#i also just have a difficult time sleeping in general AND we got a new (old) mattress

[gatorbites-imagines]

Hello! I hope you're doing good

I saw your post the other day that you were accepting requests but I don't know if you still are, but if you are, I was wondering if we could get some Nolan Grayson content👉👈

Nolan Grayson NSFW alphabet

I was given the chance to write anything, so alphabet time. This is post season 2 Nolan, cuz hes my bbygirl, and I think hed be a better partner in general.

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

I don’t believe viltrumite culture really does aftercare. They sleep together to have offspring, or maybe as a dominance thing, but I can’t see them doing a lot of healthy kink stuff, or just cuddling afterwards. He probably did something akin to it with Debbie, but its only after leaving it all behind after season 1 and getting with you that he would start to see more importance in it, especially when you give him a lot of aftercare whenever you are in charge. Hes not the best at it yet, but he does try.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

On his partner, Nolans favorite part would be any muscularity they have, or if you happen to have a beard. If you have neither then its his partners thighs and hands. On himself its his muscles, especially his torso and arms.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

I hope you got a bucket, viltrumites get the kryptonian treatment in this house. Which means, theres so much cum. Nolan produces even more than Mark. Mostly because hes older and is in his “prime” if that makes sense. Unlike Mark though, Nolan doesn’t see the amount he makes as an annoyance, since hes still quite prideful. You do catch him puffing out his chest a little if you mentioned its something you find attractive though.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Has always had fantasies of being dominated or defeated in battle, whereafter the enemy will have their way with him. He has never once acted on these fantasies, but now that he’s with you and has gotten a reality check he might little by little try to step out of his comfort zone. Has had a few fantasies of being defeated, captured, and made into some kind of trophy wife, think like Leia in the slave dress type situation.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Theres no way to know how old Nolan is, but its assumed hes thousands of years old. This doesn’t mean hes got a lot of experience, since like I mentioned before, I believe viltrumites only do it to reproduce or for dominance. Hes probably gotten more game on earth than most of his life up till that point, so theres things you’ll have to teach him.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Any position that puts you above him or has you pinning him in some way, especially loves any position where you choke him in some way, be it your hands or with your arm. When hes feeling more dominant himself you better except him to pull an amazonian position or something like that.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Nolan is serious in most situations, and the bedroom is the same, especially since part of him feels a little strange just doing it for fun like this. But also because Nolan thinks he has to pay attention and learn, to make up for his less stellar experiences in the past.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Nolan doesn’t shave any of the hair on his body, except for his beard to get his usual stache. Viltrumites I believe would take pride in their bodyhair. He does keep it neat and tidy though, kinda like a controlled chaos.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Nolan doesn’t really know how to be way too romantic in the moment, since being in love without a purpose is still so new to him. He has his moments though, where he just kinda looks his partner in the eyes with the most love filled eyes. Saying it, is still difficult though.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)                                                                                                                                       

The normal amount for viltrumites his age, which I believe would be once a day or once every two days, just to keep themselves from backing up too much of it. up until recently hes probably mostly done it for his health, but after getting with you he starts to do it for fun.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Doing it in the suit, or just his cape for that matter.

Strength and power in general.

Blood kink, pain kink, what comes with fighting.

Sparring and training with his partner.

Powerplay

BDSM

Sensory deprivation

Asphyxiation and choking

Edging and overstimulation

Breeding (secretly, on him)

Roleplay (like the slave Leia and owner type roleplay. Getting this from him will be almost impossible though)

Dom/sub or master/slave

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Nolan could honestly do it anywhere, he doesn’t have a preference. That comes with being his age and having an ego like viltrumites tend to do. Hes a preference for doing it on battlefields or wherever you guys spar though.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Its not that hard to get Nolan going, but hes much better at containing it than Mark, but that’s more because of age and life experiences. The easiest way to get him going is to get his adrenaline up, so sparring or even outright fighting. That, or just jerking off somewhere nearby, cuz he will hear and smell it with ease.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Share. Nolan wouldn’t share himself or his partner with anybody, he is very possessive. Especially other viltrumites. It would be like putting to male hamsters together, one of them dies before its over.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Didn’t have much of a preference in the past since it wasn’t really anything he paid too much attention too. But with Debbie he preferred receiving, since it was the more “dominant” role. But with you he learns that he quite likes giving, he just has a hard time in the beginning getting on his knees below you.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Depends on the situation, but most of the time its slow and hard. But if its after you guys have sparred or fought, its faster and even rougher. He loves when you treat him roughly too. But there are times where its more slow lovemaking than anything else.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Nolan doesn’t have anything against quickies, its just not his favorite. If you both are in the mood, sure he enjoys it, but he prefers when you guys can take your time. But this also stems from viltrumites having so much damn stamina that one quickie doesn’t even scratch the itch.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Nolans for trying most things, even more dangerous stuff, unless you are vulnerable like a human or something else in that genre, he wouldn’t want to accidentally crush you with his thighs or anything.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

More stamina than you could imagine, you can’t even dream of keeping up unless you are a fellow viltrumite, like Allen, or some other species like that. Could probably go nonstop for days, if not a couple of weeks without having to slow down. In the end, even If you are a fellow viltrumite, you guys probably just stop more out of boredom or because you have other things to do than exhaustion.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Doesn’t own toys, and doesn’t really see the purpose for the most part. Of course, he still has fantasies where they fit very well, but Nolan won’t admit it even if you can tell hes thought about it from his blush.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Depends on his mood for the most part. If you guys are alone, I could see him getting handsy or mumbling the raunchiest of things. The type to “accidentally” rip your clothes just right, or his own clothes for that matter, just to show off a little. He loves when you tease him too, he’s just still very bad at waiting it out.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Not very loud, even if you’ve somehow gotten him deep into subspace. He’s mainly grunts and groans, and he clenches his teeth a lot, meaning you’ll have to put something in his mouth. But if you do put something in his mouth, you might get some gasped moans and whimpers if you’re lucky.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Has written multiple very successful adult novels under a penname when he lived on earth. One happens to be an extremely popular series based around his own most shameful (in his opinion) fantasies, involving a muscular warrior put under the boot of an even bigger and more muscular warrior. He’s not good at it, but Nolan likes to draw. It tends to mainly be doodles, but he’s surprisingly good at vehicles and landscapes.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Very big and thick, like, you are so lucky he turns out to like bottoming the most. How Debbie took it, you’ll never learn, but that woman deserves a damn medal. Both a grower and a shower, you think he’s big when he’s soft, you’ll be in for a surprise when he gets hard. Veiny and uncut.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Its always been quite average for a viltrumite his age and position, meaning he was fine taking care of himself up until now. Now Nolan finds himself fumbling every now and then, because he feels like an uncontrollable animal at times with how much he wants it. Nolan is able to suppress it though, more for his own pride and dignity than anything else.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Nolan doesn’t really fall asleep afterwards on the regular, its only if you’ve really wrung his dry mentally, by for example putting him in subspace or similar. But its almost impossible to get him physically tired enough to sleep. He does like to cuddle afterwards, even if he doesn’t like to admit it.

[stealthetrees]

Okay I’ve snapped.

If you say Percy Jackson is stupid I will find you and make sure you regret it.

I have inattentive type ADHD. I was diagnosed in 4th grade and got put on medication. I did not think there was a difference but I got an award from the school for how much I improved. They didn’t know it was because of meds.

Before I was diagnosed I remember being on the verge of tears often at school because I got so frustrated that I couldn’t do work. I sat at my desk with the pencil in my hand staring at a worksheet physically unable to write the awnser I knew. I would stare at the question and like an optical illusion the rest of the page blurs together and I can’t even make out word anymore.

I thought I was dyslexic for the longest time because some fonts are so difficult for me to read. I could look at a recit, know it says lettuce, and it will not process in my brain. Unless I am a few hours away from a deadline it is nearly impossible to start assignments. Essays are hell.

You know those songs that have an American accent but are completely nonsense? That’s what it sounds like a lot when I listen to people talk. Usally I can grasp the general meaning but I can not tell you what word you just said.

Time is not real. I sit down, scroll through tumblr for maybe 15 minutes and my roommate asks why I’m sitting doing nothing for 4 hours straight. Full days disappear and I can’t remember anything that happened. I have no idea how long it takes me to do something I do almost every day.

I went two weeks at the beginning of the semester with meds that where 10 milligrams lower than my usual dosage. My grades still haven’t recovered.

THAT SAID. In cannon, Percy Jackson passed 13 years of school with high enough grades to be accepted to a university. Not medicated. Without accommodations.

So either the education system in New York is taylored specifically for people with ADHD, or Percy Jackson is a fucking geinios. I can’t spell.

So ignoring the fact that nearly every fight he won by outsmarting his opponent, let me tell you why.

In the books, he’s an introvert, sits in the back, tries to keep his head down but usually fails, gets detention often, and has been expelled multiple times. That’s not the kind of kid teachers go out of their way to help. He’s also unlikely to ask for help. So, despite his struggles in the classroom, he has never been held back or had to redo a grade as far as we know. And it’s pretty likely considering his age.

Add in the fact that he would be constantly sleep deprived from staying up very late (like from 10-3, based off my experience) and his dyslexia, Percy would need to be really good at retaining information after hearing or seeing it only once. That’s actually supported by his ability to memorize prophecies word for word after only hearing them once. We know Percy is bad at taking tests, so he would have to be really good at recalling information.

He also did it all unmedicated. I want to cry just thinking about it.

tldr, the fact that Percy’s grades where high enough to get into college means hes fucking brilliant

[thenightfolknetwork]

Ok so, I'm not...supposed to exist?

I am—er, well, was an imaginary friend. My "brother" was a lonely little boy who was quite neglected looking back, and he wanted someone to spend his time with, a "sister".

So he dreamed, and I came to be. Now, even as a child he wasn't the most imaginative sort, preferring to imagine things he could see and wonder about what was rather than make something new completely from scratch. So, in his mind, his sister looked just like him, just with longer hair. I think that's one of the reasons i'm...like this.

Most children describe their imaginary friends as fantastical, with great glittering wings or neon spots and the like. Most children stop talking or believing in their imaginary friends around a certain age. Most children cannot see someone else's friend. No one, outside of the child, can see an imaginary friend.

Until now? I think? These are all observations I've made.

I remember only existing when my brother was around. We would play and "go on adventures" and just have fun. When it was dinner time, I would sit beside him and eat... but couldn't eat. I would say things to make him laugh, but no one else would acknowledge I was there. I didn't think much of it at the time since..well, I couldn't think. I wasn't real.

As he grew, he must have imagined me growing as well. As he learned, I did, too, and must have adjusted accordingly. Unlike his peers, he was convinced that I was a person and was angry when people told him otherwise.

We got older and he got more insistent when suddenly, people started to play along. Pretending to see me and talk to me when it was clear that they couldn't. I think this was when I started to...feel things? Think?

We fought, my brother and I. He was graduating secondary and heading to Uni. I asked him why he still imagined me when it was clear he didn't need me anymore. He said he did need me. I didn't believe him, we argued, and he left.

I was still there.

Before, time almost seemed to...skip? Think cutscenes from those video games everyone seems to like playing. The day ends, I blink and it's morning, no sleep needed. Brother was distracted? Time skips until he addressed me again.

I've never not been without him before. I panicked. I collapsed against the wall and I felt it. The cool wall, the tears streaming down my face, my brother's hug when he came to apologize. I don't know how to handle it.

When we sat down for dinner, his mum and dad addressed me and asked if I was alright, as if they had always known I existed. They could see me and my distress. I tried to explain, but everyone looked at me confused. They told me that of course i existed, I always did.

But I know the truth. There are no pictures of me in this house. There are no school records of me or medical ones. I have no bedroom or clothes of my own. I did not exist.

I don't know exactly when I became "real" but I am now. I just...I don't know what to do? I wasn't real and now I am and everyone calls me crazy for thinking otherwise. How does one exist? My brother is leaving for Uni soon and everyone expects the same of me, as if I've been accepted into one. I haven't, I've checked.

Why do I exist? Why does no one acknowledge that I never did?

Please.

I'm scared.

I'm so glad you've written in, reader. Quite apart from the existential questions your situation raises, there is also rather a lot of paperwork involved.

It is possible to live in the UK without being part of the civil bureaucratic system – indeed, there are certain isolated genuses whose right to do so has been fiercely protected over the generations. But it's a tremendously difficult way to live if you have any intention of engaging with the economic, education or healthcare systems.

The Bunbury Institute of Manifested Personages should be your first port of call to tackle the logistical and legal difficulties presented by your case. They'll be able to get you sorted with all the documentation you need to prove your existence, including a Certificate of Corporeal Incarnation, which will stand in where others might use their birth certificate.

Once you legally exist, you'll be able to open a bank account, apply for a passport, and essentially make whatever choices you want to make about how to spend the rest of your existence. Which brings me to the real heart of your letter – the emotional impact of your change in circumstance.

Sudden onset incarnation is a profoundly disruptive experience no matter how, when or to whom it occurs. Even if your family were able to understand the situation and support you through it, it would still be an extremely difficult situation to navigate. As it is, the nature of your previous existence and the way your incarnation has taken effect means they're just not able to.

You ask why nobody acknowledges your previous non-existence. Generally speaking, most people find it extremely difficult to the point of near impossibility to really understand divergent realities. It's not that your family are trying to undermine you – they are literally, psychologically and biologically, incapable of understanding how you have come to be.

I strongly recommend you find someone to talk to about this issue as soon as you can. Without your legal paperwork in place, it will be difficult to access mental health support either privately or through the NHS. However, the Bunbury Institute and other such charitable organisations may be able to put you in touch with support groups for others like yourself.

What's important is that you know, you're not alone in this. Whatever your family may believe, your experiences are real and valid. And, now, so are you. It's going to be a big adjustment, figuring out how you want to live in the world now you're here. Try not to get too overwhelmed. Take things one day at a time, try to keep an eye on the positives, and give yourself the grace and time you need to process the negatives. In time, I feel sure you'll be able to build a life that feels right for you.

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

[dootznbootz]

Im going to be so so so so so so so so so so soooo fucking for real. I hate Circe x Scylla with every FIBER every INCH OF MY BEING

Why? Because it's honestly victim x abuser

Ik we all like our toxic yuri, but let me out it this way: There are two main versions of Scylla's myth, that is, where Scylla is turned into a monster.

In one, she's turned into a monster by Circe for rejecting Glaukos. Which- She literally got her entire life TAKEN AWAY BY CIRCE because she rejected some dude she didn't like. And that Circe happened to like

Scylla didn't do anything wrong, that's just Circe being a bitch

And in another one, she runs away from Glaukos when he tried to charm her. And yadaya he went to Circe to ask for a potion to charm Scylla. Circe thought the gods wouldn't like something like that (idk that's what happened in the myth. But we all know our Greek mythology so this is kinda weird-) and offered to be Glaucus's lover instead. When he refused her, she got so angry and jealous she turned innocent Scylla into a monster.

SHE TOOK SCYLLA'S WHOLE LIFE AWAY BECAUSE SHE WAS PETTY 😭😭😭😭😭😭

And NO Circe book, Circe didn't feel sorry about it.

I love Circe so much, like so much, but Scylla deserves someone so much better. Justice for Scylla I feel so bad for her. Girl rejects a guy she didn't like, and then gets morphed into a man eating monster

And also, ama need people to stop trying to put all the blame on glaucus and trying to justify Circe's actions. Just please acknowledge your "girl's girl girlboss doesn't need no man feminist icon" is actually a really terrible person. Shipping Circe with Scylla is like shipping Hera with one of the innocent women she killed for sleeping with Zeus (even though they didn't have a choice most of the time), it's literally just so ehh for me

And I'm not here to hate on anyone who likes the ship, but me personally? I hate it so much bro

Oh, I absolutely get where you're coming from. In general, when it comes to "toxic ships", it'll always be so much fascinating to me to just have them fucking hate each other. No romance or attraction and/or "hate-fucking".

I can understand the appeal of toxic yuri in a way (I've always preferred yuri in general over yaoi lol) but like, I think it's juicier even to have that visceral fucking hatred. Especially from Scylla's end. And even then, Circe talks mad shit about Scylla in the Odyssey.

In there lives Scylla. She has a dreadful yelp. It’s true her voice sounds like a new-born pup, but she’s a vicious beast. No mortal man would feel good seeing her, nor would a god who crossed her path. She has a dozen feet, all deformed, six enormously long necks,      with a horrific head on each of them, and three rows of teeth packed close together, full of murky death. Her lower body she keeps in her hollow cave, out of sight, but sticks her heads outside the fearful hole, and fishes there, scouring around the rock for dolphins, swordfish, or some bigger prey, whatever she can seize of all those beasts moaning Amphitrite keeps nourishing in numbers past all counting. No sailors                 yet can boast they and their ship sailed past her without disaster. Each of Scylla’s heads carries off a man, snatching him away                         right off the dark-prowed ship. [...] Why won’t you yield to the immortal gods? She’s not human, but a destroyer who will never die— fearful, difficult, and fierce—not someone                you can fight. There’s no defence against her. The bravest thing to do is run away.                              If you linger by the cliff to arm yourself, I fear she’ll jump out once more, attack you with all her heads and snatch away six men, just as before. Row on quickly past her, as hard as you can go. Send out a call to Crataiis, her mother, who bore her to menace human beings. She’ll restrain her— Scylla’s heads won’t lash out at you again.     

(Book 12, Johnston)

(I think it's interesting how Circe yells at Odysseus about how he won't yield to immortal gods but that's a bit outta context AND an entirely differently thing.)

It's kind of a curious thing in which Circe seems to imply that Scylla was BORN as a monster based on how she mentions Scylla's "mom". I don't know if this is just "Homeric version" of the myth or what but it's something neat to think about.

And honestly? My Circe, being the wacky potion making scientist gal I have her as, would probably be even more of a bitch in how "ooooo experiment time." only to realize "Oh wait, I made her too scary and TOO powerful. hm. nevermind. Not going near her."

With Circe and shipping, idk, I've always felt like she'd be like "messy". It's not that she's not capable of love, I think she's just like, so much of a "I do whatever the fuck I want" that she probably wouldn't really respect her partner's boundaries. She's like Maureen from "Rent" and/or PotC's Calypso where the only reason why she didn't see Davy Jones after he waited was "It's in my Nature".

In which she's just like "Look you either want me as I am, meaning I do whatever the fuck I want, OR you leave."

Like she loves, but she's not like, a ride or die partner. (I mean Odysseus was an experiment to her, as that's how she views mortals in my stuff. She thinks Mortals are kind of gross. She only has sex with him once because of this.) She's FwB with Hermes in my stuff as well, as yeah, Gods are less "gross".

Honestly, I think if people wanna ship Scylla with someone, I think Caribbidis would be fun?? Monster Wives??? (HOT) Both were cursed, they're close to each other, etc. Like, idk how much sentience Caribidis has, being a giant fucking mouth, but idk. maybe they could chat and bond?? even just as friends.

[pixiemage]

I deal with ADHD on a daily basis, meaning I struggle with multiple (frustrating) things. There's one in particular that's been on my mind the most as of late: it's difficult for me to complete large tasks easily. For me, motivation, mental energy, and time are limited, and those rare moments where it all lines up so I can get shit done are often few and far between. This applies to both things I don't want to do, and things I do want to do. Even writing or cosplay construction or editing videos can become daunting tasks even though they're all fun and enjoyable hobbies of mine.

Recently, I've been trying to clean my room.

As anyone in my immediate family can tell you, this has been a big problem since I was young. My room starts clean, but then I put a few pairs of shoes by my bed, then don't have the energy to deal with the growing laundry pile, then can't find a place for the new mic stand I got for my birthday, then I start dumping jewelry on my bedside table at the end of the day when I'm tired, then - then - then. And then it builds to a disastrous tipping point and it has become this massive, incomprehensible task I have to tackle, and because my brain hates me, it's a frustrating and grueling process to even figure out where to begin.

But deadlines help (pressure helps) and I have found that working on it in the wee hours of the morning (from midnight to like 5am) is somehow a way to get my brain to focus on it. For some reason I work better then. Arguably, this isn't logical or useful every day because I need sleep and I have work, but I made MASSIVE progress two days ago by staying up way too late on a night when I finally found the drive to get shit done.

That's not really the point of this post though.

The point is that I've found that a majority of society (or maybe just the NT community in general) have a hard time seeing progress as worthwhile when completion is better.

"Did you finish your room?" "Not yet, but I dealt with that massive pile of crap on my couch! It's SO much better, and I can actually see the floor in front of my dresser now, and-" "That's not what I asked. Did you finish?" "Not yet." "The answer is no, then."

It doesn't matter how much I've done. It doesn't matter how proud I am of my partial progress. It doesn't matter that I fought tooth and nail to get to the point I'm at, because unfortunately, I haven't finished it all yet, so it's not good enough.

(And I know I have a deadline, and I know we have family coming over soon, and I know that being done is the goal, but the deadline isn't here yet. Give me time. I need time.)

I think we as a society need to award and praise ourselves more for the efforts we put in, whether we reached a finish line or not. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for completion, because at the end of the day that's often the goal of any task. But we should also let ourselves be proud of how far we have come as long as we're doing our best. I don't see that often enough. I continuously struggle to reach that finish line, but hey, I came this far today! I didn't reach Toad so he could tell me my princess was in another castle (because god knows there's always another task), but I did hit that checkpoint, and since I've been struggling through this level for as long as I have, that's still worth celebrating in some small way. It's still worth all the coins I collected and the goons I defeated to get to this point.

Don't reprimand your kids because their hard work thus far doesn't quite live up to your standards. Applaud what they've done and then help them find the right next step so they're motivated to keep going.

It takes a lot of work to save a princess. The journey has a lot more monsters than just the dragon.

[restinslices]

your hc about the linkuei brothers watching movies are very funny. What would it be like watching horror movies? Or movies about martial arts? I feel that bi-han would criticize absolutely every detail of every blow or movement. You can choose only one type of movie if you want, I understand that sometimes it is difficult to have inspiration to write them. You can ignore this too! Thank you 🫡

I’ve never really been into martial arts movies so I went with horror since I had more experience with those. Hope you enjoy!

I kinda feel like Bi-Han is one of those people that can’t enjoy horror movies because he thinks logically too much 

He can’t go dumb for the movie and that ruins it for him

Take Scream for example (fuck Scream 7. Don’t watch that shit when it comes out), he cannot understand how people are actually killed by Ghostface 

The mask should mess up their vision, plus the robe, plus it’s a regular person. Typically a teenager or young adult. How are they killing that many people? Their victims are pathetic

He immediately knows who Ghostface is, or who any secret killer is. He sees the signs right away and is like “how isn’t it obvious?”

A bummer the whole time 

You gotta shut off your brain and have a good time when watching a horror movie, Especially slashers.

Don’t get him started on the Evil Dead movies 

He’s so mad they read from the book. If he saw Evil Dead Rise, he’d walk out the room

”The book opened when Danny bled on it-“

We know Bi-Han. We’re angry too

A horror movie can fr ruin this mans day

He’d probably like psychological movies or those A24 movies 

“You don’t get it because you have to think”

Yes, he’s one of those 

Shut the fuck up. You are not better than anyone 

Not as much of a bummer

Do I think he loves horror movies? Eh. Probably not

Does he hate them? No

They’re just alright 

I’m getting monster flick vibes from him for some reason

Dracula, Frankenstein, The Thing, movies like those 

My proof? I have none. I can just see it in my head

Do zombies also count as monster flicks or are they their own genre? Either way, I can see him enjoying those too. I think he’d be into the classic monster flicks. The black and white ones 

In general he’s into the older horror movies from years ago. Yeah the effects are bad and maybe the acting is too, but they’re the originals and what got the genre rolling

I don’t think horror is his favorite genre so I don’t see him putting one on out of a “man I really wanna see a horror movie” need. More so out of boredom 

Is also bothered by dumb actions, but he understands that the movie gotta keep moving somehow 

The type that can watch a horror movie then go to sleep immediately after 

Doesn’t stay up to date with new horror movies coming out. He just hears about the popular ones that blow up

Like how Hereditary was everywhere 

He enjoys them. It’s just not his favorite and he doesn’t think about it

His favorite subgenres would be paranormal and home invasion 

Proof? None. I’m just thinking of subgenres and assigning them-

Paranormal movies are easy to enjoy. Any movie with a supernatural element is easy to enjoy to be honest. He can put it on and just relax

Home invasion movies are for days when he really wants to feel some fear in his bones 

The Strangers (original. Not the recent remake) is a good example 

Are the main characters idiots? Yes. Them feeling sad they accidentally killed a friend and leaving the secure room was dumb

But it’s still a movie that gets your blood pumping 

Home invasion movies are scary because home is supposed to be a safe space. These movies break that idea 

Horror movies are supposed to scare you, and he likes it

Hates unnecessary jumpscares 

It’s just super cheap 

Just make the movie good and give genuine scares 

When horror movies really amp up the sex factor, that also bothers him

He can handle sex, but he didn’t choose to watch an erotic movie. Put the scary shit

I’m projecting 

Hates super gorey and/or torture porn movies 

Sorry Jigsaw

[a-killer-obsession]

🔞 Minors DNI 🔞

A search for a rumored Vegapunk weapon leads the Kid Pirates to an unexpected new crewmate, with a bloodlust that rivals their own and an incredible power.

CW: Please check AO3 for all current warnings, but general warning for smut, slow burn, serious gore, and really dark themes. AFAB reader, she/her pronouns.

Masterlist || AO3 || Chapter 1

Chapter 47 - Assassin

Finally in the capital, you begin to gather information on the whereabouts of your missing crew. Not everything you learn is good news.

Word Count: ~4.5k

A/N: the map we see of Wano in the anime shows Okobore as closer to the town with the castle ruins (Bakura), and in Kuri, but in the anime it's in a way more dry area which looks more like Kibi? So I went with it being in Kibi as more of a halfway point between Bakura and the Flower Capital. Also if you hadn't already picked up on it, I've spread the timeline out. In the anime it's like weeks at most between Punk Hazard and Wano but I wanted it to be more like months for extra ~angst~

Also sorry for the late upload! I totally blanked on scheduling this post!

The journey to the Flower Capital wasn't difficult, especially with your skills and making the journey at night. You were exhausted by the time you arrived, having been ill prepared to immediately make the journey without taking sufficient time to rest at the base, but you couldn't wait one more day to find your crew. You travelled only at night, able to see just as well if it was daytime thanks to your devil fruit. The land was fairly flat, practically a desert, and you only encountered one patrol between the base and Okobore, and since you had the vision advantage you were able to see it long before it saw you and cloak yourself until it was out of range.

It was deep into the night by the time you reached the small town, just as run down as the one the base was in, and practically deserted since everyone was in their homes. This worked to your advantage as well: nobody saw you, and it was easy to use your fruit to see through the buildings and find an abandoned home to take shelter in. The home was crumbling, close to falling apart, and had no furnishings inside, but it would do for one night. You were more than used to sleeping on hard floors from your time before Kid found you anyway, so it didn't bother you, at least you had food in your belly. You were doing hell of a lot better than most of the people in this town. You probably had time to make it all the way to the capital tonight before sunrise, or at least close enough to cloak yourself the rest of the way, but you were exhausted and your breasts were tender from how full they were. You desperately needed to sit and drain your milk before continuing.

You did just that, ate some of your rations, and used your duffle bag as a pillow to sleep. You couldn't remove your mask as it would undo Kin’emon's spell, but the flowers and mesh were soft so it was fine to sleep with. Your sleep was restless; between destroying your sleep schedule, missing Dawn, and being anxious to find your crew, it was hard to settle for long. You did your best to stay in the building until at least close to sunset, but too antsy to stay still anymore, you decided to cloak yourself so you could set off early, at least until the sun was down. Once you got into the capital you would blend in, you only had to cloak yourself until you were inside.

You saw far more patrols as you got closer, including a glimpse of Hawkins riding some sort of deer creature, and it took everything in your power to not attack him. Nobody you encountered had good enough observation haki to catch you, so you made your way through to the town that sat at the entrance to the capital: Ebisu.

Ebisu was unnerving to say the least. The streets were empty, since it was probably three in the morning, but you could hear laughter coming from inside the houses. It echoed through the streets, but what concerned you the most is that the laughter didn't have just one source, multiple houses had laughter coming from them. It was like a horror film to walk through the dark town, so you hurried through, making your way into the clean, lantern illuminated streets of the capital as quickly as possible. You kept yourself cloaked, as it would still be suspicious for a young lady such as yourself to be walking around so late at night. Using your fruit you looked for somewhere to hide and rest for the night, finding an empty apartment which was lavishly furnished.

Your plan for now was to take some time during the day for scouting, meet up with the undercover Straw Hats to see if they had heard anything, and then further scout while cloaked in the evening to try and find some semblance of a prison or overhear information from the shadier variety of people who would be out late. You found a spot in the room to hide your bag for now, if this apartment was to be occupied when you came back, you had left your bag somewhere it wouldn't be found, and could easily sneak back in to reclaim it. The duffle was the last part of your outfit that wouldn't fit in with the rest of the city, so you had to leave it behind if you wanted to walk freely during the day.

You rested and ate the last of your rations, knowing you could steal what you needed now that you were in the city, drained your milk, and did what you could to sleep. By now you felt bone deep exhaustion from having hardly any quality sleep for two days, and with the added comfort of the futon you found in the apartment, you were able to fall asleep quite quickly, sleeping until noon.

The Flower Capital was beautiful, now that you were seeing it by daylight, languidly making your way through the streets and trying to get your bearings. The city surrounded a hill with a Wano styled castle atop it, surrounded by waterfalls and ornate bridges, and topped with a giant, beautiful curved tree that was the centrepiece for the city. The city was bordered by grass topped hills, waterfalls scattered among them and cherry trees pink with bloom decorating their peaks. Blossom petals floated through the streets, fragrant with incense, perfumes and the smell of quality food cooked in streetside stalls. The buildings that tightly lined the paved streets were decorated with brightly coloured roofs and all manner of signage with expertly painted calligraphy advertising wares for sale. The people of the city seemed happy and well fed, in beautiful, delicately embroidered kimonos, going about their day with not a care in the world and no mind for those suffering outside the city walls, broken up by the occasional Beast Pirate in their softcore BDSM outfits.

You homed in on any conversation you could as you walked, searching for any mention of your crew or a prison, but most conversations you heard were mindless drawls about some pretty new fan they'd brought, some lovely geisha they'd seen, what extravagant meal their servant was making for dinner. It was mind melting how out of touch and privileged these people were when everyone you'd seen outside the city were starving and wearing rags. You hated that you looked like one of them, a few women even giving you passing compliments on your kimono. You wanted to tear it off and burnt this place and all its stuck up residents to the ground, but hidden somewhere among these self-obsessed cunts could be your friends.

Eventually a delicious smell caught your nose and your stomach grumbled, pulling you from your destructive thoughts, so you let your nose lead you. You were pleased to find that the source of the smell was Sanji, now working undercover as a soba merchant. You approached him happily, and while he offered you a bright smile when he saw you, he was too busy to properly greet you. None of the other Straw Hats you had met were with him, but you did recognize his crewmates, Robin and Franky, sitting on some nearby crates eating their own bowls of noodles, so you decided to introduce yourself to them while you waited for Sanji to have time to say hello.

Robin was well educated on all the big players on the Grandline, and had heard about you from Sanji as well, who frankly hadn't shut up about you since reuniting with the rest of the crew. She offered you a warm smile as you approached her, shuffling over on the crate to make space for you to sit. If you thought Nami was pretty, Robin was somehow even more beautiful, especially in her disguise as a geisha, in a stunning black kimono and an extravagant hairstyle. You returned her smile and sat next to her wilfully.

“What name are we going by here?” She asked quietly for only you to hear.

“Mienai, yourself?” You replied.

“O-Robi,” she told you, “be sure to not forget the honorific when speaking a woman's name, O-Mienai.” You gave a small nod to her advice, making sure to take it to heart.

“Franosuke,” she spoke to the blue haired man, a cyborg who was undercover as a carpenter, “this is O-Mienai, she travelled here with Sangorou.” You appreciated the subtle way she taught you Franky and Sanji's undercover names, she was just as intelligent as her reputation claimed.

“Lovely to meet you, O-Mienai!” Franky cheered, giving you a playful smack on the shoulder that knocked the wind out of you. It reminded you of your boys, and made you miss them more. “Sangorou says you're looking for your… friends, yeah? Any luck?”

“I only arrived in the capital last night,” you explained, “I haven't had much luck so far. Everyone here is so far stuck up their own ass I don't think they even realise there's anything happening outside their own digestive system.”

Robin made a small feminine giggle and covered her mouth with her sleeve, as was ladylike and expected of a geisha, you were all in public afterall. Franky made a full chested laugh and almost dropped his noodles, not expecting you to be so crass. They really should have expected it, you were a Kid Pirate after all.

“I may be able to help you with that,” Robin said once Franky had his boisterous laugh under control, “our own dear captain has been taken to the labour prison camp, Udon. My clients have been speaking much about the prison with his arrival, and they spoke of another Worst Generation captain there as well, with specific mention of how strong he seems with only one arm.”

“KID!” you squealed, “thank you so much O-Robi!”

“We're not sure yet how we'll rescue Luffy,” she hummed, quiet enough that nobody would overhear, “but perhaps you can at least find a way to free your captain. The prison has multiple strong walls and guard posts, but with your devil fruit perhaps you can get one out at least.”

“I owe Luffy greatly, if I can free him I promise I will,” you replied in your own hushed tone. “My captain is… quite stubborn though. If he orders me to leave Luffy, then I'll have no choice.”

“I understand,” she smiled, “you must follow your captain, just as we must.”

Sanji finally found a break in the crowd and joined your small group, presenting you with a fresh bowl of soba which you happily accepted and sitting on another crate to eat his own. “O-Mienai,” Robin told him subtly, to which Sanji gave an understanding nod.

“Where's the little one, O-Mienai?” Sanji asked, looking at you curiously.

“Ah, I made a deal with… your friends,” you replied, “I guess I'll be joining you all for the festival after all. She's safe with the others while I look for my friends.”

“Ah, that's probably a wise choice,” Sanji hummed. “It's too bad though, I was hoping to see that cute squishy face again!”

“I'm sure you'll get a chance after the festival,” you smiled, hopeful you'd all even survive the raid, “for now though, O-Robi has given me a good starting point to find my friends.”

“Ah, that's good!” Sanji replied with a forced smile. Secretly he hoped your crew would be unsaveable so you'd have no choice but to join the Straw Hats. He'd play papa to Dawn if he had to, after all he had blonde hair and blue eyes just like Dawn, he could totally pass as her dad. Surely a beautiful woman like yourself would be more happy with a gentleman like Sanji, not like those brutes on the Kid Pirates.

A nearby boy shouted something about the criminal Luffytaro as he waved a stack of papers, making his way down the street to sell his wares. Since Wano was cut off from the rest of the world they didn't receive news coos here, instead having their own local newspaper. Robin beckoned the boy over and purchased a paper with the local currency, and the three Straw Hats groaned at their captain's face plastered on the front.

“Just as my customers said,” she noted, “he's been taken to Udon.”

“Do we know how we're gonna get him out?” Sanji asked.

“Not yet,” she sighed, “we'll have to speak to Law. And figure out where Zoro went after his incident.”

Robin flicked through the paper and something caught your eye, your hand darting out to keep her from turning the page. On the page was the face of a man with an eerie smile, his hair pulled back into a long, thick ponytail and scruffy facial hair on his chin. It was hand drawn in black ink, a representation of the criminal pictured instead of a photo, but something about that smile unnerved you.

“The assassin Hitokiri Kamazo,” Robin explained, “the public paints him as a serial killer, but my clients say he works for the shogun himself, killing on his orders. I hear he ate a defective SMILE.”

“Ah, I guess that explains the expression,” you hummed. You couldn't stop staring at the picture though. Something about it was clicking a familiarity in your brain, but you couldn't place it.

“He only comes out at night, so you should be wary of him if you intend to scout after dark,” Robin continued, turning the page as you finally released your hand from the paper.

“Of course,” you hummed, “thanks. I should be going now anyway. Thank you for your help, O-Robi, and for the soba Sangorou.”

“Anything for a beautiful woman!” Sanji grinned, “come back any time if you need food! I'm your humble servant!”

“Right…” you replied awkwardly, handing him your now empty bowl and dusting off your kimono, “see you all around.”

“I wish you luck, O-Mienai,” Robin smiled, “I'm sure we'll meet again before the festival.”

You gave her a small forced grin and walked away, still thinking hard about that picture and trying to place why you would recognize one of the shogun's subordinates.

You wandered the capital for a while longer to no avail. Out in the open you couldn't get close to the heavily guarded castle, you would need to return under the cover of night and your cloaking to investigate it for a potential prison. You did find a set of cells towards the outskirts, but they mostly held drunkards and those who failed to pay their taxes, small-time criminals under little guard, none of your crew among them. You suspected your crew was somewhere better defended, like within the castle grounds perhaps. You walked what must have been most of the city, before giving up and making your way back to your hiding spot. You stole some food along the way, as well as another newspaper, staring at the picture of the smiling man as you ate slowly, tearing the photo from the newspaper and tucking it into your bag before resting and waiting for night to fall.

When night finally came you cloaked yourself and made your way out to the street. You'd spied a few drinking establishments during the day and intended to make your way back to them. The streets were still fairly active as geisha and their clients made their way through the streets, as well as a significant uptake in Beast Pirates, but outside of the main streets where the entertainment establishments were, the streets were quiet. Alleyways were dark and abandoned, making good spots for you to rest from cloaking yourself and focus on listening through the walls with your fruit. You were currently outside a more pirate establishment, occupied by Beast Pirates and the geisha who were serving them.

“... we fucked him good, strapped him to a bench and took turns, his ass was bleeding everywhere when we were done,” one pirate laughed, “the cuck probably loved it too, loved his own blood being used as lube.”

“I saw the gag they put on him,” another replied, “bigger than Greg's baby dick!” The group all laughed among themselves. “Faggot probably loves having a cock in his mouth twenty-four seven, bet it has him begging to get his ass fucked!”

“Ain't you the faggot if you're fuckin’ him?” Another asked.

“Ey? It ain't gay if its rape!” The other retorted, “a tight asshole is just as good as a tight cunt! As long as they're screaming, ey boys? His hair's so long he looks like a bitch from behind anyway, screams like one too.”

The conversation made you ill as the pirates all laughed and agreed, and you changed the setting on your mask to tune it out, deciding to wait a little for the topic to change before checking back in. As a rape victim, the last thing you wanted to hear about was some guy getting ass raped. The Beast Pirates were just as bad as the Marines, you looked forward to killing as many as possible when the night of the raid came.

Approaching footsteps caught your attention and you quickly cloaked yourself, staying still flush with the wall so whoever was approaching wouldn't collide with you. A scared looking samurai ran by, constantly looking over his shoulder as he made heavy breaths, blood pouring from the wound on his chest he was clutching. A laugh came from where he had been, before another man ran through, thick blonde ponytail and red coat, trimmed with green hems and purple feathers not dissimilar from your hair colour, billowing behind him as he ran. His face was bandaged, you realised as he got closer, only his mouth and eyes visible, a scythe held in each hand as he ran. The ponytail and the situation gave away his identity though, it was no doubt the assassin, Kamazo.

Time seemed to slow as he passed you, looking directly at you with that wide eerie smile on his face, lips painted purple with a deep cupid's bow, and blue eyes that sparkled like a deep, icy ocean. You had no doubt he had observation haki, because he'd looked you right in the eye, despite being invisible. You understood now why that picture had itched your brain, why that smile had set off a wave of familiarity. It was because you knew it. You knew that smile that only those closest got to see, those beautiful eyes so similar to your daughter's, that unruly mane of blonde hair.

“KILLER!” you shouted after him, uncloaking yourself, but he did not stop running. You followed after him as fast as you could in your stupid wooden shoes, hiking up your kimono skirt for more leg space as you chased after him. He'd cornered the samurai in a dead end, the man now lifeless on the ground, blood splattered over the walls and dripping from Killer's blades. His back was to you as you caught up, his head slowly turning to look at you over his shoulder as you panted from the sprint.

“Killer- I foun-” you began, but like lightning he had you pinned against the wall, a blade to your throat. You could feel the trail of blood that trickled down your neck as the cool metal bit into your skin, and you struggled to comprehend what was happening. Killer was smiling wide, laughing openly at you, but it didn't feel right. You could tell that his true feelings were different, there was a conflict in him, a deep sadness that you could see as tears pricked at his eyes. He laughed again as you tried to move, pressing his scythe harder against your neck. “Killer, what are you doing? It's me, it's Yin, [y/n], it's me”

“Kamazo, fa-fa-fa-fa,” he laughed, “Kamazo.”

“You're- that's not your name,” you coughed as he restricted your breathing, his body hard against yours, giving you no space for your lungs to inflate, “what have they done to you?”

Killer laughed more, and it sounded pained and forced. It reminded you of when he was having an episode, and you wondered if he was just struggling because he didn't have access to his medication. There was something else though, something felt more wrong than that. Later, after all this was said and done, you would realise that in that moment you had activated a new ability of your devil fruit, honing in on the wavelengths that made up his brain activity and feeling the way the wires were crossing wrong. You could physically feel his brain trying to express sadness and despair, before something unseen rewired those paths to display joy. “This isn't you,” you whispered, “come with me, we'll find Kid together, find our friends.”

“Free the captain Eustass?” He growled, before letting out another string of laughter, “you speak of betrayal against our great shogun Orochi. I will cut you down, traitor.”

Something was so very wrong here, what had they done to your loyal lover? The man who would give his life for his captain and crew? What had they done to entirely change his personality and make him such an obedient dog for the shogun? “Killer, please-” you cried.

“KAMAZO, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa,” he spat, throwing you to the ground, his smile never faltering. You didn't want to fight him, but every hair on your body was bristling in fear for your life as he approached, brandishing his scythes. “No more from you, traitor. You will not get in the way of the great Orochi. I will end your life here, and send your head to your captain.”

The way he said ‘your captain’ made you well with tears, and as they streamed down your cheeks you realised you would have no choice but to fight him. Whatever they had done, you couldn't fix this on your own. Somehow they had taken the most loyal man you had ever known and truly broken him, somehow tricking him to go against his own captain, against his best friend, the man he raised. You had to fight him, there was no other way, you had to at least disarm him so you could get out of here until you had Kid to help you. You never wanted to hurt Killer, no matter how he had hurt you in the past, but there was no other option. You loved him, you wanted him home, but it wasn't possible right now. If you stayed here you had no doubt he would fight you till one of you was dead.

Killer rushed at you, swinging his blades and laughing maniacally, and with one swift movement you dodged and attacked, using his own hair as a grappling point to swing yourself around him, pressing your hand to the back of his skull and sending a vibration through it that would cause him a instantaneous concussion. Killer went down hard, and you kept your momentum as you swung in front of him, completing a full circle, grunting as you caught his much larger frame before he could break his nose on the hard ground.

You couldn't leave him out here, he was technically a wanted criminal, so you did what you could to drag him to the edge of a nearby stream that ran through the city, pulling him down the rocks that lined the edge and leaving him to rest under the bridge. He would be safe there until he came to, and then hopefully he would have the chance to get somewhere better. You daringly took the opportunity to hold him to your chest as you wept, knowing he could wake at any moment, but you couldn't bring yourself to let go. You knew he was at least alive, which was more than you could say for most of the crew, still having no idea where most of them even where. But something was irrevocably wrong with him, and there was nothing you could do. With Kid's help maybe you could sedate him, get him somewhere else, try and undo the mental damage Orochi had done, but you weren't strong enough on your own. Not physically or emotionally.

Nothing about Killer seemed right, not his clothes or his expression or even the way he had attacked, which had been far sloppier and more frantic than his usual fighting, no doubt the only reason you were able to take him down so quickly. You could almost mistake it wasn't him if it wasn't for the fact that you knew him inside and out, and you would know those eyes anywhere. He began to stir, and you startled - it was time to go. You gave him one last soft kiss on the forehead, not knowing when you would even see him again, apologising profusely before you fled, not daring to look back at him. Knowing he was in the city meant it was no longer safe for you here, he had exceptional observation haki, he would hunt you down and no doubt find you. You ran back to where your bag was stashed, and with the strap firmly over your shoulder you fled to Ebisu town, hoping he wouldn't venture that far to find you. You wouldn't be there long anyway, you needed to get to Udon and free Kid as soon as possible. Killer's life now depended on it.

You quickly found an abandoned building to hide in, but every small hint of laughter from the surrounding neighbours had you on edge that Killer was near. It was driving you near mad, and finally after hours of the eerie sound you cracked, bursting into tears as you rocked back and forth, hugging yourself for some much needed comfort. You felt so unbelievably alone in that moment, so helpless and afraid that Killer would find you and you'd have to hurt him again, the guilt of knocking him out already weighing heavily on your mind. No sleep came to you that night, and you cried until your tears ran dry and your throat was hoarse.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

👉 Like my stuff? Consider buying me a ko-fi

Taglist: @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @iggy5055 @eyes-ofhell @luvnisstuff

[bi-bard]

When They Took Everything from You, You Found a Way to Make Something from Nothing - Kaz Brekker Imagine [Shadow & Bone]

Title: When They Took Everything from You, You Found a Way to Make Something from Nothing

Pairing: Kaz Brekker X Reader

Word Count: 3,303 words

Warning(s): **HEY! LOOK RIGHT HERE!** mention of S.A/Assault (within original story's context), mention of abduction

Summary: (Y/n) experiences their first day at the Little Palace. They are confronted with the weight of their new responsibilities, starting with being presented to the king. They also learn just how difficult it will be to work with General Kirigan and the other Grisha.

Author's Note: Shout out to my friend who sent me a picture of a few pages of the book to help inspire a part of this imagine. (we should all love my friend because she is the reason that this OC was continued and the story got developed)

Also, Kaz isn't in this, but Kaz is the romantic interest.

MORE OF THIS OC HERE!

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

I didn't sleep much during my first night at the Little Palace.

I barely even touched the bed after I woke up there the first time. No, my first sign of defiance was my choice to refuse to go to bed as Kirigan told me to. I was not a pet. I refused to be treated as one.

I had a lot of night left to waste.

I contemplated the letters that I would have written to the Crows if I ever trusted a person here enough to believe my written words wouldn't be used against me.

Saints, I missed them all so much more than I ever could have considered.

I don't know when the tiredness overcame my stubbornness.

All I know is that one moment, I was sitting at the table with my jaw clenched and a glare fixed on my face. The next, I was waking up, cheek resting on my folded arms on top of the table.

I felt my heart drop as I looked around the room.

I had been hoping that it would all be some kind of twisted dream. I didn't want this to be real. I wanted to be home. To wake up to some kind of familiarity. Back in the Crow Club so I could play cards with Jesper or with Inej while she tried desperately to teach me how to throw as well as her or even just being in Kaz's office while we bickered over some part of whatever plan he was making.

I found myself grinning at the thought of Kaz.

Saints, that boy consumed every thought I had. It was getting unfair at this point. Especially when I was convinced that there was no world where he would see me in nearly the same light that I saw him.

My dwelling on my senseless pining was brought to an abrupt halt by the door suddenly getting slammed open.

"Excuse me-"

The woman leading the charge cut me off, "Saints... have you ever bathed?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "The abduction didn't exactly leave me much time to pamper myself."

A sigh escaped her before she snapped her fingers at some of the people that had followed her. "Fetch my kit."

Two of the other people grabbed my arms, pulling me into the small bathroom attached to the room.

Once they tried to pull my clothes off, I shoved them away. They went to grab me again, but I simply pushed them again.

"Grab me again and you'll be the first ones to witness my 'gift'," I snapped. "I am perfectly capable of washing and dressing myself."

"Everyone out!" the original woman yelled.

She found her place in a chair in the corner while everyone filled out.

I crossed my arms, my disgust clearly written on my face. I nodded to the door, trying to motion for her to leave. She just tilted her head and smirked at me.

"Unbelievable," I muttered.

I yanked my clothes off and climbed into the tub. One of the lingering workers grabbed my clothes before running off.

The water was warm. The sponge was nicer than I expected it to be. I took a deep breath through my nose. It smelled like something sweet. I couldn't place it.

"You are to be presented to King Pyotr in an hour," the woman said as I scrubbed at my skin.

"Excuse me?"

"You are going to be presented to the king in an hour," she repeated. "I am here to ensure that you are presentable."

"And that includes watching me bathe?"

"What if you were to drown?"

It was pure sarcasm, but I wouldn't be surprised if General Kirigan had sent her to actually ensure that it didn't happen. I just huffed and rinsed my skin off.

I pulled myself up from the tub. The woman walked up behind me and offered me a robe to cover myself. I pulled it on quickly, tying as tight a knot as I could.

It was annoyingly comfortable. Softer than any fabric that I had been given the fortune to touch. But I would rather burn then and there than let anyone in this place see that.

She brought me back to the main room, stopping to touch my chin and inspect my skin in the natural light coming through the window.

"What are you doing," I asked.

"Seeing how much work I need to complete in our very limited time together," she replied. "I should thank you for giving me an excuse to force out that little group that trails behind me. Much easier to do my work when I have no additional interruptions."

"You could always thank me by helping me get out of here," I replied.

She let out an amused huff. "You're funny."

"Wasn't joking."

She reached up and dragged her thumb along my cheekbone.

I felt something shifting under my skin. As if something was scratching and hoping to get out. I yanked myself away from her, reaching up to cover what she had touched.

"What did you do?" I snapped.

"My job," she answered. She motioned to the mirror.

I walked over and glanced at my reflection.

There had been this scar on my cheek. It was from back when I started working with Kaz. I had tried to kick out a man that didn't want to leave the Crow Club just yet. In response to my instructions, he hit me. It wouldn't have scarred if I hadn't picked at it. I could still hear Kaz snapping at me to stop messing with it whenever he caught me.

The scar was gone now. I touched the skin, hoping to find some indent. Nothing.

I turned back to the woman, who looked incredibly proud of herself.

"Healer?"

"Tailor," she corrected. "Rare. Not nearly as special as you, but... still rare."

Her next move was the fresh wounds. The ones that were a direct result of Kirigan's abduction plan and my fight against it.

"I'm Genya, by the way," she introduced. "(Y/n), right? Feels wrong to only call you the Sun Summoner."

I just nodded.

"I was told you were from Ketterdam. Well, you were hiding there. What was that-"

"Genya," I stopped her. "I understand that you are trying to be polite and friendly, but I need you to understand that I am here against my will. I am doing exactly what I need to do to survive and try to ensure the safety of those I care for. I have no interest in forming connections."

She paused for a moment. I couldn't tell if she was truly shocked or merely attempting to call my bluff.

"Fair enough," she finally replied. She reached down and grabbed my hand.

Old scars from the rare moments when I would get caught pickpocketing. Mostly small scars from nails scratching me as they grabbed my hands.

I didn't stop Genya's work until she got to the scar on my arm. I snagged her wrist, gruffly shaking my head.

She raised an eyebrow as she pulled back. "Sentimental?"

I didn't respond to her question.

Her smirk just grew.

Yes. It was me being sentimental.

The scar was fairly long and sat on the outside of my forearm. Inej had tried to help me learn to throw knives without me stabbing myself. I had thrown a knife at our makeshift target but had the handle hit instead of the blade. I had ducked and shielded my face, so when the knife came back, it slid over my arm and left the cut.

After making sure that I was okay, Inej had a tough time keeping it together.

Sitting there and watching her try to cover up her laugh was one of the first times that I felt like I had truly connected with her.

I was proud to be sentimental about it. Just not here.

"Sit," she nodded to the seat. "I'll be done before you know it."

I took a deep breath before listening to her.

She was being honest about that much. I had managed to get lost in my thoughts enough for it to feel like mere seconds before she was having stand so I could get dressed.

The great outfit for me to meet the king in was... the same outfit that I had been wearing when I was taken from Ketterdam.

The only added detail was a ridiculous veil meant to shield my face from everyone else.

"That seems ridiculous," I said. Genya raised an eyebrow at me. "You just want to put me in the same clothes?"

"They suit you well," she replied.

I started pulling on the clothes. I muttered under my breath as I did. It wasn't until I was tying up my ever-fateful boots that she spoke up again.

"We could have just left them as they were. Coated in dirt and sweat and... whatever lines the streets of Ketterdam."

I turned to her.

"You should be a little more grateful."

"Oh, you're right, how kind of you to clean the clothes that I was abducted in before forcing me to wear them to face the king," I said sarcastically.

She paused for a brief moment before responding, "Don't be silly, it's simply a recreation."

"Was that necessary?"

She raised an eyebrow at me as she placed the veil over my head. "Expect more?"

"If I was apparently so valuable, then I would imagine that having me look like... this wouldn't be appealing to your precious king."

She hummed, "Well... you don't want to attract too much attention from the king."

She said it in as light-hearted a voice as she could, but I caught her eyes before she could turn away from me to continue walking. They worried me. There was simply so much sitting there. None that she meant to show. Knowledge of some "consequence" of that attention.

It was a dark look, a sad look that I had only been allowed to see on one person's face before that moment.

Inej.

My heart fell a bit. I felt just as useless now as I did then. If I hadn't been so focused on my coldness, then I would have asked her to explain that statement a little further. I would have helped her. I would have done more than just sit there.

This is why I knew that I wasn't the saint that people wanted me to be. If I was, I would have done better. By both of them.

This wasn't the feeling of familiarity that I wanted.

Genya didn't speak on her statement more.

"He wishes to see you as something newly found," she said. "Saved from the Barrel and whatever unsavory life that he believes it offered you. He'll want to take credit for you being found."

"Like a rare animal," I replied. "New and interesting... and placed in a cage so they cannot fight back."

"A very comfortable cage," Genya shrugged.

I rolled my eyes.

"Come on."

I followed Genya out of my room, letting her lead me down the hall.

We walked in silence through most of the halls. I wanted to get a grasp of the layout. I knew that I would need to have it memorized for later.

I spotted a library, where the nearest staircases, and the potential exits.

There was no denying that the Little Palace was a gorgeous place. It was designed to treat the Grisha as nothing less than almost-royalty. Separate yet superior. If only their rise to power didn't involve shoving so many into the dirt on the way up.

Genya tried to explain who would be at the event today. I didn't pay much mind to it. It was rude, yes, but I don't think I can be faulted for not being the kindest of individuals considering the circumstances.

"Genya," I turned my eyes forward at the sound of one of the few voices that could make me truly sick to my stomach. Kirigan. "I believe I can take over the guiding from here."

She nodded to both of us before walking away. I pushed the veil off of my face.

"Shall we," Kirigan motioned toward the door. I walked a few steps ahead of him. "The Grand Palace may be the ugliest building I've ever seen."

I simply hummed in response. Polite, but not going out of my way to continue the ever-so-interesting conversation.

"How was your rest?"

I didn't respond, still admiring the outside of the Grand Palace, the Little Palace, and the courtyard in between.

"You do know that you can talk to me," he continued.

"Thank you for the permission," I replied. "If I ever have the desire to accept your offer, I'll be certain to inform you."

He grabbed my wrist, pulling us both to a stop and forcing me to turn and face him. I flinched away from him. I never thought that I would miss the feeling of Kaz tapping my shins with his cane to do the same thing, yet here I was. Still thinking of him, even when I was about to face the king of Ravka.

"What," I asked.

"I understand that these are not ideal circumstances-"

"You kidnapped me-"

"I am requesting that you pretend to have some understanding of how important this is," he said. "How important you are. I'm asking you to behave like an adult."

"Promise to do the same?" I tilted my head. "I am sorry but there is going to be no form of cooperation here if you cannot even truly accept that what you did to me was wrong."

"Who are you to tell me the difference between right and wrong? Last time I checked, you were part of some gang of lowlifes before I found you."

I clenched my fists. Again, choose your battles at the right time.

"Behave yourself," he scolded me. "We are going to meet the king. I am going to present you, you will show your powers, and the king will allow me to keep you here for training. Then, we will tear down the Fold together.

"We are officially too far down this path for us to turn back and question how we got here. You may not believe me, but I am trying to do what is best for us. For you, for me, for all of Ravka. Even those little Crows of yours."

"Don't speak of them," I snapped. "Never speak of them. You have no right to hold their names on your tongue."

A smirk pulled at Kirigan's lips. "I admire your stubbornness. I just wish it were applied in the place that truly needed it."

I rolled my eyes.

"I will earn your trust as best I can," he continued. "For now, I am asking you to pretend that I have already earned it. They will need to see that if they are ever going to believe that we can tear the Fold down."

I took a deep breath and pulled the veil back down over my face.

"Thank you-"

"Save it."

We walked to the Grand Palace in silence.

We were followed inside by guards and a collection of other Grisha.

The hall felt packed as we walked in. I never thought that I was one who feared attention, but I hadn't truly experienced it on such a scale. I had gone from completely hidden to completely known in a night. It was enough to churn anyone's stomach.

I stopped next to Kirigan in the middle of the room. I took a breath before lifting the veil from other my face. Someone took it from my hand. I nodded to them.

The crowd was only worse without the obstruction to my sight. And now I couldn't how desperately I wanted to close my eyes and hide from it all.

"I thought they'd be taller," the king said immediately.

I took a breath, keeping my attitude to myself. I felt Kirigan's eyes shift to me for just a moment. As if he were checking on my behavior like a parent does with a child.

"Good morning," the queen added awkwardly.

"Good morning, your highness," I replied, nodding my head in respect.

"So polite," she gushed. "Considering where you've been living, of course."

I wondered how much of Inej's throwing lessons had properly stuck with me. "Thank you, your highness."

Kirigan spoke up before I had a chance to properly introduce myself, "They are (Y/n) (Y/l/n). The Sun Summoner, moya tsaritsa. They will change the future."

I felt his eyes turn to me again.

"Starting now."

He lifted his hand, drawing in two waves of shadow from either side of the crowd. It filled the room, covering any ounce of light. He stepped to the side, facing me fully.

I turned my eyes up to the shadows surrounding me. I took a breath, closed my eyes, and drew the sun in.

A ball formed in my hands. I cast it up into the center of the shadow.

It glimmered as the light tore it down.

I heard the applause before I opened my eyes. When I did, the king had stood from his seat, leading the audience's response. I grinned at him, nodding as a quiet sign of appreciation.

Kirigan stepped over again. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Asking a little early," I whispered back to him.

"How long will they need," the king asked, turning to Kirigan.

"Destroying the Fold is no easy feat," he explained. "It is possible that (Y/n) may not have the ability to complete the task alone. I request that they remain with me in the Little Palace to train. Undisturbed."

"Then train them quickly," the king replied. "Our wars have been a noble pursuit, but this chat about the west becoming a sovereign nation, that needs to stop. The sooner we are one country again, the better."

"I agree," Kirigan nodded. He tilted his head down. "Moi tsar."

I mimicked his bow.

He guided me to turn around, leading me back to the crowd of Grisha. He only stopped for a moment.

"Welcome home, (Y/n)."

He walked away, finding his way through the crowd to leave.

I was left with the guards and the Grisha.

The Grisha were welcoming. All of them seemed to be buzzing due to my presence and what they had just watched. I tried to be as polite as I needed to be. Nods and shaking hands and small grins. Far too many hugs. That was all that I could offer.

There was one woman who stuck out. Long dark hair with bangs. She stood perfectly straight with her shoulders rolled back enough to make her appear like a soldier.

"It's such an honor to formally meet you," she said.

I didn't have a chance to respond before I was pulled into a rough, tight hug. I barely caught sight of the smug grin on her face. I awkwardly hugged her back regardless.

"You reek of the Barrel," she muttered to me.

I chucked and leaned back just slightly, mumbling into her ear to ensure that my words were only heard by her, "And you reek of the General."

She tilted her head, grin now tighter and more forced.

I offered a sickeningly sweet grin before allowing myself to be guided out of the room by Genya, who I must've simply missed when I first arrived. She guided me back to my room, claiming that I deserved a bit of rest while waiting on my kefta to arrive.

I knew that this event was only a first step. Merely one day in what could be hundreds.

But I was okay with that.

As long as the Crows were at the end of that long line of days.

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

Navigation Guide

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

[voidandabyssal]

Hey! It's been a while since I requested anything and I'm bored...

I miss your Horrorfell bros so can we have some general headcanons for them? Do they have any interests? Favourite things to do or food to eat? Would they get flustered easily if I complimented them (provided they aren't hungry)? Can you tell that I'm a sucker for these two AU's and love this combination??

Omg yayyyyy! I haven’t been requested in so long! Thank you❤️ I’m such a sucker for horrorfell! I wish more people liked it! I’m planning to rewrite my fan fiction of those two (finally😫) so hopefully you’ll get some more of my fav boys soon!

Pyre: (hf papyrus)

Hound: (hf sans)

Pyre and Hounds relationship doesn’t recover for a WHILE after surfacing. Bad enough that they go a good couple years without talking to each other. They reconnect after some long talks and deep self reflections in therapy and realise they miss each other.

Once they do reconnect they both put in the effort. Maybe they’ll never be as close as they once were, hell they probably won’t ever live together again. But they’re still brothers, and they still care about each other

Hound uses his government received reparations to buy a small run down cottage on the side of Ebott Mountain, it has a huge garden with lots of privacy from his neighbours. Hound isn’t actually sure if he has neighbours?? He sure as hell isn’t looking to meet them.

Pyre once on the surface eventually comes to be known as the crazy cat lady of his neighbourhood. He owns at least a dozen cats, (not including the feral strays he feeds in his garden). Each one is equally loved and doted on. They all sleep on his bed in the winter. They all have unique names, collars and food bowls. Not a single one goes a day without getting some kind of treat from Pyre

Hound despite his very extroverted past self, never fully recovers his interest in other people. He spends most of his days gardening and farming his own food. He’s got a small flock of chickens that he pretends to hate. Like one of those dads that grumpily insists he doesn’t like the new pet, but is then seen snuggling with the damn thing a day later.

Pyre regains his love for sweets. He kept it a secret before the famine, ashamed it would make him seen weak. He’s too old and hungry for that now tho. Give him his sweets or give him death🤺

The local bakery both fears and respects that man for the amount of chocolate sweets he purchases😮‍💨

Hound meanwhile is a blackhole for food, he literally has no favourites and would eat literally garbage if it was placed in front of him. Bro is just excited to eat

Both boys would get pretty flustered if you complimented them! Pyre would brush it off waving you away before you could see the blood red blush dusting his cheekbones. “YES OF COURSE YOU APPRECIATE THE TERRIBLE PYRES DINNER! YOU DID NOT NEED TO VERBALISE IT HUMAN!!!” As he hides away in the kitchen.

Hound would chuckle quietly and tug down his beanie so you couldn’t see the way his eye light blew up in size as he looked down at you, maybe he would reach down and ruffle your hair. “….thanks…..cutie” he would manage to speak aloud.

Hound doesn’t work, his metal jaw and cracked skull make it difficult for him to communicate, occasionally he’ll plonk down a stall (a totally legal one at that. No sir not at all like his illegal hot dog stand) and sell some of his veggies and chicken eggs other than that he’s pretty much chilling in his home.

Pyre on the other hand dives into work as soon as he can. He’s very lonely for a long time once on the surface. All his old friends are dead, or he wishes they were, him and Hound aren’t on speaking terms yet. So he busied himself to stop the aching feeling of loneliness settling into his soul.

He jumps around from place to place, it’s hard to find work when you’re a terrifying skeleton and you’re also disabled. Eventually he settles on working as a counsellor. He’s tough on his clients, unforgiving even. But Pyre loves what he does and he genuinely gives it his all in helping his patients.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this much, but Pyres got a pretty fucked up spine. It makes it difficult for him to go long without sitting, and he receives multiple surgeries to hopefully help fix it. All that does is extend the time he can stay standing. Pyre can’t do much exercise or walking before the pain gets too much. Once on the surface he gets a wheelchair and is pleasantly surprised that he doesn’t have to spend most of the day in terrible pain.

Pyres a tough nut to crack socially, his walls are forever up and he needs time to start to trust someone. Just keep taking your chances, sit with him at work, offer him some home baked cookies, knock on his door and ask for help (Pyre loves to feel useful). Eventually he’ll break, and you’ll have a gigantic protective skeleton at your beck and call!

Be ready to spend a lot of time after those walls are down though, Pyre loves to be social and he absolutely will drag you to places he wants to visit if need be.

Hounds a little easier to befriend, just don’t speak for him, (even if it takes a while for Hound to get the words out he hates being spoken over even more) and he’ll think you’re alright. If you wanna get closer you gotta dish out some puns, or some good ol’ slapstick humour often

I wouldn’t bother trying to befriend them in the Underground if I were you though. This time in their lives is marked by hunger, sadism and wrath. You likely won’t get far before a knife is shoved in your stomach or your chopped in half. If you meet them Underground you gotta have something to be worth keeping alive.

Pyre as much as he hates to admit it, spends a lot of time in therapy. When Pyre initially got triggered by something he reacted violently, brutally so. He would lash out at everyone and everything in the vicinity until he felt safe again. This was part of the reason Hound and him stopped talking. Hound was sick and tired of being torn into and beaten around over perceived insults or threatening actions.

The therapy does Pyre a lot of good, it’s what inspires him to become a counsellor. Eventually he settles down and manages to learn what to avoid and what to distance himself from.

Blood, meat, injured humans, etc. Pyre also deconstructs his ego problems, he stops feeling the need to constantly project “DANGER” to feel safe.

Hound never goes to therapy, ever. Yes he’s still triggered by a lot of things, and yeah sometimes he lashes out or suffers from debilitating panic attacks. No, there’s probably nothing anyone could ever do to convince him to go to therapy, he’s learning in his own way how to manage.

[redfoxwritesstuff]

Sunflower: Book 1, Chapter 14

Tom Hiddleston x OFC Series rated: M Chapter warnings: A bit high PG13 in our flashback and some anxiety. AN: Dude, I'm still fucking sick. Also, I edited and posted this while working because I'm sick and it's Friday and fuck these doctors, they don't get to dump dictation on me at the end of the week and be like "It's urgent." No, fuck you and the horse you rode in on, it's not Urgent if you didn't do it till now.

~~~~~<3

Mia slept like a rock but was up right on time. Of course, on time wasn’t late enough. She rarely got enough sleep when she worked nights but she would make up for that later, she always did.

Peeking in on Sally, she found the little one still asleep. It was seven in the morning, she would be waking soon. Generally, she wasn’t one to sleep in. 

Mia took the chance to make breakfast in her new kitchen. The task wasn’t terribly difficult, even though she hadn’t even had a chance to unpack thanks to each box being labeled so clearly with the contents. Having a packing and moving crew was surely worth every penny Tom had paid for them. 

~~~~~<3

Sally sat at their little dining table, too small for the space- something Mia never thought would be a problem in her life as pancakes were set in front of her. They had a busy morning ahead of them. 

Ikea opened at ten and Mia had every intention of being there at opening. She intended to find a nice enough couch that was also affordable. Tom had probably intended for them to get a nicer couch than an Ikea special but he wasn’t here to stop her. She was unsupervised with his credit card.

The ping of her phone drew her attention. It was a text message form Ashley with a link. “Your man was on The Late Show.” 

Sally was coping well with Tom’s absence so far. Mia didn’t want to risk ruining that when she had such a busy day ahead of them by reminding her that Tom had left so rather than just following the link, she spent time digging out her headphones from her purse. 

“Momma,” Sally called, “Can I get something pretty for my new room?” 

“Yeah, sure. We’ll see what we can find.” Mia was paying more attention to jabbing an earbud in her ear. “Finish eating while I get dressed, alright?”

~~~~~<3

Mia wasn’t one to watch late night TV. She was either sleeping or she was working. Plus the famous person or politician or whoever chatting with a host about movies wasn’t really her thing. 

She set her phone down on her dresser as she traded out her pj pants for a pair of jeans. The screen loaded onto a man already talking to Tom. It must have been a clip from the show, not the whole segment. As she got dressed, she couldn’t help but be absorbed in the short video.

~~~~~<3

“You were just in Vegas, right?” The man said, leaning forward in his chair. His dark hair was cut short yet somehow still just a little wild. He had large eyes and the infectious smile of a late night comedian. 

“I was, yes.” Tom smiled.

“It was an eventful few days I hear. You got up to some stuff.”

Tom chuckled. “Eventful yes, you could say that.” 

“And you left with some bling.” Tom’s fingers twitched ever so slightly as the ring was pointed out. He wasn’t sure where this was going but he knew he needed to tread carefully. “There’s pictures!” The man said, “Bring on the pictures.”

The screen switched to Tom and Mia running down the hall, her white dress flowing and sparkly high heels glittering in the too bright lights of a hotel hallway. her face was obscured by Tom’s shoulder but his face was clearly visible.

His cheeks were bright red though if they didn’t know he was out of his mind wasted, they could believe it was from the private moment being intruded on. 

The picture switched to them kissing in the bar some time earlier. Dim lights gave them a warm glow and they had drinks in front of them. Tom’s hand was on her neck and hers was resting on his thigh as she leaned forward. Her face was obscured by his as she leaned into the kiss. 

“You’ve kept a romance under warps, Mr. Hiddleston.” The host teased. Color flushed Tom’s cheeks.

“I do like to keep my private life to myself.”

“And how long have you too been together?”

“That’s private.” Tom dodged. “But all anyone needs to know is I care for her deeply otherwise I wouldn’t have married her.” 

“So it’s not a ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ situation?” The host pressed. 

“I’m as married today as I was Friday night.” Tom reiterated. 

“Tell us about her!” The host propped his head up in his hands. If it was possible, he would have had hearts in his eyes. It was clear that the host and Tom had a report and were familiar with each other in a friendly way. 

“She’s not a public figure.” Tom started, picking his words carefully. “Her privacy is important and I want to respect that. She’s not married to Actor Tom, she’s married to me and that’s a beautiful thing. Her name is Mia and-”

“Mia!” The host cried, popping up in his seat. “What a lovely name.” 

“She’s lovely.” Tom agreed and on the other side of the country, in a different time and place Mia’s face got hot. “She’s absolutely wonderful and we’re looking forward to our future.” 

The host continued to lightheartedly press for details but Tom stood firm. They showed a few more pictures from that night neither could remember but not a single image showed her face with the exception of the picture of them going into the restaurant over the weekend. 

Had no one gotten a clear shot of her? That didn’t seem likely. Had Tom known ahead of time and asked for her face to be hidden? Was her makeup smeared and her face being hidden to protect their dignity? 

~~~~~<3

“I’m done!” Sally yelled from the dining table, throwing Mia back into reality. Perhaps not reality, in a strange way what was happening on the screen was very much a part of her reality. No, her daughter’s voice had served throw her back into the present more than anything. 

“Go get washed up.” Mia called, slipping a shirt over her head and quickly finishing getting herself dressed. 

~~~~~<3

Ikea was overwhelming, as it always was. There were too many people, too much stuff and in general, far too much stimulation. But she would get through it and in the end she would be rewarded with Swedish meatballs. That was just how trips to Ikea went. You survived and then indulged in cafeteria food. She didn’t make the rules. 

They sat on couch after couch as she picked which one would be best for the space. None of them really felt big enough but she was not going to go somewhere with more expensive sofas. That wasn’t an option. She would just have a lot of empty space in her living room. More room for Sally to play. 

The one they picked was one of the largest. Under the cushions were storage compartments. It was a few hundred dollars and would likely break down after a few short years at best, needing to be replaced but she didn’t care. 

While she hadn’t planned on it, she went ahead and got herself a pair of matching end tables and lamps to set on them. While the apartment had plenty of overhead lamps, there was a warmth that came from table lamps that she loved. 

Sally picked out a soft rug to put on the floor. All in all, Mia didn’t feel too bad about the spending. It was less than a couch would have been if she went to Ashley’s Furniture or somewhere similar like Tom had probably intended. 

The lamps were on clearance and that helped keep the cost low. The tables were the cheapest they had. Hopefully Tom wouldn’t mind. 

~~~~~<3

Mia was anxious as she stood in line waiting. She had paid for their lunches with her own debit card but this was going to go on Tom’s card. She had no plan B for if it didn’t go through. 

It was a international card, wasn’t it? Would it go through okay? What would she do if it didn't? What if they asked for her ID? 

It was irrational, she knew that. Tom was traveling and had been spending money without issue on this card for as long as he was there from what she had seen. Places rarely asked for ID for credit card transactions anymore. There was so much fraud protection that it had just fallen to the wayside. 

All the stress was for nothing. The card went through perfectly fine. No one asked her who she was to use it. No one questioned her. No one said “stop!”. It went perfectly, painlessly fine. As part of her knew it would.

The furniture would be delivered the next day. It was surreal to spend so much money at any one time. But it was done and she survived the flood of panic that came with spending his money. In the moment though, as she swiped his card, she thought she was going to revisit her Swedish meatballs. 

Would it get easier over time? Mia decided she’s really rather not find out. If she had her way, she wasn’t going to be doing anymore major spending on his card, at all. It was better she didn’t get used to this. Tom wouldn’t always be there to financially save her. He wouldn’t always be there to replace her couch. This was temporary. 

Sitting in the car before leaving IKEA, she shot a text to Tom letting him know she had spent his money as he had requested and how much the total was. 

She hadn’t heard from him all day. In the morning she had assumed he was still sleeping after working the late night appearances but now it was quickly becoming afternoon without a word. 

What did it mean? Why wasn’t he texting her? 

It drove her insane the rest of the day. She checked her phone repeatedly for a hello or even so much as an acknowledgment of the purchases.

 Nothing came however, leaving her to wrestle with the thousands of ‘what if’s that quickly took up residence in her mind. Time after time she started text messages only to delete them instead of sending. 

It was fine if he didn’t text her, right? It was okay if they didn’t talk, right? They were just strangers, really, at the end of the day. This was fine. 

~~~~~<3

The elevator walls were not mirrored but the polished stone may as well have been. Dark copies of the bride and groom surrounded them. They were alone and yet not, in this magical space. 

Tom advanced on her slowly. She matched every step he took forward with one of her own backwards. There wasn’t enough air in the elevator car as it moved up and up. 

Her heart was on cloud nine and the evaluator was taking the rest of her there. 

She couldn’t breathe. It felt like she was gasping for air in all the best ways before her back hit the polished stone wall. There was no where else to go. She couldn’t take any more steps backward. 

Her future didn’t stop just because her back hit the wall. Was this a sign of what her life would be like? Was this what her future with him would be like? Advancing faster than she could keep up? 

Her future put his hands against the stone on either side if her head, palms flat and fingers splayed. His elbows buckled and then he was supporting his weight with his forearms, oh so much closer than he had been.

His face hovered just inches from hers. His breath smelled strongly of whiskey but the air around him smelled of his cologne. The mix of the two together was intoxicating.

Leaning forward, she closed the distance. The soft velvet of his lips felt amazing against hers. There was a light stubble to his face, hardly visible but as he pushed into her, she could feel it. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands roamed around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Pinned between him and the wall, she didn’t have anywhere to go. There wasn’t anywhere she wanted to go. 

His hands groped her ass through the layers and layers of fabric that made up the skirt of her dress. Pulling up and forward, he had her off her feet. Wrapping her legs around him, only possible due to the many folds of the skirts, she embraced her future closer, trying to wrap herself around the very concept.

His lips left hers and made their way down her neck, leaving a path of damp butterfly kisses down to her collar bone. Nipping and sucking at the soft flesh had her squirming in his arms. 

The elevator wasn’t moving fast enough. There wasn’t a way she could get enough of him in here. At least, there was no legal way. There were cameras in the elevators and the halls. Again and again she told herself that.

His hand was large and warm. The warmth soaked into her breast. She arched into his touch. His touch was firm and strong. Muscles twitched and moved under her hands as she slipped them into his jacket after struggling with the buttons. 

She hadn’t felt like this in years. It was more intoxicating than all the wine they had shared. She felt powerful. Desirable. Wanted. 

Was this what love felt like? Was this what it felt like to be loved? It was the best feeling in the world. 

~~~~~<3

Tag List: @winterisakiller @alexakeyloveloki, @jennyggggrrr, @dangertoozmanykids101 @tilltheendwilliwrite @tinchentitri @wizardcherryblossom @buttercupcookies-blog @violethaze @kats72 @soulpiercing

[momtaku]

I saw the ask about No Regrets and it reminded me of this question I’ve tried to find an answer to for years but could never find. Sorry if the wording is weird, it’s hard to type out because asking and explaining my question is difficult

Did the author of No Regrets get permission to use characters from Isayama? Or was it just a fan made thing that wasn’t canon and just something created for fun?

What’s always been weird to me is it actually got ADAPTED. Like it wasn’t created by Isayama or even canon in the series yet, but Wit animated it. It was published in September 2013, animated in December 2014 and April 2015, and THEN chapter 69 came out in May.

Did Isayama even have a backstory for Levi? Did he see No Regrets and decide to give Levi a backstory and make it canon? I have no idea how far ahead Isayama even planned aot back then because I 1) had no idea of aot’s existence, and 2) wasn’t there when the manga was released back in 2013-2015.

For the new chapter we’re getting for Levi, do we know how many pages it’ll be? Will it have the same amount of pages as a normal chapter, or be shorter or longer?

Isayama authorized the No Regrets manga and visual story. You might find this post interesting as it contains an interview with Isayama and Hikaru Suruga (the No Regrets artist) as well as words by the author, Gun Snark (Gan Sunaaku). No Regrets was one of 6 visual novels/mangas that were release by various authors in the 2013-2015 times frame . All with Isayama's permission. There was a huge explosion of authorized material during those years, including the Smart Pass content, A Spoof on Titan, Attack on Titan Junior High, Before the Fall and so on. The list is really endless.

My opinion on the why of it all is that Isayama has talked about how he was convinced in those early years that each chapter would be his last. He was in constant fear of cancellation. He's also mentioned his long work days, the stress, and how little sleep he was getting. Writing and illustration 46 pages a month was a more-than-full-time job for Isayama and he was stretched entirely too thin. When the series exploded in popularity, there was a desire for more and tons of money to be made, but Isayama didn't have the time to produce anything beyond what he was doing. Thus the collaborations started. With No Regrets, Isayama provided guidelines as to what he envisioned for Levi's backstory. I can't find proof of that, but I do recall reading that he provided the general idea. It was a very limited scope, which is why he's able to produce Bad Boy now. He had a vision for Levi, but no time to develop it so he allowed No Regrets to cover a small period of time. I believe Bad Boy is only going to be 18 pages, but I'l very excited for it. I can't wait to see what Isayama can do when he isn't dealing with strict deadlines. Thanks for the ask! I hope this covered some of what you were interested in.

[gren-arlio]

When was the last time I did this? Oh well, welcome to Season 2, Episode 4 of Waku Puyo Translations.

(Have you seen this animal? This DWEEB?)

Heya guys, I'm finally back doing this funny nonsense since school has finally ended, or basically ended depending on when I post this. I have much more time to do stuff, and I'm hoping for a good summer.

I like doing these mock translations, and yeah, I figured out the word for the thing I do. They're not professional, but they're just a mock-up, a way to get the general information in for the people. And it only took me a whole...year to figure it out.

I'm a tad foolish.

For people who dunno, I just kinda do this stuff on my spare time. I do plan on making a big Google Doc about it sometime, revisions and all, but that'll be months and months of work. Since I got a new laptop, I can type these things a whole lot more quickly, at the cost of trying to figure out what the hell what PC Tumblr looks like. I'll learn within due time.

Well, in that case, here's the video in question:

Timestamps:

Door: (0:07)

Merchant Nonsense: (0:25)

MORE Merchant Nonsense: (1:40)

EVEN MORE Merchant Nonsense: (2:03)

Rulue Encounter 1: (3:05)

Schezo Encounter 1: (3:50)

Info Booth: (4:38)

Sasori Man Encounter: (8:00)

Schezo Encounter 2: (9:23)

Rulue Encounter 2: (9:58)

Cockatrice Midboss: (12:20)

Skeleton-T Encounter: (13:50)

Owlbear Boss: (13:50)

Info Booth 2: (19:04)

Lets see how this goes. Hope you enjoy.

And on a serious note, I'm so, so sorry this took so long. Life got super busy, and still sorta is, I even got myself a summer job. I'll try to continue these, I promise. I'll post more informational stuff too, I think people are getting really tired of my super casual posting, so I'll begin to balance them more. And I'm also going to stop putting the timestamp on the translations, since they're...already at the top.

Door:

Arle: Huh? What does it say here...?

Door: They who has 6 orbs, raise them.

Arle: ...6 of them? I mean, I have a few, but not six of them.

Carbuncle: Gugu?

------

Merchant Nonsense:

Fufufu: Welcome.

Arle: Oh, heya there.

Fufufu: Fufufu, you're here to buy something?

Arle: So you're a merchant as well, I assume?

Fufufu: Fufufu, well, I got a lot of interesting stuff for you.

[This opens up a menu for the shop, and I'll just go by page number rather than what the player here does. Some of the names might be wrong, my apologies.

Page 1: Rugged Stone Life Stone Soul Stone Ruby Sapphire Emerald Useless Wand (Could also just say Worthless. Either or.) Transforming Wand (I'd assume it does, since the text says it'd transform something, so it's what I'll be going with.

Page 2: Golden Wand Multi-trap Scroll Monster Scroll Cursed Scroll Super Cursed Scroll (It's basically still a Cursed Scroll, so I'll just call it this.) Forgetfulness Scroll Slowness Scroll Rotten Soup (Part of Medicine.)

Page 3: Poison Illusion Medicine Blindness Medicine Dizziness Medicine Sealing Medicine Sleep Medicine Forgetfulness Medicine Slowness Medicine

Page 4: Rotten Herbs Hunger Herbs Falling Herb (I asked like three people and we all pointed to this) Drain Herb Rotten Apple Poisoned Apple Explosive Apple

Page 5: Rotten Curry Plain Curry Rugged Book Heavy Book Difficult Book

And that'd be all the items here. These are easily the hardest things to do.]

Fufufu: Fufufu, I see you haven't learned to fuse yet. (In-game, it's sorta called Synthesize, but the gameplay mechanic is virtually fusion. So for clarity's sake, I'll call it Fusion.)

Arle: Fuse? I mean, you're not wrong.

Fufufu: Please bring me a Flame Ring (1) then.

Arle: So if I bring it, you'll teach me?

Fufufu: Fufufu, indeed.

-----

MORE Shop Nonsense:

Momomo: Welcome to the shop.

[...More Menus. Yay. So it says:

Rings <-

Amulets

Scrolls

Books

Medicine

Herbs

Food

Accessories

Page 1 of Rings:

Plain Ring Rugged Ring Flame Ring (1) Ice Ring (1) Lightning Ring (1) Thunder Ring (2) Supernatural Ring Rock-Punch Ring (1) (I'd assume this is from Rulue's Story.)

Page 2: Flame-Strike Ring (2) Ice-Strike Ring (2) Player buys a Flame Ring (1) and leaves.]

Momomo: Thank you for shopping with us.

-----

EVEN MORE Shop Nonsense:

Fufufu: Fufufu, welcome. Did you get the Flame Ring (1)?

[Menu pops up saying "Do you want to give him the ring?" We say Yes.]

Arle: Yeah, here ya go.

Fufufu: Now watch carefully, because something interesting is going to happen.

Arle: What're you gonna do?

Fufufu So, look at this Flame Ring (1) and Ice Ring (1). We combine the two, and...

Arle: Huh?

Fufufu: Look. Now we have the Thunder Ring.

Arle:

What!? How'd you do that?

Fufufu: Fufufu, you really want to know?

Arle: I wanna know, yeah! Can you tell me?

Fufufu:

Fufufu, you sure ask for quite a good bit.

[Arle has learned the Fusion skill. Now, you can Fuse your Rings and Amulets.]

Arle: Wow, thanks!

Fufufu: Fufufu, good luck on your journey.

-----

Rulue Encounter 1:

Rulue: Oh-hohoho!

Arle: ...What's up with you today?

Rulue: You don't have a VIP Ticket, huh?

Arle: Ticket? Hmm, so Rulue got one as well...

Rulue: Wait a second, you said "As well". Arle, where did you get a VIP Ticket?

Arle: Oh, from Sasori Man. I could ask you the same question, how did you get yours?

Rulue: Well, how I got it is not important at all!

Arle: Alright...But it's not fair for you to ask about my ticket, but not vise versa.

Rulue: Oh, can it! I don't need to be hearing this from you!

Arle: I didn't even do anything wrong! ...C'mon Carby!

Carbuncle: Gu...

-----

Schezo Encounter 1

Arle: Heya Schezo.

Schezo: What is it?

Arle: Did you know that there's more than 5 floors in the PuyoPuyo Dungeon?

Schezo: Oh, of course I did. That lady I spoke to wasn't my enemy, after all.

Arle: Lady? I dunno any girls who you're exactly close with. Oh right, I remember! You're here to pick up girls!

Schezo: No, I'm not! ...Wait, you didn't meet that perverted woman?

Arle: Pervert? But aren't you the pervert?

Schezo: That's enough from you...Just don't say another word.

Arle: And he's gone...Odd.

Carbuncle: Gu?

-----

Info Booth:

[I've done these so many times...

Menu appears saying:

Listen <- Rank Bulletin Back

Kiki says "What do you want to hear?"

More Menus appear:

About Completed Attractions About Rare Items <- Black Market Tales When in Trouble Back]

Kikimora: There's quite the number of items in these attractions. And with these items, there's also rare ones that can't be found in stores. These items change depending on which attraction you are at, so if you want anything specific, let us know. Think about the attractions you're entering before trying to find items. As well, at the store, when you sell the item, they'll always be in stock, so you can sell anything you want without much worry.

Arle. Huh. Neat.

[The player then goes into the Bulletin, where it says:

Horror House Wonder Jungle Merchant Fufufu Recommendations For Bottling Fusion Manual <-]

Incubus: Hello!

Arle: Hey, just teach me about Fusion.

Incubus: Of course! It's quite a long story, so listen carefully, alright honey?

Arle: Who's Honey...?

Incubus: Fusing is combing items in order to make new ones. It can only be things like rings with rings and amulets with amulets, so no mixing. Okay so far?

Arle: Mhm.

Incubus: Lets continue then. Fusing also drains some MP.

Arle: D-drains?

Incubus: Imagine it like using a spell, it'll also cost MP to use it. But once you do it, you gain EXP. Of course though, gaining EXP through other means also levels up your fusing ability.

Arle: Well, what'll happen if I level up?

Incubus: More MP is needed to fuse stronger and rarer items. But if you level up, you can fuse with less MP drain as well. If you're a low level, you'll just fail at fusing a lot. And even if you fail, you'll still lose that MP.

Arle: This all sounds really complicated...

Incubus: Come on, it's actually pretty easy. Higher leveled items are much more difficult to fuse than lower leveled ones. But the higher the level of the item, the stronger the combined fusion will become.

Arle: Ahhhha...

Incubus: Once an item is at its max potential, it'll say (EX) right next to it. It just means that it's at its strongest. Well, that just explains most of Fusion.

Arle: Woah...

Incubus: Ha! It's not EVERYTHING, I'll explain more when we meet again.

Arle: Wha!? There's more?

Incubus: The road to mastering Fusion is a very long and difficult road, you know. But see ya later! Buh-Bye~!

Arle: Err...

----- Sasori Man Encounter:

Sasori Man: Hey hey.

Arle: Hmm? What's up?

Sasori Man: I got one thing to tell you before you enter this place.

Arle: And what's that?

Sasori Man: It's about the big boss of Wonder Jungle.

Arle: And this guy...well, is he strong?

Sasori Man: What he lacks in power, he for sure makes up in technique. Here's the real kicker; Apparently he can read minds.

Arle: Wait...what?

Sasori Man: Yeah, he can read the minds of the opponent he faces and avoid the attacks they throw. Swords, magic, anything! It doesn't matter how strong your attacks are if they just miss. He's a real doozy. Be careful out there.

Arle: I'm not sure I can just be careful... I mean, if they just avoid my attacks, then it'd be impossible for me to win.

Sasori Man: Well, you're right on that.

Arle: Uhh...

Sasori: Sorry that I can't exactly help any further.

Arle: Nah, it's not that. If I just went in without a care in the world, I would've been beaten in a heartbeat. There just HAS to be some sorta way to beat him. I'll have to really think about it, though.

Sasori Man: Huh, I see. You got this, good luck.

Arle: I sure do. Thanks.

-----

Schezo Encounter 2:

Arle: Oh, Schezo!

Schezo: Arle! ...By any chance, are you planning to enter this attraction?

Arle: Mhm, you're right on the mark.

Schezo: ...Then I'll enter first!

Arle: I mean, aren't you familiar with the phrase "Ladies First"?

Schezo: Ladies first? Never heard that one before. And besides, I'd never do that thing to begin with, I'll never give up my own turn!

Arle: Isn't he a persistent one...

Carbuncle: Gu?

-----

Rulue Encounter 2:

Arle: We should go in soon.

Carbuncle: Gu!

Arle: ...Hm? What's this?

Minotauros: Lady Rulue, please wait...

Rulue: Hey, Minotauros! Move faster, will ya!?

Arle: It's hard to believe that this lady only two years older than me...

Rulue: And who's this "old lady" you're talking about!?

Arle: Oh, you heard that? ...And I didn't exactly call you an old lady, either...

Rulue: No excuses! I swear, I can't handle you sometimes. A girl like you can be unbearable to be around! (Not exactly what it says, but I'm deciding to just try and make it more cohesive.)

Arle:

...Growing up is a interesting thing. I wonder if I'll turn into a selfish, self-conscious meathead! ...That was just my Rulue impression, heh!

Rulue: I beg your pardon!? And WHO is this selfish and self-conscious person!? Oh, I'm just some idiot because I can't use magic, I see how it is! I'll remember that! (Rulue will remember that.)

Arle: ...Carby, I didn't say all of THAT, though!

Carbuncle: Gugu!

-----

Cockatrice Midboss + Defeat:

Cockatrice: Ca-CAW!

Arle: Huh? Is this chicken mad at me or something?

Cockatrice: CA-CAW! (You're nothing but a fool!) [The parenthesis is what they're actually saying this time, so heads up for that.]

Arle: ...Do I really need to fight a chicken, of all things?

Cockatrice: Ca-CAAAW! (Oh, you're SUCH a goner!) [Believe me, that's...basically all they say.]

[Blah blah, Cockatrice gets beaten, this is the most amount of attention they've gotten in months]

Cockatrice: Ca-caaaw...

Arle: ...Huh. What an odd animal.

----- Skeleton-T Encounter:

Arle: Oh, it's you!

Skeleton-T: Ochaaaa!

Arle: ... ... (Yeah same here Arle.)

Skeleton-T: Sorry, I'm all out of tea this time.

Arle: Eh?

Skeleton-T: I apologize for the inconvenience, I wish I could give you a cup of tea.

Arle: Errrr... You don't need to sound so...professional.

Skeleton-T: As an apology, I'll give you this instead.

Arle: And what's this for?

Skeleton-T: Well, what it's for is in the chest.

[He leaves]

Arle: Wonder what the thing exactly is.

(In the chest was just a book.)

-----

Owlbear Boss + Defeat:

Owlbear: Stop right there! You got some guts challenging me to a fight.

Arle: Huh?

Owlbear: And with that, I also want you OUT of here!

Arle: Hey, wait a second...

Owlbear: I WON'T wait! I don't have time to waste!

[He promptly gets his ass kicked.]

Owlbear: Forgive me...

Arle: Huh...That was a tough battle.

[During this time, Arle finds a chest.]

Arle: Oh, there's an orb in here! It seems to be the green one. Now I only need two more!

Carbuncle: Gugu!

-----

Info Booth 2:

[We're back at the booth, and this is the final stuff, THANK GOD. The player clicks on rankings, and clicks the "To the person who has a grimoire" bulletin.]

Bulletin: I've found I grimoire myself, and I got news for you. If you read the spell inside of the grimoire, you'll quickly see that it's stronger than most spells you might have. So I wonder if you'll return this grimoire I've oh-so-lost, since I'm the only one who can use the Meteor Spell. Oh-hohoho! From: A Talented Witch.

[And finally, the player clicks the "Don't just throw it away" bulletin.]

Bulletin: A blank scroll or plain water can often be seen as useless. As such, people tend to throw them away, and it's such a waste! You might as well use a different item, change the item itself. Or even just Fuse it. (I assume that's what this conversation was going for since it's a little vague.) From Sasori, Behind the Scenes.

-----

And for the first time in months, we finally finished an entire episode. Once again, I'm so sorry for the delay, life got the best of me and free time DOES exist, but I REALLY have to manage it well now. But still, thank you so much for reading this. I plan to make a Waku Puyo Extras about maybe cut content or even a game I probably haven't covered just yet, so who knows?

But that'll be all from me.

Adios.

[lady-bess]

Hi Mrs Daniels!

I'm back with my Ask games again!

This time we have a spring based prompts theme. You get a spring prompt and a character and I'd like to know your head canon/immediate thoughts on the combination.

Character: Jack Daniels (of course)

Prompt: petals

With love,

El

Petals

Jack Daniels x F!OC General/Teen+ Content W/C: 913 Notable tags: Spring, Spring Prompt, Retired Jack, Domestic Jack, Fluff.

A/N: Finally getting round to this ask! Thank you my dear El for sending this in - I now sufficiently have an image of retired Jack swirling round my head 🫠🫠 (Is anyone surprised?)

Enjoy!

LadyBess xox

A03 Link | Tumblr Masterlist

Life was slower for Jack now, but he couldn’t be more thankful for it. For too long he’d lived his life swept away in the hustle and bustle of working for Statesman. But now, he took every day one hour at a time, and he enjoyed every moment.

Retirement was treating him well. After nearly thirty years serving with Statesman, he’d done his time, and decided to hang up his lasso for good. No more did he want to be running around, putting his life at risk, chasing down some of the world’s most nefarious criminals - not after he met her, either.

She’d come into his life at a time he’d least expected it, but now five years on he couldn’t imagine his life being any different. It was almost hard to imagine that there had been a time without her. They’d met by sheer chance one afternoon in May when his flight to the New York office got delayed, and they’d just been at the right place at the right time. With a few hours to kill, they started chatting just to pass the time, but when it came to boarding the plane Jack knew he wanted to make her all his.

Six months later, he did.

They’d lived together ever since, out in the depths of the Kentucky countryside. Jack had always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and have a home like what he had now - simple, functional, and picturesque. Situated on a few acres of land, it wasn’t like the old ranch he’d grown up on, but it was close enough. He had a few horses, and a few hens; that more than sufficed.

He had a simple life now, and took enjoyment in the small pleasures. Today was no exception. The sky had been clear this morning when he rose, a crispness to the air and a fine dew on the grass. Spring was well and truly here, and the garden they both meticulously maintained reflected this. Flowers of every colour started to bloom, a small rainbow in the beds littering the land.

Jack smiled to himself, fully content, as he relaxed back into the wooden swing bench which he’d installed under an oak tree just behind the main house. It had become his favourite place to be, especially on early mornings like these. A gentle breeze swayed past him, carrying a few loose petals across the green grass, and he watched as they danced away into the distance.

And that’s when he saw her.

Jack always woke up early - it was a habit he’d got into from his time with Statesman. He always slept light, his body finding it difficult even in retirement to not have to worry about being constantly alert. As such, once he woke up in the mornings, he found it hard to drift back off to sleep. Usually he’d just get up, and be by himself for a couple of hours. But just occasionally, she’d be up too.

Today was one of those mornings.

He smiled at her from across the garden, watching her come towards him with two mugs of tea in her hands. She was still dressed in last night’s pyjamas, a navy blue knee-length nightdress, with slippers to match, but she’d also thrown on one of Jack’s flannel shirts over the top. The gentle wind whipped at the hem of her nightdress, and she giggled as the silk dappled across her thighs. Jack grinned at her as she got closer, refraining himself from making an inappropriate joke.

“Morning, sugar,” he drawled, his voice still thick with sleep. She smiled down at him, handing him one of the piping hot mugs, then settled down next to him on the seat.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she said. Sunshine had been her nickname for Jack, the irony coming from the fact he was usually the complete opposite to a ray of sunlight. At least, he was. Retirement had changed that. But still, the nickname had stuck.

Jack took the mug from her, chuckling to himself, but then thanking her. He took a sip, sighing in contentment as the drink warmed him from the inside. It might be spring time now, but this early in the morning it was still a little on the colder side.

“What’s got you up so early, my love?” he asked. He set the drink down on his knee, stabilising it with one hand on the handle, and then he slipped his other arm across her shoulders. She smiled, leaning into his hold.

“Needed the bathroom, but noticed you’d already got up. Saw you out here and thought I’d keep you company for a little while,” she said. Jack smiled, turning his head to plant a kiss in her hair.

“You’re too sweet, you know that right?” he said, and she giggled.

“So is that why you call me sugar?” she asked, making Jack laugh.

“Maybe. Got a problem with that?” he teased. She turned her head to look at him, smiling warmly as the breeze began to mess up her hair, half in a messy bun from overnight.

“Never, Jack. I love you,” she said, leaning up to kiss Jack softly. He smiled against her lips, applying pressure to hers in return, drinking in the sensation. His body went warm throughout, the contentment and happiness of being with her as clear to him as the sky above. And in that moment, he realised.

He had never been happier.

Tumblr Masterlist | A03 Profile

[usedpidemo]

so i went to my first ever concert and...(storytime!)

Generally speaking, I don't like the concept of concerts. For the longest time, I've never had any interest in attending one. I've been disillusioned by the idea of them as a whole, with no disrespect to people who attend them. Even before the global pandemic that shut down live events, ironically, despite being on my headphones/speakers 90% of the time, I don't like crowds and extremely loud audiences. It also doesn't help that many live artists nowadays are just not good stage performers or lipsync or in some cases, aren't as pleasing to hear as the studio mix that I could easily play on Spotify. My mantra, which has always been my mother's as well, was "Just listen to the CD." This also explains why I don't really buy CDs anymore and stick to streaming instead.

It's now 2023, and as the old adage goes, things change. I've become a K-pop fan, live events are back, and there's this push to have me leave my house a lot more than I should. I'm no recluse like Bruce Wayne, but I certainly don't like going out when I could be relaxing and playing video games in my spare time even as an adult. Growing up made me realize that there's plenty of things that I should do, even at least once. I'm nowhere close to dying—I think so at least—but I definitely felt the need add some spice into my life and have some fresh memories to keep now that the pandemic's over.

Anyway—I've never been to a concert, and my older sister's only concert experience was seeing Fall Out Boy when she was in her teens that she desperately begged mom to see, and she was all the way up into the nosebleeds. Now obviously I can't go and see IZ*ONE anymore (sadblob) and every big act carries extremely large demand for them. My sister failed to secure Blackpink tickets for their tour even with the membership presale, and the experience was so frustrating and damning that she stopped listening to the group for a while. There's so many things that can go wrong even as early as ticket sales, so I understood that any concert I wanted to go to should be absolutely worth it.

It was during our vacation back in February when IVE announced that they would be bringing their fan concert around Asia, with June as the set date. I can remember seeing it trend on Twitter while waiting in the car; the hype was fucking real. I knew I had to be there by any means necessary. The campaign began as soon as we got back to our hotel. They said yes.

One thing I want to say is: fuck online ticketing. It sucks, big time. Anything that can go wrong, can and will go wrong. Yet some part of me was so uncertain and wanted to test the murky waters again. I got in touch with a third party way before they announced the ticket selling date, and I was so fixated on the success rate of the seller, against the advice of my family. It wasn't until two days before ticket selling that I was given a proper talk, saying that it could be a potential scam and that I should camp out the night before to get the best chances. Ultimately, I gave in and settled at a hotel close to a hotel without many fans. They ended up being right. I ended up first in line and got the best package for a little over $200. It was so difficult to keep my composure the moment I got the tickets all the way till I got home.

Fast forward to a little over a month. The family also booked me a nice hotel close to the venue days before the show so we wouldn't have to face insufferable traffic. I couldn't sleep the night before the show—not because I was excited and all, but I was genuinely feeling restless. It ultimately didn't matter as my mood and overall energy never diminished once I woke up 2.5 hours after finally sleeping.

You just know it's gonna be a good day when the first sign is making new friends out of nowhere. At breakfast, I befriended two Japanese tourists for some reason. My smile was wider than it normally was. It's so weird greeting people with amped up optimism that at times, it felt like main character energy, which was typically uncharacteristic of me. Mind you, I only had 2.5 hours of sleep.

An hour later, venue time—at least close to it. The concert organizers and local fanclubs held a fanhub that was already filling up the floor with a line that stretched around in a loop. So I bailed and went to the cafe across the street from where the actual concert would happen to get free shit. Saved myself almost $25 dollars from buying the I'VE IVE album because of a cupsleeve event being organized by a remnant of WIZ*ONEs. A big W if you ask me.

I even met up with some of my readers too! Cray and Nomad, if you're reading this, it was great finally meeting you. It was awesome to fanboy and connect with guys I've been talking to online for the past two years in person.

Afterward, we went inside an hour before show start, and people were already screaming like they showed up and it was just staff bringing out towels and water bottles. Then the lights went out and holy shit, everyone lost their shit. It wasn't a sold-out show but the audience's energy made it feel otherwise. They were singing instead of following fan-chants.

It should surprise no one that everyone killed it. Yujin is the 4th gen ace and no one can tell me any different. Wonyoung was absolutely fantastic in crowd control and drawing the audience in and lived up to the center title. They added both title tracks from I'VE IVE and changed up two of the cover songs for the unit stages, otherwise the set remains mostly similar to the ones in Korea and Japan, the only difference being new outfits and alternate color ones.

I'm gonna dedicate this section specifically for Liz. Consider me bias wrecked. She was not only an elite vocalist but she performed like the rent was due, holy shit. Blue Blood (my favorite stage of the night) in particular really gripped me and never let go. I was genuinely shook at how terrific she showed out in the performances. If anything, she's the 2nd best performer of the group after watching the footage.

There was an emotional moment at the end as the show was winding down. The members were lined up for the group photo when a fan video played and half of the members cried. Leeseo, Rei, and Yujin all cried and it was a wholesome scene. Rei mentioned how this was one of their first performances as a full group following her health hiatus and she was moved by the overwhelming support of the fans. Wonyoung also promised they would return—hopefully later than sooner I'm not loaded at the moment—which invalidates the stupid argument international Dives were having on Twitter. The girls felt their support, cried their heart out, and that's all you need to know.

After the event, there was a hi-bye session for all VIP ticket holders. They sent everyone else out, so it started 20 minutes after the actual ending. They kept reminding us that we weren't allowed to record or take photos of the event, but apparently someone at Starship was filming the whole thing? So there's a possibility that I might end up on YouTube, heh. Since we were on the left side of the stage, we were among the last to go up and meet them.

Holy fuck dude. I wasn't nervous while watching everyone else go up and meet IVE, but once the staff told us to form a single line and we slowly made our way around the stage, my heart began to go buckwild. You just don't know what to say or do when that moment comes—like how do I make this memorable or at the very least, not cringe? One thing I do know was that we all agreed, as a section, to walk past them as slow as humanly possible; five seconds was not enough. I was so unsure of what to do as I slowly walked up the steps to the point I was practically mouthing 'Jesus take the wheel' or else I'd melt into a puddle, lose my shit, do something stupid, or maybe all of the above.

Jesus Christ. They looked so fucking flawless. You honestly couldn't tell they were sweaty and exhausted after performing for 2.5 hours.

From left to right, it was Rei, Gaeul, Wonyoung, Yujin, Leeseo, and Liz. Liz was the first member I met, and she completed my half-heart gesture. From there, my brain blanked for a good three seconds. My mouth was still uttering 'Kamsahamnida' but that scene seemed to stick long past that moment. I couldn't register Leeseo, Yujin, and Wonyoung's reactions—I knew they were smiling and waving—but then my brain suddenly went back up as I met Gaeul and Rei's eyes right as we made our way out. I went to the bathroom and uttered a relieved, awestruck 'Holy shit.'

God. I don't know if I will ever move on from such an experience. I'm still thinking about the interaction as I write this little thought diary, and my mind keeps replaying the interactions with Liz, Gaeul, and Rei. All of them had lovely smiles and were so happy even though they clearly were gassed out, and I was in utter shock trying to comprehend what had happened. Famous streamer IShowSpeed met his hero Ronaldo the same day as the concert and if you've seen his video, he practically plays out all the emotions I wanted to feel after meeting them. I've not played any K-pop after the concert aside from English versions of songs and most certainly I've avoided IVE songs aside from rewatching my concert fancams because I'll just melt into a giddy pile of goo watching it, telling myself 'I was there.'

My sister only listens to Blackpink. She agreed to take me to the venue provided I buy her tickets, so this was a consolation or redemption of sorts after failing to secure tickets for the Born Pink tour. She's a Dive now. She couldn't stop raving over Wonyoung's beauty but she eventually found all the members to be cute and beautiful. It feels great to finally share a sweet moment with my sister despite the turbulent relationship we have.

In an ideal world, I'll be watching Le sserafim and the other IZ*ONE members when they perform/arrive here. Of course, there's many obstacles in the way, and I'm not loaded with disposable income. Seriously, these tickets were more expensive than a veteran group and they're supposed to be rookies! But the entire experience—the energy, the performances, and the ending—made every coin I spent worth it. If this ends up becoming the only concert I attend in my entire life moving forward, I'm glad it was an unforgettable one.

Gaeul, Yujin, Rei, Wonyoung, Liz, and Leeseo, thank you for making my year and giving me a core memory I can fondly look back on. I fucking love you guys.

[danieyells]

Help now I picture Jiro sympathizing with the baby trapped! mc through their pregnancy and after like

"I know Yuri said you shouldn't eat sugar but it must be hard, I 'heard' this candy is pretty good and helps with morning sickness" said candy he made after being fed up with puking every morning.

"Yuri could do a C section if you want, it's barely noticeable the way he made it" and he lifts his shirt and shows his abdomen between his hips there is a needle thin white scar "I heard waterbirth is a reasonable plan too"

"I know breastfeeding can be painful, do you want me to massage you? I learned a few ways to help the latch too" "did you breastfeed your baby?" "We wanted to try but I didn't produce enough so I fed it formula"

"Jiro, he doesn't stop crying because of teething, do you have a trick?" "I don't know, the day after Yuri found it a home" "wow Jiro, I never saw you as an uncaring mother" "I made sure they were able care for it and stable enough, I wouldn't say I was uncaring"

Re: one trip to mortkranken can make anybody submissive and breedable! Just ask Jiro! and being babytrapped by Jiro

Jsbdydisj that's adorable??? Jiro just supporting pregnant pc like sure he may be responsible for that they got pregnant but it's okay because he knows how it feels to have had gotten pregnant dubiously against his will! But now he gets to raise this one!!!

He's got all the strats because he'd been there and it sucked(and if it sucked as a ghoul it must be way worse for a human!) and in case Yuri makes him do it again he'd like it to suck less! But he can make it suck less for them instead!!! "I made a few things that'd help. Darkwick approved their human trials, if you're worried about safety."

"Haven't you only been here for like a year? How did you get all of this done in so little time!?" "Wasn't getting much sleep anyway, so I figured I'd use the time wisely."

Sitting pc in his lap while they go over all the pregnancy research he'd done for his own sake. Occasionally showing them the pictures and videos of his kid that the adoptive parents send along. The baby very much looks like Yuri and Jiro, but like. Six months old. Sends them messages asking for advice and gets the pc in contact with anyone else on campus with a kid. Fortunately Darkwick's big enough that they have a nursery somewhere! So the pc and Jiro aren't totally alone in caring for the kid and don't have to totally give up what they're supposed to be doing to be parents all the time.

Jiro's not the most caring parent--he's not very good at caring about things in general--but he absolutely does care and want the best for their kid. He intentionally got them pregnant because he wanted to find out what family was like after all. He gets more and more attached the longer things go on, but he's still very awkward and uncertain about if he's doing a good job parenting. But hey neither is the pc! They're both very new at this!! Learning about family firsthand is very difficult!

Although I'm imagining Yuri and Jiro kept working on some sort of lactation drug and Jiro produces a little more milk now so he can help with the feeding at least. He's a lot less bothered by the new teeth than pc is. In the meantime he'll work on some sort of painkiller they can safely rub on the baby's gums while the little thing gets a nice teething ring.

Also there's a creepy doll that keeps playing with the baby. . .PC keeps assuring Jiro it's nothing to worry about.

[calebwittebane]

gaia update!

her next appointment is later today, still monitoring the new tumor before we decide on the next step... sure hope this time chemo ends up being enough, i really dont want her to have to go thru yet another surgery. its a risk every time for an older cat like her. plus its in a difficult spot this time, close to ligaments and stuff. also, and i know its a strange thing to say, in this case her loving me so much actually constitutes something a problem... she fully wakes up the second she hears my voice or smells my presence, when it wouldve been better for her to sleep off the nausea and grogginess for a little longer 😭 but at the same time i dont wanna wait longer to pick her up because i know she'd be very very upset to wake up while i wasn't there. babyyyy

right now shes feeling and looking okay though. she got some anti-inflammatory shots on monday to help with her teefies, cuz her gums had been hurting (probably its cuz her immune system aint doing so hot rn), and it really helped. she ate a LOT yesterday and seemed really content about it. full tummy gaia :) the problem with her and her teeth is that it's kind of a recurring issue, once again probably stemming from her immune system getting kinda overwhelmed, and it makes it hard for her to eat her kibble (even if the bikkies are small, and soaking them isn't an option because she will NOT touch soggy bikkies even if she's very hungry). while id love to just switch her to wet food full time, that makes her poops very soft (very bad news for her and her funny furry pantaloons) and i... dont have the budget for it... i wouldnt give her and amity anything with a vague ingredients list and without stellar reviews, and high quality wet food in the "full meals every day" quantity is just not something i can afford. so she gets a nice spoonful of her favorite wet food (or canned tuna! she loooooves tuna) after taking her meds and thats it. i love that since its a reward for swallowing her pills, and amity gets the wet food too, amity always stands close and bonks gaia beforehand, like she's encouraging her and saying good luck... amity has been very nice to gaia in general lately. i mean she's still a bit of a nuisance to her, just because their personalities clash a little, but shes been trying hard to be very gentle. i loooooove amity's new habit of kissing gaia's paws. it's so sweet and adorable... thats right amity, your big sister is very fancy and chic, with dainty pawsies that need to be kissed!

she's also been very playful, which is good. she's got energy! and a new favorite toy, once again its part of a larger toy amity customized for herself (ripped parts off of) and it's this soft fuzzy orb thing. she's also been a little whiny, but i'm pretty sure that's just her complaining about the heat, it's not uncommon for her in summertime. she feels better when the fan is pointing at her. oh and she hates the lawnmowers outside... i dont wake up from the noises i wake up from her yelling at the noises ajdhfbxkdj. shes so annoyed.

wish it were easier to get a pet groomer appointment in this doggone town. a lion cut would definitely help her cope with the temperatures. plus knowing how funny she looks when her fur is wet id love to see her BALD she would look soooo funny. all the places with good reviews are always fully booked though it seems. swear to god this is all such a scam, Back In My Day if your cat was in surgery you could ask the vet to go ahead and give them a lion cut while they were still under anesthesia lmao. my own clippers just don't work with her fur either, it's too fine and soft. the cons of being a fluffy cloud... a toasted meringue angel... a lovely tiramisu girl... a silly baby s'more... a caramel frappucino princess...