#if you go by the ‘they age twice as fast’ theory

[moviestarmartini]

yellow flowers. — jude bellingham x gf!reader

él sabía, ella sabía y se olvidaron de sus flores amarillas.

summary: how can your relationship recover from such a serious argument the night before?

wc: 975

warnings: angst, not that much dialogue, like three words in spanish, established long-term relationship.

A/N: WHAAAAT?? GIGI POSTING TWICE IN A DAY??? its more likely than you think! thank las flores amarillas hehe.

now playing... flores amarillas from floricienta

The fight was stupid, really. 

You both had to admit it was. Even then, that doesn’t take away the fact it snowballed into issues each of you held back for what seemed ages, and only ended up with Jude slamming the door on the way out of your apartment. 

After hours of crying, your own exhaustion from the ordeal lulled you to sleep. When you rose up in the morning, neither your mind nor your body prepared for the fact it was a Saturday. 

Nor the fact everyone and their mothers were receiving yellow flowers, something you’d always craved but were always just another bystander. 

If you listened to that song again you might just rip your hair off. 

You had a whole day planned with Jude after the game, he wanted to do something special, but the fact you couldn’t hold back your jealousy the night before was more than enough to dampen the idea, whatever it was. 

For a second, you tried to put things on the positive side. A self-care day. In theory it was wonderful, but the second you sat alone in the bubbly bathtub, you broke down in tears. 

You’d been together for years. You changed your whole life around him, learning German to go to school in the same country and planning your masters in Spanish. Maybe that was part of the reason he called you spineless; you adapted to other’s needs and perspectives easier. His words bounced around your head, each reminder taunting you more. 

To top it all off, Spotify seemed to have a vendetta against you, your daylist was insanely depressing. 

“Is this because he plays for Real Madrid?!” You spoke out into the world, growing frustrated with your situation. 

That did spark an idea in your brain; or more of a reminder. 

Jude had a game today. And you weren’t going to be there to watch him. That just made you jump out of the bath, get changed into decent clothes and leave the house for once to watch him at your best friend’s house upon her request, miserably so even when the team got their footing back up— knowing you should be in the stands cheering him on. But alas, you weren’t.

And you wondered if you would ever be again. 

The moment he fell clutching his shoulder, your heart stopped. Tears welled in your eyes but you avoided letting them escape, remembering the long hours of work and recovery, the utter joy you felt when he informed both you and the team he was comfortable playing without the big chunky brace again. All that, and it crumbled down right before your eyes, like your relationship. 

Still, you didn’t hesitate on reaching for your phone, not finding any elation on the team’s victory. 

[ I know you don’t want to see or hear from me ] 

[ But how’s your shoulder? I’m seriously concerned ] 

You knew he wasn’t going to reply right away, and when your companion found out who you’d texted, she ripped the phone out of your hands and put it away for the reminder of your evening laced with white wine and take out sushi. 

“Thank you for releasing me, master.” You joked by the time she gave you the mobile back, swallowing hard upon seeing Jude hadn’t replied. 

He hadn’t even read it. 

Now you were actually panicking, swallowing down the tears in the Uber and wishing the small elevator could go fast enough that you didn’t break down somewhere that wasn’t in the comfort of your home. 

You were overwhelmed enough that you didn’t even take into account your door was unlocked when you clearly left it locked, nor the warm light coming from the tiny space under the doorframe. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Were the first words you registered before your eyes caught the indoor prairie your boyfriend had installed in your living room in the shape of yellow daisies. 

Your eyes trailed the hundreds of petals before your eyes finally fell on him, scanning from his toes up to the apologetic expression he was carrying. Now it all made sense; your friend insisted on getting you out of the house for this. He didn’t reply because of this. 

Though your heart was running at a whopping speed of thirty miles per second, your feet took you painfully slow— cautiously— towards him. You were still marveled, carefully watching where your sneakers landed to avoid stepping on the beautiful work he’d planned for you. 

“Perdón,” Jude repeated, as if the words in Spanish meant so much more than the English language. He opened his mouth for what seemed to be a rant, but the way you squeezed the life out of him with a desperate hug left him speechless, followed by your hugs. 

“I thought you— you were going to dump me and I would have to move back home and— and I can’t imagine that because I love you so much and that’s why I was scared!” You babbled between hiccups, trying to calm yourself down before his gentle hands cupping your face did the job spectacularly. 

“I would be such a fuckin’ idiot to do that.” He couldn’t help but let out a laugh, not at you nor your claims, but at how ridiculous he had been. 

“Te perdono,” You sniffled, your bottom lip still puckered up ever so slightly. 

“But what’s all this?” You turned to look at the scene, something straight out of a Van Gogh painting. 

“You thought I forgot with the thousand TikToks you sent me on this day?” He leaned in to kiss your forehead before pulling you into another warm hug. 

“I also watch Gilmore Girls whenever you do. Whoops.” 

Your laugh echoed as you snuggled closer to him in your upright position, being extremely thankful the last sentence of the song wasn’t your reality.

A/N: if y'all seriously thought it wasn't going to have a happy ending you clearly don't know me well enough rip

[iamasimperyk]

Jealous -Rafe Cameron

Summary: You are Rafe's younger girlfriend and he introduces you to his family.

Warnings: Age gap, fluff, angst, judgy people, English is not my first language, not proofread

Pairing: Older!Rafe x Younger!Reader

A.N; I honestly don't know what this is. I had an idea but somehow, I couldn't find the right words to make it really work.

Your parents introduced him to you at Midsummers. Rafe Cameron, son of Ward Cameron and new owner of every one of his father's companies. 

The first time his eyes found yours, he knew he had to have you, and you were naive enough to fall for his charm. He was almost ten years older than you, and for the first time in your life, you felt safe. You knew Rafe cared for you, always wanting what was best for you. 

"Don't you think it's too much?" You asked Rafe, wearing a fancy dress he just bought and all kinds of expensive jewellery he gifted you whenever he had the chance. 

Rafe looked at you, all dolled up for him. He loved it, and he loved to show you off, "You look amazing, darling. Everybody will be jealous that I get to call you mine."

Rafe's family decided to throw a party when they learned that Rafe finally found a girlfriend. You were excited to meet everyone since Rafe has met every person in your family.

"I just hope they like me," You smiled up at him, your eyes shining brightly.

He cupped your face with his hands, kissing your forehead, "I am going to marry you one day, no matter what they say."

You didn't say anything, but Rafe knew what you thought. Quickly, you reached up and kissed him before you ran back into the bathroom.

----

When the two of you arrived, everybody stared at you. Rafe wrapped his arm around you and started to introduce you to his family members. 

After an hour of talking, you excused yourself, trying to find the toilet, when you heard a group of women talking about you.

"I mean, is she even legal yet?" One of them laughed.

"I bet she is just with him because he is rich. She will never have to lift a finger since he already owns a fortune." Another one answered, shaking her head.

The whole group let out a laugh, "She will probably be pregnant soon, so he is tied to her and won't leave her again."

You didn't want to hear another of their theories and walked back to Rafe as fast as possible.

When Rafe saw you, his face immediately softened, and he wrapped his arm around your waist once again. One of the things he always did was touch you in some way. He needed to feel you to make sure you are still here.

"Are you okay, love?" Rafe asked as soon as he saw your facial expression.

You nodded, "Of course, I am fine, don't worry."

Rafe turned his attention back to his sister, whom he had previously talked to, "Would you excuse us."

Before she could answer, he pulled you into an empty room, waiting for you to start talking.

You couldn't keep your face straight anymore, and your eyes filled with tears. 

Rafe felt angry, frustrated and helpless as he saw you crying. Someone dared hurt his precious girl. 

"Darling, please tell me what happened," Rafe said, hugging you tightly while stroking your hair.

After a few more minutes, you calmed down and told Rafe about the conversation you listened to.

"Fuck them. They are jealous because they are not as beautiful as you and were at least married twice." He rolled his eyes, still fuming on the inside.

Rafe took you home immediately after your conversation and showed you just how much he loved you. 

Maybe you were younger than him, but you were one of the most mature people he ever met.

[rise-my-angel]

More headcannons about the Starks being doms!!! Pleaseeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay starting off saying, all Stark men are doms, just in different ways. But let's start from the eldest down.

Brandon Stark:

Easily a hard dom. He was short tempered and described as very distinctly as having "wolfs blood". He loved fighting and always kept his sword sharp and with him. I have a distinct theory that he was a power bottom, preferring women on top of him but without actually giving them that control. Probably didn't talk a lot, and when he did was just purposely filthy. He also definitly liked to take things rough, considering Barbrey Dustin says this about him.

"I still remember the look of my maiden’s blood on his cock the night he claimed me. I think Brandon liked the sight as well. A bloody sword is a beautiful thing."

That is some hard dom behavior right there.

Eddard Stark:

If there was a Stark who was closest to a switch then the others, it would be Ned. But I think that is more because Ned is just rather vanilla in comparison. There is zero reason to believe Catelyn likes being in charge in the bedroom, but I also think Ned is far more of a soft dom. Not very talkative, probably more intimate, and he doesn't push Catelyns limits. But he does in fact, go hard.

The man gave her five children, and Catelyn literally implies in the first book that Ned fucked her so hard she was in that afterglow pain only a man who goes rough can give.

"Her loins still ached from the urgency of his lovemaking. It was a good ache."

Submissive men do not fuck so urgently they leave their wife laying in bed sore as fuck from getting pounded. Ned is probably the least kinky of the present Starks, but certainly still a soft dom.

Benjen Stark:

We see he has a very dominant personality, how easily he takes control of a conversation and establishes himself as someone to be listened too, but considering he clearly joined the Nights Watch at an early age, it's safe to say Benjen grew up a man whom was just not involved in sexual encounters.

If he did fuck, he'd likely be more of a soft dom with a side that likes to tease and be playful, but I assume he's either never or had very little sexual encounters to say for sure what he'd be like as one. But in his everyday personality, he certainly commands authority when necessary which is proof of dominance enough for me.

Robb Stark:

If there is the biggest example of a hard dom, it's Robb. This man takes you like a goddamn wolf. Flipping you onto your hands and knees, shoving you further into the furs of his bed, going fast enough you can't catch your breathe and rough enough that you feel him well into the next day. He will yank you up to his chest and purposely mutter depraved shit in your ear, mock you for your pleasure knowing it works you up more when he does it. Calling you derogatory sexual terms in bed to keep you in that subspace (he doesnt say them to hurt your feelings you know its all part of a kind of rougher roleplay essentially).

We've seen him take command in every situation. He knows how to seize control of a conversation even with opponents as difficult as Jaime Lannister. He doesn't falter, knowing he has everything in his favour and is sure of himself. Putting men twice his size like Greatjon Umber in his place but still managing to secure his upmost dedicated loyalty at the same time.

Robb probably the most forgets to be romantic in bed, but he makes up for it any other time. It's just in bed, when Robb is fucking you, he is rough and mean. You both know its with love and you both like it, but he is a true hard dom.

Jon Snow:

If his brother is the definition of a hard dom, Jon is the definition of a soft dom. Jon is incapable of being mean to you, truly being mean. He'll never whisper filth for the sake of it, never try to mock or embarrass you, will never use anything close to something derogatory towards you in what he calls you. Jon is passionate, raw, and very intimate about sex with you, and he needs a lot of both skin to skin contact and he needs to be able to kiss you as much as he wants.

But, he is also very controlling. More then he realizes. Jon is unpredictable in bed, because what he wants varies wildly. Sometimes he takes you slowly, but goes for hours to the point he is still inside you as you pass out, which he keeps going. Sometimes, he is rougher then he even realizes. Jon leaves bruises all the time from how tightly his hands grab at you alone, and he goes rough to the point sometimes you almost are pushed too far, but Jon somehow always ends up making you crave it.

You basically will never choose how the night goes. Jon always controls you in bed, and you let him. It works him up to an endless degree that you so completely trust him with you to the point he basically owns your autonomy in bed. He can convince you to do anything knowing you'd let him, and he won't give you what you want because he knows your needs and limits better then you do.

Jon is soft and loving with you in bed, but he is a dom through and through. Jon alone is the one in total control in the bedroom and he will always keep it that way.

[hotchfiles]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ❝ [CHOICELESS HOPE] ❞ — four. delicate.

pairing: aaron hotchner x bau!reader. summary: the moment leading up to the kiss, the drumroll, is as good as the kiss itself. it's certainly more innocent. it's completely harmless. content warnings: canon divergent. emotional cheating (not on reader). angst. right person wrong time. a bit of daddy issues on this one. no use of y/n. word count: 900+ .a/n: me taking my least engaged fic and making a series out of it? more likely than you think. summary based on himym's victoria and her theory.

previously

    Aaron knocks on your door even though that is the least effective way to show you he’s there, hoping in some way this would delay the terrible thing he was about to do. He wishes he could pretend he didn’t know what you felt for him still existed rooted deep in your heart as it did his, and Aaron surely wishes his heart didn’t beat that fast as he heard Jack’s laughter and your voice about three times rougher than usual, apparently pretending to be some sort of monster. 

    He tried to be honest, but being honest to himself meant admitting that night was a succession of terrible choices only he could be blamed on. He was the one to ask if anyone at the BAU could watch over Jack as his sitter had been sick and Jessica was busy, he thought JJ or Spencer would offer to, but you did. And he accepted it knowing fully well he was leaving his son at your house so he could have a date with his girlfriend. 

    Your eyes were always your tell, he saw the hurt in then the moment he dropped Jack off, knowing clearly by his outfit that he was going on a date, a special one even.

    That was another terrible choice, not explaining before why he needed someone to babysit Jack. You told him he looked nice and your voice didn’t crack but the fake smile you gave him made his heart break. And the one you gave Jack was even worse, watching you so genuinely happy taking him in your arms as if Aaron wasn’t being the biggest jerk was enough to throw him off balance the whole night. 

    His date wasn’t good, he was silent, more than usual, and it wasn’t fair. Beth was a good person, he loved her. Beth made him believe in something he thought he would never again, that little spark that faded the moment you left and crumbled when Haley died. Beth brought it back, she wasn’t some sort of placeholder as he waited for his true love to come knocking at his door. She was love, and stability. Someone Jack adored, someone he had built a relationship long lasting enough that Jack got accustomed to.

    And his final terrible choice that led him to your door again, cutting the date short. Much shorter than Beth expected as they had planned it for weeks before. But he couldn’t face her. He couldn’t talk to her with the attention she deserved because all he thought about was your sad eyes to him and your warm smile to Jack. 

    He was a mess. He was hurting himself. And Beth. And you. And inevitably he would hurt Jack if he kept acting like that even though he was acting like that because he couldn’t change Jack’s life upside down again. It was always an impossible situation with you. 

    You know something’s wrong by his face and by the time he shows up at your door, he looks defeated, so you pull him inside instead of calling Jack to go home. You don’t ask him what’s wrong, you don’t want to know, you don’t want to hear him talk about his love life, instead you smile at him and place your hand on his cheek, rubbing the signs of age on his face lovingly, he closes his eyes and hold that same hand, leaning into it for just a moment. 

    “I gave Jack ice cream twice already so he’s in a hell of a sugar rush.” Your confession makes him laugh and breaks the intimacy of the moment, thankfully so. It was your intention after all, you couldn’t afford more than those tiny minutes. His eyes are accusatory, his mouth expresses his shock as he shakes his head in disappointment. “What? I want him to like me, everyone at the BAU has years of family time with him and I don’t.” 

    Jack comes from the kitchen yelling, the amount of daddy daddy daddy leaving his mouth per second probably breaking some record, Aaron takes him in his arms, throwing him in the air just high enough to get the boy giggling. 

    He forgets his dilemmas for that night, Beth’s messages and calls ignored on his phone as the three of you played together. Hide and seek, catch and even a bit of karaoke before it got too late. 

    Sleeping is hell when he gets home. He keeps thinking about everything he ever did wrong, how he almost cheated on Haley with you and then he let you go, and how he made Haley’s life miserable after that, so much so she ended up cheating on him–he couldn’t judge her for it. And how he was again on the same destructive path. 

    Fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree, his fidelity to the women he loved seemed to always come back as a question the universe begged to have an answer to: Are you really that different from your dad?

    If it wasn’t for you, for your restraint, for your respect for his commitments, would he be able to defend himself from such accusations his own mind threw at him at night? If you didn’t leave the unit, if you didn’t leave his lingering hugs first, would he be a faithful man? 

    Would he be the man he wished Jack would grow up to be? The man he wished his own father was? Or would he just prove what his mother would constantly say, that he was merely his father’s son? 

    Those kept him awake until his mind couldn’t handle it anymore.

[durinsgirl]

1:00 am. The touch screen on his phone read the hour. ‘It couldn’t be’ Kandomere thought to himself. There was no way he had been staring at this heap of papers for this long. He checked again; 1:01 am. A soft thud of plastic on wood echoed in the office. Montehugh looked up, beleaguered and slack-jaw.

In the time the pair had been working together Kandomere swore that his partner had aged twice as fast as his predecessors. The meager yellow glow of Montehugh’s desk light only served his theory. It would cast odd-angled shadows across his features; accentuating the creases in his partner’s forehead, and making those dark circles more prominent.

“Boss?” Montehugh’s expression changed from somewhat dumbfounded to weary intrigue.

Kandomere snapped out of his thought and rose from the chair, pulling his suit jacket from its resting place. Montehugh mirrored him.

“We got a lead?” Montehugh asked, grabbing for his gun.

“No,” Kandomere shot back, maybe a little more forceful than intended, “go home.”

Kandomere finished with a softer tone. Not his proudest moment, but the perfect topping on a shit-stacked day. The annoyance wasn’t meant for his partner. Everything had been a bust with this forsaken case. Every lead was a dead-end. Every witness unreliable, skittish, or vanished. Nothing was coming together on this one. A deep sigh escaped as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Another night he would have to crawl in bed next to you and apologize to your sleeping form.

He knew it was alright. You never complained. It was work and it was important. You understood. Yet, still, he found himself, whispering against your shoulder when he curled himself around you.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed.

“What?” His partner returned as the elevator doors slid closed.

“Nothing,” Kandomere returned.

The ride down, the walk through the parking garage, the lackadaisical wave good night was all done in silence. This was a quiet understanding that his partner took to naturally. It was one thing that set him apart from the other junior agents Kandomere had taken under his wing prior. He wasn’t the quickest in a lot of ways, but where it counted... he just knew on instinct not to say too much when the boss was stressed. This, Kandomere appreciated. No pep talks, no commiseration, just silence.

The smell of leather greeted him as he crawled into the Audi. The touchscreen illuminated as he pressed the ignition button. A woman spoke in Elvish asking for a destination for the nav system.

Driving home was uneventful. Shimmering Elves in the throws of drunken revelry outside of clubs, a sharply dressed Orc on the corner providing a coke connection, all the same shit, blending into blur as he drove past.

More and more often he’d find himself checking the time. Eleven minutes had elapsed. He’d start thinking how one of these days he was going to come home and you wouldn’t be there. He kept wondering if tonight was the night, the breaking point. And fuck, did his head hurt. He kneaded one eye, ‘I need a fucking vacation.’

To his amazement you were still there when he opened the door. Awake even. A glass of wine, a blanket, and a book. 

“Who the fuck can read at this hour? I cannot even keep my eyes open.” 

You didn’t look up from the page. That salty attitude wouldn’t suit.

“Hello to you too,” you replied with a note of caution.

He stood there, eyeing you, contemplating, or holding his tongue, or both. In the end he went for the shower and washed the wasted day off of him. There was a heaviness in his shoulders, a tightening in his limbs, a pounding in his temples that only grew worse. He wasn’t going to solve this case, and the whole beating his head against a wall trying to do so anyway was going to cause a rift between you both and everything was going to end in ruins like the last relationship he had been in. On some level he knew this was stress and tiredness talking, but he couldn’t push it away. ‘No,’ he thought, ‘I’m only ever good at pushing people away.’

After an abridged nightly ritual he headed for the bedroom. Surely you were already there. He didn’t flick on the lights, only sidled in. In the shadows he shifted. Kandomere’s arm reaching for you, wanting comfort and to hold on tight to everything that was real and solid in his life. All he found was a void. His fingers traced the vacant space on the pillow next to him. A great swell of sorrow started to pull at him.

[lokisprettygirl]

Under his influence (Post Avengers! Loki x female reader)

Read chapter 12 here // Series Masterlist

Chapter 13

Summary : An indecent phone conversation with Loki makes you late for your meeting with Strange.

Warning: 18+, slight dirty talk, mention of sex, mention of psychological torture, angst, insecurities, self deprecating behaviour,

"God I'd never get enough of you" she whispered as her lips lingered over his mouth for a moment before she kissed him passionately.

"I'd never want that either sweetheart " he looked down at her, he can try all the positions in the world with her but this right here was his favorite of all, her body underneath him and her eyes staring back at him with such love and adoration.

"Loo" she mumbled softly so he snapped out of his thoughts and leaned down to kiss her before he hummed "I'm scared"

"I know princess, so am I, but I have to do this, I can not lose you, I can't take such a risk" she nodded but he could still see the saddened look on her face.

"What if something happens and we aren't at the right place at the right time? What would happen to us then?" Her eyes welled up so he cupped her cheeks and kissed her before he smiled.

"My love, no matter where in the world we are, eventually we will cross each other's path in one way or another and we will do so when our timing is aligned perfectly, a moment so absolute where we would be eager and desperate to fall so deeply in love with each other..just like this, you were made for me darling and I'll find you anywhere, anytime..i promise "

He woke up with head pounding and heart beating so fast, after the training session with the Captain he had fallen asleep, more than the training itself it was the conversation they both had that had tired him out. He couldn't stop asking him about some man named Bucky and how he knew that this Bucky was alive because apparently that's what his doppleganger has said to him to distract him in the fight after the battle of New York.

He was still under the false assumption that Loki was the one to morph into him even though he had clarified it a million times, he probably shouldn't have done the same to make fun of him when he was handcuffed after they had defeated him, that's probably why Rogers was adamant on this theory.

And Now this strange dream he just had was worrying him. He have had plenty of dreams about you in the past but this one felt different, he knew he saw you but you seemed a little different, just a bit aged than you do now, not much though. It didn't even feel like he was in this dream, he felt as if he was watching two people he didn't even know. However he did recognise the shared love between them, their emotions mirrored how you two felt about each other.

Perhaps he was overthinking, he knew Thanos was looking to assemble all the infinity stones and since the day when he had escaped with the tesseract things have been different. He wondered what would have happened if Stark hadn't dropped the briefcase holding the tesseract that fine day, Thor was taking him back to Asgard, the course of his life would have been entirely different if it wasn't for him picking up the cube. He felt overwhelmed and only one person could have made him feel better so he sat up and picked up the telephone to ring you.

He dialed your number and it didn't even ring twice before you picked it up

"Hey handsome" you giggled and the sound of your voice made him smile,

"Princess, i want to apologise if I am being a nuisance while you are on the job"

"No no ..not at all, I got off early, have to see the guy remember?" Oh yes. The healer.

"How could I ever forget?"

"I'm almost ready lo, will leave in a few"

"Oh apologies darling, I wouldn't want you to be late for the meeting "

You sat down on the bed as he said that.

"Maybe I want to be late, I'm not going to see you for hours, let me just talk to you baby" he smiled at the comment.

"Okay we can talk my sweetheart, what are you wearing?" you gasped as he said that and it took him a second to realize how his words were being interpreted.

"God you're a naughty boy..it's barely two in the afternoon" you mumbled and he was grateful you weren't there to see the effect you had on him. He was a god, where was the will power and self resistance? How come you were able to break him so easily?

"No no I just mean in general, I just wanted to have an image of you in my head, that is all" he mumbled nervously

"Mmmm I'll tell you if you tell me what you are wearing"

"Well I …uhhh .." he just had a satin sheet to cover his modesty, when alone he enjoyed sleeping naked. Clothes always made him feel hot and not in a good way.

"Oh my god you're naked aren't you? " he squeezed his eyes as you said that "Oh that's a lovely image.. I can picture it you know, your tall athletic naked body on the bed, aren't you the perfect sight for my sore eyes?" Why were you doing this to him?

"Now who's the naughty one here?"

"You look so pretty lo, kinda want to be there and see you like that" his eyes filled with lust as you said that. Now he was wishing you were there to watch him while he gets himself off for you.

"Shhhhh before this escalates further"

"You don't want this to escalate, pretty baby?" He took a deep breath as you said that.

"Darling please"

"Please continue or please stop?"

"Norns..both ..I want both"

"Mmmhm I wonder what you'd do to me if you were here" your voice turned sultry as you spoke.

"You really wish for me to tell you?" He asked you so you smiled.

"Mmmhmmm please loki.. please tell me" he chuckled at the response. If you wanted to play he'd play with you.

"You sound so sweet right now princess, are you always like this when you're being dominated?" Your face flushed to the max as he said that, you could feel your ears getting hot at the sudden change in his tone. He really was a god.

"Ummm dominated?" You gulped

"Uhuhh have you never been controlled? Never been told what to do in bed? Never been subjugated or ruled over by a man much more powerful than you?" He asked you, you could sense the mischief reeking but at the same time his voice remained deep and husky, it melted in your ears and it made you feel as if he was hypnotizing you. Maybe he was hypnotizing you.

"Lokiiiii stahhhhp" you whispered buy your voice came out all whiny.

"You want me to stop now, little one?"

"Noooo..not really" you said meekly

"Figured, how do you feel knowing that i often touch myself thinking about you"

Your breath hitched and you needed a moment to answer,

"Uhhh I feel desired and sexy" you mumbled nervously.

"Such a good girl, that's how you deserve to feel all the time" you squeezed your thighs together at the soft praise, his voice had gotten so firm like a school teacher but in the sexiest way possible.

"I am a good girl..but maybe I'll disappoint you in bed" there you go ruining the sexy moments with your insecurities. His brows furrowed as he noticed the sadness in your voice so he propped himself on his elbow to flip the phone to the other ear.

"Why would you say that my sweet princess?" the soft voice made your eyes tear up. Why were you like this?

"Because my ex told me"

"He did?" His jaw clenched as he heard that,

"But it was my fault, i wasn't as invested in having sex with him as he was"

"Because of the heat?"

"Mmmhmmmm"

"What did he say to you?"

"Ummm let's not discuss that lo"

"What did he say?"

"Just that..I was awful in bed and that I needed to show more enthusiasm and partake in the act of pleasing him rather than him doing everything..you know" He got absolutely quiet so you spoke again, maybe you should have kept your mouth shut. Your mouth was one of the reasons why you had trouble keeping the guys interested in you for long.

"I'm sorry..I don't know why I told you that.. please ignore it and can we go back to being naughty?" you chuckled nervously even though your eyes were welled up now because of the embarassement.

"I apologise for going quite on you. I'd love to show you how wrong that scoundrel was about you. It takes two to battle my darling, perhaps he wasn't capable of pleasing a woman as sensual as you are"

You bit on your lips at his words, the slight anger in his voice made you smile though, he was protective about you and it gave you all the butterflies in the stomach, you have never had a feeling like this before "Well I do hope he is wrong though"

"He is, you want to know how I know that?" He smiled

"How?"

"Last night, the way your body responded to me, just thinking about it makes my cock ache for your warmth" he mumbled

"Goshhhhh lokiiiii" you sucked a deep breath in, voice barely a whisper

"And that voice of yours, norns my little love.. I'd do anything for you as long as you're moaning so sweetly for me, as long as you're making those pretty little noises in my ears" he whispered softly and your fingers settled between your legs involuntarily.

"Mmmmmhmmm I'll do anything for you lo.. whatever you ask"

"I know you will.. I know you'd do anything for me"

You sat up as your breathing got heavier. The meeting. Oh god.

And you also had to change your underwear now.

"God I have to gooo" he chuckled as you said that.

"That's a shame"

"I know I'm sorry..that was thrilling..oh wow i need a moment" he chuckled again. He rubbed his cock slowly in order to suppress those sensations you had evoked in him but it was only making it worse so he stopped touching himself.

"Princess?" He wanted to share the dream he had about you two but now wasn't the time, you were already late.

"Mmm?"

"Nothing..I uhh ..you'll miss me?"

"Lokiii I am missing you right now and we are talking, you don't even know how much I'm going to miss you"

His heart fluttered as you said that.

"So will I, and perhaps i will see you tonight"

"Please do and maybe we can umm play with each other again just like last night"

You smiled widely before you hung up, leaving him to stay hard the rest of the day, he sighed as he put the phone down on his chest and then his mouth curved into a smile thinking about the last few minutes.

You really wanted to tell him that you loved him but was it too soon to do that? You had no idea.

“I’m sorry I’m late” you apologized as you spotted him at the restaurant, your mom had mailed a picture of him to you so it was easier to recognise.

“It’s fine I guess, I’m used to such tardiness” he was smiling but you could tell he was annoyed, you didn’t miss the sarcasm in his tone.

“Ummm okay actually I don’t think I got your name yet, my mom told me everything except your name, I’m y/n by the way” you raised your hand forward so he looked at it for a few seconds before he shook it.

“Hello y/n, my name is Doctor Stephen Strange”

You didn't know how to talk to him, when you tried to order something to eat he told you that he had already done it for you so now you had nothing else to do or say.

You sipped on the drink in order to avoid the awkward silence between you two. So this was going soooooo well right? You missed loki, even the pin drop silence was never awkward with him, back when you two were purely friends and he was hiding in your apartment, the conversation between you two never felt forced. Sure you blabbed unnecessarily at times but he always smiled and he never seemed annoyed. You both would often sit on the sofa with your backs resting on the individual armrest and your legs almost touching each other, you'd watch something on your phone and he would read his books, it felt cozy and comfortable.

How the hell did you even stumble upon someone like him?

"Why aren't you eating?" Stephen asked you so you smiled but before you could answer he interrupted you

"Let me guess, you're one of those women aren't you, those who pretend to not eat on dates even though the reality couldn't be farther from it..no offense " Well you took it.

"First of all I love eating but beef steak isn't the idea of a hearty lunch for me" he snickered as he cut himself a piece, the precision he used with his knife was enough to tell you that he indeed was a surgeon.

"You were extremely late, I had to order for us"

"Yeah thank you for not waiting for me to get my opinion, I bet you're one of those men who think they are superior and can decide everything for their women"

"Last time I checked you weren't mine" he winked at you so you rolled your eyes.

"Look I'm only here because my mother forced me to–"

"That's also why I –"

"Stop interrupting me" you cut him off and that felt really nice.

You pointed a finger at him so he went quiet but now you forgot what you were even saying and he used the opportunity to speak again.

"That is exactly why I'm here as well so let's just eat and never see each other again alright?" He said rudely so you nodded.

"Yeah I'd like that"

"Good"

"So New York City, what's it like?" You questioned him and he glared at you,

"I can't just stay quiet, and you're eating awfully slow" he sighed at the statement.

"It's definitely been much worse since the attack"

"The Chitauris?" You asked sheepishly.

"Yeah, isn't it funny how they glorified the man responsible for the whole mess and turned him into an Avenger, best way to redeem a criminal right?" Your jaw clenched as he said that, he didn't even know Loki.

"Do you not watch news, Loki wasn't an accomplice, he was a victim"

"Fantastic story isn't it, heart wrenching, it's so easy to befool the humankind"

You wanted to say so many things but you couldn't even defend him in public, people would think you were just a crazy fan or worse one of those simps who just wanted to fuck the Asgardian god. You did want to do that though.

"So where were you when it happened?" You asked him to change the conversation, hoping he'd keep his resentment to himself.

"In the nearest building performing an extensive and very critical surgery, have to say it was not at all hard to focus with the sounds of grenades going off every few seconds"

"Ohhh..well that's admirable that you didn't feel scared or ran away" he snickered as you said that.

"Yeah, an innocent woman would have died on my table if I had lost my concentration that day and the man responsible for it got away with no remorse or repercussions, he's being celebrated instead"

Okay that was enough.

"Well you don't know that, you don't know what he's going through, how much guilt he carries or how bad it is for him to sleep at night when he's all alone..you don't know him or why he did what he did..what would you do if a powerful entity had influenced you and tortured you for a year like that?" He looked at you, slightly taken aback by the sudden outburst before he snickered condescendingly.

"I see you're one of those"

"Whattt?" You looked at him confused.

"The ones who wants to fuck him"

"You are so judgemental, I bet you judge other people's brains when they're splayed open in front of you"

"Uh-huh by the way Didn't he want to commit mass genocide even before the whole ordeal?"

"Yeah so did Thor, but he's a hero isn't he?" Why you were you fighting with him? You should just leave right?

"Well to be fair I don't think too highly of him either" Leave now.

"You know what this was fun..byye bye..see you never "

You stood up and walked out, he didn't stop you either, you had to cross the road to get to the other side but you heard him calling your name so you stopped like a moron in the middle of the street to turn and look at him, that's when a man with a motorbike came out of nowhere and hit you. You didn't remember much after that, you remembered the sharp pain in your right leg and you remembered seeing Stephen's stupid face before you lost consciousness.

A few hours later you woke up and your head was pounding, when you looked to the side, Stephen was there reading a newspaper,

"Did you perform a brain surgery on me?" You asked him so he raised his eyebrows.

"Do you have one in there because the way you stood there in the middle of the road was foolish"

"That guy came out of nowhere "

"Very well, now that you're awake, I'm gonna leave" he said as he got up so you sat up hurriedly.

"Wait wait how would I get home, oh my god is my leg broken?" You looked at the bandage on your right ankle and your eyes widened. No it can't be, it can't be. Thirty years, you had gone thirty years without a broken bone and you were planning to keep it that way all your life, it can't be broken right?

"I broke my bone, didn't i? " Your eyes welled up so he sighed.

"It's just a sprain, you'll be fine in a week or two"

"A week? I can't not work for a week, they'll fire me" you groaned

"Well you should have thought about that before you–"

"You know what..just shut up okay?"

He rolled his eyes and luckily he agreed to drive you home. He had to assist you to walk though and you didn't really like the idea of being so close to a man you barely knew.

"So whose car is it?" You asked him as he sat you down on the passenger seat.

"Rental"

"Figured"

"Why did you ask if you figured?"

You crossed your arms and didn't respond to him, to avoid the awkwardness you turned the radio on.

Hey I just met you and this is crazy but here's my number so call me maybe

You immediately changed the channel to not give him any sort of wrong signal. He seemed the type to take wrong signals.

My universe will never be the same. I'm glad you came, I'm glad you came.

You bobbed your head back and forth to the beat of the song and he shook his head in disbelief.

It was around 11 at night, how long were you out for? You were surprised he stayed by your side and didn't just flee, maybe it was the doctor in him. Well atleast he wasn't the worst man you have ever met in your life.

God you wanted to talk to Loki, you grabbed your purse and took out your phone but it was discharged completely.

Luckily your building had the lift but he still accompanied you to your apartment, as soon as you opened the door and even though you couldn't see him, you just knew he was there. Loki was there, you could smell his cologne

"Umm would you like a cup of coffee or something?" Please say no..

He looked around the apartment and his face contorted in disgust. Was this your mother disguised as a man? Well you had no idea you would be bringing him back here, this wasn't a date and you were too distracted before the meeting to even think of cleaning the space.

"No thanks. Here's your medicine" he passed you the small prescription bag so you took it from him.

"Well ummm thank you and I'm sorry i won't be able to show you around" you said to him so he rolled his eyes.

"Good, I'm relieved"

An awkward silence and even the worst goodbye handshake later he finally left, you were still on the couch and before you could say anything Loki appeared and locked the main door from inside. His face seemed blotchy, eyes red, cheeks dampened, you could tell he had cried.

He walked towards you and got down on his knees in front of you, then he lifted the right leg up to inspect the injury.

"Lokii"

"Who did this to you ?" He asked you

"Some guy on a bike..It was just an accident"

"That man isn't responsible for this state of yours is he?" He asked you so you shook your head, you cupped his face to make him look at you and his eyes were filled with fear.

"I'm sorry, i would have called but my phone died and ummm I was unconscious "

"Norns y/n" he flinched away from you and stood up, only to pace back and forth in front of you. You were worried that he was angry but then the look on his face was enough to tell you that he was scared, he wasn't able to get in touch with you at all and that must have been terrifying.

"Looo baby" you called out to him and put your hand forward so he took it and sat down next to you on the sofa.

"I'm okay, it's just a sprain"

Well unfortunately you couldn't climb on his lap so you somehow scooted closer to him and hugged him.

"I am sorry darling, I was losing my mind here" his arms wrapped around your tightly and he placed his head down on your shoulder.

"I know I know it's okay i would have been the same"

After a minute or so, he got on his feet again and picked you up in his arms only to lay you down on the sofa again.

"How bad does it hurt?" He asked you and your face scrunched in response, it wasn't bothering you when you came back to consciousness but now you were starting to feel it.

"I think the meds will help"

He sat down on the corner of the sofa and placed your legs on his leg carefully before he grabbed the right one and trailed his fingers all over your ankle, the longer he did it the better you felt.

"Did you just fix me?"

"I wish I could darling but I'm not that kind of God, i can barely lessen the pain and discomfort that comes with it" you smiled as he said that. He was talking as if this wasn't an otherworldly magic in itself.

"How do you do that? I mean how is it possible... like in a scientific way?" He chuckled as you questioned him "I'm sorry I'm on drugs i think"

"No you can ask questions..it's just you're adorable when you do" you giggled at the compliment, he carefully hovered on top of you, avoiding your leg to not hurt you any further and kissed you softly.

"It's just a form of energy being used differently darling"

"Energy?" You looked at him confused so he tucked your hair behind your ears before he kissed your forehead. Everytime he kissed your forehead you couldn't help but giggle.

"Mhhmm In simpler words whenever you see me doing this–" he said as he conjured a flower out of nowhere and gave it to you "I am merely harnessing the cumulative energies from multiple dimensions in order to fetch me whatever I need from my vault" you nodded even though it made no sense to you.

"You're so cute but I don't understand anything" he chuckled and kissed you before he got off the sofa, picked you up again and then laid you down on the bed so you could rest.

"Fancy a cup of tea madame?" You nodded as he asked you.

He made tea for you, he fed you dinner that had to be a takeout because he wasn't even going to attempt to cook and burn down your apartment. You smelled like the hospital and wanted to shower so he helped you get to the bathroom, luckily you had put on a dress for the meeting instead of a jeans so it was easier to take off, you noticed how he had kept his eyes closed like the gentleman that he was when you asked him to take you back to the room while you just had a towel wrapped around your body.

By the time you were in bed again you felt extremely exhausted, the meds were making you feel drowsy already.

"I'm going to abhor leaving you all alone here in the morning" he cooed in your ears so you pecked on his lips.

"Mmmm don't leave me then..stayyy"

"I wish I could princess, I truly wish I could be here for you all the time"

"I know baby it's okay i understand, besides I'll be fine, it's just a sprain"

"How long will it take to heal completely?"

"Two weeks at the most, but I heal fast so one week" you laughed and it warmed his heart.

"Ummm okay I have a proposition for you"

"What?" You smiled because you thought he was going to say something silly to make you laugh again but what he said made you sit up and contemplate, how was this even going to work? Especially with Melissa and those Avengers around.

"Come stay with me at the tower while you're healing"

💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓

Tag list (if you want to be tagged or removed let me know.. also I’m not able to tag some of you, please check your settings)

@annoyingsweetsstranger @mcufan72

@nixymarvelkins @stupidthoughtsinwriting @fictive-sl0th @huntress-artemiss @eleniblue @violethaze @anukulee @ladymischief11 @12-pm-510 @wolfsmom1 @whylokiissocute @hyperlokilover @vickie5446 @pics-and-fanfics @daddylokisqueen @tallseaweed @olivertwistrabbit @blog-the-lilly @prettylittlepluviophile @flashhxn-lights @vanilla-daydreaming @somewiseguy @yaaamadaa-blog @dragonmurray @nyxxharmonia @elthreetimes @gruftiela @thenotoriouserg @optimisticyouthdefender @mcuhplover @greep215 @yallgotkik

@obscureenigmatic @janineb86 @sflame15-blog @nyxlaufeyson @lokidokieokie @purplekitten30 @sunnixart

[angelsworks]

Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing

Chapter Two

Series Masterlist -> Here

Summary: How you came to be.

Warnings: 18+, ddlg themes, hints of little!reader, death of a family member, graphic descriptions of death, mentions of slavery, etc

Note: This is a description chapter with lots of backstory.

Born a Saxon. Raised a Dane. Now pretending to be a sorceress.

You had your reasons of course. Those reason also being Hakon’s. As to be expected as the clans chieftain. As your chieftain.

You remember little of your childhood. At a young age your settlement was raided by Hakon’s father and you amongst others were taken as Thrall, slaves to the clan.

It was a shield maiden called Frigg who had pity for you. The small snivelling girl, in a dress too thin for their weather. As you grew you heard what people thought of Frigg’s kindness. How they soured it with their own theories. Not too long before you were taken prisoner by the clan did Frigg lose her husband. The stress of which causes her unborn baby to pass on. From that people assumed the sight of a struggling young girl struck a cord with the shield maiden. Playing on her maternal instincts and the recent loss, causing her to take you in.

Whatever her reasons you did not care. She treated you even better than your own family did and you loved her dearly for it. Together you shared a small hut near Hakon and his family.

When Frigg and Hakon’s father would leave on raids you would stay with Hakon and his mother. Both were kind to you. It wasn’t long before the two of you became good friends.

As you grew the two of you would play in the wood and fight with sticks. Pretending to be your parents as you fought your many pretend enemies. All of which took the form of the lanky bark covered trees.

With Friggs help you learnt how to fight. To you she was a god in her own right, she was strong, fast and could use any weapon she got her hands on. Everyone in the clan knew what an asset Frigg was.

Through the many years of training with Frigg and Hakon you became good with a sword and axe. You had dreams of becoming a shield maiden just like Frigg.

On evening a few weeks after your sixteenth birthday you and Frigg went to hunt in the woods. It was a common occurrence for the two of you. It gave the two of you time to practice your archery skills.

While lying in wait for a deer you were ambushed by another group of Dane’s. One Hakon’s Father had raided once or twice. An act which created bad blood between the two of you. With only a bow an arrow between the two of you, you were outnumbered. No match for the four burly men with wrath in their eyes and iron in their hands.

With tears in her eyes Frigg pushed you towards the village, knowing your speed could get your far away and out of danger. She pleaded that you go and get help, to save yourself. But you knew if you left now you wouldn’t see again. With another push you wet running, adrenaline pumping through your body as you forced your legs to keep pounding on the Forrest floor.

When your reached the village you screamed out for help, the sound quickly drawing a crowd. You stutterer and stumbled over the words you wanted to say, your brain working into overdrive as panic ceased your body. Cursing yourself afterwards for not being more direct with your words.

A group of the clans best fighters was assembled and lead by Hakon’s father to the woods. Meanwhile you were sent to Hakon and his mother. The boy held you close as your cried for Frigg. The woman who had been your mother for the majority of your life.

You knew when they returned it wouldn’t be with Frigg alive. Despite the hours thinking about it, it still didn’t prepare you for the sight of her.

You once warm loving mother covered in blood and mud. Her body limp in Hakon’s fathers arms. As they passed you saw her eyes were open and staring at nothing.

The sight did nothing to stop your tears. Instead it only brought bile to your throat, making you bend over and spill your guts. Your body ceased as it was wrapped in rope. Tightly tied to the point you felt you couldn’t breathe.

Only a few days after Friggs death was her funeral. The clan stood around a clearing where a pyre was placed in the centre. On that wooden pyre was Friggs body, now cleaned and dressed and wrapped in white cloth for your benefit. It was your first time seeing a Dane funeral. Before the event Hakon had to explain what happened and what you would have to do.

In Dane tradition it was the next of kin who sent their fallen to Valhalla. Meaning it was down to you to light Friggs body so her spirit could enter the hall of warriors.

You knew this was what she wanted. But when it came down to it, to lighting her on fire, you ceased. Your hand shook as it hold the wooden torch, tears falling down your cheeks. With a final deep breath you held the torch under the pyre until the kindling caught fire.

From then until night you watched the fire grow and her body burn. It burned for days, until a storm put an end to the flames. For those days of fire you sat a distance away and watched. Wanting to watch her go.

After Friggs death you were lost. You didn’t want to eat, to sleep, to train. Previous dreams of being a shield maiden felt like wishes of another life. One where Frigg wasn’t dead and you could feel anything but grief again.

For your friend it was too much to see. The once soon to be shield maiden, taking after her mother figure, now lying in her tears each day and night. He saw that your eyes had become lifeless in the next few weeks after her life. The sight reminded him of Friggs own in his fathers arms. It was like you had become a walking corpse. Barely eating, barely sleeping, barely acknowledging the world around you.

The watching you and feeling helpless to your grief mounted on Hakon’s shoulders. The last straw for him was noticing how your figure had thinned and your once full face seemed hollow. Hollow of fat, hollow of life.

A night no different than all those after the funeral. A night spent crying in your bed, curled in on yourself. A night Hakon chose to confront you.

He practically barged into your hut angry with your behaviour. His words were harsh but they quickly melted into uneven tones and voice cracks as the boy almost cried. Throat tight as the guilt of watching his friend crumble and fade away in front of his eyes caught up with him in that moment. He felt helpless to your state. How could he help you when you didn’t want to help yourself?

Somewhere in the transition from angry to anguish, Hakon sat on your bed. Gingerly you crawled over to him, sitting on his lap and hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms around you, tightly.

For the rest of the night the two of you didn’t move. Hakon had this affect on you. Being tightly wrapped in his arms made you feel like you weren’t about to fall apart. A contrast to how you’ve felt over the last few weeks.

You thought it would be a one time thing but the next night Hakon appeared in your home again. You sat and spoke sporadically. He held you again and that safe feeling washed over you once more.

It happened each night from then. Hakon holding you, speaking to you softly, making you feel safe, making you feel small. Occasionally, you’d reach a headspace where you wouldn’t talk much or would fiddle with his fingers.

For you it helped you heal heart from the grief that entrapped it. For Hakon he enjoyed only having to focus on one thing for a few hours, on you. It took him away from his duties in the Clan and helped him relax. Just in a different way to you.

Anyone could see that you were getting better. Finally eating, finally sleeping, finally starting to live again. During the day you’d train like you used to. This time without Frigg and with some of the other men and women in the clan. During the night you’d embrace your friend as you fell into a safe, smaller place.

At times you wondered if Hakon wanted to stop. After all he was close to manhood and spending his nights with you wasn’t all that exciting. Thoughts like those were cast aside by the boy. He promised he liked helping you, he told you that he enjoyed caring for you and if anything changed he would tell you.

When he sat with you in your hut he was your protector and you his little maiden.

Your night and day roles started to blur when Hakon’s father passed away. It was years after Friggs passing that the Chief of the clan died.

The shift in power lead to an ever growing need for Hakon in the village. It meant pushing his grief aside and dealing with the new responsibilities as Chief.

You supported him as your friend and as your Chief as well as you could. But it wasn’t enough. Soon Hakon asked for you during the day, during his meetings. You’d sit quietly on his lap like a little doll. To him you were his good luck charm, his stress reliever. You helped him get through the day.

Despite the odd looks at first you quickly got over it and enjoyed getting to be in your safe place more often. Anyone who had a problem with you and your practices had to deal with their new Chief.

It hasn’t been more than six moons when Hakon was truly tested as Chief.

A Fort belonging to an ailing lord was seen by scouts. They reported the holding having more people coming in and out. Merchants, traders and wanderers all travelling in and out of the previously quiet fort.

The new activity was noted by Hakon. It was then that his new idea was born. Or more accurately the new you was born.

He proposed you play a game of pretend. You would pretend to be a witch. You would spout spells and paint your face with runes and markings. All to add to the ruse Hakon wanted to create.

When traders would travel up and down the now active roads, you would appear and start your act. Effectively scaring the traders off with your threats of spells, while Hakon and the others would wait in hiding. When the traders and merchants and wanderers eventually ran from their wares, Hakon would lead the others to take the goods.

For a few weeks you’d stolen plenty and frightened many. So many in fact the tale of an evil witch was spread. Spread to nearby towns, to the traders on route to ironwood holding and most importantly to Ironwood himself.

The ailing Lord had no strength to retaliate, but his son did. The man was ten years your senior. You hadn’t seen him in person before but heard from scouts that the recent raids on traders had left a sour taste in his mouth.

The next few travellers carts were more heavily guarded. It took a few days to plan the next attack. This time you brought a few tricks with you.

This time you stood in the middle for the road. As a guarded cart rolled towards you, you threw a bottle of spirit on the floor. From somehere in the Forrest a flaming arrow set it alight.

As guards started to surround you you threatened that they stay away or else a curse would be placed upon them. They were skeptical, as most were that you came across. You started your chanting as you threw some soil into the fire. Frigg taught you that soil found near copper could change the colour of flames.

The green flames caused the unease in the men around you to rise. They fled from the scene quickly. Hakon and the others descended upon the now unguarded goods.

After returning the Clan celebrated their biggest take yet. A celebration that lasted all day and night. The high mood of the clan ended the next day. Word spread of the Old lords demise, which was being put down to you.

The now new Lord Ironwood had declared you the reason for his fathers dead. He’d put a bounty on your head and hired multiple mercenaries to do the job of bringing you to him.

The price on your head meant you were no longer safe going anywhere on your own. The stres of being hunted only put you in your safe place more often.

Under Hakon’s orders you weren’t to leave the village alone. When you did you had some of his best fighters following you.

No one had yet been successful in delivering you to the new, vengeful Lord. But you had a feeling your spell of evading his forces was about to be up.

Glossary:

Hakon - Meaning high born son

Frigg - Meaning beloved

[ryin-silverfish]

Chapter 39: The Mystery of the Blue Feline

"Is it the same lion, or a different lion?"

Hmmm…a mystery for the ages.

Context: Manjusri/Wenshu's Azure Lion appears twice in JTTW, first here, then in the more well-known Lion Camel Ridge arc, both of which ended with Wenshu showing up and dragging his steed back to Mt. Wutai.

On the former occasion he was actually a good king, despite pushing the actual king into a well and taking his place, as stated by Wenshu himself—a stark contrast to his later apperance, where he had gone full demon-king and started eating people, and the Azure Lion of LCR shows no sign of having recognized SWK from before.

This naturally rise some questions. Are these two the same lion? If not, is Wenshu basically the Big Cat Dad of Bodhisattvas, who adopted a whole pride of lion cubs as his steeds /j

Well…the best theory I can come up with is that JTTW novel is a compilation of Journey tales over the years, and two stories happened to involve Manjusri's lion and the final author-compiler just put both in, without much thoughts about making them logically consistent.

Like, JTTW in folk storytelling and opera format had a lot of "episodes" that could be told in different places and time, out of sequence, with only the barest knowledge of context needed.

And unlike novel written by one author from the beginning and exists first and foremost in book format, if you are a Ming Precious Scroll preacher or opera play writer, you can tell Lion Story A in one place and Lion Story B in another place and the two group of audiences would never overlap.

Or, you could tell both to a single group of audiences, but bc so much time have passed between the two performances, they had already forgotten about the previous one.

The "Wuji Kingdom Lion" story certainly appears first in the evolution of the JTTW story cycle, though: in the folk opera collection 礼节传簿, there was an excerpt of a play's act names called "Tripitaka Seeks the Scripture in the West" (唐僧西天取经), which already included the "Wenshu Subdues the Lion at Wuji Kingdom" story.

Also, there was an entire Zaju play about Wenshu subduing the lion by the Ming prince Zhu Youdun that I could not find any digital version of, only summaries, and Nezha and his embroidered ball was somehow involved.

Sidenote, we also see how SWK's golden vision has limits here. When the lion transforms into Tripitaka, SWK had trouble telling them apart, and stated outright that it was because "his Qi and body are the same" (气体相同). This supports the theory that SWK's golden vision doesn't actually see through demonic glamor and perceive their true forms, but merely the aura they are radiating.

On a more annoying note: popular modern reading of JTTW tends to see Wenshu as this petty asshole in the Wuji Kingdom chapter. "Sure, the king might have dunked a disguised Bodhisattva into the palace canal for three days, but you insulted him first, and besides, that's no reason to make your pet murder him and leave his body at the bottom of a well for three years!"

Which…is a lot of presentism, and people just not getting the saying that "Each peck, each drink, is predetermined" (一饮一啄，莫非前定). It is very much going by the popular understanding of karmic retribution, where every consequences have a cause.

But I do have a HC about this. In the text, the King of Wuji was known as a generous and pious ruler, who greatly venerated Buddhism and priests, and it was because of this that the Buddha sent Wenshu to evaluate him for potential Arhat-hood.

Wenshu, in the disguise of a poor priest, met the king, got dunked into a canal for cheek, yadda yadda yadda. Fast-forward, a great drought had descended upon Wuji kingdom, and no amount of prayers seemed to help, until Azure Lion showed up in the disguise of a Daoist sage, summoned a much-needed storm, and became the king's sworn brother.

But what if Wenshu had come to the kingdom with another goal in mind?

As the wisest Bodhisattva, he knew a drought was imminent, and if the king was virtuous and faithful enough to be a potential candidate for Arhat-hood, he would certainly use this knowledge well. Yet, upon a closer observation, cracks began to show.

Sure, the king loved Buddhism, but his way of showing it was building all these lavish temples and golden statues and spoiling the clergy, with no regards for the burden placed on commoners and the corruption he fostered. As such, his kingdom would be woefully unprepared for a natural disaster.

Which was exactly what Wenshu told him; just like how Vows are but empty promises without Practice, Practice without Wisdom and Mercy, without the awareness of causes and consequences and what people truly need, is a receipt for disaster. If you spent half the money you used to construct these temples on irrigation projects and new granaries, you'd have done more good than all the prayers of your monks combined.

Annnd the king didn't take it well, bc how dare this lowly monk bit the hand that fed him, and, egged on by some equally pissed-off monks, ordered the fateful three-day-long dunking. If the monk was a regular monk he wouldn't have survived that, and in true karmatic fashion, the attempted murder was going to come back to him.

That tangent aside: when Wenshu defended his steed by saying it had not committed any crimes as a king after the murder-replace thing, SWK was like "But he sleeps with the queen while disguised, right, how's that for 'No crimes committed'?" And Wenshu responded with "Oh no worries, my pet is neutered", and Bajie actually checked by trying to grab its nonexistent balls…

Funny. As. Hell.

@journeythroughjourneytothewest

[writingrenna]

Clavell x GN!Reader (Sorta)

"May I Have A Word With You?"

A story where Clavell sees how well you are around the kids of the older academy goers.

You're like a cool older sibling/pibling (gender neutral for aunt or uncle) to them, and you're able to distract and calm them down when they come to the academy for special events/occasions. Some even remember you when they enroll later! Clavell admires someone who can make an impact like that.

Also why does this man not have any of his quotes on Bulbapedia that would've helped so much

Tone/Ending: Wholesome, Open-Ended

Warnings: The kids can be R O W D Y, and your expy almost swears once or twice, that is all

Continuity?: This story uses lore from/takes place at the same time as my previous full story ("Where The Heart Is"), but it doesn't need to be read as part of the same timeline to make sense

Word Count: A bit more than 4,000

-O-O-

"ALRIGHT, YOU RUG RAAAAATS!!"

Your voice could be heard from the gates of Mesagoza. The children in the courtyard abruptly stop their shenanigans. A young boy speaks up first, addressing you by name. They all seem to know you well enough to know your name and that you mean business, even if you are "the fun one" along with Dendra.

"Yes, Zale?"

"How much longer until the... the..."

A girl around his age speaks up.

"Treasures Within Fun Fair?"

He perks up.

"Yeah! That! How long until that starts again?"

You smile, although your eyes gave away the answer.

"Not for a while, I'm afraid. About 4 hours."

They all groan in unison. Another kid speaks up.

"Then why did Mama bring me so early?"

You answer.

"So you could be here on time?"

Another kid speaks up. If something crazy was happening, you could almost guarantee Geráneo was behind it. He crossed his arms.

"Yeah, but being on time like this is boooring! I'd rather run at super lightning speed to make it."

The other kids 'oooh'ed, although the girl from before, Auyama, looks positively confused.

"Super lightning speed?? How'd you get that fast?"

He was not at all perturbed by her question.

"My cousin caught a Zeraora back in Alola, I train with him whenever I visit."

The kids seemed impressed, clapping and 'oooh'ing again, even if one looked bewildered and said "Zera-who-a?" You... doubted his claim, although the speed with which he lied if he did lie... concerned you. You couldn't help but shake your head in amusement, however. You remember coming up with wild theories on how to find the mythical Mew roamimg around here in Paldea...

You decided to let them talk amongst themselves, all of them talking about weird Pokémon encounters they've had, including a Deerling that "turned to goo" near the Treasure Eatery, and a Slowpoke one of their brothers got really excited catching for some reason, even though it seemed to be a normal-old Slowpoke, just a little less pink. It amused you, both because of how much it sounded like yourself and because of how those truly special encounters weren't understood by them yet.

"Wild little goobers..." You say to yourself.

You idly imagined them going "WAIT A MINUTE" one day in a few years (probably after 3 seconds of Jacq's class) when you heard a familiar voice.

"Ah, yes, the imagination and curiosity of children knows no bounds!"

You turned to see him, the Director.

"Ah, Clavell!"

You smiled brightly at his sudden appearance.

He greeted you back.

You asked, "Oh, how's the fair comin' along?"

He hummed, looking up and to the side as if trying to remember what else needed to be done.

"Well, we still need to set up a bit more, especially things pertaining to our main events, but we are thankfully still on the right track. We should be done with time to spare."

He smiled, staring at you from the side with his arms behind his back. He really was proud of this academy. You couldn't help but grin as well.

"Aw F-"

Your eyes widen as you quickly realize what you were about to do, kids turning to look at you. Even Clavell seems shocked by your exclamation, turning to you, mouth slightly open.

"...ffffff... fuuuuuuueCOCO! Yeah! I remember seeing Nemona with hers. Has it evolved yet?"

Clavell, ever the gentleman, accepts your out.

"Why, yes, it did. It first evolved by the time she reached Levincia, I believe. It is now the strongest Skeledirge in Paldea."

You nodded. She really did have a Fuecoco at the start of her treasure hunt last time around. Only thing is, this was three years ago. You internally breathe a sigh of relief having remembered that, pretending you just didn't pay attention to her journey after she went at it again, even if the answer would be obvious even to the kids.

Clavell decides to corral the children while their attention is on you two.

"Alright, little ones. It is time we head back in for a while, we don't want you too tired to enjoy the festivities, do we?"

They all groan, not wanting the fun to end. He makes a compromise to soothe their boredom.

"When you go inside, you can help us decorate by making your own lanterns! I am certain all the teachers would love them. Besides, we could use some helping hands to finish setting up before the academy opens up to the rest of the town. You can be the first people to try our stalls."

This interested them greatly.

"Ooh, OOH! Mine's gonna shoot LIGHTNING!"

"Oh yeah, well mine's gonna be on FIRE, and it WON'T burn."

"Mine's gonna look ICY and FROSTY, it's gonna be so pretty!"

They all talked and ran into the entrance hall. You run up to Clavell to apologize for almost swearing in front of the kids, walking alongside him.

"Heyyy... uh... sorry for the, um, outburst."

He holds a hand up.

"Nonsense. You caught yourself before any damage was done. That alone is apology enough."

You thought on this. Maybe it really wasn't anything.

"But, do be more careful. You might not have another way to save yourself next time."

He looked at you out the corner of his eye, although you could tell he was smirking. He then hurried off to catch up with the children and get them settled, leaving you at the bottom of the steps before you could really process what the smirk meant.

-O-O-

Their parents and guardians all came by to have lunch with them. It had been an hour and a half of them making lanterns to hang up around each teacher's stands. The results so far were... interesting, to say the least, although it seemed like they changed their mind and instead went for a theme that requires working together somewhat.

One kid decided to dedicate theirs to Tyme, but they glued various flat and colorful rocks all over it, which would definitely weigh it down. Another dedicated theirs to Salvatore, writing "Hi!" in different languages, but they kept needing to scribble words out until they eventually started over and decided to look up the real spellings, so they were slightly behind the others.

One is trying to make Dendra's look like a punching glove, one added plastic sprinkles to theirs for Saguaro's cupcake lantern, one even drew themselves using the Pokédex app on Jacq's... all the teachers had a kid here that admired them the most, and that made you feel an overwhelming sense of pride.

You weren't a staff member, only coming by to help set up stuff like this by offering some extra hands, but you wondered if this place could use a daycare. It didn't seem necessary, seeing as though usually only students are here, but something along those lines, like a place for younger non-students to be all day during times like this, or even just a room to de-stress. Perhaps you can have a club started with games and social nights?

Your thoughts were interrupted by Clavell.

"Ah, there you are. I've been looking all over for you."

He comes in, looking around at the art supplies strewn about.

"Ah, I must make sure Mr. Hassel has help clearing this up later..." he said.

"I'm sure he will, Director."

You then remembered what he said when he came in.

"Oh! Is there a reason you were looking for me?"

"Ah, yes indeed! Follow me, we can talk on the way there."

'On the way there?' You thought.

-O-O-

He took you to a quiet, shaded area in Mesagoza. He had picked up a small bag in his office on the way, filled with who-knows-what. You sat on a bench nearby, patiently waiting for him to continue the conversation.

He had asked you a few questions, such as how you felt about the academy and if you'd ever consider working for it. You had said you loved the place, and you did wonder what it'd be like to help in a more official position than "lives nearby and is summoned to aid in official events". He seemed pleased with your answers.

As you sat, he brought out an academy branded thermos.

"Would you like some coffee? I know the little ones can be a handful at times..."

You nodded and accepted gratefully.

"I brought some sugar and creamer with me, use whatever you like, if you like of course..."

He handed you the bag before sitting back again.

"Er, speaking of the children..." He began. "How do you feel about them?

You paused. You hadn't really put much thought into it, sorta naturally ending up taking care of them instead of ever being assigned the role and, of course, wondering if you'd work well with them all day long. You guessed that was an answer, strangely enough.

"Oh, they're cool! I like watching over them, wild as they are. It's sorta nice seeing what the next generation does and talks about."

He smiled and nodded, adjusting the contents of his own thermos as he spoke.

"Ah, I had a feeling you'd say that. I can tell you have a knack for understanding and guiding them."

That... felt a little more sincere than you thought it'd be. Like, of course he wouldn't lie about that, but there seems to be an undercurrent of "this wasn't just small talk, I felt it in my heart" in the way he took your answer in.

He really does bare his heart and soul into this academy.

You idly wonder why he wasn't already the director when the brunt of the Team Star stuff was going on when he speaks up. He silently takes in your pondering expression, slightly tilting his head with a smile on his face.

"Ah, I see that question evoked some deeper thoughts than I anticipated."

You blink, suddenly aware of your surroundings again.

"Oh, yeah! It sorta did, hah."

The two of you idly chat for a while, conversation now skewing towards random goings-on, such as Paldea's youngest champion riding around on their 'Raidon', and the possibility of another school trip to a different region. You suddenly get a strange feeling in your gut.

"Wait, the event! Lunch will be over soon, won't it?"

He thinks, looking up at a park clock.

"Yes, it appears so."

He looks back at you, your alarmed expression still evident, although not nearly as strong as before.

"Are you worried about it? If so, do not worry, I have plenty of time to get back. The children's guardians will still be watching over them, so you have time as well."

These words helped a bit, but you felt the need to run back now. You didn't know why you suddenly feel the need to make it back to watch them. Call it a gut feeling. You just want to make sure they don't get into any mayhem while preparations are still ongoing, guardians there or not.

That felt weird to think about. Why wouldn't the parents watch them? You didn't need to worry, it's just that you aren't really used to not watching them before and during events at this point.

"Alright, Director. I'll be sure to not stress myself out too much."

He smiles and nods before standing up.

"Well, I must be on my way. Do take care, and no worries about that bag and thermos. Consider it a small gift for being such a good babysitter."

He flashed you a grin. You return it, although your mind wanders to something else as he makes his leave.

'Why did he already have this coffee made?'

You look up, but he had already sprinted off.

-O-O-

You were aimlessly wandering around Mesagoza.

'I DO deserve a break.' You thought to yourself.

You walked up to a vendor.

'I'm bored.' You immediately realized.

Walking up the stairs to get back to the academy, you noticed the kids surrounding a Skiddo.

"My mom said I need to learn to ride a Skiddo before I can get a Cyclizar."

Oh?

You get closer before realizing it's Geráneo.

"What she doesn't know is that I'm secretly a master Pokémon whisperer already."

A what?

The kid with him, Pimento, seemed equally confused.

"How do you know? What Pokémon do you know how to talk to?"

He huffed before responding.

"PSSH, like, all of 'em?? I have a natural talent. Watch this!"

He jumped on the back of Skiddo, who didn't do much other than make a small bleating noise and readjust itself afterwards.

"See?? He didn't even flinch!"

Pim seemed unsure.

"You sure? He flinched a little when you hopped on..."

Geráneo, seemingly offended by this, crossed his arms and glared menacingly at him.

"Um, of course he did?? I have too much muscle for him to handle."

Pim, still unconvinced, but wishing to just play with his friend, accepted this answer.

"Okay..."

You stood there, unsure if this was something you needed to intervene in or not. You looked around to see if anyone was already keeping an eye on the two when you heard a "c'mon!" followed by a Pokémon crying out. Turning back, Geráneo wasn't there anymore, and Auyama was screaming, pointing somewhere.

"GERÁNEO IS GOOOOOONE!!"

Oh Gods, this situation certainly needs an adult. You run over to Pim and Yama.

"WHAT HAPPENED??"

"Geráneo pulled Skiddo's horns too hard! He took off overrr... there!"

You turned, looking over to where they pointed. Skiddo was bucking around on the battle court with Geráneo hanging on for dear life.

All this in the .3 seconds you turned around??

"Ok, I'll get them!"

You ran down to calm the mon down, only for it to freak out and start running towards the outer walls of the city.

"Uh-Oh, that's no good..."

The Skiddo keeps running around the city.

"Does that Skiddo have an owner??"

Zale answers from above.

"Yeah! His aunt caught it for him! You want its Pokéball!?"

"Yes, please!"

You run over, positioning yourself so you can catch it when he tosses it over.

It lands in the flowerbed in front of you instead. Good enough.

"Thanks!"

You start to run after them when you realize... there's no way you'll catch up with a skittish Skiddo on foot.

The kids seemingly realize this as well.

Auyama offers something to make things easier for you.

"You wanna borrow my dad's Mudsdale?"

-O-O-

You're riding through the streets of Mesagoza. You'd have to ask why Mudsdale was in the possession of a 7-year-old later. For now, you were immensely grateful for any way to reach the troublemaker and his Skiddo.

"GERÁNEOOO?? GERÁNEO! IF YOU HEAR ME, SAY 'AYE'!"

It took a moment, but you heard an "Aaaaaaye!!" somewhere near Barato's.

'Goodness me...' You thought to yourself.

You felt awful for some reason, although you questioned why nobody was watching them before you came along. Shaking that thought off, you decided not to worry about the why and instead focus on the now. And right now, Skiddo was dangerously close to jumping over the wall and into even more danger.

"Don't worry! I'm here!"

You readied the Pokéball, aiming in their general direction. Skiddo seemed to not be close enough, as the light didn't return to the ball the way it would if something was caught in it.

'Darn'... you whisper before hearing him again.

"U-up here!"

You and Mudsdale look up, only to see the terrified duo... on top of a roof.

"WHAT IN THE-"

You looked over at a concerned guy nearby, who shrugged violently when he looked back down and noticed your bewildered expression.

'He must've climbed up on one of those ramps.' you thought to yourself. You had to act FAST, dismounting Mudsdale and giving her muzzle a few solid pats.

"Thank you."

The dire horse neighed gently, closing her eyes.

You ran over to the building they were on top of, surveying the situation. You had to think, would it be better to catch Skiddo now, or when you're up on the rooftop? If you get it now, Geráneo might fall. But if you get it on the rooftop, Skiddo might get spooked and go for the leap of fate instead.

You decide on the best course of action in your mind.

"Alright, Skiddo!"

They both turn towards you, faces full of fear.

"Skiddo, you don't wanna hurt him, do you?"

The poor thing was shaking, but it shook its head 'no'."

"Yeah, you just didn't like your horns being pulled, right?"

This time it nods.

You smile softly.

"Yeah, I know. I hate getting my bag caught on stuff all the time, I can't imagine getting a part of me pulled like that!"

The Skiddo's shaking, while still evident, calms slightly. Geráneo seems to feel bad.

"I know you just wanted the weird scary thing that pulled your horns off you. I promise he'll be gentle from now on, but I have to call you back into your Pokéball real quick, Ok?"

Skiddo nodded, gently lowering itself to the ground and allowing Gerá to get off it.

"Ok, here we go!"

You recall the creature, who seems content. Geráneo looks kind of shaken up still, now on his knees.

"Ok, n-n-now what?"

You give him a sympathetic smile.

Wait right there, I'll be up in a second!

You make your way up on the rooftop to meet him. You pause, taking in his fearful little shivers. You felt bad for the kid, all things considered. Maybe he just wanted to prove himself somehow? But he really shouldn't have pulled on Skiddo's horns like that. You'd have to have a gentle conversation with him later on, when tensions weren't so high.

"Geráneo! I'm here for you, bud."

He's shaking. You now notice the tears in his eyes.

"B-but I'm s-s-scared! I don't wanna be up so h-high!"

"I know, but..."

You step closer.

"I'm here. And no matter how wild things get, I'll be there with you. Cause life's kinda crazy sometimes. But you gotta be good, because you don't want things to be even crazier when they don't need to be, right?"

He takes this in before running over and hugging you, tears finally falling.

"I didn't mean to hurt Skiddo!" He trembles in your arms. "I-I just wanted to be cool and get a Cyclizar someday! I didn't know pulling his horns would scare and h-hurt him!"

You pat his head, letting him cry it out.

"Yeah, sometimes people forget other living things feel stuff just like you and me, even Pokémon! Tough as they are. But now that you know, you promise not to be so rough with him anymore?"

"Yeeeees!" He cries, looking up at you.

You smile.

"Good. At this rate, you'll have a Cyclizar in no time!"

He seems to pause at this before backing away a little, wiping his face.

"No, I... think I wanna stick with Skiddo. He'll be my partner 'till the end! He'll even be on my champion team one day!"

He raises his arms at this. He seems to feel better now, imagining a future with his beloved mount Pokémon.

You grin, not even realizing it with how happy you were at this unexpected development. Something about him realizing he didn't need what he saw as the 'cooler' Pokémon anymore and coming to appreciate Skiddo on its own made your heart feel warm.

"Well then, don't you wanna say sorry to your partner on solid ground?"

He looked confused for a second before remembering you two were on a rooftop, throwing himself at you in a tight embrace.

"OH CRUD, YEAH!"

You snicker before helping the kid down. You decide to tell nobody what he said. He can use bad language this one time.

-O-O-

"So, yeah. I... I'm sorry."

He had his head down, but his tone was sincere.

Skiddo happily jumped around at this, seemingly accepting his apology.

"Oh! Would you like to be my partner from now on? If you still wanna be friends with me, of course."

Skiddo stops his jumping before looking over at Gerá. At first, the boy wasn't sure what to expect until the mon happily rubbed its face on his arm, as if saying yes.

Gerá's eyes tear up.

"Thank you, Skiddo! I promise we'll be the best team Paldea's ever seen!"

He crouches and hugs his Pokémon. You watch the sweet moment play out with pride.

'I did that' you think to yourself, excited to watch Geráneo grow with his buddy now that he saw him for him.

The serenity of the moment is abruptly shattered upon hearing a man's voice shout your name.

"MOTHER FU-"

You look down at the kiddo and his Skiddo, both looking at you. You decide to try and save the moment again.

"Oh mother, far far away, is where I met my dear f-friend."

You grin, a pained expression on your face. The sentence didn't make the most sense, but they didn't question it (probably because the lack of provocation confused them more than the sentence itself.)

The man leans in, whispering with a wry smile on his face.

"Nice save."

His voice was laced with sarcasm, but you weren't going to tell him off for it.

"Ah, Director Clavell! I didn't notice you there!"

You really had to ask him how he got so fast. Nobody was around you a minute ago.

'Did he train with Zeraora?' You think to yourself, an amused smile on your face before he continues.

"Yes, I can tell. But that is besides the point. If you have the time, may I have a word with you? It's very important."

Your heart sunk.

Would he ban you from the school? You tried to remember the exact sequence of events so you could defend yourself, but in order to seem chill, you respond immediately.

"Yes, of course. I'm free right now."

Certainly more formal than you intended. Your face looked very serious, but more like a 'the principle came into the room while I'm teaching and I just got done reprimanding someone way-too harshly, I need to seem calm' sorta schooled expression. But that really wasn't the situation at all. You were worried regardless, however, even if he didn't seem to imply it was urgent, just important.

Either way, you followed the man up the stairs and into the academy.

-O-O-

"So, I heard from the other children that you had to find Geráneo after he took off on his Skiddo, correct?"

You nod, body tense, one leg over the other. He had pulled another chair out for you in his office. Hands in your lap and back straight as a board as you contained your fear, he replies.

"Ah, thank you for the confirmation."

You hesitantly nod.

"Well, I'd say you did a fantastic job of taking control of the situation."

You...

...what?

"Huh?" You say, genuinely confused (but relieved).

"Yes, you were caught off guard, yet you took off and saved the day regardless. That instinct to protect the children, coupled with the know-how to deescalate things so efficiently is an amazing trait to have."

You took his words in, but each individual word seemed to whizz by too fast to process correctly, especially as a whole. He continued, not noticing your befuddlement.

"Not to mention, Master Geráneo and his relationship with Skiddo seemed to exit the situation in a far better state than when he entered it. That ability to change the lives of those around you in such a profound way warms my heart."

He smiles, eyes full of admiration.

You look at him, taking in the situation with a gulp.

He had no reason to blame you, sure, but a part of you was afraid he'd let you take the fall in the parent's eyes, even if it made no sense both with context and in knowing him somewhat personally by now.

"Oh, s-so... we good?"

He blinked, sitting up straight.

"Ah, yes, we are certainly good. Better than ever, even. That leads me to a question I have, actually."

You sat, wondering what it'd be.

"Would you like to start a program here at the academy? One where you're here to spend personal time with our students and visitors specifically? Not quite a counselor, but someone who does fun stuff for them to look forward to whenever they need to unwind. It could be a group, perhaps? Maybe you can even act as an event planner, too?"

He waited for your response. This is exactly what you wanted, your mind already swimming with ideas on how you'd decorate your room, the types of activities you'd have for them whenever your club's held, the school tours hyping the academy up, the ability to talk to them personally or even let them vent in case they needed a listening ear--

"I am IN!"

That came out far more enthusiastic than you intended.

"Fantastic! Hopefully we can talk more later."

He gets up, face now serious in a somewhat disappointed fashion. He shakes his head.

"For now though, I must ask Geráneo's parents just what they were thinking, leaving him so excited with his Skiddo when no responsible party was around or made aware of the situation."

He walked around his desk, but not before stopping and putting a hand on your shoulder.

"Oh, and uh... I do hope you don't mind, but I would very much like it if we could chat... outside of preparations for your new position sometime."

Your stomach did a flip. His eyes looked fearful, a clear departure from his usual confidence, at least around you. You heard stories of his usual sweet yet dorky nature. Heck, you even saw it yourself before you got to know each other better.

"Anyway, I shall take my leave. Goodbye."

And with that, he took off.

Strange... he usually addresses you when leaving.

"That coffee thing makes so much sense now." You say to yourself, realizing he put a bit more thought into your impromptu chat than you thought he did.

-O-O-

A/N

This one was hard to write! I sometimes use Bulbapedia quotes to see what they talk like (such as the way they address people or to remind myself of their quirks while speaking), but THIS MAN HAS NONE??? I remember he was sort of formal, but also very kind and always meant well even if he seemed sorta suspicious in the trailers. Not to mention, he's a MASSIVE DORK??? I also like the idea of him being a bit awkward in general, but sorta flirty/teasing with people he fancies when first getting to know them, so yeah! He'll be his usually goofy self later when he gets to know this expy more. Call this Headcanon Clav if you like!

This accidentally came out SUPER open-ended, BUT, the focus was on how good you are with these kids, plus Clavell was sporadically busy anyway so yeah, worked out. Consider this the start of something more. Also the references (including the plant/plant-inspired names I gave all the named kids) were absolutely intentional

Accidentally grew fond of these goobers HELP, might draw them and Geráneo with his Skiddo someday

Purposefully didn't mention Hassel or Miriam in the little lantern scene so it'd be natural to leave if Raifort's still here or not vague cause 🤨

Expy needs to watch their profanity frfr, lmao

[kopykunoichi]

Okay, I know this has come up on Reddit and other places, but I just haven't found any satisfactory explanations or theories to solve the mystery of:

Why is Omega so freaking "tiny"?!

Canonically, she's older than the guys; Tech said she was an unaltered first generation clone and also referred to her as an adolescent. When Order 66 takes place, the first gens are already 13 years old (born in 32 BBY). The Bad Batch season one spans several months, and by the time season two rolls around, it would be reasonable to assume they're 14, or close to it.

Omega is less mature than a typical teenager in many ways, but that is easily explained by how sheltered her life was. She is very insightful though, which is an interesting contrast to her childlike wonder at experiencing new things.

But her physical development has me stumped. Omega is 1.1 m (3'7")...that's the same height as my four year old daughter! Yet, she's supposed to be a 14 year old adolescent.

Look at her standing next to Hera. Hera is 10 years old here (maybe 11 depending on when in the year her birthday is, but she was born in 29BBY). Not only is she a lot taller, she's also clearly a bit further along into puberty than Omega is. I don't know if that's a Twi-lek thing or not, but she definitely looks like an older adolescent. Compare Hera to the animation of Ahsoka when she was 14 and it's even more apparent. Meanwhile, Omega shows no signs of a maturing body. Even her facial structure looks more childlike.

At first I was just going to chalk it up to animators being inconsistent or not being able to properly depict a teenage girl, but now I'm beginning to wonder if there's more to it.

What if Omega's growth has been delayed as opposed to the other clones' growth being accelerated? What if the reason she looks like a seven year old when she's actually fourteen is because she ages half as fast as normal humans? And if that's the case, could that be why the Kaminoans wanted her DNA so bad? Think how marketable it would be if you could sell someone a way to make their natural lifespan twice as long?

It would also explain why Omega sometimes has moments where she has the reasoning capabilities of a teenager (because she does have fourteen years of life experience, such as it was), but retains the playful exuberance of a younger child, because developmentally, she's still seven.

What do you think? Have any of you come across any similar theories that I missed in my brief perusal of the forums?

[papirouge]

Scrotes near me are celebrating that andy tater tot got released from his house arrest and they’re celebrating by threatening women…so tired of them and the girls who also defend him thinking they’ll get picked. My brother believed that the girls who accused should have all been doxed so the followers of Andy can go beat them up and they should have been arrested for making those accusations. When I asked him if those girls told the truth why should they be arrested, he said that women can never be victims of anything. Thankfully my dad is old school and knocked sense into my brother so now he’s locked in his room crying and wanting to apologize but my dad took away his phone and his laptop. And told him to read until his punishment was over. My brother is young and it’s scary how easily they’re influenced by scrotes like andr*w. I honestly think my dad isn’t going to give my brother access to the internet any more and I think that might be the best idea. He was so normal and sweet before

You know what anon? I'm lowkey happy Tate got released from prison and is still alive because his supporters were so ready to canonize him into some sort of martyr - kinda lile McAfee, but worse (bc McAfee didn't have that cult following)

Seeing these rightoid scrotes crying screaming and throwing up at their alpha guru being owned AND ratio'ed by an autistic girl half his age had to be the funniest moment of 2023. And TBH I think that even if Tate ends up being cleared of the charges, his career will never fully recover. This humiliation was just too much. He'll be forever reminded as the dude who's been owned by Greta Thunberg - twice. Good luck trying to rebound back to that masculine alpha male brand after that....🥴

His simp stil argue hEs bEeN fRaMed and that he's yet to be ruled as 'guilty' (which is funny bc they don't display the same cautiousness about Epstein -and his client list- when he's technically died as innocent 🙃)

Your brother should be sent to a rehabilitation center (you know these bootcamp where you get beat up if you stutter/fail answering to the lieutenant fast enough). Confiscating his laptop, phone and apologizing isn't enough - he needs to fully repent. Volunteer to female shelter, read radfem/feminist theory and especially anti prostitution literature... He needs to realize how disgusting dehumanizing women is. Learn that women shouldn't 'earn' respect.

If he's young there's still chances to wire his brain back to normal.

[xlovleysunnyx]

Dash’s DownFall (totally random)

Ok so I have a theory that Dash from the Incredibles is going to become a villain and fall down a similar path like syndrome did, heads up that this is very unlikely but it’s just a theory that I like.

Evidence number 1: The Principal’s Office

So we are shown that dash has been playing pranks on his teacher (Bernie) and I’m assuming 3 times because of how many times he has gone to the office, so Bernie is complaining that dash put a thumbtack on his stole and hid a camera in the classroom to prove his point.

But unfortunately for him Dash was too fast for the camera to even catch him, he says “he doesn’t know how he does it” which to me kinda indicates that he knows that Dash has powers,

Think about it, it isn’t unlikely that he knows that dash has powers, Supers WERE once legal, everybody in that world has heard or seen of them, and even Edna said that it’s not uncommon for supers to develop powers at a young age, Dash and Violet probably aren’t the first kids to have developed them as kids, and from observing dash he knows that what he’s doing isn’t normal.

Anyway That’s not the point, I’m sorry if I can’t provide more evidence for that I’m lazy but I’ll tag someone who had more evidence for it then me, so by seeing how crazy Bernie is acting it looks like Dash has done this before multiple times, and if we are assuming Dash knows the law about supers because of what Helen said in this scene

Helen says “You know why we can’t do that” which to me indicates that Dash does know the law about supers being illegal because I mean he was literally born during that time period, that means Dash was using the law to hurt his teacher, he’s trying to express his powers in a way he’s not supposed to, knowing that he’ll never face consequences because if his teacher even accuses him of being a super his memory will immediately be erased.

Evidence 2: The Ride home

Ok this one isn’t really that big but i still wanted to point this out, when Dash and Helen drives over to Violet’s school, they have a conversation about Dash’s behavior at school, we start off with Helen talking to Dash about how many times he has gone to the office, she says “We need to find a better outlet, a more constructive outlet” and dash responds with “Maybe I could if you’d let me try out for sports” now my question is why would Dash want to try out for something he already knows he’s an expert at? Why would he want to go for track if he could easily outrun them? Did he want to show off his powers in front of everyone? That seems kinda like a reach but back to my theory, Helen tells dash he knows why he can’t do that and blah blah blah let’s just skip to the evidence, Dash says “But dad always said our powers are special, are powers are nothing to be ashamed of” and Helen responds with “Everyone is special dash” which Dash responds with “Which is another way of saying no one is”

This line directly parallels to Syndromes line of saying “And when everyone’s super, No one is”

Syndrome and Dash have the same ideals but Both are driven by different things, Syndrome is driven by Envy, and Dash is Driven by Pride, It’s Pride vs Envy, Dash wants the world to see that he is special and Syndrome wants no one to be special because he’s not, if you think about it they kind foil each other, not to mention dash looks a lot like young Syndrome.

Not really Evidence but Number 3:

After almost getting killed twice, he still saw this whole thing as a vacation rather than barley surviving 3 near death experiences, Now I can excuse this because he’s like 10 so I’m not really going to count this as evidence.

Bonus:

Also in Incredibles 2 when bob was using the remote to get his car back, dash steals the remote and almost launches the rockets from the incredible car (whatever it’s called) he repeatedly chants “Launch the Rockets!!” Without even considering the people in the room next to the car, for this one I think it’s inexcusable, 10 is old enough to know how dangerous rockets are because when he was on the plane in the first movie he was clearly afraid.

Alright I’m getting kinda lazy so if I have more evidence I’ll upload a part 2

[bebebopbopp]

Zel

I have so much to tell you, oh link. Im home. She says smiling to him.

His eyebrows lift, his arms extend to her and she comes in for the hug. He hugs her tight, as if she could go forsake him once more. She lays her head on his chest and hears his heart rest. His breathing slowed and he sighs out some last form of relief. “You did well link” she said slightly muffled in the comfort of the hug.

He kisses her head, cushioned by her blonde hair. Their arms falter, zelda looks back into his eyes slightly flustered. “Oh-“.

Link’s neutral face is no longer contorted in the form of pressure. His blue eyes are as free as the sky he had once bathed in. His expression seems to speaks a million words as he is standing before her smiling radiantly. He is finally at peace.

Link bows and turns around. “L-link?”

He walks at a slow, fatigued pace. ”Where are you going?!” she says catching up with him.

He bobs his head towards Purah, the sages and the rest of the people. He mouths go, and continues to lift his lips into a smile. “But ur unwell and-“. He takes the Purah pad, presses the teleport button to Akkala and returns the pad to her hands. He smiles broadly once more and disappears into the blue threads.

Link had arrived at his house, he drops every piece of weaponry into the stash. Throws his item stash in a random room. He falters onto his bed, with a satisfied look on his face. He was in complete bliss. Turning the blue sky and sea into the tiniest dot, as his eyelids dwindle to a close.

All he needed was a slumber, the sizzling pain, the burning and bleeding on his body, it will cease in due time. But now all he needs is to be gone.

Zelda had spent time with the sages, with Purah. And a-lot of the people that aided in the ending of this calamity. She was happy, the life around her was bustling and the lively atmosphere had made her reminiscent of ages past. Thankfully Purah was a very attentive lending ear, as she was fascinated by the world of ages past. But zelda’s fascination had still been lying with link. To see him smile, genuinely. As if the deities had lifted all that had been put onto him, and shined their brilliant light onto his smile.

He deserves his rest, but that does not mean he is free from his wounds. She was reminded of that when the sages and people around her spoke of his heroic actions. The fight he put up with the demon king, the keeper of the sacred stone in the depths of death mountain and the zora palace. Defending gerudo town and kara kara bazaar from hordes of gibdo’s and their queen. An titan of ice and tornadoes. And not to mention the enemies and monster hordes he faced outside of these events. And most of them, alone. Her heart ached for his story. Not once but twice in the same lifetime has he had to put up with so much.

Link woke up, his dreams were of none but nightmares. He saw the pain and suffering all over again, how zelda’s tears had bren laid down the

//theory

But what about the eld ass hero? Like those ember things in ss, its the same as the secret stones!

How about the temple of sky in this game?

//dragon tear

He realized, he looked up into the sky, his eyes as wide as hers, he put it toghether one and one. His face crumpled up into fear of her being, sadness for her state and how scared she was. Ashamed he couldn’t safe her.

Tears fell down his cheeks. A loud roar ommited above him, the cirle he stood upon was akkala’s known spiral yet in this case the mysterious dragon had shown its true identity. Zelda. She lost her self.

Once the dragon passed by links expression faded,

he is seen from afar sinisterly as memories flood by of the centuries she had to endure, completely alone. All because of him, “Ganon Dorf..”

and soon his expression turns into pure anger and rage, link sets off fast, and starts sprinting up the hill as fast as he can, his head is just booming with her name zelda zelda zelda.

He runs by the akkala spring tower, and enters, pushing away the dude, and rushing the pad as he stands and flies up, with an determined look upon his face.

His height becomes him. He flies as high as she had set, and he came eye to eye with her dragon form.

“Return to me” he said… eyes narrowed in a pitiful yet lips begging manner as his eyebrows scrunched,

His eyebrows lifted up whence he saw a light, as he climbed upon her, he found himself eye to eye with the master sword..

He pulls, but it looks like it hurts her so he loosens and falls off her. As he falls, he just looks up, fazing ideas of impa, deku tree, the skyward sword temple. and said with narrowed eyes, “ill find a way”. As he turns his body and dives head first.

Bonus: Kept looking at her flying away, but i couldn’t just stand there and ran after her, my lil sister rooting me on to take the sky route so we did, and kept going at it till we could reach her and let me tell you it took a while.

[thetrashthatsmilesback]

I was going to do this in replies but decided this was easier. I hope none of this comes off as rude, I just got out of the shower 🫠 I say all of this with the tone of upmost respect /gen

@thelimefactory @favored-blade I actually also thought he should be 16 in kh4, but i saw regularpat, damo, and bioroxas all say he was 17 in kh4, and since youtubers are the most accessible part of the fandom I thought I'd just go with what they said ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I agree that sora being 15 in kh3 makes the most sense with there being less than a year between kh2 and kh3, but I can understand the argument that they might have aged up since it's still several months

@favored-blade youre so right about the 7 days thing, but that leaves me with even more questions. Either it's theory one from above that Strelitzia only recently came to Quadratum, or it could mean that the beginning part of kh4 is actually happening before Melody of Memory, and if the events of kh4 are happening at the same time as melmem, what does that mean in terms of who actually shows up? Does this mean Riku won't get to Quadratum until kh5? If kh4 is taking place immediately after re:mind then that's interesting regarding the timeline

@agentperezbian so i get what you mean but I actually dislike the idea that Sora, and frankly all the kids, haven't been forced to grow up too fast. A core theme of Kingdom Hearts is maturing/growing up. We even the idea that growing up is inevitable in Ven's arc. His arc shows that even if others are trying their hardest to protect you from growing up, it's going to happen eventually and you will lose your innocence. Sora's relationship with Pooh becoming weaker was also supposed to indicate that he's growing up. Sora's issue is with change of the status quo, not necessarily with maturity. He spends the entire first three games (kh1, com, kh2) chasing after Riku and Kairi, a sign that he has remained stagnant in a way, but he has matured in other ways. His darkness has grown. He learned to prioritize the bigger picture over just his friends (i love the Kh1 manga's emphasis on how much Sora didnt care about the apocalypse, he just wanted to fine Riku and Kairi. It's wonderful, and while the manga aren't full canon they were written with Nomura's input so idk).

"Sora, don't ever change." "Huh?!" Sora has attempted to remain stable for Kairi, but he has matured over the series. I dont think the kid that watched everyone he knew die twice (the destiny island fall to darkness and then the keyblade graveyard) has avoided being forced to grow up too soon, even ignoring all the times he's killed himself.

That being said, the narrative definitely emphasizes his inability to change through artificial means (primarily his memories). I just dont think resistance to change is the same thing as being unable to mature. Riku's more amenable to change as his arc is a redemption arc, but Sora's fear of change isn't necessarily the same as not growing up/maturing. For example, his fear of change definitely aligns with his fear of losing friends - but it manifests in him sacrificing himself for others (including what landed him in the situation he's in in kh4). But this leaves the question - is being willing to die so that you do not have to live without one of your friends still existing immaturity? Is that fear of change immaturity? I feel like they're different in a way. Part of growing up is losing those close to you, but an inability to cope with that isn't necessarily a refusal to grow up or mature.

Idk i just dont think the games have forced him the remain immature. Kid has gone through two apocalypses, all three Kairi, Riku, and yes Sora have been forced to grow up way too fast

(Also please remind me to return to the idea that Ventus had two people attempting to keep him from growing up and yet was forced to in the end despite their attempts, I like that idea and how it may play into kh4 if Sora's memories are the Aqua and Terra trying to keep Sora from maturing, Sora is Ventus, and circumstancesare the Vanitas of it all)

People keep saying Sora will be 17 in kh4, but that raises the question

Do dead people age?

Strelitzia appeares to be the same age she was when she died, but we both don't know how long she's been in Quadratum or if it's even Strelitzia (I remember ppl theorizing it could be one of the 13 original darknesses inhabiting her body when the trailer first dropped, and there's all the stuff with "this is not what I look like." It could be anyone taking the form of Strelitzia).

If they're in unreality, and fictional characters don't age unless time passes in their story, then it's possible that in Quadratum you stop aging or age differently than in reality. Sora /should/ be 17 in kh4, but there's nothing to verify that. If Quadratum's time is more similar to the real world, he could be 19 or 20. If it's stagnant then he's still 16.

We only think he's 17 because there's less than a year between kh2 and kh3, and then a year between kh3 and melmem. We have no idea if that was a year for Sora though.

[suckitsurveys]

Why did you close the door the last time you closed one? The door automatically closes behind me. It was the back door to our office and it remains closed and locked for security.

Stripes or polka dots? Both are cute.

Do you care if people touch you when they’re talking to you? Um, as a general rule, don’t fucking touch me??? But like, if someone is consoling me and talking to me, then I don’t mind if they have a hand on my shoulder or even a hug or something. But even then that’s usually someone I’m close to anyway.

What is your gender? I’m a woman.

Do you think that people think its obvious? Gender isn’t obvious bro. Yes I do realize the irony in saying bro haha.

How long did your first date last? My very first date ever? I don’t remember, that was ages ago.

Is your favorite color within 10 feet of you? Yes, a feature wall and some accents in this office are purple.

Highlight of your day? Finding out not only is John Mulaney’s new special coming to Netflix April 25th, but also Pete Davidson’s new show is coming to Peacock May 4th! What a day!

Would you rather be on a boat or a plane? I mean, travel-wise, a plane. I wouldn’t mind going out on a boat for the day though.

Can you tell when girls (or guys) have eyeliner on? For the most part, yeah.

Can you cook? I get by.

How high is your ceiling? We have pretty low ones in the apartment since we are in the basement. In the office I am in I’d say they are at least 10ft.

Whats the worst job you can think of? I don’t know, that’s objective.

Do you swear a lot? I do oops.

Does the last person you texted have an O in their name? She does.

Is everything working in your house? Our oven has been broken for 3 years now haha. We have just been using the toaster oven lol.

Would you rather have a pool or a trampoline? Uh, a pool, hands down. Does pop give you energy? Eh.

TV show you love with a passion? BoJack Horseman. Do you think you learned anything from the worst night of your life? Blech.

Perfect age to get married? The perfect age doesn’t exist, as long as you feel you are ready (and both of you are legal consenting adults) then fuckin go for it.

Is it safe to say you own over 20 pairs of shoes? Ehhh not quite.

Name a career path that women are known for taking. Any career path they fucking want.

Favorite type of cookie? Those pre-cut Pillsbury sugar cookies with the holiday designs.

A quality you look for in choosing a significant other? Humor.

What would I find if I looked in your pocket? Nothing.

What was your first word? I have no idea.

A musical instrument you wouldn’t mind learning how to play? Piano.

Last time you went to 7-eleven? It’s been a bit. The last time I remember going was maybe the end of summer, early fall?

A fast food restaurant that you hate with a passion? Burger King because the food is gross and Chick-Fil-A because the owners are gross.

Does everyone in your family have a job? My father is retired.

Going anywhere this weekend? I have no definite plans as of right now.

Is your room ever clean? Right now its kind of storage for a few pieces of furniture until my sister moves into her new place and I can put them there so it is a bit of a mess.

What does it mean when youre being quiet? That I’m not talking?

Last person you had a face to face conversation with? My coworker.

Where’s your phone? It’s just right next to me.

Do you know the difference between your and you’re? Yep.

How late did you stay up last night? Until about midnight.

Anyone you’re ready to kill? Yes. Or just make not exist.

Do you need to get a tan? I never “need” to tan because I don’t care if I am or not.

What do you want? To sleep. And also cheese fries.

Favorite TV show as a kid? Oh SO many. Pokemon was a big one. Almost everything on Nickelodeon. Garfield and Friends. Tiny Toons. Powerpuff Girls

Whats a show that you absolutely refuse to watch? The Big Bang Theory.

How many times have you been in love? Twice.

Go camping or go to a party? Camping, but depends on the party.

Do you remember how old you were when you started swearing? My sister used to let me have “swear time” when she’d babysit me. I was like, 4 or 5 when that started, lol.

How many years older than you would you date someone? Mark is 5 years older than me. What was the last thing you pinky swore on? Oof, I can’t remember; but I am sure it was with my nieces.

Would you consider yourself a nice person? Yeah, mostly.

Are there a lot of mirrors in your house? No.

Has there ever been a serial killer in your house? I mean, it’s possible one has lived there before we did? Do you know anyone who looks like Adam Sandler? Yeah, actually one of my coworkers does. It’s WEIRD.

True or false: Glee is annoying. True.

Last thing you cooked? I made some pesto pasta stuff the other day to take to lunch with me.

Do you use slang often? Sure.

Wear glasses? Yep. Cannot function without them. About how old was the last person that hit on you? My husband is 38.

What color are your headphones? I have a purple pair and a blue pair.

Would you make a good teacher? Why? No, because that sounds awful.

Don’t you hate those commercials that try too hard? Don’t we all.

Is the fan on? No.

Any special reason why you’re taking this survey? Nope.

What does the last text message you sent say? It was a sad face emoji.

Your friend needs you to run to the store to get a pregnancy test. Do you? Yeah, in a heartbeat.

Do you log out on facebook when you leave the site? I have not logged out of a website in YEARS.

What color are your underwear? Burgundy.

How short are your nails? They are SO LONG. I am getting them done today and I’m going to have her cut them a little bit.

Do you like the opposite sex to be dominant or you the one in control? Depends.

Favorite holiday? Halloween.

If I asked you to point to Ohio on a map of the US do you think you could? Yes.

Youre locked in a room with spiders. Do you have an issue? Depends on the amount of spiders and type of spiders. Like, black widows? I’d be dead.

Do you wear your most expensive item of clothing often? I don’t even know what that is.

Do you eat a lot of food? Uh huh.

Have your parents ever tried to control your relationship? No.

Have you ever had to give someone directions before? Yeah..

Speaking of which, are you good at understanding driving directions? For the most part.

How many people do you text daily? On average like 1-4. Usually my husband, my friend Lolly, and sometimes my friend Sarah or Ellen, sometimes my sister.

Do you play any instruments? Which instruments do you play? Nope.

Is there anyone who you call by their last name? No.

When was the last time you watched a YouTube video? The other day I watched a couple of Grav3Yard Girl videos.

Have you ever babysat a newborn baby before? Yup.

When was the last time you held someone’s hand? Yesterday I held my niece’s hand while we were crossing the street.

How many meals have you eaten today, so far? Just lunch.

Do you think it’s stupid for people to call others “hot?” Not at all?

Do you personally think Wikipedia is a reliable source? It might be?

Have you ever shopped at Wet Seal before? Did you like it? Nope.

What is your favorite Disney movie of all time? Emperor’s New Groove.

[apollomes-supremacy]

LO Dionysus design 🍇🎭

| Apollo | Persephone | Hermes | Ares | Artemis | Ganymede | Aphrodite | Eros | Zeus |

This will be a long post since Dionysus isn’t a character yet so I had to create him from 0.

The beginning of Dionysus’ introduction started on EP 93 (with Semele, Dionysus’ mother), but it has been more than 100 episodes and we got absolutely nothing from that plot, which is bad considering that other gods get involved in the og myth (Zeus, Hera and Hermes, mainly), but none of them (before and after the time skip) display any knowledge or memory of the event, especially Zeus, who is the one who accidentally kills Semele in the first place.

I already talked about it here, but im 100% sure that the child mentioned in episode 218 is Dionysus. He should be 10 yo right now and he’s the only character (vaguely) introduced who is around that age. Not to mention, Dionysus does have some connections with the Underworld. My main theory is that he will be adopted by HxP and will remain a child for the rest of the series (probably skipping the majority of Dionysus’ myths). And that’s honestly such a waste of potential. So I decided to give my take on him if he was in LO, like the redesigns I did with many other characters.

Design

My main inspo was 60′s and 70′s Hippie fashion, with a lot of patterns, accessories (crystals, evil eyes, beads, rings, etc), loose clothes and a more lazy/cozy look. He’s two shades of purple that split his face, which is meant to represent his duality as the god of parties and joy & god of wrathful madness. Hermes gave him nymph ears to use as a disguise when he was young, but he doesnt want to change them back because he grew up and feels comfortable with them. He has a very androgynous/feminine look, which leads to a lot of people thinking he’s an actual nymph.

In his true form (which can come out voluntarily, but usually happens when the god gets so mad that they are unable to control themselves) he can get really big. Leafs and grapes sprout everywhere, he gets another pair of arms made of plants’ stems and his eyes go full neon green.

Story

His story is very similar to the og myths, with just some small differences. He is born from Zeus’ thighs and goes to live with Demeter and Persephone as one of their nymphs to escape Hera’s wrath. There he starts to question a lot about himself, like his gender and his origins (he doesn’t know he is not an actual nymph), and when puberty hits, his body and his powers go crazy. Its also around that time when he meets and falls in love with Ampelos (and you know how that story ends).

When the wine he creates starts growing in popularity and Dionysus starts getting worshipped by some cities, Zeus decides that there’s no reason to hide him from Hera anymore, so he brings Dionysus to Olympus and reveals the truth, inviting him to become an Olympian. Dionysus says yes without thinking twice, so he moves in and starts to get prepared for his ceremony and his new life.

But there’s a problem. The Olympus lifestyle is way too different from Dionysus’. People are sophisticated, modern and even mean-spirited, while he is the complete opposite. It’s hard for him to fit in and he just wants to go home with the nymphs and satyrs, and he eventually does... illegally.

Personality & relationships

Dionysus is very outgoing and funny. He’s kind to everyone around him (not discriminating against nymphs, satyrs or mortals), but he can get very emotional very fast. He gets easily annoyed, which will prob just result in some unwanted vines around the house and a grumpy look, but the moment he gets mad is when everything falls apart (wrath form). Anger issues + no control over powers = no good.

He sees Demeter as a mother and Persephone and the nymphs as older sisters, while Silenus and the other satyrs served as fathers. His favorite brother is Hermes who kept an eye on him during his entire childhood and still cares deeply for him. He also has an interesting relationship with Apollo, he is very scared and intimidated by him (I understand why lol) but wants to start a friendship. Except for the fact that Apollo already has a soft spot for him, Dionysus is just oblivious to it. Ares is also scary and kinda mean, but he likes Dionysus and cares for him. He’s very indifferent towards Zeus, Hera hates him (he hates her too) and everyone else is pretty neutral, considering he doesnt know a lot of people outside of the nymphs and satyrs.

Powers

Dionysus is a fertility god (which in this universe doesnt mean that much), this means he has powers over vegetation (like Demeter) and mortals’ desires (like Aphrodite). Being the god of madness also means that he can make people so mad to the point of committing atrocities and completely losing their minds. In his true form, simply looking at him can lower your sanity. He also has the powers all the other gods have, like changing forms, cursing and blessing people, being summoned by mortals, etc. 

That’s all I have the energy to write rn. I tried to replicate the LO art style, and honestly I really liked the result! Hope you guys liked it too <3

(Also, Dionysus would be around his 20′s when the story takes place. He is Pansexual and is still confused about his gender but he’s fine with any pronouns).