sign that this is what he wanted but he hadn’t moved an inch. So you kept going, touching yourself, just a lot more slowly and mindfully than before. The thought of going full monkey brain on yourself in front of him was… not appealing. Plus, it didn’t even seem necessary anymore, with the way your stomach was now fluttering at the lightest touch.

“That’s much better,” He said eventually, and the way he cooed it like he was praising you went straight to your core, hips twitching forward. “If you keep going at that thing like a can of spray paint, you’re liable to rip it clean off. And then what’ll be left for me?”

That imagery wasn’t sexy at all, your nose wrinkling as you cringed at him, but then he said that and all you could focus on was the notion that maybe he was planning on doing more than just watching.

“You want me to touch you?” He asked, clearly sensing your hope.

“MmfHmfh.” Your sorry sound of agreement was muffled by the shirt in your mouth, so you paired it with a pathetic head nod, eyes pleading.

“Shit,” He laughed, “I was just going to bait and switch you, but if you’re going to be so damn cute… I guess I could be generous. Why don’t you show daddy what he’s working with?”

Maybe you were paranoid, but you felt like that was opening yourself up to get stabbed in the junk. Was it really wise to be so vulnerable around him? You weren’t sure if you trusted him, but Mr. Knife hadn’t made an appearance thus far, and you felt so desperate and full and achy that you just didn’t care.

Hesitantly, you pulled down your pants and drawers down to your thighs, just enough for your cock to spring free, bobbing lightly, crown swollen and shiny and absolutely flushed with arousal.

“Adorable. Now,” He removed the shirt from your mouth, only to press two fingers at your teeth so the end of the finger seams were between them. “Bite.” You did, carefully, and he used the leverage to slip his hand from the glove. Rather than just leave it hanging there, he pushed it back into your mouth like he had the shirt, the disgusting tang of leather and you didn’t want to even think of what else rusting on your tongue.

But it was all worth the sweet relief of his bare fingers finally wrapping around your cock. Your eyes fluttered back almost immediately, moaning around his glove as your head fell back against the tree behind you. Oh, this was wrong, wrong, wrong, but it felt so much better than touching yourself and you’d fantasized about this for so long. It was like honey for your body, the best kind of sweetness building up in your core, every pass of his fingers pushing you closer to overflow.

And it didn’t take long at all, with how long it had been since you’d been touched by another person, with how wound up you already were. You neared the edge fast, your dick twitching in his grip as your hips began to weakly rock, chasing that saccharine end.

And then he stopped.

Motherfucker.

You growled in frustration as your budding climax waned, hips instinctually slanting forward in search of something, anything, and finding nothing. Your gaze flicked up to him, silently asking ’What gives?’

“I said I’d touch you, I didn’t say anything about cumming.”

You nearly spat the glove out and gave him a piece of your mind, but his hand did eventually return, placating you for the time being. Even if his touch was far too light and understimulating at first, waiting until you’d been sufficiently backed down from that edge before building you back up. In due time your head was falling back against the bark, gasping as that feeling in your core started to balloon.

And then he did it again.

This time you really did spit the glove out, catching it in your hand. “I have places to be, Fuckface!”

“Riiiiight.” He drawled skeptically, amusement coloring his tone. “And, it’s Ghostface, actually.”

“Okay, GrossFace, if you don’t fucking finish me off-”

In seconds, his gloved hand was around your throat, leather creaking as he squeezed lightly. “You’ll what? Careful what you ask for, baby, you just might get it,” He warned, pressure slowly increasing. “But you might not like the way I decide to finish you off if you don’t play nice.” His hand eased off your throat, and you were relieved as you were disappointed - because shit, you were actually kind of into it.

“So, let’s go with Danny. Do you think you can manage that, sweetheart?”

Was that… his name? You felt oddly touched that he’d give you that. You hardly knew any of the killers' real names. Not trusting yourself to speak, you nodded, and your reward was his hand coming back to gently wrap his fingers back around you, stroking you slowly.

“Maybe third time’s the charm, huh?”

You weren’t so sure, but you were so backed up it hurt so you let him steer you back to the brink, your sounds growing desperate and so much more audible without anything to muffle them. “Danny, please,” you begged; you could feel yourself nearing that apex again, and if he stopped now you might actually cry.

He hummed, low and thoughtful, but the sound didn’t betray an inkling of emotion.

But he didn’t stop. And soon your climax was crashing over you so hard your knees nearly buckled, the tree at your back the only thing keeping you up as your whole body lurched, dick jumping as it choked up it’s release all over his hand and the forest floor.

Panting, your legs shook as you just stood there a moment, head tipped up to the sky, just trying to recover. You were dimly aware of him snatching his glove back as you felt him yank it from your hand but it barely registered. One by one, questions started to pile up but you were still too whelmed to speak.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Danny spoke first.

“So… Same time tomorrow?”

“I-” You broke, half laughing, half scoffing at the outright absurdity. “Sure.”

You guessed you could start a new ritual.

🖤 🖤 🖤

Thank you for reading!!! 🖤 🖤 🖤 Notes: AHHHHH, I did it, I wrote my first real one-shot. I've been roleplaying for nearly 20 years and it's kind of ruined my motivation for writing by myself but I wanted to break the habit. Thank you to Pugge and Libby for beta'ing this for me, ily both. This piece was written for Day 1 of the ���� Dead by Baelight 🔞 Discord server's Kinktober. ((I'm just posting it early because I have 0 self-control)) Anyone over 18 is welcome to join here.

[fantastic-secrets]

Butterfly Wings [1]

Fandom: Bleach

Summary: "Have you ever wondered what would happen if you tore off a butterfly's wings? Do you think it would crawl on the ground, struggling to survive? Or would it just die slowly, deprived of its freedom?"

When Gin joins the Fifth Division of the Gotei 13 to keep an eye on Aizen and carry out his revenge, the Vice-Captain welcomes him with open arms. Soon, they’re playing a game of cat-and-mouse, each trying to guess what the other knows and their motives. Aizen, in particular, seems to enjoy pushing Gin down into the mire, and for Gin, there’s no turning back.

Characters: Ichimaru Gin, Aizen Sousuke

Warnings: Murder, Innuendo

Word Count: 1.8k

He wasn't unfamiliar with death. But there was always something different about taking a life with his own hands. Despite the presence behind him, he didn't move as he gazed down at the lump of flesh, composing his feelings. This was just the first step in his plan, and his goal was much too important to ever make a misstep.

The events of the evening had been carefully choreographed from the moment he stepped onto the grounds this morning. During the tour, he'd carefully paid attention to his surroundings, fixing in mind where the seated officers' quarters were and the ideal location in which to call out his opponent. Then, with just the right balance of flattery and confidence, he'd asked for a private practice match, fully aware that his reputation preceded him. The other man's pride--and his fear of having that pride dragged into the mud before everyone else--sealed the deal. Really, the most difficult part was making sure that he was caught by just the right person; anyone else, and all his careful efforts would be rendered entirely useless. It couldn't appear to be anything but a coincidence, so as not to raise suspicion, and despite his calm facade, his heart had been racing the whole time, until he sensed someone stop to watch them. Watching, but not raising a hand… not even when his opponent had called out for help in desperation, finally relinquishing his foolish pride as he grasped for life. And that was when he was certain, and he had struck the final blow without hesitation and with a quieting heart. 

So when his companion finally spoke, he was able to turn and greet him with a smile and a tone of calm indifference despite being half-covered in blood. But it really was strange, how easy it was to defeat the third seat. Even if his opponent had never seriously considered the possibility that a mere "kid" would really try to kill him, he had been way too soft. If this was the level of the Gotei 13, it really was no surprise that Soul Society couldn't even keep its affairs in order. So when the fukutaichou asked for his opinion, he answered truthfully, and not just because that was the answer Aizen expected.

"Completely useless. What a joke."

That slight smile told him everything: he had passed the first test. He had the resolve to kill another human and the skills to fulfill the task. Of course, Gin wasn't naive enough to think that Aizen trusted him at all with just that, but that would come in time. On the other hand, the fukutaichou was highly respected and renowned as a kind man; Rangiku had gushed about how lucky he was to have been accepted into the Fifth Company and the importance of making a good impression on his superiors. At the time, Gin had reassured her that that was exactly what he intended to do.

"Ichimaru-kun, I would like you to be my subordinate."

Still grinning, Gin tilted his head as though he was puzzled by the statement. "Ain't I already, though, Aizen-fukutaichou? I'm part'a the Fifth Company like ya, right? 'less you're saying ya think I wanna fight ya for yer seat, or the taichou's. I ain't that good."

"Not yet, but perhaps in the future," Aizen agreed, favoring him with another smile that said he saw right through Gin's innocent charade. "Now, wash up and go back to bed. I'll take care of the cleanup here."

It wasn't until much later that Gin learned just how the fukutaichou had managed to disguise the murder as a suicide. But in the end, nobody questioned the situation when the body was found the next day, or challenged his assignment to the third seat. There was certainly some resentment over the fact that a recruit fresh from the Academy would be given the position, but everyone recognized that the so-called genius was more than qualified to hold it.

So like a shadow, Gin was often found trailing behind Aizen, always smiling and eager to please his superior. "A creepy kid" seemed to be the general consensus about him, and many seemed relieved that he had attached himself so closely to the highly respected fukutaichou, as if they expected that Aizen would keep him in check. But really, it wasn't as though he had ever been caught doing something wrong. He was just too clever, too strong, and too young… combined with his polite indifference towards most, it scared people. Both of them recognized that truth, and so Gin did nothing that would challenge that perception, because that was what Aizen wanted.

The only person who truly trusted him was Rangiku, and only around his childhood friend could Gin relax. Between his company duties and her classes, he couldn't see her often, but the brief moments of relative peace that they shared together were worth it. Although Rukongai had practically been a living hell, if there was anything that he missed about it, it was the way they had created their own universe together with just the two of them. He didn't resent her or her new friends, though: she'd always been more sociable than him, and he was glad that her world was being filled with color and laughter. But sometimes, he felt like her complaints and teasing were the only thing keeping him sane as his own world sank into the shadows.

In retrospect, though, he'd still been too naive. He'd never actively tried to hide their relationship from his fukutaichou, knowing that it would be a futile effort. Aizen watched the third seat too closely, clearly still cautious despite their shared complicity.  And even if he hadn't, he was clever enough to notice if Gin was hiding something from him and persistent enough to figure out what it was. So long as Rangiku didn't get in the way of his plans, she wasn't worth his notice… or so Gin believed.

Several years later, Gin stepped silently into Aizen's office, his usual smile affixed to his face as he greeted the other man. 

"Ya called fer me, Aizen-fukutaichou?"

"Ah, Gin. I was hoping to get your opinion on something. Please, sit."

Obediently, Gin lowered himself onto the cushion that Aizen indicated, puzzled. In all the time that they'd worked together, Aizen had never sincerely asked for his opinion on anything, not since the night he'd killed the former third seat. Would it be another test, or was it a sign that he was beginning to earn Aizen's trust?

He accepted the document that the older man offered to him, opening it to reveal Rangiku's Academy report. Carefully, he read through it before looking back up, with his expression as noncommittal as ever.

"So whatcha wanna ask, then?"

"I was thinking about inviting her to join the Fifth Company. The taichou is rather ambivalent about her, but she's your friend, right? I wouldn't mind putting in a word for your sake, since you've been so helpful to us."

A chill crept into Gin's bones as he shrugged, acutely aware of the fukutaichou's steady gaze under the lightness of his words. He'd expected that Aizen would be aware of his friendship, but this possibility had never occurred to him. He didn't want Rangiku anywhere near Aizen, not only because of what had happened in the past, but also since it seemed just as likely that she'd end up as yet another casualty of the man's charisma. Even with the experiments, she'd be safer elsewhere. Carefully, he considered his words before he spoke. 

"Nah, ya don't need t' do that. You saw her report, too. She ain't anything more than an average shinigami, so she wouldn't be able t' help ya much. I 'preciate ya thinkin' 'bout me, but she'd just get in the way here. It ain't like I can't see her if she's in a diff'rent company."

Aizen nodded, as kind and understanding as ever, though his eyes never left Gin's face.

"She's a fairly attractive woman, though, isn't she? Still a bit young, but she's got promise. Are you seeing her romantically?"

At that, Gin's smile widened slightly, making him even more inscrutable than usual, even as he shook his head. 

"We ain't like that, Aizen-fukutaichou. We were just friends, growin' up in Rukongai. 'sides, her other friends don't seem t' like me much. She probably doesn't even really need me anymore."

"And that doesn't upset you?"

"Would ya like it to?" Though the words sounded like a challenge, Gin's tone was as casual as always. The contrast seemed to surprise a chuckle out of the other man, though he caught himself quickly, holding out a hand. Obediently, Gin moved to return the report, only to be startled himself when Aizen grabbed his wrist, tugging him closer so he was half-sprawled over the desk. The smile slipped from his face, and his eyes slitted open slightly, revealing a flash of blue in his otherwise pale complexion. Bemused, he watched with wary caution as Aizen's free hand moved deliberately toward his face, tucking under his chin to tilt his face up.

"Your eyes are quite beautiful, Gin. It's a pity that I don't get to see them more often." Though Gin had tensed, he didn't resist as those slender fingers drifted closer to his eyes, tugging his lids wider and applying a gentle, steady pressure. "But I also feel jealous when I think that others might also see them. I'd like to take them out and keep them locked away, just for myself. What do you think about that, Gin?"

Slowly, the smile returned to Gin's face as he relaxed despite Aizen's terrifying words. "If that's what ya think is best. Though I dunno if I could be as good as Tousen-san."

For a long moment, the threatening pressure remained, and then Aizen released Gin, allowing the younger man to return to his seat and smooth down his robes.

"It truly would be a pity to lose your skills," Aizen agreed. Then, as if the last few minutes hadn't happened at all, he continued, "You're certain, then, that you don't want me to invite Matsumoto-kun to our division?"

"Prob'ly best that way. But thanks fer lookin' out fer me," Gin answered with an empty smile. Aizen nodded a dismissal, so Gin got up and left, making his way back to his rooms. Only once he had closed the door behind him did he collapse in a flood of relief.

He wasn't sure how much of his words Aizen had believed, but Rangiku would be safe. At least from their superficial conversation, the fukutaichou wouldn't extend that proposed invitation. His hand trembled slightly as it reached up to touch his eye, as though making certain it was still there. If Aizen had tried to rip them out, Gin would have let him, but that didn't make the prospect of blindness any less terrifying. He also couldn't shake the feeling that he'd missed something, in those long moments. He hadn't failed the test… but he hadn't quite passed it, either.

[justheretobreakthings]

Kings Over Aces - Chapter 4

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Word Count: 5,778 (Total Word Count: 15,109) Read on AO3

Story Summary:

The Voltron Coalition has an alliance in the works with the resource-rich planet of Yuipra, and it’s the paladins’ job to keep on the king’s good side while the deal is made. That shouldn’t shouldn’t be too great a challenge; after all, they’ve courted plenty of planets before for the sake of alliances.

Unfortunately, things are made much more complicated when the king takes a special interest in Keith.

Chapter content warnings for non-consensual touching, threats of rape. Fic content warning for attempted rape.

Keith kept up his smile as best he could as Olren reached the bottom stair. It wasn’t easy; the closer Olren got, the more aware Keith felt of every sensation in his body - the sweat against the coarse fabric of his outfit; the nervous heartbeat that must have been so loud, and surely Olren could hear it and was going to misinterpret it; his posture, and where his feet were, and why did it feel like he was standing wrong, how did he normally stand, he couldn’t remember.

“You got this, Keith,” Pidge said. “We’re with you every step of the way.”

It wasn’t a huge reassurance, but it was just enough that Keith managed to swallow down some of the nerves by the time the king was standing before him.

“Paladin Keith,” Olren said, taking Keith’s hand in his. He lifted it to press a kiss to the back of the hand - a spot left vulnerable since Keith didn’t have his usual gloves on - before continuing, “You’re looking positively lovely this evening.”

“Um, thanks,” Keith mumbled. In his ear, Lance’s voice told him, “Don’t wipe your hand.”

“He wasn’t trying to wipe his hand,” Hunk’s voice said.

“It’s Keith, he’s one hundred percent the type of person who wipes off kisses.” Surely the point was moot anyway, Keith thought, as his hand was still trapped in Olren’s grasp, but he couldn’t say anything to the others without raising some brows.

“Return the compliment, Keith,” Allura’s voice piped up.

“You look lovely too,” Keith said.

“Well, use a different word, don’t just repeat his.”

Keith fought back an annoyed wince before amending, “I mean, you look, um… radiant.”

Lance barked out a laugh, but Keith was saved from having to figure out what was so funny about his word choice by the fact that Olren seemed to take the remark in stride, smiling brightly before adjusting his grip on Keith’s hand so that their arms were at their sides, fingers intertwined. Lance had been right - Keith did want to wipe his hand off. There was a cold stickiness left on the skin where Olren had kissed it, although he didn’t know whether the lips had actually left that much residue, or if it was just his imagination.

“Come along,” Olren said, giving Keith’s hand a little tug as he turned toward the hall leading away from the foyer. “I’ve had the staff cook up some personal favorite dishes of mine. I’m sure you’ll love them. I only wanted the very best for a paladin of Voltron.”

“Right,” Keith said. Shiro was making some sort of comment in his ear as Olren dragged him along, saying it was a good thing they’d practiced the hand-holding the day before. Really, Keith thought, the practice hadn’t done much. Holding hands with Olren was much weirder; at least he actually knew Coran.

But Olren seemed keen on it, so Keith tried to imagine that the hand in his was a friend’s, tried to picture it as Shiro’s or Pidge’s or Hunk’s, and it seemed he was successful enough at imagining that it managed to get him through the walk to the private dining room.

Again, the door was flanked by guards who opened the doors for them, and there were more stationed inside; Keith wondered idly if the dining room was guarded like that all the time, or if this was just for him. Either way, the omnipresent guards were a little unnerving, and Keith was glad that the golden visors on their helmets made it a bit easier to pretend they weren’t watching him the whole time.

A small circular table, big enough only for two, sat in the middle of the room, and one of the guards pulled Keith’s chair out for him as he and Olren approached. Keith took his seat, peering around the room. A chandelier to match the ones in the banquet hall hung over the table, and its light danced off the decorations on the walls, which mostly consisted of elaborate tapestries. The table itself was just as opulent despite its small size, its legs carved into intricate patterns and its surface polished to a sheen. Olren appeared to have brought out the Yuipran equivalent of fine china as well, since the crystal-like, jewel-edged tableware was much fancier than the ones that had been set out for the dinner they’d attended before.

Olren began launching into descriptions of the foods as Keith helped himself to small servings of each. Right now, his nerves being what they were, he couldn’t enjoy the flavor of any of them - they all might as well have been tasteless to him, like he was sitting here eating paper or cotton balls - but sampling them gave him an excuse to not talk for now, so he pressed on.

“Ohohoh, man, that looks good,” Hunk said as Keith started cutting into the main dish. “Does it taste as good as it looks?”

“This is very tasty, your majesty,” Keith said, interrupting Olren’s chatter about how well the beverage he’d picked complemented the vegetable dish. He couldn’t actually tell right now, but at least the food did smell good, so that hopefully translated to taste as well.

“Why, thank you,” Olren said, seeming unfazed by the interruption. “I’ll pass along the compliments to the kitchen staff.”

“Ask him if he can give you the recipe,” said Hunk.

Keith did so, and Olren laughed lightly. “Tell you what, I’ll go ahead and throw the recipe in as one of the perks of our upcoming alliance if this evening goes well.”

“Oh. Uh - ”

“So you enjoy cooking, Keith?”

Keith shrugged. “I mean, I cook, but more out of necessity than enjoyment. One of my teammates is more into cooking, though.”

“Careful not to mumble, Keith,” said Shiro. “Speak up.”

Keith cleared his throat before resuming in a louder voice. “Um, do you cook?”

“Don’t just repeat him,” Allura said.

“Oh, stars, no,” Olren said. “Haven’t the time to learn a chore of the sort. It isn’t a necessity for me, what with the chefs we keep in our employ. Some of the top cuisiniers in all of Yuipra can be found right in my palace’s kitchen, so no contribution I’d make to the meals would even be worth the time and effort. You could say I’m more a patron of the arts than an artist.”

“Ask him what his hobbies are,” Coran said. “You’ve got a good opening for that one.”

“So, uh, you don’t cook,” said Keith. “What do you do? In your spare time, I mean.”

“Ah, the list of what I don’t do would be shorter,” Olren replied. “I’ve trained in many athletic disciplines and I’ve always considered myself to be a lifelong scholar. The palace’s library contains quite the impressive collection, and it’s befitting of a king to be well-versed in as many fields as he is able, yes? So I am. In sciences, history, the arts. I travel extensively, of course, my rapport with my subjects and my allies is of great importance to me, and I have done quite well in that regard. My royal family line is long-beloved by the populace, and I strive to ensure the reverence is not misplaced.”

“This guy’s a real piece of work, isn’t he,” Pidge muttered.

“Now, now, Pidge,” said Coran. “Expounding on one’s positive qualities is hardly unusual behavior for a first date.”

“If you say so.”

“Still,” Olren continued, and Keith tried to block out the voices in his earpiece and return his attention to the one across the table. “I was perfectly serious when I said I was a patron of the arts. You will find no more ardent theater-goer in my domain than myself, and I really must show you my private art collection at some point. Or the palace gardens, it would be a lovely night for them.”

He leaned forward, bringing his eyes to level with Keith. “I am a great admirer of beauty, you see, and it is a passion of mine to find beauty in the world and make it my own. In all its many forms. Whether it be a painting on my wall or a flower in my garden. A jewel on my crown - “ He reached out suddenly, cold fingertips grazing Keith’s cheek as he tucked a lock of the latter’s hair behind his hair. “ - Or a companion at my side.”

“Christ, that’s a hell of a line,” said Lance. “You think he rehearsed that? I bet he rehearsed it.”

“Um,” said Keith. “That’s, uh - that’s - ”

“Say, erm, that you’re honored he sees you that way,” Allura said. “He was complimenting you.”

“Right,” Keith said. “I’m honored you, um, see me that way.”

“You should be,” Olren said. “That’s not something I’d say of just anyone.”

His stare was growing more intense by the second, and Keith could feel the sweat growing along his hairline. He coughed into his sleeve, using it as an excuse to lean away from him. “So,” he said loudly. “Um, Allura says Yuipra and Altea go way back, huh? What’s, uh - what’s - tell me about that.”

“Did we not go over segues and subject changes with him yesterday?” Shiro asked. “I thought we did.”

Keith repeated the ‘smile with your eyes’ mantra to himself to keep from scowling. Sure, that had been clumsy, but Olren didn’t seem to care. The king was already launching into a history lecture about Yuipra’s past alliances and the interplanetary relations forged by past kings and queens. It was all in one ear and out the other for Keith, but it was keeping Olren busy and had gotten him to cool it with that weird stare, so he was counting it as a win.

He managed to finish off the main course by the time Olren was winding down, having reached the most recent generation of rulers in his exhaustive recounting of the royal lineage. “Of course, the trade agreement with Thuabos is one that would doubtless be considered the most beneficial to our energy sector in all of Yuipran history. Still, King Arihan’s diplomacy and positive relations with their chancellor were instrumental in that deal, and I know that more than one advisor had been worried that it may falter after I took the throne.” He let out a long sigh, and brought a hand to his chest. “I’m sure your princess would more than understand - it’s not easy, losing a father and a king all at once. The burden placed upon my shoulders as ruler in these past decaphoebs is a heavy one.”

“Offer your condolences, Keith,” said Allura. “He’s pushing for sympathy.”

Well, obviously. Keith wasn’t the best at reading people, sure, but even he could pick up on melodrama. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Why would he bring that up in the middle of a first date?” said Pidge. “Is that normal?”

“Maybe he’s angling for, like, comfort cuddles or something,” said Hunk.

“Thank you,” Olren said. He dabbed lightly at his eyes with his fingertips before opening them again. “I apologize, if I get too personal too soon. But, to that end, I do believe that openness is a cornerstone of interpersonal relations. Our struggles, our strengths - they need not be kept secret.” He folded his hands on the table, tilting his chin toward Keith. “Don’t you agree?”

“Yeah,” Keith said. “Yeah, sure.”

Olren smiled. “I thought so. You’re a delightful confidante, Keith. A wonderful listener. That is something that you can consider a strength of yourself and Voltron - your willingness to let others place their burdens before you.”

“Uh-huh,” Keith said with a nod. “Yeah, we’re all - we’re very good listeners.”

“Are we including Lance in that assessment?” asked Pidge.

“What?” said Lance.

Shiro shushed him as Olren went on. “Of course, I do not want to give you an inaccurate impression of me and my capabilities. Yuipra is still a force to be reckoned with under my leadership. I see no reason why a soft heart and strong hand should be mutually exclusive. The same can be said of Voltron, can’t it? Its presence is a beacon of hope, but also a show of force. Of power.”

“That’s, um - yeah, I suppose so.”

Olren nodded. “Yuipra would fit well into your coalition. We do not possess the military strength of some of your allies, no, but we are powerful in other ways. We would not have lasted as long as we have otherwise. We’re resolute. I never yield, Keith, never waver. When there is something my kingdom needs, I go after it. I pull out all stops to get what I want, and I persevere no matter the resistance.” He paused to scoop a bite of food into his mouth, the last on his plate, and set his fork down. “Diligence is the precursor to endurance, Keith. Giving up is never an option.”

“I see,” Keith said slowly.

“Okay, come on,” Pidge said. “There’s no way this is normal first date conversation.”

“Well,” said Shiro, “A ‘date’ with a king and potential war ally is probably pretty different from a ‘normal’ first date.”

“Still,” said Hunk. “Just listening to him is exhausting.”

“Don’t pause so long, Keith,” said Allura. “Humor him, say you agree.”

“Right,” said Keith. “That - that makes sense. A good, uh, good way to look at things.”

“I had a feeling you’d agree,” Olren said.

“Uh-huh. Though, uh, you know, the coalition is more of - ”

He dropped his sentence and his fork at the same time, startling at the sudden sensation of a hand on his knee. Olren showed no change in his expression, still giving him that little sharp-eyed smile he’d held throughout the dinner, but his hands, no longer occupied with the food, were now out of sight, and even as their gazes met, Keith could feel the hand moving back and forth over his knee, as if Olren was petting it.

“Keith?” Hunk said. “Did our audio cut out?”

“The coalition is what?” Olren asked lightly.

“Um,” Keith said. He squirmed in his seat, moving against the back of the chair, but the hand followed, the thumb now rubbing little circles into his thigh. “It, uh, it’s more - it’s - you know, there’s um, it’s numbers, and, um - and resources for - for, uh - ”

“Keith, you oughtn’t fidget like that,” Allura’s voice chided in his ear. “What’s going on?”

“You okay, man?” Hunk asked.

Right. Of course, the others would have no way of knowing what was going on under the table, and he couldn’t very well explain it to them. He took a deep breath through his nose and tried to hold his leg still, gritting his teeth when Olren seemed to interpret this as an invitation to slide his hand even further up his thigh, his fingertips brushing against the fabric of the too-thin pants and feeling like insect legs crawling along his skin.

“Your coalition sounds like a perfect fit for Yuipra,” Olren said, replying as if Keith had given him a perfectly coherent answer. “And speaking of - ”

Fingers pinched the skin of his thigh, and without thinking Keith shot up out of his seat, gripping the edge of the table as firmly as if it were the only thing keeping him from falling into an abyss. Olren somehow appeared entirely unfazed by this, maintaining his little smile even now. “Is something wrong, Keith?”

“N-no,” Keith stuttered, even as the voices in his earpiece asked the same question. “No, I, uh - it’s getting cramped, in here. Just wanted to get up.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Er, perhaps suggest an alternate activity, Keith?” said Coran.

“You could, uh, show me that art collection or garden or something,” Keith said. That would be good. Something that involved standing and walking, something where the camera could catch it if Olren started getting handsy, and the others could tell him what to do about it.

“All right,” Olren said. “If you’d like. Are you sure you don’t want to wait for our dessert course? I’ve selected some sweets for the evening that are positively decadent.”

Keith shook his head. “No thanks, I’m - I’m full.”

“And eager, it seems,” Olren said with a smirk. “Very well, Keith. I’ll show you to the gardens; it’s a beautiful season for them, some lovely specimens blooming.” He rose from the table too, and as he did, the guards on standby opened the door to admit a group of servants who quickly swept in to clear the table. “Come,” he said, holding out the crook of his arm.

“Hold him by the arm, just above the elbow,” Shiro said. “Wrap the hand around, but keep the grip light.”

Keith obliged, and Olren led the way out of the dining room. Keith still would have preferred to not be holding onto Olren at all, but this beat holding his hand, so it wasn’t so bad to endure as they strode through the palace’s corridors and out into the courtyard.

“It’s not too chilly out for you, is it?” Olren asked.

“Huh?” Keith said. “Uh, no?”

“You can feel free to come closer, if you get cold.”

Someone, probably Lance, wolf-whistled into his earpiece, and Keith made a mental note to kick him in the shin when he got back to the Castle. “I’m fine, thanks.”

“If you’re sure.” They had reached a tall gate at the other end of the courtyard, one that was once again flanked by two of those ubiquitous guards who opened the gate and bowed them through. Keith made to drop his hand from the king’s arm, but just as he was about to, Olren brought his other hand up, lightly draping it over Keith’s as they walked. Looked like he was stuck for now.

The garden was nice, Keith supposed. The plants on display were lush and colorful, and they’d arrived during sunset, which left the sky on this planet - or at least in this area of it - a bold shade of violet that was warmed by the orange glow of the lamps placed at intervals throughout the stone walkways.

The structure reminded him a bit of the botanical gardens that his class had visited on a field trip back in middle school, with its stone pathways and the tidy arrangement of the plants, so perhaps he could pretend that this was just a school field trip rather than a date, and perhaps that would help with the mild nausea that had been plaguing him since entering the palace.

Of course, on that field trip, two of his classmates had tried to hold his head under the water in a fountain and gotten all three of them sent back to the bus for half the day, but there didn’t seem to be any fountains in this garden, so he was probably safe from that at least.

Olren had started talking without Keith realizing, so he hastened to try to focus. Fortunately Olren didn’t seem to realize that Keith had zoned out - he often didn’t, Keith was beginning to learn - and was totally preoccupied with pointing out his own favorite plants and describing whatever he knew about them.

“Participate in the conversation,” Allura said. “Find something you like, point it out.”

“You know, these lampposts are really pretty,” Keith said, gesturing to one that had been carved to look like an intricate series of stone vines was wrapped around it.

“Pick a plant, Keith, you’re in a garden,” Allura said, and Keith could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

“Oh, and, uh, these - these flowers here,” Keith said, pointing toward a bed of red and orange flowers with particularly wide petals.

Olren grinned. “You like these?” He finally let go of Keith’s hand, and Keith, relieved, dropped his arm to the side as Olren bent down toward the flowers. He plucked one, and stood up again, and held it out to Keith. “Go ahead,” he said. Keith gingerly accepted the flower. “Smell it,” Olren added.

He brought the flower to the nose and gave it a sniff. It smelled vaguely like a mix of apples and laundry detergent. Nothing to write home about, but Olren was watching him eagerly, so Keith gave him a stiff smile and nod.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” said Olren.

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m glad you picked that one. Its pollen is an aphrodisiac, you know.”

Immediately Keith dropped the flower, while in his ear Pidge made a retching sound. “Ew, dude, what the fuck?” she said.

“You know, I believe we grow a variety of that flower in our herbatorium,” Coran said. “Its roots can soothe burns. I hadn’t been aware of this property, though.”

“Everything’s an aphrodisiac if you’re kinky enough,” said Lance.

Olren, meanwhile, was laughing as he leaned over to pick the flower back up. “Well,” he said, “It is to Yuiprans, anyway. I don’t know that the effect is universal.” Grinning, he reached up and put the flower under Keith’s nose again, tickling at it with the petals, and Keith couldn’t help but take a step back. The king just laughed again. “You oughtn’t be so nervous, paladin Keith,” he said, letting the flower fall back to the ground. “It’s probably so much harder to enjoy the evening that way.”

“I’m - I’m not nervous,” Keith stammered.

Olren clicked his tongue and shook his head, still smiling. “No need to try to pretend. I find it flattering, really. That you’re so anxious for things to go well between us. That I excite you, scare you. Take your breath away. Your hands are shaking, you know.” Suddenly his hand was laid flat against Keith’s chest. “Your heart’s pounding. You feel a flurry, don’t you? A spark?”

“Uh…” was the only sound Keith could manage.

The hand on his chest moved to his chin, tilting his head back slowly as Olren stared at his face, eyes like spears piercing his own. “You’re very beautiful, you know,” he said softly.

And before Keith could say a word in protest, Olren had moved in for a kiss.

He was too stunned to do anything but stand there and let it happen. In his earpiece he could hear his team, letting out a mix of congratulations that he was pulling this off, and disgusted groans. He wasn’t sure whose voice was whose, but he himself would be firmly in the latter category if he could. And with the camera’s positioning, the others didn’t have to watch the actual kiss go down.

There would probably be more sounds of disgust if they could, Keith figured as the kiss continued, Olren’s saliva feeling like slush against the skin around Keith’s lips. He tried to start pulling his face away, but Olren tightened his grip on his chin and held him in place, prying Keith’s lips apart as his tongue poked into his mouth. It was bizarrely cool and slick as it joined the kiss. Like there was a slug writhing around in his mouth. Olren began letting out little grunts of delight, while it was all Keith could do not to gag.

“Is he ever gonna stop for breath?” Pidge said.

“God, I did not sign up for listening to Keith have a makeout session,” said Lance. “There a fast-forward button on this thing?”

“Er, Keith?” Allura said. “You… you can pull away, if you need to…”

Gratefully Keith took her up on her offer, although it took a couple of tugs to get Olren to finally break the kiss and let Keith stumble back. Olren was quick to catch him with an arm on his back, and that sharp grin returned as he straightened Keith up. “Delectable,” he said. “Utterly delectable. You’re quite the treat, paladin Keith.”

“Yeah, okay,” Keith managed to grunt out. “So, um, how - how much longer do you, um, do you have planned? For tonight?”

“Keith, don’t ask that!” Shiro said. “Don’t make it obvious you want to leave!”

Olren raised a brow. “You’re so keen already to move on to the end of the evening?”

“Well, you know.” Keith shrugged, ignoring Shiro’s groan in his ear.

Thankfully, Olren didn’t seem offended. In fact, his smile seemed to widen as he nodded. “Certainly,” he said. “I admit, I do usually like a little more time with my companions first, but tonight has been… well, simply lovely, to say the least. I’m willing to make an exception.” He held out his arm. “Come along. We can adjourn to my private chambers ahead of schedule, and consummate our alliance now.”

Keith stood in shocked silence, not quite sure if he’d heard right. The same must have happened with his teammates back at the castle, since there was a pause before Lance hesitantly spoke. “I’m sorry, did he - did he just say - ?”

“Head out of the gutter, Lance,” said Shiro. “In business, ‘consummate’ just means to finalize something, make it official.”

“But why would they need to go to his ‘private chambers’ for that?”

“Maybe, er,” said Allura. “Maybe he meant a private office?”

Meanwhile Olren was still staring at Keith, his arm still held out invitingly. Cautiously, Keith took a step back before asking, “Um, when - when you say ‘consummate’, do - do you mean, um…?”

“Physically,” Olren said. “Of course.” He laughed lightly as the sounds of his teams’ indignation echoed in Keith’s earpiece. “You’re still a little nervous, aren’t you?” He stepped toward Keith, a hand coming up to take him by the shoulder. “There’s no need to be. I can be gentle. At first.” He winked, and Keith’s stomach clenched.

“Is he fucking serious?!” said Pidge. “What the hell?!”

“Shit, is he - he’s actually telling Keith to - ” Lance said.

“It doesn’t matter what he’s telling Keith to do, he’s not gonna fucking do it!” Pidge snapped.

She was right. Black Paladin or not, alliance or not, this was too much. This was a line he couldn’t cross. “Look, um,” Keith said, shrugging Olren’s hand off of his shoulder. “I’m, uh, I’m flattered and all, really, but - ”

“I’ve got ways we can settle those nervous of yours,” Olren said. “Aromatherapy is a wonder, you know. Lotions, candles.”

“Ew, ew, ew,” Hunk said. “That’s - this is so sleazy - ”

“Keith?” said Coran. “Keith, you don’t have to go that far.”

“Say you’re feeling ill,” said Allura.

“I’m actually feeling, um, kinda sick,” Keith said. “Probably shouldn’t, uh - ”

“So suddenly?” Olren asked. His hand was back, this time snaking around Keith’s back and pulling him close. “Mm, I think the only illness here is shyness. I happen to know a marvelous cure.”

“Look, I mean it, I - ”

“It’s necessary, you know, for a true alliance. That vulnerability, that trust. The closeness.”

“I don’t think - ”

“Say you’re engaged to another,” Allura suggested, her voice growing steadily more frantic. “Or, say that you’re - ”

“No, forget diplomacy,” Pidge said. “Tell him to fuck off, and RUN!”

Olren was leaning closer, his other hand coming up to card his fingers into Keith’s hair. Swallowing down his fear, Keith yanked away, his own hands up to push back from the king with a grunt of, “Get off me!”

Olren released him, frowning as Keith stumbled back. Keith tried his best to straighten on his gelatin-like legs, his heart beating like a sledgehammer against his throat. “I’m not - I don’t - no,” Keith panted. “No.”

His heart hammered in his throat as Olren stared at him, his perpetual smile gone for the first time all evening. “I see…” he said slowly. “Perhaps you can rejoin me tomorrow evening, then. It would give you some time to grow more… amenable, before we finalize our alliance.”

Keith shook his head. “I’m not going to ‘finalize’ anything with you. Not if that’s what you were aiming for.”

Something flashed across Olren’s face, something Keith couldn’t quite read, before the king said, “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand. Did you not enjoy our evening together? Do you find me so unappealing that partnering with me upsets you so? You’re shaking again, Keith.”

“Hey, I didn’t - it’s not about that. That isn’t something I do. Ever. With anyone.”

“No?” Olren said, quirking a brow.

“No,” Keith repeated.

“Mm.” Olren crossed his arms, and somehow he seemed to be taller than Keith had remembered him being, the shadow cast on the stone walkway from the nearest lamp looming over Keith like a storm cloud. “That does present a difficulty, doesn’t it? I don’t much like to ally with those I cannot fully trust to commit fully.”

“Oh god, this is creepy,” Pidge whispered. “This is so, so creepy.”

“We - we need to do something,” said Hunk. “Guys?”

“Is this how you guys made your old alliance with Yuipra way back when?” Lance asked.

“No, of course not,” Allura said. “This is - stars, he cannot possibly think - ”

“Keith,” said Shiro. “Get out of there. We don’t need an alliance that badly.”

Keith took a deep breath. “Okay, look, um, clearly - clearly there was a, um, a misunderstanding, here, about what tonight was about. So I’m - I’m gonna just - ”

Cautiously he made to step around him, but Olren slid effortlessly into his path, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him back to face him. Keith winced at the grip; it was harder than any other time Olren had put a hand on him this evening. “I can’t help but wonder, paladin,” Olren said, his voice chilly in its steadiness. “What were you expecting tonight to be about?”

“Um.” Keith blinked. “Um, the alliance. You joining the Coalition.”

“And you still thought that, right up until moments ago, when you decided that you did not wish to accompany me to bed. Is that correct?”

“Uh…”

“Was I unclear in my intentions, Keith? I specifically asked you here as my date. I laid out the best dinner at the finest table I had to offer so that I could court you. I brought you out here to be with me beneath the moonlight. I took your hand, and you did not pull away.” With his free hand, Olren took Keith’s hand, intertwining the fingers and giving it a squeeze. “I kissed you, and you kissed me back.” He leaned in, close enough that Keith could feel his breath on his skin as steely eyes bore into his own. “That was not about the coalition, Keith. That was about you, and about me.”

“Okay, yeah, but I - I didn’t think - ” He tried to pull his hand out of Olren’s grasp, but the king held firm. “I didn’t think you wanted to go that far.”

“Things always go that far, eventually,” Olren said. “Why did you think we wouldn’t, Keith? When you decided to accompany me tonight, did you not consider where we might take our affections?”

“Look, those are your affections, okay?!” Keith growled. “You’re the one who wanted to make this a date! All we wanted was an alliance!”

Olren froze, eyes widening, and Keith felt his nails start digging into his arm where he held him.

“Uh, Keith…” Shiro said uncertainly. “Maybe don’t - ”

“I think I understand now,” Olren said. “All this time, all evening, you’ve been making a fool of me.”

Keith shook his head hastily. “No, listen, it - ”

“You were here only for my resources, my services to Voltron. Were willing to take the offering from me and leave me in the dust.”

Keith managed to yank his arm free of Olren’s grip, and made to jump back, but Olren kept a hold of his hand and pulled him back in, his other hand grabbing the fabric of Keith’s collar instead. “I don’t like being used, Keith,” he snarled, and his voice had a raspiness, an iciness, that hadn’t been there before. “I don’t like people playing with my heart, toying with me, breaking my heart for their own gain.”

“It’s - it’s not like that!” Keith gasped out. He reached up a hand to claw at Olren’s where it grasped his collar, trying to loosen the hold that was starting to squeeze against his windpipe. “I only wanted - ”

“I know what you wanted!” Olren said, giving Keith a forceful shake. “You wanted to take Yuipra’s riches and my dignity with it, and leave nothing in return. Well, Keith, I wanted something too, tonight. And like I’ve told you: I always get what I want.”

Finally Keith gave up on trying to pry Olren’s hand loose. Instead, he balled his own into a fist, and with all the force he could muster, aimed a blow toward the king’s face. The punch landed with a sickening crack, and in his shock Olren released him.

The moment he turned around to run, though, he was grabbed again, both arms in bruising grips that didn’t belong to Olren. A glance down showed golden gauntlets wrapped around his triceps, and too late he remembered the guards that were stationed everywhere in this palace. Two were holding him, and he thought he could hear a third behind him.

His team was shouting something, but he couldn’t discern the words. It all became a buzz to him as he thrashed in the guards’ grips, trying to get away. He heard a grunt as he elbowed one, and he flailed his legs and managed to land a kick with his heel against the other’s greave, before something was slammed against the back of his knee and pain radiated up and down his leg. The other was hit right after, and he was forced to the ground on his knees, his arms wrenched up behind his back with nearly enough force to pull his shoulders out of their sockets, one hand digging into his scalp to grab him by the hair and pull his head back, stretching out his neck as he panted for breath.

Olren stood before him, regal as ever, dabbing the back of his hand against his face where deep green Yuipran blood was trickling from his nose. “Not a wise move,” he said. “Assaulting a king in his own palace. You can’t have thought I would give up that easily.”

He stepped forward, kneeling down to lean in toward Keith’s face, and stretched a hand out to brush the back of his fingers against his cheek. “Even in your rage, still so beautiful,” he said softly. “A pity you had to make things difficult like this.”

His hand moved to take Keith’s chin, squeezing his jaw in an iron grip. Keith could feel the sharp nails break the skin, warm blood droplets beginning to well beneath the claws. “We’re going to form that alliance, Keith,” Olren said. “And we’re going to do it my way.”

[astrologysvt]

Chart First Impressions: Jihoon

For more SVT astrology posts, follow my blog! Check out my masterlist to see all the readings I’ve done so far and what I’ve got coming up! 💫

This is just a very general reading of the member’s charts — the parts that popped out to me, things I personally liked, things I thought were interesting or contrary to the image I have of them. I’m not looking at anything in particular with each reading. Some of their readings may be more aspect focused, where some may just focus solely on their personal planets and their signs. If you have any questions on specific aspects or want to request a more specific reading, feel free to send me an ask!

ugh jihoon you stress me out 

so here is the huge astrology debate on whether or not cusps actually exist. can we technically be both signs?

i feel like recently the consensus seems to be that no, cusps definitely do not exist. 

yet at the same time, you pick up any astrology text and often times they’ll include cusps in some what shape or form. 

the way i do readings i really only take a cusp into account if 1) i don’t know the birth time or 2) it’s relevant to that specific reading. 

even then, i don’t particularly view them as “cusps” more as just acknowledging that either or could be an option. 

to me, even if you are born just a minute before the sun enters another sign, your natal chart will tell you the one definitive sun sign you were born under. 

if you relate to traits of the sign you’re technically a cusp of, there is more than likely other, more specific influences in your chart that you can attribute that to. 

not only that, but many people believe that the influences of the sign are the strongest towards the cusp. for that reason, if i know the birth time, i really don’t give them much thought. 

so that’s my stance, generally.

but we dooon’t knooooow woozi’s birth time which makes things much more complicated. 

we’re also dealing with two signs (sag/scorpio) that can kind of present themselves very similarly??? 

they’re both very straight forward people, sag for the sake of simplicity and honesty and scorpio for the sake of brevity and impact.

they’re both very take it or leave it signs as scorpios simply wont tolerate what they don’t like, and sagittarians are very quick to move on from unwanted situations as they’re good at redirecting their attention. 

so this kind of muddles how i would categorize what i’d say are jihoon’s identifying personality traits for being this very candid, decisive guy.

not only that, but he’s got a lot of fire in his chart to begin with that makes it hard to discern whether it’s his sun that’s contributing to those energies or not.

the sun went into sag at 9:50 am on his birthday exactly so now we just gotta sit and wait and hope that someone asks him what time he was born and he somehow knows. 

i really go between the two, but I feel like recently i’m leaning more towards thinking he’s a scorpio. 

he’s certainly a fiery guy and I see that in his humor, creativity, and how active he is. 

his sag mercury can make someone very antsy like gemini placements can, and his aries moon is constantly looking for new ways to release all that pent up aries energy. 

so it could be those energies that i’m reading that could be mistaken as being a sagittarius sun. 

it’s also hard because he’s said before that he likes his job as an idol because he gets to do a bunch of different things from composition, singing, dancing etc. etc. 

having a sag in mercury could still make this true if he were a scorpio, especially since mercury would directly correlate this energy with his hobbies/interests. 

with that being said, that sentiment in and of itself is a huge sag sun identifier. 

but if we look at him as though he’s a sag, i hit three walls that really prevent me from believing it fully: 

1) with a sag sun, aries moon, sag mercury -- that’d make him a super impulsive and hot-headed dude. his ability to to get distracted would be unmatched and these placements in particular are infamous for starting projects out of passion and then dropping them the moment they get bored. 

not to say that this is the one definitive trait all sagittarians must have and if you don’t have it ur kicked out of the sagittarius club, but it just doesn’t sound like him. 

sagittarians can easily get caught up in these big projects and surely enjoy them as they are out of passion, but the moment you introduce a sense of responsibility/work/obligation, it takes away that bit of passion that allowed them to work so diligently without thought. 

it makes them overly aware of the energy they’re exerting and the freedom they’re compromising on, and without a lot of time and growth, a lot of young sags may deem it not worth it. again, the situation wouldn’t be helped with an aries moon either.

because of that his energies read too stubborn and enduring to match what i would typically associate with his chart. 

i know a lot of really successful sagittarians, but their journey to success wasn’t nearly as steady and unrelenting as the path jihoon has taken with seventeen where it’s been work, work, work, work.

not only that, but he really doesn’t have a whole lot of aspects that may contradict this flightiness. 

his saturn IS well aspected, but keep in mind his saturn is in aries which could add a sense of difficulty in asserting himself in a path his sag sun and aries moon may have felt restricted by. 

with this placement you are pairing this super high-initiative, go-getting sign with a planet that’s incredibly cautious and calculated so they doubt themselves a lot and generally feel pretty inhibited. 

it certainly bodes well for success in the long run as they learn to balance these energies and let their confidence and competence stand for themselves, but him having been so young at the start of his career it doesn’t 100% add up for me. 

the only other aspect that may counteract this is his virgo mars that has a very similar antsy energy but directs it in the complete opposite direction his sag sun/aries moon naturally leans towards.

he’d want to take all of his fidgety energies and put it into his work and this could certainly make him a workaholic, but that wouldn’t particularly nullify the fact his sag sun may want still to apply that to a bunch of different things without restriction.

it’s certainly possible that he’s a sag sun and still achieved these things, i just think he’d struggle a lot more in his position in his career if not for a (supposed) scorpio sun. 

without a scorpio sun i think he would have gotten too antsy and too unhappy in a career that is as all-consuming as the one he’s in, and his aries saturn would have more than likely gotten a lot more trigger happy at some point and would have taken his sag sun/aries moon cue to dip when it felt the most overwhelming. 

whereas a scorpio would feel comfortable and would even thrive in these circumstances.

2) he’s too shy. his personal planets, as they are (except maybe that virgo mars), don’t just have extravert tendencies, they’re KNOWN for being extraverts. 

life of the party guys who NEED attention and communication. 

again, i think jihoon is much more outgoing than his image connotes, but he’s certainly not what i’d associate with a sag sun, aries moon, sag mercury, libra venus. 

like if i think about those signs and jihoon i laugh a little. if his sun his definitely in sag then my god his houses must really offset his other placements.

but this is what leads me to believe that there’s a wall/blockage preventing these energies from manifesting how i’d expect in a sag sun. 

a scorpio sun would make him more reserved, more secretive, more calculating while maintaining those talkative and energetic woozi-energies. 

3) sag suns are open-books. again, i think there is an aspect of woozi that is very straightforward but that is certainly something that would come through with a scorpio sun. 

Sag suns are known for being those sincere, tell it how it is guys. you trust them because they’re so optimistic and open, and not to say that woozi isn’t, but there is a reason people are slow to get close to him. a scorpio sun would make him more calculated with who he lets in. 

not only that but in my experience with scorpios, people tend to have a lot of pre perceptions about of them REGARDLESS of how candid and honest of people they actually are once you get to know them.

it’s a common scorpio experience to learn after the fact that the person you just became friends thought you were gonna be totally different even though, in all actuality, you’ve been nothing but nice and open with them from the start.

it’s because of this scorpio veil there is that brings this sense of control they have over their image, and this command over themselves and people. it’s their desire to appear a certain way so people can’t mistake them as being vulnerable or gullible.  

you also tend to get the impression that they’ve got an agenda because they are so purposeful. 

on top of that, you don’t really doubt with scorpios that they have depths and layers to them from the moment you meet them, where as other people may instantly feel easy, simple, potentially superficial (sagittarians can certainly appear this way).

for scorpios this depth can add this doubt in your own judgement of how  you see them because it’s so hard to gauge what’s going on underneath EVEN THO THERE MAY NOT BE ANYTHING GOING ON.

this is something scorpios tend to get very frustrated with as people tend to doubt their intentions. 

with that being said scorpios are so straightforward people that, even with these vibes, developed scorpios are incredibly trustworthy, thoughtful, and attentive people so there isn’t any actual concern to be had.

But really scorpios are the type of people who give an impression of fluidity and depth and this is what makes them so magnetic. 

i feel like a lot of woozi’s fans love him because he is that tsundere character and that concept of being someone super dynamic/complex underneath the image they project is inherently a scorpio trait. 

i could go on for hours. i def think that woozi is far too clingy to be a sag and far too emotionally intuitive NOT to be a scorpio. 

also, sagittarius are known for loving travel???? he literally doesn’t even leave his house????

for me it really comes down to whether or not im reading more of a fixed, or mutable energy. right now i’m feeling more fixed.

he’s a steadfast guy and his persistence speaks more for him than any one of his single actions. 

he can do anything and he projects such a strong sense of purpose and integrity of character that you’d simply trust his track record and habits before you trusted a random act. 

not to say that sag’s don’t have a integrity of character, but if they do something random their blunt and sincere actions would lend you to think, “oh, they’re just doing this now” as opposed to thinking that action was just an outlier.  

and honestly he just reeks of the “don’t even try and test me” energy that a mutable sign wouldn’t be so privy to. 

i’m almost super convinced but i also totally reserve the right to change my mind lmfao

mainly because his ascendant and houses could attribute to his not-so-sag qualities if he WERE still a sag sun. 

i don’t particularly like trying to “decide” what his sun sign is, even though i so desperately want to figure it out (if that wasn’t obviously enough).

mainly because it goes against how i prefer to do readings, in that the person comes first and the chart is secondary. if i’m trying to figure out a sun sign, i have to work solely off of stereotypes of the signs when we’re obviously more complex than that. 

trying to figure out sun signs is always going to be contradictory because astrology is allowed to be contradictory because we are contradictory. 

ugh it hurts my brain sometimes. 

with that being said, let’s actually look at his chart as it is REGARDLESS of his sun. 

libra venus is adorable.

he’s a romantic guy. 

his chart is very intense and straightforward in literally EVERYTHING except for love and affection. 

he’s gentle in how he expresses his appreciation, and very traditional in how he’d approach romance.

this is what softens what i’d consider one of the most extreme and fierce charts in seventeen. 

he loves gaining approval from the people he cares about and loves simply being around loved ones as they joke around as he sits back and watches. 

feeling that sense of harmony really feeds him, which is why you see him in the background just laughing and enjoying himself.

virgo mars furthers this people-pleasing aspect of his. normally he’d really and sincerely comes across as a “take it or leave it” kind of guy, but when it comes to his loved ones he wants to make things work. 

at the same time this is the aspect, kind of paradoxically, that makes him pretty picky and hyper critical. 

the moments you see woozi truly angry are when people try and get him to do things he doesn’t want to do, do things differently from how he wants them done, or simply offends him and his preferences. 

as i mentioned briefly before this also makes him the perfectionist/workaholic he is. 

not only is he persistent in his work, but he genuinely feels listless unless he’s actively working on something. 

for him, work heals him which he why he’s able to blur the lines between work and art and still enjoy it.

there’s really so much to unpack with jihoon, i have to stop here because this is getting too long and once i start talking about everything else i wont be able to stop and i’ll end up with a novel. 

but my god. 

if i ever manage to get my hands on his birth time. 

bro. 

it’s over. 

[dvp95]

throw your head back laughing

pairing: chris kendall/pj liguori rating: teen & up tags: outsider pov, au, established relationship, idiots in love word count: 1657 summary: Cara has to wonder how much of it is performative. Of course she does; everything she knows about this game points to them being in a Scene of some sort. They seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company, if nothing else.

written for the LOVELY @jestbee <3 happy goddamn birthday jane!!!!!! you’ve been such a good pal to me and i hope i can make you smile with this stupid thing!!!!!

read on ao3 or here!

"Hello, welcome to -" Cara cuts herself off in the middle of her spiel when she looks up from the podium. Two men stand in front of her for probably the ninth time this year, matching grins on their faces as they watch the recognition wash over her. She smiles, closer to a real one than a customer service one, and gestures behind her. "Your table is available. Do you need me to escort you?"

"Thanks, love," one of them says with a wink, "but I think we can manage."

He takes his companion by the sleeve and makes a beeline for a table near the middle of the restaurant, the same one they always go for. Cara bites back a laugh as she makes eye contact with one of the waitstaff.

Nate makes a big show of sighing and turning back around to tell the kitchen at large about their arrivals. She can't hear it from here, but Cara knows that people who have been here long enough are either thrilled or frustrated, and the new hires are probably just confused. When Nate is looking at her again, Cara taps her glasses and holds up three fingers. He makes a note on his order pad. She wonders how big the betting pool is going to be this time.

The men are, as always, ensconced in their own little world the moment their asses hit the seats. Their long legs overlap under the table in a comfortable, familiar sort of way, and they talk to each other with such dramatic hand gestures that Cara wishes she could hear the topic that's got them so riled up.

Sometimes she makes excuses to walk by their table and eavesdrop. So far she's learned that they're passionate about science fiction, craft supplies, what specific colour the ceiling is painted, and gender expression. It doesn't seem to matter if they're talking about the sliding scale of acceptable femininity for men to show in public or how easy it would be to build a robot out of cardboard - they have the same amount of enthusiasm, every time.

Cara has to wonder how much of it is performative. Of course she does; everything she knows about this game points to them being in a Scene of some sort. They seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company, if nothing else.

It's always a strange atmosphere for the first half hour or so after they've been seated. They talk and they eat and they seem oblivious to the wary eyes of the staff around them, even though anyone with half a brain knows they're fully aware of the attention on them. The only time they left without anything happening was when the place was practically empty and there was no audience of unsuspecting patrons for their nonsense.

That had been a different sort of anticipation. Like the whole building had been waiting for a beat that never dropped. The men had left without fanfare, and every employee had gone home perplexed.

The general consensus, up to that point, had been that they did this for the free food and champagne, but their need for some kind of audience opened up a Pandora's box of possible motivations. Nate's convinced that they're doing some sort of social experiment, one of the line chefs thinks they must be YouTubers or something, and a very optimistic new waitress has been positing that maybe it's genuine every time.

"Maybe one of them has short term memory problems," she'd explained to Cara. "Or they're very on-again off-again."

Cara had nodded along at the time, but she's not buying it. It's the grins on their faces every time they meet her at the hostess podium that convince her they know exactly what they're up to.

As far as Cara can tell, they might just do it for the hell of it.

Forty-something minutes after the men are seated, the signs start to show themselves. Cara drifts over to Nate and nudges him, interrupting his bussing for something much more entertaining. He grins and turns around. Neither of them make an effort to hide that they're staring, because it's happened seven or so times before.

The man in glasses is twitching like he's nervous, all of a sudden, and keeps patting at the same spot in his jacket. Cara might find it sweet if she hadn't seen it so many times.

"Ha," she whispers. "Told you it was him this time."

"They don't have a pattern," Nate argues. He's always a little prickly when he loses.

"But only one of them is wearing a jacket," Cara points out. "So obviously, it was going to be him. Is it a 50/50 split again?"

Nate sighs and shakes his head, pulling out his notepad as the men start talking in low voices across the small table. "No, most people guessed the other guy. You're only splitting the win with two of the cooks."

"Nice."

It seems like Nate wants to whinge some more, but then the man in glasses is standing up. The waitstaff all pause in what they're doing and turn to look, prompting the other diners to look as well. With hilariously awkward movements for how practised Cara knows the motion is, he drops to one knee and takes his companion's hand in both of his own. Some of the diners gasp or whisper amongst themselves; the waitstaff mostly just seem annoyed to lose the pool.

"Christopher," the man starts. His voice trembles the perfect amount, and Cara is reluctantly impressed by how sincere they make this seem every time.

"Oh my god," Christopher stage whispers. Cara wonders if that's actually his name.

"We've been friends for so long," the man continues, "and I've been so deeply in love with you for most of those years - I couldn't believe it when you first agreed to see a film with me in a non-platonic sort of way."

Out of the corner of his mouth, Nate murmurs, "What the hell is that accent? I can't place it for the life of me."

"Not sure," says Cara. "He just sort of sounds like he's on telly, doesn't he? Like a presenter?"

"D'you think there are hidden cameras?"

"Surely we'd have seen it somewhere if there were."

"But why else -"

"Shh," says Cara.

They're all so familiar with this song and dance that she knows Christopher is going to fan at his face with his free hand and then start tearing up. Watching him cry on demand is her favourite part. They can argue about motivations once they've left.

Sure enough, Christopher is wiping at his eyes and grinning down at his partner in crime. "Are you serious? Of course I'll marry you."

The other diners applaud politely when the men embrace. Cara makes a mental note of those who aren't, those who roll their eyes and mutter things to their companions, those who look upset when Christopher tugs the other man into a short, sweet kiss. She's not sure if it's a perk or a curse to know which of their regulars hate her, but it's certainly useful to know who to sit by the loo.

"Better bring them their celebratory fucking champagne," Nate sighs.

"Every goddamn time," Cara says, unable to hide the fondness in her voice. She can't help but root for these idiots. "Don't forget to comp their food."

"That's not even why they do this," says Nate. He's whinging, but Cara knows it's not actually a bother to him.

Nate's right; the free food and champagne clearly isn't the reason they've proposed to each other a half dozen times in the middle of their restaurant, but it's probably a bonus. Just like weeding out the homophobes on the staff is a bonus.

When everyone goes back to their dinners and their jobs and the newly-engaged-again men are back in their seats, Cara approaches them.

"Congratulations," she says, tucking her hair behind her ear. She sees the way Christopher's eyes linger on her interlocked Venus tattoo. He holds tighter to his fiancé's hand and gives her the same shit-eating grin as whenever they ask her for a table.

"Thanks, love."

"I'm Cara," she says, tapping at her name tag. "Just so you know how to address the invitation."

The man in glasses laughs, loud. He still seems like he's performing in some way, but a look passes between them and makes his voice softer, less put-on. "I promise that we would," he says, "except that we got married eight years ago."

Cara bites back a cackle of her own and shakes her head, trying not to make eye contact with any of her curious coworkers. She's definitely keeping this one to herself - you never know when another opportunity to win a betting pool will present itself, after all - so she doesn't exactly want to draw attention to the conversation.

"Alright," she says. "I better go back to work."

"Don't you want to know why we do this?" the man in glasses asks, sounding a bit put out.

Cara shrugs. "For the hell of it, right?"

Another look passes between them, and Christopher tips an invisible hat to her. "Pretty and smart, eh? Do you accept tips?"

Technically, no. And while she thinks she probably deserves one for this, Cara knows she's got a good chunk of everyone else's tip money tonight.

"Do you?" she asks instead. "Because I've got a tip for ya. You should try saying no next time."

"Saying no?" Christopher echoes, grinning across the table.

"We haven't tried that," his husband agrees. "Not as much fun, maybe, but surely the sympathy from it will make up for that."

"Plus, I can cry more."

Cara snorts and heads back to her podium. As curious as she is, she thinks it'll be more fun to wait and see how it pans out the next time they wander in to shake things up.

[incorrect-marauders]

THE OWLS ARE IN! IT’S TIME FOR THE SURVEY RESULTS!

So, as many of our followers are probably aware, we recently did a survey to get a feel of what people thought of our blog. We got a total of 57 results and we are grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts. Now, we’re here to share the general consensus of what people thought and how we will accommodate these opinions.

We’ll definitely have some changes to the blog, so read on to see what those changes are!

Before we begin, we have a few things to briefly mention.

The results are pretty scattered. We didn’t want to restrict anyone, so most were free response or included “Other”. In hindsight, there were a few questions that could have easily been multiple choice without really restricting anyone. (Side eyes the first question.) Therefore, most of these will just summarize the results we got. Occasionally drop the graph for the multiple choice questions.

Because of the large amount of responses we got, not every answer will be listed here. We highlighted the things that were either most commonly mentioned or had us thinking the most.

If anyone would like to see the full results for some reason (par the names, to keep anonymity), feel free to email us at incorrectmarauders.tumblr@gmail.com and we’ll send it over!

And yes, we are making changes to accommodate these results! That’s what this survey was all about!

We’ll be opening applications for new mods within the next couple days as well.

We’ll have a tiny hiatus as all of this is going on.

Now, we begin...

How long have you been following incorrect-marauders?

The most popular answer seemed to be around 2 months or 10 months. A lot of people filling out this survey seemed to either be relatively new or here since the beginning. Kudos to you incorrect-marauders veterans, and welcome newer followers!

How did you find incorrect-marauders?

Somewhat as we expected. Keep reblogging us, lovely people!

What do you love MOST about incorrect-marauders?

"It's funny.” (x50)

No really, we got 50 variations of “It’s funny,” “It’s hilarious,” “The humour,” “The funny text posts.”

Thanks, we appreciate it!

“How weirdly in character the quotes always are.”

(Similar variations include, “How actually accurate your post are,” “That not every post is as funny, imho, but that they do keep true to the characters,” “How much they fit the characters.”)

“They offer new content to the Marauders 'franchise' as it were because some stuff within the fandom is constantly being reused.”

“How correct it actually is if Joanne made it canon.”

“McGonagall with the marauders and that the sources are listed.”

“Accurate representation, variety of ships and relationships, isnt toxic.”

“Very funny and can be great art/writing prompts.”

“The taste.”

“EVERYTHING.”

These are all very nice, thank you all. Glad we hit where we were aiming.

What do you love LEAST about incorrect-marauders?

The most common response was, “Nothing,” or a variation thereof, but that’s no fun for this question, so here are some of the legitimate criticisms we received!

“Quote sources, I think, occasionally aren't there.”

Our original quotes often don’t have sources. But if there’s one where a mod forgot to credit a source, please just message us and one of the admins will fix that!

“There isn't a particularly nice aesthetic to the blog, e.g. a matching layout and profile picture or quote.”

Yeah, we’re working to fix that. I like pretty blogs too.

“Could be updated a little more.”

(”Not much posting in my opinion,” “Long time between posts.”)

Strangely enough, we got this a few times but our later poll about how often to post were contradicting this. So, unfortunately, we will not be adjusting this.

“I mean I would say that Peter is on it, but can’t really get rid of him...”

(Got a few of these, like, ”Peter being seen as a good person.”)

Sorry!

“Some are a bit too small.”

“I don’t like the long quotes.”

Well, then.

“Seeing my #notp but that isnt rly a minus?? Its called diversity so im not gonna hate or anything.”

Thank you for appreciating the diversity. We get occasional hate over it, but we also get hate over not posting some of the other ships. I suppose that’s what happens when you have lots of different followers of different opinions.

“If I send you a text post you credit the source in # but i'd like you to include a link to my tumblr in the post itself so people would actually find my tumblr. I doent send you text posts anymore, cause it doesn't really profit me and it feels like you get credit for my work.”

We’re sorry you feel that way. We always put it in the tags, just in front of the source. We are more of a mod-based blog rather than a submission-based blog. Anyone is welcome to submit, but about 98% of our posts are created by our mods.

“Sometimes I feel like the wrong characters were chosen or not well thought out.”

We can assure you our mods put a lot of thought into what characters to use, but you are welcome to message us with your own suggestion! (But please note that we are a Marauders blog; we got a few comments about how we don’t post enough Hinny or Romione, but that’s not what our blog is about.)

What makes incorrect-marauders stand out?

Once again, we got a lot about how funny we are, so we’ll skip over those and highlight the more unique answers!

"They don't use things from other people without credit.”

“The love and attention put in to everything.”

“Don't think there are any other blogs about marauders in this style.”

(We got this a few times. ”Like the type of blog and incorrect-marauders was the first one Harry potter themed I found,” also, “Its really funny and pretty much the only blog that just does this kind of post and i LOVE it.” But alternatively... “There are a lot of textpost blogs like it, but it is one of the only ones that I have found that consistently keeps characters in character in the posts and appeals to my sense of humor.”)

“I feel the quotes are in character and from multiple sources which Is cool.“

“How open it is.”

“The continuous content.”

“The posts arent so often that my dash is spammed like other blogs of the same nature.”

“Not sure but I like you.”

Not much to comment on these except we’re happy to see people think this about us!

How satisfied are you with the blog and the posts, in all?

So, you’re telling me, we opened a public, anonymous survey and not a single hater filled it out? Am I impressed or disappointed?

Please explain your response to the previous question.

“I just love the whole blog.”

“It's not my favourite blog ever ever which is why it's not a 10 but i still love it.”

“You guys are just so awesome! But it'd also be cool to have a little, meet the creator(s).”

“Its good but I don't have or want notifications on.”

“It’s the #qualitycontent i signed up for.”

"Always room for improvement, and also there's no 9 3/4 option.”

Awesome! We definitely agree that we can always improve, which is what this survey is for!

How often should we post?

We got a lot of variety here. Some say once a day (which is how often we currently post) was ideal. Others put stuff like...

“I wouldnt mind my entire blog just being filled with your posts.”

While Once A Day is the most voted for, the rest of the options put together, which we’ll name Two or More Times a Day, do win overall. Since we have one new post followed by a reblog, we’ll compromise by posting two times a day, but with one new post a day (the second being a reblog).

In UTC, what times do you prefer us posting?

As expected, not many people cared. But two people felt very strongly and voted for 12am, 1am, and 6pm UTC. So, we’ll consider that.

What characters, relationships, universes, etc. would you like to see more represented in our posts?

We got a lot of responses here, primarily being more Wolfstar, Jily, and BFFs James and Sirius. We also got a lot saying we should post about Hinny, Romione, next gen, FBAWTFT, etc. in which I remind you that this is a Marauders blog.

We also got the hilarious response that said we should maybe post about the “merauders”. Well, we can certainly promise you that.

We also got a lot of people saying more McGonagall. That’s something we can definitely do.

Would you like to see more original quotes from us?

For the longest time, the option 50/50 was at exactly 50%. Kind of disappointed that is no longer, but the 25% option is at 25%, so that’s something. Anyway, we’ll aim for 50/50.

What else would you like to see us post?

This was one of the results that will make the biggest change to the blog. People seem to really love these ideas. So expect...

Marauder Mondays! Every Monday we’ll have Marauder Monday, where we’ll answer asks, reblog posts, and have a party! Probably when we’ll post the “extra” posts, like our GIFs, graphics, aesthetics, videos, etc.

How would you feel if we did sponsored posts?

Combined, it seems like ~75% of those who took the survey are good with sponsored posts.

These results honestly surprised us. We’ve gotten a lot of offers of sponsorships in the past but have always denied them because we didn’t know how our followers would feel. We probably won’t do this in the near future, but it’s an option.

What kind of projects would you like to see us host?

We got so many people suggesting merch. Shirts, stickers, pins, other merch... So we’ll keep that in mind! We’d love some Marauders shirts ourselves.

“Projects that other blogs can get involved with to help other accounts grow.”

Noted!

“An art challenge maybe? like, 30 day challenge where you have to draw them as characters from movies/tv shows? like, friends, clueless, avengers, dc characters etc.“

Definitely interesting. Art challenges would be a lot of fun. Hopefully there’s an interest for this!

Which of our other accounts do you follow/would like to follow?

We’ll look into bringing on people to regularly post on other sites.

What device do you use to browse our blog most often (whether through Tumblr or our site)?

Why are we bothering with a redesign again? Oh, right. Personal vain.

How often do you visit the blogsite?

Those numbers are higher than expected...

What kind of things would you like to find on our blogsite?

“Character aesthetics.”

“Fanfiction links.”

“Marauders fan art would be cool.“

We’ll be working on this! Thank you for the suggestions!

More meet the creator(s) (if not comfortable with should, maybe just telling a funny story)

We got a lot of people saying they’d like to know more about us. We are anonymous, but this particular comment had us thinking. We’ll be implementing something in the near future. We will still remain anonymous, but we will have “blog identifies”, I suppose you could say. More info to come!

Other than show, character, and ship lists, what would you like to see in our navigation?

We didn’t get many new suggestions for this, except for fanart, aesthetics, etc. which we will add as more people join the blog!

Do you have any additional suggestions for us?

"Maybe find a blog that could do fan art, but only if you’re comfortable with it. Also, you’re blog is already so amazing, and any redesign would just make it more awesome!!! Don’t let anyone get you down espically if some one puts something negative on the survey because it is so so great already.”

We got no negative feedback (just constructive criticism), but thank you for your concern!

“um. keep doing this. i like it. it helps fill the gaping void in my soul“

Mood.

“Thanks for making the survey, caring about our feedback, and being awesome overall :)”

Of course! This is not just our blog, this is the Marauders fandom blog. Your feedback means everything to us and we hope you will like the changes we’ll make in response to it.

And that covers all of it! Cookies to anyone who read all of that! Keep an eye out for those new mod applications if you’re interested in joining our team!

We’ll be taking a tiny little hiatus as we’re figuring some stuff out.

[adhdzagreus]

Agelast roark hamilton :3

Agelast - A person who never laughs.

Baby I'm in love and maybe it's starting to tellOnly thing that I can do is hold it in, hold it inI was told that I'm a man now and I'm not allowed to cryThe only thing that I can do is hold it in, hold it inHah!

Hold It In - Jukebox the Ghost 

Sterling was a palace guard. He’d been hired on as a guard some ten years ago, and he’d worked his way up through the ranks from doorman to corridor patrol. Someday, he was hoping he might even be promoted to captain.

He had two main duties, and he took pride in each of them as he considered them both important to the integrity of the palace. The first was patrolling the corridors for signs of intruders. Almost never did someone enter the palace without permission, but it was important work nonetheless because if someone did, he would surely catch them.

The second was standing guard in sensitive locations such as the throne room, the treasury, or the royal wing. This was secretly his favorite of his duties since it put him in close proximity with important people like the royal family. He was very proud to be able to tell people that he was doing his part to protect the Empire, and he enjoyed telling his friends about the workings of the castle.

In fact the only person who enjoyed a bit of palace gossip more than he did was his co-worker Amos. When standing guard, they often worked in pairs, and Amos was his most common partner. He would stand on the right side of the entry to the royal suites, and Amos would stand on the left, and the two of them would look very serious and stern to dissuade anyone from coming to bother the emperor, the empress, or the prince. The same rule applied when they were guarding the throne room.

After so many years of work, Sterling had gotten to know the royal family quite well. None of them seemed to know who he was. In their matching armor, the guards were quite interchangeable after all, but the royals were one of Sterling’s and Amos’s favorite subjects of gossip.

There was the Empress Alexandra who was always poised and elegant and planned the most opulent balls. And of course there was the Emperor Elias who was as powerful and intelligent as you would expect an emperor to be.

And then there was the Crown Prince, the sole heir to all of Hamelin. His name was Roark, and he was as serious a young man of eighteen as you could hope to find. When Sterling had first joined the palace guard, the prince had been a very serious young boy, and he had only grown into a more serious young man with time. If he weren’t so intimidating, it would’ve been almost comical how solemn the prince was. In all his years of guarding the palace, Sterling had never once seen the prince laugh.

Amos claimed to have seen him laugh once, but Sterling didn’t believe him. Amos’s imagination was known to get the better of him at times.

Despite his seriousness, or perhaps because of it, Sterling was fond of the young prince. He’d watched him grow up, like everyone else in Hamelin had, with the weight of the whole Empire on his shoulders, and he’d borne it remarkably well. Sterling had never seen such a levelheaded teenaged boy.

The prince excelled at his studies, both magical and academic, and the general consensus was that he would make a very fine emperor someday. Indeed, he seemed born for the role. He had an unusual air of gravitas about him and an impressive mastery of magic.

“Heard much about the ball last night?” Amos asked as they were standing guard outside the throne room.

“Just what I heard from the doorway. I was working a shift last night,” said Sterling. “You?”

“I had the night off, but I heard it quite an affair. Is that true?”

Sterling nodded. “It was one of the fancier balls I’d seen in a while. That’s to be expected, of course. It isn’t every day the Crown Prince comes of age.”

“Who all was there?” Amos asked with interest.

“Oh, it was a huge turn out. Feels like I saw half the kingdom come in.”

“Yeah, the rich half I’d imagine.”

“Naturally,” Sterling said. “The emperor isn’t going to let his son marry someone who can’t add anything to the royal coffers.”

Amos snorted. “You got that right.”

The two exchanged amused looks, deriving no small amount of pleasure from deriding their superiors behind their backs.

“So,” Amos said, “do you know who he spoke to?”

“Presumably he spoke to just about everyone,” Sterling replied. “But I’ll be surprised if anything came of it. He looked pretty bored going in. It’d take quite a girl to catch his eye.”

“I don’t think it’s his eyes that are the problem. It’ll be his heart. It’d take quite a woman to get through that ironclad exterior,” Amos said knowledgeably.

“You’re not wrong,” Sterling said. “There seemed to be quite a few young woman there who were more than willing to try.”

“Oh, yeah?” Amos said with interest. “Anyone in partic--?”

The two guards fell silent and stood at attention at the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor. They grew still as the owner of those footsteps came into view. It was the same young man they’d just been discussing, and Sterling felt a jolt of worry that he’d perhaps heard them, but that was quickly replaced by relief as the prince gave no sign of this.

He didn’t look annoyed in the slightest. In fact, he looked… happy, Sterling realized with shock. The guard almost didn’t recognize him without his usual sober expression. The prince was instead wearing the faintest of smiles. His eyes, usually fixed ahead, were distant and dreamy, and he was plainly lost in thought.

Neither of the guards said a word as the prince passed them by absently on the way into the throne room, but they exchanged shocked looks.

“What in the world?” murmured Sterling.

“You don’t think…?” began Amos.

The two fell silent, listening intently, as voices started up in the throne room behind them.

“There you are. You’re late.”

“Am I? My apologies, Father.”  The prince sounded honestly surprised to be late.

“Very well. Take care it doesn’t happen again.”

“Yes, Father.”

The emperor began to discuss the day’s agenda in a businesslike, matter of fact, sort of fashion. After a while, he interrupted himself to say, “Are you listening, Roark?”

Sterling would dearly have liked to have seen the prince’s face as he replied, “Of course.” The tone of his voice was not convincing.

“I only ask because your attention seems to be somewhere else this morning. Are you quite alright?”

“Yes, of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh, who could say?” Sterling couldn’t be certain, but he thought the emperor sounded amused. “Perhaps we should discuss more exciting matters. Such as last night’s ball.”

“That would be… fine,” the prince said.  

“From my perspective, it went rather well. What do you think? Any potential candidates?”

The prince was silent for a moment, and Sterling and Amos instinctively leaned closer to the door to listen.

“I need your permission to court Kyoko!” the prince burst out. Beside Sterling, Amos let out a soft gasp of delight.

“Oh?” Now the emperor definitely sounded amused. “The chief engineer’s daughter?”

“Yes, Father, she was at the ball last night,” the prince said hurriedly. “You must have seen her. She has long shining black hair, and she was wearing a pale purple gown. She was the most beautiful woman there.”

“Calm down, I know who you’re talking about,” the emperor said, quite entertained. “You spent most of the evening with her.”

“Oh.” The prince sounded flustered.

“You may of course have my permission to court her. It’s a perfectly suitable match. Your mother will be pleased to hear it.”

“Oh, thank the gods,” the prince said with relief.

“I must say, I was expecting this to be more of an ordeal. You were remarkably quick to make a decision.”

“It was no decision,” the prince replied. “There was only one possible choice.” Amos let out another soft gasp, and Sterling shot him a look.

“That taken with her, are you?”

“I… I suppose,” he muttered. “This is all… very strange.” Sterling privately agreed, having never seen the prince this animated before.

The emperor laughed, clearly finding all of this extremely entertaining. “Tell you what. Let’s arrange another meeting with her.”

“I-I would like that very much.”

“Excellent. I’ll get in contact with her father. Now that that’s settled, you may go.”

There was a beat of silence, during which presumably the prince nodded, and then he exited the room, past the two guards who were struggling to contain their glee.

The prince gave no notice of this, entirely immersed in his own thoughts. He set off down the corridor at a brisk pace, almost ran into a wall, blinked at it, startled, and course-corrected.

Sterling grinned and looked at Amos who had one hand over his armorclad heart. “Our prince has fallen in love,” Amos whispered as the prince moved out of earshot.

“Who’d have thought it?” Sterling said. “Seems like only yesterday he was a quiet little kid.”

“He’s got it bad,” Amos said with delight. “Did you hear him? He said she was the most beautiful woman at the ball.”

“I heard his father say he spent most of the evening with her,” Sterling said.

“Did you see her?” Amos asked. “This Kyoko, the chief engineer’s daughter? What’s she like?”

Sterling tried to remember all of the guests from the night before. “I remember her. Pretty young woman. She seemed happy to be there, just excited, you know? She must be something to have done such a number on our prince.”

Amos nodded. “Oh, I hope she likes him. He seems smitten with her.”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Sterling said. “He’s the prince, and he’s good-looking to boot.”

“Love is about more than titles and appearances,” Amos chided. “It’s a joining of hearts.”

“Yeah, but…power and good looks can’t hurt either.”

Amos tried to hold back a laugh. “I guess not.”

“I do hope this goes well for him,” said Sterling. “It’d be great to have a princess.”

“Oh, wouldn’t it?” said Amos, delighted.

“Sure would,” said Sterling. “Maybe the prince wouldn’t be so serious all the time if he had someone to laugh with him.”

“Now there’s a thought.”

[ladynonsense]

A Royal Disgrace (TRR/PM Crossover) Part 10

This is just about it, folks. Only the epilogue to come after this. It’s been fun.

Catch up on my masterlist

Pairings: Damien x Liam, Drake x Riley, Liam x Riley

Rating: NSFW 🍋

Summary: Damien’s no good, very bad day continues. Nadia has her big art show opening. Riley makes a decision. Largely lifted from Perfect Match chapter 1 and TRR book 2 chapter 16, because I am unoriginal I wanted to connect this back to canon.

Words: 4700 (sorry...got away from me)

Tag List: @hustacks @hopefulmoonobject @brightpinkpeppercorn @choiceslife @perriewinklenerdie @pixieferry @nazariobae @zaffrenotes @ritachacha @h3llostrang3r @blackcoffee85 @wannabemc2 @sleepwalkingelite @debramcg1106 @furiousherringoperatortoad @bobasheebaby @sawyeroakleyscowboyhat @jlouise88

Damien drove home in a daze, climbed the stairs to his apartment feeling like he was wading through wet cement. Just keep moving, moving, don’t think, just put one foot in front of the other.

He opened the door of his apartment and was immediately and violently shoved back out by small soft hands with pretty pink nails. The door slammed in his face. He stood, blinking, staring at the closed door. Mara, still stationed outside his door, gave an indifferent shrug.

A minute later it reopened, Riley standing in the doorway still wearing his t-shirt and his gym shorts now too, drawstring pulled to within an inch of its life to hold them up on her slender frame. It finally dawned on him that she had arrived in an elaborate ball gown and abandoned all her luggage at the hotel room he’d forbidden her to return to. She wasn’t wearing his clothes to be cute, she was just desperate and sad and stranded here like his prisoner.

And he kept staring at her clothes, because if he kept his eyes down he wouldn’t have to look at her puffy red eyes and her tear-streaked face.

His mouth started moving without his permission. “I...Riley...please…”

“I guess I can’t keep you out of your own home, you miserable asshole.” She moved aside, letting him pass, her furious stare burning into his back as he moved past him.

Drake sat on the couch, his expression inscrutable. He raised his hand in greeting, not letting his eyes meet Damien’s. Damien hesitated, standing in the kitchen, unsure where to go or what to do.

“Well?” He looked back to see Riley leaning against the door, arms crossed over her chest, tears streaming down her face and rage written all over her features.

Damien took a deep breath and let it out, trying to find the courage to face her. When it wouldn’t come, he grabbed a glass and a bottle of rum. Glancing between Riley and Drake once more, he added two more glasses.

Riley accepted the drink silently as Drake came over to join them and collect his own. Damien threw his back in one shot and started pouring again.

“Damien…”

“Yeah,” he croaked, clearing his throat awkwardly. “So I’m guessing you heard the recording.”

“Imagine my surprise when I answer a blocked call thinking maybe, just maybe Liam had decided to bend the rules and actually contact me over the phone. And then I hear him...and you.” She slammed her drink down on the counter and Damien saw a crack appear in the glass, not quite enough for it to shatter.

He looked anywhere but her eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Oh, I want to know everything.”

“No, you don’t.” He found himself feeling very aware of Drake’s presence. His size. Part of him hoped he was going to get his ass kicked; maybe it would hurt less.

“Tell me.”

Damien forced himself to look at her, the numbness wearing off, tears starting to well in his own eyes. He worried he might vomit, which might have the unpleasant effect of sobering him up before he could numb himself again. He fought the urge back. “I...fell for Liam.”

She laughed bitterly. “You fell for him? You literally just met him.”

“Isn’t that exactly what happened to you? One romantic night and you abandoned your whole life for him? All I did was fuck him.” Bad. Bad. Regretted the words the moment they left his mouth.

She slapped him then, and he welcomed the hot sting of pain on his face. “Fuck you, Damien. It wasn’t enough for you to break my heart, you had to steal the love of my life too? Why couldn’t you just let me have him?”

Drake downed his drink and retreated to the couch. Riley stared after him, a deep sadness settling on her pretty face, replacing the naked rage that had been there a moment before. Damien lowered his voice so only she could hear. “He thought...I thought...maybe you had moved on to someone else.”

The look on her face broke his heart. The realization that she’d been caught...the same horrible sickening feeling he’d felt back at the hotel when Bastien confronted him with the recording.

Words started pouring out of his mouth again, desperate to ease her obvious panic. “He knows, Riley, but he isn’t angry. He’s hurt, and he’s sad, and he’s scared, and he doesn’t know what to think because neither of you will acknowledge what he knows. And he loves you, still, I know he does. The only reason I’m in his life at all is because he needed me to help and protect you, and all I’ll ever be to him is a distraction.” He was running out of breath, the words coming too fast for him to filter. A distraction: that was the truth, the cold realization settling over him even as the word left his mouth.

He could try to pretend that Liam was just a distraction for him too, and maybe he was. But mostly he was an obsession. Something that had wound its way through his thoughts, leaving its mark everywhere. All roads led to Liam, every train of thought arriving quickly at memories of his kiss, the sound of his voice, the feel of his skin. It hurt to think of him but he couldn’t stop. He needed to relish the anguish of it, couldn’t let it go, not yet.

Riley was crying again, apparently running out of things to say. Damien took a deep breath and spoke again. “Do you really want to know everything?”

She nodded, whimpering. “Yes. I have to. Please.”

“We hooked up. More than once. I know it’s bullshit to say ‘it just happened’ but that’s the best explanation I have. We were drinking and he opened up to me and he was so fucking sad and I just...I wanted to kiss him and he wanted to kiss me and it felt good and we didn’t stop. I knew it would hurt you but you were hurting him and I rationalized it and...fuck, I’m sorry, I know it doesn’t make it right.”

She looked mournfully at Drake, who seemed to be trying to disappear into the sofa. “I need to talk to Liam.”

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

The next two days passed in a blur, Damien drinking too much and working too little. Mara announced the day after the recording surfaced that it was time for Riley and Drake to rejoin the rest of court, and off they went. Damien learned from the Cordonian gossip sites that he frequented now that Liam’s engagement to Madeleine had been called off.

As soon as news broke of the cancelled engagement, after a press conference where Liam and Madeleine were all smiles and tact as usual, showing more warmth towards each other than ever before now that they didn’t have to pretend to be in love, the general consensus was that Liam had left her for Riley. But the fact that Madeleine was quietly named the Duchess of Krona on the same day did not go unnoticed by some outlets.

What the hell happened to her parents? Whatever it was, it was kept absolutely quiet, only small independent news blogs even bothering to look into it. No news of arrests or discipline. They just vanished, as far as Damien could tell.

The recording, mercifully, did not surface in the media. He knew he had Liam to thank for that, but didn’t dare spend too much time contemplating what he may have had to compromise to appease whoever had made it. Not knowing whether it might surface again, or how it had been handled, made him crazy. An unknowable, uncontrollable variable. All he could do was trust that Liam had more to lose than he did, and was taking care of it.

Damien was still deep in his own wallowing when Kai texted him.

K: Don’t forget Nadia’s art show tonight. She will literally kill you if you bail.

He groaned; he definitely had forgotten.

D: I can’t. If I have to hang around with pretentious rich art people all night I will scream.

K: We’ll tell people it’s edgy performance art. You’re coming.

D: Please

K: See you at 8

He arrived at the show later that night, forcing himself to shave and get dressed for the first time in days. The gallery was absolutely packed, which shouldn’t have been a surprise. Even he could tell that Nadia’s art was exceptional.

An unfamiliar blond man sidled up to the refreshment table next to him. “Hey! Are you Damien? I think I’ve seen your picture around my girlfriend’s apartment.”

He blinked at him, confused. “That’s...um...oh. You must be Steve.”

“Yeah, that’s me!” His enthusiasm was unnerving. “So you and Nadia have been friends a long time?”

“That’s right,” he answered, studying Steve’s face for signs of jealousy or obsession or just garden-variety creepiness. “We met when I was investigating her stalker.”

“Oh, wow.” He looked genuinely impressed, not worried or intimidated. Damien was unconvinced. “That’s great! She’s so lucky to have people looking out for her.”

“...Right. Speaking of which, I’m gonna go look for her.”

“Nice meeting you, Damien!”

“You too, Steve.”

Through the crowd he spotted Kai and Nadia. He plastered on his ‘supportive best friend’ smile and approached them, just catching the tail end of Nadia’s hard pitch for some matchmaking service.

“Don’t tell me Nadia has got you drinking this ‘matchmaking service’ Kool-Aid too, Kai. You of all people don’t need some fancy matchmaking service.” A server passed by and he swapped out his empty champagne glass for a fresh one, ready to settle into a comfortable buzz for the evening.

Kai greeted him with a glowing smile, and he immediately felt better about this whole outing. “I’ll take that as a compliment. But you can’t argue with the results. Steve seems like a catch.”

“Yeah, I talked to Mr. Perfect on the way in. Haven’t found any flaws or dark secrets yet. But give me time.”

Nadia punched his arm viciously. “Really, D? We’ve known you for like, four years. I thought you would’ve dropped the tough, cynical act by now.”

He scoffed. “I’m a private investigator. I catch liars and cheaters for a living. ‘Cynical’ is basically my job.”

Nadia scowled and turned her back on him, focusing on Kai. “Don’t listen to him, Kai. He’s like the Grinch when it comes to love. Eros is the best matchmaking service ever! I’ll schedule you an appointment for a consultation!”

Damien grinned. Bickering with Nadia was his natural element. “Yeah! A vague secretive company providing little to no contact information...What could go wrong? Just keep your guard up, Kai...Maybe bring pepper spray, or hold your keys like a claw.”

Nadia waved him off. “Ignore him. It’ll be amazing! I know you’re gonna find someone perfect for you!”

Was Kai giving him a teasing look, or was that just his natural smile? “Can’t wait!”

Nadia excused herself to talk to some art critic, leaving him standing alone with Kai. He sipped at his champagne silently, pretending to study a nearby painting.

“So…” Kai began awkwardly, “How are you holdin’ up, buddy?”

He sighed, considering whether he really wanted to open up to Kai. But if not him...there was no one else to talk to. “I haven’t heard from Liam.”

Kai frowned, moving closer so they could speak in hushed voices. “Nothing?”

“Nothing. He’s just...gone.”

“Is he still in New York?”

“I think so. I staked out the hotel for a few hours before I came here and saw some other members of the Cordonian court and King’s Guard come and go. No Liam though.”

Kai frowned, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “Damien...you can’t stake out your ex.”

“I’m not...he’s not my ex, we weren’t dating, but he’s a client, and I’d be irresponsible to just…”

“He fired you, D. It’s over.”

He nodded slowly, considering Kai’s words. It’s over. It’s over.

“How can I just let this go?”

“You won’t. You never let anything go. But maybe for your own good you should step away from this particular mystery for a while. I know I gave you shit but it’s obvious he got under your skin. Do yourself a favor and focus on something else for a while.”

Damien laughed ruefully. “I must be in bad shape for Kai Park to be my voice of reason.”

Kai laughed in return, shoving his shoulder. “Get out of here. I don’t need your negativity.”

“No problem. I should go get busy investigating this shady matchmaking service before they sell you into sex slavery.”

“Oh my god, Damien.”

“Stranger things have happened. See you around, Kai.”

“Yeah. See you around.”

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

The wind gently tossed Riley’s hair as she looked out over the water, gazing at the skyline. The dress Maxwell and Bertrand had chosen for her glittered, reflecting the city lights. Everything was so beautiful, but it felt wrong, the air between herself and Liam filled with secrets and unspoken pain. She sighed, trying to relax and enjoy the evening. “I’ll never get tired of this view.”

Liam stood close enough that the smooth fabric of his coat brushed against the bare skin of her arm. “Neither will I,” he said, and she looked up to realize he was focused on her instead of the skyline. A warm blush spread across her cheeks, but she forced herself to hold his gaze, smiling.

“So is this the last stop of the evening?”

He sighed, his smile faltering. “It’s not, actually, but before we continue...I think we need to talk.”

Her stomach dropped. He was absolutely right. But no part of her relished the idea of hashing out their issues. She nodded, already feeling a slight tremble settle into her jaw.

Breathe in. Breathe out. You can get through this.

Liam sat on a bench overlooking the water, motioning for her to join him. She sat next to him, careful to give him room. He felt miles away. “So…” he began, letting out a deep exhale, “I heard you received an upsetting phone call.”

She swallowed hard, nodding. “I did.”

“I don’t know what explanation I can offer for myself…”

“Are you OK?”

He snapped his gaze back to her, startled by the question. “What do you mean?”

“The recording...why did it exist? Is someone using it to hurt you?”

“Oh…” he placed his hand gently over hers, his thumb tracing over her knuckles. “I have it under control. I made a compromise that I don’t love, but I’m confident that’s the last we’ll hear of it.”

She smiled, relieved. “I’m glad.”

“I thought you’d be angrier. You have every right to be.”

Riley shrugged. “I was. And I mean...I am. What you did was wrong, but I can’t help but feel I was just as wrong.”

Liam nodded, studying her face carefully. “I knew what he had meant to you. I should have kept my distance, out of respect for you. Running to someone else was a foolish way to handle my own hurt and confusion.” He spoke in his usual clear, confident voice, but there was a slight tremble at the edges of it.

“Oh, Liam.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. “Stop. You’re allowed to fuck up. I wish you had come to me when you found at that I’d been seeing Drake. But I can’t blame you for reacting badly to my betrayal. I kept telling myself it was nothing, that we were friends and he was just helping me through a hard time...he kept saying he didn’t want to hurt you...I don’t know why I let it go so far.”

Liam’s face was buried in the crook of her neck, and she could feel his hot tears on her skin. “He was there for you when I couldn’t be.”

“He was. And I used him. I led him on, wondering if maybe he was who I belonged with after all. But that was just fear talking...fear of what being with you would mean. The responsibility. The scrutiny.”

“I know,” he whispered. “It’s a lot to ask.”

She pulled away from him, holding him at arm’s length to look him in the eye. “No. All of that...it’s part of the privilege of being with you. How could I ever ask for more?”

He laughed, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe the tears from his face. “You mean that? You still want to be with me, after everything? You’re not in love with Drake?”

She winced a little at his name, still raw from breaking things off with him that morning. “I’m in love with you, Liam. It’s always been you.”

They wrapped themselves around each other, squeezing tight, silently enjoying the closeness and the cleared air. After some time, Liam pulled away, smiling. “Like I said, we have one more stop to make tonight.” He took her hand and guided her to a small foot ferry. It was empty, save for the captain and one crew member who waved at them as they approached. “After you, my lady.”

Riley chuckled. “You know, for a guy who doesn’t like boats, you sure have a lot of them…”

He was beaming now, squeezing her hand in his. “I may be coming around.”

They boarded the boat and the crewmen pushed them off. As it slid through the water, Riley realized they were heading for the base of the Statue of Liberty.

“I knew it!” she exclaimed. A short ride later, the boat docked at the base and they disembarked. They strolled a few paces before stopping to enjoy the view. “She really is something, isn’t she?”

Liam nodded. “She is.” They stood for a moment, shoulder to shoulder, seized by the dramatic view of the statue against the stars twinkling in the night sky.

Riley was brought back to the moment by the caress of a light breeze whispering through the branches of a nearby tree. Liam turned to face her.

“Riley, do you remember the Coronation?”

Her face fell. “How could I forget?”

His face had become serious, his gaze intense. “I was going to propose to you that night, in front of the entire court. Not doing so will remain the deepest regret of my life.”

A gust of wind rustled her hair, and Liam reached out to brush a strand out of her eyes. She noticed the beginning of a smile on his lips and her heart skipped a beat.

“Still, perhaps it’s destiny that it happened this way. That my arrangement with Madeleine fell apart just as we returned to New York...as we came full circle.” He reached into his pocket, fidgeting with something she couldn’t see.

“Riley, you’ve opened my eyes...it has been a true honor to witness your strength in the face of every challenge you have overcome. It’s a strength which lends me courage. I know that I will be a better man for having you by my side.

“All I want in this world is to dedicate my life to being the best man and king that I can be...for you.” He sunk to one knee, his eyes locked on hers. There was an intensity in his gaze, something both vulnerable and passionate. He reached out and grasped her hand.

“Lady Riley Brooks, queen of my heart, I have yearned to say these four words for a very, very long time…”

Her breath caught in her throat, her heart racing a mile a minute. “Liam…”

“Will you marry me?”

He revealed the ring box tucked into his hands, opening it with an ardent smile. Riley looked down at the ring, the moonlight gleaming against its facets.

“Oh, Liam...yes! A thousand times yes!” Tears welled up in her eyes once more as he carefully slipped the ring onto her finger. The wind picked up as he rose, staring deep into her eyes for a moment, his expression utterly unreadable save for his smile, more brilliant than she’d ever seen before.

“Riley…” He breathed her name as he swept her off the ground and spun her through the air. “I have never been happier than I am in this moment!”

He kissed her, holding her body tight against his. She wrapped her legs around him, sinking into his embrace. After what felt like a blissful eternity, they stopped for breath. He let her slip down to the ground, his arms still around her, his forehead resting against hers.

“Liam…” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” He sighed happily. “When I think about everything it took to bring us to this moment… I can’t help but be amazed by you. I have no doubts in my mind that you are not only the right choice for me, but the right choice to be Queen of Cordonia. There is no one I would rather have by my side.”

Riley couldn’t stop smiling, her cheeks starting to ache from her wide grin. “That’s good, because I’m certainly not about to give you up now. And I can’t wait to see what kind of life we’re able to build together.”

“Neither can I. But for now...I did have one final stop in mind for tonight’s adventure, if you’re interested. I arranged for a private excursion to the top of the Statue of Liberty. I thought it would be nice to spend the evening alone together...to enjoy our private moment before we share the news with the world. Just the two of us...”

“Mmm, just the two of us, huh? Well, I can’t pass up an opportunity like this, can I?”

He gave a wicked smile. “I had hoped you wouldn’t be able to.” He led her toward the entrance to the statue, where they began the long ascent.

When they emerged hand-in-hand onto the topmost observation deck, Liam pulled her close for a sweet kiss before releasing her and turning his gaze toward the skyline. “It’s breathtaking.”

“Yeah, it really is.”

“Riley...there’s one more thing I wanted to say to you tonight. Especially in light of our new...circumstances. He reached for her hand, his fingers toying with her ring.

“What is it?”

He took a deep breath, looking her straight in the eye. “You will always have a home in Cordonia, for as long as I am king. And I will never let anyone threaten that...or you...ever again. I promise you.”

She nodded solemnly. “Thank you, Liam.”

He studied her intently, something like reverence in his expression. He somehow looked handsome and regal and vulnerable and loveable all at once, and her heart swelled with longing for him. She leaned into him, and their lips were immediately drawn together in an electric kiss.

Suddenly, Liam pulled back. “I have never wanted you more…” He cupped her face in his hands and her eyes connected with his, which grew closer as he moved to kiss her. The hair on the back of her neck raised when his lips found hers, and she smiled against them. “Riley…”

“Oh, Liam…”

His tongue traced a line on her lower lip, sending shivers down her spine. She placed a hand on his chest to steady herself. In the next moment, he thrusted her up against the window. The cold of the glass contrasted sharply with the heat of his body.

She let out a soft moan. “I want you.”

“As ever, your wish is my command.”

He used one hand to brace himself against the glass while the other traced a line from his jawbone to her neck to her chest. He kissed her hungrily.

She buttoned his jacket, her fingers working the buttons as she kissed his ear and neck. Liam moaned, leaning into her. After pushing his jacket off his shoulders, she moved on to his shirt, soon discarding both on the ground at their feet. Her hands explored the bare skin of his chest as he unzipped her dress, letting it pool on the ground as her fingers travelled to the waistline of his pants.

Liam grabbed her by the hips and spun her around, pinning her against the window, his body pressed against her back. He toyed with the elastic of her lace panties for a moment before delving down, slipping his fingers between her folds and rubbing small circles against her. She moaned shamelessly.

“Yes?” he whispered in her ear, his breath hot against her.

“Yes…” She melted into him, grinding her hips against him as his hand firmly pressed against her. “I mean, no…I’m not quite done with you.”

She turned and knelt at his feet, unbuckling his belt as she pressed soft kisses to his abdomen. She slid his pants down his legs, her fingers trailing over his firm thighs as she went. He gasped as she wrapped her fingers around his length, admiring it. “It feels like it’s been forever…”

“Too long,” he agreed, reaching down to gently stroke her hair. “But we’re together now. Openly. Nothing standing between us.”

“Mmmm…” she wrapped her lips around him, enjoying the taste of him as her tongue gently circled his tip. She paused, looking up at him, studying his face.

“What is it?”

“It’s kinda hot, you know.”

“This? I noticed.”

“No…” she felt herself blushing again. “You with...him. Could he do the things that I do for you?” She took him in her mouth again, all the way to the back of her throat, making him groan with pleasure.

“He...he has his charms. But he has one flaw I just couldn’t get past.”

“What’s that?” She continued working him with her hand, teasingly slow.

“He’s not you.”

He pulled her to her feet, his hands grasping at her hair as he kissed her deeply. When they broke apart, breathless, he laughed softly. “It’s weird to admit but...you and Drake together...that’s pretty hot too.”

She looked away, suddenly shy. “Yes, well..it never happened.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Never?”

“Never. He wouldn’t...not until I picked him.”

Liam frowned. “And you didn’t.”

“I didn’t.”

“Is he...OK?”

Riley shrugged, trying not to feel the emotions he was bringing up in her. “He will be. He’s your best friend. He’ll always support you...even when it hurts.”

Liam kissed her again, for longer this time, kissing her until she forgot about every other man in the world. He broke away to grab his jacket, laying it out over the cold floor. Riley laughed.

“You really never have paid a dry cleaning bill in your life, have you.”

His brow furrowed, perplexed. “I have laundry service at the palace.”

“Of course you do.” She sat on the edge of his jacket, pulling him down on top of her as she slid backwards to the ground. “And for the record...you could’ve invited me to join.”

His eyes went wide as he pulled up in surprise. “Excuse me?”

She grinned. “You heard me.”

Now he was blushing, a chuckle escaping his lips. “I don’t think I could handle the two of you at once.”

“I don’t think you could either…” She grasped his hips and pulled him against her, both of them groaning as he slid deep inside her, “...but I would’ve loved to see you try.”

Their cries echoed through the space as he thrust into her with all the passion he’d been trying and mostly failing to hold back for the past months of the ill-fated engagement tour. Her body arched off the ground, meeting his intensity with every movement.

She screamed his name as she came hard, electricity buzzing through her body with every touch of his lips against her skin as he gasped and grunted through his own orgasm. He collapsed onto the ground next to her, laughing.

“I’m glad you came up here with me tonight.”

[princess-faelivrin]

It’s a very abridged list of characters, BUT I wanted to make a post about my interpretations of some of the CoH characters despite the fact that Nobody Asked. Apologies in advance for 100000 blocks of text and yelling. 

TÚRIN

Call it projecting, ‘cause I guess it is, but Túrin has always been half-Asian in my head, in terms of appearance. I don’t know if I do a good enough job of showing it in my art, but Morwen reminds me of my Taiwanese mom and Húrin of my white-passing dad, so my Túrin takes after his mom. He’s stated to have grey eyes, so grey eyes he will have, but I tend to draw them dark enough that they almost look black. Aside from that, he’s tallish with unruly also-almost-black hair and a tendency to wear dark colors, which... might also be projection except for the tall part. It is what it is. 

Anyway, personality-wise... I mean this with all the love in my heart, but Túrin’s a dumb emo. Actually I partially take that back-- he’s a smart emo, smart and charismatic enough to be a natural leader with a good head for battle, but a ridiculous emo nonetheless. 

As stated in the Childhood of Túrin, he was kind of a weird kid, too old for his age and slightly unsettling, with a quick temper and an ability to hold grudges, but he cared deeply for the feelings of those around him and had a strong protective instinct for his little sis Lalaith. He’s also shown to have a leaning towards pity throughout his life, for anyone hurt or sad or at a disadvantage, which is really sweet and kinda makes me want to cry. 

Later on, Túrin is clearly pretty impulsive and can be ruled by anger, like when he smacked Saeros in the nose with a cup (which is valid) and lashed out at Beleg when he tried to give him bread. He felt bad about that second one pretty quickly, but I think it’s mentioned a couple times throughout CoH that people are scared of Túrin because of how quickly his mood can go south. 

On the other hand, despite the fact that he keeps directly and indirectly killing them, Túrin actually does really love his friends. Obvs he loves Beleg, and he loved Sador and probably Nellas too, and during the Nargothrond chapter he tries his best to look after Gwindor and Finduilas and try to figure out what’s making both of them so damned sad all the time. He fails, of course, because he’s too oblivious to notice the romantic tension so thick you’d have to use Gurthang to cut it, but he tries and that’s what counts. 

BELEG

I think it might just be because of fanart, but Beleg as I see him has silver hair. Between Beleg and Mablung, the consensus seems to be that one of them has dark hair and the other silver, so my Beleg is the silver one. I have actually no idea what color his eyes are, though. Hazel? Who knows. He’s taller than Túrin, that’s for sure, with long legs and broad shoulders. I like drawing him with a little white flower pin on his clothes. 

He seems to be a pretty cheerful dude, probably the most cheerful in all of CoH, which is good for him, I guess. He laughs when the outlaws see him and go “oh shit, who is that?” and lets them be in suspense for a second or two before going “haha, sike, it’s me! Beleg! I have food for y’all starving dudes.” Thus, he’s a good foil/companion to Túrin’s depressing nature and his death removes a lot of the scant happiness in Túrin’s life. 

Something I love about Beleg is that he’s very forgiving and just like... a ridiculously nice person for the situation. Beleg doesn’t hold anything against Túrin, doesn’t hold anything against Andróg either (which is pretty impressive,) and immediately decides to give Gwindor lembas and take him along for the ride after finding him under a tree in the forest. 

The big important thing to Beleg’s personality, imo, is that he’s very loyal (to Túrin specifically.) Despite being told it’s a dangerous idea, he goes and looks for Túrin in the wilderness, and even Thingol is well aware he won’t be stopped. It also outright says that where Túrin is concerned, Beleg “yield[s] to his love against his wisdom” to be with him. He’s straight up referred to as the most steadfast of friends, which is really sad because it’s like a sentence after he dies, but there it is-- Beleg is a good friend and a loyal one. 

TÚRIN’S FAMILY

I already mentioned the fact that Túrin’s family reminds me a lot of mine, which definitely influences my perception of them, but anyway: 

Morwen is a fairly angular lady, who has dark dark hair pulled into a chopstick bun behind her head and a pair of raven-feather earrings that gleam in low light. She’s the parent that Túrin got his unsettling edgy aura from, and her Displeased Face is enough to scare any intruder out of her house. She loves her kids and her husband, but she’s stern so sometimes it’s hard to tell. 

Húrin is the neighborhood guy who knows everyone and who everyone knows in return. He’s kind of a square-looking blond guy, like Van Hohenheim from Fullmetal Alchemist except happier and more of a jock. He apparently can play the harp, which is cool, and he probably has lots of stories from being out and about with the elf-host. He loves his kids and his wife and likes to joke around sometimes with Túrin because he’s so straightforward and less inclined to humor. 

Niënor outstripped her parents and her brother in height, and ended up the tallest of the family. She has her dad’s blonde hair, and is slightly more square shaped than her mom or her brother. She’s also half-Asian, but you have to squint. She doesn’t fight like her brother, and is acutely aware of the Túrin-shaped hole in her mother’s life and heart and the matching shadow cast over her own life. However unlike Túrin she is in some ways, she has the same occasional fiery stubbornness and penchant for anguished theatrics, albeit on a smaller scale. 

Lalaith... poor kid. She was charming and cute but didn’t last long. 

MABLUNG

My Mablung has wavy-ish dark hair in a similar style to Beleg’s, and has a slightly less willowy build, for lack of a better way to compare them. He’s got dark eyebrows to better express how utterly unimpressed he is with whatever dumb shit is going down in Doriath, and probably a few not-too-flashy piercings. He’s very dignified in posture and appearance, but not like... pretentious, because he fights people in the woods on a regular basis. 

Out of Túrin’s friends, Mablung is probably the most akin to the Responsible One, with Gwindor at a close second. He’s less willing than Beleg to drop everything for a friend, and requires more evidence to support it, but he’ll still do it after thinking it over and will probably beat himself up about not having gone for it sooner. 

On that point, poor guy takes too much onto his own shoulders and ends up feeling shitty and miserable when he fails at something that he could not have possibly succeeded at. This is demonstrated in terrible, heartwrenching fashion throughout the story, when Mablung asks Thingol to fire him because he lost Morwen and Niënor, to which Thingol says “what no, you’re too good, we need you” and Melian says “don’t feel too bad about it, ok?” (he ignores the last part and continues to feel bad enough about it that he looks for Niënor for Literal Years.) Also on that topic is the scene in which Mablung sees Túrin dead and stands there like some sort of Beleriand Benvolio, realizing that all his friends are dead and that “thus with words have I slain one that I loved.” 

NELLAS

I almost forgot her, can you imagine? You probably can, because she’s a minor character who disappeared like a third of the way through the story, but let’s not talk about that. She’s a forest girl, so I imagine she likes to wear a lot of nice leaves on her head, and/or make a bunch of flower crowns and then drop them in fright if anyone happens to find her in the process. She has dark brown hair and big, curious eyes, and is short and slight even by human standards. 

Nellas has... hardcore dirt lesbian energy. It’s implied that she had a crush on Túrin, but honestly, I doubt that very much. In my head, she and Túrin were just really close pals, and she taught him about how to live in the woods and how to rescue worms from the rain. Her moment of glory, basically, is going into the city once and immediately proceeding to freeze up from anxiety in front of the king. Is that a mood? Yeah and I love her. I hope she’s okay.  

ANDRÓG

I realize he’s another minor character, but he is a very compelling one to me specifically, so. As I imagine him, he’s a fairly lean young dude with a hungry-wolf look about him, which is sort of a mixture of desperation, suspicion, and plain snappishness. He has dark eyes and hair a little darker than what could be called ‘mousy brown,’ tied back in a short ponytail. He also has a frequent scowl and generally is a little bit scary, although he isn’t exactly physically imposing in the ‘tall and buff’ sense. 

There really is no other way to describe Andróg’s personality than ‘he’s a particularly mean tsundere.’ He’s just... full of rage and repressed Feelings for Túrin and possibly also Beleg. Unfortunately, these feelings manifest in Being A Bitch And Generally Not Nice. It takes him so long to admit he can’t actually hate Beleg that he literally just up and dies after doing one (1) nice thing. Why do I like him? It’s anyone’s guess tbh. 

GWINDOR

Ah... yes...... the character who nobody talks about but who I love with my whole heart and soul. To start off with appearance, the only canon things about what he looks like is that he has dark hair and looks older than he would otherwise because torture. Immediately post-imprisonment and during it, I imagine his hair is short, but beforehand and a while after, it gets back to being long. He has a bunch of scars from all that too, and generally has the bearing and amount of grey hairs as a substitute teacher who nobody listens to. I draw him with grey eyes usually, but saw @bisexualturin‘s hc of him having had violet eyes before and I’m kinda in love thanks. 

In terms of who he is as a person, we don’t know much of what he was like before the Nirnaeth, but as I see him, he’s always had a fiery streak and a slightly acerbic sense of humor. Being tormented for 14 years forced him to mellow out some, by which I mean a) how the hell are you supposed to keep your sense of humor after that and b) as shown in his arguments with Túrin over tactics, he’s now extremely wary of head-on battle. 

He’s fundamentally someone who wants the best for the people around him, and who loves both Finduilas and Túrin very much despite feeling hurt and miserable over the fact that his opinion is now worth nothing to those in charge and the sense that he’s not good enough for anyone (much less his two best friends) in his current state. Overall, his dying speech is emblematic of the very Oof Ouch and Complicated feelings he ended up having toward Túrin, namely “you’re a dumbass and probably should have listened to me, but I love you and I am going to try my damndest to give both you and Finduilas as much of a chance at life as I can, even here as I bleed out in your arms.” 

Which brings us to... 

FINDUILAS

Finduilas is sweet like honey chamomile tea and her whole being radiates soft sunlight. In my mind, she’s somewhat round-faced, with really fluffy golden hair, sparkly freckles on tan skin, and a liking for wearing light blue clothes that match her eyes. She smiles a lot and possibly gives off actual light??? Also my heart is full of affection for chubby Finduilas. General consensus is Soft. 

Canon-wise, whether she’s more introverted or extroverted is kind of up to interpretation, as all we’re really given is that she worries about Túrin when he’s out fighting and “wishe[s] not to add one tear to [Gwindor’s] suffering.” I tend to think of her as sunny and gregarious, with way more game than her dad, and with endless reserves of empathy, sympathy, and compassion for the people she loves. 

As a Finwean princess, she absolutely has the capacity for badassery, which makes me very into the idea of Túrin rescuing her post-Nargothrond as per Gwindor’s request and the two of them going on a road trip of doom. But unfortunately, we don’t get to see another side of her in the book. 

I usually just put the book down and cry after the sack of Nargothrond, so I’ll just do one more character: 

ORODRETH

Ok, so Finduilas has to have gotten her Vanyarin hair from her dad, clearly. But since Elves can probably change their appearances based on willpower to some degree, Orodreth’s hair is nowhere near as fluffy, and is a darker honey-blonde than Finduilas’ gold. He’s one of the plainest-looking Finweans by virtue of the fact that he perpetually has this look on his face that makes him seem like he wants to melt into the floor and go back to Aman. Which he kinda does. 

Unfortunately, Orodreth didn’t do much in the story except be a doormat to like five different people and then die, but I still like him for whatever reason. Way early on, before Húrin or his kids were a thing, Orodreth was still himself, aka someone who asked nicely for people to not make bad decisions, and predictably didn’t get listened to. Sure, some of Fëanor’s terrible boys took over his hidden elf city, but what was he going to do? Fight them? No. He’d rather just Not. 

...I feel bad for him. He literally did not ask for Any Of That. 

that’s all y’all, I am so sorry for making you read the entirety of the inside of my head as it has been for the past four months 

[randomly-random-jen]

Uncalled For Actions (10/?)

A Girl Genius fanfic

When Gilgamesh Holzfäller is fourteen, he’s taken on as an apprentice to Baron Wulfenbach as part of a program to produce the next generation of leaders in the Empire–a group that will hopefully get along (although most see this as wishful thinking on the Baron’s part). He’s learned a lot over the months of shadowing the Baron, but nothing has prepared him for his most challenging assignment: confronting the skeletons in his closet.  

[Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Part 11 ]

Part 10

Everyone at the table turned to him nervously. Damn, I said that out loud again. He tilted his head, waiting for someone to say something before he realized that he didn't say that out loud this time.

The Smoke Knight--that's what he'd been trying to remember.

He found Tarvek amid the blobs of color which was considerably difficult when 90% of them had the same bright red hair. "You have really strong genetics," he told the red blob across from him.

"What?"

Gil shook his head, not helping clear it in the least, but it did manage to jumble some words into a coherent sentence. "This is your fault."

"My fault that you're drunk," he said with more than a little hint of smugness.

"Not drunk; drugged," Gil slurred pointing his finger at Tarvek except it wasn't his finger; it was a sprig of mint from dessert, and he was actually pointing it at the small girl sitting next to Tarvek who seemed unfazed by Gil's absurd behavior.

He cleared his throat, dropped the mint then directed his attention back to his original target. "Why did you do this to me?"

Tarvek scowled back; at least Gil thought he did because he was still just a blob--probably a pretentious, smug looking blob but still a blob.

The room was too bright and too loud and too quiet--little whispers everywhere--and too hard and too spinny. Gil stumbled to his feet, his chair slamming into a waiter who dropped his bottle of wine with a loud crash that got even more attention.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Gil mumbled then tripped over his own feet, landing in Seffie's surprised lap. He gave her a goofy, lop-sided grin. "Oops."

Seffie smiled back, running her fingers through his now sweaty hair then her smile disappeared. "You're burning up, Gil."

"Sir," the waiter said, "are you all right?"

"He's fine, Fenton," Anevka told him as she appeared on Gil's side of the table, "he just needs some air."

A moment later Tarvek was dragging him to his feet while Anevka supported his other side, and Seffie followed behind giving polite excuses to concerned adults.

"My father is going to kill me," Gil mumbled. "Crap, said that, too."

Anevka pressed her hand to his forehead then his cheeks and neck, a frown growing on her pretty face. "He really is burning up, Tarvek. We should take him to the doctor."

"No," Gil said, "no doctors."

"What are you seeing right now?" Tarvek asked him.

Gil leaned against the cool stone wall, trying with all his might to make sense of the colors around him, but the harder he concentrated, the less sense anything made. "Butterflies," he finally answered with absolute certainty then started to giggle. "Pretty red and purple butterflies."

Tarvek smacked his hands away from where he'd been petting Tarvek's head. "You're hallucinating. I don't think this is the wine."

"No, probably not," Anevka agreed. "Maybe he was allergic to something he ate."

"He didn't eat anything,” Tarvek said. “He just picked at his food.”

Seffie glanced around the hall then stepped closer, wringing her hands. "He was saying someone drugged him."

"He said a lot of stuff--he's delusional."

"Why would someone drug him?" asked Anevka.

Gil poked her cheek with his finger, getting a gentle smile from her and a growl from Tarvek. "That's the wrong question."

Tarvek yanked him away from his sister, taking most of Gil's weight on himself in the process. "Then what's the right question?"

"Ooh," said Seffie, waving her hand in her excitement. "Who drugged him--that's the question. Right?"

Gil placed his finger on the side of his nose then pointed at Seffie before he doubled over and vomited on Tarvek's shoes. They were really nice shoes, too.

* * *

"For the love of-" Tarvek grabbed the back of Gil's jacket, hauling him upright.

Gil wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Double oops."

Seffie giggled while Anevka sighed then slid under Gil's other arm again. "Maybe we should get him back to his quarters--I'm sure the Baron can take care of him."

Tarvek had to admit that in the circumstances it was the best course of action then they could send for the doctor and the Baron--let them sort it out. "Fine, but next time, he pukes on your boots," he muttered, dragging Gil down the hall.

They turned a corner then ducked behind a tapestry just as some guards came out of a side room. Tarvek found the loose block, sliding it a centimeter to the right and pushing it in with a click. "This will be faster."

"Ooh," said Gil, "a secret passage. Neat."

Tarvek sighed as he ushered everyone into the dark passage and closed the door. Someone struck a match, lighting the small space and nearly set Seffie's hair on fire. Tarvek knocked the match from Gil's hand as his cousin started screaming which was cut off quickly, presumably by Anevka.

"Who gave him matches?" Tarvek hissed.

"I don't know," Anevka answered somewhere behind him, "he just had them."

"Sorry," Gil said sounding defeated as he slumped against Tarvek. "I made a mess of things." He hiccuped. "And I don't mean your shoes although I did make a mess of those too which I can totally fix."

He leaned over and started cleaning Tarvek's boots with the corner of his jacket until Tarvek yanked him back up by his collar. "Knock it off."

"Let's get you back to your room before Tarvek murders you right here," Anevka cooed, taking some of his weight.

"Okay. You're really pretty in the dark, you know that?"

"Really?" Anevka said with a snort. "You can tell that even in the dark?"

Tarvek got the impression Gil was nodding vigorously even though none of them could see him.

"Oh, definitely," Gil said finally. "But not as pretty as Tarvek."

Both girls dissolved into fits of giggles that left Tarvek very glad they were in near total darkness because his skin was so hot he'd never hear the end of it.

Several more minutes of listening to Holzfäller babble about nonsense found them finally at the end of the passage and stumbling into a large atrium at the intersection of the guest wing with the rest of the castle.

Above them, the stars twinkled in the clear night sky while the moon held center court directly above. Tarvek might have stopped to consider the poetry of the vision as it was framed by the iron and glass of the atrium dome if he didn't smell of vomit and stale wine and Gil's cologne that made him want to gag and take a deeper breath all at the same time.

What even was that smell?

He guided the group through the doors into the wing where it sounded like most of the summit members were either in their own quarters or in the guest dining hall. They snuck past the rooms and to the more prestigious quarters until they found the one Gil identified as his door.

Not sure if Gil was even in his right mind, they quickly discussed what to do, but before a consensus was reached, Gil banged on the door.

"Barkley," he half shouted, half squeaked, "I'm home." Then he collapsed against the door face first, siding to his knees and snoring.

Tarvek and Anevka barely got him to his feet again when the door popped open to a disheveled looking dog standing on two legs wearing reading glasses and a velvet smoking jacket.

He glanced around the group before settling on the lump between them. "Master Gilgamesh!"

Quickly, he escorted them in, alerting the Baron's other attendants before directing them to the smallest bedroom at the end of the hall where they dropped Gil face first onto the bed.

"What happened?" the dog-man asked.

"Nothing, fine," Gil mumbled into the bedspread before rolling onto his back and throwing an arm over his eyes. "Just your average poisoning, Barkley."

"Poison!" Barkley yelped. "Who would do such a thing?"

[ Part 11 ]