#i do feel more confident doing them now at least

[callofdoobie420]

neighbor!Price x reader (aka lil birdie down the street)

John isn’t exactly sure why he feels like he’s about to have a heart attack. Quickly scrambling about his kitchen, stirring a sauce, checking the bread, mixing the salad.

Well he does know why he’s having an aneurysm actually…you’re coming over. You. You will be in his house.

It’s always been him at yours, but now…shit, now you will be here in fifteen minutes, and the bread is still at least twenty-five out. He’s normally so perfect at timing, but you have thrown him for a loop.

He rushes to the bathroom as his sauce simmers in a pan. Splashing some cool water on his face and smoothing out his hair.

It’s been a few months now since you’ve moved in, and John had finally worked up the courage to ask you over for dinner. He couldn’t fuck this up. No. This was just one of his steps to making you, his.

First he helped you move in. Then he built you a dresser. Now…he would feed you. The quickest way to anyone’s heart.

At least according to his mum. And about any sane person out there.

The doorbell rang, and he checked his watch. Cursing at how he let 15 minutes slip by just like that. He scooted past the oven on his way to the door, turning off the heat on the meat sauce.

He pulled his front door open with a big grin on his face, and there you were. Your typical beaming smile and flowy sundress, adorning you. He had come to love summery sundresses because of you.

“Come on in love,” he purred, as he held the door open for you. “Why thank you John,” came your coo.

His little birdie.

“I brought you a bottle of wine,” holding out a nice Malbec, as you strode into his house confidently. He supposed you should…it would be yours too.

He took the bottle, holding it away a little to read the label. Not catching the way you smiled at that, finding it endearing. “Sounds delicious love, it’ll work perfect with the pasta…”

You practically moaned with excitement when he revealed what he made. The pasta looked delicious, the bread mouth watering, and even the salad was calling your name.

“And how in the world aren’t you married yet?” You ask playfully, as you take your seat across from John. Missing his smirk as you drape your napkin over your lap.

“Well the job always made it hard to settle down…” he answers, twirling some pasta onto his fork. “Though I do believe I have a lot more time on my hands now, don’ I lass?”

His words didn’t leave much room to imagine the meaning behind them. John had struck you as blunt since the moment you met him.

A small blush crawling over your cheeks, as you dig into your own food. Taking a sip of your wine, realizing you might need some liquid courage to get through this date.

Normally, you felt confident about what you brought to the table. You're hot, have a stable high-paying job (pretty much working for yourself), still pretty young, and not to mention you were funny as all hell. Truly a dream package.

So why the hell did you feel like a schoolyard kid with a crush?!

Thankfully, John took it easy on you for the rest of dinner. Simply taking time to learn more about you, how you grew up, what your dreams and goals are for life. Pretty much anything he can learn, he wants to. He wants to know everything about you.

You're on your third glass of wine, which made it very easy for John to get answers out of you. Probably more than you would have given him had your lips not be loosened by your own doing.

Really birdie...bringing wine? Did you want this as much as he did?

Both of you, falling into the couch. Sitting practically on top of each other. Your legs tangled together, as you slightly faced each other. Still sipping your wine.

"So Johnathan..." you giggle, and John rolls his eyes playfully, "I don't know if you know this. I mean I know you're like super good at knowing things because military- duh" you hiccup, making Price chuckle.

"But you probably don't know this because I kept it secret from everyone!" You exclaim before leaning in to whisper, "you are very fucking hot."

John cant help the smile the spread over his face, "Tha' right birdie?"

"Mhmm, like DILF hot...'' waggling your eyebrows at him, as he shakes his head at you. "What do you not think I'm hot?"

Your little pout pulls at John's heartstrings. He's pretty certain that you know you're hot, but he likes knowing that you want him to think that too.

"Course I do sweetheart..." He murmurs, leaning forward. His hand coming up to cup the side of your jaw. "But I think we should have this conversation when you are sober."

"I'm not even that drunk-" You begin to protest. "I know sweetheart, but I want you to be 100% sober when I tell you how I feel."

The look he gives you has you unsure whether or not your heart stopped. Or if it just beat so fast it burst.

He looked at you like nothing else on this Earth would ever satisfy his sights again.

"Okay..." you breathed out, a small hand moving over his, still placed on your face. "Yeah...good idea...I'll tell you tomorrow..."

"Looking forward to it love..." he smiles, pressing his forehead to yours. Smiling as you sigh and lean into him.

Just one more step checked off to make you his.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Taglist (as always you can ask to be removed! As this is mostly fluffy for now I will tag all. But if this ever hits MDNI territory I will NOT tag if you do not have age in bio): @ilove-otters @ohdrey89 @cdgurlcathy @thbidkbutok

[moon-fics]

Tan Lines

Pairing: Bob Floyd x Reader

Summary: After a long day at the beach playing football, the squad decides to take a break.

Warning: Just a tad bit suggestive

A/N: I might make this into a part two...

Sweat drips down your back and chest as you sit on the cold, sandy ground. The sun is barely peaking out from the ocean as it sets. Your muscles are sore, but it only gives you a sense of satisfaction. The smell of salt and the stinging in your eyes is a welcoming feeling.

You glance to your left to see Bob, Hangman, Rooster, and Phoenix. They're all staring off into the water. You can tell they have a lot on their minds, but there's a deafening silence that you don't want to break first.

"So, do you guys think we'll get the mission done?" Phoenix speaks up. This elicits a groan from Rooster, who would rather discuss anything else. You still haven't figured out his deal with Maverick.

"Of course, we'll get it done. That's why we're being trained," Hangman scoffs. "It's the getting back part you guys should worry about," He chuckles.

"'You guys'?" Bob repeats while leaning over to look at Hangman. He's glaring through his glasses, and you notice Rooster doing the same. Hangman is impossible to have a nice conversation with. He'll boost his ego the entire time. "Last time I checked, we're just as good as you."

"Did you never check?" Hangman retorts. This is enough to get Phoenix and Rooster standing. They take a few steps into the ocean to avoid the conversation. You're betting it's cold and refreshing.

You decide to join them and let your feet step into the wet sand. The water washes past your ankles, and you are right. It feels like heaven after sweating for hours.

You turn around to see Bob still sitting away from the shore. "Are you coming?" You ask. He stumbles over words you can't hear before standing. He cleans his glasses on his shirt, which only smudges them more.

He follows after everyone but stops next to you. Phoenix and Rooster have already entered the ocean. Hangman has decided to head back to the bar without a word. Maybe his confidence needs a drink to bring down.

"I bet we're all going to be burnt to shit tomorrow," You strike a conversation. You can feel your skin becoming irritated with the amount of sun you've gotten. "At least we'll have some good tan lines," You shrug.

"Oh, I already have those," Bob chuckles. You remember Phoenix saying he was from Leemore base. You've only seen him in uniform or wearing a t-shirt. So, you honestly can't tell if he does. "We would do drills in the heat. Now, they're just kinda there," He explains.

"I don't see any." He glances at you and realizes his tan lines aren't viable.

"Oh, uh, yeah," He mumbles. He reaches for the hem of his shorts and pulls down less than an inch. He's as white as a ghost under his shorts compared to above them. You're stuck staring at the different skin tones, only to realize you can see his stomach. Your mouth falls open at how toned he is.

You can see veins and abs as clear as day. The lack of sunlight doesn't do it justice. It's embarrassing how much saliva fills your mouth. You pry your eyes away and focus back on his face.

"I see it now," You confirm with a laugh. He shyly smiles and goes to fix his shorts. "I'll show you mine tomorrow as a trade,"

"I doubt it'll be anything like mine," He jokes. You want to tease him back, but you're stuck thinking about his body. You shouldn't be having flashes of his stomach, but here you are. It's all you can think of as you stand next to him. You never really thought of Bob that way, but now you are. Sure, he was handsome and sweet. You just never imagined he was so ripped.

Everyone in Top Gun has muscles because if you don't, what are you doing here? But, you could probably eat food off of Bob's abs.

"Everything ok? You're staring at Phoenix pretty hard," Bob waves a hand in front of your face. You're snapped out of your own mind and reminded that Bob is right next to you.

"Oh, yeah, I was just making sure she doesn't drown." You lie. It's a bad lie but it's enough for Bob.

"Then, I'll watch Rooster." He crosses his arms and makes a serious face. His eyes are trained on Rooster like a hawk. "Can't risk letting a chicken drown," He tries and fails at his own joke.

You find yourself laughing anyway. You don't understand why you're heart rate is elevated, because you've never felt this way around anyone in the squad. It hits you hard that you've possibly developed a crush on him. Somehow, your idiotic heart has decided now is a great time to cling to someone. Days before a mission that has so many factors that could go wrong.

"About what Phoenix said. Do you think the mission will go ok?" You look over at him. If you want comfort, Bob is the best place to go. He's more sensitive than everyone else. He's always there.

"Yeah, I have my trust in everyone here," He shrugs. He just shrugs as if that isn't an important answer. Yes, you trust anyone you go on a mission with. You have to to get shit done. Yet, he's saying it as if it's a default for him. "I trust you the most,"

"Me? Why?" You blurt out. You are not building a good case for yourself.

"I can predict your fly patterns the most. I don't pilot, but I can tell Phoenix what you'll do next." You can hear your brain grinding its gears and your heart pumping blood in your ears. You know he only meant that as a compliment, nothing more or less.

"I suppose that's a good thing," You respond. "If I had to choose who I'd fly with on this mission, it would be you and Phoenix."

"Oh, I'm glad Phoenix wasn't discarded," He laughs. "It would be horrible if I were in the back seat with no pilot."

"Oh, then I wouldn't trust you for the life of me," You snort.

You want to say more, but something in your chest says to let it simmer. You keep your mouth shut and your eyes on Phoenix and Rooster. They're both enjoying the water as the dark of night covers the sky. In a few minutes, the stars will come out and the moon will shine.

You're excited to walk back to base with just the moonlight. It'll give you more time with him.

[justnatoka]

Not so smooth anymore

Dwayne x GN! Reader

A/n: Here you go @poubelle-d-elle, here's a little something for awkward/shy Dwayne as I promised😊 Quick note: this is very silly.

Word count: 896

For the first time, Dwayne is not the smooth one in a conversation.

Dwayne was attractive, and he was very much aware of it. He had a nice physique, a handsome face and a pretty smile – it made hunting all the more easy, whether it was for dinner or a companion for the night.

He had game too. He wasn't so heavy-handed with the flirting like Paul, he was much more subtle. A compliment here, a charming look there, and girls and guys and anyone in between were ready to follow him to any secluded spot. Some of them lived to tell their friends in excited whispers about the best night of their lives. Some of them weren't so lucky.

Tonight, he was on the prowl again. It didn't take long to spot someone to his liking. They were a pretty thing with a nice figure and a cool style – or at least as far as he could tell from their back. They were casually leaning on the railing at the edge of the boardwalk, watching the people on the beach down below, occasionally taking sips from their milkshake.

Dwayne walked over with confident strides and joined them. At the movement to their right, they turned to him, and suddenly Dwayne froze.

They were the most attractive person he’s ever seen. Beautiful eyes shining bright under the colorful lights around them, with lips so perfect he wanted to kiss them silly right then and there, their face framed just right with locks of hair he desperately wanted to run his fingers through. And then the corners of their eyes crinkled, their lips turning into a stunning smile with just a hint of mischief.

Just like that, Dwayne was a goner.

“Hi,” you greeted him, and it took him a second to realize you said something; he was too engrossed in admiring you.

“Hey,” he replied just a moment too late not to make it sound awkward.

He noted with surprise that he was panicking. He was desperately looking for something to say, but it was like his brain just shut off. This has never happened before. He was quickly realizing that he was severely out of his depth here. In the end, all he managed was a “You come here often?”

You snorted, and he wanted to slap himself.

“You know, for a guy with your looks, you would think you have more game than that,” you teased, but there was no malice in your voice.

Did you just call him attractive? He had no idea, and he didn’t have time to dwell on it. Even though he messed this up right at the beginning, you were still here, still smiling and talking to him. He took that as a good sign.

“I don’t.”

He stared at you blankly, clearly lost. Your amused smile turned just a bit wider.

“The answer to your question. I don’t come here often. Just moved here in fact.”

Oh, so that’s what you meant. He felt himself becoming more and more flustered.

“Maybe you could show me around sometime.”

Now he understood what it felt like to fall under someone’s charm in just a few seconds. He couldn’t believe his luck. He was fumbling this so hard and you still wanted to meet him again?

He flashed you a smile and tried not to sound too eager as he replied, “Sure, I would like that.”

You fished out a pen from one of your pockets, took one of his hands in yours and started scrawling on the back of it. He had a hard time concentrating on what you were doing, the feeling of your hand against his was sending sparks to his brain.

The moment was over all too soon, and you were already drawing back. Then, with a playful smile and a “Call me”, you were gone, swallowed by the crowd like a beautiful apparition. The whole interaction lasted for only a few minutes. For a second, he couldn’t be sure it even happened, that he didn’t just make you up in his head. But as he finally looked down at his hand, there was your number, and more importantly, your name. He caught himself whispering it out loud, liking the way it sounded on his tongue.

Oh, he was so in love.

Extra:

When he came back to the boys empty handed, a dopey grin on his face, they instantly knew something was going on. David and Paul shared an incredulous look, not used to seeing their friend so out of it. But Marko was all too happy to supply the answers.

“Sure, I would like that. What’s wrong with you, dude? You sounded like a teenage girl with a crush,” he cackled, and Dwayne realized, mortified, that he had witnessed at least part of their interaction.

“What’s up, big man? Someone got you whipped?” Paul joined the teasing.

“Oh he’s whipped alright. You should have seen it, man. All it took was a pretty face and he clammed up so hard. It was kind if pathetic,” Marko added. He still giggled like the little gremlin he is as he dodged the punch throws his way.

At last, Dwayne felt David’s hand come down on his shoulder, and his friend turned to him with an understanding look.

“It’s okay,” he started. Finally some sympathy. “We’ll still like you. Even as a pathetic, lovesick loser.”

He seriously hated these guys sometimes.

Tags: @stinkydove @pandemoniavenus @000-colby @lunarwhitewolf7 @notalwaysa @binightowl @darlingnikkisixxxx @skrimblo-blumpkgo @wpdarlingpan @gibzzsworld @thelostboysforeva @vxncevis @thelostsimp @sireanmagne @acotar-lover @unwhollywater @fanofgunsnroses

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[niamhthefae]

just reread season 2 up to 120 and i have so many thougts (that people have probably already had but oh well).

just warning you: this will be a long post

willtressor: i feel so sorry for Will, not the him that kissed Monty but the other him. because the Will that died finally got the answer to the question he was too afraid to ask. He died having finally had the realization about everything he'd felt his entire life and why he was the way he was, and just the "that's 3 times. I've never seen you stick your neck out for anyone else" this is the bravest, the most confident, the most WILL we've seen him. He wasn't groveling, he was challenging Monty, he took charge of the situation. For the duration of the kiss, he reversed their roles. I am so proud of him. But this other Will didn't get that. this other Will has to continue on, being scared and thinking he's so inferior to everyone else. in life he was just one of fourteen kids and in death he still doesn't see himself as any more noticeable or important. This Will never got the resolution he needed and now he's going to probably be so confused and continue to feel forgotten and useless for a while (unless Monty does something)

speaking of Monty- oh my fucking god. At first i didn’t like him, and i still won’t completely excuse some of the things he said and did, but from the flashbacks and the past few chapters it's very evident that this is a severely traumatized man. he's fucked up. and we see that he really cares about Will. he can’t admit it or show it in any way that would be recognizable to anyone else but again, i quote "that's 3 times now, I've never seen you stick your neck out for anyone else" i think what we have to remember about him is that he is a deeply fucked up individual and he has probably had to learn how to defend himself mentally, emotionally and physically. this whole thing he does, i think it's because if he makes everyone hate him on purpose then the rejection is easer and he doesn't have to deal with anybody trying to get close, which is maybe why ada and will piss him off so much: no matter how hard he tries to get rid of them they kept coming back and clinging onto him and acting like he hung the fucking moon and stars (or at least Will does). I think the events of episode 120 will make him do one of two things: become better and treat will properly while being a little haunted. or become worse,more scared and build more (metaphorical) walls and only become meaner. (and i'm starting to think it will be the latter. he'll be scared and haunted and all for a few chapters and then he'll start being crueler to cover up his sexuality panic.

prospero -

Prospero- i'm gonna put away my biases for this one (i think he's really fit). First of all, i called the whole plague thing + OCD tendancies (my best friend has really bad ocd and she suspects i have very very mild ocd ESPECIALLY around germs and mould and bacteria so i know what it looks like) anyway onto the serious talking. Seing prospero get slurred and the way he interracts with his family tells us so much. I'm pretty sure we're in the eighteen tens here and many italian and spanish immigrants were not treated the best, especially because of the mass sickness at the time, which i imagine only worsened Prospero's problems with germs and being unclean. People calling him names and treating him as inferior and some people blaming the plague on the immigrants would probably have made him spiral a little. I am so annoyed at his cousin because they've presumably known each other for a while. We know that because this guy knows exactly how to mess with Prospero, so surely he knows that this has been a thing for a long time? Feeling the way that prospero does about cleanliness doesn't happen overnight and while we don't know about anything before this, we can assume that people in the community would know about it, especially if they are family. I also feel so bad for him because people don't seem to understand. They think he's digusted by them or that he wants to distance himself from them or that he doesn't love them, when in actual fact he just has something going on with him that makes it difficult for him to get close to anyone. Weather he's aroace or just can't get close to anyone or express his love because of whatever is going on with him, we don't know. Red and Flynn could take it in very interesting directions either way, or if there's some secret third thing i'm sure it will be fantastic.

[also, in another universe, prospero could have worked with carlise cullen while he was alive. Someone write the fic.]

Quickfire round (don't have as much rambling or analysis for these)

Duke- duke is hiding behind who he is on stage, he's the fearless fortunato and that means that he will keep being reckless and disregarding the safety of himself and others until he exhausts himself and girlbosses to close to the sun. Only then will he learn. I love him, don't get me wrong. I love this silly little french man, but he needs to stop being so cocky and showing off when they are literally about to die for a second time.

Ada- i feel so sorry for ada. For the majority of this fic i didn't like her, but all she ever really wanted in life and in death was to be loved, and damn can i relate to that. She deserved better. She was annoying and bitchy and kind of a pick me but she deserved better. She was like that because she had to be. Do you think she saw the nurse's outfit and was hit with a strande deja vu? Because it was so similar to her maid's uniform. Ada clings onto anyone she can because all she wants is to be loved, but she'll never get the love she craves. She wants to be cinderella, but she won't marry a prince, she didn't even make it out of the cellar.

Pluto: this guy is really just the human embodiment of a cat isn't he? As a manchester girly i love the lancashire representation with this guy, i've been to blackpool like 10 times for various occasions throughout my life. I think it's a tie between him and Will for my favorite character. (also i can't decide if he is just really gender or really fit)

Unrelated but does anybody know the age range? Like are they adults or teenagers? Because with some of them like pluto and morella and maybe Will and eulalie it seems like they're at least 17 but no older than 19. but with some of the others they're very clearly in their early 20s, like Montressor,duke, prospero and Ada are all deffo above the age of 20, as are our main ladies. That's just my perspective though

Anyway's theres a whole recap of my current Nevermore thoughts. So far in order of obsession my ships are Willtressor Lenore and anabell (idk ship name) And i'm gonna be honest i don’t really ship plukalie but i can't remember any other ships.

Quick theory time: what if the reason Lenore hasn't manifested yet isn't the curse or something. The deans said they would manifest when they felt what they felt when they died. What if when she died, for that split second, lenore felt loved, or content. What if the reason why it hasn't happened is because in order for her to manifest she would need to be happy and feel safe. I don't think she's really properly felt any of those things for more than a short while durning her time at nevermore. Never long enough or completely enough anyway, because for either of those things to be fulfilled she would need annabel, and there is no other way for her to feel what she felt when she died.

(btw please bear in mind i started writing this whole post at 11:35 last night and i have exams so my brain is not braining i should be REVISING not thinking about GAY PEOPLE god damn it)

[qoldenskies]

I love the choice to make the wwww twins privileged rich kids, if that's what ur going for. I don't see a take like that on Draxum kids much!

to an extent yeah!! it's something i mostly plan to play for jokes mostly to contrast with raph and mikey's more rough-and-tumble lifestyle, especially since both of them didn't have a donnie to build them new clean beds and heating during the winter and a kitchen to preserve food. there's a bit of a culture clash, especially when the twins end up living with splinter full-time. it gets better because donnie's there to renovate, but still. it's quite the change of pace because they never had to worry before.

although draxum is a bit of a recluse, so they werent very social rich people, especially when they were younger. it was more like the disneyesque trope of growing up in a big lonely castle with no real outside friends, which is why both of them are also relatively maladjusted. they'd come along when draxum had to run errands or go to important meetings, but they were usually instructed to stick close to him, and they mostly listened.

the only outside connection they really had is big mama, because she fell in love with them the moment she saw them. they call her auntie. she spoils them rotten. i think she would be a terrible actual mom but she's pretty good as a distant wine aunt LMAO. but even then she's a lot closer to leo than she is to donnie, because he's always been the more assertive and socially confident one. he's learned a lot from her!

their lives weren't picture-perfect-- draxum was not always the best parent. he's fought with leo pretty much ever since he started his trademark snark, he went from micromanaging their lives down to the minute to kind of letting them do whatever they want, he's never encouraged them to socialize and his expectations are high and very daunting. the gargoyles (who are stupid, god bless) were mostly in charge of dealing with their fights and emotional problems, and they weren't very good at it. emotionally the twins kind of raised themselves and each other.

but there was never, ever any stress about the future, outside of the whole weapons of war thing. donnie from the beginning has limitless resources to build with. they both are intense about clothes shopping and maintaining personal hygiene and they're both pretty germaphobic. they've mostly seen combat as something more sports-like than something for survival, at least now, and even then donnie thinks its kind of asinine and disgusting. they're both picky as fuck and they're going to struggle to understand a lot of raph and mikey's issues, initially, especially because they're both more food insecure than they are in canon. a lot more self-restrictive about resources and both a lot more hard-working.

you can honestly see the difference best in the way mikey and donnie operate in their environments. donnie's a rich, privileged baby of the family who got into tech with no feelings of obligation to drive it, while also dealing with a pretty unstable family dynamic with draxum and leo, while mikey's grown up in an environment that's less emotionally tumultuous and noticeably tighter-knit than canon (raph and splinter are very diplomatic with each other, and things are very amicable outside of some surfacing issues with raph being overprotective) but resources have to be carefully preserved and he's learned from the start to be more cautious. their respective issues also factor into their conflicts with their older brothers. it's complicated yo.

[syndrossi]

I enjoyed that little moment in the newest chapter where Jon remembers his mother -- Elys, that is. It was very bittersweet for him to get a glimpse of a memory of that. Any chance we can see a POV (AU or otherwise) from her one day?

Mind, I also still want, at some point:

- Rhaella and Jon bonding

- Alysanne and Aemon's sons

- Alysanne and Baelon's grandsons

- Catelyn meeting Ned's sons (hahaha Ned's sons)

And I could never way no to more Rhaenyra, Laena, or Rhea bonding moments with the boys! There are so many lovely mom (and grandmother) (and, uh, whatever Catelyn would be to them) moments to be had!

This chapter also made me again want to see what would have happened if Volantis HAD managed to kidnap Jon and Rhaegar. Which again makes me want that AU with baby Viserys... oh, the angst! Even if they're too late to stop the war, at least they can come rescue little Aegon and Jaehaera from their horribly depressing fates.... Or a happier version where they escape early enough to stop the coup and/or prevent Luke from being eaten by Vhaegar. What would Volantis do with teenage Jon and Rhaegar, both of whom they've raised and think will be loyal to their interests? Would they send them out to burn their enemies? Threaten Westeros or Pentos or Braavos? WHAT'S THEIR ULTIMATE GOAL???

Ugh, Resonant takes up so much of my brain power. 😅

I feel like I'm so cruel to Jon. The one female figure he can wholeheartedly believe might truly love him because he's hers, she birthed him, and I take her from him not once (Elys) but twice (Rhea), and that's not even counting Lyanna! He has so much baggage to overcome with the specific "woman who married my father but has children of her own" mold. 😭

An Elys POV would definitely be sweet and bittersweet because she loved those babies, nothing complicated about it. (Guh, and naturally, I'm already thinking of one of those Redfort brother / Ser Willam AUs where they're taking the 2-year-old orphan toddlers to the Gates of the Moon and the dye fails and Daemon comes swooping in at some point and they're wailing ceaselessly for their mama, they don't want this strange frightening man who is so angry with everyone.)

You and Alysanne BOTH want those POVs. 😂 And eeeep the Cat POV in Restoration, have mercy. (Rhaella bonding with Jon would be incredibly sweet, I know it, with Rhaegar subtly trying to help things along.)

...I totally missed a ficlet opportunity with Mother's Day now past, I suppose.

Which kidnapping attempt, though? The Jephyro one? The Wildfire gambit? Or this most recent one? (Daemon screams internally.)

The "successful kidnapping" AU definitely gets most interesting if Volantis had them for a few years, timeline-wise, before Jon and Rhaegar's memories wake. Because how much success did they have with the Redfort brothers? How confident are they?

If we're talking Volantis's goals, it likely depends on when the kidnapping is! If it's Resonant-adjacent, they probably want to go after the weakened Triarchy, for starters. Reclaim the Disputed Lands, drum up that tiger support amongst the masses, and then move on to the Triarchy cities themselves. Granted, that's a lot to put on two teenaged dragonriders, but if their dragons are behemoths, what can the Iron Throne do? Risk their own dragons? (If we're talking Perzōñys's goals, that's a separate thing entirely and has to be ignored for the sake of discussing this AU.)

If it's Dance-era, then taking out the weakened Targaryen dynasty may make the most sense. Grab as many hatchlings, dragon eggs, and kids as you can from the wreckage (Viserys, Aegon, Jaehaera, etc) and ensure the Iron Throne has nothing left, dragonrider or dragon. That's super ambitious, though, given the distance between Volantis and Westeros, so they'd probably have to do a little Disputed Lands conquering beforehand here as well.

It does all seem to start with the Disputed Lands, I suppose!

Volantis does then have the more longterm problem of keeping its dragonriders under control. Why should a dragonrider take orders from mere men, after all? How do you keep them from seizing power themselves and establishing control over Volantis? The Iron Throne works because House Targaryen is already in power, and the Dance is a prime example of what happens when a faction decides it wants the throne instead. Is it better to maintain just a small corps of dragonriders that you have leverage over?

Wiser Free Cities might just discard/kill their dragons and dragonriders when it's over, but Volantis really does see itself as Valyria's successor. Perhaps they go for the other extreme and try to rapidly expand how many dragons and riders they have. Which, as we know, is not easy to do due to weird dragon hatching mechanics.

[vsyrworld]

so, who favours who? | reaction fic to imola gp | hurt/comfort | not beta read. charlos estabelish realitionship | sorry williams

carlos should'nt do this-- prickling his nails during post race debrief. all the team words passed like a whirl wind. his mind is not empty, its actually full of gear working too hard and it suddenly burst into exhaustment at the moment the oil isnt lubricate for him. alex said bla bla, james looking at him questionebly. he is been silent for 90% of time since the debrief started, does he care? no he doesn't. this is a kind of feeling when you had so much to say but none of them is nice.he already talked alot to media, nice , optimist thing, and now he runs out them. as soon as he sat at the chair, the teams start evaluating the strategy, he suddenly become outsider.

this is not first time as soloist. him vs the team, vs the golden boy. the double u logo illmuniating on top of alex head, it glows a blue hue as the LED is beaming slowly, make it alex looks like he belongs there. alex has always. this williams blue blended to ferrari red real quick. different team, same scheme. who works more who favours who, ah kind of favorite child. in momentarly carlos raised his eyebrows at his own thought.

and it create a subtle reaction from james.

"carlos? do you want to say something? it is important for us to know both of driver perspective, please" his voice calm and collected but carlos snorts at himself how facade that words coming from the principle mouth.

fucking british fallacy and all their deceitful commitments. no, carlos doesnt want to be rude. he analyze the team decision pretty logically- about what if, about probability, about experiment that they choose to do at him while he is the one who put car on position, bring the massive upgrade and teach them winning mindset. he believes them because the team is receiving all in all yet he did get nothing.

he doesnt want to throw tantrums about why his hardwork was paid for other driver, not him. but part of him wants to break the silence, screams at them how false james supports sounds. how he constantly lose his confidence at this team. how he hates that can't control the team decision.

its like dejavu. alex - williams to charles - ferrari. the different is ferrari is charles and vice versa, neverless carlos never feel an outsider. maybe because ferrari is stupid enough to ruin he and charles races. or maybe the amount of tifosi loves he still receive until now. and maybe its also charles who makes him bleed red together, give it his all with everything he took from carlos.

at least, ferrari is clowning themself. they don't act kind and praises him like superhero while on his back turning their head aloof. they don't make public statement of how carlos' hardworks is bringing hope for the win while his hardwork is used by the team for someone else. rats. fucking thieves like rats.

"Carlos?" james voice' irritated him. he stays silent because he can. carlos can be a bigboy, can handle thing with such a grace.

"are you listening to us?"

Listening? Of course i am. I listen to every empty promises you just said. what now? does my opinion matters for my advantages? win and lose together more like you guys win alone. no hard feelngs toward alex.

james sighed as his silent treatment. good, he is going to keep them stucked in this suffocatinf room for another ten minutes. "we are already sorry. please tell us how to make it better for next sundays"

already sorry... for being experiment mouse, right? he wonders what james is thinking now, well, and others mechanic. they dreams of pizza and good carbonara maybe. some of them already agitated, eyes darts toward the clock, hand rubbing across their faces. he chuckled again.

five more minutes. "i already said that my point is where you guys build a failing strategy without me knowing-"

"we didn't expect that would be an advantage, carlos. we had to do it to raise the probability-"

"by put me as sacrificial lamb?" carlos cuts james the way james cuts him too. it successfuly, create a tired sigh from all the team. great respons.

"we're just talking in circles..."

"si, there is no point for myself to talk if you are being defensive." two more minute, carlos silenty glancing his phone. "i'm not saying it's a bad strategy. just called it a pure bad luck" his feet shaking when a minute pass but he had to say one more word before he flew away from this drama.

"and i think this race makes me understand the team better" he smiles at everybody to the room. yes yes he understand, williams is ferrari in disguise.

james and alex shared a quick glance, "we glad to hear that", his tone mixed with a reliefed and unfinish question. carlos just let the elephant stands at the corner. next sunday he knew what charachter he needs to play along.

the clock switched to 16.00 on his phone and a new message pop out,

'i'm already here'

'it suffocating here, gigi already threat me for giving him a free tube of lec vanilla flavour'

carlos drags his chair out from the tables, "see you next week guys"

he left the room first. not letting james reached him for another pep talk.

james indeed follows him to his changing room. but gigi, oh well his saviour man in armor, drags his team principle away so he doesn't see, the moment carlos open his door, the monegasque is waiting for him.

james peaks just a fringe point view from the door when it finally close. charles chuckled at the scene,

"didn't knew your team principle is that obssesed with you. maybe more than me." he smiled sheepishly.

carlos rolled his eyes, "how many ice cream did you promise to give gigi, hm?" he sits on the table, while charles is occupied whole of his bed. "pretty intruder. "

"hey!" charles sit up abruptly, "it is easier for you to come to ferrari rather than having me here." he snorts, lips quirked down. things always get the same when charles is annoyed. carlos himself is pleased.

"how many times i said you are always welcome. you are just overthinking it." charles grunted at him.

deep down, carlos was scared to go at ferrari homeland. to see his number replace by lewis is still stinging his heart. but this weekend proves it was nothing, the tifosi cheers him the way charles always conviced him again and again. they recognize his hardwork at quali and still cheering him on despite he wore blue. yes sometimes it still hurts but the way williams did this to him was at another level.

"yeah, it is" he gulped the infused water charles gave him. they sat in silence, letting the adrenaline vanished. it was charles who break the silence by walking toward carlos then throwing his own body to him.

"ooff--" carlos grabs both of charles arms as charles put all his body weight on him like a deadlog.

"i didn't came here to get a silent treatment from you. we are not even racing each other!" charles whined at his juncture of neck. his protest enlighted something in carlos' heart.

"really, you and your competitive ass." soon he is cradling charles with all of his arms. charles purrs like cat as soon as he felt himselr relaxed in hug.

he rocked their body side to side, while his fingers trails to charles head slowly. he plays with the brunnete hair, twirling it softly and his other hand circling on charles' snatched waist perfectly like home.

carlos sighed to himself. yes, tifosi and italy feels like a second home.

"you are way too graceful on the radio" carlos can feel charles snuggles more into his neck, making him ticklish a little bit.

"what else i'm supposed to say?" he asked him, "does it matters if i sounds angry?"

"it did!" charles then looks up at him, "you did angry to me, when the team favours me. what's the difference?"

carlos locks his gaze with charles. his hand stop brushing the hair suddenly. that is a very good question, carlos must say. of four year carlos lives with ferrari golden boy and he is being honest every little detail about it. why he is fighting so much at something inevitable?

"maybe..." he tried to find a word, "maybe because i can fight that. that- i mean, i can fight you. to race me, to ignore team order. because you did it too, you forced me, fight me."

charles blinks at him, demands more answer.

"but this is" carlos licked base of his own lips, "i can't fight them. one versus whole team. my opinion is matter, yes it is. but for them, not for me."

the realization sinked in slowly and he felt how pitying that statement was. charles break the gaze and pulled carlos' neck to rest against chest,

"fair enough," he is mumbling another italian against carlos' nape. "fred is being a bitch, right now" he pats carlos' back.

it takes turns. always take turn to comfort each other between them. carlos put both his palm on charles waist. massaging them like a dog scenting its owner. he is rubbing charles' skin to calm himself, to resent a building tears that threatening to spill from his eyes.

"you can cry on me." charles speaks in italian.

gosh it feels so long they hadn't speak in italian in private. he didn't knew it would create something at his heart. it feels meaningful. like he is longing something he left behind. he feels homecoming. charles and italy, charles and ferrari, and tifosi, vice versa.

"non" carlos shutted his eyes and it ignite another crushful hug from charles.

"ay, cabron-" charles fake spanish accent mocking him, "you had see me ugly in early season and now is your turn"

carlos doesn't say anything instead of burrying his face on charles' neck, holding him so close that almost shielding him from outside world. carlos likes to make him smaller when his feelings is out of control. because charles is here and he is care for him. he sniffed through out his stuffy nose. even though he can still scent charles' fresh showered soap. his finger tracing charles' back slowly, mapping each point he had forgotten.

"next week monaco" his voice is hoarse against charles' skin.

charles replies it with a hum, he can feel it vibrating through his sternum. "and the next next week is spain." charles holds his kind of hopeless laughter.

they knew they will bring dissapointment more than their optimist side. and charles for god sake, having his monaco race at this car condition was not somethinf carlos bear to witness the dissapointment. not when both of them tasted the victory last year. is like rubbing salt over the open wound.

carlos raised his face to meet charles' cheek and plant a soft kiss there. then trailing more down to his neck.

"it's okay" he readjusting the way he sit while charles is standing infront of him. the table is too small for carlos to let charles sit on his lap. so carlos slowly stand up face to face with hand still tangled on charles' waist. "it's okay, it will be okay. we will be okay." he whispered in italian.

"no, we are not. it's a fucking mess" charles speaks in italian can penetrate the emotion deeply than english. carlos can feel charles is shaking on his arms. the monegasque closed his eyes tightly. carlos heart wrenched at the sight. he brought both of his hand to cradle charles face softly.

charles finally look at him with teary eyes, "it's a mess and i fucking missing you everytime and it is hard, carlos. no matter how much i want to deny it and pretend everything is okay. it is not."

"yes, yes, i know" he brings their forehead together, "who the fuck was saying next year it will be easy when we on different team?"

"it's you, you idiot" charles snort at his accusation.

carlos grins at realization, "yeah that was me. the always want to be an optimist man." he dropped his head to charles' shoulder.

they laughed together in each other arms. yes, each weekend is spiraling down worse than he expected. but in imola, he realized he still has home. who waits and welcome him after a long journey he wander about at different island.

he is still their el matador, no matter what. for now, it is enough.

[regaliasonata]

Netflix n’ Chill

Summary: John decides he wants to actually have a relationship with Bob more than sex, taking baby steps with a home movie date with a little bit of surprises awaiting him

Pairing: Robert "Bob" Reynolds/Sentry x John Walker, Robert "Bob" Reynolds/Sentry x Yelena Belova (Mentioned)

Tags/Warning: Some minor 18+ stuff(MDNI), Fluff, Bob Reynolds being cute, John Walker is in love, Praise, First Date, Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationships, Boblena Mention, Movie Night

Words: 2344

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65690818

"Woah." Bob's eyes lit up with excitement, he nearly jumped out of his seat at the sight.

"Heh." John chuckled. The two were alone for the evening, as everyone else had insisted on spending the next four days on a mission. Fortunately, Valentina didn't need to bring their powerhouse on the road. Still, even she didn't need the concerns of the other Avengers to know it'd be irresponsible to leave Bob alone.

...Avoiding another incident with Void and Sentry would be preferred; luckily, Walker had volunteered to step in.

Much encouraged by Bob. Not like it was the first time they'd had time to unwind with each other, but it definitely was the first occasion of a sort of "date."

Home movie nights would suffice for now until John could muster up enough confidence in Bob to go out together—baby steps.

"You think they're going to survive?" Hummed Bob, snuggling closer to John.

"She's got magical hair, I'm sure it's nothing serious." Tangled, he wasn't a Disney fanatic, but Bob insisted it looked good when they were browsing through the film section of Target...maybe they should've had Yelena choose for them.

"But what if it gets muddied and crumpled up, or sun damage dries it out.... might even get tangled up on the way to the city..." Concerned groans were heard as John draped his arm over Bob, dragging him into a hug.

"They're not gonna die; it's a freaking musical, of all things." John sighed, adjusting himself in shock when Bob opted to sit on his lap. The fuzzy material of his sweater brushed past John's skin as his arms extended out like a koala.

"H-Hey, what are y-"

"Yelena does this when we watch movies...I-I thought it'd be okay for me to do the same with you." God, those eyes...John blushed at the sight as Bob glanced at him in worry; anything for this precious man, he thought.

"No prob, Bob.” He breathed in and continued to watch the film. However, it was more of John finding himself getting distracted slowly by Bob's mannerisms. The joy in his laughter, the winces of uncertainty when Mother Gothel appeared, and the way his eyes lit up in immersion from the boat scene.

And with that, John quickly realized something.

He was falling in love...goddammit, he loved this man.

"Erm." John groaned, which caught Bob's attention fast, but he patted his back in reassurance.

"Nothing, just keep watching, alright?" He spread an array of strokes along Bob's hair, even kissing the side of his cheek to crack a smile out of the fellow avenger.

"Okay..." Bob hummed, he adjusted delicately along John's lap, and his eyes glued themselves to the film once again. As for John, well...the realization of his feelings had come with another slight discovery.

With every startling scene sending Bob out of place, he had to fix himself little by little until he found the right spot with John. However, the other avenger could feel a tinge of unwanted excitement spiraling beneath Bob....after all, his ass kept brushing up against it.

...This is not what he was seeking on their first "date," or at least not the impression he wanted to leave on Bob; he sucked in his breath and proceeded to wrap his arm around Bob's waist, cradling him even more.

Just 10 more minutes, right?

Enough for cover and erection till a bathroom break, John bit his tongue momentarily as he tried to drift off in thought. Anything to stifle his issue. Thanos naked? Gross...His arm is being snapped as Captain America, yeesh, keep the images coming. He smirked at the progress and felt the blood simmering down in his lower regions.

"Perfect." He declared silently in his mind, until...

"Do you think I'd like...well, cute with some flowers in my hair?" Bob's question snapped John out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" He shook his head in confusion, though now with the question fresh in his head, a few more images flashed around through John's mind.

One with Bob sitting in a field, the morning sky allowed the irises to really shimmer through his curls. The second image, to his dismay, involved Void and Sentry, who helped a cutely eager Bob collect a series of flowers for a bouquet...almost as if John could smell them from here.

The third, which was way more naughty and shameful...pleading and loving moans escaping a flustered Bob, tearing up from being railed mercilessly as he was under John.

”John, Please~!”

Crap, the rush of blood and heat had poured its way back into John's cock effortlessly.

"Dammit..." He cursed a little louder than usual, startling Bob.

"S-Sorry, just, you wanna watch another movie after this?" John breathed in and out. His pants did well to conceal himself, but if Bob slithered his way a little to the right, then he'd be greeted by the intrusion...something the US Agent wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Are you alright, John?" Bob pouted; he knew something was up.

"Never better, j-just thinking of what to order after this, you like pizza? What the hell am I asking that for? Everyone likes pizza...Shawarma Palace is open 24/7, how abo-"

"We can stop watching the movie, I-I know this isn't the type of thing you prefer when spending time with me..." Bob smiled weakly, though John knew better; the self-doubt on his face was practically oozing out. That smile couldn't fool him.

It was already enough trying to plan this whole thing; hell, even Bob found himself confused about the aspect of John wanting to date him. When they spend time together, it's usually to feed off one another for comfort...exploring each other's bodies when the others weren't looking.

But John wanted more; this wasn't just a sex thing; hell, after last year, they're practically closer now. He wanted to be there for Bob, holding him closely when he cried, stroking his hair when he laughed...even trying to quell both Sentry and Void when needed. He wanted to be his boyfriend.

Yet here John was, ruining what he had in mind because he couldn't control himself.

"Nononononononono, wait," John sat upward, reaching his arm up to pat Bob on the back, he sighed. "I'm alright, no doubt in my mind about this evening."

"But you're acting weird..." Bob rested his head on John's shoulder.

"It's just the nerves, I don't want to mess anything up. Look, I really like you, Bob; I just wanted to see if we could bring this whole thing we're doing to another level." John leaned in and cupped Bob's chin, gazing into his eyes lovingly.

"I mean it; I know I'm a bit of a wreck, but...I love you alright, no bullshit, I mean it." All these words...They soothed Bob, like music to his ears. He couldn't believe what John was telling him; it was amazing, to say the least.

He leaped over and hugged John, sniffling cries erupted quietly as Bob continued to hold John within his grasp. John himself was overjoyed at this, a little giddy at the thought of Bob being on board, and while he was content with it, he had to admit it: his fellow avenger had a tight grip...this hug was going to choke the air out of him.

"Alright, alright, that's a little much." John chuckled, patting Bob on his back.

"Sorry!" Bob blushed as he let him go, but then took John by surprise yet again as he went in for a kiss. They stayed like this for five minutes, embracing each other despite the movie still playing in the background.

Bob's hips rocked instinctively against John's as he wrapped his arms behind his neck, allowing John himself to do the same, but with hands gently squeezing Bob's waist.

"Mmmwait." John broke up for a second; he was getting excited again...not that that was a bad thing, just not his intention at the moment; this was a date, after all.

"Yeah?" Bob blinked.

"I kinda need to use the restroom..." John lied humorously, Bob stared him in the eyes with a curious look. He hated lying to him, but this was a really awkward situation to be in.

"Is the movie that bad?" Bob tilted his head, and he adjusted himself yet again on John's lap, receiving a yearning-filled groan in return from his lover.

"No, it's..hrgnn!" And that's when he noticed, Bob came in contact with John's clothed erection by accident. His eyes widened as John tried to hide his face in shame.

"Fuck..." John cursed himself.

"Is that why you were acting all weird?" Bob blushed, feeling the pressure of John pressing against his ass gently, not the first time such as occurred, but just recalling the slightest memory of their activities together shaded his face completely pink.

"Yeah, just ignore it." John shook his head.

"But it's right there." Bob slightly turned his head and peeked around at it.

"Can you blame me? You're the one who can't sit straight, freaking tease." Not to mention how cute he is, Bob's like poison to him...but the good kind, the gentle and addictive kind.

"I'm sorry."

"No worries, I'll just sit like this until Rapunzel kisses that man, Flynn’s quite the looker." John cracked a smile.

Though that option wasn't flying with Bob, he sneaked a few glances in John's direction as he turned his head to watch the rest of the movie. Distracted...perfect, plus his arms were still wrapped around John’s neck and out of sight of his vision.

He smirked at the plan brewing in his thoughts. With a quick gesture from his hands, Bob's telekinesis lit up, and both the pants and boxers the two wore were ripped off their bodies, allowing John's cock to spring from as the clothing was carefully pieced back together on the side of the couch.

"Hey, what's this?" John blurted out, but was caught off guard as Bob closely leaned in. Sensing the situation at hand, John decided to give in to Bob's invitation and wrapped his arms around the man's back.

"J-Just me giving back is all." Bob chuckled. John couldn't help it. How could anyone say no to such a sweet smile? He gasped when the telekinesis kicked in again, this time aligning his cock near Bob's hole.

"Yelena did this a few times when we watched movies together...Though I guess I'm in her position now with you." A flush of red covered the entirety of Bob's face as those vivid images of Yelena raced through his head. The praise and compliments she gave him, the head-pats and reassurance. He yelped at the same time when lowering himself onto John.

"Remind me to tell her thank you." John gasped, reaching his hand through Bob's hair to hold him closer.

"You know," He turned over to pause the movie with the remote, "I think you're right."

"About what?" Bob snuggled in closer.

"Getting you flowers for your hair." With a quick swoop, John had plopped Bob onto the cushions of the couch, keeping the other man under him like in those images he daydreamed of.

"Think you’d look great with them, prettier than Rapunzel, sweetheart~"

"J-John!" Bob beamed from the compliment.

The two of them shared a passionate kiss, the tower for the next two hours had been occupied by their intimacy, giving them all the time to really immerse themselves with one another, and the noise complaints being abysmal from the lack of the other Avengers.

———Epilogue———

Ratatouille started up in the background. John had ordered quite a few options. Shawarma wraps, a box of pepperoni pizza, and two rolls of cheesesteaks…superhero metabolism for both him and Bob sucked.

But it was worth it…tasted amazing, they moved to Bob’s room when the food came in and started up the film. They were still naked from the activities before, so John had covered himself with the duvet while Bob was wrapped in a cloak of layered blankets like a cinnamon roll.

"Do you think they have rats cooking at restaurants in New York?" Bob questioned as he bit into his pizza.

"A health hazard, but to be honest, I wouldn’t doubt it, have you seen the size of the rats here!" John sounded exasperated as he remembered one of their recent missions…which involved arresting one of their enemies who was training dog-sized rats in the subway.

Yeesh…

"Nothing the Avengers can’t take right?" Bob smiled, John chucked in agreement, pulling him into a hug.

"Hey, question?" John asked.

"Yeah?" Bob continued to watch the movie.

"So, just wondering about your powers and all…can Void eat food? Like, if he came out, would he be able to eat anything?" John asked slowly, trying not to set off Bob the best he could.

"I don’t know…good question though." Hell, he even got Bob pondering with curiosity, too.

"I mean, he does speak, but does he have a mouth to eat at all" John turned away for a second and rolled his eyes at the thought, until…

"Wanna find out?" The chilling tone erupted through the room as the familiar figure of shadows sat on the edge of the bed next to John. Bob continued to watch the movie without interruption.

"AHHH!" John screamed, falling clean off the bed with his pizza slice splattering on the wall.

"Hmph!" Void scoffed, looking down over the bed at a delirious John.

Bob scooted over to their side of the bed, breaking off a piece of his pizza crust to place where he assumed Void’s mouth would be. The crust fell from Void’s face and rolled onto his lap before disintegrating. A puff of clouds imitating a burp escaped Void’s face soon after.

"Hm, guess so, hear that John! He can eat…weirdo." Bob cringed as he glared at his alter ego before it faded away into his being.

"Point taken." John groaned.

[thethreefaes]

She had to smile at that. ‘All apart of being human’ alright. Lyra was glad he kept her hand. It was comforting in a way she hadn’t realized she needed.

“Pot and Kettle, yes?” She teased. They knew each other too well. They were more like siblings that grew up together, than ones that only became family a few years ago. Another laugh as he mentioned his restlessness. Her eyes catching sight of flowers behind them. It was cute. He must be thinking of something good.

“I can imagine. Usually after a wing manifestation you sit with your family as they preen your wings. Then you do some stretches to make sure everything feels good. Then off for your first flight.” A dreamy look fell over her eyes as she remembered her first flight. Her mother gliding just under her if she fell. Her happy memory disappearing at Hiccup’s question. Her appearance morphing back to the calm indifferent look.

“I’m not sure. I mean, he’s been accepting of my human side since we started courting. Actually even before then. He was curious about me living like a human. Never bothered by it. Though… I can’t imagine his court being too thrilled with him being with a full human now.” Her noses wrinkled. The Fire Opal was a strong clan lead by a strong fae family. And while there hadn’t been a single fae that spoke against her being with Ash… she at least had something to contribute to the court. Now?

“I don’t… I don’t think he’d see me differently. Just like Astrid won’t see you differently. They love us. But… well.” The circle was coming into view. The lovely blue and purple flowers marking its border. She couldn’t sense it but knew it was there.

“Well… earlier you said the púca would have to deal with the four of us. But it’s more like the three of you. I won’t be much help like this.” Stepping through the circle felt… warm. That was it. No humming of the magic in the air. No brush of the magic across her skin welcoming her back. Just warmth. Still she smiled and found her favorite spot. Flopping down into the tall grass and wild flowers.

“For now, I don’t see any reason to worry. This is an amazing chance for both of us! Experiencing new sensations. I touched iron and didn’t get hurt! You now have the chance to fly and move without your aches.” Now she really did giggle happily.

“Speaking of! Come on! Let’s see them! Stretch out your wings and show them off.” While Lyra had never been vain or overly confident in her wings, she adored other fae’s wings. Giving them praise so they knew how great their wings were.

@dragonmasterhiccup

Púca mischief and magic switch (closed starter)

The house was coming along great. Ash balanced on the roof as he laid the boards. His brothers were around him helping with the building’s exterior. Ash had chosen a piece of land more towards the outside of the Viking village but an easy walk to the chief’s hut. And a much easy walk for the people to get to Lyra than Gothi’s hut. Ash’s chest warmed at the thought. Lyra would be the main village healer one day. A high honor.

“Hey! Stop day dreaming lover boy.” His eldest brother, Talon, nudged him. With an eye roll he got back to work. His other two brothers, Finn and Rhys, had returned through his circle carrying carpets and more wood for the roof. Soon they’d be able to work on the inside.

“Hey! Dad needs all of us back for a meeting! That means you too, Ashy! We’ll come back after.” That… was annoying. But fae councils were serious if all the court was needed. The two hopped off the roof with help from their magic.

Little did they know that a púca had snuck its way through the open circle. Taking the form of a wolf at first it snuck into the forest. Watching the faes work. The creature waited for the perfect time to cause trouble. As the brothers left through the circle they closed it. The púca changed shape again. A black cat with gold eyes stalked into the village. The feline making its way towards the next grouping of magic.

Lyra and Hiccup came into view. Looks like the two had been heading towards the new home. The púca could feel the power surrounding her. With a purr the cat rubbed up against her leg, causing her to stop.

“Aw, look at you! You’re so pretty.” Lyra picked the cat up and cradled it in her arms.

“Do you know who he belongs to, Hiccup? I don’t think I’ve seen this one around before.” She turned so her brother could pet the cat too. But as soon as Hiccup’s hand made contact with the sleek fur both he and Lyra were struck with pain like being struck by lightning. Lyra fell to her knees as the waves of electric shock went through her limbs. The cat jumping away and shifting into a more goblin like form. It cackled at the two in pain before running off.

As the agony faded away, Lyra found herself shaking. Her body felt heavy and tired and… sore? She blinked in confusion. The earth was oddly silent too. She… she couldn’t sense the magic around her anymore! Wait.. Hiccup! Hiccup was hurt too!

“Hiccup? Are you okay?” She’d worry about herself after. That… thing had zapped her brother.

[ar-mage-ddon]

there was never any other way this could've gone

( EPHEMERWEEK 6: prophecy )

[neiviele]

To the last one the answer is definitely no. We are confident that we would still be plural if we hadn't gone through trauma. There are some innate parts of our lived experience that existed even before the trauma that lend themselves to that and are still present in each alters individual experience.

Okay, so the original question you posed was, "if you were to draw a definitive line to differentiate endogenics and traumagenics that is true 100% of the time what would it be? Would those in the grey area fit on the correct side of this line?" and by my own and the criteria I linked in my first post, you'd be on the endogenic side of the line simply because you said you'd still be plural if you hadn't gone through trauma. (I'm not determining your origins for you, just saying that if the line has to be drawn and mixed origin, foggy origin and quoigenic systems are pushed to one end or another, by the question you posed to me you'd be pushed to the endogenic side.) Most CDD systems (at least from what I've seen) wouldn't go through their trauma again, and also don't believe they would be plural if they hadn't gone through trauma. Which is something that seems to divide the two.

Now to your first point... I know multiple systems with trauma formed alters that formed exactly like that including ours. That is not an abnormal experience for traumagenics. I'm confused what point you are trying to make with that.

I'm not referring to formation, as nothing formed during that event. I'm referring to what could be seen as a "flare-up in symptoms", but instead of being experienced negatively they're experienced positively. You say it's not an abnormal experience, but we've gotten plenty of freaked out reactions from traumagenic systems who couldn't understand why we would enjoy it, or embrace it. (And to be fair, a system that sought out those experiences would be abnormal if they were fully traumagenic, so I'm not blaming them for their reactions.)

To use another disorder as an example since it's easier, OCD - OCD is an ego dystonic disorder. You don't generally enjoy OCD, and even in cases where obsessions or compulsions may be enjoyable or society might praise them (ex. in the case of religious obsessions), they're ego-dystonic - they're not who you are and what you're supposed to be doing, and in the case of intrusive thoughts they don't reflect who you are as a person. There's always a feeling of "wrongness" associated with them, and you don't consider that your natural state. Someone who said that they had OCD that they enjoyed, and that their intrusive thoughts were who they were and reflected their inner desires would be an oddity, and potentially not OCD.

Similarly, when I talk about it being positive I'm not talking about it being socially positive or logically positive - I'm talking about the internal, integral natural feeling associated with it - what the paper called affect. That's what I'm identifying as the difference between endogenic and traumagenic.

(Sorry, I'm kinda struggling to explain it properly - feel free to ask for more clarification!)

And confused how you think that is relevant to symptoms accuring alongside our plurality but completely disconnected from the experience of plurality lend itself to it being in any way connected to our plurality not being positive.

Okay, so from my understanding of CDDs, while the plurality may or may not be regarded positively, symptoms are almost always negative in nature. However, the symptoms and plurality may co-occur, and the plurality may cause some symptoms (for example, memory holders are a headmate that hides away bad memories, some alters hold trauma, etc.) The symptoms are not plurality proper, but you can't typically disconnect them fully due to the trauma, and since the trauma also created the plurality they're kinda linked by those two things. Those kind of symptoms seem to be almost universally regarded as negative in nature - you don't usually see CDDs systems celebrating blacking out, uncontrolled switching or holding trauma memories.

(My understanding comes from sites like DID-Research, and it seems to indicate that if these symptoms do appear, alters might dismiss or deny them instead of embrace them.)

So that's why I'm connecting them a little - as far as I understand it's not really possible to have them completely separate from one another in CDDs? (Totally could be wrong though, we're not a CDD system.)

And to me, that's where the "wrong" feeling would originate - even if there's amnesia and the system is regarding their plurality as positive, due to the trauma being behind both plurality and the symptoms (which may be more or less interconnected) they'd get this feeling of wrongness behind what they're experiencing.

I want to pose two questions because I am curious what the community thinks.

First question if you were to draw a definitive line to differentiate endogenics and traumagenics that is true 100% of the time what would it be? Would those in the grey area fit on the correct side of this line?

Second question if you were to draw a line between OSDD and DID to differentiate them that would be true 100% of the time what would it be? And again would those in the grey area fit with that?

[digitaldiseas3]

re: my last tag on my last post

[maddisandy]

honestly i think the fact that laezel is soleils closest bestie and they're partners with astarion is very fitting given they both have the exact sane approvals most of the time. also the laezel lovemailing is very much coming from the fact that while streaming with our friend tonight we were complaining about the awful takes people have on laezel because she acts mean and now im thinking about how much i love her again

[touchd0wn-boy]

if they actually do announce tour dates on monday i will DIE

[arielmagicesi]

ugggghhh ok so I’m reading some books to prep for my student teaching in the fall, the ones that my host teacher knows are likely to be in the curriculum, and first of all why is it a thing that high schoolers are made to read Contemporary Lit Fic that can be summed up as “how many gory explicit descriptions of traumatic abuse can we fit into one book”, like every year it’s just One Standard Shakespeare Play, One Twentieth-Century American Classic, throw in some other shit, and Somebody’s Fucked-Up Memoir From A Decade Or So Ago. Are there any contemporary books that are good but NOT traumatizing? If not, I’m happy to stick to classic lit personally

ANYWAY so I’m reading this book to prep for the fall and I ended up skimming the whole latter 3/4 or so of the book to spoil it for myself so the suspense wouldn’t kill me, and now I’m up late despite being super tired because my brain is just cycling through every horrific thing in the book, plus the reviews I read online, some of which are insanely saying shit like “wah wah, get over it, stop whining, we all had rough times in our childhood” and I’m like... Am I the softest, most naive baby on the planet for reacting to this horrific memoir by feeling bad for the author and thinking that maybe we don’t need to be making high schoolers read this? I’m not saying it’s not well-written- it is well-written, and well-structured, but Jesus Christ.

(also why are we allowed to make students read horrifying memoirs of abuse but god forbid they know that slavery happened in this country, but that’s a different issue altogether)

so yeah I now have managed to make my entire evening about Trying And Failing To Get Some Images Out of My Head, which sucks because I had a LOVELY day and was looking forward to some well-earned sleep, and also I’m gonna have to go back and read the entire book so that I’m able to teach it properly and know all the literary devices in it and shit. Cool cool cool

[orcelito]

From what I can tell, ITNL is the only committed longfic time travel au for vashwood. Which is a Little strange to me, coming from p5 fandom where it feels like every other longfic is a NG+ au (not a bad thing, it's just very common)

And me sitting here like. Is there really... no one else doing one like this?

Makes me even more dedicated to what I'm doing lol