#i mean beetle is pretty in his own way but not in a human way

[sharktholomew]

glad to know I have spread the gayness for an angel named Beetle /silly

[tallulah477]

Playing Dirty

Survive the Night Day 3: Drugged

Pairing: Neteyam x Fem!Human!Reader

Warnings: AgedUp!Neteyam, Dark!Reader, Toxic!Reader, Jealous!Reader, ***NON-CON***, Dub-Con, Alien Genitalia, Drugging, P in V, Slight Thigh Riding, Oral (male receiving), Creampie, Knotting, Size Difference, Sex while one person is under the influence of drugs, Kuru/Queue Play, Belly Bulge, Obsessive/Possessive Behavior, Manipulation/Gaslighting, Toxic Relationship, Brief Body Shaming (Reader body shames another female out of jealously - not to her face, but in her thoughts), Name Calling (significant use of the word "bitch"), Forced Cheating (not on Reader - Neteyam is kinda dating someone else although you can argue they aren’t together yet), Reader is a straight up bitch and completely unhinged ngl, She is horrible

Word Count: 10.3K

A/N: For more about how I picture alien genitalia, see here.

Summary: Neteyam is supposed to be yours. Your mate. So who the hell does he think he is running around with someone else? You need to do something. In this game, you'll be the victor - not her. Even if that means you have to play a little dirty.

**PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS - DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ**

Translations:

Kuru - Neural Queue

Kaltxì - Hello

Tanhì - Star, bioluminescent freckle

Swoasey - Kava bowl (constructed from seed pods, used for drinking intoxicating beverages), handsized

Teylu - Beetle Larva, food and source of protein for the Na'vi

Tsahìk - Spiritual Leader

He’s starting to piss you off.

Nope. Wrong. Too late. You’re already pissed. Beyond pissed. 

Who the hell does he think he is? Running around with another woman like that right in front of you. What does he even see in her anyway?

Iäle. What a stupid name.

She’s not even pretty. And her tits are way too small - nonexistent actually. Neteyam wants someone with a little more to give. Like yours, for example. Although, it’s not very hard to have more than her. You may be smaller, the comparison of a human to a Na’vi structure is very stark, but you’ve got a lot to compensate for that. Plenty of bounce and soft curves for him to play with and enjoy. You’ve seen him appreciating the view before, when your v-neck t-shirts or tank tops ‘accidentally’ ride a little too low to be considered modest and his pretty golden eyes follow the movement, tracing the curve of your breasts and lingering on the hardened peaks of your nipples where they poke through your top on the days you forget to wear a bra.

You’ve been forgetting a lot more recently. Wow. Crazy. 

And since you’re smaller, your pussy is clearly going to be tighter too. You think about it all the time, taking Neteyam’s thick cock between your slick walls, feeling him spear you open and filling you up so much you hope you feel him in your throat. He needs someone who’s going to treat him right, squeezing around his length and working him up like it’s your sole purpose in life to be his personal living fleshlight. Iäle can’t give him that. She has ‘selfish lover’ written all over her. She’d probably just chase her own release, make him get off just to say she did and then that’s it. You, on the other hand… you would milk him dry - pulling orgasm after orgasm from his gorgeous muscular body like he deserves until he’s a twitching and overstimulated mess. 

You want to see it so bad - the way his spent cock would shrink and retract back into its sheath in protection from your oh-so-giving hands and mouth and pussy. You want to see the goofy and satisfied smirk on his face as he shivers from the aftershocks, just like the one he gives you when you race through the forest and he pretends like you can keep up with him only to completely demolish you in the final stretch. 

Only this one would be better, with his amber eyes so dazed and hazy and not able to focus on anything at all. You’d fuck him so good you think there might even be drool trailing down his cheek from the corner of his mouth, visual proof of a job well done. 

The point is you have more than her. Would be a million times better than her. Duh. 

You see it clear as day every time you close your eyes. You and him taking the next step and moving from just best friends forever to mates - a bond stronger than forever, an eternity bonded together in an unbreakable connection that can never be severed. You’d be his and he’d be yours. Permanently. You know Eywa would agree with you. You may not have your own kuru, but she would find a way to unite you both. 

And if she won’t. You will. 

So now here’s the riddle: If you see what the future will be every time you close your eyes, then why the fuck is it that when you open them right now… he’s with her. 

Smiling at her, holding her hand, their tails flicking behind them and occasionally brushing against each other as they walk towards you. 

Bitterly, you close your eyes and open them again. Nope, still there. You do it again. Still here and closer. You do it again and again, rapid frustrated blinks make your eyelashes flutter as you hope that the next one will show just him. That she will disappear and cease to exist, stop even breathing the same air as him, but she never does. The quick blinks just serve to tire your eyes and make the couple flicker in and out of sight, getting closer and closer to you with each blink. 

“Kaltxì, tanhì.” Neteyam says with a grin. “What’s wrong with you? Something in your eye?”

Iäle smiles at you too, sending you a small wave with the hand not currently on trial and being threatened to be cut off for touching what’s rightfully yours. “Kaltxì, y/n,”

You force a bright smile on your face as you look up at them. “Hi, you two! No, yeah. Just something in my eye, I guess. It’s out now though,” You eye them suspiciously, gaze unable to help but fall to where their hands are still joined together. “Where are you off to?”

“We were going to head to the river,” Iäle responds, and you just barely hold off a wince from how her voice grates on your ears. How can Neteyam stand to hear her speak without wanting to pluck out his own eardrums? “There’s a spot there that’s really nice that has a view of the whole length of the water.” You let out a small hum of acknowledgement instead of rolling your eyes the way you want to. “But Mo’at has called for me. She was going to prepare the paints for tonight’s celebration, but some of the little ones have become ill and she needs to tend to them, so the task falls to me, I guess.”

“Aw, too bad,”

Iäle shrugs, small smile still present on her lips. “It’s alright. I don’t mind. Anything I can do to help is an honor,”

Ugh, spare me. 

“Okay, well, I’ll be heading over there now,” She says, finally. To your relief she lets go of Neteyam’s hand, but your perceptive gaze doesn’t miss the way she squeezes it as she does. Nor do you miss the way Neteyam grins at her in response. “I’ll see you both tonight at the celebration!”

“Byeee,” You respond. Neteyam doesn’t look at you in confusion or pinch his lips together at your tone, so you suppose you were successful at making it sound friendly. 

Your eyes follow Iäle as she heads back towards the center of the village, disappearing behind the group of training warriors on her way to the healer’s tent. As soon as she’s out of sight, Neteyam turns to you and crosses his arms across his chest. Your eyes zero in on the corded muscle of his arms, pulling taut as they flex with his movement, but your ogling opportunity is cut short when you spot the knowing look on his face as he stares down at you. 

“What?”

“Go on,” He prompts. “Say what you’re going to say.”

“How do you know I was going to say anything?” You reply, sass heavy in your voice. Neteyam just raises a hairless brow in response. “You two seem close.”

“There it is,”

“I’m just stating a fact,”

Neteyam sighs. “I like her. That’s what happens when you like someone,”

“Is that right? Then maybe you should hold my hand more often,” You grumble, turning on your heel to walk back towards the lab. He’s quick to follow you just like you knew he would. 

“I hold your hand all the time,”

“Is that right?” You repeat. 

“Y/n,”

You stop suddenly and turn to look back at him. He towers over you like this, so close that if you just took a step closer you would be face to face with the little (yeah fucking right) funzone hidden safely underneath his loincloth. You don’t, instead choosing to crane your neck back to look up at his face, your own brows furrowed as you snap your fingers together twice and point down towards the ground. 

“Really?” He asks, exasperated. Your only response is another rapid round of snaps and an aggressive point downwards. 

Watching Neteyam crouch down in front of you at your beck and call makes heat spark in your core. He’s such a good boy - would be such a good, good boy for you if he could just get his head out of his ass. In the crouch he’s closer to your height, still taller but not so much so that you're craning your neck to see his face, and he holds your gaze as you glower at him. 

“Serious time now,” You say. “Eyes on me.”

“They already are,” He shoots back, and grins in satisfaction at your glare. “Fine. Yes, ma’am,”

And Eywa, it’s like he’s trying to get you to cream your pants saying it like that. 

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–hey!” You shout, watching as his amber eyes roll upwards at your words. “I. Do. Not. Like. Her. I don’t trust her.”

“So you say, but I still don’t know why–”

“I have my suspicions, Teyam. I don’t trust her intentions with you.” Like intending to take you away from me when you’re MINE. “She’s no good.”

“Why is she no good?”

Cause I said so. “Don’t you trust me?”

Neteyam sighs again, eyes softening as he looks down at your serious face. “Of course I trust you, tanhì,”

“Then trust me now,” You say, voice soft with sympathy as your hand reaches out to caress his arm. His big and muscle packed toned arm. “She’s going to do something to hurt you.”

You want to grind your teeth into dust at the way Neteyam clearly wants to argue with you, but the corner of his mouth just lifts into a pacifying smile. “I know you’re looking out for me. I promise I’ll be careful,”

Liar. 

“You’re such a good friend,”

Fucking ouch. 

Your eye twitches at the words, a grimacing smile pulling at your own lips. “The best friend! Of course,”

“Hm,”

He stands up from his crouch and you turn to resume your walk back towards the lab. Neteyam is a gentleman through and through, so even though he needs to go home and prepare for tonight’s festivities, he walks you home to make sure you're safe. He would do it for anyone - his daddy raised him right like that. But it makes you feel all warm and gooey inside to think that he would only do it for you. You’re his best friend, his future mate, and it’s his job to keep you safe from anything and everything that might try to hurt you. He loves you. You smile smugly at the thought. Neteyam, the mighty warrior - your own personal protector. 

It’s mighty dangerous in the Pandoran forest for a human. Anything could happen. You could break your mask and die of suffocation in a matter of minutes. A thanator could lunge from the dense treeline and gobble you up like you were no more than a midday snack. You could trip and twist your ankle, maybe even sprain it, and Neteyam would have to pick you up in his strong arms that could toss you around like a ragdoll if he wanted to and carry you all the way back to the lab, cradled against him for safety.

Hm. 

You yelp as you quickly catch the toe of your sneaker on the slightly uneven ground on your next step, purposefully throwing yourself onto the ground with a pained gasp as you clutch at your ankle.

“Shit!” Neteyam curses, crouching down and looking at you with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Ow,” You whine, hands still wrapped protectively over your ‘injured’ ankle. “Teyam, it hurts!”

He studies your ankle carefully, his hand reaching out to brush gently across the soft skin to check for tenderness or swelling.

“OW!” You squeal, tears welling up in your eyes at the imaginary pain. 

“Okay, okay,” Neteyam relents, pulling back his hand so he doesn’t accidentally hurt you further. “It doesn’t look broken, but we should probably still get it looked at.”

“No,” You say, voice wobbling as your lower lip trembles. “No, I don’t want to inconvenience anyone.”

“Tanhì, it’s their job. We need to make sure its not–”

“No,” You interrupt. No way. The nurse would take one look at your ankle and bitch you out for wasting her time. No thank you. “It’s fine. I promise. Just twisted and hurts right now. But…”

Neteyam looks unsure. “But what?”

You can’t help how your eyelashes flutter at him. “Can you carry me? I don’t think I can walk right now,”

“Of course, tanhì,”

He picks you up bridal style, which is fitting considering you’ll be his bride one day, and effortlessly cradles you against his chest. You tilt your head to the side, leaning your head against his shoulder as you look up at him with a small smile and a sweet ‘Thank you, Teyam,’ on your lips. His chest is hard and warm against your ear as it presses against his skin, and you wish that you didn’t have to wear this stupid mask to survive outside so you could press your entire face into the solid wall of muscle and inhale his scent. 

The walk back to the lab nearly puts you to sleep with how comfortable you are against him. His steps are careful and smooth, barely jostling you at all and making it feel more like a gentle rocking as it soothes you into a peaceful state. You haven’t felt this calm in a long time. Neteyam has been stressing you out - courting that bitch and parading her around right in front of you. You don’t know why he’s trying to make you jealous, but it’s making you more angry than anything else. This is making up for it though. You think you could forgive his little games and lapse in judgment if he just carries you around pressed against his body a little bit each day. 

He’d have to do other things too, of course. But this would be a start. 

He carries you through the airlock, taking your mask from you and placing it with the others along the attached shelf before grabbing a carbon mask for himself all without letting you touch the ground. He moves with a flawless confidence as he loops the mask around his neck, feet barely pausing in their journey as he takes you all the way up to your room. It’s like something out of your dreams when he lays you on your bed, and for a couple blissful seconds you have the soft mattress at your back and Neteyam’s large hulking figure overtop you just like it’s always meant to be. You wish that he would kneel down on it too, hold himself over you as he sweeps his pretty golden eyes along your sprawled out frame. You’d stretch out even more, putting the entire length of your body on display for him, maybe even let out a small enticing moan just to give him a little show - a little taste at what was to come.

But he’s off the bed and kneeling at your side all too soon, fingers reaching out again to brush against your ankle in concern. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asks. “I can still get Jane to come look at it.”

You shake your head. “It’s fine. Just twinged it a bit, that’s all. Jane would just get pissed we wasted her time,”

“If you’re sure,”

“I am,” You insist. “Thank you though, Teyam. For carrying me. You’re really strong.”

Neteyam hums, a crooked smile pulling at his lips. “Yeah, I guess I am,”

He stands up, taking a breath from his mask, and you can tell he’s gearing up to leave. The selfish part of you doesn’t want him to. He should be around you all the time. The thought of leaving your side shouldn’t even pop into his head. And if he has to, if he really has no other choice, you should see pain burning in his amber eyes - the feeling of sorrow so overwhelming that he feels like his heart is being ripped out of his chest just to have to leave you for a moment to go on a hunt or use the bathroom.

Annoyance sparks when you don’t see that pain evident in his face. He looks fine. He’s getting ready to leave you, while you’re hurt, and he’s fine. 

“You’re coming to the celebration tonight, right?” He asks when he pulls the mask away, and you plant another sickly sweet smile on your face in response.

“Yeah! I’m gonna be your plus one, of course,”

“Yeah, okay,” Neteyam chuckles. “I’m going to head back. I have some things I have to do before tonight, but I’ll be back to come get you in case you’re still having ankle pain.”

“Sounds good! Thank you, mighty warrior,”

He smirks at the nickname, but doesn’t reply. And then he’s walking out of your room, beautiful expanse of back curving as he ducks under the doorframe, tail flicking out lazily behind him, and wow…

You hate to watch him go, but love to watch him leave. 

The more you think about it, the more you determine that no - you’re not going to stand for this nonsense anymore. 

This little game has been going on for far too long, and it’s about time that this victor claims her prize. That doesn’t mean you have to play by the rules though.

Besides, what fun is a game without playing a little dirty?

The people in the lab are more than helpful without even realizing it. You listen, enraptured, as they tell you about a new plant discovered just off the side of the Hallelujah Mountains. It’s a rare find, and they tell you that the effects when ingested are shockingly similar to some other drugs found on Earth. 

Despite the similarities to some not-so-nice Earth drugs, the scientists in the lab are excited about it. 

“Mo’at says it might be useful for the children that have been sick recently. They’ll be groggy and probably not remember anything, but it will force their bodies to relax and recover instead of them wasting energy being uncomfortable or in pain,” One of them tells you, opening the small jar of powered plant. “It’s potent as a powder so it only takes a small amount to be effective.”

Frankly you don’t know why they’re telling you all this. You don’t have anything to do with the science side of anything here, but you listen with rapt attention as they unknowingly tell you the answer to all your problems. You can practically see the little invisible label on the side of the jar now:

Mating Powder for the Hardheaded Na’vi

Side effects may include dizziness, confusion, mental fog, memory loss, or unconsciousness. 

Warning: For best effects, keep bitches named Iäle away from the consumer so that the provider may have the night of her life that she deserves. 

“Oh, how intriguing,” You tell them. “Very interesting indeed.”

Yeah. Sounds pretty damn perfect. 

You wait until everyone goes to dinner before sneaking back into the lab. They said the powder is potent, just a little bit needed to have the effect on the Na’vi children, so you think that amount plus a little extra should do the job for your stubborn Na’vi male. Slipping some into a small plastic baggie you steal from one of the tables is easy enough, and you're in and out of the lab with no one the wiser to the small little pouch of wish granting power stashed safely in your pocket. 

By the time Neteyam arrives back at the lab, the baggie is already hidden away out of sight, tucked between your breast and the cup of your bra. You don’t want to wear one, it would be so much better to tease Neteyam with the sight of your unbound tits through the thin material of your pretty party dress. But alas, you’ve also chosen to forego panties and you need a place to keep the baggie. So bra it is. 

You’ve made sure it’s at least a sexy lacy one though. You’re gonna get fucked in it tonight, you’re sure of it. 

“What do you think?” You ask him, twirling in your spot and posing to give him a little show of the outfit. “You like?”

Neteyam nods. “Yes, you look beautiful, tanhì. You always do,”

“Do you think I look sexy?”

The slight flush visible on Neteyam’s cheeks is confirmation enough despite his silence. 

“Mate worthy, one might say?” You continue, and this time his hairless brows shoot up. 

“Mate? Are you searching for a mate?”

You hear it in his voice. The jealousy. It’s very subtle, barely even noticeable - most people wouldn't have even caught onto it. But you’re smart, you’re brain in tune with all things Neteyam and Neteyam-like, so all you need is the smallest hint and you can tell it’s there. You just barely hold off a smirk, instead choosing to stare at him with wide eyes. “Jealous?” 

“No, I just didn’t know you were interested in finding one. Is it someone I know?”

“Maybe,”

Neteyam lets out a harsh rush of air that you think could be a laugh. “You’re not going to tell me?”

Eywa, you made this man so… beautiful. 

“Nope,” You smirk, coyly. “Guess you’re just gonna have to wait and find out.”

The walk back to the village is a slow one. You need to be gentle on your ankle, it’s still pretty tender after your fall earlier after all. Plus the longer alone time with Neteyam is an added benefit. You’re going to have to see her at this celebration, so you’re going to need a little bit of extra incentive to get through it. 

By the time you make it to the village’s center, The People are dancing. A flurry of bodies flowing and twisting to the steady beat of the song take up most of the site. The fire sparks at the center of it all, bright and sparkling as it shoots out crackles that arch over top the heads of the dancing Na’vi. There’s people crouched or sitting along the outer ring of the celebration, indulging in food and drink rather than dance and you nudge Neteyam’s thigh, smiling as you point to a small opening of the circle just perfect for the two of you to claim as your own. 

This is how it’s supposed to be - just you and Neteyam enjoying the pleasures Pandora has to offer, side by side like a true mated pair. 

But the moment you sit down on the seating log, your irritation floods your content peace of mind. She’s here. 

She’s got such an attitude about her, pushing her way through the barely there space of the dancing clan and the resting members in the outer circle. What makes her think she’s good enough to make that space for herself? Just go around like a normal person. 

When Iäle makes it in front of you, you notice she only has one swoasey in each hand. 

“Kaltxì,” She smiles, handing one of the cups to Neteyam. She keeps the other one in her hand though, curling her now free hand around the rounded shape to cradle it. “Y/n, I thought to bring you one but I wasn’t sure how you would handle the stronger alcohol as a human, but you can have this one if you want.”

This fucking bitch. How disrespectful. 

“Oh,” You say, and if you add a little more disappointment and sadness into your voice than you actually feel, that’s your business. “That’s okay. I’ll just go get my own.”

“I’ll go get you one, tanhì,”

“No,” You insist. “It’s okay. I’ll be back in just a minute.” 

You ignore Neteyam’s responding frown (and Iäle completely) as you make your way around the outside of the edges of the gathering. Your heart is pounding in your chest, anger boiling there like a pool of molten lava even as you try to keep your features neutral and smile at the Na’vi you pass. You’ve had enough - enough of this. You’re not going to let her embarrass you anymore. 

Wasn’t sure how you would handle the stronger alcohol - fuck off. 

The drink that finds its way into your hand is just as big as the ones Neteyam and Iäle are holding. It’s too much alcohol for you, that’s true, but fuck her for saying it out loud like your size is an insult. You take a sip from the cup, face twisting in disgust as a harsh shiver rocks your body at the taste. Gross, but much needed. 

Your eyes flicker around, searching for wandering eyes as you reach your fingers into your bra. The small baggie is still there and the opening pulls apart easily with a quick swipe of your thumb and pointer finger. Finding no prying eyes, you dump the contents into the cup. The powder dissolves into the drink almost as soon as it touches the liquid, and by the time you’ve shoved the empty baggie back into its hidey spot and swirled the cup a little in your palm, all remaining evidence of what you’ve just done have disappeared completely. 

When you return to the seating log you claimed, Neteyam and Iäle are still there too, and it seems they’ve found some food while you were gone. They’ve switched seats too - Neteyam taking up crouching facing the seats while Iäle has taken the space he was in when you left, leaving you to sit next to the absolute eye-roll of a Na’vi on the log. 

“Here, tanhì,” Neteyam says, handing you a small leaf holding some cooked teylu. You thank him with a pretty smile, pleased with the small declarations of loyalty he has shown for you despite his games. If he’s going to try to make you jealous, at least he’s man enough to still take care of you while he plays around. 

“Y/n,” Iäle says as she bites off a piece of her own teylu. “I hope I didn’t offend you earlier by not getting you a drink. That wasn’t my intention. I just thought—”

“No, it’s okay,” The forced brightness in your voice makes you want to throw up. “Of course it’s okay. No harm done.”

And you wish you could smack her responding smile off her face. 

Iäle’s voice grates on your nerves as she speaks, telling you both about her afternoon of painstakingly mixing together the paints for the newly passed warriors to wear. You pretend to sip at your drink throughout dinner, listening with rapt attention when Neteyam talks about how the day’s training session went and then with barely concealed boredom when Iäle mentions the sickness plaguing a few of the kids. 

“Mo’at thinks they should be well enough in a few days. Especially with the new medicine we are trying out to help keep them calm and rested as they recover.”

“That’s good,” Neteyam says and you quickly nod in ecstatic agreement when his eyes flick over to you.   

He’s done his first drink, the swoasey empty on the ground beside him, so you feign one last sip of your own before shoving it in his direction. 

“Teyam, you wanna finish it for me? Guess it was a little too much for me to handle after all,”

“Oh, okay,” Netayam says, taking the cup from your outstretched hand. “Thanks, tanhì.”

You watch in barely contained satisfaction as he takes a few large gulps of the drugged drink. You wonder how long it will take for it to start affecting him. It can’t be long, maybe just enough time to make up some excuse to leave and then make it back to the lab before it hits. And you can’t be around people when it happens. Especially not her. 

It’s just another confirmation that Eywa wants you and Neteyam to be together when another of Mo’at’s healers-in-training runs up and taps Iäle’s shoulder. Mo’at is busy with the celebration - the Tsahìk is needed to give her speech and blessing for the new warriors - but a few of the little ones are fretful and need an experienced healer’s attention. There are stars in your eyes as you watch Iäle solemnly get up from her seat and wave goodbye to you and Neteyam. You can tell she doesn’t want to leave, wants to stick around and possibly try to dance with your man, but luck happens to be on your side and now you have him all to yourself. 

You’re almost sad you can’t stay and enjoy the celebration as a couple. But there’s no rush. After today, he’ll be yours forever and every celebration from now on will be spent with you in his arms as his girl. 

Neteyam gulps down the rest of the alcohol as he shoves the last bite of teylu in his mouth, and you decide that that’s your sign to move this night along. 

“Teyam,” You whine, eyes wide as you reach down to gently touch your ‘injured’ ankle. “My ankle is starting to hurt again.”

Neteyam’s hairless brows furrow in worry, eyes shooting down to your ankle for just a second before meeting your own again. “You should really see Jane so she can make sure it’s nothing serious,”

“It’s fine,” You say. “Just too much walking on it too quickly I guess. Can you carry me home?”

Instead of answering, Neteyam licks his fingers clean and moves the two empty cups against the log so they’re out of people’s way before scooting around so that his back is to you. You happily wrap yourself around him, arms locked around his neck while his big hands catch your thighs as you jump to wrap your legs around his torso. 

You dig your face into his back as he walks, Neteyam hissing lightly as the cold glass of your mask presses into his spine. You ignore him though, instead enjoying the feeling of his muscles shifting against your front as you press yourself harder against his sturdy frame. Your dress is too long and not being a team player right now - because if it was, it would be hanging differently. As it is, the little excess fabric it has is settling between your thighs and acting as a barrier between your bare pussy and Neteyam’s sculpted back. 

Which is a problem, obviously, because Neteyam’s back muscles should be massaging against your clit right about now. 

Neteyam makes it about three-fourths of the way back to the lab before the drug starts to hit him. He stops suddenly mid-stride, swaying slightly as one hand drops its grip on your thigh to press against the side of his head. 

“Teyam?” You say, voice soft and full of concern. Oh nooooo, what could possibly be wrong? “You okay?”

“Yes,” He grumbles, breathing coming out just a little bit shaky. “Just dizzy.”

“Maybe you had too much alcohol. Let’s hurry up and get back and you can lay down in my bed.”

You watch as he shakes his head as if to clear it, hand coming back down to hold your thigh as he forces himself to continue the rest of the journey. But once the drug starts to take effect on your large Na’vi, it shows no mercy as it wraps him tighter under its powerful grip. His first dizzy sway soon turns into another, and another. 

“Neteyam!” You shout, your grip around his neck tightening as you brace yourself against him when he stumbles forward.

“S-sorry,” He gasps, hands trying to hold you steady as he rights himself. “Sorry, tanhì. Sorry. I-I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“It’s okay,” You soothe, gently reaching up to brush your hand across his damp forehead and swiping a few braids out of his face. “Just a little farther and you can rest.”

The last trek of the walk takes significantly longer than it should have and Neteyam is not doing well by any means. His breathing is harsh now, nearly panting as he struggles to fight off the nearly constant dizziness that he’s feeling. His skin is hot to the touch, sweaty as he stumbles through the Pandoran forest, mumbling obscenities to himself in between nearly incoherent sentences as he pushes forward. You feel a little bad seeing him this way. You love him and you would never want him to suffer, but he brought this on himself. 

When another one of his stumbles nearly throws you from his back entirely, you think that maybe you gave him a bit too much. Maybe you should also get off of his back since it would probably be easier for him to walk without your additional weight on him and having to make sure you don’t fall off every five seconds, but that would mean not feeling the stretch and shift of his hard muscles under your body and, well… you never said you weren’t selfish. 

“I was thinking,” You start, voice low in his ear as your hand once again finds the expanse of his forehead, pressing against it to help keep his head up. “We didn’t see where Iäle got the drink from. Maybe she did something to it.”

“W-what?” Neteyam whispers, brow scrunching under your touch. 

You don’t respond. You don’t need to. You’re not even sure if he’s really going to remember this all anyway, but you smile to yourself regardless, pleased at the seed of doubt you’ve planted. 

The door to the lab is just in sight when Neteyam collapses for the first time. It’s a testament to how strong the Na’vi are, truly, because you know that you gave him a hell of a dose and he was still able to make it all the way back from the village before his body completely gave up on him. You do fly off his back this time when he goes down, landing heavily on your side as he crumples beside you. 

He’s not in his right mind now, so you don’t have to worry about keeping up pretenses with your imaginary injury. Instead, you scramble up, grabbing hold of his arm and urging him to stand back on his feet again. “Come on, big guy. Almost there.”

He collapses again at the door, his body falling into the thick metal of the airlock with a loud bang, and you let out a startled gasp at the sight of his head nearly colliding against it too. Fuck, that would have sucked. You want him lax and vulnerable, susceptible to your desires as you guide you both towards becoming one - you don’t want him knocked the fuck out by taking an accidental blow to the head. 

He mumbles something when you help him up again, and even in his disoriented state he’s still a gentleman as he tries his best not to put too much of his weight on you. Your hand smacks against the open button, ushering Neteyam inside the chamber as it depressurizes from the carbon filled Pandoran air to breathable oxygen. Neteyam takes a knee to rest as you pause next to the mask station, replacing your mask and pack on the shelf and grabbing a carbon mask for Neteyam. You loop the carbon mask around your own neck, worried that taking the time to try to fit it around Neteyam’s might mean the difference between making it to your bedroom and dealing with a passed out Na’vi in the middle of the hallway. 

“Come on, baby,” You say, cupping his cheek and tilting his head towards you. His big amber eyes are glazed over. You think they look so beautiful. 

It seems like forever by the time you finally make it into your bedroom. Neteyam collapses on the bed, large body taking up the entirety of the mattress as he sprawls out, legs dangling off the edge. You pull the carbon mask from around your neck, smiling softly down at Neteyam as you place the mask over his parted mouth. Your hand slips underneath the back of his head as you try to lift it up. It’s heavy in your hold, and Neteyam does nothing to help you as you try to work the strap of the mask underneath it. It takes some adjusting, but a brief moment of perseverance and you’re able to get it under and looped around his neck.

The mask itself is fogged up with Neteyam’s quick breathing and, after a few seconds, you pull it off and rest it on his sternum. 

“I feel heavy,” Neteyam slurs, golden eyes closing for just a second before opening back up, but they’re still unfocused - seeing things, but maybe not actually seeing things. 

“I know, baby. I know,” You coo, a slight pout pulling at your lips as you squeeze reassuringly at his shoulder. “Everything’s going to be okay, I promise. I’m here.”

You know the drug is supposed to put him to sleep, and that’s fine - that’s the goal actually - eventually. But it’s not ideal for right now. Things have to happen first. And with the way Neteyam is looking… well, you don’t know how much time you have left so you need to work fast. 

You climb on the bed, tossing one of your legs over Neteyam’s thighs so you can straddle it and fuck. Oh God, fuuuuckkk. The feeling of his muscular thigh against your bare pussy already makes you want to cum. You’re so wet - have been for a majority of the walk back from having Neteyam’s irresistible body pressed against yours for so long, his muscles teasing their strength as they ripple under his skin. His thigh is no different. Just a block of hard, solid, corded muscle that presses just perfectly against your throbbing clit. 

You allow yourself one experimental rock, dragging the swollen bundle of nerves across his skin. Your mouth falls open in a silent gasp, hands subconsciously gripping onto his waist to hold him close. You hear Neteyam let out a noise similar to a hum at the movement, too, and the sound shoots straight to your core. 

“Fuck,” You whimper. Get it together. You need to focus on the prize. 

You force your hips to stay still and move your hands inwards, slowly caressing the flat, toned plane of his stomach as you go before tracing the bottom of Neteyam’s cummerbund with the tips of your fingers. 

“Let’s get you comfortable, okay?” You say, softly. “So you can relax.”

Perhaps you should have thought this through a little more. Neteyam’s laying down and the cummerbund ties at the back, so it's another game of ‘shove your hands under the massive amount of deadweight and see if you can fanegal your way around it’. You do, of course. You're persistent in getting what you want. But it takes longer than you would have liked and more effort than you wanted to give, especially given that you have your drenched pussy pressed against his thigh right now and you want nothing more than to hump him like a thanator in heat.

But when it’s finally off, it’s worth it to see that little extra strip of skin. You can’t wait to trace every single one of those exposed bioluminescent freckles scattered around his waist with your tongue. 

“So much better, huh?” You say, tossing the cummerbund to the floor. “Not as restricting.”

Your hands find the hem of your dress, pulling it up and over your head, leaving you in nothing but your pretty lacy bra as your dress joins Neteyam’s cummerbund on the floor. Neteyam’s hazy eyes do their best to follow your movements, and even though the confusion you see in them, they can’t leave the sight of your scantily clad body.

A satisfied smirk pulls at your lips as you lean forward, pressing your hands against his belly as the tops of your arms push your breasts together. The movement makes your clit brush against Neteyam’s thigh again, and you want to whine, want to do it again and again and again until you drench his gorgeous blue skin in your juices. But you’re caught in his gaze as his large golden eyes track your movement, unable to help tracing the curves despite his current state. 

Slowly, your hands drag down his belly, curving to his sides and messaging his hips for a moment before your fingers find the knot at the side of his loincloth. 

“Let’s get this off too,” You whisper. The knot stands no chance against your prying fingers and comes apart easily with just a few flicks and pulls. 

It feels like unwrapping a present as you pull the loincloth from Neteyam’s hips. You’ve seen down there before. The Na’vi aren’t as body conscious as humans are. Plus he’s your best friend, and there’s no need for modesty between friends. If you’ve taken a few extra peeks while he’s changing or bathing then that’s your business, just like you’ve caught him returning the favor more than a few times. 

But it still feels brand new as you stare at the flat space between his thighs. Excitement courses through your veins at the sight of it, your mouth watering at the thought that soon it’s gonna be glistening and puffy and parting at the center to make way for the real prize to come out. 

“Tanhì,” Neteyam mumbles, but you’re quick to shush him.

“Just relax, Teyam,” It hurts to pull your pussy from his thigh, but you have something more important to sit on soon. You just need to coax it out first. “Just feel.”

You settle between his legs on your stomach, hands pressing against his inner thighs and urging them apart a little further to give you better access to his center. You bite your lip to hide your smile, running a teasing finger along the slit before your lips replace your finger with a gentle kiss. 

The first drag of your tongue along his slit already has your eyes rolling back into your head. You’ve never gotten to do this before. You probably could have had other Na’vi lovers before if you really wanted to. You’re gorgeous and Neteyam isn’t the only sexy blue alien who you’ve caught staring at your assets before. But why would you ever want anyone else when you have your mighty warrior right here in front of you. Finally. 

Neteyam grunts above you as you lick at him, long and thorough swipes of your tongue across the slit, again and again, laving the area and coating it in your saliva until you taste the first signs of his arousal seeping from inside. You hum as the first bit of slick touches your tongue, coating your tastebuds and making your thighs clench together in pleasure. Your thumbs press into either side of the slit, pulling it apart slightly so your tongue can push in deeper, desperate for more of Neteyam’s delicious taste. 

Your tongue is relentless as you eat at him and you know that if he had control of his body, his hips would be canting up towards your face. You can picture it now - how next time will be. You’ll be between his legs again, mouth teasing at the flat alien space he has between his legs as you coax his cock out further and further out of its protective sheath with each swipe of your tongue. He’d have one hand clutching at your sheets, fisting them so hard you would probably have rips in them from how hard his fingers would dig into it. His other hand would be on the back of your head, large palm cradling the entirety of it as he presses you harder against him, moaning for you to lick faster, harder, deeper. You wonder how sensitive this part of him is. He’s moaning so much already, quiet punched out sounds that serve to urge you on, and you wonder how much louder he would be if he wasn’t so tired and drugged up. 

The taste of his slick makes your pussy gush, the more you lap up the more your body feels like it's on fire. You’ve heard about the Na’vi having something in their slick that’s intoxicating - your head feels fuzzy, feels good, like you're levitating on air and Neteyam is the only focal point you can see. And when you feel the first poke of Neteyam’s cock peeking through the now puffy and soaking opening of his slit, your hips can’t help the way they grind into the mattress.

You’re quick to wrap your lips around the protruding head, suckling gently at the exposed tip as your thumbs continue to rub soothingly up and down the sides of the now open slit, using the slick there to help the glide. Neteyam grunts at the feel of your lips around his cock, and he has just enough movement of his body left to be able to give a slight arch as you suck a bit harder. 

“Y/n,” He groans, and the sound of your name falling from his lips like that makes you want to scream. 

That’s right, baby. Say my name. 

It’s a blissful experience - Neteyam’s cock slowly filling your mouth more and more as it emerges from its sheath. Another inch and then another, each new barb and bump sliding across your tongue until the very tip of it hits the back of your throat. Despite him not being able to move much, you pin his hips down anyway - a dual combination of your own intense desire for him mixed with the increased need brought on by whatever is in his slick. 

His cock feels so good in your mouth, the texture along his length dragging against your tongue as the cone shaped tip of his cock bumps the inside of your cheek. You adjust again, opening your throat and forcing your head downwards. You gag when his cock breaches your airway, sputtering and choking yourself on him as you do your best to take him in. Fuck, he’s so big. You can’t breathe, can’t even think he’s so big, but you don’t want to move away. You’ve wanted this for so long so if you have to ruin your throat a little bit to make it happen, then so be it. 

The need for air cuts your plan short, and it takes the knowledge that this isn’t the last time you’ll be able to do this to allow yourself to pull off. Neteyam’s cock is shiny and glorious as you free it and allow it to slap against his lower belly. The base of his cock is the same gorgeous pattern of blue stripes that adorn the rest of his body, littered with bumps and barbs and tiny bioluminescent freckles that you know are going to feel magical inside of you. The tip is a pretty lavender color, the colors blending together almost artfully as it spreads towards the slight cone shaped head. Finally being able to look at it properly has you feeling feral, and you can’t resist the temptation to give one last sloppy lick along the entire length of it, the tip of your tongue gently teasing the ridges on the underside of the head before pulling away for good.

Neteyam’s panting is matching yours - deep, heavy, and quick as you both try to catch your breath. You climb up his body and straddle his waist. Your fingers are still a little wet from his slick as you cup his face and tilt it up, bringing his lips in alignment with yours. You press your own against his and you feel so small compared to him. His lips are twice the size yours are and wonder what it would feel like if the positions were reversed right now. You think you would burst into a ball of flames if you had him on top of you like this - his large, heavy body covering you completely and pressing you into your own mattress. Your tongue slides between his lips and glides against his own, and you moan at the rough feel of it.

“Next time we do this,” You murmur against his lips. “I want you to eat my pussy, okay?” You pull back, thumb caressing his bottom lip briefly before you bring the carbon mask back up to his mouth. “Wanna feel what that textured tongue of yours feels like.”

Neteyam gulps down the carbon like it's the only air he’s ever gotten, hazy golden eyes locked on yours as you scoot your hips back without ever breaking eye contact. Your ass meets his cock and you greedily drag your pussy along the length as you let him sip from the mask. The bumps along his length feel like heaven against your drenched cunt, the additional texture so foreign and blissful on your swollen clit. 

When you deemed he’s had enough, you drop the mask back on his chest and place a steadying hand on his stomach. Your other hand reaches behind you, guiding his cock up until the tip of it is nestled against your entrance. 

“Fuck,” You giggle, nervously. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

You’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. You’re ready, you’re so so ready. He just feels so big. He is big. He’s going to stretch you out so much. His cock is going to bully its way into your guts and you’re going to feel so full. The very thought of it makes you as terrified as it does excited. Maybe there will even be a bulge. You want to know - you want to know so badly.

With a deep breath, you start to lower yourself down on him. The stretch as the head of his cock penetrates your slick walls has you gasping. Fuck, it feels so intense, so much as his thick girth spears you open. You’re so wet, so ready for him, and the added slick from his slit and your saliva still coats his cock so the slide is as easy as it ever could be. The pressure is there as you bear down on him harder, desperate to feel more of him inside you, but to your complete shock, there is little actual pain.  

The barbs decorating his length scrape deliciously against your insides, dragging across your sensitive walls and pressing into pleasure spots you didn’t even know you had. You let out a relieved laugh when you finally fit in all that you can take. You’re so full, so amazingly full that you feel like you want to cry. There is a bulge - you can see it clear as day, pressing from the inside of your belly, and your hand caresses the bulge lovingly. 

That’s your mate’s cock inside of you. 

Finally.

When you look back up at Neteyam, you see that his eyes are rolled back in pleasure, just the bottom of his golden irises and his blown pupils are visible underneath his hooded eyes. 

“Feel so good inside me, Teyam,” You whisper, and you think the slight grunt he lets out at your words is him agreeing. “So, so good.”

His cock feels even better when your hips start to move, slowly raising up until only the tip is left inside you before sliding back down, your own pussy becoming its new protective sheath. You keep it safe inside you, cradled and protected within the loving hug of your slick walls as you ride him faster. Harder. Each push of his cock inside you feels like you're being blessed. You’ve been a good girl, you’ve earned this. And now, despite you having to play a little dirty to get to this point, your efforts are being rewarded. Neteyam is your god and you’ll worship the ground he walks on until the day you die. And from this day forward, he’ll worship you in return. 

The bulge in your belly disappears and reappears with each movement of your hips, and your clit throbs, pulsing with need and begging for you to give it some attention. You don’t want your own fingers. You’ve had more than enough of your own touch over the years. Your eyes land on Neteyam’s hand still lying limp next to him. His long fingers are curled slightly against the bed, his best attempt at clutching the sheets just like you know he would be now if he could, and you’ve imagined those fingers playing with your sensitive bundle of nerves more times than you can count. 

Your hand goes to reach for it, set on feeling Neteyam’s beautiful fingers between your thighs even if you have to guide his movements yourself. But then your eyes fall on the carefully maintained braid lying just a few inches next to that hand and your priorities change.

Yes. 

He’s your mate. He’s yours. You deserve this. You get to touch it. 

Your hips slow to a careful grind as your fingers clasp gently around the bottom of his kuru. It feels good in your hand, the hair covering the neural queue feels glossy and perfect against your palm. A small smile creeps onto your lips as you flip open the very tip of it, and you stare greedily as the hair falls away revealing the bright pink wiggling extensions of Neteyam’s nervous system. 

From behind the wriggling tendrils, you see Neteyam’s head shift towards you again, his golden eyes hooded and a little bit teary from pleasure as he watches you hold onto the most sacred part of him. 

“You’re mine, okay?” You tell him. “Only mine. Forever.”

To seal your words, you bring the pretty pink tendrils to your lips, pressing a featherlight kiss to them before caressing them with the flat of your tongue. You watch Neteyam react to the feel of your tongue licking against them. His pupils blow out more than you ever thought was possible, black overtaking his eyes and leaving only the thinnest band of gold around the edges. The sounds leaving his mouth now make your pussy clench around him tighter, and you’re again cursing the fact that you’ve even had to do this because they could be louder. He could be screaming right now, but he can’t because of the stupid drugs hold on him. 

Next time, y/n. Next time, you have to remind yourself, or you think you might go mad.  

You lick them again, already obsessed with the way they feel against your tongue and the giddy thought of ‘I licked it so it’s mine’ has you grinning in victory. 

You pull the tendrils away from your tongue and start to drag them slowly down your body. They slide wherever you take them, still wiggling and searching for purchase but never finding any as you drag them down your neck, over your collarbone and the tops of your breast. You want to pull down the cup of your bra and see if it would latch onto one of your nipples, desperate to know what they would feel like and how Neteyam would react to it, but the pulsing need between your thighs refuses to be ignored. They wriggle along your belly, over the bulge still present there, and tickle the inside of your thigh as you guide it closer and closer to your intended bonding zone. 

When they reach for your clit, the feeling has you squealing. They’re relentless, determined to find something to wrap around and latch onto, but the wetness between your thighs has them sliding and squirming and unable to bond to you. It feels so weird, so weird and so good as they try to wrap themselves around your clit. Your hips move again on their own accord, riding him harder and faster while the tendrils inadvertently play with your clit, and holy fuck - fuck fuck fuck you think you might be going insane. 

Somehow the tendrils find purchase through the wetness, a few wrapping themselves around your clit while the others stick themselves to the inside of your folds. And you can feel it - can feel the energy radiating from them. 

It’s not how it’s usually done, but you’re not the usual couple. You don’t have a kuru so it shouldn’t be possible for you to bond fully with Neteyam, but you never believed that. And now you’ve proven that you were right. You can feel the bond forming from where you’re connected - from his most intimate part to yours. 

Neteyam’s eyes are rolled back into his head again, so far gone that you can only see the whites of his eyes at the bottom. His chest is heaving under your palm, small grunts and moans spilling from his lips and even though his body can barely move, his cock twitches and pulses wildly inside you. 

You can feel his knot forming at the base of his cock, the thick ball of tissue swelling and expanding with each thrust. It’s starting to catch at the rim of your pussy and each pass over it gets harder and harder to not get caught on it. 

“Ooooh fuck,” You whine. It already feels so big. “Teyam, fuck,”

You don’t have to take it. You could pull off now and wrap your hand around it to help finish him off. But why the fuck would you do that? He’s yours. You were made for him. Meant to take him. All of him. And you’re not letting this opportunity pass without taking everything. 

The next downward push of your hips is the last one you’re able to make. Neteyam’s knot is so big and you push your hips down on it harder, making it force its way inside you under your bodyweight. You can’t help the small scream that tears from your throat as it locks inside you, tethering you to Neteyam for who knows however long - and then you’re cumming.

Your orgasm tears through you relentlessly, body shaking and spasming as your hands reach out and hold onto Neteyam for dear life. Neteyam’s cock pulses inside you, warm ropes of cum painting your insides as he pants beneath you. When your orgasm is through and you’re done shaking enough to lift yourself up again, you notice Neteyam’s eyes are closed.

He’s sleeping now and you’re exhausted, so you lay your head down on Neteyam’s chest and try to get as comfortable as possible.

His knot stays locked inside you and the tendrils of his kuru remain wrapped around your clit as you drift off to sleep with him. 

By the time Neteyam wakes up, it’s almost like nothing has even happened. 

You’re free from his knot and his cock has since retracted back into its sheath. You’ve cleaned you both up a little, wiping away the evidence with a damp cloth and even though you know he’s going to be able to smell everything still, it’s not like that matters. You’re not trying to hide what happened between the two of you - just how it happened. 

You’ve disposed of the baggie which is the important part anyway.

Somehow you’ve managed to get Neteyam’s loincloth back on. It was tricky given his sleeping position, but you’ve always been a little crafty. His cummerbund is still on the floor though along with your dress, but you’ve decided to go for a more comfortable t-shirt look after wiping yourself clean.

You’re sitting on the edge of the bed playing with Neteyam’s songcord that was at one point looped around the band of his loincloth when his eyes flutter open. He groans, one hand coming up to press against the side of his head as he looks around the room in confusion. He seems to relax a bit when his eyes land on you. 

“Wha–what happened?” Neteyam asks, voice no louder than a gruff mumble. 

He still looks a little out of it, the drugs not quite completely out of his system yet. When you look into those big beautiful golden eyes of his, they’re wide and confused. But, more importantly, they’re clear and haze free. He’s himself - he’ll remember this.

So you say your next words carefully with the confidence that he’ll remember them. 

“Iäle drugged you,” You tell him. “She drugged your drink and tried to take advantage of you. But she got called away before she could.” You reach out and cup his cheek, thumb sweeping across his cheekbone lovingly. “I took care of you.”

You hate the spark of doubt you see in his eyes at your words, no doubt thinking that Perfect Iäle would never do such a thing, but you know he trusts you. You’ve never given him a reason not to. You’re the perfect friend - kind, loyal and trustworthy. You wouldn’t say something like this if it wasn’t true. 

“I knew she was no good,” You add. “I felt it in my heart. But it’s okay. I’m here, Teyam. I’m gonna take care of you.”

Neteyam’s lips part like he wants to speak and you know there’s probably a barrage of questions on the tip of his tongue, but the leftover drug still in his system forces him to be silent. You watch, pleased, as his eyes slip shut again, sending him into another round of haze filled sleep.

You hope he dreams. Maybe he’ll dream of what you just told him - see a different version of reality in which Iäle really did drug his drink instead of you and believe that that is this reality. Or maybe he’ll dream of you - your smile, your voice, your touch.

He’ll feel it now. When he wakes up again, he’ll feel it. The undeniable pull towards you as his mate. He’ll realize that he’s been a fool, wasting his time messing with another girl when he’s had you here, perfect and pretty for him this whole time. 

Bye, Iäle, you think smugly, resting your upper body out along Neteyam’s hips and propping your chin up against his stomach.

I win.

**Special thanks to @quicktosimp and @itchaboi-itchyboy for the prompt!

Taglist: @eywaite @loaksulluyswife @erenjaegerwifee @f-cklife @beautiful-brown-skin-05 @minnory @localjasmine @skywonder @neteyamswillow @luvv4j4ybe11 @vampirefilmlover @aria-tempest @pocky444 @bambithewriter @xylianasblog @anemonelovesfiction @criticallybella @sbrn0905

**Comment here to be added to/removed from my taglist!

[separatist-apologist]

Love Is A Lie

Summary: After her mothers death, Arina goes from the well-loved daughter of a nobleman to a servant in his home. She dreams of escaping to the coast and making her own way, and when she learns of a ball the King of Avalon is hosting to pick a wife, Arina sees her chance. With a little help from a fairy godmother, Arina agrees to exchange a favor for one night with the King.

But Eris Vanserra has other plans when they meet, and Arina isn't sure she's ready for the consequences of one night dancing at a ball.

Part Two of OUAT series

Read on AO3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

The sound of heels against stone drew Arina from her reverie. Three days in the dungeons had made her numb to noise—to the moaning, the pleading, and the rattling chains. Unfortunately, it hadn’t numbed her to the smell—coming back to consciousness brought with it the smell of human filth and misery. Turning her head through the gloom, Arina saw the beautiful face of her fairy godmother.

Amarantha.

“Tsk, tsk,” she began, slipping through the bars as though she were made of water. “You were caught.”

Arina turned her head, staring dead-eyed at the wall in front of her. There was no point in pleading with the witch.

“I could free you,” Amarantha continued, snapping her fingers so the barred door that held Arina swung open of its own accord. “Let you try again, if you like?”

Arina didn’t respond. 

“Or maybe you failed on purpose. Love,” she spat as though the word tasted foul. “Look where it got you.”

“Just kill me,” she said tonelessly. 

“In time, perhaps. I’m not quite finished with you just yet. You did fail me—the prince lives and so, too, does little Elain Archeron. I can’t seem to stay ahead of the little wretch.”

That drew Arina’s attention. What did Elain have to do with all this? Amarantha wasn’t really talking to Arina, merely at her. 

“I’m merciful. You still have time to make this right,” Amarantha crooned, turning her attention back toward Arina. Arina shook her head.

“He won’t see me. He hates me.”

“Yes, I’ve heard the rumors. He loved you once, though,” Amarantha said in that syrupy voice of hers. It was as if she wanted to make things better having already destroyed so much. “Perhaps he’d see you if you got on your knees and begged.”

Arina swallowed her revulsion. “Got on my knees only to stab him in the back, you mean?”

“Why not whisper how much you love him right before you press the dagger into his ribs?” Amarantha suggested, revealing the same dagger Eris had taken from her. “Let it be the final words between you.”

“Why this dagger?” Arina questioned, reaching for the jeweled hilt sitting at her bare feet. “Poisoning him would be far easier.”

“Ah, there’s a trick to this blade,” Amrantha told her, delight burning in her beetle black eyes. “It keeps a soul trapped until I have use of them. A king is a useful toy to have in my possession. Now, I want you to take your pretty little self back to his bed and plead with him until he is close enough you can drive this into his body. But just in case you think to defy me…”

Amarantha snapped her fingers and in an instant, heavy, iron shoes were strapped to Arina’s once bare feet. She watched in horror as the metal began to warm, the metal brightening until the heat was overwhelming. Shrieking, she reached to pull them off only to scald her fingertips.

“You like to dance, don’t you? Consider this an incentive. Kill Eris Vanserra or dance for me until I’m no longer amused. Understand?”

Arina nodded, tears streaming down her face. All at once, the metal began to cool, though not quick enough for her liking. She couldn’t move her feet without touching skin to the contraption. “Take these off.”

“Oh, I think I’ll leave them. Just in case,” Amarantha said with a sharp-toothed smile. “I want you to think only of me and just how unpleasant my displeasure will be should you fail me a second time.”

With a snap of her fingers, Amarantha was gone. The door to her cell was still open—as if it mattered. And though Arina’s feet were burned, she was mostly intact. Arina counted her breaths, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her dress as she waited for night to fall.

Minutes felt like days, the hours stretching miserably. With no windows and only the dim torchlight just outside her cell, Arina had no way of telling time. While she waited, Arina picked at the metal shoes that held her feet. There had to be a way out of them, though it felt like the more she tugged, the tighter they adhered to her skin. 

Finally, she heard the clipped sound of boots against stone followed by the pale, lined face of the man she’d married. Eris took her in, eyes sweeping her curled form, the dagger balancing on her knees and the iron shoes now strapped against her feet.

“She came?” he whispered, standing in the doorframe. 

“Yes,” Arina agreed, biting her lower lip. “She brought me this.”

“Did she explain its importance?”

“It’s imbued with magic…it’ll trap you. This isn’t about you, Eris. It’s about Elain,” she whispered, waiting to see what would happen next. Eris had asked her to trust him and she had, though that had only resulted in her being thrown in the dungeons while he ordered the guards not to speak a word that she was there. He’d get to decide what happened to her and having spent three days alone in the dark, Arina was beginning to wonder if he wouldn’t just kill her after all.

Eris crossed the filthy cell, joining her gingerly on the bench. He was so wildly out of place in his fine clothes.

“Are you hurt?”

Arina wanted to cry. “I’m okay,” she lied, unwilling to tell him the truth. Just in case. Eris reached for her face, sweeping his thumb over her cheek. 

“You’re not. But you will be. Are you ready for what comes next?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on,” Eris said, offering Arina his hand. She hesitated before taking it, crying out softly when her injured feet touched the ground. Her knees buckled and the only thing that kept her from slamming to the stone was Eris’s arms. “You are hurt.”

“I’m fine,” she panted, though she pressed her cheek against his chest all the same. It felt good to be touched after days of utter deprivation. In her worst moments, Arina indulged in a fantasy in which Eris just never came back. Sometimes she imagined the speech he’d give in which he’d laugh at her, asking if she genuinely believed he could ever love her. 

“You’re not,” Eris whispered, kissing the top of her head. “And I won’t be either if I have to sleep another night alone. This is what she wants, isn’t it? For you to charm me?”

“And then kill you,” Arina reminded him. 

“I would gladly die at your hands.”

Arina had to choke back her laughter before it devolved into tears. Maybe Eris recognized it because he murmured, “It’s almost over now.”

Arina didn’t think that was true though there was no point in arguing. Eris led her out of the dungeon, hands tight around her body. If she’d thought there would be a reprieve once they were back in his bedroom, Elain was mistaken. Eris’s brothers were waiting with Elain Vanserra, all of whom looked equally furious. Not at Arina, whom Eris set gently on the bed.

“She means to trap me,” Eris told his brothers softly, taking out the blade to show them.”

“I knew it,” Elain murmured, wrapping her arms around her body. “She knows I’d bargain for your freedom.”

“You won’t,” Eris snarled, whirling on Elain as Connall picked up Arina’s damaged foot to examine the contraption binding her. “This is not the time for heroics.”

“Any soul, right?” Arina murmured as Tanwen sat on her other side. “Including hers?”

“It won’t work,” Eris began, but Lucien’s once serious gaze had brightened. 

“It will work,” Lucien breathed, looking at Elain. “She’s not clever—she’ll come to gloat and that’s when we’ll have her. We can trap her until we figure out a way to kill her.”

“What about my sisters?” Elain demanded, rounding on her husband. “They’re still out there and I need to know how to free them.”

“I promise we will,” Lucien said, taking his wife's hands within his own. “I swear it. But for right now, we have to do this.”

“She’ll know—”

“She won’t,” Eris interrupted, turning to look at Arina. “You can do this, can’t you?”

Arina agreed with Elain. Amarantha would suspect a trick, would be prepared to kill them all. What were the odds she and Eris survived? It seemed impossible. Still…maybe it was better to go down trying than it was to lay down and accept defeat. And if there was a chance they could be together, Arina had to take it. 

“Do you trust me?” Eris asked, turning the full weight of his amber eyes on her. She saw his hope, his determination. 

“Tell me what to do.”

ERIS: Eris felt Arina’s legs straddle his hips. In other circumstances it would have been a dream to know she wanted to be on top of him. Now it was all he could do to keep himself still and quiet and let her work. He could feel her trembling hands, could all but taste her fear. She didn’t think this would work.

 Neither did Eris, truthfully. Still, they had to try. The alternative was losing Arina and Eris wasn’t willing to accept that. They were so close. All she had to do was take that knife and cut exactly where he’d told her to. After that, everything was out of their hands. 

Eris felt the knife pierce his clothes, felt the warm gush of blood spill against the bed. Arina whispered, “I’m so sorry,” before dropping the knife loudly to the floor just as they’d agreed. 

“So sweet,” came a twisted, crooning voice from the dark. Eris didn’t dare move even as Arina scrambled back, her metal clad feet clanking against the marble floors. “If only love was enough to save you. It’s nothing personal.”

Arina cried out, knees buckling as the room illuminated in a sickening, orange glow. Her shoes had ignited in the moments after Amarantha’s arrival, forcing her to either hop foot to foot in some sick kind of dance or frantically try and get them off her feet. 

Eris rose from his place in bed, their plan already falling apart. 

“Tell me where little Elain Archeron is, and I’ll spare your pretty wife, princeling.” 

Eris didn’t dare look at his wife lest he ruin the entire thing. Her death wouldn’t be on his hands. He could play it cool just long enough to free them, if only temporarily. Gesturing absently, he said, “She’s around.”

“Call for her,” Amarantha ordered. Eris heard Arina whimper at his feet and dug his nails against his palms to keep himself from reaching for her. They were so close. Elain could fix this for them—Eris knew it. She’d see the pieces laid before her and she’d make it happen.

So Eris called for her, well aware Elain was merely in the next room surrounded by his brothers. Amarantha must have known it too, because her head turned toward the closet doors before Elain ever emerged. 

With one hand resting on her rounded stomach, Elain was the picture of serene grace. Like she hadn’t once survived an attempt on her life by the same witch now standing in front of her. Eris was in hell watching things play out, all the while having to see Arina writhe below, forgotten by everyone but him. How long could her feet remain in that contraption before they were no longer of any use to her? 

Grinding his teeth, Eris forced himself to remain where he was, still bloodied from the blade before. Of course the blood was fake—but it was only ever meant to lure Amarantha to him. She wanted Eris dead but not so badly she couldn’t resist trying to get Elain back, too. Her hubris would be her undoing, though Eris wasn’t fool enough to think they’d manage anything but containing the witch today.

“Look at you,” Amarantha breathed, ignoring the way the metal around Arina’s feet glowed orange. Eris and Elain met each others gaze in the dark, her resolve unmistakable even as she jutted out her bottom lip and held her stomach protectively.

Was Lucien losing his mind behind the door? Eris thought he understood how his brother must feel. If he had to wait another minute, someone was going to die.

Probably him. 

“You’ve been busy,” Armantha breathed, her focus wholly on Elain. “You look ready to burst.”

“What do you want?” Elain asked, adjusting her stance in an attempt to look threatening. She failed—miserably—but Amarantha wasn’t looking at Arina on the floor. The witch didn’t see how Arina’s fingers curled around that dagger, sliding it slowly across the floor where Eris was able to catch it beneath the toe of his boot. 

“What do I want?” Amarantha cackled, throwing her head back so her blood red hair cascaded like a river of blood down her back. With her attention on Elain, Eris crouched as slowly as he dared, eyes locked with his wife. If he failed, they’d all die here and his kingdom would crumble to ruins. His heart swam in his stomach as ice flooded up his spine, causing his fingers to tremble ever so slightly.

They would succeed, he told himself, if only because they had to. 

“If you leave them alone, I’ll give it to you,” Elain breathed, causing Lucien to finally emerge from behind the door, hand on his blade.

“No!” Lucien interrupted, causing just enough of a commotion that no one caught Eris rise to his feet, blade in hand. “No, Elain—”

“Let the girl speak!” Amarantha ordered, wholly focused on Elain in front of her. What did she imagine she could get? What kind of twisted bargain was she working in her mind? Elain inched closer to Eris and he knew right then what Elain wanted.

Retribution for the pain and suffering she’d experienced. For what they’d all been through. He reached for her, pulling her back to his chest so she could reach for the dagger concealed in his other hand. Elain’s fingers also trembled though no part of her expression waivered. 

“What about my child?” Elain suggested as Lucien surged forward again. This time Amarantha flicked her fingers, throwing his brother roughly against the far wall. 

“You’d give me your unborn baby in exchange for this man's life?”

“For everyone's life,” Elain whispered, her eyes on Amarntha. The witch stood facing Lucien, her back half-turned to Elain. All they needed was one more diversion from his brother and they could make their move. “I can have more children.”

“Your first two children,” Amarantha crooned. “There are twins in there.”

Lucien moaned, pushing himself to his feet. “Elain, this is madness. They’re our babies—”

“We can have more,” she said, her voice heavy with sorrow. Eris nearly believed Elain’s grief. “You want them both?”

Amarantha’s joy was obscene. “Yes. Both your babes, in exchange for the lives in this room.”

There was a trick to her words—some game they were all missing. Arina whimpered, dragging herself closer to Eris while trying desperately not to touch her skin against the scalding metal contraptions. 

“No!” Lucien roared, running forward to head butt Amarantha. It was the distraction they needed. The witch turned her attention toward Eris’s brother just as Elain stepped forward and buried her blade in Amarantha’s neck. The witch let out a blood curdling laugh, head thrown back even as blood began to pour from the wound. 

“Foolish girl,” she hissed, the words gurgled from her mouth. “Now you’ll never find the eldest.”

Still holding her dagger, Elain leaned forward. “I’ll find her and when we’re reunited, we’ll be back to kill you.”

“We shall see,” Amarantha replied, her edges fading into the room. It took another moment before the knife Elain held clattered to the floor, leaving only a pool of blood behind. 

“Get these off me,” Arina whispered, prompting the room into a flurry of movement. Lucien reached for Elain, pulling her into his body as she cried into his chest, swearing she would never have given up their unborn children.

The metal burned Eris’s fingertips badly, but in the end he managed to get them off Arina’s feet and haul her up into his arms before Elain ever finished apologizing.

“That dagger doesn’t leave my sight,” Eris ordered, nodding at Elain to put it on his side table while he set Arina gently to the bed. “Holy fucking gods.”

“Everyone is okay,” Elain murmured, but Eris wasn’t having it.

“Get out,” he added. It had been days since he’d last seen his wife.

And he wanted to talk to her.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Doll Parts

"Yeaaaaah he really wants one, he really wants one a Nami-swan." Hole does not get as much credit as they deserve. Hello hello my lovelies, we are back for 1129. And we'll have a fine time with it. Starting with the reveal of the mysterious Sun God figure. Big props to Tekking for guessing this one btw, I kinda got over the whole OP YouTube apparatus long ago but he was always fun. It's Road!

Who the fuck is Road? One of Hajrudin's men, we saw him in the cover serials. Fitting for someone with that name he's their navigator. And turns out it was worth noting the use of sessha as a personal pronoun (which Sanji acknowledges), because we'll go on to see him using a fair few linguistic trills that give off a major otaku vibe. Or is he a weeb for trying to act like he's from samurai-land? Is Road really just mad that Hajrudin got to meet real samurai? By the way...love that Luffy just thinks the giant Lego room is cool and doesn't want to wreck it too much.

That said...Road sure is one weird fuckin' dude. I can get the basic logic with the Straw Hats. Hajrudin pledged to follow them, that doesn't mean Road did. And it doesn't seem like the way funnier rationale of respecting Buggy more. There was never any real loyalty to Buggy's Pirate Dispatch, that was mercenary work. Hajrudin pledged a son's cup to Luffy. That pissed Road off because how dare a giant swear allegiance to a human. That's a great theme to play with as our time with Elbaf unfolds. And while there is some ambiguity as to what the gang saw when they burst out I'm pretty comfortable with this actually being Elbaf by now. Or at least maybe a Green Bit-style linked island.

What I think is the most interesting about Road though is this obsession with the story. His "living dolls" getting up to heroics. These are two very core themes I've been interested in, we've talked about how they've come up from Totland until now. What I see in Road here is a much darker, much more obsessive version of that immature side of Yamato. This glee at the Straw Hats running amok for the entertainment value, because of the story his "dolls" are telling all their own, has a lot of room to build some cool thematic ties to Wano. So we'll keep an eye on that going forward.

Meanwhile, Nami is not too happy about the second weird guy on this voyage to doll her up in a lil outfit. The sleeping gas belt and the crow picking them up are pretty interesting justifications for how this happened. I'm wondering what that'll mean for the rest of the crew still with the main giant ship. This does also mean part of our objective here will be to locate Sunny. Which is a great excuse to sorta keep things around here. Because like, Road is clearly not an actual threat here. Hajrudin wasn't one at all to Luffy back in Dressrosa. Not wanting to anger the giants and Luffy's appreciation for the craftsmanship of this diorama are good excuses to get around that.

But Nami is different. Nami is the type who will break your Lego castle and release your prized beetles out into the wild without a second thought. And that's why we love her. I also love her two faces here, not to mention her rationale leading up to...

Pull pervy crap, get zapped. Loser. Definitely wonder what we have in store next. Would be very Oda to pull back and update us on the elders in the crew. Or even see something completely different. But for now I'm still very into what we're introducing here. Especially since it has now become somewhat connected to the Grand Fleet. Starting with Cabbage end of WCI, we've now gotten a proper main story update on all of them in some form save for the XXX Martial Arts Alliance and the Yonta Maria Fleet. And Bellamy too I guess if you count him. But that's still proving to be a thing that feels like it's accelerating.

[deadbydangit]

A Spa Day with them

Cannibal, Trickster, Spirit

Cannibal

Spa day?

What's that?

He has no idea what a spa is.

Explain it in the simplest of terms and call it a 'self care' day.

Go into a little more detail on what you mean, then he'll start to understand.

Bubba will try and paint your nails, but he's kind of shaky, so some might end up on your skin.

He'll quickly try to rub it off, only to smear it more.

He'll be blubbering apologies.

Don't let him get too worked up about it.

He'll really enjoy doing different face masks.

Especially any that require someone to slather it on.

So he puts it on your face while you put it on his.

Bubba is super ticklish, so he'll probably be a little squirmy and giggly.

He won't actually take his mask off, but the effects should still work on skin that belonged to another human, right?

Probably doesn't work like that, but he's having fun.

Aromatherapy is also something new to him.

He isn't super fond of fruity sweet smells, but he enjoys more earthy scents.

It reminds him of home.

He often gets so relaxed, that he falls asleep on your lap.

He never gets these peaceful moments.

Feeling pretty and snuggling with you.

What more could he want?

Trickster

Spa day?

Um, yes please.

You don't even have to get anything.

Ji-Woon has a huge box full of high-quality products that he uses.

He is going to elevate you to a whole new experience.

"This is what they do at the spas I go to."

He'll say as he hands you a fancy drink and starts to paint your nails.

Although he usually got his nails done by other people, he prefers doing it himself.

And it won't just be a solid color.

You will get the most breathtaking patterns that could ever be done.

You can offer to paint his nails, but he really enjoys doing his own.

But he'll let you do his right hand since he has a harder time with that one.

After, he's picking out face masks and body scrubs, describing in great detail what each of them do.

He will even show you how to apply them.

And you better believe this man has a huge array of candles.

Any scent you can think of, he has it.

He isn't picky either. He'll like whatever one you choose.

While letting the masks and scrubs sit, he'll indulge you in gossip.

"Yun-Jin is so scared of bugs. Like, one time she took one of my knives just to kill this little beetle. And she crushed it. She can be so over dramatic."

It's days like this that make living in the realm so much more bearable.

Especially since he got to do it with you.

Spirit

Oh she's totally down for that!

Trials can be so stressful, this sounds like a great way to unwind.

First, she'll bring out all her incense.

Pick any one you'd like.

Personally, Rin loves any flowery scents.

Once those get burning, she'll get some of her nail polish.

She only has a few colors, but you two make it work.

It's also super easy to paint her nails.

Since her arms are kind of detached and all.

Cooler colors like purples and blues are her favorite.

She's surprisingly good at painting your nails.

She has very steady hands, probably from all those years of practicing kendo.

Her masks are the home-made type.

All natural, no chemicals.

Those are so much better more you.

And making the masks with you just makes it way more special

She'll always find ways to add fruits to any scrubs or masks she makes.

So, when you're both done, you'll smell amazing.

Lots of giggles and jokes.

This had to have been the most relaxed she had been in years.

She'll be begging for this to turn into a regular thing.

But she'll only do it if you do it with her.

[peggy-sue-reads-a-book]

The Garden of Innocence

pairing: Ariadne x Dionysus (flm)

M

tropes: angst, love triangle

cw: language

Summary: Dionysus has grown bored, preferring the natural world to his place on Olympus. His presence is continually drawn to the beautiful island of Naxos, where two mortal lovers have been stranded. Try though he might, he cannot deny his curiosity— and envy.

Artwork @hycinthrt here: (x)

Chapter 1

The new god had his mother’s eyes. Deep as softest silt, warmth like the flashing sun upon the Tigris. He had his mother’s face - the cut of her chin, the manner of lifting one eyebrow when he frowned.

His mother had been mortal.

Dionysus was bored. Like all others, he was rocks and trees, occasionally the grin of a dolphin. For a young god, who might rejoice in his feral, golden heart, he was rarely in his body. He went from childhood to wilderness as easily and without notice as a snake dips beneath wet leaves.

He liked the feeling of the sun. He was pretty sure it was his uncle. He could not remember. He had brothers. Sisters. More stepmothers than were to be numbered.

He loved his own name. How it rocked from his throat to the very edge of his teeth. The pleasant nnnnnn humming in the middle.

Today he was brown. It has just rained and he’s taken up consciousness in the shadow of a fig tree. Drip. Drip. The spanning leaves were lovely, cool. It was summer. He pooled in the soft earth. That is why he noticed the hand push the leaves aside. Laughter peels shrill. A girl. And a youth. It’s his hand.

Fuck you, the god mutters, squinting against the harsh light. The young man cocks his ear at a sudden chatter of the birds. The hair on the back of his neck tells him what his mind does not: that this is an uncanny place, that those birds sound … annoyed. But it passes. Dionysus yawns and settles back within root and shadow. A warm breeze stirs the ground cover.

The young man tugs at a piece of fruit, slick with rain water. The girl does not have to. It falls easily into her brown hands.

“How did you do that?” he says, frowning.

She shrugs. Consider the god’s attention pricked.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does! I saw you. You didn’t even touch it.”

“It was ripe. It just fell off— Theseus!”

He had grabbed her, too rough, by the waist, pulling her into himself to kiss her neck, the soft place behind her ear. Her laughter is less than genuine.

“Stop- stop- stop- Theseus, I said stop!”

“What?”

“You’re scratching me. You need to shave.” Her voice is small.

“You’re no fun when you’re hungry,” he grumbles. His footfall makes small dents in his wake. Worms contort and beetles skitter beneath him. The one real mark of humans; the earth flinches from them. Dionysus listens.

The girl’s step is lighter than Theseus’s. The forest does not absorb her entirely as it might one of its own, yet she skims over its little gnarls and crags with the ease of a nymph. Brown curls bounce at her mid back. Their shine is lost to salt and weather.

The man Theseus does not slow for her. Sullen, perhaps, that a girl two heads shorter than he so easily keeps pace. He scowls. Let her get winded, ask to stop. That one little thought, ringing clear from his human mind is enough to exhume Dionysus’s consciousness. In a breath, he finds himself slithering along side them, a noiseless dance as he weaves between the girl’s footfalls.

She does not speak. But she presses her shoulder to his, twining their fingers together appeasingly. Smart girl. But girls usually were smart. Dionysus is not surprised when she allowed him to lift her out of the way of some brambles. She means to eke out his gentleness with dependence.

A flirting couple is hardly a novelty. Their youth and beauty would go to seed in a moment. Dionysus knows this, and quickly looses interest. He leaves them to what bower they may find. And he is tired of being a snake. With an intake of breath he stretched into warm patches of fern and took a nap.

Continued: (x)

Taglist: @withlovefromolympus @human-still-developing @hycinthrt @axhicleos @ygnoe @johaerys-writes @one-fond-mortal @shitfacedalways @dionysian-daydream @lefty-scissors @a-world-of-whimsy-5

lmk if you want to be added. Love you, mwaw :)

[thelonelywiz]

THE POET VIRGIL.

“Death and grief, I find, is inherent to vampirism. I’ve seen many die young and old, naturally and unnaturally. It may not look it, but the beast follows me yet still.”

SYNOPSIS.

In a world where monsters and humans coexist, anything can happen. Especially in the brownstones of Brooklyn, New York City. 

The famous vampire poet, Virgil, lives with his roommate, Bea, a werewolf and former rock star drummer of BLUDHOUNDS turned grade school teacher. With his very last chapbook in the works and an award ceremony to attend, Virgil has a speech to write. But when his literary agent and best friend (and Bea’s on and off girlfriend), Calypso is found dead, he and Bea are spun into the world of murder mysteries and conspiracy. The threat of succumbing to their monstrosity increases as tensions and risks run higher, and Virgil and Bea must learn to face their grief together despite their differences. With the help of Bea’s brother, Seven; a fairy from the Bronx, Juno; an unlikely ally, and an eager human barista, a team of monsters (and Aaron) is just what the five boroughs need to defeat The Hunters once and for all. 

In this romantic comedy turned murder mystery, The Poet Virgil tells a story of death, love, and what it means to be seen as a monster.

NOTES.

Started: Feb 2022

Format: screenplay

Word/page count: 256 pages

Genre: urban fantasy

Themes: grief, justice, friendship, family, generational trauma, love, hope

Content warnings: transphobia, heavily implied child neglect, on-screen child death, domestic violence, on-screen violence, blood & gore

(the following character art was made using wervty’s picrew, the first two are commissioned art by @fesenmoon)

CHARACTERS.

Virgil (he/him): An introverted vampire poet born in 1888. He likes baked goods, all things gothic, and has a special interest in the arts; art history, piano music, and of course, poetry. Protagonist and foil to Bea.

Bea (they/them): The former drummer of the all-werewolf punk rock band BLUDHOUNDS, now they’re a grade school teacher. They are the oldest of 8 and have lots of issues because of it. Deuteragonist and Virgil’s roommate (and foil).

Calypso (she/her): A human who would do anything to protect her friends. Her death haunts the narrative. Virgil’s literary agent and friend, Bea’s on and off girlfriend.

Aaron (he/him): A human barista who’s flirty but so incredibly awkward. A mama’s boy through and through. Virgil’s love interest.

Seven (he/him): The former lead singer of the all-werewolf punk rock band BLUDHOUNDS, now a college dropout. Second oldest out of 8 but is pretty chill about it. Not dissimilar to Beastboy.

Juno (she/her): A nature fairy going to community college. Has a special interest in insects, specifically beetles. Hates being called cute, don’t call her cute.

Belladonna (she/they): A water nymph who does get paid enough for this, but it’s not worth it. Morally gray, knows her way around a silver bullet. Works for the enemy…or do they?

Orpheus (he/him): A human musician that’s too obnoxious for his own good. Has a weird obsession with monsters. How he hasn’t gotten himself killed is anyone’s guess.

Minerva (she/her): A half beast that’s been severely brainwashed. Very bloodthirsty and weirdly into her boss. Has killed and will kill again.

Pandora (she/her): A human woman who really hates monsters, like really hates them. Main antagonist, manipulative and uses eugenics to get her way. Used to be a cop…enough said.

FURTHERMORE…

Feel free to send me asks or prompts about this project! I did a lot of worldbuilding on this and I think about it a normal amount (lying)

Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1irfe7yT2sWBlh506wOJVF?si=iZ5NXL-xQ06fmmIvaven-w  

Pinterest board: https://pin.it/1FzCle5 

Main tags: #tpv

Taglist: @calenhads, comment or write in the tags if you want to be added to the taglist :D

[uhhhitsme]

(i haven't slept in a few days so im so sorry if stuff here doesn't make sense) Ok!! Well first it’s a hybrid au so umm there’s that :] and it’s really really fun because there’s a lot to play with it (also it ends up backing up a lot of the themes in saf which is nice) anyway time to be insane about it :DDDDDDDDD (also i’m copy and pasting some of this because i phrased it well there :P)

BARB!!!!!!! So barb’s a beetle, (what kind? Im not sure yet) she has wings, antenna, and other features of the sort. so she’ll fly around her lab while working,(it's very cute to watch her flutter around her lab) but only when she’s alone. see, being a hybrid doesn't exactly bode well, especially not in government (i haven't flushed it out yet but think of it as being very similar to being gay at the time, laws and public opinion would shift in a pretty similar way though they years as well) so while she's able to still work there, she is advised not to let any of her hybrid atrabutes visible, as well as being not as respected by others in her department (at least by those who know, it's only knowledge that people like cynthia and the others involved in. her joining of the a.s.s are privy to, but rumors spread i guess) however it's not all bad for her. in this au her and curt end up forming a tentative friendship(no where close to barb and owen's friendship though, they're besties) being some of the only known hybrids at the a.s.s, curt found out about barb being a beetle hybrid when he barged into her lab (without knocking too, y'know, something she asked him to do and put a sign on the door saying to knock as well?) in her panic of possibility, no, definitely losing her job she ends up colliding with curt. knocking him onto his back and directly on his wings. he, of course, lets out an unceremonious squawk; they end up just staring at each other before coming to the unspoken agreement that they wouldn't tell anyone about each other.

barb ends up not pinning down her wings and antenna when just in the company of curt, and curt un binds his own wings while just him barb's presence (the reason why barb pins her’s down while curt binds his to his back is because big wings are very fragile, meaning that you have to be delicate when you go around hiding them, normally a mesh material is used. avian wings however are much stronger and sturdier, meaning that to hide them successfully and not have them breaking though what is used (because they are very expressive when it comes to showing emotion) they need to bed bound to the back with an equally strong material) they use it as an escape from the usual aches and soreness that comes with physical pinning hybrid features down (depending on what animal a person is a hybrid of that can mean anything from muscle atrophy to permanent nerve damage) but barb, poor barb. one ay or another she ends up mixing up romantic and platonic feelings. where she develops the huge 'crush’ on curt we see in the show

also! side note but when i say someone is a hybrid of an animal that doesn't mean one of their parents is an animal or something, but instead that at least one of their parents has hybrid genes(weird magic science don't question it) however, while it's not common hybrids can be born from completely human parents, later on it would be discovered that this is not in fact possible, and is instead a result of a parent simply having hybrid genes but not presenting them in any physical manor. which is fun!

speaking of which, owen got his hybrid features from his mom, being a deer hybrid. while curt got his from his dad,(but not really because he didn't have any physical manifestations of it) and both if barbs parents are hybrids, on being a beetle like herself and one being a gecko.

ughhhh curt’s childhood in thissssss. we actually know why his dad left in this au, and curt knows it too. curt's dad left when his wings started growing in. it was never out right said but it's pretty obvious to both curt and his mom that that's why. which predicabley affected curt a lot. his wings actually end up being rather stunted in growth because he binds them down so aggressively and from such a young age as a kid.

and then fuckkkkkk curtwen in this au because they have this extra extra layer of trust because they can't show their hybrid features to anyone. they'll get fired or killed or maybe even worse. but they show each other. owen doesn't feel pressured to file his antlers down and curt doesn't pin his wings down around owen. AND CURT LETS OWEN TOUCH HIS WINGS which is a huge deal because, at least in this au, they're maybe the most sensitive part of an anvian/bird hybrid's body. they only let flock members touch, let alone preen their wings. also owen is insecure as shit about his antlers, they grow crooked because of head trauma gained from missions.

OWEN, DEER OWEN!!!! i need to talk about him!!! because after the fall he gets fucked up a lot. the explosion does what it normally does, but basically no doctors at either the russian base he was brought to before chimera or any chimera doctors know how to actually deal with the difference bone structure deer hybrids have, being digagrades. so while they do get there eventually the solution end up leaving owen's baseline of pain so much higher than it had to be. his balance is fucked up too because of his crooked antlers. BUT it's not all bad because he gradually gets more comfortable showing his hybrid features and by the time we see him as the dma he has let his antlers grow out and his hoofs are on display. (also he decorates his antlers!! for fancy events he has things like chains, charms, flowers, etc in them. he ends up getting more comfortable at chimera than can be assumed he does in the show, seeing as quite a few of the recruits were previous agents that were fired from their agencies due to factors that owen himself understands. during his time with mi6 and by proxy most of his life, he could never comfortably do anything that involved his hybrid-ness (due to a number of factors including, his own family did not have the best view on hybrids, he could very well be killed, or by the time he was an agent should mi6 have found out he most likely would have been put through testing) owen in canon but especially this au was always fit to be a spy considering how much of his life he spent hiding anyway. durning his time at chimera, after getting his body back to a condition where he could work for them, he actually started letting his antlers grow out. while he would tell you he just felt like it, it was actually because it was too painful for him to file them why he was still healing and adjusting to all of what chimera had done.

also tatiana!!! she goes through so much <\3 she might have been a hybrid at one point. but i doubt that even she remembers well enough. because back during her time with the kgb her hybrid aspects were forcibly, and quite painfully removed. as they were claimed to be a liability in the field. despite being that of an assassin who isn't seen until the target is dead anyway. she has rough, jagged scars in her head and ears, as well as mess scar covered legs from when they were messily turned into ones resemblaning plantagrade legs. (all of this, on top of what happened in canon goes on) but it's not all bad, because post canon barb ends up turning her attention to figuring out a way someone to could regain lost hybrid limbs.

also torture tango in this is so devastating painful for curt </3

also the fall still happens,and owen is even more mad, hurt, and betrayed about it than in canon. because curt could've saved him, he just got scared and ran. maybe he wanted owen to fall? but….could he have saved him? his wings were tied to his back and even if he could get out of it would he even be able to save him? no..no that's crazy he definitely just didn't want to go back, yeah, that's why he didn't save you…

also side not but tati and ms. mega end up being friends btw,,,,,,,

owen's ears and curt’s wings are so expressive by the way (tati used to be the same but….) they ended up mostly training it out of themselves but at least for curt after he gets back on the field and no longer can keep them at bay has them moving a lot

also wing preeningggggg the first time owen preened curt's wings makes me physically sick because owen's scared out of his mind because he's never done this before, he's not an avian. he doesn't know how to do this, what if he messes it up? curt's looking up at him from the floor of their safe house, nestled in a mess of pillows and blankets. with pure admiration and trust in his eyes so he bites his tongue and tries he best to do this right for curt. compared to the way owen is sat ridged to the side of him, curt's practically liquid in his hands. letting out soft chirps and coos as owen meticulously straightens his feathers. by the end owen's draped himself on top of curt's sleeping body, any lingering tension from the mission flushed out of his muscles as owen finishes curt's wings, before letting himself succumb to sleep himself. they wake to a mess of limbs and feathers, but neither of them care to get up. and just,,,,,, augghhhhh it only makes what happenes later hurt moreeeeeee

while it's not cannibalism, many hybrids choose not to eat whatever animal they are a hybrid of (owen and barb friendship for the win here btw bc barb also doesn't eat venison because of owen)

that's what i have for you right now but this isn't even all of it lol but ummm,,, hope you enjoyed reading all of this?

WOAHWHOAHWAOWHWHSHHFHF THIS IS SO COOL. THIS IS SO FUCKING COOL.

first of all, BEETLE BARB?? BEETLE BARB!! BEETLE!! BARB!! I ACTUALLY STARTED GRINNNG THE MOMENY I READ THST OH NY FUVKING GOD BEETLE BARB!! THE BARB IS A BEETLE GUYS!! IM ACTUALLY SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS THE MENTAL IMAGE OF HER FLUTTERING AROUNF IN A LAB OH MY GOD HER <333333333333333

the but about curt and him aggressively binding is so cleverly thought out i love that do much it aligns SO well with his character!! the bit about him letting owen preen his wings ohgh arugh aurhrvab rhrgshdbr RUGAGAGUEHECHA IYS SO ADORABLE OH MY GOD GAY PEOPLE

although. Haha. the bit about the fall and the aftermath for owen. that makes me fine. and normal. and i am not thinking about any implications.

AND TATIANA :((( TATIANA :((( I HAVE NO WORDS GOD TATIANA :(( I NEED BARB TO GIVE THAT WOMAN A HUG.

the way youve crafted this au is so freaking clever and fits perfectly with these characters in canon i love it so so so so much oh my god!! the detail and sheer just. Correctness. is so cool im insane about this now holy shit.

[atinyladybug-daydreams]

Agent Yoric Headcanons

yoric headcanons that for some reason I never fucking did despite him being one of my top blorbos-scrungly hybrid.

Heads up. It's long because I have a lot of lore and thoughts about him.

For some reason, Yoric is hard to perceive. Unless he's the one calling you or standing directly in front of you, it's hard to notice his presence. He's like a walking anti-memetic.

Because of this, he's a really, really good agent for undercover missions, stake outs and espionage.

The only reason why he was found by the Foundation was that he accidentally got into one of their vans and while escaping through a door, walked right into someone.

His difficulty to perceive also extends to David's clairvoyance. When David tries reading into Yoric, all he gets is very muddled and darkened vision with nothing identifiable.

Despite being a mere level 2, Yoric knows a lot more than his rank. The nepotism in the Bright Family is a factor but also because higher ups favour sending Yoric to gain intel due to his ability.

Jack and Clef are the only people who can fully perceive Yoric like normal. Jack because he functions outside of the universe (SCP-963 reasons) and Clef because he's a Reality Anchor.

Yoric also has a lot of skills that he picked up while trying to blend into a crowd. He can speak over 8 different languages, play 5 different musical instruments and can also do acrobat and juggle flaming knives.

Really into entomology and insects! He keeps a few bugs around his apartment. He's got an ant farm, 3 different tarantulas, a scorpion, a giant centipede and some roaches.

He also has taxidermy insect collections. Specifically beetles.

Yoric wants to keep some bees but they're not really suitable for a two-bedroom apartment in the middle of a city so it's something he's looking forward to when he gets his own house.

He's tall and very skinny. It's a wonder how he gets into places, especially the vents, with those fucking noodle arms and legs.

Despite his knowledge and skills, this man has nothing in his brain. It's empty. He's very stupid and reckless. Zero braincells. Gets into trouble a lot. On accident though!

Has a pretty big beetle tattoo on his back (wings out and coloured). It was the first beetle he ever caught and raised. Sadly it's dead and couldn't be taxidermied so Yoric got another way to remember his first bug.

He's Asian descendant and mostly human. There's a theory one of his parents is of a fae which is why he's hard to perceive (the whole name-identity-curse-thing.) (This is totally not because of my OC Not at all. Nope. Nu-uh. I definitely don't have an OC here which explains his thingy. Nope. What are you talking about?/j)

Family cryptid. Not as much as TJ but still a cryptid. Also his eyes slightly glow in the dark. Slightly. Yes, it means he can see better in the dark too.

He was actually raised in the Chaos Insurgency where he met Claire once. That's how he found out he's part of the family. He then left the Chaos Insurgency around his late teens and went around before joining the Foundation in his 20s

It's not that he's distant with Jack, his grandfather. I mean, he visits and helps him frequently and they're definitely on good/casual terms but there's this weird gap between them that they don't really want to work on. They both have issues. Well technically, the whole family have issues.

He's chatty with Sera and doesn't mind having her around too. Thinks she's refreshing from the other Brights and they have an understanding on being raised by an Organisation.

Has a particular sharp eye on shiny objects. Can spot pennies on the ground from far away and tries to get his hands on many shiny things. His jacket and coat has a lot of metal and enamel pins on the inside.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Trick or treat!

Another continuation of the Pinocchio fic, the previous one being for @chasm-side here and the first one being for @zeroducks-2 here :3

Tim is tired. His whole body is sore. He's hungry as hell. He's thirsty. He's too damn hot, practically sweating through the kevlar of his suit.

However, the world is safe again, and so he's feeling pretty damn good laying here next to one of the watchtower's external windows, watching the beautiful blue marble that is Earth turning peacefully below.

He hears a loud pair of 'bwa-ha-ha' laughs and turns around to see Booster Gold and Blue Beetle on the other side of the room. Huh. He hasn't talked to Ted Kord in ages, and you know what? He may as well give Booster a shot, right? The straight Fs jock probably won't have any leads worth a damn, but Tim'd have to kick his own ass if it turned out getting answers was that easy all along and he didn't go for it, right?

He drags his weary bones off the ground and goes over to shake Ted's hand.

"I had no idea you were picking the goggles back up!"

Ted gives a tight laugh, "Hah ha! Neither did I! But hey, what else can a guy do when he's suddenly kidnapped by aliens?"

"Yeah, can't say I recommend fighting them in your underwear. Take it you're putting it right back up in the closet once you get home?"

"Ehh, I dunno, I might need to wear it into my cardiologist's office - she's gonna kill me."

Booster shakes his head. "I keep tellin ya, just let her know you got your thirty minutes of cardio in this week and leave it at that!"

"See the thing is I knew a much younger guy who used to try that line on her all the time and for some odd reason it never seemed to stick..."

Tim laughs. "Call me if you need backup against the nurses."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles lightheartedly, "Anyways, you sticking around for the speeches or are you gonna scram?"

"I'm a Bat, there's no getting out of them for me. Gotta stand up on that podium, rain or shine, health or broken tibia. Real quick though, Booster Gold! Need a quick word with you, there's something you just might be able to help me with."

"Hey, throw it at me! There's nothin' the Gold can't handle!" Booster gives him a patented crest toothpaste commercial grin.

"Awesome, it's a history question."

"Oh... goodie..." His smile instantly becomes strained.

"Does the name Inverz Pinocchio mean anything to you?"

"Oh shit, yeah that actually means a lot to me. That's not even history that was slash will be current events almost, uh, shit okay so you know furbies?"

"Incredibly cursed way to start an explanation. Yes, I know furbies."

"Okay, cool, great, this will only get more cursed! So Inverz basically made tons of furbie type stuff except a million times more advanced, we're talking artificial muscle fibers and animal level intelligence. They were super popular pets until the pinocchio scandal got out, cause like it's all the benefits of a cat, except you didn't have to feed them and could store a bunch of music in their brain."

"Oh gods, they were selling sentient androids, weren't they?"

"Oh yeah, and here's the real kicker: they didn't even know they were androids."

"What? Like the buyers thought they were getting real human people?"

"No no no, like, the androids themselves didn't know they weren't human! They were designed as sleeper agents, it was nuts, like they had all this shit in them that was designed to mimic human biology and then bam!" Booster snaps. "The CEO of Inverz pushed a button and suddenly all the energy keeping up that disguise went straight into the weapons systems."

Horror pours down Tim's spine.

"But- no that- there'd have to be some way to tell, right?! Like, it's just not possible to hide that much tech perfectly!"

"Well yeah obviously, once people found out that apparently there were thousands if not millions of people out there who were robots-"

"Millions?!"

"Oh yeah, that's the part where it got bad. Turned out Inverz was trying to build an army and had been planting their sleeper agent androids into the wider population without anyone's knowledge for decades and... uh... hey you're lookin a little pale there...?"

Ted puts an arm around his shoulders and starts steering him away from the crowds and towards a couch. "How about we sit down for the rest of this history lesson."

"Okay..." Tim says distantly.

This can't be happening. He can't be a- He can't be what this implies. He can't. He's been through medical exams - he's been through surgeries! Oh gods, the surgery was from Ra's Al Ghul, there's no way he would have told him anything, and Leslie's always told him that his blood pressure was a little wonky, and gods this can't be happening.

"Soooo, uh, yes there are a few ways to tell." Booster Gold continues awkwardly. "Most of them are pretty invasive? But you totally don't have to worry about those! Nobody's saying you have to crack your- er- somebody's skull open!"

Beetle makes un-subtle 'STOP' gestures with one hand across his neck.

Tim stares into the middle distance, stone faced.

Booster attempts to pivot. "So yeah totally just gonna list some like, little hint things? Little clues? Um. Infertility."

No data points on that one.

"Can't really get a concussion."

He thought he'd been lucky. He assumed that Dick and Jason and Steph and everyone had so many more problems with TBIs simply because Tim got hit in the head less but... but he didn't, did he? Deep down he kinda always knew he was taking as many blows but he still hadn't thought...

"There was also something about a lot of things feeling and looking just a little different? Like they'll be weirdly numb to some things but super sensitive to others and the way they do logic just doesn't quite line up with how humans do it."

Ted says, "Guess that makes sense, what with them having a whole different brain structure. The whole way they process the world is probably just a little bit off from human norms."

He thought he was just a little weird. Though, at the same time, he'd kinda always suspected it might be something more? Sometimes, when he was a teenager, he'd look at what his classmates were doing and feel like an alien. Sometimes he'd have to mimic them without truly understanding in order to keep up.

"That's no guarantee of anything though, plenty of humans are just oddballs."

...Was this why his parents had traveled so much? Why they shoved him in boarding schools and left him alone at home for weeks? Because they purchased him? Because he was a robot and not a real child?

But if they'd cared about him less, if they'd known... then why had his Dad been so frightened for him when he went out as Robin? Why did his mother bother tucking him in at night when he was little?

Why had they given him a birthday at all? Oh gods, that hadn't actually been his fourth birthday! Those were his first memories; that had to have been right after they switched him on for the first time. And- and they got him cake. And gifts. And carried him around and-

And they'd loved him... hadn't they?

Ted studies his face for a minute. Then he pats his shoulder and asks, "Say, Boost, ol' buddy ol' pal, any chance they made a proper diagnostic kit for that whole thing?"

"They did! Totally non invasive and everything, um, we thinking maybe put that down on the wishlist for an early Hanukah gift?"

"Yeeeaaaaahhhhh, that sounds like a good plan. That sound like a good plan to you bud?"

Tim nods.

[strykingback]

G5 Iguazu vs Cinder. One Casts The Die While the other doesnt...

So. I just recently finished up Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, amazing game by the way~! Well there was one villain that just came to mind when one of the characters from AC6 stood out to me the most and how I realized that he was more like another CERTAIN character from RWBY but written a lot better.

Now before we begin!

Warning! There will be Spoilers for Armored Core 6's True Ending Path! If you have not played AC6 or watched a playthrough of it PLEASE LEAVE THIS POST NOW.

1. Backstory

So we might as well get the bullshit out the way for Cinder's past. Basically she was a random orphan that was picked up by some random ass hotel and was abused by the proprietress and her two daughters that look like they got rejected from the Shining. However, Cinder would find comfort in a Huntsman who would train her and even show care for her like an actual father figure. To which Cinder would put in an application to one of the academies in Remnant.

But the two Shining rejects basically end up finding out....somehow and burns her application which pisses Cinder off as she kills both of them and the proprietress of the hotel.... and thats it? I mean we dont see how she is later on adopted by Salem.... we dont see anything else... I mean. For fucks sake... this is why RT needs to put more effort in this shit. Like I get it you have to do fairytale allusions but if you're doing a twisted version of it atleast make it more twisted than going the generic "Cinderella" route.

Now onto G5 Iguazu. Oh and fun fact. Iguazu's name actually comes from the Iguazu River in Brazil and Argentina! Anyways, Iguazu was once a backstreet gambler always betting big and trying to go for anything that would go his way. However, he would usually bet big and lose, which he consistently did until his misfortune landed him in debt which he had to undergo generation 4 surgery making him part of the C4 Augmented human series. Which he would pilot an AC making him part of Balam Industries, Redguns which is commanded by G1 Michigan.

However, Iguazu being a prideful little shit, would try to fight Michigan but would lose.... like LOSE BADLY. Which ended up permanently disfiguring him. However he would find camraderie in the Redguns through Volta as both sported beetles on their AC's (Armored Cores) and would even have quarrels sometimes..... But the two seemingly made a pact with eachother to punch the crap out of Michigan and leave the Redguns to go where the wind will take them.

Now with Cinder and Iguazu it is kind of understandable where both came from. Both had shitty upbringings but, one of them was trying to bet big in order to win (Which will play A HUGE part later on in Armored Core 6's story) and Cinder just had the worst luck ever and could not find her freedom leaving one shitty family to enter in another.

Now while not much is known about Iguazu's upbringing but by the means of a backstreet gambler, I can only assume that he lived in a place that was in poverty (judging by how the Armored Core franchise is mostly but dystopian) and the only way he could escape it was by gambling.

For Cinder it was to escape her abuse only to be once again sent to another place to face abuse... but with merits.... thus do we enter their motivations.

2. Motivation *Cue the Vergil Voice!*

Cinders motivation is pretty simple, she want power. Thats it. Power to stand above those who stood above her. Even made worse with how she is 0-2 in getting Maiden powers just like a Cleveland Browns 0-16 record back in 2018(?) Even how though she "tries" her motivation is just waaaay too simplistic man. Like I get it. You want power so you can be all powerful just like what Salem said yadda yadda-fuckin' yadda.

Instead, Cinder keeps getting bodied and tricked up and even she got owned by Watts for her stupidity and willingness to NOT LEARN and use strategy! Like seriously how you just gonna be a villain that I feared in Volume one and become the most cheapskate wannabe Vegeta that I know!

Now for Iguazu, his is kind of simple but it is VERY well done. Both 621-Raven (Basically you) and him are both Generation Four Augmented Humans. You would think he would be a bit excited or interested in 621, but no. He's not simply calling him some freelancer that would get blown away immediately.

Instead, this would earn Michigans ire and even as 621 exceeds Michigans praise and honor. Which would make Iguazu pissed off that some independant merc got more praise than Iguazu the same person who fought Michigan and lost. Which would become a recurring theme later on in New Game++

However.... we dont see him until the Ice Worm mission because when we climb the wall during the mission briefing we find out thatG4 Volta died. And his final words were all but depressing.

Volta wanted Iguazu to change and listen to Michigan and its true. Michigan does care about his soldiers and despite his Drill Sergeant attitude towards the Redguns, he really does care about them. I can only imagine the sorrow and the anguish, Iguazu felt knowing his only friend in the Redguns had died....in combat and when he even teased 621 about being the first to climb the Wall in the mission Operation Wallclimber.

Only for him to lose a dear friend and partner in crime, I can only imagine him getting pissed off and now having a motivation to try and beat Raven (NOT RWBY's RAVEN!). Yet, him being a little shit as always he would end up stating how he wont participate in the Ice Worm mission only to be nominated. and if you hit the shot with stun cannon on the Coral Weapon...

Iguazu is left in shock and awe...but this does not last forever as he is taken down FIRST and adding salt to the wound he would made fun of by V.II Snail and Michigan, while Raven would take down the Ice Worm

Raven, an augmented human from the same Generation as Iguazu was, hit something harder than what he can hit. This only added fuel to the fire (Ha get it....since the title is Fires of Rubicon..... ahaha. Screw you Im funny....) as when you are exploring the depths of Watchpoint Alpha you get a final encounter with him...and beat the crap out of him but. He makes some interesting points.

That he is just being laughed at for his failures and how he wonders why Raven is more special than he is. But behind his jealousy and vitriol is someone who wants to shine as bright as Raven as they are just carrying out orders.

However his inferiority complex and pride would lead to his final defeat. To which it is solidified in the mission Intercept The Redguns that he would desert the Redguns and is possibly killed offscreen by Arquebus.... which would continue in the New game+ route until hitting the Alea Iacta Est Route... is where we see some differences in Iguazu and the payout for these two characters.

3. Payout *KACHING!*

Cinders Payout was definitely her getting the powers of the Fall Maiden, via Volume 3. Now you would expect her to become the biggest threat in Volume 4....nope. It was bit of her learning how to train with those powers. Which is understandable you have a new power that you need train and get more familiar with now that you have it at its maximum output. In Volume 5.....ahh.. you know what time it is. DJ! Play the music please!

Cinder ends up getting her shit rocked!!! Not once by Raven, but even is made into a STRAIGHT BITCH by the Winter Maiden who was about to pass away and then into Ruby following up with a Silver Eyes blast and then in Volume 8 she gets ROCKED AGAIN by Penny!!!

Like this is just embarassing and only for Watts to tell it straight to her face like: "Bitch you AINT SHIT!" holy fuck some RWBY stans expect me to feel bad for her. I DONT. cause once again Volume 1 I expected her to be queen badass here. Only to be made Queen of gettin' packed up! GOT PACKED UP SO DAMN MUCH THAT THE ONLY WAY SHE WAS ABLE TO "Win" was to have Neo do all the heavy lifting for her and when she finally was needing to throw her die.... and yes she did "win" but to me she took her chance to gamble and it failed. I do agree with many people and I wish Salem killed or possibly tortured Cinder right there and then for her wasting the last question on petty vengeance rather than taking a strategic standpoint.....

Yet she rolled the die and "won" but in reality lost.

Now... with Iguazu it takes a dark dark turn. By the time you are exploring Watchpoint Alpha, you come across the boss room where you are supposed to fight Iguazu only to find it littered with destroyed MT's and one of which holds an archive log....

And it is revealed that IGUAZU WENT AS FAR AS TO HIRE AN ASSASSIN AFTER YOU BACKSTABBED HIM AT THE DAM , BODIED HIM DURING A SECRET DATA BREACH, FLAUNTED AGAINST THE ICE WORM IN STYLE BY THE WAY.

only for this man to literally call you at saying that I should have went easier on the poor lad , which you didnt. You basically gained fame as an independent mercenary after climbing the wall in turn was a jab at Iguazu's pride which was only becoming more and more fragile by the second. Especially with the insults being shot at him by his commander and other Redguns.. something was about TO SNAP.

And when we finally beat him during an alternate mission of Reach the Coral Convergence.... and reach the final boss of the Alea Iacta Est ending......

Iguazu Casts The Die....and decides to make one LAST gamble.

Iguazu.. in a desperate and insane need to restore his pride. Sacrifices his humanity to Allmind and becomes one with the very machine..... and actually puts up an INCREDIBLE fight. Even so during the second phase....

Iguazu goes balls to walls crazy! Even in some cut lines that those C-Weapons are also being piloted by him because of his hatred and how salty he is that the Coral (the sentient fuel) resonates with him! (due to how Armored Cores own orbits also need to be piloted by the AC pilot as well!)

Yet even with all that power, he still cannot kill Raven because he gets outclassed by them and even better is how his AC in the second phase has "wings" when he is flying meaning that he is also flying on "Borrowed Wings" unlike Raven who had to prove himself to the predecessor to claim that name.

And even to the point where ALLMIND calls Iguazu a mistake and Irregular.... which sets him off EVEN MORE, and when he is finally defeated...

He simply admits he always envied Raven... a freelancer who had all the skills and weapons necessary to outclass him and in the Japanese dub.

Iguazu begrudgingly ADMIRED Raven. Going to show that he actually did have a soft spot for Raven even if he didnt want to admit it. Because Raven was brave enough to face off against all odds and come out of it either unscathed or on the verge of defeat. Even how Iguazu during the final bits of health you have states that "This is where that grit of yours comes in"

Which Iguazu admits defeat and passes away peacefully while ALLMIND states one last time about their plan for Coral Release..... that finally Iguazu is at peace...

Thats why I think Iguazu was a better villain than Cinder. Even with many AC6 fans being surprised with Iguazu being the FINAL BOSS of the true ending rather than ALLMIND. His pride, his backstory, and his motivation all outclasses Cinders....

Because whenever we think of Cinder we think about her drive to be powerful and to stand above all else. While for Iguazu it is a need to prove on why he is strong and going as far as to hire an assassin, fight Raven four whole times, and still be outclassed only to admit defeat and attempt one final attack only for it to blow up in his face....

Gun Five Iguazu is a definition of a Tragic Villain done right... and there is enough evidence supporting this as well.

Now I know that I may have made some mistakes in this and if I did please let me know and the two videos I linked above this does a much better job explaining this than I did. Anywho... get in that AC pilot... and I'll show you how to pilot it and cross the Rubicon.

[dreadfaeriejack]

guys, I don't think humans are even humans. strongly believe the first "conquering/warrior/etc" tribe of humanoids was hopped up on some kind of terrible ritualistic combo of uppers, and over-infected with disease-carrying parasites that wanted to be spread. nothing really separates us from the animals.

i don't think the ability to perceive differently and wipe our asses makes our lives "more" anything, in any way, unless that is "more complex". but not to the cosmos. my dog has an ass that requires cleaning. she just does it very differently than I would.

we each take millions of lives a year just to sustain ourselves- and that's the natural order of things. one day we will sustain another life, either by turning back into dirt or being eaten. pretend you're on Saturn and look over here, towards earth. human, beetle, giraffe, bear, water, tardigrade, toilet paper, living, dying... none of it matters. It's all cells and atoms in quark soup or wtfe.

i think what you're looking for "that separates us".... is the ability and desire to relate to and learn from other creatures in an empathetic way (i'd even go so far as to add "specifically for the bettering of our selves as functioning organisms" but I wont be that mean to humanoids today.)

my dog does not relate to me, she just loves and trusts me. I don't think she even wonders what I'm thinking, except those rare moments when she wonders if I'm thinking about her. my cat, likewise, could not give less of a shit what I think, what other cats think, what my dog thinks. he just wants to live his life and sit on me sometimes.

i, however, rarely stop wondering what they're thinking; i'm wondering what the reader is thinking; i'm hoping this doesn't push anyone that much closer to nihilism. I'm hoping it opens someones eyes. i'm hoping it doesn't detract from the OP which I thought was funny, well-written, and pretty brilliant. Though it left out the probability that if we were as flexible as dogs, even with all this ass and brain, we'd be licking our own asses too. IMHO.

(BTW as far as Human Rights, I fucking obviously believe humans are humans. But I also think more animals should be granted legal personhood. *Which* animals is where I get fuzzy and lose interest in working out the problem because it would take more than just me to reach any kind of conclusion. I have no interest in ruling.)

though I will say.. the argument stands for "mental capacity to produce toilet paper". though i'd still counter that the depth of our intelligence is the same as the depth of our stupidity and we are just very dexterous animals.

"Love is what separates us from the animals" no. Bears also fuck and seagulls love their babies. What separates us from the animals is our physical need for, and mental capacity to produce toilet paper.

[thekimspoblog]

Sheepdog Chapter 6: "Eyes Wide Open"

Jimmy wakes up, and rolls over to look at the clock. 4:30 AM. It was still pitch black out the window. In the darkness, he can hear whimpering.

“Kim?”

“I’m awake,” she replied between shallow breaths.

“Are you okay?”

“No! My back has been killing me for the past hour. I was waiting for it to go away… but it’s just gotten worse. I’ve tried sleeping on my side, I’ve tried laying flat on my back. Nothing helps. I can barely move!”

“I mean it’s not exactly rocket science,” Jimmy chortled to himself, “I can guess if I had a bowling ball strapped to myself for a full day…”

She found his hand under the covers, “Jimmy! Now’s really not a good time!”

“Right. Sorry. You know how I am. I’m trying to make light of things. Cus I’m nervous…”

After a long silence she sighed, embarrassed and begrudged, “I have to go to the bathroom. I need you to help me up”

“What are friends for?”

Jimmy helped Kim to her feet and braced her arm around him. It was only a short distance to walk, but his smell was novelly revolting. Or maybe it wasn’t his fault; maybe this house was revolting, or this whole situation was revolting. Or maybe she felt like revolting.

Once the toilet took on her heaviness and her husband had backed off, there was a little bit of relief from the sense of claustrophobia, but not much. No matter what posture Kim took, a muscle spasm was still wrenching her spine like a fist.

“What time was it, when we left the convenience store?” she asked.

“Around 5?”

“So roughly 36 hours ago. Okay…” she nodded, struggling to let it sink in herself, “In that case… I’m pretty sure I’m in labor…”

“So what do we do now?”

“Go warm the car up. I guess we’re going to the hospital at the crack of dawn”

Jimmy’s footsteps disappeared down the staircase. What she was just now realizing was a contraction went on for another small eternity. In a daze, she fiddled with a corner of the bathroom wallpaper that had peeled in on itself. When rolled flat, in crimson marker in rather large print, an unexplained note: “1/5 - 1/4“ She had to still be dreaming; her stomach was making some loud noises, but this emerging disquiet, this primordial groaning and rumbling, felt like it was shaking the walls. The auditory hallucination even came with clear voices.

“Sickness! Sickness! Death! Death! I want her to die! Die! She must vanish! She must die! Sickness!”

A contraction wracked her again, this time badly enough to get a suppressed scream. Already so weary, she was going over in her mind practically every life decision she’d made up to this point, and through the lens of this awful mood, pretty much every choice was one she now regretted. What was it she even wanted? All of that paragon-of-human-ideals junk seemed so pointless in this moment! She didn’t need intellectualism, no amount of words could justify her presence to someone who had already decided otherwise, she didn’t need love, she didn’t even really need Jimmy! She only needed her own permission to take up space in this world, and the next time she found herself chasing someone else’s validation, she’d remember to tell them to kiss her ass! All she really wanted…

Her eyes kept drifting over to the bathtub. She needed to feel the warm water on her skin. It was suddenly just an axiomatic fact that this would be the only way to get comfortable. She looked over to find the white marble countertop bare of anything, save for one stray safety pin. There had to be one somewhere nearby… the damn things had taken over the house like shiny little beetles… Kim pulled open the drawer closest to her. Aha! There were five mobile phones in there.

“Saul Goodman; Speedy-Justice-4-U. Sorry, but could you please call back during office hours? I’m dealing with a bit of a personal emergency at present”

The weight of the world was on her eyelids. “Do you have your shoes on yet?”

“I’m putting them on right now…”

“Well you can take them off… There’s been a change of plans. I’m going to call an ambulance. I don’t think I’m gonna make it”

“Geez, alright… I can call the ambulance…”

“Whatever!” she snapped, “Just get up here!”

Jimmy raced up the stairs. His hand was on the doorknob when there was a howl of pain from the other side. He didn’t expect this to hit him as hard as it did, like an icicle in his back. The thought crossed his mind, however improbable; what if she died here? Complications had been known to happen, and this was far from a normal case. After all this bullshit? … Where was that damn ambulance already?! The dispatcher said fifteen minutes, and it felt like it had been at least that already! Desperate, he pulled the door open.

The steam was so thick it was visible, and the humidity choked the room and slowed the flow of time. Jimmy’s wife was submerged in the vapors of the tub, humming a tune to distract herself. Her legs were spread wide like she was trying to bring her knees to her ears and she was holding her gravid belly with both hands.She opened her eyes and reached an arm out of the bathwater, asking for a hand up. It wasn’t something he had to think about; he stripped his clothes off and got in with her. Amid the splashing and sloshing of getting herself standing, Kim asked, “Why were we even at that convenience store?”

“Hey, sometimes dumb ideas lead to good outcomes”

“I’m serious. Do you remember what we were doing out there? Because I don’t”

“That greeting card, remember? I wanted to find out who sent it”

“Before that. I thought there was a gun in the trunk. But where did we get the gun? I said there was forged evidence, I don’t remember forging that evidence! Why were we talking about framing Tuco?”

“Does it matter? We didn’t go through with it. That’s not what’s important right now”

“Jimmy, I don’t remember any specifics of what we were doing before that parking lot! It’s like it was a dream, or- or Wille E. Coyote being able to run on air as long as he doesn’t look down! What about it do you remember?”

“It was probably some scheme to get out from under Lalo. It’s not like this is the first half-baked plan I’ve cooked”

“Probably…” Kim repeated incredulously “I’m thinking about buying a gun. A real one”

“What?!”

“Tensions have been getting higher and higher” she patiently talked over him, “Now we’re dealing with not just Lalo, but this new threat. I’m fine with it, if I always have to look over my shoulder, but I would feel safer if - should I not be able to talk my way out of something - there was another way to play the game”

“You’re not in the game!”

“I am”

“You’re not!”

“I am! Jimmy I love you! Stop acting like I wouldn’t be just as destroyed if something happened to you, as you would be if something happened to me! I chose to be here; I chose to be in this together. But the most danger you could ever put me in is to keep me in the dark. You know how I hate when someone tries to… FUCK!”

Kim planted her palm against the shower tile with a *Clap*

“Are you okay?” Jimmy knew this was a stupid question, given her other hand was squeezing his tightly enough to break it. Rather than answer, she went on to loudly put the extent of her profane vocabulary to the test.

He pressed his body up against hers as they faced in the same direction. “I love you too” he whispered back, almost apologetic. Saul fumbled for the dial so that the expensive shower head could rain warm water down on them both, and he kicked the muck down the drain with his heel. They stayed like that, rocking their hips back and forth. Even pressed together, skin to skin in this moment of intimacy, there would always be a shadow contouring between the two.

“Do you hear that?” The woman broke from her trance.

“Hear what?”

“Singing. It’s getting closer!” She hissed.

“You know, lots of people hear voices in running water”

“Shh!”

“... Kim, you’re scaring me… Wait… I hear it! What is that?!”

The lights flickered, Kim grunted, and when Jimmy looked down, there it was! A head.

“Okay, so how do we do this? I should catch him like we’re hiking a football?”

“Anything that doesn’t drop her on her head probably works. You know I played for a little bit in Junior High?” she chuckled to herself.

“Oh yeah? Let me guess. You wanted to prove to the boys you were just as tough as they were?”

“It was more about proving to the other girls that I wasn’t a nerd”

“I bet you were pretty good”

“Oh god no! I hated it! I quit as early as I was allowed to. That’s when I had to accept it; I am a nerd”

“At the end of the day? Us nerds will get the last laugh”

“I was the only one Cathy didn’t invite to her party. And then everyone who went got lyme disease. So I’d say I made the right choice”

“It just goes to show…” Jimmy grinned, “... Is she choking?”

He squatted down to get a better look. The angry red little face coughed and spat out fluid with the assistance of gravity. Before she had even completely emerged, the babe forcefully took her first breath and began squawling. Her father caught her, but struggled to keep her in his arms. She was as strong and as slippery as a live trout. After some confusion navigating the legs, the little girl was held to Kim’s chest. Mother and child still conjoined, Kim wearily stumbled out of the shower, across the bathroom towels, and collapsed on top of the bed still soaking wet.

There was still the afterbirth, but all the fight had left her, specifically her knees. Jimmy wrapped more blankets and towels on top of her. He stepped back and took in this unorthodox nativity scene, which reminded him; “Scissors!” he snapped his fingers.

He rushed downstairs and from different rooms, collected a pair of scissors, a binder clip, and a lighter. He tried to sterilize the scissors with the lighter, but this just smudged the blades black, so he hastily gave up on the lighter and started washing the scissors with dish soap. Then there was a knock at the door. Jimmy flung the door open to meet two paramedics.

“Did you stop for doughnuts?” He yelled exasperated and irate, “What the hell took you so long?!”

“Relax, sir. It’s only been half an hour”

Jimmy looked at the clock on the wall to see that - somehow - they were right.

“Well the baby’s here already! But if you want to check her blood pressure, she’s upstairs”

Neither medic was phased by Saul’s attitude. It was just another day for them. The canvas handbag full of equipment jangled as they went up the stairs. Jimmy was left there, holding a pair of sudsy kitchen shears like an idiot. He dropped the scissors on the counter, grabbed his laptop, and followed after them.

“Blood pressure’s normal. No signs of internal bleeding. No signs of eclampsia. Any sharp abdominal pains or elsewhere?”

“Just a headache” Kim answered as they tore off the velcro cuff.

“Any shortness of breath?”

“No”

While one EMT began to pack up, the other reported to our male protagonist, “Baby’s fine. Mother’s fine. I don’t have a scale, but a pediatrician would probably say 7 ½ lbs.? I’m not supposed to say this, but I think going to the hospital would be a waste. If anything changes, call 911 again; it will probably be us who arrives. Outside of the extreme quickness of the delivery (especially if this is your first child) I’d say this was a completely healthy home birth”

“Yeah, no thanks to you” Jimmy groused as they left the room.

Kim was hypnotized, staring at a crack in the plaster wall. She barely registered when her husband picked up their daughter. He was sitting next to her on the bed now, carefully trying to balance the sleeping bundle in the crook of his arm, while navigating the internet with his free hand.

“Did you have a name in mind?” he asked, already finding his way to a “Names for Girls” webpage.

“I honestly hadn’t even considered it” was her distant, monotone answer.

“A rose is a rose” Jimmy sighed, “But some roses are easier to tease on the playground than others”

“Just as long as it isn’t a flower or a gemstone. I think those are kind of unoriginal”

“Amy? Anne? Alice?”

“Are you just going alphabetically?”

“No!” Jimmy lied as he clicked ahead to some random page somewhere in the middle of the list.

He stopped reading the list outloud.

Haley? No.

Hannah? No.

Hazel?

Heather?

Heidi? No…

Not Holly.

Ida? No.

Ingrid…

Irene… Irene…

“What about… Iris?”

Kim’s eyes snapped open. Suddenly, she could remember it so clearly, the mural could have been painted on her own wall. The carved wooden flower could be envisioned sprouting from that crack. How was this possible? How could she so clearly remember the ending of a movie, she had only seen the beginning of? There were a few logical explanations. Maybe she had watched that movie years ago, and not even seeing it again was enough to jolt the memory loose, until right now. Or maybe she never did see this movie, and her imagination was just vividly filling in an ending, but she was never like this before. There were a few rational explanations, but she couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that the true reason was something irrational. Something fantastic.

“I mean okay, you said no flowers. But just between you and me, we can say that she’s not named after a flower. But you know, the part of the eye. Personally I like it”

“Yes!” She stammered. “I like it. Iris. I’ll make an exception”

Jimmy kept talking, but exhaustion was an undertow, and in Kim’s mind’s eye, the waves were pulling at her ankles, overcoming her surefootedness. Three irises; turn the blue one. A secret door popped open, and it led to a winding neon hallway. Deep deep underground.

https://www.deviantart.com/abettranempire/art/Sheepdog-Eyes-Wide-Open-913428274

[readbooksovermygrave]

I began this year intending to read at least 25 books by the end of 2023 to rekindle my love of reading that I was losing due to severe depression. I was going to be negative and go on about how I'm "behind" on that goal considering I've just finished my first book of the year, but I'd like to think I'm exactly where I need to be in my quest to accomplish my little challenge. If I focus too much on the quantity of books being read rather than the quality of my experience with them, I might as well have read nothing. That being said, my first completed book of 2023 is The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

“When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” With this startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first sentence, Franz Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetlelike insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction." - Scribd

If you're "different" from the rest of society in some way, shape, or form, this one might hit you pretty hard. I found myself relating to Gregor more than I'd like to and was often bristling with rage at his treatment by his family throughout the entirety of the novella. What I found most enjoyable (for lack of a better word) about the story is how you can find some hidden meaning in almost every part of it. I personally interpreted the theme as an allegory to suddenly becoming disabled, especially if the disability requires day-to-day care from family members. It showcases the ugliness of human emotion, especially during a traumatic event (and I suppose few things are more traumatic than waking up and finding out you've somehow turned into a giant beetle) where you need your family to meet you halfway and the heartbreak of seeing that they don't even try to understand you or your situation and ultimately consider you nothing more than burden.

My gripe with the book is probably mine alone, as I have this issue with all classic novels, but the way some parts are written can be a little confusing if you're neurodivergent (like me lol). I found myself having to read some parts a few times to gain a better understanding of what I was reading, but I in no way think that that is a reason to not give this book a try. It isn't a super triggering book, but as always, here is the DTDD link so everyone can see if this is something they'd want to read for themselves:

My final rating for this first milestone in my 2023 challenge is a 4/5! I think it's a timeless classic that's definitely worth reading and a fantastic introduction to Kafka's work if you're just getting into him. For those of you who also challenged yourself to read more this year, good luck and happy reading!

[cuuno-moved]

how to raise a god

(sausage and eddie talk about fatherhood)

No- that’s not quite right- he had a little bit of an idea how to raise a child, but a demigod toddler with solid bone skin and wings of pure void and the ability to change the weather? That was out of his skill set.

Sausage had no idea how to raise a child.

For the most part, it was pretty similar to how he expected raising a child should go: Hermes was able to walk and run, and could ramble for hours, far better than most 3 year olds. He could climb up the couch with no problem, and could throw himself off with even less.

The first time he’d done that, Sausage had nearly had a heart attack- he’d lunged all the way across the room, catching Hermes in just the nick of time, but the toddler had been completely unharmed, and, belatedly, Sausage had realized that of course a demigod of the sky would like to fall- he was probably trying to learn to fly on his own.

He also wouldn’t eat anything but yellow foods. Sausage wasn’t sure if that was because of his god powers, or maybe he was just a difficult kid, but the second Sausage tried to put anything else on his plate, the kid had a complete meltdown, yelling and screaming and making a mess. So yellow it was.

He wasn’t sure how to ask Joel for help. Of course, he knew it should be easy- it took two to accidentally make a magic baby, and Joel swore they’d share responsibility, but still… It was still kind of difficult to talk to Joel face to face, and he didn’t want to admit he needed help.

So he was on his own.

���Eddie,” He asked, over breakfast one day, watching Hermes play outside in the little garden out back. “How did you raise me?”

Eddie grunted in question from the stove where he was scrambling eggs.

“I mean, you didn’t really raise me, but you… you kind of raised me, right? What was I like? Was I like this?”

“Mhm.”

“I was?” Sausage twisted in his seat to watch the lepus cook. “Did I have the same… dietary constraints?”

Eddie shook his head, amused, finally opening his mouth. “No, mijo, but you always hated meat with a passion.”

“Huh,” Sausage blinked, turning back to the toddler outside the window. “Ironic, huh?”

“Your mother used to say it was because you couldn’t imagine eating something you could befriend instead.”

Sausage laughed ruefully at that, reaching out a hand to bat a fly away from his head. “Yeah, she was probably right.”

Eddie didn’t respond to that, just cooking away silently.

There was silence, after that. Not an uncomfortable one- silences were rarely uncomfortable in this house- and it seemed to permeate the air along with the smells of eggs and garlic and the veggies Eddie had on the back burner. The early dawn sunlight filtered through the bright curtains as they stirred in the warm coastal breeze, sounds of the bustling village outside paired with Hermes’ sounds and the constant click click click of Sausage’s rings on the table.

“Am I… am I doing a good job raising him, do you think?”

Eddie remained silent for a moment longer, taking in a deep breath and running a hand down his nose. “I think so.”

“I just… he’s so not human. He’s so different. I don’t know what’s… what I should be protecting him against, and what I should be encouraging,” Sausage’s voice was quiet, but he kept going, kept pressing on. “And I’m so worried that he’s either… he’s not going to be able to grow without getting stronger, but I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Did you know that the first time you came over to my forge, you tried to eat an avocado, and I almost had a heart attack?”

“What?”

“Your mother had dropped you off at the forge with a baggy of snacks, and you pulled out an avocado and got ready to eat it,” Eddie chuckled at the memory, shaking his head. “Lepuses don’t eat avocados, and I thought… I thought you were going to die, right then and there. Raising a child- especially a child who’s another species- it’s hard, mijo.”

Sausage stayed quiet, watching where Hermes had found what looked like a beetle and was crouching to gaze at it with wide eyes. “I guess so.”

“And I know so,” Eddie dumped the eggs into a bowl, coming over to ruffle Sausage’s hair affectionately. “Now, eat up. You have a long day ahead of you, if you intend to make that windmill actually work.”

[commander-gloryforge]

all of them? all 34 of them? sure, yea! long post incoming! (i sadly cant add pictures of all of them because tumblr limit weh)

WRENNIH

Wrennih "Wren", he/him, asura mesmer. he left behind the funding for his projects, his security and his then girlfriend at the inquest when he realized that maybe, it wasnt worth it. he joined the pact during HoT and has followed the footsteps of the commander whenever he could in order to "redeem" himself as much as possible.

RYUMI

Kang Ryumi, she/her, sylvari warrior. canthas biggest pop icon, and only sylvari. was kicked from her record lable just before she could finally go on her world tour, and now she's an independent artist trying to rebuild herself without the financial support and harsh rules of her company. aside from her idol career, she is also a skilled fighter, and may have played a bigger part in the battle of the harvest temple than one might think.

HAOYU

Liang Haoyu, he/him, human engineer. a vampire that's lived for... a couple of years now. he's watched his home be frozen in jade, has seen his family, friends, lovers, his kind die in front of his eyes, and yet he remains positive, loving, and bright. he is an artist and musician, and has mastered pretty much every intrument on tyria in his many many years of existing.

KIKO

Arachnologist Kiko, they/them, asura ranger. asshole, piece of shit, worst weed dealer ever. technically inquest but they don't want to associate with them anymore. loves spiders, and only spiders. oh, and they also love making anyones life hell. as in, theyre just really annoying, on purpose, and it sucks the life out of anyone that comes across them.

CYNORION

Cynorion "Cyno", he/him, sylvari ranger. a second born with a love for all things sweet. he was once a mender, tryed himself as a warden, attenpted to train sylvan hounds, but in the end, nothing sticks. cyno struggles to find a purpose for himself, even after all these years.

MERRYDAN

Merrydan "Mer", he/him, sylvari necromancer. also just kind of an asshole. he doesnt have much of a story or a personality, he's just a little guy. a bit evil, but not a lot. i mean, look at him. does that face look evil?

JUNO

Juno Spiritshatter, they/she, charr mesmer. tyrias best ghost hunter. they have a special connection to the mists, allows them to communiate with spirits than many may not see. she will also threaten those spirits if they haunt someones house without permission. GHOSTS IF YOU HEAR ME KICK ME IN THE BA- AUAGHAGAGAGAH!!!! FUCK YEAAAAAA!!!!!

LORELEI

Lorelei Celesia, she/her, norn elementalist. most wanted beetle racer in DR for crashing into minister's houses constantly. best friend of vinzz and ambrose. she's confident and loud and bold and loves speed. speed. FIRE! speed. big fan of ryumi and various other canthan musical artists, by the way. she's got a hammer and violence comes natural to her.

VINZZ

Vinzz Celestia, he/him, asura engineer. yes his lastname is celestia. just as a little fuck you to asuran traditions. vinzz was a gifted kid and thrown into college at a way too young age just to drop out instantly again and run away to lions arch where he met lorelei. she picked him up and now theyre legally siblings. also he has a massive crush on ambrose. like some kind of loser.

VESTA

Vesta Blazestrike, she/her, charr guardian. a tragic tale of rage and fear. betrayed by her warband and very own legion, she now wanders as a gladium, seen as a traitor to her kind. shes bad at expressing herself through words, so she chooses to do so through violence instead.

AYZEELIA

Ayzeelia "Zeeli", she/they, sylvari thief. she was drawn to the crystal desers from the second she awoke. then, she died, and woke a second time. ayzeelia became and awakened and was tasked with tending plants and animals under joko. after his death, she now roams the desert as a free sylvari, though her limbs pop off every now and then.

DANIELLE

Danielle "Dani" Lockhart, she/her, human necromancer. though she is the sister of a known seraph, she herself joined the bandits early in life. her very own brother, "captain" sebastian lockhart was tasked with raiding the bandit camp and killing what had become her family. she swore to take revenge- though someone was quicker than her. she is now a "friend" of ambrose- or at least an ally.

CHRYSTA

Chrysta Dawncaller, she/her, norn guardian. chrys doesnt have much of a story yet, i just really wanted a new norn so i made her. she has commander vibes to be honest. minus all the. uh. trauma. i still have to think about what i wanna do with her but shes my babygirl shes stunning shes perfect

DEMIAN

Demian, she/her, asura revenant. owner of LAs most normal night club, the haunt, and part time demonologist. full time, maybe. there are demons in her night club. she gets rid of them easily tho dw. dont worry about the goop. she loves money and capitalism and preying on peoples trauma and shes kind of valid for that ig. shes also recently teamed up with the astral ward.

CHUHUAHUA

Chuhuahua Chuhua, they/them. "asura" "revenant". guild warsified the awful little lala i made in ffxiv. chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua chuhuahua

BYUNGJOON

Song Byungjoon, he/him, human warrior. canthan cowboy, witha love for gambling, drinking, flirting. dont worry about the draconic energy by the way. thats not weird at all. hes normal about soowon also. its fine hes just a regular silly little cowboy man

NAGISA

Nagisa Shadowshot, they/them, human thief. formerly a shrine maiden, now outlaw. what byungjoon considers to be his sister. they're smart, quick, cunning. a magical aura surrounds them, and sometimes their shadow is quicker than them. they're the voice of reason. most of the time.

THESWYN

Theswyn, he/him???, sylvari mesmer engineer. one of the first sylvari born after the pale tree recovered from mordremoth- he's a bit wrong. he's very large, and very strong, and kind of a himbo, but more annoying. technically a mesmer, but he's dedicated his time to crafting making little things instead.

PERIYA

Periya, she/any, sylvari necromancer. my raid/strike character on eu, unofficially my main. lorewise she MAY be some kind of mercenary hopping through realities to help ~ the commander ~ take on certain fights. she's been fighting the same enemies over and over again, but honestly, helping different tyrias never gets tiring.

TASHA

Tasha Spiritecho, she/her, charr revenant. Seer and some sort of strange therapist. leader of the spirit warband, though it's more of a family. she takes in anyone that has special connections to life, death and everything beyond.

HELENA

Helena Desertsong, she/??????her?????, norn warrior. Periyas girlfriend. strong and large and beautiful and kind of an emo scene queen.

RUNN

"Swordguy" Runn, he/him, asura guardian. just a friendly guy, really not much going on with him. he loves swords, because he is a swordguy, and he loves running. he is a willbender, by the way, if you couldnt tell by all the running and the swords.

ELISA

Rifthunter Elisa, she/her, human ranger. has been with the astral ward for a very... very... long time. hey isnt it suspicious that this girl hasnt really... aged in 200 years? whatever. she recently teamed up with demian after a krypits rift opened in the Haunt. the two are an interesting team.

BO

Bo, MUSICAL GENIUS, she/her, asura mesmer. she is all about the vibes. bo is the greatest musical producer of all time, except that she absolutely sucks. like HARD. like HOLY SHIT her music is so bad. but she's so cute! she's such a cute girlypop! come on listen to her new album!!!!!

AYILI

Ayili "Ay" of Night, they/them, sylvari mesmer. iliya's pod twin. evil piece of shit. theyve never really been connected to the dream, or to anyone for that matter. they joined the nightmare court, but left after the hot disaster. perhaps sometimes their heart is still within nightmare, but theyve joined the whispers lately to find an equally gloomy but less evil place for themselves. they also work for jopp, together with il.

ILIYA

Iliya "Il" of Night, they/them, sylvari revenant. ayili's pod twin. they've always had a deep connection to the dream, to the pale tree, to the teachings of ventari, and they've made it their goal to spread his teachings as far as they can. they welcomed their twin back with open arms when ayili abandoned the nightmare, though they may be the only one putting so much faith into them. they currently work for jopp, together with ay.

LUCIEN

Lucien "the Lost", he/him, human elemantalist. Died and came back just right. he used to be a priest for some god, but died early. until his god deicded to bring him back to become their herald- sadly, lucien wasn't good enough, and soon was discarded without memories and a sense of self. now he just kind of wanders around, and currently works for jopp. though at the back of his head, theres still a voice calling him to be the divine herald he was meant to be.

JOPP

Jumping and Popping Jopp, he/him, asura thief. grumpy old man, but also he's only in his mid 40s or so. he's with the inquest, and quite a smart guy, but usually ovrshadowed by his rival, who gets all the fame by stealing HIS work. jopp has had enough, and has hired a team of "skilled" fighters to take revenge and Do Other Stuff. I dont think he really knows what he's supposed to do with his new lackeys.

ENIKA

Enika Thunderborn, she/her, norn engineer. the youngest of jopps gang. enika is the daughter of two notorious pirates that could call upon the sea and the storm. sadly, theyre dead. and the crew she joined after she lost her parents sucks, and is also mostly dead. well! good thing jopp isnt dead. she loves annoying that old man.

VOICE OF THE CROW

???, he/?, asura necromancer. a little guy that was stupid, or perhaps brave enough, to enter a pact with a mysterious... "bird". now everytime he feels threatened by someone he blows them up. kinda deserved tbh. slay

RYUJIN

Ryujin, she/any, sylvari thief. a sapling from a mysterious canthan tree. i gotta talk more about that tree actually theres a lot to say about it ehe :3c anyways ryujin is from the same tree as ryumi, and the first new sapling in 20 years. her dream consisted of basically vaguely seeing ryumis life play out, and thus jinnie is just as in love with music as her. shes currently just trying to figure out what the fuck is going on :) she is 0 years old

ARIN

Jung Arin "Arin Silversong", she/honestly call her what you like, human guardian. with a passion for music, she saw an opportunity opening up at agency of former pop sensation ryumi. shes famous now! cool! yippie! arin has everything they ever wanted, fame, money, adoration- just no freedom. she cant really be herself anymore. she doesnt really have an identity anymore. but at least shes famous, right?

MINKKI

Minkki, she/(it?), asura ranger. minkki trusts noone. except for the earth on which she stands, and the animals that follow her. she is a loney, or has become one after every person she knew had broken her trust. even her mother. even her father, even in death. she is now on a mission to steal every animal that is being treated badly, to take it home, and to give it the life it deserves.

MANIA

Mania Dreameater, she/her, charr mesmer. most beautiful butch cat on earth. so mean. so scene. shes my newest addition and i just made her for raids so im unsure on her personality yet, but im thinking maybe. that shes astral ward. maybe. idk cute cat :3

Not that anyone ever needs a reason to post their characters, but I know some people get inside their head and squirrely so here you go, community prompt: Show off characters you have created this year! Go!