#cause in here all i have on is DOF

[citylighten]

Rosaria having 90 different expressions in a single conversation

( also, this is a post to say I have gshade installed in my game + my go-to preset! Thanks for the comments everyone! )

[differentpostrebel]

Lost and Found: A Pirate's Promise

The first gif cause Sanji is fine in this Gif, and the second gif adds to the story also lmfaooo

Chapter 28: A Dangerous Gamble

A/N: We are back at it again with another chapter! Don’t worry you guys I’m still creating that masterlist. But when I tell you the next chapters are cooking! Like we getting, all of the action. also Ive been seeing alot of edits on TT with these guys along with a few more I have in store and when I tell you I went FERALLLL!!!! Like someone hold me! Thank you guys so much for the follows, the likes, the comments, the interactions just everything! I cant wait for you guys to read what I have in store! But without further ado, let the adventure begin!

Word Count: 6.2K 

Sanji X Reader, Sanji X Y/N, One Piece X Reader 

Sanji POV.. 

“Yeah, we barely escaped, both the Navy and Doflamingo,” I spoke to Usopp via the transponder snail, my voice tinged with frustration. “Also, have any of you guys seen or even heard from Y/N?” My heart raced with worry.

“Wait, why? What happened?!” Usopp's voice cracked with concern.

“I lost her... and no one knows where she is,” I admitted, my hands tightening around the snail. “Doflamingo has something planned for her, and it pains me that I’m not there with her.”

Usopp’s expression turned grave. “We’ll find her, Sanji. We have to. Don’t lose hope.”

“I’m trying not to,” I said, “but it’s hard when I can’t even get a lead on where she might be. Every moment counts.” 

“What's worse is we’re heading to Zou, so I won’t be able to kick some ass in order to find her,” I said into the transponder snail, taking a drag of my cigarette. My frustration was evident in my voice.

“What? Sanji, you’re not planning on leaving us here?!” Usopp’s voice came through, filled with alarm.

“Hold on a minute,” Franky’s voice interrupted, “What are Luffy and Law up to?”

As I was about to respond, I heard Franky’s question. “Zoro and Kinemon are outside the Colosseum trying to find Luffy so they can bring him up to speed. After that, they’re going to look for Y/N.”

“And Law?” Franky asked.

“Well…” 

Law POV… 

With the Sunny crew heading to Zou and the remaining Straw Hats carrying out their plan, I made my way to the bridge with Giolla. The blade was close to her neck, a constant reminder of the precarious situation we were in. My mind kept drifting to Y/N. I can only hope you are safe and far from Doflamingo’s grasp, I thought.

Footsteps echoed closer, the fog obscuring the figure’s approach. I tightened my grip on my sword, preparing for whatever was to come. As Doflamingo emerged from the mist, his mocking tone cut through the air.

“What’s the point in letting half of the Straw Hats escape?” he taunted. “The rest of them are still in Dressrosa. All I have to do is hold them hostage, and they'll hand me Caesar in exchange for them.”

“Many have underestimated them and paid the price,” I replied defiantly. “Do you really want to add your name to that list?”

“At any rate, my pirate alliance with the Straw Hat crew is coming to its natural conclusion. Do I have to spell it out for you? From the moment I met up with them, I was using them. They'll be destroying the SMILE factory, and as much as I want to revel in killing you, Kaido is going to do that anyway.” I retorted, gripping my blade tighter. “Beside, I want to make you pay for what you did thirteen years ago” I said, my anger evident. 

“Make me pay... for what happened to you thirteen years ago?” “Come on, Law. Holding Giolla hostage isn’t going to change anything.” Doflamingo’s laugh was chilling. 

“You're right. That’s not all you lost. With Caesar gone, you no longer have a hold on the SMILE factory,” I said, my voice dripping with contempt.

Doflamingo’s smirk widened. “My, you are still mad. Grudges aren’t good for your health, you know.”

“This isn’t a grudge,” I retorted, my eyes burning with determination. “I’m seeing his dream through to the end!”

With that, I launched a series of relentless attacks at Doflamingo. Each strike was fueled by the anger and frustration I felt

Sanji POV…

“You better protect my sweet Robin, understand, Usopp!” I said into the transponder snail, the urgency in my voice unmistakable. “And also, keep an eye out for my Y/N!” I added, as I took a drag of my cigarette. I hung up the call, letting out a long sigh. “This anxiety is killing me,” I thought, running my fingers through my hair. “Y/N could be hurt, injured, or worse…”

I shook those thoughts out of my head, trying to stay focused. “Is everything okay, Sanji?” Chopper asked, his voice filled with concern.

“I was just making sure that Robin is safe since she’s with Franky and Usopp right now. I wanted to let them know to keep an eye out for Y/N if they see her,” I explained, my voice tinged with worry.

“Okay, so if Kinemon and Zoro are with Luffy, that means they would need to find Y/N, right?” Chopper said, trying to piece things together.

“Well, knowing mosshead, that’s going to take 50 years, since he’s lousy with directions,” I grumbled. “Damn it! I knew I should have stuck with my gut and stayed.” I grabbed at my hair, a habit I developed when smoking didn’t ease my anxiety anymore.

“I’m awfully worried about Traffy and Y/N, though,” Chopper said, his voice low.

“Traffy is a big boy; he can handle it,” I replied. “Y/N, although I know she can handle anything, knowing what that creep wanted to do to her and what he planned on doing to her makes me sick.” I clenched my hands, the frustration and helplessness boiling within me.

 Momo began recounting a memory he had of Doflamingo, but my mind drifted away to thoughts of someone who wasn't Y/N. “Ahh, why are you happy?!” he exclaimed, breaking through my reverie.

“Don’t worry, being taken hostage isn’t all bad, especially when it’s a beautiful woman doing it,” I said, swooning with a blush on my cheeks.

“You’re obviously thinking about something else; at least pretend to care!” Momo chided.

“That reminds me, Violet said she’d be okay too,” I said, as my mind wandered to our last moments together.

Flashback

“I’ll be fine. I talked to my friend, and I’m certain the government will protect me,” Violet said, as we rode the toy horse together.

“Really?” I asked, still concerned.

“Just trust me,” she said with a reassuring smile.

“Okay, I’d feel better if I could go along with you, but as long as you’re safe, I…” I started to say before Violet reached for my hand.

“You’ve done enough. How can I ever show you my gratitude?” she asked, her eyes filled with sincerity.

I blushed at her words. “Well, you could give me a kiss on the cheek, and then maybe a little kiss on the lips,” I said, my voice tinged with shyness.

With that, I felt the warm impact of Violet’s lips on mine. The kiss was soft but filled with gratitude. I was about to ask for more when Violet suddenly pulled away.

“Oh no, it would seem your ship is under attack by flying fish!” she exclaimed.

“What! What are those?!” I shouted, bewildered.

“No time; you must go!” she urged.

As I skywalked into the sky, leaving Violet behind, I headed back to the Sunny, the urgency of the situation driving me forward.

Flashback end

I sighed deeply, shaking the memory from my mind. “I hope Violet is okay,” I muttered.

Zoro POV… 

Ten minutes before Y/N called…

“Hey!! I’m up here! You guys wanted to talk to me!” Luffy yelled, his voice echoing through the Colosseum.

“Luffy! Quiet down! We don’t want anybody to hear!” I yelled back, trying to keep my frustration in check.

Luffy laughed, clearly unbothered. “Wow, sorry! I was just happy to see you!”

“Ahh, so you met with the green-haired man. At first, I was apprehensive about trusting him, but he seemed quite eager to offer his assistance,” Kinemon said, his gaze scanning the area.

“Where is he now?” I demanded, trying to keep my focus sharp.

“I don’t know. He just, like, passed out…” Luffy said, sounding somewhat unconcerned.

“Passed out?! What the hell is wrong with him?!” I exclaimed, my frustration mounting.

“Hey, by the way, have you seen Y/N yet?” Luffy asked, changing the subject.

“Actually, yeah. She just called,” I said, trying to keep my tone steady.

“Really?!” Luffy’s eyes widened. “What did she say?”

“Something about her being safe and that she’ll call back in a few minutes,” I replied. “I’m worried about her, Luffy. She said she was chased down by three men block after block.”

Luffy’s expression shifted to one of concern. “Three men, huh? That doesn’t sound good. We need to find her as soon as possible.” 

“I agree,” I said, my voice grim. Just then, a call from my transponder snail went through.

“Hello?! Y/N?!” I said urgently.

“Y/N?! Where have you been?!” Luffy’s voice crackled through the line, his grin evident even over the transponder snail.

“Hey, Captain. How’s it going? I was checking on your fight. I wish I was there to kick some ass too!” Y/N said, her laughter coming through, which was oddly comforting.

“Same here, Y/N,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm even though my concern for her was growing.

Y/N began to explain that Doflamingo had been tracking her since she arrived and that three men had been chasing her block after block. My rage spiked with every word.

“Where are you?!” Luffy demanded, his tone sharper than usual. It was one thing to mess with him, but to mess with his crewmate was a whole other story.

“Don’t worry, Luffy. I’m safe. I’m with…” Y/N said, but I couldn’t quite catch the last part. Her voice was muffled, and it sounded like she was with someone, but the connection was poor.

“I have a plan, but I want to ask your permission first,” she continued.

“What’s the plan?” Luffy asked, his focus entirely on the call now. 

“I’m going to have Doflamingo take me to his palace,” Y/N said, calm but with an edge of seriousness that instantly put me on alert.

“Wait... AS IN KIDNAPPED?!” I yelled, my voice immediately rising. “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?!”

“Yes, as in kidnapped,” she replied, unfazed. “I need to draw him away from the Colosseum. Once I’m in the palace, I’ll try to dismantle his operation from the inside. It’ll buy you guys time to get there so we can finish the job.”

“This is insane!” I snapped. “You’re not just walking into a trap—you’re running into it! How many things can go wrong here, Y/N? Do we need to pull out the list? You’re going up against a warlord who is psychotic, you could get thrown in a dungeon, or worse! And we won’t even know where you are!”

There was a pause, then Y/N responded with that annoying calmness. “I know the risks, Zoro. But it’s the only way to distract him long enough for you guys to make your move.”

Luffy, who had been quiet up until now, suddenly chimed in. “Y/N, this is risky, even for you...”

“I know,” she answered, her voice steady. “But I can do this. If I can get him off the streets and into the palace, it’ll give us the upper hand. You just need to trust me.”

“Trust you?” I scoffed, rubbing the back of my neck in frustration. “I trust you, but this plan is reckless even by your standards! Do you even know what you're up against?”

Another pause, and then Y/N let out a small laugh, which irritated me even more. “Zoro, I’ll be fine. Just make sure you guys get to the palace. I’ll be waiting.”

Before I could protest more, Luffy jumped in, cutting me off mid-sentence. “Okay, Y/N. If that’s what you want, we’ll trust you. But you better be careful! We’ll get there as soon as I figure a way out of this Colosseum.”

I clenched my fists, not fully convinced. “This is still a terrible idea... If anything happens to you, I’m coming to drag your reckless ass out of there myself.”

Y/N’s voice lightened, trying to ease the tension. “I know you will, Zoro. But you won’t have to. Just be ready when it’s time.”

The call ended with that, and I stood there, my frustration boiling under the surface.

“Damn it, why does she always have to make things difficult?” I muttered. 

Luffy turned to me, his expression serious. “We gotta trust her. She wouldn’t do this if she didn’t believe it would work.” 

I sighed, still irritated. “I don’t like it. But if Y/N’s already in, we need to make sure we’re ready to follow through. This is going to get messy.”

Law POV… 

I struggled to stay on my feet, each breath feeling heavier than the last. The pain in my knees throbbed with every movement, but the thought of Y/N—captured, helpless—burned in my mind like a raging fire. I couldn’t let her be taken. Not her. Not after everything.

Doflamingo’s laughter grated on my ears, his voice full of mockery. “You look like you’re about to collapse, Law. Just how much longer do you think you can keep this up?”

I glared up at him, blood dripping from my wounds, but my focus was elsewhere—on Y/N. She was out there, trapped in his twisted web, and I was running out of time to save her. My hands tightened around my sword, trembling from the exhaustion.

“You can mock me all you want, Doflamingo,” I growled, my voice low but filled with fury. “But I’m not done yet. I’ll tear you apart before I let you lay another hand on her.”

But my body betrayed me. I could feel my stamina slipping away, the strength in my legs faltering. “Room!” I called out once more, though my powers flickered, weaker now. I felt my ability straining to stay active, but I refused to stop.

Doflamingo smirked, casually flicking away my efforts like they were nothing. “Pathetic,” he said. “But keep struggling, Law. It’s amusing to watch you crawl while I’ve already won.”

His words pierced through the fog of pain in my mind. I knew what he wanted—he wanted to see me suffer, to see me broken before he took Y/N away forever. The thought sent a surge of rage through me. I won’t give him that satisfaction.

I tried again, pushing my body to its limit. My sword swung, aiming for him, but Doflamingo dodged it effortlessly, almost playfully. His string bullets followed, slamming into my legs again, sending me crashing to the ground.

The pain was blinding, but worse than that was the sickening feeling of helplessness creeping in. I bit down hard, forcing myself not to scream, but I could barely move.

Then, his transponder snail rang, cutting through the chaos. I looked up through blurry vision, seeing Doflamingo’s smirk widen as he answered the call.

"Hello, this better be important," he said, his voice dripping with malice. The words that followed made my blood run cold.

"Sir, we got her… we got the girl, young master!" came the voice on the other end.

I froze, my heart pounding so hard it drowned out the sound of everything else. Y/N. No. This can’t be happening. She can’t be in his hands.

Doflamingo's laugh cut through me like a blade. "I knew she couldn’t run forever. Tied up nice and snug, is she?"

“Yeah, she is. She's tied up. Meet us at the Colosseum at the front, so you can take her,” the voice said.

Doflamingo’s eyes glinted with sadistic glee as he hung up. He turned to me, relishing in my helplessness. “You hear that, Law? Looks like your little princess is mine now. And you? You’re going to watch me take her. Let’s head to the Coliseum, I want you to see her all tied up, broken, and realize that you couldn’t save her.”

The weight of those words crushed me. Y/N. My breath hitched, my vision narrowing to a tunnel of fury and desperation. I forced myself to move, despite the pain, despite the exhaustion.

But unfortunately, Doflamingo launched one more attack, his strings cutting through the air with deadly precision, and before I could react, my body gave out and fell to the ground, powerless. As darkness crept in, the last thing I saw was his cruel smile, and the only thought in my mind was that I had failed her. 

Zoro POV…

"Hey, mosshead! Any updates on Y/N?" Sanji's voice crackled through the transponder snail, sounding as impatient as ever.

I rolled my eyes at the snail, which mimicked his curly eyebrow expression. “Now you listen, curly brow…” I started, but then paused. “Actually, yes. She was able to get in contact with us.”

"WHAT? You did?!” Sanji's voice shot up an octave, panic immediately kicking in. “Is she okay? Did Doflamingo do something to her?!”

The transponder snail mimicked Sanji's frantic expression, and I could practically hear the others in the background, freaking out—Chopper, Brook, and Momo wailing in unison.

I sighed, trying to stay calm. “No, she says she’s safe. But…” I hesitated, knowing this was going to cause a scene. “She’s got a reckless plan.”

"RECKLESS PLAN?!" Sanji shouted, his voice nearly causing the snail to vibrate. "Mosshead, what did you say to her? Why didn’t you stop her?!”

“Tch, hey! It’s not my fault, curly brow! She decided this on her own!” I snapped back, gripping the transponder snail like it was his neck.

“Mosshead!” Sanji growled through the snail, his voice dripping with frustration. “What the hell is she thinking?! You didn’t just let her go, did you?! You know how dangerous Doflamingo is!”

I clenched my teeth, trying not to let him get under my skin. “She’s planning to go head-on with Doflamingo,” I said flatly, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

The transponder snail’s eyes widened comically. "SHE'S DOING WHAT?!" Sanji’s voice boomed through the receiver. "Why didn’t you stop her, mosshead?! Do you even understand what Doflamingo is capable of, what he plans on doing to her?!"

I gripped the transponder snail tighter. "You think I didn’t try? She’s as stubborn as hell you idiot! She’s doing this for a reason!"

There was a tense silence, only interrupted by the muffled sounds of Chopper and Brook still panicking in the background. Then Sanji's voice came through again, quieter but no less furious. “If anything happens to her, mosshead… I’ll make you regret not stopping her.”

I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of his words. “I know,” I muttered, my voice low. “But if it comes to that, I’ll be the one to cut down Doflamingo. I won’t let her fall.”

Before Sanji could respond, a deafening crash echoed in the distance. I snapped my eyes open, and the transponder snail mimicked Luffy’s frantic expression as his voice boomed through it. "Doflamingo! And Traffy!" he shouted. "What the hell is going on?! Traffy, why are you fighting Mingo?!"

We barely had time to process what Luffy was saying before we saw it. Doflamingo had his gun drawn, pointing it directly at Law.

Bang! The gunshot rang out, and Law’s body jerked back, blood spraying from the wound. “Damn brat,” Doflamingo growled, taking aim again.

Bang! The second shot tore through the air, hitting Law once more, sending him crashing to the ground. I cursed under my breath. “Not good!”

Just as Doflamingo was about to fire a third time, a sudden, blinding yellow light zipped through the chaos, cutting through the tension in the air.

"Get away from him!" a familiar voice yelled, echoing across the battlefield. The bright light morphed into a swift kick, slamming into Doflamingo’s chest and sending him flying into the nearby buildings. The impact was so powerful that the walls exploded into debris, raining down across the area.

As the dust and debris began to settle, a figure stepped forward, racing toward Law, who lay crumpled on the ground, barely clinging to consciousness. “I’m sorry, guys,” the familiar voice called out, softer now, filled with regret. “I was a bit late.”

The figure knelt beside Law, gently cradling his head, their voice trembling slightly. “I’m sorry, Law,” they repeated. “I couldn’t stop the first bullets... but I’m here now.”

As the last of the dust cleared, the blinding yellow light faded, revealing the face of the person who had saved him. My heart skipped a beat, disbelief and relief flooding through me.

"It’s Y/N!" I shouted, my voice filled with a mix of shock and relief.

Y/N POV… 

As I watched Zoro and Kin'emon from my hidden spot, my heart raced with anxiety. I knew the odds were against me—this plan had a 95% chance of backfiring—but there was still that 5% hope, and I had to cling to it. My eyes flicked to the Colosseum again. “Sabo should be in there by now,” I thought, trying to reassure myself.

I reached for the two small hidden blades strapped to my sides, pulling them out as I remembered the lesson King had given me about these blades. His voice echoed in my mind, calm and mysterious. 

Flashback…

“These blades, although they seem ordinary, can create quite a damaging effect,” he had said as he handed them to me.

I had stared at them skeptically. “So, what do they do?” I had asked, turning them over in my hands.

“They are meant to enhance your skills while helping you channel your abilities,” he explained, leaning back in his chair like it was obvious.

I had been frustrated by his cryptic explanation. “Well, how the hell am I supposed to use this?” I had muttered, annoyed that he was speaking in riddles rather than giving me straight answers.

He had simply smiled. “Once you channel all that energy, you will soon learn of their true purpose.”

End of flashback…

Now, standing in the shadows of the Colosseum, I gripped the blades tighter, trying to channel the energy within me, just as he had instructed. I could feel the familiar warmth building in my hands as a yellow light began to glow faintly around the blades.

Suddenly, a massive impact shook the ground, sending debris flying everywhere. I instinctively covered my face with my arms, the sharp dust and rocks pelting my skin. “Doflamingo must have arrived,” I thought, heart pounding in anticipation.

But when the dust cleared, my breath caught in my throat. Law. He was lying on the ground, bloodied and unmoving.

“Law?!” I whispered, shock and confusion hitting me like a tidal wave. "What the hell happened to the plan with Caesar? Did it fall through?"

The urgency of the situation took over as I heard two gunshots ring out, echoing through the air. Doflamingo had just shot Law again. My heart pounded as I saw him preparing to strike once more. Without thinking, I lifted my left leg, the yellow light around me intensifying, and dashed toward them.

"Get away from him!" I shouted, channeling all my strength into a kick aimed directly at Doflamingo’s chest. The impact sent him flying back, crashing into nearby buildings. Debris exploded across the area, shrouding everything in dust. As the light around me began to fade, I heard Zoro’s voice, full of disbelief.

"What the hell just happened?" he muttered.

Breathing heavily, I looked down at Law’s battered form. His lips trembled as he muttered broken words: "Cora... Y/N…" My heart clenched as I knelt beside him, cradling his head in my hands. My voice cracked as I whispered, "I'm sorry, Law. I wasn’t here in time to stop the first bullets... but I’m here now." The ache in my chest deepened, seeing him like this.

"Tell us what’s going on, please!" Sanji’s voice rang out through the transponder snail. I barely registered it as Zoro approached me, concern etched on his face.

“Y/N...” Zoro said, his tone more gentle than usual.

"What?! What’s going on?!" Sanji demanded again, his voice filled with panic as it crackled through the transponder snail.

Murmurs began to fill the air around us. I could hear the marine soldiers in the distance.

"She struck a warlord!" one of them gasped in disbelief.

"That’s Princess Y/N, she’s with the Strawhats!" another soldier pointed out, his voice trembling with both shock and admiration.

"No way... she actually landed a clean hit!" whispered another.

Kin’emon approached, bowing slightly in my direction. "It would appear that Lady Y/N has now arrived," he said, his tone filled with admiration and respect.

Before I could respond, Sanji’s frantic voice came through the snail once more. "Let me talk to her! Please!"

Kin’emon moved to hand me the transponder snail, but before I could take it, the sharp crack of a gunshot filled the air. My body tensed.

Doflamingo emerged from the dust, walking toward us slowly, a twisted smirk on his face. "My, my, that kick nearly took me out. I’ve got to hand it to you, princess," he sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. "I’m liking this side of you."

I stood up, my heart burning with anger. "Doflamingo…" I muttered, my grip tightening around my blades.

"Y/N, wait!" Zoro called out, his voice filled with warning.

"Y/N!" Law rasped, barely able to speak, his voice weak but desperate. “Tell me what’s going on?!” Luffy’s voice echoed from the Colosseum

I stared down Doflamingo, my mind racing. The tension was thick in the air, and everything seemed to freeze for a moment. Doflamingo’s smirk deepened as he approached, his voice laced with cruel amusement. "Princess, I was told you were captured, bound like a helpless little bird. It seems my subordinates were mistaken."

I grinned defiantly, reaching into the waistband of my skirt and pulling out a small momento I’d taken from the thugs. "Maybe you should hire better help next time," I said, tossing it at him. It struck his chest, and he glanced down, his amusement flickering into irritation.

"So, you’ve got some fight in you after all," he said, his tone mockingly impressed. "I thought you’d be running by now."

I held my ground, my fingers tightening around the blades, the faint yellow light beginning to glow again. "I hear you’ve been looking for me," I said, my voice steady. "Well, here I am."

Before he could respond, Luffy’s shout rang out from behind the bars. "Hey, Mingo! You’re gonna pay for what you did to Traffy!"

Doflamingo turned slightly, glancing back at Luffy with a smirk. "Law? That little brat used to work for me," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "Didn’t he tell you? Some ally you’ve got there."

My breath caught at his words, my gaze flickering to Law, who lay battered and barely conscious. But I couldn’t let this rattle me, not now.

Doflamingo’s attention snapped back to me, his grin widening. "Now, where were we? Ah yes... I was just about to capture you."

He moved forward, his fingers twitching as he prepared his strings. But I wasn’t about to let him think he had control. "Doffy," I said, smirking, "your subordinates—at least the one I knocked out—called you that. Funny, I thought you enjoyed the game of cat and mouse. What’s the fun in capturing me so easily?"

Doflamingo chuckled, clearly entertained by my defiance. "A game, is it? Alright, Princess, let’s play." His fingers twitched, strings flickering in the air. "But remember, I always win."

I clenched my blades tighter, the yellow light flaring to life. "We’ll see about that, Doflamingo. Let’s find out who’s really in control here." 

I gritted my teeth, the glow from my blades flaring even brighter. "Kinemon, Zoro, get Traffy out of here!" I barked, my eyes locked on Doflamingo. I lifted my left leg, ready to dash toward him, determined to land a strike.

But just as my blade was about to meet its mark, I felt an immense force slam into my arm, redirecting my attack into the sky. "What the—?" I gasped, trying to react quickly, but the same weight crashed into me again, this time with enough force to send me flying into the Colosseum wall. The impact knocked the breath from my lungs, and blood dripped from the corner of my mouth as I slid down to the ground, stunned by the sudden assault.

"Y/N!" I heard Zoro shout, his voice full of alarm as he turned his attention toward me. The weight of everyone's gaze shifted to where I lay, struggling to get back on my feet, the air thick with tension. "Y/N!" Luffys voice cut through the chaos, a note of alarm piercing through as he turned his gaze toward me. For a brief, tense moment, it felt like time itself had slowed, all eyes converging on my injured form. "Are you alright?" Luffy’s voice, filled with concern, crackled through.

I struggled to rise, my body shaking with pain. "Yeah, Luffy, I’m okay," I managed to reply, though my voice was weak. "But what the hell was that technique?"

As I fought to regain my balance, I saw Zoro and Kinemon charging toward Doflamingo. "Pirate Hunter Zoro and Foxfire Kinemon," Doflamingo drawled, his tone mocking. "I also noticed that Momonosuke is unguarded aboard your ship." Kinemon’s face tightened at Doflamingo's words. "Don’t listen to that bastard! We would never let him take Momo," Zoro shouted, his anger palpable.

But before Zoro could strike, the blind man from before intervened, delivering a powerful blow that pinned him down. "Zoro!" I cried out, my heart sinking as the sight of him struggling to break free filled me with dread.

Doflamingo smirked, his eyes gleaming with malevolent amusement as he shifted his focus to Kinemon. With a swift, unexpected move, Doflamingo struck Kinemon, sending him crashing into the ground. "Kinemon!" I cried out, my voice trembling with urgency and frustration.

I struggled to push myself upright, clutching my sides where pain radiated. My grip on the blade tightened, the yellow light and electrical charge flaring brightly. "Hey, Doflamingo!" I called out, lifting my left leg. "Forget about them. This is our game."

Doflamingo’s attention snapped back to me, a cruel smirk spreading across his face. "Ah, my defiant princess," he drawled. "Your spirit is truly something to behold. Once I capture you, you’ll discover just how much fun I can have with someone as spirited as you."

"That’s what you think!" I retorted, gathering all my strength. I dashed toward him, using the momentum to leap into the air and aim a tremor kick at Doflamingo. But as I extended my right leg, it suddenly stopped in mid-air, restrained by an invisible force.

I gritted my teeth, trying to break free from the unseen grip. "What’s going on?" I shouted, my frustration mounting. Doflamingo’s laughter rang out as he floated up to my level, his presence imposing and taunting.

As I tried to attack with my right hand, still clutching the blade, another invisible force wrapped around my wrist, pulling it back. I struggled against the restraints, my heart pounding in my chest.

Doflamingo floated closer, his face mere inches from mine. His gaze was cold and calculating as he gently grasped my chin, forcing me to look directly at him. "So close, my princess. The power of the String-String Fruit is quite remarkable, wouldn’t you agree?" he taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. "It allows me to control and manipulate anything I desire." Doflamingo’s smirk widened as he stared into my eyes, his malevolent gaze unwavering. Slowly, he moved his hands from my chin, trailing down to my neck. His touch was cold and commanding, the invisible strings still binding me tightly.

"Ah, such fire," he taunted, his fingers tightening around my throat just enough to remind me of his power. "You really are a fascinating specimen, Princess. The way you fight against the inevitable, it’s almost endearing."

He leaned in closer, his breath warm and disturbing against my skin. "You see, my strings can control everything from the smallest details to the most grandiose displays. And right now, you're tangled in my little game. You're not just my captive; you're my plaything."

I glared at him, the struggle evident in my eyes. "I’m not done yet," I said, my voice resolute despite the pain. "I won’t let you win." 

Summoning the last of my strength, I quickly maneuvered my free hand, still clutching the blade. With a swift, decisive motion, I cut through the strong bindings constricting my right hand. The strings fell away, freeing my arm. Without hesitation, I moved to sever the bindings on my right leg, slicing through them with precision. As I fell from the sky, my body propelled downward by gravity, I saw Zoro emerging from the debris, his face filled with determination.

“I got you!” Zoro shouted as he dashed forward, managing to pull me from the perilous height. He caught me in mid-air, his grip firm and reassuring as he guided me safely to the ground.“Thank you, Zoro,” I said, still feeling the tremors of pain as I tried to stand.

Kinemon hurried over, his expression a mix of concern and disbelief. “What’s a navy admiral doing with Doflamingo?” he asked.

My eyes widened in shock. “You mean to tell me that blind man is a navy admiral?” I asked, the revelation hitting me hard.

“Kinemon, is Y/N okay?” Sanji’s voice crackled through the transponder snail, filled with worry.

“Hey Sanji,” I said, trying to stay calm despite the sharp pain. “I’m okay. Sorry for worrying you.”

“Y/N…” Sanji’s voice choked up, filled with worry, but before he could continue, a sharp, searing pain tore through my left shoulder. I cried out, dropping to my knees as the pain overwhelmed me.

“DAMN IT!” I shouted, gritting my teeth, fighting against the agony. I looked down and saw blood trickling from a fresh wound—a bullet had struck me.

Doflamingo’s mocking voice echoed through the chaos. “Ah, look at you, princess. Already on your knees for me,” he sneered, his voice dripping with cruel amusement.

My eyes shifted to where Doflamingo was now holding Law,standing behind the Navy Vice Admiral, a smug grin on his face . “Don’t you dare!” Kinemon shouted, his voice filled with fear and frustration.

I managed to stand, determination burning in my eyes. "If he wants to fight dirty, then fine," I muttered, sheathing my blades. My body still ached, and the sting in my left arm reminded me of the situation’s urgency. Turning towards Zoro, I locked eyes with him. "There’s been a slight change of plans," I said quietly, still clutching my injured arm.

Zoro's brows furrowed. "What change of plans?" His hand was already on his sword, sensing something wasn’t right.

"I’m going to let Doflamingo capture me here." I leaned in closer so only he could hear. “I didn’t expect the Navy Vice Admiral to be involved, which complicates things. But the original plan stays. Capturing me here will still keep the plan in motion."

"Like hell it will!" Zoro snapped, his voice low but brimming with frustration. His grip on his sword tightened as if ready to strike. "You're not doing this alone."

Before he could make a move, I had already stepped forward, forcing myself into the spotlight. "Trust me, Zoro. We don’t have a choice."

“Doflamingo!” I shouted, trying to keep my voice steady despite the pain. “I thought this was our game of cat and mouse. Are you scared already?”

Doflamingo’s grin widened, his eyes glinting with cruel amusement. “Princess, such bravado. I must admit, I enjoy this side of you. It makes the victory all the more satisfying.”

As Doflamingo held Law like a puppet, I clenched my left hand, activating the power of my ring. I leaped into the air, raising my right leg, ready to deliver a powerful tremor kick. But just as I was about to strike, the navy admiral used his power to halt my attack mid-air. I was slammed back to the ground, crashing heavily into the dirt.

“Y/N!” Zoro yelled, his voice full of desperation. “Hold on! I’m coming!”

I struggled to rise. The air around me grew heavy, and invisible strings began to wrap around my body, lifting me off the ground. Doflamingo’s laughter echoed around us, cold and mocking.

“Wake up, Sir Law! Lady Y/N, are you alright?” Kinemon shouted, his voice filled with panic.

“Are you kidding me!” Zoro shouted in frustration, his voice crackling with anger and fear.

Doflamingo’s voice carried a sinister edge as he spoke to Fujitora. “Let’s take this conversation back to the palace. There’s much to discuss, and I’m eager to see how this little game ends.”

As Doflamingo’s strings tightened around me, I came face to face with him once more. His grip was unyielding, the pressure making it hard to breathe. I met his gaze, and despite the pain, a smirk formed on my lips. “Phase 1 of the plan is complete,” I thought to myself as the world around me started to darken.

As I began to slip in and out of consciousness, the smirk on my face remained, a silent declaration of our progress.

Zoro, visibly frustrated, prepared to make another move. But before he could act, the navy forces readied their weapons, their presence creating an impenetrable barrier. Doflamingo’s laughter filled the air, mocking and cold. “Look at that,” he said, his voice dripping with malice. “It seems your friends are in quite the predicament, princess.”

I fought against the strings, trying to regain some control, but it was futile. Doflamingo stepped closer, his face twisted into a sinister grin. “I’m going to savor this. I plan to enjoy every moment of it.”

As I was lifted away, the last thing I heard was Kinemon’s determined voice cutting through the chaos. “Both Sir Law and Lady Y/N have been seized.” The words lingered in my mind as consciousness began to slip away, leaving me with a mix of defiance and resignation.

[scummy-writes]

Winter Comforts

A fic for @misty-moth. Thank you for your support!

Pairing: Arthur/Reader

Words: 2143

Tags: Depression, comfort, fluff

The snowfall after your first night at the cabin was more than anticipated, causing an extra chill in the cabin you rented for the week. While it wasn't unwelcomed as an added bonus to the atmosphere of your lovebird vacation, it was enough for Arthur to designate himself as the one to take Vic out, refusing to let the risk of illness touch you.

And that's where he was now: out in the yard, watching the way you busied yourself with putting another log in the fireplace. There he stood with arms crossed, puffs forming in the air from his deep sighs.

Meanwhile Vic stepped cautiously through the snow, his small, boot clad paws crunching with each step. He only stopped exploring long enough to relieve himself, and in that time his owner finally stopped looking so worriedly in your direction, crouching down to make eye contact with Vic with new determination.

“Alright, Vic, we have our work cut out for us this week. Our bird has been putting on a brave face for us and refuses to say what's truly bothering her.”

Vic looked at Arthur with a small huff, chilly even through the sweater you'd knitted him, as he tried to finish his business as fast as he could manage. Yet Arthur continued, his focus on figuring out how to triumph over your depression causing him to neglect the cold.

“I've already devised plans to keep her mood up, in and out of bed, but what I need from you is the best charm you can manage. I need you to harken back to your youthful days as a pup and pretend to have that energy once more! Of course, this isn't all for nothing- with her mood lifted, she's bound to spoil you tenfold, Vic.”

Vic huffed once more, giving his owner a tired look before shaking the snow from his fur. But the man continued, used to this behavior for years.

“And… I'll let you get onto the bed with us in the mornings we're here. What do you say?”

The shaking slowed to a halt as Vic contemplated the words, staring Arthur down as if to call his bluff. But when Arthur merely just stared back, waiting for an affirmation of sorts, Vic slowly began to wag his tail before taking determined steps towards the cabin.

“Atta boy!”

.

Inside, the fire you set up crackled and popped, providing a comforting warmth to the abode. Once you had finished stoking it, you couldn't manage yourself up off the floor. Instead, you seemed entranced by the flames, watching them dance as your thoughts whirled in your head. You hardly seemed to notice when the other two came back in, only breaking out of your trance when Vic excitedly collided with you, paws hitting your back in excitement.

“Whoa!”

You turned to face the pup, chuckling as you saw his boots had been kicked off in a haphazard trail towards you, tag wagging wildly as his round eyes looked up at you. An impossible gaze to resist, and you found yourself smiling once more as you stroked his head, cooing as Vic melted at your touch.

It didn't take long for him to curl up by you, overjoyed in the belly rubs he received as Arthur doffed his overcoat and shoes.

“I say, Vic strolls into the room and you're putty in his paws! Won't even pass me a glance.”

There it was- that adorable grin when he was being ridiculous. At the sound of your chuckle, relief washed over him. It seems as though your depression wasn't as poor as he feared.

You met his gaze as you rolled your eyes, continuing to pet Vic's stomach.

“Are we going to have this conversation again? About how many more merits you have in comparison to a dog?”

“Well, I do distinctly remember you insisting I was acting like one last night- hey!”

Laughter followed as you playfully threw one of Vic’s boots towards Arthur, the writer mocking offense as your giggles persisted. Soon, the two of you were caught up in tossing the boot back and forth, teasing words before each one, and Vic settled down with a huff of understanding that belly rubs were long gone for the moment.

.

It had been a while since the two of you could settle in like this. You sat between his legs as you both stretched out on the couch, nestled in a blanket while Vic sprawled out in front of the fireplace. While he dozed, the two of you read a book of your choosing; Arthur, a mystery novel from a new author, and you, a random romance you had plucked from the mansion’s library. 

With a pencil in hand, Arthur underlined descriptions he favored while making notes in the margins, humming intrigue at the way the plot was unfolding. For him, it was easy to deduce from the beginning who was at fault in the story, but he was enjoying the way the author could still make the story interesting despite that. Certainly a novel he’d recommend to you. A copy he hadn’t marked in, of course.

Between every few pages, he’d cast his eyes towards you. He couldn’t get a good read on your face in this position, but every so often he’d feel the way your breath would pause at a passage, how your shoulders would tense- and sure enough, one look at the book in your hands would confirm the male lead blundering his way through affections. 

Another reference to add to his mental notes, of what made your heart speed up.

Yet now, he watched you thumb the corner of the pages rhythmically, the same set of pages you had been reading the past time he checked on you. He furrowed his brows, but allowed himself to read a few more pages of his novel before worrying further. But when he looked back, you were still doing the same- shoulders tense as you were lost in thought.

What kept causing that? What was making you worry on this little retreat? When Comte had offered to let Arthur use this cabin as a romantic get-away, he had been hoping this would cure those bouts of long sighs and tired eyes. But they kept persisting, no matter the amount of hugs and kisses Arthur gifted, among more sentimental offerings.

Carefully, he set down his pencil and book aside, wrapping his arms around yours. Setting his chin upon your shoulder had some tension melt away, but you were still wound tight in other ways.

“Luv…” he murmured against your ear, massaging his thumbs against your skin, “what’s troubling you?”

“I’m fine.”

The response was automatic, almost cold in the attempt to dismiss his worry, but you faltered immediately, fumbling over your words to ease the bluntness, “I mean- I am fine. I’m okay, I promise.”

You turned to face him then, a soft smile on your lips, but it was a poor mask that was easy to see through. And there, Arthur was at the crux of how to handle the issue. Pushing too hard could result in you hiding even further away. Meanwhile, time may be what you needed, but… It was difficult watching the way you crumbled, even if it was in small pieces.

He hummed in response, a gentle kiss pressed against your cheek. “Haven’t we discussed this, luv?”

You drum your fingers on his arm, neglecting his question. So he continues, calmly. In a quiet tone that causes your motions to stop.

“I know all too well how one may be keen to hide it all away- that void threatening to swallow you whole, how your heart aches through the days. But we promised each other to speak up before that burden gets too heavy.”

The crackling of the fireplace fills the air, merging with the tension after his words. Arthur watches as your eyes flit away again.

“I feel like I should be saying that as well.”

“What ever do you mean?”

Glancing at him again, there is a murmur of frustration in your gaze, mixed in with your own worry. 

“Do you think I wouldn’t have noticed? You can try to hide by flirting like a man preparing to never see his lover again, or by covering my concern with kisses and prose, but you can’t hide those bags under your eyes, or those times at night when I wake up in your bed, alone.”

Arthur frowns.

“Luv…”

“I don’t know how else to make it clear to you that I am here for you. I’ve tried so much…” You trail off, voice raspier than before. 

In the moment that you take to briskly wipe at your eyes, Arthur realizes where this enigma of your worry stemmed from. And he wants to laugh mockingly at himself, for getting so lost and scared at the sight of depression taking over you, that he neglected to consider the most damning possibility.

His arms hold you tighter, letting you continue to refuse looking his way. He doesn’t prod or force you to turn around, knowing well by now that when your emotions overflow, it’s difficult to let anyone watch. So Arthur holds you, letting tears fall down your cheeks as you process your next words, trying to convey your struggles.

“I know I can’t take away your pain. I know that it will linger inside of you, no matter how many years we stay together. No matter what luck comes into our lives. But I can be here for you. I can listen, I can hold you when it’s too hard to handle the world- I can do so much, but only if you let me in, Arthur.” Another shaking breath escapes you, and your next words come out so quiet, as if you’re fearful of the words themselves, “if we can’t talk about these things, how are we supposed to stay together? To get married…?”

With that, you crumble apart. Arthur pulls you properly into his lap now, letting you nuzzle into his neck, letting his shirt soak up your tears. Each shaking sob from you has him murmuring reassurances, promises that saying such a thing wouldn’t bring ruin to the relationship. 

And he waits. Until you can breathe properly again, until you’re ready to listen to him to speak.

“I think we’ll be fine.”

“How can we be when-”

“For instance, did you know we’ve been worrying ourselves sick over the same issue?”

You peek up at him, questioningly. Arthur takes that moment to brush back the wet hairs sticking against your face, his smile soft.

“It seems we’re both having trouble letting each other in on the secrets of our heart. I can’t promise that there won’t be moments like this again in the future, but for now…” Arthur presses a chaste kiss against your temple, sighing along with you, “I can apologize. I didn’t realize you felt like this, luv. I’m so used to burying my emotions that I neglect understanding it can hurt others.”

“I’ve been trying to think of how to bring it up, but…I just kept getting scared that this wouldn’t change.”

“It will. I’ve just got to get used to the fact that I’m lucky to be loved by you,” he pecks your cheek once more, “and I’ll stop leaving you at night when the nightmares plague me.”

You study his face with your reddened eyes, and Arthur tries to ease the pangs of guilt in his heart. But you seem to relent, shoulders relaxing as you return one of his earlier kisses.

“You promise?”

Arthur hooked his pinky with yours, grinning, “promise.”

.

Vic gave you a dubious glance after inspecting the sugary fluff on your finger, giving it a few more sniffs.

“It won’t bite you! But if you don’t want a bit of marshmallow, I can just take it back-”

A low whine rang out once you pulled your finger back, and you and Arthur fell into a fit of giggles at Vic’s contradictory behavior. But you gave him another chance, and the pup happily lapped up the small treat before you could take it away again. Yet, after a few smacks of his jows, Vic unceremoniously plopped the now-wet mess on the carpet. At your surprise, he merely settled into a comfortable heap in front of the fireplace again, his curiosity sated over what you and Arthur had been laughing about for the past few minutes.

After cleaning up, Arthur watched as you happily stick another marshmallow onto your stick, poking it into the fireplace while you used your free hand to pet Vic. The puffiness of your eyes had calmed down enough, and now the smile left on your face held no hidden meaning; you were happy. Relaxed. Everything that Arthur wanted for this trip.

Taglist (please let me know if you'd like to be added/removed!):

@yarnnerdally @katriniac @kissmetwicekissmedeadly @bakaneko-chan @skoetiepoetie @bestbryn @nightghoul381 @fang-and-feather @xbalayage

Ikevamp Masterlist || Ikepri Masterlist || Ikevamp/Ikepri server

[likecastle]

Prompt “oh shit” “ I told you not to touch it!”

Thank you, anon! I forgot my own advice from the first one of these and wrote something (kinda) angsty. No serious warnings for this one--just misunderstandings, and some classic Nancy Wheeler passive aggression.

“Oh, shit!” Robin looks on in horror as the precarious stack of books Nancy had so carefully piled on her study carrel comes toppling down. The noise it makes, Robin is fairly certain, can be heard all across the Boston metropolitan area. Possibly she’s just triggered a sonic boom. Heads whip in their direction, and a great round of sanctimonious shushing rises up like a tidal wave.

“Robin!” Nancy hisses. “I told you not to touch that!”

“Well, they do say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” she jokes, trying to cover her chagrin. The look of exasperation on Nancy’s face makes Robin snap her mouth shut and start picking up the fallen books in silence.

Nancy is gathering up heaps of notecards that took the chance to spring free of the plastic box Nancy was storing them in, scattering all the way into the stacks. “Everything’s always a joke with you,” she mutters under her breath.

Robin feels herself flush—kind of impressive, given that she’s already humiliated herself so thoroughly—and dips her head to focus on the books she’s stacking. She’s starting to think coming here was a mistake—not just accompanying Nancy to the library, but coming to visit at all. It’s midterms, after all, and she could have just waited to see Nancy at home over spring break, but her semester ended a few days earlier than Nancy’s, and she’d thought it would be fun to drive back to Hawkins together. Nancy had sounded enthusiastic when Robin pitched the idea of a road trip—at least, Robin had thought she did. But now that Robin’s actually here, it feels like her presence is more of a nuisance than a welcome distraction.

Robin’s been trying to tell herself it’s just exam stress, but it’s getting harder and harder to convince herself that's true. After last night, Robin’s seriously considering just shelling out for a bus ticket back to Hawkins. And now, of course, she’s gone and made things worse.

Once she’s stacked the fallen books back on the desk again—probably not in the right order, but at least they’re not sprawled on the floor—she takes a careful step back and says, “I’m gonna go get a cup of tea from that place we went yesterday. D’you want anything?”

“I’m fine,” Nancy huffs. Then, thinking better of it, “Coffee—”

“—black,” Robin finishes, “I know. Promise you won’t leave before I get back?”

Nancy rolls her eyes, which Robin figures is as much reassurance as she’s going to get.

It doesn’t take her long to make her way out of the library and get in line at the little café around the corner. It’s sort of a relief, actually, to be out in the fresh air, away from the anxious silence of the library and Nancy’s own inexplicable bad mood. If only Robin knew what she’d done wrong—before she caused a massive book avalanche, that is. Nancy’s mood has been sour ever since they left the party last night, and Robin can’t for the life of her figure out why.

She’s trying to decide whether she wants Mystic Mint or Calming Chamomile when someone taps her on the shoulder. She turns to find a fresh-faced girl standing behind her. Robin knows they were introduced at the party last night, but she can’t quite recall the girl's name. Rebecca or Regina or Ramona, something like that.

“Robin, right?” the girl says.

“At your service,” Robin says, and then, for some totally unknown reason, she gives a little dramatic twirl of her hand like a Victorian gentleman doffing his cap. No wonder Nancy's so sick of her.

The girl quirks a bemused, almost pitying smile. “How’s Nancy doing this morning?”

“Annoyed at me, mostly,” Robin says, trying to be sanguine about it. “What can I tell you? I’m just really good at getting on Nancy Wheeler’s nerves. It’s a talent, honestly. I should put it on my resume.”

The girl—Renata? Romilda?—laughs incredulously. “I mean, I’d be pissed, too, if my date spent the whole night talking to someone else.”

Everything around Robin goes silent. All she can hear is the ringing in her ears. “Uh—what?” she croaks.

Roberta-or-Roxanna says is saying something, but Robin isn’t listening. It feels like that single word has replaced the sound of her pulse in her ears—date date date. Is that what last night was? Is that why Nancy was so weird about asking if she wanted to go to the party, assuring Robin over and over that they didn’t have to go if she didn’t want to? Is that why she’d worn her dressy shoes, the black ones that pinch her toes?

Now that she thinks of it, the place they had dinner before-hand was a little nicer than she’d expected it to be. And their table had been kind of secluded in the back, with those fancy candles. Maybe that would explain why Nancy had been so irritated when Robin started toasting her breadstick over the open flame.

She thinks back to how Nancy had introduced her to her friends at the party. She hadn’t said, “This is Robin, my friend from home,” or, “Robin and I went to high school together.” She’d just said, “This is Robin,” and Robin remembers thinking how strange it was that all of Nancy’s friends had glanced at each other like they knew exactly what that meant. She’d thought at the time they must have heard some embarrassing stories about her from their time in Hawkins. Only maybe that hadn’t been it at all.

She realizes, absently, that she’s holding up the line. The barista is staring at her, waiting for her to order, and the other people behind her in line are starting to get impatient, and Roseanna-or-Rowena is looking at her like maybe she’s left the planet.

“I’ve gotta go,” Robin says, to nobody in particular, before peeling out of the line and running out of the café without a second look back.

[calamity-calliope]

The Baptism of Moffett

(Or, what happened to Enoch when the light came.)

...

Enoch Moffett perked up as the lock on the door clicked. His head still hurt from where he had been struck, and because of his disorientation his night vision had not settled in. Still, he had the space of mind to reach for one of his guns. His fingers wrapped around the polished wooden grip as he pulled it from its oiled holster, that practiced hand of his holding it cautiously out in front of him.

All of a sudden, the door cracked open. A single hand made a brief appearance, to toss something into the room. Moffett instinctively raised his gun, but the door was closed as quickly as it was opened, and he was in the dark once again. He stood from his crouched position with a grunt, internally cursing his missed opportunity. As he reached up to rub the back of his head again, the entire room exploded with light.

The suddenness off it caused him to gasp, and his eyes widened in fear. He fell backwards, reaching an arm up to shield his face, but already his vision was compromised. The only thing he could see was brilliant gold.

His mindspace was buzzing. Memories faded in and out of existence. New thoughts filled his head. Thoughts that weren't his...

Who are you?

Moffett, Enoch Moffett.

How far you have come to a place you were never meant to be.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.

Who are you?

I am one of Mosby's Men.

I remember a soldier, a soldier of the night.

As glides is seas the shark / Rides Mosby through green dark.

You were dangerous.

But Mosby's Men are there. / Of Mosby best beware.

And yet you have been so very lonely.

They are all dead, they are all dead.

Who?

Everyone. I miss them so.

I remember years in the desert.

I was far from my home.

And yet you thrived. Is your place not in the sun?

My place is wherever I am needed.

You are needed here.

Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!

My brother is who needs me.

I remember burying a brother.

Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir;

He is dead, but I am going to avenge him.

Let us be your knife.

Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand

Us?

I, you, we, the children of Light.

Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.

And what if I refuse?

Then it will all have been for nothing.

All for the want of a horseshoe nail.

He sat up in the dark room, aware. Things had changed. No longer was there blackness around him. Gold had settled over his vision and the world seemed brilliant and glorious. There was a feeling of reassurance in his gut, a calming presence within him. No longer did the situation feel uneasy or wrong. He was assured of it.

He turned his head as again the door opened, a solitary figure standing silhouetted by the light of the hall beyond. He doffed his hat, and smiled. "Good morning."

[insidethemachine]

Mysta Rias - Luxiem

Heyo, how’s it going~? 

Srry for disappearing for a year xD got a job, have no time for simming unu BUT this is a special ocassion owo sad, but special (? Vtuber Mysta Rias is graduating soon, so I wanted to do a little something, and here is the little something, a Mysta sim uwu

I really love vtubers, and Luxiem is my fav group, and Mysta is one of my favs (I like Luca too much too xd) so I had to do this xd

I really loved how he turned out, and had too much fun painting his awesome shirt owo If there is no choker is bcs I couldnt find one that I liked xD if someone founds a suitable choker for him please tell me ><

cc list uwu:

Skin: https://mousysims.tumblr.com/post/627162293823848448/face-only-skinblend-masculine-feminine-all by @mousysims

Chin Slider: https://miikocc.tumblr.com/post/648360817514971136/chin-slider by @miikocc

Neck Slider: https://www.simfileshare.net/download/1002156/ by @lemon-sims4

Teeth: https://www.patreon.com/posts/default-non-19-34447183 by @magic-bot

Hair and hairband: https://obsims.tumblr.com/post/693128668155904000/my-star-hairstyle by @obsims

Eyelashes: http://kijiko-catfood.com/3d-lashes-uncurled-eyelashes-edition/ http://kijiko-catfood.com/eyebrow-ver2/ by @kijiko-sims

Eyebrows: https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-hair-facial/title/s-club-wm-thesims4-eyebrows-34m/id/1336662/ by @sclub-privee

Eyes and sunglasses: https://www.patreon.com/posts/di-eye-diy-eye-34678649 https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-accessories-female-glasses/title/ekseo-glasses/id/1384390/ by @pralinesims, sunglasses retextured by me

Shirt and pants: https://www.patreon.com/posts/33735729 https://www.patreon.com/posts/high-waist-wide-64113941 by @gorillax3-cc GGG is my fav for clothes <3 I retextured both uwu, although the pants was just the pockets and belt so I wouldn't count it as retexture haha

Hat: https://www.sglynp.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=136930&highlight=luxiem by 掠仙LueXian Gloves: https://www.patreon.com/posts/nails-in-gloves-75020851 by @nv-games Okey, see this, this is so clever! It add nails to the mesh of the fingers, so you can use it with any gloves you want owowo I just used NV-Games mesh, and then retextured EA's default gloves, so ty NV for making such a useful cc uwu

Shoes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/58534893 by @jius-sims, retexture by me

CAS BG: https://vyxated.tumblr.com/post/719719135185092608/cas-replacements-set-02 by @vyxated

Reshade: https://fiesemietze.tumblr.com/post/641246832367992832/preface-download-at-the-end-reshade-version by @fiesemietze, I just retouched it a little xd no dof cause my pc explotes even when I have a 3060 ;-;

If something is missing, you can found it in my last posts maybe xd. As always, if you want some retexture just pm me uwu

That’s all for today~ I have Yamada Saburo still in the works, is just that he doesnt convince me haha Who should I do next? I like a lot of VTubers so maybe I can do a few more owo PD. yes, he crotch area is too low, I know xd I couldnt fix it, maybe is bcs the pants are for female xd I tried to search for a crotch slider but... yeah, you can imagine what I found lol so it will stay like this xd

[frostironfudge]

Silhouettes In the Spotlight - Bucky Barnes - Thirteen

Summary: Bucky Barnes has worked immensely hard to have a filmography expanding across genres and garnering accolades from critics, peers and fans. Y/N Y/L/N, with her debut novel (fan-fiction turned New York Times Bestseller) has two other best sellers under her belt. Next is her highly anticipated fourth book lined up for release. SHEILD Productions has acquired the film rights to her debut novel and they want Bucky Barnes to play the lead (aka himself) by any means necessary. This story is about angst, lust, heartbreak, and love. After all fairytales only exist in books and movies right?

Warnings: fluff, (tooth rotting fluff), angst, swearing, alcohol consumption mentioned, drug consumption mentioned not detailed, smut so 18+ only, no minors, p in v, dirty talk, mild breeding kink, mentions of overstim, slight jealous bucky, all the sex is consensual, hollywood politics, are feather and bucky catching a break in this chapter? yes maybe? i think they are, also i want to put yelena and reader in one room so they can sort of this mess of their friendship i caused, whoops, i hope ya'll enjoy the chapter! more fluff at the end!

Pairing: Actor!Bucky Barnes x Plus Size!Fem!Reader

Word Count: 9k || Dividers: @firefly-graphics

Main Masterlist || Fic Masterlist || AO3 || Fic Playlist

Chapter Twelve|| Chapter Fourteen

HEADLINES: 

Steve Rogers Spills The Beans On His and Author Y/N’s Relationship: ‘She’s Spoken For By Someone’

Who Has The Elusive Author Dated? A List Of Her Boyfriends and Here Is What They Have To Say About Her! Psst It’s Not All That Great (Oops!)

Sharon Carter Brings Attention To Herself and Brock Rumlow As They Shamelessly Flirt On Screen During His Interview on HYDRA’s News Hour

Dolores Is Bright And Early On ITIMYIMDO Set As Filming Commences Looks Like Rehab Did Her Good

The set is quiet as the scene with the programmed lights is set up. You watch in awe as they bring one of your favourite scenes written by you to life. 

Bucky watches you, his eyes full of love and adoration at the way you admire the lights. 

It was one of the chapters he had heavily annotated in your book.

Currently there weren’t people on set. Only Wanda was taking B roll footage of the lights alone. So he was standing closer to you. Basking in the way it felt to be around you. In front of people. The core team knew about the two of you. 

Bucky had wanted to stop hiding away from being known as yours.

Sam had suggested slowly easing into it since the media could taint everything. A friendly hug here and a few public interactions there. A few planted interview questions that Bucky would genuinely answer and then the chance for the two of you to announce it to the world or allow people to keep speculating and be together privately. 

“This was one of my favourite chapters.” Bucky walks over to you, the smile never leaving his face, eyes crinkled at the sides. Watching the way the light catches in your eyes makes them seem even brighter. 

You look away from the lights to him. He stands close, smiling down at you. Your cheeks heat, recalling how that particular chapter went. 

He was ready for his part as Rhys, bionic arm doffed for the scene. You admire the way he carries himself, your eyes linger over his shoulder. 

“Doesn’t hurt, Feather.” He assures. You take a deep breath.

“It was your favourite?” You ask, trying to keep your voice even. 

“Yes, I particularly enjoyed how you rectified their song’s memory and gave them the opportunity to dance to it amongst the other parts of the chapter.” He grabs your hand, the lights begin twinkling again. 

He looks behind you for a moment, then music begins to play, Taylor Swift’s Daylight. You hear the door to set shut.

You’re pulled against him, your arms resting around his shoulders. 

“Rhys and Doll have Stargazing, we have this song.” His blue eyes gleam in the light, you want to sink into them. 

“James.” You laugh as he twirls the two of you, taking the lead on the dance. He says nothing, moving the two of you through the music and its tempo changes. 

“I don’t want to look at anything else, now that I saw you.” He sings for you. 

You cup his cheek, smiling at him, your heart bursting with love for him. 

“I don’t want to think of anything else now that I thought of you.” He grins, twirling you outward and pulling you back to him. Arm now around your waist. 

The lights get brighter and then slowly fade. 

His smile doesn’t falter, being able to enjoy this moment with you wholeheartedly without worrying about you thinking adversely about his lost arm. 

“I’ve been sleeping so long in a twenty year dark night.” He presses his lips to your forehead. 

“And now I see daylight.” He leans in, forehead touching yours. 

“I only see daylight.” You sing to him. 

His cheeks tinge pink, “And I can still see it all,”

“In my mind, all of you, all of me.” You giggle as you move closer. His hand moves to hold yours, “Intertwined,” He squeezes your hand. 

“I once believed, love would be black and white.” He says not singing, “But it’s you.” 

“You’re my golden daylight, Feather.” 

The song keeps playing, you stare up at him. The set faded away. His hand leaves your hand after placing it on his shoulder. 

Then he grasps your waist, slowly moving up to the back of your neck, gently his thumb strokes the skin of your jaw. 

You sigh, eyes closing as he leans in closer, your head tilted back and pulled closer. His lips brush against yours, once, twice. Bucky sighs contentment filling him when he feels your lips against his own.

Your fingers grasping his shirt, hand cupping his jaw. Bucky marvels at the way your tenderness with him seeps into everything you do, the way your lips move against his, the way you’re able to show your love to him just by your touch alone. 

He almost, almost feels bad for keeping what he’s up to from you. In due time you would know.

The kiss parts, your cheeks heat as you nuzzle into the crook of his neck shyly. You can feel the rumble of his soft laughter followed by the kiss to your forehead. 

The song ended a while ago, yet the two of you do not part. Murmurs gain volume outside. You sigh, Bucky squeezes you close to him before the two of you step away at the same time. 

The doors of the set open, you stare up at the lights again. 

“Only actors on set.” Natasha orders, you give Bucky another smile before walking towards the producer’s area. 

Maria gives you a smile and Nick acknowledges you with a nod. 

Wanda moves over to Nat, showing her the B roll footage. You look down at your phone. Once filming commences you would slip to the producer corner and write the pending chapters. The three week deadline is now nearing two weeks. 

Bucky catches your gaze when Dolores walks in on set, somewhat on time. The crew moves to put the finishing touches on the set. 

Natasha calls for positions, the music track begins, this time it’s Rhys and Doll’s song. 

Dolores moves through the scene, you watch Bucky only, the way he moulds himself into Rhys. Bringing him to life, it’s spectacular how it all occurs. 

The laughter he causes with his goofy dancing around. You have to will yourself not to make a louder sound.

Maria beats you to it and Natasha has to yell, “Cut.” 

Bucky laughs as well, cheeks flushed. 

The scene is reset building up to the next part. 

Dolores begins messing up her lines, the little bottle in her hand between takes isn’t water, everyone knows. 

As the set is then made to be a closed one for the sex scene. Only the core team on board. She’s slurring her words and stumbling as she moves to wrap her hands around Bucky.  

He shifts off the set lines looking at Natasha. Her lips press into a thin line. 

“Dolores, you cannot be drinking.” Natasha says very calmly. 

“You shut the fuck up and film, I’m going to have sex with this ex of mine. Not the first time post breaking up is it?” She blows a kiss to Bucky. 

“I’m not shooting this scene with you or rather any intimate scenes with you if you’re not sober.” He warns her. 

“I agree.” Natasha shakes her head at the actress. 

Dolores turns to look at you with narrowed eyes, “Tell him to shoot it.” 

“I am not forcing anyone—,” 

“I’ll tell Alexander.” She sing-songs, eyes glassy as she smirks when you still. She knew. 

“Dolores.” Bucky steps towards her, “I am not comfortable with you being drunk and filming scenes like this—,” 

“Oh hush. Producers can make us do anything can’t they? Go on vote for the scene to continue, Executive Producer Y/N.” Dolores giggles, then her eyes move to Natasha. 

“Aw, did you want a say?” She coos at the director. 

“Isn’t my call, apparently.” Natasha shrugs the remaining crew then turns to you and Maria. Nick had stepped out not wanting to intrude on the scene.  

“We aren’t filming unless Dolores is sober for all scenes.” You look at all of them then Maria. 

“Agreed.” She declares. 

“Alright then,” Natasha says, “We set up for the scene with Loki and Bucky facetiming. Scene 73. Dolores get yourself sobered up.” 

Dolores sneers, then turns to you, in a moment she’s in front of you.

Bucky begins moving towards the two of you. He steps gaining momentum as he realises what is about to happen.

Her hand is raised, “You little bitch!” She yells, her hand coming down towards your face. 

Your stupor breaks and you shuffle to the side to avoid being hit. 

Her hand swerves across thin air, as you keep yourself backed away against the wall. 

Bucky and Natasha move towards you. Worry on their faces; Maria raises her walkie-talkie calling in security. 

“I’m going to make Alex—Alexander, ruin, ruin you!” She warns as her assistant and security hold her and escort her outside. 

You stay backed against the wall. 

“I am going to conduct a full security check of all electronic devices. If even a peep of this goes out. Hell fire will rain down upon each person.” Maria declares, looking at the scarce crew on set. 

Everyone nods, Natasha moves towards you then stops herself. Bucky trudges on forward. 

“Feather,” He’s about to reach to cup your face with his palm. 

You shift away from him. There is an echo in your mind of the stinging slaps you endured. 

His palm remains frozen in air, eyes wide, “Feather?” 

No. No. No. No. No. You want to wail. They can’t have taken your source of comfort from you, “I’m sorry.”

“Do not apologise.” He stays away, not moving close. 

“I’m sorry.” Your hand reaches for his, intertwining your fingers.

“Bucky.” You both look at Maria, the set now emptied out, “Take her out, back to your trailer, I’ll send the interns with fresh call times.” 

Bucky nods, looking at you. You nod. Thanking her, the two of you make your way to his trailer. 

Sam and Yelena are pacing, they only pause when they see the two of you enter. Word spread fast because Dolores couldn’t stop screaming about the entire ordeal.

Bucky phad his arm around you. Over the walk from the set, you had begun to cling onto him more. Needing him closer. 

“Do you want to don your arm?” Sam questions, Bucky looks down at you. You begin to pull away, Bucky’s grip on you tightens. 

“Later.” He says, leading you to the couch. 

Yelena regards you, the previous week’s ordeal with her being cold towards you and your explanation. The two of you hadn’t spoken on a personal level. You did miss her. Missed stopping by her office unannounced and working on your writing while she worked. 

The friendship had meant more to you.

Maybe it wasn’t the same to her. You had to make your peace with it.

She watches you rest your head on Bucky’s chest. Tucked against him, she knows you feel protected. 

There is knocking against the door. 

“It’s Ace.”

“And Loki.”

Sam moves to the door, Ace comes bounding up the steps. Their eyes worriedly glance over you both. 

“Y/N?” They call out, you give a small wave. 

“I’m okay.” You assure. 

Loki meets Bucky’s eyes, the latter nods. The former’s lips press into a thin line. He directs his worry towards you. 

“Hi Loki.” You greet, he morphs his worry into a small smile. 

“Do you need anything?” He questions, you shake your head. 

“I’m so annoyed by her. How is it that she ruins day one back to filming?” Ace complains. 

“I think we should give them space and not discuss this anymore.” Yelena pipes up, leaning against the counter, arms crossed. 

Ace looks at Yelena, their jaw set.  

“Right, because talking about things is not a great thing?” They roll their eyes. 

Yelena looks at you, your brows are furrowed at Ace. 

“I’m just saying talking it out is better than bottling things up.” They explain. 

“Um, I’d rather not, Dolores’ thing doesn’t have me shaken up. I just was reminded of something else.” You feel Bucky’s lips press to your forehead. Grounding you yet again. 

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” He murmurs. 

You respond by placing a kiss on his jaw. Loki exchanges a glance with Sam. His face still conveys his worry.

Your phone beeps, you groan recognising the alarm. 

“What's that?” Loki questions, you retrive the damn device snoozing the alarm. 

“Alarm to write. Submission date got preponed so I’ve set random alarms to at least write something when it blares, even if it's shit.” You explain. 

“That isn’t your process.” Yelena frowns, not liking that you’ve been taxing yourself. 

“It’s the process of writing for this deadline.” You shrug. 

Bucky chuckles, “I woke up the other night for water and she was tucked against me with her phone in her hand typing away. Three am and she’s writing.” 

You laugh, “Yeah I’m hoping to finish by this week somehow since I want a week to edit after Yelena reviews.”

“Y/N, that's not how you’ve written before.” She says again, you look at her. 

“I know but it's how I’m writing now. Deadlines worked with the blog.” 

“That was one chapter a week.” She taps the palm of her left hand with the back of her right. 

“Y/N you did get burned out on the blog too.” Ace adds remembering the apologetic posts about being on terrible blocks rendering you incapable of writing. 

“Thank you!” Yelena scoffs at your reasoning. 

You shift, Bucky still keeps his arm around you. 

“And what? I’m dividing the remaining chapters the same way. I won’t get burnt out.” You assure. You couldn’t afford to get burnt out, well you were banking on it.

Bucky looks at Sam and Loki, then Ace and Yelena. The two of them don’t buy it, having seen you write for far longer than him. 

“Feather…”

“I’m fine, honestly.” You defend too quickly. None of them buy it. 

“I’m going to speak to Hydrangeas—HYDRA. They will have to move it—,”

“No, you won't, you've already exhausted the reasons and it has already been a week. I just have the last ten to go.” You don’t tell them your actual plan, only once it would get into the step back you would tell them. 

Andy and Matt already knew and you hoped they would not blabber. They were the ones who found and confirmed the loophole for you. You felt bad keeping it from them but it had to be this way. 

“If this is about what I said—,”

“No it isn’t.” You cut Yelena off yet again, “I have been neglecting my writing, it's another book that needs to be done. Then I can relax and focus on other projects. It’s already had enough leaks.” 

“What if you hit a writer’s block?” She presses again. 

Bucky squeezes your arm gently. 

“I’ll write through it.” You grit, what was with the sudden concern? She had made it clear she was done. 

“Right because that's what produced your best content in the past. It was unreadable.” Yelena quips. 

You stand still holding Bucky’s hand. He squeezes it. 

“Feather.” He says in warning, requesting you to stay calm.

“I need to call my mom up. She should be done with the first leg of her treatment.” You let go of Bucky’s hand. 

Turning to press a kiss to his cheek, “I just,” you whisper to him. 

“I know, go, I’ll be out in a minute.” He whispers back. 

You leave the trailer, leaving everyone to look at each other in silence. 

“She’s up to something.” Yelena says, Bucky’s eyes snap to her. 

“Did you have to say that? She’s trying hard enough as it is, with everything else.” He moves to go towards the closet where his arm is placed. The scene with Loki would require him to doff it again, but he needed it right now.

“Oh, you’re a knight in shining armour now is it?” She sneers. 

Sam moves ahead to help, “Buck.” He warns.

Bucky bites the inside of his cheek, a storm brewing in his gaze. 

“No, I am not, but I know well enough to reserve my responses. Do you know what happened after she left BW?” Bucky keeps his eyes locked on Yelena, his sleeve folded back exposing the mounting plate. 

Yelena clenches her jaw, waiting for him to continue. 

Bucky grabs the bionic arm, lining it up. Sam moves back knowing he needs room to move it around. 

The familiar click locks the arm into place, it whirs before a circumduction occurs. 

“Hayden had to bring her to me, she had a panic attack right from your parking lot to my gym. Do you remember the time? It took her an hour to come to me. An hour she doesn’t remember because she couldn’t breathe because she was under a lot of duress because her best friend wouldn’t listen. You haven’t even apologised for presuming the worst from her. Natasha doesn’t know the bullshit you, however, do.” Bucky’s vibranium fingers flex then extend. 

“She’s lost enough Lena. Don’t you think she deserves some slack being cut? Or did you want to know how Dolores threatened her on set?” He scoffs. He walks out as well in search of you, finding you behind the trailers, a familiar spot for several of the actors for some alone time. 

You’re on the phone as he approaches. Offering him a smile and he pulls you into a tight hug. 

After the ordeal in Bucky’s trailer things with Yelena didn’t change, she only spoke when it was all work related.

The Lit Fest was coming up, the publishing house wanted Steve and you to fuel the dating fire again. Neither you nor Steve were interested in that aspect. 

In fact Angel had the idea to have Steve say you were already spoken for in a podcast he was on, which had sent everyone into a frenzy. 

Speculation wouldn’t stop. You were honestly tired of it. How celebrities went through this day in and out, you couldn’t fathom. 

Bucky had taken it upon himself to stop you from getting too lost into writing. Impromptu date nights at Winnie’s. If your mom couldn’t sleep she would make you watch the TV shows on your laptop only, with her. Bucky and her were in cahoots, you were sure of it.  

They pretend not to hear you when you accuse them of their little plan. Solving the puzzle and laughing amongst themselves. You roll your eyes at them before joining in on completing the 500 piece puzzle. 

It was as if he was trying to actively prevent burn out for you. You appreciated it, the breaks he would provide would be a saviour. 

The only time you were writing uninterrupted was during filming stretches. Sitting in the producer area behind Natasha and Maria, the latter taking your spot with the director now. 

You missed it all - the making jokes, noting things down and bouncing ideas off of each other. You tried to not let it get to you. You welcomed it, given how your writing was becoming the primary focus, the longer hours helped you focus better. 

Your head buried in your phone, typing away quietly on the phone screen. Four chapters were left. The book was probably on some kind of kick. Even in your worst writing you felt the story was good. Which wasn’t helping your loophole. 

You knew how the book would end, writing towards it made it easier. HYDRA was hoping to announce the fourth book’s title during the fest. You had asked for Yelena's opinion but she just shrugged.

Laughter pulls you out of your thoughts. Your gaze moves to Steve, Loki and Bucky joking around off set. Their dynamic had shifted. 

The hostility between the three is almost gone. Loki had confided that he still had doubts up on Steve, which was understandable. Bucky’s confided words ring in your mind.

Three Days Ago.

“I’m worried. It’s so easy to play a character, put on an act. Fake a friendship. Fake a fight. Things get ugly. They did between Steve and I. I know right now they seem sort of good but…” He sighs as he trails off, his head resting on your abdomen. Laying between your legs, the fingers of your right hand running through his hair as his left hand caresses your forearm. 

“It is hard to trust anyone let alone a lost then found friendship.” You smile as he looks up at you.

“Would I stupid to trust him again? I miss him, I feel Loki would feel offended too.” Bucky doesn’t understand why all this seems so trivial amongst everything else ongoing in your lives. 

It ate away at him how he felt he wasn’t being a good friend. 

“James, you’re reconnecting with a lost friend. Reminiscing over memories and lost time. You won’t lose a friend because you gained another. It may feel like that because maybe it happened that way with Loki. You found your best friend in him after Steve.” 

“I’m grateful for Loki. I really am, I miss that mischief maker, the together shoot schedules now have made it better. I just… I miss Steve too. We went through so much.” He brings your hand towards his lips kissing it, azure eyes move away from you.

“I know, why don’t you talk to Loki? You guys haven’t spoken about anything other than the mess, he probably misses you too. You can speak to him about your turmoil with Steve and your reblooming friendship. He’s a smart and mature guy. I'm sure he won’t be as harsh as you may be fearing.” Your advice has him hum.

“You wouldn’t be stupid to trust him. You both know the truth now. It doesn’t excuse his behaviour at all, just explains it. You were hurting,” Your hand brushes over where the metal arm meets his body, “Some nights I know you still are, it's okay, it's okay to be cautious, to be wary. It’s okay to choose to trust him again. You can speak to him about your fears too.” 

Bucky shifts, turning to face you, moving up. He’s holding himself up with one arm. His left hand moves to cup your cheek, stroking the skin. 

“I love you.” He whispers, a smile on his face, “I can’t imagine my life without you. Don’t know how I went by without you for this long.” Your skin heats, it makes him grin wider. “Probably without paying the girlfriend stealing clothes tax.” He beams again. Smug asshole.

“I love you too. I think you were missing a piece and now it all makes sense.” You laugh at your cheesy line, 

“Also I think you love me wearing your clothes.” You giggle when he bites his lip, eyes moving to the old jumper you’ve stolen (borrowed). 

Bucky has your laughter quelled by his lips on yours, you sink in with him.

When Bucky allows you to pull away from him, you’re breathing hard. Hips flush against yours, a leg wrapped around his hips. You whimper as he grinds against you. 

Things had gotten better for you, random touches weren’t anxiety inducing. Both of you had begun to explore more of each other. Seeking out now without fearing shutting down. 

“James–,” You preen, he repeats the movement but harder, “B-baby.” your voice a rasp. He groans, nipping at your bottom lip.

“I want to show you off, I want to tell the world your mine. Fucking tired of keeping us under wraps.” He urges, nudging your jaw with his nose, your head tilts, allowing his lips to move along your neck.

He marks the skin of your shoulder, your legs wrap around him. 

“Need you, James.” Your whimper has him lose his mind.

Carefully crafted control being lost, unravelled by you. He loved it when you used his name. It urged him on, wanting to cause you to spill it from your soft lips again and again. 

“You’re so beautiful, Feather.” He groans when your hips arch seeking him, pleading him. 

“J-James.” 

He meets the plea of his name with a plea of yours. Your fingers tug on his t-shirt. Breaking away it is discarded to the floor, your top follows its path. The way his warm mouth causes goosebumps across your skin. 

Lips wrap around your nipple, hardening the nub. He bites down lightly making you cry out. Your fingers tangled with his hair. Soft moans and gasps filling his living room. 

Bucky looks at you, admiring the way his placed lovebites begin to darken and bloom across your skin. Tongue licking the underside of your breasts and then blowing over the heated skin.

Your jeans come off next.

He stares at the soaked panties, drinking in the magnificent sight before him, “All this for me, Feather?” 

Thumbs massaging your thighs, you can only whimper in confirmation. Your hands trace over his body, lips seeking his skin. 

Bucky senses your hesitation when you don’t nip at his flesh or claim it.

“Mark me as yours, Feather. Make me yours, only yours.” His words accompany him locking your limbs with his, hands wrap around your back, yours around his shoulders. He falls back, effortlessly you’re now above him. 

Straddling him, the material of his jeans straining against him and rubbing over you. You watch him, sensing for any hesitation.

“Baby, if you don’t let me know how your written male characters feel, being marked by their girls. I will be very upset.” He cups your face, seriousness lacing every word.

“You do know how they claim their men.” You tease, hands moving over him as your lips finally follow. You suck at his skin. Marking him and moaning at the way his skin tastes.

“I’m going to make every fantasy of yours come true. And more, I have to give you inspiration don’t I?” His teasing cuts off into a loud moan when the tip of your tongue swirls around his nipple before you bite down, tugging before repeating the action.

“You’re my muse, James. Have been for so long.” Your admission is met by a whimper, “I may have had a version of you in my mind, but you?” You trail kisses down his abdomen, then back up.

“You’re beautiful, kind, funny, so absolutely stunning, You... You’re everything to me. You surpass every thought I’d ever had about you. Every creative thought put to shame compared to you.” You place kisses along the scars of his shoulder. 

“Feather.” He pleads, the way you’re doting on him.

“Yes, my muse?” you chuckle at his eagerness. He feels himself grow harder. 

“Fuck, why is that so hot?” He lets out a breathless laugh.

“Where do you want my mouth, my muse?” You watch the way the flush spreads over his chest, his cheeks, and he meets your eyes. Just a thin ring of blue.

“On mine,” He answers and you bring your lips back to his own. Bucky’s hands and yours sloppily get rid of his jeans and boxers. He cups your ass, the fabric of your panties twists in his vibranium hand and tears. 

You gasp into the kiss, the vein of his cock pressed against you. Being coated in your arousal. The feeling is erotic. Your walls clench in anticipation, clit pulsing with need.

“Feather, I want to take my time, but,” He groans as you shift over him, coating his length as you grind on his cock. 

“Don’t, James, please just, want to think of nothing but you, want to feel nothing but you. Please, my muse.”

The deep timber of his moan only fuels the fire of your need. Hands grip your waist, you lift yourself, his cock now in your hand as you help him in guiding you over him. 

Slowly he helps you sink down on him. You close your eyes as the stretch stings. 

“So good Feather, oh baby you feel that? The way you stretch so pretty around me?” Bucky groans, lifting you back up then having you sink down further.

Despite the stretch the pleasure begins taking over as Bucky guides you to ride him. Your hands on his chest, right below his collar bones. Nails digging in as you increase your pace and alter between grinding on him.

Bucky’s kiss bitten lips are parted, sweat slicked skin and an ethereal glow. Thin azure watches you drinking you in, the way you are a goddess above him. Oh he would worship you. He will.

The coil tightens in your belly when Bucky’s thumb begins to circle your clit, your nails rake down his chest. You want him to cum with you. Bucky wants you to make a mess on him first.

“Lean over, Feather.” You follow what he says, his stubble grazes your breasts, mouth then finding your nipples and then sucking on them. Your walls squeeze his cock.

“Oh you fucking love that don’t you?” 

You only give a high pitched keen as he does it again.

“James— close–,” You moan again at the way he’s causing you to unravel for him.

“You want to know something, Feather?” He says out of breath, fuck he wouldn’t last long with the way you’re wrapped around him. Your walls are spasming, aching to milk him for everything he has to give you.

“Bucky–,” Your head is thrown back at a deeper thrust against a spot, “James–,” You’re calling to him, needing him to ground you. To lift you up. Need him. Your hands move to his shoulders.

“Feather,” Bucky seeks you out before the white hot pleasure begins to take over. He loves how his names are a moulded prayer from your lips, you’re ethereal. He watches the droplet of sweat roll down your body, between the valley of your breasts. He reaches up, tongue capturing the droplet, tracing its path to your throat. 

You respond with a moan, everything is just him, touch, sight, scent, taste.

“You’re my muse, baby.” He says the words and you moan louder, the coil snapping as your back arches.

“You’re my muse.” He repeats as your hand intertwines with his, your lips reaching for his, your walls spasm tightening around him. Bucky’s moans are a prayer to you right onto your tongue.

You take him so well, as he fills you up. The primal part of him is loving how you sink down deeper. Aftershocks run through you and him. Panting filling the room. The kiss broke apart. Bucky sits up slowly, still inside you. 

“James.” You cry out for him. 

“Shh, shh, I got you, I’ve got you.” His hand soothes your hair, he manoeuvres the two of you to lay sideways on the large sectional. Still connected to you.

Your skin is thrumming with Bucky all over you. Kisses, praises, soothing touches. This wasn’t physically exhausting. The emotional aspect taking the two of you under.

You nuzzle into the crook of his neck, your fingers rubbing soft circles through his hair. 

“I love you.” You rasp. He kisses your head.

“I love you.” He places another kiss.

“You are my muse.” He repeats, your walls clench around him.

“I–,”

“If you try to dispute my declaration I will be very angry.” Bucky warns, a light spank to your asscheek.

“I wasn’t–,”

“Feather.”

“Fine. Maybe. I won’t now okay? I believe you.” 

“Good girl.” He says then moans feeling you clench around him, “Fuck.”

“Sorry,” You bite his collarbone playfully, “I have a lot of um, kinks.”

“So do I, we’re facilitating one of them.” He squeezes your side.

“Breeding?” You’re answered with a twitch of his cock and a light thrust.

“We have a lot to discover, Feather. Your blog had quite a bit of insight.” He teases.

“Oh god, what did you read?” You’re never looking at him again.

“Kinktober was fun to read.” He giggles, actually fucking giggles.

“James.” You whine.

“Overstimulation is something I want to explore. Didn’t like how you wrote it with Steve’s character.”

“Hey, Ari is a six foot four bear, we love him.” You defend, looking up at him.

He rolls his eyes, “I’m more cuddly than Steve.”

“Not more than Ari.” You tease, loving how it was riling him up.

“We’re trying overstimulation now. I need you to forget everything but me.” He narrows his eyes, fingers tweaking your nipple in warning.

“James.” You warn.

“Sit on my face?” He counters, “Wanna know how you taste marked as mine.”

“Insatiable.” You kiss his jaw.

“Only for you.” He says, smiling and kissing your forehead.

Present.

Bucky looks up at you from their corner, sending a beaming smile your way. Pulling you out of your thoughts, you shift in your seat. Your thoughts had gone to the smuttier side.

Your boyfriend raises a brow, you have a look on your face. One he recognises and then he smirks cockily.

You look back down at your phone, avoiding his darkeing gaze and the way your cheeks heat you might just start a fire. 

From: Yelena Belova

-Forwarded from HYDRA Publications- 

Dear Ms. Y/L/N,

This email is in regards to your attendance to the literary festival. We would like to inform you that your upcoming release shall be announced at the fest before your signing and interaction time.

We hope to have your manuscript reach us at the earliest. 

Ecstatic to work with you as always.

Best Regards,

Gideon Malick

Editor In Chief

HYDRA Publications

-End of Forward-

Y/N,

I hope you have the last few chapters only remaining. 

-Yelena

You reply to the email, attaching the completed chapters file, password protecting it.

From Y/N:

Hey Yelena,

Thanks for letting me know, I have about 4 chapters to go well, 2 and a half.

Should have it reach you by this weekend, sending you chapters one through twenty six.

Thanks,

Y/N.

“Y/N?” You look up and Ace is standing in front of you.

“Hey.” You smile at them.

“Hey, could you run lines with me? It's for the scene where they have to pack in stealth mode and are having banter.” 

Your eyes move to Natasha, she’s talking to Maria.

“I cleared it with Natasha.” They add, you nod. Putting your phone away then following Ace onto set. 

The suitcase is placed in the centre clothes strewn across the floor. 

Bucky, Steve and Loki pause what they are doing. Choosing to watch the scene instead.

“So the whole finding appropriate clothes and all I want to pack for you are skimpy clothes.” Ace laughs holding a piece of lingerie up.

You laugh, “When I wrote that I didn’t realise it would ever be in a movie.” 

Bucky smiles seeing you from afar.

“Damn you’re in love.” Steve comments, voice low.

“How can he not be?” Loki adds.

“I want forever with her.” Bucky blurts before his eyes widen.

Loki grins, grabbing him by the shoulders, “I call dibs on best man.”

Steve gives a knowing smile, “So you found her then?” 

Loki pauses as Steve’s words register.

“Wait, you were serious about leaving the industry?” Loki whispers, they watch Wanda sneakily filming the scenes of Ace and you laughing and behaving as though bantering best of friends.

“She’s a natural.” Steve comments.

“She is, we haven’t told her yet.” Bucky reminds.

“No wait, Bucky.” Loki blinks several times.

“I will. I meant what I said, plus I’ve earned enough to keep my family and well future family happy and invested well enough for security. I was always going to leave acting once I found my ‘the one’.” He smiles at his best friend.

Loki looks towards you once again, then back at his best friend,“I believe wholeheartedly you both are going to be very happy.” He says making Bucky beam brightly.

Steve pats Bucky’s shoulder, “Happy for you buddy.” 

Dolores walks in and you move towards where the three are standing. The men all have beaming smiles. Loki and Steve are looking at you with almost glassy eyes.

“Uh?” You look at them then at Bucky.

“They’re just emotional over the script.” He explains, raising his hand to brush a strand of hair away from your face. His touch lingers, you lean into his fingertips.

“My heart.” Loki says, you look at him with your nose scrunched in confusion.

“Why do you sound like me when I gush over book couples?” You ask, Steve laughs, little did you know.

Loki just envelopes you in a hug. Your arms wrap around him, “You okay buddy?”

“I’m just simply happy to have you in my life.” He says, your heart warms.

“I’m happy you’re in my life too, Lokes.” 

Natasha calls everyone into their places and the lights are adjusted. Loki pulls away from the hug. 

Bucky wraps his arm around you pulling you to his chest and nuzzling into the crook of your neck. Placing a kiss to your skin. You bite your lip to not giggle.

“I love you.” He whispers.

“I love you too.” You whisper.

“Action!” Natasha’s voice has all of you turn and watch the scene acted out as you had moments before. 

Two days later your last page of the manuscript reads ‘The End’ in a cursive font. You pulled all nighters while Bucky had to go out of state for a photoshoot and interview. His flight would be landing in the morning. You were aching to have him back in your arms.

Emailing the ‘as much as you could edit’ manuscript to Yelena you sigh, then decide on sending the file to Bucky as well. You close your laptop lid very happily. The book was the trainwreck you wanted it to be. Alpine curls up on your stomach the warmth from your laptop having your clothes heated just right for her. Her chirps of protest when you try to move have you sit that way for fifteen minutes before she looks up at you with her little cute blue eyes. 

Your mom’s asleep as you hold Alpine and move around checking everything and securing the door. Deciding on a snack you head back to the couch. Alpine’s liquid treat emptied into her bowl. The TV is showing some home improvement show to fill in the silence. You watch it for a few minutes till your snack is done.

Alpine curls near your feet, checking the time it’s four a.m.. Slowly sleep begins to pull at you. Exhaustion crashing in, you decide to sleep on the small sofa in your mom’s room. As the caffeine wears off, you want to be within hearing distance of her. 

Incessant knocking opens pulls you out of your dancing along the edge of sleep. You blink thinking it is your imagination, your phone tells you it's just four fifteen. The knocking comes in again. You grab your phone, and the baseball bat from behind the coat rack. 

911 is pressed ready to be called, you check the peephole. 

“Fucking hell?” You want to go back to sleep. You can’t with this shit. Were you dreaming?

“Open up.” The visitor urges, knocking again.

Alpine hisses, her tail puffed up. Ears twitching. You undo the bolts and allow the hood clad figure to slip in, she pushes her hood down. Red hair falling out of the ponytail.

Alpine hisses again at Dolores.

“Oh please, I didn’t like you either.” She mumbles to the cat.

“Don’t talk to her like that.” You warn.

“Fine, now, listen. I think we can help each other.” She says grinning, opening a small bottle of liquor.

“Uh… Do you need to always keep drinking?” You ask, wondering how deep of an issue it is for Dolores.

“Thank fuck it’s just alcohol and not drugs, those would make me age horribly. Never do drugs, recreational weed is okay.” Dolores sits on the couch. You blink at her, then down at Alpine who still glares at Dolores.

“She never approved of me for her dad.” Dolores narrows her eyes at the furball that you adore.

“Okay, can you get to the point? Why are you here at this godforsaken early hour?” You ask, watching as she downs the mini bottle without flinching at the taste.

“I want to take Alexander down.” She says casually.

“I don’t think I’m the right person–,”

“So four or five weeks ago, he didn’t call you under false pretences to a meeting and he doesn’t have compromising photos of you? Nor does he threaten you with those pictures and possibly pictures he has of other people you care about?” She raises a brow.

You remain quiet, “Keep your voice down, I don’t want my mother knowing any of this.”

Dot presses her index finger to her lips.

“Now, are you an illegal gal or legal gal? Your books scream morally grey but I think you’re real uptight in the real world aren’t you?” She giggles.

“Dolores.” You warn.

“Answer the question, little miss writer.” She urges, leaning forwards, her chin resting on her palm.

You swallow, what the fuck was going on? 

“Why are you asking? Do you have multiple routes to go about this revenge plot of yours? Also why me? I’m not the apocalypse of his privileged life.” You cross your arms, the bat still in your hands.

Dolores shakes her head, “Nah, nah, baby girl. I’m the main attraction here, you’re going to be the first domino.”

“Dolores, I cannot help you–,”

“I was paired with Bucky once, for PR. About three or four years ago. He did the mistake most of us do, falling in love.” She retrieves another bottle from her purse.

“Dot… Would you prefer tea… or anything else?”

“Know what, get me coffee? Please, black no sugar?” She puts the bottle back.

You bring a mug and the brewed jar, pouring it for her. She waits for a moment then pours the vodka into it.

You stare at her blankly.

“As I was saying, Bucky fell in love. I wasn’t, I knew this industry well enough. Nepotism baby you must know this, so I knew falling in love was all surface level bullshit. Everyone cheats at some point. Not those two best friends though. Steve and Bucky, god what a pair.” She sighs then hums while taking a sip of coffee.

“Alexander had basically groomed me, earlier on, it was not ugly at that point he was careful. Just praises here and there. Promises of bright futures and fame. Then when I debuted it started, he was giving me drinks, drugs, and the photos. What man I’d pretend to date. While behind closed doors he’d dote on me, for the longest time I thought he loved me.” she stares at the dark liquid.

“When I was PR paired with Bucky, I was in love with Brock. He hates Alexander but tolerates him. Imagine your own uncle coerces you and has life ruining material on you.” She looks up at you.

“Brock is a victim too?” You can’t fathom, pouring yourself coffee in your empty water glass.

“Yes, he is. Bucky walked in on Brock and I. I won't lie, I slept with Bucky too. I had to keep him hooked. That man can act fucking well but when it comes to PR? It's like he cannot pretend.” She snorts out a laugh.

You wince, their PR sure had you fooled, the kisses, looks of longing, and dates. You shake your head, snapping out of it. 

“So we had a public messy break up, I moved on with Brock. Then Alexander broke us up. He took away the one person I loved and the one person that loved me back.” 

“I’m sorry that happened–,”

“I don’t want your pity.” She glares at you, ���I want your help to expose him.”

“He has–,”

“I know what he has, I know how to bypass a lot of it. We’re sleeping together right now. How do you think he got convinced to take me back for your movie adaptation?” She rolls her eyes.

“Now you’re wondering ‘how can I trust Dot’?” She verbalises the burning question.

“Same way I trust anyone else.” You answer, she tilts her head curiously, “Hope for them not to fuck me over.” You smile at her.

“Damn do you ever stop writing?” She runs her fingers through her hair.

It’s your turn to laugh.

“Well, here is to two women who have been fucked over multiple times, trusting eachother not to fuck the other over.” She raises her cup, you raise your glass of coffee.

“Now, what can I do that will make your trust solidify further?” She requests, you purse your lips.

‘Anytime, any day, we’re available, just call the secure line.’ Scott magically produces a card. 

“There are two people I want you to meet.” You open the contact on your phone.

“Nice socialising. Didn’t peg that for you.” She sips on her coffee.

The line rings twice, you hear the click.

“Y/N? Is everything okay? Are you in danger?” Scott asks, he sounds like he wasn’t sleeping.

“I’m not but I hope I didn’t wake you?” You wince remembering the still early time.

“No you didn’t, training starts early, what's up?” you hear a sizzle across the line. He was cooking. 

“I have someone who is willing to aid our cause.” You look at Dot as she uses the remote to flip through the channels on mute.

“Is she represented by Murdock and Barber?” Scott asks, shit you forgot about that.

“She is,”

“Is she?” Scott catches the waiver of your voice.

“Scott, it's too early for me…” You huff.

“Call Murdock and Barber and then call me back, this line doesn’t keep call records.” He flips the pancakes with ease.

“Thank you.” you cut the call and immediately dial Andy’s number.

“Y/N?” Andy’s voice is full of concern.

“How is everyone awake?” You stare at your watch, were you doing something wrong?

“I was actually awake the whole night, is everything okay?” He questions, using his other phone to message Matt.

“I um, can you take on a client?” You ask, fiddling with your sleeve.

“Who is the client?” He questions, opening the contract draft.

“Dolores…” You say, there is silence on the other line.

“Why?” He questions.

“She wants to take down Alexander, she knows about my pictures… Scott said to have her signed before she’s called in…” you wince hearing his curse.

“You called Scott? Before either Matt or I?” He almost yells.

“It's.. I haven’t slept in two days, okay the book took out more than I expected, alright?” You reason.

Andy pinches the bridge of his nose, “I’m sending you a document, ask Dolores to sign every page. Then let me call Scott.”

“Okay, I’m sorry about the whole…”

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of it. Are you sure we can trust her?”

You stay silent.

“Answer yes or no.” He prompts.

“I’d be careful.” You respond.

“Alright, don’t tell her anything. Say all you know is your lawyers are finding a way.” He advises.

“Okay.” 

“And Y/N?” Andy sighs, “Please tell them about your plan today.”

“I will, I’ve called them over to explain everything. Matt and you be there too okay?”

“We will.” He smiles then bids you goodbye.

You send over the signed documents by email to Andy. Dolores passes out on the triple seater, you curl up on the single seater sofa. Alpine curls up next to your head.

Sleep slowly finds you and for once your dreams show happy glimpses and Bucky is in all of them, right next to you. Stroking his thumb over your index finger, over his favourite tattoo.

You avoid Yelena’s scrutinising gaze and look at everyone else. Steve looks at his twin.

“You knew?” He asks, Andy nods.

“I found–,” Andy huffs as Matt elbows him in the ribs, “We found the loophole.” He corrects.

“Feather, are you sure about this?” Bucky looks up from the manuscript draft you had printed and given him. The book was difficult to read not because it was heavy on topics or anything but because it… it was… well. Bucky swallows the lump in his throat.

“This is utter garbage even for you.” Yelena says stealing his words, “Your bullshit at least was better!”

“It has to be rubbish, if you approve it and we send it very close to the dates they may send it for printing sooner.” You defend.

“It isn’t rubbish… it has good scenes but…” Bucky sighs, he hated to see what you were forced to do.

“There is no other way?” Yelena looks at the lawyers.

“If her sales tank and reviews tank below 2.5 stars for three months post release consecutively then they have to let her go from their roster.” Matt recounts.

“What if people still like it? Dedicated fans won’t stop.” Steve shakes his head, he knew from experience there were people who support every venture. Good or pathetic.

“If we leak the book the night before release. Multiple times, it would hurt physical sales.” You add, “Also no pre ordering, opening two weeks physical books only. We’re using their own clause against them.” 

“So what, we're going to email everyone on your newsletter list the leaked copy?” Yelena takes a sip of her drink. She hums, it would help the cause to get you out. 

“Yes, we’re going to orchestrate a hacking, the link will lead everyone to the full book instead of a snippet.” You explain. 

“Why are you ruining your skill and talent?” Steve rubs a hand tiredly across his face, he turns to Bucky. 

Bucky is still looking at you, “You do know this will even hurt your next book, you may be labelled irredeemable. You may not be signed to another publication house, you may not get deals. Have you thought about this?” 

Your lips press into a thin line, eyes locked with stormy blues, “It's my only way out of HYDRA’s contract. I can’t have them, I can’t have him hold my work over my head amongst other things.” 

“Her quality dwindling can be handled by calling it a difficult year.” Yelena says, Sam nods. 

“It would prevent future losses. Even if she decides to go the indie author way.” Sam adds, then looks at Bucky. 

“Talk to her.” Steve whispers. Bucky nods. 

“Can we speak privately?” He looks at you. 

“Yeah…” your nervous fidgeting begins, 

Bucky grasps your hand as he makes his way over to you. Leading you to your room. 

He closes the door, he takes a deep breath while rubbing circles onto your palms with his thumbs. 

“James?” You ask, “Do you not agree?” 

“I need to tell you something, I know we haven’t disclosed our relationship publicly, yet. We know how deep our feelings run. You know my fucked up past and yet you chose to see me as I am, I’m grateful that, I am grateful for you.” He pauses, vibranium palm cupping your cheek,

“You mean so much to me.” 

“I know this might be too much too soon. However I had thought about it a long time ago. Way before the accident took my arm.” He sighs, gathering courage. 

The palm he left, you rest right above his heart. His chest moves with each breath. 

“Tell me, I’m here to listen.” You assure him, he gives you a small smile. 

“I had decided a long time ago, I would leave filming when I found someone I saw my future with,” he allows you to absorb his words. 

“Are you proposing?” You blurt, Bucky laughs. 

“Not yet, Feather. You deserve a much, much better way and also I’d be on my knees.” He kisses your forehead. 

“What I’m trying to say is, I see a future with you and I believe in a future with you. A future in which I can and will take care of you. No matter the repercussions of the decision you’ve taken, I’m going to be there for you.” He promises. 

You understand now, “Thank you. I,” you want to tell him so much. 

“Feather, you don’t have to say anything.” He strokes your cheek. 

“Winnie’s at sunset, I’ll say yes.” Is what you choose to say to him. 

Bucky’s brows furrow then his eyes widen, lips parted followed by a megawatt smile gracing his features. You giggle. 

Bucky lifts you up, your legs wrap around his waist. His lips on yours, laughter slipping in between, Bucky leads you to your bed, walking backwards. 

He sits down, with you straddling his hips, knees on either side of him. He peppers your face with kisses. Amongst your happy laughter and his, the moment wraps around the two of you. 

Bucky cups your face, the kisses shared now slow and languid, so full of love. 

“I don’t know how you knew I’d propose to you only at Winnie’s.” He chuckles, your fingers running through his hair. 

“After seeing that view, I don’t think anywhere else compares honestly.” You kiss his jaw. 

Bucky can’t stop smiling nor can you, hearts so very happy and full. 

HEADLINES:

Who Is Bucky Barnes’ Reason To Blush? We Asked Him About Love and He Shyly Said He Is In Love Currently. 

Fans Losing Their Minds Over Who Could Have Bucky Barnes’ Heart. 

Fans Shipping Actor and Author Duo As They Are Spotted Dancing Around During Dinner Outing With Friends

Steve Rogers Signed With Hugo Boss, Here Are The Steamy Pictures 

Are They Back Together? Bucky Barnes Comes Out To Support Ex Pal Steve Rogers At Literature Fest

Author Y/N Shares Snippet of Book At Name Unveil, Everyone Waiting Eagerly 

HYDRA Acquires Media Rights Of Fourth Book By Author In Tandem With Launch.

A.N.: its about time feather and bucky like did it, also what are you guys thinking about Dolores' change of heart???? Also i wanna apologise for delaying the update, i had a nasty comment come in on one of my one shots and that derailed me as i was writing this chapter. anyways i have decided that im not going to let rude people get me down,

also i will be travelling next saturday for two weeks so i will queue the update, so if you don't want to miss it let me tag you because i won't be able to attach the link to this update or the masterlist for atleast six days

Taglist is Open comment or DM to be added!

Taglist: @stevesmewmew @elle14-blog1 @crazyunsexycool @sebsgirl71479 @pandaxnienke @slutforsexyseabass @eclecticpatrolroadlawyer @pandaxnienke @vampire7595 @buckyinluv

[eurodyne-d]

Firstly, your Cyberpunk photography is fucking incredible. I love your characters and- as a side note away from my main question- absolutely need to know what mod you used for your V’s long hair. Plus seeing Kerry content is automatically a A in my book because he’s just the best character- what can I say? Anyways, I’m sure it’s been asked hundreds of times- but, how do you manage to get your photography’s so… perfect? I have a pretty beefy PC and run CP on the highest graphics but both with and without mods all my pictures always look so blurry and terrible- specifically around the faces. I’d love to know how you get them so clear and beautiful plus any tips and recommendations on your posing/composition.

This is so kind, thank you so much omg. Your message just made my week <3

For your first question, you can find the hair here!

As for my shots... Honestly it's mostly just me balling it haha. Mine used to be very blurry too but I can't for the life of me remember my settings when that happened, but I do know Path Tracing makes stuff look weird for me even tho my video card should be able to handle it. In general, ray tracing is always off for me, and I have Resolution Scaling on DLSS quality priority with max graphic settings (except for clouds, those are on medium(if that even matters)). Once in photomode tho, it's just a bunch of messing around and see what works. Most of the time I first press space for a quick render to fix the lighting/shadows, then I start messing with the exposure/contrast/filters a bit to enhance the colors of the overall composition, and sometimes I throw on a reshade that compliments the vanilla look further. My general FOV is around 20-30 with 70-80 on DOF cause I feel that makes the overall shot look most crisp and if necessary I'll clean up a bit in photoshop afterwards, but most of the time i just use it to slap on a filter and some grain and call it a day.

After I throw it into photoshop, the end result would be something like this:

As for tips on posing/composition; first and foremost, in-game lighting is your best friend. There are plenty of spots with neon signs and spotlights that give great lighting. If I found a great spot but aren't too sure about the lighting, I also tend to mess around with AMM and adjust the time of day for better (or no) sunlight. Or you found the perfect spot but the lighting is just a bit off? Spawn some spotlights or area lights with AMM to enhance your models! I usually just roam around, find a spot I like as background, and then go from there with setting up an outfit/color scheme/pose. Most of it for me really is just throwing shit at the screen and seeing what sticks tbh. I do use the photomode grid a bit especially for 16:9 shots to align my models a bit off-center cause that just looks better to me personally.

And that's all I can really think of right now.. Sorry if it's not much of a help or all over the place, I'm currently sick and my brain isn't functioning too well lmao. If you have any more questions, don't be afraid to ask! I'm more than happy to answer!

[dragonnwriter]

Inviolable Bindings

Aemondxfem!OC and Aegonxfem!OC

All Chapters Here!

***NSFW Chapter!!!*** 18+ No Minors!

Chapter 32

As Cole had predicted, the weather and winds were in their favor and they made it to King’s Landing by midday. Viserra took in the sight of the city below her while guiding Rhyn in a large circle over the castle. With precision, she landed the dragon in front of the imposing gates.

Just like their first arrival to the Red Keep, the landing of the dragon caused the people below to scatter. Most likely already anticipating them, the gates opened swiftly, and she was welcomed by several guards.

Rhyn wasted no time taking to the skies once her feet touched the ground, disappearing quickly into the clouds.  She followed the guards through the open gates, making her way into the castle's inner walls. Once she had climbed up the first bout of stairs and entered into the initial courtyard, she laid eyes upon two familiar faces that caused her to stop in her tracks.

Aemond stood tall with a neutral expression, while his mother burst into a mixture of worry and excitement, eagerly anticipating the report of where they stood in battle. When Viserra looked back at Aemond to find his eye locked to hers, she felt as if the breath had been stolen from her lungs.

In the days spent traveling with Aegon, his brother had remained easily in the back of her mind. However, now standing before him, she realized she had been suppressing the overwhelming feelings she had toward him as well.

Alicent quickly approached her and reached out to hold on to her hands. “What of Aegon? Has everything gone to plan?”

Viserra forced herself to tuck away the tumult of emotions and focus on the woman in front of her. Smiling, she proceeded to tell her of all of their successful endeavors. Aemond listened carefully, refraining from asking any questions at that moment and letting his mother be comforted by all of the good news.

The visible relief on Alicent's face did little to conceal the weariness of the dark circles under her eyes. Viserra couldn't help but notice the familial resemblance again between mother and eldest son. "You must be starved and in need of a bath. I will see that we have both prepared for you immediately."

Her maternal concerns of addressing Viserra's needs put a soft smile to her face. It was endearing, an almost silent acceptance of her presence there as if she was one of her own children.

With Alicent momentarily occupied, Aemond seized the opportunity to break his silence. Greeting her with a smile that attempted to harbor the intensity in his eye, he finally spoke.”It is good to see you.”

“It is good to see you as well,” she replied, feeling the color rush to her cheeks. “Will you be leaving immediately?”

Aemond shook his head. “I will leave this evening.”

They stood in silence in each other's presence for a moment. Viserra did not know why this interaction suddenly seemed so pressured.

“You must be tired,” he assumed. His understanding words showed that he stayed in tune with her. With a nod, she let him take the lead out of the room, following behind him without any hesitation. In the silence of their journey, the weight of their unspoken thoughts lingered in the air between them.

Upon reaching Viserra's rooms, the chambermaids were already at work rushing to fill the tub.

“Do you intend to keep my company?” She asked, sure that she already knew the answer.

“Only if you wish it.” Aemond answered, remaining respectful and considerate. “If you would like the assistance of doffing your armor, I would be happy to do so.”

Grateful for the offer, Viserra nodded, granting him permission to assist her in the process. The room was again filled with silence as she stood there being slowly undressed. In the end, the padded fabric was the only barrier to remain between herself and the room’s cool air.

Sensing the tension, Aemond extended a cup of wine to her, a gesture she had offered to him many times when she had felt his own uneasiness. "To ease your troubles, perhaps?"

She took the wine and thanked him before sitting down on the familiar settee. Settling into the cushions and taking in the familiar sounds and smells of her room was surprisingly relaxing.

“Was it difficult for you to leave him?”

The question seemed to come out of nowhere and she darted her eyes to find his gaze staring intensely at her. It was much more than leaving Aegon that caused her solemn mood, but it would be a lie if she denied it did not play a part in it.

“I worry he will not make the best decisions in my absence,” she replied, knowing her concerns were not unfounded.

“He depends on you quite a lot, don’t you think?” Aemond wasted no time in probing into the very things she did not want to have to discuss.

“Aegon has grown significantly over the last two moons,” she defended. “He will be able to stand on his own eventually, it will just take time.”

Aemond hummed and broke their gaze, watching the chambermaids hurry by while they pretended to not listen in on their conversation. Once the tub was filled, both girls came to stand in attendance to wait for their next task. Viserra stood, looked to the prince, then let the girls lead her to the water. The topic of Aegon's dependence was dropped and a palpable silence settled in the room once more. 

She watched as Aemond excused himself, leaving her in the care of the girls. A faint, unexpected pang of disappointment hit her having hoped that he might find some excuse to stay. The realization struck that she had missed his presence more than she knew.

Elia and Cassella continued to hold the silence, carefully helping Viserra out of her filthy clothing. As soon as she stepped into the hot water, they continued treating her with a gentleness that eased the stress of the day. The fragrant oils let her escape from the matters that she would rush back to as soon as she was done.

Cassella delicately combed through her wet locks as Elia gently washed her body. Viserra closed her eyes, momentarily surrendering to the familiar hands that tended to her. Lost in the warmth, Viserra allowed herself a moment to truly let everything go and forget about the woes of politicking and warfare.

As soon as the water began to chill, Viserra left the bath and brought herself to her wardrobe. Her fingers brushed against an elegant black piece with silver details that adorned the low cut neckline and long, open sleeves. It was a beautiful dress, chosen not just for the comfort of the evening but to possibly catch the gaze of a familiar prince.

Without any delay, the chambermaids helped her slip into the gown, tying it carefully to ensure it lay perfectly against her figure. Their attention then turned to her hair, weaving it into a low bun that added a certain elegance to the overall ensemble.

As she stood before the mirror, she realized how different she looked from just an hour before. The gown draped elegantly off of her body, the silver details shimmering in the soft light of the room. Viserra's eyes met her own in the reflection and the subtle curve of a confident smile played on her lips with satisfaction in her image.

The castle had been quiet that afternoon and she took advantage of the fact that she did not have any duties currently awaiting her. She had spent a long while in the library, something she had not given much time to lately. For just the afternoon, it felt as if the weight of the conflict had momentarily taken a pause.

Viserra had been deeply engaged in the pages of her book when the sudden presence of another snapped her attention upwards. The dowager queen stood before her, fingers quietly fiddling together. The surprise must have been evident in her expression as Alicent flashed her a friendly smile and continued to approach her.

“We have received the ravens, but I did want to hear it from you yourself,” she started. “I have been worried for Aegon since your departure. I presume he has fared well outside of these walls?”

Viserra returned her smile, finding Alicent’s concern for her son somewhat endearing. “He has done well. Ser Criston has ensured his safety and guides him in his decisions there on the battlefield.”

Alicent's expression softened, but a shadow of concern still lingered in her eyes. "That is good to hear. Aemond says he is to leave tonight to join him there. Is there concern of Rhaenyra sending her dragons?" She asked, her voice carrying a mother's apprehension.

Viserra understood the worry, she did not like the thought of them both out in battle without her there. "Aemond is a capable warrior. He will return safely. I can think of no one better to protect the King and ensure they take that castle with minimal bloodshed," she reassured, attempting to ease her concerns.

Alicent nodded as she seemed to force herself into reassurance. "I worry about them both, but I have confidence in Aemond and Ser Criston to keep him safe.”

For a moment, a bout of silence hung in the air.

“I came to extend an offer for you to join us in the dining hall for supper,” Alicent spoke, changing the subject. “If you are tired from your travels and wish to decline, I understand.”

The gesture seemed genuine and was much appreciated. Viserra closed the book with a thud, and brought herself to her feet. “That would be lovely,” she said with a smile.

As they walked through the halls in silence, it seemed as if there had been something left unsaid. Her suspicion came true when only a few paces from the dining hall, Alicent suddenly halted and turned to Viserra with concern once more haunting her eyes.

“I am not entirely sure of the nature of your relationship with Aegon,” she began. “But you seem to draw an eagerness and determination out in him that I have tried and failed to do so for years.”

Viserra opened her mouth to speak, but found it difficult to form the words.

“I do not and will not condone any sins in the eyes of the Seven, but I am...grateful for your influence on him,” she finished, flashing a quick smile before continuing on into the hall.

It took a moment to find her breath and let the meaning of Alicent’s words sink in. She hurried herself in after the dowager queen, entering the room and being greeted by the smell of food and drink. Each step toward the table felt heavy, echoing the gravity of Alicent's confrontation. 

Viserra quickly found herself seated next to Aemond, who had been observing her every move since her entrance. Glancing around, she noted the absence of the Queen, only Helaena's children were present with their nursemaid. It was the most empty she had seen the dining hall since her first arrival.

Aemond caught her gaze for a brief moment, a certain darkness in his eye stirring the heat in her veins. She was quick to keep it hidden, the subtleness of their interaction remaining solely between them. If the dowager queen only had suspicions of Aegon, she would simply come undone with the actual complexities of their entire intertwined relationship.

Dinner was eaten in silence, both women at the table eagerly drinking the wine in front of them. When Viserra had finished, excused herself from her chair and found her way to Jaehaera and Maelor. She had missed the mornings with the children and their mother. Crouching down to their level, she realized there was a sadness in their eyes that should not have been present in children so young. This angered her, driving the desire to protect them from any more harm.

“Can you stay with us tonight?” Jaehera asked, her voice quiet as usual.

“I could take you to the gardens before the sun has completely left the skies,” Viserra replied as she smoothed down the girl’s silver hair. “If that would be alright with your grandmother.”

Jaehaera looked to her Alicent with hopeful excitement. “Can we?”

Her lips pursed in a line as she observed the interaction with a watchful eye. “Bedtime is approaching, Jaehaera. Perhaps tomorrow.”

The subtle wariness towards Viserra interacting with the children bothered her, she had done nothing but prove her loyalty and dedication thus far. “I am sorry, byka mēre. Tomorrow I will take you wherever you’d like after we break our fast.” Little one.

Rising to her feet, Viserra smoothed out her skirts while Jaehaera began to protest Alicent's decision. Seeing his sister's distress, Maelor also joined in with tears. Viserra sympathized with them, sensing their desperation for her attention. Both the protective grandmother and nursemaid quickly tended to them, guiding them away before their upset was too great. Nothing else was addressed as they left the room and Viserra began to wonder exactly how poorly Helaena was doing.

As she turned back towards Aemond, she realized that he was standing only a few paces away. Though he did not divert his eye from hers, he maintained the same intensity he had when she first entered the room.

“I will join you in the gardens,” he spoke, breaking the silence.

It was an offer she would happily agree to. He had meant to leave for Rook’s Rest soon and she wished to enjoy his company until that time came. With a soft smile, she extended her arm towards him and he approached without hesitation, intertwining his arm with hers.

Together, they made their way to the gardens where the setting sun was casting shadows on the shrubbery and winding paths. The evening air there was much more pleasant than in the rest of the Red Keep, the floral scents masking the musk of the crowded city. It wasn’t until she returned that she realized just how much it seemed to stink there.

A gentle breeze blew through the foliage and the slightest goosebumps ran across Viserra’s skin. With each step she couldn’t help but appreciate another moment of peace amid the chaos. Not another person was in sight and they both enjoyed the privacy. As they reached the shaded area of a tree’s overhang, Viserra turned to Aemond and placed a hand on his arm.

“Promise me you will not let Aegon do anything rash once you join him.” She broke the comfortable silence with her words.

Aemond turned and let his hands rest gently on her upper arms. His voice was soft and confident. “You need not worry.”

“And you as well,” she added.

“This will not be the most difficult of battles,” he chuckled. “We will be alright.”

Viserra let the air out of her chest and her features softened. His confidence was not entirely a bad thing, but she did not want them to be blindsided by another attack. No more words were spoken about her concerns as they continued to linger there in the gardens.

The sun had almost dipped behind the horizon as they found their way back into the castle walls. With the exception of a few servants running around, there was an uncomfortable emptiness about the Keep. As they slowly made their way back up the Serpentine Steps, Viserra had half expected to run into at least Alicent, but no one but the guards had been spotted.

The echo of their footsteps followed them through the corridors until they reached the doors of her chambers. The usual guard was not standing post and as they entered, they realized that her chambermaids were also conspicuously absent. The warm glow of candlelight welcomed them in but the room still felt oddly deserted.

Just as Viserra was about to inquire about his intent in leaving, she turned to find Aemond closing the doors behind them. Her lips curled into a faint smile, a wordless invitation that he perceived immediately. As he returned to her, his eye trailed the details of her face.

“When will you leave?” She asked, trying to keep her voice even.

“Soon.” His answer was short but it was all she needed.

Not letting another moment go to waste, Aemond closed the distance between them and encircled her in his arms. She could feel her heart rate begin to beat just a little faster as her body responded to his touch. When she brought her eyes back up to meet his one, she recognized the subtle darkness that seemed to glaze over.

Aemond's touch held a distinct firmness, a stark difference from the affection she had received the past two weeks on the road. Even his hands gripped with a certain possessive that had her melting into him without a second thought. As he pulled her flush against him, he moved his fingers up through the silver strands of her hair. He watched with satisfaction as she seemed to be caught up in the moment, her mind filled with nothing but the current sensations he was eliciting from her. 

Without warning, he tightened his hand in her hair and pulled her head back with gentle tension. With her neck exposed and her mouth left just slightly agape, she welcomed the warm lips that came down to find their place on her pale skin. The way he handled her was intoxicating and it left her unable to do anything but surrender to the need.

Aemond’s mouth moved to her ear with a trail of soft kisses. “I did not enjoy the days here without your presence.” The sultry voice sent a shiver down her spine and he let his free hand venture down the curves of her waist until it met the roundness of her bottom. He gave a firm squeeze, causing a small gasp to leave her lips.

The grip on Viserra’s hair loosened and she felt two careful hands begin to work at the laces on the back of her dress. As soon as she felt the fabric loosen she pushed his hands away from her body, asmirk playing on her lips as she watched for his reaction.

Aemond paused for a moment, deciphering her behavior and the playful expression on her face. She began to back away from him, fingers hooking on the neckline of the dress and tugging it down over her shoulders. As more and more of her pale skin was exposed she watched as his eye seemed to hungrily anticipate the next moment.

The sight of her slowly undressing and furthering herself away from him was more than enough to ignite the fire in his blood. He focused on his breathing while following her as she continued to distance herself from him. Aemond had also missed her more than he thought, the realization happening as he drank in her exposed skin with his gaze.

Watching as she finally slipped her arms from the dress, the fabric briefly caught on her hips before falling to her feet on the floor. He took a moment to appreciate the woman standing before him. The fact that she bore soft and delicious curves yet was still so agile and strong when wielding the sword completely fascinated him.

Viserra did not attempt to back away from him as he came to her once more. Once she was within arms reach, he brought his hand to trace a line down her arm, the swell of her breast, and then down the curve of her waist. His touch ignited her skin, the heat welcoming on her body. Slowly, his other hand moved to her face, thumb brushing against her bottom lip. The gesture was surprisingly tender and gentle, something that did not match the fire that was burning in his eye.

Curling her fingers around his wrist, Viserra guided his hand down from her face to her breast. She watched as his eye darkened and he now brought his focus down to her chest. He felt her hardened nipple beneath his palm, the sensation causing the breath to hitch in his chest. He let his fingers come around and find their place to play there.

It was now Aemond who began to guide her backwards once more. A small gasp left her lips as she felt her back touch the cool stone of the wall. “Is this a game to you?” He asked, his pupil dilated and fixed on her own eyes.

He quickly had her pressed firmly against the cold wall, his tall, lean body caging her in. Aemond did not break their gaze as his hands found hers and he pinned them above her head. As his hard body pressed against hers, Viserra could feel herself unraveling.

“Not at all,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper.

His grip on her hands tightened as he finally claimed her mouth with his. The motion was intense and desperate, leaving her breathless. His tongue explored her mouth, drawing soft moans as he continued to deepen the kiss with each second. Viserra knew he was scraping for control, and although he didn’t seem to realize it, she did not have any reservations in giving it to him.

Pulling his lips from hers, Aemond continued on leaving sharp kisses down the side of her neck. He released her hands, bringing his attention down the rest of her body. Impatiently, Viserra responded by attempting to remove each piece of clothing that was blocking her from feeling his skin against hers. Once she was finally successful, he continued his attention on her.

Aemond’s hands and lips worked their way down her torso, eventually moving himself down to kneel before her. The sight of him in such a position made her heart skip a beat. He brought his hands to her thighs, fingers gripping firmly on the soft flesh. Carefully, he moved her legs just slightly apart, leaning in to press a soft kiss on the inside of her thigh.

The sensation made it hard to catch her breath. The kisses continued closer and closer until Aemond’s mouth was only a breath away from her core. He looked up to her, his eye still dark and filled with desire. Her delicate fingers made their way to the only thing hiding the rest of him from her and she removed the eyepatch swiftly yet carefully.

The reminder that she appreciated him despite his flaws eliminated any chance of him remaining in control. Aemond’s fingers made their way to part her folds and he brought his mouth down to her cunt. The action ripped a moan from her lips and she pushed her hips towards him instinctively.

The sounds that came from her only fueled him further. Aemond continued his tongue with quick, teasing pressure. As he felt her legs begin to tremble, he inserted his fingers into her, working her both inside and out. Viserra brought one of her hands to his hair, tangling her fingers in the strands and she guided him to where she needed him most. Her moans grew louder, music to his ears, and he found himself needing more.

Aemond paid close attention to how her body responded. As her muscles tightened around his fingers, he knew that she was where he wanted her to be. He continued his pace, his tongue hitting just the right spots, her pleasure driving him to work her harder. Finally, the coil in her belly seemed like it could not wind any further. Her grip on his hair tightened as she arched her body off the wall. In that moment, her climax washed over her and she suddenly felt his weight supporting her.

Once he was sure she was finished, Aemond pulled his mouth from her and brought himself to his feet. He took a moment to admire her nakedness, her chest heaving with each breath and he found he was aching to completely take her.

Taking care to guide her in her daze, he brought Viserra to the bed. As he gently laid her on her back, he climbed up and over to hover just above her body. His lips met hers once more and the sensation pulled her back to reality. She consciously wrapped her arms around him, running her hands down his back while feeling the muscles rippling beneath her touch.

Aemond deepened the kiss and she suddenly felt his hardness pressing against her. Digging her nails into his skin, she felt him nudge her thigh aside and suddenly push himself into her. Viserra let out something between a gasp and a moan as she felt him stretch her in the sudden motion.

Only giving her a moment to adjust, his thrusts began slow and deep. He felt her tighten around him in response each time he buried himself within her. The sounds coming from her mouth were enough to push him faster and harder but he also realized he needed to focus on not letting himself go too soon.

Aemond’s elbows settled on either side of her head as he let them take the majority of his weight. The sight, feel, and sound of her, was almost too much. He silenced her moans as his mouth came down to meet hers almost instinctively. It took everything in him to remain in control as he felt her nails dig into his back at the same time she eagerly reciprocated the kiss.

As soon as her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him in deeper, he realized he could not hold on much longer. To his relief, the change in angle and depth sent her rolling into another climax. His own movements became slightly more erratic and he tumbled into his release, body shaking as he emptied himself within her.

Flushed and sweaty, Aemond let his body fall limp on top of hers. The heavy panting of their breath being the only sound heard in the room. Eventually, he pulled off and out of her, finding his place sitting on the side of the bed. Viserra moved herself to join him, resting her head on his shoulder with no intention of breaking their silence.

After a few moments, Aemond turned to her and placed a kiss to the top of her head. She closed her eyes and sat there, simmering in his body heat and the lingering euphoria from their coupling.

“When will you go?” She asked, knowing his departure would be sooner than she hoped.

“After I take my leave here,” he replied, his voice not revealing any resignation. He looked down, his gaze softening as he took in her disheveled appearance. Reaching out, he gently brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen across her face. As she leaned into the gesture, Aemond ran his finger over her cheek, his touch gentle yet somehow still possessive.

He could tell there were many unspoken words being held back at that moment, but he did not push for her to divulge them. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent and enjoying the intimacy of their interaction.

“I will send a raven if there is any need for you,” he continued. “You will do the same if anything amiss presents itself. It is imperative that you stay alert and focused here in the Keep. We do not know the Black’s next move.”

Viserra sighed and leaned her temple against his. “Of course.”

For just a minute longer, neither of them moved, not wanting to pull away from the other. But it was Aemond who broke the silence this time. “I must go.”

She nodded, her head still resting against his. He lingered for a moment before standing from the bed, redressing in silence as she watched his every move.

As he made his way to the door, he turned to her once more, his gaze lingering on her still naked form. “We will return soon, with good news of Rook’s Rest within our grasp.”

She only nodded, a small smile playing on her lips to hide the worry. And with that, he was gone.

Author's Note: Merry Christmas! Here is a present for you all. A little Aemond goodness and an outfit inspo that I have ben wanting to use since I pinned it to my Pinterest board!

[immortaltale]

Hey! What’s your take on Jurgen’s new move (maybe it’s to do with the other Pep lol)? Kinda unexpected but he did say on different occasions that he’s not that interested in taking on another coaching job…Also, since we are talking about someone’s best rival here, do you think Pep will extend his contract?

okayyy hi yes so. i will be honest and say i am not particularly enthused about him working under redbull - i don't have any particular opinions on them wrt football as i am not a Deutscher Fußballfan and it doesn't affect me personally, but i know a lot of germans have already criticized this move which is totally within their rights to do. there's a lot to be said about the current state of football of which i do believe red bull clubs are an issue, and i think a lot of people didn't expect klopp to go for "that kind" of club given the past clubs he's worked for. but a bit more on this later if you're interested lmao

in terms of the job description in general i.e. "global head of soccer", it actually seems like something he would be interested in and that would fit him. since he was saying things along the line of "idk if i will coach anymore but i will still work", and then a while ago there were the odd links to becoming dortmund's DoF for example, it is a bit surprising maybe most of all for the timing but i would say in general it's not that unexpected for me. someone else also pointed out that he will probably have much less media duties which i'm sure is a plus to him

also re: pep. lol there was just whispers yesterday in the city ITK community that there was growing optimism that pep would extend but personally (without being at all involved in that fanbase) i think it's still up in the air. i know everyone talks about the 115 charges and stuff but i think it's quite fair to say that the current trials going on should have an effect on what pep sees of his future at city. fwiw many reliable city journos said that pep's plan a few months ago was to leave in the summer, so i would guess now that it's really a matter of whether or not the city executives can convince him to stay (and whether any repercussions of the trials cause everything to burn to the ground or not)

a little more about people saying the red bull move is "out of character" for klopp:

honestly i get what they're saying, i do. it's quite jarring for someone to have only worked for three quite historic clubs, and most recently going against the perceived juggernaut of "abu dhabi fc" only for him to then turn around and join a MCO that is ideologically quite similar. because klopp seems like a "man of the people" in football so to speak i think people presumed that he would never go to somewhere as controversial in germany as the red bull clubs

firstly let's note that this is not the only "questionable" thing he has done, as he often does sponsorships for that one german MLM company whose name i can never spell, but certainly this is the first one related to football. but i have to say (and maybe it is an unpopular opinion) i don't actually think this is that out of character for him. while he at times did appear aggrieved at city's (and other state owned clubs') finances i think it's more important to note how he like.... never actually said he hated city or how they operate. here's the quote he said just before leaving liverpool which for the first time i am not bringing up for ship purposes:

"Everybody knows about the 115 charges, but I have no clue what that means. I only know the number. No matter what has transpired at ManCity, Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world - and that is truly significant..."

i honestly think it's clear from this comment, and in general his attitude towards pep/city, that the thing which is most important to him is an action's *outcome* and its effect on football and not necessarily its *origin*. you can call this him being outcome-oriented over process-oriented or what have you. and thus the red bull move would seem to fall in line with this mindset - there's no doubt that the red bull clubs all have a very set model with a clear footballing philosophy/ideology, and that up until now they have been quite successful imprinting it onto the world of football. of course, the way they got there is what people actually have problems with, but for klopp... maybe it's not such an issue.

that being said, there was something that rubbed me the wrong way in his little official speech upon joining. first of all it's so PR that the language used doesn't even sound like his speech which is already off-putting enough. then there are the reasons he outlines in which the red bull model excites him but i particularly take issue with his other line "the role may have changed, but my passion for football and the people who make the game what it is, has not". klopp obviously knows about the important role of fans in football, so it's weird to see him say this about red bull which historically circumvented the german 50+1 rule for fans (part of the reason why german football fans hate red bull clubs). but maybe i'm just reading too much into things. or maybe this is all copium who knows

[knight-commander]

7 Snippets

I was tagged by @arendaes and I think most of the other mutuals were tagged… just to be safe @thesolemnhour @silversiren1101 @cassynite … I am eepy so anyone else is also free to snag a tag.

Snippet 1

Adrigo winced as he wrapped his bleeding knuckles in scraps of spare cloth. Early mornings meant that he’d leave the tavern to find some of the local militia of New Svetlana to train with, and they didn’t hold back. It never failed to surprise him just how agreeable people can be if you present yourself openly as an aasimar with a kind smile and kinder disposition.

That wouldn’t last.

People, Adrigo learned, weren’t unconditionally kind. If they were, then that meant they wanted something from him, or something done to him—and he always gave as good as he got.

Still, as long as he would be in Brevoy for a few weeks, he decided that he might as well take advantage of it. Isore certainly had, seeing as the other man was gone before he’d even woken up. Not that it bothered Adrigo much at all. He’d woken up to a cold bed for a year now, and there was no reason to assume that things would be any different now just because Isore wasn’t traveling on his own.

Snippet 2

“I’m not going to let anyone else do it. This is my brother. This is my fault.”

Woljif didn’t want to unpack that. He really didn’t think he was capable. Glancing around, he desperately tried to see if Seelah or Sosiel or if even freaky Ember were nearby to help. With no aid in sight, and a Commander more stubborn than a mule, Woljif sighed and picked up the other discarded shovel from the snow.

“You’ll be out here all night at this rate.”

Snippet 3

“A gift?” Keyvas asked; he peered out from around the curve of the frail tree trunk. In the dark, underneath the pale light of the two moons, it was hard to make Brannis out. All Keyvas could see were his eyes, gleaming purple, and his breath rising in the cold air. “You never bring me gifts. You always say that I should go out and find such things for myself.”

Snippet 4

The girl was innocent. The nobleman’s daughter. All girls were, in some way: maybe he once was, before he doffed the sheep’s wool and became the wolf. Did he know he sent his daughter straight to his jaws? Would he care?

Men like him never did, Adrigo reasoned with a smile as he took her hand and kissed it. Her face was distant, faraway, and displeased—good. That meant she was learning.

Pleasantries aside, he didn’t keep her for long. His mind was racing with the thought of where those like her father would end up one day; those who took and controlled without sympathy or remorse, who let their ego and corruption come before their duty to their cause. Those who kept a boot to the neck of their world.

Adrigo would be the one holding a heel to theirs before long.

Snippet 5

Mathias’s breath came too fast in the cold air: he could see the warmth rising from his lungs like a dragon’s yawn. “Please don’t say that. You don’t love me.”

Snippet 6

He was halfway through packing his second bag, angrily wondering if this was the life he was going to be doomed to—no better than a pack mule or errand boy for another money-hungry man—when a shadow fell over him. He paused, and then turned to see who was there.

“Don’t tell me,” Zevran said, swaggering in through the open doorway of the balcony. “You have finally acquiesced. You have seen the error of your ways, and you are preparing to flee this horrid, dry wasteland and run away with me.” He put his hands on his hips triumphantly, an eyebrow raised. Mahanon couldn’t find it in him to smile.

“The First Warden is sending me back to Denerim,” he said, and realized that his tone was as miserable as he felt about the situation. Zevran always had a way of bringing that honesty out.

Snippet 7

“If you’re going to kill me,” Emery called out, “you will simply have to get in line.”

[ghostace]

GShade in SWTOR

Surprise, the screenshots I've been posting this week have been getting carried by the power of GShade, not a sudden improvement in my editing skills. All of these have either no edits or only minor adjustments from in-game.

I decided to poke at it after @spindlewit got it working initially, since I have a stubborn streak and no fear of destroying my game files. It's not as simple as just installing and launching the game, and every time I tried I seemed to have to take different steps so don't be shocked if it doesn't work for you the first time, or if it breaks in the future.

At the moment I have only tested it with the Steam install. I don't intend to test it for the regular launcher, but the same steps may work. The reason why Steam is safer is that for whatever reason GShade deletes a key launch file on install, and Steam can recover that file if you don't back it up first. And best yet, it also worked on PTS so once SWTOR goes 64 bit this should still work!

Use entirely at your own risk. This may be considered a TOS violation.

Step 1: Download and install GShade locally.

Step 2: Install GShade with default settings to swtor.exe in your game installation folder. For me, and most Steam installs, the path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Star Wars - The Old Republic\swtor\retailclient. Do not install to launcher.exe

Note that if GShade installs as DirectX 9 you may have to uninstall and reinstall GShade to SWTOR until it lets you install as OpenGL since the DX9 install doesn't seem to work.

Step 3: Open the GShade control panel and turn on Vulkan (x86) under the Installations tab. GShade will not work in SWTOR without this.

Step 4: "Verify integrity of game files" through Steam (right click on game in Steam -> properties -> local files). This will recover the missing launch file that GShade deletes.

Alternately, you can back up client_defaults.ini from the same retailclient folder location as swtor.exe and just put it somewhere safe before installing GShade to SWTOR.

Step 5: Go to your GShade installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\GShade\DXVK\x32) and copy d3d9.dll into the same retailclient folder as above. Do not use the version in the x64 folder unless you are installing to PTS or following this tutorial after SWTOR goes 64 bit.

Step 6: Launch SWTOR. It will probably prompt you for the EULA again, just go through that and hopefully the GShade banner will pop up and you're good to go.

If the GShade banner is still not showing up, I found in my installation I also had to delete opengl32.dll from the retailclient folder. Other people testing did not have to take this step so don't delete unless GShade is not working.

Some notes and tips:

You may have to scroll through the EULA every time you log in. Sorry, not sure why that happens or doesn't happen.

You will have to turn Anti Aliasing in SWTOR to medium or off. There are graphical artifacts if you have it on High or Very High. Many pre-made shaders include anti-aliasing and I don't find it that big of a loss.

I experienced slightly more lag during gameplay with GShade running even with all shaders turned off. I also experienced noticeably more lag in cutscenes, especially right when they start. YMMV but I would recommend not running GShade for anything where more lag would cause problems. I may have died to VM Eyeless with a shader running because I lagged right as I was trying to get out of the purple circle of death.

In trying to reduce lag, I updated my DirectX 9 files from Microsoft here. It seems to be helping but I'm still testing, so if you experience excessive lag maybe try that.

I would recommend if you want to use any DOF shaders in cutscenes to turn off SWTOR's Conversation Depth of Field so they're not competing.

DOF shaders in SWTOR are a little tricky. SWTOR seems to use very large "slices" of depth, so every tick can cause a large amount of the background to come into focus. I'd recommend using mouse-driven auto-focus when practical, especially in cutscenes where the focus is change depth very frequently.

If you want to use the regular DOF autofocus, I'd recommend changing the Autofocus Center so that it's actually sitting on the character model (default is 0.500 x 0.500, I find generally 0.500 x 0.700 works well), reducing the Autofocus sample radius, and reducing the Far blur curve. SWTOR's camera is a bit hard to work with so play with those settings as needed. Below is a sample of before and after with default and my own picks for DOF autofocus sampling. It does vary depending on what DOF shader each shader preset uses.

Please rec me your favourite shaders for each planet or location if you use this, I'm still just messing around with this myself.

[mahoushoujotechsupport]

ok weeks later i am finally continuing my gwitch rewatch lolz. time for episode 12.... someone PLEASE tell tumblr to stop erasing my posts just as im about to hit post and not being able to undo it because i had the longest write up and now here i am.... rewriting again and trying to remember what i'd written. i'm gonna scream lmao

this part feels so awful now that the series is over and thinking back on ep 24. miorine just comes to, all to see the doors closed and hear suletta's screams and sophie's gunshots on the other side. no doubt in my mind this girl probably dealt with awful nightmares about suletta dying after quiet zero

i know prospera did use this as another XP level up for aerial, but jeez, imagine how much confidence she has in suletta and eri to be able to say something like this. like not just that suletta will go to aerial, but that together they can take on the attackers who at the time prospera didn't know shit about

lmao i dont think ive ever felt so confidently about something that id bet my whole life ln it

ad stella universe is crazy because i can only think the big liberatarian ancap society is some silicon valley fascist's wet dream because how else do you explain the business management girl knowing 1337 hacker skills

stupid asshole

sophie and norea are such tragic characters to me goddamn. like how often were they practicing their piloting to be able to be good enough to join on a mission like this? were they upping their permet score during practice too?

and why exactly is it them who pilot the lfriths instead of someone else from DoF? we never really get a clear answer on why it has to be the teenage girls when later on we see there's a ton of grown men around. i think given what else we know of ad stella, though, it doesn't matter much when we have asticassia as a school for the elite that basically serves for furthering earthian oppression be it by force (ie. see guel's original plans for joining dominicus) or just continuing to further the spoils of space capitalism

when you think of it that way, i don't see DoF any different than say palestinians fighting back against oppression from IDF forces. unless you're a racist fuck, you can't blame palestinian kids for throwing rocks at IDF soldiers, so i can't really blame norea and sophie for joining the fight

to quote fanon:

National liberation, national renaissance, the restoration of nationhood to the people, commonwealth: whatever may be the headings used or the new formulas introduced, decolonization is always a violent phenomenon.

- Frantz Fanon, "Concerning Violence," The Wretched of the Earth

i really do wish they hadn't just sidelined DoF entirely lol if you subscribe even a smidgen to anti-colonialism, its hard not to sympathize with them and shaddiq/grassley girls. and here theyre actually fighting for a just cause and are deserving of sympathy unlike 0079’s fakeout with zeon.

flipping the UC spacenoid/earth dichotomy so that earthians are the exploited class is just good shit when you consider what fuckers like musk want to do lol and its not as set in stone as exploitation only happens on earth either. mercury sounds like an abandoned appalachian mining town at this point with people lured out by jobs and then left to fend for themselves once permet was found elsewhere and their utility to the spacian capitalist class has run dry. and though i take this one with a grain of salt because we never get hard confirmation or denial, the elans were supposedly spacians (norea calls him a spacian even after finding out el5n’s not the real elan and he doesnt say one way or the other).

enough marxist ramblings, here's a cool shot of lfrith ur

whoever added this, i love them

as much as i don't trust bandai with sulemio unless they reverse the mess they've made for themselves.... i just want to fucking know more about notrette so bad!!!!!!!!!!!!

badass shot of lfrith thorn to go with the ur one earlier

snitch boy starts his snitch arc

the whole way guel killing vim plays out felt like it was gonna lead to something cool at the time... it makes me even more mad now knowing that it very likely is all an homage to zeta and kamille stealing the mk-ii and then later watching his mom die lol (ffs we even have the guel episode later on stealing its title from a zeta episode). guel's entire character just leaves such a bad taste in my mouth with everything thats happened recently

to think that 15 mins later she'd just be all ditzy over pancakeing a man after basically peeing her pants here

prospera shooting a gun at quiet zero >>> prospera shooting a gun at plant quetta

this show and this fucking pose, man lmao

AERIAL REBUILD is going to be stuck in my head all night because of this episode.... but look at how fucking cool she looks!!!

okouchi if this is a line you wrote, you, sir, are a troll... her face now is literally just :<

if you have the rebuild aerial and you don't have her posed like this, then what are you even doing?

i still feel like secelia and rouji for sure had no idea how powerful aerial's gund-bit gun was in episode 17. like norea is scared shitless here and tells sophie and olcott to get the fuck away. we have olcott telling us that even though it has school regulations on, it's strong as fuck

that said, i don't think guel was in mortal danger given that the school restrictions don't let them aim at cockpits or whatever, but it sure would've fucked up the darilbalde

oh this line hurts lol

i don't think i ever paused on this frame before lol i really hope peil hags master plan here wasn't just to have el5n get all rapey like he does later on. i mean, probably not and that was moreso el5n's desparate attempts to stay alive given he barely gets a chance to do anything before school shootings 1 and 2 bring everything to shit

comparing this frame versus suletta inside calibarn in ep 24 and suletta is still just a baby at this point in the show lmao she looks like a little teddy bear vs kakkoii ikemen suletta

paused on this frame and it honestly looks cool as hell lmao

and we made it to THE scene

you know, as i said in prior rewatch posts, i had been watching via GJM's fansubs at this point and was gonna wait for them to release their version of episode 12... however, that same suletta sunday i logged on to twitter and immediately got spoiled on this scene lmao so i needed to find out what the fuck happened and stopped waiting on fansubs (i did rewatch later on)

it really is such an amazingly well done scene though like goddamn lol

now that the show's over, i do kind of wonder if there could have been something other than this to become the spark of tension between suletta and miorine. with the exception of sophie (which arguably was more eri's victim than suletta's), suletta never kills anyone again in the show. her final fight ends up being against the gund nodes being commanded by eri lol so she just fights unmanned drones. it's an interesting decision considering the gundam franchise as a whole

i know it's meant to contrast against shaddiq's by any means necessary approach and prospera's willingness to do the same if someone tries to hinder her plans to help eri... but i really just can't get behind the whole violence is always bad no exceptions message behind the show. i do appreciate that shaddiq's plan basically still came to fruition and that it ends up being an in-world analogue to nationalization of industry. and it's really a cherry on top to have sabina call out whether that was for the best - not just that they nationalized industry but that nothing else was done to stop those who don't agree with what miorine did. history has given us countless examples of countries that nationalize various industries just for the united states military to come in and make some shit up and stage a coup and hand over said industry to whatever shithead capitalists were being piss babies about it at the time

lmao i know we're all mad about a lot of the yuri being left on the table because of bandai execs, but i wonder how much of the anti-capitalist message got left on there too. they really had a chance to make guel a real hero and he's just... not lol. episode 15 makes me mad not because it's a guel episode but because nothing ever actually came from DoF existing. like what was the point?

if they just wanted to humanize DoF a bit and introduce the kid that guel and kenanji run into later on, that could have taken half an episode given the insane pacing they chose to go by during the 2nd cour

regardless, i'll still savor little bits here and there

ok lmao i feel like my original post was way better than this and it took me double the time now to make this post but whatever. gonna try to get through some more eps this weekend

[octopodeez]

Lol you ready for this? Its long. So I have an oc that I made originally for the specific reason to fuck Doflamingo. Its not me directly doing it so it's fine Lol. I might be horny but i gotta draw a line. But I got Waaay to carried away with this and made my oc fuck my 3 main blonde simps (Spoilers up until post dressrosa idk where you are so warning) here's how it happens

So remember when Dof was in Jaya while the strawhats were in Skypiea? Remember that. My character, who I named a weird name so I'll just call them Z, is from Skypiea. As the strawhats go up, he gets, for lack of a better word, thrown down by Enel. Z is blood related to the Shandia (the tribe from skypiea). He basically was pissed and threw himself at Enel early to try and kill him and got royally fucked up. Then was just dropped of the edge and proceeded to fall the 20 thousand ft down through the different layers all the way down until a little before he hit the normal ocean. Cut to Doflamingo, leaving Jaya, loud scream getting closer and closer. Everyone looks up and there is a person falling out of the sky. Buffalo stopped Z in the air and then released, Z falls the rest of the way and lands literally right infront of Dof and smashes into the ground. Z then in a delirious rage, completely fucked up stands up saying some shit like "ILL BURN THAT GOD ALIVE!" and then passes out.

Doflamingo: lol ima keep it

Z is a freak might I add, and at this point, not normal at all. He also truly has no idea what the world is like since they only were ever in Skypiea. Dof takes advantage of this of course and molds him into his vicious personal hitman. (Of course they fuck that was the point of this lol) So Z gets sent out on these long ass missions to hunt down anyone dof says to, doing this earns him the title of "Doflamingo's Hell Hound" since his thing was hunting donw people who thought they got away and 'dragging them back to hell'. The last time Z is sent out he comes back to a now destroyed dressrosa just days after luffy kicked dofs ass. So...now he's just alone?

That being said he tracks down the strawhats lol. But not for revenge, he literally has no idea who to ask about what happened and "why not ask the bigger fish" he thinks. Cut to when he eventually find them, shit gets angsty. Now he's learning all the shit that was blatantly kept from his knowledge. Sure Z was already killing for dof, but what do you mean all the toys were real people and an unimaginable number of people were suffering from so many different angles? So he now learns the whole truth and is devastated. attempts to unalive self right infront of the strawhats. Of course they don't let that happen tho, you know these guys. So now he's really lost. Z then spends like 3 months with these idiots, every stop hes like "alright im leaving" And then for an unforseen reason continues to stick around. This is when Z gets a taste of love from another blonde. Sanji

(Notes: Z is transmasc, and if you didn't know Dofs fav food is Lobster, so I just say he's a seafood person) Z never asked for anything ever, so he basically ate whatever was given to him, if at all, his whole time with dof and into his time with the strawhats. Z barely eats and will avoid the kitchen because of it but Sanji won't let anyone go hungry so he trys over and over to get Z to eat an actual portion for his size. Then one day Sanji makes some meat and Z finally gets a whiff and is like.."what smells so good?" Turns out Z loves meat, luffy level type meat lover. He, without realizing it, hasn't had a single bite of anything besides seafood for now years! Now Z is eating and sobbing at how good the food is every meal; and now he won't leave sanji alone. Z spends a lot of time just hanging out while Sanji cooks, asks to try anything and everything since he wants to now explore the world that was unknowingly denied to him. Sanji slowly is falling head over heels, but fighting it cause "I'm not gay I swear" lol. But Z just looks at him one day and says "well...it's not gay if you don't want I to be, i wont say it is" and that was truly all Sanji needed to hear lol. They fuck like once, but their relationship is just entirely romantic sweet tooth rotting fluff where Sanji unknowingly mends Zs abused heart by giving him the complete opposite from what he was used to. But these two never label themselves. The enjoy each others company and sanjis already panicing about a label, plus Z dont care, so they just exist together for this time until the day comes where Z leaves his temporary home with the strawhats. Sanji now sad as hell, but Z basically tells him he made him love life again and promised to see sanji again someday. reluctant as he was, they let each other go.[Something something if you love someone let them go?] Yeah Z never says It but he is fighting some deep turmoil where he's like "if dof breaks out of prison, he's gonna be pissed and I will not put that on the people who changed my life so im leaving now for real before i marry the guy fighting bisexuality" yea sanji and Z really could have had something if Z had been told that Dof really, truly, stood no chance against Luffy in the slightest anymore, but anytime he asked how dof got beaten all he ever heard was, "yea luffy kicked his ass, it was pretty crazy" so he never really knew that until later when he put two and two together himself

Alright, next blonde! Z now is a wanderer looking for an outlet for his.."talents" you don't kill for a warlord and not come out of it good at the task Okay so this is where my brain hasn't created yet, I'm still actively building this self indulgence story so I'm working on it lol Somehow he ends up with the Revolutionary Army and joins them. he hits it off with everyone, really fits in to well, and when he mentions he spent some time with the strawhats that only makes things easier, now step in ✨️Sabo✨️ these two are both unhinged, yes, but it's like they pass back and forth a braincell and when one is crazy the other is the anchor in that moment and vice-versa. They "friends-to-lovers style" there way into a relationship where they only acknowledge that they are together way after they realize, "oh shit are we dating?" And that leads to Z finally spilling how he feels like he betrayed Dof despite everything and that he couldn't live with himself if someone he cared about got hurt cause of his past. But you know Sabo, he's not even slightly worried about it, and basically explains to Z that if a specific 10ft tall pink bastard with sunglasses tried anything, the entirety of the Revolutionary Army would definitely not have an issue stopping that; Especially if Dof was alone. This is the first time Z has ever had someone say they would protect him (but if he had said something with the strawhats you know they would have made that clear) so now happy ending for him, he's living now and in a real relationship.

To summarize:

Doflamingo: man who already thinks himself a God sees a "fallen angel" fall right infront of him and he said "Profit!"

Sanji(along with the rest of the strawhats): brought the Light back to this poor bastards life and showed him that life is worth it (aw ☺️)

Sabo(along with the Revolutionary army) gave him a home, familiarity, and a good cause to fight for while simultaneously directing his skills into.

So that's how I made my 1 oc fuck the psycho blonde, the people pleasing blonde, and the unhinged blonde lmao

Ask anonymously? Nah

I’d take a bullet for Z he’s my actual hero

[bear-cubs-art-things]

Lore dump? Lore dump.

May be a bit long so for anyone scrolling ima spare you-

So this lore dump is just about the technicalities of the Monster world, mayhaps compared to the Human world. Maybe a bit on the Celestials, Colossals, Mythicals, powers and magic, that stuff. And ima use "we" a lot here, and by "we" I mean we humans as far as this au goes about and what we know, as well as particular instances when I'm referring to the monsters. Try and keep up XD

Also a note, my lore both combines my speculations/headcanons with some canon. If you read info that's pretty much reiterating what's on the msm wiki, this is why ^^. Nonetheless!

So, we don't really know where the monster world began, whether it was magic, science, or even both. What is commonly believed though is that the 14 Colossals, through the still and silence of the prehistorical monster world, boomed and sang with their voices to create the supercontinent of the monster world, which is simply referred to as "the Continent". The Continent was barren, empty, void of life. And without any elemental magic flowing through the veins of the Continent, life simply could not exist. Moreover, life could not be harmonious and peaceful without the Hymn of Gods (thought to be the song of the Celestials and Colossals in perfect harmony, thus sustaining a world balance). The Colossals turned their attention skyward, where the Celestials resided in the constellations of their element. The Colossals built Starhenge using excess bits of the Continent, and brought the Celestials to Starhenge, teaching them how to sing. It is from this interaction that the Hymn of Gods is said to start.

With the melody that the beings created, the Continent essentially sprung to life, overflowing with flora and magic. But still, no monsters were to exist.

The colossals retreated to an alternate dimension and created sandbox to experiment with life and creation [this would later become Ethereal Island. It is said that Monculus was the first monster to be created, later discarded for unknown reasons. It continues to exist to this day]. The Colossals life formula, with help of the elemental powers of the Celestials, made the first Monsters able to be born. They were sent to the Continent, and with time they learned how to sing and make music, with the help of their creators. Alleged creators, since we don't actually know how the monster world came to be.

What about the Mythicals? They are rumored to be children of the Celestials, born from the stars and brought down to the Monster world by the celestials themselves. The mythicals are rumored to have been sent down to the Continent, to watch and protect the Monster population living blissfully unaware of the mythicals presence. Both Celestials and Mythicals have the power of their element, with Celestials being significantly more powerful than their mythical counterparts. And with that all being said, the monster world began to thrive. This Era was later known as The Dawn of Fire.

The Cataclysm and the end of The Dawn of Fire is said to have occurred roughly 3.2 million years ago, having The DOF lasted about a couple million years at least. One thing to note here: time moves the same in the monster and human worlds, so about when the Cataclysm happened, the first humans were living in prehistoric Africa. That said, monsters have been around for a long time, not necessarily in harmony either. It is said that halfway into the DoF, monsters finally learned to coexist. Supposedly. Anyways, no truly knows how the Cataclysm really happened, something about dissonance in the Hymn, causing utter destruction of the world. Starhenge fell, the Celestials and Mythicals disappeared, and the Colossals sacrificed themselves to salvage anything that they could save. The world was silent once more, over 80 percent of the Monster population... gone.

But somewhere around 1 million to 8.5 thousand years ago, the monsters learned to sing again, this time learning the heartbeat of the Colossals that possessed their Island, later known as The Islands Song. These islands are about the size of a microcontinent, rather large for islands. Monsters learned to live accordingly to their Island, and elemental specification on islands developed to resonate more deeply with the monsters living on a certain island. Because of this, most monsters become ill or faint when exposed to elemental wavelengths that don't match their own [ex. You can't have a Noggin on Cold Island without them falling terribly ill after several weeks.].

As for humans interacting with monsters? There have been no real attempts to get to the monster world, since we didn't have that technology most of the time. However, there have been a few rumored accidents that caused humans to be wormholed to the monster world with no way of going back. There are no real accounts of this, so we don't really know if this happened or not.

In addition, we don't know where the Celestials are now. The mythicals have been said to be seen in the shadows of islands, but never confirmed to have been on islands, so as of now they are considered missing as well. Possibly dead.

For Seasonals, we dont know how they spawned into existence, but its said they were made by the Mythicals, Celestials, and Colossals combined after observing the holiday-esque behaviors of monsters during certain times of the year. This theory has very little to no evidence to support it, and most monsters don't believe it. Like I said, we don't really know. There's also a rumor Seasonals live lives like and just as long as Monsters, but are constantly reborn after each life cycle instead of moving on to the Beat Thereafter. The only Seasonals to not be able to do this are Clavavera and Carillong, supposedly. They live in constant youth without aging, and therefore don't necessarily die.

Anwyas that's it :)

[gladlypants]

Hello again! Person always asking WoW questions here! :P This is a super random question but I'm having such a hard time using my reshade on WoW. Well not the reshade itself, I just can't for the life of me make my DOF focus where I want it to! I use Cinematic DOF and everything is always in focus or out of focus! :( If you have any tips regarding that I would be forever grateful! Feel free to message me privately if you'd like. :D

Hi! Yes, I've noticed that sometimes DOF can be much more difficult to use in WoW than it is in TS4. (Especially in WoW Classic!!) I think the biggest part of that is we can't pause the game and make everything be still like we can in Sims lol, but there may be more to it than that. I've never read up on adjusting settings specifically for Wow, but here are my tips and a couple of links below the cut.

I wrote a big paragraph here and then decided it might be better if I made a list, so here goes:

Turn off the game UI with Alt+Z (sorry if you knew that already! ♥)

Pick an area without a lot of movement in the frame/background so DOF isn't constantly trying to refocus on something nearby. Patting NPCs, floating books, other players clumped up nearby, etc. If you have armor pieces on your character with animation or special effects, this could also cause some issues. For example, this shot I took of my Yumyum in front of the inscription work table took me ages to get perfect because of all the scrolls and feather pens and things magically moving around in the background. And in the end I just had to be quick on the draw snapping the shot before it started refocusing.

But this shot I took of this statue was much less of a hassle because there wasn't a lot of movement on the screen. The NPCs at the base were mostly just standing there chatting and not causing me any grief. (Hope that makes sense!) Also first person zoom screenshots for landscapes etc are just much easier.

Use mouse-driven focus for DOF instead of auto focus. For example, even with this waterfall moving around in the background of this shot, focusing on the plants to the left with my mouse did the trick. (I've always personally found Cinematic DOF to be a bit more fussy with mouse focus than other DOFs, even in Sims.)

Experiment with different angles and zooms

Try other DOFs and see if one of them works better for your location (MartyMcFly, ADOF, etc)

The addon Narcissus also has something like a free camera mode that can be really helpful! I think I used it for the first shot above. Or also their other modes that will render the model of your character so you can drag it around and change the background, etc, might help you get the shot that you want. That's what I used for this shot:

Check that your Reshade preset has effects in the correct order (amoebae's post here is a good reference) -- I doubt that is your issue, but you never know!

Try adjusting settings underneath Cinematic DOF. I don't have any suggestions for this because I never mess with mine, but I did find this forum post that might be helpful for you.

It may be more complicated than all that and have something to do with the way the game renders depth vs Sims that I don't understand, I've just never taken the time to research it. There are some folks who have shared presets made specifically for WoW as well, so you may could take at look at some of theirs and see what they have done with their individual settings.

I hope something here helped, and of course I never mind talking WoW or answering questions if I can ♥♥♥