#like yes i have 6 different saves but damn

[lelianaslefthand]

doing backups before uninstalling for the update and my saves folder is 10.5gb ..... goddamn

[small-sinclair]

Tarps and Glass

Whumptober 6: Not Realizing They’re Hurt

Bo Sinclair x reader

Tw: blood, hints of murder, dead bodies mention, Bo being a bit obsessive of reader, not proof read

“It’s not my blood.”

Bo didn’t give Lester a chance to break as he hopped out of the truck and ran towards the accident. He saw a blue car tipped over and its side and your white car on the side. The window was cracked and shattered, and the door dented and tangled. He didn’t see you at first as a firefighter tried to hold Bo back, but he shoved him aside and ran towards your smoking car. The air bags were deployed, showing hints of blood, your blood.

“Bo!” His head snapped at your voice and his knees turned into Jello. You were sitting in the back of an ambulance with an EMT looking over you.

“Y/N!” He shouts, rushing to your side. He knelt in front of you and took one of your hands. His eyes never looked away from the dark cherry red on your shirt. He felt his blood grow cold and his heart rise in his throat. “Darlin’, is...is that...?”

You shook your head, squeezing his hand, “No, no; it’s not mine. It's the others.”

“How did it get on you?” He looked up at you, one hand holding your hand while the other ran up and down your arm in a soothing motion. Under different circumstances, he would look good on his knees with pleading eyes. “Sweetheart?”

You closed your eyes as you relived the moment when the other car came barreling towards you. You didn’t mean to, but you squeezed his hand tightly. “I know I was pinned, but...but the other driver wasn’t. He looked over at the other EMTs working on the driver. “He got out of his car and tried to help me.” Your eyes met Bo’s, saying in a soft voice, “He was bleeding bad, but it didn’t stop him. He was trying to help me...he was trying, Bo.” You said his name in such a defeated voice. He never wants to hear you say it like that ever again. “Then he collasped and...and...”

“Shh, cher,” he hushes. He only talks in his deep Cajun when he’s scared; this terrified him to death. “He’ll be alright. Promise.”

“What if he’s not?”

He reaches up and held your cheek. His ring was cold against your skin, sending a comforting chill through you. “I’ll start his heart if I have to, sweetheart, and you know I’ll do it.” he gave a reassuring smile, which faded in moments. “They’ll work on the man and do everything they can.” He came of his knees and kisses your forehead, his lips pressing against your forehead with a lingering touch. “Worry about yourself, mon cher. Do that for me?” He smiled when he saw your nodding, your eyes puffy and read from tears.

Bo kisses your hand before leaving your side to find Lester, who was parked behind a line of firefighters. Worry was edged on his face as he saw Bo, and his eyes never left his as Bo reached into his breast pocket and took out a ciggaret and a lighter.

“They’re fine,” Bo said, casting his gaze over the scene behind him. “The driver saved her, or tired to help...it’s up to the angels to decide.” He looks over at the drapped tarp then back at Lester. “Get those bodies to Vincent, Les. I’ll hitch a ride with the bus.” He blew smoke into the air. “Don’t want cops to see our hunting bounty.” He flashed an amused smile and chuckled. “Damn, it would fun, wouldn’t it?”

Lester shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he looked past his shoulder and into the scene. “You’re gonna to kill that driver, aren’t ‘cha?”

“Tried to take what was mine,” he said as if it was a fact of life. “Can’t let him live.”

“It was an accident—”

“An accident that nearly took ‘em from me,” he said, his eyes hardening. “He tried to help her, yes, but he nearly killed her. That’s unforgivable...something I can’t overlook, Les. It won’t be my blood on my hands; it’ll be his. Now,” he handed his half-lit cig to Lester, “take the bodies to Vincent.”

Lester hesitated but sighed and took the cigarette, placing it in his mouth. “Be safe then. Don’t get caught, either. They don’t know what we do, Bo.”

“And I’ll keep it dat way,” he said, nodding. “Get drivin’, raccoon. Those bodies will smell soon.”

[badkitty3000]

What did you think was ooc for Five?

Great question, and I have already covered it a bit in my post here, but I could probably yammer on all day about it, so I'll add some thoughts.

Season 1 -3 Five was focused, determined, manic, arrogant, sometimes mean, violent, out-spoken, and full of love for his family above all. Yes, he insulted them and had no time or patience for their shit, but considering everything he'd been through and what he was up against, there was a reason for it. Season 4 Five? Ok, yeah, I can buy that maybe he was depressed and didn't really know what to do with himself anymore. Myself and others have certainly written him that way a few times. But, damn, he spent like all of season 3 bitching about wanting to be retired and here he could be! He could have played the stock market a few times, bought a little place somewhere, picked up a nice lady at the local Bingo hall and lived his peaceful live he deserved. Instead, he works (inexplicably) for the government and just wanders around with his sad little trenchcoat and CIA-issued pistol and flashlight, taking orders from The Man and just...existing I guess. I could see if they made it so that he joined the CIA to get inside info on Reginald and he had spent the last 6 years quietly plotting to take him down and get his revenge or set the world straight again. But no...he apparently hadn't even tried to look into anything Reggie was doing? Like he was just "*shrug*, it's probably fine".

Five loves his family above all else. We know this. If not, he wouldn't have spent decades alone fighting to get back to them and save all their stupid asses. Now, all of sudden, he just doesn't seem to care? Yes, he's present and has obviously kept in touch. He goes to the birthday party, etc. But there is zero interaction with Klaus, or his nieces, or even Viktor. When at the end, he finally gets some fight back (although for completely absurd reasons) and snaps at Luther, the whole family gasps in shock like this is some new occurence that Five would be mean to them. And he'd said much worse to them before! So, that leads me to believe he just has spent the last 6 years being a completely different person and everyone forgot he's actually an asshole?

And back to the family thing...fighting his brother over his wife? Falling in love with Lila, the same person who: conspired behind his and Diego's back in Season 2, was raised by his villainous boss, was the daughter of two innocent people he killed, tried to kill him with her fists, a frying pan, her feet, a knife, electrocution; and who he tried to kill multiple times as well. Yes, they have had time to heal some wounds and they have a shared traumatic experience with The Handler but come on...he would never! He would never be attracted to her that way. He would never betray Diego that way. And he certainly wouldn't fight him over her, not when she and Diego are married and have kids together. I don't care how many years they were together alone...just no. Best friends? Sure. Lovers? Fuck no.

Physically, where was his prowess? Five is supposed to be the all-time badass assassin, trained in martial arts and weaponry. His body is young at 19-20 years old, and at the peak of his physical fitness. Even without his powers he should be able to kick some ass, or at least try to. And then when he does have his powers, he just doesn't know how to use them correctly anymore? And again, he looks slow and weak in a fight. His solution to taking down the big Bennifer blob thing was to fire an entire clip at long range at it, and then just go "huh...weird that didn't work". Why wasn't he looking around the mall for a weapon? An axe? Something else to fight against it! That's what he does...that's his THING! We were fucking robbed of a Five-centric badass fight scene, when there were so many opportunities for one. Hell, he could have taken down a room full of Keepers with a fucking ballpoint pen while singing along to Abba's Dancing Queen! Why didn't we get that?

Meeting with Reginald. Remember in Season two when Five met with Reggie at the Tiki bar? He sat and had a drink with him, but it was still tension-filled with a lot of emotion there. Then in Season 3, when he was basically like "you're a sadistic lunatic that is going to kill all of us" and got right in his old man's face and told him he was a giant dick? This time...he's just standing around Reggie's house shooting the shit and not even acting like he's mad. That is just not the same guy. I realize this was supposed to be Viktor's fight with Reggie, but they still could have shown Five to have a little emotion there.

So, there you have it. I could probably keep going, but this is way too long as it is. It's just heartbreaking, really. This character that we have all come to love for all of his complexities and faults and heroics was just diminished to a one-dimensional, uninteresting character with no regard for his family. Basically, just undoing three season's worth of plot and character development. And it's not Aidan's fault. He did the best he could with the shit he was given, and I feel sorry for him. For as much as we love this character, Five was his. He made him come to life and there's not many other actors his age that could have pulled that off. So, I'm sad this was his end. They really did him dirty.

[ethanmorales]

Train Wreck [Ethan Morales Short Fanfic]

Masterlist

Part Two - Crazy

Pairing: Ethan Morales x fem reader 2.1k words Warning: swearing Requested: Based on Ariana Grande's song "Boyfriend." / Friends to lovers.

Ethan’s POV

I adjusted the collar of my unbuttoned shirt for the third time as I waited for Y/N to answer the door. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other impatiently. What’s taking her so long? I pulled my phone out to call her when I finally hear the door being unlocked. My heart rate speeds up as she comes into view. I’m overcome with emotion. The emotion that I’m always trying to swallow down when she’s in front of me, though right now, it is intensified and threatens to take over. She was wearing a short white dress that hugged her torso but flared out and swayed at her hips when she walked. Her lips are plump and tinted in a soft natural color. Her hair fell in waves over her shoulders. She was so beautiful it made it hard to breathe sometimes.

“Sorry I took so long. I meant to call you earlier.” She greets me like she’s not about to give me a heart attack. I pull the emotion inside me back and respond casually.

“Call me about what?” I ask, trying very hard to focus on her words and not how badly I want to kiss those lips.  

Her expression looks apologetical. I frown at this.

“Hey, Y/N.”

I turn around at the new voice.

Our neighbor, Diego, walks up the pathway to us. I stared, confused.

“What’s up, man?” He greets me. Slowly, I bump my fist with his. He looks over my shoulder to YN. My stomach sinks.

“Damn, you look amazing.” He tells her. I look back at her just in time to see a blush creeping onto her cheeks. The sight makes me feel sick.

“What’s going on?” I finally ask. She smiles gently.

“I asked Diego to the party,” she begins, and I try very hard not to react as she continues, “I know you’re meeting with Maia. I figured I should save you the trouble of having to look after me all night.”

I wanted to yell. I wanted to argue. How could she ever think that she’s any trouble to me? How could she think I want to be around anyone more than I want to be around her? I wanted to tell her that I changed into like 10 different outfits thinking about all the times she complimented my style and what she seemed to like. That I was wearing her favorite cologne, the one she got me for my birthday last year. But I said nothing of the sort. Instead, I smiled.

“Cool. I’ll leave you in good hands then.”

She smiles back at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. I swallow the need to ask her what’s wrong. It seems she has someone else to ask her those things tonight. I turn to Diego.

“Keep your hands to yourself.” I say quietly close to his ear as I pat his shoulder.

He quirks an eyebrow at me in question, but I say nothing else as I walk away from them, towards my car. I try not to let the anxiety building up in my chest crush me under its weight as I watch them walking down the gravel pathway together, arms linked. I take off.

Y/N POV

I didn’t want to go to the party with Diego. I wanted to go with Ethan. But he was currently into Maia and she would be waiting for him as soon as we arrived. So, for once, I decided not to be a masochist who just swallows the pain of arriving with him just to be left alone in a place where I wasn’t comfortable with anyone else. Inviting Diego was a last-minute decision and was so grateful that he said yes.

We weren’t close, but we’ve had a few nice conversations since he moved next door 6 months ago. I figured this was the least heartbreaking option. Plus, he was too  attractive to ignore the fact.  

“Ready to go, chica?” He offers me his arm. I link mine around his and we start walking. As I take note of the sexy accent, not for the first time, I’m vaguely aware that I must have a type.  

“All black is a good look on you.” I say, noticing the black jeans and the black shirt that’s unbuttoned enough to expose part of his chest. He smiles and looks at me.

“And you look killer in all white.”

I can’t help smiling back. “Thanks.”

We’re in the middle of light conversation about school and the upcoming holidays before he randomly changes the topic.

“So, you and Ethan…” he trails off in a question.

“What about us?”

Diego smiles. “What’s the story? You guys dated before or?”

I shake my head furiously. “No. Not at all. We’ve known each other since we were in diapers. Our moms have been best friends since high school so naturally, we are as well.” I try to keep any kind of emotion out of my voice, but I heard the higher pitch as I spoke. I crossed my fingers that he didn’t hear it too.

“Gotcha. I just… I got a vibe from him earlier, so I thought there was something there.”

I laugh though it’s not funny. “A vibe? from Ethan? Nah, he’s just overprotective. I’m like a little sister to him. Plus, he’s not used to me going out with guys. He usually drags me to places with him. He was probably thrown off.”

Diego chuckles. “Yeah… you’re probably right. That’s cool that you guys have been friends for that long. I don’t know that I could do it.”

I look at him and he meets my gaze with a smile.

“Careful, it almost sounds like you’re flirting,” I tease.

He looks back at the road, but I see him bite his lip before he responds. “I am flirting.”

I feel myself blushing again. “Oh… good to know.” I don’t know what else to say. Yes, he was hot. But he wasn’t Ethan. The thought came to me quickly, but it still made me feel guilty. I pushed it aside and decided to give Diego a chance to woo me tonight. It was time I stopped hoping for the impossible. Ethan would never see me that way. The quicker I moved on, the more pain I could save myself from.

Ethan’s POV

The party was at full force as I walked through the opened door frame. There are people in small groups all around, red cups in their hands. A ping pong table has been set in the middle of the living room and it’s already surrounded by a crowd waiting for their turn to chug cheap beer and get buzzed on attention. I walk past this scene and find the kitchen. My buddy Adrian is there, a cup in his hand. “What’s this?” I ask, but I start downing the contents before he has a chance to reply. The liquid burns down my throat but I still don’t stop.

“It’s vodka.” I heard him say.  “You good bro?”

I don’t answer him until I’ve finished what’s in the cup and hand back to him with a smile.

“I’m great! Let’s get this party started!”

I feel arms wrap around my stomach from behind. I freeze for a second. “Finally! I’ve been waiting for you.” Maia. My heart sinks at the realization.

I don’t let that thought form. Instead, I turn around to face her ready to greet her with a kiss. Before I get to do that though, I see Y/N and Diego walking in. He smiles at her and takes her hand. It takes about two seconds of him scanning the room before his gaze lands on me. He smiles wider and winks. Someone is moving next to me, cup in hand. I take it from them, ignoring the protest before I down it too. Beer this time.

“You okay?” This time it’s Maia asking. I wish everyone would stop asking me the same goddamn question. But instead of snapping, I smile down at her before kissing her hard. It was almost like I was taking out my anger out on her. She didn’t seem to mind though. She kissed me back just as fervently. I pulled back and glance at Y/N and found her watching me. Her eyes were sad and something in me hurt at the sight. Before I knew what I was doing, I started walking to her. Diego stepped slightly in front of me as I got to them.

“Having fun already, huh?”

My eyes were on Y/N and the shimmer on them. But I forced myself to peel my gaze away to look at Diego.

“I’m always having fun,” I respond. “Shouldn’t you be getting your date a drink?”

He studies me briefly before looking back at Y/N. “Want a beer?”

“She doesn’t drink.” I say smugly.

Y/N give me a pointed look before she replies to him. “I’ll try one.”

“Great” Diego’s smug expression deepens as he pushes past me, bumping into me as he does. It takes all of me not to pull him back and plant my fist into his stupid smiling face.

“It’s a party. I can drink if I want to.” Y/N says as a response to the look in my face.

“The hell you’re going to drink while you’re with him.” I snap.

I feel a hand on my arm. “What’s going on, Ethan?”

“Not now, Maia.” I pulled away from her touch and grabbed Y/N’s arm, dragging her behind me.

Y/N protests the entire way until I find a big tree in the backyard. I pull her around it, letting the huge trunk shield us from any curious eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Her face is flushed red with anger. She looks so goddamn beautiful like that.

“Fuck.” Before I know what I’m doing, I’m pushing her against the tree. Her eyes widen in surprise, but before she can question me, I grab her face and kiss her. I’m so angry that I think I’m going to kiss her so hard she’ll break, but I am briefly amazed by the fact that she’s kissing me back, with the same amount of passion. I’m fueled by that reaction and deepen the kiss, my hands travel down her arms and move to the small of her back, pushing her closer into me. Her hands tangled in my hair, and I couldn’t stop from moaning in her mouth. I pull back, but stay close enough to breathe each other’s air, our mouths centimeters away.

“Ethan.” Her voice was breathless. I smirk, satisfied.

I kiss her deeply once more then pulled away again.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve spent waiting for the right time to make my move, keeping track of every little interaction until I was mostly sure that you were feeling the same way about me. Earlier today, I could have sworn you were jealous. I thought the time finally had come. Then Diego shows up.” I stopped, overcome with that emotion again, the one that made me feel like I was drowning. Y/N’s eyes are surprised but her hand on my cheek helps me continue.

“I am so in love with you.”

She’s quiet, studying me carefully, trying to see if I was telling the truth. She knew me better than anyone, so she would know if I’m lying.

“What about Maia?” she finally asks.

“A distraction. All those girls have been distractions. The only way I could deal with not being with you. I needed to make sure. I didn’t want to fuck up our friendship if you didn’t feel the same.”  

“You need to tell her.” Is all she says.

“We’re not dating?”

“But-”

“I promise you. She knows how I feel about you. I have been honest with all of them. They’ve all been involved with me knowing I’m in love with you.”

“That’s crazy,” she whispers. “For how long?”

“How long what?” I ask.

“How long have you had these feelings?”

“3 years.” I’m a little embarrassed to admit this. She shakes her head and finally smiles.

“4 years for me.” She states. “Who is the bigger fool?”

I smile like an idiot.

“Seriously?” she nods at my question. I sigh with relief. “I can’t believe we’ve wasted years.”

She shrugs. “We didn’t know. We were scared.”

“Guess we have a lot of time to make up for.”

“Mhm.” This time she pulls me in for the kiss and I follow her lead. She pulls back quickly.

“Oh God, Diego.” She’s horrified, realizing she had forgotten about him.

I smile wide, “Fuck him.” I kiss her in such a way that there’s no way she’ll even remember his name.

The End.

___________________________________

A/N: Thanks for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed it! :)

Stay awesome xx

P.S. Diego Tinoco from On the Block as Diego.

[sinner-sunflower]

A HH Lucifer-centric AU 21/?

PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12, PART 13, PART 14, PART 15, PART 16, PART 17, PART 18, PART 19, PART 20, PART 22

Enjoy!

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

When Lucifer awoke again, Alastor was no longer there. He shifts to find Marigolds all over his bed with a note.

'To keep you from missing me, my lonely King. - Alastor'

Lucifer lets out a chuckle, picking up a Marigold to smell. He doesn't remember falling asleep but it was probably the best sleep he had had in a while. No dreams, no memories- just sleep. He would cry if the circumstances were different.

There's a bowl of cold gumbo on his bedside table and the sight made his stomach growl. He takes a bite and almost moans. Man, was he really this hungry? He didn't even think he could still get hungry as he doesn't need food to survive.

The opening of his door interrupted his gumbo filled thoughts to reveal Charlie who was carrying more flowers.

Lucifer: Char-char?

Charlie yelps in surprise, dropping the newly arrived flowers on the ground. He moves to help her but she hastily stops him.

Charlie: No, dad! It's fine, I got this. Sorry, you just surprised me. Haha. When I came back you were asleep again.

Lucifer: Sorry for startling you, sweetie. Are those still for me?

Charlie: Really, it's okay dad. And yes! From Uncle Leviathan. I think he's competing with Alastor of who can give you more flowers plus some denizens leaving some too, which is a problem because I think we're running out of room here. But I don't mind! I'm just glad you're appreciated.

Lucifer: oh..

Charlie, noticing her father's change in demeanour, gave him a sympathetic smile and comes closer. She holds his hands in hers and locks eyes with him.

Charlie: You saved all of Hell, dad. And a lot of people want to thank you for it. They want you to see that they care the moment you wake up. These flowers? This was actually Alastor's idea. He kind of let it slip that you're love language is gifts and he always appreciated when you gave him one. Don't tell him I said that.

Lucifer: It is?

Charlie: The hotel was getting a bit hounded of demons who wants to see and thank you. It was getting out of hand but then Alastor went on air.

She pulls out her phone, tapping her fingers until she found what she was looking for.

Alastor: Salutations, citizens of Hell! To commemorate this joyous day, the Hazbin Hotel is accepting gifts that one wish to give to our beloved King as a sign of appreciation for his valiant efforts! Gifts will be screened by hotel residents/staff first. No sneaking past our eyes now!

Alastor's voice through the recorded broadcast blares from her speaker.

Alastor: Failure to comply to this simple rule and you'll earn a special guest appearance in my radio broadcast. I'm very much excited to see anyone who tries haha!

Charlie: A lot of people were asking what you would like. But as soon as they saw royals coming in with flowers, they just went with that too. I've never seen Hell be this united before and it's because of you, dad. It's not perfect but... it's a step in the right direction.

It warms Lucifer's heart that his actions are helping his daughter's dream even by just a little. He didn't even care about what people might think of him after the whole thing but his daughter seem happy and that's the only thing that matters.

Suddenly, a thought came to mind.

Lucifer: Goodie!

Charlie: Goodie? Was that the woman you brought from Earth?

Lucifer: Yes. Where is she?!

Charlie: I don't actually know. Last I heard, she disappeared.

Lucifer: Huh?

Charlie: As still acting Queen, Uncle Satan told me that he managed to capture Goodie and put in custody but then a day later, he said she's just....gone. Some of his imps are out looking for her.

Lucifer: Knowing her, she may have already been on Earth. Damn it!

Charlie: Dad... what happened in there? I passed out before you went in and when I woke up, you guys were already here.

Lucifer: You passed out?! Are you okay, applepie??

Charlie laughs, pushing away her dad's fussy hands.

Charlie: I'm fine, dad. I was just worried about you. You really scared me.

Lucifer: Sorry.

Charlie: I said it's okay. But stop avoiding my question.

Lucifer: What question?

Charlie: Dad... You went to Earth to find this Goodie, to ask her for help. Help she couldn't give and in the end you're the one who still had to risk his life. Angel and the others said you were there for hours and then when you did come out, you look- You're not you! Aunt Bee said your aura was so bad, she couldn't stop vomiting. Please dad. Something happened in there.

Lucifer: .... Goodie's seal didn't work because it apparently needed to be in close contact with what you are using it for. As the strongest there, I was the most viable to perform it in close range. We couldn't risk losing someone just to see if it would kill them.

A little white lie would hurt no one (biggest misconception ever). But he couldn't bring it up to Alastor and definitely not to his daughter. Roo never said it has to be a secret but Roo isn't dictating his body yet so he'll make this one tiny stupid decision himself.

Lucifer: As for my appearance, it looks like Goodie's seal had side effects. Maybe being exposed to the toxic environment that closely altered my body. In the end, I'm not so sure. And this?-

He gestures to himself.

Lucifer: -Is a small price to pay for Hell's safety. For your safety.

Charlie: I'm sorry.

Lucifer: What? What for, honey?

Charlie: For what I said that day. I hurt you and I'm-

Lucifer: We both hurt each other, Charlie. As the parent, I should've done better. You were just a child. You were my child. And I abandoned you as much as Lilith abandoned us. I lost a wife but you? You lost both of us. And I could never blame or hate you for thinking that way.

Charlie: But, I would never wish that! I want you here as much as I want Mom. But the difference is, you're actually here, supporting me. Even if you weren't there from the beginning, you're here for the future. And I- I can't be more thankful you're still here.

She's sobbing now. The tears just won't stop and she feels herself being pulled in a hug.

Charlie: So stop punishing yourself, dad.

The King of Hell looks up at the ceiling, trying to blink the tears threatening to fall away. Why now? Why when he's finally reconnecting with his daughter? When he has a partner who loves him again? Why did Roo choose him? Why is this happening just when he's just learning to care and love for it?

He thinks about Roo's words-how his life will end one way or another, about the daughter he's going to make an orphan, the partner he's going to eventually widow, the found family who wormed their way into his heart, and a Kingdom he'll leave in ruins.

Lucifer can only hope that they come out alright, even if he doesn't.

Lucifer: I'll try my best, sweetie.

Charlie: Don't leave me again, dad.

He hugs tight like it's the last as he lets her continue to cry on his chest.

'Oh, Father. Is there anything more undoing than a child?'

[angelbitezzz]

Now where in the hell did she go?

Prev - Next - First

(more pictures and writing under the cut)

God damn it. Sans had one job—keep an eye on the human, make sure she rested, keep her out of trouble. Now, as he stared dumbfoundedly down at the obviously empty couch on the first floor, he only had one real thought come floating through his fatigued skull.

"i'm gonna kill that girl."

He threw his soiled jacket somewhere in the corner of his room and snatched his hoodie from where it was hung next to his door, slipping it on as he shoved socked feet into slippers, descending the stairs so quickly he may as well have teleported. Far be it from him to ever move that fast on purpose—apparently, that was another thing she was able to do to him without him knowing, damn it all. Frustration simmered at the back of his throat, but even he knew that the feeling was covering a darker, more icy fear that clutched at the inside of his ribcage and froze into a heavy thing somewhere next to his SOUL. She needed to rest. She needed to stay out of sight for now until they figured things out with her magic. She needed to stay safe, fuck, and even just thinking that sent an uncomfortable rattle up along his spine. He didn't bother opening the front door, he jolted through space and found himself outside a few feet away.

"think, sans, think. where would she—"

His pupils settled on the ground. Blue grass and sand mixed together to create an uneven path leading through the village proper. The isles were on the night cycle now—which, didn't look different, but having something of a curfew helped with the constant feeling of nighttime—so nobody was around save for some real night owl types. Sans had excellent night vision, picking out the disturbed sand leading through the village and far to the left, back towards the entrance. He took a step and jittered to the far end, focused on the footprints leading up, until the grass and sand gave away to stone, ascending on a gentle incline that only grew steeper until it led to a cliff overlooking a majority of the Starlight Isles and surrounding territories.

His steps slowed as a silhouette came into view near the edge, an ambient warm breeze tugging the cape pulled around their shoulders. Briefly, he thought he'd stumbled across Count Koffin K doing something...but when they raised their head to gaze upward, he realized he'd found his target.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and resisted the urge to stomp his way up the cliff to her side.

"and what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Angel startled a little, jerking around halfway and flinching. Burning purple eyes met his own, wide and alarmed.

For a second, he felt like they fit right in with the "stars" in their sky.

"Oh! Oh. Sans. Hey."

"answer the question, human."

"Right. Um." Her gaze trailed away, back over the edge of the cliff. "Well don't worry, I didn't fuck off to, uh...y'know. Yeah. Ye—yeah. I'm just, just..."

He didn't speak, recognizing by the tone of her voice that she was struggling to get her thoughts out. She got scrambled like that sometimes—it reminded him of Alphys...when she wasn't putting on a whole fake persona, anyways.

"...Processing. Mhm."

"your near death experience or your magic?"

"Can it be both?"

He inclined his head and slowly stepped forward, moving to stand beside her. There was a very long pause before he spoke.

"well, uh, anyways. asgore said you gotta rest. my brother'll have a conniption if he finds out you're out here."

"Right. Sorry. I just...really needed to get some air. Please."

Frustration boiled behind his teeth, but he sucked back the smoke and smiled anyways. When she glanced at him, whatever she saw in his expression made her grimace and look away again.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not dying."

"you nearly did." The lights in his eyesockets extinguished, smile thinning until it was nearly a frown. "like, 6 hours ago. unless you forgot. i mean...wouldn't really be surprised, ya did hit your head pretty hard during your little stunt."

"God, Sans, can you just—not? For once?"

"i dunno what you mean."

She whirled on him, a desperate sort of anger flashing onto her features.

"You know exactly what I mean! Don't kick me while I'm down. I—"

"i'm trying to get you back in bed before anyone sees you, but hey, if you wanna keep acting like a babybones, be my guest."

"I'm NOT—" Angel cut herself off and shut her eyes, drawing Sans's cape around her shoulders tighter and covering her face with a hand. "Not...fuck. Fuck. Sans. I–I don't need you to act like my parent. Be all weird and protective over your brother, but don't...let's not pretend. Don't do the same with me cuz you think you have to. It hurts."

He didn't know what to say, for once. There was a quiet swallowing sound while he searched for something, anything to respond to that. Seconds dragged into minutes before she spoke again.

"...I'm gonna die down here."

"hey, you just said you're not—"

"No, Sans." She interrupted, insistent, voice pitching high and broken. "I'm gonna die down here. This place, it's driving me fucking mental. I don't. I don't know what to do."

Her hand slipped away again, a frightened, tight little grin stretching across her face as she looked at him. It looked like it hurt.

"The sun. I miss the sun. I feel like I've been stuck in a damn time loop where it's always night time and I do the same damn shit every day! Yesterday was the first time in weeks that I felt like something new happened and I completely fucked it. I've been having so much fun here that I forgot that—I forgot. I forgot!" She began to laugh, gesturing to her body frantically, trying to get a point across. "I forgot!"

Sans listened to her speak with an increasing feeling of worry, frustration melting into concern the longer she went on.

"kid—" He started, but she cut him off again, her laughter ceasing as quickly as it had come, turning her body away.

"Don't. Please don't. I don't think I could stand if it you started with the pity train."

"wasn't the pity train, was more like the empathy express."

His weak attempt at humor did bring a smaller, more genuine twitch of her mouth than whatever fake grin she'd been trying to keep up. How had she ever managed to fool him before? In hindsight, it was obvious now, all the times she'd been pretending at joy.

Ah, but then, she was the perseverant kind of person. Maybe she was just...used to that.

He didn't want to know why.

"i was just gonna say...you're not alone."

He reached out and set a hand on her shoulder, struggling to find the words. Sun sickness had been a lot more prevalent back during the aftermath of the war—he had no experience dealing with it directly.

"it ain't so bad. you're still here. people down here like you."

"...Do you even like me?"

"huh?"

Angel turned her head just a little, enough to catch his gaze with her own. She looked exhausted, the warm breeze threatening to spill the tears welling up in her eyes.

"I pay attention, you know. You—god, Sans, you only tolerate me cuz I'm friends with Papyrus, right? Sometimes I feel like we get along great, and then something happens and you just...act off. Am I that much of a burden to you? Should I just leave?"

His thoughts flashed back to the day before. The panic that had thrummed through his body at the mere thought of losing her, that same panic that had brought him out here looking for her in the first place.

"i..." He hesitated. "...think it's been a long day, angel. you're tired and homesick and still coming down from the adrenaline high from earlier. you'll feel better in the morning."

Angel just gazed at him for a long, long moment. Those purple eyes searching for something in his expression before they went lax, her face flattening.

"...You're right. You're right. I'm just..." A lump in her throat. The tears began streaking down her face, dripping off her chin. "...so tired."

"hey." His voice was soft now, softer than she'd heard it before. "...i get the feeling, bud."

Her shoulders shaking, she raised a hand and slipped it over the one he had on her shoulder just for some measure of comfort, head ducking and turning away as she quietly hiccuped. He let her hold him there, warm fingers on chilled bones as she anchored herself again in the present.

It was a good long while before she let him take her home.

...

"Hey, Sans...?"

"mhm?"

"I forgot my glasses. You're gonna have to lead me back."

[yallemagne]

This might be a little disjointed because it's been a few days since I watched it, but my thoughts on season 2 of X-Men: The Animated Series:

Episode 1 & 2: Till Death Do Us Part

I know they’re having Logan going ham in the Danger Room because he’s in love with Jean, but lalala I can’t hear you, he’s ACTUALLY beating up fake Cyclopses in the Danger Room because of Morph’s death. 

Damn if Logan weren’t, frankly, acting like a little bitch, we could have gotten the Morph reveal much earlier. This is what angsting after a married woman does, Logan. You miss out on precious time with your resurrected bestie with benefits. 

Morph is my silly little pumpkin. Sinister is such a bastard that he lets Morph have temporary self-awareness just to torture them with it. That, or he is just very bad at maintaining his mind control. Anyhow, Morph declares that they’ll have their revenge and switch through different forms “Cyclops! Storm! Wolverine!” And upon turning into Wolverine they fall back on their bed and writhe in agony because that’s their BEST FRIEND. AHHH. 

Morph sending Cherik to the Savage Lands for a deadly date. This is like The Parent Trap but nefarious. 

Morph desperately trying to fight against the mind-control :,0. It's always when they're presented with the promise of being accepted back into the family. All they wanna do is be an X-Man again. 

"You kept me alive! And the evil that's in me! But the worst of us still has some good!" I'm sobbing.

Also yeah. The title is obviously referencing Scott and Jean’s wedding vows. But what if— lissen hear me out hear me out, it’s actually about Wolverine and Morph and their unbreakable bond.

Episode 3: Whatever It Takes

Mjnari, you scared me, boy. He kept getting himself into situations where I was like “YOU BETTER NOT BE MAKING A HEROIC SACRIFICE” and thankfully, no heroic sacrifice, just winning. 

Storm just casually having a son that she's not told anyone about and Rogue being like BABE WHAT??? Babe why did you never tell me you have a child with another woman??

Logan grabbing Morph’s wrists and restraining them behind their back in the weirdest hug imaginable. Gonna headcanon that that’s just how they normally hug because Logan is weird. Gotta use “I’m restraining you” as an excuse to get his arms around someone.

Morph changing between several exes arch enemies of Wolverine while trying to get him off his trail. Hoooo. Morph knows the Deep Lore. 

Episode 4: Red Dawn

Imagine being so stupid you make an indestructible super human who represents your values so well he resolves to murder you for not abiding by those values. And then imagine thawing him even though you couldn’t control him the first time because you want to restart the Soviet Union. Imagine getting through so many steps without thinking of the consequences even once.

Colossus is my sweet baby boy. I love how naively good he is and how it plays off Jubilee, who is also naive as hell. It’s perfectly demonstrated when Jubilee is just like “I’ll just leave a note! ‘Off to stop the reformation of the USSR, food’s in the fridge.’ Okay, let’s go!” And Colossus is like “Yes! Let’s!”

Wolverine gets home from Morph throwing Omega Red in his face during their confrontation to a note saying the runt went ahead to stop Omega Red with no backup?? The timing. 

Episode 5: Repo Man

Canada tries to steal Wolverine’s skeleton what the fuck. 

I appreciate that his old team steps in to save him because they never wanted to drag him back into experimentation, they just wanted their buddy back. 

It’s implied in the flashback in this episode and later on that Wolverine never had bone claws, they’re just a result of the adamantium? Yeah no. Makes no sense. His claws are literally what identify him as a mutant in several interactions. 

Episode 6: X-Ternally Yours

Dog, this weird cult-gang shit makes no sense to me. It’s good that Gambit got away from that nonsense. 

Lol Rogue getting upset that Gambit is getting married but immediately being like AHA when it’s revealed he’s there against his will. 

Episode 7 & 8: Time Fugitives

Absolutely genius having a time travel episode followed by a second time travel episode to fix the previous episode. They got to reuse so much animation, and frankly, I'm proud of them for the creativity they employ to be unoriginal. 

Episode 9: A Rogue's Tale

I already knew Rogue’s backstory, but hell, they really capture the dread of Rogue being forced by her mother to kill another person. There was so much innocence in her voice yelling that she didn’t want to hold on, that it felt wrong. God, I hate Mystique so much for this. Rogue is right in saying Mystique only cared about her powers. Sure maybe she does see her as a daughter, but would she have even spared the girl a second glance if she weren’t such a powerful mutant? Hell no. 

Episode 10: Beauty & the Beast

I was literally musing about how this episode's themes reminds me of Beauty and the Beast... and that's literally the title. 

Graydon Creed: “MUTANTS AND ALL THOSE RELATED TO THEM MUST BE DESTROYED!!!” Me: 👀 are you sure about that you dumb bitch.

Logan infiltrating the Friends of Humanity? Amazing. Showstopping. He did so amazing, bravo. Get this man an award. And y’all know he’s been sitting on the info that Creed is Sabretooth’s son for so long lol. It’s so cathartic of a reveal. 

I wonder… how does this affect Creed? After all, at the end of ’97, it’s said he’s got people rallying behind him as a political candidate. Did people just forget what a dirty snivelling little hypocrite he is? Did news of his parentage never reach the general public? Is it like water under the bridge bc he technically denounces his parents? What’s up with that?

(Aside: they call Sabretooth Graydon Creed Sr.. Yeah, I’d change my name to Victor. The real kicker is that he named his son after himself. No wonder Junior is so mad at his pops.)

Anyhow, even though it’s technically not canon to anything but the movie continuity, I’m gonna keep headcanoning Sabretooth and Wolverine as estranged brothers because I would love to see Logan continuing to hold this over Graydon’s head by telling him to call him ‘Uncle Logan’. 

Episode 11: Mojovision

I Dream of Jean fucking got me. Looks like Mojo’s programming is geared towards me. 

After reading Exiles I’m just sitting here like “:((( I wish Morph was here... Morph would be slaying…”

Episode 12 & 13: Reunion

See, Wolverine uses his claws here, and they have him say his claws aren’t a result of his mutation. Baby what? Now, I think it totally makes sense for his claws to still be functional even in a place where mutant powers are cancelled out. After all, they’re a part of his skeleton. Like if Nightcrawler were there, he wouldn’t lose the ability to move his tail, yeah? Just no teleporting. Is there really like a continuity where the claws aren’t a mutant trait???

Also his hands gotta really hurt doing that without his healing.

Anyhow MORPH MORPH MORPH MORPH

I love Wolvie meeting a fellow Wild Man. 

Morph is my sweet babe I love them so much, you go bitch, you fight that mind control, you shoot at Sinister so Cyclops can hit him with his beams. Go off queen. 

I haven’t really been giving notes about the Savage Lands before now because I found everything about it boring till this episode. And that’s because while I love me some Cherik, those fucks were getting absolutely nothing done. Besides like that one funny moment where Magneto was throwing rocks at a dino and calling it a stupid lizard. 

Love Charles briefing Erik about the steps he's gonna be taking to aid in Morph’s recovery?? So random. Like the present parent trying to get the absentee to get involved in their children’s lives. "We're gonna take Morph to Muir Island... 👉👈 if you want to visit..."

Magneto does not take the hint and bails on family like a coward. We'll get you yet, Magneto, even if it takes killing Charles to get you to provide for the kiddos.

[EDIT: oh yeah btw my thoughts on season 1]

[tiphprince]

hello 😞

um can you explain the reasons you like snape?

Hi!

Sure.

I can't in fact remember when I started liking Snape, it happened as I was growing up with the movies, though I do know that by the time Half-Blood Prince came out in 2009 he was already well established as my favorite character, as I had friends take photos of me near a cardboard cutout of him at the cinema (I was 13 at that time).

So, I can't pinpoint what is the one thing that made me like him. However, I know that I started really loving his character more deeply when I read the books right after seeing the HBP movie. I discovered just how different he was in the books, and how much better his character was.

To answer your question... I love everything about him, including his many flaws.

He's hilarious, he has some of the funniest lines in the series. His sarcasm made me laugh as a young teen, even and probably, specially because it was directed at teenagers of the same age I was.

He's mysterious, for 95% of the series we have no idea what he thinks, what he's doing and why he's doing it. We just know that something is going on, but we don't know what. It makes him intriguing and makes you want to know more.

He's brave, and selfless. He risks his life on a regular basis once Voldemort gets back, he agrees to mercy kill Dumbledore, effectively getting himself branded as the second most hated man in the country and even by people who at minimum respected him (colleagues he'd been working with for 15 years, people who saw him as a friend), and he expects nothing in return. He dies a gruesome and painful death, though thankfully not alone, knowing that everyone who'd ever liked him, that everyone in the whole world, despises his guts because he had to do what no one else could to save thousands of lives.

He's petty, and cruel. I won't teach anyone anything by saying that Snape is a bully as a teacher, and that he enjoys it. Yet, this is also one of the reasons I like him, because it creates an amazing juxtaposition with the previous point. He's a hero... and an asshole who makes children cry. He will do everything in his power and more to ensure that his students are alive and stay that way, but damn if he won't crush their spirit in the meantime as well.

He's skilled. He's a potions genius, who was rewritting recipes as a teen. He invented spells also as a teen, both being things that even Hermione never attempted to do. He thinks outside the box, and he's an excellent duelist, but he relies on his intelligence more than rough power and fighting prowess.

He's traumatised. Snape has one of the worst childhood/backstories of the books. He was abused as a child by his father, grew up watching him abuse his mother, he lived in such extreme poverty that the Weasleys would look like the royal family to him. Then he got to Hogwarts, and we can see how excited he is to finally go somewhere he won't be forced to hide who he is, to be somewhere he belongs... except he meets his future bullies on the train and reality catches up to him fast.

He's "relentlessly bullied" for the next 6 years ish, with no escape. And yes, teenage Snape was no saint, he was no angel, but no child deserves this kind of torment. Every single day we hear of teenagers killing themselves because of bullying. As an adult he shows obvious signs of trauma from what the Marauders did to him, and it's very sad to see.

I need to stop at one point because I don't think you were asking for a whole ass novel about Snape, but there's so so much more to say about him. I'll just link to @said-snape-softly's answer to a post recently that was asking roughly the same thing, where they explain why they love Snape and added a lot of great metas to help you or anyone else better understand his character.

[satoru-is-the-way]

AVATAR 2 SPOILERS!

Avatar! Quaritch x Navi Reader

Given Enough

Series Master List (Way of Water)

Tag List: @the-wanderer-2022 @zootsutra @anyzandy   @kneelingforvillains @dioriez @mylovelyreblogs @dinobae-replyacc @voodoogoul @freshmoneyalmondathlete @thedumboneforsomereason @world-dominating-kitty @scarletpines @sofiebstar @vampire-hunter @cypherpt5fttaehyung @strangerdeeznuts

TRIGGER WARNINGS: SMUT SMUT SMUT (LISTEN I will indicate when the smut starts so most of this chapter you can read but also when it ends. This chapter is a bit longer ish), Angst, depression, death, killing, and I'll add more later

Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 - Seasons change

_6 Months Later_

The colonel has been living among the Kamimaljuyú people. He would all day with their beautiful princess (Y/n). She taught him their way of life. How they ride great bison, hunt, speak, and feel the world around them. Where their spiritual and holy places are yet for now he is not allowed to set foot inside of them until he is one of the people. They said good and bad spirits fight over his soul. Eywa has two paths for Quaritch but he must choose which path he will take. Over the 6 months, he found it difficult not to become attached to her. The woman who saved him and now teaches him how to survive. (Y/n) herself had fallen for the Avatar. They spent almost every moment together. Their bodies were close, the small glances stolen, jokes shared, yet she knew this love could not be. She was of the Navi and him the sky people. 

Right now the villagers have fallen asleep. Quaritch decided to take his ikran for a ride. He needed to think about all this. Jake Sully had been his only priority from the start. His whole plan evolved around deceiving the village, mating with the princess, and starting a war with the Metkayina just to kill the Sullivan family as Jake watched. He was just a few miles from the territories border when he saw lights flashing. His ears perk up recognizing the aircraft. “Faster.” He told the ikran. Once coming closer he made a hand gesture to land. Luckily General Ardome knew who he was. She could spot the difference between a Navi and Avatar with just one glance. Plus his tattoo obviously gave him away. They landed she walked out of the plane oxygen mask on. “It’s about damn time we found you. We had to let things settle before we tried to cross the sea again. Your tracker cut off not long after hitting the mountains… What the fucks happen to you?!” He asked noticing his changes. 

“I hit the jackpot, General. The Kamimaljuyú tribe heard of them right?”

“In books, they are mentioned but why? They are just an air clan in the moutains.”

“They are much more than a clan. Thousands live in the mountains. Plus they outnumber all the forest clans combined. The best part is I have the princess at arms reach. But I am not going to be another Jake Sully. In another 6 months, I will be one of them.” He held a sinister grin. 

“And then what is your big plan after the last one failed so much? We fought the natives before. Look at what that has gotten us.”

“Yes, I know. But if I...mate… with the princess… I will be forced to become the next clan leader. It means nothing to me but for them, it’s for a lifetime. I found something else. Their greatest weapon. Much like the Metkayian with the tulkun, they create a special bond with these giant bison creatures. If you give me enough time. I plan on luring one out, (Y/n)’s. Kill the beast, blame the Metkayian, and we start a war between them.”

“Let them destroy themselves. Enough time for us to come in and kill Jake Sully destroy their war hero and their spirit. In 6 months I should be able to gather enough supplies to make it seem the water tribe has done this. Colonel, we may just win the war.”

He nods, “They will never see it coming.” 

_6 Months Later_

It had come the time that he would be welcomed into the tribe as a true Kamimaljuyú. One year ago he was taken in by the princess and given a second chance…at revenge. He constantly fought the feeling of regret. He tried to deny his love but in the end, right now, he knew he messed up. That rage for Jake Sully blinded all other emotions. 

(Earlier that day) He knew Áramà trusted him thanks to Balam. He told the colonel how his sister constantly talked with her, about the feelings she had. What else is a brother for after all but causing mischief? He took his Pup and rode up to find Áramà.

“Hola, yaakunaj.” (Hey, love.) He smiled as she licked his face. Could he truly do this?... Yes, he had to for his honor. “Tin wu'uyaj ka' le ch'a cháako' ka ts'o'ok u planeado jump'éel náachil yaabilajech ti' (Y/n) yéetel Teene'.In chan bix ken u ya'al Nib óolal.” (Listen after the ceremony I had planned a special trip for (Y/N) and me. My little way of saying thank you.) He gently pets the bison. “Go out past the border you know the first little island, Cayoà?... Yes I know it’s far from here but listen. It’s special I know how she feels…I want to just express my love. You trust me right?” The bison huffed before nuzzling his body before taking off. “See you soon.” He waved goodbye to his friend that had fallen right into his trap. His consciousness told him to stop  Áramà. Inez said good and bad spirits battle for his heart after all…right now the bad ones spoke a little louder

(present)(Y/n) is now allowed to take him to their Kili'ich Che' or in English their ‘Holy Tree’ where he can bond with Eywa. The female smiled as they held hands climbing up the largest mountain top. There is a naturally flat area where the trees around it have caved in to create a protective barrier. Inside rests the tree which glows with the great spirit.

“I finally made it didnt I, princess?”

“Yes, you did.” Her smile is so bright and loving. “Now here take your queue and place it here.” She showed him. Quaritch repeats her instructions closing his eyes. He could hear the ancestors. Surely this could not be real. Perhaps it was a plant that they used to hallucinate. He tried anything to deny the fact he had fallen in love with her and this village. “They live in Eywa…and one day so will we.” She pulled back her queue, ears going down. “Now you may choose a woman.” The colonel looked away. 

“Anyone?”

“Yes, we have many fine women who long to be your mate.”

“There is a line isnt there?” He chuckled. “But the woman I want…I am unsure if she feels the same about me.” 

(Y/n) looked up at him, “Ask her how she feels. The woman would be a fool to turn you away.” She spat more angrily at the woman he had eyes on, not understanding it was her. 

“Yeah, I should ask her…” He took a step closer taking her by surprise. Rick wrapped an arm around her waist bringing the Navi woman closer. “(Y/n) (L/n) do you love me?” He whispers. She nods. 

“I do…” Before anything else could be spoken he leans in and kissed her deeply. 

(SMUT STARTS HERE SKIP THIS PART but after the story will continue.)

(Y/n) moans softly, feeling Quaritch's hands run down her body pressing her against the tree. He kissed up her neck pressing his already hardened cock against (Y/n)'s womanhood. A soft gasp escaped her lips. "Your queue." The Navi woman whispers. Rick paused, revealing his queue and exposing the delicate nerves that protrude out. His golden eyes soften knowing here is what he worked for. This entire year of becoming one of them. Just to mate with the princess. Yet he never planned to fall in love. Not this way. "Once we connect them… we are mated for life." 

Their eyes watched as the queues connect. Rick inhaled deeply and closed his eyes feeling pure bliss. It was not just a sexual feeling but a spiritual connection. He felt her, knew her, was hers forever now. (Y/n) opened her eyes, pressing her forehead to his. "I see you."

"I see you." He whispered before moving on top of her. Removing their garments, Quaritch lines himself up to her entrance. "I'll be gentle." He whispered pushing into her. The female arched whimpering. Normally during sexual encounters, he only cared about getting himself off and getting it over with. Now with (Y/n), it was different. He cared for her. Rick wants her to feel him, to see him. 

"Rick~ Move. I can take it." (E/c) orbs looked into his. He nods, pulling back then thrusts towards. His blue ears went back in pleasure. 

"Fuck (Y/n)~" He groaned picking up speed with each thrust. (Y/n) moaned loudly, rolling her hips. "I love you~"

"I love you t-too" He pants.

(END OF SMUT)

The remaining night was bliss. Now they have mated for life and become one. Their bodies tangled together underneath the holy tree. He could not sleep fully. Regret filled his soul. Áramà would soon be dead. War started all for revenge. Quaritch finally settled enough to get some rest. (Y/n) had a horrible dream. Her companion, her best friend, is being trapped, and hunted, by someone she did not know. A sudden pain fills her chest. (Y/n) opened her eyes sitting up gasping for air tears pouring down her face. "What's wrong?!" Rick asked. 

"Áramà she is endanger. HURRY we have to go alert the village!" She yelled and Quaritch helped her up. The Navi and Avatar ran back to their Ikran flying as fast as their banshees could take them. 

"MOTHER FATHER! HURRY OUR FAMILY IS ENDANGERED! ÁRAMÀ NEEDS HELP!" She yelled, landing on a nearby tree. 

Her father sat up instantly but noticed something different. "You…You two…Did you mate with my daughter?!" Cualli yells. 

"We mated before Eywa. Nothing can be done now, father. But we have to talk about this later. Àramà needs us!" Her father sighed before signaling for the troops to get prepared. 

Quaritch felt his heart pounding. "Come on. You can ride with me." He grabbed her hand and called for Pup. The mates jumped on the Bison. (Y/n) felt where Áramà is told by Quaritch how to guide Pup. She knew something is terribly wrong with her spirit animal. She felt that connection between them slowly fade, which only meant one thing. 

The tribe soon close in on the bison's location. (Y/n) began to cry out seeing her friend laying on her side in the water. Quaritch closed his eyes holding onto (Y/n) hearing screams of sorrow. "ÁRAMÀ!" She cried jumping down and falling next to her bison. "NO! NO EYWA PLEASE GREAT MOTHER NO!" She begged softly combing the bison's wet fur. "Much ma' p'atko'on. Teech ka k'áat óoltik Eywa Cha' in p'áatal yéetel leti'.Mix juntéen in suut dudar ti' teechi'... Béet." (Please do not leave me. I beg you Eywa let me keep her. I will never doubt you again...Please). She begged Eywa feeling her companion take a few more deep breaths before death. The connection is no longer there. (Y/n) looked at Quaritch ears flattened and eyes red from crying. He too held tears in his eyes. Why did he do this? All for revenge. It's too late… "Rick…S-she…she." Her voice quivers. Quaritch walked up to the bison placing his large hand against her chest. 

"In akaljantik. Leti' ku ts'o'ok u biin." (I'm sorry. She is gone.) He whispered. 

"Lok.(Look)" Balam said picking up a spear. He wondered how could a bison be taken down so quickly. Especially by another tribe. That is not their way of life. "Here." He handed it to his father. 

The elder brushed his tears away growling at the object. "The water clan." He whispered. He knew this belonged to the Metkayina. Tonowari had been his friend for decades. Why did he do this? Quaritch felt ready to faint. How could he have done this? That is when he noticed (Y/n) had stopped crying, her face down, not moving, or making a sound.

“(Y/n)?” He whispered. She slowly lifted her head with a look that can kill anyone. The emotion he had wanted the most. The one way he would be able to lead the Kamimaljuyú and Metkayian to war. Revenge. 

“I am going to slaughter their entire clan” She whispered.

“Now (Y/n) let's think about this.”

“WHY RICK?! Look what they did! As my mate, you should support me -”

“I do!”

“Then will you fight by my side?”

“...Yes…”

“Túun k ti' k'atun” (Then we are at war.) She snarled as the other villagers yelled cries of war. Quaritch sighed deeply. ‘Eywa what have I done?’

Chapter 4

[melefim]

Swearing in Dead Boy Detectives: Episode 3- The Case of the Devlin House

Episode Overview:

48 total, 13 different words said by 10 characters.

Edwin: 1 Damn

Charles: 2 Fuck, 2 Ass, 1 Bloody, 1 God, 1 Cunt, 1 Bastard, 2 Sod, 2 Slag

Crystal: 4 Fuck, 6 Shit, 1 Bitch, 1 Ass, 2 Damn, 2 Hell, 3 God, 1 Jesus

Jenny: 1 Fuck, 1 Ass

Niko: 1 God

Esther: 1 Shit

Calico Cat: 1 Fuck

Litty: 5 Fuck, 2 Bitch

Kingham: 2 God

Headache Ghost: 1 Jesus

Curses Per Character:

Edwin: 1

Charles: 12

Crystal: 20

Jenny: 2

Niko: 1

Esther: 1

Calico Cat: 1

Litty: 7

Kingham: 2

Headache Ghost: 1

Uses Per Word:

Fuck: 13

Shit: 7

Bitch: 3

Ass: 4

Damn: 3

Hell: 2

Bloody: 1

God: 7

Jesus: 2

Cunt: 1

Bastard: 1

Sod: 2

Slag: 2

Lines:

Headache Ghost: Jesus! This headache feels like my eyes are gonna rip apart!

Crystal: Holy shit, who knew this town was such a Mecca for troubled ghosts?

Crystal: I just heard some people talking about it in the um, God, it was the… malt shop and it sounded super crazy.

Jenny: It's a super fucked up story so I'm gonna need some coffee.

Jenny: He killed the mom and daughters while they were watching tv. Asshole.

Crystal: What the actual fuck?

Niko: Oh my god, he is so in to you!

Calico Cat: At least we don't have to go inside. This house is fucked up.

Crystal: Jesus, I can't watch this again.

Crystal: Just what the fuck is it?

Crystal: So ok, if we figure out what sent that piece of shit dad over the edge, we can what? Free the family?

Litty: Looks like they left you behind because you fucking suck.

Litty: They're all gonna fucking die.

Litty: We were fucking kidding, can't you take a fucking joke?

Kingham: God! (Niko throws sweater over jar)

Litty: Stupid fucking bitch!

Charles: He was such a cunt.

Charles: So let's keep the bastard from ever getting his hands on it.

Crystal: Good luck finding it now, asshole.

Charles: How do we break this bloody loop?

Litty: I was confused when you let your friends who saved you go to that scary house alone, but now I see you're just a little bitch.

Kingham: God! I hate you!

Charles: Edwin, don't slag her off just because it turns out you aren't the all-knowing expert on everything, yeah?

Charles: I'm just sick of watching this asshole kill his family a million times for no fucking reason. Tried it your way, and it did nothing. Sod it, let's try mine.

Crystal: Where the hell did he go?

Crystal: Oh thank god, there he is.

Charles: Mate, don't slag her off just because it turns out you aren't the all-knowing expert on all things, yeah?

Charles: I'm just sick of watching this asshole kill his family a million times for no fucking reason. Tried it your way, and it did nothing. Sod it. Let's try mine.

Crystal: His dad was bad, Edwin. Royally fucked-up bad.

Crystal: And if I have to hear that goddamn song one more time, I am gonna lose my shit.

Crystal: Oh shit, yes. (They haven't found a radio)

Crystal: Oh my god. Son of a bitch owned an electronics store.

Crystal: Damn it, I know you choose the worst times to show up on purpose.

Edwin: Damn it. Crystal, if you can hear me, try to stay positive.

Crystal: Go to hell.

Crystal: I am done wasting my energy on your fuck-boy bullshit.

Crystal: Holy shit, we actually did.

Charles: God, that must have been mental.

Esther: Quit loitering you little shits.

Notes:

Previously on Dead Boy Detectives…

Shown in this episode’s recap but not counted above:

Crystal: Oh my god! (Niko collapses) (Episode 2)

Kingham: For real, it smells like dog shit in there. (Episode 2)

Middle finger from both sprites (Episode 2)

Edwin: What the bloody hell is this? (Episode 2)

Updated:

-Added in a ‘god’ from Crystal that I missed

-Replaced ‘Uses Per Word’ chart with a version with better

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More Dead Boy Detectives Swearing Posts:

Masterlist

Swearing by Episode

Swearing by Character

Swearing by Word

All Swearing Posts

And if you like lists of things like I do, you can check out my other Dead Boy Detectives ones here!

When Charles’ Shirt Colors Change

George Rextrew’s Edwin comic inspo board

Full soundtrack with timestamps

Moves, Incidents, and Cases Masterlist

First pass at finding where the songs in the score are used- full post with timestamps in progress

[cressthebest]

Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 38

chapter 57:

1. starting out with gay panic i see. not for pandora, but for me. good lily is SO HOT

2. lily and remus’ freindship is pure angst atm

3. “I love you, Lily, then and now and the past six years and the next six and all the years I've got in this life. All of them will be spent loving you, and I would do it all over again; I would do it tomorrow.” 😧 IM IN SO MUCH PAIN

4. the loss of dorlily 😔😔 BUT we we lost in dorlily, we gained in marylily and dorlene

5. i love the emphasis put on the importance of freindships in crimson rivers. remus even says himself that he loves lily just as much as sirius, just differently

6. “"You know, Red, I feel like I need to go shake Remus Lupin's hand," Kingsley says dryly. "He's working miracles, clearly."” kingsley is showing KING behavior

7. omg the absolute LOSS OF DORLILY

8. damn lily went to mary and spilled everything

9. “Regulus is snatched out of his near-daily daydream of taking Slughorn by the back of his head and smashing his face down against the table he sits at until he's just a smear on it” MOOD

10. barty and regulus taking care of each other >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

11. I WANT SIRIUS TO BE ABLE TO TAKE THE MASK OFF!!! FUCK THIS!!

12. SIRIUS AND JAMES SIRIUS AND JAMES SIRIUS AND JAMES SIRIUS AND JAMES SIRIUS AND JAMES SIRIUS AND JAMES SIRIUS AND JAMES SIRIUS AND JAMES

chapter 58:

1. “He's not above killing an old man” 🥰🥰💞💖💞✨regulus✨💞💖💞🥰🥰

2. WHAT

3. albus killed ariana. that’s- that’s wild. i’d- i’d never. holy shit. HE KILLED HIS OWN SISTER TO WIN THE ARENA?? THEY WERE THE LAST TWO AND HE KILLED HER??? holy FUCK

4. ALBUS VOLUNTEERED FOR ABERFORTH FIRST AND THEN ARIANNA WAS CALLED???? ID NEVER FREAKING RECOVER HOLY SHIT

5. this is such whiplash. i was unprepared for this knowledge

6. 😐😒 side EYE at albus. he fell in love with the person that literally tore his family apart. i don’t feel sorry for him in the slightest. he’s insane.

7. OHHH got it. grindlewald killed ariana. so then albus killed him. revenge >:)

(i still have no sympathy for him. he’s still in love with grindlewald. the little bitch)

8. regulus does not play around. his deal with albus is feeling a lot like his ahb self and i’m love with these characterizations of him.

9. 😭😭😭 tiny nymphadora kicking a man’s ankles for hating on james

10. dumbledore: i have a mission for you-

remus: fuck no

dumbledore: to save james and sirius

remus: FUCK YES! OKAY!!!!

11. before i know if dorcas and marlene switched who goes on the mission, i make my guess right now: this mission kills marlene. she goes on it and dies.

12. “"I'd rather you kill me, I think," Dorcas tells her, and it comes out as a whimper, her heart clenching violently in her chest.

A shaky laugh spills out of Marlene's mouth. "Honestly, that could be arranged."

"Make it hurt," Dorcas mumbles.

"No, for you, I'd be so gentle," Marlene whispers, breath spilling out hot and trembling along Dorcas' jaw.””

FUCK IM SO GAY

13. “"I promise," Marlene vows immediately, fiercely, and then she kisses her, holding her face in her hands and kissing her like that's enough to make sure that promise never breaks.”” zar, i’m so tired. please, i’m so tired. she’s gonna die and i’m so tired. 😞

14. the theme of harry potter is literally supposed to be about how love is more powerful than anything else, yet jkr sucked at portraying that. crimson rivers does it wonderfully, over and over and over again.

15. i forgot about mary being trans until it was casually dropped in again, and honestly, i’m glad it’s that way.

16. i like how everyone’s like: reg no!!!

and bartys like: REG YES!! THEYRE TALKING SHIT ABOUT YOUR FIANCÉ!! FUCK THEM UP!!

17. every. damn. time. reg is like “if you do this, i am explicitly telling you the pain i will make you feel in return.” and every single time, people do it anyways and are surprised.

18. “Marlene, a woman who rolls with the punches, and keeps going, and wears her bruises like jewelry.”

19. zars comments on lily at the end of the chapter 😭😭 “i love this transition for her going from having sex with a lot of women to being like I'm A Family Woman Now 😭 she really said, i found a wife and a kid, and im done with the drama”

[bastardtrait]

Legacy superlatives tag game

hello babes I found this really old tag game that was being passed around simblr like almost 10 years ago and I thought it was funky and fun. I brought it back for the legacy girls. I'm tagging some folks who've got a few generations under their belt, so: @beebeesiims @simsandgiggles @natolesims @bearphase @akitasimblr but if you see this n u wanna participate please feel free to!! <3 I will be answering for Nova and Lucky bc they're both done as of October 2024.

Favourite heirs

Nova: HONESTLY I think my 9th generation heiress has officially dethroned Musica from gen. 2, like I genuinely feel like I went out with a bang.

Lucky: I love Iain from gen. 5 okay he's been through a lot. I put old boy through a victorian death trap of a story and he still made it out flaws and all.

more below...

Favourite spouses

Nova: this is really hard but I think it's Neveah from gen. 6 by @lizillasimming. I had genuinely so much fun with her and she even got her own solo adventure like hello? mother

Lucky: OOHHH this is really hard but I love Chen Ruiyang from gen. 4 mainly because he had the most fleshed out story between Magnolia and his generation and also bc he's hot like. yes daddy.

Favourite spares

Nova: hmm I guess I'll hand it to Crow from gen. 3 bc he appeared as a side character in the Luckys too! but then again Soma from gen. 8 is about to be in another save, so it's up in the air.

Lucky: Sara from gen. 3 thank u bye! actually, I loved Ibrahim too; gen 3 kids were just built different

Favorite side characters, if you do story-oriented saves (skip if not)

Nova: ok this save was really inconsistent with story lmfao but I'll hand it to ... idk Lim Shiyeon from gen. 3? she was not a good person but she gave us Delilah at least so.

Lucky: of COURSE it's miss Khadijah Daniel from gen. 3! she ran Finn's office like a naval commander. but I also have to give an honourable mention to Jiang Yuqi from gen. 4 because she's mother.

Mishaps during your legacy

Nova: let's discuss Salem from gen. 7 dying in a glitched out fire that the firefighters refused to save him from!!! damn!!! that shit pissed me off so bad bro

Lucky: umm it's obviously Shaw from gen. 7 fucking DYING BEFORE HIS GENERATION COULD EVEN START OMFGG.....like are u kidding me dawg!!! i had PLANS FOR U!!!!!

fuck man, 7th generations of my legacies are bad omens...

Largest number of children

Nova: oh let's talk about how Jericho and Day-Day from gen. 1 had four kids: TWO sets of twins in a row?!! i actually quit this save for the first time because of that AJDSIOFDSKF

Lucky: Franklin and Bayram from gen. 2 had three, and that's not even counting all their dependent animals. six chickens, two cows, and a llama! and one Sister Elisabeth.

Any surprises

Nova: that I even FINISHED THIS SAVE AT ALL. lmfao. I abandoned it like 3 times dude! but I'm nothing if not stubborn. and also that I ended up really loving my final 9th generation. I can't wait to post that one.

Lucky: that I pulled out all the stops for the story portion of gen. 6? tbh that was the most story for TS4 i'd ever worked on, and it was hard, I won't lie. but rewarding. and I'm terribly satisfied with the results.

Favorite family pet why this is question so low smh.

Nova: aw now come on, it has to be my baby Tango from gen. 4. a little stray that went up to Delilah to ask for a home...and she took him in...I love u Tango...

Lucky: now can this go to anybody but Cake Boss from gen. 4? the immortal dog so iconic she also appeared in TWO Nova generations? like hello?

[katyspersonal]

Another SOTE progress post!

1) Okay so like I said earlier in another post the highlight of today was finally defeating Rellana x) It felt REALLY rewarding to finally win after having to try so many things, Miyazaki forced me to use my brain AGAIN

2) After that I went to talk with the NPCs around the crosses by an advice by @val-of-the-north since not being able to summon Leda apparently meant that I've got the rune of Miquella broken. And hoooo boy.... At last I got to that part where Ansbach revealed the uncancelled Mohg's lore.

"Once, in an attempt to free Lord Mohg from his enchantment, I challenged Tender Miquella, only to have my own heart rather artfully stolen. I knew not how weak I was. I believed that with sufficient mastery, even and Empyrean would be within reach of my blade. I could not have been more mistaken... Miquella the Kind...is a monster. Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying."

"Righteous Tarnished. Miquella the Kind makes my blood run cold. I am loath to admit it, but even at this very instant I wish to run very far away indeed."

Soooo, yeah.. Apparently the bit I was spoiled is later game dialogue, this is a different one and I see it for the first time! Damn, trailer quote tho x)

3) What I did NOT know is that all these characters were under the spell of Bewitching Branch too ;-; Guess Leda is going after the hornsent guy's throat now gfhgjg Wild to see how everyone now does what they actually want, SPEAKING OF:

4) Thiollier now wants to go seek the part of Miquella he earlier had sealed away with the spell wall branded with his Haligtree symbol! There is now outright confirmation that Trina IS Miquella:

"Would Kindly Miquella chasten me? For falling for St. Trina, while knowing that she was the discarded half? The problem is... I simply cannot help it. I would sacrifice everything, just to gaze upon her, one last time."

Damn... either 1) Looks like both alters of Miquella have the capacity of compelling affection? Not just his Bewitching Branch, but whatever sleepy scent powers Trina is using or 2) Thiollier is Just Like This. Tea?

"I see you've thrown away... Something you should not have. Under any circumstances. How will you salvation offer... to those who cannot be saved? When you could not even save your other self? Kindly Miquella..."

5) The cross strangely has the message from Miquella, "I abandon here my love". All things considered it is not supposed to refer to his feelings, and recalling dialogue by Ansbach I'd say it maybe refers to his ability to wield love as weapon? Because look at how NOW Trina's power entices people into coma. Speaking OF:

6) Turned out my previous guess was wrong, and "bastardisation" of Trina's otherwise pacifist powers was not work of followers, but result of Miquella severing her from his being!

7) (or rather 6.1 lol) This is actually a good additional timeline clue! Earlier Freija mentioned that she received her Scarlet Rot wound in Caelid, so, as Malenia and Radanh fought, and Miquella was the one to heal it! So he was around that time yet. Then, change in Trina's powers happened as Miquella went to abandon his Empyrean entity, when Dolores has been using the powers as they were and she was in the Roundtable Hold! This I think will be useful for later to recover when could he have started with the plan! I already have a working suggestion for explaining events, just need more info!

8) Damn, not the area from the trailer ;-; Thiollier is so dead lol

By the way the boss in this area is RIDICULOUSLY difficult hghghg I gave up on him and kinda went to have adventures elsewhere just for the heck of it!

9) Discovered an actual dialogue by an old lady in Belurat, AND:

EMPYREAN?? I actually yelled at Val about it since I needed to know whether it is legit the same term or perhaps a loss in translation! And he researched Japanese script and confirmed that yes, indeed, this woman IS an Empyrean like GEQ, Marika, Ranni, Miquella and Malenia! @val-of-the-north be a dear and add the evidence you've found today in a reblog or another pose! Because HECK, WHAT????

10) So I went to look around in random places since that boss was too hard. Found a small piece of some ruins by Val's advice, using one of those blue Keyswords. Then I wanted to go down in a village down near Moorth Ruins but for the heck of it could not figure how to get down there. While waiting for Val's slow ass to instruct me, I started to run wherever, really. And ironically, found the exact cave leading me to the FULL version of those Ruins! Felt surprised to find the golden tree inside!

11) Went through second poisonous swamp in the game yet, truly Miyazaki xD

12) Stumbled into Kindred of Rot, but they are RED in color!!!

This was so bizarre?? Damn, still, what ARE they doing here? First turned out that Formless Mothers and rituals for her that Mohg is using originated in Shadow Realm, now this.. Makes me wonder whether all Outer Gods come from this place originally, so God of Rot too, so, Twinbird too?

13) Hey @heraldofcrow how did you lose your clothes?? Put them back on slut gdghvgbvbbh

14) I decided to explore later and instead went to bully Horned Knights and Ascetics for their sets and weapon in Belurat. Belurat has places very close to Site of Grace for both! Horned Knight farming went pretty fast and easy! Ascetic... not so much. :/ He did drop his weapon and arm piece, but past this point he's been only dropping leg piece over and over! Reminds me of that 'Seebass? No, it's at least C+!' meme vffhhhh I think I will return for his mask later :/

15) This type of posts becomes a bit too structured, I need to post more random items descs

16) However I got a note from Val that we surprisingly got lore on Fingercrawlers (lol at my recent theory post aging like milk xd) and @jarognieva said something about a couple of spots on the map looking like giant fingerprints + having many fingers within 👀 No idea what is going on yet, but I can see it now!

Okay that's it for now.. until the tomorrow's work shift ends xD

[rearranged-fanfic]

(Update 6/3)

Sit down a spell, weary traveler. Come and sit by my fire; bask in the warmth of the flame and rest your aching scrolling finger. You'll be sitting a while, for I have a tale to tell:

Okay, so I've had a Toshiba laptop for the better part of ten years. Maybe a little longer. That laptop has survived being struck by lightning, submerged in a bathtub, and literally having a whole bookcase topple down onto it. I thought it was immortal...

I was sadly mistaken.

About six months ago, I noticed that the typing was getting sluggish. I'd patter away at the keyboard and the letters would appear with a bit of lag. That's fine, since I use Dragon to talk-to-text for quite a bit of my writing. I really only use the keyboard for final assembly, editing, and doing quick rewrites. So, it really didn't bother me. Fastforward to April, which we will call The Great Depression. The time discrepancy between typing and having letters appear on screen became a whopping 40 seconds. Yes, I timed it.

But that was okay, because I could still use my Dragon headset.

Until I couldn't.

It would connect, but the words wouldn't appear on screen. I made sure that all of my programs were up-to-date, and that everything was working. The headset connected to my family's computers just fine. So that meant it was something wrong with mine.

Without being sure if it was the hardware or software at fault, I backed everything up to OneDrive and Google Docs.

I factory reset.

Twice. To no avail.

Over the next few days, my laptop stopped registering any keyboard input at all. It got to a point where I wasn't able to turn it on or off.

Taking it to an electronics store to get repaired didn't help, either. No luck. They said that it would be more cost effective to just buckle down and get a new one, since the age of the laptop meant that I would probably be constantly maintaining it.

My poor Toshiba died kicking and screaming, putting up a fight worthy of an epic ballad.

I saved up for a few weeks, got a new laptop, and went through the rigmarole of getting all of my programs back on it. My files are in order. My life is in shambles (but that's normal, LOL).

I DID do some story work without my computer, but... it's bad. Like, I'd die in shame if I posted anything that I thumbed in. So. Many. Spelling. Errors. How people write on their phone is beyond me. That's a talent I simply don't possess.

At this point, I'm thinking of renaming this story "HIATUS" lol. JK. But I'm seriously peeved that this happened after my last big break. Why couldn't the Depression and laptop breakdown coincide nicely? I guess that's too much to ask of the universe *Shakes fist at the sky*.

I'm creating a damn bingo card for every stupid thing that happens to me while I try to write. Because this is getting ridiculous. I broke my fingers, there was a total solar eclipse, I had a major-ish mental breakdown, and my computer bit the big one. With a free space, that's a bingo. Let's hope I don't get a blackout before the end of 2024.

I doubted the fanfiction curse. I really did. But it's apparently real. And this writer's curse has teeth, people. It bites hard.

I have my MerMay two-shot pretty well done (because I was typing it during The Great Depression), but the next chapter for REARRANGED is still rough. Crimson Chapter 3 is halfway done, but who knows how long that'll take.

The bottom line is that I'm alive and still working on the stories. The next update on this blog will be the posting of several chapters for a few different works. Fingers crossed.

Also, I'm very, very slowly answering the comments in my AO3 inbox. Some of them were pretty lengthy, so it might take a bit. Oof.

If there ever comes a time that I drop this fanfiction or am unable to continue for whatever reason, either I or my husband will be posting the entirety of my outline, as well as anything that's been pre-written for you guys to enjoy. That way there are no questions left unanswered or mysteries unsolved.

[shunin-gumis]

Designs of Happiness - Track A23

L4mps Main Story Translation

Title: Night at the Daimon Yokocho

Characters: Ryui, Nagi, Toi, Yodaka, Daniel

Summary: Ryui is alone at an izakaya, where Toi has suddenly appeared. However, Toi seems to be different from usual… 

Thank you aca @/463ce6, myun @/myuntachis Niri @/Niri_riri and jes @/arcanecrayonn for helping me with proofing!

Location: Hakodate -  Daimon Yokocho, Izakaya

Drunkard A: Lookie here, how much money do ya think I’m packing right now!? …Tada! It’s 3 million yen! From my company~

Drunkard B: Hey dumbass, don’t go showin’ off! What if my greed gets the better of me, huh!?

Proprietress: Now, now, let’s figure out how to split this between us, shall we? 

Elderly Lady: What a great idea~ I’m all for it! 

Ryui: …… 

Drunkard A: Mama, another lemon sour for me! 

Proprietress: I can do that, but are you sure you’re not drinking too much? Don’t you have work tomorrow? 

Elderly Lady: With all that money, maybe he was hoping to run off to another country… Ufufu! 

Ryui: Tch… This place is fuckin’ noisy, as usual.

Proprietress: Eyepatch kid, you want some more pickled mackerel? 

Ryui: …Stop calling me that. And yes. 

Proprietress: I thought so~ You always get these when you come here. 

Elderly Lady: It’s because the ones you get here are so delicious! 

Drunkard C: Hey eyepatch kid, been seein’ you ‘round these parts a lot lately. You moved here, or what!? 

Ryui: …No. I’m here because I have no other choice. 

Drunkard B: Hoho! As a symbol of our friendship, let me treat ya to whatever you want!

Proprietress: It’s just a drop of sake cut with water… So it practically is just water.

Drunkard C: Whaa… Ya must be makin’ a killin’ with that, Mama!

Drunkard A: Pfft, did ya have to serve it with an eye-dropper?

Drunkard B: Gahaha! Ain’t no way!

Ryui: I’ll fuckin’ kill you… 

Proprietress: Now, don’t be mean to him. Sorry about that, eyepatch kid. You can have this on the house, so please forgive them

Ryui: …tch.

Proprietress: You’ve come from somewhere far, right?

Ryui: …Yeah.

Elderly Lady: Tell us all about it! We’re all just passing strangers in the end, so it’ll stay between us. 

Drunkard B: You’ve always got the look of someone who’s carrying the whole damn world on his shoulders. Try lettin’ all that out. 

Ryui: …I threw aside my family so I can save Toi– my little brother. 

Proprietress: What about your mom and dad?

Ryui: My old man is dead. I’m sure my little brother will meet the same fate too. That old hag won’t even lift a finger. 

Elderly Lady: Oh no… Is your brother sick?

Ryui: I’ll find a way to help him. I came all the way north for that. 

Drunkard A: So that’s how it is… Must be hard on ya… You been callin’ your little brother on the regular? 

Ryui: No… I’m sure if I hear his voice, I’ll end up wanting to see him again. 

Ryui: I have to play the bad guy until I get what I need. I’d already decided to cut off all contact. 

Ryui: (It might be painful now, but it’s all for you, Toi. That’s why I’m…)

Toi: …… 

Ryui: Pffgth!

Proprietress: Oh my, what a cute little customer we’ve got here! What’s wrong? Are you lost? 

Toi: Is there space to seat 6 people? 

Ryui: …!

Proprietress: 6 people, huh… As you can see, it’s not very spacious here. Though it’s not impossible if we all squeeze in together…. 

Ryui: (Doesn’t seem like he’s spotted me yet, but… He’s in “that” mode!?)

Toi: You lot, did you hear that? She said it’s possible if you take up less space.

Toi: …So move. 

Drunkard A: Oooh… A face as sweet as cotton candy, yet a gaze as cold as ice! Ain’t seen anythin’ quite like it! 

Drunkard B: Now this is somethin’ to be grateful for… Just wait a sec, we’ll make space for ya!

Drunkard A: Squeeze in more on that side! Till yer flat as yer face! Haha!

Ryui: (Dammit, the old geezers are blocking me in! Thought I could make my break but— woagh!)

Drunkard A: Gotchu yer space, angel boy! 

Toi: …Heh. 

Location: Hakodate Daimon Yokocho

Momiji: So this is Daimon Yokocho! You can see various drinking establishments lined up side by side, where you can not only enjoy Hakodate’s gourmet food, but also try a variety of local food and alcohol that they take pride in! 

Yodaka: The atmosphere is quite splendid, I can see why it’s such a popular tourist spot. 

Daniel: Yeah~ It’s mighty fun to go bar-hopping in a place like this! 

Netaro: My stomach is feeling quite empty… I need a large helping of deep-fried chicken.

Nagi: Shio ramen… Looks tasty.

Daniel: Oh, they’ve even got places that sell crab here. Let’s pour some sake into a roasted shell and slurp it up.

Momiji: Why do you only have alcohol on the brain… Huh?

Foreigner Tourist A: “What do you think this means?”

Foreigner Tourist B: “I have no idea.”

Foreigner Tourist A: “It’s hard to imagine.”

Momiji: (There’s some foreign tourists here… Looks like they’re confused about what shop is in front of them.)

Daniel: …You wanna help ‘em out, right? 

Momiji: Of course! 

~~~(Hospitality Battle)

Momiji: Good, looks like they managed to find the shop they were looking for! 

Yodaka: Good work, you’re quite skilled. But I’ve been meaning to point out—

Yodaka: I haven’t seen Toi around for a while now… Did we get separated? 

Momiji: Oh no, you’re right…! We need to find him— 

Toi: Here. 

Momiji: Woah…! Oh, I’m so glad you weren’t lost after all… 

Nagi: Where were you all this time? 

Toi: I was making a reservation. 

Netaro: Yaaay! 

Toi: An entertaining banquet is about to unfold. 

Location: Hakodate Daimon Yokocho Izakaya

Momiji: Mm… D-Delicious~! It’s only an appetizer, but it really hits the spot. As expected of Hokkaido! 

Nagi: This scallop tofu is really tasty too… 

Proprietress: I made it myself~ I’m quite proud of its flavor! 

Daniel: …Looks like it’s all packed further in the bar, you sure it’s alright? 

Netaro: I’ve already finished all the tofu… Is there any Zangi left? 

Yodaka: Oh… So this is Hakodate’s locally crafted alcohol. It’s dry but has a clear flavor, which makes it go down smoothly.

Yodaka: It pairs quite nicely with Hakodate’s seafood, as well. 

Proprietress: Oh my, you know your stuff, don’t you? It’s quite highly recommended by my female customers too! 

Yodaka: I see. I did sense a sublte fruity note as well. It’s no wonder that it’s popular with the ladies.

Yodaka: How about we share a toast, Mama? My treat. “Cold Beauty,” even the name suits you well. 

Proprietress: Oh, dearie me! I can’t believe you’d call an old lady such as myself a beauty! You’ve earned yourself a serving of salmon jerky, on the house!

Drunkard B: C’mon Mama! How ‘bout showin’ yer old regulars some love too!

Proprietress: I’ll consider it if you come back a little more handsome. Ufufu! 

Momiji: Wow, this salmon jerky is so soft and chewy! I thought jerky was supposed to be harder to eat.

Netaro: Nyam nyam… soft, salty and scrumptious! I’d like to have another serving! 

Nagi: *mouth full* I wanna carry it around with me in my pocket. 

Daniel: This one’s prepared right here too I’d bet. Mm… this salmon makes me wanna drink like a fish.

Momiji: That was really bad, Daniel-san… You’re drunk already, huh. 

Drunkard C: What a lively bunch! Hope yer enjoyin’ yer time here! 

Drunkard B: Cheers to new meetings! 

Momiji: Yeah! Cheers! 

Momiji: (What a lovely izakaya, the regulars are all such good folks!)

Momiji: (I’d love to come by here again before we leave Hakodate… Huh?)

Ryui: …… 

Momiji: (There’s someone stuck between the wall and the other customers… He’s being quietly done in, not by the alcohol, but by the weight… Is he alright…?)

Ryui: …… 

Momiji: (...Wait, I can’t really see him clearly because he’s in the shadows, but he looks…)

Ryui: (Don’t you dare talk to me, trash.)

Momiji: (Ugh… He glared right at me…)

Momiji: (And why do I feel like I’m being cursed at…? Well, it’s just a feeling, but…)

Momiji: (I don’t want to cause any trouble on a trip, so I’ll just let it go…)

Nagi: …Tasty food and even tastier alcohol. 

Nagi: If I’m this happy, something bad’s bound to happen soon… 

Netaro: Gii, what are you mumbling over there for? Don’t mind anything for now, just drink away! 

Yodaka: You couldn’t possibly refuse sake served by me. Here you go. 

*sound of alcohol being poured*

Nagi: T-The happiness is… 

Momiji: Don’t worry! I’ll take as many flowers as you wanna give when we get back! 

Nagi: Oh, right… Okay then… 

Nagi: *gulp*

*clapping*

Daniel: Now ain’t that a hoot! You’ve got great drinking form, I’m proud of ya! 

Nagi: …Okay~ Next is Buchi-san. Drink.

Daniel: I’m drinkin’ I’m drinkin’! Like, three times more than you!

Momiji: That’s way too much! 

Ryui: Dammit… 

Ryui: (It can’t take longer than one or two hours…)

Ryui: (I just gotta hold out till then…!)

Notes:

Zangi is a Hokkaido-style deep-friend chicken

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Masterlist

[velieditss]

Forbidden Desires

Pairing: Davos Blackwood x Bracken!reader

Summary: You needed to clear your head. It was a bad idea to do so in a land you didn't know, let alone under the watchful eye of a man you loathed.

An: I'm so,so, so horribly sorry. I want to thank my sister @moniquekye who saved my life by transcribing everything I said to her to upload this (I broke my right hand and two fingers on my left hand learning to ski 🥴)

Previous parts: Masterlist

Part 6

You stifled a choked cry. The man had placed you between the proverbial sword and the wall, forcing you into a choice that brooked no evasion—yes or no, decisive and final.

“Damn you, Davos Blackwood,” you thought bitterly, gazing at the crumpled parchment he had handed you, a grim reminder of his unavoidable challenge.

The terms were laid out plainly, written in dark ink, like a spell from which there could be no escape. Do not involve yourself in matters that do not concern you, particularly mine. The irony of the phrase twisted in your mind, and you could not suppress a bitter smile. “As if I cared about your life.” Yet, deep down, you did care—though not out of idle curiosity. The more you learned of him, the greater your chances to turn the situation to your advantage.

“Any circumstance that affects me or my family must be reported to me. I tolerate neither secrets” nor lies. If only he had not been so rude the very moment you set foot in his castle, perhaps things would have played out differently.

“Do not delay my dinner again. I grow most ill-tempered” The words echoed in your thoughts, a constant reminder of his ever-present foul mood “When is he not in a foul mood?” you thought with a sigh, the frustration tightening in your chest. His obstinacy had disrupted the one thing you truly needed: to understand him.

Yet not all was lost. You still had to ensure that he remained unaware of your true intentions. But it was as though he possessed a peculiar gift for drawing the truth from you with every word exchanged.

You let out a quiet snort and slumped against the hard wood of the bench, the uncomfortable weight pressing into you. Questions began to form, ones you had not considered before. What lay beneath his unyielding resistance to any sort of commitment? Before you knew him, Davos had merely been a name on a list of enemies. Now, it felt as though he knew more about you than you knew about him.

Had he ever been betrothed? Only the gods could say. A lover? Perhaps more than one. Yet not a single woman had come to his door, weeping for his health. Either no woman cared for him, or there was simply no one to care at all.

“Maybe he hides something that makes him vulnerable…” The thought was fleeting. You quickly dismissed it. Compassion had no place in your mission. Your purpose was clear: to uncover his secrets, not to offer solace.

Davos could act the conqueror, a man full of desires and seduction, yet the possibility that he harboured no attraction to women at all crept into your mind. Such a theory could explain why no woman had come seeking his help or affection.

But that very thought conflicted with many of his actions in your presence. At times, he seemed an impenetrable man, and at others, an enigma that defied all understanding.

“Perhaps I am mad,”you mused, as the frustration swelled. “This man is a cryptic fool I cannot decipher.”

You loathed him. Truly, you did. But even in the depths of your hatred, there lingered a spark of fascination you could not ignore.

𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎

"I swear, I will tear your leg off the next time you send me on an errand," Alysanne exclaimed, her voice laced with accusation as she returned to Davos's room and found him standing by one of the back windows. "Was that the reason you did it? So you could escape from your bed?"

"I didn't escape," Davos replied, his back still turned to her, but he raised the staff he held to show how he had managed to reach the window.

"I limped, with the help of this."

"Nonetheless..."

"Everything else is perfectly fine, Aly. It's been two days since my fever broke, and the redness in the wound has vanished, damn it."

"That's good news." Alysanne moved closer to the window. "I'll inform Lady Bracken that your..."

"No, you won’t."

"Still stubborn?" Davos cast her a side-glance.

"You like her, I know you do."

Davos snorted in frustration.

"No, I don't."

"Oh, don't be foolish," Alysanne shot back. "I’ve heard you talk, I've even seen you smile. Or is it just a coincidence that you've dragged yourself out of bed to the window, just to look at the same view you’ve seen all your life?" She pointed to the bench beneath the willow tree, where she had seen you reading the leaf he had given you, shielded from the sun’s rays in the park. Your long hair, no longer tied back with a ribbon, cascaded over your narrow shoulders. Like a child, you didn’t care about your appearance when you thought no one was watching.

Your lips were full, and Davos imagined that you often bit your lower lip while reading, as he had seen you do on three occasions since your arrival. Every time, your mouth drew him in more.

Was he counting, damn it? Your eyes were fascinating, gleaming with every passing emotion, expressive and yet captivating, like dewy grass in the morning light. Your lightly tanned skin spoke of how much you enjoyed being outdoors.

How improper for a lady, he thought.

Other women rode and walked outside, but only with hats, veils, or parasols to shield their delicate skin from the sun. You, however, were bold, and instead of being demure, you had barged into his chamber on the very day you arrived—yet you hadn’t so much as blushed. You had feigned being intimidated but abandoned that pretense quickly enough.

He hadn’t been able to stop himself from examining you from head to toe when you appeared in that bronze dress.

How did one survive all that?

Your appearance had struck him like a thunderclap. Something unexpected and unwelcome. And why hadn’t you run crying from the room when he kissed you…?

He forced himself not to dwell on that failure, that misguided attempt, but your reaction had suggested you were not as innocent as you appeared. Were you as immoral as your brothers?

He knew you had been engaged once, years ago, and the way you reacted when he brought it up told him that the breakup had hurt you more than you cared to admit. He didn’t blame you for rushing things with the man who had been your betrothed—many did so—but knowing the truth would confirm much for him.

The servants had said that for the last few days you had confined yourself to your room. He had thought perhaps your ears were bothering you, but in the last couple of days, when you had rushed in and out of his chamber to join him for meals, you didn’t seem to be in any pain.

More than anything, you seemed distracted. Was it the terms of the arrangement? Perhaps you had not taken kindly to what he had imposed upon you, but it was necessary. He did not yet trust you enough to share the secrets of his family, and he could not bring himself to trust you if you were prying into his affairs. He would speak to you when he was ready, when he could truly see that you had renounced your family to join his. There was no other option; you could not belong to both sides.

It was well known that their marriage would not lead to any friendship between their families, but it would bring a brief peace, and neither house would lose its lands. The king would be content.

Davos had to repeat to himself several times, aloud, that he must continue pretending to despise you. The day before, they had scarcely exchanged two words. He hated the silence.

"You’re starting to find her attractive," Alysanne said after a long silence, her gaze fixed on him. "She is pretty, there's no harm in admitting it, Davos."

Before replying, Davos turned his gaze to the meadows.

"That she is pretty does not mean I find her attractive."

"You like her appearance, you like her attitude, you like her... but her name is what holds you back and convinces you that you hate her." Davos shut his eyes at her words. She spoke with such certainty that there was no room for refutation, no matter how much he wished it.

Fine. He did not need to hear any more praise for you.

"I suspect her father is hiding something," he said, his voice hardening. "Just as easily as he offered her to us, he could have done so with any of the princes. It’s too strange that he hasn’t taken her to King’s Landing for the royal feasts, especially considering… her appearance. Prince Aegon would have added her to his list; our prince has lived a dissolute, extravagant life, full of adventures, and has had more lovers than anyone can count."

"Don’t be ridiculous, Davos," Alysanne sighed, exasperated.

"I’m not," he replied, unshaken. "Tell me, why send her and not her elder sister?"

"Because that girl is betrothed."

"To her former betrothed," he pointed out, indicating you from afar. "Something doesn’t add up, Alysanne."

"What does her past matter?" she asked, her voice taking on an angry edge. "She’ll be your wife, unless a miracle occurs. It doesn’t matter if she was once betrothed, had a lover, or lived like a cloistered soul. She will be part of this family, and she hasn’t done us any harm, even though she could have. The servants say she’s a kind-hearted girl, gentle and respectful. She could have ignored you, me, and everyone, but she makes an effort to please you and care for you. Thanks to her, I’ve been able to leave these walls and attend to other matters, while she stays by your side. So stop being a fool and appreciate what’s before you."

Davos clenched his jaw, lowering his gaze to the soles of his boots.

He was proud, yes, and stubborn—very stubborn. But he also knew when to recognise his mistakes. And he had to admit that he had been horribly rude to you, and yet you still managed to make him smile, tolerating his behaviour.

"You are clever, Davos," Alysanne continued, her tone softening. "Your only flaw is that you let your stubbornness outweigh your reason." She paused, her gaze intense. "I hope it won’t be too late by the time you realise it."

𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎

It was enough. You felt it was time to move beyond this castle.

At first, the groom had tried to persuade you against riding out in the steadily cooling weather, the light of the day gradually waning.

"Do not tarry too long, milady," he said. "Last night, my wife saw two rings around the moon, and that forewarns a great storm. On such a day, once every hundred years, the spirits of the ancient trees speak to the earth, foretelling the deaths to come." You stared blankly at the man before you.

You did not worship the old gods, but neither did you dismiss their existence. You preferred to respect rather than judge, and though that tale seemed improbable, you did not disregard it outright.

You smiled politely.

"I am only going for a breath of fresh air."

"Does milord know of your departure?"

Your eye nearly narrowed at the mention of that man.

Everyone assumed a wedding was imminent, the only ones still hoping otherwise were the bride and the groom. Remembering that Davos was at that very moment employing his latest tactic to force your departure under these absurd conditions, you did not begin to trot once the saddle was placed on your horse. Instead, you set off at a gallop.

This time, you rode northwest, away from the roads. You passed several ploughed fields where crops were already growing. The land to the north and south of the village was dotted with farms; there was even an orchard, fruit trees planted in neat rows. Yet, you passed by only one sheep farm. Davos had said he had tenants; was he the lord of the land but allowed those living on it to do as they pleased? You thought of visiting the village, which from afar looked quite picturesque, but that day you were not in the mood for socialising and continued your ride.

The landscape was beautiful, and you relished the warm breeze that tugged at your hair as you galloped through the fields. For some reason, the scene before you seemed more appealing than the one back home, perhaps because it was wilder, with the cultivated land giving way to barren heath. Or perhaps you simply liked it because it was far from all the drama.

Although you were confronted with a rude and impossible lord, here you felt free; but what if Davos succeeded in his schemes, and soon you would be forced to leave? You decided to prolong your ride longer than intended.

You crossed a stream, which widened further to the north, and paused for a moment, watching the water drift lazily by. You wondered if the fish you had eaten the night before had come from this very river. Continuing on, you turned toward a distant rock formation, thinking it a solitary stone. However, as you drew nearer, you realised it was not a rock at all, but a raven. One lone raven, still, with wings spread, watching you with its bright, unblinking eyes.

You halted your horse, intrigued, but curiosity urged you to approach just a little further. There seemed nothing unusual about the raven, yet the stillness of its presence unsettled you. There was no nest in sight, nor any signs of a nearby settlement—only the ruins of a collapsed castle, half-covered by the undergrowth. However, as you moved a little closer, the raven spread its wings and flew to a nearby tree. It was not a flight of escape, but a deliberate movement, as though inviting you to follow.

And just when you thought it was over, something strange occurred. A second raven appeared, then another, and more after that. In the blink of an eye, you found yourself surrounded by a small crowd of ravens, all watching you from the highest branches of the trees and from the ground below, their dark, penetrating eyes fixed upon you. The air was filled with the faint whisper of wings, as though the entire world had fallen into suspense, waiting for something. The raven crowd remained motionless, silent, creating an atmosphere of unnerving expectation.

The sensation of being watched by so many eyes, so fixed upon you, was overwhelming. You wondered if it meant something, or if it was mere chance. But there was something in their behaviour, the way they surrounded you, that made you feel the answer lay not in the waters of the stream nor in the ruins of the castle, but in those ravens, whose presence now seemed far from casual.

Surrounded by this strange sensation, you mounted your horse once more. As you rode away, you glanced over your shoulder one last time. The ravens had not moved, but they began to caw one after another. A shiver ran through you, and you urged your horse forward, spurring it into a gallop.

𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎ 𖣂︎

The meal arrived, but you did not.

Davos turned towards the northern window that overlooked the park, his gaze drifting to the setting sun. The orientation of the house allowed him to see a part of the sunrise and the winding path, but the sunset should have been bright enough for him to appreciate it, and that night it was not: dark clouds covered the sky.

It seemed to be raining to the north, a storm slowly encroaching, its presence wrapping around them.

Perhaps you had finally grown tired of his presence. Perhaps you had decided to put distance between you and him, no longer willing to vex him. Perhaps his conditions had worked, and now you desired nothing more to do with him. But why did it feel so strange?

Suddenly, the door opened and Alysanne spoke:

"Something has happened to Lady Bracken. She hasn't returned from her ride."

The first thought that crossed his mind was that you had left of your own accord, but then he turned and saw the concerned look on his sister’s face.

"How long has she been gone?"

"At least three hours. She didn’t return for dinner."

So, you had truly gone off on your own.

"I suppose we can consider this drama finished," Davos remarked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"No," Alysanne replied, shaking her head. "We cannot. Her maid is frantic. She swears her mistress would never leave without her, and I agree. Moreover, she would not have ridden off alone; something must have happened to her, and it’s dark now."

If Davos felt any relief, it disappeared in an instant.

"Bring me a pair of trousers and my raincoat," he ordered.

"You cannot go," Alysanne protested.

"Of course I can. If she dies in the heath, they will think we killed her, and that will be just the beginning of our troubles," he said, not bothering to grab his cane as he made his way to his clothes with effort. "And, to be honest, I don’t want her dead."

"Davos, please, you cannot ride again so soon. I only want your permission to gather the men and begin searching for her."

"You may do that, but there are not many who have horses or are able to cover the distance to find her, and we don’t have enough saddles for the horses. Besides, she is my responsibility. I may wish she were not, but that is the case, so don’t argue with me." Alysanne could offer no more objections, only resigning herself to watching him move back and forth. "Has anyone gone to the village to see if she’s there?"

"It was the first place we checked."

Where else could you have gone, when you did not know these lands?

"Get the dogs, I’ll fetch something from her belongings for them to track," he ordered, leaving no room for dispute.

Yet your room was almost barren, as though you had not unpacked, or as if you had taken only what you needed. It could very well be that you had not gone missing, but had fled. It would be far harder to find someone who did not wish to be found.

He continued rifling through the drawers when, by accident, his elbow knocked over one of the vases. The ornament did not break, but it dislodged what appeared to be a small bottle of clear liquid, which rolled toward one of the bed’s legs. Furrowing his brow, Davos leaned down to pick up the bottle, examining its contents. He uncorked it to smell it, but there was no scent, in fact, it was entirely odourless.

"Davos! The dogs are ready!" Alysanne's voice called from down the hall.

Shifting his attention from the bottle, he tucked it into his pocket before walking to a trunk and pulling out some strings from your main gown that might aid him.

Maida was waiting downstairs and handed him a bag of food.

"She hasn’t eaten," was all she said.

Maida’s anxiety was evident, as was that of the other servants. In the stable, the old stableman handed Davos another sack of provisions and secured two lanterns to the saddle of his horse before passing him the reins.

He heard a shout and looked towards the castle. Elena was running toward him, and Alysanne was trying to stop her, but she managed to break free and keep running towards Davos.

"What have you done to upset her today?" Elena asked, panting. "She never goes on long rides unless she’s angry. Do you truly need to reach this point to realise you’ve made life unbearable for a girl who has done nothing but care for you and endure your rudeness?!"

Davos had no time to respond to these accusations and didn’t even address Elena.

"Take her home," Alysanne said, before leaving them to it.

Davos dismounted, allowing one of the dogs to sniff the ribbons he had taken from your vanity.

"Find her," he ordered the dog.

He had hunted with dogs too many times to trust they would catch your scent.

They sniffed around for only a few moments before taking off in the direction the stableman had indicated. Though it was still not fully dark, Davos lit a torch before the rain could catch up with him. A short distance away, to the north, the deluge was visible, a thick grey curtain that obscured the land. The dogs dashed towards it, but Davos reined in his horse. Was he really going to ride into that storm? For you?

He urged the stallion on, telling himself that now he had yet another reason to loathe you.

Or so he told himself.