#he did it for her but did he? is he in denial?

[luna12-ranma-akane-otp]

Originally posted on FF.net and A03 by me, it seemed relevant to repost here on this thread....

..........

She had him by the braided pigtail. It wasn't an intentional target. It just sort of happened. He was misunderstanding her, she was misunderstanding him, and not willing to spiral into adolescent insults (so easy, so habitual, but less common these days with China and the battle with Saffron still fresh in their memories), so she had reached out to forcibly, yet relatively gently, keep him from retreat.

She didn't expect him to spin around so suddenly. Their faces nearly planted together. Both sets of cheeks heated at the unexpected closeness; the blushes formed equally deep and crimson on his surprised face as it did her shyly determined one.

Ranma’s hands awkwardly poised midair for balance, and her thumb remained a mere centimeter from his face, still clasping the end of his pigtail.

Like the sudden snap of a rubber band, Akane released her grip on his hair, but neither made further motion to back away.

“Just...go and come back safely, okay?” Her voice was a study in contrasts, soft and sincere, but carrying an underlying heat of exasperation.

A warm sensation filled his chest and brought a natural smile to his face, before his trademark aggravating smirk replaced it. “Of course I will. I’m not a klutz, like some people.”

Akane’s brown eyes flashed and her nostrils flared.  She deliberately breathed deeply to rein in a rising temper. There was no talking seriously to him sometimes!

She was ready to stomp off before she acted or said anything they'd both regret, when he stopped her mid turn, his large, calloused hand hesitant and gentle on her petite, but equally tough hand.

“It’s...not like I want to go....”  His free hand was nervously rubbing the back of his head, while the hand holding hers was unconsciously tracing circles with his thumb over her palm.

Week long training trips with his Pop used to be a normal part of his life, something neither dreaded or looked forward to, just accepted routine.  Nowadays​, it brought clashing emotional baggage. There wasn't much of anything his father had left to teach him, so without the promise of greatly improving his skills, the necessity of leaving behind the Tendo home...and a certain someone within it… left a bitter aftertaste.

Feeling awkward and conflicted, Ranma hadn't wanted to drag out the goodbye.  Hell, he wished he didn't have to say any goodbyes in the first place!  So of course, his chronic foot-in-the-mouth disease picked now-- when Akane was at the door before the sun was even out to see him off -- as the perfect time to flare up.  He’d started with an abrupt “shouldn’t you be in bed, tomboy?” and it quickly degenerated from there.

Akane felt her own conflicted emotions keenly.  She was still miffed at his earlier rude behavior, but the feel of Ranma's thumb tenderly on her hand was acting like a heat sink to her boiling temper.  His amended words and downcast demeanor penetrated through her own insecurities to help her recognize his own.

Akane breathed out an exasperated sigh. “Honestly, Ranma…"

He tensed for a moment, expecting the worse.

“...is it so hard to say you’ll miss me?”

His brain and mouth struggled to come up with a response, halfway to stuttering a partial denial and halfway to admitting, perhaps...maybe, sorta... when her next move stunned him in place.

Soft and as ethereal as butterfly wings, Akane’s lips brushed against his right cheek in a warm and all too brief kiss.  

His stunned expression made her laugh, a soft tinkle of bell-like laughter that was abruptly cut-off when his mouth met hers.

The initial start was clumsy enough to reassure her that Ranma was as inexperienced as she was… yet the intensity behind it was quickly joined with equal passion on her part, of feelings denied and years of sweet moments interrupted before they could come to full fruition.  They were both creatures of physical action, and in this they were finally able to communicate in perfect harmony. 

“You coming, boy, or do I have to drag your lazy ass with me to Hokkaido?!”

Reality crashed upon them, making them both jump, but not fully pull away. Thankfully,  Genma had merely shouted from the doorway; he had missed the entire scene.  Otherwise,  Ranma had no doubt he'd be hogtied and dragged to a wedding altar… though the thought wasn't nearly as troublesome as it once was.

Ranma gritted his teeth in annoyance before responding in kind.  “As if you could, old man! Catch your breath while you still can.”

Ranma turned back to face his fiancee.  Her cheeks were highlighted in a pink blush, and though he had originally thought he'd never seen her more beautiful than last week in her wedding dress, this was a radiant beauty that was more natural and stunning in its simplicity.

His fingers fidgeted in nervous procrastination.  “I, uh, guess I'm leaving.”

Akane nodded, her chest was tight with the overwhelming happiness from their first kiss, which blended uneasily with the impending bitterness of separation.  For a moment she had trouble getting her throat to swallow, let alone form words.  The traditional response of “take care...” managed to come out as a small croak.  Akane quickly cleared her throat, hating herself for seeming like such an emotional wimp.  She seized on her frustration at the situation, and with her arms crossed huffily across her chest, but with also a teasing smile at her lips, she responded more forcibly. “Or else!”

The feisty reply brought a smile to Ranma's face.  That was his tomboy, all right; too prideful and macho to give girlish tears and sentimental declarations of missing him.  Yet, her actions told him clearly that she would.

He motioned to leave, but found his feet unwilling to budge further. Even more than wanting to have the last word, he didn't want to leave any room for misunderstandings. They'd had too many already.  

Blushing more deeply than when they'd kissed, Ranma forced out an answer to her earlier query.  "I'll miss you," he admitted, as he stepped outside to join his father.  He was still less than enthused to be leaving, but if it meant getting this kind of send-off...maybe training trips were something to look forward to, after all.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26256262/chapters/67552939

Martial arts are Ranma's life, but the training trips with Genma were more about survival. In a way, he doesn't start living until he finds a home with the Tendos, but even more, Akane is home. When he's at death's door, Akane is the one who brings him back. She is his will to live.

[goingdownondaisuke]

Can you write the tuplar crew with a s/o who can't control their volume in bed (🔞 nsfw)

ofc ofc!! thank u for ur request lovely anon!

(afab reader, gender neutral pronouns, nsfw under the cut!!)

anya ۶ৎ

gets very flustered when you won't shut the hell up

esp on the tulpar, will try to gently remind you to stay quiet while she's beneath you

and if that doesn't work, she'll slap her hand over your mouth and finger you a bit more roughly

its a bit different when you're riding her face, however

like before, she'll give you a small warning by squeezing your waist

and if you're still loud, she'll dig her long nails into your hips and thrust her tongue into you

...which is kinda counterintuitive but oh well

now, if you two are on earth and in the comfort of your shared home, make all the noise you want!!

she totally gets off to it

'no way im making someone as beautiful as y/n feel this good...'

"hey, shhh, keep it down a bit, yeah?"

curly ۶ৎ

regardless of whether or not you're typically loud during sex, you're going to be loud w curly, because man is he BIG

he knows you're gonna be loud so he usually fucks you in the cockpit or utility room, where it's a bit more soundproof

but of course he's gonna ask you to quiet down regardless bc who knows who could be lurking??!

he'll either tell you to bite your hand, cover your mouth, or he'll rip off your panties and shove them into your mouth

none of them work

for the rare times he'll take you in his room, he always has you face down and screaming into the pillows

he wants to see ur pretty little face scrunched up in the most blissful expressions, but goddamn he just dicks you down too well

a small (huge) part of him really just wants to fuck you anywhere and let everyone hear you scream his name

"fuck, princess, that feel real good, yeah?"

"god, so loud y/n."

daisuke ۶ৎ

it just swells his ego, tbh

he's just like, "wow, i'm making them make these sounds?!"

so cute

of course, he still wants you to hush, but isn't sure how to get you to without being mean

he'll try to be as sweet as possible, he'll run his hand up and down your waist or press his thumb to your lips while whispering little praises in you ear

"you feel so good, but please keep it down before we get caught!"

starts to get a little scared when you keep moaning and squealing at an excessive volume, genuinely has no idea what to do 😭

like curly, will also try to take you to more closed off places, mainly the utility room because it's not odd for him to be in there anyway

it's hilarious how panicked he gets when you two are fucking, one time he took off his hawaiian shirt and shoved it into your mouth

and surprisingly it did the job!!!!

"am i doing good? i must be..."

jimmy ۶ৎ

he totally gets off to it

so much so that he won't even do anything, he'll just let you scream

it happens so often that curly has to talk to the two of you about your volume

he even separated you two for a day, not like that was gonna do anything beneficial

like daisuke, but on a way worse level, it inflates his ego to no end

you'll be moaning loud as fuck and he's just there grinning in your face

he's not very used to women actually enjoying his dick as much as you do, they're typically just cheap whores or girls he's taken advantage of

but you?? coming and clamping around his cock as you moan into the air?? without being forced??

it makes him come like a thousand times quicker

"ooh, you like that dick? i know you do."

"yeah, let everyone else know who's pussy this is."

swansea ۶ৎ

he knows how to deal with youngins like you, after all, he has tons of experience from his wife

he gives your ass harsh smacks when you don't hush, and if that doesn't work he'll pull his thick cock out of you and chastise you while smacking it on your cunt

he's definitely a pussy slapper/clit pincher

orgasm denial orgasm denial orgasm denial

will also just straight up slap the fuck outta you if you keep on

he's so mean i kinda need him

he literally doesn't understand you, its so easy to shut up to him

prefers to have you ass up face down so you can make all that noise onto whatever surface he's fucking you on

dw he's super sweet afterwards, will gives you kisses all over and whisper praise and hdjidissk

"damn woman, can't be that good..."

"make a noise like that again and i'll leave you high and dry young lady."

[have-you-seen-my-sanity]

Player 001 saving us from Thanos? 🥺🥺🥺

Of course! <3 Ngl I enjoyed it, he was so scared of In-ho afterwards lmfao.

What did you say?

Squid Game masterlist

Hwang In-ho/Frontman/Player001 x fem!reader

Cw/triggers: Thanos getting his lesson taught, mature themes, mild violence(?), slightly different from how it went in the series.

"Hello Señorita, if you want to live through the next game, you should join me and my friend." Came Thanos' voice behind you as he sauntered in front of you. "I like you." he almost sing sang, making the finger heart.

Player 124 better known as his stupid friend Nam-gyu stepped beside him, resting his arm on Thanos' shoulder.

"No," you took one step back "I don't wanna join you."

Thanos scoffed, not taking your rejection lightly. "What? You're seriously not considering about joining those losers over there, right?" he gestured over your shoulder, where Gi-hun, Young-il, Dae-ho and Jung-bae were sitting on the steps talking to eachother.

But unbeknown to you, Young-il had his eyes on you, seeing your obvious denial in joining Thanos.

"They're not losers, they're my friends."

Thanos raised an eyebrow, acting surprised. "Oh? Your friends?" he laughed, then leaned closer to you. "All I'm seeing there are three old men and a wannabe Marine with anxiety." he taunted, waving his hands as if mocking Dae-ho personally.

"Don't call them that, fucking junky." You tried defending but Thanos reached out, gripping your shoulder.

Thanos tightened his grip almost painfully. "You should really join us, and while you're at it, in the next vote press O instead X." he looked down at the red X opposite from your player number, making a disgusted face.

Thanos looked over your shoulder, noticing Player 001 standing up, making his way towards them. He did not look pleased.

"Hey," he said, making Thanos loosen his grip and you stepping to the side. "I've had enough disrespectfulness coming from you, where are your manners?"

Nam-gyu snorted, nudging Thanos with his elbow, who scrutinized Player 001. "Manners? What are we? Kids?"

You walked behind Young-il, heading back to the others who were watching the scene unfold.

Young-il stopped. "It's disrespectful towards her, can't you take a no?"

"Listen dude, why don't you worry about your wife at home instead of a random player in here?" Thanos said, making his way over to Young-il until he was at arms reach.

"What did you say?" Young-il asked, his voice was calm but the rage in it could easily be heard.

"I said, go back to your fucking wi-"

Thanos couldn't finish his sentence when Young-il swiftly reached out, grabbing the back of his neck. Thanos winced in his grip, and Nam-gyu quickly came to aid Thanos.

"Hey you motherf-"

Young-il easily kicked Nam-gyu's shin twice, making him cry out in pain and fall to the ground, clutching his leg.

Thanos tried punching Young-il but he expertedly evaded, punching him in the gut, making him double over in pain.

"Wait a sec." Thanos pleaded, reaching out his hand but Young-il simply grabbed it, twisted in painfully until Thanos groaned in pain and fell on the ground.

Young-il crouched down, immediately gripping Thanos' throat, choking him out.

"I'm sorry man... please..." Thanos coughed, his face was already starting to get purple.

But Young-il kept his harsh grip, showing no signs of stopping...

Until he was snapped out of it by hearing your soft voice.

"Young-il..."

Young-il gave in, slowly letting Thanos go, leaving him to cough miserable on the ground as he straightened up. Then he turned towards you as everybody around started cheering and clapping for Young-il's bravery.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his voice was still rough from the fight, but he had a small smile on his face and his eyes softened.

You gave a weak smile in return. "I am. Thanks. But you shouldn't have–"

Young-il cut you off with a small wave. "It's nothing, I just value respect which those guys clearly don't have."

"You have a good heart, Young-il." You praised him genuinely.

His smile grew softer, he made his way to you, patting your shoulder and walking you back to the group.

"Thank you, it really means alot." Young-il gave your shoulder a soft squeeze before sitting down beside you.

Meanwhile Dae-ho whispered to Jung-bae

"Where did he learn that?"

"Ex-marines maybe?"

"Oh."

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

[slutforwoo]

☆ 1. a what now? ☆

masterlist | next

warnings: masturbation, orgasm denial, praise, rough raw sex (use protection yes you) pet names, baby, pretty girl degrading (slut), overstimulation, dacryphilia, woos kinda a mean dom, let me know if I missed anything else!

☆ SMUT UNDER THE CUT ☆

Yunho got off of his phone, shaking his head. Why would his friends recommend something so? so unhinged to him? He just simply couldn’t understand why they would. As always, he threw himself back into his work. Producing the new base of the track so Joong and Mingi could take over.

Turns out the ask was harder than he thought it would be, or maybe he was getting stumped. Writer’s block? no producers block as he called it.

He looked at the clock on his laptop. 7:45 p.m. 15 minutes before the stream that his friends were raving about. And suddenly he found himself interested. He stared at the link Hongjoong had sent. Deciding to say fuck it, he typed in the link to his laptop. His screen filled with the log in for OnlyFans. Hongjoong wasn’t a liar. He had made Yunho an account with a month’s subscription paid.

Once he logged in, he saw the girl fill his screen. His jaw was on the floor. She never showed her face, but her body was stunning. He couldn’t help but sit and appreciate the beautiful outfits and intricate poses that were in front of him. He felt his pants tighten as he looked at these photos.

Fuck, there was no doubt he was stirring something in him that he had forgotten about. A ding sounded from the computer. “ Cherrycola is now live!”

He found himself hesitating on clicking the live. He had never watched a camgirl live before. Sure, he watched porn, but everyone knows watching it live is different. And this would be his first. He let out a groan of frustration before he clicked on the link. Your body filled the screen in the sheer black lingerie that Wooyoung had picked out for tonight. The stockings connecting to your bodysuit, the way the robe fit loosely in contrast to the tight lingerie. It made Yunho’s cock twitch in his pants. That seemed to keep getting tighter and tighter as he looked at you.

Then, you spoke so gently and assertive to the camera.

“Hi, my loves, welcome to tonight’s stream. Remember, tips are always appreciated, and if you would like to control some of the things we do, remember we only do it if you pay for it.” You spoke softly yet assertively to the chat. Once the final words left your mouth, Wooyoung appeared behind you. His usual black ski mask was replaced with a white one for the night. You had gotten a message that had a $200 tip with it, requesting Ski mask to return with a white ski mask. You couldn’t understand why, but obviously, you were going to comply.

Yunho watched as the masked man lightly stroked your shoulders, making you visibly shudder. Concentrated on how gentle he was being, he felt himself somehow get harder when the masked man began to manhandle you. He choked you and threw you onto the bed, causing whimpers to escape your mouth as you felt yourself get wet.

“Yea, you like that, don’t you, pretty girl? You like being treated like a slut?” The masked man asked as he ran a hand over your pussy, before he pulled your lingerie to the side and slid a finger into you, causing you to mewl out in pleasure.

And once he heard that, he immediately unbuttoned his pants and took off his boxers, jerking off to the sounds of you being fingered by the masked man. It didn’t take long before your clothes were ripped off. Yunho swore up and down you were sculpted by the gods themselves. Your body was so stunning. He couldn’t help but admire it as the camera scanned over u. Before u were flipped onto your stomach. Exposing the new and beautiful back tattoo you had gotten over break.

“Sir, please, I’m not used to you anymore,” you whined out as Wooyoung slowly pushed into you. Which wasn’t a lie; before you took your break, you did one last stream with Seonghwa. It had been 2 weeks since Wooyoung fucked you. While Seonghwa is more on the longer side (8 inches), Wooyoung was more of an average length (6 inches), but he had more girth to him. He was big, and you had to adjust every time you took him.

“I don’t care, you’re gonna take it like a good girl, right? Let me use you, baby.” Wooyoung groaned out as he forced himself into you.

You cry out from the stretch. It hurt, but in such a good way that you felt your head spin.

“More, please,” you whimpered out, and Wooyoung was more than happy to oblige as he started to pound into you.

Yunho was so mesmerized by you. He was stroking himself to the rhythm of the thrust, acting like he was the one fucking you.

“Sir, please let me come.” You begged out, feeling the familiar knot in your stomach.

And you heard it the tips pouring in ordering Wooyoung to edge you till you couldn’t handle it.

Jongie3848 sent $100! Edge her till she’s sobbing.

Minki7472 sent $250! And after she comes overstimulate her till she’s crying and running from you.

Dino73$: sent $100!

ChanChris3747 Sent $200!

Starsinhwa sent $500! You better be fucking her good.

Yunho was shocked by the donations. And more so by the fact that the mask man listened.

“You heard that pretty girl, no cumming till I say so,” he moaned out. He was close to release himself. You felt so good it was hard.

“P-please c-can’t t-ta- uh fuck please sir” You mewled out as he pounded into you harder.

You felt the tears prick at your eyes before you began to beg as the tears streamed down your face, and although the audience couldn’t see it, they could hear your sobs and pleas for release.

And the minute Yunho heard that. He found himself thrusting into his hand desperately as he released all over his pants.

What the fuck did I just do? He questioned as he came back to reality.

[nemesis-writer]

Five Minutes (Chapter 4)

Masterlist Utter Silence TW: mentions of blood, mental illness

No one knew who was next. They all guarded the streets to check any odd behaviours. Tim was in charge of security systems, and everyone changed the streets they looked after every hour.

But what they didn't know is that all business was being held beneath the ground they walked so gladly upon.

At the base...

"We need to hurry up. Now" I commanded as I watched my men place the traps and riddles all over Gotham.

Me and Michael were sitting together on the couch of our library just enjoying the silence with each other until one of us broke the ice.

(Italics are Reader's)

"This will work darling. Don't worry"

"I know, I'm just scared of losing you"

"You could never lose me. Even when I go to hell, I'm gonna drag your pretty ass down there with me."

"Why?"

"Because I love you, and I'd do anything for you."

"Even if it means I have to kill my family?"

"I would make a monument of all their heads for you."

"Ti amo di piu mi amore"

"Ti amo bambola"

At the Wayne mansion...

The silence engulfed the very walls where fighting, or excitement was being heard. Even the smallest pin drop could be heard around the gothic walls.

No one knows when nor how the riddles shall come.

And no one knows who's next.

There are many crimes that are to be attended to, but the more criminals they kill, the higher the chances are of exploitation.

Blood flows, and breathing could only be heard. No one could talk, breathe, or blink without the fear of possible death.

Jason has died once before, and he assumed that death wouldn't scare him anymore, but with all the tricks and casualities that are bound to happen, he fears of watching other innocents suffer.

"Who do you think is next?" Duke asked.

"Probably Tim or something", Jason muttered

"It's your fault she's like this", Damian said.

"Our fault? Let me just remind you, who beat her and made her life a living hell." Jason retorted

"Settle dow-" Bruce said until he was cut off.

"I will not calm down because our sister, and might I add, your daughter has left us because of what we did" Jason yelled.

"Did you even noticed how much she tried to go to you, any of you? I died for a year, and I was sent to multiple missions, so I'm not the one at fault here." Jason added.

Jason fears what you'd become, he loves you and could never want to let go of the one person that was supposed to be the best of them. The balance. The truth in their pit of lies, and the light of their impenetrable darkness.

But yet, you've became worse than them.

No.

You've became better than they ever were. You are born brilliant, hot, bad, and really mad. You relish in others sufferings whilst Jason, tries to prevent them. You're the cause of everything they have tried to stop.

And that's what Jason truly feared in you. You had followed the five stages of grief:

denial

anger

bargaining

depression

acceptance

Well what's the harm of adding one more? Revenge...

A/N: Cruella warning lol, I'm a bit busy so I didn't really updated, but I hope you like this.

Taglist

@lunayaps, @not-aya, @iluvcatzz, @vanessa-boo, @ivyrose9194,@thesehandsarerated-e, @eyeless-kun, @errorunfound1, @gwyneveire, @alishii, @cxcillia

[hhbluedynamite]

I’ve been awakened by my baby nephew’s need for a bottle of milk and just when I was about to go back to sleep, I had this thought come to me.

When I saw this scene, I wasn’t sure what make of it. Was it for comedic effect? Was it just Caine being weird? What gets in the way of this was because of his panic attack in the previous episode.

I have a memory of a comment (can’t remember where it was. YouTube? Tumblr?) that said something that Caine was having a similar episode of freaking out when he realized that he was doing bad again.

Caine started going wonky when he said ‘I’m such a good boss’. Like he was in denial (something I remember a comment from one of my posts said; can’t remember who said it 😖) and that denial caused him to glitch out.

It also occurred to me that since he did the employee evaluation with Gangle, would it be possible that he did the same to Jax and Zooble (plus Ragatha)? What did they say to him and what was his response?

Out of the players, Jax and Zooble are typically very vocal with their opinions. I kinda doubt they’ll sugarcoat anything. Not to mention that Ragatha is missing her nice filter since she is still high as balls near the end of the episode! She will say whatever comes to mind.

Whatever was said, it might have led to the glitch out. Was the employee evaluation an excuse for Caine to get a review on the adventure?

You gotta love these thoughts in the middle of the night 😅

[ask-postcrash-curly]

hello, new voice here. you can call me fern…

i’ve been getting on track with everything that’s happened so far, and out of everything this is some of what i feel the need to tell

there’s something about the fact of misplacing your faith on the wrong people that gets to me really bad…

“…you know i believe in you. here. on earth. doesn’t matter.”

all of that, just to be hurt back in the worst way imaginable, and not only that, but also those around you

the disappointment

after all… the people that are closest to you are the hardest to see clear

he was attached by your hip for so many years that you couldn’t even tell that the mild bullshit he ever pulled on you was not okay, because they’re the smallest actions to excuse which you might’ve even never noticed. one grows accustomed to the feeling with enough repetition. that lash out he had at the party… that doesn’t look like something a real friend would do, and it doesn’t look like the first time he’s ever twisted your words that way either, talking about something you confided privately to him in front of other people too

he wanted to humiliate you

he wanted it to hurt

but somehow, some way, in that sick and twisted recess of my mind… i also understand him

i see myself reflected back when i look at him, but in the sense that makes me realize “that would be me if i was at my absolute worst” and it gives me this visceral feeling because our worst moments can make us monsters if we don't stop ourselves and take responsibility, which is what happened to jimmy as he became a monster of his own making through denial, and i can perfectly hear him asking: “just tell me that you hate me.”

but you won’t do it

you can’t

physically and mentally… even if you wanted

because you don’t hate him, it hurts to hate someone you thought of as a friend

but one could argue that disappointment hurts more, for all parties involved

and he knows that

…i get you curly. you tried, you really did

“we’re defined by our past, but not slaves to it.”

we have an innate need to see the best in people, so you love like a dog, i do too… but that’s not always a good thing

you just wanted to help the people who matter to you. you care about her, about him, about everyone

you have such a kind heart— so kind that it blinds you

and that kindness… it hurt her

maybe she won’t ever forgive you, she has the total right not to

nevertheless, it doesn’t justify what happened to you

she does not strike me as the kind of person to wish any bad on others for that matter

i hope you see that you’re worthy of deserving happiness despite it someday

i’ll be sharing songs in the meantime, i have plenty that remind me of you, captain ❤️‍🩹

…

He didn’t… No. He was upset. Lashing out. He wasn’t trying to hurt me. Or if he was, it was because he was hurt. He wouldn’t— No, no, no. I have to believe he wouldn’t want to hurt me.

But can I believe that after what he did when he made me take the pills? I couldn’t look away. I saw his eyes. He was glad it hurt. He was hurting, so he brought me down with him. I would never do that to my friend. I wouldn’t.

If that’s true, wouldn’t that mean he’s always had the potential to be better than he is? I should have— I didn’t get him there. And he’s said those words, you know? “Just tell me that you hate me.” Always makes me feel awful. Always acts like if I’m upset with him I must not care about him in the least. It’s easier not to start. Maybe I should have kept starting. Maybe that would have made it worse.

It’s only ever been me who could have helped him. If I had managed to help him when it mattered, she wouldn’t have needed my help. He could have been better. He was getting better, I really believed that, I really believe there was an option where I could have saved both and not neither, only I didn’t take it, I didn’t help him, and when Jimmy hurts everyone hurts.

When was the point of no return? It couldn’t have been too long ago. The point where it switched from help him to stop him. Kept clinging to the latter but never doing either. I could have stopped him. I should have seen it hidden in the upper right corner.

But maybe I did see it. When she told me, I believed her. I believed her. Hesitated for all of half a second before I believed it was true. Not believed, knew. Never doubted it. Never in question whether he would. I was shocked, wasn’t I? But I believed it without question. What kind of faith shatters that quickly? I had to have known!

I really thought he was getting better. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was a—

She shouldn’t have to take care of me when I didn’t take care of her. None of it is fair.

…

But you’re right. She’s not— she wouldn’t— she didn’t know what he did to me. She wouldn’t have let it happen. She’s a better person than that. God, what she must think of me… And to still take care of me for so long…

I’m sorry. I’m not… thinking very well. I don’t want to keep this up. The more I think about it, the more convoluted the memories get. Everything’s wrong. Please just play the song now.

…

It—it’s a good song. Thanks.

How is it that you all see me so clearly and still fucking sympathize?

[madelynraemunson]

CALL OUT MY NAME ♛

(Book #2 of the Hellfire Gentlemen's Club Series)

CEO!bachelor!steve × fem!college grad!reader

𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐀𝐔 • 18+ | BOOK #1 (e.m.)

Chapter 003: Conflict of Interest

Sure, Vegas is pretty small. But little did you know a town called Hawkins, Indiana is a heck of a lot smaller.

↳ 001 (PROLOGUE) // 002 // 003 // 004 // 005 // 006 // 007 EPILOGUE

CW: slight age gap (steve is 31, sweets is 23) , tension both sexual and emotional, mentions of seggs tr@ff!ck!ng, dark past, profanities, manipulation, that's all i can think of for this chapter; mutual pining

card suits divider by @cafekitsune 🃏🧡

“WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO?”

word count: 1.3k words

Chapter 002 recap:

"And the guy next to him?" Isabelle grimaces. "The erratic one with the stripper around his arm?"

Isabelle's lips tighten bitterly.

"That's Eddie Munson... my ex-husband."

♛

CHAPTER 003

“Your WHO?!”

You should've known.

You should've fucking KNOWN. The answers were right in front of you, clear as day.

But how could you have possibly had any inkling?! Eddie is such a common name.

And who's to say Eddie wasn't short for Edwin? Or Edward. Edgar, maybe. And the fact that the man owned a strip club? Isabelle never told you that.

But there were signs for that as well. You think back to earlier.

<< If I had a stripper in my life, I would treat her like a queen. >>

"THAT'S EDDIE?" you speak again. "Steve's buddy Eddie is your Eddie?!"

"Was my Eddie," Isabelle sharply corrects you. "Clearly he's someone else's now."

And without any further thought, Isabelle struts towards the group with her hands at her hips. You storm after her, curious as to where the strong need for confrontation came from.

"My, my..." Isabelle tsks, kissing her teeth. "Just how I left ya, Eddie. In the arms of some raunchy stripper."

<< If I had a stripper in my life, I would treat her like a queen. >>

When the group registers Isabelle, the atmosphere flips.

And it’s as if your whole world is jerked upside down too, watching your best friend’s past unfold before you—a past you thought you knew all about… but clearly didn’t.

"You have some damn nerve coming up to us," Shy Girl is the first to speak up. "After everything you've done."

"You have some damn nerve saying that to me," Isabelle counters with a satisfied smirk. "Wearing my set."

When the epiphany hits her, it's evident that Shy Girl goes through a whirlwind of emotions—denial, annoyance, anger, and perhaps a touch of embarrassment. Slowly, she pulls back, and Steve, ever-so-protectively, steps in, guiding her behind him as he offers his take on the situation.

“You really thought you did something walking up here, huh?” he hisses, a glare fixed on his face that is eerily similar to Isabelle’s. “The last four years mean nothing to you?”

“I can imagine they wouldn’t,” Eddie shrugs. “After all, she thinks of no one but herself.”

“ALL OF YOU put me through hell four years ago," Isabelle counters. "Must be absolute torment seeing a woman win for once in her life, huh?"

"You still with Terry?" Eddie chokes. "Or did you find some other man to use and manipulate? Or did you meet your match this time around and land yourself back in square one? Hence why you're here."

“Elle is doing just fine without you," you gather up the courage to say. "We're here to promote her lingerie line, actually. So you can pipe down."

“Elle?!” Eddie shrieks in disbelief. “ELLE. THAT'S the name you’re going by now?”

“What’s it to you?” you scoff, bitterly crossing your arms.

Your bestie’s ex-husband suddenly backs down. You can tell there’s a lot he wanted to say about the name but couldn’t figure out what.

“Nothin’,” he shrugs, tongue rolling around in his cheek. It certainly is something. “I just think it’s funny.”

“You think everything is funny, Eddie and that’s the problem," Isabelle scorns. "Putting your precious Hellfire Girls before me as they ran me out the club? Setting me up with your 'friend' who legit tried to traffic me? Screwing Chrissy Cunningham because you couldn't resist the idea that your High School Wet Dream finally wanted you after all these years? Putting me in physical and psychological turmoil that took me AGES to heal from?! Yeah...but I'm the devil."

"I never screwed Chrissy Cunningham, okay?" Eddie snaps. "By God, when are you going to let that rest?"

Your eyes trail over to Eddie's friends — and even his wife — all of them having an indecipherable gloss over their eyes. They squirm uneasily, noticeably more uncomfortable now, but still keeping their defensive stances.

BUT WAIT.

"Hold the fuck up," you raise your hand. "We're not going to gloss over what we just glossed over. You mean to tell me you almost got my best friend trafficked?!"

What WAS this life that your best friend lived before meeting you?! And why, after four years, are you just finding out about this now? In a random strip club in Vegas. An environment that now seems way too close for comfort. Could it be...?

"She left out the part where she pressed charges against MY husband and not Terry," Shy Girl barks. "Because she knew Eddie being in jail would entitle her to most of his assets. Makes her look like a goodie-two shoes."

"TERRY TRIED TO TRAFFIC YOU?"

"You know Terry?" Steve questions.

There's an alarm in his gaze, but it begins to illicit a softness the moment your eyes meet his. He raises a tender brow, eager for your input, but it seems you don't play a prominent role in this narrative.

"I know of him," you correct him. "Didn't know he tried to traffic Elle."

"So how'd you fund this business of yours?" Shy Girl questions Isabelle. "Daddy's money? Your leftover stripper money? Eddie's money that your lying ass wrongfully took?"

Your ears quirk up, and suddenly the environment is heavier.

"Leftover stripper money?" you can't help but echo.

"Wait a minute..." Shy Girl smirks. It's a memorable one.

An epiphany clicks as a dark laugh escapes her lips.

"Ohhh, it seems like your little friend didn't know you stripped, huh?What a surprise. You're in for quite the story time, girly."

You watch from the corner of your eye as Steve takes a cigarette break, a jitter in his hands so angry that it's practically seeping from his bones. Everyone else around begins to spew on about a phase in life that seemed so alien to you — all the while Steve's strong hands and delicious occupied lips were at the forefront of your attention.

A part of you feels bad that this is what you chose to hyper-fixate on. But can you really be blamed? Not when he looks like that.

"The courts are undoubtedly a just system," Isabelle snaps you back. "I deserved every penny in that settlement. I told nothing but the truth about my experience. Sorry if that taints the image you have of your husband."

"Funny how you're the one talking about telling the truth," Eddie chuckles. His gaze lands on you. "Wonder what else she doesn't know. Mind sharing with the class? Elle?”

"Even if she didn't know I was a dancer, she wouldn't have cared," Isabelle spits, speaking for you. "Women aren't objects Eddie. Kinda low of you to bag on the women who work for you."

"Who said I was bagging?" Eddie smirks. "What I'm getting at is that you're living a lie. And it's gonna catch up to you eventually, one way or another."

He steps towards his ex-wife with a seemingly newfound confidence, a rehearsed, amateur stance that still bothered Isabelle more than her exterior wanted to admit. You watch as she furrows her brows in retaliation, shaky fists clasped at her sides in rebellion.

"In fact, it looks like the day is here."

"We're leaving," Isabelle announces firmly. "Sweets and I are above this shit. This is the last thing we need."

<< If I had a stripper in my life, I would treat her like a queen. >>

Nothing made sense. Who knew the small, conservative, midwestern town that raised your best friend housed so many dark secrets? It makes you wonder if Isabelle would've even eventually told you this secret if the circumstances were better. It also makes you wonder what else she could be hiding.

You're drowning in your thoughts as Isabelle takes it upon herself to drag you out of the club. As an attempt to ground yourself to this —very odd — new reality, you turn around to get one last look at Steve and his friends.

And much to your surprise, before you can even sneak a glance at him, you notice that Steve was already looking your way too.

🏷️ taglist: @xblueriddlex @angietherose @winchester-angel @aactuaaltraash @hugdealer @hazydespair @frostandflamesfanfic @mediocredreams @bl0ssomanddie @corkadymu @eddiesguitarskills @mrsjellymunson @cadence73 @m-chmcl-rmnc @n-slayaaaaa @corrodedcoffincumslut @kennedy-brooke @micheledawn1975 @maisiepotatobeans @1deverland

[amitiel-truth]

River Maiden Pt. 2

Part 1, Part 3,

🔞 Warning~

In the Grand Hall of the Palace, Telemachus sits at the side of the dining table, the other side his mother, Queen Penelope. The table is adorned with an array of scrumptious dishes, each more tantalizing than the last. Telemachus stabs at his food with his fork, his mind clearly preoccupied elsewhere. Penelope notices her son's distant demeanor and gives him a concerned look.

"You're quiet tonight," Penelope observes, a hint of worry in her voice. She takes a sip of her wine before continuing.

"Is something troubling you, my son?"

Telemachus startles a bit at his mother's question, snapping out of his thoughts. He looks up at her with a mixture of surprise and embarrassment.

"Oh, it's nothing, Mother. Just… lost in thought, I suppose," he replies, trying to brush off her concern. Telemachus returns his attention to his food, pretending to be nonchalant.

Penelope's eyes narrow slightly, not entirely convinced by her son's response. She knows Telemachus well, and she can tell that something is bothering him.

You've been distracted all evening. Is there something, or someone, on your mind?" Penelope probes gently, taking another sip of her wine.

Telemachus lets out a sigh, realizing that his mother isn't going to let this go. He sets his fork down and rubs his temples in frustration.

"I... met someone today. A girl. In the forest," he admits, his voice quiet. He avoids eye contact with his mother, as if afraid of her reaction.

Penelope raises an eyebrow at this news, a subtle note of surprise in her expression. She leans back in her chair, swirling the wine in her cup.

"Well, that is unexpected," she comments, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. There's a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

"Tell me more about her."

Telemachus hesitates for a moment, not sure how much to reveal to his mother. He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"She's... different. Beautiful. Intelligent. And somehow, she managed to get the better of me in under a minute." Telemachus can't help the small smile that forms on his lips as he speaks of her. The memory of their encounter still fresh in his mind.

Penelope chuckles at her son's description, amused by his infatuation. She studies his expression, noting the sparkle in his eyes as he speaks of the mysterious girl.

"It seems she made quite the impression on you," Penelope remarks, taking another sip of wine. There's a hint of a sly smile on her face.

Telemachus blushes slightly at his mother's observation. He can feel her studying him, taking note of every little detail on his face.

"She did. She's like no one I've ever met before. She... challenged me, teased me, made me feel things I've never felt before," he confesses, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and confusion.

Penelope lets out a small laugh, enjoying her son's dilemma. She sets her wine cup down, her eyes never leaving his face.

"Ah, the thrill of young love," she muses, her voice filled with a hint of nostalgia. "It's a powerful thing. And it seems you've fallen head over heels for this mystery girl."

Telemachus's cheeks turn an even deeper shade of red at his mother's words. He looks down at the table, fiddling with his food.

"I... I don't know about love," he stammers, trying to downplay his feelings. But deep down, he knows the truth. He's smitten, completely smitten.

Penelope can't help but chuckle at her son's denial. She leans forward, resting her chin on her hand.

"Oh, my dear Telemachus, you're a terrible liar. I can see it in your eyes," she teases, her voice filled with gentle affection.

Telemachus can't help the small pout that forms on his lips at his mother's comment. He knows that she's right, of course. He's never been a good liar. Especially when his heart is involved.

"Am I that obvious?" he mutters, his voice lacking conviction.

Penelope grins, amused by her son's reluctant confession. She reaches across the table and pats his hand reassuringly.

"Don't worry, my love. It's normal for a young man to be besotted with a pretty maiden," She reassures him, her voice filled with understanding.

"So, What's her name?" Penelope asked, smiling softly at her smitten son

Telemachus hesitates for a moment before answering, still processing the wave of emotions coursing through him. He takes a deep breath before replying, his voice soft.

"(Y/N). Her name is (Y/N)."

As Telemachus says her name aloud, his heart skips a beat. The sound of her name on his lips feels almost sacred. Even uttering it makes him yearn for her all the more.

Penelope's smile widens at her son's reaction. She can practically see the affection written all over his face.

"(Y/N)... It's a beautiful name. And she must be even more beautiful to have captivated you so fiercely," She remarks, her eyes sparkling with humor.

Telemachus nods, his gaze still fixed on the table. The mere mention of Egeria's name ignites a spark in his chest. He can't deny the pull he feels towards her.

"She is... breathtaking. Her beauty is unlike anything I've ever seen. But it's not just her looks. It's... it's everything about her. Her wit, her strength, her confidence... It's like she's cast a spell on me."

Penelope laughs once more, thoroughly amused by her son's predicament. She can see the infatuation in his eyes, the way his voice softens when he speaks of (Y/N).

"My dear Telemachus, it seems you've been well and truly smitten. Your description of her leaves no doubt about that," she teases, her tone light and playful.

Telemachus groans, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment. His mother's amused, teasing tone only serves to highlight his predicament. He's completely at the mercy of his heart, and he knows it.

"I know, I know. I sound like a lovestruck fool," he mutters, his voice muffled behind his hands.

Penelope's smile softens, and she reaches out to gently pry his hands away from his face.

"You sound like a young man in love," she corrects, her voice filled with understanding. She gives his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"It's a wonderful thing, Telemachus. Embrace it. He may not admit it, but your Father was the same way when we first met, his friends told me" Penelope tells him with a fond smile

Telemachus looks up at his mother, surprised by the revelation. The idea of his father, the great Odysseus, being a lovestruck fool seems almost comical. He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Father... was like this too?" he asks, disbelief coloring his voice.

Penelope laughs at her son's disbelief, remembering the antics of his father in their younger days. She pats his hand with maternal affection.

"Oh, yes. Your Father was a mess when he first laid eyes on me. All stuttering and blushing, just like you now."

Telemachus can't help the smile that forms on his lips at his mother's words. The image of his father, the valiant warrior and cunning strategist, reduced to a nervous wreck by love, is both amusing and relatable.

"I never would've thought Father to be the type," he admits, his voice tinged with bemusement.

Penelope chuckles, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Oh, trust me, he was. He may be a hero, but underneath all that bravado, he's as vulnerable as any man when it comes to matters of the heart. Your heart doesn't listen to reason, my dear. It just knows what it wants."

"That's what he would have told you if he were here" Penelope stated, smiling at him

Telemachus nods, his heart aching at the mention of his father. He misses him terribly even without being able to have met him in the first place, but he finds comfort in his mother's words. He knows that if his father were here, he'd reassure him, tell him that this feeling, this infatuation, is a part of life.

"I wish he were here," he murmurs, his voice tinged with a hint of sadness.

Penelope notices the hint of melancholy in his voice and reaches out, gently taking his hand in hers.

"I know, my love. I miss him too. But he lives on in you. Your strength, your courage, your wit... you've inherited more from him than you realize."

Telemachus glances up at his mother, touched by her words. He looks at their hands, her slender one clasped around his rough and calloused ones. He swallows the lump in his throat and manages a small smile.

"I guess you're right. I just hope he'd be proud of the man I've become."

The next day, Telemachus wakes up with a determined look in his eyes. He spent the night tossing and turning, (Y/N)'s name playing in his mind like a soothing lullaby. He had barely slept, his thoughts consumed by her. Even now, in the early hours of the morning, he could feel the magnetic pull towards her.

After a long day of , distracted, training with Athena Telemachus has but one goal in mind: to see (Y/N) again, to hear her voice, to see her smile.

Telemachus makes his way down to the river, his heart pounding in his chest with anticipation. He scans the banks, his eyes searching every inch of the familiar landscape. He remembers vividly the spot where he had first seen her and heads straight there, hoping against hope that she'll be there waiting for him.

Telemachus halts in his tracks, his ears perking up at the sound of humming. He listens closely, trying to pinpoint the direction from which the sound is coming. The soft, melodic hum fills his heart with hope, and he follows the sound, his steps quickening.

There he finds his Lady, taking a bath once more while brushing her hair.

His breath hitches in his throat as his eyes land on her, his heart suddenly speeding up. There she is, bathing in the river, her slender form visible beneath the translucent water. Telemachus stands frozen, taking in the sight of her graceful movements, the way her fingers brush through her hair, the sound of her gentle humming. He knows he should announce his presence, but he can't seem to find his voice, captivated by her simple elegance.

He's torn between the desire to go to her and the fear that doing so might make her disappear like a dream. Telemachus stares at her, the way the sunlight dances on her skin, her hair falling softly around her shoulders. He feels like a voyeur, but he can't bring himself to look away. After a moment, he finally summons the courage to speak, his voice soft and low.

"(Y/N)..."

(Y/N) suddenly pauses, looking for the location of the voice, before seeing Telemachus

"Why, hello there, Your Highness~"

Telemachus can't help the small shiver that runs down his spine when she addresses him, his title sounding almost like a sultry whisper when it leaves her lips. He steps closer, his eyes never leaving her face.

"I... I didn't mean to startle you," he stutters, still recovering from the sight of her.

"I think you're the most startled one between the two of us, for you've caught me in the state of undress once more" (Y/N) teases, swimming into the deeper parts of the river bank.

Telemachus watches as she swims deeper into the river, his eyes tracing the water droplets clinging to her skin. Her teasing tone doesn't go unnoticed, and he feels a pang of heat in his chest. He tries to focus his gaze on her face, but he can't help stealing a few glances at her silhouette beneath the water. He clears his throat, his voice a bit hoarse as he replies.

"Is it too much to say I find the sight rather... invigorating?"

"Ooooh getting quite bold now aren't we?" (Y/N) asked teasingly.

Her teasing words only add fuel to the fire within him, and Telemachus finds himself drawn closer to the edge of the river. He watches her, the water rippling around her form, and he finds himself speaking without thinking.

"Perhaps I'm just inspired by the view," he replies, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"To do what exactly?" (Y/N) challenges, floating at the deeper parts of the river.

Telemachus steps closer to the river's edge, the sound of the water the only thing between them. He stares at her, his heart racing in his chest. He thinks of her question, the implications behind her words. He takes a deep breath before responding, his voice huskier than before.

"I'd like to... join you."

"That would be hard fully clothed and armed, wouldn't it?" (Y/N) further challenges, treading through the water.

🔞 🙈🙈🙈

Telemachus glances down at his clothes and armor, realizing she has a point. He looks back at her, a mix of frustration and arousal coursing through his veins. Without a word, he begins to shed his clothing and armor, discarding them with quick, almost frantic movements.

(Y/N) looks in shock as Telemachus stood bare by the river bank, her eyes unable to leave him as he began walking into the water.

The cold water against his bare skin sends a shiver down Telemachus's spine, but he doesn't flinch. Rather, the sensation only adds fuel to the fire inside him. He keeps his eyes on (Y/N) as he makes his way into the water, his gaze never wavering from hers. The water reaches up to his waist, and he takes a few more steps towards her.

(Y/N) still stunned, as she watched Telemachus approach her,chest to chest in front of her, as bare as she is.

Telemachus stares down at (Y/N), their bodies almost touching. His heart is hammering in his chest, the proximity to her skin sending tingles through his body. He raises a hand, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face, his touch almost reverent.

"You're even more beautiful up close," he whispers, his voice hoarse with desire.

"I... I don't know why, but I can't seem to stay away from you," he murmurs, his voice filled with a mix of awe and desire.

Egeria gets out of her stupor, shaking her head before going back to her usual self

"Is that so? Even if we've just met?"

Telemachus nods, his eyes never leaving hers. He reaches out, his fingers lightly tracing the curve of her cheek. He can feel the heat of her skin against his palm, and it ignites something within him.

"Even so. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew... I knew I was lost," he whispers, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and wonder. He moves his hand down, his fingertips resting gently just below her ear.

"What is it... that you do to me?"

Telemachus feels his heart race even faster under her unwavering gaze. His fingers move to her hair, gently entwining in the soft, damp strands. He takes a step closer, closing the small distance between them, his body nearly flush against hers.

"It's like... like you've cast a spell over me," he confesses, his voice husky with a hint of desperation. "I can't think of anything else but you. Your face... your voice... your scent..."

(Y/N) looks at him in shock, as he kisses a lock of her hair. The feel of her hair against his lips sends a jolt through Telemachus's body. He takes a deep breath, inhaling her scent, letting it fill his lungs. He closes his eyes, savoring the moment, the feel of her skin, the sound of her breathing.

"You are... intoxicating," he whispers against her hair. His fingers trail down her back, tracing her spine, as he pulls her closer, his body pressed against hers.

(Y/N) shakes her head as she wraps her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his hair, a soft smile on her lips.

"And you're adorable" before kissing his lips.

Telemachus's eyes widen in surprise as her lips meet his, soft and gentle. His heart skips a beat, his mind going blank for a moment. Then, he melts into the kiss, his arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her closer. His hands travel down her spine, tracing the curve of her lower back.

The feel of her skin beneath his fingertips, the taste of her lips... it's almost too much for him. Telemachus pulls back slightly, his breath coming in quick gasps, as he looks at her with a mix of wonder and desire.

His hands continue to roam her body, tracing every contour, committing it to memory. He can't seem to get enough of her, the need for her touch consuming him.

He finds himself moving on instinct, his mouth trailing down her jaw, to her neck, leaving a trail of soft kisses along her skin. Telemachus's lips move lower, finding that sweet spot just below her collarbone, and a low growl escapes his throat.

"You're... driving me insane," he manages to gasp out, his voice rough with desire.

His body presses against hers, his arms holding her tightly to him as if she'll slip through his fingers if he lets go for even a second. Telemachus's kisses continue down her body, exploring every inch of her skin he can reach. His senses are on fire, the taste and smell of her enveloping him completely.

"You're quite the ravenous one are you, Your Highness? Not that I mind~" (Y/N) teases, kissing him once more

Telemachus can't help but chuckle at her tease, his lips still against her skin. He pulls back slightly, just enough to meet her gaze. His eyes are dark with desire, his breathing ragged.

"I don't think I can help it around you," he says, his voice thick with need. His hands roam down her sides, to her hips, pulling her even closer against him. Telemachus can feel the need coursing through him, growing more intense with each passing moment.

"You make me... lose all sense of reason."

(Y/N) gasp as Telemachus roughly slipped into her, making her holding onto him in the water.

The sound of her gasp echoes in Telemachus's ears, sending a shock of pleasure through his body. He tightens his hold on her, his fingers digging into her hips as he pulls her even closer. Telemachus is lost in the feel of her around him, the heat between them almost unbearable. He buries his face in the crook of her neck, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"You... feel so... good," he manages to gasp out, the words almost lost in the sound of the river around them as he continues his pounding onto her, spreading her legs in the water, hooking them over his arms.

"Telemachus~"

The sound of his name escapes her lips is almost Telemachus's undoing. He growls against her skin, his mouth finding hers again in a fierce kiss. He's beyond any form of control now, the need and desire taking hold of him completely. He carries and presses her against the river bank, his body pinning hers to the coarse rocks, his movements becoming more urgent, more desperate.

His lips move down her neck as he continues his onslaught, his kisses becoming more frantic, more possessive. Telemachus's hands grip her hips, his fingers digging in almost painfully as he pulls her closer to him, his body craving more of her, needing more of her.

(Y/N) could only lay there and take it, hugging his head tightly onto her chest.

Telemachus is lost in a sea of sensations, the feel of (Y/N) against him, the sound of her gasps and moans, the taste of her skin. He worships her body with his hands, his lips, his tongue, as if she's the only thing that matters in the world. Telemachus's movements become faster, more erratic, as he approaches the edge.

(Y/N) could only gasp as she feels Telemachus's hips presses down onto hers, biting her lip as she tried to suppress her noises.

Seeing her biting her lip is almost too much for Telemachus to bear. He growls against her, his mouth finding hers in a fierce kiss. His hand reaches up, tangling in her hair, pulling gently to bring her face closer to his.

"Let me hear you," he whispers, his voice low and gravelly. "Don't hold back. I need to hear you..."

*Telemachus groans against her skin, the sound low and deep. He can feel her body respond to his touch, her gasps and moans fuel to the fire that's consuming him. Telemachus kisses her neck, his teeth grazing her skin, as hips moves against hers in a frantic rhythm.

(Y/N) couldn't hold it back much longer, moaning against his lips, scratching his bare back.

The sound of her moans is like music to Telemachus's ears, spurring him on further. He hisses slightly as he feels her nails scratching his skin, the mix of pain and pleasure only serving to drive him wilder. Telemachus's hips move faster against hers, his body pressing her closer to the side of the riverbank. He buries his face in her neck, panting and groaning against her skin, his mind a blur of desire and need.

"Too fast! Too fast!" (Y/N) cried out with her tightly legs wrapped around his waist.

Telemachus takes a deep, shuddering breath, trying to slow himself down. He feels her legs wrapped around him, her body pressed against his, and it's almost enough to send him over the edge. Telemachus buries his face in the crook of her neck, his breath coming in short gasps. He holds her tightly, trying to hold himself back, to slow down.

"Sorry," he groans, his voice almost desperate. "You just feel... so good. I'm trying... to hold on..."

"D...don't you dare" (Y/N) suddenly threatens him, teary eyed, she looks...adorable to him.

"Don't you dare slow down"

Telemachus stares at her for a moment, her teary eyes and adorable expression sending a jolt through him. He feels the fire within him reignite at her words, and he's unable to resist. Telemachus leans down, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead, before whispering against her skin.

"As you wish," he murmurs, his voice hoarse with need. And with that, he picks up his pace once more, his body moving against hers in a frenzy of desire and need.

(Y/N) nearly screams, one of her hands holding onto the back of his head, while the other is intertwined with Telemachus, gripping it tightly, as she could feel how hard Telemachus presses down onto her.

Telemachus relishes in her reaction, her sounds and cries only fueling his desire further. His hand clenches hers tightly, fingers interlocking with hers, while his other hand grips her hip, holding her in place against him. Telemachus's body moves against hers, the rhythm of their bodies now completely out of control, as the pressure and heat between them reaches its peak.

(Y/N) arches her back as she feels Telemachus's rushing seed inside of her, gasping in a daze.

As (Y/N) arches beneath him, Telemachus let's out a guttural groan, his body shuddering with the force of his release. He buries his face in the crook of her neck, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he tries to recover from the intensity of their coupling. Telemachus holds her tightly against him, his arms wrapping around her as if he never wants to let her go.

"(Y/N)..." he whispers, his voice low and hoarse. "You... drive me crazy..."

"And you've...*hah*...made me breathless" (Y/N) points out, pulling him into a kiss.

The sound of her slightly breathless voice sends a thrill through Telemachus, his heart still racing from their intimate moment together. He kisses her back, the feel of her lips against his filling him with an unfamiliar but intense happiness.

"I suppose we both got... a bit carried away," he says, managing a chuckle. He pulls back slightly, looking at her with a mix of desire and affection.

"Speak for yourself, you ravenous wolf" (Y/N) teases, kissing him deeply.

Telemachus laughs softly at her tease, the sound a mix of amusement and desire. He returns her kiss, the taste of her lips sending another jolt of want through him. He pulls her even closer, his hands roaming her body once more, as he growls against her ear.

"You didn't seem... to be complaining a moment ago."

"Shut it, you" (Y/N) lightly demands, nuzzling up to his face before kissing his lips.

Telemachus laughs against her lips, enjoying the feel of her body pressed against his, the warm water lapping around them. He wraps his arms around her, holding her close as he returns her kiss, the fire within him starting to stir again. Telemachus leans in, his lips trailing down her neck, to that sweet spot just below her collarbone.

"Careful, or I might have to silence you another way..." he murmurs, his voice low and rough.

(Y/N) could only squeal through the forest, submitting to her fate with his hands on her sides.

Several hours later, Telemachus and (Y/N) find themselves sitting by the river, mostly dry, the sun setting in the sky. Telemachus sits with his back against a tree, (Y/N) nestled in his lap, her head on his chest. He absentmindedly runs his fingers through her hair, a comfortable silence between them.

"We've only known each other yesterday and yet...here we are, nestled next to each other like old lovers" (Y/N) commented, tracing circles in his chest.

Telemachus nods slightly, a small smile on his lips. He glances down at her, his expression thoughtful. He still can't quite believe the events of the past day. It all feels a bit surreal to him.

"I can't explain it either. When I first saw you, it was like... something within me just... recognized you." He pauses, looking down at her, his fingers tracing idle patterns on her skin.

"As if part of me knew I had found something... someone, I had been searching for all my life."

"...would it be redundant to say that I feel the same way?" (Y/N) asked, smiling shyly at him.

Telemachus laughs softly, a warm, genuine smile on his lips. He shakes his head slightly, his eyes never leaving hers.

"No, not at all. I feel like... I've been waiting for you my whole life. And now that I've found you, I don't ever want to let go."

He bends down, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I know it sounds crazy... we hardly know each other... but I feel like... like you're everything I've been missing."

"It's fine I just...I hope it's not too late at least get to know each other" (Y/N) asked, looking up at him sheepishly.

"Of course not," Telemachus assures her, his fingers continuing to play with her hair. He looks down at her, his expression serious now.

"I want to know everything about you. Your likes, your dislikes, your dreams, your fears. I want to understand who you are, what makes you tick..."

He pauses for a moment, his eyes searching hers.

"But there's something else I need to know first..."

He hesitates, his voice going almost soft, almost hesitant. Telemachus looks down at her, his hand coming to rest on her cheek, cupping it gently. He stares into her eyes, his expression turning serious.

"You... you haven't been... you aren't already promised to anyone, are you? Engaged? Betrothed?"

"Pfft, you really believed my teasing yesterday?" (Y/N) teases, laughing a bit.

Telemachus can't help but laugh too, the sound a mix of relief and humor. He smiles down at her, shaking his head slightly at her tease.

"I should know better than to trust everything that comes out of that pretty mouth of yours" he says, his voice full of affection.

(Y/N) calms down from laughing, before taking a hold of his face, making him look at her.

"Just to be clear, I'm *kiss* not *kiss* betrothed *kiss* or *kiss* engaged *kiss* with *kiss* anyone *kiss* especially*kiss* with *kiss* an adorable *kiss* Prince *kisskisskiss*" Egeria clears it out, improperly.

With each kiss, Telemachus feels his heart flutter a little more. But by the time (Y/N) has finished, Telemachus’s cheeks are flushed pink, and he’s feeling a bit light-headed. He stares down at her, slightly dazed, before managing to speak.

“Y-you have... a very effective way of making your point,” he stutters, still a bit flustered by her barrage of kisses. He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.

"Glad we've come to an understanding" (Y/N) stated, before kissing his nose.

Telemachus laughs softly, his expression softening further at her kiss. He pulls her closer, wrapping his arms around her, holding her against him.

"You're a handful, you know that?" he says, his voice low and affectionate.

"I better be~" (Y/N) stated with a smile

Telemachus laughs again, shaking his head slightly in mock disapproval. But he can't help but smile at her cheeky comment.

"Such a naughty princess," he teases, his hands gently trailing down her back.

"Not a Princess, Your Highness~" (Y/N) teases, tapping his nose

Telemachus chuckles at her comment, enjoying their playful banter. He grabs her hand, stopping her from tapping his nose.

"Ah ah ah, no teasing the prince," he chides, a hint of humor in his voice. "Only princesses have the privilege of that."

"Oh? Then I guess my presence isn't needed after-"

"Not so fast," Telemachus interjects, his hands immediately wrapping around her, pulling her back towards him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Whaaat? You said Princesses are only allowed to tease the Prince~" (Y/N) teases, smirking at him.

Telemachus laughs, shaking his head at her cheeky smirk. He grips her hips with his hands, bringing her closer to him, pinning her against his chest.

"True... but I changed my mind. I think I can make an exception for you...and a punishment" he murmurs, his voice low and slightly possessive.

"Ooh, don't threaten me with a good time, My Prince~" (Y/N) challenges, her legs cagging his waist.

Telemachus lets out a low groan, his hands tightening around her hips in response to her words.

"Careful, my love. You're playing a dangerous game," he says, his voice a mix of desire and warning.

"Oh, but we already have~" (Y/N) points out, before pulling him into a kiss, as they began another round of their daylight passion.

A/N: Nah, I'm not ovulating, you are. 🙃

[siblingsweethearts]

Andrew thrusting into his mom's old cunt, the creaking of the bed and his animalistic grunting the only sounds in the dingy room. Wrapping her unwashed ponytail round his fingers, he pulls her head back, just forceful enough to hurt. His cigarette stained breath tickles her ear as his cheek brushes up to hers.

"Tell me I'm your favourite child."

Mrs Graves is taken aback. All she can think of to reply is a stammering, "What?? Andy, how can you- this really isn't the time- of all the things you could ask me to do right now, that's what you go with?"

"Mm-hmm," her son muses nonchalantly. His thrusts slow down, the veins of his cock dragging over her labia in just the way he knows she likes. His finger circles her clit but doesn't quite make contact, her thighs jerking upwards slightly.

"I already know it's true," he admits. "I just wanna hear you say it."

Renee moans in annoyance. Whether it's at the question or the denial of her pleasure she can't be sure.

"C'mon, moooom," he wheedles. He sounds just like he did when he was her little boy, despite the deeper voice, the larger hands in places she should have never let him see. "Just a few little words." His fingers and his cock rub her together, and she can barely form a coherent thought, much less a reply. "Then I'm all yours."

"Damn it Andy," she whispers. She knows he's enjoying this. "Fine. I love you more than Ashley. Happy?"

"Once more," he leers in the dark.

"..."

"I know you can't say no to me, mom."

"Andrew, you're my favourite child. I'm sorry I've made some poor decisions as your mother. I'm sorry we've ended up like this. Even if something tells me you wouldn't want it to change. I wish things had been different. I wish... I wish you had been an only child. That it could be just you and me like this. That we could be more than mother and son, and nobody else would ever have to know."

"I love you, mommy," he whispers, kissing the back of his neck while he gives her clit the kind of attention she had scarce thought possible. They climax together.

[postmoderntongues]

Its hard when somebody very very close to you has done something unspeakable. There's grief. There's cherished memories and love that doesnt always just evaporate on the spot like you think it will. Even when you yourself are their victim sometimes part of you needs to keep the relationship going if only so you can segment a small fantasy world where your earth and entire sense of trust and reality wasn't shattered. I have a real good friend accused of some real heavy stuff atm and not the cool kind either the kind where if its true i hope somebody kills him and i haven't contacted him since finding out and will never look at him the same but i haven't blocked him and i wouldn't be unkind if he reached out to me because he was real with me when a lot of people weren't and showed me love and took me in and protected me in a lot of really bad situations i knew i was okay because the scariest person there loved me like only another CPTSD Cluster B can and hes done things that have completely changed HOW i saw him and there are certain boundaries ill always keep up to protect myself bc hes a bad guy but like honestly even if he does wind up getting locked up technically the Christian thing to do would be send him a letter or two a month and some good paperbacks like ive had friends and family who like got caught up in some BAD shit of all kinds my whole life I have guys whose weddings i was the flower girl in who are like i cannot stress this enough but literally what most people picture when they try to justify prison being substandard living situations and not just loss of free movement throughout the community and containment of people too dangerous to participate.

Especially when you are a trauma survivor, its tempting to process them facing justice as "their trauma" When you already know somebody had done a lot of really bad things and maybe some potentially soul-damning ones now and they've only ever been really good to you and even protected you from other people who would have committed damnable crimes of their own against you if he hadn't intervened its hard to just disown somebody no matter how bad the thing is you'd be surprised with where you think your line is compared to where it actually is if its there at all once real shit goes down with somebody you been through real shit with.

My evangelical-raised religious trauma/psychosis is telling me god is testing the strength of my belief in carrying out his commands in my personal life however i can and the strength of the capacity for love that I claim to possess. I don't think that's a feeling that secular people dont also experience in some way and just word differently as a trauma reaction to finding out somebody you loved and trusted did to somebody the worst thing that was ever done to you.

Tory deserves patience right now and space to heal and i hope she isn't bullied into making a statement before she is in a place to and has fully processed it but she deserves compassion and grace right now to cope and process this in her own time and we might not agree in political theory with every choice she makes under the intoxication of such intense grief from a political theory point of view but shes not a politician shes some lady who made really good art about her PTSD. You don't know until it is you and it feels different and the way you handle it is different every time. Sometimes psychological survival is more of a matter of coping adequately rather than responding correctly. Sometimes psychological survival looks selfish or includes a stage of denial or bargaining or misplaced anger/blame. Whatever Tory does, however she responds, give her grace. Immediate responses aren't permanent long term most of the time anyway.

Also people are already trying to bring Amanda Palmer down with him, she was a mentally ill woman in a marriage to a known abuser do you think she wasn't the one woman he didn't abuse when she was the one he had the most formal permission to? How many of even our own powerless zero-influence fathers managed that? Was she an accomplice/enabler or can we recognize that even among successful artists abused wives live in silence and terror. How many of our mothers lived like that? She wasn't Karla Homolka, she was a mentally ill woman who for all we know barely escaped without something horrible happening to her (if nothing horrible happened that we just dont know of which isnt impossible either). Fear can coerce somebody into silence about very big secrets, sometimes the worse the secret the scarier it is to think about doing anything but keeping it. Amanda Palmer is more than likely another of his victims, not some kind of art scene Myra Hindley.

god, the details in that new Nail Gaiman story are revolting. He is gross, he is a violent rapist, he is trash

trust me when I tell you that unless you have intensely morbid curiosity, you don't need to read it. It is stomach-churning in a very real way. But tbh I think he should probably drop dead.

I feel awful for his fans and the people in his life who thought he was a different kind of person. Tori Amos' recent interview on this made me so sad for her and others who felt like they knew someone only to realize they really, really didn't. I'm devastated for her who made neil her child's godparent,because no matter how close you think you are to someone and how well you think you know them and how long you've known them -- Billy Joel was spot on when he wrote "The Stranger" because EVERYONE has a Stranger that no one knows but themselves. You can never truly, truly know someone.

Amanda Palmer, though? Thoroughly unsurprised that she seemed to be at the very least complicit. She has always given off the most rancid of vibes.

[whateverthought]

Lynesse Hightower who were you? Were you as they say or are we getting a spurned man's delusions?

[fountainpenguin]

Dimmsdale Rich Families Analysis

Misc. musings that haunt me daily...

I love Dimmsdale's rich families... You've got the Dimmadomes who are all about real estate, fancy buildings, hosting city events, and (Thanks to Dale) they got into tech and shipping.

Contrast that with the "old-fashioned pencil and paper" vibes of the Leadlys, plus the Buxaplentys running the trains... It's a triangle of supporting each other's businesses (and thus, the rich get richer).

This post written under the assumption we're treating these episodes as canon, though I cherrypick "Country Clubbed" in my worldbuilding and I use Dimmsdale's founding year from Season 3 over the one given in Season 9.

General Background

Several flashback episodes imply the FOP world exists in a timeline where the English settled at least part of the west coast in 1665 (as opposed to the Spanish).

- Presumably, this is one of the unique things a universe-hopper like Jimmy Neutron would identify this world by. - On that note, people are heavily implied to "stand differently" in the FOP world, which is why visitors from other dimensions react with surprise when they see their bodies (and fall over before they get their footing):

Just some fun "alt reality" vibes. Enjoy your visit; sea legs required.

Notably, this is also a universe where trains existed on the west long before they existed in ours, but we'll get to that.

Today I'm discussing the Dimmadomes, Leadlys, and Buxaplentys, but for anyone who's interested in learning more about rich families, Season 9's "Country Clubbed" namedrops a bunch.

Dimmadome Family

We know the Dimmadomes for their impact in the modern world- they're always innovating, hopping from one thing to the next. Dale does seem to have consistency in the businesses he owns (though I am DYING to question what his plans are for that indoor amusement park).

Doug doesn't seem able to commit to anything for long, though we know he's very proud of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome. He hosts many events throughout the series, from music shows to wrestling to demolition derbies.

Dimmsdale was founded in 1665, named after Dale Dimm (following him throwing Alden Bitterroot the witch down a well). It's possible Dale Dimm is an ancestor of the Dimmadomes, given what we know about:

- Dimmadomes having their hand in things (including the founding of Dimmadelphia). - One Dimmadome ancestor using the surname Dimm ("Lost and Founder's Day"). - Dale Dimm's very tall, barefoot figure is a hilarious ancestor choice for Doug "tall hat" and Dale "boot obsessed" descendants when you think about it.

While it's heavily implied Dale was born into generational wealth, we can't confirm whether that was (or wasn't) true for Doug. It's possible his family helped him get his start, but he seems to have kicked off his own success story by mining for gold (Presumably at a young age given that was back in 1953 and the main FOP series kicks off in 2001).

I like to think Doug (prior Dale's birth) changed his family's surname to Dimmadome to move away from the negative connotation of Dimm and commit himself fully to his big and shiny brand image.

Doug's a pretty interesting character! He's not afraid to get involved in his projects and work hard personally, as opposed to outsourcing- a trait he and his son Dale seem to share.

Doug also seems pained to surrender a check to Timmy in "Odd Ball" (even asking for a minute to say good-bye to his money), which isn't far off from Dale's attitude towards stocks.

He was even down to move to Alaska to follow the Ballhogs basketball team. He loves throwing all his chips on the table and doesn't back out easily. He also goes all-in with promotional outfits, like the parka above or his chicken costume in "Chicken Poofs."

That said, he might have some "sunk cost fallacy" views towards some of the stuff he buys. While the basketball team cheered they'd won the game by a close shave, Doug's first remark was that now he'd have to figure out what to do with all the stuff he bought in prep for their move to Alaska. He immediately started eating the Blubber Nuggets he would no longer be able to sell.

In "Chicken Poofs," when Doug sees the town inside his restaurant's chicken-dunking cages, his first thought isn't "Oh my gosh, I have to save these people." It's "These people stole my chickens- I'm ruined!" However (at Timmy's advice), he comes back from the loss of his chickens by selling the eggs they left behind. He wasn't about to go home empty-handed.

I'm obsessed with Doug's chicken-dipping machinery having labels so the thing one step up from Deep Fry is The Sun, and the step up from Sun is Lava. When would he ever need a dial that goes that high?

A "waste not, want not" attitude is fascinating in contrast to Dale being so incredibly wasteful, he brought two single-use helicopters on his trip to the park in "Stanky Danky." Is Dale rebelling against Doug's "We have to make the most of everything" parenting style? I think that plays really well into my vision of Dale being the first born into excessive wealth, while Doug possibly worked his way up after striking gold in 1953. Dale is wasteful, Doug more practical.

Doug is also over-the-top ridiculous and would sooner work around his love for tall hats than stop wearing them.

He owns a boot-shaped phone and a laptop with an armadillo logo, apparently. I'm not sure what they were going for with the armadillo - it's probably just random or meant to represent high security - but I looked it up and in Mayan folklore, armadillos are perceived as cunning critters that outwit people and dodge consequences thanks to their shells, which... Yeah, I think that sums the Dimmadomes up pretty well. Fun fact, but armadillos are one of the only things Fairy magic can't affect ("Teacher's Pet") because magic bounces off their shells. My Anti-Fairy biology incorporates pink fairy armadillo biology because we know Anti-Fairies are also immune to most Fairy magic. Just kind of a "Hm" implication, especially since "Crock Talk"' here and "Teacher's Pet" are both Season 7 episodes. I guess the other horrifying option is that Doug eats armadillos the way you eat apples, but...

I'm also of the opinion that Doug torched things in the Learnatorium, given what we know about the Learnatorium's interior ("Totally Spaced Out") and this scene of Doug "destroying childhood memories" in "Odd, Odd West"

In fact, it's not even a reach to say Doug takes pride in destroying people's cherished childhood memories. He seems to "look down on wasteful, childish things" and seems to value anything that is more useful in performing a task or turning a profit. Again, that's big "Everything must be useful and we can't waste space" energy (and presumably reflects on his offscreen parenting).

Where my fanworks are concerned, I love the idea that Doug paid for personal tutors to help Dale adjust to society and/or some basic schooling. Say... maybe an elementary teacher to start with? I don't think it would be unreasonable to theorize Crocker was involved with that, at least at first, as it helps justify the money he would've needed to expand the Crocker cave in the early days. -> We know from S4's "Genie Meanie Miney Mo" that Mr. Birkenbake states he can't afford a garage because he "doesn't make Crocker money," implying resentment... which is pretty interesting when you consider that Crocker also doesn't have his own place because he moved back in with his mom after university, and not even to his old room (Instead to a room above the garage). -> We know from S6's "Wishology Pt. 2" that Crocker stole the money intended for "the school's new science wing" and used that to pay for some of his tech, like his rocket. Both these episodes come well after S2's "Nectar of the Odds," so it's interesting to consider Crocker getting money earlier to support his tech pursuits in Seasons 2 and 3.

Dale seems to feel strongly about his dad- If it's not love, it's obsession and Grade-A Daddy Issues. His tent is shaped like his dad's head - despite Doug not being present at the event as far as we know - and even his house features statues of his dad.

Considering the nervous, over-the-top, aggressively money-chasing person Dale turned out to be, it's no surprise we can see a lot of Dale in Doug. While Vicky did a number on Dale's psyche, there's definitely some Doug influence in his behavior too.

Fun Fact: The Dimmadome gives off Roman Colosseum vibes, so it's fitting that one of the ancestors we saw in "Lost and Founder's Day" is an ancient Roman!

I would also be remiss not to look at the Dimmadome fortune, glance at the sheer number of businesses Doug is constantly opening... and question if there's some money laundering going on there. Seems kinda sus, ngl...

I'm just saying, Doug with a ton of "disposable income" (gold) because he ended up with a lot of it very quickly seems like a "great" way to get into gambling. Shout-out to the Dimmadomes and their obsessions that hint at addictive personalities. Actually, that makes Dev's game addiction so much darker and now I'm horrified. He could get into trouble so easily...

Also, in "Engine Blocked," Doug literally tries to pay Vicky with a bunch of [I assume fake] money with his face on it, so that's questionable...

One last interesting note is that the Dimmadrones (called such in "Stanky Danky" when chasing Cosmo, Wanda, and Hazel) are clearly based on the early model of Amazon delivery drones.

I think the obvious assumption is that Dale* built them for Dimmazon, but repurposed a few of them for Dev's caretaking (as opposed to them being built for Dev in the first place).

* It's possible the robots were built by a team, but knowing Dale programmed the statues in "Lost and Founder's Day" & Dale's seeming preference to do things himself rather than outsourcing, I'm going with the "Dale built them" theory.

This repurposing might be backed up by Dev referring to the ones that hang out with him as au pairs - a phrase meaning "caretaker" - and even claiming his au pairs are Au Pair #1 and Au Pair #2. While that might just be convenient shorthand since those are the two he interacts with, maybe those are a different type of Dimmadrone that was designed (or tweaked) specifically for Dev's care.

In a previous post, I discussed my headcanon of Dev having hypoglycemia and referenced the au pairs having the ability to "alert on him," or at least use both visuals and noise to signal him, as in this screenshot from "28 Puddings Later" showcasing a glowing exclamation point:

We also know Dev has specific food needs (Lactose intolerance), that he's very picky with his food (Even a treat like cupcakes that you would expect a 9-year-old to enjoy regardless), and that the au pairs are capable of food preparation (since Dev tells Hazel in "A New Dev-elopment" they can make sushi).

The au pairs are probably the most advanced, expensive, time-consuming models (compared to the ones that simply need to be mass produced for package pick-up and put-down).

I do like the thought that - for all his faults I didn't touch on here - Dale does care enough about Dev that he took the time to design two robots that could look after Dev in his absence... and specifically, took the time to think of what a child actually needs.

Dale probably thinks "I spent 7 years struggling... I would've loved the comfort of knowing my base needs like food were taken care of."

In my hypoglycemia post, I said the au pairs seem to know what hugs are and can recognize when Dev wants comfort. That implies Dale put a lot of thought into the design of the au pair and its ability to assess Dev's needs. Dale's not oblivious to what a child needs, like safety, appropriate food, and physical affection... He just lets the au pairs handle Dev.

Dale definitely gives the impression of someone who's making a genuine effort to parent, considering he missed out on healthy role models for at least 7 years of his life (Not to mention Doug is a wild character and probably fell short of being an excellent parent himself).

Along with designing the au pairs to look after him, Dale involves Dev in his projects, greets Dev, and answers his questions, and that's so interesting when you compare him with people like:

- Remy's parents (after the shipwreck in "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary"'s closing scene) opting to count their surviving money and open a luxury hotel while still dressed in rags, forcing Remy to forage for his and their survival - Vicky and Tootie's parents opting to stay with perceived cannibals rather than disobey Vicky ("Timmy's 2D House of Horror"); they consistently let Vicky run the show and beg her forgiveness when they upset her. You could 100% make an argument that Vicky is Tootie's actual caregiver. - The "Fairy Idol" alt version of Bucky (Chester's dad) who lost his house and went off to party instead of securing food or shelter for his son. Also, Regular Bucky canonically feeds Chester animals he stole from the zoo or aquarium ("Who's Your Daddy?") and I think we should talk about that. - A.J.'s parents are fantastic in many ways, but there's something incredibly dark about the way they don't like A.J. going outside where there are germs ("Who's Your Daddy?"), they have a laser set up in front of their house to vaporize visitors ("The Big Scoop"), and A.J. seems to believe they dislike Chester (given his long silence after Chester asks why A.J.'s parents' security system got more aggressive after finding out he was Chester). - Later-season neglectful Timmy's parents (though I acknowledge I don't love that flanderized aspect of their character unless viewed from the 'got burned out after 50 extra years of parenting' lens, personally). - Clark and Connie who walked out on their daughter having an anxiety attack (and sent Chloe into a dissociative episode 3 times in the first episode they appeared). - A distracted adult Timmy ("Channel Chasers") leaving his kids with a robot Vicky babysitter despite the sight of weapons and his children begging.

Dale IS an antagonist and a neglectful parent. This post is not meant to take away from that or excuse it, but I think it's interesting that within the bounds of FOP characterization... He is pretty consistently in line with how parents in this show behave, and he does have many positives alongside his flaws. I totally understand why child protective services have not taken Dev from him.

Disclaimer: All characters are morally gray and this list is for amusing discussion purposes. I'm not calling these characters "bad parents" so much as highlighting interesting behaviors for consideration.

FOP's characterization leans into adults being foolish and neglectful - Dimmsdale is named after the idea that the adults are dim, after all - and I think it's worth evaluating all the FOP parents within that framework.

Related Dimmadome Posts:

- This post where I had the thought that Doug might have ADHD/OCD comorbidity (Hilariously, something I'd already decided to do with Dale and Dev...)

- This post comparing Doug and Dale body language

Leadly Family

S9's "Dog Gone" is a bonkers episode, and I love it so much. Notably, it's the episode that confirms Leadly is personally rich- Not just Pencil Nexus as a company, which has multiple branches in other states and can afford a jet.

In fact, Leadly is so rich, he offers to buy Sparky from the Turners for 17 million dollars, just because Sparky gave him the Heimlich maneuver and Leadly thought it was neat.

My personal headcanon for Leadly is that he's somewhat aware of magical beings and is actively seeking them.

The Leadly mansion is pencil-themed, of course.

The Dimmadomes and Buxaplentys are both confirmed to have generational wealth. We have no proof one way or the other for Leadly. It's likely his is too, but it's not impossible he founded Pencil Nexus and committed to its branding because he's proud of what he does.

Leadly doesn't have many appearances, but we know some very important things about him:

- He's convinced he's being haunted by a hot tub ghost, reason being that Cosmo likes to use his hot tub at night (whether Leadly's in it or not). Sparky also claims that he had an accident on Leadly's lawn (Crashing his car), but that Leadly blamed the hot tub ghost.

- He's super buff.

- His company is literally the only thing keeping a [presumably magical] forest from overtaking Dimmsdale, considering that when Pencil Nexus reduces their tree chopping in "The Boss of Me," the forest overtakes the city within a couple hours.

Did some godkid out there just wish for renewable trees and now Dimmsdale is cursed and suffering??

Leadly just flexes like this and has massive muscles, but his aren't as big as the people affected by the Everleadys.

The episode makes it explicitly clear that people's massive muscles are magic and aren't going away (Hence the lawsuits and decision to remove Everleady pencils from the world), but Leadly's muscles do fade when he stops flexing. His are natural.

Despite the jokes that he flies the company jet around to goof off, it's not unreasonable to think he's out there personally chopping trees and I respect him for it.

Y'know, I did wonder how on earth selling pencils made him rich enough that he can afford to spontaneously buy things for 17 million dollars (and keep a pet snow leopard that he apparently rides, considering it was tame enough for Timmy's Dad to ride it home from work and he parked it outside his house and it just stayed there).

Did he fight the snow leopard? Did he raise it? I'm afraid of him.

Conclusion: Ed Leadly has a monopoly on an infinitely replenishing wood source. His company can never take a break or the city will be overtaken by magic plants. Big "curse of Midas" vibes.

I can't stop thinking about how in "T.U.F.F. Puppy," it's implied that Petropolis exists in the same general location as Dimmsdale... Los Angeles county:

- Los Angeles' population in the 2010 census was 3,792,621. Dimmsdale's hillside letters parallel the Hollywood sign. - 91502 is the Burbank area code, where the Nickelodeon studio is - Jorgen claims in "Meet the OddParents" that the power he has to do that was vested in him by both Fairy World and Whittier, California. This seems to match the city borders seen in "Fairy Idol" while he's zooming in on Chester to assign Norm as his godparent.

This implies parallel universe vibes, though in my lore, I have all four Hartman shows blended into one continuity.

See my 2019 post, "A T.U.F.F. Timeline" or the shorter "How Hartman Shows Co-Exist" post if you want details on that

Here's the thing... In "T.U.F.F.," it's implied the forest near the city has been allowed to spread and evolve. Its bizarre flora and fauna certainly give a "non-natural evolution" vibe, so it's not implausible magic could be at play.

It's made very clear in "T.U.F.F. Puppy" that this show is still set on Earth, yet "Flower Power" refers to the Petropolis Rainforest. That implies this forest exists around the city. In fact, we know it's separate from the Amazon, which is referenced in "To Bee or Not to Bee").

Interestingly, the episode "Til Doom Do Us Part" depicts Petropolis being overrun by brightly colored flowers once weddings are mass canceled-

- which implies the florists are keeping the creep of nature back from Petropolis.

I feel like this is especially cursed in my lore where "T.U.F.F." exists in a post-FOP future... Leadly, your woods!! Oh no, he can't hear us... He's been gone for 2,000 years...

Shout-out to Pencil Nexus keeping Dimmsdale safe, one pencil at a time. And shout-out to Leadly's unique body language of gripping the sides of his coat, because he does it a lot and it makes me smile every time. He is just some background guy with a pencil-themed gimmick, but he has a special body language quirk and I love it.

Related Leadly Things:

- If you haven't watched S9's "Dog Gone," I recommend it. It's silly. There are some late-series episodes that give secondhand embarrassment vibes, but for some reason "Dog Gone"'s bizarre energy is so charming to me.

- Leadly appeared in these one-shots of mine, if you're interested in my portrayal of him hunting down magical creatures (and just generally being entitled and getting in the way): "Opportunity" & "Trying Too Hard"

Buxaplenty Family

The Buxaplentys have been running the railroads ever since Dimmsdale's early days, with Orville Buxaplenty the first to do so. Timmy's distant grandfather (Ebeneezer) mocks trains by claiming they're "just a fad" and there's no future in them- Thus, he chooses not to involve himself with trains and leaves Orville to do so alone.

This establishes the Buxaplenty wealth as being generational through these trains. Presumably, Dimmsdale has a large train station, as this seems to be where the Buxaplentys have set up shop.

If the Dimmadomes have businesses spanning Los Angeles to Dimmadelphia, it's very likely the trains play a key role. Assuming we take the 1665 founding date of Dimmsdale as canon ("Which Witch is Which?"), the trains may have been essential at moving resources from Dimmsdale to later found Dimmadelphia. -> See also, respawning magic woods (?) Rich people crossover of the centuries??

Notably, their family takes some heavy hits in "Country Clubbed" when Mr. Buxaplenty is forced to watch the destruction of the club, his mansion, yacht, and limo in quick succession.

The surname Buxaplenty is clearly a play on the phrase "bucks aplenty" (and I want to shout-out a 'fic I read many years ago - but unfortunately do not remember - that had a whole thing about Remy's surname actually being Buxley and everyone just calling them Buxaplentys in a derogatory way, because that's hilarious).

A neat detail about Remy is that in the Spanish version of Fairly OddParents, his surname is Cajallena, which (to my understanding) translates as "full cash register."

In my lore, I made Cajallena the maiden name of Remy's mom.

I did some poking around. Apparently, Remy is based on comic/cartoon character Richie Rich, popular from the 60s to the 90s or so (and who still shows up in modern reboots of things today).

I'm not familiar with this series, but both are blond, the only child in their family, and wear big red bows. After brief research, I get the impression Richie was at least a little associated with trains... even owning a toy trainset that costs 1 million dollars (and paying 8 million to buy the factory that makes a part of his set that broke).

I want to highlight this comparison:

From the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, I believe, and it looks like Richie owned other gold vehicles like a boat as well.

As for Remy himself, I believe I read a few years ago that he's designed around the concept of "green-eyed envy," so he has literal green eyes. I think envious is a very good way to describe his character, considering that his immediate reaction to learning Timmy has fairies was "If he has fairies, he could wish himself richer than me; I wish his fairies were gone."

This is a minor detail, but I rewatched some Remy scenes (especially the lunch scene in "Remy Rides Again" and the breakfast scene in "Stupid Cupid") because I could've sworn Remy said at some point that he likes caviar. That might be true - I didn't find it in my hasty rewatch - but I definitely laughed when I checked and saw that instead of eating caviar for lunch like I'd remembered, he ate steak. Kid knows what he wants.

We also know Remy enjoys Crimson Chin and Crash Nebula. Specifically, we know that he's a fan of Cleft the Boy Chin Wonder, but that when Remy ventures inside the comic world, he made the character more relatable to him by making Cleft rich... in addition to minor costume changes, such as slapping the Buxaplenty logo on him in place of Cleft's usual C.

Remy sees something in Cleft that connects with him, but that extra "I want Cleft to feel like me" bit is interesting. Admiring Cleft isn't enough. He needs to be "I am Cleft's secret identity. I, Remy Buxaplenty, have this alt life." The Crimson Chin can't seem to tell the difference between Timmy and Remy as Cleft - unsurprising since he's a comic character playing his role - but Remy saving the Chin from falling is one of the only acts of kindness we see him engage in. That implies Remy does value the Chin and/or feeling like a hero in some way... or if nothing else, he values the praise the Chin gives him.

As parents, the Buxaplentys are pretty interesting. Even by "dim FOP parents" standards, they're exceptionally bad at being loving - or even effective - parents.

- Remy's dad is so awkward, he's not even sure how to address Remy when we see them in "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary." It's his wife that suggests he try "Son." Also, Remy's parents time themselves so they spend no more than 2 minutes per day with him, which they tell him openly.

- Remy's dad calls him "Liam" later, which isn't close to his name... but Remy's grateful to be acknowledged anyway, which has interesting implications. Remy takes anything he can get; putting up with what little scraps they offer to avoid the risk of turning them off the idea of reaching out to him.

- At the end of the episode, Timmy wishes Remy could spend more time with his parents. We can assume Cosmo and Wanda didn't want to hurt the Buxaplentys on purpose - especially given what we know (from episodes like "Boys In a Band" & "Go Young, West Man") about Da Rules preventing godkids from harming others directly.

So that begs the question... Was shipwrecking the Buxaplentys the only option to get them to pay attention to their son? That's kinda dark... Angela will turn down a book pitch to care for sick Hazel, but "Remy gets sick and a parent tends to him" was seemingly not on the table. Which does make sense in-universe- After all, there are plenty of butlers and staff who wait on Remy.

Remy even tells us that his parents stopped paying attention to him after about 3 seconds despite being stranded with him on a desert island, which is pretty bad... but it gets worse when you realize Remy was stranded between Seasons 2 and 5.

When he returns in "Remy Rides Again," he asks Timmy to "guess where he's been," and informs him he "just got back from an uncharted island."

Combining that with Remy's claim that his parents only paid attention to him for 3 seconds - and looking at the scenes of Remy foraging for food while he wears rags and his parents get involved with business despite being stranded - That's..... just awful.

That's a long time for Remy to be without the comforts of home or the comforts of Juandissimo while struggling to survive (and keep his parents alive along with him). Depending on where you personally place Timmy's time freeze, it can get way worse.

And Remy was just happy he had time with his parents... Happy to forage for food... Happy to get a headpat... and for what? They don't deserve you, kid.

For all his greediness and schemes, he is pretty grateful for what little he has. In addition to looking forward to spending time with his parents, when Remy is venting to Timmy at the end of "Remy Rides Again," not once does he mention "And I didn't have my nice things." He says "I didn't have my fairy, Juandissimo, to comfort me."

Remy's parents don't even take care of themselves, let alone pay attention to his needs. They chose not to leave the deserted island - and apparently took their sweet time calling for clothes to be delivered - and Remy seems to be the one in charge of food.

Also, the implication here is that Juandissimo gave some part of his physical form up so Remy could eat, which is horrifying?? Did that happen multiple times, considering these scenes take place immediately after the shipwreck and later after Remy's mom opens her luxury resort, so definitely different days? Did... did Remy reach the point where he was struggling to find food - or the more awful option, struggling to find food for himself because he was giving it to his parents first - and Juandissimo said "F that" ??? ... help.

On top of all this, the official canon is that Juandissimo couldn't hold a job after being separated from Remy because he was so hung up on Remy's situation (and his own shame that he failed), he couldn't stop crying, so he bounced from job to job.

It's the thing I love most about Juandissimo, because when he's introduced in FFQC, he's a huge lapdog for Da Rules, even going off about how not following them would lead to madness. But we learn one very, very important thing about Juandissimo in "Remy Rides Again"... which is that Juandissimo openly broke Da Rules to return Remy's memories.

He's very clear about this: "I decided to help you no matter what Da Rules say, so I gave you back your memories." Because he loved him... and he knew Remy's situation wouldn't get any better if he sat and did nothing. The godparenting program and Jorgen weren't going to help, so Juandissimo - who LOVES Da Rules - broke them.

We know Juandissimo returned those memories while Remy was on the island. That suggests Remy's parents had no intention to return to Dimmsdale... and presumably, they also didn't care Remy was missing school.

We know Remy got real clothes again at some point on the island, and we can assume he had food and a bed because his mom opened a luxury resort, but there's more a child needs... Schooling, medical care, social interaction with peers... everything about that situation just screams neglect. Serious neglect. "We literally do not care" levels of neglect.

Even when Remy's parents do return to Dimmsdale and care about his schooling again, they send him to a military school full of older kids and adults. And that seems at least a little reasonable on the surface - After all, Remy's been a brat, so of course they'd send him to a school for ne'er-do-wells - but that begs the question...

... What has he ever done to upset his parents?

Remy's envy leads him to be rude, sure. And he's presumably committing some kind of fraud or deception crimes in the background due to the implication in "The Big Bash" that he bribes people with checks, but puts stops on them later so they don't go through. These are things that happened when he was doing magical stuff away from home.

But all signs point to him being extremely respectful towards his parents even when they're very dismissive of him... even when he's been placed in terrible, scary situations like being shipwrecked on an uncharted island, not knowing if they'll survive. Remy is polite, does what he's told, never talks back, and volunteers to find food.

It's almost worse that his dad acknowledged Remy finding food was a good idea and still didn't lend a hand in that. The Buxaplentys are such concerning people, and that's just my recap of things that happened in Season 2 and Season 5.

According to Season 9's "Country Clubbed," Remy's dad hits "classless saps" with his limo on purpose every month - which sounds horrible even without the next part - and he does that so he has an excuse to invite them to the Fancy Schmancy Country Club and he and his friends can mock them (under the guise of allowing them access to the club in exchange for them not suing). He heavily implies he'd like to hit Timmy later since he didn't get him while hitting his parents.

That's really messed up... WHAT is going on in the Buxaplenty parents' heads?

The only slightly relieving thing from that statement is that presumably, they don't run over Remy because we can assume Remy isn't a "classless sap," but I don't think "choosing not to run your son over because he shares your wealth" is a real point in their favor.

I make no claims that Dale is a fantastic parent, but the weird thing is... I don't think Dale is outside the range of how other subpar parents in the FOP universe act. Except the Buxaplentys- They're pretty much the lowest of the low.

There are so many concerning things going on in the Dimmadome house, like terrible safety rails, and Dale does cut his son off, dehumanize him, and make him feel unwanted. This is all true.

But at least Dale knows Dev's name and calls him that. It's very possible he's aware of Dev's lactose intolerance (seeing as Dev had to get his allergy card from somewhere). At least Dale provided the au pairs to look after Dev and gave them the ability to cook and recognize when he wants a hug. Even if Dale doesn't go out of his way to hug Dev, he seems to like him enough that he's happy to clap a hand to his shoulder and talk to him. At least he seems interested in talking to him and hearing about his day.

Dale even tries to get Dev outside, but didn't snap at Dev when Dev lay down to play his game instead in "Stanky Danky." That was their father-son thing, though it would've been easy to leave Dev at home.

Dale arguably took charge of Dev's care during that event, seeing as the au pairs don't hover around Dev. idk if Dale made his 9-year-old walk home himself across a very busy road while he chased after Danky, but that's not the point.

The implication is that Dev tags along on Dale's walks to Signal Hill - and has done so many times - because Dev knows Dale's calls drop up there. It's implied Dev plays on that hill when his dad is on a call because Dev knows the grass makes you itchy if you roll down it. He'd probably played there recently since that was the first place to come to mind during the treasure hunt with Hazel, and he remembered the itchiness of the grass.

Dale even makes donations to Dev's school, which is more than the Buxaplentys ever did (See also, Remy likely missing school while shipwrecked).

Remy could die and his parents probably wouldn't spend a cent on his funeral... or get his name right in a eulogy without a lot of note-checking and effort. In fact, it wouldn't shock me if they hid his death so no one found out, because a dead son would be bad press.

Actually... It's very sad to imagine them putting more effort into hiding Remy's death than into caring for his life.

Shout-out to Chapter 10 of the 'fic "Buy Me Love" by DeliverUsFromEvie where Remy addresses two mansion employees by name, but they're confused to find out their boss has a kid and that said kid has been in the house this whole time. I think about it constantly. hey. what on earth.

This 'fic has one of the most brutal interpretations of Remy I've ever seen, and Evie has this and several other awesome works, so consider checking them out!

All of this said, there's something else that's interesting here, so let's talk "Turner Back Time."

I can't stop thinking about how when Timmy wished his ancestor (Ebeneezer) had decided to work with trains rather than dismissing them, that led to a timeline where the following things happened:

- Timmy's Dad still married his beloved Timmy's Mom (lol). Yeah, you're not prying him away from the love of his life for anything.

- Dimmsdale fell to ruin because Timmy's Dad wouldn't play the Rich People game right (Supporting the city's growth) and instead opted to drive trains off the tracks and crash them through buildings.

- The Turners lived in a mansion, but Timmy's bedroom is exactly the same, presumably because in the timeline where his family's rich, he needed a safe space untouched by his parents' branding.

- Despite Timmy's effort to become miserable, Dad kept showering him with affection and toys, so Timmy didn't qualify for fairies until he was tied to railroad tracks with a train hurtling towards him.

- The first thing Timmy did in his attempt to become miserable enough to qualify for fairies was decide not to eat... Same energy as when he felt guilty and refused to sleep in Season 1 ("Dream Goat").

There is something here about Timmy's Dad ignoring the train system, but being attentive to his son, while the Buxaplentys ignore their son, but Dimmsdale isn't in ruins.

I'll say 1 and only 1 positive thing about the Buxaplentys: At least their trains are on the tracks instead of careening through hospital walls. Honestly, the bar is so low, it is below the floor.

Timmy's Dad became a greedy person in that timeline, but he still chose to marry someone of lower social status, have a son, and be kind to his son- He's happy to greet him, encourages him to enjoy their wealth, and gifts Timmy lots of nice things. In that timeline, it's the Turners who have generational wealth. Dad was raised by generations of Turners and he still makes time for Timmy. Come on, Buxaplentys... Is it THAT hard to speak to your son like you're happy he exists?

Closing Thoughts

The Buxaplentys are definitely an old money family while the Dimmadomes and Ed Leadly give off new money energy (to me).

Neither Doug nor Ed was seen at the Fancy Schmancy Country Club in S9's "Country Clubbed." All the people who were there have names that play on wealth. They also dress in a much more "upper class" way than Leadly with his flashy yellow suit or Doug with his Southern/Western theme.

The Dimmadomes represent business-related wealth and big company vibes, and I'd call them eccentric. Compare Doug's precariously perched cliffside estate (S3's "Engine Blocked") to Remy's telescope-

I really hope he decorates that hat for the holidays

The energy I get from this is "Doug doing whatever he wants just because he can"... which is also the impression I get from the "Crock Talk" scene that shows his hat stretching through the limo roof. Doug does business things and hosts events, but keeps to himself unless he's doing business things.

Comparatively, Leadly is all-in on his pencil branding, and the Buxaplentys flaunt their wealth in everyday life. As in, they buy the most expensive version of anything they want and like to showcase their wealth.

But while Doug and Dale have "Do what I want" energy, the Buxaplentys seem more restricted by social expectation.

That is, the Buxaplentys dress very nice and dine with fancy people- even their 11-year-old wears a tux, bowtie, and cummerbund. Buxaplentys are very "Flaunt wealth & do what people expect of us." They don't go out of their way to do "silly, eccentric" things like putting a hat on their mansion, but they sure will buy golden, diamond-studded things.

Well, that wraps up my analysis on Dimmsdale's wealthy families, who each intrigue and frighten me in their own unique ways... whether that be money laundering, holding back a magical forest, or being absolutely awful parents.

Thanks for reading!

[chessb0r3d]

i cracked the code.

[lostwcnderlands]

like an anchor sent to ground him back to earth, roman inhaled finally at the feel of her hand to his face. his came to cup it there gently, feeling his heart start to race as he pushed through the panic, the mess that had started to untangle in his mind. roman's eyes focused, seeing kyra, and then - a horrible thought set in.

was she scared of him now? and worse - should she be?

heart dropping like a rock down a ravine, roman shook his head ever so slightly, as if he could change the past. like denial could undo the bullets, the blood. you killed him. he should feel bad, maybe he did, the emotions swirling were a mess to decode, and he shook his head again. " he shot at me first. " the simple answer finally came, surprise written in his eyes, somewhere in the tone... a quiet plea. don't hate me. he'd felt that first bullet whiz by- right by his head, the man was an excellent shot. if roman wasn't so quick on his feet, hadn't seen the glint of metal - then he'd be the one dead.

why did every single end to this fucked up story he'd started with kyra lead to him six feet in the ground? what if every step together they took into the darkness, only took her further from his arms? roman felt for a moment he was going to be sick - but then, there it was, her fingers in his. the tug on his arm, the urgency in her tone, and he followed behind with a renewed urgency.

he'd barely remember later how they got there. the stupid half-lit sign, the crumbling brick walls, the rickety fire escape pulled down for their access. inside, the pizza place was packed, and roman ducked down to avoid being seen by the owner or his son. creeping up the ladder with quiet feet; he'd done this too many times before. a steadying hand - a killer's hand? - on kyra's back as she went up in front of him. the window was small, but so were they, tumbling in to the floor. it should feel safe, with a black sheet hung up over the window, but roman's heart still raced. not wanting to attract too much attention, he plugged in the neon green lava lamp by his mattress on the floor - held up by a makeshift bedstand of old, empty pizza boxes, grease stains && all. the room was small, and fairly bare, posters of a couple rappers && a galaxy tapestry hung up on the wall. " home sweet home. " he stated with a grand sweep of his arm, collapsing on the queen size bed with a long exhale. " i got sprite in the mini fridge. "

roman almost laughed. then, suddenly, he did. he laughed out loud, pressing a hand to his lips to stifle it. it just all felt so ridiculous - the groovy lightning, the offer a soda pop - as if they hadn't just had the worst night in hell.

Kyra’s breath hitched in her chest as she processed the chaos that had just unfolded. Her heart pounded in her ears, but it wasn’t the sound of the gunshots still ringing in the air that shook her. It was Roman—his hands trembling, his voice distant. Everything about him felt different. The usual fire, the sharp edge that made her both afraid and attracted to him, had been replaced by something colder, something darker. Something that… she wasn’t sure how to read.

“Roman…” Her voice cracked as she reached out to steady him, her own hands suddenly too warm and too steady compared to his. He wasn’t looking at her—didn't want to look at her, she realized. He wanted to keep moving, wanted to keep running, and part of her knew that he needed to. But she couldn’t help herself. She reached up, her fingers lightly touching his face, gently forcing him to meet her eyes.

“What the hell just happened?” she asked, breathless. Her voice barely made it out, trembling with the weight of it all. A man—no, a person—was dead. And it had been Roman. She had seen the fury in his eyes, felt it in the sharpness of his actions. But seeing him now, the way his gaze drifted past her, she realized—he was just as shocked as she was.

Her hand shook as it dropped from his face, a shiver crawling down her spine. How could something so… so final come from someone like him?

“You—You killed him,” she whispered, as though the words didn’t quite feel real. The air felt thick, suffocating, and for the first time, she wasn’t sure who she was running with. Why did this happen? She should have stayed and talked to her father- this.. this was a disaster. Her father wouldn't let this go, he killed one of his man after all. Kyra panicked and now she was really on survival mode, all she could think of was to protect the man in front of her. "hurry.. we need to go!" this time she took his hand and pulled him towards the pizzeria, her heart was racing so fast, they were so fucked.

[layraket]

Day 28 - Denial

Character(s): Time and (fairy)Hyrule (LU)

Words: 433

Summary: Hyrule wanted to show his secret, Time had a wrong idea about this

Whump scale: 1 (see the full scale here)

-

After a while wondering, the traveler decided that it was time to tell someone in the chain about his nature. It wasn’t fair to still hide it when they already knew enough secrets of each other, he was the only one that still was a mystery for most of them.

He told the others that he will go for a walk, and when he got far enough he called for his magic, transforming into his fairy form.

He went back to the camp, the trip being shorter with how easy the forest was to traverse in this form.

Now the problem was getting in there, he knew that they all were fairy catchers, so he needed to be careful. He wasn’t exactly a healing fairy, but they all didn’t really could differentiate them… Except from Time.

So, he grabbed all his courage and entered to the camp.

The whole chain obviously noticed him, mixed comments around.

“Hey! A fairy!”

“That isn’t one for healing, looks like a traveler”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, I learned from someone”

“What is doing one so far from a fairy fountain then?”

Apparently they all didn’t recognize him, huh. Well, at least it didn’t end up too bad–

“Hey little one” Time’s calm voice called for him, it had something that reminded him of the forest, the sound of the trees and sing of the birds.

He landed on the old man’s palm, resting his wings a little. Maybe Time will recognize him here, maybe he would explain the rest without him needing to.

“Haven’t seen you in a while, Navi. Were you always able to change your look?” Ah.

Did he just–

“Time are you sure–“ Warriors came to interrupt whatever was happening, being shut by the old man.

“Absolutely, only she had that hair and freckles if I can remember” Oh, he really thinks that he–

“Um, Time?” The old man ignored him, starting to talk with him like normal, telling him stories of his travels like if Hyrule hasn’t been there in the past months.

It was a very confusing afternoon. At least he managed to leave Time with just telling him that he needed to go back to somewhere. When he came back to camp he found him without too much words to share.

Everyone was still confused by this, so he gathered them afar from Time and explained them what happened.

Nobody had the heart to tell him, although, if Warriors was correct, he already knew.

So, this was the boy that his mama always talked about in her stories.