#i hope this was sufficient you're welcome!

[aishabellasbigblogofeverything]

as an artist, what do you think are the most important aspects to keep in mind if someone is designing/drawing a black coded character? I’m digging into this myself and it’s weirdly confusing because I’m more used to drawing black people as they are. My own concern is when does the character stop becoming black coded and just starts becoming obviously black? is that even a problem? Sorry if this is too much

I'm not quite sure but I think a good way of doing it is trying to make the characters' facial features/hair look as close to a human Black person's as possible, maybe even use a Black character's/person's face as inspiration, and also maybe give them a Black name/name them after a Black person tho that's ofc not a necessity. An example would be like a girl who is an anthropomorphic tree having giant green leaf balls for hair that resemble Afropuffs and brown bark for skin. I can't really think of anything else yeah sorry but I hope this answered your question.

[lovingseventeen]

Hiii could you pls write about how seventeen gets their s/o to sit in their lap?? Thanks so much

svt getting their s/o to sit on their lap

a/n: i hope this is sufficient for my very delayed return (please).

seungcheol: 

✿ it's truly just second nature for him at this point

✿ he'll just casually guide you onto his lap and you don't really question it either

✿ say you're about to sit next to him on the couch

✿ as you're about to sit he'll just lightly pull your wrist in his direction and there you are

jeonghan:

✿ loves to rest his head on your shoulder when you sit on his lap

✿ the simplest "come here" and you're following

✿ he loves this because you don't even have to pay attention to him but he has all the access to wrap his arms around your middle

joshua: 

✿ pats his leg when you want to show him something on your phone

✿ "josh look at this thing i just saw-"

✿ immediately, he's sitting up and spreading his legs so you can walk in the space between them and sit on one of his thighs

✿ "let me see, pretty"

jun: 

✿ will gradually shift you onto his lap over time absentmindedly

✿ neither of you two really notice but you just wind up there

✿ you were watching a movie on opposite ends of the couch (which is fine) but now you're there??? (no one is complaining)

hoshi: 

✿ so annoying about it (i mean this in a loving way)

✿ why should you sit anywhere else when his lap is literally right there??

✿ even if you sat somewhere else without thinking about it he's jokingly scoffing "so you hate me"

✿ (it's okay, just go sit on his lap and peck his cheek and he's all giddy again)

wonwoo: 

✿ pulls you towards him by an article of clothing

✿ it could be your pants loop, the sleeve of your hoodie, or the back of your shirt

✿ he doesn't need to ask you twice :')

woozi:

✿ always asks for your opinion when he makes a new beat or writes new lyrics

✿ "i want you to listen to this" he says with a hand stretched out

✿ he likes to have you sit on his lap while he places the headphones around your ears

✿ he gently presses his forehead to your back as he waits for your thoughts

dokyeom: 

✿ perpetually wrapped around you anyway (his love language is physical touch)

✿ it doesn't take long when an arm around your shoulder as you're sitting next to each other moves to your waist

✿ then he figures this isn't close enough and he'll also maneuver you so you're eventually on his lap. he'll quite literally wrap his arms around your middle so he can move you

✿ "this is better" as he nudges his face into your neck

mingyu:

✿ will manhandle you if he has to

✿ you try teasing him just to see him get pouty and as you're trying to get away from him, he uses a little bit more of his strength to pull you towards him

✿ but as you're sat you feel him mumble against your shoulder "do you actually not want to?"

minghao:

✿ i think he's a pretty straightforward person

✿ a simple tucking your hair behind your ears and he's caught your attention

✿ "i want you closer" as he holds your arm to help you move

seungkwan: 

✿ dances around the subject instead of just telling you what he wants lol

✿ "did you know that sitting on wooden chairs is actually bad for your back? there's no cushioning"

✿ "oh really? should we order cushions then or-"

✿ "you could sit somewhere else"

✿ "but i need the table for my laptop and i get so lazy on the couch-"

✿ "then maybe you could just sit here" he offers, moving his chair back to welcome you. then it all clicks (he's a dork)

vernon: 

✿ also probably someone who just tugs you gently in his direction

✿ i don't think he'd need to use words for you to get it either

✿ even if you're standing around him doing anything else and you feel him lightly pull the back of your sweater you follow him without giving it much thought

chan:

✿ as long as you're in his vicinity he pulls you with him as he sits down

✿ both of you just came home from work? he's dropping himself down on the couch and you're coming with him

✿ has most definitely missed at least once and you both landed on the floor

[mytheoristavenue]

MHA Fumikage Tokoyami x Reader x Dark Shadow 🍋 - Curiosity Killed the Crow

Summary: This was your fault for asking too many questions, really. You and Tokoyami had been dating for several months now and it had crossed your mind to ask: did that make Dark Shadow your boyfriend too?

Warnings: porn with plot, selfcest, fem!reader, tokoyami x reader x dark shadow, poly relationship, cum eating, fingering, fish hooking, oral fixation, dirty talk, threesome, masterbation

The question had caught him off guard when you'd asked it so nonchalantly. "Hey so...is Dark Shadow part of oyu or like, a separate entity?"

"I like to think of him as a separate being, we just share the same body and soul." Tokoyami replied, briefly glancing up at you from the book he was reading on the couch. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," you lied, chopping up vegetables for dinner. "Just crossed my mind the other day while I was at work."

"Well, I hope that answer is sufficient." He nodded, setting the book down and standing up to join you in the kitchen. "Anything else on your mind, dove?"

"I was just wondering... does that make me Dark Shadow's girlfriend too?" you pondered, missing how he froze behind you. He hadn't thought of it that way.

"I-I'm not sure, to be quite honest." He answered, glancing away awkwardly. "Do you want it to be that way?"

"I don't guess I'd be opposed to it," you shrugged, not giving it the same level of thought as he was. "Does he even have senses like that?"

"I don't know," he repeated, distracting his racing thoughts by putting away the dishes you'd washed before starting dinner. "He has likes and dislikes, he can feel pain and pleasure, so..."

"You mean like sexual pleasure?" you blurted so nonchalantly it gave him chills. "Or like the pleasure you get from eating something tasty? I know he likes sweets."

"I-I really don't know, dove." he blushed, unsure of how to answer any of your questions. "I've never asked and he's never told me so..."

"I'm sorry, 'Yami," you apologized sheepishly, giving him a sympathetic grin. "I didn't mean to make it weird, we can drop it."

-----

Needless to say, for the next week, your questioning riled Tokoyami up significantly, and he could feel his other half stir within him. After an admittedly quite awkward conversation with the entity, he promised himself the matter would get sorted when you came to his apartment for the night next.

-----

"Hey, Toko, I'm here!" you called, slipping into the apartment, and kicking the door behind you as your hands were full. "I picked up dinner on the way home, hope you're in the mood for pork cutlet!"

You blinked at the stillness of the apartment as you set everything down on the island, kicking out of your shoes by the door before heading deeper inside. "'Yami?" you called out, inching toward the bedroom, freezing in the doorway.

His bedroom was barely different from how it typically was, aglow with ambient candles and soft purple neon lights, gothic music playing quietly from a record player in the corner. What was different was the way he lounged on the bed, fully clothed, but scandalous way, void colored button up undone to his toned stomach with silver chains hanging against his chest. He wore matching slacks and polished loafers, much to your surprise. Tokoyami was typically such a stickler for not wearing shoes indoors, which meant he was wearing them, for a reason. He was dressed up for you, presenting his best self like all birds do.

The part of his peacocking that really intrigued you, however was how his vermillion stare never left you, seemingly trained on you before you'd even arrived. That and the way his calloused hand palmed his crotch, painted nails getting lost in the inky shadows on his slacks, and thick pewter watch catching the moonlight. "Welcome home, my dove."

"T-Tokoyami...?" you stuttered, knees quaking as you waited in the doorway like a deer stuck in the high beams of a truck. "W-What are you...?"

"Come forth, my love," he beckoned poetically, prompting your to naturally gravitate towards him. "How was work?" He asked, ignoring you, simply pulling you into him gently, making you sit down with him, rubbing your shoulders. "Hard day?"

"I-It was fine..." you replied, melting at his touch, moaning as he worked the knots from your neck. "I brought dinner... I didn't feel like cooking so I got us something on the way."

"So generous, my lark," He cooed, nuzzling his beak into hair, preening your locks. "Always thinking of others..."

"I-I guess..." you shrugged, embarrassed of the sudden praise, tickled slightly when his beak dragged against your nape.

"Such a sweet darling," your boyfriend hummed, grooming you lovingly. "We've missed you so much this week..."

"Raven..." you whispered, melting against him before tensing once more. "W-We? D-Did you invite someone else over?" you asked, the color draining from your face. "I-I don't know if I'm comfortable with-"

"Dark Shadow and I have been... talking about what you asked last week." He finally confessed, fingers running through your hair. "And we both agree that, if it were the will of her highness..." he smirked, nudging you from behind. "We'd like to share..."

You were speechless, wondering if this was real or a fantasy come to life. You had to admit, you'd always thought of his quirk being involved but you never thought it'd even be on the table, let alone handed to you on a silver platter. "Of course, the decision is yours, my lark."

"A-Alright..." you finally piped up, nodding. "I-I'd like to try..."

Tokoyami released a low, dark chuckle into your ear as his other half began to materialize from his back. "Divine..."

-----

"Fumi, look how she squirms..." Dark Shadow squealed with delight, abyssal claws squeezing your wrists as he pinned you to the bed. "So cute..."

"Don't tell me," Tokoyami laughed from between your thighs. "Tell her, she's yours now too, you know."

"Right, I keep forgetting..." The entity purred, face dipping into the crook of your neck, nipping at your flesh. "You're so, so cute, baby..." You writhed under their touch, Tokoyami's fingers working on digging an orgasm out of your core as he nipped softly at your plush thighs, coupled with Dark Shadow's relentless teasing. It was entirely too much for you and neither one of them seemed to care.

"A-Ah, fuck..." you cried, overstimulated tears slipping down your cheeks and being absorbed by the shadow as your hips bucked upwards against your first lover's face.

"Keep going, Fumi," the staticky voice teased. "I think she might cum right into your hand."

"You think she could?" Tokoyami replied, digging deeper, curled fingers grazing that special spot that made you see stars.

"Mhm," the abyss chirped against your throat, working his way down to your naked chest. Clawed hands settled on your upper stomach, shaking up and down as he giggled at the way your breasts bounced on your ribcage. "Can you do that, pretty girl? Can you cum on Fumi's hand for us?"

"T-Trying-!" you shrieked through gritted teeth. "W-Wanna so bad, Shadow!" Both of your boyfriends shivered at your words, reveling in your willingness to call the quirk out specifically by name. Your blissful cries made him feel so individual, like his own separate person.

"C'mon, princess, you can do it," Dark Shadow purred, indigo teeth nibbling at your earlobe as he talked you through it. "You like getting fucked on Fumi's fingers, don't you?" you simply nodded in response, mouth hanging open and eyes screwed shut as you chased your orgasm. "Oh, baby, I know you do. Look how well she takes your abuse, Fumi."

You couldn't take it anymore, vision going white as an embarrassingly lewd, cracky scream ripped from your drooly and kiss bitten lips. "That's it, dove," Tokoyami sighed, sore fingers never faltering through the strain as your hips rolled against them. "Ride it out, there you go, such a good girl for us."

"There she is," Shadow commented with delight, taking in the way your body quaked and face distorted. "Right into his hand, so perfect, yeah, baby..." He praised, pressing his beak to your forehead as a reward for hold out for him.

-----

"Shhh, we'll be gentle," the entity promised, wrapping around your torso so you could lean your back to his chest as Tokoyami kneeled over you both. "We'll do all the work, you just gotta lay here and take it, 'kay, sweetness?" You nodded, exhausted, looking up at the crow with droopy eyes. The way he stroked himself looked delicious, but having just come down from your own high, you were in no kind of shape to savor it.

You laid limp in Dark Shadow's arms, his abyssal claws kneading at your breast while his beak nipped into your shoulder from behind. "You look so divine, my love..." the raven cooed down to you, ruby eyes begging you for satisfaction. "Doesn't she, Shadow?"

"So pretty, so soft..." the entity answered with a soft chuckle. "Especially these titties and this tummy..." he added, groping the excess on your body. "Love having all this in my hands..."

Humiliation, exhaustion, and overstimulation dropped your chin to your collarbone, tearing away the sweet eye contact that had your pro hero boyfriend on the ropes. "No, darling, look at me, please..." he begged, having been well on his way. "Shadow, help her..."

Delighted to help, clawed hands roamed up your body, one settling under your chin to keep your head up, and the other settled in your hair, gently clenching a fistful to angle your head properly. "Awe, I know you're sleepy, sweets, but you have to help Fumi get there too. You wanna be a good girl, don't you?"

"M-Mhm..." was all you could choke out, mouth hung open as he squeezed your cheeks together. Your eyes fluttered open to see Tokoyami unravelling above you, his head falling back in bliss before returning his gaze back to you.

"Fuck, yes, light, that's it..." he sighed, fucking into his hand, leaning his pelvis in closer. It was this, coupled with the way Shadow's hands shifted to cup your cheeks, that made you realize what they wanted.

"Stick out that cute little tongue..." The abyss ordered playfully, pinching the tip of it between his thumb and index finger, pulling it out further. "So slobbery..." he mused, letting it go as he reached out to his host, who licked your saliva off his fingertips.

"A-Ah, fuck-!" Tokoyami grunted sharply, overcoming another wall, bringing him closer to climax. "O-Open up, lark..."

Dark Shadow's two index fingers then hooked into your cheeks like he was catching a fish, using his knuckles to force your top jaw wide while his middle fingers did the same to the bottom. "Say 'ahhh'..." he purred into your ear.

"A-Ahhh!" you tried to mimic, cheeks burning at how the thing laughed at your pathetic, muffled attempt.

"Say 'Please, Fumi, cum on my tongue!'" Shadow continued, relishing in how he position he had your mouth in made your tongue flop out, dripping drool into the spaces between your fingers.

"P-Pleash ch-cum on my chongue!" you slurred, love drunk and needy.

Suddenly, Tokoyami let out a pained grunt, leaning in close as his hips jerked against his closed fist. "A-As you... w-wish, my dove!" he cried as ropes shot out of his swollen bell, landing in your hair and on your face, tits, and tongue.

"Good job, Fumi," Shadow praised, petting your hair soothingly. "And you did so perfectly catching as much as you could, princess." he dragged his fingers across your tongue to remove as much of his host's seed as he could. "Taste good, baby?" You nodded, reveling in the icky feeling of jizz congealing in your lashes, preparing to swallow what of the load made it into your mouth. "Ah ah, don't you swallow that."

Your first lover leaned forward, head tilted and tongue out before he met your lips, initiating a tired but needy make-out that was all slobber and see and tongue as he tried to avoid poking his sharp beak into your plush lips. Before you could even realize what was happening, Tokoyami had eaten his own cum from your mouth, or as much of it as he could.

"How was that, Fumi?" The more playful partner chirped, wiping his hands off on your tummy.

"Divine..." The other heaved, collapsing next to you, pulling your in close.

"Playtime's over?" Shadow asked, a bit saddened to have not been able to climax himself, but then again, he didn't have the ability.

"For now, friend..." the host replied, barely conscious as you were already beginning to drift off. "I-I promise next time, you'll be more involved. We can work on seeing what you can really do in the future..." he swore as his soulmate began to dissipate back within himself, feeling a bit guilty for having all the fun.

"Can't wait to play with sweets again," the entity accepted, now almost totally absorbed into Tokoyami's back. "Goodnight, baby, I love you..."

The crow could help but feel his heart swell at the small confession. Although you'd only been dating for a few months, he had already long since decided he wanted you to be his wife one day, and knowing you and the other part of himself were falling in love meant everything to him. It was a brand new level of acceptance he never thought possible. He had known you were the one but this night only resolidified his belief in that.

"Goodnight, my light..." He purred softly, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead as he snuggled up with you. "I-" He suddenly paused before smiling serenely at you. "We... love you to death and beyond."

[yan-critter]

Yan!Childe x GN!Reader (Smut, Dubcon, Overstimulation, Stalking, No gendered terms but reader is receiving)

Childe, who is far too eager to finally be alone with you.

Cornered in some dingy backroom at the Northland Bank, his overzealous nature has him on you the moment the door closes.

☆－★－☆－★＋☆－★－☆－★＋☆－★－☆－★

His hands roaming, face immediately slotted into the junction of your neck as he huffs and pants. He groans at your scent, the warmth emanating from your skin. How pliant it is under his weight, practically welcoming him as the softness of your hips dents beneath his fingers.

He hopes you are equally receptive.

Before you can even figure out what's happening, how and when the harbingers' apparent infatuation with you began, he has you on the floor.

You yelp, the swiftness of the movement leaving you even more confused than before. It's all so sudden! I mean, you've hardly even spoken to the man, much less expressed romantic interest, and now he's straddling you in some random storage closet with a lustful look in his eyes that you don't need to look.. down, to confirm.

Childe, on the other hand, has been waiting for this moment for months. First encountering you on an outing with Zhongli, he developed a keen interest in the cute local hopping around the market. He spiraled quickly thereafter, following you home, taking souvenirs from your belongings, even getting you a job somewhere within his reach (unbeknownst to you, of course). His obsession consuming his mind until it was clouded with thoughts of only you.

Honestly, he would've preferred something more official. Taking you home and properly wining-and-dining you until you willingly bared your body to him, for him to worship like it deserved. But when the opportunity arose, Childe's waning resolve crumbled and he simply couldn't pass up this chance to have you.

Seeing you finally where you belong, so adorable beneath him, brings a sense of euphoria that leaves the man reeling.

But he's sure he can find a way to get that high again. For both of you.

You squeal as his hands start to fumble with your clothing, and he rumbles a low growl at the noise. Always so cute for him, making such pretty sounds when he hasn't even started yet. His hands make quick work of your button up and he wastes no time, lips quickly securing around your nipples as the rough pads of his fingers explore your skin.

You whine, the heat building in your belly as he slurps loudly. Childe doesn't seem particularly experienced, but his hungry demeanor makes up for it. He's messy, drooling all over your chest like he can't get enough, nibbling and kissing the skin. You can't help but flush at the idea that he needs you that badly, almost greedy in his actions.

You squirm at the thought.

Childe pulls back at your writhing, deciding he's given your chest sufficient attention, now shining with remnants of his spit and dappled with hickeys and bites marks alike. He admires it proudly for a moment, before moving to slide down your pants.

You only manage a meager "Wait I'm not-" before he has his lips on yours, shushing you with a kiss. He pulls your pants down to your knees, slipping his hand between your legs and rubbing you through your underwear as his tongue works into your mouth. You whimper at the sensation, overwhelmed by it all. You're still not sure what's happening, but you have to admit you've always found Childe attractive, even if his playful charm is a little lost on you when he's acting like a feral dog.

He takes the chance to slip your pants and underwear off while you're lost in thought. Pulled out of your stupor, you scramble to stop him, grabbing at his scarred arms. Childe, of course, is unphased and doesn't even bother shaking you off in favor of focusing on undressing you. It makes sense, he is a harbinger after all, he's bound to be strong. But you feel a little hurt that he didn't so much as budge, the stark difference in strength wounding your pride.

With your clothes out of the way, he pulls you into another long kiss and spreads your legs. Your throat itches with the urge to breathe, but Childe quickly grips your jaw to stop you, amusement dancing in his eyes as you go lightheaded. Your eyes roll back ever so slightly, lips locked together, and he can tell you won't last much longer.

He finally relents, planting a quick peck on your cheek before leaning back. You look so delicious like that, starry-eyed and panting, and while he would love nothing more than to kiss you dizzy, he thinks he'd love your noises more. Lithe fingers tease the rim of your entrance, and he bites his lip as the first finger dips into your heat. You shiver at the intrusion, and he groans.

"Mousy little thing, aren't you? Only a single finger and you're shaking.." he mutters, and for a second you think he's talking to you. As your breathing begins to steady, you look down to answer him and instead find him staring at your heat, fascinated by the sight of his finger entering you.

But Childe has never been a patient man, and before long he's pumping three large fingers in and out of your squelching heat, curling just right to make you mewl. He's observant, noting every little bump and ridge within you that has you melting into his touch, bucking into your thigh as he watches you. Your back arches like a bow and you can feel the tight coil in your belly ready to snap. So close so close so close so-

"Oh no sweet thing, not yet", he coos, and before you can reach your peak, Childe pulls his fingers out with a satisfied hum. A sharp whine leaves you at the man's cruelty, but your complaints are cut short with the sound of his belt clanking to the floor. Your eyes widen, suddenly pulled out of your haze because it's all becoming too real now.

...And yet, you can't deny the spike of arousal as his length finally comes into view.

A slight curve, big even in comparison to his large hands, and a peachy pink at the end leaking dewy white pearls. It only occurs to you then that he had yet to relieve himself at all, neediness building in him the entire time from neglecting to focus on anything but you. It's flattering, really, having someone want you so unabashedly. Realizing that maybe you like the attention, especially coming from someone as high-caliber as Childe, you decide to offer him a.. mercy, of sorts.

With the hesitant motion of your spreading legs, Childe's final restraint snaps.

Within an instant, he sinks himself into you in a single swift motion, tossing your legs over his arms. You choke out a moan, the overwhelming fullness inside you clouding your mind. He whimpers, the feeling of your pulsing walls and the joy of finally finally claiming you proves to be too much for him. Blushing and brows furrowed, he pouts at you.

"I'm sorry baby, I really am," Childe insists, and you cock your head in confusion. "I wanted to be gentle for our first, but I can't hold back any longer".

"I think I might break you, but you'll forgive me, right?"

Wait, what?

Before you know it, he's pummeling into your core like a man crazed, punching rhythmic little "ah, ah, ah's" out of you with every cant of his hips. His movements are nearly punishing, hard and fast and mean, leaving you breathless and only able to simply lay there and take it. It makes it that much easier for his girth to bully into you, practically spearing you open as your eyes flutter shut. You're brainless by this point, and his relentless thrusting has you quickly reaching your peak, much to his delight.

As you feel yourself tipping over the edge, Childe's mouth finds your nape, and he bites. Your eyes shoot open at the sensation, pain and pleasure shocking your system and amplifying your orgasm until it's practically forced out of you. He licks your wound, nursing you through it, and his hips slow as if to ease your fried nerves. But your moment of reprieve is short-lived and before you've even come down from your high all the way, he's back at it. Pounding into you, with a bruising grip on your waist as you hiccup pathetically beneath him.

So cute.

★━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━★

It's nearly two hours later that Childe gives you a break, smug and satiated having made you come for the umpteenth time. A lovesick sigh leaves him as he traces the marks on your skin, content knowing that he had wrung you dry of everything you could give him.

Looking up at him through your damp lashes, you shiver.

A large grin plastered on his face, eyes wide and unblinking as he gazes at you with unrestrained giddy. You were his now, thoroughly claimed and his to adore. And as he reaches out and gathers you into his arms, Childe has only one thing on his mind.

"Let's go home ♡"

☆－★－☆－★＋☆－★－☆－★＋☆－★－☆－★

My first full length fic, let me know what you think! Might make a part two with Zhongli if you guys are interested :)

[redfoxwritesstuff]

A Taste of Sugar, Part 2 (18+)

Here be the smut- proceed with caution if you're over 18 Alastor x reader Rated: E Chapter warnings: Blood Kink, Blood Drinking, Tentacles, Dom Alastor, Restrained Reader, Vaginal Fingering, Penis In Vagina Sex, Oral Sex. Part 1

AN: Here lies spitesmut, 11k fucking words born out of spite. Nonny, do not tell me what I will and will not do. Enjoy the cartoon smut you didn't want to see. The blood drinking you didn't want to read. The shadow tentacles you didn't want to see. The demon you didn't want to fuck. Cuz, I know you're going to read this- After all, scrolling on is far too fucking complicated for you. Welcome to my "I'll fuck a cartoon serial killer era" Love, Kit. (PS. 3 things published in 48 hours is *never* going to happen again)

~~~~~<3

You were pretty sure he was no longer talking about desserts. You were pretty sure he was talking about another appetite that you’d heard speculation that he didn’t partake in. You were pretty sure you were losing your mind. 

“What circumstances?” You whisper as he dragged his thumb out of your mouth, dragging the pad against your lip again. 

“Should someone catch my eye and sufficiently hold my attention,” Someone, not something. There was no doubt in your mind what you were discussing now. “I may partake.” 

“Do,” You hesitated, before asking the question you hadn’t ever considered yourself. “Do you wish to partake tonight?” 

You hadn’t thought about Alastor in this way before and yet, it was like you were seeing him now, truly for the first time. He was a handsome man in his own terrifying way. Tall and lean, quiet confidence and sheer power radiated off of him. He was chaotic, driving those around him mad. 

“You make me wish to partake,” Alastor said, leaning into your space as you puzzled over what that could mean. Surely it was just for tonight. But if it was just for tonight, why would he have been sending you treats with the hope that you’d share? That you’d think of him? 

What did it all mean?

“Oh?” You whispered as you finally braved meeting his red eyes only to instantly find yourself captured by the way he looked at you, lids heavy and pupils blown. 

“May I?” Alastor’s other hand snaked around your waist, hovering, not quite touching but painfully close to doing so. “Partake, that is?” 

“Okay?” 

As soon as the whispered word left your mouth, his thumb dragged down your lip and chin. His fingers gripped your chin and pulled your face up as he stepped into the last of your space and leaned down. 

His smile never faltered, even as his lips closed and met yours. The miniscule distance between his arm and your waist disappeared in an instant as he held you to him.

Alastor lacked the bulk of muscle but you could feel the power thrumming through his body as your hand reached up, resting against his chest. You were far from a blushing virgin though you were also not the most promiscuous woman in hell and yet touching him felt scandalous. 

The way his tongue snaked out from between his lips, lapping the sticky sweet sugar his thumb left on your lips. Your mind was too preoccupied by the feeling of him licking the sugar up to question it when he took your hand from his chest. 

Shadows flickered, you didn’t know if they were real or a figment of your imagination playing images behind your eyelids. There was a shifting feeling, as if the world itself was somehow moving around you, under you. It felt somewhat like if you had been standing on a moving bus, eyes closed and trusting. Not exactly, that didn’t come close to the feeling but it was a start. It was as close as you would ever come to explaining the feeling.

“Forgive me, my dear. I did not wish to be observed.” He spoke softly, still standing suffocatingly close as you observed the room you found yourself over his shoulder.

A fireplace against the far wall gave off flickering warm light and heat that wasn’t needed yet was relaxing just the same. Thick carpet muffled your shuffling step but in the distance that thick carpet along with the rich red walls gave way to a landscape that looked so hauntingly human and yet was nothing you’d seen before. 

The portion of the room that was still a room was dark, save for the firelight and moonlight from where it gave way to the outdoors. It was magical and yet as disorienting as Alastor’s kiss or the way he had transported you there. 

“Where are we?” You ask, already knowing the answer but not really being able to understand how such a space could exist within the hotel. 

“My room,” Alastor answered, hooking your chin with the backs of the fingers he had wrapped around your hand, drawing your attention back to him, silently demanding once again that you pay attention to him. 

Alastor pulled you to him, pinning you against his body as his sharp teeth nipped at your lips. Reflexively, your tongue darted out, running over the stinging skin. The lingering sweet of the sugar still clings to her lips, mostly gone now.

Alastor guided her as his grinning lips worked down her jaw, tracing the sweet taste of sugar his fingers had left behind as he walked you back toward his bed. Sharp teeth nipped at your throat, leaving stinging lovebites that leaked drops of ruby red. 

No, Alastor didn’t care for desserts or sweets much at all but this was a flavor that had him humming in delight. The hint of sugar on your skin, the salt of you and the coppery taste of your blood made for a treat he would savor.

You weren’t sure when you wrapped your free arm around him, hand snaking up his back and clinging to his shoulder as he moved you through is space. The position you had found yourself could be mistaken for dancing, should anyone peek in on the room. 

The back of your knees hit the soft edge of his bed causing your balance, already teetering, to fail you. Alastor’s hand around your waist allowed him to control your decent, leading your back onto his bed while driving you forward with his lips. 

Reaching up, you ran your hands over his chest before working the buttons of his coat free. If this was going to be the only time you got to have Alastor, you intended to make the best of it. 

Slipping your hands under his coat, you take in the strong planes of his abdomen and chest, the way his muscles defined yet lean, moved as his lips worked down your neck. Slowly, you ran your hands up his shoulder before pushing the coat back, sending it down his back. 

Leaning back, Alastor freed his arms from the coat, tossing it blindly to a chair near by. You were entranced as he reached up, pulling his bowtie from his neck and sending it soaring too. Long fingers worked the first few buttons of his shirt free, exposing a tantalizing amount of his neck. 

It felt scandalous to see Alastor’s high collar undone. The way his chest and clavicles could just be glimpsed as he moved sent fire through you. It was silly, really. The man was still fully dressed and yet it felt to you like he had not a stich of clothing on. 

As he invaded your space again, driving you back with the intensity of his presence, you wanted nothing more than to reach up and touch him. His hands gripped your thighs, keeping you from scooting away from him on instinct alone.

Your fingers grazed him before black wrapped around your wrists, pulling your arms up and back as you gasped in shock. 

“I said I wish to partake, not that you may.” Alastor said, wicked grin seeming to glow in the dim room. 

His hands were so strong on you as he resumed his work, nipping down until your soft night shirt blocks his progress. The fact that it was common knowledge that it was a favorite of yours didn’t stop him from gripping the fabric and using his nails to rip it apart. 

You hadn’t left your room with the intention of finding Alastor, or anyone else for that matter, for a romantic tryst and were far from dressed for it. There was no sexy lingerie for him to find under. There was no lacy bra. 

Just you, breasts on full display and core covered in a pair of shorts that would have otherwise been too short to wear around the hotel. You hadn’t intended anyone to see you but he was seeing far more of you than anyone had for a long time. 

You wanted to apologize or make excuses for your lack of preperation for his eyes. He was Alastor, after all, the great and powerful overlord who could have any woman on her knees for him if he showed an interest in having her. Your face was hot with the knowledge that you were so-

“Beautiful,” he said as he looked down at you, running sharp tipped fingers along the curves of your sides. 

You flinched away from the tickling touch, not able to go anywhere with your arms pinned above you. One of your legs was pinned by him when he had climbed up onto the bed, the other hanging limp and unsure what to do, any attempt to squirm away from him would result in you opening your legs up to him more or running your thigh and calf along his leg. 

“Beautiful,” He said again, this time you registered the word, his hands moving lower. Warm palms smoothed down your hips, finding your shorts and making quick work of them as well. 

“Alastor?” You wanted to touch him. You wanted to feel him, to see him like he was seeing you. 

“You have denied me, my dear.” He looked up at you from where he had been nipping his way down your chest, leaving red marks from his sharp teeth along the tender swell of your breasts. “Time and time again, you have denied me your treats. Are you going to deny me again?” 

“No?” Your breath caught in your throat as your head spun.

“Good girl,” He drew out the words, singing them slowly as he nipped the underside of your breast, nose nudging the pebble of your neglected nipple as again, a droplet of blood was lapped up by his tongue. 

His breath ghosted over your nipple, teasing it with the breeze as he exhaled a deep sigh through his nose. You arched into the feeling, his hands gripping around your ribcage, making you aware of just how much bigger than you he was in so many ways. 

He towered over many weaker demons and you were no exception to that. Long fingers caressed your back as the pads of his thumbs ran along the front of your ribs. In an instant, he could break your body if he wanted to, crush your ribcage by simply tightening his grip. 

Your life could be ended by his hand should he change his mind, there wasn’t a single goddamned thing you could do about it. That realization only served to stroke the fire his words had ignited. 

Pain was never something you would have said you were into before. The lovebites stung, sure but his teeth were so sharp that the sting came after each bite, as he licked up the bubbles of blood. As his sharp teeth scratched over the nipple he took into his mouth, you surprised yourself with the gasping moan that slipped from your throat. 

Long, dexterous tongue lapped at the nub, soothing every cutting scratch and erasing every trace of blood. 

“Beautiful and delicious,” Alastor mused as he made his way down your abdomen. 

Something cold and firm wrapped around your free leg, pulling it out from where it was resting against Alastor. A new wave of heat flooded through you as Alastor shifted his position, freeing your trapped leg and nestling his knees between them. A similar force grabbed ahold of the freed ankle and pulled, spreading you open before him. 

“You’re so timid.” He mused, fingers digging into your hips as you were spread even wider by black tentacles you had only ever seen cause carnage before. 

“Tell me what you want,” He ordered, red eyes looking into yours, “Tell me what you want to share with me.”

“Alastor?” You knew he knew, why should you have to say it? 

You’d been dancing around it. you’d been hinting at it. The idea of saying it explicitly terrified you. 

You watched as his eyes traced your face, neck, shoulders. They swept down your chest and up your arms. They were everywhere and yet he seemed unconcerned with taking in your core spread before him.

“Say it. Tell me,” His hands ran up your thighs, thumbs stretching to caress your inner thigh, coming so close to your heat as his fingers wrapped around the exteriors. “And perhaps we can reach a deal?” 

A deal. Alastor was a deal maker. Powerful. You needed to get yourself out of this situation. Whatever the hell was going on here, you needed to run away. You had no business making deals with Alastor, let alone while you were spread naked and wanting on his bed. 

This was a bad position to be in. He had all the power and you had nothing to offer him except what? Some treats? Your body?

His thumb came even closer, caressing the curve where your thighs met your lips. The contact had your heart stopping in your chest and your breath trapped in your lungs. 

“What is it your desire?” Alastor’s voice was thick with static, radio overlay cackling and distorting the sound. Colors seemed to invert, shadows grew and yet you couldn’t look away from him. The antlers atop his head grew, branching out. Colors snapped back to correct but now over saturated. The darkness was too deep. The reds too red. 

“You,” You breathe out, not even fully aware of what you were admitting. You should be terrified but need burned through you as the power, his power, surged around you. 

For all of eternity women have fallen at the feet of powerful men for a sip of what they could offer. For centuries, it had been the only way women could obtain any power for themselves. 

It turns out, you were no different. Sipping at the alter of power seemed to be ingrained in your very DNA. You had no hope of becoming powerful on your own but if you could just taste his power, just for a night, you would give anything. 

“And what will you give me?” Alastor said, joints shifting unnaturally as he towered over you, thumbs still caressing the edge of your lips even as he pulled your thighs further apart by the shadows handling your ankles.

“Me,” You said, fearing it wasn’t going to be enough. You would never be enough for him. There was no power within you that you could give him.

“For eternity.” Alastor said, eyes now black, red dials burning into you, green stichs standing out in vivid contrast to the black and red that made up all of him. “I shall have you for eternity?” 

“If you’ll have me?” You were gasping, feeling like you were being smothered by the raw power in the air as he leaned up your body, somehow doing so without shifting off his knees between your legs, “If you want me.” 

“You will be mine.” Alastor said, terrifying face close to yours’, “Your treats will be mine. Your body, mine. Your heart, mine. Your very soul, mine. You will share it with none. In exchange, you get me. Is it a deal?”

This was insanity. Madness. You knew better. He had asked for your soul. You don’t just sell your soul to get laid. He had asked for your heart. 

Your heart. 

And your soul. 

But, he had asked for your heart. 

“Why do you want my soul?” 

“For safe keeping.” Alastor’s breath washed over you, hot and moist. “To ensure none can take what is mine.”

“Yours?” You twitched, wanting to touch him even as the idea of giving your everything to him for a night terrified you. “Give you everything for eternity just to have you-” You gasped as the thing wrapped around your ankle snaked higher, caressing your knee. “For a night?”

“An eternity for an eternity,” Alastor offered, “That is the terms I am laying out. Do you accept?” 

“Deal,” You whispered and his lips crashed into yours as his expanded form seemed more likely to devour you than kiss you. 

Powered washed over you, flowed through you as the weight of a shackle settled against your neck. The chain attached to it pulled taught, drawing you to Alastor with what little ability you had to move as the back of the collar bit into your neck. 

As he kissed you, his body shifted, pressing you into the mattress before he shrank down to what you considered as his normal size. 

Your leg was pulled up by the knee wrapped in shadows, spreading you out even more. Your other ankle was pushed up, forcing your knee to buckle. As soon as you tried to use the freedom of movement this granted you to preserve any ounce of modesty, black wrapped around that knee as well and you were pulled wide open before red eyes that finally took your most intimint place in. 

“Beautiful,” Alastor remarked as his hands returned to your inner thighs, running up the expanse of exposed skin, savoring the contrast of it against his bloodstained hands. 

Your face was hot as you struggled to breathe through the way his eyes devoured your exposed sex. Slick already coated you, having begun to pool as you had been fed pastry ever so intimately in the kitchen. 

You could feel how much worse the situation was now. With your legs held so far open, there was nothing to obstruct Alastor’s view as you could feel a wave of slick slip from you as muscles clenched. 

His fingers caressed over you weeping hole, scooping up the slick on the pads of his fingers and held them up for you to see the evidence as he asked, “Why are you so wet?” 

You hid your face against your arm, unable to take the power of his eye contact any longer. There was no part of his physical body touching you in that moment and you weren’t sure if that was better or worse. 

“What has your body so excited already? Tell me.” When you failed, instead trying to hide in shame, Alastor demanded you use your words or he would leave you as you were for however long it took. There was not an ounce of doubt in you that he would follwo through with the threat. 

“You,” You tripped over the simple word. 

“But I’ve hardly touched you?” Alastor teased, bringing his hand closer and closer to your face, ensuring you can smell your arousal on his fingertips . 

“You’ve been touching me,” You struggled to force the words out, unsure if he was teasing you, torturing you or actually unaware of the impact his actions had on you. 

“Wonderful,” Alastor said, leaning back and running his long tongue over his slick covered fingers. Could he taste the sugar on his fingers in addition to the taste of you? The question drew a shameful moan from your throat regardless of the fact that he was only touching you with shadows.

“How terribly rude of me!” His voice was bright and cheery, as if wasn’t kneeling between your spread legs, body on display. “I chastise you for not sharing and here I am, keeping a treat all to myself. Where have my manners gone?” 

He shifted, supporting his weight over you with a hand on the mattress close enough to your ribs for you to feel the warmth of him yet not touching you. Bringing his fingers, still coated in the slick he had scooped up to your lips as if he was offering a taste of some treat. 

It was lewd. Never had you found yourself one to even think about tasting yourself. It wasn’t something that interested you in the past. You turned your head as he presented his fingers closer. 

The slippery pad of his fingers ran along your lower lip. When you failed to open to him willingly, cringing away instead, he forced his fingers into your mouth. His sharp nails pinched and cut your lips in the process causing you to gasp and make his task all the more easier. 

“You will take what I offer you.” He said simply as he caressed your tongue with the pads of his first and middle fingers. The taste of you wasn’t terrible. Hesitantly, you ran your tongue over his fingers, twisting around them.

“Good girl.” He praised, voice warm and musical as his fingers pushed deeper into your mouth. “When did it start?”

“Wha?” It was difficult to form the question with his fingers, sweet from sugar and you in your mouth. 

“When did your body start preparing itself for me?” Leaning down, Alastor swept his tongue over your bleeding lips, groaning at the taste after he withdrew his fingers. You had finally been given the ability to clearly speak only to to have him suffocate your ability to think with his presence. 

“Was it my lips on your skin? The feeling of my kiss?” He teased, voice musical. 

“No,” You were not sure where this night was going to go, you couldn’t even be sure what Alastor was going to do with your body as he tormented you. He teased you with his words and his eyes more than anything else. 

“Was it my hands, ripping your pathetic simple clothes?” 

“No,” You couldn’t look away from the red of his eyes. 

“Was it my shadows? Gripping you? Spreading you? Presenting you?”

“No,” Your voice was little more than a whine as you tried and failed to struggle free from his grasp. 

“What was it?” Alastor demanded, stattic growing. “Tell me.”

“From the start.” You whined when he demanded elaboration, “Feeding me. The sugar on your fingers. The look in your eyes. From the start.” 

“Interesting,” Alastor leaned back, pulling the warmth of his body away from you as he seemed to work over the information. 

You flushed under his eyes, unable to read him. You wanted him to want you but fuck, did he even? Was this just a game? A way to pass the night?

The shadows wrapped around your legs crept up your thighs, wrapping around your waist and pulling your lower body up into the air. Blood rushed to your head before your arms were hoisted up as well, leaving you suspended and spread in the air. 

Right in front of Alastor. 

Your hair hung loose from your head as your neck strained to hold your head up to allow you to look down your body and into his eyes. It was impossible to look away as his large palms ran up your inner thighs, long fingers caressing you slowly as he inched forward, eyes locked on yours. 

His hot breath fanned over you, making your heart beat faster in your chest. It felt like it took forever for him to inch forward and then, when the distance was closed it was far too much. Alastor’s tongue swiped up your spread folds, scooping up slick greedily as he groaned at the taste. 

“And to think,” Alastor spoke while making what felt like aggressively violent eye contact, “This was yet another treat you’d been denying me.” 

You moaned at his words as he turned his attention back to your cunt, spread in front of him as if it was an offering placed at an alter. His tongue was dexterous and long as it snaked into your hole, lapping at the source of your slick as if it was a dessert prepared just for him. 

And perhaps it was. 

The weight of your head was too much for your neck to support while distracted by the warm pleasure granted by his mouth as he sipped from the source. His nose bumped against your clit as you struggled against the shadows that held your legs and hips in the air, a sharp gasp fell from your lips before you could stop it.

Alastor hummed as he shifted his attention, tongue leaving your core empty as it sought a new target. He poked at and caressed the sensitive nub that drew such lovely gasps from your lips. Sucking and blowing, he teased the little nub every way he could think of as he studied each of your reactions, searching for the stimulation that would send you soaring under his touch. 

You trembled under his touch as his hands rubbed your thighs, caressing your hips and up your back as if the black tentacle wrapped around you didn’t exist. Lightening and fear lit up your brain as you felt the flat backs of his nails run over your folds before a sharp tipped finger pushed inside. 

You had no doubt that he could rip your inner walls with no effort at all. 

“Trust me,” He demanded and you wanted to. Hell, you had no choice but to and yet it still took time to relax as he worked the finger inside you. 

Warm lips and sharp teeth returned to your clit, making it hard to focus on the threat of his nail and not the pleasure he was drawing from you. A second deadly finger pushed inside, drawing a true moan from you that earned a chuckle from Alastor in return. 

Your neck hurt from the weight of your head hanging limply. Muscles tensed and bunched as you fought to chase the stimulation. Every touch felt sharp and pushed you closer to that cliff within you. 

And then there was nothing. 

No fingers. 

No tongue.

No touch.

Nothing. 

Alastor leaned back and watched as you clenched around nothing at all, smile wide as he asked, “What do you want?” 

You groaned, struggling as the shadows lowered you. 

“Please?” You didn’t want to beg. Hell, you shouldn’t have to beg. It was a part of the deal. He said you could have him. In your eagerness, you had failed to iron out the details of what having him meant. His idea of giving himself to you may not have anything in common with yours, you realized with a cold shock. 

“Please what?” Alastor hummed, wiping your slick from his face with the palm of the hand that hadn’t been bullying your walls. 

“I want you.” Fuck it, you’d beg. How could you not when he looked at you so intently, palm hiding the smile you knew lived on his face. “Please. You said I could have you.”

“You’ve had me.” Alastor chuckled as he continued to not touch you. “You’ve had my mouth. You’ve had my fingers even! That’s more than anyone’s had in a rather long time.” 

“I want-” 

“You didn’t stipulate what you wanted me to give you, my darling.” Alastor grinned wider as you whined. “It appears that it’s your lucky night however!” 

Alastor’s belt clinked as the shadow’s lowered you the rest of the way to the bed. He whipped the belt free from the loops with such force that it snapped as he sent it flying with a dramatic swing of his arm. 

Your fingers twitched as you watched him unbutton his pants. Freeing him from his clothes was a task you wanted to see to. You wanted to indulge in the process of stripping him as bare as you were. You wanted to feel his skin under your hands as you pushed the shirt from his shoulders, as you freed his cock from the confines of his pants. 

“Something the matter?” You hadn’t realized you were whining, whimpering soft pleas of ‘please’ as you watched him. 

“I want to touch you.” You admitted shamelessly.

He hummed for a moment, eyes cast toward where the ceiling gave way to the illusion of a night sky before snapping down to yours, “No.”

“No?” You were sure you had to have heard him wrong. You had to have heard him wrong. 

“No,” He said as if that explained everything as he pulled his straining cock from where his pants had been strangling it. 

Alastor climbed over you, cock in hand as he drew his face closer to yours. Arching your back, you tried to touch him in any way you could with what little movement you could manage as he slowly stroked a dark hand along his length, thumb swiping over the red tip. Not one part of you was able to touch him. 

“Please? Please, Alastor. Please?” 

“You beg so prettily.” Alastor said, red eyes drowning you in a sea of fire. “Do you need me?” 

“Yes.” Shame was long gone, you didn’t know her anymore. 

“I should make you wait.” He threatened, kissing you softly in contrast. “I should make you long for a taste of what I can offer you as you have had the gall to do to me. I should make you mad with longing, as you did to me. I should drive you to the edges of sanity for a simple consideration, as you did to me.”

“I need you,” You begged, terrified that he would leave you unfulfilled as you had been unknowingly doing to him. You whimpered it with ever accusation, a pea of need and a longing for mercy.

God, what did his words mean? You hadn’t intended to do that to him. Fuck, you couldn’t even begin to say how you had done it. How had you captured his gaze? His attention? His longing? 

His words sounded dangerously close to obsession. 

“Good,” He said, grinning down at you. 

“I want to see you,” A gasp slipped from you as he ran the head of his cock along your slit, head of his cock bulling your clit as he swiped up, coating himself in slick with each pass. 

“You are seeing me,” Alastor knew damn well what you meant, “You’re seeing as much of me as you need to.” 

“I want more,” Tears gathered in your eyes and one had the audacity to trace a path slowly down your face.

“No,” Leaning into you, he licked up the salty trail from your face as he pushed himself inside painfully slowly. The feeling of his soft tongue on your face contrasted with the silky steel of his cock as he inched deeper and deeper inside. 

He didn’t give you time to adjust. There was no teasing. Alastor didn’t hesitate or pause to see how much of him your smaller body could take.

He simply kept pushing forward even as he grinned down at you, demanding you take all of him. You moaned, arching as he filled you, stretching to try and somehow make room for his considerable length as pain tinged the pleasure. Your teeth bit at your lip as you tried to choke off the sound of your whimpered moans. 

You wanted more contact. You needed it. Yet there was nothing you could do to obtain anymore. The only point of contact between you and Alastor was his cock pushing inside one inch at a time. 

He was long and thick, not overly so but fitting his body well. That worried you. His body was larger than yours by a good amount and that looked perfectly reasonable on him felt monstrous inside you. 

Tentacles shifted, pulling your body taught as you neared the end of what you thought you could take. He kept giving though until his hips kissed your body and a delicious pain tinged the stretch.

“Good girl,” Alastor praised, smile tight. “I knew you could take all of me,” He said as if he had given you a choice. 

He bumped his hips against yours hard, taking delight in the moan that fell from your lips at the harsh nudge of his head against your cervix. Pulling out just as slowly as he had pushed in, you squirmed as you tried to get more. 

He paused, head just kissing your soaked opening and admired the shine of your slick coating him. It was a mess and he found the way it spread onto his trousers to be distasteful but that was alright, for now. They could be cleaned. 

“So needy,” He mused as he leaned over you again, bracing for a moment before slamming into you only to pause, fully seated in your warmth. 

“Am I touching you enough yet?” Alastor loomed over you again, fucking you and yet not. 

“More,” You wanted to scream from the frustration.

“I’ve got you stretched around me,” He pulled out slowly as he spoke, only to once again harshly slam his way home. “So tightly. There’s nowhere I am not reaching.” 

He was right but still, you begged for more.

“So greedy,” Alastor tsked in mock disappointment as he fell into a slow rhythm.

Shadows lifted your hips as he rose up onto his knees, changing the angle of his trusts. Strong hands wrapped around your hips as he picked up his pace, each thrust punctuated with the harsh slam of his hips into you. 

“Are you happy now?” He teased, running his hands along your sides as he fucked into you still too slowly. “I’m touching you more.” 

More. You wanted more. You needed more.

“Well?” His eyes burned into you. “Use your pretty little words and tell me.” 

“More?” You wanted to hate how pathetic you sounded, whining for more of his touch, to be granted more pleasure by him but you couldn’t manage to draw the shame to the surface. 

“More?” Alastor laughed, his body shifting to fold over you as he blocked out your view of the ceiling, not that you’d been able to take your eyes from him for more then fleeting moments. “More what?”

“More touch,” You moaned as he thrust into you harder. “Please, touch me more. Let me,” 

Alastor’s shadows let go of your legs and hips. He thrust into you as your hips fell to the bed with the force of his hips hitting yours. You struggled against the shadows around your wrists but gained no ground there. 

At least your legs had been freed. You ran them up and down his hips and legs. It was maddening how good it felt to feel him under the smoothe fabric of his trousers. Greedy, that’s what you knew he’d call you as you squeezed at his hips with your thighs, trying to expose some more of him, desperate for the feel of his skin.

“You are a naughty one, aren’t you?” Alastor leaned back and wrapped one of your thighs in his strong hand. 

As if it took no effort at all, he pulled your leg up to stretch up his torso, ankle hooking over his shoulder near his neck. You could feel the flex of his muscles with each thrust. 

He allowed his grip on your thigh to slacken as he pulled from you, cock dragging against your walls each time. His hand not clutching your leg rested on your abdomen and fuck, you could feel the pressure of his hand from inside with each thrust.

“Greedy little doll,” Alastor ran his tongue along your calf as he pushed harder down against your soft body. 

The pressure made every punishing thrust of his cock into you all the more intense. Your arms hurt from how they were stretched out over your head, joints pulled tight every time he pulled you to match his thrusts.

“I give you an ounce of freedom and what do you do with it?” Teeth scraped against your calf, “You try to take more even as I’m giving your cunt exactly what you need.”

“Need,” You parroted the only word that made sense to you as he drove you closer to the edge. “Need to touch you. Need more.” 

“I’ll give you more,” Alastor’s teeth sank into your calf, cutting deep.

Oh, that shouldn’t have felt as good as it did. You should have been screaming out in pain as blood gushed into Alastor’s mouth, spilling from the corners as he drank greedily from the wound. 

You didn’t scream though. No, what came spilling from your lips pulled Alastor’s into a bloody smile, smearing red against your skin. 

Ultimately, it was the look in his eyes and your blood on his lips that pushed you to the edge of the cliff. You were so wet. The sound of wet squelching was the music your moans sang along to. 

Alastor groaned, adding his voice to the chorus of carnal music your bodies danced to. Slapping skin was the beat he played your body to and now, the greatest part of your song was approaching. 

“Alastor,” His name was stuttered, broken as it fell from your mouth and oh, how he liked the way that sounded as you repeated it.

“Yes?” He looked down at you with eyes that you would have sworn was lit from within. You couldn’t look away, “You’re close, I can feel you.” 

Red eyes. Blood smeared lips. His hand pushed harder into you, ensuring the head of his cock bullied your sweet spot with each sharp thrust in. The bed creaked under you with the increasing force of his thrusts. 

“Didn’t I tell you?” He chuckled, “That I’d give you exactly what you need? I’d touch you, just how you need to come undone on my cock?” 

“Oh fuck,” You struggled to keep focus anywhere. Your eyes roamed him, hardly under your control. Red lips. Bloodstained hand gripping your thigh, nails cutting trails you didn’t even feel as you were driven closer and closer to the edge. 

“What do you need?” He said, filter flickering in and out of his voice as static grew around you. If asked, you’d say the static was caressing your skin though how that was possible, you’d have no idea. 

“You,” He felt so good, it was hard to think. 

“Fuck,” you pulled against the shadows as he laughed at you.

“Need to touch,” You begged as static seemed to rise and fall around you with every brutal thrust. “Please. Please, Al- Alastor, Please. I want to, I need to touch you. Please.” 

Tears were falling from your eyes, sparkling in the dim light of the room as Alastor leaned in, pushing your leg toward your chest. He reached deeper with each of his thrusts now, the head of his cock bullying your cervix harshly.

Blood dripped onto your chest from the wound on your calf but you didn’t care. You couldn’t care. He was so close now, folding you in half. You could feel the warmth of his body, so close and yet you could only touch him how he allowed, where he pressed his body into you. 

“I suppose,” He said after a hum, broken by nearly inaudible groan as your core fluttered around him with promise, “Since you’ve begged so prettily.” 

The shadows around your body dematerialized, turning to smoke as your arms sagged. The joints ached, from wrist to shoulder, it felt like they creaked as they moved. Yet you didn’t hesitate for a moment as your palms went to his arms.

Strong arms covered in well worn, soft fabric supported him. The muscles hidden from view felt strong as steel under your touch. 

“Is that what you wanted?” Alastor’s face was so close to yours now, you were drowning in him. 

“Yes, God, yes.” Close. You were so close now. His chest was firm and you wanted so badly to slip the buttons free. The idea of exposing more of him alone was near enough to send you feral, not that you had enough space or power to act on it. 

“I am your God here.” Blasphemous words fell from his blood tinged lips. “I am your God now. Only me.” 

He shifted his weight to one arm, large palm freed to run up your chest, smearing the spilled blood, only to wrap frighteningly tight around your throat. This shouldn’t turn you on as much as it did. The moan that spilled from your lips felt like it was born in your core, the sound rich and deep.

“Say it.” He shifted, rubbing his pubic bone and the hair that cushioned his cock against your clit, providing stimulation that had been missing for so long. “Say it and I’ll let you cum undone on my cock. Say it and I’ll give you the privilege of touching me while I...” 

Radio filter dropped in and out as he spoke, each dip in the filter was met with a caressing rise of the static, as if to try and distract you from the sound of his naked voice. 

“Oh my G-” You choked the word off even as his hand tightened around your throat. “Fuck, Alastor.” 

Lips kissed your shoulder as he leaned into you more, folding you even tighter. Sharp nips and soft kisses traced your jaw, just above where his fingers gripped. 

“Again,” He demanded, nipping your jaw as you tightened around him, dancing on the edge of a loaded spring. 

You ran your hands up his chest, along his shoulders as he demanded you say his name, that you call him a God. You held onto his shoulder for dear life- dear afterlife? Fuck, you couldn’t think. 

Finally, as your hand trailed up the back of his neck, you were rewarded with the feeling of skin under your hand. Soft skin burned under your fingers. The short hairs of his undercut were soft under your finger tips.

“Please, Alastor. Fuck, my god. You, you’re my god. Whatever you want. Please, please.”

You hadn’t expected him to kiss you but he cut your pleas off with his lips. He fucked you hard and fast, pounding you into the mattress without mercy as you tasted your blood on his tongue. 

Each time his hips slammed into you, he ground himself into your clit. 

“Mine,” He whispered as a perfectly placed thrust sent you flying off the cliff. 

You moaned deeply as you fluttered around him. Your legs pushed against the immovable wall that was Alastor as his name fell from your lips in a unholy prayer. 

“Mine.” He said again, voice naked as his power swelled around him. Shadows danced. Static swelled as dim lights flickered then died, leaving them cast in firelight alone. 

You could feel him twitch inside you as he slammed home with such force as to knock the air right out of your lungs. His grip flexed around your neck as he bit down on your lip, spilling blood into your mouth that he eagerly lapped up. 

“Mine,” He whispered, a look you could only describe as insane dancing in his eyes as he looked down at you. You struggled to take a breath as he twitched, the last spurts of his seed deposited deep inside of you. 

You gasped his name as he licked up the trail of blood that had run down your lip and jaw. 

“Mine and, ma chérie-” He said again. For the first time, true fear that you had made a deadly mistake in your hasty deal, “I do not share.” 

~~~~~<3

Tag list: @the-shark-named-sharon, @intensityofchaos, @xalygator, @sirens-and-moonflowers, @chibistar45

[sylusjinwoon]

{ 020 }

- when you catch them falling asleep first -

featuring: gojo satoru, nanami kento, fushiguro megumi, okkotsu yuta

warnings: crack for gojo's, but mainly fluff for the rest :3

[ gojo satoru 🕶️ ]

don't let gojo's pretty face and seemingly perfect life fool you: this man has a sole imperfection that takes the form of his MONSTROUS snores. and you swore that these snores are loud enough to cause tremors to be felt across your shared apartment!

you came home from work a little later than usual, murmuring your greeting all while taking off your shoes in the process. as you brushed back your hair while running a hand through them, you were left frozen on your spot when you heard an almost... unnatural sound coming from within the depths of your apartment.

"h-hello? satoru? are you there?"

fear began to quickly seize at your heart, with you straining your ears as you tried to decipher the strange and almost guttural sounds. it was almost like... someone sawing a log while growling at the same time, coupled along with some other wet sounds that made you tremble in response.

grabbing a hold of one of your umbrellas settled near your shoe rack, you slowly inch closer to the source of the sound, hoping that the umbrella would be sufficient enough to use as a weapon.

you could feel the ice cold sensation of your blood rushing through your veins, filling you with anxiety and fear at what was to come. the closer to got to your bedroom, the louder those sounds became.

with your eyes clenched shut, you slam open the door while crying out "YOU STUPID CURSE...!"

only to feel your words die out the moment you turned on the lights to see your boyfriend splayed out in bed, his hair a complete mess against the plush pillows while a string of drool was seen on the corner of his lips.

yet perhaps what was most shocking was how those noises were coming from him!

now, you've been subjected to satoru's obnoxious snores before, but they had never quite sounded this... horrendous. which meant that the sorcerer was probably caught in a deep slumber right now.

allowing the relief to course through you, you toss aside your umbrella and step closer to the bed. your arms were crossed over your chest as you look down at him, reaching out a hand to pinch at his nose.

"nngh nggh ngh?!" you had to fight back a giggle upon seeing your boyfriend's eyes clenched shut in response. his arms were flailing around randomly until they suddenly managed to find you, pulling you down into bed with him as a cheshire cat grin slowly spreads across his features.

"heheh... welcome home, babe...!" his voice was still hoarse, clearly only half awake when he manages to wrap his arms tightly around your form. his rich chuckles were felt against your ear, making you giggle as you cuddled yourself even closer to him.

"you're such a dork, 'toru! do you know how much your snores absolutely terrified me when i came home from work? i genuinely thought a curse had followed you back to our apartment!"

your boyfriend rolls his eyes at you, giving you a smirk before pinching your own nose in response as your voice took on a more nasally quality.

"ngh, shtop it! i wash genunelly tewwified!"

"well that's what you get for makin' fun of me! my snores aren't that bad, okay?!"

after spending some time teasing each other, your beloved convinces you to fall asleep with him (after taking off your clothes and changing you into something more comfortable.) with a content purr, you agree to fall asleep while in his embrace, snuggling up even closer to him, ready to close your eyes-

"scccchhhhhhzzzzzz hngggg..."

only for your eyes to go wide when satoru manages to fall asleep first, practically snoring within your ear as you simply lay in bed while silently groaning to yourself.

tonight was going to be a long night for you.

[ nanami kento 🗞️ ]

the hardworking man who can never seem to catch a break. nanami will often fall asleep when you least expect it, but truly, you never had the heart to disturb him.

you were in the midst of cutting up the ingredients for tonight's dinner, and when you told your beloved kento to lay back and relax, he finally relented without any protest.

he had just gotten back from a rather long and arduous business trip the day before, and you had hoped that he would take this chance and sleep in, simply enjoying his day off. you wanted nothing more than to cook him his favorite meals consisting of chicken alfredo with a heavy helping of garlic bread.

you purposely got up early, ready to buy fresh ingredients for tonight's dinner when nanami ends up waking up with you. despite the dark circles seen beneath his eyes, he insisted on accompanying you (to make up for lost time).

even your attempts at convincing him to stay home fell on deaf ears, with your kento joining you on your errands, but not before allowing you to have breakfast with him at his favorite café where he surrounded himself with delicious coffee and all of the pastries he had been craving for.

with your day pretty much starting out like a much needed date, you finally came home around 6pm, where you were able to shoo kento away from the kitchen as you began working on making the chicken alfredo.

it was around 7:30 that you completed your dinner and called out kento's name. "ken, dinner's ready!"

you continue stirring at the pasta dish, already salivating at the scent of the white sauce along with the juicy cuts of chicken. you trail your eyes over to the large loaf of garlic bread, wishing to save heating that for last so that your kento could enjoy it freshly baked from the oven.

"kento?" you shut off the stove just then, placing a lid over the chicken alfredo as you went into the living room to check on him. you peek your head into the living room to see nanami settled in his usual spot on the couch with what looked like an open newspaper settled across his face.

making sure that your steps were quieter, you tiptoe even closer to him, gently removing the newspaper to reveal him sleeping against the couch. you could see the way his eyelids trembled while he slept, the sight of it all being enough to make you smile in response.

letting out your own yawn, you figured that once you got hungry, you could simply reheat the food and place the garlic bread in the oven then. feeling a bit tired yourself, you settle yourself next to kento, with your head on his shoulder while cuddling against him before joining him for a peaceful slumber.

[ fushiguro megumi 🐺 ]

the type to fall asleep in front of those who is truly trusted. like a wary dog wolf, megumi is the type to stay awake and wait until he's in the safety and comfort of his own bedroom to truly sleep. but lately... this seems to be changing when it comes to you.

you had invited megumi over to your place to have a movie night and a weeklong sleepover, not wishing to spend these long nights alone as your parents went on a much needed vacation together. they promised they would return in a week's time while giving you permission to invite a friend over to stay the night with you.

and of course, megumi ended up being your first choice.

you placed a lot of trust in him, despite being your best friend who just so happened to be a guy as well. had it been any other boy, your parents would have voiced their concern and suspicions-

but when it came to megumi, they could all visibly relax.

for starters, he truly wasn't like most boys who spent their whole lives salivating at the thought of spending the night at a girl's house. he was very deadpan and serious, not ever once treating you uncomfortably while maintaining a safe distance between you and him each time you were together.

(and so what if you happened to have the BIGGEST crush on him?)

if you were given a chance to be home alone like this, then there was no one you could possibly trust more than megumi. so when he finally arrives at your place right at 4pm, (his duffel bag in hand), you immediately went to hug him tightly.

"thank you so much, 'gumi! for agreeing to come over!"

"sure, don't mention it." his smile was a rare but tiny one, an expression he seems to save just for you while teasingly messing up your hair in response. his actions end up making you smile as you lead him to your living room, already setting up a blanket fort of sorts for you and megumi to enjoy for the duration of the week.

surrounded by bags of your favorite snacks and a box of half-eaten pizza, you held on tightly to your plushie as a scary movie was playing from your television screen. as the scary monster revealed itself from the shadowy depths of the forest, you let out a tiny squeak in response, momentarily looking away from the screen as your eyes met with megumi-

who was currently sleeping with a hand over his abdomen.

seeing such a sight made you forget all about the fear you once felt due to the movie, now filled with a fascination for the sleeping boy settled before you. making sure your movements were quiet, you shut off the t.v. and settle the remote off to the side.

holding your breath, you inch closer to megumi's sleeping form, and it brought you back to a certain memory you had from last year. it was the first time megumi had spent the night at your place, and it had happened because you wanted to study with megumi a bit for an upcoming exam.

what you didn't expect was for a storm to hit, making it impossible for megumi to return back home as you eagerly suggested that he spend the night at your place. he was hesitant and tried to convince you that he could walk back to the station without an umbrella, but it was ultimately the sight of your tears that makes him relent.

you wanted to give him your bed, but megumi absolutely refused to make you sacrifice your comfort for him. so, your friend ends up remaining on your floor with some of your plush blankets used as a makeshift mattress for him. that night, you had a hard time falling asleep since you were so aware of megumi's own movements as he tossed and turned throughout the night.

"megumi...?" you gave up trying to sleep, not liking the fact that your friend was having such a hard time falling asleep, too.

you swore you could hear him stiffen in the dead of night when you called out his name. "yeah?"

"are you okay? you can't sleep now, can you?" you ask him with a guilty sigh.

you remember hearing him let out a huff when he turns around to face you on the bed, "it has nothing to do with you, i'm just not used to sleeping in an unfamiliar environment. don't worry about me, just sleep like you normally do."

you rolled your eyes then, knowing that you couldn't sleep when your own crush friend was struggling to sleep. so, you joined him on the floor and kept him company throughout the night, talking about nothing and everything at the same time.

looking at him now, (seeing him in what had to be a deep sleep), you were mesmerized by how vulnerable he was. his spiked hair now remained mussed and flattened against the pillows, with his lips parted in tune to his own breathing.

reaching out a hand to brush back his hair, you sharply inhale when he opens up one eye to look at you.

"hm?" his gaze was still hazy with sleep, but you couldn't stop yourself from asking him, "you feel comfortable around me now?"

a tiny smirk paints his handsome features when he suddenly wraps his arms around your back. you let out a gasp, landing directly against megumi's chest as he brushes his lips against your hair.

"yeah, i do feel comfortable around you... something about you... makes me feel so soft... and warm."

megumi trails off just then, and judging from the way he tightens his arms around you before his breathing evens out, you had to smile and giggle a bit.

he had fallen asleep again.

not one to complain about being in megumi's arms, you let out a happy sigh before sliding your eyes shut, falling asleep within minutes as you dreamt of him...

[ okkotsu yuta 💍 ]

yuta was a notorious night owl, and most nights, you struggled to keep up with his late night binge consisting of movie marathon or shows that lasted several seasons. the only time you were able to convince yuta to sleep at a decent hour was when he was sick. and tonight was one of those nights...

your eyes were filled with concern for your boyfriend, feeling a bit panicked the moment he woke up with a fever.

his speech was slurred as he tried convincing you that he was just fine, but you did not believe him. forcing him to lay back in bed, it was now your turn to spoil him.

throughout the day, you made some soup for him while giving him his rounds of medicine with a tall glass of water to keep him hydrated. you took his temperature every couple of hours, and you were happy to see it steadily going down as the day progressed.

after caring for yuta, you spent the rest of the day tidying up your shared apartment, making sure that everything was back in its place so that once he felt better, then yuta wouldn't feel so stressed and have to worry about waking up to a messy apartment.

your last chore of the day consisted of you doing laundry, placing the newly washed clothes into the dryer before heading back to your shared bedroom with yuta.

the time read 9pm when you came back to your beloved boyfriend, letting out a sigh while stretching your body out. you already envisioned yuta scrolling through his phone after taking his medication-

so picture your surprise when you saw him still laying in bed, the damp handkerchief never leaving his forehead as his eyes were shut. his breathing was slightly labored, but not as bad as it had been this morning when the fever had first afflicted him. your heart seemed to melt at the mere sight of him, seeing his hand laying limply across your side of the bed, as if waiting for you.

"aw, my poor baby." you softly coo at him, shutting off the lights as you allowed complete darkness to settle across the room. walking to your side of the bed, you gently duck beneath the covers and slide closer to yuta, taking a hold of his hand with a bright smile on your face.

you listen as your boyfriend mumble a few words, finally adjusting his sleeping position as he turns to face you, the handkerchief now sliding completely off of his forehead in response to his movements. giggling softly, you take the damp handkerchief and remove it, placing the cloth on your nightstand instead while focusing your attention on him.

"sleep well, my love. i promise, i'll be by your side the whole time." you quietly promise him while squeezing at his hand in response.

and as you closed your own eyes, ready to join him in his land of dreams, you remain blissfully unaware of the smile that paints his features while he slept...

a.n. - i am so sorry, it feels like it's been forever since my last jjk update! but i hope this silly little update makes up for it 🥹 this is currently unedited, but i'll make any changes once this is posted!

all stories are written by rei; reposts, translations, and plagiarism are not allowed.

[solarpunksoup]

PART 2: THE STEW

(aka a resource masterlist/archive from an amateur librarian)

LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 11, 2024

PART 1: THE SOUP (disc. February 28, 2023)

disclaimer: most of these will pull up my reblog, not the original link. this is in no way me trying to take credit, but it was just easier and more efficient to get the links this way, and makes the resource still partially accessible if a blog is deactivated.

just like part one!: if you see your post on here and would like it removed or credited in a certain way, send me a message. i’m more than happy to do that!

this will be continuously updated. click the original post to check if the date has changed.

you can also search “updated version” in my blog to pull up the most recent edit

not all of these are direct guides! a lot of this is inspiration for your own personal praxis

The Featured

some things that are particularly relevant right now or what I find most interesting

Self Managed Abortion

Managing War Anxiety

Testosterone is for Girls, Too! (zine for purchase)

Solarpunk in Different Parts of the World

Gardening + Gardening DIYs

Sharing the Fruits of Your Labor

Healthy Soil

Ani's Tomato and Pepper Harvest

Moostie's Guide to Carrot Tops

DIY [Non-Fibre]

Filtering Rainwater

Tech

Pirating Resources

uBlock Origin's Official Guide to Bypassing Youtube Anti-AdBlock

[Google] Drives

Cooking/Foraging

Scrap Soup

Random Tips for an Amateur Cook

Mending + Fibre Arts

Solar Dyeing

Making Yarn from Scratch

Inspo for Mending a Belt

Inspo for Decorating a Jacket

On Acrylic Yarn

Thought, Theory + Idea Lists

Ways to Live in Direct Opposition to Capitalism

Rural Solarpunk

Activism in the Winter Months

Social Workers, Not Cops

Importance of Trades

Solarpunk in Different Parts of the World

Boomer Positivity

Stories of Transfem Acceptance

Staying Critical of "Self-Sufficiency"

Shopping

Native Seeds Search

Volunteerism, Protesting + Community Activism

Community Fridges/Freedges

Free Little Library for MOVIES!

Nzambi Matee Recycles Plastic to Make Bricks that are Stronger than Concrete

Workplace Advocacy

A Legit Way to Fight the Climate Crisis from Where You're Sitting Right Now

Village Tackles Speeding by Planting Thousands of Flowers Because Drivers Slow Down as They Pass By

Emotional + Physical Health

First Aid for Seizures

Masterlists, Compilations

History of Specific Depopulated Palestinian Areas

UK-Specific Solarpunk Resources

Zines

Testosterone is for Girls, Too!

T-Girl Self Defense

The Shirt, (or How to Explain Revolution to an 8-year old)

a word on the soup and the stew:

hello world!

if you've made it all the way down here, hello! hi:3

welcome to a project I've been working on for many years. 3, to be exact! which may not seem that long to you, but for me, the soup started as a way for me to collect resources as an isolated, abused teenager and give me a source of hope. I think it gave me something to hoard, to call my own, even though it never really was. it was and always has been just my organization of a community's brilliance. and along the way, people seemed to like it. with this outpouring love and a community I could finally call myself apart of, I learned to let go of false ownership and instead grow a true love for archiving, for sharing.

now, I am a free, happy adult, and that time seems like forever ago. yet I continue collecting these resources and sharing our community's brilliance as an ode to that younger self, and because I still believe in the solarpunk community and it's message:

hope! keep hoping! endure! keep enduring! above all else, we must survive, we must dream, and we must LOVE!

I hope you reflect upon these with the same gentle, hopeful heart I always have. Praise the authors, love them, love yourself, and let our hope inspire you to create and act and be.

All of my love!

The Keeper

[markantonys]

bridgerton s3 part 2 thoughts! full spoilers for the whole season, and i will also discuss some book spoilers relating to the future siblings - i haven't read the books and never will, but i know the main points of most of the siblings' stories due to Existing Online. haha i also briefly discuss some wheel of time book spoilers because i was reminded of a certain WOT couple at one point in these episodes!

first things first: I AM SO EXCITED THAT WE GOT NOT ONE BUT TWO (2)!!!!!!!!! CANONICALLY QUEER BRIDGERTON SIBLINGS!!!! AND MY TWO FAVORITES, AT THAT!!!! but i will save that for discussion at the end of the post because it is BY FAR my favorite aspect of these episodes.

but even with that aside, i definitely liked this half a lot more than part 1! screentime felt more balanced and it didn't feel like the sideplots were eating up as much time as it did in part 1.

penelope and colin storyline

they were Fine to me in part 1, but their story was more compelling in this half since we moved on from bland run-of-the-mill childhood-friends-to-lovers and into the meaty and much more unique emotional drama of how penelope being lady whistledown affects their relationship. just as i'd hoped for! and i thought the pacing of this was pretty good too because colin found out early enough that he had enough time left in the season to react properly and work through it, rather than it being some 11th-hour reveal that's hastily swept aside to make way for the HEA. it was juuuuust when i was starting to feel that the "colin makes a hater comment about LW in front of penelope, causing her to look ill with anxiety" shtick was getting old that he found out the truth, so, pretty good timing.

colin was more interesting in this half due to wrestling with the whole "penelope is LW" reveal, but overall, in the season as a whole, he was kinda giving us nothing. they really dropped the ball on him because he just never at any point felt like the co-lead character of the season. for daphne & simon and kate & anthony it felt like a pretty balanced exploration of both characters as individuals on top of the romance, but this season it was 100% the penelope show and colin felt basically like a prop. and penelope's a great character and had great stuff this season, so i enjoyed all the time spent on her, but we needed more for colin to go along with it. after 8 episodes, i still don't feel i know much about who he is as a person besides that he's nice and loyal. although on the flipside, i have no problem with male characters whose entire personality is loving their wives haha i love that shit! so a warm welcome for colin into the Wifeguy Club!

speaking of wifeguys, time for my WOT connection, which is that penelope and colin were SO gawene-coded in a couple scenes that it actually killed me! colin's lil arc of feeling kinda jealous of/intimidated by penelope's power as LW at first and most importantly his "what use can i ever be to her when she's so self-sufficient and doesn't need anything from me?" worries, culminating in him realizing "if the only thing i do in my life is love and support such an incredible woman, i'll be completely satisfied" (paraphrasing), i was like, that is soooo TOM gawyn with egwene being amyrlin!!! and when penelope had that line to him about like "i don't need you to take care of me, i never loved you because of what you can do for me, but because you're kind" (paraphrasing) i gasped and clapped my hand to my forehead because it was almost exactly what i had egwene saying to gawyn in my fic chapter that i posted mere days ago!!!!! literally shook to my core haha i was the leo dicaprio pointing at the TV meme x10 in that moment.

eloise and cressida storyline

wonderful to see eloise and penelope's friendship mended! i thought that whole arc was really well done this season, and especially in this half when eloise is dealing with her ex-bff being engaged to her brother who doesn't know she's LW but eloise knows and feels caught in the middle, just lots of messy, complicated emotions in that whole situation and they did a great job with all that.

i really enjoyed cressida in the first half of the season, but in this half it felt like she got a bit too much time. she also kinda reverted back to her mean girl ways (though out of desperation rather than malice), which was less interesting than the different, softer side we saw from her in the first half and made her time in this half feel like more of a drag. but overall, she's a very layered character and the actress did a fantastic job with her, and in this half of the season i always understood why she was doing what she was doing and sympathized with her. it can't be said that she didn't fuck around and find out, but i still felt bad for her in the end! i really liked the moment when colin with his rose-tinted glasses was like "but your family will forgive you and all will be well!" because that's what family has always been like to him, and cressida was like "ummm no, some of us have shitty families and you bridgertons are too naive to realize that", it was a very good moment.

(i will also say, i know this is a highly unpopular opinion for a queer bridgerton fan to have, but i was never on the eloise/cressida train haha i can 100% see the vibes that others picked up on, but they just never did anything for me for whatever reason! i know eloise was the "obvious" choice for a wlw bridgerton but i personally am so SO thrilled that they went for francesca instead, i guess just because i connect so deeply with her character in a way i never have with eloise. also, now that i'm thinking about it, i think eloise vibes the most like aroace to me, i struggle to picture her having a relationship with *anyone* of any gender.)

other storylines

i'm so happy for violet and marcus!! crossing my fingers that we'll see more of them in s4 since their romance is only just budding; it would be so interesting to see him interacting with her kids and getting integrated into the family dynamic (and for us to meet his kids too! though i acknowledge we don't need MORE side characters haha). and i loved the danbury siblings scenes and them getting to the root of their childhood issues and working them out. and of course, violet and lady danbury continue to be THE best duo of all time <33 i adore their friendship so so much, i can't even describe how much!

we got more time with kate and anthony in this half, and all of it was perfect. they're gonna be parents!!!! though alas, it seems like they've made their final exit from the show with them going off to live in india for a while. sad to see them go, but not surprised at all. i see lots of book fans whining about the prior leads leaving and how it's weird for daphne to not be at her own brother's wedding etc, and i do agree that the show/family is gonna start feeling kinda empty as the older siblings & spouses exit, but that's just a necessity of this medium. you can't have main cast be contracted for 6 more seasons just to show up for 2 lines of dialogue per season and hang out in the background of wedding scenes. you can do that in a book, but you can't do it in a tv show. just something we have to live with! and a lot of the complaints take such a "how DARE these actors want to move on with their lives and do other projects instead of dropping everything to prioritize having a minor role on bridgerton for the rest of this decade" tone, which stinks of Fan Entitlement.

i am curious about what might become of penelope, because it sounds like she's kinda continuing whistledown but just as herself and in a more responsible manner that won't hurt people (tho idk how a gossip column can possibly NOT hurt anyone haha the whole "penelope shouldn't give up LW because it's Feminist and Empowering and Gives A Voice To The Voiceless" narrative kinda had me going X Doubt). update: i just saw an interview with the showrunner where she confirmed that penelope will be in s4 and have a storyline. nice!

the featheringtons had much less in this half which i was glad about and they were taken more seriously and not just treated as comic relief, and portia had some really good scenes with penelope.

there was also much less of the mondriches, which i was fine with; i'm very fond of them and enjoyed their stuff this season, but it felt appropriate that they took more of a backseat in this half. i was sad will had to give up the club though! it felt like he had to fully capitulate to the ton and give up his own work that he's passionate about in order to win the esteem of snobby aristocrats, which was a bummer. the showrunner interview mentioned we'll be seeing them again in s4 and will be seeing some more of will's friendship with benedict, so i'm happy about that!

NOW ONTO THE GAYS!!!!

we've all been yearning for bi benedict ever since s1, and i can't BELIEVE it actually happened!!!! i'm over the moon!!!! and i'm so glad i watched the episodes straightaway without having seen any spoilers first so i got to experience the "holy shit, are they............are they going where i think they're going????" adrenaline rush completely pure and unknowing. it was the absolute most wonderful surprise!!! i'll give a lil summary here for those who are curious about how much queer content there actually is.

so, in episode 7 (or maybe it was the end of 6?) benedict gets invited to dinner with his female FWB and her male friend, who turns out to be her other FWB. AS SOON AS this invitation was extended i was like "oho, is benedict going to be needing 3 tickets to challengers?" so imagine my delight when it turned out that indeed, the 2 FWBs invited him in hopes of a threesome! benedict has a very brief moment of connection with/attraction to the man, and then he gets propositioned, but he's flustered and leaves. he returns to talk to his own FWB the next day and she explains to him about bisexuality and he's like icarly interesting.jpg and says that he's met men who like other men in the past but that he himself has never felt attracted to a man "before" (implying that last night, he did, for the first time). he does some soul-searching and then leaves his own brother's wedding reception to go have a threesome, which is extremely biconic of him. (at the wedding he also gives eloise a nice speech about how love is infinite, in the context of her worrying that colin and penelope marrying each other means they'll have less time for her, but it vibed to me like benedict is poly as well as bi, but who knows if that will go any further than this FWB threesome situation; i'd imagine his endgame will still be a monogamous relationship, but you never know!)

this storyline concludes with the female FWB admitting that she's caught feelings for benedict and wants to become serious (and monogamous) with him, but he politely turns her down because he feels "free" for the first time and wants to keep exploring life and isn't interested in a serious relationship right now, and might not ever be. my only gripe with the storyline is that i wish the male FWB had been introduced an episode or two earlier so we could watch benedict building a connection with him and feeling a budding attraction for an episode or two before the initial threesome proposition occurs to trigger him to actually acknowledge that attraction; as it is, it all happens kind of abruptly and our boy speedruns his entire bi awakening in the span of a single episode, bless him lmao but i'm assuming neither FWB will appear in s4 (they felt like one-season characters to me), so if so, it's fine to not spend too much time developing those specific relationships. the Point of the storyline was for benedict to realize he likes men too and likes non-conventional relationships, and that was accomplished with flying colors!

later on there's reference to "next year's masquerade ball" and i know a masquerade ball is where benedict first meets his endgame love interest in the books, so it seems just about guaranteed that s4 will be about benedict's book. i'm super curious about what direction it will go in! in the book, it sounds like their trope is Forbidden Romance, with the forbidden aspect being class difference (he's an aristocrat and she's a servant), so adding some kind of queer element as an additional reason for why it's Forbidden feels like a viable option, especially after s3 took pains to establish that benedict is interested in queer/non-traditional relationships.

but what form might that hypothetical queer element take? a monogamous m/m romance with genderbent sophie? or could we see trans or genderqueer sophie, in line with the cinderella metaphors about masquerade and disguise and identity and presenting differently in different environments? or might they go for some kind of poly or open relationship endgame for benedict? i don't know! there's so many options! it's also entirely possible that sophie will remain a cis woman and benedict will have a monogamous endgame with her, which i would also welcome because it is actually VERY rare to see rep of bi people ending up very happy in monogamous different-gender relationships, while still remaining firmly bi (most of the time bi characters end up in same-gender relationships, or end up in different-gender ones while dismissing their prior same-gender attractions as just a phase, or are chaotic sluts who cheat because they aren't content with only being with one person).

now on to francesca. we know for 100% fact that her love interest has been genderbent into a woman, because she was introduced at the end of the final episode! so francesca's endgame love story is guaranteed to be wlw, which is so exciting! (for context, her book endgame love interest is john's cousin michael stirling, and in the show she met john's cousin michaela stirling, so that's how we know with 100% certainty.)

taking it back a bit to the rest of her story this season, we see her and john courting, then getting engaged and married in a small wedding at bridgerton house with just the family, because they both hate being the center of attention. it was all incredibly wholesome introvert4introvert content and i adored it!!!! kept going "this is literally my ideal marriage" during so many of their scenes haha

but there is somewhat of a question of, is francesca actually attracted to john/men in general? throughout the season and even after the introduction of michaela stirling, i assumed yes; francesca clearly adores john and states that she loves him, and her body language around him seemed to me to show attraction. but after finishing the season and reading discussion online, i saw people saying that francesca seemed disappointed with kissing john at their wedding (which i'd interpreted as her just feeling shy about kissing him in front of people) and that it was a marked contrast to how flustered and interested she is when she meets michaela. so for me, the jury's out on whether she's more bi-leaning or lesbian-leaning; now that i know canon wlw francesca is a thing, i'd need to rewatch the season again to analyze her behavior with john more closely to decide what vibe i'm getting there! because on first watch it wasn't even on my radar to consider that maybe she's not actually attracted to men.

i will admit, i would be kinda disappointed if she *isn't* truly in love with john, just for the fact that i found it so delightful and refreshing to see a quiet romance that's so different from the loud melodramatic ones, as is discussed many many times during francesca's storyline this season. and i did notice that francesca tripping over her words upon meeting michaela is exactly what violet had said she did when she first met her late husband, and violet was bringing this up to say "but your way of loving john is different from that and that's valid". so i definitely CAN imagine that maybe they're making a deliberate point here that, actually, the reason why francesca's love for john looks so different from other characters' for their spouses is because she does NOT in fact have spousal love for him, but rather platonic love that she's misinterpreted as romantic. but i would just be mildly annoyed if The Point turned out to be "actually, violet is right and True Romantic Love must always be flustering and tongue-tying and dramatic" lmao but that's a personal gripe for me as a very quiet person who loved seeing the type of romantic relationship i would prefer depicted with francesca and john; i can also see the counterargument that a storyline of a repressed lesbian trying to untangle her actual feelings from comphet and societal expectations would be very powerful and important! and particularly interesting to explore in this regency context.

now on to some bigger book spoilers. so from what i understand, in the books, john dies, leaving francesca as a widow, and her love story with michael is about dealing with grief and learning to open herself up to love again after loss. i've seen the argument that francesca actually being a lesbian who wasn't genuinely in love with john would cheapen this storyline, and i can see that point for sure, but otoh it's abundantly clear that she does have a very deep care and love for him regardless of whether or not it's romantic/sexual, so i think no matter what, we will still see her being very affected and pained by his death and struggling with guilt about falling for someone else (his cousin! a woman!) etc.

what i'm most curious about here is the timing! there was some leak that michaela's actress is allegedly booked as a small part in s3 and a main role in s4. i'd been wondering if maybe they would start combining books, but in the interview i read, the showrunner confirmed that the plan is still to do only one book/sibling per season, so it seems that s4 will only be benedict's book. which makes sense, because i believe in the books francesca is married to john for 2 years before he dies and then it's another few years before she starts romancing michael, so i'd guess s4 will just see francesca develop a friendship with michaela and then maybe john dies towards the end of the season, then we do a timeskip between seasons and s5 is about francesca and michaela. but then there's still eloise to contend with, maybe she would be s5 and francesca not until 6.

i really really hope we'll get some francesca-benedict bonding next season (or s5/6 depending on the timing of francesca having her gay realization; it seems still subconscious for her as of now) since they are officially The Queer Siblings!!! i need to see them find this out about each other and talk about it together and be confidants for each other. it will also be so fascinating to see violet & the other siblings react to a queer bridgerton endgame romance. violet wants her kids to be happy, but she sometimes struggles with realizing that what happiness looks like to them may not align exactly with what happiness looks like to her, so i could definitely see her needing to take a moment to readjust her perspective and realize that francesca not being able to legally marry michaela in a public manner known to all of the ton and have biological kids with her doesn't mean they can't be just as happy as her straight kids and their partners. (on that note, i remember that in the past people have suggested francesca could be a great candidate for a wlw bridgerton because her status as a widow allows her a lot more societal freedom than a never-married woman, so i love that the show went with her! i can totally see her endgame being that of a respectable widow living peacefully in the countryside with her Dear Friend.)

i remember straightaway francesca set off my gaydar in 3x01 when she was reluctant about entering the marriage mart and dismissive at the idea of finding True Love and going ??? when people asked what qualities she wanted in a husband, and there was a scene of her talking with other debutante girls and i went "man i would love it if she got a girlfriend" but never in a million years did i actually think that was a real possibility! so i'm SO thrilled that they're going there, and like i mentioned before i quite like that they went with the polite introvert sister instead of the outspoken rebel sister to be the gay one because it just feels like a subversion of expectations and stereotypes for me, and because all season i'd been seeing so much of myself in francesca and then, finding out she's gay like me!!!! cherry on top!! and then for michaela, in the books i believe michael is yet another rake, which the show sets up for michaela too with her joking about being even more scandalous than john's stories might make her out to be - the rake is the backbone of the regency romance genre, so getting to see a wlw version of the trope with a female rake is going to be SO much fun!! esp with the setup that francesca is fairly society-conforming as of now; michaela broadening her horizons could be something interesting to explore.

wow this post got super long lmao i'm just so excited! canon queer bridgerton siblings singlehandedly turned this show from "i casually enjoy it as a few hours of fun which i forget about soon after it's over" to "i'm literally frothing at the mouth i need the next season NOW" and That is the power of representation, baby!

[witchofhimring]

Loyalty Chapter 13

Synopsis: Synopsis: A Battle rages over Harrenhal and your path is not just dark, its destroyed.

Pairings: Aemond Targaryen x Tyrell Reader

Aemond Targaryen x Ellyn Baratheon

Alys Rivers x Aemond Targaryen

Jaecerion Targaryen x Reader

Jason Lannister x Reader (minor)

(more to come!)

Y/n Tyrells Profiles

Warnings: Angst, heartbreak, childbirth, emotional turmoil, death, unrequited love?, humiliation by Ellyn Baratheon, marital abuse, marital consummation, misogamy (internalized as well as external), brief depictions of smut, moontea/abortions, suicide, mentions of rape (not to the reader), Plot twist at the end!

The first memory of Lady Jenna was at the funeral your father. Back then she was dressed in a deep green that reminded you of the deep tonics your father took. Towering over you she was more than intimidating. Years later and you still felt at similar sinking sensation. "Y/n. It has been some time." She smiled, warm and friendly. That was what Lady Jenna attempted to project. However as Lady Jenna pulled you into a hug there was a tension. When the two of you broke apart you noticed something steely in her eyes. "Follow me." The greeting was quick and Lady Jenna lead the way inside. Up the stairs you went, attempting to remember everything. The entrance hall was lined with portraits of Highgarden's past lords and ladies. The images of your ancestors looked down at the newcomers. The second last one displayed your parents, Lord Owen Tyrell and Lady Amelia Tarley. This was the first time you had laid eyes on a decent image presenting their likeness in years. The little locket which held miniature portraits was miniscule in detail. You recognized your eyes in Lady Amelia Tarley.

"We best hurry." Lady Jenna sounded slightly impatient. With a hasty apology you caught up. Jaecerion took hold of your elbow. "You're trembling." Suddenly you became aware the your breathing had become erratic. With a beating heart you felt sweat collecting on the brow. You took his hand and whispered "Just hold me, please."

Lady Jenna welcomed everyone into her solar. The scent of pine greeted you. Trying to remember, memories of a time before Lady Jenna surged. When Lady Amelia had owned these rooms they had smelt the same. There was a perfume scent in the air that you could not quite names. Green curtains had hung in a similar fashion, showing the garden bellow. Lady Jenna sat in a great oak chair and beckoned for everyone else to sit. Immediately servants came in and started serving refreshments. A few of them cast you looks, Lady Jenna was quick to shoo them away. "I hope the journey was not a hard one." You were ready to reply when Jaecerion stepped in. "Unfortunately as we were not provided with a sufficient guard the journey was quite perilous." There was an edge to his voice. Lady Jenna sent him a thin smile. Looking at her closely you noticed a muscle in her jaw spasm. Then you looked to Jaecerion. What was with the sudden hostility? A sudden tension had risen and it put you on edge.

Lady Jenna then turned her attention to Lady Mara. "Lady Mara, it has been some time. I hope you are well." Your lady gave her a bright smile. Or at least it would have passed as such to the eyes of most. Lady Mara had always been somewhat closed up when it came to emotions. But you had spent enough time around Lady Mara to see it was forced. And could you blame her? The horror's of war and Rhaenyra's tyranny had left their marks on all.

"I am well. And I hope the same can be said of you too." Lady Jenna nodded. "Wonderful. All of you must be tired, I will have my servants show all of you to your quarters." It had been so abrupt that you had not even considered the fact that Lady Jenna had yet to properly converse with you. After all, you had been her eyes and ears, a member of her house. As a servant lead you away, you decided that once settled in you would speak with her. Not rudely of course, she was the head of House Tyrell. But the topic needed to be breeched.

Your room was high up in a tower overlooking Highgarden. From this height you could see all three walls and beyond. "This is where I was born." You held baby Owen so that he could look out. Even if he could not fully comprehend the scene before him you wanted Owen to see. This is where his family, or at least in the maternal line, dwelled. Since the Andals sowed their roots long ago his and your ancestors ruled. In time, Gods willing, so would he.

You're room was circular in shape and had a four poster bed, a writing table and a dresser. Yet something about this room felt empty. There were tapestries, but the ones in this room were a plain brown. The curtains hanging around your bed were also plain. Hardly a residence worthy of the former Lady of Casterly Rock. Even during your tenure as the Dowager Queens' lady-in-waiting, the rooms had been more sumptuous. And would it be enough when Lady Mari moved in? Speaking of Lady Mari, where was she? Walking over to the door you pushed it open. Instead of swinging open it hit metal. Alarmed you jumped back and the knight in front jerked forward. He turned around as you apologized. "Quite alright My Lady. Lady Jenna will be up soon." You thanked him and closed the door.

True to his word, Lady Jenna entered, alone. "My dear Y/n. It must have been a long journey." She gave you a hug and then looked down at Owen. "He is a very handsome boy. You named him after your father?" "Yes, My Lady." A door opened and a maid entered holding a tray. She placed it on the writing desk and departed. Lady Jenna waited till she left before telling out to sit. "It is good to see you after so long. And you have been a wonderful source of information." This felt more than slightly demeaning. You felt no more than a prop used by Lady Jenna. In return for all your service she had situated you here. "When will I have my ladies?" Lady Jenna took a sip of wine. "I will have Lady Cerilla attend you." She might as well have poured a bucket of cold water over your head. 'P....pardon my Lady Jenna. Lady Cerilla." You prayed that it was a mistake, perhaps there was another Lady Cerilla. But that hope was quickly dashed when a familiar red headed girl slunk in, a sneer upon her pale face.

You were quick to summon Lady Mari up. Even if you had to endure Cerilla's presence you might at least have company. Not for one moment would Cerilla have unfiltered access to you without witnesses. Cerilla seemed slightly disappointed to not have you alone. Normally you would be quite happy to rebuke he. Especially since you greatly outranked her. Unfortunately this was Lady Jenna's domain and woe to those who disobeyed her. When you had been very little a maid had disobeyed an order. You could not recall the crime but only a bloody result. As the bloody maid was dragged away Lady Jenna had come up behind you. "Remember Y/n, loyalty to your house."

Once Cerilla was gone, following orders to ask a maid when dinner was, you could finally breath. Closing the door a sigh of relief was let loose. "I had no idea she was sent here." Lady Mari stared at the door. "Me neither. Perhaps we should have expected it." Someone knocked at the door. If it was Cerilla you would jump out the window. When Jaecerion entered you felt relived. His silver head was still hidden under a hood. Walking towards him you hugged Jaecerion. You would miss him greatly. During the past few weeks you had forgotten what life was like without him. "Lady Mari, could you give us space?" Lady Mari curtsied and left. Now it was just you and Jaecerion. "I will have to leave tomorrow. A pang thundered against your heart. Trying to hide the tears you looked up at him. "I will miss you. Jaecerion." His face was close to your. Saphire eyes lingered on every inch of your face. He took hold hands in his and pressed a delicate kiss to the fingertips.

You were shaking. Once Jaecerion left you and Owen would be alone. Lady Mari and Lady Dara would remain. But they were no substitute for those who had been near and dear since childhood. "When the battle is over I promise we will met again." You brought his hands into a close grasp. "But you will come back?" Jaecerion let go of your hands and placed them on your waist. Bringing you close, Jaecerion's lips were inches from yours. Hands went to Jaecerions shoulders. Looking into Jaecerion's eyes you noticed his eyes were black. He was looking deep into yours, taking in every inch of you. His pink lips were not far from yours. If either of you chose to lean forward then they would met. Jaecerion's grip tightened and his breath became shallow. Warmth spread down your back, over your chest and to every orifice of your body. Never before than you felt such deep emotions of this nature. Even towards your lawful husband. Jaecerion had always loved you, or at least for a long time. You wanted him, you needed him. Making up your mind, you leaned in close.

Cerilla stepped in, a creaking door announcing her entrance. Neither you nor Jaecerion moved. Both of you stared at a stunned Cerilla. She looked ready to say something, and she would have, if Jaecerion had not been there. "My Prince." All Cerilla did was curtsy and come back out the way she came. You watched her retreating form with mounting fury. No doubt this was an action born out of her hatred of you. Cerilla must have been under the impression that just because her sister was married to the heir that it was appropriate to show such disrespect. "I will show her different." You thought. If Cerilla thought she was getting away with anything you would be more than happy to dispel the fantasy. At this time she was no more than your servant. And just as how Ellyn treated you with scorn, so would Cerilla know how it felt.

Jaecerion too watched her retreat with dislike. "Is that the little bitch that followed you in Kings Landing?" You laughed at him calling Cerilla a bitch. Well, it was true. "Yes that is too. And it seems Cerillas' dismissal at Harrenhal has done nothing to temper." "What, she was dismissed?" Jaecerion looked at you in surprise. "Yes. It was actually your brother who did." Your grip on Jaecerion increased and you looked up at him. His lips were so close to yours. If only you could....

The chance was lost when once more the door was opened. Your luggage came in carried by those who had spirited you here. "My Prince, everything is ready." One of the knights bowed. "You are leaving now?" Looking up at Jaecerion your eyes were near tears. Seeing this, Jaecerion's thumb gently caressed your cheek. "Not for long. I am needed but call and I shall come." Jaecerion bent down and pressed his warm lips to your hand. He bid you farewell and you watched as he and the others left. The last thing you saw of Jaecerion, for now, was the tips of his silver hair disappearing through the door. Something sickeningly heavy was pressing against your chests. There was something so final about this meeting. A tear rolled down your cheek, and your shadow changed into a hooded figure.

That night dinner was brought up to you. Normally a woman of your station would dine in the great hall. But you were under cover and therefore had to remain hidden. Your ladies had not come back yet. It was no surprise that Lady Dara was not yet back. But Lady Mari was another matter. Anxiously you waited by the window, wrapped in a green shawl. A goblet of wine was in hand. Little Owen was fast asleep in his colt. You were not just waiting for Lady Mari, but Lady Jenna. Hence why you were still dressed in your day clothes'.

Your eyes were feeling very heavy. "I shouldn't have drank." But you were so comfortable in this chair. Time wore on by and slowly you drifted away from the working the world. The last thing you remembered the cold feeling in your wrists.

The forest was dead. All the leaves lay like corpses on the ground, lifeless. There was no wind. You watched through the forest, footsteps not making a sound. Your green dress, tighter than it was in the waking world, constricted you uncomfortably. There was no goal in mind, just the notion that you had to keep on walking. The shadows stretched out like boney fingers. Faces stared out at you from the Weirwood. This had ceased to frighten you like it used to. These dreams had a normalcy to them. That was not to say there was no unease. The unexpected could still happen. Blood spirting from the ground. A corpse grabbing you. Any of these things could happen.

And something did happen. A sudden sting appeared on your wrists. Blood stained the green dying it red. Shaking, you held them up to eye level. Blood ran down your arms like thin rivers. What was the meaning to this? The ground before you started to tremble. Just barely were you able to avoid falling over. A hooded figure like that of the Seven rose up to greet you. Opening its arms, the creature smiled showing two rows of sharp teeth.

A horrid jolt brought you back. Owen had started to fuss and someone was climbing the stairs. You could not hear anything, but rather you sensed it. On instinct you went for Owen. Scooping him up you held him securely. Owen was starting to calm down, only slightly. Lady Jenna, dressed in a magnificent emerald dress and a sweeping headdress glided in. Carefully you curtsied. "Y/n." She smiled and took you in her arms. Despite being forty years of age Lady Jenna maintained her youth. Only slight lines could be found if one looked close enough. Thin lips touched your cheek in a gesture of welcome. Thin hands then grasped your elbows. "I trust your accommodations are comfortable." You placed on a smile. "I thank you for the consideration." Lady Jenna lead you over to the chair. "Your son is beautiful. I heard you named him after your father." One of Lady Jenna's fingers stroked his thin hairs. Owen's eyes opened and surveyed the newcomer.

Nervously you tried to find the words. Lady Jenna could hardly be here simply for idle chit chat. There was something she wanted. Was it information you had been unable to pen? Your thoughts went to Cerilla and you wondered if Lady Jenna was angry. After all, they were in-laws, Lady Jenna's son being married to Cerilla's elder sister. "I heard that my husbands uncle wishes to confirm my sons rights." Seeing Lady Jenna's face you were quick to add "None of Owen's family have seen him." Lady Jenna, thank the Gods, was not angry. "Do not worry. They are ready to see you tomorrow. However I believe you need to rest. I apologize for not speaking with you alone earlier." "Of course, we are all busy. These are dark times." You replied. Lady Jenna smiled.

"There is something I wish to bring up." Lady Jenna stood to her full height. She looked down at you with her imperious gaze. Lady Jenna had sharp bright green eyes. They focused on an object, predator like, and struck. It was always best to avoid her displeasure. "Cerilla Swann will serve you. I hear you dismissed her at Harrenhal." The nausea swirling in your belly was almost unbearable. Throwing up was not out of the option. Trying to make yourself feel small, you spoke. "I never meant any offence. Lady Cerilla was spreading rumors which could impact our house." Lady Jenna's eyesbrows furrowed. "Lady Cerilla has put our houses honour to wuestion." You knew you had Cerilla at that moment. She may be Lady Jenna's in-law, but no threat towards house Tyrell would be tolerated. Not even by her.

"I will speak to Lady Cerilla. In the mean time I expect everyone to be on their best behavior. You will be expected to remain here, under the best care, of course. If you desire anything you need only ask." She shot you a dazzling smile and swept out of the room. Relief swept through you. Slumped over, cast under a sudden spell of exhaustion, you felt like sleeping. You blew out the candle casting your surrounding into darkness. Owen seemed just as sleepy as you. For the first time since being married you went into bed without one of your ladies. Owen sniffed and nuzzled in closer. A smile appeared on your face.

"Its okay. We will be alright." You drifted into a quiet sleep.

Days passed in a sleepy lull. Stuck in your room there was not a whole lot to do. It nearly felt like a prison, though in all fairness the room was not uncomfortable. Thankfully Lady Mari and Dara could join you. Less thankfully was the presence of Cerilla. You took great pleasure in sending her out on long errands. There was nothing she could do about it really. Her pale face would turn bright red every time, followed by storming off. There was the added benefit of not seeing her face as often. Days were spent reading, sewing and taking care of Owen. Your son was growing at a rapid rate and thankfully healthy.

On the fourth day of your stay routine was broken when Lady Jenna summoned you to her study. A group of lords including your deceased husbands uncle was also in attendance. "My Lady. It is good to see you again." Lord Tynar Lannister bend forward and kissed your hand. "Likewise my lord." Then the attention was given over to your son, their future lord. Proudly you showed him off to the men present. Once greetings were over everyone sat down. "My Lords, Lady Y/n. We are here to discuss Lord Owen succession to the head of House Lannister." It felt odd to hear your son referred to as "Lord Owen". "Lady Y/n will take on the title Dowager Lady Paramount of the West. We will ask that you return with us to Casterly Rock at the earliest convenience. Here you will remain for now. Once the false Queen Rhaenyra is overthrown you will be take your rightful place." Lord Tynar pulled out a piece of paper and set it out. "Normally the Lord Paramount will sign this himself. Given Lord Owen's age we will ask that you as his mother sign. It is just as legal and binding. In these situations the Lord Paramount will sign when he is older. But in the mean time this contact is just as binding."

You looked over the paper. Everything seemed to be in order. You could go back to Casterly Rock and rule from there. Naturally you would need help. The thought of being of charge of such a large wealthy region was terrifying and thrilling in equal measure. You would wield more power as regent than wife.

You signed your name.

Lord Tynar clapped his hands together. "Wonderful. That is everything in order." Lady Jenna raised a hand, cutting him off. She turned to you. There was a shrewd look in her eyes. What had you done? Hands clutched together you waited for it to fall. "Your son is heir to Casterly Rock. My sons' daughter is the same age. I suggest a marriage between our houses. It will unite two of the greatest houses in Westeros." Thank the gods she was not angry at you. You were so relived that you immediately said yes. And anyways, it was not a bad match. It would likely have happened anyway.

"Pardon me Lady Jenna. But this is rather sudden. Should we not all talk about it." Lady Jenna quickly spoke over you. "It is a perfectly fine match. Do you object?" Lord Tynar looked between Lay Jenna and yourself. He seemed to make up his mind.

You were stumbling around in the darkness. The forest was gone, hand been for some time. You would have preferred that over this impenetrable darkness. Somehow you were walking despite there being nothing under your feet. Yet you were able to move forward and back. Supposedly you could walk wherever. Not that this was any help. Everything was dark.

"You had a choice." The booming voice reverberated through you. Curling in on yourself it took everything to to faint from pure fear. Horrified you were rooted to the stop. Rocking back and for you wanted to be anywhere but here. Always you had hated these dreams. "You had a choice. Farwell." And then you were falling. As you fell the faces of nameless gods peered down at you. Everything was falling away. A figure reached forward and her eyes were upon you.

Something hand fell towards your face. Having just woken up you could do nothing to stop it. "Ouch!" Jerking out of sleepiness you now feel a burning on your nose. "What in the Seven." You realized the guilty culprit was a hand. Your hand. Sitting up you were still shaking. The dream was like a brand on your mind. It hurt something deep inside and instilled fear. It took you a bit to realized Cerilla was looking at you. "What." You snapped. She sneered and flounced out of the room. Now all alone you looked around for Owen with a feeling for dread. Thankfully he was safe and sleep in his crib. Reaching over you pick Owen up. He coos and opens his eyes. "Good morning." You kissed his nose. Owen smiled and you gently touched his ingrowing hair. It pained you that breast feeding was out of the question. Calling a wet nurse over you reluctantly handed him over. Once done you immediately took him back.

Afterwards you were able to walk along the battlements overlooking a courtyard. A slight wind brushed your hair, causing it to catch the light. Owen was bundled up in a blue blanket, his eyes looking around. Today had a serenity to them, the weather in perfect harmony. A guard was leading and Lady Dara brought up the rear.

The day was cloudy and slightly cool. "Do you think winter will come soon?" Lady Dara asked. "I suppose so. The maesters say it will." At your words Lady Dara looked up. "They might be wrong." She said hopefully. You doubted it. One could see an outline of the sun, obscured by clouds. A few were practicing in the courtyard. Yet it seemed that they were young, boys really. You guessed most of the able bodied young men were gone. "Most likely dead." A voice in your head said. The green cloak you wore felt heavy, the velvet pressed against skin. Other than that there was an eerie quiet that settled over Highgarden. Not even a bird in the sky. Despite the wind you had the sensation of someone holding their breath. You likened it to a scenario several years back. A tournament had been held in honour of the King and Queen. Two knights, you forgot their names, were jousting. They came at each other with great force and one of them flew off. You remembered Flora seizing you arm, and the vice grip seizing your stomach. For those few moments you held your breath, waiting in anticipation. Moments later it was pronounced he was dead. Your stomach had sank and the anticipation turned into dread. You were having the same feeling for reasons unknown.

"Is anyone else cold?" Lady Dara had an anxious look upon her face. "Are you alright?' You noticed she possessed a slight grey heugh. She looked as anxious as you felt. "Have you overheard anything?" You questioned Lady Dara. She fell into step beside you, leaning in. "They are saying Daemon Targaryen is looking for Prince Aemond." Chilled, you remembered the man. He had always off set you. "Has he found Aemond?" You asked. "I do not think so." Aemond had left Harrenhal and the place was currently deserted. Now only ghosts were the inhabitants. Was Alys there right now? It would feel appropriate, given she was a witch. You wondered how she was doing? Alys must be terribly angry at you. In her position you would. Trying to press down the guilt you continued to probe Lady Dara for information.

"They say Daemon has taken a mistress." Shocked, you stared at her. "This is only gossip, I do not know the truth. But its some little thing of a girl, only skin and bones I hear. No great but either and of no noble blood. Would you think it of him." Pondering, you wondered how Rhaenyra would take it. "Does she know?" You inquired. Lady Dara shrugged. "Who knows. If she's smart she will keep her mouth shut. You know they say he killed his first wife." Everyone had heard of Daemon Targaryen's infamous temper. A Targaryen trait if there ever was one.

If Prince Aemond and Daemon met, what would happen. Aemond held Vhaegar. You tried to convince yourself that the old she dragon would be enough. But Daemon, despite his age, was a veteran of many wars. Even before his birth the prince had been laying armies to waste. Apparently when waging war on the Triarchy he had cut their leader clean in two. If the two came to blows Daemon stood a good chance at winning. Perhaps his age would give Aemond a chance, though many said he was unchanged in physical prowess.

A great black cloud passed over the sky. "Look!" Lady Dara pointed up and the scene was almost unnatural. This cloud was not just dark, it was black. A pure oily black that put out the sun. Everything was plunged into dark, light was snuffed out. And that was when the sensation of holding your breath was replaced with the aftermath. An unexplainable feeling of dread. The wait was over and now a horrible feeling had crept in. The worst part was that you did not know what it was. Everyone continued to look up until the cloud passed. Even when the light came through nothing changed. The feeling did not go away.

Sleepiness crept upon you. Feeling sluggish you leaned back and allowed yourself to relax. You had spent the rest of the day bearing this dreadful feeling. Now at night you were too tired to feel anything but exhaustion. The bed was so warm and you were so comfortable. Owen was already asleep. A full moon made it easy to see outside. Large, it peered down from up on high. Somehow it offered a sort of comfort. Not thinking much about it you dozed off into sleep.

"Y/n." Your eyes shoot open. But when you tried to move, nothing. Your body was completely immobilized. Panic starting to set in you tried to move. Still no luck. You became aware of a presence on your left hand side. Where Owen was. Struggling you tried to break whatever this was. "Do not be afraid." The voice was low, but not deep. It was a woman's, low, slow and melodic. A figure rose up. She was dressed in white, hair hanging to her waist. You recognized her from portraits. Your mother was a shadow to you. She had died twenty years ago yet you hardly knew her. Such a non entity she had been that never once had you tried to figure anything about her.

The bed dipped when she sat down. You would have though this was a dream. But you knew it was not. The past few months had taught you that.

Lady Amelia gently brushed the hair off your head. Silently she took in every feature. Her fingers traced your cheekbones and lightly touched hair. A tear rolled down her cheek. "It is not too late. Go to the hidden gave by the Rose Door. It will appear for you and only you." And then she was gone in a wisp of smoke.

"Are you well My Lady?" Gazing out the window you watched the sun rise. Slowly is rose. The night was slowly retreating giving way to light. "Can you hear the birds?" Early morning dew wafted from the gardens bellow. It had been so long since you had walked in a garden. Somberly you watch the morning unfold.

"I would like to be alone." Silently Lady Mari left. All alone you were left to battle your misery. What a beautiful morning. It was so sad that it brought sadness. When was the last time you had truly been happy? Likely when Owen was born. Yet the grief you carried eclipsed all else. Closing your eyes a tear rolled down. You were so, so tired of everything. The past two years were hell. Not even the Seven Hells compared. There was no balm that covered these wounds. No satisfaction that soothed the anger. Fear was your constant ally. There was no way to pry it from you. Soon more tears joined and soon they all came together in a waterfall. Silently you stood there, taking it as you always did. Those small victories meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. This morning would only bring greater pain.

You did not know why this was. It was a sixth tense tugging at your very soul. Whatever was going to happen would rip your very soul apart.

The door opened and still you did not turn. No one would see you cry. Especially if it was Cerilla. "Lady Y/n, there is a messenger. He carries a letter from Prince Jaecerion." Panic overrides your pride. In a panic you seized Lady Mari by the shoulders. "Is he alright." Alarmed Lady Mari nearly jumped back. "Y...yes My Lady." Behind her stood Cerilla holding a message. Snatching it you order them from the room. Now left alone you ripped the seal off.

My Dearest Y/n,

I regret to inform you that Aemond has died. He fought Daemon Targaryen over Harrenhal and both fell with their dragons. I know this news will bring you anguish. I am so incredibly sorry for your loss. I know you loved him. His mistress Alys Rivers and bastard have disappeared. They say she is a witch.

We will bear Aemond's body back to Kings Landing when we take the capital back.

I want you to know that I am eternally your servant.

Love, Jaecerion

There are pains too great to put into words. You did not scream, or cry. Like a wounded beast you hunched over. Cold stones met your hands. Like a child hurt you doubled over onto the floor. You had your fair face of agony, both physical and mental. Humiliation and a loss of self had been heaped upon you. It all paled to this. He might have been a stranger during these past two years, but Aemond still held your heart. You remembered the young boy, and your last day with Aemond down at the alcove. How you smelt the water on his skin, and his silver hair in the wind. It all faded before you. Aemond was gone from this world.

He was gone from you.

Notes: I'm back! School had me very busy and I needed to rest. This chapter was hard to write which is the other reason this chapter took so long to write. For now updates will be more frequent. This story is close to wrapping up (at least part one).

Some of you might ask why the reader is so subservient when it comes to Lady Jenna. Despite the reader having backbones there are several reasons for his. Firstly, the reader has been taught to respect authority, sense why she allows her life to be used by others around her. Lady Jenna is the family matriarch and the reader has seen her word as law since she was a child. Two, she has little choice. A war is going on and Lady Jenna is far more powerful than her.

I want to thank everyone for their patients!

If you want to join the taglist please let me known!

@daenerysqueenofhearts

@le-petit-lulu

@aemondswifeisme

@mandiiblanche

@gknj9495

@minakay

@strangersunghoon

@iilsenewman

@moonlightfoxx

@gknj9495

@heartb8k2

@dahlias-and-marigolds

@dumbhxeredrose

[formulaforza]

miss americana & the heartbreak prince masterlist

charles leclerc x female oc —what's the point of it all if you're not going to fall madly in into love?

—00. prologue

playlist social media au teaser orange show speedway

—01. all american girl

"“Because.” He doesn’t really know why he can’t land on a message, why everything he types sounds entirely too casual or formal or nothing at all like what he would say to another human being. This isn’t a problem that he’s used to having. It’s the in-person flirting that fucks him up, not the texts and DMs and comments. She was just… he doesn’t know what she was. She was just. End of sentence."

—01.5 hey google, who is christyn elliott?

—02. over the ocean call

"Chris has one student, Quinn, whose family can’t afford reduced lunch prices but also won’t request for Quinn to qualify for the free lunch. She thinks it’s an ego thing, that Quinn’s mom just isn’t able to accept that the family needs help. It’s a single parent household and the mom works two full-time jobs to try and make ends meet. After a newsletter was sent home in need of parent signatures at the beginning of the year and returned with Mama written in sloppy green crayon, Chris learned that Quinn was living a relatively self-sufficient life. As self-sufficient as a five-year-old can be." 

—02.5 like real people do

—03. i think i fell in love today

"If there wasn’t something weird in the air before, there certainly is now. A new weird. A good weird. An implication of something in the air, weird. It’s out there now, just hanging above them. I want to kiss you. You can kiss me. Now all that’s left is for one of them to make the move."

—03.5 do the girls back home touch you like i do?

—04. every finger, every sigh

"She can feel eyes on her. Charles, she hopes. Charles, she can’t find in the chaos. When she does spot him, half-dead sparkler still in his hand, head drunkenly bobbing along to the beat, he’s looking right at her, grins a stupid grin and winks."

—05. monte carlo ave

"He shakes his head. “You don’t understand.” She can’t possibly understand it because he doesn’t even properly understand it, the way he feels about her. The fear he feels about losing all the indecipherable feelings. It’s just good, everything about her, about being near her. It’s all so sweet and nice and good and he really, really doesn’t want to screw it up."

—05.5 still so much I have yet to know

—06. quarter of the way

"As soon as they reach the cover of the trees, Chris is telling Hannah everything. Everything. She tells her about Austin, about how she met a guy who was just too charming to not get her number. About every nervous text and hours long FaceTime call and every picture and every conversation. She tells her about how crazy she feels, how insane she felt agreeing to fly across the world— “Wait,” Hannah questions. “You flew across the world?”"

—06.5 you're invited! welcome to dawsonville!

—07. homegrown

"It’s a twenty-three minute drive to Pig’n’Chik Barbeque in Northern Atlanta. Charles is visibly apprehensive of the little red building and the parking lot filled with the aroma of southern barbeque, but he keeps his commentary to himself. Chris knows it’s probably a little overkill, the hole-in-the wall joint being even a little too gimmicky for her taste, but that’s the whole point."

—08. it's so sweet

“I’ll be right back,” she says hurriedly, over her shoulder, letting the little girl pull her away. Charles nods and flashes her a quick wink before she’s properly whisked away, leaving him with nothing better to do than shove his hands deep in his pockets and analyze the artwork of primary school students. 

—09. sweet nothing

coming soon

—10. i saw the end

coming soon

—11. the bees envy me

coming soon

—12. if i tremble

coming soon

—13. see the world

coming soon

—14. yours to keep

coming soon

—15. yours to lose

coming soon

—16. the view between villages

coming soon

—17. heaven in your eyes

coming soon

—epilogue. for the worms to eat

coming soon

[caelos-legacy]

That's all folks! Blog Retired, but with a twist

As been mentioned, the blog was scheduled to close once i patch up the time gap I accidentally made. With "Discovery" it's sufficiently patched, meaning it's time!

The blog will not be deleted, but the ask box & submission boxes are closed.

This isn't the end of CaelOS however! CaelOS is now a project fully separated from fandom, and has changed in many ways. You can follow along with my work on it on @logicpng! Some information and artwork is hosted on my site, here.

Just like with this blog, you're more than welcome to ask things about Aster, Urs, and the general world they are in on the blog linked above.

You can already have a taste of the project's changes. Aster, Sun and Moon's OC successor, has a little desktop buddy program based on them. You can play with it today!

Thanks so much for following along, and I hope to see you continue to follow the journey with me!

[Old Pinned] [Comic Index] [CaelOS Tag on Art Blog]

[n3ptoonz]

mk1 dialogues with the earthrealm guys!

a/n: most of these are pre-made in my notes, i'm choosing the ones that are more broad rather than targeted towards my oc! i hope it's to your guy's liking!

some of these lines are flirtatious

reader being an assassin mentioned a few times

enjoy!

Johnny Cage:

you: you are the last man i would ever court.

johnny cage: sooo i have a chance

johnny cage: i'd be lying if i said i didn't wanna be dominated by a warrior

you: i think i'd rather just kill you instead

you: what does "finish me johnny" even mean?

johnny: ohoho, allow me to demonstrate, sweet thang

johnny: i don't think you realize how seriously i take competition

you: i can guess from how you almost cried when kung lao outsmarted you in poker three times

Kenshi Takahashi:

you: you ever been asked how many fingers was being held up?

kenshi: it seems you haven't met our world class comedian johnny cage

kenshi: you look like you have something to say.

you: i was just wondering how often you wash your blindfold

you: you make that blindfold work, takahashi

kenshi: though welcomed, flattery won't get me to go easy on you.

kenshi: i still can't believe there's billions of other timelines outside of this one.

you: believe it, i had to fight off a combo of you and scorpion, not pretty.

Kung Lao:

kung lao: don't you like...kill people for a living?

you: says the man with a hat that could easily slice through a crowd

kung lao: an assassin huh...you work for general shao?

you: i would rather gauge my eyes out with push pins

kung lao: i can see you staring at my dimples

you: i was actually looking at your pressure points, but whatever helps you sleep at night

you: normally i cheer you on, but im going to take you down this time

kung lao: hah, you are certainly welcome to try

Raiden:

raiden: is it so obvious...?

you: raiden, you literally smile ear to ear at the sound of kitana's name

you: "i am nervous" my ass

raiden: i'm glad you think so highly of me, but i really was!

raiden: loser has to pay the next check at madam bo's

you: i didn't know you had such money in your pockets, champion

you: what's with all the fine men wearing hats around this place?

raiden: i...wow, you've really managed to catch me off guard

Sub-Zero:

bi-han: your flattery is not welcomed here.

you: aw, i was just getting started too

you: you said you think i'm so hot and cool and sexy?!

bi-han: [groans dramatically and tiredly]

bi-han: not surprised you're on the wrong side.

you: i dunno, something about not fucking with an evil sorcerer that could kebab me if i breathed wrong helped me make up my mind

you: so i'm assuming a double date with kuai and harumi is off the table

bi-han: i was considering it until you uttered that traitor's name.

Scorpion:

you: where did "get over here" come from?

kuai: if i told you, i'd have to kill you.

kuai: how would you even like my hair if you've only seen it tied up?

you: i have a very sufficient imagination, kuai liang

you: ouch, that's one nasty scar

kuai: it gives me a story to tell my new clan, should they ever ask.

kuai: don't you dare say it...

you: ..."come here!"

Smoke:

tomas: is it true? you find me handsome?

you: what can i say, men in uniform have my heart

you: if i didn't know any better, i'd think you're flirting with me

tomas: well...uh...i'm not particularly good in this field...

tomas: your bravery knows no bounds, you really flirted with bi-han?!

you: ah...i may have shit my pants a little when he almost froze my head off the other day

you: johnny's right, you'd be great on the big screen

tomas: thats... thats really nice of you to say!

Liu Kang:

liu: before you ask, yes, it is possible you are also a keeper of time in another timeline.

you: now i wanna ask how many people bombarded with that question

you: so, what was i like in the last timeline?

liu: there's not enough time to explain, maybe after this. maybe.

liu: i would heavily advise against trying to court a god

you: what? me? trying to- you speak madness!

you: i have to know...was i styling in the previous timeline or no?

liu: not even i had the time think of things like this as a mortal.

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

a/n: this is an experiment post, hopefully this has reach cause i miss posting on here😭

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

Hi, Goodmorning/night! how has your day been? :3 i hope it went well!

If its okay, can I request mermaid reader (preferably fem), dropping some stuff down to Viper? It can be small jewelry she doesn't quite like or anything REALLY shiny — because she thinks sending him stuff would make him less interested in her and more on the stuff she drops. Basically her doing an offering and praying Viper would take the items instead of her

Always rest! And can I be "🦪" Anon? Im mostly a huge fan of Viper and Damon, so i might ask a lot about them! Again always rest and take care of yourself!!

Yandere! Male! Deep sea creature x mermaid! Fem! Reader: Viper route 1

That's so cute! Okay cuz I think Viper has like some similarities to Orion. He's also a collector! So I just let my hands flow and see where it takes me. Also, welcome 🦪anon! It's so nice to have more familiar faces here!

Also a bit sick, so I'll probably slow down a bit till i'm healed. Sore throat plus a runny nose, plus A FEVER WHAT LIKE LET ME BREATH????

Writing puts my mind at rest from being sick anyways...

You pursed your lips and looked down at the void below the trenches.

It's been quite a while since you escaped Viper's grasp, and Viper has continued to try and fail to seduce you back to him with that dang light of his.

You're a curious fish, but not that curious.

You're even deliberating on moving out of the trenches and back to civilization again, but something's telling you to don't do it.

Deciding on taking your mind off of the deep sea merman, you dedicated your time in talking to Orion and knowing more about human technology. He's happy to oblige too, anyways.

But you can't help but glance back at the deep, dark void down below, telling you, whispering that you belong there.

Surely you don't.

You're a creature of light, someone who enjoys the sunrays reflecting on the blue, tranquil sea. Someone who loves looking at the boats passing by, cleaning up trash, finding little treasures that you stock up and design your little pod inside the trenches...

You're satisfied...

Are you?

You can't help but remember how cold yet warm the darkness was. How Viper coiled his long tail around yours, his body heat enveloping yours. You can still feel against your back, your skin, the way his torso pressed against yours flush and fit. Significantly stronger, can kill you with one bite and yet...

You shook your head as you shivered away the daydream. No. No no no!

Slapping your face, you grabbed your bag and zoomed back to the trenches to start your little... Littering.

You've been sprinkling these little gems, trinkets, and jewels down below to him. Sure, you might need them as it's currency, but you're self sufficient enough with a farm and an aquatic ranch. You rarely even go to civilization anymore to really use these.

So, as valuable as these treasures are, and would literally make you rich, you decided to dump them on Viper.

Sweet, little naive you thinks that this counts as littering. You really didn't want to throw down actual trash-- you're environmentally friendly, you don't want to do that. And Viper is still a merfolk despite how um, scary he is. Hope he sees it as a bribe too. Who knows? Maybe he'll leave you alone if you make him rich enough?

But then again, you're sweet, you're little...

And you're naive.

Didn't you really thought that this practice looks like you're giving him gifts?

No, a wedding gift specifically?

He did propose to you to be his mate, his eternal partner.

And you're doing this?

Oh, little one. You're too cute! Acting all shy and bashful-- you're so upfront at wanting to marry him by giving him what's equal to a dowry!

Viper collects them meticulously. Putting them in a giant pit that's slowly but surely making him richer by the second.

Should you and him move out of the trenches and back to civilization with this money? With all of these riches, both of you are basically at the upper crust now.

Then, he'll show to those pesky upperdwellers that one of them is his, and only his.

He'll show them how he owns you, loves you, and will have a family just to piss them off.

Oh, how it makes him shiver just thinking about it.

So yes, continue giving him the dowry, little one.

Sooner or later, he'll snatch you up and drag you back down to the abyss,

and live happily ever after.

That's what you wanted, right?

[utilitycaster]

Re: villain stans, I really do think you're conflating two groups of people and I feel the need to point it out because the art of haterism deserves pinpoint precision. The thing is that I would consider myself, broadly speaking, a villain stan and I also can't stand the people you're complaining about in that post because I think they've missed the point entirely. They've ruined the entire villain-loving ecosystem. I can't even facetiously say "they've never done anything wrong, ever, in their entire life" about characters that may as well be called Murders McWarCrimes, and whose death or comeuppance I am eagerly awaiting alongside everyone else in the fandom, because some of these idiots actually mean it when they say things like that -- and usually about some of the blandest, most disappointing villains I've seen in a long time. It's like passionately defending the storytelling equivalent of a slightly offensive shade of beige.

Look, some of us see the "time to boo and hiss" signs the narrative is putting up, but I'm not looking to experience every story like it's a children's pantomime. Maybe sometimes I want a wrestling match instead. I know the heel is going to lose. That's their job. It's what they're for. But if imagining that they might win is outside the realm of possibility... well, it's probably not a very good story. The stakes are not compelling. There's a reason that I would describe, say, c1 Briarwoods as delicious and c3 Delilah as overstaying her welcome. A good antagonist is a vital part of the story ecosystem and I enjoy seeing that role played well.

But I don't get to relish in characters being terrible people who do terrible things anymore, because now villain fandom is always overrun by people who read one Wikipedia article on moral relativism and want to have debates about what if Murder McWarCrimes is good actually? No! No, they are not! And if they were, that would be stupid and boring!

And so I reach across the metaphorical aisle to you that we may share in one of the hater's greatest delights: the knowledge that no one likes those idiots, and everyone wishes they would just shut up, even the people they think are on their side.

Hey anon,

I will admit usually when I get a long ask telling me I am conflating things I roll my eyes and wait for someone to say "i am feeling uncomfortable when we are not about me" but, the truth is, I very much was, and you are correct to the point that I think we are fully in agreement.

To be clear: I am pro people enjoying themselves in, as you say, the wrestling fan enjoying the heel way! I agree - a good story needs a villain who feels like a genuine threat. I can appreciate a villain for what they are and enjoy them very much as a character! I am personally unlikely in most cases to root for them but people who look at the story, analyze it, and say "this will be a fun guy to care about, even though I know the victory's probably going to the heroes, and I will be normal and not terribly resentful" are entirely valid and my post is not about them (except to say carry on as you were). It sounds like you're in this latter category and so: carry on as you were, you guys are great.

But I am definitely conflating two flavors of annoying villain stan:

the first is, as you very eloquently put it, the Person Who Read One Wikipedia Article About Moral Relativism and ooooooh what if Mr. Murder McWarcrimes was sufficiently sad about bad things in his life such that the murder and war crimes are correct actually.

The second is the person who does understand that they are looking at a villain who is a bad person but seems actively confused that like, a largely hopeful or heroic narrative will probably not end with Mr. Murder McWarcrimes stabbing everyone to death and then evil laughing against a red lightning-filled sky and seems mad that people are like "actually I like Kit the Heroic Hero". Actual Play D&D is not a place where you'll find these people because a TPK is technically possible regardless of the existing themes! But like...for example, I have to imagine theatergoers in 1983 who weren't idiots did not walk into Return of the Jedi like "oh man I think Darth Vader's gonna win the whole thing and he'll blow up everyone and institute more Space Fascism over the nuked out husk of Endor." Like, as you say, the villain needs to have some bite to be worth my time, but deep in my heart, there are stories where I know that victory is assured by the nature of the plot and it's much more about how it will be assured and what sacrifices will be made, and so it's weird when someone seems to be existing in a denial that that's the story and is like NO Mr. Murder McWarCrimes is NOT going to get a comeuppance and everyone is going to DIE at his hand.

[copperbadge]

Radio Free Monday

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

(Quick message to Anon who submitted an item for their friend who is fundraising for food and meds -- the post was deleted and I couldn't find another one on a quick skim, so I'm guessing they took down their fundraising, that's the reason they aren't included!)

Ways to Give:

doctorscienceknowsfandom linked to a fundraiser for larjb3; they met when Larjb3 contacted them thinking they were a medical doctor, to ask about a lump on her neck. After a long diagnostic journey, it was diagnosed as Ewing Sarcoma, rare in adults, and she is looking at possibly having to quit her job to focus on survival. She's raising funds for medical bills, household bills, and against the months of treatment ahead, and you can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for Eddie, a hard-working LGBTQ artist in the rural South, trying to move himself and his pets to the west coast to build a new life; he's been dealing with a string of escalating issues where he is, and the move will help open up opportunities and keep him safe. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

forlorn-kumquat is raising funds to get seating and storage for their third-grade classroom, to help their students learn comfortably. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Recurring Needs:

Anon linked to a fundraiser for a friend whose family has not had a working furnace since November; they've been using space heaters to keep warm but January in Chicago has been brutal and the space heaters aren't sufficient. With vulnerable family members including elderly relatives and children in the home, they need to raise $6K to get the furnace replaced. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to karla-hoshi or Hoshi on TikTok, who is raising funds for cancer treatment for her cat Naku; they caught the cancer early and hope that he can survive it. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

chingaderita's partner's family house recently caught fire and completely burned, killing his grandmother and causing extensive property loss; he has also recently lost his job due to the fire, and a number of family members have since become ill. They're raising funds to keep food on the table, and get their partner mental health aid, and now are looking at doctor's bills for medical treatment. You can read more, reblog, and support the fundraiser here.

nivchara-yahel and rivalconga are raising funds to cover January and now February's rent and fees; their synagogue had agreed to help, but backed out after the deadline had passed for payment. They're trying to raise what they need before the landlord files for eviction; you can read more and support the fundraiser here.

thelastpyler is raising funds for food and medication for them and their family, and for transportation costs to medical appointments; you can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form. If you're new to fundraising, you may want to check out my guide to fundraising here.

[skyler10fic]

Alter Ego

Summary: Daisy Johnson might be falling for her new roommate, but she has to hide her secret identity as the masked vigilante Quake. Her superhero rival, Captain Marvel, gets hurt one night on the job, and behind the helmet lies a surprise!

Notes: For @ficwip All Ships Ship Week. Prompts: Domesticity / living together, Sickfic / hurt/comfort / whump, Double life, and “Who did this to you?” Yup. I worked all of the prompts into this one!

Read on Ao3

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

Quake may have been the city's most mysterious vigilante hero, but that didn't pay the rent. In her normal life, Daisy Johnson was just an IT girl at Stark Industries during the day and she needed a roommate if she was going to keep her apartment. She sighed at the bills piling up on the dining room table. 

A notification pinged on her phone. “Hi, this is Carol Danvers. Are you still looking for someone to sublease your second bedroom? My uncle is Nick Fury. He said it was exactly what I'm looking for.” 

Daisy sat up straighter and typed a response back that yes she was and that Fury had mentioned he might know of someone but hadn't said who, which ended up in Carol scheduling a day to come over. Fury was Daisy’s dad's friend, former boss, and longtime mentor at “the US State Department” aka the top secret spy agency Shield. She'd assumed Fury was just being polite when she mentioned her roommate search at a family barbeque and he seemed to have someone in mind. Now his own niece was on her way over. 

Daisy just hoped Carol didn’t ask too many questions if she noticed Daisy went out at night. The last thing Daisy needed was for Carol to mention it to her uncle and then for Fury to pass the suspicion along to Daisy’s retired spy dad and agency-contractor pilot mom. No one could know about Quake and her illegal vigilante crime fighting.

—---- Carol loved the apartment, but as Daisy finished the tour, Carol’s phone beeped at her. She enjoyed being Captain Marvel, but her uncle emphasized no one could know, for her own safety and that of their spy agency that she technically worked for. Her paychecks said the US State Department, and the story she told everyone, including Daisy, was that she was a low-ranking assistant to the physics specialist of the federal scientific policy advisory board. That was usually sufficiently impressive and complicated enough to satisfy other people without having to answer too many questions. Meanwhile, she was flying around the world and beyond as her alter ego defending earth from terrestrial and extraterrestrial villains. 

Today, however, she wished she didn't have to answer the call to duty. At least not right this second. They were having far too much fun already after a few hours of conversation and coffee. Daisy was so smart, kind, and generous, not to mention exactly Carol’s type, and Carol could already picture her bedroom furniture in the empty room Daisy had to offer. 

“I am so, so sorry,” Carol said, glancing at her phone. “I have to go, but send me the lease and I'll get it back to you ASAP.”

“That's a yes then? Good. I was hoping you liked it. We have to have that Mario Kart tournament after all. If you're brave enough to challenge me.” 

Carol didn't miss the hope in Daisy's teasing smile. 

“Oh it's a plan.” Carol stopped herself from pecking a kiss to Daisy's cheek. She'd never done that with anyone else before, and it would be even weirder to start now with a near-stranger she was about to move in with. 

—----------------------- 

An exasperated sigh sounded from behind Quake in a dark alley where she’d just prevented a hate group member from setting off a shrink ray. “Not you again.” 

“You’re welcome!” Quake retorted, voice muffled by the black mask covering her mouth and nose. She finished hogtying the criminal and he grunted, nearly coming back to consciousness. 

“I’m serious.” Of course she was. It was Captain Marvel, the head-to-toe red, blue, and gold do-gooder. She was like the stereotype of Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and “truth, justice, and the American way” comic book perfection come to life. She stood watching Quake from the roof of a parked delivery truck, as if to show off that she could fly and Quake couldn’t.

“Oh I know. Captain Mighty here to save the poor criminal,” Quake sassed.

“It’s Marvel,” the blonde annoyance grumbled. “And I have to take him in. Ever heard of the justice system? A fair trial?” 

“Don’t need a civics lesson, Girl Scout. He’s all yours.” Quake built up vibrations with her palms toward the ground and blasted off to the rooftop of the nearest building, high above the alley and even Captain Marvel, who was now checking that tonight’s evil henchman was still alive. He always was. Quake knew her own power. She could take out the whole city, maybe more, if she tried. She’d taken down a dozen of these ordinary criminals and never left them with fatal damage. Not that they didn’t deserve it. But that was the vigilante in her talking. 

She’d dropped out of Shield agent training as she hit against protocol again and again, ashamed she couldn’t live up to her family legacy but unable to excuse the politics driving who got their help and who didn’t. Her father’s retirement and subsequent declassification of several of his missions in which he had similar concerns only reinforced her choice. She was better on her own. 

When she got home, Carol was in the shower and it was easy to sneak in unnoticed. Having a roommate added difficulty to the whole secrecy thing, but Carol was so easygoing and fun, she probably wouldn’t even be phased by the truth. Daisy realized she was considering telling Carol, if nothing else, just to make herself feel less ridiculous when sneaking into her own home.

—------------------- 

Home from superhero duty, Carol couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew Quake’s voice. She could never hear it clearly because of the mask, but there was something about her that niggled at Carol’s sense of familiarity, beyond their crime-fighting run-ins of course. Carol had never gotten close enough to see Quake’s eyes, and besides that, they were heavily lined with black makeup. The pain in the ass usually wore a hooded leather jacket or hoodie as well, covering her ears and hair. Carol hated that the vigilante got into her head like this. Sometimes the obsession felt like jealousy over Quake’s freedom, and other times it felt like lust, if she even dared admit it to herself alone in the shower. Seeing Quake use her powers, even in frustrating ways that made Captain Marvel’s job harder, was just plain hot in all the ways that turned Carol on. Which made Quake even more obnoxious. 

She heard Daisy come in and hurried to get out of the shower. After dealing with Quake the Reckless, it was refreshing to think about Daisy’s gentle smile and quick wit. She grounded and comforted Carol in ways no one else did. Even when she couldn’t know why Carol needed it. 

—-------------------

Quake heard the telltale thump behind her of Captain Marvel landing forcefully on a car roof. 

“Ugh, I didn’t even get there in time tonight—” Quake spun around to defend herself from Captain Marvel’s scolding. By the time she had arrived at the top-secret lab, the glass greenhouse roof had already been shattered with black goo everywhere. A hovercraft was flying away, hauling a screaming alien blob covered in giant flowers. Quake was left staring up at them in the parking lot, having only just arrived and discovered the empty lab. 

Captain Marvel didn’t land on her feet, however. The thump was her body falling from high above. She cried out as she rolled to the ground. She was protecting herself by falling with her body tucked in, so she had some awareness of what was happening, but by the time she hit the asphalt and Quake rushed over, she was slipping in and out of consciousness. 

“Who did this to you?” Quake panicked as she looked over a bleeding, prone Captain Marvel. While she wished they stayed out of each other’s business, she certainly didn’t want any harm to come to Little Miss Perfect. The bleeding seemed to come from the neck, under Captain Marvel’s helmet. 

“Shit,” Quake swore. “I’m going to have to take off your helmet. Is that okay?” 

Captain Marvel groaned and slowly crossed one hand over to the opposite wrist. It must have been a release button because the helmet retracted, leaving Quake in true shock.

Quake’s hands shook as she tried to find the source of the bleeding. She kept looking back to her superhero rival’s face. It was Carol. This wasn’t just a woman who resembled her. Her voice rasped out a sentence Quake didn’t quite catch. 

“It’s going to be okay. I’ve got you.” Quake looked around helplessly. There was no one to pass this one off to so she could maintain her cover. No nearby crowd to call to for help or off-duty nurse running their way to take over. She was alone. 

Carol tried to speak again and the lines on her brow furrowed. The bleeding had stopped, and her neck looked intact. The blood had to be seeping up from her shoulder. That was a good sign. Quake had repaired her own shoulder injuries more times than she could count. 

“What’s that?” Quake leaned down, as Carol seemed really adamant about her mumbled phrase.

“Call an ambulance, dumbass.” 

Quake almost laughed. “Right. Sorry. I forgot you are all legal and everything, not a secret from the government.” 

Carol grimaced again and pulled up a holographic number pad from her forearm. Quake dialed 911 and immediately hated herself for wondering if she should wait around. Of course she would. This was CAROL. The realization was still sinking in. Captain Marvel was Carol. Her roommate and friend and crush Carol was her greatest annoyance Captain Marvel. But Carol was so laid back and cool. And Captain Marvel was so all-business and by-the-book. 

In an effort to look more like a normal person and less like a vigilante superhero, Daisy made minor adjustments to her appearance as the ambulance loaded Carol in. Daisy noted the truck had a government license plate, not a standard one, and one of the EMTs glanced at Daisy like he knew her. 

“Are you coming?” the familiar EMT called. She placed how she knew him: Shield. He was one of her dad’s former coworkers from Shield.

“Um, yeah? Yes.” Daisy’s mind was made up. She would be there for Carol through whatever came next. And if Carol hated her for it when she realized the truth, then at least it was better than this secret eating at her alone. She sat on the bench by Carol’s feet as the EMTs sedated her and worked to get the supersuit off. It certainly wasn’t cuttable by anything they had in a standard ambulance, but with the disengaged helmet and some quick guessing on Daisy’s part at the buttons on Carol’s wrist, they managed to get the top off without causing further injury. 

Without the supersuit, Carol’s white ribbed tank top further hammered home the situation. Daisy had seen her wear it around their home a dozen times at least. She’d even folded it, or one identical to it, as they did laundry together last weekend. 

Carol was rushed off to triage care as soon as they arrived at the emergency room, leaving Daisy to pace the waiting area. Eventually, the nurse at the reception desk cleared her to go back to Carol’s newly assigned hospital room. She’d been here so many times with her parents that it took a second to realize she hadn’t needed directions. They were at the Shield ward of Walter Reed’s classified Agent Care Center. Everyone in here was current or former FBI, CIA, NSA, and the like. But only a few knew how to even access the Shield floor. She punched in the Shield-only access door code from pure muscle memory, and when the check-in desk receptionist tried to stop her, she simply kept walking and greeted a nurse by name. 

Even with her mask off, the Quake professional-badass energy was still coursing through her. That is, at least, until she saw her roommate/friend/crush bandaged and badly bruised in a hospital bed. 

A nurse stood at Carol’s bedside holding a Shield tablet, and he startled and then softened as he saw Daisy. “Hey, you’re Phil and Melinda’s kid, right? I have here you’re also on Carol’s emergency contact call sheet and approved disclosure list.” 

Daisy nodded. She hadn’t known she was one of Carol’s emergency contacts, much less on the list of safe people to communicate declassified information to. In fact, she was only just realizing that Carol’s job sounded suspiciously like a cover story for the agency. As the puzzle pieces fell into place, Daisy watched as Carol’s body glowed slightly, healing itself.

“Damn, I’m jealous of you even when you’re sedated in a hospital bed,” Daisy quipped, more Quake than roommate. 

Carol grumbled as she awoke but didn’t open her eyes yet. “And it’s still somehow never you taking the hits.”      

“I’ve got bruises to prove that’s not true,” Daisy countered.

The nurse, satisfied with Carol’s slow waking, said, “I’ll leave you to it” and closed the door discreetly behind him. 

Daisy scooted closer and took Carol’s hand to coax Carol to stay awake. This time her voice came out softer, more love-smitten friend than bitter rival. “Hey there, Girl Scout. Turns out we need to talk. Roommate to roommate.” 

Carol struggled to open her eyes, but then blinked hard when she did. “Daisy? But I thought…?” 

She was about to say “never mind,” to blow off the confusion as part of her injuries, but Daisy watched the excuse die on Carol’s lips as she took in Daisy’s outfit and makeup. Black eyeliner, hooded leather jacket, tight black ripped skinny jeans and dark grey shirt. The hood was off and the gloved gauntlets were stored securely in her inner jacket pocket, but recognition clearly passed over Carol’s face. 

“You’re? But you can’t… You wouldn’t.” Carol’s glowing body, meanwhile, was rapidly fading her many bruises and repairing the damage as they spoke. She tried and succeeded with great effort to push herself up to sitting. 

Daisy choked back a half-laugh half-cry. Carol was going to be okay. “I’ll tell you the story later, but it’s really me, both your Daisy and the Quake you chase around, making sure I am always doing the right thing, even when we disagree on what that is.” 

“My Daisy,” Carol sighed and laid down again. The IV in her arm sent painkillers that along with the super-healing was sending Carol back to dreamland. 

“We’ll talk when you’re better. Just get well okay? Maybe we can even find a way to work together.” 

For now, Carol didn’t fully process these words as she slipped back into recovery rest. But eventually, Daisy would make good on that promise. 

—-------------- 

Fury had known the enhanced division couldn’t operate as ordinary Shield agents forever. This latest development proved it was time. Phil had always told him he needed to let superheroes be superheroes, as dangerous as they could be. It’d be more dangerous to have them out there unsupervised with no backup. His thorough, proposed revisions to Shield policy had recently been unanimously accepted by the governing board as well. 

That said, no one was more shocked than Phil to find out his sweet baby adopted daughter turned fully grown superpowered adult was the masked vigilante no media outlet could get a picture of. Humble pie was eaten by all that day, as Fury reinstated Daisy as a provisional agent of Shield’s enhanced division, with full honors upon finishing her remaining training courses. Only this time, the training was suited to her learning style and experience as a hero. The mutual compromise came with maturity on Daisy’s part as well as she learned to work as part of a team and put trust above impulsivity, even when she offered constructive, instead of explosive, feedback. 

The key in all this, of course, was the newly mellowed Captain Marvel. Whether it was the time in physical therapy rehab or making things official with her roommate/girlfriend/superhero partner, Carol and Captain Marvel blended more seamlessly into one another, with Carol more confident and Captain Marvel more flexible and less anxious about perfection and pushing herself beyond her limits. Daisy helped her bring her full self to the job, and Carol helped Daisy find belonging and attachment, each helping to heal part of the other. 

The only people who didn’t enjoy this partnership were the villains, henchmen, and run-of-the-mill supernatural criminals they encountered. For them, it was a nightmare ending behind bars as two superhero girlfriends holding hands walked away into the sunrise of a safer, happier new day for all.