#apologies for this being v delayed tho

[stilledlife]

no matter its lack of current practical utility, having a camera in his hands makes stefano genuinely feel more confident and at ease. even now, it makes him far more tolerant for the continuance of the situation at hand—and having joseph along helps, of course.

"i'm more of a traditional type, honestly," he admits. "there's just something about developing my own photographs that i find..." he pauses a moment, as if not quite sure how to phrase it. "...soothing, i suppose."

stefano follows after joseph, handing over the leadership position once again. "we can do whatever you prefer. after all, you are the investigator here." in his experience, it's often easier to get along with people (and convince them to forgive your past transgressions) when you acquiesce to their perceived authority. and, arguably, joseph might have a better sense of where to go next.

he lifts the camera to his eye, capturing joseph in the viewfinder for just a moment, but doesn't take the shot. just looking, for now.

"...if you do not mind me asking," he adds, tentatively changing the subject, "why did you decide to become a detective?"

he lowers the camera, giving what joseph might say next his full attention.

stefano appears from the shadows of the — hallway? joseph assumes it's a hallway of sorts, given how long he's gone — just as quickly as he disappeared into them. "i didn't know what else to talk about," he explains, halfway apologetic. the mention of gifts is a welcome, albeit perplexing, change of topic.

joseph takes the skeleton key from stefano's hand as he offers it, lifting it to cast it a cursory glance. it's a regular key, however old it may appear to be. there's nothing of note about its appearance. "for the door at the end, if i had to guess." although that doesn't help them with the locked doors, if they're meant to go into them. a master key?

as he thinks over the key, he turns his attention to the instant camera in stefano's grasp. "from your tone, i take it that's not your preferred model?" he's being deliberately, if only lightly, ironic — a strange touch of normalcy. besides the instant camera looking out of place in stefano's hands, even without knowing much about photography he knows that they're not known for their quality.

he starts making his way to the door of this room, looking back at his notes. "should we check the other doors?" he asks, although he suspects the answer will be no, if his understanding of stefano from what he's observed thus far is correct.

[darthmaulification]

hey!! just saw you are taking requests YAY🤍 i love how you write in general but specifically for maul so this will be about him🥴 i was thinking about maul getting insecure and jealous because of an interaction that the reader(f or gn i don’t mind) had with sb(i’ll let that to u heheh) so starting off with an angry maul, pretty angsty, and then all ✨smutty✨ naturally lmao, finishing off with reassurance and fluff bc i’m a sensitive bitch😗✌🏻. also, i imagine this with maul and reader not being in an established relationship but crushing on/having feelings for each other but if you choose to change that that’s fine hahah and yeah, that’s it!! hope you like the idea and if you’re not convinced feel free to ignore this, i’d love anything you write anyways😬🤍

A/N: lol apologies for the delay lolololol 🤪 life is... sehr interessant atm 💀

BUT! i finally finished this!! and am proud that i did!!! 😊💕

i hope this makes up for the wait, anon, i really do. thank you for your patience! 🥺🤲💞

(btdubs, i know the character i chose to be reader’s past flame kinda sorta really doesn’t work AT ALL in the context of canon, so let’s all agree to not read far into that lmao.)

hope you enjoy! kiitos! 💗

content: a mixed bag, afab!reader (no pronouns or gendered terms used tho), jealous maul (because when is he not smh 🙄), pining, pre/new relationship, arguments and fighting, two idiots not knowing how to talk abt theys feels, making up, heart to heart chats y’know, and then fucking, making out, very very slight public embarrassment (like hardly any), marking/biting, oral sex (f receiving), p in v sex (unprotected), cum

word count: 9,570

The Sundari Palace has never been this lively, and that you can say with certainty.

Packed like sardines in a tin, people of all species mingle in the throne room, all of them high ranking officials, diplomats, and a select few... underground higher-ups you recognize from Crimson Dawn meetings. It’s beyond rare that you’ve had such an opportunity to socialize, and it’s even rarer that today isn’t for any of Maul’s Mandalore related business nor his side hustle. In fact, today’s technically all about you.

The birthday celebrations haven’t commenced quite yet, but the amount of well-wishes and gifts you’ve received makes you wonder just how big a party was planned for you. The thought is somewhat peculiar, considering you’re only one of Maul’s advisors (not that he even utilizes your advice all that often).

Speaking of the crimson-skinned Zabrak, your eyes scan the noisy, crowded room until you catch sight of him at the opposite side. Maul is conversing with two towering Trandoshans, probably business partners of the illicit sort, his hands clasped behind his back. Though he usually opts to go completely shirtless (for whatever reason) tonight he wears inky black robes and a floor length, maroon velvet cloak.

The colors suit, shades of red and black that make him appear equal parts dangerous and charming. A dark prince, he looks like desire itself.

Deep inside you, something twinges, and you want to run over to him and tell Maul how gorgeous he is. You want him to know how badly you’ve ached for him, and how appreciative you are for him, and everything else good and holy in the galaxy... but you can’t.

He’s your employer— your Lord. It would be inappropriate at the least and insubordination at its worst for you to approach the Mand’alor in such a way.

Maul makes it hard though, seeing that he treats you as well as he does his brother, that you needn't ask for a thing. He gave you a room in the Palace, an awfully exorbitant pay for your rather miniscule data job, and has left you with more fleeting touches than you can count.

A brush of his hand on your back, words whispered close to your ear during Crimson Dawn debriefs, smoldering glances, his fingers tucking your hair behind your ear...

It's hard not to feel something for Maul when all he's ever done is a gift.

You wonder what you mean to him, because surely it's something more- you want it to be something more. But doubt always rears its head every time you catch a nameless fling stagger from his personal quarters late at night, looking disheveled, all while Maul looks on, immensely satisfied.

The twinge grows stronger, and you look away to force it back down into the deepest part of your heart. As you shuffle to the table where platters of food promise you some emotional relief, you work hard at squashing your feelings. It doesn’t work, not even when a passing waiter droid offers you a glass of champagne which you down in one gulp.

“Maker.” You grumble to yourself, picking up a strange-looking pink cube off a platter and bringing it to your lips. Before taking a bite, the distinct impression that you’re being watched starts to creep up on you, making it feel like you’re tingly all over. You lower the cube, and turn.

“By the Stars!” A voice from afar exclaims, a voice that makes your mind buzz with recognition. Your head turns in the direction from which it came, and when you see the tall figure approaching you, your jaw drops in shock. A very familiar Nautolan, one with the brightest, most wonderful smile plastered on his bright, wonderful face.

“Kit!” You cry, a grin blooming across your face as you open your arms (accidentally dropping the sweet) and run straight into his. He laughs— that same, beautiful laugh exactly how you remember!— and pulls you close. As you dig your face into his chest, you inhale deeply and almost weep, because he even smells the same— a curious mix of sea salt, pine, and something sharp, like mint. It’s all uniquely him.

“Starfish.” Kit sighs the pet name into your hair, and it almost has you shivering at the memories attached. You haven’t been called that name in years, not since Kit... 

“I thought you perished on Coruscant.” You murmur into the soft satin shirt he’s wearing, hugging him tighter to stave off the ache of the thought. Kit stiffens slightly, pulling back so that you’re able to look up at him, and the grin on his face slips into a small, melancholic frown. A distant look overtakes his eyes, a stillness in their inky depths that is so unnatural to him.

“Yes, I... It was...” He goes quiet then shakes his head, long tendrils trembling as he forces himself back to the sunny disposition you remember. The switch ignites deep empathy and curiosity within you, but the pain in his eyes stops you from pressing any further. “A conversation for another time”, is the sentiment left unsaid.

“Well... it is so so wonderful to see you again, Kit.” You say softly, cupping his cheek with your hand, his chartreuse skin cool and semi-damp beneath your palm. It reminds you of a time before, distant memories that your mind had hidden under lock and key. In all honesty, after Coruscant, after... everything that happened, you had honestly tried your best to forget your past lover.

It wasn’t that you wanted to, but when the mind seeks self-preservation, and the soul seeks solace, yours acted no different.

“It’s wonderful to see you too.” Kit replies, his voice quiet and tentative, his pitch black eyes downcast, only briefly. When he looks up again, the beaming sunshine smile is back full force, and the haunted expression on his face has been drowned out by its light. 

“How have you been? I had no idea that you’d gone to Mandalore— I always thought your dream destination was Canto Bight?” Kit teases, dodging your elbow when you try to land it into his side. You knew he knew your absolute displeasure at that deplorable city, especially with it’s treatment of children. 

“Dirty liar! No, it is not!” You laugh, attempting to slap him lightly on the shoulder, but once again Kit dodges your half-hearted assault, chuckling himself. This time though, he grabs your hand, encasing your fingers with his. The tender touch honestly has the apples of your cheeks heating up, and you stare at his long, green fingers. They look the same, claws and all, but this time you do spot newer scars on his knuckles.

You want to kiss them better, as you had always done before, but this isn’t the past anymore.

“Kit...” You try not to sound overly exasperated, or disappointed, but the second his name passes your lips like that, Kit releases your hand, falling silent. His drop to his sides, then he shifts and clasps them behind his back. The mood immediately changes, the joviality dissipating to a dispirited awkwardness.

“I... apologize. We, um, we don’t—” Kit shakes his head in embarrassment, tendrils swaying, cheeks darkening slightly. Wanting to salvage the moment, you force a wide smile on your face and wave a hand nonchalantly. It’s hard, harder than you’d ever anticipated.

“Kit, believe me, it’s fine.” You insist, doing your best to keep your tone cheery, “What brings you to Mandalore?”

The pivot in subject is hardly subtle, but if Kit notices he doesn’t say, probably for his sake and yours. Though when the question processes, you’re intrigued to see Kit go a bit sheepish.

“Uhh... For business?” He glances everywhere but you, the terrible actor he is, and you raise an eyebrow. Crossing your arms over your chest, you take a step and Kit takes one back. It must look positively amusing, a human such as yourself making a towering Nautolan look small.

“Kit Fisto.” You warn, though there’s really no bite to it, but you are curious. Kit meets your gaze, all owlish and meek, and does that thing where his lip quivers when he wants to say something so badly, but is forcing himself not to. You’ve got him locked in the stare, and you know he wouldn’t be able to look away even if he tried. His mouth opens to speak.

“I’m—”

“Who is this?” Both you and Kit jump, heads simultaneously whipping to the side to see Maul standing at your sides. A glower is on his face, more so directed at Kit, and his hands are hidden behind him, underneath his ornate cloak. Jumping into action, and gathering yourself all the same, you clear your throat and gesture to Kit.

“O-Oh! My Lord, this is—” You get interrupted when Kit takes a step, somewhat jutting out in front of you. 

“Kit Fisto, Lord Maul.” He says smoothly, putting on the voice he once used for Senators on Coruscant, all chivalry and semi-forced politeness. Interestingly enough, his tone also sounds a bit challenging, and you can’t imagine why. Your brow furrows, especially upon watching Maul’s eyes ignite at the provocation, his sneer deepening.

“Yes... Kit Fisto... I do think I know that name.” Maul hums, Kit’s name rolling off his tongue as slickly as honey but as bitter as poison. The antagonism isn’t something you miss, nor does Kit, given how the tall Nautolan seems to puff up, shoulders setting. He and Maul glare at one another, fiery gold clashing with inky black. Maul’s hands drop to his sides, and the tension swells.

You catch sight of silver glinting at his hip.

“Really? Have you both met before?” You ask before someone decides to take the next step, haphazardly placing yourself semi-between Maul and Kit. It’s then you notice Kit also has a hilt on his belt, his hand awfully close to it. The tension breaks somewhat, but it still simmers in the air. Kit turns his attention to you and goes to say something, but Maul beats him to it.

“A mutual friend, so to speak.” The Zabrak replies evenly, straightening his posture and lifting his chin, the epitome of dignified class. You nod, not really buying it, but the alternative of questioning might bring more problems than it’d solve. How Maul and Kit once knew each other gives you the impression that it wasn’t in good terms, based on the hostility between them. A mystery to solve for another time, you decide.

“Well!” Kit booms suddenly, clapping his hands together once, and causing you to jump. His sunny grin returns, as does the otherwise lighthearted and jovial Kit you’re used to, although it seems a tad strained. The green Nautolan turns to you, and his smile drops a bit as he takes your hands in his.

Maul glares daggers.

“I must be going, unfortunately.” Kit says quietly, and a twinge of sadness pricks at your heart, your lips dropping into a frown. You want to protest— He’s only just reappeared after all— but whatever matters that seemed to have brought your beloved Kit back to you will pull him away all the same. 

“Must you?” You whisper, eyes glossy, and you search Kit’s face for any answer except the one you’re dreading to hear. He looks pained, and won’t meet your eye, his gaze cast down at his hands holding yours. He rubs small circles on your knuckles, only twice, then stops.

“I...” Kit trails off, glancing at you then to Maul, who sneers, then back to you, “Yes. I can’t stay in many places for long.”

You bite your lip, and the plead to make him stay, and nod nonetheless. Kit finally meets your eyes, and his eyes— above all else, in spite of everything— are kind.

“We’ll meet again, starfish, I’m sure of it.” And with that Kit brings your knuckles to his lips, where he places a soft kiss upon them, his touch cool like sea breeze. You smile, and Kit does too, like he did all those years ago when you had first parted ways— The small, sad one that holds so much hurt that Kit doesn’t want you to see, but what his innate optimism can’t hide.

History is doomed to repeat itself, you suppose as you watch your fingers slip from Kit’s hand, the loss all too familiar.

“Mand’alor.” Kit dips his head to Maul, and the two imperceptibly size one another up again as the Nautolan passes him. It takes a lot to pull your eyes away from Kit’s retreating form, but you do, because you have to, and drag your attention back to Maul.

“I see you and him are far more acquainted than I initially realized.” Maul snaps, turning his withering glare to you, catching you completely off guard. He pivots harshly on his heel, practically stomping his way towards a discreet balcony and shoulder-checking a guest on the way. You frown, the anger that rises in you driving you to follow.

Maul weaves through the swathes of people, and you do too, almost losing him a couple times with all the sharp turns he takes. Finally, after you’ve burst out from the middle of a group of Twi’lek dancers, you catch sight of Maul at the edge of the balcony, alone.

He’s shrouded with the night’s shadows, his dark robes and sweeping cloak making him appear phantomic. His back is to you, one of his hands on the balcony’s silver railing, the other behind his back in a fist. Even from a distance you can tell his shoulders are tense, hackles raised, and the anger rolls off of him in waves. Like a cobra coiled to strike— volatile.

“Maul—” You start as you approach, but the Zabrak slams his crimson and black hand on the railing, cutting you off with a hefty thunk. The loud noise makes you jump, and pause in your tracks, though only briefly. Stomping up to him and just as you get close, Maul whirls around, his cloak billowing in the sudden breeze. The blistering flames of his eyes catch your attention first, their raging fury, then does the pain laced in them.

“What is with you?” You confront, arms flying up in exasperation, then falling down to your sides in defeat. Gaze searching Maul’s face for any type of answer, you watch his lips part then close to a tight line. He frowns and his brow furrows, curling in his midnight tattoos tight. 

“Nothing of your concern!” Maul snaps in reply, and he turns his head from you and you almost have it in you to laugh when you see his lower lip jutting out like a child’s. He’s pouting, your esteemed leader and Lord is pouting.

“Obviously, it is of my concern considering this how you act with me.” You snort, rolling your eyes and crossing your arms over your chest. Honestly, the Zabrak could be the most stubborn person you know— as absolutely, utterly stubborn as a sleeping bantha. 

This time, it’s his turn to scoff, and Maul shakes of his head as he turns away from you. He starts to head in some direction away from you, but you reach out and grab his bicep before he can storm off.

“Maul—!” He shakes off your grip, but you hastily grab at him again. Maul whips his head around, eyes blazing as he snarls, “What?”

For a second you recoil, eyes blowing wide, but you hastily regroup yourself. Hand still on his arm, you take a step towards him and gently rest your other hand on his closest to you. Your fingers drape over the fist his hand is clenched into, the black leather taut under your touch. Nearly imperceptibly, his hand is quivering— from rage or sorrow, you aren’t exactly sure.

“Please. What’s wrong?” You ask softly, taking a risk and stepping closer, trying to smother the apprehension building inside you at getting so... close to Maul. You definitely are invading his personal space, but he doesn’t move, nor does he say anything up it. In fact, you’re so close to him you can smell the cologne he uses— a heady scent that reminds you of the heat of flames, spice, and the tang of turmeric.

A long stretch of near-silence ensues, the background noise of the party only a handful yards away making the contemplative look on Maul’s face all the more potent. He sighs, low and almost silent through his nose, and his other hand rises to run down his face. When it passes, the look in his eyes has hardened, and the elegant stoicism has returned full force.

“Nothing.” He replies, his tone clipped and overly neutral in the way that he once told you, on an equally warm, equally starry night as this one, that he had been forcibly trained to use for when he obeyed the commands of his former Master. It reminds you of that night, when you both sat on a bench, and exchanged secrets and trust.

It was also the night Maul told you, “You have a kind heart”. He hasn’t told you that since.

“... Is it Kit Fisto?” You ask the obvious, knowing that the answer is Yes, but at the same time you don’t want to assume while simultaneously wanting Maul to say it himself. He dips his head and his eyelids fall heavy over his eyes, and it’s then you notice how they glow in the shadows.

Maul and you... your relationship is strange, to say the least. It’s no secret he favors you compared to many others— Gar, Almec, no other holds your status— and it’s no secret that both of you have noticed. You’ve tried to decode what it all means, every gentle touch and kind word that Maul has delivered to you, but there’s always something missing, something left unsaid or undone that unravels it all.

It’s a dance, a strange, confusing dance.

“It is.” And the confession passes his lips in a whisper, and you nod, pursing your lips. Inhaling shakily, and wanting to salvage whatever you may have had with Maul, you begin to explain,

“Kit and I were once a... thing, but that time has passed.” You start, and all the memories of Kit and yours stupid, reckless, young, amazing love make you equal parts happy and sad, “But we aren’t anymore. We agreed a long time ago that our futures didn’t align.”

Even after so many years, the words still choke you despite the break-up being mutual and amicable. Yes, you loved Kit once, and he loved you, but love also has the tendency to be fleeting, and while it was strong between you and Kit for a little while, it left when it was meant to... when it was safe to. Despite yourself and your better judgment, tears sting the backs of your eyeballs, and you blink rapidly to hold them at bay.

“But I still sense the ache in your heart. Why?” Maul asks, his golden stare meets yours, pointed and accusing. You can’t help but frown, and the sorrowful anger that starts to simmer in your chest makes your tears evaporate. Though it doesn’t even get close to boiling over, and instead hums beside your heart.

“It’s hard to admit when love dies, my Lord.” You reply, and you hope you didn’t spit it out as bitterly as you thought you may have, but the tone of your voice seems to be less than a concern for Maul. Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem offended, nor does he seem angered, and instead the crimson Lord has the maturity to dip his head respectfully.

“I... understand. I should not have behaved myself as I did previously.” He finally admits after a long stretch of silence, glancing to the party he stormed out of and then to the dent his fist left on the durasteel railing. The admittance does actually soothe you somewhat, though your heart still bristles at your past relationship being scrutinized and judged.

"No, you shouldn't have. I should never feel the need to defend who I’ve loved, and why I loved them." You reply, arms crossed tight over your chest defensively. Maul frowns, 

"I know, I was-" Maul pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs harshly, "I was just jealous."

He admits it through grit teeth, looking and sounding as though the confession brought him physical pain.

"Why?" You breathe, thinking of all those men, women, and everyone else in between that have, presumably, found themselves in Maul's bed before you. And now you feel jealous yourself, catching him with some arm candy time and time again has worn you down. Anger that had been simmering inside you begins to boil, making your face feel hot.

But guilt does too, because hadn’t you just had to justify your love life to him? Maul shouldn’t have to do the same with you. It’s a nasty mix of too many human emotions that broil inside you and eat at your heart. It feels vindictive.

"You are... important to me." Maul replies, and this time your anger doesn't evaporate the tears behind your eyes, because this time they fall past your lashes before you can stop them. Hastily wiping them away as they fall, you glare at Maul.

"In what way? In a business way? In a friend way? How, Maul?" With each frantic question your voice rises in octave, and the tears keep falling. It’s at this moment, tears streaking down your cheeks, that you realize you’ve never cried in front of Maul like this— let alone anyone. Shame forces you to turn around, fixing your blurry stare on the distant horizon.

Behind you, Maul says your name and it carries in the wind. In your mind, you watch it manifest on the cool night breeze and be carried far away from the Sundari Palace, floating by each skyscraper in its path before being plunged to the ground. After a few long seconds, Maul says your name again and this time something in his voice changes and this time you catch your name in your palms.

“I don’t know who I am to you, Maul.” You say softly, lifting your fingers to your cheeks and wiping away tears and streaks of mascara, “And it hurts because I want to be your—”

A very specific word rests on your tongue, but it’s a word that feels too powerful to say, too much. You swallow it, and instead say, “Because I want to be someone to you.”

“I...” Maul trails off, the begins again, “I am sorry. Truly.”

Footfalls approach you, but you don’t turn around— not even when the heat of Maul’s presence is directly behind you. He sighs, low through his nose, and whispers your name.

“My life holds nothing but danger.” Maul states, and you agree, but don’t when he adds, “If you were in it... There is too much risk. For you.”

“Aren’t I already in it?” You ask in reply, and you know he knows that whatever sense of preservation he has for you has already been compromised by the proximity you have to him. For nearly three years you’ve stood by his side, the excuse of potential enemies getting to him through you is null. Maul sighs again, and this time you can practically see him pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Yes, but...” Maul trails off as you finally turn to face him, and you see his eyes dart to your dewy eyes and the tear streaks on your cheeks. Regret shadows his expression, and a part of you aches and wants to cup his cheek and caress that emotion away. The other part keeps your hands pressed to your sides, unmoving.

“But it would be unsafe for you if I held you any closer.” Maul says, a bitterly wistful tone in his voice, as if he’s cast out an unattainable wish on dandelion seeds thrown to the wind. Your feet draw you closer to him, only a few steps, but it feels like wading through clouds of smoke.

“What if I don’t care?” Your whisper seems to pull Maul to you, as if the question were a fishing line with a hook, reeling him in step by step until he stands before you. He looks down at you, cast in shadow but his face is lit by the lights from inside— A spotlight for two handsome honey eyes and thin lips pulled into a frown.

You can’t pry your eyes away from those lips— their crimson and black plush flesh beckon like red wine and blackberries. They grow nearer when you lean in, and Maul doesn’t pull away— No, he dips his chin, gets closer.

“You should.” Maul’s lips are perilously close to yours, and you so desperately want close that little distance. He breathes, and his exhale is warm on your face. You can’t look away from his gorgeous eyes, and he can’t do the same with you. It’s then you notice he has speckles of hazel in his irises, and that his pupils are ringed in red. Wildfire eyes.

“Mm... I can afford to live on the edge if it’s with you.” Barely following your murmur, Maul smashes his lips to yours, molding his working red and black mouth to your pliant one. He slips his tongue in the second you drop your jaw, and when you gasp, he swallows it. Eyelids fluttering, you brace a hand on his chest, grounding yourself, as Maul slithers a muscled arm around your waist and pulls you in.

Flush against his hot body, his lips and tongue furiously overtaking yours, Maul tastes like the roaring heat of flames and black cherries. The arm he has locked around you squeezes tighter, pulls you in deeper, and you wish that you could simply fall into him. Your knees shake, so Maul plants his feet beside yours and holds you up with all of his body. The low of your back presses against the railing behind you.

“My darling.” Maul murmurs above your lips when the kiss breaks naturally, leaving you both panting for air that you share. The air feels as though it tingles around you, a type of serendipity that warms you to the bone and leaves you feeling as though you’re floating. Maul’s glazed honey irises sparkle with tease that blooms on the lopsided grin that he cracks.

“You taste like starlight and all that is good.” He says, his hand coming to cup your jaw, fingertips brushing your hairline. A smile splits across your face, and you tilt your head into his touch, playfully kissing his thumb that rests near the corner of your lips. Maul watches, hawk-eyed, as you do.

“You taste like warmth and desire.” You purr in reply, purposefully not acknowledging how Maul’s one hand has splayed itself over your hip, how he has shifted closer, his core to yours. His grin turns more boyish, and he tilts his head appraisingly.

“Is that so?” He begins, dipping his face to your neck and placing kisses along your skin, “Would you like to know just how much desire I have for you?”

A shiver goes down your spine at both his words and how his lips stop just beneath your earlobe, where his tongue licks your skin. Trembling, you slide both of your arms around his shoulders, holding him close. Maul kisses down to your collar and then bites the soft part. You let out a squeal that is much more high pitched than you anticipated, and much louder, so Maul hastily presses his mouth to yours.

His low chuckles reverberate in your mouth, stifling the gasping moans you were about to release. Your lips move in tandem, jaws working and teeth nearly gnashing together with the force of the kiss. Maul growls when your fingers curl, pulling at his cloak and robes. When you part, you can barely keep your eyes focused from all the dewy, lusty daze that’s taken you over.

“I’d want you to show me.” You reply, voice husky and teasing, and you grin into the heated kiss that Maul pulls you into. It’s as furious as the one before— desperate, needy— all slick-tongue and swapping spit. You swallow the low growls that Maul let's out, and in turn he devours you— your scent, your kiss swollen lips, each gasp that sounds almost like his name.

The kiss parts ways again, Maul and you catching your breaths, and the second Maul does he licks his lips and smirks.

"Shall we find someplace less open, or would you prefer I ravish you here?" The crimson Zabrak angles his crown of horns to the noisy party just inside, where the light that's cast from the open doors narrowly reaches you and Maul in the shadows. As much as the risk is exciting, your mind is more focused on Maul's bed, where you'd let him do anything and everything to you.

"Your room, please." You say breathily, heart pounding in your chest, accepting with a soft smile the tender kiss Maul sets on your cheek in reply. He straightens up and pulls away from you, setting his shoulders to fix his rustled cloak. You do the same, hastily wiping at your smudged makeup and tidying your skirts.

"Come, my love, let us have a very long night." Maul offers you his hand, and the second your fingers are entwined with his, he sets off. You laugh, needing to smother it once you pass the threshold back into the palace, and do your best to hide your excitement behind a neutral expression. It's more to prevent the gossips, but one glance Maul and yours way would tip off anyone. Especially since Maul keeps sending smoldering looks over his shoulder, squeezing your hand when he does.

It’ll have to be a problem for tomorrow— a fairly impactful problem— but for tomorrow nonetheless. You’re too caught up in the moment and Maul to care.

Your Zabrak Lord guides you through swathes of people, and once he gets to the hallway exit at the other end of the room, Maul offers Savage a nod. The towering yellow Zabrak, who had been standing near the doorway, lifts a brow, then offers a small smirk back. Honestly, you hadn't even known that Maul's brother had attended, considering Savage's immense dislike of large crowds.

“Have fun.” Is Savage’s wry deadpan before his attention is stolen by a gaggle of buzzed Twi’leks who suddenly found themselves latched to his arms. Maul glares in response, and is about to say something snide back, but Savage is all but dragged away by one of the Twi’leks on his arm, her glossy lips pulled into a laugh. Savage sends Maul and you a look that says “Please help”.

Maul turns, and ignores him. Before Maul pulls you out into the hall, you mouth “I’m so sorry” to Savage, just as a turquoise Twi’lek launches himself into Savage’s arms. The yellow Zabrak only stares.

Once in the hall, the relative quiet eats away at the buzz left from the crowd, your racing heartbeat evening itself out. The dim lighting is also a large contrast to inside the room, and the shadows douse you and Maul in muted darkness. Though before you can calm down too much and focus on catching your breath, Maul is all over you once again, his eyes glowing.

“Savage is going to be so mad at us tomorrow.” You say through giggles, letting Maul pull you into his body, in spite of all the eyes potentially watching. He gropes at your soft waist and hips, hands roaming and quick, kneading at your flesh and pulling soft gasps from you, You’re hardly able to keep walking, especially with how Maul has slid a sneaky gloved hand beneath your skirts, rough leather gliding up your thigh, pushing your dress up—

“Maul!” You reprimand, though there’s no bite to it, wriggling in his grasp so that he drops your skirt and gets his fingers away from the hem of your underwear. An Aqualish couple passes by the open doors, and you make very unfortunate eye contact with one of them just as Maul’s gloved hand returns to your hip. They chitter amongst themselves, and you send Maul a withering glare, face hot.

“My apologies.” Maul replies smoothly, absolutely not apologetic, and stealing a kiss as he does. You go to say something else, but Maul unexpectedly doesn’t pull away and inside dips his face to the junction of your neck and shoulder, kissing your skin as he walks you back against the wall. Your bare shoulders touch the cool metal and goosebumps pucker your skin, combined with Maul’s pleasantly hot mouth working a mark on your neck. Hands flying to his chest, you weakly push at him, attempting to pause his advances though he only looms over you further.

“To your room, please.” You whimper, back arching when Maul finishes off sucking at your neck with a small bite. His canines graze your aching skin as he pulls away, the touch having a pleasant sting to it. Maul parts, crimson and black lips brushing against yours as he does.

“My darling.” He repeats that same endearment from earlier, and as before it has you floating amongst clouds, a type of inner tranquility that makes your fingertips tingle and knees quiver. You press close to his warmth— all hard muscle and fine silken robes— hyperfixating on his hand that slides across the low of your back, locking you in place with his arm.

“I’ve never felt this way for someone before.” Maul’s voice barely reaches your ears, as lost in sensations as you are, but they do and you meet his golden eyes to see them filled with something vulnerable. Lifting a hand to caress his cheek, you smile— small, tender, there— and whisper in reply, “I’m so happy to be feeling this with you.”

Maul then grins, the fiery, wolfish one, and squeezes you tighter, then steals your breath away with another ravaged kiss. After a few moments of pure passion, he pulls away and your lips smack.

“I am going to fuck you so hard, you won’t be able to walk.” Maul growls, the vulgar words so unlike him, but fitting all the same. The blush beneath your skin spreads to your neck and shoulders, making you feel hot all over. The desire plunges in your core, and you stifle an anticipatory moan by biting your bottom lip.

“Let us retire for the night, hm?” Maul teases, quite aware of the effect he’s had on you— all dewy-eyed and flushed under your skin. You nod and hum in reply, craning your head and kissing the underside of Maul’s jaw, the black skin hot, leaving behind kisses with your wet lips. He growls in the back of his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing when he groans. He begins walking, still tethered to you by hands and mouth.

“Oh, I think we’ll be doing anything but retiring.” You say back, stealing kisses between words, attempting to keep step with Maul at the same time. Somehow, the two of you manage to stumble to the hall where Maul’s room is, on one of the higher levels of the Sundari Palace. He has his arm tight around you, hand groping your ass, and lips locked with yours and somehow Maul manages to open the door.

He pushes you through the threshold, walking you back step by step until the back of your knees hits his bed. Maul wastes no time in hooking an arm under one of your thighs, bringing your knee up to his hip, all while leaning you back to rest on his silken black sheets. You sigh when your spine hits the bed, the soft mattress dipping under your weight. Maul looms over you, his molten gaze appraising as he takes in your disheveled appearance; your hair tussled, lipstick smudged, dress loose at its ties and pushed up your thighs.

“My dear...” Maul purrs, and your breath hitches when his free hand raises, and the straps that hold your dress up go lax by some unseen actor. The Force pours over your body as it pulls at the ties, the bows coming undone, and rolling the top of your dress down past your collar bones. You arch your back just as the fabric stops, brushing your nipples and nearly revealing them.

“Maul, please.” You gasp, squirming before the crimson Zabrak lowers your leg and both his hands glide up your sides to cup your tits from below. His gloved thumbs roll circles on your nipples and the touch hardens them to stiff points, pulling airy breaths from your lips. Maul isn’t gentle with it, not tender, his hands are rough— hurried, almost desperate— and each roll of your nipple or squeeze of your tits promises his burning desire for you.

“Delectable, exquisite.” Maul groans, roughly tugging your dress past your boobs and rumpling it at your waist. He unintentionally breaks the zipper, the small rip catching your ear, but you have no mind to scold him— not as he leans in and sucks at your chest. You cry out as his mouth works a dark mark on your left breast, arching beneath him. Maul growls, climbs on the bed with one knee next to your body and switches to the right breast, nipping a trail on your skin.

He reaches your right nipple, taking it in between his black and red lips and grazing it with his teeth. Maul is rough, but the pleasure in you soars, not even the accidental graze of his sharp canines on your pert nipple phases you. The heat swirls in your belly, like a growing hurricane, and you rub your thighs together to try and relieve the throbbing of your pussy. Maul, even with his ministrations, notices and shifts to place his knee between your legs. Using his thigh and the Force, he pushes your thighs apart and you whine.

“Oh, no no no... none of that, my darling.” Maul tsks, glaring at you beneath heavy eyelids, his stare teasing. He climbs fully onto the bed, one knee keeping your legs spread, the other next to you, hovering above you like a crimson incubus would to the mortal he’s about to ravish. And, oh does Maul look ravishing— his dark cloak falling around his shoulders like a wine-dark wall of shadow, his chest heaving under his robes, and not to mention the swell of his erection pushing against the fabric of his pants.

“I need you, Maul.” You whisper, eyes darting lackadaisically from his fiery stare to the bulge in his trousers that throbs, tempting and mouth-watering. You want to see his swelled cock, want to feel him deep inside you to quell the aching of your core. He seems to hear that train of thought, or at least senses it, because he anchors himself horizontal above you with one hand, and with the other he unzips his fly, a smirk on his lips.

“In due time.” Maul replies, dipping his head to press wet kisses on your sternum, his hand a fist next to your shoulder. You sigh, reveling in his hot touch and the heat that radiates off him in waves, too deliciously pleasant to try and hurry his advances. Maul kisses down your torso, nipping at the pliant flesh of your belly, then to the softness of your hips. You squirm again, gasping, but Maul pays no heed and only bites at the junction of your hip and thigh, hard.

“Maul!” You yelp his name, the pinch of his teeth sharp enough to jolt you, but not too hard that it’s overly painful. He hums a laugh and licks your irritated skin, kissing it in apology before trailing down your thigh with his tongue. Your body trembles when he reaches the smooth curve of your inner thigh, nose pressed against the bulge of your sex. Maul tilts his head, the horn on his temple poking your leg, and inhales deep through his nose.

“Fuck, you smell nectarean.” Maul growls before licking his tongue in a long, languid stripe through your folds. You cry out, his mouth latching onto your labia, his tongue lapping at your wetness, pulling groans from his throat that vibrate your weeping pussy. Maul offhandedly shimmies his shoulder beneath your thigh, diving in deeper as he does. He tongues your wet, pulsing slit, toying with the sensitive opening.

“I’ve dreamt of this— Of you— for far too long.” He murmurs between frenzied, open-mouth sucks and kisses on your cunt— your mind almost too gone to cognize what he’s saying. But the words register, and as Maul lifts your other thigh over his shoulder, your calves straddling his back, you ask breathily, “How long?”

Maul looks up at you from, a very pensive look suddenly written across his face. Your heart pangs when he turns his head to press his nose against your inner thigh, where he sighs onto your skin.

“A coward’s eternity.” The self-deprecating jab is juxtaposed by the apologetic, soft kiss he leaves on your leg and the heat of his body so near yours. It’s then you realize that he has nothing to apologize for, and that you would’ve waited for all of time, just for him.

“I see no cowards here,” You begin, voice a low whisper before you allow a broad smile to blossom across your face, “But I do see a very handsome Zabrak lord between my legs.”

Maul grins, his teeth grazing your thigh’s skin, and he nips at your flesh. It causes you to jerk and giggle, doing so again when he continues to nip and bite, very lightly, at your inner thighs. 

You continue, a laugh in your throat, “A Zabrak lord who is also unimaginably bull-headed, so that’s why he took so long—!”

Unexpectedly, Maul bites a bit harder and you yelp, knee twitching as Maul holds his teeth on your skin and sucks. The hickey he leaves is dark and near-pulsing on your skin, and while it’s sore, the pain doesn’t phase you. If anything, the slight sting and Maul’s hungry eyes do the exact opposite. Your lips curl into a seductive smirk.

“Show me how much you’ve wanted this.” And with that, you tilt your hips, pushing your wet cunt up, like your some wanton Loth cat in heat. Maul all but snarls with a type of ferocity that he usually levels at those dare cross him. But here, in his bed between your soft thighs, the challenge is seeing just how loud he can make you scream for him.

“Gladly.” He hisses, and then his mouth his back on your throbbing pussy with a fervor, his tongue swirling your clit. You arch your back with a low moan, choking on air when Maul latches his lips around your sensitive bud and sucks, his contented hums reaching your ears. His tongue dips, teases your slit, then licks through your folds, then repeats.

"Ma—aul!" You weep his name, hands fumbling until your fingers lace between his horns. He breathes a laugh when you pull his face closer to your dripping core, hastening his ministrations when you cry out again. Maul places one of his hands on your thigh to hold you open, for him, his delectable meal unmatched.

Your chest is heaving, the feel of Maul's lips and tongues nearly too much to bear over the tight coil building up in your belly. Maul angles his jaw and the sloppy, open mouth kisses, akin to a hound lapping up its meal, have your thighs quivering. You squeeze your eyes shut so tight you see stars, eyebrows furrowed, your pussy throbbing and throbbing...

"I'm gonna—" You pant, airy and high-pitched, "I'm gonna... cum!"

You wail, Maul's fingers squeezing your thigh muscle hard, and come like you've never had before. Even though your eyes are closed, it's like all you see is a blinding light, each of your senses gone into hyperdrive. Wetness gushes from your cunt and soaks Maul's working mouth. He growls again, grinding his raging boner to the mattress as your thighs squeeze around his head as you ride out your orgasm, hips bucking unconsciously.

It’s as the last of the stars behind your eyes fade do you realize Maul has taken to licking up every last drop of your release. Your legs are shaking, inner thighs and sex glossy and sticky, and Maul is in the midst of it all, purring with satisfaction. Weakly, you lift your head to gaze down at him, bleary-eyed, and he offers you a cheeky grin, a dimple appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“I must say, my dear, you taste quite good.” He says, planting a kiss on your hot, still pulsing pussy lips, causing you to whimper. The Zabrak kisses your clit and you gasp, and he continues with utmost pride, “And I must say that I am quite proud of myself for attaining such a dessert.”

That pulls a laugh from your throat, one that Maul smothers after he’s kissed up your body and locked his lips with yours. It’s scandalous, the way that you taste the tang of yourself on his tongue, how you moan when you notice it. Maul hums into your mouth, a low rumble that you feel in his chest, where your hands fall to tug at his clothes.

“And why are you still wearing all your heavy robes hm?” You tease, kissing Maul’s chin, then the sharp edge of his jaw, all while you unclip one of the clasps of his cloak. He meets your stare and undoes the other, unceremoniously tossing the cloak to the floor. You watch with bated breath as he rises above you and slowly pulls off his robes, revealing his beautiful skin and muscle.

Maul’s bare chest is no stranger to you, but the rest of his torso is often covered by his wide belts. Now, you somewhat understand why— a jagged, gruesome scar travels from his right side to his navel, a line of swollen red flesh that mars his midnight tattoos. You’ve heard snippets of what happened to him from Savage, but looking at what the damage had caused, Maul’s injury is worse than anything you had ever imagined.

“Does it disgust you?” Maul asks quietly, and you jolt, embarrassment flooding you when you realize that you’ve been staring for much too long. There’s an emotion you can’t read on his face, one halfway between sadness and shame. Shaking your head, you hastily sit up so that you’re level with Maul, placing an apologetic kiss to his sternum.

“No! Never.” You insist, shuffling close, your hands gliding down to Maul’s tapered waist, then to his belly. He stiffens when your fingers reach the scar, and out of the corner of your eye you see his hand twitch, as if it was going to snatch your wrists and stop you. They don’t, and your palms come to rest on his scar, one of your pinky fingers brushing his belly button.

“Nothing about you disgusts me.” You say in earnest, leaning down and kissing the marred skin between your hands. Maul sucks in a sharp breath, and with your head so close to his body you can hear his hearts pound in his chest, powerful like two steady drums. You smile against his skin, taking this moment to kiss the scar again, then below it, then another below the last. Before long, you’ve followed the V point of his Adonis belt to just above his waistband.

“Minx.” He growls, grabbing you somewhat roughly by your chin and halting your advances. You pout, his swelled erection beneath his pants taunting you— so close, yet so far. Maul swipes his thumb across your bottom lip, humming.

“I want to suck you off, Maul.” You whimper, Maul’s hand gripping your jaw tighter, angling your head up. His eyes are pools of liquid magma, a fire so bright within that it almost hurts to look directly at them— like staring into the twin suns of Tatooine, but you can’t help but bask in their light. His black-tipped fingers are warm on your skin like coals.

“... How kind.” Maul purrs after a stretch of quiet, caressing your cheek, “But tonight I ravish you.”

An invisible force suddenly pulls you flat on your back and flush against the mattress, a yelp escaping you. It holds you firm and unmoving on the bed, an intangible aura trapping your wrists above your head. Maul licks his lips, smirking at how you quiver under the Force’s hold, all due to him.

“My darling,” He continues, leaning in and placing kisses to your heaving chest as he’d done before, “This is all for you— I am all for you.”

A whine passes your kiss-swollen lips when Maul sucks another dark mark onto your skin, all while he climbs atop you. As he does, Maul shimmies out from his pants until the black fabric falls to his knees— revealing his length in all its glory.

Of course he hadn’t worn underwear, instead opting for the more breathable— and wicked— alternative of forgoing them. Your body practically quakes with the anticipatory excitement that floods you when you see Maul’s cock. A perfect shaft, the length of it swollen and tattooed like the rest of him, uncut and rosy at it’s tip. A gift from his Zabrak biology, Maul’s erection has three visible ridges, each wider than the last until the base of it. Dribbles of precum slide down the slit in a way that makes you whimper.

“Maul.” You almost sob his name, moaning when you see his heavy balls between his legs, “Please.”

Maul groans at your needy, desperate plea— restraining himself from going all in and ending the session too quickly. One of his arms slithers beneath your waist while the other hand anchors itself next to your shoulder. In his grasp, your overheated body is nothing compared to his hotness, like the Zabrak before you is the physical embodiment of the sun.

“All for you.” Maul repeats through grit teeth and a low groan, his hips pressing closer, the tip of his cock hot and heavy at your weeping pussy. You cry out when he thrusts in— only the tip— your slit accommodating to his size. The stretch is neither painful nor too much— Maul is a perfect fit and there’s nothing that couldn’t pass your dripping entrance. You angle your hips, and his cock slips in past the first ridge and you moan at the exquisite stretch.

A bead of sweat at his brow from holding in for so long, Maul’s lips pull into a snarl and he takes your eagerness and lack of pain as a go ahead. In one thrust of his pelvis, he spears you on his cock and knocks the wind from your lungs. You scream, fully engrossed in how your walls flutter around his erection, especially at how each ridge practically caresses the most sensitive parts of you.

Maul roars himself, the throaty growl tapering out into a near-pitiful moan of your name, and then he pulls his hips back, and thrusts back in with a fervor. The wet squelch is heard even over your airy moans, and as Maul picks up speed, his concentration falters and your wrists are freed from their invisible shackles. As Maul’s face falls to the side of your neck, your hands grasp at his head.

Fingers wringing his horns, an overwhelming ecstasy overtaking you, a harmonic rhythm is reached— Maul’s hips smack against yours wetly, his cock splitting you open and you, pussy throbbing and clenching around his pistoning length. You tug at his horns, eyes lolled up, begging him silently Kiss me, Maul, kiss me.

You Zabrak acknowledges, and his lips find yours— sloppy, no sense of decorum— all until you’re breathing the air he exhales, and tasting what he tastes of. Bodies rocking in time, the coil in your belly returns quickly, growing tighter and tighter with each sin push and wicked pull of his cock in your core. He groans when you clench around him, squeezing his aching length like a vice and stoking the fire in his belly as well.

“Maul.” You manage to gasp his name between kisses, tears of pleasure pricking your eyes, “Maul!”

“Yours.” He pants to the skin of your cheek, his breath hot and damp, all before he croaks a groan as if its been ripped from his throat and his rhythm stutters. You squeak, toes curling, your peak quickly approaching as you drag one hand down to clasp tight over the back of his neck. The muscle and tendons are taut under your fingers.

It’s then that Maul brings his hand out from under you, fingers sliding over your sweaty, overheated skin, all to reach your pulsing, swollen clit. His thumb finds the bundle of nerves and rubs circles, and you scream his name— eyes flying wide, body jerking— and the heat in your belly soars. Maul smashes his lips to yours again in a searing kiss as he thrusts harder, faster, rolls your clit under his thumb as if his life depends on it.

The harmonic rhythm breaks into something erratic, frantic— wild like two beasts in the wilderness, or two frenzied people chasing their heart’s desires. His mouth breaks away from yours, his pelvis snaps against you, just as the spring inside you snaps, and you come with a silent scream that breaks into a hoarse squeal.

It’s a better orgasm than the first— a gush of wetness between your thighs and coating Maul’s cock, vision going black until the stars of midnight show, muscles tensing and shaking with the force of it—

“Ungh!” Maul chokes when your pussy clenches so tight around his dick that it actually stops his undulating hips and pushes him to orgasm, pulling his full balls up tight to his body. Still high in the clouds, you whimper when you feel Maul’s fire-hot cum shoot into you with a hard spurt, coating your inner sex in liquid gold. One, two, three more ropes of cum enter you, each brought by a hard snap of Maul’s hips to yours, until his testicles are drained and his pistoning hips slow to a shallow grind.

In the midst of your foggy mind, you have it in you to rub your hands up and down Maul’s tense back, gently massaging each muscle. The action grounds the both of you, the rhythmic glides and smoothness of your hands pulling you both back from your highs. As your orgasm fades and your vision refocuses, you meet Maul’s stare.

His eyes are dewy, as if he’s just woken up, but you can recognize that deep, pleasant satisfaction from anywhere. You smile, a big, dopey one as if you’ve taken too much spice, and Maul does the same— the wide one, dimples and all. Your hands stop to rest on the backs of his shoulders, thumbs absentmindedly rubbing circles on his slightly sweaty skin.

“Oh, my darling.” Maul’s voice is surprisingly gentle, warm, and he swoops in for another breathless kiss, “I am yours forever.”

This kiss is soft, gentle on your overworked and achy lips, but so tender in its nature you practically preen at the attention. Maul reaches up to brush strands of hair from your face, ones that stuck to your damp temples, and you kiss him in thanks. His cock, still nestled within you, twitches.

“I’m so happy with you, Maul. No words can describe it.” You murmur, head lolling to the side as the crimson Zabrak kisses the side of your neck, as well as each mark he left on your skin. He hums in reply, kissing beneath your earlobe as his chest begins to rumble with purrs.

“I feel the same.” Maul says, and he shifts his body, his cock dragging against your hypersensitive walls and causing you to gasp in pleasure. Your grip on his shoulder tighten, and Maul laughs low in his throat. His blistering gaze meets yours, suddenly looking very much as he had earlier.

“May we continue our... bonding experience?” He teases, rocking his body once just to gage how you react to his swelling erection. You gasp and throw your head back into the inky sheets below you, legs drawing up to your body until your thighs find a home on Maul’s waist.

He must have no refractory period, but the way his warm, hard body and the sinful way you feel his seed leak from you makes you buzz with energy. From your head to your toes, you desire Maul like no other. You lift your head off the mattress, and grin coquettishly. 

“The night has just begun.” You say cockily, and before you can even take your next breath, Maul has smothered your lips with his. Muffled giggles, soft moans, and the shuffles of sheets and clothes fill the room— carrying out to the night sky through the open windows, on the breeze that the floor-length blinds shiver in— like two bodies tethered with one another.

Indeed, the night is very long.

And it is immensely hard to walk the next day.

[semiotomatics]

okay here we go, i just dug through all 112 of my SPN fic bookmarks on AO3 to find my favourites. apologies for the delay @sunrisenebula and also the onslaught of fic. i hope you find one to drown out the memories of today!

nb: these range from hard AUs, meaning absolutely no knowledge of the show is necessary to enjoy, to canon-divergence fics that require some knowledge, but prolly as much as you'd have if you've been on tumblr at all in the last 8+ years. also most are heckin long (like, novel length). consider yourself warned.

All Things Shining

141k words, technically canon divergence, requires very little knowledge of the show. absolutely gorgeous, poetic, and features everything you wish the show was (including a deep dive into small-town americana, thrillingly fleshed out mythology, and a heavy focus on the relationships between these boys). yes destiel

Domesticated

15k words, total AU but roughly based on SPN mythology (very roughly). Cas is a wildlife rehabilitator and also an angel. Dean is a mountain lion but also a man? idk it's been a while since i read it, but I remember it being v v good. yes destiel

Life's Coming Attractions

short (not sure how many words). description: "Castiel's humanity offers him a vibrant imagination, and it keeps catching Dean by surprise. (Or, four ways they could have fallen in love, and one way they did.)" literally just fluff. yes destiel

The Joy is in the Process

9k words. total AU. the gang as kids, sam's POV on dean and cas's relationship. cute as all heck. yes destiel

The Heart Can Rest

short. makes references to moments in the show, but can be enjoyed even if you don't get them imo. just a great little piece of fluff where dean and cas are happy together and stay at an inn run by someone sam and dean helped a while before (before Cas was around). yes destiel

Faith and Deeds

6k. another hard AU. also just the heckin sweetest. pure domestic bliss. from dean's mom's POV. yes destiel

Urban Legend

1k. sam and dean (and cas) have become urban legends. actually not destiel, if you can believe it. still gr8 tho

Convenient Husbands

39k. the requisite fake dating/fake married fic. might have some references that don't make sense if you haven't watched the show, but I think it's still worth reading. yes destiel

Ugly Sweater!verse

185k all together, but made up of fics of various lengths. just some good good fluff to get you through these trying times. mostly focused around Cas experiencing holidays as a human for the first time IIRC. yes destiel

Oneiroi

54k. HECKIN. piece of art. poetic as all get out (to the point of being difficult to follow in some places, iirc). pseudo-AU I think? prolly canon-divergence. yes destiel

Remnants

like 500 words. just a really cool tweak to the mythology of angels in the show. not explicitly destiel, but still more canon than 15 years of the actual show ever did. gives you those good good space feels.

Named

94k. weirdly i remember nothing about this fic other than that i absolutely adored it. pretty sure it's canon divergence, but not sure how much it relies on existing canon. definitely gotta reread this one. yes destiel

An Exercise in 'Worthless'

26k. requisite tattoo artist AU. plenty of canon references that may or may not go over your head if you haven't watched the show, but i don't think it matters. the characterization in this one is *chef's kiss*. yes destiel

In Eridu

66k. don't remember much of this one either but also know i loved it. good use of mythology, good characterization, and explicitly canon destiel (aka everything supernatural the show didn't give us in 15 years)

The Breath of All Things

65k. so canon divergent it's basically an AU. sweet but deals with traumatic situations/reactions to trauma. overall mood is uplifting though!! yes destiel

So Glad We Made It

16k. another kids!AU with a hearty helping of destiel fluff, what more could you ask for?

the inexhaustible silence of houses

31k. just absolutely buckwild. manages to be both horrifying and beautiful. warning: this is NOT FLUFF. read only if you feel like bawling your eyes out for several hours. yes destiel (but at what cost)

These Are Not Real Problems

30k. another one I admittedly don't remember much of, but i tagged it as one of my all-time favourite on AO3 so it must be good. definitely canon-divergent, but prolly still readable. yes destiel

A Crash Course in Someone Else's History

11k. actually perfect for someone who hasn't watched the show bc it features cas pre-show introduction being zapped into the plot and having to figure out what the hell is going on. yes destiel

In the Weeds

40k. Chef!AU! requires zero knowledge of the show. yes destiel

Sunrise Overlooking The End of All Things

4k. i would've said this would be the most painful way for the show to end up until about 3 hours ago. still, miles better than that trashfire. not really destiel.

Mashiach

31k. very cool, very tragic, very well done story. v sam centric too. not reeeeaaaally destiel (from what I can remember. still prolly more explicitly canon than any one episode of this hell show ever was)

daemon!verse ficlets

17k. exactly what it says on the tin. amazingly they span from S5 all the way up to 15x18??? i'll have to read the more recent ones. yes destiel

There's Only One Sure Thing I Know

20k. VERY GOOD. dean gets trapped in the midwest until he admits he loves cas. no i'm not joking. yes destiel, are you kidding me?

[siren-virus]

New questions :DD sorry for the delay on sending these, life happened :V Anyways, let's start :3

Flee: How would the first visits to towns be for the group? I doubt Leon would be able to hide very well his animalistic traits, but with a big coat and hat that covers his whole head he might be able to do so, if only to reign in the disaster due that are Robin and Tristan. How would some of said disasters unfold btw? There are many possible scenarios and idk where to begin with imagining them. Stealing something, saying something insensitive, accidently ruining a ceremony of sorts, angering the leader of the town, mob deals accidently being made, etc... XD

SWUP: What would be the princess favourite drink from the coffee? and for how long has Sara been working on that shop? Does wine aunt visit said coffee shop? Also, this has nothing to do with the coffee shop but is still related to SWUP at least, we know there's the faction of Unicorns and Dragons in this war, would there be a third faction consisting of both Unicorns AND Dragons and/or a third party? What would draw them together/into the foray?

I apologize too for the delay ;;; Been animating a lil somthn somthn, not mortetwi related haha- but i might do it again... thats a threat.

So- there's bits and bops I can't reveal cause I like to keep aspects of my work secret-

One of the ideas to push them towards the town involves their first meeting with Robin- Leo believing that she'd be better off with her own kind kinda a deal. Tristians sad but has hope that she can find herself a family "she's so sweet and adorable she'll easily be adopted" cut to a feral child eating any and all insects in her vicinity.

Leo would not dare approach a human village- unless he was forced to- might make an animation on this. depends if I have time

My god those are a shit ton of good scenarios too. I really gotta start writing stuff down. Im a visual creature tho, writing is hard ;-;

SWUP aka Vicky, doesn't really have a favourite, she just drinks whatever Sara shoves in her face. Coffee, boba, hot chocolate on a cold day. Oh but of course the most common gift is the ice coffee. (If you know, you know.) Sara's way of hinting to SWUP. SWUP is a shimbo (or is it herbo) tho.

Naturally there is a third faction of dragons and unicorns allied together in some form of rebellion. It's small though. and its difficult to get more involved.

Are there other aliens also involved? maybe.

[authoratmidnight]

Konami didnt cut ties with Gallop. Konami cut ties with NAS, who hires Gallop as independent contractors. Around last year I believe NAS and its parent company was going through some restructuring, which could explain some things. (1)

Also, DSOD wasnt the one that affected ArcV. DSOD called back veteran animators who no longer work at Gallop as one last hurrah, and the Gallop ones returned by midway ArcV. What mainly caused the mess was ArcV's writer Kamishiro not having a consistent script or plan. Apparently animators werent getting info on time, didnt know what to draw and were forced to make up details on the fly. (2)

This also delayed them from working on Vrains (the next series usually gets worked on one year prior), hence why at Jump Festa 2016, only an image of Yusaku was shown and vague plot details  that dont match up to what we eventually got (rmb when ppl though Yusaku would be shy?). Compare that with Zexal, ArcV and Sevens that all got actual video trailers, something was clearly off behind the scenes. (3)

By the end of ArcV a bunch of outsource animation teams quit (and some in-house as well, like Ebina, which was a serious loss cuz iirc he's been directly trained at Gallop for a while), which left Gallop running on fumes and they had to bring in a different director for Vrains' first 13 eps (apparently he's known for managing serious crunch productions), and also why in S1 there's so much repeated animation, recap episodes, and a minimal cast. (4)

Vrains never truly recovered even during S2 and S3, which probably led to it ending early, along with NAS' restructuring. Plus Konami seems to have wanted a fresh start for Sevens/Rush Duels, which could also explain why there's no Vrains manga.  Last I heard Gallop helped out on Digimon after that, so thankfully they werent shut down, though its unknown if they'll ever come back as the main studio. (5)

As further proof that DSOD is not what derailed ArcV and subsequently Vrains, a TV anime & movie at the same time already happened with 5D's and BBT. There's a mild stumble in 5D's animation but that was it. The next show Zexal turned out fine and in fact is the one with the least issues. ArcV's issues are its own, where the head writer couldnt agree on a direction, got too ambitious, didnt plan ahead, caused extreme crunch that it burnt away a lot of goodwill and animators fled after that (6)

Huh ok, I didn’t realize it was NAS. Everything I heard was that it was Gallop. Either way tho they stopped working with Gallop in the end.

I swear i remember hearing somewhere that DSOD did take some of the resources that Arc V was using (idk if it was animators or what) so Arc V ended up working with less. At the very least the creation of DSOD seemed to coincide with Arc V beginning to struggle.

I DID know about the animators not getting shit on time cause I remember seeing a tweet about that. I think it was why Zarc/Zarc’s monsters where, like that. They’re wizards for managing to actually give us stuff tho.

I wonder if that’s why Dragon!Zarc was just, never consistent in what he looked like. No model prepped to work from.

I have to admit, I have no idea what reveals were like for Zexal or Arc V cause I jumped in part way through A5 so VRAINS was my intro to that, but I do remember getting a short clip for Sevens. And yeah, the whole ‘taking a step forward’ and ‘being new to dueling’ aspects just, don’t exist (unless it’s everyone else’s perspective on Yusaku lol). I always did wonder what happened with that.

The poor first director. I knew about VRAINS have two different directors and why all the recaps in s1 (and the poor guy constantly apologizing) and how director one got replaced.

Poor VRAINS had so many behind the scenes production issues. Sad. So much wasted potential.

I have no idea if Gallop helped out on Digimon but I did hear that Noh Gil-bo did some work on it. And I think some of the animators went to work on Shadowverse (which is why some ppl said it felt more ‘yugioh’ than Sevens, which is a lie cause Sevens still feels very ygo to me). I hope the other animators found good work.

[syncogon]

sad only 480p version this time, and delayed. oh well, temptation too strong, and clips on the weibo looked promising, so let’s go

mjy sighhh i guess he’s just dumb not malicious but man

“the truth isn’t important” glasses shing. oh wow that hair swish tho that was like unnecessarily well animated hahaha

iiiii just want jhx to tell off yy!! i think that’d be great, what a faceslap! also wtf is this thing? iron supplements?? a spray? icy-hot? 铁打损伤喷雾?? god i spent like five minutes trying to mouse-trace those characters and i still don’t know if this is supposed to be significant or if it’s just significant that jhx caught yy doing shady shit 

anyway given music / context it seems jhx is annoyed at what yy is doing? so yay friggin finally. “our classes aren’t at nanhua” nice 

“xu-da” vs “xu-ge” hmm. anyway jhx don’t fall for the lies. jhx is like sx, annoying and chuuni but probably isn’t as obnoxiously awful as he first appears... probably.... maybe. 

goddd sucks that the full version of this op is kinda weird, because i LOVE this op so much like holy crap. jiyi bei yingfu huanxing.... 

man now im like stressed about the yf at the airport scene. trailer showed an airport. what’s gonna happennn

this exchange about dd feels so weird like it sounds like ctg is trying to explain they’re not in any pre-relationship or smth but maggie is like “i don’t mind” in a way that makes it sound like she wouldn’t mind if they’re together? what??? but whatever

ok i really enjoy this cr/yf dynamic. like i feel like it’s a bit ooc and yf as portrayed here is maybe too far on the acquiescence but also it’s really funny and sparks joy for me so i’ll buy it. i’m happy to see like established relationship stuff i think bc i generally don’t in the stuff i watch. speaking of which i’m super glad that they didn’t make the awful dumb move of trying to insert like Another wack love triangle drama dynamic thing in this like the fans want yecong and tianmai!!

wowwww it’s so nice how supportive cr is being tho like i love to see it!

handholding!! soft!! nice inversion of the earlier part where cr is bandaging his fingers. but like -

WHY DOES SHE HAVE MARKS/CALLUSES ON HER THUMB AND NOT HER PINKY??? like ok i have not played ukelele but i sure have my own share of stringed instrument finger calluses and you don’t?? press on the string with your thumb???

still, they’re trying, it’s a cute detail, i appreciate it. i liked that one wwgk review i watched yesterday that pointed out s1 was like a coming of age story disguised as a music story, whereas s2 is like a real music story.... 

wait this is incredibly cute wtf. oh my god. 

YF SIGHED/FACEPALMED AT THAT? COME ON!! WTF THAT’S SO RUDE? THAT WAS ACTUALLY LIKE PRETTY GOOD?? AND SHE DID THIS JUST FOR YOU? like maybe not performance ready but bro she’s learned for two days!! also holy shit the strumming animation is really good for smth like this im impressed! that reminds me of the like actually legit violin animation they showed in the trailer yo im so ready 

like i totally understand the frustration (damn, maggie’s face... 3 free performances? really?) but also i feel SO BAD FOR CR HERE this is so awkward oh my godddd at least ctg like tries to apologize to her (and cr’s reaction to this whole thing is also v solid, good for her) but still like damn 

aww ahh man im glad maggie still like! supports encourages cr here! that’s also char dev being able to like get past her own complicated emotions at least for this sort of gesture 

awwww i also like seeing maggie’s coping, the happiness philosophy i always thought that was super interesting. she’s a great char! and i think running is good

animators animate a girl running normally challenge

oh nice you have to walk a bit after sprinting, good

the train track scenes are so pretty wahhh 

does... does the track just end there? what

the ~significance~ of maggie now sharing this piece of her that used to be a yf thing, with ctg 

also excellent bgm - oh omg it’s og soul link remix!!! 

“i don’t want you to go” 

MY GOD HE’S FINALLY MAKING A REAL MOVE. and one based in real friendship. GOD FUCKING FINALLY CTG AAAAAA she’s cryyying man this exchange is also pretty cute ngl 

i can’t believe they figured this out a full 4 episodes before the finale 

this is so pretty here wahhhhhh i wanna ss the whole thing in 1080p 

awhhhhhh

they never released pink twilight shanghai!! i want this ver!!! 

aww yayyy open still cheering her on - YF BE NICE TO YOUR GF COME ON

haha this is like reverse of cr tutoring him - WAIT YEAH YF YOU WERE A SHITTY ASS STUDENT COMPARED TO HER BE EXTRA NICE 

also remixed dream i dig it! sounds like new lyrics? 

julliard hahahaha

dong dong goddess

HAHAHA did dd just steal ctg’s fries

ctg: expressing some deep thoughts

me: just watching dd

“forever confident, forever happy” 

wait sooooooo are they a thing now or what did that count as a confession

“and qing’er is finally here” WHAT’S THE TEAAAAA WE STILL DON’T REALLY KNOW

“im a guitarist this is fine” YOU GO DD I LOVE YOU 

BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE BEACH EPISODE 

omg oyzq. you’d think they were trying to extort a confession from him. what the hell is this instrument he said what is a xiao 箫. A WOODEN FLUTE? YOOO THAT’S COOL my god PLEASE let us get some kickass trad/modern fusion music im so ready 

“i trust ouyang” ahhh double char surnames are cool

HAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA WHAT THE FUCK

“because i’m about to have surgery on my knee” REALLY? REALLY? IS THIS REALLY HOW YOU’RE GOING TO JUSTIFY ALL THIS? FOLKS I AM LOSING MY SHIT I HAVEN’T LAUGHED OUT LOUD LIKE THIS IN SO LONG

ok this is interesting tho he’s not a dick for the hell of it it’s out of desperation or smth. but like half a year, oh no, what a horror. (i’m fresh out of hb feels ok you shaddap // tho i can also imagine the knife, like in lotus bloom, where they didn’t think szp’s injury was permanent). tho i do also like the “then we’ll be seniors we won’t have time to perform” but also that’s just a reminder that all of these ppl are like frigging 16 year olds and i still cannot take this seriously

i like “i didn’t expect, that i couldn’t give you the confidence to win”. god im so glad this confrontation is happening. man this feels like a wrap up already are they really spending all 3 last episodes on the competition? what’s the story gonna be? 

feel like he’d be less ugly with hairstyle that looked more consistently like this. anyway sucks that both of them are so ugly otherwise there’s some nice sun/moon (+stars?) imagery you can get going here

GROUP CHAT GROUP CHAT GROUP CHAT 

pretty! i wanna save this hq

it’s this bgm!!! godd i just want this track so bad

an empty beach?? in china near shanghai??? 

anyway ahhh it’s the iconic beach shot! i like how the promo ver cuts out dd lmfao

wow nine episodes in and cookie finally gets a character moment??? cookieeeeeeee i missed you

ok i can’t ship them he calls her shifu but also THIS IS SUCH A CUTE FRIENDSHIP calling every day 10 minutes?? wow!! i love dongdong and i love cookie. also this hits different in covid times “no one says that we can’t be friends because of distance” 

oh i guess they are pushing this as a ship. meh.

wahhhhh. need this hq then i have more propic material. 

HE HAS COVID 

ah lang is VIBING oh to be the ah lang of my own life. parasurfing. walking into poles. 

wow this is so modern! the red bag thing! wow i do love this show flexing the modern-ness 

this is the mercedes benz arena im SURE of it ahhhh holy crap this crowd. oh to be in a crowd without mask

IT’S THIS DUDE AGAIN like the trailer spoiled this but if i found out this right here right now i would’ve lost my shit my god hahhaah

im like torn about how i feel about cr’s dress like idk if it fits her well even if it’s pretty

:<

oh im scared i hope this doesn’t become embarrassing 

:0

OMG THEY INCLUDED PENCIL SKETCH OF THAT S1 SCENE. HAHAHA. char growth yayyyyy

ok anyway im happy!! spent like an hour watching this or something lmao but good times!! much better than last ep HAHA yayyy im so glad we’re finally at the comp and lots of these little things have been tied up now im ready for new song drops!!!

[miyaameow]

Request! The RFA + V and Saeran accidentally slapping/punching MC while they are having a fight!! Love your writing

ahh thank you so much and sorry for the delay!! I hope you like this~~

P.S. shameless self-promotion: I wrote a headcanon not so similar to this called Fight Me, where MC defends the RFA and stuff so take a look if you’re interested :D

first of all, let’s all say a prayer for MC’s reaction in all these scenarios:

“excuse me?”

Yoosung: 

NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

“I’M SORRY MC I;M SO SORRY PLS FORGIVE ME”

he’s so scared like shitshitshittt

this is why his mom told him to NEVER GET INTO FIGHTS

his clumsy ass doesn’t even know who tf he’s aiming at and he’S TRYNA FIGHT

WHO AM I FIGHTING AGAIN????

he can’t even say “fight me” louder than mouse tho 

how did he even get in a fight in the first place

oh

it was because someone bought the last ice cream bar at the convenience store

and he stuck out his tongue at that person

who then proceeded to stomp on Yoosung’s foot

so then he flinched and hit MC

also did i mention this “person” is

… 7 yrs old

Zen:

WHO’S THIS MOFO ATTACKING ME FROM BEHIND-

OH CRAP IT WAS MC

instantly drops?? the guy he had a headlock on and runs to MC’s “rescue”

is he rescuing MC from his own hit or what

so MC’s over there like rubbing her side because he ELBOWED her

and he’s just like “OMG PRINCESS R U OK” “I DIDN’T MEAN TO HIT YOU”

also you know those shows where it’s like the person is talking to someone but then is also being attacked from behind??

yea so that’s happening and he’s fending off those people while apologizing

“Zen can we just go”

ZEN THE KNIGHT mode activated

he’s turned into some Optimus Prime shit

bridal carries MC away and he actually looks bulletproof

Jaehee:

Jaehee was having a cat fight with some chick at the bar

y’know normally she was chill right

but GURL THIS TIME SHE COULDN’T HOLD BACK

so she was over there doin taekwondo moves with heels on

and MC was just like this is real bad

so she tries to intervene but ends up getting flipped instead

“OWWWW” her back was stinging

“OMG MC!! WHAT DID I DO?!”

now she was back to normal Jaehee and started to do some emergency procedures 

“I must begin a head-to-toe examination, please tell me if anything hurts”

“Jaehee…”

“I’m going to start with your head, don’t move”

“Jaehee.”

“Do you feel pain here?” 

“JAEHEE STOP PRESSING INTO MY SCALP”

at this point MC is so embarrassed she pulls Jaehee out of the bar with the speed of light

hazukashiidesu (〃´ﾉω`〃)

Jumin:

he didn’t even notice until TWO HOURS AFTER THE FACT

yes that’s how oblivious Mr. Corporate Heir is

“MC, what is that bruise on your arm?”

MC’s friendly reminder face:

ohhhh

“I apologize, I shall call my personal doctor immediately.”

“JUmin, it’s the miDDLE OF THE NIGHT”

“Your point?”

HOW MUCH MORE DENSE CAN HE GET AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

so he makes up for it!

“MC, I’m sorry, I’ll make up for it.”

BOI BETTER WEAR KITTY EARS FOR THE NIGHT YASSSSSSS

;)

707: 

lol shit

oh no actually SHIT

now he doesn’t know what to do liek

MC’s got tears in her eyes because he kicked her in the shin

“01110000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101000 01100101 01100101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110000 01101001 01111010 01111010 01100001″

“Seven, I don’t speak binary”

“AJAJAJAJAJA sorry MC”

so he begins to make silly faces to make her laugh which only makes it worse because MC laughs so hard she bumps her shin INTO SOMETHING ELSE

“OUCH!!1!”

oopsie

“Here, sit on this pile of honey buddha chips it’ll make you feel better”

-_-

Saeran: 

no bb

he was fighting because some guys tried hit her up and he was not going to take any of that BS

“HEY BRO YOU WANNA GO?!”

right so they’re fighting fighting fighting… what else is new

AND THEN BAM

MC gets hurt

how???

well, ya boy Saeran went a little overboard and ended up moving too close to MC and so when he flung at the dude he ended up smacking MC instead

oh no

this bb suddenly loses all his strength and power and he’s just staggering backwards because he hurt someone he loves :(

“MC! MC! PLEASE BE OKAY I DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT YOU!”

he was shaking her so violently she thought her head would fall off

“It’s okay, let’s get out of here”

CINNAMON BUN piggy-back-rides MC home apologizing non-stop

V:

V doesn’t fight period.

ALL RIGHT GUYS THANKS FOR READING THAT’S IT FOR V-

…

fine.

just beCAUSE HE’S A PEACEMAKER doesn’t mean this man doesn’t get angry

um but he can’t see???

SHHHH

anyway so he’s like tryna get this guy to back the f up

throwing punches and slaps in every direction possible but suddenly he feels something soft and squishy

was that MC’s … cheek?

y’all nasty if you thought he hit her t…

“AH!”

omg no it really was her!

so he’s super sorry like bb don’t cry you weren’t even the one who got hit

but he’s so apologetic he literally swears that he’s never going to fight again like

“MC pls forgive my horrible heart and soul”

it’s not like you gotta but i suggest you translate Seven’s binary numbers

~Cherry L.

Masterpost: click here

Askbox/Requests: click here

[sapiomorph]

I was tagged by @superfuzzyglaceon (thank you!) and thus here we go!

Rules: tag 20 (or less) people you want to get to know better!

Nickname: Doodle, Doods, Leesie, and E, depending on how well you know me. ^^’

Star sign: Libra

Height: 5.....just 5....I can jump like an Olympian tho....

Time right now: 1:25...26....37....46

Last thing you googled: Yugi Muto gif

Fave music artist: ........oof. Um....Second Hand Cinema, Daft Punk, Muse....adsadsghjdf....

Song stuck in your head: Currently, a song from Scott Cawthon’s game, The Desolate Hope, for an area called Beta Grid 0.9, aka: “We Still Have a Chance” by Djridu (the guitar bit really sucks you in. Mmmmmm!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lioh3mC3e9Q

Last movie I watched: Your Name (GO FEFFING WATCH THIS THING!!)

Last TV show I watched: Steven Universe

What I’m wearing right now: Mah Pajammies

When i created this blog: April 2013.....holy sut....

The kind of stuff I post: My art and doodles, memes and funny things, fandom posts(ANS, Yugioh, Undertale, Pokemon etc...) PUNS

Do I do asks regularly: It’s very easy for me to get distracted/delayed with tagged posts and asks(I’m trying to be very good today and catch up), but it makes me super happy to have asks/tagged posts at all because HOLY SUT SOMEBODY THINKS IT’S WORTH IT TO SEND ME THE THING!2!!!1! (the amount of validation it gives me is ridiculous I swear)

Why did I choose my URL: Running awayTraveling from Deviantart.com, I wanted my tumblr space to be different; different content and by extension, a different me. So, I chose NonstopDoodle because 90% of the time, it’s an apt description of me.

Gender: Female

Hogwarts House: ......eh......either a terrible Hufflepuff, or an idiotic Ravenclaw. Probably the latter.

Pokemon Team: Instinct bois!

Favorite color: Blue and black!

Favorite Characters: Obi from Akagami no Shirayuki-hime(ANS), Gladion from Pokemon Sun&Moon, Kaiba and Yugi from Yugioh, Opal and Garnet from Steven Universe, Knock Out and Starscream from Transformers Prime, Shadow the Hedgehog....I could go on....

Dream Job: An animator/concept artist for either games or shows/movie

Number of blankets: like....just mine, or including my husband’s too? Um....about 12 or so.

Followers: 535. I have no clue why, and I want to apologize to every single one of them for being so gosh darn inconsistent. -_-;;;;;;

Thanks again for the tag! I have fun filling these out, but if it’s ok with everyone, Imma tag peeps a bit later. ^^’

[wrotetheaboveoftoday]

1833 Sun. 24 March

6 3/4 11 40/.. U + + L U L finish morning - at least, fair - ground white with snow perhaps an inch deep - Fahrenheit 46º at 6 3/4 just as I had lighted my fire and 35º at 7 3/4 outside my window - read from page 26 to 48 Jesse's gleanings - breakfast at 8 3/4 - talking to Marian till came upstairs at 9 3/4 - read from page 48 to 107 Jesse's gleanings - from 11 55/.. to 12 wrote 3 pp. [pages] and ends and under the seal to Miss M[a]cL- [MacLean] quickly easily and agreeably written - dated 'Saturday evening 23 March 1833' lose no time in assuring not only do not begrudge postage but am most grateful for the letter enclosed (from her Russian friend which I had not read till this morning - useful) - conclude I have leave to keep it - will write immediately to Lady Stuart to inquire of Lord Goderich if the letters from Saint Petersburg and Moscow have been sent to him - should be sorry to lose them; 'for, should circumstances postpone my northern tour to next year, which is yet uncertain still this friends letters would not be out of date; and, I see plainly, would probably be among the most useful I should have - thank you very much for this service you have done me'

Then ask if I can be of use in inquiring about the Retreat - may depend upon my discretion - to keep up your spirits and hopes - a foreign friend of mine attacked at xmas [Chirstmas] same way 'already so much recovered as to give promise of certain, tho' slow recovery' - alluded to Mme. Galvani - express my sorrow at this so great affliction to them all, and my hope of Mrs. Maclean's having already got well over her confinement - interested about Miss M[a]cL-'s [MacLean's] (always begin my dear Breadalbane and conclude 'believe me always very truly yours A. Lister') nieces - 'hope to see them all fine amiable accomplished girls' - thanks for the willow plants - mention having written the other day to her agent to acknowledge the receipt of them and to herself but glad now that I had thought my pp. [pages] not worth her time or postage 'you dont know the pleasure I shall have in looking at these willows, nor how much I feel obliged to you' -

Mention hoping to be in London in May for a day - must go to Paris in the 1st instance - and expect being at Langton in 2 or 3 weeks but letters directed here will find me here or will not lose much time in being forwarded - mention V-'s [Vere's] confinement being expected the middle of June, as Mrs. C- [Cameron], mère, I told Miss M[a]cL- [MacLean] merely June - cannot make out the name of the young Russian but his letter useful - was studying in Edinburgh - talks of meeting his brother in Germany -

Says May best month for Saint P- [Petersburg] the heat troublesome in summer - bad hotels but the London hotel and Demont house the best - Well Kept English boarding houses in the street Galernoy where should English but he never wants to meet his countrymen in traveling - has enough of them at home and should I in such a case - Steam boats twice a week from Lubeck to Copenhagen in 24 hours and once a week to Saint Petersburg in 80 - 90 hours Best booksellers for foreign books at Saint P- [Petersburg] are Messrs. Saint Florent and company where a Saint P- [Petersburg] guide can be had - much praises the Empress's girls'-schools - mineralogical collection at the École des mines one of the best in Europe - to see Cathedral of Cæsar and monastary of Nevsky - Particularly to see Moscow - Saint Basil's church - good Moscow guide in French to had at Saint P- [Petersburg] or at Moscow -

Inns better than at Saint P- [Petersburg] Hotel du Nord opposite to the military governor - road between the 2 capitals 1 of the best in Europe and all but about 40 miles beautifully macadamized - Inns on the road evenly 40 miles (about 10 of these called palaces because the imperial family stop at them) - posthouses all the way - no delay for at every stage not less than 500 houses - postage cheap - whole distance 700 versts or 400 miles (105 versts to a degree) for 210 roubles or £8.15 (1 rouble = 10d.) 'and an additional guinea to the postboys for the whole way will make them quite happy - must take their carriage -

Carriages easily to be hired at Saint P- [Petersburg] for a trifling sum - comfortable stage coach every day between the 2 capitals - 4 insides and 2 outsides - inside place £5 travel day and night - see Novgorod - 1/2 way and from Saint P- [Petersburg] canal that joins the Caspian to the Baltic - 90 miles from Moscow see Iver [Tver] on Volga -

Downstairs at 11 55/.. my aunt and I read the service as usual and I read sermon 35 and last of the volume of Mr. K- [Knight] our late vicars sermons - just looked into the Life of Sir Humphry Davy by Jno. [John] Ayrton Paris M.D. 4to. [quarto] London 1831 brought it upstairs with me at 1 35/.. and reading the 2 last but one concluding chapters and skimming other parts - (writings on Salmonia and Consolations in Travel and elements of chemistry etc.) till 3 35/.. - then wrote all but the 1st 3 lines of today till 4 20/.. - from 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 wrote a full 1/2 sheet and 1 page and ends of envelop to 'The Honorable Lady Stuart, Whitehall' under to 'Captain Stuart M.P. Grenadier Guards, Whitehall, London' - tho' had a pretty good account of her from Lady S- de R- [Stuart de Rothesay] yet it seems long since I heard from her (Lady S- [Stuart]) and, now winter come, anxious to hear how she bears it - 

'surely I shall see you before the end of May - tho' I told Lady Stuart de Rothesay, I should write to you in a day or 2, I think I should have waited a post or 2 longer, in the hope of fixing the day for going to my friends at Langton, had I not just had a letter from Miss Maclean fearing there was some mistake about letters from Saint Petersburg which her friend had probably sent under cover to Lord Goderich, and which, my Lord knowing nothing about them, might perhaps be lost - may I ask you to be so good as inquire if any such letters had arrived, and if they have, to apologize for their being so directed (which I really knew nothing about) and to say, that I should be very much obliged by their being forwarded to me here -

Miss Maclean tells me, Vere had not written to her for a long time, but that Mrs. Cameron had written to announce the event expected in June - Poor dear Vere! I wish she was safe in London - you will be very anxious about her; and so shall I too - Her friends in Mull seem now to doubt whether they shall see her this summer or not - I have no letter from her since that of the 20th of January - I am glad, on all accounts, she is coming home - my own plans are still rather uncertain - now that Italy must be given up for the present (the heat would be too great in summer) I am still doubting between my northern tour, and a ramble in Auvergne - I want very much to see this part of France, and, when I wrote on Tuesday to Lady Stuart de R- [Rothesay], I told her, it was my favorite scheme just now - yet I have fits and starts about Copenhagen, and Saint Petersburg, and scarcely know how it will end -

Should you be writing to Lady Harriet de Hagemann, will you be so good as give my love, and tell her, I have long been thinking of writing not at all ungrateful for her doubly kind offer of potatos and compagnon de voyage and de vie too) but that I am waiting to make up my mind - I really should like to tell you my adventures in Russia; but I have still 1 or 2 potherations that may make it advisable for me to remain within reach some time longer - and this feeling is a disagreeable restraint - so Lady Gordon is coming to her house in London, and meaning to spend next winter at Rome - Has she been all this while in Herefordshire? I fear you have no good political news - the compact, however, paid to the duke of Wellington by the town of Hull, is gratifying - the poor duchesse de Berri! what a shocking dénouement! I do hope to have a good account of you - and believe me always, dear Lady Stuart, very Truly and affectionately yours A Lister - my Kind regards to Captain Stuart, who, I hope, does his parliamentary duties with as much pleasure as can be expected, under present circumstances' -

The above is all the letter but the 1st page of the 1/2 sheet - wrote it all out till 6 - sealed and gave out for the post tonight and dinner at 6 1/2 at which hour gave for the post my letter to Lady S- [Stuart] vide last page and my letter to 'Miss Maclean of Coll, Coll house, Aros, N.B. North Britain' - after dinner till 9 read from page 106 to 196 gleanings in natural history with local recollections by Edward Jesse, Esquire

surveyor of his majesty's parks and palaces to which are advised maxims and hints for an

       angler. --- not a tree,            a plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains            a folio volume. We may read, and read,            and read again, but still find something new,            something to please, and something to instruct,            E'en even in the noisome weed.

           a new edition London John Murray Albermarle Street 1832.        London printed by William Clowes Standord Street 1 volume 12mo. duodecimo pp. pages 313        from page 309 to the end, on tree planting - worth turning to for his method of moving languish trees in Bushy Park -

from 9 to 9 1/2 reading Sir Richard Phillips's million of facts (mineral kingdom) - went into the other room at 9 35/.. and came upstairs at 10 40/.. having read or skimmed over the courier all as usual but the debates - Lord Graves's estate (came into his possession in 1800), near Exeter (Bishop's court) sold to Alderman Garratt of London for £75,000 - rental about £1400 a year - tolerably fine day till between 2 and 3 and then afterwards a few showers of small driving snow or sleet - Fahrenheit 48º now at 11 40/.. p.m. -

[theblatherwick7]

The team reunited for Thailand

This was a long awaited holiday coming as it does after the chaos that has been our house move with attendant high speed packing.Most people would have spent the morning holiday packing-I spent it supervising carpet fitters and builders,getting rid of furniture and filling a skip.We were however all present and correct in good time for our 6 seater taxi to arrive to take us to Newark Northgate for our train to Heathrow via Kings Cross.At the appointed time there was no sign but I wasn’t unduly worried as we had had an automated confirmation text.However I decided to check it was on its way only to get the response that it hadn’t been despatched and they weren’t entirely sure where it was! I expressed incredulity that they could be so casual about this whereupon they hung up.We then commenced a frantic unpacking of the Landrover which was full of stuff set aside to avoid the removal men packing it.We were preparing a hasty dash to the station with bags on our knees when the taxi company(Z cars if you want to avoid them!) rang to say they were sending 2 cars(why they hadn’t done this initially beats me) and that one was almost with us.So we unpacked the car and the first taxi arrived with scarcely an apology and little sense of urgency.Iain decided to take this one and set off with the little ones whilst Alec and I(a poor combination in stressful situations) waited for the second one.Except it didn’t come.I took the gamble that it was worth waiting a minute or 2 as if I drove I would be delayed by having to park rather than being dropped outside.

However when I chased it up with Maggie who I fear was reluctant to answer the phone to me I was told it was over 2 miles away.We guessed this was too long to wait and hastily in 32degree heat packed my mini.This is Fortunately a sporty vehicle so I put it through its paces leaving only 14 mins before the trains departure time.I almost caught up with Iains taxi whose driver had refused his advice on the best route.I threw Alec out at the station with my enormous suitcase and screeched into the nearest car park with hardly time to wince at the £13.50 a day charge and sprinted at quite a pace considering the heat into the station and over the bridge.The whistle was being blown frantically as I approached(it turned out that Iain was refusing to allow the automatic doors to close on ironically what must be the only London train I’ve caught this year that actually left on time) and I managed to dive into the nearest door and fall in a heap!

Z cars had by this time texted to ask for feedback on our journey! Iain had refused to pay his driver and I’d shouted at him(poor chap) that he had not provided the best start to our holiday.I spoke to Jack in the office(Maggie was probably lying down with a cold towel by now!) and informed him that I would be presenting Z cars with a £250 parking bill which was more than they would have charged us to drive us all the way.He certainly didn’t dare argue so we shall see what happens.

We gradually got our breath back and prepared for 22 stops on the Piccadilly line with 13 items of luggage.This turned out to be as fun as you might expect,standing room only with sweat dripping out the bottom of my trousers,but it got us there on time and G managed to hop on the same train.We arrived at Terminal 4 in plenty of time and dropped off our bags for our Etihad flight via Abu Dhabi.We had plenty of time for a meal and some shopping and a very short trip to a recently built viewing gallery which was stiflingly hot.

We boarded on time but then missed our slot so left about 40 mins late.It was a huge v new plane(Dreamliner?!) with what seems to be better than average seats with a good headrest arrangements.Etihad are meant to be upmarket,tho on the verge of going bust I think,but there was nothing very special about them. 6 and a half hours later we touched down in Abu Dhabi and walked a considerable distance to our next plane.I was rather surprised to see a middle aged local bending down to whisper in Elsie’s ear.It turned out he was taking a selfie with her which seemed remarkably odd!

This second flight was on a smaller older plane and there was a cafuffle when various groups weren’t seated together including a couple,one of whom was meant to be next to Alec and refused resulting in Alec getting 2 seats to himself.We were given spicy noodles for breakfast which seemed a strange choice but passed the time and before we knew it we were in Phuket.Immigration didn’t last long and we were efficiently greeted by Destination Asia,our land agents,to be taken to our hotel Best Western Bangtao.

Now I’m not a fan of corporate bland hotels but had been assured by our travel agent that this hotel was not like this.I was also convinced because it was very cheap! As we pulled up it looked pretty ordinary and dated and we were rather put out to be told that our 2 rooms were in completely different parts of the hotel. We had a family room in an annexed garden area and a(apparently upgraded) sea view room in the main hotel.The latter is very ugly and the room smelt v damp and musty,exactly the smell that makes Iain very wheezy.We asked to swap but the poor guy dealing with us got very flustered and asked us to wait until the morning.We then rang our travel agent who washed their hands of it(not best pleased as I think they over sold it in the first place) and then their hotel agent who agreed to intervene.We headed out for dinner only to see the chap who had struggled to help us clearly trying to deal with the call from our agent.We had a great Thai meal out but all I could think of was that the place was a bit disappointing after all the effort to get here,and certainly didn’t compare to the Maldives but where would? Everyone else in the party was chilled tho so I thought perhaps the morning would herald better things! We felt sure we would sleep well.

[felfaproj]

[to: Mel]

hello to you, mel! it’s so nice to meet you! ^^ first off, let me apologize for taking so long to reply to you kjnkdfnkvkdfnv but yes! here i am nowwww~ thank you so much for being patient with me despite my delay and also i really appreciate you for taking part in my appreciation project! :D

omgosh you’re a karate black belt??? that’s so cool holy wowowow! it must have taken you quite some time and dedication to get to black belt level, i’m so proud of you!!!! and wow, you play the electric guitar, that’s so awesome! :D i sadly can’t play music instruments to save my life, unless you count the recorder LOL. probably bc i’ve never had the chance to take lessons but ehhhh~ maybe one dayyyy! :B oooo same here! i enjoy spending time alone and reading/listening to music. not so much on drawing tho bc my art skills are nadahhhh. i would love see your drawings one day, if you don’t mind sharing that is! :D

hmmm, what are my tastes in fashion... i guess i would say it goes between something more ‘chic/fashionable’ and ‘simple’ depending on the situation and my mood. i usually go for the simple look nowadays though bc i don’t really have to dress up for work, so it’s plain basic tees/crop tees (which aren’t really cropped bc i’m s h o r t) and shorts + sandals. :D i’ve been looking at getting a thin bomber jacket which i can leave at work on the colder days but that’s about it i guess...? i’ve recently gotten into clutch bags which are lowkey impractical bc i can’t bring that to work BUT THEY R SO PRETTYYYY!!! ;v; but yeahhhh, in short my taste in fashion is simple and affordable~ :D