#its like twilight a bit in that regard

[edwardsaginger]

For your ask tag :) 6, 10, 12, and 52 💜

6. favorite youtube channel?

Jenna Marbles !!

10. favorite horror film?

I’m actually a huge scardy-cat... So, I don’t have one ! I’m not actually sure what the last horror movie I watched even was...

12. favorite band?

Florence + the Machine

52. what’s your ringtone?

I don’t have one !! (do people still buy ringtones ??? omg) but if I did have one I think it would be either twilight related or the opening theme to critical role.

ask me questions !!

[bots-and-cons]

Hi! Do you remember the headcanons of the Autobots having a human charge they got to see grow up and start a family? And after several years back at Cybertron during rebuilding efforts, they come across that human’s descendants now that humanity reached a point they could travel the stars. Can we get a version but with the Decepticons?

The post this ask is referring to can be found here. I’m again going to ignore everything that happened in predacons rising, just because I can and the end of season three too actually. Megatron would have the same character development as in predacons rising though, if that makes sense. This ended up very  long for HCs, at least for me, but I do feel like this is in some ways better than the bot version

•They cons met you when you were a teenager and you just became a friend to them all

•They watched you grow and start a family of your own, and when they left to rebuild cybertron, your oldest kid was 13

•Years and years and years go by and many of the cybertronians who fled the war, have returned and the rebuilding is going in full force

•It takes a long time to get the planet back to its feet so to say, and one day there is a call on the comms, asking for permission to land on the planet

•This is of course regarded with quite a lot of hesitance, but Soundwave happens to hear the call and he thinks the voice sounds familiar, so he grants the vessel permission to doc

•Soundwave of course makes sure the other decepticons who were on earth at back then, hear about the humans who arrived

•So there is a bit of a welcoming committee greeting the space adventurers who’ve arrived and three human’s step out of the vessel in their space gear

•There are some curious onlookers too of course, but the humans don’t really seem all that scared

•Megatron is of course the first to ask what the might be doing on cybertron, he isn’t really interested in how the humans got there, but more of they why

•The oldest of the three, asks the cons if they recognize them, and as Knockout takes a closer look, he gasps in surprise and picks up the human

•”You’re (Name)’s child right?” he asks excitedly

•The humans answers in the affirmative and introduces the two others that are with him as his younger siblings

•Soundwave shows your picture on his visor with a question mark

•The trio looks at each other with rather somber faces, no one ever likes to break the news of someone else’s death

•The humans inform the decepticons that you have passed some years ago

•Pretty much all of the cons get a bit of an odd look on their faces, Knockout is most obviously upset

•Megatron never really took to your kids, so he doesn’t really care about them that much, because you were the only human he could ever really stand

•He’s of course saddened by the news, but he doesn’t really show it, he’s never been of the emotional sort, unless the emotion was anger

•Knockout is pretty spark broken, because he really wanted to see you again, and now he feels really bad for losing track of time so badly

•Starscream finally arrives too, and he’s of course immediately questioning, what the group of humans are doing there and who they are

•Megatron just bluntly states that these humans are your offspring which shuts up Starscream quite effectively

•After a moment of silence, Starscream of course ask “Well where is (Name)?”

•Knockout just states that you’ve passed away and Screamer starts bitterly muttering something about how humans live such a short time

•The trio of humans are told my Megatron that they’re free to stay as long as they please, but he has some business to attend to and has to leave

•One of your kids comments something about him never being the sentimental sort, which Megatron can’t really argue with

•The others, Starscream, Knockout and Soundwave stay and you share some stories

•They’re very interested in the end of your life and how you were in your twilight years

•The kids share stories about your older years, while the three cons tell them what you were like as a teenager and before your kids came along

•There’s a lot of laughter and some tears, but everyone is happy to talk about you

•Knockout is definitely the most nostalgic one, but Starscream isn’t very far behind

•They all miss you but it’s nice to share stories to deal with the grief

[howtofightwrite]

So, I have a character in an urban fantasy setting who's a pre-teen child thrown into dangerous situations. Now, I'm well aware untrained kids don't do well, to put it lightly, in dangerous situations. The one advantage my character has is that they have overwhelming magical power they can't control. They also have a mentor who has a lax standard of safety since they lived the Child Protagonist lifestyle and they survived. What kind of dynamic would arise from this?

So there's a big problem here, and it's not the protagonist, so let's start with that.

Writing kids in urban fantasy is extremely tricky. A lot of the kinds of situations you'd normally work with can't incorporate a child. In most cases, your character can't really operate independently without other characters getting suspicious, and eventually involving the police or other authorities.

The bigger problem is the whole, “uncontrolled,” part of their overwhelming magical power, because that's a lie. They may not have direct control over it, but you do. Worse, your audience knows it, and by the time it matters, they'll have a pretty good grasp of how you're willing to use that power.

The trick to making these kinds of situations work is when the uncontrollable power is exercising its own agency in the story. It may be an actual character in its own right, or it may simply be an unknowable, idiosyncratic force. Now, with the setup you're suggesting, that can be downright horrifying, especially if the character isn't the protagonist. If you introduce a child into urban fantasy where their imaginary friend has very real, and very destructive, powers, that can be an extremely unsettling hook.

Actually, stepping back for a moment, magically empowered kids make fantastic villains in urban fantasy. They neatly sidestep the question of, “why don't you just double tap the monster in the back of the head with explosive rounds?” Because you can't do that to a kid, especially if they're not actively malevolent. (It's a little different when you're dealing with an unspeakable cosmic horror that's wearing the skin of a child like a worn out sock.) More than that, they have an incredible capacity for cruelty without regard for the consequences. A child with magical powers is scary as hell. (And I'm not just saying this because of that Twilight Zone episode.) If you isolate out their magical powers into a distinct entity that operates in parallel to the kid (again, the imaginary friend), that can get really horrifying, especially if it's unclear what the relationship between the child and the magical being is. There's even options here whether the magical force manifests physically (for example as an animated toy) or is entirely incorporeal.

As a protagonist, it's a lot more difficult. You have a character that simply doesn't have the capacity to fully understand the full nuances of the situations they're dealing with. If their uncontrolled magical powers are another character, (again, the imaginary friend comes to mind as an immediate template for this structure), then you start to open up options a bit, but you're going to be asking that character to shoulder a lot of the weight for the situations the child finds themselves in, and you are going to drastically undermine the threat your character faces. There's nothing wrong with the idea of a kid in an urban fantasy setting, who's accompanied by their benevolent (and very violent) shadow monster, but it's a very different dynamic from a kid with godlike powers and no concept of morality. Also, as a protagonist this dynamic can get tricky because the child, and monster, might identify non-malicious actions as threats. It's entirely understandable if the shadow monster rips apart a couple patrol officers because they scared, and tried to take, the kid, but if these are your heroes, this is going to be a bumpy ride. Also, this actually worse if you're not personifying their powers, because the kid might simply murder the cops, with magic, if they scared them.

Like I said, writing kids is difficult, unless you're interacting with them on a fairly regular basis. If you're not, I wouldn't recommend this. Child protagonists are doable. Child protagonists in urban fantasy are very tricky. Honestly, kids do much better in portal fantasy because of the genre conventions. Children as PoVs in urban fantasy is something I personally avoid, (and when I do violate that, it's more in the vein of a cosmic horror wearing a sock.)

Leading into the beginning of this question, it's kind important to remember: No one else knows your characters as well as you do. I don't know who your protagonist is. I've got a five word prompt, and no idea what you're doing beyond that. I can make guesses, but I can't even begin to articulate what kind of magical power your character might possess. Are they a wild mage? Are they possessed? Are they a werewolf? I don't know. These are problems when these are very real possibilities. And it's not like you can't do a very compelling story about an orphaned werewolf stranded in the city, hundreds of miles from the surviving members of their pack, with no idea how to navigate back to them. But, that's going to be a very different story from a kid who accidentally summoned a transdimensional shadow monster, and is now trying to help their new friend find a way home.

There's a lot of possibilities, but I don't know which ones you're looking for.

-Starke

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[amozon28]

Spy x Family has done a really good job when it comes to slow burn developing all its characters and world building while still keeping the story interesting and enganging. and with the slow but steady way the characters and plot is being developed its clear to me that Endo has plans for this to be a long term series.

And while this type of story telling is very obvious with Twilight slowly letting his walls down around his family and falling inlvoe with his wife and loving his daughter through as his denials and “for the mission”s he tells himself i actually want to talk about Yor a bit here because her development is far more subtle.

for how happy and loving Yor is its very easy to forget or not notice how incredibly sad her life has been. she didnt get a chance at a childhood because at  very young age she had to become a parent to her younger brother, so much so that she developed her entire life around him. and once he became an adult and didnt need her anymore, she didnt have a life of her own.

and this is where we meet her at the beginning of the series, having no real friends, being told constantly by her coworkers that shes not normal, living in humble furnishings and only owning practical clothing despite having the money to treat herself and live comfortably. and shes still being an assassin despite not needing to provide for her brother.

and this is something she directly confronts during the cruise arc when theres a moment when she thinks she may die, and is at peace with it because up until this point her entire reason for existing, caring for her brother, had been fulfilled. and while she realizes shes still needed by her fake family, that isnt really a healthy substitute for how she values her life

and at first a lot of her development is around her insecurities around her new role as a mother and wife. which is understandable given the time period and the comments she has recieved from coworkers and others that see her as “lacking” in that regard. however everytime she expresses this Loid reassures her shes perfectly fine, and infact she stops thinking this way after the park bench conversation she has with Loid after knocking him out.

this panel is especially interesting to be because it really highlights WHY Yor has so many insecurities about what others think of her, she spent so much of her childhood alone and working instead of playing with other kids her age or having parents to take care of her. shes doesnt have a lot of socialization skills to help her navigate throught the world. its honestly why i think she clings to the title of “mother” and “wife” so hard because those roles has rules and expectations for how to act that she can figure out. but when it comes to just being “Yor” she doesnt know how shes supposed to be

which is why im REALLY excited for the future arcs involving the Ladys Patriot Society. Because all these ladys love Yor for being HERSELF, they praise her for her mothering skills, they think shes awesome and funny and sweet and genuinely enjoy her company. even when she fails or makes mistakes they dont put her down, because everyone makes mistakes thats normal

Yor has been the sole provider for her and her brother, and being in a league of assassins is mainly a solo job. she doesnt know how to work with others and always thinks she needs to carry her own weight, which is where a lot of her insecurities about not measuring up and having such a low sense of self worth comes from. but the ladys clubs dont treat her like that

im so excited so see how Yors arc of self worth outside of what she can “provide” for other people and just learnt o love herself as she is.

[livingfast04]

Hi, I have a question for the moster au!

Is there controversy regarding humans and monsters in fiction (books, movies, etc.)? Like a human writing a love novel between a human and a vampire (like Twilight) and they receive backlash because what does a human know about vampires? Does writing a book automatically make them an expert on all vampires? How do the vampires feel about it? The same goes for if a monster wrote about other monsters. Like a mermaid writing about faes and hellhounds. Like each monster being a bit protective of their species in fiction because nobody else is really going to understand than themselves.

Okay.

In all my planning and then world building. I did not think about this-

And now I'm mad that I didn't think about this. Meaning I've spent the last several weeks, trying to answer this question.

Short Answer, Yes.

Long Answer- Oh, my god you absolute genius.

I realized, I touched on this briefly with all of this being super inspired by Frankenstein (praise be Mary Shelley), and then mentioning the book like- a little too much. Was reading it for a Class, and was super frustrated with the teacher- and I coped with it my own way.

Anyway-

They are a lot of controversy regarding writing Monsters in books that are not written by monsters. Specifically if they are not the type of monster written in the book. Or whenever they are presented in any type of media.

Will remark- Movies and TV shows are an acceptation to this, mostly because they have to hire those types of Creatures to play those parts. Thought about this one a lot, and that was a long legal issue with discrepancy's and discrimination within the Filming industry with letting Humans play roles of Creatures. And then not telling creatures rightfully have those roles.

Books! In fiction-

No one cares about general pairings. Vampire - Human, Werewolf - Vampire, Human - Witch. Witch - Vampire

And so on.

It's more of a Creatures that aren't super open with their general happenings. Or a, they don't truly mind as long as it is not written from the perspective of the creature- (brief moment where my power goes out for maybe 5 seconds, and then my wifi takes 30 minutes to come back on- had to copy paste all of it into an offline google doc. Apologizes if the format is fucked.) Most don't mind speculation, roughly done research. As long as it is told as another creature looking in on a different creature. It's when, lets say a Werewolf, writes book or such from the point of view of a Dragon- It's when discrepancies show up and people get angry. Because while yes, that is a Monster writing a book about well A monster's story- it's not their type, and their experiences with life are completely different. You used Twilight as an example- I say, from the way like- vampires are more in media, as well as how this Au's vampires work. And people are very aware of that, at the point the book is released. There's very little talk about it being, such a huge piece of like- Inaccurate standards- and more it circles the Vampire covens because everyone thinks its hilarious. So I think it just depends. In the 80s? They are all very, very feral and protective when it comes down to their species. It's very frowned upon for other monsters to write about other monsters as if they know more, and it's even more frowned upon when humans do anything monster related. However not the other way around, because they've already picked apart that certain human looking monsters are humans, but also not- but saying they can't write books about human hero's and human villains. Is saying they aren't human at all. Most Monsters don't actually care to write about humans. There are few monster published books about humans falling in love with Monsters- than there are human published books about monsters falling in love with humans. There's all sorts of different standards. A lot of controversy, a lot of discussion about it. And a lot of things are considered taboo- or just simply frowned upon. But there are no real laws about what people can publish- humans and no-humans. In Fiction. outside of fiction there are heavy rules, regulations, consent, permission, permits, laws. Though! more common to see co-author's on extremely popular fiction novels. Different species of Monsters will band together to write a series, or just a novel. To show case both different voices, write their creature in their most accurate way. Humans and Monster also do this! It's very common for there to be a general- "If you have a monster based idea, toss the idea to another writer. see if they want to co-author it." I think- I covered, most of what you asked??? I got excited when you asked- and then I got a little carried away- Ha.

[moonstrider9904]

Feeding your flame

Pairing: Crosshair x Fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit for sexual content. 18+. No minors allowed.

Summary: A special occasion gone right brings you to your hotel bedroom with Crosshair. While all of your steamy encounters with Crosshair involve him ravaging you, this time, you decide to top him and show him how irresistible he is to you.

A/N: This isn’t exactly soft smut with Crosshair but rather a thirsting over him and doing dirty stuff to him holy crap I am horny af for this man. To be honest, I am a little bit lost regarding which WIPs I want to continue, because as you may know, I have this urge to write stories for Crosshair so it’s given me a lot to think about. IN THE MEANTIME, however, I offer you this smutty smut. Thanks for reading!! :3

I also listened to the song Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation to get inspired. I’ve been rewatching twilight and it’s got some fanfic-fueling music.

Warnings/tags: SMUT. PIV sex unprotected (please wrap it up in real life). Rough making out, over-clothes action, lip biting, bruises and hickeys, biting, thigh riding, female on top, oral male receiving, light ball play, slight body worship if you squint, edging. I got self indulgent with all the nasty stuff I wanna do to this man.

Word count: 2.4k

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You’d both made your way with haste back to your bedroom. Your fingers interlaced with his, feeling his strength as he squeezed your flesh, the journey from the dining hall across the corridors of the hotel had been a blur of hushed voices, huffed breaths, and lustful gazes between you and Crosshair. You’d made the most of your time in the elevator; your lips still felt swollen from the way he’d kissed you in the time it took you to get to the nineteenth floor of the building. His blazer was crumbled around the neckline, the tie was already partially loosened. Your gown, one of your favorite party dresses, was mostly intact except for a telltale tug between one of the seams, courtesy of Crosshair’s hunger for you.

All it had taken was your touch. While everyone else was having a good time at the party, mingling with charismatic strangers, you stayed at your table with Crosshair with one hand beneath the furniture. Your fingers brushed up and down on his thigh, a fairly routinary gesture you knew he enjoyed, but tonight you’d taken it a step further and massaged his cock above the fabric of his pants, feeling as it hardened with your touch. The looks he’d given you flashed within your mind whenever he kissed you–his eyes, dark and lustful, as though they could whisper the most sinful words into your very soul, eyeing you as you sat next to him, looking at him innocently, not letting the people around know what dirty things took place under the table. He loved it.

In his mind, Crosshair was already thinking of all the things he’d do to have his revenge on you.

When you were finally in your room, the door slammed behind you, its noise muffling that of the ecstatic moan that left you as Crosshair immediately began to tug on the zipper of your dress while you two hungrily continued to kiss each other. As he slid it off you, growling in arousal at your naked figure when you stepped out of the dress, you finally got rid of his tie, his blazer, his shirt, until his whole upper half was bare.

You couldn’t bring yourself to part from him just yet. You’d been in your room for a few bare minutes, but you were already drowning in him, soaking yourself between your legs, moaning as you felt his hands run all over your body. You whimpered whenever his slender fingers kneaded at your flesh, squeezed you like you were his, slowly scratched his nails up your hamstrings and your back, making you moan with shivers that beautifully ran over your skin. He slid his tongue into you and you nearly fainted in his taste; your knees almost gave out on you, but you felt secured in his arms.

At that moment, as you always were, you were completely and blissfully his.

Your mind continued to race and you could barely make sense of a single coherent thought. His kisses went from your lips to your neck, nipping at your thin, delicate skin. Crosshair relished at every whine you get out, delighted in having you at his mercy. As he continued his sweet torture on you, his hands deviously teased at your panties, only tugging at the rims of the fabric to see you writhe in anticipation.

“You’re happy tonight, aren’t you, doll?” Crosshair purred into your lips and left one last kiss on them. His grip softened on you and he took a couple of steps back, standing in front of you, shirtless, smirking proudly at the sight of you lusting over him. Dammit, he was cocky about how he made you feel. He was beautiful and he knew it.

And all you could do was gawk. Your mouth utterly watered at the sight of him in all his glory. The dim lighting of the room lit his body perfectly. Your eyes admired the lean muscles of his body, brushing down the thin trail of salt and pepper that traveled down the center of his abdomen, hiding under the edge of his trousers. You were so hungry for him, you wouldn’t have been surprised if your tongue was hanging out, but you didn’t care.

“I know you like what you see,” he teased you. Even in the bedroom alone with you, he wouldn’t stop being a prick, but that was one of the very reasons you loved him.

But he was right. Crosshair was that one person you’d always love to lay eyes upon. He was beautiful. Tall, sexy, with a strong and silent presence, imposing, intimidating. You were on your limit. You wanted him. You kicked off your shoes and went to wrap your arms around him, feeling the warmth of his skin on your hands. You traced every muscle in his arms as his lips kissed yours with lust; he nibbled on your bottom lip and tugged on it, groaning smoothly into the kiss as he let his hands slide underneath your panties to lightly graze at your glutes. Stars, you could feel the wetness soaking through the fabric between your legs. Still, you knew what you wanted for that night. You could never say no to Crosshair topping you, having his way with you, but that night he was so irresistible to you that you very well could have fainted if you didn’t do something about it.

Your lips left his and you took your turn in kissing his neck. Mindlessly, you left your mark on his neck, feeling as your pussy clenched around nothing at the sound of his moans. You loved it whenever Crosshair was vocal when you pleased him, the sound of his voice always managed to make you lust unimaginably more for him. After leaving the hickey, you took your kisses down to his chest, peppering his skin on every available spot you could find. You let your tongue circle around one of his nipples and felt him shudder in your grip, and then, you began to push him forward so he’d be sitting on the bed.

You straddled his waist when you sat on top of him. You kissed Crosshair again with craving, moaning into his lips as he ran his hands all over your back. One of his hands reached the edge of your hair and gave it a light tug, sending shivers all through your scalp, making you release an embarrassingly needy whine that made him chuckle at you.

“What do you want, doll?” He said huskily, deliciously.

You mewled an incomprehensible response, making him chuckle again, until finally you managed to compose yourself as you positioned your clothed cunt over his thin, yet toned thigh.

“I want you,” you stammered quickly, grinding on his thigh.

Crosshair shuddered and cussed beneath his breath before eyeing you with a mischievous little grin. “You’ll ruin my pants, dear.”

You gasped loudly at the heat pooling in your cunt as you rode him. It was mind-blowing how you’d only made out and grinded on him shortly, and you were already close to coming undone.

“I said…” you shuddered. “I said I want you. Tonight I want you, Crosshair.”

“Is that so, doll?” He purred at you through gritted teeth, reaching for your chin and holding it in a gruff grip to keep your eyes on him, knowing well you were about to lose it. “You want me?”

You felt your orgasm beginning to creep up on you.

“How do you want me?” He smirked at you, not so much to arouse you but rather to continue teasing you as your orgasm shattered through your body. You were certain you were so loud that your whines could be heard all through the floor, a detail you knew made Crosshair swell with pride. You were straddling him, writhing with your orgasm, screaming out his name and tugging at his silver curls. He didn’t even care that your wetness would stain his black pants–fuck, he was proud of you for being so forward.

Your high died down but you hadn’t gotten what you wanted yet. You hadn’t even answered his question. Firmly, you placed your hands on Crosshair’s chest and pushed him to lay flat on his back on the comfy mattress. He kicked off his shoes and grinned at you as his fingers dug into your waist, helping you above him.

“Lie back, my darling,” you whispered between the kisses you showered on his chest. “I want to love you.”

And indeed you did. You couldn’t get enough of your lips over his chest. You didn’t care that he wasn’t the most muscular soldier around, if anything, it only made you cherish him more. You felt Crosshair’s body relax under you, releasing a heavy sigh as he sank back into the mattress, happily letting you make your way around his body.

Slowly, you trailed your kisses down his torso. You felt his rib cage rising and falling in tune with his heavy breathing, and you delighted in the low, breathy groans that escaped him with every wave of electricity you sent through his bones. His hand found your upper back and traced patterns on your skin, and the lower you got, he secured your neck and parts of your hair as you finally positioned yourself between his legs.

With skillful fingers, you undid the buttons and zipper of his pants and pulled them down, letting your warm breath fan over Crosshair’s long, hard cock on purpose to rile him up more. You ducked your head down to let your lips hover over his cock, noticing how it pulsed in anticipation to your touch, your tongue, your wetness. Every time you teased him, you heard him groan through gritted teeth, but he was too proud to ask you to touch him, much less to beg you. You wouldn’t try to stain his ego tonight, and when you felt you’d teased him enough, you wrapped your fingers around his cock and began to pump it slowly up and down as you took your lips to his balls, giving them a gentle lick and a series of featherlight kisses.

You delighted in his moans and the way you felt his body writhing underneath you–perhaps this was the way he felt whenever it was him on top and you were helplessly caged in his arms. You didn’t blame him for loving it so much.

After enough pumping on his dick, you retrieved your tongue and went from delicately tracing his balls to doing the same with the velvety tip of his cock, shamelessly tasting the precum before taking in as much of his length as you could. You knew Crosshair well, well enough to know that it never took him long to peak whenever you blew on him. He loved it and it always sent him racing quickly, and you anticipated the coming of his climax quick enough to stop just as he began to curse loudly in his home tongue. You retrieved yourself from him and looked down at him, flustered and surprised by the stunt of edging you’d dared to pull on him.

Crosshair then smirked at you and laughed in his low, smooth voice.

“I’ve taught you well, kitten,” he winked at you.

“Then you better know I’m not finished,” you purred in your sexiest voice as you straddled his waist once more and positioned your swollen, dripping cunt over his tip.

The two of you groaned in unison as you slid down him. You bit your lip at the pleasure, and he relished in the warmth of your cunt as well as the way your walls squeezed so tightly around him. His hands found your waist, and you bent over to rest your hands on his chest, rocking your hips in that new, blissful angle. Crosshair’s flawless vision blurred in pleasure, and he felt as if you were working a spell on him.

You were beautiful above him. You were sexy, kind to him. You loved him, accepted him for who he is. You made him feel unfathomable pleasure time after time. He knew it was the heat of the moment, but Crosshair swore then that he would die for you if he had to.

He was yours.

You didn’t get to ride him often, but it was a pleasure you resolved to partake in often. Your pace was slow, slow enough to make both of you feel every single one of your movements, every sensation. You eyed his chest heaving with his breath, examined his lovestruck features, and you were compelled to bend over more and kiss his lips mustering all your desire for him. It was hot, sensual, by all means, but your kiss carried in it all the love you felt for him.

“You’re perfect, Crosshair…” you said in the airy, ecstatic voice he loved so much.

One of the hands that rested on his chest snaked down his body and found his balls once more. The moment you resumed your featherlight massage on him, you heard Crosshair begin to grunt. His breathing sped, his hips began to stutter. You heard him groan out your name multiple times, entwined with sweet, sinful strings of curses. Smiling down at him, satisfied with how you were making him feel, Crosshair pressed his head back on the pillow and his hips stuttered more beneath yours; his cock twitched inside your walls, spilling himself inside you with a guttural growl.

You whined at the feeling of his warmth in you. Softly, you climbed off of Crosshair and went to lay beside him, settling your hands on his chest that continued to rise and fall as he made a futile attempt to catch his breath. You knew he’d barely be able to think right now, so you wouldn’t force him into conversation.

It was always incredibly cute to you how he’d get after climaxing. It was endearing to see Crosshair, tough and intimidating as he was, all softened up and ecstatic after a night with you. You leaned up to plant a series of kisses over Crosshair’s features, settling for a final, gentle kiss on his chin before he finally opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling.

“I know,” you spoke for him, causing him to laugh.

“You don’t know what I was going to say,” he said, and then turned to you. “But I do.”

Your smile widened. “I love you too, you big old grump.”

You got up from the bed and went to the mini fridge for a bottle of water and handed it to him with a smirk. He’d need it if he was going to get back at you that night, and you were absolutely sure he would just as soon as he could get up from that mattress.

Taglist: @zoeykallus @sageislostinspring @misogirl828 @korribanarchive

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Thoughts on the healthcare boys’ uniforms? Does Legend wear horribly mismatched scrubs? Does Wild seem to come in with a completely different outfit every day? Does Four work as many colors into his wardrobe as possible? (My urge to doodle them is fighting my lack of artistic skill, let’s see who wins.)

Ahhhhh this is such a fun question and I've actually been thinking about this topic for the last couple of days.

Legend usually wears some shade of red scrubs with a dark green stethoscope and brown Klogs (he swears by these shoes). Where Legend shines is with the accessories. He wears bunny print compression socks (no one knows because Legend's pants cover them), a blue surgical cap, and he has all kinds of doodads that wrapped around his stethoscope and badge. He has so many stickers on his badges - he's got a seagull sticker on the RN badge itself, a bunny sticker on his ID badge, all kinds of stuff. Also he literally has everything in his pockets. Everything. Need a syringe? A flush? Alcohol swabs? Caps? Pens? He's got at least three of each. Which means he shops for scrubs with so many pockets.

Warriors is stylish but simple. Beautifully shaded green scrubs with a royal blue stethoscope, dark brown Danskos (they have black swirly patterns on them because the shoes are the only place he'll go a little crazy with designs) and royal blue compression socks. Beyond that he keeps it pretty straightforward.

Time is in the OR all day, so he wears hospital issued scrubs, which are grey. When he has to come into the hospital on days he isn't in the OR (which are rare), he'll be professional with a white coat, shirt/tie combo and khakis combo with dark brown leather shoes and black socks. The tie is always green because that's his favorite color. If he's coming into work to be in the OR and has to change into the hospital scrubs he'll just wear a polo and jeans or khakis, something comfortable because he's probably going to try to hang out with the boys a bit before going home. His surgical cap is the only thing he brings from home, and its designs vary depending on his mood and the time of year. Some days it's black or green or blue, and some days it's hearts or smiley faces or syringes or swords or fairies. He'll wear just about anything in terms of a surgical cap design.

Malon also wears hospital issued scrubs as an OR nurse, but her scrub caps are more straightforward with horse patterns. She's a predictable woman in that regard. But she loves to find new surgical caps for her husband to wear, and occasionally they do matching stuff for fun.

Four usually wears muted colors for his scrubs so that way the colors can pop on his rainbow shoes (he'll wear whatever brand, as long as they're comfortable hospital shoes - the brand war is really just between Legend and Warriors). All of his pens are different colors and he likes to make priority lists in different colors based on their urgency. He also usually wears a surgical cap that matches whatever scrub color he's wearing for the day. He has compression socks in literally every color, he just picks whichever one he wants to go with that day. He's got a golden colored stethoscope. He wears a tie dye hoodie to work a lot if it's chilly enough, but he never wears it on the unit because it's his favorite and he doesn't want germs on it.

Sky is plain and simple since he has to wear a dark green flight suit to work, but he has bird stickers on his helmet that Sun got him ages ago. He smiles every time he sees them before putting his helmet on.

Twilight wears dark colors in general. Black scrubs are usually his favorite. He's pretty straightforward in his attire, but he usually has colorful fun stickers on his badges for the kids, like unicorns and stuff.

Wind hasn't figured out his style yet, but he loves to wear some light blue scrubs that his grandmother bought for him when he first started clinicals. He has a purple stethoscope with a seagull pendant on it from Aryll. Shoes and socks are still a work in progress for him, he just kind of sticks to professional looking sneakers for now.

Wild has to wear a polo shirt/khaki pants uniform but he somehow always manages to lose one or the other and his manager has given up on the matter so his outfit is some variation of something similar. It's supposed to be a dark green polo with khaki pants, but sometimes it's a grey polo with black pants or a blue polo with khakis or that one time he showed up in a shirt/vest/jeans combo because he could literally find nothing else (they gave him scrubs) or--

Hyrule wears a forest green polo and black cargo pants with black steel toed boots. Its his duty uniform. Considering how much he works, he basically lives in that outfit.

[itsmaferart]

Do you think we’ll explore more of the Spy x Family world outside Berlint? Endo said he’s still has aways to go in regards to the story. It made me wonder, especially after Twilight’s flashback if we’ll ever see Westalis or even other places in Ostania.

Yes, I definitely think so. Although it is difficult to predict which way it will happen and at what point in the plot, as the current state of the manga is unpredictable and Endo may either not risk big plot twists or play more static but creative.

Endo has recently given subtle hints throughout the manga that Ostania is not the only one participating in the game of peace and war. Having another country on the opposite side of the board..

First, we have Westalis. Whose perception from the beginning has been as the home country of Twilight and WISE itself. So far what we know is that the spies want to avoid war, and they constantly fight for peace, or at least that's from the perspective of Twilight, Handler, the lower-ranking spies, and the higher-ranking spies. So WISE so far can be defined as the closest thing to "heroes of peace".

However, we don't know if the rulers of Westalis are as well intentioned as they appear. From the backstory of Twilight, Lüwen is presented to us as a peaceful place where little Twilight lived his childhood until he fell victim to the catastrophe. However, adults talk about altercations, and there are even radicals who see the people of Ostanias as demons and blame them for all the atrocities.

Although the story has taken place in Ostania/Berlint and we have known (superficially) the bad side of Ostania and its hatred of Westalis, it is not clear what was the true origin of this hatred? … What does it mean to return Ostania to its glory days? … Did the Westalis representatives do something that instilled this hatred? What happened in the peace treaties? It is Franky, who somehow explains that people's perception can be changed depending on the "type of information" they receive, and this information can be disguised at convenience. People reject unjustified violence, but when there is a justification for hate, people will blindly support violence. So, why have Westalis and Ostania instilled hatred in their inhabitants so that they reject their neighboring country?… The most obvious answer is someone's convenience… But who?

Spy x Family is a work in gray. No character is good enough, but neither is bad enough (with a few exceptions). So it's very likely that we'll hear a bit more about Westalis in the future. But there is a third board at stake, it has been hinted that there may be a third country involved, and that they are playing to provoke a conflict in both nations. Framing Ostania and Westalis in respective attacks or attacks, to provoke retaliation in the other. Curiously, these hints are more prominent during the arc of the cruise. And I suspect… this may be related to the experiments that gave rise to Anya and Bond.

The shopkeeper mentions that the underworld suffered a split, due to a man who took over the organization, and spread a bounty in and out of Ostania for Olka (A man whose figure highlights his glasses and a black lock) (Figure we saw in Anya and Bond's memories) Is this guy responsible for all these events? (In fact in the same arc of the cruise it is hinted that his name may be Happon)

Now… is this man from another country? Were these experiments originated by a foreign organization and settled in Ostania? What is his interest in having a war? Why did he tell Anya that her powers would help world peace?

The most notable point is the mention made in mission 42, regarding Anya's knowledge of "classical language". Twilight himself wonders if Anya learned this based on the environment she grew up in…. If this is the case, is Anya from another country? Or did the scientists who are responsible for her telepathy teach her this language?…Twilight states that there is no longer a country where this language is spoken.

Are all these clues that the origin of the war is inside and outside the East and West? Is it possible that there is a third country causing the hate, waiting for Westalis and Ostania to destroy each other to overcome both?. With all this in mind, it seems highly likely to me that at some point in the plot we will begin to see new places, inside and outside of Berlint.

Now… How can it happen?

Maybe by introducing new characters, knowing the background of characters that have been under the curtain. These new scenarios are introduced. It may also be that secondary characters such as Yuri, Sylvia, Nightfall, Franky, Shopkeeper, direct McMahon, Donovan, Melinda, etc. will introduce us to these places.

The Forger dynamic may change in the future. Although, being a family makes the dynamic somewhat static, as they must have a residence, build a routine, keep up appearances, and get Anya to attend school. It is possible that in the future one of the parents, Twilight or Yor will be forced (temporarily) to move away from the family. It may be a risky move for the Strix mission, but knowing that there are such imminent dangers breathing down their necks, it wouldn't be unusual for Twilight to return to Westalis, or for Yor to go into a fight against the enemy side that divided the secret government, that the scientists reappear or that all this happens because of Donovan and Melinda Desmond.

If the appearance of Melinda appears to us, it is that at any moment the plot can change and have an abrupt impact on the internal relationship of the Forgers and their secrets. And only the future will tell how many risks Endo will decide to take.

It seems to me that more exciting chapters can come!!

[aquadestinyswriting]

Filled with Clarity

Summary: Archlecor Kargun Vanskleig is in contemplation to work out how best to help the youngest member of his clergy.

Words: 609

Tags: @druidx, @asher-orion-writes, @homesteadchronicles, @warriorbookworm, @mariahwritesstuff, @writeblrsupport, @ashirisu, @flashfictionfridayofficial, @blind-the-winds

Warnings: None.

Notes: This is set just before the council session in part seven of A Circle None Can Break and so is technically a part of it, but it's also part of the whole The Trouble with Meredith series, so I'm placing it there.

Kargun Vanskleig was not a man that was easily perturbed. However, when the High Priest came to him seeking guidance regarding an issue with one of his church’s youngest clerics, he had to admit that what he had been told was incredibly distressing.

The Archlector of Moradin steepled his fingers as he gazed into the molten metal bubbling away in the scrying pool of the contemplation chamber. He was almost nine centuries old and had seen many promising young clerics pass through the trials that Moradin sent to them. Most were relatively mundane; little things like the occasional crisis of faith, or to venture out far into the wider world to do His work elsewhere. He’d only ever seen two dwarves that had been clearly Marked for a much greater purpose in the time he’d spent working for his God- both when he was a much younger and fitter man- and now he needed to try to guide a third at the end of his twilight years. 

Vanskleig huffed a sigh, his old bones creaking as he shifted his position to make himself more comfortable and opened his mind and heart to the presence of his God. He smiled as he felt the comforting touch of Moradin on his shoulder,

“Some idea of what the lass has to face would be appreciated, ye ken.” he said, seemingly to thin air. “I can’t help out very much if I’ve no idea what’s coming.” The old dwarf felt the presence around him consider his words. Vanskleig knew very well that the Gods were rarely forthright about such requests, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get. He could work out what anything he was sent meant later. The Archlector felt his attention being drawn to the scrying pool, where the molten metal was now swirling and an image was taking shape in the centre of the whirlpool. Vanskleig’s eyes went wide as he took in the vision Moradin was granting him, his old heart breaking at the sight of it. 

“I’d rather been hoping ye’d be a bit gentler with this one.” he sighed, shaking his head as the vision ended and the pool returned to its resting state. He felt a pinch of regret near his heart,

I know, I’m sorry.

Vanskleig closed his eyes and tilted his head back, trying to shove the ancient memories that flashed into his head back into the recesses of his mind. There was no point in dwelling on his own past, not any more. Once the memories faded, he opened his eyes again and looked to the largest statue of Moradin, set against the far end of the scrying pool,

“I suppose I’d better go knock a bunch of heads together at this council session then.” he groused, “Ye ken, I’d been hoping that ye’d at least grant me a degree o’ peace in the few years I’ve got left.” he sniped, only half-glaring at the statue. 

I’ve been trying. This one isn’t me.

Vanskleig frowned,

“Who, then?” he asked. Vanskleig grumbled when he didn’t receive an answer, “Fine. I suppose I’ll find out eventually.” The ancient dwarf groaned as he pulled himself upright, leaning heavily on his staff to do so. Once he was up, Vanskleig bowed his head to the statue and shuffled to the entrance to the chamber. There was much work to be done if he hoped to give at least what little help he could to expedite matters, and precious little time in which to do it. At least now he had a clearer idea of what was coming and could put some contingencies in place if required.

[st0rmyskies]

Stormbae, what's the deal with piercings in HSH/LMTCoY? Like what means what, do the meanings change between genders, who has the most, is there a stigma about going to a pro versus getting them done by a partner, and/or is there a professional market for them at all if basic know-how is fairly commonplace? -- Oddi 🍄

So many good questions, Oddi!!

A lot of HSH/LMTCOY worldbuilding is up for interpretation. I want all creators to have fun with it and go nuts, so if someone's interpretation doesn't match mine, well, who the fuck cares. Having fun with it is what's important!

Piercings are generally done by professionals, although there are some old Hylian traditions that a father will pierce his son's ears, a mother will pierce her daughter's, etc. So general knowledge of piercing is commonplace. It's just much easier to go to a professional who has all the equipment already than fussing with it yourself.

Some piercing meanings change between genders, others do not. I will try to make notes to that effect here when I remember to. Under the cut for length.

Ears

Standard lobe -

Hylian men have their ears pierced at the transition to adulthood, and the standard is to wear small hoops. In more modern traditions, a serious romantic partner may gift a man with a different pair of earrings depending on his tastes (diamond studs are the social standard).

Women have their first holes pierced as infants, and second holes in the upper lobe done when they reach adulthood. Unlike men, they change their earring styles pretty frequently for fashion's sake.

Tragus - Those with a tragus piercing have heard something that they would like to forget. Twilight might consider getting one after the accident to help with his anxiety.

Conch - The antithesis of the tragus, a conch piercing is sought after by free spirits, as it's said that it can help one hear the rhythm and flow of the universe. It's considered a "hippie" piercing by most.

Daith - A more common piercing for Hylian women, having your daith pierced is supposed to improve one's fertility.

Industrial - This is more common in nefarious circles as a demonstration of one's pain tolerance. It's the Hylian equivalent of a prison tattoo.

Face

Lip - Regardless of position, to pierce one's lip is to swear to keep an important secret.

Tongue - To devote one's entire being to a given cause. There's a lot of trust - and a bit of subjugation - to getting on your knees and putting out your tongue to be mutilated by another person.

Nostril -

Piercing the nostril is ubiquitous among the Gerudo and fairly common among Hylian women. It's regarded as a 'beauty mark' and jewelry is typically worn in the nostril for formal events.

Nostril piercing is hit-or-miss for Hylian men and is more common among queer guys, once again as a beauty mark.

Septum - A septum piercing is the mark of hard work. It's most common among people with very physical jobs: farmers, carpenters, etc. It's supposed to improve one's vitality.

Bridge - To have the bridge pierced is to help open the eyes and let one see the future.

Body

Nipples - Supposedly originating as a Gerudo practice, to pierce one's nipples is to devote one's body to their lover's pleasure. In BDSM circles, it's common for a dominant partner to be the one to pierce their sub.

Navel - A navel piercing is a fun and flirty way to demonstrate being dtf, and it's common among both men and women alike, especially during the courting years (late teens through twenties). They usually aren't seen in older people, as one will remove their navel piercing when they find a partner.

There are, of course, a variety or more intimate piercings, too, but maybe that deserves its own post.

[hmm-self-indulgence]

Michael Shelley x Gn!Reader

Read as a statement. Italics are Jon, and regular is You! Gender Neutral, congrats you are married, have graduated uni, and live in England. Statement given around mag 140. I’m going with the descriptions given on Fandom Wiki for Michael, and the classic interpretation of Helen (since she has no canon description).

Warnings! Intense language, traumatic experiences, major character loss, some almost sexual themes but no smut. Pretty much just PG-13 except for language and some monsterfucking elements. READER HAS SEMI BISEXUAL TENDENCIES (you get both distortions for the price of one!) Also, what's a timeline, never heard of her? So just general timeline fucking up for the sake of some fluff and angst. Mentions of religion and praying (kinda worshiping the spiral a la Manuela)! Drug mentions. Also, violence against Elias, but who cares! Some artistic liberties taken when it comes to a lot of things. I’ve never been to the UK so some stuff might be wrong. Technically unintentional spousal abuse, (gaslight gatekeep girlboss) plus technically kidnapping? Plus the reader is a bit mean to Jon. Also my friend proofread this and said it reminded her of twilight a bit so I hate that but I wanna post it anyway. I hate that I took unintentional inspiration from twilight but here we are anyway.

No one has the permission to repost this on any website. Do not use my content or claim it as your own! I do not own these characters, they are made, owned and are the property of Johnathan Sims. I am in no way profiting off of this and this is made with full respect to Rusty Quill.

Quick taglist @decora-peaches , @swordsandfools, sorry gang I'm a fool who needed the confidence to post this and its been quite a bit since I promised to post this.

Helen has decided to try to buy our friendship again, as she has brought me a statement. Where she got it from I have no idea, but I feel the need to record it. Anyway, Statement of (y/n) Shelley, regarding their life and experiences with their husband... Michael. Date written, unknown. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, The Archivist.

Statement begins.

I'd like to first say that I hate your Archive and everything you stand for. You took the man I love from me twice and I despise you all for it, but Helen asked for it and I cannot deny her anything. So here is my statement, and I hope you choke on it.

I met Michael Shelley in our first year in University. We were in a maths class together. We had finals coming up and a handful of our classmates wanted to meet up at the south library to practice together later in the day. The study session ran extremely late, and it was dark when I left the building. He must have seen my hesitance and offered to walk me back to my dorm, and I guess we hit it off.

We went out quite a lot, and he was so sweet and always listened to what I had to say. He was occasionally forgetful, but he never made me feel like I was

Michael always had this… obsession with the unnatural. He told me what happened to his friend when he was a child, and I believed him well enough. I didn't believe in ghosts or ghouls or any of that lot, but he did. Michael heard that the Magnus Institute was hiring, and before I knew it he had dropped out and started working there full time. I was surprised, but honestly I didn’t think much of it at the time because he was so happy to have that damn job.

My parents were... not thrilled with Michael. To them, he was too quiet and, as you know, working for the Magnus Institute isn't the most glorious or well paying job, and my parents were worried that he was crazy. To be honest, he wasn't all there when I was with him, he always seemed to be a world away. But that didn't matter to me. He was mine, and we loved each other.

He proposed at my graduation, and we got married a few months later. The wedding was a small thing, his parents didn't come and mine showed up begrudgingly, so it was mostly just a few friends and his two of his coworkers that showed up in the end. Michael was so damn happy to see Emma and Eric. Eric even brought his little boy with him. It was the happiest day of our lives, I don’t think I ever saw Michael smile as much as he had that day.

We had a small apartment right between our workplaces. It was a bit of a trip for both of us, but I don't think either of us minded. He went on a few trips for the institute, so when he told me he was going north with Gertrude I didn’t see anything the matter with it. I helped him pack some warm clothes, and we had dinner before he left. Nothing… Nothing seemed wrong at first. I was used to him not being able to talk when he was on his trips, but after 3 weeks of silence went by I was scared. I got the letter the next day. “The Magnus Institute regrets to inform you that Michael Shelley has passed away. Our deepest condolences, Elias Bouchard.”

I went to the institute to get answers, storming my way into Elias’s office. He didn't even have the kindness to look shocked or even the slightest bit remorseful. Didn’t say shit about it either, just that he was dead. I asked about his body, if there was anything that could be buried or just anything about what happened. He just… stared at me, just saying that Michael was dead and that the institute was sorry.

I don’t remember much about what happened next, but I remember feeling his weasley little neck in my hands as I tried to squeeze the answers out of him. Security pulled me away and when he caught his breath he told me he wouldn’t press charges, but that I had to leave and not come back. As I was escorted out of the building, I saw Gertrude and Emma staring at me with those blank eyes. I begged her to tell me anything about Michael, anything at all and that I knew she was with him on that trip. Nothing made her react at all, but I swear she flinched when I asked if she killed him. I don’t know how I got home that day.

I prayed that day. I prayed that the institute was wrong, that Michael was alive, that this was just a sick fucking joke. But it wasn't, and I had to bury an empty box alone a few days later. Work gave me a few weeks off that were spent practically catatonic in our bed. People came by, friends, my parents, but they couldn’t bring him back to me or fill the empty hole that was left in my life. It's strange, you never realize how dependent you are on a person until they suddenly leave, no warning. It’s like a crutch being kicked out from under a missing limb, but you never stop falling.

But you don’t deserve my grief, my sadness, you already know what you did. You don’t want to know about my Michael, you want to know about the Michael you created. For Helen I will indulge you. I first saw the yellow door about three months after he passed. I was grieving, and that makes us so much more foolish. I had been walking home after work and I was lost in my own head, taking turns and alleys I hadn't ever seen before. I think I was around Westminster when it happened. Some men had tried to grab my purse, and I ran.

I heard their footsteps following me as I ran through the small, dark alleys, my shoes smacked against the slippery cobblestone and I was so afraid. I was ahead of them by a bit, and I started banging on doors, begging for someone to help me, but no one answered. No lights were on in any of the homes and I felt my heart hammering in my throat threatening to escape. Then I saw it, fused into a cobblestone fence. A bright yellow door at the end of the alley, just barely opened so a sliver of light peaked through. I ran towards it, running through it before slamming the door behind me. I never heard anything from the other side of the door.

When the adrenaline died off I noticed the hallway. The walls were an obnoxious mix of beige and yellow. There were these mirrors in the hallway, kind of like the mirrors at carnivals that distort your body and make you look different. Everything hurt to look at, and the lights were so bright I was getting a migraine. The place made me feel like I was on a LSD trip. That wasn't even the strangest thing though. In my peripheral vision I kept seeing… something. It only appeared where I couldn't focus on it. I tried to go back to the door I came from, but It wouldn't budge, and I never got a clear view of what was there so I started walking. After a few minutes of the endless nauseating hallways I saw another door.

I don't know what I expected when I opened the door, maybe more weird hallways, but never in a million years did I expect it to be my own apartment on the other side. I was frozen in place, shocked and so, so afraid when I felt something grip my shoulder strongly, jerking me forward and into my bedroom before the yellow door slammed shut with a bang. And when I looked back there was no door.

I told myself I was hallucinating. That something was wrong and it was all just a bad dream. I spent the whole night convincing myself I was going mental. Lying to myself worked, and I was so close to believing it when I saw the bruise on my skin under where I was shoved. Some part of that night had to have been true, I had no fucking clue what really happened.

Looking back it was so stupid of me. So fucking stupid but I needed to know what the hell happened that night. I started looking for danger, going into darker areas later in the night. I walked around with fake jewelry that looked nice enough from far away to entice some lowlife thief. I got robbed twice, got a few scrapes and bruises but the door didn’t show up again. Kept telling myself it was grief, maybe some disorder or another that stemmed from that first night.

I don't know how it was different from that night, but maybe it knew they wouldn't have hurt me too bad, so the door left me to my own devices, or maybe I’m just insane..

I wasn't expecting a door when I saw it next. There had been a break-in near my work, and a police officer came by to ask us some questions. The officer was this real brute of a man, tall enough that he had to duck to get into the shop. I don’t remember his name, but I didn't like the look of him. Of course I answered the questions, but the officer just started getting closer and closer. I was scared and closed my eyes for just a second, and when I opened them the yellow door was to my right, where a window was supposed to be. I bolted straight into the door, I don't even know if the officer followed me. But the door opened and the nauseating hallway was there again.

When I heard the door latch I took a moment to breathe. The strange figure appeared in my peripherals again, always disappearing when I tried to focus on it. I called out to it, asking where I was and what was going on. Looking down the hallway I saw something tap the mirror, like it was poking it from inside. I moved closer until I saw the horrible hand gripping the inside of the mirror. They weren't hands, hands don't have that many bones, hands aren't that long or sharp but… there they were. I didn’t even realize I was standing in front of it until I felt that strange weight on my shoulder again. I turned around quickly but nothing was there, and turning around I almost screamed. My reflection was there, but it wasn't alone. Whatever was connected to those claws resting on my shoulders looked almost like Michael. I could feel the weight on my shoulders, but the thing with Michael’s face was only in the mirror.

Michael wasn't originally a tall man, but now he almost had to bend over to fit his entire frame in the mirror. Michael didn't have hands like that, Michael’s smile was never that large, and most importantly, Michael wasn't alive. But here stood the thing that was and wasn't my husband. But when he said hello I just broke down. I told him everything and begged him to stay by my side. He said he had left, but that which both is and isn't him has been here. He said he would stay, and I said that I loved him. I don’t think he loved me, not the… the new version of him. I don't even think he had any emotions left at the end. I think there was just enough Michael to remember me.

I knew he wasn't exactly like my Michael, but he was close enough to make me happy. I knew he was hurting people, the hallways weren’t silent, and I heard screaming occasionally. There were a lot of mirrors in his doors, and sometimes I saw faces in them, real normal faces. I wanted him back, even as he had become he was still my Michael.

His door was in our… my apartment some days. Oftentimes it wouldn't even open, but it was just a comforting presence. His door, his shenanigans, it all just became my new life. He wasn't Michael, but he was enough like him to make the grief go away. If I fooled myself enough it almost felt normal again, like when we were first married. He didn't speak much, he just came and went like a house cat. I would speak to him, or at least his door when I was particularly lonely.

There were times he acted like his old self. Some days he would go through the motions of making coffee, only to stare at it in distaste before he disappeared.

I would see him standing in our apartment, just staring at a wall or going through one of his old routines. Some nights I would wake up to see him staring at me from the foot of our bed. I even found some of his gold hair on his pillow again. We lived that way for around seven years. In that time, nothing really changed, we just inhabited the same area. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than living without him, so I didn't mind.

A few months before he disappeared, again, he came back with blood on his hands. I tried to ask what happened, but all he would say was that he “poked the eye”, and I assume that means it's your lot. He seemed so pleased with himself so I didn't ask any more questions. That's when things got bad again.

I didn't see him for a few weeks, and I was worried, not even his door was here. I was so afraid he was gone again, and I worried I was insane again. I prayed, not to God this time, no, I prayed to the hallways and the ever changing fractals. I prayed to the spiral Michael mentioned. I offered worship and my love in exchange for any part of my lover back. And this time someone answered.

There was a figure in my room again, but it wasn't Michael. It was a woman I came to know as Helen. She was around the same height as my new Michael, and her voice was just as disorienting and alluring as my husband. I had to mourn Michael twice, but Helen filled in the gaps he left very well. Helen didn't know much about me, only that she felt pulled towards me, but she was determined to learn.

Helen tried to be a person more than Michael did at the end. Michael would never stay long, but Helen would spend hours in our apartment, just sitting or watching me. I would see her doors throughout my day, always in the most impossible places. She told me once it was just to see me smile, can you believe that? Michael did the same thing, and I adore her for this kindness. She is such a kind presence, and I care for her.

It's strange, in another life I think I could love her the way I love Michael. But this is not the life we are in, and my heart belongs to Michael. You took him from me, and I will never forgive you for that, your eyes will be blind one day and you will be left with nothing, just like me.

Statement… ends. Helen, why did she give this to me. What does this mean? I asked Elias, and apparently some of this is verified. Michael did pass away at this time, and he was married to one Mx. (Y/N) Shelley. I have elected not to reach out to their family, as if this is true, then reaching out would only end poorly. I… I need to talk to Helen.

[honourablejester]

Homebrew Cleric Spell: Divine Rebuke

Divine Rebuke

5th level evocation

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: 120ft

Components: V, S

Duration: Instantaneous

Classes: Cleric

You call upon the wrath of the heavens to rebuke creatures that you can see within range. Choose a point within range, and a burst of divine wrath explodes outwards from that point in a 30ft radius sphere. Each creature within the sphere must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 8d8 radiant damage, or half as much damage on a successful save. Additionally, on a failed save, creatures become frightened of you for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

As a reflection of the wrath of your particular deity, you can choose to replace the damage type of this spell with a type determined by your cleric domain, as follows: Arcana (force), Death (necrotic), Forge (fire), Grave (necrotic), Knowledge (psychic), Life (force), Light (fire), Nature (lightning), Order (psychic), Peace (cold), Tempest (thunder), Trickery (psychic), Twilight (cold), War (bludgeoning).

---

Notes: Not gonna lie, the rider regarding damage types was most of the impetus behind this spell, as otherwise it’s a fairly basic AOE. But cleric domains are so cool and varied, it feels a little disappointing that the cleric spell list doesn’t have a better range of damage types.

Granted, this feels more like something that should be an optional class ability, rather than something grafted onto a spell. It will cause problems when the spell has to keep up with new subclasses coming out. But the ability to swap damage types on any spell would possibly be a bit strong as a class ability, even if you only get one other type option? So, you know. Maybe just this one spell, and DMs can use their best judgement for the damage type of new domains?

It will also cause problems for non-clerics with access to the cleric spell list (aka Divine Soul Sorcerers), but a general fix for that would be: if you don’t have a cleric domain, you can’t change the damage type.

As for my reasonings for the domains and their damage types, I think most of them are rather self-evident. Peace/Twilight being cold is possibly less intuitive, but I figured wrath from deities of those domains would be of the cold, patient sort. Life being force was also tricky, because they’re the quintessential radiant subclass, but I figured raw magical energy would be a decent back-up. War was going to have one of the physical types, and I figured since the mace was the iconic cleric weapon, we’d go with bludgeoning.

And yes, I realise that this does give certain subclasses a bit more fun with this spell than others. Tempest, particularly, given Destructive Wrath, and possibly high-level Death clerics given they can ignore necrotic resistance. But, you know. Sometimes you just want your stormy peeps to have fun?

[wygolvillage]

ok im gonna copy paste some truly insane rambles i typed on discord yesterday bc i think i mightve been onto something. i think overanalyzing the castle is fun and not necessarily part of the "intent" of the work, im rlly grasping at straws but only because its fun and interesting to think about. this reading is specifically meant to explore the idea of the castle manifesting itself to test the hero who approaches- in this case, shanoa.

i think u can kind of read ooe's castle as a reflection of ecclesia itself. tbh

entrance = shanoa herself. this is where her theme, an empty tome/twilight stigmata, finally plays for the first time, where she has her speech where she resolves to destroy dracula because shes the only one left who can, where she becomes the morning sun, theres also black panther enemies all over the place (this of course is a reference to "chat noir"- theyre black cats). the area subtitle is "nightmare gate" which i havent read a specific meaning into yet

library = the scholarly pursuits of ecclesia, the pursuit of knowledge, i also have headcanons that there were libraries in ecclesia's cathedral. theres also a dedicated kitchen area which is considered part of the library, and i think a new reading i have on that is like, the "nourishment" barlowe provided to his students? like he would have given them food, a place to live in comfort, but its all part of his control yeah? "how can you leave us when ive given you all this." and then theres piles of (presumably cursed) food you cannot eat, in the castle. fake nourishment and abundance in a palace of death and fear. the subtitle of this area is "bloody tomes"- when we consider all of ecclesias deep knowledge is "stained" and bloodied by its evil intent, well, the meaning is obvious.

arms depot = really really obvious. shanoa compares herself to a blade and a weapon constantly, thats what ecclesia was training her to be, etc. the presence of spectral swords here- literally living swords, who can summon a large variety of magical weapons, etc- its kind of obvious isnt it? the boss is eligor, a giant centaur, but one constructed of metal and armor, with bows attached to its legs and, wouldnt you know it, a giant blade. the area subtitle is "cry in the night"- this upbringing was not a healthy or pleasant one.

barracks = a barracks is where soldiers are kept, ecclesias students were effectively trained as child soldiers, thats basically it. i think its related to the same concepts as the arms depot, as it is nearby and shares the same music. the area subtitle is "distant memory" which is relevant to shanoa for Obvious reasons

underground labyrinth = admittedly i dont really have a read on this one but its a sort of catacombs, with some rooms lit brightly by candles and casting dramatic shadows. the area's theme is a shadow play, so im sure i could make a connection between the idea of like, puppets and deception and so on but it feels a bit like a stretch yeah? in the boss room theres like, engravings of angels and stuff on the illuminted wall which you could maaaaybe connect to ecclesias religion but idk. i do think the concepts of light and shadow are Relevant though, regarding ecclesia itself. the area subtitle is "flirting with shadows". but i don't have a specific reading for that

machine tower = the scientific aspects of ecclesias research! its a clock tower, but its got a much more industrial aesthetic than the more steampunk ones in the series, and its got electrical devices you can activate with your own electric glyphs. its also deaths place of residence, the "styx passage" (which is the subtitle). ive toyed with connecting it to albus- he was the most scientifically minded, the head researcher, and the connection to death and the passage of souls is obvious. he died, but his soul has not passed on yet. possibly shanoa murderguilt?

forsaken cloister = this is the "passage into hell" with the cerberus statue (shanoa directly calls it this, then refers to the final approach itself as hell, in dialogue in the cerberus room- cerberus is the guardian of the underworld), but is interestingly subtitled "gazing towards heaven"! the meaning is kind of obvious, that for everything ecclesia does as "the lords work" is actually pulling them deeper into darkness. a cloister is a typical part of a monestary or cathedrals archetecture but it can also mean to be secluded or silent. theres also no music here, supporting that meaning. possibly related to how isolated shanoas upbringing was? and as for forsaken, theyve already been abandoned by the heaven theyre gazing towards. as the center connection between all segments of the castle, it is an interesting one.

final approach = my reading is more focused on dracula's room than the rest of the final approach but its probably the most important point in "the castle is a relfection of ecclesia"- a direct reference to a room IN ecclesia. but yeah like like shanoa herself said- its shanoas personal hell. the "forbidden room" of ecclesia that the throne room visually mirrors is a location of great trauma for her, where she lost her emotions, where barlowe intended to have her killed for draculas resurrection, where he attacked her both physically and verbally, etc... the fight ends with her using dominus as she was "intended" to do by barlowe (and then albus finally gets to fulfill his goal of "becoming the bearer" of her burden) and i think the subtitle, "dust to dust", is a reference to that final moment of the fight. it is the location where shanoa triumphs over the same god that her abuser worshipped, with the same weapon that was meant to kill her (as ive said before)

[simiansmoke]

@koopzilla

It had been the usual twilight hour - one that DK often spent in a make-shift gym along the ocean shore a few steps shy of one of the kingdom's many boardwalks. To call it a gym was a stretch as it was more of a fallen coconut tree next to its stump, but that was all that was needed to bang out some bench press sets.

One moment he was getting ready to go for a PR with Diddy to spot, but mainly to add more weight onto the tree, and the next - he was being showered in the distant heat of the approaching burning castle. Ah great, what did that bozo want? Catching his little buddy's gaze after shaking loose of the sky scene, DK nods. They had been through this sort of drill before. "Grab Dixie and keep'em outta town. I'm going." Not waiting to hear of any protests, DK turned and raced off with knuckles thundering the salt-washed wooden roads. The city had just started showing signs of awareness to the sky visitors when he reached the bottom of the capital's towering fortress and began to climb.

It was a lot quicker to reach the top by kart, but he had more than enough power to clamber up and hoist himself over the edge. "Dad, hey Dad!" He hollered, figuring Cranky would be out and gathering some security to deal with the unannounced invasion. Once he found his balance, he caught a glimpse of his dad a ways off, cross-armed and peeved behind the iron bars of his personal sized cage.

"Yes, yes I'm aware." Sounding more inconvenienced than worried (the old bastard), Cranky squinted down at a device strapped to his wrist and tapped. "-and your response time was far from your last record, might I add!"

"Is this really the time to time me?!" DK huffed, regarding the group of squat invaders in their red rain slickers and hockey masks worked on hooking the cage to a pulley system that would lead it up to the floating base. "Hey! Step a-way from the old man...-!" Having begun his charge forward, and bowling through several minions in the process, he was close to leaping on top of the cage and ripping it open from the top when a rather spikey Koopa slid a spear through the bars to press against the Kong king's cheek. Cranky himself didn't seem to notice, but he was pretty gifted in the art of becoming a statue to the point where he scared the shit out of DK at times walking down a corridor filled with them.

"Stop there! That's as far as you go."

"...seriously?" Poised halfway on one arm, a fist curled tight at the end of the other. "What are you losers doing here anyway? Let my Dad go!"

"All in good time, all in good time." The Koopa assured and gestured toward the platform lowering to the cobblestone roof. "You are wanted in the main hall. We will escort you." As if on command, a few of the shy guys approached DK from all angles.

"Uh huh, right. YEAH right." The Kong snorted, slamming his hands on the ground hard enough to rumble it and cause a few of the poor shy guys to fall over cursing. "Why would I do that for?"

"Forgive the boy, he's a bit on the slow side." Cranky side murmured.

"Because! Bowser has demanded an audience, and if you don't go - your King will!"

A long pause later fraught with a side-long look towards Cranky's cage, DK heaved a sigh of annoyance, gaze dropping to his knuckles. "...fine, I-"

"Just take me up there already, the boy is no negotiator for this kingdom." Cranky interrupted, ornery as always and inconvenienced by the unexpected drop-in.

"Ugh! Can you like, believe in me for five seconds, Dad? I might let you out when I get back!" His fur twitched furiously as the shy guys slid up by his side again. He wanted to slap them all off the platform as they all headed up, but the Koopa's spear still remained in place by the side of his prisoner. The brief flicker of concern in Cranky's eye is the last thing DK sees before turning his head to regard the gap between platform and base that he hopped to and scrabbled up on his back legs.

It wasn't a long walk to whatever the main hall was, but he was a tad pissy when he got there. Mainly because the shy guys thought he needed six different ropes tied around him (like seriously is there one looped around his thumb too?) Standing on his back legs just to upset the little shits holding onto the ropes tied around his wrist (and partially drag them into the air) DK huffed. "Seriously - I said I was coming, dude. What are these even for?"

[writingquestionsanswered]

I’ve started writing a book that was heavily inspired by a movie. It feels like no matter what I change, there’s still the same tropes and stuff from that movie I was inspired by. What can I do to make my story more original and distance my story from that movie?

Making a Story Different from Source Material

First, keep in mind that tropes are usually inherent in the subject matter. If your story's premise is even a little similar to the source movie, those tropes are going to be there whether you want them or not.

But, remember: tropes are fine... they're good, actually. What you want to avoid are cliches, which are tropes that have been used the exact same way so many times, everyone is sick of them. If you're worried that a trope in your source story has been overdone in that exact same way, find a way to do it a little differently.

Diversifying the Tropes in Your Story

While you can certainly eliminate some of the tropes your story shares with the source, and you can add tropes the source doesn't contain, you can also just find ways to use the tropes in different ways.

Let's take a look at The Vampire Diaries and the Twilight Saga, two very similar but very different stories. (note: for TVD I'm referring to the TV series specifically rather than the book series.) They both follow a small town high school girl who falls for the hot guy at school, finds out he's a vampire, learns there's a supernatural underworld in her town, and eventually becomes supernatural herself. Because both of these stories are set in small towns, feature high school characters, and contain vampires and werewolves, there are a lot of tropes that exist in both. What matters is that these tropes are used differently in both stories. Here are some examples:

Trope: "Big Bad Ensemble"

Twilight Saga - The Volturi, 3,000 year old "coven" of vampires who reside in a small Italian village, administering the rules and laws of vampire civilization and are seen as vampire royalty. Despite being very old, they are not the first vampires, they're just among the oldest and the ones who fought to be in charge.

The Vampire Diaries - The Originals, aka the Mikaelson Family, a thousand-year-old family of Scandinavian vampire siblings, created when their witch mother dabbled in dark magic in an attempt to make her children strong enough to fight werewolves. While they're also somewhat regarded as vampire royalty (all vampire lines descend from them, after all) they do not rule over the vampire world in any way, though they do have a lot of power and influence.

Trope: "But I Can't Be Pregnant"

Twilight - A human character becomes supernaturally pregnant with a vampire's baby, via sexual intercourse, despite the fact that no one knew it could happen. The resulting baby is of course also supernatural.

The Vampire Diaries - A vampire character becomes supernaturally pregnant with two human babies thanks to a magic transfer facilitated by witchcraft, though she and her friends had no idea such a thing was possible. The resulting babies were already supernatural (because their bio-mom was a witch) and did not take on any vampire characteristics due to the womb change.

Also, The Vampire Diaries - A werewolf character becomes supernaturally pregnant with a supernatural baby as the result of intercourse between a vampire/werewolf hybrid and a werewolf. The baby inherited the witch side from her paternal grandmother. Also, no one realized this was possible. The pregnancy results in a "tri-brid" baby, who is part wolf, part vampire, and part witch (from her paternal grandmother.)

Trope: "Daywalking Vampire"

Since both stories feature vampires who are also high school students, it's necessary for these characters to be able to walk around during the daytime. Both stories approached it differently.

Twilight - In the Twilight Saga, the vampires are only affected by direct sunlight. It doesn't hurt them, but it sparkles off their skin and makes it pretty clear they're not human. The author got around this by choosing a story location that experiences a lot of overcast, rainy days. Then, the vampires just did whatever they had to do to avoid direct sunlight.

The Vampire Diaries - In TVD, sunlight burns the skin of vampires and will ultimately kill them, so vampires either avoid sunlight or they have to wear "daylight rings," which are spelled by witches to protect the wearer from the negative effects of daylight.

Hopefully that gives you an idea of how easy it is to take existing tropes and make them just a little bit different. Doing that will go a long way in making your story stand out from its inspiration source.

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[opis-writing-nook]

Twilight Tryst

Characters:

Diluc Ragnvindr, gn!reader

Pairings:

Sub!Diluc Ragnvindr x Dom!Reader

Warnings:

dry humping, Dom/sub undertones, marking kink (hickies and love bites), hair pulling, intimacy, kissing, mutual pining, very mild puppy play, mentioned aftercare, happy open ending

A/N:

Welp, it's been a hot minute since I've written anything of this length. After getting a second opinion I decided not to add actual written dialogue, it took away from the flow of the fic.

_________________________

Edit 1: The reader is gender neutral I'm just a dumbass and forgot (more like I thought I did it but by the time I realized that wasn't the case it had been rebloged a bit) to put it with the stuff above

______________

Another late night visit from a certain vigilante, not that you mind having him here, he was always welcomed in your home.

After all, you always looked forward to seeing Diluc's lewd expressions even if that mask obscured part of his face. Maybe one day you'll be lucky enough to see those expressions without that mask in the way, you can certainly dream at least.

You still find it hilarious that he doesn't realize that you know its him, like his hair was a dead giveaway and other things as well but you digress.

With practiced movements he closes the window, drawing the curtains shut, before tossing his cloak over the chair in your room, and gets on the bed after kicking off his boots. He'd rather not have you lecture him again about getting dirt on the bed because he didn't take them off.

You cup his face in your hands, not missing the way he melts into your touch, smiling gently as you give him chaste kisses and carefully push him on his back.

Diluc watches you with half lidded eyes as you remove your pajama pants, tossing them aside with little regard to where they may land, swallowing thickly as you make the bed dip as you sit between his legs. Your eyes flickering to his, waiting for permission to continue, he quickly picked up what you were silently asking and nodded with a bashful chuckle.

His breath hitching as you lightly palm him through his pants, he tried not to buck into your hand because he wanted to be a good boy for you, you were cooing sweetly as he whines when you stop, carefully undoing his belts with deft hands before dropping them onto the floor without looking away from him.

He looks so cute underneath you, panting softly as you toss his pants off to the side, letting out a shuddering breath as you straddle him. You stroke his cheek gently, smiling as his eyes fluttered closed for a moment, he was so cute like this: completely at peace, a dopey smile on his face as he looks at you through half lidded eyes.

Diluc bit his lip as you begin rutting against the bulge in his underwear, face heating up as you look at him through your lashes and lick your lips, and tries his best to keep still since you hadn't given him permission to move.

He wouldn't ever say it out loud but he loved it when you guys did dry humping, there was just something so exciting about it that turned him into a desperate mess so quickly.

The vigilante groaned lowly as you unbutton his shirt before raking your nails down his chest and leave red welts behind, bucking his hips up and muttered a small apology, shivering as you purr out how pretty he looks like this. His face flushing as you toy with his nipples, they'd always been so sensitive, biting his lip roughly as you tug on them just how he liked, letting out reedy moans as you rut against him faster.

His heart flutters at you slumping over and pressing your bare chest against his own, faces inches apart when you tell him he can touch you and enjoy himself since he's been a good boy. He can't help but preen at being called a good boy, letting out a stuttering moan, a comforting warmth blooming in his chest and continue to grow with each praise you gave him.

Diluc eagerly kisses you, loving how you push your tongue into his mouth, the raw passion and want in the kiss making his blood fizz in a mind numbingly euphoric way, he wants more, to drown in these kisses meant only for him.

That's all he needs before he's wrapping his arms around your waist, humping you eagerly as you kiss along his neck and coo out how good he's doing for you. He squeaks as you scrape your teeth against his neck before quickly whining for you to bite him, his tongue lulling out as he feels your teeth bite down and he knows it'll bruise but he doesn't care. A part of him giddy at the idea of you marking him, putting your claim on him, face flushing darkly at the idea of being yours and yours alone.

Carefully gripping the base of his high ponytail before giving a firm yank earns you a strangled moan, Diluc tilting his head back as you nip at his throat, his pace flattering as you bite his neck while pulling his hair just how he liked it. His back arching beautifully off the bed as you continue to pull on his hair, his eyes rolling back as he feels himself getting close, he uses so much willpower to calm himself because that's what a good puppy does.

Fumbling over his words as he tells you he's close, to please let him cum. His eyes rolled back as you grind down hard, yanking on his hair, pinching one of his nipples to tease him a little bit. He's begging, how can you deny him when he's been so good for you tonight.

Diluc lets out a pleasure filled sob when you tell him he can cum, arms tighten around your waist as he cums with a desperate keening sound, babbling thanks for letting him cum and how you're so good to him.

His body twitching and trembling as you keep moving your hips, whining as you left more hickies and love bites on his neck. He let out an embarrassing whimper when you nip at his earlobe and call him a good boy, breath hitching as you ask him if he's ready for more. He's never satisfied with just one orgasm, you both know that, so he just pulls you into a needy kiss in hopes you'll understand that he wants more. You do, thankfully, understand what he wants after doing this so many nights you lost track.

The redhead can't remember how many times you made him cum, brain too fried with pleasure.

By the time Diluc is able to think clearly you're already far into aftercare with him, he's exhausted and dozes off pretty quickly.

He's gone by the time you wake up, but you didn't take it personally.

-

The next night you can't help smile to yourself as you enter the tavern, taking your usual seat at the counter, and order your drink. You watch Diluc prepare your drink, taking note that his hair was down but whenever he'd move a certain way you'd see the dark hickies you left on him.

You just smile, already knowing that a certain vigilante would most likely scold you for this but it's worth it.

What you didn't know is that Diluc couldn't help feel giddy about the marks you left, your own way of claiming him and letting others know that he was taken.

Maybe one day he'd be brave enough to let you know that he was the Darknight, perhaps even brave enough to confess his feelings for you.

He had no idea that you already knew both those things, you'd wait for him to tell you when he's ready but you don't mind because you loved him.