#god this took FOREVER to write

[fuckingstrange]

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Trust him.

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WARNINGS: Reader has trust issues, HURT/COMFORT + SMUT, sweet smut tho, praising, pet names ("baby", "good boy"), cumming early, sexual undressing(?), Luke doesn't cum in this but he will in the next one, kinda non-beta read

WORDS: 1,170+

PAIRING: Luke Alvez x M!Reader

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·a/n - Comments/Reblogs are appreciated! I love feedback!

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You follow Luke's guidance, letting him push you onto your back, surprising yourself with how close you're letting him - emotionally and physically. You feel him slot between your legs, his lips brushing against yours delicately, as if he was making sure to treat you with care, as if you were something fragile. In his mind — You are fragile. You own a heart shattered enough to cut somebody's foot if they were to step on it. The sight of blood would be anything but foreign to you.

His skilled fingers start working on your shirt, pausing about halfway down the line of tan buttons. “Are you okay with his?” You hear him ask, though your mind is so clouded with anxiety and fear you're unsure you can even verbally respond without betraying yourself in some way.

You don't know if you're okay with it. You have to ask yourself if you truly want this, though end up giving yourself no better answer than when he asked. You love him, and you think he loves you. But with how many times somebody has told you that then ended up hurting you, you're not sure if he's being truthful.

Luke notices the empty stare you have, the slight tremble in your hands as you think of the worst that could happen. You've trusted him enough that you stayed in this relationship with him for seven, coming up on eight months now. You've let him in enough that he can tell the nod of approval you gave him was forced. He leans back, looking down at you. “Baby.. we don't have to do this if you don't want to, y'know?” He says while rubbing your hip, the touch meant to be soothing.

You prop yourself up on your elbows, looking him up and down as you conjure up reasons to trust him this deeply. Your mind runs in circles for a few minutes, your gaze directed at his face, trying to read any hidden meanings behind him trying to get in your pants. Your heart begs for the deep connection, wanting nothing more than to be his and have him be yours. Your fear-riddled mind has no chance against your heart, but it does have you whispering “Spare my heart, please,” as you pull him down to meet your lips again.

Luke's own heart aches at your plea, his hand coming up to cup the back of your head as he deepens the kiss. He can't help but mumble soft words of reassurance, saying, “I'll heal that heart of yours” before he lets his tounge slip between your lips.

The kiss is gentle. It's soft and slow. Something you're not used to with past relationships. You lean into it, sighing quietly and falling to your back, this time bringing him with you, letting the weight of his body press you down into the couch.

His hand moves up your side until it finds your hands, your fingers interlacing as he presses it down next to your head. Luke definitely isn't pinning you, scared that you're too mentally fragile to be restrained in any way shape or form during sex, he's simply holding your hand for comfort. You feel him give it a soft squeeze, which you do back to reassure him as well.

Luke adjusts himself, and for a minute you think he's simply straddling your leg before you feel his knee press up against your crotch. Your eyes immediately open from the foreign feeling of it, a boyish moan slipping past your lips and drowning in the kiss when he starts rocking his knee against you. You squeeze his hand tight, feeling your heart begin to pound in your chest while your cock hardens in your boxers. You start to squirm beneath him when his lips find their way to your jawline.

You give him a mix of a moan and a whine as you start rocking your hips to meet his knee, the movement slow but feeling good anyways. Heat rises to your cheeks when you hear him mumble a praise, the words “good boy” and “keep going” slipping from Luke's lips before he can even think about it. You pull your hand away from his to wrap your arms around him, pulling him even closer than he was before. He takes the opportunity to resume unbuttoning your shirt, working off the other half of buttons he hadn't before. You feel your cheeks burning, feeling on fire from being so exposed to him.

You close your eyes, not sure if you're ready to see the look on his face when he sees you like this. He works off the last button, the loose brown material sliding off and getting splayed out on the couch beneath you. You feel him start to pull off of you, letting your arms drop so he can sit up. You feel his eyes on you, making your breath hitch as you wait for some kind of degrading moment. But nothing comes. The silence hurts. More than if he were to be calling you ugly. His knee has stopped moving, your hips protesting the absence of friction with a rut against him.

Luke stares at you like you're a work of art, his hand coming up to ghost along the bare skin of your waist, causing you to flinch and whine. He soothes you with a kiss, his tounge finding it's way into your mouth as he resumes the movement of his knee, grinding it against your hardened cock.

“You're gorgeous. So.. fine.” He mumbles against your lips, his hands resting on your chest so he can focus on providing you with more friction, more pressure against your aching cock.

You can barely hear him with how much you're paying attention to the feeling of it all. His knee moving against you, his tounge brushing over yours, his hands on your chest causing goosebumps to rise. You whimper as your hips buck involuntarily, your hands shooting to grasp at his sides, fingers curling in the fabric of his shirt. You have to pull back from the kiss, croaking out a weak warning of “If you don't- if- I'm gonna-”, only to cut yourself off with a pant or whine each time.

Luke seems to take this as a challenge, hearing you're about to cum just from his knee alone makes him want to moan. His hands slide from your chest to your hips, purposely brushing over your nipples to earn a gasp. He grabs your hips and starts guiding their movement, making sure you don't have to lift a finger to get what you need. The second he hears you start to beg, involuntary “please”’s falling from your lips, he knows you're just about there. He makes sure to keep the same slow but deep rhythm of his knee, not wanting to pull you off the path to your orgasm.

He encourages you almost absent-mindedly, praising you for each noise that you let out, praising you for each drop of cum that soaks into your boxers. His knee grinds into you even as you let go, making you moan louder than you ever thought you'd be comfortable with. You squirm, you moan, you cry, as you cum. But you find yourself not caring one bit. Because Luke is the one making you do it.

[mcdbutgay]

zoeymau cheebs (click for better quality + transparent pics)

some hcs below ^^ also i love how they complement each other so much GODDD

APHMAU SHALASHASKA

- aphmau shows up at phoenix drop’s doorstep pretty much half dead. no one knows where she came from, and upon waking up she doesn't remember who she is, where she's from, nothing.

- vylad carried her here because he knew that garroth was stationed in phoenix drop and he knew that the village was in dire need of help due to it being lordless; however it doesnt get revealed until way later.

- aphmau gets carried into the guard station which is where she resides for a period of time. zoey, who was visiting phoenix drop at the time (she was a wandering 'merchant' of sorts, looking for a permanent place to stay) feels a weird presence coming from her, not magical but also not normal, and decides to prolong her stay, healing aphmau back to health with garroth's supervision.

- aphmau wakes up and is sooo grateful they took care of her and decides that as payment she’s going to help make this mess of a village better (also she has no memory of anything that happened prior or why she ended up here anyway, so it’s not like she has anywhere else to go.)

- so she fixes up the roads and helps remodel some of the houses (i feel like this version of aphmau is much less princess-like and more handy than canon aph) garroth is very grateful for this

- anyway uh i dont actually have a lot of stuff for her since i find aphmau to be somewhat bland?? ig thats bc aph is meant to be jess for the majority of s1 but yeah uhh that needs to change. this aphmau is more rough around the edges, not afraid to fend for herself and those she cares for, but also very kind and compassionate. also very bubbly at times, but around those she trusts. she’s actually kind of against the idea of having guards follow her around all the time when she first becomes lord (because she believes she can do everything on her own), but later realizes that its much better to have backup bc the world is dangerous tm

- anywayz she grows closer to zoey when she moves into her house. she finds her presence weird at first but quickly gets used to her company, and she finds that waking up to the smell of tea everyday is soothing

- she is often sent out to the woods to gather whatever herbs zoey needs for her magicks. this quickly turns into aphmau trying to find pretty flowers to bring back to her pretty wife as a gesture of love friendship. sometimes she gets scolded bc she unknowingly brings back poisonous flowers or something but zoey knows that she does it with the best of intentions and thinks its kinda cute in a way.

- also aphmau brings back zoey pretty items from her travels, usually rings, necklaces, or even pretty rocks. zoey keeps them all in her room and looks at them while working on magicks stuff

- sorta angsty but i feel like aphmau definitely feels guilty for being absent for most of levin and malachi’s childhood. way in the future i feel like she and zoey would either adopt or have a biological kid of their own that they can both be present for, now that aphmau is no longer a lord and zoey is just enjoying her last lifetime with her beloved wife.

- OH AND i find it funny that they end up together since, at least in my canon, irene and zoey were a thing way back when. so like after irene left this plane or whatever and reincarnated as aphmau its like zoey and irene found themselves again in another lifetime (more on that in zoey’s section, which i actually wrote first)

- god i really don’t have much to say abt aph lol uh she’s bisexual (fem leaning, which is why she doesn’t rlly feel anything for garroth or laurence but does get flustered around guys sometimes) and demiromantic (takes a WHILE for her to feel any romantic attraction. again its why she doesn’t feel anything for G and L LMAO)

ZOEY TALTATHEIL

- was a devout follower and close friend of irene 900 years ago. zoey, although she wasn’t part of the divine warriors, was irene’s right hand woman, and would help her with decisions etc etc.

- she was kind of like a guard but not really lol. i do feel as though she began to mess around with barrier magicks as a way to protect irene, despite the fact that it got her exhiled from her home. she’d do anything to protect her.

- they were overall very close, but due to circumstances tm they had to separate. they never saw each other again sadly

- (although there are some books written by scholars that state that at some point lady irene had a certain lady friend who she lived with and shared intimate moments with. wonder who that is :P)

- ((also irene did have a family at some point, and levin is of her bloodline. he has blonde hair and blue eyes, guess who else has blonde hair and blue eyes? garroth ZOEY (and yes also garroth but thats a coincidence imo) so i think they are at least distantly related but very much so regardless))

- enough about irene. in zoey’s long 900~ year life she’s travelled to many regions, learned about many different cultures, and met many people, some who she did settle down with at some point. due to her immortality, however, she outlived all her previous partners and since then has been afraid to settle down with anyone, afraid of losing them to time

- it wasn’t until she met aphmau and levin (and later malachi) that she began to change her mind. she began to raise her children when she was away on lord duties, and she got VERY attached to them. she treated them as her own, and soon became accustomed to the idea of having a family

- she also began to see aphmau in a more romantic light at some point during s1. she didn’t know when the change from platonic to romantic feelings began but it didn’t matter. what mattered was that she had been raising another woman’s children as though they were her very own, cooking for the 4 of them like a happy family, and literally living the life she had always wanted without even realizing it.

- anyways she sleeps with aphmau in her room despite having her own room. she uses her room more as a workspace for her magicks

- also (and this is less about zoey and more about elves in general) i feel as though elves start out with dark colored hair and with the years it slowly lightens up until it’s completely white (doesn’t matter what color; zoey’s just happened to be blonde which is why she has platinum blonde hair pre-timeskip. it obviously doesn’t change this fast, but zoey giving up her immortality did speed up the process by a LOT which is why the change was so drastic in such a small amount of time (for an elf))

- speaking of her immortality, i feel as though it was the main reason that drove her to, you know, actually become a thing with aphmau. they were practically married pre-timeskip but they never really mentioned it, both scared they’d ruin what they had. aphmau being trapped in the irene dimension was the thing that drove her to spend years of her life studying, trying to get her closest friend, no, her lover back; losing her immortality was the final push to make it official. losing her immortality mean that they’d both pass within each other’s lifetimes, which is something zoey had always wanted (that sounds morbid but imagine being immortal and outliving all your loved ones.. i feel as though one can only take so much pain before it turns you crazy)

- anyways enough angst. since zoey has lived so long and has been all over the place, she has countless stories to tell and levin and malachi always loved hearing them. post-timeskip she tells the same stories to the children of phoenix drop in her spare time. she loves being around children and overall just loves caring for ppl ^__^

- as for like sexuality hcs uhh i can’t imagine her as anything but a lesbian lol

[itsgirlcraft]

I just spent 2 hours trying to explain my RQ Roleswap AU for my last Stevetember post haha-

Buttttt ofc I rambled so much it got confusing yayyy

SO!! Here's the uncut version! I have simply Too Much Lore and Even More Time! I hadn't even gotten into how he found out abt the multiverse through Shattered Time or TFC's relation with the roleswap or the multiverse curse and the roleswap! There's So Much! (Pain. I will never be able to explain it all)

This AU is more or less about changing unrecognizably, healing, fate/repeating history, and loops. It all begins after Sabre has spent years alone with Origin, teaching him and growing together. Sabre had changed over the years - into his god form, with wings and animalistic legs and antlers upon which crystals grow. His first god form is mostly green and white. Technically, he has 3 god forms and 3 "mortal" forms.

Origin had started creating the Steves, and becoming an independent young man. Sabre knew he wouldn't need his guidance much longer, and he couldn't reveal his true identity to the first Steves. But he hoped, maybe, something may come along and take him away. The loop, age, something. Nothing came - he realized he had to do the leaving. He worked towards creating a portal, which would close behind him. Somewhere unknown.

He wound up in the RQ Roleswap timeline - in episode 32, aka the pig episode. So already partway through the first season. He retained all his memories - and so he knew what had to do. He had to change history, and change everyone's fate. Most importantly...Orange Steve's. He can't let this all fall down again. He had to unite them all, before bringing about any heroes. He had to support everyone, give everyone room to breathe, treat them all with the love they may not deserve, but that they need. He needed to greet the world with open arms.

Heh, Epic reference :>

Anyways, yeah. That's the basis of the AU - Sabre uses his memories/experience (and carefully constructed journals) to change fate and lead with love. He goes on to warn the Steves of the future, their fates, and their choice to follow it or not. Despite his new outlook on life, he knows he isn't perfect - his past haunts his every calculated move. He tries to just experience reality as it is, but slowly that alienates him in a different way - people are so surprised to hear his thoughts behind all of it that many look up to him. All he really wants is to give everyone a choice in their fate - even his enemies - and appreciate what he has, and had, in this moment. And that mindful, kind mindset puts some people in awe.

Even before he regained his god form, Sabre was already put on a pedestal he tried to jump off of repeatedly. It's not to seem humble - he genuinely doesn't want this power, this gift of second life. But he'd never waste it - he can't let them fall again. One of his greatest accomplishments, in his opinion, is his ever-growing library of stories. Of journals others have given him, his own observations and notes, and of history books detailing stories long gone. He wants to tell everyone's story, and his library is the most important thing to him (in that sense). A daring dream that he has witnessed so much success with. He takes no interest in censorship or revealing secrets, only to make sure they are remembered. Every one of them, every person he meets, every path he has followed.

Near the end of the "main plot" of the roleswap timeline, Sabre locked up Origin (who is in TFC's role) in more chains, refusing to listen to his call. But, eventually, he starts to drift back to the past...if only his old friends could see he's finally saved them, finally been a real hero for once.

Soul and Corruption, the swaps of Time and Elemental, decide to work together to give Sabre a gift: a portal, that they hope takes Sabre back to his home timeline. He's so so excited! A chance to show that he didn't waste his new life! It lands him in the middle of the Rainbow Kingdom just before og Soul/Corrupt attempted a seige with the Darkness, aka episode 144. It takes some convincing to get RQ Light to let them stay - as not only did Soul/Corrupt come with, but so did Orange Steve, who became the 3rd hero....Void.

In the roleswap timeline, Sabre looks more like Shadow Sabre, while Crystal Sabre (the Shabre of the timeline) is brightly colored. The crystals replace the darkness, being amalgamations of infectious gems, so bright they can set things ablaze with sunlight. Sigils are the new crystals, being darker colored just like the main color Steves. In this world, the shadows are comforting and kind, while the light is deadly and violent. (Though no, they aren't really nocturnal...I might change that eventually). Naturally, the Steves have dark skin tones and eyes, looking all too much like the darkness infected. Similar can be said of the og timeline in comparison to the Crystal infected, though ofc the infections are a lot more frightening. You could consider it to be the first stage of infection, I guess.

In the roleswap timeline, there is a specific set of swaps, that change how Sabre is recieved in the og timeline. It goes like this: Prof. Red, Rainbow Red. Void, Rainbow. Soul/Corrupt, Time/Elemental. Assistant Steve, Hypno. The First Curse, Origin. Galaxy, Nightmare. Ultra, Chaos. Faceless, Great Librarian, Ghost. Shadow, Sabre. Sigils, Crystals, Darkness. (For trios, just move them one to the right, that's the role they take on)

This goes beyond Rainbow Quest itself. Twisted Rainbow and Steve Legends are affected, too. There are two TR roleswap timelines. The first one, which TR Shadow/Elite ends up in, only switches he and Sabre's roles. The second one is a semi-shitpost idea turned canon and is completely wild. Btw, the first name takes the second name's role. It goes: Shadow, The Great One. TFC, Sabre. Sabre, Twisted. Twisted, M. Prof. Red, Hypno. M, TFC. (Yeah, that last one was intentionally an insane choice). TR is also the only universe whose roleswap still has normal Color Steves, simply because Twisted/Darkness is already an important motif/split as it is.

Sabre's, the main, FIRST Sabre's, story is split into several acts. Act 1: changing fate, where he repeats RQ with a new ending. Act 2: old friends, where he returns to the og timeline, and defeats TFC/swap Origin with his newest god form. Act 3: reliving history, where Sabre mentors Colle through his swapped timeline. Act 4: domain expansion, in which Sabre discovers the multiverse and is determined to save EVERYONE from evil. Act 5: returning home, in which Sabre, now caring for a whole multiverse, finally creates a portal to Earth, but has he changed too much? Act 6: doubled over, another shitpost idea made canon, in which Sabre gets stuck in a version of the RQ timeline which has both the og and swap versions, where the world is changing quickly, mimicking the og story, and where Sabre's desire to give everyone a choice in fate is tested.

I've had the AU for awhile before I listened to Epic, but the musical has inspired me to create for it, as well as consider the overarching themes!! So the first drawing, the dual timeline "mortal" form, is basically Sabre at the end of the au, as he becomes a fused form of the swap and og timelines' versions of himself. His crazy outfit is made of bits and bobs from people he meets, sometimes he adds stuff inspired by people around him, but a lot is just gifts he's recieved. He has a goopy Darkness horn and a sharp crystal horn, and a fluffy colorful tail and a sharp black tail. His eyes depict his former infection of crystals/darkness.

Drawing 2, in the upper right with Sabre's arms out in front of him, is meant to be him midway thru act 1. Where he willingly infects himself with the crystals, which are like the darkness, in order to be able to fight Rainbow (who created the infectious crystals, aka the Void of the timeline). Crystal/Shadow Sabres would probably be saying the lyrics to him.

Drawing 3, with the big barrier sigil over Sabre and the Steves, is based on act 6 of the au. He gets the Hypbo variants to help him create the barrier sigil to keep the Steves from changing unexpectedly due to the strange nature of their timeline (its Complicated, but the world is basically changing in accordance w/ the og timeline w/o anyone doing anything). This barrier, as well as the smaller, jewelry-based variants, protects them from time/space basically going by quickly. However, Sabre's insistence on keeping everyone from changing can be seen as almost manipulative, which is why he's saying the lyrics there. He can't give them the choice, not when the world is changing them without them actually doing anything. But by keeping them inside the barrier, he's refusing to let them experience it. So uh...yeah. Complicated.

Also...here, have this drawing of god form Sabre. Enjoy. I guess.

[carbonateddelusion]

Never underestimate my ability to like characters that aren’t super important <3

Anyways how did Mari and Harrison meet you think? And who initiated things?

The air in the bar is stifling, filled with the scent of cheap cigarettes and alcohol, and the humming white noise of chatter surrounds you. People everywhere are talking, dancing, singing, laughing, fighting, screaming, living. Living. Oh, how you want to live.

Nursing your drink, your eyes scan across the floor and catch on a glowing something. Your fuzzy mind takes a moment to comprehend what it is- a person. Someone staring back at you.

Their eyes are deep, with dark sclera and piercingly white pupils, a yawning chasm that threatens to pull you in. Their lips play into a smile, showing off a set of fangs. They're smiling at... you. At you. Oh, God, they're staring at you. What do you do? What do you do? Your eyes dart across the room. You find yourself unable to settle on anything in particular.

"Hey," breathes a deep, accented voice. They're beside you now. You jump.

"Aw, I'm sorry- did I scare you, handsome?" A small hand cuts the distance between you two as she reaches out to soothe your arm. You pull away. Your fear is palpable. Why is someone so pretty talking to YOU?

Something glides across your leg, wrapping utself around you as if to pull you in. "What's a guy like you doing in a place like this?"

The question rings in your ears. What ARE you doing here? What did you think you'd accomplish by getting out of your comfort zone? The question weighs heavy on your mind.

But she smells like blackberries and spices; her plump lips glisten in the faint light of her nose. And her tail is oh so soft against your thigh.

"I don't know."

"You're funny," she snorts, claws gently touching her soft chest. "I like that in a man. My name's Mariposa."

"Harrison," you breathe. The words flow out of you seamlessly, as if talking to her were second nature.

"Nice to meet you, Harrison."

[butteredvee]

Some days ago, I bought a box of snack foods from South Korea because I thought trying them would be fun. Today, that box arrived, and I tried all the goodies inside. There were ten snacks in the box, and I will now share my "rigorous" reviews of each one, rating them from 1 to 20.

Starting off with the first snack:

First of all, I can't read this text. Fortunately, this box came with a booklet that explains the snacks before you eat them so you know what to expect before you eat.

According to said booklet (which I will be referring to throughout this post), this is a blueberry-flavored sweet and sour candy that is also fizzy? Maybe 'cause it's soda? Dunno.

The texture of it is like an American Starburst: chewy at first, then softens more as you chew. The taste is blueberry-y, but also pretty tart, more tart than said Starbursts are. I like that - I tend to prefer tart candies, and this is right up my alley.

Overall, very tasty, would buy for myself, 17/20

Next up:

At first glance, this is very Moon Pie-esque. However, it is much smaller than a real Moon Pie, and it's got some brown stuff in the marshmallow filling.

The texture is what you'd expect out of this, its very similar to a Moon Pie. The taste is also similar, except for that brown stuff. It isn't chocolate, but a sugary tea substance that adds that flavor into the snack, which I appreciate to differentiate this from a "normal" Moon Pie.

Overall, pretty good, 16/20

Next up:

Now, I've seen these before, in a years-old video of the Smosh guys tasting Korean food that I've watched many times over my life. However, I had no idea if I'd like them until I tried them.

According to the booklet, they are "hot & sweet wheat and rice snacks," which after tasting them feels like an accurate descriptor.

At first, they only taste sweet, like they are coated in a glaze or something. Then, after you chew them for a bit, the spice comes in, but it's a very mild spice. The flavor of pepper is nonexistent as well, leading to a simple yet interesting snack. I like these, even if I'd rather have something salty.

Overall, surprisingly good, 15/20

Next up:

These look like peach gummies. The booklet says they're peach-flavored gummies. Gee, I wonder what this will taste like?

Now, I'm not a huge fan of peaches or peach-flavored stuff, but that did not prevent me from giving these a fair shake.

I mean, look how cute these are!

Eating them yields a shocking discovery: they're peach-flavored.

Joking aside, the gummies' texture surprised me. Instead of being a solid gummy, the inside is less dense than the outside, leading to the sensation of crushing the inside part before breaking through the outside. It's interesting, and single-handedly elevates these above the peach rings my dad loves.

Overall interesting, but not my fave because peach, 14.5/20

(peach rings are a 12/20 from me)

Next up:

I'm a huge fan of the combination of chocolate and hazelnut, so I was immediately excited to try these.

The booklet does say that these are apparently best out of the fridge and with milk, but I didn't try these like that because I was impatient. (and also didn't read that until just now) Though, I can see why that's the case.

The filling has a taste that reminds me of Kinder's hazelnut creme fillings. It's more hazelnut than chocolate. The wafer is fine, nothing special, just a good container for the filling.

Overall, pretty good, but I think the Pirouette wafers are better, 15.5/20

Next up:

Okay, these are crystal clear as to what they are. "more delicious"? Gee I hope so.

They taste like sweet and like butter, just as the package says. I dunno if the sweet flavor is actually honey, but something about it and the butter flavor of these pretzels tastes off to me. The more I ate them, the more I felt that something was off.

Overall, not horrible, but not good either, 9/20

Next up:

This snack is bulgogi flavored, and the booklet says that "bulgogi" is a dish from South Korea made with thin meat strips.

Inside, I find the noodles and seasoning packet.

The booklet says that these need to be prepared a bit, by A) crushing the noods to little pieces, B) sprinkling the seasoning on the noodles, and C) Shaking the bag to distribute the seasoning to all the noodle pieces.

That was a fun process, and this was the result:

Unfortunately, the fun ended when I tasted this.

Oh. My. God. The flavor of the seasoning is HORRID. It's nothing like meat or anything I enjoy. It's got a vegetal sweetness (which is my least favorite flavor of all time) and a clove-like flavor? I dunno, there's nothing else I can describe about the flavor, other than that I hated it.

I like the concept, though. I think I'd enjoy eating snack noodles like this with a different seasoning that actually tasted good.

Overall, good concept ruined by shit flavor, 4/20

Next up:

The booklet says that churros are a popular street food in South Korea. It also says that these are cinnamon-sugar flavored snacks, so I was sure I'd like these.

Before trying them, though, I noticed that the way they opened was interesting; the seams are at the sides of the bag, and you tear it open across the top like this:

Otherwise, they taste like you'd expect. Cinnamon-y and sugary, with a nice crunch.

The booklet suggests eating these with milk, and that'd probably be good, but I think these are great as-is.

Overall, better than Sweetos, 17.5/20

Next up:

Sandwich cookies with strawberry creme. I'm not the biggest fan of strawberry-flavored things either, but like the rest of these things, I wanted to give these a fair shot.

There's only six sandwiches, separated into two packages, but they're also a bit bigger than an Oreo.

They went light on the cream compared to the Oreo, which led to the cream being drowned out a bit by the cookie. However, maybe that was a good thing, because the texture of these is delightful.

When you bite these, the cookie just crumbles under your teeth and feels like pushing your hands into dry sand. Dunno if that conveys my experience well enough, but that texture alone elevates these beyond "I'd rather have an Oreo" status.

Overall, there are probably different flavors of creme I could try, 15/20

Last one:

"Chocolate Corns"!!! Anyway, the booklet says that these are made with chocolate, corn, and coconut flakes. They also look like little poops. Their taste, however, is far from poopy.

But their texture stuck out to me first, because it's literally the same as Cheetos Puffs. Like, exactly the same. These are smaller, but that's the only textural difference I can see.

The taste is very chocolatey. It's the same kind of chocolatey as American Cocoa Puffs or Cocoa Pebbles. There's a whisper of coconut flavor, but it's barely noticeable, as are the flakes themselves.

Overall, pretty good, 16.5/20

The Final Ranking of Select South Korean Snacks is thus:

Churroz (17.5/20)

Blueberry Soda Candy (17/20)

Chocolate Corns (16.5/20)

Choco Pie (16/20)

Choco Heim (15.5/20)

Hot/Sweet Snack (15/20)

Strawberry Sandwich Cookies (15/20)

Peach Gummies (14.5/20)

Honey Butter Pretzels (9/20)

Bolgogi Snack Noodles (4/20)

If you read this far, thanks for reading. Hope you found this adventure as interesting as I did.

[north-noire]

we're stuck in the middle of nowhere, but it could be worse.

[bones4thecats]

What If They Were Fathers?

Type of Writing: #5 - Poll Result Characters: Bonten! Manjiro Sano, Sanzu Haruchiyo, Kakucho, and Hajime Kokonoi Name: What If They Were Fathers? Original Poll Link: Here

A/N: The Reader is FEMALE in this, since they're pregnant and whatnot.

WARNING! This contains: Mentions of drugs, overdoses, alcohol addiction, and drug addiction

Spoilers for: Bonten Arc

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🍵 It shocked Mikey enough that you still loved him even though he wasn't the same happy-go-lucky boy he was years ago, instead, he grew into a emotionless and dead-appearing individual

🍵 So, when he heard that you were pregnant, he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a small bit of love grow inside his now cold-heart

🍵 Mikey was very good when it came to caring for you during your pregnancy, he would have the others go get you things you needed, since he suspected someone was after him and you

🍵 After all, being pregnant slows down a woman from whooping ass

🍵 It was surprising, but, when you went into labor and you were yelling at him as he tried calming you down, Mikey stayed as calm as ever

🍵 He would slightly flinch at the loud screams of pain you let out, and he was honestly kinda scared he may lose you when the gang's doctor rushed you to lay down and stay calm

" Mr. Sano, sir, would you like to hold your baby? "

🍵 Looking behind him, he stared at his first child, a son, and he felt a shimmer of happiness and sadness rush through him at the same time, it reminded him of when he first met Emma, how he cared for her automatically without any reason

🍵 As he held your baby, he let a tear rush down his cheek as you chuckled at his small moment of vulnerability, something he swore he would never show was in-fact showing, he was still human inside

🍵 Now, while your son grew up, Mikey was a hint of a helicopter-father, he runs a very dangerous organization, one that is being hunted by authorities constantly, and he had enough to do when worrying about you, but, his son was so similar to younger him

🍵 The boy would run up to strangers and make them laugh without a care in the world as Mikey would hide himself deeper in a hoodie while you got your son back to you guys

🍵 But, despite many beliefs, he's a decent father

🍵 Mikey would put some things behind and would play with his son, for example, if his son wanted to mess around with some sock puppets and make a story, Mikey would indulge him and mess with him, making his voice deepen and rise for his son's laugh to erupt

🍵 He does have his faults though, as his work can end up making his son mature faster than a child should, or he could end up saying or doing something that upset you, making his son start disconnecting with him

🍵 Overall, he's a 7.5/10 father, he's good in certain situations and bad in others

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🔪 Sanzu and you have known one another for years, planting the first time you ever met nearly 10 years prior to this one

🔪 When he went through the years of torturous addictions, whether it be to alcohol or drugs that he somehow got a hold of through means even you didn't know of, you were always there to pull him away

🔪 Because of those issues, he had no idea why you settled for him of all people, you were so beautiful, you could've gotten with any other member of Bonten, maybe even his own boss

🔪 But, you settled with him, the guy who had nearly overdosed from his drugs and alcohol multiple times

🔪 While pushing those hateful thoughts of himself to the back of his brain, Sanzu had gone through multiple attempts of rehabilitation, and after a few failures and your threat of leaving him, he began taking it seriously, he loves you and he needs you to be there

🔪 It took a while, but, once he made it to your first milestone of a year of sobriety, you gave him a reward, which led to something bigger than expected

🔪 You had gotten pregnant, leaving Sanzu is shock, and his brain nearly, nearly, slipped away to him grabbing a large bottle of whiskey and wine mixed with a large bag of his old drugs

🔪 In the midst of his panic-attack, it took Kakucho's words of affirmation with his boss' assurance of him getting a form of paternity leave to just calm him down

🔪 He takes excellent care of you during your pregnancy, and that carried onto him as a father, to a degree, that is

🔪 When you went into labor, he was panicking badly, he had nearly passed out when you began to scream in pain, and during this mass of chaos, the doctor had to usher Ran and Rindou to take him out of the room

🔪 Hearing your screams of agony stop made his heart sink, what happened? Were you okay? How was his baby? Oh God, what if he lost you and the baby?! How would he live with himself?!

" Mr. Haruchiyo, your wife and daughter are in perfect condition. Would you like to come and see them? " " Yes! I- I mean, yes, please. "

🔪 When he held your daughter for the first time, he swore on his life he would protect you guys from everything, including himself. And, that day, he swore to stay sober for good. No fuck ups this time, he couldn't, no, he wouldn't risk harming his child and his own wife

🔪 Ever since your daughter was born, the rest of Bonten began to hide their deals from your home more often, by orders of Mikey, since, he knew how a traumatizing childhood can affect someone

🔪 Sanzu loves to play with her, for example, at just a few months old until she was around maybe seven years old, he would pick her up and toss her in the air for him to catch

🔪 Unlike Mikey, Sanzu doesn't really fear anyone harming his child, if they were a boy that is, he has a full-fledged belief that boys are far more feared than women, so, whenever his daughter starts talking to a stranger, he glares from behind her to make sure that random guy didn't even attempt touching her

🔪 He definitely tries holding back his tears during her first day of school, or really during any massive part of her life, especially when she graduated and moved out, his baby was so old now... he's getting back pain!

" Dad... I'm just moving across the street in another apartment, don't worry! I'll come see you and Mom whenever I can! Please don't cry! " " I'm not crying about that! Your Mother swat a fly earlier, I feel bad for the fly! "

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❤️‍🔥 This guy is the definition of husband and father material, that I cannot deny

❤️‍🔥 When you guys started dating, he always had the idea of your future, from marriage to having children, whenever he would come home from a fight all injured, he would ask you if this was what you really wanted

❤️‍🔥 Did you really want to be with him? For crying out loud, he could get possibly killed at any time! This especially set in when you guys lost Izana (I believe that still happens... correct me if I'm wrong!)

❤️‍🔥 It still shocks him to this day on the fact you married him, he worked for Bonten, a gang very well known for their heinous actions, all members, including Kakucho himself, have done horrible things, how could you look him in the eye, nonetheless propose having children?

❤️‍🔥 You really surprise him at every turn, don't you?

❤️‍🔥 He smiled and gave you the thumbs up. Thankfully, it didn't take very long for you to find out you were pregnant, and as your stomach grew, he read many books on parenthood, he couldn't risk his child having a childhood as rough as he did

❤️‍🔥 When you went into labor, he was scared out of his mind, all of a sudden the floor was wet and you were heaving over in pain, leaving him to carry you bridal-style as he ran to Bonten's doctor

" I think they're in labor, Doctor! " " Girls! Get her in the delivery room, stat! "

❤️‍🔥 Hearing you scream in pain made him flinch as Kokonoi and Takeomi tried keeping him from busting down the door to comfort you

❤️‍🔥 Once the doctor came outside of the room and asked for him to come inside, he burst past the man dressed in scrubs and hugged you as you laid on the bed with a blanket in your arms

❤️‍🔥 You hushed him and held up your baby girl's head, and when your husband laid eyes on his daughter, he began to tear up, he really started crying was when she gripped his finger with her tiny fist

❤️‍🔥 You guys really made this? How surprising is this, huh?

❤️‍🔥 As your son grew up, Kakucho adores messing with her hair, he always had his in a buzz-cut as he grew older, so, whenever she asked for him to braid her hair when she was small, he obliged and gave her such a cute hairstyle!

❤️‍🔥 Kakucho obligates his family in first place alongside his work, though, since he was one of the top four people in Bonten, he got quite busy, but, he always tries pushing it all away as best as he could

❤️‍🔥 Thankfully, Mikey was more lenient with that since he knew of Kakucho's family-oriented life

❤️‍🔥 He is definitely one of the best fathers in the Tokyo Revengers Universe, he wants his child to grow up in a world where they feel wanted, and that roots deep with his own childhood

❤️‍🔥 This guy is also very protective, he's lost so many people, his best friend, Izana, for example

❤️‍🔥 Anyone tries harming his daughter, there will be hell to pay.

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💰 Kokonoi, much like Kakucho, is still surprised that you wanted to be with him, but, he's also surprised that he was still with you... he believed that after the loss of Akane that he would never love again

💰 Thankfully, when you came into his life during the earlier years of Bonten to help with some issues with relations between gangs, Kokonoi began to bond with you

💰 When he asked you to marry him after a few months of dating and a couple weeks of courting, he remembers exactly how you smiled when you confirmed you wanted the same as him

💰 Kokonoi has enough resources to care for his family, so, when you proposed having children, he wasn't very worried about expenses, this guy knows so many ways of making money that even the richest people in the world would be baffled

💰 He was very excited when you found out you were having a baby, nonetheless when it was found out to be twins

💰 During your early months of pregnancy, he would grab everything for female babies and male babies, since the gender was hard to tell until your fifth month

💰 This guy was on cloud nine when notified you were both genders

💰 Now he doesn't have to worry about Mikey being mad that he bought so much male and female items for these babies

💰 Anyways, when you eventually went into labor, Kokonoi was as calm as a butterfly on the outside, while on the inside he was like a swarm of angry geese, thoughts flying faster than the snitch in Harry Potter

💰 He stayed in the room with you, allowing you to squeeze his hand, despite the immense pain you were bringing to his hands, he probably was getting bruises from your hold

💰 When the sounds of your first baby's cries entered his ears, he swore he forgot all about the pain in his hands, but, when his daughter came out just a few minutes later, his heart swooned

💰 If you've seen Friends, you might be familiar when Frank Jr. ran out to the gang and was yelling about his first child's birth, oh yeah, he definitely does that

" Yes! We have the first one down! I cannot believe I have a son... oh God! I have a Hajime Jr.! " " Has your wife even agreed to that name, Kokonoi? " " Nope! "

💰 Kokonoi held his son, whom you had to turn down his ideas of naming him Hajime Jr., and you held your daughter, and you had to turn down him naming her Sanzu-ia, he loves pissing Sanzu off too much...

💰 As your babies grew up, Kokonoi spoiled them beyond belief, and you had to hold him back from doing something stupid, like buying a TV show because his little baby girl wanted to meet a character she loved

💰 While the two grew up, he, much like Sanzu, cries at mass events for them, but, unlike Sanzu, he doesn't try holding himself back from showing his emotions to his children, prompting their embarrassment and you laughing at their antics

" Dad... please stop crying, God you're so embarrassing me... " " I can't! My babies are growing up so fast! Can you believe that just eighteen years ago you're mother was pushing you out of her- " " DAD! "

[godspeedmajortom]

I’m fascinated by how variations of Sea Power's “Want to Be Free (Remix)” provide a musical theme for death and endings that follows Harry and his foils throughout Disco Elysium.

The first place you hear it is as “The Field Autopsy” while inspecting the Hanged Man’s body. It's barely recognizable as the original song, though. It's sluggish and muddy and bilious. The piano melody has been lowered and sustained to an ominous funereal organ and combined with deep strings. A lilting viola line in the lush layers of the original "Want to Be Free" is isolated here and contrasts with the low organ, rising like the stench off a corpse. If you do the autopsy first thing as Kim suggests, Harry – freshly, grotesquely awakened from his apocalyptic bender – is not in a much better state than a corpse himself.

The music underscores a visceral scene of death and decay, our introduction to the Hanged Man, the first of Harry's foils. Both Harry and Lely are agents of state-sponsored violence as a cop and mercenary, respectively. They bear similar physical scars from the neglect of the systems they grew up in. They both desperately want to escape the horrorshow of their lives, using drugs and dark fantasies to cope with the terrible things they see and do but finding little more than self-destruction in the nihilism. The Bloated Corpse of a Drunk taking the Hanged Man's place in Harry's first night dream makes their connection explicit: you should be dead, Harry. This may as well have been you.

The next place you hear a variant of "Want to Be Free" is in the washerwoman's shack in the fishing village. “Live With Me” is wistful and melancholic. The gentle piano and cooing vocals evoke the wind and waves on the bay, an escape calling outside the salt-rimed shack. But this is a place of death, or at least its potential, as the return of the high viola from "The Field Autopsy" reminds us. This is where Ruby hid when Harry's arrival made her fear for her life, where she contemplated killing herself if things got even worse. This is where Harry can end up if no one vouches for him at the RCM tribunal finale, where his wounds will grow infected without medical care, where there is little left to do but return to drinking and wait to die.

But true to the song title, the shack also offers Harry the possibility of learning to with himself as he emerges from his bender. Here is a mirror free from the damage and trauma of attempting to destroy himself where he can reflect on who he was and who he wants to become. He can choose to keep or let go of his past coping/defense mechanisms like his facial hair and The Expression. He can choose to embrace or reject the self-defeating fantasy of fascism. The shack marks a midpoint of the game, when the hangover has worn off but before the case is closed. So "Live With Me" scores the balance between potential endings: abandonment or acceptance, relapse or recovery, death or life. Harry breathes in the sea air, breathes it back out, and takes another step.

I didn’t realize this until a recent replay, but “Live With Me” also plays when you visit the Working Class Woman to notify her of her husband’s death. Since this is an optional sidequest, I understand why they didn't create original music for it. But they didn't reuse "Rue de Saint-Gislaine", the song for the rest of the Capeside Apartments (including the Smoker on the Balcony's apartment when you talk to the Sunday Friend). The Working Class Husband is another mirror for Harry who has met his end, and "Live With Me" plays to mourn him.

Victor Méjean died from an accident while inebriated, a fate that also could have befallen Harry on a previous drinking binge. The striking thing about Victor's death is how easily he could have been overlooked and forgotten. He died at the end of a pier in a fenced off, abandoned part of town. His wife wasn't concerned about his days-long absence. It's only by virtue of Can Opening and Jamrock Shuffling that Harry will know about or find him. Victor literally and figuratively died slipping through the cracks – of the rotted boardwalk, yes, but also of any sort of social safety net. This is what happens to alcoholics in Revachol. This is what will happen to Harry if he continues drinking and hasn't built his own personal safety net with Kim or Cuno to prevent the RCM from abandoning him. As Harry informs Billie of her husband's death, it's only natural for him to think of his own possible endings, and the soundtrack reflects that.

The final version of the song you hear is “Burn, Baby, Burn” blasting from Sad FM on the boat ride to the Sea Fortress to find the Hanged Man's killer and Harry's last dark reflection: Dros, The Deserter. Dros shares Harry's penchant for clinging to political ideology to give meaning to his life and obsessing over women he can't be with. He lives in bitter isolation, refusing to move beyond the failures of the past, his personal shortcomings and the evils of the world alike. He's emblematic of yet another possible outcome for Harry: not literal death, but despair-induced stagnation that leaves one living like a ghost in the mortal realm.

By the time Harry gets in the boat to the island, his fate at the end of the game is set. The RCM (specifically Jean) has all they need to decide whether to accept or abandon their prodigal lieutenant-yefreitor. Should his former partners leave him, Harry can return to the shack and the circle of drunks who have also given up on life. Or he can return to the island, where he would take Dros' place as the creepy old man haunting the fortress, scaring children, and staring at the mainland with longing and resentment. But even if Harry returns with his unit to Jamrock, simply resuming his old life will not keep him from returning to the depths of despair. The RCM broke him; the RCM will not save him. Neither outcome helps Harry become a person he truly wants to live with.

"Want to be free/It will last forever/Eternally," croons the boombox on the boat. The lyrics echo the self destruction that Harry sought before the game's events: freedom forever from pain, the ultimate release of death. At least that's what the Ancient Reptilian Brain would see in those words. But there's tension in the lyrics as the desire for freedom and exhortations to "burn, baby, burn" repeat. The bridge offers an alternative vision of verdure not consumed by the disco inferno: "And the trees are green and overhanging/Feather-light, free, and everlasting." Perhaps a less moribund future exists for Harry, even if only in the next world, as a new person.

[adrinktostopyourthirst]

Bucky Barnes | One Shot | My Queen

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Queen!Reader

Plot: The post-battle energy rush needs a release. Suddenly, there’s a willing soldier at your disposal.

Warnings: 18+. Smut and mentions of violence.

Words: 4OOO

“There are guests, Your Majesty,” John tells you with pity in his voice, not mentioning it because he thinks you have forgotten, but because he needs you to be aware of the important fact. If you tried hard enough, it wasn’t too much of a task to remember your duties and who those entailed, but it was a relief to have John around to remind you of such things, since you valued your duties and relations with the outside world dearly.

You glance around nervously and give him a guilty pout, grabbing the last of your belongings.

“I know, I am so sorry, but this is important. Send them a plane and I will get back to them as soon as I can,” you plead and quickly rush out of the room to the main entrance hall, John following you as you make your way to the prepared jet.

Mind occupied by making sure your small legion is armed and ready to go as you walk, you get brought to an abrupt stop when two large men block your path. Raising your head, you glower curiously at the rude interruption. As busy as you have been the past weeks, you study each and every encounter you plan, so you know exactly who the two men are.

“Captain Wilson. Sergeant Barnes.”

“Your Majesty,” Sam’s greeting is curt, yet kind. “I don’t suppose a sudden departure is part of your infamous warm welcome?”

You narrow your eyes at him. “You have an awful lot of courage speaking to a queen this way,” you warn him, your tone formal before your features soften towards your guests. “But I apologise. Something important came up and I hardly think sending you into war with me is considered a warm welcome.”

The man you recognise as James Barnes lets out a humoured scoff. “Clearly, you don’t know us very well.”

Your eyes dart between the men suspiciously and a smile tugs at the corner of your mouth, hardly able to contain it at the sheer boldness coming from the men. After a pregnant pause and your legion having left the hall to board the jet, you slowly turn to John.

“John. You heard the men. Get them suited and onto the jet.” Sharing one more glance with the men, your eyes lingering on the twinkle of mischief in Bucky’s eyes, you brush past them and step onto the plane without another word.

…

“It’s not often a queen goes into war with her people.”

“Well, unfortunately my legions are struggling on their own,” you explain to Sam calmly.

“What happened?” Bucky asks, brows pulled together in slight worry.

“John? Could you please bring them up to speed while I get ready?”

As John takes over and shows the two heroes what their next mission will be as they serve someone else’s queen, you step over to the side and let one of your generals help you suit up. Slipping into the modern metal, rusted with nano technology, the shimmering suit glides over your body perfectly.

From the corner of your eyes, you notice Bucky Barnes losing interest from John’s briefing and your eyes lock with his. There’s a rush of heat pulsing through your body at the sheer boldness of Bucky not breaking eye contact once he gets caught staring. His eyes rake up and down the sleek suit and lock back onto yours, a knowing smirk pulling up the corner of his mouth before he drags his eyes away and turns back to his previous conversation.

Leaving you absolutely flustered and furious.

Did he just ogle a queen?

…

Bucky is startled enough for it to nearly show on his face when he sees the feral look you have on yours. He knows that look, has worn it plenty of times himself. Battle doesn’t quite leave your body and mind as soon as it is over. Even with your spectacular win, which Bucky knows is mostly because of your reliability and skills as a powerful leader, the raging chaos of adrenaline lingers like you have days worth of battles to fight still.

He came in to check up on you post-battle, easily slipping past your guards, to find you pacing in your blood-splattered gear around the chamber before what he assumes is your bedroom. The hall is large and decorated wonderfully, but so very empty with your restless figure pacing through it. He’s certain he can feel your energy buzzing all the way up to the impossibly high ceilings.

Having enough decency to announce himself, he gently knocks on the door from inside of the room. When you whirl towards him in your frenzy, he finds it amusing enough to plaster a smirk onto his face. “Restless, my queen?”

You huff through your nostrils. “I still have fight in me.” He knows. “I want to kill them for springing that attack on us.” He knows that too, but the gravel in your voice awakens a slumbering beast inside of him and fire starts curling around his bones.

“I think you gave them enough hell for what they did to you,” he assures you and something in your eyes seems to soften at that. You did give them hell. Rightfully so.

“But this energy–” You shake out your trembling hands to rid yourself of that restlessness. Bucky nods and slowly prowls closer, hands gliding into his pockets as he slants his head to the side to observe you.

“I know,” he acknowledges, “it takes a while to wear off.”

“How do you handle it?” you ask him, taking a steadying breath as he crosses the room. “After a fight, how do you get rid of all of that energy?”

Bucky flashes you a grin, his brows raising with intrigue and a mischievous shimmer in his eyes. “I hardly think I could speak about such methods to a sophisticated queen.”

“Sophisticated, my ass,” you snap, narrowing your eyes at the broad soldier. “You hardly felt like you had to be appropriate when you were watching me put on this suit,” you say with a scoff, ushering to the intricate metals you’re wearing.

“In my defence, I hadn’t seen you fight yet. Whereas now,” he shrugs, “I’d prefer staying in your good graces.”

“You fuck it out, don’t you?”

Bucky’s blink is the only sign of his surprise and he cocks his head at you again. “Excuse me?”

“The only way to get rid of the energy after battle is to get your dick wet,” you clarify, “isn’t it?”

Bucky chokes on a laugh, stepping even closer to you now with his hands still in his pockets, close enough to make you have to tilt your chin up. “You have a filthy mouth for a queen,” he breathes and to accentuate his words, his eyes drop to said mouth.

“I didn’t become queen by being prim and proper,” you explain with a little less fire than you intended to say it with.

“No,” he breathes, “you didn’t.”

Another restless shudder up your spine reminds you of your predicament, your thudding heartbeat not coming to a rest. You sigh, searching those blue eyes still trained on your lips. “Care to help a queen out?”

“You want to see me bow for you again, don’t you?” He smirks and finally raises his eyes to meet yours.

You can’t help but smile slightly, giving him a guilty shrug, because yes, you loved seeing him bow for you earlier as you stepped onto the battlefield. Not just that, plenty of pretty men had bowed for you. It was Bucky’s willingness and respect as he took a knee for you that was particularly invigorating. He matches your smile and takes a long second to let you take in what he is about to do, before slowly sinking to his knees in front of you, steady hands moving to rest on your thighs.

“Your people are awfully lucky to get to serve you every day,” he murmurs, looking up at you with eyes of fire and submission. That manages to make heat surge to your cheeks and ears, swallowing hard as you take in the sight before you. “May I?”

It takes all of your power not to nod too eagerly before he starts working off the buckles and belts of your suit, the nanotechnology wingmanning perfectly as the metal retreats into the hard base of the suit.

Soon, you are in nothing but your underwear. Bones and muscles are trembling beneath your skin in response to forcing your body to be utterly still. Chemical reactions are ricocheting against the barrier of your skin to make you spring apart. So much energy. So much fire and passion and fury still roiling inside of you. A heavy blanket settles over it – desire. But before you can order him to act on it, Bucky comes back to a stand.

“Close your eyes,” he mutters.

“I’m close to fighting you, Sergeant Barnes,” you promise him, showing your active restraint, but deciding to close your eyes anyway.

He huffs a soft laugh and you feel his eyes burning into your skin, a knuckle brazenly trailing over your collarbones and down the centre of your chest. “I will take you up on that another day,” he answers and your blood heats up at the fact that Bucky revels in both of those sides of you. Most men cower at your bloodlust, but not him. He kneels before it.

Speaking of him kneeling–

“I didn’t tell you to get up,” you remind him and his hand pauses.

“I didn’t particularly think it would be fair to leave you standing as I proceed to immobilise your legs, my queen,” he drawls and you snap your mouth shut. Your eyes slowly flutter open and you find him having taken a step back, holding out his hand for you to take.

Carefully taking it with a questioning look in your eyes, Bucky leads you to your bedroom like he has been there a thousand times. Slowly and deliberately, he guides you to your own bed, still fully clothed himself in those black leathers.

“I expected it to be more rough,” you admit steadily. “Fucking out that energy...”

Bucky turns back to you, hands now on your waist as he pivots you with your back to the bed, the backs on your legs touching the foot of it. “Fucking you roughly won’t do the trick,” he explains. “Fucking you thoroughly will.”

If you weren’t quaking before, this would do the trick. Your heartbeat is pulsing between your legs, hammering for attention, the seams of your underwear teasing you more than the man before you. It paralyses you, that desire coursing through your veins like syrup, makes you fall quiet. Only for a short while.

“Then do it.”

Bucky’s brows raise again, not having expected you to fold so fast. “What?”

“Did I fucking stutter?” you hiss at him. “I need you to fuck me before I explode.”

Bucky smirks at you again and you’re so tempted to smother that smirk – you have your ways. “I am not yours to give orders to.”

You restrain from rolling your eyes at him, the close proximity making you prone to holding your breath and making your words coming out strained. “I’m not going to beg for it.”

“You already have,” he reminds you, not an inch of him giving away that he might be unravelling. “And I think you will, sweetheart. I think you are seconds away from begging for it.”

As if in answer to his outrageous insinuation, a shudder racks through your bones and flashes of that wild battle make your nervous system rush to life again. It’s so frustrating, to have so much energy begging to be released.

His solid eyes and steady hands on your waist make you want to sink into him for relief. You want Bucky to tear you apart, almost similar to the way he tore apart those monsters earlier. Calculated, precise and only slightly unhinged. His fighting earlier was like a choreography your body wanted to study and practice until it can memorise nothing else. The way his muscles moved, the precise strikes of his metal arm, the focused crinkles in his handsome face, his thick thighs planting him firmly onto the ground – your ground. Fighting for your lands. For you.

My queen, he had called you. You suppose he does answer to your commands, then. But you might just beg for it. If only because it feels so tempting. To whine for his pleasure, sob for it and make him serve you like he wanted to do earlier. How awful, for a queen to want to beg for it.

“Please,” you almost gasp from holding your breath for too long.

He hums, low and deadly, his finger kneading gently and appreciatively into your soft flesh. “That’s a good girl,” he murmurs and before you can shout in outrage, he slowly dips down and presses his pillowy soft lips to your collarbone, instantly making your head tilt backwards.

His hands pull you close enough for your front to be pressed to his and your hands automatically grab his shoulders. His lips part and his tongue traces a singular line over the thinnest piece of skin on your body, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. His mouth moves up, tongue dipping in and out to raise your pulse as he suckles at your skin. Your fingers curl slightly and your body starts to nearly shake with jitters at the adrenaline coursing through you like an electrical charge.

Bucky bites down on the tense skin beneath your ear where he hums against you, the sound ringing in your head like a gong. His hands have travelled to your back, stroking up and down the bare skin until your bra pops loose with you barely noticing. You tremble with need when all you are left in are your panties and Bucky pulls away to once again sink down to his knees.

You swallow hard at his stare from below you and follow his silent command to sit down at the edge of the bed. Hooking his hands around your knees, he presses them apart and lifts one leg over his shoulder. Your fingers dig into the soft sheets with anticipation and you only break the intense eye contact to watch his tongue trace his bottom lip. He hooks your other leg over his shoulder and drags you to the very edge of the bed, getting comfortable on his knees.

“Is this where you want me?” he asks, but you don’t deign to answer him. “Kneeling before my queen.”

“Something tells me you don’t mind being there at all,” you answer tightly and his hands stroke up and down your calves lovingly. Bucky presses one kiss to your inner thighs, taking in a big whiff of air and groaning at the smell of your arousal.

“There is something about eating a meal on my knees that speaks to me,” he drawls, his eyes settling on said meal, only covered by the thin fabric of your panties. He presses another kiss, right over the damp fabric. You shudder.

“Then eat,” you bite back, scrambling to hang onto your power as a queen.

Bucky gives a wide grin, keeping his eyes on your soaking core. His hand lifts and his finger loops into the fabric, making you bite your lip painfully hard at the brief touch. He pulls the fabric to the side, spreading your legs enough for him to dive in, but not doing so yet. “That is no way to speak to your soldiers.”

Your soldier, Bucky supposes after today he is. You’re torture. Your smell, your voice, your body, the sheer power you have over him – over everyone.

Your hand finds his hair and you rake your fingers through the thick, brown tresses. Your eyes are soft when Bucky looks up to find them. “Will you take the honour of being my soldier?”

You’re genuine, he’s sure of it. Bucky can tell you’re asking him for so much more than just this. And considering his current predicament, he will consider his duties as your soldier later. Right now, he can only nod, entranced by the queen who has her legs wrapped around his head. He can only think of one duty right now and that is to rid you of all of that devastating warrior energy the only way he knows how.

Bucky buries his face between your legs and begins his feasting. Nudging his nose against your clit and prodding his tongue in and out of you. Licking every inch of your warm, wet, lovely cunt as if it’ll guarantee a place in your kingdom for him.

Sam will kill him for never returning home, but by the heavens, he can’t find it in him to care enough. Not with you tasting so heavenly and– fuck, those goddamn moans.

…

He was right, he was so fucking right. The slow and steady and longs thrusts make your body hiss in delight. The thorough swivel of his hips when he’s buried into you as far as possible, releases every bit of pent up energy that suffocates you. The sharp snap of his hips right as he’s about to hit home makes you shudder and sob, clenching around him every time as if you feel every thrust like the very first one.

Bucky strikes your deepest spot with each one, your hair between his fingers, your back arched to meet him and your cheek pressed into the mattress. Your eyes flutter painfully against your will, your toes curling when pleasure wraps around every abdominal muscle, your pussy spasming around him in need for release as the pressure between your hips grows to be unbearable.

The sounds that slip from your parted mouth sound inhumane. Soft and pitiful whimpers between huffs of breath. Oh God, oh God. You need him to slow down for a second, except he’s not going fast at all. He’s slow and deep and oh God, he’s so fucking deep.

You grapple for a grip in the sheets, any tether to reality slipping from your mind after every move he has already made. The last of your control, your power as a queen, slips away from you on a phantom wind, desire clouding every piece of domination inside of you. It’s all his now, you are all his now.

Within a short second, you get hauled up by your hair, arched against his heaving, sweaty chest until his mouth nips at your earlobe. Your hands grab his hips behind you, nails digging into his firm skin.

“You still there, my queen?” he coos, and you feel his grin as his mouth grazes over your neck possessively. Your answer is the harsh tightening of your nails into him and the groan he lets out makes you clench around him wantonly. “Oh, somewhere. You’re somewhere in that sex-riddled brain of yours. Losing your mind a little, are you?”

You swear you mean to speak a sentence – a word, at least – but the sound that comes out sounds like another garbled moan and Bucky laughs at your demise. He quickly presses a loving kiss to your shoulder, a deep thrust settling him so deep inside of you, you flutter helplessly around him.

“Don’t worry,” he hums, another deep thrust following as the hand in your hair slips to securely grip your throat and move your ear back to his mouth. “Next time, I will let you take the reigns. You can tie me to the bed and use me to make yourself come. I’m looking forward to it, actually.” You pulse around him and he snickers. “Oh, you like that, don’t you? Prefer to have control and use the ones that serve you.” He bites your ear softly and squeezes your throat. “Oh, but you look so pretty like this. Don’t take this away from me, sweetheart.”

It's a whirlwind of emotions that rush through you at his words. You feel his desperation to have you like this seep through his ignorant confidence having you exactly like he wants you. The last of your working brain cells are screaming yes, yes, yes at his request. You’ll let him have you like this every day for the rest of your life. And it flashes before your eyes, him waking you up by slowly fucking you, hand back in your hair and lazy mouth muttering filthy things against your skin. God, he’s filthy.

Your vision is swirling as his pace picks up and blood flow to your brain is slightly limited by his grip. Ecstasy is rushing through your head and limbs with heavy tingles, and your moans raise in pitch. The metal hand bruising your hips with its possessive grip, slides between your legs and messily toys with your clit, the feeling making you want to buckle over.

“Shit!” you gasp and throw your head back into his shoulder, thighs quaking at the stimulation. Too much, it’s too much. Your eyes roll to the back of your head as you feel every inch of him glide in and out of you with an ease and precision that feels degrading and embarrassing. Bucky’s breath is equally laboured now and his grip on you turns from possessive to desperate, like he cannot get enough of you into his hands.

“Come for me again, my queen,” he purrs in your ear, knowing what that term now does to you, and you nod blindly. Following his command blindly, unable to resist the feeling of his deep thrusts and his firm circles on your clit any longer, you let the warmth of your orgasm consume you. You tremble and shake and stiffen at his touch and he doesn’t stop. “Come on, keep coming. Keep fucking coming, baby.”

You choke out a sob, surely drawing blood with your nails as you gasp for air, for any word to make him ease up on you, but he only stops when you buckle over and your trembling form succumbs to the sheets below you. Curled up on the sheets, bearing the waves of pleasure that haunt your every nerve, you feel Bucky’s exhausted and sex-glazed eyes watching you carefully. You faintly feel the trickle of him come pulsing out of you and it nearly makes you smile.

Two hands, one scorching with heat and one a welcome cool, gently stroke up the sides of your thighs, cooing sounds coming from Bucky as he watches you come back to your senses. Lips follow his soothing touches, warm kisses being pressed to your quickly cooling skin.

“How’s that post-fight energy?” he asks softly and your eyes finally flutter open to meet his curious ones, the blue shimmering with… Pride.

“Fuck,” you pant, “you.”

He laughs, “Again?”

You breathe a soft laugh and he at last presses a kiss to your lips. If you had the energy, you know your body would betray you by lifting your head to chase his lips.

You finally let out a defeated sigh, letting the corners of your mouth lift to a lazy smile. “Thank you.”

“At your disposal,” he mutters back with slight amusement and you open your eyes again to look at him. God, he’s beautiful.

“Are you,” you dare to ask, earnest in your eyes, “at my disposal…?”

“It would be an honour.”

“Likewise.”

“That is more than I’ve ever had before.”

“The honour?”

He nods. And then leans in, his mouth brushing your ear as your eyes flutter closed again, goosebumps rising over your skin. “I will bow for you any day,” he breathes softly, “my queen.”

[missingn000]

hey all! i wrote a what-if character study & action fic for if king fought sanji instead of zoro during the raid on onigashima. i'd really love if you gave it a read! thanks so much!

link

playlist

happy reading!

[average-egirl]

Who fell first vs Who fell harder (Creeps ver.)

Tw: brief mention of murder and sex in Ben's, mention of blood in ej's.

Characters:Jane tk, Nina tk, Jeff tk, BEN DROWNED, Ticci toby, Eyeless jack, Masky, Hoodie, Bloody painter, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Brahms heelshire, Bo Sinclair, Vincent Sinclair, Billy lenz.

Jane the killer

She fell first, you fell harder.

When you were first introduced to the mansion she was tasked to be your 'guide' of sorts. From the moment you locked eyes she knew you were different, you were special.

Nina the killer

You fell first, She fell harder.

She had just been broken up with, originally Jane was helping her recover but slender forced her to do some missions so naturally you decided to help. Seeing her sad expression made your heart drop, you had to do something.

Jeff the killer

He fell first, you fell harder.

After slender introduced you to all the creeps, Jeff couldn't help but feel just a little jealous seeing you give all of them attention.

BEN DROWNED

You fell first, he fell harder.

Despite what you previously assumed, the mansion was actually quite boring, nobody ever did anything that wasn't killing or fucking. Or, that's what you thought before you saw BEN playing his switch on the couch. Maybe this place isn't as boring as you thought.

Ticci toby

You fell first, he fell harder.

From the moment you entered the mansion you could feel a terrible, dreadful aura coming from everyone in there, except for him that is.

Eyeless jack

He fell first, you fell harder.

You always saw him quietly walking around the mansion, sometimes covered in blood, but you never thought anything about it, little did you know that he noticed you as well.

Masky

He fell first, you fell harder.

During a crowded and quite frankly boring party at the mansion you decided to step out for some air, only to see him leaned against the wall smoking, and it appears that he noticed you.

Hoodie

You fell first, he fell harder.

You always saw him holding a camera, and sometimes you would hear people yelling at him to stop recording them all the time, and perhaps it shouldn't have but, it intrigued you.

Bloody painter

He fell first, you fell harder.

While walking through the park you quite literally fell into each other, you apologized, walked away, and thought nothing of it but after that interaction you kept seeing him staring at you while sketching in his book.

Michael Myers

He fell first, you fell harder.

You kept hearing about 'the shape' from the news you were getting sick of it to be honest, all you wanted was for this awful nightmare to be over, and as you walked home that feeling of being watched was only making you wish it even more.

Jason Voorhees

He fell first, you fell harder.

Your 'friends' if you can even call them that forced you to join them on some stupid trip, but after losing them in the woods and hearing some bloodcurdling screams you started running, that is until you tripped over a stick and knocked yourself out, only to wake in a small cabin.

Brahms heelshire

He fell first, you fell harder.

You were hired as a nanny for a doll, sounds easy enough right? That's what you thought until the doll started moving on its own, your really starting to feel like someone is watching you...

Bo Sinclair

He fell first, you fell harder.

Your friends had dragged you on a trip to God knows where, eventually the car broke down and you had to see a mechanic, as your friends went out and explored you decided to sit outside and wait although you could feel eyes on you the whole time.

Vincent Sinclair

You fell first, he fell harder.

You were walking around a wax museum admiring the art when you came across a guy wearing a mask, he looked quite surprised to see you, although you were to focused on your flustered face to really notice- or care.

Billy lenz

He fell first, you fell harder.

Getting perverted calls from some random guy was not something you expected when you joined the sorority, but it was happening anyway, and your starting to feel a presence watching over you at night.

[pooks]

part 7 of straw hat!ichiji and without further ado, we'll dive into the next one; Drum Island arc

Nami is sick

as Nami falls sick in a seemingly serious illness, Sanji is taking it harder because of trauma; he has seen Ichiji become seriously ill when they starved on the rock island with Zeff and he had thought he was gonna die.

Sanji has unresolved trauma when it comes to serious illnesses and Ichiji doesn't know how to fix the problem since he cares very little about his own wellbeing.

with Nami out of commission, Ichiji takes over the nagivating role temporarily. he proves to be very decent on it and uses Zeff's old logbook as his guide through the Grand Line. he notices that since the weather is becoming steadingly colder, they must be nearing a winter island.

everyone has different responses to Nami's illness; Luffy, Usopp and Sanji nearly panics while Vivi becomes worried and anxious. Zoro and Ichiji mostly takes the role as the rational ones.

Ichiji is starting to feel under the weather as well and he wonders if his physical body had a delayed reaction due to his modified genetics. he doesn't fall instantly ill like Nami did, but he becomes more fatigued, irritated and loses his appetite (although he forces himself to eat something).

to distract himself from Nami's sickness and his brother's bad moods, Sanji dotes on Nyansha, their new ship cat who can shift size at will. he likes how friendly and cuddly Nyansha is and thinks back at the Baratie. he remembers how he and Ichiji used to nag at Zeff to have a pet and were always refused because the Baratie was a sea-faring restaurant and he didn't want any animals fall into the water and drown.

Zoro notices that Ichiji isn't doing well and keep scratching his neck, so he asks if he's really fine. Ichiji waves off his concerns and just says "don't worry about it".

meeting Wapol and entering Drum Island

Vivi decides to set course for any island nearby in hopes to find a doctor for the sick Nami, instead of heading towards Alabasta. Ichiji has a brief conversation with her and informs her that while she's already burdened with the serious state of her land, she chose to save another's life and it's not something to scoff at. Vivi remarks that Ichiji seems to understand her better than anyone and wonders if he knows a lot about monarchy and diplomacy (given his prior knowledge of Alabasta and displaying dormant skills of leadership).

Ichiji goes still after that and answers "well, we all have skeletons in the closet, don't we? and no, i don't want to talk about it."

as he tends to do sometimes, Ichiji looks over the ocean and thinks about the brothers he left behind in Germa in favor for Sanji. he always regrets leaving them behind and being unable to bring all his little brothers with himself and he hopes that they're faring well, despite Germa being...Germa.

the peace isn't for long, as an unfamiliar pirate ship approaches the Merry and attacks them. through irritated, Ichiji fights along with Zoro, Luffy and Sanji, using the gun Zeff had given him and Sanji (the very one Sanji aimed at Miss All Sunday). they encounter Wapol, a Devil Fruit user and has eaten the Munch Munch fruit and eats exactly anything.

after attempting to eat the ship, Luffy fights him and sends him flying across the ocean. the pirates retreats, however.

Luffy attempts to cheer up Nami, but fails. it's a very hard day on the crew since no one has apparently been sick before (Sanji denies this, but Ichiji mutters a "lies" but disguises it into a cough). the next day, they're reaching a winter island, Drum Island, and drops their anchor there. but they're suddenly ambushed by its' hostile inhabitants.

Ichiji decides to try to reason with them along with Vivi, telling them that they have a sick person onboard and she needs aid. a villager, however, shoots at Vivi when Sanji was about to defend himself from the same shooting villager.

Luffy resolves the situation, after being briefly angered by the violence against his nakama (and being urged by Vivi to not chose violence as counter measure) and Dalton, the leader, and the villagers decides to help them.

Luffy, Sanji, Vivi, Usopp heads down to the village with Nami and leaves Zoro, Ichiji and Karoo onboard the Merry. before they leave, Sanji notices that his older brother has flushed cheeks, but Ichiji says it's because of the cold.

Sanji trails after Luffy, Usopp, Vivi and Nami, but not before looking behind himself at Ichiji.

Zoro is lost and Ichiji falls

after staying in the village for a while and finding out the nearest doctor, one Dr. Kureha, also known as "the witch", resides on a castle on top of a tall rock-like mountain, Luffy and Sanji heads there with Nami to cure her while Vivi & Usopp remains in the village with Dalton. Ichiji and Zoro standing guard on the ship, in case more enemies turned up.

Ichiji kept himself inside the galley when Zoro decided to train in the cold, since he felt less tolerant to the cold than usual and he wasn't in mood to deal with Zoro "unreasonable training montage". but he got suspicious when he heard a lack of "swordman noises" and when he went to check, he found both Zoro and Karoo missing.

Ichiji braves the cold surroundings of Drum Island, dressed warmly and yet, still freezing as if he had no outerwear. trying to locate the missing Zoro is like searching for a needle in a pile of hay, but Ichiji keeps trying.

his illness starts to process more aggressively, putting Ichiji's wellbeing at risk; his fever sky-rockets, he becomes weak and delirious, and soon, he's gotten himself lost as well. fortunately for him, a sled nears him and nearly runs him over; it's Dr. Kureha along with Chopper (in walk point).

Ichiji doesn't call her anything, but he asks her if she's seen "a green-haired, half-naked fool" somewhere. Kureha doesn't answer the question and instead, inquires about his own health since he looks like he's about to keel over. Ichiji decides to be honest and says that he isn't well, but it's the least of his problems since he needs to find his friend.

Ichiji doesn't get to say more before his strength is drained and he collapses in the snow, completely overtaken by his fever.

(Kureha and Chopper decides to bring him with them, as Ichiji will surely die from his fever or the cold if he stays outside)

reunited at the castle, an unbreakable bond of brothers

by the time Luffy, Sanji and Nami are safely inside the castle, they're in a horrible state; Luffy, exhausted from climbing the drum rock with his bare hands and carrying on his two crew mates, is suffering hypothermia. Nami is seriously ill, hovering between life and death and Sanji is critically injured with a broken spine and internal bleeding from the avalanche.

Chopper and Kureha treats them as the group is in a critical condition. Nami is the first one who comes around and the cause of her illness is revealed; Kestia, a poisonous tick from Little Garden causes a "five day sickness" that ends in death.

she also finds out that she isn't alone in the room she's staying in, she sees Ichiji in another bed and panics. it turns out that Ichiji was also bitten by a Kestia tick (flashback to the post-battle in Little Garden, when he slapped his neck from a "mosquito bite"). Kureha has discovered that Ichiji has a different metabolism than an ordinary human which is why his illness progressed slower than Nami. however, his intolerance to the cold and stress made his body enough weak for the Kestia bacteria to advance faster and more aggressively.

Chopper then runs into the room, being chased by Luffy and Sanji who mistook him for food source. however, Sanji stops when he sees his older brother seriously ill and becomes shocked, getting vivid flashback to his past.

we get a narrated flashback from Sanji's POV. he remembers the rock island they were stuck on, starving for 80+ days. during the five last days on the rock, Ichiji fell seriously ill due to eating lesser than Sanji, exhausting himself by collecting morning dew for his brother, enduring night watches and exposure from the sun. after they got saved by a passing ship, Ichiji was put under quarantine due to his illness being so serious along with starvation. he was ill for two months while Sanji and Zeff recovered. Sanji remembers watching his brother suffer from fever, chills, nausea, etc. he had never seen Ichiji weak ever in his life and the thought of Ichiji dying for his sake gave him nightmares and Sanji cried for every day, believing that his brother would surely die.

Sanji tears away from his narrated flashback, seeing Ichiji suffering in the same state and gets a trauma-induced panic attack. he breaks down crying, terrified that his brother is dying once again, blames himself for not seeing the signs and begs the unconscious Ichiji to not leave him alone.

before Kureha is about to hit Sanji's head for whining so much, Ichiji speaks up, revealing he's been awake the whole time

"Geez, you're still such a crybaby, Sanji..."

Sanji screams of grief and anger, hugging Ichiji and saying...something, but no one is able to understand what he's saying since he's crying and sobbing at the same time.

(foreshadowing to Sanji's "△✕~◑※◇♨*~✖✹" in water 7)

Ichiji is still running a fever and seemigly drifts off, but not before he managed to reassure his little brother and his captain (because let's face it, Luffy is freaking out at the thought of his nakama dying) that he'll be fine soon.

everyone thinks he's asleep because of his closed eyes, but he's conscious enough to hear Chopper's story when Kureha tells Sanji and Nami (while Luffy is off chasing the poor reindeer again to make him join his crew).

Wapol returns and the siege of Drum Castle

their luck runs short when Wapol makes a return to the castle, intending to "rule" Drum Island again (which would lead to more of the people's suffering). once again, Luffy fights Wapol but this time, it becomes personal when Wapol shoots at the jolly roger of the long passed Dr. Hiriluk, Chopper's mentor and adoptive father.

Luffy engages in full battle, enraged over how "fake pirates" like Wapol just shoots a jolly roger without a single respect.

inspired by Luffy, Chopper shows that he doesn't have just medical skills, but battle skills as well and joins the battle. Sanji attempted to join as well, but his back injury flares up, rendering him out of commission with Kureha guarding him.

while his two henchmen, fused into one, fights Chopper and Luffy gets distracted, Wapol sneaks into the castle. he stumbles onto Nami, who's already well enough to walk around thanks to Chopper and Kureha's wonder medicine.

the only difference here from canon is that Ichiji arrives in time, still feverish, and jumps at Wapol, pulling at his hair as the ex-king attacks her (which also gives Nami the perfect moment to steal the key from Wapol).

Nami manages to escape, but Wapol is now chasing Ichiji. the antibiotic remedy against his illness is progressing, but Ichiji is already exhausted and Wapol corners him, intending to kill him. Luffy finds them just in time and engages in one final battle before he emerges victorious, having punched Wapol across the next island with a Gum Gum Bazooka.

Dr. Hiriluks cherry blossom snow, Chopper joins the straw hats

with the antibiotic treatment finally taking effect for Ichiji (due to his fast metabolism) and Sanji is getting his back (painfully) fixed again, Luffy tries again and again to recruit Chopper to his crew

Nami attempts to negotiate with Kureha; she hands over the key if Kureha discharges her, Sanji and Ichiji. Ichiji, however, doesn't want Nami to do that since he wants she and Sanji to recover first (once again, he neglects to include himself) before heading to Alabasta. Kureha takes the key, but says they must stay in the castle...but also that there's a coat in the room and the guards aren't present. Nami takes it as a sign that they're free to go.

when Sanji's treatment is complete, Nami and Ichiji brings him as they go outside. Ichiji is nearly fully recovered at this point and is carrying Sanji on his back, who's still out of it from his treatment. Ichiji takes a moment to reflect on old memories and muses that he hasn't done this since they were kids.

barely some moments later, Chopper is joining them but Kureha is chasing after him with weapons, so the Straw Hats panics and decides to pack it to leave. Ichiji wastes no time getting into a sled, still carrying Sanji on his back. however, they get to witness something wonderous.

using Hiriluk's "cure for the country's cold heart", the straw hats and everyone else witnesses cherry blossoms falling onto the snowy island. Ichiji, with a now conscious Sanji leaning on his shoulder, remarks that he has never seen something so beautiful in his life and it's enough to almost bring tears.

with the perfect send-off to Chopper and having a ship doctor onboard, the straw hats sets sail for Alabasta

[itsybitsybatsyspider]

The Dragon Prince Au Masterpost

So since i got so many ideas and thoughts for this au, imma just make a masterpost for this since i plan on expanding and adding more to it in the future. Thought it’d make context a bit easier to understand. There's quite a bit so buckle in fellas

Berk is an outpost village that lies along the border of Katolis and Xadia. The people and battalion there are known for their duty to ward off dragons and drakes when they get too close to the border, and they are based right on the edge of the border where both lands meet at the Gulf of Tenebris. 

The events from the first movie still kind of play out. Hiccup shoots down Toothless and hides it from everyone, but after learning about dragons and seeing that they’re misunderstood and that Berk has been provoking them, he then creates a disguise to help the dragons.

Of course, now everyone thinks that there’s a Sunfire elf out there fighting against them and why do they think he’s a Sunfire elf?? Because he creates Inferno in an attempt to mimic a Sunforge blade and paints his helmet to look like elf markings and builds in horns.

Jack is a Skywing elf, and a mage-in-training. He’s doing his best and lives with his mother and sister, Emily. Their village is to the north of the Ruins of Elarion and resides in the mountains.

He's out flying one day when he hears a dragon's roar and when he flies down to investigate he sees a human trying to catch a dragon. Filled with anger he jumps down and pulls up a spell, aiming it at the human, who stares back with his eyes wide and hands raised.

Hiccup was only trying to wrangle Toothless to try and put on a new and improved tailfin when out of nowhere a Skywing elf leaps out and points lightning at him???

So they get off on the wrong foot. But after seeing that Hiccup wasn't harming Toothless and Toothless was friendly towards Hiccup, did Jack lower his staff. He truly thought the human was going to try to kill the dragon to take it apart to send to the dark mages of the Katolin court. He'd heard stories of human "mages'' and their brand of "magic". But no. All that was in front of him was a startled human who had only been wanting to help a creature of Xadia.

and from there, their friendship begins.

Jack tells Hiccup about Xadia and Hiccup tells Jack about his home. They sneak off to hang out and take Toothless out flying. Jack uses Sky magic to make them go faster and higher and blows snow flurries their way to mess with Hiccup.

Hiccup brings pastries and food for Jack to try from home and gets him to try brown morning potion. It ends with Hiccup laughing on the ground and a cup frozen to the ground as Jack sputters in distaste at the bitterness

Jack manages to find a real Sunforge blade and gifts it to Hiccup. "Now you can pass off as a real Sunfire elf. Or at least close enough."

Toothiana is a Skywing elf. One of Jack’s friends and a family friend to the Frost-Overlands. She’s helped teach Jack some Sky magic but it’s not much. She tries to help him by hunting down books, tomes, and scrolls in her free time when she’s not busy

Bunny is an Earthblood elf who doesn’t stay in one place too long. But he does have a place on the outskirts of their village and sometimes lingers for a few weeks at a time before going back to his travels. His real home is in the Uncharted Forest.

Sandy is a Sunfire elf who passes through occasionally and is Tooth's source for magic books for Jack. Sandy lives near Lux Aurea but his work keeps him traveling around. He's a Sun mage and is currently hunting for the source of whatever magic has been corrupting creatures in Xadia and turning them into monsters made of nothing but shade and decay.

North is a human dwelling in Berk. He and Gobber run the smithy and create the defenses for the outpost and take turns running the shop. But North is actually a friend to Xadia (*cough* Bunny *cough cough* Tooth *cough* Sandy). It was the time before he came to Berk and he keeps these opinions to himself until he discovers what Hiccup has been doing in his spare time.

Astrid is the top-cadet in the training program at the outpost. Best in her class and has the highest chance of joining the Outpost Guard right off the bat. She and Hiccup are friends and she has trouble understanding his sudden reluctance to want to fight dragons and keep enemy forces at bay. This is their home. Doesn’t he want to protect it? Surely he must understand what’s at stake if creatures from Xadia were to invade. 

the rest of the teenagers are in the training program a well. Snotlout has aspirations to join the Katolin army at the Breach, Fishlegs just wants to study the flora and fauna of Xadia without it trying to kill him, and the twins... well they're the twins. They want to learn primal magic for pranks and get chased by a drake and cause havoc in general.

Jamie Bennett and his family live in Berk and Jamie has a secret that he's never told anyone. His best friend's an elf.

Jamie and Emily become friends before the events of the story start. And have been friends for months at this point. They've been lying to everyone to keep their friendship. So when Jack starts acting suspicious at home, claiming to go see some friends (he doesn’t have friends aside from her and Tooth) she starts paying attention to what he’s trying to hide. She fills Jamie in on it as well during one of their hangouts and he’s like “Oh weird, you know I've been noticing the Commander’s son has been disappearing as well.”

At one point Jack manages to get his hands on an illusion necklace, and gives it to Hiccup so that he can be fully disguised as an Earthblood elf. He wants to show him the beauty of his home and Xadia without the worry that he’ll get captured or killed and they spend a whole day going through Jack’s village and showing him everything. Emily follows along and keeps a sharp eye on Hiccup. 

She brings it up in their following recap. "So my brother had a friend over the other day... it was an Earthblood elf i had never seen before... he acted really weird." "Huh that's weird... Hiccup was gone the other day... no one could find him..." ".... Hiccup?"

and Pitch is a dark mage :)

At some point i may add more, but for now this is the base context for the Au. it was hard not to get carried away with adding even more but i think that about sums it up for now! Below is the art that's been posted already. I'll edit it as i post more but for now that's it!

Jack, Hiccup, and Toothless designs

Sunfire Elf Hiccup disguise

Jack's Wing Maintenance

First Meeting (and misunderstandings)

Questions Ask

Ask #2

Jack and His Sister

Astrid, Jamie, and Tooth Designs

Earthblood Elf Hiccup Illusion

Some Plot

[the-arcade-doctor]

[[ STOP KOSA ]]

[[ RULES ]]

[[ GAMES AND GAME RULES ]] [[ PRIZE CORNER ]]

Some context: Text Doctors are a collection of Tumblr-based RP blogs featuring plague doctors made out of ASCII symbols with their own unique lore, they're mostly variants of the first one to don the title, Doctor Screech, a eldritch monster who hails from the abyss and landed in a world of violet occupied by walking fungal-infected-corpses and other such nasties.

HEY YOU! ARE YOU BORED? WHO AM I KIDDING, YOU FOUND THIS BLOG SO OF COURSE YOU ARE, LUCKILY FOR YOU, THIS IS AN BLOG FOR THE MOST… INTERESTING PLACE ON THE WEB!

WELCOME, LADIES, GENTS, AND EVERYONE ELSE TO

A PLACE OF INTRIGUE AND DANGER, MYSTERY AND WONDER! WHERE GAMES FEEL ALMOST ALIVE AND THE OWNER IS OVERJOYED TO MEET NEW FRIENDS!

ARCADE SCHEDULE

OPEN - 9:00 OR 11:00 AM

CLOSE 11:00 PM AFTER HOURS - 12:00 PM TO 6:00 AM MORE INFO BELOW, ENJOY YOUR STAY!

ENTRY #1: THE DENIZENS J:\\ THE MAKER \\\\

>> Jay. a 5’8, 17 (now 18) year old boy (when he feels like) with tan skin, wearing a black hoodie with a green “87” on it, grey sweatpants, and black shoes, under his hood lies a led visor displaying green animated eyes. He runs an arcade, overseen by a plague doctor suit made out of keyboard symbols, it has a parasitic relationship with his soul that enhances his ego. he runs an arcade as a front to gain more power to cut the strings of fate the gods have cast upon him.

[ jay speaks like this. ]

Jay, he found his way into a mysterious world occupied by a lone plague doctor, a beast who wore a mask of violet, the first ever "text doctor", at least, that's what he called himself, the plague doctor made out of... ASCII symbols? His name was Screech (@the-text-doctor), they got to know each other, the beast was wiser, older, had a family and most of all? POWER. Jay eventually stumbled onto a stray portal, and found a dimension with a lone arcade in it. It was empty, abandoned. It was quiet at first. Then the trials began with new technology Jay founded. His suit. A green, distorted form of the plague doctor made of symbols he met from days before. it was a beast forever crying emerald tears.. It took over the dimension. Slowly at first, but then rapidly, the floors turned black, the walls turned a dark shade of green, the arcade grew, seemingly floating. It was all falling into place. J:\\ THE SUIT \\\\ A green plague doctor made out of ASCII symbols, slashes make up his limbs and torso, and tear streaks fall down his mask. His left arm is corrupted heavily, with claws made of black triangles. He also has one corrupted wing made out of corrupted textures and glitch artifacts, on his chest lies a dark green mantle with two mirroring "J"s. His belt is made of square brackets and equal signs. This suit was made a host of the place it is now known for, but also to fight, and fight it does, it would be unwise to pick a fight with it in it's unnatural habitat.

thanks to @just-hyper-active for jotette's neck fluff [ J:\\ JOTA SPEAKS LIKE THIS. ] [ ♀J:\\ JOTETTE SPEAKS LIKE THIS. ]

The suit, when worn, made him agitated, angry, violent, egotistical, envious, and any other sense of the words, so much so that it took over his very soul, encasing it in a green hue, and wings, ever since, everyone wanted that exotic, digitized soul for themselves. The Jotette side grade makes Jay feels as if he's the prettiest thing on two legs, still as pyschopathic.

It was perfect for what he needed. He's been researching other worlds for a while, so they were next, but until then? He needed somewhere to cover up his research... the arcade would do just fine. He'd get to lounge around all day, and work on gaining more strength by night. Eventually, he opened the arcade, and attracted quite a crowd. He didn't feel much for them, just lambs to the slaughter, he thought. but eventually he grew fond of some of his visitors, some he loved seeing, some less so. his power grew... but he needed more. He eventually found other worlds, more creatures like his suit, “text doctors” as he calls them, more forms to take, more things to assimilate into his growing matrix of code and hate. J:\\ THE LESSER GODS \\\ In the world of digital evils known only by "EXEs", there lie creatures who couldn't get their hands on the vessels everybody knows them for, Sonic, Mario, Pac-Man, the like. These creatures have been festering inside unknown and uncared for video games, i.e one-off titles or edutainment games. They all think the ranks of Sonic.EXE have it too easy since they have more recognizable vessels, so they've decided to form in gangs of sorts, Jay has felt pity for them, and built a refuge for some of them called Circuitboard City. ENTRY #2: THE DIMENSION, THE BOARDER BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL REALMS

J:\\ OUTSIDE \\\\ A vast, black expanse, adorned with grid-patterned green lines and shrouded mountains that conceal Circuitboard City. Green floating stairs serve as the arcade entrance, the space under the arcade leading to an underground subway entry point for access to Circuitboard City.

J:\\ SUBWAY \\\\ The Subway, a dark green and somewhat dirty underground passage, links the arcade to the wonders of Circuitboard City, some Lesser Gods have taken refuge here as opposed to Circuitboard City.

J:\\ CIRCUITBOARD CITY \\\\

helped by @just-hyper-active The cyber-city sprawls beyond the mountains, initially visible like a distant skybox. However, the true nature of this place is revealed when you journey there through the Subway, unlocking Circuitboard City in it's fullest. Jay shelters Lesser Gods amidst the skyscrapers, surrounded by advertisements for JOTA's Arcade.

J:\\ ARCADE INTERIOR \\\\ Inside the arcade, a surreal extension of JOTA's twisted yet whimsical persona unfolds with moving wall patterns and nonsensical floors. Rows of cabinets, a prize corner, and a maintenance room entrance mark the journey. As one ascends towards JOTA's office, the rooms defy Euclidean logic, with unconventional door placements, and other such glitchy mishaps.

J:\\ HALLWAY \\\\ A simple hallway stretching to both the left and right of the office. J:\\ MYSTICS ROOM \\\\ A room where Jay's been studying various deities and other such creatures, such as Zalgo, Screech, and more. This room is to the left of the office hallway.

J:\\ JOTA'S OFFICE \\\\ JOTA's office, a dark green room adorned with silver accents. A faux bird rug lies in the center, and a dark green desk bears a lunatic's scribbles. Nearby stands a simple polygon statue of a pixelated emerald-textured plague doctor. Wall sketches depict a green heart with expansive wings and stylized plague doctors drawn from simple lines and shapes. Above, a mounted skull with a "GAME OVER - JOTAPHOBIA" plaque completes the room.

J:\\ JAY'S BEDROOM \\\\ Jay's bedroom, features a beanbag bed, the sole Sega Genesis in the arcade ever since a run-in with Sonic.EXE himself, Sonic posters, and invisible ink-laden posters of the other text doctors, the Cade Crew, and Jay himself. The dark green room houses a simple stand with drawers, holding obscure games, and a basic TV. This room is to the right of the office hallway.

J:\\ JOTA'S THRONE \\\\ On the main floor, JOTA's throne, a giant green chair, stands amidst corrupted textures and computer parts, adorned with a "GAME OVER" banner. J:\\ SUIT JUNGLE \\\\ Behind the curtains of the throne room lies the enigmatic Suit Jungle, featuring towering, unreachable arcade cabinets and one of them stands far above the rest, displaying myriad copies of JOTA's suit, glaring at whoever roams by, amid twisted metal trees and digital leaves, static falls like water and error messages are the closest thing to clouds, more copies of the suit are found crawling around, acting as birds, glitching green messages, seemingly written by Jay himself adorn the place's floors and walls.

the voices I have for all of my anons unless said otherwise: https://tts.cyzon.us EXE

Jay first encountered Sonic.EXE, also known as "X," during an event called Incident X. This voidspawn manifested itself as Sonic and attempted to claim Jay's soul. The encounter took place fashionably late at JOTA's arcade, following the Halloween EXE Takeover in 2023. Since then, X has been engaging in periodic battles with Jay's suit.

X derives pleasure from toying with human souls, leaving Jay concerned about how long he can keep the entity amused before facing potential death. In the aftermath of the incident, Jay discovered the existence of other entities similar to X, collectively referred to as The Lesser Gods or The X Underlings.

[fudgecake-charlie]

i would like to hear about the third life au!

HELLO BELOVED FROG DASH FRAUD you are always so kind to me!!! Very long disorganised thoughts and context to the AU [EDIT: IN A NEW REBLOG I GUESS!! tumblr hates me and my formatting!!]

[lovesickeros]

lord its so dark in here the sahara desert of tsaritsa content you are like a shining oasis. your characterisation of her compels me & mihoyo would be hard pressed to top it imo.!! caaaaan i humbly request yr thoughts on her first meeting w a reader of any kind, or maybe even multiple kinds (sagau, sagau god au, isekai, etc) if you so desire...

it really is like a desert here. being the fan of a character we aren't getting until the last damn nation is driving me up a wall but i will persevere bc if nothing else i support morally bankrupt women in media. we r in a severe drought over here but i do my best. unfortunately nothing i say is ever coherent so pull out your translation notes its abt 2 be messy

also this got out of hand but thats bc first meetings w the tsaritsa are tricky to write + a LOT of her characterization lies in deeper exploration then just surface level yknow...NOT A DIG AT YOU this is just my excuse for rambling. gently pats the tsaritsa she can hold so much complexity i do not have the word count to delve into it completely :]

gonna talk cult au for a bit here though because that's 99% of my content. and honestly? she thrives in sub au's of the cult au like villain au + imposter au. it's basically made for her. i mean, early days, the imposter au had been going around for a little while but one of the first few ideas was the Fatui taking reader in so like. it kinda technically actually was. pretty sure cult au Tsaritsa popped up because of the imposter au. a lot of it's writers kinda left though which. man am i getting old or.

anyway.

there isn't much of a chance her first impression is all that positive. at best it's usually neutral, imo, but rarely if ever positive. specifically because i view the Tsaritsa as someone who isn't as fanatical as most of the acolytes typically are towards the creator. she's not exactly going to worship the ground you walk on unlike a certain geo lizard. which is partially why i think she thrives in the sub au's i mentioned.

imposter au, for example. she meets you at your lowest. there's no gaudy extravagance or pampering from the acolytes waiting for you because your own acolytes have turned on you. for all intents and purposes you aren't a "god" at all. which is why i don't think she meshes well with normal cult au reader. the Fatui are made up of outcasts, basically, and imposter au slots right in just perfectly. you're weak, at your lowest, when you meet the Fatui in the imposter au. and the Fatui can help you, too.

a mutual exchange, really. the Tsaritsa sees a tool she can use to one up the rest of the nations and especially Archons, and she has no qualms about you using her and the Fatui in turn. you both want something out of it, after all. whether you just want to be safe from the rest of the acolytes, or you want revenge, or whatever else..she'll give you the power to fulfill it, and she gains the strongest piece on the chessboard when all is said and done.

the best way i can describe the first meeting is "practical", i suppose. she sees an opportunity in you. the ultimate gamble. because if she "saves" you, and you dont trust anyone else because they tried to kill you, well..she holds all the cards, doesn't she?

but the Tsaritsa, imo, is just as capable of being just as fanatical towards you as anyone else. she just won't worship you as the creator. but as yourself? clawing your way back to your divine power and taking back what belongs to you? the Tsaritsa is, to me, a character who's character flourishes in long-term fics more because she changes a LOT between "just met reader" and after having been with reader for some time. she's practically apathetic at the beginning but a lot of her character, in my characterization, shines through LONG after the first meeting.