#cool command prompt tricks

[tech-vi]

"Amazing CMD Hack - You Won't Believe Your Eyes!"

**In this video, we will be showcasing an amazing cmd trick for typing master that will help you improve your typing skills in no time! If you're someone who spends a lot of time typing on your computer, this cmd trick will definitely come in handy. By using the command prompt, you can easily access typing master and practice your typing skills without needing to open any software. This cmd trick is not only convenient but also highly effective in helping you type faster and more accurately. Whether you're a student or a professional, typing is an essential skill that you need to master. With this cmd trick, you can easily improve your typing skills and increase your productivity at work or school. So why wait? Get started today and become a typing master in no time! If you're interested in learning more about cmd and other useful tips and tricks, make sure to subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell to stay updated on our latest videos. Don't forget to leave a like and share this video with your friends who might find this cmd trick helpful.**

[alittlebitofloveliness]

The Outsiders Prompt Fic #12- I didn't know where else to go

This is for @ramennoodlezzzao3 who requested prompt eight with Ponyboy. Sorry for the wait, I hope you like this. I wrote it sleep deprived after work and it's unedited so I apologiz wfor any typos.

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

Tap. Tap. Tap.

When Curly first hears the tapping on the window he thinks it’s his beloved Princess Chunko, aka the raccoon he’s been feeding and attempting to train for the past six months ever since Tim told him off for feeding her- the poor thing was a single mom who worked two jobs and Curly wasn’t heartless. He wasn’t about to let his girl down, ok?- and Angela said you couldn’t teach a raccoon tricks because ‘they aren’t like dogs, dumbass’. Shows what she knows. Curly’s managed to almost get Princess Chunko to shake his hand on command (she’ll do just about anything for leftover fries from McDonald’s), and she’s only bit him like, three times. 

However, when he pulls back the curtain (thank god Angel’s sleeping at her new boyfriend’s place tonight because she would be beyond pissed to get woken at one in the morning) it’s not his beloved furry princess he sees, instead it’s his beautiful, very human and also male princess. 

Right. He’s gotta be cool about this. Smart. Suave. Pony’s never come here so late at night before. Curly isn’t exactly at his best right now- he’d been planning to shower in the morning so he still smells like the desperation of high school and whatever boozy concoction Ma had thrown at him earlier- but he isn’t gonna like, turn Ponyboy down if he’s come here for a hookup. He’s not that stupid.

Except when he throws open the window he catches sight of the pure misery on Ponyboy’s face and all impure thoughts fly out of his head. (Ok, maybe not all of them- he’s a simple man and Ponyboy is Ponyboy and he’s also right there-  but  Curly is again not heartless so like 98% of the impure thoughts are banished. Maybe 97%.)

“Hey Ponyboy!”

Pony runs a hand through his hair. He sighs, and the sound is so tired it could give Tim a run for his money.

“Hey Curly, can I-” his eyes get shiny but he blinks hard and they’re normal again, “can I come in?”

Curly doesn’t bother answering, just grabs his best-friend-maybe-boyfriend-but we-haven’t-had-that-talk-yet-but-also-kiss-and-stuff under the arms and half drags, half lifts him through the window. Curly thanks his unlucky stars that Angel’s mattress is under the window because this was not an elegant maneuver, and Pony landed right on top of him. Like, right on top of him. Curly isn’t exactly complaining because this close he can see the freckle near Pony’s hairline and smell his toothpaste and whatever shampoo he uses, but Pony also completely knocked the wind out of him, and Curly’s is also a fifteen year old boy and attracted to Ponyboy so if Pony doesn’t move soon a different problem is going to make itself known and Curly cannot let that happen or he’ll have to jump off a bridge.

He shoves Pony off of him as gently as he can without being soft, and leads him over to his own side of the room. Angel will already be pissed enough that he was on her side of the room, nevermind the fact it was just to open the window, and Curly doesn’t want to add fuel to the fire. Sure, he loves making Angela angry but she also took a razorblade to his favourite hoodie last week and Curly isn’t willing to risk her ire right now. Things with the boyfriend she’s currently staying with are slowly but surely falling apart and Angela going through a breakup is a dangerous creature. Even Tim steers clear of her as best he can during her anger phase, and then they both decide to be a little nicer when Angel moves on to grief. 

Pony sits next to him and Curly wonders if he should’ve put a bottom sheet on his mattress, then banishes the thought because it’s stupid and because he doubts there’s a bottom sheet anywhere in the house- angel bought her own and guards it viciously. Still, he can’t help the anxiety bubbling in his chest. Pony is in his room, sitting on his bed. In all the time they’ve been hanging out he doesn’t think Pony has ever been in his room. And they’ve certainly never been alone in his room- or in Ponyboy’s for that matter since Sodapop Curtis is the world's most annoying cockblock and one of these days Curly is really gonna slug him.

Fortunately- or unfortunately, he really isn’t sure- Pony seems oblivious to Curly’s internal turmoil. In fact, he seems kind of oblivious to everything, staring blankly at the wall and biting his lip hard enough it might start to bleed soon. 

Rude, Curly thinks, if someone’s gonna be biting ponyboy’s lips tonight it should be him.

It’s kind of worrisome though. It;s not like Ponyboy’s the more, well, present even on a good day, prone to daydreaming and getting all focused in a way Curly doesn’t understand, but this seems different, worse somehow. The misery is still written across Ponyboy’s face, but there's an undercurrent of anger there too, and beneath that, fear.

“You good, man?” Curly’s never been great with emotions, never understood his own or wanted to help with others. He wants to help Pony now though, he just doesn’t know what to say. “You uh, you need anything?”

“No- yes- I dunno.” Ponyboy shakes his head, curling in on himself, and no, nope, if he bunches up it’s like he gets even more stuck in his own head and Curly refuses to let that happen so he yanks him until Pony’s head is resting against his shoulder, his arm around the guy’s admittedly very nice shoulders. “I didn’t know where else to go, I just- I couldn’t stay there. Not tonight. Can I stay with you?”

“Of course,” Curly agrees immediately. There’s a whole host of reasons why and he’s sure some of them are good but the only important one is the thought of Ponyboy Curtis sleeping in his room with him, “why though? Didya finally get tired of Sodacan cockblockin’ us?”

He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, expecting Ponyboy to roll his eyes but snicker like he usually does when Curly makes a suggestive joke, but instead he just sighs, his eyes getting all sad again.

“In your dreams Shepard,” he says, “but nah, it’s nothing like that, just…Darry and Soda are fighting.”

Curly blinks. That’s what Ponyboy is upset about? His family fighting? If Curly got sad anytime people were fighting in his house he’d have died of heartbreak years ago. Shit, Ma hadn’t gone a day without swearing at them in years, and Tim had told him just this morning he was a waste of space. Last month, he and Angel hadn’t spoken for over a week after she tattled on him to Tim about his plan to get into Buck’s race fixing scheme. 

Then again, the Curtis family- even their gang- wasn’t much like his own. They weren’t soft exactly, but they weren’t cold neither, which was something Curly had got used to at a very young age. Ponyboy on the other hand…well, he doesn’t have much ice in him at all.

“They’ve been mad at each other for days, and tonight it’s like they just blew up,” Pony continues, “like a match in a powder keg. They’ve been yelling off and on for hours, and everytime they start to shout it gets worse. They hardly even noticed when I left.”

“Darry won’t be pleased you ran off,” curly points out. He’s not good at emotions but he is good at being practical, at least when he’s trying to think like Angela, and he knows Darry Curtis will be mad if Ponyboy comes home late or not at all. Curly thinks the guy needs to lighten up a bit. One murder wrap when Pony didn;t even kill the guy shouldn’t mean he needs to be supervised 24/7. Darry needs to lighten up.

Ponyboy rolls his eyes.

“Shit man, you sound like Two-bit. I left a note alright? And if they’re really that worried they can get over themselves and come and find me.”

“What are they arguin’ about anyway?”

That was apparently the wrong question to ask because Pony’s face shutters again.

“That’s the whole problem! I dunno! I can’t figure it out and I listened to them argue awhile. It got real personal real quick, whatever they started arguin’ about probably isn’t why they’re mad now.”

“I’m sorry man,” Curly says, and he is. Rarely is it that he feels any sort of sympathy for other people’s issues, but Ponyboy curtis is not just anyone. In fact, he’s maybe the best person Curly knows, and he doesn’t deserve his house to feel like Curly’s does. The Curtis’ are supposed to be better than that. Ponyboy is supposed to have better than that.

Curly knows there isn’t much he can do. There never is, and with his penchant for fucking shit up he’s rarely trusted with even meaningless things let alone important ones, so he’s not usually armed with the skills to help anyone. However, in this situation, Curly knows what to do because it’s something he wished for every day or his childhood, and something that was never really provided to him no matter how hard Tim sometimes tried. 

Tonight, he can keep Pony safe.

“You can stay here,” he promises, scrubbing a hand through Ponyboy’s hair as an excuse to feel how soft it is without grease in it, “whenever you want. Just show up.”

“Really?”

“‘Course.”

That earns him a smile, a real one, the kind that makes Ponyboy sort of glow and Curly kind of want to kiss him and combust and jump out a window all at the same time.

“Thanks.” Pony murmurs, and Curly feels himself grin when Pony settles his head back on his shoulder, exhaustion returning.

Curly lets himself grin as he maneuvers them so that they’re squished together on his lumpy single mattress. It’s not the most comfortable position- Ponyboy is half on top of him and not in a fun way, his bony elbow jammed into Curly’s ribs, and his hair tickling his nose, but Curly wouldn't change it for the world.

Ponyboy is already gone when he wakes up the next morning, but that’s alright, Curly expected it, just like he expected the call that came when he was making breakfast and the light that has returned to Pony’s eyes when he sees him at school.

The Curtis house isn’t supposed to be like his own, and it isn’t. Ponyboy wouldn’t ever look this relaxed if it was. 

Even still, Curly reasons, it can’t hurt to keep his window unlatched. Just in case. 

[thebellearchives]

hi💗 can you do solomon x mc 17/18 prompt in the same fic? maybe about solomon having a nightmare and seeking comfort from mc🫵🏻

𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐌

~ solomon ; obey me [nightbringer]

✧˚ · . S Y N O P S I S : solomon doesn’t have many fears, so what are his nightmares made of?

‧₊˚ c o n t e n t s : gn!reader, stablished relationship, fluff and comfort

‧₊˚ a / n : omg writing that nightmare was so much fun!! thank you for the request anon hope you like it 🫶🏻

It was dark, and Solomon wasn’t quite sure where he was. He remembered holding onto your hand, both of you using magic to go back home, back to your original timeline, and then suddenly the warmth of your touch had disappeared along with the light. A deep and scornful laugh echoed from everywhere, prompting him to quickly stand back on his feet. Remain calm, was what every single one of his senses shouted at him, keep your cool. And yet the panic in his beating heart drummed inside his head like a hammer.

“You look distressed, Solomon. It’s a very nice surprise, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in this state. So… vulnerable.”

“Where’s MC?” the sorcerer frowned.

“Oh? You don’t want to know where you are?”

Solomon’s quick thinking started generating a bunch of possibilities and outcomes. Best case scenario: you had returned safely to your timeline and he had been withheld somewhere along the way. He had possibly been knocked out, and was now in deep sleep communicating with the demon behind this stupid trick. The current location of his physical body wasn’t really of concern to him, making his way back home to you had always felt natural. But the idea of you not being safe was terrifying, if something had happened to you…

“I know where I am. Where is MC?”

“Right, you were holding hands weren’t you? Well, you know the consequences of letting go of someone during time travel, Solomon the Wise.”

It’s a trick, he’s lying. He wants to torture you, you can’t trust him. Deal with this first and then you can go back to MC.

“What do you want, Nightbringer?” he started walking out into the infinite darkness, his shoes producing wet sounds as if he was walking on water.

“I had a task for MC, how dare you taking them away like that? This is none of your business sorcerer.”

“You’ve never been more wrong. This is my business, you’re forgetting MC is my apprentice” the veins in his arms became more visible as he closed his hands into fists, his footsteps picking up a faster pace “You’re stupidly full of yourself if you think i’m gonna let you meddle with them like that.”

Nightbringer’s laughter shook the floor in which the white haired magician was standing, making him stop all of a sudden.

“And you’re stupidly full of yourself if you think you can come up against me.”

“I can” he gritted his teeth “you’re forgetting who you’re talking to. I’m the strongest sorcerer known to the realms, I command an army of demons, I’ve gone to war with an entire realm by myself.”

“And how did that turn out for you, huh?” Solomon bit his tongue, his sliver irises searching across the endless darkness “now now, there’s no need to lose your cool like that. Although it is amusing, I’ll admit i’m not interested in you right now. All I want from you is to leave MC in my very capable hands, so go away, I have no use for you.”

“That’s not happening and you know that.”

“What a shame” the demon sighed “have fun trapped in here, I have matters to attend with your apprentice. Goodbye”

“Nightbringer!”

Solomon opened his eyes abruptly, he almost felt like he didn’t have any air in his lungs. There was faint moonlight streaming into the room from the window, but his eyes struggled to adjust. His heart was still quickly kicking in his chest and his hands immediately started searching across the bed until his trembling fingers found you right next to him.

“Sol?” your lovely honey voice called out in concern, slightly raspy and sleepy “what’s wrong?”

The sorcerer sighed loudly in relief, he ran his fingers through his hair in the middle of heavy breathing.

“I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Are you okay?” you moved closer, your fingers pressed against his chest and then moving up to his neck “you’re sweating! calm down, take a deep breath, did you have a nightmare?”

“Yeah” he did as you said and took another deep breath, you moved up closer and hugged him “I’m okay, don’t worry love”

But his arms slithered around your body and hugged you like it was his last day alive. He didn’t need anymore deep breaths, your warmth was enough to get rid of the cold that nightmare had left underneath his skin. Burying his nose in the crook of your neck he inhaled your scent, familiar and heart warming. Your hand caressed his face and forced him to pull back just enough to place a sweet kiss on his cheek.

“Better?”

“Mhmm” he nodded, kissing your lips sweetly and shortly “thanks, I always feel calmer when i’m with you”

The prettiest of smiles shone on your face, making Solomon forget about everything his mind had just fabricated minutes ago.

“Im glad” you kissed him again.

[illfoandillfie]

A Different Kind of Eduation: P Is For Pet Play (Chapter 13)

ADKoE MASTERLIST

Pairing: Professor!Roger Taylor x Fem!Reader

Series Summary: After being broken up with for not being kinky enough, Reader seeks out her professor to give her some private tutoring so she can win her boyfriend back.

Chapter Summary: Reader learns a few new tricks in Roger's latest lesson.

Warnings: Modern AU, smut (18+), slow burn romance, dom/sub dynamics, dom!roger and sub!reader, professor x student sex, dialogue heavy, role play, pet play, puppy play, training, holding, fingering, spanking, collar, butt plug, orgasm delay/cumming on command, a bit of degradation and humiliation

Words: 9951

A/N: I think writing is a winter sport for me. Which is part of why this chapter has been sitting at 85% finished for months. But, the weather is finally cooling down here in Aus and this chapter is finally done! I'm excited for ya'll to read it. Hopefully I've edited it enough lmao

(Also, apologies for any formatting weirdness, it's because tumblr now has rules about how many characters can be used before you have to put in a line break or whatever, so I had to go through and break up some paragraphs into smaller sections. It should still be okay but all my fics are also available over on Ao3 if you wanna read them that way)

As always *** indicates the smut scene.

Taglist: @labessieisallama @deakyclicks @jennyggggrrr @drowseoftaylor @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming @queenmylovely @ilovequeenmorethanyou @johndeaconshands @borhapbois @stardust-galaxies @cherries-n-rocknroll @rogersslave@scorpiogemini

@80s-roger @libsterslobsters @okilover02 @cjand10 @dealorgirl32 @youngpastafanmug @onceuponadetectivedemigod @zeida @demo-wise @yuillfandomqueen @tie-ur-mother-down @rogermyreligion​ 

(idk how many of you are still interested in this fic so if you want your name taken off let me know, or if anyone wants to be added i can also do that)

“Don’t you look professional,” Roger had teased, handing you a rather large glass of water in lieu of the wine you’d usually have, as you got settled in the study. You’d gone to his straight from work, so were a little more business casual than what he usually saw you wearing. The break from routine threw you off a little but mostly because you were too early for dinner so went straight to the study for your extra lesson. And you quickly got over it.

“So, pet play,” you’d said once you were settled, prompting Roger to start. “We touched on the basics last time,” he slipped easily into his teacher mode, seeming totally unphased by the change to routine, “but was there anything else you wanted to know?” You thought for a moment, “I guess I’m not totally clear on why people do it. And, like, you said it wasn’t always about having sex? I don’t really get how a scene with an animal can lead to sex but then also kink without sex sounds paradoxical.” “Very reasonable questions.” Roger tapped his whiteboard marker against his palm as he decided where to begin, “Last week I said that there were any number of reasons people might be drawn to role play and that includes pet play. Different people like it for different reasons. But I suspect thats not really what you were asking about.” You hummed and nodded your head, “Yeah, I guess my big question is why animals? Why don’t just do the naughty nurse thing or whatever.”

“Look, pet play isn’t something I am incredibly familiar with, certainly not when you compare it to other aspects of BDSM, so I can’t pretend to be an expert and I can really only speculate on some reasons people might be drawn to it. From what I’ve seen of it and the people I know who dabble in it, I think pet play offers an element of creativity that some other kinks don’t always seem to have. Creating your pet’s personality or even the costume you wear. Which isn’t to say roleplaying as anything else doesn’t also have those aspects, but I think for some people working out how to act like an animal can be more of a creative challenge or something more long term than your typical role play concepts. A person sinking money into animal inspired fetish gear is going to be inclined to revisit the role play multiple times, expanding on it, experimenting with it. But really, I think for most people, it’s not inherently about the animal, per se, but the animal opens up opportunities for exploration that other role plays may not. We established last week that part of what may draw people to role play is acting like someone else. You can be more demanding, or more sultry, or more adventurous than you regularly feel. Pet play just pushes that idea a bit further. Depending on the animal you choose and their temperament, it might be as far from you as you can possibly get.”

“Mmmm,okay,” “I know it seems a little contradictory to say it’s not about the animal while trying to explain why other role plays may not appeal the same way.” “Just a bit,” “It is important to keep that in mind though, especially while we discuss how pet play can be incorporated into a sexual dynamic. It’s not acting out bestiality. It’s about roles – someone being in control of someone else in a concrete ownership way – and it's about scenarios that connect with the chosen pet. The way people who take on a canine persona act will likely be vastly different from those that take on an equine persona. And the scenes they choose to play out will in all likelihood be quite different too. For instance, a pony play scene might be physically demanding to simulate a racing experience – being ridden, using a crop, that sort of thing – or it might be an exploration of breeding through a scenario where the horse is put out to stud, or, for those who are more into a show horse type aspect, it might be more about dressing up in costumes – masks and hoof mitts or leather bodysuits - and being shown off at live kink events, maybe even performing a dressage inspire routine.” “Sorry, hoof mitts?” “A type of bondage gear, not always used for pet play. Basically, they’re something submissives can wear over their hands or arms as a type of restraint. They make it impossible to hold or grab things and sometimes they can represent animal paws or hoofs.” “Jesus, alright.” Roger chuckled, “We really are only scratching the surface with these lessons. Anyway, another example, cow play also known by the term HuCow, a portmantau of human and cow. Any guesses what that might entail?” “If you say milking,” “Ding ding ding, we have a winner,” “No way,” you snorted.

Roger shrugged, “It’s not a crazy as it sounds. Lactation fetishes aren’t all that rare, which probably says something about the way breasts are viewed and sexualised but that’s a discussion for another time. But also, it doesn’t have to involve actual lactation, it could just be about squeezing the breasts or even “milking” a penis until it ejaculates. HuCow scenes can tick a number of boxes for people. Those with breast or pec fetishes might like it for the emphasis it can put on that part of the body. There is, like with pony play, a potential for exploring a breeding kink, both as a cow or a bull. You can also get into some gender based kinks like forced feminsation and the like. A male identifying person could be made to act as a female cow, maybe dress in a cow print bikini and have their nipples stimulated as if they were being milked.” “Huh. Okay, that’s very specific. I guess I can see why some animal role plays might appeal to people more than other ones would. So, if we did do something with pet play, would you um, like me to be a, a cow?” “If you were drawn to the idea, I’d be happy to explore that with you. But I was thinking something more along the lines of puppy play.” “So no milking?” you teased, hoping to cut through some of your awkwardness with humour.

Roger smiled, “No milking, no. The first thing that came to mind was a training type scene. It’s fairly classic in the world of puppy play but with good reason. Training is a big part of owning a puppy, reinforcing desired behaviours, teaching them what behaviour is acceptable, teaching them tricks. But training can also be part of many other kinks and sexual dynamic. Sometimes it’s intentional training, sometimes more subconscious in just aiming to handle more intense sensations or to explore wider within a preferred kink. Impact play fans might train to be able to enjoy being struck with a crop instead of just a paddle. Someone might do throat training to be able to deep throat more comfortably. A dom might train a submissive to say thank you after a spanking or to ask permission to cum before each orgasm. We’ve done some light anal training in that I gave you a plug and you wore it to help adjust to the sensation and so you could take me better that way. It’d be my hope that, if you were inclined to try it, a scene about training might be easier to enjoy than something more out there like milking. You don’t have to respond yet,” Roger hastened to add, “I still want to answer your second question before we even think about prac.”

You were relieved Roger didn’t require an immediate answer and that he hadn’t forgotten your initial questions because you weren’t sure you could make a decision without knowing more. But you supposed you could also see the logic in his idea and, the way he’d explained it, training didn’t seem as scary as some of the other things he’d mentioned.

“So the second part of your question is a little more complex.” He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, “You were curious how pet play can lead to sex when one person is acting like a literal animal. The answer is, the same way any other kink can lead to sex. Remember, it’s not about the animal, it’s about the dynamics. Playing as owner and pet is often just a variation of dom and sub – there's the power element, control, the stuff we’ve talked about in nearly every lesson. And, like I said before, the person taking on the pet role is probably also taking on a different personality than normal so that can contribute to the sex. But a large part of the kink community, I would even hazard a guess that it’s the majority, would tell you that any kink can also be fun when there’s no sex involved. With pet play specifically, it’s a fun excuse to dress up, to play, or curl up with someone you care about and have a nap. It can be comforting to feel as if someone owns you when you wear a collar for them. There is tenderness in having your hair brushed and being petted, feeling looked after and cared for. Pet play can just be a different way to express affection for someone.” “Not gonna lie, that sounds kinda nice.” “It really is. That doesn’t just go for pet play either. It is entirely possible to be in a kinky partnership with someone and never have sex. You will find that every single kink we have covered, someone out there enjoys it in a non-sexual way. Bondage, impact play, sensation play, you name it. Though, of course, different people define sex differently and have different boundaries around it. Go to enough kink events and munches and you realise how wide the spectrums for these sorts of things are.”

“So like, they’ll just be tied up and not fuck?” Roger chuckled, “Yeah, sometimes it really is just about the sensations and emotions involved in being restrained. If you continue to explore kinks after, uh, well after we complete this course, you may find that kinks you considered challenging or uncomfortable become more enjoyable when penetrative sex, or any sexual touch at all, isn’t part of it. It’s just about experimenting and figuring out what you enjoy and then defining those boundaries.” You felt a little sad at the reminder that your tutoring would eventually stop but tried not to show it too much. You figured that, as much as Roger might say he enjoyed teaching you, he was probably also at least somewhat looking forward to their end, just to be done with the risks to his teaching position if nothing else.

“Now, not to completely undercut that idea,” Roger said, pulling your attention back to his lesson, “but, if you are curious and okay with trying pet play, I was intending on steering it in a more sexual direction. That is the core point of these lessons after all, to learn about kink and how to safely incorporate it into sex. Of course, it’s helpful to keep in mind that what I’m teaching you isn’t the only way to enjoy these kinks and that enjoying being spanked or called names or engaging in role play doesn’t require an enjoyment of any sort of sex; but sex is kind of what we’re here for.” “So what are you thinking then?” “I’ve already suggested puppy play but did you have any other ideas yourself? I don’t want to tell you what pet to be if there's an idea that interested you or something you’re more drawn to. Role playing as a pet might feel a bit different to role playing as my groupie, and I’d prefer you to be comfortable with the selection than just to do what I want.”

“I don’t know, um, I guess my only thought was just not a cow.” You gave a little shrug, feeling pleased when Roger laughed, “If you think puppy play is a good staring point for me, then I’m happy to go with that. How exactly would it lead to sex though? I’m still not sure I understand that part of pet play.” Roger hummed in thought, “I think obedience and training is a very easy way to incorporate sex into a puppy play scene. I can reward you with physical touch when you obey my orders, or punish you if you don’t. Remember, you’re not being a dog you’re taking on personality traits and actions that align with behaviour common to dogs, but you’re a consenting adult who likes being spanked, so, if you want that tonight, I can do it.” “I want it,” you said with an eager nod, the thought alone enough to make you squirm a little in your seat. Roger smiled, “Okay, good. So rewards and punishments can be an easy way to incorporate sex and other kinks. In addition to that though, I can order you to touch me, or to position yourself in particular ways with the intention of turning us both on. I can tell you to behave in ways that will make you feel humiliated or demeaned, which we both know you get off on, or incorporate degrading nicknames that feel thematically relevant, like calling you a bitch instead of a whore. Even just the act of being bossed around will probably contribute. And they don’t call it doggy style for nothing do they.”

You realised you were biting your lip, “I like the sound of that.” “I thought you might. Now there are a couple things to go over before we start, just so we’re both on the same page and know what to expect and what’s okay. Let me know if something doesn’t feel comfortable or doesn’t sound enjoyable okay?” You nodded expectantly, curious to hear what else Roger had in mind. “Now, while my intention is for this to involve sex, I do also understand how out of your comfort zone a lot of this is, so I’d want to ease you into it a bit and not focus on sex straight away. Um, I’m thinking that you’d be in just your underwear to start.” “Sounds pretty sexy,” you joked. Roger shook his head but he was clearly amused, “I never said it wouldn’t be sexy, just that it wouldn’t focus on sex right away. In addition though, and only if you’re comfortable with it, I have a collar with a lead that you can wear.”

You stomach flipped at the idea “Oh, um, a collar? Like a dog collar?” “Well, it looks sort of similar to one a actual dog might wear but it is definitely made for a human. I did mention collaring very, very briefly when we were looking at bondage. They can represent a few things but one of the more common reasons behind collaring a submissive is as a symbol of ownership. Not necessarily in a master/slave way, though of course it can be. But if the sub wore a collar to a kink event it would be a very clear signal that that person already has a dominant. And in private it can be a signal that they are still okay with submitting to their dom, that they’re willing to follow orders or participate in a scene.” “Could I maybe try it on first, see how it feels before I decide?” “Absolutely, when we’re done here I’ll get it for you. I’d have some specific expectations too around what you are and aren’t allowed to do, things that could contribute to punishments and rewards. Obviously obedience is a major part of this so my expectation is that if I order you to do something, you will do it. Of course, if something is way beyond what you feel comfortable with you can say your safe word,” “Pizzazz,” you said at his pause. “Very good, you can say pizzazz and we’ll stop. We can stop for good if you want or we can just use it as a pause in the scene to check in with each other and adjust things. Does that sound okay?” “Mmhmm, yeah, definitely.”

“Good. My other expectation is that you answer to puppy and pup. I may also use your name during the scene but I may decide to just call you pup, we’ll see how it feels in the moment. And in addition to that, I want you to respond accordingly to good girl or bad girl. Now, dogs can’t speak so I don’t expect to hear much talking from you unless I ask you a question and prompt you to answer with words, or of course if you want to safe word. You can make sounds though, whatever feels natural in the moment. If you feel like barking or whatever, go for it, but if that feels too weird don’t worry.” He gave you a reassuring smile, “Umm, anything else? Oh, yeah, uh, dogs also can’t walk on two legs,” he laughed a little, “So, I would also suggest that you crawl around on all fours. And if I ask you to fetch something you should carry it in your mouth where possible. Does that seem reasonable?” You readily agreed. Though the idea of crawling around hadn’t occurred to you initially, it made sense and you reasoned that being on the ground would probably contribute to feeling more puppy-ish, or at least more submissive.

“One final thing, and this is definitely not mandatory but I figured you might be into it. Do you want to wear a tail?” Your mind jumped straight to the box of dress up items your kindergarten class had had including dinosaur tails you could tie around your waist. Surely Roger had to mean something else, “Uhh, a tail?” Roger held up a finger, signalling you to sit tight, while he ducked out of the room. When he came back he held up a butt plug that, instead of tapering into the traditional shape on the outside end, was instead decorated with a fluffy tail. “These aren’t always used with pet play and there’s a few different varieties. Technically I think this one is meant to be a fox tail, but I only thought of it a few days ago so my options were limited. You can definitely get ones that aren’t so fluffy, ones shaped more like a cat or dog tail that are thinner, firmer. There are little fluff ball bunny tails, horse tails, you name it there's probably a plug out there. The question is, do you want to wear it?” Your decision came quickly, “I’ll wear it.” and then when Roger raised his eyebrows as if asking if you’d really thought it through you added, “I think it’s cute. And I think wearing a plug will help make me hornier which will help me get into the scene more.”

“Alright then,” Roger smiled, handing the plug over, “I also brought the collar over, if you wanted to have a look at it too before we start.” You nodded, though it made you much more nervous than the tail had, and gingerly took it from Roger. The leather was smooth and cool to the touch but the inside was lined with a softer material that you assumed was for the wearers comfort. It had a simple buckle clasp, much like a regular pet collar, and a heart shaped charm dangling from it where a name tag would be on a real dog collar. “Can you help me put it on?” Roger nodded moving behind you to buckle it around your throat. He was gentle, carefully fitting it and checking that it wasn’t too tight both verbally and by slipping two fingers under the collar, before he finally fastened it in place. You reached up to feel the soft leather, tilting your head in both directions as you adjusted to the sensation of it. Your fingers slipped down to the heart charm, the metal cool against your skin, and you felt your own heart quicken a little. You put it down to a few nerves now that you were on the verge of trying pet play, though you couldn’t totally forget what he’d said about ownership. Belonging to Roger didn’t sound too bad.

“What do you think of it?” “I don’t mind it. It’s not as uncomfortable as I guess I thought it might be. I guess I probably wouldn’t want to wear it all the time but for a specific scene I think I’m okay with it.” “Does that mean you’re interested in trying a pet play scene?” “Might as well,” you laughed. You knew he was checking for good reason, that he was just trying to be safe, but it was tempting to remind him you’d not once backed out of a practical lesson, “I don’t necessarily think it’ll be super my thing but I am curious enough to try it out.” “Alright, sounds good. Why don’t you go to the bathroom and get ready then, there's lube in the cabinet over the sink. Just give me a shout when you’re good to go.” You nodded, feeling surprisingly calm, and collected the tail from where you’d set it aside on the desk.

It took you a little while to get ready – a few minutes to compose yourself once you were alone, the idea of acting like a dog suddenly sounding much more ridiculous than Roger had made it sound, and then of course there was the plug to sort out. The collar was a slight distraction too. Not because it was uncomfortable or difficult to wear, though you couldn’t exactly forget it was there either. But the sight of it in the mirror would make you stop, your fingers rising to run over the leather. You were kind of amazed that it didn’t feel worse. You’d also dithered about for longer than you might have needed to, trying to decide if you should leave your bra on or discard it since you’d had to forgo your knickers to wear the tail. Roger would probably appreciate it, if not prefer it, if you were totally naked. But then again, the bra would keep your boobs in place which was probably preferable while you were crawling around on all fours. In the end, you kept the bra on though you’d first asked Roger his preference when he met you at the bathroom door. “It’s up to you,” Roger had said patiently, “although, I think I’m much more likely to cum prematurely and ruin my pants if you’re totally naked. Going to have a hard enough time as is.” He’d dropped his eyes deliberately to your cunt and you’d shifted where you stood, knowing he’d know if you squeezed your thighs together but tempted to do it all the same.

He let his gaze linger on your lower half, as if daring you, before he finally tore his eyes away, “Are you ready?” “Yeah,” you nodded, “I think so.” “Okay, then on the ground for me.” You lowered yourself to your knees right there in the hallway, and then to your hands. The carpet was a little rough against your knees and palms, the tail tickling the back of your thighs, but it was easy following Roger’s instructions and you waited for the next one, hoping he’d keep making it easy for you. “Good girl.” He leaned over you as he said it, a soft metallic sound drawing your attention though you kept as still as you could. “Time for walkies,” he announced as he straightened, “Go on pet.” You crawled down the corridor, your heart thumping as you realised just what a view you were giving Roger as he fell into step behind you. You weren’t sure where exactly Roger expected you to go but made an educated guess it would be the bedroom since that was where you usually ended up. It was open when you reached it which you figured meant you were right, however, before you could enter you felt the collar being tugged from behind and Roger tutted, making you stop. A leash was clutched in his hand when you turned to look. “Not in there pet. The lounge,” You nodded, readjusted your direction and set off again, practically able to feel Roger’s eyes on your arse and wondering if the tail was hiding much from view.

When you crawled through the doorway of the lounge, you were pleased to find Roger had spent his time getting the room ready. The coffee table had been dragged aside, pushed up against the wall so it wouldn’t be in the way, and the curtains had all been drawn so there was no chance of any nosey neighbours seeing anything, a couple of lamps softly lighting the room instead. But that wasn’t all he’d prepared. “You wanna play pup? Go get your ball,” Roger pointed towards the far side of the room where a fuzzy tennis ball sat on the floor, as he took a seat on the couch. You obediently crawled around the couch to the ball, lowering your head to pick it up with your teeth. But you paused a few inches from it.

“Uh, woof?” you said, feeling rather self-conscious, but wanting to get Roger’s attention. You succeeded, which you could tell by the way he was stifling a laugh, “Yes?” “This ball hasn’t been anywhere near a real dog, right?” Roger shook his head, “Brand new. I’m not that sadistic.” “Just checking,” you smiled, before picking the ball up between your teeth. You hadn’t experimented with gags in any of your lessons with Roger, at least not yet, but you had to imagine wearing a ball gag would feel similar to carrying this tennis ball like you were. It forced you to keep your mouth open, made it difficult to swallow which meant you could feel yourself getting drooly as you crawled back towards Roger. He held out his hand and you dropped the ball into it, finding it difficult to ignore how being on the ground put you closer to his cock. It was a small step from noticing that to realising Roger was beginning to stiffen, and then to realise he was probably at least partly aroused from seeing you drooling with a stuffed mouth and naturally you couldn’t help but wonder if he intended to use your mouth at all.

“Good girl,” Roger cooed, no idea what was going on through your head, as he reached out with his free hand to stroke your hair like he was patting a dog. You couldn’t help but lean into his touch, the praise making you feel warm and pleased and eager to earn more, although your instant reaction to Roger’s positive reinforcement made you think maybe he’d had a point when he suggested puppy play. You were turning into Pavlov’s bloody dog, getting aroused whenever Roger praised you. “Alright, pup, you ready to learn some tricks?” You gave an affirmative hum, hoping he’d find it an acceptable response and not demand you bark instead. Thankfully he seemed fine with any non-verbal response because he smiled and moved toward the centre of the room, dropping down to his knees, “Here girl.” At a click of Roger’s fingers you crawled over to join him, earning another good girl but this time the praise was accompanied by his touch. His fingers dipping between your legs to rub your exposed cunt.

“I’m glad you chose the tail over your knickers,” he said softly, “Think you might be too,” he added as he drew his fingers away, the tips glistening with your slick. You whined in response and nodded. Roger gave you a wink and then he was back to business, “Alright pup, we’re going to learn a few tricks today. Let’s start with an easy one, sit.” You weren’t a hundred percent sure what Roger wanted but you thought the most likely option was to rest back against your heels. “So close, pet,” Roger cooed, his hands firm on your knees as he directed you to open them, “Gotta keep your legs spread so I can reward you properly. Let’s try again, all fours now.” You felt a little annoyed at yourself for not realising, and hurried to obey him, eager to show you could get it right.

“Sit,” You sat back again, your arse against your heels, the plug being pressed firmly into you, your knees open. Roger took full advantage of your position, his fingers slipping between your pussy lips as he praised you again, drawing a soft moan from you. The sound of pleasure seemed to be Roger’s signal to withdraw his fingers, “Time to learn another trick, pup. When I tell you to beg I want you to sit just like this but put your paws up,” He physically directed you as his spoke, positioning your hands at chest height, elbows bent, fingers curved over your palms. “And whine so I know you need something.” You felt a little silly but whining wasn’t too hard since you did want him to keep touching you. “Such a smart puppy girl,” Roger said as he rewarded you again, each stroke of his fingers making you more eager to have him inside you. “Right, we’re gonna learn another trick now. Lay down.” You bit back a disappointed groan as he removed his touch again, and did as you assumed he wanted, stretching out on your front.

“Roll over,” Perhaps the increasing horniness was hindering your thought process because for a moment you didn’t understand what Roger meant. Did he want you to roll across the floor to the other side of the room? How would that be arousing for him? The whole situation seemed suddenly ridiculous and you forgot you weren’t meant to speak, “Really?” “Pup,” Roger’s tone was warning, “Do what I say now. Roll over.” “Sorry Sir,” you hurried to say as you prepared to roll yourself across the room until he told you to stop, still not sure why he’d be turned on by such a thing but willing to find out. But a full 360-degree turn was not what Roger had in mind. He stopped you once you were on your back, his eyes raking over your bra clad chest and then down to your bare cunt. You felt yourself blushing, partly from how he was staring and partly because you felt silly for thinking he’d jack off to you literally rolling around. Turning onto your back made much more sense.

Roger shuffled a little closer on his knees, “When I say roll over, this is what I want to see. But next time I expect you to put your arms and legs up too.” Once again he directed you as he explained, guiding your limbs into the air, knees and elbows bent. “This way I can see everything I own.” He gently parted your knees a little further so he could easily stoke between them, toying with your clit. “I can properly reward you for following my orders. Or punish you for speaking out of turn.” You yelped as he suddenly spanked your pussy but he was quick to sooth the pain, or at least distract you from it as his fingers dipped into your entrance. You moaned, willing Roger to press deeper, to give you more, catching yourself right before you’d added his name and a potentially pathetic, “please”.  Begging would only work if you kept your words to yourself. But at that moment Roger seemed inclined to reward you, his other hand coming up to rub your clit again as he started working his fingers further into you.

His paused again as his phone began to ring from where he’d left it forgotten on the couch. He rolled his eyes, “ignore it, it can go to voicemail.” You nodded, trying to block out the ringtone and focus on how Roger was touching you, his fingers pressing deeper and faster as if he were trying to make up for the annoyance of the phone. "Finally” Roger muttered under his breath as the call rang out and the phone fell silent. His fingers were still plunging into you, stroking you just right, pushing you closer to release. Your moan broke off in a disappointed squeak as Roger unexpectedly withdrew his hand, his mobile sounding once more. “Jesus,” he sighed exasperatedly as he shuffled on his knees until the still trilling phone was within reach, hastening to deny the call. “Right, where were we?” his voice softened slightly as he turned back to you but a moment later he was swearing as his landline began to ring. You sighed and let your limbs drop to the floor, craning your neck to look at Roger upside down, “Maybe you should take that.” “I should’ve taken the bloody thing off the hook,” he rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Alright pup, sit.” You dutifully scampered back to your knees, taking up the position he’d taught you. “Stay.” You smiled in acknowledgment, a little amused he was continuing with the role play.

Waiting was easier said than done.  Roger’s home phone was corded but the distance from where it hung to the doorway of the lounge was close enough that he could remain on the line whist he paced into your field of view and then back out. You caught snippets of the conversation – heard him apologise for missing the call and that he had company – and tried to work out who had called. “Mmhmm,” Roger hummed as he moved back into the doorway, “Well look now's not really a great time for m-. No, of course not.” Roger rolled his eyes and then threw you an apologetic glance.  You smiled back, his constant walking making you too wary to move from your position. He’d told you to sit and stay after all, he’d definitely notice if you rearranged yourself. But the longer the phone call went on, the more uncomfortable you became. Your knees grew stiff and you had to wiggle around to keep from getting pins and needles. Without Roger there egging you on, keeping you in the moment, stimulating you, the whole puppy thing started to feel even more silly than it had at the start. You couldn’t deny you were wet (it was hard to ignore) but you felt that was probably more to do with Roger than the scene itself. Although, perhaps you weren’t being totally fair in your judgement due to your current rising discomfort. You pondered the lesson so far, trying to work out how exactly you felt about pet play and how it was Roger could so affect you, trying to subtly shift yourself without being noticed. The tail plug was much closer to the forefront of your mind now, firm on one end and tickling you from the other and you were starting to feel a little chilly, close to naked as you were, but worst of all was the sudden realisation you needed to pee.

When Roger next crossed in front of the doorway you waved to get his attention and tried to tell him you were going to the bathroom with a lot of pointing. He didn’t seem to understand but he did seem amused, leaning in the doorway and holding up a palm to signal you to stay. You frowned and whined softly. Roger smirked as he said, “oh, I totally understand,” to whoever had called. He seemed to enjoy tormenting you because he stayed there, watching as you squirmed, and you were sure he was letting the conversation go on unnecessarily. At first you tried to beat him at his own game, attempting to ignore your growing need, but that just made you think about it more. You whined in desperation, louder than you’d meant to. As soon as you realised that Roger had heard the sound your attention snapped back to him. He chuckled into the reciever, “Nah, I’m dog sitting at the moment. No, no, I can see her from here, she's fine.”

It was mortifying to think someone else had heard you and you blushed as you pouted at Roger, but he seemed more amused than moved as he revealed he still had the tennis ball and rolled it towards you. At first you just let it sit where it had come to a stop near your knee but Roger clicked his finger and pointed at it. With a sigh you bent over, shuffling back a little so you could pick it up with your mouth again. Roger hummed into the receiver before mouthing a clear, “good girl,” at you. Unsure what exactly Roger wanted, you tentatively made to crawl towards him, but he stopped you with a raised palm. It seemed he wanted you to just sit there and wait, feeling yourself beginning to drool from the ball in your mouth, but unable to forget your bladder despite your arousal. Finally it became too much and you steeled yourself to beg for permission.

At first you stayed quiet, raising your hands to the position Roger had shown you, adjusting your posture so your back was straight and your chest was pushed towards him in the hopes it’d help persuade. Roger just looked at you expectantly and you realised he wanted you proper humiliated. Squeezing your eyes shut you whined into the tennis ball still between your lips. It took another louder whine before Roger became convinced. “Hold on one sec, I think she needs to go outside.” If you hadn’t been so embarrassed and distracted you’d have given Roger credit for doing such a remarkable job sounding natural when there was so much laughter in his eyes. He disappeared for a second as he placed the phone down, returning with a snort. “It’s not funny,” you pouted, holding the tennis ball out to Roger. “It is a bit,” but he took the ball from you, “What are you begging for?” “I need to go to the bathroom.” “Ask me again if you can go.” “Can I go?” Roger casually threw the ball to himself, “Dog’s can’t talk. Ask me properly.”

Silently cursing Roger, you let out another whine, trying to make it sound pathetic and desperate. “Doesn’t sound like you need it that badly. Maybe I should make you hold it until I’m through with my phone call.” You whimpered at the thought and raised yourself a little higher on your knees, hoping Roger would be open to some bargaining. He was standing close enough that you only had to shuffle forward a little to be able to rub your face along the front of his pants, whining and whimpering and pausing every now and again to look up at Roger and check he was understanding. If his arousal had diminished during the break, it was quickly returning. You could feel him as you mouthed around his fly, licking and panting against his hidden length. “Oh she is desperate.” He teased, crossing his arms over his chest (which you assumed was to stop himself from grabbing you). “She must be if she’s offering to suck me off.” You nodded, sucking on some of the fabric near his tip. Roger hummed, “I do love putting my cock in your mouth. Unfortunately,” he stepped back, “I have a call to finish up. I want you back here and sitting like a good girl by the time I’m done.” “Thank you thank you thank you,” You scrambled to your feet, pausing just long enough to kiss Roger’s cheek before you hurried past him to the bathroom. “Sorry that took so long,” you heard him say as he picked up the phone again, “Continue.”

When you returned to the lounge, bladder in a much more comfortable state, Roger had taken a seat on the couch and was looking at his mobile. “That was so mean!” you said, moving towards him and perching yourself on the arm of the chair, very aware you still wore the tail plug. Roger laughed, “But you were such a good girl. And I like hearing you whine.” “Should make you hold it, see how whiney you get.” You immediately realised what you’d said and felt your face warm. But Roger seemed flustered too. There was a definite flush on his cheeks when he said, “We both know I’d be into it,” that made the statement all the more sincere and not at all the deflection he was aiming for.

“So would you also be a puppy? Or a different animal?” You asked, your curiosity beating out your embarrassment. “Roger thought for the moment, “I think I prefer being a cat. I like to be pampered.” You giggled and, without thinking, reached out to scratch the top of his head like you’d scratch behind a cat’s ear. Roger leaned into your touch. “And, um,” you didn’t know what to do next and tried to cover the awkwardness with a question, “what would you differently as a kitten compared to a puppy?” “Well,” Roger shifted his hips, “a lot of the basics are similar – with both of them you can have the pet drink water from a bowl or play with toys. With a kitten I’d expect grooming to be part of it, like brushing my hair. If I wanted to still be more dominant whilst being kitteny, I might stalk you around the house and pounce on you. But usually if I’m acting as the pet I prefer to be on the subbier side, just being petted and pampered... maybe encouraged to lick my owner.” You felt even more embarrassed at the hints about oral but the thought did cross your mind that perhaps you would enjoy such an act more if it was occurring at your command. Doing it because you felt it was expected or simply to please a lover felt embarrassing and awkward but if you felt in control of it maybe it would be easier to enjoy the sensations. Roger had proven you could enjoy it if certain conditions were met, perhaps being blind folded and dommed wasn’t the only way.

*****

It was only then you realised your hand was still in Roger’s hair, absentmindedly playing with it, and your thoughts switched from how it might feel to order him to go down on you to what other parts of him you could be petting and stroking. Roger was watching you as closely as he could, enjoying the sensation of your fingers in his hair, but whatever was going through his own mind he kept to himself. However his rapidly stiffening cock gave him away a little. You withdrew your hand suddenly which seemed to be a signal for Roger to get the lesson back on track. “And what about my puppy? Are you still okay with it?” You nodded, “Yeah, lets keep going.”

“Alright, well I really should punish you for getting back here late. You were meant to be done before my phone call finished.” “That’s unfair,” “No, that’s the rules. But maybe you can convince me you’re still a good girl. On the floor, now.” You quickly dropped to your hands and knees, as eager to prove yourself as you were to distract yourself from the weird moment you’d just shared. “Alright, lets see how much you remember. Sit.” You quickly moved into position. “Beg.” You put your hands up and made a small whimpery whine. “Roll over. Good girl.” Each time you followed an order Roger had rewarded you with some brief touch- squeezing your breasts through your bra, letting his fingertips trail seductively along your body, teasing your clit, but it never lasted long enough. “Clever pup,” Roger’s voice was low and gravelly, “back to all fours.”

You were a little surprised, even a little put out that, that he’d not climbed over you, not taken his cock out of his pants, not made any move to fuck you. Thankfully he decided it was a good time to move things along, standing up so you got a good view of just how aroused he was, and moving to kneel behind you. It meant he could better feel you up, able to reach the parts he wanted to touch most with greater ease, his fingers firmer than they had been before. You became a little breathless, the combination of the series of tricks he’d had you perform with how his fingers felt running over and between your pussy lips. Your breathing came harder and before you knew it, you were panting in anticipation, your tongue sticking out over your bottom lip. “Fucking hell,” Roger said softly, “Okay pup, show me just how horny you are,” he pushed lightly between your shoulders, guiding you to lower your chest and raise your hips, presenting your arse and cunt to him. He still wasn’t in a particular rush though, opting to tease you a little more first. Roger started by stroking the tail you wore and making the plug shift within you before reaching for your cunt again. “Someone enjoyed being my pet, didn’t they pup?” You whined and nodded against the floor, trying to push back against Roger’s fingers.

He chuckled at how eager you were and allowed two fingers to slip inside you, working them in and out until he could comfortably fit a third. You moaned as he stretched you, trying to help by rocking back against his fingers as much as he would allow. It was distracting enough that you nearly missed the sound of Roger’s zip coming down as he hurried to get himself ready with his free hand. “Been such a good girl,” he grunted as he one handedly worked his pants down a little further, “Gonna get a very big reward.” You whimpered as his fingers left you, but you knew they’d soon be replaced by something even better though waiting for it was almost torture, especially when Roger used the slick you’d left on his hand to lube his cock. Thankfully he was more interested in fucking you than toying with you any longer and he only stroked himself a couple of times before he began to sink into you. Your breath hitched as his head pressed into you but it was quickly followed by a moan, echoed by Roger as he sank into your warmth.

He went slow to start, carefully pulling partway out and easing himself back in, testing to make sure you were wet enough that he could move comfortably. He grunted as he sank deeper, “Take me so well, sweetheart. Must really love feeling owned with how fucking wet you are.” You shivered as Roger leaned forward, his gravelly voice getting closer as his cock seemed to push even deeper, the sensations all capped off with a sudden sharp pinch as he lowered his head and bit a spot on your side. It made you yelp, more from surprise than anything else, but you felt yourself clench around his length too. When he straitened up again he was chuckling, “Oh pup, you make it so easy for me.” His hands slipped back to your waist, one gently caressing your arse as he moved the tail aside, and gave a quick tug, pulling you into him.

Your breath hitched as he suddenly completely filled you, but he barely gave you time to remember how to breathe before he pressed in again. The temperate test thrusts Roger had given became quick and hard as if his eagerness to have you had won out over his self-restraint from moments before. “Oh fu-u-u-ck,” you moaned, voice jolting as his cock filled you again and again, a rapid pace you had no hope of matching. Your arse suddenly stung as Roger lay a loud slap that made you squeal. “No talking, remember. Still my pup.” You whimpered as he gave you another slap to drive the point home. “Just my horny bitch,” he grunted, “Who practically goes into heat whenever she sees me.” A third slap was swiftly followed by a rough thrust, making you whine and then moan. For a moment Roger shifted all his efforts into his hips, making you squeal with each hard stroke of his cock,  but then he eased off and another string of slaps landed against you. He made it clear that the spanks were for being late as well as speaking out of turn, which only seemed fair when they felt so good. And then, once he was satisfied, he focused once again on fucking you senseless.

At first you were worried you’d slip up again, accidentally say a word instead of keeping your vocalisations to simple noises of pleasure, and in doing so bring forth another run of spanks that would make you clench but delay the orgasm you wanted. But it quickly ceased to be a factor. Between Roger’s cock filling you just right and him giving a new order to rub your clit, it was nearly impossible to even think of a real word let along get your mouth to form them. Even when he slowed his thrusts down again you were in little danger of saying anything comprehensible. That was when he decided to put the tail plug to a more specific use than just decoration, spitting on your arsehole so he could fuck you with it. Really all you could do was take what he was giving, whining and moaning, and eventually cum. He did make you work for it though, panting as he told you to wait for permission. You’d never been made to wait for it before, at least not in this way, and you let your fingers slow their motions around your clit, afraid of hitting your release too fast. But the barrage of stimulation from the plug and Roger’s cock were enough to get you close. You squeezed your eyes shut and whimpered loudly, hoping Roger would understand what it meant.

“Cum, pet” You couldn’t do it immediately but you hastily worked your fingers over your clit again, so close but not quite tipping over the edge. You jolted with another spank, “I told you to cum.” Roger’s voice was low, a little breathless but entirely in control. You whined, as you tried to do what he wanted, though your fingers felt stiff and clumsy. There was another spank and then Roger pressed the plug into you, holding it down as he rammed his cock deep. Perhaps it was the shock of both combined with your frantic rubbing, or maybe he just managed to hit the right spot at the right time, but you couldn’t help but tighten suddenly, moaning and shaking as you fell into your orgasm. “There you go,” he grunted, giving the plug a little jiggle to keep you stimulated as you came. You would have fallen limp if you’d been in another position, but Roger was still filling you and his grip was once again tight on your hips which kept your knees from giving out. Instead you just twitched from the aftershock, and whined when you felt him slowly pull back and sink in again. “Stay there, pup, I need to cum too.” The breath you’d only just begun to catch caught in your throat as Roger resumed fucking you, going neither as hard as he had or as slow as you might have liked. He didn’t bother with the plug though, focusing only on how your wet cunt felt around his cock. Thankfully it wasn’t long before he was holding himself deep, the grunts he’d made on each thrust giving way to moans as he came within you.

*****

“Good girl,” Roger said softly, tapping your thigh gently as he pulled out. He shuffled out from behind you, moving to your side as he tucked himself away, and then sat heavily down on the floor. You allowed yourself to sag too and, knees a little sore, lowered yourself onto your back. “Do you want a hand up?” “In a minute,” you sighed, the thought of getting up too much to contemplate immediately, “Have you got anything I can cover myself with?” “You mean you don’t want to lie naked on my living room floor?” Roger quipped, simultaneously reaching for a throw that was decorating the couch and then grabbing a cushion as well. You just laughed, tucking the cushion under your head, “Seems a bit unfair that you get to wear pants is all.” “Thats the perks of being the dom.” He tapped you teasingly with his foot, “How’d you find it all?” “It was interesting,” you thought for a moment before continuing, “I think it’s another kink that like wouldn’t be the first thing I would think of but isn’t a hard no either. Like, I think it’s probably the stupidest I’ve felt during one of our lessons...well maybe the queening beats it, but still, I felt like a fucking tit at first.” Roger laughed, “You got into it though.” “Yeah I did. And I definitely understand it better now, but it wasn’t my favourite.”

He hummed thoughtfully looking over at you with a soft expression you couldn’t quite pinpoint, “That’s similar to how I feel about pet play too. I can be into it with the right person and stuff, but it’s not a go to of mine.” You lay in a comfortable silence for a moment, considering things. Logically you knew Roger had favourite kinks and scenes he preferred over others, but it wasn’t something you’d properly thought of before. Maybe because he was so confident and capable at everything he’d taught you so far, it felt like all of them were his favourites. After a moment Roger interrupted your thoughts, “Hey, you okay? Not too overwhelmed?” “No, not at all, just thinking.” You pushed yourself onto your elbows to better see Roger, “Are you good?”

“I am,” Roger smiled, scooting a little closer. “Did you have any other questions regarding pet play? Anything you’re still curious about? “Uhhh, yeah I guess so, um,” you instantly felt awkward as you tried to phrase your question, “When you wanted me to, uh, finish when you told me to....what was that about?” Roger chuckled, “I s’pose I should have been ready for that question since we’ve not actually touched on it in a lesson. I guess it’s mostly closely related to orgasm delay or orgasm denial. Have you heard of them before?” “Maybe? I think I’ve seen denial mentioned online.” “Well, basically it’s when you delay or stop yourself or your partner from having an orgasm. There’s a bunch of different reasons to play with it and ways to do it. With our scene, because we’d spent so long working on you obeying commands and performing certain actions when told to, I thought it would make sense, and be kind of hot, if you came on command too. I’d be happy to do a full lesson on it next time if you want.”

“That does sound interesting but if I remember your curriculum plan thing correctly, shouldn’t we be getting to CNC next?” “Oh so now you’re paying attention to my curriculum huh?” Roger sat up straighter and, sensing the shift to a more serious topic, you followed, letting the blanket drop since you were wearing your bra. “That was my plan yes. And of course we can stick to that original plan if you feel ready to move on. But I’m also happy to spend more time on other kinks first, even just other role plays. We could play doctor.” You laughed, “Tempting offer, I think you’d make a pretty hot doctor. But I do think I’d like to learn at least the theory of CNC. It feels like an important topic and I think I’d prefer to do it sooner rather than later.” Roger sighed softly, “You’re right, we should cover it so we don’t run out of time. I’m just very conscious that this is a heavier topic than anything else we’ve covered. Some parts of it might get tough. And I really want to make sure to approach it with the right amount of gravity, without making it seem super scary.” You placed a hand on his knee, “I know that, and I appreciate it a lot.” Roger gave you a soft smile before another slight sigh, “I that case, yes, next lesson will be looking at consensual non-consent. I have been thinking about this lesson a lot actually and I had an idea of something we could a bit different, especially if you decide to go ahead with a practical lesson after we cover the theory.” “Different how?” Your question came out of curiosity not concern since you trusted that Roger’s ideas would be about your safety, but you couldn’t think of any ways to change what you were doing. “Well, because we’d potentially be role playing a non-consensual sexual encounter, I thought it might be a good idea to do it somewhere else.” “Like where? A hotel or something?” “No, no, nothing so public. Um, I have a little cottage a couple of hours out of the city. It was a family holiday house, but it doesn’t get used for that as much now. I thought we could go there for the weekend.”

Your breath caught at the idea of going away with Roger but you did your best to keep your voice steady, not too excited, as you asked, “How come?” "Well firstly, the neighbours are a little further away there so there’s much less risk of anyone misinterpreting whatever scene we would potentially be playing out and calling the cops on us. Plus, no one there would recognise you’re my student if they did see us together. Not to make it sound like some sort of bachelor pad or sex dungeon, but the last few times I’ve been there it has been for kink hookups so, even if we were spotted together, they’d probably just assume I’m bringing another girl over. Plus, because we are looking at CNC, a more unfamiliar location might help make the scene better. Assuming that we did that. Even if we went away, I wouldn’t expect you to participate in an actual CNC scene if you didn’t feel fully comfortable doing so.” You nodded but didn’t say anything, your stomach flipping uncomfortably with a mix of nerves about how serious Roger was being and excitement at the idea of going on a weekend trip with him. “But, more importantly, I want you to still feel safe in this house. I know CNC is technicaly what we’ve been building to but, since you’re so familiar with the curriculum, I’m sure you remember that it isn’t the last topic I suggested. I know I’m repeating myself but I’m happy to explore any kinks we haven’t covered or revisit kinks we have in the last weeks before the wedding, and I want you to feel okay doing that. CNC can be tough, it can be scary. It can play with sensations and emotions related to rape. And the last thing I want is for you to feel like I have raped you in what was previously a safe space. By moving the lesson to a different location, we could hopefully contain everything in a place that you won’t have to return to.” You nodded soberly, “That sounds good.” “Okay, well then, this weekend?” “Yeah, this weekend.”

[miiilowo]

hey guys so genshin impact has been downloading for like 10 fucking hours nowbecause its downloading 1mb per second which ends up being like. hours long so if anyone knows how to fix it id appreciate the help. I've tried like. basically everything including the like command prompt trick and it hasn't really done much. idk why genshin does this but i kind of like want to gamble my savings (that i don't actually have rn) away instead of just staring at those 2 stupid fuck twins. i don't like this game. related note if anyone knows of a game LIKE genshin that doesn't suck taint balls and cock id also like to know because its so laggy and the updates suck dude and you save for months and end up getting a shit polearm none of your characters can use because you have all sword users on ur team which is LAME AS FUCK but whatever. anyways the new anniversary thing where u get a free 5 star is really cool I'm probably gonna get mona even tho i COULD get a c1 tighnari which would be fun but i don't actually remember what c1 does. i know i like mona tho. also the primogems and wishes are pretty cool. I'm not gonna pull for anyone but that's cause i wanna wait for the leopard girl xilonen i think her name is. i wish this game made her like. tan. because that'd make her hair n clothes stand out more but i really like her rollerskates. anyways send me hate asks instead pls pls pls pls pls please god pls please it'd be so funny

does anyone wanna help this guy witb his Genshin Impact download speed

[goldensunset]

trying to brainstorm cool challenges and gimmicks in pokémon that could make for difficult and interesting moments:

•de-evolution. imagine you’re in the middle of battle and your opponent pulls some devious new trick on you and suddenly your final evo is a baby/teenager again. granted there may be advantages to this in certain situations but generally i think it would be a problem lol. could be a brief temporary issue that lasts the duration of the battle or it could be a thing where it’s actually difficult to get it back up to an evolution level of exp. if not de-evolution it could just be like a reduction in levels and stats. perhaps it even forgets certain moves (but you’re at least prompted to remember older weaker moves)

•arrogant cheating trainer who just keeps sending out more pokémon even after you’ve defeated their six. yes i’m thinking like volo but on crack. just keep going straight up and give no indication of when they’re gonna stop. perhaps it’s even nearly infinite and it’s a fight you’re not actually even supposed to win; just a battle to see how long you can hold out. someone in this universe other than the player character who has several boxes full of pokémon and somehow manages to access those files during battle so they can just draw out hordes of pokémon almost infinitely

•something where you as the trainer temporarily lose the ability to command your pokémon, and for a few turns they just wing it and try using any moves they know on their own. i’m thinking like horrible ai here. you can act otherwise (really just use items) but you can’t call out to your pokémon to either tell them to use moves or to switch them out, and there’s no item to fix whatever happened to make it this way. the reasoning could be something like your pokémon is experiencing a special type of confusion (like a lack of comprehension of human speech. or it could just be temporary deafness), or it could be like some sort of magic barrier got put up in between you two, or someone karate chopped you in the throat and now you can’t speak lol. or there was interference with the bond you two share within your hearts or w/e idk. maybe it was never about physically speaking at all idk how it works. you basically just have to wait and pray for a couple turns in a row that your team can act intelligently on its own. bonus if your success in this is dependent on preexisting friendship/affection

•not even a gimmick just. trainer with a good ai who can use all the same items in battle that you can. including revives. also their mons all have good held items

•again not even a gimmick but. trainers who specialize in a type should have a lot more dual types on their teams

•something where the type chart gets randomly shuffled around- suddenly you actually don’t know what’s super effective against what anymore. every move is a gamble. you click water against fire but reality has been turned 45 degrees today and for some reason fire is immune to water. ice is now good against normal. universe is having a silly goofy day and your ground type gets completely eviscerated by an electric type move. flying is weak to fire. bonus points if this isn’t just like the new normal in whatever gimmick region/game this is, but if it literally does change every time. bonus bonus points if there really is a secret pattern though that you can study to at least give you some idea

[marionthegreat]

Ignorance is Bliss

Bright hazel eyes peered into mine, and it seemed like the boy was looking past me into my soul. I froze in my place. I could see the wall through him. Moisture built up on my palms, causing them to get clammy. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I had to have been going crazy. He wasn’t real because ghosts aren’t real. I must’ve not been getting enough sleep at night. My mind must’ve been playing tricks on me, and I was hallucinating everything. That was the only logical explanation.

Slowly, I resumed my work. If I ignored it, it would go away. I forced my gaze back down on a paper and wrote, my hand shaking with each movement. Every couple of seconds, I would sneak a glance his way. He was unwavering, still in the same spot with the same face. My throat tightened. My heart was beating out of my chest, and there was a loud thumping in my ears. It was getting difficult to overlook him.

“You can’t ignore me forever,” he spoke, sounding annoyed.

I froze again, this time at the sound of his voice. It was soft, almost gentle sounding, but a shiver traveled down my spine. My head turned to him instantly, as if I was being controlled. The boy was ethereal. Seeing him hurt my eyes because of how brightly he shone compared to me. He was beautiful, with a clear complexion and dark hair framing his face.

“I’m not ignoring you,” I began. “Just busy with work, you know. I don’t know what you did back in your day, but we work now…” My hands shook uncontrollably, and I was struggling to keep my cool. By that point, I think my brain was numb from shock. Maybe I was losing it. I was rambling on and on to a ghost, and I don’t think he liked it too much. His face twisted into one of disgust and disdain as I continued. “Be quiet, you’re so annoying,” the boy interjected, “But don’t worry too much, you’ll learn to listen. That’s the way it always goes.” I nodded and closed my mouth. My breath caught in my throat. His voice commanded my attention, and I was powerless to resist.

Sitting in my chair, silence filled the room. Goosebumps prickled my skin. His presence caused the room to feel colder than it should have been. The air was thick and difficult to breathe in, a slightly sweet scent lingering around him. He remained silent, and so did I, prompting me to stand up and leave. He didn’t stop me. Back at my apartment, I could sleep and forget he existed. It would be easy. That’s why I remained so levelheaded. The simple way out would be to forget and ignore the problem, not try to face it head-on. That would only cause more issues for me, and I don’t need more stress.

When I arrived back at my rickety shack of an apartment, I swung open the door, and the stale air from inside the room punched me in the nose. I had never been so thrilled to be back. My insanity was causing me to be happy about my living situation. What was next? Would I start enjoying my job? My shoes came off, and I threw my bag on the floor. I walked into my bedroom, the floorboards creaking with every step, and fell on the bed. As soon as my body hit the mattress, I was out.

I was back in my dreams. I could almost forget the ghost boy and his awful attitude until I felt his presence near me. The coldness around him, the spitefulness he exuded. I was asleep, yet I couldn’t escape him even then. I wasn’t safe from him in my dreams, my unconscious sanctuary. My eyes squeezed shut, tighter. He caused me only to remember what I was, barely above the poverty line and a hair away from being put in a psych ward. I exhaled, sinking deeper into my sleep. The chill was still there, but I could worry about that tomorrow.

Word Count: 689

(Author's Note: I always think the most recent chapter is the best one so far, but this one was actually the most fire one. If you enjoyed it, make sure to read the other chapters and leave a little like or comment! Also, if you have any questions, be sure to leave them in the ask box thingy!! :D ) Previous Chapter: In The Quiet

[darth-sonny]

Hi Sonny ! I just read all the post I could find on your Prime Leo Au (though I'm not sure I found everything... I don't know if you ever explained why Kraang Prime needed an Host in the first place). And it gave me thoughts !

First about why Kraang Prime wouldn't want Donnie as an Host despite his smart (yes I know we're well past that but bear with me please ?), there's also that Donnie's knowledge and smarts is primarily on machinery, engineering and programing. But considering that Kraangs rely much more on biological means for their technology, that really wouldn't match well. And since I'm a fan of the Medic Leo headcanon, I also headcanon as interested and good at anatomy, biology and biochemistry. So even there he's a better fit for Kraang Prime that Donnie.

Second, remember that 4 (?) pages comic where we see Prime completely possessing Leo and explaining that Leo can't hear them coz in a dream world etc. It made me thought, what if Raph tried to mind meld Leo right then and there in an attempt to reach out to him. Except it doesn't reach Leo of course coz he's in too deep but it does reach Kraang Prime who's in front... And what if Kraang Prime decided to let it happen ? So Raph just mind meld with it for a few seconds ? Wouldn't that be fuck up or what ? (oh and Prime would be a bastard about it too commenting things like "oh~ it tingle", "You wish to enter right ? Very well I'll allow it")

Ans I know this one won't happen officially in the story (coz if so they would realize Leo's touch aversion wayyyy before Leo himself told them) but if the Fam does enter Leo's Dream World, imagine if Prime, that sick bastard, go "visit" Leo at the same time. I already had that idea as soon as I read about the Dream World but it got back full force when I read how Prime was really "touchy" with Leo, making him uncomfortable. There isn't 1 person in this massive family that wouldn't snap seeing this and I would be here for it.

(In fact, if you're still taking art suggestion, I think that it would be very cool if you could draw the moment where Kraang Prime is there "greeting" the Bros in the Dream World while having his hands on a Leo that is frozen in discomfort while the Bros are also frozen but in shock and stupor because they are still processing what they are seeing. Only if you want of course 👉👈 👀)

another long folks strap in!!

also hii @louve-garoue !!

1.) the answer on why Prime needs a Host: it's honestly easier commanding armies when you have a physical body to help you do that, yknow??

2.) yep! when there's an entire race of aliens who's tech is biorganical, it makes sense taking control of someone who knows how the body works in every aspect. also, to Prime, Donnie is just a smarter than everage baby sooooo

3.) shoot! i legit forgot about mind melding when i made that!! but i'm gonna have to disagree with you; the mind meld trick wouldn't reach Leo at all, and Prime isn't going to let anyone in to try and talk to Leo and help break him out. they'd be a huge dick to Raph about that and flaunt it ("awww, our former brute can't reach the Host~, how...tragic")

4.) ooooooooooo, that's gooood!!! it won't happen in the story "canon"-wise like you said, but it is still a good prompt (maybe i'll write it one day, who knows..). Prime just....forcibly and creepily touching Leo while the fam watches and they can't do anything about it and it pisses them off something good is just *chef's kiss*

for the drawing request, here's Prime playing with Leo's mask tails (pretend that they're looking at the fam while they do this, it was three in the morning when i finished and i straight up conked out)

[emonydeborah]

SNW and DISCO spoilers

so I watched the Una episodes of discovery with no other context. So it’s just the episode where they find the sphere and the last two episodes of season two.

they really go buckwild on this ship. Tilly is being eaten by fungus and no one tells anyone. Jett and the mushroom man get high and slap each other out of it. Also did Jett appear from the vents? Michael is having a family crisis. Saru asked his friend to help him commit ritual suicide and I think a part of his brain fell out. Also I didn’t know he spoke so many languages so that was cool.

they are so dramatic here. The shocked and horrified stares around at each other made the finale an hour long otherwise it would have been like 30 minutes. I expect this from Chris but good grief. The letters goodbye one bye one? Sarek and Amanda somehow showing up ahead of a whole fleet to tell Michael they love her? The sibling fight as the ship is being fired upon? (that one tracks actually) I like it for the big moments but are they always like this?? And is the “eyes up” thing a thing and why doesn’t Chris do it anymore?

I do like the found familyness I am sensing. The whole fam banding together to go with Michael was sweet. And their goodbye to Chris. This is the level of found family where I’d expect to find at least a few of those foster kid fanfics where they refuse to leave each other and the foster parents get six kids at once. I have not looked but I would be disappointed if there aren’t any.

Pike’s stepdad energy is so strong. The whole crew does what they want and loop him in when they feel like it. They are fine without him and have their own system and dynamics going on. He knows it, too, which is hilarious to watch from just knowing him from snw. He really just intervenes to keep his genius stepchildren from straying too far off the mission. They are running around like overexcited puppies (“the sphere is trying to communicate!!!!”) and he keeps them from gnawing on the walls. But he is a good stepdad in that he is ready to throw hands and use his ship as a shield so they can get away from section 31.

then as soon as he gets back to enterprise he brings all of the evil fbi apparently. Una is not surprised and has tricked out the whole ship and the shuttles for battle without prompt. She went Chris was out of my sight for too long we need to be ready to fight the galaxy.

and some more Una notes: Katrina Cornwell seemed tall and commanding until she stood next to Una and it was hilarious how small she was. Took me out of the dramatic bomb defusing moment but I still had fun. And Chris knew someone was going to die from that torpedo and got Una out as soon as he knew there were no other options. My pikeuna heart.

And Una choosing violence with the interrogation sent me. SNW fans know she has been hiding and afraid of scrutiny her whole life, and this is how she shows it. What a woman. She did not even tell them her name. Did we know she was Una at this point or was she Number One all the way until snw premiered?

“Follow the queen.” *Chris immediately looks at Una* I see you Chris.

it is obvious that they did not know how they were going to open snw with Chris being depressed and Una going missing but I liked their shock and happiness when Spock showed up beardless.

idk if I am intrigued enough to watch this whole show but I like Georgiou being their personal annoying gremlin. “Everybody hates you. Congratulations.” Also queen Po going if I die I die.

did not like Una going “in English please” to literally another navigator. We know she’s a genius let her be one y’all. If it were a science person going off a thousand words a minute I would allow it. But Una was talking to a pilot. Do better.

IN GENERAL, a good time. I was there for Una and she was not there much, but that was expected I guess. I was not prepared for how emotional discovery's crew would be. They are all in their feelings at all times. I liked them as a crew and maybe I will return one day.

[swaps55]

20 Fanfic Questions

Tagged by @cchickki. Thank you!

Tagging @urrone @westernlarch @bioticbooty @commander-krios and anyone else who feels so inclined!

How many works do you have on AO3?

47

2. What's your total AO3 words count?

944,833

I haven’t checked to see if Mezzo’s current word count will put me into 7 figures, but if it doesn’t, it’s close.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mass Effect. One trick pony right here.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Sonata – Sam and Kaidan fake dating.

Cantata – The Making of Commander Shepard, aka, a group of misfits find a home in each other. Also it’s an epically slow burn friends to idiots to soulmates.

Celestial Navigation – One of the rare times I wrote smut. The entire time I worked on it I was the equivalent of a hissing cat stuck in a tree.

Pieces Form the Whole – A collection of mshenko shorts, prompts, etc., featuring more or less a proto-Sam Shepard who isn’t Sam Shepard but eventually became him.

Fugue – Alchera and the 2 year gap. A story about finding hope in grief.  

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Sometimes I go through a low spoons period where they sit for a bit, but I have a rule that I cannot post anything new until I have responded to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts on a thing I wrote. Community is the best part of fandom. Having others to yell and flail with about the fictional people in my head is fucking incredible.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

A short in Pieces Form the Whole called Faraway, So Close, which is the only Angst Without a Happy Ending thing I have ever written. It is the fic that kicks puppies. It is less than 1,000 words and I will never write anything like it again.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Not sure I have ever written about two happier people than Sam and Kaidan at the end of Sonata.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope. The occasional odd comment, but I haven’t gotten any hate, thankfully.

9. Do you write smut. If so what kind?

When a story calls for it, I write it, though I’m too ace to write much smut for the sake of smut. I don’t have anything against it; smut just doesn’t interest me much unless the conditions are right. Couldn’t tell you what the conditions are. I just know them when I see them.  

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Crossovers and AUs aren’t usually my thing, but I have to admit I have been mildly tempted to write a Mass Effect/Stargate AU, because I sure wouldn’t have to work hard to set it up, and Sam Carter and Sam Shepard breaking physics would be tons of fun.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not translated, though I’ve had a couple of stories podficced, which is insanely cool!!!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Once, and it taught me rather painfully that cowriting is not something I am cut out for.  

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Shepard and Kaidan, to the surprise of no one.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

It’s pretty rare I start something I don’t finish. My head explodes if I try to work on more than one project at a time, so if I get invested in something it generally gets finished. I have a story called Cadenza that isn’t currently doing anything – because I can’t work on 2 things at once – that I really want to finish; I just don’t know when I’ll get there. But I really hope I will.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and combat are two things I have a very good time with.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I suck at setting. If reading that surprises you in any way, and hopefully it does, it is because I have worked very hard to suck less at it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have long envied the ability of others to write in other languages, and write dialect. I would love to be able to do it, but I suck at it. So add that to #17, lol.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Technically, it was The Black Stallion. I was probably eight. I sent The Black and Alec Ramsey to space.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Aww, don’t make me choose between my children. I love my stories. But gun to my head, long fic is probably Cantata. It was such a joy to write, and watching other people fall in love with OC characters I figured no one would care about was proof magic is real.

My favorite one shot is probably The Words That Change Us, an N7 day story that became the catalyst for all the Sam and Kaidan First Kiss AUs. Writing that story was an insane experience – I couldn’t write it fast enough. At one point I had two completely different conversations unspooling in my head at the same time. It’s so much fun to go back and read.

[princeescaluswords]

You Can't Be a Fox and a Wolf

This work is for @teenwolf-meta's Meta May Monday, for the prompt transformation.

In The Divine Move (3x24), working from the clues found on the Shugendo Scroll, the pack defeats the nogitsune. While Derek, the twins, and Chris Argent destroy the commandeered oni outside, Isaac brings in the Nemeton-wood cannister that can serve as its prison, Stiles and Lydia distract it, Scott bites it, and Kira delivers the coup de grace with her mother's katana, reducing it to a fly. The key to its defeat is weakening it enough to be imprisoned, "changing the host." As Stiles triumphantly says, "you can't be a fox and a wolf."

Yet, in Teen Wolf: The Movie, the nogitsune taunts Scott in the climactic fight with the consequences of his earlier defeat.

Nogitsune: Do you remember, Scott, the gift that you gave me? The bite of the alpha, the power of the werewolf.

Immediately, this seems like a significant plot hole, or at least a contradiction in the lore. If Scott's bite gave the nogitsune the power of a werewolf, then the Shugendo Scroll was wrong, and changing the host was not the key to saving Stiles and defeating the nogitsune. While it may seem to contradict the entire finale of Season 3B, there is a much simpler and more well-established alternative answer.

The nogitsune was lying.

That declaration was a stratagem, designed to weaken its opponents. It was a trick, and one it had played many times before. Of course, it changes its appearance, but it has done that before, even in the same movie, assuming Victoria Argent's form and manipulatively directing a newly-resurrected and quite confused Allison against its enemies. It seems this particular trick is one of its favorites: turning the fears of its opponents against them, causing them doubt and pain, which in turn strengthens it. How do I know this? Because it has used it repeatedly.

In Riddled (3x18), the nogitsune stages a takeover of Stiles while the boy is undergoing an MRI. It plays on Stiles's terror about the possibility of having frontotemporal dementia, because as the Sheriff points out later "You don't take away their courage, you take away their hope." The nogitsune torments Stiles with its riddles and then says:

Nogitsune: "Your friends. Your family. Everyone who ever meant something to you. We're going to destroy all of them, Stiles. One by one."

It's only then that nogitsune reveals as face: Stiles's face, similarly to the reveal in the movie. Doing so implies that they are the monster. Stiles already doubts his own virtue as a person, which is only implied in his words and his actions, and originates in the past, we learn about later in Required Reading (5x06):

Claudia: He's trying to hurt me. I don't care if you don't believe me, but he is. He's trying to kill me.

The nogitsune doesn't use "we" just to be cool. By tapping into Stiles deep-seated trauma and misapprehension that he's a threat to those he loves, he weakens Stiles and strengthens itself enough to allow the fox to take over fully, confront Noshiko, and leave the hospital. The fact that it's not true -- that it's Claudia's illness that made her afraid and nothing in Stiles's nature -- doesn't matter as long as it digs at Stiles's doubt.

Similarly, in De-Void (3x21), a "captured" nogitsune in Stiles's body talks to Melissa while she is trying to tend his wounds after fooling her to remove his gag.

Nogitsune: Really, Melissa? I shed one tear? That's all it takes? Come on. You can't crumble that easily. How are you going to hold up when Scott knows the truth?

Melissa: What?

Nogitsune: When he finds out why his dad really left? You know he overheard it, right? You had no idea. You called Stilinski right after it happened. You didn't tell Scott, but you told the Sheriff. Hmm. But Stiles heard it like he hears everything. But you want to know why he never told Scott? Because he knew that Scott would never forgive you. He knew how much he would hate you.

This time the trick is designed to unsettle Melissa and to sow confusion and dissent, moving pieces on the board so it can kidnap Lydia. We already knew at that point that Melissa was worried about Scott's reaction to his father leaving, and we learned that all the way back in The Tell (1x05):

Melissa: Oh. Well, trust me, we're much better off without him in the picture. Harris: Well, does Scott feel the same way? Melissa: Yes. I think so. I hope so.

It doesn't matter that we know that the nogitsune is lying about what Scott's reaction would be. Scott literally does not blame his mother even for rejecting him in a jail cell in Fury (2x10); his disdain for his father being absent is completely focused on Rafael But the nogitsune is playing into Melissa's fears about her own decision and its consequences.

The same way it plays into Lydia's fears and doubts in Insatiable (3x23) in order to feed off her pain and keep her unbalanced. While its got her trapped in the tunnels beneath Oak Creek, it has to keep Lydia, an intelligent person, from figuring out why he kidnapped her.

Lydia: They'll find me. My friends are going to find me. Nogitsune: You think so? I myself, was kind of wondering what they're doing right now. What useless lead they're chasing. I wonder if maybe some of them have bigger problems to deal with right now. Are they really spending every minute looking for you?

While that speech did serve to point out to the audience what was going on with the others, it also managed to attack Lydia at her weakest, the reason she felt she had to play dumb to get a boy to like her, and only started revealing her intellect when she was appreciated for it. But she still has worries that no one cares that much about the real Lydia, as shown in Restraint (2x06):

Lydia: I don't need anyone to hang out with. I need someone to talk to. Allison: I - I understand that it's important, but if it can just wait - Lydia: Why is everyone always telling me to wait? Why can't anyone have "right now" available?

The fear of Lydia being rejected, of not being important enough to people, of being made to stay in the car and out of the way, of "Nothing in this room is valuable." has been with her since the beginning of the show and stayed with her.

As I said, this is nogitsune's primary weapon -- turning the fears and doubts of its prey into sente, the advantage, as well as its food -- and its excels in its use. Which is why I'm pretty confident that the taunt delivered to Scott in the movie was just that: a baseless falsehood. And nothing convinces me of that more than the word choice that the nogitsune use: "gift."

Scott: Us? You mean you! You did this to me! Derek: Is it really so bad, Scott? That you can see better - Hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope? You've been given something that most people would kill for. The bite is a gift. Scott: I don't want it.

This is from the pilot, episode 1 of season 1. The Bite has been the source of everything that Scott has suffered and every loss he has endured. Even fifteen years later, Scott cannot escape its consequences. The nogitsune, as it was made clear, considers winning the game if Scott dies in Allison's arms this time, after the nogitsune makes his best friend lover kill him. By evoking where it all began, the nogitsune lays the foundation for Scott being willing to do this, being willing to end his life by sacrificing it. So, yeah, it was a lie based on a transformation, lying just like it did with Victoria's face, like the MRI results, like Melissa's dark secret, like Lydia's worry that she's not valuable.

But Scott didn't fall for it, because he's more than just the pain, strife and chaos that has filled his life, something a monster who sees pain as food and only wants 'more' could never hope to understand.

[ghostkingart]

OC tober - day 22 - prompt "taking a well-earned break"

word count: 420

fandom: N/A, original

author's note: prompt list below the cut. I'm getting burned out from all these events and writing every day so this once again features only one pair of OCs ;;

“It appears smaller than the one in Florida,” Seth said.

“It is, but it’s also better,” Tye responded.

“How many times have you been here?”

“Twice.”

“Really? Only twice?”

Tye shrugged. “Hey, whenever I went to Paris I was working. Look!” Once they passed through the gates, Tye grabbed Seth’s hand and dragged him forward, weaving past the other people. “Isn’t the castle much nicer here!?”

“I’ll give it that,” Seth said. In all honesty, he didn’t care much about Sleeping Beauty or her castle. What brought the biggest smile to his face was seeing Tye this happy.

“Come on, selfie time,” Tye commanded. He got his phone out, stirred Seth so that they were in front of the castle and hugged him. Seth made little bunny ears behind Tye’s head when he snapped the picture, which he saw, but didn’t complain about.

“Where to first?” Tye asked after pocketing his phone.

“Haunted Mansion?” Seth suggested.

“We call it Phantom Manor here in France,” Tye said, putting a bit of an accent on the word France.

Seth raised his arms in surrender. “Apologies. When were you gonna tell me you speak French, by the way?”

Tye took Seth’s hand and they headed down the road to Frontierland. “I don’t use it much outside of Fashion Week. Thought it’d be a cool trick to pull when we arrived.’

“You sure did impress me,” Seth said.

Tye smiled cheekily. “But you’re always impressed with me.”

Seth nudged him.

“After Phantom Manor, let’s check out Indiana Jones and Big Thunder Mountain, must-see in this area,” Tye said casually.

“And then Pirates?”

“Of course, we can’t miss Pirates! Peter Pan’s a bitch, though, the wait is always forever.”

Seth chuckled. “You weren’t joking about Peter Pan? Also, language. There’s children, like, everywhere.”

“Disneyland is no joking matter,” Tye said, dead serious.

“What about Star Wars?” Seth asked.

Tye pouted. “Do we have to?”

“Have you ever been on a Star Wars ride? They’re fun, even if you haven’t seen the movies. Which you will.”

“Keep on dreaming. Fine, we can do the Star Wars rides, but I’m not buying you a lightsaber.”

They were nearing the spooky looking house. Seth stopped in his tracks, pulling Tye to a stop with him. Seth kissed him, lacing his fingers in his cotton candy colored hair. When they parted, Tye’s eyes remained closed for a few seconds longer.

“You’re cute,” he said, “but I’m still not buying you a lightsaber.”

“Dammit.”

Together, they walked towards the queue.

[divinityunleashed]

Location: Earth's Orbit.

BGM: Transformers Prime - Decepticons Theme

"STARSCREAM!"

"Y-Yes, Lord Megatron?"

"Why... is the Space Bridge activation process TAKING so long?!"

"Eheh... Those accursed Autobots, they must of dealt some serious damage to it before we had a chance to properly test it, my lord."

"Really...? Because as far as I am made aware, Starscream. is that there was no recorded assault on our Space Bridge as of yet, and all I am hearing out of your accursed vocal circuits... ARE EXCUSES!"

"Oh please, Lord Megatron! Please forgive my insolence!"

"All the time, all the damn time I have tried to tolerate your insolence. But now, it would seem that my patience has grown too thin to be ignored. Give me one good reason, as to why I shouldn't rip out your spark from your spark chamber, and grind it to a pulp!"

"Because you should really check your status on your fancy floating ring again, mr giant robot man!"

As soon as Adult Neptune appeared in the bridge of the Decepticon Warship, every single blaster, including that of Megatron and Starscream, pointed and armed towards the girl, in which she immediately yelped.

"How did this human get aboard my SHIP!?"

"You are in the presence of his highness, Lord Megatron! If you value your life, girl, you'll--"

"Human? Oh yeah that's a funny one. But seriously, you should really check that terminal. I left ya a gift."

Megatron huffed, before he pressed a button on one of the many intricate terminals aboard the Teletrann I, and the giant Space Bridge just opposite the warship began to open up and activate!

"What?! Impossible... A mere girl knows Cybertonian tech?!"

Megatron ignored Starscreams comments and walked over to Neptune, picking her up with his hand and lifting him closer to his face.

"Explain yourself."

"Well it's simply. I picked up some tricks from hanging out with my friends, and I learned how all your stuff works! So I fixed your giant ring thing and even put in a set of cool coordinates for you! I know, I know, I'm just that amazing aren't I?"

"You are certainly no mere ordinary human. You've given me enough reason not to want to squish you like a bug. Perhaps you may even be more tolerable than that of my supposed second-in-command over there."

"What?! Haven't I been... HUMILIATED, enough?! Surely you jest, Lord Megatron...!"

All that did was prompt Megatron to give Starscream a glare that made him shiver down his circuitry, which also prompted a giggle from Neptune before she climbed onto one of his shoulders.

"I set your location to a special place of mine, I think it would be great! My friends would love to meet you!"

Megatron then prompted the terminal to guide the warship through the Space Bridge, and arrive at Neptune's intended destination whilst Neptune briefed him on the location...

Which was...

Location: Gamindustri V2 - A considerable distance away from the main islands.

Soon as the ship appeared out of the Space Bridge, the view of Gamindustri V2 appeared in the windows of the Teletrann I Bridge. Megatron gazed upon it with a smirk on his face, as Neptune squealed.

"So this is Gamindustri. We shall conquer it."

"STARSCREAM! Be sure to make our new guest and ally... comfortable. And don't squish her under your legs. I would hate to learn what sorts of torture I would inflict upon you..."

"Y-Yes... Lord Megatron. As always, I am at your beck and call."

Neptune then jumped down and walked over to Starscream with a grin on her face.

"If you're anything like Arbore was, you're gonna be fun to hang out with."

"Tch. Cease your wits, Neptune. I answer only to Megatron, and myself. Not. You."

"Now you might as well come along before my master grows impatient. I know what he's like when he's grumpy."

[liketwoswansinbalance]

Something that most people don't know about you??

At times, I have nonsensical, probably stress-induced dreams.

In total, I've been the murderer approximately three times, endorsed an execution once, was a witness at least twice, and have been chased many more times.

The first murder was shooting some kind of long-barreled gun, perhaps a rifle or something more modern than a bayonet? Who knows? It was vague, and I don't really remember it.

The second was firing an arrow from below at a person descending stairs. The whole dream was very Hunger Games-esque and I had been peering up at my target from a swimming pool set in a ruined patio.

The third time, my murder was unintentional. I tried to help an unknown classmate(?) get unstuck from where he'd been caught under a large stone or snowdrift on the way back to a final exam, before the directions were given, and he just... tumbled down the steep, snow-covered hill? I have no idea what truly happened to him. I think all I had done was tug at his arm. I just ran the rest of the way down, took my seat in time, oddly enough, outdoors, at a table, and was given a paper. I think the prompt my brain came up with, before the hill event, from an earlier part of the dream, was something on environmentalism, or something about conditions shaping a narrative, which made little sense—much different from what the real exam's prompt was. I wanted to wash my hands, so I would stop feeling sticky, and I think I wondered if I had blood on them. A thought I had then or maybe after I woke up was that the prompt wasn't about Lady Macbeth, so why'd all that happen? I also worried over whether I had partly abandoned the poor guy or committed a murder. Yet I don't believe in dream symbolism because it's not fully scientific, and the directions in the dream weren't ever fully explained anyway. In that same dream, I also eavesdropped on someone who might've been my real-life, class dean and some old woman.

The one time I endorsed the murder in a dream, it happened after a whole convoluted, surreal, Coup d'état plot, not even founded in reality. I broke into a library, to catch my foe shortly before they arrived, and asked someone else to get ready. It wasn't just commanding an execution to happen; it was a (magic?) trick I wasn't fully conscious of, despite being the one to ask for it to be set-up and deliver the orders during the all-important moment. A professor in the library, who specialized in firearms, stage tactics, and sleight of hand, fired what seemed to be a blank at the traitor/usurper/criminal. And my criminal got covered in loose, non-compacted, burning gunpowder instead of run through by a bullet. By then, their skin was probably crawling with some sensation of being set aflame—but don't ask me? I couldn't sense that pov. There was nothing gory anyway. But somehow, they tried to shake the powder off, onto me, and I guess I woke up before anything became worse.

In the same execution dream, there were other previous events, and I was a witness to a different murder. That murder was this instance, with cool, Art Deco vibes, wherein, my (non-existent) friend sacrificed themselves for me. I had to lug the corpse through halls and to elevators, and I went up and down multiple times while on the run before I decided to leave the body.

In another dream, what I think was a hanging was visible in the background, but I'm not quite sure about that. It was more of a vague image.

As for the times I've been pursued by figures with unknown intent, one was notably in a labyrinthine place.

Also, to anyone who's read this far: Don't worry. I don't believe I could actually pull off any of these things as I think I’d pass out too soon because I have somewhat weak lungs and not nearly enough athleticism.

[faux-fires]

(not a) drabble a day #6

2 things to say about today’s (not a) drabble a day:

1. I have not slept in 24 hours

2. who’s up for 3,000 words about hawke just being impressed at anders knowing people?! yeah that’s what i THOUGHT.

anyway here’s (TOTALLY NOT A) drabble-a-day #6, prompt “King”, i am going to BED.

The inn was by far the nicest one in all of Kirkwall, and the oldest, to boot. It appeared on the city maps even as far back as when Kirkwall had been Emerius - that bloody jewel in the crown of the Imperial slave trade.

Then, it had been some Magister's summer dwelling; now it was the Golden Spyglass, a respectable inn for very financially respectable people, situated in the prettier Orlesian quarter of Hightown and commanding a stunning view of the sea.

Normally Hawke would just saunter up to the door, smile charmingly at whatever bouncer stood outside, and be waved through once the bouncer clocked his patented "I'm here to cause trouble on purpose" grin. Today's visit required a more... subtle touch, however, which was why he was scoping the place out from across the street, loitering behind a fruit stand while Anders asked the vendor far too many questions about the origins of his pears.

They'd increased the guard, he could see that much. Four on the main door, two on the roof, and probably more around the back and the side. They weren't patrolling, which was a point in his favour; guards stuck for hours at a time on a single entrance were bored, easily distracted guards, and nothing he couldn't handle. The walls were rough stone and easily climbed, particularly with all those pretty wooden trellises installed so close for those lovely perfumed vines to wend their way up.  It would be helpful if they knew where the Golden Spyglass their man was staying, but the lovely fluted windows were tinted a warm champagne and impossible to see through.

He was contemplating the old washer-woman disguise trick when Anders nudged him, looking disgruntled, or more disgruntled than usual. "Fifty silver a pear," Anders griped, holding one out for him. "It's an absolute outrage. They're twenty silvers down by the docks, and only slightly squashier." He bit into his and brightened; the juice ran clear down the corners of his mouth, and for a moment Hawke couldn't care less about the swanky inn and its security: it was good to see him happy, even if for just a little. "Thank you for inviting me out, love. I still think we could have gone to the docks."

"Yes," said Hawke, "But for only thirty silvers, you're saving yourself a trip to the docks. Bargain." He crunched his pear, eyes returning, somewhat reluctantly, to the exterior of the Golden Spyglass. The coloured glass lanterns strung from the eaves shivered a little in the late afternoon breeze, fresh and cool from the sea. "Do you think there's a cellar access point in the sewers?"

Anders looked from the pear to the building and back again. "Oh," he said. "Oh, we're breaking and entering? I thought you - never mind." He wiped the juice from the corner of his mouth with the pad of his thumb, and sighed. "Do you really think this is wise?"

"Got to at least try," Hawke said. "Maybe if Varric and Isabela and I come back tonight, we can get in via the windows -"

His lover's face did something complicated. "Why bother? We had our shot, it didn't work as we hoped..."

"I can't do nothing," said Hawke, quietly. "I can't - I can't look Grace in the eye and say I learned nothing. Helping mages escape means nothing if I have nowhere safe to send them, and I can't - not at least try, Anders." He turned away, sharply, and gave Anders a wan smile. "Things are getting worse in the Gallows, you know that as well as I do. I don't know how many we can save but I can't give them a taste of freedom and leave them to the wolves."

"Oh, Hawke." Anders looked softer, suddenly. Normally Hawke loved it when Anders looked at him like that - all soft and hazy affection, with that warm tilt to the corner of his mouth - but this expression looked a little bittersweet, like they both knew it didn't matter but were going through the motions for lack of other options. "You are a good man, my love. Come on. Hood up, follow me."

"Wha - wait!"

But Anders was already moving, striding confidently across the street to the burly guards, and Hawke had to scramble to keep up. He arrived in time to hear him say, "Tell Gwen the Darktown Healer's here to see her. I'll be waiting around the back door."

The guard eyed him with thuggish suspicion. "Not 'sposed to let anyone 'round the back," he said, his huge ham-hock hands wrapped tightly around the hilt of his sword. Anders was taller than him - well, taller than most people, the beanpole - and he was putting those extra inches to good use; his posture was even and relaxed, his chin lifted, casual confidence in every joint. This usually made people anxious, and Thug#1 was clearly no exception. Hawke tried to skulk behind him without looking like he was skulking, but needn't have worried; Anders was in full haughty mode, and drew attention like a vortex spell drew in hapless victims.

"You've got guards posted at the back entrance too, correct?" He didn't wait for them to answer. "So I'll loiter in their line of sight until Gwen fetches me. I'm her healer. Hurry; the guest is likely to be in a lot of discomfort."

Thug#1 cocked his head to one side, taking Anders in from the top of his head to his dirty, bandage-wrapped boots. "You know Gwen?" he sneered.

"Even a cat may look upon a King," Anders replied, with such arrogance it made Hawke almost double-take. "Particularly this cat, right here, standing between the city and something potentially contagious."

"Contagious? Contagious how?" This was Thug#2, who had come to see the commotion.

Anders shrugged. "Could be Mummer's flux," he said. "Possibly Thespian's Bowel. Have either of you noticed a certain... salt smell in the air recently?"

They were literally facing out over the sea, but somehow this fact seemed to have missed the guards, who looked a little queasy. "You'll stay outside 'til Gwen fetches you?"

"On my honour," Anders agreed, the edge of his mouth curving with what Hawke, friend and companion for many years now, knew to be mischief. It was also his number one tell in Wicked Grace.

The back entrance faced a narrow alleyway, lined with slop buckets ready for the pig man to come collect - or any of the feral children who called rat's nest walkways such as this one their home. The guards posted at the back of the grand building squinted at them in mistrust but didn't ask, while Hawke grabbed Anders' shoulder and hissed, "Who's Gwen?"

"Landlady," said Anders. "Love of my life, obviously. We've been carrying on an elaborate affair these past few years under your nose."

"You are not funny -"

"Anders? The guards said you needed to see me about the plague?"

Gwen was a tall, willowy woman with dark hair in a loose braid. Her clothes were clean and well-made, and she had gold sparkling at her ears, throat and sleeves; she also had a surprised, but not distrustful expression on her face. "Is everything alright? Who's your companion?"

"My bodyman," said Anders. He held out his hand and when she returned the gesture automatically, seized her palm in a firm but not unreasonable shake, drawing her away from the lurking guards and dropping his voice. "Hello Gwen, good to see you. How's Ioan? You haven't sent any of the girls around for more poultices, so I hope that's a good sign."

"Oh, he's been right as rain since -" her eyes cut to Hawke, and now Hawke was surprised to see concern in her eyes, and not for herself, "Since you did your special treatment for him. Thank you, by the way. We just couldn't afford the Circle prices after the Qunari..."

She knew Anders was a mage. She knew Anders was a mage and she didn't know if Hawke knew, and she was clearly willing to keep his secret to some extent. For some reason this warmed Hawke's heart. Lately it felt like the mages were the only ones that mattered, and it was dispiriting seeing Anders run himself so ragged to try to save them while Meredith knocked the ground down under him; it pleased him to see someone recognise and appreciate Anders for the gifts he had and the choices he'd made. It reminded him of those Fereldans who'd stepped in outside Lirene's shop, armed and furious ion their need to protect the man Hawke had grown to love. He tried to smile at her, and saw her shoulders relax a little.

"Good," Anders said. "I'm relieved. Gwen, I'm terribly sorry, but I lied to the guards out front. I need to see your special guest, and I was hoping you could help with that."

She flushed. "I'm being paid quite a bit of money to make sure he's undisturbed, Serah. I've already had the Chantry come knocking, and the Templars."

"I know," Anders said. "And I can't offer money or custom the way they can. I'll keep looking after Ioan if you need me to no matter what you say. But, Gwen -" he still had her hand in his, and his eyes were shining with sincerity - "- a good man told me I have to at least try. The tides turn tomorrow and I could lose my chance, and I thought - I hoped... Please."

Gwen searched his face, hesitantly, and then, to Hawke's considerable surprise, nodded. "Alright," she said. "You've never done me any wrong, healer. Just - if you're asked to leave - go. Don't loiter." She drew her hands back and smoothed them down the front of her skirt, anxiously.

Anders nodded. "I swear," he said. "Thank you. You're a good woman, Gwen."

"And you," she said, a little archly, "Are very good at sweet-talking people." She smiled, a wan thin thing, then glanced at Hawke. "Whoever you are, keep an eye on this one. Both of you, follow me."

When she put her hand on the back door, one of the guards leaned over and said, "Not supposed to let anyone inside."

"This is my inn, Sergeant," she said. "This is a healer. One of our other guests needs healing. If you'd like to explain to your man, so that he can explain to my guest why they have to suffer...?"

The other guard shook his head at the first one, who sighed and moved away. "There'd be shouting," he said glumly. "And complainin'."

The second guard snorted agreement and narrowed her eyes at the three of them. "Besides," she said, lazily, "He could take all three of them in a fight. A innkeep, a coat rack and whatever you've got going on?" She gestured vaguely to encompass all of Hawke, who felt this was unnecessarily mean. "He'll be fine. Good luck with your healing. Leave the same way you came in or we'll come find you."

"It is not my intention to be disruptive," said Anders, who was absolutely the most disruptive man Hawke had ever met. He inclined his head stiffly at the guards, still doing his best impersonation of an icicle person - the coatrack remark must have really gotten to him - and slipped through the door Gwen held open for them without a second look. It wasn't until they'd gone around a corner and entered a plushly carpeted hallway that he glanced back over his shoulder and said, wrly, "What have you got going on, Haw - lo - my friend?"

He didn't want Gwen to know he'd brought the Champion of Kirkwall with him, Hawke realised. It felt strange, being the unknown party in an event. He tried to remind himself that this was Anders' space, the parts of the city he moved in without Hawke, because he had six years of history all his own with the city. Hawke knew about the clinic but he'd never know every person Anders had helped, and that was fine. That was normal. Normal couples weren't sewn into each other's pockets. Out loud, because he was a jealous man, he said, "Probably my four foot long -"

"The client you're looking for is staying in the master suite," Gwen interupted. She had stopped by a fork in the hallway, although Hawke couldn't see any particular difference between the branching corridors. The carpeting was thick and looked Orlesian; the walls were decorated with gold-toned wall sconces. This was exactly the kind of place someone like the Champion might stay if he needed to stay in another city. "Go up there, along there, and down there. Fifth door on the left. Remember, Healer, you swore me an oath."

"I did," Anders said smoothly. "I have no intention of ruining you, Gwen. Thank you for all your assistance."

Her jaw tightened. Hawke wondered if Anders had burnt this bridge for good with his request, but somehow doubted it. How much power had Anders amassed, he thought, simply by doing what came naturally to him - healing those who needed it without cost? He couldn't say it was a surprise. He tried not to think of how different his life could have been, if a mage healer had lived in Lothering all those years ago when his father died. He knew for a fact that if it had been Anders, Malcolm would have pulled through, and that was a little shard of agony in his chest every time. Perhaps Gwen's thoughts ran across the same lines, because after a while she simply exhaled heavily through her nose, nodded, and hurried away in down the corridor.

"Up there, along there...?" Hawke nodded his head at the corridor, questioning.

"Don't worry about it," Anders said. "I know where we're going." And he set off first, humming under his breath as he strode down the corridor with purpose. The melody was strange and haunting, frequently off-key, and Hawke found himself trying to trace it. It had certainly never been played at any of the parties they'd attended together... the drunken fiddler at the Hanged Man only had two fingers, so it would have been beyond him... perhaps it was a Circle ditty?

Anders walked on without hesitation. As they got closer to their destination he reached out and began dragging the fingertips of his gloves along the wall, still humming under his breath; when they finally arrived at a beautiful mahogany door, fifth on the left, he stopped and tilted his head quizzically to one side. "Here," he said. He glanced at Hawke, amused. "I hope you know what you're going to say."

"Oh, always," said Hawke, breezily, and then added, "So... how long have you known Gwen?"

Anders glanced at him, copper eyes bright and sparkling warm. "That's your main concern? Now?"

Hawke shrugged. "I didn't know you knew... you know... Hightown people. Or that they knew about you." He could feel his mouth moving, the corners turning down. "Not that there's anything wrong with that! I just - thought I knew you."

"Ah," said Anders. He looked a little discomforted, and then said, "I have... hobbies. Interests. Ones it's not always safe to share, love." He was fidgeting with the cuff of his left sleeve, Hawke realised, his other Wicked Grace tell; working his fingers between the stained green cloth and the bandages wrapped tightly around his bracer. "Even before I knew I was a mage," he said slowly, "I knew I was a healer. I was treating the - animals on our farm by the time I was six."

Hawke didn't miss the careful censorship there; Anders never would say whereabouts in Ferelden he came from. "And the owner of the finest inn in Hightown?"

Anders shrugged. "She's a person," he said. "I've never turned anyone down, Hawke. Laughed at, yes. Especially if it's venereal. But I've never turned anyone down. I'm a healer. There's pride in that." His jaw clenched. "In another world - that's all I'd be."

But not this one, Hawke thought, sadly. Perhaps if they had more time, this could have been enough. A selfless mage healer could be the kind of hero the mages needed, the kind of story they needed to see themselves as worthy of leaving the confines of the Circles, as being safe to go outside and live free lives.

But Meredith Stannard was clearing out the Gallows one made-up crime at a time, and they didn't have the decades - centuries - it would take for Anders' tale to spread even to the other Free Cities. He sighed, and caught Anders' sleeve. "I know," he said. "One day, love."

"And they call me an idealist," Anders said, with a small slant of his mouth.

Hawke shrugged. "You're a good man. A kind man." He paused. "With a large friend network, apparently."

That coaxed a grin from Anders. "Larger than you'd think," he said, and that mischief-tell was back, glaringly bright on his narrow face. He reached up before Hawke could stop him, rapped on the door with his knuckles, and made a "go ahead" gesture with his hand.

"Anders!" Hawke hissed like a goose. His lover's expression was somewhat smug.

"You said you knew what you were going to say," Anders said. His smile was a little bit feral.

Hawke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Obviously," he said. "I was going to knock on the door, and when it opened I'd say -"

The door opened inward, and Hawke's brain stopped. The man on the inside was tall and thickly built, wearing full plate armour, and what beautiful armour it was; gold-coloured, with careful, elaborate scrolling details along all the edges. It was well-cared for and nearly as bright as the sword he had in his hand, shimmering with enchantments, smooth-edged with a hilt that could only be dragonbone. He carried it ready at hip-height, in the stance of a born fighter, and his expression as he looked upon them was alert but otherwise unreadable.

After an awkward moment, Hawke essayed a quick wave. "Hi," he said.

The man's eyes traced the lines of the kaddis smear across his nose, and some of the battle-ready tension left him. He glanced quickly between them, sighed heavily, and lowered his sword. "Hello again," he said. "Looks like you couldn't get enough of me in the Viscount's keep. Not that I'm not pleased to continue the conversation without Meredith Stannard breathing down my neck, obviously, doing that... face she does. Do you think the wind changed on her halfway through? Do you think it could change again?"

"No," said Anders, leaning a shoulder against the door frame, "I think she's always been a tyrant."

The King of Ferelden sheathed his sword absently. "Yeah, some people are. Born that way, I think. You met Commander Tabris, right? Now there was a woman who could chew through tables." He nodded at Anders. "Nice to meet you again, by the way. I wasn't sure at first if it was you in a building or a very small genlock. There's not that many Wardens in the area, and you have a different feeling."

"Ex-Warden," Anders said. "And likewise. Although I'd like to think, incompetent as our city guard are, even they might notice a genlock roaming the streets."

"Ouch," said Alistair, grinning. "A shriek, then?"

"If you like," Anders agreed. His mouth was smiling, but his shoulders were tense. He cleared his throat and jerked his head at Hawke, and said, "I do apologise for the visit. Haw - my lo - the Champion of Kirkwall wished to continue a conversation about Fereldan mages in a place slightly less likely to be crawling with Meredith's eyes and ears."

Alistair blew out a long sigh and leaned back from the doorway. "Might as well come in, then," he said. "I won't even ask how you got passed the guard. I expect you want to talk about the Circle - well, I'll do it, but Kailan'll never forgive me if I don't ask you some questions first, Anders."

"Wait," said Hawke, feeling like he'd missed a step several turns back, and the dance had carried on without him and now he was doing a handstand by the punch bowl with the music coming to a halt, "You also know the King of Ferelden?"

And Anders, halfway into the suite, turned back to him, that damn mischief-tell making his eyes sparkle so brightly they made Hawke smile in kind, and said, "Of course. After all, even a cat -"

" - may look upon a King," Hawke finished for him, grinning despite himself, and for a moment Hawke couldn't care less about the King of Ferelden, watching them with a politely baffled expression.

After all, it was good to see Anders happy, even if for just a little while.

current mood:

(i’m trying to tell myself that’s it’s ok i can’t shut up as long i’m producing something every day. it helps a lil)

[this-is-krikkit]

Heyy Krikkit! How's everything? I'd like to request number 24 “Well, that’s embarrassing", please and thank you 🙃

hey Alice! everything's alright, i hope you're well too! 🥰

this was initially going to be light and fun, but i got a different idea so i changed it up a bit. hope you like it, thank you so much for sending a prompt!! ♥️♥️

send me a number and a ship/character, and i'll write you a drabble!

Relief (ao3 link because now it's a multichap canon divergent fic woot woot)

Characters: Levi, Hange, The 104th kids, Onyankopokon

Tags: snk 132, canon divergent, fix it fic sort of, hange is alive and well, i mean... yeah hange's alive, angst, just imagine those mechanics were better at their jobs than in canon ok? ok thx

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The honest shock in the gasp that escaped Hange's lips when Levi's fist hit their chest, louder than the sound of countless Colossals approaching, burned its way into his ears and engraved itself into his memory with so much force he almost backed away then. He stopped thinking as a Captain and a soldier for a second, stopped putting the entire world's value above what their life meant to his, and almost disregarded their last order to let them go and look as cool as possible to everyone else while he alone would be stuck remembering their shaking hands and voice as they prepared themself to fly off to their death –if he even made it out alive himself.

Except Hange had been his closest friend for a decade and outstanding leader for almost half that time; Hange had been steering the wheel of this sorry army of theirs with the last bit of strength in their formidable spirit and visionary mind in those direst of circumstances, and Hange wouldn't request this of him if they hadn't thought every other possibility through and weren't past ready to cross that line.

Hange had always dedicated their heart to the cause they rightfully supported, and now wasn't the time for Levi to challenge their last command. Now was the time for him to dedicate his own, and let them go –no matter if he shattered it in the process.

"Shinzou wo sasageyo,” he recited solemnly, looking ahead, thankful for once for their mirrored injuries, and their current position that prevented either of them from seeing the other's face.

He still heard and felt the sharp intake of breath they drew in after the words had tumbled from his mouth, and for a second there when he could feel their heart starting to beat harder and faster under his fingers, could feel the cruel scorch of unrealistic hope –that those words might have made a difference, that Hange might have perceived the corrosive sting that declaration inflicted on his tongue and the meaning under it and somehow changed their mind– flowing from the veins of his left hand directly into his heart.

Their posture straightened soon after anyway, their sternum pushing back against his hand that he let fall in defeat as their feet carried them away from him and a chuckle made its way through their lips.

"Ha, ha! It's the first time I've ever heard you-

The sound of quick, human-light steps drowned the rest of their sentence and Levi's head shot up to watch Mikasa nearing their spot, her mouth opening as she closed in on them.

"Hange-san, wait! Onyankopon just said the plane's ready to go!"

Levi felt more than he saw Hange turn around again to face the kid as he took in the words she'd just spoken, praying Gods he never believed in that his ears and eye weren't playing tricks on him under the loud sound of the advancing Rumbling and the dust that was starting to saturate the air all around them.

“Are you shitting us right now?” he asked, not recognizing his own voice, not sure it even carried far enough that she'd hear him.

“Come on, hurry up!” Mikasa shouted again, before sprinting away back where she'd come from.

The faked glee faded from Hange's face and they stared at Levi like they had that day they'd reached the Jeager basement and found out about the world outside the Walls, like they needed him to confirm his relative's words.

He could be of little help to them right now, when his own brain was having trouble understanding the situation, when his mind hadn't nearly recovered from this most recent whiplash. But he still nodded their way and started moving.

The two veterans walked towards the others and the plane, and Levi couldn't help but wonder if Hange, only a few meters ahead of him, was matching his pace out of kindness to not leave him behind, or if their legs too felt like they had to move through thick, ton-weighing mud with each step.

“Guess I'm not dying today after all,” they said suddenly.

Their humorless tone made a shiver run down Levi's spine and he looked at them sharply, his hand wrapping around their wrist.

“Hange,” he called when the contact didn't prove enough to make them turn around and face him.

But they only laughed a strangled, wet chuckle that sounded so unlike them, and refused to look back at him. Instead, they shook his hold off and picked up their pace, quickly reaching the others and helping them push the repaired floating plane into the water.

He didn't hear them speak again until they were all safe sitting inside the aircraft and they turned to face Armin, still panting from the effort they'd all just put into getting out of the hangar that had now been crushed by rubble the Colossals had shot its way while advancing.

"Well, that's embarrassing after that goodbye speech but... Armin, would you mind if I back-pedalled on that Commander promotion? At least for the time being?" they asked, a familiar, playful grin splitting their face as they looked at everyone but Levi.

"Of course not!” Armin replied, blushing at the direct address. “I'm only relieved you didn't have to sacrifice yourself for us.”

Agreeing noises could be heard from the other Scouts.

"Right, me too,” they said, their smile faltering ever so slightly. “Me too.”

“Everyone, hang on tight! We're taking off,” Onyankopon warned from the cockpit.

The cabin shook and thundered, but the deafening noise and trembling floor weren't distraction enough for Levi to detach his stare from the surreal vision of Hange, still alive and breathing, settling in the seat directly across from his own.

They readjusted their cape around their slumped frame, their still shaking hands lingering against the spot his fist had touched minutes ago. He let his eye wander to their face, spotted the tensed jaw, the downward edges of their mouth now, and the tears welling up under their one iris, and he knew for sure then.

Hange wasn't relieved one bit.