#i could drop down and after a while there would be ground and an underwater cave

[theonpilled]

made a really weird dream in my post lunch nap

[blondedmuse]

SUMMER DAYS

synopsis. ꩜ what it’s like to spend your summer days at Saltburn.

author’s note. ∿ this was supposed to be a drabble/headcannon but i can’t write anything short it seems; allusions to smut, fluff.

at breakfast

you sat next in between Venetia and Farleigh, across from your lover, Felix. Sir James would ask you if you slept well and had a good night, a kind and common courtesy for any guest he’s hosting at his home. Everyone turned to you as you nodded, recalling the night before. It was spent in Felix’s room, his hand over your mouth as you moaned, careful not to wake anyone up.

“Yes, I slept well,” You answered. Everyone probably noted that your hair indicated other wise, just slightly messier and unkempt than it’s usually been in the morning. But you wondered if everyone could see the cheeky smile on the boy across from you at the table.

in the pool

You swam after breakfast with Venetia while the boys sat in the lounge chairs. You’d asked Felix to swim with you but he insisted he'd finish the book he was reading. While Farleigh got into the pool after a few splashes from Venetia, it seemed as though Felix needed more convincing.

"Don't you wanna get in the pool?" You asked Felix, crawling up his body on the chair. "The water's nice, it'll cool you down-" he started tickling you before you could finish your argument, trying to get your wet body away from his.

"Christ, you're cold!" He laughed as you attempted to fight back, pushing away his arms with yours.

"Fine, you want me to go in?" He caved, picking your body up from on top of him and walking over to the ledge of the pool. "You first."

You screamed as Felix threw you from his arms into the hair, hitting the water with a splash. Felix followed suit, diving in right after.

"Is this what you wanted, darling?" He said swimming over to you and you wrapped your legs around his frame underwater, bringing him closer to you.

"Exactly." You answered, locking your lips with him only for your kiss to be interrupted by Farleigh's fake gags.

"Get a room!"

on the court

you were invited for a match of tennis. You changed from your bathing suit attire into a silk dress, a pair of sunglasses and heels, which is not necessarily ideal for the sport but you wanted to follow formalities. You and Felix were paired together for the doubles game against Farleigh and Venetia.

It was nonchalant the way you all played, slightly lethargic from the champagne you’d been drinking. Still, Felix managed to keep the score and in the final game of the second set you scored the winning point for your team. And to celebrate Felix lifted you off the ground, throwing you over his shoulder.

“Fantastic job, love!” He laughed, spinning you around.

“Felix, put me down!” You exclaimed, slapping his back playfully in between giggles.

“Did you guys see that?” He taunted the other team. “We have a new Wimbledon star over here,” He beamed jokingly and Farleigh was quick to flash him the finger, watching Felix pop another bottle of Champagne.

in the field

You laid bare on your stomach, a cigarette hanging out the side of your mouth as you read one of the few books you packed with you.

"There you are," Felix said, stripping off his suit from earlier's tennis match. "You like what you see?" He asked as he watched you stare intently and he shot you a coy wink.

"You know it, baby," You replied, lifting the sunglasses to rest on your head so you could see Felix in all his glory.

"They say it's rude to stare," he declared, walking over to you and sitting down on the ground next to you.

"Then I guess I'm the meanest bitch alive," You smiled and he plucked the cigarette from your mouth. You gasped, (jokingly) jaw dropped.

"They also say it's rude to take things that aren't yours."

He raised his eyebrow playfully as he took a drag, teasing you. You rolled your eyes and he laid down next to you.

"They also say sharing is caring," He exhaled.

You scoffed with a chuckle. "Shut up. Who is 'they’ anyway?" You questioned and he shrugged, offering you your own smoke back. Nonetheless you accepted it as he kept it steady while you took a drag. Your head rested on his shoulder as you puffed out the grey odor, and he watched in admiration. He observed how the sunlight pooled in your eyes and the way your lips curved as you breathed out the stench in clouds. Sure, Saltburn was his house, but the weight of your head on his shoulder made you feel like home, and he appreciated every moment of it.

at dinner

you felt intimated by the sophisticated customs at Saltburn and dinner was no different. You sat at the large dining table next to Felix, his hand on your thigh.

"You look beautiful, my love," He told you as he passed you a bottle of wine, which you gladly accepted. You were dressed in an evening gown to match the black tie attire everyone else had shown up in, yet you still felt out of place like a sore thumb. You poured a glass of wine, hoping it would ease your anxiety.

"Not too much, darling," Felix warned, giving a slight squeeze to your leg. He could sense your nervousness, having been watching you toy with your jewelry for the past five minutes. But, he didn't want you falling over yourself by the end of the night either. You looked around and everybody seemed to be occupied with conversation of the company around them so it seemed like you were in clear to have a side conversation with your lover.

"I know, I just feel like I don't belong here."

Felix grabbed the hand that was fidgeting with your necklace and brought it to his mouth, his lips leaving a delicate kiss on your skin.

"You of all people deserve to be here. There's nothing to worry about." You didn't say anything, only huffed as you bit your lip. "And if you don't believe me and you still feel nervous, just squeeze my hand alright?"

You nodded, accepting his offer and holding his hand in yours as the woman next to him dragged him into another conversation. Still, when you squeezed his hand, it was always reciprocated, Felix unable to ignore you.

at the lake

you and Felix giggled, arms linked together as you headed towards the body of water. You excused yourselves from dinner early—dragging on with meaningless conversation you began to zone out from, and Felix was just as bored as you. Dinner wasn't usually like this but the additive guests, the Henry's, seemed to dull the excitement with their own stories solely for the purpose of one-upping the Cattons it seemed. So, Felix came up with an excuse for the both of you, something along the lines of 'you weren't feeling well' and he 'needed to take care of you' which wasn't entirely untrue. Boredom is an uncomfortable feeling which Felix needed to take care of by something more fun.

"Thank you for that but why did you have to make me the damsel in distress? They're going to think I'm a snob," You whined.

"They would never. But me on the other hand? Yeah I think you're a snob. Making me carry your heels is outrageous," He teased with your shoes in his hand and you shook your head unable to hide your soft giggles.

"But they do love you y'know."

"Whatever," You mumbled and you felt your feet lift off the ground as Felix threw you over his shoulder. You watched him put your heels down and the ground started to move below you.

"Felix! Put me down! Where are you-" You saw the edge of the lake and it clicked. "You are not throwing me in without a bathing suit! Felix, please!" You screamed, resorting to slapping his back.

"Quiet, love, you're gonna get us in trouble."

"I don't have another dress, put me down!" You demanded.

"You can borrow one, its fine." With that he threw you into the lake, your body sinking into the cold water.

"Felix!" You cried as you resurfaced, watching him stand at the lake's edge completely dressed and completely dry. "It's cold!" What am I supposed to wear after this?"

"You can take my jacket," He reassured you after he stripped himself of his suit, jumping into the lake after you, only clad in boxers.

He swam towards you. "You poor baby."

"It's cold."

"How 'bout I warm you up then?" His hands were at your sides, pulling up your dress under water, his mouth hot against your neck as he began to mark his territory. You knew now that the night would end with you in his bed like it had for the past week, and you would be asked about it all over again at breakfast—but there's no other way you'd want to spend your nights and summer days.

[k4marina]

— celebration || s.r

synopsis: after another mission you and the 141 head to the local pub to celebrate another success however, simon has another idea of "celebrating"

warnings: smut, oral (male receiving), pub/drinking, light fingering idek if you’d call it that, hair pulling, can u even call is porn w/ plot?? UNEDITED lmk what else i missed

a/n: i had a whole thing written but then i scrapped it and wrote this instead. also this is the first time i’ve written smut sooo��. pls be nice. i promise i’ll get better

simon”ghost”riley x fem!reader

it’s dingy and cramped in the bathroom, the room lit up by a singular red bulb in the corner of the room, setting the ‘mood’ for the little room.

noise from the outside comes in muffled, like you’re underwater, everything blending into one another: the music, glasses clattering on the bartop, drunk and slurred speech.

and while it muffles the outside world, it amplifies what’s goin on inside two fold.

the wet sounds of you two kissing fill up the empty space, simon occasionally groaning, enjoying your lips on his own.

“down,” his hands work his belt while you obediently do as told, ever the good soldier you are. he pulls himself out, already hard. his tip and angry red and glistening with precum. he doesn’t have to tell you anything as you open your mouth, sliding his throbbing cock into your mouth.

his hand comes down to hold the back of your head, bunching up some hair into a makeshift ponytail, gently rocking his hips back and forth, letting you get used to the weight of him.

he picks up the pace, fucking himself into your mouth.

“that’s it.” his voice sends shivers down your spine and feeds into the ache between your thighs. “good girl, takin’ my cock so well in that needy mouth of yours.”

he’s ruthless, not caring if your gagging or not. he lets out a loud groan, brining our face in so your face was buried into his pelvic bone. his musk filling your nose, before your pulled back and allowed to breath again.

simon effortlessly pick you up, pulling down your pants and panties in one go. his fingers swipe down your folds and you let out a whimper.

“fuckin’ hell..” he groans. “haven’t even touched ya’ and your already drippin’ wet.”

he turns you around, chest planted onto the sink, your hand coming up to support yourself. simon lazily drags the tip of his cock up and down your wet folds. your slick makes it easy for him to slip in, slowly and painfully filling you in.

the airs almost knocked out of you as he bottoms out with a growl. he stays put, letting the both of you adjust to each other.

“fuck,” his hands grip onto your waist as a way to ground himself. “you’re so fucking tight, sweet girl.” he gently begins to rock his hips back and forth, lazily thrusting into you but enough that your moaning.

he’s so big that you can’t help but to feel him everywhere. simon picks up the pace and you drop your head down at the stimulation.

“nah-ah, can’t have you looking away now can we?” his hand comes up, pulling yours back up by the hair so your eyes can meet in the mirror.

the red light casted down his already tall stature, extenuating his features and painting his skin in a nice red. his eyes looked dark thanks to the lighting, reminding you of his skill plated mask and you could only imagine what it would be like being fucked by him in his gear.

simons hips snap against your ass, the lewd sound of skin slapping filling the small room. he fuck you at a brutal pace, pushing you closer to your high.

“fuck!.. ah.. simon, i’m close.” you barely were able to form a coherent sentence, feeling the familiar feeling of a coil forming in your gut, getting ready to snap.

one of simons hands slips from your hip and between your legs, rubbing fast circles onto your clit.

“thank it, baby,” his voice husky. “cum for me, love. wanna cum with you.”

his fingers continued rubbing your clit until you reached your high, your vision going white for a split second. your cunt fluttered and clenched around him sending him over his edge. with one last thrust he buried himself deep into you, hot ropes of cum filling you up to the brim.

you both panted, catching your breath. simon leaned over, softly leaning his chest to your back, giving your shoulder and neck light kisses. his grip on your hair and hip loosened.

once you’d caught your breath he softly pulling out of you with a groan. his cum slowly dribbled out of your sore cunt and he tucked himself back into his pants before helping you, giving you a soft kiss on the forehead.

once you’d fixed yourself in the mirror you two snuck back into the packed bar, grabbing a drink before going back to the table where the others were.

when you set your drink down soap and gaz gave you a shit eating grin.

“what?”

they looked at each other and then gaz turned back to you, “you’re glowing.”

your face turned red and you looked away, clearly flustered. the two laughed at your reaction.

“shut up,” you managed. “it’s hot.”

“oh i’m sure it was.. hot.” soap cackled.

before you could reply you felt a presence behind you.

“that’s enough mctavish.”

safe to say you weren’t safe from soap and gaz’s teasing for the remaining week.

i know i know i’m a bad person for not posting this sooner but i rewrote this like ten times bc i didn’t like it.

anywayz i’m working on requests rn so send some if you want. once i’m finished with that i have an idea for a series coming up so stay tuned ig.

[deathmetalunicorn1]

What if the giant mermaid ended up in record of ragnarok? How would everyone react to that?

-Odin was the first one who was aware of your existence, after you had suddenly appeared in Valhalla, by some unknown magic, and when he informed the others, many were keen on seeking you out.

-Odin told them that someone very large, larger than most giants, had appeared, which got some riled up, thinking you were a threat and needed to be dealt with, however Odin was able to sense that you meant no harm.

-Poseidon was the one to find you, as you had appeared in his domain and he immediately sought you out, thinking you were a threat.

-As a large shadow loomed over him, when he was inspecting the area where you had appeared, he was not expecting to look up to see such a massive mermaid.

-You cupped your hands around him as he swam up to you, allowing him to sit in your hands and you smiled, “Hello there- do you happen to know where I am?”

-Poseidon didn’t know what to think of you, your massive size made you seem intimidating, and with your power you would be dangerous, but you were smiling down at him so warmly, like you didn’t know who he was.

-He was quick to realize you didn't know who he was, as you weren’t afraid of him, and he informed you that he was a god, the king of the seas. Your eyes went sparkly when he told you this, in complete awe which made his eyelid twitch only slightly.

-He told you that other citizens of Valhalla wanted to meet you, gods and human warriors, and you agreed, a warm smile on your face, showing no fear. Poseidon didn’t know if you were secretly really strong, or if you were just too trusting.

-When you emerged from the water, rising high above those who came to the beach in Poseidon’s domain. Jaws dropped and eyes widened all around the group before you as you lowered yourself down to be on your belly, to be closer to their own height as you beamed, “Hello there! I’m Y/N!”

-Loki immediately was holding onto one of your fingers, “Marry me!” you were surprised by his sudden proposal, but you smiled warmly, “Oh you’re so sweet, but I don’t know you.” Loki wasn’t defeated, willing to get to know you before Odin punched him on the top of his head, telling him to knock it off.

-You told them all what you remembered that you were swimming before you saw a strange bright blue ball of light floating in the water, “I thought it was a big jellyfish, so I went to investigate and when I touched it, I felt like everything got turned upside down around me and I found myself in this ocean.”

-All eyes went to Odin and Beelzebub, the two sharing a look as they pondered out loud, neither one knowing of that type of teleportation magic that brought you there, and you didn’t know much about anything that could be possible in your old world.

-Despite your unusual arrival, they allowed you to stay, much to your joy, and many of them melted, some on the inside, on how pretty you looked when you smiled.

-Since you were unable to leave the ocean, Poseidon welcomed you into his domain, despite not being able to do anything about it, but you did make sure to help out where you could, patrolling and reporting anything out of the ordinary to Poseidon, something he did appreciate as you were able to cover more ground than he and his soldiers were able to.

-You made friends with many of the gods and warriors in Valhalla, as many wanted to test their strength against you, like Thor, Lu Bu, Hercules, and Raiden, but they quickly learned that you only fought it you had to, and you used your tail half as a weapon.

-Loki and Apollo had become instantly infatuated with you- finding you so stunning and they were constantly coming to see you and flirt with you while fighting with each other.

-The day you took them both underwater with you, using your ability to make bubbles that were hard to pop, they were in awe, seeing that you could see under the water.

-When you let the bubble go, to float around, as Apollo asked, “I want to see all of your beauty.” You swam out a bit, showing them your full form, showing them how much bigger you were than them, but you swam so gracefully through the water, almost like you were dancing.

-They were in awe when you grabbed the bubble, heading back to the shore, both gushing at you on how stunning you looked, forgetting their fight, for the moment while you smiled warmly thanking them.

-It was an odd situation, but you were happy to be welcomed so warmly in this new world.

[villain-enthusiast]

Could you write a hurt hero and guilty caretaker villain fic where they fight and villain accidentally hurts hero too much and feels bad after?

tw: injury, blood/gore

The hero wheezed, the sound too breathless for the villain to be completely sure that they only sliced their abdomen.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. The villain’s hand tightened over the hilt of their knife, which was coated in a little too much blood. They struggled to muster the courage to turn around and make sure their opponent was not as injured as they sounded.

Please be okay. Tackle me, throw me down while my back is turned, please—

Thud.

The villain whipped around to see the hero collapsed on the ground, a hand pressed desperately to their side as red seeped from between their fingers.

“Shit, Hero.” The villain scrambled over to them, falling to their knees to examine the injury and immediately felt their heart drop.

Stab wound. Deep, deep stab wound. Definitely internal organ damage, likely fatal without immediate treatment.

The villain dragged a hand through their hair frantically as they felt panic rise in their throat. How could have they been so sloppy? Just a cut, it was just supposed to have been a cut—

“Villain,” the hero suddenly rasped, cutting through their spiraling thoughts. “Why the hell are you still here?”

The villain blinked. “Wh-what?”

A rattling cough shook the hero’s frame and they spat blood to the side, much to the villain’s dismay. “You won, you got me. Kill me already, goddamnit.” The hero’s glassy gaze flicked to the dagger still in the villain’s tight grasp. “Just…make it fast.”

Realization jolted through the villain and they threw the knife to the side like it had been set on fire. “No. No no no, Hero. I don’t, I didn’t…” they trailed off, struggling for the right words as guilt clawed up their throat. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like this, I’ve never even killed anyone before—,”

“Woah, hey.” The hero’s brow furrowed, although the villain couldn’t tell if it was from the pain or how their sworn nemesis was literally apologizing to them. Maybe it was both. “Since when did you get sentimental?”

The villain barely processed the hero’s light-hearted tease. They felt like their head was underwater, their lungs choked up in their own remorse. “I—,” they choked out, “I don’t know. Oh God.” Their hands hovered over the hero’s stomach, frozen, unsure of what to do or where to go.

The hero groaned minutely, clearly trying to stifle the sound. “Y’know,” they panted, “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it would be so much better if you could just send me to heaven now.” Their eyes shuttered. “Whether you meant to stab me or not, I’m in a lot of pain, Villain.”

The villain felt their gut twist violently. They could just end it now, put the hero out of their misery—but the villain knew they wouldn’t be able to do that, and yet, they couldn’t leave the hero to bleed out in pain…

They shook their head. God, they were wasting time. Life was seeping out of the hero with every passing second, and they still didn’t know what to do—

They jolted. My house. I can get them to my house a few blocks from here.

Stupid stupid stupid. How did they not think of it before? The villain sprung into action, tearing off a long strip of their shirt. “Hero,” they said—shouted, rather to keep their opponent from losing consciousness, “I’m going to wrap your wound, okay?”

The hero huffed a sound that might’ve been a chuckle if they weren’t so weak. “That’s totally going to save me. A thin piece of your cotton shirt.”

“I’m trying to help you!” the villain retorted as they tied the cloth strip around the hero’s abdomen, wincing when they grunted in pain. “I’m taking you to my house. It’s five minutes from here, less if I run. Can you just,” they swallowed around the lump in their throat, “try to not die for a little longer?”

The hero smirked sloppily. “No promises,” they joked, but their gaze darkened. “You better run fast.”

The villain gathered the hero up in their arms as gently as they could and began to sprint down the alleyway. “You’re going to live, Hero. You have to live.” They clutched the hero a little closer to their chest. “I need you.”

The last three words tumbled out of the villain’s mouth before they could stop themselves. But from the way they felt the hero jolt in their arms, at they way their eyes widened slightly, the villain knew that their confession was giving the hero the strength to fight everything in them to stay awake.

And for the villain, that was all they needed to do exactly what the hero needed them to do: run fast.

[chrysoula]

Albedo spent sixty years rescuing Nahida from her cage, because he was looking for a challenge to test himself against. He didn't spend much time thinking about how, after the rush of satisfaction had faded, he would be in possession of a newborn god of wisdom who was so lost she tried to go back into her cage.

"Why are you here?" she asked, puzzled, as soon as the door to her cage opened. "There's so much-- You did so much, so why are you here?"

He stared at her as all of his sense of accomplishment washed away.

She began to gabble. "I knew something was happening, I could see your echoes, the ripples like a fish underwater, and I didn't know what you could want but I helped you when I could, because I wanted to see them beaten so why are you here?"

Because this is the finish line. But he knew better than to say that. Instead, he ran a rapid post-mortem on his plans over the last sixty years. When had the flaw been introduced, and how could he compensate for it?

"Okay," she said into the silence. "Now what?" Her eyes reminded him of glass marbles.

"I don't know what you want me to do," she said bitterly after a moment. "There's nothing I can do."

It was a worldview alien to Albedo. Ever since his mother abandoned him, he'd practiced turning his knowledge into power over the world around him. Before they called him a mastermind, they called him a meddler, and usually he didn't bother tidying up when he was done. 

"Oh. I see," she said, drawing her own conclusion and dropping her gaze. "You didn't come for me after all. How stupid I am." 

And even then, he struggled. He could see the potential shapes of the consequence he'd created and he didn't like them. He'd done something terrible and he had to repair it, but how--??

Tears began to spill from those green eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just not good enough yet. I shouldn't... I shouldn't get involved." And, wiping her eyes, she'd turned to step back into the cage.

That, at least, he could respond to. "No, don't do that. It would only make things worse."

"What?" She half-turned, her mouth open in surprise.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" That was probably a safe thing to ask in the situation. The government imprisoning her had been thoroughly disabled that morning. And newborns were often hungry.

"What?" she repeated, and then ran over to him. "Did you change your mind?"

Pleasantly, he said, "I think you did, but that's not an important detail at the moment. Why don't we sit down and talk about a few things?"

She promptly sat down, looking up at him with clear curiosity. He sat down on the ground too, refining his evaluation of her. "First of all, do you have a name of your own? One that doesn't belong to the Archon?"

"Nahida," she said, possibly for the first time. She looked a little surprised, in any case.

"I'm happy to meet you, Nahida. My name is Albedo." He gave her a friendly smile, and she stared at him like she was decoding his face. "Let's try to figure out what you'd like to do now."

"May I ask a question first?" She spoke with a respectfulness he didn't deserve. Not from her, anyhow. He'd have to earn it first.

"Please do. I'll do my best to answer it." While she formulated her thoughts, he began to synthesize some fish snacks he hoped she'd find palatable.

"Beyond your name, who are you?" It was a question carefully considered, and not the one he expected. But her earnest gaze remained fixed on him.

He considered his own response. It wasn't a question he was in the habit of answering. "Mostly, I plan things for other people. I'm quite clever and I've lived a long time compared to most, so I have certain advantages I enjoy sharing. In quite a few places, I'm considered a criminal, because what I help people do is often illegal. " He offered her the fish snacks. "I also engage in projects of my own, like this one."

She accepted one and nibbled on it. He observed as her eyes widened and she nibbled a bit more before finally making a face and putting it down. "I don't know how to taste it right. I'll work on it later."

"Is that what you want to do?" He saw this as a natural way of leading back to the core topic, but when she flinched, admitted to himself that such directness might have been a little cruel after already thrusting so much change on her unannounced.

"Do you think it tastes good?" she asked him uncertainly.

"Yes, I do."

She thought for a moment. "I'd like to learn to like it too, then. And I want to stay with you, please."

Did gods imprint? He'd never looked into the question. But the truth remained: she might be the god of wisdom, but she was also a powerful and traumatized child. If he walked away now, one way or another, she'd show up in his life again, the worse for it.

Calmly, he said, "Yes, I thought you might say that. Do you also want to rule Sumeru?"

She shrugged, curled up in a ball, rocked back and forth. "Sumeru is a dream to me, a world on the other side of pages and glass." Then she sat up again. "But you are somebody I never imagined existed. That seems more interesting than governing a country that doesn't want me to exist, all by myself."

"I agree," he said. "Still, having Sumeru on a stable footing may be useful in the future, so we should probably sort out the knot I made before we go on our way."

[muffinsin]

okay so i have thoughts 👀 many thoughts. my image is this… cassandra enjoying a nice swim out in a lake during spring. incredibly lovely day, so warm out. this woman? definitely skinny dips. so she’s out there, relaxing, alone with her thoughts… little does she know there’s something in the water. tentacles/tendrils shoot up from the depths and wrap around her. she’s soaked, unable to swarm. she’s completely at this thing’s mercy, much to her great horror and humiliation, and it’s decided she’s perfect for breeding. fucks her, pumps her full of its rather sizeable eggs, and then fertilises them with a ridiculous amount of sperm. gropes her and fucks her ass and mouth too, just for the fun of it. maybe forces her to gulp down some kind of sedative/aphrodisiac through the mouth tendril, just to make her extra perfect. suction cups on some of the tendrils for her clit, nipples and other sensitive areas? could have some fun breath play going on with the water, too. just… our poor little huntress completely overpowered and overwhelmed. i might be a sadist and obsessed w/ monsterfucking. peace ✌️

Absolutely! Let’s get into this snack! ;))

Masterlist

Cassandra sighs contentedly as she steps to the lake. She smiles at the solitude. Tucked away in the deepest part of the forest, surrounded by the privacy and darkness of the trees.

No villagers dare venture this far into the forest. No lycans dare step close to the water. In fact, Cassandra had never seen someone at this place. It was hers only, just as it should be.

She grinned as she peeled off her clothing. There was no rush, she had told Mother she was out hunting. She had plenty time to relax.

She let the clothing drop to the floor, swarming happily in the air. It was such a beautiful, warm day.

Cassandra enjoyed the silence a little longer. While silence at the castle bothered her. But here, she was so content.

No screaming prey.

No annoying sisters.

This place was her little bit of peace, despite only discovering it a day ago.

She slipped into the water, humming at the beautiful feeling. Unlike baths, this was lovely. The lake was large and warm.

She couldn’t see the bottom- it excited her to think of the many corpses possibly littered on the ground.

Cassandra ventured deeper, there was no rush and no need to be discreet. Nobody else was there.

She knew, Mother would be furious if she knew of Cassandra’s little hiding place. After all, a lake? Water? One of the only things capable of turning the woman vulnerable to attacks? No, Alcina would never have to know, she thought sneakily.

Cassandra cursed as something brushed against her leg. She shook it away. She didn’t quite mind the fish in the lake, normally, but hated them brushing up against her legs.

Another brush against her leg. She squirmed. Perhaps sea weed? Would this grow here? She couldn’t care less.

She continued on, swimming and playing in the water carelessly.

Cassandra gasped when a long, solid tendril wrapped around her ankle. She attempted to tug it free, but gasped again when it merely caused the tendril to slip up higher, wrapping itself around her entire leg and squeezing her thigh. She shrieked as she was pulled down, her mouth closing just in time as she was pulled under.

Golden eyes widened underwater when she saw more tendrils reaching for her. They seemed to come from a large, dark green mass of tentacles.

She dug her nails into those on her leg, eagerly kicking her leg free and swimming to the surface when it withdrew.

Cassandra gasped for air when her head resurfaced. She knew one thing; she needed to get to the shore!

Yet, the creature below had other plans, it seemed.

She gasped as dark green, barely a different shade than the green-blue water, wrapped around both her legs. Upon attempting to swipe at them, more wrapped around her arms and wrists.

“Hey!”, she screamed, her legs attempting to kick. She gasped when she felt them slide up her bare legs again, wrapping around them tightly. Another wrapped around her midsection.

“Stop!”, she gasped when another slid across her chest, wrapping tightly around her large breasts.

“Mhmm!”, she pressed her lips shut when she was pulled under again, fear spreading within her. Would she drown? Would she join the army of corpses at the bottom of the lake?

Would Mother ever know what happened? She attempted to reach her sisters, but it’s as if the hivemind was too far away. She then recognised the risk of being so far away from her family, her swarm.

She attempted to swarm herself, but it was no use with the water clinging to her and wetting the flies she consisted of.

She was allowed to the surface again just when her throat began to burn with the need to breathe. Whatever the creature was, its goal didn’t seem to be to pull her under.

But what was?, she wondered.

She couldn’t summon her sickle, and even if she could, her wrists and arms were held in place tightly. She realised, to her great horror, that she was at the monster’s absolute mercy in that moment. She squirmed, and it only made the tentacles wrap around her harsher.

She gasped when her restrained legs were spread. Her muscles didn’t seem to matter anymore, she was maneuverer like a mere puppet by the powerful tendrils around her.

A throaty moan slipped past her lips when the tentacles tightened around her due to her squirms, her breasts squeezed tight. Her face burned in embarrassment and shame. She couldn’t get turned on! She was not supposed to-

Cassandra gasped upon feeling another tendril slide between her legs. She whimpered, but all below her was unclear to her, the water too thick and coloured. She felt it, though.

The huntress squirmed again as it rubbed against her clit. “S-Stop!”, she demanded. Her thighs clenched, yet she couldn’t push them together.

She was Cassandra Dimitrescu! She couldn’t have this happen to her! She was a fierce huntress, no pathetic prey!

She tensed when she felt the tip against her entrance, prodding. It wasn’t round like any toy of hers, instead almost pointy, yet soft. It felt like flower petals closed on one another.

She groaned as the tendrils squeezed more and more of her skin.

“No-o!”, she pleaded, the tip brushing through her exposed folds. She felt turned on, wrongfully so. She couldn’t be this way! She was powerful, and yet felt so weak.

It was such a humiliating situation, and yet so painfully arousing. It was torture in its raw and twisted form, seducing and disturbing her at the same time.

She groaned, then screamed loud enough to startle birds in the distance when the tip pushed inside. It was large, and stretched her wider than she had ever been stretched.

“A-Arg! Stop!”, she gasped. She shivered as more pushed into her and shrieked when she was pulled under water again.

It was even warmer underneath the surface, tendrils wrapping around her and covering her. Cassandra squirmed helplessly when one wrapped around her throat, keeping her in place.

The large tendril slid inside of her. She screamed mutedly underwater when it unfolded in her, warmth bubbling inside of her. The water felt gross in her mouth, her lungs felt too full.

She gasped for air and coughed helplessly. She had never felt this small.

She was prey now.

And she felt it, in the way her muscles tensed and her limbs shivered underwater, the way she was moved and toyed with. And lastly, the warmth inside of her.

The brunette tensed when she saw another tentacle right before her face. She had a feeling she knew what it desired and quickly shut her lips. It was as if she heard a roar from under the water.

Cassandra’s eyes widened once she was pulled down again. The tendril slipped even deeper- it hurt in her tight core.

She struggled to stay calm, the water around and above her making it impossible to breathe. The tendril slid alongside her lips, still pressed together tightly.

She knew it wasn’t the creature’s intention to kill her, but to do something by far more perverted with her, and yet wondered whether this would be the end for her. How long could she keep going without air?

The Dimitrescu gasped when she was, after many long moments, at last allowed up again. Without thinking her mouth fell open as she attempted to gasp for as much air as possible.

Instead of air, a slimy, warm tentacle greeted her, its length in her mouth. “Mghm! Mhmm!”, she complained, arms attempting to tug free despite it being of no use. The only thing her struggling and squirms achieved was the tendril inside of her rubbing up against her inner walls. She felt more and more ashamed at each moan drawn from her, yet it felt so good.

Her eyes widened as a thick, sweet fluid was pumped down her throat, clouding her senses and settling in her stomach. She felt herself growing wet only moments later, and pressed her eyes shut when both tendrils started pushing a little.

Then, something foreign- or perhaps weird-er- happened. Cassandra’s screams and moans were muffled by the tentacle as something large, oval shaped was inserted inside of her, seemingly stemming from the petal-like tendril.

She shivered, groaning and whimpering in pain and pleasure as more followed. Everything felt so intense, so good, since the thick fluid was pumped down her throat. She felt wetter than she had ever been, and needier. Her nipples were hard and aching, she felt herself being brought to orgasm merely from the tendril thrusting in and out of her mouth and the sensation of thick tendrils squeezing her breasts.

Cassandra shook her head, as if to snap out of it. A wave of shock overcame her when she caught up to the situation.

The large, oval objects were eggs, shot inside her womb.

The thick fluid had her feel desperate and wet within moments, wet enough to allow movement between her legs and to allow the eggs to push deep in her, taking up her entire core.

She was being prepared to be bred, she realized. Her cheeks burned from the humiliation and thick tears of embarrassment ran down her cheeks. She was so needy, she wanted nothing more than to have those tendrils inside of her, reaching all the right spots. Yet she felt the antagonising, teasing feeling of egg after egg slipping inside her.

Cassandra groans around the limb in her mouth, moaning as it slid against her throat. The necklace around it seemed too tight as it bulged her throat.

Upon being pulled underwater again, she caught a glimpse of her stomach; growing slightly in size the more eggs were inserted. They rubbed against one another and her walls and it made her see starts.

When she orgasmed embarrassingly fast, faster than she normally would, they dared slip out of it wasn’t for the tendril still inside.

Cassandra grunted around the one in her mouth, its movements relentless. She felt it warm and wet down her throat.

Muffled moans rang out across the water surface when the egg-spewing tendril at last pulled out of her. Cassandra instinctively attempted to pull her legs together, feeling her cunt pumped full of eggs that pressed against her entrance, as if to escape.

Another tentacle was set to her entrance instead. She tensed again; it was different than the last. Although slightly smaller in size, the tip pressing against her entrance was round and seemed softer.

“Mghm!”, she moaned as it pushed inside, her legs spread wide, her arms restrained and instead used to pull her down harder on the tendril.

Cassandra’s head tipped up, desperate to stay above water. This was exploited easily and used to make the limb move properly down her throat. She gagged, teary eyed as she neared her orgasm.

“Ugh!”, she whimpered with every hard and fast thrust into her, the creature’s single goal to cum, it seemed, and to have her cum.

She tried to deny it this wish, yet the more thrusts came, the closer she grew to doing just the opposite of her goal. Golden eyes grew hazy from pleasure as she felt smaller tendrils slide up her thighs and settle around her clit, rubbing it from the sides and making her scream against the tendril occupying her mouth.

“Mhmm! Mgmn!”

“MGHMM!”

Another pulled her nipples.

Humiliation and even more arousal set in when she orgasmed, loud and hard, and felt the eggs moving within her. In mere thrusts did the creature breeding her come too; it seemed.

Cassandra attempted to squirm away at the foreign feeling of cum filling her up. She was no fool and suspected how the breeding process worked when she felt each egg heat up as cum was shot into her. She dreaded pushing the oval things back out her sensitive cunt.

Her stomach was bulged at the amount of cum in her, and her mind felt hazy, her head dizzy. She was so sensitive and needy, and yet wanted more and more even as she still struggled to breathe despite the cum forced down her tight throat.

She assumed that was it, and golden eyes widened when she was quickly given to understand that her sweet torment would continue on.

Cassandra groaned lowly when the tendril kept moving after moments and shook her head helplessly as, to her greatest humiliation, she felt a tentacle push up against her tight ass hole. It didn’t sport the same size as the one occupying her other hole, but still had the brunette beg muffledly to spare her the embarrassment of getting her behind railed by a creature.

The situation was humiliating enough as it is, after all- the big, bad Cassandra Dimitrescu, proud huntress and sadist, turned into nothing but an omega-like vessel to be bred and sport whatever ungodly offspring was shot into her.

Tears sprung at her eyes at the tight hold on her body, tight enough that she would surely sport tentacle shaped bruises alongside her body, and especially legs, once she was released. She would need to stop squirming if she wished to avoid more marks.

“GMNN! MHMNNN!”

Tears spilled down her warm cheeks as her remaining hole was filled too, tentacles moving in and out of her as if she was nothing but a toy.

Her ankles were pulled until she was in an almost crouched position, her eyebrows furrowed and eyes pressed shut. The tendrils moved in and out so fast and deep due to the new position…she felt a second orgasm approaching already, and couldn’t at all help it. She was too sensitive and needy and had to means of trying to stop her orgasm once it took her.

She moaned with each thrust into her three holes, the stuffing she received both embarrassing and arousing, her clit teased and her nipples pulled. Additionally, whenever she was unexpectedly pulled underwater, her eyes stung and her throat burned even more.

When her second orgasm hit, she screamed, her holes tightening and feeling railed raw and sore as she kept being used for the only purpose this creature seemed to have for her: to breed.

Her holes were stretched and sore, her stomach swollen, her womb bred. She squirmed as she was groped more and more, tighter and tighter the more she moaned. And she couldn’t stop moaning at all.

“A-AA-H!”

Cassandra’s vision blurred for a moment as cum was shot in each opening again, down her throat to settle in her stomach, in her newly fucked and stretched ass and full cunt.

She gasped when she felt the creature push her to the shore, its tendrils wrapped tightly around her ankles. She felt a harsh blush on her cheeks upon noticing the eggs trembling slightly within her…

[evolutionsvoid]

Climbing over boulders or scrambling across rock fields is certainly a time where you need to be careful and attentive. I know it isn't like climbing a mountain or trying to traverse a canyon, but even small actions like this can have some dire consequences if things go wrong. Slipping and falling is a pretty mundane thing, probably something that happens to everyone sooner or later in day-to-day life, but even dropping a few feet can do some serious damage. Lose your footing while traversing the rocks and you can bust your headcap on the stony ground or twist a root. And when you are out in the wild, any injury has the potential to be life threatening. But of course, I don't bring this up because I worry about people taking a tumble when scrambling over rocks. I say this because there is more to pay attention to than your footing! This is the wild after all, which means you probably aren't alone out there! Holes and gaps that look like fine handholds could hide serpents and other critters that may attack if you start blindly groping around inside. Such animals are not obvious to spot, as plenty like to blend in with the stone and earth. So watch your hands and feet, and pay close attention to your surroundings, because in some regions that "boulder" you are about to climb on may not be too happy about you stepping on them!

When walking along a rocky coastline, this is advice you certainly need to follow, as not every stone is what it seems! In one region, the rocks could be hiding a creature called the yazaimondako, and that is not something you want to anger! The yazaimondako is a type of coastal octopus that spends its life on the line between land and sea. Often they are where the tide comes and goes, spending half the day underwater and the other half high and dry! It may be hard to see their cephalopod nature because...well first off it would be because they look like a rock. The yazaimondako's "head" or mantle is greatly enlarged and sits above the rest of the body. Its skin is thick and bumpy, helping it survive the harsh sun and rough waves, but also using a dull coloration to make it look rock-like. When the yazaimondako hunkers down, hiding everything under its mantle, it would be very easy to not notice them and think you were looking at a simple stretch of coastal rock!

The other reason why some folk would find it hard to believe this is an octopus is because they say it doesn't have eight arms! When the yazaimondako is hunting for food, all you can see is one lone tentacle! What happened to the other seven? Well, they are still there, it is not like someone cut them off. It is just that six of its tentacles have changed radically compared to the tendrils we know, now stumpy flat appendages. These six limbs are designed more for clamping down onto the ground and keeping the yazaimondako rooted, as this cephalopod prefers a more sessile life. If it does need to move, these little limbs can let it walk across the coast, though it isn't exactly fast. Though they may seem stubby, they are strong, and help keep the yazaimondako from being knocked about by the waves and keep it sturdy when on dry land. "But hold on, Chlora" you say, "you only said six became stumpy legs, where is the seventh?" Why, the seventh one is right in front of you! You probably already seen it and just didn't realize! What I mean is that the yazaimondako does not have just one normal tentacle, it has two! Two of its appendages remain long and dexterous like any other octopus, but this species prefers to use one at a time! It will have one tentacle out while it hunts for food, while the other remains coiled up and hidden beneath its mantle. These limbs will switch from time to time, typically when one catches prey and reels it in, the other will unfurl to take over hunting duty!

So how does a yazaimondako hunt? Well, I am sure you guessed they are an ambush hunter, going off their disguise and tendency to stay still. That is the correct answer, as the octopus sits upon the shore and pretends to be just a regular old rock! They like to position themselves near pools of sea water, where fish may get trapped during low tide. They will then extend a single tentacle out and slowly probe the water, feeling around for food. These limbs will often dance and wriggle in a way that tricks fish into thinking it is prey, luring them closer. When one swims too close, the tentacle attacks! A hidden barb is unleashed and spears the unsuspecting piscine! In moments, a powerful paralytic venom is injected, and prey's fate is sealed. The barb of the tendril will hold the fish like a fisherman's hook, allowing it to drag the dying prey back to the waiting body. Food is brought to its hidden beak and devoured, while the other arm (holding a fresh supply of venom) will unfurl and resume the hunt!

As you can see, the yazaimondako is essentially a fishing octopus. It sends in a living line and hook and waits for something to take a bite! But unlike real fishing, there is little fight to be had once prey is hooked, as the venom is a potent one. It is this same weapon that makes mistaking them for a rock a very bad idea! Try climbing over top one, and you can be sure a venomous tentacle will come lashing out! If you are injected, you need to seek medical attention as soon as possible. The venom will start taking out your limbs and eventually move to your organs, meaning death when you lungs stop working. Honestly, your survival relies on other people being around to carry you to a healer or medic, because unless the doctor is sunbathing nearby, your muscles aren't going to work long enough for you to run back to town. There are treatments for this venom, but they must be used quickly. It is a race against the clock before the venom shuts down your entire body.

With a clever disguise and potent venom, it should be no surprise that this species has some fatalities under its belt. Most deaths occur when tourists go climbing on the coastal rocks, not paying attention to what is around them. Though these octopi are big, their guise is a good one and someone too distracted in goofing off won't notice this more squishy looking stone. However, even with the dangers they possess, the yazaimondako is a bit of a delicacy! Supposedly, their two long tentacles are quite tasty, and the species is hunted for such a prize. As long as you remove the paddle that holds the barb, the meat is safe to eat. I had the pleasure of trying it once, and indeed it is pretty delicious! Local legends say that these tentacles are so tasty that that is the reason the yazaimondako hides itself as a stone! The story claims that a giant octopus came to the shore for a nap, but wound up leaving itself vulnerable to hungry humans. When it finally awoke, it found that it only had one tentacle left! The others had been chopped off and eaten! Thus, the octopus learned to hide itself as a boulder when it came to shore to nap, that way no one would see it. And its anger in being mutilated in such way was concentrated to the one remaining limb, which now spells the doom of any fool who wakes the yazaimondako from its nap!

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

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

"Yazaimondako"

A creature design that came from a brainstorming session with @Lediblock2 . How to make the tales of a one armed octopus into a viable species? Make it the convergent evolution of a cone snail!

[thekidonherownn]

I hate you for what you did (and I miss you like a little kid)- post tlo percabeth oneshot

The night of August 18th, camp half-blood was quiet. So quiet you could hear a pin drop. So quiet that it was scary, unsettling even: ‘cause camp never was and never had been quiet in the slightest, not until the night of August 18th, at least.

The campers and so the nymphs and dryads, even the birds up in the trees were silent, for one night only they all stood still: the adrenaline and hysteria from the victory of the battle of Manhattan was fading away, leaving behind only destruction, grief and loss.

Endless bunk beds remained empty, out of owners; the Apollo cabin was sad to look at: not a glowing ray of sunshine anymore: just dark and hollow. Nearly empty. Everyone understood that those missing souls deserved a little peace and quiet…even the chirping birds.

After the faint celebrations and laughs, after Clarisse and the others threw them in the lake, calm had settled…and that unescapable air of death had dawned onto the whole hill, brought by the night.

Annabeth was quiet too, laying still in her spot, her hair and clothes wet from the dunk in the lake, her lips salty from the kiss. Awake and mute: much like everyone else.

She’d dreamed of this night since the very first time she held her dagger: the time she was going to win, the one where she would get all the glory she deserved. Annabeth licked her lips again, balancing herself off the fact that they tasted like Percy’s…she got all the glory she wanted; she was a hero, she was a savior. Nothing could’ve prepared her for this moment, no fantasy of her child self could ever give her this emotion: Annabeth didn’t feel like a hero was supposed to, no, Annabeth felt like a murderer. She rubbed her palms on the sides of her shorts, still sensing the warm red blood that had stained them the same morning.

Luke’s blood. Luke’s blood all over Olympus, all over her clothes, all over her hands. She couldn’t seem to let go of the feeling of it, in the faint light of cabin six she could see they were clean and pristine, though it wasn’t enough. Annabeth wondered if she would feel it on her palms forever, if she would have to rip away her skin because of it.

She wondered if Percy felt it too. The blood on his hands. If he could see it splashed on the ground every time he closed his eyes. She ran her hands through her curls, trying to shake off the shivers that were running over her body: probably because she was soaking wet and hadn’t bothered changing into dry clothes, though Annabeth wasn’t sure that was the only reason.

He did it himself, Luke killed himself, she kept thinking, while asking herself if that really was the only possible option, after all. Maybe she could’ve saved him, maybe if she’d agreed to join him he would be well and alive now. No, you couldn’t- her own mind retorted to her thoughts, she tasted Percy’s lips again and shut her eyes close.

If she’d loved Luke like he wanted, maybe everyone would still be here…Annabeth’s brain reeled non-stop, endless scenarios started playing in her head; but the salt on her lips got stronger by the second, invading her own mind, Percy calming her with his memory.

It only had been a few hours since that underwater kiss, still she wanted more, Annabeth longed for the stinging salt on her lips: it almost made her forget about the burning sensation on her palms. As she put on her yankees cap and sprinted down to cabin 3, not a lot went through her head but the fact that she so desperately needed something to remind her that loving was worth it, that it didn’t always end up with blood stained blades.

The cabin’s front door easily opened, startling Percy in the process, who wasn’t asleep, like the rest of the campers. He sprinted to his feet, riptide in hand and eyes wide open, when he spot her standing she could see every piece of his body relax, he started whispering: “you-”

Annabeth, not wanting to break camp’s silence just yet, cupped both sides of his face and kissed him, quickly, a little awkwardly maybe…they still hadn’t discussed what they’re relationship was at, but their lips meeting again seemed right, even if it was shy and short, it was better than anything they’d ever felt before.

When she pulled away, their cheeks were flushed, it took Percy a few seconds to finish what he was saying: “...scared me, you scared me bad” his words were as low as possible, a little smile started growing on his lips.

“I’m sorry” was all she replied with, making herself at home and plopping her cap on the nightstand, "I'm sorry" she muttered again, more to herself this time, while tasting more salt on her lips. "I- " she tried to put it into words, and Percy said it for her:

"I know" he wore deep dark circles because of the insomnia and he kept his voice just a low breath, she knew he was trying to help out, but it somehow managed to make her even more anxious: she didn't want him to know. She'd hoped he wouldn't understand.

Percy put a firm hand on top of her shoulder, Annabeth noticed just now that she was still shivering from the cold and exhaustion, “do you want to um-” Percy sighed, preparing himself for what he was about to say:

“do you want to lay down?”

Those words hung up in the air for a few seconds too much, Annabeth had never been in cabin 3 this late at night, and even though technically they weren’t dating, it felt more than two best friends laying next to each other on a mattress…if you consider that the best friends in question enjoy kissing from time to time.

It was something they’d never done before, but just like the kissing part, it felt okay, it felt right. Annabeth didn’t say anything as she quietly plopped onto the right side of his bunk bed, he followed a moment later and laid next to her, pulled close by the small bed, their faces facing the ceiling.

She quickly discovered that the beds in cabin 3 were more comfortable than the ones in 6, laying on them was like being lulled by the warm waves of the night, whereas in the Athena cabin the bunks were lazily pressed to the walls, with hard and narrow mattresses…her mother’s message was clear: sleeping isn’t important.

His side pressed onto hers to fit on the bed, Percy’s body stiffened in awkwardness, but then quickly noticed that Annabeth wasn’t even noticing the closeness, she seemed to be on the lookout for something he couldn’t see, distracted by visions, she was rubbing her palms on her jeans as if her hands were really, really itchy.

With little thought, Percy grabbed her wrist, “don’t do that” he stated, his voice wasn’t mad, just concerned: her skin had a reddish color and looked irritated by the constant stress she was putting it in. Pushing through the embarrassment, he squeezed the hand in his, just to stop her from hurting it, Annabeth’s brain cleared out from the fog at his touch, she opened her mouth and quickly closed it again, realizing she didn’t have much to say. The silence was nice enough, why ruin it?

Percy might have thought the same, because they stayed quiet, the only sounds being the ones of their breaths itching close, him fidgeting with the covers with his free hand, confused on why she’d burst in at night with no explanation but, on the more honest side, not caring that much about it. She’d kissed him for three times, all in the same day, it was a win even bigger than the one they had in the morning.

That was when Percy’s brain clicked: Morning. War. Win. Luke. Shit.

He felt his heart drop to his stomach. She watched Luke die that morning, of course she was acting weird. Of course she couldn’t sleep like he couldn’t, of course he hadn’t thought about it because he was too busy noticing their arms slightly touching. Before he could even begin to figure out what to say, Annabeth talked for the first time in 30 minutes:

“I didn’t love him” she clarified, out loud, as if to get that out of the way: as if her bursting in and kissing him on the spot wasn’t enough. Annabeth shut her eyes, embarrassed by her own words, by her feelings, “but until he was alive some deep small part of me thought-” her voice quivered, she tightened her eyes shut trying to keep the tears in, Percy finally let go of their barrier and reached out to hug her close, she let him do it and pressed her face in the crook of his neck, silent tears started falling on his shirt, “I thought he could change” she mumbled, he whispered in her ear: “he did change” but Annabeth shook her head “he changed too late” her voice was becoming resentful, angry.

“I hate him so much, Percy” she sightly pulled away from his embrace, meeting his eyes and wiping away some tears, “I really do, but-” a deep sigh, “-but I also miss him” she covered her face with both her palms, trying to wipe away the sadness “I miss him more than I would like to, and there’s nothing I can do about it”

“but I don’t love him” she re-stated, Percy unconsciously took a sigh of relief, not really helping it, “that’s okay” he muttered, picking her hand once again, with their faces itching closer, she looked down at her tangled fingers…this wasn’t like her, going on talking about her issues and troubles: but this night, the night of August 18th, it was too much to bottle inside, she’d felt his death hover her, forbidding her to sleep.

Silence fell over them once again, Percy stared at her, the only light being the blue hue coming from the water fountain, her hair was still damp and she still had that warrior aura that had came over her that morning during battle…come to think of it, Annabeth always had it around her, to him, she was like one of those greek princesses that traveled with a dagger beneath their gown, only she wore it proudly on her belt; Percy’s throat dried up at the sight of her, from the fact that he could actually feel their hearts synchronize because of their closeness, he bit the inside of his cheek, trying to push away the nervousness.

Annabeth kept fidgeting with his hand, in her own way, she was avoiding his eyes, so he knew she must’ve been nervous too, feeling more secure of herself, lighter from the earlier confessions, she asked, out of the blue: “are we dating?” he wasn’t expecting her to ask, but instantly replied, with no hesitation whatsoever: “I hoped so” his tone was more fragile than Percy wanted it to be, he felt her squeeze his hand tighter, “good” she mumbled, a small smile appearing on her lips, the first of the night: “I think-” she got closer to look at him better and he mirrored her, finally meeting her yes, “-I think that’s the only thing I’m sure of right now” Annabeth finished, not letting go of his hand, her palms still red and scratched: only now she’d stopped sensing the blood on them.

Percy stopped in his tracks, thinking that it was a good place to start: being sure of what they were to each other after years of pining, they both stared into each other's eyes for a rough minute, Percy’s gaze casually slipping down to her lips eventually, Annabeth cleaned her throat after a while, “can I…can I spend the night?” she asked, trying to break through the quiet, he answered on the spot: “of course” he said, beginning to get up from his spot, “I can sleep on the other-” “Percy�� she cut him off, her hand still grasping his, pulling him to her.

“oh. oh, of course” Percy mumbled under his breath, a deep blush spreading all over his face as he re-adjusted himself next to her, “I think we can sleep together” she went on, showing an amused grin at his reaction, “It’s not like we haven’t done it before” she whispered, draping an arm over him, sinking deeper into the covers, “we’re still best friends, after all”

Percy felt his chest warm at her words, when she finally laid her lips back on his, it was better than he could ever expect it to be: the awkwardness had melted away and the kiss was slow and laid back, when he pulled away he was more red than before, if that was even possible.

“best friends don’t do that” he mumbled under his breath, not breaking eye contact, Annabeth’s smile got wider “we do” she declared, Percy kissed her again, she pulled away almost laughing out of happiness, which to him felt like biggest win of all: considering how upset she’d come in, “thank you” she said, “for being there, you know” Annabeth’s face heated up, he kissed the top of the hand he was holding, “we’re best friends, after all”

She rolled her eyes at the mimicking, secretly flattered by his ability to remember every single one of her words, he went on: “we’ll get through this war” he sighed, “or better, the ending of this war” she hugged him and finished: “hopefully this time they’ll leave us alone”

Something tingled at the back of Percy’s brain, deep down, he knew that wouldn’t have been the case, they both did. But this wasn't the time to worry about it, they needed their time to heal: the new prophecy had to wait. He took a final deep sigh before drifting off to sleep: “hopefully”.

[foullegussy]

I am making this post because Fontaine Archon Quest made me go down the theory rabbit hole and I need other people to agree with me that I'm not crazy.

Of course this post will have SPOLERS about the Archon Quest and some minor one about world quests, but I'll try to stay vague about them so everyone can still read this.

First thing off, fontaine is super related to Abyss stuff:

So far we have:

Childe actually finally dropping the things from his character story, giving us some weird Abyss fact that doesn't seem to be important yet (but i bet will become later on);

the whole Primordial Sea thing. I don't know if you saw that, but during the Archon Quest (in Marcel's underwater hideout) if you use elemental sight on the water it's black, just straight up black. 

NOTHING has ever been black before, so that to me just screams ABYSS. 

Also, it was flowing upwards, as in, in reverse, which reminds me of the reverse statue, the reverse city in the chasm, and all of that stuff. Then it would also make sense for it to "reverse" the life it created, dissolving people. 

the world quests in Fontaine being very Abyss related, as well as the constant mention all over fontaine of the name Jakob Ingold, the one who allegedly first discovered the effects the water from Primordial Sea had on people (this is said during the Archon Quest).

So far, in every Archon Quest we've had the Fatui as main villains (except in Mondstadt, but then Signora kinda stole the spotlight, so we all forgot about the Abyss Mages), and the Abyss Order stuff has progressed independently with Dain, but I think they're trying to reintroduce the topic in the main quest this time.

One of my main theories is that the Tsaritsa is at least somewhat right in whatever her objective is (even if her Harbingers are deranged psychopaths), so when we'll eventually get to Snezhnaya it's gonna be some huge mess, but we're gonna get the key to piece together some facts that they've throwing at us since the beginning with no context, and find some common ground (Are she or Pierro still gonna be bosses we'll have to fight? Maybe. Will the common ground be fighting Celestia or maybe saving it from the Abyss that is, maybe, taking over? Also Maybe. I have some speculations, but no proof whatsoever. Just vibes)

The reason I think that the Tsaritsa is not our enemy and doesn't want the Gnosis to, I don't know, take over the world or some shit, is because then why are all the Archons so chill about giving their Gnosis away?

Many say that, well, Signora attacked Venti in Mondstadt, that means Venti didn't want to give his Gnosis to the Fatui, otherwise why would she have done that? 

And maybe that's even true, but 

why isn't Venti more worried about it, then? 

after knowing Signora's backstory, she probably did it because of a personal grudge, ngl

Also, with every other archon it went very peacefully, especially with Zhongli. Zhongli who literally gave it away like it was nothing: if he truly cared about it he would have found another way to get his retirement, the Fatui weren't the only ones he could ask for help, but since he was already giving it away he probably thought he should get something out of it.

Ei too (and while she isn't technically one of the original Seven she has always been there as Makoto's twin, so she's still old enough to remember the Archon War), she literally didn't even have it on her and wasn't worried at all when Miko just straight up gave it away.

Even Nahida gave two of them away, the only thing that was holding her back was not the fact that she needed them, or what the Tsaritsa wanted with them, just the fact that one had just been used by Dottore to create a god to replace her, so she didn't exactly want to give him two of them.

So far all the gods we've met are: either old enough to know some stuff or the literal god of wisdom, who still knows some stuff thanks to Irminsul.

None of them seem too worried about the Tsaritsa's plan. (even mf Zhongli that literally signed and NDA is just chilling) (like, i know you know what the Tsaritsa is doing, and you're a really good guy who literally wants nothing more than his people to be safe, so if you're not stopping her i can't really think of her as a bad guy)

I made this long ass premise to say that when Lyney says that Arlecchino yes, wants the Gnosis, but also wants to save Fontaine, I-

like-

I think that could actually be true.

Or at least I don't think they're the ones behind all of the stuff that is going in in there (realistically speaking, we don't know if Arlecchino actually cares about Fontaine. I don't think she has plans about its downfall, but maybe she just doesn't give a fuck, whether they all drown or not), I think it either directly the Abyss Order, or just a consequences of abyssal energy on the land and water.

(also there's like, three Fatui tents in the entire map and from where they're placed it could actually be them just investigating what the fuck it's going on with the Abyss. I have 100% exploration, so i know i haven't missed any,,)

(from the official Interactive Map)

The Abyss being responsible might explain a bunch of stuff, like Childe being judged by the Oratrice guilty even when he's not.

Let's put some stuff together: Childe says that, while in the Abyss, he awakened "something", and that he still carries traces of that "something" inside of him.

The Oratrice is a divine mechanism, as such it is powered by divine energy.

In Fontaine we are introduced to Pneuma and Ousia. 

Each of them is what could be called and "Archè", which (if memories of greek philosophy in high school don't betray me) means something like "original substance", something from which everything else originates (like Heraclitus thought it was fire, Thales thought it was water. I should go back to read it, i might find something there huh).

For Pneuma (the light one) this is easy to understand: after all we know that combined, the seven elements make the Light element, but that is just because the seven elements are actually the spectrum of the Light element broken down, and it is said that the Dragons lived in a realm made of Light. So Pneuma (which means something about life and stuff) is Light, and it is the original substance from which the seven elements derive. 

One thing we know about Pneuma and Ousia is that they are opposites, they are both energy sources, and when interacting they annihilate each other, but also become more stable than when on their own.

Allegedly, this is probably also what Khaenri'ahn machines were powered on (because when the Ruin Serpent charges up he does that AoE attack where he shoot these yellow and purple blocks, which reminds me of Pneuma and Ousia; added to the fact that we know the Research Institute of Fontaine has been studying Dhari machines, this is probably some kind of confirmation).

Ousia literally means something about substance and matter (so on one hand you've got the "divine mind generating life" on the other you've got the matter, which remind me of the whole Descartes's res cogitans and res extensa, but whatever, another thing to look up again i guess).

If we're working on the whole "opposite to Pneuma" thing (so opposite to Light and elemental energy), then all that comes to mind is the Abyss (also referred to as the Void Realm).

This would tie back to Khaenri'ah and the fact that everything that everything that the Abyss touches gets the Mussolini treatment (this is a joke that literally only italians understand, sorry. Basically: it gets hanged upside down. down with the fascism boys)(i need to stop, sorry, i'm just in a silly goofy mood).

So divine things come from the Pneuma archè, that of Light: the Dragons, after them is the Primordial One, Celestia (Paimon??? The Travelers??? you know, the whole battle pass cutscene is hella sus).

The Abyss is a completely different archè: it exists outside of Teyvat and therefore has different laws (time is different there, we know from Childe's backstory), has taken on many different forms (oozing filth in the chasm, forbidden knowledge, etc) because its purest one is incompatible with the other realms.

(Do the Celestial Nails, placed in areas of high abyssal energy, contain enough divine power to generate an annihilation reaction, leading to funky but stable ley line disorders? Ice from Dragonspine doesn't melt, but doesn't spread either. Same for Tsurumi Island, the Eternal Oasis, and the Chasm)

Logically, there can only be one "original substance from which everything is generated", and the Abyss's presence on Teyvat is unnatural (the Abyss is, after all, a completely different world, it was Nibelung who sought out its power and opened the connection), so conflict is inevitable and again with the greek philosophy (still Heraclitus i believe, but i could be wrong): it is the conflict between opposites that generates things (such as energy). 

(The first human civilization in Teyvat, the one that saw the conflict between the Primordial One and the Second Who Came, is based on ancient Greece. DO WE THINK IT'S A COINCIDENCE???)

Abyssal and elemental energy being opposites also explains why elemental creatures are so vulnerable against abyssal energy, why gods defeated in the Archon War escaped to die in the "dark sea" outside of Teyvat, and the annihilation that leads to stabilization probably explains why some abyssal creatures can wield elemental energy (Abyssal creatures that we know where humans at first).

If the waters in Fontaine got contaminated when the Cataclysm happened (and previous Hydro Archon died), then oceanids, elemental creatures, would suffer quite a lot and escape from Fontaine and MAYBE even get a little bit corrupted as well. 

After all, the oceanid lady in the bottle event was extremely chill and lovely, while Rhodeia is as pleasant as hugging a cactus: is it just different personality or something similar to what happened with Apep (when she became a lot more angry after absorbing Forbidden Knowledge)? Doesn't Rhodeia also mention something about the waters in Qingce once being polluted as well (you know, right where the Chi was sealed? The Chi we know has something to do with abyssal energy from Baizhu's story quest)? 

Just throwing these out there, it's very cool to realize how connected the Genshin world really is.

Going back to the Oratrice, a divine mechanism, who, maybe, sensed the Abyss in Childe and either

had a funky reaction 

somehow knew the influence of the Abyss on Primordial Sea water (which after the world quests I can imagine how it could have happened), saw Childe's abyss-iness (abyssussy??? abussy??? amogus???) and went "Ah! Gotcha bitch" 

the Jakob Ingold thing (because Childe is basically a herald at this point, mf can switch forms like my boy Enjou did back in Enkanomiya, god I miss him). 

What would the abyss order have to gain by flooding Fontaine? Yeah, play the world quests. My boy Elynas is taking a nap bro (he chill tho so it's fine)

AND THAT'S MY PREDICTIONS. I guess. I might make more?? eventually?? 

[mama-qwerty]

Drained Chaos

Based on an idea @mcfanely and I chatted about.

It’s short and another of my “no real idea what the bigger plot is, but this scene popped into the ol’ noggin and wouldn’t leave” dealies.

~~~~~

The fight was going well.

Sonic and crew had been chasing a gang of weasels around the city, after getting a tip they were stealing technology for Eggman. Why Eggman needed other technology when he could just as easily create his own was a question they’d yet to answer, but that was something for another time. They’d cornered the weasels in a warehouse, half-empty with crates of unused goods.

They’d split up, and each focused on one of the Eggman lackeys. Knuckles could hear the whirring of Sonic’s spindashes, and the hard poundings of Amy’s hammer. Tails was overhead, using his altitude to rain destruction down. The kid loved to dish out some well-deserved justice.

Knuckles himself dealt with a particularly brawny weasel, and the two seemed well matched. The echidna did not pull from his chaos reserves, what would have given him access to his full power for his blows, instead electing to keep his strength closer to his opponent’s. He hadn’t had a fight this satisfying in a while.

As the two sparred, trading blows and over-confident quips, something began to pull at Knuckles’ mind. A warning. Something was wrong.

It suddenly occurred to him that his opponent didn’t seem to be trying all that hard to overpower him. In fact, he seemed to be . . . almost herding him to the far end of the warehouse. Away from his friends. Where there were more crates stacked, the perfect place for--

Two more weasels stepped from the shadows, one holding a thick metal collar in his hands.

An ambush.

Knuckles cursed his lax in focus, and dug deep to pull chaos energy to the surface. But before he could get more than his fist raised, his large opponent got a solid blow in on the echidna’s nose. There was pain, and stars flooded his vision, right before something cold and hard and heavy clamped around his neck.

Uttering a strangled cry, Knuckles reached up to rip the collar off, when it activated. He froze, his stomach dropping, his heart racing. The world swam as he felt a strong pull, and the chaos energy he’d always felt inside—that warm, comforting feeling that swirled within him since he hatched, giving him strength and focus—suddenly drained away. He gasped, nearly choking on the way his body lurched forward.

He couldn’t focus. Couldn’t concentrate. The world around him felt fuzzy and dull and unreal.

He felt like he was underwater, but his lungs still pulled in air. His body still moved, although slower and without conviction. He was vaguely aware of movement around him, someone talking. The sounds floated over him, never finding purchase.

Was he still here? Everything felt so far away. Disconnected. He blinked, his normally deep violet eyes faded to a light lilac. He fell to his knees, suddenly too weak to stand on his own.

Knuckles the Echidna was being drained of every last bit of chaos energy he possessed.

“Knux!”

The cry floated over him, and he blinked up to see Sonic hurl himself at the remaining weasels. Tails and Amy were hot on his heels, and the three quickly formed a protective ring around the downed echidna.

“Get that thing off him!” Sonic called to Tails, his face pulled in an angry snarl. “Ames and I will take care of these bozos.”

“I’m on it!”

As Sonic and Amy tussled with the weasels, the little fox spun and pulled a screwdriver from the pouch on his belt to fiddle with the collar around Knuckles’ neck. The second his tool touched the metal, however, sharp spines shot out of the inside of the collar, piercing the echidna’s neck. Knuckles cried out in pain, the sound loud and sharp.

Tails backed off immediately, holding his hands up and away from the device. After a few more seconds, the spines retreated back into the collar, leaving Knuckles panting on the ground.

“I can’t touch it!” the fox called, voice full of frustration. “It’ll hurt Knuckles!”

“Great,” Sonic grumbled, before grabbing on of the nearest weasels by the jacket. “Get that off him, NOW!”

The weasel sneered, uttering a little chuckle. “No can do. The only one who can remove it is Dr. Eggman. He’s got plans for that musclehead.”

Before Sonic could say anything else, the weasel in his fists pulled a detonator from his pocket and pushed the button. The entire back half of the warehouse exploded outward, giving Eggman’s henchmen a chance to escape. The hedgehog zipped next to Knuckles to be sure they wouldn’t take him with them, and shielded the echidna with his body to protect him from falling debris.

The four friends stumbled out of the destroyed warehouse, coughing and hacking at the smoke in the air. Amy and Sonic supported Knuckles as they escaped to the fresh air of the outside, and Tails hovered before the echidna with a worried expression.

“We need to get him to my workshop,” he said, his hands curled to his chest. “I don’t know what that collar’s doing to him, but he’s looking really bad.”

Knuckles was in no shape to argue. His limbs felt simultaneously heavy and numb, his mind a fog. He couldn’t stand. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t comprehend the words said around him. It was as if his entire being, everything that made him him, was gone.

The echidna hung between his friends, as they hurried toward Tails’ workshop.

~X~X~X~

An hour later, Tails looked between the monitor and his Miles Electric. He’d run every test he felt safe enough to do so, and the results weren’t promising.

“So what’s going on?” Sonic asked. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “What is that thing and can you remove it?”

Tails shook his head. “I don’t know, and I don’t think so. Everytime I tried to touch it, even to just examine it, it exhibited some sort of ‘deterrent’ by hurting Knuckles. I don’t dare even get near it at this point.”

They looked to the echidna, lying on the table in the middle of the room. His breathing was short and shallow, and his fur looked as though it had paled. He’d fallen unconscious on the way over, and now lay limp and motionless.

“What’s it doing to him?” Amy asked, her voice soft. She reached toward Knuckles, gently brushing her hand over his.

Tails sighed, flicking through a few screens on his Miles Electric. “Near as I can tell, it’s acting as some sort of capacitor. It’s draining the chaos energy stored in him. Storing it away. There’s a faint radio signal coming from it, which I assume is Eggman keeping tabs on him. But as for why?” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Eggman’s always trying to find the chaos emeralds to use as power sources,” Sonic said, his muzzle wrinkled in disgust. “Why not go after them? Why do this to Knux?”

The fox kit rubbed his chin. “Knuckles has a special connection to the Master Emerald. And I’ve taken readings on him in the past that show he possesses more chaos energy than anyone, except when you go Super, Sonic. Maybe . . . maybe Eggman is using him as a conduit? Kind of a living battery.”

They all turned to look at Knuckles then, and an unspoken thought passed between them.

He didn’t look like the ‘living’ part of that description was going to apply much longer.

“So what do we do?” Sonic asked, moving closer and planting his hands on his hips. “How do we get that thing off him? It’s gonna bleed him dry and then . . .” He turned away hands curled into fists. “What do we do, Tails?”

“Maybe we should take him back to Angel Island?” Amy suggested, her hands clasped before her chest. “Maybe his connection to the Master Emerald will help.”

Tails shook his head. “His connection to the Master Emerald is exactly why we can’t take him near it.”

She furrowed her brow. “Why? What do you mean?”

The fox kit held up a finger before reaching to the unlock the lead-shielded cabinet against the far wall. Then he pulled out a black gem. Holding it up, he nodded toward it. “Because this is what he did to a red chaos emerald.”

Amy and Sonic stood and stared at the gem in Tails’ hand. The only time an emerald turned black is when every bit of chaos energy was sucked out of it.

“Knuckles did that?” Sonic asked, moving closer to take the gem into his own hands. It felt heavier without its energy. “How?”

“When I discovered his chaos energy was being drained, I thought introducing more might help stabilize him. But the moment I brought this close, he just kinda . . . pulled the emerald’s energy to him, and it went straight into the collar.” He took the dead emerald back. “I think taking him close to the Master Emerald would be a very bad idea.”

Silence settled over the workspace then, and all three looked at the failing echidna on the table.

~X~X~X~

Knuckles’ consciousness floated. Adrift in the swirling currents of chaos.

He felt the pull of chaos, that constant, ever-present flow he’d felt since he hatched. But there was another pull, one that felt unnatural, as if trying to redirect the current of a river. It tugged at him, pulling that warm, comfortable chaos away.

Floating. Pushed and pulled without direction. He couldn’t understand what was happening. He wanted to call out, to reach for the Master Emerald, to ask it to help him get himself back under control.

But the more he reached for it, the more it pulled away. It was afraid of him. Afraid for him. And a part of him, some small part that still understood, pulled himself back, too. If they connected now, disaster would befall all of Mobius.

And so Knuckles faded. The unnatural pull continuing its thievery of his chaos energy, his very life force. And he allowed it to happen, severing his connection to the Master Emerald in a last act of his duty as its guardian. He vowed to keep it safe. And that included safe from him.

~~~

Like this? Check out my other snippets. Reblogs are appreciated!

[somethingwittyandsarcastic]

A Letter to an Almost Exmo

Dear me on the verge of leaving,

   I know it feels like you’re hanging on the edge of a cliff, fingers scrabbling for a place to hold on and sliding closer toward a long fall every time you slip. You can’t look down. You can’t face knowing how far you have to drop from the height of the church’s lofty ideals. You just know that the distance is too far to survive undamaged. After all, you’ve heard all your life of people who have thrown themselves from the church, landing bloodied and broken at the bottom of the cliff you now find yourself clinging to. Your feet dangle in the air. Your arms burn. Your fingers are bloody from how they dig at the rock, trying to uncover a reason–any reason to stay. You know that letting go will mean giving yourself to the agony of a broken self that awaits at the bottom of the cliff.

   Let go.

   I know how it feels to hang on that cliff. I know the agony of struggling to pull yourself back up while others watch from a safe distance, whispering to each other about how you were foolish to let yourself get so close to the edge in the first place. Never mind that you were born standing on the edge of that precipice. Never mind how you spent your life facing away from the cliff, eyes set resolutely forward. Never mind how the hands that should have pulled you to safety are the ones that pushed you off the cliff in the first place. I know how your arms burn with exertion as you try to pull yourself back up to the precarious place you once stood. I know how you dream of the comfort of that spot, standing with your back to the drop, but your feet a mere step away from the fall. I know you think of that spot as safety. I know you think those people, whispers hissing and words biting, were there to lead you to safety, but who led you to the top of that cliff in the first place?

   Let go.

   I know what you were told about that cliff and the drop at its edge. I know they said it was a fatal fall, something you could never recover from. It’s too far, the ground at the bottom too unforgiving. You never dared to look for yourself when you stood on the edge, never craned your neck forward to see how much was truth and how much was fear mongering. You tried to take steps away from the edge, but there never was much room to move around at the top of that cliff, was there? Now you dangle above open air and you know it’s too late, but you also know that letting go means something even more awful than the pain of struggling to hold on.

   Let go.

   I know you think there are only two options here: hold on and pretend to be happy or let go and be miserable. You know nothing but the edge of the cliff. You know nothing but the pedestal you were born at the top of, meant to never move too far lest you fall too far to survive unscathed. It’s always been dangerous. It’s always been a life on the verge of disaster, but it’s all you know. It’s safe. It’s home. It’s hurting you to hold on. It’s hurting you to stay. You’re bleeding. You’re giving up on more than just the church.

   Let go.

   I’m at the bottom of the cliff. I’ve been here for years now. Let me tell you what letting go was like. It was like falling a foot or two, so much less than I thought it would be. It was like taking a deep breath when surfacing from being underwater. It was like that moment when you put glasses on for the first time and remembered that trees actually have individual leaves. It was like the pain and relief of uncurling a fist clenched for far too long. It was like finally taking out a splinter in your skin. It was like finally looking down at a bad injury and having the pain hit you all at once. It was like getting in the car and just driving with no idea where you’re about to go. It was like putting on shoes that finally fit right. It was like realizing all the years you wasted. It was like realizing there were so many more years to come. It was like pain and beauty and rage and joy and grief and healing and acceptance and peace.

   Let go. I’ll be waiting for you when you do.

Love,

You

[selfindulgentpixies]

Galaxies in your eyes

Okay here's my piece for the JJK star wars au. It's probably not the most accurate but the idea was super fun to me. Also I never pass up a chance to write about Gojo. Reader is a researcher working on the inside sending information to the resistance. Will I do more with this? Doubtful since my knowledge is rusty and limited. Thankyou @strawberrystepmom for putting on this event!

GN!reader x Satoru Gojo (Well they're getting there, there's definitely pining)

The lab was mostly quiet as you buried your nose in a report, eye strain be damned, the main sounds being the absent tapping of your own foot along with the low hum of machines. It was so late some might have considered it early as you sat there and worked. You typed at the report, the work making little sense to anyone but those it was intended to be read by, a clever mix of your own work and coded message. If all went as you intend the messages within would make it to a certain princess and a droid capable of deciphering your work. Really you simply would have rather gone with her yourself but as it stood for the moment you could do more good from here in your position as one of the lead researchers at the station. You had access to a lot of information and tools you would otherwise lose. So for now it was lonely work but you accepted that since it’s for the greater good. At least that’s what you tell yourself to soothe the ache.

You slip into sleep without meaning to and dream of friends far away and lost homes even further still. A bitter taste settles over your tongue as your dreams replay memories of horrors witnessed too young and guilt over being able to get away, to survive, because you just happened to be what… clever enough? Lucky maybe? Stubborn. 

Your dreams aren’t all cruel though. There was some good in between. Good you’d worked very hard for. Being scouted for your rumored aptitude and intelligence from a backwater planet you’d been scraping an existence out on when you  were only in your early teens, hallowed halls of education, forging what you felt was an unlikely friendship with a princess. Then there’s startling blue eyes across the room, time seeming to stop for you as you see a galaxy in his eyes and because your dreams don’t really give you a break you’re reminded of how time had not stopped and you’d walked into a pillar and dropped all your books before falling on your behind. His laughter ringing in your ears. You glanced up from your spot on the ground, face hot and wanting nothing more than to disappear as you watch his dark haired friend, who while smiling, still shoves him toward you. 

He’s grinning ear to ear as leans down to your level and begins to gather your spilled study materials and place them on your lap. The dream lacks clarity though, his words sounding as if they’re underwater as he helped you to your feet. And even if most of his words had a teasing edge to them you’d still been entirely smitten. You’d both been so young. You remember even now having the oddest urge to grab the little white braid over his shoulder. 

Many of your meetings would pass in a similar way. After the third or so time he called you the most competent klutz he knew. He’d laughed gleefully when in frustration at his half compliment half insult  you threw something you’d been picking back up off the floor at him and it had merely frozen in the air in front of him. You felt he had to know that it was only him you became clumsy around and that was a mortifying thought. 

Your dreams begin to dissolve, your brow furrowing deeply as the waking world pulls you back. Actually you’re not entirely sure you’re awake because when you open your eyes you’re met with those same enchanting blue eyes you’d just been dreaming of.

“Why am I not surprised I found you in the labs instead of your quarters?” That teasing lilt was the same as it has always been, though pitched lower as if he only wanted you to hear. Which was strange, since it’s only the two of you. Okay him being here was strange in of itself if you’re not hallucinating from sleep deprivation. With your common sense muddied by sleep you reach out a hand to try and touch him to see if he’s actually real, and after your hand meets invisible resistance for a moment it suddenly rests on his warm and very real cheek. His face stretches into a grin bringing out his dimples when moments later you pull your hand away and nearly fall back in your chair. Nearly because he grabs it and steadies it as he rises to his full height. 

“Wha- why are- how are you here even?” You hiss a bit too loudly for the quiet space. You click your jaw shut when he raises a finger to his lips and hushes you. 

“Not so loud. I don't have a lot of time to explain. I’m here to bring you back home.” 

His words bounce around in your head. “What? Satoru, no, you know what i’m doing right? It's important that I continue for-” His grin is long gone now as he shakes his head. 

“You’ve been found out.” 

The words are slow to sink in but when they do your chest feels hollowed out and you taste metal on your tongue. 

“I’m glad I was able to get to you first. Gather what you can quickly and without drawing attention. We need to leave immediately.” seeming to anticipate any coming argument he adds. “You can’t help your friends if you become a prisoner. Worse, you could end up doing active harm if you’re caught, regardless of how stubborn you are.” You shudder at what he’s implying. Implying that you would be tortured and you know he’s right. 

Truthfully you never kept much beyond your memories close to you. Anything with true value to you would only be a liability so everything you actually kept while here had been superficial. You spin in your chair and pull out a small data stick and insert it into the counsel. 

“I’m not sure we have time for you to be downloading a bunch of data-” You cut him off. 

“I’m not. It’s a virus. “ You tap your temple. “If you’re taking me to the princess then I already have all the information she needs right here.” 

He tilts his head forward and his chest shakes with a deep chuckle. “You’ve always been a clever one haven’t you.” It’s phrased like a question but said in a tone that implies it’s a fact. “Though won’t this set off their alarms?”

You feel the tips of your ears heat up at his words, but maintain focus on your task. “No, it’s on a bit of a delay and it won’t activate until it’s embedded too deep for someone to fix.”

“How long?” 

 “We’ll probably have 10 minutes before the alarms start blaring and the research station is thrown into panic.” A few more taps of the keys and you’re rising to your feet. As soon as you’ve done so he’s grabbed your arm and is leading you from the room. The serious look on his face keeps you from protesting. Though why would, you’d just given the two of you a solid countdown.  The dimly lit corridors are a blur as he rushes you out, taking seemingly random turns but if you had to guess he was avoiding patrols. 

—

It’s only once the two of you are on the ship flying away from the imperial research station, that you speak again. The pilot had wordlessly taken off as soon as the two of you were onboard. You release a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding and then feel his large hand on your shoulder. His expression is unreadable when you glance at his face “So… This isn’t meant to sound ungrateful by any means but why are you the one extracting me from here? You’re a bit important to be escouting one researcher. “

He wrinkles his nose at your implication that you’re not important enough for him to personally look out for. Really had you not realized anything over the years. His own personal interest in your wellbeing aside though… “You do realize how important you are don’t you? In the princess’s own words you’re invaluable to the cause. When information was intercepted that you were found out people were scrambling to figure out who could get you out safely.” 

You blink up at him. “So you were first pick-” 

“I insisted I be the one to come retrieve you. I couldn’t stand the idea of someone else messing up your retrieval and you being taken prisoner. Old friends or not, I don't like to think about what he would have done to you.”

The he in question was hardly a question at all. You knew there was only one person he’d be referring to. “Wait was.. “ you think better of saying his name. “Was he going to be dealing with me personally?” 

“The implication from the intercepted messages was that you were going to be brought to him.”

“Ah…” 

Silence hangs heavy between the two of you.

“I wasn’t going to allow that to happen. And I’m going to make sure you make it safe to the resistance.” 

“...and what about after?” You blink up at him from beneath your lashes, worrying your lip between your teeth. 

When he looks down at you his heart squeezes in his chest, remembering the time Suguru and himself had been sent to help protect the princess while she was attending a prestigious school. How that had inevitably brought him into contact with you as one of her classmates and friends. At first he’d looked at you going all starry eyed for him and wanted to write you off, but he saw how you genuinely didn't react that way toward anyone else. You also never made a true advance, he thinks you assume he’d respect the jedi’s rules so there was no point. Perhaps it was your way of trying to not put him in an awkward position. All the same he’d become very attached, fond of you even back then as you’d slowly relaxed around him. Your kind and positive disposition as well as your intelligence getting a chance to shine around him when you weren’t stumbling over yourself. 

You worry that perhaps it was a step too far when he remains lost in his mind too long for your comfort. “Satoru..?” 

He shakes his head. “What about after indeed. Do you finally feel like being greedy?”

You scoff but you still feel your face heat up. “Is it greedy to want to spend time with you after not having seen you in so long?” 

He smirks and leans into your space. “I think it’s more than my time you want.” 

The way his voice drops and the invasion of your space is loaded with unspoken meaning and part of you wants to put space between the two of you. “Satoru… If you’re playing games with me, don’t.” 

“Does that mean that you do want more than just my time? Because I think I’m ready to be a little greedy now if you are.” You have no idea how close to ruin you’d come, but he does. You weren’t simply going to be retrieved for Suguru like he’d said. He was going to pay you a personal visit that very morning for your betrayal.  So yes. Satoru was very much ready to be greedy with you.

___

Okay that's it! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Now I've got to get to work on chapter 7 for my Satoru x reader x Suguru fic as well as get started on my two halloween collabs.

@nanamikentoseyebags

[happyk44]

So I just found out that Poseidon is also the god of droughts and what are your thoughts on a child of poseidon with drought powers, a complete opposite to their more sea based children?

[ID: Screenshot of a google search. The search term reads, "god of drought in gr...". The search term is cut off due to the mobile layout of the screenshot. A featured snippet at the top comes from wikipedia, reading, "List of water of deities".

The core of the screenshot is the People Also Ask section, of which the return is "Who is the Greek god of drought?" This question has been dropped down to show a result from "www.theoi.com". The answer reads, "Poseidon was the Olympian god of the sea, earthquake, floods, drought and horses. He was depicted as a mature man with a sturdy build and a dark beard holding a trident (a three-pronged fisherman's spear)." /end ID]

Oh! I knew this 🙌 I think it's related to him being the god of the sea/water, sort of like how Apollo is associated with healing but also the plague. I always find it funny when that happens 🤣

So for the kids who skew more to the side of drought, obviously they still have their sea powers. They're probably far more dry in tone, less empathic, less emotional. Maybe they're more prone to the earthshaker side of Poseidon as well, and the equine, to make up for the lesser interest in the sea. Plus earthquakes and horses are more land-based and a drought affects the land (agricultural loss, wildfires, increased sandstorms, etc).

In PJO canon, I'd want to say drought-based kids grew up more inland where access to a large body of water was difficult to come across. So it's less about internal nature (as with my interpretation of the freshwater vs seastorm Neptune babies), and more about familiarity and adaptation - sort of like how catci and other desert plants have evolved to handle long periods without water.

Powers that they have an increased capability for over their sea counterparts:

causing earthquakes! they can manipulate them on a small or large scale, but they have higher propensity. it's a little harder for them to cause underwater earthquakes tho (which. can become tsunamis btw)

dehydration - sort of an inverse of drowning a person in their own fluids, they will the liquids inside them to dry up at a rapid pace

as a subset of that, i think it would be so cool if they could pull a tantalus-like punishment with enough focus on someone. no matter how much you drink, you will always be thirsty, you will never be satisfied, you will be captain barbosa and his crew, turning skeletal in the moonlight

they can withstand higher and drier heats than their sea-preferred counterparts (for example, percy would be hanging off of carter in the desert, crying for water, while they're chilling and vibing, truly a cactus of a person)

similarly, they retain water better, and sweat less. their bodies need less fluid to keep going on (this makes them better at giving blood lol, stay juicy everybody!)

while most children of poseidon are capable of piling water in the air into something usable, the drought prone kids have picked up how to pull water/usable liquid from anything available, as dry climates may lack enough water in the air for it to be worthwhile compared to humid climates --- so they're more likely to pull water out of living things, pull water out of the ground, or even find water deep underground (well water!)

due to the above, they're more capable of causing inland floods, they can pull water out from deep in the earth and force it to surround areas that are devoid of rivers, lakes, or even high rainfalls - this isn't just because of the whole "god of floods" thing either, it's because after a long period of drought, sudden rains can cause flash flooding to occur, so they're good at making flood happens

heat generation! they may be able to make things hotter, and/or drier

they have perpetual black thumbs. they are... not very good at growing plants lol

finding/summoning horses. it might take a while, but if there is a horse, they will find it (like the horse version of a dowsing rod, which, lol, they're kind of the human version of a dowsing rod, i guess), and if there are no horses nearby, they will get one to come to them through ✨ vibes ✨

their version of a storm is a heatwave OR extreme rain. yes, they can summon hurricanes or typhoons, but those are much more ocean-based things. so forcing high and burning levels of heat that makes everyone stumble and sag, sweating through every inch of fabric they have OR extreme and heavy rainfall that practically drowns you where you stand and knocks you to the ground is more their instinct

lowkey i wanna give them sandstorms as well, since that can be an effective of long-period of drought, but. you know. idk how much greece was ever getting pummeled by sandstorms for that to be something they associated with drought. (egypt, on the other hand, set, my dangerous and beloved)

(funnily enough set is also the god of foreigners, so like, who knows, maybe he and poseidon struck a funny deal when one of his kids traipsed over there while wandering around)

Since I think the difference between sea-based Poseidon babies and land-based Poseidon babies is just due to their adaptation of their environment, I think someone who is sea-based could easily become more land-based after living in such conditions for a while, and vice versa. Sort of like accents, lol. You know, if Percy decided to up and move to the desert in his 40s, he'd adapt after an initial period of "oh my gods oh my gods where is the fucking water where is the ocean i am dying" lol. it would take him a lot longer to pick up on the accent of the land than if he were younger, and so he'd still maintain his "sea" accent long-term

Because of this, I think it would be really neat if, way back when, it was common for the kids to take a few months away from camp to go living in the desert for a bit so they could pick up some land skills - like a rite of passage for poseidon demigods. one of the older cabin members goes out with them to make sure they don't die, helps them hone into the skills they might not have tapped into before, etc and so on. The kids come back at the end of their outing, more well-rounded and capable of tapping into the opposite side of their powers, when and if needed. Some of the kids might repeat the outing more than once for funsies, but most of them usually just do the one time thing, and then practice their land-based powers on a smaller scale at camp.

If a land-based kid comes into camp when they're much older, they don't typically have to do the outing, but sometimes they'll go out, not to learn anything, but to help the others, since they'll essentially receive assistance with their sea-based powers while they're at camp (presuming every version of camp has been based near the ocean or some giant water mass throughout the years - if not, then it goes the other way around, where they take a few months to go chill out on a beach for a few months).

Thanks for asking! If anyone else has any extra ideas, feel free to add them on! :)

Additionally, just 'cause, here are the four types of droughts I came across while googling "drought causes" because, lol, I'm an island boy, I am not familiar with droughts and wanted to get some facts in that weren't high temps and low rainfall (source):

Meteorological: region-specific; occur when an area receives less rainfall than normal; often measured by comparing the current situation to previous years’ rainfall. Some locations are affected more harshly than others.

Agricultural: when there is not enough moisture in the soil to sustain the growth of crops. Crops need different amounts of water based on their level of maturity, so they can be susceptible to droughts at different times. For example, most plants require moist topsoil to germinate, but this could be less important down the line as the plant matures. So, the effects of an agricultural drought hinge largely on the growth stage of the plants.

Hydrological: when there is a lack of surface and subsurface water supply; detrimental effects can be most readily observed in watersheds and river basins; affect the entire water cycle, take longer to notice, and have effects less immediately obvious than with other droughts.

Socioeconomic: when the water supply is too low to support human and environmental needs; wreaks havoc on the supply and demand of crucial commodities like water, grains, fish, and hydroelectric power.

[monsterfloofs]

🐊🏋️💐

(also, what a cool idea for a challenge! hope this isn’t too odd of a combination, lol)

Rex (crocodile monster) x Anonymous Reader (Sfw)

( Hewwo!! Thank you so much for this prompt, I am sorry for the wait— but I am back on my monster creation challenge!! I hope everyone had a good holiday. ( ouo ) I think this story prompted me to make my own crocodile monster species. . . and it has lore <3<3<3 I hope you enjoy it!)

The town you had traveled to, had some fearsome local legends and history.

But what had drawn you the most to this place was the existence of folks you had never heard of, until one of them had saved your life.

Ruby Mandibles, is the name coined from the humans that lived in the little remote waterfront villages. They were sentient reptilian creatures that closely resembled a crocodile, their skin a bright scarlet hue with frills that looked like flowers blooming from their skin. Research provided that these frills helped them blend into the vast aquatic garden of red flowers that spanned across the water.

Some folks speculated they were a distant and strange relative to dragons or some other scaley leviathan. Many old stories told of legends, the last thing a lost and weary adventurer had seen, the gentle waving or ruby petals fanning in the waves, and the sudden snap of a crushing set of jaws.

You shuddered at the thought.

But now times were different, and things had. . . mostly changed. There was a rocky peacefulness between the two communities. The two parties no longer hunted one another, but fingers would be pointed and accusations would be drawn like knives and swords. They were beautiful predators, and about a thousand years in the past, they had been sought after for their teeth and skin. Which had turned the mandabiles into an enraged frenzy to get back at humans.

You took out your map and turned it this way and that, giving a wide berth to the red waving field of underwater flowers. While you weren’t exactly afraid of a thousand year old sport of snapping a human up for lunch, you have heard that a human had gotten hurt by being too close to the mandible’s hunting ground. Also, you were weary of the water now, your past accident that had plunged you under the waterline too fresh in your mind.

Choking and sputtering on the ground, eyes filled with tears and your lungs heaved, a large figure kneeling beside you, a heavy hand patting your back.

You keep a wary eye of where the ground drops off into the water. The plant life is so thick, all you can see is a forest of beautiful trailing flowers, eerily dancing in a nonexistent wind. You wondered how far down it went, then rescinded those thoughts almost immediately. Your mind jumps back to the map in your hands, feet shuffling forward, moving along the direction where you were told your rescuer lived.

Rex, was the name of the Ruby mandible who had plucked you from the water as if you were but a mere pebble in the water. You had been in a daze at the time, shivering in a blanket and unable to utter less than a few choice words. But the people who had known him, had called him Rex. The numb fingers of your mind had latched onto that name, waiting until your could better ask around to thank him.

Rex owned a flower shop, you had been told it was his pride and joy. Which had made your eyebrows raise, thinking back to the burly creature covered in scars and one cloudy eye.

Yet, as you dip your map down, you can see a little shop beginning to appear on the horizon. A cozy building, with round porthole shaped windows, and a behemoth of a door. As you got closer you could hear humming in a deep rough baritone.

“H-hello?” You call out and prickle as the air goes silent, a large red snout poking around the corner from the side of the house.

You raise a hand and give an awkward wave.

“H-hi there, uh R-Rex right? It’s me—“

“It is you!” With a bellow that just about knocks you backward, you find yourself being quickly confronted by a very large, very mean looking creature. But his intimidating presense doesn’t last long. He seizes your hand, his paw just about engulfed your forearm up to your elbow giving your arm a hearty shake. You now know how it feels to be an outdoor water pump. Throughly jostled, you wobble on the spot to regain your footing.

“Good to see you are still kicking around little thing!” He chortles,

“I was meaning to thank you—“

He cracked a wide toothy grin, “Pretty brave of you to march all the way over here to thank me, you must have a nose for trouble!”

You blink trying to figure out if he was joking, “I-I. . . I do?”

He barks a jolly guffaw, “Why I’m surprised you made it out all the way here, seein’ how cute you are!”

Oop— You blink, “I’m not cute!” You huff, but then lean back a little as he learns forward, looking you up and down.

“Coulda fooled me!”

[jumpywhumpywriter]

A Life in the Hands of the Enemy -- Villain reluctantly saves Hero's Life part 25

Warnings: captivity whump, cruel Villain whumper, forced living weapon, captive Hero whumpee, shock collars, fight scene

She scrambled to get back up, but Supervillain was on her in an instant, violently pummeling her with blow after blow, not giving her a chance to recover.

Amber was slammed to the ground every time she got halfway up, more vicious attacks making their marks. She had both of her daggers in hand, but they were useless against Supervillain's gauntlets.

A particularly nasty kick in the ribs sent her skidding across the floor with a wheeze. She could hear her own bones crack under the impact.

Groaning, Amber rolled onto her stomach, using her forearms to push herself up. She lifted her head, hair caked with blood, and her eyes went wide as she saw Supervillain pointing a futuristic gun-looking device on his gauntlet straight at her. There was a high whining sound that filled the air, making her hair stand on end, and she watched in terror as the end of the gun began to glow.

Amber couldn't take her eyes away, frozen in fear as she looked into the face of death, Supervillain's cold, impassive smile looking down on her.

"HERO!" Someone was shouting her cover name, she could barely hear it over the blood roaring in her ears -- the voice was muffled and warped, like it was underwater. She probably had a severe concussion, her head pounding with pain.

And then, there was a flash of movement in front of her, a physical barrier blocking her line of sight. Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Through the haze, Amber saw Zack drop to a knee in front of her crumpled form, putting himself as a physical barrier between her and Supervillain. He pulled something from his belt and held it in front of him, and a pale blue shield came into existence.

That's when Supervillain's gauntlet went off. Pure electricity fired out of it, engulfing Zack's shield in wild, untamed power. The air buzzed with energy, supercharged. Zack's shield took the full force of it, and after a second it shattered, still successfully cushioning the attack to a degree as the electricity slammed into him, sending him hurtling backwards over Amber's head.

A streak of electricity sizzled and struck Amber, making her cry out in pain. But suddenly... the shock collar on her neck sparked, and fell off entirely. The blast had destroyed it. She was free.

Amber touched her neck in surprise, before turning and looking straight at Zack with wide eyes and dawning realization.

Zack was horrified, staring back at her as he picked himself up from the floor. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. His only form of leverage and control was gone, just like that.

But to his surprise, Amber's face twisted with determination, and before he could even blink, she was launching herself at Supervillain again, attacking relentlessly to drive him back and gain an advantage. Why was she still fighting alongside him when she could run away now? He wondered in disbelief. It didn't make any sense. If he were in her shoes, he would be ten blocks away already. It was the smart, logical choice, to escape while she could. SO WHY WASN'T SHE CHOOSING IT?!

"Hey! Head in the game!" Amber's barking voice snapped him out of the trance, and he watched her dodge another blow from Supervillain. "Are you going to help or not?!"

Zack forced his broken body into motion, dragging himself forward to assist.

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