#i don't know how to tag so i just put as many as i could think of

[minimomoe]

How to Train your Demon

Pairing: trueform! Sukuna x Fem Reader

Summary: Life has all kinds of wins and losses. You don't know which category to put your new demon husband in though.

Tags: MDNI!, red string of fate trope, true form sukuna, librarian reader, soul mates, reincarnation, accidental summoning, love at first sight (but it's one-sided (until it's not)), Sukuna is demon, but he's v much in love, smut and stuff eventually i guess....

AN: smut in this chapter!! p in v sex, some fun with hand mouths, oral (fem receiving), Sukuna may or may not have a praise kink. also blood drinking it isn't a part of smut (just walk with me)

Part: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII XIII. (completed)

Revisit rule: "Never Leave Him Unattended"?

“Yeah, I’m not feeling too well. My foot is killing me way more than before and I think I’m coming down with something.”

A barely concealed moan left your lips that you covered up by clearing your throat. You glared at Sukuna who was stuck on your back like a koala bear. You were laying naked in bed, limbs upon limbs tangled up in the sheets, his hands roaming over all the planes of your body. He tweaked your nipples while other hands dipped into your sex, making it impossible for you to stay on the phone with a steady voice. 

“I will make sure to stop by the ho–hospital today,” you shuddered. Sukuna made good use of his hands, and last night you learned of one of his many quirks. One of them being the mini mouths which appear in his palms that have been tormenting you if his mouth on his face was preoccupied. You took deep breaths in to control the mounting wave of arousal building up as he toyed with your clit.  “I’ll try to come in tomorrow. Thanks for underssstanding.” After wincing at the sound of your squeaking voice at the end of your sentence, you practically threw your phone across the room once you hung up. 

“Sukuna please,” you whined.

“If you wanted me to stop you would have used your fists,” he smirked. He rolled you over until you laid beneath him, his arms caging you in with nowhere to hide. On his arms and the tops of his shoulders you saw faint bite marks and scratches that you had left behind. You lost count of how many times you went at it last night. The soreness aching in your bones signalled that maybe you had overexerted yourself, but seeing Sukuna’s eyes roll back when you took him in your mouth only spurred you on, and he wasn’t satisfied until you were a breathless, boneless mess, so you found yourself wrapped up in each other until the wee morning hours.

“Now watch carefully,” he purred at the apex of your thighs. He bit into your flesh, not softly but with real teeth and tug that made you hiss. You were going to reprimand him— maybe finally give him that knuckle sandwich he was begging for earlier— but he shoved his face into your cunt and lapped you up with a reverence that had your complaints melt out of your brain. Your legs crushed the sides of his head, so Sukuna pried your thighs open and kept them wide, pushing them as far as they could on the bed. His other hands were busy marking you up once again, whether it be with his nails or the tongues that he could make appear in his palms that sucked on your skin until you were shivering. 

“Fuck– that feels so good. Just like that, baby.”

You were too busy with your mouth hanging wide as you writhed around in the sheets to see Sukuna’s eyes widened at your words. Your praise did wonders for his already large ego, and in no time he lifted you up to the heavens and back with his name screaming on your tongue. When he climbed up your body to fuck you once more, Sukuna held your chin and licked up the side of your face to catch the tears that were streaming down. In one swift motion he pushed inside of you, still holding your face to force eye contact. It was intense and all consuming, almost too intimate like he wasn’t deep seated inside of your cunt. 

“Why are you staring?” You nervously laughed. Despite the molten pool of arousal building up in your lower half, you couldn’t help but to tease your lover. “‘Baby’ is all it takes to get you blushing like that?” 

You hooked your leg around his wide waist, raising your hips to his rhythm and matching his thrusts. The bed squeaked dangerously underneath your motion. Sukuna’s arm steadied himself right next to your hair, and you turned your head to kiss his wrist with a mischievous smile. “Or would you rather Your Highness?”

You were driving the demon wild. He quickly cuffed the back of your leg to perch on your shoulder, reaching a new depth inside of you. Your eyes rolled back into your head and Sukuna latched onto your shoulder with his teeth. 

“Stop talking,” he growled. Sukuna could barely hold it together. You were gripping him like your life depended on it. He couldn’t last much longer with all your teasing and still you giggled. 

“Are you gonna make me?” 

His hand slid down and rested heavy on your neck. You grinned, your hand laying on top of his, matching his movements. 

“What a brat,” he gritted out, but he loved it. Whether it was audacity or confidence, you had it all. Sukuna reveled in it as he brought you over the edge, your orgasm sucking him in deeper, allowing him to bury himself in you. With a sharp kiss he finished inside of you, but you melted all the same. Even with all his edges, the gentle undercurrent couldn’t be ignored. You coaxed Sukuna to lay on top of you like a weighted blanket to bask in the afterglow. As you combed through his hair with your finger you laughed to yourself. The noise made him look at you with a raised brow. 

“I’m just happy that you found me. That’s all.” 

Sukuna gazed at you intensely. Heat began to prick at your face once again, but he spoke before you could crack a joke to lighten the mood. 

“You are not allowed to leave me again,” he said very seriously. You smiled softly and cupped the side of his face. 

“I doubt I had any say in the matter the first time,” you laughed. “But I can promise that I’m not going anywhere. This time you’re stuck with me.”

It was a promise. Despite the curve of your lips you truly meant the words coming out of your mouth. The start of your relationship didn’t make sense, and there were many logistics that needed to be sorted out later, but as of right now, you knew that you wanted to make this work with Sukuna. You had a feeling that everything would fall into place. 

Sukuna laid his cheek back on your bare chest. His deep voice rumbled through your body in a way that reminded you of Cleo’s purring. 

“Sleep. You will need energy for the ceremony.”

The idea of genuine rest coming finally within reach made your eyelids droop. You wanted to fight the sleepiness off but it was futile. The last thing you remembered before going under was a soft kiss pressed into your palm. 

~*~

You were gently woken up by the feeling of Cleo’s whiskers tickling your face. She gently pawed at your nose, then waited for you to sit up. Beside her you spotted black robes carefully placed at the end of your bed and you blinked. 

“I guess I’m supposed to put this on,” you muttered. The material was thick and soft. Cleo meowed and jumped off of the bed, going to who knows where. You stood up and slipped the garments on. It didn’t swallow your entire frame as you expected, and there were ties to cinch in your waist. The dress was made for you.  

As you were putting on the last piece of the ensemble, a veil that stopped middle of your chest, a soft knock came from your closed door. 

“Come in!”

Uraume scuffled inside, glad to see that you were already dressed. You did a quick twirl for them with a smile.  “How do I look?”

“The stars pale in comparison, ma’am,” they said with a tug on their lips. 

“You flatter me too much,” you gushed. “I guess it’s time to get this show on the road. What do I have to do?”

“Everything else has been taken care of. Please follow me.”

Uruame took you outside to your backyard and you realized it was much later in the day than you had thought. The sky was a bright pink with streaks of orange clouds cutting through the horizon. Sukuna stood at the other side of your yard in a kimono that was in the same colored garbs you were in, the dark reds and blacks flowing around his physique. All his eyes watched you intently and your heart rate quickened. With your hands held together in front of you, you carefully walked behind Uraume down to where Sukuna was, trying hard not to trip because of the fabric that swished at your ankles. When you stood across from Sukuna you, a small table with an obsidian bowl and a dagger laid inside separated you. 

Uraume wasted no time getting started once you had stopped moving. They held the book that started it all in their hands.You only caught bits and pieces of what they were saying as they spoke quickly, moving through prayers and chants from eras of ancient times. While you were caught in a trance from the words Uraume was saying, Sukuna’s eyes never left your face. Uruame spoke of combining two souls and you gasped. You remembered Sukuna mentioning the string of fate the very first night you had met, but it wasn’t until now that you could faintly see the glimmering red string from your pinky to his. It was barely there, hidden by a very thin veil of the world as you know it and all the possibilities out there. 

Uraume stopped talking and looked towards Sukuna. He grabbed the dagger from the table and held out his hand for you to take. 

“This will hurt but you will be fine,” he stated. You watched as the jagged teeth of the blade tore through your skin and hissed. Drops of blood pooled in the bowl, and Uraume quickly wrapped your hand and wiped the blade clean. They handed you the blade, and you gingerly took Sukuna’s awaiting palm. 

“Let me know if I’m hurting you,” you mumbled. 

“Impossible.”

After a few deep breaths you managed to cut through Sukuna’s skin and his blood joined yours in the bowl. Once again, Uraume wrapped Sukuna’s hand and cleaned the blade. Sukuna lifted your veil and brought the plate up to your lips. The smell of iron filled your nose and you took a small sip. The metallic liquid covered your tongue, and Sukuna kept his eyes locked on yours as you consumed it. He brought the plate down to place in your hands, and you fed him your blood the same way. 

You didn’t know what to expect. There was no cloud of smoke, or flashing lights, or anything that showed a major transformation had occurred. Sukuna looked as handsome as ever, but you did notice that he no longer had four eyes. You turned to Uraume with a quizzical gaze. 

“What now?”

“I believe this when they say, ‘You may kiss the bride,’” Uraume smiled. 

“Finally,” Sukuna grinned. He wrapped his hands around your waist (only two) and kissed you like he hadn’t in centuries. And maybe he hasn’t. The kiss marked a new beginning that started and would end with you. 

You broke apart when you heard loud complaining from your cat that watched from the patio. Cleo laid over the cement floor flicking her tail back and forth, watching the two of you with disdain. You laughed at her call to stop and Sukuna told her to go away. 

“God, there is blood all over your lips,” you shook your head. You wiped it away with your hands and Sukuna couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Your blood all over my lips.”

“And yours,” you giggled. “It’s official now. You are my husband–”

“And you are my wife,” he said against your mouth. 

Thanks for reading loves!! lemme know what ya think xx

Part: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII.

M.list || Twitter || Ao3

[crystallizsch]

jhgnngggn i’m back to thinking about post-nrc yuusha and jamil--- extremely long ramble below prepare for uh angst??? i guess???

i buried some of these lore in the tags somewhere but anyways-

yuusha and jamil exchanged hair ties when they separated and went off on their own post-nrc as a way to "remember each other by".

they both have different plans for their own futures despite wanting to be "together"— whatever that means. yuusha stayed at nrc working as staff and jamil is out travelling.

at this point though they STILL never officially “dated” but oh they were so so close SO many times to putting a label on it.

“what happened then” <- idk man they’re incredibly stupid. yuusha is still horribly noncommittal and jamil is- jamil. (“…the hell does that mean” <- SHHHH i will not elaborate)

they ended as just "really good friends" (something something on they’re on the spectrum of queerplatonic but they didn’t understand that that was the case) .

━━━━━━✦

at first they did well keeping in touch from a long distance—

yuusha never forgets to check in on jamil, texting/calling whenever possible, she was always the first to initiate.

and jamil still would’ve made the same effort of course, but yuusha always beats him to it. he sort of just expected her check-ins every day.

and he looks forward to that 1-15 notifications that he gets as soon as he wakes up. it does get him going knowing that she was specifically thinking of him at the start of the day.

that wouldn't last though. eventually, the more yuusha met more people and cultivated new relationships, the more she felt herself grow further and further apart from jamil.

yuusha thrives on physical relationships and the majority of the time the only communication and contact between her and jamil is through the phone.

and so the messages from her became less and less frequent as yuusha got more absorbed and interested in her work and other relationships.

don't get it wrong, she still cared about jamil. loved him even, in her own way.

he just became less of a priority.

━━━━━━✦

it was bittersweet to think that jamil finally had the chance to initiate the conversation.

because that meant yuusha had been thinking of him less and he had to remind her himself that— hey he's still there, remember him?— although that's not exactly what he would say. that's a bit too antagonistic and petty. surely, she's just busy. right?

yuusha would respond as if everything was normal. but the usual fondness, the usual warmth, they weren't there. her words through the screen felt dry. forced.

she can use the unnecessary punctuations and emojis she wants but she is not getting past him.

they called. it was nice to hear her voice. but. there's the same feeling of detachment. why are they talking as if this was one of their first times?

yuu, what happened?— is what jamil wanted to ask. but he would also respond nonchalantly. as if everything was normal.

jamil still tried to reach out to her. similar to how she did with him.

but it was to no avail.

their interactions felt too far gone from what they had.

eventually jamil also realized that there was No Point.

if she wasn’t going to make the effort anymore, why should he?

━━━━━━✦

professor yuusha tala walks in to her class which her signature braid and feathered hair tie.

it's lovely having gotten used to working at nrc. her students are surprisingly behaved and she enjoys teasing chatting with her coworkers. surely she isn't missing anything, is she?

and the traveler, jamil viper. he's seen most of the sights, experienced a lot of things. it's like he is slowly fulfilling his childhood dreams.

he ties his hair with the same one he's been using for years. it's a surprise it hasn't snapped yet from how worn out it looks. this really belonged to someone so cheap, huh.

he wonders why he's still using it. he had come across fitting souvenirs that could replace it.

waste of money— jamil convinces himself. besides, this hair tie is fit for every occasion and it's still holding up anyway.

he'll just get a new one when this one finally bites the dust.

if it ever does.

it's really stubborn for a hair tie.

[thecluelessdoctor]

Welcome to the After Falls AU (MASTERPOST!)

I've been meaning to make this for a while, but here we are! The After Falls AU OFFICIAL masterpost! I thought, if I wanna be for real and take this au seriously, I might as well make a pinned masterpost!

Intro Animatic

Summary of story;

It's been about 20 years since Dipper and Mabel's first summer in gravity falls, the both of them going on separate paths. Mabel ended up being very successful in the engineering field. It was basically arts and crafts with more math, and a bit more danger, that's all! Dipper though, found himself making his own research in gravity falls. He knows there is much more to discover than what he had found previously. Mabel's back there for nostalgia, and Dipper is there for research. How fun.

On the side of the family that ISNT pines, the parents of Ratch and Rod Elk, cousins once removed to the twins, find out there is family spending the summer in a little town away from everything, their parents don't hesitate to send them off. At first, it seems boring. But when the elk twins uncover one of the many secrets of their family, they find themselves to believe this summer to much more interesting than it seems, with many of these secrets connecting back to their summer guardians, and somehow, even farther back in the family than them.

Intro fanfiction

CANON MASTERLIST:

Dipper and Mabel CURRENT designs.

Gideon and Brody gleeful design sketches

WIP, will be updated as we go along.

PLOT POINT CONCEPT MASTERLIST (in attempted story order)

queers

stan possession and confrontation

What have you Done

What have you done part two

A world I never could have imagined

Bill's deal concepts

Don't you know how it feels

WIP, will be updated as we go along

And that's the end!! I don't expect this au to get very big or far, but just in case I'll put some rules under the cut :3

Dos:

-fanart!! I love ya see it!! Feel free to tag me as well!!!

-adding OCs PLEASE. Have fun bro. Again, tag me akjahd

-shipping! If it's legal, I kinda don't care. No family x family though, or child x adult.

Don'ts:

-nsfw publicly! I can't stop you from drawing it, but I am a minor, and I'm guessing a good handful of my audience are minors as well.

-proshipping/comshipping. Again I can't stop you, but c'mon man :(

-no using my AU to promote hate??

-please don't glorify any of the darker subject matter in the au. This is more older audience leaning than the original show, and I want to embrace darker themes, so they will be more explicitly shown or more implied.

[vacantgodling]

i'd like to say that this year was more of a planning year than a writing year; not to say that i didn't write; but i spent a lot more time on outlining, worldbuilding, and a new skill that i've added to the fold -- conlanging(!!). because of that, i didn't hit all the goals i made last year but tbh that's aight. without further ado tho:

TOTAL WORDS WRITTEN [january 2024-november 2024]

111,535 (as of 11/15)

once again, if this was all in one place, that would be a full novel but. speaking of full novels:

2024 GOAL STATUS

❌ reach 150k words written overall ✔️ finish cage like it’s GOING to happen i will it ❌ finish the first draft of paramour!!!

so i'm only 1 for 3 and tbh i'm not that mad about it. finishing cage back in february was one of the biggest writing highlights of this year because i showed myself i could do it, i CAN finish something of novel length if i really put my mind to it.

(and yeah, i really did go and get it printed out lmao)

and more than just the accomplishment of writing 82k in one piece, it's also helped me really understand and work out what systems and processes i need to have set up prior to writing to make it work. this is why outlining has been such a huge undertaking for me this year, in varying levels of success (lmao). having a fully fleshed out outline with the literal beat by beat playout of how i want the story to go helped me TREMENDOUSLY in pushing through cage. even on chapters that were rough for me, having that outline to fallback on made it so much easier to stick to a every week one chapter system. and its something i plan to implement with my original wips too.

the only issue is, because original work inherently requires more work since there's no framework except what's in your own head... its been a bit slower for me writing wise. BUT next year i will be operating out of a desperate need for whimsey so i think i'm going to make my goals much.... less stressful than i did this year.

2024 WRITING HIGHLIGHTS

FINISHED CAGE! biggest accomplishment in my life right now tbh. seriously if you haven't and you have any interest in overwatch at all go read it and leave me nice comments while you're at it lol. technically i am working on the interlude piece between cage and its eventual sequel, schism, but that's been kinda slow going as i don't have much motivation to do it right now. first chapter of it is also up on ao3 though -> interlude - quiet

created a conlang??? in a very bizarre turn of events i have created a conlang for my wip with the working title HE WHO SMITES THE SUN (under the tag #s: ph). the language itself is called dzonime'si and if you want to see more of that process check out my #ren fights linguistics tag :)

finished the entire "first draft" of my wip betwixt thumb and forefinger--which is actually an idea that i only thought of this year so that's fun. for the uninitiated it is a gothic reimagining of twilight but with a shit ton more body horror and prochoice commentary. the reason first draft is in quotations is because it is technically a 16k word long outline that i am considering draft one. draft 2 is literally me going bullet point by bullet point and expanding the draft into something more akin to prose. i do have the first few paragraphs of draft 3 started, which is where i'm going to attempt actual prose writing for the first time. pretty much, btaf is becoming a very lengthy process but it's my first "test drive" on how this new outlining to written prose for my original projects will go. i've just gotten... distracted by other wips since then.

2025 GOALS

to be honest, i don’t know if i have many hard goals for next year. mostly because of *gestures at the state of the world right now* :))))))) it’s blatantly obvious that when things are tough, it becomes more difficult to do the things that you want to do that bring you joy. amid trying to just survive the day to day, there’s also my desires to get more involved in bothering the FUCK out of my senators, looking into ways i can be more involved locally (without burning myself out) and just generally trying to not let the state of the world get me down.

i think there’s a lot of things i want to do. i want to finish a bunch of outlines for my wips becuase i can’t tell you how REWARDING it’s been to be able to fully just go back and reread btaf’s outline whenever i like (and have the AMAZING multi leave comments on it like that’s actually another huge highlight of this year thank u friend 💛) and get excited about telling this story all over again. it motivates me to keep doing it! i'd also love to finish btaf's draft 2, maybe try and finish interlude - quiet etc. but—long story short. i don’t think i’m going to put myself on for any particular goals. next year is going to be about celebrating wins in any and every capacity. so all i wanna do is give myself wins.

looking forward to seeing y’all next year, crying about our ocs as usual

💛 ren 💛

[krysmcscience]

Hi, I woke up to this yesterday, and my brain is still exploding.

I don't even know how they came across my Ko-fi with how little traffic I got, but they did and were wonderful and I am so unbelievably grateful???

I can't even remember the last time I felt truly hopeful, but here I am. Feeling hopeful.

Wow.

What a world.

[cas-writes-genshin-stuff]

Their Pet

f!/nb! reader x Raiden Ei x Yae Miko

sub! reader / switch! Ei / switch Miko (no use of y/n) MDNI, Men DNI

basically, you get dommed by Ei and Miko (the reader is a munch and eats Ei out / Miko riding you / Ei using the strap on you)

CONTENT:

Word Count: 9,700

AFAB nonbinary reader, uses they/them pronouns (mostly androgynous, but slightly masc leaning)

reader is an Inu / Dog Youkai like Miko (has ears, no tail)

if you want to skip to the smut it's under three red lines (---) about halfway through. (smut is 4112 words long + like 1000 words of aftercare) (Smut Only Version)

smut (sad!sm/masoch!sm) (biting) (marking) (choking) (begging)(voyeur!sm) (oral) (straps) (riding) (masturbat!on) (safewords) (mention of collars) (mild overstim) (degradation) (praise) (denial) (aftercare)

(not really proofread, sorry. and also reposted because tumblr wasn't showing it under tags)

Masterlist Link

Ao3 Link

-

After the chaos that reigned the land 500 years ago, you had begun to travel around the world as an adventurer for a while, then upon returning to Inazuma and meeting the Traveler, you decided to help them with their commission

When you went with them up to the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko was surprised to see you. "Oh, hello little ones, Traveler, Paimon, and you. All this time I thought I was the last one and that you were lost along with all the other youkai"

Paimon and the Traveler were surprised. "You two know each other?" Paimon questioned

"You're also a youkai?" The Traveler added.

You scratched your head and sighed, "Haha, yeah... Yae Miko and I spent much time with the Ei, Makoto, and the other youkai back then. Sorry Traveler, I didn't mean to be deceiving"

Yae Miko scoffed "Ei and I thought you died then" she walked up to you "You've grown, still shorter than me though, that's surprising" She couldn't help but ruffle your ears "What have you been up to this whole time then?"

You looked at the Traveler "Well, after the war, I wanted a break so I started traveling all over. Recently, I joined the Adventurers Guild to help the people out with their missions and what not" A smile beamed from you, you couldn't wait to tell Miko of your travels

"Of course you were. I should've known" She chuckled

You tilted your head, and her words felt like they should've had a light insult at the end of them. Before you could ask what she meant by that she spoke again "Oh honestly, you couldn't have let someone know before you went on a centuries-long leave of absence?"

"Sorry, Miko... I-"

She interrupted "So for five hundred years, Ei locks herself in her own head, and you go on a wild adventure across the land like a stray dog. Children, you both act like children" She pressed her temples.

The Traveler gave you a dirty look. You put your hands up and mouthed sorry to them. And looked back at Miko, and decided that she could stand some light-hearted teasing.

"Sounds like you missed me."

"Did I say that?

-

Later, the next day Miko brought you to Tenshukaku to reunite with Ei. She had informed you that the Shogun was a puppet, and Ei took control when she wanted. When you entered, the Shogun sat emotionless, staring at you and Miko. "I've brought you an old friend Ei," Miko said as you both approached the Shogun. The moment Miko said EI's name, her stern look lessened.

"It's you" Ei stood up and walked up to you, an arm's length away. "I had thought you were lost like Makoto and the others."

"I'm sorry, I was wandering the lands of Teyvat for a long, long time" You bowed your head apologetically. "Guuji Yae had already chastised me for my lack of courtesy when I left" It was always a little surprising how you could go from rowdy to an eloquently worded individual.

You half expected Ei to be angry with you, instead, she placed a hand on your shoulder "We have much to catch up on then, don't we?"

"We have all of eternity to catch up" You reassured her, and then you fell to your knees, "I am loyal to the Shogun, the people of Inazuma, and my superior, Guuji Yae. Allow me to provide my services to you again"

Miko was surprised but amused at your demonstration of loyalty, and Ei was more glad to see you hadn't changed much either

-

Over the next few months, you remained steadfast in your promise to Ei and remained a member of the Adventurers Guild. But of course, you prioritized your service with Ei. During that time, you developed an especially close relationship with Miko and Ei.

Miko always had a knack for teasing, but Ei on the other hand was a bit different from when you last talked with her, as she also started to take much joy from teasing you too. They both greatly enjoyed getting a rise out of you, and spending time with them unfortunately meant that you took the brunt of their teasing.

So today, you decided to take a break, the guild had no immediate missions for you around Inazuma, so you chose to wait at the shrine for both of them. The shrine maidens said Miko had important business at her publishing house so you were left to wait patiently for them.

You waited on the stairs up to the shrine, hoping you'd catch Miko on her way up. The restlessness of waiting eventually got to you, and you climbed on top of the row of tori gates and started to hop from on top of each back and forth. After a while, you just sat on the gate, meditating with your legs crossed and eyes shut taking in the sounds of the wind and birds chirping away.

Finally, you heard the sound of heels clicking against the steps of the mountain. Your ears perked and your eyes opened to see who was approaching. Then you saw the pink-haired kitsune "Hey Miko"

"Get down from there, it's not very respectful of you to be sitting on those" She continued to walk past and under the gates. You hopped down and started trailing behind her.

"Need me to hold any of that?" You gestured at the stack of papers and books in her arms. She nodded and let you take half the stack. "What've you been up to today?"

She sighed, "Just meeting with the publishing team and hounding my writers about deadlines"

"Sounds like a drag" You sympathized with her

"It was"

You reached the top and Miko opened the door to a room in the shrine and made your way to her office. She pushed her door open with her elbow and stepped to the desk.

You shut the door and approached, putting down the stack of papers, then sitting across from her. "So what brings you here, you need something from me?"

"No, I'm just bored" You sighed and laid your head down on her desk.

She picked up a book from the stack and then set it aside. "No adventure to be had today?" Miko placed an elbow on the desk and rested her head in her hand looking at you.

"No, today is a day off. Plus last week's mission was exhausting. So many puzzles, and climbing, and fighting." Your voice was exasperated and tired. "I thought at least one of you wouldn't be busy today"

You heard Miko let out a light chuckle before she reached out her hand to pet you "Ever the impatient one." Her nails lightly combed through your hair and let yourself melt into the desk.

"Mm, are you done for the day?" You asked and she pulled her hand away, you lifted your head to look at her. "We could play that card game Karuta"

She sighed and leaned back in her chair then started rummaging through some draft stories "No, unfortunately, I'll be busy for the next two or three hours, Ei will be arriving sometime after that too"

You slumped in your seat and groaned, "Got anything for me to do then?"

She placed a light novel in front of you, "These have already been proofread for grammar errors, I just need to see how appealing the story would be to the general public so we know how many copies to print at the Publishing House"

"Okay, I don't mind that. Thanks" You took the unfurnished book and flipped to the first page.

"Good" Miko picked up the novel she was revising and took her pen out again.

You had gotten about halfway through the short book before it got inappropriate. You hadn't read such literature before, and this was a bit much. Miko heard your breath hitch in your throat, and she glanced up at you. You shifted uncomfortably in your chair, ears twitching. A familiar warmth in your stomach started to grow, and your cheeks felt like a flame. "Is everything okay?" Miko's voice pulled you out of the book world.

"You're a conniving fox Miko" You put the book down and crossed your arms.

"Am I now?" A corner of her lips lifted slightly.

"Yes." You were flustered and quiet, unlike Miko's consistently confident nature.

"Mmh, and you're a whiny dog" She tilted her head to the side "Well I did my job, you're no longer bored. It's what you asked me to do. Plus there wasn't much else I could have you could do" Miko said with a shrug, every sentence was laced with some sort of other meaning. She's said something similar when putting down you and Gorou.

The heat in your stomach and between your legs frustrated you, knowing you won't get any relief until later. You jerked forward, and your voice raised defensively slamming your hands down on the wooden desk "I didn't mean that-" "Now now, no need to get so worked up over it little one" Miko had that smug look on her face.

You folded your arms again "What makes a dog less than a fox, anyway, huh?"

Miko laughed "It's simple, your affinity for humans"

"That doesn't make sense, you also spend time hanging around people"

"Yes but after all this time, five hundred years without a master, you've clung to people. You've even joined the Adventurers Guild. Preferring to do things for others, and provide service and help without much in return"

You let out a scoff "So? That's not a bad thing"

Miko stood from her chair and walked around the desk to you, her hands lightly grazing your shoulders and the back of your neck "No, it isn't a bad thing. But in other words, dogs like you lack a lot of independence, without someone to guide you, you get lost and restless."

You let out a huff and then Miko leaned down to whisper in your ear "Tell me, did you find it hard being a stray out there without a master for a couple decades?" Her breath was hot on your ear and her hand snaked around your neck "With no one to direct your energy and skills were you more like a needy puppy or a wild beast?"

You refused to answer, afraid that what you would say would give her more ammunition. Though you'd rarely admit it, she was right. You enjoyed having Miko or Ei tell you what to do, and how to do it. It was true that without someone to take command, you were directionless. You drew more power when someone was there to guide and hone it.

You mumbled "Shut up..."

Miko's grip tightened around your neck, not restricting your air, but enough to fan the flames inside you. "You know I don't take kindly to disrespectful mouths"

"I'm sorry Miko" She let you turn your head to her "Forgive me"

"Not good enough, little one" She let go of your neck "On your knees, show me how sorry you are, and I'll consider going easier on you later" Since she saw your demonstration of devotion, she took a liking to you beneath her.

You slipped off your chair and down onto your knees. She put her hand out for you face down, and you took her hand into yours and repeated "I'm sorry, Miko" You kissed her hand gently "Please, forgive me" Your ears tilted down. She was being a lot more strict today.

A sadistic smile crept onto her face, she could tell you enjoyed this almost as much as she was.

A knock at the door made you jump, and as you were about to stand back up, Miko took her hand and put her pointer finger up in your face, a silent command for you to stay where you were.

"It's Ei" The voice outside said.

You looked at the door and then back at Miko, whose eyes remained locked on you as she said "Come in" You immediately looked down at your knees when you heard the door open, face painted completely red in embarrassment.

"Ei, you're a bit early, did everything go during your meeting with the Kujou Clan?" Miko asked her.

"It went fine, although I am still deciding on an appropriate punishment for the Kujou Clan. On other matters, what is going on here?" Ei asked, and you sunk your head further down towards your lap.

Miko took her hand under your chin and lifted it up "Oh, just ensuring our little pet here knows their place when it comes to their badly behaved mouth" She looked back down at you "Go on, greet your god"

"Hey Ei.." you stuttered a little bit. Kneeling before the two made your heart pound fast.

"Oh, you two" She strode towards you and Miko "I can never tell when it was you being a disobedient dog, or you provoking them. Which one was it this time?" Ei looked down at you giving you a chance to explain this situation. You glanced between Ei and Miko. Miko had an eyebrow raised wondering if you were going to try to throw her under the bus. While Ei, just looked at you sympathetically, she knew Miko could be a bit cruel with these things, she had been on the end of Miko's wrath before too.

"I-" You looked back down into your lap, "I said something disrespectful, I'm sorry"

Ei didn't believe that was the whole story and side-eyed Miko who shrugged. "Miko, don't be too mean to them. They've done nothing but help you and me." Ei defended you. It would be a surprise to others that Ei was a much more benevolent and forgiving person than Miko when it came to these things.

Ei stepped closer to Miko and wrapped her arms around Miko's waist affectionately, "Were you mean to our poor pet while I was away?" Miko's face was now slightly pink.

"Only a little more than normal, but I don't think the little one minded" Miko said before leaning in for a kiss while you watched. They both knew it drove you crazy sometimes.

When they separated Ei still held one arm around Miko, turning to you. "Come on," Ei put her hand out for you to take, helping you up from your knees.

When you stood you kissed the back of her hand, like you did to Miko. "Thank you"

Ei just smiled warmly at you "Would you both like to take a stroll? I found something I'd like to show you"

"Sure thing"

"Let me just put some stuff away first" Miko pulled away from Ei and moved to her desk to organize some things.

-

Miko went to tell a shrine maiden to prepare the private dining room for the three of you. You all started to take a walk down the side of the Mt. Yougou, there were very few people passing by you.

Ei and Miko were walking side by side while you walked a few steps in front of them. "You're also here earlier than I'd thought. Was there nothing that the Adventurers Guild needed from you today?" Ei asked.

"Yeah," You nodded "Gods, I was so bored. I waited around for Miko forever"

Your statement earned a laugh from Miko "My, you've lived for centuries and you call a few hours 'forever', how childish"

You stuffed your hands in your pockets, and spoke with a pout "We've all been separated for centuries, if I have the chance to be around, I'll be there. Is it so bad that I missed you two and the people from our time?" You looked over your shoulder to see their faces. You knew they appreciated the sentiment.

"Still charming as ever, aren't you?"

Ei nodded in agreement "That was a sweet answer, I'll give you that" You grinned at their replies and turned your head forward again.

"Assuming you guys are all done for today..." Your voice trailed off. You pausing for a moment "Would you like to play some Karuta or spar or whatever?" You took your pouch of water from your belt and drank a few gulps

"I was thinking we could play something else together for the night" You choked on your water. Ei's teasing didn't need to be long lengthy sentences like Miko's, her slightly suggestive tone was enough.While you coughed, you could hear the both of them giggling behind you. You wiped your mouth of the water and you were glad they couldn't see your face.

Halfway down the mountain, you could see some monsters down at the bottom. "What a nuisance," Ei said. Miko hummed annoyedly in agreement. "Do you mind taking care of that for us?"

Before Ei could finish her sentence, you stopped and turned quickly, then pulled your sword out and bowed your head curtly "Of course" You quickly started jumping down the stairs, you tripped and almost fell head first. When you caught yourself, you turned over your shoulder giving a small thumbs up, then jogged down the rest of the way.

"Honestly, we should put a leash on them" Miko jested, she looked at Ei when she didn't respond to her joke. Ei looked deep in thought. "Oh my gosh, you're actually considering it. Hahaha," Miko laughed until she was breathless, leaning on Ei who now had a red face. "Oh, Ei. You're too much sometimes"

You were again in their sights, they saw you down there fighting the hilichurls, and mitachurls. "It would just be of assistance when they're starting to get in over their head" Ei was trying to get the blush off her.

"That's rich coming from you Ei, you're always doing things in over your head as well" She nudged Ei teasingly with her elbow. "Plus what would the public say about having the little youkai on a leash?"

They kept their eyes trained on you as you slashed the monsters with your sword. You were trying to clear the path for them as fast as you could, putting in as much effort as possible. It would've gone much faster if at least one of them helped you. While you kicked and slashed viciously, little cracks of lightning could be heard being summoned from your fight, Miko tsked at your frenzied fighting "On the other hand, a leash might be a good idea"

By the time they made it to the bottom of the mountainside, the path was cleared, and Ei and Miko were arm in arm. You walked back to them breathing deeply. "Ah, that was great!" You stretched your arms out and put your sword away, you also took great pride in acting as their bodyguard.

"Do you have to be so brash? You almost went tumbling down the mountain side" Miko scolded you. You looked at Ei, to see if she'd support you again. "You could stand to be a little more tactful. We will still have to work on your manners as my chamberlain."

You rolled your eyes and sighed, "Okay, okay, fine." Then you took your place walking on the other side of Ei. Along the trail, the three of you enjoyed the silence, taking your time on the walk. The wind picked up a bit, and the cold air felt nice brushing against your skin after the light fight. You lifted your head up closing your eyes, breathing it all in, trusting your other senses to keep you from tripping over something. You felt Ei's soft hand against your upper back, moving up to scratch the back of your head.

You squinted your eyes open and saw how much Ei enjoyed giving you affection, Miko noticed this and rested her head against Ei's, it was a silent request for Ei to also give her affection. Miko would never beg for Ei's attention in public, but this way she could save her pride.

Ei let out a small breath akin to a light laugh and took the hand from your head to scratch Miko between her ears and Miko looked content. In domestic moments like this, everything felt at peace.

"We're almost there" Ei let us know as we approached a short tree. Ei let go of Miko's arm and approached a little nest, she crooked her finger and you came by her side again. You saw a cute little baby bird.

"Miko don't even think about doing anything shady" Ei gave her a look.

"I didn't kill that little bird, I just scared it off I promise. Though the look on your face was priceless" Miko said as she looked into the nest as well.

Miko had told you that since Ei went on that outing with the Traveler, she was more appreciative of things like this. You, however always had an affinity for tiny things. While you and Ei were doting on this little bird, Miko enjoyed observing your faces.

In a minute, Ei signaled for you to step back. The sun had started to set. "You've grown so fond of mortal beings Ei" Miko hooked her arm with Ei again "I never thought I'd see the day"

You got close to Ei and tapped her hand, there was no one really out anymore since you were close to the mountain, and it was getting dark but Ei looked around first before holding your hand. No one necessarily batted an eye when Ei and Miko were holding onto each other. Many now knew that Miko was her familiar, but you were new. None of you wanted any rumors to start, it sounded like a pain to deal with.

Your thumb rubbed Ei's hand affectionately, Ei squeezed your hand back.

-

After you got back to the shrine, and followed to Miko's room. You relaxed knowing no one would come toward this area without their Guuji's direct permission, so none of you were worried about a shrine maiden walking in. You started taking off all your gear, placing your gear and belt in the corner of the room. You all went to dress down to something more comfortable. When you stripped off your pants, you noticed a blood stain below where your knee would be, and then looked down at a rug burn scrape "Miko, do you know where I can get this cleaned off?"

She just rolled her eyes. "I'll have it fixed by tomorrow at noon. Meet me for dinner in ten minutes." She took it from your hands.

As she walked out you yelled "Thanks Miko"

You rinsed off, cleaned your wound, changed into a comfortable sleeveless t-shirt and boxer shorts, and started folding your clothes. While you were bent down, you felt Ei hug you from behind. "Ei?" She let you go and opened the door.

It was time to head to the dining room "Come along now" You followed behind her obediently.

On the low table, there were already, various sweets in the center, a bottle of sake, a teapot, and cups. One side of the table had a plate of sashimi. Miko walked in with her own plate of fried tofu.

You sat across from Miko with your legs criss-crossed, while they kneeled on the cushions. "Let's eat" You pressed your palms together, and they followed suit. You picked up the chopsticks and dipped the fish into the soy sauce, Ei was just eating the dango from the middle of the table and Miko looked especially happy placing each bite of tofu into her mouth.

The conversation was mostly just talking about the tasks for the next week. "I'll need your assistance as an escort when I meet with some diplomats from Liyue and Mondstadt in three days. We are to discuss terms of trade regulations. I have some rules outlined to protect the local businesses of Inazuma."

"Got it, what time should I be there?" You quickly agreed to her request.

"Ideally, the day before, since they will be arriving in Ritou early. I'd like you to be at Ritou when the ship arrives." She explained.

You got a little worried about how busy she was "You're still going to watch the fireworks with us the day after right?"

"Of course, I specifically planned this month with multiple days off, since you and Miko hounded me on it" Ei reassured you.

You had almost finished your plate when Ei told you off a little "Close your mouth when you chew," You immediately started doing as she said.

"Sorry"

"And again, be careful, you're always brainlessly jumping into fights, it's rather brutish" Ei continued to chastise you.

"Ugh, why does it matter? I can't die that easily" When it came to fighting, you didn't see why anything else mattered besides completing the task at hand.

Ei let out a sigh, "It's not so much about you dying but more about disorderly conduct. I can't have you acting untamed out there, what would they say about the Shogunate?"

"I know how to behave, there was no one really out there to witness that fight beside you two"

"We did just joke about putting you on a leash a little while ago" Miko leaned forward. The thought of it made you red in the face again, but you all weren't too keen on showing the nature of your relationship.

"Hush Miko. Don't scare them" Ei said.

"So, what? Look at them they clearly entertain the idea to some extent. How naughty"

Ei glanced at you, "Do you, little one?"

"I'm not engaging with this whole thing, it has trap written all over it" You turned your nose up.

Miko fake pouted "Now, that's no fun. You must be at least curious of what it'd be like in the bedroom"

"Oh, I'm sorry come here, is she being too mean to you?" Ei sounded sincere, but her face showed you otherwise.

"Hmph" Ignoring Ei, you grabbed the bottle of sake and filled your cup, downing it all in a couple of gulps, then poured another.

"Drinking isn't going to hide what you really want," Miko said after she sipped her tea, and then you downed your cup again. "Would you like it if I forced you to wear one?"

When you didn't reply, Miko reworded her question "How about this. Say the safeword if you don't want us to do that, or stay silent if you're open to the idea" You just cleared your throat and kept drinking the sake in front of you. The kitsune just grinned bearing her teeth "See, good pet. That can be arranged"

Ei was entertained enough by the banter unfolding and kept drinking her dango milk.

"Jeez Miko, you've been mean to me nonstop today" You rested an elbow on the table

"Did you mind?" Miko questioned.

The cup was again at your lips, and before you took another gulp you quietly said "No"

"Then I don't see why you make a fuss about it each time"

You sneered back"To protect some of the sanity I have left, when I'm around you"

"Is it your sanity or your pride? It's all the same anyway, by the time you're in the bedroom you're quick to obey us"

"Whatever" You murmured. "Why don't you guys join in on this sake?" Trying to switch the topic.

---

The entire bottle of sake was gone by the time you all got up to return to Miko's room. You had drank about half but you were only buzzed, not tipsy, or drunk. Unfortunately, it took a lot more to get a Youkai drunk. Miko told you to grab a pitcher of water and cups to bring back to her room, Ei opened the door for you, and you placed the water on the side table.

As soon as that door closed, they both pounced on you. Ei grabbed you by the front of your shirt collar pulling your face to hers, tilting your head up. Even without them wearing heels, they were still much taller than you. Miko wrapped her arms around your waist and started to pepper kisses along the side of your neck.

"You're so fun to toy with, little one" Miko's warm breath wafted over the skin on your neck, and then you felt her bite down on you, enough to hurt, but not to draw blood. You whined into Ei's mouth.

Ei pulled away with a gentle bite to your lip and let go of your shirt. You felt Miko pull your shirt to the side, exposing your shoulder. "Miko.." She kissed your shoulder and pressed her body against you before biting down hard. You felt her sharp canines sink into you, pulling a cry from your throat. "Ah!"

Ei slipped her pants off and sat on the edge of the bed "Does the pain feel good?"

Miko licked the wound she inflicted on you. "Y-yes," You groaned eyes closed as you succumbed to their will.

"Take your shirt off" Ei commanded. Miko left a soothing kiss against your shoulder, before letting go of you to sit next to Ei on the bed, her hand placed on Ei's thigh. You quickly pulled your shirt off and tossed it onto the ground leaving you only in your boxers. "Good pet, come here"

You fell to your knees once more before the both of them. Miko cupped Ei's face grabbing the archon's attention. "I want a kiss too, Ei" They both gave you another glance before giving you a show. Miko pulled Ei to her lips with one hand as the other drifted up her thigh.

You watched them, hoping they would let you join in quicker. Miko's hand eventually pressed against Ei's center and let out a quiet noise. You kept your eyes trained on her hand that now moved to the top of Ei's underwear slipping beneath, touching her clit directly. Ei gasped and moaned breaking the kiss.

The bite on your shoulder felt warm and the scene unfolding before you made that dull ache between your legs grow more uncomfortable. The sounds Ei made, went straight to your clit.

Miko pushed Ei's head to rest on her shoulder as she touched her, then took her hand to lift Ei's shirt so you could have a better view. Miko saw the pleading look you had and smirked when you squeezed your thighs together trying to get a little relief.

"Miko, Miko, please" Ei moaned out.

The kitsune teased "Please what, Ei?"

"Inside, I want your fingers inside," Ei said quietly breathing heavily. Miko did as she asked and slid her fingers inside Ei, curling them against her G-spot making Ei moan a bit louder. "Fuck-"

"Oh, Ei, what would people think if they heard such a word come out of their god's mouth?" Ei didn't respond verbally, but she spread her legs wider. Miko looked back at you. "Mm, so good for me" You weren't exactly sure if those words were for Ei or for you.

In your head, you were wishing that Miko was touching you, or that you were giving Ei the pleasure. Either way, you were the puppy silently begging at their feet to join in.

As Ei drew closer to her orgasm, her moans and breathing got more erratic, and she gripped Miko's shirt. "Ah- fuck Miko, Miko, Miko." Ei's voice got loud as she was on the edge, about to tip over. You let out an audible whine and Miko smirked. Right before Ei came crashing over, Miko stopped and slipped her hand out. "W-why did you stop?"

Miko moved behind Ei, supporting her so she would stay upright, then pulled Ei's panties to the side "Come closer, puppy" You moved between Ei's legs. "Please your goddess"

You wasted no time to press your tongue against Ei's clit, "Oh, my-" One of Ei's hands gripped the sheets of the bed and her head fell back against Miko. You lapped at her pussy eagerly, trying to build her orgasm again, you liked watching how she was coming undone.

When you sucked on the sensitive bud, Ei's other hand went to grip your hair, pushing your head closer "Harder, please" You obliged, of course, earning more moans from your god.

You decided to slide your fingers through Ei's wetness before sinking two fingers inside like Miko did and Ei moaned out loudly, as she tightened her grip on your hair. The pain from the pulling made you audibly whine into her pussy. "Look at them, they're having so much fun pleasing you Ei" Miko said into her ear. Ei looked down at you, eyes half-lidded, and her face was blissed out. "Are they making you feel good?"

"Yes, fuck- yes. Don't stop" Ei's voice was shaky. You wouldn't dare to stop, not now, not while she was writhing and moaning at your hands. Ei started to arch her back, pushing her hips into your face, so you kept your fingers and tongue at a steady pace. "M close!" She threw her head back again.

Miko nipped at her ear "It's okay Ei, come for us" Ei's body went taut as her orgasm ravaged through her body, moaning out your name and Miko's name. You kept at it while she rode through her orgasm. "Good girl" Miko praised her lover. You slowed your movements as Ei's back and thighs relaxed, and she let go of your hair. As you removed your fingers you kissed her clit and Ei let out a small whine. Miko fixed her underwear and kissed Ei's forehead. Then looked back at you, while you licked off the fingers that were once inside Ei, and wiped off your face.

While Ei was recovering from her high, you rested your head against her lap and the hand that gripped you now slowly pet your head. "Did I do a good job?" You asked, although you knew you did exceptionally well, you wanted to hear the praise again.

"So good, baby," Ei said as she ruffled your hair a little more.

After a couple of minutes, Ei finally sat up and you moved off her lap so she could stand. Ei then turned to look at Miko "It's your turn now love, take your pants and underwear off" Ei said and leaned down to kiss Miko quickly.

Miko moved closer to the edge of the bed, while Ei rummaged around in a drawer. "You look like you enjoyed yourself,"

"Mhm" You nodded, you definitely wanted to do that again. She made a come hither motion with her finger and you moved up so she could kiss you. Miko could taste Ei on your lips.

After breaking the kiss she asked, "Do you wanna take these off for me?" She lifted her shirt and you hooked your fingers underneath the hem of her pants and underwear, pulling them off in one motion, and throwing them to the side. You could see how wet Miko had gotten, your mouth watered at the prospect of pleasing Miko with your mouth.

Ei had taken out two harnesses, and she left one on the bedside drawer but walked back over to you with the other harness in hand. "Take those off, and put this on" Ei helped you up and handed you the strap. "How are your knees feeling, love?"

Your knees ached a little from being on your knees for a while. "A little sore, but they're okay"

"Okay, then we'll do something a little different first" You gave her a bit of a sideways look, wondering what she meant. You were a little hesitant to take your boxers off but did so anyway, adjusting the strap to your hips, while Ei decided to take Miko's shirt off too. Part of you relaxed knowing you wouldn't be the only one completely naked.

"Okay, now just lay down and wait a little longer," Ei said to you. You crawled onto the bed and laid down in the center comfortably. "Miko, kneel on the bed for me. Face them." Ei instructed her lover as she went to take off Miko's earrings, without something to weigh them down, Miko's ears lifted.

"Now what?" Miko asked.

Ei took Miko's right hand and guided it between her legs. "Touch yourself for me."

"Wh-" Miko was about to say something, but Ei raised an eyebrow and she stopped. It was a rare sight to see Miko act hesitantly like that, and you enjoyed every second of it. She only acted like that when Ei was in control. "Okay"

You watched Ei move behind the kitsune. Miko spread her legs wider and started circling her clit. Her hips bucked a little bit into her hand, and as soon as the little moans escaped her throat, Miko covered her mouth.

"Now, now, none of that Miko. I want to hear you" Ei teased while moving Miko's hand placing it in front of her, palm against the sheets. Miko tried giving her best glare but it only made Ei chuckle. "Faster now,"

Miko changed her movement from circling her clit to thrumming against it sideways, she tried keeping quiet, but loud moans still made it through.

Ei's left hand reached around Miko to play with her nipples. "Good girl, Miko" Ei rested her chin on Miko's shoulder and continued to toy with her. "Is it embarrassing to touch yourself in front of us?"

"F-fuck you," Miko tried to retort.

Ei just hummed and pinched her nipple hard, causing Miko to yelp "That's not very nice Miko. Try again" You watched Miko's hand move faster, some of her wetness was dripping down her thighs.

"Ye- yes" Miko's voice faltered and her ears drooped down.

Ei moved her right hand down between Miko's legs, fingers placed at her entrance. "Yes, what?"

Miko didn't answer right away, moans getting in the way of her words "Yes, it's embarrassing"

"See, was that so hard?" Ei rewarded her by pushing her fingers inside Miko.

Miko clenched her fist around the sheets. "Shit- ah. Ei!" Miko got a lot louder than Ei did earlier. God, you loved watching Miko get the same treatment she gave everyone else.

Ei egged her on "Oh my, you're so loud now, are you close already?" Ei's fingers moved faster.

"Yes! Ei, p-please keep going!" Miko's legs were trembling already.

Ei pulled her fingers out and had this devilish smirk on her. "Mm, not so fast, love" She took the hand that was toying with Miko's chest to pull Miko's hand away from her clit.

She was panting "Ei," She whined out her name "That's not- that's not fair"

"Patience, Miko. In due time, love" Ei's voice was sultry in her ear. Miko just let out a frustrated groan. Ei showed Miko the fingers that were inside her just a second ago, then pressed them against her lips. Miko opened her mouth and licked Ei's fingers clean while avoiding eye contact with you "I want you to come riding them"

Ei looked at you and pointed at a bottle that you presumed had lube in it. You grabbed it a little uncertainly, but Ei nodded, so you spilled some onto the toy and used your hand to spread it over evenly.

Ei pulled her fingers out of Miko's mouth. "Come on, Miko. They're waiting" Ei chose a slightly bigger toy than normal and Miko looked back at Ei hesitating momentarily.

Miko moved to you and positioned herself over your hips, still avoiding direct eye contact with you. You held the toy by the base, to help guide it in. "It's okay, Miko" You tried to make her feel a bit better. She finally looked you in the eyes but only to glare. But you just gave her a sheepish grin.

Miko finally started to let her hips move down and let out a deep breath as the tip slid in. When the toy was about halfway in, Miko whined at how big it was and paused. Ei moved behind her again, and kissed her shoulder blade "It's okay, you can do it Miko" Ei comforted her familiar, her hands carressing Miko's waist.

You proceeded to rest your hands on either side of Miko's waist "Fucking god-" Miko's eyes were shut tight, holding her breath You felt your stomach flutter each time Miko gasped as she sank a little further down.

You watched intently as Miko took the last few centimeters, seeing the toy completely inside your hips now flush against each other. You rubbed soothing circles with your thumb into her hip. Miko's weight pressed the harness into your clit, you were a lot more sensitive than you thought. She took a minute to adjust to the size before trying to move. "Take it slow," Ei was trying to soothe Miko from the pain of stretching around the strap with kisses across her shoulder and back.

Miko hissed back "I know" She started to grind against the strap and repeated again but softer "I-I know" You were resisting the urge to thrust up into her, but the friction of her grinding against you made it hard to resist. As Miko started to rock her hips faster, it brought some relief to the throbbing ache in your clit and you started to breathe heavily in and out of your mouth. Miko's movements transitioned slowly from grinding to moving up and down your strap, her panting turning into lewd moans.

You didn't want to thrust into her and accidentally hurt her so you opted to beg instead. "Miko, please go faster" your voice was breathy.

Miko leaned her upper body forward, placing her hands on either side of your head on the pillow, supporting herself to stay upright. "God, you're so fucking needy" Her tone was condescending but her voice was shaky and filled with pleasure.

Miko started to bounce on the toy faster, and you groaned still wanting more friction against your core, the urge to move your hips in rhythm with hers was unbearable. So you just tightened the grip you had on her hips. You could feel the wetness of your pussy leaking down onto the sheets.

You kept flicking your eyes from Miko's blissed-out face to the wet, obscene sounds of her pussy getting fucked. When she was moving at a quick speed, you couldn't help but slam her hips down to the hilt of your strap. Ei reveled in watching her two needy playthings desperately seek out more pleasure

"Fuck-!" Miko cried out your name. "More" She choked out. You started to push your hips into her, hands still firmly holding Miko's waist. When Miko would slide down, you would thrust up into her roughly, you couldn't stop the sounds from your throat now.

"A-am I going too rough?" You asked tentatively.

Miko growled "No, shit- it's good" Her sentence was barely coherent, and she placed one of her palms against your chest harshly, the weight of her leaning on you was her way of showing she was still in control of you. "Now, shut it and keep going"

You and Miko were so absorbed in the pleasure of one another, that neither of you noticed when Ei got up from the bed to put on the other harness.

Miko closed her eyes "Baby, you're so good. So so good" she said as she approached her orgasm. You were ashamed to admit it but, you had the same tension built just from her riding you.

The pressure of her hand made it a tad hard to breathe "Ah-Miko- I think I'm close" Fucking your hips into Miko wasn't just about her pleasure anymore, you were selfishly doing anything that gave your sensitive bud more pleasure.

Miko's breathing and sounds became more inconsistent. You wanted her to look at you while she came "Wait, Miko, l-look at me," You tried to keep your pace so Miko could finish first, but every inch of your body felt like it was on fire, and with your clit throbbing, you could barely hold on.

She opened her eyes half-lidded. Her sharp nails dug into the pillow, and then she suddenly let out a sharp cry. Sobbing out your name over and over. You didn't last much longer, seconds after Miko tipped over the edge, you felt the heat in your body explode like a firework. The both of you were just whining and chanting the other's name.

Miko let herself fall forward your lips crashing together, moaning into your mouth as you both rode out together. Your orgasm lasted a little longer than normal, you were still bucking your hips into Miko after her orgasm had already ended. She pulled away from your lips "Wait calm down I'm sensitive!" She told you.

You finally rested your hips down against the bed, and Miko collapsed on top of you, strap still inside her. You wrapped your arms around Miko hugging her, your heart was still rapidly beating.

The bed dipped as Ei went to sit next to you both again, she was rubbing Miko's back "You are both so amusing when you're needy" Ei let you have a long moment to recuperate.

Miko sat up carefully, and slowly raised her hips up and off the toy, you were prideful when you saw the entire toy and the front of the harness drenched. Miko then moved to lie next to you, partially slumped against the headboard, after all, riding you tired her out a great deal.

You refocused your attention on Ei, who was now wearing the other strap she had put aside earlier. "Are you up for round two, baby? We don't need to if you're too tired already, but I'd like to give you attention too." You still felt the post-high throbbing in your legs and clit.

"No, no, I'm okay. I want to" You sat up and before you could start loosening the straps of the harness, Ei was already doing it for you, pulling it off you, and setting it aside.

"You're such a good pet, pleasing us" Ei loved to praise when she could. "Sweet puppy, was so patient waiting for your turn" You looked to the side timidly, and Ei placed her hand under your chin, making you look her in the eyes and repeated "You did so good" Her words made you putty in her hands.

"On all fours, over Miko" You moved, to the position Ei told you. Miko's legs separated your knees, and you put your forearms down against the bed.

"Hello, again little one" Miko had already regained her composure after riding you. You sunk your head down to give Miko a quick kiss. "Still need more hm, you're insatiable sometimes"

"I would've been okay with just pleasing you both. I have fun doing that too. And I did already come" You replied. You couldn't see, but you felt Ei shifting behind you.

Miko chuckled "How generous of you. So you call grinding into me wildly just for me?"

"I-" She got you there "It felt good"

Ei interrupted Miko's teasing "Do you need my fingers first?" She ran a finger through your slit, surprising you.

"No, I'm okay I think," You said weakly.

"Excited aren't you" Ei placed her hands on your hips and let the strap move through your wetness. The toy grazed over your clit and you let out a needy whine. Miko just smirked at your reactions, and you shut your eyes.

She positioned herself at the entrance of your cunt and Ei pushed the tip in slowly, and you breathed deeply. "Gentle please, I just came" Ei let a quiet laugh slip out, as she pushed deeper inside, feeling it stretching your walls.

When it pressed against your G-spot you gasped and followed it with a groan. By the time Ei was completely inside, you felt full. It wasn't the biggest thing you've taken, but it still made your arousal drip down your thighs. "Are you okay?" Initially, Ei was always careful when using the strap, and let you get used to it inside. But you just wanted her to start moving already.

"Yes" You replied, and Ei took this as her cue to move. She pulled back and pushed in slowly. Fuck, you asked for her to go gentle but now you just wanted her to take you. She continued pulling in and out at a slow and steady pace for a minute, and then you begged "Ei, faster" Your voice was barely above a whisper.

Ei started to go faster for you, and your quiet sounds turned into loud moans filled with pleasure. Since your eyes were closed you didn't notice when Miko moved her hand until you felt her circle your clit. "Ah!" you cried, the sound seemed to echo through the room. You shot your eyes open to see Miko's devilish smirk under you.

You involuntarily moved your hips forward so Miko would press your clit harder, but Ei pulled your hips back "No moving little one". Miko smacked your clit lightly and you yelped, knowing that you would buck your hips once more. Ei slapped your ass making you yelp again, and pulled your hips back "I said stay still, baby"

You were stuck between wanting to push your hips back into Ei to make her go harder and wanting to grind against Miko's hand, but you tried your hardest to listen and not move. "Ha- harder" You begged again.

"Oh? I thought you said you wanted it gentle today" Ei put more power behind her movements, and your moans got higher and became more frequent. "Needy puppy, I guess it can't be helped." Every time the toy hit that spot inside you, every stroke against your clit sent waves of pleasure throughout your body. The closer you got to your second orgasm, the louder you were.

Miko taunted you "Try to quiet down little one, you don't want everyone to hear you" After saying that she rubbed your clit faster, in all honesty, part of Miko wanted you to embarrass yourself like that.

You let your upper half fall into Miko but kept your hips still, resting your head between the crook of Miko's neck, your back now arched. You pressed your mouth against her shoulder, trying to muffle your increasing volume. Miko took this opportunity to bite around the same spot she did earlier, but without breaking your skin open like last time.

Ei placed a hand in the middle of your arched back "Poor puppy, is it too much?" her tone wasn't remorseful at all, but the fake sympathy fueled the fire and you pushed your hips back into Ei, thankfully she allowed it, but she went ahead and started pounding your cunt harder.

Each sensation and each word said to tease you built that tension inside you, like a rubberband about to snap. You moved your head to uncover your mouth "Ah- shit, I-" You couldn't articulate a single sentence, let alone enunciate a word without a moan breaking it up.

"Pathetic pet can't speak, try again" Ei ridiculed.

You finally screamed out "Close!"

Ei stayed consistent with her movements, but the moment Miko thrummed her fingers faster against your clit, it sent you over the edge. In an instant, the heat in your core and stomach snapped and white-hot pleasure coursed through your body like electricity. you balled your fists and your body shook as you screamed into Miko's shoulder.

Neither of them slowed their movements, trying to prolong your orgasm as long as possible. They only relented when you started to quiet down, once it was all over Miko withdrew her hand from your center.

Ei didn't move but she was still inside you "You okay there little one?" She heard a small 'Mhm' from you. "Okay then, I'm gonna pull out, alright?" You whined, the movement was overstimulating but Ei was just as gentle and careful pulling out as when she first entered you.

After Ei was completely out and moved away to take the harness off, you let the rest of your body collapse on Miko, your entire body pressed against her felt nice. Miko could feel each thump of your heart "I can feel your heart racing out of your chest" She laughed a bit.

Your mind was hazy, but you could finally speak between deep breaths "I'm so tired"

Ei returned sitting on the left of Miko "I know, I know" Ei's scratched gently behind your ear.

You lay there for a couple of minutes before your mind came back to you, "Oh my god, it's so hot" You finally acknowledged your body screaming to get cooled off and you rolled off Miko, laying next to her right on your back.

"I know, your body feels like a furnace" Miko complained and sat up and touched your forehead. You sluggishly moved to sit upright as well and stretched.

"Let's go rinse off together then" Ei suggested. You swung your legs off the bed, limbs feeling like jello, and followed Ei to the bathroom. Ei she stripped off her t-shirt and underwear while Miko moved behind Ei to undo her braid.

You pulled the shower curtain open, stepped in, and then turned the knob of the shower on keeping it cold. The cold water beating down against your skin and your head cooled you down quickly.

After a minute you turned the shower warmer for both of them and had already put soap in your hair. Miko stepped in, and Ei followed seconds after. You rinsed out the suds in your hair and shuffled past them so they could rinse off too. "It seems like I should get a bigger shower installed," Miko said facing toward the showerhead while washing up. "Perhaps, if you'd permit me to sell entrance tickets to the shrine, I could renovate"

"Honestly, Miko. You're still on about that?" Ei chided.

Miko turned her back to the showerhead, letting the water wash out the soap. "It was merely a suggestion" You snickered at the conversation and chose to step out and then Miko stepped out with you. Ei took longer in the shower since her hair was so long.

Miko grabbed one of the towels on the counter and unfolded it. As you were about to grab one, Miko tossed the towel over your head and tousled your hair to dry it. "Hey! What're you doing?!"

"Drying you off, obviously"

The sound of the cloth rubbing against your ears wasn't really enjoyable "Miko, mind the ears!" Ei poked her head out of the shower to see what was going on and chuckled.

She pulled the towel off your head and your hair was all puffed up "All done" Miko had a cheeky grin and handed you the towel she used on you.

"Was that really necessary?" You grumbled and patted your body dry.

Miko took another towel and dried her hair, carefully avoiding her ears "I think so"

Ei shut off the shower and Miko handed her the last towel. You had wrapped the towel around your hips and fixed your hair with a comb in the mirror.

"What if I dry your hair off like that?" Ei asked and patted the middle of Miko's damp hair.

Miko turned on her heel and grabbed Ei's wrist. "Don't even think about it" - You all redressed in clean clothes, Ei and Miko were wearing just underwear and shirts, but you wore only your boxers, for you it was more comfortable to sleep that way.

"I'll be right back, I need to grab something before we sleep. Don't lay down yet" Miko told you before exiting the room, leaving the door open.

Ei took the pitcher of water you brought earlier and poured water into the cups, handing you one. "Thanks, Ei" You graciously took it and sat on the bed waiting for Miko to return.

"Did you enjoy everything we did tonight? I wasn't too rough with you, right?" Ei asked a bit sheepishly as she sat next to you.

You gave her a big grin "Of course I did Ei" You drank some water before talking again "I'd let you know if I didn't like anything," you paused again looking down into your cup. "Uh, you could be rougher if you wanted, I don't mind" You felt your face warm up saying that last part.

Ei noted out loud "I'll keep that in mind for next time then" and then drank her water too. "I'm just... troubled about the idea of hurting someone"

Miko walked back into the room holding a small jar. "Ei, there's a safeword for a reason" Apparently, Miko heard the last part of Ei's worrying from down the hall. "And before you ask, I have no complaints about tonight, have some more confidence in what you here" Ei nodded.

Miko stood directly in front of you and twisted the jar open. "What's that?" You asked, tilting your head to the side, as she dipped her finger in the jar.

"It's just some ointment for your shoulder" Miko lightly applied the cream onto the bite mark. "This jar is for you to keep since you seem to always be scraped up somewhere"

"This one was your fault though" You kidded.

"Hmm, I remember you saying that you liked it" Miko shot back and leaned down to apply some more of the ointment onto the scrape you got earlier.

"Thanks for giving me that, I'll keep it in my bag. It's really sweet of you"

"Don't mention it" Miko twisted the cap back onto the jar and placed it near your stuff.

-

Ei got comfortable under the sheets first, Miko cozied up to Ei on her left, resting her head on Ei's chest and Ei wrapped her arm around Miko. You went to dim the lights, and then Ei lifted the covers for you to get in, then nuzzled your face into Ei's upper arm.

"Sleep well you two" Ei told you both softly

-

A/N: i hope you enjoyed it, i really like the idea of a Youkai Reader from back then. I have some more ideas for this concept, so hopefully, there'll be more stuff coming out soon. (this is also my first genshin fic so please bear with me, I also have only posted like 5 of my works in total so yeah.)

(y’all want a part two?)

[necrotic-nephilim]

for the ask game (3)

au where all robins develop a mental link after fighting some magical criminal of the week. what would they see in each other's minds? what secrets and repressed feelings do they discover? how would they deal with it?

for the ask game!

oooh, i love telepathic links that end up revealing secrets. especially with a family like the Batfam, who are usually so convinced they're good enough at reading each other to not have many secrets kept. so weird reveals are always fun

if i did this, i'd do DamiTim. just because of all the like, "deep dark feelings that are being hidden" for Robin shipping, DamiTim is the most fun for me. you expect DickTim or DickJay or JayTim, even DamiDick. but there's something that's so enjoyable about Damian having his feelings forcibly outted. not just to Tim, but to everyone. the way it'd be an active landmine none of them knowing what to say but all feeling each other's reactions. i honestly think Damian would try to punch somebody about it. (also, if you do a history of TImSteph where they've had sex, Damian would be directly linked to Steph's memories of how Tim was in bed, so that's fun as both something horrifying and enlightening just to screw with his feelings some more.) would they end up together? in my head probably, but it'd be weird and likely toxic bc how do you date someone you know inside out and know exactly what they think of all your flaws and what parts of you they obsess over. the answer is not very well but hey, the sex is good-

i think Jason *directly* feeling how everyone felt about his death would really rock him. he's heard all the apologies, but part of him isn't convinced there's truth to them. so to be crushed by Dick's *grief* over his death would be a come to jesus moment for him. but on the less fun flipside, you have him feeling how Dick feels about him *now*. because Dick doesn't really *like* Jason and deep down, sees Jason as a lost cause. that's his "deep dark secret". and Jason would feel and know that from the one person who he still wants to believe in him. i really do think Jason would have the Worst Time with all this, overwhelmed with everyone's intimate and complex feelings over his death. Jason is a very defensive person when it comes to his death and how reactionary he gets when other people make it about them, not him. so for Jason to have to constantly deal with that in his head, i truly do think he'd lash out a bit. the arguments. yelling at Dick and feeling Dick's guilt and snapping bc Dick has no right to feel guilty now. feeling that Tim viewed Jason as a failure. it's just a damaging mindspace to be in and man do i think Jason would take a While to recover.

oddly though, i think it'd be a good bonding moment for Steph and Jason. we really don't get much exploration of Steph and Jason bonding over dying. bc sure, Steph didn't actually die, but she *did* experience the social death where everyone believed she was dead and mourned her as such for a good while. she also felt *directly* responsible for her own death. a lot of blame falls on Steph for War Games (for the Doylist reasons of sexism but yk) and Jason feels responsible for his own death for walking into a trap. but unlike Jason, Steph had no suit in a case, no memorials, her name held no infamy. so i think she deserves just a bit of righteous fury about how dramatic Jason can be while she just has to move on bc hey, it's not like she *really* died. and she buries those feelings well, but not well enough to hide them from a mental link. and Jason, who hasn't really considered Steph before because he was so wrapped up in his complex over Tim, confronts those feelings with her. if anyone is going to know how he feels, it's going to be her. you could do it platonic or romantic, but i do think when Jason sinks to his lowest, she's the one who snaps him out of it, both with tough love and genuine compassion for his situation.

for the less serious crack of it all: they're all going to have far too intimate knowledge of each other's sex lives. everyone's gonna know Dick has fucked Slade. everyone's gonna know Jason has fucked Talia. in my heart, i believe Tim has slept with Anarky (Lonnie, not Ulysses) and everyone would *know* that too. absolute judgment all around. it's the spider-man meme of "wait you've done WHAT with WHO" and honestly, it gives a nice distraction for the more serious feelings. it's a palette cleanser they can default to. like when the fighting gets a little too serious and they're cutting too deep for comfort, someone's going to blurt out "well at least i didn't fuck Deathstroke." and the whole moment goes awry with laughter. bc i do think, at the end of it once they get through the worst of the angst, they'd be closer for it and self-aware of the ridiculous nature of all this. it's enlightening, in a way to see how they all felt about their time as Robin and the baggage/trauma they hold. even the ugliest feelings they hold for each other don't completely suffocate the fondness/respect.

that said, knowing the baggage/trauma. oof. i don't think Dick has ever fully opened up about his history with Mirage/Tarantula/Liu and now it's forced to sit in the open. Damian has never admitted the worst of being raised in the League. Tim hasn't fully faced the suffocating image of his dead father and his deep-seated want to kill Boomerang. all those ugly truths they stamp down bc well, either you're a vigilante or you're a well adjusted person, are out in the open now. and it's ugly and gruesome to force those thoughts to be shared. they all want to comfort each other for different reasons, while simultaneously not wanting their own trauma to be acknowledged. it'd be fun to see who'd instinctively react to whose trauma first. because it's an overwhelming rush of information, and you just naturally get pulled in certain directions. i think Damian would react to Dick's history of sexual abuse first, whereas Jason would be reacting to the murderous rage TIm is trying to fight off. Tim is reacting to just how much guilt Steph carries about War Games and all of it is very crunchy. there's so much they'd all have to talk about and it'd take days for them to address it all, between the arguments about the ugly parts. would they come out stronger for it? yes. but only if they didn't kill each other in the process. i hesitate to do a "and they come out one big happy family" ending, bc it's not very in canon, but i do think the bond of the Robin mantle is something special. even when the link is broken, they hold onto a freakish understanding of each other. they react and move in sync, can fight together without needing words. are they emotionally on the same page/have they forgiven each other for the worst of it? absolutely not. but they've got each other backs. it's a very much "if you called i'd drop everything to save you. but also we don't have it in us to hang out casually." bond, which i think is deeply underrated in fanfiction. sometimes, you can care about people but you have to do it from a distance.

[dukeofthomas]

It's kinda funny how people reject the comics bc Batman is abusive and it's mostly ignored/not addressed properly... and then instead go read fic where Batman is abusive but it's ignored/not addressed properly

[not-cool-enough-to-scuba-dive]

actually I would quite like to hear your thoughts on gender philosophy in omegaverse worldbuilding? :3

hm. anon, I fear this is a far larger can of worms than you probably anticipated. I'm going to spare you the worst of it by only giving you a short version, but be careful what you wish for.

I'm also hiding it under a cut because even the short version is embarrassingly long.

I'm hardly a connoisseur of omegaverse content, nor would I consider myself anywhere near an expert. I don't want to speak for all fics as I've admittedly not read many. I did do my master's diss about legal gender recognition, so this is more about gender and philosophically sound worldbuilding than an indictment of any particular writing or story tbh.

the short answer is I find omegaverse worldbuilding really interesting, but I've never fully been able to enjoy it due to the way a/b/o identities tend to have a biological determinist slant to them imo, and tendency for a lack of real world implications of what the omegaverse does to gender and character interactions anywhere outside the bedroom. I'd love to figure out a version that's more inclusive and philosophically/ideologically consistent, both with itself and with my own views on real life gender (basically, I want to make it make more sense, have less biological determinism, and be more inclusive of the wider range of human experiences). this is a big task, and ngl I haven't achieved it and don't anticipate doing so any time soon. I have like, a concept in my head, taking apart all the key pieces and putting them together again but different, but to make it thorough enough would require more effort and time than I have because I'm like, employed 😔

I feel like someday if I ever get invited to a powerpoint night though, this could be It.

[agueforts]

me vs eternal grudges abt d20 captions

[fisheito]

SCREMS my snautsticic child he is trying ok!!!!!! one tiny snake human hybrid built from the cave-ground-up, , attempting to learn all the implicit rules of humanness?! as if it isn't already tough enough out here!!!!

[thedrotter]

I have a gift for y'all today !!! 😊 Ever wanted to find a line in Re:Kinder in a single place for the sake of reference?? How about multiple chunks of lines. how about all the little variations that arise in the text with it's many endings, item descriptions, text that comes from interacting with the enviroment, and character info from the menu without having to boot up the game and go through it at long minutes!!???

well i sure did😊 Since I do a lot of fanart and think up my own silly theories and thoughts that need me to reference the game lines a lot, i have made a transcript for it for convenience's sake. A weirdly thorough transcript handwritten and proofread by me including all character lines available in-game. And I'm sharing it with you all today for anyone that wants it !!! :3 To use as a reference for creative fanworks or a quick search for a line in-game, whatever you wish to use it for!!

It uses the english translation of the game by vgperson. So naturally all credit for the game lines available in here is to her and Parun who made the game.

I did my best to organize it in a way easy to digest. Do note that I'm still human, and there's still the chance for mistake in it no matter how much I've proofread it, since I'm not even an english native speaker ^^. But I hope it serves you well nonetheless if you wish to use it.

That's my gift for today!!! Not the usual art, but still a project I'm proud of. Enjoy!!! 😊

[carolinanadeau]

In Praise of Sally Ann Howes

As I've made it one of the purposes of my blog to share photos and songs and general positivity about the wonderful English actress Sally Ann Howes, I thought I'd make a post to talk in much more detail about all the great things about her and why I adore her so much!

This classy English beauty possessed a highly expressive face and eyes, an astonishingly powerful soprano, a great sense of humor, and the world's most charming laugh. One thing I cannot stop saying about Sally Ann is that she did not and does not get nearly enough credit and recognition for her immense talent and prolific career, and it's precisely for that reason that I'm here to do my part in giving it to her!

This overlong rambling post is a combination of biographical information and my personal fawning over her performances... whatever I felt I most wanted to put out there in the world and what I'd like people less familiar with her to know.

Click on Keep Reading and I'll take you on a journey!

As she preferred to work on the stage and didn't really pursue a film career, the catalog of Sally Ann's work that can still be viewed today is unfortunately small - though you can find almost all of her early films on the internet if you look hard! In her early film days, mostly made before she was able to pursue her true passion of musical theatre, her extraordinary singing talents weren't utilized by the producers at all.

However, we were fortunately blessed with exactly one musical film role from her, and it's an iconic one: the aptly-named role of Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), the golden-haired, golden-hearted candy heiress who falls in love with and eventually marries Dick van Dyke's character Caractacus Potts after joining him and his children on a madcap adventure. She's a sweet, intelligent ingenue with hidden depths and one of my favorite sorts of character arcs - the uptight, lonely woman who becomes more and more warm and open as she discovers newfound freedom and joy in life and falls in love.

There is something about Sally Ann that just glows in every scene of Chitty, and it's not only that bright blonde hair! The way she widens her eyes sometimes, the way she raises her eyebrows, her gentle and soft presence in the happiest scenes, and the particular airy lilt she has to her speaking voice are all so distinctive and appealing, and I can't take my eyes off her. And her smile! When I say she glows it's barely even a metaphor, the woman just emits light. 

(Funnily enough, I started to realize that many of the laudatory quotes I've found about her also refer to her in this way, like this quote from a 1965 TV Guide article, from playwright Sidney Kingsley: "She's luminous as an actress. I mean that literally. In Brigadoon she really lit up the stage.")

For me, I'm weak for any actress who can do the defrosted-ice-queen trope so incredibly well. Truly starts out as closed-off and prim, and nearly reverts to that state when she and Caractacus have a Big Misunderstanding near the end, but in the scenes where she's happy and carefree, the warmth just radiates off of her.

She also has the most adorable chemistry with Dick van Dyke in an annoyances-to-friends-to-lovers relationship that absolutely shaped my young brain. Whenever Sally Ann and Dick glance at each other, whether with irritation and frustration early in the film or with warmth and affection later on, their chemistry is obvious and natural, and there's so much expressed in each one of those glances. One has no difficulty believing that these characters are going to be very happily married.

(Here's a cute on-set interview where she talks about, among other things, how easily she and van Dyke clicked.)

While I acknowledge that the character of Caractacus Potts was absolutely originally planned to be an actual Englishman, Dick van Dyke played him with an American accent, and to me they will always be an adorable English-American couple. It's a whole part of the charm of this pairing to me!

Sally Ann also had a great relationship with child actors Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley who played Jeremy and Jemima Potts, and did her best to help make them more comfortable and happy during the many very long days on set. Having been a child film star herself, she knew a great deal about how difficult and alienating it could be. The genuine affection the three of them shared is obvious in their scenes together, especially in the extremely adorable "Truly Scrumptious" number, and it really makes the developing mother-child relationship between the characters so believable.

The beach scene, where so much of the relationship between Truly and Caractacus and the Potts children is developed, is incredibly cute and heartwarming, and a lot of that rides on Sally Ann's performance and how her previously prim-and-proper character shows herself to be warm and loving, once she (literally) lets her hair down. We've already seen how happy the Potts family is together; now we see how Truly fits in perfectly and makes them all even happier.

Look at her! Literally glowing!

(One thing I should mention: I think both the plot and the love story of CCBB are greatly improved if one just treats the "dream sequence" as real events, which was possibly the original intention anyway, so just note that is always the perspective I'm coming from here. It's the only way to make some things make sense and for the characters and their relationships to fully develop.)

"Lovely, Lonely Man" is Truly's big solo moment, and was probably the least comprehensible part of the movie to me as a kid (lol), but is now indisputably one of the very best parts to me as an adult. It's an exquisitely beautiful love song, especially the bridge, and I somehow love it more and more every time I rewatch it. Sally Ann's dreamy, graceful movements and the way the whole scene is shot make her look like a princess, and the slow build of the song is masterfully done. She has this distinctive crisp way of articulating her words while singing, especially the closing consonants like N and M, that I just love to listen to. The string section and the building countermelodies are so beautiful it makes me want to weep. Everyone involved in creating this scene and song deserved an award, I'm being so serious. While it's not the highest of soprano songs and doesn't fully show off Sally Ann's astonishing range, she shows an incredible amount of vocal control here through the many diminuendos and crescendos, and she's mesmerizing to watch and listen to. One of her "glowiest" scenes, for sure!

While I've seen people call this song irrelevant to the plot, I strongly disagree - the romance is part of the plot, of course, and while I didn't fully understand the meaning as a kid, this song establishes how much Truly's outlook on life and hopes for the future have already changed since meeting Caractacus, and how much happier she is with the poor Potts family than she's ever been in her life of luxury. Plus, now we know for certain that she's head over heels for Caractacus, but he doesn't know... increasing the dramatic irony of the pining and yearning to follow!

In the reprise of "Hushabye Mountain", which was sung in a much earlier scene by Dick van Dyke alone, Caractacus loses the will to continue the song because he's overwhelmed with emotion thinking of his children being held captive. Truly comes in to aid him with the final verse - another pivotal moment in the developing romance - and Sally Ann's singing here is nothing short of breathtaking.

And of course, I can't neglect to mention the "Doll on a Music Box" number, where Sally Ann, who was not a trained dancer and in fact considered herself to be "appalling" at it, performs an incredibly precise, incredibly impressive clockwork song-and-dance number while on a spinning turntable! She practiced it so well that she managed to successfully complete the shot in a single take, prompting the stage full of extras to burst into applause.

This is another important character moment for Truly, though it's disguised in a diegetic performance: though it's another thing that went over my head as a child who only got to see the movie once, the lyrics about being trapped up on a music box and longing to be freed by love pretty clearly symbolize how trapped the real Truly's high-society life makes her feel, and how she yearns to break free from class restrictions and live happily-ever-after with Caractacus, as it's only with him and his family that she really feels free.

Then there's that incredibly warm romantic look that Truly and Caractacus share at the end of the song when she silently acknowledges the love confession he's just made while singing in counterpoint with her, though they're still in a dangerous situation and can't give themselves away by appearing too human and breaking their disguises... sadly this vital moment is cut off on all the Youtube videos of the scene I can find, because none of the people who clipped it understand that that's the whole point of it all, apparently. But here's a gif!

The character of Truly doesn't exist at all in the original (quite different) book by James Bond author Ian Fleming - surprising, I know, given her name! - and, honestly, the fact that Truly and the romantic subplot of this movie exist are why it had such a strong impact on me as a child, and very much why I fell in love with it again as an adult. Even though the score is wonderful anyway and the story is charming and magical, I can confidently say that I would not have become as completely enchanted or had such a strong desire to revisit it again and again if there'd been no Truly and no love story. The fact that Sally Ann's performance makes Truly so loveable is, obviously, a pretty crucial factor there.

Sally Ann's delivery of "Well, Mr. Potts... now you'll have to marry me!" after Caractacus kisses Truly... that slide from prim mock-outrage to the playful, warm, you-can-hear-the-smile-in her-voice conclusion is flawless. Not even exaggerating when I say that this was the moment that made me into a hopeless romantic as a 9-year-old child. Sure, this wasn't the first movie I'd seen where two people fall in love and live happily ever after, but I distinctly remember that this was the first romance story that had me in a giggling, kicking-my-feet, "I ship it so hard" state of mind. And after revisiting it as an adult for the first time last year, I have confirmed that yes, child me already had great taste in fictional romances!

Oh, I could say so much about the difference in her body language between the two scenes where Caractacus carries Truly out of her car that's become stuck in a pond. The first time, Truly is affronted and extremely embarrassed by the situation, holding herself so stiffly and awkwardly to avoid an accidental embrace that she causes him to nearly lose his balance and drop her. The second time, when they're in love and they know it, she snuggles right up into his arms without hesitation and it's the cutest thing ever. Sally Ann was 5'6" but looks so tiny in that scene!

(And that kiss! Maybe I'm getting off-topic here in terms of strictly focusing on Sally Ann's contributions, because Dick van Dyke deserves tons of credit for making this kiss so good... but wow, the kiss. Several times I have called it "the Most Kiss they could have gotten away with in a children's movie." Again, giggling, kicking my feet etc.)

While Truly's costumes and hairstyling are rarely historically accurate (the film is set around 1910), the stylized nature of her fashion is iconic and memorable in itself. Sally Ann also completely pulls off playing a fresh-faced ingenue who is 12+ years younger than her actual age - and I do wonder if the aging-down of Sally Ann is at least part of the reason why Truly wears her hair loose throughout most of the movie! Either way, it works perfectly and I was shocked when I first learned how much older she was than her character. (If you watch her in The Admirable Crichton, where she is also in Edwardian costume and was closer to Truly's actual age, she really doesn't look all that much different. If anything, I think she looks even more glowingly beautiful in Chitty!)

Also, as for Truly wearing her hair down... it may just have been an intentionally anachronistic stylistic choice, but in-story, I think it actually contributes to her character by showing a willingness to flout convention and pursue whatever will make her happy instead of what's expected of her, which happens to be a key theme of her character arc.

Another thing that led me to adore Sally Ann as a person as I learned more about her over the last year: in the 1960s, she appeared as a panelist in quite a few episodes of the game show To Tell the Truth (as well as a few episodes of Password), and these can be found on Youtube. I really adore how her personality shines through - she's unfailingly bubbly, witty, self-deprecating, and a bit quirky. Just listening to her speak is a delight and she has one of the best laughs I've ever heard. Here is one of my favorite little moments that I clipped. 

By all accounts, she was a delightful person to know and work with, witty and clever, very professional, and very serious about her craft. She also always maintained a great affection for and pride in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and her role as Truly, which is always a wonderful thing to know about an actor in a beloved role.

Another bonus: here is a super charming interview with her after a backstage disaster at What Makes Sammy Run? on Broadway.

She was also, along with Twiggy and Diahann Carroll (as Julia Baker), one of the first three celebrities to have her likeness made into a Barbie doll.

Two of her earlier films I recommend are the comedies Fools Rush In (1949) and The Admirable Crichton (1957), if you can find them (hint-hint, you can.) You may also be able to find the 1966 TV movie of her reprising her Tony-nominated role of Fiona in Brigadoon with Robert Goulet, and although I feel like the oddly close-up way the film was shot kinda does a disservice to the actors at times, it's still amazing to be able to see and hear her in a role she performed on Broadway.

Richard Rodgers once called Sally Ann "the greatest singer who ever sang on the American musical stage." Now, I don't quote this to claim this superlative as some kind of objective fact. If you know anything about me, I am very, very strongly opposed to pitting women against each other and all the Golden Age sopranos are absolute queens who deserve crowns, no matter how much mainstream success or present-day name-recognition they have/had. I just think it's phenomenal that she received such high praise from a man who worked with many of the best musical theatre singers who ever lived... and to think, many people today have never even heard her voice. Without her performance as Truly Scrumptious, it's possible almost nobody would in the future! I am so glad that Sally Ann's lasting legacy was ensured by such a beloved film role.

Sadly for us, many of the theatrical roles which she originated (and thus, for which cast albums featuring her exist) were in shows that either flopped quickly or at least did not enter the theatrical canon, so she never achieved the level of mainstream recognition she clearly deserves. But Sally Ann also played such legendary and challenging roles as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Fiona MacLaren in Brigadoon (for which she received a Tony nomination), Maria Rainer von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Anna Leonowens in The King and I, and, much later, Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. She received great acclaim for all of these performances and, judging by what we know of her process on My Fair Lady, was excellent at making roles distinctly her own and never merely imitating another performer.

Even in her iconic original role of Truly Scrumptious, you don't get to hear the true full power of Sally Ann's extraordinary soprano. For that, I highly recommend listening to "Another Time, Another Place" from Kwamina (1961), and "Something to Live For" from What Makes Sammy Run? (1964). I'm always sad that we don't have any recordings of her in her "fiery" star turn as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, but you can at least hear her do a Cockney accent, be silly, and sing "With a Little Bit of Luck" with Bing Crosby here!

If it weren't for the enduring success of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, few people might have even heard of Sally Ann Howes today, and that would be a terrible loss. I cannot overstate that I am so grateful that we all know who she is because she played this role and we get to see her give this radiant performance of a character that's all her own. Maybe this sounds strange, but I think the fact that this was Sally Ann's only musical film role (and the ONLY role most people will ever see her in) makes it even more precious, and makes everything she brings to the character that much more distinctive and unique and special.

Both for all of the talent and charm she brings to the role itself, and everything else that I and many other fans have been able to learn of so much of her otherwise-obscure work because of it, the world is incredibly lucky to have the lovely Sally Ann Howes immortalized as our Truly Scrumptious, and I wouldn't have it any other way 💖

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: November 22

“What Kinda Gone” by Chris Cagle

[honorary-fool]

I keep thinking about it on & off, should I make a kin-related genshin blog?

Like predominantly in the format of those kin confession blogs but I don't know if anything else would be added past that, like canon calls or something?

It's so tempting...

[anonyanonymouse]

🙈