#it needs to be something longer than one day I feel given the premise of no limits

[adragonsfriend]

I think this is time loop movie for our times, actually. Instead of some lame asshole who mainly needs to figure out how to be polite (eg. Groundhog Day, a lovely movie, no shade to it), the protagonist is some person beaten down by having basic needs denied, and through the time loop they get the freedom to get out of the stress state for a while (maybe they were specifically expecting to wake up on the day they weren’t going to be able to make rent/other stressful event). They’re kind of a boring loser at first, but gradually they encounter they regain energy and creativity starts showing through they never knew they had, and they can take lessons, eat what they want, turn the heat up, get their hair done, tell their landlord and boss to fuck off as much as they want (all the stuff Groundhog Day guy could’ve done whenever he wanted if he’d been less of an asshole). Instead of the usual limits like Groundhog Day guy not being able to leave the tiny town, the protagonist has enough time/random malfunctioning ATMs spitting money to buy whatever they want and travel basically anywhere they want in the world. Coincidences line up to let them in to odd places, talk to people that wouldn’t give them the time of day usually. We see them explore and achieve so much without the pressure of necessities. They revel in that for a long time.

The turn back toward the real world is in how the protagonist gets to know people. Their neighbours and community, maybe they call their siblings they haven’t talked to in ages. They get to know what everyone is struggling with and what they’re great at. There’s suddenly time to do all the research people on TikTok are saying you should do about finance or applications or whatever. In fact there’s time to do it for your neighbours too. So Sue who ends up on the hospital everyday loop can know they can challenge the hospital a couple of dumb charges just by calling, and Dion knows about that scholarship he got in one of the loops, and Louisa can find out about she really shouldn’t sign that contract with the bank.

Basically protagonist finally comes out of the time loop with a lot of things still sucking, but in a position to suddenly have a giant leg up in community organising. Even for their own situation, it’s not totally fixed, but they know at least a couple people they can call on to alleviate it, because they’ve actually had the time and space for thought to find those people instead of being trapped in endless stress and necessities. It’s so far from fixing everything.

But the audience sees all this person would be capable of if they just . weren’t . trapped .

Unfortunately I think I would legitimately enjoy being stuck in a time loop unless the events of the day itself were super horrifying or tragic. Once I figured it out I would be so relieved just to not be overwhelmed by time pressures and responsibilities that it would take me 1000 years to get bored

[flowerandblood]

The Lost Haven (16/16)

[ modern mafia • Aemond x niece •female ]

[ warnings: incest obviously, sex content, dirty talk, smut, the angst, murder, character death, miscarriage and the trauma associated with it, panic attack, mafia stuff, brutal violence, uncomfortable conversations, bad, bad things ]

[ description: The vacation from eight years ago still haunts his memories and doesn’t let him forget what happened between him and his niece, the daughter of his sister and Harwin Strong. Their paths separate and he immerses himself in his father’s mafia world until the day she calls him for the first time since those events. Sexual tension, dark, dangerous, withdrawn, thirsty Aemond. ]

Author’s note: As promised, this is another, this time official modern version of The Fall from the Heavens. In this version, Daemon is not related to the family, but is simply Rhaenyra’s husband and the leader of the second gang, Alys and Larys are also not related to each other, but Larys is Harwin’s brother. I will partly refer to the original series, hiding some easter eggs, and some will be a completely new, fresh plot. As in every universe, only Aemond calls her Rhaenys and this is not her real name (she is unnamed character and the others also do not know that he calls her that). There will be a lot more brutality and angst in this version, so watch out. You can read this as a standalone story.

Series & Characters Moodboard Aemond & Rhaenys Moodboard

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Next chapters: Masterlist

_____

She was pregnant.

Although, according to all moral and social norms, she should have been crying in despair, she was happy: touching her belly with her hand, she felt nothing but love for this little being that was slowly growing inside her.

The fruit of their warm, deep, sincere affection.

The knowledge that she was not alone helped her when it was time for her to meet the staff for whom she was to be responsible from now on. Aemond insisted on being with her, fearing for some reason for her and the baby, she, however, knew that this was something she had to do alone.

Their stares when she walked into the VIP room in which she had ordered the meeting told her everything – grown men and women who looked as if they had seen far too much in their lives watched her in disbelief.

She knew they thought with disapproval that she was just a little girl, a whore who had been given this place as a gift by their boss that she wouldn't know what to do with, pestering them with her stupid bullshit.

She sat down in one of the empty armchairs, a few people lit cigarettes and grunted, other than that, complete silence all around her.

"I know what you're thinking and you're right. The fact that I have taken over these premises is a form of security for me. In true, not only for me, but also for you. Aemond will stop the flow of drugs through these and two other places that used to belong to my father. I have no intention of changing managers or leadership, quite the contrary – I want to talk to you about what you need. I want this to be a clean, legitimate business that is profitable. No drastic changes." She said, looking at them expectantly, feeling her heart pounding like crazy.

A few people twisted in their seats, others looked at each other.

Silence.

Obviously they didn't trust her.

"Think whatever you want about me. It doesn't matter. Know, however, that my stepfather no longer threatens you, and Aemond will still protect this place. All I ask for is loyalty. If there is a problem with something, come to me with it, not to my uncle, or he will be furious. Now get back to work, I want to stay with the manager." She said calmly.

All but one man who could easily be her father got up from their seats and walked out, leaving them alone.

"This is not a toy you can just pick up and have." He said finally, firing up the lighter, leaning over the flame with his cigarette.

"I don't see it as a toy. We can all gain something if we accept each other. Would you rather keep wallowing in this shit and selling ecstasy to young kids? Don't you have children of your own?" She asked coolly, and the man snorted under his breath, the corner of his mouth twitching in a smirk.

"I do. Three. Two sons and a daughter. Each of them works here. The sons as security guards and the daughter behind the bar." He said dryly and she swallowed hard, feeling the cold sweat on her back.

Fuck.

Had she just insulted him?

"You let your own kids do drugs? Do you want them to be arrested with you if the police come by here, as part of family integration?" She asked, and he sighed heavily, taking a loud drag on his cigarette.

"I didn't say that." He replied, letting the smoke out through his mouth.

"And I don't want that either. Help me protect you." She insisted, and he looked at her finally, as if he had made up his mind.

"You're just like your father."

She exhaled loudly, in an involuntary reflex she'd been holding back for the last few hours touching her lower abdomen as soon as the car door closed behind her.

"And how was it? Everything okay?" Her uncle asked, immediately grasping her hand in his, looking at her expectantly, tense.

"They are difficult people. Difficult, but tired. They don't want problems. They get used to it." She said quietly, exhausted and sleepy.

She looked at him, a worry in his eyes but also a tenderness from which she felt warm in her heart.

"Take me home."

The road to the sea was getting terribly long, perhaps because once in a while she felt an unpleasant twinge in her stomach, indicative of what was about to happen.

"– no – no, stop the car, stop the car –" She muttered, and he immediately pulled over to the side of the road – she only managed to open the door before she vomited on the grass, panting heavily.

"– oh, baby – why don't you lie down in the back seat? – you'll be more comfortable –" She heard his voice, his broad hand stroking her back.

Ever since they'd found out they were going to be parents he'd been so tender, so good, so sweet.

Exactly like he had been back then.

"– okay –" She mumbled and swallowed hard, wiping her mouth with her handkerchief. She unbuckled her seatbelt, climbed out and opened the door in the back, laying down on both passenger seats, closing her eyes.

"– sleep, little one – I'll drive slowly – we're not in any hurry –" He said, looking at her in the rear view mirror, and she nodded.

She flinched when she felt the car finally stop – she heard someone open the door, the fresh air and his familiar hands enveloped her, lifting her up, and she clung to him like a small child. He carried her into the house, to a room that belonged to him, where they had set up their makeshift bedroom for the time of renovation.

She felt him lay her gently on the bed, taking his place beside her a moment later, embracing her from behind.

"– you're tiring your mummy terribly –" He whispered, stroking her belly with lazy, calm motions of his hand. "– you need to let her rest –"

She smiled, allowing herself to fall asleep again, this time in his embrace. Her uncle often addressed their child as if the baby could already understand him – he was making a connection this way, realising that he was really going to become a father.

He was involved in everything about preparing for the arrival of their child into the world – they decided to dedicate the room she slept in that summer holiday to their future offspring and repainted it together, sticking cute glow-in-the-dark stickers on the walls in the shape of various planets and stars.

With some things, they had to wait because they didn't know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl.

"It cost me a lot of money, but I made it. I have written permission from the Archbishop. Rhaenys, we can marry." He said to her one morning, holding a piece of paper in front of him that was to change their lives.

A dispensation for a church wedding.

"We need witnesses." She muttered, gripping his hand in hers. Her uncle nodded, as if he knew she'd said it.

"I know, Helaena agreed. I didn't want to decide about another person for you." He said, and she smiled, feeling grateful.

He became more open, more affectionate, always thinking of her and her needs too.

She knew who she wanted by her side.

"I know I'm asking a lot and that I'm not entitled to it. I know your father will be furious if you say yes, but… you have always been close to my heart. You didn't judge me. I wish I had you with me on this day." She mouthed in a breaking voice, standing alone in the bathroom with her phone pressed to her ear, wiping her face wet with tears.

She heard Baela swallow hard, shocked by her words.

For a long moment, they were both silent.

"– I – God – I've always felt you were in pain – only now I know why and I'm sorry you've been alone with this for so long – I don't want you to not have your bridesmaid on your wedding day – just tell me when and where –" She muttered and she burst out into a quiet sob, feeling relieved.

"– forgive me – forgive me for being such a disgusting person –" She choked out, whooping, feeling that she had finally described herself truly.

She had fucked her own uncle and was going to have a baby with him.

She was sick.

Baela drew in a loud breath.

"– stop – if he was your own birth brother, it would be much, much worse – on the positive side, he's actually only half your uncle –" She said, and for some reason she burst out laughing.

God.

"– right – it's a good thing I didn't choose Jace –" She mumbled, and Baela snorted.

"– exactly – let's stick to that –" She said.

"– it would be funny if the police burst into the church and arrested us –" She sneered, fiddling with the soft towel hanging on the rack, imagining commandos with guns ordering them to fall to the ground.

"– for what? – for drug dealing or for incest? –" Baela scoffed, and she giggled under her breath.

"– for everything – the list of crimes is long –" She said with a smile, for some reason feeling lighter.

It was the first time she had ever talked to someone about it completely honestly.

She shuddered when she heard a loud knock on the door.

"Rhaenys? Are you all right?" She heard his concerned voice.

Ever since he had found her in the bath then, he had been afraid if she stayed in the bathroom too long.

"Yes. I'm talking to Baela. She agreed." She called out to him.

"That's great." He said with sincere relief, as if he was afraid she would suffer another disappointment and rejection from her family.

They hadn't planned to invite any guests to the event, have a dinner together or anything of the sort – they knew that most of their family felt there was nothing to celebrate, and for them, as it wasn't a state wedding, it only had symbolic significance.

Helaena helped her choose the right dress – she wanted to look special that day, because even though their nuptials were going to be bittersweet, she was, in the eyes of God, going to be his wife.

"– oh – look – this one is lovely –" Helaena hummed, taking from the rack a long, white gown with a cut-out back and lace at the neckline and the ends of the delicate, long sleeves.

"– you're right – it would match the flowers in my hair –" She said, in her perfect image of herself that day wishing she had daisies woven into her curls.

Helaena dropped her off in the car at a shop near their house and they said their goodbyes – she needed nothing so much as a walk and some fresh air, however, she wanted to cook them dinner too, knowing that her fiancé would be back late.

Since he had started telling her about his affairs, what he needed to do and where he needed to go, she felt calmer and his absence no longer frightened her so much.

Besides, he wasn't leaving her alone anymore, she thought, touching her stomach happily, looking curiously at the shelves full of different kinds of pasta, searching for the perfect one for spaghetti.

She shuddered, having the feeling that someone had rubbed against her by accident, but then she felt that person holding something against her back.

"Be quiet and leave the shop slowly." She heard a cold, unfamiliar voice behind her and froze, feeling her heart leap up into her throat, a cold sweat on her back.

She looked to the side, wondering if she should scream, if anyone would help her, not knowing if this man held a gun or a knife against her body.

"Don't try anything or I'll butcher you like a pig." He said, as if he was reading her mind, and she swallowed hard, feeling burning tears of terror under her eyelids, her body involuntarily began to tremble.

She simply moved towards the exit, and the man she was afraid to look at put his arm around her like he was her boyfriend, clamping his hand firmly on her waist to make sure she didn't try to escape.

As soon as they left she sprang up to throw herself into a run, but the man grabbed her waist and clamped his hand over her mouth – she bit him with a loud squeal, but he only hissed, not letting her go, hiding behind the wall of the shop, two other men got out of the car.

One of them, a blond man with a beard and blue eyes had a scars on his left cheek.

"– come on, what the fuck are you waiting for – faster –" Tyland Lannister growled, and the man who was clearly his bodyguard forced her to bow her head and forcibly shoved her into the back seat, closing the door behind her.

She burst out crying, curling up as Tyland sat down next to her and the two men took their seats in front, driving away with a squeal of tyres.

"– shut the fuck up – be a good girl and no harm will come to you – I need to clear up a few things with your uncle –" He said lightly – only when she looked at him did she notice that he held in his hand a gun pointed towards her.

She pressed her body against the car door, looking at him with big eyes and shook her head.

"– please – please let me out, I'm pregnant – I –" She mumbled out and squealed, leaning forward, feeling a sudden, penetrating pain in her lower abdomen, and then another and another.

She began to pant loudly in terror, and wailed as Tyland slapped the back of her head with an open palm.

"– stop pretending – I told you to fucking calm down, I won't do anything to you – I won't –" He muttered and fell silent, looking with her at the drop of blood that ran down her thigh from under her dress.

She covered her mouth with her hands and screamed loudly, falling into sheer hysteria, the man in front cursed, telling her to shut up, and Tyland just stared at her, his mouth wide open.

"– stop –" He muttered. "– fuck, God, stop, stop, stop –"

"– here? – boss, we're in the middle of a country road –"

"– STOP, I SAID –"

The car stopped at the side of the road with a screech of tyres in a way that made her hit her head on the seat in front of her – Tyland opened the door, grabbed her ankle and dragged her out of the car like an animal, leaving her on the grass, then got back inside.

The car drove off.

She just breathed, whooping with tears, looking at the grass around her and the tree trunks, feeling a horrible warm stickiness between her thighs, twitching all over, not having the strength or the will to get up.

After a while some other car stopped beside her, the people inside screamed in terror and got out, a woman who could have been her mother ran up to her and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Good God, I think they raped her."

No, she thought.

They took something much more precious from me.

She heard his loud, frightened breath as she lay in the hospital bed, the policemen standing beside her grunted at the sight of him.

"Are you her family?" Asked one of them.

"Y-yes, I'm her uncle. Good God, what happened?" He mumbled in a breaking voice.

"Your niece was found by a woman on a country road, thrown out of some car. She immediately informed us, suspecting that a rape had taken place, however, the cause of the bleeding was a sudden stress-induced miscarriage. The victim does not speak and does not want to say who did this to her. Could you please…"

The man did not finish as she heard him burst into a loud, mournful sob, felt the touch of his hands on her body, his face pressed into her hair, his broken, heavy breath.

Her eyebrows arched in pain, a single, lonely tear ran down her face.

Daemon had warned her.

The hours, the voices, the smells merged into one for her – she heard her uncle's voice, her mother's voice, she smelled their scent and touch, she heard their weeping and despair, but she herself felt like she was dreaming awake, feeling and experiencing nothing.

She felt herself awake when she heard another familiar voice.

"Did she say something?"

"No. She's silent. There's no contact with her. She's in shock." Her mother muttered, and Daemon embraced her, looking her straight in the eyes.

She felt something – she felt her heart hit harder in her chest, her eyebrows arched in misery, her breath caught in her throat.

"– baby – baby, please, say something to me –" She heard her uncle's whisper and only after a moment did she realise that he had been lying next to her on the bed all this time, that he had been stroking her head, that he had been looking at her, that he had been crying like a little baby.

"– get out for a while – leave us alone –" Daemon said – her uncle opened his mouth, furious, but she spoke up before he could say anything.

"– I want to talk to my dad –"

Everyone around her fell silent – Rhaenyra walked over to her brother and took his hand, explaining to him in a whisper that they would be back soon, that she was no longer in danger, that everything would be all right.

She felt herself quivering all over when Daemon took the chair and sat down beside her bed exactly as he had done then, after she had tried to take her own life.

She looked at him, into his bright, piercing eyes, and thought that this was what he was trying to protect her from.

"I wanted this child, dad. Very, very much." She muttered and closed her eyes, feeling the blissful emptiness she had surrounded herself with begin to crack, the pain that pierced her body, her heart so strong that she sobbed.

"I know." He replied.

"Is the baby…is the baby still inside me?" She choked out with difficulty, whooping with her own tears, feeling like she couldn't catch her breath.

"No. I'm very sorry, but no. It was too early, the baby was not yet formed. Nothing could be done." He said and she clamped her hands on her lower abdomen, thinking she felt like ripping out her uterus and other entrails because they were useless.

She was full and suddenly empty again.

She felt her father's hand on her arm, his fingers strong, his embrace giving her a sense of security.

"I have abandoned you. I chose my own pride. I knew he would want to take revenge on him. If I had given you my protection, it would never have happened. Forgive me." He said, and she closed her eyes, thinking that she wanted to become nothingness and disappear.

Despite Daemon continuing to speak to her, she fell into a state of half-sleep again, unable to think about it – her mind was repressing everything that had happened and waiting, although she didn't know what for.

What was she actually waiting for?

For her baby, she thought.

Little girl or little boy will be born in a few months.

No, she realised.

Not any more.

Tears ran down her face, but no sound came out of her mouth.

She saw him – her uncle stood in the doorway of her hospital room drenched in tears, trembling like a small child, just like she had been when she came into his room then, terrified of the darkness.

Darkness surrounded him, and he was frightened.

She didn't want him to be afraid.

He cried out loudly when she reached out her hand to him – she realised it was already dark around him when his body snuggled against hers, when he embraced her and kissed her cheek, when his face snuggled into her skin.

They lay, just breathing, holding hands – there was something comforting about that – in his silence. The fact that he knew there were no words of comfort, of justification, of absolution for them.

What did exist, however, were their bodies, warm and familiar, clinging to each other to find shelter.

She fell asleep, wrapped in his scent.

"I know you think this is my fault. That you will never forgive me." She heard his voice as if from a distance – she blinked, surprised to see that it was already daylight all around her, that her uncle was sitting beside her in a chair, looking at his hands.

Days flew by between her fingers.

How long had it been since that incident?

Since when had she been empty?

She pressed her lips together, feeling nothing but rage.

"I want Tyland Lannister." She hissed in a cold, shaking voice, and he looked at her in shock.

They stared at each other for a moment – his lower lip twitched when he suddenly realised what had happened, something in his gaze that had always frightened her, but now pleased her.

Aemond

Emptiness.

It seemed to him that he had simply gone through all the phases of grief – from despair, through denial, to a state of complete indifference.

His child, whom he had so desperately wanted, was no longer there.

He thought it would help to give the baby a funeral, even though they had nothing to bury – that's why they put the glowing stickers they had stuck on the walls of the room that was to belong to their child in a small box and buried it under a tree in the garden of their house.

She wanted the thing that would remind her of their loss to be close by, so that she could look at it every morning from her window.

It was an ordeal they lived through together, and although they suffered, they found relief in each other's arms.

She let him take her for the first time two weeks after it happened.

Lying in front of him in his embrace, she took his hand in hers and slowly guided it down under the material of her panties – she surprised him with this, because he was convinced that the vision of him touching her like this would be something disgusting to her – she, however, was wet.

He couldn't hide how much he missed her, and after a moment they were both naked from the waist down, fucking each other like animals with loud smacks of their hips, wanting nothing more than to feel fulfilled and relieved – the release he felt when he finally came inside her was like a revelation, her body hot and sweaty in his embrace, her little cunt pulsing on his erection, sucking his seed.

I'll give you another baby, he thought tenderly, kissing her long neck, not saying it out loud though, not wanting her to think he had already reconciled himself to their loss.

I will give you another baby, and then another and another.

We will be a big, happy family.

If he could say that anything good had come out of this awfully sad situation, it was that their families had begun to talk to each other again – Otto and Daemon couldn't forgive the murder of their grandchild, and Alicent, Rhaenyra, Jace and Baela had watched over his niece in his absence, looking after her.

Even Aegon asked him for a meeting, which was strange and downright comical. His brother put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him in a way from which he felt a squeeze in his throat.

"We're going to catch that son of a bitch."

The only person who was afraid to meet them was Helaena, blaming herself for what had happened despite the fact that neither he nor his Rhaenys resented her.

"She said she wanted to go shopping. Your house and the beach was across the street. I-I had the security guards go and take her dress to your house. She wanted to take a walk, she insisted. I…"

"Stop. You are not the one who did this to her. No one is blaming you." He said calmly, staring dully ahead, sitting in his car, feeling that his heart, his skin, his body, his breath were cold.

I want Tyland Lannister.

He licked his lower lip when he spotted his silhouette in the distance, coming out of one of the clubs surrounded by a few of his thugs, surely for protection.

Jason helped his brother move to another city, hoping they would never find him.

But he was wrong.

"I have to go." He said and hung up, starting the engine, dialing another number.

He never thought that he'd talk to him of his own free will.

And yet.

"He just left."

He followed him for a few streets, driving a few cars behind him, feeling strangely calm and patient – he had the impression that there were no more tears he could cry or screams he could shout.

His persona had come full circle, becoming again exactly who he had been before she had called him that evening for the first time in eight years.

He smiled, seeing that they had realised that someone was following them, trying to change direction suddenly – as he had predicted, they had fallen straight into their trap, and hundreds of loud gunshots rang out around the corner.

He pulled over to the side of the road and stepped out of the car, watching as Daemon's men slaughtered Tyland's men one by one, surprised by the manhunt from both sides, unprepared for such a sudden, merciless attack.

"– please –" Tyland mumbled, crawling on the ground at Daemon's feet – his sister's husband held a baseball bat in his hand, all dirty from his blood.

He thought with amusement that Lannister's face looked like a squashed tomato.

Together with Daemon, he dragged him, moaning and crying, to the boot of his car, locking him in there, and together they set off without exchanging a word.

By the time they reached the house by the sea there was only an hour left until dawn – Tyland had passed out in the boot from a lack of oxygen, and a strong kick to the liver revived him, making him draw in air loudly and cough, spitting up blood.

"– no – no, no, no, no, please, no –" He whined as they began dragging him along the ground towards the door, leaving a trail of his blood on the ground behind them.

When they walked into the house they threw him to his knees in front of her – his Rhaenys looked at his hunched, pathetic figure sitting in front of him on the couch in a white dress he was seeing for the first time, a knife in her hand.

Was this supposed to be her wedding gown?

I have taken away your purity and innocence, he thought with pain, looking at her with adoration.

Kora was no longer there.

Only Persephone was left.

His Queen of the Hades.

He longed to lie down at her feet and simply abide.

"– I lost someting because of you –" She said and raised herself up, touching her lower abdomen. "– my baby didn't even manage to take their first breath –"

He closed his eyes, feeling the squeeze in his throat, the pain he felt in his heart unbearable.

"– I didn't know – I didn't know, I'm sorry, I didn't know –" Tyland mumbled, because of how swollen his face was his words were indistinct and difficult to understand.

Standing over him, in her white dress, with a knife in her hand and with her beautiful hair loose, she looked like a ghost.

Like Death.

"– you threw me out of the car like an animal – you left me to die and drove away –" She whispered, tears one after another rolling down her beautiful, tired, pale face.

She had waited so long for this.

For relief.

For justice.

But no more.

"– please – please –" He begged, and she took a step towards him and knelt before him, looking straight into his eyes.

"– let me, Rhaenys –" He muttered, not wanting her to burden herself with this, to dream nightmares like him, to suffer like him because of what she had done.

"– no – I want to feel the life drain out of him – as it did out of me, then –" She said, and the knife she held in her hand stabbed into his side like butter.

Tyland wailed, grabbing the hilt, but Daemon held him down, preventing him from moving – he saw her slide the blade out, a huge bloodstain spilling down his shirt, dripping down his leg straight onto the foil-lined floor.

"That's enough. I'll take care of the rest. Take a bath and burn everything." Daemon instructed, laying Tyland's barely alive body on the ground, his breathing shallow until his eyes went blank.

His soul had left his body.

"Come." He said to her, taking the knife from her palm, placing it on the floor. He nodded at Daemon and grabbed her hand, leading her upstairs to the bathroom where the bathtub was.

Her entire dress and hands were in blood.

"Come here, little one. Come, let's wash it all off. It's okay, honey." He whispered, hugging her close, sinking his hands into her soft, smooth curls, and she reciprocated the embrace, sighing, closing her eyes as if relieved.

"Thank you."

Again she lay in the bath red with blood, again she was pale, however this time he felt that the life was not escaping from her, but returning to her – with each passing minute her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide as if her mind had returned to reality.

"Is he dead?" She muttered, and he swallowed hard, washing away with his hands any trace of what they had done from her beautiful, innocent body.

"He's no longer here. He's disappeared. He was just a monster from the wardrobe, nothing more, my love." He said quietly and she sighed, her hand touching his face.

"Do you still love me?" She asked in a trembling voice, and he looked at her, shocked.

"You are the love of my life. You need to rest. You are very tired. You haven't slept well in a long time. You're daydreaming." He replied, taking an unruly strand of hair from her face, her gaze warm and tender, meant only for him.

"Are you not disgusted with me? I've done something monstrous. I think I killed someone." She whispered, her eyes full of tears.

"– shhh –" He hushed her, pressing his forehead against hers, stroking her hair as if she were a small child. "– I forbid you to say such things – it will be our secret – mine, yours and your dad's – only we will know about it –"

"– about the monster from the wardrobe? –" She mumbled, and he nodded.

"– yes –"

Rhaenys

"– I'm scared, mummy – can I have my little lamp lit today too? –" Aemma muttered, but before she could answer her anything, she heard a voice from the bed above them, belonging to Visenya.

"– no, I can't sleep then –" Her older sister hissed, looking down at them, the bright curls she had inherited from her father in disarray.

"– I'm afraid of the monster from the television – the one from the horror movie that Aegon was watching –" Her daugther said in a breaking voice, and she furrowed her brow, shaking her head.

"– I told you this is not a film for small children –" She said sternly, and Aemma lowered her gaze on the verge of crying.

Vinseya groaned in frustration and climbed down the ladder, lying down under the duvet next to her little sister.

"– move along, coward – I'll kill any monster that disturbs my sleep –" Her daughter muttered, and she smiled and stood up, turning off the lamp.

"– good night –" She hummed and left, closing the door behind her.

She sighed, seeing the light on in his office, and moved lazily in that direction, finding him bent over documents. He glanced at her, then at the silhouette of her naked body hidden only beneath a soft silk bathrobe, and licked his lower lip with his tongue.

"– I'll come soon – give me a moment longer –"

"– talk to Aegon tomorrow – he mustn't let Aemma watch horror movies with himself because she is afraid afterwards – she's too little –" She said.

He shook his head, signing a few things.

"– I'll try, but you know him – he'll find a thousand excuses and explanations –" He grunted, and she laughed under her breath.

"– he resembles your brother –" She said amused, leaning her hip against the doorframe, and he snorted under his breath, the corner of his mouth lifted upwards.

"– indeed –" He said and looked up at her, his gaze again escaping down to her breasts and then even lower.

"Come here. Sit on the desk." He said, leaning back in his chair, and she obeyed his command with a smile, walking closer with a lazy step.

He stood up as soon as her buttocks touched the tabletop, spreading her thighs apart, making her have to reach back with her hand to catch her balance.

"– ah –" She gasped as his fingertips sank into her fleshy, warm womanhood, collecting her sticky wetness.

"– since when are you in this state? – hm? –" He hummed, pushing her closer to him with an impatient tug of his hand on her ass, the other digging warningly into her delicate skin, trailing it around her swollen clit.

"– since this morning – since I saw you come out wet and naked from the bathroom in our bedroom – I've needed you, and you haven't touched me –" She mewled regretfully, feeling her walls clench greedily around nothing, craving him inside her.

What he heard was enough for all his foreplay, and with her help he quickly undid the belt of his trousers, his breath heavy and hitched.

"– after all, I fucked you last night – I had to drive Aegon and Visenya to training – you could have joined me in the shower –" He exhaled, impatiently releasing his long, hard erection from his boxers.

She sighed and tilted her head back as, without even waiting for her response, he directed the head of his cock against her slit, opening her wide on his fat length, filling her with himself with one, lazy thrust.

"– uncle – o-oh, fuck, uncle, yes, yes, yes –" She cried out, resting her hands behind her back, letting the material of her bathrobe slide off her shoulders, revealing her breasts full of milk, bouncing each time his hips pounded against her buttocks.

"– God, be quiet – shhh, be good or I won't let you come – is that what you want? –" He breathed out and she bit her bottom lip with her teeth, looking up at him pleadingly, something in her gaze from which he began to slam into her like mad, himself struggling to restrain himself not to moan.

"– that's what I thought – you come to me – ah – begging with those big eyes for my cock – and then you can't even fucking behave –" He growled and sighed, feeling her struggling to stifle a sob of pleasure when another thrust against that same sweet spot made her fall apart in front of him, panting heavily along with him, the next few loud, sticky slaps of their bodies were enough for him to cum with a sigh of relief.

They knew each other's bodies all too well by now and, with amusement, found more and more that they had trouble holding back from coming too early.

It was just too pleasant.

"– I'm pregnant –" She whispered, and he blinked and looked at her, as if he needed a moment to start thinking soberly after such intense fulfilment.

"– what? – but –" He exhaled.

"– I'm sure – I went to the doctor today –"

"– you lied to me –" He said with irritation in his voice.

"– Criston drove me there – I told you I would go shopping with him and we did after the appointment – no lies –" She said with a smile, touching her belly affectionately.

Her husband sighed, placing his hand on hers, the expression on his face calm and gentle again.

"– it's the sixth – what a big family indeed –" He hummed, and she laughed, nodding her head.

"– yes, my love – another child to drive to training –" She said amused, and he kissed her forehead with tenderness, from which a pleasant warmth spread over her heart.

"– don't sit here too long –" She sighed, jumping off his desk as soon as he slid out of her.

"– I won't –"

On her way to their bedroom, she walked into their youngest child's room and smiled, covering her little son more tightly with the duvet. Aemon's leg immediately pushed the bedclothes off him with his mutter of displeasure, so she gave up and left him alone.

She froze, spotting a silhouette in the corner of the room, thinking it was a man, with bright eyes, blonde hair and a beard, but was relieved when, after a moment, she noticed that it was the only shadow cast by the wardrobe standing nearby.

When she walked into their bedroom, she immediately turned on the lamp by their bed and waited patiently for him to return.

She knew she wouldn't fall asleep anyway.

When she was alone in bed, she saw his face and her hands sticky with blood.

When she heard her uncle's footsteps, when his warm body finally lay down beside her and his lips placed a soft, sticky kiss on her neck, she turned off the light, his whisper next to her ear like the calm hum of the wind.

"– now I will let you moan as much as you wish –"

"– Aegon – don't let her swim out into the deep water – Daeron, Visenya keep an eye on her, after all you can see she can't swim well yet –" He shouted to their children the next day, lying in front of her on a towel on the beach, little Aemon, sitting next to them, was building a sandcastle, the hot sun burning their skin.

"– okay, Dad! –" She heard Daeron voice behind her, lying on her stomach in her black one-piece bathing suit with her back cut out, reading a book, her husband's doctoral thesis on an excavation he had run with her in one of the cities the year before.

"– what do you think? – it's the last time for corrections – I've read it hundreds of times and it already makes me want to vomit when I look at it –" He said disapprovingly, turning his gaze towards the sea again.

"– it's the best doctoral thesis I've ever read – really –" She said softly, turning the page, amazed at how effortlessly her husband wrote.

"– look, mummy – it's a fortress, and here's the moat – and there's a dragon on top –" Mumbled Aemon, forcing the Mighty Vhagar figurine that had once belonged to his father onto the top of the tower.

"– beautiful, darling – it looks like the real thing –" She said with warm approval, and Aemon smiled broadly, satisfied, busying himself with creating a bridge over the moat from sticks.

"– Aemma, don't swim so far away – how many times do I have to tell you? –" Her uncle called out, raising himself angrily on his elbow, and she sighed heavily, throwing him a look full of pity.

"– she has swimming sleeves that are full of air that will float her even if she stops moving her arms and legs – she won't drown –" She said, and her husband sighed heavily, looking anxiously towards their children playing in the water.

"– I prefer to be sure –" He muttered.

She looked at him tenderly for a moment, feeling nothing but warmth in her heart.

He was such a good father.

Such a good husband.

She knew that one day they would have to explain to their children why they only had a church wedding and were not married before the state.

But not yet.

"So let's make sure. We should swim with them." She said, extending her hand to him, and he looked at her, apparently recalling their conversation in his car then, many years ago, when he had described his fantasy to her.

He licked his lips with his tongue and grinned in a way she loved.

"Come."

______

Author's note: The child that Rhaenys lost was Viserys: I decided that this story, because it is so dark, could not end differently, and the decisions of the characters had to lead to tragedy sooner or later. Something dies in Rhaenys, but thanks to this she can finally fully join her husband in their Hades, crossing the border of innocence and naivety, maturing in a kind of cruel way. However, the rest of their children, who appeared in the original series, are born. After losing Viserys (in this version they did not know that it would be a boy), they decided that they wanted to have as many children as God would give them, since he took one away from them (in their eyes one too many). Visenya and Aegon will definitely become mafia bosses in the future, just like their father, lol. Their children have the same characters and looks like in the original series, which you can see here.

[shanastoryteller]

Congrats on finishing See Something Say Something!! I checked the notification of the first AO3 email sent out and you initially planned on five chapters.

Would you say that the ending changed considerably since you started in October? Or has that stayed the same?

thank you!

it stayed the same lol. while my fics getting wildly out of control and becoming way longer than i anticipated is pretty common, i'm pretty much never changing overarching plot when this happens. the story that i become interested in telling is typically the story then i end up telling

almost every story can be made shorter or longer. it's less about what happens and more about how that information is conveyed. things that really tend to affect writing length are perspective and breathing room

the shortest fic i have on ao3 that's not part of a series is You Were (Not) Meant For Me (posted 11 years ago, jesus T_T). the premise is that claudia was a witch who intended trained stiles to be a witch and she arranged his marriage to laura hale, the future hale alpha. this is a traditional pairing as talia's husband was also a witch married to talia in service of the pact. except claudia died before she could train stiles or tell him about the engagement. stiles starts learning magic after scott is turned. derek falls for stiles and feels like he's betraying his sister by loving him, betraying stiles by not being the alpha he deserves and not telling him about the arrangement claudia made, and hates himself the entire time, but not enough to stop himself

that's a 100k fic easy

it's 1,696 words

it's extremely limited perspective (derek's) and it's made up only of limited snapshots of moments with very little context. there's no seeing what's happening, only told, which i think would quickly grow boring if it was longer and if the real point of the story wasn't derek's self hatred and how he fails to deal with it. that's the part of the story that isn't told, really - derek does think explicitly that he hates himself, but we're also seeing it in the way he talks and thinks about himself and the people around him

by contrast we have survival is a talent, which is obviously my longest fic. we're over 500k and we've got quite a bit to go

perspective doesn't just refer to character pov, but audience pov - are you being told a story, or are you experiencing the story? this is also tied into breathing room. there's no wrong way, i've done both and will do both, but one certainly requires more words than the other in my experience

siat is told only through draco and harry's perspective, but it's all happening in real time. the audience is being taken along for this story. the thing is that that things in real life don't all come tumbling one after another, not all questions have immediate answers. when depicting character growth and a plot unfurling, i think it's really important to include breathing room to give the audience time to feel that growth and change. i'm stricter about this with siat than anything else i've written, probably sometimes to its detriment. i want you and the characters to have time to feel the effects of emotional revelations and plot hints. i want you to have the time to question and wonder about things the same way the characters do

one time a friend criticized the good place for including the portion where they were alive again on earth because it wasn't as interesting as being in hell, but i disagree. we needed that breathing room both to live with the effects of character growth of going through hell and to have time for the effects of their actions on the plot to settle before they moved forward again. i stopped watching agents of shield because we weren't given enough breathing room - there was never a chance to see the characters not in crisis, the world was always ending, ect. the alchemyst book series has the first like 3 books taking place over a day and a half. i got tired of it after that. there's no breathing room

a story where i gave up on the concept of breathing room was build your wings on the way down. i liked that fic, but i wanted it finished, and to do it with i think optimal pacing would have made it twice as long as it was. so i said screw it, avalanche time, everything is happening all at once right now. there's very little breathing room there, which i think doesn't work too terribly in part because everything is so urgent and everyone is stressed so not being able to catch you breath sort of fits

See Something Say Something did not need to be 215k, although i'm not at all complaining. i feel very happy with how i told this story. but the basic premise - sam getting his powers early, getting involved in the large hunter world secretly from his family, and dean feeling misplaced and worried about how much sam needs/wants him - could have been told a hundred different ways and all would have pulled it off, so to speak

i considered doing the the entire fic from dean's pov (as a sam girl i love his pov because all he thinks about is sam and he's so insane about it) which would have effectively cut out basically the first five chapters. i thought exploring the slow realization of what's going on purely from dean's pov, with the audience having not insight would have been really interesting, just like what I did in dumb luck or good ghost with dean slowly figuring out that sam didn't die in the crash. another thing is the inclusion of all the side characters which i did to make the world feel rich and real, but we didn't need all these outsider povs to get the basic point across. very rarely is something vital being conveyed by an outsider pov, but it reinforced and adds to the main characters. i also initially didn't have wincest, which obviously added a ton of words. i loved exploring dean's self hatred and fear and sam's obliviousness, but bringing them to a place of ignorance to acceptance to happiness is a lot longer of a journey than just dealing with dean's propriety love as an unhinged co-dependent older brother. again, i'm sticking by all these choices, i made them because i thought it was the best way to the tell the story i was most interesting in telling, but my point is that you didn't need them to tell this particular story

it was also how i told the story. we spend a lot of time wallowing in character's emotions, especially dean's and sam's, but the others as well. part of this fic is convincing you that these two brothers should fuck, actually, and doing that effectively is going to take some time, especially at this point in their lives when things are pretty normal. comparatively, fucking your brother after starting the apocalypse is pretty small potatoes. i wanted you to understand these people, to feel what they were feeling, to not feel that it was inconceivable that jess would be willing to share her boyfriend with his brother, to buy all their relationships with each other in a way that isn't purely based on convenience

part of the reason i wrote dumb luck or good ghost before see something say something was that i felt i needed a firmer grasp on who the characters are before getting into who they were and who they could be - especially john, who i feel is exceptionally difficult to write without over excusing his actions or over villainizing them. the reason john doesn't get a single pov in see something say something is that while he's a motivating and underlying factor in much of the story, the story isn't about him. it's about the effect he has on those around him, and i didn't want to sully the pureness of that effect by introducing his internal dialogue, regardless of how persecutionary or absolving it would be. it's just not about him. it's how he responds to others and how they respond to him in turn

anyway! this is another example of something ending up longer than expected, but yeah. the plot of see something say something didn't change much from posting of the first chapter and my stories rarely do - i have plot points in siat that have been there since i posted the first chapter that are still relevant and happening. "harry and draco just. cut dumbledore's fucking hand off" my beloved

[jackandjoker]

my top shows of 2024 (better late than never)

1. jack and joker (act surprised)

this was my first ever thai show and GOSH was i in for a ride.. i legit started watching this for fun because i saw an edit and i found the name ‘joke’ very funny… oh how times change.

this show was made for me, it’s perfect to me, i can talk about it forever and i will.

2. peaceful property

to think i almost didn’t watch this because the poster didn’t interest me 😭

but this is so underrated i think? it was everything to me, each story was special and made me feel so many things. the phoomvicha episode made me cry the most, along with ep 8 😞

3. last twilight

this is the 2nd show from P’Aof that i’ve seen and i think he’s gotten a spot in my favourite directors list. definitely not without faults, but still unique and beautiful and i loved it. also cried a hell lot… and i hope i can get mhok’s fart proudly shirt one day.

4. let free the curse of taekwondo

my first ever korean drama and it will not be the last!! i loved this so much, i only wish it was longer. i’m patiently waiting for all my exams to end so i can watch all of hwang da-seul’s filmography.

5. i hear the sunspot

so many firsts in this post- this is the show that introduced me to the world of asian bl… my first ever asian drama <3

i love kohei & taichi with all of my heart and although they seem to be the kings of miscommunication, they found each other in the end. and i desperately want to try that burger.

6. interview with the vampire s2

iwtv is my kind of crazy, i love them all 🤲

not much to say about this one but it’s one of the 3 shows i’ve given a perfect 5/5 rating so far. (others are j&j and derry girls).

7. the on1y one

patiently waiting for season 2🥹

these two had my entire heart 😭😭 something about this show that makes me feel so much comfort… and it’s gorgeous so that’s a plus. (my first ever taiwanese drama- sorry)

8. takara’s treasure

this was just so cute 🥹 they’re adorable and it’s just a light and fluffy show and i love that. i took care of an abandoned kitty for a while and named her takara because i considered her my treasure lol.

9. 23.5

loser lesbians <3333

if onsga and aylin had a daughter, it would be me. 100%. i love milklove and i’m impatiently waiting for whale store xoxo. and i love how view is like the girl version of mark pakin because i adore her and keep seeing her in random stuff i watch.

10. see your love

this was just so fun🥺 the best 20 mins i had every wednesday for 12 weeks. both the main leads and johnathan & xin jia have my heart, along with shu he and shaopeng’s parents. i love amazing supportive parents in bls 🥹🩵

some other favs under the cut :)

non 2024 shows i loved-

moonlight chicken

i need more series like this because 🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵 it was so gorgeous omg and it was too short 😞😞

when i watched the first ep i didn’t think i’d like it but still continued and i’m so glad because it only got better and better. and i hope whoever decided to make earthmix firstkhao gem4 sing the moon represents the heart never has a bad day in their life. i love it so much.

the best story

when are we getting the dew story yinwar?? 😭🥺 if i had a nickel for everytime war cried after seeing yin with a girl, i would have 3 nickels. maybe more if i start counting their music videos

cherry magic thailand

i wanted more taynew after peaceful property and damn!! karan was whipped 😭 it’s funny how his thoughts were like that when he had a gaystraight face the entire time

other 2024 shows that i enjoyed:

sugar dog life

i love shows that involve cooking and i love characters who bond over food. so obviously i loved this. similar to takara’s treasure, a feel good show.

caged again

it got a bit messy around the end and the story took turns i wasnt expecting, which was fine, but i felt it was different from the premise if that makes sense? i loved it still and i would definitely like to see more of ben & jay.

my love mix up th

i randomly watched this on my period and honestly it made me laugh so much so i’m biased 😭 some stupid stuff did bother me but overall very slay <3 i’m glad chokun has a main role now, after this & peaceful property 🥺

[ectonurites]

Do you think the use of Ariana was made to prop up timber in the valentine's day special.

And on another note what do you think of the lack off explicit callbacks to tim/steph but callbacks with ariana.

i mean like you have a valentine's day story with tim and stephanie shows up and you mention tim having many gf's in the past but choosing callbakcs and explicit references to ariana but not steph when she shows up.

really hope they don't start doing where any callbacks to tim's romances are his past minor gf's and not steph and pretend they are just friends with no romantic history

"Do you think the use of Ariana was made to prop up timber in the valentine's day special."

I think Ariana was definitely used as a prop to tell this story with little consideration given to her as an individual—the author uses Ariana's family's deli restaurant as a setting and uses her past relationship to Tim as a way to connect things but doesn't actually have her do anything else in the story. Except, well, mention Tim & Bernard's relationship.

Now, to be fair, there really are times in stories (especially short ones as part of an anthology like this) where you just need a throwaway character to do something for a moment for the sake of moving the plot along. Acting like every single character who shows up in a story needs to be Super Important And Fleshed Out In That Specific Story is unrealistic and frankly ridiculous.

But but but but... a character who was once a prominent love interest & supporting character for one of the leads you are writing about isn't the same as a nameless throwaway, you know? Especially when you're mentioning that connection specifically—of her being Tim's first girlfriend (rather than it just being a wordless cameo or something) in a story that’s premise hinges on Tim having dating experience.

Ariana is a character who hasn't appeared since like 1999, so pulling her out of the woodwork to be used for one panel while also... needing to make a huge logic leap with her to make it even work—something the writer felt fine with just explaining as having happened off-panel—is really frustrating and annoying. I'm talking, of course, about Ari just suddenly knowing Tim's identity as Robin. You know, the root of most challenges that they faced in their relationship because he couldn't be honest with her about it. Yeah that's just no big deal now, apparently.

That's what pisses me off about this the most—bringing her back only to brush off the sources of conflict between her and Tim and make everything all okie dokie in a completely unearned way. Now to be clear: I don't think it's a bad thing for Ariana to be like, nice about Tim & Bernard being together now—especially because in her last speaking appearance before this that I'm aware of [Robin #66], the two of them had cleared some air on still wanting to be friends even though they're no longer dating. But I do think using her one speech bubble of dialogue to mention how she 'owes' him and Bernard a dinner feels off.

If there were like... an actual conversation between Ari & Tim and during that she said something nice about Tim & Bernard/something about being happy for him, then I don't think it'd feel so weird. And I will say, this is a short story so I get there not being the page space to resolve Tim & Ari's history in a story that's not about that, I really do. But this is the first time she's shown up in about 25 years! Using her in a story and having a big reveal like Tim's identity and not touching on any of that but making sure you do use her single dialogue bubble to mention her ‘owing’ Tim & to mention the relationship btwn Tim & his current love interest??? That just feels weeeird!!!!!!

It feels like her purpose in this story was largely to show a lack of conflict in Tim's current life and that everyone around him is super enthusiastically pro Tim being with Bernard, without actually considering much about her as a character. Which… again, this story isn’t about her, it’s about Tim & Damian… but… it’s still just frustrating when this isn’t a character we can just go read some other book published in the last two decades to see her actually get used well in, this is a character we very well may not see for another 25 years after this.

"And on another note what do you think of the lack off explicit callbacks to tim/steph but callbacks with ariana. i mean like you have a valentine's day story with tim and stephanie shows up and you mention tim having many gf's in the past but choosing callbakcs and explicit references to ariana but not steph when she shows up. really hope they don't start doing where any callbacks to tim's romances are his past minor gf's and not steph and pretend they are just friends with no romantic history"

Yeah I think that also felt a little weird too. This definitely would have been a time that made sense to bring up their history—but also this story was just weird in regards to Steph overall (with Damian's 'Stephanie is too female' line as to why he couldn't ask her for girl advice...?) so I dunno if it's something to think of as a larger trend or if this was more just that particular writer being weird.

Considering the writer also (in the post I already linked earlier) said this about Tim's past love interests—"I figure Tim probably carried some guilt re: his relationship with Ariana, but less with his other love interests?"—I really feel like he just doesn't have a great grasp on Tim's previous relationships at all. Tim is like the fucking poster child for 'feels guilty about everything he's done ever'.

To act like he's not wracked with near-equal levels of guilt about how pretty much all of his past relationships (esp with civilians) went is nuts. Ariana is not the one I would single out from that bunch as somehow him feeling more guilty about than the rest (the only real justification for that I could think of is if you were to explore his guilt over him starting to have feelings for Steph while he & Ari were still together but from the way the rest of that writer's interaction is talking solely about Robin-identity related stuff, I don't think that's what he had in mind?). What about Zo who he ashamedly broke up with over the phone, feeling as if he'd already let her down too many times? What about Tam who he let think her father was dead for days because even though she knew he was a superhero he still couldn’t fully let her in which caused the slow building relationship between them to explode? Tim and Ari actually had a civil face-to-face break up at school and talked in a friendly way afterwards! Not to say he shouldn't feel guilt there with her because there are reasons he should, but acting like it's somehow a higher level of guilt than he’d have with the others is just odd.

Anyway that's getting a bit off topic. But yes, while I'm very much so not opposed to the idea of Tim's previous girlfriends getting to be referenced/come back in some fashion, I do also hope that it doesn't mean Tim & Steph's history will get thrown to the side. And I'd hope that if they do get to come back, they'd actually get to be... characters, who have dynamics with other characters, rather than just cardboard cutouts there to say one nice thing and then fade back into comic limbo for the rest of eternity.

[palmanatomy]

another reason why bernard is disliked is aside from the poor breakup with steph aside, the way they used steph AND ariana as props for bernard. For Steph Like having her the long term love interest say meeting the new love interest is the best day ever when she (or the audience) barely knows him came across as using her to prop him up, which isn't very respectful to her character IMO. The second thing was that her reaction was made odder in that Tim just finished apologizing for treating her so badly, and then introduced her to Bernard without asking her first which is very disrespectful alone -but his prior treatment makes it worse. That made her reaction to him along with the narrative not framing doing so as such, come across as her being more or a less a doormat for Tim to walk all over and lack of self-respect on her end.

As for Ariana, this post from the blog ectonurites sumps it up:

"I think Ariana was definitely used as a prop to tell this story with little consideration given to her as an individual—the author uses Ariana’s family’s deli restaurant as a setting and uses her past relationship to Tim as a way to connect things but doesn’t actually have her do anything else in the story. Except, well, mention Tim & Bernard’s relationship.

Now, to be fair, there really are times in stories (especially short ones as part of an anthology like this) where you just need a throwaway character to do something for a moment for the sake of moving the plot along. Acting like every single character who shows up in a story needs to be Super Important And Fleshed Out In That Specific Story is unrealistic and frankly ridiculous.

But but but but… a character who was once a prominent love interest & supporting character for one of the leads you are writing about isn’t the same as a nameless throwaway, you know? Especially when you’re mentioning that connection specifically—of her being Tim’s first girlfriend (rather than it just being a wordless cameo or something) in a story that’s premise hinges on Tim having dating experience.

Ariana is a character who hasn’t appeared since like 1999, so pulling her out of the woodwork to be used for one panel while also… needing to make a huge logic leap with her to make it even work—something the writer felt fine with just explaining as having happened off-panel—is really frustrating and annoying. I’m talking, of course, about Ari just suddenly knowing Tim’s identity as Robin. You know, the root of most challenges that they faced in their relationship because he couldn’t be honest with her about it. Yeah that’s just no big deal now, apparently.

That’s what pisses me off about this the most—bringing her back only to brush off the sources of conflict between her and Tim and make everything all okie dokie in a completely unearned way. Now to be clear: I don’t think it’s a bad thing for Ariana to be like, nice about Tim & Bernard being together now—especially because in her last speaking appearance before this that I’m aware of [Robin #66], the two of them had cleared some air on still wanting to be friends even though they’re no longer dating. But I do think using her one speech bubble of dialogue to mention how she ‘owes’ him and Bernard a dinner feels off.

If there were like… an actual conversation between Ari & Tim and during that she said something nice about Tim & Bernard/something about being happy for him, then I don’t think it’d feel so weird. And I will say, this is a short story so I get there not being the page space to resolve Tim & Ari’s history in a story that’s not about that, I really do. But this is the first time she’s shown up in about 25 years! Using her in a story and having a big reveal like Tim’s identity and not touching on any of that but making sure you do use her single dialogue bubble to mention her ‘owing’ Tim & to mention the relationship btwn Tim & his current love interest??? That just feels weeeird!!!!!!

It feels like her purpose in this story was largely to show a lack of conflict in Tim’s current life and that everyone around him is super enthusiastically pro Tim being with Bernard, without actually considering much about her as a character. Which… again, this story isn’t about her, it’s about Tim & Damian… but… it’s still just frustrating when this isn’t a character we can just go read some other book published in the last two decades to see her actually get used well in, this is a character we very well may not see for another 25 years after this"

Sorry I still cant get my head around ariana being told tims identity as robin off panel. The issues in their relationship literally stem from tims inability to be honest and open to the point where she thinks hes cheating on her. their miscommunication is key to their relationship mishaps and downfall. Revealing he's robin to her off panel is stupid and unnecessary, not to mention dangerous especially since after red robin 2009, we know tim is in the public eye. he is a public figure and the more people knowing his identity, the more dangerous it is. You cannot tell me bruce would be chill with this either. Like tim isnt allowed to tell his closest friends in young justice his identity which impacts the teams trust in him and leads to him leaving the actual team, but sure he can tell his ex girlfriend for no reason.

And i hate how they broke off tim and stephs relationship so callously. like they were actually so cute together and breaking it off so that tim can be bisexual just feels like more bisexual erasure than it is representation. Bisexual people can be in heterosexual relationships. like explore how their relationship fell apart like they did with every other love interest, explore how tims bisexuality affects him as a person and as a character, and then introduce a boyfriend later. it just seems to stupid to cast her aside for some random guy in one issue and then just have steph as being perfectly fine with meeting the guy her boyfriend dumped her for. Tim and steph have been through so much together, i feel like their breakup couldve been better explored.

Anyway, great points. I agree 100%.

[scrubbinn]

Mimic HRT: 20 months “Broken patients”

“Ah Ms.Mulberry… I, er, didn’t expect to see you. This early I mean. Making use of that outside privilege we worked so hard to get you. Of course you would. We managed to set the standard that all of your kind will keep their citizenship status until their crossroads, rather than at the start of their treatment. But, we’ll need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Why don’t you- Ah, already taking a seat I see. So then… How are we feeling today? You seem… yourself.”

“...”

“Well, let’s see, what we can expect now is a few more days in court just to settle things, make sure the government is satisfied with the arrangements we all agreed upon. We’ll also need a few weeks to determine if this therian support group is actually reputable enough that this will count towards your psychological evaluation. Recently there have been some rumors about the manager being a bit unsavory, so that will cause a delay, if not entirely set you back some time. Really now, you must have realized finding a professional therapist would have been a much safer move… Excuse me, Ms.Mulberry, can I inquire why-

“You will not. Now keep talking.”

“Ms.Mulberry you seem rather upset, perhaps-

“You’re wondering why I decided to not use my mimicry to disguise a face for myself today. Oh believe me, I would have loved to walk in here a mass of sludge with eyes and teeth all over but it turns out human society doesn’t really like that too much. Having a head with no eyes to look at is a courtesy I am giving you. It’s more than you deserve. What the fuck is all this talk of we? You weren’t even at the last fucking meeting. Our lawyer wasn’t even at the last fucking meeting!”

“You’re clearly distressed, you should leave the premises immed-

“SHUT UP! YOU DON’T GET TO TALK!... Just shut up and listen. There is no we. As far as I am aware, this bullshit lawsuit against your clinic is the most roundabout way to specifically get me into a criminal court considering this incident didn’t even take place in hyper city. The lawyer I was given is somehow less competent than you are! Do you know how much time I’ve spent these past two months learning, specifically, Hyper city legal jargon? How overly complex a nexus point’s laws have to be to account for literally anything! And you left us to sink or swim! I could pass the fucking bar exam here if I wanted to at this point! And the worst part, oh my god the worst part. It cost me everything. I can’t so much as afford a hot dog on the way back home now. Because you’re some blinding asshole who thinks I should have to pay for everything! Well you know what? Perhaps you should be the one paying now! I am going to drag you down into the mud with me. Do you really think I don’t know why you never showed up, why I had to do everything? Because what's one experiment to you? Scape-goat, lab-rat, guinea pig, a mimicry of something human no longer. The second your clinic was in the clear, you left me to fend for myself. I can't believe I had an ounce of pity for you. When you comforted my decision to stop at my crossroad I actually thought you cared about me. That there was someone that could understand my fears!”

“Mayday that was what I was doing! I saw someone in pain and I did my best! I-

“Your best?! Oh my. Ha. Hahahaha. You don't even get it yourself do you? No you idiot! You comforted us because you saw the last shred of our humanity and told us to never let go of it. You're not clever Theodore. Inside that mind of yours whether you admit it or not, the second we start this treatment, you see all of us as inferior and beneath you. You self-righteous bastard. You know what, how about I let you talk. Won't cut you off this time. I want you to explain to me what your goal is. Why do you help us when you could simply refuse? Why put yourself through this? 

“And if I don’t feel the need to justify my actions to someone threatening me? What if I were to call security to drag out a crazed patient? What would you do then?”

“What would I do? I'll know the second you push that panic button, and we both know what we can do to a human body. Don’t make me go through that again.”

“Right then, I suppose I'll have to give you a truth that will satisfy you in this clear state of psychosis brought about by a clear lack of sleep and several stressors.” 

“We both know you're nowhere near trained to be a psychiatrist. Stick to working with hormone levels Mr. endocrinologist.”

“You want the truth? Fine, How's about this? Some witch had weird friends and made a promise of a lot of money if I sold her magic as a medicine. Happy? No? Of course not! That's not what you're asking you frea- No. I won't let you get the better of me. You want to know why I stuck around. Why after all these years I haven't retired… I really could, couldn't I. There are other doctors, for over a year I haven't been the only one supplying this stuff. I've had my fair share of attacks both verbally and physically from both sides of this city. I'm not sticking around because I have to, I've made enough breakthroughs and connections to create my own hormonal formulas without the need of the witch who dragged me in this business in the first place. There are so many reasons to retire and let my legacy live on in the scientific textbooks of all worlds. But no. The truest reason I fight for this clinic is to see people who walk through these doors happy! I see dozens of brilliant and kind souls walk through this door, ones who had the unfortunate fate of being born in the wrong body! I am giving my time, life, reputation, and money to help people because that is its own rewar- Stop growling! You said no interruptions!”

“Well you're clearly lying to yourself if you actually think seeing us happy is your end goal. Or were you not paying attention when I had to remind you that you abandoned me in a court case that shouldn't have even legally happened. They spent half their time trying to get the victim, my god damn girlfriend, to indict me as a crazed lunatic. If their goal was to crush me mentally and physically then they succeeded. Otherwise it was just a waste of time. I can’t even fathom how much time they must have if spending it going after an otherkin that slightly bothered them is possible! There is one thing that I got out of it though. There is one glimmer of light in this forsaken tunnel. Because that useless lawyer let me get a look at all the documentation of this clinic. Maybe the reason for this case was just for them to get a look at it. Find something to pin you with. Either way I guess everything you do is legal since they never went after you about it. But still, getting to read everything you’ve ever done has been quite the eye opener. Every experiment and procedure you’ve ever done.”

“And? As you already said, everything I’ve done is above the board and… Wait, you couldn’t possibly think of leaking those to the general public? You shouldn't even have them anymore. Making copies like that is illegal! If you leak those documents then you’ll go down with me. This is all a bluff to you.”

“Erian, you should know better than anyone how well we can disappear. Or how well we could make you disappear. Besides, for the record, I never said I made copies, but perhaps I might have. I just want you to know exactly where we stand. You hurt me, but I’m not so petty as to hurt you back. Instead you’re going to give me a job here. As an assistant.”

“This might be the worst job interview I’ve ever held. You do realize blackmail makes an awful resume don’t you? But I can’t exactly decline now can I. Tell me Mayday. What happened to the young woman who came here scared yet excited for a better life? You once said you wanted to work here before, but resort to this kind of behavior. Why even take a job here? It would make your bargaining chip even worse for you than for me?”

“Look, despite everything. What you’ve done to us, what you’ve done to others. Everything I learned. I, don't hate you. It’s not in my nature. I am quite literally doing this because it is my only option to not starve. And despite my attempts to hate you this whole confrontation I can't hold onto it for long. I get that what you think you're doing is some greater good for therians. But you're not the misunderstood hero you think you are. You're just seeking attention. Doesn't matter if it's good or bad you just end up making awful problems for everyone in the name of research that at best, will only ever appear in a science textbook, and you know that. Look, it's ok, I get what it’s like to seek that sort of validation. I could help you. Please, just give me the job.”

“You are wrong about me Mayday, you consider me obsessed with my image of a hero but perhaps your delusions about me are simply your obsession. I don't have a choice in giving you a job. I suppose I'll find something for you that's out of the way. I can’t say I'm excited to work with you. But perhaps you'll make a good legal advisor for now if you're as well versed in law as you say you are. No, trusting you with that would be a mistake, we’ll start you off as a janitor perhaps, I’m sure your body’s makeup should help you in that field. Besides, janitors are already basically invisible to everyone else, I’m sure your mimic mind would prefer that.”

“Oh no, we are not ending this conversation like that. Legal advisor? Janitor? Are you trying to make us angry again? No, I'm staying as far away from those kinds of positions as possible! You'll be paying for my degree and I'm working directly as an assistant. This isn't something you can negotiate!”

“I think you’ll find that it is! Because as far as I’m concerned, you’ll settle for any job. You don’t have the power to demand what position I find for you. The second you have this job, it becomes too valuable to destroy. You will accept this role or you will sink us both. Do I make myself clear?”

“I- I could attack you. You know a bite from me could kill you! I’ll do it!”

“You’ve already played your hand Mayday, I know most of this conversation was just a bluff from you anyways. Be thankful that, if I feel generous enough, I’ll forget this little incident when the time comes that I can secure this clinic’s future without fear of your threats. I do see many brilliant souls walk through this door. It’s a shame you weren’t one of them. But, I’m someone who cares about my patients despite your attacks on my character. I’ll give you one last chance to convince me why I shouldn’t give you the worst possible job I could find.”

“I- You’re right. This is just a bluff. I can’t even call it a roar, this is just my last whimper before I lose everything. I don’t. There’s nothing left after today. Abi can’t afford to take care of me. Going back home is what caused this mess in the first place. Theo, I’m here because you are my last lifeline. You can decline my employment if you want. I never actually copied the evidence I saw. I’m just a mimic of empty threats. My last echo before I disappear. I’m just scared. We lost.”

“Mayday… You are certainly good at trying my patience as well as heartstrings. Fine then, I’ll overlook these threats of yours as brought about by desperation. You will never state to the public what rumors they might have claimed as evidence, and you will be worked down to the bone- er, tooth, as an assistant. Do I make myself clear?”

“Oh my stars thank you!”

“Please do not mention it.”

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Mention list: @a-shramp, @calliecwrites, @be702, @respectfulevil, @hyacinthdoll1315

@aster-is-confused, @bloodandbrandywyne, @glitchgloop, @nyxthewary, @lunadook

[liaromancewriter]

Have a Punny Day

Premise: Cassie and Tobias go overboard with food puns.

Book: Open Heart Pairing: Tobias Carrick, F!MC (Cassie Valentine); feat. Ethan Ramsey Rating/Category: Teen. Fluff. Words: 800

A/N: One of the readers on AO3 asked once if I'd consider writing a Tobias and Cassie interaction, similar to the food puns chapter in book 3. This fic is inspired by that ask. Submission for @choicesmaychallenge24 prompt 'mania' for the use of too many puns and uncontrollable laughter. 😂

Cassie Valentine was run off her feet. As a third-year resident and junior fellow at Boston’s prestigious Edenbrook Hospital, her free time was increasingly being squeezed ahead of graduation. Suddenly, it seemed as if the faculty was determined to dump all their knowledge onto departing minds.

That would have been helpful when she was a clueless intern three years ago. But now, after working with Ethan Ramsey on the most complex medical cases and performing hundreds of procedures, she no longer needed to know when arterial was preferred over central venous line placement.

She scarfed down a banana she’d grabbed from the breakroom between patients and wished it was a chocolate bar instead. What possessed her to give up chocolate for Lent?

Max, that’s what. The bastard had dared her, and she’d fallen for his sneaky insinuations like the gullible idiot she was.

Swallowing down the last bite of the slightly mushy fruit, she disposed of the peel and headed toward the north elevator bank. The buzzing of her pager with a message to report to the Diagnostic Team office had her changing directions.

A short while later, she swiped the access card and rushed into the glass-walled office, breathless from her dash up three flights of stairs.

“Whoa. Cake it easy, Valentine,” Tobias Carrick called out in alarm from the conference table, forking up a chocolate cake.

Cassie watched him in bemusement. “Did you just say ‘cake’ it easy?”

“Oops. Must have had cake on my mind.” He toasted her with his fork, going back for seconds.

Cassie shrugged, joining him at the round conference table. “I’m a layer back kind of person, Carrick.”

Tobias grinned wolfishly. “Well, you’re butter than me.”

He saw her staring hungrily at the cake and pushed the plate toward her. “It’s Maureen’s birthday. I managed to confiscate this from the nurses’ lounge— with great difficulty, I might add. If they find out, I’m in dip chip.”

Cassie snorted at the pun. “What’s life without a few whisks, right?”

Tobias chuckled. “A little cheesy, but grate effort. Here, I grabbed two forks.”

Shaking her head, she pushed the plate away. “Thanks, but my brother challenged me to give up something for Lent. In my not-so-infinite wisdom, I picked chocolate.”

“Yogurta be kidding me!” His mouth dropped open. “I didn’t peg you for being religious, especially with Ethan being agnostic.”

“Anything’s pastable.” Cassie laughed, amused at the hypothetical scenario of Ethan going to church with her. “Besides, it’s not about religion——and if you tell my mother I said that, you’re a dirty, rotten liar,” she warned with a steely-eyed look, pretending to crack her knuckles for effect.

“Max just knows how to push my gumdrop buttons, and we made a bet. I’m not giving him the satisfaction of rolling in the dough,” she added with a secret relish.

Tobias raised his eyebrows. “If you’ve given up chocolate, you must feel pretty desserted.”

“Tell you what.” He pushed his chair back and picked up the paper plate. “Consider this a gesture of my friend-chip.”

So saying, he walked out the sliding glass doors and dumped the rest of the cake into the trashcan outside.

“You’re one in a melon, Tobias,” Cassie said, her lips curled in a friendly smile. “Donut let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“And another one bites the crust.” Tobias winked lasciviously, his voice dropping into a familiar flirtatious tone. “Knew my charm would rub off on you one of these days, Cassie. Admit it. I’ve got you wonton more.”

“Oh, beet it, Carrick!” Cassie burst into laughter, throwing her head backward.

Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as she tried to still the laughter, but it was a losing battle as Tobias joined her, his deeper chuckles mingling with her lighter ones.

When Ethan and Baz Mirani walked into the diagnostic team’s office a few minutes later, they came to a standstill and stared perplexed. The other half of the team was doubled over in their chairs; bodies wracked in uncontrollable laughter.

“Have you noticed how unruly the team has become since Carrick joined us?” Ethan mused, raising an eyebrow as he glanced from Cassie to Tobias.

Baz folded his arms, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Well, we could use a break from the usual grind of life and death.”

“I’ll never understand how one person can cause such chaos,” Ethan shook his head, crossing the carpeted floor to stand at the front of the conference table.

Noticing the others had joined them, Cassie and Tobias slowly collected themselves. Their laughter died down to occasional chuckles as they shared one final amused glance before turning to give their attention to Ethan, the levity of the moment settling into a comfortable workday hum.

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

All Fics & Edits: @bluebelle08 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @jerzwriter @lady-calypso

@mainstreetreader @peonierose @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16

@justyourusualash @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Ethan & Cassie only: @cariantha @custaroonie @youlookappropriate

[astronaris]

[F4GM] A Palace Harem Drama RP - An EXTREMELY niche, specific RP request

As the title indicates, this is a very niche request, so niche in fact It's probably first of its kind on this sub. Now, ads aren't my strong suit so I'll keep it fairly short and simple.

About Me

Hello! My name is Astronaris, you may call me Astro. I am 21+ years old, female, live in Southeast Asia (just note the timezone there as well). I have been a roleplayer for 11 years now and I am ESL, so my writing can have some grammatical mistakes here and there. I am a pretty reserved person, so while I love OOC talk that isn't related to RP, it takes a little while for me to open up to new people, so please be patient!

Writing Style:

I write in 3rd Person Past or Present Tense and only that. I am not familiar with writing in 1st person or 2nd person. My post length usually averages around 3-5 paragraphs, can be longer or shorter as needed with the current scene, but will not be shorter than 4 sentences minimum or exceed 7 paragraphs. I very much have the "quality over quantity" principle with writing and I try to avoid having unnecessary filler or exposition inflating the length. Please don't mistake my short posts as inexperience or bad writing. [h3][/h3]

Time/Availability:

GMT +8 timezone. But, you'd find I'm available OOC almost all the time and I'll always find time to reply on Discord or otherwise, unless I am busy with something or just lacking energy that day. I try to write roleplay posts whenever available and I reply at least once per day, often more depending on my partner's length.

What To Expect From Me:

For this premise specifically, I'd prefer to play only a female primary character.

While I am seeking a GM who'd primarily control the world, plot, etc. It does not mean I will be just dead weight who just leaves allll the work to the GM. I will still be proactive and pull my weight in planning, worldbuilding, initiating or executing in-character plots, and the like. I will not write my character being passive all the time and just wasting any plot hooks given by the GM or need to be forcibly whisked away to participate in the plot.

I do not write using AI and never, EVER will.

I am not afraid to tackle darker, more grim topics in an RP, making it feel more realistic and grounded. So long it doesn't involve breaking the forum rules or making my partner uncomfortable.

I LOVE writing court intrigue, medieval politics, and drama.

Story over smut always. I prefer not to have any smut at all, but if it happens, I'll be something that happens naturally in the story and not the focus.

Overall, I am very flexible, open to adapting, and new ideas. I will always respect your preferences, limits, etc so long you respect mine.

What I Expect From My Partners:

I will try to keep this short since I don't want to come off as excessively demanding or have impossibly high standards.

Be willing to be a GM. As GM you'll be free to control the world as you wish/need to.

NOT write with AI. If you try to pass off AI-written posts as your own writing, I will know. If I wanted to write against AI, I'd go to a chatbot, not make a roleplay ad, sorry.

The RP Premise:

The final stretch of the ad! I'll keep this part short as well. Any specific details we discuss together in the planning stages of the RP.

The general idea is a roleplay set around a historically accurate harem. Not the kind of harem you'd see in animes, etc, but one structured similarly to one that existed historically. Think the Chinese Imperial Harem or the Ottoman Empire Harem as an example. Doesn't have to take place in a real life location, era, or follow the events of real-life history, there will be creative liberties taken to make the RP more fun.

My character is a concubine at one of these harems. Their story will be how they'd fight to survive within the harem, climb the ranks of power, and garner the favor the Emperor (or whatever equivalent). If you've watched CDramas like "Ruyi's Royal Love", "Empress of China", the Kdrama "Empress Ki", or the Turkish drama "Magnificent Century" that's precisely the kind of story I want to RP.

If you're the rare shiny Pokemon who's interested. Please throw me a DM or reply to the thread, and then we can discuss specifics such setting, era, etc. Roleplay can either be facilitated on Discord, Tumblr, any site my partner prefers really.

[clockworksteel]

The Void Rains Upon Her Heart Lore... Part 1

Alright, so, before properly beginning "The Void Rains Upon Her Heart Lore for People Who Don't Play The Void Rains Upon Her Heart But Are Kinda Curious About The Thing Their Friend Has Been into Lately Part 1", I'll remark that it's a fun game that's playable as an entry-level shoot 'em up player, and that uncovering the lore one piece at a time from reading the Memories/Notes related to items in the Collection (and a few other sources) is part of the enjoyment. Perhaps given the premise of the post it doesn't really need a spoiler warning, but here there be spoilers (although maybe not that many in this specific post).

As much as I'd like to jump right into talking about specific monster types, I think I have to start with things like the Zaraden and Tetrids. The things which set up the plot and world a little. Also, I'll use [] when I'm giving a source for something, which will be done inconsistently. Like, some things are obvious enough to a player that I'm not gonna go looking for a source, but sometimes I happen to already know of one, and I'll also try to always source the weirder facts. I might also try to get some screenshots in later posts, but this one is text-only.

The Zaraden are the dominant race on the planet Eyeris, and can be considered basically the "humans" of the world, if humans could grow wings and had dream-magic. Zaraden live in towers [Distant Towers Dreamscape Memory], do questionable experiments [Heart Tank Power Gift Memory/The Garden's Blessing Dreamscape Memory], and, as a society, are super ableist. The player exclusively plays as outcasts, who mostly never developed wings good enough to fly with. The "wingless" are largely presumed to be useless, although it is possible to be considered "one of the useful ones" for a time [Full Radiant Bonus Gift Memory]. Due to their status, or perhaps other additional reasons, the main characters no longer live in the tower, and survive in a land sometimes known as "the pit", where "wingless" are left to die [Iiry Forest Dreamscape Memory].

Though the main characters have been mistreated, and are generally forced to hide wherever they can, they are still full of love and wish to share it with the monsters [Overlove Bonus Gift Memories]. They do so by sending out their hearts into dreamscapes and directly confronting the manifestations of the fears the monsters feel using love bullets [How to Love Tutorial]. These fear manifestations usually look like the monsters but don't have to [In My Dreams Dreamscape Memory]. While monsters actually fear Zaraden even more than a Zaraden can even feel fear [Fear Sense Power Gift Memory], once their fears are erased, they are capable of loving the Zaraden back, so whoever wrote in the Fear Sense memory "Monsters are evil creatures that will kill us if they get the chance" seems to have been incorrect.

At any rate, loving monsters happens to also be a great survival strategy for an outcast Zaraden looking to live among monsters and also walk outside. However, for some reason that will likely be explored in later updates (the game is in early access), the entire region (or world?) is under a daily memory wipe which only a select few can resist, so every day the monsters are back to being afraid. The main characters still love, though, for sharing a beautiful thing and having it last only a short time is better than never at all. Also, they do hope to get to the bottom of whatever is going on. Perhaps the answers lie in fulfilling their dreams or the monsters' dreams (earning achievements), for dreaming with a Zaraden has the power to change the world [Fulfilling Dreams Tutorial].

As for why the monsters are so afraid of Zaraden, I'm not aware of any direct mention of why that is. I can factually state that triangular things known as "Tetrids" are a power source in the world [Full Prism Bounty Gift Memory], that they're formed from negative emotions [Citations upcoming], that monsters produce way more of them than Zaraden do [Prism Flake Bounty Gift Memory], and that Zaraden are definitely farming them from monsters using some method that's considered dangerous [Full Prism Bounty Gift Memory, again]. While the player definitely extracts Tetrids by either destroying fears or via events that involve sharing even more love with a monster, so they may not exclusively result from negative emotions, they are mostly known for their negative sides.

I like to imagine that Zaraden society has something like a reverse Monsters Inc., where they regularly go out and scare monsters on purpose to farm more Tetrids, leading to deep-seated trauma in the monsters, but that's pure speculation and not supported in the text as far as I'm aware.

For a bit more on the Tetrids, there are 7 colors, the first 6 of which are associated with specific emotions:

Green - Embarrassment, Guilt, and Shame [One Green Bonus Gift Memory]

Red - Frustration and Anger [One Red Bonus Gift Memory]

Yellow - Denial [One Yellow Bonus Gift Memory]

Blue - Stress and Anxiety [One Blue Bonus Gift Memory]

Orange - Insecurity and Instability [One Orange Bonus Gift Memory]

Purple - Loneliness [One Purple Bonus Gift Memory]

Radiant (rainbow) - Composed of all other colors together, although this process happens "at the molecular level" and is not something the player can just voluntarily mix together at any time [Prism Shard Bounty Gift Memory]. There is a garden which can make them from the other 6 Tetrids, but it's fairly inefficient [The Garden's Blessing Dreamscape Memory].

Each color of Tetrids are associated with different monster types, but I'll definitely get more into that later.

Also, partial Tetrids are called Motes. I didn't really have a good place to mention this. It takes 2048 Motes to make a Tetrid. The developer seems to like that specific power of 2. 1/2048 is also the approximate rate at which "Wingless" are born [Wingless Power Gift Memory].

Finally, for something that's more of a fun fact than useful to know for understanding the world, Tetrids cause different sensory experiences for everyone [Cool Tetrids Bonus Gift Memory], but usually do something related to either the listed emotions or their opposite. For a specific example, one Zaraden found that Blue Tetrids smell like mint to them, which calms their anxiety [Blue Ore Bounty Gift Memory].

[shadowmaat]

Uhh... No?

There are a lot of cozy-type fantasy books out these days. I enjoy low-stakes stuff, and recently I've been indulging in a lot of "murder mystery with magic" stories. There's a bit of a sameness to them, but that's kinda baked into the mystery genre and isn't actually a problem. If anything, it's a comfort because you know how things are going to go. Usually.

I picked up a freebie book for my kobo. This one slotted into the "magic is a secret" vein of urban fantasy, so the witch in question is in the closet, so to speak. It was a mostly standard set-up; the witch's best friend dies in Mysterious Circumstances and the witch is the prime suspect because the sheriff has always been suspicious of her. Naturally the witch is going to work to clear her name and find the real killer.

As bog-standard as that premise is, it still felt a bit... off? Or at least not aligning the way I expected. I figured it was a me-thing and kept reading. If the witch's motives seemed more selfish than altruistic, well, maybe I was just reading it wrong.

One of the powers the witch has it to be able to touch someone and glean some surface impressions. She used that ability on the sheriff to get an idea of what was "wrong" about her friend's death, and she used it again on a reporter to get the name of her friend's former workplace. The first one I could understand since the sheriff is hostile and suspicious, but the second one I wondered why she didn't simply ask. It wasn't as if it was any kind of secret, and it's probably something she could have learned for herself with a bit of digging, but shortcut, I guess.

I was willing to go along with it until the victim's mother showed up, mentioning that an autopsy was going to be performed later that afternoon (this being four days after the actual murder). By this point results had come back on the "health tonic" (potion) that the witch had given her BFF; the one that had been found clutched in her poor, dead hand. The results showed it to be nontoxic and not the cause of death. This means the witch was no longer a suspect. Not that it was going to slow down her investigation. It never does in these kind of mysteries, although usually it's because the protag wants the killer brought to justice.

I guess technically that was the case here as well, but the way the author chose to handle/word things made it feel more... selfish. Sure, the protag wanted to find the killer, but she was also determined to learn all the secrets her friend had been keeping from her. Which, sure, would probably help her find the killer, but it just felt off. I think part of the problem I was having at that point was that most of what I'd seen the protag doing was very... self-serving? In addition to gleaning stuff from unsuspecting people, she'd also given another person a spelled cup of cocoa to make her more willing to discuss things she otherwise might not mention. Which, again, felt like something she could have accomplished just by talking.

The feel of the book was getting weirder. The protag had no qualms about the things she was doing, and maybe if it had stayed at that level of "iffy but not outright objectionable" I could have shrugged it off. Except then it crossed an unforgivable line.

Autopsies are important. They can give us a lot of information about how a person died. They may not be perfect, but they set a good baseline and are important in murder cases. Our protag, unfortunately, decided that an autopsy wasn't good enough and that she needed access to the body herself in order to glean whatever handwavy magic stuff could tell her about how and why her friend had died. And she had to do this before the coroner got a chance to examine the body.

She calls up the receptionist at the coroner's office, uses magic to determine the poor woman's "secret desire," and then uses that to put a whammy on her, giving her the irresistible urge to leave work without notice and rush off to fulfill that urge (in this case it was ice cream from the rival town miles away).

That's when I stopped reading and deleted the book off my kobo. Not just because she hexed an unsuspecting and unwilling innocent, but because that was her default method. She didn't hesitate, didn't question if this was really an ethical use of magic, and didn't try anything more mundane to get past the receptionist. She full-on altered a woman's mind to get the result she wanted. What the everloving fuck were you thinking, author?

So yeah. There aren't many hard and fast rules regarding the use of magic in fiction, but I'm pretty sure "do no harm" is the biggest one. Unless you're the bad guy.

[wishingforatypewriter]

6, 7, 8, 9, 16 💖

Hi!!! Thanks for the ask! I hope you've been well!

6. What makes a great meet cute?

Instant attraction and chemistry! The world goes quiet and the heavens move when they lock eyes for the first time. Their first exchange of words is easy, natural, like walking home down a familiar route. I just love it when characters know right away, even if they can't or won't act on it.

7. What makes a compelling breakup?

I think a breakup is most compelling when the characters simply grow in different directions, until staying in the relationship would require one of both parties to prune away new parts of themselves. I think it can be moving and satisfying when the characters still hold love for each other, and neither party did anything terribly wrong, but they go their separate ways in order to choose themselves and keep growing.

8. What are your favorite romantic tropes and why?

Forbidden/Secret Love - In fiction, I think it makes every interaction richer and higher stakes when the characters have limited time together because of these conditions. Given this, I'm also a sucker for Enemies to Lovers and when characters from two vastly different social circles fall for each other.

Hurt/Comfort - There's something about characters caring for each other, be it physically or emotionally, that just melts me. I can always go for an injury fic, a sickfic, or some emotional angst. But for me, the emphasis is always on the comfort more than the hurt.

Right Person, Wrong Time - This dynamic is often quite sad in a really satisfying way. I really enjoy it in stories that follow characters through the years; they go their separate ways, do what they have to, and then eventually find their way back to each other.

9. What are your least favorite romantic tropes and why?

Misunderstanding/Third Act Breakup - I think this can definitely be done well, but sometimes it feels like it's just included for the sake of drama or making a story longer than it needs to be.

Unrequited at First - This specific brand of Friends to Lovers just doesn't do it for me. My question with this trope is always: What changed (other than a character's physical appearance)? This trope almost always makes one of the characters seem really superficial, and it usually just makes me like them less.

Mentor x Student - Listen, my philosophy is always ship and let ship. But for me personally, the reason I don't really vibe with this trope is that there will almost always be a serious power imbalance in the dynamic between the two characters, and that just doesn't do it for me.

16. List three of your favorite romantic novels. Why do you like them?

My first pick has to be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Despite the title, this one is not quite a romance novel, but the central love story spans a lifetime and it's both breathtaking and heartbreaking. I definitely recommend it to anyone who just loves a great story.

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake was the perfect vacation read. The romance was very sweet, but I think the book really resonated with me because the main character reflected my own approach and attitudes towards love and dating (or at least she did before she got swept off her feet). I figure if it could happen for Iris, maybe there's hope for me after all lol.

Lastly, we have Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, which is less of a rec and more of a confession lol. The premise of the book series, a time-bending historical romance, is super interesting if you can suspend disbelief. This novel and the series it started (I actually read up to book 8) are really nostalgic for me. The woman I rented from when I was in grad school and I were both absolutely feral over this series (especially the steamier scenes) and I still think of those days fondly.

Twenty Questions for Romance Writers

[original-content-rp]

[F4GM] A Palace Harem Drama RP - An EXTREMELY niche, specific RP request

About Me

21+ years old, female, live in Southeast Asia (just note the timezone there as well). I have been a roleplayer for 11 years now and I am ESL, so my writing can have some grammatical mistakes here and there. I am a pretty reserved person, so while I love OOC talk that isn't related to RP, it takes a little while for me to open up to new people, so please be patient!

Writing Style:

I write in 3rd Person Past or Present Tense and only that. I am not familiar with writing in 1st person or 2nd person. My post length usually averages around 3-5 paragraphs, can be longer or shorter as needed with the current scene, but will not be shorter than 4 sentences minimum or exceed 7 paragraphs. I very much have the "quality over quantity" principle with writing and I try to avoid having unnecessary filler or exposition inflating the length. Please don't mistake my short posts as inexperience or bad writing. [h3][/h3]

Time/Availability:

GMT +8 timezone. But, you'd find I'm available OOC almost all the time and I'll always find time to reply on Discord or otherwise, unless I am busy with something or just lacking energy that day. I try to write roleplay posts whenever available and I reply at least once per day, often more depending on my partner's length.

What To Expect From Me:

For this premise specifically, I'd prefer to play only a female primary character.

While I am seeking a GM who'd primarily control the world, plot, etc. It does not mean I will be just dead weight who just leaves allll the work to the GM. I will still be proactive and pull my weight in planning, worldbuilding, initiating or executing in-character plots, and the like. I will not write my character being passive all the time and just wasting any plot hooks given by the GM or need to be forcibly whisked away to participate in the plot.

I do not write using AI and never, EVER will.

I am not afraid to tackle darker, more grim topics in an RP, making it feel more realistic and grounded. So long it doesn't involve breaking the forum rules or making my partner uncomfortable.

I LOVE writing court intrigue, medieval politics, and drama.

Story over smut always. I prefer not to have any smut at all, but if it happens, I'll be something that happens naturally in the story and not the focus.

Overall, I am very flexible, open to adapting, and new ideas. I will always respect your preferences, limits, etc so long you respect mine.

What I Expect From My Partners:

Be 18+

Preferably male or identifies as male. (Not a hard requirement)

I will try to keep this short since I don't want to come off as excessively demanding or have impossibly high standards.

Be willing to be a GM. As GM you'll be free to control the world as you wish/need to.

NOT write with AI. If you try to pass off AI-written posts as your own writing, I will know. If I wanted to write against AI, I'd go to a chatbot, not make a roleplay ad, sorry.

The RP Premise:

The final stretch of the ad! I'll keep this part short as well. Any specific details we discuss together in the planning stages of the RP.

The general idea is a roleplay set around a historically accurate harem. Not the kind of harem you'd see in animes, etc, but one structured similarly to one that existed historically. Think the Chinese Imperial Harem or the Ottoman Empire Harem as an example. Doesn't have to take place in a real life location, era, or follow the events of real-life history, there will be creative liberties taken to make the RP more fun.

My character is a concubine at one of these harems. Their story will be how they'd fight to survive within the harem, climb the ranks of power, and garner the favor the Emperor (or whatever equivalent). If you've watched CDramas like "Ruyi's Royal Love", "Empress of China", the Kdrama "Empress Ki", or the Turkish drama "Magnificent Century" that's precisely the kind of story I want to RP.

If you're the rare shiny Pokemon who's interested. Please throw me a DM or reply to the thread, and then we can discuss specifics such setting, era, etc. Roleplay can either be facilitated on Discord, Tumblr, any site my partner prefers really.

.

[rphunter]

[F4GM] A Palace Harem Drama RP - An EXTREMELY niche, specific RP request

About Me

21+ years old, female, live in Southeast Asia (just note the timezone there as well). I have been a roleplayer for 11 years now and I am ESL, so my writing can have some grammatical mistakes here and there. I am a pretty reserved person, so while I love OOC talk that isn't related to RP, it takes a little while for me to open up to new people, so please be patient!

Writing Style:

I write in 3rd Person Past or Present Tense and only that. I am not familiar with writing in 1st person or 2nd person. My post length usually averages around 3-5 paragraphs, can be longer or shorter as needed with the current scene, but will not be shorter than 4 sentences minimum or exceed 7 paragraphs. I very much have the "quality over quantity" principle with writing and I try to avoid having unnecessary filler or exposition inflating the length. Please don't mistake my short posts as inexperience or bad writing. [h3][/h3]

Time/Availability:

GMT +8 timezone. But, you'd find I'm available OOC almost all the time and I'll always find time to reply on Discord or otherwise, unless I am busy with something or just lacking energy that day. I try to write roleplay posts whenever available and I reply at least once per day, often more depending on my partner's length.

What To Expect From Me:

For this premise specifically, I'd prefer to play only a female primary character.

While I am seeking a GM who'd primarily control the world, plot, etc. It does not mean I will be just dead weight who just leaves allll the work to the GM. I will still be proactive and pull my weight in planning, worldbuilding, initiating or executing in-character plots, and the like. I will not write my character being passive all the time and just wasting any plot hooks given by the GM or need to be forcibly whisked away to participate in the plot.

I do not write using AI and never, EVER will.

I am not afraid to tackle darker, more grim topics in an RP, making it feel more realistic and grounded. So long it doesn't involve breaking the forum rules or making my partner uncomfortable.

I LOVE writing court intrigue, medieval politics, and drama.

Story over smut always. I prefer not to have any smut at all, but if it happens, I'll be something that happens naturally in the story and not the focus.

Overall, I am very flexible, open to adapting, and new ideas. I will always respect your preferences, limits, etc so long you respect mine.

What I Expect From My Partners:

Be 18+

Preferably male or identifies as male. (Not a hard requirement)

I will try to keep this short since I don't want to come off as excessively demanding or have impossibly high standards.

Be willing to be a GM. As GM you'll be free to control the world as you wish/need to.

NOT write with AI. If you try to pass off AI-written posts as your own writing, I will know. If I wanted to write against AI, I'd go to a chatbot, not make a roleplay ad, sorry.

The RP Premise:

The final stretch of the ad! I'll keep this part short as well. Any specific details we discuss together in the planning stages of the RP.

The general idea is a roleplay set around a historically accurate harem. Not the kind of harem you'd see in animes, etc, but one structured similarly to one that existed historically. Think the Chinese Imperial Harem or the Ottoman Empire Harem as an example. Doesn't have to take place in a real life location, era, or follow the events of real-life history, there will be creative liberties taken to make the RP more fun.

My character is a concubine at one of these harems. Their story will be how they'd fight to survive within the harem, climb the ranks of power, and garner the favor the Emperor (or whatever equivalent). If you've watched CDramas like "Ruyi's Royal Love", "Empress of China", the Kdrama "Empress Ki", or the Turkish drama "Magnificent Century" that's precisely the kind of story I want to RP.

If you're the rare shiny Pokemon who's interested. Please throw me a DM or reply to the thread, and then we can discuss specifics such setting, era, etc. Roleplay can either be facilitated on Discord, Tumblr, any site my partner prefers really.

,

[strawberryclothing]

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James McCann Baltimore Orioles Taking Fastball To The Face Cartoon Shirt You can be happy in the midst of the biggest James McCann Baltimore Orioles Taking Fastball To The Face Cartoon Shirt . Just make peace with the concept that the way you feel no longer reflects what’s going on around you. Waltz to your own tune, like one of those dudes on their skateboards, who wear headphones and have clearly detached themselves. Of course continue to make only supremely rational choices and keep dedicating yourself to all things that help build a successful life, but you are no longer dependent on having finished before you are allowed to be happy. I’ve been at it for almost ten years now, and it has been a triumph.

[my-mfw-when]

NaNoWriMo, Day 4 Update

Unsurprisingly, I'm behind schedule.

After an unsalvageably bad false start on day one and not having the chance to write anything on day two, I finally have something I'm happy with.

Sitting at just shy of 500 words.

Out of the 5000 I need.

But I'm not about to drop out, especially not this early on. Even if my word count isn't up to snuff, I'm confident I have something good enough to get into a flow with. And even if I don't have much to measure right now, putting it on the page is only half the work.

I'm using this half as an excuse to do some boots-on-the-ground worldbuilding for my other projects, and what little I do have planned has given me loads to work with in the future.

Not gonna lie, I only remembered this challenge existed on the first when I opened Tumblr on a whim, so the plot part of it is very barebones at the moment. "Woman looking for job in new city, urban fantasy hijinx ensue" is about as specific as I've managed thus far, but I at least have a good idea of how she gets deeper and deeper into the secret world.

My idea is essentially that the world is physically a lot bigger than it appears because people are hard wired not to take note of stuff outside of their social circles, and so there's a ton of unoccupied space that people will naturally pass through without noticing, and that it's really easy for the stuff that's not human to move into. Really simple premise, but I consider that a good thing, especially for continuous development like I'm trying.

Putting the MC on a job hunt is also a really clean way to have her deliberately take the plunge without having to drop random superpowers or a pack of demons on her head, I think. That very real and pressing incentive to go to new places has good synergy with the natural curiosity she needs to push the plot forward herself.

As for my writing style, I'm definitely seeing holes in it, how could I not, but pushing past the perfectionism is another huge reason I'm doing this. I can't afford to agonize over my word choice in the first draft with a deadline as tight as this.

I'm not gonna be able to get a ton of work done on it tonight, unfortunately, work is in an hour and I had a lot to do earlier, but I'm confident I'll get faster day by day the longer this goes for.

Advice is always appreciated, feel free to ask me more about whatever.

Wish me luck.