#because I didn't know the acceptable amount and couldn't see their cups

[stupid-elf]

Growing up with strict, neurodivergent parents while neurodivergent yourself will have you as an adult acting like you've recently escaped the feywild. What are the tricky rules? Is everything accounted for? How do I ensure I don't accidentally step over the line into Impoliteness. You know the consequences aren't death and dismemberment but you might look down one day and find you've lost your shadow and all of your friends if you're not careful

[libby-for-life]

Can you do an Alpha Lucifer and Omega Adam one-shot?

I love the Omegaverse! Yes! We'll be doing my version of Adamsapple that reflect from my book Adam Dies.

Adam had been feeling sick for days now and he had no idea why. He had been feeling warm and sweaty, his appetite had increased, and he had been so sore lately. If he didn't know he was a Beta, he would have thought these symptoms sounded like an Omega going into heat.

He was very confused about it.

Currently, he was eating some breakfast. Adam sighed as he at some of his new cravings. Rotisserie chicken on waffles slathered in syrup. And pickles on the side.

"Adam?" The said demon smiled when Lucifer entered the kitchen. The devil was wearing a robe that fell off one shoulder and Adam felt his face warm up, more than it already was, and look away. He could see the beginnings of Lucifer's toned chest...

"That's, uh, an interesting breakfast," Lucifer said with a frown and Adam looked up with a sigh as he took a mouth full. He swallowed before answering.

"I know. I can't seem to shake off these cravings."

Lucifer tilted his head. "Cravings? That's...oddly specific." Adam shrugged and continued eating. Why was he so hot?

"Adam. You look flushed." He certainly felt flushed. "Are you alright?" Adam felt a hand on his forehead and a moan tumbled out of the lamb demon.

Adam let out a squeak, covering his face in mortification. "I'm sorry! I didn't know what came—"

"How long have you been feeling this way?" Lucifer interrupted. Adam thought hard about it. "Since last Thursday?"

"Two days ago?! Why didn't you say anything?!" Lucifer cried out while looking over Adam as if he was making sure he wasn't hiding anything else. "It wasn't so bad a couple of days ago. Just felt hot...."

Lucifer cupped his cheeks before stuffing his face into the lamb's scent glands. Adam squeaked but moaned out louder when he felt the devil's nose brush the top of his sensitive scent glands.

"Omega."

Adam felt slick pour out of his hole and he squirmed in his seat. What the hell was going on?

Lucifer removed himself from Adam, his pupils blown wide. "Adam...you're an Omega."

Adam froze. An Omega? No...no! He couldn't be! Omega's were treated like disgusting sex slaves! It was bad in Hell. The amount of abuse and discrimination that these designations received put fear into his heart.

He could feel himself shaking. He can't...he can't be an Omega!

Suddenly, strong arms held him close and Adam could smell a combination of cinnamon and apples. Adam breathed deeply and could feel himself relaxing. "Ssshhh, my Omega. I'll protect you."

Adam snuggled deeper into his Alpha, breathing in the intoxicated smell of an Alpha in a rut. "Let me take care of you. Please."

Adam nodded lucidly and he smiled when his Alpha picked him up so easily. His Alpha was strong. That meant he could be protected when he was round and pregnant with their pups.

Soon, he was sitting on a soft bed with so many blankets and pillows. Adam let out a purr and he immediately began to build his nest. It needed to be perfect. "Do you want this for your nest?"

Adam turned hooded eyes to his Alpha who was holding out the clothes he was wearing. His Alpha was naked and Adam tried not to drool at the muscles he saw.

He accepted the clothes and purred at the smell of musk that wafted off it.

He moaned, a fresh wave of slick leaving him and soaking his underwear and pants.

His Alpha joined the nest and began to strip him. Strong palms massaged aching muscles and Adam groaned and drooled at the sensation.

"I'm going to put a baby in you."

"Yes! Breed me!"

Lucifer growled and began sniffing around Adam's hole, licking and sucking at the entrance. Moans and pleads filled the air and his Alpha was all too happy to give his mate relief. He entered smoothly because of the slick and it wasn't too long before his Alpha was going at a powerful pace.

The nest rocked and Adam whimpered in pleasure, a puddle of drool gathering under him.

"I should have known that you were an Omega. A pretty little lamb like you could only be something so beautiful."

Adam whimpered when he felt his Alpha's knot getting caught ever so slightly.

"I can't wait to fill you up with my seed. Soon, you'll be so pregnant that you won't be able to walk right. Of course, I'll help my Omega."

Adam was so close, claws digging into sheets and tearing into the bedding and nest.

Adam screamed a high and needy pitch as he came while his Alpha growled at the sound before plugging him completely. A bite to the neck made tears roll down his cheeks and Adam smiled when he felt the powerful seed enter his womb, feeling happy and full.

"You're tits would be so full of milk. Their so big now. Do you think they'll get bigger? Do you think that milk will leak out? I would lick them away then. Wouldn't waste a single drop."

His Alpha hugged him close, rubbing his stomach and tweaking his nipples until Adam fell asleep.

Lucifer watched as his Omega passed out from the intensity of his orgasm. He rubbed his scent all over the new mark and smiled. He smelled like the earth before a rainstorm. He couldn't wait to spoil his little lamb.

[budynsliwkowy]

❝ STARRY NIGHT❞

Norman Osborn x female!Reader

Summary: you're at an OSCORP gala as Norman's assistant, Harry's ex-girlfriend

A/N: first one shot on this blog, hope it's okay. It's for Rosie, love you<3

Word count: 1,7K

Warning: age gap

Harry's eyes were staring at you in shock and disbelief, while his lips were vainly trying to exclude any words. He couldn't believe what he just heard from you. His gaze was on your face, on a cup of coffee, on his own hands, then again on the face.

"What do you mean you're breaking up with me?" His hands moved chaotically, trying to understand the situation.

"That's what I'm saying. That's not it, Harry." All his current emotions were visible in his dark eyes. He would do anything to prevent the situation from happening. He'd do anything to keep you by himself.

"But we can talk about it. We can come up with something else, please. Just tell me what you need--"

"No, it doesn't make sense." You sigh. His opposition made the situation more difficult. You had a need to explain yourself because of his silence, so you're in your words. "We don't match each other. I have nothing to you, but I don't feel like I have what I need. You're immature, that's the main problem."

He didn't say anything. He still couldn't understand you. You've survived through the end of high school together, you've been in college for over a year. You want to break up after that? Although he could have understood the problem. He was also quite poor in this connection. Maybe you didn't really feel good about him.

"Look, I'm sorry for whatever I did wrong, okay? Just... Okay, you know what, all right." With a sigh, he lifted himself out of the chair. He left the coffee unfinished and took his jacket from the back of the chair. He looked at you again. He will accept this fact in his own time. "Thanks for your time."

☆☆☆

It's been over two years since you broke up with Harry, but it wasn't enough time for you to get him out of your life. Working at Oscorp provided you with frequent casual meetings, but you, focused on work, did not bother. Your thoughts were fully focused on your desk job as Dr. Osborn's assistant. Despite working right next to the boss's office, you didn't have much opportunity to talk to him about nicer topics. You used to spend your evenings at Oscorp or at home, but tonight was more interesting.

There was an Oscorp Gala. The borrowed hotel hall in downtown Manhattan was swarming with important figures and scientists. Journalists and photographers ran between representatives of Oscorp and other companies. Osborn was in the business of holding galas every so often, mainly to show off the amount of money in front of other companies. The hall was decorated in gray-black tones with elegant accessories with a wide variety of food and liquor.

Of course, it would have been a wasted opportunity not to show off your own person, so you decided to dress pretty. Osborn requested to be sat right next to you, but there was still a vacant seat waiting next to you. The event had started almost two hours ago, and he still hadn't found the time to at least sit down for a while. Your evening mostly passed with table talk. It was a good opportunity to start building relationships with other employees, including scientists you had not faced early on. 

After some time, Osborn came in, sitting down in his seat. He sighed, tired of his earlier conversations with other guests. Then his gaze fell on you, his lips curved in a smile, almost immediately asking you a question. "It's good to see you. How are you enjoying yourself so far?"

It was hard to tell how you enjoyed yourself. You spent the entire two hours sitting in your seat and possibly picking up something from the buffet, however, you couldn't complain. "All right." You took a sip of your champagne, and soon he did the same after you.

"Good to hear. I'm glad you enjoy it." A nice music was playing in the background, which, despite being drowned out by people's conversations, gave a pleasant atmosphere. He drew comfort from it, trying to take as much as possible from it.

"It's good to relax sometimes." You spoke up. You stared at Osborn with a glass in your hand. He was wearing a suit, his hair, as always, was neatly combed. Perhaps he didn't even need to prepare for the ceremony.

"Right." He smiled slightly, but this broke up the conversation for a moment. He seemed to need at least a short rest. He wanted a break from talking to people, the other hand he didn't mind talking to you. It was something different. "You know, we don't talk to each other very often, so let me change that."

You admitted the fact, but did not comment on it in any particular way. He was right, however, this conversation changed that point. The discussion began to get quite nice, not only hooking on work topics, but also on private themes that you were comfortably able to express. He did not give the impression of being pushy, but curious about you. Despite the image of a focused, firm boss, he was able to hold a relaxed conversation. During the conversation, you emptied your champagne glasses again and again. He allowed himself a variety of questions, including those about his previous studies and college. In the final, you also managed to get to some interesting facts about Osborn's private life.

At one point his figure raised, and before he completely disappeared into the crowd he leaned over you. He said he was going to get some fresh air and he was gone. He left you with your own questions in your head. One of those questions was the relationship with Harry Osborn. Did Norman know about it? Should he have known? What does he think about it? You didn't know if you would ever know the answers. The interesting fact was that you just spent the next two hours of the event talking to your boss, who at the same time is the father of your ex.

Afterwards, you could only confirm for yourself that Osborn is interesting, but also open. You did not expect such a pleasant conversation with this man. In all this flurry of thoughts, you forgot how long he disappeared for. You were reminded of this by the man who tapped you on the shoulder with his finger. Asking where Norman was currently, you were completely distracted. In response, you said you would go for him, so you did. You raised yourself from your chair and fixed your dress.

Your heels clattered against the paneled floor as you walked toward the balcony. When you finally made it to it, you kept your surprise hidden. You could hear Norman's voice, but when you stepped out onto the balcony, there was no one there but himself. He was standing by the railing, against the night skyline of New York. He was looking down, leaning his elbows against the railing, almost pulling his hair out of his head. He mumbled something to himself until you decided to speak up.

"Sir?"

His voice suddenly quieted. He decided to simply pretend that nothing had just happened. He turned toward you straightening his previously hunched posture and adjusted his jacket.

"Yes?"

This sight stuck in your mind, you couldn't guess what it could have been about. Norman saw your confusion, however, he did nothing about it. He stood still while you approached him with a slow step. You stopped at the railing next to him. Your eyes encountered the night skyline of the city. From this floor, everything was perfectly shown. This view took your breath away, leaving you almost speechless. "They're looking for you."

He frowned, ignoring this observation. He had no interest in going back to the people. He wanted to take in some more air. The night breeze cleared his mind. "Stay with me for a while."

You just nodded glancing again at the view of the city, while his gaze this time rests on you. He understood what Harry saw in you. A beautiful, intelligent woman with charm. Paying attention in this way to a person who was so connected to his son was strange to him, and oh so it is. He found you an attractive woman, even if much younger. He took another deep breath, enjoying the night air.

"Even on an evening like this, it's good to disappear for a while, don't you think? Get away from the crowd, to take time to think." He leaned his forearms against the railing and gazed up at the sky again. You did the same. "Aren't you cold?"

"No, it's nice." Your dress may not have been the warmest, while the weather was sufficient.

He nodded. The weather was lovely. He wondered how he could not find time to talk to you earlier. Better late than never. Even this moment of silence between both of you gave him comfort. He glanced away from the scenic landscape, giving you a small smile.

"It's good to have an assistant like you. You really help me in my work." He gave you praise that you didn't expect to hear. Everything that was happening between you now had a different ambience than it had before the event began. You see each other every day and will continue to do so, but differently.

You thanked. The voices of the guests in the room reached the balcony. You also talked among yourselves. Another pleasant conversation on the balcony. Time was once again losing its value. He did not have to bother with other people, however, until then. Norman leaned slightly over to you to add something to his speech, until someone entered the balcony. Recalling the surname of Osborn, your gaze dropped to the man. Once again, someone needed him. So much for the good, everything comes to an end sometime.

His gaze fell on you again, looking at your entirety. He moved a little closer as the last words to you came from his lips.

"You look lovely tonight."

He smiled one last time. Correcting his shirt sleeve, he moved away and with a slow step walked away. His step changed to a sure and firm one as he headed toward the man.

With that, you were left alone on the balcony.

[mommangomom]

admit it

~pairing: beidou x fem!reader ~cw: suggestive

content: beidou noticed you were being extremely friendly to the traveler, who you had just met a few days ago

The Traveler had a domino effect with the people she met since she was always helpful, kind, and just an overall good person, and you were no different. You spent the whole last few days at Liyue with her after doing commission with her days prior. Considering your out of the blue burst of good moods, of course your girlfriend Beidou noticed.

It was late at night when you arrived at the Crux ship. Everyone was practically ready for departure and only needed to wait until the break of dawn until setting sail. But in contrast to everyone else who was full of energy, you were slumped backwards with the amount of quest-ing you and the Travelers did. You made your way to Beidou's room to catch your much needed rest.

You opened the door smoothly thinking the captain must be outside aiding with the departure of the ship. So it was only reasonable to be shocked when she was instead sitting on her desk with her legs and arms crossed, glaring at you.

"You were gone for quite some time Y/n.." She said.

Maybe it was because of your exhaustion, but you couldn't notice her concerned tone, so you didn't think much of it and responded normally. "Well I was out with the Traveler the entire night, I'm exhausted." You yawned.

She scoffed, which was when you finally noticed her foul mood. "Traveler this, traveler that - You've been awfully close with that girl the past few days haven't you?" She questioned as she stood up and began walking closer.

It was clear to you she was acting on jealousy, and as angry as she looked, frankly it was adorable. You stood in your place. "I mean we've been partnered for commissions a lot... I wouldn't be surprised to pair up with her again next time we see each other." You told her with a smirk which only ticked her off more.

By now she was right in front of you. She towered over you by a couple inches so you had to tilt your head up just to reach her eyes.

"Tch, you really know how to get on my nerves Y/n."

You tilted your head, still keeping that taunting smirk. "I'm simply responding, 'Captain', what do you want me to do?"

All of a sudden you felt her hand cup your waist and pull you in, making you flinch and let out a quick yelp. Just hearing your voice began to influence Beidou in more ways than one. "Tell me how you truly feel about her, that Traveler."

Out of everything, you weren't expecting that. "Wh-"

"Come on.. just admit it, with how much you've been spending time with her, you must feel something with her right?" She whispered in a seductive tone that only made your ears burn red and your stomach churn.

Although it might anger her a little, you still wanted to continue the tease. "..Do you really want to know how I feel about her?" You asked, making Beidou's eyes bolden.

She hmphed. "The floor's yours."

Her face was inches away from yours you could practically feel her breath on the bridge of your nose. As a response you instinctively wrapped your arms around her neck and tugged. "That girl.. she'd never compare to you, Beidou, obviously, because you're the one I hold dearest."

Her cheeks grew a light shade of red and you heard the quiet gulp she took - to think the renowned captain of the Crux had such a flustered side to her - the thought of others ever finding out made you chuckle, but also, you wanted to be the only person to see it.

"What am I gonna do with you.."

Almost immediately after, her head tilt and she leaned fully into you for a kiss, and you gladly accepted it while reciprocating the same energy. It lasted seconds straight until you could no longer breathe and you broke off sending a small string of saliva across your lips. You both now were in complete heat over something so frivolous, not that the two of you minded.

Before she was about to lean in again, you frantically placed your hand on her chest. "Wait, what about the ship, don't you have to sail it out?" You asked, still out of breath.

"It's fine, I asked Kazuha to handle this one."

From there, the two of you went all out. To be honest, you weren't entirely sure how it got to this point, all you did was catch onto the wave and moved with the current. But in the end it was safe to say that you were no longer exhausted, seeing as you suddenly had all the energy in the world.

[ladybellissima]

Finding Love Katakuri x Reader Part 26

Two months. Not weeks. Two awful long months passed since Katakuri left. But what pained her the most was the lack of information about his location. No one could tell her, if he was okay. If he was already on his way back. This clueless situation was making her crazy.

"No news (Y/N). Trust him. He will soon come back. Its a long route after all… ", Oven spoke calmly and felt pity for the saddened woman before him, who just nodded shortly and left his room.

Again she walked back to her workplace with this terrible feeling inside her stomach. A few more days and he would be gone for another week. Exhausted (Y/N) let herself fall onto a chair. Just 5 minutes to rest. Since she started her work at whole cake, she was baking early at the morning till late at night. Sometimes she fell asleep at the kitchen table, but Oven took her to bring her back to her room.

"(Y/N) - san.. Here a hot chocolate.", Pudding came to her side and placed a hot cup beside her. Smiling she nodded gratefully.

"I know it's hard, but my brother sure is doing fine. He is a sweet general after all.", she spoke happily and tried her best to lighten her mood. Pudding could see how exhausted Katakuri's wife was. The lack of sleep, combined with the amount of orders she had to bake, was getting rough. But she knew that the main cause was her fear to lose Katakuri.

"I don't know Pudding… Something's off. Or is it just my mind playing tricks…", (Y/N) spoke with a bitter smile. Getting up she tied her cooking apron around her small form and dusted some flour off.

"We have much work… Streussen needs help with rebuilding the chateau.", she added emotionless and started to prepare her workplace. Pudding sighed deeply and put on her chef hat.

"Thank god Mama left to Wano. So we have more time left.", she spoke relieved and helped with the dough. (Y/N) nodded happily. That was the only thing of the past few days, which let her mood light up a bit. Big mom couldn't accept the fact that the straw hats destroyed her tea party. Her really important tea party. Getting in contact with Kaido, the ruler of the Wano Lands, she offered him an alliance against the straw hats. This lead her to leave whole cake and gave (Y/N) more freedom to get things finished in her way.

Taking the cream from Pudding's hands she watched the crimson color bitterly.

"You won't give me some rest Katakuri… What are you doing right now?..", she thought with a small smile.

xxx

On the other side, far away, across the sea, Katakuri finally stepped onto the mysterious island,which he desperately was looking for. First he wasn't sure, if this map was really trustworthy, because of the simple directions and missing islands on the way, but now feeling the soft sand under his boots, he felt relieved. It was a calm and quiet place, nothing compared to the rough travel with his ship. Giving his surroundings a close look, he didn't sense any enemies. It was really hot and in a way he felt his body slow down a bit. The island was rather small and thick of vegetation. Mostly bushes with large torns were getting in his way. Annoyed he used his spear to get rid of the plants to get deeper into the wood. The place seemed completely untouched by humans, which let him get quite suspicious. A calm island on the route of the Grand Line sure had to be a favorite spot for survivors. Plus there wasn't a single sound of any birds or other animals. There was something he couldn't really tell and his observation haki only showed him darkness. Stopping before a cave, which literally screamed to be the hot spot of something dangerous, he entered it without any hesitation. If there was something evil lurking around he sure would beat it to a pulp. If it really dares to attack him. Using his observation haki again he only found hinself like before in darkness. Irritated he shook the strange feeling off and went on to finally get the treasure. With every minute he got deeper and deeper into the darkness. Luckily he brought a torch with him. After he used some stones to lighten up his tool, he was met with a dead end. The walls glittered with a strange powder and the next moment, Katakuri felt his whole body ingulfed in it. Touching the wall to have a closer look, he suddenly felt weak. Realization hit him too late, after hearing footsteps behind him. Balling his fists in anger he could feel how his devil fruit powers left him.

"Seastone…. These bastards.", he growled pissed and got into a fighting stance. The next moment he was surrounded by 100th of marines who pointed their guns into his direction.

"It's Katakuri Charlotte of the Big mom pirates!", they whispered shocked, but still kept their position.

"Out of my way!", he spoke coldly and slashed with his spear through the group of marines. Every muscle pained like hell, but even if he lost his powers, he would kill one after another. The cave trembled of his anger and powerful punches and soon the group of marines flew out of the cave.

"Seems that we got a feisty one here.", a higher ranked marine stepped before the cave and pointed his rifle into the darkness.

"Leutnand Zotto you are shaking again."

"I am not!", he hissed back pissed and tried to stay as cool as possible, but after he was met with angered crimson eyes, he knew all too well that things would get rough.

"It's Katakuri Charlotte!!", his subordinates cried in fear while the sweet general stepped out of the cave covered in their blood. Breathing heavily he knew that his body would give up soon, but never would he let himself get arrested by these scum.

"Get the snail transponder. Call Vice Admiral Momonga for support!", he shouted to the others while Katakuri grabbed the end of his weapon, which pointed to his heart.

"What's the matter? Aren't you gonna to shot me already?", his deep voice let Leutnant Zotto got pale while his shaken fingers tried to pull the trigger.

Suddenly Katakuri felt a sudden pain on his neck. Cursing he fell down to the ground and couldn't move.

"Wow I expected many scenarios, but that out of all the Charlottes, the almighty Katakuri would come for this so called treasure is really a surprise. What a splendid catch.", a feminine voice appeared and soon Stussy made her way towards Leutnant Zotto. Shaken he fell on his butt before the growling pirate.

" Don't worry Leutnant. I shot him with a poisoned needle. Combined with the seas tone powder he won't be able to move an inch.", she explained and watched the relieved marine amused.

"I told you that this investion wouldn't be a waste of money. This powder is wonderful. And to get this map under the presents at Pudding's wedding was ridiculous easy and then you just have to wait and be on guard here on this prepared island.", she spoke happily and thought of all the things she would be able to buy now.

" Yeah great… Do you know how exhausting it was to hide here. On top boring like hell. For you it was a piece of cake.. ", the man got up and gave the giant warrior an uneasy look.

"But think of the news. Leutnant Zotto captured the man with the highest bounty. Katakuri Charlotte.", she smirked devilishly and slung an arm around his shoulder. The man felt a shiver ran down his spine and got red as a tomato. It really was a honor and thank god their plan was successful. It took them days to get the seastone powder everywhere.

Kneeling down beside Katakuri, he gave her an angered look. "I swear I will kill you..", he hissed exhausted. Chuckling she brushed some sweat off of his forehead.

"Your fate was already settled after your first step on this island. The powder is everywhere. On the sand, the trees, on every single stone. Hell I think it's also in the air. Even your haki didn't work right and so you slowly fell into our trap without noticing. Don't waste your hatred on me. Soon you will face much more hated people… ", she spoke amused and got back up.

" Cuff his hands and get him onto the ship. Update Vice Admiral Momonga."

Katakuri struggled and tried to move as much as he could, but he knew all too well that there wasn't a way out now. His hands were cuffed with sea stones as well, which pushed his weak state even more.

How could he be so stupid. He was so focused on this treasure. Just to get as quickly as possible back home and now? Desperate he thought about (Y/N). He sure wasn't able to see her ever  again and it broke his heart.

"Damn it.."

He could only imagine her shocked and devasted look after reading the news of his upcoming execution.

"I broke my promise…"

On the other side (Y/N) sat down onto her bed. With shaken fingers she held the piece of paper in her hands, the only thing which connected her with him and watched the burning end in horror. She didn't need to wait for any news. This sign was already giving her enough information that her husband was in trouble.

In deadly trouble.

She was right so damn right that something was off. Cursing under her breath she broke down onto the floor while crying desperately. Helpless and heartbroken she thought about what to do. Every idea seemed ridiculous. On top she didn't know exactly where to start.

"How? How I am able to find you?", she whispered exhausted.

Taking his vivre card in her hands, she could see that the burning stopped. Tears rolled down her face of relief. As long as the paper was still intact, he was alive. Frustrated she hugged the precious item tightly and blacked out of exhaustion. She couldn't endure this fear any longer, the hard work, the stress and the unknown before her.

"Will I be able to see you again.." was her last thought before the darkness took over.

[emeraldtied]

➤ Take A Look | Accepting (slowly)

↳ @ofteaandmagic asked: For Mina: send CHANGED for a scene from my muse's past that represented a turning point in their life

{➹} – SHE WAS SURPRISED TO see the hedgehog only just waking up when she got out of the shower, still in bed but sitting up when she exited the bathroom and stepped into the bedroom again, towelling off her hair. She noticed with no small amount of humor the look that came over his face when he saw her, that tired almost dishevelled look coupled with surprise. But, unlike her original thought, his words dispelled her suspicion that it was because he wasn't expecting to see her in just a towel that morning.

"You're...still here?"

She laughed, giving him a look settled between amused and prying. It wasn't that weird she had stayed over. Not in her mind, though she did have to remind herself that the hedgehog was a little different when it came to certain expectations, but in a cute way. "Yeah? Something wrong with that?"

"No, just...one more thing I didn't expect, I guess," he admitted, somewhat sheepishly but his smile was almost appreciative. He had plenty to thank her for, but he had a feeling saying as much might just get him laughed at. He was still very much out of his element here. "I'll have t' add it t' the list."

"Then you'll probably be super surprised we'd usually do breakfast too. Unfortunately, I have a sound check to get too, and I'm already running a little late. If you can call it that, not like they can do anything without me," she smirked, that air of confidence about her still managing to throw the hero for a loop and it showed. It only made her smiled more as she started gathering up her clothes, stopping only to sit on the edge of the bed to take one of his hands and give it a gentle squeeze when she was done. "We should do this again sometime though."

She had to hold back actual laughter as he blinked, utterly puzzled. "What do you mean...?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Even you're not that dense, Blue." Though she had to wonder how true that was when he kept staring at her like that. Rolling her eyes, the mongoose gently cupped one of the hedgehog's cheeks, forcing him to look at her, to hear the sincerity in her voice. "I liked spending time with you. And I don't just mean...you know. I liked talking to you, getting to know you. Plus you're not a terrible listener either and that's pretty hard to find."

"Mina..." Sonic's voice trailed off but his expression had morphed to something almost wistful as he raised a hand to cover hers in turn. He did know what she was getting at now, which was made this next part harder. Chaos, he had never had to do this before. Not like this. "I liked it too, I don't think I've talked t' anyone like that, well...ever. But...I can't. An' it has nothing t' do with you, 's...everything else."

It sounded bad, and he hated that. He could only hope she knew what he was getting at too, that what he was saying had nothing to do with what they did or even her. It truly was him, his life. The monumental plight that he lived each and every day, one that showed no signs of stopping. A perpetual Hell.

Sonic gave her hand a squeeze, a bit of desperation in his eyes that even he didn't comprehend. He couldn't drag someone else into this. He just couldn't. "I can't bring you int' this. You don't deserve that, not when you have the beginnings of your career ahead of you an' a ton of better options that don't involve you either being half scared t' death or wondering how you're going t' stop the next robot army from levelling a city without dying."

For a moment, she said nothing, unsure of what to say before she defaulted to what was supposed to be humor, but it didn't quite come out that way in her consternation. "You make it sound so glamorous..."

"'S not." His voice cut across firmly, and that made Mina frown as the enormity hit her. It was just like last night, that look in his eyes, that turmoil, was too real. He was terrified, but not for himself. It would have been touching in a way if it hadn't been so painful. "It's really not. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, especially someone like you. I...can't even say I'll ever be ready so 'm not going t' give you that hope. But I...I do appreciate it."

The mongoose remained quiet, but he could see that what he said had struck a chord with her. Sonic could only hope she didn't take any of the last few hours as a bad thing. He wasn't that kind of guy, but he couldn't start something he knew he likely wouldn't around to finish, or even truly enjoy. It wasn't fair, not to her.

And, in truth, part of her did understand but the young singer's mind had trailed off in a completely different direction. She couldn't get over that look, the fear. Couldn't get over how the hedgehog in front of her was only shy of a year older than her, that they were the same age and lead vastly different lives. Not once had she ever had to fear for her life, not once did the mongoose end up maimed in a hospital, never had to fight for her life. Never had to worry her actions could be life or death for someone else.

But Sonic did. Every damn day.

All Mina wanted was for her music to have meaning, to speak her mind and not give a rat's ass what other's thought. She wanted to uplift and empower without censoring herself, to make a difference doing what she did best. She couldn't fight, and she would respect his choice in not starting something at what had to be the worst possible time for him, but there was something else she could do.

She had a voice, one people would listen to. And she was sure as hell going to use it. She would always use it to help those who couldn't speak for themselves, people who were undermined and taken for granted. People like Sonic.

[extasiswings]

Omg I know what you mean and agree 1000%. By the time I reached the third book I couldn't care less about Richard's happiness, especially after the humiliating way he spoke to Dom. He doesn't want Dom, because he can't accept the man's desires but at the same time he does seem to want anyone else to want him. Honestly I'm surprised my kindle is still in one piece with the way I gripped whenever Richard said he loved him while treating him like shit.

Luckily, Dom found Silas, who not only treats him with respect and care, but also isn't afraid to tell Richard where to shove it.

Honestly, A Seditious Affair is my favourite of the series, and it's not usually my cup of tea, kink wise, but Charles didn't such a great job of making me care about Dom and Silas (as well as not being too graphic on the sex) that I just fell in love with it.

Exactly…exactly…in A Fashionable Indulgence, Richard is high-handed and obnoxious at points, but to a point where I could be convinced to give him a certain amount of grace with a well-crafted backstory. But once you hit A Seditious Affair and actually see his interactions with Dom in detail and get more of their relationship background…OOF.

And the thing is, once we do find out his backstory, it’s definitely more understandable why he’s uncomfortable with the things Dom is into, but even so, that personal discomfort doesn’t give him license to constantly tell one of his best friends and a man he claims to love that he’s perverse/depraved/disgusting/that there’s something wrong with him. There’s no excuse for that, and if I were in Dom’s shoes, I probably would have told him to go fuck himself ages before the point when they finally have it out at Quex’s over Richard planning to make Silas disappear (which…that scene…everybody cheered). Hearing in Dom’s own words and POV how he basically internalized that and felt ashamed of himself and his own desires for years because the first man he ever loved was so repulsed by them really makes it hard to come back from as a reader and not hold that against Richard forever (and I say this as someone who is a big fan of KJ Charles and appreciates authors writing characters who are very flawed and fuck up in very human ways).

And especially since Dom’s kink (with Silas at any rate) is????? Not even that intense as things go??????? Like it’s clear that Dom previously had a period where he engaged in incredibly unsafe kink (about which Richard was in fairness right to be concerned), but at least with Silas their scenes are so much more mental than physical? Yes, they’ll play rough and he’ll wind up bruised and sore but since Silas won’t touch toys (whips, floggers, etc), their scenes are like…occasionally some light bondage, dirty talk, occasionally some light CNC. The only time Silas ever actually injures him is that (deserved) punch to the face, which is not done in the context of a scene and they don’t have sex afterwards. All things considered, what they’re into isn’t that freaky, Richard is just a grade A prude. (And yet, I really do like David so one must make do…)

Totally agree that A Seditious Affair is the best of the series though. It’s just so good.

[beautifulsnake2162020]

Beautiful Anomaly (Part 5): Morpheus x FReader

(Gif by hopeidontgetaddictedtothis from : https://at.tumblr.com/hopeidontgetaddictedtothis/dreams-subtle-sarcastic-smiles-throughout-this/dbi9r2a65h65)

Morpheus x FemReader (present day, its a little hard to explain)

A couple of disclaimers:

1.) This is all based on the Netflix show and I have 0 background on the graphic novel it is based on (so don't expect it to be faithful);

2.) This is a fan work, the only benefit I derive from this is sharing it with the community.

AN: So as usual the original text is too long to be in one post so everyone who is following Beautiful Anomaly will get Part 5 and 6 divided up so that it can withstand the tumblr textbox limit. Also fyi I will be using the same Morpheus gif because I am too lazy to find a different one when I was writing this. These will be my last posts before I officially go on tumblr hiatus for my midterm exams. Once again thank you to everyone who has been following so far.

For those of you who are new. I highly recommend reading the previous parts first because I don’t know if you will understand everything without first reading those.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Taglist (if you want to be a part of the taglist just comment requesting so) : @winxschester @true-queen-of-mischief @laydreams @memento-mora @daydreamin1220 @kuchokitty @fate-huntress @igotanidea @mikariell95

"What have you found so far?" You and Morpheus soon meet up in your dreams the next time you found yourself free for a long amount of time. This time you found yourself in the "conference area" of Lucienne's library just beside the throne room. Morpheus quickly went by your side pulling up a chair.

"Which would you like to know first?"

"My daughter - is she?"

"She's fine." You release a breath you didn't know you were holding. You couldn't use your bond since your daughter unknowingly blocked it because of her unprocessed trauma. Because of that you could only feel pain, anguish, and the tears that she has shed.

To find out that she is fine was a relief, even if it was only a little bit.

"Her name in this lifetime is Ana Reyes. Like Emira she's been reincarnated as one of your fellow citizens in this lifetime. She just turned 7 years old a few weeks ago."

"Hmm...it's not unusual for some of my children to be reincarnated relatively close and accessible to me. It doesn't always happen but it's also not exactly rare. Are her parents okay?" At this his face became slightly more dour.

"They are placed in a coma spell that was intricately designed. I couldn't just force them to wake up since the spell requires them to wake up on their own. Any external force may damage their minds."

"Can't you gently guide them? To awaken?"

"Normally I would, but since it is clear that they are under a spell I will have to send Matthew to their location first to see if it can safely be done."

"Send him to me first before he goes there. I'll make a psychic bond with him so that we could both see through him."

"Of course." You take a breath and a drink of Taro flavored Milk tea - or as the western world calls Boba tea because only they would be ridiculous enough to tarnish a good hot cup of tea with milk which was only acceptable in the form of Boba or Milk tea in your honest opinion - before asking him more about your daughter.

"Do you know? What was causing her pain?" You see his expression and you can infer that he was preparing himself to bring you bad news.

"She was transformed, she isn't in a human form anymore." You feel your heart drop.

"Oh no."

"She is still capable of moving - she doesn't know what she was turned into but she couldn't move in the same way as before. She's being kept in a dark place."

"Hmm okay so we can rule out non-living things at least."

"There's more" You can feel the anger in his voice and his expression tells you that he is holding back his rage at the magic user.

"The magic user is named Mark Gal Lanes, he managed to get his hands on a copy of one of the spellbooks used by Burgess." Your eyes widen. Suddenly this mission might be more dangerous than you realized.

"Is it the same book that Burgess used to capture you?"

"No, but it is the book that contains the spell for the subconscious barrier."

"Does that mean you can't go into his dreams?"

"Not the current ones, only the ones before he casted the spell." Lucienne together with Matthew arrive on your table bringing a stack of books.

"Here is a copy of the spellbook you saw him use. And these other books are Taxonomy books. This book is for animals, this is for plants, this is for fungi, this is for mythological and fantastical creatures - "

"Wait why not include bacteria?"

"Bacteria doesn't have consciousness Matthew. It was only when I became a Eukaryote - after having been one for awhile - that I began having consciousness and when Dream here was born."

"But hold on mythological creatures don't exactly exist in the waking world."

"No, but they are formed from conscious and subconscious thoughts and are therefore considered sentient. Since Ana was able to still talk to me when I visited her dreams, and she could still feel herself moving, we can safely infer that she has been transformed into a being that has sentience and could move. Mythological and fantastical creatures shouldn't be ruled out."

"Perhaps my Lord we could also rule out fungi and plants for the mean time."

"Because they're not sentient?"

"No, Matthew. It's because they couldn't move in the same pace as animals and magical creatures can."

"Thank you, Lucienne. Matthew we both have a mission for you."

"Well of course boss, what am I going to do?"

"We're going to send you to the location wherein Ana is being held prisoner. Spy on Mark Gal Lanes and try to discover more about what he wants from Life and why he has taken great lengths to hurt Ana to get to her."

"How is your energy detection?"

"Better than before but not much yet."

"I see, Morpheus I think we could make a temporary enchantment to make it easier on him. There's only so much the senses can detect when we are dealing with magic users."

"I agree. But would it not overwhelm him? You're already going to put your psychic bond and concealment spells on him."

"Woah woah what do you mean psychic bond and concealment?"

"You know better than to underestimate the conscious mind. And to be fair the concealment is more external than internal so his mind won't really be overloaded. If he has the bond with me first then a lot of heavylifting will come from my end. Also it worked with Jessamy, what's one more?"

"You also almost drained yourself concealing her. I will not have you overly exhausted for this endeavor."

"Is anyone going to consult the bird involved waiting over here?"

"Do you think you can handle a spying mission on your own or would you like someone to accompany you?"

"Who did you have in mind? He's one of the few creatures of the dreaming that can survive for an extended period in the waking world."

"I was thinking of calling a friend of mine or two. Especially since Matthew is still new at this and we don't know how dangerous the situation is until we investigate the location in the waking world."

"Eh what could go wrong?"

"Many things."

"You could be shot, stabbed, beheaded, made into dinner, be used to get back at me and Morpheus-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Look ma'am I know you're both looking out for my safety and also get your daughter back but I think I'll be fine."

"There's also the fact that seeing a raven around here is highly unusual since ravens don't normally fly around here - at least not the ones I know of - which is why putting a concealment spell on you is mandatory. Not only will no one question your disguise as one of the local birds but it will also gives a higher chance for you to do intelligence gathering."

"And the higher the chance to find Ana."

"Oh, um you know maybe having back up might be a good idea."

"Alright I'll message them."

"Who did you have in mind?" You both sense that you were starting to wakeup from your nap.

"Meet me in the waking world once I wake up. Both of you. I don't have classes anymore till next week."

You awaken and immediately message your friends in your GC noting that it is something serious that required some travelling and espionage work and if they would be available and up for it. Afterwards from your bed you remove your light green mermaid blanket wrapped around your legs and make your way to the open spaced area that combined the living room, dining room, and when the door was opened - the study room.

In the living area sat Morpheus with Matthew on the table on top of the fake fruits in a bowl.

"I've messaged them to see if they are willing. While waiting for their response, come to my palms Matthew so that I can put the psychic bond between us." He flies to your open palms as you take a seat beside Morpheus.

"Okay before you do this - and everything else that you are planning to put on me. Won't this interfere with my bond with Morpheus?"

"Not really."

"Matthew think of it this way." You feel Morpheus move a little closer to you. But then again you were holding Matthew so it could just simply be that and nothing more.

"It's like having two eyes with both eyes leading to a separate part of the mind for the mind to make a more complete picture."

"Or if you want a more updated equivalent - imagine inviting two friends to a livestream you're doing, the livestream is by link invitation only so you have control over who even gets in your livestreams, and they are the only ones there. But because you're doing VR we can now see what you're seeing."

"And feel what you're feeling, so keep that in mind. If you are injured in any way we will know."

"You know - that actually was a helpful analogy."

"This is more of a formality but it is important to me: Do I have your consent to place a bond between us?"

"Yeah I do. That's why we're doing this. But um why did you still ask?"

"I need to get consent from your mind. Without express consent it will be a violation of your will which may have harmful consequences later. I'm not about to risk that."

"Oh I see."

You take a moment to relax and you then place a bond between yourself and Matthew.

"That...was actually a lot more gentle than what I was expecting."

"Good, had I not asked for your express consent your mind would have tried to fight me off and it would have been a lot less gentle."

"Try sensing the bonds in your mind Matthew." You see him shift his head and close his eyes as if he was trying to feel around his mind.

"Would you like some help?"

"Maybe." You and he take turns into sending thoughts to Matthew through your individual bonds and you could see him slowly figure out how to differentiate and navigate between your individual bonds with him. Once he was able to shift between the bonds, and once you and Morpheus were able to sense what he was felt through his senses as a raven, you both relaxed.

The phone vibrates and you were notified that they were online and was available for a vidcon.

"It seems they are available for a chat. Would you like to meet them?"

"Who are they?"

"Friends of mine who might provide back up for you."

"Are you sure they won't mind?"

"Well we can't know for sure until we talk with them."

"Who are they?"

"They are my oldest friends, and I trust them with my life. Two of them are witches - or well that's the closest English translation I have for them - and one is a supernatural creature called a Mananggal, I'm sorry Matthew but there's no English translation of that word."

"One of the species who has adapted to living amongst humans but already had a human form?"

"Yes"

"Um what exactly is a Mananggal?"

"Essentially a supernatural creature who has a humanoid form but also has the ability to separate their upper torso from the lower legs and fly around hunting for human entrails.”

“Oh my – are you sure about recruiting um one?”

“Look I know it sounds gross, but that’s not their only source of sustenance. I’ve mentioned before that some of the local creatures were able to adapt into human society, mananggals are one of them. And I wouldn’t be contacting her if I wasn’t confident you would be safe. And the fact of the matter is, my daughter’s life is at stake. Since I cannot directly go there with you to a trap set up for me, the least I could do is send those I trust to help you.”

“Well um you have a point.”

“Let’s not keep them waiting. If you have any doubts you could always ask her, she’s more than happy to answer any questions you might have.” You then set up your phone before sliding the accept button for the video call in the messenger app.

“Hello guys, long time no see. Or heard.” You hear the three of them briefly laugh at your comment.

“We were waiting for you.”

“Yeah we thought you had an emergency makeup class or something.”

“No, just assuaging some new people here. Allow me to introduce the three of you to Morpheus, also known as Dream of the Endless and his raven, Matthew. If you could kindly introduce yourselves to them.”

“Hello I’m Dr. Nadia Katakutan, I’m a witch – in the general sense – psychologist, and counselor. “ A brown skinned woman wearing a black tanktop with a white blazer hanging on the chair she sat on waved on screen.

“Luce you’re up next.” A woman who had similar skin to yours but unlike you had a hint more of tan on her skin, and who had straight just past the shoulder length smooth hair in a half bun. She was wearing a pink blouse that had tasteful ruffles on the collar area that added to her youthfulness rather than make her look old.

“I’m Dr. Lucy Dimagapi, I’m a family med doctor and I’m also an OB-Gyn and – wait do they know about me?”

“Yes Luce, I told them what you are.”

“Oh thank god, I don’t have to hide that part.”

“Matthew here even has some questions that you could answer.”

“Not that I –”

“Oh I would be happy to answer them later.”

“Wait are you sure um ma’am?” She couldn’t help but laugh and you were trying to hold back your own chuckle.

“It’s fine, my family and I are used to it. Honestly it’s more annoying if it was coming from people who already know, but still continue to see us as just as mindless monsters.”

“Which you two can discuss later, Tala you’re up.” On screen a person with a pixie cut hairstyle with deeply tanned skin, a slim frame, big eyes and was wearing a black loose shirt which had their favorite band, My Chemical Romance placed on it.

“Hi I’m Talinghaga Bakunawa, no I’m not a doctor, I’m just a writer.” At this all four of you couldn’t hold back your laughs.

“Technically (y/n) is also a writer.” Nadia replies

“But she’s going to be Atty. (l/n) soon.”

“A title doesn’t mean you’re accomplished. It just means that you passed an exam or some sort of deliberation that grants you that title. Don’t feel intimidated by that Tala.”

You say in retort. It wasn’t the first time you’ve had to reassure Tala of this but you also know how it was one of their insecurities that you quickly need to assuage.

“Oh yeah before I forget, you can call me Tala, my pronouns are they, them, she, her, he, him, but I do prefer the masculine ones most of the time so when in doubt use those.”

“Likewise noted.”

“And I’m a witch, and I specialize in visual and empathic energy detection and spells.”

“And um what was Nadia’s specialty?”

“General witchcraft practitioner. Unlike Tala I can also do offensive spells. Their attacks are mainly from their Arnis training when we were still in our all girls school.”

“And – well – I can fly and, shall we say – obtain internal parts.”

“Okay guys, before anything else – I’m assuming you’ve all read or skimmed what I’ve sent you right?”

And that started the first of many discussions on how to execute the mission and what needs to be gathered from the first phase of the mission which is the covert intelligence gathering stage. One thing that everyone but Matthew had agreed on was that there needed to be at least one if not all three if possible – who would accompany Matthew in any intelligence gathering no matter how brief. Being outvoted and also being reminded that a.) this was going to be his first rescue mission; b.) he was new to the job and didn’t know what to look for necessarily; c.) he was a foreigner and there will inevitably be some nuanced cultural norms and mores that he couldn’t pick up on that may be a hidden clue; and finally d.) there was safety in numbers.

Since Nadia was well versed in making portals and have already created some inventions creating them, she just needs to explain the mechanics and deliver them to you, Tala and Lucy. Morpheus doesn’t need any since he explained that if he needs to be there he will simply use his sand. It was agreed upon that since the sand was too dangerous to be used by mortals – even those who could wield magic – if something went wrong and they needed to escape, he is simply a call away through his bond with Matthew.

In the day time, any intelligence mission would have Matthew paired up with Tala who was looking for any excuse to get out of the house and as a creative writing student would do most of the writing outside anyway. In the night Lucy would probably take the lead since her clinic ends at around 6 pm and she had a habit of eating heavy lunch meals in case she has any patient that needed an emergency. Also having a mostly empty stomach would make her flight easier. Mostly because she would still eat her favorite snack – Nature Valley Honey flavored granola bar – to avoid her stomach acids from causing her to be totally hungry.

“I also have a medical condition that makes it dangerous for me to be totally hungry so I need to have even just a snack digesting in my stomach to keep it busy and to not have the Hydrochloric acid destroy my mucus lining.”

“But how does that work when you – um – go flying?”

“It’s hard to explain but first there’s a magical mental partition that we ‘activate’ and that forms a magical barrier that allows the separation between the upper body and the lower body. This barrier is resistant to most things which is why when it is reattached its as if it wasn’t severed in the first place because the barrier preserves the functions of the organs when normally humans would just bleed out and die.”

“This is also why they are vulnerable to salt because salt penetrates the barrier and enough of it makes the barrier weak and eventually forms holes which would then lead to the bleeding out situation.” You added as you hand Lucy the portal device Nadia delivered to your doorstep.

“Luce hold still, I’m going to place an invisibility charm on you.”

“You do know that I have been able to do this covertly right?”

“I won’t take any chances when it comes to anyone’s safety. It’s why you shouldn’t part ways until you’re in the area. Now hold still and relax.” As you use your essence and energy to form the charm around her, Morpheus informs them of where Ana is.

“She’s in the neighboring province, in the more rural area as you can see in the map I’ve given you. Normally I could just appear within her location as long as I can sense that she is asleep. But given the circumstances it may cause more harm than good.”

“I’ll be honest boss this is a lot more isolated than where we’ve been.”

“The perfect place to lure and trap me into doing whatever he thinks I could do for him. Also it’s not totally isolated which deceives everyone into thinking that it is a safe quiet place that’s still accessible to the city and other essential services, but isolated enough that there wouldn’t be any accidental witnesses.”

“Or if there would be, people would just dismiss it as superstition or something else.” Lucy says after you’ve finally allowed her to move. All of you had a certain level of anxiety and nervous energy. This was going to officially be the first of many covert missions in hopefully rescuing your daughter and to gather why Mr. Mark Gal Lanes wants to capture you. The purpose of this first operation was to gather information and leave, err on the side of safety, and if Matthew and Lucy were lucky – possibly locate your daughter.

You feel yourself disoriented and a little dizzy – normal symptoms of having to cast a rather large invisibility charm – but it was all worth it to keep both Lucy and Matthew safe. As you try to steady yourself you feel Morpheus guiding you to sit down and Lucy quickly brings you a glass of water to help with the dizziness.

“You may want to take some of the motion sickness medicine pills you have.”

“Why don’t you just prescribe me some drugs you know will work?” You say tiredly with a bit of sarcasm blended in. It was your exhaustion talking and while the dizziness was reduced it was still there.

“Number one: I don’t know your complete medical history, Number two: your Aunt is already your family doctor, Number three: like you I would rather err on the side of caution and just remind you to take the medicine that I know already works on you.”

“And let me guess, Number four: you couldn’t be completely objective with me?”

“Bingo.”

“Wait so all this time if doctors are going to treat their close relatives they still take them to other doctors?”

“Yes Matthew, unless it’s a common cold or the seasonal flu, I would rather have someone else do the diagnosis of someone I’m close to so that they could receive better healthcare. I normally only make exceptions if it’s a matter of life and death.”

“But what about Medical insurance?”

“Unlike you Americans, we do the insurance discussion after the medical treatment.”

“You two can continue discussing this later. The time is just past dinner hours and it’s time for the two of you to go.”

“Lord Morpheus before we go, is Ana sleeping or awake?” Morpheus takes a moment to check.

“She’s awake Lucy, I can’t sense her subconscious. But remember she is currently in a different form. She doesn’t know what since she is kept in the darkness, but according the what she told me she could still move but it is unfamiliar to her. So be careful with what you interact with when you arrive.”

“Also when in doubt prioritize your safety, be discreet. This is just the first of many trips.” You add sternly before Matthew settles himself on Lucy’s shoulder before she presses the button on the device and a portal appears and they step through.

“Ugh”

“You need to lie down.”

“I can’t sleep right now.”

“It’s just to settle your disorientation. You cannot effectively use the bond if you are disoriented in your own mind. I’ve been telling you this since the days of my imprisonment.”

“It didn’t help that Jessamy was really reckless and stubborn too. I couldn’t help but worry.”

“Matthew is not Jessamy, he is far too careful to do anything that may warrant you to worry. And unlike before, this time he has someone else watching over him as they investigate the premises Ana is being imprisoned in. You can allow yourself to worry a less.”

From the expression of his eyes you could tell that he was pleading for you to take his advice. He may not openly admit it but you didn’t need to read his mind to know that he just wanted you to be more comfortable. It was already enough that Lanes and the imprisonment of Ana was causing you more worry than other normal things that you should be more worried about.

“Okay.” You were still too exhausted from saying anything more as you allowed yourself to be lead into the living are couch that you lied down on and Morpheus settled himself on the couch chair closest to your head.

“They are in, Lucy has not parted ways yet.”

“There’s no need for her to do that yet. I’ve enveloped the invisibility charm on both of them so they should be fine for just intelligence gathering. She’ll most likely start flying if there seems to be something she can’t reach from stretching and being on tiptoes.” From what you can sense from your end the entry way at first looked like a typical living area albeit cluttered and messy. No doubt there may not be much in that area since it was obviously lived in from the way the mess was. On the coffee table was a bunch of soda cans that were either empty or somewhat empty. And the throw pillows on the couch was arranged as if someone used the couch for sleeping. Cluttered enough to not be expecting a visitor but not too messy that it was trying to cover up something nefarious or to distract from something else in the room.

You suddenly feel a sense of shock.

And dread.

From Matthew through your bond as you all hear that there were people there and the house was not empty.

“Be still you two. Remember be discreet.”

Through his eyes you see Lucy nod and Matthew affirms that he has heard you.

“What do you mean it’s a surprise?”

“Ferdinand, once I am finished you will thank me.”

The first voice, from the boy named Ferdinand had responded with a yawn and the second voice with whom you guessed was Mark Gal Lanes was talking to him.

“Will you put me to sleep?”

“Of course”

“Will you sleep beside me?”

“If that is what you want.”

As much as you hate to admit it, his voice was tender and based from your observations so far you sincerely hope that you weren’t wrong with his voice holding no malice. He was already abusing your child you’re not sure how much you need to change if he was also abusing other children as well.

The two make their way from what appears to be the dining area to the second floor. Presumably for Ferdinand’s bed time. And through your bond both Matthew and Lucy slowly move around to explore the first floor. Nothing was in the supply closet under the stairs and the dining area had nothing noteworthy currently.

Lucy used her supply of Johnson’s baby oil and a black oil that was commonly sold in hardware stores to lubricate the doors and possible joints that may be noisy. Thanks to that foresight they eventually discovered from the backdoor view a separate garage storage that was three meters away from the main house. Fortunately it was a moonless night and your two agents slowly slipped out from the main house and used the darkness to conceal their forms.

“It’s locked.”

“Fly around to see if we could find an opening. I’ll try to pick the lock.”

“You can pick a lock?”

“If it’s the common door knob, yes. I’ll explain later.”

“So what happens if you can’t pick the lock?”

“Then I’ll use the teleportation device to transport us in. Now go see if there are any windows or openings in this building.”

“I thought that thing is for portals only?”

“Have you not been listening when Nadia was explaining?”

“Matthew, fly around.” You send through your bond before he gets lost in conversation. Unfortunately there were no openings for Matthew to slip in.

Fortunately Lucy was able to pick the lock with slightly less speed than her average time to make sure that they stayed quiet and discreet.

“Should we turn on the light?” Matthew whispered.

“No, that would alert him. We still don’t know the layout of the house and until then, let’s not do anything to alert him.”

“Well I hate to break it to you but I can’t exactly see.”

“Hold on I brought a flashlight.”

“An actual one? You didn’t bring your phone?”

“And risk him getting my actual legal information?”

“Okay, fair point.” Lucy turns on the handheld flashlight which showed a yellow light and they begin their investigation. At first it seems that it seemed like an ordinary garage. Various power tools, a back-up generator, solar panels, and other tools for repairing use of household problems.

“If only we could see through the boxes without tampering.”

“Hold on.” Lucy then pressed a button that not only changed the color of the light from yellow to white which served as a magical x-ray showing the contents of the containers.

“Wow! Nadia’s invention?”

“No, this one is made by the local witches and magical engineers as a carry on x-ray. Each member of the magical community once they become a part of the medical community would each get one of these for our birthdays or other annual celebrations as gifts. We also serve as the healthcare for the magical community and we couldn’t risk one of us being discovered by humans who are not part of it.”

“And now we are using it as something for spying.”

“It’s for a good cause, besides we don’t know what form Ana is in. Only that she could still move but it’s unfamiliar to her. So probably not humanoid. This may also show some broken bones in her new form.”

“If she would still have bones.”

“Keep your voices down you two, it’s almost above whispering level.” Morpheus says beside you, as he transmits it through his own psychic bond with Matthew. You were momentarily surprised by how close he was and how he has moved his chair closer to the area wherein you lay your head.

“Got it boss. Lucy, he says we’re being loud.”

“I’m the one whispering, you’re the one being loud. So far nothing out of the ordinary – wait.” Lucy paused as the flashlight revealed that a part of the floor turned out to contain a set of stairs leading downwards.

“Hidden door leading downwards.”

“Matthew, can you briefly check if anyone is coming to check?” Under your command he flies towards the door to briefly see if Mark Gal Lanes was approaching.

“So far, we’re good ma’am.”

“Okay, return to Lucy’s side and see if you two could find anything.”

“Any plan on what would happen if he does approach.”

“When in doubt, hide and be still. I made sure the invisibility charm on her and the disguise charm on you would also be magically discreet.”

“Got it.” He then flies to Lucy who has managed to open the hidden ground door and they make their way to the floor.

The room looked like an ordinary room at first. Like simply an extended storage space. But you see the thermostat attached to what appeared to be a stack of drawers to regulate temperature.

“Maybe now we could turn on the lights?”

“Do you know where the switch is or if it’s not set up with a hidden trap?”

“…So flashlight?”

“Yes, don’t worry this has a long battery life.”

“Alright.” From Matthew’s vision as he adjusts to the darkness and aided by the flashlight, you see a stack of monobloc chairs piled up. Two tables used to store a stack of books to on one and what looked to be a chemistry set of various science lab container and tools. Beakers, a set of test tubes on a test-tube holder, Bunsen burner, various shapes of laboratory flasks, among others. You’re not sure if it’s comforting or disturbing that none of them were holding chemicals.

“Matthew, over here.” Lucy calls as the flashlight in X-ray mode reveals a moving thing inside one of the drawers of a dresser near the thermostat.

“That might be Ana.”

“Be careful you two, remember she’s probably scared.”

“Got it boss – Lucy, Morpheus says if it’s Ana she might be scared.”

“Please be gentle with her.”

“We’ll do our best ma’am – Lucy, she says -”

“Be gentle?”

“How did you know?”

“I’ve known her for awhile. Now brace yourself, I don’t know what’s going on but be ready for anything.” Lucy switches the mode of the flashlight with yellow light and slowly opened the drawer.

“Oh um.” You hear Ana’s voice trembling. You couldn’t see her form yet through Matthew’s eyes but there was no doubt that Ana was there.

“Hello.” Lucy uses her gentle kid friendly voice.

“Are you Ana?”

“Um…who…are you?”

“My name is Lucy, I’m a friend of Morpheus.”

“You know Morpheus?” Her voice becomes lighter and hopeful.

“Yes, he sent me and Matthew to help you.” Lucy makes room for Matthew to stand on the edge of the opened drawer, now allowing you to finally see her.

Oh my.

Your poor baby.

She was a snake.

Ana was turned into a snake.

From what you could tell from the flashlight and from what Matthew sees, she was turned into a black ball python with gold flecks on her head and spine.

You could tell from her eyes that she has been terrified for awhile now and how she was coiled into a ball, she was trying to hide herself as much as she can. Characteristic of terrified ball python behavior especially snakes that haven’t full grown yet.

“Hi Ana, I’m Matthew.” He too also uses a more gentler voice in talking to her.

“You’re a bird.”

“That’s right I’m the bird of Morpheus.”

“You’re here to rescue me?”

“Soon.” Matthew says reluctantly.

“What do you mean soon?” Your heart breaks as you hear voice crack. If snakes could cry, you have no doubt she would have started by now. You wish you could talk to her and reassure her, but her trauma is still blocking your bond with her. For it to be cleared up, even just a little bit, she would have to willingly reach out through the pain.

So for now you’ll have to make do with indirect means. Especially now that she

“Ana, we’ll get you out. But in order to do that we need to make sure you’re safe when we do rescue you.” Lucy says reassuringly. Even though she doesn’t have a direct psychic bond with you, you could tell that she knew you were getting worried.

“But why not now?”

“Because this is our first time here, and we don’t know if there are traps that we don’t know about or anything that prevents you from leaving here.” At that point, Lucy stiffens.

“Matthew keep talking to her, I’ll just check if we have company.”

“Got it – Hey Ana who did this to you?”

“I…I don’t know. I was just playing with this little boy who looked lonely and he was new. And then the next thing I know I just woke up tied to a chair. And then this mean hairy man started asking me to contact my mom. But I kept telling him that I don’t know her phone number. And then he got mad at me and started saying something I couldn’t hear and then he started hurting me.”

“Do you know why he did that?”

“I don’t know – hmph – After he hurt me so much, I told him my address and tried telling him to check there, but he just got angrier and he…he…hurt me…over and over again. And then when I woke up one day, I didn’t have my hands or feet anymore.” You feel tears falling from your face as you hear her tell Matthew what she’s been through as she unconsciously begin to hide even more in her coiled body.

Every time her voice cracks your heart breaks even more.

“Well don’t worry, our team will get you out of here as soon as we can.”

“There’s more of you?”

“Yeah, there’s plenty of us. And we’re also going to handle whomever hurt you.”

“You’ll – you’ll punish him for me?”

“I’ll personally leave the punishment for someone else. But don’t give up okay. I’m not sure if we still have time but you could tell Morpheus more once you fall asleep alright?”

“Will Morpheus punish the mean hairy man?”

“I think you better ask him that yourself.”

“Matthew time to go.” Lucy says as she quickly shuffles towards the drawer containing Ana.

“Ana, you’ll need to be strong okay? We’re going to plan your rescue, but until then tell Morpheus what’s happening to you okay.” Lucy tells Ana as she readies the teleportation device in one hand.

“Can’t you take me with you?”

“I wish we could but if we were to take you now, without knowing anything, we might accidentally harm you.”

“Yeah what if Mr. Meanie is the one who could turn you back to a little girl again?”

“Oh”

“We’ll get you out, okay.”

“Okay Lucy.”

“Goodbye for now.” Lucy closes the drawer both swiftly and carefully knowing that it held Ana. Matthew flies ahead and Lucy follows behind taking large steps.

“Are you going to make a portal?”

“Upstairs, there’s magical energy on this floor and I would rather not risk it.” When they reached the top of the stairs and once Lucy makes sure to close the hidden door, they make their way out with Lucy locking the door. They hide into the darkness and were momentarily stilled as they hear Mark Gal Lanes unlock the door and go into the garage.

“Should we stay a bit to see what he does?”

“It’s almost dawn. We risk losing the cover of darkness. As much as I want to find out, its dangerous if we stay longer.” She opens a portal and they quickly emerge back into your apartment. You sit up as they go towards you and Morpheus.

“What did you find in terms of the layout and magical things that we should be aware of?”

“Main house or the garage?”

“Main house, I have a feeling we’ll have a lot of data for the layout of the garage.”

“Right, as of now, nothing magical or suspicious in the first floor. But I suspect there might be something on the second floor. I don’t know if it’s the traditional charm or something else, but until the second floor is investigated we won’t know for sure.”

“Okay, so along with the back and front door, the windows on the first floor is too small for a human to escape.”

“So probably a route for Matthew or something smaller than a human.”

“Yes, and there are also railings so even the thought of breaking it with typical means wouldn’t make a wider opening.”

“Alright, the garage?”

“Magical energy is on the floor Ana is in. So far the only entrance and exit is the flight of stairs and I feel like it was dug underground. And the garage itself only has one door but the walls on the upper floor are typical garage walls, so with the right amount of force they could break down if need be. I still don’t know what specific charms or barriers are present in the basement floor but there’s definitely a strong magical energy there.”

“It seems we’ll have to start spending more time on your energy training Matthew.”

“Um what do you mean boss? Like right –“

“How is she?” You couldn’t wait any longer. You needed to know more about her since you couldn’t even use your bond to connect with her. Lucy looks at you with a sad expression.

“I don’t know much about snakes but she looked underweight. She only has a waterbowl in there on a bed of shredded mix of tissue paper and coconut husk. That’s all I could see from my first viewing of her.”

“Oh no.” So even as a snake she was only given the bare minimum of care. The thermostat to make sure that there was a different temperature to provide for a cold spot, water bowl for hydration or a bath, and who knows if her bedding has been cleaned for feces.

“The room has minimum airflow provided by a fan and a vent connected to the vent on the first floor of the garage.” You didn’t have words. You were too shocked to do anything but allow your tears to fall as you covered mouth.

“Life.” Morpheus goes to your side. You turn towards him and see that Matthew has settled on his shoulder.

“I know you can’t use the bond with Ana now. Shall I arrange for the two of you to meet in the dreaming?”

“Yes please. But only if she is comfortable. Ask her first, the last thing I want is for her to be overwhelmed and hide from me.”

“Honestly (y/n), I think your presence is really needed. She was so scared. When I opened that drawer it was as if she was trying to hide and make herself look smaller. It’s almost as if she was was trying to find a way to make herself invisible.” Signs of abuse, it didn’t needed to be said but it was on everyone’s minds by the expressions they had.

“I’ll be with you, I’ll help ease her into it.” He momentarily pauses before continuing.

“She’s about to enter the dreaming.”

“Maybe ask her first if she would like to meet me. We still have time and her comfort is takes priority. I do not want to add anymore unnecessary discomfort to an already uncomfortable situation.”

“Understood.”

“Also I think Matthew should join you in her dreams so that she would be assured.”

“Of course ma’am. Don’t worry I’m sure she won’t mind meeting you.”

“If she wants to meet you, is it okay if I summon you from your own dreams?”

“Yes, or maybe I can linger for awhile in the palace? Maybe in Lucienne’s library? Also the meeting place should be in a neutral area so we don’t disturb the comfort in her own dreams.”

“Will an area in the palace grounds will do?”

“Yes, but let her choose. And don’t rush her.”

He nods before he and Matthew make their exit and you turn back towards Lucy.

“Rest here in one of my guestrooms for awhile before you go.”

“Are you sure? I could just use the device to go back home.”

“Please I insist. You need to be well rested before your shift starts.” You say in a tone that doesn’t allow room for further argument. Lucy needed to rest and if she needed a change of clothes both of you were relatively similar in size. She could just wear a belt to tighten some clothes because they will inevitably be larger on her slimmer frame compared to your curvy one.

That evening as you settle in bed, you slowly feel yourself falling into a deep sleep and found yourself in the palace gardens with you lying down against the cool grass and surrounded by beautiful flora both flowering and non-flowering. As you sat up Lucienne walked towards you.

“Good evening ma’am, are you well?”

“Overall yes, but I was expecting to be in the library – has Morpheus told you about what he plans to do?”

“Yes ma’am, that’s exactly why you were redirected here in the gardens instead of the library.” You feel your eyes widen.

“He managed to convince her?”

“I wouldn’t entirely know but I have a feeling you might be meeting

Ana a little sooner than you expected.”

You suddenly feel something within your consciousness. Slowly throught the bond you have with Ana you could feel her reaching out to you through the pain and the trauma. It’s not enough to have the bond accessible again but it was enough that you could sense that she has entered the garden from somewhere you couldn’t see yet.

“Morpheus it’s painful.” Your heart bursts as you hear her voice from a distance.

“I know it’s painful little one, and you may be lost in the pain. But what else do you feel?” She pauses.

“Warm…I feel warm Morpheus. But it still hurts.”

“Be still, think about the warmth. Ignore the pain as much as you can.”

“How do I ignore it when it’s always there?”

“The same way that you create your dreams. Your imagination.” As much as you want to run towards wherever they are, you know you have to stay still and wait. Morpheus was slowly helping her reach out to you in the bond and move past her pain and trauma just enough for the two of you to regain the connection that was blocked by her trauma at the hands of Mark Gal Lanes.

“Lucienne, can you please send a message to them?”

“Why not go to them yourself? They are in the garden now.”

“Morpheus is teaching her how to reach out to me so that we could connect again through our bond. If I go to them now whatever progress he has made for her will all be for naught. As much as I hate waiting, she needs to come to me. I can’t do anything until she herself has removed the wall of pain and trauma and to do that I have to stay still. But I do have a suggestion I want to make for her and I need a messenger to do it.”

“Then why ask me? I’m sure my Lord would respect whatever messenger you create.”

“Simple, you’re the one of the few he couldn’t afford to waive off entirely. Certainly not on front of a child at least.” Lucienne gives you a look that showed that she has decided to concede since continuing this argument would lead to no where. And it was clear that this message has some importance to you that you’re not moving from your stance or spot.

“Very well, what is the message that you want me to deliver?”

“Don’t ignore the pain and the trauma, use them to fuel you towards my warmth.” You wanted to add ‘From your mother’ but it was a little too soon for that. She is probably still a little wary and confused by the connection you two have, although now she knows it exists. Lucienne gives you a brief nod before heading behind you towards wherever they are now. You don’t turn around to follow wherever she is headed. It would just tempt you into following and increase your impatience.

While waiting, you decide to gather the lilac and tulip flowers on front of you as you imagine up the journal you kept in the dreaming and decide to write a few rambling thoughts about what they may taste like if only they were edible and safe to eat in the waking world. As you let yourself relax despite the wait, you could hear Lucienne arrive wherever they are.

“She has a suggestion for Ana my Lord. I’m just acting as her messenger.”

“And what suggestion is that?”

“‘Don’t ignore the pain and the trauma, use them to fuel you towards my warmth.’ These are her exact words.”

“Using my pain? How do I do that?”

“I believe what she means is that if you can’t ignore it, then let that be the fuel for your imagination.” And this is why you specifically asked Lucienne to be the messenger. She could help clarify and explain what Morpheus may sometimes be too verbose to say.

“Huh?”

“Here let me clarify. What do you do when you touch something so hot it hurts?”

“I remove my hand as fast as I could.”

“And do you remove your hand faster than you normally would?”

“Yes.”

“Then it is the same with how you should approach reaching out towards her. Allow yourself to feel the pain and the bad memories, and let those things push you towards the warmth you feel through the bond you two share.” Lucienne finishes as Morpheus remains silent.

This may take awhile but relatively speaking there was still time. Even if she couldn’t reach out to you right now there will hopefully be more nights wherein both of you are in the realm of the Dreaming. Feeling hungry, you dream up a picnic set and you lay down the classic red and white picnic blanket and the food that came out of the large picnic basket included a large one liter thermos of hot ceremonial grade Matcha tea; one tupperware containing a type of brownie called “Food for the Gods” made up of dates, walnuts, white and brown sugars, and butter; still steaming hot egg sandwhiches; Spanakopita, one of your favorite greek pastries that was filled with a delicious spinach and feta cheese mixture; Tiropita, because no matter what vegans have said you didn’t have the heart to give up eating cheese and eggs; and finally another one liter thermos containing distilled water to wash down anything that the matcha tea was too hot to move.

You were in the realm of the dreaming, no one was there to make fun of you for eating a lot nor was your mother in this lifetime there to body shame you for potentially gaining weight from the type of food that you chose to indulge in.

As you were pouring yourself a cup of hot Matcha tea, you feel a breakthrough in your bond with Ana. Your advice definitely helped since she used the pain to allow herself to remove the barrier of pain that was blocking your connection with her.

“Hello? Are you there?” Relief filled you as you can finally use your bond once again.

“Hello Ana, can you feel me and my warmth?”

“Yes, but who are you? Why do we have this connection?”

“I will tell you in person. Use the bond to find where I am.”

“Um but how?”

“The more warm you feel the closer you are to me.”

“Okay.” You don’t have to wait long now for her to find you. You are seated closer than what she thinks. And through the bond you could see that Morpheus and Lucienne have allowed her to take the lead. All of them knowing that it is vital that she is the one who finds you first.

Soon you feel her enter the general area of the garden that you were in. She hasn’t seen you yet so you take this time to turn around.

She was in her human form in her dreams. Black straight hair tied into two pigtails, brown skin, large round eyes, round face and a rather chubby frame. Dressed in what you guess is her favorite pair of pajamas that were red with white Hello Kitty faces all over it.

“Are you near?”

“Trust your feelings.” She closes her eyes for a moment. Then finally she turns to face your general direction.

And she opens her eyes.

And she runs towards you.

“Hello? Are you really her?” You give her a warm smile.

“Hello Ana, yes I am her, please have a seat on the blanket.” She sits cross legged next to you as you pour another cup of Matcha tea.

“Who are you? Why do I have a connection with you?”

“I am Life incarnate, and in your first lifetime in this world I was your mother. This is the reason why we have a bond.” Her mouth opened and stayed that way until you offered her a cup of water.

“This is my second life?”

“Yes dear, you reincarnated and are living life once again.”

“Then how come you’re not my mother again?”

“I don’t know. I am still rather young and I’m not ready yet to be a mother again. But Destiny or the Fates must have a purpose of why you are once again alive. But enough about that.” You give her a Spanakopita and you watch her take a small bite, realizing how good it actually is, and then taking the largest bites she could to devour it.

“There is something else that you want to ask me.”

“Is the mean hairy man after you? Is that why he is hurting me?” You wish she didn’t have to be involved with whatever battle this is. But you can’t afford to keep her in the dark forever.

“Yes, I’m sorry you had to be involved. I didin’t even know that you had reincarnated until I felt your pain as he hurt you.”

“Do you know why he’s after you?”

“No, I don’t. But it’s very clear that he’s using you to trap me or force me to do whatever he wants to do. This is why Morpheus and my friends have to make several trips before we can rescue you and return you back to your human form.”

You wanted to say more but you can tell through the bond that she was starting to wakeup.

“What – what’s happening?”

“You’re starting to wake up.”

“No – NO – I just met you.” She stands up and almost falls back if you hadn’t caught her in time to help steady herself.

“Don’t worry, we still have many more nights and dreams ahead of us. Just don’t lose hope okay? We’re working to rescue you.” You say as reassuringly as you can as you knelt on front of her, and yet knowing that she is about to disappear soon.

“But – “ she fades away from the Dreaming. She has awaken, and through the now restored bond you can now sense that someone has entered in the room she was in. Based on the footsteps it must either be Mark Gal Lanes or another adult.

Whomever it was didn’t stay long, and just opened one of the other storage furniture in the same room. Got what was needed, and then proceeded to exit the room.

She’s trying to go back to sleep, but she’s too scared to be able to return to the dreaming anytime soon.

“Thank you Morpheus.” You say as he appears beside you and in your periphery you see Lucienne making her way back inside the palace.

“You’re welcome, it seems your advice was exactly what she needed to hear.”

“Sometimes we all need a little help every now and then to reach our goals.” Something was on his mind. You didn’t need to see his face but the aura he had been unconsciously projecting was hard to miss.

“Sit with me, there’s something in your mind.”

“…You will not take no for an answer. Would you?”

“No, the sooner you can express your thoughts and hear them, the sooner it may be resolved. This is why sometimes I talk to myself, even if other people may think I am crazy.”

“You are aware that I hold the unconscious thoughts of every being capable of such things.”

“All the more reason for you to tell someone what you feel. Before you might confuse your own actual thoughts with the subconscious of the universe.” The two of you sit in your picnic blanket. With a waive of your hand all the food, drinks, and utensils were back in the basket and the picnic blanket now allowed for more room.

“Don’t worry I won’t judge.”

“I appreciate the reassurance.”

“Then take a breath, and let your thoughts flow out of you. I went to sleep later than usual so we still have some time before I awaken.” He briefly closes his eyes, takes a breath before turning to sit facing you.

“Despite not being my first encounter with children, I am still startled by how quickly it was for her to deal with the pain following your instruction through Lucienne. Somehow it seems I have missed that step, for I now realize that I tend to ignore my pain instead of allowing it to fuel myself into doing more. Whenever I try to allow myself to feel, I just become overwhelmed by the weight of my domain. And so the only way that I have found to cope was to bury it and ignore it for the sake of clarity. Paradoxically, based on my recent experiences with regaining my power and dealing with the recent vortex issue, it seems to be the very thing that hinders me from learning more. Tell me, is it really that simple? When all this time I only aim to do the duties given to me for as long as I could recall.” When he has paused indicating that for now he has finished his thoughts, you begin your response.

“No, it isn’t simple. You are not wrong to bury most of the unconscious thoughts that passes in your mind. That in itself is not inherently wrong. I’ve done it to the memories that I posses that now make up a mental library from all my previous lifetimes. If I had not done that then I would be too overwhelmed to actually live and be alive. Sometimes we need to put a barrier between the thoughts that pass by us, the thoughts from our past, and the thoughts we now possess and what we actually think. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do anything at all beyond simply dwelling.”

You pause first taking a breath and also to make sure that he was still following your line of thought and was still listening to you.

“But just because we’ve established barriers for the sake of being capable of our functions, it doesn’t mean that we can no longer learn from the feelings we have from them or that they are no longer capable of giving insights that may affect our perspectives. The skill that is needed is how to do that without being overwhelmed by it. To lose control and to lose yourself among the vast thoughts brought to you by the universe we live in would close you off not only to others, but also to the present.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“More than you could know. As much as Death likes to believe that she has a sufficient grasp of life, she doesn’t have to deal with the conscious thoughts of actually living life. And had I not put my own mental barriers for my own sanity, I would simply be stuck as all life simply goes past me. More than what an introvert could handle even.” He scoffs at your last statement.

“You? An introvert?”

“Yes, I consider myself an extroverted introvert. I still like to socialize but if I do it too much then I will need some time with myself to compensate for the loss of energy. That doesn’t mean I am not energized by the presence of others, I still am, but there is a limit or a balance to it. Too much time with others drains my social energy and too much time on my own leads to thoughts of loneliness that may be remedied by the presence of others.”

“An ambivert then?”

“Perhaps, I am about balance after all and I need to be both social and reserved.”

“My point is that it is easier for a child who is still so open to the world of the imagination to simply do things. It is something I sometimes wish I have it in myself to do and yet it almost seems I would lose who I am and therefore lose control.”

“Then you may want to find someone who could guide you through that journey. Allowing yourself to lose a little bit of control without losing who you are to the vast unconsciousness.” Once again he looks at you with an expression you don’t recognize and yet it’s one that has been appearing more often as you two talk more and more.

“What are you thinking?” He goes closer towards you but leaves just enough distance to respect your personal space.

“By any chance would you be willing to be my guide?” You raise your eyebrow at this request.

“Why me? I’m sure there are plenty of others who could also guide you.”

“And who do you think would be better suited more than you?”

“Calliope, Psyche, Quetzalcoatl, Odin, must I really go on?”

“If you are about to list deities which deals with the widom and the mind then I’m already going to have to rebut that they are still insufficient to be my guides.”

“And why is that?”

“As much as they are qualified to give wisdom and knowledge, I need someone who knows of such struggle, many of the beings you have suggested deal mainly with only human standards of wisdom.”

“Then how about Calliope? She was your wife and perhaps that intimacy could help you with what you are asking in exploring emotions.”

“Calliope and I have a recent understanding…while we are greatful to each other for our marriage, and while we do still care for each other, our days as lovers are over. And even her functions as the Goddess of Epic poetry and chief of the muses, even she wouldn’t be able to be a sufficient guide.”

“Have you asked her?”

“Life, please, you are the best to guide me. With whom I feel comfortable with and whom I know has experienced something similar.” Just in time you feel yourself beginning to wake up.

“Let me think about it first. For now let’s focus on Ana okay?”

“Very well.”

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

"Home of the Lost: Chapter 28"

Here's the latest chapter! I've got a couple more written up, and I really hope you have finished this series by the end of the year - the total amount of chapters is going to be somewhere between 35 and 40. Anyways - enjoy and let me know what you think!💜

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The sun hadn't even fully begun to set when Star woke up. The last rays of the now deadly sunlight filled the cave, and honestly, it was the only reason that she was still there. After her argument with David the day before, she couldn't help but feel as if she was a burden of sorts. Not only that, she realised as she waited, she hated the way David had treated her. She was not like him, something that all the other boys had accepted, and she was done with him being pissed about it. She had been doing okay as a vampire. She was getting the hang of it, and if he didn't like how she practiced it, he could fuck off. She was getting around the killing, she had done a remarkable job at cleaning up the messes - and she'd be damned if she let another man tell her what she can and can't do again. She made that mistake with Greg, and she would not ever allow herself to be treated like that again.

Star walked out, heading towards the boardwalk, not caring to let any of the other vampires know. She needed to be alone right now, to live in the rare peace she managed to find whenever she roamed the boardwalk on her own. Air. Blood. Music. That's what she needed. A bit of fun.

"You got the last page?" Allan looked at his brother, who seemed to be almost done. "I found someone who could get at least fifty copies printed and ready for us by tomorrow if we have it tonight."

"Almost, just the last panels alright?"

The two of them had been working at it for about a week now, ever since Edgar realised there might actually be vampires in Santa Carla. Allan had written the texts, making sure every single piece of information necessary for ones survival was in there, while Edgar had been busy making the illustrations. It took him another twenty minutes, and then he was done.

"You close up the store, I'll bring it to the printer-"

"Yeah. No. What if a vampire sees you? We don't go outside on our own at night, Ed."

"Fine."

Both boys left the store for the night, not realising they had made another boy around their age slightly disappointed. "Great," the boy mumbled as he kicked a pebble forward, "not only did we have to move here, but the only cool thing about this town is closed."

Max was up early that evening, enjoying the final pieces of light with a strong cup of coffee. He had been thinking, and he realised that the amount of changes his boys had to endure in the past couple of weeks - Star, Paul going missing, Eleanor and Paul returning - may have been a bit to much. He could not blame either of the girls for having to find their place in the group. He could not blame Marko for being determined to get his mate and siree back. He had appreciated how little he had to interfere with Star, mainly because Dwayne decided to guide her into the undead live. The way David had been starting fights and arguments left and right just didn't sit well with him. He wasn't sure yet how to handle it, and he wouldn't be for a while. He was about to leave for work, glad that his age and the uv-blocking windows in his car gave him the opportunity to do so, ready to leave a note for Eleanor, when he heard a scream.

He ran down the stairs, into the basement, to hear another scream. It was coming from the stairs leading to the garden entrance. Curled up, hiding away in the shadow, was Eleanor. One of the doors was open, and a stream of light came in. Max acted quickly, closing the door, before turning to Eleanor. "Are you alright? What happened?"

She didn't respond. She just sat there frozen. She didn't need to respond - Max could already smell the burnt skin on her arm. Carefully, he picked it up, examining it, before feeding her some of his blood.

"Eleanor, what happened?"

She shook her head quietly, sighing deeply. "I forgot..."

"You- you forgot the sun burns us?"

She nodded, curling up in herself. Max looked at her, realising there was one single thing he needed to know.

"What scared you?"

"The underpainting."

Max was quiet for a moment, not quite getting what she meant. But he saw her fear, he saw the red mark where the burn had been, and - he took a second to really look at her - her brown hair had turned an ashen grey overnight. She was terrified. Max sighed, picking her up and carrying her to her coffin. "I'll call Marko and Paul, alright?"

Eleanor nodded, quietly sinking down into her bed. She had hoped to be freed from the horror from the painting. But now, she began to wonder. Was she really free?

It's wonderful how music could make you forget, Star thought as she moved her body along to the rhythm. Little by little, the music overtook her. No more thoughts of home, vampirism, fights. Just the music. The notes, the melody, everything coming together in the moves she unconsciously made. For the first time since she changed, she felt free, free to do what she wanted. She opened her eyes, looking around and smiling as she met the eyes of a boy. He looked nice, kind, maybe a little bit tough - different from the boys, that's for sure. She smiled at him, causing the boy to blush.

"Do you want to grab a drink?" Star asked as she met up with the boy before introducing herself. The boy, a little awkward but definitely confident enough about his looks, grinned. "Sure. I'm Michael."

"Michael?" She tasted the name on her lips. "I like Michael. Michaels great."

"Star's pretty great to, you know?"

"Yeah?"

Star smiled, taking Michaels hand as they walked towards the bar. Michael. Michael was hers.

[leagueofdccm]

“I wish I could hate you.” / tilly to negan

390 prompts || @nghtmarish || accepting

HANDS RUNNING DOWN HIS FACE, LONG AND SLOW. A LOW GROAN escaping past twin flesh. Kids, can't live with them... can't live without them. He does his best to keep that temper of his as tamed as possible. But it's also difficult when he is facing his mini-me. Negan ain't stupid. He gets why she's pissed at him, gets why she's being hostile towards him.

But to be quite frank he is slightly tired of the disrespect because believe it or not he is still her dad at the end of the day. Now, he admits he fucked up, but he can't go back and take it back. The ex-savior leader had tried to talk to her, wanting to treat her as an equal... a friend. FUCKING STUPID. That's where he messed up, and he's tired of trying to be a 'friend' It's getting him nowhere.

He's still her father, he still needs her to understand that though she has all the right to be pissed... it's also not fair.

Negan's tattooed fingers comb through his hair out of frustration, his other hand pressed firmly against his hip, he thinks he may end up bruising himself with the amount of pressure he's applying against himself. Feet tapping, anxiety caving in on him. " Listen... " He sighs. " I get it, Tilly. Believe me, I do. I'd hate myself too If I were in your shoes. But I've been trying don't you see that ? " A finger desperately jabbing against his chest right above where his heart lies.

The expression on his face is BROKEN... LOST EVEN. He was once good at this parenting thing... Could even cockily say he should have been rewarded with one of those cups that said father of the year.' Then... shit went down and Lucille had gotten cancer. They thought they could make it through.

She just had to. She couldn't just leave them.... leave Tilly.

GOD wasn't one to grant Negan any favors. NOT WHEN THE DEVIL had longed for Negan to CRACK. It was too late for God to save him from himself, the devil called dibs and it was there, at that very moment where Lucifer started working his magic. crept into Negan's family life, the darkness had wrapped around Lucille's mind.... and settled itself in her sick, sick mind... putting things in her head. Killing herself, making her leave her family behind, like nothing. She was tired, she was so tired but she was once a FIGHTER. Once... she was once... but she could no longer fight along them.

Oh, his Lucille.

After she died... he thought things couldn't get any worse. It did. The devil was there for him... but also wanted MAYHEM. The second he lost to Rick... was the second he felt something suffocating him. Something strange looming over him. Remembers through a blurry vision he thought he saw him. The shadowy-like figure looked down upon him as he was being saved by somebody from Rick's team. He can almost see the disappointment in his demonic features and then things go black.

Being locked in that prison was fucking torment. He didn't know what was going on out there. Didn't even know what happened to Tilly. Didn't ask because he didn't want Rick to taint his thought any more than it already was. Slowly of course he found out more. Tilly was there and that was a relief...

till the voices and loneliness began to SMOTHER HIM. Sleeping was hard, eating made him sick and he begged for those who came down to stop speaking of the outside world. To stop telling him of his daughter... just to fucking stop. Let him die. Kill him. Michonne couldn't and all he had left was Maggie. He prayed for her to come, prayed for her to finish the job. Begged her but she didn't.... and he cried.

Years went on. Rick is gone... life is going on. Negan is now free to roam around, but not freely, he still has limits. But enough to make conversation with those who don't hate him as much. Maggie told Tilly about their little chit-chat. Negan didn't blame Maggie, in fact, deep down he knew she would. He took so much from her, that it was only right for her to do the same.

. . .

" You're old enough to hear this. You ain't a lil' girl no more. That I see. So it's only right If I'm honest with you. " Negan eyes flickering to his leather boots, heart rapidly beating in his chest, his emotions coming down on him, making him feel so fucking small. Taking a deep breath he locks eyes with Tilly. " .... It was wrong of me to want to die while you still being out here. I know you felt like you didn't matter. And you know that ain't true kid. You matter so fucking much to me. The thing is... you-- you weren't there in that cell. You don't understand... and I pray to whoever the fuck is listening that you never get to find out. Being alone with your thoughts is dangerous. It's the worst type of torment you can ever experience. Being down there alone I would start seeing your mom... her- her as a walker. She begged me to come to her, to seek death and leave with her. I- I knew deep down that wasn't your mother talking to me..."

He chokes back, swallowing the lump in his throat. Feeling his heart become heavy in his chest. He feels sick. " .. But it hurt so much. All of it. I didn't have you anymore. I didn't have the Saviors. I didn't have your mom. I didn't have anyone.... yeah, you were out here.. but that's not the same. And then I thought well, maybe If I died you'd be free and you can live your life without having to stick around waiting for me. Don't you get it ? I am only human, I fucked up. We all do and I've been trying my hardest to make it right with you. If you really want me to leave you alone... I'll go. Hell, I'll leave to Hilltop to give you what you want. But just know I still love you. And you'll always be my daughter. I'm sorry, You have to believe me when I say I am sorry. I am."

[breathenbounce]

Life block

I am truly sorry I didn't get this done on Wednesday. I have been so good about writing these things on Wednesday, but this week has been a tough one. First I didn't even know what I wanted to write about. What great wisdom could I impart on the small amount of people who read this. Then I realized it's not just writer's block I was suffering from, I was in the middle of a life block as well.

Last week somehow I really hurt my hip. So I have taken a week off from doing my usual routine of fitness which included the yoga and I felt like absolute dog shit. In fact this week has brought up so much shit for me, it has been just difficult going through day to day stuff.

I find myself laying on the couch most of the time, watching FB reels, seeing pictures of my family on my phone randomly come up, just feeling totally miserable. You see, BPD sucks. Sometimes you lose your identity, and then you feel like crap. I have been so depressed since 2015 and it has brought some real havoc into my life. One of the worst parts of my depression is it manifests as anger. I also am so afraid of losing people in my life, I don't always tell them how I feel and what they really truly mean to me. I feel like when I do, they run away, and I have seen that happen recently with some people. So I find myself uncomfortable to live in my own skin.

Taking this break has helped me feel better physically buy mentally it has done a number on me. However, I think there's other things going on. I vomited all over my therapist yesterday with all my depressive stuff and then I drove home hoping to feel better. I didn't. I just drove home in silence with the music off. When I got to Algonquin Rd, I did a shuffle with my music, couldn't find one song I wanted to listen to. Truth is I brought much of this shit on myself. However its because I didn't know how to survive with all these mental health conditions I have. I've lashed out, been defensive, blamed others, etc, etc. I have truly been working hard to reinvent and grow, but I don't feel like I am growing.

People tell me I am, however people important to me refuse to talk to me. I started medication in hopes it would help my depression. Lately, it hasn't. I feel weird when I get around people lately. Like I would rather be anywhere else. I went to a slow yoga class yesterday where we did little movement and it was more like meditation. Every time I go somewhere, I feel like people don't like me and think I am weird. I don't want to talk about it because people will then accuse me of trying to get sympathy, or some other bullshit like that.

Usually here on GC and BNB, I try to be positive. Mainly because I want to help others. I hate to see people feel this way that I'm feeling. Lately I feel like I am not helping anyone, most importantly myself. I got certified to teach yoga and no one wants me to teach. People say they want me to but when I show initiative to want to, I'm shut out. I am trying to put together experiences and having difficulty finding places, but then I say to myself, will people actually come? No one cares about the show.

Then my logical mind or wise mind has to come into play and say that it takes time to build a brand. Then I have to ask myself am I doing the best I truly can? Is my depression stonewalling me from reaching a higher level? I think about so many of the sins I have committed in the past and it makes me feel like maybe I don't deserve anything. Maybe I deserve to be alone. Maybe BNB won't help anyone. Maybe I’m just too much for people and I just have to accept that that I’m not anyone’s cup of tea and people just say things to be nice to me and they don’t really mean them.

Yes, I am in a funk, and I hope I can find a way out of it soon. I feel like the hole gets deeper and deeper that I have to crawl out of day by day. However, I still keep crawling out just to fall back in.

I guess I'll keep fighting. I don't know what else to do. Keep fighting too.

Love,

Michael

[asmodeuscouncil]

Warning: This story starts off with a doomed battlefield

A man lies on the battlefield. His side tore open like he had been mistaken for a seal by a shark. His hands were nowhere near the wound as if he was choosing instead to accept his fate. A sad smile on his face as he thinks with his last few minutes of how wonderful it would be to be home. Though this man wasn't the only one. There were people scattered all around this seemingly endless battlefield. Some were trying to stop their bleeding. Some were crying as they thought of their children. Some laughed as if they were finally free. All of them however were unaware that this wouldn't be the last time a war like this would be fought. Though that didn't stop what they did next. As if they all had the same thought the battlefield started to become illuminated.

It was as if the battlefield had become the starry sky above them as from almost every person a ball of light exited from their bodies. Some white, some black, some blue, any color that the human eye could perceive and some that it couldn't. Though it was only like that for a second before every light swelled in size. Soon the entire field disappeared. All that was left was a crater that was soon filled in by water.

A piercing voice then disturbed the quiet somber peace that had descended in the wake of that emotional scene.

“And that class is how the Great Lake Serenity was formed. Thanks to the sacrifice of those that day other than the lake becoming one of the most important water reservoirs. They also successfully warded off… well we can’t find records of what exactly they were warding off. However it is being looked into.” With that said the teacher presses a button and the scene shatters. Our implants all beep as a chorus of different voices announce the end of the fully immersive lesson.

“With that, I wish you all the best in your aptitude tests. I hope all of you get something that will change your lives for the better” With those words almost as if by divine timing the bell rang signifying the first day of whatever comes next. Though that did not concern me much.

“Hey Pensworth! What are you hoping for?” A friendly voice says as if this was a question they asked everyday. Well he does. Mostly because I've not given him a clear answer. I mean how could I? There are too many options and way too many things that I want to be chosen for! I know for certain though that I want to create something.

It has always been a fascination of mine, just the process of creation. Carvers chipping away at the wood to make sculptures. Metal workers taking glowing metal and forming it into rings, silverware, and weaponry. Potters shaping clay into plates, cups, pots, and more. No matter how the process goes or what is being made, it just draws me in.

“As long as I can make something I don't really care what I get.” The same answer I've always given him. Though recently I've been seeing more and more things about Writers that has made me curious as to what it would be like to be one. It is one of the more mysterious things in our society. Just like with our last lesson there are some things that we don't know… or at least our teachers don't teach us. Well at least that's what some of the more paranoid of us think. Truth be told I see where they are coming from but at the same time I don't want to be the one missing if they end up being right. For now I'm more focused on trying to think of how to stop Andrew from bugging me about what I hope I get until we get to the auditorium.

As we walk through the halls with Andrew and I talking as we go. I can't help but notice the amount of people going into the auditorium. It's almost like they’ve pulled every student from the three closest schools to take the aptitude test with us. Thankfully though our auditorium is big enough to handle all of those people with enough room to have a row or two of seats between each school. It honestly made me wonder why they were doing the aptitude tests this way. Soon Andrew, myself, and our entire school filed in. There was some noise from people talking about the other schools being there but that was quickly shut up by the teachers. The same was occurring with the other schools with varying levels of success.

A loud noise of someone clearing their throat echoed across the auditorium. Somehow silencing everyone, no matter what school they came from. It became so silent you could hear a pin drop. In that resulting silence was one sound, slow purposeful steps and the occasional thud of a cane hitting the wood of the auditorium stage. By the time I had turned to look at the person who had walked up on the stage he had already started talking.

“Welcome everyone,I would first like to thank all your teachers for their continued hard work in keeping the next generation ready for their test as well as teaching them what they needed to know. However they sadly won't come with you into the next part of your life as you go from here to wherever your life leads. With that said I will start calling up students from the farthest school and slowly make our way down the list until my own school finishes their test” The person took a pause and in this pause I took a moment to observe them. When I finally did, I immediately knew that it was the principal of our school. I had seen his portrait outside of his office whenever I would go past to get to my classes. His hair of black with stripes of gray, the stern face, the gold handled ebony wood cane and his signature ordinary suit all coming together to a somehow harmonious result that makes everyone look up to him.

It didn't take long before the teachers hoisted the testing apparatus up onto the stage. The large cylinder of steel took four teachers working together to even get it close to the stage so it could be hoisted up by a teacher using the crane installed for it. Its sleek design left all of its contents to the imagination. The only thing on the outside even suggesting there was something inside being the sunken in handle on the side closest to the principal. It made sense as to why the adults had jokingly called it the tube now.

“Now then, in the tube is going to be a series of tests done. Don't worry all you will have to do is stay as still as you can. The machine will do the rest for you. It even cleans itself afterwards to make sure it lives up to the highest standard of cleanliness at all times. But that's besides the point. Since no one here except the teachers know the specifics, I shall explain two things. One, this test will not be like the ones you have been doing in class. Two, the results of this test will have only one thing different for everyone. If there is a question mark, a star, or an exclamation next to the job you are assigned. If you get nothing beside your result, you are to go back to where your school is seated before following your principal or teacher to another room. More will be explained there” The principal looked around the auditorium before he started calling the names of students up so they could take their test. Everyone in attendance kept quiet for the man who was calmly calling their names. After all, who knew if he was able to influence their score and what job they would get. It didn't take long to see how the result would be displayed live as the top half of the tube lit up and showed the person’s name, age, and what job they were assigned in a list. Slowly though as the results were released one by one it seemed as if the principal wasn't getting worried at the amount of marks someone had next to their name as they exited the machine.It seemed as if he was relieved that so many people were coming out with such markings. Especially because it was a person for every 15-20 that went in.

Though that wasn’t what I was thinking at that point in time. I was more focused on my upcoming test and what it would assign me since I had no idea what I want to do myself. I knew I wanted something to do with creating something but I had no idea what exactly. Is that even how the test worked in the first place? Did it take what you wanted to do into account? After all, nobody has really talked about what goes on inside of the testing chamber. For all i know it could just be something jabbed into whoever is taking the test and somehow they get a result off of that. A shiver takes over my body for a moment as I imagine that. Really need to learn how to reign in my brain a bit. Though I was forced to stop worrying about anything else as I heard my name be called up onto the stage.

I don't know if it's because at this point I wasn't fully conscious of my legs walking as my brain was thinking faster and faster as I walked up the stairs and onto the stage or if my brain had just shut off whatever else was going on in my mind. I swear it felt like it took only a second for me to arrive in front of the metal cylinder that would change my life. Oh…how innocently I thought that had meant then. The cylinder opened itself up and I walked in.

The cylinder shut itself behind me after I was fully inside. It was pitch black for a moment before it started slowly brightening up. It wasn't long before i heard a disembodied voice speak to me>

“Welcome to your test! As well as congratulations on your first step into maturity. To start you’ll feel a slight pinch as your implant is checked to make sure it is cleaned and ready for the first half of your test.” AS soon as the machine stopped speaking I did feel a slight pinch but that is probably because I always cleaned my implant. My parents always told me to properly clean it every day since it would make my test easier. Though they didn't tell me much more than that. I always wondered if they just wanted me to be surprised or if they couldnt for some reason. Though I wasn't able to think more about that as the machine spoke once more.

“Proceeding to the first process of your test.” I felt something sticking itself into my implant but it didn't take too long before it left. “First process completed, proceeding to the second process”

Suddenly it felt like everything became sluggish and my own body was far too slow, like years had passed as I brought my hand up to my face. Even the sensation of my cheek in the palm of my hand was running ahead of the motion of me moving my thumb across it. “Second process completed now proceeding to third process. Only one process remains after” With that the machine whirred to life and soon i was standing there like i had just gotten out of the shower. Arms popped out of the walls and started sticking things to my body without much time for me to even process it. Though it's not like I could with how slow my body was responding to my thoughts at the moment as slow as it was.

A cool sensation then started spreading across my body starting from everything the machine had put on me. Even my brain felt like it was being cooled down and forced to calm down as well as slow down. My thoughts that were previously bouncing everywhere were moving towards a new sensation. It was hard to describe. It felt like an ever changing ball of water was suddenly present in the middle of my chest and linked up to something similar in my skull. As fast as the feeling came it went however. The machine’s arms coming back and taking off whatever it had put on my body. It also put on what felt like an exact match of my old clothes.

“Final process initiated. You will now see a series of questions please answer them as quickly and honestly” A screen then popped up in front of my eyes. I won't bore you with telling you what exactly the questions were as even I started to get tired by the end of them. Once I had finished the test the machine once more opened itself up. Before I had even taken my last step out my principal had a look of astonishment on his face as he looked at my results.

Arthur Pensworth. 19. Writer★.

[bisexualnamjoonie]

Yes; exactly, thank you for putting into words what I couldn't express. I was genuinely excited by the solo work of the members but tbh even Jimin's album sounded a little bit flat to me (and NO,it's not because it was more straight than I wanted lol). Even Yoongi disappointed me despite the good songs in his album because his whole tour is so capitalist-coded it's amazing lol. I'm still enjoying the band but it's truly disappointing. So yeah let's wait for the rest of JK album but...¯\_(ツ)_/¯

yeah I've talked with a few ppl who didn't like jimins solo that much as well. for myself I've grown to like it progressively, I struggled with the hype around it more than with the album itself (bc it came after the shitshow that were jitb and indigo promo by hybe, it has more to do with the way hybe and armies are favouring maknae line than anything else so it's not on him musically lol) cause at the end of the day Jimin took part in the creative process and even if half the songs weren't my cup of tea musically, i still liked that he tried - u can see and feel he's working on his identity as an artist. im scared jks album won't even have that, or that the songs that are actually a reflexion of his musical identity won't outweight the more seven like songs... we'll see

as for face not being queer enough ive actually been giving an unhealthy amount of thoughts about bts and queerness these past few months 💀 ill try to be brief cuz I could go for ten paragraphs lol, but basically i don't think we can - and should - expect for them to openly state that they are / to come out, for multiple reasons. firstly if they ever do express more clearly their queerness it will be AFTER everyone is done with military service, no matter how many solo stuff they put out in the meantime. they just can't afford to be out with the current korean gov breathing down their necks. secondly they are not western artists and it's important to remember that the notion of coming out is a profoundly western one (no matter your race) and that for a lot of LGBT+ ppl in non-western part of the world it is not something that's necessary / desirable to openly live out your queerness. lastly i think we don't need them to, because we know. they've already shown us, or at least they've never hidden it. the only reason ppl won't accept it is because to be recognise as LGBT+ in the eyes of cisheteronormativity, you HAVE TO explicitly say it otherwise they will refuse to acknowledge it and will impose cisheterosexuality on you - and sometimes not even coming out is enough. like, I said it before, that yoongi has basically come out like four times in their careers already. that ppl refuse to acknowledge it is on them, not him. they've already shown us that at least a few of them are queer in plenty of ways, so as a fellow queer army let me reassure you that they are with us 💓💓💓

as for yoongi and the tour, I won't lengthen this ask even more lmao, as I've already said what I thought about it here and here, but mostly my take is: yes, he is part of the problem, yes it's infuriating, but he's just one pebble amongst all the other rich famous ppl out there, and if at the end of the day his music brings you joy, don't beat yourself up too much abt still staning him (but still remember that it's okay to be critical of them and their actions!)

[michelleleewise]

Forget Me Not

Pairing: Loki x reader

Warnings: mentions of injury, sadness, depression, all the angst, very minor death ideation, mentions of memory loss, anger, minor accusations of cheating, mild swearing

Summary: After you left you try your to accept your Loki is gone, you just hope he's happy.

*the response to this was amazing!! It means so much to me that you guys read and share my work, and I'm so glad you like it. So, because I love you all (and with an insurmountable amount of peer pressure lol) I give you........part 2💚💚

Part one Part two-

====================================

It had been three months since you left the tower, since you left your life behind and the pain hadn't lessened. The man you love haunted your mind. Some nights you would dream of you and Loki, cuddled on the couch and you would wake crying, others you would see him and Mellissa from that night in the kitchen, and you wanted to scream, hit something, burn everything. You had everything you ever wanted and it was snatched from you in the blink of an eye.

Last night, it was the latter. You woke up screaming as your sobs racked your body. Could you die from a broken heart? If so you yearned for it, if nothing else so the dreams would finally cease. You climbed out of bed, making your way to the tiny kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee before going out onto the porch. You sat watching the ocean, trying to clear your mind. You had settled on a small island in the middle of nowhere, only you and one small village on the other side. Secluded, peaceful, lonely.

Deep down you hoped Loki was happy, you had no way of knowing, deciding to go off the grid you had no way to contact anyone, it was better that way. You would never be able to love anyone the way you loved Loki, your heart died the day he didn't know who you were, you had become a shell of who you once were. You knew you were alone, and you always would be.

"Loki! Loki wake up!" Melissa half yelled shaking Loki awake "w...what is it love?" He asks rubbing his eyes. "You were saying her name again." She said glaring at him. "Whose name? What are you talking about?" He asked sitting up. "Y/n! You've been saying her name in your sleep for months, what is the deal?" She asked crossing her arms. "Darling, honestly I have no idea, I don't..." he said looking around. "Do you love her?" She asked "i....I don't know. I don't remember her before my accident, just that she took care of me after, and was kind to me." He said sitting against the headboard.

"I can't do this Loki, I can't be with you when your thinking about her." She said getting up. "Darling, please. She's gone now anyway, and Thor said she most likely won't return." He said getting up following her. He grabbed her waist turning her around "I adore you darling, you know that." He said hugging her, she sighed hugging him back. "I'm going to go get coffee." She said, pulling away getting dressed. "I'll be right there love." He called out as she left.

He sat on the bed, his head in his hands. "Why can't I remember you y/n." He sighed sitting up. His dreams had become flashes of you and him, cuddling on the couch, watching TV, making love to you, if they were dreams or memories He wasn't sure. Thor had told him before you left how much you loved eachother, but his mind was blank, nothing of you was there before the accident and now, you were gone and he couldn't even talk to you about it. He ran a hand through his hair, heading towards the kitchen.

The sounds of Melissa laughing drew his attention as he slowly crept to the doorway, seeing her and the soldier, standing very close, smiling at eachother. He was about to walk out when something down the hall caught his attention. "Thor, what are you doing?" He asked walking towards him. "I'm packing up y/n's things. Its been months, I don't believe she is returning." He sighed setting some boxes down. "Do you need help?" He asked "if your up to it, I would appreciate the help, stark wants all of this in storage." Thor said unlocking the door.

He walked in, setting a couple of boxes on the bed looking around. It felt familiar, comfortable. "Ok, I'll start in the closet, you start with the nightstands." Thor said grabbing some clothes packing them. Loki walked to the nightstand on the right, picking up a book of Shakespeare's sonnets, opening the drawer seeing a small dagger, a green blindfold and a picture of the two of you, the ocean behind you both, his arms wrapped around you as you both smiled at the camera. He packed the other things away, still holding the picture. "Thor.." he called out "what is it brother?" He asked coming up next to him.

"Maybe someday we can come here on our honeymoon." He said holding you tighter "we could stay in a cardboard box, as long as I'm with you Loki." You said smiling at him.

The memory flashed to the front of his mind "Thor, was i......" he started as Thor sighed "Yes, that was the trip you told me you were going to propose, you said she was the one." He said pointing at the picture "But it matters not, she is gone." He said going back to the closet. He slipped the picture in his pocket while Thor wasn't watching and continued packing.

He made his way to the desk, emptying the drawers into a box as he started clearing off the top, seeing an envelope with his name on it. He looked up seeing Thor packing the dresser before folding it and putting it in his pocket, he needed answers and you may have left them for him. They finished packing everything, stacking the boxes by the door "let's go have lunch before we move everything to storage yes?" Thor asked patting his shoulder.

They made their way to the kitchen, seeing Melissa was gone he remembered what he saw this morning "I'll be right back brother." He said heading to his room. Not seeing Melissa there either, he headed for the training room, peeking in he saw her and the soldier, sitting on a bench with her legs draped over his lap, her fingers combing through his hair. Loki slowly back out, leaning against the wall sighing before heading back to the kitchen. "What is wrong brother?" Thor asked handing him a sandwich. "I believe my beloved is going behind my back." He sighed sitting down.

"How do you know?" He asked sitting across from him. "I just saw her and the soldier in the training room." He said looking up as Thor nodded "I am sorry Loki, she was never deserving of you If im being honest." Thor said taking a bite as Loki nodded. He went back to his room that night after helping Thor, seeing Melissa packing her things. "What are you doing?" He asked closing the door. "I can't deal with this Loki, I need someone who loves me, not someone else." She said continuing her packing "like the soldier hmm?" He asked sitting in the chair as Melissa stiffened.

"Did you fuck him?" Loki asked glaring at her "you don't have to be so crude." She said crossing her arms. "Well?" He growled "No, I haven't. But he cares about me." She said "gives you attention more likely." He said rolling his eyes. "I'm over this Loki, enjoy being alone." She huffed, grabbing her box "I'll have the rest of your things packed and outside my room, I don't want you back in here." He growled as she got to the door "Oh don't worry, I won't be." She said slamming the door. He got up locking it before settling on the bed, pulling the picture and letter from his pocket, setting them on the nightstand.

He leaned his elbows on his knees, holding his head in his hands "Dammit! Why can't I remember!" He yelled as he felt his seidr pulse through him. He leaned against the headboard picking up the letter, turning it in his hands, hoping you had the answers he seeked.....

💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

Im not sure of eveyone who wanted tagged.....sorry!!! Of you want tagged in part 3 let me know!!!

@vbecker10 @lokisprettygirl22 @lokisninerealms @lokiprompts @lulubelle814 @immersed-in-mischief @daggers-and-mischief @geekwritersworld @freshprincessofpain @buttercupbestie

[sadlyghost]

platonic marc and steven from moon knight with daughter reader (but gender neutral reader please) where the reader is a teen and comes home drunk or stoned or smth and marc and steven take care of them. maybe the reader forces the boys to dance with them befoŕe they sleep? up to you, thank you!

Summary: After drinking alcohol for the first time at a party, you quickly regret it. Luckily your dads are there to take care of you.

Pairing: Steven Grant / Marc Spector x (platonic) Teen Daughter Reader

Words: 1500

Content Warnings: Alcohol, minor panic, being drunk, slight peer pressure.

Gif Caption - "Hopefully you'll be feeling better soon"

You had been invited to a party by some students from a higher grade at your school. You had hesitated in accepting the offer because only one of your friends were going, but you had ultimately decided that this was an opportunity that you didn't want to miss. You couldn't imagine yourself getting invited to any more of these 'cool people' parties, so you wanted to experience it at least once.

However, that didn't seem to of been a good idea, considering that you were currently awkwardly standing at said party, all alone, yet surrounded by people you'd never spoken to before. The one other friend you had gone with had spontaneously decided to speak to some other people, which left you at a loss of what to do.

Some older students had spotted you just hanging around and walked over, chuckling in amusement as they handed you a red cup.

"Uhhh thanks?" you say in confusion as you grab it, sniffing the liquid and wondering why the older students were even talking to you.

"Try some, you'll have more fun if you do. We don't want people moping around, its ruining the vibe" they explain. You swish the liquid around, inspecting it.

"What is it?" you ask softly. They all chuckle to eachother.

"It's alcohol. Vodka and juice, all the people here are drinking it. Have you never had alcohol before?" they explain and inquire. You shake your head in embarassment. They just laugh, patting your head jokingly, making you feel small and immature.

"You'll have lots of fun tonight then. That'll be enough to get you drunk super quick" they say as they walk off.

You spent a while assesing all of your options and considering trying the drink they gave you. You weren't lying, you had never had alcohol before and you definitely weren't planning on it tonight. But everyone else was drinking this, and they all looked like they were having fun. You're friend had ditched you and you didn't know what else to do but mope around until your dads picked you up.

You ended up deciding to give it a try. It couldn't be that bad right?

Turns out that small amount of alcohol could get you more drunk then you had prepared for. Instead of all the other students who were embracing being drunk and having fun, you stood in the corner, wide eyed as you stared out at the room. You didn't want to move. Your body felt like honey, like if you took a step you'd just collapse onto the ground. It was freaking you out to be honest. This was not what you had planned for at all. Alcohol was supposed to make you have fun, not make you scared.

You tried to call your dads to pick you up, but your vision was so blurry and your brain was so unfoccussed that you could hardly navigate your own phone.

You decided that leaving was what you needed to do. You had made a mistake by drinking that and you just wanted to go home. There was absolutely no point in you staying after your friend had ditched you.

Luckily there was a bus stop just down the street, so afer stumbling there, waiting and practically pulling your body on the bus, you were on your way home.

You somehow made your way back to your apartment and shakily walked in, feeling spacey and tired. Steven, who was cooking dinner in the kitchen moved his head to see you at the door.

"Y/n? You're back already? I thought we were going to pick you up in an hour or so" he voices as he pulls off his oven mits. Steven walks over to you and frowns at your slightly distant eyes.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asks in concern. You look up to him and gulp, you didn't want to tell him what happened, but was hiding it even an option?

"I dran' alcohol" you slur out without thinking it through enough. You frown at your pronunciation. Why couldn't you say it properly? Steven looks down at you kind of shocked. He hadn't expected something like this tonight.

"You...drank alcohol?" he repeats back to you clearly. You just nod, your head feeling heavier by the minute. He looks you over, inspecting your eyes and your body language

"Do you know what type and how much?" he asks. You shrug.

"The vodka stuff and I don' remember how much" you inform him openly, currently having no filter at all.

His stance changes slightly as he crosses his arms and looks down at you, your brain is too spacey to notice.

"What were you thinking?" Marc asks, voice sterner than Stevens.

"I though' alcohol wa' supposed to be fun" you say honestly. Marc just shakes his head at that.

"Only sometimes. But you shouldn't be drinking at this age and you definitely shouldn't be drinking at parties full of students older than you. Who knows what they could do" he grumbles seriously. You just sway in your spot slightly as you almost dose off.

"Woah, woah. You alright there?" Steven says as he puts his arms on your shoulders. You just mumble something incoherent in reply.

"Okay, lets get you to the couch why don't we?" he says as he leads you to sit down. He goes off to grab some water and a damp cloth which he places on your forehead. You just stare at the ceiling as he takes care of you.

"I'm going to murder whoever pressured them into this" Marc says to Steven.

"It might have been a choice as well. Regardless, save the lecture for tomorrow please. Spend tonight considering what you were like at that age - curious and eager to fit in I'd guess?" Steven reasons quietly, you not even paying attention to his words at the moment. Marc grumbles but doesn't say anything, letting Steven know that he was indeed right.

"But they're too young for this" Marc pipes in again. Steven nods in agreement.

"I know. But I'm sure this incident has given them perspective don't you think? I don't assume we'll be dealing with this again any time soon. They have to learn some way, lets just hope they understand now" Steven says. You just squirm on the couch, feeling uncomfortable.

"Do you need anything?" Steven asks you kindly. You sit up and look around. Everything still felt so unreal to you, so you just flop back down onto Steven. He catches you, feeling suprised.

You just lay there before you start playing with his shirt. It felt so soft and nice. You moved your head back a bit to look at the fabric with wide eyes. Steven watches, wondering what you were doing.

"You're sooo soft pa" you say in shock. Steven holds back his laugh at your words and what seemed to be amazement at the simple fabric of his shirt.

"Oh my god, they are so drunk" Marc comments, forcing a voice of dissaproval as he also hides the amusment in his voice.

You stand up and pull Steven with you. You hold his arms weakly and begin swinging them around. He just goes along with it.

"What are you doing?" he asks curiously, still slightly amused by your drunk actions.

"Dancey danceyy" you laugh as you imitate some tap dancing, very badly. Steven had to make sure you didn't fall since your balance was currently non-existent. At least your mood had gone up though.

"Dad come dance wit' mee" you say, still swinging your arms about and humming some random tune.

Marc fronts and goes along with it as well.

"Did you guys take dance classes? This is soo unfairrr" you complain, a little discouraged that your body isn't moving like you want it to.

"I think you're just a little out of it" Marc says truthfully. You continue trying to dance though, regardless of your horrible moves.

"Daa dun ta daa" you sing to yourself as you bust another horrible move. Marc snorts softly.

"Wow, maybe we do need to get you some dance classes, this is truely something" he says in amusement. But you were vibing, so it didn't matter in the moment how good you were at dancing.

Eventually you slowed down though, and your dancing came to a halt. You just leaned forward onto Marc.

"'m sleepy" you mumbled. He patted your back softly and nodded.

"Okay, lets get you to bed" he said, acting like he did when you were much younger and he actually did need to put you in bed like this. You just complied as he picked you up and carried you to your room.

He lay down your sleepy body and placed the blankets over you. He then sat on the end of your bed and waited for you to fall asleep so that he was sure you were okay.

"Thanks dad..." you whispered out tiredly. Marc just looked at you as you rolled over to get comfortable, eyes already half closed as you dozed off.

"And thanks pa" you thank Steven as well. Marc sighs. You made a mistake, but you were going to be just fine, he was sure of it.

"Your welcome kid" he replies softly.

~~~

A/N: Thank you for the request! I hope this turned out close to what you imagined. I did try adding some context to the situation, so sorry if that ruins this! Also fun fact, I've never actually been drunk before, even though I'm legally allowed to in my country. So sorry if this is wildly inaccurate! I'm mostly going off what I've seen in movies and stuff. To anyone reading, please don't take a drink from someone, especially if you don't know whats in it. And try not to succumb to peer pressure, you have control over yourself and your own life. Stay safe everyone :)

[bi-bard]

But No Amount of Freedom Gets You Clean; I’ve Still Got You All Over Me - Jess Mariano Imagine (Gilmore Girls)

Title: But No Amount of Freedom Gets You Clean; I’ve Still Got You All Over Me

Pairing: Jess Mariano X Reader

Based On: You All Over Me

Word Count: 1,012 words

Warning(s): mentions of past break-up

Summary: (Y/n) tries to live in a world where their ex is with someone new before they even get a chance to breathe. That only gets worse when it’s the only thing everyone can talk about.

Author's Note: So much of this plot was decided on based on spite.

Masterlist for From the Vault Writing Challenge

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I didn't spend a lot of my free time in Stars Hollow.

It was too small. Suffocating.

It wasn't the comforting small town that it wanted to be. It honestly felt a little creepy at points.

I thought I had finally found someone that agreed with me. Someone that didn't make me feel stupid for wanting to leave. Someone that made me feel truly heard for the first time.

And then he got bored.

Jess and I had moved to Stars Hollow around the same time.

We hit it off immediately. He made me feel heard and seen. He said I made the town more bearable. We had become each other's safe spaces. I felt... loved, to put it simply.

Then, he left me.

It was hard to live up to the girl he chose. Rory was perfect in the eyes of everyone around her. I never thought Jess agreed. Turns out he did.

Hanging out in Stars Hollow wasn't an option after that.

It took a day for Jess to leave me and find her.

I couldn't walk to the store without seeing the two of them together. I hadn't gotten a chance to breathe. To find my footing again before I was forced to face the fact that I wasn't what he wanted. That he was happier sweeping me under the rug.

I had tried to meet someone new.

We were just friends. Two people that wanted to hang out. That was it.

He was okay leaving Stars Hollow to hang out. He understood that I wasn't a huge fan of hanging out there. I thought that maybe I had figured a few things out.

I thought I was starting to feel... clean again.

He had only tried to make a move once.

We had been doing homework together while talking. I looked up from my textbook and was met with him leaning over to kiss me. His lips only touched mine for a second before I jumped back. He accepted when I said that I wasn't ready for that yet. He refused to let me apologize for it because it "wasn't something I truly control over".

I don't know if he ever realized how much that small amount of understanding meant to me.

He was just dropping me off for the day when I saw Jess sitting on my front steps. He was looking down, reading some random book that was probably mine because he never gave any of them back.

"Oh my god," I muttered.

"What," he asked, leaning around me to look. "What the hell is Jess doing here?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "He's dating my ex."

"You were dating Rory," I asked. How much did I miss by avoiding this town?

"Yeah," he replied. "Want me to walk up with you?"

"No, no," I shook my head. "I can handle this. Can you just stay parked here until he leaves?"

"Sure."

"Thanks," I moved to get out at last. "See you later, Dean."

"Later," he waved as I shut the passenger side door.

Jess looked up as I did. He closed the book and stood up.

"What do you want," I asked.

"To talk," he replied.

"You've had weeks to talk," I rolled my eyes. "What is it?"

"I feel wrong with things being like this between us," he explained. "I don't want to worry about seeing you and worry about you being pissed with me."

"I'm not."

"You clearly hate me-"

"I'm not wasting any more energy on you."

Jess stepped forward and cupped the sides of my face, gently running his thumbs along my cheekbones. I faltered for a moment. The last time he did this, he was about to kiss me for the first time.

I pulled myself together and shoved his hands away from me.

"I won't accept some half-assed apology just so you can clear your conscious," I said. "You wanted to leave me and date someone a day later. That was your choice. You get to deal with the guilt of that. It's not my job to help you with that. Not anymore."

"I don't want to hurt you-"

"Too late."

"(Y/n)-"

"Leave," I cut him off.

"No!"

"You don't fucking get it, do you," I replied. "Your head is so far up your ass that you don't get it. You left. You left and started dating someone a day later. It hurt. A lot. I don't have to forgive you. I'm still recovering from everything. I... I'm dealing with what you did. You don't get some blind forgiveness."

"You're just latched onto me?"

"No, you were important and you leaving hurt," I explained. "It's more like you're a stain that I got stuck cleaning up."

I was turning around to walk away when he spoke up.

"You'll never move on like this."

I froze and turned around.

"Jess, you're the one on my doorstep," I said bluntly. "As far as I can tell, you're the one that can't move on."

Jess stood there in silence for a moment before turning around to storm off.

I let out a deep breath. I barely registered Dean getting out of his car. My first thought was that he was going to follow Jess, but he didn't. He walked up my pathway, not giving Jess a glance.

"You alright," he asked.

I nodded.

He still pulled me into a tight hug. I closed my eyes and hugged him back, trying to hold back my tears. I felt Dean kiss my head before stepping back. He grinned at me gently before going to walk back to his car.

"See you tomorrow," he said, looking at me over his shoulder. I nodded and grinned.

I walked inside and went to grab some water in the kitchen to calm myself.

My mom was standing in the kitchen.

"I like Dean more than Jess," she commented.

I scoffed at her and went to walk out again.

"I'm serious," she called out to me.

I didn't have it in me to tell her that I agreed.

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Author's Note: Dean's part in this plot was born out of pure spite.

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Masterlist (Includes links to All Writing Challenges)

What I Write For

Some Original Characters