#and three not-dialogue paragraphs at the end

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: 10-Step Snowflake Method

by Randy Ingermanson

1-sentence summary (1 hour)

15 words or fewer

No character names

Tie big picture to “personal picture” - what does the character have to lose and what do they want to win?

Read NYT bestseller blurbs for inspiration

Expand sentence to full paragraph summary (1 hour)

Approx. 5 sentences

Story setup

(Three) Major disasters

Ending

One page summary for each character (1 hour each)

Character’s…

Name

One-sentence storyline

Motivation (what do they want abstractly?)

Goal (what do they want concretely?)

Conflict (what prevents them from reaching goal?)

Epiphany (what they learn, how they change)

One-paragraph storyline

Expand each sentence in summary (#2) to full paragraphs (several hours)

All paragraphs end in disaster, except…

Final paragraph shows how the book ends.

1 page description of each major character (1-2 days)

Tell story from POV of each character.

Expand each paragraph from #4 into full page synopses. (1 week)

High level logic & strategic decisions

Expand character descriptions from #3 into full character charts (1 week)

Birthdate

Description

History

Motivation

Goal

Epiphany, etc.

Turn 4-page summary from #6 into a scene spreadsheet

One line per scene

Columns for: (a) POV character (b) What happens (c) Page numbers

(optional) Expand each scene from spreadsheet into multi-paragraph description

Add dialogue

General workings of conflict

Start writing first draft

Source ⚜ More: The Snowflake Method ⚜ Plot ⚜ Character ⚜ Worldbuilding

[sorrygotthesesacks]

Response to fic request (Malleus, Idia)

For @moody-b1tch, the only person who responded to my "give me two characters and I'll write a few lines of dialogue" invitation.

Which is probably a good thing, because this is ... I don't even know what this is.

Characters: Malleus, Idia, with extra bonus prompt: water

Which is included...metaphorically, I guess.

As usual, this kinda got away from me. Don't think it's good enough to post on AO3 - it's hardly good enough to post here on Tumblr - but it's 1221 words and I do love when the word count is a fun number like that.

Also: TIL that Tumblr has a limit of 30 tags per post. How did I learn this? No reason in particular.

Also also: It used to be 1221 words and then I panicked and rewrote some of it.

“Sometimes it’s better to forget. Pretend it never happened.”

“Is that how you truly feel, Shroud?”

“Gah! You look like you’re ready to incinerate me! Not that I think you’re gonna go all OP again. … Uh, you’re not, right?”

“It would be foolish to repeat such folly. Surely you, of all people, can agree.”

“Of course I agree! I’m just like. Not used to this heart-to-heart protag chat. I’m not some shounen manga hero with an 'I'm-all-fired-up!' speech, and even if I was, it’d be pretty cringe coming from me. Your guards are good at that sorta thing. Especially the big guy. He seriously likes to talk! Or Silver. He’s got that intense princely vibe.”

“Silver and Sebek have had much to say, but it is your thoughts that I am most interested in hearing.”

“Because I’m one of the SSR level problem children? You could talk to anyone else about this! Leona, he was big mad. Your guards were there; they can vouch. Or Riddle! That hothead was the first. He probably has some S tier thoughts on his experience.”

“SSR…? Shroud, I am interested in your thoughts. You hold the power to enter the underworld. To speak with those who have crossed to the other side.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I can open the gate, but that was a one-time thing, going down there. You saw how that turned out.”

“I did not. I was at Night Raven College, if you recall.”

“Of course you were here. After you went all berserker mode, I don’t think Charon would’ve been enough to get you to the Island of Woe.”

“You could have simply invited me.”

“Invite the great and powerful Malleus to play a sim game? Are you for real?”

“I am quite real.”

“That’s not - yeah, okay. Anyway, it’s more like a curse, the gate opening thing, and not Pumpkin Knight level cool.”

“Is it not? Shoenheit, Rosehearts, and Kingscholar all mentioned that the closer one travels to Tartarus, the colder it gets.”

“I meant it wasn’t exactly fire. Not like … dragon fire, fire. I mean, it’s not…”

“Shroud. I am merely teasing. Is that not what friends do? Lilia and the Child of Man assure me that it is.”

“Friends?”

“We have spent time together. We have shared experiences. Are you telling me that is not common with friends?”

“You sound like Ortho.”

“Your sibling is wise indeed. I understand that it was he who prevented you from using your River Lethe. Come now, Shroud, surely you can agree that at least some of those memories were to be cherished.”

(Eep! Is he serious? Even if I had an IRL trap card to flip this, could I even use one against someone as OP as him?)

“Shroud, are you unwell?”

“I’m f-fine! HP is at max. Wait, what are you doing?”

“Calling Lilia so that he may assist me in translating.”

(Gah, is he really using a synchro summon?) “You don’t need to do that!”

“It appears I cannot. My phone screen is blank. Lilia will be rather cross.”

“Your phone’s broken?”

“It happens frequently. Lilia has told me many times to be careful. My lightning has broken several phones just this semester alone.”

“I, uh, can fix it.”

“You would do that?”

“Hee hee. It just needs to withstand high electrical input. EZ PZ.”

“Lemon squeezy.”

(Did he seriously just say ‘lemon squeezy?’)

“Shroud?”

“EEP! I mean, I was just surprised to hear you say that.”

“Is that not how it goes?”

“No! You got it right! It’s just weird hearing it from the Malleus Draconia.”

“Why is that?”

“It just is! Let me see your phone. I mean, if you trust me with it.”

“Here. You cannot possibly damage it more than I have.”

“How old is this phone? I haven’t seen one of these since pre-5G.”

“Can you repair it?”

“Of course I can fix it, but it needs a serious upgrade.”

“What would you like in exchange?”

“Huh? You don’t have to give me anything!”

“Of course. Because we we are friends.”

“No, we're not!"

“Is there something about myself that causes you hesitation?”

“It’s not that. It’s not you, it’s me.”

“I, too, would like everyone to forget what happened. What I did. The lengths to which I went in order to selfishly hold on to something - to someone - who is dear to me.”

“Where is all this heart-to-heart coming from?”

“If we are to be friends, we should be honest with one another. I have learned that by watching Lilia with Diamond and Al-Asim, and by listening to Silver and Sebek. It is not an easy thing, but I must start somewhere.”

“Why are you starting with me?”

“Because we have a shared experience. This ‘SRR problem child’ status.”

“SSR.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Ah, the uh, it’s SSR, not SRR. It stands for Super Super Rare.”

“That makes what we share uncommon.”

“Yeah, you, me, and five other people. Uh, here’s your phone.”

“You are done with it already?”

“I couldn’t upgrade it more with what I have here, but the screen is fixed, and it has lightning fast internet speed. No pun intended!”

“You do get so easily flustered around me. You are an interesting man, Shroud. Oh, I see Lilia has been trying to reach me. We must do this again.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Until we meet again.”

“Yeah, kthxbai.”

“Idia? Was that Malleus Draconia who just disappeared into thin air?”

“Hey, Ortho. Yeah.”

“You have made another new friend!”

“We’re not friends! My HP is critically low after that.”

“Your heart rate is accelerated, but the rest of your vital signs are within normal ranges. And I clearly heard Malleus Draconia state that you are friends!”

“I know you mean well, Ortho, but-”

“I think he needs a friend, too.”

“Malleus Draconia? Needing a friend?”

“We have spent time together. We have shared experiences. This ‘SRR problem child’ status.”

“Idia?”

“Yeah, Ortho?”

“You’re smiling.”

“I was just thinking about the new volume of the Mew Mew Chronicles manga!”

“Yes, I remember. It arrived in the mail just this morning.”

“So of course I’m excited. It’s the only good thing that’s happened since all of this started. I’m, uh, going to the store to pick up some snacks, if you want to go with me.”

(Your heart rate and eye movement tell me otherwise, Big Brother, but I am happy to see you happy.) “Of course! I’m interested in seeing the ingredients in this new mystery flavored fruit twist that Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade were arguing over.”

“It can’t be worse than last year’s pineapple-lemon-licorice mystery flavor.”

Ortho remembered that. It had been very popular the first two weeks, with numerous reactions posted to Magicam. After that, the only person purchasing it had been Lilia Vanrouge. His eyes lit up.

“You should buy some for Malleus Draconia and Lilia Vanrouge! And Silver and Sebek Zigvolt, too! And Cater Diamond, and Rook Hunt, and…”

By the time they were done, they’d purchased a mystery flavored candy twist for all of the third year students, all of the housewardens, plus Silver and Sebek Zigvolt, Ace Trappola and Deuce Spade, the Ramshackle prefect, and Grim (especially Grim).

Ortho’s analysis of the candy indicated the primary flavors were seaweed and cinnamon, and he could hardly wait to see everyone’s reactions.

Everyone's, but especially Idia’s newest friend, Malleus Draconia.

[luckyfiona]

“ you can’t or you won’t? ”

                  ❝ ——  Oh. Hm. ❞

                                          ( Uh-oh. )

Lawless Lucky talked a big game around the bonfire last night. She wasn't too oblivious to pick up on the fact that her being scandalized and upset by the boys' violent sides was beginning to grate on them. So, when all of the boys were talking about the gruesome things they'd like to do to the people who made their lives hard in The Other Place, she forced herself to laugh along, and even took the opening to spin a tale about how she was planning to poison her old employer's food. And, oh, those rotten pirates? Well, she would do the same to them if she had a chance.

So busy seizing on the moment, she didn't consider that she would actually have to put her money where her mouth was.

It would shatter the illusion of Neverland as her luxurious, peaceful, happily-ever-after paradise if she had to see any real carnage with her own two eyes, much less deal any of it herself. But here was dear Peter, ever the altruist, granter of all her wishes, suggesting she come along to their next raid of the Jolly Roger. Lucky's pretty sure he knows this is out of her comfort zone, if he's paid any attention to her — and he does, of course he does. Why else would he go through the trouble of bringing all of these troubled souls to the island if he didn't empathize and care about all of them, right? She can't imagine any motive but love and sympathy. — It's funny, considering how anxiously, meticulously sensitive she tries to be to his boundaries. There was something maybe endearingly boyish about his disregard for hers.

She reasons that she should be grateful for his investment in keeping things fresh and interesting. This is what a sensible, healthy relationship looked like, right? Balancing energies was a major tenet of Celtic magic— it was the key to harmony and prosperity. A passive, supportive person worked best with a person who was a little more... challenging. It would be too stagnant or too chaotic any other way. She gives a fond half-smile to her love, her true love, convinced he's only looking out for her best interests. She would find a way to explain to him that this doesn't really interest her... another time.

               ❝ Well, I suppose I would... ❞ 

Lucky? Morally opposed to it? No sir, you've got the wrong lassie. You must be thinking of that prude from Chicago, Fiona Comisky, who used to dote and cry and sermonize Nate Larsen any time he got injured in a fight with some low-class brute he should've run away from. She had no qualms with clodhopping bullies who started barbaric fights. Didn't find it tasteless in the slightest.

She was opposed to tagging along for much more modest, supportive, team-playering reasons, to be certain. The same reasons why she declined Nate's offer to teach her how to use a bow and arrow: why would the Princess of Neverland get her dainty, dignified, not-at-all-labor-calloused hands dirty learning how to hunt when her boys got such a thrill out of slaying those innocent animals?

                ❝ But why bring a girl along to steal all of the attention?                        I'm not as strong or as sneaky as you. I may ruin the... Element of surprise. Or... distract everyone when they have to keep me out of harm's way. And there’s really— there's so much I could do back here. I thought I should make some sort of victory banquet for the boys to come back to. ......Besides... ❞

Lucky's fingers sidled over to his, tips brushing over his knuckles, as if timidly asking permission to show tenderness before making any sudden moves. Peter was a bit strange about physical touch. She could never tell if he was enjoying it, or if she maybe wasn't doing it right. When he didn't immediately swat her away, she gingerly placed her palms in his, intuitively careful not to scare him away like a baby deer too shy for human touch, or startle him like a scorpion ready to plunge a stinger into her at any moment. She has experience with his type. She has nothing if not patience and willpower to break through to them. She has hope that one day she'll be able to fully embrace him. If she's really as lucky as everybody says, maybe she'd be able to fully-fully "embrace" him.

                ❝ I love when you tell me all about your thrilling adventures. You get such this 𝓅𝓊𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓉𝓌𝒾𝓃𝓀𝓁𝑒 in your eye... It's the same one you had when you first found me— the one that I saw and thought, 'Oh, there it is: my 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫. At last, I can see it!' ❞ 

She boldly ventures to show a little more affection while she pleads, but not enough to push him too far, just enough to remind him that he can touch her back any time he's ready. (If he's rallying her to come out of her comfort zone, maybe this is a good time to encourage him to be a little more adventurous, too.) Her fingers, ever-so-lightly cupped over his hands, gently lace themselves into the spaces between his. She's not naïve enough to believe she's going to get out of raids forever. She just wants to experience feeling truly loved and close to him, just one time, before she has to see him at his absolute nastiest.

           ❝ Oh, Peter, won't you please let me see my 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 again when you fill me in later? ❞ 

( Won't you please let her be so lucky as to skip out on this? )

╳ — 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒 ! // ACCEPTING.

[etfrin]

❝ꜱᴏᴜʟꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴄʀᴜꜱʜ❞

ᴄᴏʀɪᴏʟᴀɴᴜꜱ ꜱɴᴏᴡ

series by etfrin | not to be post anywhere without permission!

coriolanus snow x fem! reader

snow lands on top

series taglist | series playlist | navigation

about: coriolanus snow refuses to have a district girl (albeit grown up in the capitol) as his soulmate. it's humiliating and below his status. and so with the 10th annual Hunger Games begins creating the utter most chaos in his life and makes him face everything he had ignored! (movie compliant)

note: some dialogue and paragraphs are taken from the book [the hunger games: the ballad of songbirds and snakes]

I do not own any of the hunger games characters or original stories, only the plot of this fanfic.

prologue !

chapter one !

chapter two !

chapter three !

chapter four !

chapter five ! part one | chapter five ! part two

chapter six !

chapter seven !

chapter eight !

chapter nine !

chapter ten !

chapter eleven !

chapter twelve !

chapter thirteen !

chapter fourteen !

chapter fifteen !

chapter sixteen !

chapter seventeen !

chapter eighteen !

chapter nineteen !

chapter twenty !

chapter twenty-one !

chapter twenty-two !

chapter twenty-three !

chapter twenty- four !

THE END . . .

[wordsnstuff]

Hey, so i'm working on my first WIP, and i wanted to ask about drafting. When can one consider their first draft done? Does it have to have the goal word count (ie; 100K), or would being about halfway there be considered a good enough first draft, that i can move on to the second and start editing?

Concluding each stage of the writing process

It's difficult to know when a phase of a writing project has concluded and you're ready to focus on a new objective as it's developing. I tend to approach my writing projects with a clear and uniform trajectory, regardless of how diverse my projects can be. This approach allows me to remain focused, thorough, and reassured that I am covering all my bases in an organized fashion. However, it also maintains space for me to be explorative and intuitive when necessary. In regards to word count, I don't think it's entirely relevant unless you're determined to adhere to strict genre conventions. Give your story the space it needs and not an extra inch.

(Optional) Zero Draft

In this phase, you're telling yourself the story. You're doing it quickly, messily, intuitively, and forgivingly. Explore every idea that glows in the dark for you, don't throw anything away or discount any possibility. Exhaust your imagination in this phase so that when you reach the first draft, you know you're making informed decisions.

First Draft

You're crafting the structure and core elements of the story. This is often the phase of discovery. You're becoming acquainted with your characters and how they interact, you're beginning to feel at home in the world and settings you've built, and you're seeing all sides of the conflict as it evolves. The goal here is settle on a beginning, middle, and end point, and by the end of this process you want to know your characters' motivations and relationships inside and out.

Second Draft

Go back quickly through the first draft and address any points where you got stuck, where you compromised for the sake of carrying on to the end, and fill in any apparent blanks. The first time you really iron something out, there will always be a few pesky creases. This is the time to find and flatten them.

Third Draft

This is where you question everything. Identify and scrutinize your decisions, dive into the "curtains are blue" discussions with yourself, and begin to tidy up things like grammar, clumsy dialogue, over-poured descriptions, and dubious vocabulary. Comb through each paragraph and be brutal, prioritizing clarity and intentionality of how you've told the story.

The Read Through

This is the point where I recommend doing three things:

Letting it rest away from you for 1-3 months so that you can return to it with a bit of unfamiliarity and new perspective.

Hand it off to a couple of trusted readers and give them ample time to read, digest, and craft some feedback

Reread the project once all the way through making no changes (although annotations are acceptable)

Fourth Draft

Finishing touches. Vigorously and meticulously scrub and scrape between the lines and imagine giving it to your worst enemy. If you can imagine any mean (but valid) things they could conceive of to say about it, this is the time to grapple with or fix those details.

Additional Resources

Guide to Drafting

Word Count/Productivity Tracker Spreadsheet

Balancing Detail & Development

Writing The First Chapter

Writing The Middle of Your Story

Powering Through The Zero-Draft Phase

Writing The Last Chapter

Chapter Length

Happy drafting,

x Kate

[plor-bindery]

Bound: The Bucket List, by GallaPlacidia

This is actually a gift, but I'm taking a risk that my pal Lately isn't on Tumblr enough to know about this thing, lol. (Lately, if you see this: surprise? Merry Christmas?)

This is, of course, a bind of GallaPlacidia's fic The Bucket List. Galla's fic is no longer on AO3 but is available if you make a very small effort to locate it, which you should if you haven't already done so.

First off: huge thanks to @sits-bound who spotted me their typeset of the fic when mine was not behaving at all. I owe them thanks for this, for their choice for Draco's handwriting (which became quite a Theme for me as I went), and their help in figuring out toner-activated foil, which I used on the endpapers.

Secondly: the UK folks among you will, I hope, recognize this binding as an homage to the Oxford Black n' Red notebook. I wanted to create this binding to look as though it might be Draco's actual bucket list notebook, so I went with this theme in the colour choices and cover design, down to the name tag label (made from HTV) that I imagine Galla's Draco slapping on haphazardly as he frantically began his list.

I made Draco's version of the notebook just slightly different, of course -- with Galla's name in place of the text "black n' red", the name tag, and the little Aelfgifu crest in place of the Oxford one on the original.

(Aside: Aelfgifu is a bit of an inside joke with me and Lately, as we have spent a lot of time imagining a magical college within Cambridge called Aelfgifu College, as well as Draco and Harry's different academic journeys, their collegiate romance, etc., without ever writing more than a few hundred words of same, whoops. But! The college has a crest now! Maybe it'll get a story to go with it!)

This is a favorite, tip-top fic for Lately, and it's up there for me too. I don't think I need to dwell on Galla's brilliance as it's well-known in the fandom. But it was a treat to create my own typeset and bind for this fic. (I kept my first attempt as a personal copy, warts and all.)

More process under the cut.

Materials: Nothing extraordinary here except (as noted) the foiled endpapers. I used 1 mm board to create proper Bradel boards with a notch for the spine piece.

Process: A three-piece Bradel! My first!

I could have done a quarter bind (as the actual commercial notebook uses) but I wanted to learn a true Bradel three-piece bind for a non-fandom bind and this was my chance to try it out. Verdict: kinda neat, and handy when foiling directly to bookcloth (which I did not do here, but did for the non-fannish bind.) Endbands are machine-made and boring. (The actual commercial notebook has no endbands but I couldn't go that far.)

The typeset was fun. Galla's writing is very dialogue-driven, which means a lot of paragraph breaks, which leads to some interesting page break challenges, but in the end it came out nicely. I enjoyed setting Draco's letters, the Prophet article, and the Witch Weekly gossip column. And I had too much fun dropping random shit into the half-title page.

Re the endpapers: yes, I did comb through the fic and pull out all the numbered bucket list items, then all the non-numbered ones referred to in passing, which I then numbered and slotted into the list for the endpapers. I regret nothing. (Not pictured: for the back endpaper, the list is identical except I went through and struck out all the items Draco knocked off his list in the course of the story.)

I still don't own a colour printer! But I do own a little tiny photo printer (Canon Selphy) which is what I used to print the Aelfgifu crest, which I then just cut out and glued on. I like the shiny quality, even if it probably should be more like printed HTV in texture.

I'm quite delighted with the cover design. This one was so fun!

[skykind]

A Clone Wars Episode Deep Dive

I didn't discover The Clone Wars fandom until 2021 and only started watching the show in mid-2023 (finished a few months ago), and I want to discuss and analyze all sorts of odds and ends—years after most people watched. This includes cool stuff in episodes I think some fans understandably skip when doing re-watches and therefore no longer remember well, but I’m digging into one of them anyway. So, have a long post about S2:E11, "Lightsaber Lost," and then come talk to me about it if you’d like!

This episode is saying three things at once, and the closer you get to the symbolic message meant for mostly adult audiences, the wilder things get.

The literal plot: Ahsoka’s lightsaber is stolen, and she recovers it with the help of a Jedi elder who teaches her life lessons along the way.

The morality tale for young viewers: gun control (a bold choice).

An eerie interlude for older viewers: A pair of brief scenes—only 45 seconds or so in length combined—communicate the future purge of the Jedi order via symbolic visual storytelling and a speech that’s being broadcast in the background. No dialogue required.

I'm going to focus on this third bullet point, but I also recommend a re-watch for the gun control angle. (Hint: if you think the writers are only arguing for handling guns responsibly, you haven’t taken the Jedi’s current context into account; also, the writers aren't referring to literal in-universe guns—Ahsoka’s lightsaber is the gun.)

Back to the episode’s message for older viewers: Split over two scenes, the audience watches Ahsoka chase a bounty hunter in possession of her lightsaber, then the bounty hunter partially damage and destabilize an enormous levitating billboard so she can get away from Ahsoka, and finally Ahsoka tumble down and precariously cling to the billboard’s screen. The billboard shows Palpatine delivering a—likely prerecorded—speech that is meant to sound supportive of the Jedi, but is instead priming Coruscant residents to believe anti-Jedi rhetoric; just before this two-scene sequence ends, Palpatine also begins to explain why he needs more executive power in order to support the Jedi.

It's great to pinpoint an example of Palatine's propaganda, but what does the visual storytelling communicate, with this speech for a backdrop?

Note: the text of Palpatine’s speech, shown in captions in the following screenshots, is not in alt text as that would chop the speech up between image descriptions, and is instead in a single paragraph after the final screenshot.

Palpatine's Speech

"I have no doubt that the Jedi are doing their very best to ensure the safety of every citizen in the Republic. The accusations that the Jedi created the Clone War to give themselves more power over the government is absurd and I will not stand for it."

Ahsoka as Symbolically at Palpatine's Mercy

After a scene break, Palatine's speech picks up mid-sentence and we see just how small and vulnerable Ahsoka is compared to Palpatine's soaring and vast projection. She appears entirely at his mercy, and somewhat at the mercy of Coruscant as well.

Palpatine's Speech, Resumed

"…Count Dooku and his droid army. To support the Jedi's efforts in the war, I ask the Senate to pass these new laws, giving more jurisdiction…"

The Genocide to Come

As this speech is broadcast to Coruscant, the seemingly trustworthy and dependable Chancellor of the Republic symbolically collapses beneath Ahsoka and leaves her stranded over a chasm. All while Palpatine spreads propaganda that will eventually convince the public to support her people's genocide.

Perhaps the best way to describe this is:

An unarmed Ahsoka struggles to hang onto the edge of a high precipice, that precipice is a symbol for Palpatine—and in a few years, Palpatine will shove the entire Jedi order off the edge of a much higher cliff.

Given how the sheer visual scale of Palpatine in this second scene represents the power he can wield over the Jedi—as the staging emphasizes Ahsoka's relative smallness and her physical vulnerability—it's clear the Jedi will not be able to rescue themselves when this future betrayal comes; Palpatine has amassed too much power and put too many plans in place. And no one who's bought into Palpatine's propaganda will try to catch the Jedi when they go over the edge.

Ahsoka’s Survival

Ahsoka’s individual survival of Order 66 is signaled here by her ability to get off the levitating billboard, but nothing about the staging suggests this comes down to unique skill—any number of well-trained Jedi could have gotten out of her predicament when the right opportunity (a single speeder that veers out of its lane and passes unusually close to the screen) presented itself.

In both “Lightsaber Lost” and "Victory and Death" (S7:E12, see below), her survival involves flinging herself through open air (and into an out-of-place flying vehicle), a nice nod to Ahsoka’s association with flight and Morai, though I feel like that’s a coincidence (?) as of season 2. Or maybe not. I have no idea if Ahsoka’s symbolic associations—flight in the case of “Lightsaber Lost,” rather than Morai specifically—were planned out in advance.

What About the Propaganda?

Returning to season 2, we come to the final big-picture takeaway of the "Lightsaber Lost" scenes: I’ve referred to Palpatine’s speech as something that plays in the background because Ahsoka doesn’t pay attention to his propaganda, even though it’s literally in her face. What does this mean if we treat Ahsoka as a stand-in for the Jedi, and Palpatine’s speech as a stand-in for his growing threat to the Jedi?   In these scenes, Ahsoka first doesn’t pay attention because she’s trying to stay alive in precarious circumstances, just as Jedi across the galaxy are kept distracted from the big picture by trying to keep themselves, their Padawans, their troops, and civilians alive as war swallows up the galaxy. Then, Ahsoka is distracted by tracking the bounty hunter who has her lightsaber; in the context of this episode (which asks, ‘who should be allowed to use a lightsaber, and when?’), Ahsoka’s lightsaber also comes to represent Jedi’s efforts to fight the Clone Wars as ethically as possible. It presumably takes more time and effort to fight a war when you’re concerned with morals, at least when the opposition is perfectly happy to commit war crimes.   By tossing the Jedi into a war, Palpatine keeps them too busy to systemically search for the Master Sith (in addition to Sith stuff diminishing the Jedi’s ability to use the force), as their time is eaten up by upholding the equivalent of the Geneva and Hague Conventions (etc.) when almost no one else is, by protecting as many other lives as possible, and by staying alive.

And The Clone Wars communicates all of this in a minute! Though I’ll admit my final point about Ahsoka’s lightsaber representing ethical combat is a stretch. I love it when TV shows and movies make full use of visual storytelling, and The Clone Wars is fabulous at it.

Whew—and that’s that! I’m grateful if even a single person has read this far and would love to know what you think, but regardless, I had fun analyzing this episode and organizing my thoughts about it. Cheers to the Clone Wars fandom.

[hannie-dul-set]

six quick and easy hacks to 🆙 the quality of your fanfiction!

as promised, here it is! i’m not here to tell you how to plot out your story, or how to write your characters’ personalities. the tips i’m sharing are more on formatting and structure, secret (not really) cheat codes to instantaneously make your already written work even better! 

my qualifications? being a tumblr hag for over five years (my even more embarrassing pre k-pop writeblr included!) so i’ve unlocked quite a bit of secrets and discovered some eurekas throughout my time here HAHAHAH. anyway, let’s start!

#1 VARIETY IN PARAGRAPH LENGTHS, SENTENCE LENGTHS, AND SENTENCE STARTERS.

nothing turns me off more than seeing paragraph blocks after paragraph blocks when looking for some new fics to read, especially when you’re reading from a cramped up device such as your phone.

when i write a lengthy paragraph, i try to follow it up with a one-liner, or a mid-sized one. but it’s something i consciously keep track of— when i noticed that, “oh, this gdoc is getting a little too wordy, a little too chunky,” i make sure that my next paragraph is significantly shorter than the current one because it keeps the entire page interesting. one to two sentences of lines of paragraphs after another and another doesn’t look pretty. chunks of paragraphs after paragraphs is boring.

make your pages visually dynamic by ensuring variety.

like this, for example.

→ fic: home for the bitchless.

seeing a large chunk of text and a singular line immediately after also sort of forces your reader to stick around and read an otherwise intimidating lengthy paragraph because— oh! what could have possibly led to that singular like of dialogue or thought! #subtlemanipulation you get me? 😔🤙

this rule of mine applies to sentences and phrases within the paragraph as well!

→ fic: love vomit.

and as a bonus, you can use paragraph breaks and cuts to your advantage! manipulating the way a sentence or paragraph ends in a certain way makes your works more rhythmic! and, when you play it around the right way, abrupt cuts and breaks also add the right mood and drama to your work!

→ drabble: the boy who cried wolf.

part three of tip number one (one…we’re still at number one…) is on sentence and paragraph starters. i keep it as a rule of thumb that if i start a paragraph with “you,” or with someones name, i don’t use it again in the next one to avoid monotony. it’s a very miniscule thing really, and i doubt that people notice this HAHAHA but this is something i religiously swear by because repetitions like this are visually boring.

→ wip: sunwater.

of course, this can’t be avoided all the time, and repeating the sentence starter “You” or any other pronoun, word, or phrase can be intentionally utilized to strongly drive a point. just don’t overdo it!

→ drabble: patience, patience.

→ blurb: monsters don’t hide under the bed.

→ fic: the psychology of strawberries.

there are other good and strategic uses for repetitions as well! we’ll get to that later.

lastly, variety in sentence and paragraph starters doesn’t simply mean changing up the first word. things can still get really boring even if you use “you” or a character’s name interchangeably if your sentence structure remains the same.

this, for example, is monotonous.

the structure (and length) of all three sentences are the same. A does this. B does this. A does this. and even if you switch things up but still use the same sentence structure, it still falls flat. case in point, below, a structure i often see in a lot of fics i stumble across.

those are flat. those are boring. they don’t…you know…make you feel something, even when you follow the rule of not using the same starter twice. let me try improving it by adding more variety in the sentences (+ adding a tip that i’ll be discussing right after!)

the word “He” here is used twice to create a rhythm and draw emphasis, but the rest of the excerpt maintains a sense of variety to make the narrative more interesting and compelling to read.

*

#2 PICK A POV AND STICK WITH IT.

before i start a scene, a drabble, or blurb, the first question i ask myself is, “whose point of view do i want it to be in?”

one, it’s a lot neater, more organized, than omniscient point of views in my opinion (unless you’re like a super fucking skilled writer of course HAHAHHA). two, it allows for a bit of mystery, suspense, and engagement because you don’t have access to what other people are thinking about, and three— in line with the first tip— when you know whose brain you’re in when writing, it allows for more dynamic narrations, gives you an excuse to be messy because our internal thoughts are messy as well, and makes the writing a hell of a lot easier when you’re focused on monologuing one person alone!

when writing shorter fics, drabbles, or blurbs, i swear by this rule, no excuses HAHAHAH but when writing longer fics, sometimes i switch around the point of views per scene, just to make a more well rounded story.

sometimes, the point of view doesn’t even have to be any of the main character’s! writing from an external POV is also really fun and adds another layer of interest. see example below, a Jeonghan breakup fic written exclusively from the perspective of the outsiders. very fun idea! 

breakup scene written in Seungcheol’s POV.

another squabble written in Seungkwan’s POV.

→ wip: the breakup soup.

*

#3 REPETITIONS AND THEMES = COHESIVENESS.

this section contains tricks on how to wrap up your fics into one cohesive little present with a pretty ribbon on top! 

first is the use of repetition. use a cool funky line at the beginning of your story, and reuse/rehash/revise it at the end for a neat finish, especially when you have trouble figuring out a way to end your story (lifesaving hack! trust me!) 

i use this mostly in my shorter works—

→ drabble: you’re my bucket list.

→ blurb: louder.

—but it works just as well with longer fics, especially when the repetition is all throughout, and not just at the start and finish.

→ fic: mogi.

sometimes, it doesn’t even have to be a repeated phrase or line! it can be a little gimmick and it’d still work to make your fic cohesive! for example, in the fic below, i use the giving of strawberry candy/strawberry kisses to tie all the different scenes together because this was initially a set of separate drabble ideas wrapped into one long fic.

→ fic: the psychology of strawberries.

and for this one (another ricky fic….yes…..) i use the whole cat metaphor to do the same. 

→ drabble: yours to keep.

the next tip to make your work cohesive is to grab a singular theme, object, whatever, and take advantage of it for your narration HAHAHAHHA this can be better explained by looking at the examples below.

theme: citrus.

→ drabble: citrus in the morning.

theme: storm.

→ blurb: blizzard.

the above examples are my shorter works, but it can work for longer fics as well! just check out this 36k word monster HAHAHAHHA.

theme: seasons.

→ fic: love vomit.

these are very simple ways to make your fic more put together! even if it’s just a simply blurb about a confession, adding a theme to aid the imagery bumps your fic quality to a +++++

*

#4 THROW AWAY THE Y/N’S!

now this one is quite honestly just a personal nitpick HAHAHHAHA but seeing the word Y/N when i’m reading something really pulls me out of my immersion. (and i only stopped using Y/N’s in my fics at the start of my 2023 comeback….so if you see my older works still using it…hahahha please don’t prosecute me).

anyway, you can do this either by embedding it in the narration—

→ fic: star studded baggage.

—or by using nicknames and titles instead!

→ wip: the breakup soup.

→ fic: can’t handle this.

*

#5 GET INTO THE (UN)NECESSARY SPECIFICS.

instead of just saying “Your professor called you,” grab a random last name and say “Prof Yoon asked to see you in his office.” instead of saying you went to the cafe, the mall, the store, grab an actual place or make one up because no one in the world says “they’re going to the cafe to grab a frappe,” (unless the store’s name is actually The Cafe). people say they’re going to Dunkin Donuts or Coffeebreak or wherever.

sure it’s not plot relevant, sure it’s not integral, but little things like this make your narrative and dialogue a lot more realistic and less awkward. it makes it seem like your characters are actually living inside a world of their own.

*

#6 GRAMMAR AND FORMATTING.

these are given HAHA but when i talk about grammar, i mean making sure that the commas and periods are consistently inside the quotation marks when writing dialogue. i mean minimizing the use of italics because overusing it can ruin the reading experience of a good piece (i was guilty of this too!) and i mean making sure that the use of tenses are consistent all throughout (unless if it’s a creative and plot choice), because all these things really matter if you want your fic, drabble, or blurb to be of overall high quality.

and that’s basically it! hope these tips help somehow...hope i’m not revealing my secrets for naught and someone can actually put them to good use HHAHAHHA what’s most important obviously is that you’re having fun with what you’re writing…etc. etc. insert inspirational you can do it speech here.

anyway, happy new year! and happy reading and writing<33

[msbigredmachine]

Sugar & The Chief - A Roman Reigns One-Shot

Reader is a best-selling erotic author reflecting on the success of her newest novel, which is based on her secret affair with the man who became her muse.

PAIRING: Roman Reigns x OC

Warning: A LOT of smut

Word count: 5.7k 

A/N: I started this goddamn fic in late 2021! 😭 I'm so glad it's finally out. This one is a little different and I hope you enjoy!

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

It took you approximately three years to finish it. At first, you didn't want to, because through the smoke of mirrors of the raunchy literature was hands down the most personal piece you’ve ever done. But your team insisted that you go through with it. Your publicist Sheree told you it was one of the best works she’s ever read. On top of that, the dividends from your last book were starting to dry up, so you didn’t have that much of a choice.

You finally relented, and soon after it was published, the novel exploded. Your rabid readers had been waiting impatiently for your next offering and they gobbled it up. Your face and the novel were all over social media, TV, magazines and even on the huge Times Square billboard just down the road from your multi-million dollar penthouse in the Upper East Side. It wasn’t long before you were doing interviews and signing autographs in bookstores, malls and libraries all around the country. You were scheduled to be in London, Paris and Madrid next month promoting the book. It was a comeback for the ages.

And you had him to thank for that.

Sugar & the Chief was an erotic tale about an intense love affair that ended in disaster. Critics viewed it as Fifty Shades of Grey with better writing and much better sex and found the protagonist, Erica, relatable and three-dimensional. Erica was an ambitious albeit mentally unstable escort in an illicit relationship with Roman, a married Hollywood superstar she codenamed ‘the Chief’. This wasn’t your bland Mills & Boon romance tale...This was so smutty and so nasty you couldn’t read the first few paragraphs without wanting to masturbate thanks to Roman and Erica’s graphic sexual antics. It was so detailed that some theorists believed the Chief was based on a real person. When asked about who ‘Roman’ was, you played him off as a completely fictional character. No one needed to know the true identity of your muse. But you were one hundred percent sure that if he read this book, he would know it was about him. After all, you had incorporated some real-life dialogue between you in the novel. Without a doubt, he would know. You wondered, not for the first time, what his thoughts were if he had indeed read it.

Your fans did not hesitate to relay their own thoughts. Tonight, you were busy reading quite a number of them. Sheree had collated readers’ reviews, emails and feedback and sent them to you for your entertainment. Each one had you smiling from ear to ear. Women from all walks of life gushed about Erica and Roman. Housewives, attorneys, college students, septuagenarians, book club members; all of them had something to say and you felt all warm and fuzzy inside to know you still had it, that the magic hadn’t left your pen yet. Of course, they all wanted to know who the Chief was. They were so impressed with how he fucked you, dominated you and yet doted on you…They all wanted a man like him.

They all love you so much, Leati…just like I loved you…love you…

Closing your MacBook, you stood up from your desk with a smile. You stared out the ceiling-to-floor window and kept sipping from your Olivia Pope-sized glass of red wine, sinking deeper into your thoughts. 

Truth be told, you should have known better than to fall in love with Joe Anoa’i. Your first meeting all those years ago on a week-long vacation should have ended on the island between the soft rumpled sheets of his bed. What happened in Hawaii should have stayed in Hawaii. But then, you couldn’t stop gravitating to him and he couldn’t stop gravitating to you. You went running whenever he called and he came running whenever you called. It was wild, passionate, addicting, exciting…too good to last, really. And it wasn’t long before the fantasy came crumbling down. 

So many factors came into play. The demands of his job as the face of WWE. The meteoric level of his fame. And then, his discovery of your coke habit, your discovery of his wife Nicole and his three children, your increasing jealousy, his decreasing interest in you. After five tempestuous years, your relationship came to a bitter end, and the difficult healing process put an end to the writer’s block you’d been suffering from for a while. 

You missed him deeply, and wished the dull ache in your heart would go away. As morally questionable as it had all been, what you experienced with him needed to happen to every woman at least once in her lifetime - indulging in forbidden fruit and all the delicious things that came with it; the danger, the thrill of secrecy, the earth-shattering sex, the emotions of love, lust, possession, and of course, the inevitable pain and heartbreak…

You captured all of that in Sugar.

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

Chapter 22

Erica pushed the button, shuddering out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. The elevator doors clunked closed and the cables began to whir. She ascended, floor by floor. Light goosebumps littered over her arms as she was filled with a morbid mix of dread and anticipation.

Their big fight from three weeks ago kept playing over and over in her head like some kind of evil loop. He didn't want to leave Gaelle for her and she'd taken her frustrations out on him. However, after what she'd just discovered, he was going to have to change his mind. Because of him, she had broken the ultimate rule in this treacherous line of work. This little game between them has been turned on its head, and tonight was the last time she would play by his rules.

The door opened before she knocked, and she felt her pussy purr involuntarily as they locked eyes. That big, sexy ass body of his leaned against the doorframe, his huge arms crossed over his equally huge chest. His dampened long hair flowed past his shoulders, and he smelled fresh, like he'd just had a shower. It didn't matter how long they'd been apart for; he always took her breath away every time she saw him.

"Well? You gon' stand there or you comin' in?" he sassed, that smooth country-boy drawl of his making her body temperature rise. Shaking it off, she walked through the door, right past him and into the open layout of his new, lavish penthouse, the night lights illuminating her brown skin through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

"Nice place," she commented, looking around with mild interest. He had found another hideaway where he could fuck around behind his wife's back. It didn't matter, because Gaelle was never going to leave him no matter what he did and he knew it. She could feel him trailing behind her, his bare feet moving catlike and silent on the cool hardwood floor. He had a prescence like no other, that was why he was the biggest movie star in the world today. And you so happened to be the mistress of the biggest movie star in the world today.

"Champagne?" he offered.

"No, I'm fine," she answered, her crossed arms pushing up her already generous cleavage. Roman's gaze longingly raked over the A-line trench coat concealing her curves, traveling down to the sinful looking high heels adorning her feet. Her hair fell in luscious, tempting waves down her shoulders. A deliberate move, surely, as she knew he loved her hairstyles down. His dick hardened as he imagined bending her over, pulling her tresses and spanking that fat, juicy ass of hers as he pounded--

"I'm not stayin' long, so talk." Her statement yanked him out of his lurid daydream.

"You got all dressed up for me, beautiful," he asked, scanning her up and down again.

"Not everything's about you, Roman," she scoffed.

Not her giving him more lip. He would do something about that later. "I called you a buncha times last week but you didn't pick up. You left my texts on read," he accused with narrowed eyes. "You ignored me."

Erica tilted her chin, her stance defiant. "And why does that surprise you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her biting response and chuckled at her audacity. Sugar was quite the firecracker and honestly, he couldn't get enough. Walking towards her, he smirked as he caught on to her struggle to keep her eyes on him and not on his thick dick print, clear as day in his gray sweatpants. He reached out and rubbed her arm with his hand before tugging her closer to him.

"Sweetheart, don't ever ignore me again. Especially when you know that pussy belongs to me."

"Does it? Funny, I thought I was 'just another pricey whore'. Did you forget you said that to me?"

He rolled his eyes with a huff. "Sometimes I say shit I don't mean, baby girl, you know how it is."

Taken aback by his dismissive, nonchalant attitude, she yanked her arm away. "Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? After everything we've been through? That shit was foul as fuck!" she said incredulously.

"I know. That's why I texted you to come over so I could apologize in person, but you refused to answer me. I hate it when you shut me out, Erica."

"You shut me out, too! For weeks! And now that you're bored you summon me like I'm your fuckin' toy. I am not your toy, Roman! I don't give a damn that you're a Hollywood star, there's plenty of other A-listers out there who will take care of me and not treat me like shit."

"And yet, you come back to me every time," he pointed out, the smug curl of his lip just as panty-wetting as the rest of him. "None of your other clients take care of you like I do, make you feel the way I do. That's why you dropped 'em all, for me."

Erica started to retort but stopped herself, realizing that this was in fact, the truth. But she'd be damned if she let him have the last laugh. "Ya know what? This was a mistake. I should go. I had something to tell you but I dunno why I even bothered to come here."

She turned around but he grabbed her before she could go far, drawing her back to him. Seeing her getting worked up always seemed to fuel his desire for her. The angrier she was, the hotter the sex, and he was horny as fuck for her right now.

"Look at you, gettin' all riled up," he drawled, his tone tinged with amusement. "I love it when you're mad, that shit turns me on, baby."

This man was as infuriating as he was sexy. "Fuck you! Everything is a joke to you!"

"This feel like a joke right here?" he demanded, snatching her hand and pressing it against his throbbing length. The little whimper she let out as she cupped him sealed her fate.

"Feel that? Feel what you do to me?" His voice was rough and needy, matching the look in his eyes. "I need you, Erica. It's been weeks and I've been goin' fuckin' crazy without you."

"Go home to your wife, then," she bit back with a lot less conviction than she aimed for. The pull was much too strong, quite literally too as he wrapped both arms around her slender waist, his face nuzzling her neck and making her hiss as his soft beard tickled her skin.

"She don't make me feel like you do." His voice was needy and almost pathetic as his mouth pressed her throat. "Let me make it up to you, baby. I wanna kiss you. Can I kiss you?" His tongue was warm, his breath hot and heavy on her skin, and her arousal flared against her will.

"Roman..."

"Come on, baby, kiss me," he murmured, his lips sliding over hers. It was a slow but deliberate assault, and Erica felt her body yield as a soft gasp escaped from her. She sagged against him, gripping his shoulders for balance as their mouths smacked oh so sensually together. Fuck, she missed this, missed his delicious kisses and his assured touch as he grabbed her round, fleshy ass, kneading and caressing in his hands and pressing himself harder against her.

Roman growled softly as he released her mouth, his tongue snaking out to lick his lips as his eyes flitted down to her chest. "Take your clothes off," he commanded.

Wordlessly, Erica's hands slid over the leather belt on her waist to slowly unbuckle it. Then, she opened up her coat, eased it off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground, leaving her in nothing, absolutely nothing, but her heels. Roman's darkened orbs blazed to an onyx black as they scanned her naked body, drinking in every smooth, delicate, voluptuous curve. Grabbing her by the waist, he backed her up against the nearest wall, his hardened dick straining against her exposed center. A shiver ran through her as he crashed his mouth back to hers, his huge hand squeezing her throat briefly before tracing the valley between her breasts, and she finally let go of the groan she was holding back as his hand came in contact with the intimate spot between her thighs.

"Damn..." he smirked as he found nothing but wetness, pushing his palm against the slick mound and sliding his fingers along her slit. She moaned in response, her hands gripping his tattooed bicep as his thick finger pushed into her, her pussy quivering around the digit as he thrust it at a maddeningly steady pace.

"Mmm-hmm you like this, don't you baby?" he said, nipping at her bottom lip, coaxing yet another moan from the back of her throat as he slipped a second finger home with deep, languid thrusts. She whimpered helplessly, her vision blurring as her walls dripped and tightened around the invading digits. Her forehead dropped onto his chest, battling to hold on to her sanity. "Fuck..."

Buoyed by her whines and soft cries, he pumped his fingers more earnestly, hissing softly when her walls rippled around them again, signaling her end. "You 'boutta come already, huh? I told you this my pussy. Squeeze my fingers Erica, come for me."

Damn him and his ability to control her with just his touch. Her eyes squeezed shut, and her shout of pleasure came from somewhere inside her soul as she spasmed uncontrollably. She could hear his triumphant snicker as her juices flooded his fingers, brushing his mouth against hers as she leaned into him to regain her tenuous balance. He scooped the round, soft flesh of her breast into his eager palm, with his other hand leaving her pussy to suck her juices, humming pleasantly at the familiar sweet taste.

"Remember what I told you in my text?" he breathed, his gaze trained expectantly on her.

"Mm-hmm."

"Tell me," he insisted, now massaging both her breasts. "Tell me what I said to you. I made you a promise. What was it?"

Erica fought through the thick haze of passion to recall his exact words from the raunchy text message. "You promised to make me come at least three times before we ever make it to the bed," she recounted.

Roman smiled smugly, satisfied with her response. "Uh huh. And Daddy always keeps his promises, don't he? That was the first. Two more to go. Now, let me show you around my new crib."

He showed her around, alright. First, on the plush sectional in the living room area, with her on her back and her head hanging off the edge as he slowly thrust his dick in and out of her mouth. She let his groans wash over her as her jaw relaxed to take more of his intimidating length down her throat. Even upside down, her gag reflex was superb, so each time he thrust inside her, her tongue lapped at the base of his cock, soaking his balls with her spit. Willing to give as much as he was receiving, he leaned forward and rubbed her clit in quick circular motions, making her moan around his cock with the vibrations causing his neck to extend, looking up to the ceiling as pleasure licked his spine.

"Unnnh fuck, suck my dick, take it all down your throat, baby," he encouraged her, sliding his other hand over her breast and toying with her nipple, all while fucking her face. His knees weakened at the sight of his length bulging her throat, she always knew how to take him well. "Shit, Sugar, you look so fuckin' hot like this..."

Erica moaned again through her stuffed throat, waves of heat washing over her as her pussy pulsated beneath the pleasure of his long thick fingers. In all her time under the bright lights and the seedy bowels of Hollywood, she had never been captivated by any one human being. Until him. Their escort-client relationship had long since grown into something more. She had given up on resisting him and let him do anything he wanted to her in bed. But tonight she craved some semblance of control, and this time, his famed charms would not stop her from getting it.

Pushing him away so he slipped out of her mouth, she sat up straight and tugged him onto the massive couch with her. Straddling his hips as he sat up, she placed one hand on his barrel-like shoulder while using the other to curl her fingers around his pulsing dick. He groaned and bucked his hips as she flicked the head of his dick along her slit just to torture him a little. Then guided him against her opening and slid down.

The moment felt heavy and tense, like a tightly twined coil as her wetness opened up for him. At the end of her slow descent, she stopped to adjust to all the emotions and sensations wracking both their bodies. Unconsciously rocking her hips into him, she gasped as the pressure immediately started to build. Their hands and mouths were all over each other. Roman ran his hands up and down her back, rubbed her tits, squeezed her ass. Erica raked her nails over his nipples, sucked on his neck, bit his shoulder. Fuck, it felt so damn good already. Ass rested comfortably on his thighs, chest to naked chest with his dick lodged inside her, it was clear they were not going to last very long.

Leaning back slightly on her other hand placed on his thigh, she began to ride him. Slow and steady at first, making him absorb every drop of her ass, every crevice, every sensation. The lust and pleasure consumed them both, their mouths colliding with hot, sloppy kisses, her moans pitching higher as the tension thickened. His own groans grew heavier and gruffer, his hands leaving her hips to slide underneath her ass and lift her up and down. Exquisite torture, with his strong grip on her making her wet pussy take every inch of him. The angles of his upward thrusts as he bounced her on his dick had her making noises like a bitch in heat. He was so snug and warm and deep inside her, it was as though she could feel him in her soul.

"Oh my fuckin' god," she half-groaned, half-cried, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his neck as he bounced her even harder. Up, down, up, down. His dick stretched her walls, his fingers deep into her ass cheeks enough to leave a bruise or two. The dizzying sensations spiraled her into another orgasm, and she sat all the way down on his dick and rolled her ass desperately, literally riding out her nut. She couldn't stop herself from biting into his sweaty, salty skin as she came, making the big man growl in reaction and smack her ass hard.

"That's your second nut," he declared.

He flipped her onto her back, still deep inside her. He looked down at her with hungry, blown pupils, letting his hands dance along the meat of her thighs and her calves. Throwing her legs onto his shoulders, he leaned forwards, folding her in two as he fucked her into the couch. Her hands clawed the back of his head only for him to grab them and pin them above her head. The sweat clung to their skins as he steeled his thighs and grinded himself into her wet heat, his face lowering to suck both of her nipples into his mouth, his tongue swirling around each peaked bud. Her groans snowballed with his groans as he drove his dick impossibly deep inside her with primal intensity. When she managed to speak, her voice was unrecognizable. "Oh fuck, I'm coming," she moaned hoarsely, her toes curling behind his head as she exploded again, "Oh my god, Roman, ohhh..."

"I'm 'bout to come too, don't fuckin' move," he panted, holding her down to piston his hips and pound into her. Erica basked in the sound of his tortured groan when his big body tensed up and she felt him pour into her warm confines, his hips stuttering as he found sweet release.

"Got you to three quicker than I expected," he said when he caught his breath, kissing her cheek. "We just gettin' started, baby. I'ma remind you why this pussy is mine."

He gave her an up close and personal view of the city's remarkable skyline, her breasts crushed against the glass window as his juicy lips ravaged her from behind. She could only imagine how she looked right now. Her legs wide, ass spread open, her battered pussy wet and swollen and pulsing for more of his oral onslaught. Nobody ate her out the way he did, with so much passion, covering all the bases, her clit, her inner lips, and even her asshole. The warmth of his breath had her walls clenching as he licked and sucked and kissed everywhere, painting her slickness with his spit. The relief she felt as he finally detached his mouth from her center and got off his knees was replaced with his heavy cock tapping her pussy lips before breaching her entrance with the thick girth. Each thrust dragged her sensitive nipples across the cool, hard surface of the glass, but Erica was so lost in the moment that she didn't care.

"Mmmph, fuck me, baby, fuck my pussy," she exhaled another pining moan, her nails scraping against the glass where he had ordered her to place her hands. Her mouth fell open when he slapped her backside, that deliciously dangerous dick of his pounding into her in full view of the bright lights of Los Angeles. His dick slid in deeper and deeper, his hips circling each time he was buried inside her, making her knees buckle as her climax inched ever closer. She tried to speak again, but words failed her, reducing her to a whimpering, shivering mess as her pussy clenched greedily around his dick. Roman merely chuckled arrogantly, reveling in his handiwork.

"You sound so fuckin' sexy, baby girl, keep moaning for me like that," he purred, his hands clamped on her shapely hips to make her take his lethal strokes. He was a man on a mission, punishing her for assuming she had any sort of control over him. Tears sprang to her eyes as he slowed down his thrusts, his pelvis mashed up against her soft backside as his cock worked inside the sensitive walls of her pussy with a more tender rhythm. He filled her with stroke after long stroke, making them both moan as she squirted all over him this time, her orgasm breaking her into a million pieces.

He showed her the stripper pole next to his bed. He had it installed specially for her, he said, so she could show off her elite lap dancing skills for him and him alone. Watching that itty-bitty waist and all that ass bounce on his dick like her rent was due would be the end of him; He couldn't resist massaging the soft cheeks in his palm, one after the other as she gyrated back and forth on him like a professional.

"Uh huh, go off, baby, pop that pussy on my dick," he drawled from his spot on the pouf he lounged on, his sturdy thighs spread wide apart to give her all the space she needed to ride and grind while she held onto the pole for balance. He watched the streaks of his cum trickle down her gyrating ass, and it made for quite the visual, slapping against the mixture of her juices smothered over his groin. He rubbed in the remnants of his seed on her cheeks, biting his lip as the skin glistened and made her big booty look even bigger. "Mmm, damn baby, this pussy so good, I should throw a dollar at your fine ass..."

"Fuck!" Erica had the pole in a death grip as yet another orgasm rocked her body. She had to get off his dick because she was shaking so hard. The tremors had her mewling pitifully as she bent over, gifting him with the sight of her pink pussy quivering as her cum ran down her inner thighs.

"Get back down here," Roman ordered, smacking her leg and then her ass as he stroked his dick in his hand, "You ain't done. Sit your ass back down on this dick."

He'd been wanting to break in his new California king bed since it'd been installed, so it was apt that he was breaking her back in it. He had her on her stomach, her asshole stuffed with a purple-colored butt plug as he stuffed her pussy with his hard, long cock. She moaned and gasped beneath him, clutching the comforter with her fists as he fucked her like a savage, her plump ass trapped in his possessive grasp.

"Daddyyyyy..." Her moan was loud and long and desperate. It became too much. Roman's dick seemed to double in size inside her and both her holes felt too full to the point of another explosion. A sob tore from her chest.

"Why you cryin'? Huh?" He slapped her ass. "Don't cry. You wanted this dick. Ain't that why you came over? Daddy told you to come and you listened like a good bitch, Daddy's sexy ass bitch. Come here." He hiked her hips higher to force a deeper, more painful arch in her back, and rammed his dick into her sweet spot over and over, demolishing her pussy. Too spent to throw her ass back, she could only lay there and take it, and her eyes squeezed shut, certain she was about to pass out from pleasure.

A big square mirror stretched across the ceiling directly above the bed. His hand slithered into her hair, tugging her head back, almost hyperextending her neck to make her look up. Her mouth dropped open in a moan as she watched that big thick shaft glide in and out of her, the soft skin of her ass rippling against the smacks of his pelvis. Just the sight of him and her together in such an erotic moment had her leaking again, soaking the silk sheets on the bed. He was fucking her so good. She hadn't come this hard and this many times in a long, long time.

Sitting back on his heels, he brought her off the bed and flush against him, assaulting her neck with his hot mouth. "You make me so fuckin' crazy, Erica. Don't nobody else make me lose control like this," he whispered, his grip tightening around her throat as the other hand gripped her breast, making her whimper. "Love this pussy so fuckin' much. You love this dick, baby?"

"Yes Daddy, I love it, I love you," she choked out.

"Mm-hmm, I love you too, baby. You gon' make me come all up inside you, girl," he grunted, his brain growing fuzzier as his end neared. He wrapped her up in his big arms, engulfing her with his heat, lavishing her panting mouth with tongue kisses as his hips rocked upwards, teasing her g-spot. Erica found enough strength to rock with him, grinding back against him, the lovers moving together in the most intimate, sensual dance. Roman groaned with pleasure when he felt her incredibly tight pussy pulling on his cock. It was almost difficult for him to continue thrusting inside of her, but her warm slickness eased the way for him. His hand left her breast and slid down her sweat-slick body to play with her clit, dragging her weak body over the edge.

"Unnnnhhhh..." Erica moaned out, her eyes rolling in the back of her head. Roman moaned with her, his soft lips trailing wet, frenzied kisses along her throat as his balls tightened, craving fresh release. "Come, baby girl, come for Daddy," he whispered shakily.

His wish was her command. Her body went limp as she detonated one more time, creaming all over his dick in the process. Roman let his head fall forward, his groan muffled against her throat as he came hard, smearing his warm cum all up in her walls. Erica murmured incoherently as she felt him pulse inside of her, giving her everything he had like he always did. When it was all over, he grabbed hold of her hair and planted yet another searing kiss on her lips, before releasing her to collapse on the mattress. Admiring her thoroughly fucked disposition, he massaged her backside tenderly before slowly easing the plug out of her, watching her wince from the pain. Running a hand over the back of her head, he brought her face to face with his groin. "Suck all this shit off my cock," he ordered.

Erica licked her lips at the sight of his thick member, semi-erect and slathered in a milky cocktail of her juices and his semen. Grasping it obediently, she lowered her mouth onto it, moaning softly at the taste of herself on him. Roman looked on with a bite of his lip, stroking her hair as she licked him clean. Afterwards, he lay on his side and pulled her into his chest. Erica sighed happily as he kissed her gently, soothing all her pain away. This feeling right here was the reason she could never let him go. Their connection was too deep, too special. No man had ever made her feel like this and she didn't want to lose it; the high of having him, the euphoria of belonging to him. It was why she was willing to quit today, right now even, and start a new life with him. She needed him to be with her forever, and she wasn't sure she was going to take no for an answer this time.

After what she was about to tell him, she doubted he would say no...not when the life they had created together was done out of the love they shared.

"Baby?" she whispered softly to him, watching him closely.

"Hmm?" Lying flat on his back, his eyes were shut and he was in a state of complete relaxation.

"Look at me," she said, waiting for him to meet her eyes before speaking. She needed him to understand the words coming out of her mouth.

"Roman, I'm pregnant, and the baby is yours."

End of Chapter 22

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

Erica's unexpected declaration spelled the beginning of the end of her relationship with Roman. His behavior took a complete 180, having security drag her out of his new apartment, denying all ties to her unborn child and cutting off all communication with her. A distraught Erica terrorized him, stalking his family, poisoning his wife Gaelle and getting him fired from a lucrative film project. It all came to a head when Erica took Gaelle hostage in Roman's vacation home where he had fled to escape her rampage. She forced him at gunpoint to have sex with her in his marital bed while his wife watched, but died when he deliberately strangled her in the middle of her orgasm. It also turned out that Erica was never pregnant, and the positive test she'd shown Roman belonged to her friend and fellow escort, Tiffany. Erica's story made headline news all around the world. It was an incredibly shocking end and it worked well with the dramatic plot of the story.

You were glad for the artistic license, and though what really happened with you was less chaotic, it was not any less heart wrenching. You never even got to break the news to Joe. In fact, he was gone from your bed before the crack of dawn, vanished like a thief in the night. Never returned your calls or messages until three days later, when you received a text message from him that put your heart in a blender.

Nicole and I have decided to work things out. For good this time. I hope you understand. Thanks for always being there for me. Take care of yourself. ❤

How you recovered from that blow, you would never know. How you dug yourself out of the hole of darkness he dumped you in was still a mystery to you sometimes. It really was a testament to your mental strength, because not many people would have survived the unimaginable pain he inflicted on you. The sinister side of you wished you had been brave enough to do exactly what Erica did, to take out your rage on him and make him hurt like he hurt you. But instead you redirected that energy to your work, pouring every second of your anguish into the book. It took a long time for you to get to this point of fulfillment and success in your life, and the book had been your therapy. Now, you were at least making good money from your pain and it softened the blow a little bit.

When you thought about Joe these days, it wasn't with as much resentment. It seemed he had a few problems of his own anyway, as his beloved Nicole was reportedly threatening to upgrade their separation to a divorce and take his kids with her. How the tables turned. Nonetheless, you wished him the best. You still had love for him. You would always miss him. He changed your life, and there was no doubt that you would forever carry him with what was left of your heart.

"Mama?"

You heard her little voice before you heard the shuffle of her tiny feet. Quickly placing the wine glass in the sink, you turned as the love of your life came into view, her favorite blanket dragging behind her as she searched the room for you.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping, little lady?" you asked, fighting back a big smile to look as serious as possible. She was in her "I wanna stay up late" phase and you couldn't afford to fold, not this time at least.

Her little dual Afro puffs jiggled as she rubbed her hand over her eyes, "Come sweep with me, Mama," she pleaded, staring up at you with her big, expressive brown eyes and a pout that was the spitting image of her famous father. She was starting to look so much like him.

Your heart swelled as she padded over to you with her arms outstretched. You lifted her up and held her small body tightly, absorbing her innocence and unconditional love. She smelled so fresh and delicate, like roses, sunshine and baby powder. Her scent has filled your life with joy and purpose since the day you brought her into this world two years ago.

And to think you had almost taken those pills to snuff out this beautiful life in a fleeting moment of weakness. Now, you would give your own life to protect hers without question. Always.

"Okay, kiddo, let's get you back to bed," you cooed softly, kissing her chubby cheek.

"Read me a stowy, Mama?"

"Of course, baby."

As you retreated to your daughter's bedroom, your phone vibrated beside your MacBook. Three letters you had not seen in years flashed on the Home Screen, cutting through the empty room and calling out to you.

❤️Joe❤️

THE END

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

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[willalove75]

Alcina's New Maid Pt. 17 Lady Dimitrescu x Reader

Summary: You have your final few days of training and the morning of the meeting finally arrives.

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI. Very brief mention of suicide (while talking about Donna's past and her parents). No details mentioned, just mentioning the act itself. If you want to skip that part, skip to the dialogue after the paragraph starting with **.

Tags: fluff, light angst

Notes: Part 17! Sorry for the teeny tiny cliffhanger but we were reaching 5k words so I had to cut it off. Next chapter will dive straight into the meeting! Also, I re-read most of this the other day but I'm sick and don't have the mental capacity to go over it again so apologies for any errors!

Click here for the rest of the series

Gif source

The following morning Cassandra woke you up before sunrise again for your last full day of training. Once you were warmed up she started sparring with you again and showing you different ways to get out of different kinds of grapples.

After breakfast she brought out one of her old daggers and handed it to you and taught you how to use it properly now that Karl was making you one of your own. Cassandra showed you how to wield it, and the different ways you can use it for defense and the occasional attack. Once she was satisfied with your movements she ran inside and grabbed a wooden dagger and used that to spar with you.

The first hour of the sparring session ended with her poking you with her wooden dagger in at least eight different places that would kill you. She grabbed Dani and used her as a model to point out where the main arteries in the body were and how to hit them to either kill your opponent or cause massive damage.

She continued sparring with you and teaching you how to block the most important parts of your body to avoid death or severe injury. After a few hours you were finally getting the hang of it and you decided to take a quick break for lunch. Zina brought out your lunches again and Bela and Daniela joined the two of you, all of you eating in the courtyard.

When you finished eating Cassandra quizzed you on the locations of the major arteries again and had you practice sheathing and unsheathing your dagger while you digested. After about an hour it was back to sparring. Once more you sparred with Bela and Daniela but this time they had the wooden dagger. Bela was hard to hit due to her defensive nature and you were able to get a few hits on Daniela because her moves were so erratic and chaotic. None of the hits you landed would have done much damage - no less kill someone - but the fact that you were able to hit her at all meant you were progressing well.

"Okay, now you'll have mother, Aunt Donna and Uncle Karl there to help you if shit goes sideways so you won't have to fight Miranda alone." Cassandra says.

"Which is a good thing because if you fought her alone you would definitely die." Daniela adds in.

"Oh yeah, without a doubt. You'd be super fucked. But even with the three of them Miranda is still stupid strong so it'll still be a really hard fight. Lets team up, you and Dani and me and Bela and we'll do a team match. This will encompass everything, grapples, defense, the daggers, you gotta be on your toes."

The match started and Daniela immediately went after Bela and Cassandra headed directly for you. You were able to fight her off for a decent amount of time before she grappled you. When you realized her grip on you was too strong you were able to grab your dagger and stab her in the leg and get out of it. Even though you missed the artery it was still enough damage to knock her off her game for a moment and get out of her grip.

It felt wrong attacking the girls. Even though you knew a stab like that was the equivalent of a papercut to them. Attacking them wasn't something you enjoyed. Although if you were being honest, attacking anyone wasn't something you enjoyed so at least when you go to stab someone else when they attack you you won't feel as bad as you do when you stab one of the girls.

Bela was able to knock Daniela down and headed over to you to assist Cassandra. Two on one was tough and you didn't last long at all. Although you lasted longer than you thought you would - meaning you were able to fight them off for about a minute instead of immediately being subdued. Bela managed to pin you down and when Daniela finally got over to you, Cassandra was quick to pin her, winning them the match.

The sound of applause rang through the air as Alcina walked over.

"Well done girls. Cassandra, your swordsmanship with the dagger was fantastic, Bela, wonderful defense, Daniela, I don't know how you always manage to keep your sisters on their toes, even after all of these years. And draga, you did a fantastic job, you held your own well. I'm very proud of all of you." She says with a smile. "Now girls, go get washed up, dinner will be soon."

The girls swarm up to give their mother kisses on her cheek and head inside. Alcina walks over to one of the benches and sits down. She pulls you into her lap and holds you close.

"I am very impressed draga mea, truly."

"You are?"

"Yes, I saw you stab Cassandra in the leg to get out of her grasp. Your quick thinking was impressive my love."

"Thanks. I really hope a fight doesn't break out at the meeting. It's one thing sparring with the girls, but with Miranda? I don't know, it makes me nervous."

"It makes me nervous too draga mea. But I'll be there with you and I won't let anything happen to you. Donna and Karl also swore to help protect you so you will be okay." She says.

"I'd hate to be the reason anyone got hurt."

Alcina kisses you on the head and you look up into her golden eyes. She smiles down at you and places a knuckle under your chin and leans down, capturing you lips with hers.

"I won't let anything happen to you, draga mea. I promise." She whispers against your lips.

"I know." You reply before kissing her again.

Alcina nuzzles you and the dinner bell rings.

The two of you walk into the dining room and the girls swarm in. Hunger hits you the moment you smell the delicious food and as soon as your plate it piled you dig in.

Alcina lets you sleep in a little the next morning and just as you're getting dressed the breakfast bell rings. After breakfast Cassandra reviews some of the things she's taught you over the last few days and the two of you finish up right before lunch.

The rest of the day goes by pretty quickly. Cassandra does another quick review with you after dinner and once the two of you are finished you head into your room and find Alcina drawing herself a bath.

"Ah, draga, there you are. How was it?"

"It was good, I was able to retain almost everything she taught me."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. Would you like to join me?" She asks as she finishes taking off the rest of her clothes and steps into the tub.

You nod and pull off your clothes and toss them in the hamper. Alcina lifts you into the tub and sits you down in her lap with your back against her chest. Once you're comfortable you let out a sigh and lean into her. Alcina wraps her arms around you and kisses your neck.

You're completely enveloped by her, by her scent, by the feeling of her skin against yours, her warm breath skating across your neck. As stressed as you are over tomorrow's meeting you can't help but feel relaxed in her arms. When you're with her like this you feel more safe than you ever have in your life. Even after everything - all of the pain, the hurt, the heartbreak, she's still the one that brings you more comfort than anyone else ever has. If you tried making sense of it you'd surely get a migraine. But right here, in her arms, you're safe. And that's all that matters.

"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" You ask her.

"It's difficult to know how to feel when I don't know what her intentions are, draga. If it were solely about the hunters I would say I am prepared and looking forward to coming up with a plan to deal with them. Although yes, the hunters will certainly be discussed because they are a topic of concern, I know Miranda and I know she's not asking you to be there to solely take notes."

"Are you afraid of her?"

Alcina pauses for a moment to contemplate your question as her fingers mindlessly trace patterns across your skin.

"Yes and no."

"How so?"

"I am not afraid of her for myself. She is incredibly powerful and even though it would not be easy, she could certainly kill me. But I know she won't. She needs myself and the rest of the lords to keep the village under her thumb as she searches for her perfect vessel. And since I do most of the work she knows that killing me would be a mistake. But I fear for the day that she deems us unnecessary because when that day comes, she won't hesitate killing all of us. Her power is nearly limitless and I have no doubt that she will do anything and everything to succeed in finding a suitable vessel for Eva. Even if it means destroying everything around her to do so. Until then she will do whatever she feels is necessary to keep us, the lords, in line. I'm also worried that she is going to try and hurt you to hurt me. I wouldn't put it past her to do something like that again and that scares me, draga mea."

She sighs and holds you tight, nuzzling her nose into your hair. As you take in her words, the word "again" sticks out.

"What do you mean 'again?'"

"Lets finish up in here and I'll tell you in bed."

You nod and you both finish bathing. After drying off and putting on pajamas you crawl into bed and curl under Alcina's chin. Alcina holds you close and continues.

"Many years ago, decades ago at this point, Karl had a paramour. It wasn't someone he truly loved but he did care for them. They were a worker at his factory and the two of them began spending time together. Karl began slacking off to spend more time with them; Mother Miranda got wind of it and she was less than pleased. One day they went missing. Mother Miranda called a meeting and none of us knew why until we arrived and saw Karl's paramour chained down at her feet. She said they were nothing but a nuisance and they were only causing trouble, distracting Karl from her goal of finding a perfect vessel. She ordered Karl to kill them and he refused. Mother Miranda was going to kill them but instead I offered. Karl was furious but I knew that whatever Miranda was going to do, she was going to make them suffer horrifically because Karl refused her. She relented and I was the one who killed them. It was the only time I ever apologized to someone before I killed them. They knew that this was a mercy kill and that Miranda would have done much worse so it was also the only time someone had thanked me for doing it. Miranda was pleased and allowed me to take their body back to the castle to do what I pleased with it. Karl came over the next day and he was so angry, he thought I drained their blood and turned them into one of the vineyards scarecrows. But I didn't, instead I cleared a small spot on the edge of the woods and had them buried. Karl was grateful and after we had a conversation he understood why I did what I did. Karl was still relatively new and hadn't seen Miranda's wrath like I had. He knew refusing her would anger her but he didn't realize she would have taken it out on their paramour instead of himself."

"Is that why he hates Miranda?"

"One of the reasons. He hated her well before that incident. She had kidnapped him and infected him with the cadou when she found out that he was one of the descendants of the four founders of the village. He never got a say in the matter like I did. She just took him and forced it upon him."

"That's so horrible. Why didn't he just leave after he got the cadou?"

"It's difficult to explain but in the end he wasn't able to. Miranda would have hunted him down. Once we were given the cadou, whether or not we had a choice in the matter, we were forced to stay. She was also able to influence him to stay."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone takes to the cadou differently. I have a theory that those with a higher affinity to the cadou are less affected by Miranda's control. To a certain extent, Miranda controls the mold because her powers were given to her by the Black God, which is where the mold comes from. Since the cadou contains the mold, by extension Miranda has a certain amount of control over it."

"So can she control you?"

"Not necessarily. I believe she has a certain amount of influence over me, but no, she cannot control me because I have a higher affinity to it. For example, the moroaicǎ and lycans have almost no affinity to the cadou so Miranda can control them if she wanted to. In the past she has, but she generally she views them as a waste of time so she gave Karl the job of overseeing the lycans and myself the moroaicǎ."

"So how can you tell who does and doesn't have a higher affinity to it?"

"My theory is that the more mutated the subject, the less affinity they have towards it. The moroaicǎ and lycans are at the bottom, they are the most mutated and most easily controllable therefore have the lowest affinity. Next comes Salvatore, whom you haven't met yet. He is severely mutated and will do anything to please Miranda. Next I believe is Donna. Although her only mutation is on her face, she is very mentally unstable which leads me to believe that Miranda can more easily influence her."

"How is she mentally unstable?"

Alcina lets out a sigh as her fingers dance across your skin.

**"It is quite a tragic story. Many years ago, before she received the cadou, her sister, Claudia, died. Donna was very young when it happened and her parents were unable to deal with the death of their child so they committed suicide together leaving Donna all alone."

"Oh my god, that's horrible."

"It was horrific. After they died she isolated herself and developed severe depression and anxiety. When she received the cadou, she took part of hers and put it into Angie and now primarily uses Angie to speak when she's around mixed company."

"Wait, so Donna is that chaotic?"

Alcina laughs and shakes her head.

"Gods no, Donna uses Angie to speak but the cadou granted Angie her own personality. Part of me believes some of the things Angie says are the thoughts Donna would never say out loud but that is just mere speculation."

"So how do you know when it's Donna talking or Angie?"

"Donna's voice comes through Angie."

"Oh, got it."

"Yes. So because of Donna's mental illness, she is more easily influenced by Miranda but since her and I have formed and alliance that influence has been fading."

"How about you and Karl?"

"Based on my mutation theory, I would be next given," Alcina gestures to her body. "and Miranda does have some influence over me, but not much. I have retained enough of my own cognitive abilities to not fall completely under her influence. There are times where I can feel her influence and if I so chose to I can ignore it. But the pull is there."

"Is it hard to ignore?"

"In the beginning it was, but now not so much."

"Can she tell when you ignore it?"

"Yes, but only because when I do, I am not doing what she wants so she knows her influence on me has failed. Whether she knows I consciously ignore her or not is still a mystery."

"So Karl has the highest affinity to the cadou?"

"As much as I loathe to admit it, yes. Which is also why I refuse to relay this theory to him because I would never hear the end of it. But he has no visible physical mutations, at least that I am aware of. And he hates Miranda more than any of us. He refuses to do anything she asks unless it directly benefits him and he has no desire for her acceptance or approval."

"Do you have any desire for her acceptance or approval?"

Alcina pauses for a moment and you look up at her. She has a faraway look in her eyes before she looks down at you and sighs.

"Truthfully? Yes." You feel the hairs on your arms raise at her answer. Not that you're completely surprised, but hearing her say it out loud makes it real, too real. "It's complicated. There is a part of me that yearns for her acceptance. There's a part of me that's willing to do nearly anything for her. I understand how ridiculous that may sound but after so many years of being under her rule, it's difficult to not want acceptance from the person who essentially created you. And since she rarely shows her approval of anyone the thought of being one of the few becomes almost addicting. She has done a lot for me. She saved my life, although it was under false pretenses. Still, I am still alive because of her. She gifted me the girls, gave me the castle, the vineyard, and the business so I had a way of supporting myself. She has done a lot for me, for my family. In a way in feel indebted to her for those things. But at the same time I hate her. I can't stand what she's done to me, how she's manipulated me and used me over the years." She tightens her grip around you as she thinks back on her past history with Miranda. "I despise how she treats my daughters poorly. I hate that after everything I do for her, after everything I've done, she still views me the same as the rest of them. It aggravates me to no end."

"So you hate her, but at the same time you want to be her favorite? You know that sounds crazy, right?"

Alcina chuckles and rolls her eyes at you.

"I said is was complex, draga."

"Complex is an understatement." You say with a laugh.

Alcina shakes her head and runs her fingers through your hair. An unsettling energy fills the room as the two of you think about tomorrow's meeting.

"Even though I feel that pull of her influence, even though I crave her acceptance, I will never let her hurt you. I don't want you to think for a moment that I won't do everything I possibly can to protect you, draga."

"I know." You say, cuddling into her more.

"Good. Now try and get some sleep draga mea. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Her fingers comb through your hair and you feel her nails scratching at your scalp. She holds you a little closer after pulling the duvet over the both of you.

Even though you're tired you can't seem to fall asleep. Anxiety begins to creep its was into your chest and you cling to Alcina a little tighter.

"Rest, draga. I can hear your heartbeat from a mile away."

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous."

"So am I, but you need to sleep."

"I can't."

Alcina lays you on top of her, resting your head on her chest. One of her large hands scratches at your scalp as the other traces patterns across your back.

"Close your eyes, draga mea. I have you. I will protect you, I promise."

"I know you will. And I love you so much for that."

"I love you too."

Alcina starts singing, her fingers moving perfectly in time with the song and your eyes start to flutter shut. Even though you don't know what song it is since it's in Romanian, whatever she's singing is soothing and begins to lull you to sleep.

Alcina hears your breathing and heartrate settle and knows you finally drifted off. She finds herself having a hard time falling asleep - she's too anxious about tomorrow's meeting. But the soft sounds of your snores help her to relax and a little while later she dozes off into a restful sleep.

The following morning you wake up in the same exact position you fell asleep in; laying on top of Alcina with her arms wrapped tightly around you. Alcina feels you stir in her arms and brushes the hair away from your eyes.

"Good morning, draga mea." She says with a kiss to your head.

"Good morning." You say with a yawn as you stretch out on top of her and curl back up in her arms. "Did you stay here all night or did you get up to work and pull me back on top of you when you came back to bed?"

"No, draga." She says with a chuckle. "I stayed here all night with you."

You didn't say anything in response, just a light chuckle and then you nuzzled your face into her neck. Here in bed, in her arms, it was safe. You were safe. There wasn't a single part of either of you that wanted to get out of bed this morning. Neither of you wanting to leave the comfort and safety of each others embrace. The thought of starting the day made you a little anxious but after taking a deep breath and filling you nose with the scent of Alcina's skin and shampoo, your anxiety melted away and you relaxed into her.

"Can we stay here forever?" You asked as your lips brushed against her skin while your face was buried into her neck.

"I wish, draga mea. I wish." She sighed.

Reluctantly, the two of you finally got out of bed. The meeting was taking place in the chapel at the castle shortly after breakfast so both you and Alcina started getting yourselves ready for the day.

Alcina put on her usual floor-length cream dress, leather gloves, pearls, and her hat. The two of you decided that it was best that you wore the uniform that her handmaidens normally wear. She was sure that Miranda knew the relationship between the two of you was past the point of you just being her handmaid but in order to keep appearances up you both decided wearing the uniform was the way to go.

Once Alcina was finished fixing her hair and makeup the two of you headed down to the dining room for breakfast. Just as you were walking in the girls swarmed in and appeared in their seats.

"Good morning mother!" The girls said in unison.

"Good morning daughters." She said.

You could tell the girls wanted to ask how you and Alcina were feeling about the meeting but none of them dared to. They could tell Alcina was already on edge and they didn't want to make her worse. The nerves in your belly slowly but surely began to build as the time to leave creeped closer. Even though you weren't hungry you forced yourself to eat a decent meal because you knew you were going to need the energy.

Breakfast was quiet and the tension in the air steadily built as the time passed. Every so often you would look over at Alcina and every time you did you noticed she was further and further away mentally. You could tell that her mind was heavily focused on the meeting and that the newspaper in her hand was just a front. The only reason you knew that was because she stayed on the same page throughout the entire meal yet burned through at least four cigarettes. She looked as if she was rereading the same sentence over and over again as her mind wandered. By the time breakfast was over her eyebrows were so closely knit together they nearly became one.

When the girls finished eating they all kissed their mother on the cheek and wished her luck at the meeting. Daniela and Bela gave you a hug before they left and Cassandra punched you on the shoulder and mumbled "don't die." before swarming away.

As the girls left Zina entered the dining room.

"Pardon me, my Lady." She said to Alcina, whose eyes were back on the newspaper. "Lady Beneviento and Lord Moreau have arrived."

Alcina looked up and nodded before taking a sharp inhale and putting the paper down. She took one final drag of her cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray and downed the rest of her wine in one large gulp. Removing the napkin sitting on her lap, she carefully dabbed the corners of her lips and looked towards you and back to Zina.

"I made sure the chapel was stocked with extra wine. One bottle of sanguis virginis and the rest of your finest vintage, my Lady."

"Thank you Zina, your fine attention to detail never goes unnoticed."

"My pleasure, my Lady."

"Ready, draga?" Alcina asks you. You nod in response and she stands up. "We shall be off then."

As Alcina walks past Zina, Zina hands her her cigarette holder with a lit cigarette already sitting at the end. Alcina nods at Zina with a small smile and leaves. As you walk past Zina she stops you by putting her hand on your shoulder.

"Be careful." She whispers with a small squeeze before removing her hand and heading back towards the kitchen.

Alcina expertly guides you through the castle halls. Once you leave the main part of the castle you notice that the halls are less ornate. The smooth stone walls slowly turn more jagged and unkept and the cracks in the floor grow until the stones beneath your feet are uneven. You've never seen any part of the castle in such a state of despair before. Alcina doesn't say a word the entire time. The juxtaposition of her and your current surroundings is a fascinating one. Her steps are purposeful and she's as elegant as ever as she strides through her domain. Alcina is a woman of elegance, of nobility, she's a queen roaming the halls of her castle. Yet the current surroundings show evidence of disarray. The further down the hall you walk the worse it gets. Alcina would never let the main areas of the castle look like this. If a spec of dust is left behind she throws a fit. You wonder why she's allowed this area to fall apart so much, seemingly without care.

She leads you to a large door and turns towards you. As you finish taking in your surroundings you look up at her. There must have been a look of confusion on your face as you took in the crumbling walls around you because you hear Alcina sigh.

"As you know, I take pride in keeping my castle in top shape so I am sure the passageway has been rather out of the ordinary." You nod your head in response. "This side of the castle sustained extensive damage during the war and I was never able to properly conduct the repairs. The dilapidated state ended up keeping wandering maids away and it warded off unwanted visitors. It was far too much trouble to repair it and since it provided almost guaranteed privacy for these meetings I allowed it to remain in such a despicable state."

"Got it. That makes sense." You say with a small smile. Alcina returns the gesture but her smile doesn't reach her eyes.

She takes a deep breath and exhales. Her eyes stay on the floor and she looks like she is having trouble saying something.

"Are you okay?" You ask.

"Yes. I have something to ask of you, and I hate that I have to ask this of you."

"What is it?"

"In order to attempt to keep appearances up, I don't think it would be wise for you to," she pauses for a moment. "for you to call me Alcina during the meeting." She says quietly. Her eyes flick up to yours and they're filled with concern. "I know we are well past formalities but I'm worried about Miranda as it is and if she hears you call me by my given name, I fear it will make things worse."

Alcina starts to ramble a little and you take a step forward and reach out to grab her hand.

"Hey," you say, looking into her eyes. "I get it, it's okay. I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, my Lady." You say with a smirk.

Alcina releases a breath that sounds like a sigh of relief and she cups your face with her hand.

"I truly don't know what I ever did in my life to deserve you, draga mea." She whispers.

The two of you share a moment as you gaze into each others eyes. Angie's cackle rings out on the other side of the door, effectively ruining the moment the two of you were having. Alcina closes her eyes and takes a grounding breath before adjusting her posture and putting her "countess" mask back on.

"Stay by my side and do not do anything unless I give you the okay. Understand?"

"Yes, my Lady."

She nods in approval and looks at the door and back to you.

"Shall we?" She asks.

You nod in response and she pulls a key out of the band around her hat. The door unlocks with a soft "click" and swings open. Alcina returns the key and she ducks under the doorframe, making her way into the chapel.

"Here goes nothing." You think to yourself before following behind her.

[risingchaos]

In episode nineteen of season three of Star Trek: The Original Series, Requiem for Methuselah, our main three go down to a planet to find a cure for an epidemic on the Enterprise. They run into a man named Flint, who takes them back to his home and offers help. While there, Kirk falls in love with a woman, Rayna, who turns out to be an android. She was designed to be a lover for her creator, Flint, and when she finds out she’s an android while Flint is threatening the triumvirate, she’s so torn between her love for creator and her love for Kirk that she actually dies. Obviously there’s a lot more to the episode but that’s the basics. There’s a few bits in here I think about a lot.

At the end, after Rayna dies, Spock says this after some dialogue.

Spock: The joys of love made her human, and the agonies of love destroyed her.

Fucking insane quote to have, especially from Spock. Near the start of this episode, Bones had offered Kirk brandy and half offered it to Spock with his normal “Spock hates fun” jabs, but Spock took him up on it and even opened up about how he was experiencing a new emotion. Envy. Envy of the man’s house they were in, which contained a lot of originals never seen before from a variety of famous artists.

Now, Spock saying that alone in the same episode where it was clear we had a teeny focus on Spock’s emotive capabilities was so great. We love a glimpse into the odd mind of our resident Vulcan, but it gets better. Spirk shippers, listen up.

Just before they find out Rayna is an android, they were about to travel into an unknown part of the complex they were in to retrieve said cure that had been hidden in there. Before entering, Spock steps in front of Kirk, saying he should go in alone as it might be dangerous. Obviously Kirk puts up a bit of a fight, and McCoy jumps in, pressuring Spock into letting all three of them go. He relents, and they go in.

Again, maybe not the most impactful on its own, but it’s a very important thing. Spock wanted to protect specifically Kirk from whatever danger might lie within. We later know this is because Spock wanted to hide Kirk from finding out Rayna is an android, but still. It’s insane.

At the very end, right before credits, Spock goes to Kirk’s room where the man in question is mourning the loss of Rayna. He compares himself to Flint very despondently.

Kirk: Very old, and lonely man. And a young, and lonely man. We put on a pretty poor show there, didn’t we? If only I could forget..

He puts his head down on the desk just before McCoy walks in. McCoy makes a comment about Kirk finally sleeping, tells Spock that everything is alright on the ship, then drops this absolutely insane paragraph.

McCoy: You wouldn’t understand [love], would you, Spock? You see, I feel sorrier for you than I do [Kirk], because you’ll never know the things that love can drive a man to. The ecstasies, the miseries, the broken rules, the desperate chances, the glorious failures, and the glorious victories. All of these things you’ll never know, simply because the word love isn’t written into your book. Goodnight, Spock.

Spock: Goodnight, Doctor.

McCoy: I do wish [Kirk] could forget her.

McCoy then exits, leaving Spock staring at the asleep form of his captain. Spock approaches, quiet, and leans down. He gently placed his fingers on Kirk’s face, and whispers something right before credits roll.

Spock: Forget.

Spock, out of love for His Captain, grants his wish and uses his abilities to help him forget what had happened.

Spock loves Kirk. I don’t know how anyone denies this.

[agathasdefender]

In Those Who Wake

Synopsis:

What if instead of following Rio back out of the spell, Agatha ran further into it? Rio has been chasing her shadow for three years, chasing her coat tails for longer than that, so what's a little further? How long is she willing to go?

Wordcount: 1221

Chapter 001/Chapter ???

Death sighed as she awoke on a park bench, the crisp autumn air pulling her from a deep slumber. The location was different today - a fact that was not surprising when she had pushed so hard the day before. A bird chirped idly on a branch nearby as Rio stretched her limbs, shaking out the teleportation that brought her here. The pull sat in her chest, telling her the direction that she needed to head in, but she would walk when she was ready. Her legs were still finding their bearing. 

A man ran by, jumping when Rio hissed at him. Confused or frightened, he continued on his run a little faster. On her feet now, Rio exited the small park and down the simple street. Bookstores and brick and mortar businesses lined the cute little set up. 

That line of buildings was where her chest was pulling her, each step feeling more right than the last. The road was clear of people, only a taxi that drove down the main drive. Its license plate said “Live Free Or Die” and Rio huffed at the irony there. Westview. 

The pull was leading her to a coffee shop and Rio did not roll her eyes at the name. Witch’s Brew in large letters painted on the window, cartoon cauldron and all. She did smile. She could give herself a smile. Seeing her reflection in the glass, she let it fall. The door jingled as it opened, and she walked up to the counter. She wasn’t waiting for her there, so Rio just ordered a black coffee and walked around to the sitting area.

Witch’s Brew was surprisingly busy for this early in the morning, seeing as the sun had only just started to crest over the horizon. Looking around, Rio found her. Dark curtain of hair, a small smile on her lips as she sat in the back corner, and Rio approached without hesitation. 

“Anyone sitting here?” Agatha looked at her from over the black bound book she was reading and Rio didn’t let herself buckle under the gaze of the woman that wouldn’t dare love her back. Agatha was too much herself in this timeline, burying herself in this coffee shop so that she could ignore the body that followed her. Rio motioned with the charger in her hand towards the plug beside Agatha. “It’s the only one not taken and I’m pretty low on juice.”

“No, it’s open.” She said these words and then went back to her book, Rio going through the motions of plugging in her nondescript phone. She let the air between them sit for a few moments, her swiping through her home screens and Agatha reading the same paragraph over and over again. Eventually, Rio took it upon herself to break the silence. 

“What are you reading?” Rio asked, pulling a cube of cheese from her  sweater pocket and popping into her mouth. 

“Oh this old thing?” Agatha laughed and closed the book, not answering the question. Instead she stuck it into her bag and changed the subject. “Did you hear about the body they found?”

“Oh no, a body.” Rio was feigning interest, but it was genuine enough for Agatha’s weaker form to continue talking. It was like playing with a child, too easily pulled in whatever direction Rio wanted her in. Any direction but out. “I didn’t hear about it, yeah. What body?” She knew the questions to ask at this point, but even Death could grow tired. 

“They found it in the woods over by Glenburny.” Agatha went on to tell her too much about the case for someone not inside it to know, but Rio could let her take up her space. At the end, Rio nodded along until she found space enough to interject her thoughts into the dialogue. 

“How’d she die?”

“What?”

“How’d she die? Kick the can, so to speak?” Rio popped another cheese cube into her mouth, bobbing her eyebrows in time with the second question. 

“That’s the thing that no one can figure out.” Agatha said, shaking her head in that distant way that was getting too familiar. “I’ve heard some rumors, and I’ve connected a few of the dots, but nothing substantial.”

“Becoming a bit of a private eye aren’t you? Once the detective thing didn’t work out?”

“What detective thing?” Agatha’s eyebrows knitted in genuine confusion and Rio didn’t allow herself to flinch. She smiled, letting the confusion fall away to quizzical. “And what’s with the cheese?” Rio had eaten another cube, not paying much attention to her own snacking. 

“Can’t a girl feel a little peckish?”

“Yeah, I guess, but why is it just in your pocket?”

“Aggie, sweetheart, we both know none of this is real.” Rio’s voice was kind, almost playful, but her eyes spoke of a tired soul that wanted to do nothing more than take her wife home. Estranged or not, Agatha needed out of this hell of her own creation. Agatha’s eyes sharpened and then dulled and the woman shook her head. 

“Why are you here?”

“A good cup of coffee.” Rio tried a smile but ended it with a sigh, folding quickly under the look Agatha was giving her. Setting the coffee cup back onto its saucer, Rio nodded to herself and then spoke. “For you.”

“Please, leave.” It was a plea, a broken record of a sound that she didn’t want to hear any longer. “I don’t want you here.”

“I can’t leave you.” An unspoken Again. Rio was pushing too far even if she didn’t want to wake up somewhere different tomorrow. She wanted today to be the last day of this shit, but she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to be getting her way. “I just.” A pause, Rio sucking her teeth before continuing in a soft yet clipped tone. “Agatha. Come home.”

“Agatha? Talking a big game for someone that doesn’t even know my name.”

“You’re so much more than this.” A bloody sacrifice of a few virgins would be less painful than this one sided conversation, each word pulling another string free from the tapestry that had become of her sanity. 

“You don’t know me.” Agatha spoke words that were supposed to mean something and Rio couldn’t help the high pitched cackle of a laugh that bubbled from within her chest. 

“Babe, I know you better than you know yourself.” It struck a chord that Rio hadn’t known existed, but it was too late. She watched as the mask slid back into place. 

“Get out of my shop.” Agatha was standing now and Rio sighed, pushing her chair back and grabbing her coat from the back of it. Shrugging it on, she smiled a sad knowing smile at the spellbound witch.

“It’s going to be somewhere different again tomorrow, isn’t it?” No response as Rio exited the establishment. Agatha followed almost all the way to the door, stopping by the counter where all conversation had stopped. The onlookers didn’t look at them, but it was evident that their play was important. Any other conversation that dared to still exist in the same space was whispered stage directions.

Once past the threshold, Rio stuck her head back through the doorway, meeting her wife’s eyes and offering a soft yet audible “Te veo.”

[henrysglock]

High Existence and ZeroSpace: The First Shadow and NINA May Be Massive, Immersive Drug Trips

The blurb in last Friday's video from TFS sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I found a lot of sites quoting The Alchemist about the universe conspiring to give you what you truly want (which is similar and it's probably what I was thinking of when this blurb registered as familiar), but I couldn't find this exact quote:

Well...not at first, anyway. I decided to stick every word I could make out here ^ into my search bar...and I found where the blurb comes from:

This blog post is quite literally the only source I could find for it, and the whole damn thing is directly lifted.

Right off the bat, the site fucking jump-scared me:

And it doesn't end there. Let's dive in, because this rabbit hole is a trip unto itself...no MDMA​ ​required.

1. The Fucking Website...#1 (HighExistence.com)

High Existence is a sort of drug-induced-spiritual-trip centered self-help site.

It's got blog posts and podcasts and all that jazz. Here are some of the highlights:

Wow! That was...a lot. A lot of words from the word show, too:

Wholeness, heroes, ancient aliens, prisons of politeness, and the fucking Shire, too, I guess. Why not?

(An Aside: I've included the VR in here too because of the sheer similarities between Henry's experience with the Shadow in VR, El's experience in NINA, and The First Shadow in general.)

Like fuck it, why not keep going, these posts date back to at least 2017:

And don't let me start in on that Creel boy and Faust...

[Jason voice] "[Eddie] made a deal with the devil and now he has his powers!" (Also we get it, one of them is neurotic and the other is psychotic. I've been saying this since like...forever)

Of course, all that insanity aside, the Russian base arc has just...an insane amount of ST4 and TFS stuff packed into it in general:

(And this isn't even all of it. I know others [cough] Stav Heroesbyler [cough] have covered it even more...but bro it is THERE)

But most importantly for the NINA arc:

Three things: Dialogue doubling (there's the one I showed, plus a) Robin yelling "Wipeout!" at Steve which has the pipeline -> "Wipeout!" at Rink-O-Mania -> 002-005 bullying El in a very similar manner and b) Steve's "that's amazing" line about the water fountain -> "This is amazing!" not only from Alice irt the Creel house but also from Mike irt Will's painting on their way to save El from NINA. Again, these are just a few of MANY instances), makeup doubling with the bloodshot eyes, and my beloved: set/prop doubling.

I love that beautiful framing on the nearly-identical square clocks. I have so much to say about that clock, but specifically:

The clocks being set 9 minutes apart, which happens to be the exact length of time from the end of Vecna's voiceover in 4.07 to the start of the fight sequence in 4.07 (aka the length of One's frozen-clock monologue).

Not only that, but the clock isn't even right. It says it's 3:55, but it's definitely not 3:55 AM (see: movie theater scene) but it's also not 3:55 PM:

(And why do we have a clock in an elevator anyway? That's the real question. That thang only exists to deliver subtext, baby! It exists to connect the two scenes further!)

Anyway, as you all likely noticed, this site mostly deals in psychedelics, stimulants, and empathogens.

link

Hell, you could even pull One's bit on the ecosystem into it, since he's describing connections between beings that are being disturbed/destroyed by humanity.

Anyway, the site tends to center specifically on DMT and MDMA...so let's talk about those:

MDMA & DMT An aside: Interesting to me that psychosis here can be counteracted with sedatives. Makes me wonder if whatever happened in 1979 could have been halted if they'd just tranq'd One. Hm.

First off: Did I read that right? Piggy-backing? Damn, son. 4.09, The Piggyback, is pictured in that paragraph. So is Brenner's candy bit with the children -> "candy flipping" vs LSD use in Brenner's lab.

Second: Ah, how nice. Intravenous/injectable. Just like how El is constantly being shot up with...something...to enter NINA.

Now, nearly all psychedelics can induce psychosis, but especially so if they're combined with other psychoactive substances and/or if the user has a history of psychosis (either themselves or in their family).

However, MDMA specifically has been posited as a treatment for PTSD and retrograde/traumagenic amnesia:

link Like...wow. Okay, I guess!

tl;dr: One seems to have been tripping fucking balls during the monologue. Literally every fucking version of him. El likely is as well. Funny how that works. Was any of that real? [smash cut to the way blood pours down the walls and the dead children dance around in the VR version of NINA] And either way, Henry in TFS isn't far behind with his hallucinogenic moments.

The connection? Whatever the hell is going on in Hawkins Labs...and symptoms of drug use.

I was not expecting to get this much out of a single rabbit hole. But...that's life with this show, isn't it? And this is only Part 1.

2. The Fucking Website...#2 (Futurism.com)

The guy who made that original post that TFS lifted the blurb from (Jordan Lejuwaan) runs a couple different websites. The most interesting one is Futurism, which is basically an online version of the Weekly Watcher:

It won't let me filter by date, but it seems to have been founded in 2017, stemming from an infographic subreddit. (Now, it says it's a trustworthy news source, and maybe it is, but... Do your own assessment of that. I'm not your mother, yknow?)

Jordan Lejuwaan was also involved in something far more interesting irt Stranger Things...

3. Zero Space

Jordan co-founded an immersive, interactive theater experience called ZeroSpace back in 2018. As we all know, TFS was just in the beginning phase of its creation around this time.

So...This was like a brick to the skull:

"Alice in Wonderland" (don't get me started: rabbit fuckery, DRUGS!!!!!, clocks/being later, Alice Creel, Fringe connections (Through The Looking Glass and What Walter Found There being the episode about the pocket universe where 20 years passed in 5 days...and also wherein we find out about him hiding away an Observer child that he will later time travel with to save the world from the Observer takeover...erasing himself from time/the timeline by doing so...there is SO much) not to mention the "one pill makes you larger/smaller" vs teen El and baby El...it's too much to try and fit in this post), "ALIENS AND LASERS", "stretch the perceived reality of the sense", "art, actors and your own mind converge to prompt MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS" (which was a common complaint about TFS: it leaves people with more questions than answers).

("See you on the other side" being an in-show line from Henry in the lab to Patty in the void, but this image is ripped directly from the same promo video that the High Existence blurb appears in.)

Here's a little taste of what ZeroSpace is like, but I suggest going to the actual page to see it in action:

It's heavily heavily reminiscent of TFS, even just in the content warnings...

Not to mention the actual show content SFX:

However, the goal of TFS isn't to stretch our senses. We're just watching. We are not the volunteer seeing the other side.

For most of the show, that person is Henry (except the first 5 mins, when it's Cptn. Brenner and his crew literally experiencing the other side). Henry is doing the experiencing. He's the one breaking the fourth wall by picking at/breaking the sets, the one running through the audience and leaving out the theater doors (only to end up right back on stage just like El in the Rainbow Room in 4.05).

With each bit of info I find out adjacent to the play, the more convinced I am that this is some secret third boy's experience in a NINA-like simulation.

Overall—

a) TFS most likely isn't wholly real, and it seems very likely that it's the same kind of simulation as NINA.

b) El was probably drugged up with some kind of empathogenic psychedelic going into NINA, likely with the goal of setting her up to form emotional connections quickly and deeply only to rip that deep connection away in order to bolster her abilities.

c) NINA is not, then, wholly based in truth. Parts of NINA (staring at the bullying from 002-005) may have been generated from El's memories of the outside world.

d) With NINA and TFS seeming so similar, I wouldn't be shocked if parts of it are just one massive empathogen trip (staring at how quickly Henry and Patty bond, similarly to how quickly Henry and El bond in NINA).

e) Whoever is in NINA with teen El is also tripping balls, most likely, and may have gone off the rails in that regard. However, that's in a simulation...hard to assign guilt or blame for things done in a fictional/unreal world.

f) Whoever was with baby El in 1979 may have been in a similar situation "moving chess pieces"-style instead. Read: drugged in order to put him in a situation where he would bolster El's latent abilities...and it went wrong (see also: Walter Bishop's orchestrated/fake massacre meant to bolster Olivia's latent abilities.)

g) Richard Brenner having been the head of narcotics makes me question which Brenner we're seeing at any given time: Martin, or Richard?

[so-many-ocs]

a guide to formatting dialogue (it's harder than you'd think!)

a request from instagram that i'm posting here. buckle up, because this is a long one!

if a spoken sentence ends in a period, don’t use a dialogue tag. either replace the period with a comma or replace the dialogue tag with a separate sentence indicating a related action or description.

incorrect: “I need to go.” he said.

even more incorrect: “I need to go.” He said.

correct: “I need to go,” he said. or “I need to go.” He pushed back his chair and stood.

this rule does not apply to other types of punctuation such as question marks or exclamation points.

leave the dialogue tag lowercase, no matter what. (proper nouns remain capitalized)

incorrect: “When are we leaving?” She asked. ("She asked" is not a complete sentence)

correct: “When are we leaving?” she asked. (the line of dialogue is included in the complete sentence)

when formatting dialogue, you can add natural pauses by breaking up a spoken line with a dialogue tag or an action.

correct: “Wait,” they said. “I feel like this is getting overly complicated.” (within the lines of dialogue, ‘wait’ is its own sentence, so you use a period after ‘they said.’ you can remove the dialogue tag and it would be written like this: “Wait. I feel like this is getting overly complicated.”)

also correct: “I’m running out of sentence ideas,” they muttered, shifting in place, “but writing doesn’t sleep and neither do I.” (if you wrote the dialogue without the tag and action, it would look like this: “I’m running out of sentence ideas, but writing doesn’t sleep and neither do I.” adding the dialogue tag lengthens the natural pause created by the comma. also it’s 3am while i’m writing this. “go to sleep,” you say. to which i say, “did you not read my example sentence?”)

still correct i think (probably but english grammar is a total bitch): “I am going to stop now—” Here, she began rummaging through her bag, before producing a slender vial filled with shimmering liquid, “—and show you something of great importance.” (if you removed the interrupting action, the sentence would be written like this: “I am going to stop now and show you something of great importance.” there is no comma, so the pause being added is for effect, rather than for grammatical purposes. use an em dash (two hyphens, formats like: —) or ellipses (...). additionally, the action is its own separate sentence, rather than being attached to the dialogue as a tag, so it is capitalized.)

an additional note on em dashes: if they are used in a sentence, be it for an interjection, an interruption, a pause, or a secret fourth thing, there is no space before or after the dash. here’s an example from my wip: “Now, though—and overnight, it seemed—the two were acting as a unit, leaving her on the outside.”

if, for whatever reason, a character is speaking in paragraphs, the formatting gets a bit wonky.

“This is going to be the shortest example paragraph ever, but here goes. I am going to write three sentences so this qualifies as a paragraph. Two sentences might also qualify, but I am nothing if not committed to the bit. “New paragraph,” she continued, “same speaker. Wow, look, I incorporated an earlier concept to demonstrate it in a different context. How cool is that? You should totally follow whoever is posting such great writing advice.”

there is no end quote after the first paragraph, but there is a start quote at the beginning of the second paragraph. the end quote comes whenever the speaker is finished. why? i have no idea; i didn’t invent the english language, i just work here.

you can use colons and semicolons in dialogue. it gets a bit awkward, but we’ve just covered paragraph formatting, so how hard can it be?

correct: He asked: “What on earth are you talking about?” (colon in place of a comma when a dialogue tag is placed before the dialogue)

also correct: They said, “It’s getting late, isn't it?” (comma when a dialogue tag is placed before the dialogue)

incorrect: “What on earth are you talking about?”: he asked. (the question mark functions as a comma and eliminates the need for a colon. also, as a rule of thumb, the ending punctuation does not get placed outside of the quotation marks)

still incorrect: He asked; “What on earth are you talking about?” (use a comma)

you can also use colons and semicolons within lines of dialogue (as you would in a normal sentence)

stylistic choices

you do not have to use quotation marks in dialogue, but whatever you choose to do, do it consistently.

For example, some writers format their dialogue in italics, they said. But grammatical and punctuation rules still apply.

Others don’t use italics and just hope people can spot the dialogue or action tags, she supplied. This can get a bit confusing, but I think that’s the point.

— Some use dashes to indicate the start of a line of dialogue, and, of course, the standard varies from place to place and language to language.

‘Still more use single quotes,’ he offered, ‘though I’m not sure why. Maybe it looks better.’

that's it for now! really, you could probably write a book on this topic alone, and cover every minute detail of grammar within dialogue (how would one format an interrobang, i wonder?), but here's a kind-of-basic-but-still-dense guide :)

buy me a ko-fi | what's the deal with radio apocalypse?

[outlanderanatomy]

Good day, Diana fans!

On Sunday at Surrey International Writers’ Conference (SiWC) I was privileged to enjoy a long private  lunch with Diana!

Details about our “date” are posted below but first a bit of history. The first time I lunched with Diana was 2015, almost 10 years ago!

We met in Beaverton, OR, after she spoke at a fund raiser. We have met for lunch or drinks many times since then.

The last time we lunched was at 2022 New York Comic Con.  We began our outing by riding in a golf cart through the bowels of the Javits Center!

Posted onNovember 3, 2024

2024 SiWC – Diana Gabaldon “Endings”

Hallo the house!!! 😉

Greetings Diana fans! 🤗

Friday, October 26, was the first day of 2024 Surrey International Writers’ Conference (SiWC) in British Columbia. This is a wonderful gathering of seasoned writers and budding authors.

This is my fourth SiWC over the years. I attend to report on the events and see Diana. I do not plan on becoming a professional writer.

This post is about Diana’s SiWC workshop on Oct. 25, titled “Endings.”

Now, no need to panic. Diana’s presentation was not about the end of the Outlander book series –  not yet, anyway!!! 😱  

It was about how to write endings to all aspects of story telling including those of sentences, paragraphs, conversations, chapters, books, etc.

I found it extremely informative and I wager most in the room felt the same. Diana remains a fountain of imagination and information. 🤩

Diana entered the room with her favorite beverage in hand! 😄

Understand, these workshops are 1.5 hours long wherein she is the only speaker.  I suspect this wee “pick-me-up” helps her stand (mostly) still, essentially immobile and focussed while being pummeled with attendees’ queries! 😎

Unfortunately, I had some technical difficulties with this video recording so it is divided into three segments. 🙄

The first video is the introduction. She tells attendees that she is not going to teach the mechanics of how to write their stories but rather how to write about what happens in a way that keeps readers turning the page. 📖

She began by telling us she recently reread James Clavell’s 1975 book, Shogun. She selected this book because Clavell is a highly regarded author.

Upon opening the book, she immediately read both the first and the last sentences! She didn’t do this to spoil the book but for a scholarly reason: she is now writing what she expects will be the final Outlander book and she is putting serious thought into that last sentence of her epic book series. She is researching good examples. Hankies out! 😥

In the next segment, she talks more about Shogun. She considers its last sentence to be an excellent ending to this classic novel so listen to her read it.

In this third and final video segment, she talks about Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Romeo and Juliette.” Starting to weep, she explains that this story was not about crime or political power but about “Juliette and her Romeo. It is about love.” 🥰

She points out and explains that there are four types of book and chapter endings:

Resolution of conflict

Food for thought

Cliff hangers

Echos (e.g. epilogues)

She encourages writers to include pauses in their sentences, to use short sharp sentences in conversations, and try not to shake people out of the story with anything that might distract from the tale.

If your work presents a question, answer it rather quickly to keep readers engaged. (Now, I could make an issue here because upon occasion, Outlander readers have to wait 10 years and two or more books to get answers, but I won’t!) 😂

Question: Are your characters ever influenced by the show’s characters or do you keep them separate? Do you like the show’s characters better? No, she never confuses the two sets of characters and she likes hers best because she writes better dialogue. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Question: How do you decide what your characters will say? Her answer is she never tells her characters anything – they tell her what they will say, think, and do.

Question: Are you conscious of alliteration when you write? She said she was when first writing but incorporates it automatically now. Sometimes she goes back and grooms the alliteration if needed (alliteration is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words – e.g. the sweet birds sang softly).

This video segment stops when she begins reading an excerpt from book 10. It is an intimate exchange between Jamie and William! ❣️

She asked me specifically to remove this part before posting, so I have. I am very sorry that I cannot share it because it is tender, moving and poignant.😢

I feel sure she will share this as daily lines when she is ready. 💙

I hope you enjoyed Diana’s one person workshop. These are always worthwhile and I considerate it a privilege to attend them. 

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Video and Photo credits: Outlander Anatomy,

Posted onOctober 30, 2024

2024 SiWC Lunch with Diana!

Good day, Diana fans!

On Sunday at Surrey International Writers’ Conference (SiWC) I was privileged to enjoy a long private  lunch with Diana!

Details about our “date” are posted below but first a bit of history. The first time I lunched with Diana was 2015, almost 10 years ago!

We met in Beaverton, OR, after she spoke at a fund raiser. We have met for lunch or drinks many times since then.

The last time we lunched was at 2022 New York Comic Con.  We began our outing by riding in a golf cart through the bowels of the Javits Center!

We enjoyed a delish lunch at Hudson Yards. Her nails this day were a beautiful dusty blue. BTW, these are her natural nails, not gels!

After lunch, we parted near The Vessel. It was a beautiful but windy day.

I had not seen Diana during 2023 because I spent that year rehabilitating a shattered ankle and didn’t go anywhere. 🥲

All of that changed at 2024 SiWC!

We had a wonderful two hour lunch on Sunday.

As we waited in line to be seated, author Michael Slade walked up and asked in a booming voice why women’s conversations were more interesting than men’s. I said I thought it is because women talk about everything while men have a fairly narrow range of acceptable topics. I was thinking sports, hunting, fishing, etc., for the guys. What do you think?

Diana and I ordered lunch. We were joined for a while by her youngest daughter, Jen. Hi Jen! 🤗

Jen lives in Scotland with her hubby and Diana’s two grandsons. She flew over just to attend SiWC.  Sadly, she had to leave after a few minutes to catch her flight home. A delightful and very personable young woman. Mum was rightfully proud of her lovely daughter.

For the next 2 hours, we engaged in our usual discussion of far flung topics. Diana is very excited about Blood of My Blood (BOMB) and has written a couple of scripts for the show.  She also gave the writers the ideas for it (of course)! 🤗

I asked her why it has taken 1.5 years between 7a and 7b. She answered that they were timing the releases of BOMB and 7b so there would not be issues with overlap.

We talked about our parents, our children and our lives growing up, our homes, property and pets. She shared photos of her darling grandsons (she is hoping for more).

She then commented on the beauty of the red and black bracelet I was wearing.

I make my own jewelry and she has received a number of pieces from me in the past, such as this one from 2019! 🎁

Sorry the photo is grainy. This is the piece on a form before I gifted it to her!

Back to my story. I removed the bracelet and said “Shall we try it on you?” I put it on her and asked if it was too big. She said it fit perfectly so I said “It is yours.” She was pleased! ☺️

This felt uncanny because that very morning as I put the bracelet on, I thought, “I bet Diana is going to like this bracelet.”  Then, I asked myself,  “Do you want her to have it?” 🤔

Of course, the answer was “yes” as I can make myself another one. 😁

It made her happy! 🤗

She let me photograph (a tradition of mine) her new nail color, a beautiful lush red. She usually wears lavender, blue or green. I think the color looks great on her. She wears jewel tones very well! 😍 Psst….Isn’t her top lovely?

After two hours, she was tiring and I understood why. In just three days, she had done multiple events: Michael Slade’s Shock Theater, a library panel event, two solo workshops and an author’s panel. She also had done blue pencil events where she helps new authors with their work.

Her last 1.5 hour workshop occurred just before lunch and she had yet another event to attend that evening. The woman is a power house but she does need to rest sometimes! 😉

So we hugged and said farewell, until next time! 👋🏻

But wait! I have more. I will end my post with the next video.

Some of  you are aware that during SiWC Diana does philanthropic work in the British Columbia prison system. She teaches a master class on writing to the inmates. This year she was unable to work with them because the contact she needs to help her access the system sadly passed away. So, in the future, she must find a new sponsor.

Although I made this video in 2018, it gives you an idea of the important work that Diana does for people whose lives are impacted by incarceration. She teaches her class and then listens to their questions and comments. Based on these, she buys and donates books to the prison library to help them with their goals.

Her works are a good lesson in kindness to all of us. 🥰

Isn’t she the best? 🤩

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

[crybabyddl]

Tell Him

Mean!Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader x Eddie Munson

Warning: smut, threesome, references to cheating, mentions of manipulation, unhealthy relationship dynamics, voyeurism, cuckolding, sir kink, male masturbation, cum swallowing, degradation, praise, hair pulling, oral sex (m & f receiving), fingering (f receiving), p in v sex, swearing, humiliation, face slapping, spit kink, dacryphilia, pet names, name calling, single use of the word daddy (sorry!), modern setting, 18+ content. MDNI.

Author's Note: Can you tell I'm desperate for some debauchery? I need help. I hope you enjoy my first ever steddie x reader! For some reason, tumblr doesn't want me to indent my paragraphs or dialogue, so I apologize for that. I tried to redo it like, 3 times already, so I'm just gonna leave it. :(

--

"What the hell happened?" Steve runs a hand through his hair. "I was gone for like, five seconds!"

"Relax, man. It was an accident. I was chasing Y/N around the house and she slid and bumped into the end table." Eddie quickly comes to your defense, which you were grateful for. You didn't know if you could handle the embarrassment of admitting your mistake.

Steve eyes you questioningly, silently asking you if that was the case. You nodded, but averted your gaze downward, the wooden floorboards suddenly becoming extremely intriguing.

"God damn it. That was my late grandmother's. One of the only things I have to remember her by." The chestnut-haired man sighs dramatically, pacing in a circle before inhaling through his nose and putting his hands on his hips in annoyance.

"I'm so sorry Steve, I-"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Woah, Harrington," Eddie says, dumbfounded. "It was an accident. You don't need to make her feel any worse about it."

The metalhead knew better than to lay a hand on his friend's shoulder, despite the idea running through his head. Steve had been garnering quite the temper as of late, but Eddie hadn't yet figured out why.

"Don't tell me what to fucking do, Munson. I don't need advice from a low-life loser like you."

This was getting way too intense.

"Listen, man. Why don't you go outside and take a minute to cool off?" Eddie took an urging step forward, hoping it would convince Steve to do the rational thing.

"Why don't you and her go fuck yourselves," Steve took a bigger step, now chest to chest with the guy who was his best friend all of three minutes ago. "Or just go fuck each other. Isn't that what you two do now?"

"Sorry, what?" you piped up.

"Don't play dumb, Y/N, it doesn't suit you. You think I don't notice the way you look at each other?"

"Excuse me? Steve, I know I fucked up, but you're crossing a very weird, and frankly disrespectful line and I would appreciate it if you apologized."

"Yeah. Breaking a vase doesn't mean you get to berate us and accuse us of... having sex?"

The room was quiet for a brief, but anxiety-inducing moment.

"Wait, you guys aren't having sex?"

"No! What would even give you that idea? She's your girlfriend!"

"You two have been hanging out a lot more lately, and I just thought that-"

"Well you thought wrong, asswipe. I may not be having sex with Eddie, but I won't be having sex with you, either."

You stormed upstairs, completely done with the situation at hand.

"Y/N, wait. Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Steve attempted to go after you in an attempt to talk it through, but Eddie pulled him back by his forearm.

"Give her some space. You just flipped on her for breaking a piece of glass and accused her of cheating on you."

"But I-"

"Hate me all you want, but you know I'm right."

Steve went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, while Eddie went to find the broom and dustpan.

After cleaning up the broken glass, Eddie made his way upstairs. He found you on you and Steve's bed, face down on the comforter, sobbing.

"Hey, it's me. You gonna be okay?" you felt the bed dip as Eddie sat beside you, running a soothing hand up and down your back.

You flipped over and sat up, using the heel of your hand to wipe the tears from under your eyes.

"Yeah," you sniffled. "I guess so. I just don't know what's gotten into him lately. He's been so short with me, and nothing I say or do makes it better."

"He has been a real jerk, hasn't he?" The question was rhetorical, but you nodded. "Why don't we go get some ice cream? Give him some space to think. Give us some time away from that meanie. How 'bout it?"

Eddie clapped his palm down on your thigh.

It was done with the innocent intention of encouraging you to forget about your problems and have some fun with your friend, but it ignited a buzzing that went straight to your chest. It was hard to ignore, but you did your best to push it to the side.

"Uh, yeah. That sounds great. Let me just put on some actual clothes and I'll meet you downstairs."

"Sounds good," Eddie went to leave the room, about to shut the door behind him, but he stopped, turning to face you and resting his hand on the doorframe. "And don't even think of bringing your wallet. My treat, you hear me?"

His smile was making your heart race.

You always knew Eddie was an attractive guy, but why was he suddenly so alluring to you?

You shook your head in an attempt to rid the thought, but played it off as an act of amusement at his kind offer, laughing as you looked down at your lap.

"Thanks, Ed."

"Of course."

With that, he left you to get changed. As you pulled off your pajama shorts, you wondered if Steve's accusation was to blame for the lens you were currently seeing Eddie in. Whatever it was, you hoped it would pass. In the meantime however, you would use it to your advantage. If Steve was so sure that you were making eyes at Eddie right under his nose, why not let him be right?

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Where?"

"Ice cream. Don't wait up."

That's all you said to Steve before heading out the door, rounding Eddie's van to get to the passenger's side.

The drive to the ice cream parlor was short and quiet, save for the Metallica CD that softly played in the background as Eddie drove.

Once you arrived, Eddie told you to get anything you'd like. You told him you wanted a vanilla milkshake and he ordered it for you, along with a mint chocolate one for himself.

"Feeling a little better?" He asked, handing you a napkin and pointing to the left corner of his mouth. You wiped the same spot on yourself, nodding in appreciation.

"Yeah, definitely. Thanks again, Eddie."

"Sure thing, sweetness."

The nickname was nothing new, but it felt different than the other times you'd hear it coming from his mouth. His dark brown eyes quickly flickered down to his cup. He took a somewhat large sip.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

Eddie's gaze returned to you, his eyebrows holding slight concern.

"Why do you call me 'sweetness'?"

"Oh, well, because you're always so kind," he scratched the back of his neck. "So, uh, sweet." he gave a small, yet awkward smile.

"Fair enough. Can I ask you one other thing?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Would you want to help me get back at Steve for his little tantrum earlier?"

This practically made Eddie's ears perk up. He was a sucker for practical jokes, especially ones against Steve.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking about what he said, about how he sees the way we 'look at each other'. So why not prove him right? Why don't we make him think we've got the hots for each other?"

"What, like make him jealous?"

"Yeah, something like that. Really play it up. Act like you've been my boyfriend this whole time instead of him."

The look on Eddie's face is one of confusion and slight concern.

"I don't know if that's the best idea, Y/N. You saw how mad he was earlier, and that was without any evidence. Just imagine how pissed he'd be if you started acting extra sweet on me in front of him."

"Yeah, that's kinda the point."

Eddie sets down his milkshake on the picnic table you're sitting at and puts a leveling hand on your shoulder.

"I know you're mad at him, but you're not thinking rationally. All this would do is cause more hurt than there already is. Look, I get it. I really do. You want to make him feel what you felt so that you can call it even, but it doesn't work like that."

"He disrespected you too, Eddie. You're really going to let someone who's supposed to be your best friend get away with slinging harmful accusations at you and calling you names?"

"He didn't mean any of it, he was just angry at the time and-"

"Damn it, Eddie! He called you a low-life loser. That sounds like more than the usual 'dickhead' that gets thrown your way when the two of you bicker. You can't have him thinking it's okay to hurl insults at you just because he's mad about something."

"He doesn't mean it though. He wouldn't still have me around if he really felt that way."

"Well, if I know Steve, I'm assuming things only get resolved once you've apologized."

"Well, yeah. How else are thing gonna get be-"

"Has he ever once apologized to you?"

"Sure he has."

"Oh yeah? When?"

You can see Eddie searching his brain, flipping through each sour memory of him and his supposed 'best friend' arguing over trivial, and not-so-trivial things. He sighs defeatedly, proving your point.

"Okay, maybe he's not one to own up to his mistakes. But it's different with guys. We don't get vulnerable like that unless it's absolutely necessary. He apologized to you earlier."

You took a sip of your milkshake.

"Yeah, but that was only after he realized I wasn't gonna have sex with him."

"That can't be the reason why he apologized. Steve wouldn't do that."

"Steve wouldn't do that? The same Steve that used to leave girls on the curb if they didn't put out on the first date? That Steve?"

"He's not that guy anymore, and deep down, you know that."

"You sure? Because just last week he threatened to leave me at the mall because I didn't want to have sex in the changing room at Urban Outfitters."

"Jesus, Y/N. I didn't know he did that."

"Yeah. Not to mention the time I had to take a bus home after going to the movies because I told him he couldn't finger me during the Barbie movie."

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, I had no idea. What a fucking dick."

"I had a talk with him on Thursday about his temper, and he said he'd work on it. But after the stunt he pulled today, he deserves what's coming to him."

"Are you going to break up with him?"

"I thought about it, but I realized that he's only acting this way because he feels emasculated. I think that the whole 'King Steve' thing really messed with his ego, and now that that's gone, he feels inferior. So me denying him what he wants makes him feel even worse," you both got up and threw out your empty milkshake cups before walking over to the van. "But if I just leave him to handle that himself, he won't. He'll think it's okay and that I'll forgive him if it happens again. I've already made that mistake, so it's time I tried something else."

Eddie opens the door for you, and closes it before getting in on the driver's side. He buckles and turns the key, engine roaring to life.

"I totally support you teaching him a lesson, but I don't want to hurt him."

"Trust me when I say he'll be just fine. Sure, he'll be pissed, but he knows he deserves it and it'll put him in his place if he sees me giving you the attention he could be getting if he acted right."

"I don't know, Y/N."

"You'd be doing me a huge favor. Besides, is he really that far off the mark? You're an attractive guy. I've known that you've had a thing for me for a while now. I was too distracted by all this bullshit with Steve, but now I realize I have a thing for you too."

Eddie's eyes nearly pop out of his head.

"You do?" his cheeks are red, and when you reach out to caress his face, the skin is warm to the touch.

"I do. Now, here's what's gonna happen..."

--

As soon as you and Eddie get through the doorway, Steve's springing up from the couch and clambering around the furniture that stands in his way of you.

"Hey, listen, I just wanted to apologi-"

"Save it."

"Just hear me out, please. The only reason I freaked out so much was because I thought you and Munson were foolin' around."

With a newer, clearer lens on the situation, Eddie can't stand to listen to the excuses Steve pulls out of his ass.

"Jesus Christ, Harrington."

"What?" he crosses his arms.

"Nothing. I just thought you'd know better than to keep spewing this bullshit."

"And what bullshit am I spewing, exactly? What did you tell him, Y/N?" Steve looks over to you with a scowl, and you can't be bothered to hide the tiny smirk that plays on your lips.

Luckily, Steve had already redirected his pointed gaze back toward Eddie.

"She told me enough."

"Eddie, it's okay," you put a hand on his chest, calming his pretend anger. "I can handle it."

The action didn't go unnoticed by Steve, but he chooses to save his questions for another time, because you're taking a hold of his hands and telling him you forgive him. You share an eskimo kiss to really seal the deal.

"Thank you, darling. I knew you'd understand. Why don't we go upstairs and have some alone time, hm?"

He was falling perfectly into you and Eddie's well-laid trap.

"Oh, I'd love to Stevie, but I promised Eddie we'd watch an episode of Fallout." you give him a sympathetic look, one that you know will make him lose his mind trying to keep his composure as you break his expectations.

"Oh, well, okay. Whatever makes you happy, princess." You see him curling and uncurling his fists.

Eddie notices too, and shoots you an amused look.

"You're free to join us if you'd like," he says with an air of self-satisfaction. "We're cool, right?"

"Sure. We're cool." Steve's response is through gritted teeth, but you had to admit he was doing a great job keeping his cool compared to how volatile he was earlier.

You and Steve make your way to the couch, holding hands. But just as you sit down, Eddie announces he's going to the kitchen to make some popcorn.

Steve turns to you in hopes of stealing a quick kiss, but before he can, you've sprung up from your spot on the sofa.

"I can help!"

Just as you're about to prance over to where Eddie stood behind the counter, Steve's grip on your hand tightens, preventing you from walking any further from him.

"It's just popcorn, babe. Not a two man job." he tugs you back down on the couch, pressing a kiss to your temple.

A few moments later, Eddie's making his way back into the living room with three bowls of popcorn, setting each one down on the coffee table. He goes to sit in the recliner, making a show of plopping down in the chair and letting out a relaxed sigh.

"Eddie, honey, there's plenty of room over here! Why don't you come sit with us?"

He opens his mouth to respond, but before he can get a word out, Steve's taking the floor.

"He just sat down, don't make him get up- don't get up on her account, Munson."

"It's cool, man. The couch is way comfier. Besides, I wouldn't want to waste an opportunity to spend some time with my favorite girl."

Eddie's wearing a shit-eating grin as he sidles up to the couch, taking a seat right next to you. He leans all the way back, forcing Steve to remove his arm from around your shoulders.

"Your what-now?"

You looked over at Eddie, who--by the smile on his face--definitely caught the words grumbled under Steve's breath.

Throughout the nearly hour-long episode, you and Eddie would toss popcorn into each other's mouths, grab a hold of each other's arms when you laughed at a funny moment, and even leaned against each other when you were "feeling tired". Little actions that were amped up to look as flirtatious as possible to rile Steve up.

The whole time, Steve had a hold of your thigh, squeezing it and nudging you with his elbow while pointing to the screen to try and draw your attention back to the show. You'd shown him bits of affection in order to keep him baited on the hook, but you were much more generous with Eddie.

Once the episode ended, you grabbed the empty popcorn bowls and brought them to the kitchen and placed them in the dishwasher.

Steve took your bent-over state to his advantage, pressing himself up behind you.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself. Can I help you?"

"What, I can't express to my girlfriend how hot and sexy I find her?"

"You can, but Eddie's still here. It's not appropriate to do that while we have a guest."

"A guest? Since when is Munson considered a guest? Besides, he's in the bathroom; he takes ten days to finish up in there. How 'bout you and I do a load of laundry?"

He lifts you up onto the island, bunching your skirt in his fists and pushing the fabric up to your hips before gripping them tightly.

"Steve, not while Eddie's here."

"Are you still mad at me? Is that what this is?"

"No, I just don't feel like doing anything while he's here."

"You sure? Because you didn't seem to mind having him around when we were watching TV."

"We were watching a show, Steve. There's a difference between watching a show and fucking me on top of the dryer."

"I'll give you a show."

"Shit. Am I interrupting something?" Eddie's timing was nothing short of miraculous, having caught you two in quite the compromising position.

You tried to slide off the kitchen island, but Steve blocked you from doing so.

"Not at all, Eddie! We-"

"Yeah, actually. You are."

"Sh-should I go?"

"No, Eddie, please don't go!" you made sure to sound desperate, as if there was something Eddie had that you needed--and you supposed there was.

This was seemingly the last straw for Steve. Hook, line.

"Why do you want him here so bad? Isn't it enough you went out for ice cream with him?"

"Steve, it's not like that. I-"

"Oh, it isn't? Then what is it, huh?"

"I'm gonna see myself out." Eddie moves to grab his jacket off the back of the recliner.

"No." Steve yells sternly. "You're gonna stay right here and watch me as I show you what's mine."

"Steve!" you hissed in protest.

He ignored you while he removed your shirt. It wasn't until he pulled your panties down and sucked a couple hickeys into your collarbones that he responded.

"You want him so bad? Well here you go. He gets to watch me fuck your brains out. How's that for a show?"

"I don't know if I-"

"You're gonna stay right there if you know what's good for you, Munson." Steve gave a look that made chills form on the back of Eddie's neck.

"Okay," he rocked on his heels awkwardly, giving a tight-lipped expression. "Guess I'll stay here."

"You know what? No. Get your ass over here."

Eddie obeyed the man's order, timidly approaching the kitchen island. He didn't bother averting his eyes from your chest, your push-up bra leaving him wishing he could kiss the tops of your breasts. Thinking about sucking your nipples between his teeth made him strain against his pants.

"Eddie, don't listen to him, if you want to leave, feel free."

"Darling, I love you, but shut the fuck up before I spank your ass into next week."

Your parted lips closed at the vague threat, hoping it would satisfy the anger-driven madman that stood before you.

"You shouldn't talk to her like that. She's a lady, she deserves respect. Ain't that right, sweet girl?" Eddie comes to your defense, causing your heart--and pussy--to flutter as Steve shoves two fingers past your lips, telling you to suck them.

"Ha! What would you know about respecting women? You can't even get a chick to blow you after one of your lame-ass gigs."

"I know enough to get your girlfriend wet."

Steve pulls his fingers out of your mouth and uses his other hand to swipe your slit. When his fingers come back to his line of sight with your slick, he storms over to Eddie, grabs him by his arm and hauls him over to where the two of you were situated. Steve begins to play with your breasts, tugging and twisting at your nipples in a way that has you feeling desperate for more.

"If you're so good at making my girl wet, why don't you finish the job? You wanna make her cum? Be my fucking guest."

Something about the commanding tone of Steve's voice has Eddie hanging onto his every word, excitedly anticipating what he'll demand next.

"Fuck." Eddie can't suppress the groan that tumbles from his lips at the thought of getting you off with his own fingers.

But before he can do just that, Steve grabs you from the counter, carrying you up the stairs, Eddie following close behind, and practically tosses you onto the bed. Your boyfriend manhandles you with a gentle, yet strong force as he positions you on your hands and knees.

He takes off his shirt and unzips his pants, pulling them down along with his briefs.

"You gonna be a good little slut for me?" Steve grabs your face with one hand, causing your lips to pucker for him.

You nod.

"Yes, yes sir."

"Sir?" Eddie says incredulously.

He wasn't expecting that.

"Is there a problem?" Steve shoots a glare in Eddie's direction.

"No, no, not at all," Steve arches an eyebrow, eyeing Eddie in a way that makes his cock twitch. "Sir."

"That's what I thought. Now, get over here and make her cum until she cries."

You'd gotten Steve right where you wanted him. Hook, line, and sinker.

Eddie wastes no time, going to the opposite side of the bed and feeling up your ass. You feel like you're high, floating on the feeling of someone new touching you so intimately, but you're brought back to Earth with a harsh tug on your hair, bringing your face flush with Steve's stomach.

"I don't have all day. Make yourself useful, whore."

You kiss down Steve's happy trail, your body hot with desire. Eddie's still fondling and squeezing your butt. But just as you start licking Steve's swollen cock, his best friend's hand comes down onto your ass, eliciting a moan that makes Eddie's cock swell unbearably against his jeans.

He undoes the button and zipper, bending down to free his ankles from the suddenly all-too-restricting fabric. He takes off his boxers next, and decides to forego his shirt as well, leaving him in just his socks, his rings, and the guitar pick suspended around his neck.

Steve decides you've had enough time to fool around, and forces his hard-on into your mouth. He allows you to acclimate to the size, bobbing your head up and down in short strokes, using your hand to pump what wasn't enveloped by your soft lips. It's then that Eddie presses a ringed finger against your slit, causing you to gasp.

Steve uses this opportunity to shove his dick farther down your throat. You can feel him so far down, as if you were trying to swallow him entirely. You gag, causing saliva to pool in your mouth. But it only makes you that much more eager to please him. You know your limits, and you take him as far as you can without gagging every time.

"See, this is what you're good for. Not making the moves on Munson; sucking my dick until you cream yourself. You like taking my dick like a slut?"

You moan around his length.

"God, you are so fucking good at that. Too bad you're such a fucking bitch to deal with."

"Is he being mean to you, sweetness?" you can only hum in response, Steve creating a relentless rhythm with your head. "I'm gonna make you feel so good, you'll forget all about that asshole."

Eddie pushes a finger into your wetness, the cool metal of his ring heightening the sensation.

In an act of defiance, you pull away from Steve and crawl towards Eddie, pulling him into a heated kiss. You're on your knees in front of him as your tongues swipe along each other's lips, and you can't resist the urge to tangle your fingers in his hair.

"God, Eddie. Want you to fuck me so bad."

He gropes your breasts, barely even registering when Steve fixes your hair.

"That so? Want me to make Harrington watch as I give you what you've been missin'?" Eddie looks to your boyfriend, who just shrugs nonchalantly, giving him the go-ahead.

"Please, Eddie. Need you in me."

"Shh, I'm getting there. Just be patient, angel. Think you can do that for me?"

You nod as Eddie takes one of your nipples into his mouth, your heading fall back in ecstasy. He's supporting your back while his tongue swirls around the sensitive bud, making sure to give each breast equal attention.

"You have the most beautiful tits I've ever seen." his praises only strengthen your desire.

Eddie kisses down your torso, sparking little fires along the trail of his lips. When he reaches your pubic bone, your hips buck involuntarily, causing him to chuckle at your eagerness.

"Sorry Eddie, I-"

"No, no need to be sorry sweetness. Just wanna make you feel good. I'm right here. 'S'it okay if I taste you?"

"F-fuck, yeah."

That's all Eddie needs to hear before lifting the hood of your clit and placing a gentle kiss upon it. His lips are so soft and it feels like he's connected you to a live wire. As much as he wanted to take his time and savor you, he can't help but lick at your pussy like a man starved.

His tongue is still languid despite his fervor, and you feel your orgasm creeping up.

"Eddie, you're gonna make me cum."

"Cool it, Munson. She's not a lollipop." Steve remarks as he jerks himself with his fist.

Eddie reluctantly detaches his mouth from you, his lips shiny with your arousal.

"She tastes just like one," he runs a hand over your hair. "Did so good for me, angel."

"Are you that much of a whore that you'll let Munson taste your pussy?" Steve grabs you by the shoulder, making you face him.

"He's better at it than you are."

"Oh," Steve looks like he's ready to chop Eddie's tongue off. "Well if he's so good with his mouth, why don't I have him do what you couldn't?"

"Stevie, what are you-"

"I'm sorry, who?" his eyes were practically ablaze.

"Baby, I promise I'll do a better job this time."

Steve yanks you by your hair, lowering his face to meet yours.

"Open that dirty mouth," he orders. "Do it. Now, bitch."

You comply, parting your lips. You're expecting him to shove his dick in your mouth, but when he stands up straight, he spits onto your tongue.

"Swallow," you close your lips. "I said swallow." He punctuates his demand with a harsh slap to your face.

You swallow.

"So you can follow orders," Steve turns his attention towards his friend. "On your knees, freak. Don't make me say it twice."

Eddie feels compelled to heed his words, moving to stand by Steve before dropping to his knees.

"I've never done this before. What do I-"

"Oh, shut up. If that cum slut can do it, so can you," Steve tilts Eddie's chin up with his thumb and forefinger. "You'll probably do even better, 'specially with that big mouth of yours."

The man on his knees is left speechless as his best friend reaches down and tugs his bottom lip.

"C'mere and kiss me, baby."

You inch closer to Steve, kissing his lips before leaving tiny pecks along his jaw and all over his face and neck. You let your tongue trace the shell of his ear, tugging gently with your teeth. Meanwhile, Eddie's taking Steve with no problem.

"Fuck, Stevie. That is so hot. Oh my god." you're breathless as you watch Eddie deepthroat your boyfriend like it's the last thing he'll ever do.

He's gagging, but it doesn't stop him from taking Steve's cock like a fleshlight. He reaches up to fondle his balls, earning a whiny groan.

"Yeah, just like that. You got it," Steve encourages, gripping Eddie's hair tightly as he fucks his mouth at a relentless pace. "Just imagine what your little nerd friends would think, if they saw their precious Dungeon Master on his knees sucking off King Steve."

Eddie moans desperately around Steve's cock.

"Sir, don't tease him. He's giving you what you want, isn't he?"

Steve scoffs.

"Certainly better than you ever did, but giving me what I want isn't a favor. That's the bare minimum. Though, I didn't expect you to know that, dumb slut."

Steve is close to the edge, and with a series of intense bobs of Eddie's head, he's cumming on his face.

"Yeah, take my cum like a pathetic little bitch. So fucking obedient for me, aren't you?"

"Yes sir," Steve looks at him with conviction as the last drop of his cum lands on the metalhead's chin. "ThAnk you, sir." Eddie didn't mean for his voice to crack, but it seems to satisfy Steve, a smug smirk resting upon his lips.

Eddie grabs his underwear to wipe his face. While his eyes are blinded by the fabric of his boxers, a firm hand grasps his dick.

"Since you did such a good job being my little bitch, I'll let you fuck her. How's that sound? You wanna show her how a freak like you abuses a tight cunt like hers?"

"God, please."

"You're pathetic. How 'bout you beg some more, dumbass?"

"Fuck," Eddie whines eagerly. "Please sir, let me fuck her, please!"

"Go ahead. You clearly need it more than I do."

Eddie joins you on the bed, immediately kissing your lips with desperation. He reaches down to draw his fingers along your pussy, pressing his rings against the heated skin.

"You have no idea how badly I've wanted this."

"Fuck, Eddie." you mewl as he collects your wetness on his index finger and nudges it against your clit.

"Want me to make you cum, sweet girl?"

"Yes. Please God, fuck yes!" you cry out as he plunges a finger into your wet cunt.

"Is Munson your God now? Gonna make you squirt all over his fingers like an easy, useless whore?"

"Please, Master. I'll be so good, I promise!"

"Oh, you sweet, pretty thing. Of course. I'll give you anything you want as long as you keep being a good girl for me." He continues pumping his finger, and right before your eyes squeeze shut in pleasure, you seem him attach his mouth to your clit.

"Fuck! Eddie!"

"Hold it, Munson." Steve barks.

Eddie halts his movements, causing you to whine at the loss of contact.

"His name isn't Eddie, you know that," Steve lectures you before turning his attention to his friend. "You can't let her get away with that. If she doesn't call you by your name, she doesn't get a damn thing. Got it?" Eddie nods. "Good. Now like I said, make her cum until she cries."

"Yes sir."

"Good boy."

That made Eddie's dick dribble with pre-cum. He used the pearl of his seed to lubricate your cunt, sliding his tip along your slit.

"Gonna be a tight fit, angel. You ready?"

"Doesn't matter if she's ready. Stick it in."

Eddie listens to Steve's command, sheathing his dick inside you. He's stretching you out in a painful, yet blissfully dizzying way.

"God, fuck. So big."

"Christ, you're so warm and tight. Shit, it's so nice and wet, practically suffocating me."

"Pull it out, freak," Steve instructs, his tone a bit kinder, but still stern. "There you go. Now slap it against her clit. She loves that."

Eddie's cock is covered in your juices as he taps the tip of his cock against your pussy, making a deliciously wet slapping sound. You whine at the stimulation, earning praises from your boyfriend's best friend.

"You look so precious like this, sweetheart. Doing so good for me, so good." Eddie positions himself so he can line himself up at with your entrance, allowing your pussy to swallow his dick.

He sets a faster pace than before, taking you by surprise. He's pressing kisses to your forehead as he strokes and rubs circles into your clit with his fingers.

"Please, Master."

"What is it, angel?"

"Don't stop. Please, God, don't stop. F-feels so good." You're moaning after each sentence, your words slurring together.

"You getting cock-drunk from Munson's pencil dick?" Steve berated. Eddie's dick was anything but a pencil. "Like getting fucked by a freak? Loser whore. Just an easy slut, letting a loser pound you like a cocksleeve."

"Fuck, fuck! Please, Master."

"I'm close, sweetness. Just a bit longer, okay? You can do it." Eddie's gripping your hips as he fucks into you at a brutal pace.

"You better pull out." Steve warns, smacking your tits with the back of his hand. He pinches your nipples harshly between his fingers.

"I will- fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Eddie is brutally pistoning in and out of you, the sight and sound of your skin slapping getting Steve hard again. Eddie squeezes his hand around your throat, releasing his grip after you moan at the feeling of lightheadedness.

"I'm gonna cum, daddy."

"Daddy? Shit, baby. Cum on my cock."

The coil within you snaps and you feel yourself squirting as your cunt convulses around him.

"Fuck!" you whine, tears flowing from your eyes as Eddie continues to have his way with you.

"Shit, shit, shit! Fuck, I'm gonna cum-"

Eddie quickly pulls out, lightly slapping your pussy before releasing on your chest with a strangled whimper.

After giving you a few minutes to come down from your highs, Steve speaks up.

"Alright, you two go take a shower, I'll change the sheets."

"Come on, sweetness. I'll help you." Eddie picks you up, carrying you bridal style to the bathroom.

After you finish showering, Steve rinses himself off. You all end up falling asleep in the king-sized bed, limbs tangled around each other.

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