#i got this one once and ancient twice which is a pretty good set of results

[vullcanica]

WHAT IS PECULIAR ABOUT YOUR SOUL?

Your soul is... Volatile

There is a deep, painful energy harbored within this soul... At its very core festers malice, and a deeply rooted pain that craves nothing more but to inflict itself onto everything around it. Special care has been given to it- to stop examiners from coming into any harm should they draw too near to it. You coil like a serpent, awaiting a moment to strike. To claim your revenge. It never comes.

Tagged by: @vilestblood 💕

Tagging: @vhgr (any) @chateautangerine @monstriiss @princguard @freak1ish @grownpale (any) @kurjaks @maramcna and you! 🫵

[library-graffiti]

Getting My Goat, Chapter 1

One

“Esther still has some almond croissants if you hurry,” my landlord and neighbor greeted me when I opened my front door that morning. He was sweaty, almost glowing in the light coming up from the street-level door that led to our apartments. He’d obviously been out on a run, but it seemed he’d also stopped at the bakery downstairs to pick up breakfast.

“Good morning to you, too, Leander,” I teased him.

When he got to the top of the stairs, the man faced me, stuck one of his muscular legs out and bowed with great flourish. He should have looked ridiculous. Instead, it was the opposite. With his tan skin, startling green eyes, and hair the color of a crow’s wings, all he needed was a change of clothes to look like he just stepped off the set of a drama that took place in ancient Greece. Instead, he wore loose shorts and a faded graphic tank. Not that I would ever complain about the eye candy. Leander Costas’ appearance was exactly how you’d expect the scion of a wealthy Greek family to look, which was what I knew him to be. Of course, he shattered the image every time he talked. “Good morrow, fair Maya, Lady of Applebaum. The bakery you doth seek yonder is yet replete with thine favorite confection.”

He maintained his bow through his entire speech then looked up at me with a huge grin on his face as he stood. “Was that better?”

I laughed. How could I not? His grandfather, my previous landlord, had been great, but Leander did as good of a job—plus, he made me laugh. “You’re a doofus.” I shook my head at him and moved toward the stairs. “Oh, and thanks for fixing the fire escape yesterday. It didn’t creak last night during that windstorm.”

“Anything for you, fair Maya, Lady of Applebaum. Also, it was a good workout. You see how toned my arms are getting?” He turned and flexed like a body builder, but then he performed another flourish and made a shooing motion. “You don’t want to miss the croissants.”

“Since when does Esther have croissants on Mondays?”

Leander shrugged and made his way into his apartment, finally, leaving me to my errand. He was an odd man, my landlord. But a Monday morning when I had a busy day ahead of me wasn’t the time to think about it. I had a croissant to procure and a meeting to attend.

The bakery downstairs wasn’t the reason I rented this apartment, but it was definitely one of the benefits. Esther, the owner of the eponymous Esther’s Eats & Sweets, grinned at me from behind the counter. “Guessing you’re here for a croissant? I had leftovers after filling a special order for a customer, and luckily Leander reminded me that almond croissants are your favorite. I might have sold my last one otherwise.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. "I noticed how he watches out for you."

“What is that about?” I gestured to her face. “And yes, I’ll take your last almond croissant.”

“Hmph,” she said. “Like you’re going to tell me he’s not pretty. I’m absolutely and completely a lesbian, but even I can see he’s pretty.”

I handed her cash for the croissant as she bagged it for me. “Sure, he’s pretty. That doesn’t merit a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.”

I waved her hand away when she started to give me my change, and pointed instead to the tip jar.

Esther smiled as she dropped the dollar and change into it. “Didn’t you once tell me that you also like men that way?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Yes, on our one ill-fated date, I mentioned being bisexual. It may have come up once or twice since, like, I dunno, that time I went out on a date with a man you introduced me to. Doesn’t mean I want to date every man out there. Especially not ones who are inappropriately younger than me. He can’t be any older than his late thirties, and I’m going to be fifty-three soon.”

“Speaking as your friend, you need to get laid. Of course, I can’t help you. You’re the one who wanted to be my friend instead of my girlfriend—”

I interrupted her. “I’m going to stop you right there. First, that decision was mutual. We agreed the spark between us was friendship and not romance. Don’t think I don’t know that you’re bringing it up to tease me about Leander. Second, just because he’s kind and watches out for me doesn’t mean anything. He watches out for all his tenants. And you know it.”

Esther opened her mouth to speak again, but I held up a hand. “None of your faff.”

“Have to tease you. Requisite for our friendship.” She grinned at me. “By the way, I’m doing a trial run with a new baker. Mouse got into culinary school and is leaving, and I’m happy for them, but I can’t go back to two bakers again. Too old for that shit. The one I like best is this woman who claims to be able to make all the Greek sweets I’m lacking in our offerings.”

“And on that note, I have to go. Got a meeting to run to,” I called over my shoulder as I headed out and back up to my apartment. “Save me some baklava if she works out.”

I made it upstairs and let myself get lost in the rhythms of my day. I’d been with this software company for a little over a year now, and the truth was I loved what I did. We developed software for educational purposes—fun games to teach young kids their letters and math and to teach older kids chemistry and even typing. I wasn’t quite as fulfilled by this as my former job, where I taught others to code, but the pay was better and I got to work from home.

Around noon, I heard Leander leave the apartment building. Leaving or coming into the building was about the only time I heard him. Heck, I heard the bakery more than I heard my landlord—especially when they were cleaning at the end of the day and Esther blasted her seventies rock.

I set my status to “away from computer” and went to reheat some leftover delivery Thai for lunch. I let my mind wander to Esther’s earlier comments about Leander. Even if I wanted to take a lover, it wouldn’t be Leander. As much as the man flirted with me, I didn’t think it was serious. He was like a golden demigod: perfect and untouchable. Especially to me. Even though I didn’t hear him bring lovers home, a man like that had to be getting some touch somewhere. And if he wasn’t? It was neither my concern nor problem.

I sat at my kitchen table to eat, a mystery novel my dining companion. I was almost done with my pad Thai when there was a knock at my door. I tucked my bookmark into the middle of a scene with the detective looking for murder clues to answer that knock. I didn’t bother with the peephole since I knew who it was. Unless I’d buzzed them in, the only person who ever knocked at my door was my landlord.

“Yes, Leander?”

The man in the hallway was freshly showered and dressed in what could only be described as casual chic. Jeans with rips that showed off his muscular runner’s legs, bright white sneakers, and an olive-colored Henley that stretched picture-perfectly over his chest. The man also had the nerve to smell distinctly like sandalwood. He made my leggings and plain T-shirt combination look shabby.

Leander smiled and held out an enormous spider plant in an exquisitely decorated hanging planter. He smiled. “It’s not dead,” he announced with no further explanation.

I, of course, didn’t take the plant. I just looked at my landlord. “Obviously it’s not dead. It’s a beautiful spider plant. But I kill those things.”

“No, you don’t. You didn’t.” He took a half-step into the apartment and continued to hold the planter out. “I rescued the one you threw out. It needed to be repotted.”

I stared at the man and his smile faltered, but he seemed to rally and tried again. “I like plants?”

“Wait. Are you saying this is the one I threw out? But why would you do that?” I stared at him and, somehow, he looked completely different. Leander was still unspeakably handsome, but in place of the cocksure thirty-something was an awkward man whose cheeks took on a pinkish hue as I watched. “I mean, thank you. You didn’t need to do that.”

I finally took the planter and was about to tell Leander it was time for him to go when a thunderous sound came from my hallway. Once the noise got closer, Leander crouched to greet the source of the cacophonous gallop—my enormous, former alley cat, Nimoy.

“Hello, handsome boy,” my landlord crooned as the scruffed-up tabby purred an outboard motor’s song and drooled in happiness.

I left the two of them to return the spider plant to its former home, hanging above the divider between my enormous living room and my much more modest kitchen. When I turned toward them, Nimoy rolled on his back with all four stripey legs up in the air like a golden retriever and begged for tummy rubs.

I cleared my throat and both males jumped as if they’d forgotten I was there. I had to swallow the laugh that bubbled up before I could speak. “Thank you, Leander, for bringing my dead plant back to life, but I need to finish my lunch and get back to work. I’ve got a major deadline this Friday so...” I pointed toward the door.

He stood and gave me a half smile. “I probably should have waited until this evening, but I saw the planter at that little hardware store up at the other end of South Avenue and was excited to bring it to you.”

I looked over at the planter. It was gorgeous, painted in perfect imitation of a Grecian urn with satyrs and nymphs dancing around the sides. It looked expensive. “How much did it cost?”

“You aren’t supposed to ask that about gifts.”

I watched him for a moment then let out a long sigh. “The resurrected spider plant isn’t enough of a gift? Fine. And thank you again, but you need to get out of my apartment now.”

“Of course.” He gave Nimoy one last scritch behind the feline behemoth’s half ear, waved to me, and was gone.

I waited until I heard Leander’s door open and close and I turned to Nimoy. “What was that about? Do you know?”

I shook my head as the closed door but I heard my computer chime with a reminder for my next meeting. It was a major code review, and for the first time since I’d started with the company, I would be the one to run the meeting. I took a couple more hurried bites to finish my lunch, grabbed a can of seltzer from the fridge, and planted myself back in front of my computer.

I told myself I had more important things to think about than confusing gifts from my handsome landlord, so I tore my gaze from the planter and focused on my work.

All through the afternoon, my eyes repeatedly drifted back to the planter. During the larger code review meeting, I managed to pay attention to what was going on. But as soon it was over, I stared at the planter again. I’d had plenty of landlords in my life but none of them had been anything close to as nice as Leander. Not even his grandfather.

When my workday ended, and I powered down my computer, I left my desk to stand in front of the planter. It was a PG version of the typical Grecian urn. The ones I’d seen in art museums were way more sexual, including full-frontal satyrs—some blessed beyond comprehension. These fellows on my planter all had loincloths. I turned it to see if the design was any different on the back and a piece of paper fell out of the leaves.

The note, in Leander’s handwriting, read: “Check to see if the soil is dry to the touch once a week. If it is, water it until moist. If it isn’t, wait another week.” I reached up and found the soil moist. Of course he’d watered it before returning it to me. I smiled at the thought of him taking what I thought was a dead plant, nursing it back to life, and returning it to me. I told myself that Leander was just being nice. No matter what my hormones might have wanted, I wasn’t going to sleep with the man. I put the note down and forced myself to get on with my evening.

Want more? This book is now available for preorder!

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Yesterday night was our last session of my first D&D campaign ever

Last night we drank merrily, saying goodbye (for now) to the 4 adventurers in my first D&D campaign ever, for which I was the DM (1st time ever also). I feel very happy and a little sad also, so I thought I could write it all up here - mostly for me, and for you reading if that interests you.

It was more of a Wrap-up session, we didn't play per se, but I wanted to recap the last scenes, and give the floor to my players to ask some questions and discuss what we've been doing. It was a good idea, I think, it went great, we had time to reminisce and remember the beginnings, the roads not taken and the what-ifs, the monsters and the battles they were traumatized by, and what their characters would do now.

Flashbacks and sneak peeks and more thoughts under the cut

When I started to watch Critical Role, I had no idea what D&D was. All I heard were mentions of it in media (tv shows, mostly). It intrigued me more and more, and I started to look at the rules, and the books published, etc. And then one day on an impulse, I bought the Starter Set : Lost Mine of Phandelver, and sent a message to my sister and some friends, asking if they were interested to see what it was about with me.

In April 2021, with my sister and 3 friends, 4 players in total, we created their characters, and we started truly playing in May 2021. At first, we played only once a month, in person, because Roll20 is awesome for battles but not much for anything else (personal opinion). Plus we were going out again after the pandemic, it felt nice. Then in June 2022, one of my friends and players decided to leave, and we recruited another friend at the same time, so I still had 4 players to manage through and through. They were all pretty much novices like me (only 1 had played before), and so we all learned together during the years. In multiple ways ! small but important things like : who's taking care of the scheduling, who's time is it to host and what food & drink will we bring, who has many dice and can lend them, how can we figure the characters without buying expensive minis (we ended up using fèves, which is a very French thing I will explain now : at the beginning of the year, you gather your friends or colleagues or family or whatever to eat the galette des rois, literally cake of the kings, and whether you make it or bought it, there is always inside 1 very small porcelain figurine, and the person finding it gets to be King/Queen for the day. Yeah it's the same country who decapitated the last king, don't ask. Anyway sometimes people collect the small porcelain figurines, and then their grandchildren sell the collection, and we ended up with a lot for practically nothing.).

In late 2022 and throughout 2023, we decided to try and play more, and managed - with a few exceptions - to play twice a month, which we found was a good rhythm : for me, to not have too much prep work, and for my players, to not forget everything that happened last time. In the meantime, another friend of mine with whom I am having lunch at work with very regularly, got used to hear me talking about "the shit my players did last night" and was very interested in following this as a story ; she asked questions, and gave me a space to think, and even ended giving advice and suggestions ! I'm naming her my unofficial co-DM now. It was nice to have someone know all the twists and the structure of the story, and to exchange ideas and jokes.

One thing I was very happy to do, and was very happy when my players talked about it saying I did a good job : PROPS ! The adventure as written has a few examples of message of hiring mercenaries, strange letters sent by a mysterious figure, etc etc. For one, I took time to write in ink (in my teenage years I was obsessed by calligraphy and I still have a quill), and for another I passed the paper in coffee and tea and then dried it to give it an ancient look. Props like this costs nothing but it's awesome.

During 2022 and 2023, 2 of my players had moved far away, but we managed to set up remote video calls for them, while us 3 others gathered 'round the table, and we even had an elaborate if precarious system to film the map during battles (pictured down). And yes for the final dungeon, I printed the map in extra-large, and ended using the wall to show the progress in exploring !

I won't recap all of the story, it doesn't matter in the end, everyone who's ever played knows that you can do an adventure 30 times and it will end up in 30 different stories. What's interesting was that the Lost Mine of Phandelver is described as "a perfect campaign to start playing" : that I agree with ; but that doesn't mean it does not need work. Thankfully the Internet is awesome, and since it's the most played adventure of 5E, a LOT of people have advices, do nots and dos, stories of their own campaigns, useful links and tools, etc. 1st lesson : if it exists already, use that shit. Use it like the world is ending tomorrow. At the start, I was doing this on my own volition, and prepping way too much, while being scared to change things. Then I was inspired reading reddits posts (yes, it happens), and seeing videos, and I started adding more details of my own - or stuff I borrowed from others Internet strangers. The paradox was that I was getting more comfortable while prepping less, because... I got the hang of it, I think it's what happened !

I still have some frustrations, some I shared last night with my players : easier-than-expected batles for my players (the 1st was a conscious act of mercy, and the battle ended way too quickly of course ; the 2nd was I forgot an important detail of the villain's weapon and could not use it, but in the end she had other stuff and the battle was still epic). 2nd lesson : listen to Matt Mercer when he says that as a DM, you really want to use the nuclear option in your opponent’s arsenal on the opening round. If you don't, you will have regrets. My other big frustration is about the player that decided to leave ; we just didn't understand the game on the same-level, but it makes me a little sad that she left before it could click for her, and we could truly talk about it. Especially since last night, I was overjoyed listening to my players talk each about their "epiphany" of how the game works, and how they got comfortable after feeling this truth, and seeing how "you don't win at D&D, the fun is everything else", and I was like yesssssss YOU you get it. 3d lesson : communication ! (it feels like there's still room for improvement, but we have a nice flow going).

All and all, it was an amazing experience, 10/10, will do it again ; and we will ! we agreed we will come back years from now to Faerûn ! and I'll be back as a DM ! and we'll do another written campaign continuing from level 5 (I know there's written options out there). In the meantime though, my sister is leaving our group just for this year, but we're going to keep playing at 4. And this time, I'll be a player !! One of my former players, the amazing @greetingsprogramms will be our DM : she already did 2 one-shots throughout the 2 years, and she did a fantastic job. We're going where a lot of fantasy people have not gone before : spaaaaaaace !

[bonesandthebees]

You’re reading 20 (25)?! Damn that’s a lot. I’m trying to work my way back into reading books again over reading fanfic. I thought 5 is a good starting point and if I read more I can do 10 next year.

Also, I just had a lot of mandatory reading for my English courses, which made it really difficult to read for me. I’ve had years where I needed to read 600 pages per semester, but the books never match up exactly and the prof always pick a book too, so it was like 4-6 books just during the school year and I could rarely pick something I wanted because it would have to be British English or modernism or realism or certain authors. So now I have accumulated a lot of books I want to read and I need to catch up.

The excel is mainly so I can keep track of what we have and where it is. I also log owner, genre and language for the fun of it (currently up to 4 languages but I swear we have a book in Spanish somewhere). Some books we have twice, once in the original English and the second a Dutch translation (like the Book Thief). It also allows me to learn what books my parents have so as can find them when I want to read them. (E.g. I did not know we had the Princess Bride, it might have been mentioned, but what do you mean it’s been in the dining room this whole time? I will be reading that some time soon.)

Also, shifting the books around into different categories is fun, because as now know my mom has an entire shift of historical fiction and so many good thrillers. And I can find books based on genre and then author alphabetically. And I get to use all our different book stops as dividers between categories. It’s fun I like organising. (Also, I now no longer have a stack of like 4 book that did not fit in my shelves thanks to shifting things around and purging a few.)

Now I just need a ‘station’ for the library books because my mom reads so many of them (she reads at least 40 books a year I don’t know how she does it. And usually she reads multiple books at the same time too. Though I think reading like an hour every day at least does help, but I ain’t got time for that).

P.s. what’s the last book you read?

-🌲

I'm an overachiever lol I got back into reading books and decided to set a super lofty goal for myself so I had to make a habit of it to follow through. I think 5 books is a great goal though! and if it goes well yeah you can increase it to 10 next year, I think that's a very smart way to do it

I 100% understand not having the time and/or mental energy for reading when you have a ton of assigned reading in school. not being in school right now definitely gives me more time and brain power for that stuff but I'm sure when I go back to grad school eventually I'm going to drop off a bit with my reading

that's such an organized excel sheet I love that. organizing it by languages as well is especially cool. I'm a lame monolingual (technically I can read a tiny bit of spanish but definitely not enough to read an entire book) so all my books are in english. that all sounds super helpful though for figuring out what book to read next

40 books a year??? insane. I have friends who read 50 a year and I'm like how the hell do you do that. I also don't get how she reads more than one book at a time. I have to zero in on whatever book I'm reading I can't flip between different ones. I try to read for about an hour every night but sometimes it ends up only being half an hour a night or if I'm tired I just don't read at all, but I'm pretty good about keeping up the habit

right now the book I'm currently reading is The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin (sequel to The Fifth Season), but before that the last book I finished was Sparrow by James Hynes. It was really good, but also incredibly dark. It's a historical fiction novel set in the latter half of the Ancient Roman Empire about a slave boy growing up in a brothel. I did love how real and tangible it made living in the Roman Empire feel but man. It also just made me depressed. like I appreciated how it didn't shy away from the brutal aspects of slave life in Ancient Rome but man I really needed a fantasy escape after that hence why I'm now reading The Obelisk Gate. (Also the ending kind of fell flat for me, but everything up until then was incredibly well written and really engaging)

[acelucky]

NYE Post

I love a good NYE post where I summarise the ups and downs of the year and put into thoughts what I’m looking forward to next year. I try to keep it brief, I rarely succeed. I feel this is essentially like those old fashioned round robin letters people still occasionally do in Christmas cards!

Bad bits - All the World Events/cost of living and energy crisis/War and weather aside... I finally caught covid, an old friend passed away in horrible circumstances, my dear bunny Cloud died in June, a relative has fallen very ill and may not have long left to live and at the start of the year my mental health was in shocking shape. I also broke my wrist playing 5-aside football with work in September.

The Good - I completed an amazing course of therapy which has left me feeling so much more confident and happy in myself - it really has changed my outlook on life. I saw the Francis Bacon exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in March, I’ve also visited several fascinating museums and exhibitions. There’s been lots of concerts, the most amazing being seeing Placebo again at Portsmouth Guildhall, seeing Joe Jackson with my dad and after years of trying to see them live, getting to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at all points east festival with @cassandrafey  My husband and I had a long road trip up to the lake district to visit his family as well as see where he grew up and visit some of my favourite places too, it was lovely. I did a 27 and a half mile walk with work for charity (The Surrey Three Peaks challenge but we got a bit lost), it was the most physically difficult thing I’ve done in my life and I was so proud of myself. For my birthday we went to Longleat Safari and stayed overnight nearby - we fed the lorikeets and the seals, it was absolutely perfect.  In October my husband and I went abroad for the first time since June 2019, we went to Rhodes, Greece and it was beautiful, relaxing and romantic. We had a lovely wedding anniversary and went to the Theatre to see Swan Lake. And finally we had a 3 night family holiday to Bruges where we experienced all the magic of late Autumn/cold crisp winter and saw all the Christmas lights.

New Year’s Resolutions - I pretty much have one this year and that is simply. To be more mindful. More mindful about what I spend my money on, what I eat, how I take care of myself, how I react to situations, what I reveal about myself at work, how much I drink at comedy gigs, what and who I spend time and energy on. 

Looking to 2023 - On the one hand next year already has some very big plans and will be busy, but due to this my plan is to keep other times quieter than usual and focus more on me and the relationships I hold dear/my home. I’ll still be performing comedy but not doing as much or chasing it, I’ll continue to run the comedy night’s I run and will still perform once or twice a month at new gigs/the best gigs/gigs worth doing and am doing a Split show at Brighton and Ventnor fringe festivals, but that’s it. I want to focus more on the funeral industry and potential career change and my writing.

Plans for 2023 - There’s a few loose ones like my husband and I hopefully going to Ireland for a week. But set in stone the biggest adventure I have is going to New Zealand with my dad in May (and a night in Singapore) to explore, show him my favourite places and see family. We have Beltane Festival at the end of April at Butser Ancient Farm and in September I’m off to Budapest with the wonderful @cassandrafey to see IAMX. Oh and we may have bought tickets to see Def Leppard and Motley Crue in London....

So that’s my re-cap for the year, whether anyone reads it or not, it strangely makes me feel better knowing I’ve written it all down and can reflect in time to come.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very Happy New Year! 

(Photos are of: Cloud the bunny, Sunset in Rhodes, me on my birthday, The Lake District with my husband, Bruges)

[ghostingships]

Four ( Favor for Favor )

Ghost had tried to creep quietly back into the ravine, taking their time on the ladder and not wake any of the inhabitants of the ravine. The forest was still once again as they approached the living part of the Ravine, starting to take off their armor as quietly as they could. Unfortunately for them, Vist walked out from behind the curtain, looking at Cassius with an expression they couldn't place in the dim moonlight.

"Vist—"

"Where did you go?" Vist interrupted, crossing her arms, "I woke up and you were just gone! I was so worried."

Ghost scrambled for the right words to say. "I…I thought I heard another wolf pack, so…so I went to go check it out." Well, they sounded suspicious as hell. Vist could definitely see right through their terrible lie.

"Uh-huh."

After a beat, Ghost sighed. "You have to promise not to get mad."

Vist narrowed her eye. "This ought to be good."

"A few days ago, over in Wayford, a bunch of piglins had come from the nether and I did what I do best. Then, when the square was almost clear, I saw one who had just left his pockets open! I…I didn't think he'd—"

"No…"

"He caught me, and I've been so nervous about him catching us at the Ravine. I've seen him in the woods twice since then, and he said he's looking for some ancient legend."

"You talked to him?" Vist put a hand to her face, taking in a deep breath.

"Not only that, I saved him from a wolf pack."

Vist glared at Ghost. "That's where the pelts came from."

Instead of mentioning the fact Chad had also seen them use forbidden magic, they just nodded, a knot forming in their throat. "I'm just scared, Vist."

Vist looked at Ghost for a few seconds more before blowing out a breath, uncrossing her arms. She walked over to Cassius and put a hand on their arm. "It's ok to be scared, Ghost. I just…don't know why you kept this from me."

"You're already dealing with preparations for the winter, and I just…I just didn't want to add to that," Ghost's voice wavered as they looked down at the ground, wishing that they hadn't just started to cry. Then, they felt arms wrap around them, a good, solid hug enveloped them. Vist leaned them into her.

"It's ok, Ghost, it's ok." Vist muttered while Ghost silently sobbed into her shoulder. All of the weight of the winter and having to live in some cave instead of a nice warm house had worn them down. They just needed to lean on someone and let them help.

"…thank you," Ghost whispered, having wrapped their own arms around Vist.

"I would do it again one hundred times."

Ghost was the first to let go, wiping their face on the back of their hand. "I'm…I'm gonna take off my armor and go to sleep."

Vist smiled at them. "Sounds good. Have a good night, Cassius."

Ghost nodded, then got to work unhooking their armor, setting it down near the entrance to the living section. After this night they decided to ditch changing and just went to bed in their everyday clothes, almost instantly passing out as soon as their face hit the pillow.

And then they were awake again, in the pitch black place with the two glowing orbs. They sighed, looking around them and seeing absolutely nothing. Ghost turned back to the orbs, which they knew were the Twin Gods, Una and Verset, the green and blue entities.

"They awaken." Una said.

"They were always awake." Verset answered.

"Why am I here again?" They asked the orbs, tired of having the most restless dreams out of their family.

Una. "To learn."

Verset. "To remember."

"Remember? What would I need to remember? I have a pretty clear memory as is."

"Remember who you are."

"Remember who you were."

Cassius fiddled with their robe sleeve, having expected to get no answers. "Alright, fine, I guess I'll try to remember."

"You'll get help."

"You have help."

"Ah. So I'm guessing Vist—"

"No. Not her, help approaches."

"Help has already approached." and

They looked at the orbs in disbelief. "I'll keep that in mind, then. Can I please go back to regular sleep now?"

"Our time grows short, the darkness nears, Creator"

"Our time grows short, the dawn approaches, Creator"

Ghost woke up, seeing the sky having taken on the dark, deep blue of the predawn. Running their hand through their hair, they decided they'd try to grab a few more minutes of sleep before everyone else woke up. The rest they did get was dreamless, and entirely what they needed after another dream of the Twin Gods. When they did wake, they saw the sun shine almost overhead, and panicked, running out of the sleeping area. They saw Mellick and Vist working as they usually did, but when Vist spotted them, she smiled and chuckled, walking over to them.

"Last night take you out? You haven't slept that heavy since summer."

"I…Yeah, I guess." Cassius scratched the back of their neck, looking around at the ravine. "Is there anything else that needs to be done before winter?"

"Not at all, we're all ready to hunker down." Vist clapped a hand on their shoulder. "You don't need to worry so much anymore."

They let out a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding, a wave of relief crashing through them. "Well, that takes a lot off of my chest."

"I'm glad," Vist said, chuckling, "You deserve to rest."

"So do you, Vist."

"Ghost!!"

They looked over at Mellick, who was waving them over. Ghost walked over, a smile gracing their lips as they looked at the notebook which, of course, was now full of notes and doodles he had made. Vist had been right, the notebook was good to get for him, and he had already made it his own. He held up the notebook so Ghost could see the glowroot he had sketched, which was sitting in front of him. His sketch had many details, and Mellick's handwriting around them was surprisingly neat for someone who was always going a million miles per hour.

"Nice job, Mellick. Pretty soon you'll have a whole catalogue of every single species in the woods."

"Yeah! I can't wait for spring, so I can see all of the plants and start sketching out how they look in the wild. It's gonna be a big help."

"It really is," Ghost said, mood lifted by Mellick's excitement. "Hmm…Know what I think we should do today, guys?"

Their two friends turned to them, a confused expression across their faces.

"We should go walk around Wayford, just take in the sights."

Mellick scrambled to his feet instantly. "I get to go to Wayford with you two! In the daylight!"

Vist, however, looked more concerned. "Cassius, are you sure? I'm not sure how long the hiding potion will hide his spider features, and I know you wouldn't want him to get caught by someone in the middle of the square."

"It'll be fine, Vist, it'll be a short little outing before winter sets in and most of the stalls close up."

Vist huffed. "Fine, if you're sure on it." She waved to Mellick, "C'mon, Mells, let's get the potion ready."

Mellick let out a small squeak of excitement and ran off to join Vist while Ghost was alone with their thoughts. They weren't just going on an outing just because, they were trying to find out what the gods had been saying. Help approaches? What could it mean? And what about the name Creator? The dreams wouldn't stop until they knew the answer, they felt this assumption was true, but they didn't have a clue where to start looking. It seemed like an impossible task set upon them by the Twin Gods.

"We're ready!" Vist called, and Ghost spun to look at the pair. They'd mostly gotten used to how Vist looked when the skeleton part of her was hidden, but Ghost had never seen Mellick this…human before. It almost scared them; they would have thought he was a stranger if the same voice didn't come out his throat which Ghost knew well.

"What do you think!" Mellick half exclaimed, half asked, "I think it looks good!"

"It does look good, Mells. C'mon," They said, turning towards the ladder, "let's get going."

And there they went, Mellick chattering away the entire walk up to Wayford, and even when they got into the square. Ghost had to keep a close watch on him, because he was bouncing from place to place, looking at all of the wares and food and people around him. These sights were a lot more than he'd ever seen, and Ghost was glad they'd get to watch him experience Wayford for the first time.

Then, out of the corner of their eye, they spotted someone. A tall, broad piglin they'd already bumped into three times. Chad. Of course, just when they went looking for answers, another obstacle had gotten in their way. There was no way they'd be able to ask around about the Twin Gods. Worship of them had been forbidden, along with the ancient language, and Chad was likely to watch their every step as they went about Wayford. They pinched the bridge of their nose, letting out a long suffering sigh. Whatever, let today bring whatever it wanted, they'd be able to deal with it.

Chad approached the trio, trying to look casual instead of just marching straight towards Ghost. Of course, with him being taller than most and the most grim face this side of the sea, most people backed out of his way. Cassius saw him approaching, keeping it to a small glance before turning back to Mellick, who wanted to show them something he had found while running around the square. It wasn't enough to steer the piglin away completely, but it allowed them to gather their thoughts on how this interaction was going to go.

"Hello," Chad said, dipping into a small bow, "it's a pleasure to see you again."

They scoffed. "Since when did we get this cordial, Chad?"

Vist turned to look at the two, looking back rapidly from Ghost, to Chad, to Ghost again. Eventually, she just gestured at Chad, to which Ghost nodded. Chad watched as all of this went on, a slightly confused look on his face. What was going on between these two? He had no idea, no idea at all. "Uh. Well, I…"

"At a loss for words, Chad? I thought you'd be a smooth talker, being a noble and all."

"Hey, I'm not just a—"

"Ghost!!!"

They whipped around to see Mellick running at them, almost running into them with how fast he was going. Ghost put out a hand to slow him down, and Mellick looked at Chad. "Who's this?"

"This is Chad, a piglin a met while in town once."

"Woooooah, so cool!" Mellick exclaimed, grabbing and shaking the piglin's hand. "So you're from the Nether? Is it hot? Well it probably is hot but I heard theres places where it's not so hot so I figured you'd know more about those places than I do…"

Mellick continued to ramble at the helpless piglin, who just glared at Ghost, who only returned a smirk to him. Vist had a hand up to her mouth, resisting the urge to chuckle at this giant piglin trapped in the questioning of a small teenager. It truly was a sight to see.

"Yes, there are places that are cooler. Now, I don't have time for more questions—"

"C'mon, Chad, there's always time for questions." Ghost cut him a large grin, splitting across their face, daring him to actually leave.

"Not when you're—"

"Hey!" Vist exclaimed, an idea suddenly coming to her, "We should go somewhere to eat, especially since Mr. Noble here seems to be loaded."

Mellick looked at Vist and then back to Chad. "Can we? I've never eaten at any of the restaurants here! It'd be so cool!!!"

Chad looked to Cassius again, an almost pleading look in his face. All Ghost did in reply was chuckle. "It would be cool, wouldn't it?"

Now knowing Ghost was refusing to be of any help, Chad sighed. "Alright, fine! But that's all I'm going to pay for, just a meal."

Mellick let out a whoop and started running circles around them, excitement in the air. Ghost and Vist looked at each other, a large smile on both of their faces. This was going to be fun, an absolutely hysterical time.

"So, Mellick, where do you wanna eat?" Ghost said, catching Mellick out of his circling by grabbing his shoulder. "Since it was your idea and all."

"Oooooo, I don't know! Maybe you and Vist can choose?"

"We sure can, buddy!" Ghost gently punched his shoulder, whirling back to the other two. "I think I know a place! The Seaside, it's one of the best places out here."

"And the most expensive," Chad grumbled.

"What was that, my dear noble friend?"

"I said, I'm not a—"

"I'm bored let's go!!!" Mellick exclaimed, starting to walk away from the group. Ghost and Vist hurried after him, leaving Chad in the dust. For a second, he considered just walking away from all of this, but he still needed answers, and he knew this Ghost, had them. He hurried after them, trying not to bump into the surrounding stands and carts.

Mellick, Ghost, and Vist were all crowded around one of the windows to the restaurant, looking inside with dazzled faces. Chad saw this as he approached, not understanding. Surely they'd been here at least once? Even if Ghost had to thieve in order to make ends meet, they must have had enough to go here once? It wasn't too expensive, not by any standard. Chad sighed, tapping Ghost on shoulder. "Are we gonna go in anytime soon?"

"We were waiting up for you," Ghost said, tapping Mellick and Vist on their shoulders. They both spun around, and looked sheepish, like they'd been cause doing something they weren't supposed to do. "We're going inside, gang! Best behavior."

"Aye aye captain," both Vist and Mellick answered, giving Ghost a sarcastic salute. Ghost barked out a short laugh. In they all went, the restaurant seemed so much fancier inside than through the window, the walls a nice white color with gold accents, paintings hung up on every wall. It looked absolutely beautiful.

"Woaaaah," Ghost said, looking around, amazement clearly on their face. Chad frowned at them. Where exactly had they been living? Most houses in Wayford almost looked like this on the inside, bar the gold accents, and even if the house didn't look the best, it'd still look like this.

Eventually, Chad broke his silence. "This is nothing, you should see some of the Nether restaurants. They're five times fancier than this, and gold is in much more abundance." Chad walked in front of the group, turning to talk to them. "Lava fountains and high vaulted ceilings, a wither rose on every table, absolutely stunning."

The group fell silent, all looking at each other. Nether restaurants sounded like a stunning place to eat at. "That…does sound amazing," Vist half whispered to Ghost, looking around the room again. She almost couldn't imagine it.

"Well, let's get sat down, then, shall we?" Ghost said, having broken through their wonder. "Chad, can you…do all of this for us? We don't do this, at all."

"…at all?" Chad quietly questioned to himself. "Uh, yeah, I can do it." He approached the front, clearing his throat, "Chakdtht'Bulgd, requesting a table for four, please."

"Absolutely!" The receptionist exclaimed, "right this way."

Chad gestured at the others to follow him as they followed to their table. Mellick ran his hands over the tablecloth, stunned by how it felt against his fingers. Vist also looked at the tablecloth, as if trying to glean how to make it from just how it looked alone. Ghost sighed, shaking their head at the two, a soft grin playing across their face. Chad felt genuinely bad at this, at how amazed they were by something Chad had seen a hundred times before.

A waiter came over and handed them all menus, pouring water into glasses for all of them. Mellick stared in wonder at the glass, how anyone could carve and shape it into the crystalline structure before him. Vist looked at the water, seeing how clear and pure the drink was. They'd been drinking water from the stream for years, and though they boiled it, it always had a murky look about it.

Chad looked over at Ghost, who was sipping on the water, looking out the window. The bright, cold day outside. If only they had time to ask for answers before Chad had spotted them, then they would have loved this day even more. At least they could say they got an…enemy to buy them a meal. Where they actually enemies with Chad? Sure, they held some animosity towards each other, but they had still helped them out, not of their own accord of course.

Ghost finally noticed Chad looking at them. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, not at all, I just…" Chad trailed off, looking away from Ghost and sipping his water.

Ghost shrugged, looking through the menu. Half of the things on here would take forever to afford, even if they had the best luck in the world at finding things like wolves. Mutton? They'd never even heard of it. "Hey, Chad?"

Chad looked back over at Ghost, "Yeah?"

"What's mutton?"

Chad stared at Ghost, blinking in surprise. They'd never heard of mutton? What did they mean 'what's mutton?' Had they never heard this term be used before? "It's, uh, it's sheep meat."

"Oh!" Ghost softly exclaimed, "That's what they call it."

"Did…you not know that?"

Ghost shook their head, "No, people usually just said sheep meat, not…mutton."

Chad frowned again, looking at the other two. So that's how poor they were? They were fugitives or something, but Ghost had saved him multiple times, even when it would have benefitted them to leave him for dead. There was no way they'd be fugitive murderers or anything of the kind…right?

Eventually, the waiter came back, and took their orders. Then, they whisked the menu away, leaving the group to chat amongst each other. The air was awkward at first, but then Ghost and Chad said at the same time, "So I have que—"

They both froze, staring at each other. Vist and Mellick glanced at them, and then each other, Vist raising a hand to her mouth to keep a chuckle in.

Chad nodded at Ghost, "You first."

"Uh, well…I wanted to know more about the legend you spoke of, out in the woods."

Mellick looked at Cassius. "You saw each other in the woods?"

Ghost glanced back at Mellick, nodding once. "Yes, we did. Last night."

"And you didn't tell us?" Mellick said, looking at Vist.

"I…" Ghost looked over at Vist, who showed no emotion at Mellick's question. "I was going to tell you guys sooner, but I also didn't want to worry you."

"Mmmm…" Mellick frowned. "I guess that's understandable."

"Thank you, Mells." Ghost let out a small breath, then looked back over at Chad. "So, the legend."

"The legend." Chad repeated hesitantly. He didn't want to tell Ghost at all, even if they had saved his life. They were still a thief, and could just take the armor and weapons right out from under him. He rubbed his face, taking a deep breath and sighing, might as well give them this in return for saving him, twice. "It goes like this, there was once this warrior, created by the Twin Gods, to right the wrongs of mortals in the world. I'm trying to find this warrior's armor."

"Hmmm," Ghost said, a frown growing on their face, "Do you know anything else?"

Chad pursed his lips, then spoke, "The warrior is said to be reborn in times of need to help restore balance to the Three Planes. It's been believed they've quit being reincarnated, so magic has been outlawed to try and at least have some safety."

Ghost took a deep breath. So what did this mean for them? There was no way they were going on a quest to find this warrior, Twin Gods or not. Winter was almost here, and travel during winter was hard in the Overworld. After a beat, they lifted their head again, a small smile on their face. "Thank you, then."

"Oh, you're welcome," Chad said, "But now it's my turn for a question. Why do you keep saving me?"

The air grew silent, Ghost looking down at their hands. Why had they saved him? They weren't good by any means, and Chad had only gotten in their way ever since they met him; it would have been better to leave him for dead. They took a deep breath in, and said, "No clue." They leaned back in their chair. "Just keeps happening. Fortunately for you, not so fortunately for me." Ghost crossed their arms, looking at Chad. There, this was the answer, they didn't know. If only they could say the same for everything else.

Chad looked at them, eyes slightly squinted. "Yeah, sure. And why were--"

"Hey, I answered your one question." Ghost said, laying their hands on the table, "If you want to ask another one, let me question you again."

Chad sighed. What a tough nut to crack. He just wanted to know what this Ghost knew, since it seemed they knew more than they let on, but he didn't want to reveal his entire hand to them. After a small pause, he said, "Sure, fine, go ahead."

Ghost smiled. "Thanks. Why are you searching for this magical armor?"

Chad was quiet for beat, and then Chad said, "I just want to be able to protect my home, warrior or none."

Everyone went quiet after, a common wish between all of them, to protect their homes. Then the food came, and Ghost, Vist, and Mellick all stared at their plates before digging in like starving men. Chad ate slowly, thoughts swirling around his head. None of what he assumed about Ghost made sense, they knew more and less than he did, and it seemed like they weren't just a simple thief. Who was this person?

Eventually, they all finished their meals and left the Seaside, being greeted with the day starting to wind down. Ghost sighed and looked around at the others. They'd managed to get some answers today, thanks to Chad of all people, but they were afraid of what it meant for them and the Twin Gods. A quest to find the reborn warrior? It seemed inevitable at this point, but a small whisper of hope floated in their mind; a hope the quest could at least wait til the first thaw. They were ripped from their thoughts by a tap on their shoulder. They looked to see Vist.

Vist gestured at Mellick with her head, making a nervous face. Ghost nodded and stretched. "Weeeeeelp, it's time for us to get out of here, thanks for the meal, Chad."

"We're not done here." Chad said, walking in front of Ghost and crossing his arms, "You still owe me an answer."

"Ah," Ghost said, "Well, I suppose I can answer one more thing." They looked to Vist and Mellick. "You two should go on ahead, get some rest from this exciting day."

Vist nodded and grabbed Mellick's arm, turning and walking away. Mellick said, over his shoulder, "Bye!!"

Once the other two were out of sight, Ghost turned to Chad, relaxed demeanor still up as a guard to whatever lay next. "Your question?"

"My question," Chad said, lowering himself to Ghost's height, "is why you were in the forest? Twice? It…can't be wolves, at this point."

Ghost let out a sharp bark of a laugh. "You assume too much, Chad. I'm but a simple thief, looking to take my share of treasure from the world." A sharp smile fell across their face, as if goading him into questioning more.

Chad just squinted at Ghost, then sighed. "Fine, go then, but if we meet again, I'm taking it as a sign something more is happening with you."

Ghost nodded, walking circles through the streets to try and lose anyone who might think of following them. Eventually, they got back to the Ravine, where Vist and Mellick were asleep. After this long day, Ghost barely changed and just flopped into their bedding, almost instantly passing out.

[gojuo]

Hello can i ask you a quick question can i have your opinion of the strong bastards please i know you don’t enjoy them and i personally think they are hollow af and without substance but what do you think im curious

Hmm I don't hate them really. I think they're spoiled and protected from consequences all the time, which is bad parenting, but the worst thing about them is their parents in my opinion. Rhaenyra and Harwin knew very well what trying to pass off bastards as trueborns set to inherit the Iron Throne meant (exile/death), yet they still decided to have children. Jace could have been an accident, fine, but then they went on to have 2 more kids, which is just awful. A good parent that actually cared for her children would never put them in such a precarious and deathly situation, yet Rhaenyra and Harwin still did it. Not once, not twice, but three fucking times. Rhaenyra having bastards is not high treason, it is the fact that she tries to pass them off as trueborn which is. The way to prevent her children's execution/exile would be to abdicate from the succession and just live her life as a normal noblewoman, yet she did not do this, therefore making sure that her children would always be on death's door. Jace, Luke and Joff did not deserve that. I don't believe that children should have to pay for their parents' sins and in the show we know that both Jace and Luke know they are bastards. I imagine growing up with the knowledge that at any moment in time you could be executed just for being born was extremely damaging to their psyche, but it was also made very clear to them from a very young age that they would always be protected by the crown. Which led to their sheltered/spoiled upbringing (less noticeable in Jace than in Luke). They got away with everything, with maiming and permanently disabling the king's son, with being bastards who by law cannot inherit yet still being pushed to inherit the IT & Driftmark, with never apologizing for any of the wrongs they have committed, etc. The example set by the adults around them led to Luke (less so in Jace's case and Joff is still a little child so let's forget him) getting away for years with his awful behavior towards Aemond. Aemond is the king's son, Luke is the king's grandson. In all fairness, Aemond is closer to the king than Luke is, yet Viserys clearly and publicly showed the entire court which of the two he actually gave protection to and which one he did not grant such sympathies towards. It's what led to Luke getting away with not once in his entire life apologizing for permanently disabling a prince. That's pretty fucking horrible. Losing an eye is not the same as getting a cut on your arm, yet Luke never had to face any consequences for it. It happened and that was it for Luke, but for his victim, for Aemond, his entire life changed. Then he had the gall to scoff at an ancient bullying joke right in Aemond's face. Like ???? Who tf even remembers such a memory from back when you were 5 ten years later? It just goes on to shows how Luke was unrepentant of any wrong he has committed against Aemond, and that's awful. Aemond deserved an apology. Aemond deserved multiple apologies actually and he deserved acknowledgement. But he never did. Everyone just moved on like it never happened, but Aemond has the permanent psychical evidence of why he could not just "move on". He was only 10 years old...

I'm lukewarm towards the Strong children. Jace is an ok character, even though he is just your average nice guy with little personality outside of being nice. I don't have any strong feelings against him. Luke is a different story as you've just read. I don't hate him, but I hate that his parents raised him to be this way. I don't think he deserved to die while terrorized, but I also don't mourn him. Joffrey is just a little kid so no opinions on him really.

[bonelessghoul]

Until My Last Breath

requested by: @just-deka

summary: A heartrender in the rankings of the Crows and with an unspoken relationship with Kaz Brekker finds herself in trouble during a heist when there is a run in with the Dime Lions. When Kaz fights his way in to get her out of the mess it became, the two end up trapped and fighting for their lives. But in their last moments, the truth comes out. 

note: LMAO THIS WAS THE BEST WAY I COULD SUM UP THE REQUEST, but I was genuinely panicking at the end of this hoping this turned out the way you wanted it to!! Hope you enjoy :)

~

If you knew your life was going to end, what would you do? That would be a fun question to answer, but not if you only had minutes to live. Maybe hours. Hours was too optimistic though, and they realized that if they weren’t found soon, then the light in their eyes would be put out forever.

It was pure misery and bliss all at once as they stared at each other, the crushing weight of the rubble they were trapped under causing a flicker of fear deep in their stomachs. The things they wanted to say to each other could wrap around the world twice, but they settled with an endearing yet pained look only they knew with nothing but the space between their fingerprints reaching out to one another. It hurt to be so close and unable to touch.

If you had minutes to live, who would be the last face you’d want to see?

~

The chandeliers spaced throughout the high ceiling of the Crow Club gave a vintage touch with its dim light, making the deep red curtains around the room seem darker and masking the daylight from the outdoors. But tucked away in the second story was Kaz Brekker’s office. It was his solace away from the clamor of the club that was only muffled from where he sat hunched over his desk.

The midday crowd was already filling the club to the brim from the booths to the game tables and every space in between.  

But one figure slipped through it with ease, weaving in and out in a fresh white blouse, cinched in the middle and sleeves like balloons like an angel. It was like clockwork when you would find your way up the stairs to the office, bypassing the allure of the liquor and games Jesper engorged himself with. You were busy back in your room at the Slat, tinkering with new scraps of the latest mechanics you dug for, but like you said; your arrival was like clockwork.

Kaz, glancing at his pocket watch, stared as the thin needle of a hand rolled around the center point and as if on cue, he found YN breezing through the door with a breath of relief from squeezing through the crowd. His office smelled like remnants of firewood, the freshly brewed coffee he had filling the air. While the daylight was hidden in the club downstairs, a window was opened allowing a cool breeze and the cloudy skies to find their way into this massive space which also held a small bedroom.

As a Heartrender, you would never admit to the way Kaz’s heart would pick up whenever you were near.

“Morning.” you greeted, a handful of mail sent for him to the Slat in your hands as you crossed the space between the door and his desk.

Offering him the small stack and he took it, the shadows under his eyes seeming darker today. You were always up before the sun when your mind could not stop thinking of a new idea, and more often than not, you’d hear Kaz sneaking out in the early morning without a word.

“It’s afternoon.” he said, slyly glancing up at her as his gloved hand took the papers.

With your hands free, you sat yourself upon the very corner of his desk and looking down at the two cups of coffee still topped off with steam, one cup significantly lighter than the other. Smiling contently to yourself, you wrapped your hands around the mug and picked it up to your lips.

“Hope you got it right.”

Kaz glanced up once more as he sorted through the letters.

His eyes flickered over you for a moment, pausing from what he initially wanted to say and you could hear his heart beat in your ears as it skipped.

“Don’t worry, I made it sickening sweet.” Kaz mused, heaving a sigh as he leaned back in his chair.

“Good, I’ll slip slowly and waste more time here then.” you chuckled lightly.

You would be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy sitting on his desk, sharing a cup of coffee and hearing him rant as he read the bills, the offers from others, imported goods, the bank statements, and everything else that came with the stress of running a club, not to mention an entire gang. There as a guilty pleasure as a Heartrender that involved enjoying just how flustered became down to a cellular level , but her relationship with Kaz was different; being a Heartrender taught her how much she could push and how to know when to stop pushing given his complicated boundaries.

Admittedly, as indifferent as she made herself seem when it came to Kaz, had he been the Heartrender you would have been in trouble if he could hear your heart. Every time you saw his face at the end of a job, whenever he’d look at you as you sat like you did now, and even every little bit of your unique intimacy sent your heart racing.

It seemed there were many ways to love someone that didn’t involve touching, you thought to yourself, watching Kaz’s brows furrow in the slightest with every word he read with a bittersweet smile. But it hurt when she couldn’t hold his hand or feel his comforting arms at the end of the day.

“So, what’s on the agenda today?” you asked, clearing your throat. “Things have been awfully quiet lately.”

Kaz smirked, snickering lightly to himself as he looked up at her.

“We don’t say the words quiet around here because next thing you know, it won’t be so quiet and our hands will be full with trouble.”

You raised your brows. “Well, is something coming our way?”

The look on his face confirmed it all. A simple job was offered to the Crows and a select few Dregs of his choosing (but Kaz would tell you to round up those best for it anyway), to steal a vintage piece of jewelry just brought to  Ketterdam’s historic society display room. It was a job within a job, for the person requesting this jewelry and its unique elemental composition worth hundreds of thousands, it was the key to a bigger job after this which they hoped to secure.

“They have a pretty tight security system.” You sighed, holding up the blueprints he pulled out in front of you.

“Perhaps, you can figure it out in a more spacious area than the corner of my desk.” Kaz frowned, looking away as his chin rested in his palm. Then, only his eyes moved towards her. “I’m leaving the tight security system to you because you’re the only one who is creative enough to get by them. Inej scouted every entrance and found the source of the security system’s mechanics.”

It seemed easy, nothing you hadn’t come up with before, and an idea was already forming in your head to your excitement.

“Tinker around, get the ancient necklace, and a boat load of kruge.” You said simply, your voice only wavering in the slightest as your eyes narrowed at just how intricate the alarm system was.

Kaz stood up from his seat, taking the maps from her to wrap up and slide away in its casing.

“You should be on your way. Best to get a quick start so we can be in and out tonight.” Kaz said, handing her the cylinder casing for the blueprints.

“Oh, I’d sit here all day of you let me.” you grinned, earning an eye roll from him.

“Go.” Kaz pressed, his face more asserting now, trying to hide his own smirk.

But even as you strolled out the door, you could hear his heart rate jumping. Kaz’s eyes didn’t leave your figure on the way out, still staring out into space after the door shut. He leaned over his desk with his palms pressed into the wooden edge and his head dropped with a sigh.

Kaz Brekker was in trouble and his little Heartrender already knew.

~

There was a slightly calmer hour to be found at the Crow Club between the midday crowd leaving and night crowd slowly taking its place. In that time, you found yourself sitting at a booth and sinking into the curved red velvet seating.

You were sketching out a tool that will silence the alarm mechanisms that you had been reading up on for the past two hours. Time was running slow and your back began to ache from the position you barely moved from as you dug the lead into the parchment.

“Hey, YN! How’s it—”

“Jesper!”

Your hands frantically waved him off as his palm came down on your sprawled out pile of sketches and he jumped back, staring at you with wide eyes.

“Sorry, sorry.” You said, piling up the previous sketched of the tool you were designing, the exhaustion clear in your skiddish movements. “I have just been trying to wrap my head around this job tonight.”

Jesper smoothly slid into the booth, sitting next to you with eyes scanning over the maps. From behind, Inej approached them and slid into the booth from the other side and now, both Crows were perched upon her shoulders and looking at her work.

“The historical society in the Geldestraat is no playground.” Inej sighed.

“Oh, it’s a playground for sure, just one with little landmines at every step and Stadwatch at every corner. Then, it’s a race to the last swing on the swing set and that is our prize at the end of tonight.” Jesper ranted, his hands flailing as he spoke.

By the time he was done speaking, you and Inej stared at him, speechless.

“You must have been the child that was always bullied at playgrounds, weren’t you?” you muttered, turning your head back to the blueprints. “It’s one of the most complex, yet easiest security systems we’ve had to break into. If the necklace is on display in the spot you say it is, Inej, then this window here is our best bet.”

“Best bet for what?” Inej asked, looking at her quizzically.

Grinning, you held up the drawing of a box no bigger than your hand, the inner workings of your mind scribbled across the page.

“The window has about 5 seconds from the moment it’s opened all the way before it starts setting off an alarm which has a domino affect on the other alarms. It’s a system of bells and the window we’re going through is the start of the system. If I can forge this box to the right dimensions of the window and the string that is triggered from the window opening, then we will have a few minutes before it breaks, and the bells signal any Stadwatch in the area.”

Jesper scoffed. “Then don’t build a little tool that is going to break.”

Your hands ran over your face and instantly, you swatted at his shoulder.

“My work is impeccable, but that string is thin and ready to snap, it’s why they used it so that when the window opened, it would cut it and set off the bells.”

“Oh!” he said slowly, coming to the realization as his lips formed an o.

Even as you spoke of your plan as easily as floating down a stream, it was too good to be true. There were a dozen other factors you haven’t considered yet that made this all the more tricky. In theory, it sounded simple but getting through the window and setting up the tool in time was critical, not to mention getting to the lower level of the museum and back in time before the bells go off.

Leaning on your elbows, your shoulders sunk just a little as your mind continued to pour over the plan.

“I have to be efficient. I say we get a few minutes, give or take another fifteen minutes tops, to make it to the necklace and back without a single peep.”

Jesper glanced at Inej who was standing beside you now and looking it all over.

“Can you do that Inej?”

Immediately, the girl shook her head.

“I may be the most graceful here, but I’m surprisingly not the fastest.”

You didn’t pay any mind to the attention being shoved on you. While you wouldn’t admit it, you’ve already been thinking of it all afternoon and it left your stomach in knots.

“I’ve been walking through this all afternoon.” you sighed, a hint of defeat in your face. “Partially, I feel like taking our chances by taking these jewels in broad daylight.” you half joked.

Suddenly, your hearing focused in on a heart that almost had a third pound through his chest from the cane who always wore. That and his heartbeat both resounded through Kaz’s body with such strength, but, even when you expected him to be near, you didn’t expect him behind the booth sending the three of you with the Saints.

“We do not have the luxury of stealing things in broad daylight, YN.” Kaz said, startling everyone out of their own skin, looming over their shoulders until they he was in front of the table. “We got the jump on this before anyone else, there is no other time to do this but tonight so you all have to be ready.”

You looked up at him, slightly taken back at how high strung he was over this job, his own stressed soul infecting theirs. His eyes scanned over the three of them and then, fell on yours, but you were already looking at the hard lines in his face accentuated by his frown.

Nodding, you tore your eyes away from him and got back to work.

This job was going to break a sweat out in all of them before it even started.

~

“This one won’t explode, yes?” Kaz asked you.

Frowning at him, you waved the contraption you built in an hour Iin the air.

“Look, I know the last one did but this was a simple put together of a few different pieces. See, if you just-'

Kaz put his hand up with an exasperated look, signaling you to stop the demonstration you tried to put on by showing him the inside of your invention.

The two or you stood by one of the street level windows to the small brick building, it’s window panes and shutters painted black, and on this little side street there was no light that found its way here except the faint blue moon above their heads. Kaz had just unlocked the windows, and he stood there just inches away before he would open the window and you’d crawl in, having to be quick.

As you looked at him, you almost couldn’t distinguish who’s heart was racing faster.

Every time you tried to think of your path to the second story where the famous necklace was on display, your thoughts kept getting scrambled.

“Be fast, but not sloppy and get back here in one piece with that jewel in your hand.” Kaz said, his voice not missing a confident beat.

You nodded, smiling reassuringly and your hands nervously straightened the flaps of his wool jacket and you took a shaky breath.

“Got it. Open it up.”

With his cane, Kaz stepped towards the window and gave you one last look as you prepared to jump from the crate and through the opening. Even the first story was a bit of a height difference from the street, but you were quick and had the jumping skill set needed.

Kaz nodded at her and without a moment to waste, Kaz opened the window and you sprinted in, your foot pressing into the crate, pushing off of it and your hands clutching the windowsill to guide you in with ease. There was only a few seconds left and you leaped up to the top of the window, watching as the string that held together their alarm system was growing taught and with your heart pounding, your arm shot out to grab it before it snapped and finally, you could let out a breath or relief.

“Did it work?” Kaz asked, peaking his head through the window

Your tongue was peaking through your lips as you focused intently on wrapping the string in your contraption without moving it too much, settling it against the window secured in place like it were a second addition to big metal box against the wall that was the start it.

“YN!” he hissed.

You shushed him, beads of sweat forming at your temples, slowly leaning back as you released your invention that would keep the string in place, everything seemingly more quiet than normal.

That was good though, the silence being a sign that it was working.

Leaping down, you faced Kaz on the other side of the window and smiled at him, giving a wave of the hand in the form of a salute.

“See ya in a minute.”

Kaz grinned at you, but you turned and ran before you could hear him say a word.

The historical society was an old mansion, when they were a little smaller back in the day, converted into a museum. The hardwood floors and floral carpets were the original, the walls having been painted over a baby blue and hung with artwork that dated before Ketterdam was even recognized on the map. Everyone believed they were copies though.

You came out to the front entrance, a massive open space with a chandelier made of diamonds that sparkled and cast sharp little reflections around the room from the moon that shone in through the window above the tall double doors.

Holding your breath, you slowly looked around, not a single sound or movement to be made.

It was clear and you were set to take off up the stairs, careful not to place your hand along the railing. At the top of the stairs, it split into two hallways but you need not worry about which one to go down because the jewels were sitting in a small case, overlooking the home. They were meant to be in a room down the hall, having yet to be put on display, but it seems your job just got easier.

With a devious, proud grin across your lips, you looked at the ember colored jewels sat into the heavy golden necklace, and even you had to take a moment to admire it’s beauty as if there was a fire burning in each and every individual stone. But, you glanced at the pocket watch you had stolen from Kaz years ago and knew you only had a minute of assurance that the alarm wouldn’t go off before you had to run back

With gloved hands, you lifted the glass boxand plucked the jewel out from it.

In one swift move you placed the glass back and turned around, ready to bolt down the stairs, but two gunshots shattered your senses and while you couldn’t understand why at first, you were sent hurdling down the stairs with no control of your body.

Kaz was growing impatient standing in the alleyway, anxiously checking his watch, counting down the minutes. It shouldn’t have taken this long, and he knew that you knew that as well. Maybe they hid the necklace after the museum closed or maybe they haven’t even had the chance to put it out yet, but Kaz was not looking forward to having to jump to their plan B.

“Dammit, YN" he hissed, glancing through the window into the dark hallway.

But the sound of guns being fired sent him in a frenzy and without waiting a second, Kaz climbed through the window fearing the worst.

By the time you landed, rolling to a stop, the wind had been knocked out of you, pain started surging through your backside from your left hip to right shoulder blade, and left you dizzy and gasping for air. Still clutched in your hands was the necklace, and you tried to focus on how many heartbeats were in the room, but you couldn’t concentrate with the pain you were in.

“Lock her up, she’s a Heartrender.” said a man with a thick Kerch accent that sent her stomach in knots.

“No.” you painfully gasped, trying to bring your hands together.

But one boot came stomping down on the wrist that held the necklace and your screamed out in pain as your shattered bones grinded against. Suddenly, your numb fingers could no longer find the golden chain as it was taken from your hands in Pekka Rollins came into view.

“I’ll be taking that, darling. Thanks for doing the work for us!”

As Pekka stood over you, his shadowed face looking down at you with a horrid grin that made your blood boil. Your hand was shaking as you tried to bring them together, but he waved his finger in front of your face.

“Don’t even try it or a bullet will be put in your head the moment you even move a muscle.” he threatened.

At the sound of a cane smacking into a man’s skull, your head sharply turned as you lay on the ground, watching Kaz storm into the room and begin fighting the Dime Lions that charged at him.

“Kaz, no!” you cried out, your heart nearly lurching from your chest.

It was only moments before two of them seized Kaz, bringing him down on his knees. Tears pricked your eyes as you watched them relentlessly dig their fists into every part of his body, his head refusing to fall in defeat.

“What a surprise, Mr.Brekker.” Rollins taunted, strolling over to him. “I worried you might have been here before we were when your little Wraith hijacked our meeting with the buyer, but I figured, why not sit back and let you do the work for us?”

Kaz glared up at Pekka, his eyes flickering to you as you lay there, a gun pointed to your head at the hands of another Dime Lion and you watched his face drain of all its color.

“Not her.” Kaz said unconsciously, the words passing through his lips like he were thinking out loud. 

That was their first mistake.

“I didn’t know the Dregs at a Heartrender in their rankings.” Pekka said, observing Kaz’s faulty eyes, glancing back at you with a smug grin. “That sounds a bit like cheating.” But then, he shrugged and his head rolled back to Kaz. “Bah, what do I care? She won’t make it much longer, but you? If you manage to crawl out of this mess, I might have a little more respect for ya.”

You didn’t know what mess Pekka Rollins was referring to, but your backside was already aching, blood seeping through your clothes now as you lay on the cold floor.

Kaz was writhing in their grips, bloody murder written across his face as he seemed to make his way out of one of their grasps and just as you thought he would have won, a gun shot rang through the air and made you jump.

Despite all the pain, you watched as Kaz crumpled to the ground and your body instantly shot up, wincing as Pekka kicked him in the face. But another shot resounded through the air, and you collapsed back on the ground with your hand still reaching for him, your leg now feeling useless as the bullet lodged itself in your calf. You watched as Kaz roll in his back, face contorted with pain.

The tears began to fall and you lay there, looking at him, waiting for his eyes to open and look back at you.

“Let’s leave, boys. Blow the place on the way out.”

That order sent a chill through your body and you helplessly watched them walk away.

“Kaz…” you weakly croaked out, watching him begin to prop himself up, one hand holding his stomach. “Kaz, we need to go.”

As you tried to shuffle towards him, every muscle in your body screaming with pain, you were only inches away from your fingertips reaching the lapels of his coat. Kaz looked at you, his eyes wide, but the moment he reached out for you, a blast shook the entire building and the last thing you saw was the walls crumbling down around you.

~

“YN!”

The voice was muffled, just barely heard over the ringing over your ears. Slowly, your eyes blinked open, and you couldn’t feel a thing as you watched the dark blue twilight sky above your head. It was almost peaceful, the sky lightening ever so lightly that you could make out the thick clouds that were almost black against the backdrop of the sky.

But then, the sharp scent of smoke that clouded your lungs and the irony taste of blood in your mouth took you away from your blissful moment and thrusted you into one of sheer panic as it crawled up your spine.

“YN!”

The ringing stopped and you could hear the cackling of flames and rubble grinding against each other now, turning your head to see Kaz.

Soot streaked his face; the panic you felt now visible in his widened eyes and the way his lips hung open like he was staring at a ghost. Your hands were merely inches from each other now and all around, the ceiling lay in shambles, the chandelier at your heads spreading its little diamonds across the space between you two. For a moment you wonder if that was what spared you two from the wood and stone that lay around you, but when you looked, you see that wood was piercing your thigh and the door lay over your ankle.

“Kaz.” you said shakily, looking back at him.

It was amazing how you couldn’t feel a thing, but that was probably good.

You two stared at each other, panting and clearly at a loss of what to do, except all you two could do was look at each other.

If you knew your life was going to end, what would you do? That would be a fun question to answer, but not if you only had minutes to live. Maybe hours. Hours was too optimistic though, and they realized that if they weren’t found soon, then the light in their eyes would be put out forever.

It was pure misery and bliss all at once as you stared at each other, the crushing weight of the rubble they were trapped under causing a flicker of fear deep in their stomachs. The things they wanted to say to each other could wrap around the world twice, but they settled with an endearing yet pained look only they knew with nothing but the space between their fingerprints reaching out to one another. It hurt to be so close and unable to touch.

If you had minutes to live, who would be the last face you’d want to see?

“Don’t look at my like that, YN.” Kaz grunted, trying to pull himself up. “Don’t look at me like you’re going to die.”

The bruises scattered across his face and the blood that soaked through his shirt were clear as day, but he seemed unphased as he tried to move closer.

You faintly smirked at him, feeling a trickle of blood from the corner of your lip.

“I think only you could look like an angel even when a building exploded around us.”

Kaz saw you smile through the pain, and every effort to be strong he tried to put up was whisked away by the look on your face as his shoulders fell. He could have collapsed back to the floor, letting the sleep take him away, had it not been for the way you smiled at him. Of course, he was in pain too, but it was insurmountable to the pain caused by the sight before him. His heart raced, wondering just how he would manage to drag the two of you out of this as his own limbs grew weary and tired from trying to sit up.

“I think you should get a demo man, Jesper always wanted one.”

Kaz, exhaled, letting out a brief chuckle.

“Why should I when half of your inventions explode anyway? We’ll have plenty more to come.”

There was a tinge of fear to his voice, hidden by the hope that you would make it til morning, and you could hear it; he didn’t want to lose you. He couldn’t let Pekka Rollins take someone else from him, even if it meant waiting until his last breath to take his life.

You rolled your eyes at him, the pain slowly starting to return as you gazed at the ceiling.

You kept your heart beating, your blood flowing, but you tried to pull yourself closer to Kaz only to sink back into the floor with defeat and suddenly, your chest started to rise and fall quicker. This couldn’t be it. You were stronger than this. You had to survive—if not for the Crows, but for him. Perhaps, you were being too hopeful after all.

“Kaz.” you croaked out, looking back at him with the tears threatening to pour out of your eyes.

“YN, we will be okay.” he said, his voice stern as if he could read your mind.

Suddenly, when he was within reach, you clasped his gloved hand and forced as much life into him as you could, watching him become caught off guard as his heart began to race.

“No.” he pleads.

Kaz tried to pull away, but you wouldn’t let him.

“You need to conserve your energy. We need to get out of here before the Stadwatch find us in the middle of this.”

“I’m saving you so you can save the both of us!” you argued, using his hand to pull yourself a little closer, both of you straining to bring yourselves together. But you paused for a moment, trying to catch your breath. “One of us needs to make it out of here tonight and I’m the only one who can make sure of it.”

Kaz finally pulls his hand away, and you watch him fight against everything that brought him down to sit up, leaning his back on the heavy chandelier and the remnants of the ceiling that supported it. He shut his eyes for a moment, and you watch the connection between you break as he becomes overly drained, still thinking desperately of a way out of this. As he sat there, you too fought against the pain coursing through every nerve of your body, the bullets lodged within you taunting your beaten soul as you tried to sit yourself up too. The cracked bones in your wrist made you gasp when you tried to put pressure on it, but you fought through it for one last push as you sat yourself up against the chandelier just a foot away with him.

“I cannot leave here alone. I can’t go back if you’re not with me.” Kaz said slowly, his head turning to you.

Now that you two were closer to each other, you could see just how hurt he was.

You opened your mouth to speak, ready to grasp his hand again, but blood spattered through your lips as you coughed it up.

Black spots danced across your vision, and you slowly start to fall over.

Kaz’s breath hitched, and his arms moved before he could even think to do so, dragging you towards him.

The moment you felt his arms around you, you came back to your senses, looking up at him from where your head lay on his chest.

“Kaz, you don’t—”

“I-I have to.” He says, shuddering slightly.

Kaz’s mind could not seem to push away the suffocating feeling your touch brought, and he found himself looking away, trying to fight off the horrifying memories of the ocean swallowing him whole. 

But he squeezed you tight, all flesh and bone still warm with life, trying to push out the gruesome images of his last memories with Jordie. You were alive in his arms, and he wouldn’t live to see the day you weren’t despite their odds right now.

For so long, you dreamed of the day Kaz could hold your hand, even let his knuckles brush by yours. But you never thought this is how it would go.

“It’s because I’m dying, isn’t it?”

Yes.

Kaz looks down at you, already accepting the defeat of the night, and he is almost too horrified to speak as your eyes seemed calmer now than from the second you finally regained consciousness.

“It’s because—”

He pauses, looking away from you and you hang on to every word.

The only thing he wanted to do was hold you, hating himself for never doing it sooner.

“It’s okay, Kaz.” you smile sadly. “There was going to be a day when I’d watch you all grow old and leave me, but if I don’t make it through this, at least I won’t have to watch that happen.”

There was a million things you could say, a million things you built up for years since the day you saw him. In all that time you never imagined it all coming down to this and you were just so tired, but you wanted to hear him say the words.

“But I want to hear you say it.” You said, your voice growing quiet.

No matter how much you tried to justify letting go, you didn’t want to. Your heart beat for him as you looked up at him and all you wanted to do was hear him say those words.

As your eyelids became heavy, you tried to focus on the way your heart beat alongside his, pressing your hand against his chest so that you could fight for the two of you, but his heart was already racing. You loved the sound of it, remembering every time you would hear it jump the moment you stepped into a room.

“I’m afraid we don’t have enough time for me to hold you and tell you the words you want to hear.”

Kaz was fighting for his life and his urge to finally tell the truth about everything. The way he hated when you’d sit on his desk, play with his jacket when there was a slight hair out of place, and he hated how even now you were fighting to keep both of you alive. But there was the way he loved watching you outwit everyone of the Dregs when they played at the tables, the way he loved when you’d doze off in his office after a long day of working with your tools and so much more he hated himself for only paying attention to now.

“Are you going to make me do everything?” you ask, weakly smiling, hiding your face as your hot tears stained his chest.

You could feel him smile, and you could also feel your energy draining by the second.

“I love you, Kaz. Until my last breath.” you said, fearing this would be your last.

The words were on both of their minds, yet, Kaz couldn’t wrap his head around it and when you said it, his lips parted ever so slightly, staring ahead at the rubble as if that was the biggest shock to come of the night. Those words were foreign to him, they belonged to a shell of who he was and he couldn’t allow himself to accept it. His heart ached though, almost wanting to hear it again from your lips.

But then, when his heart suddenly slowed and he felt your hand leave his chest, Kaz looked down at you in a panic.

“YN…” he whispered urgently.

“I’m here.” you murmured; your eyes closed.

It felt so nice to shut them for a moment.

Kaz looked down at you, everything in him spinning, and he was ready to march you out of here now to get help but even then, as he tried to move, the pain in his body kept him grounded. Sighing in defeat, he smacked his head against the back of the chandelier and rubble he leaned upon, wanting to scream or yell and curse the world for making him so weak. His mind lingered back to the waters, Jordie’s molted and rotten skin at his fingertips, while he kicked back to the harbor swimming against all odds.

“I love you too, YN.” he said, the words cutting through the silence around them.

Deep down, he didn’t want to say the words out loud, knowing they might be the last he says to you. He yearned for more time to love you, to stroke the hair off your face as he did now as the corner of your lips turned upwards. 

It made him forget to breathe as he frantically searched around, wondering if there was a way out.

But the exhaustion was tearing him apart and he looked down at you one last time, the smile off your face as your head rolled slightly. 

It wasn’t long before his eyes closed too.

~

“I found them!” 

The Dregs were scouring the rubble after they heard the explosion from the rendezvous point, Jesper and Inej running back after seeing that the two of you never made it. 

When the pair heard one of the Dregs call out, the pair exchanged a worried look before pushing through the remnants of the mansion. They feared they would find your mangeled bodies waiting for them, but they skidded to a halt when they saw something else entirely.

Jesper’s face fell, as Inej’s hand clamped over her mouth, watching as Rotty checked their pulses, the man’s hands shaking as they checked. 

“They’re still breathing!” Rotty shouted with relief. “Let’s move them out of here, they’re hurt pretty bad.”

But Inej and Jesper could not move just yet, staring with teary eyes from the overwhelming release of the weight on their shoulders. You sat curled up alongside Kaz, his arms wrapped around you, holding so tightly they could have swore he turned to stone. 

There was no time to waste though, and they ran to you and Kaz to drag the two of you out to safety. 

[silverdragon-imagines-blog]

For headcanons how about Twilight who has never seen a rabbit discovers he is allergic to rabbit fur, or Time Sky and Legend compare their experiences time traveling, or as group cook Wild tracks what everyone eats and pays attention to what everyone likes or dislikes but gets frustrated because Fours keep changing

[So many good prompts but time travel my beloved. So take some 3 am bonding between these three ^u^ Hope you enjoy.]

Warning(s): Some spoilers for Skyward Sword and maybe Ocarina of Time and Oracle of Ages. Also swearing, but that’s just how I write them

Sky turned over for what felt like the fiftieth time. He turned onto his back with a sigh, rubbing at his eyes for a few minutes. Then he sat up, moving the sheets off him and touching his bare feet to the chilled hardwood floor of the Inn room. His gaze landed on the four other occupants of the room he had ended up sharing with.

Unsurprisingly, Wind was splayed out on his bed, sleeping peacefully, and causing Sky to let out a huff of laughter at the spot of drool collecting on his pillow. Warriors was on his back, still and stiff as he slept, while Hyrule was curled up in a ball with his back pressed against the wall. Legend's bed, however, was empty, the sheets thrown to end of the bed. His gear and boots were still in place at the edge of the bed. Sky furrowed his brow in confusion, though there was only one other place he could’ve gone.

Quietly, Sky walked over to the door to the room and slowly opened the door. He paused, listening closely to hear if anyone else had woken up when he had moved. With no new sounds of shuffling, the coast was clear, and he headed towards the main area of the Inn.

As he approached, the strong smell of what some of the others called coffee hits him, causing him to cover his nose at the surprisingly abrupt smell. If he wasn’t already struggling to sleep, that at least would have woken him up. Once he recovered, Sky continued, entering the lobby, and looking around.

There was a counter off to the side of the stairs, a woman with a beige apron and bandanna tying her hair back tiredly wiping it down. The room was relatively empty, no one sitting in the worn couches near the entryway and most of the wooden tables behind them empty of people. Sky could easily see two familiar figures sitting at one of the tables in the corner of the room. The Veteran sat slightly slumped forward, a steaming mug in hand, with the Old Man sitting across from him with a mug of his own, though it was suspiciously not steaming.

Sky approached the table, waving tiredly. Time acknowledged him with a nod as he took a seat while Legend raised an eyebrow.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Sky shook his head, crossing his arms and laying his head on top of them.

"Mind wouldn't shut up. Didn't hear you get up though."

At this, Legend chuckled, holding out his hand and flashing his many rings.

"Magic ring, let's me pass by unseen."

Sky looked impressed.

"Sounds pretty useful."

Legend smiled wider.

"Yeah, if only it existed."

Sky frowned, slightly glaring at the now laughing Veteran. Time was chuckling as well, taking a sip of his drink, the white streak on his upper lip showing that he was drinking milk.

The woman that had been behind the counter then approached with a tray at her side, looking at Sky, who now sat up straight.

"Did you want to order anything?"

Sky shook his head then paused.

"A glass of water maybe."

With a nod, the woman left then returned a moment later with a glass and a pitcher on her tray, placing them on the table and pouring water into it, the ice clinking as it hit the sides of the cup. Sky quietly thanked her as she left, watching as she returned to her station behind the counter, then he took a sip of his cold drink.

It was quiet, the three heroes quietly enjoying their drinks and lost in thought. The only audible sounds were that of the quiet creaks of the old building settling and the Inn worker moving around in her area.  Then Legend set down his mug with a sigh.

"The silence is killing me, someone start talking."

"About?" Time asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How about your adventures, not like there's very much else to talk about."

"Anything in particular?" Sky questioned, running his now cold fingers over his sleep tunic.

"Have any of you time traveled?"

Time subtly flinched, while Sky hummed in thought.

"A few times maybe, though not for particularly long. Unless you count items that altered time in a small area," Sky replied, ignoring the prickle of his skin at the thought of the final fight he had in the past. He scratched at his arm, hoping that the action wasn’t questioned.

"So? What did you do?"

"Well, there was Lanayru Mines and the Sand Sea. There were these gems called Timeshift stones that altered time in a small area. It was pretty mesmerizing to watch the sand turn into grass or water after striking the gems."

“Fascinating,” Time spoke, “just those two areas then?”

“Well, kind of? It was all over the Lanayru region in my area, all spread out and if you struck one, then the one you had struck earlier lost it’s power. I enjoyed myself quite a bit while there, especially once I found a few treasures I had never seen before, though that was just because I had never been on the surface before.”

“Treasures?” Legend perked up at that, eyes seeming to glitter slightly.

“What you and I consider treasure are quite different, my friend,” Sky chuckled, shaking his head with an amused smile, “The Timeshift stones brought back ancient things, including flowers and insects. I ended up with quite a collection of those flowers.”

Legend shrugged, leaning back in his chair, then turned to the Old Man.

"Being called the Hero of Time, I bet you've done some time traveling as well."

Time sighed, running a hand over his face.

"I have, though not all of it was particularly pleasant."

"You don't have to talk about anything you're uncomfortable with," Sky said, giving what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Well... there was the time I caused a particularly interesting time paradox," Time replied, smiling as he took a sip of his drink, “I learned a song in one time period that I then taught to the same man in the other time period.”

"Been there, done that, got anything more interesting?" Legend asked, crossing his arms with an unimpressed look on his face.

"I've done that too," Sky smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Fine then, how about going through a dungeon twice, once in the past and once in the present?"

"Okay, I’ve done that too, but go on."

Time rolled his eye, then leaned back in his chair.

"There was this dungeon in the middle of the desert that I could only get to after proving myself to the tribe that lived there. Once I got access to the dungeon, I had to first navigate the desert wastes to get to the entrance and then go back to the past to go through it the first time. Took a fair bit of time too," Time spoke, though he sighed after that, "That was only one half of the place though, and I had to do the other half in the present. Though I didn't mind doing that, it took much longer than any other dungeon I had done before."

"I can understand that" Sky nodded, "the ship I had to enter while at the Sand Sea took longer to get to the end of than I thought it would, but it was quite enjoyable."

Then Sky and Time glanced at Legend.

"I don't believe you've talked about yourself just yet," Time spoke, raising a brow with his arms crossed.

"Okay okay, you're right. Give me a second to think," he sighed, taking a swig of coffee.

After a minute or two, Legend put the mug back down.

"My second or third adventure, hard to say which was which, I met an Oracle who could control time. I had to save her from this witch by using her Harp to travel through time myself. As far as interesting events, I stopped this one idiot from killing his ancestor and making himself no longer exist."

"Time paradox, been there, done that," Time smirked, Legend looking annoyed at being quoted.

"Fine then, I did some similar bullshit to you. There was this one cave that I had to go through in two different eras, had to switch it up while I was inside it which was all sorts of disorienting. Got a new item, fought a mini-boss and a boss, got an important quest thing, you know the drill.” Legend sighed, picking up his drink again, “Fucking water temples pain in the ass.”

He mumbled that next part, though Sky laughed quite loud, startling the poor worker and Time, the latter of which looked somewhat concerned at the outburst. Sky’s face burned with slight embarrassment, though he giggled for a while longer.

“It wasn’t that funny, Sky,” Legend rolled his eyes, though the self-satisfied smile betrayed how he really felt about Sky’s reaction.

When he finally calmed down enough to speak, Sky wiped the small bit of tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes.

"That's pretty cool," Sky said, stretching his arms above his head, "So was that all you did then? Granted, I guess I didn't say anything much about my adventure."

"Eh, there really wasn't much else to talk about, I guess. Did some bullshittery, met some ancestors, and saved a different land and a few people. You know, regular hero stuff."

This earned a chuckle from all of them.

“You met your ancestors though? I think that’s a new one, if you’re willing to share some of it.” Time said, gesturing for the other to continue.

Legend sighed, running a hand through his hair and slumping forward.

“I guess it’s fine to share, but don’t expect me to tell you my life story or anything,” with an accepting nod from both heroes, Legend continued.

“His name was Sir Raven, and he was knight of Labrynna, the place I was saving at the time. He was serving the current Queen, and he knocked me around quite a bit when we first met. He was honorable, taught me a few things too. Of course, with my fucking around with time, I changed his history. He was a more high-ranking knight than before, not that anyone noticed though, so I guess that’s a win for me.”

“That’s really impressive though,” Time stated, “I think it’s more than others in our group can say as far as knowing our families.”

Sky nodded, taking a sip of his drink, then clearing his throat.

"Okay, I guess I have one more thing I could share. There was this guardian dragon in Lanayru, but in the present, he had died. I had to use the Timeshift Stones to talk to him and figure out how to revive him. It took a while, but I figured out he needed a specific magic fruit to get his strength back. Took some moving from place to place and going back in time to plant the seed, then back to the present to get the tree fully grown."

Sky drank some water then, watching Legend's interested look and Time's nearly rapt attention. With a smile, he continued.

"Then it was just a matter of delivering the fruit back to the desert via a robot who hated my guts."

Legend laughed at that.

"Somehow I can see a hunk of junk hating only you for no particular reason."

“Would you believe me if I said he had a crush on the spirit of the Master Sword?”

The admission caused the table to erupt in laughter, the joyful sound echoing in the quiet space. The Inn worker loudly shushed them from her place, Sky and Time shooting apologetic looks her way as they calmed down. When the laughter subsided, the three sat in silence again. It was only broken by a loud yawn from Time.

"I think it may be wise to at least try to sleep. We're heading out early after all."

The two nodded, watching as Time left a handful of rupees on the table and headed back up to his room. Legend sighed, running a finger along the rim of his now empty mug.

“He has a point, but I don’t see myself actually sleeping much tonight. Ah well.”

He stretched as he stood up, then turned back to Sky.

“You coming?”

“Yeah, just give me a bit.”

The Veteran shrugged, making his way up the stairs and back into the room. Sky sat alone for a moment, thinking about the other things he did on his adventure and how the happier picture he had painted didn’t quite match up with reality. Finally feeling the pull of sleep, he left his glass on the table with a handful of rupees, making his way back to bed and finally falling asleep.

[goldenraeofsun]

Good Ideas

1.5k of canon-divergence fluff, now on AO3!

Dean is almost finished with his standard gun cleaning (once a week whether they need it or not) when footsteps approach from outside his bedroom door. Heavier than Eileen but lighter than Sam - must be Cas. 

“What an awful day,” Cas sighs as he practically throws himself onto Dean’s prized memory foam mattress. He doesn’t even take his shoes off first, like an animal.

“Hello to you, babe,” Dean says, amused. He raises his head to fully look at Cas, now face planted into his pillow. Dean would like to say it’s unusual to see Cas this drained and frustrated after another shift at the Gas n Sip, but it’s become pretty much standard. And, because not-that-deep-down Dean’s a shitty person who lucked out and got a (fallen) angel to fall for him, he can’t entirely squash the pleased feeling in his gut that flares up every time Cas comes home to him, no matter the circumstances.

“Hello, Dean,” or that’s what Dean assumes Cas is saying, based on their past million and a half conversations over more than a decade.

Dean carefully sets down his colt and pads over to the bed. He takes a seat near Cas’s shins, the mattress slowly but surely dipping as it remembers Dean’s distinctive ass print. “What happened?”

“Humanity is stupid.”

Dean snorts. “Don’t have to tell me twice. What’d humanity do this time?”

Cas turns his head so he can glare balefully down at Dean with one brilliant blue eye. “Todd refilled the soda machine incorrectly. We had to reimburse ten customers who poured the wrong drinks despite the clear signs indicating the buttons were temporarily incorrect.”

“What a disaster,” Dean deadpans.

Cas groans a stream of indistinguishable words that might not even be English - knowing him, he’s probably insulting Todd’s mother ancient Aramaic or something - before he concludes, “It was a very uncomfortable situation. Todd is an imbecile.”

“Want me to kill him for you?” Dean asks casually.

Cas’s whole torso inflates with the depth of his sigh. “No,” he says, but the word is muffled and has zero conviction behind it.

“Come on,” Dean pokes Cas in the thigh. “You were the one who wanted this job in the first place. All the ‘human dignity’ you could choke down and all that crap.”

“I must’ve been mistaken.”

“Whatever you say, man,” Dean says, grinning as Cas rolls over so he’s lying normally on Dean’s bed. “Y’know, you could always do something else. Quit the Gas n Sip.”

“Like what?” Cas asks as he frowns up at the ceiling. “I don’t have much experience except in inventory management and customer service.”

“What about all your angel stuff?”

“I can hardly list ‘former Angel of the Lord’ on my resume,” Cas grumbles.

“You’ve got all those languages crammed in your brain, serious hand-to-hand skills - I could teach you all I know about cars, and you can add that.”

Cas gives a considering grunt.

“Look,” Dean says as he scoots further up the bed so he’s more aligned with Cas’s chest than his knees. “You were the one who was all gung-ho about getting a job to interact with normal people.”

“I needed a better baseline now I’m human because you and Sam are not ‘normal’ by any definition of the word,” Cas sniffs.

“Rude. Anyway, I told you to take things slow. So your first stab back at slumming it with regular folks isn’t going so great. Sometimes these things take a while to settle down,” Dean says, uncomfortably reminded of the time he had to comfort Sammy after three piano lessons didn’t turn him into the next Geoff Nicholls - or Elton John, as Dean had to amend after Sammy shot him a look of complete incomprehension.

“You don’t have to throw yourself into anything,” Dean adds gently to Cas. “We’ve got no big bad waiting out in the wings. It’s okay to take things one step at a time.”

“Because you provide such an excellent model of restraint and forethought,” Cas mutters.

Dean rolls his eyes. “Obviously. You don’t see me jumping back into Leave it to Beaver.”

“Because that’s not what you want,” Cas says, his eyes narrowing. “You said civilian life isn’t for you.”

Dean swallows. He pulls at a wrinkle in the sheets. “You so sure about that?”

Cas props himself up on his elbows, intrigued. “You’re truly considering retiring from hunting?”

Dean glances over at his guns, disassembled and gleaming on his desk. “I’ve been thinking about it. Sammy doesn’t go on many hunts anymore, says it’s more important to teach the next generation of fighters than handling everything by ourselves.”

“A wise thing to say, considering the limitations of the average human lifespan.”

“And you wonder why we never bring you to parties,” Dean says as Cas scowls in return, really only proving Dean’s point. “I’ve been looking into other stuff to do.”

“Like what?”

“Not sure,” he admits. “Sam’s got his Hunter Hogwarts thing going on - I could help Sam out, but the thought of reading and assignments makes me want to throw myself out a window.”

“You do like to be more hands-on,” Cas says diplomatically.

Dean sighs, wistful. “If the Roadhouse was still around, I would’ve kicked ass there. Talking with veterans in the business, passing along intel, throwing out the occasional brawler.”

Cas cocks his head. “Why don’t you rebuild one?”

“What?”

“Another Roadhouse,” Cas says like it’s obvious. “Those hunters Sam is teaching, they will need another meeting point once they’ve completed their training.”

Dean gapes at him, trying not to get his hopes up. He can picture it with alarming clarity, him behind the bar, Cas sitting off to the side, pouring over the books or a translation for one of Sam’s kids.

But this thing with Cas is so new - rescuing Cas from the Empty, telling him haltingly and not in so many words Cas could have what he wanted after all, doing their weird not-dating thing that works for them. Dean can’t be sure they’re on the same page about this.

Cas is technically human, but so many parts of him are still pretty out there in terms of fitting in with normal people stuff. Dean suggested they go on an honest to God date about two weeks after that went down - dinner at a fancy place in Salina. He even looked it up on Yelp. But, naturally, Cas had to ask ahead of time what usually happened on a date - a real date, Dean, because Metatron’s pop culture dump gave me many false impressions of what is normal or healthy for humans. 

When Dean embarrassingly couldn’t think of a single thing people did on dates except eat and have sex, Cas went to Sam because apparently there are zero boundaries when it comes to Team Free Will. And Sam, like a total Samantha, said most people talked about their feelings and life goals.

To which Cas turned back to Dean, said those big, I love you, words like they’re nothing and everything, and added his life goal was not dying before spending the rest of his human life with Dean.

The fucker even looked pleased Dean didn’t have to shell out the dough for a fancy steak.

“You have enough connections in the community to round up a decent clientele base,” Cas continues. “Not to mention your reputation, which would go a long way towards drawing hunters you personally haven’t met before.”

Dean clears his throat. “You really think I could do something like that?”

Cas narrows his eyes. “I think you could do anything you set your mind to,” he says with that patented-Cas sincerity that Dean would call bullshit with anyone else. Cas continues, “Twenty-seven percent of restaurants fail in their first year, but I have every confidence in you beating the odds.”

Dean snorts. Even Cas’s Beautiful Mind statistics aren’t enough to bring his mood down.

“And if you need help…” Cas drifts off sheepishly, “I do have requisite experience managing inventory. I cut down on unsellable food by fifteen percent two weeks ago.”

“You’re a goddamn genius,” Dean breathes as he bends over Cas.

Cas smiles up at him. “Would you want to?”

“Would I - ?” Dean breaks off incredulously to kiss him. “Of couse I fucking want to. But you really think it’s a good idea?”

Cas purses his lips. “It was my suggestion in the first place.”

“But maybe you were just spitballing,” Dean hedges. “So if you really think restarting the Roadhouse would be a bad idea, I can take it.”

Cas wraps a hand around the back of Dean’s neck, pulling him closer. “I don’t have bad ideas, Dean,” he murmurs.

That is so blatantly untrue, Dean almost bursts out laughing. But before he can make a sound, Cas’s other hand slides underneath his shirt, his fingers tapping lightly against the buckle of Dean’s belt. Dean raises his head to catch sight of Cas's face, and Cas’s eyes are dark with want.

Alright, so in times like these, Dean can admit Cas can have a good idea or two.

[stormwarnings]

luthien is pretty. 

luthien is pretty, and beautiful, and her father’s lovely little star, and from the moment she is born, she is pretty. it’s a mantra they repeat to her, as they dress her in deep blues and royal purples and shimmering golds, as they braid back her hair and teach her to dance and teach her to sing. 

what nobody really remembers is that luthien came out of the womb angry. 

melian hadn’t had a child before. melian wasn’t an elf. melian carried her child for due time, and when she got bored of the pain and the frustration, she gave birth. so luthien came into the world kicking and screaming. she came into the world just like her mother. ready to fight.

and halfway across the world, there’s an elf named feanor, named spirit of fire, and he too is born angry, and in this world of lovely things (the girdle around doriath, the calacirya past tirion) they are similar. not the same, but similar.

the difference is this - one of them is told yes my son, may you live long and love fiercely, and may you fight for that which you must defend. one of them is told no my daughter, may you dance often and shine brightly, but these ways of ours are alien to your father and his people. 

but both are told your ways are not for us.

and perhaps luthien is lonely. perhaps it is a horrible existence, this strange state of being that is singular only to her. (and not in the history of arda is there another like her, is there? her descendants, so odd and so strange simply due to her blood, and perhaps it is good there is no others like her, perhaps then the world would have broken into pieces - )

perhaps luthien is lonely, in her beauty and her dresses and her songs. but more than anything, she is angry. 

because this blood that she carries. it is not that of the second children (though her descendants, with their thrice-cursed lineage, they are another tale) and it is barely that of the first. it is that of stars, of dreams, of sparkling skins that shift like the heat that ripples off the fire, and luthien is a small child and she has to hold it all in like a raging inferno - 

luthien does not tell her mother of her dreams: of gull feathers, of a hidden city burning to the ground, of jewels so bright they defy possibility, of twins drifting through the wood and twins drifting through blood and twins drifting through the wood and two girls with her face, and a voice cold and dark and ancient -

melian says you must hide it. they are not like you. you are one of a kind. you must hide it. melian knew dreams. melian knew enchantment. melian knew how to hold it all in. luthien doesn’t. too many teeth, too many eyes, proportions put together all wrong because she doesn’t know how to be this kind of existence. all this anger. all these teeth. what does that make her.

what does that make her.

feanor dies on these shores. luthien doesn’t. everyone dies, on these shores, and luthien doesn’t. they fight battles, and luthien does not leave the girdle, but something starts flickering under her skin, all incandescent and familiar. luthien laughs. 

luthien meets a mortal man.

theirs will be a story for the ages, she knows. beren looks her in the eyes and says i am not afraid of what you are. luthien tells him you should be. beren shakes his head. you are far too beautiful to limit yourself, my lady.

and what can luthien say to that?

they send beren to find the silmaril, and send him away, and melian says to luthien he is no match for you, my love. did he not faint away from your might? did i not tell you? 

you must hide it.

luthien leaves. theirs is a story for the ages.

luthien remembers the beautiful fragility of her mortal love - how unafraid he was to spit in the face of terror, how unafraid he was to die. luthien remembers the beautiful fragility of his face when he did not falter before her. luthien laughs at celegorm and curufin and hopes they hear how her voice breaks in seven; hopes they see how her nails are also claws. luthien and huan rescue beren, and then they set off for angband, and when they come across the enemy, the great darkness of the north -

luthien sings him to sleep. he sees a mortal man and a shining girl-child, and he steps down from his throne, and that is his first mistake.

they cut a silmaril from his crown. theirs will never be a twice-done feat. it is only this once. the jewels are so bright they blind, and for a moment luthien in her exhaustion sees the carnage, sees the blood, and had she more strength, perhaps she would have destroyed them then and there.

but that is not how stories go.

it is said that theirs is a romance and a tragedy, an epic and a song. beren dies, and luthien faces mandos himself, and in all her fury and fire, beren is returned to her, and she is made mortal. they carry the silmaril, and they live happily, and the stories will not remember the most about luthien. will not remember the wings, will not remember the sorrow in melian’s eyes, will not remember how luthien bled light and cried blood, will not remember the screams she woke beren with, every night.

luthien is pretty. 

celebrimbor never met luthien. perhaps if he had, he would have held more wariness towards beautiful annatar. they were too similar, and when annatar finally shed his form and celebrimbor knew him to be sauron, he understood this truth that was at the very heart of luthien’s being - 

anger is beauty. beauty is terror. and terror is simply that which one does not know.

[liquid-luck-00]

Seven Deadly Sins x Maribat

Medieval Au

@maribat-bdbwm

Based on this idea

~~~~~~~~~~

Ten years ago.

On the outskirts of the city of Liones, of the capital of the country Liones, in the land of Britannia, homes destroyed, and countless holy knights laid butchered in the streets.

That day will go down in history for its infamy, the day the Seven Deadly Sins betrayed the country of Liones.

---

This is a tale of ancient times, an era before the human and non-human worlds were forever divided. When the Holy Knights, defended the realm, wielding their magical powers they were feared and highly respected. But among them a group emerged, that betrayed the kingdom, and became mortal enemies to all Holy Knights. They were known throughout the land as the Seven Deadly Sins.

---

Present day.

Near the Kaynes Village, there was a new tavern that was a buzz with customers.

“Here you go, drink up.” A young girl placed five steins of ale on the table. She had dark black hair that shown blue, pulled into twin pigtails by two pink ribbons, and bangs that framed her face and blue eyes. She wore a collared off-white shirt under a black vest with green panels. A pink skirt over leggings that reached halfway down her calf. And wore black and green boots. As more people come in, she directs them all with a smile.

“For a little lady, she is one hard working waitress.” A customer acknowledges.

“Oh no, I’m not the waiter, Buddy” She turns around. “I’m the owner of this place.” She turns to walk away.

“She’s the owner?!? A young kid like that.” But she doesn’t hear them.

“Alright, fresh from the oven. The meat pie that made the Boar Hat famous. Enjoy.” Three patrons dug into the pie, and promptly got sick. “You should have known. Our reputation is for having really good booze, but the food not so much.” She said with a completely straight face.

“Are trying to mess with us you little punk.” One shouted ready to fight.

“Wait guys, she’s packing a sword.” Another of the three pointed out. The handle was an emerald green and looked like a dragon with ruby eyes.

“Well, you guys, looks like we have a problem.” Her smile fell and she snapped her fingers. “Now let’s fix it.”

“Come on you call that a mess.” Out trotted a shiny black pig, wearing an earring tag. “Really what do you need me for?”

“Wait!!! That pig. He’s talking.”

“Yes, I’m a talking pig, what a bunch of dum-dums.”

“Plagg, we need to get this floor cleaned.” She spoke.

“Ugh, what a hassle.” Plagg complained. “Scrap disposal is a tough business.” He ate leaving, but before he did, he retorted. “Next time there better be some decent sized scraps.”

“You know I have an old family recipe for whole roasted hog.” She spoke to no one in particular, but with a deadpanned expression. Which changed Plagg’s tune quickly.

Then someone barged in. “I saw it. I really saw it.” He sat down. “I swear to all that is holy. I saw the wandering Rust Knight.”

“That’s just a made-up story, like how parents get their kids to stop misbehaving. The Seven Deadly Sins will come in blood rusted armor, oooh ahhh.”

“The Seven Deadly Sins?” She asks from behind the bar.

“You’ve never heard of them? They’re wanted posters are hanging everywhere, like those over there.”

She looks at the board and there were seven faces and seven names. Marinette, Chloe, Adrien, Luka, Felix, Lila, and Kagami.

“How long has it been? Ten years. When all those holy knights were slaughtered so fast, they couldn’t defend themselves. It was the Seven Deadly Sins that did it. From what I've been told the way the holy Knights’ grandmaster was killed was too gruesome for anyone to look at.” They began to talk amongst themselves.

“They say their captain, Marinette, is the scariest of them all. It's even said that she's brought down whole countries on her own.” Everything went quiet.

Until another patron spoke up. “Well none of them have been caught yet have not a single one.”

“They’re dead, they have to be the new Holy Knights would never let them live after what they've done.”

“Yeah you've got a point even now with the kings sick. The Holy Knights are making sure that the Kingdom stays safe for all its people. But those notices up on the board get updated every single year. Doesn’t that mean those seven criminals are still out there?”

“Yeah well some spooky knight walking around in rusty armor sounds pretty ridiculous to me.”

“You’re right.”

A crash, scraping, and banging was heard just outside the Tavern door.

“That smells an awful lot like rust to me.” Plagg sniffed the air and then cowered behind the counter.

The door opened and there stood the rusted knight. “The Seven Deadly Sins…” Hhe moaned as he entered the Tavern.

Screaming, panic, and everyone rushing out of the Tavern ensued. Fleeing from the rusted knight.

The girl jumped over the counter and stood her ground defiantly looking at the Rust knight. “Now who are you?”

The Rust knight swayed and then fell to the ground collapsed. His helmet rolled off of him. And then they saw his face, his eyes shut tight in the pain and exhaustion, his black hair short and messy stuck to his face from the sweat. And he wore a singular earring, a true blue engraved with something in red and gold.

“This kid is one of the Seven Deadly Sins?” Plagg asked the girl, and they took him up to the room taking the armor off of him. “He's just a boy.”

“Let’s just make sure.” The girl went up to the boy and started poking him first on his thigh, then his stomached, his bicep, she was leaning over him and was about to poke his cheek when his eyes flew open. “Yep, he's a boy.”

“Um, pardon me but what am I doing here?” He was quiet and soft spoken.

“Oh yeah you came into my bar then you passed out cold.”

“Your bar?”

“Yeah, the Boar Hat, my Tavern.”

“You’re the owner?”

“Is that so weird?”

“I just saw that sword, so I naturally assumed.”

“Oh, this old thing.” She motioned and pulled the sword from its scabbard. “Ha ha ha. Yeah, I guess if you only see the handle, it can fool ya huh.” All that rose up and out with her hand was the handle and a small stub was left of the blade, which was practically worthless in a fight. “It makes guests think twice about skipping out on their tabs.” She put the sword handle back into its scabbard on her back.

Which was when they moved downstairs to the raven again. Marinette cooked up something for the boy, and set the plate in front of him.

“First you nurse me back to health, now you're feeding me, how can I possibly thank you enough.” He barely choked out.

“First before saying thanks you should probably try the food first.” Plagg’s nasally voice cut into his words.

“What do you think? Awful isn't it.” She leaned down on the bar now watching him eat with a grin on her face.

“Yes.” He responded.

Which caused both her and Plagg to respond in unison. “Knew it was.”

But then something shocked them, he started to cry.

“Still its delicious.” Tears fell down his face.

“So what exactly were you doing walking around in that old armor, anyways?” She asked the boy.

“I'm on a personal quest to find the Seven Deadly Sins.” He answered.

“Why would you do that? You don’t even know if those guys are even still alive or not, and they’re serious villains.” Plagg reasoned.

That was when banging was heard on the tavern door, knights banged on the door, and ordered them to open up for them.

That was when she noticed the boy got slightly afraid at the mention of Knights.

After a moment of the Knights bickering to themselves, that gave her just enough time to think. She went and opened the door.

“Who are you?” One of the Knights asked her as she opened the door.

“I'm the owner of this place. What do you want?” She was relaxed.

“The Rust Knight is in there, send him out!” The same knight answered.

“Alright.” She turned around and looked back. “You might want to come out now.”

They all looked past her and saw Plagg dressed in the armor that the boy was wearing walk out.

“You have some nerve mocking the Knights of this land like this.” He grabbed her by the shirt and lifted her up off the ground. She was small, sure but he still held her up a meter off the ground.

That’s when the boy had snuck out of the back and made a run for it into the forest. Unfortunately, he was seen. “Look a boy just ran out, after him.”

The knight threw her back to the ground and she and Plagg shared a worried look.

The two of them ran after the boy and the Knights, Plagg mowed down, tackling each and every one, while she went after the boy. The last knight got pushed down off of the cliff at the edge of the forest by Plagg. While she and the boy were safely out of the way in one of the trees at the edge.

“So why are you looking for the Seven Deadly Sins anyways?” She asked him once they were back on the ground.

“To stop the Holy Knights.” He answered.

“Are you serious!! Why in the world would you wanna do that?” Plagg exclaimed. “The Holy Knights are the king’s men, the knights are here to protect us they are heroes.”

“But what if they were behind a plot to start a war in our country. Except for the king himself, the entire royal family was arrested and is being held by the Holy Knights.”

“Does that mean the king isn't really sick in bed?” Plagg asked the boy.

“That’s just a cover story the Holy Knights are using. I don't know what they think they can accomplish by driving the nation to war, but now they're drafting people. Taking men wherever they can get them they're preparing for war everywhere you look. So their reach will even extend all the way out here.” He shook his head.

“Yeah tough break, huh?” She finally responded.

“Wow you don't have any empathy at all. How does this tie back to the Seven Deadly Sins again?” Plagg shook his head.

“If there's even the slightest hope of preventing the Holy Knights from doing this. I know they're the only ones who can.” He was resolute.

“Just checking here.” She Butt in again. “You’re trying to find those guys even though you know what kind of people they are?”

“The Seven Deadly Sins are the most vile Order of Knights the Kingdom ever produced, made up of seven vicious bloodthirsty criminals each one branded with the mark of the beast. Ten years ago when they were suspected of trying to overthrow the Kingdom the Knights of the realm launched a full force attack scattering them to the four winds.”

“Well if you believe the rumors they each died a long time ago.” She spoke distractedly.

“Such amazing people wouldn't possibly let themselves get killed!”

“But they are criminals aren't they causing the suffering of the people right now?” She asked confused.

“When I was small, only five or six years old, my father would tell me stories about them and that's when I learned they are the most powerful Knights!”

A rumbling was heard and then the edge of the cliff they were on started to crumble and fall beneath them, dropping them down.

“I did not confirm whether or not they were people named in the report. Conclusion two individuals of unknown origin dead. What do you think men that sounds about right?” A man wearing red armor, silver grey hair and mustache.

“But Sir Twiggle, one of our knights was still under the cliff.”

“Simply put three fatalities in the report then.” Twiggle answered haughtily.

“But Sir, you can't! That’s too far even for you”

“How about seven fatalities instead?” The knight in red armor moved towards the rest of his men, but that was also when she jumped back up on to the cliff with not only the boy and Plagg in her arms but also the knight who fell.

“When I give a signal to you run into the forest got it.” She spoke quietly to the boy.

“Which one of them would you believe to be a member of the Seven Deadly Sins. Neither bears any resemblance to the wanted posters?” He then noticed something. “God is smiling upon me today, the crystal earring you're wearing is from the royal family. Conclusion you are Prince Jonathan!”

“Wait hold on Prince Jonathan?” The knights shouted.

“You're a Prince?” She added softly.

“Orders from the Capital are to determine your whereabouts. the order was to capture you alive and in healthy condition, but if you lost your life in an unfortunate accident…” Twiggle spoke aloud.

“I can't allow myself to get captured not yet!”

“Conclusion accidental death.” Sir Twiggle let off a shockwave of air magic chopping the entire forest down to the ground.

“Hi there, you alright?” She had pulled him down and covered him from the blast. “Plagg?”

“Seriously I'm a shaved pork on a skewer.” He cried. A single small little twig had splintered in his back. And he went off crying and screaming Tikki.

Johnathan stood and started to walk towards Twiggle. “Johnathan. Hey! What are you doing?” She called after him.

“There’s no escape.”

“Wait hang on you just said you couldn't afford to be caught or to give up.”

“Maybe if I surrender myself peacefully, he'll agree to take me back with him and your life can be spared.”

Sir Twiggle sent off another blast cutting into everything again, but she was able to tackle him out of the way just in time.

“Please get out of here while you still can.” He begged her.

“I think he wants to make sure neither one of us gets out of here alive.” She noticed as She was above him once more. After the attack ensuring he was fine yet again, the only real damage done to her, and that was her left sleeve was completely torn revealing her entire arm from shoulder to fingers. A mark barely visible on her shoulder.

“I was so happy when I met you. Searching for the Seven Deadly Sins, I so scared alone in that rusty armor. There wasn't any help I could ask for. Then you show up and show me such kindness, someone that you've never met before. I don't wanna see you hurt my problems anymore when I don’t even know your name.”

Memories flashed behind her eyes and a smile spread on her lips.

“Marinette. If you really wanna know.” She grinned from ear to ear.

“I… I don't believe it you can't be you're just.” Tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

That was when the knight who fell with them regained consciousness jumping up. “Where's the girl the one with the sword. I saw it when she saved me from the cliff the symbol it was right there. The symbol on her shoulder it… it… it’s her.”

Sir Twiggle struck again now closer, right on top of them. The magic was unleashed but Marinette stood up and was now facing the Knight.

“How is this possible? My technique was flawless I am certain my blade struck her!” Twiggle began to look even more and more frazzled. “But I was the one who felt the force of the blow. How could it have hit me?! And what is that in your hand?! A broken blade! Broken blade… now your face is beginning to look familiar. Truly it can’t! How can you look exactly the same as you did then?!? No matter your time's up! How dare you still exist!”

Their blades clashed their magic erupted, which sent Twiggle and his men flying high, high into the sky almost like a meteorite.

“Extraordinary power.” Johnathan breathed.

“Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, the Dragon sin of Wrath, Marinette.” She announced.

~~~~~~~~~~

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Story Taglist: just ask because after the bio dad even I won’t add the Event Taglist

[ladyyatexel]

I Went On A Manga Binge

So you don't have to

For those of you who have wisely avoided the shreds of it I've left around the blog thus-far, I had some weird notion to go re-experience Yu-Gi-Oh uuuuuh a week ago? We'll go with that. Time is meaningless.

I'd been able to read a good portion of the early manga at the end of highschool, and somewhere in my stacks and stacks of paper is fanart from this dark time, so you know I cared. I also still own a Dark Magician action figure somehow, so. I'd also watched a large portion of the anime with my brother because it had been laced with some kind of crack and we couldn't look away? I remember when we both were just like shit, wait, don't change the channel, I can't stop looking at it. And the next thing we knew we were waiting for new episodes and I was doing research on the Japanese original because I was that kid.

Anyway, unnecessary backstory out of the way, here are some... let's call them Observations and Consequences of having read somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 chapters (and growing) of a manga primarily hinged on card games from a spectrum of sources ranging from boringly lawful to sketchy as fuck.

Surprise actual character that develops in typical shounen fashion being Jounouchi. My limited experiences with the 4Kids dub and only early manga had not painted him in a particularly good light. I don't know if episodes were being aired out of order or if I had just missed the ones that established that he was making shit up as he was going along, but Wow I liked him a lot more going through the manga than I ever did watching the (dubbed, heavily edited and censored and thrown into a slurry machine) anime. I'd managed to come out with the impression that he was just as reasonably experienced with the game as Yugi back in the day. Wild.

I'm now reading every single comic-style post on Tumblr backwards.

Striking inverse to first point, wow, I don't like Seto Kaiba. Though he gets points for his general philosophy of the future, and the line I read in my sketchy online combo of scans and scanlations in which he said, "If God is in your way, you run him down," was Metal As Fuck. I somewhat shame-facedly admit to enjoying him a lot more as an Abridged Series character. (I watched Abridged as it came out back in the day! The experience of watching the anime with my brother had been so fresh that I got all the in jokes about the way things were edited and dubbed, it was great. Series remains influential part of my life to this day, which is hella weird.)

I almost understand how Duel Monsters works now. I don't want this.

That said, wow a lot of the decisions made in the anime made everything a lot more ridiculous than the admittedly already ridiculous original. I got the distinct feeling in the manga that the Duelist Kingdom stuff we were seeing was designed to be used and exploited in ways that don't make sense in an actual cardgame just played on a table like a normal person and this was part of testing everyone to think higher, differently. Maybe this is obvious to everyone already, I don't know. I had always liked that it was very, 'Not so fast, I'm going to blow up the moon to change the tides,' but I'm not really sure the anime gave enough explanation that this was an extra layer added to things for that event? You can see people actively getting used to it in the books, and people who aren't considering the real or 3D nature of it getting owned, but my memory of anime version is everyone just like, 'oh, shucks, fuck me, I forgot to consider the phase of the moon before i played this card, can't believe I forgot.' No one calls Yugi on any of this stuff because it's valid play in that situation. Plus Yami Yugi had mad trickster energy in the beginning and it suited him to think of ways to do things inside these little simulation boxes the way it suited him to set perverts on fire. I imagine the real card game trying to emulate this element as something that would be to its detriment, but I neither know nor particular care haha

Ryou Bakura.

Really, though. I think he became kind of casualty of 'wow, we have a lot of characters who really aren't able to do anything in this story anymore,' despite the fact that his whole inner life could have been as interesting as Yugi's. I always like thinking about the possibilities of stories in which main character falls into magical world and is given magical item and told they're the hero and then they find out they've been the bad guy the whole time. The first several volumes of manga were about the quiet weirdo kid that no one talked to who was always blacking out and turning into a fucked up version of himsef because he was so attached to his ancient Egyptian jewelry, so like, Bakura could have much the same shit going on. I want to know what's happening with him so much. He clearly doesn't love being possessed, but he's also so drawn to the ring. Despite it having stabbed him at least twice and him knowing it's a danger to him and his friends, he keeps being pulled back into it. You see so much more of him being like, 'Oooh, a creepy thing, I love that! :D' in the manga than ever in the anime, which I'm all about. Also more blood. I'm very about that as well. Though my memory of the anime also made it look very much like normal regular daily Bakura was just a weird facade in places before he ever would have been. I think that was it trying to compensate for what people didn't see from the Toei anime, but okay whatever, that I love everything about this guy is not news, I don't need to talk about Bakura excessively here, I'm pretty sure that's gonna show up on my blog by itself

On a related note though, damn, more of these people need to talk to each other. Can we have some existential crisis support clubs or something. Can we get like some apologies or something? "I respect you as a duelist." "Cool, but you literally built a tower designed to specifically assassinate me and my friends? You were supposed to get Better after I retaliated by putting you in a coma, but you kinda didn't." "Why would the coma have made it better" "I just told you it didn't" ---- "Sorry I went along with the plan of your evil parasite stabbing you, misled you, and then also jumped in and took up some real estate in your head too." "I understand, I also have an evil thing inside me that does things while I'm blacked out." "...no, I was conscious for all of that." "Oh." "..." "..." "..." "Do you like Ouija Boards?" "sure okay" ETC. Like damn we are reading shounen manga because no one is talking extensively about their feelings here and I'm tapping my foot angrily.

Holy shit there are so many mythologies happening at once. The ancient family guarding the Egyptian Pharaoh has a surname that's a Mesopotamian goddess. None of the god cards make any Egyptian sense except Ra, and just like. Baaarrrrely. Somewhere either Evil Ring Bakura or Mar/lik makes a reference to cremation and spirits being taken to heaven with smoke which several things, but definitely not Ancient Egyptian. Marik/Malik meanwhile is clearly trying to head Arabic, along with Rishid, but then, hey, our sister is just Isis. Goddess McGoddess. Sometimes they're the same goddess! Her name could be Isis Isis or Ishtar Ishtar. Meanwhile, all the obviously 'occult because Christians think it is freaky' stuff. ~ancient egyptian pentagrams~~~This isn't a complaint, I guess so much as a 'Wow, I can kind of see the cultural spot the author was coming from and where he was aiming' kind of thing.

Wonder where things would have gone if the card games had not been latched onto the way they were.

Managed to forget how gross the pre-cardgames stuff was on the sexual harassment front. I'm glad there was a sort of explanation of everyone drifting away from being dick heads and that that decision was made. It got way more comfortable to read after no one was bringing Yugi p*rn on VHS.

Yugi looks better with a nose, glad we got that upgrade.

Interesting to watch the series style shift as it goes away from being horror to being over the top cardgames and friendship (with blood!). The first picture of Mokuba is fucking Jarring. Also noticed that the nicer a character is, the less their teeth are defined.

Glad manga did not go as completely off the fucking the rails about Marik's face. I never got as far as seeing him back in the day because college occurred, but I remember seeing pictures and stuff and being like, "what in the Fuck happened to that dude, I think the house style has collapsed in on itself"

Things the author Really Likes: motorcycles, belts, SHOES, holy shit the shoes. These are some of the most lovingly rendered sneakers I've ever seen. All the detail on his characters goes straight to their feet and then it's stretched upward until it forms stiff peaks. Gently fold in 3000 years of trauma and bake face down in a crumb coat of scattered mythology. Remove when you roll two zeros.

Where the fuck am I going to put the extremely large omnibus volumes of this comic I purchased in order to balance out how much I would be reading for free on the internet. I should have grasped that a three in one edition would be Thick and yet somehow I was still :O when it arrived. Have I strategically purchased volumes that contain my favorite parts, maybe, what's it to you will i eventually get the whole thing because incomplete book series gnaw on my soul? yes

Wish the transition from "I've murdered several people in delightfully karmic ways" to "all you need is friendship in your heart and cards in your hand" Yami Yugi/Pharaoh had been discussed more/transitioned better. Buddy, where did you get this approved for television high horse? Please go back to strangling people with yo-yos or at least tell me why you stopped.

I still can't tell anything that looks like a big robotic monster apart from any other big robotic monster. My dude, I can't tell cars apart, all these monsters look the same.

Yami Yugi fascinated me way more in highschool? Maybe because it was still super early and the anime was like 'we need to torture you about his origins WeEkLy. Now I'm just like 'wait hold on, can we go back to Bakura and Marik for a minute, there's some extreme unpacking to do here?' Those two are paying so much more in baggage fees here my guy wow

Violently uninterested in any of the spinoff media

[papergirllife]

Tainted Innocence

Doyoung x reader x Jaehyun ( threesome )

Warnings: Explicit sex, unprotected sex

full masterlist

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“It’ll be fun. You can’t be studying in this golden era of our uni and not going to the golden boys’ party even once.”

“No. Please, Joy. You know I’m not the party type.”

The golden boys Joy is referring to are the popular bad boys of our university, Jeong Jaehyun and Kim Doyoung, they throw big party bashes every month for no absolute reason just to get people wasted. They rent a big house to throw parties and just to brag how rich they were.

Joy threw a dress on your face, a pastel purple summer dress.

“Let’s get dolled up, Y/N.”

‘Thank god I insisted on wearing flats.’ you thought to yourself as you walked from Joy’s parked car to the house, the house wasn’t as big as a mansion, but being compared to the tiny dorms you stayed in, it was heaven.

“Lele!”

I looked up to see Joy greeting one of her freshmen friends, the cousin of Jeong Jaehyun.

“This is Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You should drop by more often. I could finally meet the famous Y/N Joy can’t stop talking about.”

“She’s really shy. I only got her out because I typed out her report when she had a fever.”

“Enjoy yourselves. There’s a bottle of Henny in the third top cupboard if you get sick of the cheap beer.”

“You’re the best, Lele.”

Joy took your hand and led you to the kitchen and started filling a cup for you, she only poured a can of sprite from the fridge.

“Thanks.”

“Of course, you’re driving us home.”

She took your hand once again and took you to the center of the house where everyone was either dancing or socialising by the dry kitchen.

Joy saw another friend of hers and started talking to her, you sat on one of the bar stools and sipped on your sprite.

‘So much for fun.’ you thought to yourself.

You got up from your seat and walked out to the pool area where there were lesser people because of the cold. You took off your flats and dipped your legs into the chilly water, enjoying the silence.

“Partying isn’t your scene, huh?”

You turned your head back to see no other than Kim Doyoung and Jeong Jaehyun looking at you.

“No.”

You cursed at how your voice wavered when you answered them, and your eyes dropped contact after merely seconds.

They took off their shoes and joined your dipping session in their pool, two of them on each side of you.

“You don’t have to entertain me, I bet the people inside are waiting for the both of you.”

“But you’re our guest too.” Doyoung said as his eyes stared into yours, hand on your knee.

“And you’re much more entertaining than a bunch of drunk people doing nonsense, sweetheart.” Jaehyun said as his arm slung over your shoulder, pulling you close to him.

“You’re so pretty, sweetheart. What’s your name?”

“Y/N”

“A pretty name for a pretty girl.”

“You’re scaring her, hyung.”

“No. You’re the one scaring her.”

Like two overgrown kids, the two of them started bickering. Jaehyun started jabbing at Doyoung, hoping he’ll drop into the pool. But the hand supporting his weight slipped, making him lose his balance and crashed on top of you, you couldn’t support both Jaehyun’s and your own weight, so your body fell on top of Doyoung’s lap.

When you dared to open your eyes, you were surprised of the soft landing and Jaehyun’s face only milimeters away from yours. Jaehyun had a little smirk on his face, his warm hand reached up to cup your face, his lips connecting with yours. You instantly let Jaehyun dominate the kiss, letting him take all control over you.

Jaehyun pulled you up, his arms embracing you, you let out a squeak at his bold actions, your shy demeanor obvious to their watchful eyes. As Jaehyun was kissing you, you could feel Doyoung laying kisses on your neck, both their arms snaking around your waist.

You couldn’t differentiate which hand was who’s and it only added the thrill to it. A hand was cupping your clothed breast, another was grabbing your ass cheek under your dress. It was all a euphoric haze, you’ve gone this far with boys, but never more than one at once.

When someone’s hand brushed against your clothed slit, you let out a moan, to the delight of both boys. Jaehyun and you broke off the kiss when he ran out of air, his eyes were searching for any sort of objection in your eyes.

“How about we take this upstairs?” Doyoung asked, reading Jaehyun’s mind.

You quickly slipped into your flats as they wore their slides, Doyoung led the both of you to the emergency stairs leading to his room, away from the watchful eyes of the party goers.

When Jaehyun was closing the door, Doyoung crashed his lips against yours. He was less dominating compared to Jaehyun, but his hands were wandering all over your body, groping, pinching, and caressing every inch of skin he could find. You were drunk in his touch.

Doyoung moved the two of you onto the bed, but he ceased all his actions, only his hands were brushing your hair softly, eyes piercing into yours.

“Are you sure you want this, Y/N?”

“Yes.” 

You were already breathless from all the attention you were getting, but you craved more, you didn’t want this night to end.

Doyoung and Jaehyun started ridding their clothes, climbing onto the bed to greet you with their mouth watering bodies, the both of them had appealing points. Jaehyun was buffer than Doyoung, but Doyoung’s body was a perfect balance of masculinity and femininity.

The both of them started undressing you, you were grateful for picking a matching soft pink cotton set underneath your dress instead of the usual unflattering ones you wore. You knew the things you were about to do were wrong, but you couldn’t help but to crave their touch, the attention you were receiving, you never thought the school’s most popular guys would be seeing you in this light.

The innocent colour of your lingerie made Jaehyun and Doyoung snap on the inside, their minds filled only with thoughts of corrupting your purity. Just as Jaehyun was about to reach behind you to take off your bra, you stopped him gently, your hands holding onto his.

“I’ve never been touched before, I hope that doesn’t change the way you see me.”

“Never? Not even the slightest action from anyone?”

 Doyoung asked you, with a certain longing in his eyes that you can’t quite tell its meaning behind.

“No. I’m just an average girl that no one looks twice at.”

“Sweetheart, you’re so much more. People just don’t have an eye for a hidden gem like you.”

Jaehyun said as he littered love bites down your exposed body, from your neck to the insides of your thigh as Doyoung works on your other side. A hand reaches behind you to unclasp your bra, but before he did it, someone spoke up.

“Can I, sweetheart?”

It was somewhat mind-blowing because all the rumours you heard, Jaehyun fucked without any feelings nor even the slightest of care towards the girl, and here he was, asking for consent to take off your bra.

“Yes, you can.”

Jaehyun and Doyoung stared as your piece of clothing fell, they had a fair share of breasts of different sizes, but yours seem to perfectly fit the shape of the statues of ancient Greece goddesses, as if you’re breasts were moulded by the best sculptors.

The two of them cupped your breasts gently, your back arched into their touch, nipples hardening at their slightly cold fingertips.

“You’re so sensitive, Y/N.” 

Doyoung said as looked you in the eye, mesmerised by your reactions. Both of them begin playing with your nipples, pinching them, rolling in between their fingers, as the room begins to fill up with your beautiful mewls, fueling their desire to ruin your innocence, piece by piece.

Jaehyun took a nipple into his mouth, sucking onto your breast like a newborn to its mother. Doyoung’s hand slipped down to play with the waistband of your panties, sliding in between your crotch area to feel the arousal accumulated from their sinful actions. He moves your panties to the side to let a finger feel up your slit. Doyoung brings up his finger to show Jaehyun, who was distracted with both your breasts presented to him, how wet you were.Jaehyun took Doyoung’s finger into his mouth without any hesitation, tasting you.

“So fucking sweet, as expected, sweetheart. Who do you want for your first time, sweetheart?”

“I don’t know.”

“You should have her first, hyung. You’re more gentle.”

“Are you sure? What about you Y/N? Do you want me to be your first?”

You were so overwhelmed by their cautiousness towards you, that you just nodded.

Doyoung stripped off his clothing, leaving himself only in his boxers, a tent obviously confined in its confinements. He moved you to sit on his lap, moving to generate some friction for the both of you. Your body unconsciously circling your hips to his movements. The slight rough material of your panties rubbed against your clit deliciously, whimpers falling out your lips.

While you and Doyoung were preoccupied by your little sessions, Jaehyun sat at the corner of the bed, his cock in his hands, jerking himself off to relief his frustration. Your eyes were trailed at the sight, from the way he pumps his big cock, to the way his abs flex from his erratic movements.

Jaehyun caught you staring and gave you a wink.

“Like what you see, sweetheart?”

Doyoung was low key annoyed by your wavered attention, so he decided to pick up the pace and stripped you of your last piece of clothing along with his own boxers. He laid you down the bed and slipped a finger into you, his eyes zeroing on the way you clench around his fingers, he took it as a good sign and inserted another finger, scissoring you open, Jaehyun stopped pleasuring himself and started rubbing circular motions on your clit, you were dripping on the sheets from their ministrations.

Doyoung slipped his fingers out, and lined his cock at your entrance. He slipped in, inch by inch. Doyoung was thicker than you thought, so your walls were slow to accustom to his girth. You felt a slight pain from the penetration, but the way Doyoung slipped into you made you feel full, complete. When his whole length was inside you, he waited for your consent to move.The pain you felt initially was quick to be replaced by pleasure.

“Doyoung, you can move.”

Doyoung started off with slow and deep thrusts, but he quickly replaced them with hard and fast ones when you begged him to go faster. Jaehyun knew he was a sucker for girls who beg, but he was surprised that you didn’t even need to be told to beg. What an obedient girl.

Doyoung snapped his hips against yours, his length hitting against a spot that made you see stars as you held on for your dear life, fisting the sheets underneath you. Doyoung started going balls deep as you started clenching his length.

The room was filled with Doyoung’s grunts and your moans and whimpers, and the sound of skin slapping against skin. Your toes were clenched together at the repetitive pleasure from each of Doyoung’s stroke of his cock.Your mind was in a sexual haze, but you could feel the coil in your stomach unraveling quickly.

“D-doyoung, I think I’m going to cum.”

Doyoung slipped a finger to your folds to pinch your clit lightly, sending you over the edge. You could only see a flash of white before feeling your cum slip down Doyoung’s length as you screamed at the amount of pleasure your orgasm brought you. Doyoung gave a few more thrusts before cumming inside you, his warmth liquid filling you up.

Doyoung slipped his cock out once he was done riding out your highs, you could feel a mixture of your cum and Doyoung’s slipping out of your pussy. But before you did anything about it, Jaehyun used his finger to push it back inside of you.

Jaehyun carried you into a sitting position on his lap, pumping his cock in front of you before slipping inside you. You once again felt full, but even more so, given that Jaehyun was slightly longer and bigger than Doyoung. You were starting to develop an unhealthy obsession with the way how complete you felt.

Jaehyun started thrusting into you at a fast pace, making you bounce on top of him, your jiggling breasts a view to his eyes. Riding Jaehyun made you scream like you never did before, the way he accurately hits at your sweet spot continuously made your back arched, nails dragging down Jaehyun’s back.

You were so into the sex you were having, you hadn’t notice your phone ringing on the bedside table, Jaehyun ceased his actions and passed you the phone. He had already pressed the answer button, you looked at the caller ID to see that it was Joy.

“Hello? Y/N? Where are you?”

“Joy! I’m busy at the moment I’ll call you back in- Fuck, Jaehyun!”

Jaehyun had continue his harsh thrusts as you were on the line with Joy. You were sure Joy could hear the way Jaehyun was fucking into you. You were so humiliated that you just pressed the decline button, throwing the phone behind you.

Jaehyun had enjoyed the show, the way he felt your heartbeat quicken against his own, and the embarrassment making your cheeks red.

“Why did you do that?”

“To let people know you’re being fucked dumb by me, sweetheart, begging for me to fuck you good with my cock. Look at how you clench around me just because of my words, I’m going to ruin you.” 

Jaehyun said before focusing back on pleasuring you. You were surprised at how Jaehyun’s lewd words had such an effect on you, but you just crave for more of it. The thrill of being caught was evident in Jaehyun, but the way he said it sent shocks to your pussy. Jaehyun love how much him and Doyoung corrupted you. He looked over to Doyoung who was laying on the bed, enjoying the show in front of his eyes, but a slight smirk could be seen at the recent event that occured.

When you had enough energy to move, you started bouncing on Jaehyun, loud smacking sounds erupting from your butt coming in contact with his thighs. Your walls once again clenched tightly around Jaehyun’s length, your orgasm washing over you, making you feel spent but a sense of heightened pleasure since you were still sensitive from your previous orgasm. You bit onto Jaehyun’s shoulder when you came, your orgasm ripping a scream from you of Jaehyun’s name.

Jaehyun came not long later, his high brought by the final push of your teeth sinking into his shoulder. He pulled out of you once he was done, eyes trained on the way your pussy leaked so much cum onto his thigh. Jaehyun placed a kiss on your forehead before laying you down to rest.

When Doyoung came back to clean you up, you were already asleep.

“I’ll go find Joy to tell her about Y/N’s whereabouts after this.”

“Let her stay. We’ll keep her.”

“Really? Jeong Jaehyun willing to commit?”

“She's a special one.”

Jaehyun said as he played with your hair.

[mst3kproject]

The Giant of Marathon

For some reason, probably because I've seen them all so many times, I thought I'd already done all four Film Crew episodes.  Evidently this is not true.  Here's one, and if you haven't seen it... wow, Mr. Honcho was not exaggerating about the thousands of sweaty men.

Philippides of Athens is the greatest athlete there is, having won the entire Olympics. With the games over, he returns to his day job as commander of the Athenian city guard.  Followers of Hippias the exiled tyrant are plotting to take control of the city with help from the invading Persians, and they try to seduce Philippides to their cause by offering him wine, women, and homoerotic wrestling (it was ancient Greece, after all).  Philippides refuses to be seduced, and sets off to secure the help of Athens' old enemy Sparta in opposing the Persians.  His mission is a success, but upon his return a spy tells him that the Persians are planning a sneak attack on the harbour of Piraeus.  Can even Philippides get there in time to deliver the warning?

I don't actually know if it were possible to win the entire Olympics in ancient Greece.  I know there were several events and at least one of them involved reciting poetry.  The Battle of Marathon was in 490 BC and a table on Wikipedia suggests that there could have been up to twelve different sports, but some of them were only for children.

The Giant of Marathon touts itself as a tale of epic battles, daring deeds, and political machinations.  I'll get back to the epic battles and daring deeds, but what stands in for the political machinations is mostly a bunch of people pining.  Unimpressive villain Theocritus is pining for the beautiful Andromeda, whose father has promised her to him but she thinks he's a dick.  She's pining for Philippides, who is also pining for her but thinks she's one of Hippias' followers, so refuses to speak to her.  Meanwhile Theocritus' concubine Charis is also pining for Philippides because he's the only man who ever refused to fuck her, I think.

These relationships are important to the plot, too.  Andromeda's love for Philippides is one of the reasons her father refuses to join the traitors, and when Theocritus realizes he cannot have her, he ties her to the prow of his ship to force Philippides to watch her die.  Charis' crush on Philippides leads her to her death, as she is executed for spying.  Yet none of it is ever developed beyond 'these two pretty people saw each other and now they want to bone'.  Philippides declares his love for Andromeda after a single five-minute interaction.  Charis has seen Philippides twice, and both times it went badly, when she decides to betray Theocritus.

Why do the writers hang such important plot points on the 'love' between people who have barely spoken to each other?  I can't decide if it's because they're lazy, or because they're hacks, and I lean towards a combination of the two.  There is absolutely no subtlety to the writing in The Giant of Marathon at all.  Everything is told, not shown.  We know that Theocritus and Creusus are traitors because they talk about it, in dialogue that's clearly written for the audience, not as anything that sounds like a natural conversation. We know that Charis and Andromeda are both in love with Philippides because they say so.  The only thing we're really shown is that Andromeda hates Theocritus, which comes through in her body language (though we are also very much told), so props to actress Mylène Demongeot for that much.

The movie doesn't care about any of this character stuff, anyway.  It just wants to get straight to those epic battle scenes, and it's very obvious how much work and time went into those as opposed to everything else.  The battles are lengthy and elaborate, full of impressive stunts and props and miniatures being destroyed all over the place.  We get to see Persian chariots run down Greek infantry, and while I'm pretty sure this would have been orchestrated so the stuntmen didn't get hurt, I'm not nearly so confident about the unfortunate horses (and neither was Bill).  There are ships in flames and injured men screaming as they fall overboard.  There are even some pretty good deaths, like the guy who was hit in the eye with an arrow.  The desperate last stand of the city guard against the entire Persian fleet, with the Spartans arriving just in time to save the day, is very tense indeed.

I get the impression that this is what somebody really wanted to put on screen, and they did a decent job of it, but pretty much the entire rest of what ought to be the story is just an accessory to the fighting stuff.  It's as if the film-makers wanted so badly for their fight sequences to be epic that they forgot what makes epic-ness – which is the characters and their stake in the events. We don't know any of these people, none of them have anything we might call a personality trait, and so we don't care.

The focus on how epic it all is makes I seem a little strange that the battle ends on a shot of dead Persian guys floating in the water. You'd think they'd want to end with something that more decisively shows the Athenian victory, maybe the men cheering as the Persian ships turn around and flee.  Or perhaps some kind of victory celebration, which could mirror the celebration of Philippides winning the Olympics in the opening and call back to the scene where Philippides asks the goddess Athena to protect her city.

Instead, we cut to a shot of Philippides and Andromeda walking across the farmland together.  This feels a little too sudden, and is also a poor fit with the rest of the movie.  The only time we've seen Philippides on his farm is when he's gotten disgusted with the politics of Athens and returned to the countryside to sulk.  If the farm is supposed to be a place where he's happy and at peace, the movie never establishes it.

So that's political machinations and epic battle sequences, let's talk about some daring deeds.

Unlike the Hercules and Maciste movies we've seen in the past, The Giant of Marathon wants to be grounded in real-life history.  This means that while the script does reference gods and mythical heroes, none of them ever appear and there is no hint of them working behind the scenes to bring events about.  Likewise, Philippides is not a demigod, so we avoid several of the tropes associated with the genre.  Nothing important ever happens (or fails to happen) because the hero was asleep, and he never bends prison bars or drinks a love potion – although a love potion is mentioned, as if to draw attention to this.

This doesn't leave Philippides a whole lot of scope for daring deeds, and when they try the results are a little lackluster.  His main feat is, of course, running all the way from Marathon to Athens (the proverbial forty-two kilometres) to let them know of the impending attack, but while this ought to be the highlight of the movie it's shot in terrible day-for-night and we have nothing to suggest how far this is... I think the writers just assumed everybody knows the length of a marathon.  If we'd seen the army tired from making the march earlier, we would have a better sense of it being a long and tiring journey even at a walk or with horses, and it would seem that much more formidable as a distance for one man to cover before sunrise.  Of course, showing us these things is apparently beyond the scope of The Giant of Marathon's writers, but you'd think they could at least have a character say something like, “it's twenty-six miles!  He'll never make it!”

His other major daring deed is when he pushes giant boulders down a hill onto the attacking Persians.  This is kind of weird because Philippides is not Hercules or Maciste.  He's good at track and field, but we haven't seen any evidence of him having godlike strength, and this is a universe where gods don't seem to do much anyway, so it comes out of nowhere.  The rocks are huge – there are similarly-sized ones at the park near my house and I know one guy couldn't move them no matter how buff he might be.  Did somebody just forget that they weren't making a Hercules movie?

Between the battles and the various plot twists, The Giant of Marathon could have been a pretty fun sword-and-sandal movie, but it's like a tower without a foundation.  The fights have nothing to hold them up, so we just can't get into it. Also, what the Underworld happened to Hippias? We see him once, chatting with the king of Persia, and then he vanishes and the movie decides weaselly little Theocritus is the big bad instead. I'm sorry, but if you've got a character with a name as cool as 'Hippias the Tyrant', you really can't just drop him like that.

The Best Brains liked to complain about the tinyness of the costumes in these movies but honestly, nothing here is as off-putting as actual ancient Greek sports would have been to the modern viewer.  When I was in university I TA'd for a course called Introduction to Greco-Roman Civilization. It was an adventure in several ways – the students were mostly dumb freshmen who spent the lectures playing Farmville, and the professor didn't give a shit because she'd just been denied tenure.  I don't know how much anybody learned in that class, but I'm sure they all recall how, after the professor told us that Greek athletes stripped naked and covered themselves in olive oil before wrestling, somebody raised a hand and asked if they removed their body hair.  The professor cheerfully told him that they did not, so next time we see a Greek vase we ought to remember that these guys were much sweatier, oilier, and hairier than terra cotta can possibly convey.

[sakuatsu]

YELL 2 ME ABT SAKUATSU FIC RECS PLS

oh boy. oh boy do i have much to talk about

here’s a list of my sakuatsu must-reads under the cut! complete with links, word count, ratings, and occasional commentary because i’m incapable of shutting up. this isn’t in any particular order either 

(keeping this sfw and organized into canonverse/AUs. a * means i am on my hands and knees begging for you to read this)  

i’ll try to update this somewhat regularly :]

most recently updated august 25, 2020!

canonverse:

*your highs and lows (series) by astroeulogy 

a post-time skip canonverse series born from these two questions:

1. what if sakusa kiyoomi, known too-blunt jerk, is equally straightforward about his soft, tender feelings?

2. what if miya atsumu, resident big fat jerk who doesn't care if his teammates hate him, is too emotionally stunted to notice when his one of his teammates actually likes him?

this is like the sakuatsu series but it’s blasphemous to not recommend. the first fic in the series is all that you were (4.6k, T). mind the ratings on a few of the fics, but my personal favorite is #3: a masterpiece of domesticity called you have tamed me (5.7k, T). these make me ACHE 

*sakuatsu domesticity simulator by pseudoanalytics (T)

a vaguely interactive mixture of fic, art, and html, where you too can experience the inherent romance of a big fat jerk and a too-blunt jerk attempting intimacy

this fic...this fic...op is literally one of my favorite artists of all time but Did You Know that their writing is also off the charts. what a wonderful use of second person and the pacing is so good. too much skill in one person 

*The MSBY Black Jackals Read Thirst Tweets by isaksara (11.4k, M)

Sakusa’s eyes are very dark naturally, sucking in all surrounding rays of light and crushing them in his pupils. For an athlete, he is rather pale. His lips look very pink in comparison. Atsumu is suddenly catastrophically aware that in this instance, ‘accent’ is a euphemism. “Good enough for your Olympic-size ego, Miya?”

(In which Atsumu realizes that he is attracted to Sakusa Kiyoomi in the most inconvenient way possible.)

i think this is the fic that got me into sakuatsu in the first place lol i was looking very specifically for msby socmed fics and now here we are. this fic is unbelievably funny

*liminal spaces by hhatsuna (25.9k, T)

Fuck you, Atsumu thinks, pointing at the pixelated Sakusa in the grainy team photo on his bedside table.

It’s easier than you’d think to ignore loving your teammate.

*Better For Us Both by abrandnewheart (15.7k, M)

Where “You already make me the happiest guy alive, babe," gives way to, “I’ve not been happy for a while now.”

Alternatively known as the ‘mug fic’.

yes this is a breakup fic. yes im going to recommend it anyway. breakup fics usually scare me a lot but this one is too good for me to not say anything about. nuanced and delicious. i look at the mug on my desk and feel pain

dog eat dog eat dog world by perennials (8.4k, T)

You are your first and only line of defense against the universe.

Koi no Yokan; 恋の予感 by ymra (15.3k, unrated)

Wherein Sakusa dreams of his future selves and discovers a little something along the way.

autumn ends, but we remain by wolfsbvne (5.3k, T)

atsumu stares at his ceiling at 2am. he stares until he can make out designs in his popcorn ceiling. a cat there, an onigiri here, and then something that suspiciously looks like a mop of hair, triangle eyebrows, and oh those two bumps are moles right above what atsumu just mapped out as an eye.

(or, atsumu is in kind of in love. sakusa is maybe in like.)

your fingertips, branding irons by Ceryna (5.8k, T)

Between the accidental touches he's reconciled, the deliberate ones he's endured, and, from those he's built years of trust with, obliged– Kiyoomi has never wanted to let someone indulge.

Never, until Atsumu.

take what’s yours and make it mine by claudusdiei (5.9k, T)

atsumu falls in love four times in his life

(or: in which atsumu gets his heart broken twice, has the self-awareness of a sober mule and really likes yellow tulips)

every action has an equal and opposite reaction by akanemnida (10.4k, T)

Miya Atsumu gets a modeling contract with Calvin Klein, which sets Kiyoomi's heart in motion.

(Or: Sakusa Kiyoomi realizes that the rules governing the universe are absolute rubbish at explaining matters of the heart.)

*where i want to be by tookumade (8.8k, G)

In the time they’ve been teammates at the MSBY Black Jackals, Sakusa has never been to Atsumu’s place, and Atsumu has only been to Sakusa’s a few times. There’s an unspoken understanding here: that Atsumu knows him well enough to know that nobody’s house or apartment would ever really meet his ridiculously high standards, and he is most comfortable in the home he’s made for himself.

That, and, Atsumu being over at Sakusa’s means that he has to host him and do the cleaning afterwards, while Atsumu can just flit off back to his own place. So. There’s that.

Tonight. Tonight is not business as usual. Tonight is not familiar.

*san'yō expressway, 6:17 pm by yamabato (8.1k, T)

Atsumu tilts his head to watch a slice of orange light bend over the impassive planes of Sakusa’s face. He is absolutely, ruthlessly beautiful. It makes Atsumu want to punch something—put his foot through the windshield—scream, maybe.

Kiss him again, maybe.

They have 344 kilometers to figure this one out.

parallax error: angle of inclination by min_mintobe (10.8k, T)

But now there's the one person Atsumu'd promised himself never to touch. His eyes leave Atsumu breathless with guilt at seventeen, and he spends the next six years safe in the satisfaction of making things right.

Feelings, of the physical kind, and one kiss.

ft. competitive spirit, childishness, and late night conversations.

Atsumu POV.

four leaf clover by vicari_us (5.9k, T)

Once, Ushijima claimed that they ‘got lucky’. If properly honed, their body types could become near invincible weapons.

However, unlike Ushijima, Kiyoomi’s weapon required a bit more care over the years to reach the condition it had become. He was born iron, not yet forged into steel.

Exploring what it might have taken to turn a genetic mistake into an athletic miracle.

*the 28 postcards you left me by wheelspokes (8.3k, T)

Atsumu takes texting your ex to a new level by sending Sakusa postcards in Animal Crossing instead.

such a unique premise & this is so beautifully structured. stunning flow and who knew animal crossing could convey so much longing...

AUs:

Pas De Deux by hhatsuna (dancer!sakusa au: 19.0k, T)

The mystery athlete gives Kiyoomi a once over in the mirror. “Yer pretty tall,” he observes, and the twang of an accent rasps low in his throat. His brazen eyes drift to Kiyoomi’s legs, and something like exhilaration glints gold in his gaze. “Good quads, too. Ya ever played volleyball?” Ah. So it’s volleyball.

“I’m a dancer. Ballet and contemporary, mostly.”

*my love, take your time by bastigod (archaeologist!sakusa au: 9.0k, T)

There was something sublime about wandering around an empty museum. Nothing could compare to the sound of his shoes clacking against the marble floor, the morning sunlight gently streaming through the lofty windows and the peaceful solitude of ancient stone kings overseeing their silent kingdoms.

A day in the life of Doctor Kiyoomi Sakusa, Archaeologist.

i’ve literally been thinking about this fic every day since it came out. you will not find a story like this anywhere else, i guarantee you. what a clear labor of love this fic is it’s truly something so special 

three roses and a smile by strawberrycitrus (surgeon!sakusa & microbiologist!atsumu au: 19.7k, T)

“I just got this job, I’m not givin’ it up for some moral boost ‘cause I actually need to pay my rent, ya insensitive -” Atsumu waves his hands around, trying and failing to come up with the right word to convey the amount of injustice that this gaunt motherfucker has brought into his relatively simple life thus far.

“If you can’t pay your rent, go get a job at the McDonald’s over by 8th Street,” Sakusa growls, “it’ll pay more than your researcher position.”

If you even attempt assault on a coworker, forget teaching about cells - you’ll fucking be in one, Atsumu.

*Dance of the Parallax by astroeulogy (ogre spirit!sakusa au: 6.7k, T)

For the last twenty years, Atsumu’s done all that he can to break his betrothal to the ogre spirit Sakusa. If he can just make it through one more night, he’ll be free.

honestly, just read everything by astroeulogy. i’m recommending this fic in particular because it has such an ethereal voice to it. magical

across oceans, across centuries by starstrikes (pacific rim au: 20.0k, T)

Six days ago, Osamu died and left Atsumu with this: Atsumu, you have to—

(Namikira rises with the tides and rips Osamu and Vulpis Empress away in one fell swoop. Six days later, Atsumu wakes up alone in a hospital bed and learns how to swim.)

you don’t actually need to know pacrim to appreciate this. a wonderful exploration of grief and recovery. also it’s exactly 20k words which is both satisfying and terrifying 

*Notte Stellata by awkwardedgeworth (ice skating/dancing au: 20.8k, T)

"Your partner doesn't need to hold anyone's hand other than yours," Sakusa's father crouches, "And you can wear gloves."

Sakusa ponders. He hears the other skaters of rink two whiz past as they launch themselves into lifts.

"Alright," He looks up from the ice, not knowing how he'll dedicate the next couple of decades to this sport, this partnership, this boy.

what a stunning fic. a beautiful progression of sakusa & atsumu’s relationship, rife with references to real skating programs, beautifully written and structured. so full of longing i’m in mild physical pain