#dust 2 glory

[specshroom]

•The Queen of Curses•

Part 1 / Part 2

(Ok So think of this as like a Sukuna wins and everyone dies AU lol. True form! Sukuna. Added the cursed blood bath for no reason. Suggestive, titty stuff but that's it, MDNI, She/her reader, no use of Y/N)

Sukuna didn't rein over the Heian Era alone. It was always him and his lover, burning and slaughtering together. Their love for eachother was well known across the land. People knew not to be fooled by her less intimidating looks (in comparison to her husband) for she was just as brutal and heartless as he. 

All that changed when sorcerers from the era used all they're combined might to seal the Curse Queen inside a small cursed object, formed only from the combined sacrificed corpses of their comrades. 

They knew that the only way to defeat the King and Queen was to separate them and they succeeded. After hearing of the fate of his lover Sukuna flew into a blind rage leading to his own defeat at the hands of the same sorcerers.

One thousand years of relative peace passed with the two lovers separated but still yearning for each other. 

Luckily for the lovers, the ever devoted Uraume never stopped looking for a way to set their masters free. After centuries of searching and begrudgingly accepting a little help from Kenjaku, they finally found the cursed object that their Queen had been trapped in, a simple orb a little bigger than a tennis ball. It made Uraume's stomach turn thinking of such a powerful force being shoved into such a small thing. They carried the black orb with them everywhere while continuing the plot to releasing Sukuna. They found themselves whispering to it, compelled by the obsidian globe. They didn't know if their master could hear but they felt like it was right, like they could almost sense their masters overwhelming aura, compelling them to spill out everything they know. So Uraume spoke to it quite a lot, telling the dark orb and the beast inside about Sukuna's fate, about the new world, about Kenjaku and the plan to free her and her lover. 

The plan that finally comes to fruition. Sukuna is freed, his true form is restored in all its glory and hes wreaked havoc on most of Shibuya just as a warm up.  Uraume kneels before him.

"Master Sukuna."

 They say bowing their head.

 "Hmm?" 

Sukuna hums an acknowledgement, eyeing them with contempt. 

Uraume brings the dark crystal like ball out of their loose robes and holds it up, presenting it to their king. "Now, with your power fully restored we can release the Queen from her containment."

Sukuna stares at the ball in the sorcerers hand and gestures for Uraume to give it to him. He holds it as gently as his colossal hand is able to. It seems to get hotter in his hand, so hot it would surely sear the skin of a mortal. He pears into the orb only seeing his reflection in it, the Curse king nods to Uraume. He places it on the ground and they both step back, arms reaching out towards the orb on the ground.

In unison they both let out powerful blasts of cursed energy aiming right at the cursed seal. Strong streams of power, one white hot and the other pearcing cold, the orb starts to crack emitting a glowing white light. "It's breaking! Don't stop!" Sukuna orders and Uraume grunts but dutifully follows orders. The cracks grow wider and the light shines brighter before it's too blinding and they both cover their eyes as a powerful blast pierces the air.

In the settling dust stands a figure that's all too familiar to the both of them. They both watch as the figure shifts, leaning back and stretching their arms above their head, releasing a groan that is appropriate for someone who hasn't been able to move much in a thousand years. When the woman finally turns to Sukuna she sighs and smiles, letting out a relieved huff. Sukuna grins triumphantly and opens all four of his arms expecting a tide of thankful affection from his lover. When she takes the first few steps towards him her smile starts to waver until it's down to a grimace. Sukuna tenses as her eyes darken. He opens his mouth to ask what's the matter as she walks up to him and-

*SLAP*

Silence envelops the already desolate atmosphere. Sukuna's head is turned to the side, his eyes wide. He blinks before glaring at the offender with a look that could kill. She stares up at him with eyes just as deadly. 

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME IN THAT FUCKING BALL FOR SO LONG!!?"

Sukuna stares with his mouth open for a second genuinely shocked into silence until that second is over and he responds with equal vitriol. 

" HUH?! THAT WAS YOUR OWN FAULT WOMEN! DONT BE UNGRATEFUL!" 

The two fiery curses glare at each other with such violent intent, the very air around them heats up. 

"WHAT KIND OF SHITTY HUSBAND ALLOWS HIS OWN WIFE TO GET SEALED!"

"YOU CAN'T BLAME ME FOR THAT! DIDN'T I JUST SET YOU FREE?"

"DONT TAKE ALL THE CREDIT YOU BASTARD! URAUME'S THE ONE WHO-" 

As if the women just remembered that the other sorcerer exists, she turns around and there her loyal subject is, kneeling in her presence. 

" Welcome back master, it's good to see you" 

The woman's face brightens up immediately, "Uraume~" She sings running up to the sorcerer and lifting them into a bone crushing hug that would've killed a lesser being. "Oh, Thank you Uraume. My dutiful subject, you did so good." The Curse Queen coos at the sorcerer, squishing their face into her chest and stroking their duel coloured hair. Uraume doesn't hug back as to be respectful of their superior but they don't push back either, just letting their master man-handle (woman-handle?) them. 

Sukuna clicks his tongue at the show of affection and crosses two of his massive arms over his chest. No doubt in disbelief that HIS wife doesn't embrace HIM first after a thousand years spent apart.

The wife in question turns to him with Uraume still in her arms, an irritated look on her face. 

"What's your problem?" 

"My problem is that MY wife is being an ungrateful bitch." 

The benevolent woman stills and Uraume peers up at her from their place, nestled into the cleavage of her loose fitting kimono. The woman sets Uraume down onto the ground gently. She breathes a heavy sigh and in less that a second she's on Sukuna throwing a mass of red hot cursed energy right into his face. He blocks it in time and is able to keep blocking her continuous fast attacks. She gets frustrated and lets out a powerful blast that shakes the earth and forces him to jump back to avoid the blast.

She laughs with relief, finally being able to let out all that pent up cursed energy feels amazing. Her tattoos (similar to Sukuna's but not quite the same) almost seem to glow with the immense energy output being let off from her body. Only the tattoos on her face, neck and wrists are visible but Sukuna knows very well what the rest looks like, having traced every inch of ink with his fingers.

Sukuna takes the opportunity while she's distracted by the pure euphoria of letting her energy loose and comes barreling towards her, she can't react before he tackles her to the ground. He pins her hands down with two of his hands and another goes to roughly grab her jaw.

"Does it feel good to finally let off some steam, Baby?" 

The king of curses teasingly remarks from above her.

"Baby? That's new." She questions with a teasing grin. Her words are a bit slurred from the way her husband is holding her jaw.

"Might as well get with the times." He bites back with an even more cocksure grin. She scratches and kicks at him and bites at his hand. With all her concentration she channels the sheer amount of pent up cursed energy in her body and lets it burst out in a deafening blast that knocks Sukuna off of her. Static reverberates in the air.

In the few seconds it takes for him to recover she takes the opportunity to pounce on him pinning him to the ground. Grinning from her place above him her heavy breaths and beating heart match his. Her crazy, alert eyes meet four others with the same sentiment.

"I missed you so fucking much." Sukuna says before he pulls her by her robes into a deep kiss. The kiss is somehow aggressive and sensual.

Two of Sukuna's massive hands go to her waist and thigh holding her body to his as he sits up. The third hand is on the floor for balance and the last is tangled in her hair pressing her further into the kiss, as if that's even possible. Both Cursed beings are glad that they don't need to breath or else they surely would have suffocated each other by now. 

The queen of curses has never been more pleased by the fact that her husband doesn't seem to know what a shirt is. Sukuna has voiced many times that he wished his wife shared the same sentiments only for her to scoff at the suggestion, although, now she thinks the idea is one of the best he's ever had.

They fight for dominance with their tongues. Still locked in the passionate sloppy kiss the woman unlatches her hands from his hair to slip off the robes she was wearing over a loose fitting kimono. She unwraps the black accented white Kimono, rather slowly in sukunas opinion to let her breasts fall free to the warm air. 

Sukuna releases his mouth from hers, licking his spit slicked lips to stare down at his beautiful wife's beautiful tits.

"Yeah, remember these are mine. Only mine." Sukuna grumbles lowly before smooshing his face right between them, sighing deeply like a thousand year old itch has finally been scratched.

"Aww, is Ryō a little jealous?" The woman preens in a patronising manner while lightly stroking his fluffy hair.

"Poor baby~" She coos, repeating the pet name he used for her. Her teasing only gets a glare and a growl from the beast of a man currently buried in her tits, holding her impossibly closer to his face.

She chuckles down at him, a loving yet menacing look in her eyes.

"Well maybe I should let Uraume- where did they go?"

She looks around the scorched city landscape looking for her white haired subordinate and as if they heard her words summoning them they appear with a respectful bow.

"I have made the preparations for your bath."

"Thank you, Uraume~"

The woman beams and turns to the man who is still occupied with her tits, he's now picked a tit to suckle on, fondling the other in his rough hand.

"come now Ryo, it's time for our bath." She says curtly and the man groans with his mouth full, absolutely dreading even the idea of his tongue leaving the hardened nipple he's been sucking on. If the two objects poking her ass are any indication if it was up to him they would never get to the blood bath Uraume so kindly set up for them.

She tries standing up and pulling away but the man is latched on tightly, all four arms clutching around her as if they never want to be an inch apart from her again. The more she struggles the bigger the two chubs in his pants grow. She sighs and struggles once more.

"Uraume planned this out very nicely for us, Ryomen. Just do what I say Damnit!"

She pulls at his hair and he bites down on her tit in response, earning a yelp and a harsh smack on the head from her. He laughs, not with the mouth on her tit but with the mouth on his stomach. She peers down at it, as if she just remembered it's there. Without wasting more time she grabs the large tongue crushing it with her grip and tugging on it hard.

Sukuna releases her tit to yell out in pain.

"OW, WOMAN! You should be grateful for every ounce of attention I give you! OW!"

As Sukuna rages, she snorts and jumps out of his now loosened arms. Turning her back to him, she approaches the other sorcerer who's head is still bowed.

"Uraume, would you kindly show me to my bath?"

"Of course, Master"

Uraume stands and bows their head. Holding out their arm for their Queen.

She holds onto Uraume's arm, purposely squishing her still exposed breasts into the sorcerer's side as she smiles down at them.

"I guess we'll have the bath all to ourselves then, Uraume~"

Uraume closes their eyes with a knowing smile and nods in response, very accustomed to the games the two lovers would play with each other, often forcing them right in the middle. Their Queen would often promise that she'd one day make Uraume flustered, something that to this day has yet to occur.

The sorcerer doesn't even flinch at their powerful master fawning over them, stroking their arm and pressing her now marked up tits closer into them as the two walk off towards the bath Uraume prepared.

"HEY!! WHAT THE HELL!?? URAUME!"

Sukuna sits in disbelief at his wife's antics. As if he's only now remembering what a tease she is and has always been.

His wife looks back at him over her shoulder, she shrugs her kimono off her shoulder, exposing her tattooed shoulder to him before turning back to Uraume snickering.

Sukuna huffs and grins, shaking his head. He's so fucking happy to have his wife back.

(AN: I was originally planning to make this smut but... It just got away from me😭😭 sooo... Maybe in a part two? 👀👀)

[z4rph1m]

Platonic Yan!batfam X dazai!reader X yandere dc

Tw: implication of sex (between reader & Chuuya), past mentions of self harm,

Forgotten child

Pro. Ch.1 Ch.2 (you are here) Ch.3

Nakahara Chuuya

Your former lover of the dark.

Why did the two of you broke up? He forgot, or maybe he just doesn’t want to remember.

He knew that the moment the two of you were in a relationship, it was unhealthy and toxic.

Maybe it’s the way you would ignore him the whole day but the moment you’re within his arms you’re a touch starve, hopelessly in love mess.

Or maybe the way he would be angry at you and try to guilt trip you into doing whatever he wants or the way you would purposely annoy him so that he would try and hurt you (he tried ask you to stop doing that)

But why exactly did the two of you stay together?

It’s simple, you two completed eachother perfectly.

Especially how fitting your abilities names are to describe the two of you.

You made him act like a human, he gave you a reason to live on.

“Are you the most beautiful human to me or to me, you’re the most beautiful human”

You stare at the empty space of your bed in longing, feeling as if there was something missing in your life.

The love marks surrounding your body, the lipstick mark on your bandages and the soft touches lingers around you.

Oh how you miss him.

You knew well that being with him was a terrible idea, especially with how aware you are to how much of a terrible person you are.

You know well you’re only using him to have the willingness to live yet the more you are with him, the more you crave for his touch.

That’s the reason why you broke up with him.

You hated how it felt, how it didn’t felt real to you. You wanted to save him the tears and pain, breaking off was maybe your only choice.

You remember well on how soft his kisses are on your scars, lips and all over your body.

Or how beautiful yours and his voice sounded together.

Maybe, just maybe under different circumstances the two of you could be together.

As much as you two stayed friends, the benefits can’t really be pass on.

“I can’t feel love, I will give you the love that you lack your whole life”

The more time Bruce walk through the hallway to your room, the more sense of guilt cover him.

Wilting flowers, spiders in cobwebs, empty vases and dust covering the paintings.

The side of the mansion that’s long been abandoned.

God how long did he let you live like this?

How long did he left you to live within the chilly and ghostly halls of the manor?

On the way to your room, the two passed by Dick and Tim, who seemingly curious on where they’re going.

“Hey Alfred, Bruce, where you’re going?” Dick in all his glory, having his usual smile while Tim with his eye bags and energy drink in his hand.

“We’re on our way to Master [N] room, which is just at the corner of this hallway”

There was a deafening silence, but at the same time it was accompanied by a presence of a lonely child.

The presence of a child that was useless to the family.

The silence kept on going until Tim voice spoke out.

“Are you sure you’re in the right way Alfred? The corner of the hallway looks as if it’s haunted”

“Yes Master Tim, they’ve been assign to that room after all”

Damian stare at the picture that’s laying at your table.

A picture of you and your mother.

Maybe it’s the only picture of you and her but it explains everything about your relationship with her.

You malnourished, eyes hold emptiness yet smiled so awkwardly at the camera, having just an oversized t-shirt and a shorts on, bandages free, happily in your mother arms.

Thats probably the only picture of you smiling.

Out of all the pictures that he sees in the album, the one where you’re under the care of Alfred, not his father.

You’re smiling with your mother, where you live a miserable and pitiful life.

What was it that was different or missing from this family that made you never smiled at least once?

In the past, he use to sneak into your room whenever it’s one of those days where you don’t come home.

Interested on why you look so….. depressing and On deathbed-like.

Yet as time goes by, he was interested in you by you’re nature.

Seeing your photos, art and diary (or at least what’s left of it).

He wanted to know more about you yet his pride and jealousy got in the way.

He wanted your attention yet he rejected the idea of even having a conversation with you.

Everything was fine until one day he sees the room clean and smell of fresheners.

That’s when he realized what he did.

He was too late- no, he can fix it.

He will get his older sibling back, he must.

God whoever this “Q” is will be the top of his list for taking what’s his.

He hold onto your childhood doll before tensing his body when the sound of creaking fills the room.

“Father, Alfred, Tim, Dick, what are you doing here?”

Inspired by @-acid-ixx Again & again series and @-marcyvamp1re-blog silly little bat

[canihaveacalmtime]

Usually, those otome isekai troupe would put you either in the position of the villain, villainess, antagonist or just a side character in general. So what if you happened to isekai into an otome game but as the villain's younger sibling who the villain despise so much to the point that you think he hates you even more than he hates the protagonist.

So knowing that in the next 2 years, you going to be kill by your brother, you quickly form a plan to make him stay on calm terms with you by help his plans go smoothly, be more friendly and caring towards him, be useful with informations and more. Within a year, you successfully have him on norm terms with you, no more glaring, no more cursing, lashing, no more this and that.

You felt relieved, really, now that you know you can at least be safe for the time being so the next step in your plan to survive is simply to book it out of there. Yeah, move to another country with the help of your uncle, you wouldn't want to stay and witness what kind of mess your brother would cause to the protagonist and her harem anyway.

You're very sure that he'd be super busy worrying about how to get the protagonist for himself and how to crush the harem down to the lowliest stage of life, he wouldn't even notice your disappearance because you're simply a speck of dust to him.

So when you got a call from your uncle telling you about how he got all the way here and is now finding you got your soul almost left your body in a panic moment. Finding you? What was the villain thinking? You're half glad that your uncle didn't tell your brother where you live but you also worried because he's here in this city and when he's 'finding', until you leave this place, you'd not escape his 'radar'.

Tonight, you have to study over night while having a fever, such a combination already felt so horrible and it's even worse if you start to hear noises of your apartment's front door being open.

"Damn it." You said while half conscious, walking from your bedroom to the living room, you see him standing there with all his glory but you, you don't even react anything. Maybe it's because you feel sleepy or the fever is just a little bit overdose, the last thing to know is yourself being hold back from falling down before fainted.

"My poor (y/n), you can never take care of yourself good, huh. Brother promise to care for you from now on, let's bring you 'back' first."

[frost-queen]

Witches road// part 2 (Fem!reader x Agatha Harkness)

Forever tag:@missmelodramatic,@alex--awesome--22, @ellie-does-the-posts, @floatlosers, @merlieve , @queen-of-books , @glimmering-darling-dolly , @denkisclown , @wildieflower , @meyocoko , @justanothercoco, @subjecta13-thefangirl , @m-rae23 , @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr , @swampything07, @melsunshine , @panhoeofmanyfandoms , @venomsvl , @the-uncoordinated-house-cat , @rosecentury , @imagines-by-her, @evilcr0ne , @vviolynn , @niktwazny303 , @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 , @erikasurfer, @slythetic , @p0nycurtis , @quailbagutte , @fantasticcroissantpandagarden, @lanfear-is-my-darkmistress

Summary: Summoning the witches road, you are met up with the first trial. Being close around Agatha once more breaks unfamiliar things out of you. Can you overcome your fears and get a sense of what is becoming of you. [Witches road series]

Gather sisters fire

Water, earth and air

You quirked your eyebrow intriguingly up when you entered the house. Hand sliding on the doorframe whilst entering. Making a loud hum sound, looking around. – “What?” – Agatha asked entering behind you. – “Nothing.” – you responded looking over your shoulder to her. – “It’s just not you.” – you gestured at the clean suburban lifestyle, something unlike her.

“Well I didn’t have it to the picking Y/n.” – Agatha responded annoyed. Chuckling amused, you walked to the living room. Seeing another witch already present. With wide eyes, she looked at you. – “Are my eyes deceiving me?” – she questioned. – “They are not.” – Agatha responded walking past her. Your familiar jumped on the sofa making Agatha hurry over.

“Uh-uh no pets on the couch.” – she started clapping her hands to scare him away. Your familiar hissed back in defence, making her pull her hands back. – “Fine then sit.” – she replied bothered. Jennifer’s gaze went from you to Agatha, keeping a close eye on it. Trying to find something subtle in her behaviour.

She got quickly disrupted when the other witches walked in. – “Let’s summon the road.” – Agatha said happily, clasping in her hands. You started humming the tune of the hymn, going towards her basement. – “Is… is she alright?” – Alice asked with a point at you.

Agatha waved it away, going after you. Down her basement you all came to stand in a circle. Agatha came standing beside you. You glanced down at her offering hand, humming in disagreement as you went around taking Jennifer’s hand. Agatha narrowed her eyes with a soft glare.

Your familiar meowed near her feet, startling her. Looking down at the black cat, she showed him her clawed hand. It made your familiar hiss back at her, hairs up straight. Agatha straightened her posture. A sudden thundering made her freak out. – “Let’s get a move on.”

She grabbed their hands, readying themselves to sing the witches ballad.

Seekest thou the road

To all that's foul and fair

Gather sisters fire

Water, earth and air

Darkest hour, wake thy power

Earthly and divine

Burn and brew with coven true

And glory shall be thine

Your gaze went upwards sensing the hauntingly arrival. Their presence carried by the screeching wind. Like a banshee’s cry sending a wave of crumbled leaves with them. The pressing hour of the witches road nearing. Only one chance to succeed for else the seven would devour her.

Your familiar jumped on your shoulder, laying his tail around your neck. Squeezing your newly sister’s hands, you sang along. The words you had carved in your head for centuries. Down, down, down the road. Down the witches road. A pulsating force made you move your chest a bit back. Taken back by it’s intensity. The seven had entered the house. Having stepped over the boundaries.

Your gaze went to Agatha in front of you. Seeing her sing with fear in her eyes. Very well aware of the troubles waiting upstairs. Down, down, down the road. Down the witches road.

The chanting became louder and louder. Overpowering the rumbling from upstairs. The ceiling shuddering with snippets of dust fluttering down. Squeezing their hands tight, you felt the primal force of a coven brewing down deep. Gaze fixating at Agatha with a hard stare. Maiden, mother, crone. An ominous sound seeped through the house.

Thundering with an ominous omen. A path one should not take. Down, down, down the road. Down the witches road. Roared through the basement. Chanting loudly with every might from your lungs. Elevating with the brewing hymn. Looking up, you let the chanting fully consume you. To glory at the end.

Hands were released as all looked breathless at each other. For an eerie moment, everyone wondered if it worked. Emptiness. Whilst Agatha and the others were bickering. Knowing what was at her doorstep, you lowered yourself. Kneeling down to touch the cold ground. Your familiar jumped off your back, meowing soft.

You started to hum the hymn once more, brushing your hand over the ground. Closing your eyes briefly. When your hands felt roughness, you opened your eyes once more. Thundering rushed down the stairs as the teen appeared out of breath. – “Is that the door?” – he asked breathless. All looked at him before looking down at the ground. You were smiling wickedly at the door. Agatha immediately knelt down to pull the slots open.

“Help me!” – she yelled out with urgency. All came to her help. Revealing a set of steps. Stone and cold. You whistled brief as your familiar jumped on your shoulder. – “Down, down, down.” – you whispered taking the first step. Others quickly followed, going down. Letting the road consume them. Agatha closed the doors before the seven could claim her.

Following the glowing bouncing off the walls, you lead them down. A smile curling up when you met with the woods. Taking a deep breath, you let it consume your lungs. Letting it take over every breath of you. The teen came standing beside you, smiling excitingly at you. You smiled back at him as your black cat stuck his head out to him. The teen looked wonderous over to you.

With a simple nod of yours, you accepted. The teen reached out to scratch your cat behind the ear. – “May I ask you something Y/n?” – he dared to ask, lowering his hand. You hummed softly with a nod. – “How… why… why… were… you?” – he started, stumbling a bit over his words. Unsure how to phrase it. – “Buried?” – you responded knowing where he was going with it.

Staring off into the distance, your mind got pulled back a memory. Standing frozen as the teen tried to get a reaction out of you by waving his hand before you. – “Crawling all the way…” – you said numbly. Your cat meowed in your ear, making you shake your head awake.

Plastering on a smile, you looked back at the teen. Tapping his nose with a playful shrug. You then hummed loudly to hop after the others. – “Is… is she alright?” – Alice asked Jennifer lowly. Jennifer moved her gaze onto you. – “I’ve only heard rumours, but she was betrayed…” – Jennifer responded. – “By whom?” – Alice wanted to know. Jennifer only looked in Agatha’s direction as it said enough.

Alice nodded nervously as it made a bit more sense. Agatha came to a stop, turning round to everyone. – “We will be tested at every possible given.” – she explained. There were some uncertainties amongst the sisters. Unsure how they would be tested to find glory at the end. – “Shall we?” – Agatha exclaimed, clasping her hands together. She noticed your gaze was fixated on the ground. 

Staring lost at it, almost like in trance. Agatha chuckled nervously coming over to you. She came standing behind you, taking you by the shoulders. – “Y/n, let’s go.” – she whispered to you, her lips close to your cheek. You numbly rocked your body wobbly on your heel. – “Let’s go…” – she repeated tugging on your shoulder to follow her.

When Agatha turned around she noticed Mrs. Hart… uhum Sharon had taken off. It made her groan loud needing to search for her. All of you started to run, hearing screams. Screams filling the witches road like an embrace. Familiar and known. Your eyes widened seeing Mrs. Hart trying to pull her purse out of a puddle of mud. Slowly devouring her purse. Making it one with the earth.

You rushed over to her, grabbing her by the ankles, ready to pull along with Jennifer as your eyes fell on the mud puddle. Seeing how it was swallowing the purse whole. It made your whole heart empty, waiting for the beat to come out. – “Y/n! Y/n!” – Jennifer called out as you weren’t helping.

Agatha noticed the trauma reflecting deep in your eyes as it made her come to assist. Grabbing the ankle with your hands around it to assist in tugging. Mrs. Hart got pulled back, making you fall down. Blinking rapidly, you crawled on top of Agatha. A distant look in your eyes, as you held a stick against her throat. Pushing it slightly into her skin.

Cheeks trembling with fury as a part of you wanted to jab it through her throat. Agatha had moved her hands up, seeing you were miles away. A darkness deep in your eyes. – “Y/n.” – the teen spoke approaching you. – “Lower the stick…it’s alright…” – he said calmly, reassuring you. – “Y/n… it’s alright…” – he came kneeling beside you.

“Let Agatha go Y/n.” – he spoke softly reaching for your hand. Panting loud, your hand trembled. Once the teen moved his hand over yours, it seemed to steady. He slowly moved the stick away from Agatha’s throat. Taking your other hand to help you off Agatha and up your feet. Agatha touched her throat for a pinch.

“I’m…I’m sorry…” – you told the teen, not sure what overcame you. – “It’s alright.” – he responded with a soft smile. Your familiar came brushing against your leg, making you look down at him. Kneeling down, you picked him up, letting him snuggle against your chest.

The comfort of him brought you back to reality. Not sure what had overcome you. – “Has that always been there?” – Jennifer asked after some silence. Making you all look at the house in the distance. Agatha smirked coming nearer. All of you followed her towards the house. You remained in the back, feeling out of yourself. Like you had no idea who this person was.

This person that seemed to keep trying to crawl her way out. Been in the darkness for a very long time. Chained and shackled. The house was warningly welcoming.  Looking at the others, you saw there had been a change in appearances. It made you rub your hands nervously together. By the diner table, you stood holding the glass of wine up.

Mrs. Hart drank the wine in one breath, making you raise your brow at her. – “Shall we take the girl talk to the sofa?” – she said tipsy making you all return to the living room. You took a deep breath, feeling a shiver up your spine when Agatha stroke her finger up your arm.

“Do not drink it.” – she whispered to you with a witchy smile. It made you stare down your glass. Seeing the wine swirl around like blood. Glaring at her, you moved the glass up. – “I stray not from the path, I hold death’s hand in mine.” – you told her before emptying your glass down your throat. Down, down, down it went. Agatha’s gaze widened. With a beckoning look, you threw your glass against the ground.

Shattering into a dozen pieces. It made her jump back to avoid the shatters. The first symptoms appeared with Mrs. Hart. Her face all swollen, you could barely recognize her. Then it consumed the others. Taking each and one witch. Poison. The wine was poisoned. Your cat meowed soft at the first trial. Counting down till the hour of death. Waiting patiently at the door for unsuccess.

For the only wakening to keep death at bay was an antidote. Jennifer send everyone off. You went with Lilia and Agatha. Haunted by the hour of death and it’s testing. For a witch would be tested greatly.

The chime of a bell made you stop in your tracks. Lilia and Agatha continuing. Another bell chimed as it send a shiver down your spine. Feeling the room turn, you slowly turned around. An ominous sound grasping you when you stared down at an empty grave. A bell chiming twice.

A banshee’s cry carried by the wind as crumbled leaves fluttered over your feet. Down. Down. Down. The empty hole in the grave seemingly enlarging till the very crust of the earth. A gaping mouth ready to swallow you whole. Your body started to shock a bit. Feeling a cough come up. The bell chimed for a third time. Trying to hold in the coughs. A thickness in your throat.

Coughing loud, you coughed up earth. Dry earth, coughed out like powder. Seeping out of your mouth as it made you sink to your knees. Kneeling at the bed of the grave, the bellowing emptiness below. Down. Down. Down. Coughing more, the earth from your mouth fell in the empty grave.  

Feeling yourself choke on the earth and sand in your mouth. There seemed to be no end. Thy breathing woven to earth. Trying to grasp for air, you grasped your fingers down your throat. Body wobbling as you felt yourself nearly tip down the gaping mouth of your boundness. All that gravel. Chained and shackled.

Body releasing gravity as you felt weightless. Tipping forwards, ready to meet your earthy bed. A sudden grip on your shoulder made you gasp awake. Blinking rapidly at the vast ground. No more cemetery. No more grave. Touching your mouth, it was clean of any earth. – “Y/n?” – Agatha asked concerned.

She came kneeling beside you as you teared up. Letting yourself fall against her chest, you cried soft. Agatha shushing you soothingly. She placed a sorrowful kiss at the top of your head.

Gaining your senses, you pushed yourself off her. Returning to Jennifer to assist her. She noticed the spooked expression on your face. – “You too?” – she asked, making you nod. One of the side-effects of the poison you weren’t keen on. Your black cat jumped on the counter, purring loudly as you stroke his back. – “Is it true?” -Jennifer asked making you look up at her. – “Did you truly get betrayed?” – she wanted to know.

“It's my whole heart. Weighed and measured inside.” – you responded as it sounded like a riddle to her. – “Deemed and delivered a crime.” – you went on, staring into the distance, still petting your familiar. Not wanting to engage in it further, you picked up your cat, moving away from Jennifer. Jennifer nodded respectfully. The others returned all with their ingredients for the antidote.

You held on close to your familiar, watching Jennifer brew the potion. Your cat jumped onto your shoulder when you held hands to change the potions colour. Needing it to be teal. With the teens blood it reached teal. Letting a fallen hair drop in. The hour of death at your shoulder, breathing down. Trying to outrun it. To escape the hour of death, you drank the potion.

“Hurry!” – Agatha shouted as the glass had broken. Sending a flood of water inside. Your cat jumped into your arms as you ran with it to the open oven. Jennifer crawled through it first. You followed with your cat as the others were behind you. Jennifer’s scream was loud when she went down the slide. Followed by laughter. Cackling with pleasure down the slide till your body bumped against hers. One by one, they went down the slide. All getting up but one. For Sharon was dead.

---------------------------------------------------------

Read more of my fics on my Masterlists!

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Good Omens Graphic Novel Masterpost ❤ 🐍😊

(you know how I like doing masterposts :)🥰 - I will update the masterpost as the kicstarter updates ❤)

What is Good Omens: the Official (and Ineffable) Graphic Novel?

The Good Omens: the Official (and Ineffable) Graphic Novel is the upcoming adaptation of the glorious 1990 Good Omens novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman in a graphic novel form. The adaptation is done by the talented Colleen Doran who worked with Neil on several other of his projects such as Chivalry, The Sandman, or Snow, Glass, Apples. The adaptation done under the gentle eyes of both Neil Gaiman and the Terry Pratchett Estate so don't worry that it will be unfaithful <3.

How can I help/join/pre-order?

The project is done on Kickstarter to keep the creative control with Neil, the Terry Pratchett's Estate and Colleen. If you're not familiar with Kickstarter it is a place where you pledge money and in return you get the product plus possible bonuses.

The Kickstarter Tiers

There are many tiers and options! WAHOO! ❤ (note that the shipping will be extra)

The Nighttingale Tier - £20 - GONE

This is only available for the first 24 hours.

You get the copy of the Graphic Novel :).

Also available to add a mug, another copy and bookshop bundle. :) (these options are available to add with every other tier)

The Human Tier - £25

You get the copy of the Graphic Novel :).

Also available to add a mug, aziraphale and crowley pins, another copy and bookshop bundle. :) (these options are available to add with every other tier)

The Serpent Tier - £40

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

The Hellhound Tier - £120

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark. Anna Morozova, Frank Quitely, Alice Oseman, Paul Kidby, David Aja, Mark Buckingham, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott and colouring page prints. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

Loot Pack #2: 4 x A4 Good Omens prints from Colleen Doran, Crowley and Aziraphale enamel pins, a punchy sticker set, and the brand new Good Omens trading cards. These cards will be playable and collectable and as a special treat for Kickstarter backers we will be sprinkling some rarer cards in with these packages at random so you might just unlock something very special.

The Witchfinder Tier - £200

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark.  Anna Morozova, Frank Quitely, Alice Oseman, Paul Kidby, David Aja, Mark Buckingham, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott and colouring page prints. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

Loot Pack #2: 4 x A4 Good Omens prints from Colleen Doran, Crowley and Aziraphale enamel pins, a punchy sticker set, and the brand new Good Omens trading cards. These cards will be playable and collectable and as a special treat for Kickstarter backers we will be sprinkling some rarer cards in with these packages at random so you might just unlock something very special.

New largescale map of Tadfield (and the rest of the planet), designed by Julien Labit. Capturing the mysteries and oddities of the picturesque town in all its glory this map will make any wall an instant talking point. Dimensions approximately 594 x 841 mm.

The Demon Tier - £320

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark. Anna Morozova, Frank Quitely, Alice Oseman, Paul Kidby, David Aja, Mark Buckingham, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott and colouring page prints. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

Loot Pack #2: 4 x A4 Good Omens prints from Colleen Doran, Crowley and Aziraphale enamel pins, a punchy sticker set, and the brand new Good Omens trading cards. These cards will be playable and collectable and as a special treat for Kickstarter backers we will be sprinkling some rarer cards in with these packages at random so you might just unlock something very special.

New largescale map of Tadfield (and the rest of the planet), designed by Julien Labit. Capturing the mysteries and oddities of the picturesque town in all its glory this map will make any wall an instant talking point. Dimensions approximately 594 x 841 mm.

Creator-themed notebooks; 1 x Neil Gaiman, 1 x Terry Pratchett

Crowley & Aziraphale socks

5 x Good Omens enamel pins

The Horsemen Tier - £500

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark. Anna Morozova, Frank Quitely, Alice Oseman, Paul Kidby, David Aja, Mark Buckingham, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott and colouring page prints. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

Loot Pack #2: 4 x A4 Good Omens prints from Colleen Doran, Crowley and Aziraphale enamel pins, a punchy sticker set, and the brand new Good Omens trading cards. These cards will be playable and collectable and as a special treat for Kickstarter backers we will be sprinkling some rarer cards in with these packages at random so you might just unlock something very special.

New largescale map of Tadfield (and the rest of the planet), designed by Julien Labit. Capturing the mysteries and oddities of the picturesque town in all its glory this map will make any wall an instant talking point. Dimensions approximately 594 x 841 mm.

Creator-themed notebooks; 1 x Neil Gaiman, 1 x Terry Pratchett

Crowley & Aziraphale socks

5 x Good Omens enamel pins

A3 Giclee Print from the novel (signed by Colleen)

New Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collector's enamel pin set

Exclusive enamel pin of Beelzebub himself on a Hell card

The Beelzebub Tier - £666 - GONE

Limited to: 50. Note: the contents of this tier are not included in the higher levels.

Copy of the Graphic Novel

A mystery to be revealed. - Make a deal with the devil for this mystery tier at £666. It includes the Good Omens graphic novel, and– *demonic gurgling noises*

The Archangel Tier - £800

Limited to: 100. 

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark. Anna Morozova, Frank Quitely, Alice Oseman, Paul Kidby, David Aja, Mark Buckingham, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott and colouring page prints. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

Loot Pack #2: 4 x A4 Good Omens prints from Colleen Doran, Crowley and Aziraphale enamel pins, a punchy sticker set, and the brand new Good Omens trading cards. These cards will be playable and collectable and as a special treat for Kickstarter backers we will be sprinkling some rarer cards in with these packages at random so you might just unlock something very special.

New largescale map of Tadfield (and the rest of the planet), designed by Julien Labit. Capturing the mysteries and oddities of the picturesque town in all its glory this map will make any wall an instant talking point. Dimensions approximately 594 x 841 mm.

Creator-themed notebooks; 1 x Neil Gaiman, 1 x Terry Pratchett

Crowley & Aziraphale socks

5 x Good Omens enamel pins

A3 Giclee Print from the novel (signed by Colleen)

New Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collector's enamel pin set

Exclusive enamel pin of Beelzebub himself on a Hell card

The Floppy Disk “Keeper of the Official Master”

Exclusive Metatron enamel pin on a heaven card

Unnamed character cameo in double page spread - Fancy being immortalised in the Good Omens graphic novel universe? Then get yourself painted into the crowd scenes! There will be an accompanying postcard with a full list of who's who, so you'll know who you're galivanting around Tadfield and beyond with.

The Antichrist Tier - £800

Limited to: 100. 

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark. Anna Morozova, Frank Quitely, Alice Oseman, Paul Kidby, David Aja, Mark Buckingham, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott and colouring page prints. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

Loot Pack #2: 4 x A4 Good Omens prints from Colleen Doran, Crowley and Aziraphale enamel pins, a punchy sticker set, and the brand new Good Omens trading cards. These cards will be playable and collectable and as a special treat for Kickstarter backers we will be sprinkling some rarer cards in with these packages at random so you might just unlock something very special.

New largescale map of Tadfield (and the rest of the planet), designed by Julien Labit. Capturing the mysteries and oddities of the picturesque town in all its glory this map will make any wall an instant talking point. Dimensions approximately 594 x 841 mm.

Creator-themed notebooks; 1 x Neil Gaiman, 1 x Terry Pratchett

Crowley & Aziraphale socks

5 x Good Omens enamel pins

A3 Giclee Print from the novel (signed by Colleen)

New Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collector's enamel pin set

Exclusive enamel pin of Beelzebub himself on a Hell card

The Floppy Disk “Keeper of the Official Master”

Exclusive Metatron enamel pin on a heaven card

William the Antichrist (hardcover) signed by Neil -  limited copy of the original short story that evolved into the tale we know and love today.

The Prophecy Tier - £1,000 - GONE

Limited to: 50. 

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark. Anna Morozova, Frank Quitely, Alice Oseman, Paul Kidby, David Aja, Mark Buckingham, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott and colouring page prints. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

Loot Pack #2: 4 x A4 Good Omens prints from Colleen Doran, Crowley and Aziraphale enamel pins, a punchy sticker set, and the brand new Good Omens trading cards. These cards will be playable and collectable and as a special treat for Kickstarter backers we will be sprinkling some rarer cards in with these packages at random so you might just unlock something very special.

New largescale map of Tadfield (and the rest of the planet), designed by Julien Labit. Capturing the mysteries and oddities of the picturesque town in all its glory this map will make any wall an instant talking point. Dimensions approximately 594 x 841 mm.

Creator-themed notebooks; 1 x Neil Gaiman, 1 x Terry Pratchett

Crowley & Aziraphale socks

5 x Good Omens enamel pins

A3 Giclee Print from the novel (signed by Colleen)

New Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collector's enamel pin set

Exclusive enamel pin of Beelzebub himself on a Hell card

The Floppy Disk “Keeper of the Official Master”

Exclusive Metatron enamel pin on a heaven card

William the Antichrist (hardcover) signed by Neil -  limited copy of the original short story that evolved into the tale we know and love today.

Signed (another) copy of the Good Omens graphic novel both Neil and Colleen

The God Tier - £2,750 - GONE

Limited to: 10. 

Copy of the Graphic Novel

Variant Frank Quitely cover dust jacket (Frank Quitely is a Scottish comic book artist who worked with Marvel, DC and more).

Loot Pack #1: 2 x A4 prints of Colleen Doran artwork from the graphic novel, a glossy postcard and bookmark. Anna Morozova, Frank Quitely, Alice Oseman, Paul Kidby, David Aja, Mark Buckingham, Tanya Roberts, Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott and colouring page prints. Stretch goals will unlock more artists and artwork towards this box.

Loot Pack #2: 4 x A4 Good Omens prints from Colleen Doran, Crowley and Aziraphale enamel pins, a punchy sticker set, and the brand new Good Omens trading cards. These cards will be playable and collectable and as a special treat for Kickstarter backers we will be sprinkling some rarer cards in with these packages at random so you might just unlock something very special.

New largescale map of Tadfield (and the rest of the planet), designed by Julien Labit. Capturing the mysteries and oddities of the picturesque town in all its glory this map will make any wall an instant talking point. Dimensions approximately 594 x 841 mm.

Creator-themed notebooks; 1 x Neil Gaiman, 1 x Terry Pratchett

Crowley & Aziraphale socks

5 x Good Omens enamel pins

A3 Giclee Print from the novel (signed by Colleen)

New Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collector's enamel pin set

Exclusive enamel pin of Beelzebub himself on a Hell card

The Floppy Disk “Keeper of the Official Master”

Exclusive Metatron enamel pin on a heaven card

William the Antichrist (hardcover) signed by Neil -  limited copy of the original short story that evolved into the tale we know and love today.

Signed (another) copy of the Good Omens graphic novel both Neil and Colleen

Individual character cameo - You can feature prominently within the pages of the graphic novel itself. Maybe you're there while Crowley and Aziraphale feed some ducks; maybe you're there for something a bit more high octane; or maybe you're just stuck on the M25. What you'll be up to will be at the discretion of Colleen, but there are plenty of places in the journey towards the Apocalypse and we can’t wait to see where you will turn up. 

Print of your cameo, signed by Colleen

The Apocalypse Tier - £8,000 - GONE

Limited to: 1 - this option was gone within the first hour of the launch. Except for the previous goodies up to the William it offered the last copy of the Celestial Edition (!!!), Foreground named character cameo, orint of cameo signed by Colleen and Neil and original sketch by Neil Gaiman.

 The Bookshop Tier - £250

The option for bookshops.

20 x Good Omens graphic novel (bookstores only)

We've got batches of 20 copies of the hardback graphic novel for retailers at a 50% trade discount. We love bookshops as much as Aziraphale does and want YOU to be part of Good Omens with us. To celebrate the graphic novel's release into the world, we will have point-of-sale material on request nearer to release. If you have any queries, get in touch. Terms: These are for retailers only. Packs must be delivered to a verified bookshop address. You can buy additional packs as an add-on.

The Small Bookshop Tier - £125

The smalle option for bookshops.

10 x Good Omens graphic novel (bookstores only)

The batch of 10 copies for retailers at a 50% trade discount. Terms: These are for retailers only. Packs must be delivered to a verified bookshop address. You can buy additional packs as an add-on.

When it will come out?

It should come out in Summer 2024 :).

Enhancing the tiers

Unlocked so far (All unlocked prints are in Loot Box #1 :)):

Gold foiled cover - Every copy of the book will be finished with gold detailing.

Sarah Graley & Rachael Stott prints - Rachael Stott, award-winning comic book artist behind works such as Doctor Who and Star Trek, and Sarah Graley of Our Super Adventure and Invader Zim farne, are ready and waiting to put their own spin on the world of Good Omens for your prints collection.

Endpapers - Beautiful artwork on the front cover and on every page in between is just not enough. '150,000 unlocks beautiful endpapers that will be heavenly(or hellish„. that is still to be seen).

David Aja, Mark Buckingham & Tanya Roberts prints / Colleen Loot Pack #2 prints for lower box - David Aja, known for the award-winning Hawkeye, Daredevil and Seeds Mark Buckingham, known for Marvelman an Fables—and Tanya Roberts, whose work includes Too Story and Star Wars Clone Wars comics to name but two, will join our ineffable artist tearh. More so, Colleen's prints from Loot Pack #2 will be included in Loot Pack #1. Art aplenty

Alice Oseman & Paul Kidby prints - A special duo of Heartstoppers Alice Oseman prints first, her drawing of Aziraphale while watching S 1 of Good Omens and a newly commissioned companion piece for Crowley. AIso, Discworld and the Illustrated edition of Good Omens' Paul Kidby's out-of-this-world alien artwork can be yours.

Colouring page prints - Want to add your own colour to the world of Good Omens? We have some exclusive illustrations for you relax to.

Ribbons - We said in the campaign that we were talking silk ribbons for stretch goals, and we are angels (or demons, depending who you're talking to) of our word. Well upgrade the hardback to have this addition.

Anna Morozova & Frank Quitely prints - Unlock a sumptious print by Anna Morozova. known for 2000 AD &Judge Dredd. Plus receive a print of Frank Quitely's alternate Good Omens graphic novel cover.

Money raised will go towards the costs of bringing this project and its many tendrils to the most vibrant life possible, ranging from creative fees to production and beyond. Our stretch goals therefore bring more of that ineffable joy into the project: we'll (hopefully) be unlocking various finishes on the graphic novel, expansions on the loot packs, and some - if we're lucky - backer exclusives further down the road, but these are to be revealed...

You will be able to unlock artists including Alice Oseman (Heartstopper), Rachael Stott (Fantastic Four, Doctor Who), and David Aja (Hawkeye), with more to be announced.

(I will update the masterpost as the kicstarter updates ;))

Video by Neil, Colleen and Rob :)

Rob Wilkins: Judgment day is almost upon us. One angel, one demon want to do something about it, but there's the small problem of the missing Antichrist.

Neil Gaiman: The good Omens Kickstarter - we've got a fabulous, glorious, amazing adaptation of Good Omens waiting for you in graphic novel form.

Rob: Neil Gaiman was the first person, the first journalist to interview Terry after the publication of The Colour of Magic. They stayed friends and Neil met Terry again and discussed the idea of this novel that he had that he really ought to get written down and he sent the idea through to Terry and a little while later Terry called him back and said: you bastard I want that idea for myself, and Terry offered to either buy the idea or to work with Neil on the project, and as Neil said at the time it would be like Michelangelo calling saying: here give me a hand to paint this ceiling, so of course Neil and Terry worked on it together.

Colleen Doran: Hi and welcome to my studio. I am pleased and excited beyond words to talk to you tonight about Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's good Omens the graphic novel adaptation. You have no idea how happy I am to be working on this aside from the fact that I get to sit around and draw Azirphale and Crowley all day and who wouldn't want that - oh this is fun this is pure candy and I'm working very very hard to bring you a faithful adaptation. I love this book I love this project and bringing it to you is pure joy. Thanks a lot for your support. Thank you.

What now :)

So... head to the kickstarter, choose a Tier and Fall for it like Crowley :)❤

Who to follow for updates? :)

Tumblr: (me :D),  @goodomenshq, @neil-gaiman, @colleendoran

Twitter: @FYeahGoodOmens, @GoodOmensHQ, @neilhimself, @pratchettonline, @ColleenDoran, @terryandrob, @kickstarter.

Instagram: @fuckyeahgoodomens, @goodomens_hq,  @neilhimself,,  @pratchettonline,  @doran.colleen

Update 6.8.2023

Now as an add on you can add also new Aziraphale and Crowley pins 👀❤.

How to add if you already pledged:

Click one the Manage your pledge green button

Click on the Change your pledge violet button

Then again a green button with your pledge and you get to a page with:

wher you can add the pins and more :)

[ghostbeam]

Oblivi_n.exe | Dabi/Touya Todoroki

Touya Todoroki, known as ‘Dabi’ to the league, quirk class: cremation, mech title: Blue. You’re his new handler. 

As Dabi’s new handler, you’re well aware of his history, how frequently he goes through handlers assigned to him. Not that he ever uses them—it’s more complete resistance. You’re not particularly good at your job. Transferred from the PLF for lack of success in handling any of their pilots, you’ve always been far too gentle. You lack authority. Your pilots never respected you. You don’t think Dabi will be any different. You give it a week. 

Notes: okay wow hiiiii it’s been a long time since I’ve posted an actual fic (nearing almost a year now😬) this is something I’ve been working on for a bit. I have mech brain rot curtesy of @streimiv and @hawnks (both of whom this is dedicated to bc there’s no way I could have written this without yapping to them abt it and also mint helped me come up w the acronym for HERO’s) and we’ve all got our own mech fics in the works atm but anywayssssss this is kind of my baby atm but I hope it makes sense it’s very inspired first and foremost by pacific rim and then also NGE (mostly through consumption of YouTube vids bc I haven’t actually watched it pls don’t hate me) it’s a whole mess of things and Dabi is kind of a bitch and reader is slowly coming into herself and at the end of the day they both wanna be metal fused to one another forever (no matter how hard he denies it) also I’m not a huge computer person idk if this title makes sense so don’t make fun of me pls ok anyways I hope u like it!!!!

Warnings: 18+, minors DNI, pilot!Dabi x handler!reader, there’s no explicit sexual content in this part, not even a kiss sorry guys, mentions of robot gore (exposed wires, insides described as guts), brief descriptions of being trapped inside a small space, descriptions of burning while inside said space, mention of surgery to fashion a metal jaw onto someone, mentions of child abuse (nothing graphic just allusions to the todoroki family and touya’s past), angst, many run on sentences, a small cliff hanger

Words: 7.9k

Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 (coming soon)

You are nothing without your machine.

It’s the first rule, the first thing beaten into his brain by his father. You carry the burden of the mech alone, or you’re weak. You don’t exist. 

U.A. raises the best and brightest pilots, navigators, mechanics, and handlers, each one carefully trained to ensure the most important outcome: winning. It should be protection. It should be defense. But if Touya has learned anything at all, it’s that winning means glory. It means worship. It means HERO’s (Human Engineered Robotic Objects) are saints, and pilots are gods. 

 Touya used to be one of those best and brightest before his accident. 

First son to Enji Todoroki, Touya was supposed to be the golden child, the first Todoroki to pilot without a handler. He was supposed to carry the burden alone, something his father couldn’t do, something only one man has ever actually been capable of. 

But Touya is born weak, bad bones, a brain unable to handle all that the mech needs to unload onto it. One too many accidents results in him being expelled from the pilot program, his HERO discarded and collecting dust in its pod, and Touya is promptly transferred to mechanics. 

It should have been a smooth transition. If one kid can’t handle it, the next will. Because they have to. 

He doesn’t take the news well. It’s a fit of tears, a persistent fight, unable to accept the loss of his machine—of his body. Because Touya loves it. What he lacks in strength, he makes up for in pure passion, and despite being unable to handle the burden, there’s no denying that he’s good. He’s almost perfect. 

But almost is not enough for Enji Todoroki, and no matter how hard Touya tries, he’s made up his mind. 

After months of mechanics, Touya makes a decision. When the next fleet of HERO’s is deployed for the next kaiju battle, Touya sneaks in among the chaos, tucked neatly inside the chest of his machine where he belongs. It doesn’t take long for things to go south, for Touya to get caught in the crossfire, losing control of his mech and burning from the inside out. 

It should be an excruciating death, stuck inside a machine made for war, fire raining from above as a battle continues on outside without him. 

But he survives, because what he lacks in strength, he makes up for in resilience, and his mech is programed with solutions to every situation. He’s stuck inside for months before he’s found.

Tomura Shigaraki rescues him, pries open the chest of his mech and pulls him from inside. His group feeds him, takes him in, fashions a new jaw for him made from the metal of his mech, and allows him the decision to join their cause or go back home. 

And since there’s no home to go back to, Touya finds his footing with the league and becomes one of their top pilots. One who vehemently resists any and all handlers.

…

Touya Todoroki, known as ‘Dabi’ to the league, quirk class: cremation, mech title: Blue. You’re his new handler. 

As Dabi’s new handler, you’re well aware of his history, how frequently he goes through handlers assigned to him. Not that he ever uses them—it’s more complete resistance. You’re not particularly good at your job. Transferred from the PLF for lack of success in handling any of their pilots, you’ve always been far too gentle. You lack authority. Your pilots never respected you. You don’t think Dabi will be any different. You give it a week. 

Following closely behind Tenko, formerly Tomura, he quickly explains to you the in’s and out’s of the pilot/handler relationship, along with a warning about Dabi’s resentment toward the whole idea. You try to keep up, but he talks quickly and uses his hands a lot. Even so, you can tell he’s a natural leader, something he had to grow into after overthrowing the man who raised him. His story is a tragic one, and it resonates with you because Tenko came out the other side stronger. Now, the league is a community with a cause, one you really believe in. Even if you and Dabi aren’t the right fit, you still have a place here. 

You follow Tenko into what he calls the garage, a large floor of the abandoned academy that serves as the league’s base, this part of it full of HERO’s and mechanics all focused on the machines in front of them. It’s completely different from how HERO’s were worked on at UA, where you grew up, and even the PLF didn’t have one dedicated floor to this sort of work. You can feel the energy of the room buzzing on your skin, music blasting from old radios and mechanics tossing tools towards one another in a familiar routine. Tomura leads you to Dabi and his HERO, Blue, though you’re instructed not to call it a HERO around him. With goggles over his eyes and gloved hands, he brings two wires from Blue’s ankle together, sighing at the way they spark each time they connect. 

“Dabi.” Tomura calls over the music coming from the radio hanging off of Dabi’s waist. He drops the wires and his gaze flickers toward the two of you. Pushing his goggles up to his forehead, he gives you a once over. His eyes are the brightest you’ve ever seen—kaiju blood blue—and burn scars litter his body. He’s striking in a way you’ve never seen, almost too beautiful to be human. Giving Dabi your name, Tomura explains that you’re taking over as his handler, seeing as he couldn’t keep the last one for more than a couple of days. “She’s your last handler. If you can’t keep this one, then go ahead and fry your brain. See if I care.”

“You say that every time.” Dabi calls from around sucker as Tomura walks away, leaving you alone with your new pilot. 

You just your hand out in a greeting, “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

Eyeing your hand, Dabi shakes his head and turns his back to you, picking the two wires back up and connecting them again, despite the same spark from before igniting between the two. He looks back up at Blue, touching his fingers to the slim lines starting at the back of her ankle and running all the way up her leg. You peak over his shoulder at the wiring, noticing that he’s connecting two of the wrong ones. 

“It’s the wrong wire.” You tell him, and he spins around to look at you, tearing his goggles from his face as he scoffs. 

“Here we go.” He sighs with a roll of his eyes, pulling the candy from his lips and tossing it onto the tool cart without a care. “Handler know-it-all bullshit. This is my mech.”  

You push passed him and grab the similarly colored wire from beside a red wire and connect it with the one in Dabi’s right hand. Blue lights up cyan through the thin lines that run along each of its limbs and torso, connecting with the two cameras within its head, which seem to blink before the light reaches them. 

In an instant, you’re being pushed up against the hard metal, a strong arm over your chest—pinning you up against the HERO. Dabi, now having discarded his goggles, looks at you full of white, hot rage. 

“Don’t fucking touch her.” He growls. You’re suddenly aware of the close proximity, eyes flickering between the snarl across his lips and his angry gaze. For a beat, you both freeze, the air suddenly charged like you’re waiting for one another to strike. Snapping yourself out of his hypnotic stare, you push against his chest, forcing him to let you go. 

“If I’m going to be you’re handler, you’re going to have to trust me with her.” You remind him. He lets out a harsh laugh, like he can’t believe you would suggest such a ridiculous idea. 

“I don’t trust anything but this machine.” He speaks, turning away from you to seal up the machine’s exposed wires. It’s a challenge you’re willing to accept.

“Well, I’m here to change that.” You tell him, before turning on your heel to leave him alone. 

He thinks he’ll give you a week. 

…

One of the worst parts of being assigned a handler, Touya thinks, is the way that pilot/handler living quarters are set up. He assumes the academy, before it was abandoned and turned into a base for the league, created this sort of set up so that handlers could keep a close eye on their pilots. The handlers Touya has burned through up until now also assumed the same. 

The door that connects both the pilot’s and handler’s dorms doesn’t lock, and all of Touya’s past handlers have taken advantage of this fact. He’s been pulled out of bed far too early, pushed around and commanded and barked at. Most handlers behaved as if pilots belonged to them, which was the sentiment drilled into their brains from being thrown into such a fucked up system at a young age.—unless you were a pilot of status like a Todoroki. While he league dedicates a lot of its time to reversing these ideas, most handlers look at Touya like some kind of challenge, this arrogant pilot begging to be tamed. It never takes long for them to realize how easily he’s able to flip the switch on them. You’ll be no different.

But hours pass and you still haven’t entered. You don’t swing the door open and demand he apologize for his behavior earlier. You don’t try and punish him with training regimes, a command of a set of push ups, a schedule you expect him to follow, an extremely detailed meal plan. The entire evening comes and goes without so much as a sound on the other side of the door so he knows you’re even behind it. 

He falls asleep unnerved by this, waking up late into the night in a cold sweat, expecting you to barge in, rip the covers from his body and demand to train together. When he wakes up (peacefully) the next morning, there’s no sign of you. He rises from his bed, drinks orange juice straight from the carton and eats a candy bar for breakfast. He fiddles with the navigation screen from his mech that stopped working a couple of days ago, tools spread out on the counter in front of him. Once he’s got the thing working again, your knock sounds from the unlocked door between the two of you. He thinks this might be it, the commands he expects to fall from your lips at the ready as he swings the door open, but you stand there, nervous, hands twitching as your eyes finally meet his.

Greeted by a shirtless Touya, hair mused from sleep, cargo pants hung low on his hips, dog tags swinging against his chest, his scars on display, unashamed and proud. The sight of him knocks the breath out of you, and you clear your throat in embarrassment, hoping your state of dreaming comes off as nerves rather than lust. 

“Dabi. Or do you prefer Touya?” You smile. When he doesn’t answer, you continue. “I wanted to see if you wanted to eat breakfast together in the caf. I think we should start over. Yesterday was—”

You’re promptly cut off, “I already ate breakfast.”

With a harsh slam of the door, he leaves you stunned in your room.

You eat alone. 

When you started as a pilot, back when you’d entered UA (a few years about Touya’s accident), you went into it believing you could change the world. The exam had placed you into the position of handler, and you were assigned a pilot who had always seemed a little frightened of you despite your obvious lack of authority. Bringing the fact up to your instructors did nothing. They all assured you that this was the ideal dynamic, that the handler always had the upper hand, but you hated that feeling. You weren’t a team like you expected to be; you were urged to control your pilot. You were there to keep them in line, not to be a pillar of support. The bond was never built on trust, and the soul link was always a looming threat. No matter how many pilots you went through, the link was never held as a gift, but a prison, something you would both be stuck with for the betterment of society, a sacrifice to make. 

You’d been expelled from the handler program after guiding your pilot to help save another in the wreckage of your first battle together, resulting in the damage of your pilot’s HERO. Your pilot was okay, but the other couldn’t be saved, and you were blamed for the damage of both mech’s. 

When you found the league (or when the league found you), you were working with the PLF, but proved to be a weak handler. Every pilot you were assigned to took advantage of your optimistic outlook on the kind of relationship dynamic that pilots had with their handlers. Despite all that you had been through at UA, and with the rest of the pilots you’d been paired with after, you never gave up the hope that handlers and pilots could behave as a team, or, even better, one entity. 

Tenko had taken one look at you and demanded you’d be transferred to the league. There hadn’t been much of a choice in the matter, not that you really cared. You were miserable everywhere else. But when you arrived at the abandoned academy and taken a peak behind the kudzu covered walls where each and every area of the building acted as multiple moving parts in collaboration with one another in order to create one massive system, you realized that this was the future you imagined for yourself—and for the world you lived in.

Tenko saw something in you that day, something you aren’t sure you even see in yourself. And so Dabi was your first task, one that’s proving to be very difficult. But he doesn’t treat you like all the other pilots before had. He doesn’t use you. In fact, it seems like he wants nothing to do with you. And while that’s a problem, it’s still one you can work with. 

You’re broken from your thoughts by the sound of a voice through an overhead intercom asking for everyone to meet on the first floor of the academy at their earliest convenience. Judging by the quick movements of those around you, you figure you’d better head downstairs as soon as possible. 

The meeting on the first floor makes you very aware of just how small the league really is. While it’s definitely not a tiny organization, it’s still much smaller than both UA and the PLF. With everyone piled up like this in one group, you realize it feels more like a community, and the hum of conversation that surrounds you comforts you in a way you’ve never felt within the walls of any other academy before. 

There’s discussion about the upcoming mission, one which may be the league’s most ambitious yet; the plan to hijack a mech and kidnap a pilot may be a little unorthodox compared to the league’s past missions, but the jaded pilot they’re targeting has a high chance of joining the cause. Or that’s what they have assumed. As the bodies move and speak around you, it strikes you how different this meeting is from any other meeting you’ve ever been a part of. Tenko is less a dictator and more a wrangler for the disembodied voices of your peers. 

You don’t know much about his story, save for the vague details you’ve heard, but Tenko’s status as a lone handler is something you find yourself curious about. If he’s able to work without a pilot, why can’t you? It’s an idea you keep in your back pocket, one you think you can fall back on if things with Touya don’t work out. But you want them to work out. So badly. 

You aren’t sure what it is about him, but he’s reignited that spark inside of you. You know he��d rather you give up, and maybe the you from a couple of months ago would have, but something about him—and this place—won’t let you leave. 

As you observe the meeting, you take the time to look around the room, taking in your peers and their attentive faces as they listen to Tenko intently. You turn to your right, your eyes meeting a pair of blue ones, impossible to miss. Dabi holds your stare for what feels like ages, and when your colleagues erupt in a fit of many simultaneous discussions, you tear your eyes from his to observe the commotion. When you glance back in his direction, he’s gone. 

You don’t seem him again after that. You train with other handlers, get to know your peers a little better. Everyone else seems to be welcoming, and most offer you sympathy when they find out you’re Touya’s new handler. From what you can gather, he’s had his fair share of them, all of which have quit or left in hysterics due to his harsh nature. When you ask around about where he could be, you’re told that he’s most likely in the garage, a place you assume he’s in more often than not.

You don’t know if you’ll ever get used to the garage. A place so completely different, so against the ideas and beliefs of any other academy you’ve been a part of, the chaos and community within is so foreign to you. You find Touya with Blue, working inside of her chest, where the cockpit is. 

“Touya!” You call up to him and watch as he peaks his head over the edge of her metal plating. Annoyance falling across his face, he jumps down from where he stands, landing hard on his feet in front of you. 

“What are you doing here?” He questions, his figure so tall and imposing above you. He’s not particularly muscular, not even all that tall compared to Tenko, but he makes you feel small regardless, in more ways than one. Rolling your shoulders back, you stare straight into his eyes, unwilling to back down. 

“I figured you wanted your space today.” You explain, as Touya moves around you to get to his rolling cart of tools, forcing you to turn toward him and follow him if you want him to hear you. “I know adjusting to a new handler is rough, and I never want to make you uncomfortable. But I was thinking we could try some of those pilot/handler bonding exercises. It might be good to start training like some of the others do.”

He drops the wrench in his hand onto his cart with a loud thud, turning around toward you with a look of disbelief on his face. “Pilot/handler bonding exercises? They really brainwashed the shit out of you at UA, huh?”

At the mention of your past academy, your eyes widen in surprise. You had no idea he knew about that. Clearing your throat in order to compose yourself, you speak again, “I left UA for a reason. I have no attachment to their methods, but you guys do the same stuff here, so what’s the issue?”

“The issue is that I never asked for a fucking handler in the first place, especially not one as eager as you.” He spits, “Sure, you’re understanding now, all that bullshit about ‘giving me space,’ but the moment you get a lick of power over me, you’ll change. You’re not different.”

“I don’t want power over you. This is an equal exchange. Pilot’s and handlers are meant to be a team—” You try and argue, but he doesn’t let you finish. 

“That’s what they told you, right? We’re a team, and as teammates, you make sacrifices. And it doesn’t matter if one of you turns into the other’s braindead dog because that’s your place.” His words hit you hard, the exact thought process you went through when leaving UA, completely disillusioned with their idea of “teamwork.” He’s right, and you know it, but since coming here, you thought that wasn’t how it had to be.

“Look, trust me, I get—” You’re cut off again.

“You went to UA! There’s no trusting you.” He scoffs, “It’s not like you’ll last here, anyway.”

“You are such a hypocrite! You’re from UA!” You retort, throwing your arms up in desperation. “You can hate me all you want. You can resist and resist and fry your brain ‘till there’s nothing left, but I believe in this shit. And you don’t get to tell me that I don’t, or tell me I’ll turn into something I worked so hard to get away from.”

Touya stands there, surprised by your outburst, completely unaware that you were capable of all of that. He doesn’t say anything back, and you roll your eyes. “So fuck you, and, by the way, her angel port is smoking.”

At your words, he turns in a rush, seeing the smoke billowing from Blue’s chest as he climbs his way up her form. Once inside his machine, he extinguishes the port and allows himself to relax. There are two things on his mind in this moment: how you could have possibly known it was the angel port without being inside of Blue’s chest and how, for the first time in a long time, he feels bad for his handler.

But for you, it’s the first time you’ve ever held your own against a pilot before, and that feels good.

…

Something feels weird.

Off, unsettling, strange.

He realizes, much to his dismay, that it’s your absence. Despite only having you around for such a short time, Touya has realized that your lack of presence now feels wrong. He hates it. He hates you. 

He can’t find you. You haven’t knocked on his door. You’re not in the caf, not the garage, not the sparring floor, not in your room. And he did check—without knocking. 

He’s not even sure how he can feel an absence. You aren’t a regular part of his life, and he never wanted you to be. But he feels all fucked up.

During training, Touya jams Blue’s halo core and she leaks vibrant neon from between her ribs. It takes him half an hour to get her reboot her system and rips one of the cables attached to the back of his suit in the process. He spends the afternoon cleaning HERO fluid off the sparring floor. 

During repairs, he shocks himself over and over while trying to fix her core, fingers burning from the sparks each time he arranges the wires inside. The cameras in her eyes won’t work from the reboot, and Blue won’t let him unlock the lens panel to fix it. It’s almost like she’s mad at him too.

He’s a complete mess. It’s your fault. He has no choice but to go looking for you. Again.

He searches every wing of the academy before concluding that you’re in your room. He barges through the joint door, spotting you at the counter in your tiny kitchen. You’re surprised by the intrusion, a frightened gasp falling from your lips as you jump in your seat. You turn toward him, prepared with angry words on your tongue, but Touya speaks first.

“You’re not getting an apology out of me, so don’t expect it.” He begins, moving to stand in front of your swiveling kitchen stool as he looks down at you. “But I’m willing to be civil with you, so we don’t have to do this shit anymore.”

You’re not exactly sure what “this shit” is, but Touya looks a little worse for wear at the moment, so you don’t question it. He places a tray from the caf down in front of you that you hadn’t noticed in his hands upon arrival, says nothing else, and turns to leave the room. After shutting your joint door, you look down at the tray of food, noticing one of his suckers placed onto a vacant compartment of the tray. 

You’re greeted the next morning with a knock on your door, Touya dressed in his pilot’s suit on the other side as you swing the door open. “C’mon. You’re gonna watch me train today.”

You watch him turn around to leave, expecting you to follow. You rush to pull on your combat boots and grip your dog tags in your fist as you rush to catch up to him. He doesn’t spare you a glance as you fall into step beside him, taking a look around his dorm before he leads you through the exit door. 

“You need to get a feel for my fighting style.” He explains as you walk down the corridor. “I’m not saying I’ll listen to you when it comes down to it, but it’s important for you to know.”

You nod, agreeing that you should definitely observe him inside of his HERO. By understanding his moves, you’ll be able to understand the way he thinks, and you’ll be able to help him in actual combat if needed. He’s already said he won’t listen to you, but it won’t stop you from trying. He stops abruptly, turning to look at you, and you stop with him. 

“If we’re gonna do this, it’ll be on my terms. I’m not your dog.” He tells you, seriously. He eye’s you up and down, taking in your expression as you nod at his words. “If anything, you’re mine.”

He begins walking again, leaving you in your spot, irritation filling your chest as you watch him, smug. “Asshole.” You curse under your breath.

“What’d you say?” He barks, turning to look at you abruptly.

“You’re an asshole.” You speak louder. He walks back toward you, making sure to tower over you intimidatingly as he looks down at you in annoyance. His eyes flicker down to the tags around your neck before hooking a finger on the chain and pulling you closer. 

“Watch it.” He drops the chain and walks away again. 

You follow him to the sparring floor, and he shows you where to go to watch. Stood behind a large window that looks over the sparring area, other members of the base watch the HERO’s engage in combat below. You spot Tenko and he motions for you to stand beside him. 

“I knew he’d warm up to you.” He comments. The last of the previous battle finishes and you watch the two enormous machines retreat to the sides of the area, their pilots emerging from their chests with their handlers rushing to the bottom of the mech’s in support. 

“He hasn’t. He’s not.” You shake your head. You aren’t sure why you deny it, if it’s some way to keep your expectations low or if there’s some kind of embarrassment aspect to the whole thing. Whatever is happening between you and Touya feels intimate and private, something that the two of you need to figure out for yourselves, not something meant for the eyes of others.

“Hm. Okay.” Tenko shrugs. “Guess not.”

You hadn’t noticed Touya enter his mech at all. You see the swing of one giant mechanic arm, too close to the window you stand behind, and you’ve shifted your full attention to the scene at hand. 

The enormity of the room surprises you, despite the fact that you had seen it just moments before. But when you’re truly looking at it, watching these huge machines go at each other, the way the ground shakes, the leaves outside shake, the deep forrest clear in view from the wall that opens out to the greenery (the lack of a wall is likely from the academy’s abandoned state, but it’s a good feature to have on the sparring floor when giant robots are toppled over onto various surfaces).

The way Blue moves is electric, mechanic movements almost feel fluid with the way that Touya pilots her, easily dodging attacks from their opponent and moving around them in the most graceful way a giant machine can. It’s beautiful, unlike any fighting style you’ve ever seen in a HERO before. 

“He’s showing off for you.” Tenko observes from beside you. You don’t argue with him, only because you can’t dispute it. This is your first time seeing him in action. It makes your heart beat out of your chest. There’s this ache like you should be inside with him, cables connected to both of you, tucked neatly inside of Blue together. 

It doesn’t take him long to get his opponent on their back, the heavy thump against the floor jostling the ant-like figures on the ground below, handlers waiting for their pilots to finish. It goes on like this for a while, his training, using different methods of combat and winning each time. He’s amazing, and you can tell why his reputation is the way it is, second only to Tenko, who you have yet to see in action. 

When he finishes his last session, you watch Blue walk to the edge of the room, and Touya emerges from her chest, jumping the long way down her body without any issue. You watch as he looks toward the window you’re behind. He waves at you, an acknowledgment of your presence, and you wave back, though you aren’t sure he can actually see you.

It’s the beginning of everything for the two of you. You think Tenko was right.

He lets you stay with him afterwards while he does maintenance on Blue. He helps you climb up the path to her chest, hauling you over the edge to sit inside with him. He turns around abruptly, holding a hand up before allowing you to walk any further.

“Do not touch anything.” He warns, completely serious, before letting his hand fall and allowing you further into the cockpit. You take in your surroundings, the guts of his machine, analyzing the different control panels and screens that line the interior. You can tell he takes good care of her, and he spends a lot of time in here. It looks lived in, stickers stuck to metal plating and pieces of him all over. He’s made a second home in between the ribs of his mech. You feel a little jealous, though you aren’t sure of what. 

The two of you sit against the left side of Blue’s interior, waiting for her updates to finish, the loading screen on each of her monitors display a fire graphic that grows with the increasing percentage on screen. Between you and Touya sits an opened bag of sour gummies, which Touya picks out the lemon flavor and drops the candy in your palm with each new handful he gathers. 

“How do you know all this stuff?” He questions around a mouthful of sour cherry, “Like, the real names for things, where stuff goes, how to fix them. That day with the wires…”

“I spent a lot of time around mechanics at UA, and then also at the PLF.” You explain, picking the yellow colored candy from his open palm as you speak. “I couldn’t connect with other handlers. I didn’t like how they thought, or how they viewed the pilot/handler relationship. Mechanics were mostly neutral, and they loved these machines like nothing else. They reminded me of why I joined UA in the first place.”

“Hm.” He nods, thinking about your past. “Well, I guess if you spent so much time around actual professionals…I could maybe use your help sometimes in the garage.”

“Really?” You question excitedly, a spark lighting up your eyes as you swerve your head toward him. He feels something tight in his chest at the sight.

“Yes, but only on the outside. I don’t want you messing with her insides, yet.” He establishes. “And never alone. I have to be there at all times.”

“Of course, yes, oh my god. Touya!” You smile, gripping his shoulder firmly, a gesture of thanks, communication of how much his trust means to you. “I’ll be so careful with her, I promise.”

“Yeah, well, you have no other choice.” He shrugs, throwing another pile of candy in his mouth. “I’ll kill you if anything happens to her.”

You take the threat seriously, but his heart isn’t in it. He’s realized that you’ve wormed your way into his life and he hadn’t even noticed just how entangled you were now. 

As the weeks go by, you spend a lot more time together. You work on blue together, and you rest inside of her chest, sometimes allowing yourself to drift off against his shoulder on especially tiring days. He sits beside you in the caf, and while he doesn’t always say much, the feeling of his arm against yours is comforting. You can tell people are starting to notice, and they’re starting to talk. You’re being dubbed someone who’s tamed him, but you know how far from the truth that is. 

Despite your differences and the petty arguments that come up when Touya feels like you’re intruding on his independence, you’re growing attached. You wonder if he is, too.

…

Spending time together in the garage becomes the new normal for the two of you. Being in each other’s dorms feels far too intimate, so you always meet in the garage. This way, one of you is always busy doing something with your hands. There’s no room for any strange feelings in the pit of your stomach to seep in. 

You sit in the crook of Blue’s neck, watching Touya as he repairs the lenses in her “eyes.” Blue has three pairs of eyes; in her head, her chest, and down near her hips, which all footage is projected onto monitors inside the cockpit so that Touya has a full view of what’s in front of him. 

He’s so peaceful while he works, you’ve noticed, almost like he goes somewhere else completely. It’s a part of him you don’t think many people get to see, a piece of him just for you, and you want to be selfish with it.

“Can I ask you something?” You question, leaning your head back against the metal. “But you can’t get mad.”

He looks up at you, still fiddling with a lens, a mocking look on his face. “I’m not making any promises.”

You take a deep breath, preparing yourself for the possible fallout of the question you’re about to ask, “What do you think about the soul link?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I’d never do it.”

You nod your head in understanding, “yeah, I get it. It’s weird, right? The idea that someone else would be inside your brain.”

“It’s fucking invasive.” He says.

“You know, at UA it always felt like a threat, you know. Like, it was a way for a handler to control their pilot, not a tool or a bond like it should be.” You begin, thinking back to how you viewed the soul link back then. You didn’t like how the bond was presented as this power that a handler holds over their pilot, a threat to keep their pilot in line. But, you could understand how the link could be used for good. “But since coming here, I can tell it’s not all bad. People trust each other here. I mean, there’s obviously some people who abuse it, but, for the most part, everyone seems to understand what it really means to be a pilot and a handler.”

You’re mostly just thinking out loud, but Touya doesn’t say anything to your ramblings. He continues to work on the lenses, and you can gather that he doesn’t want to talk about the subject anymore. But you can’t let it go, yet. There’s something you’ve been worried about since you met him.

“And what about…your brain? They say when a handler and a pilot don’t complete the soul link, the pilot will eventually fry their brain.” You can’t help it. You think about it all the time, what will happen when he can’t take it anymore. The closer you get to him, the realer it feels. “Are you ever worried about that?”

He looks at you, an expression you can’t quite make out fall across his face as he stares. It’s almost soft, the way he looks at you in this moment. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

The truth is, this is a reality Touya has accepted. He’s not afraid to die, and he never has been. He’ll probably die inside of Blue, and he has no problem with that fact. He doesn’t need to be around for long, just enough to show his dad what he’s capable of.

“C’mon.” You stare. “That’s not fair.”

“Shit. I left some of the screws for this in my dorm.” He curses. He looks where you lounge, tucked into Blue’s shoulder. “Keep an eye on her, okay?”

You watch him jump down, much higher than his usual height at her chest, but he lands anyway. He doesn’t turn to look back at you as he jogs away. You climb up the side of Blue, and look at the lenses in her head. They’re already repaired, and you know Touya used the excuse of missing screw just so he wouldn’t have to talk about the soul link.

But it’s the first time he’s ever left you alone with Blue before. 

…

As the mission draws closer, Touya throws himself into training. You’re on the training floor with him most days, standing behind that big glass panel as you watch him spar with his peers. He still doesn’t let you down on the floor with him until he’s full out of Blue and close enough to the edge of the sparring floor to get to you. You’re not allowed in the actual training area, and even though he says he doesn’t want you clinging to him, it’s really because he wants to keep you safe. Seeing your human body near the giant machines that are HERO’s makes him want to grab you and keep you inside of Blue’s chest forever. 

You can tell all the training is taking a toll on him. With an excess of headaches and the occasional nosebleed, you continuously get into arguments about him cutting back on training inside of Blue. There are other ways for him to prepare that don’t involve his fragile brain being hooked up to an entity that takes so much. He doesn’t listen.

Later and later into the night, as your fellow pilots and handlers disperse and return to their rooms to sleep, Touya stays inside of Blue, testing her movements and sparring against test dummies and obstacles. Once you and Touya are the only two left on the sparring floor, you speak into the intercom attached to your head.

“Touya, I think you should take a break.” You tell him, “It’s late. Get some rest and then we can pick it back up in the morning.”

There’s a pause, then, “I’m gonna stay for another hour. Get some sleep. I’ll be done soon.”

“No, Touya. You’ve been at it for hours. You barely took a break for dinner. C’mon.” 

“You know, you sound awfully like a handler trying to tell their pilot what to do.” He teases, but you can hear the irritation in his voice.

“You are insufferable. I’m worried about you.” You groan.

“I’m fine. Go sleep.” He insists.

“If I find out you aren’t out of here in an hour—” Your line is promptly cut off, leaving behind static in your ear. You sigh and throw your com to the side. You hope he’s telling the truth.

With one last look at Blue, you make your way out of the training floor and find your way back to your dorm. 

Touya doesn’t answer the door when you knock the next morning. With a frustrated groan, you leave your dorm and head to the training floor, assuming he woke up early to get some extra hours in. The closer you get the the floor, you notice other members of the base rushing in front of you. Feeling panicked, you pick up the pace, jogging toward the training room to make sure something isn’t wrong. You collide with a body in front of you, nearly falling to the floor as you steady yourself. Toga stands in front of you, her cheeks red and eyes glossy as she explains something your mind can’t catch up to understand. The only thing you recognize is his name, and you’re running toward the training floor in an instant. 

You watch as Blue stomps around the area, her arms swinging in all directions, losing her footing as she moves. Knowing you can’t do anything on the floor, you make your way up to the overlook, finding Tenko yelling into your intercom. 

“What’s going on? What’s happening?” You ask him, pulling the headset off of his head and placing it on yours instead. 

“He’s out of fucking control. He won’t answer. I don’t even think he’s conscious in there.” He tells you, running a hand through his hair, pulling at the roots in anxiety. “You’re not linked yet, are you?”

You shake your head, closing your eyes in frustration as you try to think. You know it’s the only way. You have to take some of the burden off of him, make him share it with you. It’s the only way he’ll survive right now. “Do you think you can get into Decay right now and knock him down somehow?”

He hesitates, “I can get inside. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to touch him at all.”

“You have to.” You plead, desperately. “I just need him down for ten seconds, tops. As long as I can get inside of her, I can save him.”

He looks at you like you’re insane, and maybe you are. But you know you can’t live with yourself if you don’t try something. Tenko nods.

“I can do it.” He tells you. You rush passed him, following the stairs down to the training area. You feel Tenk grab your wrist firmly. “You bring him back, okay?”

“I will.” You nod. 

He dodges Blue’s movements, weaving between her legs as he finally makes it to Decay. It takes a few moments for him to connect, but he goes straight for Blue. You watch the giant machines fight one another, but it’s clear that Blue’s lack of control hinders much of her ability. She needs Touya just as much as he needs her. It’s tough for Decay to dodge her swinging arms, but Tenko manages to knock her down quickly.

The fall shakes the room, but you waste no time running for Blue. Climbing over the side of her, you manage to touch your thumb to the pad on the outside to open her chest up. She begins to stand up, and you slip down, grabbing onto a bar beneath her ribcage. You let out a frustrated groan as you try to pull yourself up over the edge of the cockpit. Finally making it over, you see Touya sitting there, still connected to his pilot’s chair, eyes glazed over and blood gushing from his nose. You push the button that closes the panel in Blue’s chest, and you’re suddenly alone with him. 

Touya’s body is being jerked around by the movement of the mech, and you hang onto the walls of her chest in order to make your way to him. You situate yourself in his lap, taking his head in your hands as you look at him with tears in your eyes.

“You fucking asshole! I told you to take a break.” You sob, resting your head against his as you try and think of what to do next. “Touya, please. Please, baby, I need to you come back. Just fucking come back so I don’t have to do this without your permission, please.”

With no response from him, you wipe your tears, coming to terms with the fact that you have to complete the soul link now, or he’ll die. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Touya. Please forgive me.”

The soul link isn’t exactly an action so much as it is a feeling, an experience. There’s no trigger for it, no way to make it happen. It just begins. 

It’s Touya, aged thirteen, wild, chubby-cheeked and happy, in the pilot’s seat of his father’s HERO. It’s his drive, his determination, his anger, his hurt. It’s the day he snuck into battle, the day he couldn’t get out, flesh burning and fusing to the metal walls of his mech, the feeling now deep in your skin. It’s you, aged fifteen, hopeful, alive, shaking hands with your first pilot. It’s your heart, much too big and much too open for your line of work, it’s your passion, your fire, every piece of you that was broken down again and again until there was nothing left. It’s Touya and it’s you, and every single bit of your souls now tied together in one big knot. 

There’s nothing but darkness. And then there’s screaming. And then you can hear everything. Every thought running through Touya’s brain right now echoes in your head as you slowly come back to yourself. He can hear the same of yours.

It’s overwhelming at first, to have two sets of thoughts in your head at the same time, but you manage to focus. You can feel an anger inside of you like you’ve never felt. It’s almost like it’s your own. You need to come back. You’ve lost control of Blue.

In an instant, you feel yourself come back to your body, now straddling Touya like before, you feel his arms shoot around you and he tucks his chin over your shoulder to pilot Blue like he’s used to doing. He pays no mind as he presses up against you, but you feel your heart rate increase at the closeness. 

He’s so close.

I have to be. You’re in my lap.

Shit. I didn’t think—

Clearly.

I can’t fucking believe you. I told you we weren’t going to do this.

You were dying!

Then you fucking let me!

You’re jostled around in his lap for a moment as he stops Blue from destroying any more of the training floor, and Touya wraps an arm around your waist, holding you steady.

He gains control of her quickly, moving her toward the edge of the room. You tuck your face into his neck, not wanting to distract him and keeping your thoughts at bay so you don’t overwhelm him. He powers Blue down, severing the neural connection between the two of you, and shoves you from his lap and into the pilot’s chair like you’ve burned him. He storms out of the cockpit, climbing out of his machine and leaving you inside. You think about the argument you had within each other’s head, how Touya would have rather died than be linked to you like he is now. 

You slump against the seat, comforted by the metal cage you’ve been left inside of. 

[marysfics]

The Through the Dust Series

It wasn't supposed to happen. The sport, the risks, the focus - none of it was meant for distractions.

But somewhere between the thrill of the race and the quiet moments shared on the mountainside, you couldn't help but wonder..

Did you really fall for her?

Awkward Fluff, Mentions of Grief, Insecurities, Kisses and Smut

Chapters

Chapter 1: ''A Glance Through the Dust''

Chapter 2: ''The Unsteady Ground Between Us''

Chapter 3: "Caught in the Crossfire"

Chapter 4: "In The Quiet"

Chapter 5: "On the Edge of Glory"

Chapter 6: ''The Brink of Something Real''

Chapter 7: "Between the Words We've Yet to Speak"

Blurbs

Blurb 1.0

DownhillRacer!Reader Fits

Blurb 2.0

Blurb 3.0

Fit 1.0

Fit 2.0

[luvnami]

not a glory hole! - chapter 2

an | maybe one day he'll even out the score / mlist cw | mdni (18+)

ushijima wakatoshi is not a small man. 

he’s absurdly tall for a japanese person, towering over you at about 190cm and weighing in at a whopping 90kg. you know these facts because of the sports column in the newspaper you work for, and not because you’re evaluating him like a freshly caught fish on a weighing scale. 

you haven’t known ushijima for long. he moved in a few weeks ago and sent his regards to you with a polite gift of rice crackers left at your doorstep. you’ve been staying in this same apartment ever since you were in college. it’s small, but enough for someone living alone. 

you’d really like to keep that 16,000 yen deposit once your lease expires, so the ushijima-shaped hole in your wall appears to be quite a predicament. 

the ushijima-shaped man stands awkwardly. he looks out of place in the two-room apartment you call home, decorated appropriately like a 20-something year old who recently learnt what financial liberty meant, and promptly spent half their paycheck on little trinkets. the domo gachapon you bought at the nearby grocery store oddly suits him. 

“i’m sorry for intruding.” ushijima raises a hand in both greeting and apology. “but i thought i should clean up the mess i made.”

your eyes drift over to the broken pieces of your wall on the floor. if this was someone else’s apartment, you would be rather impressed by the damage. it’s less funny when your money and landlord are on the line. besides, you’re now incredibly concerned about the structural integrity of your apartment building. god forbid all three remaining walls come crashing down at any point in time. 

you hand ushijima a broom and dustpan. he gets to work, sweeping up the dust and paint chips rather efficiently. 

you make a mental note of the score: wall 1, ushijima 0. 

[blueteller]

We Don't Talk About Clopeh

So, uh... I know it's super silly, and the "We don't talk about Bruno" meme is super old by now; but this has been sitting among my files getting dust for over 2 years no, so I figured – why not?? 😅😂

***

[Rasheel] …So anyway, who's Clopeh? [Rosalyn] We don't talk about Clopeh, no no no We don't talk about Clopeh~! [Choi Han] …But! When the invasion came [Mary] Wyvern invasion came [Choi Han] We were all prepared And Cale-nim's shield brightly shined in the sky [Mary] Cale-nim's shield shined in the sky [Choi Han] Clopeh flew in With a full-of-it grin [Bud] Bastard! [Choi Han] No cursing, Bud, there are children here! [Bud] I'm sorry, Choi Han, go on [Choi Han] I'll be a legend, Clopeh said [Cale] He was delusional! [Choi Han] I smacked him and I said, no way [Cale] Still, he was quite usable… [Choi Han] Capture, interrogation, then- [Cale] -Suddenly he's nuts; but anyway [Everyone] We don't talk about Clopeh, no no no We don't talk about Clopeh~! [Lock] I don't know his deal and I am quite scared of asking Prasing Cale-nim constantly and stalking the young master He invented tech to record Cale-nim every act [Rasheel] Wait, what? What?? [Choi Han] Mary put bombs in his limbs to control his actions Ruthless and mad, skilled actor and spy master Despite getting tortured he's as loyal as he's nuts He's got quite the guts [Archie] A decietful snake Hiding in the grass Planned from very start To stab 'em in the back Yet at Cale-nim's name He gets quite insane [Everyone] We don't talk about Clopeh, no no no We don't talk about Clopeh~! [Mary] Pretended to be the Wyvern Knight of the North [Bud] Oh, wow [Choi Han] But it was Syrem controlling them all along! [Rosalyn] His family fabricated legend Of the lake Tears of God~! [Bud] The gall! [Mary, Choi Han, Rosalyn] His thirst for fame, No power can it stop~! [Raon] He told me He made biography Of the human that got popular [Bud] Wait, really? [Raon] He told me That me and Good Mary Can help with the sequel If we want [Hong] Hey, look, Dodori's on his way! [On] He told me That in Puzzle City There'd be a museum Depicting Cale's glory [Dodri] Wow, I can see it now… [Cale] Hey kids, [Dodri] Oh, I can see it now…! [Cale] I think, no more dessert for you! [The kids] Aw… [Dodri] I can see it now! [Fandom] Yeah, Clopeh About that Clopeh We really need to title Clopeh Are you a Pope yet, are you, Clopeh?? [Cale] Everybody, Beacrox's here! [Everyone] Time for dinner!

[goldenherc9]

The New Golden Gods: PART 1

A new dawn begins on Mount Olympus, the greek gods of old have all but disappeared, yet there gold wisps floating in the air around the old broken throne home where they once stood and had their way with the world...

As the golden whisps fly around the building gets rebuilt to it former glory and is fully restored.

Inside..the golden whisps fly around and the greek gods throne room where they once sat and fought each other over most things, turned shiny gold with a statue dedicated to Pegasus materialises in the room..something is going on with all this change...as the whole mansion turns pure solid gold on the outside.

Back outside, someone appears..a young muscled man appears at the mansion steps, looking up towards the mansion..his name...Hercules..descended from Heracles the old greek god and son of Zeus...

Hercules enters the mansion, and finds the throne room with ease, he looks around the room and counts a fair few thrones, he smirks and he sits down in one of the thrones and then appearing from gold dust, his twin sits right next to him. His twin is Ares another descendant of the old gods. They both flex their enormous biceps together. Showing off their GOLDEN GOD bodies and relishing how hot and immortal they are, revelling in the moment before they have to carry on and bring Mount Olympus back to full glory and bring their fellow God brothers through from their old home.

Hercules: Yo mah brah Ares who we gonna get over here from our old home? as this place is lit af now..

Ares: Well there is a fair few of us brah...lets get Apollo over as we got enough gold wisps to bring him here and ya know the more come over the stronger our gold grows mah brah!

Hercules: Hellz yeah brah! and ya totes right..lets get to it then braaaaah!

As the twin gold gods stand, and flex with all their muscles, a portal opens on another throne next to them and Apollo appears already flexing his enormous golden biceps...

To be continued...

Part 2 coming soon

@golden-logan10 is Ares and @chevy-gold is Apollo, mah GOLDEN GOD KINGBRUHS..more gods coming in the next part.

Hope ya enjoyed da first part so far bruhs! Wanna join da golden team then hmu and @brodygold and @polo-drone-001 and we get ya sorted, coz this team is gettin litttt daily!

[mistigrisunshine]

spuffy fic rec

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4

Puppy Problems by SzmattyCat [6k]

Buffy and Spike just want to spend some time together. Is that too much to ask?

Ghostly by untouchable [8k]

Six months after Sunnydale collapses, a grieving Buffy is startled to find Spike, feral and without any idea who she is, in her backyard. Is he real? Or just another ghost?

Dreamless by feliciacraft [9k]

Buffy woke up the same way she always did these days, a blank alertness overtaking sleep, without the harsh interjection of an alarm clock whisking her into action, without the dying whispers of a dream urging her to stay. Neither sudden nor gradual, instead it felt inevitable — like birth; yet always decidedly out of place. What was life after death in a nutshell, if not that? (Early season 6 AU story with a canon opening and a happy Spuffy ending.)

What Remains by MrsAkers [15k]

As the lone survivors of the final battle with Glory, Buffy and Spike run away from Sunnydale. Battling with guilt and an unfulfilled death wish, Buffy finds solace in Spike's company while the vampire just does his best to keep her alive.

Falling by kally77 [30k]

After The Harsh Light of Day, Angel loses his soul and Buffy finds an unexpected ally.

East of Nevada by Blissymbolics [42k]

The answer comes to him in a spark. Relief engulfs every nerve as he realizes Buffy is safe. He can save her this time. He wasn’t smart enough before. He made so many stupid mistakes. But this time is different. He may not have magic, but he can save her in a way no one else can. Spike sires Buffy to save her life. Now comes the hard part.

A New Dawn by kally77 [42k]

Rewrite of season 5. The monks made Dawn Buffy's daughter rather than her sister.

Midway of Speech and Thought by TheHousekeeper [63k]

Six months after the Battle of Sunnydale, Buffy is trying to settle into her new life in London: patrolling, training new Slayers, and studying English Literature. But it's not great for her grades that strange demons are appearing all over the city – and it's not great for her sanity that she's suddenly dreaming about Spike. And she only dreams when it rains.

In the Dark of the Night by norik23 [117k as of now]

Saint Petersburg. 1920s. Rupert Giles, a fallen watcher, and Spike, a cursed vampire, are an unlikely pair of conmen struggling to make ends meet in a city overrun by demons. Together, they hatch a plan to find the long-lost slayer... or at least a decent approximation. A road trip adventure love story, loosely based on the plot of Anastasia (1997). Featuring a motley crew of misfits – Buffy, Spike, and Giles – who’d much rather bicker for 2000 miles than admit they’re all a bit lonely. Good thing it’s a long way to Paris. They’ve got time to figure it out.

Death Wish by Sigyn [190k]

“World is what it is. We fight and we die. Wishing doesn't change that. You can believe in a better world. I have to live in this one.”  Anyanka’s wish was broken, but the world it created continues. Now Buffy must join forces with rebel vampires to create a world they can all stand to live in. But can Spike, Drusilla and Angel actually work with a hardened slayer, who would just as soon see them all dust?

[aaronazizsasilver5]

The New Golden Gods: PART 1

A new dawn begins on Mount Olympus, the greek gods of old have all but disappeared, yet there gold wisps floating in the air around the old broken throne home where they once stood and had their way with the world...

As the golden whisps fly around the building gets rebuilt to it former glory and is fully restored.

Inside..the golden whisps fly around and the greek gods throne room where they once sat and fought each other over most things, turned shiny gold with a statue dedicated to Pegasus materialises in the room..something is going on with all this change...as the whole mansion turns pure solid gold on the outside.

Back outside, someone appears..a young muscled man appears at the mansion steps, looking up towards the mansion..his name...Hercules..descended from Heracles the old greek god and son of Zeus...

Hercules enters the mansion, and finds the throne room with ease, he looks around the room and counts a fair few thrones, he smirks and he sits down in one of the thrones and then appearing from gold dust, his twin sits right next to him. His twin is Ares another descendant of the old gods. They both flex their enormous biceps together. Showing off their GOLDEN GOD bodies and relishing how hot and immortal they are, revelling in the moment before they have to carry on and bring Mount Olympus back to full glory and bring their fellow God brothers through from their old home.

Hercules: Yo mah brah Ares who we gonna get over here from our old home? as this place is lit af now..

Ares: Well there is a fair few of us brah...lets get Apollo over as we got enough gold wisps to bring him here and ya know the more come over the stronger our gold grows mah brah!

Hercules: Hellz yeah brah! and ya totes right..lets get to it then braaaaah!

As the twin gold gods stand, and flex with all their muscles, a portal opens on another throne next to them and Apollo appears already flexing his enormous golden biceps...

To be continued...

Part 2 coming soon

@golden-logan10 is Ares and @kingalpha30 is Apollo, mah GOLDEN GOD KINGBRUHS..more gods coming in the next part.

Hope ya enjoyed da first part so far bruhs! Wanna join da golden team then hmu and we get ya sorted, coz this team is gettin litttt daily!

[haydenigmatic]

You are the King’s third child, a Princess/Prince third in line to the throne of the eight kingdoms,Third in line to the throne, you have nothing to worry about , well of course you have your lessons but not as extensive as your brothers because your older brother is the heir and even if something happened to him, there is your other big brother.

Maybe you will be a pawn for your father in a marriage alliance, However, who knows what the future holds, something or someone could ensure that your dynasty will be nothing more than dust and you will have to fight for the throne as the heir apparent, or maybe you won’t have to fight at all…

DEMO ✸ MOODBOARDS ✸ ASK ME ANYTHING YOU WANT ✸ FORUM ✸ PLAYLISTS ✸

RO's intro post: ✸ Aurelia/n✸Damon✸Doria/n✸Hanniel✸

               ✸ Jasira✸ Nesrin ✸ Odette ✸ Sorin ✸ Verena ✸  

Play as a Princess/Prince of a powerful dynasty.

Variety of dialogue depending on your gender

Find love among nine characters of whom two are gender selectable

Manipulate, or genuinely care for your people

Bond with creatures that used to be extinct

Blurry the line between good and bad

Form alliances to win the crown

Do anything to survive at court

♢ Lady/Lord Aurelia/Aurelian Mezzei (She/her - He/him) 2 years older than MC

Aurelia/n is a proud and skilled adventurer with a free-spirited nature, always yearning for new experiences and the freedom of the open road. Beneath their composed exterior, they possess a kind heart and a rational mind, but can become a formidable force when provoked.

"The world is a tapestry, woven with threads of wonder and complexity. With each step, I strive to unravel its mysteries and add my own vibrant colors."

♢ Lady/Lord Doria/Dorian Muriel  (She/her - He/him) 3 years older than MC

Doria/n is a complex and enigmatic individual, shrouded in a veil of cynicism and guardedness. Their ruthless actions and lack of remorse paint them as a hardened figure, while their hidden heart of gold and capacity for loyalty reveal a deeper layer beneath the surface. They navigate life with a cautious scepticism, harbouring deep-seated wounds and a relentless desire for self-preservation.

"There's no room for sentimentality or second chances in my life. Once you cross me, there's no going back."

♢ Hanniel (Connell) Almlinger  (He/him) 4 years older than MC

Hanniel is a chivalrous and principled knight, driven by a strong sense of justice and an unwavering dedication to doing what is right. Despite the shame he feels as a bastard, he possesses a warm and compassionate heart, and his experiences have shaped him into a resilient and empathetic individual.

"The measure of a person's worth is not determined by their birthright, but by the content of their character."

♢ Lord Damon Lavone (He/him) 4 years older than MC

Damon is a charismatic and ambitious knight, driven by a relentless pursuit of glory and recognition. His privileged background as the heir to the second wealthiest man in The Eight Kingdoms, combined with his natural talent and captivating presence, has made him a captivating legend and a force to be reckoned with. Beneath his confident exterior lies a fiercely loyal and protective nature, willing to go to great lengths for the ones he loves.

"To be ordinary is a fate worse than death. I was destined for greatness, and I will leave my mark on this world. Remember my name, for it will be whispered in awe and reverence."

♢ Lady Jasira Oursbar (She/her) 2 years older than MC

Jasira is a fiercely independent and outspoken individual, unafraid to challenge societal expectations and fight for what she believes in. As the daughter of a northern duke, she defies the traditional role of a lady, embodying strength, determination, and a rebellious spirit. With a background rooted in nobility, Jasira carries a deep sense of loyalty and a strong connection to her heritage, guiding her actions and shaping her unwavering pursuit of justice.

"I'd rather live a life of freedom and danger than one of safety and confinement."

♢ Lady Nesrin Parovus (She/her) 1 year older than MC

Nesrin is a cunning and intelligent individual, skilled in the art of manipulation and strategic thinking. Born into nobility as the daughter of one of the seven dukes, she exudes grace and elegance while harbouring a hidden depth of ambition and determination. With her background of privilege and a mind shaped by political intrigue, Nesrin is a formidable force, always three steps ahead in the game of power.

"There's nothing more satisfying than outmaneuvering someone who thought they had the upper hand."

♢ Lady Odette Lavone (She/her) 1 year younger than MC

Odette is a compassionate and idealistic individual, driven by a strong sense of empathy and a desire for justice. With her noble background as the daughter of one of the seven dukes, she possesses elegance and grace, often regarded as the epitome of a court lady. Her genuine kindness and unwavering devotion make her a steadfast ally and a beacon of hope in a complex and sometimes treacherous world.

"Love is not just a fleeting emotion; it is a profound connection that binds us together. With each beat of my heart, I choose to love fiercely, fiercely enough to change the world."

♢ Sorin of Soirsa (She/her) 2 years older than MC

Sorin is a resilient and resourceful individual, shaped by a challenging past as an orphan and a former courtesan. With a guarded demeanour and an independent spirit, she navigates the world with a keen intellect and a knack for survival. Beneath her tough exterior lies a tender heart yearning for connection, a hidden vulnerability that only a select few are privileged to witness.

"Life may have dealt me a difficult hand, but I'll play it with audacious grace, turning adversity into art."

♢ Lady Verena Sarpe (She/her) Same age as MC

Verena is a captivating and ambitious noblewoman, known for her seductive allure and calculated strategies. Born into a distinguished family, she carries the weight of her tarnished reputation and navigates the intricate web of political power with cunning and determination. Behind her enchanting facade lies a complex soul yearning for genuine love, battling her own insecurities and the shadows of her past.

"Love is a delicate dance, and I have perfected the steps. But be warned, for the fire that burns within me is as treacherous as it is enchanting."

[the-kr8tor]

Happy 1 year !!! It went by so fast I didn’t even realize until u mentioned it 😭

Hope u don’t mind me adding an apothecary req to ur pile QwQ

Could I get cardamom + heart shaped bottle of waking up a little past midnight from a nap with hobie ? Lots of snuggles and maybe some random ass cozy 2-4 am activity 🥺

Happy writing! Remember to drink water, eat snacks, and take breaks ❤️ !!!

Thank you for sticking around! Here's your potion, I hope you like it 💕

Pairing: Hobie Brown x fem! Reader/ Spider-Punk x fem! Reader

Tags: No use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader (except for her clothing), cw suggestive, FLUFF!

Katy's one year celebration 🎉

The metal fan whirs in the background of your shared bedroom. It's warm and humid, almost seethingly hot as you lay side by side with Hobie in deep slumber. Sweat dribbles off your back, moist clinging to the back of your shirt and seeping through the thin bed sheets. You groan, eyes still closed, hand reaching towards him blindly, fingers patting along the sheets to find his warmth. Still half asleep, you huff, unknowingly scrunching your face.

Hobie, also asleep, and yet his spider senses wake him up from your need to be near him. He snorts, foot kicking the blanket off him and onto the foot of the bed. Groaning, he flips himself to face you, eyes closed, he scooches closer to you despite the heat.

Your fingers brush along his bare arm and you instinctively hold onto him like a life preserver. He feels the sweat on your palm, making him crack open one eye in the dark. He sees your uncomfortable expression, and his senses fully wake him up.

“Fuckin' hell.” Hobie whispers, exhaling tiredly, he feels like ice under a heat lamp. You make a sound akin to the start of a sob, he immediately pats your bicep. “Sorry, go back to sleep.”

“It's so hot.” You softly complain, eyes half lidded, frown deepening with every drop of sweat. “I'm dying, Hobie.”

He chuckles, “I know, love, you won't even cuddle me like always.” The crickets outside chirp, summer air blowing right outside the houseboat window.

“If I get anymore near you I'd melt.”

“You always melt when you're near me.”

“That's different,” your tone has a slight lilt of playfulness. “this one is a disgusting kind of melt. The kind where you only see in the gym.”

“The disgusting kind?” His eyes sparkles with amusement.

“Yeah,” you blink away the remaining sleep. “the stinky kind.”

His knuckles brush along your arm, making you flick his elbow. “Ow, what's that for?”

“Too hot.” You say, face shoved into your pillow. “Sorry, I'm sticky, I feel icky, augh.”

“D’you want me to do something ‘bout it, stinky?” He smiles tiredly, fighting off a yawn, hand still atop your arm that you don't brush off.

“Our AC is broken, Hobs, you said it yourself. Unless you use that gorgeous brain of yours to fix it.” You change position, lifting yourself slightly off the mattress, you now face the ceiling, arms away from you like you're about to flap your nonexistent wings. “I'm dying, I'm gonna kill the AC cleaning company for not coming yesterday. I think they're the reason why it's broken. Too much dust.”

“The entire company?” He teases, beaming at you, tapping the pads of his fingers on your warm skin. “That's a bit ambitious innit?”

“I can handle them, ‘fear a woman scorned’ or whatever the saying goes, I'm too hot to remember.” You chuckle at the end.

“I don't think that's how it goes, love.” He slides himself closer to you, skin sticking to your skin. You make a face but don't push him away. His face looms above you, smiling softly, moonlight bathing him in all his glory. “You're right about one thing though,” the pad of his thumbs wipe sweat off your brow, and you do him the favour of wiping the sweat clinging to the tip of his nose. “You are bloody hot.”

You smile at him, leaning closer to his touch while he does the same. “Do you know what's gonna make me hotter?”

“Lingerie—?” You slap his arm. “What? You asked and I answered.” He laughs, palms rubbing the sweat off your temple.

“No!” You shake his shoulders, “the AC finally working and us sleeping peacefully.”

“I agree with the first one, but the second? I can think of other things—” He stops at the sight of your pointed glare. “—I can check it for you. I might be able to fix it.”

You sigh dramatically, like a weight off your shoulders is gone. “Please? I bet a genius like yourself can fix it.”

He fakes a scoff, already lifting himself off the bed, “you don't need to gas me up, love, ‘m already on it.”

“Thank you, the most genius, handsome Spider-Man in the whole universe—” His lips are suddenly on yours, pecking quickly before you could even hold him in place.

“Stay there,” Hobie stands on the foot of the bed, you place your chin on your palms, fluttering your eyelashes like a schoolgirl with a crush. “We're not done yet with our conversation.” He says while walking backwards towards the door.

“Fix it please and we'll have a very long conversation.”

He tilts his head, brow raised, laughing at the double meaning. His own foot betrays him, making him trip on nothing when you wink at him. A wink that is sub-par due to your lack of sleep, but it has him weak nonetheless. With a click of the door, your head hits the pillow once again, trying to survive the heat.

It must've been a good fifteen minutes since Hobie left but it felt like the most excruciating hours for you. Your pajama shorts and shirt have basically melted into one with the bedsheets, and yet you keep dozing off despite it. The roar of the AC finally starting has your skin jumping from your body, and you hear a faint cheer from somewhere around the houseboat.

You smile softly as cool air finally billows out, a cold breeze hitting your moist skin. Sighing, you comfortably adjust yourself on the bed, cheek squished on the pillow, eyes drifting off— Until the bed dips and you open your eyes to a very smug yet happy Hobie. He waits for your thank yous with a lopsided smile, he's clearly proud of himself.

“Do you accept payments in cuddles?” You murmur, arm already reaching up towards him, fingers beckoning him over.

Hobie acts as if he's thinking long and hard about his decision. “Am I free to negotiate?”

You shake your head with a smile, giggling against the pillow that smells like him. “Nope.”

He plops himself next to you, arm sliding under you, lifting you off the bed effortlessly to be placed on top of him. You laugh, immediately, placing your head on his chest. His arms envelope you, fingers kneading the small of your back. Meanwhile you cup his jaw, giving sleepy kisses until you're both satisfied.

“This is the best form of payment,” you say against his skin, eyes closing, sighing in content. You expect a rhetoric or a sarcastic reply from him but all you get from him are soft snores. “Thank you, Hobie.” You join him in dreamland, comfortable and cozy in his arms.

[labeteenmoi]

Kings of the Subura

Part 2

Fandom : Those About To Die

Pairing : Tenax x OC

Warnings : Mentions of violence, rape and slavery

Summary : Wavering feelings and power teachings

Note : if you want to be tagged for the next chapter, just raise your finger

The bell rang.

“The race is on! Bets are over!” the man behind the counter shouted as he closed the jar filled with betting odds amid protests from the latecomers.

Another chariots race Tenax already knew the results of. He didn't even have to fix it anymore; he had the greatest power in the Subura: information. Tenax knew all there was to know about anything race related: who runs for money, who runs for glory, who runs for life. He also knew about all the power struggles involved: who owed who, who owned who, who fucked who. Incidentally, what the horses ate for breakfast and how much quality shit they had had mattered too, and he knew that too.

However, all that power, his pride and joy, mattered a little less lately. As he was distractively watching the chariots enter their second lap in a cloud of dust as they passed in front of the stable’s door, his mind shifted to the creature that roamed his house like a caged tiger, yearning for freedom, or at least for a hint of it in the streets of Rome, something he had always denied her.

Almost a month had passed since he had brought her home and the least he could say was that this woman’s pride was beyond imagination. No matter how good the care and security he provided to her, she resisted fiercely and that was probably the very reason she was growing on him. He liked it, her irrepressible spirit of rebellion—not in deed, she did what she was told, but her attitude was untamed, her eyes insolent, her repartee sharp on the rare occasions she bothered to answer him. Briga was far from purring while rubbing against his leg — she still seemed constantly tense, on alert, watching his every move whenever he got too close to her, but Tenax could see a change in the way she looked at him, a formal coldness had slowly replaced the ostentatious hatred she used to address him, and sometimes, he could swear, there was even a hint of curiosity.

It was only in the quiet, soothing moment of Claudia's bath that she seemed to find real comfort. The occasional glances he threw at her at that moment, a moment far too tempting for him to constantly be able to hold back, gave him the opportunity to witness a few rare moments when she let her animal sensuality express itself. In the incandescent darkness of that room, she looked something like a snake, undulating and glistening. Then she would see him and stare as if she had spotted a prey; fascinatingly deadly.

What never ceased to amaze him was how oblivious she seemed to all of this, oblivious to this aura of danger that emanated from her, unconscious to the attraction she exerted on him. Either she had no clue, or he was extremely good at hiding it. Anyway, it could be of use for his business. Not that it was his plan all along, he wasn't the kind of man to do things on a whim usually, except when it came to her apparently. Tenax could recognize an opportunity when he saw one.

The last silver fish tipped over to a cheer from the crowd announcing the final lap. Tenax's eyes widened in the ray of sunlight that streamed through the door's skylights as if suddenly coming to. The rider of the blue faction, Scorpus, had taken the lead, as usual. He didn't seem very happy about it though, whipping his horses with rage.

Tenax didn't linger after the race ended that day, each time a little less than the last. His home had gained in appeal lately, in a way, he wanted to return there more and more as the days went by.

At this twilight hour, it was bath time, so it was not surprising to find the first rooms empty. However, the quiet of the place struck him as soon as he passed through the door. No light came from the kitchen which was unusual, and the slight whispers of Claudia and Briga's conversations in the bathroom were muted.

Tenax stiffened, moving cautiously towards his room. He pushed the door open wide with a slight creak. The air that reached his face was thick, loaded with humidity and floral scents. Someone had indeed used the bathroom but as he moved a little further into his bedroom he saw the bathroom was empty.

When he turned again, peering into the darkness at the back of his room, a movement of air made the hair on the back of his head stand on end, immediately followed by the cold contact of a blade on the side of his neck. He froze for a couple of decisive seconds. Gritting his teeth angrily, he suddenly stepped back, hitting hardly the body of his assailant that he carried in his momentum against the wall behind him. The knife bearer let out a slight hoarse gasp under the heavy shock. Tenax immediately realized that this body was much lighter than he had anticipated. It was her, of course. He turned around quickly, pushing aside the hand that held the blade with one arm and grabbed the slave's neck, who didn't seem surprised.

"What are you doing?" he growled sharply.

Briga grabbed the hand on her neck.

"...You should have knocked." she muttered sarcastically under her breath.

Tenax took a breath, trying to calm down a little. He loosened his grip on her throat just enough to let her gulp.

"Drop the knife now." he snapped with a hint of worry in his wide opened blue eyes.

Her eyes narrowed as she formed a slight smirk before letting go, the kitchen knife fell heavily to the floor with a loud clatter.

Tenax sighted lightly, she could have pressed a little harder on that knife if she had really wanted to, cut just a bit at this exact point of his neck and he would have bled to death at her feet no matter how quickly he had reacted. She knew how to kill, now he knew, and it could be useful in the future, well, since she had chosen not to end his life on the spot of course. He should have felt dread but instead, he felt somehow aroused. The aftermath of gambling with his life when the odds seemed quite off. Suddenly, his thoughts interrupted: something on his peripheral vision seemed strange, there was way too much skin.

Lowering his face, his eyes fell on a damp chest to which were stuck soaked strands of her black hair that heaved with each deep breath she made. He moved away a little, realizing that he was still pressing his all body against her, and then saw her stomach and further down, her legs; she was naked and still wet. Tenax's hard gaze faded little by little, as it travelled the firm contours of her body.

The fine grain of her skin, tanned no doubt by the sun of her native province, appeared clearly to him now that he saw it so close. Claudia's care had borne fruit; she was immaculate, as if she had never been bruised. Despite the dizziness of such a magnetic vision, he began to feel observed and suddenly raised his head and met her piercing gaze. Briga was indeed watching him in silence, without any sign of embarrassment at being thus exposed to Tenax's eyes, without any sign of aggression despite his proximity and the contact of his hand on her neck, the elbow of which grazed the tip of her breast. She was too busy scrutinizing his reactions to her nudity to care much.

Briga still didn't know if she could trust him and somehow, she needed to prove to herself that he was just like these others perverted men who caused all her troubles. She needed to confront and kill this increasing attachment feeling he had awakened in her over the weeks she had spent with him. She had seen his haunted eyes when he thought he was alone in the room, the inner struggles he sometimes seemed to have when coming home. She had heard the screams at night, his wanders in the darkness of the apartment trying to catch his breath. He had secrets and dark thoughts that usually seemed to disappear as soon as he laid eyes on her. Do vile men ever feel remorse?

Maybe he was different after all, and that mere thought was enough to make her mad. More than once, she had trusted a Roman only to be painfully played in the end, how could she still be so naive? So, she often looked on his face for the same scornful looks that she had seen on the faces of her Roman delinquents. His occasional, not-so-accidental glances while she was taking her bath couldn't be that innocent.

Tenax suddenly had the feeling he was somehow being put to the test. That was some vicious way but certainly the most effective one, clever girl. He did want to feel more than just her neck under his hands, he wanted to smell these scents of rose oil all over her body which turned out to be all the more intoxicating once applied to her skin, to kiss her lips, but above all, he wanted her to want it too. He was closer than ever. So close, and yet, that enticing creature was expecting to see him losing control. He would hate not to disappoint.

He raised his head in a controlled inhale, hardening his expression.

"Where is Claudia?" he curtly asked, closing a little harder his hand on her neck.

She startled slightly, blinking at the pressure.

"She’s resting," she let out looking him straight in the eyes, "she felt ill.”

Tenax sustained her look, he wasn’t sure she was telling the truth. After all, she had just reminded him that she wasn’t as harmless to him as she had let him believe lately. He searched her face for any signs of a shifty glance but saw none, she seemed sincere enough to reassure him. He asked more calmly:

"Where is she?"

"In the guests room."

As she had answered in a soft voice, veiled by the pressure on her trachea, his eyes had landed on her lips. She talked so rarely that he had barely ever seen them moving. Fleshy velvety dark-rosed lips that never smiled, only sometimes grinned disdainfully at him when not firmly shut. But now they were parting slightly under his sudden hypnotized glance. Briefly looking up, he saw a glimpse of confusion in her eyes as she witnessed his softening mood, felt her breathing becoming barely perceptible under his hand but her pulse quickening.

Strangely, his own pulse caught the same rhythm as hers. A warm sensation invaded his own chest, a shiver ran up on his skin and before he knew it his hand was no longer holding her neck but simply laying on her collarbones, still held by hers.

It was as if time had frozen, the surroundings had disappeared, and they were all alone in the middle of an undefined mist. Their gazes travelling over their faces, he slowly leaned in, uncontrollably attracted towards her mouth that trembled a little at his approach when, suddenly, the walls of the apartment began to shake from violent blows.

Tenax and Briga opened their eyes wide in surprise, abruptly emerging from whatever spell they were under. The knocking started again, someone was banging on the apartment door with their fists and shouting "Tenax!! I know you're here!"

Tenax suddenly turned his head towards the door behind him:

"Scorpus!" he breathed shortly. "Get dressed," he addressed Briga eagerly.

She took a few seconds to react, her mind still foggy from what had just happened, then hurriedly grabbed the dress lying on the bed. Tenax opened the door without waiting and at the same time Scorpus burst into the apartment in front of a dazed Claudia who had rushed from the corridor.

With a quick glance, the man caught a glimpse of bare legs in the half-open bedroom door as Tenax was closing it.

"Scorpus! What's going on, my friend?" Tenax said hurriedly, opening his arms wide to the newcomer with a faked smile, pretending to ignore his rudeness.

The man had stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the closed door behind Tenax with a disconcerted look, before looking back at his host who was advancing. He seemed to regain his senses and pointed an accusing finger under the latter's nose:

"Where's my money?" he barked.

"Scorpus, I warned you not to bet on the lap," Tenax sighed, "the white faction has been running new horses that are younger than yours..."

"What?!" Scorpus shouted indignantly, "You didn't tell me anything!" he bellowed.

"Of course I did, you were probably still drunk…" Tenax retorted, shaking his head in disapproval.

The man sighed heavily, ostentatiously rubbing his eyes in disappointment. He looked up at the closed bedroom door, holding his hips, and seemed to ruminate for a few moments before fuming loudly:

"I lost big on that, Tenax!"

Tenax approached him, opening his arms again in a gesture of comfort as the man cast furtive glances at the door. Ignoring his friend’s approach, he kept on:

“And who’s in your room there?” he asked suspiciously, pointing toward the bedroom.

"Nobody." Tenax hastened to answer as innocently as possible.

Scorpus wasn’t listening, he walked around Tenax who didn't have time to hold him back, and pushed the door open, revealing Briga inside who suddenly sat up. Seeing that she had had time to get dressed, Tenax let out a discreet sigh of relief.

The newcomer stared at her for a few moments, stunned, while Briga, motionless, gave him a stone-hard look.

"Who are you?" he finally asked, visibly intrigued.

Briga remained unmoved, eyeing the visitor up and down.

Scorpus tilted his head, seemingly offended by the girl's silence.

"Who is she?" he insisted to Tenax behind him.

"No one," he sighed as he stamped his feet on the ground, "just… a slave..."

"A slave!" Scorpus exclaimed, a smile growing on his lips. He looked back at the girl, ogling her without shame. "What's your name?"

Silence still as the only answer, the man was starting to look seriously upset.

"Briga is her name, and she won't answer you..." Tenax intervened.

"Why? She can't talk?" he asked curiously before returning his interested gaze to the girl. "I bet this pretty mouth can do other things though..." he mumbled to Briga, whose eyes narrowed in return in a murderous glare.

Tenax heard it too and rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Because she hates you, Scorpus. She hates all of us, don't take it personally." he sighed heavily, shooting a complicit grin at Briga whose fierce eyes oscillated between him and the visitor. It had been a while since Tenax hadn’t seen such a fierce look on her face, he could tell a cold anger was slowly rising in her, her knuckles were turning white.

Scorpus stamped his feet, hesitantly waving his body towards Briga but held back in the face of the hostility emanating from her.

"No one hates Scorpus, I'm not a fucking Roman." He retorted in a mock-outraged tone, ostensibly giving her a smile of the kind he usually gave to his future conquests. Nothing seemed to stop this rake in front of a beautiful woman.

The thought of the knife left on his bedroom floor crossed his mind; Tenax started to fear for his friend’s life if Briga ever remembered it as well.

“What else can I do for you, my friend?” he cut in impatiently, loud enough to catch both their attention.

“Oh, well…” Scorpus mumbled, trying to stall for time before being openly dismissed from the place, “you’re not going to help me, then?”

"There's nothing more I can do Scorpus…"

"You should take her to the races one of these days," Scorpus unexpectedly eluded, "I'm sure she'd appreciate seeing the great Scorpus at work!"

He puffed out his chest, a display that still didn't seem to impress Briga whose gaze had not softened one bit.

"Or else you introduce her to your debtors, Tenax, if she looks at them long enough like that, they'll quickly settle their debts!" Scorpus noisily laughed.

Tenax chuckled. Of course he had thought of it, he had realized her silent hard looking presence could indeed have a certain power of persuasion. Surely others besides him could perceive this feeling of danger that her attitude gave off, Scorpus did seem to feel it as well or he would have been closer to her already, Tenax believed.

“I’ll consider it Scorpus,” he answered, “now I have things to do.” He concluded firmly, tilting his head towards the door.

Scorpus bit his lip in frustration, nodding at Briga with a salacious look.

“Of course, my friend!" he eventually gasped, "I’ll see you at the Circus in three days!”

Slowly stepping back without taking his eyes off her, he added with a wink:

“See you soon, Briga…”

Tenax accompanied him through the entrance door, holding his breath for any new try at poking at his slave. Scorpus passed the door but suddenly turned back and whispered in his face with a dubious look:

“What were you doing in there with her?”

"Goodbye, Scorpus" he replied with a contented smile, closing the door in his face.

Tenax held the door for a little longer, taking some time to recollect his thoughts. Finally turning around, he caught eyes with Claudia, holding her hands together in a confused expression.

"I’m sorry, Master, I…"

"I know." Tenax interrupted gently, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Hum… yes, thank you, Master."

He glimpsed at Briga, just long enough to see her staring into the void, when Claudia kept on:

"I’ll prepare supper right away, Master. Briga, please come, child." She called in a still sleepy hoarse voice.

Her name came to her as a distant sound in the air, only after some instants she seemed to have heard it and raised a confounded face to see Claudia and Tenax looking at her in puzzlement.

The way this man had looked at her had shaken her core. All these weeks locked in the security of Tenax’s apartment almost made her forget what it was like to be preyed upon like this, submitted to the depraved eyes of men willing to abuse her.

Regaining her senses, she saw concern in Tenax’s eyes, and it reminded her that she could breathe, he was there. Swiftly seized by the soft and warm sensation of being so close to him only instants before, for a mere instant she wished he was holding her again, leaving her all the more stunned.

"Briga?" Claudia called gently.

She shook her head and walked across the room quickly at the renewed call, unconsciously avoiding all the eyes on her; a confusion that first left Tenax speechless. It seemed so unlike her to appear overwhelmed like that and something told him it wasn't just about him and the unexpected letting go they had experienced a few minutes before. In some way it was bothering him and that was so unlike him.

Briga had eaten with Claudia in the kitchen as usual, mostly in silence from what Tenax had perceived from his sit at the table, only to reappear in front of him for the sole purpose of clearing the table. He tried to cross her eyes that she seemed to avoid.

"That will be all Claudia, you go rest home, the cleaning can wait." He announced suddenly, staring at Briga who finally met his eyes with a hint of suspicion; it was unusual for him to send her home so soon.

Briga immediately stopped and waited by the table in silence, staring at Tenax, both wary and curious about what would happen once Claudia left. When she did, the heavy silence between them lasted for a moment until Tenax calmly ordered:

"Sit. Please."

Please? That was new and rather intriguing to her. She was more used to him showing who the master was than that. Further arousing her curiosity, she complied and took a place at the table in front of him, keeping her hands on her lap and her eyes firmly locked on his.

He took a slow sip of wine, pondering how to address the elephant in the room.

"You didn't like the way Scorpus looked at you." Tenax finally let out.

Briga took a breath.

"I've seen this filthfy look on Roman's faces before." she bitterly said, thinking back to what these men had done to her.

Tenax nodded slightly, showing he knew well what she was referring to.

"Hmm… You see, I’ve learned in the streets that rage arises from fear, it’s like a defence mechanism. As impressive as your rage mays appear at first sight, it mostly reveals weakness."

She slowly tilted her head and intensely glared at him, unsure to appreciate the direction Tenax was taking there.

He softly smiled at her expected reaction; calling her weak and getting away with it was probably a privilege all his own and he certainly appreciated the sensation it provided. But beyond that, he mostly wanted her to understand his point, it was key to the purpose he aimed for. So, he resumed, calmly but more firmly than before, imposing her to listen through.

"When men look at you like Scorpus did, it means they covet you and that, Briga, gives you power; the power to either refuse… or accept, at your own terms. In my world, that is called an opportunity. You could use that to get what you want. You could use them..."

"Refuse or accept?" she interrupted sharply with an ironic frown, his voice almost hissing, "As when you have the choice? What power do you have when you are held by both arms… or chained?"

For a split second Tenax felt his mind on the verge of wandering; finally, there was a chink in her impenetrable armour, willingly giving away an ounce of what might have happened to her. He felt the urge to know more, but now was not the time, so in a controlled inhale he simply nodded thoughtfully, holding her stare with a surprising intensity:

"We are all bound to something."

Briga narrowed her eyes, wondering in what way could a man like him ever feel restrained. It just then occurred to her that outside these walls she did not know anything about him. She didn’t know much about him even inside these walls for that matter.

She observed him silently for some time. Being used by people, using other people… This would have never occurred to her before, not in the simple life she used to have back in Lusitania. But now she was in Rome, very far from her home, her way and her life. Adapting may well be her only way out of there someday.

"So, does that mean… I could use you?" she finally addressed him, biting her lip in an equivocal way.

She was getting it. Tenax rejoiced inwardly. He grinned back and playfully answered:

"You are free to try."

"Am I? You do want something from me… but you’ve never looked at me like that." Briga dared, eyeing him up and down ostentatiously. There was indeed a shift in the balance of power between her and Tenax, she could feel it now; something about domination that felt quite pleasant.

Tenax straightened up imperceptibly, a contented pout on his face. He knew the feeling that Briga was displaying, maybe a little too much. She still had a lot to learn though, he had to put her back in her place. He stared deeply in his slave’s eyes and softly said :

"Hmm…Well, that must be because I don’t covet what I already own."

[moodymisty]

Ok but the thought of Lion’s wife, The Matriarch/Mother, a MORTAL woman reprimanding a Dark Angel, a literal Demigod is hilarious. Enjoy my 3:30am attempt at writing how a scolding might go down.

The Mother and her Risen guard traversed the halls of The Rock. Noting the tapestries, paintings, and embellishments that decorated the walls were like a time capsule, showing what it looked like many centuries ago.

Matriarch/Mother: Much of the decor has remained the same since then…

Risen 1: Indeed it has, Mother. This current era of Dark Angels don’t have eye to appreciate taste and properly take care of it.

Risen 2: Appreciate taste? These idiots are completely ignorant of what’s around them!

The Mother couldn’t hide her amusement, a laugh escaping her lips before she could cover her mouth as the two Risen commented on the Dark Angels sense of taste. They could’ve at least dusted and straightened out some of the paintings and tapestries.

Matriarch/Mother: I remember this painting, wasn’t this one thought of and created by the one the Legions’ Praetor of old?

Risen 1: You are correct, I recall the inspiration was on how you designed one the many gardens on Caliban. Do you remember which one?

Matriarch/Mother: I don’t unfortunately…I wouldn’t mind taking up gardening again, although there may not be room for it on this vessel. But it could add some col-

Dark Angel: Blasphemy! You would taint The Rock with your chaos tainted creations?!

The Mother jumped, startled by the abrupt voice coming from seemingly nowhere. A Dark Angel that was watching the trio from a distance could no longer hide his disgust and disdain for this woman. Unsheathing his sword, he pointed towards her with such hatred, the blade itself shook from the stress he put on it.

One of the Risen quickly shielded the Mother with his body while the other drew his sword in response to such a bold and mindless accusation.

Dark Angel: The admittance of desecrating this holy vessel with your creations is proof you are nothing more than a Chaos tainted whore! I should cut you down, here and now, witch!

Risen 2: Whore?! Witch?! You DARE insult the Legion Mother?! The very same who lead the Legion when our Father fell? The same who assisted in hunting down the traitors during the Heresy? The same who-

The Mother held out a hand, silencing the Risen. She emerged from behind her Risen retinue, her eyes and expression calm and relaxed. Hands clasped in front of her as she approached the Dark Angel in question.

Risen 1: Mother Please! You don’t have to do this!

Risen 2: He’s right! Let us handle him, Mothe-

They both immediately silenced their pleas and worries as the Mother simply turned her head to face them, as if silencing their concerns instantly. Just as quickly as they spoke, the risen instantly dropped to a knee and bow, as if apologizing for their outbursts.

The Mother turned to resume her approach towards the Dark Angel.

Matriarch/Mother: Whore. Witch. Did I hear that correctly? My hearing is still recovering from my time asleep, care to repeat that one more time.

The Dark Angel scoffed but leaned down, he would tell this woman how he really felt.

Dark Angel: You are a wh-

In a flash, the Mother slapped the Dark Angel across his cheek. It wouldn’t have caused any pain to the Astartes aside from a small red hand print beginning to form on his face. The Dark Angel held his cheek, offended and at a loss for words at this sudden action. A bold action.

Matriarch/Mother: Whore. Witch. Is that all you can conjure for me? Can you not call me anything else? Have you fallen so far that you have no other insults and names to call me besides some childish slander? Has the Legion fallen so deep that the idea of bringing the Legion back its former glory consider heresy? You are an embarrassment to this Legion, boy.

The Mother glared at the Dark Angel, akin to a disappointing mother dealing with a child.

Matriarch/Mother: You and your brothers, if you could even call yourselves brothers, are pathetic excuses for an Astartes. The Legion must’ve been desperate to recruit the likes of you. I’m ashamed to even call you a son of mine. No, not a son, a mistake. How has the Legion survived this long with a mindsets such as yours? How have we not been wiped clean from the galaxy with men like you filling what is left of the Legion? Absolutely inexcusable. You are lucky my husband, YOUR geenfather, YOUR Primarch, did not hear your words. You would’ve been cut down before had time to take comprehend another thought.

The Dark Angel lowered his sword, staring into eyes of the this woman. A fire burning fiercely in her eyes, like the stories told of the Primarch during the Great Crusade.

Matriarch/Mother: Choose your next words carefully, they had better be the words I am thinking of right now. If not, I shall find an appropriate punishment for you.

The Dark Angel gripped the handle of sword tightly, shaking with fury as the woman stared him down, waiting. Yet he sheathed his sword and dropped to a knee.

Dark Angel: I apologize for my insolence and rescind my statement. Forgive me. It was unbecoming of me.

The Mother simply stood, hands still clasped together in front her, looking down upon this Astartes. Gauging if words held truth or if they were simply said to get away from this situation.

After a long silence—

Matriarch/Mother: I accept your apology, you are forgiven. For now. Take your leave until you are summoned. Am I understood, my son?”

Dark Angel: Yes, Matriarch.

The Dark Angel remained kneeling, watching as she turned to walk away. Her retinue of Risen stood and followed suit as they traversed back down the hall.

The Matriarch was truly different. The air around her was unlike anything he’d ever seen or felt. Such authority, with grace and elegance, followed with beauty, all contained together in this mortal woman.

The primarch wives can get away with a lot, we love to joke xD and I love this theming of Lion's wife being matriarch instead of legion mother or another title.