#introducing the plant monster

[paintingspaceghosts]

re-listening to all of wolf 359 but i'll be normal about it this time (lying)

[tofixtheshadows]

I've been thinking a lot lately about how Kabru deprives himself.

Kabru as a character is intertwined with the idea that sometimes we have to sacrifice the needs of the few for the good of the many. He ultimately subverts this first by sabotaging the Canaries and then by letting Laios go, but in practice he's already been living a life of self-sacrifice.

Saving people, and learning the secrets of the dungeons to seal them, are what's important. Not his own comforts. Not his own desires. He forces them down until he doesn't know they're there, until one of them has to come spilling out during the confession in chapter 76.

Specifically, I think it's very significant, in a story about food and all that it entails, that Kabru is rarely shown eating. He's the deuteragonist of Dungeon Meshi, the cooking manga, but while meals are the anchoring points of Laios's journey, given loving focus, for Kabru, they're ... not.

I'm sure he eats during dungeon expeditions, in the routine way that adventurers must when they sit down to camp. But on the surface, you get the idea that Kabru spends most of his time doing his self-assigned dungeon-related tasks: meeting with people, studying them, putting together that evidence board, researching the dungeon, god knows what else. Feeding himself is secondary.

He's introduced during a meal, eating at a restaurant, just to set up the contrast between his party and Laios's. And it's the last normal meal we see him eating until the communal ending feast (if you consider Falin's dragon parts normal).

First, we get this:

Kabru's response here is such a non-answer, it strongly implies to me that he wasn't thinking about it until Rin brought it up. That he might not even be feeling the hunger signals that he logically knew he should.

They sit down to eat, but Kabru is never drawn reaching for food or eating it like the rest of his party. He only drinks.

It's possible this means nothing, that we can just assume he's putting food in his mouth off-panel, but again, this entire manga is about food. Cooking it, eating it, appreciating it, taking pleasure in it, grounding yourself in the necessary routine of it and affirming your right to live by consuming it. It's given such a huge focus.

We don't see him eat again until the harpy egg.

What a significant question for the protagonist to ask his foil in this story about eating! Aren't you hungry? Aren't you, Kabru?

He was revived only minutes ago after a violent encounter. And then he chokes down food that causes him further harm by triggering him, all because he's so determined to stay in Laios's good graces.

In his flashback, we see Milsiril trying to spoon-feed young Kabru cake that we know he doesn't like. He doesn't want to eat: he wants to be training.

Then with Mithrun, we see him eating the least-monstery monster food he can get his hands on, for the sake of survival- walking mushroom, barometz, an egg. The barometz is his first chance to make something like an a real meal, and he actually seems excited about it because he wants to replicate a lamb dish his mother used to make him!

...but he doesn't get to enjoy it like he wanted to.

Then, when all the Canaries are eating field rations ... Kabru still isn't shown eating. He's only shown giving food to Mithrun.

And of course the next time he eats is the bavarois, which for his sake is at least plant based ... but he still has to use a coping mechanism to get through it.

I don't think Kabru does this all on purpose. I think Kui does this all on purpose. Kabru's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder should be understood as informing his character just as much as Laios's autism informs his. It's another way that Kabru and Laios act as foils: where Laios takes pleasure in meals and approaches food with the excitement of discovery, Kabru's experiences with eating are tainted by his trauma. Laios indulges; Kabru denies himself. Laios is shown enjoying food, Kabru is shown struggling with it.

And I can very easily imagine a reason why Kabru might have a subconscious aversion towards eating.

Meals are the privilege of the living.

[starmapz]

husband!sukuna modern/non-curse au sfw & nsfw headcanons. nsfw below the cut.

❦ cw ; mdni. 18+ only. f!reader. fluff. smut. size kink. oral (m! and f! receiving). manhandling. choking. bondage. breeding kink. degradation. fingering. rough sex. based loosely on my biker ryomen sukuna x biker female reader oneshot but can be read separately.

masterlist || more husband!sukuna hcs

husband!sukuna who always sports a frown and disinterested look until his eyes are on you. his friends insist you need to be around at all times to make him more tolerable.

husband!sukuna who doesn’t hesitate to knock someone out for looking at you the wrong way. he’s a storm of anger and violence until a touch on his arm from you grounds him. it doesn’t change the fact that he would still knock someone out in a heartbeat, but he mellows out at your assuring words and candied tone.

husband!sukuna who’s scary enough to part crowds and have people avoid him, but he lets you paint his nails (black only), and on rare occasions he’ll let you put eyeliner on him. he doesn’t mind as much when you insist it’s hot.

husband!sukuna who shoves your face away or flicks your forehead when you ask him stupid questions. you don’t need to know if he would still love you if you were a worm and he’d much rather hear your giggle when he playfully shoves you anyway. and for the record, he would, and he would keep you in a little dirt tank.

husband!sukuna who’s extra careful when he drives his motorcycle with you clinging to him. he doesn’t dare weave through traffic like he regularly would despite the fact that he’s confident in his driving ability.

husband!sukuna who tries to introduce you to video games he likes so that you can play them together. you end up enjoying animal crossing and stardew valley the most and although he makes a scene out of playing them with you, he secretly loves holding you on his lap while you catch fish and tell him to plant turnips.

husband!sukuna who’s enamored when you suggest getting your wedding rings tattooed on. you suggest a thick band to match his other tattoos and he immediately gets heart eyes at the thought. you? matching his tattoos? that’s about as hot as it gets.

husband!sukuna who always has a hand on your hips or waist. it doesn’t matter where you are, one hand, whether subconsciously or not, is always on your hips. his thumb will rub small circles into the skin beneath your shirt and most of the time he doesn’t seem to realize he’s doing it.

husband!sukuna who loves the size difference between you both. he’s an absolute monster of a man at almost seven feet tall with the muscles to match and he adores his smaller wife. he especially loves that you don’t mind him manhandling you and he’ll use that to his advantage constantly.

husband!sukuna who listens to everything you have to say far more intently than he leads on. even if he gives off the impression he isn’t paying attention, every word is burned into his mind in case the same topic of conversation comes up again.

husband!sukuna who has a secret stash of every little thing you’ve pointed out in store windows that he’s gone back and bought later. he saves each one for the next occasion, always surprising you with something you mentioned liking a year ago. if you have a bad day, he’ll surprise you with a gift just to see you smile.

husband!sukuna who has only ever said he loves you out loud twice. once when you first said it to him, and once at your wedding. the words just aren’t in his vocabulary, but he goes above and beyond with his actions to show you just how much he does love you. he knows you know every time he insists on carrying you to bed, holding you tightly to his warm body and never letting go no matter how much you complain about overheating.

husband!sukuna who grins at the sight of his leather jacket draped over your shoulders like a dress when you tell him you’re cold. he thinks it’s the cutest sight on earth, but more than anything he wants to see his jacket on you with nothing underneath so he can slide it off your bare shoulders.

husband!sukuna who loves to hold your chin and feel your saliva drip down his fingers with his cock filling your mouth. he loves the way you look up at him like his perfectly obedient princess.

husband!sukuna who can’t get enough of your strangled moans with his fingers carefully compressing your neck. he did research into how to properly choke you to make sure he doesn’t hurt his sweet wife.

husband!sukuna who loves to watch his cum dripping from your folds, using his fingers to stuff you full. he can’t get enough of the sight of you sucking on his fingers afterwards with a lustful look that has him instantly ready for another round.

husband!sukuna who becomes very chatty during sex, spewing the dirtiest degrading words you’ve ever heard, only to flip on a dime when you’re both blissed out of your minds. his tone will change from a low growl to a sultry hum as he whispers sweet nothings into your ear.

husband!sukuna who spouts the nastiest things in your ear just to see the way you fluster beneath him, unable to hide with him in such close proximity.

husband!sukuna who leaves purpled marks across your entire body, loving the way they paint your skin, but most of all he loves to bite. he just can’t help himself from softly biting the plump skin of your ass or digging his teeth into your shoulder to leave behind a mark.

husband!sukuna who knows his tongue piercing affects you in ways you won’t admit. he loves to run it over your nipple or through your slick entrance just to see the way you squirm and your toes curl at the delightful contrast of cool metal to his warm tongue.

husband!sukuna who loves to hold your hands over your head while he fucks you relentlessly. he loves the look of his darling wife restrained at his mercy with nothing but pleasure swirling in your eyes.

husband!sukuna who feels as though his skin is on fire when you suggest that he can, in fact, tie you up. he does surprisingly extensive research to make sure he doesn’t hurt you and gets the most high-end red ropes he can. the sight of your wrists bound to the headboard sends him into a frenzy as he worships every part of your body.

husband!sukuna who will live between your thighs if you ask him. he loves to please you and watch your jaw slack with pleasure, he loves the way your eyes roll back, and he loves your moans and whimpers. his favorite sound on earth is when you moan his name.

husband!sukuna who loves the way your hips buck and jolt when his fingers find your g-spot. holding you down and feeling the way your legs tremble and your body melts into him when you reach your climax is like a drug to him.

husband!sukuna who’s the king of aftercare. he knows he’s rough on your body and although he knows you love it and he established a safe word, he’ll pamper you for as long as you need afterwards. he knows exactly how you like your baths and he’ll get in behind you and clean you while he sensually kisses your nape.

husband!sukuna who drapes you over him like a blanket and loves the way your curves seem to conform to the toned musculature of his body. He won’t let you go for a second even while he sleeps either, because he can’t bear to be apart from you and he loves his wife more than life itself.

masterlist || love & company biker!sukuna oneshot || more husband!sukuna hcs

❦ a/n ; can't stop thinking about husband!sukuna tbh, i just love him sm

[needle-noggins]

(CW for SA, suicidal ideation) Here we go. My favorite and simultaneously least favorite panel of Vash and Knives.

I've seen a few interpretations of this scene and before we dive into the one that really struck me, let's start with the more... chill one. We're finally introduced to the third gun of Trigun, Vash's angel arm. And the way we're introduced to it involves Knives forcing him to pull the trigger. Of course, since no one knows anything about Knives, the people of Noman's Land blame Vash for Fifth Moon, and Vash likewise blames himself (this is kinda a spoiler but if you've been paying attention, it's just par for the course). However, he's not the one who pulled the trigger, Knives is. It brings up an interesting moral question of blame - do we blame the gun (and Vash, who is being used/objectified as a weapon here), or the person who wanted it to happen? Guns don't kill people, genocidal twins do!

Now for the awful interpretation, the one that makes me cry and wish Vash was real so I could hug him and pay for his therapy. And really highlights how awful Knives is and how far he'd go for his brother in his own, fucked-up way. I touched on this in a previous post about Legato and the Murder Cafe, and the whole time I was thinking about Fifth Moon but didn't want to say anything for the sake of spoilers.

So. Pay attention to the way Vash and Knives are standing. Knives, when he first grabbed Vash's head, was standing in front of him. He moves behind him to better control him and yeah, he's still controlling him via hand on head, and now he's got his other hand gripping Vash's chest, where feathers/wings are manifesting. Knives is assaulting him. If you wanna get crazy with it and say that the angel arm is kinda phallic, you could say... yeah. This is rape. I heard that specific interpretation once and while I accepted it I also don't know if that would be generally accepted or if I'd be called out for it, so I'm trying to tread lightly here.

It also doesn't escape me that of course the angel arm has feminine features like the plants - the plants that, again, humans are exploiting for their ability to create. There's a lot of feminist commentary to be made here but many people have said it better than me. Specifically I'm thinking of this one post I saw about gender fuckery and Tristamp Vash. Anyway.

Also, the atomic bomb/black hole/sun/whatever that is in the middle... It's just so powerful. It's terrifying. The eldritch body horror here is a punch to the gut. What the fuck, Trigun? I thought this was a funky space western!!!

Oh, and here's more commentary on the following few panels:

Vashussy shot, Knives is still right behind him. Yeah, I wasn't kidding about how bad this pose is for them. Knives, you sick fuck.

Vash shoots himself in the leg (a key difference from '98 trigun, lol), because of course he does, but it doesn't free him from the arm.

The arm's getting darker/the light inside is getting lighter! Stampede did an awesome job with their interpretation of the angel arm and I don't think I would have understood it without that. Also, on my first read I didn't notice that Vash is literally levitating, which is cool, but also terrifying because ?? he's not in control of that either??

Finally. A super painful, minimalist, double-page spread. Nightow loves 'em. Vash thinks he's dying (maybe?) and he wishes he had never existed. It's not suicidal ideation per se, but he wishes he didn't exist at all because he's already caused enough suffering. This is a low for him, because he believes so strongly in the concept of the Blank Ticket. (Come on, soupy brain bitch boy, get it together!) He's a monster, it's just how he was born, and he's not in control. Very specifically too, he says "we", and then changes it to "I"... he doesn't blame Knives at all, and that's very him. I want to shake him! Stop playing the martyr, Vash!

[antiquarianfics]

Jealousy, Jealousy

Jealousy is a green-eyed monster, or so they say. You’d argue that jealousy is actually a blue-eyed, one-armed, super soldier.

A/N: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) announcement led to this. You’re welcome! Pairing: tfatws!Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo. Note: I do not own the character Bucky Barnes or any other Marvel affiliated characters.

You do not have permission to repost or copy my work; however, feel free to like, comment, and reblog.

—

“Boys only want love if it’s torture.” —Taylor Swift

You are incredibly aware of Bucky Barnes’ infatuation with you. You aren’t blind to his gaze; you aren’t deaf to his words. Bucky Barnes is in love with you—and he refuses to admit it.

You are also incredibly aware of Bucky Barnes’ tendency to distance himself from good things. He is a man who believes he deserves the worst; he is a man who does not believe he is worth loving. Bucky Barnes will accept hate all day, every day. He won’t accept love.

So, clearly, he will not act on his feelings unless it’s absolute torture. Right?

This idea you latched onto days before is what got you into your current situation: flirting obnoxiously with John Walker and letting the man put his hands all over you.

“If this isn’t torture for him,” you think, “it’s at least torture for me.”

You chance a glance at Bucky across the room. He is clearly displeased with the development between Walker and yourself.

Ever since Walker was introduced to Sam, Bucky, and yourself, you were all off put by his overconfident, entitled behavior. You all agree he does not deserve to carry Steve’s shield—he does not deserve to be called Captain America. So, flirting with Walker, you know, is absolutely a sure way to get under Bucky’s skin.

You weren’t quite prepared for how uncomfortable it is making you, however.

“So, what do you say, sexy? Want to celebrate when we win this fight?” Walker flashes you what he clearly thinks is a charming smile.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Bucky tense; his enhanced hearing picking up Walker’s innuendo. You take it to mean your plan is working.

—

“For the love of god, Barnes, just go tell her how you feel. It’s the quickest way to get her to stop talking to him!” Sam berates Bucky. Frankly, he’s sick of this will-they-won’t-they game you and Bucky are playing.

“No,” Bucky says simply, clenching his jaw and causing Same to groan.

“Why the hell not?”

Bucky doesn’t respond.

“She’s trying to make you jealous. You know that, right? She is intentionally torturing you so that you’ll man the fuck up and make a move.”

Bucky glares at Sam.

“That’s not what she’s doing.”

“Oh, yeah?” Sam challenges. “You think she looks happy to have Walker touching her and making suggestive comments?”

Bucky purses his lips and turns to stare at you again. He is keenly aware that you tense up every time Walker touches you and that you clench your jaw whenever he insinuates anything.

“Because I don’t think she’d be glancing over here to see your reaction if she was actually interested Walker over there.”

Bucky shoots Sam another annoyed look before returning his gaze to you. That’s when he makes eye contact with you.

You raise an eyebrow. He keeps his face stoic. You smirk. He scrunches his eyebrows. You keep a watchful eye on him while you stand on your tip toes to reach Walker’s ear, whispering something unintelligible to Bucky.

Walker’s eyebrows shoot up before looking at you with shocked, yet excited, eyes.

“Damn. Yeah. I, uh, I’ve got a good 20 minutes before I have to head out. We can go to my car?”

Bucky’s neck turns red as anger creeps through his body when he catches Walker’s words. It’s the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.

Boys only want love if it’s torture.

—

You inwardly cheer when you see Bucky start towards you with a furious look on his face.

You back away from Walker, pretending to mull over his proposition as you let Bucky reach you.

Bucky shoves Walker out of the way and plants himself directly in front of you. His hands reach to your face, holding either side so gently—a direct contrast to the aggressive demeanor he carried on his trek to you. He leans in and kisses you passionately.

Bucky’s lips on yours is everything you hoped it would be: euphoric. His lips feel pillowy against yours, albeit slightly chapped. The force of his lips connecting with yours is gentle enough not to hurt you but aggressive enough to tell you he wants you. His teeth gently pulling your bottom lip between his makes you weak in the knees, and you can’t help but gasp.

It’s perfect. He’s perfect.

Your arms quickly snake around his neck, eyes fluttering shut. You let him keep control of the kiss—you’d tortured him enough—and only pull away when you desperately need to breathe.

As your lips disconnect, he rests his forehead against your own, but he stays silent.

“Well, hey there, Sarge,” you tease. “That was quite the hello.”

Bucky scoffs.

“Don’t be coy, Doll. I know what you were doing.”

“What was I doing?”

“You know.”

“I don’t. You should tell me.”

“You were torturing me.”

“I wasn’t doing anything to you, Bucky. I wasn’t even talking to you!” You allow your tone to remain playful while you deny any scheming that took place.

“You were talking to him,” he says with disgust.

“I can talk to whomever I please,” you point out.

“Not men who want to take what’s mine,” Bucky grumbles before connecting your lips again:

“Yours?”

Bucky nods, “If you want to be.”

“Obviously. Took you long enough. Can’t believe you made me flirt with Walker to get your attention.”

“Shut up.”

[withleeknow]

cats and soup.

note: i have a newfound obsession and it's cats and soup so this might be a little niche but it's meant for me and i just wanted to word vomit lmfao

cats and soup, that's your latest obsession. all it took was five minutes of your friend introducing you to the game before you were completely captivated by the world of cute little animated cats making soup on your phone.

so much so that you had to show your boyfriend.

obviously. it's a game about cats. who else would you rather squeal about it with?

though, much to your disappointment, minho doesn't seem very impressed as you try to get him to look at your phone screen for more than ten seconds.

okay. little meanie.

"why would you need to play a game like this when you have our actual babies right over there?"

"i have them in here too!" you'd argue. "look! i named them soonie, doongie and dori. aren't they so cute? soonie is on soup duty, doongie is chopping carrots, and dori is grating cabbages. i even got them cute little hats!"

the mention of his cats featured in the game gets minho to spare you a glance, intrigued for a fleeting moment before he's turning away again.

you'd scowl at his refusal to entertain you but then you'd admit defeat pretty quickly in favor of immersing in your phone once more. it's cats !! making soups !!

it's not unusual for you two to be in separate bubbles while sitting side by side. you're not one of those couples who has to do everything with each other, but you did kinda hope that this would be something for you to have fun with together.

but oh well, if minho isn't interested, then you can't force him. the game is still fun though. even though you go to bed that night a little bummed out, you still fall asleep thinking about getting a black kitten and naming it mimo. it'd be cute, maybe you'd even put him on lemon squeezing duty.

fast forward to the next morning, when he literally shakes you awake at the ass crack of dawn, calling your name frantically.

your first thought is the house must be burning down, because lee minho never acts like this.

"i finally got you!"

"you got me what?"

"i got your cat!"

"what?"

actually, on second thought, the only time that you've seen him this hyped up was when you'd gotten you two matching pjs with soonie, doongie and dori printed on them.

"see?!" then the guy is full on shoving his phone in your face, the sudden brightness of his screen almost taking your eyes out that you have to push his hand away.

"min!"

"sorry. here."

he'd lower the brightness and hold the device a safe distance from your face, impatiently waiting for your eyes to adjust to whatever it is that he's trying to show you.

it's a cat.

an animated cat.

specifically, a cats and soup animated cat, named after you.

"you named a cat after me?"

"yeah i was waiting for ages to get another black cat. i got one first and named it after me. now we can be a black cat couple. look at the cat tower i got us-"

"minho, what the fuck? when did you even start playing?"

"i downloaded it after you fell asleep."

"have you been playing all night? did you even sleep?"

"no, but that's beside the point. look, i'm trying to show you!"

you love him, you do. truly. completely. most ardently. you recognize that this is one of the cutest things that he's done. but jesus christ...

"it's sunday. it's 6 in the morning."

"yeah i know, but-"

"i'll look at it later."

"you're up, you can look now. i got you a potted plant that grows from your head and-"

"lee minho, let me fucking go back to sleep!"

you may have unintentionally created a monster.

permanent taglist: @onlyycb97wife @starsandrqindrops @borahae-reads @abbiestearsricochet @cutiespaghetti @anthropologykpopmultistan @moonlinos @mjnhoz @caitlyn98s @piercidh34rts  @stayceebs97 @linocz @yaorzu-blog @biribarabiribbaem @kayleefriedchicken @extrhotjne

[dropsnectar]

Fawning Rose: Vine Monster x GN!Reader

The Adventures of an Elven Herbalist Part One

NSFW or NSFT

This is my first time writing anything in 6 years so keep that in mind. Also my first smut fic. Or monster fic. I literally learned about the sexual parts of plants for this fic. Don't know how I got here but this was fun! btw if you don't like oviposition, I marked the parts with three !!! before and after that scene, so you can skip it if you want.

WORD COUNT: 3167, or 7 pages on Docs

It had been a long journey from your home country, having to cross an entire sea to get to the sleepy elven town of Hairevick. An Herbalist, you could craft pills to treat a human flu, create a poultice for a dwarves sore, work-tired limbs; even brew potions to help a beastmen ease out of a mating season-- but it was still lonely. Their were no elves about, except for the rogue eccentric nomad. 

Feeling as you had fully mastered your craft in that area, and curious about your kind, you set forth in hopes of bettering yourself. However, when introducing yourself to your neighbors, you found everyone to be polite, but detached. As far as elves went, you were quite young, and the people of Hairevick were elder and not so trusting of outsiders. But worse of all, everyone here seemed to have an excellent knowledge of the local flora and fauna, and their uses in maintaining health. There was no need for an herbalist, especially one so unfamiliar with their lands. 

You spent the entire week mourning your state over glasses and pints of botanical alcohol-- The local tavern drinks were amazing!-- until you finally met a sympathetic face. 

He had long silver hair and the wisp of a ginger beard around his sharp jaw; a peculiar trait. He greeted you friendly enough, asking how you were settling in. It turned out that he owned a store in town, selling odds and ends. He even had a little apothecary in the corner, where those who couldn’t be bothered to make a forest run would buy herbs and tinctures. 

Starved for companionship, you bombarded him with questions about clients, and local herbalism. He was jovial, and after quite a few dregs of honey yarrow grog, offered you a book on the local flora. After some midnight bonding over stories of patients, he gave you a proposition. 

He was having some issues procuring some materials from a special plant, a Fawning Rose. It had incredible healing properties, but a bad habit of uprooting itself and fleeing from anyone who wasn’t a youth. If you could lure it out and bring back anything, be it petals, roots, greens, he would pay you handsomely. Maybe even give you some lessons on how to work with local plant life.

It was for this reason that you found yourself two days into a trip to the heart of the Haire Wilds bordering town. It was not going well. 

***

The cool air caressed your skin as you entered the grove. You had caught a peculiar sweet smell, somehow floral and buttery at the same time, and had followed it with hope filling your heart. The scent had gotten so thick you could taste it, strong as a tea on your tongue. Blue wildflowers covered the ground, interrupted by the common tree route or vine. 

Your eyes followed the vines or small roots, colored a sage with a speckled gradient to midnight blue. They traveled up into the middle of the grove. Sunlight, so rare this far into the Wilds, fell down in large delicious specks from the trees. They refracted off a large flower, almost two yards in width. Its petals were raspberry pink, turning blood red in the middle. Vines from its base led upwards and rested on the low boughs of the nearest trees, framing the flower and its various young buds like some sort of ethereal art study. 

You grew excited, feet tripping over roots as you ran forward, losing a shoe. You lost balance again and landed face first into the crook of a particularly large vine and hit your head. Hard. 

Hot pain crashed through you, making you curse as you steadied yourself. You tried to get up but the heat struck your temple like lightning as you moved upwards. Alright. Best to stay down then. 

As you waited, you were able to see past the stars in your eyes and notice a slight powdery substance on the vines. It, too, was pink. 

Maybe it was the thrill of finally finding the damn thing, or the head injury, but you felt different. You could hear your heart pumping hard in your chest, pleasantly tight. Your breath was ragged, the air pushing a hard, chilling heat through you. 

Like a particularly good run, your mind registered. A high. 

Your limbs started to tingle at the tips.

The rose’s perfume felt more like a mist now. You were only a few feet away from the base flower, and the scent had turned heady. Your hunger from a missed meal seemed to be surfacing, goaded on by the delectable smell the plant was giving off. While the pain eased and the stars disappeared from your eyes, you noticed that the lightheaded fuzzy feeling stayed.

Uh oh. Not a concussion.

You had to work hard to bring the fear into your mind. There was very little anyone could do to help you out here. The best you could do was not move around too much, and hoped the Fawning Rose would cooperate.

Suddenly, you notice some movement from the roots under your palms. 

No no no not now! Please, I haven’t harvested you yet! You thought as you tried to scramble up. 

The roots moved upwards with you, shoving you onto your side. Sliding around your feet, one took your other shoe with it as it slithered about under you. Another seemed to upend itself and squeeze cooly between your toes. You jumped a bit, but your gaze and mind were slow.

Something thick gilded itself on your shoulder making you look up. Vines, three, four, five of them descended and started rubbing themselves against you like cats. The movement was kicking up clouds of the pink pollen, making you sneeze as you wiggled against the plants outer limbs.

A part of you was horrified, thinking that perhaps you had scared the thing off. After all, you had been warned that this type of rose was particularly skittish. But the plant did not seem to be gathering itself to run away, rather it was pulling you closer to itself, the dragging tearing at the underside of your clothes.

Try as you might, you couldn't seem to think. Foggy, fuzzy, your mind was like cotton. The tingling in your fingertips has spread through your body, and an embarrassed part of your brain noticed your lower body was starting to awaken too. A warmth was beginning to pool in your gut, slow and lazy. Tingly. Fuzzy, like your head.

The vines continue to rub against your body, tearing the rest of your clothes away until only skin remains. They were relentless, cool against your hot skin. Their outer layers were textured but still smooth; a foreign sensation but extremely exciting. It felt almost like something was licking you, the powder giving a wet feel as it spread itself all over. Liquid heat glazed the innermost parts of you, much to your embarrassment. 

Aphrodisiac. You finally registered. You started to curse out that damned store keeper. 

You’d been played. 

You were now at the base of the flower, with even more roots and vines cradling and moving over your body. You were… pushed? Pulled? A foot into the air, close enough so that some of the smaller buds were leaning over you, as if they were getting a good look at you. You felt a knowing, a presence from this plant now. It really was looking at you.

Some desperate part of your mind, far far back in your mind, tries to set off danger bells. That you needed to get up and run.

Ooze started to secrete from the smaller buds, and the already overpowering scent of floral butteriness seemed to multiply. It dripped out onto your belly, warm and tingling, then your chest, your inner thigh, even a bit on your cheek.

The syrup dribbled down into the planes of your mouth as you wriggled under the vines. A particularly mischievous one pushes through the plush cheeks of your ass and moves up, poking at your entrance, causing you to gasp. 

The liquid touches your tongue. It tastes just as it smells, deliriously delicious. Sweet. Hot. It was divine compared to the little rations you’ve been eating the last few days. Like youd been starving and had sudden.ly been given free reign of a pastry shoppe. But no pastry could top this silky butteriness

What little heat that had kindled inside you was now a roaring flame, putting your past arousal to shame. You groan, and pull your head up, sticking your tongue out for more. A part of you is screaming to stop and run, but it is a stupid part that is buried instantly under your sudden overwhelming need. You are desperately horny, and you deserve to feel good after all the trouble you've been through lately.  

Still sticking out your tongue, you start to moan even louder as the vine messages your entrance with its thick girth. At the same time, one of the buds above your face seems to notice your desperation, and leans down to your lips.You lick at its plush petals and sweet sweet nectar seeps into your mouth. It tastes much like a floral pastry and you suck greedily as it pushes itself deeper in. 

The petals are so soft, yet still firm in your mouth as a river of nectar floods your throat. You giggled around it as it started to take its full effect. You felt light as air, so good. 

The vines had moved over to allow a bud to circle itself around your most sensitive part. You gasped out as it started to suck you, making stars flood your already glistening eyes. Your wet lashes fluttered as it began to suck wave after wave of pleasure out of your body.You had never felt so good, you noted somewhere in your sex drunk mind.  The whole time, the bud leaked nectar, completely soaking all parts of your groin.

The nectar left your skin feeling sensitive,  and completely soaked. This seemed to please the vines, which continued to massage the oil about you, then finally push in. You cried out at the sensation. Drool started to pool out of your mouth, mixing with the nectar.

 The vines rubbed lazy curving lines around your walls, making your hips jerk and shake. They seemed to know what they were doing as they started out slow for a time, then sped up their pace, thrashing about inside you. You clench around them, overwhelmed by the unyielding sensation. The pooling heat in you was building high, and you could tell the walls were about to break.

A rogue, mischievous bud had decided to examine your hole, tracing around your entrance in lazy circles. The petals were so soft, softer than skin. The texture made you feel desperate. As if to read your mind, the bud stopped. It must have been blooming because you felt little feelers, probably stamans, tracing about your genitals, wet with its lovely, delicious pollen.

 You swore and whined and pleaded for more as the vines fucked you through it, voice garbled by nectar. Another, thicker vine veined in indigo added itself to its companions and you finally came. The rush was like being tossed in the ocean, a shock that completely enveloped your entire body in cold, pulsing ecstasy. Eyes rolling into the back of your head, your juices spilled down on the forest floor below. 

The echoes of the waves of pleasure were still rocking through you when the vines surrounded your body started to move you upwards again. The vines were slow and delicate as they handled you, as if you were precious cargo. You were brought upwards, almost as if they were about to set you on your feet. Your neck was out, as you were still suckling the addicting flower liquid. 

You noticed through your long damp hair that you were positioned just over the center of the Fawning Roses main flower. A drop of nectar slipped out from inside you and dribbled down and onto the flower's green pistil. The stigma was thick, with four fat lumps at the top. The stamen surrounding it swayed, almost as if there was a breeze. Their magenta anthers rained down more pollen, causing a beautiful gradient against the deep red at the middle of the large petals. It was a truly breathtaking sight. 

A single vine wiggled towards your face and pushed back your hair. You found the gesture almost sweet, leaning into its touch. You remained like that for a time, before the vines started to lower you on to the stigma. 

No no no, you tried to whisper, some understanding dawning; but the bud was being aggressive with its feeding, pushing further in your mouth. It had a job, and its job was to make you so desperately horny and stupid, you’d let this flower breed you. 

The stigma was a hard fit at first. Its lumpy texture felt so good rubbing against you, you couldn’t help but hump back into it. The vines around you squeezing your skin, tilting your hips this way in that, trying to make the fit. The surrounding stamen started to rub their anthers against you, two started focusing on your nipples. You continued to hump the stigma, smearing the nectars from your groin all over it. Then, finally, finally, You were able to squeeze it in. 

The vines had taken over the humping for you now, pushing you down harder and harder onto the pistil. The lumps dragged against your walls in such a beautiful way, that you screamed out babbling whines. Your skin was covered in nectar and bright pink pollen. Every part of you was being squeezed, rubbed, oozed upon with tingling liquid, that you weren’t even sure you had a body anymore, just pleasure. After you came for the fourth time, you started to feel a pulsing within the pistil.  It was like the thing seemed to grow within you.

! ! !

Ridges started to squeeze against your entrance, rubbing against your walls. They moved up, up, up, into the deepest parts of you. There was a sudden burst of warmth, then something small and squishy. You marveled at the texture, as the flower continued to lower you down on the pistil, now at a slower pace, in smaller movements. You ached so badly, but the new sensation of the objects and warmth inside you made you wanna keen louder. They felt sort of like eggs.

Seedpods. You registered lazily. You were being turned into a seedbed. 

This realization only seemed to turn you on even more. They felt so good, rolling about inside your walls. The warmth they brought rivaled the cool temperature of the pistil, a delightful duality. 

You moaned with every bulge, push, then pop of warmth and heaviness. It was getting to the point now where the vines were pulling you up off the pistil to make more room for the seeds. 

! ! !

You were cumming so much now you lost count. It was getting to the point that you were just continuously orgasming, as the seeds and the pistil dragged against your most sensitive parts. 

You may have been like that for hours, days even, the nectar kept you so dizzy you couldn’t tell time. But at some point you were so full that the pistil seemed satisfied. The wriggling stamen around you stilled, and the vines carefully lifted you off the pistil, giving one last drag within your walls.

The bloom inside your mouth slowly dragged itself out, making you whine in protest. The vines carefully laid you down at the foot of their roots, arranging your body in a comfortable position. The vines slowly retreated from your body. They lazily moved about, sometimes knocking into each other in a way that was almost comical. Their movements seemed lazy, almost like it too was spent. 

As the last vine left your skin, it caressed your cheek. Within you some affection of your own seemed to bloom. The haze that was in your mind was starting to dull, and replaced itself with the need to rest. Your heavy eyes closed and you gave into sleep.

***

You awoke without opening your eyes. You could feel that the curving mound of roots you’d been sleeping on had been replaced with fluffy grass and soil. The smell of freshly tilled earth flooded your nose, and you jolted upright, eyes wide.

The grove was quiet, and empty of the Fawning Rose. All that was left behind was you, the upturned soil it had left behind, and light dusting of pink pollen on the trees. Even the sweet pastry-like smell had left the grove.

You looked down at your naked, sore body and groaned. You could see a trail of bruises from where the vines had gripped you, along with dried out nectar and tons of pink pollen. Your stomach puffed out a bit more than normal, meaning all of this had NOT been a dream. Much to your surprise, nothing hurt though. Your body felt great, healthily spent like you had just run a marathon. Considering how hard you had been working there should have been some pain, but there wasn’t. Just the pleasant pressure of the seedpods against your insides.You recall the conversation with the shop owner at the tavern. Looks like this is the flower's healing abilities at work.

You continued to search around the grove. Your clothes were still in shreds on the forest floor, but your bag was safely tucked under one of the trees the flower had rested its vines in. With some effort, you managed to get yourself off the ground to pick it up, waddling the whole way. 

The pollen was still working its magic on you, but you guessed you had been exposed to it long enough to build a slight tolerance. Or maybe the growing rage within you was doing the trick. You pulled out one of the many glass bottles, and a silver knife. You went to work, scraping the dried nectar and pollen off your body, into the jars.

I’m gonna charge that asshole so much money, his kids will be poor. You seethed as you spent hours getting your money's worth off of every plane of your body. You’d have to birth those seed pods later too. Your insides grew warm at the thought. 

You tried not to think about how you were going to have to walk home naked, where you’d been and what you’d been doing laid bare upon your skin. It’d be free advertising tho, you tried to reason. 

You'd make a killing. Aphrodisiacs were rare, and extremely expensive, especially to a crowd of immortals. I think I'll sell these seed pods on my own though. You smiled. 

You’d make sure to be properly prepared the next time you went into the wilds.

Might do a part two, maybe with slimes next time? Also sorry about any switching of tenses, I have a hard time with that! Hope you guys enjoyed!

[blingblong55]

Little red riding hood- König NSFW

Based on a request:

Can I ask for a werewolf König with red riding hood reader and maybe age gap if you’re comfortable with it? And knotting and breeding kink if that’s also allowed Red is a witch in this if that’s okay since it’s October ☺️.Red is in her 20’s while I think König if I’m reading it right, he’s like late 30’s? I could be wrong.Red follows the tale of the story, but what if in this one, Red and König knew each other? Like he was her guardian angel for her growing up, and they were like friends of being outcasts; König being the Big Bad Wolf and Red for her red hood and for being a witch, all because she lives out more in nature then in a village but is their only known healer so they tolerate her. They always say that wherever Red went, the Wolf followed as to make sure Red was never harmed, lurking in the woods. But then, a mysterious woodsman/huntsman appears in town; and he helps around. Goes into the woods to chop trees and hunt; but it is secretly König posing as a man as to avoid suspicion but to also get close to Red 👀 _____ F!Reader, smut, MDNI, 18+, monster au, werewolf!könig, age gap, witch au, witch!reader, unprotected!sex, friends to lovers, P-in-V, breeding _____

A/N: It won't be as extensive as I wanted but I hope you enjoy and im sorry for posting this a day late

A small home in the woods, where a young witch lived, and a neighbour far away that became her friend. You and he became friends when he first introduced himself. Ever since, he has become your protector, friend and guidance. But with time, that sense of protecting you just because you were his friend changed. Infatuation for some. Love, respect and honesty for him. He wasn't normal, that was known and you weren't very much liked, that is a fact. But why don't you get the townspeople to pester you? You heal, and anyone in town sick comes to your small home for healing. No pharmacy in town, just the same old hospital and you. Yes it's true, while no one likes you, they respect you and your abilities to heal others.

It has taken time to get used to this newfound fame, but with König around to help and protect, life is great. And now as you made your way to the dark forest for another special herb for a healing session in the morning, you pulled the hood of your cloak on your head. The red material disguises you in the woods. This is perfect for the man who follows you like a shadow, a new stalker you swore was out to harm you. The dark magic protects you from it when it knows you don't know it. As it doesn't protect you from this mysterious creature, you begin to fasten your pace. König not with you this time scares you. "For the souls, help me," you whisper as you begin to sprint. A tree that you recognise in sight. "König," you remember and turn a sharp right, running towards the only haven besides your home.

Your wicker basket in hand, the plants and book moving with this quickened pace. You knock on his door, it takes time but when he opens it, he is in his human form. "König, there…there was a man- or thing…and-" you try to explain. His large form moves you inside, he smiles, knowing he has his precious thing with him now. "You're safe now, liebe," he whispers as he holds you in his arms. Your basket is now on the ground of his cabin, the cosy walls surrounding you both from the cold breeze and fog of the autumn season. The moon was almost full as it was the 30th of October, almost his time of turning. He pulls away and cups your face in his large hands, he chuckles to himself at this beautiful view. "Now, why don't you and I sit down and talk, ja?" And as time passes, he walks you home. Hallow Eve in the coming minutes, you with a journey to your grandma. He kisses your forehead and disappears in the night.

By morning, as you take your baked goods to the one lady who kept you sane, you see a lumberman, axe in hand as he walks through the woods. You stop in your tracks, as far as you are concerned, no one in town took trees down from your property. König at his home as you stared at his man. Figure more rougher than any man you've seen. Hallows hour is approaching soon, and your grandmother needs your protection at that time. You continued walking and then the man turned to you, scarecrow mask on, you know this wasn't normal. Everyone in town knew not to mess with you, for the man with the howls was behind when his precious girl came to town. With a hand on the dagger the old witch crafted, you never give this mysterious man your back as you walk past and before you make it to the sacred gardens, he chases you with the power most men can't possess.

König, you think of. He was not near, nowhere as near as this man posing as a noble lumberman. You can't drop the basket in fear that your potions and book will be stolen and used against yourself and the greater good of others. Three claw marks in a tree of where König left his mark. A haven, his home much closer as possible. The early morning fog made the ground nearly visible. "König!" you scream in hopes of having his ability to hear it all and listen to you. You run and run, the red cloak dancing with the wind like a willow tree.

Once you make it to him, you knock and knock, calling for him in desperation. It was the oldest trick in the book for dark, smart and in need-of-love wolves. To court and how to make it fast. "For heavens my Liebling, what's the matter?" he asks with a soft tone, breathing trying to slow down. "It happened again, but this…this time the man chased me with-…i..an axe and- well." He shakes his head, inside spirit smiling like the devil. "I'm here to protect you, my liebe," he kisses your forehead and acts as if he is determined to kill the man. The hoax is well done as he has you vulnerable and scared, all for him to use against you and kiss you and make you his finally. Your arms holding him close, he chuckles knowing that the woman he loves finds comfort in him. He kisses your forehead over and over, and guides you to his bedroom to, 'let you rest' but it's all part of his plan to make you, his.

They say to claim, is to leave a mark, and König intended to do just that. His scent on your red cloak, your dress and the basket you carried with care. His gaze softens, but his touch is rough as he lays you in bed. "Now, why don't I show you how good I can take care of you?" One nod from him and another from you has him removing the unnecessary clothes. There was something different in the atmosphere, he felt it and you know you can feel it too. "König, I-" you say but his finger flies to your lips. "Let me show you I care," his voice was still so soft but as time kept getting closer, that soft voice would turn to howls and hoarse words. He kisses you, you kiss him back, which he smiles to as he knows you feel the same way…finally. No longer does he have to lure you into his home, he can have you come here, willingly. The lumberman character is lost in the woods as he gets lost in you.

His hands are on your waist as with his thumb he lifts your dress, and you squirm. "It's okay, I won't hurt you, I want to please you," he tells you. You know it's not an empty word he ushers but honesty. Your body soon to be his, your love and devotion, written in time as his. His bulge, with a wet shadow as his pre-cum leaks from just this contact. You un-do his trousers, he looks down and then at you, "You want it that bad, don't you?" A devil smirk on him again. "I need it," you tell him. He pushes you deeper in the bed as his kisses become rough, trailing to your jaw and neck, he growls and time ticks. It's a countdown. Poets and other simple writers, all authoring about a woman in a red cloak, afraid of the big bad wolf, to have it debunked by you and him. Covered in lust and deep in love. His cock is ready to pump you full of his seed. He needs to breed your pretty pussy that drips the taste of heaven. Your hands fly to his back, he lets out a groan.

"That's it, baby, mark me," his hands fly to your cunt, fingers it and licks his fingers after. "Just like I predicted, heaven from you," he kisses you once more, this time so you can taste glory. His cock, in a desperate need to fuck itself into you, slowly lets his tip in. You moan, he was big, thick and already so red and swollen for you. Seconds pass and now, as his werewolf self comes to play with his prey, his heavy cock spreads you open. You whimper and cry. "That's right darling, keep making those pretty noises for me," he kisses you, and you moan into it. His large hands on you, claiming every last bit of you as his. His thrusts are like this form of himself, animalistic and wild. Your body and his, in unity, as he claims that cunt of yours. Your clit, rubbed by his large hands, your eyes rolling back. Thrusts so good it turns you into a blabbering mess. His dark laugh melts you, he loves this view of you.

Your orgasm building up, your pussy wrapping around him like a perfect glove. He groans and grunts. It was art for what sex can be. To have your cunt, spread and filled with his fat cock, it was art. Your hands, marking his back, he lets out a growl, his beast cannines on view. "Don't. Fucking. Stop." He adores how he claims you and you do him. His hands fly to your neck as he chokes you and as his moans and grunts fill the gap between you and him. And just as you were already riding your high, you feel him, his cock grow within you, creating a nest inside of you. The art of sex and knotting your mate, a plan he knew all too well. Your eyes leak with tears, tears he helped create as he proves to you, that love is not emotional at times but physical. His cum, leaking from your cunt that was already filled to the brim. "You like it when I breed you like that?" This is a not-so-innocent question that will be asked throughout this relationship. "You like it, I know my little whore does," eh kisses you, and thrusts slowly as he plans on keeping his cock in you for some more time.

A/N: I apologise if this wasn't good or how it was requested...sorry

Tags:

@bigtimesalt8196 @alxexhearts @kit-kats06 @greatstormcat @crimson404deer @liyanahelena @sleepydang @arithestrawberry @l0calfatherfiiigure @sigrid666 @killshotcodxxx @potatoknight @scarletevening @elowynnlane @brazen-haze @rinsworld @briefartnaturewolf @rnangoes @ess-perspective-blog @jihyowl

[readychilledwine]

Headcanons on taking each High Lord in their beast form?

I'm sweating.

✨️High Lord Monsterfucking Headcanons✨️

Warnings- monsterfucking, beast forms, primal instincts, breeding references, mentions of knotting, implied size kink just on subject matter alone, primal play, biting scratching, marking, mating marks, picture references from Bad Dragon, unrealistic smut, dr. jekyll and mr. hyde type situations

A/n - This one might get me in trouble. A lot of thought went into this. We're going with a partial shift situation. Ignore the colors of things. Think of them as whatever color you want then to be.

Please remember, not all kinks are for everyone. If this one isn't yours, there is plenty of smut on my masterlist 💕

Rhysand

I firmly believe Rhysand would have a primal play kink regardless of if he's in his beastform, but mentally prepare yourself for bruises, scratching, and biting

Rhysand is typically a gentle but passionate lover, his beast is not. His beast has one goal: breed.

You aren't going to walk for a while. That's the reality. Sorry.

When picking for Rhysand, I was kind of drawn to the idea that he wouldn't have an overly scary monster cock, but it's very thick and heavy

It's going to touch places science doesn't have a name for yet. Once you relax, it's nothing but pleasure

I decided with all the animals Tamlin's shifted form looks like, he gets to have a horse like cock

Tamlin

I feel like sex in his beastform is something Tamlin is fan of.

Or at least, he'll shift part of himself to his beast form.

The interesting thing with Tamlin is he can shift his cock to whatever you'd desire. Fire drake, tentacle, normal but enhanced girth. Whatever you need to feel good, Tamlin will provide

He'd be down to shift his cock to every fantasy or based on your mood as well

What I'm getting at is sex with Tamlin is rarely not in some form of a beast form.

I am a firm believer in the form we've been told about not being Tam's true beastform, though.

I imagine sex with him in that form is delightfully dangerous for those of you who want to live on the edge.

Neck held between his teeth, plants holding you exactly where his beast wants you. I don't see Tamlin's beast being gentle in any way, shape, or form.

I firmly believe Tamlin isn't really all that into the idea of kids at the moment, and I think due to how often Tamlin shifts, he has control over that side of him and it's aware. So. No breeding kink here.

I almost went with Tarquin's beast form being a kraken. I landed on a leviathan instead. This was a missed tentacle opportunity. Sorry.

Tarquin

I couldn't help but to think "coral" with the texture of this, and that made me go "Tarquin"

I imagine Tarquin as a gentle and giving lover, regardless of form.

You'll still get primal play, but imagine deep growls of satisfaction versus dominance.

Tarquin is going to leave you covered in love marks and reminders when he is in this form.

Tarquin is all about breeding. His beast is going to pump you full and keep you full until it decides otherwise

Yea, I gave him a slightly scary one.

Helion

It's because I feel like Helion would find the idea of knotting delicious, but more easing into it instead hurting you.

Helion in his fae form is adventurous, but I think his beast is more straight to it. Hard, rough, and demanding.

The male knocked up Lady Autumn on accident. You'll be on purpose. He's knotting you and forcing you to lay there, exhausted, overstimulated, and whimpering until his knot deflates.

He will shift back after that and give you the best aftercare.

Helion has bit your neck and forever marked you as his. When his beast sees that mark, it's almost as if he purrs while he's affectionately licking what is his

I feel like Beron in his fae and beast form is a flip of a coin. If you're obedient and submissive, he's a generous lover. If you're not, well, expect to just be his playtoy.

Beron

Which, don't get me wrong, if you're into used and abused, let me introduce you to the High Lord of Autumn

Beron's beast form is straight up feral. Snarling, growling, biting, scratching. I'd recommend visiting a healer for a good healing Potion.

Beron clearly has a breeding kink. His beast form is no exception.

You need to be prepared to spend hours cockwarming his beast because he's not going to let you move for a while. That seed is too precious to waste.

His beast form cock is intimidating. Mainly due to the head.

Lots of prep going into him taking you like this. He may be cruel, but he has no interest in damaging his favorite part of you.

I'll be honest, I don't see Thesan as the type to enjoy monsterfucking.

Thesan

I see Thesan as a sweet bottom starfish who just wants to relax and have someone else do the work.

You can ride, maybe? How ambitious are you? Very? That's good. This dick tapers

You think it will be easy the first time since the tip and top of his shaft are slimmer. Hit the middle and get back to me

I loved the idea of his cock having bumps along the sides. Extra stimulation for you, and in my mind, extra sensitive for him.

I don't even really see Thesan as a power bottom. People normally like the opposite roles they present to the public during sex. I feel Thesan, even in his beast form, feels that way as well.

He's more than happy to lie back, watching you please yourself using him, watching you take things your pace.

Don't sleep on this male. I keep tell you all.

Kallias

Knotting. Knotting. Knitting.

All the time. Expect it when you are enjoying his beast.

He got Viv pregnant fast for a reason, so I hope you like Littles.

I wanted something smooth for Kal with the logic that their beast forms are supposed to be the physical representations of their powers. Smooth and cool like ice is what I was picturing, and this fit the bill

Still slightly ridged for your pleasure, but mostly a smooth ride to absolute bliss.

I imagine Kal can play with his body temperature. Making this colder at will for some interesting temperature play

I do see him as valuing intimacy and romance more than pleasure. With who he is at his core, I imagine his beast is about foreplay and aftercare.

There's a misconception that gentle sex is boring (thanks porn) and Kal is proof that is wrong. Very very wrong.

Yes, he will growl, bite you if asked, and run his claws down your back, but those harsher touches are followed by his snoot buried in your neck and hair, his tongue flicking a sensitive area of your choice, and purring. Comforting purring.

Kal's slow when he has you take his knot. He works it in inch by tantalizing inch until you are drooling below him.

That's his favorite sight in the world. You in a state of total Euphoria.

Tag List not attached to respect that this isn't everyone's cup of tea 💕

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Bruce crashed to the ground.

The bright green portal that brought him here snapped shut above him leaving him stranded in an unknown location. He had just managed to stand up when he heard someone call out to him.

"Hey!" A boy with black hair and blue eyes came running up to him, "Are you okay?"

Bruce grunted, glaring at the small creature trailing behind the child through his cowl, "I'm fine. Where am I?"

"You're in Unova, smack dab inside the Pinwheel forest." The kid said, "What an unlucky place to land."

"Unlucky how?"

Aside from giving him a disapproving look, the child was unfazed by his tone. "The Pinwheel forest got its name because its a natural maze. The monsters here are weak but you might find yourself going in circles if you're not careful."

Batman thought for a moment, "monsters?"

The child smiled and Bruce thought he looked like his other children before the boy excitedly introduced his "partner pokemon": Aron

The Aron in question made happy little noises as it approached and nuzzled its metal face into the side of Batmans boot. Cute.

"Oh, by the way, my names Danny. Do you want me to take you to town? There's a professor there that you can talk to. She might not be able to help you get back to your home world but maybe she can find someone who can."

Batman narrowed his eyes at him, "How did you know I wasn't from this world. Thats not usually the first conclution people jump to."

For the first time since Danny had met the Batman he actually squirmed a bit. "Anyway, let's get started! It's a long trek to town!"

It took them about two days to get out of the forest. Danny had thankfully lent him use of his equipment and food. It was nice having a tent to sleep it when the rain hit on the first night, even if it was a little cramped. Aron curled up between them to soak up thier body heat like a housecat.

It was also a relief that Danny could cook, though Bruce had no idea where the child was storing all of this stuff.

Danny ran off into town, saying that people were going to ask a lot of questions if a guy dressed as a bat came strolling into town and if he was going to be staying in this world for a while it was probably best to get him some normal clothes.

Bruce reluctantly agreed and after telling him his sizes the kid ran off to the store, leaving Aron behind to "protect him". Bruce hated relying on a childs generosity to get by.

Soon enough the kid came back with an all black outfit, saying something about it suiting him. Bruce left to change and came back to Danny giving Aron and his other pokemon Staryu some Oran berries.

After that they finally set off to town.

The professor was nice, if infuriatingly calm about giving literal monsters to random children. The professor even offered Bruce a pokemon egg since he was probably going to be in this world a while.

Bruce accepted the gift, wondering what he was getting himself into when Danny got excited.

The child explained that he was a treasure hunter/explorer by trade that survived by finding things he could sell in shops but he wasn't a very strong trainer and had to be careful where he went due to the presence of powerful pokemon.

Danny then asked Bruce to travel with him to be his bodyguard.

Bruce was very displeased to discover people set thier kids loose into a monster infested world around the age of ten and horrified to know the actual survival rate of this stupidity.

Bruce agreed to protect him and got registered as a pokemon trainer and was given the egg and some pokeballs. Danny offered to teach him how to catch pokemon as Bruce planted a listening device somewhere.

They set off back into the pinwheel forest to catch Bruces first pokemon and to start thier journey.

Meanwhile, Dannys excited to travel with someone who seems like a proper dad.

It couldn't hurt to pretend, right?

[kaislashes]

Back from the dead once again!

Orc x Reader

NSFW

You always find yourself interested in the boy next door, the one with green skin, tusks and quite large regardless of being the same age as you. Your parents try to drill into your head to stay away from the family of orcs, that they were monsters and brutes. Little to their knowledge you had already befriended him and were more than acquainted. His name was Rafali, he was an outgoing person contrast to your shy demeanor but that didn’t stop him from striking up a conversation. The first time you’d found yourself interacting with him was when you were 12 and, in your backyard, sitting on a lawn chair with a book in hand. Your ripped out of your story when a ball rudely comes flying over the fence separating your yard from the ones that had moved in weeks prior. You pick up the ball and head over to toss it back but your met with a rather deep but young voice, "Im so sorry, I might have overdone that kick." You peak through a gap in the fence and see a young boy, probably no older than yourself. You throw the ball over and introduce yourself, he does the same and you find out his name is Rafali and he should be attending the same school as you soon.

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

Youre now 16 and spend all your free time sneaking around to see Rafali who has now become one of your closest friends. He invites you out one night to a move that your parents forbid you from seeing and you definitely arent turning down the offer. Your both giggling and hes helping you sneak out of your window to escape the household. "Shhhhhh, theyre gonna catch us dude." You smile at him as you both start running out of the yard. "Let them." He throws a smile your way as you make your way down the street and slow down once out of sight. "You know I can't, my family is.... judgmental and would kill me if they knew we hung out. I dont want to risk losing you." He slows down and comes to a full stop, turning to look at you. "You know I won't ever let that happen." And all too quickly he's leaning and a planting a small kiss to your lips. At first your stunned and reciprocate the action. The night goes well and you make it home without being caught.

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

2 Years have passed since that night, you've both been dating officially since that summer night when you first kissed. You've never been happier. Tonight he invited you over since his parents were leaving town and you were able to come up with an excuse that your friend Ashley was having a girls night so your parents werent suspicious.

You leave the house as normal as possible but inside youre anxious, this would be the first time the both of you were alone and you knew this night would be the start of something serious. It's night like you havent had alone time, youve had plenty of makeout sessions but nothing more. You have to go all the way around the alley to sneak into his back yard so your parents dont see you going in. Hes waiting for you at the back door and lets you in quickly. It doesn't take long before clothes are being shed and heated kisses are exchanged. He has you on his bed, both completely bare and youve never been so shy around him before, youre trying to cover your chest but he grabs your hands. "You don't have to be nervous yknow? I love you so much and I promise Ill be gentle." You swallow and nod, letting him take the lead. He puts your hands above your head and leaves them there. He reaches to the side of the bed to grab a bottle of lube and spills some onto his hand and on your cunt as well. He slowly starts to massage against your clit and you cant help but arch from the feeling. He pushes your hips down. "You need to stay still baby, I dont want to hurt you." You nod as he slowly starts to push a finger in and moan. The feeling is weird at first, almost painful but hes slow and uses his other hand to rub your bundle of nerves. After you start to get used to the feeling he adds and second finger and starts to scissor them, his fingers are so thick that it makes you scared for the actual thing. Once he deems you ready he removes both fingers and lines up his cock, you cant help but stare im disbelief at the sheer size of it. "I dont think thats going to fit." You say nervously. He runs his other hand down your face and tries to reassure you. "We'll make it fit, yeah?" You nod, ready to believe and do anything he asks. You feel him slowly start to push in, the intrusion making you feel so full and some discomfort. He stops once hes fully hilted, you look up at him and his face is pinched, clearly trying to control himself. You reach up and touch his face gently and he opens his eyes, once his meets yours his face softens. "I love you so much." "I love you too." "Then move." I say and thats all he needed. He starts off slowly and the feeling goes from pain to pleasure the more he picks up speed, your moaning loudly and clawing at your lovers back as hes pistoning into your tight warmth while grunting. You feel him reach between you both and start rubbing your clit fast, the feeling of him slamming into you and rubbing sends you over the edge, you cry out his name as you tighten around him and that's all it takes for him to pull out and finish all over your mound. It takes everything in him not to collapse on top of you, he starts to walk away to get a rag but you pull him back. "We can clean later?" You both fall into bed , sweaty, gross but happy.

[livwritesstuff]

I love this series, it is a burst of serotonin every time it comes across my dash. I had a thought though, how would El react to Steve being called Papa? Does she have a reaction? She would have only known that word used by a monster, not a loving father. Would they have thought to tell her, or would it just have happened at a birthday/holiday celebration of one of the kids?

Thanks.

Ooh okay I honestly thought a lot about this while i was planning out Plant a Seed (the main fic that introduces the kids).

I really liked the notion of Steve’s kids calling him Pop when they’re kids/teenagers, because I feel like Steve’s own dad would have been very formal, probably would have made steve call him sir, weaponized his role as steve’s father, and all that. Pop to me has such a casual fondness to it that would be such a contrast to Steve’s experience with his own father. I think Eddie would suggest it and Steve would immediately love it and it would just feel right to him, and the natural course of it is that if he’s Pop to his older kids, then he’s Papa to his kids when they’re very young.

In terms of how El would react — I’m not sure.

Given what we’ve seen from the show itself, it’s very likely that Steve doesn’t know that Papa holds a pretty heavy weight for El in a not-so-nice way.

To me, the El we see on the show is barely even a person. She is still very much a product of the trauma she’d gone through and hasn’t had enough time yet to develop a true sense of self and personality, and without that I think it’s really hard to predict the person she’d be when Moe is born in 2001 (fifteen years later).

I don’t think anyone would necessarily tell her in advance that Steve’s daughter calls him Papa. I don’t know how many people would recognize the significance of that for El specifically.

I think it’s most likely that she finds out by hearing it.

Like, maybe Hop and Joyce invite everyone to come home for a barbecue or something. El goes, and so do Eddie and Steve and their daughter.

Moe is just around 1 and going through a phase where she’s very much clinging to Steve. Steve, Eddie, and Hop go out to pick up some stuff for dinner, and leave Moe behind with the others. When they get back, Moe toddles over to see who’s there, and then El hears —

“Papa!”

El feels like someone dumped a bucket of ice water on her head that’s trickling down her spine, and her heart is racing in a way she hasn’t felt in a while — but she hasn’t thought about that word in a while either.

She looks over to see that the baby’s got a big beaming smile on her face and Steve’s wearing one too as he swings his daughter up into his arms and peppers kisses all over her chubby cheeks and tells her how much he missed her even though he hadn’t even been gone twenty minutes.

And Eddie’s feigning an affronted expression as he says, “What am I? Chopped liver?”, but the baby just keeps clinging to Steve, her tiny little hands gripping his shoulders as he tickles her belly to make her laugh.

And El has never seen someone so happy to be a dad as Steve is right now.

So maybe El’s got some things to think about.

[marsbutterfly]

..cowboy hanji

that’s it

Headcanons: Cowboy! Hanji Zoe

a/n: BITCH. YOU UNLEASHED A MONSTER.

warnings: nonbinary! hanji zoe, fem! reader, fluff, they do throw up at the end so idk sjfaopfa be aware of that. also, this is lowkey inspired by stardew valley and i didn't beta read, we die like men

/ cowboy! hanji has always been the town's favorite. they are known for their little quirks, such as taking in every stray animal they find in the desert and nursing them back to health, or mixing drinks down at the saloon while no one was looking and daring their friends to drink it. It never ended too well.

/ cowboy! hanji is oblivious to the fact that every girl in town has a crush on them. like, it's pretty bad actually. they keep getting "not so secret" messages from girls they've just met, saying how they are "soooooo smart, and kind, and have the most beautiful smile." they think they are just being nice.

/ cowboy! hanji never believed in love at first sight until you moved into town. you were moving in to take over your grandfather's old farm after spending most of your life traveling around and collecting all the knowledge you needed to make things work.

/ cowboy! hanji didn't know someone new was moving in, so when the mayor introduced the two of you, they immediately turned into a blushing mess, unable to even form a single coherent sentence. but when you giggled at their antics, they knew they were fucked.

/ cowboy! hanji immediately offered to be your tour guide, they were so excited to have someone new to talk to about the different kinds of vegetations and you had more knowledge than anyone they had ever been around. oh, all the information they could learn from someone like you.

/ cowboy! hanji who always stops by your farm with new books regarding the town's history, dishes they learned to cook during their childhood and their designated recipes. they always do their best to come early in the day to help you care for your crops, or take care of your animals, even help you take stuff into town to set up your stall at the market. they don't mind the temperature and seeing how happy it makes you, just makes it all worth it for them.

/ cowboy! hanji has a thick, velvet laced southern accent. it's a little stronger than anyone else's and, at first, you do have some trouble understanding them. but the more time the two of you spend together, talking the night away over a bottle of aged whiskey, the more you understand them. not only the way they talk, but also the way they think.

/ cowboy! hanji who carries around two guns and three knives. if there is one thing about them is that they refuse to be underprepared for any kind of danger, even more so now that you have come into their life and they found something that they want so desperately to protect.

/ cowboy! hanji who never saw themselves falling in love with anyone, but can't seem to get you off their mind for a single second. the simple idea of seeing you later in the day makes their heart race and they clutch their hat every single time.

/ cowboy! hanji who sees you and tips their hat at you. a simple sign of respect that always earns an honest and gentle giggle out of you because the two of you have been close for a few months at this point.

/ cowboy! hanji who can tie any knots and lasso literally anything that moves. the first time one of your cows escaped, you tried your best to get it under control yourself, but your talents involved plants and crops and the mere idea of lassoing anything caused a small wave of panic to wash over you. luckily for you, hanji was right on time for their morning help with the chores and, as soon as they saw the runaway cow, they chased after the animal and lassoed it with such ease that you can feel your face burning with embarrassment. you repaid them with fresh lemonade and a pie.

/ cowboy! hanji who always considered themselves to be straight forward but can never get a single word about their feelings out when it comes to you. their entire face turns bright red and their brain stops functioning the minute they see you smile. it's their biggest weakness.

/ cowboy! hanji who invites you to the town's festival one day, explaining how it's a massive tradition and how everyone would be there. you ask if you should bring something or maybe set up a stall and they shake their head, saying they'll take care of everything and you should just save up the most delicious looking veggies and fruits you've harvested so far.

/ cowboy! hanji who pays a group of teenagers to take care of your stall at the festival so the two of you can have some fun. it's a thoughtful gesture and you insist on paying them back, but they deny it immediately. the two of you go back and forth for a while until they decide that the only way you can repay them is for you to be their arm candy for the night.

/ cowboy! hanji who refuses to let you pay for any food or any of the games around the festival. they get you to try their favorites and the two of you continuously have eating competitions or seeing who is going to win more prizes by the end of the night or who will be the ultimate hero.

/ cowboy! hanji whose eyes immediately glow when they notice the mechanical bull at the town's square. the mischievous glint never fading as they look at you, only to realize you share the same look in your eyes. no words are needed for the two of you to understand each other, running to place your prizes behind your stall and making your way towards the line.

/ cowboy! hanji who gives up so easily when you flash them those big, puppy dog eyes and they agree to go first. they're experienced, more so than most people, so it's not easy to knock them down. as you count, it takes nearly a minute to get them off the back of the fake animal and you set it off as a personal vendetta to beat their record.

/ cowboy! hanji whose lips can't seem to close the longer you stand on the back of the mechanical bull. a minute passes, then thirty more seconds, hell you are nearly at two minutes by the time your arms give up and you allow yourself to fall from the machine. all you can hear are the roars of the town's people celebrating around you.

/ cowboy! hanji whose screams are louder than anyone else's as they celebrate your victory. they scoop you up in their arm, placing your ass on their shoulder as they continue to pump their hand in the air while the other holds you in place. they don't even notice, but they've been chanting the words "that's MY girl!" over and over and over again.

/ cowboy! hanji who finally places you down as the two of you begin to make your way back home, all your items already packed. as you stand at the edge of the festival, a few people still dancing around and eating, you stand in front of them, your eyes glistening under the hanging lights and the moon. with their free hand, hanji brushes a strand of hair behind your ear, their breath trembling slightly as they finally find the courage to ask "can i kiss you?"

/ cowboy! hanji whose cheeks turn bright red and their breathing hitches in their throat as you nod. their lips gently brushing above yours as you melt into their touch. it's a gentle kiss, the roughness of their hands on your waist contrasting directly with the softness of their lips, the taste of the candy apple the two of you shared earlier in the evening still present in their tongue as it wraps around yours. you can't help but hum against their mouth, your hands gently cupping their cheeks as you carefully nibble at their lower lip.

/ cowboy! hanji whose heart has connected with yours the minute they saw you for the first time. their forehead touching yours as the two of you stand in a comfortable silence for a little while, it doesn't last long. the two of you stare at each other for a few seconds before running off towards the nearest trash cans. the combination between the excitement of the kiss, the mechanical bull ride and all the junk food finally catching up to the two of you.

/ cowboy! hanji who holds your hand as the two of you get sick together in the trash cans behind city hall.

[millylotus]

Super Villain Summer Internships [Everlasting Trio, DpxDc]

Everlasting Trio don’t know what they’re going to do for college, so they decide to just bite the bullet and do a few internships. Although they all forget to tell each other that they’re each interning with villains.

Danny is with Mister Freeze, going under the name Blizzard

Danny is basically the one doing a bunch of intern work while also not, at first he was just kinda there cause he liked being cold

But then he and Freeze begin to bond over feeling responsible for things that aren’t really their fault, Danny promises to help Freeze revive Nora

They have a father-son relationship, in how they’re actually pretty similar in personality & powers

Sam is with Poison Ivy, under the name Blood Blossom

Sam is the only one to have a legal internship because Ivy actually wrote her down as her legal lab assistant

She and Pam are very Big Sis-Little Sis energy, Sam is the annoying younger sibling who wants to do everything their big sister does

Pam finds this devotion to their ideals adorable, and supports Sam in their joint endeavors

Tucker is with Bane, going as Ruin

Tucker acting as Bane’s tech guy, he’s been working on a new type of venom for Bane he doesn’t get into many fights but if he needs to he doesn’t back down

They have an Uncle-nephew relationship going on but also Tucker gets a bit obsessive about making the best venom that they have Frankenstein & Frankenstein’s Monster going on too

It’s mainly just Tucker getting to cackle evilly while Bane just say “Alright chiquito, have you eaten breakfast yet? You get angry when hungry.”

The batfam is not prepared to deal with two mini rouges and a secret mini rouge who they haven’t met yet but are still worried about

A couple weeks into their internship the Gotham Rogues have their bi-monthly meeting where The Everlasting Trio is introduced to everyone

Ivy, Freeze, & Bane were also surprised to see that their interns actually knew each other/are dating

The Everlasting Trio are the entire reason why the Gotham Rogues are even talking to each other at the moment

Now the bats are even more confused & concerned because the rogues are usually at each other’s throats

It’s the only thing keeping them from taking over tbh

When the batfam find out that the three interns they’ve had to deal with for like most of June, all know each other and are actively in a polycule, they feel like everything makes so much more sense

The trio do have an ulterior motive to this whole thing, at first it’s just indulging in their less than stellar morals

Until it’s not

They become more enthralled in their ambitions, Sam begins to care less and less about the world outside of plants, she cares less about the civilian casualties, she begins to use ecto-science on plants

Pam & Harley are very concerned because they’re both on their path to redemption and Sam is going in the other direction

Danny becomes just as obsessive as Mister Freeze with trying to bring back Nora, he’s bringing in ecto-science in an attempt to bring her back through re-bonding her soul back to her body

Freeze isn’t against this exactly, but he’s unsure if it’ll bring the real Nora back, he’s still gonna go with it

Tucker has fully fallen into the mad scientist idea, he wants to make Bane the best version of himself the best human possible, his new version of venom is directed by ecto-science and such

Bane of course wants to be stronger but he knows at some point Tucker is gonna go to far, so he’s willing to hold the kid back if need be, but he isn’t going to actually do it he wants Tucker to go bad

By the time the Trio reaches the point of no return their bosses realizes this is not going to go their way anymore

Everlasting Trio: You’re just afraid to take it, One. Step. Further.

The fight to take back Gotham from the Everlasting Trio is a long one

Sam has complete control over Robinson Park [biggest park in Gotham] along with its botanical gardens and such

The surrounding neighborhoods are overrun with plants, she has people asleep and under her control for the most part

Tucker has most of the upper districts running wild on the venom he’s made, people are now more powerful than Superman himself and have lost their minds in their blind rage, they’re all mainly under his control

Danny has the east bays and the graveyards near by, everything is frozen over, the bodies in the harbor and in the ground have been reanimated into ice soldiers and are under his control most of the time

Ivy, Harley, Freeze, & Bane have to call in the bats for help with the Trio and their plans

They split up to go for their kid, with a few bats behind them to back them up

Ivy & Harley pull on Sam’s care for the rest of the world

Bane brings Tucker down from the high, making him think this through

Freeze gets Danny to realize that nobody he brought back is who they first were

By the end of it the trio is subdued after a big fight and some impassioned speeches

They’re admitted into Arkham Asylum, they promise their mentors that they’ll do better, that they’ll get better & make them proud of them

Admittedly I completely forgot to mention the trio’s family back in Amity

Let’s just say they don’t all know the nature of their internship

Jack & Maddie are aware that Danny is interning under an important doctor but they weren’t sure who he is

Angela & Maurice don’t know what’s going on with Tucker he hasn’t given them any stable information, he wanted to keep it that way with them thinking he’s still a good kid

Jeremy & Pamela know exactly what Sam was doing, she made sure of it, she wanted them to know they’re baby girl was running with villains now

Jazz is actually living in Gotham while this is going on, she going to college at GU for psychology, she’s interning at Arkham

She’s actually close with the bats, having met Jason, she’s one of the few psychs they trust at all

She knows that Sam is working with Ivy, she’s tried reaching out to her but Sam refuses to talk to her

She’s only ever seen Blizzard from afar, and was unable to connect him with Danny

She didn’t even know Ruin existed until the bats told her, and even then she didn’t know he was Tucker

When they’re taken down Jazz finds out who they are and she’s crushed, she feels she not only failed Sam, but also Danny & Tucker as well

Since the trio are all 18+ by the time they’re arrested nobody from Amity is sent anything to tell them they’ve been arrested

For about a week Jazz is actually their therapist at Arkham before she’s re-assigned when it’s realized she knows them personally

Jazz ends up telling the Foleys and the Fentons what happened

Then Amity gets the broadcast of their very own Samantha Manson being arrested in Gotham, New Jersey for eco-terrorism

Everything else just blows up in their faces after that, The three families don’t even dare show face around for awhile

They go to Gotham to actually visit their kids in Arkham

The Foleys are so disappointed in their son for what he’s done, Tucker can’t even look them in the eyes as the yell at him about everything

For the Mansons it sprouts into a huge shouting match with Sam almost jumping to table to try and physically fight her parents

All the Fentons do is stare at each other, they try to ask Danny why but he’s not cooperating with his biting remarks and not wanting to even see them for almost a week

Regarding their sentence and institutionalization the trio only has about five years or until they show sufficient mental stability for two years straight

This is another one that's been sitting around for awhile. And I also remembered the the banner i made for Batfam & Everlasting trio content

Main Story Index [It's kinda messy but it's got links to most everything]

[dailyadventureprompts]

Tableskills: Creating Dread

I've often had a lot of problems telling scary stories at my table, whether it be in d&d or other horror focused games. I personally don't get scared easily, especially around "traditionally horrifying" things so it's hard for me to recreate that experience in others. Likewise, you can't just port horror movie iconography into tabletop and expect it to evoke genuine fear: I've already spoken of being bored out of my mind during the zombie apocalypse, and my few trips into ravenloft have all been filled with similar levels of limp and derivative grimdark.

It took me a long time (and a lot of video essays about films I'd never watched) to realize that in terms of an experience fear is a lot like a joke, in that it requires multiple steps of setup and payoff. Dread is that setup, it's the rising tension in a scene that makes the revelation worth it, the slow and literal rising of a rollercoaster before the drop. It's way easier to inspire dread in your party than it is to scare them apropos of nothing, which has the added flexibility of letting you choose just the right time to deliver the frights.

TLDR: You start with one of the basic human fears (guide to that below) to emotionally prime your players and introduce it to your party in a initially non-threataning manor. Then you introduce a more severe version of it in a way that has stakes but is not overwhelmingly scary just yet. You wait until they're neck deep in this second scenario before throwing in some kind of twist that forces them to confront their discomfort head on.

More advice (and spoilers for The Magnus Archives) below the cut.

Before we go any farther it's vitally important that you learn your party's limits and triggers before a game begins. A lot of ttrpg content can be downright horrifying without even trying to be, so it's critical you know how everyone in your party is going to react to something before you go into it. Whether or not you're running an actual horror game or just wanting to add some tension to an otherwise heroic romp, you and your group need to be on the same page about this, and discuss safety systems from session 0 onwards.

The Fundamental Fears: It may seem a bit basic but one of the greatest tools to help me understand different aspects of horror was the taxonomy invented by Jonathan Sims of The Magnus Archives podcast. He breaks down fear into different thematic and emotional through lines, each given a snappy name and iconography that's so memorable that I often joke it's the queer-horror version of pokemon types or hogwarts houses. If we start with a basic understanding of WHY people find things scary we learn just what dials we need turn in order to build dread in our players.

Implementation: Each of these examples is like a colour we can paint a scene or encounter with, flavouring it just so to tickle a particular, primal part of our party's brains. You don't have to do much, just something along the lines of "the upcoming cave tunnel is getting a little too close for comfort" or "the all-too thin walkway creaks under your weight ", or "what you don't see is the movement at the edge of the room". Once the seed is planted your party's' minds will do most of the work: humans are social, pattern seeking creatures, and the hint of danger to one member of the group will lay the groundwork of fear in all the rest.

The trick here is not to over commit, which is the mistake most ttrpgs make with horror: actually showing the monster, putting the party into a dangerous situation, that’s the finisher, the  punchline of the joke. It’s also a release valve on all the pressure you’ve been hard at work building.

There’s nothing all that scary about fighting a level-appropriate number of skeletons, but forcing your party to creep through a series of dark, cobweb infested catacombs with the THREAT of being attacked by undead? That’s going to have them climbing the walls.

Let narration and bad dice rolls be your main tools here, driving home the discomfort, the risk, the looming threat.

Surprise: Now that you’ve got your party marinating in dread, what you want to do to really scare them is to throw a curve ball. Go back to that list and find another fear which either compliments or contrasts the original one you set up, and have it lurking juuuust out of reach ready to pop up at a moment of perfect tension like a jack in the box. The party is climbing down a slick interior of an underdark cavern, bottom nowhere in sight? They expect to to fall, but what they couldn't possibly expect is for a giant arm to reach out of the darkness and pull one of them down. Have the party figured out that there's a shapeshifter that's infiltrated the rebel meeting and is killing their allies? They suspect suspicion and lies but what they don't expect is for the rebel base to suddenly be on FIRE forcing them to run.

My expert advice is to lightly tease this second threat LONG before you introduce the initial scare. Your players will think you're a genius for doing what amounts to a little extra work, and curse themselves for not paying more attention.

Restraint: Less is more when it comes to scares, as if you do this trick too often your players are going to be inured to it. Try to do it maybe once an adventure, or dungeon level. Scares hit so much harder when the party isn't expecting them. If you're specifically playing in a "horror" game, it's a good idea to introduce a few false scares, or make multiple encounters part of the same bait and switch scare tactic: If we're going into the filthy gross sewer with mould and rot and rats and the like, you'll get more punch if the final challenge isn't corruption based, but is instead some new threat that we could have never prepared for.

Art

[pagannatural]

2.16 Roadkill

- this episode starts off from the victim character’s perspective, Molly, so we see the brothers through her eyes much of the episode. She notices the brothers communicating with their eyes a lot, the camera focuses on their shared looks and reactions to her. It shows how well they know each other to communicate nonverbally like that.

- Molly says she and her husband “only ever really argued when we were stuck in the car” and Sam can relate because he and his husband also get on each others’ nerves being stuck in the car together.

Dean glares at him because he doesn’t like his personal life being shared with strangers or ghosts.

- Sam and Dean are aggressively giving married vibes. When Sam introduces himself, he doesn’t say “and this is my brother Dean” like he normally would. I’m pretty sure that throughout the episode Sam and Dean’s relationship is never clarified to Molly and they are heavily couple-coded:

Sam is the softer one, reassuring Molly it’ll be okay, Dean is more frank and takes charge. They speak using the royal we, work together as a team, and have little moments of influencing each other’s behavior the way couples do. For example, Dean telling her they’re hunting ghosts and Sam exasperatedly saying “don’t sugarcoat it for her.” She’s incredulous about ghosts and Dean says “crazier things have happened, huh?” hitting Sam’s arm and smirking playfully. It comes across as a warm, intimate little interaction, not like siblings bickering. Later, Sam insists on burying the bones they find because it’s important to him. Dean doesn’t want to at first, but of course he can’t say no to his wife. Sam is the one with the emotional influence who seems to have the last say, even though he appears to be gentler, filling the archetypal role of the feminine in the relationship. I would be surprised if she thought they were anything other than a couple.

- Sam is the one who looks after Molly and shows her more kindness. He has so much empathy for this ghost who can’t move on from her lost love, her husband. Sam is also the one who feels so uncomfortable with keeping from her that she can’t be with her husband.

It seems to really get to him, this woman pining for her impossible love. Like he knows what that’s like, pining for someone he can’t have. There is no romantic relationship this could really be for Sam, which makes me think it’s Dean. In reality, Molly’s husband moved on from her with a new family just like Sam thinks Dean should and will move on from him. He knows at this point that’s the truth of her story.

Sam can also relate to the fact that many ghosts “weren’t evil people. A lot of them were good, just something happened to them” as he grapples with his own fate. I wonder if on some level he sees Dean as what happened to him to make him feel like a monster.

- Molly says “she didn’t want to live without him” (her love) when they find a skeleton and Dean glances at her like this hits him.

He has proven and expressed that he does not want to live without Sam. He can relate to her too, he just tries to act tough.

- Sam tells Dean about an old country custom of planting a tree to mark a grave and Dean tells him “you’re like a walking encyclopedia of weirdness” and Sam says “yeah, I know,” like he’s genuinely hurt. Dean seems aware of Sam’s feelings for him, which adds another layer to this kind of interaction between them.

- episode theme is about blindness to the truth and inability to accept reality. Sam and Dean continue to struggle with accepting their reality too in terms of Sam’s future, but the other (stronger) parallel is the brothers’ relationship in comparison to Molly and her husband’s. She can’t accept a devastating truth about herself and the man that she loves, and throughout the episode Sam and Dean act just like a married couple. Their relationship is steeped in angst and tension because of their love for each other, because Dean won’t kill Sam no matter what he becomes. There are truths about themselves and their relationship that are too painful to accept.