#damn this got away from me

[rhettabbotts]

what if i said dilf!rhett gets pissed after you send him pictures of yourself while he's out at the bar, then comes home and makes you ride the arm of the couch while he watches???

"been actin' up lately, haven't you whore? need to remind my little cowgirl who's in charge."

WHAT IF I SAID THIS WAS MY LAST STRAW!!!!

he asked you to watch the girls later than he usually does. he had a few old riding buddies in town and was going out for a few drinks. you happily obliged, not minding the extra time you got to spend with grace and ellie.

after bath and bedtime, you were laying on the sectional sofa that was in the middle of the large living room. you couldn’t stand to look at another post on instagram. you were uninterested in scrolling mindlessly through videos. you were bored. dangerously so.

your thumb hovered over rhett’s contact. going against better judgment, you clicked on it, opening a thread of texts between the two of you.

“how’s it going with the retirement committee?”

“very funny. it’s fine. i’m too old to be taking shots of tequila. how’s the girls?”

“they were angels as always. i kind of miss you right now☹️”

“i’ll be home soon”

“will this make you come home sooner?”

you attached a photo you just took. a risqué picture of your thigh. dress hiked up enough to show a peek of your lacy underwear - a pair that rhett had bought you.

the three bubbles appeared and disappeared several times. it made you nervous. you were afraid you had crossed a line. but then his text came in.

“i’ll be home in thirty minutes. that dress better be off when i come through the door.”

you tore the dress off your body like it was burning you. your body was on fire at the anticipation of hearing rhett’s truck turning up the drive. waiting for the crunch of gravel and the slam of his door. a smug grin settled on your face as you heard the telltale sign of his arrival.

his heavy footsteps fell on the wooden porch, matching the thud of your heartbeat. your breath caught in your throat as he opened the door. he was not happy, if the clenched jaw told you anything.

“hi,” you greeted him softly, hands placed delicately in your lap. you sat on your heels in nothing but your bra and panties.

rhett was silent. he kicked his boots off next to the assorted pairs of shoes that lined the wall. he tossed his jacket on the bench and rolled his sleeves up without a word. he pointedly ignored you, heading towards the kitchen to pour himself a drink.

the ice cubes clinked against the crystal glass as he filled it, pouring the dark colored liquor in before taking a long swig. he let out a hiss through his clenched teeth as the whiskey burned down his chest.

“you think you’re cute, don’t you? sending me a picture like that where anyone could’ve seen,” rhett spoke finally, voice deep and raspy with a hint of malice. he was reprimanding you and you hated to admit it made your thighs press together.

“i just missed you,” you pouted at the man that was approaching you.

“you’re a fucking brat, is what you are. thinking you can always get your way. do i need to remind you who’s in charge?”

rhett towered over you as he took his stand before your kneeling frame. his thumb and index finger gripped your chin tightly, roughly. he took another drink and your mouth dropped open on its own accord.

he smirked before leaning down to let the warm liquid drip onto your waiting tongue, forcing your mouth shut so you could swallow.

“couch arm.”

“what?”

“i want you on the couch arm. that’s all you get tonight. it’s either that or nothin’. take your pick.”

“but-“

“i ain’t arguing.”

you moved hesitantly, straddling the couch arm and positioning yourself comfortably. you felt a sting in your muscles as the arm spread your thighs wider than you’re used to.

“g’on,” rhett commanded, nodding towards you as he sat at the opposite corner, legs stretched wide and the drink still in his hand. “show me how much you really missed me.”

you started with a slow drag of your covered cunt against the material, biting back a moan as the cool leather of the couch created a dizzying contrast to the heat at your core. the leather became more slick with each pass, making it easier to grind into it.

you got lost in the feeling, closing your eyes and arching your back as you imagined it was rhett’s cock you were riding. breathy whimpered escaped your throat and your stomach knotted up at your impending release.

“daddy,” you whispered, neck craning to look at rhett. “can i please cum? i promise i’ll be good,” you pleaded.

rhett let out a mumbled curse before he started palming his hard cock, giving you a singular nod.

that was all you needed to pick up your pace, chasing that high that you desperately craved. it hit you hard and fast, your thighs shook and your mouth was agape with a silent scream. rhett groaned loudly as he watched you come undone.

it took you a few moments to settle. after you caught your breath, you just threw yourself back onto the sofa. your head landed in rhett’s lap as you looked up at him. the glow of the lamp brought out the greys at his temples and you could assume that he only had more because of you. not that you minded.

“this poor couch,” you laughed, fingers tracing invisible shapes along rhett’s thigh.

“it should be burned,” he responded, a dry laugh escaping him as well.

“i really did miss you tonight. we missed our show,” you said.

“m’sorry, baby. i missed you too. but andy almost saw my phone and i don’t want someone lookin’ at my lady like that.”

“i’ll be more cautious with the nudes i send,” you joked. which earned you a little love tap to your thigh.

“you’ll be the death of me, girl.”

[fuupan]

drew these for heart pirates day and uhhhh ep1115

[fromcinder]

it takes a moment - just a moment - for dom to be transported back to that day. it's almost always the same dream, you see. one moment it's all routine and confident manoeuvres through the warehouse, preparing to quench aggressive flames. the next? oppressive black smoke, pushing in from all sides, abruptly ignites and burns orange from floor to ceiling. nothing can withstand heat soaring far beyond a thousand degrees centigrade. least of all the air in her tank, which cooks her from the inside out until the darkness sweeps in. merciful, merciful darkness.

when they found her colleague, who'd attempted to drag them both out of the flashover, his mask had melted to nothing and his turnout gear had come away with clumps of flesh. he'd been flash-fried to a crisp, but she'd been reborn. why? what made her so special? she lays and wonders every night when she's off duty, unable to distract herself with the steady snoring of her fellow firefighters. it's a heavy weight on her chest, like a malicious shadow intent on wrapping its fingers around her throat, squeezing and squeezing until...

hello, dominique. the firefighter's eyes snap open and lock upon eloise's features. it's weird hearing her full name, as most people simply refer to her as dom. she likes it, though. there's a soothing quality to the witch's voice. almost as relaxing as her baked goods. a little shaky and off-kilter, dom pushes a smile onto her face and saunters over. voice is a low, tired husk when she speaks. "alrigh', pet?" attempting to come off as less exhausted than she is, dom leans up against the wall while eloise unlocks the door. a laugh echoes in response to the question. "that obvious, eh? and here i was tryin' to be subtle." obvious sarcasm. dom bounces dark eyebrows. "you're a bloody angel, y'know that?"

               portum’s  weather  is  one  of  the  things  about  the  town  eloise  enjoys  the  most.   the  sun  touching  her  skin,   the  soft  breeze  coming  from  the  shore  moving  the  skirts  of  her  dress,   the  silky  strands  of  her  chocolate  hair  …  everything  about  it  was  soothing,   it  put  a  content  expression  on  her  face,   it  filled  her  with  a  calm  she  felt  with  few  other  things  in  life.   that’s  why  she  loved  to  walk  to  the  bakery  every  morning,   without  rushing,   enjoying  the  beauty  and  the  buzz  that  surrounded  her.                 arriving  at  the  bakery,   though,   her  mood  shifts  slightly.   the  sight  of  dom  parked  outside  gives  pause,   and  the  feeling  of  pure  worry  settles  in  the  pit  of  her  stomach.   she  manages  a  gentle  smile  nonetheless,   as  she  approaches  her  business’  entrance  and  proceeds  to  open  it.     “  hello,   dominique,  ”     the  greeting  is  as  gentle  as  her  smile,   hands  working  the  locks  diligently.     “  you  look  tired,   bad  night ?  ”     she  never  beats  around  the  bush  when  it  comes  to  it,   to  the  difficulties  dominique  has  to  sleep,   they  both  know  each  other  for  a  long  time  already  to  lie  to  each  other  with  fake  pleasantries.

[tmos-time]

just remembered i can draw gay people

[densewentz]

All I can think about is how fucked everyone treats a Shadow Dragon Rook if they choose to save Treviso over Minrathous. Because the decision is sound, you know? Horrible, and hard, but Treviso is this half-broken merchant city. No guard other than the crows, no defenses, no giant floating big brother laser in the sky and one of Thedas' largest collection of mages. And so Rook has to trust their fellow Dragons to protect their home and hope to anything that they can keep the blight from Treviso. Only it's not enough, and despite the fact that Rook is one (1) person, who's only leading because no one else would goddamn do it, who has never even SEEN a dragon before the one at D'Meta's Crossing, and who still managed to fight off one dragon right after a grueling mission and then still have the energy to run off to try and help Minrathous - everyone still seems to blame them. And not just that, but the entire team spends most of the next act with their hearts breaking for Minrathous, and for Neve especially. 'Poor Neve, her home is gone, her people are dead, her life as she knew it is changed forever, poor neve, I know you didn't have a choice Rook but Neve is hurting now'. And I LOVE Neve. I love her. But it is so fucked up that as a Shadow Dragon Rook who was forced to make a horrific choice, who ALSO lost their home, their people, the life they knew- no one ever really bothers to comfort Rook. Or even consider that Rook would be absolutely shattered by what happens to Minrathous. Or fucking furious, because Rook and the goddamn Crows managed to fight off their dragon by the skin of their damn teeth with basically nothing, so how could the Shadow Dragons and the rest of Greater Minrathous not handle theirs! What were they goddamn doing that whole time?!?

The only difference between Rook and Neve is that Rook doesn't have the luxury of fucking off in the middle of a fight for the world to go mourn what they've lost. They have no choice but to pull their shit together and keep going.

And still every time Rook goes to a companion with the broken pieces of themselves in their bloody palms its just. "Oh Rook, how could this have happened to Poor Neve"

[jayktoralldaylong]

You know who they did the dirtiest in Arcane? Apart from Vander that is.

The answer is Mel. My baby girl lost her two boyfriends and I'm tired of pretending like I'm okay about it.

She gave everything to their dream.

"She wanted to use them." YES! At first! At first she thought they were a great investment. Then she came to love them with more sincerity and more care than many other relationships in the show. Sure some of the toxic things she'd learnt from her home tended to seep into the relationship, but she did everything she could to prune that away.

She loved them. She poured everything into their dream. Everything into helping Jayce get rid of Heimerdinger when he wanted to ban the research that could help Viktor, everything to help them both vote for peace and make the council decision unanimous. Everything to get back to them, after getting kidnapped! 🥺 After going through every version of hell, she immediately gravitated to where she would find them, 😭 find the only loves that had ever accepted her without necessarily demanding anything in return.

And Riot just took that away. And I'm tired of acting like I'm okay with it.

I'm tired of everyone saying Mel deserves better than Jayce and Viktor, tired of people shipping her with people she's never met (especially when the aim is just to give her someone who is not Jayce or Viktor), I'm tired of the strong independent black woman stereotype following Mel around when it's the LAST thing that she wants when she only just learnt to be soft with Jayce and open with her heart once again. I am tired of people calling her a manipulator as if her character arc ended there, as if she did not unlearn toxic love and traded it for the gentle bond she then had with her two favourite scientists.

I'm tired of people not acknowledging that she had to leave Piltover, not just because the Medarda family needed her, but also because her boys were gone. The family she had finally made for herself, the family she was willing to abandon her family name for. They're gone and I don't think Riot will ever be kind enough to give them back to her.

Everyone else, even Ekko sort of has a family to fall back to. Mel has successfully lost everyone. The fact that Lest is the closest person to Mel left says way too much about how awful this whole situation is.

And I am TIRED, I am so sick and TIRED, of people acting like she did not love Jayce and Viktor. I am so sick and tired of people acting like Jayce did not love her. It probably hurt him too to leave her behind.

The tragedy of them is that Jayce knew Mel still had the chance to refind her feet, but Viktor had only ever had Jayce, and Jayce would NEVER leave Viktor alone. And it hurts that Mel probably wished she could have gone with them, because now she has to start everything from scratch and barely anyone in the fandom acknowledges that side of her pain and I HATE IT!

(Jayce might have been created for Viktor in League Lore, but Mel was created for Jayce. 🥺😭 Mel was created to love Jayce and they took her baby away.) #HappyHare(Mel)WhereHaveYouBuriedAllYourChildren?TellMeSoISay😭

[avocado62524]

[heartorbit]

i think they would get along

[orionsangel86]

Lucienne/Lucien - How the Librarian Became the Chief.

In The Sandman Netflix adaptation Lucienne is a stand out character and second only to Morpheus in importance, screen time, and centrality to the story. Lucienne is Morpheus's loyal Librarian, second in command, ruler of the Dreaming in his absence, and often times a voice of reason and advice for our dutiful King of Dreams. She is so well respected in her position that the other castle residents consider her their boss and would rather go to her for guidance and command than Morpheus himself. She takes care of Dream's ravens and even appears to have the power to create new ravens from newly deceased mortals like she did with Matthew. She is clearly extremely close to Morpheus, and is one of very few people he seems to actually listen to and trust. Lucienne's role in this story can not be underestimated.

So it may come as a surprise to any fans of the show who haven't read the comics to learn that Lucien (as he is called in the comics) is afforded very few of the above traits. In fact Lucien is no where near as close to Morpheus even by the very end of the story, as Lucienne is at the beginning. It is this difference that has fascinated me since I first started diving into the comics after falling in love with the show, and its something I view as extremely important when considering how the story is being adapted into a kinder, more sympathetic universe surrounding our central protagonist.

Lucienne's role is expanded greatly from her comic counterpart, and her relationship with Morpheus is shown to be much deeper. This is evident practically right away at the end of episode one when Lucienne comes to greet Morpheus upon his return to the Dreaming following his escape.

The way she runs over to him as soon as she realises he is back, and lovingly takes his hand and is so pleased to see him is a far cry from the comic where the first thing Lucien does is bow.

So right at the start we see a very different form of relationship here. Where Lucienne is already displaying a level of care and devotion beyond the expectations of a servant, Lucien however, is exactly that.

The servant thing has caused a bit of contention among fandom in the past. I think the confusion could come from whether or not you see Lucien or Lucienne first. Lucien IS a servant of Dream. Lucienne is more like a vice president and royal advisor. Those are two very different things after all and that difference only becomes more obvious the further you go into the story.

Lucienne accompanies Morpheus throughout his return to his crumbling kingdom, helps him as he attempt to repair the damage, follows him to Cain and Abel, and watches over his meeting with the Fates. She is by his side from the moment he returns until the moment he leaves again for the waking world to begin his quest to recover his tools, and she is responsible for Matthew's reincarnation as the new Raven and instructs Matthew to stay with him because of her concern for Morpheus's wellbeing on his quest.

I cannot stress enough how much none of this is in the comics. Lucienne shows a level of care towards Morpheus that just isn't present in Lucien in the comics. After the first meeting with Lucien at the gates of the Dreaming, Lucien doesn't appear again until he is instructed by Morpheus to conduct the census of the Dreaming. He only appears again in the Doll's House very briefly and has no involvement in Morpheus's decisions during that arc, which takes place very rarely in the Dreaming.

That's not to say that Lucien isn't a very trusted servant of Morpheus. He is the closest to Morpheus of all the residents of the Dreaming except only Matthew. But I think a lot of what we see in the show of Morpheus and Lucienne's dynamic is inspired by much later in the comics. I also think that it speaks loudly to the change in Morpheus as a character. Show!Morpheus has people almost right away who care about him and want to help him, whereas comic!Morpheus is extremely isolated. It is clear in the early comic stories that comic!Morpheus keeps himself at arms length from basically everyone. He does not have a bond with Lucien, he did not have Jessamy, and at that early stage, he didn't even have Matthew. All of this of course was primarily to make show!Morpheus a more sympathetic and likeable character - you gotta give your protagonist people who care about them, it helps raise the stakes after all.

Taking Charge - Lucienne is the real boss

One of my favourite parts of the Dolls House episodes in the Netflix show is the conflict between Morpheus and Lucienne due to the other residence and Dreaming servants going to her for advice and instruction first rather than Morpheus. Bearing in mind this only takes place less than a year after Morpheus's return from imprisonment, it speaks volumes as to how Lucienne has taken the role of leader of the Dreaming in her stride.

But it also indicates how Morpheus' change in the show is coming at lightening fast speed compared to the comic. In the comic, Mervyn doesn't make these observations until the Brief Lives arc, and this is indicated at that point to be a very new thing - triggered by several years post fish bowl of having to face his past decisions and mistakes (and a string of scorned ex lovers one after the other ending in a horribly matched rebound relationship with a murderous witch that subsequently rejected him and triggered him literally seeking out destruction). Lucien was only put in charge of the Dreaming when Morpheus left to go on his trip with Delirium. It is during that trip that Morpheus realises how competent Lucien is and capable of running things without problem in his absence.

Mervyn's insights are made clear here:

This is the only time in the comic that anyone dares mention that someone other than Morpheus might be the boss - and it is in no way as directly spelled out as it is in the show. "You're practically running the place" and "you secretly run this place" are quite different statements. The first only makes an observation about Morpheus's current lack of interest (in Brief Lives) in actually running his realm. It implies that Lucien is doing Morpheus' job for him, but does not go as far as to outright call Lucien the boss. Whereas in the show, that's exactly what Mervyn does.

In the comic, Morpheus overhears Mervyn's speech and immediately points out his reasoning for leaving Lucien in charge, for promoting him and giving him more authority.

Because no one ever technically undermines Morpheus in the comic, there is no conflict here. Morpheus trusts Lucien as his loyal servant and gives him the power to rule in his stead (but only when he is absent) and there is no "secretly report to Lucien first" attitude among Matthew and Mervyn. We can perhaps interpret that this might be happening behind the scenes by this point in Brief Lives, or even just before the BL arc when Morpheus was distracted by his rebound murderess, but it is never actually directly stated that this is going on.

The tension between Morpheus and Lucienne in the show is born out of the conflict over Lucienne's position and Morpheus feeling undermined by his subjects, and its storytelling gold. But the only reason such a story works in the show is because Lucienne is so important to Morpheus in the show, because their relationship goes so much deeper than the relationship in the comic. Lucienne is not a servant, she's his god damn vice president and she knows it, and he knows it too. Throughout episodes 7 and 8 specifically he reaches out to her for her opinion and advice on the Vortex situation. He talks things through with her and seeks out her guidance. It is clear that he relies on her and it is only at the end of episode 8 when Lucienne disagrees with his punishment of Gault, that in his anger, he dismisses her.

Lucien/ne the Royal Advisor

Where Morpheus in the show seeks out Lucienne's advice and opinion frequently especially during the Doll's House arc, I have to stress that this never happens in the comic. Comic!Morpheus just does not have that kind of relationship with Lucien and does not seek his counsel at all, even though Lucien does try to give it on occassion, usually when Morpheus is about to do something extremely stupid and probably damaging to himself and the Dreaming. To name a couple times:

Season of Mists - before Morpheus returns to Hell:

Brief Lives - before seeking Destruction:

You'll note that in both these times Lucien's words of caution are completely ignored.

You'll also notice that in both times Lucien is taking a path of polite caution. Lucien very rarely speaks his mind to Morpheus, because he knows it won't get him very far to do so. The only time Lucien truly loses his cool and speaks freely is in The Kindly Ones (spoiler alert)

At this point in the comic story Morpheus has basically all but given up and accepted his fate and its fucking depressing AF. Lucien is well within his right to shake the bastard HARD and snap him TF out of it. I STILL think he was too restrained here tbh!

My point here is that Lucienne already speaks her mind quite freely around Morpheus in the show. She expresses her opinions and thoughts and gives him her advice. This is such a well established dynamic by the point of the argument that it is clear that Lucienne is offended by Morpheus's dismissal of her.

Take this exchange from episode 9:

Lucienne: "Rose is weakening the walls between realms" Matthew: "You gonna tell the Boss?" Lucienne: "No." Matthew: "No?" Lucienne: "It's none of my business." Matthew: "Er, since WHEN?" Lucienne: "Since Lord Morpheus reminded me that I'm merely a librarian and should concern myself with my books from now on." Matthew: "He said that?! What's wrong with him!" Lucienne: "Nothing is wrong with him. He's always been this way. He's just been away so long I'd forgotten. He's determined to deal with the vortex and the missing Arcana by himself. Without anyones help. So any news must be reported directly and exclusively to him."

It's worth pointing out here that whilst this is framed as Morpheus being a stubborn idiot, in the comic, he does in fact deal with the vortex and the missing Arcana by himself mostly and is not so much helped but saved at the last moment by Unity Kinkaid who realises what is happening in a dream and goes to save Rose, which also saves Morpheus from Desire's trap.

In the show, Morpheus has people who care enough about him and his realm to want to get involved and help him, not out of a desire to undermine him, but simply because they care about him. That is a drastic change from the comic at this point. Morpheus in the comic is constantly shown to be struggling under the burden of his own responsibilities and this is highlighted by the fact that he doesn't really get any support or assistance, and is far too prideful to ask for it. Lucien gets the promotion and chance to rule in his absence, but it is never framed as a job he shares with Morpheus - at no point does Lucien take the burden of his responsibilities off of him. This is no Samwise Gamgee "I can carry you" moment unfortunately. Lucien does not have the power nor the bond with Morpheus to undertake such a task because Morpheus keeps him at arms length throughout the comics - but Lucienne? Well, time will tell how that may change.

An Apology from the King

In a shock horror twist that comic!Morpheus would sooner die than do himself (ha) the great emo King of the Netflix universe gives Lucienne an apology for his behaviour (sort of).

Episode 9 displays the tension between Morpheus and Lucienne following their "break up" perfectly. Morpheus is clearly in the wrong, and Lucienne is clearly hurt by his dismissal of her support. Yet even after the fight, he still seeks out her advice in determining the cause of the disturbances in the Dreaming. He goes to her first before investigating himself (something that comic!Morpheus wouldn't even consider doing) and is surprisingly capable in swallowing his pride here even though it is clearly a struggle for him.

Later in the episode, once he realises that Lucienne was right about the disturbances, he seeks her out to tell her so, and to confirm that she was right and he was wrong. This is again something that I can't fathom comic!Morpheus doing, even nearer the end of the story I don't believe he does so, certainly not to Lucien. Fiddlers Green drums this point home when he says this:

Fiddlers Green: "... still his time there appears to have changed him as it has changed me." Lucienne: "How so?" Fiddlers Green: "Lucienne, he came to you and told you he was wrong. It was very nearly an apology. The Morpheus I knew was incapable of that."

This further reinforces not just how much Morpheus has changed in a short time, but also how much he respects and cares about Lucienne and their continued relationship.

Platonic Life Partners? Co Ruler and Closest Confident of the Dream King

When I set out to write this meta, it was with the aim to highlight Lucienne's elevated role from her comic counterpart. To try to stress the importance of her character in the show and what this means for the future of the story in the show. By the end of the last episode, Lucienne is practically granted co-ruler status of the Dreaming while Morpheus works on his creations. He asks her if she can "take care of things while he works" which she agrees "with pleasure".

I just... I can NOT stress ENOUGH how much comic!Morpheus needed this person in his life. Even though Lucien looks after the Dreaming whilst Morpheus is away in Season of Mists and Brief Lives, it is always as a last resort with Morpheus continuing to check in on Lucien during Brief Lives as if he expects trouble, and he always seems a bit confused when Lucien tells him all is fine. As if he can't quite understand how the Dreaming could be okay without him there (and I mean, after the trauma of watching your realm which is also technically a part of you crumble to dust I suppose you would be a bit attached to it!).

Comic!Morpheus constantly struggles under the weight of his responsibility. His entire thing is that he is desperate to step away and not be who he is but he simply does not have it in him to do that. He is far too bound by his rules and responsibilities. For Morpheus in the show to be given someone to support him in his rule as King and assist him with the burden of his responsibilities is actually a hugely mindblowing change to the comic, and could honestly have huge repercussions on the story going forward. Not only that, but the Morpheus in the comics is painfully lonely. He desperately needs companionship but he keeps everyone at arms length. He never allows his subjects to get too close to him, even Lucien. Even Matthew isn't afforded the same level of closeness in the comics as he is in the show. In the comics, the ONLY character who Morpheus is close to is Death. Which says a lot by itself. The second character he gets closer to as time goes on is Delirium. Which also says a lot. Think of the characters in terms of their concepts. Morpheus has no close friends in the comics (even his relationship with Hob Gadling in the comic doesn't have half the impact it does in the show) and keeps all those he interacts with at arms length except for Delirium and Death.

But show!Morpheus? He has a Matthew who is already so very devoted to him, a Hob Gadling who waited an extra 33 years on hope alone that he would return to him, and a Lucienne who rules by his side, offers him support, guidance, counsel, companionship and probably a good helping of love. How can this Morpheus possibly carry the same deep loneliness as his comic counterpart? How can this Morpheus be buckling under the weight of his duties when he already has his Samwise Gamgee right there by his side? It poses an interesting question for how the show will handle future story arcs, though it could all prove to simply make for a much more painful story, where we happen to have many more characters to react and show the deeply painful grief that we all feel at his eventual passing - or maybe, just maybe, this is a universe where Hope never died...

[ancha-aus]

RealAgeAU Drabble - Parentalbond Horror

*grinning* I am baaaaaaaack!! @spotaus get over here :D

So. I had the difficult choice on which drabble i wanted to write so For now I settled on this one because I haven't had the chance to write a drabble with Horror's pov since a while and that is a crime.

First Drabble here Prev Drabble here Next Drabble here

As always we go in unbeta'ed and unedited.

*-----------------*

Horror checks the windows again before turning back to the couch and seeing Nightmare just staring at him.

Horror tils his skull "sleep will be easier if you actually lay down...." And he looks pointedly at the couch.

Nightmare gains that stubborn glint in his sockets again as he huffs "I am fine. Not tired at all." he looks at the pile of bags in the corner of the room wishfully.

Horror has to keep his chuckling inside as he answers "Shame then that it is bedtime for young skeletons." And adult skeletons. Horror glances at the other three. All KO on the other couch, all still dressed in their normal clothes and none of them actually finished their meals.

Horror will have to pack up the leftovers. Make sure nothing goes to waste. But he will let them sleep for now and just make them eat a big breakfast. But all three had been running themselves ragged lately. Especially after the last encounter they had had with the Stars.

It meant they have been making more jumps and teleports and not going out as much to collect things to make it easier for them.

Horror walks over to them and puts one of the blankets in this apartment over them, he doesn't bother to try and pull them away from one another. The four of them always had the habit of sleeping in a pile and that habit only got worse once they started searching for Nightmare and reclaimed him.

Horror checks Ngihtmare's plate and smiles "You finished it all today." No wonder he is grumpier and more active than usual.

Nightmare pulls a face and crosses his arms. Horror walks over and nudges him at his shoudler "Sleep time." and he waits.

Nightmare grumbles more as he pushes the blankets and pillows around. Horror just crosses his arms as he waits. Nightmare huffs but lays his skull down on the pillow and glares at him.

Horror knows he is grinning but he is proud to say he doesn't actually snort or laugh at the grumpy face Nightmare is pulling. instead he moves closer slowly, the first week of watching Nightmare flinch at every movement and sound had been horrible, and puts the blanket over him as well.

Nightmare doesnt complain about it. Most likely becuase he just saw Horror do the same for the other three.

Horror nods and sits by him "Time to sleep." it is his turn to keep watch and he plans on taking ti seriously.

Nightmare huffs but just turns his face further into the pillow. Tiny body starting to relax with the simple comforts.

Horror tries to not be obvious as he keeps an eye on Nightmare.

Horror knows of course what is going on and he is trying to not give in. At least one of them should not give into the adopting.

Horror can admit he had been surprised that Dust was the first one to actually soul adopt Nightmare. Especially after only a week. It had been so fast and the transition between the before and after state had been so smoothly that Horror had honestly thought that Dust had done it on purpose and planned.

It would have made sense. Dust had been the one to find the book first and been the one to actually manage to get Nightmare back to them.

Only for it to become obvious that Dust had no idea what he had just done.

Soul adoption is a rather normal thing for monsters to do. Though in most universes they rarely happened as monsters don't tend to abandon children.

But well, Horror's AU had been one with starvation and a lot of fighting. People lost their lives in multiple ways. That meant quite a few orphans.

Soul adoption happened when an adult monster willingly took the role as caretaker for a younger monster who doesn't have a caretaker. There are a few more factors obviously but Horror doesn't know all of them of the top of his skull, especially not now with that hole in it.

What it comes down to? Nightmare is an orphan and has no one he could go to that could take care of them, and all of them know this. Dust found out first and surprisingly his soul was open enough to the idea to accept Nightmare as... well... his.

There are more hurdles in this situation of course. The fact that they Nightmare they knew was an adult, which is what Horror thinks is tripping up Cross. But Dust had been very quick with accepting that Nightmare is now a child and so immediantly treated him as one.

Killer took a bit longer but quickly fell into step as well. Calling Nightmare tiny boss and going from his right-hand-man to his babysitter, Killer's words not Horror's.

Horror is however a bit surprised that Killer also soul adopted Nightmare. In theory it shouldn't have happened as Nightmare at this time already had Dust as his caretaker and so technically didn't need one anymore.

Seems like Killer's soul didn't agree with that.

Horror can't say a lot about it though, seeing as he can feel it happening with himself as well. And he has no doubt that Cross is very close to giving into his own instincts and feelings concerning this as well.

The whole thing with their last interaction with the Stars is a very big give away. Even if Cross felt very embarresed by his own reaction.

At least Nightmare is no truly convinced that they won't harm him and will help him. Horror is happy they managed to get there and with it having only been a month since they took him with them. Horror can say they did a good job.

Nightmare has falled asleep.

Horror move slowly and silently and puts two fingers to the the side of his small belly and feels.

Horror may not have a lot of magic himself but his AU was left him with a very useful skill. Wiht how little food there was available and how little magic there was there came issues. One of the issues was that after a while the magic monsters had wasn't strong enough anymore to digest the food that the mosnters did manage to eat. meaning that even if the monster ate food they would not get any energy or new magic from it.

Meaing that even if they ate they would continue to starve.

Wiht how difficult it had been for Nightmare at first to eat or even remember to eat Horror had worried something simular may have happened. That being in the goop form had caused his own magic to grow too weak to be able to function fully.

But all Horror feels is the soft and quiet purr of NIghtmare's magic working hard to use the offered food to rebuild the babybones' small reserves.

Horror sighs a sigh or relieve and just watches Nightmare for a moment. Nightmare, having noticed the pressure on him, makes an unhappy sound and his socket flutters open to give him a sour look.

Horror chuckles as he whispers "I apologise." Horror is unsure how clear his answer is as Horror himself is purring like a loud law mower at this point.

Nightmare blinks at him, still looking like the tiniest little grumpy skeleton this multiverse has ever known, before closing his sockets again and turning on his side. surprisingly not away from the touch and light hold.

Horror watches the other. It is strange. They are all different yet Nightmare still has them all completely under his control. Yet it is in a completely different way and Ngihtmare now doesn't even seem to realise it.

Horror leans on the couch and watches their tiny charge just sleep. Horror had managed to keep the need to complete an adoption at bay by reminding himself that Nightmare already had a caretaker- well two and a half now, Horror is sure that all Cross still needs to complete the soul adoption is a tiny nudge. Horror thinks that Cross is jsut thinking too much about it and doubting his own instincts and feelings.

But that still leaves Horror, and what he wants to do. He figured that it would be better to at least keep one of them unbiased in this nature, just in case that Nightmare suddenly turns into an adult again. But the longer this went on the less likely it seemed to Horror.

Not to forget. Horror doesn't even think Nightmare wants to be an adult again. Not now that he is a child but doens't have to vigilent every moment of every day.

Does he technically already have caretakers? Yes. Does Horror still want to count himself as one? Yes.

So. He just picks for himself.

Horror moves slowly and quietly as he picks Nightmare up. Nightmare grumbles in his sleep at being moved but calms when his magic recognises Horror.

Horror gets comfortable on the couch and lays Nightmare on his sternum. He can still feel the tiny soul beat and pulse fast even through two shirts.

Horror pulls the blanket back over Nightmare and waits.

It doesn't take long as Horror can feel the slight pull on his magic and energy. Hardly noticable and Horror doubts that if he wasn't so paranoid about his own levels he would have noticed.

It is something tiny monsters do. To help stabalise and sharp their own magic they try to take tiny bits of their parents, or caretakers in this case, to help guide them. It all happens naturally.

Horror just holds the tiny babybones closer and feesl Ngihtmare's soul slowly start to match Horror's own soulbeat and he feels all the calmer.

Now it is pretty much done. Horror will have to probably deal with this decision one day but for now he is happy. Their tiny babybones is comfortable and everyone is resting. Tomorrow they will have to worry about getting supplies and where they can go and eventually where they will sleep that night.

But right now? Right now he doesn't have to worry about that. and all he ahs to worry about is that their babybones is comfortable and healing.

*-----------------*

First Drabble here Prev Drabble here Next Drabble here

[milolunde]

We all know Timmy is Wanda’s mama’s boy but we need to keep in mind he’s still Cosmo’s kid too and that Cosmo would love him just as vehemently as Wanda

[tagarilaghost]

hey uhm @wowitsmetaylor you know about that one post you made and that one specific tag...?

Yeah well now he does have that :D

It truly sucks being an artist and having free will-

[evillillad]

not seen: me foaming at the mouth trying to marry this man

[brandwhorestarscream]

You have no idea how much I needed VERY sick and pregnant Megatron in my life. Him begging not to throw up and just being miserable was something I didn't know I wanted but now I know. You've opened my eyes.

Little cogless miners are so small and adorable. They're so tiny 😭🥰

Orion Pax is such a smug little shit (affectionate) in the beginning of the movie. I love him so much.

I cannot wait to see the 4th chapter of TFone Megatron being pregnant ☺

Hey, I'm glad you liked it! Poor Dee's really going through it. 4th chapter is still being worked on, but here! Have some bonus content of poor sick D-16. This time, after hours:

::Digestive tank purge, initiated::

D-16 gags as he comes back online, startled out of recharge but body moving in its own, stumbling out of his slot and clamping one servo over his mouth. Something in his abdomen heaves and he feels hot bile hit the back of his throat. Tears blur his vision and he searches desperately for a waste bin, but it's too late: his upper body jerks and he stumbles to his knees over a drain on the floor, one palm planting shakily on the cold concrete before half-digested energon comes sloshing past his lips.

He moans, miserable, tears dripping solemnly down his cheeks. He gags again, violently, sobbing as it makes his whole upper body jerk. His midsection throbs, his esophageal tubing burns. He hunches over, vents whirring loudly, pressing his overly-hot forehelm to the cold ground.

"D-16?"

He whimpers pathetically and turns his face, squinting against the fluorescent backlight. "D... Doctor...? H'oh-!" He gags again and turns to purge, coughing out a sheet of clear, burning sludge.

"I'm here," Ratchet is kneeling at his side immediately, one servo on his back and the other coming to touch his forehelm, holding his head up. "Primus, kid. You're burning up." 4 degrees outside of what could be considered the normal parameters. Any hotter and he'd probably have to be shut away in a medsuite for emergency care.

Exhausted, D-16 slumps over, heavily leaning on the medic. His vents are shuddering, and his whole body is trembling with exhaustion. He sniffles again, tears still threading down his cheeks. "...it hurts," he admits in a tiny, rasping voice. His optics glaze over and he starts to sob into Ratchet's lap. "I feel... s-so bad...!"

The medic's spark aches, because there's really nothing he can do. Fever reducers and extra coolant haven't been working, antibiotics aren't working, he hasn't been able to rest and sleep it off the way he desperately needs to, and none of his tools are calibrated for identifying specific viral strains and whipping up the chemical compound of a cure. Not like the ones in the real hospitals. When it comes to illness, all he can do is guess and estimate and diagnose to the best of his ability, and treat them accordingly. But nothing's been working and D-16 just keeps getting sicker. The only silver lining is that he doesn't seem to be contagious, as no one else has come down with his mystery ailment.

Defeated, Ratchet rubs soothing circles on his back while Dee sobs into his lap. "I know, kid... I- I know. We- I'm sorry, we're still trying to figure it out." He and First Aid and Sugarcoat were up to their ears in half-finished repairs and a huge queue of mecha in need of their constant attention because of the new shift rules. There just wasn't time to figure out a treatment for one mech's fevers and stubbornly upset tanks. Dee makes a miserable snuffling sound and starts coughing, prompting Ratchet to drag him into a sitting position to decompress his aeration systems.

"...come on," he stands up and slides his hands under D-16's arms, pulling him to stand. The younger mech's legs are shaking, knees knocking together. His optics are unfocused, and he wobbles dangerously. "You gonna biff it?"

"D... Dunno."

"Alright. Hang tight, I'll getcha a chair."

The wheelchairs are antiquated, all of them rusty and dusty and old, but they're enough to support a miner's weight and get them where they need to go. Ratchet pushes him to one of the medsuites and effortlessly lifts him onto the berth, telling him to lie down.

"What're you...?"

"I'm doing inventory," shift doesn't start for another two megacycles, but the work needs to be done. "You're gonna sleep. Lying flat should help the nausea some." He'd have liked to also get him on an energon drip, as his constant purging surely had his gauges in the red, but energon was in short supply right now. Emergency transfusions only, and unless a mech was at risk of deactivating, it wasn't considered an emergency.

D-16 doesn't look convinced, cuz he's really not supposed to be in here. Ratchet tuts at him, says, "Doctor's orders." and throws a weighted sheet over him to seal the deal. To his relief, Dee falls back into recharge some ten kliks later, and is able to get a bit more uninterrupted rest. He feels awful when he has to shake the silver mech awake for the work cycle, but inciting the wrath of their overseers by being late would only make his fragile health worse. Thankfully, Dee is able to walk (more of a hobble, but at least he was upright), and Ratchet resolves to figure out something to help him.

[johnslittlespoon]

Tryna study but puppy bucky brain rot :(.

how about leaving bucky adjusting to living with (bike riders) gale, bucky being excited and just taking every opportunity to be with him. gale teasing him calling him a lap dog. gale being used to his piece and quiet (hes not annoyed obviously but bucky might think he is). some reassurance fluff and maybe some oral cockwarming occurs... lalala

ughh more leaving!bikeriders au? yk how to rope me into brainrotting lol also puppy bucky brainrot is truly forever. there's no escape </3 nsfw + 1.5k words of pure drabble under the cut, ffs

john's so shy at first, so scared of intruding because he's anxious gale feels obligated to take him in out of guilt and out of worry about where john will stay if he doesn't, because they're really not in enough of a serious relationship to warrant moving in together at that point.

he's probably also got a lot of insecurities regarding stability and consistency in men from being raised by an angry, unpredictable father, and hasn't ever experienced home feeling like a safe place, as well as not having a lot of relationship experience in general, so it's a slow adjustment, and he always feels like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop, or for gale to get tired of him.

but slowly he starts to believe gale when he continuously and patiently assures him he wants him there, that he doesn't want him to go worrying about renting somewhere, he wants him to focus on college, he likes having him around, etc etc. gale is so sweet and patient with him, he knows he's just had his life uprooted and he knows he struggles with feeling wanted and feeling secure. he wants him to feel safe and comfortable and to be able to do well school, so he does everything he can to make sure it's a good environment, subtly establishing little routines that involve both of them so john can ease himself into some sort of stability.

once the reassurance and consistency really sink in with john, he gets to properly start enjoying the domesticity and comfort of living with gale, and then he is glued to gale's side, and he's so fascinated with how gale lives and what he gets up to when they aren't together. if gale's in the kitchen cooking, john is either right next to him 'helping', or he's sat at the table studying. if gale's on the couch watching tv, john is draped over his lap or curled up at his side. if gale's in the driveway working on his bike, john's laid out on the lawn with a book (though not much reading gets done because he can't stop staring and borderline drooling as he watches gale sweat in the sun.)

when gale's at work (thinking maybe his day job is something mechanic–adjacent? will sort all that stuff out eventually) and john's lecture ends before he gets home, john either ends up studying in gale's spot on the couch in one of gale's hoodies, or he raids the kitchen and attempts to cook them both dinner, giggling when gale gets home and finds him in the kitchen and wraps his arms around his waist from behind and calls him "my little housewife, hm?"

it's definitely an adjustment for gale too, not coming home from work to an empty house, not running on his own schedule, used to being a lone wolf, but he finds he really does like coming home to john. his quiet house feels alive, lived in for the first time, little pieces of john scattered around once john gets over the initial fear his home life has instilled in him of ever leaving the slightest bit of evidence that he even lives there.

of course there are points of contention occasionally, little bouts of bickering and angst, but they're almost always caused either by john pushing a bit too much when his brain urges him to self sabotage and 'prove' to himself that gale will snap at him/abandon him one day, or by gale not realizing he's being distant when he's stressed, or has said something in a thoughtless/blunt way. it's stuff they both work on together, and sometimes bad habits rear their heads, but it's nothing that communication can't fix.

and there are always... alternative methods of stress reduction they can turn to. gale's watching tv one evening and he can see john getting progressively more frustrated with whatever he's trying to study at the table, the telltale rapid bounce of his leg, chewing his lips to hell, cheek slumped into his hand. so he says john's name to get his attention, waits for him to look up and tells him "come sit, baby. take a break." and as if john can say no to that.

john crawls into his lap to straddle his thighs with a smile and a "this seat taken?" and gale watches him with amusement, can't help but laugh quietly at the way he makes himself right at home before gale can even respond, teases, "you think you're my lap dog, now?"

john hums like he has to contemplate it, hands resting on gale's shoulders, head tilted a little. says, "maybe. you gonna give me a bone?" with the cheekiest lopsided grin and a lazy roll of his hips, all proud of himself for his quip.

the smugness doesn't last long though, because gale has john lay down next to him, and slides down enough that john can lay his head on his stomach so he can face the tv while he keeps his mouth full of gale's cock. john might complain when he realizes the way his evening is about to go, but both of them know he loves it, even if he gets impatient and worked up.

gale can tell it's exactly what he needs, because the restlessness seeps out of him, eyes drooping as gale runs his fingers through messy curls, working out the tangles of the day, stomach feeling like a pit of molten lava from the hot, soft, wet heat enveloping him. john's tongue lightly presses up against his dick each time he swallows, but he's being so good listening to gale's instructions to sit nice and still, and gale makes sure to tell him so.

a drawled out "good job, baby. feel nice?" and a gentle brush of his thumb over john's cheekbone when he gets a flush and a shy nod in response. a coo of "c'mon sweetheart, you can sit pretty for a little bit longer, can't you?" when he sees john's hips start to shift down against the couch out of the corner of his eye. a murmur of "that's it, puppy, relax, let me do the work" as he lazily rolls his hips up into john's mouth, groaning when he feels a whine around his cock.

a "gonna be a good boy and take it all?" and smiling at the immediate "mm–hmm" he gets, giving john a teasing "so needy" before gale's losing himself to the feeling of his tongue and throat working around him, rambling out praise and compliments until he's spilling into that heat, john moaning around him the whole way. has to gently pull john off him by his hair when he keeps desperately lapping at his cock, rutting his hips down against the couch, muffles the whine of complaint as he leans down and tilts john's face towards his to capture his lips with his own.

and then he moves john onto his back, gets his pants off and kisses his way up his legs, taking his time because he knows john's so worked up that he's not gonna last once he gets his lips around him. gently bites at his hips, runs his hands up and down his thighs, plants open–mouthed kisses to his stomach in between murmured praises, "did so good", "such a pretty mouth", "my good boy."

john always gets so shy and bashful when gale treats him soft like this, no matter how many times they've fooled around, or how many times he's loud–mouthed himself into much less sweet and gentle scenarios. gale adores it, he loves looking up from between john's legs and seeing the pretty flush on his face, the bitten–red lips, the dazed, lovesick look in his eyes.

gale loves watching the way john's mouth falls open when he gets his own mouth around him, pinning his hips down with his hands, feeling them jerk desperately beneath his hold as the prettiest whines and mewls and pleas tumble from john's lips. he flattens his tongue along the underside of john's cock and sinks all the way down, and then he takes pity when he feels the way his thighs begin to tremble beneath him, loosening his hold and letting john's hips stutter up into his mouth as he falls apart so fast it makes gale's head spin, gasped out "fuck"s and "thank you"s like music to his ears.

gives john a taste of his own medicine, hollowing out his cheeks and working his tongue around him until john's hips are trying to squirm away from the overstimulation, a hand gently tugging at his hair, and gale can't help but tease him when he pulls off, "that worked up, just from having my cock in your mouth?"

smiles at the flush that immediately creeps over john's face, the quiet whine of protest. he pushes himself to his knees and crawls up john's body to soothe him with a deep kiss, rumbling low at the way nails dig into his shoulder blades, at the way john pants into the kiss, at the way he can feel john's cock twitch with interest against his bare thigh, huffing out a laugh at how fast he's always ready to go again.

"feeling better?" gale asks, as if john's blissed out state isn't answer enough, and john sighs dreamily against his lips, nodding. "you're gonna kill me, john." the giggle he gets in return seals gale's fate.

[whentherewerebicycles]

my therapist: so how do you know if you’re a good person

me: well I suppose I ask myself if I’m living in line with my values or working towards embodying those values and that’s how I decide

my therapist: so if you’re not living in line with your values or working towards embodying those values you’re a bad person

me: well yeah I guess

my therapist: and if you’re being a bad person you have to discipline and chastise yourself back into being a good person, ie someone who lives and acts in ways that feel aligned with the values you’ve decided are good. because that’s how you earn goodness

me: I mean. sort of

my therapist making a note: hm okay. so you’ve reinvented religion on a personal level