#how to get rid of debt fast

[cameronspecial]

At Her Beck And Call

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings: Swearing and Assault

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 0.8K

Summary: Rafe may be out doing business, but he is never too busy for Y/N.

Masterlist

Everyone in the Outer Banks knows about Rafe’s explosive personality, especially towards the Pogues. The only person who is never at the wrong end of his anger is Y/N. He would never dare risk losing her by unleashing his anger on her. At the moment, she is safely at home, resting with their darling baby girl growing inside of her stomach. He is finishing up collecting the money from people who owe him from his drug dealer days. When he started dating Y/N, he stopped dealing less often; however, with a baby on the way, Rafe is ready to hang up the towel completely. Therefore, it is time for him to gather all the debts obligated to him. He finally tracks down the last person, Tanner Barrois. The Pogue is hiding out at a friend’s house but for enough money, anyone can betray their friend. Rafe bangs on the door as loud as he can and steps away from it. “What the fuck do you wan-” Tanner complains as he opens the door. Rafe gives him a wicked grin, “I want my fucking money, Asshole.” Tanner backs up into the house with his hands in the air. “I don’t have your money, but I can get it to you. I-I just need a few weeks,” he offers. Rafe shakes his head, “No, I already gave you three months. So where is my money?”

“I don’t have it!” 

Rafe grips the front of Tanner’s shirt and slams him against the wall. His arm cocks, rushing towards Tanner’s nose at a fast pace. The room is silent, except for the sounds of Rafe’s fist hitting Tanner, until “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran begins to play out of nowhere. Something vibrating accompanies the song. Rafe keeps Tanner against the wall with one hand, while his other hand goes into his pocket for his phone. He brings it to his ear with a soft smile, “Hi, Dumpling. How are you and little dumpling doing?” “I’m hungry, Rafey,” the pregnant woman whines with her hands on her perturbing stomach. He chuckles, “And what can I pick up for you on my way home, Dumpling?” “I want Trader Joe’s French Vanilla ice cream, soya sauce, pickles and mayo please,” she pleads into the phone. He grimaces, “Please, tell me you aren’t going to eat all of those together.” “I don’t know yet. I guess you’ll have to find out when you get here,” she teases, knowing he gets grossed out by her weird pregnancy cravings. He sighs, “I guess I will. I’ll get those for you once I’m finished with my business. Okay? I love you.” “Thank you. I love you too. Bye,” she hangs up without another word. 

The phone gets slipped back into his pocket and his attention returns to Tanner. “Now, where were we?” He punches Tanner again, shaking his hand out to try to rid himself of the blood. “I’m going to ask you again. Where is my money?” Rafe growls. Tanner whimpers, “I can get it to you by next week.” Tanner receives another blow to the head. “Not the answer I was looking for. So let’s try this once more,” Rafe warns, but he is again interrupted by the chime of his phone. “Is everything okay, Dumpling?” he worries into the speaker.

“It needs to be the tiny pickles. I don’t want the large ones. I don’t want the zig-zag cut ones or the straight-cut ones. I want the tiny ones. Okay?”

“Yes, I know, Dumpling. I promise they will be the tiniest ones I can find.” 

“Good, thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Dumpling. Goodbye.”

Tanner’s face is in a bloody smirk. “What the fuck are you smiling at?” Rafe questions, digging his forearm into the Pogue's neck. Tanner gasps out, “You are so whipped for her.” Rafe’s eyebrows cave in and he strikes Tanner’s stomach. “Be careful what you say next, Motherfucker,” Rafe alerts. Tanner appears to have a death wish as he says the next sentence, “That bitch has your balls in a death grip and it’s pathetic.” His phone rings once more before he can reply. “Dumpling, you are really making me concerned about you,” he sighs into the phone. She pouts, “I’m sorry. I just wanted something to drink too.” “It’s okay, Dumpling. I want you to stay hydrated. So what can I get you?” he inquires. “Iced tea, please. And I promise this will be the last time I’m going to call. I’m going to take a nap while I wait for you to come home.”

“Iced tea, coming right up. Enjoy your nap, Dumpling. I’ll see you when I get home. I love you.”

“I love you so much, Rafey. Thank you. I can’t wait for you to come home. Muah.”

The line goes dead and he can’t help but put his phone away with a massive grin on his face. He weakens his hold on Tanner, “You better be thanking the lord that I am whipped for my girl because it is the only reason I am giving you another day to get the money. Don’t try to run because I will find you and your punishment will be so much worse than you can imagine. Now, if you would excuse me, I have to go to Trader’s Joe.”

Taglist: @winterrrnight @loves0phelia @thelomlisrafecameron @wickedlovely121 @thepatriarchykeychain @drewsmusee @starkowswife @maybankslover @forstarkey @loving-and-dreaming

[la2yn0va]

Friends…?

Characters: Jiaoqiu, Feixiao, Male Reader (Moze is mentioned)

(Can be taken as platonic or romantic. If romantic it’s a one-sided crush from the characters)

————

-Childhood-

“Hey! Get a load of this loser!” A boy said as he pushed another against the wall. A pink-haired foxian—Jiaoqiu. Jiaoqiu’s ears stayed down as he shuddered fearfully.

“L-leave me alone!” He pleaded shakily, which fell on deaf ears. “Hah~? But I haven’t even started yet you pathetic fox” the bully harshly tugged on his ears as three others laughed behind him and Jiaoqiu yelped in pain, tears forming as they usually do. “S-STOP!! PLEASE IT HURTS!!”

Once again, no one heard his pleas. He was left alone to cry as his four tormentors laughed at him. “Come on! Do something about it you useless loser~! I thought foxian’s were meant to be smart! But you’re just a pathetic freak!”

Then, a boy seemingly appearing out of nowhere, jumped up and slammed his feet against the back of two laughing bullies. “H-HUH!!? WHAT THE—!!” Before the other one could finish, he was met with a chop to the jugular.

The boy then faced the leader, who had let go of jiaoqiu’s ear and stared fearfully at the boy who had just knocked out his three friends “Who—” a punch to his gut quickly shut him up before slamming his bicep against the leaders neck and bashing him against a wall, successfully knocking him out.

Jiaoqiu stared in awe and slight fear. He had never seen someone around his age so fast and easily knock out four boys under a minute! “You okay foxy?” The boy asked making jiaoqiu jump slightly before nodding. He walked up to him and jiaoqiu tried to back away unsuccessfully, still abit fearful of being hit, however, he was…being patted on the head?

“Huh…?” “So fluffy and soft. I’m jealous of you” The boy said with a small smile, easing the nerves of the bullied foxian. “I’m M/n. What’s your name foxy?” “I-I..I’m Jiaoqiu” “well jiaoqiu. I like you. And you’re my friend now”

From that day on, m/n was always seen by jiaoqiu’s side. Weather it was in the library reading on medicine, or in a back alley, beating down on some bullies or even thieves. “Hey jiaoqiu. If a woman can only produce one gender, does that make their womb weak or special?” “Please m/n.. I’m a chief...stop asking me those questions…”

Jiaoqiu dreamed of being a chief yet also a healer to help the military combat the abominations of the abundance. He tried to convince m/n to join the military as m/n was easily the strongest person he knew… well… besides someone else.

“Hey. Why do you want to join the cloud knights? You’re basically giving up your life to some people you don’t have any connection with.. I think it’s pretty dumb.”

“That’s… not how I see it… I want to get rid of the abundance monsters because.. well.. they killed my mom and dad. Not to mention the borisin who ensalved my kind are apparently working with those monsters… I feel like it’s my duty to be on the war and make sure no one dies”

“Huh… I guess I never thought of it like that… At least your not giving up your life for a bunch of nobodies” M/n said, patting jiaoqiu as he usually did making his friend blush a bit. “Sure.. look if you join the cloud knights-” “I already said no” “You will find a person that can beat you!”

That seemed to catch m/n’s interest “Huh? What’re you talking about? I’ve never lost a fight, even with trained cloud knights” “Well… these this girl in the cloud knights. One who I.. owe a debt to. Her name is feixiao and she’s easily the strongest person I know.. maybe even stronger than you” he said teasingly.

M/n stayed silent. He isn’t actually gonna join for a dumb reason like that.. is he? No. No. He doesn’t care about the people of yaoqing, he doesn’t have any connection with them… but then again… being on the battlefield and fighting… meeting this feixiao…releasing his own anger on the enemies of the xianzhou… maybe it is where he’s meant to go… “Fine. I’ll bite”

“M/n… where are your parents..?” “I don’t have any” “Huh?” “Yep. I’ve been a street kid for as long as I remember.” Jiaoqiu felt his tail fall and his ears flop “o-oh.. I-I’m sorry” “why? Did you take them away from me” “I-What!? No I just—” “Ha. Calm down, I’m joking around… plus… I don’t care… I don’t care… I just really don’t care”

—Young Adult Years—

M/n was thriving in the cloud knights. He was easily the best of the upcoming graduates. Hell probably even the best of those who ALREADY graduated! His instructors showed special attention to him, wishing the hone and sharpen his skills even further to battle the enemies of the hunt.

His fellow trainee’s looked up to him. Even calling him ‘Big Brother M/n’. He fought with multiple weapons instead of a sword or a spear, as he wished to be adaptable and unpredictable in the battlefield. Something his instructors agreed on, yet also reminded him to use his great mind for intellectual plays as well. Something m/n was obviously and already planning on doing.

Then one day, the instructors decided to hold a special little event. They would bring a cloud knight here to fight m/n. Just to put on a little show and give m/n the fun he looked for. That cloud knight happened to be Feixiao.

“At ease soldiers!” The instructor commanded, as all the soilders relaxed and faced their commander. “Now. As I’m sure you’re all aware, we’ve decided to hold a special event. Everyone! Greet your senior. Could Knight: Feixiao” “MORNING CLOUD KNIGHT FEIXIAO!!” “Ah…! Feixiao…! That’s the woman…” m/n remembered jiaoqiu mentioning her being stronger than him.

“Trainee M/n! Step forward, Solider!!” M/n walked forward as he met feixiao, who looked outwardly enthusiastic yet her eyes held a type of boredom and interest. “Feixiao. I’m sure you’ve been informed why you’ve been summoned here” The White Haired-Foxian nodded with a charming smile “Yeah. I’m meant to fight your best trainee. This Him? I’ve heard quite the story about you Soilder”

“All good I hope” “Mhm. Shall we get started?” “Straight to the point. I like you already” The trainees formed a circle around the two as they were handed wooden swords. “I’ve heard a lot about you from jiaoqiu” “Ohh! No wonder your name sounded familiar. Jiaoqiu also told me a lot about you” “yeah. Thanks for being with him in the cloud knights” “Thanks for being with him during his childhood” They nodded before getting ready to battle. They stared intensely at each other before the whistle blew and they ran at each other.

They clashed the wooden swords together, leaning in the glare at the other with determination. They then jumped away and swung their swords at each other while trying to kick the other. Feixiao was surprised, usually no one would’ve lasted this long against her, jiaoqiu really wasn’t kidding when he said m/n was impressive.

M/n swung his sword and hit her sword before ducking and throwing a sweep kick, which feixiao jumped over and m/n quickly spun around, planting his hand on the ground and pushing himself up to send a kick to feixiao who once again blocked it with her own kick.

The two stood stun locked as they stared at the other in awe. However, they quickly shoved each other away and m/n threw his sword towards her, which she dodged as his sword was stabbed onto the ground and m/n ran towards her, his arm out to close line her. She dodged and she swung her sword which he slide under, moved up and jumped at his sword. One foot kicked the sword and he used it and his momentum to swing around and send a kick to feixiao, while grabbing his sword.

Feixiao looked suprised at this but quickly blocked his kick and ducked his sword swing before slamming him onto the ground and planting her foot on his stomach, making her the victor. M/n stared in surprise.. he actually lost? While feixiao stared in excitement. A rival. She had actually found a rival. “Hahaha~! Not bad! You’re definitely cloud knight material! I’m surprised you didn’t join or graduate earlier!!” She said, helping him up. And, a smiling m/n held onto her hand as excitement shined in his eyes “Holy shit!! You’re Fucking amazing!! No ones ever been able to beat me before!!” M/n quickly hugged her from excitement, making the cloud knight laugh in embarrassment and amusement.

The instructor watched nervously.. maybe getting two battle hungry solider to fight against each other who also haven’t lost a battle wasn’t a good idea. The other trainee’s stared in awe at the battle in front of them, feeling excitement of their own rise up as they yelled and chanted their names.

A couple months later, the trainee’s were graduating and they were choosing which division they wanted to join. Y/n had gotten a recommendation from every division, But he only had his eyes sent on one division. Feixiao’s who had recently became the lieutenant colonel of said division. Hell the recommendation was from her. So, without a second thought. He already made his decision.

The next day, he was personally greeted by feixiao. M/n quickly jumped up to hug her, excited to fight alongside her AND possible fight her. Luckily for him, feixiao didn’t push him away but gladly embraced him with a giggle of her own, the favoritism for m/n from lieutenant colonel Feixiao was painfully obvious.

The next few weeks, the new recruits were being tested to see which battalion they’d thrive in. The aviation, Medicare, Army Corps, Special Forces, etc. M/n was personally chosen by feixiao to join her own battalion in the special forces, his potential and skill easily exceeded everyone else. That and favoritism. M/n joined feixiao, jiaoqiu and a man named moze who was apparently a prison breaker/assassin… something told him he’d get along with him the most. Those were the only ones who m/n bothered to remember, everyone else were just another number to him.

“And you’ll be sleeping here” Feixiao said as m/n flopped on the bed gleefully. “Ahh~ joining the cloud knights was definitely the right choice” “I’m glad you decided to join. I’ve been much more excited since our battle back at the academy” “Speaking of which. I want a rematch! Me and you! Wooden swords again! Once I beat you with that— THEN we can use our real weapons!” He said excitedly which made feixiao laugh, patting his head “Hahahaha~ Sure m/n. But not now, I have something’s I need to take care of” “Booo” he pouted which made feixiao snicker “cute” she thought, bopping his nose and walking out “see you tomorrow Solider”

She waved and exited his room as another entered—Jiaoqiu “Hey there foxy” “Hello m/n. How’s your first day” “Amazing! Meeting feixiao just made my life even better!! You weren’t being a sly cunning manipulative piece of shit when you said she was strong!” “Ahaha.. indeed”

—Adult Years—

Years had passed since m/n joined feixiao. He was now a fully fledged vice lieutenant along side Feixiao. Battle the borisin and abominations of the abundance, freeing enslaved foxians. Meeting people from different ships of the xianzhou. However, m/n has been off as of late.

No one knows why and when they try to question him about it he just acts like nothing’s wrong. This was especially worrying for feixiao, jiaoqiu and moze. They hadn’t seen m/n like this ever. He was always excited for a battle yet stoic when hanging out, but now he was just stoic. That child like yet charming excitement had seemingly disappeared.

Jiaoqiu tried to up lift his spirits by asking him some of the strange questions he once asked him as a kid. Feixiao tried to battle him daily yet that seemed to fail again. Moze tried to help by teaching him some criminal actions like how to escape from the shackling prison and things along that line, it seemed to work slightly but still no significant changes.

Moze felt uneasy, feixiao felt her heart ache, and jiaoqiu felt useless and pathetic—m/n was his one and only childhood friend yet he couldn’t for the life of him find out why or what was making m/n feeling down. M/n didn’t even come out of his room unless it was for battling. This would not stand any longer. So, feixiao took initiative.

“M/n. It’s feixiao, I’m coming in” She said, walking in to see m/n blankly staring at the celling. Feixiao called out his name a bit louder which managed to get his attention “Oh.. Feixiao… another battlefield to go to?” He said blankly, which irked the lieutenant even more, she hated that tone, that blank, emotionless, robotic tone didn’t suit m/n. “No. I’m here for you” “Huh?” Feixiao sat down next to her friend, facing him with a determined look. “What’s wrong with you?” “Hmm?” “Your demeanor! You’ve been all robotic for the last few months now! Do you know how worried I’ve been…!? How worried Jiaoqiu and Moze are!!?”

“It’s…I didn’t know—” “That too! Since when are you blind to our emotions!? You’re the first that knows when someone’s acting off!” M/n stayed silent, just staring at his worried lieutenant “Come on m/n. Please tell me what’s been eating away at you. I can’t handle it to see you being like this a second longer!”

“….a few months ago. You sent me on a mission to eradicate a Disciple of Sanctus Medicus commander. He was hiding in a remote town in the countryside. But when I was there… I found a family… I found my mom. She looked.. happy. When I approached her she didn’t even recognize me. Not just that but I’ve been.. I-I was starting to care for the people of yaoqing… I ignored my mission and tried to get to know the mom I never had, along with my half sister. But it seemed like my mom felt uncomfortable by me. Because I ignored my mission, everyone in that town were murdered, but my mom… she was turned into one of the monsters. Then.. her dying words were ‘why did you come back! How are you alive!!? I left you for the borisin to get mauled!! You got my husband murdered now you come back and get me and my perfect life without you destroyed!! You were always a demon brat!! You can’t even die properly!! I never loved you, so why the fuck would you think I wanted to bond with you after all these years!!!’ Her last words, before you guys came and saved me… she didn’t even want me to be born. She left me to the borisin to get fucking mutilated. But since I’ve started to care about the people of yaoqing.. this FUCKING itch has been in my mind that I can’t scratch!! I-I feel like because I started to care IM the reason why those people died a meaningless death!! It’s because I’ve been more emotional that I ignored my mission and tried to get to know my—my….My ‘birther’. I just… I don’t know how to feel. I don’t—”

Before he could continue, feixiao quickly brought him into her embrace, comforting the confused and depressed man as he cried into her shoulder “It’s okay… I got you.. I’m here for you… WERE here for you. Someone like you didn’t deserve such a bitch for a mom” she comforted him as he silently cried, slowly he fell asleep from fatigue and feixiao held him in her arms, picking him up to lock the door before laying herself and him on his bed, sleeping while holding him closely.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Weeks later, m/n seemed to return to his usual self but much less upbeat. He felt much closer to feixiao now and she was definitely keeping an eye on him much more, much to jiaoqiu’s confusion and sliiiiiiight jealousy. Moze just seemed glad that everything returned to normal. Later they’re was a red alert, the enemies of the hunt had teamed up with the borisin to attack a city.

All divisions quickly ran to the battlefield that was the city, massive clash can be heard from miles and miles away. Slowly, the city was being destroyed and both sides were begging to fall. This battle lasted for 3 whole months before the cloud knights came out victorious. Many soldiers fell yet one person was no where to be found. They searched everywhere, every sinkhole made, under every fallen building, and even a 50 mile radius to find him. But m/n was nowhere to be found.

Feixiao, Jiaoqiu, and Moze were hit the hardest by this. M/n had just started to return to normal, and now he was missing. No body, no scrap of dna, no armor or clothing. He just vanished. Feixiao refused to make a burial for m/n. She refused to accept that he was dead, she wouldn’t even humor it, the same for Jiaoqiu, who became even more attached to feixiao and despite to repay his debt to her, Moze became much more reclusive.

Years later, m/n was found. When feixiao and jiaoqiu heard this news, their face lit up like never before. They begged Moze to take them to him. But instead they were handed a paper. A wanted paper for Stellaron Hunter M/n. Bounty— 10,799,000,000

———

[deadtired-highkeyenergetic]

If you’re still doing prompts, could I request 15? Thank you!

Heyo so sorry for the wait!!! Hope you like it!

Kill.

It's not a word he's unfamiliar with. He's condemned people to be killed before, he's killed people before, but it has always been for his benefit. It has always been to protect himself, to gain money, and not once had the thought of killing to protect someone else crossed his mind.

That is until he met you.

You were kind, your heart open to any who came across but you still hid your darkest secrets deep within, secrets only he was privy to. While others held him at bay with a stake, you had let him in, dancing along to his melody in those late nights, whispering words that were so unfamiliar yet familiar. Maybe it was the way you said them, with that earnest look in your eyes, stirring emotions he thought he had lost a long time ago.

His hands ghost over your skin, tracing pattern after pattern as he has done so many times before, but this time he means every stroke. He wants to feel you, to hear your breaths in his ears, your blood thrumming through your veins. All he can give you is himself, his body, his ability to kill, and none of it can even begin to compare to everything you've given him.

His daggers sink into flesh as lifeblood pours out onto the floor, staining it a deep crimson. He stands over the man who tried to kill you, chest heaving for breaths he doesn't need and dodges as a dagger flies in his direction. With a flash of steel, his daggers bury themselves in yet another threat and sweet crimson liquid floods his tongue. He turns to check on you but you get to him first, anxiously fretting over him.

Your fingers brush along his bloodied strands of hair, sending tingles up his spine whenever your warm skin makes contact with his cold undead skin. His own bloodstained hand reaches up, fingertips hovering over your hand as he watches you, lost and confused. You glance around, checking that no one else is watching before slipping your hand into his, giving his hand a squeeze. Your hand leaves, now stained with the blood that is on his hand but you're smiling softly, gazing at him with such fondness that a strange warmth blooms in his chest.

He's never felt this way before.

He slips out of camp that night, dagger in hand and sinks the blade into the shadowy figure leaning against the tree. The figure drops to the ground, knife clattering in the dirt which he picks up, stowing it away before disposing the body. He sneaks back into camp, silently ducking into his tent where you continue to lie fast asleep.

He gets rid of his bloody clothes, hiding them in a corner he knows you will never find and slips into the bedroll you share, watching as your chest gently rises and falls, your sleep undisturbed. You shift, burrowing closer to him and he wraps an arm around you, burying his face in your hair.

You mumble something incoherently, clutching at his shirt so that you can curl up against him, nestling in his embrace. He feels a tightness in his chest, a flickering warmth spreading through his body that causes tears to prick the corners of his eyes.

No matter how bloodstained his hands are, how dirty he is, you always hold him without any reservations. Your hands always cradle him, gently caressing his face, whispering words of reassurance, love, and care. Whenever you hold him, you look as if you're holding the whole world in your hands. Your devotion to him, the way you always make your neck available to his fangs, the way you speak up for him when he struggles to, nothing he does can ever come close to paying the debt he's racked up.

So he does the one thing you can never bring yourself to do — kill. He plunges his daggers into the hearts of his enemies, your enemies, he tears open the throats of any who dare to hurt you, and cuts down all who stand against you. He kills and kills and kills, hoping that with each life he takes he can get just that little bit closer to repaying you.

And then you whisper the words he needed to hear.

"Repay me? Hmm I suppose you could do that by spending more time with me." You flash him a wide grin, his favourite laugh slipping from your lips. "There's nothing to repay though, really."

When you say those words, a weight is lifted from his chest but doubt still lingers. His gaze searches you for lies but you really mean it, and he's at a loss. His fingers brush over the hilt of the dagger tucked into his belt, unsure of what to do now.

He watches as you leave to talk to the others, mind churning with questions. All you want is for him to spend more time with you, and he supposes he can do that, but is there really nothing more he can offer you? He turns the dagger in his hand, its steel catching the sunlight and feels its reassuring weight in his palm. No, he can still offer you his daggers, for there will always be those who try to take advantage of your kind nature, and he will make them regret it.

With a twirl of his dagger, he thrusts the blade into your would-be assailant, relishing in the assailant's shocked face as his body collapses to the floor, covered in blood. His gaze turns to your figure standing in front of a fruit store, oblivious to the danger you were in moments before, and lets out a small huff of annoyance, making his way over to you.

Even if he constantly watched your back, you could at least have some sense of self-preservation. Still, it gave him a purpose, it made him feel needed. His daggers were still useful, his ability to kill was still put to good use, and that made him feel less anxious.

Maybe one day he wouldn't feel the need to prove his worth by killing, just like you clearly hope he will, but for now he will pull back his urge and only eliminate those who pose a grave threat to you. Only to protect that smile of yours.

He feels you rest against his shoulder, hands automatically finding his and can't help but smile softly to himself. No matter who he has to kill, he will protect you, your smile, your laughter, and all that you stand for.

[moosesarecute]

Part 14: The Shadows Sing

Part 13 Part 15

“I thought we had an agreement,” Master Raven told you. You could almost feel his patience slipping away.

“We did,” you said confidently. “We did, before you decided to make a deal with the people I despise the most in this world. Before you betrayed my trust.”

Master Raven let out a sigh.

“You’ll never pay your debt if this is all you hunt for. You’ve only gotten me three animals these two weeks!”

You were almost shaking with disbelief.

“You only have three things a week that I can hunt for. The rest is for the Illyrians! The Illyrians need this, the Illyrian needs that! What do you expect me to do?”

“I expect you to grow up, stop your childish tantrums and help the rest of your community!”

“Just give me my money.”

He handed you the small bag of money and you made your way out of his cabin. You tried to walk away fast, even though your prosthetic still was dragging against the ground.

“What happened to your prosthetic?”

You stopped.

“Your new friends jumped me.” You answered facing the door and not him.

“What did you do?”

Of course he immediately thought you did something.

You left, shaking your head as you walked out the door without closing it.

“Letter from master!” You had to hold in front of your ears as your shadows screamed at you.

“You delivered my letter to him right?” You immediately asked them.

“Yes! But Master’s shadows also had a letter!”

You let out a relieved sigh. You sat down at the table with the letter in your hand.

Your heart felt heavy. What if he told you he never wanted to see you again? He had been nothing but nice to you and to sent him away. Perhaps you ruined it.

“Open it! His shadows seemed happy!”

Probably happy to get rid of you.

You felt a hit to the back of your head.

“Hey!”

“They love you!”

Still hesitant about believing them, you opened the letter and started reading your illyrian’s beautiful handwriting.

My Huntress,

I’m sorry for reaching out. I know you wanted me to leave, but I just can’t stay away. If you tell me to leave again, I will listen. I crossed a line and I know that, but it won’t happen again. I promise.

My shadows would come give me updates on you and I can’t live with myself without helping you.

They told me you still have problems with your prosthetic, so I reached out to a master tinker from the Day Court. Turns out she gifted you the leg in the first place.

The screw that my shadows gave to yours will help with the mobility.

Please don’t hesitate writing back to me, I’m here if you need me.

x A

“You have the screw?” You asked your shadows.

When they didn’t answer you turned to look at them. All of them were frozen behind your shoulders, obviously having a peak at the content of the letter.

“What?”

“Read it again, Mistress,” they answered.

You did as they said, but you still didn’t get it.

“Again, Mistress.”

They told me you still have problems with your prosthetic, so I reached out to a master tinker from the Day Court. Turns out she gifted you the leg in the first place.

Turns out she gifted you the leg in the first place.

Gifted

Azriel stood leaning against the wall, listening to Devlon’s third excuse for why 15 of his illyrian warriors had disappeared.

Every time the male explained himself, the explanation was a little different then the last one.

“So you’re saying you know nothing about the rogue warriors that ambushed my brothers,” Rhys asked him. He looked extremely calm, but Azriel knew he wasn’t. “You don’t know how many they are?”

Devlon shook his head.

Feyre let out a sigh.

The meeting had been going on for almost two hours, without getting anywhere.

In two weeks they almost didn’t have any more information about the illyrians. Azriel had told his High Lady and Lord what you had told him, but it wasn’t much.

They wanted power, but how would they get it? Azriel hoped that you would know something and that his apology would help him get closer to you again.

Everyone turned their heads towards the door as Azriel’s shadows abruptly stormed into the room.

Rhys stood up, having come to the same conclusion as Azriel: something had to be seriously wrong.

His shadows were well behaved and knew when to not interrupt.

They rushed towards him and basically threw a paper bag at him.

He froze as he saw your rushed handwriting.

The illyrians are going to kidnap the High Lord and Lady’s son. They just left from here. They winnowed.

Please let me know he’s okay.

Azriel met Rhys’ concerned eyes as he bolted out the door. He immediately flew towards the cabin where he had lived with Rhys’ mother, Rhys and Cassian growing up.

The cabin where Nyx and Sonja currently were playing.

“Gone, dead.” His shadows told him, but he refused to believe them.

The door was open.

He landed on the ground and sprinted into the cabin.

“Blood, terror.”

“Pain, dead.”

He stopped as he entered the living room.

There Sonja laid on the floor. She was covered in blood and wasn’t breathing.

The rest of his family came storming into the living room where Azriel stood frozen.

“Where is he?” Feyre asked. “Where? Azriel, where is he?”

“The illyrians have him,” Azriel responded.

Feyre’s scream, Azriel was sure, could be heard throughout all seven courts.

For the first time in weeks you dared to shadow walk outside of your cabin.

You were simply too distressed to care.

He had lied to you, for over 50 years! You had paid back your debt for your training ages ago! He only told you half a year ago, but you had paid it was over five years ago!

You could have been free five years ago!

You had to force your shadows to stay behind as you stormed into Master Raven’s house. You had left everything behind and were still dragging your prosthetic against the ground.

“What the hell do you mean you lost him? How?” You heard Adrian’s muffled voice.

“He just disappeared in front of our eyes!”

You opened the doors.

“Get out,” you yelled at the illyrians.

“The bastard has come to play,” Adrian taunted you, but you didn’t care anymore. Your entire life was a lie.

You turned to Adrian.

“Get the fuck out!” You yelled and then turned your gaze to Master Raven. “Except for you.”

“You can’t just burst in here-“

“I know you’ve lied about my debt, so I think that means I can do whatever the fuck I want.”

You had silenced him. He rushed the illyrians out the cabin.

“So what is it you think you know?” Master Raven asked. His eyes were almost black with anger.

“My prosthetic was a gift. The money you have made me pay back hasn’t been used. You owe me money.”

“And tell me girl, how do you know this?” He asked tilting his head.

You’re not letting him intimidate you, not today.

“So you’re admitting that you lied.”

He let out a forced laugh.

“What would you have done? Where would you have gone? There’s no one here that wants to be with you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you have been talking to outsiders?” It was more like a statement rather than a question.

“Yes, I have.”

“That’s against the rules and you know it. I’m sure you know what happens to traitors.”

“I met him half a year ago, my debt was paid five years ago. You can’t hold me back for disobeying rules for the last five years.”

“You think I care?” Master Raven asked as The Raven lifted off the ground. “You, Y/N, are a traitor. And you know what we do with traitors.”

As The Raven got closer and closer to you, you realized you no longer had a choice. You had to get away and that fast.

You used all the power in your body and called your shadows. Luckily for you, they had been lingering in the shadows of the room the entire conversation.

It only took a couple of seconds and you were back in your cabin.

“Thank you,” you said holding back tears. “Thank you for everything. You’re the best thing that have ever happened to me.”

Your shadows embraced your entire body, but after a while they let go.

“We might have done something as you were gone.”

You felt dread fill your body. This can’t be good. It reminded you of the time you let them try out a new hunting technique and the almost burned down the entire forest.

You were ready to question them, but you soon realized you didn’t need to.

On your bed sat a small winged child and played with two of your shadows, the two you often called ‘the parents’. He couldn’t be older than two or three. He looked up at you with big blue eyes.

“Uncle Azzy!”

You felt your heart freeze as you realized that before you sat the heir of the Night Court.

“Fuck,” you muttered under your breath.

“Fuck!” Nyx repeated.

“No, shit, don’t say that!” You said rushing towards him.

“Shit!”

You felt a shadow hitting the back of your head.

“Are you hurt?” You carefully asked him.

He shook his head and continued to play with your shadows.

“Go get Azriel! Right now. As fast as you can. You have an hour at most. I’m going to pack.”

You sent away almost all your shadows, leaving only the two that played with Nyx behind. You knew that they travel the fastest in bigger groups.

Nyx jumped up from your bed and begun chasing your shadows around the cabin.

A different day and with different circumstances you could have enjoyed the sight, today however, it only made you annoyed.

Imagine having so little understanding about the dangers he was currently facing.

He ran around and you noticed his wings drooping and sometimes hitting the floor.

“You have to pick up your wings, you’ll hurt them if you drag them against the ground,” you said.

“Daddy always says the same thing!” He exclaimed. “Are you like Daddy? He can hide his wings.”

You only shook your head at his curiosity.

“No, I lost my wings many years ago.”

“But your illyrian?” He asked, pronouncing illyrian in the most adorable way.

“I was, but not anymore.”

“Do you miss it?”

That made you think. You missed flying. In the rare nights you had dreams instead of nightmares, you would be flying. Lately you were flying together with a certain illyrian, in your favorite dreams.

You also missed belonging to a place. In the Middle you felt quite lonely. You’d meet up with your group, but other than that, you were alone.

On the other side, you hated the way you were treated and would rather spend your life running than having to stay at one of the camps again.

“Mommy always says I can be whatever I want, so if you want to be an illyrian again, I think you could.”

His childish behavior made you smile.

Nyx continued playing with your shadows as you packed. It wasn’t a lot you needed, but you packed your letters from Azriel, the little food you had left and strapped all your weapons onto your body.

You were about to get Nyx and start leaving the forest when you heard a knock on your door.

You immediately turned to Nyx, you saw him open his mouth, but before he could speak, your shadows covered his mouth.

“Hide him in the closet! Don��t let anyone that isn’t me or Azriel come get him. You two stay here.”

You walked with heavy steps towards the door, so that they would hear you, but also to give yourself a little more time.

You opened the door to your cabin.

“Hello, traitor,” Adrian said. “Bastard, traitor, you really like the nicknames, don’t you?”

“What do you want?” You answered, sounding annoyed. You wouldn’t let him scare you. You had to stay strong, for Nyx.

Adrian shrugged and faster than you could react, smashed his fist into your jaw.

You immediately felt dizzy, but you knew you had to get you two away from your cabin. Away from Nyx.

“Too weak to fight back are we?”

You straightened your back and without actually seeing what you were doing jumped directly onto Adrian. The earth was spinning as you hit the ground.

“You bitch!”

The next thing you knew, was a fist crashing directly into your left eye and you fell into darkness.

“Who’s going in?” Cassian asked. “We know there’s at least 50 of them! We need many people.”

“We can’t send illyrians, that too risky. Some of them could turn against us mid fight.” Rhys argued.

“Why don’t we just show up and kill everyone in our way to get to him. I’m not sitting here waiting! It’s my son!” Feyre yelled.

“He’s my son too! They’ll kill him if we do that!”

Azriel just stood in the corner, brooding. How did he know the Illyrians were coming? It’s his fault, the entire thing!

“Mistress’ shadows are coming,” his shadows informed him.

Not even seconds later, he was tackled to the ground by your shadows. In a distance, Azriel could hear his family’s confused banter. Your shadows were swirling around him, he was certain he could see their mouths opening and closing. They were screaming at him.

“Calm down! It’s okay! Calm down,” he said and tried to pry them of him.

“What are they saying?” He asked his own shadows.

He patiently waited for them to communicate. They danced around each other as they spoke. Azriel could almost see the fondness between them.

“The leader betrayed Mistress, shadows rescued Nyx.”

“Where is Nyx now?”

“In Mistress’ cabin.”

“Thank the gods,” Azriel said in a sigh.

“What’s going on?” Feyre asked him.

“I know where Nyx is,” Azriel said.

“Take me to him,” Feyre said.

“But-“

“NOW!”

Azriel gave his High Lady a nod and shadow walked them, together with your shadows, into The Middle.

Unfortunately, it was also directly into the Illyrian’s trap.

@i-have-a-thing-for-the-dark @saltedcoffeescotch @rcarbo1 @mrsjna @kitsunetori @thecraziestcrayon @blessthepizzaman @mybestfriendmademe @scatteredstardustt @lilah-asteria @aaahhh0127 @topaz125 @miadialila

[knight-of-flowerss]

BLOOD SACRIFICE

Vampire!Benjicot 'Davos' Blackwood x Septa!Reader

There will be smut so Minors DNI 18+

SNIPPET OF ONE OF THE THREE STORIES!

Synopsis: Many say the church can protect you against evil, that’s a lie. You pray to the Seven for forgiveness and protection, but they do not grant it. The stranger himself gets invited into the church, what will you do when he bears his fangs and gives you the choice between death or lust?

The stained glass shines from the illumination of the moon, the light refracting and casting shadows. My veil covers my hair, billowing down my back and coating the floor in the laced fabric.

My hand clutches my rosary, my mouth moving fast as I mutter prayers to the Seven. There had been talks of a monster amongst us. Murders of young, vulnerable women had become the new town myth, they say a Vampire.

Yes, a Vampire apparently walks amongst us. Ridiculous but precautions must be maintained.

We do not know if the Vampire is tall or short. Young or old. Pretty or ugly. All we know is that there is someone with a bloodlust amongst us.

My prayers are dedicated to the Seven, specifically the Warrior. I prayed to him for protection, to help rid us of this foul disease plaguing the Riverlands.

"I pray to the Warrior for protection and bravery, give me strength and safety and I will forever be in your debt." I mutter, my eyes closed and mind blank, only focusing on the words I’m speaking and which of the Seven I am praying to.

After praying to the Warrior, the Father, Mother, Maiden, the Crone and even the Smith, I go to pray to the Stranger, but something stops me.

I hear a scratch on wood. I stop my prayer for a few seconds, listening to hear. Nothing. So I go back to praying. "I pray to the Stranger-" scratch, scratch, scratch.

I pause, my eyebrows furrowing as I finally open my eyes, moving my eyes around the very empty church, my eyes land on nothing. There is nothing here with me. There must be rats in the wall.

I open my mouth to continue before a loud banging makes me jump and drop my rosary. I look behind me and see the door shake with the sheer force of the knocks.

Once the knocks cease I get the courage to call out in the darkness, "Who comes here at the hour of the wolf?"

Silence. "Answer me!" Silence as well.

I stand up from my sitting position, discarding my rosary as it lays neglected on the floor. I slowly walk towards the large double doors, my bare feet planting on the cold stone.

My body reaches the door, fingers instinctively reaching out and grabbing onto the handle. I go to pull it but I hesitate. What was on the other side? A cat? A person? The killer?…

You only live once, if I am to die then I am to die, it is what the Seven want.

I use a lot of my strength to pull open one of the doors to reveal the cold to the warm.

As my eyes scour as much as the darkness allows me to see. I turn my head right, nothing. I turn my head left, a shadow.

I shriek out of shock, jumping as I look at the body before me. A man. He has scruffy black hair, a cocky grin and a scar above his lip.

"Greetings, Septa." He smirks, enjoying my reaction. Who was this man? "Greetings… how may I help you?…" My tone is sceptical, unsure.

"I need a place to rest until the morrow. Well, it already is, what I mean is when the sun rises." He flashes a charming but cocky smile, stepping slowing infront of me. He was tall and lean, towering over me.

"Of course, you could have just came inside you know? Come, step inside, you are always welcome at the Church." His smile widens and turns into a smirk. His eyes flashing an emotion I cannot put my finger on. But it wasn’t just an emotion. I swear I had saw his deep, dark eyes flash a bright red, but it was dark, the hour of the wolf, I am just tired.

I welcomed the young man inside, smiling politely as I let him in. Shutting the door, I do not realise the danger I face. I have just locked myself in an isolated Church with a Vampire. Gods help me…

Tags: @thethreeeyed-raven @lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom

[azurlily]

OMG I loved the hange one u wrote Tysm for that your writing is so pretty can I have a a similar one but with a house pet reader and Sachiko Juraku -🐢

Omfg!!! Yessss!!! Also so happy to see you twice today 🐢!(A reminder to everyone, dont repost or reblog without redit!)

Dating Sachiko Juraku as a Housepet

Oh you poor thing. How the hell did you get yourself in this situation??

You gambled yourself into this predicament, you thought you were good enough to fight a big dog.

How wrong you were

Sachiko Juraku, she saw you first when a bunch of guys were getting a bit too touchy. She watched for a few minutes before intervening.

"Why, hello there boys, if you dont mind, I'll be taking this pretty thing with me!"

She'll take you to a private, and unused classroom and look at you for a bit. She's never been this interested in someone before.

You became her little enigma. She stared at you some more, keeping her tight grip she pulled you closer. It was official. In her mind at least.

You became her new toy(soon to be girlfriend).

She started taking you with her everywhere. When she gambled, when she was doing council work, she's even taken you home.

Now, of course when you two officially start dating she acts differently. She treats you with more respect, and is nicer.

Don't forget your place though. She could have gotten rid of your debt, but she hasn't and she wont.

Why? You might ask. Well it's simple.

If you were to ever decide you didn't want the relationship, she could easily hold your debt over you. Use it.

She'll make a life plan for you to put it plainly.

She knows it wrong but she doesn't care. You're hers and she intends to keep it that way.

It doesn't really matter if you're a house pet or not, but she's protective as hell. As well as possessive. She owns you.

Mind. Body. Soul.

All of it, it's all hers, all of you is hers. She just loves you so damn much.

She definitely spoils you, 100% a sugar mommy once you two have an established relationship.

You want it? She's got it. You two are out on a lavish date and you see a pretty necklace, or a cute dress, maybe some nice shoes. Just say the word and it's yours. All of it.

Sachiko hates it when you have to leave. Wether it's for class or something else. It doesn't matter. She needs you by her side and she hates seeing you go.

Very touchy, she sees you as her property(especially when you're a house pet). She needs everyone to know you've been claimed.

She buys you a set of bracelets that have her first and last name on them. If her little pet gets lost she can always find you.(the cuffs have a tracking device in them)

If you didn't like her at first, it doesn't matter. You'll learn to love her(she kinda a yandere in general) you have to. She loves you and expects love, affection, and adoration.

She of course gives you all these things. In her own way.

When you two fight she usually waits it out. Even if she knows it's her fault she wont admit it. She'll wait for you to come crawling back.

After all without her protection who is going to save you from all the big, bad, mean men in the school. She might even order a few to bug you.

That's all she'll tell them to do though. Just bug you, if they dare do more...she'll kill them.

When you come crawling back she apologizes, in her own way. She buys you whatever you want. She usually does this but for about the next two to three weeks after your fight she's buying you things more than usual.

She'll even just give you straight cash if you want. You've learned this is her way of apologizing without having to be verbal.

You're her pet and even if you two fight she knows(as do you) you'll come back.

NSFW UNDER THE CUT

Oh... oh no. Just no. You are going to be in so much pain. I feel so bad for you, she's going to fuck you til you're raw.

Rough dom, she's hard, fast, and makes sure it hurts. She loves seeing you cry in pain, it brings her more pleasure than you'll ever know.

She'll bend you over any surface if she's horny enough. Her desk, a random surface in her house, a desk in an unused classroom. Anywhere.

Kinkyiest bitch you'll ever meet. She loves the strap specifically. She loves having you warm it, suck it, honestly she just loves destroying any hole she can get to.

Some days she's feeling more feral, she wants you raw. No toys, no lube, fucking nothing. She wants to naked with your legs spread out, ready for her and her alone.

Other days she feels the need to fuck you til you pass out. Those are the days when student council business isn't going as well as it should be.

She makes it hurt, she's quite the sadist after all.

She has a few special collars with different things ingrained in them. One says Mistresses Slut in a beautiful font. Another says GOOD GIRL in bold, glittery pink letters.

She even has one that says Property of Sachiko Juraku(theres a little tag that says how to return you to her) she loves the idea that her little pet is also her pet in the bedroom.

You want her? Beg, you dumb bitch. That's all you are, a dumb little bitch. You're useless for anything that doesn't involve getting your brains fucked out.

You need her, dont you? You need her strap, her fingers, ever her shoes to rut against like the slut you are.

Sachiko loves propping you up in front of the mirror, making you watch as she sluts you out. Making you watch as she turns that pretty brain of yours into rot.

That's all it needs to be anyway. Rot. It's not like you actually need your brain. You're her dumb bitch, her beautiful little pet that sits so prettily on her lap.

You know it, she knows it too. All you have to do is beg and she'll turn you into the good pet she knows you can be.

Shes just so rough with you and sometimes you need her to be gentle! You need slow and gentle!

She can and will provide that. Grant it you will make it up to her later.

She'll take you nice and slow with her strap, making sure it's deep. She start with slow thrusts getting faster,(and a bit rougher) but never getting past a certain point.

She spreads you out and talks you through it. These are one of your few real intimate moments. She wont do this until you're her official partner. Heavens no! She wouldn't be caught dead treating a house pet like this...

Unless you're her house pet! When you start officially dating and you work up the courage to ask her about this, she's more than willing.

Now as for aftercare, when you're just her house pet it was short and sweet. She cleaned you up a bit with a few reassuring words and then kicked you out.

It hurt, but when you start dating it's a whole new story.

She's so sweet, she cleans you up, gets you food, and turns on television for you.

You started keeping extra clothes in her office and her house in case it was too much and you needed to stay longer than intended.

She loves you, even if she don't act it, you're hers. Her plaything, her slut, her pet, her lover, her beautiful little thing. You're hers and that is something that throughout your entire relationship she will remind you of.

[bringbackgoth]

Putting here a note I posted on another pessimistic take regarding the presumed Dem Nominee:

I have been seriously floored by all the pessimism I’ve seen surrounding this extremely predictable and honestly inevitable event. Kamala is a cop, and has participated in unforgivable acts. We should always keep this in mind. With this in mind, she was one of the few Democrats in the Senate that voted against Israel, and, overall as a senator, was very progressive. At times even voting more progressively than Bernie Sanders. As a presidential candidate in 2019 - she proposed more radical federal abortion protections that went beyond Roe v Wade, limiting state abortion laws. As a presidential candidate, she proposed a $10 trillion climate plan. As a senator, she was an original co-sponsor of the non-binding resolution defining the Green New Deal aimed at transitioning the U.S. to 100 percent clean energy within a decade while providing people with job guarantees and “high-quality health care.”(backed by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). She also said in 2019 that there was “no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,”. In 2020 Harris said she was “prepared to get rid of the filibuster” (which Biden long opposed) to pass it in the face of GOP opposition to climate action. Harris was an early voice inside the administration advocating for forgiving student debt, even before Biden. Harris’ own plan from her 2019 presidential campaign, which would have offered forgiveness for Pell grant recipients who start businesses, drew criticism from progressives who called it confusing and less ambitious than proposals from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). More recently, Harris was the face of the Biden administration’s decision in 2022 to wipe out all debt owed by hundreds of thousands of students who attended Corinthian Colleges, a chain of for-profit schools that Harris prosecuted as California attorney general. She supports free colleges(including fees) for ALL Americans attending 2-year colleges(and 4 year colleges for middle class students which I'm weirded out by but I'm not going to oppose any 'free college' narratives)

There are a few more things to add, I got all of this from an article on Politco about how the Harris administration might differ from Biden and I encourage you to look into it and check the sources or do your own diligence.

This article is only comparing Harris to Biden which I think is a huge failure and I plan to compare these same points to the Trump administration to really get an idea on what we might be going up against.

Remember that in the USA, in the Presidential Election, we might not be voting for the candidate that conforms perfectly with our own ideology... We are voting for the candidate that we believe we have the best chance of influencing, the candidate that might actually listen to what the American Populace is screaming at them.

That wasn't Joe Biden, clearly, and send a thank you to all of the dems in the senate in congress that pressured him out. Kamala, however, is much more likely to listen to the country, especially when it comes to Netanyahu. She condemned Israel as early as December.

Trump will fast-track the genocide in Gaza. His sons have already spoken out about how ripe Gaza is for premium real-estate.

VOTE

[horizon-verizon]

If Helaena was more active, that would require writing new plot bits / dedicate her extra scenes, and who needs that when she is an NPC with no notable actions in this story ? Helaena was not an important character in the book, and it limits her show version because there is no space for her actions in the plot. That’s why she isn’t allowed to actively try and do something, unlike pretty much every other Targ with visions. Writers just noticed that it is impossible to get rid of her entirely despite how passive she is in the book and how non-character she is, so they decided to give her a gimmick ability of pointless predictions that casual watchers may find interesting. Her muttering vague spoilers while being ignored doesn’t require time or extra work, costs nothing but creates some illusion of character depth, mystery and importance.

Basically she is “letting her dreams guide her” to the window instead of boringly jumping into it because she is now fancy cute special magical girl.

Helaena was not an important character in the book, and it limits her show version because there is no space for her actions in the plot. That’s why she isn’t allowed to actively try and do something, unlike pretty much every other Targ with visions. Writers just noticed that it is impossible to get rid of her entirely despite how passive she is in the book and how non-character she is, so they decided to give her a gimmick ability of pointless predictions that casual watchers may find interesting.

I think it's more of what I describe HERE, HERE, esp HERE. Because while she has only two lines/actions of note before her descent into grief-madness and suicide in the book:

Princess Helaena was breaking her fast with her children when the Kingsguard came to her…but when asked the whereabouts of Prince Aegon, her brother and husband, she said only, “He is not in my bed, you may be sure. Feel free to search beneath the blankets."

("The Blacks and the Greens") “Scream and you all die,” Blood told Her Grace. Queen Helaena kept her calm, it is said. “Who are you?” she demanded of the two. “Debt collectors,” said Cheese. “An eye for an eye, a son for a son. We only want the one, t’ square things. Won’t hurt the rest o’ you fine folks, not one lil’ hair. Which one you want t’ lose, Your Grace?” ("A Son for a Son")

you can can still develop a character from these actions/words (again, look to that last linked post). It's not impossible, bc there iss till action and context and how she is used/relates to her family by how they conduct themselves, why they are usurping Rhaenyra, what justifications they use, the entire point of the Dance and its effect, and their own values. To think about the effect that may have on Helaena in conjuction w/what we see above in the quotes: how can/could she have become that.

So if the writers did feel this:

it is impossible to get rid of her entirely despite how passive she is in the book and how non-character she is

they aren't very imaginative or observant as they think. So I also still agree that it partially comes from egotistical, intellectual laziness:

Her muttering vague spoilers while being ignored doesn’t require time or extra work, costs nothing but creates some illusion of character depth, mystery and importance.

Helaena of the orig story may not do great actions aside from kill herself in such a graphic way (GRRM again with the graphic violence women go through being the starkest thing they do), but it's worse when you make her even more passive by making her keep her dreams to herself and using them to make her seem more mysterious than she is. And Helaena actually was important plot wise--mechanically--bc it is her Sophie's Choice then suicide that comes to Rhaenyra's having to flee KL, as GRRM mentions in his deleted Sept 4 blog post.

Because the other thing is that mystery in ASoIaF usually works as a mystery when there is non-revealing information suggested to both the characters AND readers; whereas HotD Helaena's "mystery" is known to the audience but not the characters & thus it really doesn't hit and is not real "mystery" so much as futility and an attempt at pleasing some in the audience at the expense of developing her.

Which is another reason why she feels so empty and is still not that compelling for many people in the audience.

[the-sweet-madame]

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓉𝓎. (𝘟𝘪𝘢𝘰 𝘹 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳)

Summary: You are an adeptus. You and Xiao go to clear out hillicurl camps but then your karmic debt decided to say "hello!" Xiao now has to fight you out of it. Ends in fluff!

Warnings: Fighting, giving into insanity ig i think

Notes: THIS WAS A REQUEST FROM WATTPAD!! I was so happy and also panicked ahaha hehe.

Female Reader! Happy reading! :)

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

'Destroy it all,' They whispered, fury swirling in their voices as they waltzed dangerously inside her mind. 'Eliminate all threats.'

(Name) shook her head frantically, suppressing the deadly urge to summon her spear. But they persisted more than ever, it wasn't ever that bad. Today was only supposed to be a day to get rid of hillichurl camps with Xiao. Oh, Xiao. She became more alert of her surroundings, as well as the gentle crunching of the grass beneath the other yaksha's feet, slowly approaching her.

Slowly approaching her.

"NO!" She finally lashed out, trying to focus on the figure in front of her. "Do not come any closer."

He seemed to be telling her something, worriedly. But it only landed on deaf ears, the souls of the damned thrashed within the confinements of her mind. If only they'd make it stop, she pleaded. The want to give in, to just give up and to let them take reign of her vessel. It could be that easy, she wouldn't need to fight.

Her eyes widened. He came closer.

"No," She murmured, clutching her head. Her voice raspy as she summoned her spear, "Must eliminate all living beings."

She fell to her knees, the overwhelming sense of pure insanity circulating through her body as she plunged her spear to the ground with a deathly grip. A feeble attempt to grasp the fleeting sense of reality. They were calling. They were loud. Louder than anything.

It hurt.

The memories of those innocent lives she stole away with a swift oscillation of her sword without hesitation or a tinge of sympathy.

The pain was unbearable.

An ear-piercing scream left her, fire sprouting from her being. She hoped the familiar smell of smoke invading her lungs would keep her grounded as the blazing orange flames licked the surface around her hungrily. But it was all in vain as she rose from the ground, her sword ready in her hand.

The desire to wreak havoc grew quickly, to the point where she could finally lash out. She chuckled; it was just too laughable. The pain, her emotions and her finally freely inviting the souls to feed upon her sanity. All of this in front of her beloved adeptus. 

She caught the movement of a silhouette flitting above and across the raging fire. The wind being strong enough to extinguish the flames.

"[Name]! You must gain control before it is too late!" Oh, his voice. It was euphonious to her ears, the concern in his voice so very endearing.

She wanted to reach out to him, but she had already drowned too deep to answer his calls.

"One must obliterate all opponents," (Name) snarled at him, swinging her sword at him. "Not even you shall be spared, Alatus."

Her spear clashed with his, the dull sound lingered in his ears. Her face held a grim expression as their weapons continuously clanged, her eyes emblazoned with insanity. He had to get her to snap out of it. Fast.

"[Name], remember who you are." He kept his voice calm, like he how he was always trained to. Yet again, his words had fell on deaf ears.

He couldn't manage to get another word out as she rapidly slashed at him with her flaming spear.

Spirals of anemo and pyro danced together across the field as he dodged her constant attacks. She was fast but so was he. It was a battle of speed and stamina. Xiao used that to his advantage, attempting to wear her out as she kept facing him head-on with all her strength with every hit. She did not care. No, she wasn't thinking. It wasn't her.

The flames roared against the pushing weight of the wind; the smoke hovering around made it harder to locate her. Focus, he breathed. He concentrated, relying on sound as he held up his guard. His eyes widened like saucers at the fast pitter-patter of shoes headed in his direction with inhumane speed, behind him.

Their spears had clashed, the glimmering gold traced on her spear glared daggers at him. She was so close, so very close to press her spear against his throat. Her eyes gleamed dangerously; it wasn't her. He kept reminding himself. The way she fought was different. She is far more calculating and precise rather than pure ruthlessness with such simple-minded thinking.

She began to push. Xiao grunted, pushing back to keep the sharp material of her spear away from his throat. She let out a guttural growl at his persistence. Her adeptal strength was admirable, it made him proud to fight alongside such a strong warrior. Neither of them budged. He couldn't fight her properly without fatally injuring her.

Stay calm, he told himself.

"Remember who you are." Xiao breathed out slowly, emphasising each word. His honeyed eyes looked deep into hers, watching the realisation flood her eyes. It finally clicked to her, like the missing piece of a puzzle was finally placed.

"Who I am?" She questioned; the strong, deadly flames faded into embers on the tip of her spear. "I am..."

[Name], protector of Liyue. She took in a deep breath, savouring the sweet taste of reality. The yelling of the damned soothed into whispers. Her arm dropped, her weapon dispersing into gold glimmers then into nothing.

She was so tired.

Her body felt like lead, light-headedness seeping into her being. She managed a small smile at her lover who seemed to be more relieved than her. They both gazed fondly at each other as she spoke, her voice croaky with pure tiredness.

"Thank you, Xiao."

At last, he had cracked a smile at her, both of them idly standing.

"Anytime." He nodded, "Are you injured? How do you feel?"

She wanted to reply but exhaustion was winning as she attempted to fight against it, the invitation to fall into a deep sleep was so tempting. But, before she knew it, her knees had buckled.

However, she did not touch the ground.

Xiao caught her swiftly, a hand tucked under her knees and the other underneath her back. Her head knocked against his chest, her body relaxed and breathing. She was alive and healthy. Again, the corners of his lips quirked upwards. That was all that mattered to him. He sighed to himself and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, her lips lingering for a second before he pulled back. Then, their figures disappeared into charcoal and forest-green smoke. He only hoped it didn't happen again anytime sooner. 

[lulue-xie]

Started to write it but don't get much motivation for it.

Linked with this

Jounouchi × Hirutani, gang setting, smut and toxic/unbalanced relationship.

“Oh shit !” He bites his lip when he feels him go deeper in him, he didn’t remember when the good boy praise turned into this. At first, he was just a teen watching for some attention, a little diamond to polish like he said, but everything ran faster than him and here he was, playing the slut for his boss, at least it felt good.

“Seen like you enjoy it, hm?” Hirutani pulls his hair and makes him go farther on his dick. He only knows how to do rough sex, going fast and hard on him.

Jounouchi gets a shuddered breath before a last devastating thrust on his prostate pushes him over the edge, and he cums into the wall he is pressed on. He can hear Hirutani grunting in his neck before grabbing his hip with force to cum in turn, inside him.

“Good, I need a shower.” Jounouchi passes his hand in his hair before putting back his underwear and pants, he doesn't want to feel all the semen running over his tights. The boss does the same after cleaning himself, he throws some tissues at him.

“At least clean my wall Jou” Looking annoyed.

Jounouchi rolls his eyes.

“I was thinking you loved my art, boss.” cleaning the wall without waiting.

“If you have finished, I will go back home.” walking past him.

“Don’t be late tomorrow for your match.”

“Yeah yeah.” Waving him goodbye.

In the shower, finally safe in his home, he fingers himself to get rid of Hiratuni's remains. He liked the sex but he was always annoyed when he did it raw on him, cleaning all this mess took too long.

Hiratuni gave him safety and all he needed, in exchange Jounouchi just had to help him with money. Until he became a little star of illegal boxing he was collecting the debt of others, ironic when you knew he had his own father's debt to pay.

He uses his fist a lot and he loves that, the rush of adrenaline when his fist touches other's skin, the feel of blood between his fingers, he was born a natural fighter.

Sex was just a bonus.

***

The next day he was preparing himself in the locker room, as a regular winner he has more privacy than others. The privilege to make the money flow.

He can see his boss speaking with some money bags when he puts his shoes on. He starts to band his hands, habitually Hiratuni helps him with it and it was annoying to do it alone but business doesn't wait in this world.

“Look at this mess” Hiratuni sighs before he sits before him, taking his hand. “Can’t you wait for 5 min?” He starts to redo the bandage on Jounouchi’s hand.

“What was that?” Pointing his chin where the rich man was standing minutes ago.

“One more to ask for your price, Jou.” Smiling at him. “They really think they can get my champion out of my hands.”

Jounouchi just hm at that. He doesn’t know if it was a good idea to get out of the gang, it was comfortable and secure. He knows what was before him. Yes Hiratuni had his temper, but he was more family than anything he knew.

[kisstheashes]

i dont think im a capitalist, but the way my brain thinks about money makes me feel like one.

like i think ab that popular post about not keeping any money around, and just trying to get rid of money as fast as possible as a reaction to being poor

and i jus dont get it cuz I'm a dragon. i hoard my money. every cent wasted drags on me for some undetermined amount of time. Every dollar gained is fitted into my finances- same with the losses. I make tip money with my job so throughout the week I'm constantly evaluating and reevaluating how much money i have and how much is going towards bills and necessities and how much I can use for food and how much I can use for play. Whenever I buy something I recalibrate and re-restrict myself on my spending.

I add my coins and my cash and my savings and my bank account all separately, and slot out plans for my coins, for my debit account, for my cash, and for any leftover for savings or for credit card debt. All of these numbers constantly cycle through my head, and the first thing I plan while planning trips or anything is the cost. How much will it cost? How much do I have to set aside, how much will I need in the moment? When is my paycheck coming in, how much of that will be left at that time? What parts of the trip do we pay for ahead of time, so it doesn't count into the money I'll have day of the trip? And I do this for every. Single. Aspect. Sometimes it's more exact numbers, sometimes it's ballpark. But I always always always always check the numbers. I have to keep account of my money. I have to make sure there's enough for me to not fucking panic.

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

Did you miss me? Admit it, you missed me! The chapter is well over halfway done, and I got some other stuff cooking, so probably at the end of September, everything will be out.

With Macaque doing most of the work, the two trudged out of the wire work, past the main hub, and past the chain link fence that surrounded the building. Once they were past the fence, Macaque set PB down, propping her into a sitting position against the fence before giving her another look over. 

“Eyes focused, good. Breathing, a little labored but steady, you know your name so we can rule out concussion. Mmm, you look a little pale. You sure you feel ok?”

“I’m fine, really.” PB assured him. “This just takes a lot out of me to do, lot of energy…”

“You sound like you’ve done this before.”

“Once or twice… Or maybe more, I don’t really know how often I did it.”

Macaque stared at her with wide eyes… before he started to laugh. He laughed and laughed so hard he fell back onto his rear, before looking at PB. “You’re nuts, Pops. Has anyone ever told you that before?”

“A few times yeah,” PB smiled tiredly at him. “But when you say it, it sounds nice. Like your giving me a compliment.”

“Yeah, well… don’t go spreading that around, ok? I can’t let people know I care, I got a reputation to maintain here.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Macaque smiled, and then his ears twitched again. PB saw it, and the pensive look on his face. “What is it?”

“Lemme see your wrist real quick, ok?” PB complied, tiredly handing him one of her arms. Macaque pressed a couple fingers there and then waited, patiently listening. “Your pulse is insanely fast.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s all the extra electrical energy running through my body. It won’t kill me, but I’m gonna have a hard time falling asleep later.”

Macaque nodded along. Finding that, while rapid, her pulse was steady. She did say she’s done this before, Macaque thought. Probably better to just take her word for it. Worse case scenario, he knew there was at least one other hospital in this city she wasn’t banned from. 

The shadow monkey was about to let go when he noticed the scars on PB’s arms. Criss-crossing this way and that, covering just about every inch of skin that was visible. Macaque frowned, “This wasn’t from today, was it? I thought I saw these earlier in the cave.”

PB frowned, turning her head away. “You got me… Could you maybe not tell anyone else, though, please? I mean, MK, Mei, and Bai He know, but… but please don’t say anything. I… I don’t like thinking or talking about them if I don’t have too.”

“Ok, I won’t.” Macaque paused, not releasing her wrist. “… you want me to cover them up for you?”

“How… how could you do that?”

“With a glamor. I have a few different ones going right now. Heck, I usually don’t leave the house without at least three on. I’ve gotten pretty good at them over the years, so covering your arms and legs shouldn’t be difficult.”

“You would… you would do that for me?”

“Yeah, if you want me too.”

“… Why would you want to do that for me?”

Macaque stared at her incredulously. “Pops… you just turned yourself into solid gold to strangle and electrocute the man who has been tormenting us for the last twenty four hours, because he threatened the safety and well being of people you have known for maybe two days. Not to mention I really care about and don’t want at least two of those people to not get hurt. Putting a glamor on you so you can feel a little more comfortable in your own skin is the least I can do.”

PB stated at the mystic monkey as if she didn’t want to believe him. She shook her head, “I-I couldn’t possibly—”

“Let’s look at it this way,” Macaque held up a hand to shush her. “We’ll call it a favor returned.”

“Favor returned?”

“Yeah! You did me a favor by… getting rid of the fake mayor guy and protecting Bai He when I wasn’t around. So, me doing this is just me returning the favor. No debts to settle, no deals to make, nothing to worry about.”

Macaque watched as PB turned the words over in her head. Slowly, she began to smile, liking the idea. “How… how long does it last?”

“Either until you tell me to stop or something happens to me and I gotta recall my magic.” Macaque shrugged. 

“So, like when you fall asleep?”

“No, not even then. I keep all my glamours in my sleep. Easier that way.”

“O-ok then, let’s do it!”

[daydreamgoddess14]

First Impressions

MASTERLIST

Ahem. Hi. I've never posted on Tumblr before. Yet here I am with a mad crush on River Cartwright and instead of working all day, I did this. I'm not entirely sure I know how to post on Tumblr so forgive me if this is all kinds of wrong! I'm a grown woman and i haven't written a fictional word in about 15 years so I'm rusty af. If you hate it then that's fine too, it'll just live rent free in my head :)

First Impressions

Rive Cartwright/OFC

Rating: general for now. I might be a smut writer- who knows!

*********

“Ma’am, I think we’ve got a problem?” The nervous desk sergeant wrung his hands as he hovered outside the open plan office door at Aldgate station. “It’s about the fella in the cells. He wasn’t taking the piss, he’s MI5. Well, sort of anyway.” DI Lexie Andrews looked up from her laptop,

“Shit. I’ll be down in 5. Move him to an interview room please. And for godsake remove the cuffs.”

River was bloody freezing, he’d been full of adrenaline – running as fast as his legs would take him

when his mark had disappeared and he was left to crash head first into two police officers helping a tourist. Heart pounding, manic eyes and sweating, he certainly hadn’t helped the cause of not getting arrested. And then there was the total lack of I.D. And the gun shoved into the back of his jeans.

Lamb was going to have a field day with this one. He was sat in the cell, legs splayed, elbows on his

knees and his head in his hands when the cell door opened with a dull clunk. The young officer

who’d booked him in was stood in the doorway with a set of keys.

“If you could come with me sir, we’re just going to one of the interview rooms and I’ll get rid of the

cuffs.” Well, that hadn’t taken too long. His watch was sat somewhere in a locker, but he knew he’d

only been in the cell for around an hour. The sun, which had been low in the sky when he was

arrested, had just settled beneath the horizon.

“You ran my name and prints?”

“Yes sir, all confirmed.”

“So can’t I just go?”

“We’ll just be a couple of minutes, if that’s ok?” the officer looked so earnest, River hadn’t the heart

to get too angry. He stood with a sigh and weaved through the dingy grey corridors. Within a couple

of minutes, the door which had been left slight ajar was pushed open.

“Mr. Cartwright? Apologies – do you go by agent? I’m DI Lexie Andrews, I’m the only one left to come with the grovelling apology I’m afraid – the officers who arrested you originally have gone back out to a disturbance.”

“River is fine, I get it – no ID, no phone, they had no way to know who I really was. Not thoroughly anyway.”

“Thank you, that’s very gracious. You may not have had a phone, but they certainly did, and they’ll

be reminded of that when they get back. It’s not like ‘I’m an MI5 agent’ is a common tactic for avoiding arrest around here.”

“No harm, gave me a chance to get my breath back.” River replied with a wry grin.

“Well, we are forever in your debt – if there’s anything you need from us in terms of feet on the

ground, just give me a call.” Lexie slid her card across the table with an additional number

handwritten across the top, “that’s my mobile number in case your request falls on deaf ears here.”

“Appreciate it, thank you.” Lexie reached into her back pocket and handed him his watch,

“I think this is all you were booked in with?”

“Yeah, helpfully my ID and phone are back at Slough House.”

“Your gun is locked away, I’ll get Lewis to give it back as you leave. I didn’t realise MI5 have an office over this way to be honest. Do you want a lift back, I’m on my way out anyway?”

“That would be great, not sure I’m ready to run back to be honest.” Lexie smiled,

********

“You head to the front desk for your gun, and I’ll get my bag.”

By the time River was back at Slough House, only Lamb remained upstairs. On hearing the front door, his signature callsign sounded through the building to summon River to the top floor.

“Did you collapse and have a heart attack or something?” he asked as River slumped into the chair across the desk.

“How did you manage that, you fucking idiot?”

“Better than that, I got arrested.”

"Ran into two coppers with my gun and no ID”

“Fucking idiot.” Lamb repeated

“The DI apologised and let me go as soon as she realised. Could be useful to have her as an ally – in

case we ever need some help?”

“You fancy her more like,” Lamb scoffed and mimicked a high pitched impression of River, “I’ll just keep her on side in case I want to get my dick wet.”

“You’re disgusting. I’m going home.”

“You didn’t deny it.”

“She was gorg- actually, doesn’t matter. I’m going home. I’m ignoring you.”

“Don’t let that phone number burn a hole in your pocket. You never know when you’ll need an ally”

********

Lamb cackled as River made a swift exit. “Fucking idiot.”

Lexie felt as if she’d been pushed out of the depths of the tube station rather than walking out. She

was shoulder barged in a wave of people into the sunlight and at once stood to one side away from

the steps. Coffee. It was definitely time for coffee. It had been a few days since she’d driven River

back to Slough House. She’d parked outside for a couple of minutes, peering up at the four storey

block which had certainly seen better days. It didn’t look like MI5. She’d dropped a couple of texts to

old station-mates and had been enlightened to the true purpose of the ‘Aldgate branch’ and

discussed the findings with her lesser-spotted flatmate the next night.

“Failed agents. That’s what they are at Slough House. No good for real MI5 – for whatever reason.”

Her flatmate, an A&E doctor, looked up from her first hot meal in three days.

“So, you think you’re meeting James Bond, but he’s actually the poor man’s James Bond?”

“Didn’t look like the poor man’s version” Lexie laughed.

“Did you get his number?” Sophie asked, abandoning her dinner and picking up her wine glass,

“what’s his name?”

“No, I was on duty. Besides, that’s a bit… I dunno. His name is River.”

“Modern, empowering? Unusual name. Does he have a surname?”

“Forward. I don’t do forward. I do shy and retiring, don’t put yourself out there, must protect self.

What do you need a surname for? Planning to authorise your own background check?”

“Never meet anyone, never enjoy yourself, never open yourself up to new friends and stay alone

forever?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Sophie raised her eyebrows, “I’m joking. I’m not eternally single. I’m just single at the moment.” Lexie clarified.

“Sounds boring. You need some fun. Surname?”

“What’s with the surname?”

“I’m just curious. You never know when a tall, gorgeous man will turn up in A&E”

“I have two points there, one, I never said he was gorgeous. Two, I need some fun? Said the doctor

who works about 80 hours a week and basically lives at the hospital?”

“Ah, but there is a life at the hospital. And spare student rooms to bunk in.”

“With a very beautiful co-worker by any chance?” Lexie challenged.

“Jess and I take whatever time together we can. Would it be nice to go out, go to the theatre or for

dinner? Yes, of course. But this is our current reality, so we make the best of it. Speaking of, she’s

just about to have a pee break so I’m going to call her and say goodnight.”

“Tell her I miss her, tell her I’ll cook next time your both off. Maybe around 2025? His surname is Cartwright.”

********

“Is that the time or the year?! I’ll look out for him in A&E. Surely an MI5 agent who manages to get

arrested is bound to end up there sooner or later.” Sophie grinned as she disappeared with her

phone. Sophie had been long gone by the time Lexie had woken up that morning. Back to three days in a row at the hospital. Lexie made a mental note to text Jess to arrange dinner one night soon.

Looking after her friends, who spent their lives looking after others, was her love language and her

couple of hours with Sophie had her worried that they were both working too hard. Distracted, she found herself at the front of the queue at the small coffee shop.

“Large cappuccino please, to take away.” Lexie glanced around the room. She immediately

recognised the tall figure at the window bar, head down in the local paper. He looked a lot fresher

than the last time she’d seen him. “Could I also get another of whatever he ordered please? And one

of these.” She pointed at a pain au chocolate and waved her phone at the card machine. “Would you

mind taking it over to him, I can’t stop.” She smiled widely and disappeared as quickly as she’d

arrived. As she passed the window, she saw the waitress put the coffee and pastry in front of River. He looked up in surprise and confusion and as he turned back to the window, he saw Lexie walk

past. She tipped her coffee cup in his direction with a smile and was gone before he had a chance to process the encounter.

By mid-afternoon, River was so mind numbingly bored he was sure he could just go to sleep stood up. He’d been researching a new lead all day and his head was ready to explode. He rubbed

his eyes and when they’d refocused, he was looking directly at the business card on his desk. He

reached for his laptop and punched the name on the card into Google. Old habits – didn’t everyone

Google new people when they met them? There were a handful of relevant hits, an entirely private

Facebook profile with only the most current profile picture – looking fairly recent – visible, an article

from a local newspaper from a couple of years ago with her official comments as the leading DI on the case discussed. Nothing exciting or revealing. He decided to go to the source and picked up his

phone, opening Whatsapp.

“Thank you for the fuel this morning – they do the best pastries there. I should probably stop eating them. That or take up running into coppers again.”

A double tick appeared and almost at once went blue. The sign of someone with their phone in their hand already. He wondered what she was doing.

“Please don’t get arrested again. Little Lewis on the front desk might explode. Soon as he found out you weren’t lying about being MI5 you became his idol.”

He chuckled at the eyeroll emoji she’d added. The poor kid had obviously never heard of the rejects

department.

“Promise I’ll do my best. I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“I find it hard to believe you’d disappoint anyone.”

River had just sat back in his chair with a wide grin when the follow up message appeared.

Lexie’s colleagues heard her palm make contact with her face from across the room. She screenshotted the short exchange and forwarded the image to Sophie with the caption 'Kill me now. I am literally the worst at this. The worst.' In true solidarity, she received a row of crying-laughing faces in return.

“Professionally I mean.”

He laughed, picturing her wringing her hands and frantically realising how her original message sounded. He made the quick decision to prolong her faux pas and sniggered as he responded.

“I’m far more likely to disappoint on a professional basis than on a personal one. I go out of

my way to make sure I don’t disappoint on a personal level.”

It was Lexie’s turn to sit back with a small “oof”. She didn’t have a response to that one which she

was almost certain wouldn’t escalate. Shy and introverted or not, she was still a detective. Feeling

emboldened, she furiously typed out her response and then turned off the Wi-Fi on her phone.

“I bet you do. I’m sure there are many who would sing your praises.”

*********

River stared at his phone. Was she flirting?!

Two weeks later, with a handful of sporadic and entirely conversational messages exchanged later,

River received a message so early in the morning that he wondered if he was the intended recipient.

“Are you around this morning? I need coffee and I could do with not being left alone with my own brain for a little while.”

He frowned and responded straight away. He arrived first at the café he’d been at before –

practically equidistant between the Aldgate station and Slough House as it turned out. He got two seats at the window bar with two coffees and croissants. He watched her push out of the crowd

from the tube station and cross the road, almost doing a double take. Gone were the jeans and

baggy jumper and the messy hair. She had a calf length black wrap dress with the asymmetric hem

rising to her knee where the dress tied. The dress had a deep but modest v-neck, and she wore an

unbuttoned navy coat the same length as the dress. “Shit.” He whispered as Lexie swept past the

window with a small wave and grin. He stood as she met him at the window seat and gestured to the high barstool seat.

“Will you be ok up there? You look lovely. I mean, it doesn’t look like you’re heading to the station?” he stuttered a little. She smelled of fresh air and a heady perfume he didn’t recognise.

“Oh I’m fine, thanks. I’m in court today.” She pulled herself up into the chair. “Not sure these chairs are built for me though.” She blushed. The dress certainly highlighted curves he had noticed before, but now they were unavoidable. The wrap dress exposed more of her legs than she was particularly

comfortable with but she adjusted it and reached for her coffee. “I get so nervous when I have to go

to court. I just get all worked up and anxious and if I don’t find someone to talk to, I end up with my

brain just running away with itself and I get in my own head and start to doubt every decision I made

on the case.” She exhaled with a shaky breath. “Sorry, rambling.”

“You’re ok, whatever I can do to help.” River put a reassuring hand on her arm and pushed the pastry towards her. “You should eat. It’ll help. Are you allowed to talk about it, or would you rather talk about something else?”

“I can’t talk about the case. I’ll be a mess. Sorry I called you, my flatmate is working again and it’s not the same being at the station. I need to see someone impartial. Tell me about your work, please?”

The pleading look in her eyes sent River’s stomach somewhere around his knees. He hadn’t seen her

in person in the two weeks since his arrest, but his mind somehow kept taking him back to that

interview room and the first moment he’d seen her. He started talking about Slough House, about

his failed training, his colleagues, Jackson, his grandfather. He didn’t slow down until she visibly relaxed. She’d picked through her croissant and finished her coffee. Her hands had finally stopped

shaking and she rewarded him with the biggest smile. “Thank you. So much, I feel loads better.”

“No problem, what time have you got til?” He checked his watch, it was 10am.

“Midday. I’m not sure how long I’ll be on the stand, hopefully just today.”

“Ok, still got some time. Your turn, tell me about your work?” She told him about the last 2 years

spent as a DI, the challenges of being a woman in the MET – especially at this point in time, she

despaired at not having enough time to focus on cases which she desperately wanted to attend to

but couldn’t due to firefighting elsewhere. She spoke so passionately about the sex trafficking ring

she was trying to investigate that River nearly signed up to the police there and then. “And how do

you feel about these recent cases involving officers?” He asked.

“Awful. I’m lucky enough to have not met anyone like those people. That I know of, anyway. And if I

did then I would report them internally. I’m struggling with the fact that there are colleagues out

there who probably knew all along and allowed it to continue. No wonder the whole country thinks

we’ve got a bad fucking orchard not just a few bad apples.” He raised an eyebrow at her language, he got the feeling that she didn’t just throw around bad language. “I need to go. Thank you for this, I

owe you one.” She gave his hand a squeeze and stepped down from the window seat. He hesitated

for a second, wondering whether to shake her hand? Hug her? Before his brain could function, she

gave him a very brief hug. He just about had time to catch her waist and pull her to him, probably

slightly closer than she’d expected. The blush in her cheeks was instant, and as they parted, he

noticed that it dipped down into the V of her dress. “Bye River.” She smiled and disappeared. River

spent the afternoon at Slough House in serene silence. Shirley was visibly horrified by his good

mood, and Catherine was caught completely off guard.

Chapter 2

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 19, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 20, 2023

The debt ceiling crisis has brought the difference between Biden Democrats and the modern Republican Party into sharp relief. The debt ceiling is not about future spending; future spending is debated when Congress takes up the budget. The debt ceiling is a curious holdover from the past, when Congress actually wanted to enable the government to be flexible in its borrowing rather than holding the financial reins too tightly. In the era of World War I, when the country needed to raise a lot of money fast, Congress stopped passing specific revenue measures and instead set a cap on how much money the government could borrow through all of the different instruments it used. Beginning in the 1980s, though, Republicans began to use the debt ceiling as a political cudgel because if it is not raised when Congress spends more than it has the ability to repay, the country will default on its debts. Republicans focused on cutting taxes, initially promising that tax cuts would not require any cuts to services because they would nurture the economy so effectively that tax revenues would increase despite the cuts. Immediately, though, both deficits—the difference between what the government spends and what it takes in—and the debt, which is the total sum that the government owes, ballooned. That skyrocketing debt means that Congress repeatedly has to increase the amount that the Treasury borrows to pay the country’s bills. That is, it must lift the debt ceiling. Congress has raised the debt ceiling more than 100 times since it first went into effect, including 18 times under Ronald Reagan as well as 3 times under former president Donald Trump. The United States has never defaulted on its debt. When Republicans threatened to push a debt crisis in late 2021, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that a default “could trigger a spike in interest rates, a steep drop in stock prices, and other financial turmoil. Our current economic recovery would reverse into recession, with billions of dollars of growth and millions of jobs lost.” It would jeopardize the status of the U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency. Financial services firm Moody's Analytics warned that a default would cost up to 6 million jobs, create an unemployment rate of nearly 9%, and wipe out $15 trillion in household wealth. Now House Republicans under speaker Kevin McCarthy are insisting they will force the country into default unless Biden and the Democrats abandon their legislative program and do what the Republicans want. And what they want is to enact a drastic version of the Republican platform of the past 40 years. Today, McCarthy introduced a 320-page measure that would address the deficit and growing debt by drastic cuts to government programs across the board. It is largely a wish list of right-wing demands such as a repeal of key measures of the Inflation Reduction Act, including those addressing climate change and funding the Internal Revenue Service; additional requirements to qualify for benefit programs; and getting rid of the program to forgive certain student debt. It would lift the debt ceiling only for a year, meaning the government would be right back to negotiating over it almost immediately. There are two things at work behind this demand. The first is that the Republicans are in such extraordinary disarray that they are unable to put forward a budget—which is part of the normal process of funding the government—because they are unable to agree on one that can get enough votes to pass the House. Different factions in the party want cuts that, even if they could get through the House, would never pass the Senate, and the farthest-right group of lawmakers have indicated they won’t agree to anything. With this grab-bag measure, McCarthy is trying to cover all his bases, but already some of his conference is torn that it goes too far…or not far enough. That inability to get their way through normal political channels illustrates the larger story behind the Republicans' position: they want to destroy the government as it has existed since 1933, but since that government is actually quite popular, they cannot get the cuts they want by going through normal legislative procedures. Instead, they are trying to get their demands by holding the rest of us hostage. It is notable that while the Republicans are willing to slash education, food safety, and so on, they want to preserve the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations that cost the Treasury $2 trillion. Their stated concern for financial responsibility is also undermined by the reality that repealing the funding for the woefully understaffed IRS is expected to cost the Treasury $124 billion as wealthy tax cheats continue to avoid enforcement. McCarthy is doubling down on his debt ceiling demands in part because the Republican base is wedded to Trump, which means the Republican Party is now wedded to Trump, and Trump insists that Republicans must use the debt ceiling to get what they want. Early hopes that they could run a Trump-like candidate without the Trump baggage—someone like Florida governor Ron DeSantis—are starting to fade. Today, Matt Dixon of NBC News reported that although the DeSantis team asked him to hold off on an endorsement, the co-chair of the Florida congressional delegation, Vern Buchanan, has endorsed Trump. Buchanan said that Trump will “get our economy back on track,” including lowering taxes and “promoting America-first trade deals.” A former chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Buchanan is one of the wealthiest members of Congress. He clearly continues to believe that the key to boosting the economy is more tax cuts and is willing to accept all the other pieces of another Trump presidency—Trump has recently called for vengeance against his enemies, replacing civil servants with his own loyalists, and attacking Mexico—so long as the United States government embraces the supply side economics the Republicans have advanced since 1981. President Joe Biden contrasted his own vision for the United States to that of the Republicans when he spoke today at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 77 in Accokeek, Maryland, in a corrugated-steel garage. His own vision, he reiterated, calls for building the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not from the top down. He outlined how the Democrats’ many investments in infrastructure and manufacturing have benefitted working- and middle-class Americans, while Republicans have sought to cut those investments and cut taxes for the wealthy. Biden wants to address the deficit by rolling back Republican tax cuts on the wealthy and on corporations, saying it’s high time they paid their fair share. McCarthy is trying to spin the crisis in his own conference as Biden “playing partisan games,” and Republicans say they hope that passing their measure will force Biden to negotiate over the debt ceiling. But Biden has steadfastly refused to negotiate over the credit of the government, although says he is quite happy to negotiate over the budget, which is part of the normal legislative process. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries backed up Biden, saying: “The United States of America must always pay bills already incurred without gamesmanship, brinksmanship, or partisanship. House Democrats will oppose any effort to hold the economy hostage as part of any scheme by Extreme MAGA Republicans to jam its right-wing agenda down the throats of the American people.” Their refusal to negotiate over the nation’s finances puts them in good company. We have seen a scenario just like this one before. In 1879, when the positions of the parties were reversed, Democratic former Confederates won control of Congress for the first time since the Civil War. Once in power, they banded together, demanded the leadership of key committees—which the exceedingly weak speaker gave them—and set out to make the Republican president, Rutherford B. Hayes, stop protecting Black voters by refusing to fund the government until he caved. Southern Democrats told newspapers they had blundered when they fought on the battlefields: far better to control the country from within Congress. Extremist newspapers threatened violence as they called for Congress members to “drive or starve Mr. Hayes into signing a bill that sweeps these obnoxious laws out of existence.” House minority leader James Garfield (R-OH) noted: “They will let the government perish for want of supplies.” “If this is not revolution, which if persisted in will destroy the government, [then] I am wholly wrong in my conception of both the word and the thing.” A Civil War veteran who had seen battle at Shiloh and Chickamauga, Garfield understood revolution. Hayes stood firm, recognizing that allowing a radical minority of the opposition party to dictate to the elected government by holding it hostage would undermine the system set up in the Constitution. The parties fought it out for months until, in the end, the American people turned against the Democrats, who backed down. In the next presidential election, which had been supposed to be a romp for the Democrats, voters put Garfield, the Republican who had stood against the former Confederates, into the White House.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[pseudinymous]

This is a little late, but I decided that this year I will take my life back, violently if necessary. I’m going to:

- Get my endometriosis (ALL of it) removed in March, using the best gynocological surgeon in the state. He basically just specialises in removing endo by excision all day long. I might finally be free of this highly particular multiple-times-per-month hell that has blighted my life since I was 13.

- Sell the house, or if the price drops too much by March, try to rent it out, since I geographically cannot live there (and no, I don’t give a shit what you think of landlords). There is no other option. I won’t sit here and take a $50,000 loss just to get rid of the damn thing. This will mean paying off a lot of debt associated with the house that was supposed to be paid when it was sold; I am working this down as fast as I can now and will work something out with my creditors with what’s left over in March if I can’t sell at a reasonable price. - Go back to therapy. I use tumblr, of course I’m mentally ill lmao. This is a priority. I’m going back to see my first psychologist who was historically the best one I had. Awesome dude. Also now specialises in people with chronic health conditions. Feeling very relieved I can go back to him.

- Get a different psychiatrist. Current one is only good for prescribing ADHD meds and not much else; difficult to talk to, difficult to explain situations to, straightforward but a bit of a cunt. Going to go find someone who’s less of a cunt about the fact that I need to function properly and not be a risk to myself across more than just office hours, and will actually help me to find a medication arrangement that will safely allow for this.

- Take a trimester off university to recover from doing anatomy over summer (freaking hell it’s a lot of work) and also recover from surgery. Can hopefully use some of the extra time to help work off my debts, too.

- Optimise my heart treatment plan so that I can get more benefit and less fainting and exhaustion spells. I’ll probably have to work pretty closely with my cardiologist for this, but I think it’ll be worth it.

- Stop caring about mental health. No, this sounds stupid, but it’s a thing. I over-think about my mental state and it causes me to get worse when I realise how bad it is (and subsequently obsess on fixing something that is, by all means, presently unfixable hormone problems). An experiment has led to me realising that refusing to acknowledge and ignoring the state of it actually leads to me having WAY better days. So basically, am I capitulating? If the answer is yes, fuck everything and play Pokemon.

- Keep getting kickass grades. Stick my tongue out at everyone who said I couldn’t. Fuck ‘em.

- Prove myself. To myself. Somehow. Prove myself to everyone. Figure out how to present myself as me again, and not some sick frail little waif of a human being. Not oversharing all my illnesses would be a damn good start (of course, this is tumblr, so lol).

It’s a lot, but it’s a plan, and every part of it that I can manage to execute will help.

Then in 2024, I might even dare to learn how to hope.

[chutzpahhooplah]

Distinguished mutuals look away, I’m talking about video games on main again

Finally finished SR5, had a lot of fun and I don’t think it’s the soulless abomination that pissy fanboys on YT claim it is. However, I did spend a majority of the time thinking more about how 2 did the overall premise and plot beats better. I feel like this game, like most big name big budget games from the past several years, could have used more time in development (both writing and debugging, bcs my friend got this for us so that we could do co-op, and guess what’s been buggy as shit to the point we can’t do that?)

The good: I adore the cast and the motivation for this group of young criminals being “paying off extreme student loan debt” bcs that is incredibly relatable. The city and desert are absolutely gorgeous and I wound up just standing around staring at vistas most of the time. The spaghetti western vibe the game occasionally remembers to have was really fun and if the entire thing had been a crass gta parody of classic westerns I wouldn’t have minded.

The not so good: This is was so incredibly rushed and fast paced. A good portion of the main story after you actually start crafting your “empire” feels very janky and full of plot holes. The betrayal from the opening cut scene was technically well established, but when it actually happened it came out of nowhere and honestly made me mad for how unearned it felt. There were so many characters who just fell off the face of the earth when their stories weren’t complete (aka Gwen) and some creative choices they made didn’t land as well as they could have with more build up.

Also I do think the choice to censor Freckle Bitch’s and RimJobs was very ??????? There were a lot of odd censorship choices in a game that’s from a franchise well known for being early 00s Edgy and having purple dildo bats. If you keep the ultra violence but get rid of the tongue and cheek sexual stuff it just feels very hashtag American.