#guess i should start tagging her now probably lol

[vii-spider]

woe, more spider crimson be upon ye

based on that scene at the beginning of bjorken telephone, i like to think they'd be completely normal around crimson even though she's arguably scarier than a normal spider

[3verythingiknowaboutlove]

first fall of snow

how spencer guesses you're pregnant before you actually tell him

fluff word count: 1390 warnings & tags & stuff: pregnant reader, slight issues with mother mentioned?, non-graphic vomiting, mentions/allusions to winter holidays being celebrated, kinda spencer's pov but still 2nd pov, reader is scared spencer will leave her lol, anxious!reader in general, mentions of death?, probably medical inaccuracies ive never been pregnant author's note: hiiii i'm forcing myself to post this because if i don't then i'll never post and i'm being BRAVE. i hope it can be a little comforting maybe. i've realllyyyy been struggling with my take on spencer's characterization lately soo this was kinda like a bootcamp/exercise situation into his mind and less an expression of my writing skills, iykwim. let me know your thoughts if u have any! i love you & have a splendid day!!

Spencer is walking—speed walking—toward his car, away from the case he just finished, away from serial killers and guns and geographical profiling and death.

He places his feet carefully on the snow-covered sidewalk with each step, the cold air biting at his face. He barely notices it, absorbed in the path ahead, as the snow provides a satisfying crunch underfoot—a nice background to his perpetually racing mind.

He doesn’t like the winter. It’s always too harsh outdoors, and too stuffy indoors, and he’s trapped in a suffocating haze no matter where he goes. 

His phone starts to vibrate gently in his pocket, interrupting his racing thoughts for a split second. His pace falters as he pulls it free, a quick smile tugging at the corner of his lips when he sees it’s your name on the screen.

“Hi. How are you?” he asks after picking up, watching his breath come out in puffs of vapor in the cold air.

Winters, however, have gotten progressively better each year he spends with you.

“...I’m okay,” you say, though the crack in your voice reveals the all-consuming ache in your bones and mind.

“No. You’re overwhelmed,” he guesses in his matter-of-fact way, voice gentle. You huff out a soft laugh at his ability to read you, never getting old.

“Yeah, I guess. A little. The holiday season, you know. Are you on your way home?” you ask, voice softer now. You’re sitting on the couch of yours and Spencer’s cozy apartment, wrestling with a blanket to cover your lap, and bouncing your leg relentlessly.

“I’m walking to the car now. Hey, have you done the crossword today?” Spencer asks, words a familiar, tender remedy for your nerves. You told him a long time ago that hearing his voice makes you feel better, and there are times, like these, where he just knows it’s what you need. You rest our head on the arm of the couch, curling up.

“No, I didn’t have the time. Why?”

“There was an interesting question about causes of death in Shakespeare plays, but they completely messed up the part of speech. It read, ‘Popular ways to die by the hands of England’s national poet’. I thought it was ‘poisons’ at first, but it was actually ‘stabbed’, even though the correct answer grammatically should’ve been ‘stabs’ or ‘stabbings’,” he says, his car now in sight through the steady sprinkle of snow coming down. “Do you think I should send an email to let them know? I guess stabbing does make more sense, though, versus poison, because throughout his works, thirty characters out of his 74 that died were stabbed compared to only four that were poisoned. Three were stabbed and poisoned. Did you know that two were actually baked into pies, which is a-”

“Oh my god, the pie,” you groan, cutting him off mid-sentence, sitting up hastily, the blanket falling to the floor.

“Pie?”

“Yeah. My mom coerced me into making it to bring tomorrow.” You pad over to the kitchen and crouch down to peek through the hazy glass of the oven, inspecting it. “Oh,” you murmur. “It’s…not pretty.”

He sandwiches the phone in between his ear and shoulder, gently opening the door to his car to sit down as he listens to you. He turns the heat on, exhaling in an exhausted relief, hovering his hand over where the air comes out. 

“Can you tell me what it looks like? Maybe I can help,” he suggests, leaning back against the headrest and letting his eyes close for a second. You put the phone on speaker, setting it on the counter as you bend down to take it out. “Don’t burn yourself,” he adds, hearing what you’re doing.

“I’m not going to burn my-” you cut yourself off with a huff. “Whatever. It’s just really messy. There’s like… liquid overflowing where the lattice should be.”

He hums. “How long has it been cooking for?”

“45 minutes. My mom sent me this one ancient recipe that I had to use written on parchment paper from like 70 years ago, and it does not have a bake time listed, so I’m just eyeballing it.”

“Okay. You could either put it back in the oven in hopes that more of the liquid will evaporate, or you can leave it out to cool down and hopefully thicken,” he says.

“What do you think I should do?”

“I think you sound exhausted and need your sleep.” 

You sigh, staring at your mess of a pie, hopes that you’ll appease your mother this year slipping further and further away, soon to be completely buried by the snow.

“Hey. I’m sure it’ll taste really good. Besides, people still liked Shakespeare, and he wrote about much worse pies than you could ever make.” 

A smile pulls at your lips.

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll just leave it out to cool and head to bed. Will you stay on the phone a little longer?” you ask, padding over to your shared bedroom.

“Of course.”

He doesn’t start driving as you talk, not when nearly 2000 people die per year due to driving on icy roads, and two thirds of them were people who were reported to not be paying close enough attention.

And especially not when 54 hours ago on your last phone call, he noticed a drastic shift in your behavior, and was quickly able to tell that you were pregnant. 

He had too much waiting for him at home to be spinning out on black ice because he was talking to you and not watching the road.

He chooses instead to look outside at the falling snow, blanketing the city, his city, the very first for D.C. to have this winter out of the septillion snowflakes planet earth receives each year.

…

Spencer gets home a little later that night, holding another pint of cherries in his hands. Not for the pie—which he turns to see resting on the stove and winces slightly at—but for you. 

Cherries, with their 342 mg of potassium per cup, help replenish lost electrolytes and can soothe nausea.

He’s expecting it to start any day now.

He quietly steps into the bedroom, setting his bag by the door to be dealt with tomorrow. The soft glow of the lamp that was left on, presumably for him by your endlessly considerate heart, provides just enough light so he can get changed. He then finally clambers into bed next to you, one hand reaching out to lace in your hair, moving his fingers to gently scratch by the nape of your neck. He lifts the other to rest, like you're made of a delicate china, on your lower stomach, sighing in pure relief the second it makes contact.

You turn sleepily, humming when you’re met with the sight of him. “Spence,” you murmur, contented.

“Hi. I really didn’t mean to wake you up. I’m sorry,” he says, so quietly.

“I'm glad you did. I like it when you wake me.” You tuck yourself closer to him. “I love you.” His hand comes to trace gentle patterns all over your back and arm, and he gives you a little kiss, adoringly.

“Go back to sleep. I love you.”

You let your eyes shut once again, this time much easier now that he’s with you. You inhale his scent, which you swear could repair anything broken or lost in this world. You exhale, wondering if he’d still hold you the same way after learning that you’re carrying his child. 

It’s a scary thought, but you’re comforted by his warm touch, pushing you farther out into the deep sea of sleep.

Once your breaths get steady and your mouth parts slightly, he adds, in a whisper, “Both.”

…

The next morning, when you’re hunched over the toilet bowl, Spencer is there with you, rubbing your back and wiping your teary eyes. You look up to him after brushing your teeth, and no words are exchanged. He tugs you into his arms, silently quelling any of the countless anxieties swarming your mind, at least in this moment.

His hand comes up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. He lets it rest there, cupping your jaw.

“Let’s go shopping after breakfast today, okay? You need prenatal vitamins.” He presses a soft kiss to your forehead.

“And a new pie.”

[redwinelew]

the boy is mine | lewis hamilton [3/3]

social media au. latina + singer!reader

summary — a certain formula 1 driver caught your attention, and you can't help but let the whole world know about your attraction. (read part one and two here)

face claim — rosalia

song — the boy is mine by ariana grande

warnings — none!

author's note — apologize that pt3 took so long!! i got sick lol. but here's the final part!! i love this series so much and i hope u guys enjoyed it as much as i loved making it!

all pictures taken from pinterest. credit to owners.

messages!

instagram!

liked by ynln, lewishamilton and 7,937 others

f1wagsupdates YN LN supporting Lewis Hamilton at the Belgium Grand Prix today!

via photographeruser

view all 256 comments

user1 omg yn wag debut 🙏🏼

user2 lewis already lurking in the likes 😭😭

user3 their smiles 😭🩷

user4 bringing her to the merc garage already.... chat how serious do we think they are

user5 user4 probably just friends. personally i do not see this progressing as an actual relationship

user6 user5 i hope not cause they look so adorable together though :(

user7 user6 honestly if yn hornily wrote "bed chem" about lewis then "guess" WITH lewis and still failed to get the man it'd be so hilarious lmfao

user6 user7 it'd be HIS loss though imagine fumbling someone like yn 🙏🏼

user7 user6 fair enough

instagram!

liked by pierregasly, carmenmmundt and 926,213 others

ynln george in the back bcs that pic didn't match the aesthetic of my feed

tagged lewishamilton, f1, mercedesamgf1 and georgerussell63

view all 10,638 comments

ynln also congrats on the win or whatever lewishamilton

lewishamilton ynln ouch

lewishamilton ynln congratulating me as a second thought? i regret inviting you already

ynln lewishamilton i would've been there either way 🙏🏼

lewishamilton ynln if i recall correctly you said showing up at the race is a bad idea and that people would talk

ynln lewishamilton i didn't say i wouldn't be there period 🙏🏼 i had to show otherwise you would have lost

lewishamilton ynln my good luck charm ❤️❤️ this is why i love you

ynln lewishamilton i know right you are soooo lucky to have me

user1 ynln lewishamilton damn should we leave????

user2 user1 FR LIKE YN ARE WE INTERRUPTING SOMETHING 😭😭

user3 ynln lewishamilton oh my god they are DATING dating i'm freaking out like crazy right now

user4 ynln lewishamilton SHE GOT THE BOY

user5 ynln lewishamilton omw to write a horny love song about my crush so he'd like me back brb 🏃🏻‍♀️🌬️

georgerussell63 i'm hurt yn and i already got dsq

user6 georgerussell63 LMFAO POOR GEORGE 😭😭

carmenmmundt loved talking to you we should hang out soon!!

ynln carmenmmundt would love to!! text me babe

user7 carmenmmundt ynln they're bffs already omg

user8 user7 mercedes wags have to stick together 🙏🏼

instagram!

liked by ameliadimz, ayame.p and 3,162,738 others

lewishamilton the win might be mine but this boy is forever hers ❤️

tagged ynln

view all 12,263 comments

ynln OKAYYYY

ynln i'm putting that caption in the song btw

lewishamilton ynln you can take full credit baby

ynln lewishamilton ofc i am you wouldn't be coming up with that clever ass caption if it wasn't me 🙏🏼

user1 ynln WHAT SONG

user2 ynln DON'T IGNORE US

user3 ynln she's so 😭😭

user4 THEY ARE HARD LAUNCHING EVERYBODY STAY FUCKING CALM

user5 this is so crazy we already seen them saying i love you on this app PUBLICLY and yet i still can't believe they are actually dating rn 😭😭

user6 user5 I KNOW RIGHT and to rhink this all started bcs she was down bad for this man 😭😭

user5 user6 she's giving me the courage to confess to my crush but i just KNOW as soon as i try i'd fumble it so bad

taglist — @seonghwaexile @totallynotluluu @omgsuperstarg @exotic-iris13 @formulaal @josephqunnies @book-obsesseds-world @st4rgirl-ellie @czennieszn

[space-mango-company]

Stranger | Chapter 5

Chapter Links: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

TW: Descriptions of Violence, Mentions of Cannibalism

Tags: Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x Atreides!Reader, Arranged Marriage, Eventual Smut, POV Second Person, No use of y/n, Original Characters, Canon What Canon

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: Not proofread!! Holy moly. Here it is, folks. The scene that inspired this whole fic. I had fun writing this so I really hope you enjoy it. Once again, I appreciate everyone who likes, comments, and/or leaves kudos so much. I really started this fic for myself but good golly, that dopamine rush whenever I get a notif might be more addicting than spice. I'm glad to be part of the bald man brigade.

Also, I can't believe I'm only now questioning why I decided to write this in the second person? I guess maybe I thought this fic would be a lot shorter and not that deep, lol. At this point 'y/n' probably has enough personality to just be a straight-up OC. It's funnier because I don't even find second-person or y/n fics any more engaging either. I always detach myself by giving 'y/n' her own name and only seeing her as a character in the fic.

ANYWAY, sorry to ramble. Stay safe and have a good one, ya weirdos.

You step out into the dark cul-de-sac of the guest hall, illuminated only by the large suspensor lamp in the middle. Feyd-Rautha looks you up and down, seemingly entranced by how the dim light casts his shadow on your modest dress. Atreides green, he recognized.

"Trying to sneak into my rooms again?" you say arms crossed, leaning on your door. "I didn't appreciate the last time, by the way."

"It's my house," he says cooly, "and I did knock this time."

You stare at him indifferently.

"Quite the display from you yesterday morning, using The Voice on me." His voice low and raspy, "I should have you drawn and quartered."

You scoff in his face. "You almost choked me to death. Are you trying to start a war?"

He takes a step closer and his face is inches from yours, you can feel his breath on your cheek, "I didn't think I'd like you this much, little hawk."

"What do you want, Feyd-Rautha?" you had no patience for him right now.

"Ah," he steps back, a dark smile on his face, "I've been waiting to hear my name from your tongue." His hand reaches for your lips. "I've grown quite tired of 'na-Baron'."

You grab his wrist before he can touch you. "If you're only here to toy with me, I would rather be left alone to prepare for bed." You release his hand and turn to open your door.

Feyd-Rautha props an arm against the doorway to block you. "We're to be married in three days," he says, "and I just can't seem to bring myself to let go of my 'harpies', as you called them." He meets your gaze. "You said you'd kill them. Did you mean that?"

You look up at him with steely eyes. He towered over you but your heart felt no fear, "Yes."

His coy smile returns. "Good. Come to my training hall tomorrow," he says, walking away.

"What?" you call after him.

"Dress to fight," he says over his shoulder. "I want to see what you can do, Atreides."

You needed no help from Zora in putting on a loose shirt and long pants. The plain beige outfit certainly wasn't as elegant as the dresses you had been wearing so far. But it was comfortable and you could fight in it, which was all that mattered. Still, you look yourself in the mirror. The soft, airy fabrics draped over your figure well but perhaps you were not in the best shape as you once were. Your muscle mass is much less than your brother's and he wasn't particularly built himself. You admit you did wane off your training sessions with Gurney and Paul leading up to your departure from Caladan. Nevertheless, you were still a skilled warrior. Another secret you've been keeping from the Harkonnens.

You were 14 when you started learning the blade. Watching Paul, 2 years your senior, practice with the Atreides Warmaster lit a fire in you. You didn't hesitate to pester your father to let you train with them and of course, there was nothing he could deny his darling daughter. You were a fierce and determined student. Gurney Halleck was a man you genuinely believed to be one of the best fighters in the Imperium, along with Duncan Idaho. Gurney would train you and Paul on even days. On odd days, your mother would teach you the Weirding Way. These lessons, much like the rest of your mother's teachings, your father wanted to know nothing about. After becoming decently adept at Prana-Bindu and gaining almost complete physical control of your body, Lady Jessica insisted that you also be skilled in the Bene Gesserit style of combat.

You were far from mastery in either but the combination of both trainings made you a formidable fighter. Despite this, you could never seem to beat your brother in a sparring match. A fact that frustrated you to no end, though you appreciated that Paul never went easy on you. You'd always blame it on him having trained for longer than you have. But in truth, you knew there had just always been something special about him.

"Are you ready, my lady?" Zora's soft voice wakes you from your thoughts.

"Hm? Right. Yes, let's go." You quickly tie your hair out of the way and grab your father's dagger from atop your dresser.

There was no fanfare when you entered the hall. On one end, the na-Baron's concubines sat chained on the steps of the shallow recessed pit in their leathers, their glares piercing through you. Your eyes linger on them as Feyd-Rautha and his Warmaster greet you.

"I was starting to think my lady bride was bluffing," Feyd-Rautha says as you approach him. The older man beside him offers you a polite bow.

"Perhaps she wasn't so keen on your brutish games," you bite back. "Your lord uncle won't be joining us?"

"No," Feyd-Rautha crosses his arms, "but he'll be hearing about your victory. Or your demise."

"Right. Well, I assume you'll be releasing them from those chains," you nod towards his pets "Not sure why they're necessary."

"Oh, trust me, little hawk. They're necessary." Feyd-Rautha motions to a servant.

"Your blade and shield, my lady," they bow, presenting you with a knife and a small device you recognize as a Holtzman shield.

"I've brought my own," you unsheath your father's dagger. You contemplate taking the shield but remembering that the na-Baron forwent it during his gladiator fight, you decide to do so as well. "They've no weapons anyway, the shield seems pointless."

Feyd-Rautha shrugs, "If you insist."

You take a deep breath, "Let's get this over with."

You lightly stretch as you walk down the steps of the shallow pit to stand opposite the na-Baron's concubines. You had come into this on the pretense of righteousness. For Iassa, you told yourself. But you've known her a mere two days. A part of you wanted to show off. You were good and you knew it. You could probably kill anyone in this room, even Feyd-Rautha. You craved the respect of the people here: the Harkonnens, the people of Geidi Prime. You figured this was one way to get it.

Feyd-Rautha walks around the pit to one of his concubines and kneels to whisper something in her ear. You assume a fighting stance when he moves to release her from the chains. When you meet her eyes, they are filled with feral bloodlust.

Suddenly, you weren't so bold. The veil of courage you have maintained since you arrived, even when Feyd-Rautha had your neck in his grip, is torn apart when you face this woman. You could tell no part of her would hesitate to rip your throat out with her bare teeth. You were almost relieved they were unarmed, but you weren't sure if that would make them any less lethal.

Fear grew in your chest and you had less than a moment to recite the Litany in your head before the concubine lunged at you.

You crouch down in time and slash at her abdomen as she approaches you. You turn to face her on the other side of the pit and she wastes no time in attacking you again. She attempts to grab your armed hand but you take hold of her wrist first and move to pin it behind her back. Quickly, your blade drags across her throat and she falls to your feet.

The kill has not yet registered in your mind but your heart is racing. You can almost hear your blood coursing through your veins. You held your arms outstretched, your eyes focused ahead, ready for the next one.

Across the pit, Feyd-Rautha licks his lips, smiling as he releases his second concubine. This time, you walk toward her while she moves to attack you. You clock her head with the pommel of your dagger and knock her a few steps back. She reaches a hand to wipe the blood beginning to drip out of her nose. After examining it, she snarls and bares her sharp teeth at you. Your mind is blank now. She dodges your first slash then manages to land a blow to your jaw. You seethe from the pain. You spit out the mixture of blood and saliva filling your mouth. The anger at the hit drives you to rush at her. Seeing an opening, you duck down to her waist and stab her twice. As she falls to her knees, the look of determination doesn't leave her eyes until the very last moment.

When you turn around, Feyd-Rautha has already released the last concubine. The ruthless scream she lets out disorients you. She pounces and knocks you over. She straddles you and pins your arms to the ground, your blade sliding inches away. She screams again in your face at the death of her sisters. You wedge your right knee between you and her abdomen, the only thing keeping her teeth from reaching your throat. You grunt as you struggle to free your hands. In your periphery, you see Feyd-Rautha, wielding his own blade, take a step into the pit.

"GET BACK," you roar, and he is powerless to refuse.

You turn back to your opponent still on top of you and you butt her head with your own. She loosens her grip and you kick her off to hastily crawl to your weapon. When she reorients herself and attempts to grab you again, you hook a knee under her arm and flip the both of you over. With your weight on her chest and both your knees pinning her arms down, she thrashes underneath you, claws digging into your right ankle. You take your blade in both hands and her screaming is silenced when you sink your knife deep into her heart.

When you rise, the room is quiet. Your chest heaves. The stark white ceiling lights don't help the lightheadedness that begins to wash over you in the post-adrenaline rush. Feyd-Rautha says something from behind you but his speech is garbled as you reel from the thrill of what just transpired. You were electrified. You almost... wanted more.

Then, the realization of the revolting scene you are in settles upon you and you are knocked off your high. You look at the leather-clad bodies scattered around you, the grotesque way they lay on the floor, the red blood pooling around them made brighter by the sterile grayness of the room. You did this.

A hand on your shoulder snaps you out of it. In reflex, you turn and raise your blade at the offender.

Feyd-Rautha holds his hands up, "Whoa, easy, Atreides. Trying to kill me? Don't want to start a war, do you?"

You yield your weapon. Your eyes dodge his as you look to your feet and try to steady your breathing.

"Enjoy your first taste of blood?" Feyd-Rautha says, the look in his eyes indecipherable to you. He raises a hand and swipes his thumb on your cheek. It comes away covered in crimson.

You gasp and reach for your face with your own hand. You don't even know if it's your blood or theirs, or when it got on you. Your heart pounded, unable to decide whether you were repulsed or proud.

"Look at you," he says licking the red off his finger. You could not help but stare at him through the strands of your hair that had come undone in the fighting. "You're beautiful like this," his hand reaches for your face again.

"No," you say low and quiet when you swat his hand away, "you're sick." You didn't know if you meant him or yourself. You calmly turn to leave. No one stops you when you make your way up the shallow steps of the pit. As you pass Iassa—no, Zora—by the doorway, you tell her flatly, "Prepare a bath."

You had never taken a life before. Today, you took three. You were glad you didn't know their names. You decided you'd never find out.

After Zora pours a final pitcher of hot water into the bath, you tell her, "You may go. I'll dress myself later, thank you."

She bows and makes her way out of your rooms.

In your solitude, you bring your knees to your chest. You had been quick to wipe the blood off your cheek before you even reached your quarters. Now, you cup the water into your hands and rub it into your face, the slight sting of the heat comforting you.

He was a cruel man, your betrothed. This is what you've decided. Having you kill the concubines he claimed to want to keep so much. But wasn't it you who threatened to kill them? He started it, you argue with yourself, when he had Iassa killed. You felt like a child.

When you used to hear of Feyd-Rautha's exploits, you had to mask your disgust. And yet now, you had killed so easily in that pit as he had in the arena. What was this place doing to you?

When you left Caladan, Paul had never killed anyone either. You wonder if he ever does, would he feel the same exhilaration you did when you slit that first concubine's throat. No. Your brother was fierce but, like your father, he had a good heart. You beat him by three. You hoped it would stay that way.

You think about your future here, marrying Feyd-Rautha. Producing heir after heir under the Baron's watchful eye. You were a broodmare. Despite all your fancy training and education. Despite your little demonstration earlier. It was the bitter truth.

You missed home. You missed walking along the beach at night with your father. You missed your mother's gentle hands brushing your hair. You missed the banter and teasing with your brother. You missed Gurney, and Duncan, and the cold breeze on your balcony, and getting to roam free and going anywhere you pleased. When the tears come, you sink deep into the bath so they might fade away in the water.

Chapter Links: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

Taglist: @torchbearerkyle @austinswhitewolf @dreamlandcreations @emeraldsgirl @strawberryfieldsforevermore @bornslippys @vexis-world @aoi-targaryen @alexandrainlove @mamawiggers1980 @sstardussty @aboutthenabaron

[httpscomexe]

Just came across your give me inspiration post and I’ve come to deliver 🫡

How about Bucky or Logan x naive reader? Well not really naive but sort of? Reader keeps making excuses for him and keeps brushing of the concerning things he does. Ex he keeps tabs on her he has to know where she is at all times or else he starts to FREAK out. He sabotages readers work or projects so that she will come to him for help. He even intrudes on her time with friends when reader says she’s going out he starts pouting and saying “I wish I had something to do. You should let me go with you. It will be fun they won’t mind”. Even their work place co workers mention it to reader but she just brushes it off saying “ oh he’s just a friend” or “he’s just lonely sometimes”. Basically he’s obsessed with reader and wants to be the only thing she thinks about and he will go to extreme measures to have her no MATTER what.

Hopefully that was good 🤷‍♀️ if it’s not feel free to ignore it lol it’s feels good to be back. I missed you 🫶

-love , S 💋

Barnes & Noble

Summary: Nothing goes right in your shitty life. Work, school, everything. It’s all shit. Until a worried friend finally looks out for you, and you have the best day you’ve had in probably years.

(Find What I’m currently writing by checking my pinned post)

Parings: Professor!Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Language, suicide, drugs, wounds, drinking, underage drinking, anxiety, panic, shit boss, shit mom, all that good stuff,  (Individual warnings per chapter)

Word Count: 3408 (Find all parts here) Pt.2

P.S. If you’d like to be tagged, ask in the comments, you also have permission to send an ask, but make sure it is NOT anonymous, so I know your username, don’t worry, I’m scared of confrontation too. But this is a SAFE SPACE where I will not judge. Thank you again.

AN: This is almost completely different from what you asked for, but to be fair, I don't plan what I write, I just let my brain and my fingers move however they feel like and if I process that something is bad, I delete it and refresh for a minute. But I think I'm back. And this will probably have three parts.

Lolly: Guess who’s throwing a party this weekend!

You: I’m assuming Trent?

Lolly: Ew no, I would not be excited.

You: You?

Lolly: Yea! And you’re invited!

You smile at the rectangle of light in your hands, the only source of light in the room as a matter of fact. Your eyes are tired, you had been studying all day and just when you were about to sleep, your phone buzzed. Of course, considering your addiction to the device, you immediately picked it up, losing every second of progress you had made earlier trying to actually fall asleep. Fucking insomnia. You either went to sleep quickly and woke up every hour, or you didn’t sleep until an hour before you needed to be up for class. If your higher dosage didn’t start to work on sleeping pills, you seriously considered chloroform as a personal prescription.

You weren’t exactly a party person, apart from the drinks. The thought of being in a house full of three hundred people dancing and drinking, sweating all night while fucking whereever because their drunken mind couldn’t think straight was seriously making your stomach fold in disgust. What was even the point in parties anyways? To lose your virginity and figure out who the dad is for the next 5 years and you can’t afford a test because now you have to take care of a baby? Sounded like prison, just being held in a cell for 18 years or until you decide to kick the bucket yourself, deciding debt was more depressing than your lifestyle.

To be fair, you weren’t raised in the best household. Your mom tried to kick you out at 16, which you instead ran away, thinking she hated you but really she just didn’t want you to walk in on her hanging halfway off the bed with an empty bottle of pills hanging loose from her hand. And your dad? Sometimes you think you’re a lab experiment. Mom never brought him up,and when you brought him up, you’d be sent to your room like it was a cage and you failed your test. You honestly got lucky with the amount of maturity your harder teenage life gave you. Now you’re either working, studying, going to class, or getting the five hours, and what feels like thirty minutes of sleep, of course, only every other day. Some days, you don't get to sleep at all.

So of course you didn’t want to go to your best friend Lolly’s party. Whenever you said you were busy she’d just tell you to take a sick day off, but obviously, that wasn’t a thing that would ever be able to happen. You think your mom is the worst? Wait until you hear about your boss…

Morning

“Keep it going! It’s just a scratch!” She shouted basically in your face, her spit from her smoke corroded teeth would probably be on the tip of your nose if you had turned your head just barely to the right. The ‘scratch’ on your arm bleeding, leaking down between the now goosebumps on your skin and a few drops dripping down onto the broken glass on the greasy tile floor. Some asshole wasn’t happy about how few chocolate chips were in their cookie, you wish you weren’t joking. But of course, the customer is always right, even if it means they get to throw a broken piece of glass at you, cutting your bicep. “I don’t even know why I bothered hiring you, you ain’t even a pretty face.” She scoffs as she walks away, half her ass sticking out from her way to small pants. You half expected her button to fly out and land in someone's drink. She’d probably broken about 80 different codes by now with the way she talked to you. But of course, you’re way too patient with people, unlike Lolly, who quit the job as soon as she saw the morning shift manager, literally set her hat and apron down on the counter and walked out. You wish you had walked out with her, as she now works at a pet store, grooming dogs while you bleed all over the floor. It was five in the damned morning, you didn’t need this shit. But here you were, scrubbing the floor of glass, spilt Fanta, and blood, which was dripping onto the floor still, creating more of a mess.

Afternoon

From five to twelve. That’s how long you had to work. Every. Single. Day. Then you have thirty minutes to get to your first class. You have to switch clothes in the bathroom at work, shove it in your bag, run out onto the streets of New York, jog down Grey Street, cross Midway Drive, cut through the park at the centre of the city, hoping to fuck there isnt some event happening that keeps you from going around, then you have to go down into the subway, walk through the crowd of people talking loudly on their phones, all sweating and holding briefcases, so you try your hardest to avoid their bodies, reminded of the gash on your bicep when a musty street performer covered in silver paint rubs against you, coating your skin in a not so shiny and sort of disgustingly sticky paint. You hold back the gag you wanted to release onto about 15 people, and you push through the rest, almost twisting your ankle halfway up the stairs, but you of course power through it, and look at your watch. You didn’t have time to go to your dorm and clean up, but fuck. You look at your reflection in the window of a Starbucks, you didn’t even realise you had started crying, but your mascara running down your cheeks just like the blood had run down your arm, which stopped at some point and dried up with the streak of paint, made you look an absolute mess. Like you just walked in on your husband cheating on you with your sister. You just gag at your reflection, then the walking symbol shows up, and you cross the street, it was rush hour, so you had two choices. Go to your room, and clean up, be about ten minutes late, or go to class and look like shit in front of everyone. It was a split-second decision. But you didn’t want to look like shit. Honestly, you didn’t even want to go to class, so missing a few minutes wouldn’t kill you. Even if it did, you wouldn’t mind.

So instead of taking a right and going to the class you so desperately needed to pass, you go left on Harper Road, and you run up some steps to your apartment, shoving the keys in the door and swinging it open before rushing to the bathroom, pulling off your white blouse - now stained red and brown from blood - and tossing it on the floor, quickly turning on your shower, and you didn’t give a flying fuck about the water bill, you were about to take your damned time under the water.

You step in once your fully unclothed, the warm running water stinging your cut but the damned shower was the only good thing going on in your life right now, so there were no complaints apart from the hiss that leaves your lips as it does hit the now inflamed wound.

About thirty minutes later

About twenty eyes land on you as soon as you walk into the classroom, which was actually just the library. Literary class for your want to be a writer, and your teacher - Professor Barnes - pauses for a moment. He looks you up and down, gives you a disappointed look, then you find an open seat, pulling out a notebook with only a few minutes left of the class, but you were about to spend the next hour or so in the library with your friends anyways. While you wrote, and studied, they had a project to work on. One that you’ve already failed twice. Once for turning it into the wrong class, and once for accidentally lighting it on fire at work when a co-worker dropped a flaming pan on it, which, of course, you were blamed for. Then just as class ends, and everyone packs to leave while you continue to write notes into your book, you feel a presence behind you. Before you can even apologise to him, you feel his large hand on your shoulder, and his voice in your ear.

“You were late again.” No shit Sherlock. “What happened this time?” He asks, moving to sit on the corner of your desk, and you put down your pencil. He asked the question as if he didn’t believe you every other time you told him your situation. You wait for the library to completely empty out before you could yell at him for being a dick, and as soon as the last student leaves, the second the door closes and leaves a whoosh of air from its weight, you don’t scream. Some unknown squeak of every emotion mixed together except for happiness and joy leaves your throat, and your newly applied mascara runs down your face, exposing your clear tears to be mixed with the black makeup, streaks of it running down your cheeks, causing you to lean forward, face in your hands as you start to sob. The sound of a heavy sigh is the only thing in the room apart from your absolutely embarrassing breakdown. “I gave you a hundred on the assignment for the day.” What? That makes you look up, once again looking like a wife just cheated on, only this time your false husband cheated with your own mother.

“W-What? I-I don’t even k-know what the assignment was…” You hear him scoff, but it wasn’t a hateful scoff, it was more of a ‘do I look like I give a fuck,’ sort of scoff.

“Look. Lolly spoke to me about how you’re doing. So I figured I’d give you a break.” That was… Weird… Why would he do that?

“But what about the assignments that go with it-?”

“Congrats, your grade just went from a D to a B. How about you go home and relax for the rest of the day instead of studying.” You’re silent for a moment. Relax? You haven’t done that since freshman year, and even then, you weren’t sure your lunch period was exactly meant for a thirty minute nap.

“Mr. Barnes- I-” You jump a little, his hand closing your textbook and he hops off the table.

“Come on, class is over, go home.” He sighs, and goes back to his desk with your textbook, scanning it and setting it on the shelf so you wouldn’t even need to bother turning it back in and most likely paying the late fee. You stand up awkwardly, grabbing your bag and only just realising you definitely twisted your ankle as you limp a little before barely catching yourself on your desk. You honestly looked pathetic, you weren’t exactly sure why he wasn’t laughing. “Are you alright there?” You hear his voice close again, and you turn to look up at him, his hand moving to the middle of your back. But momma didn’t raise any wimp.

“It hurts-” You whimper. What. The fuck. Momma would be disappointed - If she wasn’t dead - she’d probably choke you to death. That pathetic ass noise would’ve been enough to consider you a puppy ready for adoption. “I mean uh- I’m fine.” He chuckles a little dryly, his eyes widening at your horrible attempt to convince him that you were truly fine.

“Are you sure? You’re crying even more now.” Honestly, if he hadn’t pointed it out, you wouldn’t have noticed. You were so sleep deprived. So tired. Exhausted. You were genuinely ready to snap at the next person who even breathed wrong. “Are you gonna be able to walk back to your dorm?” He grabs your bag, swinging it over his shoulder before you can even answer.

“I-I’ll be alright…” You hold out your hand for your bag, but instead, his hand on your back gently pushes you forward, making you limp in pain before his arm snakes around your waist, which should’ve made you jump, but he was helping you walk.

“Well, Imma give you a ride home if that’s alright.” He pushes the button to open the automatic door, helping you walk out into the cold air which hits you in the face worse than it should with tear stained cheeks.

“I mean I can walk-”

“Doesn’t look like it.” He shrugs, walking into the teachers parking lot, dragging you towards his truck, the one you knew was his because he was the only teacher you could actually stand, so you’ve waved bye to him at the end of the day a few times before.

“Yea- I can’t.” You admit, limping along next to him.

He opens the passenger door to the truck, and he even helps you in, setting your bag on the floorboard before closing the door and rounding the vehicle, getting into the driver seat and the warm air from the vents feels amazing, everywhere except for your sleeve covered arm, which was still warm and inflamed.

“Go ahead and give me directions hun.” He asks, pulling out of his parking space. You turn on your phone, a few missed texts from Lolly that you could look at and deal with later swiped away by your thumb as you go to the maps app to get directions until you remember you live just across the street from the dorms.

“I uh… I’m in the apartment- the one with the red roof across the street from the dorms…” you mumble, but he does hear you, nodding as you set your phone down on the centre console and reach down, rubbing your shin with your palm and it hurts like shit - it's definitely more than sprained - and you were way too poor to go to the hospital to get it checked out. So a self diagnosis would be enough for now.

“So what happened? Did you fall or something?”

“I uh- twisted it going up the subway steps.” You sit back up and look out the window.

“Subway? What are you doing in the subway if you live so close to the school?”

“I have work in the mornings…”

“Sounds stressful.”

“You have… no idea…” You mumble again, looking out the windshield now, and you can practically feel his head turn to look at you, so you look back, you were of course, correct. “Sorry- I just- today has been really bad. Not as bad as like- other days, just like- the worst this month.” You shrug, trying not to just be some complaining idiot.

“No, no. It’s okay. You don’t have to apologise. If I were you, I wouldn’t even be going to class after that.” He shrugs in return, and turns back to the road, which you do too as he steps on the gas and continues.

“I just uh, I guess I’m clumsy.” You look down a little.

“I just assumed you got caught up in the rush hour crowds. You wouldn’t be the first person to be pushed around by assholes in the swarms of humans.” You chuckle a little. Swarms of humans is definitely the best way to describe it. “Lolly told me about your work, your boss sounds like a dick.” You laugh this time, throwing your head back onto the headrest behind you and you look at him, a little smile on his lips.

“Oh no, she’s the most loveable person ever-” He starts to laugh at your horribly acquainted sarcasm. “She’s the best part of my day.” You roll your eyes, looking back out the window.

“Well I heard that someone has some very mixed emotions about her. One being hatred, the other being pure infuriating anger.” You start to laugh, it honestly hurts a bit to laugh. You were so sore. It made you want to cry… again.

“Does Lolly just tell you everything about me?”

“Well I asked. You two hang out a lot, so I figured she’d be best to ask.” He shrugs, again. And he pulls into the parking lot of your apartment, finding the only empty space. Your space. “And she told me, and I quote.” He picks up his phone, opening a texting screen. “She needs a break. She has been working under this yellow bag of walrus shit for the last two years without a single break for her own health and I am worried about her. Maybe you could convince her to take a break. I would probably kiss you if you could.” He sets the phone back down. “But we're going to disregard that last part because she’s my student, and I’m positive she was drunk.” You grit your teeth. It was definitely Lolly. Because you do unfortunately remember calling your boss a yellow bag of walrus shit.

“Yep. But I unfortunately cannot take a break.”

“Well, I’m not exactly a doctor, but I’d say your ankle is pretty messed up.”

“Well-”

“And I looked into it- You will get paid in your time off. She cannot fire you if you’re injured with a doctor or nurse note.”

“Well-”

“And I occasionally take over for the school nurse, so guess who wrote you a doctor note for your fucked up ankle?” You don’t say anything. You don’t know what to say. “So. Grab your bag and head up to your room, and promise me you’ll relax and take care of yourself for a day?” Why was he even doing this? He didn’t pay attention to you before. You were always just another student and now he’s basically forging a document to give you a break? It just didn’t seem real.

“Okay…” You whisper, grabbing your back and opening the door as you step out back into the cold, and head straight to your room, which was in clear view from the spot he was in, so he sits in his truck, waiting for you to get inside before pulling away as he stays parked. But just as you set your hand on the doorknob…

“There you are!” Your neighbour. Of course, your fucking neighbour has to add to your most wonderful day. “Your dog won’t stop barking! She’s been yip yap and yip yap all day! I’m going to call animal control!” You don’t even own a fucking dog.

“Ma’am I-”

“You forgot your phone.” His voice makes you want to writhe out of your fucking skin. You turn around to see you professor holding your phone out, which you take slowly as he turns towards the lady. “Is everything alright ma’am?” You want to laugh. You and your exhaustion work together their absolute fucking hardest as you try so hard not to laugh at her words.

“Oh of course darlin, everything is fine. Just talkin to my lovely neighbour.” From the mean, stern, gritty yelling voice that you’ve grown used to, to a suddenly sweet old lady that sounds as if she takes care of butterflies and builds them new homes. You cover your mouth, genuinely struggling not to laugh, and you see the corner of her eye twitch.

“I thought I heard some yelling.” Barnes gently wraps his arm around your shoulder, and you take a deep breath, some confusion now etched into your features.

“Just some harmless bickering, nothing too much.” She looks away from Barnes, and looks down at you. “Have a nice day darling.” You can almost feel how hard her fucking teeth are clenched, and you give her a little smile. Apparently, she wasn’t willing to embarrass herself in front of handsome young men- er- your professor.

“Your neighbour is a dick too. Maybe you should get your dog something to distract it.”

“I don’t own a dog.” You both stare at each other for a moment, and you see him biting his cheek before he takes a deep breath.

“Go get some rest. I’ll see you next week in class.” He chuckles a little and stands there, watching as you half-awkwardly open your door, closing it behind you before you heard him descending the stairs, and you hear his truck roar back to life. A little relieved that you finally had someone on your side.

[kaiowut99]

Duel Links Re-Translation Mod Project (Announcement post I guess?) - Dark Yugi In-Duel Line Re-Translation Test (WIP)

(Alternate project tagline: #LetYubelSayLove)

(Forgive some video stuttering, my Nvidia game recording thing was a bit buggy 😩)

~~~~~~~~

So. For the longest, I've been hella curious to figure out where the text for Duel Links is in the file assets, the in-duel lines in particular--as I'm sure most folks know, the English dubtitle text applied for the English dialogue is, nine times out of ten, inaccurate or decently simplified vs the Japanese audio played on the same line, and it's a bit wild that we still don't have a second English option for a more faithful take this long after Konami gave us the Japanese voices natively on Steam and made modding the game to get them a thing of the past. But for all my occasional searching through the files, I had little luck due to encryption and junk; at some point in September, I got curious and did more digging and was able to find some card text, at least, but nowhere near as much as is in the game now, and still no dialogue lines.

And then, 2-3 weeks ago, I saw that Aura (Octomaidly over on Twitter, part of @entamesubs handling Studio Bridge-era YGO fansubs for SEVENS+) had been working with a couple of folks to decrypt and re-translate the in-duel lines for SEVENS characters and came across her video on Twitter sharing her progress; I immediately reached out to find out how they're doing it and mentioned how I'd like to try and re-translate pre-SEVENS stuff, lol. (You can watch her latest video demoing her re-translation for GO RUSH world here; find her work as it develops on the NexusMods page for it.)

After connecting with Aura and the folks helping her and getting set up to work on things, I set up a quick re-translation for Dark Yugi's lines, had it all imported for a test-run, and recorded this demo test vs Kaiba to see 'em in action; I did fix a few things since recording this, like some line breaks here/there, but also fixed the one mention of "Dark Magician" in the cut-in shot since this was a test of my OCG-name translation (more on that below) and thus "Black Magician" should've been there--but all told, it looks pretty good overall!

All that to say that this is now another lil' project on my list 😅 It's very cool that this is finally doable and I'm looking forward to working with Aura and co to make it happen--though do note that it'll be at a bit of a slower pace since work on my finalized GX subs (currently revision work on 117-119 is underway) and Tag Force Special is a bit higher priority. That said, the nice thing is that working on in-duel lines in TFSP kinda does half my work for me here, lol; maybe half of Dark Yugi's lines, for example, are recycled verbatim from TFSP--the only difference being that Shunsuke Kazama is actually voicing him--with the rest being lines newly added for him in DL, from lines for dueling other characters to cards he didn't have lines for in TFSP, and this should be the case across the board for anyone who showed up in TF[SP].

My intention is also to work on two translations: one with OCG card names and one with the TCG names, as we're doing with TFSP, and I'll be starting this off by working on the first five characters from each series that appeared in TFSP, since that's how I'm working on the story events there (so for DM, working on Dark Yugi, Kaiba, Jounouchi, Ishizu, and Mai first), and then once done through VRAINS, that might probably be the first version of the mod I'd release. Or maybe I'll release a version as I get each set of five done; we'll see lol. I do plan to contribute my translations to Aura's project, as well. (Also we just recently dug up event dialogue text so those will be re-translatable, too; doing this for the older series' events that likely won't get reruns will at least be worth it since you can spend Gems to get those event scenes)

But overall, it's pretty encouraging--stay tuned!

[snowdice]

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 124]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55

I have been sick as a dog since I last worked on this story. I'm not even doing any work today lol. I just want to get this chapter finished. Will probably do a couple rounds and then cook myself dinner, so there may be a gap at some point. Mostly I'll just be, like, reading when not posting. Wish me luck.

“Good day for a picnic,” Helen commented as she handed over the basket Thomas had requested from her a few days before. He was taking Logan, Patton, and Virgil to the cliffs today and it was perfect weather for it. Spring was truly here, which meant that those of Thomas’s duties that had laid dormant over the harsh winter were about to start up again.

The world had been on pause for a bit considering no armies or agents from any kingdom could get through the snow the last few months, but the concerns of last fall were showing their heads once again.

Thomas had just gotten word a day ago that the queen of Lamir had routed out a second assassin hiding in her ranks over the winter. The assassin had been sent shortly after it was made clear that the queen wouldn’t bow down after the assassination of her mother. Luckily, the assassin sent for Queen Cecil had not managed to complete her mission during the winter months.

While there had been no similar attempt on Prijaznia soil, Thomas couldn’t help but feel it was only a matter of time now that the snow had melted. They were already working on increasing security in the coming weeks and, though it was doubtful an assassin had managed to hide in the castle all winter without revealing themselves, they’d be closely scrutinizing all of the newer staff members.

It would be a stressful time in the coming months, which is why, despite everything Thomas needed to do, he was still going to take his son and his son’s friends on a picnic today. Logan had already started taking on royal duties as of late, but he still hadn’t taken them all on quite yet. Considering this was last summer before Logan was of age, they should at least try to take advantage of it where they could. Patton was a year younger, but the sentiment held for him as well.

Then there was Virgil. Despite their best efforts, they still didn’t know enough about Virgil, but Thomas was fairly sure he’d never had a summer to enjoy until now.

“Thanks for prepping lunch for us,” Thomas said to Helen with a smile.

“No problem,” she said waving them off. “I put in some of Virgil’s favorites.”

“Great,” Thomas said. “Do you know where the kids are?”

“Patton said they were going to go pet the cats, so I’d guess they’re in the gardens.”

Thomas thanked her again and told her to have a good day before exiting the kitchen. There was a nearby door that led straight towards the part of the gardens Patton and Logan had always favored. He figured they’d either still be around there, or they would have wandered towards the stables by now knowing that they’d be taking horses to the cliffs. So, he decided to simply walk the normal path from the door to the stable, hoping to find them.

His prediction ended up being hilariously correct. They were indeed on the path Thomas had chosen. It was clear they (or at least Logan) were attempting to make it to the stable. However, as was typical, a portion of the party had been waylaid by whimsy.

Logan was standing further down the path, arms crossed and frowning as he watched his friends. Patton and Virgil were surrounded by cats. Patton was sitting down, holding two of them in his lap and watching Virgil’s legs being swarmed by the rest of them, maybe two dozen in total.

Virgil looked confused, but not unhappy about the presence of so many cats. He was leaning down to try to pet them all.

Logan met Thomas’s eyes as he approached and waved a frustrated hand at the two of them. Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Virgil fed one of them,” Logan complained as though he wanted Thomas to somehow go into the past and prevent this crime.

Patton and Virgil looked over at Thomas, noticing him when Logan addressed him.

“You’re going to make Princess Marisol jealous,” Thomas said. Logan frowned at Thomas as he used the ‘Princess’ label for the cat.

“Princess Marisol decided not to come,” Virgil said with a shrug. He continued to pet one of the cats.

“She’s probably sleeping on my pillow,” Logan said, sounding grumpy.

Thomas just chuckled. Princess Marisol was technically Logan’s cat, at least that’s what the kids said, and she did spend much of her time in the royal rooms. However, she was very clearly actually Virgil’s cat. Virgil just spent a lot of time in the royal wing as well.

In fact, Thomas still didn’t know where Virgil was supposed to be sleeping. He and Mr. Deknis had gone so far as to tail him a couple of times, but he always ended up sleeping in Logan’s room those nights.

Knowing Virgil, he might just sleep in the walls. Though that still did not answer the question of where his parents or guardians were. They still had not figured it out. Thomas would assume he was an orphan who’d snuck onto castle grounds for safety, but Virgil had told Mr. Deknis during their first meeting that he was supposed to be in the castle, and it had not been a lie.

Then again, it had slowly become apparent that Virgil was good at dodging the multrum’s powers. It was starting to seem more likely that he’d somehow inserted a second meaning into his answer to Mr. Deknis that night than he somehow had some ghost guardian no one was able to locate working in the castle.

“She deserves the pillow more than you,” Virgil said, bringing Thomas’s thoughts back to the situation at hand. The look of audacity on Logan’s face made Thomas chuckle.

Thomas cut in before it could become a fight. “I could get Princess Marisol a pillow, so she doesn’t sleep on yours. Or we can get you a new pillow if you’d prefer, Logan.”

“It’s not about the pillow for her,” Logan argued. “It’s about her inflated sense of superiority.”

“She deserves it,” Virgil declared. Thomas could tell he was just trying to rile Logan up, and Thomas was sure Logan knew it too, but still his son reacted exactly in the way Virgil wanted him to.

“You have enabled and encouraged this behavior from the start!” Logan seethed.

“She’s a princess.”

“She is not a princess!”

Patton shook his head while squeezing the cats in his arms, completely used to this behavior. He ran a chin idly over one of the cat’s heads while watching the argument.

“We’re never going to make it to the picnic at this rate,” Thomas said to him, “and after your mother made all of this wonderful food.”

“You’re the dad,” Patton said. “Make them stop.”

And, of course, Patton did just mean that he was Logan’s dad with that statement. However, when he glanced back up at the silly argument still going on between his son and the cat covered boy, it did almost look like a fight between siblings.

Especially with the dark hair and stubborn but mischievous look in Virgil’s eyes, Thomas could almost imagine the boy being his own child.

He shook away the thoughts and glanced at the picnic basket in his hand.

“We do have a lot of food in this basket,” Thomas said, pitching his voice up so that Logan (and more importantly) Virgil would hear them clearly.

Virgil immediately turned to look at him, abandoning all interest in antagonizing Logan to look at the basket curiously.

Thomas was never sure if he should be amused or worried about how food motivated Virgil often was.

“What’s in the basket?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “Patton’s mom made it. We’ll just have to see once we get to the picnic area.”

Virgil nodded in understanding and began to gently extract himself from the droves of cats. Logan rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem inclined to continue the argument he’d been dragged into. Virgil and Patton got to their feet, and they continued on their way towards the stables.

The horses Thomas had requested be prepared for their trip were already in saddles, though the stable hand who had been handling Mr. Apples seemed a bit dirtier and more exhausted than the rest.

The stable hand seemed as happy to hand Mr. Apples over to Virgil as Virgil was to have Mr. Apples handed over to him. Thomas received Bella with a smile and Logan and Patton got their own horses as well.

The cliffs were about half an hour's ride from the main castle. There was a mostly well-maintained path to them, though it was easy to get lost if one didn’t know the way. Mr. Apples knew the way perhaps better than Thomas himself and seemed annoyed by the fact that Thomas was trying to lead the way. Virgil and Thomas ended up side-by-side whenever the path allowed it to placate him.

Thomas still marveled at how willing Mr. Apples was to let Virgil ride him, especially when he tossed his head in Thomas’s direction, a horse’s equivalent of giving Thomas a stink-eye.

“Are you excited for the picnic?” Thomas asked the boy beside him.

Virgil glanced over at him and nodded.

“I am too,” Thomas said. “It’s always beautiful this time of year. I’m glad I could find the time to take you all there this year.”

“Are you very busy?” Virgil asked curiously.

“I am king,” Thomas reminded, “and now that the world isn’t snowed in anymore things will be busy.”

“With the war?” Virgil asked.

Thomas paused for a few seconds. “Yes,” he confirmed. “With the war, but you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil asked.

“You’re just a kid,” Thomas said.

“I’m 14,” Virgil said.

Thomas glanced at him. “Exactly,” he said, “a kid, and luckily, you’re in a place that can afford you the luxury of being one.”

“What do you mean?”

“The war has been mainly fought on Mocnejsi soil in recent years. Our boarders have held strong against invasions. Unless something goes horribly wrong suddenly, it would take a long time for the main conflict to get here. The only real threat in the castle would be assassins sent after me personally.”

“Right,” Virgil said. There was an awkward pause in conversation before he spoke again. “You’re winning the war then?” he asked.

“Something could always happen,” Thomas said, “but for the most part, yes, we have quite the advantage right now.”

“Oh,” Virgil said.

Thomas shook his head as they were coming up to a narrowing of the path. “Anyway, today is a day to not think about war. Today we’re going to have a lovely picnic and do some bird watching.”

“Right,” Virgil agreed from behind Thomas as Bella took the lead (to Mr. Apples discontent.)

When the path widened again, Thomas did his best to direct the topic to lighter subjects and soon they made it to the cliffs.

Chapter 57 (Virgil)

Virgil had never been to a picnic. At least, that’s what Patton had informed him when Virgil had described his past experiences of eating outdoors. Logan had agreed even though he’d admitted that the definition of “picnic” was only eating a pre-packaged meal outdoors which Virgil had done plenty of times.

From what Virgil could tell, the main difference was just how much stuff one brought to a picnic.

In addition to the basket full of food (that Virgil still hadn’t gotten to look in yet), the king had brought a large soft quilt that he had Logan and Virgil spread out on the ground for them all to sit on.

Patton and Logan had also packed some things themselves to bring along. Logan had brought along a book to read, and Patton had brought along a board game (thankfully not checkers but something Virgil did not recognize). Virgil hadn’t brought anything (except for the fire knife he was definitely not supposed to have and was definitely not letting the king see) because he hadn’t known he was supposed to bring things. He wouldn’t have known what to bring anyway.

The blanket was soft and a much better alternative to sitting on the ground, especially because, while there was grass at the top of The Cliffs, there were also a good number of rocks.

The king set the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket once it was spread out and then lowered himself down to sit on one side. Patton quickly followed him, already fiddling with some of his board game pieces, though he wasn’t setting it up yet. Virgil highly doubted that Logan was going to be allowed to read his book unless Patton eventually got bored of the game.

However, they would, hopefully, be allowed to make use of the basket the king had brought along.

Virgil followed the king and Patton’s lead and got to his knees on the blanket across the picnic basket from the king. He peered at the basket curiously.

He didn’t quite know what picnic food was, but Patton had told them they’d be getting ‘picnic food’ and he was very curious about what that meant.

King Thomas smiled at him. “Let’s see what Patton’s mom packed us, huh?” He reached for the basket and flipped it open as Logan sat next to Virgil. “There is a lot more food than usual in here,” the king said, sounding amused. “Let’s see.”

He began to pull out packaged food and glanced in each package to identify it before setting it out.

“We have a few types of mini sandwiches,” he said, putting them down, “and some pasta salad.” He set down the bowl.

“We also have… er something else.” He showed it to Logan.

“They’re hot cauliflower bites,” Logan said instantly upon seeing them. Virgil perked up in excitement. That was one of his favorite foods.

“Ah,” King Thomas said, but shrugged and set it down. “We also have two desserts apparently: cookies and mini apple pies. That last one’s a bit extra for a picnic.”

“They’re very good,” Virgil said happily.

“And we also have.” King Thomas paused, looking confused. “Chicken alfredo?”

“Yes!” Virgil said.

“Why do we have chicken alfredo for a picnic?”

“It’s a Virgil picnic,” Logan groaned. “She packed us a Virgil picnic.”

“Hey, at least momma sent us something too,” Patton said.

“I think I’ll stick to sandwiches for today,” King Thomas said. He looked at Patton and Logan. “Do either of you want…?”

“No,” Logan said. Patton shook his head.

The king nodded and offered the entire covered bowl of chicken alfredo to Virgil. “Here, this one’s yours,” he said.

“Really?” Virgil asked tentatively. It wasn’t exactly strange for people here to offer him food, and he’d expected and anticipated getting to eat on this venture, but the king of the country offering him an entire bowl of his favorite food was something else.

“It’s not really my idea of a picnic food and you seem excited for it,” King Thomas said with a warm smile, still holding it out.

Virgil took it reverently. Despite the time it had taken to get to the cliffs, the bottom of the container was still warm. Virgil assumed it was one of the heating spells the kitchen sometimes used.

“Thanks,” Virgil said, setting it in his lap.

“Of course, Virgil,” the king said.

The bowl was enough for four people to have a little bit, but for one person it was a lot. Still, Virgil was offered a little of every other food in the picnic basket (and he ate a good number of the hot cauliflower bites).

“Where do you put all of that?” the king asked when Virgil finished polishing off the chicken alfredo bowl.

Everyone else seemed to have finished eating long before Virgil, though Patton still had a small plate of grapes, and he occasionally popped one in his mouth. King Thomas was currently setting up the board game they’d brought on the blanket between all of them.

Virgil shrugged in answer to his question. “It’s good,” he said, “and I don’t want to waste any of it.”

“You know we can just take the leftovers back to the castle and eat them later,” King Thomas said. “You don’t have to eat it all now.”

Virgil just shrugged again, watching as the king set out a group of 8 figures on the board.

“Here, which character do you want to be?” the king asked Virgil, gesturing at the group of figures. Virgil had not noticed the figures were different at first glance. They were all copper colored and about the size of his thumb, but they had slightly different shapes. He squinted at them each carefully, finding they all looked like people, but with different clothing. Some worse pants and some skirts, a few had hats, and one was even carrying a book.

After a few moments, he pointed at one that looked like it had vines wrapped around its arms and was wearing a floppy hat that almost covered its eyes.

“That’s the druid,” King Thomas told him with a grin. “Good choice, and luckily not one that anyone usually fights over.” He glanced at Logan who didn’t react to his father’s gaze. He just plucked the figure clutching the book off the board for himself.

Patton and the king picked pieces for themselves. Patton picked one with an apron that kind of reminded Virgil of his mom and the king picked one that was in a suit of armor before putting the other 4 figures away.

Unlike checkers, this game wasn’t just for two people, and so no one had to sit watching people play while bored out of their mind.

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They played a practice round so Virgil could figure out how the game worked, though honestly it wasn’t that complicated, so it wasn’t really necessary.

The theme of the game was all about stealing. They were supposed to steal special tokens from other players as well as characters in the game and the first person with 20 tokens won.

The other three players argued that stealing was not the point and not the main mechanism of the game, but considering Virgil was consistently winning the entire time, he would argue they were just playing it wrong. He managed to collect 20 tokens before anyone else. In second place at this time was Logan with 9 tokens.

Logan insisted on continuing to play the game to determine 2nd and 3rd place, so Virgil ended up watching them play for a bit. Virgil didn’t mind sitting and watching other people play this game, mostly because he still had the joy of victory running in his veins.

Thomas was definitely going to lose, he noted. He kept wasting his money feeding the nonplayer characters who lived on his lands. Virgil didn’t mention this faulty strategy to him in case Virgil ever played him again.

When Logan took too long thinking about his next move, Virgil took in their surroundings.

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He’d been a bit too distracted by the prospect of food and then trying to understand (and then win) the game to truly take in The Cliffs. They were settled a good distance away from the cliffside but Virgil could still see how quickly the edge dropped off. He couldn’t see the large river he was told was at its base from where he was sitting, but he did see a few of the promised wild birds (including doves) flying around. The king had promised they’d bird watch for a bit, and Virgil figured that would happen after the game was over.

A cool spring breeze brushed across Virgil’s face, and he put his hand in his hoodie pockets to warm them. Instead, his fingers hit something icy cold.

For a moment, he didn’t remember what it was. The crescent shape of it was familiar when he put his hand over it, but he had never felt it cold before.

It was the protection charm: the first charm Virgil had ever made with Logan so many months ago. It was meant to ward off small threats as well as warn you about larger threats by changing temperature…

It had always been warm.

“What?” Patton asked, having noticed Virgil suddenly tense. Virgil, despite how he drilled into his friend’s heads to stay alert had gone soft. He’d let himself be distracted by a full belly and warm blankets and fun games.

He didn’t answer Patton. He filtered the other boy’s worried face out as well as Logan’s face as he glanced at him and the king’s still focused on the game for now. He filtered out the picnic blanket and smell of food still lingering in the air and the vine covered figure set in the middle of the board on the winner’s space. He filtered out the sound of the breeze and the breath of his companions and the distant chirping of birds.

And he heard a whoosh.

Chapter 58 (Patton)

If Patton hadn’t already been looking, he probably wouldn’t have had any idea what happened.

Everything had been fine. Virgil had been sitting cross legged, idly watching the conclusion of the game they’d been playing when his posture had suddenly changed. Patton had looked over at him only to see an expression on his face he didn’t recognize, but it didn’t seem good.

“What?” Patton had asked, but the question didn’t seem to register to Virgil.

Logan had glanced up confused and also noticed Virgil’s face. He’d just opened his mouth to also ask what was going on when chaos descended.

Virgil was suddenly moving, crashing into King Thomas who hadn’t even looked up to see something was wrong at that point. Patton realized after the fact that Virgil had swiped up the board of the game they’d been playing as he jumped over it, the pieces previously stacked on it scattering all over the blanket. There were three thumps as some things hit the thick board, imbedding themselves into the surface.

When Virgil discarded the board in favor of the picnic basket, Patton saw there were small darts in it oozing a dark black liquid. The parts of the board they touched were dissolving, the grass under the new holes beginning to wilt rapidly.

Logan seemed to notice the oozing liquid the same moment Patton did and was quicker to realize what it was. He grabbed Patton’s arm and yanked him away from the board so hard he almost dislocated Patton’s shoulder, not that Patton was too worried about that. He scrambled away from it when he realized what it must be himself.

He could hear the sound of glassware smashing above them. Logan and Patton had rolled off the blanket in their quest to get away from the smoldering, melting board and apparently Virgil had pulled the picnic blanket fully over the king at some point.

Virgil himself was now gone from where he’d been the last time Patton had looked and it took him a moment to figure out where the boy had gone. The person who had been shooting poisoned darts at them had been drawn out of the wooded area they’d been hiding in by Virgil’s attacks.

They were cloaked in dark green from head to toe, explaining why they’d been difficult to spot when they were in the woods. Whoever they were, they were significantly larger than Virgil, possibly an actual adult or almost adult assassin, but they were also clearly a long distant fighter. They had not been expecting resistance let alone resistance in the form of a so quick he was almost a blur fellow assassin.

They had a bow strapped to their back, but they hadn’t had a chance to get it. Instead, they were trying to fight Virgil off with an arrow they’d managed to draw from their quiver. Virgil, meanwhile was lunging at them with a broken piece of plate in one hand and the picnic basket in the other.

Virgil dodged out of the way of the arrow striking towards his arm, though Patton didn’t think it was because he was afraid of getting scratched by an arrow, but because it may also be poisoned tipped.

Virgil was distracted by dodging for long enough that the older assassin managed to hit him in the face with the arm not holding the arrow.

He went down, but he took the older assassin with him, sweeping their legs out from under them. Patton hadn’t noticed (his mind working too slow for how fast they were moving) but they were on a slight incline. They went rolling in a tangle of arms and legs towards the edge of the cliff and skidded to a stop only a few feet away.

Virgil ended up on top, his piece of broken plate in his hands. He moved to slash it across the other assassin’s throat and managed to draw blood, but the assassin’s fist came out to shove at Virgil’s chest at just the right moment, causing the strike to veer off course and slice across the assassin’s cheek instead.

Virgil jerked to the side to avoid a second strike to the chest and went back for another slash. The other assassin rolled to the side as he did and the plate only managed to nick their ear. The point of the motion hadn’t been to dodge, however. They were lunging for the arrow they’d dropped a few feet away while they’d rolled. They grabbed it with their right hand and in the same motion stabbed back behind them towards Virgil.

Virgil rolled to avoid the hit, already slashing up with his plate as the assassin turned back towards him.

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He didn’t hit them this time but his swipe managed to stop them from stabbing him when they tried again. They shoved themselves back to avoid Virgil’s swing, putting a bit of distance between them. Both of them managed to make it to their feet during the momentary reprieve, but both also stayed crouched, eyeing each other.

They both lunged towards each other at the same time. The assassin went for a stab to Virgil’s neck with the arrow, but Virgil was already ducking down. This time, he wasn’t going for a kill shot. He grabbed the assassin’s wrist and at the same time drove his piece of plate into the assassin’s arm, slicing down from the elbow to wrist. The assassin spoke for the first time, cursing in a language Patton didn’t recognize as they were forced to drop their arrow.

Virgil took a moment to kick the arrow away from the assassin and it ended up falling off the cliff.

However, this pause gave the assassin enough time to regroup. Despite their arm bleeding profusely, they still decided to use it to backhand Virgil across the face viciously, leaving a long line of their own blood across his face.

Virgil lunged back forward, but the assassin was able to get a leg between them, kicking Virgil squarely in the chest and sending him flying back a few feet parallel to the cliff’s edge.

The assassin went to grab their bow and another arrow from the quiver still strapped to their shoulder.

Virgil, however, apparently went for another weapon too and he was much faster with a knife than any archer. A knife appeared in his hand, having been strapped to his ankle and was embedded into the assassin’s chest before they could even full remove an arrow from their quiver.

The assassin promptly burst into flames, fire catching their clothes (and from the smell of it their skin) ablaze. Panicked and dying, they stumbled two steps to the side. They stepped directly off the cliff.

There was a second of silence. They heard the sound of the body hitting the ground far below and then the flap of wings and screeching as birds below fled from the startling sound (and possible soon to be forest fire).

…

“Uh, Virgil?” King Thomas said. He had managed to get the blanket off his head at some point. When, Patton didn’t know, but seeing any of it was probably enough.

Oopsie.

Chapter 59 (Logan)

Logan and Patton had been useless during the fight, but that may have been for the best. Considering the skill differential when it came to fighting (and that differential had never been as clear as it was in this moment), that was probably for the best. They likely would have just gotten in the way.

The moment Logan’s father spoke, however, they both jumped into action.

They both knew their jobs in a situation like this. Patton pushed himself up to his feet ungracefully and all but sprinted over towards Virgil. Logan, on the other hand stood to face his father, putting himself very purposefully between the man who had no idea what was going on yet and the boy who was two seconds away from remembering what was going on.

“I can explain,” Logan said.

His father was still sitting on the ground. “You can explain,” he said slowly, “how Virgil just threw an assassin off a cliff.”

Logan thought pointing out that Virgil hadn’t thrown anyone off a cliff and instead had set them on fire with a magical knife causing them to walk off a cliff, would not be useful in this moment. He glanced back briefly towards where Virgil and Patton were standing and then turned back to his father. “Yes.”

“And what would that explanation be?”

Before even starting to speak, Logan found himself making large dramatic ‘explaining hand gestures’ that he’d thought he’d long since trained himself out of. When he was younger and in trouble, he always used to give himself away as guilty by being overly expressive with his hands (and arms).

“So,” Logan said. He was still not able to stop the hand motions. “Virgil was an assassin. He came here to kill you last fall, but he accidently went to the wrong room in the royal wing. Patton and I were having a slumber party and caught him in the act. Then we reformed him and now he doesn’t kill people anymore.” He paused and glanced back, remembering the body that had just toppled off the cliff. “Er, uh, he doesn’t kill people who haven’t shot poisoned darts at people recently anymore?”

“What?”

“Look,” Logan said. “You’re going to have to tell him you’re not going to execute him soon. Patton can only keep him from bolting for so long.”

[megs-98]

An Understanding

"You have a good heart, little one. One that I admire very much. It takes a special person to do everything that you have done, please don’t forget that.”

A/N: LOL i was big in my emotions the other day and i guess i just needed to hear a pep talk from halsin so i wrote a drabble. i think i'm gonna keep doing one shots of halsin and my tav mara and seeing how their relationship evolves

Characters: Halsin, f!named Tav (Mara)

Tags: Thoughts and talk of low self confidence, depiction of smoking, the slightest mention of death, halsin being a reassuring sweetheart

Word count: 1.6k

Mara sat with her back on a rock along the riverbank; her wet hair hung in her face as she brought her knees to her chest. An attempt to shrink into herself. Her mind replayed the last weeks over and over. The nautiloid, meeting all of her new friends, the battles they endured both physically and mentally. Mara hadn’t known her companions very long but she felt an obligation to help them through their personal journeys as they were more than ready to help her with finding a solution to the illithid tadpoles. 

She felt as her eyes started to burn, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She pushed the heels of her hands into her eyes as she learned her head back and took a deep breath. Mara was no stranger to difficult situations; being a former paladin of Ilmater that wandered Baldur’s Gate and the surrounding areas, she had seen, and helped with, various conflicts. The situation she found herself in now, though, was not something she ever thought would happen. The little that she had learned about each of her companions, Mara knew that they were all plagued by unfair and unjust circumstances for far too long and she devoted herself to helping them as they found their way back to Baldur’s Gate. Her chest felt heavier and heavier with every thought; how was she supposed to lead a ragtag team to save themselves with no real answers or guidance. She felt less confident with herself as she truly thought about the situation at hand. 

Mara felt a hot tear descend down her nose and past her lips as it trailed her cheek, another one followed the same path soon after; then one after another. She put a hand on her forehead as she stared into her lap and watched the tears fall off her face, an occasional sniffle breaking the silence that surrounded her.

“Unbelievable.” She said to herself with a laugh as she combed her fingers through her hair, “I’ve helped children in poverty, fought people after they tried to discriminate against other drow and tieflings and orcs. I’ve devoted myself to helping those who are oppressed and suffering. I have had divine intervention guide me to what is right and wrong. I can do this…” The last sentence sounded like a question even to Mara. 

“Those are all quite impressive feats, little one.” Mara quickly turned around, sat on her knees, to see who was talking to her. To her relief it was Halsin, the archdruid who asked to accompany her and the others to the Shadow Cursed lands. “I do apologize if I disturbed you, that was not my intention, nor was eavesdropping.” He gave her a small smile as he swung a leg over a felled tree that laid close to Mara.

Mara rose to her feet and quickly wiped her face dry as she shook her head. “No! No, you’re fine, Halsin. I was just thinking out loud, I guess.” She said as she gathered her items. Halsin gave her a hum of acknowledgement as she straightened herself out and walked close to him. 

“I should probably head back to camp anyways. I’m sure you would appreciate some privacy for whatever you need to do.” Mara gave him a weary smile as she took a few steps to leave. 

“Why don’t you join me? For just a moment, I won’t keep you long.” Halsin said from behind her, more assertive than she had heard him before. 

Mara stilled herself as she took a deep breath. She knew Halsin was wiser than her, perhaps he could offer advice. With a turn on her heel, Mara walked back to the tree Halsin was perched on and took a seat next to him. They sat in a comfortable silence for a bit, Mara unsure of what to say while Halsin admired the moonlight that reflected in the soft waves of the water. 

The wood elf moved first as he retrieved his pipe out of a satchel along with a small bag of crushed herbs. He held the pipe out to Mara for her to hold. Once she had it in her hands, she inspected the delicate instrument; it was handmade of oak with an earthy oil used as the varnish. She could see every line in the wood as she held it against the moonlight. The lightsource was soon interrupted as Halsin maneuvered her hands so the bowl of the pipe was closer to him. She watched as his calloused, but dexterous hands gently grabbed pinch after pinch of herbs from the small pouch and packed the bowl tight. 

He grabbed a match and gestured for Mara to place the pipe in her mouth, “It would be terribly rude of me if I didn’t offer you the first toke. And do not fret, it’s just herbs to help calm the mind and body, it helps with sleep as well.” He said with a warm smile. “Oh, uh, thank you, Halsin. But I don’t really smo-” Mara’s sentence was cut off as Halsin lit the match and held it close to the bowl. Mara thought of Halsin’s words for a moment, a calming agent would be useful for her. She placed her lips around the stem of the pipe and inhaled a few seconds too long. Her arm shot out as she shoved the pipe back into Halsin’s hands while a fierce cough took over her body. A rumble of laughter erupted from Halsin as he gave Mara his waterskin and rubbed her back trying to help her regain her breath. 

 “Well I do hope you’re able to sleep well tonight. I suppose I should have warned you to take a small inhale if you are not accustomed to smoking.” Halsin said as he calmed his laughter and watched as Mara wiped the tears from her face and caught a glimpse of her eye roll as she drank from his water. “I did want to speak to you though, little one. What has you alone and upset on this particular night?” He asked as his gaze softened when he met Mara’s eyes.   

Mara quickly dropped her eyes to her hands and kept her eyes trained on her fingers that picked at her cuticles. “It’s nothing, really. I think I’m just tired.” She said with a sigh. She could feel Halsin’s eyes on her as he looked at her, hoping for more of an answer. As much as she disliked it, Mara knew she needed to speak her feelings or else they would continue to worsen, jeopardizing herself and the others. “I think,” she paused as her voice wavered, “that I’ve been tired for a while. Everything I do, everything that I have almost always done, is to make others happy. If I think I’m doing the right thing, someone is upset. If I try to make that person happy, someone else is upset. I did what I thought was going to protect myself and the others and I broke my oath to Ilmater; thus becoming an oathbreaker paladin.” Halsin placed a hand over one of hers as she took a shaky breath, her lip quivered as she tried to calm her emotions. “I don’t know how, or why, I became the leader of our group, but I’m losing more and more faith in myself as the days go by. I don't think that I can keep everyone safe. I just… I just don’t know what to do, Halsin.” She felt the tears again as they flowed from her eyes. 

Halsin moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze before he grabbed her hands in his. “Thank you, Mara. Truly. It is hard to discuss one’s feelings and I’m honored you trust me enough to do so.” He kept his eyes trained on her and gently brought his hand to her cheek, guiding her face to look at him and tucked a loose strand behind her ear as she finally looked at him. “I do have an understanding of what you say. After losing many druids to the fight of the Shadow Cursed lands 100 years ago and then becoming the archdruid at the Emerald Grove, I did not think I had any right to be a leader again.” Mara noticed as his shoulders slumped forward slightly and solemn light found its way to his eyes. 

“I was worried that I would let everyone down again, or worse yet, do something that caused them injury or death. I was worried that my past mistakes would cause others to distrust me and cast me out.” He paused as he looked out at the river, “The exact opposite happened, actually.” Halsin said with a small smile. “They trusted my judgment and offered guidance when I asked for it. Not everyone always agreed with my actions, but they trusted that I had the grove’s best interest at heart.” Mara looked at Halsin as he spoke, her eyes a bit wide at the vulnerability on display in front of her. He turned his body so he was facing her again. 

“All of that to say… you’re doing a good job, Mara. You cannot possibly please every person you are around, but it is evident that you are careful with your choices, keeping everyone’s safety and wellbeing at the forefront of your mind. All while also helping most everyone you come across as well. You have a good heart, little one. One that I admire very much. It takes a special person to do everything that you have done, please don’t forget that.” 

Mara felt as her eyes got hot again, another lump forming in her throat. Before she could start crying again she pulled the druid in for a hug. 

“Thank you, Halsin. I will do my best to remember your kind words.” She said before they sat close together in silence again and watched as the fireflies danced through the grass and into the night sky.

[icycoldninja]

OKAY-!

So I've been wanting to request something for a hot minute from y’all; Vergil (or Nero..? Idk if you do stuff for him tbh) having to warm-up with a Male reader during a blizzard???

(👉👈 Never done a request before so idk how much to put. I love your work and can't wait to read more from you (/p)!)

AAAAAA I KNOW U, U ALWAYS REBLOG MY WORKS WITH THOSE HILARIOUS TAGS! I've also read your stuff on ao3! I love your works too! I'm so glad you requested! I chose to do Vergil cause I like writing for him more than Nero lol; hope you enjoy!💜💜💜

Warm-Up (Vergil x Male!Reader)

Bonus pic I pulled off Pinterest for ya cuz y'all deserve it 💜

You shivered in your seat, goosebumps breaking out across your skin. A blizzard raged on outside, rattling the walls of your house and, via several drafts in said walls, lowered the overall temperature to lows your poor human body couldn't handle. You continued shuddering, wrapping your arms around yourself in an attempt to keep warm, futile as it was. You were just so cold, for an indescribable reason, no matter how many layers of clothes you threw on or how many blankets you piled on, you were freezing. It was like you were cursed, cursed to be eternally chilly.

The front door clicked, then swung open; Vergil stomped in, covered in snow. "Y/N?" He called, peeking around the corner and finding you curled up on the couch, swaddled in blankets and thick clothes. "What is going on?" He demanded, raising a thin white eyebrow at you. "I'm cold." You grumbled, tugging the blankets tighter around you as another strong wind shook the house and chilled the room even further. "Cold?" Vergil repeated, confused. He had never felt cold in his life, being an ice demon and whatnot. Nonchalantly, he stalked away to remove the snow from his person and change into dry clothes. A few moments later, he rejoined you in the living room, only to find a pile of blankets where you once had been seated. "Y/N? Where did you go?" A hand--your hand--shot up from within the mountain of bedclothes. "Right here, Verg. Right here, freezing my ass off." Vergil sighed, then began shifting the blankets aside to get to your trembling, nearly numb-with-cold form. "You lack motivation," He stated, shoving the blankets aside, then taking a seat on the couch and rearranging them in his lap. "A mere bit of cold is nothing; such a trivial inconvenience should mean nothing to you." While those words may have sounded harsh and derogatory, they were in fact, meant to be motivating--and they were.

"I...I guess you're right," You admitted, sighing and sitting up. "it shouldn't bother me, but it does." Vergil scoffed, then dragged you by the arm over into his lap. With a grumpy huff that was probably caused by embarrassment for his uncharacteristically soft behavior today, he began to wrap you up like a burrito. Once he was done, he scooped you up and cradled you in his arms like a mother with her baby.

You were confused at first, but soon relaxed into your new blanket cocoon. "Are you warm now?" Vergil asked, after a few moments of silence. Believe it or not, you were. The cocoon, combined with Vergil's furnace-like body heat, did wonders for your own body temperature, warming you up much more efficiently compared to all the other methods you previously tried. "Yes, I am," You murmured, rather enjoying this treatment. "Good. I suppose I can unwrap you now, correct?" You shrugged, not really wanting to leave Vergil's lap. "If you don't mind....a little longer?" Vergil gave you a side-eye that could have withered flowers, but said nothing and made no attempt to move you. You yawned, now that you'd been warmed up, you were starting to feel a little sleepy. "Tired?" He inquired, bouncing his leg so as to rock you easier. "Yeah, a little," You sighed, yawning again. "I'm gonna take a nap...wake me in a few hours, ok?" Vergĺil nodded, pressing a quick kiss to your forehead. "Very well." As you closed your eyes and began to drift off to sleep, you could have sworn you heard him mumble "Sweet dreams, my little lump of coverlets."

[labeteenmoi]

Kings of the Subura

Part 6 (last)

Fandom: Those about to Die

Pairing: Tenax x OC / Scorpus x OC

Warnings: lots of sex, mostly

Summary: where we learn that appearances may be deceiving and also what the title means

Notes: tagging @darkrose33 @pckji @somebirdortheother if they're still up to it. Thanks for keeping up with this story, that's a wrap and what am I going to do with my life now that it's over? Lol! It's been a pleasure for me to write this, don't hesitate to leave a word in the comments, a thought or whatever you fancy ;)

Hope you enjoy!

Back to the Aquiline mount, where Scorpus had his own villa, Tenax had brought Briga who had slightly manifested an emotion when informed of their destination. She suspected to know the purpose of it and almost came out of her silent treatment to beg Tenax not to go. But at that point, if the man she used to trust agreed to lend her to Scorpus, she would at least be certain of what to do afterwards.

Scorpus opened the door himself, looking surprisingly sober and almost calm if it wasn’t for that hint of nervousness pointing at the twitching corner of his lips. He addressed a polite smile at Tenax, inviting him in, and a fleeting look at Briga when she passed him by with suspicion in her eyes.

He led them to the main living room, tidy and tastefully decorated without too much ostentation, not what Briga would have imagined him to live in.

“So…” started Scorpus, joining his hands in front of him as to give himself courage,”Ten thousand is the deal.”

Tenax refrained from looking puzzled and looked at Briga who nervously bit her lip with her eyes on the ground. There was no need for any other confession of guilt from her, she visibly knew what it was all about.

As he was trying to figure out what the terms of such deal could be, Briga took a breath and stated firmly:

“Yes. But no hands and no cock in any of my holes.”

Her sudden rawness took them both aback for an instant.

“Err… I know, with my mouth only…” retorted Scorpus in a low voice with a resigned sigh and his face turning slightly red.

Now Tenax understood the content of the vivid conversations he had vaguely witnessed and realized he should have inquired about it, even if he wouldn’t have opposed any decision. He was the one who had taught her to bargain on men’s lustful interest for her, that was obviously what she had done, but he guessed she wasn’t expecting to succeed to such an extent.

Ten thousand sesterces was far above the price of any slave, and he was willing to pay this amount for mere foreplay with her. It seemed they both had underestimated Scorpus’s enticement for Briga.

That was just the beginning, Tenax now figured that Scorpus would not settle at just that, but that was a problem for another day. For now, despite how reticent he was about the whole idea, it would most probably solve all his problems at once without even having to intervene himself.

“Here is the money,” declared Scorpus pointing to a leather bag on the console near them. “Join me in my room,” he demanded at Briga with a little more aplomb.

Tenax and his slave remained quiet for a few seconds before turning to each other.

“There’s an opportunity here...” let out Briga with a hint of irony in her voice, but her eyes betrayed a form of plea.

Tenax didn't fully grasp the meaning of her words but he understood the request in her look and cursed himself for what he was about to do, for it was too late to turn back now:

“Just… get it done.” he managed to utter with a dry throat, his heart racing in his chest.

Her expression became hard and imperious, in contrast with the submissive tone she used when replying: “Yes, master.”

Tenax was the one receiving it like a blow this time, to his own surprise. He realized then what was truly happening and it just occurred to him that he never thought she would actually obey. In a corner of his mind, he had the crazy idea that she would run away.

She did not run, she simply turned around and followed Scorpus's path, and in doing so, she hoped that it was hurting him as much as she was.

Briga entered the bedroom and closed the door behind her. A few oil lamps were dotted around the wall, giving the room a dimmer light than the previous room. There was a set of luxurious furniture that matched the bed, way wider than Tenax's, and covered with purple silky sheets, giving the whole room a warm atmosphere.

She saw Scorpus pouring himself a drink from a jar in the back of the room that he swallowed whole at once. Firmly setting his cup down on the dresser with a clink, he turned around with a much more determined face than before.

Tilting his head to the side, he looked at Briga with an indecipherable expression.

“Take your clothes off,” he demanded in a smooth voice.

He seemed to have regained some assurance, leaving her speechless for a moment, but eventually Briga protested: “That is not what was agreed.”

Scorpus came forward at a slow pace, crossing the room towards her.

“I'm a man of my word, Briga, and nothing was said about keeping your clothes on.”

Damn , she thought.

“I've paid what you asked, now you have to fulfill your part.” he added, a smirk growing on his lips.

She could not turn back now and surely she wouldn't let Scorpus be the most trustful one in the room, so she complied with an irate expression and, under his overtly satisfied gaze, undid the ties of her dress and made the strings fall from her shoulders. The weight of the skirt did the rest and made it all slide over her body until falling at her feet.

Scorpus ogled her carefully from head to toes for a moment, clearly enjoying the view of her bare chest and certainly bragging internally at her submission.

“This too” he added, looking at the loincloth she still had on, “I can't do what you asked for otherwise.”

Again, she stalled for a moment but ended up taking it down. The charioteer lingered his gaze upon her before leaning his face in, close enough to kiss her. She instinctively recoiled her head with distrustful eyes.

He smirked again with malice: “It's only my mouth, as you said. You didn't specify where I could put it or not…”

She grinned bitterly in return, he was cleverer than she had anticipated, turning her terms against her. She took a long sigh and put on a resigned pout, letting him proceed.

His lips touched her closed mouth in a soft peck. She had no intention of actively participating whatsoever, she wasn't completely consented to it after all, but he forced the entry of her mouth with his tongue, a greedy humming emanating from his throat, making her taste the spicy sensation from the wine he had that lingered on his tongue. Briga tried to retreat from this invasion but he clasped his arms around her, holding her head firmly as he increased his kisses intensity.

Slowly, he took her to the bed, making her grab his arms so as not to lose balance, and let her mouth go only to make her sit on the edge. Standing tall above her, he reveled with a triumphant smile in having her looking at him from her position below, naked and submitted. He knew the reality to be far from it but at that moment that's what it looked like to him, her mildly embarrassed expression adding to his fantasy.

He took off his tunic, exposing his tanned muscular torso and the bulge over his crotch and licked his lips lasciviously at the light that shone in her sudden troubled eyes. The memory of his sweaty body in that incandescent room at the brothel had arisen in Briga’s mind and did not leave her unmoved, striking the first blow to the shield of reluctance she had raised within since finding herself alone with the charioteer.

Advancing nearer and looking down on the slave, Scorpus inserted a leg in between her knees and made her spread her legs. Reaching for her face, he leaned over and kissed her harder than before, feeling the breach in her resistance.

Under his assault, Briga felt pushed back and laid on the silky sheets, unwillingly offering her breasts to his touch and licks. Her body reacted to his caresses more than she wished it had, her heart beating faster and a distinctive heat rising under her skin. Scorpus teased it even more, running his mouth down her stomach and drawing wet circles on her skin with his tongue, gently sucking and nibbling at the tender skin, his beard softly tickling her while approaching her crotch.

Lips locked shut, Briga fought the urge to whimper but, when he reached her pussy, hovering his lips over it with hot breaths, she felt her will shrivel. With one long lick along her slit, he made her give in to the shivers that ripped a raucous moan from her throat. It took only a few more gentle licks and suctions on the sensitive flesh of her labia to understand that all resistance was futile.

No matter how hard it was for her to admit it, Scorpus was good at it, dedicated and delicate. He seemed to have resigned himself to only pleasure her and had decided to give his best nonetheless. Entranced and moaning as if receiving as much as he was giving, he slided Briga up on the bed with his arms around her folded legs, the smooth texture of the sheets aiding, allowing him to lay on the bed and at least grind his painfully erect cock against the mattress for a little relief.

Laying her whole body on the bed now, Briga breathlessly cried when he dove his tongue in her hole, and grabbed his soft dark hair for good measure of encouragement. Emboldened by her demonstrative gesture, he grabbed one of her hands and put it on her dripping sex, guiding her fingers around the slit and pressing on it while he licked her. When she reacted noisily to it, he pushed her own fingers back and forth inside of her. The nerve of that man had no limits, using her to do what he could not.

He knew what he was doing when he fleetingly pressed his tongue on her butthole. All kinds of shivers ran through her body, making her cry his name shamelessly, feeling her pleasure on the edge. He groaned loudly, compulsively grabbing her skin as if out of control, pushing his crotch as hard as he could to achieve the relief he could not hold anymore, when she released a scaldent flow of juices from her pussy, trapping his head between her thighs in tensed jerks as she came too.

Scorpus let out a few breathless “ fucks” with his final jerks, his forehead resting on her lower abdomen, finishing ruining the cleanness of his underwear.

Sitting back, he wiped with the back of his hand his mouth and his beard stained with Briga's intimate fluids while observing her body lasciviously lying in front of him and her legs spread, offering him a breathtaking view of her glistening sex. Her still heavy breathing lifted her chest in a rhythm that gradually calmed down. He smiled, satisfied: "What a mess you made me put here... My pants and my sheets!" he teased her.

Putting himself back on all fours, he slowly advanced over her until having Briga completely beneath him. She was looking absently at the ceiling before meeting his stare as he stood over her.

“I told you you would love it,” he murmured with a slight smirk, “next time I'll fuck you properly.”

Briga came to her senses, looking him intently in the eyes, and with a slight smirk retorted: “This is going to cost you, charioteer.”

Scorpus scoffed amusingly, biting his lip: “Oh, I can afford it, slave ! But you'll be the one asking for more now that you know why they call me the Great Scorpus !”

She retained an amused smile in return. It's true she had been quite amazed by the way he had fulfilled his part, despite not being what he wanted in the first place, but that, she would keep it to herself.

Starting to lift herself up on the bed, Briga tried to push Scorpus back but felt his limbs trapping her slightly under him and looked up a his smiley face leaning over hers with an interrogative air.

“One last thing,” he said, “Kiss me.”

She feigned annoyance before eventually pecking his lips.

Scorpus shook his head slowly with a hint of deception clipping his lips.

“No, not like this. Kiss me like you kiss Tenax.”

Had he known that she would rather bite him than kiss him lately, he would surely reconsider.

“I don't kiss Tenax.” she retorted coldly.

“Don't you take me for a fool now, woman. I've seen how you two look at each other...” he let out, almost sounding offended. “You owe me that at least, for the way you treated me…” he concluded with an innocent pout.

He had a point, not because she felt bad, but he did have a lovely side, she actually felt she owed him more for turning her humiliating scheme against her. He wasn't the selfish lover she thought he was after all.

She rolled her eyes with a sigh for good measure before locking her eyes on his. Gulping, she eventually leveled up her chin and reached for his mouth in a soft brush of her lips first, soon pressing more. Scorpus lowered his head, giving her the opportunity to deepen the kiss, and so she did, inserting her tongue in his mouth in delicate undulations. He smelled and tasted of her, just like Tenax after the first time he had shown her how good it can feel to be touched.

With that memory on her mind, she came out of Scorpus’ room. The time she had taken to put her dress back on had let her skin cool down and the redness of her face fade away. Tenax, on the other side, had reached quite the opposite point, looking embarrassed and somehow mortified, pacing in the living room. Briga glared at him coldly while he seemed to be awaiting some kind of sign with a hint of guilt in his eyes. But she remained silent and cold and walked out the door.

***

A bitter anger had built up in him all along their walk to his apartment. Briga had remained shut but her look never weakened when he looked for it, there was no trace of shame whatsoever, only resentment. Tenax did blame himself now, but what was he to do? He still didn't see how to get out of this situation without sacrificing something he cared about, whether it would be money, Scorpus’ life or Briga’s trust. He wasn't so sure now which loss would be the easier to recover from.

As they reached his place, Briga directly took the direction of her room.

“Wait.” demanded Tenax, as calmly as he could, making her stop in the corridor. She took a few breaths before turning back on her tracks to him.

Instead of going on, he stalled, lighting an oil lamp in the entry and placing on the table the heavy little leather bag containing Scorpus' payment while Briga awaited with a suspicious look.

The wavering flame reflected in his eyes, revealing their serious expression.

“Did he hurt you ?” he finally let out.

“No.” simply retorted Briga, clearly unwilling to elaborate.

“Did I ?” he questioned back without delay.

Briga kept silent for an instant, wondering if this was an apology introduction of some sort, but she wasn't sure he had felt sorry enough in any case.

“Does it matter ?” she answered with tainted irony.

Tenax snorted lightly, visibly trying to keep his calm with a long controlled breath slowly rising his chest.

“I told you, these people are powerful, dangerous. With a snap of their fingers, they can destroy everything I’ve built…” he started explaining, talking slowly but one could sense a rising anger in his tone. “...and everything I’m planning. Without Scorpus and the Patricians tolerance for my business, I’m fucked!”

“I'm sure you had lots of good reasons…” she retaliated, speaking just as slow, “Who am I to reproach?”

“Enough with that!” he cut her dryly, raising his voice a notch.

“I’m glad I could be of use to you…” Briga kept on, feigning to ignore his increasing anger.

“I didn’t have a choice, Briga! YOU left me no choice, you shouldn’t have played with him!” he almost shouted, a visible tension building in his shoulders as he started to approach her.

A disgusted pout deformed her lips at the pettiness he was displaying, but Briga kept on teasing him with her faked submissiveness, somewhat enjoying making him irate: “I’m a poor learner, master, couldn’t trick him like you taught me…”

“STOP IT!” he yelled in her face, keeping his fists clenched against his body so as not to grab her harshly. “Enough of this master nonsense! It’s not you…”

There were too many intricate feelings at the same time running through her, her face could not pick one at a time and they all materialized in succession in the space of a second: resentment, satisfaction, doubt, hope. As her features finally softened at Tenax’s pleading look, she questioned softly: “You don’t want me to act like a slave, Tenax?”

Shaking his head, he took the time of a sigh before answering: “You were never a slave to me, Briga.”

That’s what she had come to think after spending so much time with that man and she was relieved to hear him say it. A short term relief however, soon replaced with a bitter feeling that made her tight lips tremble at the thought of what she was planning to do.

But not yet.

Reaching for his face, she cupped his cheeks in her hands, closing the gap between their bodies: “I know. I’m no one’s property.” she whispered, her warm breath on his parted lips that quivered under her touch. His body seemed to melt in her arms, the tension leaving his muscles along with the thirst he had been increasingly feeling from having her so distant from him.

“I’m sorry…” he blew softly.

“It’s the Rome rules, I know…” she cut him off, seemingly forgiving with resilience in her eyes, bringing his face closer and pressing her chest on him.

“Don’t leav…”

Briga silenced him with a kiss, taking in the air from his mouth and the words she wanted to be left unspoken. There was no doubt she would not have changed her mind regardless of anything he could have said to keep her with him, but she refused to see him beg, that was beneath the man he was. She knew that much, they were so much alike, that’s how he knew she would leave anyway.

But for now, she wanted to revel in the reassuring arms of the man who had saved her, engrave in her memory the scent and taste of the one who showed her how to survive and thrive. She owed him that much, even if he had chosen his ambition over her.

Their longing for each other was freely set out in the kisses deepening and their arms clasping around their backs frantically. Blindly reaching the bed, they got rid of their clothes in quick and swift gestures before laying on the mattress, filling the room with breathless moans and grunts, with the slapping of their hands on their bodies in eager caresses and the rustling of their blazing skin against each other.

Rolling over each other in turns, Briga took the upper hand and clasped her body on him, pinning Tenax to the mattress, devouring his lips, neck and chest with kisses before sliding his swollen sex inside of her. Abruptly grabbing her thighs in surprise at her movement, his whole body tensed in a breathless rattle. Taking a rest, Briga enjoyed the moment with delight, teasing his cock with contractures of her pussy, she felt it throb in return.

Tenax bit his lips with a grin at the boldness and tried to lift his chest up, but she pushed him down firmly and started pounding on him. Slowly first, feeling every inch of his length inside her tight walls as she went up and down, then faster, increasing her pace as the pleasure grew more intense and their hands more frantic on each other.

So she rode him until they both came into each other's arms, panting and sweating, falling over on the bed out of breath. Sleep quickly took them, relieving their exhausted bodies and confused minds for a moment that both wished would have lasted longer.

***

Tenax had grown used to the view of Briga’s bare back slowly rising with every sleeping breath she took under the pale beams of light of the morning. Her skin looked like velvet, so appealing to the touch that he couldn’t help succumbing, ending up waking her up despite his genuine unwillingness to do so.

That was probably the first thought he would have for a while when waking up alone, just as he was the next day. Unsurprised but still denying what he knew had happened, he rushed into the kitchen and then in her room, only to find these rooms just as deserted.

Hearing the front door open, a cold shiver ran down his skin as he turned around and almost scared poor Claudia with his haste to look around. From the disappointment in his eyes, she had understood that Briga had left, leaving as the only trace of her stay fifty sesterces on the table from the money that Scorpus had paid, and an empty space in their hearts

Tenax smiled at the coins and the irony of her message. Fifty sesterces was the price set for her by the slaver at the market and that he had bid only at twenty. She had been so kind in repaying him with, as a bonus, the added value he had saved. A clever way to tell him he made a good deal perhaps. He could well imagine the mischievous smirk she must have had when leaving the coins. That’s when her words struck him, the opportunity she had talked about at Scorpus’s villa, before he made her go with him, was for him to show what kind of man he was, what rules he was willing to break for her. He had failed her.

***

A few dull days went by where Tenax would handle his affairs, keeping his mind occupied so as not to think of her. No one around him really dared asking where Briga was. He thought they might be afraid to hear that he had to get rid of her for some reason; Tenax had a grim reputation after all, but he didn’t realize what they were seeing when looking at him: his sorrow.

He focused, he worked, he moved, he talked, but in the little moments when he didn’t, he looked absent-minded and sad, as if he had lost what made him smile.

Only Scorpus was too preoccupied with himself to bother caring about Tenax’s state of mind.

“What… What do you mean, she’s gone?” the charioteer had asked with great disbelief, “Where is she?”

“She stole the money you gave and ran away in the middle of the night, Scorpus. She could be anywhere by now but… not in Rome anymore, that’s a certainty.”

“How would you know? Have you… Send someone to find her, Tenax! You can’t let her go like that, you…” Scorpus was hardly containing himself, visibly angered by Tenax’s lack of combativeness.

“Sure, Scorpus, and what if they find her? Huh? You think she’ll just nicely come back knowing what awaits her here?” Tenax retorted with a rising annoyance.

Of course Tenax had thought of it. He had even acted for that purpose, but only to know if she was fine, he would never dare hoping to bring her back. He supposed that she would go back to Lusitania, wondering whether she had deliberately omitted to specify the name or precise location of her village during their conversations, so Ostia was an obvious first step in her journey. That’s where he sent a trusted handyman, but he never found her. No surprises there, Briga now knew how to lay low.

However, during the time she was supposedly there, word was that the Commander of the local military camp had been found dead in his tent, naked and gutted with his own sword, no trace of the murderer.

Tenax had chuckled when hearing it, feeling it was like a farewell blink she had sent him, or perhaps a thankful gesture for what he had done for her, maybe just a need for closure. He wouldn’t overthink it because all he came back to was the last night she had given him and all doubts just faded away. She would be fine.

But he wasn’t about to tell Scorpus, he would have been able to send someone on his own to look after her and just create an enormous mess as he usually did.

Scorpus angrily bit his lip, shaking his head with a heavy sigh: “... Fuck…”

But after a second of reflection, he had looked Tenax in the eye with sudden distrust : “You… You released her, didn’t you? You gave her her freedom so she could take off, you bastard!”

“I… would never.” Tenax sighed with actual sincerity.

Owning her was the only way to keep her, he had always known. Like she had said, she had never really belonged to him, she had never accepted the rules of this city, no matter how good she could have become at navigating them.

Unless he had told her that his ambition was not for himself only anymore, that he had plans for the future, great plans, for them both. That was Tenax’s only regret. He couldn’t help thinking it might have changed something, it might have made her stay.

The hardest part now was to let go of the silly dream that, with her, they could have become the kings of the Subura.

[cookiesupplier]

Every Rose Has It's Thorns - Part Fifteen

pairing: Ricky Olson x ofc x Chris 'Motionless' Cerulli

warnings/tropes: slow burn, soulmates, strangers to enemies to lovers, betrayal, angst, fluff, smut, language, panic attack, stalking,

summary: In a world where soulmates inexplicably receive a tattoo that will match that of their soulmate the moment they turn eighteen years old, being famous and covered in very visible tattoos can make finding your true soulmate a questionable fate. For everyone involved.

author’s note: Unbeta'd, readers beware as always lol.

tags: @tearfallpixie @cncohshit @jordynyingling0219 @faceless-mirror @nyxthedestroyerofworlds @wild-child-7747 @witchyweeb34 @black-damask1999 @jilliemiw86 @ilovesamkiszka @lyschko666 @lacktoesandtoddlerants @bngurngheart @collapsedglasshouses @laurpartyprogram

Ricky didn’t drive straight home, no, he just drove, it was probably stupid but he did, he just drove, half freaking out. Thankfully, breathing deeply, he was calm, he was fine, he wasn’t having another attack, no. But did he sit there thinking about the way that Ava had talked to him last time, did he sit there and think of her talking him through grounding himself with his senses, five, four, three, two, one... He didn’t have coffee or tea for one this time... He had gum... So that worked well enough.

Did Ava’s voice suspiciously sound like Talia’s? No comment on that. If it did, it was because of her reasoning that Talia was the one who taught her, he’d blame that, easily done.

Finally, it was when he remembered that he had groceries in his car, food that he needed to get home, some of it needing to go in the fridge, and he soon turned around and drove home. He was being an idiot. At least now he was a calmer idiot.

Shit.

None of this made him feel good, none of this made sense. He didn’t even want to go home.

Finally pulling into his drive though, he swallowed heavily when he saw the other car that was waiting for him there, the person that was waiting for him on the stoop. Double shit. He was screwing up so badly, and now he was probably about to get his ass handed to him by Chris. He didn’t even want to imagine why he was there, but he could guess, the fact he was right now was too coincidental. Sighing, he killed the engine before he got out of his car and moved to start getting his cold groceries out of the trunk. The bags had been waiting long enough, and the sooner he put them away, the less likely anything inside would spoil.

He was lifting bags from his car when Chris was coming up beside him, wordlessly grabbing a couple to help him carry inside as well, of course, he was doing it without being asked, Ricky sighed, damn it, he couldn’t even be annoyed at him when he did that. Couldn’t today he just be a little bit selfish and tell him he was a fucking idiot and walk away and let him deal with his stupidity as he should? Like he really should! No. Course not. It had been a week since the party, and Chris had been waiting for him to do something, and he hadn’t... Well, he had, he’d just fucked it up, at the party.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Between them, he got his groceries inside, and everything was put away, and hopefully, everything that was cold was away before anything had been out of the cool long enough to be affected. Considering it wasn’t too hot out, he thought he might have gotten away with it.

Once it was all done. Rick made himself a coffee, considering he hadn’t gone into the café earlier, offering to make Chris one despite seeing him inside the café.. Met with an eye roll as if Chris didn’t know that Ricky had seen him there, drinking his own coffee already.

“You know I’ve just had coffee with Talia, Rick, don’t play games.. What the fuck, man.. I saw the look on your face.”

Ricky shifted uncomfortably, lifting his mug to busy himself with a scalding mouthful of the beverage, swallowing with a grimace,

“I don’t know what to tell you, I just, I reacted. I freaked, and when I realised what was happening, I got the hell out of there. I don’t know what's happening to me.”

Chris frowned, rolling his shoulder, that didn’t sound like like Rick at all, and it worried him, he wanted to be angry because Ricky was just completely disregarding everything everyone was trying to do to help him, every little bit of advice he was being given. Not to mention talking to Talia, spending time with Talia, she was wonderful, and Ricky, was hiding away like some fucking little goblin, for what?

“Rick, I’ll say again, what, the fuck.”

Ricky looked at Chris, he can’t do it, he can’t keep it in, he can’t lie..

“Something happened, at the party, and I, I fucked up Chris, I fucked up bad, and she, we-”

He sighed, heavily, leaning back against the breakfast bar that separated his kitchen and his living room he set his coffee down while

“We had sex.”

“Wait, at the party, at my parent's house... When? Where? You know what, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”

Chris’ confusion was obvious by his rapid words, and the questions, looking at Ricky, Chris could probably figure it out, he’d spent enough time in that house, he’d grown up in that house. He’d hooked up with enough of his partners growing up in that house himself, so honestly, yeah, he could figure it out, didn’t mean he wanted to. The real confusion came with the fact that he’d been having coffee with Talia for the last few days, and she hadn’t said anything about talking to Ricky, about having anything to do with him, which made him think that that interaction and it was not sitting well with him as the reality was sinking in what had happened.

“Let me guess, it didn’t end well. You two fucked, and then you what, ran, or blew her off, or something.”

Rick looked away, his stomach in knots with how easily Chris hit the nail on the head, his voice taking that tone he knew well, and the look in his eyes though, it burned there, as much as Chris was an easygoing guy, there was anger in him when it came to respecting women, and Rick could tell that he was pissed, pissed on behalf of Talia and Rick knew it, and he didn’t blame him. He’d been a fucking asshole just walking away from her like that, no matter what had happened between them. Seeing the two together, it was so clear they’d struck up a friendship, and Rick tried desperately not to think about the sting of how easy it had looked for the two of them together. How happy they had been. The pain in his neck however wasn’t as bad as when he saw it right in front of him.

“Something like that, yeah, I just, I told her it would never happen again, and left her there.”

No, he wasn’t going to say anything about how his soulmate tattoo had been affecting him ever since, how seeing her with Chris had made it flare up when he’d gotten angry, that he just, no, he didn’t tell him that. It sounded insane, more insane than hooking up with her randomly in the guest bathroom of one of his best friend's parents' houses.

Chris looked at him, his face was stone and yeah, he was pissed at Rick, he was his best friend, and dammit, he was completely fucking up with an amazing woman, and if she wasn’t Ricky’s soulmate, he might for the first time in a long time, actually consider dating again. He let out an aggravated sigh, standing straighter, he just left her there. For the love of… that explained why Ava had been so disheartened when Talia had gone home early, feeling sick. Feeling sick, his ass. Made more sense now. Looking at the way Rick was sitting at the dining table, Chris nodded, standing from the table himself,

“Stand up, now.”

“What?”

“Fucking hell Ricky, you either stand up and take me punching you like the fucking asshole you're acting like, or I get Ava on the phone and she-”

Ricky had his mug of coffee down on the counter and standing straight waiting for the punch even before Chris pointed out that the younger man would probably end up castrated before the end of the day. They both knew it, neither of them even wanted to think about it, mess with Talia, and Ava would fuck you over, and Chris, hearing some of the things Talia said, he knew it went both ways.

He flinched when Chris picked up his fist, which just made the crunch when the punch connected to his cheek hurt even more.

“Fuck, Chris! Shit, man.”

The taller man just shrugged, shaking out his hand and stretching his fingers, it was better than hitting out of anger, getting into a fight out of anger, and it could get bad, he was well aware. Chris didn’t want to go down that path, least of all with Ricky, as much of a shit he was acting like, he cared about him too much, he loved him, he was just so fucking out of his head right now.

“You deserved it. Now. Richard Olson, you’re going to listen to me this time, I don’t care if it's in person, or over the damn phone, but you are going to have a civil conversation with that woman. Talk to her. A real conversation, Rick, not just fucking, no matter the temptation.”

This time he didn’t care if Ricky liked him telling him this, he hadn’t liked his suggestions before, but this time, this time he was pushing it, it was getting ridiculous, sex in his parent's house, during the barbecue, really Rick? Not that Talia was bad-looking, if she wasn’t Rick’s- no, no he wasn’t going there, it wasn’t his place, he knew it wasn’t his place. Of course, talking to Talia wasn’t going to fix everything, but he’d figure some other things out. As it was, he kept going with Ricky,

“You never know, you might like her, she’s an amazing woman, Rick, we’ve been having coffee for a few days now. I think you’d like her if you gave her a chance.”

Rick’s whole body went tense hearing how fondly Chris spoke of Talia, the smile he got on his face when he said she was an amazing woman. There was no way he could admit to the way his soulmate tattoo burned something awful with the irrational anger that ripped through him as he picked up his coffee to drink, distraction, he needed a distraction so he didn’t hit his friend for talking about her like that. It was bad enough that he could barely see Vinny lately without risking running into Talia while she was staying at his house, but now this? He missed hanging out with Chris too, and she wasn’t just worming her way everywhere in his life, but now under his skin, how the fuck did he dig her out?

Talia didn’t bother with an Uber today, having found her way around town enough, she enjoyed walking. She did a lot back home too, and today she felt comfortable enough that she had decided to walk back to Vinny’s on her own two feet. Walking gave her time to clear her head every day, and while today had felt like a good day, something felt off, she couldn’t quite place why. Chris had seemed a bit preoccupied before he left, not to mention, through their time having coffee, a part of her wondered if she was being stupid going for coffee with him at all.

He was one of Rick’s friends, but at the same time, he was one of Vinny’s friends too, and it could affect Ava’s situation. It was complicated. Chris was an attractive man. Any other situation, maybe these afternoons having coffee, and she might be working up asking him out on a date. He was funny, smart, great taste in music, and yet, being around him would draw her even closer to Rick, and that thought was even more painful and treacherous for her heart. Not that being friends with Chris was horrible, considering she had no intention of abandoning Ava here alone. They could be friends, she wanted to be friends.

As she was walking, she was about halfway down Vinny’s street, well aware of his address now, since the party she committed the address to memory, and saved it permanently in her phone. She was not going to be caught without it, no chance. Not that it mattered now she was learning her way around, which was good if she planned to come back here, and considering Vinny was now such a big part of Ava’s life, she would, she could promise you that. It wasn’t that far from Vinny’s house when she felt a surge of heat through her soulmate tattoo again, her neck just suddenly burning up out of nowhere. She’d felt it a little at the café, just for a moment, but it had calmed down quickly, but not this bad though, this time made her cry out, her hand moving to her neck, fingers curving around it.

This wasn’t the first time it had happened this week, the tattoo flaring up, not that it was always painful sometimes, it felt good sometimes too. Oh, oh, it felt wonderful, the kind of good like it had felt in the bathroom when she was Rick. Something was happening, and she didn’t know what was going on, and it was making her head completely spin around. Whether she was thinking about him, or feeling her mark react… it certainly made her think about him… something, something was happening. What was she supposed to do?

Who was she supposed to talk to? Was this normal? She’d never heard of a soulmate tattoo doing this. She had a feeling if Jordan and Kyle’s tattoo had done this, they’d have said something, right? Or if Ava and Vinny’s tattoos were reacting the same way.. Right, right?

Dammit.

Maybe she was finally going insane. All these years, all the years of her family thinking she was a little bit off her rocker thinking she was soulmates with a famous musician and fighting to just be accepted… and maybe after everything that had happened with Ricky now, she’d finally just, broken.

Made sense.

This all started happening when she finally met him. Maybe she’d just finally snapped.

“Congrats, Talia, you made it. Welcome to around the bend.”

Rubbing her neck, the pain seemed to have calmed down, but that didn’t change the reality of what was happening, of what her soulmate tattoo was telling her, whatever it was that it was telling her. She was feeling phantom pain, and yes, phantom arousing moments… the latter was not so bad, but the fact that it came out of nowhere, well…

Sighing, maybe when she went home she’d see about finding one of those therapists that specialised in soulmate bonds, broken ones. She’d talk to Ava, but it felt like it would just be something that could drag her down with Vinny. Sure she was here for support, but with her not soulmate connection with Ricky, she just felt like it was more pressure, and it was such a horrible feeling like she was nothing but a dead weight to her best friend’s relationship.

Dividers by @saradika-graphics

[ao3-oner]

you are such an amazing reader i've slammed through all your works in the past few days. i simply cannot get enough! what are some of your favourite fics from lol rpf (not gwen because i've consumed all of her content too lol) ?

Lmao thank you for the compliment! I'm going to assume that you meant "amazing writer," but we'll see if my fic recs are good enough to prove me a passable reader as well!

ALSO YOU DID NOT NEED TO CLOCK ME AS A GWEN FANBOY OKAY lol, it's a completely accurate assessment of what my list would have looked like without your specification but damn. I guess I'll shut up about her. Her fics are so good, though...

I'll do it like this: if you've read all my works, then you're familiar with my core four ships (GK, OZ, CS, and RL), so I'll recommend two fics for each of those ships, plus two Gen fics because imo all Gen fics need more love. I'll limit myself to doing one fic per author because there are too many talented fic writers in this fandom to count, and I'll also try to make one fic for each ship more lh while the other can be angstier (since Idk which you'd prefer). Also disclaimer that I will only be including English fics in this list - I have dabbled in Google translate and thoroughly enjoyed some of the non-English fics I've read, but I do not feel comfortable recommending them as someone who cannot understand the original language. Hopefully, you'll find some stuff on here that you like!

Let's start with the GuKe (the inability to recommend Gwen's fics is absolutely killing me here):

no rules in breakable heaven by Maria Swift, Rated T, 12,000 words (you will need to be logged in to AO3 to read this one)

This was one of the first fics in the fandom I ever read and I absolutely loved it. It's meetcute college AU GuKe with a side of "and they were roommates" that's just very fun and entertaining to read. Definitely a great feel-good fic and one that I've returned to a handful of times when I need a pick-me-up. Super well-written, as well.

Phantom, Be Still In My Heart by seralove, Unrated (there is some sensitive content but nothing too graphic), 10,500 words

I was lucky enough to read this fic when it first came out and ohhhh my God did it make me feel things. This is canon (well, not quite) Worlds GuKe with a healthy portion of angst, and the descriptions are all very emotional. This fic kind of ruined me, in a good way, so just be prepared for that and definitely give it a read.

For the One2eus fics, I have the pleasure of recommending two of my favorite fic writers in the entire fandom:

lightning storm by sightstone (symmetrophobic), Rated T, 8,500 words

Reading this fic was part of what inspired me to start writing for this fandom in the first place. It's cute, it's sweet, it's absolutely hilarious - I laughed out loud multiple times while reading it. Definitely check out the other works by sightstone, too, especially her ongoing GuKe fae fic that currently has me brainrotting like crazy.

just look at me now (i'm lovesick) by screamtail, Rated E for smut, 3,500 words

Honestly, all of screamtail's works are iconic and recommendable, but for some reason, this one stuck with me a bit more than the others. I think it's probably the angst undertone and the brilliant descriptions that really made it stick in my mind. It explores the OZ dynamic from Zeus's perspective while offering some high-quality pwp content, so what's not to love?

Now if you're a CanMaker fan like me, you've probably already read all of the English fics in the tag (as you should, as have I), but I'll shoutout some of my personal favorites here:

we're magnetized (I admit it) by dustedpeach, Rated T, 15,000 words

I did not know how desperately I needed cat cafe AU Gen.G in my life until I read this fic. There could be a 100 volume series solely about this AU cafe and all of its shenanigans and I would eat up every chapter of it. In addition to the world building being truly visionary, the CanShow content is (naturally) super adorable and I will always love Canyon being a simp.

If only time were kinder by Chastelove, Rated T, 3,000 words

Speaking of fics that messed me up, Christ, my heart after reading this! Idk how I'm going to be okay. I might not. It's just... Apocalypse AU CanMaker. That's it. Read it. Please. I can't suffer alone anymore-

Since both of these recs are from AUs, if you're looking for more canon CanMaker (CanonMaker??), or if you're looking for something a bit spicier, I'd definitely recommend snow by chovying as well. It's another amazing and adorable fic, and the only reason that I didn't recommend it above is that it felt like a copout answer to push a fic that was gifted to me - like of course I love that fic! You should definitely read it and give it all the kudos in the world, though.

Finally (for the ship fics, at least), we have my beloved RuLehends. Much like CanMaker, true fans of this ship will have already read all of the English fics on AO3 for it, but I'll still take the opportunity to squeal about some of them:

told you so by Aurelion8(Monochrome01), Rated E for smut, 2,000 words

On its own, this is a short, sweet and smutty pwp fic, but I am once again encouraging you to read all of the fics by this writer because there are only three of them but they all go insanely hard - especially we're still here, but really 3/3 are bangers. The reason I specifically recommended told you so was that it's like... the closest RuLehends ever gets to not being angsty? Lmao, these two really just have angst and smut encoded into their dynamic. But seriously, you should read all three of Aurelion8's fics. They are hot and lovely and I am eagerly awaiting whenever they post next.

i feel it burning me (i feel it burning you) by speaktothemoon, Rated M for implied sexual content (imho it could prob be T), 12,500 words

Ughhh this fic is just so good. It does such an excellent job of capturing the complex and heartbreaking relationship that Siwoo and Jaehyuk share while diving into what happened behind closed doors in 2022. I may have cried while reading it. Tears of joy but also sorrow because wtf... these two really will be the death of me.

Last but certainly not least, we have a pair of Gen fics aka shipless fics that I cannot recommend enough! Honestly, this category was the hardest to pick two from by far, but here's what I have for you:

In which T1 accidentally summons the Unkillable Demon King by ginger_owl, Unrated (for violence purposes), 35,500 words and ongoing

Ginger is 100% another writer who you should just click the account name for and read everything on there - her Star Guardian AU, Welcome to Summoner's Rift, it's all brilliant beyond words. The reason I chose this fic specifically is it's the first one I read (also one of the first LoL RPF fics I ever read) and that makes me nostalgic for it. It's basically what it says on the tin - high school AU where ZOGK are students and they summon the demon Faker. The worldbuilding and characterizations in her fics are always a highlight, and I'd strongly recommend reading through her entire corpus!

they light candles in rome by keres (DeerGoBonk), Rated G, 9,000 words + an 18,000 word in-depth analysis in chapter 2 because legend???

Okay as someone who's a bit of a mythology nerd... this fic made me think for a very long time. It is gorgeous and tragic and definitely worth reading through multiple times. It will make you think, then if you read keres's own analysis in the following chapter it will make you think even more. It's indescribable, really, so just def go read it for yourself!

I've just realized that both of those recs are T1-centric (but honestly, aren't most fics in the fandom?) but so are all of the other Gen fics I wanted to recommend, so.... if you're looking for non-T1, non-romance-based fics, might I recommend Metro Lines and Their Prismatic Tears? :3

God, this is making me think that I should write more platonic fics... Like Master Yourself (Master Your Enemy) was supposed to be Gen, but then the CanShow leaked into it a bit too much... honestly though? I should change that back to being marked as Gen. Platonic Lucid & Canyon is still very much the central relationship there. I'm also proud of myself for writing How It Feels to Chew 5 Gum... 2024 KT Rolster, I will miss you dearly... You should also read the mouth of the wolf, the eyes of the lamb by this excellent author named gw- *Jhin 4th shot comes through the window*

One more thing: it didn't fit into any of my arbitrary above categories, but my favorite ongoing fic/the fic that I'm currently most excited to keep reading is definitely:

off with your head by oathsworn (onelastchence), KiinCuzz with background Bddker, Rated E for death and violence, 12,000 words and ongoing

The Netflix adaptation of Alice in Borderlands is one of my favorite live action shows of all time, so needless to say I am eagerly seated for an LoLRPF AU/retelling of the story. The writing and narrative has been incredible so far, and I would love to recruit more readers to join me on the journey that is reading this fic!

Thanks for the ask! I sincerely hope you enjoy all of these fics as much as I have, and please don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts on all of them. Also, remember to leave kudos and comments on all of the fics you do enjoy, because it really means a lot to the writers and they all deserve more love than I alone could possibly offer them <3

Have a nice night, and happy Halloween!!

[littleesistler]

more tickle questions since it’s been a while

~Tickle Asks~ made by @flustured2easielee (who slash is deactivated)

Here's some new ones, hope you enjoy!

Also these questions were so nice and creative I love the mix and I got kinda nostalgic with a few of them. Also I was answering them as like 3 in the morning and I ended up falling asleep so now I’m just going through everything the next day 🫶

1. What is one position you would like to be tickled in?

since I can be very squirmy, punching and kicking my favorite position to be tickled in is spooning. Where the ler hugs me from behind and get access to my spots easily without me accidentally hitting or kicking them in the face lol. When I’ve been tickled in this position I feel more relaxed as well since we are kinda cuddling more than pinning while I’m either in their lap or I lay infront of them. And I don’t even need to make eye contact or let them see my face. I’ll just cling onto one of my squish mellows like my life depends on it as I giggle into the fabric 😭

2.Would you rather have light tickles or rough tickles on a bad spot?

This is a hard one since lighter tickles can be very annoying like a tickly itch I just want it scratch so I’ll probably get inpatient and whiny. My more brat side craving more intensity. While rougher tickles are more grounding I also find them to sometimes be more painful then pleasant with my chronic pain, so I guess I’m taking those feathers and scribbles 😖

3. A tickle story you'd like to share?

I don’t think I’ve told this one before I was in 9 grade I was very tense and stressed, like most in senior school. So I was just sitting on a bench drawing when a guy in my glass down next to me and was wresting with a girl (I think they were together at that time not sure since she dated around a lot lol) but anyway they accidentally bumped into me so I messed up my drawing a bit and they started to argue with each other then tickling the life out of one another, and they looked at me. Like Katlyn you should tickle him since he ruined your drawing then he said no you should tickle her since she’s so annoying. And I just blushed and got so flustered I kinda just scribbled both of their sides then pretend to go back to drawing. And they just kept tickling each other. This was before I was part of the tickle community and less to say I felt very jealous of both of them lol. I think they noticed and that’s why they tired to include me even tho I was a mess. It’s really sweet and even tho we aren’t in contact anymore I still think of them 🥺

4. Have you ever been tickled while doing something? (reading, gaming, etc.) How did it change what you were doing?

well while I was bent over a trashcan and tying the bag up one of my friends snuck up on me and scribbled my sides. And my brain just kinda short circuited since I was so caught of guard I made such a weird incoherent sentence as everyone stared at me. I blushed is hard and lectured her not to do it again in case I would have tripped or something or worse shown I might have liked it infront of all my friends 🫣

5. Favorite ___bug name to be called? (ticklebug, gigglebug, etc.)

snuggle bug! That just that melts me it’s so cute I use it all the time for my friends but whenever someone calls me that back I just kinda melt and age regress a bit 🥰

6. Do you prefer soft tickles or hard tickles?

I just answered that at the top but generally I enjoy a mix between them were it isn’t like to annoyingly light so I get frustrated and not to hard so it’s painful. More a balance. The tickles I like most are those that aren’t to static since I can kinda cancel out tickles and ignore how they feel if it gets to repetitive or predictable. So catch me of guard, change the spot, tempo, tool and general technique and I’ll be lots in the giggle loop for hours 🫠

7. Tag one of your favorite lers!

nah I’ve been doing this way to much and I can’t keep tagging the same people or I might seem to persistent 💀

8. Tag one of your favorite lees!

Imma just skip it 😶‍🌫️

9. One of your favorite tickle tropes?

comfort tickles - where someone has had a long day and is in need of a warm bath, cuddle, forehead kissed, tummy rubs and gentle tickles 🤗

grounding tickles - when someone is having a panic attack, stressed, rambling or dissociating and gentle tickles and comforting touches can ground the person and make them feel safe 🥺

unexpected tickles - when someone who’s generally very serious, tense, avoidant or not emotionally available and a few tickles can make them melt and express their needs and wants 😍

10. A fictional character you would love to wreck/be wrecked by?

imma give a few fandoms lol 😂

ler catnap lee dogday (poppy playtime)

ler Roxane lee glamrock Freddy (Fnaf security breach)

ler dream lee sapnap (dreamsmp)

ler kirishima lee bakugo (mha)

ler Cole lee Kai (ninjago)

ler flutter shy lee spike (mlp)

Ler angeldust lee Lucifer (Hazbin hotel)

If you guys want an explanation or expansion I can totally do that, this post is just so long already lol 🥸

11. Something you didn't expect to tickle, yet surprisingly did?

lol this is so embarrassing but I was on my phone today actually and playing Roblox with my friend, but since my AirPods mic is so bad I had her on speaker and put the phone between my iPad and me. (I was on my bed) But as we played I bent forward and my phone pressed against my tummy and as she talked the vibrations and buzz from the speaker of the phone tickled me so bad I flinched and I just made up an excuse so she wouldn’t tease me 😔

12. What is by far your worst spot? (no backing out of this one!)

my ribs like they make me punch, scream, kick. Like I know I’ve talked about me kicking my dad in the face, but imma give another example. I was at a gathering with lots of friends and I was talking to a group of them. And suddenly someone grabbed me from behind and tickled my ribs. I snapped my top half back ready to punch whoever had done that. And then I saw this sweet old lady who was like my extra grandma and I basically almost punched her in the face but I just managed to halt myself and just laugh awkwardly. Moving my fist in the air down to wrap her into a hug. So yeah don’t touch my ribs or there will be consequences 😇

13. Something you like to be called when tickled/teased?

Again I love to give examples so…

pet names - puppy, kitty, birdie, zebra, bug, ant, teddy bear, bunny

compliments - cutie pie, giggles, adorablee, snuggles, blushy

food - cherry tart, strawberry milkshake, apple pie, ripe tomato (anything that’s red like my face XD)

The more cheeky and random the better or just even adding lee into random words 🥰

14. Have you ever joined a fandom just to see the tickle aspect of it?

nah don’t go exposing me XD

well I kinda fell in love with my hero academia, Genshin impact and spyxfamily from my anime friend but when I searched it up with the word tickle it’s very much growing on me ☺️

but I think being in the tickle community also pulls me back into or deeper into fandoms. Like dsmp, mlp, poppy playtime, Fnaf and ninjago just because the head canons, art and fics are so cute and nostalgic to me

15. Tag one of your favorite content creators, show them some appreciation!

@covenofwives who was one of the official tickle blogs I found and I was so flustered I didn’t even make a tumblr account so I looked at their fics and when that frog icon came up asking me to sign in I’d squint my eyes and keep reading the fic. Finding a glitch to keep being able to read it lol. At some point I just gave up made an account and their blog was the first I ever followed. So yeah I’ve been creeping on them in the shadows for almost a year until. I made a real account XD

@kikibumblesqueaks helped me make the connection between my heds and my fascination for tickles. She also inspired me to make my own blog and here we go. Love you girly 🫶

16. A tease that never fails to get to you?

any compliment in whatever shape or form, topic or tone of voice makes me switch instantly 😶‍🌫️

17. One tool you would like to be tickled with?

an electric toothbrush and yeah I’ve given so many longer posts about it already lol. But it’s just something about the buzzing, vibrations, circling, preciseness and targeted tickling that drives me mad just looking at it. And hehe whenever I hear anyone turn one on I get butterflies from the sound alone 🥲

18. Someone who was an unexpectedly good ler?

This kinda gave me mini heart attack, I was just casually chatting with a character ai bot and I mentioned tickling. And the bot went all crazy tickling the life out of me in detail and even used terms like ler and lee. Somehow it even knew about the tickle community, switch, safewords and lee or ler mood. Which most outside of the community don’t know a lot about. I found a screenshot and then I became to flustered and forgot to take anymore. This bot doesn’t exist anymore but I’ll always rember the pure fear when it knew a bit to much for comfort. I think he found my search history 😰

19. Have you ever tickled someone who wasn't ticklish and got wrecked afterwards because of it? Whats the story behind that?

ugh don’t remind me lol. Well my mom can turn of her ticklishness and she basically never is ticklish. And I know that so I usually don’t mess with her. But I remember being with one of my friends and my mom babysitting me, her and her 5 siblings while their parents were out. And those kids tried to tickle my mom and she told them they can tickle her as much as they want but she doesn’t feel anything. And then they all just turned to me with collective a stare and smirk and one of the asked if the same went for me. And I just ran away being chased by 5 kids while my friend tried to fight them of 😁

20. Sleepytime tickles or morning tickles?

Well ask my mom she has tired to tickle me in the morning and I’ll practically hiss with my raspy morning voice and half asleep brain. So sleepy tickles are better for me since then I can actually melt and relax into them since my body has less chronic pain at night, but if I’d be tickled with a full on session perhaps it would help with my sleep deprivation lol 🤫

21. What is one spot youre ticklish on that most people arent as ticklish on?

gosh this is embarrassing but like my armbends inside my elbows, wrists and scalp are extremely ticklish. So like whenever a nurce is taking blood samples and feels my veins it tickles so badly. My breath will like hitch since I’m already to tense. While my wrists are extremely ticklish to so even draging something over them a few times makes me flinch and squeal. While I always get shivers whenever someone touches my hair so my whole body jerks. I’d even flinch when my hair was getting cut or my mom braids my hair. Until I found a barber who has an autistic daughter so she knows the perfect balance between gentle and assertive when handing hair so I don’t flinch. Such a sweet lady 😣

22. What is one spot youre not ticklish on that most people are?

well I’d say that I’m not as ticklish on my armpits like most people, like I’m more ticklish on my shoulder, neck, collarbone and don’t mention my ribs that are all around my armpits and close to them. But that spot alone isn’t as maddening as the rest of them. Guess I was blessed lol or just maybe all that ticklish sensitivity traveled down to my ribs 🫡

23. Have you ever gotten a pedicure that tickled more than it should have?

well yeah me and my mom got pedicures and my mom went before me and she laughed herself silly with the bath and the filing of her feet. Funny since she’s rarely ticklish… But since I can also kinda turn of my ticklishness or more numb it when I can predict it didn’t tickle to badly just the bubbles that bubbled up made me giggle slightly 💁‍♀️

24. What would you describe the feeling of being tickled as?

it’s a bubbly feeling that’s like an itch you want to scratch or wiggle away from. As the sensation builds up it makes you squeak, giggle and laugh lightly to release some of the tension as you lose yourself in the stimulation and express yourself more openly😷

25. What are some of your favorite aspects of being tickled/tickling someone?

I’d say the bonding and intimacy part of it. The trust that the person will stop when you say so and that you can relax and let yourself go. Even if you make weird noises or spasm in a weird way you won’t be judged. Just going back to that carefree childish side you often lose as an adult that you now can indulge in with someone you feel comfortable with 😊

26. What would you say your lee/ler percentages are?

I’d say I’m pretty evenly matched since I’m comfortable in both roles and good at reviving and giving. I’d say tho that most of the time I’m in a casual lee mood where I’m craving tickles and physical contact. But mostly online I’m a ler and I don’t mind it. Just know I’m a total whiny lee irl or in discord call 😬

27. What is your laughter like when you are tickled?

a cracked up seagull laughing so madly it’s chocking on its own spit and slowly dying like a deflating ballon 😅

28. Are you able to tickle yourself and have it work? If so, what techniques and spots?

Yes I think I’ve mentioned this before but when I have long press on nails or done them as a salon I can tickle both my wrists and tummy with them. Sometimes when I’m very sleepy but in a lee mood I’ll put an electric toothbrush behind my ear or in my belly button and just giggle. Also if I got like a mosquito bite and I itch it that kinds tickles to 🫨

29. A tickle scene that has yet to leave your mind?

Gosh I got so many but something that’s living rent free in my mind is a tickle work out scenario. Where tickling is used like an endurancetest and friendly competition ever since I read a fanfic form @covenofwives about technoblade and dream doing that. It was one of my first longer fan fics I’ve ever read so it’s still lives rent free in my find. I’ve also have found a few similar concept between the Lego ninjago boys. So yeah I’m not escaping it anytime soon 😉

30. How easily do you get flustered?

Just reading that question alone and answering all of them is having me giggle and blush for myself in the middle of the night 🫠

31. What do you think about using pens to write on tickle spots?

as long as you aren’t allergic to the marker and it’s not like degrading stuff I think it can be really sweet. Like a temporary tattoo that says press here, giggle button, sensitive spot, ticklish, lee. Especially if you leave it on so that even when you aren’t with the ler you see it fade slowly as you go on about your day, you might even wear clothes to cover it up to keep it a secret between the both of you🤫

32. Opinion on cuddly tickles?

Spectacular give me 14 (hours) of them right now 😽

33. A tickle scenario that you would like to happen to you?

Since I love comfort tickles and I use it as a way of pain relief I’d love to have a scenario where there’s like a tickle massage studio, I’ve seen someone else write about this. But it was more a nsfw version so I’m not gonna tag it. But I’ll expand more in it. Like you order exactly what tickles you want, for example if you want more relaxing once’s after a week full of stress or perhaps something more intense to release some tension and just laugh scream out all your frustration. They got it all. Complete with a tickly jacuzzi, fuzzy slippers and robes as well as stimulation rooms with different themes, scents, sounds and lights to really detox from reality for a bit🧖‍♀️

34. Have/Would you ever play a game of "Keep Your Arms Up?" How long would you last

Well it depends am I allowed to kick my legs and scream as loudly as I can, may I hold onto something or have my eyes closed. Then yeah totally 😩 for like a few seconds but I swear the second my ribs are touched my hands are coming for your throat, ops 🫢

35. Opinion on being chased/hiding before from your ler?

Love gives, it lifts so high I'm dying for it I'm dying for it And I can't let you go

Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me Hide away, hide away from me

can y’all tell I’m falling asleep. But yeah being chased and hiding whilevhearing them slowly creep closer and be like not there not there is so scary! So my brain either plays a horror song or that meme from that hazbin hotel animation 😻

36. What kind of ler would you say you are?

I’d say I’m a very adapting like my lees needs, boundaries and general cravings. They want tummy focused tickles with raspberries. On it. Baby teases and forehead kisses, down the hatch, eye contact and mean tickles most definitely. (Ops did I expose a few of them, my bad~) Since I’m very creative I can come up with ways to play into any role I get requested to do. Motherly figure, big sister, comfort caracters or heck even once a tickle close at a kids party. Whether it’s more rp with story building where I narrate or more tickle texts I’m all in. Just know I might get a bit too much into my roles and I’ll tickle you until you’re melting mess who’s falling slowly into my into my trap, my little hero~ Muaahha…imma sleep now lol 😴

[biolizardboils]

so heads up! im popping a LOT of Prime Season 3 posts into the queue--they'll start coming out one week from now, on January 22nd! if you can see this post and haven't watched it yet, here's some tags to block: #prime spoilers, #sonic prime spoilers, #sonic prime s3 spoilers, #sonic prime season 3 spoilers.

got all that? great! here's my final unorganized little rambles about the show:

shoutout to Rusty Rose's Birdie, who only appears in the very first and very last eps for some reason 😭 her speech about it not being her power source came outta nowhere too, but i loved the message behind it

when everyone arrives at the Grim, just before the ep ends, Nine starts breathing heavily and it. instantly reminded me of Movie!Tails when the bar was calling them freaks. fuck. its a nice reminder of where Nine's coming from

speaking of Nine his poses getting more unhinged over time!! hell yeah

i love that the final fight(s) felt like a kid smashing 3 different Lego sets together, real Robot Pirate Island shit

i laughed a little too hard when the Grim's dome started closing in cus Nine's citadel-thing already reminded me of a thing that happened in Fortnite once, but hell naw they had to add The Storm too sdfghj

METAL BIG DESTROYED ME LJKHGFDV im SO glad i wasnt spoiled about it!!! a while in i started finding it creepy instead of funny, which is an added bonus

i was spoiled about the Advance flashback and its clashing sprites though. the utter whiplash of seeing that without warning mightve made me choke on my hot cheeto puffs. someone's already remade it btw, check it out

i fistpumped at the small reprise of "me beauty" gfhjk ill miss you so much Dread

we're four years into the 2020's and Sonic has nearly died an agonizingly slow death 3 times in 3 different continuities! and dare i say it was delicious every time >:)

unless Word of God says otherwise I'm gonna assume that the giant shadow at the end was The Return Of Metal Big lpoihgfds

So... Twitter, huh? My spoiler filters there had some leaks, and I saw some discussion out of context that... actually made me kinda scared to finish the show. But then I did, and had fun with it just like the other two seasons, and I remembered that Twitter gets high-strung about things that don't matter so much, and that giving it sway over how much I enjoy things is silly lol.

Yes, I think the last season could've been paced differently so it wasn't 5 episodes of the same Final Boss Fight. Yes, I think the writing switches jarringly between gearing for a young new audience and for a seasoned old one. Yes, I think the 2D flashbacks look and move worse than what fans constantly make for free. Yes, I think the final episode doesn't do nearly as much housekeeping as it should (does the Shatterverse still exist or not??). Yes, I think declaring the show is canon to the games or whatever they said probably wasn't the best idea. And yes, I think Black Rose should've had a shoulder-parrot!Birdie to match the other Amys. All valid critiques! All sensible things to think when you've been around the Sonic bush!

But I swear to god, people on Twitter act like these things spoil the whole package. Where's the nuance? Why does every opinion there become an absolute worth tearing others down for? Is it the character limit? I bet it's the character limit.

There's so much I love about this show that were infeasible for the Sonic brand just 3-4 years ago. Externalizing the characters' facets to explore them in-depth. Said exploration spanning multiple episodes instead of being one-and-done. The sheer amount of genuine Sonadow food (and I don't actively do shipping, so me adding it here should hold a lot of weight). The snappy, playful, yet blistering fight scenes that, dare I say, feel like a successful TV-budget Spider-Verse. It was all so much fun!

But I guess stuff like Green Hill being the gang's "home" is a big deal-breaker?? Like?? I thought that was silly too, but not worth ratio'ing people with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over? Get well soon, I guess??

Rambling over, shout-out to the entire country of Canada for giving me the most fun I've had with a Sonic show since X! I'm gonna go figure out how to address all this as The End lol

[melkyt]

Hell yeah thanks @khepiari for tagging me, been wanting to do this when i saw it going around cx

1) how many works do you have on ao3?

47 on ao3, two chilling on anon for now, even if its probably obvious its me in them rareship tags lol

2) what's your total ao3 word count?

916,672

I wish posting chapters on ao3 was easier since i have such a backlog, editing is the bane of my existence xd.

3) what are your top five fics by kudos?

The Truth Will Rend - 474

Forsaken - 369

Free in Spirit - 342

Awakening - 294

Conform - 249

Except Awakening, they are all MHA and i hope soon i get enough one piece fics to outrun them xd

4) what fandoms do you write for?

Im a one fandom kind of gal, so just one piece

5) do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I do not respond to comments until a fic is all finished. I had a really bad experience when answering comments in my last fandom and getting harrassed so now im cautious about it. I prefer people contact me in a chat if they want to talk.

I do appreciate all comments though!

6) what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I dont do happy endings that often, i tend to add them after for my friends who dont like MCD xd

So i guess right now it would be Silence where Law dies doing Immortal Surgery, gets reborn thousands of years later and Luffy finds him.

7) what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Fortune maybe, everyone lives atleast and its sorta ends on a happy future xd

8) do you get hate on fics?

Used to constantly, so it overshadowed my enjoyment of the media. MHA folks cared to much about who Hawks was fcking and im an equal opportunity shipper who likes her age gap 'this is a problem' ships, so i got alot. Have a thicker skin now and less tendency to care if anyone likes/dislikes or reads my fic xd Still complain about it though xd

One Piece people are much nicer then my last few fandom, but also im a small fish in a big sea as a creator over here also have so many people blocked lolol

9) do you write smut?

Also used to write smut, erotica for moneys in college. I've been told Im good and should right more but I find it a little boring sometimes as an ace gremlin xd, has to be very specific vibes for me to do it with any kind of focus

Any smut I post now is going to be silly messy smut that i dont take specific care or attention to detail with. Smut thats more there to put character in situation and see what he does xd

10) do you write crossovers?

Yes? Maybe, I like the idea of putting characters in video games but its indulgent vibes that i never really put down on the page xd

I do it alot more crossovers for gift fics or requests

11) have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not fic but I had theory posts stolen because someone wanted clout in a fandom of like 150 people, like what? Baffles me xd

So now even though i fcking love meta, I dont post it xd

12) have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

13) have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I am way too much of a pantser to cowrite a fic, and also like to drive the train, so co-writing not for me

14) what's your all time favorite ship?

Honestly, I don't have a favorite ship, to me favorite means that im obsessed and biting them xd

I write alot of Lawlu, but its a casual kinda of interest where i like playing with them in fic

All my favorite characters do not have a counterpart that id ship them with as much, for now. I think with the latest chapters I might get one xd

15) what's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I finish fics before I start posting, so right now I only have one wip and its almost done hehehe. Then ill start another heheh excited

My MHA fics are unfinished in limbo on my ao3 but thats not because they are wips, its because *drama and harrasement* woo haha

16) what are your writing strengths?

Writing a fuckton of words daily (5k right now xd)

Dialogue, Interpersonal Banter brings me joy

Getting the vibes im going for across, usually the yearning heh

17) what are your writing weaknesses?

Short Stories, my writing always gets longer then it needs to be from the idea lol even though i want to make that 2.5k story that slaps one day xd Need smaller ideas lolol

Head Hopping, sometimes in first drafts thats a mess xd

Moving to quickly through scenes, i need to slow down and develop them. Now i dont fix that in fics i write for fun, but original writing i struggle xd

18) thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I know a bunch of languages in varrying degrees of understanding, Russian, Ukranian, Polish, Spanish etc but Im not a fan of having non-dominant language showing up in my own fic, it ruins the flow when my brain has to switch channels xd

19) first fandom you wrote for?

Shiki? I was fifteen?. Fucked vampires, lots of blood, gore and dark topics xd Not a great time of life for a baby gremlin Mel and it showed in the writing hahaha

I say i write dark topics now but kid me was much more wild xd

20) favourite fic you've ever written?

Oof, uuuh Break the Cycle is my first fic and longest for one piece, so just by time spent and because it has a big scope that has to be my favorite xd

I want to do another big scope fic and i think that one will take over as my new obsession unless i make it a comic xd

Tagging @cooknumber3 if you havent done it already and want to hehehe

[konohamaru-sensei]

To me, Kimi ni todoke is a perfect story

What can I say now that I have finished season 3? The season 3 we didn't even know we would be getting? Well, I used to tell friends that I am happy with whatever comes, but now im greedy and I want it all. I am very Kazehaya about new KnT seasons, I guess.

Anyway, I have been browsing the tag a little to find gifs and reactions and such, and I already see discussions (not much tbh but still) about how this and that in the story should be different and while the anime did skip things (Rip to "you are mine now" Nakamura-san would have sounded SO GOOD!), people are satisfiedI think. I am, at least, very happy.

But to me, Kimi ni todoke is perfect. and not perfect in this way that i have small problems but overall I'm happy. No, I find it perfect perfect. Every storyline every character development from beginning to end is perfect. I guess people complaining about Ayane or whatever, even if its not here on tumblr that much, just show me that I can't interact with fans of this fandom either.

See, ever since I found KnT in 2009 when I was just 17 (about the age of the characters in the story funnily enough) I have always rewatched it when I was doing poor mentally. I must have seen it 12-15 times over the years, I've probably watched it twice after my fathers death alone. These characters mean the world to me, all of them. I love all of them.

But the girls! At different times of my life I could always connect to another one of them. So much so that while I like Chizu best and think she resembles me the most (in fact, I think she is the anime character that is closest to me in personality), I find a part of me in all of them.

When I found the story I had just lost my friendgroup (because an ex lied about me, it happens) and I had to go back to being alone, so I emphasised with Sawako (and her distancing herself from her friends always makes me cry, without fail, always).

When I moved out to study in 2011 and was mentally so low in 2012 and dated guys because I thought otherwise they wouldnt be my friends, I reread Ayanes okinawa arc over and over and over again.

And of course I have my friends call me by a different name than my given name because my given name is boring lol Kurumi and me.

And ah, Chizu, it would be too long to explain. Too personal. Nobody would care. I had a best friend once that I lost because I was scared of our friendship ending. I love Chizuru because we are the same, and I'm jealous of her because she is better than me. I don't have time or space to express my feelings. Level up to Nisi friendship level 6 to hear tragic backstory.

Also, I can't talk about this show without mentioning how much the voice actors mean to me. Long before I knew any seiyuu-names I knew Kazehayas-voice. In fact, I hated oikawa in hq SPECIFICALLY because he has kazehayas voice and isnt nice! You gotta be nice with that voice man! Their voices are tattooed onto my soul and when I hear them in other places I always think of KnT first.

I love them so very much that when I watched the Tokyo E ncounter episode with Nakamura Yuuchi (Ryu) and Sanpei Yuuko (Chizuru) when they are playing Halo and he is teasing her for having bad aim, I started crying - like sobbing. It was so weird I have you know but I just sat there and I couldn't get it together.

Anyway, Kimi ni todoke is perfect to me. Everything about it means the world to me. I have to physically restrain myself to not rewatch the season again.

Please netflix, finish it, please. You may cut some things. I will forgive you if you cut some things, but give me the end.