#folks are trying to trap them for goodness sake

[velvetvexations]

Thank you for sticking up for transmascs while being transfem. Not a lot of folks would do the same. It really, really means so much

I have trans masc friends who deal with it a lot and it's really frustrating to see them have to put up with this kind of bullshit in my name.

But it's also at least a little selfish, because the 'in my name' thing really fucks me up. TMA/TME discoursers want me to be the biggest victim in the room and they actively prevent me from feeling like that's true. Trans mascs getting ran through the dirt to elevate trans fems feels like I'm the Bad class of person the same if I were a cis man or something. It is literally accomplishing the opposite of their goal lmao. So, I try push back against that, and hopefully make trans mascs feel like they have trans fem support.

And like, for all they want to say that believing in transandrophobia is a TERF dog whistle, it's like, hello? The narrative that the trans community favors AMAB trans people and walks all over AFAB trans folk is a huge TERF thing, what the fuck are you doing walking into this bear trap. Making this fantasy scenario TERFs made up to paint being trans as a patriarchal psyop a reality does nothing but invalidate me and cause serious damage to the entire community.

The weirdest thing is that a lot of it is usually trans masc or otherwise AFAB folk. I'm not saying no trans fems do it, obviously, some do and I truly, truly hate them, but so many are 'TME' folks throwing themselves off a cliff trying to be 'one of the good ones' and it's surreal and kinna disturbing to supposedly be done for my sake. But the plus side to that is that they usually need to take my voice seriously, if they don't just ignore what I have to say.

[honeyedmiller]

Law of Attraction — Chapter Five: Saudade

series masterlist | previous chapter | epilogue

rating: 18+, minors dni.

warnings: professor!joel, professor x student relations, plus size!reader, unresolved feelings at first, angst, lots of emotions, joel is an idiot (in love), flashbacks of sex, shower head masturbation, light alcohol consumption, brief pov swapping, teensy bit of fluff, there won’t be a super happy ending quite yet. no use of y/n.

word count: 4.2k

chapter synopsis: moving on has proven to be a lot harder than you’d both anticipated. when more feelings bubble to the surface, it may be too late to act upon them.

divider by @saradika-graphics

sau·da·de – /souˈdädə/ (noun): an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent something or someone.

Adrienne had come home that night to find you agonizingly sobbing on your bedroom floor. The fight that ended things with Joel felt like it’d ripped your heart out as a whole, sewing your ribcage airtight so you could barely fucking breathe. 

She sat on the floor and consoled you, shushing you as you cried into her neck. You felt like a fucking wreck, stuck in the abyss of darkness that had consumed you wholly after he walked out of the front door. 

After your cries dwindled down into sporadic hiccups, you finally came clean to her about everything: how you’d been feeling the past month and a half, what Tess had told you, and how your breakdown was a result of holding back your true feelings for far too long. 

Adrienne couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She wasn’t mad at you in any sense of the matter, and she didn’t parade around with a sickeningly mockful ‘I told you so.’ She was infuriated with Joel. 

Because, for fuck’s sake, how could he have suggested this whole ordeal with you knowing he didn’t have his shit resolved yet? If he still had uncharted feelings about the situation with his goddamn ex, he should’ve never touched you in the first place. 

A woman, so eager and bright and full of free spirit, had been dwindled down to be filled with hopeless despair—light dulled and spirit trapped in the confines of what could’ve been. 

It’d been a month since that very day, and you were slowly starting to feel like yourself again. 

Tess kept her end of her promise, putting in a good word with the Los Angeles police department as they were in need of a forensic technician. The head of the forensics team had interviewed you over the phone for half an hour before deciding she wanted to meet you in person and talk about what the job would entail in greater detail. She said, in her own words, she needed some ‘fresh minds on her team.’

You were excited to go back home to visit your folks in the midst of this trip. You needed to create new memories, good memories this trip, because last time you were on the west coast you were getting relentlessly fucked by your former professor, accepting his offer to be friends with benefits. 

You swore to yourself you’d never put yourself in such a situation ever again. 

It humiliated you, made you feel foolish, hurt you—the list goes on—but it also taught you. It taught you patience, it taught you resilience, and it taught you the hardships of two emotionally damaged people trying to mold into one. 

You’ll admit, you did miss Joel. Not in the same way you did when it hurt at first, but more so in a way that made you miss the familiarity that floated in the air every time you two were around each other. When you weren’t wracking your brain about your feelings for him, being around him was just… easy. 

He was obviously super intelligible, always had something insightful to say, he was funny, and he actually listened to you in the aspect of daily life. He made you feel seen, which is something you don’t get often with people. 

When your feelings for him weren’t harboring into the depths of your heart, a swirl of anticipation always clutched at you to be around him. You really did miss him. 

You also missed the sex. 

The price that it came with was hefty, but god—you missed the scrape of his facial hair against your trembling thighs, the thickness of his fingers scissoring in and out of you while praising how ‘fuckin’ perfect your pussy is’, his hot tongue swirling against your aching core with a shit-eating grin plastered to his lips as you came undone, his sweet-talking mouth that praised every single inch of your body, and his cock that seemed to connect you two and made it so goddamn difficult to tell where he ended and you began. 

A knock on your bedroom door jostles you from your thoughts, and you turn to see Adrienne standing there with a smile on her face. 

“You ready for tomorrow?” She asks, stepping into your room. She sits down next to your open luggage, reaching down to toy with the frayed knee on one of your packed jeans.

“I am. I’m excited. I always love going back home.” 

And it was true. Texas had grown on you, but California would forever be your home. You missed the sunny weather and the near-constant blue skies. 

“So,” She starts, laying both of her hands in her lap. “If you do get the offer, which I’m sure you will, I could find a job out there too. We could move together, you know, so you wouldn’t have to move back in with your parents.” She shrugs, as if what she proposed was the most nonchalant thing ever. 

“Adri, are you serious?” 

She smiles and nods her head. “Yeah, I mean, I’ve lived in Texas my whole life. You know how bad I’ve wanted to get out for some time now, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity.” 

You shoved your suitcase further up the bed so you could sit next to her, wrapping your arms around her. 

“I’d love it if we moved together, Adri. Truth be told I really wasn’t sure how I was going to navigate life without you being in a different state. Probably would’ve gone fucking insane.” 

You both laugh as she reciprocates the affection. 

“Can’t get rid of me that easily, babe.” And for that, you were so grateful to have someone like her in your corner. Sometimes it felt like it was you and her against the world. 

-

“Did you finish grading yet?” Tess asks Joel, crossing one leg over the other as she leans back in her chair. The restaurant they were in was relatively quiet, considering it was only the afternoon. 

“I did. Wasn’t too bad.” Joel shrugged, cutting into his steak. 

“Mm. That’s good. So what do you plan on doing now that you’re a free man for two and a half months?”

Joel’s heart sinks. He should be enjoying his vacation wrapped up in you, but because his pride got in the way, he lost you to something that meant a lot to him. He didn’t deserve your forgiveness, but he was hoping he’d be able to gain it someday. 

“Nothin’.” He’s curt with his answer, and Tess knows him all too well. 

“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”

”Why does it matter, Tess?” Joel’s exasperated at this point, really not in the mood to hear I told you so from his best friend. He knows he fucked up. He reminds himself that every single day when he goes to text you, fingers hovering over the keyboard because he doesn’t know the right thing to say. I’m sorry. I’m an asshole. I want you. 

But it’s too late. 

“Joel,” Tess sighs, shaking her head. “I’m not gonna say what you think I’m gonna say, but I do have one question.” 

Joel looks up at her, her green eyes sincere. 

“What is it?”

“Why didn’t you fight harder for her?” 

Joel wasn’t expecting that. That question was like a punch to the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs. Because, honestly, why didn’t he? 

He shrugged at her. 

He thinks it’d be easier to lie and say it was the age difference and you used to be his student and it’d be this whole weird thing, but Tess would see right through him. He knows exactly why, though. 

He was terrified. 

Terrified of getting too attached, terrified of getting hurt, terrified of admitting he was falling in love with you. 

You just graduated. You’re just starting your life as a free woman. He didn’t want to be the one to hold you back. 

He knows you can find someone so much better than him. Someone closer in age, someone that won’t dick you over or spring an awful proposal onto you like he did. Someone who could actually give you what you deserved, which was the whole goddamn world. 

But what he didn’t know was that he had ruined every single man for you, ever. Nobody could compare to him. 

There’s no way he’d ever get to know that though, because he fucking had you. And then he lost you. 

-

The June sun was hot on your back as you unloaded your luggage from the back of your Uber. You had taken an early flight, so it was only around noon when you got to your parents’ house. You unlocked the front door and slipped off your sandals, wheeling your luggage into the living room, only to be met with silence. 

“Mom? Dad?” You called out. More silence. You furrowed your brows and walked further into the house and into the kitchen, stopping when you saw a neon post-it slapped onto the middle of your fridge. 

‘Hey sweetie, you’ll probably arrive home around noon, which means dad is still at work and I’ll be running some errands. Picking up some stuff from the grocery store, too. Making chicken parm tonight. Can’t wait to see you!

Love mom.’

You smile at her note before rolling your suitcase to your old room, deciding to shower first and then settle in.

Exhaustion consumes your body as the inviting droplets of water roll down your skin, warm water relaxing your aching muscles. You were nervous about meeting the head of forensics in two days. This could be a life-altering career for you, and you wanted nothing more. 

Except for Joel, maybe, the depths of your mind sneer at you. You roll your eyes at yourself, ignoring that part of you that fucking aches for him on a near-constant basis. You failed, though. The ache was so bad that it had manifested itself into a pulsating, needy pang between your legs. You sighed as you snatched the shower head from its holder and lowered it between your flesh, warm water gliding over your throbbing cunt with the right amount of pressure. 

God, missing him was already becoming too much. 

-

You didn’t intend to fall asleep after your shower, but your bed was so comfy and you wanted to escape your overactive mind for a bit—so you slipped into a comfortable slumber. Your mom knocked on your door to wake you up, letting you know that dinner was almost done. 

Dinner was full of catching up with your parents. It was nice to spend some time with them again. You hadn’t seen them since you graduated, and before that, Christmas break. It was harder to catch flights back to California just for the hell of it when you were in school, and now, you’re looking at the prospect of being a full-fledged Californian once more. 

You were helping your mom clean up the kitchen, working off your post-meal coma that was surging over your body. 

“Hey honey, are you okay?” Your mom asks as you dry the last of the dishes. You look at her perplexedly, not expecting that question at all. 

“What do you mean?” You ask, putting away the dried dish. 

“It’s just,” She starts, pursing her lips and sighing. “I don’t know, you seem different? I guess? It’s like you’re you but the real you isn’t really… there. Saw it at graduation too. The sadness in your eyes…” She trails off, looking at you with a bit of unease. 

You didn’t think it’d be that noticeable, but things scarcely get past your mother. 

You were almost thirty years old. Surely she wouldn’t be pissed at you for sleeping with your former professor, now, would she? 

“I’ll tell you about it,” You say, eyes landing on a bottle of Pinot Grigio. “We might need this, though.” You snatch the bottle off the counter and grab two wine glasses, leading her out to the padded lounge chairs on the back patio. 

She pours two hefty glasses, because the look on your face tells her everything she needs to know: it’s going to be a hell of a story. 

And so you proceeded to tell her everything, aside from where you two had sex. She definitely didn’t need to know about you getting fucked by him in his office, bent over his desk as he—

“Wow. That’s… a lot.” She says, drinking in all of the information you threw her way. 

“You’re not upset with me?” You ask, hiding a wobbling bottom lip behind your glass of wine. The lump in your throat made it harder for you to swallow the smooth drink. 

“Honey, you’re a grown woman. You know what’s right from wrong, albeit I think you should’ve at least waited until after you graduated, as far as I’m concerned, it was two adults consenting to participate in adult activities.” She shrugs, and you sigh in relief. 

“I promise I wasn’t sleeping with him for my grades or anything. I was already one of his top students before it all began.” You huff a laugh, and your mom shakes her head. 

“That thought didn’t cross my mind once, sweetheart. It’s not you. It’s not your character,” She sips her wine with a meek hum, brows pinching together. “I don’t like what he did to you, though.” She shakes her head, looking at you. 

“I agreed to it, though. Part of it is my fault for not telling him how I felt. I knew what I felt for him and I hadn’t voiced it once to him, so he was unaware.” 

And you wondered now if things would’ve been different had you told him how you really felt. 

His words, seared into your brain at this point, always repeated themselves: ‘It’s not my fault I didn’t live up to the expectations of myself that you created in your head.’

Maybe you wouldn’t have made those expectations up if you just fucking told him. 

“He still shouldn’t have used you as a pawn to distract himself from his unresolved feelings about the thing with his ex.” She says, and you know she’s right. Adrienne said something similar to you not even three weeks ago. 

“Yeah.” Was all you could muster up, swirling your wine around your glass. 

“Do you think you have it in your heart to ever forgive him?” She asks, and your stomach twists into a knot. You’d never even thought about forgiving him. It was still too fresh of an open wound, one you were desperately trying to heal and close. 

“Maybe someday.” It was an honest answer. 

And that’s all you could really give her. 

-

The next day, your mom had graciously decided to take you out for a little distraction from life as you knew it. 

She took you for a drive down PCH in your dad’s beloved cherry red ‘65 Ford Mustang convertible, which is exactly what you needed. The sun was beaming brightly down on you both, the top down allowing the hot wind to wildly whip at your face. You leaned your crossed arms on top of the passenger door, laying your head down as you closed your eyes to enjoy the moment of serenity. 

You missed home so much. You didn’t even want to go back to Texas, but you’d know by the end of the week if you were coming back here permanently or not. You figured you’d need to construct a plan B just in case this job didn’t end up working out, but you’d figure that out soon. 

Right now, you just wanted to enjoy the summer sun and the time with your mom and the freeness you felt now that your mom knew everything. 

The day went by quickly much to your disadvantage. You were nervous for what tomorrow would bring, hoping to god that you were impressive enough for them to at least consider you to be a part of the forensics team. 

And you went into the huge facility the next day with a smile plastered on your face, showing you were genuinely happy to be there and how much you’d love the job. You hoped you weren’t being overeager. 

The head of the forensics team, Margot, seemed to take a liking to you. She asked how you knew Tess, and you told her you met at the criminal justice expo a couple of months back. 

It wasn’t a lie, but you didn’t want Joel to be a part of the conversation whatsoever, so you naturally skipped over the part that you met her through him. 

Margot gave you a run-down of how things worked in that particular department, showing you the ins and outs of the place. She showed you all of the equipment and how it worked; what different positions in the job entailed; and what she was expecting of you, were you to be hired. 

The prospect of you working on the forensics team for the LAPD had your stomach doing somersaults, and you had to constantly remind yourself that it wasn’t reality for you yet. You couldn’t get too ahead of yourself. 

You thanked Margot for her time as she promised she’d keep in touch and let you know about the position by the end of the week at latest. 

You got home that evening and Adrienne FaceTimed you right away. You felt like it went well, though you couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. Margot was a sweet woman, but her mannerisms gave very little away. All you could do at this point was just hope for the best. 

That’s all you seemed you could really do right now in life, anyway. 

Just hope for the best. 

-

You got the job.

The call came in around ten in the morning on your way to the airport to fly back to Austin. You couldn’t believe it. 

It’s like everything in your life was slowly clicking back into place, one by one. 

You’d worked so hard in school, but you genuinely couldn’t have done this without Tess. You had to call and let her know. 

You scrolled through your contacts and clicked her name, and within three rings she answered. 

“Hello?”

”Hey, Tess. I have some great news.” Your voice is giddy and you couldn’t contain your excitement. 

“I think I might know what it is.” She teased, prompting you to tell her. 

“I got the job!” 

“I knew you would, sweetheart, congratulations. We should get a drink to celebrate. Make it a whole thing.” Her voice rings with sincerity, and you can’t seem to wipe the smile from your face. 

“Love to. I don’t start until late August, so I have a month and a half to pack and move.” 

“That’s great! If you need help, Misty and I wouldn’t mind lending a hand.” 

“Thanks Tess. And thank you so much for putting in a word for me. I wouldn’t have gotten this job without you.” 

“You did all of the hard work. I was just a referencer.” She laughs, and you can’t help but beam. 

“Hey I gotta go, my flight is being called to board. But I’ll see you real soon.” You say, and hear her chuckle on the other end of the line. 

“See you soon, sweetheart.” 

-

A month and a half passed by in the blink of an eye. You and Adrienne were leaving tomorrow to head for California with all your stuff in tow. 

It felt so surreal, leaving Texas behind to start something new for yourself—something you worked so hard for. Adrienne couldn’t have been more supportive of you starting anew, which is why she insisted you both invite your friends to a local bar as a last hoorah before you took off in the morning. 

You were all smiles tonight, taking a couple of shots with friends before settling on a Cosmo to babysit for awhile. 

You even invited Tess and Misty, wanting to say ‘see you later’ instead of ‘goodbye’, because you ultimately knew you’d be seeing them again. 

And, deep down, a part of you wishes you could physically say goodbye to Joel. Thank him for everything he’s taught you—inside and outside of the classroom—and put your past with him completely behind you. 

You didn’t want to go to California with any loose ends, because again, the whole purpose was to start fresh. 

You didn’t dwell on it too much. You were there to celebrate with your friends and have a good time… which you were, until the man that had been lingering in the back of your mind for two and a half months unexpectedly made an appearance. 

You were talking with Adrienne, Tess and Misty before all three of them went silent, eyes averting behind you. You looked at them with confusion before turning around, heart dropping to your stomach. 

Joel. 

“What’s he doing here?” Panic seized your body, not expecting to see him at all. The part of you that wanted to say goodbye was relieved to see him, and the other part of you—the part that craved him for so long, wishing everything was different—was mortified. 

“I actually invited him.” Adrienne said, sympathy in her eyes as you furrowed your brows. 

“What—?” 

“Just- just hear him out, okay?” She asks, and you place your watered-down Cosmo on the sticky bar top, giving her an unsure look before turning around to face him. He didn’t look much different, but his eyes were tired. 

A pang of hurt seized your chest, and you swallowed harshly before making your way to him. 

“Joel.” You sound breathless. Your eyes must’ve been wide and strewn with confusion. 

He offers a small, lopsided smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. 

“Hey. Can we talk?” He asks, voice sounding a bit unsure, a trait that’s very unlike Joel. 

You nod, and he jerks his head toward the bar door to walk outside. Your shoes scuff over the pavement, humid summer night air sticking tackily to your body. The sounds of Life in the Fast Lane by the Eagles fades into the background with all of the chatty patrons of the bar, leaving the distant call of the cicadas to become the forefront of noise in the night. 

“So,” You begin, not exactly sure what he wants to talk about. 

“Couple of things. First and foremost, I wanna apologize to you, darlin.’ For every single thing that’s happened. You were a student of mine and I shouldn’t have—” He swallows, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have done anything with you then. ‘N I most certainly shouldn’t’ve offered that stupid fuckin’ friends with benefits bullshit to you.” His eyes are trained on his worn out boots, hands knotting behind his back. 

“Joel—”

“Darlin’, you deserved so much better. I want you to know that I was never ashamed to be with you. You���re gorgeous, your body is beautiful, you’re so brilliant. Everythin’ about you is a dream. I was selfish and I was terrified of gettin’ hurt again. I spent so long building up walls to protect myself ‘n my peace, and then you came into my life chippin’ away at it so easily. I didn’t know what to do, so I panicked. Kept pullin’ you in and pushin’ you away so I wouldn’t be the one that ended up hurt. But I hurt you in the end and I can’t tell you how fuckin’ sorry I am.” 

His dark gaze is locked on you then, and you feel the backs of your eyes burning, tears threatening to spill to the forefront. You didn’t know what to say. What could you say? It’s not every day you get a heartfelt apology from a man who really did a fucking number on you. 

“What’s the second thing?” Your voice is meek, crossing your arms over your chest. He’s hesitant at first, but he sighs as he takes a small step toward you. 

“I really fuckin’ miss you.” His eyes were full of sadness, regret, anguish. All telltale to you that he was being completely sincere. 

You didn’t want to give in. You didn’t want it to be that easy, answering his beck and call. But it was Joel— the man who made you feel things nobody else has, the man who frustrated you and liberated you simultaneously, the man who fucking ruined every single man for you ever again. 

You were a strong woman. You knew that. He knew that. But Joel had chipped away at your walls, too. 

Eye for an eye. 

“I miss you too,” You whisper, tears on your waterline now. “But I don’t want to get hurt again.” 

“Sweetheart,” Joel coos, reaching out for you. It took you a second, but you willingly let yourself succumb to the warm, familiar embrace of the man that you so desperately, secretly longed for all this time. “I promise you I won’t hurt you again. Cross my heart ‘n hope to die.” Joel’s voice holds so much promise. 

Everything felt okay again. It felt right as you buried your face into his neck, clutching fistfuls of the soft material of his shirt. 

And then it hit you—

“Joel,” You gasp, sad tears streaming down your face endlessly, body wracked with broken sobs. “I’m moving to LA. I leave for California tomorrow.”

Joel’s face falters, tears in his eyes as he pulls you into him tighter, kissing your temple as you both stand in the parking lot, sobs joining the song of cicadas. 

What you’d lost once was in your grip again, only for it to slip through your fingers like sand—twelve hundred miles soon to be separating what could’ve been. 

tags: @party-hearses ; @ilovepedro ; @punkshort ; @nostalxgic ; @tinygarbage ; @harriedandharassed ; @pamasaur ; @bastardmandennis ; @cool-iguana ; @untamedheart81

[peaches2217]

Bowser is evil. This is objective, unarguable, a solid-state fact. What’s more open to interpretation (depending on what side of his kingdom’s borders you’re on) is whether he’s actually a bad guy or not.

His citizens near-unanimously see him as a good person; he cares for their well-being, makes frequent public appearances to interact with common folk in all corners of the kingdom, personally leads his armies into battle. In their eyes he’s stern and maybe a little trigger-happy (he’s all too happy to dole out capital punishment where he sees fit), but ultimately fair. And his kids — oh, don’t get me started on his kids! You wouldn’t expect someone so tough and fierce to be affectionate towards anyone, but he dotes on his children openly and without restraint. It’s largely for their sake that he seeks world domination. The more territory trapped within his scaly fist, the more he can give to them as future rulers!

The thing is, if you’re not Bowser’s kids or a citizen of the Darklands, you’re expendable. He’s hotheaded, but he doesn’t even particularly hate anyone (though he admittedly delights in the suffering of anyone he deems an enemy). Anyone that stands in his way is little more than a nuisance. Age, gender, species, none of this matters to the Koopa King. If you have something he wants, he intends to take it. If you resist, he will kill you. Needless to say, those who end up in his line of sight are… less likely to consider him a decent person.

Peach, for example, has nothing good to say about him. She was his earliest target for a variety of reasons: proximity, the abundance of native-growing power-ups in her kingdom’s wildlands, the lack of resistance he knew her citizens would put up, the petty joy that came from the thought of taking down someone so powerful and beautiful and reducing her to a withered husk of her old self. After many years of sending in random ambushes in the hopes of lowering her guard with their predictability, he finally swooped in and took her by force, vowing to murder her and everyone she held dear unless he was given total control of her kingdom — twice in the span of two years. His first attempt was humiliatingly thwarted just days after the princess’ abduction; his second attempt, while nearly successful, just about ended in his demise, because apparently the only force stronger than a fire-breathing dragon-turtle is a plumber in love.

So ever since his recovery from that fateful fight, Bowser has moved onto other conquests. But he always tells himself and his kids that, once he’s taken over the rest of the world, he’ll have more than enough resources to kill the Mushroom Queen and thwart that pest that stands in the way of his greatest, most well-deserved victory! It’s just… going to take time. All things take time! It’s not that he’s scared of some human who just barely clears 5’, or that he still feels phantom pains from getting his shell split clean open by said human’s bare hands, of course not! What, are you trying to say he’s weak?! Blasphemy! To the gallows! To the gallows with you all!!

[queen-of-deans-booty]

As Above, So Below: Part Two

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Mermaid!Reader

Word Count: ~2k

Warnings: fluff

Summary: You thought your kind had been wiped out by pirates way back then, but you find a colony of mermaids miles below the surface of the ocean. They hate humans. You love humans. They think they're bad. You believe them to be good. Sam Winchester is living proof of that. Will you try to make it work with him?

PART ONE

Square Filled: mermaid!reader (2021) for @spnaubingo

Author’s Note: for the sake of this story, natural light reaches much further below the surface of the ocean than it does in real life.

x

The ocean is a big place with lots of room to explore. Mermaids can swim fast and dive super deep but not even you have explored the entirety of the ocean. There are sea creatures that are sharing the ocean with you that you have no idea are real. However, it came as a shock to you when you found a whole colony of Merfolk living not that far from where you’ve been posted for the last several months.

Male Model hasn’t left the town he was last in, and you’ve wanted to keep a careful watch on him in case he decides to push himself like he did last time. Plus, he’s held your hand, seen your face… you’re not letting him go this easily and he doesn’t want you to.

The colony of Merfolk you ran into despises humans. They have such a strong vendetta against them that if you brought up the fact that you’ve been watching them your whole life, they would for sure exile you or worse. You’ve spent most of your life thinking you were alone, and being with them is better than being alone.

You wish you could go back to the surface in search of Male Model but you have to get used to being around other Merfolk. There is a whole world you never knew existed until now, and maybe it’s a good idea to start hanging around people like you instead of humans.

“So, tell us, Y/N, what were you doing before you came to us?” Jessica, one of the mermaids, asks.

There is no way you’re telling her about Male Model. Half of you thinks they are going to go up there to kill him.

“I was a drifter. My family was wiped out by pirates way back when, and I thought all Merfolk were gone. I was alone for a long time so I traveled the globe.”

“I’m glad you’re with us now. I love getting new folks,” she grins.

“Thanks,” you nod. “What about you?”

“I was captured by deep-sea fishermen in their net. My brother saw me trapped and tried to save me before I could be spotted. He got me out of their net but ended up getting tangled himself. They killed him before I could do anything about it. I left and never looked back. I hate humans for what they did to him,” she says angrily.

“You know, I’ve been around the globe several times, and sure there are bad humans, but most of them are good. They might not be as bad as you think they are.”

“Fuck humans,” Jerry, a merman, spats. “They killed my wife and daughter.”

“Humans are bad. They will always choose violence over what they don’t know. You’re better off with us than with them.”

If only they got to see Male Model like you did. He is so kind to you. He doesn’t force you to go above the surface so he grabs scuba gear to be with you longer in the water. It’s a shame they’re letting their fear control them. You used to be like them and hated humans for a long time until you saw how beautiful they could be. You know the stage they’re in so there is no talking to them. There is no changing their mind. They might but it only comes with time.

“Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”

You quickly make your escape before they have a chance to question you. You swim away from the camp to be alone, but you find yourself swimming to the surface just to see Male Model again. The colony down below is a couple of miles away from the surface so you’re not worried about them seeing you here.

There are a ton of people at the beach laughing and having fun with each other when you spot Male Model by the pier. He is holding a pair of binoculars to study the ocean in the distance when he sees you. He lowers the binoculars only to put them to his eyes to make sure what he sees is real. You lift one hand above the surface and wave and he smiles back at you.

He leaves the pier and returns with scuba gear. He has yet to hear the sound of your voice and you have yet to know his actual name. Male Model is cute but you wish to know what his name is. The pier is filled with boats ready to be taken out and one of them belongs to Male Model. He sets his gear in the back and starts her up to travel to where you are.

You sink some more so that only your eyes are above water no matter how creepy it looks. Male Model drives his boat closer to you but instead of stopping next to you, he continues going. He wants to go out where there aren’t any humans around so he can explore freely with you. You sink below the surface and follow his boat to a private area where you two can talk without being overheard.

You breach the surface but only your eyes and nose are above. The rest of you are hidden below and out of view of Male Model. He sits down on the edge of his boat knowing you’re nervous to show all of you to him.

“You’re safe with me. I haven’t told anyone else about you. Not like they’d believe me. They’d probably blame it on what happened a couple of weeks ago,” he stutters. He’s cute when he’s nervous. You look around but only you and him are out here. No boats. No Merfolk. No other humans. “I promise. You’re safe with me.”

What’s life without taking that leap of faith? You’ve spent so much time with him underwater that you feel like you know him. He’s kind and compassionate. You don’t think he’d hurt you. Plus, what is he going to do to you out here? He has a small boat with nothing to keep you tied down.

You swim closer to his boat and grab the edges of it. With one pull, you tug yourself onto the boat so you’re sitting down next to him. Your long hair covers your bare breasts and your tail shimmers in the sun. Male Model looks at you in curiosity and wonder since he’s never been this close to a mermaid before. You haven’t been this close to a human in ages but it’s nice since it’s him. If it were anyone else, you wouldn’t have considered this.

“I’m Sam,” he smiles and sticks his hand out.

“Y/N,” you smile back and shake his hand.

Your skin is slimy smooth due to the salt in the water which also makes it shimmer like glitter in the sunlight.

“Wow, you’re even more beautiful up close.”

“So are you,” you blush.

“I have so many questions for you. I never knew mermaids existed until I met you.”

“I’ll answer anything you want to know.”

“Are there more like you?”

“I didn’t think so for a long time. My family was killed a long time ago by humans, and I thought they had wiped us out. Up until a couple of days ago, I thought I was alone. There is a whole colony of Merfolk a few miles below the surface.”

“Do they like to come to the surface like you?”

“They hate humans like I once did. They won’t allow themselves to see just how wonderful you are. What about you? Have you been diving your whole life?”

“Ever since I could swim. I moved around a lot as a kid but my parents always made sure I had access to a pool wherever we went. In high school, I was on the swim team and got a scholarship for swimming. I began diving in college and have made a career out of it. People hire me to dive down to all kinds of things but I recently got into free diving. I’ve been practicing my whole life and wanted to see how far I could go down. That’s where I met you.”

“Yes, when you were reckless with your life,” you chuckle.

“Hey, I thought I could make it.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“Weird question, but are you able to be out of water?”

That question has always been in the back of your mind. Can you survive out of water? You’ve never tried it in fear of dying. However, since you’re out in the middle of the ocean, if you can’t be without water, you can just jump back in the ocean and be fine.

“I don’t know, honestly. I’ve never tried it.”

“You don’t know what happens when you get dry?”

“I’ve never had the opportunity to be without water. The pirates who captured us kept us in tanks the whole time.”

“Do you want to find out?” he smiles.

“I don’t know. What if I shrivel up and die?”

“You won’t die but if you show signs of any pain, I’ll put you back into the water. Aren’t you a little bit curious?”

“I am a little.”

“So, what do you say?”

“Okay,” you nod.

Sam gets up so he can lift you out of the water completely. He slides his left arm underneath your tail where your knees would be if you had any and the other arm on your back. He lifts you completely out of the water as if you weigh the same as a feather. He walks to the front of the boat where the benches are and lays you on top of one.

It takes a while for something to dry out but the hot summer sun is enough to speed that process along. Your tail starts to burn the more the scales dry out but it’s a good pain. The ocean is just a jump away if you need it but you want to stick it out and see what happens if you’re completely dry.

“How do you feel?”

“So far so good,” you smile. Suddenly, your tail glows brightly and transforms from scales to human skin. Gone is your tail and human legs have replaced it. You gasp and stare at your new form in amazement and wonder. You wiggle your feet and grin at Sam who is also smiling ear to ear. “Look at me! I have legs!” It takes a second to register in your mind that you have no clothes on. Why would you? You didn't have any on when you were a mermaid. “I’m naked.”

“Here, put this on.”

Sam grabs a spare shirt and looks away while you put it on. He’s so much bigger than you that his shirt rests right below your hips so you’re not completely covered down there but you’re not fully naked either.

“I have legs!” you gasp happily.

“Try standing up.”

You swing your legs off the side of the bench and admire the way the floor feels on your bare feet. You lift yourself off the bench and try taking a step when you go crashing to the ground. Before you can, though, Sam catches you.

“It might take a bit before you can master the skill of walking. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“This is amazing. I never knew I could be this way. Let me try again.” You pull away from Sam and try taking another step. You don’t go crashing to the ground but you do wobble so much that you feel like you might. You take another step and grab Sam to steady yourself. “I wonder what happens if I get water on myself.”

Sam grabs a water bottle and splashes some on your arm. Within ten seconds, your legs shine brightly as they transform back into a tail. You gasp and fall back onto the bench carefully so as not to hurt yourself.

“All I have to do is stay dry and I have legs? I can do that.”

“You’ve shown me part of your world, want to see part of mine?”

“Yes,” you nod excitedly.

Never did you think this was possible. This opens up so many new opportunities for you since you’ll finally be able to know what it’s like to be human.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[horridgoblin]

act 2 observations. entirely about gale. as i am now playing through the beginnings of act 3

(im slowing down my gameplay a bit because i dont want it to end. even tho i have other kinds of playthroughs in mind lmao):

the act 2 romance scene fucking broke my heart

i was seeing a couple bits of discourse online (who doesn't) where some folks think gale love bombs a bit to try and secure a relationship with you bc he doesn't believe hes good enough. or something along those lines. the love bombing comments stick out to me.

and i got a bit worried, because ive fell for love bombing irl before and i was like. fuck sake not again cant fall into the trap of another abuser

so i was thinking, he did pull the i love you thing rather quick.

but then the context of the scene hits and like. actually? no i dont think this is love bombing at all

in this particular scene, he believes its his last night alive

that in any other circumstances, he wouldve courted you properly, said the words leading to a "i love you" properly.

he also still doesnt believe you love him back? and is taken aback when you say you do?

also if i was in the position of my tav (who is entirely a self insert btw, i made them look like me even, albeit a yassified half elf version lmao)

i would genuinely say i love you back because holy shit i could also die at any moment on this adventure where i could become a mindflayer at any moment, or if a goblin got particularly stabby

i think any propriety or social standards for courting goes out the fucking window at the precipice of death?

so i dont think hes love bombing at all. keep in mind its a calculated manipulation tactic, and gale doesn't have bad intentions at all. he would not pull that narcissistic bullshit (because hes not one)

so those comments make me a bit :/

back to point 1

seeing his tower was like. holy shit this is amazing

ooooooooooooh the yearning

hes being so vulnerable with you, inviting you into his most precious sanctuary

the decor also slays

its heartbreaking because i was imagining wanting to live there with him. the domesticity of it all. but you cant. because he may die soon.

OOOOOOOOOH THE YEARNINGGG

clawing at my skin and hair

at first i was considering not having this scene play out because lore wise i would want to assure him id want the "gale right in front of me".

but if i was in my tav's position, i would indulge him out of curiosity and to see his enthusiasm for his wizardry. because i love his enthusiasm for the things hes passionate about. mystra be damned.

also id show him he doesnt need his magic to woo me. later. tho he does later say that i love him not just for his magical prowess. so idk? interdasting.

also no notes for the astral sex scene. none. 10/10 holy fucking shit

this is getting very long so. another post about act 2 in general will probably happen. maybe. im too brainrotted with gale atm oopsies!

[nugsanart09-works]

SAGAU that is just that: Self-Aware AU

just what it says in the tin. no cults, no yandere, just plain old ddlc minus the damned romance aspect. (Monika, i love you but i have had enough of the romantic shit)

warning: i am basing this on my character roster and shenanigans. you can play around with the idea but yeah, my content is based on my account if anything. also, novaverse lore because screw it imma inject my own spin in this thing

there are hierarchies on this thing:

GALAXIES = other media

NEXUS = Genshin Impact/Hoyoverse

NEBULAE = leakers/content creators/playthrough folks

(SUPER)NOVA = the player (me and you); referencing the big bang even though it means that I fucked up the symbolism tier for this lol; can be the SI-OC/Reader/"Creator"

AURORAE = the Creator's mouthpiece/interactive HUD; kinda like Paimon in-game and not lorewise

SUNSHINE = the ones in the nova's character roster a.k.a. the ones that came home

EARTHSHINE = the characters who have the potential to "become aware" a.k.a. stubborn fucks who refuses to come home smh; if the sunshines try to tell the earthshines about the situation, the earthshines would not hear them or understand it one bit

*note that op is not the smartest when it comes to cosmology but pls ignore that for the sake of

✨ fancy titles ✨

the first ones to gain awareness are Traveler and Paimon.

they were the first ones you gain as playable characters so they deserve that much, esp if they have to deal with your shenanigans as their nova

the next one to realize smth is up would be Amber

the sagau that i know of tends to start off with Kaeya a lot but i fully believe my girl Amber should be the first teyvatan aware for the amount of times her baron bunny saved my ass

when you, her nova, gained control over her, she gained access to some perks such as:

conditional immortality — when left alone by the nova/not in the current party, she can now just. not die. permanently that is. unless the nexus decides that she will be out of the narrative, she just cannot die and will constantly respawn. if the nova is logged in and she didn’t heal herself, her hp will be in the red zone lmao

disabled friendly fire — a sunshine attacks another person whether they are a fellow sunshine or not, the attacks will just go through them without harm. enemy mobs, specific plant life and the likes are the only ones capable of getting damaged

access to the inventory – anything the nova has attained, they can take and use. good luck with your hoarding because your food are definitely gonna decrease by a LOT once you log back in

private chatroom — just so they don't go insane, sunshines can gossip and pass news to one another on how things are going on their end. they speak of how far the nova (not traveler) is with their journey, and maybe just be a support group since i subjected them through a lot of bs

time loop — ...yeah. so long as you (the player) haven't progress in the given storyline in-game, you essentially trap them in an localized time loop. characters will end up "blinking" back to where they are initially if [1] the nova logged in, or [2] traveler, piloted guided by the nova, is in the area and the playable character is included in the quest the nova stumbled upon

spectators to the music — whatever bgm you have whether you have the in-game music on or are using a custom playlist, the ones in your current party (along with the parties beside the current one if you're toggling and choosing between the groups) will hear it. jean and tighnari are definitely disappointed in me for playing unholy while yaoyao is in my active team that one time w h o o p s

gained written and verbal language — whatever language you have downloaded in the game is now something the sunshines are proficient with.

for example: i have both english and korean voice packs downloaded so therefore they can speak both now. i only have english for my text. if i end up doing the typical isekai bs in the sagau community with my kr voice pack activated, the only way i can communicate with them is through writing back and forth in english lmao. if they manage to communicate with me in the self-aware Monika way then once they start speaking i am screwed since i don't speak korean :') – i don't see them speaking in textbox since [1] my speed reading sucks ass and [2] do you want your screen to be filled with text? do you?

depending on who you obtain next, they're the ones next in line with the madness. good thing they have the sunshine trio to help them out with this now. hallelujah Amber 🙏

that's it for now since this is enough of an info dump alr + this is the basic stuff you need to know for now. the rest of these will be just me and the shenanigans i subjected my playable characters through. that or someone's requests idk. hope you enjoyed this thing

[thelampisaflashlight]

And there was... two beds, but, unfortunately, you're stuck with me.

So I've mentioned before, and many folks may have discovered through some of my chat posts that I am, in fact, lactose intolerant.

A travesty considering I am both French and Swiss (this is true but it's also so I can make a swiss cheese joke even though, yeah, I don't think swiss cheese comes from Switzerland, get off my dick-), and come from a "cheese goes on pretty much everything" family.

However, my inability to consume dairy has lead to some funny -if not a touch unfortunate- occurrences... at least they've funny to me.

Introduction out of the way, I bring to you, the tale of the worst thing I did while sharing a bed in a hotel room with a friend.

So this was years ago now, but I remember this particular bit quite clearly.

I was visiting a friend of mine (we'll call them Kazoo -a joke that if they see this they will understand- for the sake of brevity) in another city where they were attending university along with our mutual friend (We'll call them Son -another joke they'll understand-) and their mom, because we obviously all couldn't stay in their dorm room, Son's mom rented a hotel room for us all to stay in.

Basically the plan was that we'd all stay in the hotel room the first night, and then on the second night we (Son, Kazoo, and I) would go to Kazoo's dorm and stay there while Son's mom got the hotel room to herself.

Well, the hotel we were staying in this particular time featured a good sized bed and then a sleeper sofa, so the sleeping arrangements worked out as follows: Son and their mom were on the sleeper sofa -since their mom would get the bed the next night all to herself- and Kazoo and I wound up on the bed.

Now, I couldn't tell you exactly what I had for dinner that night, but I can tell you it was pizza adjacent and there was definitely cheese on it, and probably some other milk based desserts involved at some point in the evening.

Point is, my stomach was deeply, deeply unhappy.

However, whilst out and about, you don't really *hear* just how much noise your stomach is making unless it gets really quiet, and it was pretty loud in the city, so aside from a few gurglies, I was fiiiine.

Or so I thought.

We get back to the hotel room, and we're all ready for bed, yeah?

We had to get up at an at least somewhat reasonable time so we could go explore the city the next day, so we all climb into bed late-ish at night, and that first little lapse into complete silence happens.

This is when I feel something brewing.

Something heinous.

I try to will the feeling away, because there is no noise to cover up whatever sound my body was about to make, but it slips out anyway.

The tiniest "frrt" sound in the midst of dead silence.

We all laugh.

It's funny, it's all good.

However.

Laughing makes my stomach contract.

I unleash another squeaky sound from my body, and the problem is, if you know me at all as a person, the funniest goddamn thing to me is total silence followed by a random, brief, sound.

All this to say I trapped myself in an endless loop of laughter, and Kazoo, who was in the bed next to me, absolutely wanted to murder me.

Not because I kept giggling, not even because of the farting itself, no.

No, I found out years later that the main reason they were so steamed about it was because they had gotten up to fart in the hotel's bathroom because they didn't want to gas me out, and had they known I was going to just let it rip like that, they would have just stayed comfortable in bed.

Anyway, I thought about this because I was thinking about what cheese substitutes are good vs bad, 'cause one straight up makes me sick and another one kind of tastes like butter?

Yeah.

The places my mind went.

[gold-rhine]

So you want to date a Changeling prince of a cursed kingdom, a manual.

Warnings: safe for work. mentions of kissing. Depression, dissociation, general angst… but very stylized, so not graphic.

A\N: Changeling Kaeya x reader. More metaphor than AU tbh.

Wordcount: 2k

If you have found yourself swayed by the charms of a beautiful sweet-talking knight, who is secretly (gasp!) is a prince of the underworld cursed realm, sent to live among the humans at a young age, or shortly, a changeling, then this manual is for you. And do not make a mistake of thinking you do not need it! 

Do you think that knowing a few common superstitions will make you safe from the fae tricks? This overconfident and naive point of view is what leads many people into traps of the fair folk and is eagerly supported by them for this exact reason. Fear not, for this manual will prepare you fully.

To illustrate, there's a common misconception that fae traps look like mushroom circles. And true, they can look like that, but the danger is in thinking this is the only way fae can trap you, so people lower their guards if there's no mushroom circle in sight. In truth, form of a trap matters not at all and in fact, fae do not need any material components to execute their magic. 

Say, you're walking past your fae princeling to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, and you do not have any intention to linger around him. He looks up from the favonius documents he’s working on and smiles at you, briefly, but radiantly, somehow managing to convey how much he’s happy to see you and how much you’re brightening his day. He doesn’t call to you, but seeing the genuine joy at your sight in his eyes, you make a slight detour to trace your hand over his shoulder, and this is it, the trap is locked. He will close his hand over yours and turn his head to you, catching your lips.

You might have thought he’ll be clingy, but it’s not exactly true. He will never try to keep you for longer than you’d want to. It’s that he will make himself so seductive, so irresistible that you’ll want to stay longer. He’s so glad to have you, so pliant and ready to bend into the form that just so comfortably fits you at the moment that you won’t want to leave. It’ll feel so natural to slide your arm over his shoulders, to lean against him, bury your chin in the dark silk of his hair. He lets you do anything you want, his fingers intertwine with yours, his arm tightens around your waist. He hums contently, gets back to writing up the documents with one free hand. 

This is it, the trap is closed without any mushrooms involved. 

Oh, of course, you can leave at any moment. You’d just need to forcefully disentangle yourself, shake off his arm, break off the grip of his fingers. He’ll let you go easily and won’t say anything to you or try to stop you. The one insignificant matter is that you’ll know that he was happy you were there and then you left. So leave if that sounds good to you.

Of course, there are some advantages for dating him, other than just sweet, wine-stained kisses. 

He’s so easily charismatic, so sparklingly charming, he can tell you some local gossip like it’s the most entertaining drama of the last theatrical season, humorous and tragic by turn, and watch your reaction like a hawk, change the tone sharply if you like it more. Surely a sign of a manipulative and lying blood of the fae, it’s not like he could enjoy just entertaining you, reality bended for the sake of your smile. He’s a talented storyteller, and he can talk to you for hours, listen to your laughter with an easy grin and hand closed over yours, but it doesn’t count. He’s a spy and a liar and nothing about him could change it.

As one of the folk who deal in favors, he’s very attentive, he listens seriously to even the smallest of your worries, even if he never really complains himself. He gives advice, strategizing like it’s one of the tasks for the favonius knights, like he cherishes the fact that you trust him enough to share your problems. 

He cannot give favors of magic or gifts of secret knowledge, so he shares his own. He gives you homebound little books, written in his own beautiful cursive, personalized and addressed like letters, about everything and anything useful he can think of, - how to haggle in shops, what food pairs with what wine, how to tell you’re being scammed. He considers helping to learn a skill much more valuable than just solving a problem once, so a week after complaining about an annoying coworker you receive a handwritten pamphlet on their weakness and how to better deal with them, which he learned by “accidentally” bumping into them in a tavern. 

The advantageous thing about him being a changeling and not a true-raised fae, is that he will let you break an unspoken contract with no repercussions, with the only caveat that he will never trust you again. Which is a small price to pay to get free of the fair folks schemes.

So you can break his heart once, free of charge. But in truth, you won’t need to. Let the romance run it’s course and he will let you go himself.

Because another misunderstood thing about the fae is glamour. Most people know that glamour is a magical facade fair folk use to blend in and impress the humans, but don’t know how it actually works. Many think it’s an actual visual illusion, but let me assure you, it’s not. Your changeling is exactly as beautiful as you see him, he will not turn into an ugly pumpkin when the glamour breaks. But the everyday world chafes at the edges for a fae, takes a lot of energy and worns them down, and glamour is an attractive shell that smoothes the interaction. So when your changeling is out of energy to keep up the glamour for you, he will leave -  or arrange that you will leave him yourself.

You might feel confident because he said sometimes, in feverish stolen whispers, that he loves you. Know that this will not change anything. Not because he lied. As a fae, he can’t lie outright, but because the world never cared about what he loves or wants. 

No, it’s about the glamour, a spell that will be both his safety and his cage, sudden frost in the spring which captures young flowers before they can ever bloom, keeps them fresh and pretty for longer, but never lets them open up. Oh, but how sweet and beautiful the ice makes your changeling, isn't it worth it?

Here’s the secret. You can have either the fairytale glamour or a man underneath, not both, so make your choice. 

Know that he will want you to leave.

And that’s for the best for the both of you. You won’t have to deal with his curse or his ghosts. You can have a round of wonderful waltz under the glacial lights and then move on with your life, having experienced charming adventure, knowing how to discern best taste of champagne and for the rest of your life having that sparkle in your eye which one only gets after being courted by a fae or having an affair in spring Paris. 

But perhaps you’ve been so uncareful as to fall for him.

Any decent prophet or a witch worth her salt will tell you to forget it. He’s not worth the trouble by far. His curse runs in blood, weaved into him too tightly to untangle, and even true love cannot lift those.

And he’s not even a true prince, when you get down to it. There are a lot more exciting and interesting options for romantic entanglements than the cursed son of a regent's bloodline if what you’re looking for is an exotic adventure. 

But perhaps you've noticed the crow under the peacock feathers and fell for the sincerity of it instead of the charm of glamour. Perhaps you’ve liked the awkward overeagerness of beautifully penned down manuals over the brazen manipulations. Maybe you’ve seen him one morning in a kitchen, lost in the thought reading a book while waiting for coffee to be ready, hair in a messy bun and balancing on one leg, worrying pages of the book, so painfully human, until he notices you and looks up, almost stumbling by surprise, but catches himself due to natural easy grace, and laughs when you move closer to catch him, and a sharp needle goes suddenly through your heart because how beautiful he is and how happy you are to have him. The book is left forgotten on the windowsill like many others, not interesting enough to hold his attention, which you sometimes collect to make sure the librarian doesn’t paralyze half of your forgetful changeling again.

Well, if you want to keep him, truly him and not the pretty image, you need to look for the breaks in the armor of the ice. He hates this weakness, so he’ll slide away, try to hide from everyone when he doesn’t have the strength to keep the mask up. 

It will be easy to find him for the first time because he doesn’t think anyone will look for him. He’s standing on the bridge, alone, looking at the moonlight glinting on the dark river, breaking a cigarette he stole from Rosaria in the slender anxious fingers. He doesn’t want you to see him like this, but as a rule, he cannot leave if you don’t let him go. So his usual easy wit turns into prickly, acidic sarcasm, the scales of a trashing lindworm. And, like Tam Lin, you have to hold him tight and fear not, no matter how much he tries to push you away. One thing you can say as an answer to any of his snide remarks is “Do you want me to leave?” (remember he cannot lie outright)

Dropped cigarette floats down the dark river, but his fingers still smell of tobacco when you tangle them with your own. The chill wind makes you shiver and his hand twitches.

“Well, I hope you’re enjoying freezing in the cold for no reason instead of having fun at the party.”

“Well, you chose to brood out there in the cold, so it's really on you.”

“I don’t *brood*. And you didn’t have to follow me. Go back, it’s okay.”

“Oh, shut up, Kaeya.”

You tighten your arms around him and he sighs, buries his face in the side of your neck. The tip of his nose is very cold against your skin. The crisp armor of ice cracks, but holds up.

Don’t think that catching him one time will break the spell. Next time his mask starts slipping, he’ll hide better. But never that you cannot find him if you give enough of a shit. You’ll be able to find your lindworm through the cold blue fog of the lonely pine forests of the streets if you care just enough.

And the more times you find and hold him, the less far he’ll hide. Until one day, he’ll come to you himself instead of running away, put his chin onto your shoulder from behind and close his eyes. Sometimes, he can complain of the everyday matters, which he would never allow himself before, because he knew he had to be fun to be around, and sometimes he’ll be quiet, the black jaws of the abyss gnawing on his inside of his ribs and only the warmth of your embrace keeping the ghosts from closing in. 

If you ignore or dismiss him at a time like this, the spell would break though and he will be whisked away. Because faery spells in their nature are *deals* and the price of keeping him is not love, it’s trust. 

And it’s trust that makes the blizzard of glamour which follows him melt and shed like a discarded heaps of snow when it sees you, so that he has time to recover the strength to pick it up the next day when he has to go back outside. Of course, you’d wish to break the curse completely, but it’s iron thorns run too deep, dig too tight into his flesh. Because you cannot break his curse, but you can stand with him under the damned sword of fate hanging above his head. 

Why would you want to, though?

[someseriousthot]

Madoka Magica: Rebellion - A Soapbox

Madoka Magica: Rebellion has to be THE most watched movie I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched it at least 30+ times by this point over the past 6 years, and I’m still noticing some little things here and there the animators included in the movie that I didn’t see on a previous viewing.

But for all of my viewings, whenever I see people commenting on why the movie sucked, why the anime sucked, why the anime’s ending sucked, why the movie’s ending sucked, or why all of them were good, I’ve yet to see someone with this take, and I feel like as a result a lot of folks are missing an extremely important Thing™ that directly lead into the ending of the anime and the reason why the Rebellion story turned out the way it did.

This is going to be filled to the BRIM with spoilers for the movie and the 12-episode series, so if you haven’t watched it I highly highly recommend you do, even if you found the ending of the anime dissatisfying. I was one of those people (the ending felt like it fell super flat for me, and I heard at the time it split the fandom 50/50) and I was so glad I watched it, it’s one of my favorite pieces of cinema ever and I recommend it to everyone I talk to when I mention Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

(I watched a vid about a guy’s blind reaction to the movie and it was hilarious but the comments had me FUMING because I kept seeing the SAME takes over and over and I GET! Where they’re coming from with their theories! But at the same time I feel like it’s missing a HUGE, VERY ESSENTIAL PIECE THAT WAS IN THE ANIME! Hence the soapbox moment)

TL;DR at the very, very bottom

A quick refresher on what happened at the end of the series:

- It’s revealed that because Homura kept rewinding time, a bunch of threads of Fate have tied themselves to Madoka as a result, and because of this, every time Madoka makes a contract, she becomes the world’s most powerful Magical Girl before turning into the world’s most evil Witch.

- Homura has created a noose for herself with those very same threads of Fate, because if she fails to save Madoka she’ll either reset the timeline again or turn into a Witch herself.

- Madoka uses her wish to become a “concept” that purifies Magical Girls before they can become Witches, ascending to a higher existence and essentially becoming a God as a result, disappearing from the world and everyone’s memories save for Homura.

- Homura decides to carry on for Madoka’s sake, trying to protect the world that she sacrificed herself for in honor of her memory, but at the very last second we see a strange scene in the final episode post-credits...?

Sound familiar? Familiar enough? Good. Now, before I go into what happened in Rebellion, I want to tackle an elephant in the room that’s going to be extremely important for what takes place in Madoka Magica: Rebellion, as it’s this Very Important Thing™ that serves as the catalyst for the entire movie.

Point 1: What was that ending?? (aka The Final Timeline)

A lot of folks were really dissatisfied with Madoka essentially disappearing from reality/becoming a God because it felt like it came WAY out of left field. Why didn’t Homura just reset again? Why did Madoka have to disappear like that? Why didn’t she just wish that magical girls weren’t a thing, or that the Incubators never came to Earth?

If you remember the anime, then you know that:

- Resetting the timeline again would have just added more Fate to Madoka, which would have exacerbated the problem without solving it (which is why Homura began to despair when she realized she couldn’t stop the cycle she was currently trapped in).

- Because of the nature of Madoka’s wish, she couldn’t do that just as a normal Magical Girl; she had to be able to reach every Magical Girl that was falling into despair and risking the destruction of their Soul Gem (and becoming a Witch). Unfeasible for a measly human body, or even the body of a single Magical Girl.

- During her discussions with Kyubey, it specifically says that Magical Girls were the sparking factor for a lot of humanity’s development and creating the society that Madoka lives in today. If the Incubators never came to Earth, then we would all still be naked living in caves.

NOW: Up until this point, the timeline has been playing out like every other that Homura has lived through thus far. The month starts over, she goes back to school and meets Madoka for the “first time”, she tries to warn her not to make a contract with a creature promising a miracle in exchange, she starts preparing for Walpurgisnacht while trying to keep an eye on her. If she can’t beat Walpurgisnacht, or she fails in keeping Madoka from making a contract with Kyubey, she resets the timeline.

And things play out normally! She was hoping to prevent Sayaka from making a contract with Kyubey, considering she knows what’s going to eventually happen to her, and Madoka losing her closest friend (that she knows of) at the time is tragic, but that’s not Homura’s priority. Losing Kyoko was tragic (especially since she was trying to save Sayaka somehow), but that was another calculated loss. She manages to prevent Madoka from making a contract with Kyubey (with a couple extremely close calls) until the end of the month, and then it’s the showdown with Walpurgisnacht, and past experiences have her pulling out all the stops to finally defeat her this time.

Unbeknownst to her, Kyubey has been having these little meetings with Madoka, where he reveals that she has an insane amount of Fate attached to her, despite her being just a normal school girl. In their next meeting he tells her that once she makes the contract, she’ll be the most powerful Magical Girl ever, before becoming the most powerful Witch ever. And in a later meeting, he reveals the reasons why Magical Girls fall into despair (with disturbing visuals), the reasons why Incubators came to Earth, and the purpose of Magical Girls dying to release energy into the universe. It’s also because of these meetings that Madoka decides to use her wish to help save Magical Girls before they become Witches, so their wishes (and their hopes and dreams) wouldn’t have been in vain.

So, right when Homura is about to succumb to despair and turn into a Witch, Madoka intervenes and promises her that all of her sacrifices, all of those timelines she spent trying to protect her, won’t be in vain, and she makes her wish and disappears forever.

Sound familiar? Frustratingly familiar? Good, because there’s something I want you to think about before we proceed to the movie:

At what point did Homura find out about these little meetings between Kyubey and Madoka?

She’s been way too focused on preparing for Walpurgisnacht to know about their little clandestine meetings. Not to mention that this is the first and only timeline that these discussions even happen. Kyubey even comments on this in the first couple episodes, that he’s never encountered a Magical Girl with so much potential before. He’s twigged onto it early on, and that rouses his suspicions, even moreso every time Homura kills him or interrupts before Madoka can make a contract with him, and it comes to a head when he finds out about her time magic. (Remember, Homura is NOT from this timeline, and so Kyubey doesn’t remember ever making a contract with her.)

Kyubey has never revealed the secret about Magical Girls to Madoka in any other timeline. In fact it’s because of Mami’s (unintentional) death that spurs Sayaka into making a contract with him (despite Mami’s trying to warn her not to), then Madoka throwing away her Soul Gem that it eventually comes to light, and it’s following Sayaka's (and Kyoko’s) death that he reveals the rest of it. Things never played out like this in previous timelines either.

Now, onto the movie, but keep this plot point in mind. This is going to be really important later.

Point Two: The Flower Field Scene (aka The Turning Point)

Midway through the movie, we get to the infamous flower field scene between Homura and Madoka. Homura’s already realized something weird is going on and has been trying to figure out who’s created the labyrinth they’re all trapped in, and now that she and Madoka have time alone she’s able to come clean about a lot of stuff that’s been weighing on her in the past three years. Namely her “bad dream” that Madoka disappeared and she was the only person that remembered her, that she began doubting her memories and thought she was someone she just made up, etc.

Madoka then tells her that she would never go somewhere so far away that she couldn’t see any of them again.

“I would never want to go somewhere I could never see anyone again. Even if there were no other choice, I know I’d never have the courage to do something like that.”

And Homura has a horrible moment of realization.

“Right...that’s right.”

Those are your honest feelings. And yet, I...how could I have made such a stupid mistake?

I shouldn’t have allowed that to happen. That no matter what I would’ve had to do, I should have stopped you back then.

This scene comes back to haunt her later in the movie, as well as DIRECTLY influencing her actions all the way up to the ending. However, I feel like a lot of misinformation has been happening that’s colored the reason why the movie went the direction it did.

A lot of people think that Homura realized that Madoka essentially martyred herself to save all Magical Girls from despair, feeling that she was forced into that decision on behalf of others. But we know that’s not the case, she entered into that contract willingly and was content with her fate, even if it meant everyone would forget her. Even her own family.

That Madoka seemed like she was happy doing this, but with what Madoka’s saying she thinks those are her “honest feelings” and that she should have stopped her from going through with it. That Madoka’s ultimate fate was her fault instead of a conscious decision Madoka made on her own.

Homura then spends the rest of the movie angry with herself for allowing it to happen and then trying to figure out how to reverse it.

Point Three: God and Demon (aka What was that ending?? 2: Electric Boogaloo)

Homura’s turning into a Demon in the end of the movie and splitting the mortal girl Madoka from the Law of the Cycle seems to be a really big point of contention for fans as to the reason why she did that. From the comments I’ve seen:

- Some folks think that Homura “knew” she was going to turn into a Demon if Madoka and the others saved her while in the labyrinth, and was wanting to destroy herself before that happened

- Some folks think that Homura was dishonoring Madoka’s wish by separating her, exercising her will over Madoka’s, which is completely unfair and disrespectful to what Madoka wanted

- Some folks think that Homura was planning on separating the mortal version of herself from the Law of the Cycle the whole time, or at LEAST after Kyubey revealed the truth about the Isolation Field and the experiment

- Some folks thinks it was because Homura missed/loved (or was obsessed with) Madoka so much she couldn’t bear to be apart from her any longer and that’s why she tore a piece of her away (to “keep”, as evidenced by the spool of pink thread - the records of Madoka before she ceased to exist - literally becoming the basis for Homura’s new Soul Gem)

But overall a lot of folks were probably confused (and rightly shocked) at the events that took place at the end of the movie, and were trying to figure out the justification behind it.

Now, I’ll ask you again: At what point did Homura find out about these little meetings between Kyubey and Madoka?

The answer: She never did. Therefore she is missing a very massive and crucial piece of context for the decisions Madoka made.

Remember, these discussions never happened in any other timeline. Homura found out the truth about Soul Gems and Witches long before anyone else did, but with the reactions they garnered in previous timelines she felt no reason to try to hammer it home with folks because they’d either be in denial or snap.

Another thing: Kyubey and Sayaka both said mentioned alterations with Madoka’s memories - Kyubey with wiping (or supposedly wiping) the memories of everyone that came into Homura’s labyrinth, and Sayaka saying that she and Bebe were “holding onto them” while the Incubators were focused on her so they could move about freely under their noses without their realizing.

Neither of them could have realized the ramifications this would cause with the famous flower field scene between Homura and Madoka, because not only does Homura not know that Madoka knew this whole time about what was happening and why, but that she thinks what Madoka’s saying (about never wanting to go somewhere she couldn’t see everyone again, that she’d never have the courage to do something like that, that she wouldn’t want to do that even if there were no other choice) are her honest feelings. And Madoka has none of her memories that helped her make that decision to do all those things. Homura takes her at her word because she has absolutely no evidence to the contrary.

So when she’s presented a chance at the end of the movie to undo that decision? To undo the damage done to Madoka and to give her that second chance of living a “normal” life that Madoka herself said she wanted?

It was inevitable. I couldn’t see the movie ending any other way, and I’ll explain why.

Point Four: Breaking down the arguments (aka that Pepe Silvia conspiracy meme from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

1. The idea that Homura “knew” she was going to turn into a Demon if Madoka and the others saved her/was planning on turning into a Demon (somehow) the whole time

I don’t think this was the case at all. Homura was pretty damned determined to die during that whole fight scene. In her Despair Zone™ she was even about to put a bullet in her skull to kill herself before Madoka reached her, since her plan for the others to kill her fell through. She was so intent on it because she wanted to prevent the Incubators from reaching Madoka through her, which would have rendered everything the two of them went through for nothing.

If anything, being forced to relive Madoka’s deaths over and over in her own private Despair Zone™, AND Madoka coming to save her herself, is what probably influenced that part, which I will get into.

2. The idea that Homura purposefully, intentionally went against Madoka’s wish

Again, Homura was missing several very big and extremely important pieces of context that lead to what happened. Would she have still made that decision knowing? Who knows.

3. The idea that Homura was obsessed/”loved” Madoka so much that she undermined her wish

This might have some part in what happened, but I don’t think it’s the biggest player in this.

Again, it’s been three whole years since Madoka disappeared and Homura was left with only memories of her and the timelines she went through. During the flower field scene, she said she was starting to doubt her own mind, wondering if she had made all of it up. Then during the final battle, Homura was stuck reliving all the times she failed to save/protect Madoka over and over. Reminding her of the pain and sorrow she went through trying to change her fate. That those emotions were real, that those things happened, that she went through hell and back for her.

That whole thing with Homura saying she just wanted to see Madoka one more time? Betraying her “wish” (Madoka warned her not to be alone/go anywhere by herself, and if you remember the post-credits scene from the anime, that was PROBABLY how the Incubators got ahold of her), not caring what she would become as a result (which I think she meant turning into a Witch, NOT a Demon, or at least not yet) as long as Madoka was at her side?

And then the two of them team up, bolstered by the innate power Madoka has as the Law of the Cycle to destroy the Incubator’s trap and free her? Showing Homura that there was a way the two of them could be together without risking Madoka’s secret?

Homura saw a chance to fix her “mistake.”

She wasn’t scared, after becoming a witch she accepted whatever was going to happen to her.

And she wasn’t going to hesitate anymore.

NOT TO MENTION what do you guys think would have happened had Homura not done that?

What if Homura had allowed Madoka to whisk her away, joining the Law of the Cycle?

What if she hadn’t turned into a Demon and imprisoned the Incubators, using them to hold all the curses of humanity?

The reason this happened at all was because, right before the end credits, Homura was telling Kyubey about what happened in previous timelines. The Incubators had three years to plan this for when Homura was ready to be taken by The Cycle. (A fact that Homura is deeply frustrated with during the whole reveal scene when Kyubey starts monologuing)

What would have stopped the Incubators from doing this with another Magical Girl? Now knowing that the Law of the Cycle is more than one entity/aspect, what’s to stop them from trying to create another, more cunning trap for next time? Chipping away at the Law of the Cycle’s power a little at a time until they do eventually completely conquer it? How many Magical Girls would be sacrificed to this end? They created the Isolation Field for Homura, they could probably come up with something smarter for next time. And if it were any other Magical Girl do you really think they’d have the willpower she had not to call upon Madoka to save her?

Homura saw what she thought was a happy ending and, if fate wasn’t going to give it to her, she was going to bend reality and force it.

This also sets up the scene for the fourth movie because: 1) Homura can't sustain this reality forever. Once all the Curses are gone, or if she decides to destroy this universe, there's probably going to be a final battle somewhere, which will involve all of the other Magical Girls and their ultimate fate, especially since Sayaka alone remembers the truth (and Madoka was so close to remembering as well). 2) With the Incubators otherwise out of commission, this also means that there's going to probably be a finite number of Magical Girls now. With no Incubators there to grant wishes, for all the girls that fall into despair, that means others won't be there to take their place. Does that mean Madoka's Godhood (and therefore Homura's Demonhood) will become finite? Will the curses of humanity begin to overrun reality? Will reality reset itself and all the magical girls up to this point will have history rewritten to where their contracts, and therefore their adventures as magical girls, never happen?

Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox for a bit. If you have a chance to see the movie, I highly recommend it if for the fight scenes if not the story. The soundtrack is super nice too.

TL;DR: Homura didn’t know Madoka was told The Secret about Magical Girls and Witches™ by Kyubey in the timeline during the anime, so during the flower field scene she thought Madoka’s words were her honest feelings (when they weren’t). Then when being stuck in her own head after turning into a Witch she was forced to relive all of Madoka’s deaths over countless timelines over and over, which also served as a reminder why she went through all those timelines (because she loved Madoka) which is why she turned into a Demon in the end and forced a “happy ending”, not out of obsession or to ruin Madoka’s wish but because that’s what she thought she wanted.

[noxexistant]

OKAY SO-

NEW TAKE THAT KIND OF ACTUALLY WORKS

Santa Fe (92sies)

But it’s Oscar lamenting about what his life could be

The music would be different (don’t ask Blaze how Blaze does not know music) and some of the words I think would have to be.

But it could work

I had a few specifics yesterday but here’s what I remember:

The dance break would instead be Oscar and Morris interacting in different ways. Mostly showcasing how much Oscar has to take care of him

“Breakin’ your back for someone else’s sake” takes on a whole new meaning

“I want space. Not just air.” He can’t, but he wants to know what it’s like without Morris.

“That’s what they call a family. Ain’t you glad you ain’t that way?” Could have so much power for Oscar.

At the end of it he would see Morris again and you’d be able to see the guilt on his face at the thoughts

i want you to know i’ve been haunted by this literally all day (positive)

“trapped where there ain’t no future, even at seventeen” [screams]. oscar lashing out because he truly does feel trapped, and there’s no hope of a future - not a real one - when he has to look after morris.

he’d used to fantasise about it, the stuff he’d maybe be able to do one day once mo was grown, but now it’s clear that mo’s never gonna be grown, not really. oscar has to take care of him always, making sure he eats and sleeps and doesn’t hurt himself. the kid can’t tie his own shoelaces, or dress himself properly, and gets himself into trouble every time he opens his mouth. he sticks to oscar’s side even when oscar’s being spiteful with him - even when he’s doing it on purpose, desperate for some peace, but he can’t ever be alone because mo needs him. even when he’s asleep oscar can’t relax - can’t have space - because mo has nightmares every night and either needs oscar to wake him up or wakes up on his own and crawls out of bed to go walkabout. even in the dead quiet when morris is asleep and oscar’s awake just to bask in it and let his thoughts wander to where he’d go, what he’d do, it’s just air. a gulp of it for a drowning man.

oscar’s tired. he knows neither of them ever got to be kids, not properly, but mo gets more of it than oscar’s ever had. oscar tries so hard to look after him, and let him do stupid childish stuff even when he probably shouldn’t - lets mo get away with stuff that he knows grown folk don’t do. but, for all of that, oscar’s always been the one making food, and clumsily sewing mo’s clothes and blankies and stuffed animals back together when they ripped, and holding him while he sobbed and wheezed, and patching up his injuries. oscar feels like a parent most of the time, and he never wanted to be one. it’s back-breaking work, and it’s so often thankless because mo just throws fits and screams even when oscar’s trying to do what’s best for him, he could never understand how much oscar does for him. how much he gives up every day to keep morris safe.

he could have enough money to leave in just a couple weeks if he wasn’t dividing it all up into tiny pieces to make it all last as long as possible for the both of them. and he’s thought about it - putting some aside just for him, gathering enough to just go. morris wouldn’t be able to stop him. wiesel wouldn’t either. and oscar’d be nobody as soon as he left - he could change his name again, go out west and find more farm work. find someone else to do dirty work for, the good kind of dirty work without his name and so-called family attached to it. he could find a theatre like medda’s, or a deli like jacobi’s, and be someone other than who he already has to be. he could be a person.

but then he comes back to reality. sees morris struggle to write his name out in clumsy, stilted script on a bit of paperwork for wiesel, and spell it wrong. sees him tapping and rocking as he tries and fails to focus on whatever asinine task wiesel’s got him doing. sees him take a hit across the face from their so-called uncle and then take another later that day from a bigger guy that morris hits back harder. sees him curl up into a tight little ball on their bed like he’s trying desperately to not exist, and cry silently like they’d both been taught, because he’d had a bad dream and can’t even communicate to oscar what it’d been about.

and oscar knows he could never leave. he knows morris wouldn’t make it without him, and so much of oscar would die with him that it’d be a corpse at best on that ranch in…somewhere. oscar doesn’t even know any cities out west other than santa fe, and he knows he can’t go where jack goes.

and, besides, oscar feels like maybe it’s all worth it when morris curls up next to him, or smiles when he meets oscar’s eyes, or tangles their fingers together. that’s worth more than any future - that’s always been the present.

[queerlilchinchin]

Dear Young/Unmarried Folks of Tumblr Who Wish to Get Married:

Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleeease promise me you won't rush into marriage and that you'll be really careful who you marry.

People are very good at hiding their true selves from people until they feel they have them trapped with no way to escape, and that's when the true colors come out.

Please for fuck's sake I'd rather you be over cautious and safe than not cautious enough and marry someone who'll end up being the end of you or something else horrible.

Not trying to scare you but also kind of am. Be careful out there!

[diamond-dangeresque]

others: Dragon Age 2 is a game with nuanced story themes

me: okay, okay, i see you. Kirkwall is a destitute spiral of capitalistic misery and political stagnation, kept that way both by arcane design (i.e. because Kirkwall was designed as a Veil-hole-punching misery farm) and because capitalism itself and other systems which hold up the elite and their excessive comforts at the expense of the poor and downtrodden create circumstances that inflict further pain and misery upon its own populace. Kirkwall is one of the few places in which its Chantry, a place meant to service the poor and downtrodden through acts of charity and good work, is instead situated in the middle of its most luxurious and expensive districts...again by design, given that Kirkwall was once a Tevinter quarry colony and the Chantry of Tevinter served primarily its least-needy rather than its most-needy. like, for fucks sakes, it has a MASSIVE statue of Andraste made out of what either looks like gold or bronze. (could actually be volcanic aurum, idk.) it's patently ridiculous. it's meant to look gaudy and trashy and kind of blatantly offensive. anyways! actual political movement in Kirkwall is impossible to succinctly perform and enact, echoed by both political figures (e.g. Viscount Dumar, Seneschal Bran) and religious figures (e.g. Grand Cleric Elthina, my beloathed) you talk to, effectively because the rich nobility refuses to lift a finger and spend a single of their sovereigns to help those who most need it.

others:

me, enraptured: the Templars are a problem, and they are a bad problem, but they are honestly not the problem; there is a lot of political apathy in Kirkwall stemming mostly from the exhaustion and feelings-of-being-cornered that living in a place like Kirkwall does to you. people join the Templars as much as they would join any other job: for the security of the next night's meal guaranteed and a warm place to sleep without a cloud of chokedamp randomly killing you in the night (and that's the more merciful way to die!). mages turn to blood magic not necessarily because it is a cheap way out of training to becoming a strong mage or in some blind thirst for power, but because self-sacrifice of one's own health and livelihood is the only way to truly make steps in getting out of Kirkwall's insidious poverty trap, and blood magic is a direct visual metaphor for this sacrifice. yes, there are bad Templars. yes, there are bad mages. and yes, there are plenty of decent people, on both sides, trying to make this system work because total collapse of the Andrastian system only favors vultures looking to profit from both sides of a bloody and needless conflict, only favors bloodthirsty psychopaths who want a reason to wantonly kill whoever looks at them funny, only ever hurts decent honest folk just trying to live to the next fucking day in a system that hates them for not being rich enough or not being powerful enough. what we have now isn't any good, yes, but trashing the whole thing without anything resembling a backup plan gets people needlessly killed and pointless enmity built for both "sides" altogether.

others:

me:

others:

me:

others: so you're okay with mage oppression?

me:

[shaloved30]

“You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”

[merakiui]

Tsaritsa's personal handmaiden that you wrote was so good!! Do you have anymore thoughts on this? And thank you so much for replying this ask, hope that you having a wonderful day/night.

I do have some thoughts! I’ll list my thoughts below.

Having hot tea with the Tsaritsa, which are comfortable moments between the two of you. None are permitted to disturb either of you during this time, as it’s a moment the Tsaritsa cherishes. Though she’ll never admit to it, you can tell that her usually frosty gaze warms just a little when you sit across from her.

No one has ever seen you with your mask off, which means your face remains a grand mystery. The Harbingers have all secretly theorized what might be hiding under there. When thinking of you, their gazes wander to Capitano, whose face is also a mystery waiting to be solved should anyone dare to try. They can’t help but create their own image of you in their heads per their tastes. Childe imagines a face full of battle scars, Colombina imagines a soft face with a certain sharpness to it, Arlecchino likes to think that your eyes are as mysterious as your demeanor—they hold secrets that no Harbinger will ever know because they’ve yet to peer into those spiraling depths.

Despite your role as a handmaiden, you are also well-versed in combat. It started with self-defense because you wished to protect yourself and those close to you, and it has evolved into a rather graceful fighting style that cuts through enemies quicker than they can heave their final breath. You practice and train in secret, but lately there have been eyes on the training grounds.

When cleaning Zapolyarny Palace, scrubbing away grime and bloodshed without a second thought, you often encounter one of the Harbingers. They linger for a moment, observing the way you work so diligently. Depending on who you’ve encountered, they always glean vastly different observations from the brief exchange. Dottore has not seen a Vision on your person; he wonders if you possess one. Pantalone spies the hair accessory he gifted you, its silver shine twinkling in the dimness of the palace hall. Capitano notices how small and fragile you look when he stares down at you from his imposing height. It’s usually Pulcinella and Pierro who express their gratitude despite not needing to do so. It’s just for courtesy’s sake, but you always present them with a practiced smile and a soft utterance of, “Thank you, Lord Harbinger.”

When the holiday season falls upon Snezhnaya and everyone is permitted to visit their families, you bid farewell to Zapolyarny Palace and prepare to meet with your loved ones. It’s been a while since you’ve answered their letters or bothered reminiscing them. Perhaps it’s chance or fate that has you crossing paths with the rogue Sixth. You almost don’t recognize him, for he’s done well to blend in with the common folk, but the minute he opens his mouth and a tirade spills out you realize his true identity. He only sees you as a traveler, for you have donned casual attire and have discarded all of your ties to the Fatui, your mask included. It’s your duty to report back to the Tsaritsa, for this discovery is paramount. But right now you are not a handmaiden and he is not a Harbinger. So you extend your kindest smile and ask if he’d like to travel with you. Scaramouche, who traps himself in a mental debate of whether or not he should allow himself to travel the distance to Fontaine, where you claim a few loved ones reside, soon surrenders to a decision made by his nonexistent heart. There’s an air of familiarity around you; perhaps that’s why he agrees. He travels with you and by the final stretch of the journey a peculiar emotion prickles him. Though it’s foolish, he wants to stay by your side a little longer…

[talesofsonicasura]

Fierce Mergence

An idea that came to me involving the Fierce Deity mask. We all know that there is some kind of entity inside the powerful item which during Majora's Mask and Hyrule Warriors cause the wearer to take its form. However in Breath of the Wild, it was just a mild powerup. (Reminder that it's a Amiibo based item and not actually canon.)

I can only suspect that after sometime between Hyrule Warriors and Breath of the Wild, the Fierce Deity entered a catatonic state or hibernation. Here's some important info to know about complete sensory deprivation. It can be used as a form of therapy but only for short amount of time. Too much will cause serious psychological effects on someone such as dementia (which can explain any possible memory loss).

You see the brain breaks down rational thought structures to minimize stress which however results in a psychotic breakdown afterwards. Imagine being trapped for so long without those vital senses? God or not, that is true hell to even the Fierce Deity.

Hence the catatonic state, his power locking his conscience away cause I'm pretty sure no one wants to see what happens when a god has a psychotic breakdown. That's my theory for why the mask doesn't act the same.

Now for to the actual topic here. What if the Fierce Deity fully fused with the current wearer? I don't mean like possessive type fusion but a purer version. Where two people fully become one: mind, body and soul. The entity wanting to escape their hellish imprisonment at any cost.

Two characters that come to mind is Breath of the Wild Link (Wild in Linked Universe terms) and Majora's Mask Link (Mask/Time in Linked Universe terms). Now if you guys are fans of the Fierce Dadity trope... here's a way to make it sad.

Fierce (or Valion as I prefer to call him) performing such a fusion to save his current wielder especially if that Link is a son in the god's eyes. Most of Link's being is front and center but everything that is Valion becomes consumed. Godhood's already a tough pill to swallow but when it costs your father...

Yeah, neither Mask/Time or Wild are gonna be okay for awhile especially the latter when you look at BOTW. If you don't want to go for the Fierce Dadity route like this but still want to use such an idea then here's a fun twist.

Mask/Time becoming the Fierce Deity thanks to over usage of the mask. It becomes harder and harder to take it off. Whenever it is removed, there are lasting changes such as increase in height, hair beginning to whiten and eyes losing their natural features.

For Wild, this comes from the constant upgrades given by the Great Fairies. The Fierce Deity Mask subtle gaining enough power alongside Valion gaining just a bit of conscious to perform a fusion. An unexpected change as Wild just wanted to wear his new outfit more, not become a God of Battle.

The Fierce Deity does want a chance to live again even if he's just an echo or hidden conscious. Reason why he does this to these Links is because of who they are as a person. Neither of them would use such power for personal gain but to genuinely help others.

Some folks in the fandom see Fierce Deity as a war god so there are important aspects that must be known. War isn't always started just for the hell of it. It is often for the sake of others whether the intentions are good or bad. War has its own heroes: soldiers, medics, to even the citizens themselves.

Hope, pain, sorrow, faith, joy, grief and rage are also emotions connected to this very concept. Both Links embody nearly all of this so they are perfect candidates in Valion's eyes. The Deity's seat is now empty so someone should take his place. And if that successor takes on a child, it just makes things better cause they now have a reason to avoid the same fate.

That's all I have for now. Until next time folks, I'll see you back in Hyrule.

Edit: I forgot to add that you guys can try your hand at this concept! I don't really mind at all as I'm curious about what people can come up with. 😀

[ravenclaw-daydreams]

𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨 | 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐧𝐞𝐫

Warnings: mention of assassination, graphic smut, adult content, mentions of murder, pervy men in the workplace, falling for a villain, guns, mentions of pregnancy, unprotected sex, alcohol.

Masterlist

Summary: Jackson just wants a normal life but thanks to his business, his chances were slim. but after meeting you, his chances it doesn't seem like such a long shot anymore.

A/N: Reading Jack's Villian wiki gave me the idea, and the personality section is what really set it in motion. He's more human than we thought, folks. I felt VERY inclined to write this. :)

Jack wasn't proud of his work. He never was. But he knew that once he got into the business, he could never get out. And as fate would have it, you met him on the job.

Your boss was a ruthless, lying, manipulative son of a bitch, and you just so happened to be his receptionist. You hated your job and the way your pig of a boss would always make it sickeningly obvious he was starring at your breasts when asking you to make a call. You hated him. Sometimes you would imagine ways to kill the bastard and get away with it too.

Apparently, someone else had the same idea, but actually took the initiative of hiring an assassin. That's where you came in.

It was a late Friday night, and after a long grueling day of putting up with your boss's demands, you were so happy to see the front door of your home. You couldn't wait to collapse on the couch with a glass of red wine and have a leisurely weekend.

You fiddled with your keys as you tried to find the right one. 'Why the hell did I have all those keys anyways?' you thought to yourself bitterly as you shuffled them around.

But the sound of a gun cocking from behind you made you freeze. Air caught in your throat as you tried to convince yourself you didn't just hear what you thought you heard.

"Don't let me stop you," a smooth masculine voice from behind you sneered, pressing what you presumed to be the barrel of the gun point-blank onto your back, "Unlock the door, step inside. Scream and you die."

You gave a small nod, your search for the right key more frantic now, and once you found it, your shaking hand fumbled with it before finally slipping it into the keyhole, your trembling hand opening the door, and you felt yourself get pushed inside.

The door slammed behind you, and that's when you whipped around, now face to face with your captor. The gun was still pointed at you, but the man who was holding it was what stopped you in your tracks.

If someone told you that morning that you were going to be held at gunpoint by one of the most attractive men you had ever seen in your life, you would have laughed in their face. But you weren't laughing now.

"What do you want?" you managed to squeak out, his piercing blue eyes bore into yours.

"Well, I have a job to do, to put it plainly, and you're one of the only people that can help me complete it," he began to explain, "And you don't have a choice."

"What are you wanting from me?"

"Your boss. I want you to call him and tell him that there's something going on and he needs to swing by the office. Once he obliges, my guys who are waiting outside the building as we speak will take it from there."

"You're going to kill him?" you gasped. Sure, you considered doing it yourself, but you never thought anyone would actually try to do it.

"You don't need to worry about that. What you need to worry about is the gun that's pointed at you right now," he concluded, reaching for your home phone, politely holding it out for you to take.

You paused, and he raised a brow. Out of instinct, you tried to bolt past him to the front door, but when you realized it wasn't going to work, it was too late. He grabbed you violently as you thrashed in his grasp before he collapsed the two of you on the couch. He held you in one position until he felt your breathing calm, your neck in a headlock as you faced away from him, panting like an angry dog.

"Stop getting cute," he hissed next to your ear, and even though you couldn't see his face, you knew his teeth were gritting.

He finally trusted you wouldn't pull anything else after he gave a harsh squeeze to your trapped throat, and he let you go, and you immediately scooted to the other side of the couch.

You felt his eyes on you, and with a sudden jerked movement, he held out what you thought was the gun, making you flinch. But with a double-take, you realized it was just the phone.

You reached out, taking it, his eyes never leaving yours. You felt as if you could see something in his gaze. Something longing. Something not quite there. Reluctance.

Shaken fingers press the numbers as you click 'dial', but before you could hold it up to your ear, your captor stopped you.

"Nuh-uh. Speaker."

You nodded, pressing the speaker button before the dial tone echoed through your home. After three times, the line was suddenly picked up.

"What the hell are you doing calling at this hour?" your boss's harsh voice hissed through the phone.

"Yeah, Mr. Snider, there seems to be something happening at the office. Someone from the administration is here and demanding to see you," you tried your best to sound convincing.

"What do they fucking want?" he scorned, his tone making you flinch.

"I wish I knew, sir. They won't tell me anything," you tried to force a smile in your voice.

"Fucking useless," he grunted, making you shift uncomfortably.

"Should I tell them you're on your way?" you proposed.

"Fuck. Fine. I'll be there in 15. And hey, don't get bitchy with me, yeah? Don't forget, you work for me."

"Yes sir," you muttered, loud enough for him to hear.

All the while Jack was watching your reactions. He saw how you flinched at strong tones and saddened at the insults.

The sound of the line going dead was what snapped him back to reality, your still shaking hand setting it down on the coffee table.

"Is that all you needed?" you finally spoke.

"I wish I could say yes," his words made your gaze shift to the floor in disappointment, "I need to stay here until the deed is done."

"How long will that be?"

"After I make this phone call to let the guys know the target is on his merry way, we'll wait until I get a call back. Then we can part ways and you'll never speak of it to anyone. Or else I will have no other choice but to come back and kill you."

You curled in on yourself, resting your chin on your knees as you didn't answer, the sounds of a number being dialed making you cringe.

The sudden movement of him standing up made you flinch, and for a second you thought you almost saw a look of sympathy flash through his eyes before he held the phone to his ear, waiting for the other line to pick up.

"Stu? Yeah. Yeah, she called. He's on his way. He'll be there in 10. Make it look believable, yeah? Clients aren't paying us for anything that looks tacky."

Jack continued his conversation on the phone as he made his way to your kitchen, still in clear view of you. A few moments later he came back, the phone now hung up, a glass of water in his hand.

"Drink," he commanded.

"I'm not thirsty,"

He suddenly set the phone down, taking one of your hands and wrapping it around the cup, "I don't want you passing out on me. Drink," he commanded again.

Now it felt as if you had no choice. You lifted the cups to your lips, gently sipping as he watched you like a hawk until all the water was down your throat.

"Good girl," he praised jokingly, setting the glass on the table.

He then sat down with you on the couch. There was a prolonged silence.

"What's your name?" you finally asked.

He turned to you and cocked a brow.

"Sorry... just trying to make conversation," with an assassin you added bitterly in your head.

He scoffed, the room going back to silence, the two of you waiting... listening.

"Jackson."

"What?" you questioned, looking at him.

"My name. It's Jackson."

"Oh," you replied, "Well, I'm (name)."

"I know," he smirked.

You mentally facepalmed. Of course he did. He was an or assassin for fuck's sake.

"Can I call you Jack?" you asked meekly.

"Seeing as you won't ever see me again, sure. I haven't been called Jack since I was a kid though."

You could tell he was trying to open up. Just a little. Besides, he was right. It wasn't like he was ever going to see you again.

"Why?"

"Rippner. It's my last name," he explained.

"Oh shit," you said in spite of it not being lady-like, "That was a dick move on your parent's part."

"Tell me about it."

The conversation unfolded. You spoke about names, childhood experiences, hell, even what your favorite ice cream flavor was. It was a careless conversation with the mentality of getting everything out there.

You almost forgot that your boss was being killed right as you spoke. You felt the man in front of you open up. He was okay with being vulnerable with you.

That was until the phone rang, Jack rushing to pick it up.

"Yeah?"

His facial expression was unreadable as you watched him. Finally, he hung up the phone, his face returning to the same cold and distant look it had the moment you two had met.

"Well, (name), this is where we part ways," he began, but before he could walk to the front entryway, you grabbed his hand.

He looked startled as he turned around, his eyes searching your face for an answer. Your move was bold. Risky. But you were willing to take it.

"Don't go." your mouth moved before you could stop it.

He narrowed his eyes, almost as if he didn't believe it was you talking. Yet his hand was still being held tightly in yours.

"Please don't go."

☆○o。　　。o○☆☆○o。　　。o○☆☆○o。　　。o○☆

1 Year Later

☆○o。　　。o○☆☆○o。　　。o○☆☆○o。　　。o○☆

You flipped in your sleep, half awake when you realized the spot next to you was bare, the indent of the once sleepless man in his place. You sighed as you flipped back over, looking at the clock.

2:15 am.

You pulled yourself away from your kingdom of soft pillows and blankets and slipped out of bed, your feet pressing against the hardwood of your home. You left the bedroom, crept down the hallway, and when you were finally met with the living area of your home, you were met with the form of your lover.

He was hunched over on the couch, hovering over a glass of red wine that rested in his hand. He seemed to be lost in thought, his blue eyes no longer piercing but distant.

The creak of the floorboards under you gave your position away, the man glancing up at you, spooked.

An instant look of regret graced his beautiful features, "Honey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Hush," you sighed, "It's warmer out here anyway," you concluded.

"Even without your mountain of blankets?" he smirked, thinking of how adorable you looked cuddled up under the mound of linen.

"The bed is always cold when you're not in it," you whined, stilling next to him as he continued to nurse his glass of red liquid.

"Sorry love," he sighed, setting down the glass before wrapping his arms around you, your head resting on his chest as you listened in on his heartbeat. It was soft and lulling as you felt your eyes begin to droop.

That was, until you felt his hard-on press up against your back. A smirk crossed your lips.

"Is this why you couldn't sleep?" you questioned, subtly rubbing up against his bulge as you heard his breath catch in his throat.

"As I said," he muttered, "Didn't want to wake you."

"You could have just said so," you sat up, giving him a passionate kiss, one hand going in his hair, the other going down to his crotch, where he let out a primal groan at the feeling of your touch.

"I'm gonna be honest, I'm not really in the mood for foreplay," he stated, his hand reaching your lace panties and ripping them off, pulling you on his lap so you straddled him.

He pulled his boxers down to his knees, his cock springing up. The tip was flushed and angry, pre-cum leaking from the tip, the ridges of his veins pumping.

You bit your lip as you hovered over his gorgeous cock before sinking down slowly, the both of you moaning as you become one. Not long after you began to bounce up and down on his cock.

Jack growled as he grabbed a hold of your hips, helping you as he lifted you on and off his cock, searching for solace in orgasm. His eyes locked with yours as you rode him, and in his eyes, you found nothing but love and admiration, every part of him screaming in appreciation for you.

To put it plainly, he loved the way you loved.

You felt yourself tighten, yet to your disdain, your lover found his release first, a loud groan escaping his lips as he poured himself into you, the warmth in your belly growing as you felt him let go.

By the time he was finished, he was completely blissed out, but you weren't done yet. You wanted to cum. You pulled him out of you, and he watched as his spend dripped out of your swollen mound.

Before he could ask if you were okay, you were already back on him, your thighs now straddling one of his.

"What are you doing?" he asked darkly, raising a brow.

"Shut up," you hissed, rubbing your clit on the meat of his thigh, not wanting to lose any fraction that was already built up.

He caught the hint, his hands finding your hips once again as he helped you drag your throbbing cunt against the skin of his leg. All the while, he whispered filthy things in your ear, knowing it would get you there faster.

"Look at you go. Bet you're not so tired now, eh? Humping my leg like a little bunny. Such a good girl, huh?" he coaxed in your ear, and you nodded desperately, immediately agreeing with whatever he was saying. You just wanted to cum.

Finally, you felt yourself come right up to the edge. Jack knew all your body language perfectly, smirking at you as he began to speak.

"Come on, cum for me, baby. Let me watch you cum,"

And you did. Oh, you did. Your ears rang as your eyes shut tight, feeling your body tense and shake as you let your orgasm sweep you away.

Jack helped you ride through it, his words of praise now seeping into your brain.

"Good girl, there you go," he crooned as you began to catch your breath.

You panted as you slumped against him, hearing his heartbeat once more, matching your breathing with his. You felt him press a small kiss to the crown of your head.

"Thank you," he whispered, and all you could do was nod.

Then he began to stand, "Now come on. Let's go take a shower."

"Can I bring the wine?" you asked intently.

"Fuck it," he laughed.

☆○o。　　。o○☆☆○o。　　。o○☆☆○o。　　。o○☆

3 Months Later

☆○o。　　。o○☆☆○o。　　。o○☆☆○o。　　。o○☆

"You're doing it again,"

Jack looked up at you at the sound of your voice. He was sitting there, his hands folded and his jaw clenched, his leg bouncing up and down in anxiety as he went back to staring at the developing pregnancy test on the table.

"What?" he finally said.

"You're overthinking. I can see it in your face."

He rolled his eyes, seeming harsher than he intended. But he was nervous. In complete honesty, you were the first thing Jack had that had any semblance of normal. and after the things he's done and after the things he'd seen, normal was everything he wanted. And that's what this baby meant.

He craved normal. Life as an assassin didn't really scream domestic. But with you, everything he had ever wanted was wherever you were.

"Whatever the test reads, we'll be okay," you ensured, walking behind him and wrapping your arms around the anxious man, doing your best to calm his rapturing nerves.

"Yeah," he agreed, taking a deep breath, "We'll be okay."

The timer suddenly went off, the both of you perking up, chomping at the bit to get to the test, your fingers clutching it as you looked at it.

You gasped.

Jack froze.

You bolted into his arms, test in hand, bawling like a baby.

"You're gonna be a dad, Jack! You're gonna be a dad!!" you squealed, your arms wrapped tightly around him as he held you tight.

He began to tear up, "Really?"

You pulled back and nodded, showing him the test that read positive. He took it in his hands as a means to do a double-take, looking at the two little blue lines.

Without a word, he embraced you again, holding you tighter. His voice was muffled against your shoulder. From him came a small:

"Thank you."