#i want to at the very least get my banner up before i go linking it properly but like

[duskgryphon]

btw. i’ve been setting up a funny little neocities site finally :]

[lucysarah-c]

Levi's horrible flirting skills part 5.

Will I start using my own art as banners? Yeah, 'cause I can lmao.

Masterlist link to all the previous parts.

Footsteps against the muddy ground, the little snow that had fallen in the south melted easily and only served as nourishment to the mud. Levi’s combat boots made it easier for him to take one sturdy step after another, hands inside the pockets of the scout’s green trench coat. Eyes fixed on the ground, dark rebel locks fell to the sides of his face as only his nose peeked through the scarf, creating a fog rhythmically in front of his face. 

He took the muddiest side of the country road out of respect, it felt natural to him. Quickly, his eyes spotted that certain parts of the road were already frozen, “Careful-” 

But before he could actually voice it, instinctively he stopped to catch her as her shoes slipped. Her little squeezed scream paired with her movements as she gripped his arms for support. 

Levi, who was unfazed by her grip or the tricky winter ground, clicked his tongue, “I told you to be careful,” he said, but despite his words, his voice was calm and protective. 

“Ah, yes. My uniform isn’t really designed for a trip to the forest, is it?” she commented between chuckles, but they seemed mostly out of nerves because there wasn’t anything funny going on. 

Unfazed on the outside, Levi’s attention was fixed on his extended arms surrounding her frame but without touching her. She could easily grip any of his forearms for support, but he, who wasn’t a fan of physical contact, tried not to touch her. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he didn’t want to overstep. The only thought crossing his mind as she tried to get both of her feet on steady land was looking at her hands, imagining them around his. 

This could easily be a routine of theirs, him making sure she reached the ferry station safely as she came over to visit him. Walking side by side, fingers intertwined. But that was a daydream still far away, and Levi quickly realized this as she placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Well... not actually, it was more like a cheek against cheek as she pressed the side of her face against his and made a kissing sound without her lips actually touching his skin. 

He frowned and slightly pushed back, mostly out of surprise. 

“Oops, sorry-” she said cheekily, recalling both of them how they first met, “I forgot that tough-up soldiers don’t give kisses.” It was mockery. 

“Thank you, Captain.” 

Levi raised his right hand, taking it out of his pocket and imitated her wave back but with far less enthusiasm. Greeting with kisses, something that he had only seen between women but it seemed that in the capital it was also exchanged between men and women. He found it a bit too personal for his taste, but that was because he didn’t even shake hands usually. 

‘I’m a tough-up soldier... I’ll gladly receive a kiss from you.’ 

His hand lowered slowly as he observed her aboard, as an eagle his attention was inflexible. Levi didn’t realize he was holding his hand up until that moment, ‘what an idiot.’ 

But as his bare right hand began to feel the winter weather compared to how warm it was inside his pockets, the freezing air against his skin was a cold wash of reality; they didn’t walk holding hands, it was just a dream. ‘Four-eyes was right... I’m not even trying.’ 

For dreams to come true, you must wake up and work on real life. He was determined. Her welcoming smile from the ferry that began, and a new waving hand to him that was still waiting at the bottom, looking at her. 

“Cap!” She screamed. 

And he couldn’t help but smile very softly at the picture of her face from the top of the boat. 

“Enjoy the cake!” 

Levi’s smile dropped slowly, ‘Eventually I’ll have to fucking tell her that I don’t like sweet shit...’ 

‘Oh well... problems of future’s Levi.’ 

Since then, he was a man with a mission. ‘She asked me for a friend, so at least she doesn’t think I’m a fucking creep.’ 

Seeing the glass half full? That’s exactly what Levi was going to start to do. Baby steps. It’s not that he crossed paths with her continuously, especially when they were not going outside on expeditions. He began to do a mental list; Sweet stuff, flowers, cats, and allergic to nuts. He certainly could come up with something. 

‘Maybe I could write a letter... thank her for the cake.’ 

‘Let’s not carry on the idea that you like that, I don’t like to fucking lie to her.’ 

‘Wouldn’t it be weird that you wrote a letter out of nowhere? Plus, what the hell are you going to write there? ‘Thanks for the cake, I don’t like it, but Hange did.’ No, no, let’s leave the letters to poets and their smooth shit.’ 

And so on, he wished he was as decisive as he was in battle in his romantic life. But as soon as he saw his chance, Levi was confident about taking it. Military event, the weather had gotten better, they were about to leave for an expedition in a couple of days. Had he protected the piece of cake that he was given at the end of the dinner with his life from Hange? Yes, an easier task was retaking Wall Maria. 

“Come on! You’re not going to eat it!” 

“I’ve seen Titans less persistent than you.” 

Levi felt particularly judged walking down the hallways as he switched buildings of the military and went to the main hospital. MPs recognized him in the streets, citizens whispered his name, and he felt a ginormous power to turn around and forget it all. 

‘This is stupid.’ 

‘Well, sometimes you gotta do some stupid shit to get what you want ... I just wished I did this sort of stupid shit when I was young enough to be too hormonal or drunk to care.’ 

“Y/N?” he asked at the front desk, “Is she on service?” 

The other two girls exchanged a look, one took a sip of her tea to hide her raising smirk and the other replied, “Give me a minute, Captain.” 

She rushed behind to the staff-only section and Levi felt particularly impatient. ‘What the hell am I going to tell her? I got a piece of cake and thought of you? No, that’s ridiculous. Then why the fuck am I doing here?! I don’t know!’ 

“Captain?” her voice, her almost closed eyes as she tried to force them open, her hair messy. 

‘I want to see her... I want to see her before I leave to that hell out there.’ 

“Captain, is everything alright?” She asked worriedly, as she moved between the furniture of the hospital’s archive. Her hands hastily tried to ease out her clothes. 

‘Fucking shit...’ he imagined her waking up by his side, drowsy, bed hair and tossed clothes. But as she grew closer, he grew speechless. 

“Is everything alright? Is it an emergency?” Her worried tone made him snap. 

“Yes,” “No,” he replied monosyllabically. 

“Then... what are you-” 

“For you,” Levi acted almost instinctively, pushing the gift in her direction. “No nuts so I don’t fucking kill you.” 

Her lips remained parted while processing the situation, once sense came back into her, she slowly accepted the gift. “Why thank you...” she said in a trance, “Did something happen, Captain-” 

“Levi.” 

“Huh?” 

“My name is Levi.” 

He dodged the question. And while he felt it was only him and her there as her eyes shined in surprise, the truth is that people walked past by them in a hurry to fulfil their tasks. 

“You... you’re leaving, right?” she broke the awkward silence, “To an expedition, I mean.” 

Levi nodded. 

“I hope you return safe. I’ll volunteer to the medical brigade for the return.” 

The mere idea of her waiting at the improvised medical camp they always had to check the soldiers and help the wounded once they returned from outside the walls was enough to make him excited and hopeful. Both necessary emotions when you’re going to face death. 

‘That’ll be a hell of a blessing.’ 

“You’ll be useful there,” Levi replied. 

He knew it was almost disrespectful to be waiting for it; his comrades died, mothers lost their sons, kids lost their mothers. Everyone had their expectations of him, but he was only human. A man who wanted to just catch at least a glimpse of his girl’s face to make it seem like returning from hell had some sort of value. 

Once most of the soldiers had been cared for, Levi searched through the crowd, peeking through the people, getting on his tiptoes to get some height to spot her. 

‘There you are.’ He felt second-hand embarrassment for how excited he got, but as he took steady steps closer, the emotions withdrew slowly. 

Her eyes were reddish and transparent, long face and trembling lips. 

‘No... why are you crying? Who do I have to kill? Give me a name.’ 

Knuckles of a bigger hand began to caress her cheek. She looked up as his knuckle turned into his thumb, softly loving her face. He was dressed in a white overall that clearly indicated he was a doctor. 

‘Who the hell is he?’ Levi quickly felt the anger boiling. He knew he was being irrational, but he had just come back from risking his life; his mind was not seeing reason. 

“Is this a museum?” the doctor, who seemed younger than Levi anticipated, asked cheekily. 

Y/N looked up at him confused. ‘Why the fuck is he so hella tall?’ 

“Then what are two art pieces doing here, you,” as he said that, Y/N gasped, blushed, and smiled shyly, “And that smile.” 

‘He made her smile... he made her smile and blush.’ 

Levi’s steady pace up to them lost its confidence. She noticed him and smiled softly, welcoming, but that didn’t make the Captain feel better. The doctor realized his presence and probably decided to carry on with the rest of his tasks, not without moving past her by dragging his hand across the bottom of her back and giving her waist a little squeeze as he smiled. 

“Levi, I’m so happy you made it back.” 

But those words and her friendly squeeze of his forearms went unnoticed as Levi’s surgical observation caught all that, and he couldn’t hide his unfriendly stare at the man. 

‘Cut your fucking hand off and feed it to pigs before touching her like that without her permission.’ 

— 

“I don’t like the asshole.” 

“You don’t like him, or you’re just jealous he’s charming?” Hange asked as they spun around in their desk chair. “Or that he’s almost as tall as Erwin.” 

“Tch, I don’t like the asshole. Nothing to do with that frivolous shit.” 

‘Perhaps a little bit.’ 

Hange chuckled and rolled their eyes. “Your reasons?” 

Levi rose from his seat, exasperated, walking around the brunette’s office like a caged lion. “Do I have reasons? Yeah. Good reasons? Yeah. How many reasons do I need? None. My intuition has never failed me to spot out jerks.” 

Suddenly, now that he was back to work and had excuses to visit her more frequently, he was always there. The way he always found a way to rest his hand on the bottom of her back right above her ass, squeeze her waist friendly, run a hand through her hair, smile at her. 

“Doesn’t he have better shit to do?” Levi muttered annoyed, observing from a distance at how he said something that made her laugh. 

“Well, he’s at his job,” Erwin replied, mocking him as the captain’s attitude seemed childish. 

“I love how your hair looks in that,” the doctor casually commented. 

It ate Levi from the inside how she began to make it her usual look. ‘That’s the kind of shit you should’ve been saying, but you’re stupid!’ 

Levi hated it. It made him grit his teeth in uncontrolled fury how she always smiled with blushed cheeks and hopeful eyes as she looked at him. ‘She’s just too naive and doesn’t fucking notice that he’s obviously trying to take advantage.’ 

“You’re just jealous; it won’t hurt you to admit it.” 

Levi clicked his tongue, muttering against the hand that held his head, “He fucking stinks, he just wants to get between her legs.” 

“Like you?” Hange joked around as they raised their eyebrows and smirked at their friend. 

“Tch,” he straightened up, offended. “Don’t fucking compare me to him.” 

‘I mean, yes... but no!... I’ll do it respectfully.’ 

One thing was Capital people being too frivolous about their personal space, and another was that Levi always caught him playfully around another girl. 

‘The dude has more hands than an octopus, and none of them are ever over his own fucking body.’ 

The mere idea of him taking advantage of her, of her kindness, made Levi clench his fist. It was very early; Levi had just come out of an extraordinary meeting with the military board that lasted all night long. 

Perhaps he should have given it a thought when he had slept better, not that he slept plenty, but at least he knew how to normally function with three hours of sleep. It was too early to get any transport back to the scout's facility, so he was just doing time as Erwin talked to investors. On the other hand, she was a fresh early bird working at her position quietly as it was a calm morning. 

She seemed radiant, rosy cheeks and smooth hair... hair in the same style he had praised. ‘For fuck's sake,’ it rubbed him the wrong way. 

“Oi,” Levi decided to interrupt her monologue; he was slacked against a wall, bent slightly over with arms crossed. ‘Show her that you care,’ Hange's words echoed in his mind. 

“Yes?” She was archiving paperwork and organizing reports. 

“That asshole... one of the doctors in your division.” 

“Matty?” She quickly filled in the information, “What about him? Do you need him?” Her attention briefly moved to the clock on the wall, “He won’t be here until later on; he had the night shift today.” 

Levi clicked his tongue, looking in another direction, ‘she doesn’t even suspect him.’ 

“No,” he spat out, “Look, keep your guard up around him. Don’t be stupid.” 

Y/N turned around confused, her eyebrows drawn together in mixed emotions. 

‘I’m just trying to protect you.’ 

Levi felt her attention. His steps echoed around the whitish walls of the empty hospital, keeping his head down as he approached. “I’m just saying that stupid little spoiled brats from the Capital like you sometimes don’t realize it, but morons like him aren’t playing friendly.” 

“Excuse me? What did you say?” 

That was the moment Levi should have noticed the change in her tone and the frown switching from confused to angry. 

The click of his tongue was mostly because he didn’t know how to phrase it better, “I’m just saying, dummy,” he swore his tone was caring as his calloused hand from continuous hours of training reached out to caress her forearm tenderly, “that you may be too stupid for your own good and be all nice and friendly, but don't be stupid and do what I tell you." 

‘I care about you and I know firsthand how those assholes abuse their power around girls. I’ll beat the living shit out of him if he ever makes you feel uncomfortable.’ 

Levi swore he had been tender. He wished to run his thumb over her cheek and show her how she could rely on him, how much he was there for her, for her safety. 

“Captain,” Y/N’s tone made Levi snap up as he had his attention focused on his hand that was trying to connect with her, “Who the hell gave you the authority to tell me who I should get involved with?” 

“Ehm-” 

Levi took a step back, confused, as she looked back at him with anything but friendliness. 

“I’ve lived alone my entire life, I have a career, and the last thing I need is a man telling me that I’m too stupid for my own good,” she said, arms resting on her hips as her angry eyes burned into his. 

The cold water’s shock made any quick reply he had to fix the misunderstanding completely vanish, “No—” 

“I respect you for your work and because you’re a close friend of Erwin. But you’re not my father, nor my boss, to tell me what to do and, much less, that I don’t know how to take care of myself,” Y/N snapped a couple of folders on the desk, “If you’re looking to control someone’s life, I recommend adopting a dog. I have work to do. Have a nice day.” 

Levi stood there frozen in his place, perplexed. ‘Wait... is it wrong that I found it hot that she knows how to tell people to fuck off?’ 

“Fuck —” 

Link to my masterlist and my other works if you feel like checking them out. Tags!: @nube55 @justkon @notgoodforlife @nmlkys @humanitys-strongest-bamf @quillinhand @thoreeo @darkstarlight82 @angelofthor @aomi04 @levisbrat25 @l3visthighs @hum4n-wr3ckag3 @hannieslovebot @starrylevi @rithty @mariaace @ackrmntea @emilyyyy-08 @levisfavoriteteashop @katestrophes @levistealeaf @an-ever-angry-bi @youre-ackermine @fxnnyackerman @secretmoneybearvoid @trashblackrainbow @flxrartsstuff @katharinasdiaryy @levisecretgfblog @searriously @blackdxggr @ackermanswifee @galactict3a @abiatackerman @braunsbabe @moonchild-12345 @lemonsupernova @hyuckwon-my-husbands @heyitsd1yaa @sydneyyuu @love-for-faeries-go-burrrr @mandaax @sugacor3 @r0ckst4rjk @vegetasgirl2799 @catiwinky @pinksaiyans @sparklykeylime @hagridshaircare Wanna join my tag list? Here! You don't appear on this list? Do not worry! there's a limit of tags and I'll add you in the comments <3

[thisisarcanereverie]

Welcome to Westview

A/N: Hey! it's been a while since I've written anything (writers block on top of various other concerns) and with AAA coming out I've been wanting to write another Wanda fic and I've had this idea for a while now. I've actually written 3 chapters in this series in advance so the updates on this should be pretty consistent.

Link to Series Masterlist

Link to Marvel Masterlist

Summary: in 1980's Westview, you move into town and are quickly meet your new neighbors.

Warnings: Slight Cussing, Loki x Reader x Wanda love triangle

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, they are property of Marvel I do however own the banner down below.

‘This is good,” you told yourself, ‘this will be the new start I need.”  

You count the raindrops that glide down the window pane of your seat on the bus, you still have quite a ways to go yet to your destination and your mind refuses to be quiet enough for you to catch a few minutes of rest. You silently cursed yourself for not bringing your book onto the bus with you instead of leaving it snug within your suitcase. So to entertain yourself you’ve been counting the raindrops as Billy Joel plays softly in the background. In between counting and cursing you’ve been giving yourself small pep talks about how this ‘fresh start’ was going to change everything and be everything you hoped–no– everything you needed it to be. 

Westview had to be everything you hoped it would be. 

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The rain was still coming down as the bus arrived at your stop, while annoying, you were just thankful it wasn’t a torrential downpour. The walk from the stop to your new home while unpleasant, at least wasn’t far, you wore sensible shoes for this very reason. You were the only one that filed out along with two other passengers, a regular looking woman with a blonde bob and the other was someone you hadn’t even noticed before. He had been tall, with dark gelled hair and green eyes that adorned a well sculpted face. He had this aura of refinement that didn’t fit someone who had taken a greyhound bus to get off at a stop in a town that no one has even heard of, in New Jersey of all places. Nevertheless you tore your eyes away from this enigma and continued on your small quest to gather your luggage before starting on your journey to your new home. 

You thanked the driver as he handed you your two suitcases, heavy with clothes and other personal belongings that you had taken with you rather than shipped. Your hands gripped the handles tightly as you took a deep breath, ready to face the journey. However before you even stepped five steps away from the stop you felt a tap on your shoulder and turned around. 

“I’m sorry,” it was the refined man from earlier,  “but do you have a ride?” His voice had a nice timber to it that was attached to a subtle english accent. 

“No I don’t,” You said, “but it’s alright, where I’m heading isn’t far from here.” 

“Let me drive you,” he said, pointing to a sleek black car just two steps away, “my car is right there, there should be enough room for your luggage in the back seat.”

“I’ll be alright,” you tried to assure him but he shook his head. 

“My mother raised a gentleman,” he explained, “if I let a lady walk in the freezing rain she would string me up by the hair on my head.”

“We’re strangers,” you start, “how do I know you’re not some murderer?” You see him smile at that and chuckle slightly before pointing towards the shop close to his car. 

“I’m Loki Laufeyson, I run the Westview Gazette,” he reached out his hand toward you, “and I assure you, as someone whose job is to report the news, Westview is a poor place to commit any crime–especially murder. Everyone and their great Aunts cousin will know the second it happens and know exactly who did it in five. Word travels faster in a small town than the speed of light, it sometimes seems.” You shake his hand, which almost engulfed your own, “and now that we’re strangers no more, may I please take your bags to the car and get out of the rain.” 

You hesitate for a minute as you weigh your options, you either walk for 20 minutes in the rain or you take a chance and trust Loki Laufeyson…

Well, to hell with caution. 

“Ok,” you relented, handing off one of the bags to the dark haired man, “I’m going to trust that you’re not going to dismember and scatter my remains throughout rural New Jersey.”

“I’m honored,” he snags the other one as well, a mischievous smile on his lips, “shall we?” Before you could insist on carrying at least one of your two suitcases of luggage he swiftly grabbed both and made his way to the car. Hastily you followed him, opening the door to the backseat so that he could place the luggage inside. Once done you barely register him moving past. He opens the door to the passenger seat and you hopped in, your hand doesn’t get the chance to reach for the handle before he closes the door for you. You guess he wasn’t kidding when he said that he was a gentleman. 

“Where to?” He asks once in the driver's seat, brushing his dark and wet hair back and putting the keys in the ignition. 

“2803 Sherwood Drive,” you replied as the engine of the vehicle roared to life, “it should only be a few minutes from here.”

“That it should,” he said, pulling out of the parking spot, a moment of silence passed before he spoke again, “so what brings you to Westview, it can’t be for sightseeing, not that there’s much to see. Visiting family or friends perhaps?”

“No,” you respond, “nothing like that. I’m actually moving here.” 

“Why would anyone move here?”

“A new start,” you say absently as you watch the storefronts and townspeople with umbrella’s passing by.

“Alone?” 

You look over to your new acquaintance and see a curious expression, “yeah,” you say, offering a smile, “but that’s not a bad thing, sometimes the best start to a new life is one where you start alone.” 

 “You are a curious person.” You hear him remark as he turns the corner, you see his eyes glance over at you momentarily before turning them back on the road. 

“And you ask a lot of questions.” 

“Part of the job I’m afraid,” 

You see your street come into view, “Pull over to the house with the blue flowers in the front,” you unbuckle your seatbelt as he pulls over and turn to him, “Thank you for the ride Mr. Laufeyson.”

“Call me Loki,” He says as you were about to exit you hear him speak, “you never did tell me your name.” 

You smile and introduce yourself before finally exiting the car fully, quickly you grab your two suitcases and close the door before he has the chance to do it for you. You get a few steps in before you hear him again, you turn and see he’s rolled the window down. 

“By the way,” you could barely hear him, the rain getting heavier now, “I like your name.” You smile and wave him goodbye, as he does the same. You turn and walk the rest of the way to the front door where you set one case down the fish the keys from your jacket and then enter. You close the door as you hear Loki driving off, you then lean your back against it as you turn on the lights. 

The home you’ve bought for yourself wasn’t large, two bedrooms, one to serve as your office and the other as a bedroom. It was a little outdated in terms of style, but it had a sunken living room that you couldn’t help but love and exposed brick. The walls were a kind of orange yellow that you were sure were because of cigarette smoke, but once you’ve washed the walls you’ll decide on what color to paint them. White was timeless and versatile but something like a burnt orange or muted brown was calling out to you. You would probably head to the hardware store this weekend and check it out, either way despite the shag carpeting and nicotine stained walls, this home of yours had great bones. For some reason the thought of the renovations and hard work on making this place your own filled you with both dread and anticipation. 

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

The movers had arrived not long after you did. You hadn’t brought much from your old home, having sold most of it, just the couch, tv, and a few other necessities like your desk and bedroom set had survived the great purge along with a few photo and record albums. You’ll buy another record player and picture frames at a later date, along with other decorations like vases and end tables and other necessities like pots and pans and basically everything else. You sold enough at a decent enough price to afford to do that without dipping into the money you’ve earned writing freelance. 

It hadn’t taken long to get settled in, maybe two hours at the most with the most difficult part being getting the bed upstairs and into the bedroom. But once that was done the rest went smoothly, you paid the movers for their services and went about making a list of necessities for your new home with the top ones to be bought immediately like cleaners and alike along with purchasing a vehicle of your own. Most immediate errands can be run on foot but the others required a vehicle–specifically–a vehicle with a large trunk. 

You drew back the thin curtains that the place came with and let the sunlight bleed through, the previous storm having passed a little bit ago and as you looked at the sky and assumed that the worst had passed and doubted it would rain again for the rest of the day. So you grabbed your suitcases from the kitchen and made your way upstairs to quickly change into a different outfit, not particularly wanting to wear the still slightly damp clothing you’ve traveled in to run to the store. You changed into a plain shirt with jeans and a jean jacket, you slipped on your shoes from earlier and grabbed your house keys before exiting. 

You no sooner reached the end of your walkway when you heard someone calling out. At first you weren’t sure if it was for you until you saw the mess of light auburn curls attached to a–frankly–beautiful woman. You waited until the woman caught up with you, which wasn’t long. 

“Hello there,” She said, extending her hand, “I’m Wanda, your neighbor, I would’ve come out sooner but you seemed busy and I didn’t want to bother.” 

“Oh,” you shook her hand, “it wouldn’t have been a bother.” 

“Yes it would’ve,” she smiled, “I get how hectic moving can be, I moved to this slice of heaven a few years ago and I’m still rummaging through a few boxes.” She retracts her hand, “anyways you probably have somewhere to be and I’ve got to get back inside before my boys decide to burn down the house, I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood and if you need anything just holler.” Wanda reaches out to you with her other hand which you only just notice holds a scrap of paper with a series of numbers written elegantly in red ink. “This is my number and again, if you need anything like a cup of sugar or just someone to talk to I’ll answer.” 

“Thank you,” you said, carefully tucking the number safely into your jean pocket, “I’ll definitely call, I don’t really know anyone here so I hope we can be friendly.” 

“I hope so too,” she smiles, “well I don’t want to keep you too long, if you have time tomorrow I have the day off so drop by and we can talk.” 

“That sounds good,” you smile, somehow already excited for tomorrow, “I’ll see you then!” 

“See you!” 

And with that you both parted ways, with you glancing back momentarily before continuing on your errand, less than twenty four hours in and you’ve already made some progress in building a new and better life than the one you’ve had before. 

You glance momentarily at your hands and swear that this time it will be different, no one will know here, and news of you will not travel this far. You will have a better life, you swear it. 

[shiggysimp69]

Hiii ^^ can i ask you something ? A yandere shigaraki who kidnapped is darling aka is favorite streamer ? So a YandereShigarakixfem reader pls^^ have a good day/night💗✨

Omg, I'm finally done! Thanks for the ask :). Sorry but the kidnapping part didn't make it in the story but other than that I tried my best to write what you wanted. I hope you like it 💝. (This is one of my more fucked up stories)

——————————————————————

Your Biggest Fan

Warning: Smut-ish, Hints at noncon, Male masturbation, Obsessive behavior, Tracking, Breaking and entering, Language.

——————————————————————

"PLAYER TWO WINS!"

Tomura scuffed at the words on his screen. He had never lost this many times in all his years of gaming. It was absolutely embarrassing. Especially when it was to a cheat like you. You had to have been cheating. You innocently joined his game saying,

"I've never played this before. Sorry if I'm bad." And you were. You were terrible, awful. He kicked your ass so many times. Game, after game, after game, after game... You would whine and beg for him to let you win or at the very least, go easy on you. And he would simply smile and promise to go easy on you, just to beat the shit out of you anyway. Then it changed. Suddenly, you got the upper hand. He had turned on autopilot at that point so he was completely caught off guard by your sudden increase of skill. For the first time, he lost to you. In the beginning, he was too shocked to be mad. Then, it kept happening. After that day, he couldn't seem to get even a single win. It was beyond embarrassing.

StarPlayer06: "Looks like I win again."

Villain_King444: "You got lucky."

StarPlayer06: "Three times in a row?"

Tomura gritted his teeth.

StarPlayer06: "You should watch my streams. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two."

Streams? Tomura had known you for a few months now but he never really had conversations with you about things that weren't video games. Maybe you'd talk about your job or your friends but that was it. However, he was curious. What did you talk about? Was he on those streams? But most of all, what did you look like...? He shook the thought away. Your "streams" were probably just you acting all slutty to get a bunch of old men to give you money.

Villain_King444: "Not on your life."

StarPlayer 06: "Come on, don't be like that!"

Tomura rolled his eyes.

StarPlayer06: "If you change your mind, here's the link. I'd love to see you there ;)."

Villain_King444: "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm logging off."

StarPlayer06: "Aww. Goodnight :(."

Tomura leaned back in his chair, thinking. He knew he should just go to sleep. He knew he should just forget about it and go on with his life. He knew he had more important things to do. And yet. He sat up and pulled up your account. At first glance, it looked exactly how he thought it would. You had a cutesy username and a similarly cute profile picture and banner. Tomura brushed passed your home page and clicked on your most recent stream. It loaded for a minute before he could hear your soft voice in his headset. His eyes grew wide as your face filled his vision. You were beautiful. You looked totally different from what he had imagined. A light blush spread across his face as you introduced yourself and what game you were about to play. It was some horror game but it didn't matter. Nothing really mattered. Nothing but you.

Hours had gone by and he was still there watching video, after video. How could such a darling girl like you be right in front of his face the whole time without him even knowing? It felt like his whole world got turned upside down. He didn't even realize just how deep he was in your rabbit hole of content until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Tomura jolted up, swiveling around in his chair just to be met with a familiar face.

"Tomura Shigaraki, I'm sorry to disturb you but I brought you breakfast. If you're hungry that is." It was Kurogiri. Tomura sighed as he paused the video and pulled off his headset.

"Yeah... Yeah. I'll eat it." He replied, dazed.

"Are you okay, Tomura?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now get out. I'm busy."

Kurogiri narrowed his eyes but backed down, exiting the room. The door closed with a click and as if on command, Tomura slumped down in his chair. What the hell was that? You were just some girl. That's all you were. Beautiful. But just some chick on the internet. Tomura looked down at the clock on his screen. 9:30am. He scoffed, as he stood up and headed to the bathroom. He needed a shower.

As the day went on, Tomura couldn't stop thinking about you. He wanted to but you plagued his mind like a virus. Your words were stuck in his head like a song. He wanted to keep watching. He needed to keep watching. To see your face, to hear your voice. He hated himself for it but as soon as he returned to his room, he sat down at his desk and pulled up your account once more. Turns out, you were live right then and there. He joined the stream and was instantly hit with a feeling a pleasure. Your sweet voice was all he could hear as he watched you. You had a habit of chatting before actually playing a game; you'd just sit and talk with your audience. Tomura could see how you very obviously skipped the weird messages you received, instead responding to more wholesome things like,

"How are you feeling today?"

"Did you see what happened on the news last night!? Scary!"

"When are you gonna play Trails of Odyssey?"

Your comments always seemed to look like this. It was boring. You had started talking about this new chair you wanted, so Tomura decided to leave a little message of his own.

User5141: [User 5141 donated $200] "Is this enough for it, beautiful?"

He watched as you froze at the amount of money presented to you. A devilish grin formed on his lips as he awaited your response.

"Oh my... Thank you. You really didn't have to do that! It's like four hundred dollars anyway. It's more like a dream chair then something I'm actually aiming for."

You laughed at the end, trying to lighten the situation.

User5141: [User5141 donated $200] "Well then this should be enough. Don't worry about me. You deserve it."

Your eyes widened as you put a hand over your mouth.

"Thank you so much!"

Your reply was muffled by your hands but the look of happiness on your face said all he needed to hear. The comment section was practically bursting with things to say about him. It ranged from calling him a show off to complimenting his generosity. But Tomura didn't really care, the only thing he cared about was you. And you were ecstatic. The fact that he made you happy gave him shivers. If you wanted to be taken care of the only thing you had to do was ask. He was more than willing to pamper such a darling girl. A tightness grew in his pants as he continued to watch you. It was finally time to start the game but now Tomura had more important things to take care of. A wave of relief washed over him as he unzipped his pants. This was gonna be a long night.

Day after day, this became a habit.

"[User5141 donated $200]"

"[User5141 donated $300]"

"[User5141 donated $500]"

Tomura couldn't help it. 700, 800, 900. The high he got just felt too good. 1,000, 2,000. At this rate he was paying your rent. 5,000. Drool fell from his mouth as he watched your face distort in horror. He bucked his hips into his hand once again.

"I... Umm... Thank y-you. It's very appreciated but... I don't wanna be rude but don't you have a life too?"

You gulped, then faked a smile.

User5141: "You are my life."

Your smile wavered but still stood.

"You're so sweet."

Tomura's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he came all over his hand. He loved this. He loved you. But he especially loved how naive you were. The day before, you actually came to him about this "mystery donor." It was exhilarating to know he had such an impression on you. Now maybe you thought about him just as much as he thought about you.

StarPlayer06: "They sent me 2,000 dollars yesterday. It's not like I'm complaining but it's starting to get creepy."

Villain_King444: "Well, they must really like you."

StarPlayer06: "Who's crazy enough to pay someone they don't even know 2,000 dollars!?"

Villain_King444: "Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Literally."

StarPlayer06: ">:( For the record, I feed myself. I appreciate them but I don't need their help."

Villain_King444: "Then what are you gonna do with the money?"

StarPlayer06: "Idk but I've been eating out a lot more."

Villain_King444: "Lucky girl."

StarPlayer06: "Ikr."

Tomura relished in the feeling you gave him. Such a naive girl... However, he still wasn't satisfied. He wanted you to need him. To rely on him and him alone. That's why today he raised the bar. 5,000. But maybe that wasn't enough. 8,000. How would you respond to that? He bit his lip in anticipation, stroking himself another time. He was in heaven.

The next month went by just like that. Him watching your streams, donating ungodly amounts of money, then you two having a conversation about it later. Tomura had no complaints about his life; as long as he could watch you, he was happy. Or at least that's what he thought. He quickly started to realize that wasn't the case. On some days you decide to cut out gaming entirely and just talk. He loved those streams. In this one in particular you wanted to show everyone the outfit you just bought. The outfit you bought with his money. You stood up and there it was. You looked stunning. Tomura wanted to reach out and grab you, yank you, pull you, wreck you. But you were on the other side of the screen.

Another time, you had a guest over. He was a tall, young looking man, probably the same age as you. The chat went crazy when he showed up, saying all sorts of dumb things like,

"Is he your boyfriend!?"

"You two look so cute together!"

"I wish I was him."

Tomura hated it. He wanted to reach through the screen and wring his neck. You continued to tell your audience that he was just a friend but Tomura wasn't buying it. How could he know for sure unless he was there? Unless he was there... The idea shot into his mind like a bullet. Why couldn't he be there? Why couldn't he be the one you talked to everyday? That you invited onto your streams? That your horny viewers envied? You two were made for each other and it was time to stop pretending like you weren't. If you didn't need him now, he was gonna make you need him. Tomura smiled as he dropped his final donation on your stream.

User5141: [User5141 donated $1] "See you soon."

Tomura had always been a good hacker. That's why when it came to finding people for the league, he was the guy. As long as they had a device, he could find them. The fact that you were already live made this child's play. He had your location within minutes. You lived in the city right next to him. Not even out of state... Not that it would have mattered. He would have found some way to fly out there. But with this, he only needed to take a train.

It was 8:00pm and you just finished your stream for the day. You sighed, stood up from your chair, and walked to bed. You grabbed your phone and simply laid on your back above the covers. You were too tired to do anything but lay there. Your eye lids were heavy and no matter how much you blinked, the feeling of exhaustion didn't go away. You sighed as you put your phone back in its place. Your body decided more than your mind to just stare at the ceiling and let sleep wash over you. There was a subtle creak that came from your closet but it fit right in with all the other noises of the night, causing your brain to filter it out. Big mistake... The wind got harshly knocked out of you as something heavy sat on your stomach. Your eyes shot open and there was a person.

"I've been waiting so long for this moment..."

You screamed and tried to sit up just to be harshly pushed down again.

"Is that any way to treat a fan?"

They had a tight grip on your arms pinning them to your sides. The pain from their nails digging into your skin kept you quiet.

"Oh you're absolutely lovely... How did I get so lucky with you?"

You stared at them, your features all scrunched up in fear. They tilted their head.

"What's with that look? Don't you know who I am?"

"N-No." You replied, your voice barely above a whisper.

"Does Villain King ring any bells?"

Your eyes widened.

"Oh and... Your highest donor..."

Your blood ran cold. It was him the whole time. Then he was even crazy enough to track you down and break into your home.

"Why...?" Was all you could mange to ask.

"I thought that would be obvious. It's because I love you."

"Love me? H-How could you possibly love me!?" You asked, anger and sadness swelling in your throat and coating your words.

"How could I not!? You're nice, caring, funny. You have the body of a goddess and the voice of an angel. You're the most perfect person I've ever met."

You swallowed hard as his words hit your ears. Slowly the moon peeked through the window illuminating the room and your intruder. His face was scarred and wrinkled with a little birth mark below his lips. His crimson eyes pierced your soul, giving you shivers. He looked at you like prey. The lamb. And the wolf.

A groan escaped his lips, breaking your trance.

"You turn me on so much, you know...?" He said, letting one of your arms go to lift his hoodie. Sweat rolled down your face as you watched him unbutton his pants. You quickly looked back up at him just to see him smiling like a maniac. Your eyes darted from his face to his bulge over and over. You couldn't believe this was happening. In a moment of pure adrenaline you used your free hand to try and push him away. You squirmed and kicked. Pushed and hit. But to no avail. He didn't even seem phased by it, just grabbing your arm once more. Tears started to roll down your face as you looked up at him.

"Shhh..." He cooed.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna fuck you so good you won't want me to stop."

——————————————————————

Writing requests are open!

[miasiegert]

Hi Cats Tumblr People,

So I heard you like pics.

Please bear with me (AND TEACH ME) how Tumblr works/if I'm doing it wrong! I'm literally the "How do you do, fellow young people?" meme. Our Etsy is linked (unless I messed that up!) Right now it's bare (LOT of work and VERY old photos in the banner) but we'll be posting some cossies soon that are ready to retire. Some of our prices sadly will have to rise (we undercharge honestly for the amount of time put into them... we just LOVE making them). Anyway...

These are our original designs. We have taken inspiration from different productions, from the US tour to Gothenburg to Australia to Japan, less UK because it gets the most attention and we like COLOR! but this is all us. Our goal is to a) have characters be recognizable and b) make swing unitards in palates that could pass as at least 3 characters for emergency. When our rentals go out, swing unitards go with them, and ultimately it's the director who decides what makes the final cut (so a less yellow Demeter for example--but we LOVE that one).

If we ever do a production of Cats with Chaz, you'll notice one in Red, White, and some Black (but mostly Red and White, with fan ears, that is a design David created and is Chaz's FAVORITE design of all time. Any time he does a show, if we're hired, that costume goes. Usually Electra, but any ensemble/swing kitty and can cover for Sillabub or in a pinch Bombalurina. Yuka wore it at Interlakes before she did Victoria on the last US Tour! You might notice an Admetus in tans and GREEN undertones--that was my design he loved. We also did the purple twins (which was vetoed and I said, "Okay" then did it anyway because I knew he'd love it, which he did!), and REBA Gumbie Tap Suit was completely mine (everyone thought I was out of my MIND when I started making it! Even David! Then the shoulder pads came, and the belt, and tail, and BEDAZZLING!!! SO MANY RHINESTONES!!!!) Our Misto coat lights up but we still have a lot to learn about arduino since we'd eventually like to make it blink to music. The Misto coat is also created to fit a multitude of sizes, basically the theatre using their department for alterations since we make use of stretch fabric. I've known Bronson for almost as long as Chaz (he even designed my author website!!!) so when I saw him cast, I showed him his costume (a much, much browner/redder Gus than most see--I was serious about liking color) and let him choose between two coats. He said he wanted pants and we went, "NO! PANTLESS PRODUCTION!" because we thought he was joking! We didn't realize... HE REALLY WANTED PANTS!!!! SORRY BRONSON! So shout out to Wichita for making him pants! LOL!

There is a HUGE joke about Tumble thirsting for Tugger more than the girls so you'll notice that with the Tugger ABOUUUOUOUOUOUOUOUUUUUUUUUT THAT.

Hope that's of interest! And no, I'm not procrastinating on edits when my agent deadline is Sunday. Haha... ha... ha... ha... ha... Sera, if you're reading this I PROMISE I'M WORKING OKAY??? I DIDN'T KNOW WE GOT ON BROADWAYWORLD!!!

We also saw some comments about casting in general and some confusion/questions about different dancers doing different parts (Alonzo vs Plato). Would anyone be interested in learning more about the casting process in general and things that directors/choreographers need to take into consideration? Please note, I will not discuss ANY performers we work with. Ever. All are extraordinary and these are tough calls that aren't easy to make and based on other factors, including the ensemble at large, and sometimes huge changes are made.

[chickenparm]

Overseer (Kaveh/gn!Reader)

@drawlypsy made the GORGEOUS banner for this - you can check out the full piece here!

so, @vasiktomis said something about kaveh bending over a table and his shirt hanging and it sent my brain into overdrive. i immediately alt-f4'd out of everything to write this in the span of 30 minutes while in a horny fugue state.

anyway, kaveh's shirt, am i right? ha ha ha...............................

AO3 LINK

Kaveh/gn!Reader 1,086 Words - Semi-NSFW (Thirsting to the highest degree, Kaveh's loose-ass shirt, the kind of thoughts that come with eye-fucking a fine ass man)

Caravan Ribat is just close enough to the desert to border on misery. 

The humidity of Sumeru proper lingers enough that the sweat on your skin just won’t evaporate, yet the sun is cruel enough to beat down on the back of your neck relentlessly. There is no wind, there’s very little shade on the outskirts where this construction project steadily trudges on, and you wonder for a moment if you’re even cut out for this kind of job. 

Maybe something in the cooled library, or as an assistant to some administrator of the Akademiya. You can push papers and file things easily enough, it had been your part-time job to pay your tuition, after all. But you had to be ambitious and graduate as an architect, meaning you get to wander off to archons-know-where just to oversee projects like this. 

Palms on the table, you scan the blueprints for the hundredth time and look for mistakes. There are none - Kaveh doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to a project like this, where he’s endlessly passionate about its construction. But with the delay in building materials, there’s very little for you to do besides look over the plans, again and again. 

There’s also a rhyme to your reason here. Exchanging materials for something more readily available could get things moving again, but without Kaveh’s input, you don’t want to change anything. For all your skill, it’s merely a respect thing not to adjust what he’s so painstakingly laid out. 

“If you keep your brow furrowed like that, you’re going to get a tan line from the little line in between.”

Looking up, squinting through the sweat on your eyelids, you look at Kaveh’s approach. Serendipitous, or perhaps you’d subconsciously seen him from the corner of your eye and your mind supplied thoughts of your intentions to suggest a change. The air is thick as you breathe in, almost like soup. “At least some part of me will be in the shade, then. Come over here, I have a proposal about the project.”

Kaveh, despite all his passions and willpower, is a very reasonable man if you know how to approach things. First, mentioning the delay in supplies. The dry season has made it difficult for suppliers of this type of concrete to provide enough for what’s required here. A shipment comes in, but never enough to make substantial progress. 

Then, you complain a bit about the weather, just enough to get him on your side and absolutely incensed about the whole affair. When his voice raises, you murmur just loud enough for him to hear about changing the plans, or finding a different supplier, or…

“Let me go over this again. Maybe we can find a different alternative that will hold up to the sandstorms.” Kaveh’s fist thumps in his opposite palm, and you try not to smile too widely. Manipulating Kaveh in any way just feels unfair and cruel, but this is entirely benign and for the betterment of both yours and his sanity. 

Far off in the distance, you can just make out the upper boughs of the Divine Tree, and think of your nice, cool home. The sooner, the better. 

As you daydream, you nearly miss the way Kaveh leans forward onto the table, propping himself on his hands as he scrutinizes the paper plans before you. Only when he makes a sound of annoyance with his tongue do you snap back to reality, only to lose yourself again. 

Leaned forward like this, the long lines of Kaveh are accentuated further, but that’s not quite what’s grabbed your attention. The white shirt he wears is a little looser than usual to accommodate for the heat, and gravity does its work as he leans over, giving you a view straight down his shirt. 

Sternum, stomach, bellybutton, the faint beginnings of a v-shape at his hips-

The sweat on his skin illuminates as his toolbox comes to life, spinning out a hologram of the proposed building so Kaveh can examine it in more dimensions. So absorbed is he that you’re blissfully able to continue admiring the sheen on his collarbones, starkly pronounced. 

Suddenly, it feels infinitely warmer. It takes everything inside you not to make a sound as you swallow around your dry tongue and blocked throat. Kaveh’s arm lifts to turn Mehrak’s hologram, and the fabric shifts enough that you can see his full chest. A thought crosses your mind about the sound he’d make if you were to suck a little too hard just above his heart, if you were to roll one of his nipples between your teeth. 

There’s no way he doesn’t know what he’s doing to you. Except when you glance at his face, Kaveh has entirely forgotten that you were here. All that concerns him now is coming up with a solution to the problem that you so carefully placed in front of him and encouraged him to solve. And for all your hard work, you’re treated to this. 

What would his skin taste like? Salty from sweat, surely. Your tongue is no longer dry, and saliva pools at a concerningly fast rate before you can swallow it down. The wind picks up just for a moment, dusting your cheeks with sand and the relief of only a moment’s reprieve. 

Kaveh shivers, not from cold but the sensation of wind down the front of his shirt. What you wouldn’t give to be the one causing that for him now; your hands smoothing across his chest, each dip of his ribs, the flat plane of his stomach. 

Nothing good lasts forever, and in your hunger you loosen your self-control and make a tiny sound, barely more than a whimper. Kaveh’s eyes snap up, catching you looking down his shirt at the way his nipples hardened from the brief wind. 

Before he can say anything at all, you’re spinning on your heel and power-walking away from the scene. There’s nothing for you to oversee today, or at least nothing that would quite match up to that. Kaveh’s voice calling your name in confusion barely reaches your ears, and you ignore it. 

In the settlement is the inn, and there lies your shaded bedroom. It’s important in the desert to take some time to cool off and rest, and you’re so overheated you think you’re on the verge of a stroke. 

Kaveh’s confusion be damned, considering it’s his fault anyway. The door can’t be locked fast enough behind you before you cave. 

[ununotter]

Tokyo Game Show - 28th September 2024 report (I guess? Might as well?)

So I went to Tokyo Game Show yesteday and I dunno quite what I was expecting the result to be but tickets weren't too expensive and some friends ended up going too so it ended up being pretty fun.

First we had to queue to exchange our reservations for our actual tickets because we had all been genuises and googled "Tokyo Game Show" and clicked on the first link which was the international ticketing page, not realising there was an option on the Japanese side of things where you could just pick up a ticket directly from Lawson or something?

Anyway once we had finished dealing with that (and I was agonising over how the Hakumyu announcement tweet notification came through but then I couldn't load the actual tweet because I was in a crowd of hundreds of people all using their phone at the same time and therefore was not getting enough data to load anything) we actually got into the halls.

My immediate goal became to track down these very shiny green bags that I saw heaps of people with (mission success) and then my next goal was to see how much free crap I could leave with if I just accepted everything anyone held out in front of me.

End result: the shiny bag, some other bags including game branded plastic bags, a bunch of pamphlets and flyers about new games, stickers, an uchiwa, and some pin badges.

Actually the PlayVital booth was amazing cause they gave each of us a pin badge just for approaching their booth so we felt bad and had a look inside which is when I decided to get some thumbstick covers for my Steam Deck and Switch, and then they gave me another bag, stickers and another pin badge for free with my purchase.

I don't have my Switch with me in Japan at the moment but here's one onigiri topper on my Steam Deck:

As for actual games, we were mostly just trying to look around as much as possible and then there were a couple specific things we wanted to look at so we didn't spend a whole lot of time playing demos or looking at any one specific booth for that long although we did have a look at what people were trying out at a couple of booths. The Devolver Digital one had some pretty cool looking games for example.

One game did end up catching my eye in particular though. It's called Amedama (雨魂 for the kanji nerds - the characters for "rain" and "soul" - very apt if you play the game).

The main thing that drew me to it was the character designs on this banner they had and anyone who knows me should immediately know this looks right up my alley.

So I scanned their QR codes and they gave me stickers of these characters (named Yui and Yushin). This game is actually already out on Steam (and PS5? Idk) and a Switch release is coming in November.

Anyway I went home, played the demo and since it is indeed very much up my alley I ended up buying the game and have been playing it a fair bit ever since. Since there's a demo, I'd definitely recommend trying it out if it seems like it might be your kind of thing.

As for the event overall - as to be expected, it was very crowded in some places. Including exchanging our tickets, getting our tickets and bags checked etc the queue to get in ended up taking us something like an hour and a half. We arrived about an hour after admission had started and the queue for admission was meant to start another half an hour before that so we were on the later side.

Also the Keiyo line to Kaihimmakuhari station was rammed and it took us a few minutes to get down the stairs and out of the station. Similar situation on the way back even though we left about an hour before the end of the day. But it was still very fun. I didn't ever actually have to queue for the bathroom at least (which is nice cause I often have to do that at theatres or even just in train stations or shopping centres).

[jeridoesntdourls]

Saw @vesuviaweekly 's prompt for MC dynamics wanted to talk more about my guys!! Sadly I have not completely nailed their designs yet so for now I'm just going with text! I personally treat my MCs as less of MCs and more like LIs so I'm gonna also include what I think their dynamic with the MC themselves would be! As you'll notice my MCs are all residents of a country I made for the Arcana universe myself if you want you can see more about that here. Minos' entry is a bit undercooked but I'm rushing to post this before the deadline ends LMAO. All of these gorgeous banners are by @cafekitsune

edit: put in a link I forgot to put the first time lmao-

BOREA NORCHE // she/they

with the MC

Borea knew MC before they died of the plague and worked alongside them and Asra to find a cure. She succumbed to the plague herself only a few weeks after MC and was buried beside them as her last wish. She was brought back by making a deal with the Heirophant and not knowing MC was brought back by Asra, debated staying in Vesuvia to stay near MC or to leave and look for Asra. They ended up unable to do either and were ordered to return to their home country, Tua, by the Heirophant. She returned to keep her end of the deal but both her and Tua had dramatically changed. On her arrival she began to keep her emotions in and dutifully began to work as Tua's magic consultant.

At some point MC, along with the LIs, would take a trip to Tua (for diplomatic reasons as Tua has a considerably new government now running it) and Borea would be one of the more respected officials at the Syndicate meeting. Asra had heard from Nadia about the more prominent figures that would frequent this meeting but, still believing that Borea has died, hadn't thought much of it.

After they first encounter her at the meeting Asra evades her and tries to explain their relationship to the MC as they have not gotten a hold of all of their memories. He is unable to explain in time and is interrupted by Borea herself who began looking for the MC.

Their dynamic in this Era is very different than it was in the Plague times. Borea is, at first, in denial, she embraces the MC and they have a bout of their headaches, this makes Borea only more desperate which makes her hold on even tighter. Only Asra is able to separate them from the MC and pull them aside to explain what happened.

Borea is absolutely crushing under the weight of everything, running a new government, meeting the two closest friends she's ever had after years of assuming she'd never see them again and having to learn about MC's resurrection makes her even more prone to completely isolating herself from the Vesuvian guests. She eventually has to converse with Nadia and, ever observant as she is, makes Borea explain her adversion to them.

From them on Nadia slowly begins to work to re introduce both Asra and the MC to Borea. At first she's a force to be respected, acting professional to an absurd degree but that facade begins to decay into something nervous and unsure. MC has to reassure her that her feelings are important and need to be felt (in her upright end at least) and she begins to explore her pent up anger and longing with them.

I would describe their final dynamic as old married couple(ish) in that they have SO MANY idiosyncrasies and can practically read each other's mind. Borea is very much a closed off and firm individual for anyone other than their family, MC and Asra. With those people, she is able to express that reckless curiosity and boyish side she had hid for so many years.

with Asra

They have a very similar dynamic with Asra than with the MC. The only difference is that Asra ALSO has a tendency to run from his problems so Nadia has to work overtime to make them both talk to each other. It takes a mishap with the Buzia House and Borea stepping in to rescue the group to make them talk to each other.

They work in compleat harmony but after they get to safety they go back to being unable to have a conversation longer than three exchanges. Despite that, Borea refuses to leave Asra's side, keeping watch for any other threats to his safety. In doing this Borea over exerts herself and Asra has to make her take a break before she colapses in a meeting.

They go over their years apart, recounting tails and making each other laugh. Slowly they begin to work together again as Mage Commissioners.

Their dynamic is honestly the one which would take the longest to happen. Very much an AGONIZINGLY slow burn and re kindling. Asra needs to work through so much guilt in regards to leaving Borea behind and Borea, like in MCs route, also needs to work in being honest with her feelings and losening her grip on relationships she think she'll lose.

with Nadia

With Nadia she has the most light hearted dynamic, very much liege and ruler but the roles keep switching between them both. They're both givers and Nadia really is the best person to make Borea learn how to actually accept being the one receiving.

On Nadia's route we also get more of a focus on the politics of Tua and the conflict between the new Syndicate government and the Buzia House's integration into it.

overall

Dates with her definitely include stargazing and going to the beach at any time but especially at night. She'll be at home to just nerd out about the constellations and the planets, even reconstructing their partner's favorite ones with their orbs.

Relationships include lots of late nights and reassurance. She has a tendency to try and do everything for her partner, so she needs someone who can make her slow down and take care of herself. She would love a partner who is also proficient in magic and who can help her create laws and boundaries for the new Tuan government.

ATTIS SALVO // he/him

with the MC

Attis is exceptionally cheerful at first meeting. As he is one of only members of the Buzia House willing to collaborate with the Tuan government he feels the need to keep up the appearance of harmlessness to not potentially cause a rift between the two opposing sides.

He's very much used to working alone. Loves his community and family will all his might but the weight of the future falls into his shoulders most times. This, combined with the fact that he really can't entrust his problems onto that community (his sister specifically) because they continuously judge any action he takes makes him weary about working with anyone else.

Working with the MC to ensure the exchange doesn't cause another civil war really strains him at first. He's lived through a bloody revolution and his family only became the engineers and weapon makers that they are because of Vesuvia's betrayal. That history along with his personal habits of doing things alone cause him to be weary of the MC at first. That weariness only ever comes out in passive aggressiveness, he's very adverse to any conflict after years of playing diplomat.

This relationship really only changes when his parents pass and he, along with his sister, are left to rule over the entire House. Under all the additional stress he begins to impulsively turn to the MC as a distraction. MC needs to make it clear that they actually feel something for him or else he'll continue to use them eternally.

He's the oldest out of these three characters which means he's had lots of experience with partners, none of them ending well. When MC first confesses they do feel something for him, he's in shock and already making some excuse as to why they wouldn't work.

MC would notice his panic and have to calm him down for him to notice that he also feels something for MC, even if that something isn't as clear cut as MC's feelings.

with Julian

Attis only notices Julian after his parents passing when rumors begin spreading that they were assassinated by the Tuan Syndicate who used the Vesuvian's to infiltrate the Buzia House.

Julian, sketchy as ever, is high on Attis' suspect list. This list is kept hidden from the public and he'll talk about how false he believes the rumors are to anyone who will listen.

He tracks Julian down and as a last resort, Julian uses his charms to try and escape. For the first time in his life, it actually works and he is able to momentarily flee.

After that they fall into a pattern of cat and mouse and feelings develop much to Attis' dismay.

Julian's confession and Attis' reaction play out similarly to MC's but Julian stumbles and trips over himself to explain that he didn't kill anyone which makes Attis reach over to comfort him.

overall

He's very sensitive even though he keeps his emotions to himself, he's prone to crying over things that have already been resolved and just ignores any emotions that aren't productive because "he's got a job to do."

Also very prone to falling back into nostalgia, that longing for things that have passed ossifies him and keeps him from doing anything productive so he keeps those memories for when he's alone.

His dynamic with a partner would make him a lot more playful, he feels as if he finally has someone who understands him and is in HIS corner.

Dates include just staying home and letting the sun pass by. He's never intent to sit still for too long so he'll fiddle with the clasps of his revolvers or his partner's hand.

I'm not sure what I'd describe their dynamic as but I think Two Idiots in Love covers it well.

MINOS FERNI // she/he/they

with the MC

Minos is a pretty difficult person to get into a relationship with. Even if they like a person romantically they fervently ignore it both in fear of being rejected and their own self sabotaging ways.

They were born into the Heilist church and even after its reformation by the new Syndicate, they inwardly still believe the old doctrine. That includes the ideia of a cycle in which humanity is doomed to commit the same mistakes and suffer infinitely, the old Heilist god would then forgive humanity for their treasons at the time of death and welcome them into the sky.

Minos believes that any break out of that cycle (the revolutions and the new goverment) would forego the forgiveness given to him by God. So, his dynamic with an MC would have to be SLOW. like VERY slow. and very patient. At first it's almost certain that Minos would dislike them and it's only after comming to terms with their repression that they might be open to the thought that MAYBE they like the MC.

Mino's main emotion is guilt. Guilt for not attending to God as he should and guilt for not attending to his community, its only when he realizes that those two things overlap that he can hope to move on to a less painful existence (in his upright end at least). Their relationship in the later staged reminds me of Martin and Jon's dynamic from TMA. Hes trying his best not to be a tyrannical force of magical horror.

with Lucio

Minos hates hin at first. Its very rare for them but his pompous nature and disregard for consequences makes Minos crack and finally show some of their true own true nature. Ironically enough its this initial crack that opens the floodgates of Minos' person. They begin to hunt Lucio down as a way to try and make things go back to how they were. Very much a Hannnibal and Will adjacent pairing. (Lucio in this AU/expansion of sorts is a lot less silly)

with Muriel

haven't put much thought into this pairing but i think that if they both got past their inicial distaste for each other they woukd work out wonderfully.

overall

Don't think she would go on dates but she'd definitely take MC sightseeing and show them around the more historical spots around the city. They would be a very devoted lover (a little obsessive if im honest) and only ever vulnerable with them. Honesty and grappling with their own identity are still new to them so they would definitely need someone who's ready to spend nights on the church roof talking things over and putting things into perspective.

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Family of Heroes 🪪 | Everett Ross Heacanon

Link to my Marvel masterlist

Requested 📨 yes/no (rules for requests)

Having a family with Everett Ross would look like:

So if you’re an avenger/shield agent and fall in love with the silver fox that is Agent Everett Ross then there is no hiding the world of heroes from your children. After getting married/being partners for a long time you both eventually have/adopt a couple of kids and raise them in the New York/Quantico area.

Considering they grew up with parents who were federal agents, they were likely drawn to the field of criminology, intelligence, security, etc. Or possibly were talented when it came to mechanics, math, physics. Either which way you’re kids were top of their classes and managed to attend some of the most prestigious schools in the county. MIT, NYU, Cornell would be knocking on y’all’s door with scholarships and grants just to have your kids attend.

If you’re living in New York then they’d attend Midtown with Peter, MJ, and Ned. Of course with Peter being Spider-Man and knowing you, there’s a chance your kids knew his secret before the others. Hell, wouldn’t be surprised if Peter may have fanboyed when he learned that you were the parent of his friends. “That’s so cool your parents are agents—and one is an avenger!” “Only thing that sucks about it is I can never hide anything. Bad grades, relationships, sneaking out at night. They’ll always know.”

I can see you having a daughter who was like Everett with passions for intelligence. She’d come to his office just to watch him work and get a feel of what it was like to be an agent. When it came to intuition she was a natural at catching when something was suspicious. She was also great at analyzing—whether it be data, a crime scene, or body language.

Your son would have interests similar to you—wanting to be in the field or creating inventions that gave him abilities. He was very hands on, loved working on cars or building things from scratch. Don’t be surprised if he noted Bruce Banner or Tony Stark as his idols.

If your kids were into sports you’d go to every game. If they loved the arts you went to every performance, gallery, recital. Sometimes you’d be running late because of work, but you always made it up to them by taking them out to dinner or ice cream to get that quality time in. It was hard being a superhero and raising children, but with Ev by your side you both were able to put a healthy balance on things.

Early on your children were taught self-defense. Boxing, marital arts, how to disarm someone, and everything in between that would help them kick someone’s ass if they were attacked. Being that you and Everett’s jobs come with enemies there is always that risk they would target your kids. “You must be quick and sharp—anything less will give them the advantage.” “You know,” *catches breath* “This is really some parent-child bonding you got going on.” “Quality time, training, and life lessons all wrapped into one. Ain’t that something.”

When the topic of your kids joining the Young Avengers arose, you both were very hesitant. They were in college or about to graduate and your daughter had even applied for the CIA with your son building a prototype suit. It got the attention of a lot of people and you were already dealing with the stress of the Thunderbolts forming. “They are kids, Everett! They cannot handle the things we see—at least not yet!” “Believe me, honey, I agree with you. But they are technically adults and it’s not like they’ll be alone. They want us, Sam, Strange, Carol and Okoye to supervise them.” It did little to ease your worry, but at least you’d have some say in the matters.

No longer were you and Ev just their parents, but also their bosses. You both had control along with the other Avengers over whether or not the Young Avengers would get involved in conflicts. First thing that took place of course was months of training and teaching the kids (even if they were adults you still looked at them as kids) what and what not to do in a situation. Last thing y’all wanted was another Accords scenario.

“C’mon send us out! We can help you guys!” “You know the deal—once you pass your field exams then you can do missions. Until then you’re grounded here.”

“If Hydra’s been behind it the whole time then does that mean you guys didn’t check to see that you got them all in 2015?” “Honey, please, do not remind me because I’ll only get angry—not at you but at the situation. I need to have a word with Fury on what the hell went wrong.”

While you may be strict with the Young Avengers, best believe if someone insulted, attacked, or patronizing toward them you’d go ape shit. Oh and if Secretary Ross were to try something….Let’s just say Everett once had to pull you back from doing something that would’ve had you arrested. “He doesn’t have the right to get involved in what they do—or threaten them with prison after they saved the world!” “And don’t give him the satisfaction of locking you up, Y/n. You know he’s waiting for us to step out of line.”

If there is one thing the government realized quick when you and Everett decided to expand the Ross’ legacy, is to never underestimate a family full of heroes.

[m-jelly]

Love's thorny grip - Chapter 8

Incredible banner by @ladycheesington <3 I adore it so much. She's so incredibly talented. Go follow her! I wonder what he's thinking...

Pairing: Levi x Reader

Genre and tags: Royal AU, romance, falling in love, soft yandere Levi, plot development, fluff, rough Levi, slight public sex, smut, dom Levi, possessive Levi, protected sex, wedding.

Concept: It's wedding day for you and Levi! You officially become husband and wife, as well as King and Queen. You both enjoy the little party with the common people, dance with your people before eating some food together. After some light teasing by you, Levi takes you back to his carriage and ravages you. When you return to the party, a dark cloud hangs over you as it is revealed that trouble is coming in the form for a few ships with a small unknown army.

AO3 Link

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 The end

Your heart raced as nerves filled you. You smiled at your mother as she gave you a reassuring smile. Luna placed a bunch of flowers in your hands. She fixed your hair a little before giving you a big grin. You smiled back at her before slipping on your shoes and walking out of your room and down the hall. You blushed as the staff clapped and wished you the best.

You moved outside the palace to see your father waiting by your carriage. “Father.”

Harold gazed up at you and welled up. “Oh, my baby girl.” He walked up to you and smiled softly. “You look perfect. I can’t believe you’re getting married. I tried and tried to push you towards marriage, but I was rushing you. Knowing now you are marrying a man you love…makes me happy. I should have just left you to it.”

You hugged your father with one arm. “You were doing what you thought was best for me. I hold no anger towards you for anything. You listened to me and you accepted the man I love.”

“I tried my best.” He helped you into the carriage. “Levi asked for an open top because he wanted everyone to see how pretty you are, but it is cold with winter here. So, he left a thick white blanket for you.”

You sat down and hummed a laugh as you put the blanket around you. “That sounds just like him.”

“He deeply cares about you. I am suspicious of him, of the things he might have done.”

You smiled as Levi’s stories of what he’d done came to mind. “He’s a good man and his intentions are always good. He has me at the front of all his choices.”

Harold smiled as he helped your mother and Luna into the carriage. “Well, I do hope he thinks about his kingdom too.”

“You know he does.”

Tia playfully smacked Harold in the chest. “Give the lad a break. You’ve been on his ass since the moment you met him. He’s going to be your son-in-law. You’ve seen how he looks at our daughter. He thinks the world of her.”

Luna nodded. “My lady is right. The Prince cares very deeply for my lady.”

Harold huffed. “I know, I know. I can’t help myself.” He sighed and smiled at you. “At least you know what choices not to make when you’re a mother. Are you aiming for one?” He frowned when Luna and Tia giggled. “What?”

Tia patted Harold’s shoulder. “You need to get to know your son-in-law more. He really wants a lot of children.”

Harold gazed at you. “But it puts such a strain on her body.”

You hummed a laugh. “I know. We’ve talked about it. Levi wants many, but he also understands the toil my body will go through. I told him I would like more than one, but we’ll see how I feel after my first one. What I know is, he said he’ll love me no matter what. To him, me and my body will always be perfect. He makes me feel beautiful and confident. I’m looking forward to marrying him.”

Luna smiled brightly. “You’ll be the perfect Queen.”

You blushed. “Queen?”

She nodded. “Didn’t his highness tell you? Today you’ll marry and then right after he’ll be crowned King. He said he’s doing it because he wants you to be a Queen as soon as possible.”

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting this today. I’m glad I wore such a lovely wedding dress.” You perked up when you saw people waiting for you and lining the streets. You waved to the cheering fans. “Levi’s done so much good that royals aren’t hated. He’s made such wonderful changes, though I know that there will always be people against a royal family. I don’t blame them.”

Luna rubbed your back. “Look ahead.”

You gazed at the city hall to see Levi waiting outside in a white suit. You blushed hard as your heart skipped a beat. You’d only ever seen Levi in black, so to see him in white was so different and beautiful. You smiled softly as he talked to his people and even crouched to talk to a little kid. Your cheeks burned when Levi noticed you moving closer.

Levi walked down the steps a little as everything around him faded away. He only saw you. He reached out for you with a gentle smile. “You look ravishing.”

You took his hand and stepped out of the carriage. “Thank you. You look incredible. Who knew you looked so good in white.”

He pulled you against him. “Should I stop wearing black?”

You shook your head. “No, I love you in black.” You hummed a laugh as you walked up the steps. “You wear it so well.”

“Thank you. So, we’ll view this as a treat then, huh?”

You nodded. “Yes. Like me wearing white.”

Levi shook his head. “No, I want you to wear white again. You look magical in it.”

“You’re very kind, but I can’t wear white all the time.”

He led you inside and smiled. “You can try, for me?”

You snorted a laugh. “Maybe. You do know white is supposed to represent purity, right? Well, I’m far from it.”

“I wonder who is to blame.”

You smirked a little. “I wonder too.”

“Wasn’t me.”

You chuckled. “Sure, sure.”

He kissed the back of your hand and led you to the law official. “Ready to get married and become Queen?”

You blushed. “I’m ready for marriage, but I don’t know about being a Queen.”

“You’ll be perfect.”

“Thank you.” You turned to the officiant and let them talk. You leaned over and whispered to Levi. “May I say, your ass looks delicious in those trousers.”

Levi shivered a little. “Thank you.” He leaned closer and whispered against your ear. “Your breasts are almost falling out of your dress. They look so plump and delicious. I just want to bite and suck on them.”

You turned your head and gazed at Levi. “I wish you would.”

Levi kissed you and moaned against your lips. “I will.”

The officiant laughed. “You beat me to it. I was just about to say you may kiss.”

“Sorry, we get carried away sometimes.”

“It’s all right. Sign here please.”

You signed first and handed the pen to Levi. “Mrs Ackerman.”

Levi smiled as he signed his name. “You are now a princess, but not for long.”

The officiant bowed to you both. “Congratulations. Next, we’ll swear you both in. Are you ready to face your people and be crowned?”

“I am.” He gazed at you. “Are you?”

You held Levi’s hand tightly and smiled softly. “Yeah.”

Levi followed the officiant outside and let him speak for a moment to the people. “I’m nervous.”

You gazed at Levi. “You are?”

Levi nodded and looked down at you. “But I feel better with you by my side.”

“I’m glad. You’re never going to be alone. No matter what comes our way, I will be right by your side.”

He kissed you and smiled as the crowd cheered. “Thank you.” He turned and stepped forwards as he was asked if he would uphold the laws and care for his people. “I swear on my life, I will serve, care for and honour my people.” He lowered to one knee and accepted his crown. He rose to the cheers of his people. He took your crown and turn to you. “Do you swear, as my Queen, to stand at my side, care for the people, the country and serve with a loving heart?”

You lowered to one knee. “I swear on my life that I will serve, care and honour the people of Paradis with all my heart and soul.”

Levi placed the crown on your head. “Rise, my Queen.”

You took Levi’s hand and stood up. “Thank you.”

The officiant opened his arms. “Now presenting your King and Queen of Paradis! Long may they reign!”

Levi pulled you close as the crowd cheered for you both. He bent you back and kissed you with a happy moan. “My Queen.”

You blushed a little as you stood next to Levi and waved to the people. “This is so strange. I never thought I would end up here.”

“You belong with me.”

You gazed at Levi to see that half of that declaration was his love talking and the other half was his obsessive side. “You belong to me.”

Levi’s cheeks burned bright red at the reversal on him. “A-Ah…umm…y-yes.”

You hummed a little laugh. “I’m only treating you the way you treat me.”

He mumbled a little. “Feels and sounds good.”

You winked at him before descending the stairs. “Let’s get to our party.”

He smiled. “I hope the people like what we’ve planned.”

You nodded and walked through the streets to the city centre with stalls set up, along with food, music and party things. “This all for the people?”

“Paid for by us. I don’t want the people to pay for us. I don’t want their hard-earned money to go towards a party. I paid for everything. I want them to enjoy themselves.” He kissed your cheek. “It’s why our wedding isn’t grand. You know how some anti-royalists get. No matter what we do, we’re scum and if we step down then some rich politicians take over and then they’ll be the next target of hate. It’s a never-ending cycle of hate.”

You looked out at the party and smiled as the music started and people seemed nervous. “I have an idea.” You walked across the dancefloor to a little girl who was moving to the music, but she wouldn’t go dance. “Would you like to dance?”

She gasped. “Yes, please!”

You held her hand and walked with her to the dancefloor. You laughed a little as you both danced together. “You’re very good! You’re better than me.”

She grinned. “Thank you, your majesty!”

You twirled around and around with her before lifting her up into the air making her squeal with laughter. You put her down and saw other people run in to join you both. You twirled and slammed into Levi. You blushed hard as he held you and the kids dancing with you both giggled. You smiled and started dancing with Levi. You both kept dancing as you held each other. You grinned when Levi tapped his forehead against yours as he squeezed your hips.

You pulled from Levi a little before holding his hands. “We need food and drink.”

Levi blushed as he followed you. “Yes.”

You walked ahead of Levi before glancing back at him with a smile to see pure love and wonder in his eyes. “Look at you.”

Levi whined. “D-Don’t.”

You hummed a gentle laugh. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

He let out a long sigh. “You just make my heart race.”

You sat down and pulled him to his seat. “Eat with me.”

He blushed and took food for you and him. “We should cut the cake soon. I had one made for the people, but we have a special one.”

You hummed a gentle laugh. “Well, you love spoiling me, so I’m not surprised.” You gazed out at the sky. “You know, even though it’s freezing cold you’ve managed to keep this area so warm.”

Levi put his arm around you as he watched his people. “I need to take care of them. I know what it’s like to not have anything. I feel for these people and I want to help them.”

You kissed his cheek and smiled softly. “You’re a good man.”

“I try.” He held your hands. “We’ll have snow soon.”

You gasped in delight. “I love snow.”

“Well, we’ll have plenty and we can have a lot of dates in the snow.”

You placed your hand on Levi’s thigh and massaged. “I can’t wait.”

Levi whined a little. “C-Careful.”

You looked down to see he was growing in his trousers. “Am I turning you on?”

“You always do.”

You shifted closer and moved your hand over his growing erection. You leaned closer to his ear and kissed it. “I can feel your cock twitching against my hand.”

He covered his mouth with his hand and moaned. “F-Fuck.”

You massaged his dick as you nipped and sucked at his neck. “I have so many ideas. Do I take you somewhere alone and suck that big fat cock of yours, or do we go somewhere to quickly fuck.” You giggled. “The choices.”

He growled and gazed at you. “You’re as bad as I am.”

“I am.”

He grabbed your upper arm and dragged you off. “Come with me, now.”

You stumbled after him and saw he was taking you to his carriage, which did have a cover over it so you could have a private moment. “Levi?”

He looked around to see no workers were around. He opened the carriage door. “In.”

You climbed inside and jumped as Levi slammed the door. “Levi?” You shivered as he started undoing his trousers. You sat on the seat opposite and watched him. “Mmm, look at you.”

He pulled his thick hard cock out and panted. “Look what you’ve done to me.”

You giggled. “Well, I know just the place you can put it.” You dragged up your dress a little. “I want you to ravage me so hard and roughly. Remind me that I am yours, my dear husband.”

Levi growled and pounced. He yanked your body and turned you so your back was to him. “Kneel on the seat, my love and hold the head of the seat.” He watched you do as he said. “Good girl.”

You looked back at him. “You’re keeping on the white leather gloves, right?”

Levi paused a moment and smiled. “Of course.” He pushed your dress up and ripped your bloomers open making you moan. “Keep quiet, okay?”

You nibbled your lip as you swayed your hips at Levi. “Yes, Levi.”

Levi growled as he watched your ass move side to side while your pussy dripped. He grabbed your hip and slammed his cock deep into your pussy. He moaned at how hot and wet you were. He smiled as your walls fluttered around him. He glanced at your face to see you were shaking as you tried to hold back moans. His heart skipped a beat when you looked back at him panting with a look of pure love and desire in your eyes. Levi panted as his cock twitched inside you, his balls tightened with the desire to fill you right then and there.

Levi shifted his legs and began pounding his cock into you at an unrelenting and punishing pace. His hips slapped against your ass cheeks and felt like he was spanking you. You lowered your head and tried to hold back your moans, but Levi was ravaging you too well. You whimpered and whined as your legs shook. Your arousal dribbled down your thighs as Levi’s cock dragged and pushed your cum out of you. You gripped the head of the seat tightly as your legs began shaking from pleasure surging through your body.

You threw your head back and moaned. “Fuck.”

Levi slapped your bum hard causing the crack of the collision to fill the carriage. “Naughty brat.”

You whined a little. “Levi.”

His gloved hand collided with your ass again. “Be a good girl and your King will reward you.”

You hummed and whined. “Y-Yes.”

He slapped your behind again and watched you as his cock slammed in and out of you. He panted as his heart raced and his possessive desires consumed him. He admired the dip in your back as you tensed up in pleasure. He caressed your thigh and behind as you whimpered and mewled at him. He could see you were trying so hard to hold back your moans as he fucked you within an inch of your life in his carriage. He loved and adored you to death. He thought you were incredible and perfect.

He shifted his hand on your hip around to your plump clit. His other hand gripped the back of your neck. “Good girl. Let me spoil you.”

You moaned a little as Levi’s hand gripped the back of your neck and his other played with your clit. You shivered in delight as your coil tightened harder. You gripped the seat hard and began bucking roughly back against Levi as he kept moving his hips against you. You did everything you could to stay quiet, but Levi was just too good with his cock and fingers. He knew just how to fuck you right to make you cum undone under him and forget everything around you.

Levi shifted his hand from your neck to cover your mouth. He pulled you up and against your body as he bucked his cock up into you. “Good girl. I’ve got you. Let your King take care of you.”

You moaned against his hand and felt yourself drooling. You turned your head and gazed at your husband as your heart fluttered in your chest. You whimpered a little as you felt like you couldn’t hold on any longer. Your eyes rolled back into your head as your pussy walls clenched Levi’s hard dick over and over as your orgasm came rushing towards you. You let out a blissful moan against Levi’s hand as you let your orgasm burn and surge through every inch of you. You bucked back against Levi as you road out your high.

Levi pulled his cock from you and panted. “Fuck.”

You slowly slipped on the seat. “Mmm.”

Levi turned you around as he gazed at you. “You okay?”

You nodded and stared at his penis twitching in your face. “Yes…more.”

Levi moved you to lie on your back across the seat. He placed a cushion behind your head so it wouldn’t bang against the side of the carriage. He placed one knee on the seat and hoisted your hips up before plunging back into you again. He shifted you a little before bucking into you hard and fast. He smiled as your breasts bounced from his rough actions. Your corset held onto your breasts for dear life, but they were threatening to fall out. He saw you cover your mouth as you tried your best to hold back moaning too loudly.

Levi slipped one hand under your lower back to support you before reaching down with his other hand and clasping your jaw. He panted and pushed two fingers into your mouth. He smiled softly as you sucked them and moaned against them right away. He saw the love in your eyes as he bucked into you. He blushed as you pulled your head from his hand. He watched as you yanked his glove off before shoving his two fingers back into your mouth and sucking hard. He shivered in delight as your tongue rolled and moved over his fingers.

You hummed in delight as you sucked your husband’s fingers. You yanked your dress down a little before playing with your clit. You moaned against Levi’s fingers as your pleasure increased. You wiggled below Levi and saw your shoes were holding for dear life. You gasped as one fell off making a thud against the carriage floor. You whined at Levi and mewled as you slowly forgot all about your shoes when Levi started bucking harder against you. Your eyes rolled back into your head as you enjoyed the pleasure burning through your body.

Levi panted as his hips slapped harshly against yours. “F-Fuck, mmm.” He shivered when you clenched around him. “Nngh, shit. You feel so good. You’re so hot and wet. You wrap around my cock so perfectly. I love you so much. You’re everything to me.” He started losing control of his thrusting. “I love you! I love you! I love you!”

You popped Levi’s fingers from your mouth as you leaned your head back. You moaned and shoved the cushion behind your head against your mouth. “MMM!” Your body shook roughly as your orgasm ripped through your body. You slapped your hand around before grabbing Levi’s blazer and yanking him close to you. “Fuck.”

Levi fell forwards and gripped the back of the seat as you clenched around him over and over. He panted and moaned your name as he kept bucking into you. He whined your name again as he poured ribbons of cum into you. He rocked his hips a little before stopping. “Oh fuck.” He lay against you and moaned into your breasts. “I love you.”

You shoved the cushion off your face and panted. “I love you too.” You hummed and rubbed his back. “I can’t believe I’m not your girlfriend anymore.”

Levi lifted his head and gave you sad puppy dog eyes. “What?”

You snorted a laugh. “Well, I’m not. I’m married to you, so I’m your wife instead.”

He blushed hard. “Oh, you’re right.”

You giggled at how sweet Levi was. “Bless you.”

He nuzzled the crook of your neck and whined. “You tricked me.”

“I didn’t. I said a true thing.”

He pulled back and looked down at you. “You’re an evil Queen.”

You hummed a laugh. “Maybe I am. This evil Queen loves you deeply though.”

Levi kissed you and sighed against your lips. “I love you so much.” He pulled out of you and grunted. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

You sat up and smiled. “I’m perfect. I loved every moment of what we did.”

“Good, I’m glad.” He cuddled up to you. “I do worry when I’m rough.” He tucked himself away before fixing your dress. “I know you want it, but I still worry.”

You hugged Levi’s side. “And that’s what makes you a wonderful man. You care about me and my pleasure. I feel so heard and loved by you.”

He smiled softly. “Really?”

You nodded and kissed his cheek. “Really.”

He smiled more. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He crashed his lips against yours and moaned. “I wasn’t expecting our first time as a married couple to be so rough. I promise tonight I’ll be gentle and loving.”

You purred at him. “Oh, I know you will be.”

He cuddled you for a while and sighed. “I just realised something.”

“Mm?”

He looked down at you. “I tore your bloomers open.”

You hummed a laugh. “It’s okay. I’ll just grab a new pair from your collection of stolen ones when I get home.”

Levi blushed hard. “I-I don’t have a-a collection!”

You looked up at him. “I know one is under your pillow, another in your office and I’m sure there might be another stashed away.”

He gulped hard. “I will stop stealing them.”

“Don’t, it’s fun for me to find them.”

He let out a long sigh. “You get me all flustered.”

You hummed a laugh. “Well, looks like we’ll have to finish our wedding party with me having ripped bloomers.” You stood up and smiled. “Come on handsome.”

Levi followed you out of the carriage and looked around. “No one came over.”

“Probably because the carriage was rocking. You asked me to be quiet, but there’s no hiding the rocking.”

Levi blushed hard. “Tch, shit.”

You pulled him along. “Fear not, my love. Everyone knows we’re at it like rabbits.”

Levi pulled you close as you walked together. “That’s true.” He bent you backwards as you walked making you laugh. “Everyone knows you’re all mine. No one else can have you.” He picked you up and smiled up at you. “All mine.”

You played with Levi’s hair as you looked down at him. “Yeah, all yours.”

He sat down in his seat and kept you on his lap. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Thank you. You’re incredibly handsome.”

“Thank you.” He turned his head when Erwin hurried over with Mike, both with grim expressions. “Something wrong?”

Erwin sat down next to Levi and lowered his voice. “There’s been word sent to us about the coast.”

Levi raised a brow. “And?”

Mike leaned on the table. “A skilled small unit of fighters is moving towards our island. Your majesty, they are hostile.”

“Under what banner?”

Erwin shook his head. “Unknown. They say they are rouge, but I suspect Ji-Woo sent them. He won’t declare war due to his father not wanting it, but he would do something sly like this.”

Levi rubbed the back of his neck. “Tch, shit. Can we send a small group there to defend our fishing towns?”

Mike sighed. “Possibly, but if they fail and advance…”

Erwin clenched his fist. “It’s difficult. If you go, people might get scared or think you’re overreacting. If you don’t go and our team fails, it’ll look terrible.”

You gripped Levi’s back. “Send a group first to establish contact with the group and to set up a base camp. Levi will arrive the next day or two days later. If they fight, he can turn the tide, if they’re there for talking Levi can back up his guards.”

Levi looked up at you. “You’re so smart, but you and I parting could be dangerous.”

You sighed. “Then place your best guard on me. Besides, I have some skills of my own. I told you as a little kid I used to be rebellious and climb trees.”

He smiled. “I remember.”

“Well, I also learned how to use swords and a bow.” You smiled at Mike. “Mike can stay behind. When it comes to medical, Hange can go with you and Armin can stay behind. Niccolo can provide the meals for you and your guards while Sasha stays behind.”

Levi nodded and he processed your words. “You’re right.”

Erwin chuckled. “You have a very smart Queen.”

You grinned. “Thank you.”

“You are right. What you said is the best course of action. It won’t panic people too much.”

You let out a long sigh. “I will provide a distraction. I’ll do a tour of the city and carry out my royal duties of getting to know people. They’ll be so focused on that and the winter festival, that they won’t notice you on the border.”

Levi cupped your face and kissed you. “I will miss you.”

“I will miss you too. I know you’ll come back to me.” You gulped hard. “Promise you’ll write.”

He hugged you tightly. “I promise.”

You closed your eyes for a moment as you held Levi. “Good.”

[p5x-theories]

FAQ

(last updated 11/10/24)

Q1: "Have you seen that the wiki/this streamer/etc. says this character's name is [X]?" / "Why don't you call [X] by their name?"

A1: To help avoid confusion (and save me from potentially needing to repeatedly rewrite and retag posts), this blog only considers a character's name confirmed when it has been spoken aloud.

Japanese names can often be read in multiple ways, and while usually fan guesses have been more or less correct, they aren't always, and it can cause problems when the wrong name catches on. For this reason, characters will be referred to by codename only, or a nickname if they're not a teammate, until their name is confirmed, though info posts specifically may mention a likely reading of their name as well.

Q2: "Which region version are you playing?"

A2: The Hong Kong/Taiwan/Macau one! This does mean my updates are about a week behind the mainland one, though, so I may not always be able to post info on updates immediately.

Q3: "Who are your favorite characters?"

A3: Overall, my favorites are Tomoko and Kiyoshi! Right now Motoha is specifically my favorite story teammate, and Riko is my favorite navigator. My favorite thief designs are Moko, Key, Rin, Yuki, and Bui, and my favorite Persona designs are Awilda, Leucothea, Prosymna, Nemertes, Gorgyra, and Calliope.

On that note, my favorite P5 characters are Akechi and Sumire, heh! I also really like Ann and Yusuke.

Q4: "Do you play other gacha games?" / "Are you familiar with [X] gacha mechanic?"

A4: Haha, nope! I actually hate gacha systems, refuse to play any other gacha games, and am only putting up with this one because I'm otherwise very curious about the game and enjoy the characters. The gacha's still driving me crazy, though. I hate having to worry about getting a character before their banner ends, especially since I refuse to spend any money on the game.

That said, I do have friends who play gacha games, so I sometimes ask them about game mechanics if I'm not familiar with them. I also do at least pay attention to how people describe this game in relation to other gacha games, with the hopes of more thoroughly understanding the things I'm explaining here.

Q5: "Do you think the P5 Collab will be updated at the same time as the story?"/ "Do you think this P5 character will be added with the next update?"

A5: The game developers have said that the game updates will follow a loose pattern of: story update -> event update -> gameplay update. Story updates include things like new Palaces and story teammates (for instance, when Miyazawa's Palace and Soy were added in Version 1.1), whereas so far event updates have mostly added new parts of the P5 Collab (for instance, the Museum Chapter and Yusuke were added in Version 1.3.1, and the Bank Chapter and Makoto were added in Version 1.3.3), with the exception of the summer event (Versions 2.1.1 and 2.1.2). Gameplay updates add onto side quests, Confidants, plus other existing content, and generally include gameplay fixes.

For this reason, it seems very unlikely that a new part of the P5 Collab will be added at the same time as a new part of story, and this also goes for adding P5 characters and story teammates. I may be proven wrong in the future, but I'm just going off of what the devs have said so far; I'd expect a new story teammate with a story update, while event updates and gameplay updates have only ever added new Phantom Idols.

Q6: "Is there somewhere I can download this character 3D model you posted about/another model I've been looking for?"

A6: Yes, send me a message off anon (so I can reply privately) and I'll send you a link to a zip folder with whatever you need! The only reason I don't post the folder publicly is because I only update the folder when someone's asking for it, and not everyone wants all the same models, so this way I don't have to send them a massive folder for just one thing.

Q6.5: "What about this particular outfit for Wonder? Can you post screenshots of the model/send it to me?"

A6.5: Unfortunately, those are just named with numbers in the files (either wonder_normal_01, 02, etc. or wonder_autumn_01, 02, etc. for pajamas), which makes them a lot more trouble to dig up! If you ask during the update that added them to the files- I'll always post the icon for the outfit set- that makes it a lot easier, so I may be able to get it for you, but otherwise the answer's usually going to be no. I'm sorry for the inconvenience!

I can usually get screenshots of the outfit in-game, so that's an alternative option, but there are some cases where the outfit hasn't been added to the game yet. Feel free to ask, though! Just check out the tag for wonder outfits first to make sure I haven't already posted it.

Q7: "How do you datamine P5X? I want to try it myself!"

A7: I explained my process here, though feel free to ask any follow-up questions about it if you have them, and I'll do my best to help! I actually learned everything I know about datamining just for this game, so I try to make the tools and steps as accessible as possible for anyone else who's interested, heh.

And if you ever happen to spot anything I missed in the files, please, send it my way! I'm just one person, I sometimes miss a thing or two. The more people looking, the better!

Q8: "Do you have a list of all the combat roles? I see they're individually explained on the character info posts, but I was hoping to read all of them in one list!"

A8: Say no more, here you go:

Resist: good at targeting single enemies (Wonder (Janosik), Fleuret, Mont, Bui, Sepia, Messa, Skull, Queen). This tends to manifest as followup attacks that hit one target, or status effects/damage buffs that apply against specific targets.

Control: good at dealing with groups of enemies (Closer, Summer Motoha, Joker, Panther, Fox, Noir). This tends to manifest as lots of multi-target attacks, and bonuses for using those attacks in certain ways.

Surrender: focused around applying debuffs to gain an advantage (Key, Rin, Vino). This tends to manifest as a focus on a particular status effect, and the ability to do extra damage/effects to enemies once they're inflicted with it.

Rescue: focuses on healing companions (Cattle, Summer Tomoko, Marian, Mona). This has so far always included at least one healing skill, but often other healing abilities can be triggered as well.

Superior: good at buffing teammates and improving their effectiveness (Moko, Leon, Riddle, Chord). This has so far always manifested as unique buffs/status effects, sometimes becoming fully triggered by additional conditions.

Defense: good at protecting teammates and keeping them alive (Soy, Yuki, Cherish). This tends to manifest as shield-focused abilities, but Soy instead draws fire to himself, and buffs the team's max health temporarily.

Elucidation: the designation used for navigators (Wind, Okyann, Puppet, Phoebe, Oracle). This obviously has a wide array of specific applications, but tends to revolve around unique buffs or debuffs that the navigator can grant/inflict, and obviously each navigator has their own fights/team compositions they're most suited for.

[More questions may be added as they get, uh, frequently asked, haha!]

[fatuismooches]

SMOOOCHES!!! Hiii darling! ૮꒰˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ꒱ა

This isn’t a story but really just me coming on here to talk so I hope you don’t mind! I’m sorry if it’s ever a bother or disturbs you! But I finally finished with all my exploration~! Well, I actually finished on the 10th of July (aka this month) BUT I felt a little shame to just come on here and say that I had finished I was too embarrassed;; but how has everything been? I hope you’re staying fresh in this blazing summer (it’s literally like 115° every single day here it’s unbearable for me and my dog) and also making the most out of it! I’m dreading going back to school in less than a month I’m not ready!!! (Leaks mentioned: ALSO HAVE YOU HEARD OF A SUPPOSED NEW DOTTORE SOUNDTRACK? It sounds so good AND IT MAY BE A CUTSCENE kinda like Kazuha’s friend or Makoto’s in the Archon Quests! I’m really hoping we get more lore on our boo boo Dottore he’s just so interesting!!) I also just recently read a VERY lengthy character analysis on him and oh mygskkd. It really helped me get to understand Dottore as a character and how it disapproves of many misconceptions of himself. (Like being a sadist for ex.) if you ever want the link I can send it since it was on tt. And the day I’m writing this it’s Childe’s birthday, which ironically enough my mom also shared a birthday with him LMAO. (She’s only aware of this bc of how much I dawn over the chars 😭) and to answer your question from one of the recent brainrots I had made “who are you saving up for” I’m actually saving up for Zhongli cons! He’s at C0 rn but in hoping to at least get C2 or C3, but I also won’t be spending my almost 400 wishes on him since I really want a lot of the Fontaine characters, and I’m still hoping for Dottore to become playable soon 😭 (this is me trying to cope) but I hope you have a wonderful day and week!! But before I end this off, can we agree the Dottore pictured in Nahida’s cute story with Wanderer IS ADORABLE?? Like i sometimes just wanna write about the little creature because it’s so cute. Is he ugly? A little but he’s ugly in the cute way!!! I swear I would just want to hug him to sleep. (Many ideas with fragile reader come to mind now LMAO) but anyways !!! I give you so many chu chus n cuddles n a lot of love!! Make sure you’re staying healthy and drinking water in this scorching heat. I give u so many kisses your heart explodes!!! ><

- from your boo boo bear 🎐 anon!! ૮ ྀི◞͈ ˔ ◟͈ ྀིა

🎐 ANON!!! I MISSED YOU AHHH!!!!

It's more than okay i love talking to you!!! And OMF I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!! I know it was such a grind and probably a bit exhausting at times but I'm so proud of you 😌💖 Giving you lots of kithes and hugs!! Mwahhhh!!

115 DEGREES??? HOLY- I thought it was hot where I live 😭 I'm barely surviving like every other summer but omg I'm so sorry 😭 And you have a dog?? How cute! What type of dog do you have, if i may ask?🥰 Though i have been unproductive all summer unfortunately, the heat makes me not want to do anything haha

AND YESSSS IVE SEEN THE LEAKED OST MY EYES POPPED OPEN AT THE POSSIBLE DOTTORE APPEARANCE 👁 IM SO EXCITED I WANT HIM IN FONTAINE BADLY!! Also i think I've read the same character analysis on tiktok like you, was it called "Sadist or Scientist" and had many many slides? With the character and design analysis? If yes i too read it and it was so good! I love seeing analysis on him especially since there are not much crumbs on him. Oh and happy belated birthday to your mom! I hope you had fun with her!💖

Omg almost 400 wishes??? I havent had that much since the time I've saved for Wanderer 👏 I really hope you get lots of cons for him! I also love Zhongli sm but that man has avoided me on all three banners. First banner i didn't have enough primos and missed him, second banner i lost to Qiqi, third banner i lost to Jean lol. I forgot he is coming so i will try to get him again for the fourth time 🤣 Manifesting hard for you 💖🙏 (Dw I'm also coping on playable Dot😭😭)

AND YESSS OMG I LOVE THE LIL STRANGE DOT CREATURE SO MUCH. I need someone to make a good quality plushie of that creature so i can cuddle it 🥺 HYV was probably intending to make the creature look unsettling, but nah, i wholly think it's adorable. I would hold its little hand. (Always ready to listen to your fragile reader ideas tho 😌🤞)

Hehe I'm giving you lots of more cuddles and kisses!! 🫂 I hope you're staying hydrated as well!! We shall get through this heat together 💪 Smooch smooch !! <33

[littleminnowswimming]

Avengers as Taylor Swift Songs

Okay, hi, hello, I have seen many posts detailing the Avengers as Taylor Swift songs, and they are usually written by either Swifties or Marvel fans, which causes some… problems. For example, I saw one list that said "illicit affairs" was Peter's because it said "don't call me kid" even though the SONG IS ABOUT CHEATING AND DOESN'T FIT HIM HELLO. Anyway, given that I have been a marvel and Taylor fan for at least a decade each, I have decided that I have enough expertise to create a definitive list. I think it is very good, though I'm sure there will be corrections. I know I didn't use songs from all of her albums but that is because I only wanted to use the songs she owns, and the songs that fit were more populated on her more recent albums. Also Tony, Peter, and Steve get two because I'm indecisive :)

Tony Stark: Epiphany or Anti-hero

Song Link:

Taylor Swift – epiphany (Official Lyric Video)

Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero (Official Lyric Video)

Most fitting lyric:

"Only 20 minutes to sleep/But you dream of some epiphany/Just one single glimpse of relief/ To make some sense of what you've seen"

"Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism/Like some kind of congressman? (Tale as old as time)/I wake up screaming from dreaming/One day I'll watch as you're leaving

And life will lose all its meaning"

Explanation: I feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory, but let me crack at it anyway. Many people might label Epiphany as Steve's song because of the military references, but Tony holds more guilt for the evil he's done and the harm that the avengers have done. This is most easy to see in the five years around Endgame, where Tony is haunted by the fact that they lost and tries desperately to avoid having to work to make a difference. Tony just wants an answer to everything, but feels as though all he can do is dream without an answer. As for "anti-hero"… lets be honest, this one is pretty self-explanatory. Tony is harsh on himself and likes to hide himself behind fake narcissism. That's what we see.

Steve Rogers: "coney island" or "Right where you left me"

Song Link:

Taylor Swift - coney island (Lyric Video) ft. The National

Taylor Swift - right where you left me (Official Lyric Video)

Most Fitting Lyric:

"Were you waiting at our old spot/In the tree line, by the gold clock?/Did I leave you hanging every single day?/…/And when I got into the accident/The sight that flashed before me was your face"

OR

"Everybody moved on/I, I stayed there/Dust collected on my pinned-up hair/They expected me to find somewhere/Some perspective, but I sat and stared"

Explanation: Both of these songs reflect Steve's inability to leave the past as the past. He is still watching, waiting, looking for his opportunity to go back to the 1940's. There's also a reflection of his love for Peggy, which is his main goal, beyond what he is currently facing.

Bruce Banner: "peace"

Song Link:

Taylor Swift – peace (Official Lyric Video)

Most Fitting Lyric:

"But there's robbers to the east, clowns to the west/I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best/But the rain is always gonna come if you're standing with me"

Explanation: I was realllllllllllllllllllllllll close to using this song for Peter, but I think at the end of the day, it fits Bruce better. He worries throughout the movies that he can't have a normal life because of the whole whole Hulk thing. He seems to crave it and fear it at the same time, as does this song.

Thor: "The Lucky One"

Song Link: Taylor Swift - The Lucky One (Taylor's Version) (Lyric Video)

Most Fitting Lyric:

"And they'll tell you now, you're the lucky one/Yeah, they'll tell you now, you're the lucky one/Can you tell me now you're the lucky one?"

Explanation: This was not an easy one for me to label. I wanted to get something that fully encapsulated his grief and depression while also giving him something that showed off his past. I would say that this song gives off this impression, as he is realizing that he has everything he was supposed to want and nothing like he was actually aiming for. Feeling a little meh about this, but it's what I got.

Natasha Romanoff: "the archer"

Song Link: Taylor Swift - The Archer (Lyric Video)

Most Fitting Lyric: "Combat, I'm ready for combat/I say I don't want that, but what if I do?/…./'Cause all of my enemies started out friends/Help me hold onto you/I've been the archer/I've been the prey/Who could ever leave me darling?/But who could stay?"

Explanation: I know, I know, everyone wants to put Nat in her rep era because they think it sounds badass, but simply labeling her as a badass feels a little… deeming, don't you think? That's why I refuse to give her either "The Man" or any old revenge song, because she's cool! And deep! I have to give her something cool and deep! She, like Bruce, wants a family and is instead perched for a fight. She doesn't know how to trust as fully as she would like to, and struggles with who to let in the Avengers.

Hawkeye: "Sweet Nothing"

Song Link:

Taylor Swift - Sweet Nothing (Official Lyric Video)

Most Fitting Lyric:

"'Cause they said the end is coming/Everyone's up to something/I find myself running home to your sweet nothings/Outside, they're push and shoving/You're in the kitchen humming/All that you ever wanted from me was nothing"

Explanation: Hawkeye. Is. A Soft Dad. He don't wanna fight, he wants his fam.

Bucky: "This is Me Trying"

Song Link:

Taylor Swift – this is me trying (Official Lyric Video)

Most Fitting Lyric:

"I didn't know if you'd care if I came back/I have a lot of regrets about that/Pulled the car off the road to the lookout/Could've followed my fears all the way down"

Explanation: Bucky is trying his best, and still feels like he's slipping, which is pretty 'this is me trying' of him. Honestly I don't need to put more here, he's sad, the song is sad, that's what I got.

Wanda: "Bigger Than The Whole Sky"

Song Link: Taylor Swift - Bigger Than The Whole Sky (Lyric Video)

Most Fitting Lyric:

"And I've got a lot to pine about/I've got a lot to live without/I'm never gonna meet/What could've been, would've been/What should've been you"

Explanation: Wanda has lost so much throughout her past, her brother, Vision, and of course, her kids. That one relates most to the first song, as she is dealing with her grief of what should've been the life she wanted. I thought about putting 'delicate' here too, but I think her reputation and falling in love with Vision is much less important than her kids and her grief. Could also do with 'Vigilante Shit' for the sole purpose of Multiverse of Madness'

Vision: "the lakes"

Song Link: Taylor Swift - the lakes (Official Lyric Video)

Most Fitting Lyric:

"Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die/I don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you/…/I want auroras and sad prose/I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet/'Cause I haven't moved in years/And I want you right here"

Explanation: This one was also not easy, though unlike the Thor problem this is because Vision has barely over 100 minutes of screen time throughout the Marvel movies so far. So yeah. Less than two hours didn't really give me much. HOWEVER you know what I do know about him? He likes Wanda. And he wants to hide away from the crazy of it all. And 'the lakes' reconciled those two facts. I also liked giving a sentient robot a song about poets. Heheheh so fun. This is also quite fitting for Wanda, but she's busy with her not-alive kids.

Peter Parker: "You're on Your Own, Kid" or "Eyes Open"

Song Link: Taylor Swift - You're On Your Own, Kid (Official Lyric Video)

Eyes Open (Taylor's Version)

Most Fitting Lyric:

"'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned/Everything you lose is a step you take/So make the friendship bracelets/Take the moment and taste it/You've got no reason to be afraid/…/You're on your own, kid/You always have been."

"The tricky thing is yesterday we were just children/Playing soldiers, just pretending/Dreaming dreams with happy endings/In backyards, winning battles with our wooden swords/But now we've stepped into a cruel world"

Explanation: OOOOO BABY PETER TIME THE WHOLE REASON I MADE THIS LIST. Peter is. A child. Or at least he was for the majority of his plot line, and I wanted to make sure the song that I chose reflected that, which both of these do. I also wanted to reflect the coming-of-age that Peter goes through, and the fear that he is put through in his plot lines. And yet, at the end of it, he still doesn't know what he's up to. He's still lost, and he's still scared. WAY BETTER THAN GIVING HIM ILLICIT AFFAIRS JUST BECAUSE IT SAYS DON'T CALL ME KID.

Thus ends my Swiftie and Marvel fan rant. Hope you enjoyed. Let me know if you want me to do more characters below because I just did my faves :D

[firefromthegodspro]

Final Game Jam Dev Log: It seems we have reached... an end

Greetings, greetings, fair Tumblr. Tis I, local crackpot wizard Fire. It's currently 2:30 in the morning, and as I type this part of the post, Messier Mystes' prototype is uploading to Itch.io for submission into the Jam!

It's admittedly not... great, I did run out of time to get it to a point I wanted. But it is at the very least functional. Lacking cutscenes, balance, and quality. But functional.

Safe to say, this is the farthest I've gotten on a creative project not meant for a class, so I'm both relieved I managed to finish something (I am literally that one Jimmy Neutron villain IRL), and disappointed I couldn't even polish the vertical slice I made.

So before we talk about the bad, let's talk about the good!

I've literally never made a game before, so just the fact I did this is an accomplishment to me. Like genuinely. I was given RPG Maker MV in high school as a gift, and I've never been able to sit down and release something playable, so this was insanely satisfying! Even if I don't win anything or I get bad reviews, I'm just happy to be here.

Additionally, as scuffed as my Timetable system is, the fact I managed to make a semi-functional one abusing If/Else statements, Common Events, and Variables makes me proud. I problem solved, and while it is basic I think it's somewhat creative for my first foray into the engine.

Now onto the "what I'm disappointed about" section.

I am extremely disappointed that I didn't budget my time well at all. I really should've either chosen a smaller scope, or focused hard on a vertical slice, but I didn't manage to. It led to me cutting a lot of corners in the final hour, and I'm unhappy with it. It kinda sucks to me I didn't manage to even implement music or cutscenes properly, but its whatever.

Enjoy this Rouxls Kaard gif as a line break.

SO! What are my plans for the future?

Well, near future, I'm taking a couple days and binging both FGO and Tsukihime. I managed to NP2 Arc on the Anniversary banner, so I feel obligated to consume her route in the VN as quickly as possible. I haven't exactly been only game devving, but I do wanna take a couple days and let my creative juices refill.

I'm bone dry, man!

Secondly, in the slightly less-near future, I need to focus on my novel. I've let Quest for the Sacred Sword fall by the wayside, and I wanna get more progress put into that before I hop back onto Messier.

But never fear! My middling Dev Blogs and game development talents will return.

In terms of what's in store for the future, obviously things like adding cutscenes... adding the Social Link-type mechanic, and all of that is on the docket. But I also need to redesign my dungeons to meet my initial vision for them. Additionally, while I might stick with the ad hoc bootleg Timekeeping system, I definitely want to refine it a bit more if I don't outright replace it.

I also need to seriously overhaul my spell list. I have a perfectly fine basic outline, but as I implemented it I realized I forgot to focus on where the spells would fall in the level tree...

Yeah, again, I've never really done this before.

So revamping that is a must.

I also need to improve my map designs. I have some pretty basic ones, but improvements can always be made, and I want to make them.

That all being said, I'll still be posting here, just not Game Dev stuff. Probably more random thoughts, novel updates, or random garbage essays I come up with about my hyper fixations. The Wordpress (with a total of 1 post) is going to go silent for now, and will return when important updates exist. I'm still going to be working on Messier slowly in the background, but I won't really talk about it until I have something significant to show off.

Whelp, as of this line its just shy of 2:50 and I have to be up at 8 for work. The game's uploaded and submitted by now, so I'm going to go crash.

Walking the path of heaven to rule over everything.

-Fire

[love-me-satoru]

Broken Hearts and Broke Promises.

A/N: This is an original story by me! It’s a really sad and really triggering story. Please you don’t have to read it if you’re uncomfortable. There’s a lot of abuse and unsettling things. and please if you’re under the age of 17 (and 17 is pushing it in my book) please Do Not Read this.

4.2k words

WARNINGS: very very little fluff, HEAVY ANGST, a lot of dialog,Heavy physical abuse, Cheating, Swearing, Verbal and Physical violence, Mental breakdowns, breaking of objects, murder/suicide, name calling, time skips, being used, guns, use of guns, blood, dying in front of a loved one, death.

[oc]Aliese Miracle x [oc] Arria Katz

if you want to read a little character sheet for them two it’s going to be linked here

banners by @inklore & @cafekitsune

Before and Then Prologue

Arria Katz and Aliese Miracle were together for 10 years. They met when Aliese was a freshman in high school. Arria was a sophomore, they were supposed to be a junior that year but during her first year, she was absent most of the time due to her family matters. They couldn't be helped, being tossed around their family like a child with a toy ball. Their Uncle the black sheep of the family other than Arria, took them in when he found out what the family was doing to them. Arria's uncle tried his best to raise them but he thinks it was the previous resentment of the rest of the family that caused them to act out more and more. Their uncle tried to get them into therapy or even the school guidance counselor but they just refused to go whenever it was time to go to therapy. and the guidance counselor was in a whole different situation that had to involve campus security.

Aliese was the perfect little princess. Always being praised by teachers, her parents, and even random students. She was at the top of her class already surpassing some of her upperclassmen. There wasn't a single soul in that school who didn't know who Aliese was. The school honestly thought it would be a good idea to see if Aliese could help out Arria, maybe just keep her out of trouble but they couldn't have been more wrong. Aliese was being pushed to her limit. She never wanted to give up on someone who needed help. She had attempted to try and get Arria to be more involved in school but every single time it was met with hostility. Soon after they just started to ignore Aliese together, the moment they saw her approach they ignored her. Aliese always tried to stand right in front of Arria just to get them to notice her. When they just walked around her, she just stood there with a defeated look on her face. Arria caught the sad look on her face. Their smile dwindled to a slight scowl. They were thinking to themselves. “Did I feel bad for her? Nah it's okay she's nothing” Aliese avoided them for the rest of the day. Usually, she would keep trying maybe at least two more times before the end of the day but she was nowhere to be found. They were doubting themselves for the first time in many years. They went home really thinking about what they did. “Was this regret.”

The next few days were eventful. Arria went looking for Aliese. The only place they knew she would be the library. Deep in the back surrounded by a pile of textbooks and a small scatter of worksheets. It was the first time Arria paid attention to Aliese. She's usually always dressed up so cute. A pretty pink dress lay just above her knee, matching pink knee-high socks. The tiny purple butterfly necklace hanging just above the cut of her dress. A small bit of her cleavage showing. They felt their face get a little warm when Aliese's eyes caught Arria's. Ailese gave a soft smile and slowly patted the chair next to her. Arria didn't waste a second before sitting down pulling out their homework and getting started immediately. Since that day instead of just being a few days a week, it turned to every day. The soft giggles from Aliese always brought a huge smile to Arria's face. Every day the couple was getting closer and closer.

It's wonderful how the years just fly by when you're having fun right? Right?

Where’s the trust?

7 Years Later

" I promise I will always love and protect you with all my heart" as Arria is holding Aliese hand slipping the white wedding band on her left finger. Just as they switch hands with Arria's left hand in Aliese's hand as she slips on the same white matching band "I promise I will always love and protect you with all my heart"

“I love you Aliese" as Arria smiled staring directly at their newly wedded wife. “and I love you Arria" As Aliese started back towards her newly wedded wife. Their smile wide enough to light up the whole room.

Not very many people believed this relationship would work, Aliese's mother Adeline was one of those people. But she put her differences aside so her daughter could be happy. She never wanted to disappoint her daughter. Arria's Uncle Lynx didn't think it would last either. Only because he knew his niece, and they can be a vile person, But to keep his niece happy he was there standing on their right side standing proud.

Aliese was a happy girl at least that's what it seems to be in the present. When she was around eight years old she lost her best friend, her father. She never wanted to forget her daddy. The one thing Aliese promised her father was that she would always be the happy little girl he knew and loved. And she took that promise to heart. Her Smile can light up a whole room always spreading joy and happiness whenever needed. Aliese was always ready to put a smile on even if she wasn't that happy little girl anymore.

Arria wasn't the best child even their parents abandoned them, naming them after a king, they truly believed they should be treated as one. But after being thrown around to every family member there was only one who never knew of their existence and it was the older black sheep of the family their Uncle Lynx. He gave them everything nobody else could. They believed they deserved more and they always got what they wanted. And they always intend to get what they want when they want it.

A Few Months Later

"Would you believe that your wife is cheating on you already?" As Aliese choked on her tea. "I'm Sorry?" Aliese says as she believes she misheard her friend. Her friend chuckles as she's sipping her tea again. “I’ve heard from a little birdy someone had a date today. But I knew we had plans today.” Aliese soon excused herself slowly making it back home. Not wanting to believe her friend. As Aliese makes it home she sees Arria's car immediately as she goes to open the door some random female walks out with her wife. Arms wrapped around each other each stealing small kisses from each other. “Arria why..?" Aliese says quietly. Arria just ignores and walks around Aliese like she doesn't exist. Like she wasn't the one she married just a few months ago. Arria walks the mystery woman back to their car helping her in like she was their wife and slowly shuts the door before walking back towards Aliese. "You thought I loved you? Honestly honey that's so funny." Aliese's eyes are filling with tears after hearing everything Arria just said. "Pathetic" Arria grabs Aliese's hair in a vice-like grip pulling her towards the front door of the house. "Now you're going to be a good little dog and stay here." This was the first time Arria ever put their hands on Aliese and it wasn't the last time they did.

For What Reason

3 Years Later

Aliese wishes Arria would just pretend to care about any of her accomplishments. Aliese hasn't seen or even heard from her wife in about three weeks. When she messaged them saying they should be back before 6 pm Aliese was excited. Aliese has been prepping everything from the fliers to the furniture in every room. The whole house is decorated from the basement to the attic. After constant reminders, multiple unread messages, and ten missed calls Arria never showed. This was the night of the open house Aliese has been working on for the last five months. All she wanted was for her significant other to be here to encourage her to be proud of all of the blood sweat and tears she put into the house that she worked so hard for. All Aliese wanted to do was to surprise Arria not only was it a big day for Aliese it should have been for Arria as well. Everything was already set up and all they had to do was fucking show up but they couldn't even do that. The darkness is overtaking once again. Aliese shook herself out of the dark hole once again, hoping it was just an accident and they just misread the date or the time. Just in case it was just an accident she went to check her phone just to make sure to see a text from Arria.

“Sorry I couldn't make it tonight. See you at home”

Aliese never felt so fucking gone. Even after all the times they have been unfaithful she's in pieces. All her life she's been perfect everyone always says, so believing in the words that have been engraved into her pretty little head she never really understood why Arria was never here. Aliese has always cared about public appearances being raised the way she did she always tried to push Arria to be around for big events especially if it was for their wife. The darkness is overwhelming again. Empty thoughts, Heavy handed hits, Bruises everything is coming back again. "They never loved me"

These dark marks littered her skin. Being forced to pretend that this is okay. "It's not okay," Aliese said quietly to herself. "it shouldn't hurt to move every day" she kept muttering to herself. Silently cowering imagining that Arria was above her. Striking Aliese continuously, she couldn't even remember why she was being hit. The image heavily flashes through her eyes continuously breaking through again. "I'm Safe. They're not here" softly being said over and over again. She's dragging through the black hole that's trying to consume her. "I'm better than this" her voice getting louder. Aliese is snapping back to the present. She has decided this is over, everything from the love she had for them up to the fear she had.

After a silent thirty-five-minute drive she made it back but, their car wasn't in the driveway. Fury is burning throughout her body. "You're safe," she said silently to herself. Going to the front door, just to find it unexpectedly unlocked opening the door slowly just to see scattered clothing all over the living room floor. “You Deserve Better” Aliese said to herself. She slowly walked towards the kitchen grabbed a few plates and immediately threw one directly at the wall. A scream was let out from the living room. Arria rushes into the kitchen just as Aliese throws another plate directly toward Arria they move before it can hit them and shatter against the wall.

“What the fuck is your problem, Aliese!?!?” Arria screamed at her pissed off for throwing their plates. “MY FUCKING PROBLEM!" as she threw another plate back at them again missing them just barely as it shatters against the wall. "I asked for one fucking thing Arria. I just needed you fucking there for once. It was my biggest fucking project. And out of all fucking people I would want there to celebrate my biggest fucking accomplishment was you and you were doing fucking what? Fucking another random fucking bitch." Aliese heard a small rustle in the living room knowing the random girl was still there. Aliese fully forced threw a plate she had nearby into the living room causing the random female to scream once again. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE"

All they heard was a loud thud and a little scramble and then the front door slammed shut. It's coming again ”Get away from me,” Aliese said to herself but Arria grabbed her hard throwing her directly on the ground. 'Who the fuck do you think you are? Disrespecting me in my fucking house." They grab her hair pulling it harshly then slamming her face into the ground. "This is all you're fucking worth. Absolutely fucking nothing. You're just fucking trash." Aliese silently repeated to herself "You deserve better" on repeat. Trying to break away from their grip. But they're still too strong holding near the base of Aliese's scalp. They threw her back on the ground stepping directly onto her hand and pushing it harshly into the tile floor. Arria grabs her hair one more time before slowly bending down to her ear. " You're fucking nothing. Remember that"

They just left her there. Whimpering quietly to herself. Her blood dripped on the floor. Slowly leaking out of the small gash from her forehead. As she finally rose from the floor slowly raising herself, her vision blurry from the multiple hits directly to her skull. "You are worth more than this," she said to herself. "You deserve better than this'' she whimpers softly to herself. "You're safe now they're gone". She limps slowly towards the bathroom, holding her hand over a bleeding wound that drips down her face. With just one touch, everything ignites in flames. She silently whimpers over the bruises Arria left behind while examining herself. "You're going to be okay"

It's Fucking Game

Arria came back the next morning. Completely pissed off about the mess everywhere. Stepping over the broken plates and the dried blood all over the kitchen floor. "You couldn't clean this shit up?" Arria scoffed loudly ."If I could fucking see I would" she scoffed "Why are you even fucking here?" Arria said annoyingly. "What’s the fucking point of talking if all you’re going to fucking do is yell at me." Aliese is defeated at this point. "I hate you." "Tell me something I don’t already fucking know." “Why do I even fucking try anymore."Aliese had reached a point where she no longer cared. “I fucking told you I didn’t care what you did. Why are you acting like it’s my fucking fault" “BECAUSE IT IS." Arria let out a disdainful snort. "Honestly if you’re not fucking happy. Just get the fuck out of my house." "Fuck you." Arria stormed out of the house again slamming the door and shaking the whole wall causing some pictures to fall off. Seeing the photo that fell, their wedding photo. Aliese has been broken ever since that day. Aliese threw herself onto the couch, trying to forget everything that happened. "I'm so fucking sick of their shit."

After contemplating what to do Aliese got off the couch and started collecting all of their shit. Throwing it into trash bags boxes and anything they could find that wasn’t hers was in the messy collection of items. After a few hours of getting all of their shit together. Everything was piled in the middle of the living room, with broken pictures and plates still around the living room and kitchen. They came back, seeing everything in the living room disheveled and ruined. Random bags and boxes just sitting there. Aliese is nowhere to be seen. They were looking through the bags just to realize it was their stuff. All of it from the small gifts, Aliese gave them, to the photo of her and her parents on her college graduation day. Tears start filling their eyes a choked-out sob leaving their lips. Falling to her knees face in her hands. Nothing but loud sobs falling one by one. When Aliese entered the room she saw them on the floor. Aliese was pissed to see them back here. Angrily crossing the living room reaching Arria, Aliese’s grip around Arria’s arm was unforgiving. Immediately raising them to their feet to rush them back to the front door.

Arria immediately fights back pushing Aliese away from them. "What the fuck is your problem!" Struggling to get away. "I told you to get that fuck out of my house." Aliese is still dragging them closer to the front door."You always fucking say that when you’re fucking mad at me." Her grip was unforgiving as she hurled them towards the door. "As you can fucking tell I’m over this shit" Arria is silent, tears once again filling their tired eyes.

"Plea-" Aliese immediately cut them off. They try to walk back closer inside the house. "Stop. We can’t keep doing this Arria." Arria is angry that Aliese has become aware of her deceitful tactics. "You’re a fucking bitch" Arria yelled out. That just enraged Aliese. Snagging Arria completely off guard She gripped her arm so hard they felt like it was going to break. Flinging her towards the door."Get the fuck out of my house before I call the fucking police." "What the fuck are the police going to do huh Aliese?! What it looks like is you’re the one hurting me." "Are you fucking sure about that? Fucking look at me Arria. Do you think you'd win this fucking fight?" Aliese screamed at them. Somehow getting close enough to grab Arria’s face. “Fucking look at me! Look at the evil shit you did to me Arria!” Arria tried to break from her tightening grip. “You fucking deserved it.” Aliese let go of her face stepping away slowly. “I never fucking deserved this nobody fucking deserves this.”

"Just Get The Fuck Out Of My House Arria" "Fuck you, This has been my house just as long as it's been yours" “It was never your house Arria! YOU WERE NEVER HERE. YOUR NAME WAS NEVER ON IT. IT IS MY HOUSE.” Having enough of their shit. Aliese grabs them by their hair dragging them to the door. Arria wasn’t going to just let her do that to her. They were kicking and screaming trying to hit Aliese but missing completely with how she grabbed them. Once they met the door Aliese swung it open throwing them out quickly. And shutting the door with a loud slam. After locking the door. Arria didn’t stop trying to get back in. They were banging and banging screaming at Aliese to let them back in."You will be nothing without me Aliese. Don't fucking forget that bitch"

It’s been two hours since Arria left. Aliese hasn’t moved from the door. Back pressed firmly against the door head between her knees. Tears fell violently from her eyes. She’s always been a silent crier. Unlike Arria. They were always a loud crier. Aliese always knew their cries. they had three different sets like a baby would when the baby would be hungry and all. It only started when She heard that one cry Arria promised she wouldn’t ever fucking do again. And it was the loud obnoxious sob. They only do it so it could gain attractions and make it seem like it wasn't actually their fault when it actually was. The only other time Arria pulled that stunt was years ago. They were caught in the act. Laying the shared bed of Arria and Aliese. "I'm Sorry Baby! It didn't mean anything!” "You always say that Arria, what was this the fourth time I caught you with some random bitch." "Aliese, sweet girl. You know I love you and only you" "Are you fucking sure about that?" Aliese points at the bed with the girl still tucked in under the covers. As Aliese ran out of the bedroom Arria fell to their knees breaking down into a full-on sob. Tears aren't being produced just a loud fucking sob. The other girl came by to try and comfort them but when Arria pushed her away a loud gasp left her mouth when Aliese was back in the door to see if Arria let the bitch comfort them, it was over. But when she saw them push her away. She ran back to her wife. Only to find out later on accident they were only playing with her emotions and she wasn't going back to them again.

Aliese woke up against the front door neck and back hurting from the uncomfortable position. "It's been ten fucking years. I knew they never loved me I don't know why I stayed." With her ultimately getting off the floor and looking around at the random shit everywhere from the night before the broken dishes all over the kitchen floor. "Was I just not good enough?" Aliese said to herself softly while tears welled up in her eyes. Aliese is slowly falling back into the pit she so gracefully dug herself out of. It took her four years to get out of the depths of her head. Arria always knew how important it was for her to never go back to darkness. However, without Arria being here Aliese has gone back even deeper than before. Finally snapping back to reality Aliese gathered up a bit of Arria's shit and threw it straight to the front lawn continuing until every bit of her existence was no longer in the presence of her home she built from the ground up. "Arria wasn't ever here" They will never be able to walk back into this house.

It's Finally Over.

Arria had tried to come back four separate times. The first two times she was begging and crying to be let back in while Aliese ignored those. Arria's second two tries they tried to beat the door down with force. Aliese was getting scared so she decided it was time to finally call her mom. Right after Arria left. and she made it back in record time. As Aliese opened the door her mom slowly reached out towards her beautiful face. "My baby.." as her voice cracks. "Mom, please... I just can't do this anymore. I need them to leave me alone." Aliese puts her face in the crook of her mother’s neck, weeping silently against her. "Don't worry sweetheart we're going to get this fixed." She pulls her daughter into a tight hug.

"What do you mean there isn't enough proof?" Adeline shouted at the cops. Aliese is heartbroken. This is honestly just awful. These marks were deep purple littering her face. The deep gash came from the left side of her forehead down to her cheek. Hoping something could help her from this hell "Is there anything we can do to protect my daughter?!" As Aliese is just looking at her face in the mirror. Feeling broken and lost. “Mom. They did the best they could please I just want to go home, please.” Aliese shut herself out, She couldn't keep up with all the emotions running through her body. Her mom is talking that much she knows but she can't make out anything. The whole world is numb around her. So lost in the scenery thinking how everything looks beautiful. “Aliese.” Her mother is attempting to capture her attention. “Yes, mom?” “Do you want to get away for a little while? We can go visit your grandmother. I think you need a little time away.” She nodded not hearing what her mom said getting lost in the trees again. “I don't know what to do anymore Mom” They make it back to Aliese's house. “Don’t worry baby. I'm going to be there every step of the way to help you.” Arria was there and parked a few houses down. Watching like they have been for the last week. Not sleeping growing more insane.

They’re not even home ten minutes before they stomp up to the front door with a sledgehammer and their loaded hand gun as they say to themselves. “If I can't have you nobody will.” 

“Open the fucking door Aliese I’m done asking” as Arria continues to bang on the door. “Aliese if you don’t open this fucking door in 2 minutes you’re going to regret ever leaving me you fucking bitch” Arria starts banging the door with the sledgehammer. Aliese’s mom screamed from loud bangs hearing the door crack with every hit. But Aliese was tired of the threats, she slowly walked towards the closet pulling out the shotgun she forgot she hid in there years ago.“Arria Get the fuck away.”They're still smashing the door. “Make me you fucking bitch.” Aliese slowly loads the gun. Pointing it directly at the front door just waiting. After the very last hit the door hits the ground. Aliese and Arria make eye contact for the very last time. As Aliese pulled the trigger, Her mom screamed from the gunshot. Arria attempted to cover their wound with their free hand while trying but dropped the loaded gun they had as Aliese walked towards them pushing their gun away from their reach. It was the first and only time Aliese will be able to see this sight. “How does it feel to feel so fucking helpless.” Arria can’t speak with the blood spilling from their mouth. Aliese just laughs, slowly raising the barrel of the shotgun to Arria's forehead. Watching them suffer the way she suffered for years. Aliese pulls the trigger once more watching their brains blow out through the front door. She looks around dropping the now empty shotgun down near the lifeless body. Aliese grabs Arria’s loaded handgun. Her eyes locked with her mother's one last time. "I'm sorry Mom. I love you.” she rushes to put the loaded barrel against her own head and pulls the trigger.

[iviarellereads]

The Great Hunt, Chapter 11 - Glimmers of the Pattern

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Wheel icon) In which I can once again say, that doesn't bode well at all.

PERSPECTIVE: Rand, as Ingtar calls for camp very early in a deep hollow that's easily defended if they're attacked in the night. Everyone's feeling the effects of the last village. Rand overhears Uno saying he saw the same woman in white in a window there, and anyone who wants to take issue with that can take issue with his knife.(1)

Ingtar commands no fires, and every man sleeps next to his horse. There's something even worse than Darkfriends, Trollocs, or even Myrddraal out there. Rand thinks about, and tries to forget, the vision he saw in the house.

Ingtar interrupts Rand's thoughts and gives him a package. Moiraine Sedai said to give it to him at the first camp south of the Erinin, though he has no idea what's in it. It feels soft, maybe just cloth, and Rand would suddenly rather think of the house and the Myrddraal than that cloth. Ingtar was also told to say that if anything happens to him, the lances will take Rand's commands.

“Me!” Rand gasped, forgetting the bundle and everything else. Ingtar met his incredulous stare with a calm nod. “That’s crazy! I’ve never led anything but a flock of sheep, Ingtar. They would not follow me anyway. Besides, Moiraine can’t tell you who your second is. It’s Uno.” “Uno and I were called to Lord Agelmar the morning we left. Moiraine Sedai was there, but it was Lord Agelmar who told me. You are second, Rand.”

Ingtar explains that there's a very clear chain of command, so that if any number of men fall, there's a clear commander, and if only one man is left standing, he's not a straggler, he has the command and must do the duty that they all set out to accomplish. Rand feels Moiraine tugging his leash from a hundred leagues away, and tries to refuse, but Ingtar says too much is already falling apart in the world, this mission can't afford to lose the chain of command. He walks away before Rand can protest further.(2)

Rand is left to find out what's in the package, though he thinks he already knows. He sneaks off into the trees, picks out the knots that speak of Moiraine's own precise handiwork, and finds just what he dreaded: the Dragon's banner.

“Look at that! Look what he’s got, now!” Mat burst into the clearing. Perrin came after him more slowly. “First fancy coats,” Mat snarled, “and now a banner! We’ll hear no end of lording it now, with—” Mat got close enough to see the banner clearly, and his jaw dropped. “Light!” He stumbled back a step. “Burn me!” He had been there, too, when Moiraine named the banner. So had Perrin. Anger boiled up in Rand, anger at Moiraine and the Amyrlin Seat, pushing him, pulling him. He snatched up the banner in both hands and shook it at Mat, words boiling out uncontrollably. “That’s right! The Dragon’s banner!” Mat took another step back. “Moiraine wants me to be a puppet on Tar Valon strings, a false Dragon for the Aes Sedai. She’s going to push it down my throat whatever I want. But—I—will—not—be—used!” Mat had backed up against a tree trunk. “A false Dragon?” He swallowed. “You? That . . . that’s crazy.”

Perrin reasons that if they want to make him a false Dragon, Rand must be able to channel. Rand admits, he doesn’t want to, but he doesn’t know how to stop it either. Mat's paranoid about Rand getting found out and all of them killed for knowing him so well, which goes on a bit. Perrin tells him to shut up, and asks why Rand came with them.

Rand shrugged. “I was going, but first the Amyrlin came, and then the Horn was stolen, and the dagger, and Moiraine said Mat was dying, and. . . . Light, I thought I could stay with you until we found the dagger, at least; I thought I could help with that. Maybe I was wrong.” “You came because of the dagger?” Mat said quietly. He rubbed his nose and grimaced. “I never thought of that. I never thought you wanted to. . . . Aaaah! Are you feeling all right? I mean, you aren’t going mad already, are you?” Rand dug a pebble out of the ground and threw it at him. “Ouch!” Mat rubbed his arm. “I was just asking. I mean, all those fancy clothes, and all that talk about being a lord. Well, that isn’t exactly right in the head.” “I was trying to get rid of you, fool! I was afraid I’d go mad and hurt you.” His eyes dropped to the banner, and his voice lowered. “I will, eventually, if I don’t stop it. Light, I don’t know how to stop it.”

Mat tells a story he heard from a merchant guard once, about a man who could channel who woke up one morning to find his whole village flattened, except his own bed. He says he plans to sleep as far away from Rand as he can in case of anything like that, though Perrin jokes that he should sleep cuddled up to Rand in that case.(3) Mat says he's grateful that Rand came to help him, but Rand isn't the same anymore. He waits a moment, as if expecting Rand to protest, then walks back into the camp. Rand asks Perrin what he thinks, and Perrin says he'd burn or bury the Dragon banner, if it were him, and run as far as he could go, but... maybe sometimes you can't run. Then he leaves, too.(4)

Rand knelt there, staring at the banner spread out on the ground. “Well, sometimes you can run,” he muttered. “Only, maybe she gave me this to make me run. Maybe she has something waiting for me, if I run. I won’t do what she wants. I won’t. I’ll bury it right here. But she said my life may depend on it, and Aes Sedai never lie so you can see it. . . .” Suddenly his shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Now I’m talking to myself. Maybe I am going mad already.” When he returned to the camp, he carried the banner wrapped in the canvas once more, tied with knots less neat than Moiraine’s had been.

The light's beginning to fail, and Rand brings his horse over near Loial and Hurin, who stumbles over his words to say he hopes Rand doesn't mind him here, he was chatting with Loial. Loial points Rand at a stone column nearby, and says it looks like it was worked once, then left to the weather. There are markings that look familiar but strange. Rand says maybe Loial will be able to see better in the morning, and he's glad of Hurin's company, thinking to himself that he's glad of the company of anyone who isn't afraid of him.

He packs the banner in his saddle bags, so nobody else will touch it, and refuses any supper. He was too queasy for even the best meal he'd ever had, just then.

The camp was silent now, but Rand lay awake past the fall of full dark. His mind darted back and forth. The banner. What is she trying to make me do? The village. What could kill a Fade like that? Worst of all, the house in the village. Did it really happen? Am I going mad already? Do I run, or do I stay? I have to stay. I have to help Mat find the dagger. An exhausted sleep finally came, and with sleep, unbidden, the void surrounded him, flickering with an uneasy glow that disturbed his dreams.(5)

PERSPECTIVE: Padan Fain still thinks of himself as Padan Fain, that man is still the core of him, but he's been changed. First the things Baa did to him, to track down the boys in his hunt for the Dragon, and then in Shadar Logoth...

He touches the ruby-hilted dagger, feeling whole, and remembers how he nailed the Myrddraal to the door of the building himself, to establish true control over the pack, which the Myrddraal had kept trying to wrest away from him. He shouldn't have let the Trollocs take so many from the village to slow them down, but Trollocs are greedy, and he was overcome by such euphoria watching the Myrddraal die that he had a momentary soft spot.(6) He tells the Trollocs to kill them all, and leave the heads atop the pile of the bodies, for their pursuers to find. He ignores the pleas of the remaining Darkfriends to save some of the villagers, knowing they just don't want to be the next meal.

He kneels next to the box holding the Horn. He takes the dagger out and lays it on top the chest, to warn off anyone who might try to come near. They’ve all seen, by now, what happens when it’s touched.

Lying there in his blankets, he stared northward. He could not feel al’Thor, now; the distance between them was too great. Or perhaps al’Thor was doing his vanishing trick. Sometimes, in the keep, the boy had suddenly vanished from Fain’s senses. He did not know how, but always al’Thor came back, just as suddenly as he had gone.(7) He would come back this time, too. “This time you come to me, Rand al’Thor. Before, I followed you like a dog driven on the trail, but now you follow me.” His laughter was a cackle that even he knew was mad, but he did not care. Madness was a part of him, too. “Come to me, al’Thor. The dance is not even begun yet. We’ll dance on Toman Head, and I’ll be free of you. I’ll see you dead at last.”

=====

(1) I dunno about you, but I believe him. (2) So, Moiraine's definitely trying to force Rand to A) gain battle experience, B) find the truth within himself that he is the Dragon, and C) declare himself such. Poor Rand, but also, it super doesn't help that he's so, so resistant to feeling manipulated. Sorry, bud, you're fate's plaything for this and the next 12 remaining books. But, the complete chain of command is an interesting way for an army to work. (3) Pour one out for the Cauthor shippers. (4) At least he's starting to mend bridges with Mat and Perrin. Mat still isn't himself, right now, what with the Mashadar corruption in him, growing slowly at the edges. And, at least Perrin's more understanding and level-headed. (5) You caught Mat's story, right? The one about a male channeler folding a mountain over his village in his sleep, with only him and his bed untouched. And then Rand is surrounded by the void as he falls asleep, the same void that made him feel so sick before, now it's described as "an uneasy glow". OH YES, THIS WILL END EXTREMELY WELL! (6) So he's havin a real normal one. (7) What was Rand doing that he might disappear? All we know he did was a lot of sword training with Lan, which would have meant holding the flame and the void to concentrate… just as he's holding the void as he falls asleep and disappears again.