#if you really wanna talk about the time travel theory that's fine

[carionto]

It'll be "awesome", the Human said

(Continuation/conclusion to this)

____________________________

After the Coalition delegates had been mindblown enough, it was time for them to finally leave and have a nap. But Captain Knoslark had one more thing he desperately wanted to show them.

"So, like, we're a science vessel and we have three of the biggest reactors, right? Right. So, I wanna show you what we recently figured out we can do. C'mon, it'll be awesome."

Awesome - a word the rest of the Galaxy will soon learn to both admire and run for cover whenever a Human uses it.

With trepidation in their steps, and worry in their breaths, they followed the all too eager Captain, who was almost skipping and humming down the halls, dramatically pointing the way. His crew continued to not give him the satisfaction of ever acknowledging his theatrics.

"Once the reactors are in good enough sync, we'll reconfigure the Radiant Dusk to a circular shape and begin!"

Oh. Yeah. Of course their ships can also transform. Why not. The delegates have given up thinking there are things Human engineering can't accomplish. Also, good enough?

"Eh, don't worry about it, we overbuild everything, so a 1 or 2 percent margin of error is fine, most of the time."

They could not imagine themselves to be more worried. At least not until a few minutes from now.

"Captain, she's ready," Chief Engineer Tameki's tone changed to a total blank deadpan for the next words, "to transform. and. roll. out."

With childlike glee, Captain Knoslark tapped the big red button, specifically designed for his pad only, to begin the sequence.

Distant creaking of metal, anguish at the prospect of bending in ways nature never intended, and the unmistakable jolt of mechanical movement, despite the artificial gravity maintaining the same down throughout, once more instilled primal anxiety for the delegates.

The reactors wound up, turning the almost-buzz like feeling beneath their feet to a true all encompassing sense of absolute power. Three small stars at equidistant points along the now 4km in diameter vessel created a singular feeling of something imminent that should never have been possible. The Universe itself wanted to reject this possibility.

"We tried copying your mass field generators from way back when you did the barrier thing. Wanted to see if we could get close to Black Hole levels, there were some theories that time travels was possible with that kinda pull."

I don't think anyone would be surprised if they had succeeded, but, for once during their entire visit, the Humans said they couldn't get time travel to work. Celebration! Then the Captain kept talking.

"So what happened instead is we accidentally tore a hole in time-space, creating a sort of warp gate." He said with both joy and disappointment.

Then the Universe shrieked. A massive distortion in reality now struggled and failed to restore normality between the ring-shaped ship. Swirling coils of matter flickered in and out, ghostly visages of detonations on a solar scale. A sight never intended to be witnessed.

"Still gotta figure out how to set a destination to anywhere. Right now the only stable connection we can get is with massive gravity wells, so any celestial body with enough mass, smallest one is a red dwarf. Problem is the connection steers towards the center, so not really practical right now."

"If we try to point at empty space the gate just kinda wiggles and you end up getting spaghetti-fied on the other end. Still, once we get enough ships like this one around the galaxy, we'll solve that whole trips taking more than a few hours thing we got with the hyper drives."

At this point the delegates decided to be escorted away, as most had became a crying mess. One stumbled onto a automated cleaning unit and at this the Captain, whose mood had soured a bit now that his time as tour guide was over, rose back to heights unseen before. With his most official sounding, yet at the same time most joy filled tone ever, he declared:

"Sergeant Ying Zhao, issue an official notice. Today at 20:30 ship time there will be a grand ceremony for the promotion of Captain Stabicus to Special Envoy of the Galactic Coalition. Ready all relevant paperwork, and his new badge, and inform the chef to prepare a feast. We have done much today for the sake of Human-Coalition relationships, and so much more for the Radiant Dusk at Everest and her crew and staff. Tonight, we celebrate!"

[roo-bastmoon]

I dunno what it means but I have a theory

Pessimists say JK is copying/stealing Jimin's style because he has no creativity of his own and he knows Jimin's look was successful.

Pragmatists say the stylists recycle looks and design brands for BTS, especially when the members have a similar sense of style or body build, and they are pressed for time with all these rollouts.

Optimists like me say JK has a say in a lot of his outfits and poses, so he might wish to draw visual connections to Jimin, creating an unspoken alignment. It may not even be entirely conscious, and it definitely doesn't connect the "themes" of their solo works.

I guess we won't know unless they ever talk about it, but at this point, there's too many similarities for it to be a coincidence.

The reason I cannot bring myself to believe that Jungkook is just copying Jimin out of intellectual laziness is because THEY DO THIS IN THEIR PERSONAL LIVES ALL THE TIME. All the shoes, pants, shirts, hats, and jewelry brands and looks they've shared over the years?? They like the same stuff.

They take the whole "I am you, you are me" thing pretty seriously, and as much as Jimin teases Jungkook for being hyung's copycat, he has never truly minded. In fact we've had proof of them recently hanging out and being just fine with one another. Whatever their status is, Jikook seem pretty good, which is heartening.

So maybe I'm looking at the world through rose-colored glasses (and I'm not out to convince anyone to see things my way), but I just get the gut sense that JK craves connection with Jimin and this is one of the ways he can do that... Or maybe he just thinks Jimin is the coolest (I cannot argue with the man).

Even if he didn't write his own songs or craft his own designs in solo era (something I personally lament--I am really struggling to connect with his work so far, I'm sad to say, but that's a comment on me, not a demand of him), staff know what he likes; he approves things and has right of refusal.

So I just tend to think it may not be a big huge hairy deal (as in, this is not couple coding; this is not proof that "Jikook is real"). Rather, I take it to mean Jikook share aesthetics and this is one of the ways they click. At work. At home. While traveling. They click this way.

It's cool if you see things differently. I could be way, way off base! But as a general rule, if you bash a member of BTS on my blog you get the ban-hammer from me without any fuss or fanfare.

Discussion is great but keep it respectful. Thank you!

And now I cannot procrastinate any more. Lunch break is over and I have to get back to work. I don't wanna don't make me I just wanna watch BTS content all day long is that too much to ask waaaah. The deadlines, they wait for no one...

[samwpmarleau]

fic: drift, adrift

whumptober day 2: trust issues masterlist: tumblr, ao3 Robbie pays Daisy a visit after Coulson’s death.

Part of her is happy to see him. It’s been a year since last he stood in front of her. A very, very long year.

Part of her is surprised. Vanishing through a hellfire chain portal seemed like a pretty one-way ticket.

Part of her wants to slap him, because —

“You knew! You fucking knew!”

Robbie watches her neutrally as she storms down the hallway. At least he doesn’t pretend to not realize what she’s talking about, she’ll give him that. “I couldn’t tell you.”

“Oh, no, you really could have.” The agents who had been milling around wisely retreat in self-preservation.

“I was in another dimension, I couldn’t have even if I wanted to.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it. You could’ve found a way. Like telling me before you left for that other dimension.”

“He asked me not to.”

“I don’t care if he begged you on his knees. You should have told me. Or are you going to say keeping secrets from me was part of Coulson’s deal, too?”

“No, that was my choice, just like it was Coulson’s not to tell you himself.”

“I already got mad at him, and now he’s dead. You’re not. Did you think you could just waltz right in and everything would be fine?”

“I’m not gonna apologize for making a promise to a man who prevented a magic android from framing you to subjugate humanity.” He sounds exhausted. Well, join the club. Her year hasn’t been rosy either.

“I trusted you when no one else did. I vouched for you. Then I find out about Coulson’s deal and that you knew about it? I don’t care what you promised him, that’s not something you get to keep to yourself. Not from me.”

“Not from you? My life doesn’t revolve around you, Daisy. I don’t owe you anything, I never asked you to vouch for me, and I’m not gonna be baited into a guilt trip.”

“You should feel guilty.”

“There’s a long list of things I should feel guilty for. That promise isn’t one of them. Don’t take your grief out on me.”

“I’m not taking anything out on you. I’m holding you accountable.”

“You’re projecting. Didn’t even say hello before yelling at me. It’s not me you’re really mad at.”

“I am very mad at you, actually.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be. Coulson made the deal.”

“With you.”

“With Ghost Rider.”

“Tell the son of a bitch to face me then, I’ll yell at him, too.”

“I’m sure that would be very productive.”

“You think I’m scared of him?”

“I think you’re lashing out at someone you know you can’t hurt.”

“Wanna test that theory?”

“Do you?”

The look of pity on his face is enough for her to quake him against the wall and pin him there. If he called upon Ghost Rider, he could probably break her hold, but he stays put. No flesh melting off bone, no flame pushing through his skull like exhaust. Like this is all just a game. It’s infuriating.

Robbie grimaces at the pressure against his chest and the unforgiving concrete at his back. “You treat all your friends like this?”

“Friends? We aren’t friends.” She walks up to him to put her hand directly on his chest. He lets out a quiet grunt of discomfort. “A friend would’ve helped us get back from the future.”

“I can’t time travel or —”

“A friend would’ve closed the Fear Dimension.”

“I had my own dimensions to —”

“A friend would have helped stop Graviton.”

“I didn’t know about —”

“A friend would’ve told me!” Her voice hitches on the words.

Robbie sighs. “Look, I asked Coulson if he was going to. I thought he should have.”

“Oh, don’t shift the blame.”

“I’m not shifting anything.”

“Yes, you are! You just don’t want to take responsibility.”

“I don’t have responsibility to take. Coulson’s the one who suggested the move, and Ghost Rider’s the one who accepted the deal. If you haven’t noticed, he doesn’t bend to my will. I have to bend to his.”

“You didn’t with Mace. Gabe got you to —”

A ring of amber glows to life in Robbie’s eyes. In an instant, he fights through the quake. It goes no further than that, but the reminder of his power is there all the same. Voice low, he warns, “Keep my brother out of this.”

Okay, maybe on that one thing he has a point. Weaponizing Gabe won’t get her anywhere, friend or not.

“I’m saying you could have tried harder. You know what Coulson meant to me.”

“What other option was there? What was your plan for taking down Aida?”

“Well, I —”

“There was none. The Rider jumping into someone else to surprise her was the only way.”

“It didn’t have to be Coulson.”

“Who, then? You?”

“Maybe! Fitz is good enough at hacking to do what I did, and Coulson could’ve helped Simmons.”

“It was his choice, Daisy. He chose to take on the Rider, he chose not to tell you about the deal, and he chose to ask me not to tell you either. That’s just the way it is. You getting pissed at me isn’t going to change any of it.”

Daisy grits her teeth. He’s right that she can’t change anything, but that doesn’t mean she can’t still be furious about it. “Why are you even here? After everything, why is now when you show up?”

“Because the Rider wanted to be sure Coulson held up his end of the deal. That he didn’t figure out some new way to extend his life.”

“He — you’re here to dig up his corpse?” Daisy asks in queasy disbelief. “I hope you know how to swim because you’re gonna have to wade through a whole lot of the South Pacific.”

“I know. The Rider’s satisfied.”

“Then why the hell are you here?”

“Because I’m not satisfied.”

“I told you, Coulson’s not —”

“It’s not Coulson I care about.”

Daisy goes silent, her chest heaving. She knows what he’s not saying. She’s known it from the moment he entered the hallway. He has no other reason to put up with her being argumentative, nor a reason to show up at the base at all. Except knowing about it and dealing with it are two different things, and dealing with it is not something she has the capacity to do.

“I didn’t ask you to come, and I don’t want your pity,” she snaps. “Leave me alone.”

“It’s not pity. And I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“This.”

She protests as he wraps his arms around her, wholly not goddamn interested in what he wants. Entirely aware that with the creature currently making its home inside his body nothing she does do could actually move him if he’s not inclined to let himself be moved, she nonetheless gets her elbows between them and tries to push him away.

He permits only some of it, leaving his hands on her shoulders. The weight and heat of them feels both grounding and claustrophobic. “Get off me.”

“Daisy.” Robbie moves one of his hands up to run his thumb along her cheekbone. “It’s okay.”

“What is okay? There’s nothing about this that’s okay.”

“It’s okay to break.”

There isn’t pity in his eyes. What there is, is sympathy, hurt, for her. Which only serves to piss her off — what right does he have, he of all people, to feel that when he’s the one who kept the cause of that hurt from her in the first place?

“It’s not,” she objects. Her voice is thicker than she’d like it to be. It’s unfair for him to be here, let alone trying to comfort her. It’s unfair, and he can’t — he doesn’t even know her — he hasn’t been around — he left —

Her protests are weak this time as he pulls her once more into him. She doesn’t want his touch, and yet, she’s craved it. It’s the worst possible situation for him to come back for, the worst timing, but all the same … he’s come back. Coulson’s gone but Robbie isn’t, he’s here, even if only for a brief moment.

“I miss him,” she whispers, and breaks.

[brainwashed-parxie]

❤️ SOUL/STAR/AWSTEN THEORY POST 🪽

GREATEST HITS -

FUZZY ,

I think, since GH is from Awstens perspective, the demons in this song are actually Star and Soul.

"Me myself and I" in reference to the three of them.

"I'm really not a bad guy, Step into the good light, Say a little prayer for you, yeah

Kill another demon - You know what I mean, man

My brain just needs a little bit of cleaning."

The demons, the "little bit of hell", are obviously both Star and Soul. Manifestations within Awstens mind, his brain. Plus the obvious "prayer" connections and the focus on good/bad.

"I'll be waiting, On my ceiling, Glowing in the dark." This one is a stretch, but I think this line is about Star - with "I" being Star.

The glowing green crosses from the music video on his face, etcetera, idk. This one is dumb.

"Now I've gotta go,

I'm running and I can't stay here

I don't want another timeline

Me, myself, and I talked and we can't leave you here

I hear them getting close,"

I believe this line is about the property, leaving and escaping the property. With "me myself and I" yet again being Awsten, Soul, and Star. I think "them" is referring to the gas-mask figures we see within the property, the people enforcing it all.

I think he was afraid of Soul and Star at first, seeing them as demonic or hellish figures, before growing to be closer with them and work together.

I think that concept ties into -

SECRET LIFE OF ME ,

I think the "evil twin" line is about both Soul and Star, which I've said before.

"When I fall asleep at night, I wish my brain could sneak away, Increase my pace and hop the gate and travel to another plane."

Obviously this shares lines with Sneaking Out of Heaven, and if the property is heaven - this makes a ton of sense alongside everything else.

With Star being the one who actually has "snuck out of heaven" and escaped the property, Awsten wishing he could do the same yet being afraid he will fail, and Soul being scared to leave at all.

" First I'd find my evil twin, Then I will make best friends with it,"

Again, this entire segment is about Awsten actually growing closer (ha) and bonding with Soul and Star, trusting them and them being the reason he realizes they need to leave the property behind (with the property itself being a metaphor for heaven and religion, the shame and guilt alongside religious traumas, etcetera.)

"Wishing for a someday, I could run away like that

Now I think I need a life or maybe nine, 'Cause I feel like I'm running out of time, yea

Someday maybe on a Sunday, I can sit and sunbathe,

I could run away like that

Now I think I need a life or maybe nine, 'Cause I'm feeling like I'm running out of time."

Again, in reference to someday hoping to leave the property behind and live without it. With Sunday typically being called a religious day, it's hard not to draw this connection.

"Yeah, it might take a couple planes and parachutes for my escape, jump face-first into the sun,"

Ties into hopping the gates, escaping, etcetera.

Honestly this entire song is about dreaming to leave and escape, live peacefully in a world without the property and its restraints, with the 'secret life' itself being that daydream/wish.

With obvious ties into Stars "sneaking out of heaven" and - if Star and Soul are manifestations of Awstens own mind, I think this daydream is where Star truly stemmed from at the beginning.

"Yeah, maybe paradise is somewhere deep inside the halls or walls - Where I've spent all my time,

Building my whole life, Where I feel alright

'Cause I never wanna leave the secret life of me

The secret life of me,"

This ties into what I just said, paradise is the daydream. The secret life is Awstens daydreaming about escaping the property, but there is a sudden tone shift in the song around this point.

"Real life never feels like it's mine, So I'll dissociate until I'm fine, until I'm fine. .

I keep my eyes wide shut, Live a secret life for fun,

Away from anyone and everyone."

I think this is that fear of failure, scared of failing to escape the property - the effects of the property shining through in the first line. This could be a result of Soul being afraid to leave at all, mixing with Awstens fears of failing.

Choosing to remain lost in the property, keeping that wish as just that - a wish/dream, which is what makes Star upset, with him being from that daydream, with him having escaped before - its why he mocks the twos fears in his own song. He knows its possible to leave.

I think this creates the conflict between Soul and Star, obviously.

Which, leads me to,

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY -

ST*RFUCKER ,

Obviously the first lines reference FUZZY, with the limo/window parallels, which I think supports the idea of at least Soul being one of the demons mentioned within the song.

I think its more important to view the "hidden" or background lyrics in the song, since both Soul and Star have those lines.

"So destroy my world, I'll tape the cracks,

'Cause what you give out's what you get back.

I'll stop the world, I'll tape the cracks.

What you give out's what you get back."

I think Souls 'world' here is actually the property, since he doesn't want to leave it, he's afraid of leaving the property, he's lashing out at Star for trying to leave and escape. Lashing out at the concept of leaving what he knows, so he's reinforcing the property and attempting to keep himself, and thus Awsten, stuck/lost inside. He's undoing whatever Star is trying, he's viewing Star as the bad guy for trying to leave / leaving before.

Soul is upset over that daydream, the wish to leave, he's angry at Star for escaping once before, so he's trying to destroy that wish, and remain inside. Which could be reason for the tone shift in Secret Life, as I've stated in that section.

The conflict and fighting between Soul and Star is incredibly interesting with this view on them.

With Soul representing the fears of leaving those traumatic environments and experiences, and Star representing the want to escape and live happily and truly in a better place.

I don't have much more to say about this song specifically, and I feel like everything else I've said covers it pretty well.

I'm also skipping breaking down Sneaking Out of Heaven, since I've already covered that topic while bringing up the daydreaming and connections with Secret Life, but if anyone wants me to talk about it, just ask!

So, now let's finally get into..

SOULSUCKER ,

Oh boy, I'm excited.

"We never made it out of the loft, let alone the property, 'Cause Awsten's scared of fucking failing, and you're just scared to leave.

Jesus Christ, how sad is that?

If depression had a masterclass.

I'm the only one who can get us out, so pray to me instead and I'll save you now."

The 'We' is talking about all three of them, since Star alone has made it out before.

This is why the next few lines are mocking Soul and Awsten, Star thinks it's ridiculous to remain within the property - though it seems he's giving Awsten a lighter jab than Soul, as the conflict is mostly between Star and Soul.

I think the last lines are calling back to the speech before the live debut of SOULSUCKER, "everyone is a god once you leave the property" - Star has been out before, he can get them out. He knows how, he's done it once and can do it again. He wants to save them, and save himself as well.

"One of us will end up hurt,

But you can call me St*rfucker."

I think this is a sarcastic jab at Soul lashing out, since their names are insults towards each other and not technically real names - I think their real names are Soul and Star, not Soulsucker and Starfucker.

Also, talking about how no matter which side wins, leaving or staying in the property, one of them is going to end up suffering - if not both.

"You carry guilt, you carry shame,

I know the weight."

Star knows how damaging the property is, and he does understand the reasons they're afraid, but he also knows they need to leave. He empathizes, sympathizes even, with those feelings.

"Asleep in the dark in the back of the deep end,

I’ve been living on a 12 month weekend,

I'm the little bit of hell that leaked in.

Picking up from the floor to the ceiling."

This line obviously references a lot of other songs, notably Snow Globe, and in my opinion - Fuzzy. Again, fueling the connection concept.

Referring to himself as Hell, could be in relation to the property viewing them as a manifestation of sin and falling from heaven, or it could be referencing Awsten calling them demons, and it possibly could be him sarcastically accepting the fact he is being demonized by Soul.

"I watched you meditate, medicate but I'm here still

If I'm already dead, I can't be killed."

This I think is about Awsten, watching Awsten do things to attempt to remedy the effects of the property without actually leaving it. Star, and by that logic Soul as well, is still there. Star is still trying to get them out, and won't stop trying.

Also, "kill another demon" could easily tie into this, and I think it does.

I also think death in this context is falling from heaven, escaping the property, etcetera. He can't die again, if he already did, but I'm not super positive on that one. Idk lol

"I'll love a God when he loves me back."

More about the religious trauma aspects of the story, Star is able to think like this and say these things, disconnect from the concepts of religious teachings and fear, because he's escaped the property before.

Also, looking at the Luciferianism themes of the album, this line is really interesting as, yet again looking at "everyone is a god once you leave the property" and the "pray to me" lines, it seems Star sees himself as something similar to a godlike figure.

(Removed a few "yeah"s to make it shorter)

"I'll stop the world, I'll tape the cracks, c'mon. What you give out's, what you get back, yeah

I'll stop the world, I'll tape the cracks, c'mon. What you give out's, what you get back.

Destroy the world, yeah, I'll tape the cracks, c'mon. What you give out's, what you get back, yeah."

This part is very obviously a direct response to Soul, and again - I think the world here is the property, while the cracks are the damage the property has done to them all. While also being more direct lines to Soul, more jabs at him.

"Destroy the world, I'll break the cracks, c'mon

So sell me out, yeah, I'll stab your back."

I think this line specifically is one big final mocking jab towards how Soul is demonizing Star.

A sarcastic response to the claims he is doing something bad by attempting to leave the property, etcetera. A little hard to explain, but I hope you understand what I mean lol

This concludes my big giant lore post, but seriously expect so much more!! I cannot wait to find out more, and I'm always ALWAYS trying to come up with more types of theories here!

I cannot wait to be proven, most likely, wrong about all of this when we learn more! 💚

[askthechronoverse]

obligatory allowing rj his one (ONE.) post about back to the future. then it's back to kit.

Ya wanna hear me talk about one of the best movie trilogies of all time, allowing me to celebrate the second reason why October 21 is the best day on the calendar?

OK.

So, I think Doc Brown had the entire catalyst of Marty's family going down the drain all wrong. He thought it was the kid that was the problem, but it was in fact the street race against the Ford. And that's understandable for the guy. He's really smart, but he's also not smart in the places where he would have caught that at all. He probably saw the most obvious thing and thought that that was the problem. It's fine. You could be the genius that built the flux capacitor and also not realize that detail was even a factor. You got to admit though, that a lot of little things led up to them even finding that out. If the doc went his original plan and he didn't happen to bring Jennifer with them, I don't think they would have known. As a time traveler, I know a lot of things need to go right for real change to happen to the timeline. You got to be exact. If one thing goes wrong, you're just going out of separate tangents that could be even worse. And that's what makes that movie trilogy the best. It set up my entire basis on how I understand time travel and it's the reason why I'm still here today probably. It's also the reason why I died 25 years ago, but we're not going to talk about that! Nobody needs to remember that!

Also Back To The Future Part 2 is the best of the three? If anyone says that Back To The Future, Part 3 is the best... they are wrong. If anyone says the original movie was the best, they haven't seen the second one yet. Come on. They took the idea of what they did in the first movie with the diverging timelines and cranked it up to 11. Biff Tannen truly felt threatening in the second movie, especially in alternate '85. It took the original and made it better. It's basically a masterpiece.

OK. I think I got it out of my system this year. Next year I'll talk about how I think Biff Tannen died in alt '85, because man do I have theories about that.

[aemiron-main]

Hey this is not meant as a criticism of your or others time travel theories, so don’t take it the wrong way, just speaking as a pleb, I do think the timeline thing tho, unless it’s explained in a way that’s super easy to understand, runs the risk of pissing off a lot of people and feeling unsatisfying simply because it’s a very confusing concept to a lot of people in general, and I know in the past a lot of “alternate reality” type “twists” (like it was just a dream, or time travel, or everything was made up in an autistic boys mind—yes that last one happened on an 80s show) have made audiences mad simply because they felt cheated and like a lot of stuff they thought mattered didnt, and for all the people online who are reading theories and scrutinizing things, there are millions more who aren’t and they should be able to follow along as well and feel satisfied (and while I am a tumblr girlie who has followed theories for years, even I didn’t clock time travel and timeline shit till you guys pointed it out here on tumblr so like, even for people in the fandom it’s easy to miss, so i imagine most GA hasn’t clocked it either ) and I’m concerned about how this theory might play out ….

I personally don’t hope it’s about timelines and such simply because of my own selfishness and no matter how i try, while the concept is interesting to me, i find it too confusing and convoluted to understand or enjoy. like i’m trying i wanna be one of the cool kids but it just… loses me completely.

i am PRAYING that if you all are right, and there are these timeline things, that the Duffers really have a succinct, and easily digestible way of revealing this to the audience that won’t take up a whole 30 min of plodding exposition that will leave the GA scratching their heads, but have it be ah OOOH WOW clever and easy to grasp twist that doesn’t leave fans feeling cheated.

I don’t care what the ending is tbh I just want them to stick it and for me to be able to understand it lol

Hey anon! This reply is gonna be shorter than I want it to be simply bc I am super sleepy rn but I just want to toss this post your way where I talked about this whole thing more in depth!

I totally see your concerns, but I actually have seen A LOT of GA folks point out the time travel/timeline stuff (just not as specific/in depth as we’ve done on tumblr), so as far as that part goes, I don’t think there’s too much to worry about. We also have to keep in mind that the duffers, while they ARE trying to write a coherent, cohesive story, are not trying to appease the GA. Many GA members also think that Byler would be “out of nowhere and too difficult to understand”. And also, I say this with Love In My Heart, but I don’t care about ��well Everyone should be able to follow it and understand it”/“it would suck,” and i dont mean “i dont care” in a mean way towards you, i just mean it literally. I don’t care. Because my focus, when doing analysis, is “what is the show saying/doing?”, rather than “is the show doing it well/are they going to explain it well?”. Do i think they’re going to do it well? Yes! And I talked about that more in that post I linked. But I’m also not writing my theories around whether or not I think it would be good or bad or easy to understand- I’m writing my theories around the evidence we have & trying to figure out what they’re doing, whether they do it well or do it badly.

Like, I do disagree with “they should be able to follow along and feel satisfied” when it comes to ST & when it comes to that as an argument against timeline stuff. And the reason I disagree is because a.) they WILL be able to, just on a surface level, even if they dont fully comprehend it and b.) I don’t think a show as detailed as ST, is obligated to tone itself down. People can rewatch & figure things out like a puzzle. I don’t think all media needs to be completely, fully easily digestible for everyone. I think it’s fine to make viewers need to think about things!!! And I think that the duffers/the ST team is going to be able to find a happy medium between the more complex stuff & a simpler cohesive surface narrative, especially since the timeline stuff doesnt so much seem to be “going back and fixing things/none of mattered” as it is “the timeline stuff has been causing problems from the Very Beginning and we need to set it right/everything still happened.” I also think that a lot of it us the duffers fucking with the audience’s perception of things & that we’ve already been seeing multiple timelines the whole time, which allows them to tie things up more neatly because they dont have to blast through and show us all the timelines- we’vd already seen them.

I hope this is somewhat coherent bc like I said im half awake right now, so if any of this sounds snarky towards you, it’s not meant to be! <333 I really do think they’ll be able to pull things off in a way that’s complex enough to be interesting/leave more puzzles to solve/make people rewatch to spot things, but also still easy enough to understand that things are wrapped up effectively! And personally, if they ARE going to mess it up (which i really really doubt they will, because like i talked abt in that linked post, the timeline stuff is alllllll interconnected to the main unsolved questions/plot points in ST) there’s nothing i can do about that!!! I’m not in the writers’ room! So, I focus on what I can do- analyzing the information we have & trying to figure out what direction the show is going to take, regardless of whether that direction is good or bad. (and i think it’ll be fantastic!!)

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary109

12/31/2023

sunday

new year's eve is okay.

we were invited out but couldn't / can't go, since my gf is sick. that's okay because i feel ugly today and don't want to go outside ever again. there was another shooting today on the strip/ around the mgm, i guess maybe not actually a shooting, just a man going crazy and firing a gun into the air, a poker player, a guy who did some pro stuff i guess, even. nobody died, hopefully no one was injured by the bullets as they came back to earth or whatever. idk how 'in the air' he shot them really, maybe just vaguely towards the sky, instead of directly up. he probably hit some kind of losing streak. the big vegas shooting, the one in the mandalay bay, happened for likely similar reasons. that guy wasn't a pro but it probably had something to do with gambling, maybe not even losing, maybe something to do with not being comped. that's at least my favorite theory, i hate the people who talk about conspiracies with that one. all those annoying people who say 'no motivation' or whatever, it's basically proven at this point that human life as something that happens on its own terms instead of by a law one projects, and life outside that valuation process, is utterly meaningless and gives anyone license to kill anyone. think of all the incel shooters, the shooters consumed by irreal fantasies, adam lanza wanting to 'save' kids from suffering so killing them. that is the essential pulsion, i think.

the end of this year has given me lots of reasons to be unhappy, i am going to sleep before the year is in i think, i'm already tired, i feel sick too.

2024 is going to be fine. this year was fine. probably good. i don't know. it was another year i was alive. that's all. maybe not. i love my girlfriend, we've lived together this whole year. she made me travel with her, which was nice except for when it wasn't.

what right do i have to complain at all though, i didn't pay anything for any of that. i am such a stupid bitch honestly.

today i learned about a fashion designer from 2009 who made clothes that i think are cute who seems to have gone insane. his name is paul griffiths, his brand was babycakes, his website is totally insane.

the book seems like it's entirely nonense, the guy is into annunaki alien conspiracy stuff, he's like way into rishi sunak on twitter it seems like. i don't find it annoying, that stuff, it just makes me really sad. maybe it's because of this video from 8 years ago.

there's parts in this vid that make me feel something terrible, like when he talks about not wanting to ever go outside, and how he's okay with just going crazy in isolation, then he begins going on this tangent about how you have to be truly kind, and how he's failed himself in that, and then he talks about how he hates the times where he's hidden behind a character and coldness instead of being himself and being kind. and then he launches into a thing about genetically altering human dna to correct human evolution.

it seems like his brand was doing really well in the whole like, i wanna say 06-09 period, and up to 2014 he seems like he was pretty normal, even in the vids from 2015 where he's not freestyling while watching himself obsessively build in minecraft he seems lucid. even now he seems lucid, he just seems to get lost in these pretty schizoid/delusional things, that whole kind of conspiracy spiritualism got to him like it did a lot of millennials it seems like. really depressing to see. it's good to remember how that happened though, it helps put a damper on nostalgic revisionism, to treat this stuff like it truly died, or something. even the aesthetic he was doing in 06 and onwards, that whole thing still lives on in like meow wolf big room edm bro psychedelia. it's sad because i half like the stuff that fomented all that, the super weird japanese pop art inflected stuff, harajuku excess and so on. it's so ugly/frustrating where that all ended up, the big brostep festival edm world, all the cool music that came from that weird nexus too, absorbed by that, where metalcore warped tour bros absorbed electronic music, creating some of the worst aesthetic strains we still are around today. that stuff is ignorable maybe, for some people, but it's still all around out here.

here are his clothes/the photoshoots he did for his clothes that i found on his blog, which is here:

here's something i read on the blog that made me want to cry just now:

"im gonna be meeting Panic at the disco tomorrow and ill be at the show in Manchester. ill get them to wear Babycakes with the silly outfits that they wear ;D

business is going crazy. greg got a hair cut today. BCthelabel is going well, you will all hear lots about that soon :D kyle is amazingly hot ;] Mummy and Daddy are splitting up but ive got my mum a cute new house :D

Rawr!

I love taking photos…

This is where i work, I employ all my best friends and my mum."

the falling off and going crazy after reaching this kind of high is devastating, he really was featured in all kinds of magazines and stuff, he went to warped tour to promo his clothes. anyways the clothes and stuff:

it's such an annoying and particular thing the brand did, but i am into some of it, there's this one rainbow shirt that i think is really cute but i probably just want that because it reminds me of the some girls album art. the site also has some other crazy stuff on it, he's made little games, apps, one thing is a whole drawing app, one thing is like this mental clone of minecraft he made.

it all makes me feel like this song:

the ugly cheap synth stuff, oh to add to it, paul is super obsessed w/ chiptune stuff, which i'm super into, anyway, that ugly cheap synth and then the dirty feeling of the song, the bombed out remains of 2008 still living. too many cultural images in my head informed by american apparel. right now i'm wearing american apparel thigh highs. isn't that fucked. no matter what i'm going to be someone obsessed with always being skinnier, trying to figure out ways to be pretty, seeking eyes on me while hating it always too. i'm so sick with my own self. ugh.

all the reading i've been doing is obviously related to that. but i wonder about how that stuff condemns basically, how much of this is anyone's responsibility, any of the cultural images i take up are given to me, yeah, but i can't tell if they're happy gifts, gifts i received happily and only realized later, or i know that's not the case, these were things i'm stuck with, or stuck to, given to me because they seemed to be the only things i really responded to. weird skinny girls, and like 8 year old me, seeing that, thinking, that's something to tether myself to. it spoke to every negative thing, rather than being a fantasy of 'womanhood' or whatever, like terfs or gender critical people would put it. the only thing that made sense of my disolcation or whatever.

back to paul, now he's also really into ai stuff, generating women (really they look like kids but i don't know if that's his fault or something the ai does when he tries to get it to generate people) wearing clothes that look related to the brand and putting the logo on the pictures. i don't think it's false advertising, he's just fallen for another scam.

it's the end of the year, and i'm just thinking about this.

this year really has had beautiful moments for me, going to japan with my gf, or my gf taking me, my gf taking me to chicago and me us getting to stay with a long time online friend, us staying out really late, us just being in this apartment, me cooking for her. i want to cook every night, i want to get back to that, the fact i'm not makes me feel sick. like i want to do something bad to myself, i don't know why i'm feeling so fucked up right now.

all of reality is queasy, lo and behold this song:

and i am tired. tomorrow i am going to listen to my album again, and see what now needs correction, and see if there's anything i want to delete, but i don't think i'll be looking to delete anything off the album. we'll see though.

anyway i really am getting tired. happy new years, and

byebye!!!!!!!!!

[chierry]

hi chierry! i’m currently reading khr and i wanna talk about it with someone but why do you think tyl-tsuna confided his plans to hibari when he didn’t even tell gokudera and yamamoto? i have always found this super interesting so i wanted to ask your opinion too 🙈 (i wish he had seen more of everyone ten-years-later 😭😭😭, khr has so much potential it really pains me that it ended the way it did)

Hi anon!

My personal theory on that is that Hibari was the perfect combination of several factors that other guardians might have, but not all at once.

1. The number one reason I think is that Hibari is simply insane in the best way possible. If Yamamoto or Gokudera heard Tsuna saying he would fake his own death the plan simply would have gotten scrapped because they are NOT accepting this. And if they DID, I don't doubt that the guilt of seeinf everyone grieve Tsuna would make them REAAAALY hurt. I don't think they would reveal anything, but simply they wouldn't be able to take it without a lot of damage. Hibari tho? I am not discarting the friendship he has cultivated with everyone in the future nor his feelings, but he would take it better than Yammu/Goku.

2. Hibari is REALLY hard to get information about. Both meta-wise and canon-wise. This plan could NOT work if anyone else other than Tsuna, Irie and Hibari knew about it. Everyone in the Vongola has a semblance of a past and family to serve as possible hostages in exchange for information, but Hibari? We legit don't know if he even has family. King of keeping his private life and work life separated. Pairing that with the fact that he is also a MIST now, it's straight up miracle work to get a hold of him if he doesn't want you to. With that, Tsuna didn't have to worry about any outside influences or enemies getting this information, probably not even Tsuna himself has a fool-proof method of getting to him lmao

3. Going back to the insane point, he is insane enough and smart enough to hear the kind of time-travelling BS Irie and Tsuna came up with and just go... Fine. Give me two real good fights and I'm in. I think that Gokudera could take the infomration well, but again, emotionally he wouldn't be able to take it for too long, and let's be real, Tsuna was ALREADY abusing their feelings there. He prob also didn't want to pile up those feelings even more.

4. It's not weird for Hibari to just be on his own. Wich means that he can be prepping A LOT of shit for this plan and nobody would suspect. Let's say, Yamamoto is missing for 4 months? Mh, weird... not out of the question considering their line of work but weird. Hibari missing for 8 months? Lil rascal is prob in one of his many mansions chilling. I feel like this privacy gives him an edge that is perfect for prepping for a super-secret plan with little suspicion.

5. (SPOILERS FOR SIMON ARC) Hibari has said he feels some kind of gratitude for Tsuna, and I don't doubt that this feeling grows in the future. Paired with all that above, I feel like Tsuna just legit felt like if Hibari was the one helping with it, he wouldn't fuck it up. That mutual trust thing going on you know?

6. uh this point is kind of stupid but he probably has counting on Hibari being able to go full-on nuclear in case everything else failed lmao

7. I think that, meta-wise, Amano wanted to show that Hibari, for as much as he denies being part of the group, still very much got attached to being a Guardian.

TLDR: I think that the emotional pain it would bring other guardians + his aloofness + his power + his relationship with Tsuna was the perfect storm to make him be the perfect choice.

(and don't tell me, I would legit kill for a future-only arc!! I LOVE LOVE seeing them grow and a good chunk of my mental space is dedicated for thinking the kind of adventures they go now. Like, please, the angst? the relationships? THE POWERS? THE A N GS T you have no idea how right you are anon. We were robbed of an arc of them being adults and I will forever cry obver the potential

[diavolosthots]

Could you make a fic about Barbatos meeting his mc's strict religious parents? Idk if he would use his time travel power or not. I don't even know if he's allowed by Lord Diavolo. But that up to what you think

Idc if Solomon is left for this series i am completely and utterly done with this just FYI for anyone who suggests it.

Also! I remember in the game they said diavolo forbids him from using his powers and i have my own theories on that

Warning: religion

Who Has the Time? (BARBATOS X GN!READER)

“I won’t be able to stay long, (Y/N), you know that. Nothing can or will go wrong in the short time that I will be there.” And even that didn’t calm your nerves. Barbatos was probably one of the most well behaved demons, actually people in general, you will ever meet, but it still doesn’t change the fact that he is a demon. Diavolo didn’t even allow him to see into the future because “It will be fun, Barbatos! Just be yourself! And be back for dinner, please…” How is this fun, Diavolo, huh?! You were freaking out and what’s the point of having a time travelling demon boyfriend when he can’t even see into the future so you could prepare yourself for any possible outcomes?! If you weren’t sure Barbatos would fight you for this, you would’ve fought Diavolo right then and there. “That doesn’t give me peace of mind, Barbatos.” He only chuckled. Seriously, what could go wrong? What has he ever done that even remotely resembled bad manners? 

“They’ll like me, (Y/N). If they won’t, I’ll simply never see them again.” Seriously he wouldn’t see an issue with it, either. Like, he’s dating you and not them and if they have an issue with him, well, that’s their problem. Barbatos is a very simple man and he doesn’t like to overcomplicate things, so he just doesn't. “I know… I just want everyone to get along. At least we’re meeting in a public place and we can leave whenever we want.” Truthfully, you hated dealing with your parents on most days and you hid most of your relationships from them because they were always so strict and “oh they aren’t God-like, (Y/N). You deserve better.” After hearing that for every person that you introduced to them, you just kind of gave up and dated quietly, understandably so. 

“Is that them?” You decided to meet at a bar, weirdly enough. Your parents don’t drink a lot but they like the snacks they lay out so you figured this would be a nice ice breaker. Minimal amounts of alcohol and tasty snacks, why not? “Yes. That’s them.” they’re standing outside the bar, waving at you and you managed to smile and wave back, clutching Barbatos’ arm, which he offered so kindly, a little tighter, “okay… here goes nothing.” He’s smiling, as always. He’s also dressed as always, which you had advised him not to but he refused to change for your parents when he was just going back to the castle to work later on anyway, “Good evening Mr. and Mrs. (L/N). It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Barbatos beat you to the greeting and you silently cursed him for it but managed to smile too, “hey guys…. How are you? Do you wanna head inside?” The quicker you got inside, the quicker you could get this over with. 

Both your mom and dad eyed him suspiciously. “Is there a reason you’re dressed like count Dracula?” Barbatos, bless his soul, was still smiling even at your dad’s somewhat insulting words, “Yes, as a matter of fact there is. My job requires it.” Your mom nodded, glancing at you and then shaking her head, “well, at least you have a job. That stands for something. Come on.” She led the way inside and your dad was about to get the door when Barbatos reached for it, “allow me, sir.” but instead of being impressed by Barbatos’ offer, your dad almost took offense to it. “Dad. Let’s go.” Thankfully you can tell by his body language that he was about to say something and Barbatos really didn’t deserve that so you just pushed everyone inside and joined your mother who had already found herself a seat at the bar. “So… tell me uhm… I don’t think I caught your name.” “Barbatos.” Your mother narrowed her eyes and so did you like dude, you couldn’t have come up with something else for the time being like Bob or something like that?

“Well… Barbatos…” the way she said it was almost venomous and you really hated her for that, “what is it that you do?” You held your hand up for the waiter because you needed a drink before any of this actually went down and I’m sure Barbatos would appreciate one too, “shots for everyone, please.” “oh no, I’ll just have a beer.” Leave it to your dad to kill your fun. He needs that shot, you know he does. “Well, I’m a sort of… nanny, if you will.” You laughed a little because yes, yes he is. Diavolo is a giant man child and Barbatos is the paid parent he never signed up to be; thus, Barbatos is a nanny. Perfect. “A nanny? Son, don’t you think you should have a more manly job? You don’t look weak or chronically ill or anything.” Barbatos is still smiling and you seriously wondered how, “please refrain from calling me ‘son’, sir. I’m not your son, nor am I a child, and it makes me rather uncomfortable.” 

Your mom looked at you and shrugged softly, leaning in to whisper to you, “at least he can stand his ground and isn’t like some of the other wimps you brought home.” You glared back at her like, did she have to remind you of your past mistakes? Your dad nodded, surprisingly, “Well? Won’t you answer my question?” “I fear your question is embedded in some old school tradition I simply wish to take no part of. I am, in the simplest of terms, a nanny, a housekeeper, a cook, and a host on certain days and I assure you that there’s more to my job than meets the eye and is sure to measure my strength; however, I doubt you are simply concerned with my occupation and rather that there is something else. So tell me, Mr. (L/N), what is it that you actually mean to say?” Both you and your dad stared wide eyed at Barbatos because not only did he just call your dad out, he did so passive aggressively, and now he’s even downing his shot as if nothing ever happened?!

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Yes you do.” Was Barbatos using his powers? No… you doubted it. He’s probably just that good. “Fine. you are the man in this relationship and thus, you should be taking care of my (Y/N) financially and physically. You can’t do that by nannying little kids, which is supposed to be their future job.” “Says who?” Wow Barbatos really isn’t holding back here, “says the Lord.” Barbatos actually laughed for once before shrugging softly, “My Lord has said no such thing.” He’s being vague enough so that your parents don’t know what he’s talking about, or more so, whom he is referring to. “As a matter of fact, the Lord that I look up to encourages everyone to do as they please as long as no harm is done.” Well… somewhat correct, but yes Barbatos, go get them. You couldn’t help but smile at him because even though Barbatos is talking about Diavolo right now, this could also apply to their God. “Elaborate.” 

And Barbatos did elaborate, and to your surprise, your dad and mom actually listened. Not once did Barbatos mention their or his actual faith but what he spoke of was interesting and entertaining and it was close enough to their version of the truth that they didn’t mind. “Very well… It seems you know the Lord very well.” You snorted. You didn’t doubt Barbatos met God at some point but you did doubt that it was in recent history. Whatever Barbatos had sold them though, they seemed to like and they actually ended up congratulating you on finding such a nice man.

“He still looks like Dracula, though, (Y/N).” 

[xremus-is-deadx]

For episode 2 we have:

-"Jinx's colour scheme is bisexual, HOLY SHIT Jinx is chaotic bisexual summed into one"

-"Who wins, 100 dapper British men or 100 dominatrixes? Those are the 2 genders, dapper British man or dominatrix"

-"He (Shmeech) looks like a leprechaun" "the leprechaun is in charge of the dapper British men"

-[guy is walking through thick smoke] "are we about to see the secret third gender: meth heads?"

-"oh fuck she's [Sevika] still alive?" "FUCK OFF I LOVE HER" (continues to disrespect Sevika) "but she's a hot badass with a sick arm" "THE LEPRECHAUN HAS A COOLER ARM THAN HER, HOW CAN YOU EVEN LIVE KNOING A LEPRECHAUN HAS A COOLER ARM THAN YOU??" (I WANT TO KILL HIM)

-[cuts to Viktor in wall form] "damn, he really took after Cassandra" "moisturise me moisturise me"

-"how can you be healed by, presumably god itself, and still need a walking stick?" "Because being disabled is hot" "........that is besides the point"

-[tree is dying] "THE TREE HAS AIDS" (wtf???)

-"imagine drinking from a mug with your own face on it- HOLY SHIT I SHOULD GET A MUG WITH MY OWN FACE ON IT"

-[gas fills the room Jinx is in] "oh god Jinx is gonna get tree aids... [enforcers turn up as shadows] that shit just looks like a bad fart. Me and the homies hate having to run from a bad fart... [Vi is shown] oh that's a GOOD fart" (BITCH JUST CALLED VI A FART????)

-"what do you think that gas smells like?" "Um... death?" "Okay, would you care to elaborate what that smells like?" "Like, you know care homes, but specifically the rooms that smell weirdly chemical?" "So care homes?" "Yes, but the rooms where you know the person inside is about to die, you can just smell it"

-[Jinx starts crying heavily] "me when they stop selling the mcrib at mcdonalds"

-[Sevika gets her new arm] "Okay she might have a KIND OF cool arm now" (understatement of the year, and I will get him to understand how hot she is)

-"HAH, his name is Smeech?" "Yeah, he's a Smeechechaun" "Heh, Smeechechaun"

-"holy shit he [viktor] is jesus... holy shit he's either gonna straight up kill this guy or become jesus, holy shit" "I love Russian jesus"

-"Viktor is jesus" "this is my religion" "my religion is Viktor"

-[talking about a theory ill explain at the end] "wow I'm really going down on this time theory" "that's fine, I wanna go dow- no. Im not gonna say that" "no go on, I'll probably agree..." "I wanna go down on Vi" "mood"

He has also come to the idea that Viktor may find out how to time travel, control the Arcane, be the cloaked person that saved Jayce and his mum. We both know it's unlikely but yeah.

About to sit on call with a friend whilst he watched act 1 of s2, this is going to be funny because he tends to overreact (rightfully so). Will be updating this with things he says 👍

[cherrybyunss]

Ship: Haechan x Reader Word Count: 1.6k Tags: Smut, Explicit, Oral (F receiving), Fingering, Dirty Talking, Overstimulation

An excerpt from When It Gets Risky: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31129871/chapters/76918949

Excerpts Masterlist

_________

You met up with Donghyuck again in the lunch break. You wondered if it was gonna be a recurring theme now. You didn’t mind.

Donghyuck was amazing. The feeling of his lips against your skin made you want to let go of all your restraint.

“Hyuck, you’re so good!” You said, the words coming out as a moan. He smirked against your skin.

Donghyuck had you leaning slightly backwards on the table closest to the entrance, your hips against its edge. And as his hands traveled up your thighs, getting dangerously close to where you needed them the most, you stopped him. He pulled away, eyes hooded, and raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”

“As hot as it sounds in theory, you’re really gonna fuck me in the library?”

“I’m not fucking you yet.”

You rolled your eyes. “C’mon, let me make you feel super good in the time we have instead.” You said with an innocent smile, dragging your hand down his torso. Donghyuck stopped you this time grabbing your wrist in a firm, almost painful grip. You looked at him, puzzled. “You don’t wanna?”

He stared at you for a second. “Are you playing hard to get?”

You paused. You weren’t.

You let a smirk appear on your face.

“So what if I am?”

It was only a second’s wait before he grabbed your jaw and turned your face to face the side, as he leaned in further with you still pinned against the edge of the table. “Being a brat will get you nowhere with me, you get that?” He whispered, his breath hot against your ear.

You scoffed and slapped his hand away. You did want him to fuck you, probably more than he did. You’d wanted to wait till you hooked up with at least one of the other two in at least some way before you went too far with Donghyuck, but if this was what he wanted, then you decided, so be it.

“What? You wanna fuck me so bad?” You grabbed his tie and pulled him closer. “Well then let’s see what you’ve got, yeah? You better make me feel so good that fucking you is the only thing I can think of for the rest of the day.” You said with a slight dominance in your voice. “Make me want you.” Letting your lips hover over his ear for the last bit. You were trying not to, but now that it had come down to it, you really could use Donghyuck to distract you from all the drama you were better off without.

Donghyuck had to hold back a smirk. Almost as if it was all he’d been waiting to hear, he grabbed your thighs and pushed you on top of the table smacking his lips onto yours, with an unprecedented hunger. You could feel the need in the way he kissed you, making you want to reciprocate ten folds.

He pulled you closer and aligned your clothed core with the tent in his pants before grinding against you with a painfully slow pace, earning a groan from you. He loved the reaction, you judged from the way he pulled his lips away from yours for a fraction of a second, before latching onto them again, soon moving down to suck new hickeys onto the very sensitive, already marked spots on your neck that you’d try so hard to cover up, making your mind and body go haywire.

His hand, in the mean time, traveled up your thigh between your legs, carefully massaging the skin too close to your heat for comfort.

Following a few whimpers of encouragement from you, the pad of his thumb carefully caressed your clothed folds. You bit down a moan so hard, you probably drew out blood.

“Fuck, you’re so wet.” He whispered. Then looked at you, “Can I?”

Earning a nod from you, his fingers dipped underneath the thin layer, spreading your folds apart to get a good look at you, making your breath hitch. He glanced up at you, savoring the deep breaths and the sultry anticipation on your face, probably knowing damn well how good he was about to make you feel.

And so it began, the pad of his thumb worked your clit like it was all he’d ever done, worked your body like magic.

“Fuck! Hyuck! Please, please, please don’t stop!” You threw your head back in absolute ecstasy. You could feel a knot forming in your stomach already. You could see why he’d been that confident. He had every reason to be.

When you opened your eyes and looked back down at him, you found him staring at you, intently, lips slightly parted, almost as if he was getting off on your reaction.

He increased his pace and leaned in to swallow all the moans that left your lips. Your body probably gave it away when you felt yourself get dangerously close, knuckles turning white from fists clenched too hard, legs trembling from the pleasure, and toes curling in your shoes, for he lightly bit the lobe of your ear. And just with that, your orgasm washed over your entire being. “Yes,” He breathed out against your ear. “Just let go.”

But, he didn’t stop at that.

“Hyuck?! What the fuck are you doin– Ah!” You cried from the overstimulation as Donghyuck’s thumb kept up its pace against your clit, and reflected no signs of coming to a halt. “Hyuck– Pleas–”

“Shh, you’re doing so well, baby girl.” He spoke against your neck. “Just a little longer, okay?”

Whatever you would’ve said next was cut off as he slid one, then two finger inside you, knocking the air out of you, and replaced by the whiniest moans he’d ever heard.

“You sound so fucking hot, babe.” He said under his breath. “So fucking hot for me.” He worked his fingers in and out of you with ease, owing a little to your previous orgasm, and you cried out as you felt your next build up in the pit of your stomach.

“Fuck!” You screamed as he curled his finger inside you and fastened his pace, hitting all the right spots over and over again, leaving you to writhe underneath him. You saw stars as he pushed a third finger in.

Your second orgasm came faster and harder. You barely managed not to scream his name loud enough for the people out in the corridor to hear.

Before you could ride your orgasm out, Donghyuck got your underwear off in a flash, letting the cold air hit your hot sex, making your squirm, and lightly pinched your clit.

“Ah!” You cried. “Hyuck! Please! At least give me a minute, I really can’t–”

“You know what we talked about.” Hyuck said, with not a hint of understanding or empathy in his voice or his eyes. “I really gotta, I’m so sorry.” He said as he kissed you, pulling away with his eyes on yours, and then brought his face between your legs, holding them open in a grip too firm for you to combat.

He licked up your slit and started lapping his tongue against your oversensitive clit with absolutely no forgiveness. You felt tears well up in your eyes at the feeling of your third orgasm forming inside you. You grabbed Donghyuck’s hair as you cried, your hands desperately needing to grab onto something. And your legs trembled, having no strength left in them. “Hyuck– Ah!”

You cried out as you came for the third time, and watched him swallow everything right up. You knew you were at his mercy. And you knew you were fucked when he didn’t get up.

“Hyuck, please don’t tell me–”

“Babe, please.” He said, mercifully sparing you a couple seconds to rest as he kissed up your thigh, caressing your skin in a light, heartening manner. “You look and sound so hot, I just can’t get enough of you. Just once more, please?”

His words, along with his breath against your heat, made you squirm. You took a deep breath. And gave in. And he got the sign and went right in, again, throwing you right over the edge.

You yelped as he slipped in a couple of fingers inside you to add on to the stimulation from his tongue. “Fuck!”

He worked your body like he’d known it for years. The rhythm and pace so perfect, you would think it wasn’t real if it wasn’t for the tears trailing down your cheeks. You had not managed to stop your tears from falling this time around. The overstimulation was too strong and intense for you to be able to handle. You squirmed and cried, and finally, let your fourth and final orgasm wash over you.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” You exclaimed as you rode out your high with Donghyuck’s help, finally getting to catch your breath.

Donghyuck got up, never taking his eyes off you. You were crying. He leaned in and kissed your tears away. “I’m so sorry babe, did I hurt you?”

He knew the answer. You firmly shook your head anyways. “It was–” you tried to speak in between pants, “It was the best thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Donghyuck smiled and kissed your lips. “As I’d promised.” And then your jaw. “Thank you for being such a good girl.” He said against the lobe of your ear.

You took a sharp breath, earning a chuckle from Donghyuck.

“Can you stand?” He asked. You looked at him with puppy-like eyes. You had no confidence in  managing to do that yet. He laughed again. “It’s fine, take your time.”

You fell forward onto his chest as your body finally entirely relaxed. “I’m so tired…”

Donghyuck caressed your hair, tucking the strands falling on your face behind your ear. “I’m sure, you did so well.”

_________

Read the entire fic here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31129871/chapters/76918949

Excerpts Masterlist

[gureishi]

hello!! first of all, i just wanted to say i LOVE your writing!! what are your HCs for whether any of the members of the rfa want children? and if they do, how do you think they would react to a mc who doesn't?

Thank you so much, lovely friend!

I wanna preface this by saying that all the Mystic Characters love YOU (only you) and respect your preferences and needs and desires. If you don’t want kids, none of them will be hurt! They understand that pressuring a partner who doesn’t want kids into having kids is a terrible thing to do. That said, I think that all of them would be open to building a family together by some means or other (whether it’s giving birth to biological children or adopting or fostering or just having a lot of pets). Having children with someone is a collaborative decision, after all—and none of them will have their world shattered if you don’t want to.

I do think it’s true that some of them would be more inclined toward having kids than others.

Yoosung talks about having babies with you, though it’s not clear how serious he is about it. He’s serious about you, of course—and I think he’s enraptured with the idea of you with a baby in your arms. But I think he’d be just as happy to see you holding a really big dog, in the long run. His vision of the future is all about you: he wants to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of his life. You’re his family—that’s the most important thing.

Zen mentions children, too—but I don’t think he’s got his heart set on it. @quirky-and-kind has a theory that Zen and his MC take in teenage runaways together (kids just like Zen, who’ve got nowhere else to turn). I think this is a beautiful idea. Zen would be a wonderful mentor. He’d be free to devote himself to his career—and free to travel the world with you, too—but he could also share his wisdom and his kindness and his love. I think he’d be happy to have a house full of teens who come and go (but always know they’ve got a place they can call home).

Jaehee never mentions whether or not she wants kids, and I think she’d probably lean toward not having them. She’s had it rough all her life—and now she’s a business owner—and while that’s her dream, it’s also a lot. I think she’s happy living alone with you in a pretty apartment above the coffee shop. If you want kids, though, she’d be open to it. I don’t think she’d want to give birth, but if you want to give birth or get kids in your lives by some other means, I can see her being excited about it (and surprised by her own joy). Ah: and the look in her eyes the first time she sees her child. Radiant.

Jumin doesn’t talk about having children, and I can see him going either way. He’s happy to be married to you and travel a lot and live a beautiful life together. If you want to have children, though, I think he’d be a really wonderful father. His relationship with his own father is so complicated—and I actually think that by the end of his route he’s learned a lot about the ways in which his dad has gotten it wrong (and right, too). He’d be a doting, gentle father—and I’d kill to see him being tugged around at the playground but someone with dirty knees and tiny hands.

Saeyoung does want to have kids with you. He says so (way too soon—and he knows that he’s getting ahead of himself, but he’s just so excited about the idea of having a family). He’s scared, too; he doesn’t have any kind of model for what parenting looks like. But he wants all of it: the sleepless nights and tantrums and school projects and birthday parties. If you don’t want to have children, though, he won’t be crushed—really. He cares about family, and you and Saeran are that for him. If you don’t have kids, you’ll get a whole menagerie of pets; the three of you and all of your cats and dogs (and rabbits? birds?) will somehow all squeeze onto the couch together for movie night.

Jihyun is the only one who canonically has children with you, of course. You and he adopt Lucy and raise her together—and we see that he is a tender and devoted dad. I don’t know that he necessarily wants any more kids—though if you want to, he probably wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. I do think he’s happy just living in that big beautiful home with you and Lucy, and going on adventures, and teaching her how to draw and paint and play and garden. And Lucy is the child of the whole RFA, in many ways: you are all family.

GE Saeran also talks about having children with you, though at the time when he says it it’s more about you and loving you and being with you than it is about the future children you may have together. For Saeran—perhaps more than for anyone else—you are his whole world. If you’d like to have children, he will be the most adoring father; if you don’t want to have children, he will be the most devoted life partner. He wants to take walks with you in the sun and cook for you and sing you to sleep and brush your hair. If there’s another small person joining you for all of these activities, that’s fine with him—as long as you’re there, the future is wide open.

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: 3.4

Two weeks later.

"Did Xiao ever say when he'd return?"  You caught up to Aether at the front of the group.  "I'm getting worried.  And what about Mr. Zhongli?"  The team had just entered Liyue Harbor to inspect three nameless treasure boxes that you'd found all over western Liyue.

"Nope.  Not a clue.  But we can stop by the funeral parlor to look for Zhongli if you want."  

"Paimon thinks you worry too much.  The Vigilant Yaksha can handle himself just fine."

"I-I know that!"  You spoke a little too loud and a few pedestrians gave you the side eye.  The tips of your ears burned red.

"I have some business to attend to regarding the winery.  I'll meet you tomorrow morning."  Diluc walked off without another word.

"He's not a people-person just like Xiao, don't you think?" Paimon nudged you suggestively.

"What're you saying, exactly?"

"It seems our emergency food forgot her place," Aether defended you despite his urge to tease your urgency over Xiao's return.

"Stop treating Paimon like that!  I am not food!"

"She's not wrong though," Childe cozied up to you.  "A little eager to see Xiao again, are we?"

"I already told you guys, it's not like that!  I'm just antsy because he said he'd be back soon and it's been a few weeks now--"

"Sounds like you really like this Xiao person!" Bennett chirped.  "I wonder what he's like?"  He swung his arms at his side, completely carefree despite the soreness in his previously-broken arm.  It had healed within a day because of his healing abilities.

"You guys are just teasing me because I'm the only girl on the team!" You pouted and crossed your arms.

"Oh come now, don't be like that." Childe put an arm around your shoulder.  "What else did Xiao tell you before you left? How much he loves you and how much he'd miss you while you were away?  If you want, I can tell you those things too, ojou-chan〰"

"Cut it out, Childe!"  You snapped and pushed him away.  That's when you noticed a few strangers were whispering and pointing at the Harbinger.  "Hey--"

"Ah, don't concern yourself with them."  Childe returned to a more serious nature and continued to walk behind Aether.   "Let's just say I'm not as welcome in Liyue as the Traveler here."

"That's because he kicked your butt!" Paimon taunted.

"Do not forget that I've grown stronger in recent months.  If you are so certain he could defeat me a second time, I'm more than happy to prove the two of you wrong."

"Why does it feel so tense all of a sudden?"  Bennett whispered in your ear.  

"They have a weird rivalry going."

"Ah."

"We're here--annnd it's closed," Aether's shoulders drooped once the group reached the antique shop.  "'Open at 6p.m.'  Great."

"That just means we have time to relax! Quick, Paimon wants to go eat some classic Liyue dishes!"  She dragged Aether with her before he could protest.  

"Uh...we'll meet here at six!"  He called over his shoulder.

"I still don't understand how she could eat so much," Childe shrugged.  "Well then, I'm off.  I have some business to take care of at the bank.  See you soon."

"Guess it's just you and me?"  Bennett laughed nervously.

"Wanna eat lunch first?"  

Your offer lit his eyes up.  The two of you had practically become best friends during these past few weeks, and he found it a relief that you weren't phased by his bad luck even when it did backfire on you.  To think he had found such a great friend and adventure team no less--was incredibly motivating.

After several hours of eating and checking out all the harbor had to offer, you and Bennett ended at the docks.  The sun was nearly setting and cast an orange glow on its subjects.  You dangled your feet over the edge and soon enough he did the same.  

"I had so much fun today! Thank you for showing me around!"  Bennett ate the dango you had bought for him.

"Mhm!"  You didn't feign cheerfulness, but by now it was exaggerated.  Bennett caught on.

"Hey, are you okay?  You've been acting weird since this morning."

"I don't know.  I just feel lonely without him."

"The Xiao guy?  I get how that feels.  I'm always lonely," he sympathized.  "You can rant to me if you want.  I'm a good listener."

"See, that's the thing.  I'm not sure if it's safe for me to talk about it with anyone."  There were brief moments in the night in which a gentle breeze would caress your skin, but they were briefer than the first and infrequent.  Your heart ached and missed the comfort of knowing he was watching over you the longer he was gone.

Bennett quietly pondered your words while he swung his feet in the air.  "If there's anything I know about thoughts and feelings, it's that they'll tear you apart the longer you keep them bottled up."

"Yeah...you're right."  You let out a long sigh and lay your back against the cold wooden planks.  "I want to get closer to him, but it feels like something bad will happen if I do."

"What do you mean?"

"He says we might be in danger, but he won't elaborate on it.  I feel like unless that danger is eliminated, I won't have a chance to get to know him fully."

"I see."  Bennett copied your position and reached toward the sky. "Well, I think--"

"There you are," Childe entered your field of vision.  "We're all waiting for you.  The antique shop is open now."

...........................................................

"--These markings are those of Liyue," Linlang of the antique shop continued to explain as you approached the rest of the group.  "You can see inscribed here is the anecdote of Azhdaha.  They say Azhdaha was a dragon spawned by a convergence of the spirits of Geo in Liyue, and that even Rex Lapis could not easily subdue it.  Rex Lapis thus summoned three adepti to his aid, and together they created a cavernous realm.  Rex Lapis then battled the creature, luring it into the cavern, before ordering the adepti to seal the entrance, trapping Azhdaha within.  

"The patterns on the things you brought seem to describe the three adepti joining hands to create the cavern.  This crane must be the adeptus Mountain Shaper, and this deer might be Moon Carver...But this last one...huh?  It seems like this pattern has been intentionally ground away by someone to the point where I can't make anything out.  Who was this third adeptus?  Eh, no matter; this is beyond me.  Regardless, it is a complete set.  Would you like to sell them or keep them as keepsakes?  I can make a generous offer."

"We'd like to sell them!"  Paimon nearly yelled with excitement over the potential mora.

"Wait! May I see the third artifact?" The clerk held it out to you, and you examined the damaged box in your hands.  Something about this box called to you, though you didn't know why you felt that way.  You were mesmerized as you rubbed the ground-out etchings in the material with your thumb.

"Do you know something about these?" Childe suddenly became much more interested in the conversation and leaned toward you.

"I've never seen these before, but...I feel like this one is familiar."

"But there's nothing readable on it," Bennett remarked.  "How can you think it's familiar if there aren't any distinguishing features?

"I...don't know..."  She said these were depictions of three adepti, right? Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper...Could it have been a depiction of Cloud Retainer? But why would it be scratched out if that were the case?  Maybe it's one of the yakshas?  W-wait a second--

"Do you want to keep it?" Aether pulled your head out of the clouds and you lost your train of thought.  

"No, that's okay."  You placed the box on the counter, mind wondering once again as LinLang explained her offer to Aether.  Hopefully you'd get the chance to look at the artifact set again.  Maybe you could ask Xiao about it when he returns--wait.  Your eyes locked onto the damaged box again.

Was it possible that he was the one depicted on the box?

The theory made sense...The Guardian Yaksha worked in the dark, and he wasn't really known in the mortal world.  Festivals were thrown for the adepti, but no one mentioned or prayed to him.  He could have scratched the box himself, or it could have been Rex Lapis's doing.  Your hands curled into determined fists and you walked away from the group before anyone could notice.

Xiao!  You silently called his name once you returned to the docks along the harbor.  Xiao!  I know you can hear me.  No response; the wind was absent.  Why is it that I'm running into more things relating to adepti ever since you departed?  You dunk your hand into the ocean and traced a figure-eight in the water as you thought to yourself.  We found some interesting boxes with three adepti etched into them.  It's strange; one of them is scratched out, but I feel connected to it, almost like it's connected to you.  Weird, huh?  You shook your head at yourself.  What a silly idea, to think that one of the mighty yakshas could hear you.  I'll leave you alone now. I'm sure you're getting tired of listening to me ramble every day.  Or maybe you can't hear me at all in the first place.

A hand suddenly landed on your shoulder.

"Xiao?" Your head snapped behind you in high hopes that the adeptus had returned.

"Ouch," Childe winced and grabbed his chest as if he got hurt.  "It's just lil ol' me."  He took the liberty to sit next to you.

"A-ha, you scared me there.  Sorry."

"You really like him, huh?"

"I guess so.  I don't really know what to do with myself since he left."  You watched the moon rise over the horizon.

"Do you know where he was headed? I can go find him for you."  You shook your head.  "I'm surprised he didn't take you with him.  The two of you were practically attached at the hip."

Hm?  The hair rose on the nape of your neck.  Something about his words was off.

"Childe, do you know something about why he left?"  Your eyes left the moon and locked onto your questionable teammate.

"Whatever do you mean, ojou-chan?" He was good at feigning ignorance, but you didn't fall for it this time.

"Tartaglia."

"Now why would I be interested in the adepti?  Why are you so suspicious of me all of a sudden?"  His eyes narrowed dangerously.  "If you're looking for a reason to fight me, all you have to do is ask and I'll say yes.  I'd love to fight you and go all-out.  It's been awhile and I could use the exercise."

You opened your mouth and shut it.  You couldn't throw around accusations like they were Childe's Fatui money, after all.  If your suspicions were unfounded, it would cause strain in the team.  And he was true to his word on fighting; he could take you out in a single blow if he thought it was necessary.  You thought carefully about this and decided to drop it.

[anothers-trash-my-treasure]

Stoners

Stoner Snaf <3 So this one's kinda weird, I based it around the Watch Me from fictober so if you haven't already read that, I suggest reading it first! It's also set in a post COVID world because I need something to look forward to. Disclaimer; I wrote this while very high last night and didn't really edit it so it's probably a mess.

Pairing: Merriell Shelton / Female Reader

Warnings: 18+, unprotected sex (don't do this), recreational drug use, if you squint there's some kinky undertones but nothing too crazy.

Word Count: 4.4K (i haven't written something this long is forever omf)

Tags: @edteche2 @xmxisxforxmaybe @diasimar @txmel @gloriousdarkangelsworld @paradoxicaltornado @404-not-found-xix

Enjoy and happy 4:20

~

Ever since the pandemic, you hadn’t been able to do crowds. Not like you used to anyways. It killed you a little bit because all the things you missed doing so much involved crowds; concerts, clubbing, festivals, travelling. Getting back into the swing of things took time. The feeling of being surrounded by people you don’t know set every one of your nerves on fire in the worst way. It felt so...

Uncomfortable.

This is probably why you didn’t last more than a half-hour at some seedy dive bar your friends had dragged you out to for the night. They begged you to go out with them, if even only for a drink or two. It had been so long since the whole group had a proper outing, it was nice to have the gang out for a night. Until some dickhead grabbed your ass and whispered some unwanted filth in your ear, his breath hot and unpleasant on your skin. After that, you were quick to grab your bag and say goodbye to your friends. You knew they were disappointed, but you could still feel the strangers breathe on your skin like it had been singed.

You welcomed the cool air of the night, feeling it immediately cool your skin. You hadn’t realized how warm it was inside but now that you were out in the open, you felt better. The burning on your neck had settled, more of an afterthought now. Your brain still felt overwhelmed, and you knew exactly how to remedy that.

Sitting down at one of the picnic table benches nearby, you began to sift through your bag when a voice rang out through the quiet streets.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,”

You’d know that slow drawl anywhere, you’d go so far as to say it near haunted your dreams.

“Merriell Shelton,” you beam up at him as he walks closer to you, nodding at his friends to continue without him, “I haven’t seen you since-”

“That last party.” He nods, smiling at you in the way where you’re not quite sure if he’s flirting with you or if he’s just that naturally gorgeous, “when I taught ya’ how to smoke.”

An excited smile bubbles onto your face and you shake your head at him, “Oh, you’d be so proud of me. I’ve grown so much since then.”

You resume digging through your bag to find your various forms of weed paraphernalia you carry with you. The pandemic had not been kind to you, and some days it felt like the only thing keeping your head above water was your bedtime joint. It wasn’t something you were terribly proud of, but it helped your anxiety and that was good enough for you lately.

He barks out a laugh at your response and you can’t help the pride the swells up inside of you knowing that you made him laugh like that. He comes to sit on the bench, placing himself close enough that it wasn’t weird, but far away enough so that he wasn’t directly in your space.

“What, you some kinda stoner or something now?” he asks as you layout your joints and pipes. He whistles, a mix between being impressed and mocking, when you pull out your vape too, “Damn, you got a bong in there too?”

Now it’s your turn to laugh, “No, that stays at home.” you say with a wink, “So, how have you been?” you ask, starting to put everything but your joints back in your bag.

He blows out through his lips and laughs a little, running a hand through his hair, “Been better lately, that’s all that matters, I s’pose.” He watched, something like a weird form of pride in his eyes as you pull out a joint and light it carefully. You certainly can’t complain, you forgot how great it felt to have his eyes on you.

You hum knowingly, “That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway,” you hold the joint up hesitantly.

“I don’t usually share my joints anymore, but if you’ve got your shots...” you shrug, your sentence tapering off. It’s a weird world you live in now, no one quite knows what’s socially acceptable anymore.

He smirks at you, amused, taking the joint from your fingers, “I’ve got my shots alright,”

His eyes don’t leave yours as he brings it up to his lips and takes his hit. He’s not even doing anything out of the ordinary, but he looks like he’s up to no good in every way. It’s like he’s just taking you in as if comparing you to the girl he met years ago.

“You changed,” he comments on an exhale, passing it back.

You nod, laughing softly, “Turns out I get really impulsive when I’m alone,”

He scoffs, “tell me about it,” and then he’s shrugging off his hoodie to reveal a handful of new tattoos covering his skin, “Buddy of mine is an artist,”

You gasp, ‘ooo’ing at some of the more complex pieces. Without thinking your hand darts out to let your fingers drag against his forearm, following the linework of the ink. His muscle twitches beneath your fingers involuntarily and you’re reminded of how long you’ve gone without intimate touches like this. You wonder if it’s the same for him. Did he long to be touched so innocently like this too?

“They’re wonderful,” you say, pulling your hand away, still admiring from a distance.

“Yea, I like ‘em.” He shrugs, nodding at you to take the last pulls from the joint, it’s your weed after all, “You get any?”

You shook your head, “No, surprisingly enough every time I finally convinced myself to book an appointment, shops got shut down again.” You said, only kind of bitterly.

He laughs and you scowl at him, “Aw, baby, don’t be like that,” he laughs, swatting at you half-heartedly, “Look, I betcha I can get you a discount at my buddy’s shop.”

You eye him suspiciously, “I can’t tell if you’re kidding.”

He puts a hand to his chest with a lazy smirk, “On god,”

You bite your lip to suppress a smile, shaking your head lightly, “Okay fine but that just means you’ll get to see a whole lot more of me,”

His smirk turns darker, into something more playfully suggestive, “I have no problem with that,”

A silence fills the space between you as you both take each other in. You had really only hung out with him that one night and nothing had really happened. You just sat and talked really. You talked for a while. You talked so long you didn’t realize the party had ended until your friend came to get you. You exchanged numbers and then just a few weeks after, you were instructed to start isolating. You’d kept up a steady social media friendship since then, but you had missed actually talking to him. He wasn’t much of a texter. The silence only lasts a moment, but it feels thick with tension.

“You look good by the way,” he comments, leaning ever so slightly closer to you, “I meant to say that earlier but then you made me strip for ya-”

“Whoawhoawhoa!!” you sputter through a laugh, “I did not make you do anything, you did that yourself.”

He shakes his head at you, “Nah, that doesn’t sound like me.”

You're giggling at this point, “You’re ridiculous.”

He beams at you, clearly pleased with himself for the moment. It settles for a second as he looks at you, eyes softening a bit before he glances down, nudging your knee with his a bit, “I missed you,” He cringes a bit, “I know it’s weird to say but, I did.”

Your nodding before you can even think to play it even a little bit cool, “No, I get it,” you assure him, smiling softly, “I missed you too, actually.”

He hums, smiling a rare soft smile at you before changing the subject, clearly wanting to shift the attention away from his moment of vulnerability, “So why aren’t you inside?” he asks.

“Oh,” you glance back at the bar behind you, having forgotten it was even there, “I was heading out, I wasn’t really in the mood for dive bars tonight.”

He nods, “The crowds right?” you nod and he’s talking again before you can ask him how he knows that, “I get it, sometimes being so close to that many people again makes me wanna crawl out my skin.” he chuckles.

You nod, a weight lifting off your shoulders to know you’re not alone, “Exactly, it’s not something I’ve gotten used to yet.”

“Well, can I walk you home?” he offers with a smile, “I’m in no rush to head in there,”

You smile and nod, “I’d like that,”

~

Somehow he had ended up on your couch. You weren’t entirely sure when walking you home had turned to him being on your couch, but you certainly weren’t complaining. You were both pleasantly high, talking anything from movie theories to possible dystopian futures and alien invasions.

“Look, I’m jus’ sayin’ that if I was an alien, I wouldn’t wanna fuck a human, are you kidding?” he reasons, eyes squinted as if he’s offended and your laughing so hard you have tears in your eyes, “Nah, I’m goin’ for a much cooler species.”

He watches you as you fight back giggles at his ridiculousness, a lazy, grin settled on his face. He reaches for his jacket that’s slung across the arm of the couch, reaching into his pocket to pull out his own stash and you gasp, mocking offence.

“You had your own weed all this time and you’ve been smoking mine?”

He rolls his eyes, settling the joint between his lips and lighting it. He inhales slowly, watching the tip as it sparks to life, eyes flicking back to you as he exhales, “I was gonna share,”

He holds out the joint for you, however as soon as you go to steal it he holds it back, just out of your reach, “what’s the magic word?”

“Oh my god, are you kidding?” you ask through a laugh, straining forward further in an effort to reach it but you’re hindered from the way you’re sitting. You make grabby hands at it instead.

“Ya want it or not?” he asks, eyebrows raised expectantly. There’s a tension between the two of you, still mostly playful but turning ever the more thick as the moments pass by.

You huff, getting comfy again in your spot, keeping your hand stretched out lazily, “Please,”

As soon as the word leaves your lips you can see his eyes get darker, that infuriating smirk only stretching across his face and you’re so mad that that’s all it takes for the playfulness between you to shatter into pure sexual tension.

Without a word he hands you the joint, enjoying the way you quickly bring it into your mouth for a deep drag to calm your rising nerves. It’s infuriating, how good he looks like this. All calm and relaxed on your couch in the low living room light, curls messy and looking at you through hooded eyelids. You want him. Just his eyes on you like this has a warmth pooling in the pit of your stomach.

You try to play it cool though, taking another slow drag and enjoying the way the smoke rises up around you. His eyes zero in on your lips, watching with a peaked interest as they wrap around the filter, watching the way the smoke escapes them. Neither of you say a word for a while. Just sitting in a comfortable quiet, a forgotten Spotify playlist playing in the background as you pass the joint back and forth.

He didn’t make his move until the final few hits of it. He shifts to sit straighter on your couch, a little more proper. What left his mouth was anything but.

“C’mere,” he says lowly, cocking his head to the side and gesturing to his lap, “gotta nice seat for ya,”

You don’t hesitate to comply, your high erasing any ideas of playing hard to get. You maneuver yourself as gracefully as you can, swinging a leg over his and settling there, straddling him comfortably with his hands on your hips. Once you're settled he raises the joint to his lips, taking in the last drag, eyes glimmering in the low light of the room. He holds it for a second, one hand moves upwards to cup the back of your neck and pulls you in closer.

Your lips are so close, the tension crackling between you like electricity. He tilts his head ever so slightly, lips parting to exhale the smoke into your mouth. You inhale on impulse and your mind goes blank as your lips brush ever so slightly together. You knew people said shotgun kisses were hot, but you had never truly believed them until now.

You know you should pull away to exhale, but you can still feel his lips brushing against yours and your mind is dizzy from the weed and from him and you can’t take it anymore. You close the distance the rest of the way, kissing him slowly through your exhale, smoke slipping through your lips as he returns the motion.

You kiss him like that for a while, enjoying his hands on your waist and the feeling of his chest beneath your hands. You were quickly realizing that Merriell was his own kind of drug. You’d only had a little taste of him and yet you found yourself craving more. His fingers flex against your body and you can’t help to low noise that slips out of your throat. It only spurs him on, emitting a growling sound of his own as he tugs you closer, dragging you against his growing erection. Your hand slides into his hair in response, feeling like you’re so high on weed and him that you might just fly away.

“Is this okay?” he asks against your lips, letting his forehead press against yours while he waits for your response.

You hum your affirmative, nodding your head quickly while diving back into for another kiss, this one much more ravenous than the last. God, you felt like you were starving for him. You couldn’t get enough at the way his tongue slid against yours, the feeling of his hands gliding up and down your body. They continue down the curve on your spine, settling once they reach the globes of your ass.

“You don’t know how many times I thought ‘bout this,” he mumbles, pulling away to stare at you teasingly through hooded eyelids. His accent, already a slow drawl, comes out much thicker when he’s high like this. It washes over you like honey. He smirks at you and before you can begin to wonder what he’s up to he brings one of his hands down in a sound smack against your right ass cheek.

You gasp at the feeling, dulled by the layer of your jeans but rippling throughout your sensitive skin nonetheless. You laugh lowly against his cheek, “likewise,”

He bites his lip on a grin, capturing your lips in a single, filthy kiss as if he knows exactly what it’ll do to you. Your hands wander up under his t-shirt, nails digging in sightly, just as a preview, returning the favour.

Like a switch, he’s on you a little more urgently and things begin to move faster. His hands tug on your shirt impatiently and you obediently part to take it off, shucking your bra off as well, and feeling pleased when he follows your lead. Your hands explore each other's bodies, every inch of new skin. It’s not long before he switches positions, standing up and dropping you back on the couch so that this time you’re laying on it properly. Without wasting a moment, you wiggle your jeans off, tossing them somewhere over the coffee table and taking in the way his eyes darken further at the sight of you.

He crawls his hips between your legs, capturing your lips in a messy kiss before starting to trail them down your body. Your high has your skin feeling so sensitive, every soft brush of his lips feeling like a shock of electricity through your body. He spends time on your breasts, marking and kneading them with his hands, enjoying how responsive you are beneath his ministrations. Though he doesn’t spend long there, clearly more interested in another prize.

He settles, this time his shoulders keeping your legs spread. He presses a soft kiss to your inner thigh, lets his fingers dust over your panty-covered pussy. Your muscles twitch at the feeling, and you feel your cunt clench around nothing. He looks good there, tattoos cover his skin and you long to be able to leave something that permanent on him. Fuck, you want him so bad.

He grins at you, knowing exactly how impatient you must be feeling. And that bastard uses it to his advantage. Sucking marks into your thigh just to watch your squirm. Eventually, he pulls your panties to the side, letting his fingers slide through your folds. He whistles lowly between his teeth.

“Mmm, baby, you this wet for me already?”

The whimper that leaves your lips is pitiful, your hips twitching in an attempt to get the pressure where you need it. He chuckles under his breath, eyes darting between your heat and your face, “Look at you,” he near coos, letting his thumb trace circles around your clit, watching as your mouth drops on a silent moan, “You want it so bad, don’t cha? Sweet thing...”

“Are you gonna be an asshole like this all night?” you ask, breathless but trying to redeem some of your dignity through what little wit you have left.

He laughs, sinking a finger into your heat just to watch the pleasure ripple across your face, “Don’t pretend like you don’t love it.”

And he’s right of course. You do love it, love the way he comments on how wet you are for him, almost mocking. Love the way he’s taking his time to find the most sensitive parts of your body and using them to his advantage. You let out a breathy moan as his finger brushes your G-spot.

The sound must do something to him because within a second he's attaching his mouth to your pussy with a growl, not even bothering to remove your panties before doing so. The heat of his tongue on your clit as his finger works that sweet spot inside of you turns your breathy moan into one much louder.

He’s good with his mouth because of course, he is. Within moments you feel like you're right on edge. And the smug bastard knows it too if the amused glint in his eyes is anything to go by. Your one hand twists in his curls, encouraging his movements while your other works at your nipple.

“God,” you whine, tugging at his hair as you feel heat wind up your spine. You swear you’ve never felt this good. It only takes another flick of his tongue against your click before your orgasm rips through you, thighs attempting to squeeze around his head, stopped by his free hand holding your one leg open so he can work you through it. Your body twitches in its aftershocks, mewling pathetically when the simulation starts to ride that edge between pain and pleasure.

“It’s just Merriell, actually,” he supplies when he pulls away with a smirk.

“I fucking hate you,” you breathe out, pulling him up your body so you can kiss him again, despite your words. He laughs, moaning softly against your lips when your hand finds the bulge in his jeans.

He kisses you for a while, letting you paw at him for a bit before he pulls away to work them off his body. There’s no real rush, the high allowing you to take it slow and enjoy the moment as opposed to the frenzied fucking drinking tends to lead you to.

You whine and he laughs at you, low and cocky as he leans down for another wet kiss, “You hurtin’ that bad for it, baby?”

You beam up at him from your place on the couch, feeling comfy and sexy with the way his eyes trail across your skin, leaving a tingling feeling in their wake. You shrug, watching with interest as he rids himself of his briefs, admiring his cock as he awaits your response.

“It’s been a while,” You say, distracted as you anticipate the stretch required for your body to accommodate him, ‘I’m excited, sue me.”

His hands use your hips to drag you closer to him, lifting one leg onto his shoulder while letting the other wrap around his body. He leans down to kiss you and you only have half a second to wonder the last time your legs were stretched like this before the feeling of his cock at your entrance steals the breath from your lungs.

Your mouth drops open, a moan caught in your throat as he slowly sinks into you. Your eyes roll back, shamelessly enjoying the stretch as he sinks, inch by slow, pleasurable inch. He continues the slowness, but you’re not sure he’s doing so on purpose.

When your eyes focus again you see the definition of bliss on his face as he thrusts slowly in and out of you, moaning lowly in his throat.

“Fuck,” he says, drawing the word out through gritted teeth, “that’s it, takin’ me so good.”

His thrusts begin to pick up, still fucking you slowly but with more force behind them. Each sharp movement of his hips as the tip of his cock dragging sweetly against the deepest parts of you, and it feels so fucking good. In the moment, it’s intense. He’s folded over you, holding your leg against your chest so he can suck and bite at your neck as he fucks you. You can’t help the filthy moans you let loose in his ear, one hand fisted in his hair while the other digs your nails into the smooth skin of his back.

“Merriell,” you gasp, feeling distinctly insane with the pleasure you're feeling. Your head drops back onto the couch, body jolting with each thrust of his hips. It’s good, god, it’s so good. But the need that burns through your veins makes you impatient, “Let me ride you.”

The words are out of your mouth before you can stop them, but it’s a suggestion he is clearly open to acting upon. He quickly pulls out, sitting back in his original position and pulling you on top of him.

“Be my gu-” he doesn’t finish his sentence, instead tapering off into a moan as you waste no time in sinking down on to him again, “Christ,”

You waste no time. Quickly stabling yourself with your hands on his shoulder and maneuvering yourself up and down on his cock. Now it’s your turn to watch him. Watch him as his eyes roll back and his hands grip your hips with a vice-like grip. That smirk never strays from his face though, clearly enjoying himself.

“You look so pretty like this,” he talks, bringing a hand down on your ass again, loving the way it spurs you on, “talk to me baby, tell me how it feels.”

You moan, loud and borderline pornographic, “You feel so good,” you breathe, biting harshly down on his lip, savouring the growl that vibrates through the both of you, “Oh, fuck, Merriell, you feel so good,” You emphasize your words with a particularly good roll of your hips.

You can tell he’s getting close by the way his hips start to snap upwards to meet yours and the way his brows furrow in concentration, “Fuck, baby girl,” he groans, unaware at the way the nickname makes you melt, “tell me you’re getting close. I wanna feel you cum around my cock.”

You nod immediately, pulling on his hair so you can capture his lips harshly, letting him bite your lip and pull your hips frantically against his own, “yes,” you whimper, “yes, yes, fuck imgonnacum,” you rush out, feeling like every touch he’d ever laid on you compiling into this one moment. It’s completely overwhelming and for a moment, you blackout.

When you come to he's kissing at your neck, hands massaging and pull at your ass, helping you ride of the aftershocks of your orgasm. His sounds have turns high and desperate against your neck, hands gripping at your skin so hard you think you’ll have bruises tomorrow. He needs you to keep going. Give him something.

The small, dare you say whimpery, “Oh baby, please,” has you moving quickly, almost as desperate to make him finish as he is to finish.

In the blink of an eye, you’ve lifted yourself off of him and onto your knees in front of him, quickly enveloping his entire length into the warmth of your mouth.

“Oh fuck, baby,” He moans urgently, both hands coming to tangle in your hair as you work your mouth over his cock, eyes trained on his face, “Fuck, I can’t-”

You hum, encouraging and within seconds you feel him reach his climax. His head thrown back, hips twitch upwards into the welcoming heat of your mouth, a low long moan pulled from his throat. He lets you bring him down, continuing to suck and lick softly at his spent cock, eyes lazily following your every movement.

When he finally pulls you up off the floor it’s to kiss you, lazy and heated. You collapse basically on top of him as you kiss, unbothered by the smallness of the couch and the cold air that bites at your cooling skin. He makes a noise in his throat when you pull away, watching in amusement as his eyes barely open to look at you.

“‘M so fuckin’ high.”

It pulls a laugh from you, bubbling up from your chest. He smiles, bright, relaxed and dazzling, “Hope you weren’t plannin’ on kickin’ me out because ‘m not movin’ for a while,”.

You rest your head on his chest, letting yourself sink into the moment with him, your own high coming back to you as you bask in the post-sex haze.

“You're still gonna get me discounted tattoos though right?"

[anyoneseenadam]

Home: Chapter Seven

azriel x reader (acotar)

summary: (y/n) is a daughter of Persephone, still recovering from the trauma of her fall into Tartarus and doesn’t have time for a stupid, handsome, annoying, stunning, injured man. But now they’re stuck together in the middle of nowhere and there only chance of getting home is if she can heal him, and fast.

warnings: big spoilers for mark of Athena and house of Hades, also for the acotar series, eventual smut, blood, PTSD, graphic descriptions of violence, injuries and torture, enemies to lovers so az is a bit of a dick to start, swearing, 

word count: 3.9k

a/n: I’m entirely writing this to distract myself from the real world but honesty I’m having a great time, I think there will be one more chapter after this one and maybe an epilogue but asides from that, also feel free to message or ask if you want to be tagged :)) anyway enjoy and pls comment and shiz :)

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Azriel had once joked that you were like an actual flower, needing water and sunlight to use your powers. At the time you had laughed but now as you stood in front of the mirror, wiping the tears from under your eyes, and preparing to walk into the world of all things dead, you understood. The dress you wore was one of the few fancy ones you reserved for the dinners you were often dragged to before your fall. It was lavender, with tulle cascading down your legs from the waist, paired with a tight corset top and tulle off-the-shoulder sleeves. As you sat with a ‘humph’ and started applying your makeup, your stepbrother walked in.

“Well you look cheery,” Nico said, sitting on your bed.

“I look like an evil power puff girl,”

“You look like you are a princess, which you are so my dad is going to be pleased.”

“I really don’t care what he thinks,” you snapped, and Nico help up his hands. He was wearing all black as usual, simple dress pants and a loose black shirt tucked in, his belt matched his rings, and his dark hair and even darker eye bags made him look every bit the Underworld prince. “Sorry, I’m not mad at you,” you said turning back around to carry on with your makeup.

“I know, it’s stressful for you,” he moved to sit next to you, resting his head on your shoulder and you applied eyeliner.

“I don’t wanna get sick again, I have things to do. Plus I’ve got to convince your dad to let me ask for this favour. I just feel like it’s all going to go to shit.”

“I get it, you’ll be fine though. Also I’m pretty sure your mum is going to do anything for you if it means you’ll speak to her again, so she’ll be on your side at least. That’s three vs one.” He nudged you as you put down the eyeliner.

“That’s true.” You bit the inside of your lip and Nico, sensing your worry, changed topic.

“Tell me about Azriel,” He said, and you caught his eye in the mirror.

“Huh?”

“Well I gotta make sure that when you become his problem it will be permanent, I don’t want you coming back,” he joked.

“Fuck you,” you laughed shoving his shoulder and he giggled, rolling onto his back.

“I don’t want to do thisssss,” Nico said in a sing-song voice lying flat on the floor.

“Me neither but I’m not going in alone bitch,” you laughed, starting to feel slightly better. It was moments like this that made you regret pushing your friends away, the thought of seeing them was always scary but when you were with your brother again you remembered why you loved them so much. You assessed your outfit in the mirror and sighed.

“What?” Nico asked, sitting back up.

“This would look really nice with a dark red lip,” you said, biting your lip.

“Do you have one?” he asked, and you nodded. He was quiet for a second before reaching out and ruffling through your makeup, finding your favourite red lipstick. “Do you wanna try?”

“Yeah, but if I cry it’ll mess up my eyeliner.” You said with a shaky laugh. He laughed quietly handing you the lipstick and you looked at him in the mirror, taking in a shuddering breath. You were stronger than this and you could handle it. You closed your eyes for a minute, counting your breaths, before opening the lipstick.

Once it was applied you lifted your chin, staring down the girl in the mirror. Nico grabbed your hand softly and you tore your eyes away, standing and pulling on your shoes.

“Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

--

Azriel was in a shit mood. He was 90% sure that you had cast some sort of spell on him when he was with you, something that made him happy and relaxed, because now that you weren’t here he pretty much wanted to throttle everyone.

Amren had been helping him look for a way to get back to you. The first thing they had tried was winnowing, he pictured your face; your smile, the way your hands felt in his, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t reach you. So they had been scanning books since then, reading up on every theory and myth. Nesta had brought him to speak to Gwyn who had told him about the theory that there could be up to at least 20 other worlds. Amren had also made him talk through every detail about this world he could remember, writing diligent notes as Cassian gave him weird looks when he spoke about Bucky Barnes.

“He’s a character, it’s a simple concept.”

“Yeah but how do you get an emotional connection to a character?”

“Shut up both of you.”

The pain in his chest was only growing as well, and he came to the daunting realisation that if he failed this; if he couldn’t get back to you, or get you back to him, he would probably have to deal with it for the rest of his long, long life.

He felt bad for taking his frustrations out on his family who were just worried about him, but he had never felt this way before. All he could think of was the way your eyes cleared when the realisation dawned on you. The way you had gone from sobs to a different, all-consuming kind of pain, just for a second, your eyes clearing as you realised you might never see him again. He hated himself for not being strong enough to put up a fight, he knew he wasn’t a match for a god, but he should’ve tried, he was too shocked at the time, too heartbroken, but now he was terrified that you might think he gave up on you. He had to get back to you, he was afraid what you might do if you were alone again. If you were alone after having the bond dangled in front of you, only to have it ripped away moments later.

It was almost 3am and everyone else in the house had gone to bed, but Azriel didn’t sleep well normally, and he especially wouldn’t while he was apart from you. He looked up from his book when he heard someone clear their throat, his head whipped up an incredulous smile gracing his features when he saw you sitting there.

“Baby,” he started moving forward but you held your hand up, stopping him.

“Oh that’s just too sweet, you kids are giving me so much content,” you dabbed at your eyes, and Azriel frowned.

“(y/n)? what’s going on?”

“Oh I’m not (y/n) sweetie, but that’s just adorable. My name is Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty, I often appear as whoever you find most beautiful.” Azriel’s heart dropped, the brief happiness he felt seeing your face gone as the lady spoke.

“Aphrodite? Hermes mentioned you.” He said, tensing as he realised he was dealing with another god. “In fact he said it was your fault this all happened.”

“Oh Hermes, always blaming someone else. You should be thanking me.”

“And why would I do that.” Azriel knew the look on his face was deadly, but something about seeing a god cower under his gaze was feeding his ego.

“Haven’t you worked out why you can’t travel back to her.” She raised her eyebrows at him, her expressions may be on your face, but as he paid more attention she seemed like a completely different person. “I have the power to move through world’s, you do not. I just thought that poor, sweet girl had been through enough that she should get to meet her soulmate. I waited for you after your mission and then just made you forget and let the two of you fall in love naturally, I mean I get teary eyed thinking about it, you’re just too cute!”

Azriel’s shoulders relaxed slightly, “So why are you here? Are you going to bring her to me?”

“Hmm I could, but I’d get in so much trouble, plus she’s very smart and I want to see if her plan works. You people are so very entertaining.” Her face rippled for a second as she turned, and she briefly looked like Mor, then Elain, then back to you. “But you, poor boy,” He chose to ignore the condescending tone, “You were dealt a very bad hand love wise, so maybe if she doesn’t succeed I could pull a few strings, but I do have a holiday planned so it may be a few decades.”

Her laugh made him feel sick and he glared at her, “What did you say about her plan?”

“Oh yes! She’s going down to the underworld to try find a solution,” Aphrodite was moving around the room gracefully as Azriel sat back down, the weight of Aphrodite’s easy words hitting him. She picked up one of the books laying on the desk and made an unimpressed noise, throwing it back down carelessly.

“That’s where the dead go right?” he asked, silently praying he was wrong,

“Yup! Don’t worry though, her mother lives there too,” she said ‘mother’ with a slight snarl, but Azriel ignored her. “You know I get why she likes you, you’re very pretty aren’t you?” She walked over to him, swaying your hips and he had to remind himself it wasn’t you as she sat down in his lap, forcing his hands to stay clenched at his side. She ran your hand along his jaw, tilting her head with a smile as she stroked his face. Her thumb rested on his bottom lip as he glared at her with murderous rage, trying to reel it in as he remembered she was possibly the only one that could help him.

“Well I guess I better go,” She sighed dramatically then pressed a perfectly polished gold coin into his hand, “Flip this if you need me, emergencies and sex only.” She winked at him, before kissing his cheek and standing, waving seductively before vanishing. Azriel sat for a few minutes, reeling from the interaction he just had. Is this the world I’ve entered now? Gods who can do whatever they want? He wondered if that’s why you avoided talking about the Gods, if maybe growing up with this had made you bitter to them. He wanted to ask you and talk to you about it, or anything for that matter but instead he just pocketed the coin and stood, winnowing to his room, and collapsing on his bed.

--

“Sweetie, you look beautiful,” Your mother cried out as you and Nico arrived, you were leaning heavily on his arm, while surrounded by death, the coldness of a lifeless place seeped into your bones and weakened you, you had learnt as much the first time you visited. You gave your mother a tight-lipped smile and hugged her awkwardly.

“Oh I missed you so much dear,” she stroked your hair, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes.

“You could’ve visited.” It was hard to keep the bitterness out of your voice, after all you had gone through and she hadn’t visited once. A look of shock passed over her face but before she could reply Hades thundered in, his usual outfit, ‘the robes of death and despair’ as you fondly called them, were replaced by a dark suit, his hair slicked back from his face. He came to Persephone’s side and rested a hand around her waist pulling her in slightly, and despite yourself you felt a little jealous of their closeness as your mother looked up at him with doe eyes.

“Nico, my son, how are you?” Hades deep voice silenced the room, the very air seeming to stand still, and Nico flushed red as he was put on the spot. The four of you exchanged pleasantries as you made your way to the ridiculously long table, Hades sat at the head on one side, Persephone on the other, with Nico and you facing each other in the centre. The wood was dark, but the table was covered in all sorts of colourful food and you all helped yourselves while making small talk, only managing to hear your parents due to the eery silence of the room, dead guards not needing to make any noise.

After the first few courses and once you had consumed enough white wine to gain some courage you turned to face your mother.

“Mum, I think I need a favour if that’s okay?” you asked with great caution, extremely aware of the powerful forces surrounding you.

“Well that depends dear. What is it?”

“After the battle and the… fall, I never got my reward remember, I instead asked to be able to come get it when I needed it.”

“Yes of course, I thought that was very smart!” your mother spoke cheerfully but you could feel Hades’ gaze on your back, burning through your skin and bones to the very essence of your soul. “Let me guess, you need it now?”

“If that’s okay, some things have changed recently and I now know what I need,” you smiled at her, “I met a man, well actually he’s a faerie. Aphrodite wanted us to meet because we’re soulmates and after my fall she thought I deserved to see him, but since he’s from another world he had to go back, and we can’t be together.” You wiped away a few stray tears you forced out; this was your game. Your mother didn’t visit you often so she had never seen this side of you, the side that could manipulate even a god into giving you what you wanted. “So I thought, maybe for my reward I could become Fae and be permitted to live with Azriel in his world, and maybe come and visit my friends occasionally?”

“Oh that sounds lovely dear! That’s so alike me, I had to beg my mother and even then she didn’t let me stay here,” your mother rattled on and you smiled at her, but your shoulders were still tense as you knew you hadn’t won yet. You turned to where Hades sat, rubbing his temples.

“I get it. I do. But I really don’t think my brother would allow that, it’s too much.”

“Too much?” you asked, a bitter laugh escaping.

“I understand you went through a lot,”

“Do you?” you couldn’t stop the biting words, “Because the last I checked you both sat and did nothing while I was tortured down there. You could’ve done something, but you didn’t, you made a choice not to, and now I ask for ONE thing, and it’s too much?” Hades’ glare was murderous, but you weren’t going to back down.

“I mean if you really think about it, I’ll be out of your hair if you agree. One less demi-god always seems to be a win for you guys.” Nico said your name in warning, but you slowly stood. “I am not asking for much, I am asking to be allowed to live a life with the man I love and after all I have been through, fighting YOUR battles, I think it’s the least I deserve.”

You held Hades’ gaze for a few more seconds until he spoke. “Are you sure your not a child of Nyx?” he asked, and you grinned, cocking your head to the side.

“Why would that be?”

“You have a pure evil streak in you girl and uncharted power. You better learn to control it, before someone catches on.”

“We won’t have a problem I’m presuming?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said gruffly, going back to his meal and you relaxed, moving to hug your mother goodbye, whispering thanks to her, before linking arms with Nico and leaving.

--

The next day you awoke to a golden invitation to Olympus, and you smiled, soon. You’d be with him soon.

--

Olympus looked much nicer since Annabeth had gotten involved. You may have been biased but it seemed to hold a sense of home it never had before, the clinical cleanliness now feeling purer and more loving. The throne room however had remained much the same.

You stood alone in the middle surrounded by the arc of thrones, but you refused to take your eyes of Zeus. You had received a wink from Apollo and a smile from Aphrodite as you walked in but beside that it had been eye contact for at least five minutes. You knew better to speak before you were spoken to but the way they surrounded you and stared down on you was bringing up bad memories and you were really fighting a panic attack.

Seemingly sensing this Apollo cleared his throat, “Perhaps we should start father?” While you were grateful a part of you hated how well the flirtatious god knew you, he was the first to tend to your wounds when you first escaped, healing them enough so you wouldn’t die from blood loss but not enough for anyone to suggest he was picking favourites. His warm hands had provided a sense of comfort you thought you had lost entirely.

Zeus nodded slowly, a letter appearing in his hand, “So these are your terms? Transformation into high Fae, permission to live in a new world with visits back to this one twice a year?” you presumed Hades, or your mother had written the letter, neither of them present currently. You nodded clearly, not entirely trusting your voice.

“I guess it’s only fair, but a full transformation will hurt,”

“I’m sure I can take it.” you lifted your chin, holding your shaking hands tightly in an attempt to conceal them.

Zeus laughed, not taking his eyes of you, “I’m sure you can. Does anyone have any major oppositions?”

Aphrodite raised her hand, “I’d like to add that during her transformation, her womb changes shape so she may birth Illyrian children.” You shot her a grateful look, still not entirely sure why she was suddenly so invested in ensuring your happiness, but you wouldn’t complain.

Hera was the next to speak and you fought the urge to roll your eyes, “Why is she getting special treatment again? What did she do that was so different?”

“She was tortured for days!” Athena exclaimed,

“So?” Ares now.

“She was a child, it was brutal.” Apollo jumped to your aid and soon the chamber was filled with shouting voices as they argued over your fate.

“SILENCE.” Zeus quieted the room instantly and every eye turned to him, but he remained focused on you, “Well then? Answer the question girl, what makes you so special?”

You thought for a second before answering, “I don’t consider it special treatment. After the battles I’ve fought and the pain I’ve endured to help your causes, I’d consider it a form of retirement.” You kept Zeus’ gaze and let a streak of the evil Hades had warned you off show, smiling when his smug smile disappeared. He waved his hand, “Very well then, High Fae with altered womb and permission to live in their world and visit our occasionally, that is all?”

You nodded and he assessed you before holding out his hand, his gaze darkening. You furrowed your eyebrows as your limbs started to tingle before pain took over your entire body.

--

You had felt pain so many times before, pain that left more than just physical trauma, but this was different. You felt as if your blood had become fire and every bone was breaking as new ones reformed. You didn’t have any sense of time or place, all you could feel was pain. At one point you thought it was over only to open your eyes, feeling impossibly soft sheets beneath you, and see Apollo hovering over you, sweat dripping from his brow as he took some of the pain away, even for just a moment.

When you finally awoke you were on the ground. You stood up quickly, almost knocking yourself over as your movement were much faster than usual. You were outside a glowing city, it didn’t have skyscrapers like New York, but it was so comforting to look at you felt yourself being drawn in. As you crossed the border however, a beautiful man with dark hair appeared, his eyes narrowing.

“Who are you and why are you trying to get in here?” A shot of fear went through you as you felt his magic, it was thick in the air and powerful.

“I’m not going to hurt anyone, I’m just looking for someone,” you explained, swallowing down the lump in your throat. The handsome man’s gaze turned vacant before softening after a moment.

“I apologise, I’m Rhysand. Let me help you find whoever it is, what’s their name?”

“That’s okay, really. His name is Azriel, but I don’t think he’s expecting me.” Rhysand stopped, his head turning towards you, “what is it?” you asked.

“(y/n)?”

“How do you know my name?” you stepped back but he held out his hands,

“No, no I’m Az’s brother, let me take you to him.” he grabbed your arm softly and suddenly you were standing in a warm room facing Azriel. You felt tears fill your eyes as you stared at him, he uttered your name in question and you nodded running into his arms, completely engulfed by his scent, tears of joy running down your face when you suddenly realised something, pulling away.

“Did you say brother?” you turned to Rhysand, feeling all the plants in the air respond to your calls, when Azriel tugged you back to him.

“Not biological don’t worry.” He whispered and Rhysand laughed.

“I like her.”

“Hmm I was two seconds away from castrating you,” His eyes widened slightly and you laughed, turning back to Azriel as he looked over you.

“How- you, you’re Fae?” His eyes were filled with worry again, afraid he was being tricked.

“I never got my reward remember, I knew I would need it in the future,” you smiled at him as he cupped your face and leaned down to kiss you. You pulled apart, Azriel growling when you heard catcalls, turning, and seeing the room had practically filled. A shot of fear went through you as your eyes landed on another man who had red siphons, and Azriel followed your gaze, a hand stroking your face in reassurance.

“So this must be (y/n), welcome to our home, I’m Feyre,” A beautiful woman stepped forward and clasped your hand in hers, which you noted were stained from paint. Everyone else soon made introductions and they urged you to sit as you found out about this makeshift family Azriel was in.

“Oh! That’ll be Nyx, I’ll go,” Feyre said when a baby started crying in the distance,

“Wait what did she say the babies name was?” You asked, holding in a laugh.

“Nyx?” Rhys said,

“Oh, course, cool cool cool,”

“What?” Azriel asked, looking at you strangely.

“I’ve kind of met her,”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, she’s like the evilest deity there is, and she did not like me,” Rhysand stared at you with a look of shock on his face, but before anyone said anything else, Amren was laughing loudly.

“You must tell me all about these Gods girl.”

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

tags: @tastedlikedamnation

[lovelyirony]

morgan doesn’t have to be a hero. she just has to know the family that was. 

(or me ignoring everything about infinity war and endgame) 

Thinking about how Tony doesn’t tell Morgan everything about Iron Man. There are books, of course. A couple of children’s authors and illustrators thought it would be nice if the kids could see heroes on something else other than a news source that also talks about casualties and how much they actually lost. 

It’s nice for Tony, too. 

No one saw the wormhole. No one illustrates him falling out of the sky, body plummeting and seeing what the future would be. 

It’s Morgan’s favorite book, seeing the team defeat the “mean aliens.” Her eyes follow each hero. She likes Hulk the best. She likes tracing along the pages, asking “whozat” every two minutes or so. 

She finds the old armor in the garage when she’s in her “investigation” phase, and correlates it to the book. 

She doesn’t think that Iron Man is that cool. She wants the armor to be pink and green, so dad loses out on “cool points.” 

She finds the armor that he’s building for Pepper, because he’s still paranoid and worried and he wants her to be safe. 

He survived one house of his falling, and he’s not sure he’ll survive another one. 

Morgan asks about the picture at the kitchen, the one where Tony and Peter are posing for Peter’s official internship. 

“That’s...that’s your family,” Tony says, because he can just picture how excited Peter would be at having a little Morgan around, crawling everywhere. “His name is Peter.” 

He never refers to Peter in the past tense. He doesn’t know if it’s for Morgan’s benefit or his own. 

He tells her all about Spider-Man. “Spidey” becomes easier to pronounce, so they go with that. 

Sometimes mom finishes those stories while dad goes to get juice pops. 

(And look at the photo for a bit too long.) 

Morgan asks him where Spidey is, once. More than once. But the first time it was...it was painful. 

“Where is he?” Morgan asks. 

“He’s...” 

Tony doesn’t know what to say. He’s not gone. No, fuck that. Peter isn’t gone. But he’s not here, and Tony doesn’t know where he is. He doesn’t know where anyone is. 

“He lives far away, so he would have to take a long time to get here,” Pepper says, smiling. “But now, we are going to travel for the kitchen for lunch! The menu today is carrots and celery with hummus, and some fresh fruit and a sandwich. What do we think?” 

“Is the fruit seasonal?” Tony asks, voice thready. “Points off if it’s out.” 

“You’re a nerd,” Pepper says. “Yes, it’s in season. Would you mind turning the washer on? I forgot to.” 

Tony nods, and Pepper grabs his hand, squeezing. 

He was so lucky to have her in his life. 

- 

And then the Avengers are reforming. Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, aka the weirdest superhero name he’s ever heard, has a theory. 

About time travel. 

He said he didn’t Back to the Future think about it, but he totally Back to the Future thought about it. 

The problem is that it works. 

That’s not the real problem. No, it’s not a real problem at all. He thinks about everyone returning and it’s happy and good again, and- 

He’ll have to leave. 

He hasn’t forgotten Strange’s statement. 

Only one situation where this doesn’t fail. Where we don’t fail. 

And it has to be him. 

You don’t come back from something like that. 

Usually, anyway. 

Tony’s determined that he’s coming back. That everyone is coming back. 

The whole plot of Back to the Future goes as such: Marty’s life sucks, his parents’ lives are boring, and they’re not supposed to change the future. 

They do anyways. 

And it works. That’s the thing. Out of every single “time travel is dangerous” trope, Back to the Future still shows that sometimes some changes don’t affect the future badly, it just changes it. 

Tony knows that that can be done. It has to be done, because there’s no way in hell he’s going to leave Morgan. He already pinky-promised her that they’d make a picnic for her fifth birthday, and pinky-promises are the most binding contract he’s ever been a part of so far. 

He doesn’t know what he’ll do if it can’t be done. 

- 

He has to go with Steve to get a stone. He doesn’t necessarily like that because neither of them are subtle and they’re going to see his dad. 

Which is just gonna be a ball of a time. And Tony looks like Howard, just a few slight changes, but it’s undeniable. 

As long as no one connects the dots, he’ll be fine. 

They’re both like bulls in china shops. Neither has ever been out of the spotlight, and neither have been trained very well in the art of subterfuge. 

“What, SHIELD just decide to set you loose?” Tony hisses as they’re making an escape. 

“Oh and you didn’t have any time to learn?” Steve snaps back. “Let’s go.” 

- 

Natasha almost doesn’t return. Almost. Tony’s terrified to think of what would have been happened had she still been there. 

“Dumbass,” Clint mutters. “Thinking you could jump and we wouldn’t have done shit about it. You’re stupid.” 

Natasha just has a graceful smile on. 

“You’re not allowed to be the stupid Avenger all the time, Clint.” 

“Okay I accidentally blew up a microwave one time and suddenly-” 

Tony laughs. 

Genuinely laughs. 

It’s been a while since they’ve functioned like a team. Been a longer time since they’ve been one. 

- 

They get the stones. 

Hulk gets everyone back. Bruce gets everyone back. 

He’s confusing. 

But there he is, Peter. 

Tony hugs him, and he tears up, and god he’s so glad that Peter’s back. That everyone is back. 

It feels nice. 

But they still have a fight to finish and a glove to play hot potato with. 

- 

Thanos is still formidable. He’s still skilled, still has an entire army. 

Well...they’re not outmatched for long. 

Dr. Strange opens portals, leading a whole new mass of people to help. And Tony sees Danvers, which he has yet to talk to Rhodey about. God, Rhodey had been right about her being alive. 

But that’s not important. 

- 

He’s fighting one-on-one. 

Thanos is confident that he’s going to win. 

See, that’s the thing about Tony: he may not have been trained in subterfuge, but he knows all about flouting expectations. He knows that everyone had expected so many things of him that when he did anything out of the ordinary, no one paid attention. 

This is just like that. 

Thanos snaps, only it’s not enough this time. 

It’s not going to be like last time, with Peter panicking and people screaming and tragedy lining the news for years. 

No this time? It won’t work. 

Because this is the time where the hero wins against all odds and there’s a happy ending. He’s going to make it so, no matter how much of a toll this takes. He’s getting back to Morgan and Pepper no matter what it fucking takes. 

- 

Thanos is gone. His army dissolved. 

And he is satisfied. He’s tired, but happy. And he’s fairly sure that the glove has taken its toll on his body, but he hopes to god that he’ll be okay. 

Pepper is running her hands through his hair, telling him it’ll be okay, and asking anyone for help with transportation. 

There’s one person important that didn’t get blipped, and luckily, she’s a personal friend: Helen Cho. 

Sure, it’s time-intensive. 

Yes, Morgan is mad that daddy can’t read her a bedtime story. 

But...she gets to meet Peter, torture him with forty questions a minute, and Tony gets the use of his arm back. 

So it equals itself out. 

- 

The world, for now, doesn’t need a lot of superheroes. Everyone’s still settling down, no one wants anything but normal. 

This means a lot of superheroes have no idea what to do. 

But Morgan does. 

When dad gets back and is up for playing again (which took forever), Morgan asks to see the team. 

If dad is Iron Man, then it only makes sense that he knows all the other ones. And she has a lot of questions. 

The Avengers are a...a team. God, that’s about the only thing they can call themselves now. They used to be a family but everything’s changed and stilted and awkward. 

Morgan knows none of this. 

So ergo, she decides the most amazing thing ever for her fifth birthday party is to have a picnic with the whole team. Writes them invitations and everything, makes her mom trace out the words she wants to write so that it looks “extra fancy.” 

Tony’s never been one to deny Morgan something she really wants. 

“You sure you wanna handle this? You and Steve aren’t exactly on the best of terms, and I don’t think the team has actually talked.” 

“Well, no time like a five year old’s birthday party to get to catching up.” 

- 

It’s...something. 

Morgan is blissfully unaware and everyone makes so that she stays unaware. 

This involves some...awkward conversations. 

But mostly just making peace with the fact that life happened. 

And Natasha finally has another niece, even if she’s not named after her. 

“You still should’ve,” she jokes. 

“We were thinking about it, honest,” Pepper remarks dryly. “But hey, thanks for coming. Morgan’s very excited to learn how to ‘be a spy’ in her words.” 

Natasha grins. 

“I’ll have her taking out government officials in no time.” 

“Or just teaching her how to disarm dangerous people, thank you very much,” Tony says hurriedly. 

“Didn’t peg you to be the helicopter parent, Stark,” Clint says. 

“Oh trust me, he barely left the house when she was born,” Pepper says with a laugh. “And he would check everything. I had to convince him that Morgan did actually need to sleep in her crib.” 

“She would’ve been fine by us!” Tony defends weakly. “And besides, you said you did want an office space!” 

“Working in the sunroom is fine enough,” Pepper says. “And you forget that you offered to build me one, which is an offer you still haven’t done.” 

“I saved the world, you know.” 

“Oh, did you?” 

Tony grins, popping a grape into his mouth as he sees the scene unfold. 

Morgan’s having great fun showing everyone her little hideout, and where she goes on walks. 

She’s made friends with Peter and introducing him to her stuffed animals. 

Yeah. 

Life is good.