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shiorimakibawrites · 1 year ago

Text

Fantasy (Part 9 of Alley Cat)

Image Credits: kissthemgoodbye.net / Amber Kipp / Nathan Dumlao

Pairing: Matt Murdock x fem!Reader

Word Count: 3108

Summary: Reader is feeling anxious about upcoming discussion with Daredevil and needs to relax.

Warnings: MINORS DNI - EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT. Masturbation. Vaginal Fingering. Fantasies about oral sex (female receiving and male receiving), penis in vagina sex, and implied unprotected sex. Reader being anxious.

Can also be read here. The Masterlist for this series can be found here

Author’s Note: While trying to write the conversation between Reader and Matt, the muses informed me that was another chapter before that one could happen. A chapter involving smut. I have never written smut. I've read it. Never written it. Until now. Hopefully it isn't terrible. I now have increased respect for writers of smut. It is (hee) hard.

Fantasy

by Shiori_Makiba

You were waiting for Daredevil (who was probably Matt Murdock) to show up. At least you thought he would be visiting you tonight. There was no way to know for sure. It wasn't like you had set up a meeting with him. You just assumed that he would want to have a discussion with anyone who had discovered who he was under the mask.

Assuming you hadn't completely misinterpreting everything. You were pretty sure that you hadn't. He hadn't been subtle with his hints. At all. The only way he could have less subtle was if he had walked in and said 'I am Daredevil.'

You were ninety-nine percent certain that Daredevil and Matt Murdock were the same person but that little sliver of doubt was enough for anxiety to latch onto and make you start second-guessing yourself.

There were reasonable explanations for every hint or clue that didn't involve Murdock being Daredevil. Yes, all of them together stretched plausibility but sometimes improbable things happened. Ten years ago, if you had been asked if it was possible for a World War II soldier, a billionaire, a monster, an archer, and a lady assassin to stop an alien invasion, you would have said it was not. And yet, that is exactly what happened.

The biggest thing that was making your brain run in circles was simply that it was a very serious accusation to make. An accusation for which you had absolutely no proof. Your case was built entirely on guesswork, assumptions, and personal opinion. Any defense attorney worth their salt would able to shred it to pieces with ease.

If you were wrong, the best case scenario was that Daredevil and Murdock would find your crazy theory that they were same person to be funny. You'd be embarrassed but everyone would have a good laugh and move on. Worst case scenario? Daredevil would be offended that you would accuse his blind friend of breaking the law and violating his oaths as an attorney. He ends your friendship and you never see him again outside of the news. And you would need a new legal team because such accusations would be completely justified grounds for them to sever the attorney-client relationship with you.

You tried to distract yourself from such anxiety-fueled thoughts.

You started with Houdini. Who deserved some extra attention anyway. He gladly accepted a session with the fishing pole toy. It was always fun watching him chasing after, jumping at, and pouncing on the dancing ribbons. When he started to tire, you put the toy down and gave him some treats.

Feeling more relaxed, you made yourself comfortable on your couch and decided to continue reading your book. A fantasy romance novel that you had picked out because the swashbuckling hero in the cover art resembled Daredevil from his The Man In Black days. The plot was a little formulaic but you liked the characters and the sex scenes were steamy.

And honestly, it was far less embarrassing than the other novel you had recently purchased. A superhero romance whose half-demon hero the Red Devil was very obviously inspired by Daredevil. You hoped Daredevil never found out that you had read it. And it's two sequels. And pre-ordered the fourth and final book in the series. Because you had gotten invested in the story. And the sex scenes were really hot.

As soon as you started reading, Houdini made himself at home on your lap and started bumping your hand with his head. You took the hint and starting petting him with one hand while holding your book with the other. It didn't take long for him to start purring and then fall asleep.

You thought you had successfully headed off that anxiety spiral until the sun started to go down and that discussion with Daredevil became imminent. Soon you were too anxious to sit still and had to get off the couch. Houdini appreciated neither being woken up from his nap or being moved when he was comfortable. Which he informed you of. Loudly. Before curling up in the warm spot you had been laying in and going back to sleep.

You started pacing around the apartment and knew you were too keyed up. You needed to relax. Normally you would cook but the marinara in the slow cooker didn't need anything except to be turned to the keep warm setting. You already had enough homemade pasta in your freezer to feed several people. Which also had an ample supply of soups, sauces, and other make-ahead meals for the upcoming week. And then some. You always seemed to make too much food for one person. Granted your friends were usually happy to take your overflow. Especially Jo since she can't boil water without burning it.

Maybe that was for best. You were jittery enough that maybe handling a knife was a bad idea. Kneading bread dough was great stress relief but you were still working through the results of your last stress induced baking spree.

You needed something else. Maybe a shower? A shower sounded good. It had a lot of benefits. It would relax you. And ensure that you didn't stink when the man with the bloodhound nose showed up. Mind made up, you headed for your bedroom to grab some fresh clothes.

You were debating about what to wear – what was the appropriate attire for secret identity discussions – when your eyes landed on your copy of The Red Devil. Which was on the floor along with a couple of other books that had been in the bookcase. The cleared out space was suspiciously Houdini sized. You rolled your eyes. It seemed that you had found his new napping spot which rotated every couple of days and had included the places like the breadbox on the kitchen counter. And the molded shelf in the shower stall. His favorite seemed to be your underwear drawer. And like with the bookcase, he wasn't afraid to dump some of your panties on the floor in order to make room for himself.

You picked up the fallen books and stacked them in another spot in the bookcase. There was no point in putting them back in their shelf until Houdini got bored of napping there. He would just push them off the shelf again. Looking at the cover art of the Red Devil books with its titular hero in skin-tight red leather, you couldn't help thinking about your vigilante in red leather and Kevlar. You blushed a little remembering how many times you had re-imagined the sex scenes with Daredevil instead of Red Devil and yourself instead of the journalist heroine. The memory alone was enough get you a little worked up. Which only made you blush harder.

You shook your head and decided firmly that you were at least going to be comfortable during your potentially awkward conversation. Besides he already been exposed to your sleep wear. It wasn't going to horrify him now. So you grabbed a pair of thin sleep pants and an oversized tee shirt along with clean underwear and socks. Then headed for the bathroom.

After depositing your clothes on the counter, you reached into the shower stall and twisted the knob. With a loud hiss, the shower sputtered to life. As you waited for the water to heat up, you stripped out of your slacks, blouse, panties, bra, and socks. You tested the water but it needed another minute. Which left you with nothing to do but stand there naked in the rising steam and think.

Your mind tried to retread the same anxiety-filled spiral but you pushed away those thoughts. You were supposed to be relaxing. You needed to think of something else. Anything else.

The something else your brain finally settled on as you entered the shower stall and slide the door shut was sex. Specifically sex with Daredevil . . .

You flushed and tried think of something else. You needed to be able to look Daredevil in the eye tonight, possibly very soon if he decided to talk to you before his patrol, and that would be impossible to do if you had just been picturing him naked and getting off to it. The fact that Daredevil was probably Matt Murdock who was blind and (probably) wouldn't know that you were avoiding his eyes was irrelevant.

But your brain had decided on what it wanted to latch onto next. And that thing was imagining Daredevil naked.

His Daredevil suit wasn't skin tight but it fitted his body close enough to give your imagination a good starting point. You pictured broad shoulders, solid pecs, and abs that you could bounce a quarter off that tapered into a trim waist before flaring out into the finest ass on the East Coast. Possibly the world. Thick thighs that would encourage your legs apart whether you were on your back or straddling his lap. Powerful arms that could easily hold you up against the wall or pin you down the bed. And, through it might be setting you up for disappointment later, a big dick, long and thick enough to make you feel the stretch when he entered you, that you would feel full when he was inside you.

Your cunt began to throb with need just at the thought of him being inside you. You leaned against the wall of the shower, hissing as the coolness of the tile touched your warm skin. Using your back to brace yourself against the wall, you spread your legs. You reached a hand and was unsurprised to feel that you were already wet. What surprised you was just how wet you already were. You gasped when your fingers grazed your clit and began to rub gentle circles.

You pictured a kiss. One that started out like the one of your cheek. Just the gentle press of those soft, pink lips against yours that soon deepens into something firmer, something hungrier. You imagined those hands, rough with calluses, roaming over your body. Followed by his lips, creating a trail of fire with alternating kisses and little nips down your neck to the tops of your breasts. The light scrap of his beard scuff causing the skin to sing with sensation that would leave you squirming against his body.

You started moaning his name as your fingers increased their pace on your clit, picturing those clever fingers teasing your nipples until they tightened into stiff peaks. You would cry out when he latched onto one of the stiff peaks and sucked, arching your back to press more of your breast into his mouth.

You whined as your cunt clenched around nothing. You slide the fingers of your other hand along your soaked slit, coating your fingers in slick. You started panting as those fingers rubbed against your entrance and then began to dip inside. Soon you were pumping that finger in and out. It felt so good but not enough. You wanted more. You needed more. You quickly worked in a second finger. Which was better but you wished it was his fingers, thicker than yours, that were inside of you. But you made do and once you had a rhythm, your other hand resumed rubbing clit.

Soon the tension inside of you began to coil tighter and tighter . . . until it shattered as you came with a guttural moan. Legs trembling, you slide down the wall to sit on the floor of the shower. You felt more slick coating your thighs as your cunt clenched and twitched. You leaned your head back, closed your eyes and tried to catch your breath.

Well, you were definitely more relaxed now. And as much as you would like to sit there and enjoy your post-orgasm bliss, you needed to finish cleaning yourself before you ran out of hot water. You pushed yourself up onto still wobbly legs and reached for the soap . . .

*****************************************************************************************

Matt hadn't been trying to be a voyeur. Honestly. He had come to your apartment with the intention of speaking to you before starting his patrol. Otherwise he would be distracted and being distracted while fighting would lead to injuries. Which would annoy Claire who had been running off her feet caring not only for the civilians at her hospital who had been injured during Tuesday's attack but also the vigilantes who had responded. He made a mental note to talk to Danny about buying her a day at the spa or something. Didn't want her thinking that they didn't appreciate all of her hard work.

Furthermore, especially after his stunt at the office today, if he showed up at work tomorrow injured because he was distracted by a pretty girl, Foggy might actually kill him.

At first, his timing had seemed perfect. He had caught Houdini in the act of making his way down the fire escape. The cat made a spirited attempt to evade capture but ultimately failed. Not that he accepted his defeat quietly as Houdini immediately started monologuing at him. And squirming as soon as he started to scale the fire escape.

Which rather distracted Matt as he didn't want to accidentally drop your cat. A fall from this height could be lethal. Which would upset you greatly. He knew how much you loved your cat. Such an occurrence would also upset him as Matt had grown rather fond of Houdini.

The result was that he didn't notice the situation until he was standing on the platform by your bedroom window. But once he did, he immediately froze and didn't even notice Houdini taking advantage of his suddenly slack hold to slip out of his hands.

The scent of your arousal hung heavy in the air, stirring his cock to life. He couldn't stop himself from inhaling deeply, his tongue from sweeping out to taste the air. He wished he was in the shower with you, his nose nuzzled against your neck. Filling his lungs with your pheromones and the sweet, sweet smell of your body getting wet for him.

Or even better, laying you down on the counter and burying his face in your cunt. He wanted to feel the muscles in your thighs twitch and tremble under his hands as he licked up your slit. To hear your panting moans as he lapped at and sucked on your clit. Or started fucking you with his tongue. He hoped you would pull his hair, gripped tightly in your hand, as he drew you closer and closer to release . . .

Then he heard something that only made his twitching cock harder. You started moaning his name. Daredevil at first but soon you were also panting out Matt. Confirmation that it was him you were fantasizing about while you touched yourself . . .

It took more willpower than was pretty to leave. And even more to stop listening to you get off. One day, he promised himself. One day, if you agreed to it, he would replicate this moment but this time, he would get to participate as something other than an accidental voyeur. One of a growing list of fantasies that he hoped you would be agreeable to fulfilling someday.

But not today. Regardless of the outcome of your discussion tonight, sex wasn't happening. He wasn't going to fuck you without taking you to dinner first. He had at least that much class.

His patrol was going to be delayed. He was even more distracted now then he was before. His erection was refusing to be willed away. His cock knew what it wanted. To be buried in your sweet cunt, to feel you gripping him tightly with each thrust until he spilled himself inside you. It would have to settle for his left hand.

Once back to his apartment, Matt wasted no time stripping off his suit and pushing down his boxers, hissing with relief at the cool air on his aching cock. Your apartment wasn't very far from his but it was long enough that the silk of his boxers rubbing on his erection was starting to make him oversensitive. That same sensitivity made him sit on his impatience and retrieve the lube. It didn't smell anywhere near as good as your slick but it would have to do.

“Fuck,” he grunted as he gripped the base of his cock and began to stroke the length. He tried to imagine that it was your hands wrapped around his cock but the sensation wasn't right. Your hands were smaller than his. Softer too. He vividly recalled the feel of your hand against his when he shook your hand after signing the retainer agreement as well as your cheek under his lips.

He was looking forward to discovering if the rest of your skin was just as soft. How your curves would feel under his hands. How your breathe would hitch when he cupped your breasts or grabbed a handful of your ass.

The pace of his hand increased as his mind flicked between all the things he wanted to do with you. He wanted you to sit on his face. Gripping your hips as you moved against his mouth, chasing your orgasm. Licking and sucking you afterward until you are squirming and whining from overstimulation.

His hips gave an involuntary jerk at the thought. Another fantasy rose to the surface.

You on your knees in front of him sucking his cock. He groaned at the thought of his cock engulfed in the tight, wet mouth of your mouth. Your tongue licking his length and discovering every sensitive spot, teasing him until he begged for more. Your lips closing over just the head and sucking. Your nails digging into his thighs, the little pain adding a sweet edge to the pleasure you brought. Would you moan as he fought not to start fucking your face? Would you let him come down your throat? Would you keep sucking and licking after his release until he also started whining from overstimulation?

That did it. He swore as he began to cum, coating his hand and abdomen in a sticky mess. He worked himself until it was too much. He needed to be spent before he came near you again with your arousal lingering in the air. Or he might given into temptation and take you on your kitchen table. Even after all that, his cock still gave an aborted twitch at the thought.

He cleaned up himself and was getting the suit back on when he heard the first signs of trouble. He growled. Looks like your conversation would have to wait until after he put the fear of the Devil in some people.

Ending Notes:

The first romance novel Reader mentions is basically Stardust if Tristan was Zorro / Dread Pirate Roberts.

The Red Devil ones are basically a original novel version of Falling For The Devil (Daredevil fic by BellaGiornata here on AO3 – go read it. Yes, I know it is at current point 79 installments long. Read it anyway).

The Devil books are quite popular. There might be a screen adaptation in the works. And I may have cast Charlie Cox as the lead in said screen adaptation.

#daredevil #the alley cat series #fan fic #matt murdock x fem!reader #matt murdock x fem!reader smut

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honest-moth-of-silver-grove · 10 months ago

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Hi mothmom! I’ve been super excited waiting for your ask box to open, after finding your stuff in like, October? Your writing is awesome! It helps I’m a sucker for BG3 content.

Admittedly I’m a bit nervous asking (I’ve gone over your rules list like 15 times), and hopefully no one has asked this yet!

I wanted to make a request for the BG3 male companions (especially Wyll) supporting tav as they come out as Trans? Specifically trans masc if you don’t mind. Thank you so much! Super excited to see what you come up with ❤️

A/N: Oh my gosh! It warms my heart to hear you’ve been waiting that long for something I’d write. Oh wow, I feel so honored! And what a great question! It fits within the rules just fine, don’t worry! Here’s how I think the main three male companions would respond. BTW, I used he/him pronouns for Tav here, hope that’s okay!

TW: Gender Mention, Gender Identity, Gender Dysphoria

Male BG3 Companions Reacting to a TransMasc! Tav

Astarion:

Astarion is completely on board with the idea, so long as he gets to go shopping with Tav/give them the occasional bit of fashion advice. After all, Astarion thinks himself the best-dressed guy in camp, so, of course, it makes sense for Tav to take style advice from him.

Astarion’s not very reactive. He was a high elf, born into the upper social classes of elf society in Baldur’s Gate. Certain high elves have been known to be blessed by Corellon, the androgynous leader of the elven pantheon, and the deity of Magic, Music, Arts, Crafts, Poetry, and Warfare. As the creator and preserver of the eleven race, he’s incredibly powerful. So powerful that in certain, very rare cases, special elves who receive a special blessing from them can change their gender following every long rest. These elves, known as "blessed of Corellon", can choose to be male, female, or 'neither' based on their moods or feelings. So the concept of changing one’s gender or appearance isn’t at all foreign to Astarion.

Astarion does his best to listen to Tav though, especially if this is a difficult subject for him. Astarion knows what it's like to not be in control of your own body, of your destiny- it’s awful, rotten, and certainly, not something he would want to intentionally inflict on another person, especially someone as important to him as Tav.

Astarion will listen intently, and take mental notes as to how Tav prefers to be treated. If he asks Asation to give him more credit in physical battles or to maybe lay off pet names like ‘Beautiful’, Astarion will respect Tav’s wishes. It may take Astarion some time to adjust, but he does make an immediate effort to.

Astarion will also not hesitate to cut a bitch who insults Tav or disrespects his pronouns or appearance. Astarion is basically the living, walking embodiment of that “respect people’s pronouns or I’ll make yours ‘was/were’”.

Gale:

Gale may put his hand in his mouth a handful of times when he talks to Tav about it at first, but he really does mean well. Gale’s just very curious about any magic or spells Tav has used, if any, in trying to alter their appearance or gender. Have they tried any transmutation spells? Polymorph? Any alchemy at all? Gale is very much on board with helping Tav achieve their desired look or body via magical means if that’s what he wants.

Gale offers assistance via magical means of course, but he also offers a sympathetic ear should Tav ever want to talk about it. Gale has met plenty of alchemists who struggled with their own identity, so he knows it can weigh heavy on one’s mind. And when you already have a mind flayer parasite on the mind, well, that’s quite a lot for just one mind to handle!

Gale’s very excited to share shaving and grooming tips, especially when it comes to beard upkeep. That is if Tav is interested in trying out a beard. Gods know Gale’s been dying to talk to someone about it, someone who appreciates a handsome face when they see one. Tara won’t stop bugging him to shave it, and he could use another fellow on his side. Maybe together he and Tav could persuade Tara into liking it. (I mean, probably not, but it’s worth a shot.)

Gale isn’t one to initiate conflict, but should someone disrespect Tav or talk down to him, Gale would certainly have some words for that individual. Granted they may be murmured or said under his breath so as to not start yet another fight on their journey but in the end it’s the thought that counts, right? And if those words just happen to be some sort of mischievous spell as revenge, well, some things just can’t be helped, can they?

Wyll:

Wyll is extremely kind and understanding when Tav tells him. He’s always very encouraging and does his best to uplift Tav anyway, but now that Wyll knows this, he tries even harder to do so.

Wyll knows how much other people’s perceptions of yourself can mean. Wyll himself was so used to people seeing him in one light before Mizora cast him into another. Adjusting to the horns has not been easy, but just as Tav stood by him through all of that, Wyll vows to stand by Tav.

He’s very polite, so he doesn’t ask a lot of questions unless Tav explicitly tells him it's okay to. If it is, Wyll will ask Tav about how they’d like to be addressed, how they’d like to be perceived within the roles of the team, and if there’s anything Wyll can do to make this process any easier for them.

You know how in the latest patch, there was a fix that said “Duke Ravengaurd will now use the player's correct pronouns when addressing them”? And collectively we were all like, so Wyll sat him down and gave him a talk, huh? Yeah, that.

Wyll’s very old-fashioned, not in his beliefs in gender roles, oh gods no, but in his belief that everyone should be treated with respect. (Well, sans goblins and like, bad guys, I guess.) So if Tav says they want to be called something, you can bet Wyll is the first one to remind the others if they slip up.

Wyll thinks Tav is just an incredible person and an all-around amazing guy. He’s so happy to have met them. It’s kind of silly, but in some ways, Wyll still sees himself as this sort of knight-in-shining armor, a hero sworn to protect the people. But what’s amazed Wyll time and time again is how often Tav reminds Wyll and everyone else by extension, just how capable he is, as a leader and a friend. Tav isn’t helpless in need of rescue, he’s very capable in his way. Wyll finds it captivating, all the time Tav has come to his rescue.

#bg3 imagine #baldurs gate 3 imagine #baldurs gate imagine #bg3 x tav #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #hc

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loupy-mongoose · 1 year ago

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hey i really like your art stye and i know you have the comic links in your pinned post but i don't know which order i am supposed to read them in it is very confusing is there a master post?

At the time of receiving this, I came to realize that my chrono links were indeed rather confusingly sorted. I changed my pinned post to hopefully make it a little more clear what order things should be read in.

But I'll chatter a bit about it here, and maybe clear things up further.

CHRONO LINKS:

General:

My Artworks

Comics (Mostly Non-ask)

Relating to the Original Mewtwo (Nicodemus)

This group is something of an umbrella collection. "My Artworks" and "Comics" are collections of all my posts containing art done by myself and comics respectively. These both function as a chronological journey through my blog, but meshes all of the specific arcs (seen below) together.

The Nicodemus link is a chronological look through every post I've made mentioning and portraying Nico's side of Linden Roots.

For more specific looks at my story elements, I have their arcs linked below.

Specific Story Focuses (Sorted Chronologically):

Lab Arc

Pregnancy with the Twins

Midas and Monique

Lav and Mewtwo Meeting

Jerry

Relating to Rosemary

There is more that I could do to sort/organize all my story beats and elements. I may make a master post that details and links to moments of the timeline properly. But for now I hope this helps make things a little more clear.

And I feel it must be said that I am human, and unfortunately one with relatively poor organization skills. And as such, there may be posts that should fit into these links that don't have the proper tags, and therefore won't show up where they're supposed to. (For example, the Momo and Midas Link; the tag I use for them is "babbies" which on my phone and iPad often gets autocorrected to "Babies". I just went to correct all previous instances of this mistake, but there could be more such problems.)

#noomichi #ask #babbies #mite #jerry #branch

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melkor-did-nothing-wrong · 1 month ago

Note

Hullo!

Just wanted to say that your blog is really cool! I’ve been back on and off in my Tolkien hyperfixation recently (mainly Silm but overall also works), and yours is one of the few that caught my eye, esp with the pinned post :)

Tho, I’m sorry that you seem to be attacked for shipping Angbang “wrong”, that’s just sad

Just because you have a different outlook on things doesn’t give others the right to attack you for it. But, some people apparently don’t have enough empathy and/or sympathy to see that :/

I know it’s so much easier said than done, but try ignoring those people? They will have a problem no matter what you do, the way I see it, so might as well enjoy the thing you do regardless, since it’s not hurting anybody, right?

So… I hope you have a good timezone, and hopefully people will educate themselves on basic kindness and respect soon :)

- Dragon Anon

Been sitting on this one for a few days without posting because I needed to stare at it one on one and think how to best reply to it.

Unfortunately, time did not help as I have nothing wittier or more thought provoking to say to any of your points than I did upon receiving this so I may as well post this now rather than have you waiting.

I could apologize for this blog catching your interest, rather than all the good ones. I could apologize because I produce no stunning art or amazing fics beloved by all and have no large variety of silm ships to offer you. This was supposed to be an Ainur blog more broadly, but hard times directed me to my comfort ship within the silm and I've stuck with posting it to the detriment of all else for... a while. There are so many wonderful silm blogs for you to find and enjoy. With more Ainur and Eldar and dwarves and men. Some of them I wish with all my heart would tag content relating to specific ships or characters so I could filter it more easily and join the rest of the community in enjoying them as well.

While I'm personally exhausted to the point of snapping at the prospect of being harassed over my ship takes, I do need to remember that this is the internet, and someone out there will always use the veil of anonymity to bring others down. And naturally, if there has to be one specific and certain ship within this fandom which gets all the mockery and vitriol for being "the one people should be discouraged from shipping", I suppose it's only natural for it to be the one with the bad people in it, rather than a more beloved ship favored by more people. And if anyone within that "bad" ship is going to get hate, of course the easiest target is some autistic foreigner whose takes are generally bizarre in the eyes of the wider public ("What?! someone who did something BAD is capable of FEELINGS?!?!? and of maintaining a happy relationship?!? how dare you!"). People see any nuance given to villains, any nuance given to villains in a RELATIONSHIP, heck, people see any joy and genuine love attributed to these characters and they just have to pounce.

I just never understood why every other Villain loves Villain ship in any and all fandoms on the planet get more grace and nuance than this one. Silm is largely supposed to be the more "adult" fandom in the legendarium. We have no visual media to popularize it, so it remains in the hands of the older fans who read the book and had to sit down with their thoughts about what was written in it. And yet other fandoms, including ones aimed at children or young teens are more accepting and less judgmental of their peers when it comes to shipping some fictional meanies.

Ignoring them IS difficult. Every time I get a notification about an ask in my inbox or a direct message, of course I want to assume the best. I welcome the prospect of an open conversation with anyone who agrees OR disagrees with me and I want to leave the door open to people who want to change my mind or even their own mind, in good faith. It's just aggravating to see that half of them are simply offensive for the sake of being offensive. Because I'd post them if they didn't have nasty terms in them aimed at real living people. I'd have the conversation. Instead, it's nothing but a demotivation campaign that drains me of my desire to interact with the wider fandom or post my own ideas anywhere. But I suppose you're right. No matter what I do, how hard I try to fit myself to one opinion or another, some people will still never be happy about it. The sooner I make my peace with it, the better. Maybe one day it will be easier to do. Maybe one day I'll get there on my own.

Regardless, thank you for all of this.

#the negative anons I don't bother publishing both because I hold on to the hope that reporting them is the correct thing to do and may help #as well as there being slurs I do not want to feature on this blog under any circumstance. I do not want other people to come across these.#“have a good timezone” is the cutest version of morning/evening I've ever seen ;;#asks #though I have to say - if you are who I think you are you might not enjoy this blog forever #I know the “toxic codependency yaayyyy” take is very popular but I'm very very opposed to portraying same sex ships like that.#So for this and for other reasons I do prefer my angbang healthy... which is what people are upset at me for to begin with...

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onlyswan · 11 months ago

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Hi art! ♡♡♡

I wanted to stop by to wish you a happy new year 🎆 and thank you for existing and for writing so many powerful stories. the small (but not that small hehe) community you've gathered on your blog feels very safe and loving and i like to think that's a product of the person who runs it.

you've given me hope that a type of love exists beyond the prominent common negative situations relationships can have that is prevalent today, and that maintaining a healthy and respectful relationship is attainable. (and never to settle. :D)

you are obviously a very beautiful person and i truly wish you find everything you hope for this coming year, and that love encompasses all aspects of your life because you deserve it. even if every day might not be a good day, hopefully, you will have peace and fun and the good will heavily outweigh the bad.

you're lovely and i feel lucky to have stumbled upon you and your blog this last year. i tend to stray away from having interactions with people online, but i feel like you're the type of person that everyone wants to know more about and be friends with so it was hard not to want to write to you hehe. (because i don't usually jump at the idea of online interactions and i've never written to an author before, i get a little scared sometimes that i sound crazy when i praise you so please tell me if i ever go overboard T^T)

i really appreciated your small new year's post and that you wrote it's ok to bring the past with you into the new year. i struggled a little this year, and i feel like in past years i always said i'd forget about it all. but this year i feel content holding all of 2023 with me and using the experience to grow and heal over the course of 2024. life is fragile but can also feel very intense, so having your writing after a long day and the rest of the good things i've been lucky enough to have, helped me to feel like it's all a little more worth it.

i've also just enjoyed reading all the interactions you've done with the asks and everything, so thank you for that and replying to me as well! i can't tell you how excited i was when i opened your master list and saw my little moon emoji right there ❀⸜(˶´ ˘ `˶)⸝❀

overall, thank you for everything this year, and wishing you the best for what's to come! also sorry i always write so much :') i'm definitely not the best at writing and wording things but i hope i'm at least able to get the idea across

i love you and all the sweet people who have written on this blog because oh my god it's so cute seeing all the anon emojis !!!

feels great to be a part of something so sweet (also highly enjoying watching the fight for oc right now, rooting for all the anons but also jk? i feel so bad, i might have to side with him 🤭)

anyway, that's it! happy 2024 and best wishes for this year~ ♡

-🌙

my lovely, lovely moon anonie 🥺 being greeted by the most heartwarming message after a long day is so comforting. thank you so much for the kind wishes; for recognizing the messages i try to send through my writings; and most importantly, for seeing me as a person through it all <3 i’m honored that despite not normally interacting online, you’re here with me in my little corner of the internet and you’ve taken the time to write this message 🥺 please don’t worry about going overboard at all bcs i appreciate you so much and i feel your sincerity <3 i hope you have the most wonderful year and you receive all your heart desires 🩵 i love you too!

also highly enjoying watching the fight for oc right now, rooting for all the anons but also jk? i feel so bad, i might have to side with him 🤭

lmaooo it’s been entertaining like this wasn’t in my bingo card at all 😭 omg jungkook we finally found you an ally !!!!!

#art’s post office ☁️#🌙 anon #to make art smile :d

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endlessly-cursed · 1 year ago

Text

WWTG, The Winter Solstice: The Welcome Ball III

Everything was going as well as it could be. The Welcome Ball was afoot and Primrose observed from a chair that her beloved people had made for her as a gift for producing an heir. Malcolm was beside her, observing quietly the guests and commenting on the now absent faces they didn't see.

"Henry wrote back to me. No word of what he and the Goldcrests are up to in Scotland, though," It was true. This morning, they had received a letter from Henry and Elian each. It was odd that they didn't attend this year's festivities, and many whispered of it.

"Elian was quiet as well," Malcolm added "hopefully they aren't roping one another into danger."

Primrose chuckled "Hopefully being the factor word here. Of both of us, you ought to know Elian best." She teased.

Malcolm let out a small laugh "You're right, dear. Danger chases our dear friend, I'm afraid."

Primrose observed Simon Battersea, standing in a corner, surely pining for his faraway sultana "Poor boy. I wish I could do something to make his stay less lonely." She looked at Malcolm "I shall dance with him the next number."

Malcolm nodded "Be my guest, dear. I shall see myself that Mr. Rowle doesnt rue the night."

He kissed her hand and she extended her hand to the young earl "Dance with me, Earl Simon?" She gave him a smile that she knew well nobody ought to deny.

"Can you? In your condition?" He asked concerned.

"A little movement will do good to me and my child."

He bowed "I shall oblige, then."

Cecilia wasn't Harlan Rowle's biggest fan, and despite him having a nice face to look at and a certain charm -though she'd rather perish the thought than admit it out loud- but he made her beloved Vinnie laugh, and that was enough for her to tolerate him, no matter how much she liked the idea of punching him in the throat, though the cad would find a way to make the situation humorous.

As the quadrille begun, she and Vinnie looked at one another "Sneak to our spot for our people-watching game?"

"Always!"

Brushing their hands, they left for a small terrace that Viscountess Primrose kept close to her heart, but Cecilia had worked a way to give her access as well. Suffices to say, the oh-so-perfect viscountess once had some scandalous rendezvouses with a beautiful and witty painter.

"Tell me, dearest, who shall be your victim for the night?" Cecilia inquired.

Lavinia observed the people around until her eyes on poor, flushed Orpheus Kenway, who looked positively lost "Oh, good Godric, by the time I have been here, I have only made a mess with five syllables or less, and overshadowed by my unsufferable villain of a brother! Whatever shall I do without cousin Charis?! Oh, Godric, grant me mercy, because polite society won't!" She cried as Cecilia snickered.

Cecilia observed the poor Adonis Demiurgos, his usual twinkle gone and observing wistfully the dancing pairs "Oh, woe is me, wherever is my witty little nightingale, who pecks me deliciously so with her razor pen? Oh, Minerva, my Minnie, where art thou?!"

Lavinia doubled in laughter, Cecilia covering her mouth while she tried to regain her breath "God, Cecy, you are vicious!"

"But true," she winked.

Not having realised till now that they were leaning on one another, Cecilia kissed her nose and Lavinia scrunched her nose. Seeing if anyone was searching for them, they kissed softly for a minute before breaking apart "I don't wish to go back, but..."

"Primrose can only buy us so much time."

Both women finally emerged from their hidden corner and rejoined the festivities, which were thankfully winding down.

Adonis downed yet another brandy as he slowly started to believe that no Kennedy would attend this year's festivities. Ed had given his word to check on his calendar, and the next thing he knew, he was already at Winbourne, wondering where Minerva could've run off to.

A concerned Primrose approached him. He stood up and quickly curtsied in respect for the lady "My lady."

"I see that Miss Kennedy won't be in attendance. It's a shame. I always enjoyed her literary insight. And don't say which one, or take me for a fool for that matter, Mr. Demiurgos, because I know better."

He raised his hands in defeat "Worry not, my lady, I know that you can't be fooled even if I tried."

"Tell you what, I have a drawing room that is perfect for some... illicit writing."

He cocked an eyebrow, intrigued "Do tell me..."

Tagging @gaygryffindorgal @unfortunate-arrow and @legilimenace because their characters made an appearance on this POV!

#hphl #hp victorian era #oc: primrose gray #malcolm stolberg burke #oc: cecilia balinor #oc: adonis demiurgos #simon battersea #lavinia wakefield #vinnilia #grayburke #wwtgsolstice23 #mywriting*#mine*

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warmaidensrevenge · 2 years ago

Text

Always seen you

Pairings: Eddie x Insecure!Fem plus size reader x friend!Elio

If you want to read my other work you can find it HERE

A/N: Hey my loves. Welcome back to my series that got away from me. This is the 22nd part to this. If you would like to catch up. Feel free to click the link above. I updated after most posts. So what's new? Welp I felt like a cute angsty part. Nothing too bad. Just a little jealousy. No Billy in this one. Anywho, I was inspired by a few songs so hopefully you guys can take the time to listen to what helped me write this. I also used a Killswitch Engage song for some lyrics. Thanks for reading. As always feedback is greatly appreciated. Asks and comments are always welcomed. Kay love ya bye.

Warnings: 18+ Language, angst, fluff, sexual implications/ situations, smoking, slight body insecurities, masturbation (f ), oral (f receiving), slow burn and kinda proof read.

Word count: 9,261

I do not give permission for my work to be used on any other site. Respect all creators/writers. Thanks.

Summary: Does it say more about me or you, if i told you that I am still here waiting to do all the things we said we would do? Is there hope that one day, you will be ready?

Part 22

🥺💓

Eddie just got off the plane and was heading to the address you gave him. You didn't know he was coming. That's exactly what he wanted. To just show up and give you flowers. To remind you that he would always show up if you asked or if you needed him to.

It was pretty late when the cab finally dropped him off. He walked up the little pathway through the trees and stopped when he saw you sitting on the balcony. You were nose deep in a book with your legs perched up on the guard. The soft light from the room behind you, looked like God was shining a light on Eddie's heart.

He put down his luggage and took a few steps closer. He heard some music coming from the small radio somewhere near the door. He smiled to himself when he heard you hum to his new album.

He wanted to just say hi. But he had a thought. To make you laugh.

"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?" Eddie stepped closer putting his hand on his heart. " It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she."

When you heard him the smile that creeped on you was nothing more than pure unadulterated happiness. You closed your book and stood up. Putting your hands on the railing looking off into the distance as Eddie continued.

"Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green. And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady, O, it is my love! O, that she knew she were! She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that? Her eye discourses; I will answer it. I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks: Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat her eyes. To twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven. Would through the airy region stream so bright. That birds would sing and think it were not night."

You rested your cheek in your hand anticipation for Eddie's next line. Eddie was grinning like crazy seeing you play along.

"See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek!"

You pressed your lips to hold back a laugh. You took a calming breath as you got ready to say your lines.

"Ay me!" You sighed.

Eddie smiled "She speaks: O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art As glorious to this night, being o'er my head. As is a winged messenger of heaven. Unto the white-upturned wondering eyes. Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him. When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds. And sails upon the bosom of the air."

You tugged on your lip. "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet."

Eddie opened his mouth to speak when Elio came out and ruined the scene you and he started.

" Hi Eddie."

He chuckled. " Hey man."

You finally looked down and Eddie was all smiles.

" You came."

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck. " Always."

Elio shook his head. " You guys such dorks. I'll be right down."

Eddie looked around for a second. " Nah man. I'm coming up."

You watched and giggled seeing Eddie shimmy up a drain pipe. Once he was close to the balcony he jumped over the guard.

You put your hand on your wide hip. " I swear you are so dramatic."

Eddie gave you a little bow.

You sighed and went towards him. " Same ol' Eddie Munson. As charming as ever."

He stood back up and smirked. " Missed you Angel."

You looked down at the ground and blushed.

Eddie chuckled so damn pleased with himself. He reached for your chin. Lifting it a little so he could look at you.

" Hi."

A small laugh left you. " Hi."

Eddie then pulled you into his arms. Holding you tightly as you hung onto him. Rocking you from side to side. You laughed again.

" Surprised?"

A muffled yes came from you.

" Good. I uhh brought you flowers but I couldn't carry them up."

You pulled away a little. " That's okay. Give them to me later."

After that you buried your face back into his chest. Eddie moved one of his hands and held the back of your head. Putting his cheek on your crown.

" Alright you two. That's enough. Let's go to bed. We have plans for tomorrow."

You pulled out of Eddie's embrace but you didn't go far. You put your small, warm, soft hand in his large rough one and pulled him along.

Elio went downstairs to grab his stuff.

Eddie let you lead the way to a small room. Just a door away from yours.

" I'm not gonna stay with you?" He asked.

" No. E's parental units are very religious. And they think he and I are dating."

" What?!" Eddie blurted

You stopped mid stride. Turning around and put your hand over his mouth." Shhhh! They don't know E's-"

Eddie cut you off by grabbing your wrist. He kissed the palm of your hand. Causing you to blush yet again.

He let go of your wrist and touched your face with the back of his hand.

" So beautiful Angel."

" No you."

He laughed.

" Common." You said pulling at him again.

You pulled him through a room then stopped at a door. You reached for the handle but Eddie grabbed it and opened it for you.

" M'lady."

You grinned. " You're too much Munson."

"Soooo… what do they know about me?" Eddie whispered, following you into the room.

You let go of his hand and went to turn on a lamp. " They think you're my distance cousin."

" Right…"

Eddie watched you sit down on the bed and patted the spot next to you. He sat down and you put your head on his shoulder.

" You really surprised me Eds."

Eddie leaned his head on yours. " I hope it wasn't too much."

He felt your head shake a little.

" It was perfect."

He grinned. " Good."

Elio came in with the bags and Eddie got up to help him.

" Thanks man."

" No problem. Are you hungry?" Elio asked.

Eddie shook his head. " I'm kinda just want to showered and lay down."

" Yeah okay. You and I are gonna share a bathroom. And the only way out of this room is either through the way you came in or out the window. So no sneaking off to y/ns room."

Eddie chuckled. " Don't want to get you in trouble."

" Common E. Let Eddie gets some sleep."

Eddie's eyes followed you asyou got up. You grabbed his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

" Goodnight Eds."

" Night Angel."

As much as you wanted to sleep with him. You know you couldn't.

Take things slow. You said it over and over like a mantra.

You let go of Eddie's hand and went to grab Elio's.

" Angel?"

" Hmm?" You turned back around and smiled softly.

Eddie was standing there with the flowers.

You took them and smelled them." Thank you Eds."

" You're welcome Angel."

Eddie watched you turn and walk away. Closing the door behind you.

He got ready for bed. But before he laid down he wanted to smoke real fast. He opened the window and lit one. He took a couple of puffs before he heard humming. He stuck his head out and you were sitting back on the balcony.

He listened and figured out what you were humming. He tossed the cigarette and started to sing.

🎵

And baby it's true

You're the one

Who caught me, baby you taught me

How good it could be

Fill your days and your nights

No need to ever ask me twice, oh no

Whenever you want me

And if ever comes a day

When you should turn and walk away, oh no

I can't live without you

So caught up in you

🎵

You turned to looked at him and smiled such a beautiful smile. He swore he saw a goddess smiling at him.

You guys finished the song together and just stared at each other for a minute. Both wanting to be in the other's arms. Both wanting to kiss and make bitter sweet love to each other.

You were the first one to break eye contact.

" Get some sleep Munson. I'll see you in the morning."

" Promise?"

You gave him a small laugh and held out your pinky.

Eddie climbed out of the window just a bit and sat on the ledge while you leaned as far as you could over the railing. Finally close enough you guys hooked each other pinky.

" Now get back in there before you fall."

Eddie nodded and let go of your hand.

" Night Angel."

" Night Eds."

…

The early morning ritual had just began. This time you started to draw Eddie. The way he looked last night was embedded in your brain. He had shaved and he had his hair in a loose bun. He looked so good. So…sexy. You squeezed your thighs together thinking about his soft full lips against your palm. You closed your eyes, dropped your sketchbook and let your head fall back. Feeling his solid frame holding you. His wonderful scent surrounding you again. Your legs fell apart as you pictured the night you spent with him. His tongue lapping between your folds. His thick long cock slowly entering-

" Morning Angel."

You jumped to sit up straight and opened your eyes so wide. You looked over and Eddie was leaning out the window with a huge smirk.

You cleared your throat completely embarrassed. Had he been watching you the whole time?

Fuck!

" Uhhh morning."

Eddie chuckled. He definitely did see you. He saw you rubbing your hand up and down your thigh. Every time getting just a little closer to the treasure between your legs.

" Can I come over?" He asked

" Umm yeah…okay."

Eddie was on the balcony in just a matter of seconds. You had already picked up your sketchbook and turned the page so he couldn't see what you were drawing.

He leaned against the guard right in front of you and had a shit eating grin.

" What were we doing?"

You couldn't help but feel ashamed and very nervous.

" Ummm. N-nothing."

Eddie laughed to himself and went to squat in front of you. His large hands ran up and down your plush thighs.

When your eyes met, your body trembled. You tugged at your bottom lip and his hands went higher.

" What're you thinking Angel?"

Fuck fuck fuck.

" I umm…are you hungry?"

Eddie nodded. He was very hungry. But not for food.

He grabbed your book and set it gently on the ground. After he spread your legs apart. Just as he was about to touch you there you grabbed his hand.

" Eds…umm friends don't do this."

" No…but we do."

Your breath hitched and you could feel your core throb so hard. It was almost painful. You let go of his hand and he touched your clothed warmth. Your head fell back once again and softly moaned.

Eddie was just about to pull down your shorts when Elio called out.

" Breakfast guys."

You sat back up and snapped your knees together. Trapping Eddie's hand.

Thank God!

" Saved by the bell." Eddie sighed, slipping his hand away when you finally let go and stood up.

Eddie watched you grab your coffee and book. Following you out to the kitchen. He smirked to himself watching you wide hips sway. He definitely was going to taste you tonight.

…

After breakfast you guys headed to Venice. It was quite a long trip but it was worth seeing such a beautiful place. You guys found yourselves in a water taxi. Eddie sat next to you the whole time with his hand on the small of your back. Elio of course had already been there so he just laid down and took a nap.

" You look very beautiful today Angel."

You looked at Eddie. " Thank you. "

He leaned in so that he could whisper in your ear.

" Can we finish what we started this morning?"

You swallowed gently. " Umm Eddie. I-"

The guide started to sing. When you looked back the guy driving the boat was smiling at you and Eddie. You listened for a bit and gave him a sweet smile. You turned to look at Eddie.

"I don't care about the moon

I don't care about the start

You for me are the moon and the stars

You for me are the sun and the sky

You for me are everything

All that i want to have

Never ending

Never ending"

" That's beautiful." Eddie said, pulling you closer. " When did you learn Italian?"

" Umm taught myself in like 8th grade."

" I didn't know that."

" There's a lot we don't know about each other. "

Eddie frowned. " I'm sorry."

" Don't be." You whispered, raising your brows. " Keeps the mystery alive."

You put your head on his shoulder.

" I want to know everything about you Angel."

You smiled again. " I would like to know everything about you too."

Just take things slow.

You guys went to lunch after the boat ride, planning on the next activity.

" A museum? Aww common Angel. We're on vacation." Eddie whined.

" Eds. When are you ever gonna do this again? It's going to be fun. I picked the perfect place."

" Maybe for you two." Elio chimed in. " I'm gonna go to the market and see what's going on over there."

You looked at Eddie and pouted.

He shook his head and laughed. " Alright, but this better be cool."

You giggled. " Of course. Have I ever led you astray?"

"Hope it doesn't start now."

You gave him a playful push. " Don't worry. You're gonna love it."

" Alright kiddos, meet me in like two hours. Then we can all go to St. Mark's Basilica." Elio said getting up.

You nodded. "Okay. Hey, don't talk to strangers."

Elio grinned. " How else am I supposed to get a date?"

You let out a throaty laugh. " Okay but make sure to use protection."

Elio raised a brow. " Likewise."

Eddie threw his head back and chuckled.

You slapped his shoulder gently. " Stop it."

" Shit. Sorry. My bad. It's just-"

You covered his mouth. " Don't you dare."

Elio laughed too. " Okkkkayyy. See you two love birds later."

When Elio left you finally took your hand off Eddie's mouth.

" You are…. Too much."

Eddie grabbed at your plush tummy and started to tickle you. " Not too much I hope."

" Ahhh." You giggled. " No…don't"

You tried to push his hands away but he wouldn't let up. So you got up and started running away. And of course Eddie chased you.

" Get back here Angel. I promise I won't bite….unless you want me too."

" God Eddie." You laughed trying to keep out of his grasp.

You rounded a corner into an alley and hid. When Eddie came he skidded to a stop.

" What the hell? Angel?"

He took a few steps and you jumped out from where you were hiding.

" JESUS H!" He yelped, grabbing your arms.

You were in a fit of giggles. " Got you Munson."

Eddie grinned and shook his head. " I'm totally gonna get you back."

There was a moment when your laughing faded and Eddie slowly pushed you up against the brick wall.

He let go of your arms and put his hand flat on the wall behind you. One arm on either side of your head. He felt your hands on his narrow hips, slightly pulling him closer.

Eddie looked down at you. His tongue shot out to lick his lips.

" I really want to kiss you."

Your mouth parted and you took a small breath in. You wanted that too.

" Can I?"

You hesitated for a second. But nodded.

He was just about to kiss you when someone in the window just off the side threw some water out. Splashing you and Eddie shoes.

You did a little hop and jumped into his arms. Both of you laughed again.

" Maybe later then?"

You smiled. " Maybe."

You pulled away and grabbed his hand. " C'mon Munson. We don't want to be late for our tour."

…

You guys were standing outside this big cobblestone building with a sign above.

Museo Della Tortura

" What does it say Angel?"

You beamed at him. " Museum of torture."

" What?! Okay… that's cool as hell."

" I told you you'll like it. They even have an Iron Maiden."

" Seriously?"

" Yup."

" Well what are we waiting for?"

Eddie opened the door for you. " M'lady."

" Thank you Ser Munson."

Eddie was in aww. You really did pick a cool place. You guys took so many pictures. Eddie wanted to get in the Iron Maiden so he stepped over the velvet rope and you quickly snapped away.

" Let's go. Before we get in trouble." You said holding out your hand.

" What? Don't you want to get arrested in international waters? " Eddie joked.

" No thank you. I kinda want to be able to come back here."

Eddie took your hand and grinned. " With me?"

" Hmmm not if you're gonna get me in trouble."

Eddie grabbed his heart. " I wouldn't dream of it Angel."

You guys continued with the tour until you found yourself heading towards another roped off area.

" It says roof access." You answered Eddie's question before he could ask.

" Care to take a gander?"

You looked around to see if anyone's watching.

"It might be a gorgeous view." Eddie tried to convince you.

" Okay. Hurry."

Eddie grabbed the rope and hooked it for you. He followed you up and found something to prop the door open.

He watched you go to the edge or the building and looked around. The slight breeze blew your hair back making you look like a damn Angel.

" Doesn't it make you wanna cry?"

Eddie looked out to the city. It really was beautiful. But what made it even more so was that you were there. He put an arm around your waist and you rested your head on his shoulder.

" I'm really glad you came Eds."

" Me too Angel."

…

The bus ride home was quiet. You had fallen asleep with your head on the window. You didn't look comfortable at all, so Eddie lifted the arm rest and pulled you into his arms. You let out a little sigh and subconsciously got closer. Snuggling into his neck. Wrapping your arms around him.

He kissed your forehead and leaned his head back.

" You guys are really good together."

Eddie looked at Elio and gave him a half smile.

He then took a look at you." Thanks man."

" For?"

" For letting me come. For letting me stay…for taking care of my girl. Just thanks…for everything."

Elio gave him a thin lip smile. " I'm sorry I didn't give her your messages. I just didn't want her to hurt anymore."

" It's okay. I get it. But I'm not gonna hurt her ever again. And I'm not just gonna say it. I'm gonna show her."

Elio nodded and looked at you. " I hope so."

" I will."

Finally at the house Eddie woke you gently.

" Common Angel. We're here."

You looked at him behind heavy lids. " Okay."

He helped you up and led you inside. Everyone showered and washed the hot summer day away.

Eddie and Elio were in the kitchen snacking on stuff when you came out to grab peach and some water.

" So what's the plan?" Eddie asked, pulling his stool closer to yours.

" Well I have a date and my parents are visiting some relatives. So besides the maid. Who is sleeping right about now." Elio looked at his watch. "You guys have the place to yourselves."

You yawned and nodded. " Oh-kay. Are you coming back?"

Eddie put his arm on the back of your chair looking back and forth between you and Elio.

" Probably not until the early morning. "

You yawned again. " Oh-okay. Be careful."

Elio winked at Eddie." You too."

Eddie smirked looking at you. You must have been too tired to catch that.

After Elio left you sighed looking at your peach.

" Want to go to bed Angel?"

" Umm it's still early."

" That's okay. You can sleep if you want."

" No Eds. I'm not gonna sleep away our time together."

He tucked your damp hair behind your ear. " I can sleep with you."

You looked at him and gave him a sweet smile. "How about you come and sit on the balcony with me. It's a nice night. We can play cards or something."

" Whatever you want, Angel."

You got up and he followed.

Eddie sat down outside while you went to find something for you two to do. Even though there was only one thing on your mind.

Friends first girl. Friends first.

When you went outside Eddie smiled at you. You sat down opposite from him and started shuffling and dealing out the cards.

" Ok Munson. This is war."

Eddie leaned over and grabbed his cards. " Oh shit. Okay. Let's do this."

After a few games you were wide awake now. Eddie was being a big cheater. But you didn't care. It was nice spending alone time with him. You hadn't laughed so much in such a long time. And you were glad that Eddie could still do that for you.

However, the thought of Billy crossed your mind. You had to tell Eddie. You needed to be honest with him. He had come all this way. And he's been trying to kiss you and touch you. You couldn't let him do that. Not until he knew the truth. Maybe he would be fine. Or maybe he would be so angry that he left. Hoping for the first, you cleared your throat and put your cards down.

" Eddie?"

" Yeah Angel."

You couldn't look at him. You felt so damn guilty. But you had to. You forced yourself to look at him.

" I have to tell you something…and I don't think you'll like it."

Eddie grabbed your hand. " What is it?"

You looked at your hand in his and prayed to the god that he doesn't hate you after.

You took a second trying to find the right words. But when you felt the tension you just blurted out.

"Billy and I have feelings for each other."

Eddie flexed his jaw and furrowed his brow. But he didn't let go of your hand.

For...for how long?"

You kept your eyes on your hands. " For me…I think it was after the concert…and umm…a few days after my birthday he kissed me."

Eddie squeezed your hand for a second but then loosened it. Still not letting go.

" Does he know that you and I…"

" Y-yes."

Eddie sighed. " And he still kissed you?"

You nodded.

Eddie was filled with all types of feelings. He was angry yet sad. He was jealous but worried. Happy that you were being honest, still upset. There was one question he needed to ask. Though the answer was going to break his heart. He needed to know.

" Did you kiss him back?"

Tears filled your eyes. Know that your answer was going to drive you and Eddie apart. That wasn't something you wanted. A part of you wanted to lie. To say you pushed him away. But Eddie didn't deserve that. He deserved the truth. The whole truth. The truth about Billy, the truth about why you broke things off, and why you even got close to Billy in the first place. He needed to know that even though you had feelings for Billy, that they were nothing compared to how you felt for him. How you've always felt.

" I did."

Eddie squeezed your hand again and looked away. But this time you squeezed back.

" Eddie. I liked the kiss. And I liked being wanted. But that doesn't change how I feel about you. If anything it opened my eyes."

You both loosened your grip.

" Why am I here y/n?"

You lip quivered hearing your name that sounded so foreign coming out of him.

" Because you're the one I wanted here. You're the one I want to be in this place with."

Eddie felt better. But he was still upset. " Why?"

You hesitated for a second. "Please…please look at me."

Eddie met your gaze with tears in his eyes. He blinked them away and saw that you were already crying.

" Because Eddie. I want you. I want you so bad that it hurts. I never wanted anyone as much as I want you. But I can't lose myself again. I can't…I won't."

Eddie reached over to catch your tears. His hand cupping your face felt so good that it made you cry a little harder.

" When I got to the hotel and ended things, I wasn't completely honest with you. I should have said that the kiss broke me. I should have said that all I needed was time to put myself back together. But I lied. I didn't have feelings for someone else. Back then, I wouldn't dream of looking at anyone the way I looked at you."

Eddie scooted closer.

" Billy was there for me. And he was there after the concert…for weeks he was by my side. Comforting me and holding me while I cried for you. He was there as I mourned for our relationship. He never tried anything or got physical…he was just there. And I wish he wasn't. God Eddie, I wish it was Elio or my brother. But it wasn't. It was him. He helped me find myself again. And I love him for that… I'm thankful for it. Now…now I'm good. I'm better. I'm happy."

" What does that mean for us?"

" It means I want to be your friend. I want to take things slow. We rushed everything before. We wanted each other so bad that we didn't think about what being apart would do to us. And it broke us. It pulled us away from each other and did a lot of damage…I know how I want this to end. And I think it's the same for you."

" It is."

You gave him a half hearted smile. " I think we just need to give it time. Build up the relationship again. Learn how to be around each other again. Like before we got together…I know we can't do movie nights like before. Or spend time with one another like we used to. But I want this to work this time. I want this to be it for us. I want it to finally be right. Because Eddie, I want to fix what went wrong. I would rather work on us than to do this all over again with someone else. I want…you….just you."

Eddie closed his eyes and finally let his tears fall. That's all he had been wanting to hear since the day in the hotel. He wished so hard, prayed every night for it. Now it was going to happen. The time had finally come that he could try this again.

He felt your hand on his cheek wiping away his tears. He brought your hand that he was holding to his lips. When he looked at you again he gave you a small smile.

" Angel, we'll do whatever you want. Whatever you need from me, I'll do it. If you want me to hold you. I will. If you just want to sit and talk, we will. Whatever you say, I'll listen. Whenever you need me, I'm here. For us…for you."

You stood up and pulled him to his feet. " Let's go to bed."

Eddie held you all night. There was nothing else to say right now. Both of you need this trip. Needed this night to just be. So many nights spent without each other was torture. But right now. The way his body felt next to yours. And yours next to his was everything. As you fell asleep you held him tighter. Breathing him in.

When Eddie finally heard your soft moans he kissed your forehead.

" We're gonna make it baby. No one and nothing is going to stop us now."

…

The next few days were spent just like the first. Hanging out enjoying the beautiful weather and each other's presence. With little moments that happened often. The ones where Eddie would get close. The ones where a hug lasted just a little longer every time. The moments where even though you guys were just friends, somehow always finding ways to touch each other. Sometimes it would just be a hand on the small of your back. Or shoulders touching while you walked. It was a small amount of touching. But it was perfect. The best ones were when you would be sitting outside, chairs pulled as close as they could be listening to music. The backs of your hands would touch. Fingers would caress one another's. It got to the point where it happened without a second thought. You didn't know you were doing it. But Eddie's heart filled every time it happened. You were happy and content how things were. And that's all he could ever ask for.

Two days before Eddie was going to go back to the states, you guys all went out to a fancy dinner then dancing after. You had bought a new light blue green dress. With brand new matching 3 inch heels. All of you guys got dressed to the nines for this incredibly fancy restaurant. Elio looked amazing in his suit. Especially since he started growing his hair out. However, he had nothing on what Eddie emerged from the bathroom in.

Your eyes started from the bottom up.

He had the black matte dress shoes. Tied tight with a perfect bow. His slacks were slim fit. But they weren't too tight. Well only where it counted. His bulge was slightly showing. When he turned to put on his chain wallet you caught a glimpse of he perfect little ass. These pants hug it just right, making your core tremble. You continued checking him out. His silver belt buckle stood out against his black on black outfit. His button up shirt was tickled in and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. The silver of his rings nearly matching his belt. Your mouth parted seeing a few of the top buttons of his shirt were loose. Showing off a little of his chest hair. It was open just enough to catch a glimpse of one of his tattoos. You tugged at your bottom lip as your eyes went up to his thick long neck, that still had his silver balled necklace and pic. Finally your eyes settled on his face. His hair was in a low bun, that was held up by your stolen scrunchie. With trendles of curls that were too short to reach the tie, framing his beautiful face. He was utterly and completely stunning.

When Eddie finally was ready he caught you staring at him. When his eyes met yours you quickly looked away and blushed like a tomato. He chuckled to himself. So happy that he got the outfit just for you. Just for tonight. Sure Elio was going to be joining you two for dinner but it didn't matter to him. He was happy to finally do something he'd been wanting to do since your first visit in LA. Take you out on a proper date. Though it wasn't one. He chose to believe it was.

You cleared your throat. " Ready guys?"

Elio clapped his knees and stood up. " Let's go. I'm starving."

You looked at Eddie and he gave you such a gorgeous smile. Showing you all his laugh lines. You smiled back just as big and then this guy did something that had you weak in the knees. The fucker winked at you. You felt your knees buckle and you were trying to grab something to catch yourself but Eddie was right there. Holding you in his arms.

You were so embarrassed that you couldn't look him in the eye. You stared at his necklace and put a hand on his chest. The heat of his skin felt good. Too good.

" You okay Angel."

" Umm y-yeah. Just ummm a little dizzy. Need some food."

He smirked and put a hand on the back of your head while leaning in so that he could whisper in your ear. "Liar."

You playful pushed him away. " Eddieeee. Stop it."

He laughed, holding you firmly to his chest. " You look beautiful Angel."

You finally hugged him back. " No you."

Eddie leaned so that your faces were only inches away.

There was another moment. Eddie bore into your eyes so deep that you felt like his soul was looking at yours.

Elio cleared his throat. " Guys seriously. Come on. If my parents catch you. I'm so dead. And so are you."

Eddie chuckled and let you go.

…

" Cobblestone and high heels do not mix."

Elio shook his head. " I told you Hun."

" Well now I'll listen to you from now on."

You guys were walking back to the house after a super great night. Dancing the night away with Eddie and Elio was a perfect way to spend Eddie's last few nights. But now the pathway was kicking your ass. You tried to watch where you were going. But by now you've twisted your ankle about 3 times. Eddie had a firm hold on your waist just in case you wouldn't fall.

" Walking like bambi Angel." Eddie teased.

You twisted your ankle again and yelped.

" That's it I'm going barefoot!"

You stopped walking and leaned on Eddie so you could take your shoes off. But Eddie had a different idea.

"Hop on my back. I'll give you a piggyback ride."

You looked up at him." Seriously? No. I'm wearing a dress. Plus, I'll squash you."

Eddie grabbed your hip and dug his fingers in. Not too hard but hard enough to get you to see what he was about to say seriously.

" Y/n I swear to God. If you keep saying shit like that…." He leaned in and whispered in your ear. Grabbing your neck loosely with his free hand. " I'll take off my belt and spank you."

Oh shit!

Instead of giving him any indication that what he said really turned you the fuck on. You decide to play his game.

" I would say you can spank and choke me whenever you want. But.." you leaned in closer to his face, feeling his grip on your neck tighten. " Friends don't do that."

Eddie hung his head and dropped his hand. You had made him so God damn hard he could have fucked you right then and there. But he liked this little game. So he decided to keep it up.

" You're being naughty Angel…I like it…keep talking like that…." He looked at you pulling your hips to his. Pushing his erection against your tummy. " And I'll fuck you so hard, that all of Italy will know my name."

You pushed back harder. Moving his bangs so that you can see his face better. " Then I better be good then….or…" you move your face so close that your lips were almost touching. " Maybe I'll just be a little brat."

You moved to kiss his cheek and pulled away.

Eddie sighed. You were so fucking hot when you acted like this.

You started to walk away but he grabbed your wrist and pulled you into his arms again. This time lifting you up. Carrying you bridal style.

" Eddieee!"

" Shhh Angel…you're not heavy."

You blushed and looked away. Letting him carry you until you were finally at the front door. Elio smirked at you two.

" If you guys have sex tonight. You better be quiet."

" E!!"

Elio laughed. " I'm just saying."

Eddie gave you a smirk. " I can't promise anything."

" Edward Eugene Munson!"

Eddie winced as he put you down. " Ahhh. Okay. Okay. I'm sorry."

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. Elio opened the door for you and you walked in.

" Friends don't have sex E." You said, glancing back at Eddie.

Eddie frowned while Elio nudged you.

" Sometimes they do."

You rolled your eyes again and stomped off to your room.

You sat on the bed trying to get a hold of yourself.

Why did I do that? We're supposed to be going slow.

You have been so good these past few days. But fucking Eddie Munson made it so hard to not want him.

Maybe just this one time you could.

No!

You sighed, taking off your shoes. You grabbed your pajama shirt and went to take a bath. As you laid there you started caressing your thighs and softly massaged your breasts. Imagining Eddie's big rough hands touching you. You dipped your hand down and started rubbing gentle circles around your hardened nub. Your head fell back slowly and you moaned softly as you pinched your nipple.

" Eddie." You sighed.

You added more pressure and fluttered your finger towards your entrance. Spreading your slick back up towards your clit. This time rubbing a little faster and with more pressure.

Breathy sighs fell out when your mouth parted.

" Mmm Ed's…I want you so bad." You whispered.

Sliding your fingers inside felt okay. But only one set of hands would make it feel incredible.

You repeat his name over and over again to yourself. With your hips bucking as you dug deeper into yourself.

The small knot in your tummy got tighter the closer you got to your release. You sucked on your bottom lip pulling at your nipple, picture Eddie tugging it with his teeth. Then what sent you over the edge was hearing him say. 'That's it. That's my good girl…just like that…cum for me.'

After your orgasm you felt a little better. Feeling like you could finally think clearly. By the time you actually got out your fingers and toes were all pruny. You wrapped your hair up and pulled on your shirt and panties. When you walked to your room you turned on the radio and went outside. With your eyes closed you raised your arms and stretch your slightly sore muscles stepping over the threshold. Suddenly you felt a warm rough hand trailing up the back of your thigh over your ass. You looked over and Eddie was sitting there with his hair down and just in pajama bottoms. His eyes were focused on your bottom and he gave it a little tap then grabbed it.

" Fuckin' love your ass."

You dropped your arms and started running your nails up his bicep, then down just past his elbow. Going back up again.

Eddie stood up and faced you. Still with a firm grip on your bottom, he leaned closer.

" You know what else of yours I love?"

You gulped. Guessing the whole 'taking it slow' is off the table. Not that you could complain right now.

" Hmmm?"

He let go of ass and moved around you. Dragging his hand across your soft tummy until he was behind you.

When you came out and stretched, Eddie knew you had been a bad girl. You only stretched like that when your body got stiff when you came. He also sensed the calmness that you got after. And he was jealous. He wanted to be the one who made you cum.

So he decided that even though your beautiful hands made you cum once. He was going to make you cum on his tongue. Then on his cock.

When he was finally settled behind you he bent his knees a little and ran his hands up from the back of your knees to the front of your thighs.

" I love these thighs…so soft and thick."

You dragged your teeth on your bottom lip and closed your eyes.

Eddie grinned when he felt your raised skin.

" I also love this belly."

His hands went under your shirt. Digging his fingers into your puggy flesh.

His hands went back down and he pulled at your hips so that he could press himself on you.

" I love your back."

His hand went from your hips up your back. Then up to the back of your neck. You felt his soft lips press a gentle kiss there.

" And your neck. Mmmm. Love that."

Your core trembled as he went higher and pulled the towel off your head. Damp locks falling down.

Eddie dropped the towel and grabbed a fist full of your hair. Not pulling it. Just holding it close to your head.

" I love your hair and how it always smells so good."

You heard him breathe you in. Then suddenly he let go and grabbed your breast. Massaging them ever so gently.

" And these…fuck…I looove these."

You whimpered a little when he pinched your hardened buds.

Eddie moved his face so that his lips barely touched your earlobe.

" But my absolute favorite part of you…"

You gasped as he snaked one of his hands down between your legs. Pressing hard on your clothed bundle of nerves.

" This…god I love this…it's so perfect. I love the way it hugs my cock. I love how wet and a fuckin' warm it is."

Your body shivered at his touch. Core throbbing. Aching to be stretched and filled to the brim with his seed.

But Eddie was having too much fun with your body that you thought you would say what you loved about him.

You pulled away out of his grasp and turned around. Your fingers laced in his curls as his hands held onto your waist. You gently scratch his scalp making him dig his fingers into your flesh.

" I love your curls. It was like they were made to wrap around my fingers."

You freed one hand, cupping his jaw. Running your thumb across his lips.

" I adore these lips. And what comes out of them."

You lifted to your toes and kissed Eddie's favorite spot. Just below his jaw line. Then your fingers traced his tattoos. Cause goosebumps in their wake.

" Your ink is insane. I just love touching them…especially this one."

You moved to the one on his ribs. Your eyes catching Eddie's Adam's apple bob. His breath quickened when both hands were now on his narrow hips.

" Just love these….they fight perfectly between my legs."

Eddie groaned when you dragged your nails from the back to the middle. Touching his happy trail.

" Love this little patch."

Eddie softly chuckled while you played with it.

You stared the his chest. And the moment of teasing each other passed for you. Feeling a bit shy now. You moved away from the sexual stuff and went on about something more personal. Your hands when back up. One went for his hair again and the other laid flat over his heart. You looked up into his big brown eyes.

" But what I love the most is between these two." You lifted to your toes as Eddie put a hand on the small of your back and held your elbow. You pulled his head down gently and kissed his forehead.

" I love your mind. And how crazy and sweet it could be."

You planted your feet back on the ground and looked at your hand over his heart.

" And this…I truly love this. I love how big it is and how you put all of it into everything you do."

Eddie licked his lips. Your words made him swoon. No one has ever liked let alone loved all of him like you did. Well at least no one ever said it before. Or even said it out loud that he actually believed it. But here you were. Speaking as if it was the only truth you knew.

" Angel…I…" he sighed and started rubbing your shoulders. " I want to say I love you. And I want to take you into that room... I want to make love to you so bad….but…I want to do what you want to do. I don't want you to feel like that's all I want from you."

You pressed your lips together and started outlining his tattoo on his ribs again. You wanted all that too.

" I think we needed this trip Angel…I think…no I know that being here with you has been the best time of my life. You have been so sweet and just so damn perfect these few days. That I remembered why I fell in love with you in the first place."

" Eds…I want this." You move your hand from his curls over to his heart. " I want this forever. But as much as I want us to be together. We have to take our time."

" I know we do. But Angel, you have my heart. You've always had it. It's yours to do with whatever you want. If you just surrender yours to me again. I promise. I won't hurt you. Never again."

You pulled away and started for the room. That hurt him. He hated when you pulled away from him.

" Eds?"

He turned to look at you.

" You coming?"

He nodded and followed you into the room. He closed the balcony door while you went to light a candle and turned the radio a little louder. After you turned off the light and met him on the bed. You both sat in the middle of it and stared at each other. Eddie don't want to be the one to make the first move. Just in case you didn't want to go there with him yet. So he just sat there waiting.

For a second you thought to just lay with him. Like how you used to. But your need for him out ruled every thought of not doing this. You took off your shirt and looked down, placing your hands on your knees. Eddie reached for your chin and lifted it so you could look at him.

" You're so beautiful baby."

You sucked in a small breath. " Kiss me Eds."

He leaned in and gave your a sweet but quick kiss before he checked to see if you were okay.

" No. Kiss me like you mean it. Show me how much you-"

Eddie cut you off by getting to his knees and pulled you up to yours. He held you tightly by your hip and the back of your head. This kiss was absolutely beautiful. He never kissed you with such need and love. It made you whimper and hold onto him. He laid you down and still kissed you with such a passion. It made your skin rise again. He finally let up so you guys could breathe.

" Can I taste you?" He said into your mouth.

You bit your lip and nodded.

Eddie gave you one last kiss before making his way down your body. With your body quivering when he left a trail of moistened kiss across your chest. When he got down to your panties he placed a tender kiss on your mound. He laced his calloused fingers under the elastic and pulled them off. He brought them up to his nose after and took a big whiff.

" Mmmm. God you smell so good."

You brought your thumb to your mouth and chewed on your nail. Blushing at his words.

Eddie smiled at you and lifted your knees to a bend.

" So...so damn beautiful Angel."

He kissed your knees while spreading your legs apart. His big thick fingers ran through your slick folds.

" Oh look at you. So fuckin' wet." He cooed. " Such a perfect pussy."

"Mmm...It's yours."

He looked at you with a smirk. " Is it?"

" Uh huh...All yours. "

"Sh-shit...Yeah it's mine....all mine."

You moaned as quietly as you could as he laid his tongue flat on your cunt and slowly licked up to your clit.

" Fuuu…So...so sweet."

Your giggles made him look up.

" What?"

" Do I taste like peaches?"

Eddie chuckled before he lapped again. " Mmmm…actually yeah."

You giggled again. You were gonna say something else but covered your mouth to stifle your moans when he put his fingers into your aching warmth. He went painfully slow as he flicked his tongue on your hardened nub. sucking and massaging it. Your hips started to swivel but Eddie used his free hand to stop you.

" Eds?" You whimpered.

" I know baby. I know. But you have to be patient. I want to take my time with you."

You nodded and relaxed.

" That's it Angel. Let me take care of you."

You hummed softly as he sucked, licked, and pumped. Every hair stood up on your body when you felt the build deep in your core. Legs shaking, hands wrapped in his perfect hair. Close. You were close.

Eddie felt it and coaxed you further. He was like a starved man. Even when his jaw and neck started to hurt, he powered through it. He didn't care about the pain. All he wanted was to make sure you were feeling good.

45 minutes and 3 big orgasms later. You finally asked him to stop. When he pulled away he climbed up your body and put his full weight on you. Resting his head on your chest. Your fingertips ran up and down his back. While you stretched out your foot you felt a cold wet spot. You quickly pulled your leg back to a bend.

"Eds? Did you cum on the bed?"

He turned his head kissing your chest.

" Yeah I'm sorry. You just tasted so good and your little moans just got me."

" I wanted to do that."

He looked up at you. Pressing his growing erection against your thigh.

" Still can Angel."

You tugged at your lip." Can I be-"

You yelped as he rolled off of you pulling you on him.

He smirked. " Yeah. You can be on top."

You sat up and looked down at him. Eddie's mouth was slightly open as he massaged your breast. Lifting to your knees, you balanced yourself using his arms. Aligning his hardened length with your pulsating warmth.

Eddie pressed his lips together to stop a loud grunt from escaping when you lowered yourself.

The first thrust was always so incredible. Every inch of you was sensitive. Your head fell back as Eddie's tip worked its way through you.

Heaven was a place on earth and it was between your legs. Eddie was lucky enough to even get a taste of it. But now you were letting him have it. It felt like he didn't deserve the pleasure or the happiness you were blessing him with. Seeing you and feeling you was all he wanted since your birthday. Since the second he got off the plane. Now he was finally where he was supposed to be. Where he was always meant to be. With you.

Settled in his lap you looked at him. You wanted to say those three little words so bad. But being that you guys seemed to be friends with benefits right now. It really didn't seem right to say. Eddie noticed your slight withdrawal and sat up. While wrapping an arm around your waist, his free hand moved your hair behind your shoulder.

" What is it Angel?"

You looked at his lips and started playing with his curls.

" There was umm. A song on the new album. "

Eddie asked which one. Knowing exactly the one you were thinking.

" Always."

Eddie started to stroke your back. " Yeah?"

Your eyes met his. " I really liked it…you sounded genuinely sad…not that I-I like when you're sad or anything. I-." You hung your head and sighed feeling stupid. " I just thought it was really good."

" Y/n I was sad when I wrote it."

You met his eyes again. " Why?"

He gave you a quick soft kiss with both pairs of eyes still open. When he pulled away, he looked back and forth between your eyes.

" Because I wrote it for you."

" You did?"

Eddie was distracted for a split second when you started rolling your hips. His hands fell down to hold on to them.

" Y-yeah. Most of my songs are either about you. Or for you."

" But why were you sad about this one?"

Eddie tried to focus on your question. " I-I wanted you to know that…I'm with you…always. No matter what. Even when you don't want me."

You started rocking a little faster, searching not for your release. But for his. You wanted it more than anything right now. To be the one who made him feel good. The way he always made you feel. Not just during sex. But outside of it.

" Sing it to me?" You asked in a small unsure voice.

Eddie's breath picked up as you set a steady pace with your movements. He swallowed thickly and tried his best.

🎵

I am with you always

From the darkness of night until the morning

I am with you always

From life until death takes me

When hope seems lost down and lowly

I am here with you always.

🎵

You closed your eyes and met his forehead with yours. As he tried to sing the rest of the song, you felt a knot forming low in your belly.

His lyrics were pulling not only at your heartstrings but serenading your orgasm. Asking for it. Begging for it. And you wanted to give in. But you held back. For him.

Your little whimpers and sighs were amazing. And by the way your warmth clenched him made him choke up a bit while he still tried to sing. Then when you started to move slowly again, Eddie nearly exploded. He buried his face in your neck trying, praying so that he could hold it. To last longer than just a few minutes. He grunted and cursed.

Eddie felt your warm breath on his ear.

" Eds please. You have to be quiet. "

" Sh-shit. S-sorry. It's just…fuuuck."

You pushed him down against the mattress and captured his mouth with yours. His hands slithered down to your bottom. With a firm grip he lifted your ass up and let you drop back down. With him bucking his hips to go deeper.

You gasped into his mouth when you felt his head hit a sweet spot. Eddie lifted to kiss you this time. So that you could be quiet. He did that over and over again.

You pulled away from his lips and buried your face into his neck.

" Eds?" You said just above a whisper. " Please. Please cum. I want it"

He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned his cheek on your forehead.

" C-cum with me baby."

You nodded and let go. As you slowly came you sat up once more and put your palms on his chest. Using him to steady yourself as you kept up the little hop and rolling of your hips.

Feeling Eddie twitch inside you made you cum come harder. You closed your eyes and bit your lip rocking until you were just about spent. Eddie's body tensed as your warm velvet walls throbbed around him. Claiming every last drop of his release as your own.

Your body shook uncontrollably as you both finished. When you rolled off you were panting. Eddie draped his arm around your chest and snuggled up against you. Running your nails across his forearm you hummed.

Eddie smiled and kissed your shoulder.

Just before you fell asleep you heard Eddie whisper an I love you.

You wanted to say it back. Maybe you should have. But you weren't ready.

Not yet Ed's. But I do too....always

…

@chloe-6123 @irishhappiness @idkidknemore @hiscrimsonangel @hellv1ra @browneyes528 @b-irock @erinsingalong @salenorona23 @eddie-is-a-god @screaming-blue-bagel

#Spotify #fanfic #eddie munson #eddie munson x female original character #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x plus size reader #eddie x reader #stranger things #eddie my beloved #eddie x fem!reader #eddie x y/n #eddie series #eddie x plus size reader #eddie smut #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #plus size reader #always seen you series

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artofjim · 1 year ago

Text

5 Years of Drawing: Part 1

Originally posted on ko-fi.com/artofjim

July marks 5 years since I started learning art and drawing every day. As they say, time flies when you're having fun, and time has really flown! I want to use this blog post to reflect on some things I've learned, look at some old work and compare it to current, and emphasize my gratitude for all of the support I've received in the last half decade. This is a long one so I'm breaking it into 3, but it should give you a ton of insight into my journey as an artist that brought me here today, and hopefully help you carve out your own path!

Before July of 2018, I would occasionally get it in my head that I wanted to draw. This would be prompted by seeing some cool art online, or needing a way to pass the time on trips. I'd spend money on new sketchbooks and tools, and doodle for a weekend in them. That would be that, and my sketchbooks would sit until the next time I felt like drawing again, which was no more than a few times a year. I had a little natural talent at copying proportion and detail, but there was no methodology to my picturemaking and I relied heavily on replicating others' art. Because of the inconsistent schedule and lack of interest in learning, I usually say I started drawing after all of that. Here's some sketches from before 2018.

This is a direct rip of Nate Van Dyke, with a couple additions of my own. 2014? I learned about ink and decided that was the only medium I wanted to work in.

Around the same time. Every artist has been here at some point, I think. I found some photo portraits of homeless people on pinterest probably and took it upon myself to draw them. Lots to unpack there but we should move on (please we must move on oh God). Again, I wasn't trying to learn, I was just copying photos and other art with no rhyme or reason to it, and very rarely. I just loved that kick when people would look at it and say it was good.

2018

In 2018 I was working in Tacoma and there was a great little book store called Culpepper's across the street. Jerry Culpepper had ran that store for decades, and had no great love for comics. As a result, anytime he got graphic novels in, he'd hide them in an unorganized shelf and price them way, way down. This was also true of artbooks, but I wasn't interested in those (yet). Jerry and I had an amicable relationship, with him busting my chops about the coffee shop I worked at being too expensive, and myself ironically bringing him free drip on my breaks. I remember him going into great detail explaining how "Black Panther was absolute shit! Waste of my time seeing that film!" I probably went in there once a week and dug around, spending tip money on anything that looked interesting while Jerry peered down at the titles with a furrowed brow. My love for comics started at this time, and some of the first graphic novels I bought were from Jerry Culpepper. The League of Extraordinary Gentleman and A Small Killing, both written by Alan Moore, and drawn by Kevin O'Neill and Oscar Zarate, respectively (a great place to start, if you ask me!).

Still have them! Jerry always priced books with pencil on the first page. He'd usually charge me at least 30% less than this, and shave off sales-tax if I paid cash.

I bought so many comics and bothered Jerry so often that he started giving me stuff for free (again, he had no interest for comics and was intent on filling his store with civil war history and first edition antiques). I'd pay $20 and walk out of there with an armful of graphic novels, video game concept art, Japanese editions of collected Ukiyo-E plates, published artist sketchbooks, and all sorts of odd things I wouldn't normally look for. That's the beauty of local used book stores, you cannot predict what's waiting in there for you. Those early Culpepper finds were, and still are, very influential to me. I dig through my bookshelf for them regularly. I think it's very important for creatives to have a personal, physical collection of things that inspire and interest them, because they will bury into your style way more than temporary online influences.

"Culpepper Books: here you'll find a man struggling to get the hell home with as much money and few books as possible before he retires" -Jerry, during his last week of business when I asked him for a caption

In late-2019, Jerry Culpepper got an offer to end his lease early from a big developer and decided to retire right as the pandemic started to hit, which was definitely the right decision for him. While writing this, I searched his name to see if I could find his online collection, and learned that he passed away in 2022 at the age of 70. Here is his obituary if you'd like to learn more about my old friend at the bookstore who impacted my life more than I could have realized at the time. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/tribnet/name/gerald-culpepper-obituary?id=32332566

My last purchase from Jerry

Now that I was reading comics a lot, I became hip to Jim Lee, comic art superstar of the early 90s known for his work on X-Men, Punisher: War Journal, and countless other titles soon after. Jim Lee streams on Twitch, and one day in July I popped in to watch purely out of curiosity and ended up following along with his live tutorial drawing Wolverine. There's a recording of this tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wxoH_eZgrw I had never had drawing explained to me in the analogous way that Jim Lee did. Much of the concepts he was demonstrating are very fundamental no-brainers to me nowadays, but back then, despite drawing off and on my whole life, I had never been exposed to them. I specifically remember him relating the teeth to a can of soup, and the triceps muscles to parallel canoes. This was mind blowing to me, and sparked an obsession that is still roaring to this day. Here's my results from drawing along with Jim Lee that day.

A little heavyhanded on the spot blacks there, Jimbo...

Even though the idea of using simple forms like soup cans and canoes had been demonstrated so brilliantly by Jim Lee, I immediately went back to my old ways of rote copying. Only now, I was doing it for a few hours a day. I also started streaming art on Twitch during this time, and I'm amazed anyone watched because I was completely directionless.I was reading a lot of Frank Miller and the interest in ink was renewed, and I would just copy things straight out of comics, line-by-line. I didn't have the tools or direction to study in a more meaningful way, so I just copied and copied and copied, with no real improvement besides hand-eye coordination, and my ability to copy from image to paper.Jim Lee had also mentioned Bridgman, and I found a copy of his big book at Culpepper's and copied a few pages (poorly) before giving up.

Notes?? Why would I write down anything from the book? This is drawing!! Sarcasm aside, this was the extent of it. Whatever concepts I pulled from it, I didn't cement with mileage so it was all for not. Granted, Bridgman is not beginner friendly at all.

I also took part in Inktober for the first time in 2018, and actually attempted concept creation. I knew I was bad at drawing heads, so I decided I would twist every prompt into a helmet of some kind. Strange method. You can view the completed pieces here, if you really want to: https://www.instagram.com/p/BokqcKngdlz/

2019

In 2019, I began to become invested in history, and really enjoyed drawing historical garb. Japan especially grabbed my interest, and I bought tons of books about it from Jerry. I'm surprised I didn't try to copy more Japanese art, especially Hokusai's ink sketches. I was filling sketchbooks regularly by now, still just copying for the most part, and getting a little better at it! When I look back at those sketchbooks now, there's a common "Jim" thread present even if I wasn't being very original. I want to point out that I don't think there's anything wrong with copying references, ever, but especially as a beginner artist. The way I was doing it, though, was from a limited perspective: drawing straight to final linework and not considering anything but the 2-d image. I wish I had pursued fundamentals more, and varied my tools, but I just didn't have exposure to those things. I was still wielding a brush pen like a club on every drawing, and using expensive markers that bled through the page.

I learned about Karl Kopinski, and some of the other star artists from Super Ani, and didn't know about all of the mileage and proper practice between where I was and where they were, so I tried to just do what they were doing. Of course, KK appealed to my interest in historical costume, and I copied a bunch of his drawings in my sketchbooks. I also dug into Sergio Toppi, attracted to his painterly hatching and masterful ink compositions, and learned about Moebius. I picked up a Final Fantasy 1-7 artbook for $10 (thanks Jerry) with tons of drawings by Yoshitaka Amano in it, and tried to match his watercolors with my bleeding Copic markers. Because there was no method to my drawings beyond copying mark-by-mark, there was an element of luck involved that decided the success of each drawing. The artmaking journey, then, was just chasing that next lucky winner drawing, which is not sustainable long term! Sure, I might get lucky more often as I copied more accurately, but I wouldn't know why, and I had no lens to understand what made an image work.

Toppi copy

One of the lucky drawings

Kopinski copy

Amano copies. Notice the difference in quality between the Toppi samurai above and these; this is the element of luck I'm referring to. There was no repeatable process, just diving into the final lines and gambling on it.

Beyond that, I wanted to create, not replicate. I would watch Karl Kopinski, Kim Jung Gi, and Peter Han create worlds on the spot, with no reference, and have no idea how to accomplish that. I figured it was my poor visualization ability holding me back. All I thought mattered was drawing a lot, and drawing a variety of things. I would stream on Twitch and take requests to draw anything anyone wanted for ten minutes. I drew 20 different outfits from the Camp-themed Met Gala. I drew video game characters, Power Rangers, cartoons, and Kermit the Frog smoking a blunt. Occasionally, I'd try to draw people and places from life.

My first ever POV sketch

I knew that clothing was something academics studied, so I "studied" some drapery as well! All that meant for me was copying, line by line, a few reference photos. I downloaded Autodesk Sketchbook, a free drawing program, and tried my hand at digital art. If I wasn't just attempting photocopying, I did try my hand at some imaginative work, with a degree of realistic rendering. Here's those paintings, just so we can compare to my current paintings later.

I would paint over Bill Sienkewicz sketches, this is one of those

This funny little fellow is a Japanese God, Fukurokuju. The drapery is looking especially mushy.

In mid-2019, I decided I would challenge myself to making a comic for Inktober. I was very naive, but still took a lot of time planning for it before October started. I scripted out the pages, did some character "designs," and even worked on turnarounds. My thought was that if I took the time to figure out what a character would look like from any angle, I could just use that as reference when I needed it. This is true, and how animators do it, but I created this sheet by smashing together references and finding an image for every expression and angle I could need. I also sculpted the main character's head so I could use it as reference. I had not rediscovered the power of "form" yet, despite Jim Lee's great tutorial that started all of this, and the literal sculpted 3d form sitting on my desk.

Here's a few pages of my Inktober comic, Dog Days. I made it 13 pages in and burned out super hard, since I was working full-time still and spending at least 8 hours a day on the pages. The cyst on my wrist got massive and I was not sleeping at all. I took a break for a few days to go on a trip and just never came back to it. Surprisingly, I haven't ever experienced a burnout since then.

If you're interested in checking out the other 11 pages, they're available to Ko-Fi Members for $4.50/month, along with my other comics.

For my first comic, I am extremely proud of that work. There's a sort of energy that is now inhibited by experience and judgment. I was fearless and committed to every page, because I had no idea how long it would take me or what challenges I might face. I don't think I will or should ever finish it, because I cannot replicate that vibe.

I returned to drawing a few weeks after the burnout and dove back into Japanese historical drawings, becoming obsessed with the photos of Felice Beato, who brought photography to Japan right as it modernized. Some coworkers of mine were my first ever commissioners, asking for some work relevant to what I was already studying. The first was a family portrait taken in the early 1900s. The second was a 6 panel piece on the history of Taiko drumming. I think they spent more on the frame then what I charged them for the piece, which is hilarious to me now. I also experimented with some blacklight ink and collage, which was a nice change from all the inking I did in October.

I did these on expensive Awagami rice paper with ultra-archival Noodler's fountain pen ink. I was fooling myself into thinking that expensive materials were necessary for any sort of "professional" work, and that they would elevate it. In the end, it just made the process nerve-wracking and left no margin for error.

I will continue with years 2020 and 2021 in my next post to keep this one from getting any longer! Follow my Ko-Fi to get notified via email when that comes out, or tune into my social media: https://linktr.ee/artofjim

If you'd like to support my art career and get some goodies in return, become a Ko-Fi Member in exchange for art in the mail every 6 months, monthly giveaways, access to my comics, discounts in my shop, and more. Starts at $4.50/month, goes up for better rewards. https://ko-fi.com/artofjim/tiers Thank you to all of my members, past and current, for enabling me to pursue my greatest interest in life more comfortably.

#blog #art journey #art education #art level up #drawing #art blog #reflection #learn art #art study #art practice #tacoma wa #tacoma

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mithliya · 1 year ago

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Hii mena! Its okay if i rant for a bit? 😭 i peaked (more or less) recently and it feels so. isolating i guess. It has done wonders for my mental health and my self esteem though! The pressure of being femenine and wearing make up and shaving and trying to fit in etc is gone (at least the pressure i used to put on myself) so ive stopped feeling like shit whenever i had to conform to any of that. The problem is that the entirety of my circle of friends, whom i love dearly, are libfems and very alligned with gender ideology (we live in a VERY gendie positive place). So. While i obviously hang out and talk a lot with them Ive started to get weird looks from them whenever i wear smth that shows my unshaved legs or critique anything having to do with idk plastic surgery and diets (thats a topic that idk why comes up A LOT because some of them like to discuss which procedures would they like to get and how much they cost anddd i didnt realize why i felt so uneasy with that and how fucked up it is until i peaked i guess). Ive tried gently critiqueing it whenever it came up, because i honestly feel like my self esteem drops whenever they start to talk about it, but i only receive weird looks and eye rolls and whatevs. And like. I love them, i really do, and its really hard for me to make friends and im lucky to have them. But lately whenever i get back home from hanging with them i feel ugly and dirty and inadequate and like maybe i should either stop talking to them or start shaving and fitting in again. Idk. One of them texted me today and asked if im still a girl or im nonbinary. I just wish they would listen to me and my perspective but im really afraid that i will labeled as a terf because thats like instant harassment at the art college im going rn. This is really badly worded and im sorry but im kind of a mess :") i just wanted to know if you have any word of advice. Thanks in advance :(

congrats on reaching this point anon!! your friends sound .. awful honestly. but you should know their logic and what will get through to them better than me, especially since you held similar beliefs relatively recently. if it were me i would’ve answered that friend asking if ur nonbinary by first asking her why she asked that and why she thinks that. if she points out stuff like body hair or not wearing makeup or not being feminine, i’d say that those things don’t mean someone isn’t a woman & it’s enforcing gender roles to say they’re necessary for women to do. use their language and their logic when contradicting them. when criticising plastic surgery, think of what they care about and what would make them listen. if they’re anti-capitalism bring up how it’s a capitalist ploy. if they care about feminism, talk about how plastic surgery advertising involves fuelling the insecurities of women for profit. it depends on what their priorities are and u can bring up many things to appeal to what they care about. if they care about ur feelings u can also try to find a way to gently tell them that they’ve been making u feel insecure / bad about urself and it makes it hard for u to live ur life as u want to. hopefully they’d at the very least respect that, if not … perhaps finding new friends even if difficult is better for u

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p-artsypants · 2 years ago

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Edge of the Sky (1) - In Which Hiccup Meets his Fate

Ao3

The Miraculous - Gems created to tether the soul of a human to that of a god. Some may consider this a curse, and others a blessing.

Hiccup Haddock, son of the Jarl of Whiterun, found the Circlet of Night and was connected to the king of Dragons, staking his claim as Dragonborn. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of the newly appointed High King of Skyrim, found the Earrings of Creation. Astrid Hofferson, a Viking from a frozen world, found the Necklace of Flight and walked into a world not so different from her own. And Adrien Agreste, an intern from Paris, found the Ring of Destruction and was flung through time and space to a land that made no sense to him at all. These four souls, separated by time and distance, are brought together by the gods to fight a war on many fronts.

A Miraculous Ladybug and How to Train Your Dragon crossover, in the setting of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Hi! I may be a familiar face to many, and new to many more. I had been working on a Skyrim AU idea for both HTTYD and Miraculous for a few years now. I had art and chunks of both versions plotted out, but never could decide which one I wanted to do more, since they were both hefty but had similar plots. So I decided to combine them. I rarely do crossovers, and never with three fandoms. I apologize if it’s a little jarring, but I hope you still enjoy it. My goal is to create a story that requires no deep knowledge of any one of the three fandoms I’m exploring. I will hold your hand as we go, and hopefully everything will make sense. Feel free to ask questions, as that will help me develop the story more!

“Dovahkiin.”

Hiccup’s eyes shot open, startled awake by an ancient, booming voice for the fourth time this week. Just like every time, it was at the break of dawn.

“Even on my day off?” He lamented.

Well, if there ever was a day to investigate, it was today.

Hiccup dressed and descended from his room in Dragonsreach, the palace of the Jarl of Whiterun. His father, Stoick, was the Jarl of the whole Hold of Whiterun. And so what was the 16-year-old son of the Jarl to do?

Be an apprentice to the Blacksmith, apparently.

Yes, since the day Hiccup could work, he was busy helping his mentor at the Skyforge. It was fulfilling work, if not monotonous, and he relished his days off.

Days like today.

“Son! You’re awake early!” Said Stoick with a boom. “I thought you’d sleep until midday!”

“Yeah…uh, I have an errand to run, so I thought I’d get an early start.”

“An errand? What would you possibly need? Where to?”

“Uh…Riverwood. And nothing special, just…something that got waylaid there.”

“At least come eat breakfast with me, lad.”

Hiccup was not one to argue with his father, especially when the man was able to pick him up with one hand and throw him across the Cloud District. He had a feeling there was more to come. His father often preferred to handle news over meals.

Hiccup obediently took his seat as the bread, fruits, and porridge were served.

“I’ve received news from Solitude.”

Hiccup sat up straight. “About the successor to High King Torygg?”

“Yes.”

“I thought it was settled on his wife, Elisif? At least until his son is old enough.”

“I thought so too. His son Oleg was sent to Cyrodiil for his own safety in the wake of the attack. Apparently, Torygg had another son before he was married. Elisif mentioned him to the Moot, as a precaution, and they voted to elect him to the throne until Oleg is old enough.”

Hiccup blinked. “They elected an illegitimate heir over Elisif?”

“That’s what I wondered as well. According to Spitelout, it was the Thalmor that preferred the man over Elisif. After all, she’s quite distraught over Torygg.”

“I’m not surprised. Any idea what this new king is like?”

“Rumor is that he is a baker from Helgen. What’s more, he’s married to an albino dark elf and has a young daughter.”

“Oh. Good for him,” Hiccup shrugged as he drank his canis root tea.

“I can’t imagine people respecting his authority. So, at the end of this week, we will be going to Solitude to meet him and show our support. I will need you on your utmost behavior, understand?”

“Yes dad.”

“Good good. So, what’s this errand you have to run?”

Hiccup internally groaned. He had hoped his father wouldn’t ask.

Stoick the Vast. He didn’t get his name without reason. The man was mountainous, and a good foot or two taller than most Nords. Hiccup, on the other hand, was the runt of the entire Hold. Maybe even all of Tamriel. Stoick wanted a proud warrior son, but instead was gifted with a toothpick. As such, Stoick was wary of his son going out and doing anything reckless. But Hiccup wanted to do whatever he could to make his father proud.

It was a vicious cycle.

“It’s…you know how you’re always telling me those little tasks you give me will help build character? It’s like that.”

Stoick frowned. “This better not be a troll hunting errand. I thought we discussed that those beasts are too strong for you!”

“No trolls! No fighting at all…if I can help it. I’m just…looking for something.”

“What kind of something?”

How to explain? ‘Dad, I’ve been seeing a Nordic burial mound in my dreams and keep hearing this booming voice calling to me.’ That certainly wouldn’t go over as well as he’d hope. “I’m looking for information. Does the word ‘Dovahkiin’ mean anything to you?”

“Dovahkiin.” The same voice that always pulled him from his dreams echoed in his mind, clear as day in his waking life. He’d never heard it while awake, though he had never said the word aloud either. No one else seemed to hear it.

Stoick gave a little chuckle. “Now I know you’ve been spending too much time in the forge. Gobber loves the Tale of the Dragonborn. I don’t know all that much about it, though.”

“It’s a folktale,” said Spitelout, the Steward to Stoick. “‘Dovahkiin’ is the ancient word for Dragonborn. Dating back to the age when Dragons roamed Skyrim. The Dragonborn can speak the language of the dragons, the Thu’um.”

“I’ve heard that word before. Thu’um.”

“You’ve probably heard it in regards to the death of High King Torygg. It’s also called a shout. It’s how Drago Bludvist killed Torygg. He used his voice, like a dragon would, and killed him.”

Hiccup frowned. Killing someone by shouting at them? That made little to no sense. “So if the Dragonborn can do this…is Drago a Dragonborn?”

Stoick chuckled with a shake of his head. “Don’t think about it too much, lad. The Dragonborn is a legend.”

“But the shout—“

“No one knows how Drago learned to shout. He never explained. And now, since escaping the empire’s imprisonment, he stays holed up in Windhelm.”

“The best place for him!” Spitelout shouted. “Let he and his lot rot in that frozen wasteland!”

“If you want to hear the legend of the Dragonborn, I’d ask Gobber. He’s the best orator in town.” Stoick wiped his beard. “What does the Dragonborn have to do with your errand?”

Now he had to lie. He had hoped being vague would be enough, but now he had to lie to his father’s face. “Just…taking the initiative to learn more about our history. The word ‘Dovahkiin’ was mentioned in some text, and I was unfamiliar with it. I was going to see if the trader in Riverwood had any books on it…since I already asked Belathor.”

“Dovahkiin!” The ethereal voice echoed in his mind again.

“Ah, good lad. Always wise to learn our traditions. Do you want your cousin to go with you?”

“Oh, no no, I’m fine. I’ll take a shield and knife from Gobber’s.”

“You’ll take your horse?”

“Of course! Of course!”

“Very well. I can’t say I’m fond of you leaving the city in the wake of current events, but Riverwood isn’t far. As long as you stay on the main road and return as soon as possible, I will permit your leave.”

“Thank you, dad.”

After breakfast, Hiccup went out to the stairs outside of Dragonsreach. From there, he could see all the fields that surrounded the city, out to where the mountains began. Whiterun stood like a beacon in the middle of it all, with nothing but high walls to protect it. It was nothing like the mountainside Windhelm, or Solitude that was built upon a natural arch. But it was home.

He closed his eyes and listened, doing his best to block out the chatter from the people below.

“Dovahkiin,” he said softly.

“Dovahkiin!” His summoner responded.

He felt it then. He felt the call from a direction, south. Actually towards Riverwood. The city name had been a ruse to his father, but it might turn out to be where he went after all.

Now with a direction in mind, Hiccup headed over to the Skyforge, the official forge of the Companions.

“Morning lad!”

“Good morning Severio!”

“Morning Hiccup! Is Gobber done with my ax yet?”

“He should finish today, Olfrid!”

“Where are you going so early, boy?”

“Morning Fralia! Just out and about!”

The trip to Jorrvaskr was familiar and could be carved out of the stone by now. When Gobber spotted him, he laughed.

“Did you forget you had the day off, lad?”

“No, I just came to borrow a shield and a dagger.”

Gobber gave a little nod and went to his inventory. “Off on some adventure, I bet.”

“Something like that. My father said you're a fan of the Tale of the Dragonborn?”

Gobber immediately stopped rooting around and broke into song, swinging the ax that was in his hand.

“Our hero, our hero, claims a warrior’s heart!

I tell you, I tell you, the Dragonborn comes!”

Hiccup backed away from the scene in an effort to avoid getting hit.

“With a voice wielding power of the ancient nord arts!

Believe, believe, the Dragonborn comes!

It's an end to the evil of all Skyrim's foes!

Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes!

For the darkness has passed, and the legend yet grows!

You'll know, you'll know, the Dragonborn’s come!”

Several townsfolk and members of the Companions gathered around the Skyforge when they heard the ruckus Gobber was making. He was so loud, even Heimskr stopped his preaching and stared across the district.

Hiccup regretted bringing the topic up.

“Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin!

With a bindle of cheese!

For the wine, for the food,

May the guard’s horses be drunk!”

This new verse brought many protests from the townsfolk.

“That’s not how it goes!”

“Are you trying to bring the wrath of the divines on the town?!”

He yelled right back at them. “Alright, then you sing it!”

There were some nonsensical mutters before people wandered away.

“Yeah! That’s what I thought!”

Hiccup slowly peeled his hand off his face. “What was that?”

“You wanted the Tale of the Dragonborn, so I sang it. Though you should get Luka to perform it next time he’s in town. He’s got the voice of an angel.”

“So…it’s a song.”

“Aye. Though, based on a true story. Legend tells of a great warrior called the Dragonborn—“

“I got that.”

“—who had the gift to speak with the dragons. Anyone can learn how to shout, as you heard about with Drago.”

“Right.”

“But it’s not easy. There’s a reason why no one but the Greybeards know how to do it.”

“Wait, Greybeards? Who are they?” Hiccup asked. “Are they how Drago learned to shout?”

“That’s the theory! Though no one can get confirmation. The Greybeards live up on High Hrothgar, on the Throat of the World. They’re completely removed from this world. So no one can talk to them.”

“Okay, so…the Greybeards figured out a way to learn how to shout like a dragon?”

“Exactly! Through centuries of study, and long days of practice, they are able to use a shout. But the Dragonborn, he can learn it immediately.”

“So…he’s just smart?”

“You’re missing the point, lad.”

“It’s all so confusing! What is a shout anyway? How did Drago kill a man with his voice? That’s the thing I keep getting caught up on.”

“Aye, that would be confusing if you think it’s a normal holler. But it’s not. The Thu’um, the voice of a dragon, is said to carry absolute authority. So much so, the very nature around the dragon bends to its will. The dragon yells ‘fire’ and fire comes from his mouth. He yells ‘stop’ and time itself comes to a standstill around him.”

“Oh…that makes more sense then. So Drago yelled ‘death’ at Torygg?”

“Not according to witnesses. The shout that Drago used threw Torygg across the room and he slammed him into a wall. It’s said that every bone in his body was shattered.”

“That’s…that’s scary to think someone alive right now can do that.”

Gobber went back to rummaging in the equipment trunk. “My favorite tale of the Dragonborn is when the city of Winterhold, before it fell into the sea, was attacked by a giant frost troll. The Dragonborn said, ‘you like ice? I’ll show you ice!’ and he turned the troll into solid ice. A single iron arrow hit it and it fell to pieces.”

“I think you made that up.”

“I embellished it, but it’s true!”

“So what happened to the Dragonborn? Was it just one guy?”

“I don’t know how many there were, but I would guess there was more than one. The stories span thousands of years. As for what happened? The last one died, and so did the dragons. So the divines didn’t pick a new one.”

Hiccup couldn’t ask the question he wanted. ‘If the voice in my dreams is calling for the Dragonborn, does that mean the dragons are coming back?’

If he did ask, he might get a few more days off, but strict supervision on top of it.

He held up a banded iron shield and a steel dagger. “Why do you ask, lad?”

Hiccup blanched. “Don’t you have a shield that isn’t so heavy?”

Gobber rifled again and pulled out a hide shield.

“How about one that doesn’t suck?”

Gobber practically frisbeed the steel shield at him and pointed. “Now be on your way!”

“Thanks Gobber! See you later!”

Finally, he was free. He wasn’t the kind to leave the city very often. Occasionally, he’d go see the Khajit caravan outside the gates. But outside the walls of Whiterun, Skyrim was a dangerous place.

There was a giant camp not too far from the gate and he’d heard tales from the guards about travelers getting too close and being punted into Sovngarde.

He merrily went to the stables and obtained his horse, a black stallion named Thump.

The joke here is when horses and cows get hiccups, it’s called thumps instead.

Now, the courageous adventurer was off to Riverwood to face his destiny…or at least attempt to learn more about it.

The safest route was the stone road. It wasn’t perfect, as many of Skyrim's most hostile would wait at the edges for the richest or tastiest. But taking the road kept you from wandering over a Spriggan clearing or Falmer cave.

It was a pleasant summer day. Summer in Whiterun meant it was warm enough to not have to bundle in furs, and farmers could actually get a decent harvest of wheat, leeks, and potatoes. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the elk frolicked through the tall grass.

The road to Riverwood was sandwiched between two mountains, along the edge of a fast flowing river. Hiccup kept Thump at a steady pace until the village was in sight.

Riverwood had all the essentials in a Skyrim town. A logging mill on the river, a blacksmith, the tavern, and of course the trader.

Hiccup hitched his horse outside of the Sleeping Giant Inn, waved greetings to the quiet townsfolk before going in.

A young woman with black hair swept around the hearth in the middle of the inn. She glanced at him briefly. “Welcome,” she said rather tersely. “What can I do for you, Stranger?”

Hiccup tilted his head slightly at the girl. She must have been two or three years younger than him and she was working the tavern? “Uh, not to bother you, Miss. But I was just looking for information.”

“I’ll tell you what I know. Or direct you to someone who can help.”

“Does there happen to be a Nordic Burial mound nearby?”

“You must mean Bleak Falls Barrow? It’s a little ways North from here, across the river. There’s a path that leads right up to it. But watch out for wolves on the road…and also bandits. The Barrow is mostly a bandit haven these days. Same bandits that robbed the trader I suppose.”

“What did they take?”

“Something about a Golden Dragon Claw. A trophy of his that he always had on display. Why do you ask?”

“I…was just…” he cleared his throat. “My business is my own.”

“Fine. So if anyone comes looking when you’ve been missing for a week, I don’t know anything.”

“I mean…hopefully that won’t be a problem? Thank you for the information, Miss…?”

“Kagami.”

“Kagami. If it’s not too much…do you own this inn?”

She scowled at him. “Does it look like I’m old enough to own an inn?”

“Sorry, right right…I just…there’s no one else in here.”

“I run the inn for my mother. She’s gone blind. But we don’t often have visitors, so it isn’t very hard work.”

“Oh! Well, good for you. Um…” he started rummaging around in his pockets for money.

“Please don’t bother. If you wish to buy some food or a room, I will accept your gold. Else, keep it.”

Hiccup ended up buying some food for the road and leaving a generous tip before heading in the direction Kagami gave.

The path winded up the mountain, becoming snowier and windier the higher he climbed.

He came around the bend of the mountainside and saw it. The stacking layers of stairs, the towering, crumbling arches, the huge black door. All the things he had seen in his dreams. This was it, for sure.

What he wasn’t prepared for, however, were the two bandits standing outside, guarding the place. How was he supposed to get in now?

If there was one thing he knew about bandits, it’s that they weren’t exactly smart. He led his horse back down around the bend and opted not to tether it.

“If you get in trouble, run back to Riverwood. I’ll find you.”

Thump, being a horse, merely mosied over to a snowberry bush and began to eat.

“Good enough.”

He slowly crept up the path, staying close to the mountain wall to stay out of sight of the bandits. The front of the barrow faced the mountain, and so the bandits weren’t looking there, only off to the two sides.

He took up a small rock and waited patiently. When the bandits had their backs to each other, he threw the rock at the smaller of the two.

It hit him in the head, and made him yelp. “Hey! Who threw that?”

Hiccup stayed out of sight behind a pile of rubble, where there was a tiny space through which he could see.

“You threw that, didn’t you, you oaf?!”

“I didn’t throw nothin! I bet it fell from up there!” He pointed at the ancient arches above.

“Fell my ass! It hit me square on me head, it did! I betcha threw it!”

“You callin’ me a liar?”

“I ain’t callin’ ya for dinner!”

And just like Hiccup had hoped, the two started brawling.

Quickly, he stole from his hiding spot and darted to the nearest column. When he wasn’t spotted, he went to the next, and the next, until he reached the door, unnoticed.

Thankfully, the bandits had the door propped open ever so slightly, and Hiccup, in his small frame, was able to squeeze inside.

Inside, a large part of the ceiling had collapsed, making more rubble to hide behind. The room was bigger than the grand hall in Dragonsreach, all carved out of mossy stone and illuminated by candles and filtered sunlight. Besides arches for support, there wasn’t much other cover. On the other side of the hall, he saw a campfire, with three more bandits around. And beyond them was the door to the next part of the barrow.

“Great,” he thought to himself.

Being quick to hide behind the rubble, he watched and planned his next move.

As he adjusted his stance, he stepped on something squishy. The corpse of a skeever, a rat easily the size of a dog.

“Ew.”

Looking around the room, he could see a couple more. Where had they come from?

There. A hole in the wall up on a ledge. If he could find a way there…

He had a gross idea, but there was no other way. He couldn’t take these three bandits on. He couldn’t even take one!

As quietly as possible, he skinned the skeever and made a grotesque cape from its hide. Luckily, he was the size of a large skeever, or this wouldn’t work. He donned the cape and scuttled over the far side of the room. There was a stone pillar he had to clamor up, but if he did it quickly and quietly enough—

“What in the name of Talos is that?!” A female bandit shrieked.

He didn’t stop. He kept going. He just had to reach the hole!

“Another damned skeever! They just keep coming!”

An arrow whizzed by, plinking against the wall.

“Don’t waste your arrows if it’s not attacking!” Someone else shouted.

That gave Hiccup enough time to leap into the hole and out of sight.

So far, so good. He only hoped this place had a back door to leave or he was in trouble when he left.

The hole was formed by tree roots, which gave him extra cover. It led to a hallway alight with huge braziers. Again, there were skeever carcasses, and even a dead bandit. The path was quiet for now, so he climbed down and walked quickly, staying close to the wall. The hall snaked around, descending further and further into the earth.

When he found another guard, there was another partially collapsed arch that he could squeeze through and avoid them.

Then, he found a new type of obstacle.

A lever and a portcullis. A series of podiums on dais. A puzzle.

And three dead bandits covered in little darts, no doubt, poisoned.

Above the portcullis, the same images on the podiums were visible. The middle one had fallen, and laid on the floor, still visible at least.

From left to right, the pictures were of a snake, another snake, and a whale.

The podiums were turned to three eagles.

Hiccup had to stop and contemplate the sheer stupidity of these bandits.

He turned the podiums to match the images on the door, and then, with heightened blood pressure, he pulled the lever.

When the portcullis opened and he was not impaled with darts, he had to let out a relieved chuckle.

On the other side of the door, there was a beautiful table with three vials of healing potions, a lesser soul gem, and an ancient Nordic bow and a dozen arrows on it.

He hadn’t come here looking for treasure, but he wasn’t about to pass it up! Next to the table was also a chest with a handful of gold coins.

Not bad!

Once his treasure was secured in his bag, he spotted a spiral staircase going down further into the dungeon.

“Dovahkiin,” he said quietly.

“Dovahkiin!” The voice was now unbearable, rattling him to the core and nearly knocking him off his feet.

No going back now.

At the bottom of the stairs, the room was dark and dank, with lots of cobwebs in the corners. The webs got worse and more thick as the hall went on.

“Not a frostbite spider, not a frostbite spider…” Hiccup chanted as he carried on.

At the end of the hall, a door led to a large open room. He peered inside and his heart got caught in his throat. The biggest frostbite spider he had ever seen was hanging from the ceiling. It was easily the size of the dining room table in the great hall.

“Shit.”

This was going to be harder to solve. He almost wished the bandits were here instead.

But! He had just acquired a new bow!

Taking a vantage point from the doorway, Hiccup took aim and shot the spider in the thorax, making it writhe and spit its poison everywhere.

He didn’t stop. He shot arrow after arrow, missing half the time, at the foul creature until it stopped squirming and laid on its back, its legs curled up.

“I am never dungeon delving again. Not if there’s more spiders!” He shivered.

Moving into the room, he saw a few human sized egg sacs, one guess at what they held.

By the door, a partially desiccated dark elf laid with an arm outstretched. In it was a golden statue, made to look like the hand of a dragon with three claws, likely the one stolen from the Riverwood trader. Hiccup pried it out of the bandit’s hand, with the intention of returning it, and moved on, hoping that his adventure was coming to an end.

It didn’t get any more pleasant. The next leg of the journey held the crypt; walls lined with skeletons and mummified remains of his ancestors.

“They’re all dead, Hiccup.” He whispered as his heart thundered in his chest.

One footstep he took gave way underneath him, and he heard the sound of a hinge creaking. He couldn’t even consider what it meant before he was smacked fully with a spiked grate. The spikes tore into his skin and ripped painfully back out, puncturing his arm, side, and leg.

He was thrown several feet backwards, skittering on his ass before he came to a stop, limbs akimbo and stunned. All the air had been knocked out of him, and he struggled to breathe, making sounds like a dying animal. His vision blurred from the impact as he laid on the ground, unable to do anything else.

Then the pain set in. A burning, throbbing pain all down his left side.

He peeled his eye open, watching his clothing rapidly turning red. This was not good. He had to do something, but what? He had gotten some healing potions earlier in the dungeon, right? He fumbled around in his bag as his pulse thundered in his ears. He was growing tired very quickly. He then grabbed a muted red vial, the color for healing he had grown accustomed to seeing at the healer's hut from all the blacksmith accidents over the years. He downed it and felt the liquid trickle down his throat and into his stomach. Within seconds, his vision flashed yellow and his strength returned. His puncture wounds healed for the most part. Now they were simply scratches. He considered taking another potion, but opted against it in case he got hurt again. He’d have to have Gothi look at his wounds when he returned. And he was going to return, damnit!

Getting back up on his feet, Hiccup could now clearly see the round stone on the ground that had triggered the trap.

“Note to self, watch out for pressure plates.”

The next trap he encountered was easier. A set of three swinging pendulum blades. This was just a test of timing.

More mummified remains, and more feelings of uneasiness. Some of these remains were standing upright, with swords in hand, almost seemingly ready to spring to life and protect the barrow.

Hiccup elected to stay quiet and move quickly.

As he wandered over a waterfall and even a full cave, he wondered if the barrow filled out the entirety of the mountain. How long had it taken his ancestors to build this place? Why had no one gone in? Certainly if someone like him could make it this far with only a few scratches, then surely some stronger adventurers could clean it out. What a much more defensible fortress than Dragonsreach! There was so much space here too! They could have a whole city!

The hundreds of dead bodies might pose a problem though.

In the inner sanctum, Hiccup found the barrow in better repair, less ruins and more ancient architecture. And more stone coffins. After a while, he stopped appreciating the work that went into building such a mausoleum, and instead wondered where all these corpses came from. It was easily a city’s worth, but most were buried in armor and weapons. Were these all warriors killed in battle? Or just buried to look like it?

Maybe he really should read those books he told his father he read.

Finally, he came to a dead end. A wide, arched hallway, with murals carved into the walls. Each mural depicted what looked like a burial. At the end of it all was a circular carving.

It had three ebony rings, each inlaid with an ivory pendant. And like the podium at the beginning of the dungeon, these pendants featured animals.

In the center was another circle, with three holes in it.

Was this what he came for? Surely not. A door perhaps? But how to open it?

The three holes were not aligned. The middle was higher than the others.

“The claw!” He nearly shouted.

Indeed, when he took the dragon claw out and inserted it, the claws inserted perfectly in the holes. But as he tried to turn it, nothing happened.

“Another puzzle,” he lamented.

Though he needn’t have fretted. Turning the claw over in his hands to study it, he found matching images engraved in the palm.

Moth. Eagle. Dragon.

He turned the rings on the door, excited that he could see the matching images.

Now when he inserted the claw, it turned and clicked into place!

The whole door shuttered, and the circular apparatus slid away and revealed a staircase beyond.

The air was surprisingly fresh compared to where he had been, and he could hear running water.

He was in another cave. A waterfall broke through the rock on the left and carved out a trench along the floor, but a bridge crossed it and led up to a looming feature. It looked like a curved wall, with old words on it. In front of it was another stone coffin, and an ancient chest.

This felt like the place he needed to be. This was where the voice had been leading him.

Cautiously, he approached the wall, and watched as it reacted to his presence. Three words in a language he did not recognize glowed, and beckoned him closer. Though he could not read it, he understood.

Fus.

What did it mean?

The chest, now behind him, flung open, its lid banging loudly on the floor and disturbing the bats above.

Hiccup looked inside, and saw a pile of ancient golden coins, jewels, and on top of it all, a golden circlet with a black stone.

“Dovahkiin,” the circlet said, pulsing with each syllable.

Hiccup didn’t even think about grabbing it. His body acted on its own, reaching in with both hands to take hold of the crown. It was beautifully crafted, and despite moldering for how many thousands of years, it was polished to a near mirror shine. It buzzed in his hands like a trapped insect, and sent tingles up and down his spine. He was compelled, and obeyed.

Once the circlet was on his head, he felt immense power rush through him, down to the tips of his toes. It was so much, he blacked out.

The place he was conscious of next had to be a dreamscape. It was black, with a rolling fog surrounding him. His body felt impossibly heavy, and he was unable to do anything except sit as a creature emerged from the fog before him.

It was a dragon, but not what he imagined one would look like. It had a soft, friendly face, like a salamander. Instead of twisting horns, it had two earflaps. Its claws didn’t look any less deadly, though.

“So, Dovahkiin, you have finally decided to answer my call.” It spoke with a deep lulling voice, but didn’t move its mouth.

“You were the one that called me?”

“Yes,” the dragon circled him. “I have been calling for the Dovahkiin for a long time. Two centuries at least. It seems you finally heard me.”

“Well, I only started hearing you call last week. But, you really think I’m this…Dragonborn person?”

“I do not think, I know.”

“But…Gobber said they’re supposed to be some ultimate authority or proud warrior. Look at me! I’m…I’m nothing.”

“This Gobber is correct. As Dragonborn, you will learn the way of the voice as you grow. It matters little what you look like. The voice brings power and authority.”

Hiccup let that digest. It would be nice to have people listen to him for once.

“The people of Tamriel will look to you for guidance as an unbiased opinion. You will find yourself in the middle of many upcoming wars, as a voice of reason.”

“Wars? What wars?”

“Is there no conflict in your time?”

“No, there’s…well, actually…the High King was just killed…but they appointed a new king. It’s…it should be all over, right?”

“I have seen glimpses of what is to come. A war between men. A war between men and Dragons. A war between the arcane and nature. A war among families. A war among friends. And a war among life and death itself. They will all need your guidance.”

“What if I just don’t tell anyone? Surely people can’t just assume I’m the Dragonborn…unless I get a giant sign on my back or start glowing…”

“It matters little. There are those who are attuned to the changes in nature I am associated with. They are sensing your awakening now. Doubtless, the world will know tomorrow.”

“Great. And I bet a hundred people are going to come at me with swords to try to kill me…or at least to take this circlet. The last thing my father needs is me bringing conflict to his front porch.”

“The world will know the Dragonborn has returned, but not who he is. It will be up to you to stand up when the time is right. And you will. I have seen it in you.”

“How could you possibly know that? Who are you anyway?”

“I have been called many names. Each Kingdom in Tamriel has a name for me. My original name has been forgotten over the years. I will respond to the name you give me.”

Hiccup blanched. “Oh, you don’t want me to do that. I’m terrible at naming things.”

“You will have time to think on it. What do your people call you?”

“Hiccup. My full name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, son of Jarl Stoick of Whiterun, but that’s a bit of a mouthful.”

“The son of a Jarl? How intriguing!” The dragon opened its mouth then, in a mock parody of a human smile, though it had no teeth.

“You’re toothless.” Hiccup stated in shock. It was more of a question, but not the way he said it.

“My name is now Toothless,” the dragon nodded sagely.

“No! No no, it’s not! Ohhh let me pick something else!”

The dragon came close, the heat from its nostrils fanning Hiccup’s hair. “It is the name my soulmate has given me, why would I not like it?”

“Because it’s dumb! I should have–” he stopped. “Wait, soulmate?”

The dragon nodded. “The circlet you wear binds a human soul to that of a god. We are now connected, in this world, and the next.” He leaned in and touched his nose to his chest.

“You’re a god!?” Hiccup yelled.

“Yes. As the Dragon god, I prefer the one that wears my crown to be Dragonborn, which is why I have been calling to you.”

Hiccup grew increasingly more panicked as his actions began to stack up. “Dragon god? You mean the god of Lightning and Death?! You’re Akatosh!? But you’re–you’re the head of the pantheon!”

“I am? How interesting.”

“I can’t wear this crown. I have to give it to someone more qualified! I’ve never even fought a person, let alone fought in a war!”

Toothless walked around him, coiling Hiccup with his tail. “You cannot take off the circlet. It is bound to you, as I am. This is your fate. It cannot be passed onto anyone else.”

Hiccup felt weak and leaned against Toothless for support. “I…I can’t believe this. I…you said some people are learning about me right now? Anyone bad? I don’t know if I could defend myself in a fight. And I wouldn’t want anyone to take a hit for me! By Talos, I renamed Akatosh Toothless!”

“You are already on your way to becoming untouchable by mortal men. The Word Wall you read before donning the circlet taught you the word Fus, correct?”

“Yeah…it means ‘Force’ right?”

“Very good! Think about force as it is applied in the natural world. You push against Nirn, and Nirn pushes back. Fus beckons that force without the reciprocate. Now, I will teach you the other two words of the Thu’um.”

Toothless roared at the ground and words appeared, in the ancient text just like the Word Wall.

Ro. Da.

“‘Ro’ in your tongue means balance. Combined with Fus, it gives precision to your Thu’um. ‘Dah’ means push. A thu’um that combines all three can be powerful and deadly. Be careful. I give you this Thu’um because I heard its echo in your world not too long ago. Someone else knows it.”

“That had to be Drago! He killed High King Torygg with a shout. My father said witnesses saw him collide with the wall and all his bones were shattered.”

“As I said, the Unrelenting Force is a deadly Thu’um. It is also one of the easiest to comprehend. It does not surprise me that someone would know it. I do wonder where he learned it from, though. The Greybeards perhaps.”

“Gobber mentioned them too! They live on a mountain or something?”

“Correct. The Throat of the World. The tallest mountain in Tamriel. The Greybeards are monks that study the way of the voice.”

“So I could learn shouts from them?”

“Certainly. You will have to go to them. You can also learn shouts from Word Walls, like you saw not long ago. And I will teach you shouts when I believe you are ready…but I have been removed from Skyrim for so long with no one to talk to, I’m not sure if I remember them all.”

“Are you going to be able to see through my eyes and talk to me whenever?”

“For now, we will speak while you are asleep. As our bond grows, the more one we will become.”

“I see.”

“There is another group who is learning about you now as well. They will have to seek you out, as they are impossible to get to.”

“Who?”

“The Psijic monks. The Guardians of the Miraculous.”

Hiccup frowned. “What’s a Miraculous?”

“The crown on your head is a Miraculous. A jewel that connects the soul of a human, and that of a god. The Psijic monks have sworn to keep track of them, but these jewels often have a mind of their own. One of their order will seek you out, no doubt.”

“Do they know any shouts?”

“No. And it’s likely they will only take note of you before disappearing again. They are rather hands off.”

“So…I should visit the Greybeards, and I’ll be visited by these…cystic monks.”

“Psijic monks.”

“Right. Anything else I need to know?”

“All in due time, my Hiccup. Now, you should probably wake up.” He reared back and unleashed a thunderous roar right in Hiccup’s face.

Hiccup startled awake for the second time that day, still on the floor of the cave in the burial mound. He glanced around, checking his surroundings. No bandits or skeevers or spiders had found him. He was alone.

He absently went to scratch his head, and touched the circlet. He tried to remove it, but it was just as Toothless had said. He couldn’t take it off.

“What am I going to tell dad?” He lamented.

He considered this as he gazed over the pile of gold still in the chest in front of him. He earned it, after all of this. So he shoveled it all into his satchel, and then shouldered it.

“Right. Now to figure out how to get out of here.”

He looked back the way he came, lamenting the long walk and all that he had to sneak past. As he studied the room, he found another set of stairs not too far away, leading towards the wall.

He followed them, noticing that there was a lever built into a podium next to the wall.

“Oh please be a back door…”

As he pulled the lever, a doorway in the stone gave way to reveal a tunnel, and daylight glowed at the other end.

“Yes!”

Hiccup ran down the tunnel, elated to see the sky again, and proud to have finished his quest unscathed.

But as he came out of the mouth, he smacked face-first into a bandit.

“Well well. Isn’t this interesting?” He cracked his shoulder. “Told the boss it was crazy to patrol this back entrance, but he didn’t care. I should tell him he was right.”

Hiccup panicked, looking for a way out. The tunnel had ended rather abruptly, and if the bandit hadn’t been there, he likely would have run off a cliff.

“So kiddo, whatcha find in there? Let me see that pretty crown.”

It happened on instinct. The bandit reached forward, and Hiccup sucked in a lung full of air.

“Fus Ro Dah!”

The blast echoed across the landscape, making nature itself grow silent.

The bandit ragdolled right off the cliff, being flung several feet before falling and rolling down the mountain like a limp sack of potatoes.

Hiccup peered over the edge, only to see the body still and unmoving.

“By the nines, I killed him.”

Hiccup glanced around the cliff edge, looking for a way down. There had to be one if the bandit got up there in the first place. He found a steep, narrow path along the wall that he could shimmy down if he was careful.

It led to a rock, which led to another rock, on and on, until he finally reached the road.

Exhausted from the descent, he sat on a stone to catch his breath. The sun was now making its way to dusk, and night would be upon him soon. He had spent more time in that dungeon than he thought!

He whistled for Thump, assuming it was pointless as his horse had either wandered to Riverwood or was still on the other side of the mountain. But fortunately, the blessed sound of horse hooves trotting across the ground graced his ears…shortly followed by another set, and then another.

Thump happily galloped around the corner, followed by two Whiterun guards on horseback. That couldn’t be good.

They all came to stop in front of him.

“Young Master Hiccup, the Jarl has been looking for you. We are fortunate to find you alive.”

“He’s been that worried about me? But I’ve only been gone a few hours.”

“A few hours? No. We are nearing two days of your absence. We found your horse outside Riverwood and have been tracking it, hoping he would lead us to you. Luckily, he did.”

Hiccup stood then, on shaky legs, and mounted Thump.

“We will hurry you back to Dragonsreach, Young Master, you look wounded.”

“Oh, I’m okay, I just—“ he glanced down to his side, where he was punctured earlier. In the light of day, his entire side was bloodied. “It looks worse than it is.”

But nevertheless, the guards escorted him quickly back to Whiterun.

When they entered the city gates, townsfolk started cheering.

“It’s good to see you alive boy-o!”

“Welcome back from the brink!”

“Had enough adventure for one lifetime, huh?”

Hiccup tried to shrink on his horse, but still saw every eye on him.

When they reached Dragonsreach, he developed a lump in his throat that he couldn’t quite swallow. The second Jarl Stoick saw him, he came running with his arms open wide. “Son! Hiccup! You’re alive!” He effortlessly lifted Hiccup off the ground and embraced him. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”

Just as quickly as he had been lifted, he was rushed over to Gothi, the healer and court magician. He was stripped of his bloody clothes and his wounds were examined. Stoick didn’t leave his side for a second.

“What happened? Where did you go? Who do I need to put a bounty on?”

“Dad, dad, please calm down.” He prepared to tell his father all about his fate as the Dragonborn, but couldn’t quite find the words. His father was already overly protective of him, and if he shared the truth about his fate, chances are he’d never be allowed to leave the city walls. Maybe even Dragonsreach.

With the way his father was acting, that might be true no matter what.

Hiccup decided to tell the truth, just not the whole truth. He sighed. “I found some information, and it led me to Bleak Falls Barrow.”

At the name, Gothi pulled tight on a bandage, making him wince.

“The old Nordic burial mound by Riverwood? What possessed you to go there!?”

“I thought there would be some information about the Dragonborn there.”

“And? Did you find what you were looking for?” Stoick asked with a grimace. He didn’t seem too indulgent at the moment.

“Not…not really. I found the treasure in my bag, and then this circlet.” He gestured to his head. “It’s…we’ll it’s cursed, dad. I can’t take it off.”

Stoick looked devastated. “Cursed? What is going to happen to you?”

“Nothing, from what I gleaned. I just can’t remove it.”

Stoick sighed. “I suppose that is enough punishment. Can you confirm, Gothi?”

The old woman scrutinized the circlet touching the band before breathing in the stone. She tugged on it for good measure. No, for sure this wasn’t coming off.

Gothi was a mute, and as such, she had to communicate her findings through writing.

Hiccup and Stoick sat awkwardly as she scribbled out her message.

“She says,” Stoick read her note, “‘this circlet contains a vast, intense power that sleeps. It does not seem malevolent in nature. I see no reason to try to remove it at this time.’” Stoick frowned. “No need to remove it? It’s a curse!”

“Dad, let’s just see where this goes. She said it’s not malevolent, maybe I’ll be blessed with strength or magic or—“

“Common sense?”

“Harsh.”

“Look, Hiccup. You are the only family I have. Your mother went out on an adventure and never returned. I don’t want the same for you. Please promise me your adventuring days are over, alright?”

“I promise.”

No one noticed he had his fingers crossed.

#edge of the sky #httyd #how to train your dragon #miraculous ladybug #ml #fanfiction #skyrim #tes #The Elder Scrolls #hiccup haddock #stoick the vast #toothless

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writersprocrastinators · 8 months ago

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Introduction!

Hi yall! Name is Bell F. Archer, but you can call me Archie and I'm a writer who has decided to make a blog for my work! I've never made one of these so here we go!

I post mostly on Instagram under @writersprocrastinators but I hope to post longer works here, updates on my WIPs, any random prompt I see, and hopefully receive tons of asks and prompt requests. I'm 26 living in the US, I enjoy many different TV shows, but I loved shows like Chuck, Bones, Castle, most of the MCU works, iZombie, Family Guy, the 100, Wynona Earp, Motherland: Fort Salem, Lucifer, ATLA, Walking dead universe, honestly the list is never ending it would be easier if yall asked if I've seen it and I'll say yes or no lol. Hope you enjoy this intro!

I'll follow your accounts from this account seeing as its my only and main account.

I however will not follow if you're under 18, or if you have no age on your blog. As another warning, this blog will contain some material that may not be suitable for underage viewers, nothing too intense but better safe than sorry. I am not responsible if you read something you should not have, and all mature content will be marked as such!

♤ About me ♤

I'm relatively new to setting up a blog on Tumblr for this purpose so if there's any tips, please send them my way!

I like fictional works ranging from crime dramas, romance, fantasy, and others like dystopian works. Honestly, I don't read nearly as much as I could, but I write a lot and enjoy fan fictions! I find fan writing to be fun to read because the writing styles tend to feel very different between all writers, for the same base content. Reading each authors twists on a particular moment is pretty inspiring! It's hard to explain, but I I love to read it, but I don't particularly write it and would love to chat about it! I'm always looking to follow blogs that post anything writing related.

♤About this blog♤

This blogs purpose is for any and all of my writings/poems/stories and whatever else I write. I'll hopefully start doing some OC introductions, world building, or any art that can connect to my works. For example, one of my WIPs has a map that I've been working on, and I've also been trying to teach myself how to draw in order to draw the OCs out (it's very hard and I'm having a hard time lol).

I'm open to asks, prompts, questions, and messages, but do keep it respectful, I don't find wasting my time to be something I enjoy. If you have any advice or recommendations please also let me know! If you'd like something written for you, in a fictional sense not an essay or something lol, I will gladly look into it!

All writing done here is entirely my own, written by me and for me. Please do not copy my work anywhere else © copyright notice is below and on this page. I hate that I even have to say this, but people steal content so often and I just dont want the headache.

♤How my writings will work♤

Not all of my work is connected, but a lot of them are part of the same "series", specifically the poems are. They’ll be tagged as the same series. The WIPs are not connected, but they both have tons of similar callbacks and subtle author references.

Most of the poems are within a part of a series, and the characters for the "conversations" are generally the same people unless I say otherwise.

♤What you can expect to see♤

On this blog you can expect to see plenty of poetry, prose, short works, and maybe even excerpts of my WIPS. Let me know what you prefer to see!

♤About my WIPS♤

Whatever Means Necessary (working title)

This is a crime drama fiction, that is by far my oldest work. It's got a dash of romance but for this one it's less and more subtle, due to its nature. Part 2 has a bit more of it, but that WIP is very far from happening. It's been in progress since 2011 about, and I have yet to finish it, hence the procrastinators part. This one is about 3-5 chapters from being done! Its all the editing that's gonna get me.

I would rate this as a new adult fiction.

Some tropes in WMN are spies, futuristic weapons, angst, life changing family news, discovering family, family nemesis, casual drug and alcohol use, slow burn (like glacial), found family, betrayal, symbolism, and besties.

Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, attempted SA, death, cursing, sexual scenarios

Fallen (working title)

This is a fantasy/dystopian & adventure fiction that is newer and has many more moving parts, lore, descriptions and OCs. This one is not even close to being fully written out, but is plotted out fairly well. I learned my mistake with no outline this time around.

I would rate this again, as a new adult fiction. But too mature for young adult, not quite mature enough to be adult.

Some tropes in Fallen are enhanced human abilities, zombie-esque creatures, mythical creatures and beings, monsters, reinvented military, dystopian governments, utopian governments, romance, not so slow slow burn, extreme angst, character death, defying destiny, defying fate, mental health exploration, race discussions and combating aggressions, found family, gender and sexuality exploration, positions of power, morally grey characters, betrayal, and symbolism.

Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, mentions and attempts of SA, major and side character death, cursing, sexual scenarios, murder, illness, heavy casual drug and alcohol use. This work is considerably grittier.

Hope you enjoyed the Intro! First post is coming within the next few days!

Have a beautiful one, Bell.

#creative writing #writing #author #poets of tumblr #poets on poetry #poets on tumblr #poetsandwriters #poetscommunity #poetsclub #sad poems #work in progress #writers on tumblr #blog intro #intro post #writersprocrastinators #short poem #short story #poems and prose

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thyfaithfailnot · 10 months ago

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Essay #15: What is Truth?, Pt. 5

Disc.: The following is a non-profit essay intended for educational purposes.

All talks, dictionary definitions, and scripture verses belong to their respective owners and/or publishers. No copyright infringement intended.

This concern, like all of the other ones presented to me, troubles me. I’m not surprised by it, but it troubles me nonetheless.

Concern #2: Why did God tell Joseph Smith to cheat on his wife?

This concern refers to the revelation Joseph Smith received about plural marriage. Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about the practice of plural marriage, except that I was teased and ridiculed about it the most growing up. I believe that a large reason why members of The Church are hesitant to talk about their religion is because they don’t understand plural marriage and are afraid of defending it. With that being said, I think this will be a good, spiritual exercise for me to learn and grow in this topic.

***

While preaching on the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His Apostles, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?”

“Some say thou art John the Baptist,” the Apostles answered, “Some, Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”

Jesus then asked a very important question, one which we must all ask ourselves: “But whom say ye that I am?” (Matthew 16:13-15; KJV).

The RSV poses the question more simply: “But who do you say that I am?”

Who was this man, who dared come and teach something that was so different from what the people of that day and time were used to?

After a moment of silence and stillness, Simon Peter answered softly, but resolutely, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16; KJV).

The CSB version of the same verse reads: “Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” The NIV reads the same as the CSB. In all accounts, they refer to Jesus Christ as The Savior, The Redeemer, The Messiah, The Son of the LIVING GOD.

Yes, my friends, God is ALIVE! He does, in fact, live today, just as He lived during the time of Adam and Eve, the time of Christ, and The Middle Ages. His time spans from eternity to eternity, from beginning to end. God’s course is one everlasting round, as are His truths and His gospel.

Going back to Matthew 16 for a minute, after Simon Peter testifies of Jesus, The Savior says to His Apostle: “Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven” (Matthew 16:17; KJV).

The other translations of The Bible read very similarly. Simon Peter’s testimony was given to him by The Father through the power of The Holy Ghost. This is a powerful thing! All testimonies have to be born to our hearts, minds, and souls from The Father through the unspeakable power of The Holy Ghost (Doctrine & Covenants 121:26).

After blessing Peter, Jesus says something that hopefully doesn’t get glossed over or misunderstood.

“Thou art Peter,” says The Savior, “and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:13-18 KJV).

Such a powerful verse here! What is this “rock” that The Savior is referring to? As we have gone through this account, I think that it is plain to see that this “rock” is Jesus Himself.

1 Corinthians 10:4 says, “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”

I love the plainness of this scripture. I love how, as we search out for spiritual truths, spiritual vista’s are opened to us.

Furthermore, in looking at the word “rock” in The Bible’s footnotes it reads: “Here is a little wordplay upon “Peter” (Greek petros= small rock) and “rock” (Greek petra=bedrock) Christ is the stone of Israel”.

We can look at John 1:42, which says, “And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.”

I really like 1 Corinthians 3:9-11: “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

“According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

This scripture makes it very clear to me that Jesus Christ is the sure foundation upon which we can build. And what is even clearer is that we don’t have to build anything alone; He will help us to build. How I love and adore Him!

Matthew 16:19 reads: “For flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee.”

It is important to have that constant revelation. We have a need for revelation, both personally and as a church.

Amos 3:7 says: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

There was a need for a prophet back in the Old Testament times and there is surely still a need for one today. And, in that same vein, there is a need to communicate to God's children today. God still loves His children today, just like He loved them back in Old Testament times.

John 6 teaches about individual apostasy. As mentioned before, Jesus taught things that went against traditions that had been upheld for decades. Some followed The Savior’s new teachings, but most rejected them.

Verse 66 shows us some sobering words: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”

The RSV is more straightforward with its translation: “After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.”

Like all scriptures, this verse is just as much canonized scripture as it is a historical record. It was just as applicable to the people back then as it is for you and I today. Jesus is telling us in our own mother tongues: “Some tough things are going to be asked of you. I know that you can handle it, that is why I am asking it of you, I trust you, I love you and I will forever be with you.”

Whenever a prophet speaks, people will always try to discount, poke holes in, and/or pervert what The Lord is trying to teach. Our ways are not God's ways. We do not see what God sees, nor do we think how He thinks. Our vision is a limited vision; we cannot see eternity, nor is the human mind able to grasp the full scope of eternity.

Sarai gave Hagar to Abram as his wife (Gen. 16:1–11).

Jacob received Leah, Rachel, and their handmaidens as wives (Gen. 29:21–28, 30:4, 9, 26).

If a man takes another wife, he shall not diminish the first wife’s possessions (Ex. 21:10).

David and his two wives went up to (Hebron 2, Sam. 2:1–2).

In all these accounts listed, you will see that this practice was certainly not easy. In the matters of the heart, which marriage is one of the most tender of the matters of the heart, most certainly, this would be a very difficult thing to do. But as one can plainly see, The Lord has directed that His people practice this from time to time. Do I know what that purpose was? No, I do not. In one sense, I can see that sometimes the Lord wants to see if we will obey His Commandments. We are all sent here to find our faith and decide whether or not we will keep The Lord's Commandments. As I read and ponder over the scriptures and become familiar with the stories and doctrines contained within, the one overarching principle I see is that The Lord is going to ask us to do hard things sometimes.

I know and have a testimony that God loves and honors the chastity and virtue of all women, and that He would NEVER, EVER ask any man (let alone one of His prophets) to cheat or commit adultery on their wife. The Lord has made that very plain in The Book of Mormon, in which He proclaims, “For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women” (Jacob 2:28).

If I were asked why The Lord instructed the prophet Joseph Smith to practice plural marriage, I would answer that I wasn’t sure why. I did not live at that time, but I do have family that had joined the church at that time, so I have heard many stories of those early church history times. My family joined the church in 1840, right in the heat of persecution. Only one of my family members engaged in plural marriage, but little is said of it in the family history accounts. He took on a second wife due to his first becoming ill and he wasn’t able to help tend to her properly, so to defend it would be fruitless. What I will say is that we ought not to counsel The Lord.

To quote Jacob 4:10: “Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.”

To put it simply, we don’t know all the answers. What we do know is that when a prophet speaks as a prophet, we ought to listen, and, just as importantly, we should show our love to God by obeying His Commandments.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

“What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”

~Doctrine & Covenants 1:38

I don’t think it gets much simpler than that. The world has always mocked when a prophet speaks, even when Jesus walked the Earth. It was so back then, it was so in the early days of the restoration, and it is so today. The road to discipleship has never been an easy road to walk. Many have walked it before, and many walk it today, but I would daresay that the path of discipleship is not well worn.

“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24).

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

In 1972, Thomas S. Monson gave a talk in General Conference entitled “Finishers Wanted”, in which he recited an anonymous sonnet I really like:

“Stick to your task ‘til it sticks to you

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise,

Will always come to the one who stays.

Stick to your task ‘til it sticks to you,

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life’s victories after a while.”

I love the line “beginners are many, but enders are few”. If you look for imperfections, you will find them. Looking for the good and the honorable takes effort. After Jesus died, The Church grew for a little bit, but people kept pecking away at it until the priesthood power was ultimately taken from the Earth, as was prophesied.

Final thoughts

Choose to see the good. Choose to see God's hand and power. Choose to believe. Choose not to doubt.

“There is nothing noble or impressive about being cynical. Skepticism is easy—anyone can do it. It is the faithful life that requires moral strength, dedication, and courage.”

~Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf; “Be Not Afraid, Only Believe”; General Conference October 2015

The bottom line on this concern is that God is going to ask His people to do hard things. Like Elder Uchtdorf suggests, a faithful life requires moral strength, dedication, and courage. Like our pioneer forefathers, ours is not an easy lot. There is no testimony without the “test”. I have a testimony that God continues to reveal His will to the prophet of the world today. God’s will is different from the will of the world.

#christianity #christian blog #the church of jesus christ of latter day saints #christian encouragement #faith essay #faith essays

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