#but i haven't really landed on anything fitting just yet

[griseldabanks]

Comfyvember 21

Story: The Four (original) Prompts: Enthusiastic greeting — Late night laughter — Waking up together

Timor couldn't suppress his grin as Norun banged his stick against the marble floor and announced loudly, “Lady Taria of the Tritons!”

Taria's expression was much more composed than his, but the ridges of translucent spikes on her head kept bristling up like a cat's fur and then smoothing down as she clearly tried to rein in her excitement. Her long tail also swished back and forth more vigorously than her stately gait down the plush blue carpet to the foot of the throne warranted. One of the castle guards escorting her stumbled slightly as her tail knocked into him.

At the halfway point, the guards flanking her came to a halt with a clank of armor, then they both saluted Timor and stood at attention. As Norun had no doubt instructed her, Taria took three more steps forward—though her strides were much longer than a human's, so she was much closer than most visitors and petitioners Timor saw in the throne room. She was close enough that he could see the flames from the candelabra flickering in her big black eyes and the red scales that covered her head to foot.

Taria bent in an elaborate bow, arms extended to either side, tail curled up behind her, and sank to one knee. Timor had to bite his lip momentarily to keep from bursting into laughter. Most onlookers probably thought this was a traditional Triton gesture or something, but Timor knew that even the Triton king only received a respectful nod of the head with a hand on the heart.

“You are most welcome, Lady Taria,” Timor said. Somehow, he managed to do it without laughing, even though she lifted her head and winked at him.

“Leave us, please,” he said, gesturing to the guards and meeting Norun's disapproving gaze. “I would speak with the Triton ambassador alone.”

Norun looked like he wanted to argue, but finally bowed deeply and backed out of the throne room, along with all the other attendants and hangers-on. When the door shut behind the last one, Timor finally did what he'd been wanting to do ever since she'd been announced. He hopped down from the throne and rushed forward, just as Taria got to her feet and caught him in a bear hug.

“Look at you, shooting up like a beansprout!” Taria laughed, swinging him around in a circle. “I leave you for a year, and you've gone and grown up without me!”

Now that he was on his feet right in front of her, Timor realized that his head actually came up to her shoulder now. Yet she looked the same as ever, except that instead of the black tunic he was used to seeing her in, she now wore a silky blue shirt and swishy pants of the same color that almost looked like a skirt when she stood still.

“And you're pretty good at ordering people around now,” Taria chuckled, ruffling his hair as if to make him look a bit more like the scrawny waif she'd first met. “Who'd have thought you'd make such a good king?”

“Not me,” Timor said earnestly. “It's mostly Norun's doing, anyway. He knows all the customs and regulations, so mostly I just do it like he says. I've still got a lot to learn.”

She cocked her head and looked at him with a smile that almost looked sad. “You really are growing up. You're not that scared little kid who used to huddle up next to me after a nightmare while I tried to make him laugh. Which was every night, I might add.”

Timor's cheeks felt hot as he crossed his arms, trying to frown. “Is that any way to speak to the High King?”

Taria snorted loudly, probably the most undignified sound that had ever echoed around these marble walls. “Oh, I've got a lot more blackmail where that came from, Your Majesty. You just better thank your lucky gemstones in that crown of yours that I'm here on a goodwill mission. On your request, I might add.”

“Oh, right.” Timor had almost forgotten why she was here, in the rush of excitement at seeing her again for the first time in a year. “So you accept, then? You'll be my advisor for Triton relations, and stick around for a while to teach me everything I need to know about your people?”

“Sure!” Taria said with a casual shrug, belied by all the ridges on her head standing straight up like an excited porcupine. “Just tell me one thing: Is Farawin doing this too?”

Timor blinked in surprise. “He got here yesterday. How did you guess?”

Taria tipped her head back and laughed. “I didn't guess, I knew! It's obvious you just want to get the four back together again.” She crushed him against her side in another hug, grinning down at him with a toothy smile.

“Yes,” Timor admitted, savoring the warm touch of her hand on his shoulder, a liberty no one ever took with him these days. “Of course I do. I can't be myself unless I've got you.”

[suguru-getos]

just some over-affectionate yan!sato blabbering

yandere satoru hasn't really snapped at you, he just doesn't. always playful, always an embodiment. waking you up with peppers of kisses, making sure you have your favorite breakfast, making sure you relax around him. he even indulges in your silly little hobbies, all for the sake of making his baby comfortable. if you like painting, he is going to buy you all the colors there are, premium quality canvas boards and everything you'd ever need to bring your imaginations into reality. digital art? then you have an ipad with procreate and a pencil, anything and everything you need.

he doesn't say it but he is extremely observant, he even notices things like your skincare before you were kidnapped, and goes out of his way to upgrade it if needed. he can be a little pesky at times. what if his baby is using the wrong skin-care? probably going to fly you to the skin and beauty land 'korea' to have your skin checked, and then buy you the 'recommended' skincare.

same with aesthetics, you like wearing a certain type of fits, you have them littered in your closet room. he prefers changing styles and wouldn't mind upgrading/donating your wardrobe when you're also bored with the same ol' things.

your room is a mixture of everything you are, and trinkets of satoru in it. you are really not allowed to sleep in your room though. it's your space, just your happy corner. it doesn't have a bed. it has plush couches that are better than most beds, neon-light which speaks of your name and scented candles, perfect desks with the perfect desk mats. you just need to sleep with satoru.

he gets specifically testy when you really don't want to give him company at times. why? hasn't he done enough? most people would kill to be in your place. that's when you can see the cracks in his carefully calibrated persona he harbors for you.

he is usually very mellow, clingy and would be so playful you often forget how strong he is. "baby- but i want cuddles!" satoru whined, pulling you close to him while you squirmed when you weren't in the mood. satoru hasn't really pushed himself sexually, but he treats you like a pet in other stances. meaning - if not huggable why so cute? so you can't really escape from him during those times.

if you really, really try hard. his laughter, soft eyes, all of it drops. the usual high-pitched excitement too... "i will count to three. if you don't really come to me, there would be consequences." you haven't really checked on what the consequences are because that sets you straight instantly.

satoru HATES when you fear him, some part of him snaps so hard at that he ends up scaring you more. this happens when he's pissed about something and you flinch/wince at his tone. he hasn't done anything to make you scared... yet? though sometimes the way he comes home... reeking of dead curses, reeking of torment and torture. you automatically end up fearing him.

there was one time you took things too far, taking his leniency too far and going out without asking him. he hasn't locked the doors like a barbarian and you're making him question if he should... that's when he took you to one of his missions. shaking, quivering as you cling to him while the curse in front of you begged for death, for being exorcised while satoru made sure it healed and then continued his torture. blaming it on you as you sobbed, anxiety and palpitations all over you. "see, this is what i do... when you don't behave. you cause pain from me to others." he just wants you to know he is/can be fucked up.

would eventually feel extremely bad when you throw up from the gore and anxiety and finish the job, bringing you home and forcing you in his arms, crying with you at how bad it makes him feel to see you like this. how he would kill himself than making you cry, though a part of him is grateful that you wouldn't really go against him for a long, long while.

whenever any action done by him fucks you up, satoru takes responsibility of undoing it. even if sometimes he needs to make sure you stay with him, no matter the consequences... he would try his best to make up for it. always pestering, always kissing you, praising you for being so good to him even if you're not, behaving like an ideal boyfriend to the point where even you start suspecting if the problem is you.

he loves so sickeningly hard you end up deluded enough to consider yourself the 'toxic' one. :3

[abstractnaturaldisaster]

is it over now? (was it over then?)

part eight

part nine: see you come running

Eddie was slowing realizing that introducing Robin and Nancy to the Corroded Coffin crew was the perfect way to lose all of his sanity in one go. Eddie had continued chatting with Robin and bouncing ideas off of her but nothing was clicking and Eddie finally broke down and decided the whole crew needed to come together over pizza to write and score some not cheesy but totally grand gesture worthy songs for Steve.

Eddie's label wasn't thrilled with the abrupt u-turn from an angsty heavy break up album to a single song in that vein and then sappy love songs for the rest of the album but thankfully Corroded Coffin had earned enough cachet over the years that Ronnie was able to convince the label that the songs would still have their signature flair just less angsty and more romantic -- more I would bleed for you and less I would watch eagles rip out your intestines and laugh.

As a group, Corroded Coffin was generally ambivalent towards love most of the time. Ronnie was not interested in dating much more content with her plants and foster kittens. Jeff had been dating the same girl since kindergarten basically and while she was lovely and totally worth swooning over, Jeff had gotten his cheese out early on through middle school notes passed through lockers. Frank and Gareth kind of fluctuated between meeting people at shows and trying whatever fad dating site existed for celebrities at the time but hadn't had serious partners in several years.

All that to say, Eddie was fucking banging his head against the wall for the fifth time in so many hours trying to find another rhyme for love that wasn't glove or shove and his bandmates had taken to throwing little pieces of things into his rapidly frizzing messy bun. They needed reinforcements.

By the time pizza and the girls arrived Eddie was laying upside down with his head dangling off the couch singing an over the top version of I Miss You and hoping none of his friends ever told Tom Delonge. Robin and Ronnie promptly cut him off so his hair didn’t land square in the pepperoni.

"Alright let's get the show on the road," Nancy stated after she had ushered the group together onto couches in some semblance of order after the empty pizza boxes had been bussed.

"You can't rush art, Nancy," Eddie snarked which was probably overall a little too daring based on the look Robin sent him.

"But you can actually write something down instead of flipping through Steve's instagram and sigh over his hair," Ronnie responded earning her a high five from Robin.

Nancy had brought over a big flipchart and colored pens and was starting to jot down ideas that were being thrown around the room. So far Eddie had added a doodle of himself looking up at Steve but hadn't really contributed anything else to the board.

"What are you guys known for?" Robin asked.

"Uhm mostly spooky shit and more recently a break up song that low key ruined my life?" Eddie answered.

"What Eddie means to say is that we generally write fantasy based albums that have some sort of an overall theme or story and tend to be a heavily metaphored summation of something one of us was dealing with," Ronnie clarified after thumping Eddie on the back of his head.

"Examples?" Nancy asked.

"So our debut album was basically growing up in our small town and not fitting in but told through the metaphor of the nine circles of hell," Jeff piped in.

"Definitely aren't beating the satanist allegations back home, fam," Gareth chimed in from the kitchen.

"Okay so why don't we do Steve and Eddie's story through a metaphor y'all haven't done yet. Greek myth?" Robin suggested.

"Already done that," Ronnie answered.

"Lord of the Rings vibes?" Nancy threw out.

"Second album," Frank answered.

"Constellations?" Robin asked.

"Fourth album," Jeff said.

"Okay well what haven't you done?" Nancy was growing impatient with twenty questions.

"Eddie, I think it might be time to pull out the original Munson Mythology," Gareth said through a mouthful of cold pizza.

"I feel like there's a story there," Robin prodded.

"I mean, kind of. So I think y'all might know some of this but my family is mostly from Appalachia and I moved with my uncle to a bigger city where I met the rest of these guys so he could get a job at the plant instead of in the coal mines. We all became friends because we were part of a ttrpg group in school and I ran a campaign based a lot on the old stories Uncle Wayne used to tell me about the mountains. It became nicknamed the Munson Mythology and we've been thinking about putting it into an album basically since we started but I could never get it to sit right and our label wasn't the most excited about americana and metal," Eddie summarized as succinctly as he could.

"I think we could get them around to it now. Especially with how popular the single got. We could do a whole like americana cryptid vibe and keep it kind of spooky but ultimately romantic," Ronnie added.

"No pressure though, Eddie. I know Steve is already a personal subject matter but talking about your family lore adds a whole 'nother layer. We'd understand if you wanted to go another direction," Jeff said.

"I think I might be ready for it, guys. I mean Steve's the closest I've come to finding home outside of the mountains and it's something different than we've done before. I think Gare might be right. It's probably time," Eddie said.

"Then I guess we are writing a metal appalachian love story, friends," Robin clapped her hands as if to indicate it was time to get to work.

"Alright, Eddie. Time to tell us some stories," Nancy said.

"What do y'all know about skinwalkers?" Eddie asked as he settled in to tell some folktales.

***

through a random twist of events (aka someone actually wanting to find my fic which holy crap is so flattering omg) i've come back to this work. thanks anon for kicking me back into this au which is so fun to write. the boys will be back together soon just wanted to add some buddy hijinks as i think Ronnie and Robin would be cautious besties and i wanted to see that happen.

also it's been over two months since i worked on this so if you see plot holes no you didn't. one of these days i will put this up on ao3 and go through and make sure i'm consistent with everyone's backstory but for now just go with it. :p

it is a truth universally acknowledged for some reason i absolutely suck at tagging. i think i have been consistent but all these parts should be tagged "was it over then ficlet" if you have trouble finding them. i also might have to work on a master list situation as i will probably not get better at tagging anytime soon. but here we go:

@lololol-1234 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @zombiethingy @grtwdsmwhr @dreamercec @anne-bennett-cosplayer @strawberryyyenthusiast

@mensch-anthropos-human @kal-ology @ttyrussss @kristmkris @starman-jpg @wonderland-girl143-blog @child-of-cthulhu @legalmenace87 @adealwithher @practicallybegging

@lunaraquaenby @stripey82 @lexyvey @goodolefashionedloverboi @mothmamhasyourlocation @mugloversonly @sherrylyn0628 @steddieinthesun @wonderland-girl143-blog @counting-dollars-counting-stars @bookworm0690

@knightly-reblogs @rjwinterfell @kcsplace @y4r3luv @thedragonsaunt

[mrs-kmikaelson]

01| The Tribrid

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x daughter!reader, Marcel Gerard x reader (platonic) Summary: While you're away on an impromptu break, Marcel comes to try and get you to come back to help him face the Mikaelsons who just so happen to be your long lost family (but no else knows that). Warnings: none Words: 3.2K

Masterlist | Part 2

a/n: i guess this kinda fits in with season one, but it's more of an AU than anything. so, it has elements of the s1 plot, like the marcel and klaus feud, the hope plot, but the villains from s1 won't really be present. like i said, AU. but without further adieu, on we go.

New Orleans was a land of plastic beads and festivals for days–a tourist attraction, which basically meant a blood bank. I knew what lurked in the shadows, what whispered through the grapevine behind the music, but Originals... I didn't know they were back.

Word travels fast around the Quarter, but I haven't been there; I was in Mystic Falls, too busy following up on a lead about the Mikaelsons to even realize that they were at the place I started, my home. 

Marcel wouldn't stop talking about it. As soon as I got back, I was flooded with information and, as soon as I got back, I could hear the whispers from a mile away. Most reactions to the arrival of such a family were scared, livid, shocked, but I was none of the above.

I didn't have a thing to say back to Marcel, not a thing to say to the people who were suddenly confusing me with Rebekah Mikaelson. I didn't have an inch of emotion about it, not surprise, not fear. I mean, how could anyone be surprised? How could I be surprised, scared?

How could I be surprised by my own family?

"Klaus needs to learn his place." I internally rolled my eyes at Marcel's, basically, monologue, continuing to sift through pages of the magazine in my hands. "He's outta line." 

Klaus Mikaelson was always out of line– he had no line, no boundaries. He was Klaus Mikaelson and that was the only line there was, but I didn't say that. When Marcel was having one of his tantrums, I learned to just listen to him; interrupting or putting my own two cents in just made the conversation longer and I only wanted it to end. 

"He thinks he can just kick me out of the Quarter, out of my home, the bastard. Who does he think he is?" Rhetorical question, I had to remind myself, holding my tongue. The former king of New Orleans was sitting across from me at a coffee shop in New York. A coffee shop.

He was calling this his 'vacation' but we both knew that the only reason he was here was because boss man told him to leave. Honestly, I don't know why I'm here. I'm supposed to be in a university class, but it doesn't really matter if I can just compel the grade, right?

I was doing psych this time; Cami's always saying all these things to me about how she thinks my brain works and I honestly want to learn how it does. Saying I have a PhD might actually get me a significant other, but, knowing myself, the whole triangle of creatures thing might freak them out. 

At least I haven't gone as low as Marcel.

"Y'know, just because that ass is an Original doesn't mean he's suddenly the shit." 

This time, I didn't bother trying to hide the roll of my eyes, continuing to flip through my magazine as I responded. "Uh... it kinda does." I could feel his glare on my forehead as my eyes widened at Kim K's ass. Not even being a Vampire gives you that- "And, Marcel, I don't know if you've realized it yet, but he isn't just an Original."

I looked up at him for the first time since his rant started and gave him a pointed look. Sometimes, he didn't think with his head. 

Marcel shrugged like he was saying, 'so what' silently. "Tyler what's-his-name is a hybrid, too."

I raised a brow at him. "A hybrid turned by Klaus, and wasn't he the guy who tried to kill Klaus' wife or whatever, inadvertently but intentionally trying to kill himself, and then failed?" 

"Not the point, Y/N/N." The fuck it isn't- "The point is that the man is such a dick because his is so small." Gross. Didn't need to hear that.

"Didn't he adopt you or something?"

"Is that all you're getting from what I'm saying?"

I made a face at him, putting my magazine down on the table. "Can I be honest and say I don't get anything from this conversation?"

He deadpanned, "You're annoying."

"Glad you're just now figuring that out, Cellie." I got up from my seat, patting him on his back. "Please, though, go have this talk with Camille instead."

I started walking away, but Marcel only got up and began following me out, making me hold in a groan. God, men, they can never take a damn hint.

"Hey, where you headed?" He asked, but he dismissed his own question just as quick as I would've. "And aren't you supposed to talk to me and help me figure out my problems? You're studying psych, aren't you?"

I scoffed, "Yeah, people usually pay for a psychiatrist to talk to them." Honestly, I don't know why Marcel was here. With a God complex like his, you'd expect him to stay and, y'know, get himself killed. It's not like him to use his brain so suddenly.

He could've gone to damn Vegas, maybe LA, but he just has to come to where I am, right after I leave. He's getting a break from his 'Kingly' duties; Klaus is taking that off his hands, so why isn't he enjoying it and taking an actual vacation instead of visiting me and calling it a holiday? I'm not the Eiffel Tower, for Pete's sake.

It's a power struggle. People like him, came from the bottom and wanted nothing more than to be at the top, fighting against people like Originals, who had been where my friend wanted to be since the beginning of time. 

Marcel didn't want to admit he was playing a losing game.

"You telling me to go home, Y/L/N?"

I rolled my eyes. What gave it away? "Precisely, Gerard."

I was just about to make it to my car when Marcel sped in front of me. I looked up at the sky and pinched my eyes. God, he was insufferable. Honestly, it shouldn't have surprised me that he came all this way just to bitch. But what he said next did surprise me.

"Come back with me, then."

My eyes snapped open and I stared at him incredulously. What the fuck.

I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating and Cellie slapped my arm. "C'mon, Y/N/N. It'll be funnnnnnnnn." The way he dragged out the word did not convince me in the slightest.

I got over my shock and voiced my thoughts. "You want me to come back because you think drama with the Mikaelsons is- fun?"

He was quick with his response. "It could be." He then snorted. "Hell, I'd love to see Klaus' reaction to a girl like you, stronger than him-" I cut him off with my magic, his lips slamming shut immediately. It was only a temporary thing, just stops a person from speaking for a second, so he'd be able to continue right after, but he got the point and shut up.

I've known Marcel for close to fifty years. Met him in the seventies. He tried to kill me and I knocked him off his feet with a classic telekinesis spell. Since then, he's known about who I am and he's also decided that he's better off having me on his team. Whatever the hell that means.

I usually like to keep the whole tribrid thing under wraps, hence why I got Marcel to stop talking.

I gave him a look. "Klaus wouldn't have any reaction what I am, because he wouldn't know." Apparently, my gaze conveyed my message well enough because Marcel raised his hands in surrender. 

"Okay, okay," he conceded. "No one's gotta know. But you should come back anyway."

I can't say I haven't thought about it. I know I can't stay out in New York forever. 

I rolled my eyes. I can't believe I'm actually giving thought to something Marcel says. "Okay, gimme time and I'll think about it."

He grinned and pointed finger guns at me, walking backwards away from me. "Think it over and we'll talk about it tomorrow." He turned around and walked away with a kick in his step before he disappeared completely, moving too fast for the human eye to detect.

I sighed and shook my head, the smallest of smiles growing on my face. Ah, Marcel. 

I pulled out my keys, walking to my car and thinking about what he asked. 

It's sorta odd, I suppose. Considering how long I've been watching the Mikaelsons, you'd think I'd be the first one there in New Orleans, keeping tabs on them, but the only way I knew about their escapades was from Marcel who told me voluntarily.

That was one thing he didn't know about me; no one did. No one knew about my connection to the Mikaelsons, not even the Mikaelsons themselves, which is partially why I don't wanna go back to NOLA just yet.

My apartment's in the Quarter, way too close to the Abbatoir and, according to Marcel, that's now Original HQ. It's too risky, my rational side said.

Yet, the other part of me that spent almost my entire life tracking them, being infatuated with them, thinks that being so close to them would be favourable. 

And, like most times, the irrational part of my brain wins the battle in decision-making.

Fuck. Marcel's gonna have to buy me a lot of alcohol for this one.

Walking through the quarter again is like that human expression 'like riding a bike.' I've obviously never ridden a bike, but I get what the expression is meant to say. It's referring to doing something that comes naturally to you.

That's what this is.

Marcel is beside me as we walk past both all the tourists and locals. It's easy to tell the difference between the two. I compelled movers earlier to unload all my stuff back into my apartment so I have nothing to worry about other than getting reacquainted with my city.

The path we took eventually led us to Rousseau's and as soon as we entered my eyes scanned the bar for Cami, who I know for a fact Marcel is obsessed with. But she's way too good for him.

I went and sat down at the bar and waited for her to come our way. She wasn't paying much attention when she came over, wiping down some glasses. "Hey, what can I getcha?"

"The usual." Her head shot up when she heard me and a smile broke out on her face. "Y/N/N?" She put down what she was holding and came around the counter, embracing me in a hug. "Oh my God, I thought you were gonna be stuck in the big apple for a while still."

I chuckled. "Yeah, well Marcel happened to- no, nevermind, Marcel just happened." She let out a laugh and went back around the counter, greeting Marcel and getting to work on our drinks.

"Well, I'm glad you're back," she said.

Marcel inserted himself into the conversation and I tuned them out after that, letting the two of them flirt. Cami probably didn't define it as flirting, but she definitely was.

I think she liked Marcel, but she was in denial about it. I get why though. She didn't wanna fall for a guy that was bad news and she had doubts about him, reasonable doubts.

But beyond the vampirism and ego, I knew Marcel would treat her right. That's why I got up from my seat straight after downing my drink, catching their attention. 

"Hey, I'm gonna head out, It's getting late anyways and I still have to unpack." Marcel rose a brow at me, knowing I didn't have to unpack shit, but he should be grateful. I'm basically cupid and I'm shooting them both right now.

Cami gave a little sigh. "You just got here, though-"

"I'll be back tomorrow morning, promise!" I smiled at her for emphasis and she untensed and reciprocated the action.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then." Her and Cellie both waved bye to me and I walked out the door. God, I was just itching to get out of there. The tension between them was suffocating me. 

I put my hands into my pockets and glanced at the sky that had darkened significantly from when Marcel and I entered the bar. I guess we were there for longer than I thought.

There weren't really any tourists left walking around, only a few people that actually lived in the area. No vampires were allowed to fuck with the locals and, besides, most of the locals were witches, anyways. 

Even humans like Cami should be safe walking through the Quarter at night, but even then, if you didn't know about the supernatural while living in NOLA then you were in a whole other kind of danger. Knowledge is power.

Even if you were a witch, that was still risky. And if you were a werewolf, then forget it. Vampires were the only people without fear nowadays, it seemed.

Luckily, or unfortunately, I was all three creatures. 

"Back off," My ears picked up the sound of a girl growling. My eyes hadn't found her yet, but my nose worked faster. Werewolf.

Whoever she was talking to seemed to have that ability as well and murmured, "You're a werewolf." He was shaken but then he laughed, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun with you." Vampire.

Damnit, my first day back in the Quarter and, already, I'm dealing with the remnants of drama caused by Marcel. I sighed, thinking it's none of my damn business. But I could hear the sound of that girl's heart pitter pattering and I knew I couldn't just ignore it.

Motherfucker.  

I rolled my eyes and strained my ears a little more to guide me to where they were, my senses leading me to an alleyway where the wolf girl and the vampire stood. His back was facing me so he couldn't see me, but the girl caught my gaze and her eyes widened.

The vampire's head cocked. "What are you looking at?" Just as he turned to face me, I ran up to him and snapped his neck. His body fell to the floor with an ungraceful thump and I pushed a lock of hair away from my face, looking up to the girl who wore an expression of shock.

I had a sarcastic comment in my head that I felt like saying, but honestly, I just wanted to go home so I pushed it to the side and gave her a serious look. "You shouldn't walk all alone in the Quarter at night. It can be dangerous."

She shook off her surprise and stood taller, scoffing, "I can handle myself." Oh, for sure, I thought. This time, I was gonna speak my thoughts, but a heartbeat caught me by surprise. I held back a stagger and looked down to her stomach where the little thumping was coming from. 

A pregnant werewolf.

My stare remained on her stomach as I cautioned, "You really shouldn't be out in the Quarter on your own. Especially if you're pregnant." I looked back up to her when her arms quickly wrapped themselves around her stomach. 

She was a little more reserved now, stepping away from me a little and saying, "Trust me, I've got people looking out for me."

I snorted. "And where are they?"

She didn't reply, instead she only wrapped her arms around herself tighter. I get it; werewolves oughta be careful with vampires in this city and she thinks I'm a vampire- or just a vampire, rather. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and waved it. "I'll call the baby's father now and he'll come get me." She kept staring at me for a few more seconds before adding, "So thank you, really, but I'll be fine now." Translation: please go away. 

I nodded at her and turned around as she began dialling. I wanted to get home anyway and I didn't need to stick around to see any baby daddy drama. Since that girl was a werewolf, baby daddy was probably some form of supernatural and therefore huge ego. Entertaining, but could get annoying.

I continued back on the route to my apartment per usual, passing by a few people and a few other neighbours I waved to. I knew all the locals, and I know for a fact girl doesn't live in the Quarter for two reasons. One, I don't know her, and two, werewolves aren't exactly welcome in the Quarter.

Of course, I'm a werewolf too, but no one knows that.

Knowing that werewolves aren't welcome here makes me wonder if she knew that, makes me wonder why she's here in the first place but as soon as my mind starts wandering, I steer myself back, reminding myself it really is none of my business. 

I'll probably never see her again, anyway.

Sooner than not, I make it to my townhouse. Just before I'm about to go up the steps to the door, I stop and turn to the side, staring out at all the other houses and little shops. If I walked a little further, I'd make it to the compound that was no longer Marcel's territory.

If I walked a little further, the Mikaelsons would be right there. And should they ever walk this way, they might just see me.

I shook my head and walked up the steps, opening my door. 

The Mikaelsons are a problem for another day. Right now, I'm going to bed.

When I wake up the next day, it's noon and someone is calling me. I picked up the phone without checking the caller ID, knowing who it was anyway. "Yes, Marcel?" I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand and turned over so the sun wasn't fucking my eyeballs.

"Ooh, you sound happy to hear my voice."

"Just elated, Cellie." I stuck my head into my pillow and grumbled, "Elated."

Marcel snickered. "Well, good because we have a party to go to."

My head moves up from the pillow. "What?" Marcel threw parties all the time, but since he lost his power, he didn't have anywhere to throw one.

"It's a Mikaelson bash." My breath got caught in my throat at the mention of the name, but Marel didn't notice, continuing on with bitterness in his voice. "It's to show the city who's in charge now."

I quickly got over the Mikaelson name drop like usual and probed, "But aren't you supposed to be banished from the Quarter?" I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. "Going to that thing just sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"Sure, you could view it like that, but Klaus won't try anything while we're there."

"And why's that?"

"Because the party's supposed to be a symbol for peace, too. We'll be fine. Plus, I need a date."

I held back a snort. "What, Cami's busy?"

"She's working the bar tonight," he replied. "So you've gotta come with me."

I felt a sigh coming on. For fuck's sake, I just got back. I wasn't expecting this to happen yet.

I was gonna contemplate for a while longer but Marcel didn't give me that time. Instead, he just quickly told me he'd be picking me up at 8 and hung on me, making me gasp.

Son of a bitch.

[andromeda-nova-writing]

Plastic Off The Sofa

Fem!Reader

Summary: Rest when one is injured it is important to take as to not strain an injury any further. It is equally important to take care of those who have been injured and check in on them to make sure they are okay.

Words: 2,982

AN: This fic is inspired by the song of the same name. I highly recommend you go give it a listen if you. haven't heard it yet. It's a song that discusses a deep love where you are willing to put everything on the table and accept each other's flaws. It very much fits how I see these two

It was rare that Y/N took a sick day. Most times when she did it would land on days she was to work on the surface, which made today a double rare. She was sitting on the sofa in her apartment taking a sick day forcing herself to listen to her own advice and rest. She wasn't ill. Not even seasonal allergies were causing a sniffle. Y/N had spent the day before teaching her younger cousins different dancing techniques. It was a fairly normal occurrence for her. But with an unlucky fall and the pain she felt from her ankle, there was no way she'd be able to easily move in the Fortress. Hell, there wouldn't even be an easy way of getting to the Fortress.

So all she could do was sit on her sofa and rest her ankle. At least she had books she could focus on getting caught up on. Most of the day had been spent resting much to her annoyance. Despite getting rest, she felt restless like she needed to move around already. At least by tomorrow morning, she should be able to walk with little interference from her ankle.

Her mother had dropped by around noon to check on her with lunch in tow. Along with the get-well cards her younger cousins had made so fast. It was quite sweet of everyone. It's not like it was a major injury. She had gone through small ones like this every three or four years. There really was no big fuss to be made over it. Yet, the fuss they were making was still touching. Bringing comfort knowing that if it had been worse her family would be there for her.

So she sat there on her sofa too engrossed in her book to notice that it wasn't her mother knocking at her door. “You know where the key is!” She yelled out. It's something her mother never had taken the wrong way. If anything it was something they had become used to yelling at each other every now and then. It was a simple way of just letting the other know that they couldn’t make it to the door quickly.

She flipped a page in her book as her front door opened. Her back was to the door. “I told you I would be fine to make something small for dinner. You do understand I can still take care of myself, mama.” 

“Last I checked I wasn't your mother,” Wriothesley spoke before closing the door to her home.

Y/N's eyes widened as she quickly closed her book placing it on the coffee table before rushing to tighten the robe she had over the short nightgown. “What are you doing here?” She felt severely undressed for company with the cool touch of the silks feeling like flames against her skin now.

“I had some papers I had to drop off for Neuvillette and I figured I could at least come by and check on you.” It was hard not to let his eyes drink in the sight of his girlfriend. She looked relaxed with how dressed down she was. If anything it made him feel a bit overdressed for his visit.

She kept her eyes away from him, avoiding turning around to face him. Her face felt so warm. “I appreciate the visit. I just had a bad fall yesterday. I've just been following the advice I'd give to anyone else today.”

“It's good to know you're okay.” He let out a small laugh watching her struggle to use the dainty robe to cover up more. He took his jacket off and moved closer to the sofa. He placed the jacket on the front of her which she had been trying to cover up. “Better?”

“Thank you. To be fair I didn't expect any company other than my mother. If I knew you were going to stop by I would have gotten dressed. This just feels a bit inappropriate.” She pulled the jacket close using it as a way to hide that she remained in her pajamas all day long.

“You're overthinking again.”

“No, I'm not overthinking. I should go get dressed.” She reasoned as a quick way to fix her predicament.

“Yes, you are. You were in nothing but one of my shirts last week lying in my bed. I think we've crossed that line a long time ago to call what you're wearing inappropriate.” If it had been a year ago before they had gotten together, he would have given her privacy to go change. He probably wouldn't have even shown up at her doorstep. Wriothesley thought the shyness of seeing each other's bodies had already left that first night they had been together in his bed.

“But silks just feel more exposing than one of your shirts. Doesn’t help that I wasn't expecting to see you today.” The last sentence she spoke came out a bit more mumbled than the first.

Wriothesley laughed before leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Let’s agree to disagree on this one.” He tried lightening her mood. “Am I at least allowed to sit next to you while you tell me what happened to your ankle? Or are you just gonna sit here being a shy mess?” 

She frowned at his teasing. It sucked not being able to think of a good comeback. With her luck, she would probably be able to think of one long after the time had passed. “I guess you can sit next to me. And are you sure you want to know what happened to my ankle? It’s not that interesting.” She warned.

“It's the least you could do. The woman who subbed in for you practically interrogated me about how we were doing?”  Wriothesley shook his head at the memory of the morning.

“Was she short with red hair?” She moved over enough, creating room on the sofa for Wriothesley.

He sat down placing his arm on the backrest of the sofa. He tried to be comfortable while also giving her just enough space. Had it gone his way, she would have been curled up in his arms as they talked of their day. “Yeah, she had a nose ring too.”

Y/N leaned her back against him. Maybe she had been overthinking earlier. Sometimes it was easier to accept that fact even if she wasn’t sure of what exactly had caused her overthinking. “Elizabeth means well. She's just always getting her heart broken and just doesn't want it to happen to anyone else.” 

“Could have fooled me. It felt like she was waiting for me to slip up.”

Y/N laughed. “Well, I'll let you know if you passed her test.”

“Now what happened to your ankle?” He asked still wanting to know what had happened even if she found it to be a boring tale.

“I was teaching some of my cousins different techniques for dance. I was demonstrating something from ballet when my aunt's dog thought that would be a wonderful time to jump at me. See nothing that interesting.” She downplayed the simple event.

“You know ballet?” Wriothesley asked wondering how it hadn’t been brought up before.

“Navia wasn’t lying when she told you my mother put me in so many dance classes.”

“I just didn't think you were the ballet type.”

“It's not like I have a reason to talk about dance with you. Even then I don't practice It anymore. Haven't for the past seven years.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s nice, it's just not what I wanted to do in life.” She explained not feeling the need to go any further. It wasn’t important to discuss. There was no need to focus on what she considered a small unimportant aspect of her life.

Wriothesley nodded in understanding. “So what have you been doing while you were resting?”

“Mostly reading. It has been a day of rest. I’ve done nothing of interest.”

“Was The book interesting at least?”

“It's interesting but not cause it's good kind of interesting. One of the ladies at work thought it would be fun to have a monthly book club. I just didn't think that this was her taste.” She thought back on what she had read throughout the day questioning if she should have just stuck to something she would have chosen for herself.

Wriothesley moved his free arm towards the book that lay on her coffee table. He picked up the book looking at the cover. “I'm glad that's the reason you're reading this. And you had me thinking I wasn't doing well enough in the romance department.” He teased as he put the book back. It was a book that had made its way into the Fortress a few years back making it something he had checked out of curiosity. 

“What would possibly make you think that?” She asked, entertaining his nonsense.

“You see, my girlfriend doesn't care to explain to me everything that happened to her ankle.” He began listing. “She suddenly finds it inappropriate for me to see her in silks despite having seen her in far less.”

“Wriothesley, did you come here to check on me or tease me?”

He ignored her second question remaining focused on her first one. “What's worse is that if she's worried about what she's wearing around me, I'll never get to kiss her. It would be horrible to make her uncomfortable.” He was being overly dramatic just to continue teasing her, even if his dramaticness contained an ounce of truth.

“You have issues, Ri.” She rolled her eyes with a smile before sitting up. Her words had no bite remaining playful, even when what she had said was something that held a level of truth. His jacket fell off of her onto the sofa as she moved. “I'm going to go get changed.” Y/N stood up making sure not to put too much weight on her hurt ankle.

“What if I don't want you to?” It was a question that was a tad selfish but it didn't hurt to say what was wanted. It wasn't like his wants were being forced on her. However, her wanting to change did make him question things. So all he could do was push the boundaries they had already broken once before. “How could I judge you for being comfortable in your own home when I'm the one who showed up unexpectedly?”

“Wriothesley…” her voice trailed off.

“I want you to be comfortable around me.” He tried playing it off with a laugh. Maybe he was just thinking too much into things himself. “Maybe I should just let you rest before I talk too much.” His words were softer as he forced out the sentence.

She looked at his face slightly defeated but filled with longing eyes. “I like hearing you talk.” She sat back down next to him. “You know I wouldn't have even told you where I hid the extra key if I didn't feel comfortable around you.”

“Yeah, I know. I just probably need to go back and get proper rest if I'm talking like this.” Wriothesley explained to not worry her. 

“Maybe I let my overthinking get the best of me. Don't let it get the best of you too.” Y/N placed her hand on his cheek. “How am I supposed to listen about getting out my own head if you just start doing what I do? You've done everything to make me feel comfortable around you. You’re even good about asking if I'm comfortable with the smallest things.”

“What else am I supposed to do? I know I'm not the nicest-looking guy around. I think I saw a kid hide behind their mom on the way over.”

“And I'm sure you gave them the sweetest smile.” Y/N placed a hand on his thigh giving it a gentle squeeze. “I know I said that I'm dressed inappropriately but I think it’s just the shock of you being here. I  got used to only having my mom check on me. I do appreciate that you’re here. I wasn’t expecting it even if you’re just here cause you had to drop something off.”

“I would have checked on you regardless. If not me going on my own, I'm sure Sigewinne would have dragged on up here.”

Y/N laughed at the mental image of his words. “It is funny to see her dragging you to the infirmary. I think it was my first month down there when I saw that for the first time.”

“She made a big deal out of it that time. I was nowhere near needing to go to the infirmary.”  Wriothesley shook his head at the memory.

“I thought it was cute.”

He rolled his eyes. “I don't think I would call that cute.”

“It calmed my nerves down back then. You know I only started working in the fortress as a way to get away from my problems.” She shook her head at her past self and smiled at what that choice had brought her in the end. “It might have been one of the few times I smiled that month. Seeing that you let Sigewinne drag you around was very cute.”

“I still wouldn't call it could cute.”

“Would you rather I call you cute?” She was half teasing.

“By any chance when you fell, did you hit your head too?” He teased back with a smirk knowing how her reaction was bound to go.

“You try standing balanced on your toes with a dog running at you!” She crossed her arms leaning back into a sofa before looking away from him. “I can't believe I attempted to give you a genuine compliment and you think it's out of an injury. I'm starting to think you really did come over to tease me.”

Wriothesley’s hand dropped from the back of the sofa onto her shoulder pulling her in close. “I haven't teased you once yet.”

With a roll of her eyes, Y/N turned her head towards him. “Now I know for sure you are just messing with me.” She tried to force a laugh down. “Quit looking at me like that.”

“Is it wrong to admire you?”

“You look like you are planning to do more than just admire me.”

“Only if you let me.”

“I let you know where the key to my home lies. I let you stay in my home despite your unannounced visit. I let you see me in my nightwear. Yet you still ask if I will let you. I think you know what I'll let you d-”

Was it right of Wriothesley to shut her up with a kiss? Considering the mini speech she gave it felt entirely right. Which only became reinforced by how she melted into the kiss. To be fair all he had craved was a few short kisses from her at least to make up for the ones he would steal from her while she was supposed to be working in the Fortress. They were always worth it even though every time she’d kick him out of the infirmary unable to hold back a smile or a laugh. 

Y/N had pulled away from the kiss, moving herself onto his lap effectively caging him in on the sofa.

“I thought your ankle was hurting.”

“I’ve been resting all day. I’ll be fine.”  Her hands had wandered onto his chest where she had begun to play with his tie, giving it a pull ever so lightly bringing him closer.

“Just making sure. I wouldn’t want you stressing your injury just cause eager for anothe-” He had been caught off guard,  a welcomed change.

Y/N pulled him in close, placing a peck on his lips. “You definitely don't get to judge how I take care of an injury. I think I've lost count of how many times I've had to get on you about taking care of yourself.” The unintended double entendre lost on her for a second.

“I might listen more if you got on me like this.” Wriothesley kept a hand on her back keeping her close. The other hand was left on her thigh almost still as his thumb traced small circles.

Y/N barely had a chance to roll her eyes before she had been kissed again. She pulled away only for Wriothesley to keep planting kisses on her face. “I doubt you would.”

He spoke between kisses. “I’d listen to you read one of those medical books I see you going over on your breaks.”

She laughed. “You mean the medical records I’m writing in while I’m working?”

He kissed her once again. “Yes, those.”

“I know you’re joking but that is very much against the law for me to read to you unless it involves me trying to get a patient to the surface for more intense medical care.”

He leaned his head back. “I know what I said but if you start explaining anything like that for work again right now I will just leave to pick up dinner for us instead.” He warned, trying not to let their mood get ruined.

“You're lucky. I could have gone into chemical formulas or how there's a painkiller derived from mold.” She joked partially. There had been quite a large number of times that Wriothesley had walked in on a long discussion on the origins of certain drugs. As much as he cared for her, it was one of the driest conversations to ever witness repeatedly.

Wriothesley rolled his eyes. “I am begging you to shut up.”

“Do better at making sure I can't talk then.” She knew her words were bait, a challenge that she hoped he would take. Her face looked akin to a siren that was ready to invite him underneath the waves. And Wriothesley was happily willing to make good on what she told him to do.

[eveningrainstorm]

my take on teenage raz and lili!

some design notes under the cut:

They're intended to be about 16 here! I didn't go for anything too drastic in terms of changes -- these are largely just what I'd consider natural evolutions of their canon designs

For Raz, my main focus besides just making him look older was to add a bit more resemblance to the other Aquatos in his design, since his relationship with them wouldn't be strained like it is during canon

Raz is shown with very straight hair in canon, but since most of his family's hair is more wavy or curly I tend to imagine he styles it that way on purpose as part of his Sasha Nein cosplay or whatever. He wouldn't still feel the need to do that at this point, though, so for this design I wanted to make it more curly, similar to Augustus or Frazie, while still similar to his canon style. This turned out to be incredibly difficult and I'm still not entirely happy with where I landed, but it's good enough

I didn't think he would still wear the helmet but I didn't want to discard it entirely, so the goggles were a compromise. I meant to give them some visible scratches and wear and tear since they're presumably the same goggles he's been wearing since he was 10, but I forgot. rip

Obviously the most notable change to Raz's outfit is the scarf -- I wanted something that would tie him visually to the other Aquatos while still fitting with his general look. I imagine they gave it to him as a gift, sort of an acknowledgement that even if he doesn't perform with them as an acrobat, doing his Psychonaut work is his own way of being an Aquato

Raz's outfit here is honestly very similar to his PN2 outfit. This is because in my eyes "long coat and turtleneck" is Peak Character Design and cannot be improved on. (Hence why I may not be the best person to redesign Raz.) He has an actual coat rather than just an oversized blazer this time though, so that's an improvement. With the turtleneck I was was vaguely intending for it to be color-wise something of a middle ground between the Sasha-style green striped turtleneck and the Aquato blue/green and white stripes, but it ended up basically just being the PN1 stripes with the PN2 color. which, you know, that works

I went back and forth on what their heights should be -- I thought it would be kind of funny if Raz ended up short and Lili ended up taller than him, but then I decided to just make them more in line with their families, with Raz being tall and lanky and Lili being average verging on short. Except then I accidentally made Lili tall anyway because I was only vaguely considering her height relative to Raz. I guess Lili's probably taller than her dad now? good for her ig

Most of their facial features are just slight variations of how they look in canon -- slightly smaller eyes and so on. the only real specific change is that Lili has a more defined nose now, similar in shape to her father's

Lili's outfit here is more different from either of her canon outfits than Raz's is, but there's still not much that really requires a ton of explanation. The goal was to make her look vaguely cool and fashionable, although as I am neither of those things I cannot guarantee I was successful

I tried a couple different hairstyles for Lili, and I'm still not entirely set on this one -- Originally what I settled on was to give her two braids, which I did like, but I kept doing sketches of her where I just drew the top part of the hair and was like "ngl this kind of works on its own" and so I ended up going with the short hair. I also briefly tried an asymmetrical haircut but I couldn't get it to look right. I think this one suits her though

Lili's tattoo (on her left wrist) was a later addition to the design, and even in the later stages of drawing this I wasn't sure whether to keep it. I like it conceptually I just haven't figured out a consistent design for it yet, only that it has to be of plants

god these notes got way longer than I meant them to be I am so sorry. Uh basically I'm still figuring out the details of these designs but for now here's Raz and Lili, they're teenagers now, thanks for reading

[konigsblog]

Hello Orla, so I have never really seen Konig with Reader who is worshipping his body and his cock, of course I don't mean Konig as softie here just the rough feral man that he is with the darling of his worshipping his body 😍

although, i have the worst gag reflex ever known, i'd gladly let him face fuck me into a babbling, gasping and breathless mess :( anything for him, anything.

his huge hands lowering you down onto his thick cock, feeling at you stroke and pump whatever you haven't fit in your mouth just yet. he gazes down at you, looking to the side into the mirror and seeing him beginning to bulge from your throat :( his grunts are guttural as you continue, jaw aching from the weight of könig's thick shaft laying in your mouth, tongue pressed flat against each prominent vein.

the tip of your tongue slowly running across each vein, pulling off his lengthy size with a ‘pop’ and giving him watery, desperate eyes as you kiss his shaft, licking down to his base and sucking on his balls needily!! the sounds of your soft pleasure going straight to his cock, twitching in your hand as you jerk him slowly, his large hand grasping a fist your hair to force his dick down your throat, ready to feel your lips wrapped tightly around his girth :(((

you mumble out, he feels the vibrations around his width, grunting and growling under his breath as he manages to sink his whole fat cock down your throat, your waterline filled with tears as he begins moving, thrusting in and out from your puffy mouth :( you whimper, holding onto his hips as he moves them erratically, his erect dick throbbing inside your wet mouth, warm and throat attempting to close up with each thrust he makes :(((

relaxing your throat, you allow him to continue moving. könig's leaky, pink tip smacks against the back of your throat, feeling as you bob your head in an attempt to match his rhythm :( god, he's so fucking big and it's such a struggle!! swallowing his whole cock and feeling as he shoots ropes of seed down your throat, cumming with a groan and your nose pressed snuggly against his pubes :(

he spurts more onto your face, some landing on his happytrail as he jerks himself off just a little more, your tongue immediately dragging back and forth against his hair, whining and nuzzling into his balls while he pants.

[bots-and-cons]

Hiii! I haven't been requesting anything from you for ages! But here I am with angst request.

Basically how would Wheeljack, Breakdown and Predaking react to their favorite teenage human, who always was seen as that ball of sunshine always smiled or laughed whenever they were near them, or kept them cheered up after failed missions. Just to see that readed slowly starts to lose that shining personality fading into the quiet, low self-esteem shadow of themself, no more laughs and cheering up yk. And just one day never coming to base and finding out from Kids that the reader just permanently moved out far away from Jasper Nevada without any explaination with no saying goodbyes, or answering any calls.

You're always allowed to just simply not write that request if it's too uncomfortable for you.

Don't force yourself into writing that request fast take your time! And I hope you have a nice day or afternoon or night!

Baiii.｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

A/N: Nice to have you back :D I decided to do HCs for this, since it’s always the easier way and I just felt like it fit this better than scenarios, because of the longer time frame. Also, platonic since you asked for the reader to be a teenager. This ended up kinda angsty, but I’m not really surprised given what you asked for. Sorry I cut out Breakdown, seems to have become a bad habit of mine lately

~Predaking~

•Predaking was very protective of you from the very beginning, because you showed him kindness even when he wasn’t quite sentient yet and ever since he transformed for the first time too

•Also he doesn’t really have any actual hatred for humans

•Sure he thinks they’re inferior and weak, but that’s more like pity than hatred

•Anyway, that doesn’t really apply to you, because he actually knows you, so you’re like a whole different thing from the rest of humanity

•You were always so bright and even when your light started to dim, you were still always kind to him and the others

•You started getting quieter and visibly less joyful

•Predaking of course took note of this, because all he’s ever known you to be is a happy, bright, joyful person, so the change is pretty drastic in the end

•It happens gradually, you start talking less and less, and when you did, you always seemed tired and not really interested

•Predaking doesn’t really know what to do about it, because his emotional skills are not very well developed yet, you can’t really learn that kind of stuff from a database after all

•He thought maybe he should let you be, because he didn’t want to make you feel worse

•Eventually you started coming to the Nemesis less and less, before you finally stopped all together

•Predaking tried to get in contact with you after he didn’t hear from you for a week, he asked Soundwave to locate you

•He refused, because he had more important things to do apparently, so Preadaking wasn’t really left with many choices with how to get in contact with you

•Actually he was left with just one, he decided to go to where you lived

•He just landed in the middle of the street and looked in your window

•There were no curtains and he could see that the room was totally empty

•You were gone, you’d left and he had no idea where you’d gone

•Predaking tried but he could never find you, you were gone and there was this odd emptiness in his chest

•He’d lost his best and only friend and he now regretted that he never said anything to you when he noticed you deteriorating

~Wheeljack~

•Jackie didn’t really notice it at the time, but you were going downhill at a steady pace

•When he started thinking back on it after you left, he had seen you getting worse, but there had been so many things going on he hadn’t really had time for you

•Ever since he met you, you had always been so happy and it seemed like nothing could get you down

•But eventually the fear got to be too much, you were so tired of being scared of the decepticons all the time

•You started to wither away, but you never talked to anyone about it, Jackie was very regretful he didn’t notice

•You stopped going to school and barely ever left your home

•Your parents noticed this, they thought you were getting bullied or something, so they decided a move to another town would be best

•You didn’t fight them on it, you had no reason to

•You wanted to get away from the autobots, because if you weren’t with them, the decepticons would have no reason to target you

•It’s not like you hated them, not at all, Jackie was a great friend and it sucked you had to leave them behind, but you couldn’t live like that anymore

•The constant terror was killing you, you were so stressed and exhausted, and you had to get away from it

•You never told Jackie that you would be moving away, you couldn’t, you didn’t want to, because you knew he would try to change your mind

•You left and the bots found out when the kids heard about it in school

•Jackie did want to go find you and talk to you about it, but in the end he didn’t want to trample on what you had decided

•There must have been a reason you didn’t want him to know where you were going, why you left, but he could never figure it out

[oneatlatime]

The Awakening

Season 3 let's goooooooooo

These Fire Nation cells are absurdly spacious.

I do love that Momo's first reaction is kisses.

Not a cell. Oops.

Well that was confusing. I was arguing so vociferously that the SWT weren't pirates and then they go and gank a ship.

Mai girl get it! Questionable taste in men, but I love to see a lady getting exactly what she wants.

Mai: "how are you?" Zuko: *existential dread* Mai: "babe. Shut up."

Aang says he's the only one who's completely out of it, but Appa's behind him in full faceplant mode.

Actually, by the hair growth standard established by Zuko, Aang's been out 5 days at most.

Season 1 bitchy Katara is back again. I hate season 1 bitchy Katara.

I'm impressed by how much of these characters' identities is tied to their colour palettes. I see all these water tribe guys walking around in reds and blacks and I have no idea who I'm looking at.

Aang's eyes are back to brown this episode.

I love that Katara has no idea how she healed Aang. Superpowered does not mean superlearned. So much more believable than supergenius tweens.

It's the old ladies! They're wearing croissants on their heads. Why not.

This is a cool way to do exposition. A royal proclamation narrating a flashback.

These Dai Li don't know shit about loyalty huh.

SONG! HI SONG! I MISS YOU!

CORNY BABY & FAMILY! HI CORNY BABY & FAMILY! I DON'T MISS YOU! My guy why haven't you unpacked yet.

Given the welcome Zuko gets from the Fire Nation crowds, I'm thinking the exact cause/terms of his banishment were never made public? They're hyping him up like a wrestling entrance. That doesn't track with someone known to be honourless.

I want whatever's in Bato's bowl. Those noodles have him mesmerised. He's staring at them like they're telling him the secrets of the universe.

Are you telling me that Appa successfully landed on the deck of one of these ships without sinking it?

I love how Gaang's reaction to everything going wrong is to go find their dad.

STOP GOING ON ABOUT THE INVASION PLAN. IT WON'T WORK. STOP.

"Yep! The whole world thinks you're dead. Isn't that great!" Sokka. TACT.

Sometimes Sokka's brain gets too far ahead of itself.

Poor Aang. Not many people whose deaths are wrongly cause for celebration live long enough to see those celebrations.

How do the topknots fit inside the helmets?

This is silly beyond words. It's a two second throwaway gag but they're so into it.

Aang saying "I hate not being able to do anything" to the girl whose whole existence was not doing anything until recently is certainly a choice. And honestly, wasn't Season 1 Aang's whole point not wanting to be the Avatar? Actual responsible adults are handling the problems for once. He should be ecstatic.

I just realised this Fire Nation disguise ship plan means there are people in the Southern Water Tribe who know how to run coal powered ships. Neat.

One of the things I really love about Avatar is how much love they put into the side characters. This guy on the left is a nameless mook, but in the three to four lines of dialogue he gets, we see a world of political and bureaucratic headaches and a bunch of normal, humanising emotions (who hasn't been angry at that one coworker who can never be bothered to email?). The writers didn't have to give him that much personality, but they did!

Also, how often do Fire Nation ships get captured, if two pieces of bureaucracy not lining up causes this guy to jump to that conclusion, rather than think the bureaucracy messed up?

Someone in the Fire Nation has invented extra buoyant metal.

Turtleducks are scared of Azula. Turtleducks are good judges of character.

An awful lot of this episode is flashback footage.

Toph is a missile launcher. This is all I wanted out of life.

For the first time ever, Aang gets to play the role that Sokka plays in every bending heavy battle.

Since when can Katara do bending moves this big?

Sokka once again harnessing his ability to speak the opposite of what he wants into existence.

They said they passed through the serpent's pass a few days ago. Clever foreshadowing I completely missed.

Don't you love it when all your problems cancel each other out?

Aang. This is not the hill to die on. Also please don't throw tapestries around in a room with unguarded candles until you can firebend.

Wow Aang is just taking all the wrong lessons from this. And he's stealing Zuko's lines.

Turns out the Firelord is just some guy with an unfortunate goat beard.

Katara finally gets a chance to be her age, complete with nonsensical emotions and misdirected anger. I hate bitchy Katara but I love seeing her expressing the root of that bitchiness. And I love how illogical it all is, and that she acknowledges that! Emotions ARE illogical and messy!

Contrasting Hakoda winning Dad of the Year with Ozai setting off every alarm bell known to man is a choice. A really good choice. But wow. Not subtle.

I knew Azula always lied, but to her own dad/Firelord too? That's a dangerous move.

Aang. What are you doing. Stop.

Leave the door open. Peak sibling move.

In a turn of events that should surprise absolutely no one, Zuko's been played like a fiddle by his sister and is now as trapped as ever. The surprising part is that Azula thinks she can get away with lying to the Firelord too. Don't know how that's going to go for her long term.

So much for me saying the Avatar universe doesn't do ghosts. This season opener is surprisingly backwards-looking.

No offense to ghost Yue, but I think the saving the world she's referring to is the time she and a massive fishman saved the world, not strictly Aang.

How did they get past the blockade and find the right island?

I cringed at Katara's knee slide.

How are they standing on that island or breathing the air if it's hot enough to do that?

Final Thoughts

...what was that?

Seriously. This episode was a disorganised and aimless mess with the occasional gold mine of characterisation bobbing around. Did the writers not have a plan for what would happen after season 2 ended? This episode feels like the writers had as much plan as the characters did. If I was feeling charitable, I would say that this episode was a hot mess as a metanarrative commentary on Aang and the world's state, but I'm not feeling charitable. I think this episode was just a hot mess.

First, the good bits.

I liked that Sokka was very in character. We've seen before how he can run away with an idea to the point that he forgets to mind the human element. This episode's Sokka felt very much like Sokka. I liked that the beat up Sokka quota was replaced with 'Sokka dares the universe to play chicken and actually wins for once.' His optimistic characterisation this episode didn't grate like his inexplicable optimism did in Ba Sing Se, because here he has a reason to be happy. He's got his dad and a plan. Being around his dad and their people has done him good.

I like Toph the Ballista.

I like the noodle hypnosis.

I loved Katara's emotional blow up. It doesn't matter how noble or important the cause, leaving your kids for a cause is still leaving. I love that she points out how illogical her emotions are being. And I love that Hakoda creates a no-judgement-all-comfort-safe-to-rant zone for her. She's been waiting to do that for a while, and some of it came out at Zuko last episode, so it's been established that she's at boiling point. Fun fact: Katara has now had emotionally fraught venting sessions at Hakoda, Zuko, and Jet if you squint. I don't know what to make of the fact that the show has grouped these men into the same category of 'safe for Katara to vent to.'

I liked a couple of the throwaway gags, and the throwaway characters.

I liked the framing of Zuko's reintroduction to his father. Great use of angles and shadows. We've had two seasons of build up to this guy as the Biggest Bad, and the scene of Zuko kneeling in the throne room while Ozai paces around and delivers the world's most menacing praise felt big enough to be the crowning glory of that payoff. Especially contrasted to the loving father daughter reunion of equals it was interspersed with. But...

The bad bits.

Why did they immediately undermine two seasons of hype and all of the episode's menace by showing the Firelord as a gullible idiot who can't spot a bold-faced lie coming from a tween? I am legitimately pissed off that they defanged him as a threat so soon after introducing him. And I don't think showing that Azula can successfully lie to the Firelord builds up Azula as a threat - I think it also undermines her, because it's a stupid move. This episode could have introduced the biggest bad and reinforced the threat posed by last season's antagonist. Instead, it completely neutered the biggest bad and made Azula look like an idiot. I am actually mad about this.

Other stuff I didn't like: Aang's whole deal. Of course he was going to lose his mind and not be ok about what went down in Ba Sing Se. But he's never this dismissive of his friends, and a huge part of his early character is the fact that he would absolutely love it if some qualified adults stepped in and did the job he was unwillingly born into. Aang this episode felt self-centred and out of character.

Zuko's usually not this dim. I had figured out the angle Azula was going for by the end of the turtle duck pond conversation. Why can't he figure out for himself why Azula has redirected the potential blame if Aang is found to have survived?

The pacing felt off. The A plot flipped between action set pieces and emotional stuff. The B plot was purely talking. But the action set pieces felt out of place in an otherwise quiet episode. I get that you need something to interest the 8 year olds hyped up on sugar who only want explosions, but I think this episode would have been a lot better without the 'Aang almost drowns but gets a pep talk from a couple of ghosts who say exactly what everyone else has already said to him for two seasons but for some reason Aang listens this time and it works.' Why couldn't we have had a quiet episode?

Speaking of, why are Roku and Yue randomly popping up? Last time Aang talked to Roku, it took a trip into the Avatar state and the destruction of a very stupid general's whole army base. The ONLY person who's talked to Yue since she died is Sokka, and that took a magic swamp. I just don't get it. I don't get why they were there, why they said what they did, why those particular words in that particular order worked on Aang when no one else's words were getting through. I don't get why hiding out in the Fire Nation is the plan of choice over chilling with the Southern Water Tribe (other than because the plot says no responsible adults allowed).

The action piece with the Snekky Boy was fun. Even if what set it off was contrived (which it was), I think it was a fun watch and the only action the episode needed.

This episode was also so dark that I spent more time contemplating how much I really need to clean my screen than watching stuff happen.

I got so pissed off at this episode that I totally forgot about Mai. Go Mai! I am WEAK for romance arcs that boil down to 'Girl sees boy. Girl wants boy. Girl gets boy." Go Girl! Like I said above, questionable taste, but if it's what she wants, then congrats on getting it. I love Azula noticed and is like 'my resident goth appears to be broken.'

I have decided that Toph carved an underground harbour like the refugee station on Full Moon Bay and stashed all the water tribe ships in there, because those ships are too pretty to scuttle.

If I could surgically remove that scene between Katara and Hakoda and insert it into some other episode, I'd never watch this one again.

[tinemilk]

HARWIN LITERALLY JUST A MAN

I have wanted to make this post for some time now, I just didn't know how.

Everywhere I have been engaging with the daemyra, f&b, and hotd fandoms, there seems to be this synonym agreement that Harwin is a goodie golden boy. Yet that description never fits from what little we can assume and know. It also bothers me how so many points at Rhaenyra in regard to their affair but not at Harwin.

Talking the book, we know his sisters are Rhaenyra's ladies and his father is the hand. He has been in King's Landing since Rhaenyra was a child. It is unrealistic to suggest they haven't been in the same circles at court, HIS FATHER IS THE HAND AND SISTERS HER LADIES. People love to point the finger at Daemon but praise Harwin for being this self-sacrificing man. But what is he sacrificing? He becomes the lover of the girl he watched grow up. He fathers children on her, he becomes her sworn shield. He gets both soft and hard power over her. This man takes so much from her, and what does she get in return?

If the fandom is going to give Daemon malicious intentions with his relationship with Rhaenyra, why give Harwin a pass? Harwin has everything to gain from being Rhaenyra's lover. And it isn't as if he will face the wrath of society for his deeds. He is just the lucky man who gets to fuck the Realms Delight. If Daemon is a man of his time, then so is Harwin. Because he does nothing to help Rhaenyra in regard to the bastard allegations, he never removes himself, marries, or does anything helpful. Why? Because he is a man, and having bastards is totally normal for men in Westeros. He has grown up knowing that is unfortunate, but 'oh well it happened'.

Just because he stayed beside her when she gave birth, means shit nothing. He was decent about that, good for him. It is the same as Laenor being beside her, even though he couldn't care less about her. That doesn't make him a saint for being at her side.

It is funny how she chose the son of the hand as her lover. There were surely others, let's not pretend there wouldn't be. One could argue that Harwin had Rhaenyra's trust and that she had known him for years. He has also been in close proximity to her since she was 8 years old. He could have easily positioned himself well because as she aged she became a beauty, and he being a man wanted her. Harwin had every opportunity to manipulate his way into her bed, and that trust he has as her sworn shield is giving Criston Cole vibes just played better. It is also worth mentioning that Rhaenyra was vulnerable at the time. She was forced to marry, threatened with disinheritance, had to deal with Alicent, and her Daemon was sent away by her father. Harwin was just being a friend, bffr. He saw an opening and took it, nothing more to it.

Harwin's actions reflect that he may have cared for Rhaenyra but in a selfish way. If he wanted to truly help her case and his own, he would FUCKING MARRY SOMEONE. So if Daemon is being treated as this evil power-grabbing person, so should Harwin. Sorry, not sorry.

Also check out @sydalelys01 post about harwin and criston, it's really good.

Let's see if i get hate for it. Can't wait.

[htchnr]

01 ★ minecraft HCs ❥ A. HOTCHNER.

➻❥ masterlist. ➻❥ patreon.

CW ➥ fluff so sweet it'll make you sick ⋆ brief one second mention of alcohol ⋆ if i missed anything, lmk!

WC ➥ 1,2k. SONG ➥ you are the right one , sports.

SUMMARY ➥ certain mobs and how i think it would go with Aaron and what he'd think of them.

★ - © 2023 HTCHNR. do not copy, share or translate my work to this platform, or any other! - ★

༺★ his first encounter with a hostile mob would DEFINITELY be with a creeper 🫣 at first he'd glance past it and think it was a strange shrub. (the game looks strange anyway, maybe he just hasn't seen this type of shrub before)

༺☆ so he goes to investigate ... he gets pretty close ... until the 'shrub' turns around and he's met with a very much alive mob. and TWO seconds later, the poor man is met with hissing, then a boom and a second later 'you died!' 😔💔

༺★ he huffs, sitting on the couch perplexed, wth was that??????? you were at work currently, and he knew you were in a meeting so he had to text you his confusion.

THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE when you get a text from him saying ; 'what are the tall bushes with faces on them?' you nearly snort out loud when your eyes glance over the text. so when you're out of the meeting you immediately call him, you MUST know what the HECK he's talking about.

"Aaron have you been drinking??" you start the call with, checking your watch, that says 2:47PM. no way he'd be drunk right?

Aaron is confused. "no???"

"what do you mean with the text 'the tall bushes with faces on them'????"

"i walked up to a tall bush, it turned around, had a face on it, hissed and then exploded and killed me. why did it do that????"

you were nearly in TEARS from laughing, the poor man just sitting silently on the other end of the phone. "what's so funny? 🥲💔"

when you calm down from your laughing fit, you explain that they're creepers, and when you get too close the sort of sizzle and explode.

he huffs, his character walking back to pick up his stuff that he dropped when he died. "that's rude." new tears prickle at your eyes when you hear him repeat the verbal stim you haven't been able to let go of for weeks. you rub off on him a little too much maybe.....

༺☆ with baby zombies he definitely gets spooked the first time, like wth just hit him?????? from where?????????????? and then he looks down and sees a baby zombie — he's done. running. the baby zombie was near your house? yeah Aaron is sitting on a dirt tower on the complete other side of the biome. 😭

༺★ speaking of dirt towers — that's the first thing you taught him. need to get away from mobs? dirt tower. need to get to higher ground to see where you are? dirt tower. or a tower made of really anything you have in your inventory.

༺☆ Aaron masters the skill of dirt towers quickly — though, forgetting from time to time that it's not the best idea to use a dirt tower to get away from a skeleton... he's been shot down more times than he'd like to (or ever will) admit.

༺★ other mobs? oh he's fine with literally ANYTHING else than spiders and baby zombies.

༺☆ definitely thinks the endermen are sophisticated beings, (they get bonus points in his book when you show him the City Texture Pack where they're wearing suits. he 100% approves of them and likes them) he is most definitely a little (very) sad they're considered as hostile mobs and they'll attack him when he looks at them.

༺★ definitely HATES drowned 😭😭 'i just wanted to pick up the lily pad why are they after me????????????'

wait till he encounters the ones with tridents 😭 at first he doesn't even see where he's getting hit from, not seeing any drowned (yet) nor any other mobs besides regular fish that can't harm him. fast forward to when the drowned misses it's shot, landing the trident beside Aaron. he jumps, desperately looking around to see where it came from.

"are there things that throw tridents???" he asks, frustrated with the amount of damage he's taking from the seemingly INVISIBLE enemy.

you look up from your Switch and at the tv, seeing Aaron knee deep in a lake. "there are drowned that throw tridents, think of them like the skeletons of the water basically."

he frowns, fan-fucking-tastic.

༺☆ OMG the moment dolphins randomly attack him 😭😭 he'll definitely be pissed. 'who's hitting me??? i don't see any drowned??????????' and just when he looks around, he sees a dolphin coming at him and hitting him 😭

༺★ he'd be heartbroken tbh, suddenly thinking every passive mob will hurt him until you show him that like 99% doesn't attack you like llamas and dolphins do 😭

༺☆ zombies = average. he finds there groaning a little annoying, but what he dislikes the most is if he's building, and he accidentally drops something and a zombie is near, that it'll pick up his stuff. like excuse them?????? that's his??? give his iron axe back and let him get back to chopping trees??????

༺★ spiders? hell. no. hates them. period. he's almost a little like you with irl spiders — avoids them like the plague and gets a little jumpy when he finds them. the first time he encountered one it jumped at him out of NOWHERE, causing him to jump a little, instantly moving to build a dirt tower while he recovers.

༺☆ though, only to be smacked right off said tower, the spider going right after him again after it had climbed the tower. 'why are the spiders so damn big??????? and why can they climb walls????' now he understands why you put edges around your house, not only to look pretty but to prevent the spiders from scaling the building. noted..

the start of Minecraft may be chaotic AF for him, but Aaron loves nothing more than to get comfy on the couch with you and play for hours. 🥰

Aaron x minecraft is living in my DREAMS y'all 😭😭🩷 i cannot stop writing small drabbles and HCs UHGGGG 😩😭🩷

[theflyindutchwoman]

In a recent interview Melissa told something about Lucy’s storyline. In which she said that, as an actor, she’s felt really vulnerable at times, because some of the stuff that they are touching on are things she doesn’t think she would ever choose to show her coworkers let alone a bunch of us watching at home.

What do you think she’s talking about? What has made her feel so vulnerable?

It's hard to say at the moment… It could be a number of things. But my guess is that it will be a mental health related thing. That was the first thing that came to mind when I read her interview then… and the events of the past three episodes just solidified that theory for me. The way she was spiraling, her anxiety and self-doubts, how she is still afraid of disappointing her loved ones… I don't think this part of her storyline is done. This feels like the beginning. And there's still the fallout of the detective exam to explore, how it is going to affect her confidence… Not to mention whatever is going to happen in the next episode that will land her in the hospital. I really believe that all of this is connected, one way or the other. Anything that deals with mental health tends to leave you feeling extremely vulnerable and raw… and right now, I imagine that Lucy has to be questioning a lot of things. About herself, about her future. So I could see how this kind of storyline would affect Melissa as well. She would have to practically bare her soul with every take.

Or it could be something else entirely that we haven't touched on yet. I know some think it will be a miscarriage. That would definitely fit the bill though I personally hope it won't be that. While it would be new territory, we've already had three unplanned pregnancy storylines, so I'd rather not add another one, even with a different outcome. But that's just me. Whatever it is, I'm really excited to see it unfold.

[randomnameless]

The fun thing about the Crest system argument is that before Hopes, myself and others were pointing out how Edelgard's claims make no sense when held up to the various nobles we have in game. The Alliance was a big sticking point in this regard, it was only in the Kingdom where it seemed to exist but it was also tied to defending their lands. Then Hopes came out where Sylvain explained that yes, there is a Crest system… that the nobles ignore and do their own thing. Fodlan itself basically says no one follows the Crest system, so is it really that important that Edelgard removes it while consolidating power on herself?

Where in Nopes does Sylvain mention the Crust system?

Crust system is basically the Fodlan equivalent of inheritence laws, and not that different from a male/female/klingon primogeniture rule, legitimacy rule, or picking the most able "person" to inherit...

Especially since the "most able" notion is as variable as the contents of a teaspoon and Fodlan refuses to elaborate what kind of magical superpower each crest gives.

The Nabateans using hair dye in the War of Heroes make more sense than the crust "system"!

I remember Houses thought trying to push the "wah wah inheritence based on crusts bad" with Sylvain (or was it Dimitri?) saying that the crested heir inherits, and the others are disinherited or something? I haven't checked the jp version and if it is worded differently, but, come on.

We see Rufus and Gilbert, sure they don't inherit the ancestral seat/throne of the house (Gilbert's bro is the baron, and Rufus is salty bcs Lambert got the throne), and yet they're not left in the boonies, are we really supposed to believe that both Rufus and Gilbert didn't get a penny, a house, titles (Gilbert became a knight) or anything for inheritance? Disinherited Rufus would never have became a grand duke (unless Dimitri's grandma was from Itha so Rufus took the inheritance from his mom?) or have lived a relatively more privileged life than Ashe and be free to "seduce around".

Jury's out about whether Glenn had a crust or not, and yet, Glenn got a fiancée and is always highly spoken of by his dad - not something you'd do for a kid you disinherit!

So, what were Sylvain (or Dimitri?) talking about in Houses?

Or were they full of shit to pretend there is a "system" that exists but isn't applied anywhere in the land, so it's totes important to get rid of it and make "ReFoRmS" and in the end, Supreme Leader wasn't totally in the wrong and had some good ideas, but please don't ask more about those ideas or what the "most competent" means to her, especially since Bernie in her solo ending in CF (just like in the other routes) can rule her territory ?

We don't see Hector crying a river because Uther is the Lord and not him, or Eirika doing the same (even if it would have been better for Magvel lol) just like Tana, hell, Elincia's dad didn't want to create an inheritence feud between his daughter and Renning so he hid her, and when Renning returns in FE10, he's not throwing a fit because he should have become King instead of his niece, and what not.

Hell, Desmond wanting to make Guinivere Queen wasn't a move to empower her or to shit on Zeph, but ultimately, a move he pulled off because of his own insecurities at being a worthless King compared to his son.

In Fodlan? Tana - after Innes' death at the hands of her accomplices - starts a war to conquer Magvel to get rid of male primogeniture.

And to make this less stupid than it sounds, the devs insist that Magvel's primogeniture laws are very bad and ruin a ton of lives in the continent which would justify killing Ross and Garcia because they're sacrifices to be made for the greater good.

Yeah :/

I'm not playing this version of FE8.

[happyk44]

Ya know, I was reading your Siren-Powers!Children of Poseidon post earlier and while I really absolutely love your thoughts on the Children of Hades & Zeus versions of the siren powers, I'd love to offer up some possible alternatives to the Siren!Powers that I think would better match up with those vibes <3

1) What if Children of Poseidon can appeal to the darker parts of the mind? In Ancient Mythology, Poseidon was often known as the "Dark Twin of Zeus" (as opposed to Hades, which we see in modern versions) and so what if, while Children of Zeus appeal to people's sense of justice and morality, Children of Poseidon appeal to their impulsivity and intrusive thoughts? They can't exactly give direct instructions nor can they invoke any immediate reactions through this power, but they can make their "suggestions" swirl around in their victim's heads until it is all they can think about. Like if Percy said to a monster: "What if you fall on your sword right now? What would happen?", throughout the course of the fight, the urge swirls in their mind until it gets stronger and stronger until eventually the monster does that (if they haven't already died yet). It's not an as effective power as it's cousins are but it does drive the victim slowly insane and can offer for some insane scenes if you phrase the questions just right. Basically, they're targeting the mind's intrusive thoughts and turning them 1000%

Another alternative to that is:

2) What if Children of Poseidon can confuse the mind? The Oceans are bottomless, unknown abysses who can easily sink ships and make creatures no longer know what is up or down and what is right or wrong. They invoke frantic survival instincts, even to the greatest swimmers and divers, and a lot of the time it's to the point where humans bring about their own downfall. There's a reason Thalassophobia is so common and exists. So what if Children of Poseidon can manipulate the frequency of their voices to invoke that kind of confusion/disorientation? What if they can make their victims either act out or break down within themselves in an existential panic attack? They could say things like "you don't know what's going on, do you?" while approaching them slowly with a sadistic smile like someone who's trying to talk down a dangerous person would. They could talk circles around someone while further bringing them down into their trap like a siren typically would but Poseidon was originally born to the land so wouldn't his and his children's power be more land-oriented? Food for thought but the whole hc still stands :)

All in all, as usual, this is just a suggestion/proposition coming from a brain who always thought Siren!Powers for Children of Poseidon was always weird and absolutely random--okay, the Oceans I get, but literally nothing else connects Poseidon to the sirens?? If anything, that would be more of Demeter/Persephone's domain because that is where the actual mythological origins lay (in some accounts)? Or with Children of the actual Seas/those who were actually born of the Seas like Children of Amphitrite or Porchys? Or just Nereids in general? Idk man, it just personally seems weird to me /gen--and so they decided to come up with cool and interesting alternatives! Pls tell me if you like them!!! (I absolutely adore your blog-- /shy)

I do like the idea of Poseidon's kids being able to appeal to the inner chaos of people - partly because it makes Dionysus and Percy occasionally beefing with each other even funnier since Dionysus is sometimes thought of as the god of chaos, and is capability of inflicting madness on characters, which, lol, Zeus being his dad is even funnier now that I think about it.

Dionysus: *makes wine*

Zeus: I like this.

Dionysus: *causes people to go insane and riot*

Zeus: I do not like this.

But back to the ocean bugs, them being able to cause disorder as a versus to their cousins being able to cause order fits Poseidon's status as a god of storms! And the fact that when he loses a competition, he immediately jumps to "flood this city, kill everyone". Percy and his siblings being able to inflict this mentality onto other people is a really neat way to look at it. Rather than getting people into line, they get people to scatter even more, maybe even causing them to go against their internal morals.

Water is also associated with chaos in some mythologies (which, yeah I get why), so that's another aspect that helps the idea. As well as the fact that water can distort your perception of things within it because of the refraction of the light, so distorting someone else's thoughts and being able to talk them into something they wouldn't normally do is 👀👀

There's also nitrogen narcosis!

[ID: Screenshot from the wikipedia page on Nitrogen Narcosis. It is a table displaying the Signs and Symptoms of narcosis, breathing air. The columns of the table are Pressure (bar), Depth (m), Depth (ft), and Comments. The Comments column lists the signs and symptoms of narcosis at different pressures and depths.

Row 1

Pressure (bar): 1-2 Depth (m): 0-10 Depth (ft): 0-33 Comments: Unnoticeable minor symptoms, or no symptoms at all

Row 2

Pressure (bar): 2-4 Depth (m): 10-30 Depth (ft): 33-100 Comments: Mild impairment of performance of unpracticed tasks; mildly impaired reasoning; mild euphoria possible

Row 3

Pressure (bar): 4-6 Depth (m): 30-50 Depth (ft): 100-165 Comments: Delayed response to visual and auditory stimuli; reasoning and immediate memory affected more than motor coordination; calculation errors and wrong choices; idea fixation; over-confidence and sense of well-being; laughter and loquacity (in chambers) which may be overcome by self-control; anxiety (common in cold murky water)

Row 4

Pressure (bar): 6-8 Depth (m): 50-70 Depth (ft): 165-230 Comments: Sleepiness, impaired judgment, confusion; hallucinations; severe delay in response to signals, instructions and other stimuli, occasional dizziness, uncontrolled laughter, hysteria (in chamber); terror in some

Row 5

Pressure (bar): 8-10 Depth (m): 70-90 Depth (ft): 230-300 Comments: Poor concentration and mental confusion; stupefaction with some decrease in dexterity and judgment; loss of memory, increased excitability

Row 6

Pressure (bar): 10+ Depth (m): 90+ Depth (ft): 300+ Comments: Intense hallucinations; increased intensity of vision and hearing; sense of impending blackout or of levitation; dizziness, euphoria, manic or depressive states; disorganization of the sense of time, changes in facial appearance; unconsciousness, (approximate inspired partial pressure of nitrogen for anaesthesia is 33 atm); death

/end ID]

So yeah - siren-like powers focused on causing disorder, distortion, confusion, and so on, make a lot of sense to what the ocean can illicit in people. These are a lot of good ideas 😊

As for the siren thing - yeah, I get it. I haven't really seen people talk about it before, but it doesn't really bother me because it's fun to think of different things.

As for greater fandom, yeah, it's likely because sirens are associated with the ocean. If you're focusing only on "Poseidon is the ocean, has no relation to the sirens outside of that", then some of the other parts of Percy's powers don't make sense - like being able to hold up the Lethe, or keep himself dry from it, being able to drown Ahkyls in her own fluids, and so on, because none of that is technically the ocean. The only link is that people associate the ocean with water/liquid and those other things involve water/liquid.

Or you can look at it the same way I look at Hades - where the link to Underworld is why Nico, Hazel, and Bianca are able to use the powers not related to the dead or underground wealth. Nico hopping through dreams is not an afterlife power, but Hypnos lives in the Underworld, he's connected to Hades by that, and so Nico gets that little boost. So Poseidon is the god of the ocean, and anything and anyone associated with the ocean is linked by that.

Sirens are also associated with merfolk in modern times, so there's that too. I mean, have you ever heard of a mermaid not singing? It might not be a "siren song" but it's still some kind of song. But, lol, don't stress yourself too much about it. If it doesn't make sense to you, that's perfectly understandable and the ideas you've presented are super great!

[kaesaaurelia]

In which a daring space pilot divebombs the Great Red Spot of Jupiter against the advice of his doctor

Not sure how I'm going to be posting this fic or writing it because it's coming to me in disconnected chunks, but here's the first(ish) scene of my 3rd Life space colonists/terraformers AU.

character designs & concepts

main AU tag

The fact that Grian comes to him first is absolutely lost on Scar. What isn't lost on Scar is that he's about halfway to lightspeed when he gets the ping, and he doesn't see any reason to slow down to talk to Grian. He can say pretty much anything to Grian, because whatever he says, all he's gonna get back is --

"Scar, what are you doing?"

Grian's voice is shrill and terrified, and his transparent hands grip some invisible desk or railing or something in front of him. It's very funny how frightened he is, especially since he's not even really here in person. He'd probably be loving this if he was here in person. "I was just thinking about how I missed Europa, so --"

"Pull up, pull up!" Grian shouts.

Scar does, and watches the white-blue moonscape fade into the distance. "Did you want to call back later?" he asks Grian's hologram. "Is this a bad time?"

"You almost didn't miss Europa," Grian tells him, looking slightly green.

"But I did!" says Scar. "Anyway, I would've landed in the water, it would've been fine."

"Is… I… it's been a while since I took physics, but I don't think that's how it works, Scar," says Grian.

"So! What brings you to my lovely, um. Short vacation to the Jovian system? That's definitely not on the clock? I definitely put this on the calendar as a day off," says Scar, trying to do that now, but the nearest company servers are too far away to ping him back before he starts to get a headache.

Grian sighs. "Did you read that thing I sent you? About the expedition they're considering sending me on? They haven't chosen pilots yet." He's… "skimmed" would be putting it generously. Parts of the Table of Contents look neat, though. And Grian wouldn't have thought of him if it wasn't a good fit. "Oh yeah," he says, "it looks great."

"Okay, good," said Grian, sounding surprisingly relieved. "I thought you might be put off by the -- well. Anyway. I'll tell them you're interested."

Scar is about to thank Grian, and go on about his day, when that last little bit of conversation echoes in his brain. "Put off by the what?" Scar asks.

"You said you'd read it!" Grian says.

"Oh, well, I lied," Scar explains cheerfully.

"Scar, please read the thing before you agree to it. It's not -- it's farther than we'd usually be --"

"Do you think it'd be dangerous? Are you advising me to do something dangerous, Grian?"

Grian makes an indeterminate noise that builds into a "…nnn-maybe?"

"Is it going to be fun?" Scar asks, diving towards the Great Red Spot, to see how close he can get to the thing without hitting it.

"Scar!"

"Still waiting on an answer to my question!" he says, continuing to fall planetwards. It's safe enough to skim the atmosphere, as long as he doesn't get too close to the Spot, but they've started to set drifting automated helium farms loose all over the rest of the planet, and those are way more annoyingly jangly to crash into. Also, they blow out a lot of hydrogen, so sometimes they explode.

"Scar, just. Just read the thing before blindly signing your entire life away, it's all I'm asking. It's not much."

"Fine, fine," says Scar. He would roll his eyes if he could. Instead, he accesses the file and feeds it right into his brain. It's not the same as reading it, but now all that information is bouncing around in his noggin like a confused bat. But probably smaller. Scar is unclear how big bats are, now that he's thinking about this. "How many bats do you think would fit in a skull?" he asks Grian, who has been his go-to expert on skulls for a very long time.

"What?" Grian asks. Scar assumes he has heard the question right, and just doesn't think much of it.

"Anyway, as you can see I've accessed your silly little packet and it looks great." He likes the shape of it, anyway -- it's an extrasolar terraforming mission, full of promise, and exploration, and... promise... again.... Specifically, very generous promises the company has made about money and land and so forth.

And, if this all goes well, they'll be able to go to the planet, establish a base there, and establish a cheaper, easier, and more permanent way of traveling between the the Sol system and this new place. Then they can either return to the lives they had or go right back through the portal to their new home where they will live happily ever after, frolicking among its green fields and forests. That part is probably what Grian's worried about -- not the frolicking, the part where if everything doesn't line up perfectly, it'll be a one-way trip to a strange planet.

But that doesn't bother Scar. He likes his job plenty, but there's something to be said for sunrises and wind in your hair, and he hasn't been on a planet in so long. Not like that, anyway. Besides which, there's a good chance it'll be a one-way trip for Scar however well everything else lines up.

Also, Scar could probably milk a few more promises out of the company. He's given so much of himself to them, after all. "So who do I talk to about --"

"No, Scar," says Grian. "You're getting a whole new ship out of this!"

"Oh!" He's overlooked that. "Well then I definitely need to talk to them about that. I have some exterior redesign ideas --"

"Please tell me you're not gonna tell them to put abs on it."

"-- and after all I've done for them I don't think it's that much to ask if I --"

"There are no abs in space," Grian says, despairingly. "In space, no one can see your abs."

Scar tsks. "I don't think you understand my vision."

"I understand it all too well," he says. "It's just that your vision is terrible, and it's abs."

"My vision is perfect! I can see everything for millions of miles," says Scar, but he can sense it's time to try a different tack. "What do you want that they weren't giving you?"

"Oh. Oh! Actually," says Grian. "Actually I've got -- oh, but you're not gonna be able to explain it to them. Anyway, I already tried, and they wouldn't listen."

"Try me!" says Scar.

"All right," says Grian, "but don't say I didn't warn you." He sends Scar another document -- this one is long, and dense, and sciencey, and has lots of anatomical diagrams. He catches a doozy of a sentence on its way into his head -- All subjects who had undergone this procedure were able to be fully reconstituted at least twice after full molecular disintegration, with no loss in learning and only moderate disruption to social groups. It takes Scar a few moments to comprehend what that means and translate it, to understand that this process could bring a person back to life -- not just their body, but the whole person, memories and all -- no matter how they died. Or. Rats, at least, he realizes, maybe not people. But that's a pretty big deal, even if it's just in rats. Scar definitely won't understand all the nuts and bolts of it, but he's sure he can sell it. "Just. Just don't put them off it any more than they already are, I still want to be able to try again with it after this expedition," Grian says.

"Wonderful," says Scar. He notes the feedback that's attached to the document, that they won't entertain Grian's proposal due to ethical concerns and liability issues. That should be easy enough to get around -- it's hard to hold anyone liable for anything if you're trapped hundreds of light years away from any court or law enforcement body, and if Farlands Planetary Systems actually has ethical concerns Scar's never heard of them. "I'll just remind them you're not going anywhere without me," he says.

"Um," says Grian, sounding very uncomfortable.

Scar can take a hint, although where he goes with it isn't always where it was supposed to go, apparently. "I mean, how would you get to another planet without a spaceship? Can't take the bus!" He settles into a planet-blurring orbit around Jupiter. "Look at this, I love doing this," he says, lining up with one of Jupiter's rings. "It's like being on a space train!"

"That's not -- Scar, please take this seriously. The proposal for the company, I mean. It could save all our lives out there," says Grian. "You have no idea how hard I worked on that."

"Oh, I will," Scar promises. "I can tell you right now, you won't regret this."

"Yeah, well. We'll see about that," says Grian, sounding almost like he already does. He can fool himself, but he can't fool Scar, and a moment or two after Grian disconnects, Scar receives information on all the people he's going to have to talk into his design changes for the new jumpship. Oh, and Grian's thing too, probably.

[zmayadw]

Total Recall || Duskwood Jake x Fem!Mc Oneshot ||

A/N: Hello lovelies! 😊 Well, I haven't been active much here lately, my life is a bit hectic these past few months, but I'm still here! 😁 And it's been quite a while since I wrote anything, so I really hope you will somehow find this acceptable/likeable in any way. 💚

As always don't mind my crappy title 😅, and don't mind any mistakes you might stumble upon. Take care and happy reading! 💚

WARNINGS: Huh, I don't really know if I should use some special warning here, I haven't really needed it so far 😅 But lets say it does have some descriptions that are slightly "mature" 😶 So there, you have been warned! 👍

When her eyelids slowly opened, all she saw was darkness. Unmoving her head from the pillow, her eyes jump around it until her sight landed on a shy streak of light coming through a small crack in the curtains pulled over the window.

It appeared as it was night time, at least she suspected so. And as her vision almost entirely adjusted to the darkness and the soft breeze from the outside stirred the curtains, allowing her a short but clear sight of a starry night sky, there was no more doubt about it.

But something wasn't quite right in all this.

She did love the calmness of a night time, but she never felt quite serene surrounded in complete darkness, her fingers almost instantly reaching for the switch of her night stand lamp whenever she would wake up in the middle of the night, like now. So why did it feel different this time?

As her mind tried to figure out the cause of this sudden change at her usual behaviour, she suddenly became aware of something else - she wasn't alone in the bed. There was unmistakable presence of another person, the closeness of their body radiating the heat over the bare skin parts of her back.

But she wasn't alarmed about it, not at all. On the contrary, she was so seren, that feeling only getting stronger as her thoughts finally arranged themselves and a blissful smile begin to form on her face.

With as less commotion possible she leaves the bed, her bare feet impressively silent crossing the room over the old creaky parquet to the window. Parting the curtains just so enough light enters the room she turns, her heart skipping a beat as her sight falls on the person occupying the other side of the bed.

Jake was there soundly asleep, the strands of his pitch-black hair lying messy around his head and pillow. Her fingers wiggle of their own will then, her mind recalling how just recently her hands were moving through that same pitch- black, her lean fingers tangled in those same messy strands, and how silky it felt under her touch.

Her eyes move, this time stopping and lingering on his slightly plump lips. As in a trance she lift her hand, her fingers lightly resting on her own much thiner ones, slowly start to move to her neck, continuing over her breast and belly, retracing just a small path his soft lips took just hours ago. A warm breeze from the window graze her skin, her whole body shivering from the memory of his warm breath accompanying that every kiss, her skin burning and body hungrily arching for more under him as he continued to explore every part of her, her head spinning every time he came near her most sensitive parts.

As her eyes continue to move over him, she recalls everything: how his strong hands delicately glided over her bare skin as if affraid that they could hurt her, yet at the same time weren't affraid to grab her tighter in the much needed moments; how her own hands greedily grasped for him, pulling him as close to her possible, with nails digging at his skin in the times of high pleasure. How their bodys amazingly fitted together, their every move perfectly synchronized, or how the sounds of pleasure were equaly heard leaving both of them.

"Mc? Is everything all right?"

Jake's hoarse and sleepy voice reach her ears, but she was still in her trance state, she didn't really register him speaking to her.

After few more unsuccessful tries to get her attention, he quickly gets out of bed and almost runs to her.

"Mc, what's wrong, what happened?"

The panic in his voice was evident, and when he put his hands on her upper arms and notice her shivering, that panic only rose.

"Oh gods, Mc, you're shivering! What is going on?!?"

Blinking a few times, she finally wakes out of her trance and looks puzzled at him "Jake, wha- what's going on? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm sorry, you're asking me what's going on?" he questions looking equally, if not more confused back at her "I wake up to you standing in front of the open window with this- this sheepish look on your face, and when I spoke to you, few times might I add, you were silent. And then I near you and realise you are shivering like a leaf on the wind in the middle of summer..."

"All right, all right, I get it, no need to be so dramatic." she cuts him casually, peck him on the cheek and starts going back towards the bed.

"You gotta- dramatic? I'm being dramatic? I think you got things waaaay wrong here." he defiantly replies crossing his arms in front of him.

"Awww, come on babe, are you really gonna get so much pouty at me now?" she teas back, only getting him more irritated.

"Now I'm pouty! Well, excuse me for worrying about you!"

"Oh, don't be like that." she says apologetic "You know I love you for being concerned about me, but there is nothing to be concerned about here, really."

"Is that so?" he speak back not completely believing her " All right then, if you say so. But, I would still like to know what the heck did happen to you just now."

Realising he won't drop this until she gives him more concrete answer she sighs "Total recall."

"I'm sorry, but did- did you just say 'total recall' ?"

She just nods getting even more confused look back from him "I'm sorry, but what in the hell does a 1990's movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger has to do with all this?"

"Huh?"

Now it was her turn to be confused but he starts to speak again before she had a chance to even think straight, let alone say anything else.

"Or were you refering to the remake with Colin Farrell maybe?"

He was so serious, that it took her a moment to compose herself, before her laughter boomed through the room.

"Wonderful, and now she's laughing like a madman at me."

He looked completely defeated by now, but she couldn't stop laughing. Pulling all her strenght in the effort to stop, she get up and walks to him " Oh you silly man. I'm not laughing at you."

But when he only gave her a stern look with a raised eyebrow she barely managed not to start laughing again.

"Ok, ok, let me explain, yeah?"

"Please do, enlighten me, as I'm clearly clueless here about everything."

Taking a deep breath to make sure she won't start laughing again she begins "Ok, so first, you did hear me correct, I did say total recall. But..." she quickly continue as he was about to comment on it " BUT, I wasn't refering to any of the things you mentioned."

"What I was refering to, and I realise now how my choice of words was maaaaaaaybe slightly confusing to you, was that my mind was recalling on the total events of earlier tonight."

The confusion was back on his face again "The events of earlier?"

"Yes, babe. You know, what we did earlier... tonight...in the bed...and the shower...and-"

"And the kitchen table..." he continues thoughtfully for her, and when he finally realised what she was talking about, his features change and a sly smirk starts to form on his face.

"You know" he begins, wrapping his hands around her and pulling her closer "remakes are rarely any good, but maybe we should test that theory, you know, just to be sure."

"You know what" she starts placing her hands around his neck "I think you're absolutely right here - we should definitely test that theory."

"Then we should waist no time and get on with the testing." he grins at her "Care to choose the first spot for it, my dear?"

"Oh, I say we just stay here. This rug feels pretty soft under my feet, if you get what I mean." she grins back and wink.

"Oh, I get you, darling" he leans to her ear, his warm breath on her neck once again making her whole body shiver "I totally get you."