#because they are trying to navigate difficult relationship styles

[eclec-tech]

(unsolicited and rambly Hunter defense post under the cut)

I know what people are going to say about this episode--that Hunter didn't do enough and say enough to Crosshair. They're going to say that he should have apologized, hugged him, poured his heart out with tears and promises that he is forgiven and that he will never let him go again.

That's not Hunter.

What we got here was the best we could have hoped for from his character. We got acknowledgement and a willingness to move forward.

These two have had a contentious relationship since we first met them. Both of them are strong leaders. But only one was in charge. That's a difficult dynamic to navigate when you are also a pair of stubborn brothers who don't like to back down.

Hunter wants to trust Crosshair again. That's why he demanded answers. He couldn't just take it from Omega that Crosshair could be trusted again. He needed to hear it from Crosshair himself, because if Crosshair was unwilling to share what had changed during his time in the Empire, Hunter had no basis for establishing trust again. He needed to see that Crosshair was willing to trust him again by giving him answers. But he also knew that Crosshair was stubborn and that kind of vulnerability would have to be forced out. So that's what he did. He forced the truth out of Crosshair.

It was tough love, brother style.

Look at Hunter's face at the end of the episode. It's one of the few times we've ever seen Hunter talking to Crosshair with an open and unguarded expression--no furrowed brow, no frowning, no soul-penetrating stare.

"All we can do is keep trying to be better. And who knows? There might be hope for us yet."

He has stopped saying "you" when he's addressing Crosshair. He's using "we" and "us". He doesn't have to tell Crosshair he forgives him for what's happened in the past. He now understands him.

With understanding, there's nothing to forgive.

[merrybloomwrites]

Something Great (Larry x Bandmember Reader)

Summary: When you find yourself the sole girl in a band with five boys, of course your main focus is the band. But the boys? Well, they also have your attention. Navigating relationships is hard, but if you're lucky, that work can be worth it in the end.

Word Count: 2.5K

AN: Thank you to the anon who requested Louis x Harry x bandmember reader ages ago! Thanks both for the request, and the patience as I dealt with some major writers block on this one.

This isn't going to be a series so much as a little universe where I add random stories to it. So this is the getting together story to create the universe. I have a few ideas so far, but if there's anything specific you'd like to see feel free to send a message or leave a comment!

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Singing has always been a passion of yours. Your mom had put you in the children’s choir at church when you were little, and you’ve been singing ever since.

When your friends heard about auditions for the X-Factor they had all encouraged you to go. Or well, basically forced you. Even when you said it was silly, that you weren’t that good, they still told you that you had to at least try.

You never thought you’d make it, and when you didn’t get accepted after your audition you figured you’d been right. But then you and five boys all got called back and were put together in a band. 

Next thing you know you’re competing, spending all of your time with these five boys to practice and do interviews. You thought this would be short lived, that it would end once you lost the competition, but the opposite had happened. You’d all quickly rose to fame, becoming loved by people all over the world.

It’s a busy job, and doesn’t leave time for much else.

Except you’re a teenage girl, now sharing a tour bus and effectively living with five teenage boys. Five boys who have somehow quickly tamed their fluffy hair from messes into attractive styles. Five boys who are more open and vulnerable about their feelings with each other than anyone you’ve ever met. Five boys who are silly, and protective, and kind.

So yea, of course you can’t help but develop crushes on them. However, while your attention definitely cycles through all of them, you find yourself focusing mostly on Harry and Louis. 

Harry, well you’ve had a crush on him since day one. But you watched the way he was with Louis, the looks and touches they shared. This puts two conflicting thoughts in your mind. The first being that Harry is probably not interested in you, or girls for that matter, because, I mean, look at him with Louis. There’s no doubt that he has feelings for him. On the other hand, it made you pay even more attention to Louis, thus deepening your crush for him as well.

You’d find yourself switching between daydreams about being with Harry and then daydreams about being with Louis. So really it was only a matter of time until that all blended together. Without you even realizing it, you were now daydreaming about it being the three of you. 

Admitting to yourself that you want a relationship with both of them was difficult. Because you knew that it could never happen. So you tried to bury those dreams deep down until they would eventually go away.

It worked for a while. Things got even busier and your focus turned fully to the music.

And then you walked in on a sight you should have expected. But still, seeing Harry and Louis kissing was somehow a shock. One that left you feeling so sad, and lonely, and somehow rejected. 

They didn’t know you caught them, so you had backed away and let them continue their moment in private.

But it was clear that a shift had occurred in the dynamic. The boys kept their secret for another week before telling the rest of you that they were together. You watched as Liam, Niall, and Zayn congratulated them on finally figuring out their feelings. You joined in, hoping your enthusiasm matched the rest. 

Weeks pass, and you’re constantly having to watch Harry and Louis together. They have to hide the relationship from the outside world, which means they’re practically attached at the hip whenever they can find privacy. And apparently that includes times when you, Niall, Liam, and Zayn are there. 

They never get too over the top, but when it’s just the band, they’re always touching in some way, or sharing the occasional kiss. 

It should be sweet, and it is, and you’re happy for them, truly. But jealousy is an ugly thing. And the more you have to watch them being so cute together, the more your jealousy rages. 

You’ve had to start distancing yourself from them, worried that you’d do or say something that you’d later regret. They picked up on this of course, and one day they come to confront you about it while you’re all waiting backstage between sound check and a show. 

“Do you have a problem with us being together?” Louis asks. He’s holding Harry’s hand, and the sight of him running his thumb gently along the back has you almost crying. You wish you were in their position, either of their positions. But no, you’re alone.

“I don’t have a problem,” you reply.

“Really? Because you’ve been avoiding us for weeks now,” Harry says. “Is it because we’re two boys?”

That shocks you, and you say, “Of course not! I can’t believe you’d accuse me of being homophobic! That you’d think so little of me that I’d be bothered by that!”

“Well you’re clearly bothered by something! And we know it has to do with me and Harry being in a relationship,” Louis retorts. 

“I don’t have a problem with you two being in a relationship! I just-” you throw your arms up and turn to step away. Harry reaches out and his hand wraps around your wrist as he says, “Please don’t walk away! Not until we figure this out. I don’t want us drifting apart like we have been.”

Your breath catches, both at his touch and his pleading words. You pause for a moment before finally turning back. Harry drops his hand and your skin feels cold in his absence. 

“What is it, Y/N?” Louis asks calmly. You can tell by his expression that he wants to fix this, that he wants to help you. But you have no idea how to explain the problem without admitting your feelings for them. 

“I guess I’m just feeling lonely. And watching the two of you be so happy together makes that worse. Also-” you cut yourself off once more, not wanting to let anything slip.

“Also?” Louis prompts.

“I guess that as the only girl in the band I thought that if anyone would be in a relationship with a bandmate, it would be me. But I didn’t want to complicate things so I just, you know, squished my feelings down so they’d go away.”

Harry quickly says, “But I mean, you still can. We can even help you! Who is it? Liam? You two would be so cute together! Or is it Z, or Niall?” 

Harry doesn’t notice your expressions he speaks, but Louis does. He immediately understands what Harry hasn’t and says, “Is it one of us?”

Your face flushes and you want so desperately to hide in embarrassment at being called out like this. But you just reply, “I mean, yes and no.”

They both look at you confused before putting the pieces together. “You like both of us,” Harry states. You nod yes. “Did you want to be with one of us?” he asks. You shrug, not really knowing how to reply. “Did you want to be with both of us?” he finally asks. 

You know you can’t lie, that they’ve cornered you and now you have to admit this. “Fine, yes! Okay, yes, I like both of you and I wanted to be with both of you but I knew that wasn’t an option and now you’re together so neither of you are options and I just have to deal with that. You know the truth now, so I’m going to go hide in shame for a little while.”

This time you don’t let them stop you, walking away swiftly and hiding in a nearby girls bathroom where they can’t follow you. 

Things are awkward for the rest of the day but everyone does their best to put on a good show. You wake up the next morning in your hotel room and quickly check twitter to make sure there were no negative comments. Seeing nothing, you’re relieved that the fans didn’t pick up on the tension between you, Harry, and Louis.

You get up and make a cup of tea, and just as you go to take a sip there’s a knock at the door. Never a moment of peace, you think to yourself. That thought gets emphasized when you look through the peephole and see who’s on the other side. 

Somewhat grudgingly, you open the door to let Harry and Louis in.

It’s awkward as you share good mornings. It’s a small room, so the only sitting option is the bed. Knowing this is likely about to be a sit down conversation, you wordlessly turn and sit cross legged on the bed, your back against the headboard. Louis and Harry both perch at the end of the bed, leaving space between them.

For a second you feel guilt, wondering if the conversation yesterday caused a rift between the two boys. But then they share a look and you know that’s not the case. 

“We wanted to talk about what you said yesterday,” Louis begins. 

“Well, actually we talked to each other about it quite a lot last night,” Harry adds. “So now we wanted to include you.”

“I've said everything I have to say,” you state, tired of having this conversation again. 

“Yea but we haven’t,” Harry answers. “You were honest and vulnerable last night. Now it’s our turn.”

There’s a small spark in you, a spark of hope that you try to tamp down in case this doesn’t go your way. 

Louis speaks next, “Harry and I were talking last night and we learned that on top of our feelings for each other, we both have feelings for you as well.”

“You're just saying that now that I’ve said it,” you reply defensively. 

“We’re not! I promise!” Harry interjects. “You can call our mums, they’ll tell you that we’ve called them to talk about how we both have crushes on two band members and don’t know what to do.” 

It’s clear he’s telling the truth, and it makes your mind spin. These two boys, whom you like, both like you as well. But they also like each other. And are in a relationship. So where does that leave you?

“Ok, so we all like each other,” you say. “What now? Does anything change or do I just have to live with this information?”

“We’d like if things would change,” Louis says. “We discussed it last night, and we both want you to be a part of our relationship. If you want to, that is.”

You almost ask for time to think about it. But you’re tired of thinking. “I want to. I want to be with both of you.”

You know it will be difficult to navigate a three person relationship, especially when you’re all under such high levels of scrutiny at all times, but right now you don’t care. Right now, you’re getting everything you’ve ever dreamed of. 

“Will you go on a date with us? Tonight?” Harry asks, his cherubic face full of hope. 

“But we’re not allowed to leave the hotel,” you say. 

“Who cares?” Louis adds. “We’ll get takeaway and eat together in my room. It’s completely clean, l’m staying in Harry’s anyway.” 

“Will you have dinner with us?” 

“Okay. Yes, I’ll have dinner with you guys tonight,” you answer. 

“It’s a date,” Louis says with a smile. “Room 328, 6pm.”

“I’ll be there.”

The three of you stand and walk over to the door. Harry leans in for a bruising hug, holding you tight. Louis is next, and it feels so right to be tucked into his arms. They say goodbye and promise to see you later. 

You spend the rest of the day on cloud nine. Each time you go to do something you pause and think about Harry and Louis, and your heart fills with joy. 

You take a long relaxing shower and dress in a nice pair of jeans and a comfy sweater. It’s not often that you put on makeup and style your own hair but you do so today, wanting to look nice for the boys. 

They each greet you with a kiss on the cheek, and you feel heat rush to your face at the gesture while butterflies flutter in your stomach. You have a lovely time, getting to know Harry and Louis even more. 

When you’ve all finished eating you sit together on the bed to watch a movie. You’re sandwiched between the two boys, and overwhelmed by the feeling of comfort that provides. Halfway through the movie, Harry places his hand gently on your thigh. Minutes later, Louis does the same on your other leg. It feels so good and drives you completely crazy at the same time. 

Nothing more happens during the movie. But there’s a certain energy when it ends, and you can’t help but wonder what might happen next. 

In the soft glow of the TV screen you watch Harry and Louis share a glance, followed by a head nod. Harry squeezes the hand that’s resting on your right thigh, then brings his free hand up to cup your check. He gently turns your head to look at him and you watch as his soft eyes dart to look at your lips. 

Your breath catches as you realize what’s happening. Time seems to freeze as Harry slowly leans closer. You try to memorize every moment of this, knowing it’s the start of so much more. Harry’s thumb caresses your face and finally, his lips brush against yours. 

He pulls back a centimeter and takes a deep breath before firmly connecting his lips to yours. The kiss doesn’t last long, but it fills you with warmth from head to toe. 

Harry has the brightest smile, his eyes sparkling with joy. 

“Lou’s turn?” He asks and you happily shift to face Louis now. 

He bites his bottom lip, and you wish he wouldn’t. You’d much rather do that for him. He releases it and his tongue darts out to lick it. Again you can’t wait until you’re able to do it instead. 

His hand goes to your waist and he moves close. You breathe the same air and then, he’s kissing you. This lasts a little longer, his lips sliding against yours for a moment before he pulls away and places one more kiss just at the edge of your mouth. 

You rest your head on Louis' shoulder and lace your fingers with Harry’s. The three of you relax like that until you start to doze off. 

The boys walk you back to your room, but not before each giving you a good night kiss. 

You lay in bed reflecting on the past two days. You know this won’t be easy, navigating a relationship like this. But you know it will be worth it. 

This is clearly the start of something great.

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AN: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed and I'm looking forward to sharing more about this little trio!

[asumofwords]

Smoke, Fire and Ash

Warnings: This fic includes noncon, dubcon, manipulation, violence, death, forced marriage, and inc3st. Tags will be added as the fic goes on.

This is a dark!fic. 18+ only. Read at your own discretion. Please read the warnings before continuing.

Summary: You are the eldest daughter of Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen. You are forced to navigate the difficult surroundings of your upbringing and the eventual disintegration between your family and the Hightower's relationship. What will happen when your older and estranged uncle suddenly takes a more sinister interest in you? (Dark!Aemond x Reader)

Masterlist

Characters: Aemond Targaryen X Reader, HOTD characters.

Note: Hello angels!! This is a much longer chapter than usual because I kept writing and couldn't stop and didn't want to split it into two parts! Thank you all for the love as usual, I hope you enjoy ! <3

Chapter 65: Lanta hen keskydoso, Two of the same

Returning to your chambers after your interaction with Larys caused you to have spring in your step. It had given you a rush to speak so plainly with him, smiling at him so that all in the gardens who passed by suspected nothing. 

For once you felt you knew something that the so called Master of Whispers did not. 

The Maester had helped you.

The Maester had given you that broach. A symbol of allyship that you needed in the Keep. And yet they still did not know it. They did not know that there was a traitor in their midst. 

And it excited you.

When you opened the door to the chambers, you found Aemond already inside, sitting in front of the fire, tome in his lap. His hair was pulled back behind his head in a half ponytail, the long silver tresses lifted and flowing down his back. Messy strands fell around his ears and framed his face.

This new style came as a shock to you. The man had worn his hair in the same way, every day, as he always had since he was a child. It revealed more of his sharp face and neck, the hair pulled away to reveal the pale skin beneath. 

Without greeting him, you moved about the chambers to seat yourself at the window, picking up a book from the pile on the side of the room to read. When you sat you felt his gaze lift to you, but you did not meet it, opting to ignore him and read instead. But the harder you tried to ignore his heated gaze, the less you could resist, letting your eyes flick up to his. 

Aemond watched you beneath his lashes silently, finger tapping on the page in his lap. 

“Can I help you?” You asked.

“I’m sure you are enthralled with the prospect of reading ‘Crispian Celtigar, Master of Coins; Wealth of the Realm’.” Aemond hummed.

You let your eyes fall back down to the book in your lap.

You had picked up one of the most boring books of all. 

Why did Aemond even have this?

“I am sure far more enticing than this conversation.” You drawled.

Aemond hummed, before letting the chambers dissolve into silence. You opened the page and began to read the history book, eyes skimming the words and immediately regretting your quick choice.

‘The Lord of Claw Isle came from the blood of old Valyria. His allyship lay with the Velaryon and Targaryen Houses naturally. Lord Celtigar was a clever and young Lord of his House. He had grown in the Isles and-‘

“How was your walk with Lord Larys?” Aemond’s smooth tone pulled you from the words of the book.

How did he know?

Did he see you?

“Enlightening and refreshing. The air was crisp, and the sun shone beautifully. I regretfully had not taken the time to be acquainted with the last Lord of House Strong.”

You watched him as he took his eye from his book to look at you.

“Hm. And what did you talk about?”

“That’s neither here nor there, husband.” You spoke bluntly.

Aemond blinked, staring at you, trying to push you to respond to his question with his silence. You thought of not answering him, letting him stew in the possibilities of finding comfort in a man like Larys.

But you sated him instead, “He doesn’t speak plainly, as I am sure you would know. Pulling teeth would be easier than talking to him.”

"Larys will only tell you what you want to hear.” 

“Of that I have realised.” You replied.

You looked back down at the tome in your hand, trying to force yourself to read the words on the page. 

Why was it so dull? 

How could he read this and not fall asleep?

“We are to dine with the King this evening.”

“Delightful.” You droned, flicking another page over to look at the endless boring script.

Aemond stood, and you let your eyes peek at him from below your lashes as he walked towards the door, requesting the knight to summon the maids.

A short while later, the two girls entered the chambers and Aemond asked them to ready you for the evening. 

They braided your hair, half behind your head and dressed you in a deep black gown, the cleavage dipping to show ample breast. You wore your gold chain with the rubies, with the earrings and ring to match, twirling the dragon around your finger as you waited in anticipation of yet another tiresome, and most likely, eventful dinner.

As the maids left the chambers, Aemond waited for you by the door to walk side by side with him to the small dining hall. He watched you as you observed him from across the room.

“You were gone quite some time.” You interrupted the silence, looking down at your hands in false boredom.

“I had duties to attend to.” He responded bluntly.

“And how is she?” You looking up at Aemond with curious eyes. 

You watched his jaw tick.

“Who?”

He wanted to know what you knew.

“Alys Rivers, of course.” You smiled at him, stepping forward across the room to stand at his side as you moved to leave the chambers. You walked out the door and waited in the corridor, looking back to see Aemond still where he was, eye narrowed.

Oh yes, I know all about her.

Silence filled the air as Aemond stared at you, and you awaited his response. He walked out to join you, the tow of you beginning to make your way to dine with the Greens. Aemond kept his gaze straight ahead as you walked, and you felt a sense of satisfaction at his silence.

And so you asked again.

“Is she well?” You smiled looking to your side, all sickly sweet, like a soft honey bee with its stinger hidden away.

Aemond hummed, looking down at you as you continued, still not having answered.

The knight escorted the both of you down the halls and corridors. The doors to the dining hall were just up ahead as you rapidly approached them, your hands held together in front of you, and his behind his back. 

As you stood in front of the entrance, watching the two guards lean forward to pull open the large wooden doors, Aemond shifted, leaning closer to you as he looked down into your eyes.

Your husband opened his mouth to speak, but paused before closing his mouth shut. The Prince straightened and looked ahead as the room was revealed to you.

No response then.

The knight announced you to the room as you walked up the small steps to the landing where the table lay. Aegon sat in the centre with his mother and Otto flanking each side. All dressed in green looking like an odd bunch of peas.

The Master of Whispers sat beside Alicent in robes of burgundy, watching you with hawk like eyes after your interaction. Lord Jasper Wylde sat opposite him, in pale green robes, whilst other small council members littered the table like cockroaches. 

“Welcome back, brother.” Aegon smiled from the across the room, watching as the both of you came to the table.

Aemond pulled your chair out for you, as he always did, and you seated yourself in it softly, giving Aegon a small, yet polite smile. Alicent pursed her lips at you in a stiff greeting and Otto simply watched you. Your eyes flicked to Lord Jasper Wylde and you gave him a gentle smile.

Aegon’s brow creased, if not for only a moment, before a large smirk wound its way on his face. 

When the servants laid out the supper for the evening, you had sat and waited patiently for Alicent to say her prayer to the room, thanking the Seven for the spread and the health of the King. You piled your plate high with steaming vegetables and meat, and sipped generously at a honeyed wine from Essos, and not the spiced wine from Dorne that you loved. It was sweet, but also tart on your tongue, a distinctly different wine to what you had grown accustomed to.

As you ate, conversation filled the room between the small council members and the Hightower's. You could sense however, that Aemond’s gaze was stiffly on his brother, who had not taken his eyes off of you. 

“It was a beautiful day today, was it not, niece?” Aegon asked, one side of his mouth twitching as he spoke.

“It was, uncle. I took myself for a walk around the gardens and was fortunate enough to be accompanied by Lord Larys.” You answered honestly and politely, smiling at Lord Strong at the mention of his name. 

“It must be a relief to have your Lord Husband back in the Keep. I cannot imagine how lonely it must get for a wife without their husband.” 

Lonely.

Your eyes flicked to Jasper Wylde who would not meet your gaze, eyes down on his plate as he ate.

He had told Aegon.

“It does, uncle. There is only so many times I can read the same book, or walk the same path in the gardens, before the task becomes tedious. But thankfully, he has returned to me after so long away.”

Aegon sipped his wine as Alicent’s voice flitted across the table to you.

“Perhaps you would like a loom, so that you may embroider?” She inquired, hands clasped together on the table, head tilted.

“That would be welcomed, thank you. Although, I may not be very good at it. It was always more of a talent Princess Helaena had. I find my talents elsewhere.”

Aegon scoffed loudly into his cup and Aemond shifted beside you.

Conversation slowly moved around the table with the other guests and you let yourself settle back into your chair, listening for anything important. Any tones that grew quiet or hushed or stressed. Anything that could be of use. 

But most of it, was not.

“I’m curious to know about these talents you spoke of. I am sure my brother has experienced such things. Does this mean we will have an heir soon?” Aegon questioned, grinning at Aemond.

You unreservedly pathetic, loathsome, waste of breath.

You grit your teeth, the sharp incisors sliding over each other in your mouth roughly, and forced a small smile on your face, fighting away a grimace that tried to replace it.

“Those talents, I unfortunately have no knowledge of, uncle. But, no,” You paused, “I had my blood, so there is no babe.”

Speak plainly and openly.

Appear to be complacent.

Aegon pouted and sighed, “The Realm needs a babe for the treaty." He announced loudly, drawing all into the conversation again, "Have you even been trying? Do you need me to instruct you?”

You smiled at him, and thought of all the ways you could tear his head from his shoulders.

“The Prince had taken to Harrenhal for many days. Aemond often warms the bed of the Strong bastard, Alys Rivers.” You took a pause and smiled at your uncle beside you, “But now, thank the Gods, he has finally returned.”

Aemond stiffened at your side, hands gripping his cutlery tightly. You reached a hand over to grasp one of his in your own, soothing his white knuckles with your thumb, smiling at him brightly.

“I go where my King commands me.” Aemond purred, hand dropping the utensil beneath his hand and grasping yours tightly, digging his fingers into your soft skin painfully.

You bit the inside of your cheek.

Alicent stared daggers at her son, and Ser Otto sat quietly watching you. Aegon laughed loudly into the room, looking at how his brothers eye twitched and avoided meeting your gaze.

“I envy you, brother. You seem to have been wed to Visenya reborn.” 

“Then that would make Aemond, Aegon the First reborn.” You replied, and watched as Aegon’s smirk dropped from his face with triumph.

You could never measure up to Aegon the Conqueror, you half-witted swine. 

Aemond’s harsh grip on your hand loosened at the comment. 

Otto steered the conversation away from you and your uncle, and you sat with you hand in his until the dinner was over. Aemond stood, assisting you to stand, and excused you both from the table with a curt parting glance and a stiff bow of his head.

You had thanked Aegon for the meal, and smiled at him and the other Green council members before leaving the dining hall with your husband. 

The walk was quiet, and once you had entered your chambers, Aemond began to pace the room. Each step he took, his boots clacked against the stone floors loudly, hands behind his back as his lips were pulled into a sneer.

“Your childishness knows no bounds.” Aemond growled, back faced away from you and towards the window.

“My childishness?” 

Aemond spun on his heel looking at you, “You dare to bring her up whilst we dine? Before all the Lords?”

You tilted your head and looked at him, “The Lords already knew. I was the only one it seemed, in the entirety of Kings Landing, who was not privy to my husbands whoring.”

“Whoring?” Aemond sneered, taking a step closer, “And what of your little walk with Lord Wylde?”

Fuck. 

Thinking on your toes, you scoffed loudly, “You must think me stupid to approach a man who is known as 'Ironrod' to the small folk for his refusal to bend to any man. A Lord dedicated to law, who will not budge, and has openly ridiculed my mother? Do you think that man such as him,” You narrowed your gaze, “Would even look at me for one moment? Do you think a man like Lord Jasper Wylde would even fall for such an attempt?”

You had hoped he would. 

All men are the same. 

They think with their cock.

Aemond crowded your space, his chest brushing against yours as he looked down at you.

“You know nothing of men.” He growled.

“I know plenty.” You countered, looking up at him, staring into his violet eye.

“You know nothing.” The One-Eyed Prince snapped, breath fanning over your face.

You sighed, stepping back and away from him, “I know that you fly to Harrenhal and bed a bastard named Alys Rivers. I know she is of House Strong. I know that she is called a witch, and I know that you love her.” You turn away from Aemond, his lips twitching as you spin on your heel, “I know that your words are hollow, for you have cursed my brothers as Strong bastards and waged a war on them, and yet, you bed one of your own.”

You stood in front of the fire, looking at the flames as they licked at the wood within, the bark peeling away from the heat only to be devoured by the orange and yellow teeth of the fire. The flames flickered for a moment, swaying as though disturbed by a breeze.

When you turned, Aemond was behind you, his large hand coming to snatch your throat tightly, ripping the air from your lungs. 

Your hands flew up to grasp his wrist as he sneered down at you.

“You know nothing of her. Do not presume to speak freely.” He growled, face shadowed by the light of the fire, accentuating the sharpness of his features.

You wheezed, hands still gripping him, and yet you did not feel frightened.

“Even if she has your child, it will never be an heir. It will always be a bastard.” You gasped, staring him in the eye. 

Aemond’s mouth pulled taunt and his hand squeezed your throat harder, body looming over yours as the fire crackled loudly beside you.

“And yet Aegon could legitimise them both, if I asked.” His sneer pulled upwards into a smirk, fingers twitching around your throat.

“And yet you and I would both know the truth.”

Aemond’d grip yanked you towards him, his nose brushing yours as he grunted, eye searching your face before he shoved you backwards, your hand coming to your chest as you breathed in deeply, coughs clawing their way up your throat. 

“If you are free to bed her," You wheezed, watching at how he reacted to your words, "Then I shall find someone to warm my bed elsewhere.” You smiled widely, voice hoarse from his grip.

His single eye flickered, and you saw his hand twitch, “Or perhaps I will fuck Aegon. He seems to show interest in warming our bed.”

There was a shift.

The air in the room seemed to chill, and a shiver rolled down your back.

Aemond’s face morphed into something you had never witnessed before.

You had grown accustomed to seeing his rage and fury often, his bitter anger and spite, but this? This was something new. Like any lingering presence of the man you had known, or even the man you had witnessed just a moments pass, was gone, and in his place something dangerous and unforgiving. 

“Tread carefully.” He whispered, barely restraining the pure rage within him.

The mere mention of Aegon stirred this response.

You pressed on, testing the waters.

“What do you expect me to do whilst you are gone and the King lingers around these chambers? If he commands it, he is King. I cannot refuse him. And he has made it clear to me that he wishes to teach me things that you could not.” 

“Aegon is a little boy, dressed as a man who we are all forced to call King. His word holds no power over me.” Aemond sneered, animosity pouring out of him as he looked at you.

“And yet you do his bidding, and go where he commands you, like a dog.”

The slap sounded into the room before you felt it. Your cheek stung and your eyes began to water, head turned towards the fire. Your hair curtained over your face as the pain began to bloom across your cheek.

A little boy he's forced to call King.

'His word holds no power over me.'

You let a shaky hand move to touch the heat that rippled along your face before you looked back at Aemond, whose chest rose and fell, fist at his side curling and unfurling. 

Stepping towards him, you took a deep breath, “Do it again if it will make you feel better.”

You watched as Aemond’s brow furrowed, confusion and anger dancing around each other as he watched you. 

“It makes no difference to me. I expect your cruelty. This is what I know. I know you." You breathed and watched him as you dropped your hand, revealing your red cheek to the room.

"You have raped, and defiled me.” You took another step closer, watching as his breaths evened out, “Beat, and choked me. You have scarred me and haunted my dreams far longer than any folklore or tale. I anticipate every blow, every curse, every drop of blood taken from my body, because that is the man that you are.”

Aemond stiffened with every word, looking down at you as you came closer.

“You have called Aegon a monster, and yet he has shown me more mercy than you.” You smiled sadly up at the man.

“I do not fault you for taking Alys as your lover. Anyone in a loveless marriage such as this would do the same. And that is the only mercy you have given me. Each day that you are gone from the Keep, and leave to warm her bed, I am given a reprieve from your cruelty and having to look upon your face.”

Aemond’s gaze darkened as he let you continue, “Don’t mistaken me, uncle. You are a handsome man, an image of a true Targaryen.” 

You let yourself look over his body. He was tall and lean, with a sharp face. His hair was soft and shining, silver locks pulled back away from his neck. Aemond's plump lips were pulled into a stiff line, and his purple eye was locked on yours.

His robes fit him perfectly, tailored to perfection, and the way he held himself tall and strong, added to the allure of the man known as Aemond Targaryen.

Aemond was handsome, there was no denying that.

You would not lie to yourself about a trivial thing such as appearance. For anyone with half decent taste could see that he was a very attractive Prince. Even if he was the most limaceous, despicable, and horrifying man you had ever come across.

“The loss of your eye has weighed very little on your looks, and if you were anyone else, I would have thought myself lucky. But you are not anyone else, and it is not the scar that makes you so hideous.” 

You let your hand move to cup the side of his face, watching as he flinched at the movement, brows furrowing deeper on his face. His cheek was warm against your hand, heat radiating into your palm as you felt the subtle stubble of his jaw.  

Your thumb rubbed against his jaw. In thought. In questioning of your next words. In a form of comfort to both yourself and him. Aemond’s gaze dropped to your lips, eye half lidded as he leant into your touch.

“It is not your eye, kepus. It’s the person you are within.” You whispered, all soft and cooing, but words sharper than a blade.

Aemond’s eye flicked back to you, blinking, lip twitching as he watched you. You moved to take your hand away from his face, his gaze piercing through you.

Aemond's large hand shot up, and grasped your wrist, holding your hand against him. 

Holding your palm against his cheek.

His grip was unyielding, and his fingers twitched around your wrist in thought, tightening to a bruising and crushing vice, to simply holding your arm in his hand.

“You will come to love me. Just as I love you.” Aemond whispered, grip tightening around your wrist painfully.

“When the sun rises in the west, and sets in the east. When the rivers and oceans run dry. When the tree hold no leaves, and the sky holds no colour. That is when I will love you.” You breathed.

“And yet you did once. And you do still. You just refuse to see it.”

“You refuse to see reason.” You pulled your hand from his grip, feeling the warmth of the fire beside you, “You are disillusioned by time and war.”

“You are disillusioned by your own fears. You refuse to see it. To see that we are meant to burn together. That a great fall would tie two threads. Fated by the Gods.”

You took a step back away from him. 

What?

“Lanta hen keskydoso,” Two of the same, "Vējes ondoso se Jaes.” Fated by the Gods.

You shook your head as Aemond spoke, stepping forward to grasp both of your hands, pulling them towards him to press against his chest.

“You must see. She must have told you. Surely she spoke of it to you.” He whispered.

“Who?”

“Helaena.”

Helaena?

“Lanta rōvēgrie zaldrīzes perzyssy, hēnkirī hae mēre.” Two great dragon flames, together as one. 

One hand left yours as you looked up at him, blood running cold. His hand moved to the back of your head, long fingers tangling themselves in the hair at the nape of your neck. He pulled you closer, looking down at you hungrily as his pupil expanded, swallowing the violet of his eye.

Air caught in your throat as his nose brushed against yours, his breath fanning over your lips as he watched you.

“Spool hen Kasta, spool hen Zōbrie.” Spool of Green, spool of Black. 

Spool of Green, Spool of Black.

Spool of Green, Spool of Black.

“Syt iksan aōha spool hen Kasta, Se ao ñuha spool hen Zōbrie.” For I am your spool of Green, and you my spool of Black, Aemond murmured, lips brushing gently against yours as he spoke. 

Hand turns loom.

Green to Black. 

Green to Black.

Green to-

“Iā rōvēgrie ropagon naejot letagon lanta hubon. Vējes naejot zālagon hēnkirī.” 

A great fall to tie two threads. 

Fated to burn together.  

Aemond’s lips crashed into yours, teeth clashing roughly into your own as he wrenched you close to him, one hand tangled in your hair, the other wrapping itself around your waist, pulling you flush against him.

It was all teeth and tongue, suffocating and rough. Where you would try to come up for air, or wriggle from his grip, Aemond would double his strength and hold you against him with no likelihood of escape. 

A great fall.

A great fall.

All you could think about was falling, whilst Aemond’s hand pulled you under.

His fingers pulled at the laces of your dress, roughly ripping them open from behind as you were forced to bend to his will. Aemond ripped the front of your gown and chemise down, breasts spilling out of their confines.

You yelped into his mouth as his hands pinched your breasts meanly, fingers twisting the stiffened peak between his thumb and forefinger.

Aemond moved you backwards until your legs hit the back of the chemise, your body almost toppling over the back of it. You pushed back into the kiss, nipping at his lip harshly as he continued to undress you, gown pooled at your feet.

He pulled back to look at you, his eye wild and hair messed. His lips were swollen and red, and the tiniest hint of blood rose from his bottom lip where you had nipped it. 

“Gevie.” Beautiful, He cooed, looking you up and down as you shivered under his gaze.

Aemond stepped close, hand gripping your chin, pulling your face up to look at him. He brought his head down towards you and whispered. 

“Mine.”

Your front was pushed up against the back of the chaise as Aemond spun you around roughly, your hands coming to grip the dark wood beneath you tightly for balance. You breathed in shakily, trying to steady your breaths as Aemond loomed behind you.

“Alys has seen it too.” He whispered, hand trailing down your back, causing goosebumps to rise in its wake.

“Blood will be spilt to seed the garden, and set the future sway.” His fingers curled beneath the crease of your ass, tickling the skin as he pushed you forward with the other hand, bending you deeper over the back of the chaise.

“Ravens will whisper the words of a burning star, a crown forged of blood.” He continued, fingers trailing up the back of your thigh, fingers scratching short nails against the skin as they made their way towards your centre. 

“And from her blood, the Prince that was promised. Five years to come, his song of ice and fire.” 

Two long fingers swiped through your folds, caressing your bud as they moved back down toward your hole, forcing their way in. You gasped at the intrusion of his hand as he pushed down on the front of your walls with two skilled fingers. 

Your fingers gripped the wood tightly as you breathed heavily through your nose, desperate to calm yourself as he began to slowly drag his fingers in and out of your heat, rubbing against the soft spongey spot within you. 

“Our heir will be the prince that was promised. Our son will be what Aegon the First prophesied.” He purred, speeding up his movements with his hand.

“I will fuck heirs into you, and you will give me the Prince that was promised.”

You whimpered as he became rougher, the sounds of his leather breeches being untied behind you. Aemond’s thumb rubbed against your clit as he continued to fuck his fingers inside of you, wetness begin to drip down his hand. You moaned at the sudden combined pleasure.

“Each time you deny me, you deny his word.” His hand became rougher, “Each time you bite at me, you desecrate his vision.”

Your head spun as the coil within you tightened faster and faster, his knuckles beating bruisingly against the soft flesh of your thighs.

“And each time you refuse to see it, you delay the prophecy from coming to fruition.” He growled, thumb pressing against your pearl sharply, and suddenly your peak was ripped from you painfully and viciously, back curled as you tried to pull your hips away from his fingers that never slowed their motions. 

Aemond continued to fuck his hand into you through your release, sobs and gasps spilling from your lips until he finally pulled his digits from your core, your walls clenching and spasming around nothing.

He wiped the wetness along your inner thighs, trails of your slick coating them. Your body hummed from the abrupt orgasm, and your mind was hazed as you tried to wade through the thick sludge to think clearly. 

From her blood the Prince that was promised?

The heat of Aemond’s body behind you disappeared, and you slowly pushed yourself up to stop leaning over the back of the lounge, turning your head to see where he had gone to.

Where was he?

Two large hands grasped at your cheeks and parted them, a tongue swiping from your pearl, all the way to your puckered hole. 

You cried out and fell forward, hands losing their grip of the wood as Aemond began to seek out the release that leaked from within you with his tongue. His nose buried into your flesh as he lapped at your hole, tongue pushing inside to drink your essence.

Pleasure rippled through your body as you whimpered, a hand flying back to try and push him away from you, body jerking from overstimulation. Your hand dug into his hair pulling the soft locks. You felt Aemond groan into your cunt, vibrations shooting up through your body. 

“I have missed this cunny.” He moaned.

"Your legs buckled slightly, fingers gripping his hair tighter, pulling him closer to your heat. 

Aemond groaned happily into your folds, licking and suckling at your slick, tongue teasing your bud as his hands dug into your ass with a bruising grip. You felt pleasure mounting within you quickly and rapidly. The front of your hips digging painfully into the front of the chaise as you tried to pull away from his mouth, his lips latching around your bud as he sucked on it.

“Going to fill you with my seed.” He growled, pulling away from your core as your legs shook, eyes unfocused as you stared at the fire.

Your heart pounded in your chest as you let him continued to lick, and nibble at your folds, the tide mounting higher and higher within, until he latched his teeth upon your bud and sucked it sharply into his mouth.

You came undone with a wail. Blinding white behind your eyes as hot pleasure flooded through you, the force of the second peak causing you to slump against the back of the chaise.

Aemond rose behind you, placing wet kisses on the backs of your thighs, the curve of your ass, and a single kiss for each and every vertebrae he passed, until he pressed himself up against your back.

The thick head of Aemond’s cock brushed through your folds and you shuddered, overstimulation and exhausting pouring out of you. He rubbed the tip of his cock through your slick folds, humming as he moved down to your entrance, slowly sliding inside. 

Aemond pushed himself to the hilt, your walls stratching to accomodate him, the head of his cock pushing up against your cervix. Your fingers curled into your palms as you held back a cry of pain and pleasure.

A large hand gripped the back of your neck, whilst the other slid itself around to grip your hip. He groaned as he seated himself inside of you, feeling your warm, wet walls gripping him tightly as he stilled within. You could feel his hot breath, fanning onto your neck at your ear as he bent over you.

Slowly, he pulled himself out, inch by inch, letting his shaft drag through your tender walls, veins rubbing against you deliciously as you fought to keep your moan in.

The tip stretched your entrance as it began to pull out, before Aemond slowly plunged back inside of you. Feeling your core clench around him as he hummed. 

"Sīr ȳrda.” So tight, He moaned, hands gripping your neck and hip tightly, fingers digging into your tender flesh. 

He began a steady pace, slowly pushing into your heat and pulling back out, almost as if he was teasing himself, working himself up to a frenzy as he relished in the feeling of your velvety walls.

Each thrust pushed your hips fighter into the chaise as his pelvis came flush against your backside, pushing himself as deep as he could go. It caused a pleasurable stretch as he opened you up for himself slowly. 

“Bisa orvorta iksis ñuhon.” This cunt is mine.

Aemond’s pace began to quicken, the force building, your body being pushed into the hard oak of the chaise, its legs jolting against the stone floor as he rutted against you.

Pleasure began to bubble up within you again, it’s tendrils spreading through your body as it wrapped itself around each and every nerve ending within your body.

“The gods made you for me. They made you so perfect for my cock. So perfect. I'm going to fuck an heir into you.” He grunted thrusting into you with earnest, rapidly becoming more savage as he sought out his own pleasure. 

“Going to fuck my seed into you and watch you swell with it.”

You moaned into the chambers, pleasure rising inside of you, mind lost to the world around you as you steadily moved towards your third release.

You wanted to let go. You needed it.

You were owed it. 

And if it came from Aemond, so be it. 

The echoes of his thrusts filled the room, the wet slapping of skin meeting skin, his breaths and grunts, and your tiny whimpers and mewls, surrounded you as he fucked you harder. The hand on your neck pulled you up flush against him, his arm moving to wrap itself under your chest, holding you to his chest.

“No one will have you. No one will touch you.” Aemond growled, “You’re mine. Mine. Always been mine, my zaldristos.” He purred, his thrusts pushing air out of your lungs as you limply leant into his chest. 

“I’ll kill them. I’ll kill anyone who has you. Anyone who touches you. Iksā ñuhon.” You’re mine.

“Please.” You whimpered in his arms, peak rapidly rising as he continued to fuck into your wet heat, slick coating your thighs. 

Aemond’s lips came to the juncture where your neck and throat met, a place where you had once stabbed him, and pressed his lips against you, sucking the skin harshly. His hand left your hip to come to your front, and skilled fingers dived between your folds to rub needy circles on your pearl in tandem with his thrusts. 

Bursting hot pleasure rippled through you as he brought you closer, your mouth parting and an airy moan flitting through. 

“Fuck.” He groaned, feeling you tighten around him, his fingers speeding up their movements as he continued to fuck you harder, almost pulling you from the floor with each thrust. 

The knight outside your door could no doubt hear the sounds of your rutting. His grunts and your moans filled the space, and with every slap of his hips into your wet and wanting core, a high pitched whine would peal fourth from your lips.

Not even the thick oak doors could hide the sounds of such carnal pleasure. 

“Iksā… sīr gevie.” You’re so beautiful, He grunted, pace becoming sloppy as his fingers raced to bring you to your peak. 

His lips pressed to your ear as he nipped the lobe before whispering, all breathy and wanting.

All commanding and giving.

All at once. 

“Come for me.” 

The coil within you snapped.

You felt like you were floating.

Your body had no weight to it as you soared high into your third release, long moan falling from your mouth as you leant back into Aemond behind you, feeling his pace begin to falter as he felt your cunt gripping him tightly. 

“Fuck.” You whimpered as he continued his pace, his thick cock jabbing sharply into your sensitive spot within, the head brushing it over and over, as you felt yourself soar higher into the pleasure. 

It kept mounting and mounting, and you felt yourself hold your breath as a new, unfamiliar pleasure erupted within. 

“Thats it, good girl.” Aemond purred, feeling your wetness burst forth from within, coating your thighs and dripping to the floor. 

You cried out, feeling almost dizzy as your walls continued to squeeze around his length. Your release leaking from your body, pooling onto the stones below.

“Fuck.”

Aemond pressed his lips into the junction of your neck again, grunting as he pushed himself to the hilt within you, teeth scraping over your skin as he bit down roughly, drawing a loud pained gasp from you as he came undone. 

Thick hot ropes of his spend coated your walls, filling you deeply as your head slumped back against his shoulder, his arms being the only thing holding you up from sliding down to the floor. You breathed heavily, fatigue hitting you as you felt Aemond’s cock throb inside you.

Your mind was gone as you stayed in his grip, the ebbs of your own pleasure still lingering. You were hot, and sticky, wet and tired, and Aemond kept you upright on his cock as he came down from his own peak. 

Lips pressed against where teeth had been, a comforting gesture meant to soothe the aching flesh. Aemond shifted back, and you felt his cock begin to slide free from your core. You whimpered at the overwhelming sensation until you felt him pull out completely, his arms still holding you up. He breathed heavily behind you, catching his breath as he held you.

His sticky seed began to drip from your folds, sliding down your inner thighs as you stood in his grip. Your eyes became heavy, and your knees shook.

A kiss was pressed to the side of your head, and the world suddenly tilted. 

Aemond lifted you from the floor, hand under your knees, and arm wrapped around your shoulders to hold you close to him as he steadily began to walk towards the bed. His chest radiated heat onto your body as he held you close. 

You were so tired, you could barely keep your eyes open, letting the man gently place you down onto your side of the bed. Your eyes shut, the vision of Aemond moving away from you to the side of the room, replaced with the comfort of darkness.

The bed dipped and warmth settled beside you as you let your breath even and the dregs of sleep begin to pull you under. A gentle hand brushed a stray strand of hair away from your face, before trailing down the rest of your body. You felt Aemond’s heated gaze and cracked open an eye to look at him. 

He was watching you intently, brow covered in sweat, shirt and pants finally removed.

Bare to the world, just as you were.

His silver locks were tousled and messed, completely down and pushed back behind his shoulders. You let your eye gaze to where the scar was on his shoulder, your own flesh aching in its spot. 

“Even Hell Cats would fear you.” He murmured, hand trailing down your body as his gaze moved to between your thighs.

You shifted, feeling exposed. 

Two fingers trailed down over your mound and you moved to wriggle out of his reach.

“Keligon.” Stop.

You stopped. 

His fingers dipped between your folds and you jerked, you were far too sensitive and overstimulated for anymore, but his fingers kept travelling down to your soaked entrance.

With two fingers, Aemond scooped up his seed which had begun to leak from within you, pushing it back inside of you with great care. Your back arched off of the bed as he kept his fingers inside of you. 

“Don’t want to waste it.” He purred, keeping his fingers inside you, plugging you full of his seed. 

You whimpered and shifted as they sat inside of you, until he pulled them up, fingers coming straight to his lips as he licked your combined releases from his fingers. Aemond hummed as he watched you, wrapping his tongue around each digit as a blush rose on your cheeks. 

Your core clenched around nothing and you felt a breathy whimper escape you. 

It was all involuntary, you told yourself. 

It was all a reaction to what he gave you. 

Once licked clean, Aemond’s tongue wet his lips before he leant forward towards you, pressing a chaste kiss to one of your eyes. You closed them out of instinct and felt your uncle pull the blankets up and around you, tugging you against his body. You could feel his softened member between your thighs begin to harden again, but he made no move to act on it. 

Instead, Aemond pressed another kiss to your shoulder and mumbled beneath his breath. You were so tired, and his body was so warm, a strange comfort you learnt, that your lids stayed shut, and eventually the comforts of sleep pulled you into its depths.

And from her blood, the Prince that was promised.

Thanks so much for reading along with me, if you wish to be added to the tag list please let me know :) Likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated ! Enjoy <3

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[pakhnokh]

Hi everyone! I’m Pakhnokh

(Yes, it’s a Pekingese dog in my profile pic)

This blog is dedicated to art and fun!

For 3 years now I’m drawing stuff for Mo Dao Zu Shi fandom, and still have many more ideas to draw!

Hopefully I will also soon move to reading other danmeis :D

🎨 I’m in the process of creating a dedicated tab here on my blog for ALLLLL of my MDZS fan art. It’s A LOT of art, so please bear with me as I make it. You can find already some of it here.

🔞This blog does not contain NSFW works, but I do draw them! You can find them on my NSFW X (twitter) account. Censored previews will be available here, however.

💙 Also as some of you already know, I’m creating a fan MDZS dojinshi (long ongoing comic) called “House of Gentians”, that’s an AU where WWX never died, and went back to Gusu with LWJ as the Yiling Laozu, married him, but is under seclusion in the house that belonged to LWJ’s mother. Together they try to solve the difficult status WWX is under in the cruel political world of cultivation, and also their own relationship.

Start reading it here

🖌️ I can do commissions! If you have something in mind that you want to see drawn in my style, DM me! 😁

🫂 If you like my work and want to support me, you can join my Patreon, where I also post stuff such as WIPs, step-by-steps, videos, NSFWs and even complete pieces that I don’t post here.

IMPORTANT NOTE FORE HOUSE OF GENTIANS READERS

As you may know, I post 4 pages update every Thursday. On each part I use a navigation menu that looks like this: NEXT PART PREVIOUS PART ABOUT+TABLE OF CONTENTS

For each new update the "NEXT PART" option isn't available yet. You will mostly see this note:

(available on my Patreon, will be posted here in a week) Because I do already post the next part on my Patreon for the same week. HOWEVER On the next week when I post the next part, I go to the previous part and edit it so that "NEXT PART" button contains the link to the newest update. However, if people already reblogged the part before the edit and others see their reblog after I already updated the next part, they may think that I didn't. So please, just in case, always go on my page here and check for updates to be certain 💚

[hollow-lime-green]

Can you tell us a little about your D&D stuff? -sincerely an avid dnd player who loves hearing about other people’s characters

aaaa sure!

briefly - when I do actually get to be a player, I fucking love playing rogues. god i am so basic and easy, catch me playing a tiefling/changeling rogue 100% of the time. i am a power gamer though, and i'll take a lot of feats to do all sorts of weird bullshit (and the 2024 thief buffs are going to make me insufferable. fast hands has always been my favorite ability in the game, and now thief is finally good for real and not just by dm fiat).

i like every class except artificer and monk (fine just not for me), but rogues have my heart. in every game, skyrim to borderlands to d&d, I like being a pain in the ass from a long distance away. i don't get to play a lot, so i don't have a lot of characters that i'm super tied to, but right now, i'm essentially playing a cabal of tiefling/changeling rogues (one for every subclass) that are running the underground of my friend's city in a westmarch style progressive series of oneshots he hosts at our local game store.

mainly, though, i have always been a perma-dm of my groups, although I am trying to find a group that rotates better because as it turns out, being a perma-dm can absolutely fuck with your interpersonal relationships. i had a really awesome d&d group in undergrad that I DM'd for, and I have a lot of great memories from that. we played on campus for the first two years, then on roll20 for a few more years after that. unfortunately, as most d&d groups do, we died to the BBEG known as Adult Life Schedules.

since then, I've been DMing semi-regularly at a local game shop, sometimes playing, and I've made a lot of in-person friends. we play both at and outside of the shop, but almost all one-shots, although when I eventually move away from this current location, I will probably try to drag them into an online campaign. lots of dm talk and pictures under the cut, since this will be kind of long. :)

Props!

as a dm, i am very prop focused, i love a good prop. it's the engineer girlie in me. sat night I ran a 12th level one shot for my friends to test out some of the new 2024 rules at high level, and what I'm most proud of was my hidden magnet bridge (see below) - this is a progress pic but I do generally keep my sets pretty minimal aesthetically. anyway this was super fun because i set it up as this precarious bridge that they needed to get across and do some puzzles (hence the set), and then i ambushed them with the hidden magnets (actual reason for the set).

this is one of my faves from maaaaany years ago. i could do it better if I tried it again, but it's tough. this was for an encounter where an enemy was locally changing the direction of gravity, so the set rotated. it was surprisingly stable but difficult to play on due to the fact that you have like 270 degrees of the table that can see and then whoever is behind the wall (the dm) can't see shit. this was during my in-person UG years, so baby engineer but still making it work.

this is something I've done more recently that is more minimalist but insanely effective as a minigame. i had some players navigating through a space field, so they had to plot a course through this minefield and peel off the tape stickers one by one to see if they hit a danger. again, left is a progress pic. they all got blacked out. the right one was actually my dm key during the session lol, so I knew what they were gonna hit before they hit it.

I do a lot of mini prop pieces to go on top of my battle map as terrain, mostly cardboard just to give height and make things a bit more dynamic. and i'll usually have some lair action that rotates or takes away some of that terrain. one other thing I'm playing around with is this plexiglass transparent overlay designed for water combat, so I can put biiiiiig bad guys underneath the party. that one is for a oneshot based on the game DREDGE (which I highly recommend by the way - fishing survival cozygame with an eldritch monstrous flair). this lighthouse works as a sanity indicator, so as the party loses sanity (due to the eldritch fish), I can change its color.

i have no idea how i've run this game like 7 times and yet I can't find any pictures of it, but I have a one-shot that is based on Potion Permit (another farming sim cozygame) where the players collect these tiny cardboard tetris pieces and have to use them to complete tetris piece recipes to make potion and Save The Town From Illness! players love a prop, players love a minigame, and i love running those things as well.

Characters!

I have a lot of DMPCs that I love from my long campaigns, but DMPCs can be irritating, so i have shifted away from character-driven things for my oneshots. when I go back to doing campaigns, I'm going to try to do them better? I don't know, getting people invested in OCs whether it's writing or ttrpg is always sort of a challenge. players get invested in the bonds between the party but not often in their actual NPCs. So I'm not going to yap about them too much, but I'll list the concepts of my fave DMPCs:

blind bard who sees through a force field cantrip like cat whiskers - later becomes a seer (like divination) at the cost of losing his blindsight due to Player-Caused Apocalypse. becomes an unwilling consort to an archdevil who rules the wastelands after Player-Caused Apocalypse.

red hag who used a wish spell to free herself of pacts of loyalty but as a consequence cannot form lasting relationships with any creature, and cannot wish again. trying to make a Deck of Many Things to get more wishes and fix this (doomed)

half-fey archer with the mantle of the summer court trying to avenge her parents killed by the winter court, warrior softened by the touch of a woman (autumn fey cottagecore mom friend with an aussie accent). they were fun because the party actually got really invested in them and they got to complete their love story :)

spellthief rogue champion of the gods caught in a messy 'the parents are fighting' situation where the aspects of law and chaos fight. she is going to make a return when i start my next campaign because it's going to be a time loop situation, and she'll be the one resetting the timeline and trying to make off-screen changes (killing monarchs, planting magic items) to affect the future.

[coquetteriddle]

I love your takes on Harry and how he’s such a good person! It’s also why sometimes I find dark Harry fics kind of…eh. Obviously I have absolutely NOTHING against dark Harry fics- I’ve been in fandom for so long that I know in my bones and blood that authors should be able to write whatever they want, this is just me pointlessly critiquing tomarry themes in dark harry fics. Anyway, I think one of the appeals of tomarry is that Harry is a good man trying his best to love somebody who is at best, morally grey. Staying with Tom, one could argue, is one of the few selfish things he does. Tom makes the parts of him that are small and stuck in a cupboard under the stairs be seen, and even tho he ranges from being a morally bankrupt politician to a closet fascist, Harry still can’t go. But he’s kicking and screaming about it the whole time. He doesn’t tolerate tom’s extremely evil bulshit. He leaves, even tho it hurts, when too many lines are crossed. He has it in himself to love his parents’ prospective/actual murderer, but he’ll never ask somebody else to tolerate or ignore tom’s crimes. This is an incredibly nuanced situation, that is such fun to read about as Harry tries to navigate loving a bad man. Dark Harry fics can feel like a cop out in these ways ( honorary mention that fics are made for one’s joy and they don’t have to have complex themes, I’m just being annoying )

thank u sm for the ask!!!

yes totally agree :) it's why i personally don't love dark harry either, along with fics that try to soften voldemort/pureblood/dark magic ideals to seem "not that bad". to me, that's just not...really the point? and obvs its fine, fanon is honestly whatever to me and i'm sure there are tons of fics that portray this sort of dynamic beautifully, but because i love canon so much, it's js not my preferred style

and YES. harry is a good person!!! huge agree on why that is such an appeal of tomarry- their relationship itself is a source of conflict, especially internally. tom/voldemort is a bad person, and harry HAS to contend with this. he can't ignore it or agree with it and he Will leave if he feels like it's something he needs to do. he's completely capable of making these difficult decisions and i really don't like it when fics infantilize him in that way.

tbh this is why i started writing i can fix him (no really i can)....i Love time travel fics because it sets them for the first time, on an equal playing field, and it really does allow the exploration of themes of remorse and redemption. but their original characters are so interesting to me and i felt like their internal conflicts, especially harrys, were never really delved into as much as they should have been. and at least in this fic- i don't think harry would even be willing to love tom if he didn't change. i really do love redeemed tom fics, but i wish they weren't all "babe...stop saying slurs for me🥺" LMFAOO. i don't think a relationship can really change anyone on its own. it has to be of their own volition. with any redeemed tom, i think this is the most important bit: he realizes that harry deserves better, so he decides to become better.

and of course- people can write anything and there are beautifully, amazingly written fics everywhere :) i js personally love exploring their dynamic in a more canon-compliant way

[thequeenofthedisneyverse]

Thinking about what Epic: The musical would be like as a gameplay

You could be one of the crew members going through each saga. Experience the tragic tale with them and try to survive kind of thing. Maybe through certain actions you can change the narrative.

Troy saga: Game 1

Cyclops saga: Game 2

Ocean saga: game 3

Circe saga: Game 4

Underworld saga: Game 5

Thunder saga: (Final?) Game 6

OOOOOOOOOR...and hear me out on this

A Tragic Tale Dating Sim

First off, Odysseus would be off the table (that man loves his wife). As well as Eurylochus because he's married to Ody's sister, Ctimene.

HOWEVER, they could be dateable, but you guys would have to be already married. You are married to Odyssues and platonically or romantically married to Penelope/ You are married to Eurylochus and platonically or romantically married to Ctimene.

(I don't think the sim would/should delve on whether you platonically or romantically married their wives. It should be up for interpretation by the player)

Some others would be Polites (of course), Perimides, and Elpenor just to name a few.

Seeing as Ody had 600 MEN in his crew, you’ll have to a male player for this sim, if that wasn’t obvious.

You guys could already be in an established relationship (either private or public. Though with Perimides' character it might be private) and are so gushy over each other it’s sickening. They are simps for you like how Ody is a simp for Penelope.

Idk, reblog with your ideas (And before anyone comments, yes, a dating sim would be pointless but Tragic tale dating sims aren't common and one in Epic style would be interesting...and sad)

And yes, like in the musical, you die with them. I'm not sure if you should die with the others if you chose the "Married to Odysseus option" but...wouldn't it be more angsty if ya did?

Edit: @mariylle gave me this wonderful idea

I female version could be where you play a nymph on Circe's Island. And from what I've read in this post

So, I think the romance would be short lived I suppose? OR this could be a wlw situation with Circe or the other Nymphs.

But another version would be where you are a female sailor on Ody's ship and end up at Circe's island. I think it would be kind of difficult . for you to romance the ladies. I don't think female sailors were allowed back then either.

So, a storyline could be you were a nymph that was friends with Ody since childhood. And because of that (and probably your navigation/fighting skills) he let you on the ship because it's always been your dream to travel.

Then you come upon Circe's island, but you don't know what happened to the other men until Eurylochus comes along and spills the tea.

You attempt to convince Circe yourself to let the boys go/or distract the other nymphs so Ody can talk to Circe himself. A later option would be to stay with the Nymphs because Circe wants you to stay where you belong.

it's the first time you've come upon other nymphs (besides your mother of course) so of course you'd want to stay. And what if after you stay and "a few years pass" and Ody comes back to the Island...but only to tell you that your other childhood best friend Eury and the rest of the crew is dead. He just wants you to come back to Ithica for the funeral.

He conveniently leaves out how they died. You, the nymph, grew up with Ody so you know he's leaving something. You are given the option to ask but he will just deny it/reflect it.

And like... knowing your friends died it's not even like you really want to know right now anyway

Yeah, being told they died is already a bit much. But on the bittersweet side, you get to meet Ody's son, Telemachus, because the last time you saw him was when he was a baby.

Ody's mom is dead too and she was like an aunt to you so...yeah, more trauma.

Your nympha mom is still up and running though, she is Ody's mothers age but physically only looks 40 or 50.

Idk reblog or comment ideas if you have them

[gabessquishytum]

Hey, Gabe. I’m so happy you're doing better and taking time for yourself.

I've had this thought percolating in the back of my brain for a little while, for Dream and Hob, and their darling wives, Calliope and Eleanor to have a lovely poly/qpr style thing happening, because, as much as I love all the romantic, sexy, and unhinged shenanigans on here, I would like to see something similar to my own situation floating about.

Dream and Hob have been attached at the hip since childhood, when Hob punched another kid for trying to kick them out of the sand pit. They love each other fiercely and have been through all the ups and downs of adolescence: the conflict of who they were as individuals, the struggle to stay together in a world that told them they were too close, exploring sexual identities, mapping out their dreams of the future, and last, but not least, figuring out how to share with a dating partner.

It's surprisingly difficult to find someone that doesn't assume you're cheating on them with your best friend when you're so close. If they trust sex isn't happening, they tend to get angry about the casual intimacy. Feeling blocked by or jealous of the already established bond.

At one point, Dream and Hob's friends told them they were so close they should try dating each other. So they did. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. The sex was fun and engaging. They learned a lot about themselves, explored kinks and the kink community. There wasn't another person's feelings they had to navigate, but beyond the lust there was no spark of romance, no passionate love, no mystery. There was comfort, devotion, and the soft, mellow love of their friendship.

They amicably broke up with a new, physical dimension to their friendship that only made dating harder in the end. Still, they persisted.

Eventually, Hob met a wonderful, dark-haired woman named Eleanor. She was fiery and beautiful, willing to barge into Dream and Hob's life and demand they make room for her. She was a raging river, filling in the ravines and creating estuaries where Dream and Hob had long ago learned they didn't meet. She was new life and new paths, and Hob fell hard and fast.

There’s a certain point, early on, in a relationship where you have to explain the complex dynamic between you and your best friend. It's the breaking point for many people. It's hard, to share, to be unintentionally excluded, to learn secrets from a third party, but the people that stand their ground and thrive are breathtaking.

Eleanor, when she is told, demands space. She does research, talks to people in similar situations, takes the time to suss out her own feelings, tries to feel out the edges of compromise and expectation she requires. In the end, she flows back into their lives with a willingness to try and an adventurous gleam in her eye.

She proposes a new dynamic between the three of them. She wishes to pursue a romantic relationship with Hob, but wants to learn how comfortable she can be with Dream in the bedroom.

Hob's quick to assure her that he and Dream don't have physical relations when dating.

Eleanor, brave woman that she is, tries to explain why she thinks that's part of the problem they have with dating. They're so entwined in each other's life that removing them from one area only causes more stress. “You're practically married already,” she snorts. “You just need to find people who can live with that. I’m willing to try. Are you?”

It takes work and patience, respect and communication. They still hurt each other. Life gets in the way. People judge them and cause problems. They make it, in the end, to a place where they are content and no one is left out. Eleanor and Hob are happily married. Dream has a special place in their hearts and marriage bed whenever he needs or wants.

Years pass, Dream has proof now, that he can have romance and his best friend. That he doesn't have to sacrifice a portion of his heart for love. He has taken lovers, tried to bring them into the dance that is his relationship with Hob and Eleanor. Reluctance, timidity, and selfishness ended those relationships. At some point, Dream starts to give up, maybe Eleanor was special, a miracle.

This is, of course, when someone new enters the scene.

Calliope, stunning and witty, drifts on the edge of their existence, darting forward and back to a tune only she can hear. She flirts, flutters, and flees. She's looking for something and she won't be caught until she wishes it.

Dream watches her from the corner of his eye, intrigued and wary. He watches, in the hopes of learning what he can before approaching. He knows what to look for now, those early signs that will tell him if she wouldn't be a good fit. He isn't nearly as subtle as he wishes.

It doesn't take long for to Calliope notice. She glides closer, flitting back when others pursue.

There are clues to be found in who she lets close, and why. The outline of what she wants takes shape as partner after partner fails to meet certain criteria.

They start to circle each other at parties, a corkscrew winding tighter and tighter. He waits with hard learned patience. She slowly grows bolder.

Eleanor and Hob poke gentle fun at him, waiting on the sidelines, wishing him well. No matter how it ends, he'll always have them.

When Dream and Calliope finally crash together it's quiet, a gentle brush of fingers, a soft touch at the hip or arm. There are walks and dinners and music. They go to theaters and museums and libraries. She slots into Dream's life seamlessly, confidently.

There are the typical growing pains of partnerships and cohabitation, discovering how to be part of a couple separate from Hob and Eleanor, and learning where the four of them line-up and interlock.

People outside the relationship try to cause problems at times. They look at Dream and Eleanor or Calliope and Hob and notice how visually similar they are and accusations of cheating fly around. Sometimes someone close-minded will notice their closeness and try to enforce ridiculous religious views. Those that are covetous and jealous try to tear them apart.

They've worked too hard to let such things tear them apart.

Dream looks up one day to realize he’s curled against Hob's chest, in love and happy. Eleanor and Calliope are plotting something a few feet away, smiling. The future is unfolding before him, full of laughter and affection, understanding and belonging. The long journey and heartache was worth it.

—🏵

This is such a delightful and loving depiction of a beautiful poly/qpr relationship! I particularly love the way that Dream and Hob manage to work out their situation in the way you've described. Because not all friendships are meant to develop into romantic relationships, and platonic love certainly isn't worth less than romantic love. I genuinely enjoy the idea of them trying out romantic dating for a week and mutually deciding that it just isn't meant to be! The way they express love (romantically) is so different - Dream is all wild grand gestures and extremes, and Hob just. Isn't about that life. It just isn't going to work, and that's absolutely okay because the sex is still wonderful, and they're still best friends. They still want to grow old together, doing kinky things occasionally. They've both kind of accepted that they're lucky to have each other, and wanting more is probably a bit greedy.

But it's okay to be greedy.

With Eleanor and Calliope, life is never dull. In the large house where the four of them live, there is always music. Always laughter too, unless somebody is upset - then the other three will descend on them, and do everything they can to make it better. There is always a queue for the bathroom (even though they have more than one bathroom, all four of them tend to gravitate together into one space - you'll find Hob trying to shave while Calliope does her makeup and Dream tries to shower and Eleanor sits on the loo singing along to the radio). Somebody is always available for a cuddle (it's usually Dream who wants a cuddle, or some kind of physical touch, and it's great because he never has to worry about being too much. there are three people to take the load). Sex is just... easy. Even if somebody doesn't want to participate, they're always welcome to watch.

Hob loves silly jokes, loves it when Eleanor says "this is my husband Robert, and this is my husband's boyfriend, Dream". But he also secretly loves arguing with people who are rude about their relationship. He loves it even more when he's able to throw a punch. Dream and Eleanor might try to hold him back, but he can always rely on Calliope to join him for a scrap. She's taught him some wonderful Greek insults.

And life is basically very good. Turns out that more partners DOES equal more happiness, as Hob loves to say. Dream will never admit it but Hob is generally absolutely right.

[multidimensionalguidance]

🌟🩺 Chiron Observations #2 🩻🌟

Here’s a continuation to my previous post of Chiron in strong (conjunction, square, opposition) or soft (sextile and trines) aspects to planetary bodies.

🧠 Mercury 🧠: there is a pain that stems from your communication skills. During early life you might have been silenced and misunderstood. You were not allowed to express freely or felt like you were inadequate at it. There could literally be a difficulty or impediment in speech or thought process. A mental wound that only you understand. Since words were probably used as daggers to hurt you, there might be a tendency of you doing the same when triggered. Any time someone makes you feel inadequate, words will seek to cause the pain you’ve previously experienced. This might hurt you and your relationships a lot until you become aware of this tendency. There could also be wounds formed by siblings or painful interactions with them throughout your lives. This can make interactions with people younger or the same age as you feel like a tedious task. There could be a fear of not being mentally agile enough or as if you aren’t clever enough, which paradoxically could make you focus on it so much that you develop a very sharp mind. If you know several languages, there might be embarrassment associated with how you sound in one of them, and probably because it doesn’t allow you to express yourself as well as you know you could. You might feel like a brother or sister to those around you. You are not behind anyone on a mental level. Your mind is here to heal itself and allow others to do the same just by hearing you speak. Your power is in your voice, and once you’re comfortable with discussing topics related to mental health those that need healing or help will be very thankful for your insights. They will see you as someone who can guide them on a mental level to get rid of any blocks that might not be allowing them to be their best version.

💌 Venus 💌: relationships of all kinds, but specifically romantic ones create many wounds. You might have grown up feeling uncomfortable in your own feminine energy (regardless of gender), values, creativity, and mannerisms. As if nothing seems to be fit for you, and nothing felt right. Dealing with love and feminine relationships was very difficult for you growing up. You never felt fully loved by others nor felt girly or womanly enough when next to your feminine friends. You might have decided to reject these themes all together. Maybe even avoiding all Venusian things, as simple as not wearing the color pink or disliking anything that seemed hyper feminine. You are here to understand that feminine and masculine energy exists within all of us, and it is our gift to express them as freely as we want without feeling stuck or shackled by one or the other. Work on your Venus traits (including those associated to your sign) by trying out bright colors, enjoying self care nights, playing with your style, and indulging into everything that makes you feel empowered in your own feminine energy. As for relationships, this might be a bit more difficult to navigate until you are 25+ and your Venus matures. Love does not have to be a source of pain. Chasing or seeking for someone to love you will only bring more pain, for you are telling yourself that you do not inherently deserve love just by existing, and can only receive it once you seek it outwardly. The more you focus on empowering your Venus, the more relationships will heal. Romance is important, but the love you feel for yourself is far more relevant, and it will dictate the love you’re willing to accept from others. Once you integrate these lessons, being loved by you will heal others. Your love will feel unforgettable to others. They will seek to be close to you just to experience how strong your feminine energy has become, and sit down to wonder how they can learn from you. It will be like going from “I have no idea what makeup is..” to “Everyone keeps on asking me to do their makeup and style them all the time���. That’s Venus and Chirons gift to you on a very superficial level.

🧨 Mars 💥: the painful lessons come from understanding the weight and importance of your action and physical drive. You might be harsh when it comes to these aspects with others, and most likely because its a harshness you’ve experienced from others. Masculine energy in general is difficult to embody due to possible traumatic wounds that have been associated with it. Interacting with individuals who had a lot of it wounded you at some point in your life, either physically, mentally or spiritually. Perhaps in all ways previously mentioned. Learning to heal this energy within you will be a source of strong healing and power. Once you empower yourself in the ways that you use your drive, motivation, and more harsh aspects to achieve your goals, it will motivate and help others heal this within themselves. Life will keep on testing the way you channel this energy to aid you on your evolution, and awake the forces that will let you harbor your spiritual gifts. There might be a likelihood in getting burned and experiencing physical wounds. If you’re someone who embodies a lot of feminine energy, be extra careful when dealing with toxic masculinity. This is something to be mindful in all situations outside of astrology, but I’ve noticed a probability of it being a tad more dangerous for these natives. There is powerful physical healing that comes natural and can be developed, such as Reiki or anything that works towards aiding physical wounds, etc. Might even be really good Doctors if they ever choose to do so, or might be naturally attract or be attracted to being healers.

[laurfilijames]

What’s your favorite chapter of breathe and why?🙂‍↔️ I’ll be very sad if you shy away from hyping yourself up in your response 🥹💗

Aww Ray I really love this ask! I know I've had it sitting in my inbox for a while but it's because I've been thinking really hard about my answer and trying to come up with one while in the midst of still writing chapters that I've been very excited for!

Picking just one chapter from Breathe is honestly so difficult! I love them all for various reasons as they all include so many different things, so bear with me as I ramble on podcast style all my thoughts as to why 🥂

I love parts 1-3 because of the newness of them. The sexual tension and blatant want between them always gets me. It's exciting and exhilarating and writing the beginnings of a relationship is one of my absolute favourite things to do.

Then in chapters 3-5 where it's just sex everywhere all the time and them falling hard and fast for each other while navigating through Will's issues was such a thrilling part in their timeline to explore. Seeing Will finally let his guard down and give in to trying to resist something he knew was there was 🫠🫠 and then the result of that with the hot, raunchy sex? Yeah. Big fan. Glad I did that 🤣

I'll give Part 5 a special shoutout as it was the chapter that brought me back to this world after having put it on the back burner for almost a year 🙈 and is the plot point that breathed (😉) new life and excitement into it for me.

Then comes Parts 6-8 😬. These were heavy hitting chapters. I've never written angst like that before and it really pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me as a writer. It hurt to write some of those scenes, but oddly enough some of those were written the fastest and the words were just furiously typed out which surprised me! I felt so emotionally drained writing chapters 6 and 7 and remember feeling like I had just gone through a breakup 😅😭

Now although parts 9-11 never seem like they're very exciting or thick with plot to me, they are equally as meaningful and all hold their weight with building this relationship and fleshing out their life together. The smut scenes, especially in part 9 were a favourite of mine as I added in the layer of possessiveness after Cam made a reappearance and I loved showing that side of Will 🫠🥵

This portion of the story gives me all the warm and fuzzies and makes me kick my feet just thinking about how happy and in love they are and relieved that they made it through all the hurt and turmoil from earlier chapters. Will deserves all the love and calm and understanding life and a partner can offer and I think (and hope 😅) I've been able to portray and give him that here. The scenes with him getting the ring and then proposing live rent-free in my head and I'm just so in love with seeing them, and especially him, experience such happy moments.

Any chapter that included scenes between Will and Benny were also favourites of mine. Miller brother moments hold a special place in my heart and were always so easy and enjoyable to write (even when they were fighting) and it was like I could hear them in my head and their tone and see their expressions clearly.

Now that I've spewed out all of this and had a chance to go back and really reflect on everything, I think I've narrowed down one chapter that I feel as a whole really sums up everything this story is about and that is Part 7. So much happened in it!! They were still in the thick of their "breakup"

and trying to figure everything out.

She found out about his nightmare and finally began to understand what the hell had happened to cause all of this which then resulted in her showing up for him at base when he came home. I always do my best to show enough from both of their points of view and I think this chapter was full of what both of them were going through. We also had the introduction of Cam (heyyyy boyyyyy 😉🥵) just to add a little more drama to the already dramatic situation, but then everything wrapped up how it should by the end with their intimate and emotional reunion and as I just skimmed through it, I wanted to scream with how happy it makes me!

I've realized how many scenes of pure lovemaking are in this series and clearly I'm all about the intense intimate moments and Will Miller being a man head over heels in love 🤣🤷🏻‍♀️ sue me.

So do I have a favourite chapter? Kinda. They're all my favourite and I'm very happy to say that I've written a whole series that I actually enjoy reading for myself and there isn't one part that I am not proud of!

I'm sorry this got so out of hand haha but it's given me something to do on the 3 hour drive home from the cottage (I should be writing and working on the final chapter 🙈😅 but I'm stallllinggg because I don't want it to end 😭) I appreciate you asking this so so much and am forever grateful and in complete shock that you are so invested in this story and continue to give it so much love, attention, time and thought 🫂😘💗💗💗

[maxdibert]

Hello! just HAD to drop a message because OMG your Snape x Muggle!Reader fanfic has me completely hooked! 🖤 The way you’ve written Severus is so spot on honestly i love your characterization of him 🖤🖤 And the dynamic between him and the Reader is chef's kiss. They’re both such emotionally chaotic disasters, and I’m living for how raw and complicated their relationship feels. You’ve nailed that push-and-pull, the tension, the RAGE. Just awesome!

I’m literally on the edge of my seat waiting for the next chapter and i absolute love how you're portraying Reader's mental breakdown with such a manic episode? i had that vibe but maybe i'm wrong. Anyways, thank you SO much for sharing your work with us! You’re amazing! Have a nice day and take care of yourself 💫

Wow, I honestly didn’t expect to get a message like this—thank you so much! ^^ It really means a lot, especially since I hadn’t written anything in a long time before starting this fic. And also in english wich isn't my mother language. Getting back into writing, especially with a character as complex and difficult as Severus, has been such a challenge. He’s definitely a headache sometimes, but also so rewarding to explore.

I’m really glad you’re enjoying the dynamic between them. They're two emotional disasters in their own personal ways navigating such a messy, weird and kinda random relationship and it's fun to write but also a bit hard sometimes. And yes, you totally picked up on that manic undertone with the Reader’s breakdown—it’s something I’m trying to explore carefully. They both share an entirely avoidant emotional management style, but in Severus’s case, it stems from trauma and fear of rejection, while in hers, it comes from her refusal to accept rejection and her mental struggles. So while he gets angry, explodes, and acts like a tantrum-throwing child, she basically falls into a compulsive loop of doing impulsive things that provide momentary dopamine and endorphin hits so she doesn’t have to think about her mess. Dysfunctionality in adulthood always present, hahaha.

Thank you again for your kind words and support. They truly made my day! Take care toooo <3

[shoujomangathoughts]

Shoujo Thoughts - Snow White with the Red Hair

This is another series that I've heard about for years and finally gave it a chance (watched the anime then immediately went to the manga). It's a series that I find very charming, relaxing and was a nice change of pace for me and my usual tastes.

I remember seeing people warning others how "you shouldn't read the manga" because apparently it gets boring and is overstaying its welcome story-wise. While I don't think everything that has happened so far is entirely necessary, I think this sentiment comes from people wanting the more romance focused parts from the beginning to remain throughout. If you haven't read the manga, Shirayuki gets (and takes) an opportunity to help her studies as an herbalist but this results in two years away from the palace, and therefore Zen. They're still together here and there, but the manga starts leaning in a more slice of life direction and the romance is a bit more subdued. I actually appreciated this and found the individual adventures and growth of Zen and Shirayuki more interesting at times as Zen tries to learn and be a better prince and Shirayuki continues her studies and tries to reach people.

Zen and Shirayuki do have a nice relationship though and I find the romance to be pretty well done. They both have that awkward energy and are trying to navigate their own lives as well as their relationship.

The presentation and world of this series is another captivating point for me. The anime was visually great and I thought the manga's art was really nice too. It has a whimsical style and shows you a lot of small interactions and details. It makes the world feel lived in and allows you to have a clear idea of the cast and their personalities. I specifically really like the visual of Lilias and its snow covered imagery (as well as the wintry outfits).

The main cast is also mostly likeable. The way they interact with each other feels natural and they each have their own charm that adds something unique to the dynamic. Even the part that had people frustrated with Mitsuhide didn't bother me as much because I could understand how that was a very in-character decision for him.

Favorite character : Obi

I do find that Obi is the most charismatic character in the series for me. He's obviously had a difficult life but he also seems so genuinely affected by having found a group of people that he comes to value. Every time he's around he adds something, whether it be a witty remark or demonstrating his ability to be a bodyguard. Yes he loves Shirayuki, but the series doesn't really show that Shirayuki loves him back (basically the series isn't really leaning into the love triangle direction). Though I do appreciate that she has on multiple occasions told him how much she values him because he does do and help her a lot. He also seems to have good chemistry with the rest of the cast (particularly in his interactions with Shirayuki and Zen though I also love his relationship with Ryu).

All in all, I've found this to be a really enjoyable series up to the current chapter (sad to see it's on hiatus, hope the mangaka is doing well). I'm not entirely sure how long it will continue as the scope of the story seems to suggest it still has a while left, but I'll be continuing it whenever it does come back.

It's been a little bit since I posted one of these but as always, thanks for reading!

[loversfms]

[ … ] ❀ you’re not from around here , are you? i figured because you totally just missed atlas shephard walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who he is ? they kind of look like eli brown and i could be wrong but i think that they might be twenty-five years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last three years. and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of chandler bing from friends. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working at heights community center as an event coordinator. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the robin of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty circumspect at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty allocentric to me. we see each other all the time since they live in that two bedroom apartment beside me over in seaglass heights. i better leave you to it. it was nice meeting you! 

STATS:

full name :       atlas orion shephard nickname(s) :       n / a birthplace :       naples, florida date of birth :       august 30, 1999 sibling(s) :      aiden shephard (34), ____ shephard relationship status :       single gender identity :       cis man ( he/him ) sexual orientation :       heterosexual faceclaim :       eli brown

BACKGROUND:

most definitely an accident, atlas could never quite find his place in his family.

it was difficult, being the last one to join an already... loud family. both in tone of voice and in personality. even as a toddler, he realized the best way to get attention ( either positive or negative ) from his parents was to do something to one of his louder siblings.

not that it ever really worked. his eldest brother soon took the lead of the three of them, but what did an eight year old know about raising kids?

one thing he learned early on was that the holidays meant ATTENTION. their parents were all about appearances, and what was better than a christmas party? every year, a young atlas would happily let his mother dress him and style his hair in preparation. he'd grip her hand and walk around with her as long as he could until she got distracted by someone she deemed more important.

that january gloom would hit him hard, and he'd feel his brother work extra hard to try and get him out of that funk.

truly the baby of the family, but not reaping any of the reward of it. if anything, it would leave him more confused. his brother and sister were two opposite ends of a spectrum-- the people pleaser and the stubbornly independent. he was getting a firsthand look at the pros and cons of both roles, but that left him wondering: WHAT ROLE WAS HE MEANT TO PLAY?

as a kid, he'd tested out different personalities. because of their closeness in age, he'd echo his sister's rebellious sentiments, except he cared about being punished more than she. he didn't like being in trouble, so being a people pleaser seemed like the way to go. after all, his brother seemed happy.

but, it was a hard act to follow. not that it was his brother's fault by any means, simply their birth order. their father seemed content with the oldest following in his footsteps that he didn't have any more praise to give. so again... where did this leave atlas?

his whole life, he's lived in their shadow. trying to be good, trying to be the people pleaser, but their already absent hands were full with the two they'd already had. no good deed was ever going to outdo his brother, and no misdeed was ever going to be more frustrating than his sister.

living in the shadow of his siblings just made him awkward. he mumbles, he second guesses himself, he frequently puts his foot in his mouth... if he couldn't even navigate his household, how was he going to navigate the world?

he's starting middle school just as his brother is beginning his final year of high school. he's hoping with his brother off to college, this is his chance to step up and get the approval and attention he desperately wanted.

he goes through school, he gets the grades, hears the classic "OH, YOU'RE SHEPHARD'S BROTHER?" from his sibling's adoring fans ( past teachers ). he graduates-- not the top of his class, but in great standing.

all of that, and he'd still only received crumbs. because, with every accomplishment he was reaching, his sibling was reaching a better one. graduating college, pitching his business around, receiving funding... it was a game atlas was never meant to win.

and he could never be mad at his brother for it -- he understands they were both just trying to survive the best they could, and atlas wouldn't be anybody without the oldest shephard.

so, when it's time for college, he asks himself: what is the best form of revenge for a family who only cares about appearances? actually caring for those with less. he'd never understood his parents obsession with raising money to LOOK GOOD and not actually caring about those who needed the help.

he goes to school for business, just to buy himself time. worse comes to worse, he starts his own business to help others.

he's in his last year of school when his siblings move to palmview, and he promises he won't be far behind them.

he makes good on his promise, and moves a year later. during his tour of the town, he makes a point to stop by the community center and sees they need an event coordinator. it seems like the perfect gig, and although he's young, it doesn't seem like many were jumping at the chance for the job.

the idea of serving his community and planning free ( or, at the very least, CHEAP ) events just made his heart swell. this was no longer about revenge, but about his desire to leave his mark on his community.

he's three years into the job, and he's loved getting to meet the people in his town-- kids and adults alike. he doesn't often participate in his events, but he's always there to see how others are enjoying them ( and to make sure everything runs smoothly ).

PERSONALITY:

as stated above, he's quite awkward !!! either doesn't think before he speaks or thinks too hard before he speaks ... no in between

lowkey loves attention ( was obvs deprived of it ) but he'll never admit thattttttt

can be a bit of an emo boy when the topic of family is brought up

has a love / hate relationship with the winter months ... has fond memories of the holidays growing up, but also knows they were jus for show ... but also loves how busy the holiday season is !!!

has kind of settled into the "normal guy" role ... He's Just A Guy

very caring, though... has definitely lost a lot of money replacing jackets / hoodies he's just handing out to people ..... quite literally giving the jacket off his back .....

he's not a confident speaker in general ... not the thoughts he shares ... not the volume he speaks at ... is always mumbling your chara will have to tell him to SPEAK UP !!!

©

[zahri-melitor]

Tom King's Batman (#1-85 2016)

And done.

I have a lot of thoughts about this as a contained run, because King clearly had some overarching goals and plotlines he wanted to tell through all of this, but equally I often had a difficult time trying to keep track of which plot he was working on and whether the story he was busy telling actually had direction.

Because one side of it was King having a lot of fun writing Bruce/Selina, and considering it in terms of their longterm relationship, all the way back to the Golden Age, with lots of references to previous events that may only be of dubious canonicity now, to pull out old events and point to them again, to show why they would reach this point that they might consider getting married.

And then dealing with the fact that editorial wouldn't let him have Bruce & Selina get married, because we were still firmly mired in Dan Didio Doesn't Believe Superheroes Should Have Permanent Happiness, but decidedly not actually breaking them up and having them just have a separation on page for a year or so (half of it in Batman spent in the middle of dream sequences revolving around the wedding) until people stopped breath down his neck, then... having Bruce and Selina running around like a couple again together.

And on the other hand, he is writing an over-complicated plot where Bane once again compares himself to Bruce and sets himself up in opposition; but this time he does it using, among others, Bruce's failures (and perceived failures) over handling Henry and Claire Clover (and their parallels to Bruce's origin story) as well as Flashpoint!Thomas Wayne (and bringing all of the Flashpoint and associated sequels storytelling into this) while not digging into the old Bane Half-Brothers story but existing in a universe where I had to wonder if Flashpoint!Thomas Wayne did know about the Bane Half-Brothers theory in his own universe.

And lining these two overarching plot threads up against each other: I think King had a bit of trouble navigating keeping both plots moving forward, particularly given the fact he really seems to enjoy telling nonlinear stories. He loves jumping around the narrative and hiding things and then showing them to you later too much.

Which can be interesting! Dropping people into the narrative and bypassing the setup and showing it later, using different styles of storytelling (flashbacks, dream sequences, asynchronous storytelling) can have fun effects in moderation, particularly in how it allows him to conceal things characters know and set up issue cliffhangers for effect. But I found it overused in the run, to the point when I had a number of occasions where I had difficulty picking up what had just happened, and why we were now in a 7 issue dream sequence.

It also slowed the story down significantly, in terms of moving the plot forward.

The other thing that really jumps out to me about the run is King's fondness for repurposing stories and mythology and setting up parallels. He likes referencing and adapting material and using it for the story he wants to tell, in what felt to me like quite a transformative-fandom style approach to storytelling. Examples of this included:-

Henry and Claire Clover's childhood shooting v Bruce's (and their similar yet different reactions to it)

Batman #38, aka "Tom King redoes Gotham Knights #1' and the child who killed his parents

Batman Annual #4 2016: where Everyday is just another version of Gotham Knights #32's 24/7 and what Batman does with his time

Batman #9, where he lines Bane's childhood up with its appearances in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1

Batman #36 & #37: the Bruce/Selina and Clark/Lois double dates, which very much felt in conversation with their Hush appearances among others and I swear the elevator scene is a reference to an event during post-Crisis where Selina arrives on the scene in a Justice League story via the elevator shaft, but can I remember where?

The Animals in the Pit by Nikolaevich Afanasyev, which originally appears in Batman #57 and then continues appearing sporadically throughout

Batman #51-52 Cold Days, the jury trial two parter, which not only felt to me like King arguing with the perception that vigilantes contaminated evidence and his view that if Bruce sees Batman as above the law he cannot do the work, but also felt in conversation with Bruce Wayne: Murderer in a number of aspects

Rules of Engagement, Batman #33-35, which was not only the Selina v Talia face off and the kids dealing with the fact that Bruce was getting married, but also felt in conversation with a lot of the classic movie and novel depictions of the Bedouin that King was clearly drawing from in his perception of Ra's and the League (and say what you will, acknowledging the Lawrence of Arabia links to Al Ghul storytelling and the literary tradition surrounding it is better than shoving them in a drawer and ignoring it)

Overall, I think my perception of the run as a whole is 'bit off a bit more than it could chew' and 'needed a more linear plotline'. There are a lot of stories and arcs within it that I either enjoyed or appreciated the intent and references (even if I thought the story had been done better elsewhere). My major problem was that the connections between storylines were not solid enough despite having a through plot, to the point I found myself lost on a number of occasions where I felt I'd missed an issue confirming how we got from A to C.

A lot of the stand alones and two parters are solid in a way that you can pull them out and hand them to someone who doesn't want to get invested in 85 issues of storyline. It's not quite the level of 'writing for social media panel sharing' that you see pop up more frequently in recent years, but instead feels more like allowing casuals to drop in for a story at least once a year when they heard the hype.

I think I would recommend taking a look at the run under a qualification that it is absolutely worth dipping into for the bunch of the storylines that do not involve Bane or Flashpoint!Thomas Wayne plots. There are scattered issues in the Bane arcs that I do think were interesting, but generally that storyline I found less riveting and more 'waiting until we got back to the interstitial other stories'.

I actually think it would be one to pick and choose what stories you think sound interesting and drop in for them, because while you might end up a bit confused about the overarching arc, reading the whole thing doesn't necessarily fix that as a problem.

[doodlegraveyard]

I also wanted to know how you felt about the pixies and if you were going to use them in your au

@seth-the-whalelord you are two for two on 'asking very simple questions that send me into a brain spiral' lol thank you this is. actually very useful for getting me to figure this stuff out. This is what i've gotten to write thru on my lunch break.

So! Pixies.

Once again I have no idea if I’m about to spout an Unpopular Opinion or not but…..I don’t like…..little, ‘Mascot’ characters. And I tend not to like the Pixies. Theyre trying Too Hard to be Beloved and it CAN be pulled off..........but I’m sorry I can’t stand their shrill little voices………………

I GET that it’s a kids show and you want little critters to appeal to little kids and sell toys of but like… the cast of Winx is HUGE and bloated at a baseline?? Like the Winx and Specialists by themselves are already so much to deal with. I will say upon rewatch, the Pixies are definitely better than like, any of the other little critters they add in later seasons. There are definitely episodes where the pixies Work and aren't completely overwhelming, and they're liked enough to be worth keeping, conceptually.

I like the idea of the pixies being plot relevant to the fairies development, and I actually have been thinking about explicitly tying them to charmix (or, idk if I’m keeping the concept of Charmix entirely intact because its BARELY a form. But i guess it can remain as a concept, and as a stepping stone to leveling up a fairy has to get her pixie/charmix (so its a standard step not just something the Winx girls have)

I really like how Amore and Chatta specifically contrast Stella/Flora’s respective personalities, because it brings to mind to me that charmix is supposed to be about overcoming some personal fear or weakness/character flaw, it makes sense to me to tie them together.

THAT SAID some of the pixie/fairy relationships are stronger than others.

Lockette’s theming as Pixie of Portals/a wayfinder can be styled as helping Bloom who is currently feeling ‘lost’ in an unfamiliar world, help her navigate both herself learning about and her newly discovered backstory/identity. I think that pretty much works: Lockette encourages Bloom to find the truth even if she’s kind of afraid to/ has been avoiding it. Amore’s calm peacekeeper demeanor definitely helps to temper Stella, and I feel like she could help deal with issues of not just romantic love but her relationships with her friends and her parents. I think Stella is full of love and affection, but doesn’t always show it / in the most considerate way.

Chatta forcing Flora to talk to Helia about her feelings is a pretty good example of what she brings to the table there, though I never want it to be just flattened to Flora’s romantic subplot - Flora could do with speaking up more in general! Have her forced to intercede in a friend conflict or assert herself when previously she was just letting the group overrule her!

Piff. I am conflicted about. Because like… she’s just a fuckin’ baby. there's a limited amount of personality there. She's sleepy. She's baby. I guess I think it’s cute that she helps Aisha with her bad dreams. I knee-jerk wondered if it was in bad taste to ‘mom-ify’ Aisha by giving her effectively a baby to care for but it really doesn’t read like that too much because Aisha is arguably one of the best-written and most complex of the girls. Piff could play a dual role - as someone Aisha has to stand up for and be brave for, but also a manifestation of childish wonder, to push Aisha to enjoy things she maybe didn’t have the opportunity to experience as a kid.

Tune is where it starts to lose me. I get it, Musa is tomboyish and brash and Tune is about manners but that really doesn’t feel as…important a problem to deal with? I feel like it may be a thing where Musa has to like… repair difficult relationships she has that are made rockier by how quick she is to argue, or maybe take responsibility for mistakes - like a formal apology and maturely talking about things rather than being avoidant? I’m not sure it’s best styled as ‘Etiquette’ if that’s the case. I’m taking suggestions on this one idk.

Aaaaaand they didn’t even try with Digit. She’s just a Flanderized version of Tecna. It doesn’t feel like she contrasts or challenges Tecna’s personality in any interesting way...Idk I kind of feel like she has to be changed whole cloth?

I know they replaced Tune and Digit but I’m not as familiar with Cherie or Caramel. I might look into whether their concepts work better for Musa and Tecna character arcs as they are currently swirling around in my head. What's the general consensus on those two?

My design thoughts are. I want to make the pixies much more…. Abstract I guess? What if they’re not their own species as much as concentrated sparks of magic - Fairies generate a lot of excess magic, hence ‘their pixie’ is actually a part of them - a little external manifestation of their magic fissured off my whatever internal conflicts or unaddressed needs they have, and resolving that allows them to re fuse with the Fairy? (Bonus: pixies are only around when relevant and I can poof them away when I don’t want them in a scene lol)

[kivaember]

AC6 College AU? Rusty plays the lacrosse, Raven is either a programmer or an engineer major, Ayre is an AI made by him, and Freud is one of the faculty members.

i've actually thought about a college AU!

Well, technically, a university AU bc I'm from the UK and college is a diff thing entirely to uni. Also I have no idea what American uni culture is like LMAO (idek what lacrosse is, rusty would be good at football or rugby tho) BUT ANYWAYS my idea for it was:

RUSTY: an undergraduate taking the BSc (Hons) in Ecology and Conservation (not sure if it's different outside of UK, but an "honours degree" is more difficult than a standard degree, and is more attractive to employers as a result). He's got an avid interest in ecology and zoology, and has plans to be a conservationist upon graduating.

621: He's actually a professor at the university, but looks so young that most mistake him as a student if they're not in his department. He teaches ethical hacking and cyber security, and has several rumours about him, such as he used to be a notorious hacker who was eventually caught and strongarmed into working for the government in lieu of a prison sentence, and now spends his time teaching the next generation, etc, etc. Is it true? Who knows...

WALTER: He's the university librarian, and everyone is scared of him because he's so stern and always has this aura of intensity, even when just checking a book out for someone. For some reason he's on very good terms with 621... many people theorise on their history, because Walter's also very good with computers... everyone is also aware that Walter and Michigan are a thing bc those guys ain't subtle in the slightest.

FREUD: He teaches sport science and students either love him or hate him. He's like the human personnification of marmite. He's very enthusiastic about health and remaining in peak condition, and he expects his students to give 110% in his classes. He's always butting heads with Snail, who's in the same department as him. People take bets on how long it'll take for them to fight in the parking lot and who would win (Freud has 'is insane' strength but Snail would be powered by sheer rage that has been repressed for x amount of years).

IGUAZU: He works in the on-campus cafe as a barista. He's surly and curt but makes the best damn coffee in the city so no one really complains about it. He seems to know 621 and has some kind of hate-love relationship with him? It's complicated. He yells at 621 every time he walks into the cafe but also knows his order off by heart so it's very hmmm (more fuel for the rumour mills).

MICHIGAN: He teaches War Studies and History, and while he's a pretty demanding professor, most students love his energetic style of teaching. Many assume him to be a red and blue blooded American on account of his bombastic personality, American accent and insisting on being called Michigan - he's actually French and the estranged son of a well-known billionaire. It's Michigan's deepest darkest secret.

AYRE: Every so often 621 will have a guest speaker in his classes who calls in remotely (and voice only) called Ayre. He says she's an "old work colleague" and they're both very vague about what work they were colleagues in, but people enjoy Ayre's guest appearances as she's very friendly - in direct contrast to the very taciturn and almost cold 621.

O'KEEFFE: He works in HR, but most students joke that he's more of an information broker than anything. Though he acts put upon, he's willing to help out students trying to navigate the byzantine beaucracy of university paperwork and how to squeeze out as much as possible from their loans or signposting people to things that can help them. He's easily bribed with coffee and cigarettes, but honestly, he'd help out even without a bribe... very much one of those people who look gruff and unfriendly on the outside, but actually a good person underneath it all.

FLATWELL: He owns a bakery just outside of university grounds that's popular with the students. One of the reasons Rusty chose this univeristy to do his degree: his Uncle lives just outside of it, and was willing to house him, letting Rusty save money for dormitory and food and stuff. Seems to have some ~history~ with O'Keeffe in HR...

UH THOSE ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS/ROLES and the plot would be Rusty crossing paths with 621 and thinking him very cute (621 would be the type to dress in cardigans and wear glasses), and also a fellow student... is totally unaware that he's a faculty member from an entirely different department. Tl;dr after some flirting and a few dates, Rusty only realises that 621 is a faculty member when he mentions off hand about needing to go back early to mark papers.

Rusty: oh you're... a TA? helping out in your last year? 621: no i teach Rusty: Rusty: wait how old are you-

In this I'm thinking Rusty would be in his mid-twenties, and 621 would be in his late thirties. So, about a 10 year gap between them, give or take a year.

But yeah. Coughs. That's.... that's my university au idea... mmhm. yeah...