#flint just looks so insane here

[frau-kali]

captain crazy eyes™

[slothxio]

my favorite genre of men is gay, depraved, and covered in blood

[thelaurenshippen]

the way that silver said "I will stand here with you an hour, a day, a year" to flint and "I will wait a day, a month, a year, forever" to madi....I'm sick to my stomach. who is doing unhinged devotion like this man

[hauntingblue]

Max and anne I am holding you both carefully in my hands

[bountydroid]

Darlin' pt 2

pt 1 / pt3

Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x f!reader (right now there is nothing romantic, maybe in the future I am undecided.)

Description: Where the reader arguably makes the stupidest decision of her life, following a ghoul who obviously doesn't want her there.

TW: Talk of physical abuse and bad parenting

I stayed there on my knees in the mud for some time. Stunned at the events that just transpired. I had nowhere to go, my wrists were still bound, and I had no weapon. I was truly fucked. I slowly rose to my feet as I looked around. The ghoul took one of the men's guns and Slim's was far too heavy for me to carry. I stumbled my way to the grave to look down inside. Honcho wasn't moving, and if I crawled down in there to get his gun there was no way I was getting out again. I sighed. I thought back to the ghoul. He was my only chance, but he didn't want my help.

I sighed again as I looked down at the chicken before untying her and setting her free. "At least one of us can be free," I said smiling to her before she ran off. 

I stood there in the dark weighing my options when my eyes fell to the tracks in the mud. Maybe if I stick close to him, I'll be okay? At least until we reach a town. I would stay out of his way. Ideally, he wouldn't even know I was there. 

"You are insane," I said to myself before I started following the tracks in front of me, grabbing Slim's bag on my way past him.

After about a day I was exhausted. I had no idea if I was going in the right direction anymore, I was no tracker and I lost his prints a long time ago. I stopped and bent over, pressing my palms to my knees while trying to catch my breath when I heard a gun cock behind me.

"Now why would you be following me?" The ghoul said behind me. "You must be a special kind of stupid."

I couldn't help the exhausted laugh that bubbled in my throat as I slowly stood up. "I must be. If you killed me right now, it wouldn't make a difference. I'll die on my own anyway." I said still facing away from him, feeling defeated.

There was a long moment of silence before I finally looked behind me. There was no hint of emotion on the ghoul's face.

"Let me follow you until we reach a settlement. I'll stay out of your way. I won't ask you for anything. Please." I begged.

At this, he looked down at my still bound wrists and then back up at my sad face. He sighed as he holstered his gun. "Come here then girl," he said, waving me over. 

I tripped over my feet hurrying over to the man, raising my wrists as he took out his knife and cut me free. "Thank you, sir."

At this, it was his turn to laugh. "Sir? Well I'll be damned you are probably the only person left on this godforsaken planet with some manners."

I smiled up at him, I thought maybe he wasn't so scary after all.

"You will be completely silent. No complaining. If you annoy me, I will turn that pretty ass into jerky. Got it?" He said with a serious look on his face.

"Right. I can do that." I whispered looking down at my feet, feeling stupid. 

We walked until it was far too dark to continue. I silently collected firewood as he put his bag down on the ground. As I made my way to our makeshift camp I stood in front of him with my arms full of sticks.

"What?" He barked out, obviously annoyed. 

"Nothin'" I responded quickly before shuffling away from him embarrassed. 

I tried my best to arrange the wood before pulling the flint out of the bag I took off of Slim. A small fire started and I smiled. I was cold from all the mud plastered to the front of me and was relieved to feel the warmth of the fire. I looked over at the ghoul to see him leaning up against a tree with his hat covering his face. I hummed happily as I thought about the arrangement we came up with, although I couldn't help but want to talk to him, the walk has been incredibly boring. 

After a while of warming up by the fire, I got comfortable and drifted off to sleep.

-

I woke with a start. I looked around confused before I realized there was a boot in my side. I looked up at the ghoul hovering above me. "Get up darlin'." He said before walking away. "Time to move."

I quickly jumped up and grabbed my bag before running after him. This was the routine for days. I had honestly lost track of how long I had been following the ghoul. The silent marches from sun up to sun down were starting to get to me. I felt like I was going crazy.

"If my memory serves me well. I can be rid of you by tomorrow morning." He said with a sour tone.

"Okay," I responded quickly. I wanted to say as little as possible so he doesn't make true to his threat.

He looked back at me for a second as he continued to walk. "How did you get yourself into this mess anyway?"

I hesitated to answer, remembering he told me to stay silent. I looked up at him to see him scoff and turn away again. 

"I ran away from home. Was on my own for a while before I ran into those idiots. They found me while I was sleeping, I had no chance to escape until you killed them."

"Ran away from home?" He repeated back at me. "That was stupid."

"Well, I'd rather be eaten by a ghoul than continue to be beaten by my father," I responded curtly.

He laughed at this. "Getting feisty aren't we darlin'?"

"Sorry," I responded. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you shouldn't have." He said with a tone that I couldn't quite figure out. 

We walked in silence for what felt like forever, I tried to keep track of time by looking up at the sun but it was a cloudy, cold day. I couldn't help but start to shiver. My feet started to ache terribly, I wanted to ask for a break but I bit my tongue. No complaining had been one of his rules. I didn't want to push my luck with him. 

"Stop." He said abruptly, pulling me from my thoughts. 

"Wha-" I asked confused.

"Quiet." He interrupted as his hand slowly wrapped around his gun and turned towards me. 

Before I had a chance to react the barrel of his gun was next to my face and he shot a round off. 

I cried out as my ears rang painfully and I fell to the ground in shock. He said something to me, but I couldn't hear a thing. I held my head as I watched him walk behind me towards a man, dead on the ground. He rummaged through the dead man's pockets, pulling out a couple of caps before walking back towards me. 

"A fiend." I thought to myself.

Instead of saying anything he offered me his gloved hand. I hesitantly took it and let him pull me back to my feet. He mumbled something but I couldn't hear it. Not long after this, we made camp again.

-

The next day, I slowed down a lot, but we were very close to town. I was beyond exhausted and barely had any will to keep going. The distance was growing between us before he finally stopped and whipped around, visibly annoyed. 

"Walk faster. Remember what I said about annoying me darlin'." He barked at me. 

I stared at him quietly before saying. "Why not just leave me behind, then?"

"Don't tempt me." He grumbled as he roughly grabbed my arm and started dragging me along. 

A few minutes later we reached a small settlement. We got a couple of strange looks as he continued to drag me by my arm before finally letting go as soon as he set eyes on a "doctors" office. I just stood there. Unsure what to do now. I was in town, albeit a small one. There were only three buildings and a couple of food stalls. I could do whatever I wanted. I couldn't follow him anymore, that was for certain. I heard a commotion from inside the office, but it wasn't my problem anymore. I slowly wandered away eyeing up the food stands. Dog meat wasn't appetizing, but I hadn't had real food in days. I rummaged around Slim's pack before I found enough caps to buy myself a meal. 

I hummed happily as I finished my food, I hadn't realized how hungry I was.

"Well, aren't you a pretty thing?" A man slurred behind me. "How much for your time?"

"I am not a prostitute." I scoffed as I turned around to face him.

"Free then?" He smiled menacingly as he grabbed ahold of me. His grip was so tight that I could feel my arm bruising.

Without thinking I drove the empty skewer in my hand into the man's eye and ran. I heard yelling behind me, but I kept running mindlessly. Before I realized what I was doing, I ran right into the arms of the ghoul as he was exiting the doctor's office. 

"What in the hell?" He exclaimed, shocked by my actions before he looked up to see the man following me with blood running down his face. 

"That bitch belongs to you? She must be some kind of freak to be with a ghoul." He growled angrily.

I buried my face into the ghoul's chest, afraid to look at his face. I desperately hoped he would take mercy on me once again.

"Well, darlin' you do have some bite to ya." The ghoul laughed while eyeing up the man standing in front of him. 

"Give me the girl and get gone." The man spit out.

"Well, that just won't do." The ghoul responded while smirking, obviously amused. "Get behind me darlin'," he whispered quietly as he stared down the thug.

I quickly did as I was told before I heard some more shots ring off, before I knew it, the whole town turned into a shoot-off. I dropped to the ground and crawled into the doctor's office hiding behind the counter next to a very dead doctor.

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself looking over at him, wondering what had transpired between him and the ghoul.

I stayed there until I heard a familiar voice yell out. "Anyone else wanna try me? That was fun, but I am itching for a REAL challenge." Only to get silence in return.

I peeked my head around the counter before finally getting up to my feet and shuffling to the doorway. Before I could stick my head out, the ghoul appeared in front of me. 

"Thank you," I said smiling shyly up at him.

He stared down at me for a moment before saying, "Come on then. I need to get going if I am going to catch that bounty and Filly ain't far."

"I am coming with you?" I questioned, trying to hide the relief on my face. 

"Well, you obviously can't be trusted on your own. Can ya darlin'?" He responded slyly.

"Oh thank you so much. You won't regret this!" I said to him as I grabbed ahold of his sleeve. 

He stared down at my fist before looking back up into my eyes. I could see the hesitation on his face. Little did I know, this was the most human contact he had had in a long time, and it stirred something deep within him. 

An odd friendship had formed between us, and neither of us knew how to feel about it.

tag list: @msrawog

[kaylapocalypse]

NOVA

I met a boy in a field.

His clothes were strange— but not too strange—and some of his words were unfamiliar—but not too unfamiliar.

He had been standing in the grass and looking up at the stars. He clutched something shining and bright in his hand.

When he heard me coming over, he turned and grinned.

“Wanna see something great?” He said “Come back here in fifty years and stand right in this spot. A sun will die and this is the best seat in the house.”

His teeth were made of metal and his eyes were hard like flint.

“This is the best century, really. We read about them all, you know. You’ve still got all the good stuff…”

He breathed in the air and let it out with a satisfied whoosh. As if he hadn’t had the opportunity to do such a thing in a long while.

“Why do you look so glum? Come on, sit with me in the sun.”

He crossed his legs and settled down in a patch of heather.

“The sun isn’t out. It’s night.” I said. “And who are you? This is private property.”

The boy laughed.

“The sun is always out. The sun bathes the earth in rays at all hours. God, you’re so young! The schools were so bad back in the day, wow.”

“I’m literally going to call the police. You seem like a nice kid, but you’ve got to go.”

He snorted and rolled a flower between his fingers.

“Whatever lady. You’ll miss me. And it’s not like I’m going anywhere permanent style. Because this is—you know what. I’m not going to tell you what’s going to happen. You’ll deserve it. Ugh.”

He shook the blindingly bright thing he had in his hand and vanished.

—

The next time I saw him I was 32.

It had been ten years, but there he stood. In the middle of the field. Wearing the same threadbare sweater and trousers I’d met him in.

“Gosh it took you a long time.” He said.

“Who are you? What the fuck. Are you wearing metal dentures?”

The boy looked exceptionally offended.

“Metal dentures? Oh that’s rich. Coming from someone with unprotected decaying bone in their mouth. Thank god I haven’t gotten hurt out here. What would you have tried to do? Cure a broken arm with bloodletting or burned a witch? I should have brought my own first aid kit just in case I have to deal with these primitive medical practices.”

That was a tirade I didn’t expect…

“What time are you from?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes.

“I’m not even going to bother with that.” He said. “Come closer, let me see you. You aged finkin’ well.”

I edged closer to him, but not close enough to let him touch me.

“it’s been like an entire decade.” I said suspiciously.

“I see they at least taught you basic math.” He snorted.

The closer I got the more differences I noticed about him. He looked like he was about the same age, but his clothes were a little thinner, a little more ragged. He had circles beneath his eyes and his skin had a grayish tinge.

“Are you okay?”

He looked at me like I was insane.

“Of course I’m not okay. Clearly, we’re from different times. Clearly I’m from the future. If you were from the future, would you go back to the dark ages to wallow with your ancestors in the mud for fun? I can’t talk to you about this. It’s not like you can do anything about it. Just sit down and look at the goddamn sky with me. This is supposed to be romantic.”

I plopped down beside him and looked up at the stars. I knew I had groceries getting warm in the car, but I figured I could afford to spend at least five minutes with an ageless time wanderer —even if he was rude as hell.

“Okay, you see that dark area over there?” He pointed at the sky. I nodded.

“That’s the way out of this mess.”

“What mess?”

“Everything. All of the problems you have here. I think. I’m really bad at explaining this sort of stuff. I’m not like, the best at politics science or physics. That was more my dad’s thing. I was really only ever into sports.”

“What sport did you play?”

“Upjacket. It’s like a mixture of your baseball and your hockey. But the stakes are higher. You play in antigrav and the first person to score a point wins. It’s like… you start off in teams, but individuals win games, and the more individuals win on each team, the more money the team gets. It was fun. Back when they let us play sports.”

He grinned and looked up at the sky.

“I was gonna go pro. It’s all about agility.”

Suddenly the bright thing in his pocket started rattling wildly.

“Oh shit oh shit. Sorry. I’ve got to go. See you in te—”

He disappeared.

—

I took a train from New York all the way back to Michigan, then a bus out into the country.

The field was empty when I arrived. I sat down in the patch of heather and looked up into the sky.

My heels dug into the soft earth. I was 42.

After about 15 minutes he blinked into view with a hiss and a flash of smoke. The boy immediately bent over and vomited. He fell to his knees and gasped for a while, then spit hard to clear his mouth.

He was thinner than when I saw him last. And his sweater had some holes.

I took off my jacket and handed it to him.

He nodded in thanks and draped it around his shoulders.

“What is your name?” I asked gently.

“It doesn’t matter.” He said. “Nobody cares. Nobody’s cares who I am or why I’m here.”

“I care.” I said. “I have a son not much older than you back home. He just left for college. If you want you can come back with me and—”

“I can’t.” He shouted angrily.

His eyes burned dark and hot. He was sweating a bit, and his hands shook as they grappled the edges of my coat. Pulling it tight.

“I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have touched it. I should have left well enough alone.”

He wasn’t talking to me anymore, he was muttering and looking at the ground.

I shifted over so that we were closer together. I fished a pack of gum out of my purse and offered him a piece.

“What is this?” He looked scared.

“It’s gum. It’s a kind of candy. You just chew it and don’t swallow. It’s okay. It’s… Sweet?” I tried.

He unwrapped it and put it in his mouth.

“Gosh that is the weirdest… It’s like… My mouth was all dry before and I’m not thirsty anymore. But it’s just this strange rubbery…That is so…. I mean, thank you. I really appreciate it.”

He smiled. It was like he hadn’t done it in a while. The corners of his mouth looked like they weren’t sure whether to go up or down.

“I hope this isn’t too forward.” I started. "But do you want a hug?”

He blushed and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

“Of all the tarts in the world, I found a nice sentimental one with candy in her pockets and a wish to take me away.” He laughed. “You can have all the hugs with me you like. It’s not like there’s anyone else around to hug.”

He fit neatly in my arms. He was stronger than I’d expected. More wiry. He smelled like ash, metal and the salt of unwashed skin.

“Do you want to know a secret?” He whispered into the shell of my ear.

“We never did get flying cars or hoverboards. It’s not a lack of technology. It’s got something to do with magnetism. You can’t break the rules of the universe— just bend them. And hover boards? Them’s a rule breakin’ invention.”

I laughed. I laughed and laughed and laughed.

“You’re such a marvel.” I said when I was finished.

He grinned back at me. Brilliant and true. The moonlight shining off his stainless-steel smile.

“I could have been much more.” He said cockily.

“Are you sure you can’t stay?” I asked. “We have a spare room at my house up in New York…”

“No. Darling. You’re old as dirt, but I’m partial to you. I wouldn’t want to break your husband’s heart.” He winked.

I scowled. “Why are you so rude? And how old are you really?”

“You ask the worst questions.” He replied and disappeared.

—

I moved back to Michigan alone and went to the field every night for twenty years. Until my hair turned gray and the hike over wore on my knees.

I kept the grass green and tended the heather.

Like always, the boy arrived with a hiss.

He lay still in the grass.

He was thin and filthy and barely breathing.

I turned him over and pulled him into my arms.

The boy sobbed.

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t… I tried so hard.”

“It’s okay.” I said.

“It’s not. It feels like it’s been days, but it’s probably been years. I just keep spinning round and round and my own window is out of reach. Yours is the closest so I keep landing here on this stupid rock in the middle of the millennium. I just want to go home.” He curled himself up until he was very small.

The bright thing glowed through the pocket of his tattered trousers.

“What does it do?” I asked.

“I don’t know how it works. It’s either broken or half made. It was sitting on my dad’s desk. I just picked it up and shook it.  It pushes me through time back and forth dropping me in different times. It never stops.  I can urge it one way or another, but I can’t drive it or force it anywhere once I make it work. I’ve been trying to get home for weeks.  I just want to go home. I just want to go home. I just want to go home.”

He repeated it over and over until he fell asleep.

I rubbed his back in circles and stared up at the stars until the sun came up from behind the fir trees.

 When I reached down to wake him up, I realized that he would never wake up again.

There was nothing to eat in the void of time, but star dust. Nothing to breathe but radiation.

I buried him in the heather.

—

Ten years later I went back into the field.

Fifty years had passed.

I looked up into the sky.

After a few hours of darkness, light shot out from the black spot the boy had pointed to so many years ago. The noise shattered the sound barrier and solar winds swept the planet. The night sky bled with reds and blues and purples and white. And it was so bright.

[fungateshortcakes]

omg… my brain… it’s too HORNY…

bc i just read ur pegging logan fic and my first thought was “omg how would he feel ab a ribbed/bad dragon dildo” 😵‍💫😵‍💫

u do not have to write anything for this if u don’t wanna i just need someone to hear me out on this 👀 bc i know he’d whimper every time one of the little bumps hits a good spot in him 😫😫 AUGH IM GOING INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE

YEEEEESSS I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS OFC I WILL WRITE SOMETHING

call me insane but I just spent the last hour browsing through the bad dragon website to look for some XL dildos Logan would go for because they are extra textured

So here is a short list of bad dragon toys I found if anyone wants to search up what they look like before we start with the real fun part

Slater the stone wyvern (extra large)

Reggie the mothman (extra large)

Flint the uncut studded dragon (extra large)

Abyss the Kaiju King (extra large)

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

So, we can all agree that Logan likes his toys big. Like extra extra large. Of course he started out smaller but with time, he managed to take bigger and bigger toys, larger in length and thicker in girth. It would be a great accomplishment for him if he was able to sink down just a bit further every time he tried out a new and bigger toy.

Doing this was one of his greatest pleasures. After an especially hard mission he was longing to unwind with a fat cock stretching him open. He loves it so much, he is such a slut for monster cock. Sometimes you'd arrive a bit late to your shared bedroom and find Logan on your bed, three fingers plunged into his sopping hole as he eagerly prepped himself. His fingers weren't enough, never enough. They couldn't sooth that ache deep within him, the primal need to be full and stretched and stuffed. He let out a sigh of relief the second a girthy, phat dick would slip right past his tight ring of muscle and settle deep in his tummy until there was a bulge there. He just sobs out in ecstasy and lets himself completely surrender to the pleasure rocking his body with every thrust.

You will know when the bumps hit these sensitive spots inside him because he will arch his back, the curve of his spine perfectly visible as he starts to beg. "Fuck....mhmnn yes, right there. Right there please, keep going"

The schlickschlickschlick sound that could be heard every time his hole gripped the bumps and ridges on the toy tight when it was pulled out made him shiver. The dildo was nicely glistening with fake cum lube, spit and his arousal. Your eyes were trained on where the silicone cock disappeared inside of him and the way his hole fitted over the textured surface.

"You get fucked like this every damn day like the insatable bitch you are until you're gaping. And you're still so tight every time"

Logan loveslovesloves textured dildos so much. Not that he doesn't use the smooth ones at all, it depends in what mood he is in. But most of the time he wants to feel the bumps, ridges, lines and dents against his aching walls and feel every slight texture fucking him open and abusing his sweet spot. You knew exactly which angle you needed to fuck him to hit his arousal swollen prostate with precision.

"Mmm,yeah fuck, milk me dry" he mewls out, his cock throbbing lewdly against the bulge on his tummy, leaking all over the sheets. He gets so cute and whiny like this. He makes sounds no one would think were possible coming from him. His face is flushed and squished against the pillows, tears staining his cheeks, his eyes rolling back. Spit in his mouth please.

He wants you to keep fucking him even after he came multiple times because it's just that good.

When you aren't there to fuck him for whatever reason, he gets so needy. Of course he can ride the toys but that's just not the same as you pounding him from behind and slut shaming him. And his legs gave out pretty fast. So the fucking machine you bought him was the best present ever. When you were gone, he could still get fucked by any monster cock he desired and for as long as he wanted. It still didn't come close to you but it was good enough.

Sometimes you used the fucking machine even though you were here, controlling the speed and roughness of the thrusts to drive him mad.

[coatree]

So I do some writing on the side and recently a couple friends of mine started making this DND style AU about their WL/SOL/CTM maps, I’ve, accidentally, become obsessed with this AU and figured I’d put some writing on here for fun

These were made with a one time pass through as a fan of the AU, if you want to learn more about it, most of the content of this AU and its basics are here, and spread through out Lew’s blog. it’s creators are Lew (Ellery), CJ (Syyrin). Smurg (Flint), Chris (Iscariot), and Maruu (Mar).

Please check it out. They have made me insane about this. There is so much art and things I will post because of them.

Card Games

“You ever play cards before?” Iscariot blinked out of his half-asleep state and glanced over to Flint, who was waving around a small box in his hands. Iscariot looked to the box, noticing the similarities to something he had seen some of the other people in the cult hold onto whenever it was a particularly long day. He blinked back to reality when he remembered Flint was waiting for an answer.

“Uh, no.” Iscariot said bluntly, recalling that no one ever really offered to teach him cards. It made sense to him, he wasn’t supposed to show weakness, and play was a form of weakness. It may have been a good way to pass time, but it was never, well, in the cards.

“Really??” Flint said, sitting up straighter with his face shifting to confusion. “Not even Crazy Eights? Go Fish? Poker??” Flint pushed, only getting closer to Iscariot as the man shook his head and leaned back in response. Flint huffed and sat back, opening the box and pulling out a stack of cards.

Flint shuffled the cards in front of Iscariot, confusing the hell out of him, before the deck was placed on the grass in between the two, and cards were being given to him. He held the cards gently, not trying to put a hole in them, as Flint held his own row of cards, looking up at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“So first, I’m going to teach you the easy basic card game, Go Fish. You can play this anywhere at any time basically, no matter what cards you have, as long as you have a full deck.” Flint started. Iscariot listened closely, not wanting to mess up what Flint deemed the “easy basic card game”. While every inch in his body told him that he shouldn’t be playing games, the other parts of him said that he should at least give it a shot, and he shouldn't back down from a challenge.

So, he started playing Go Fish. He slowly got the hand of it, sometimes fumbling his cards, or messing up the names of the suits, but overall he wasn’t terrible. He had even won a couple of times. After the fifth game, Syyrin came over and joined in, wanting to play as well after she saw the two “having fun”, which Iscariot wanted to protest. but he bit his tongue.

Eventually, Mar also came over, deciding to join the game. She made it her life mission to target Iscariot, obviously, with her one goal being to make Iscariot lose at any opportunity. And yet, despite all that, Iscariot felt… something weird. It wasn’t what he usually knew, it felt new, fresh, it was similar to a feeling he got when Ellery…

Whatever. Regardless, it was peaceful, calming, and-

“Can I join too?”

Iscariot’s breath caught in his throat, he turned to look at Ellery who was looking at them all playing cards with an expression Iscariot couldn’t place. He didn’t get a chance to say anything before Flint lit up

“Yeah! Of course! Here, after this game we’ll get you some cards.” Flint spoke excitedly, the group watching as Ellery sat between Mar and Iscariot. He watched the rest of the game, Syyrin won, and held the cards that Flint handed to him

Iscariot was fine. He could be fine. Being so close to Ellery was perfectly fine. It was just, a normal, card game. There was no reason for the pit of guilt to-

“How do I play?” Ellery asked. It was a seemingly normal question, something that anyone would possibly ask, but the way Flint and Syyrin’s faces dropped at Ellery’s question, only made the pit inside Iscariot grow.

“You- you don’t know how to play?” Syyrin asked, to which Ellery shook his head.

“Did I?” Ellery asked again, confused as he stared at Syyrin and Flint.

The space went silent, the cracking of the fire and the rush of wind being the only noise heard. Iscariot, however, could only hear his heartbeat, the loud, drumming sensation of his heartbeat as Flint and Syyrin looked devastated, and Ellery realized why. The new feeling he felt earlier vanished without a trace, falling into the deep pit of guilt that took its regular place in his gut.

He stood, dropping his cards on the grass before stepping back, causing the others to look at him.

“I will… check around the area. Play without me.” Iscariot mumbled, heading over to his weapon and grabbing it before vanishing into the woods, leaving behind the stares of the other four as Flint once again taught someone how to play Go Fish.

[perplexingly]

Ok so you like self destructive tragic characters right. Self inflicted trauma on top of external trauma type stuff. (I've been thinking about Anders lately and you described him this way and I. can't stop thinking about it.) Can you elaborate on this type of characterization and what exactly makes a character written this way successful and not come off as just incompetent, frustrating or pure evil? I've found myself keeping an eye out for more characters like this but I haven't found any more that aren't shoved squarely in the "evil villain" box both by their source material and their fandom. As a character creator myself I'd love to write more characters like that and given how much you seem to appreciate them I'd love to hear your input. (Hope this ask isn't too weird, I just love well rounded characters that don't fit the status quo and I'll take that wherever I can get it.)

(Also, I've been replaying Skyrim recently before getting back into DA and once again our gaming interests have somehow realigned and all your posts about Enderal are tempting me to try it myself. I'm curious what mods you use, if any beyond Enderal itself? Your posts are the first I've heard of it so I'm not sure if it's even recommended to use mods lol, but I thought it was worth the ask)

Hello! Yes I love characters like that, but I’m afraid I won’t give you the analysis you need, I don’t have many thoughts in my head…

I think that characters like these do come off as all these things you mentioned (just look at all the Anders discourses around, or how Hamlet is perceived as indecisive and pathetic, Captain Ahab as insane, and Victor Frankenstein as “the real monster”), but regardless are still compelling, maybe because they often have very strong convictions, embody that “road to hell is paved with good intentions” proverb? Some of them are also just straight up charismatic (and often kind too!) and it’s easy to like that, though I don’t think that’s a necessary trait to find them interesting. (Anders came off as charming in Awakening as well, but then again, I liked the way he acted in DA2 more). Oh another thing is that they’re almost always the thing that moves the story forward.

Of the top off my head I can think mostly of self destructive characters in classic literature but I’m sure every media and every time period has plenty. Besides previously mentioned I’d also consider characters such as Captain Nemo (by the end of the story at least, for the most part he’s presented as noble and high-functioning), Jekyll of Jekyll&Hyde, Marlowe’s Faust (this one is 100% self inflicted without much external tragedy), any protagonist of any Dostoevsky book, maybe Balladyna (she’s a villainess akin to Macbeth though), maybe Orestes and Electra

Oh for modern works, definitely Captain Flint from Black Sails, Tolkien’s Turin (though there is a literal curse on his family line), Mrs Danvers from Rebecca, maybe Fitz from RotE (though he is more passive than any other character I listed here). I’m sure there are much better examples, it was all off the top of my head though :D

About Enderal, yesss I recommend it highly!! I didn’t use any mods, but there’s a bunch on Nexus (it has a separate page from Skyrim, though I believe Skyrim mods should work as well??). Enderal is more akin to a stand alone game than a mod though, for me it took 60hrs to beat and I didn’t do all of the side quests/didn’t meet all of the named npcs 🥹

Also, good luck with your endeavors!!

[sleevebuscemii]

I love your black sails opinions but I want to add, in a lot of ways, black sails IS the backstory for silver because unlike most characters in black sails, he will live on and become the main antagonist of treasure island, so in many ways looking at him in black sails is asking if it was worth everything in treasure island

It’s a paradox. He is both a character existing in here in the present but he’s also a character from a children’s adventure novel from the 1800’s who has a animal side kick and says shit like shiver me Timbers.

I don’t think I’m making sense but it drives me crazy to think Flint and Madi ask the same questions about silver that a young Jim Hawkins will ask and we still never get answers.

you are definitely making sense and are so correct. what’s crazy is that there will always be something missing without an origin. and you are so correct to say that black sails acts as an origin but can we take that at face value when we’ll never know who silver actually was? and im not actually asking, it’s kind of just the feeling you’re left with. the shift between silver in the first two seasons and the last two seasons is so drastic in that yes we can ascribe so much of it to everything that happened but it’s insane to see how little of the old silver is there. the jokey smirky sarcastic charm becomes a hardened sailor in the blink of an eye, and it’s not to say that version of silver was just (totally) an act but you can’t say it’s a real person. in the same way we see pieces of flint from before he was Captain Flint in him all the time, as in ‘this person was one thing and life changed him into this’. silver’s comes off like he took one suit off and donned another completely. and it almost makes the shiver me timbers parrot pirate more believable, another suit donned that strips the old one completely. but it’s still to say. i dont think all of it was pretend and i dont think none of it was true. i just think silver is so disillusioned from personhood and identity that he doesn’t see and doesn’t conduct his changes as growth, it’s more of a replacement which is to say there IS a real silver there and we see it in moments and fragments but it’s not enough to make whole and it’s not enough to make him known

[dailydemonspotlight]

Attis - Day 57

Race: Kishin

Arcana: Hanged Man

Alignment: Light-Neutral

June 18th, 2024

It's odd that this is the first figure from Greek Mythology I'm covering, given how widespread it is throughout the series, honestly, but I'm not complaining. Something that I have to give SMT a lot of props for is how it goes into far more obscure things from mythology- sure, you've got your Thoth's, your Odin's, your Shiva's, and your Baphomets, but something this series does a lot that I adore is that it creates demons for some of the most obscure figures out there. Sure, it makes researching them difficult (a la Porewit) but the spotlights (heh) that this series shines on otherwise obscure figures is fantastic. Case in point, today's Demon of the Day, Attis.

While everyone knows the Greek pantheon, there are so many lesser gods in the sprawling labyrinth of Greek mythology, gods worshipped by obscure cults or left in the tradewinds of history. Attis, of course, was one of these gods, but he also had another reason- he was from a completely different mythological origin. In Phrygian myth, the archetypical 'Mother Nature' was a character named 'Cybele,' who has her own tonnes of myths to tell. However, when the Greeks began to subsume into the rest of the Phrygian people, she was met with a mixed response. Some took her to become a new form of Gaia, the Greek goddess of nature, while others took off and painted her as an exotic goddess whose meaning couldn't be known. Now, what does this have to do with Attis? He was her consort.

The tales surrounding Attis are, and I cannot stress this enough, insane. Everything happens in them from weird amounts of hatred towards an intersex prophetic child, to a cycle of life and rebirth, and I'm a bit scared of going into it, but... okay. Let's do this. Recanted in Catullus 63, the first recorded tale of Attis begins with, and I'm not kidding, him castrating himself. Right off the bat. Yup, this is one of those stories. And I quote,

Over the vast main borne by swift-sailing ship, Attis, as with hasty hurried foot he reached the Phrygian wood and gained the tree-girt gloomy sanctuary of the Goddess, there roused by rabid rage and mind astray, with sharp-edged flint downwards dashed his burden of virility. Then as he felt his limbs were left without their manhood, and the fresh-spilt blood staining the soil, [text]

We just got here! Okay, okay, I'll continue. The story goes on to describe the aftereffects, and the motivation for this sudden castration, that being a fanatical obsession with the nature goddess, Cybele. After he awakens in likely the world's first (and worst) hangover, he looks out and bemoans his fate, having been left behind by his companions who had already run to pursue the goddess. However, from what I can tell of this story, given the confusing wording, the goddess grants the man permission to drive one of her nuns to 'his allegiance.' I can assume this means someone in his home kingdom, but I'm not very sure? It might be referring to the goddess herself. My lack of knowledge in ye olden terms has made this a headache and a half. Later in the story, after his self-mutilation led to his death, he would later be revived by Cybele, becoming her consort.

A later addition expands on this, giving light to Attis' birth- in the story regarding it, it begins with, as always, Zeus being Zeus. In the tale, he fell in love with Cybele, who didn't return his advances, but... of course, with him being himself, he forced himself on her. Her child would later be reared, a deity called Agdistis who was notable for being a hermaphrodite, essentially 'male and female.' For whatever reason, the gods got terrified of how particularly powerful they were, and proceeded to... castrate Agdistis. What the fuck is with the castration?! Jesus Christ! From the blood left behind, an almond tree spurted forth, and a nearby woman named Nana would decide to take an almond and put it in her bosom. Okay. This led to her getting pregnant. Okay. Later on, she would give birth to the newborn Attis, before promptly throwing the kid out into the nature, to which he was soon raised by a goat. Oh kay.

A lot of stuff relating to Attis has been lost to time, especially given that he was only really worshipped in, you guessed it, cults. Originally, separated from the Greek mythology he would later be co-opted into, a cult formed surrounding him in 1250 BCE, in-and-around an area of modern-day Turkey called, and I kid you not, Dindymon. Originally worshipped as a semi-deity in the area, he would later become slowly integrated into Greek mythology as several Greek cults began to form surrounding Attis around the fourth century BCE. In Phrygian culture, later adapted into Greek, Attis was a deity who represented vegetation and the cycle of fruits- particularly, the castration story (yes, again) represented the idea of fruits dying in the winter then coming back in the spring; the date of Attis's revival, that being the spring equinox, is no coincidence. Frankly, though, as pretty as this concept is, the absurd amount of castration in his stories is just... Why? Why are you like this, Greek Mythology?

Okay, now with all of that over with, how is he portrayed in the series? I honestly really like his design. The bandages and the blade make him look rather unique, and I really do enjoy just how bizarre he looks. Wait, but is the reason why his legs are separated from his body...

No.

You have got to be fucking KIDDING ME.

IT'S CASTRATION AGAI

[voltrixz]

 Why YOU should go vote for Montana/Shocker (TSSM) in @cartoon-character-competition​

Once again, this is the first time I have managed to get Shocker into a competition which once again is a crime in itself 

And like before you guys might be familiar with Shocker or Montana (even if they are a bit less known then villains like Electro or Doc Ock) (especially for Montana)

You see in TSSM, Montana is Shocker, not Herman as he’s known in the comics. Montana and Herman are different people in the comics but here Montana is essentially Herman but cooler and more skilled.

Montana is your usual merc hired by the big bad guy (or the big man as they call him) that runs a lot of the crime in NY. In episode one he’s hired to defeat spiderman along with his partners and they’re known as the enforcers 

(The enforcers as seen in ep 1) (From left to right: Fancy Dan, Ox and of course Montana) 

and well they’re defeated of course but Montana never gets capture and manages to run off

So when does Montana get that funny pineapple patterned suit? Well in ep 4, Market Forces, Montana is seen stealing that exact funny pineapple patterned suit and handing it over to his boss before about to go on his merry way and putting on his cowboy hat again before being stopped and told to wear the suit and stop spiderman as he still owes them (visibily pissed off at being told to not wear his hat (which is silly to me) (LET HIM WEAR HIS COWBOY HAT!!!!)but grins when being told about his new assignment)  

and so peter is led over to where shocker is by flint and alex (2 criminals who will become major villains later) 

and well shocker does what he does best, FUCK SHIT UP!!!!!!

and whats funnier is his first line to Spiderman is “I reckon that came as a bit of a real SHOCKER eh bug” He fuckin starts off a fight with a fuckin PUN (I love him for that)(its in his subtle himbo coding) and you want to know what else? When asked who exactly Montana is by Spiderman, Montana comes up with a villain name right on the spot and well guess what he chooses? He chooses his INITAL FUCKIN PUN (still love him for that) and well he absoutely destroys spiderman and even picks him up like a wet cat 

either spiderman weighs like nothing or shocker is just REALLY strong 

and well Montana goes off to his bar, just to enjoy a game of 8 ball with a job well done 

(hehe look at him, just enjoying a game of pool ^^ )

that is until well obviously spiderman isnt just gonna say down so Montana is stopped by his boss (cant believe he interrupted his game of pool, you cant do this to him) and he’s sent right back to fight Spiderman 

and well you know how it goes, he’s defeated (SPIDERMAN LITERALLY DROPS AN ENITRE BUILDING ON THIS GUY LIKE??? OK????) but yeah off to jail ig

So what happens next is basically 

- Thanks to Doc Ock and his plan to form the sinister six, he breaks out of jail and joins the sinister six by orders of his boss

- is defeated once again by Spiderman and taken to jail

- doesnt join the next formation of the sinister six sadly (crying coping tossing everything)

- however he comes back with his enforcer partners, now with his partners rocking new suits too 

(as seen here) (they’re robbing a bank btw) (cute things to do with your boyfriends: rob a bank!)

- but yeah once again defeated by spiderman and all of them are tossed to jail

- seen in big jail breakout scene but sadly does not escape 

- and who knows maybe we could have seen Shocker rejoin the sinister six or get up to new silly things (criminal activity) with his partners but erm

Tssm got cancelled as I mentioned before in my electro post so yeah (crying dying coping sobbing kicking everything tossing everything RAGHH)

but yeah shocker is cool as hell and gives me immense gender envy 

like LOOK AT HIM!!!!

need to be him so so bad (the gender envy he gives me is INSANE)(also has made me realize hm i may be queer aroaceflux) 

(he has a resting bitch face and its so silly to me) (yes im just using this as an opprtiunity to show you images of him)

sigh sigh LOVE YOU SHOCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also he is gay and polyam coded as hell!!!!!! um something something why do you work in such a man dominated field? Do you want to be dominated by men? And also um that one thing of “detectives will always go: here’s my partner. erm ok???? 🏳️‍🌈???? but its just “mercs will always go: here’s my partner(s) like ok???🏳️‍🌈??? (not kidding he almost always refers to dan and ox as his partners and also just look at him, he is THE gay cowboy merc ever

but yeah LOVE YOU SHOCKER!!!! THE GAY COWBOY MERC/VILLAIN EVER!!!!!!!!! GO VOTE FOR HIM!!!!!!!!!!

[berrypass-de-murdler]

29. Oh No, Not in the Chateau!

There is a roblox game that features Logico as a playable character!!! :DD/jk

I've been feeling so awful lately, I must drown myself in this series as much as physically possible

Yeah that seems healthy

NEW BUNCH ALERT!!

There is no planning for Philologist Flint! :D I have no idea what he's going to look like or even which one of us is going to make him. So for the time being let's just pretend he's a floating helmet.

Fletch made both the new ones here!

NUMEROLOGIST NIGHT: Another weasel!! And a galaxy one!! Night is very mysterious and quiet, and probably very sad. I think they're just lonely and want to find their true love or something. Don't know why the book acts like Mx. Tangerine is the only nonbinary character when Night also exists??

SOCIOLOGIST UMBER: Probably THE furthest from her canon counterpart and one of my favorite babies period. Umber acts like a baby alien, and has no idea what's going on around her. She is endlessly curious and wants to 'learn about people' by observing them creepily. She is so insanely innocent that she can't tell what's good or bad. Despite being very young, she has an incredibly deep and unnerving voice.

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

LOGICO: Hello! I’m here to meet with the president!!

Nobody answers. It’s a giant-ass mansion and Logi is confused until he sighs with relief at the sight of a body. There are a trio of newcomers. Philologist Flint, Numerologist Night, and another one.

UMBER: MY NAME IS SOCIOLOGIST UMBA. I LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT PEOPLE? LOGICO: No, nononono. 

Logico talks to the people.

FLINT: If you consider the origin of the words, you could say: I was wearing an exclusive pin. LOGICO: OH, GOOD GOD, GOOD FUCKING LORD. NIGHT: Based on the numbers, an exclusive pin was in the arcane attic. LOGICO: HOOOOOOOOOOHHHH

Logi rushes behind a bookshelf and vomits. The catchphrases… they're just too awful! And now he has to talk to THAT one!

UMBER: DO YOU WANT TO LEARN ABOUT PEOPLE, WITH SOCIOLOGIST UMBA? LOGICO: NO, I want to know what you SAW. UMBER: ALL I CAN SAY IS I BROUGHT A CURSED DAGGER. ...IT'S SO PWETTY! <3~ LOGICO: WHAT IS THIS PERSON THING?!

Logico goes to pee to get a break from this. In the fog on the bathroom mirror, it says, ‘Trust the sociologist!’

LOGICO: NO!! THAT THING? GOOD HELL NO! I am not putting an ounce of-

The mirror says ‘Trust me!!’

LOGICO: Oh, all RIGHT…

The mirror clue turns out to help our favorite small man find the answer!

FLINT: I didn’t do it! LOGICO: Prove it. FLINT: You can’t prove a nega- ohhhhhh. I have known the etymology of regret. Now, I know its meaning. Come this way, I guess you’ve earned it…

Flint takes Logi up to the highest tower, and the door opens by itself AGAIN.

LOGICO: Fuck this!

The end!

logico is a potato

I'm making too many c.ais (shocking news: midnight iii is not very friendly)

This is how I cure my pain

Everyone who reads this series ily

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[tinyinvadr]

Next chapter is here!

Psychoborrower

Chapter 7

It was probably only a few minutes, but it felt like forever. The entire time, I was curled up in a fetal position, shuddering. I was certain death would claim me at any moment, but it never came.

I was so caught up in my own dread that I didn’t notice when the monster spat us back out.

Raz patted me on the head as he had me still clutched to his chest. He at least had the decency to attempt to provide me with some sense of comfort and security during the whole ordeal, but that didn’t distract me from the fact that he got us into it in the first place.

“Hehe… It’s okay, Flint. We’re out.”

When I opened my eyes, my first instinct was to PSI-Blast him in the face.

“Ow! Hey, I thought you weren’t gonna zap me anymore!”

“I won’t… as long as you NEVER make me do that again!”

Raz smiled at the lungfish apologetically as he put me back on his shoulder.

“Uh… Thanks for bringing us across.”

The fish nodded slowly, then coughed up the skeleton of a smaller fish. It took everything in me not to gag at the sight.

“If ever you need passage across the lake, simply blow the Lungfish Call, and I will come ashore.”

I winced as Raz picked up the bony fish call. So morbid… So unsanitary…

“We won’t need that.”

“We might need it.”

The lungfish started to back into the water.

“I must return to the lake now. I wish you both luck in rescuing your friends.”

“Thank you, uh… sorry, do you have a name?” Raz asked. “I feel kinda bad just calling you ‘lake monster.’”

“My true name is… Lindaaaaa…”

With that, she disappeared into the lake. You know, I thought she looked like a Linda.

We turned away from the shore to continue forward, and it was then that I saw it: the abandoned asylum.

I’d heard rumors of this place before from the other campers. It’s said that the high concentration of psitanium buried beneath the grounds drove everyone insane, including the staff. I also heard that supposedly, some of the patients never left, and still roamed the crumbling remains of the tower.

Regardless of if that was true or not, the ambience of the place was definitely creepy enough to function as an evil lair.

We climbed up to the front gate, where a security guard was pacing back and forth, rambling to himself and scribbling diagrams on the walls.

I was about to remind Raz to hide me, but that didn’t seem to be necessary. The guard was so preoccupied that he didn’t notice me at all. He barely noticed Raz.

The guard claimed that he had been hired to guard the asylum, but he wouldn’t let us in. Or, he couldn’t. He didn’t have the key. The Milkman did. But the Milkman was sleeping on the job.

“I… What is this guy on about? Why would a milkman have the key when he’s supposed to be guarding the place?”

At that, Raz pulled the psycho-portal out of his bag again.

“Only one way to find out.”

Under any other circumstances, I would have argued against poking around in this very paranoid man’s mind, but desperate times called for desperate measures. There was no telling what horrible things were happening to the campers and counselors.

I decided this time I would project as myself. If the situation became dangerous, I could switch to human form, but I wanted to preserve my energy so I wouldn’t have a repeat of Lungfishopolis.

And… I trusted that Raz would protect me. Of course, I couldn’t let him know that. His head was big enough already, he really didn’t need that extra ego boost.

With the portal locked on, we projected in, and found ourselves in a house. The guard was doing the exact same thing we first found him doing: laying out a makeshift conspiracy board. All over the walls were newspaper clippings, and there were even pages scattered on the floor. It looked more like a mess than anything else.

He told us to check the fridge, and to my surprise, we found a Clairvoyance merit badge.

“Wait, you can just… get new powers in random peoples’ minds?”

“Oh yeah. I learned how to use a shield back in Linda’s mind. Though, I think the badge was left there by Coach. Maybe something similar happened here…”

Of course. It would make sense to have reinforcements in place to keep us out of the asylum. The real question was what exactly he did to this man.

Using Clairvoyance, we could see through his eyes and understand his insane ramblings. All clues pointed towards the Milkman being dead. But the guard insisted that wasn’t the case. He told us to investigate the cemetery, then sent us on our way.

While I admittedly hadn’t seen very many mental worlds in the grand scheme of things, this was easily the strangest. It was like an ordinary suburban town, but it had been deconstructed into winding, gravity defying pieces of its former self. That, and all of the inhabitants were robots in trench coats.

Just down the street, a group of them had blocked off the road, reserving the space only for the road crew. They were all standing around, waving stop signs to direct nonexistent traffic.

“No pedestrian traffic allowed.”

“Hmm… I don’t think they’re gonna let us pass. Should we blast ‘em?” I asked.

Raz looked around, then spotted something and ran over to a nearby car. In the trunk was a stop sign that looked identical to the ones the road crew had.

“You really think they’re gonna fall for that?”

He picked up the sign and went back over the the closed off area. And sure enough…

“Hello, fellow road crew worker. Welcome to the road crew.”

We were able to navigate the rest of the neighborhood following this logic. It seemed like these guys were programmed to monitor different zones of the town, acting undercover in designated roles. As long as we also played along, they wouldn’t become hostile.

The cemetery was among these guarded zones, and only “grieving widows” were allowed entry. Which of course meant we had to have flowers for our dead husband.

While searching for flowers, something strange happened. We were approached by an ordinary-looking little girl on roller skates. Something about seeing a normal human in this freakish town was unnerving.

“Hello! Would you like to buy some Rainbow Squirts cookies?”

I… may or may not have a hard time controlling myself when cookies are involved.

“Yes, we’ll take them all.”

Raz glared at me for a second, but shrugged it off.

“But before we buy any cookies, we can’t really enjoy them without MILK, right? Do you know where I could buy some MILK?”

The Rainbow Squirt screamed and rolled away, but she didn’t go far. I saw her duck behind a bush and continue to watch us.

“That was weird.” Raz said.

“Yeah, ‘cause you made it too obvious. And now you owe me cookies.”

We eventually found some flowers in a hedge maze, and we returned to the cemetery, allowed entrance this time thanks to our fool-proof grieving widow disguise.

While we were there, we came across a memory that gave us a bit more insight on the mind we were working with.

The security guard’s name was Boyd Cooper, and he ended up in the asylum after burning down a store he was fired from using Molotov Cocktails. Clearly this guy was not someone you���d wanna mess with.

Moving along, we made our way to the back of the cemetery, where we found the mausoleum that the Milkman was supposedly buried in. The entrance was blocked by thorns, but Raz was able to burn them away with Pyrokinesis.

All we found in there was a book.

“Wait, that’s it? Where’s the Milkman?!”

Raz made two fatal mistakes in that moment. Loudly announcing that we’re looking for the Milkman, and putting down the flowers, completely blowing our cover.

“Are you a grieving widow?”

“Where are your flowers?”

“What did you find in the mausoleum?”

“What is the purpose of the goggles?”

One of these days this kid’s gonna get us both killed, I swear…

After an agonizing interrogation session, we were let go, and returned to Boyd’s house with the book.

He was ecstatic to see it, telling us about how the book was just what we needed to uncover the truth. Though, I was still confused by pretty much everything he said. Why was there a huge conspiracy surrounding a milkman of all people in the first place?

The next place he sent us to investigate was the book depository, which for some reason was heavily guarded by armed assassins. So to blend in, he gave Raz a rifle.

“Whoa, now we’re talkin’!”

“Why… Why would you give him that?”

“It’s fake. But it looks real enough to fool the assassins.” Boyd explained.

“Aw man…”

That boy scares me.

Without explaining further, Boyd threw us out of his house, and we were off to hopefully close this case for good.

I can tell you right now, we were far from the path to a straight answer.

[hauntingblue]

Today I dreamed that I was in a ship with Anne and Eleanor and Anne got killed by her and I went insane with grief ajdjaksjk

[meowcatsposts]

Best Medicine [Ahmed]

❥ note: @treasurecat24, I hope you enjoy :)

Overview:

Date time with your precious bf!

…but you got sick

So Ahmed’s here to baby you <3

Walking in cute clothes was flattering and empowering–perfect, even. 

With a sore scratchy throat, thrumming head, and heavy limbs, however? That was a different story. Each step sapped your nearly depleted energy reserve, and just to look straight ahead was a whole workout. Muscles aching, eyes watery, and head stuffed with cotton, you wished you had stayed home. 

Ahmed, seeing your sunken eyes and pallid complexion, knew something was very, very wrong. 

“Are you alright?” he asked, eyes flooded with worry. Clearly not, his mind screamed.

“Um…” Dully, you looked up to meet his gaze and slurred, “...Do I look bad?”

You weren’t alright, duh. You just answered his question with a question!

Sighing softly, Ahmed murmured, “You look pale, love. Pale, as in sick.” He placed his hand on your lower back and pushed gently, guiding your rubbery legs. “We need to take you home.”

Here you were now, lying comfortably in a bed, wrapped in a thick blanket burrito. A steaming mug of tea sat beside your nightstand and its herby aroma wafted fainty to your nose. Perhaps something warm would be nice. Feeling a little bad for not drinking it (your beloved boyfriend brewed it for you, after all), you dragged yourself up and took the cup, lifting it to your lips with shaky hands. It didn’t taste or smell really of anything, sadly, (darn germs!) but a faint sweetness tickled your tongue and you smiled. Honey. 

Ahmed walked in with a tray. On it was a steaming bowl of soup, a tall glass of water, and a plastic medicine bottle.

“You’re like a doctor,” you giggled. Sandpaper rubbed your throat raw, but you didn’t really care.

“Well,” your boyfriend started, smiling softly. “I am.” He set the tray down with a soft clunk and sat beside you, brushing a lock of hair from your forehead. “And you’re my special patient.”

“Please.” Ahmed was practically begging now. “You need to take this to speed up your recovery.”

How long did this go on for? Too long. Your boyfriend usually had the patience of a saint, but he really needed to suppress the urge to wrench your pretty little lips open and shove that spoon into your mouth. 

Seeing how worriedly dark Ahmed’s eyes turned, you began to second-guess your own stubbornness. Maybe you should comply, your conscience reasoned. 

“Fine,” you grumbled.

“Great!” he chirped, holding a tiny spoonful of that thick bitter concoction. “Say ah~ for me.” After seeing you hesitantly part your lips, Ahmed softly cooed, “Good job,” as he slipped the syrup into your mouth. After a lengthy while you managed to swallow the darn thing, its bitterness still coiled around your tongue. You scrunched your nose.

Chuckling, Ahmed handed you a glass of water. You drained the liquid in a heartbeat. 

As he set the glass atop the tray he murmured softly again, “Good job,” and stroked your head tenderly, fingers slipping through your hair. For some reason your boyfriend’s praise sparked flints in your face, so you ducked under the covers, hoping he didn’t see how red your face got.

Although Ahmed found your flustered self absolutely endearing, he was confused. Why so red? He peeled the sheets from your face, peering curiously into your eyes.

“Why are you blushing, love?” he asked. “I don’t think there’s anything to be embarrassed about…”

You just stared into his eyes. Blankly. Like a deer in headlights. Your heart thump-thump-thumped insanely, but somehow, you couldn’t break away from those emerald eyes of his. Though sick and teary-eyed, you had to admit that they were beautiful as ever, like the very first day you got lost in them; they were a flourishing spring forest, deep and nurturing. 

Ahmed didn’t look away, either. He, too, admired you silently; you were adorable, all wrapped up and flustered and needing his help.

Then you blurted, “Can you hand me the soup?” to break the fat silence. 

“Oh, sure.” Ahmed handed you the warm bowl hesitantly, fingers ghosting over yours. “Are you sure you don’t want me to feed you?” he asked.

Feed you? You blushed furiously–again–and nearly choked on your soup. Why was he so good at making butterflies rampage in your stomach? He was your boyfriend, but still–

“I’m fine,” you coughed, in a hushed sort of way. “I’m fine.”

Ahmed sighed. “That doesn’t sound convincing…but alright.” 

Maybe you were fine. Seeing that you already took your first sip he asked rather nervously, “Does it taste ok?” 

Oh, how he loved it when you bobbed your head and hummed a soft, “Mhm,” in return. He didn’t miss the smile ghosting over your lips, either.

Heart swelling with relief Ahmed said, “Really? That’s good.” He fretted over almost everything, after all–from the tea to the soup to the blankets. Everything.

He was ecstatic–absolutely happy to be of service to you–but something bothered him. He couldn’t be completely content. Yet.

“Why did you agree to go out when you were sick?” your boyfriend asked. His eyes reflected something serious and he frowned just the slightest, as if he were doing a grave examination. 

“Well…” you trailed. The warm soup bowl felt good in your hands. Comforting. “One, I didn’t know it’d get this bad, and two…I felt bad canceling.”

Ahmed hummed low in his throat, presumably in disapproval, as he rubbed light circles on your outer thigh.

“You should’ve canceled. I wouldn’t have minded,” he reasoned, a light pink dusting his cheeks. “I’d still get to be with you anyway, and I get to take care of you, so…” 

Not once did he break his gaze, however.

“Oh?” You almost choked on your soup again. Ahmed’s hand felt oddly hot on your thigh, and it definitely wasn’t because you were ill. In fact, your whole body was blazing.

So red again, he thought to himself, stifling a chuckle. Maybe you should get sick more often.

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