#little chapel by the lake

[culturevulturette]

This used to be an attraction at Knott's Berry Farm.

[hockeyshmockey]

Little White Chapel - Daniel Ricciardo

summary: in which Daniel does the damn thing. Daniel Ricciardo x reader

warnings: none! Does include my OC from familial ties briefly :)

January 2023

location monaco

liked by gerrihaliwell, maxverstapppen and 1,230,289 others

ynusername 5 years after we met in the city we both called home, he asked me to be his forever 🤭

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maxverstappen called this about 5 years ago

maxverstappen in all seriousness im happy for you both!

user SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP

landonorris mom and dad officially 🫶🏻

chloestroll this will be the party of the century

Isaricciardo no bc I’m so excited you’re finally going to be my sister

march 2023

twitter

f1gridgoss

photo posted on yn’s story of her and Daniel in Lake Como… wedding venue touring perhaps??

|

honeybadger4l

No bc an Italian wedding is so them fr

july 2023

liked by maxverstappen, redbullracing, and 969,482 others

tagged ynbestfriend, ynsister, chloestroll, isaricciardo, michellericciardo

ynusername last fling before the bling

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daniellericciardo that’s me done partying for 20 years

user no bc I know this was wild

chloestroll I’m not sure how I’m still standing

scottyjames it’s bc I’m holding you up

maxverstappen please don’t ever take my wife out again

November 2023

liked by littlewhitechapel, carmenmundt and 1,528,294 others

Location Las Vegas

Tagged danielricciardo

yourusername we did the damn thing

view 295,280 comments

user JQNDOSJW

maxverstappen so happy for you guys

maxverstappen also no I didn’t know this was happening when I mentioned Daniel during grill the grid

liked by christianhorner, lewishamilton and 1,928,389 others

tagged yourusername

danielricciardo fea 💒

view 528,290 comments

landonorris so happy you chose me as your best man🥰

maxverstappen yeah right

scottyjames you’re both delusional

yourusername it was actually @ christianhorner , soz

Sebastianvettel so happy for your Daniel, I know you’ll both be very happy!

user I’m crying almost the whole grid was there😭

user and most of the team principles 😭😭

user Daniel married and back racing with a potential future with RBR? He really said fuck 2022

I’ve had this idea in the drafts for months this is so fun

[shyravenns]

NikPrice headcanons that I wrote at 2am

. Price doesn't bother to say much to Soap or Ghost about their relationship since they so often remind him of Nikolai and himself. He sees the same level of codependence and rapid-fire intensity that they display towards each other, and he can't help but think of the gold necklace that's neatly tucked in his shirt.

- No such thing as a slow burn for these two. If you thought Ghost and Soap were codependent then you haven't met young!nikprice. They got better as they got older, but You Can Tell

- met in a scary forest, nik got a knife held to his throat, and Price woke up three hours later in an abandoned shed with their clothes scattered everywhere god bless 🙏

- both of them have scary dog privileges

- no matter where he is, Price will always look up at the sound of a helicopter and watch it until it fades into the distance.

. Price doesn't believe in soulmates, but he remembers to thank whatever God must be out there for putting him and Nik in that God forsaken forest where they both met each other.

. They absolutely fail at pretending to be excited when they see each other. Soap snickers as Price damn near refuses to take his eyes off of Nik vs Farah who rolls her eyes at the goofy smile Nik has plastered to his face when he sees Price. They're like *children*.

- Price is a boydad and Nik is a girldad go argue with the wall

. Price so blatantly loves the faint grey hairs that are slowly beginning to grow on Nik's belly. It's a reminder that they're still alive, and that maybe that happy ending is just on the horizon for them both. He wants to grow old with him.

- Nik, who is so gleeful at the faint grey hairs that have began to show in Price's beard over the years.

- got married in a run down chapel with a priest that Nik may or may not have threatened with a knife

- they have mastered the art of silent conversations much to everyone's annoyance.

- Nik is a romantic, and if you see Price with different flowers on his desk every Friday then no you didn't.

- both of them have shot each other, and no one knows the full story (Nik has told several different versions every time someone asks)

- they hibernate in the winter or at least they try to lmao (they both love naps). There's no little spoon or big spoon, just pass out on the bed and pray that neither of them fall out.

- dear God the snores that come from the both of them 💀

- He was his King, and God help anyone who dared to disrespect his King 😤😤😤

- They both enable each other lmao they're both several shades of unhinged, and honestly it's what makes the sex between them better

- my personal au is that Nik eventually gets hurt to the point where he can't go on missions anymore, and Price does not hesitate to step back from being in the field to take care of him. He's tired, and if this is the final push for him to lay down his weapons then so be it.

- They know each others moods as innately as they would their own. Nik can read the lines of exhaustion on Price's face as clearly as ever, and Price knows the deeper meaning behind every single one of Nik's "jokes"

- Price surprising Nik with his own new identity, and taking his last name 🥺 As if Nik would ever give up his last name "Price"

- would kill for each other 100% don't even have to ask twice.

- they like to fish, but honestly Price just likes it when Nik begins telling another one of his stories while he sits back and listens to the sound of his voice and gentle waves of lake at their quaint little cabin

- Not the best cooks, but they try! Have definitely taken a cooking class together with mixed (aka illegal) results.

- Alpha/Alpha coded im not sorry

[deluxewhump]

Bluebeard's Pet III

This is the final part of a folk/fairytale retelling of Bluebeard in three parts. It replaces Bluebeard's new wife with a male "pet" (slave/concubine). It takes place in a largely fictional medieval Europe.

Part two

CW: slavery, pet whump, slave auction, stocks, power imbalance, gruesome elements like torture, execution, and draconian policies throughout, whipping, sexually explicit scenes, dubcon because of social status, light knifeplay, alcohol consumption, praise kink

Part Three: The Key

September brought the harvest moon, and only slight reprieve from the uncomfortably warm days that had settled over the castle in late summer. The Baron left again, this time for the lands to the near east. He took a company of men and soldiers with him, and left Luca with the keys. Again, he held the moldered key from the rest and asked him not to use it. Luca was kissed goodbye on the cheek in front of the soldiers, which surprised him even now, when he ought to be used to the difference in customs here.

He did not go to the village again, but instead spent some time at the stables riding a gentle gelding called Sparrow out into the fields and back. He was a decent rider, though he didn’t know anything about combat from horseback. He could keep his seat with or without a saddle, and even experimented with using a bitless bridle on Sparrow, who would turn and stop at the slightest provocation of the reins with or without anything in his mouth.

One such afternoon he ran into a small group of servants on a picnic, up in the meadow by a brook. They startled each other but he apologized warmly, having decided to endeavor to be liked more by the strange, sometimes chilly staff. He let Sparrow graze and sat beside them when they invited him out of strained politeness. He planned only to have a drink if they offered, or a bite of apple and cheese and be on his way. Perhaps the next time they saw him they would not turn away so quickly, like they seemed to do around his master as well.

One of the servants was drunk, he soon realized, and the other two were giving him dirty looks as he chatted openly. “Give you the keys, does he?”

Luca didn’t answer. He tilted his head in a silent bid for why.

“He gives them all the keys. Some look. Some don’t.”

“Look at what?” He still hadn’t gotten an explanation for the giant cauldron, but he was embarrassed to ask now, after the Baron had explained the nature of the rumors. “Where he takes them all,” the drunk boy said. His thin lips curled in a smirk and his face was pink.

“Who?”

“You know,” he replied, dipping his chin to his chest and looking up at Luca through a winedrunk haze, a smirk on his stained lips. “The Baroness. The pets.”

Like that June day in the village, Luca felt as if the sun had gone behind a cloud. The warmth on his back felt artificial and imaginary, like the sunlight in a painting.

“Mircea,” the other servant hissed crossly. “To your Lord's very companion, you say these vile things?”

“They’re true. Where do they all go?”

“Lady Elanor died,” she insisted.

“Not from having the little Lord Alec.”

“Shut up, you foul thing!”

The third servant smiled demurely. Luca thought she might be simple. “Bluebeard,” she said to him as the other two bickered. “It’s Bluebeard.”

Luca pushed himself to his feet and onto Sparrow’s back, glad for the stirrups and saddle that day.

That night he lay alone in the cavernous bedchamber of the Baron, always so empty when the Baron himself was not filling it with his larger than life presence. Luca turned the keys over in his hands. What harm would it be to look in that one room? Why had the Baron told him not to enter? He had the keys to every safe, jewelry box, and wine cellar in the castle, yet he could not look in this dusty, cobwebbed wing, in one little room?

He convinced himself he was going to look at the stained glass in the old chapel. It was not a biblical depiction, but rather a depiction of Hercules with his sword drawn at the lake that was said to be the mouth of the underworld, facing the Hydra. Luca counted thirteen heads on this beast, and the three on his ring glinted in envy. Dust and loose paper littered the tile floor. He sat on a cobwebbed pew and thought of the time he’d fallen asleep in a similar one, and woken to his angry master unfastening his belt. He never understood why he was so angry. What did God care if he slept in his house? He tried to picture the Baron beating him for a transgression, any transgression, and found he couldn’t. Especially not as he’d been then, a child of ten or eleven. The image wouldn’t form in his mind. It kept breaking. Constantin would not hurt me.

He should go back to his lavish, expensive room and leave the keys on the bedside. He should respect the one command his master had ever given him, which was to leave this room alone.

And yet he couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t, and when he turned the key the door slid open like it hadn’t even been locked. Like the girl at the fountain had picked up the golden cup.

He covered his mouth and nose with the crook of his elbow. The smell of mildew was overwhelming. Dark shapes took form in front of him, and when his eyes began to adjust he thrust his torch forward and made them out for what they were — a rack, some kind of sawhorse, and most startlingly, an iron maiden with a carved face like that of a sarcophagus on the heavy outer shell. It was ajar, and the spikes were thicker than he’d ever imagined, sharper and dark with dried blood.

The Baron’s favorite Greek once said, ‘the worst of all deceptions is self deception’. Had Luca deceived himself in believing there was ever anything to fear from a man who had been nothing but gentle and affectionate towards him? Who had saved him from a thousand evil fates at the hands of the slave traders who had ripped him from England’s craggy shores?

Or had he deceived himself in believing there was nothing wrong? That his own needling reservations, the things he had heard, the way people behaved around the Baron Illés were all just strange quirks of the people in this castle, and in the village beyond? Had he wanted to be the beloved pet of a powerful man so badly he’d crawled eagerly into bed with a monster?

Slowly, he approached a rough wooden bench. Instruments he couldn’t name were set out lovingly, at even spaces. They, unlike the rack and iron maiden, were cleaned meticulously of blood. A small jar caught his eye and he lifted it to his light. It was full of teeth. He set it back in its circle of dust perfectly, his hands shaking.

He remembered the lock of hair, the sexual game he had made out of the kiss of that dagger, thinking that’s all it was for the Baron too, a game of taking and relinquishing power willingly. Oh, how cooly it had caressed his neck. How lovingly.

He was as trusting as a lamb to the Baron, and thus far it had never been betrayed. Could he really have been so naive? Had the tastes he thought they shared been nothing but veiled bloodlust on the part of his master?

He left the room feeling dizzy. He fumbled to turn the key in the latch to re-lock the room and his heart sank when he heard a sound like a snapping twig. The moldered old key came out missing a tooth and the door was not locked still. He tried to lock it again but it wouldn’t work now. The mechanisms were not moving together as they should. He shoved the traitorous thing deep into his pocket and, trembling, in the verge of frustrated and betrayed tears, he made his way back to the south wing of the castle, where he lay in that wide sleigh of a feather bed and wondered what it was he was supposed to do.

The Baron and his company of soldiers arrived home a day early. Luca had stopped trying to figure out impossible ways to evade his fate, and he watched the procession come through the gatehouse with little more than an unconsciously clenched jaw.

Playing his kalimba to smooth his nerves, he’d remembered the last stanza of the song about the two sisters. A harp was made of the drowned younger sister’s breastbone and strands of her yellow hair. A minstrel took it to the court, where her love, the Knight, has become King, and her older sister has become his Queen. The harp begins to play alone, with no hands plucking its strings, and tells the court how she was murdered by her jealous older sister, the Queen, as everyone looks on in horror. The greatest horror was likely the Queen’s, for the dead seldom accuse their murderers so eloquently.

He turned the broken key over in his palm, knowing he must either flee or present his sin to the Baron. The lord of this land. His master. What happened to the criminals who tried to flee? Were they not dragged back and nailed to crosses or thrown into boiling pots like sea creatures? Was that not the truth? The Baron had softened it for him, white lies to soothe a silly pet. But he knew. All along, he knew.

Luca joined the Baron in the dining hall for their supper that evening. The table was as long as three men, and a great hearth sat cold and empty on the north wall, big enough to roast a reindeer on a spit inside. The weather was still too pleasant to need a fire, and they ate in what the Baron seemed to think was companionable silence. They were served sweet muscadine wine, roasted pheasant with hazelnuts and shallots, white cheese that spread like soft butter on aromatic wastel bread.

“You hardly eat, Luca.”

The Baron often called him by name, unless they were alone and he was speaking in that low, confidential voice. Only then was it pet, love, angel.

“I didn’t know you’d be home this evening. I ate in the late afternoon.”

“Not like you not to drink your wine, though,” the Baron teased. That was true. Luca took a deep drink for courage and pulled the key from his pocket. He placed it on the great table, thick as a ship’s mast, and pushed it closer to the master of the castle.

The Baron did not look surprised. He knew it immediately, of course, that disfigured little skeleton key that looked like it was decomposing. The second tooth was broken off, and was as noticeable as a hand cleaved clean from a wrist. He set down his utensils, slowly, deliberately, so they hardly made a sound on the fine china they dined on. He rubbed a hand over his black, bristly beard. Luca wondered when he would see Bluebeard the warlord, the brute, the power-drunk sadist that the villagers had seen, that his previous pets and wives had known for their last days, or weeks, or however long he tortured them for before they either died or he killed them.

“I suppose that’s in the nature of man, isn't it? Sons of Eve that we are,” the Baron said as if to himself.

“You sound like my English master, now,” Luca said, and regretted it immediately. That was a weak and passing shadow of a truth.

He took a sip of muscadine wine. “I am saddened, though, Luca. I already know the lock is broken on the door. My servant Remi told me this evening upon our arrival. I had hoped it wasn’t your doing, though.”

“You’re saddened?” Luca asked hotly, his blood pounding in his ears, his stomach hot with fear. “I only finally went inside only because of things the servants said about you. About Lady Elanor.”

At his late wife’s name he blinked, looking from the key into Luca’s eyes. “What do they say about Elanor?”

“That you killed her,” he whispered, trembling and exasperated now. “And your other pets.”

The Baron’s eyebrows raised. “Oh yes, the dozens of them. There were two.” He shook his head. “I don’t wish for Alec to grow up hearing these things about his mother. About me. I won’t ask you which servants, because I’m sure it’s half of them, and you wouldn’t want to tell me anyway.”

Luca realized he’d been taking nothing but shallow breaths for the last minute or so and took a slow, steadying draw of air. “I saw the blood.”

“What do you think you saw?” the Baron asked sharply, for the first time sounding cross and even mean. “Just tell me and be blunt about it.”

“I saw a room full of… of pain and death,” he half-whispered. “There was blood on the spikes of the coffin. A jar full of teeth.… I defied you. I betrayed your request.”

“I know.”

“I thought you’d be very angry.”

“I am angry.”

“Well what are you going to do about it?” he cried impatiently. “How will you punish me? Will my fate be worse than theirs, since I’ve so displeased you?!”

The Baron stood abruptly at his outburst, toppling his chair behind him. Luca flinched but refused to cower. The Baron took his wrist and pulled him up, his grip like an iron vice, like one of the instruments laid out on that table. Luca stumbled along behind him. A servant girl scurried to flatten herself against the wall as they passed, her face white as chalk.

Luca knew where they were going. He could have found it alone, blindfolded. They crossed the bailey and up a wide flight of steps to the long corridor with the chapel on their left, the stained glass Hercules in his eternal fight with the Hydra.

The door opened with a push, since it would not lock now. Luca was pulled inside and the door shut behind them. He instinctively tried to flatten himself against the wall like that servant girl when she saw them, but the Baron dragged him forward and lifted him like a bride, all too easily, and set him on the bloodstained rack. He was loathe to touch it, and wrapped his arms around himself protectively. If the Baron could not get his wrists from him, he could not strap them above his head in the leather ties.

The Baron picked up an instrument from the work bench and turned to him, held it a foot in front of his face. “Was this here when you were here last?”

Reluctantly, he looked at the device. It was rather beautiful, like an intricately decorated corkscrew. He didn’t recognize it, but he’d been so distressed he’d hardly taken an inventory. “I don’t know. No?”

“No. It’s called a pear of anguish. Hence the shape.” He demonstrated by turning the round knob at one end and the thing opened up, like a twirling dancer’s skirts. “I acquired it on the trip I just returned from. Remi, a servant who travels with me, brought it here for the collection, and that’s when I learned something was amiss with the lock on the door. The pear is designed to be placed in its victim's mouth or… other orifices. How widely it is opened depends on the transgression of the victim. Or the whim of the torturer, I suppose. I thought it an interesting piece, belonging perhaps next to this heretic's fork here.”

“You brought it for me?”

The Baron stared at him in disbelief. Luca had never seen him appear wounded. He turned and tossed the pear onto the bench so it clattered and Luca flinched, sitting there with his arms wrapped around him on the rack.

“You ask me this in earnest…” muttered the Baron. “I’ve done nothing but love you.”

The word love from the Baron’s mouth made Luca’s eyes fill with unexpected tears. He had to clench his jaw against them.

“I thought we had an understanding, you and I.”

“We do.”

“Do we? Then why do you mistrust me so? Why do you believe every vicious and fantastical rumor about me that you hear? I admit it’s an unsavory hobby to most, but it is that, a hobby. I collect daggers, too, I could show you the room where I keep those. It’s no different. It doesn’t mean I killed my lady wife or my pets with those daggers.”

“What happened to the other pets before me?”

“There were two, as I said. One ran away. We were not well matched. One I loved. They died. They were never very strong, physically, after they spent a winter in a prison cell in Saxony. This was over the span of a decade, by the way.”

“You never thought I’d run?”

“I don’t want a pet that doesn’t want to be mine.”

“Is that why you choose captives and slaves? It’s an improvement for us?”

“Is it not?”

Luca dropped his eyes. It had been.

“Luca,” the Baron said sadly, like he was mourning someone dead, wishing to taste their name just once more. “I loved you from the moment I saw you. From the moment you lifted your eyes to me in that auction yard.”

He came closer, empty handed, and Luca raised his chin in either defiance or surrender, he wasn’t sure. He had never been so lost, so unsure of his own reality. The Baron placed his hands on either side of Luca’s neck, cupping his jaw. He had never since his first night with him been so acutely aware of his master’s stature, the breadth and height of him, the size of the thumbs that brushed his chin. His traitorous body was often excited by moments like this, though now all he felt was fear, old primordial fear ringing down his spine, like the hare in the field that senses the Timberwolf. The Baron smelled of fine leather and spruce, a forest at night. Luca closed his eyes and tried to calm his wildly beating heart.

The Baron only leaned down to kiss his forehead before he left on soft footfalls, leaving the door ajar behind him.

-

For a week, the Baron did not seek him out. He stayed in his own rooms and rode Sparrow farther than he ever had before, all the way to another village where there was another beautiful fountain, but no golden cup. On his second visit he was robbed. Not of much, only the few coins he had on him, but there was an initial struggle that led to him sporting a purple, swollen bruise under his left eye.

The Baron broke the stalemate between them by cornering him in a brazier-lit corridor to ask about it. “I saw this from across the bailey earlier,” he said. “This time you will tell me a name.”

It felt like a relief to be in his presence again. To be spoken to softly, which he thought he might never be again. “I don’t have a name for you.”

“Who then?”

“Some boys,” he said, shrugging. "Hardly grown. They stole some coins from me is all, but I was startled and fought the one who grabbed me.”

The Baron was looking at him but his mind was elsewhere. “Did you report anything?”

“No.”

“Do you remember what they look like?”

“What does it matter?”

“Will you flinch from me again if I try to touch you?”

Luca shook his head. The Baron reached out and touched just the tip of a strand of Luca’s dark hair, like he had that first night they met in the castle. “You are mine, whether you approve of my policies or not. I would like to behead anyone who dares touch you myself.”

Luca forced himself to meet the Baron’s eyes. “But not put them on your rack? In your iron maiden?”

“Don’t be vulgar. It doesn’t suit you. And if you’d looked closely you’d notice that rack isn’t even operational. There is no rope or chain on that cylinder, and it probably hasn’t been turned in a quarter century.”

Was that true? He hadn’t even looked. Finally, the Baron had taken one of many opportunities to make him feel foolish. They stood in silence for a painful moment.

“...Am I really still yours, then?”

“Of course. I forgive your curiosity, if you’ll forgive me for testing it so cruelly. I have to remember you have been mistreated for a long time. Why should you trust blindly?”

“You never gave me a reason not to trust you,” Luca said. He had been tossing and turning at night thinking over it, feeling more and more wretched as the leaves on the mountainsides began to lose their emerald and turn to blood.

“The burden of proof is still mine,” the Baron said. “I should never have forgotten that.”

“What do I do? How can I be in your good graces again?”

“You never left them,” he said, and touched Luca’s lower lip with his finger. The power in that touch, he thought. The way I am sick with lust for it. That is why I am damned.

“Come to me tonight. I miss the taste of you.”

-

Three springs later, in his twenty-fifth year, Luca made a long journey west and south, accompanied by ten soldiers and three servants. He went to his homeland, where he remembered only white clay walls and lemon trees, and the lilt of the language, if not the words. He looked for relatives but found none, which did not surprise him.

Satisfied to eat the food and drink the wine of his motherland, he stayed in a spacious, airy house he rented for the warm months and prepared to leave for home again when the rains came. Stray cats came into the house he stayed in and perched in corners, near the hearth. He didn’t have the heart to shoo them out. The servants began to batten down the shutter windows against a hot wind that had begun to blow sometime in the night and would not stop. The sea, once so prismatic and calm, was choppy and white.

Even here, he had heard rumors of the warlords to the East, those barbaric and heretic lands with their Orthodoxy and their strange influences. The worst of them was Bluebeard, who had a reputation nearly as famed and dark as that of Vlad the Impaler two centuries earlier. Luca listened aloofly for all the trappings of the stories, the hallmark atrocities and places where rumor had cemented into legend. Always, there were idiosyncrasies.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” once asked his favorite servant, Alea.

“Not anymore,” Luca replied. “Only a third of it is true.”

Alea turned back to making them tea.

Two months after he’d revealed his dishonesty to the Baron about entering the room, the thieves who had robbed and beaten him tried their luck in Hwenn. They were apprehended and the Baron was made aware. He had them brought to the castle on a hunch, which Luca confirmed was correct. These were the three from Kyrr. He knew from the look in the Baron’s eyes— he had just sealed the thieves' fates.

“I suppose you think the cross too heinous?” Constantin asked him in English.

“Please,” he said quietly, so the thieves and the soldiers standing nearby could not hear. “Just the sword, if they must die.”

“The people of Hwenn will want nothing less. That one there tried to kill an innkeep for the coins in his register. And they wronged you, which you may be quick to forget, but I am not. Tell me which one caused that bruise and I’ll put him on a cross. You will not be made to watch. I promise.”

Still Luca shook his head.

The Baron looked at him for a long moment. He sighed. “The sword, then. If only by mercy of Luca Illés.”

That night, Luca lay in the ancestral bed of Baron Illés, under the arm that had swung the sword three times, a contented hare between the paws of the Timberwolf.

~

Note:

Inspiration for this retelling comes from the French folklore/fairytale of Bluebeard, Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, and folklore concerning Vlad the Impaler (specifically, the golden cup). Luca’s kalimba song is very old and has many versions but the version I drew from is Two Sisters by Emily Portman. My intent for this telling was to leave some ambiguity about how many of the stories and tales surrounding this particular Bluebeard are true. We only know that Luca made his deal with the devil. Thanks so much for reading!

@starfields08000

[corpsebasil]

Very short little wholesome fluff to combat the absolute filth I just posted

Her heart was breaking.

She knew she didn’t have power, knew she would never be as strong as someone as Alina. She wanted to fight. She wanted to be a soldier like everyone else, to defend Ravka, to protect her home. But she still sat in the chapel inside the catacombs, staring at the wall, barely able to breathe against her grief.

“My darling.” Nikolai Lantsov, her best friend and closest companion, said, his eyes finding hers in the darkness. He approached, moving towards her, his appearance a bit disheveled after the attack at his engagement party.

She swallowed.

“Don’t you have a Sun Summoner to court?”

It wasn’t fair, she knew that, but her heart cracked every time she saw he and Alina together. And she’d been sick, hurling her dinner into the toilet, when he’d proposed to the Saint. The engagement party had been a new level of agony.

“Y/N, please.” He sighed, sitting on the bench beside her. He searched for the right words, unsure of where to begin, when she murmured out a sentence they made him want to break down.

“I’m leaving.” She said, still looking at the wall. She swallowed, eyes boring into stone as if she could break the material with her own eyes. “Some of the maids and healers are going to a safe house. They want me with them since I’m…well, not Grisha.”

“You’ll be protected, then.” He offered, forcing a note of cheerfulness into his tone. “Better than hauling ass through a war camp.” He laughed, but she didn’t, and his smile faded when he watched her try and keep her emotions contained, still refusing to look at him.

“I wish you were coming with me.” She said, eyes sliding to his. He was watching her, and the sorrowful look on his face made her chest tighten.

“I’m King, now, Y/N. I have to show a strong face in front of this. If I don’t the people will—”

“Yes, yes, I know.” She interrupted in a huff. She forced a smile, knocking her shoulder against his. “Never thought I’d see the day, Nik. Just yesterday you were skinny dipping in the lake and getting yourself punched in the nuts by—”

“Okay that’s enough.” He scoffed, but grinned, leaning over and propping his head on her shoulder.

Nikolai sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, relishing in a moment of peace before the chaos would begin. He let out a contented hum when she reached up to run her fingers through his hair, nails scraping gently against his scalp. He loved her, he really did. His best friend, his…he looked up at her, peering up at that lovely face, and thought about what it might be like to just give in and kiss her.

No. Now was not the time for any sorts of wild confessions, or even the entertainment of those sorts of thoughts. Not when both of them would soon be in danger. He prayed that she’d make it to the safe house in one piece, because if she didn’t…

“What are you thinking, Moi Tsar?” She teased, still messing with his hair. He grinned and pulled away, taking her hand and examining it, studying the lines and curves of her palm as if they were very, very important. “Nik.” She laughed, tugging at his grip, but he held onto her tighter, looking back up.

“If anything happens to me,” he started, voice low, his eyes scanning her features. “I want you to know that it would’ve been you, for me, if this whole…” He took a breath and cursed himself for not holding his words back, but something in him pressed on. “I’m just saying, when this is over, I’m going to try. I’m going to try and make a place for myself, a permanent place, in your life. Because that is—that is where I want to be.” He tilted his head when he saw her eyes softening, a small frown on her face. “Well don’t jump for joy, or anything.”

She laughed weakly and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close to her. He breathed in her scent, her cheek pressed against his own, before tugging back. Then he was removing the compass around his neck, his prized possession, and she shook her head quickly.

“No, Nik, I can’t take—”

“Just..so you can find your way home.” And back to me, he wanted to add, but didn’t. “Try not to miss me too much.”

She snorted and allowed him to place the necklace over her head, his hands lingering on it for a moment before letting go.

“I’ll see you.” He promised, as one of the maids came to the door to tell Y/N they were leaving. “I’ll see you after.”

She nodded, suddenly unable to speak, and gave him one last quick hug, arms tight around his neck, before she let go. And Nikolai watched her the entire time, watched until she vanished from sight, and knew, in his heart, that they would see each other again.

[forlorn-crows]

Been Long Enough So Let's / Make a Mess, Lioness

aka this was supposed to be for femslash feb and now its for kinktober day 31

Rating: E for Explicit. D for Daddy Mist

Pairing: Cirrus/Mist

Tags: femslash, mutual lust, cirrus gets fucking got, making out, a little groping, a lot of teasing, fingering, marking, nipple play, vaginal sex, multiple orgasms, daddy kink if you squint intersex!Mist: cock/dick/cunt/folds/slit for her anatomy

Words: 6,509

Summary: To Cirrus, Mist is an enigma. A fleeting character in the Ghost project, she’s quiet and reserved in her duties now as an abbey ghoul. Cirrus rarely sees her. And if she does, it’s only ever a ghost of a shadow in the library, a whisper of a figure in the chapel, or perhaps a lingering form behind the trunks of the birch trees by the lake.

Cirrus has never once spoken to her. But each time she sees the flash of a pale eye or a bright white braid her breath catches in her throat with curiosity and excitement.

special thanks to @askingforthesun for their consultations on bottom!Cirrus

Read here on AO3

[artificialmoth]

Descends like Jesus in your inbox

MOTH...... MY CHILD........ YOU MUST SPREAD YOUR DELTA/ALPHA/OMEGA PROPAGANDA.......

Ascends away

YEAHHHHH

Alpha/Omega/Delta, okay. Right? We got it? Hadjf LETS GO

They are SOO in love. Definitely like the old retired husbands of the Abbey(even if Delta's the only retired one).

They're like THE pinnacle of romance for a lot of ppl. The type where you go 'if they EVER break up, romance is dead.'

Out of the three of them, Omega's the only one with another partner that isn't a ghoul, it being Terzo. Alpha lovingly teases him about his human side piece, but if asked seriously, will insist that Terzo is just as important to their dynamic.

alpha also has a MAJORRR crush on terzo that he REFUSES to talk about.

Delta's quintessence, because for Me it manifests in premonitions, tends to be rlly finicky. He can either give accurate dates of events, or vague descriptions of them. It's usually near-future.

You already know this Aru BUT, he doesn't remember what he talks about when his quint is acting up, so usually he only recalls when he's informed of it. A few ghouls(Alpha, Omega, Aether, Ifrit, Dew and Mist) are given permission to record him during it.

The only premonition he remembers, is when he accurately predicted when the three older Emeritus brothers were going to be killed. He was alone, and he didn't tell anyone about it, to save the preemptive mourning. He also, years in advance, had a premonition of Copia!

Specifically his ascension to Papa. Delta was very confused, at the time Copia hadn't even come to the Abbey as Cardinal yet, so Delta hadn't met him or heard of him

Omega's the head of the hospital at the abbey. He takes his job EXTREMELY seriously, though Aether helps with it. Delta would've also been working there if his quint was viable for it. He still visits regularly, to bring Omega his lunch or try and coax him out for dinner.

Alpha does a bunch of odd-jobs around the abbey, though primarily he does a lot of handy-man repairs, on top of any guitar tech that needs done. Through winter he helps keep the abbey warm, alongside all the other fire ghouls. They can sustain going out in the cold temps for more firewood, and he keeps the main hearth in the chapel lit.

he also is the official un-official guard dog of the siblings. He sometimes disappears for a few hrs and shows back up saying there was "a small issue". That usually brings an unknown hiker corpse found later, dead to a presumed animal attack. It's never just a hiker. In my hc, Cowbell helps out, as the local woods cryptid, they inform Alpha if they catch an intruder scent.

Delta generally does a lot of little things around the abbey! Lots of helping out where he can, small busywork like replacing candles in the chapel, helping with laundry, dusting, etc. He enjoys it well enough. In the summer months, he's usually out in the lake diving, though. When his quint is forgiving, he spends a lot of time there. Some siblings will play fetch with him, too :D

ALSOOO In terms of timeline for them, Alpha and Omega were summoned first. They were all together in the pits, all three in some way having left or been kicked out of their previous packs.

They hadn't made it official, back then, but Delta had begun courting the two of them. Alpha and Omega were summoned together, an accidental mixup opened the summoning for quintessence and fire, and they got nabbed together.

Delta continued to add to the two piles of courting gifts for them, in hopes that if they ever returned, they'd accept his courting.

Topside, Alpha and Omega were initially furious. Every summoning, they watched and hoped their Delta would be the one to crawl through. Every time, they left with a different ghoul.

In the time it took for a new water ghoul to be summoned and for Delta to be the one nabbed, Alpha and Omega were silently accepted as a mated couple. Despite not being official, they were rarely seen apart for long, so everyone assumed.

The day Delta was summoned, they'd both felt ODD. Kinda like the feeling before a big storm, they knew something was going on, but assumed it was their hopes for Delta getting to them. After so many tries, they were starting to lose hope of ever seeing him.

So, when Alpha scented Delta, even though he was still slumped in the middle of the summoning circle, covered in muck and ash from the pits, he KNEW.

He broke from formation with the others, bolted for it the moment the circle was broken and he could enter. Omega followed shortly.

Everyone knew when they reacted like that, that whoever was just pulled from the pits, was IMPORTANT.

Delta clung to them, after. All three were crying, holding onto each other and trying to confirm it was real. That they were finally, FINALLY together again.

of course in a short while, Delta would undergo the experimental ritual to become quintessence. It would partially fail, permanently changing him, temporarily damaging his relationship with Alpha and Omega, and changing their lives as a whole.

But at that moment, none of them knew what the clergy would do to Delta, and just held each other.

The upside is, Delta is given favor from the clergy. They have hearts, kinda, and feel bad that it didn't kill him. To them, death was a blessing for this ghoul, neither quintessence nor water, plagued by visions of the future and with quint too powerful for his body.

Delta's made peace with himself, now. He doesn't trust the clergy, neither does Alpha, but he's also allowed to ask for anything he wants and it's usually given to him!

Delta did, however, almost take out half the abbey when he heard about Dew's transition. Several days were spent where his quint and water acted up. Violently. Severe flooding, and the abbey was completely cut off from the outside world. Power and flooding meant the roads leading away were flooded too bad to drive or navigate on, it was a complete blackout. The ground floors had a few inches of water for days, the oldest parts of the abbey had roofs caving in from the weight of the water.

No one could get close enough to try to calm him, until Omega did. Had Delta kept going, had Omega listened to the clergy's appeals to let him keep going and it'll stop, Delta would've burned out. A complete collapse of a star, he would've taken out the abbey with him. Omega managed to get close enough to spike him with enough quint to knock him out, which unfortunately meant both of them ended up unconscious.

Alpha was the second to go for Delta, refusing to wait while HIS mates were possibly in danger. He was the one to bring them back, practically burning with anger.

Delta was in a coma for a while. Omega woke up after a few days asleep, but Delta took longer. The amnt of quint his body burned through should've been catastrophic on him, no one's sure HOW he survived, but Omega and Alpha are relieved he did.

They love each other so much they'd die for one another.

Alpha and Delta had a rough go at it for a while, a period of time where Delta felt isolated not just from his pack but his own mates, while Alpha struggled with feeling like he couldn't protect Delta, not from the clergy. Omega, similarly, blamed himself, Delta's transition was directly linked to Omega over-doing it and being unable to use his quint or perform as a result, had he not pushed himself, Delta wouldn't have had to go thru with the ritual.

[miasmaghoul]

Hello if your doing writing I was wondering dewdrop and mountain in the greenhouse don't answer if you don't want to

It's one of Dew's favorite places, and not just because it's where the weed lives.

It was a place he felt called to as a water ghoul, especially in the winter. Too cold to risk the lake, but the greenhouse carried similar comfort. Humid and filled with life, Dew would sneak in whenever the opportunity presented itself. Pebble was their head earth ghoul when Dew was summoned, and he didn't like anyone messing with his plants. Dew had to be quiet and subtle, had to slip in undetected and hide behind a pallet of exotic ferns and soak in the atmosphere.

That changed when Mountain took over. He was more than happy to entertain others, often making all of them lunch and inviting the whole pack to the greenhouse to eat. Dew took to Mountain quickly, joining him most mornings to water the plants both in and out of the greenhouse. If those outings tended to end in stoned makeouts and heavy petting, it was surely just a coincidence.

After his transition, Dew thought the joy he gleaned from the greenhouse would vanish. His yearning for the lake certianly had, so it only made sense that he'd stop wanting to visit that big glass box too. Surprisingly, though, it hadn't. Hadn't even dimmed. As soon as he was recovered enough to be out on the grounds again, it was the first place he went. It was a chilly October morning, and the burst of warm, damp air that greeted him there had been distinctly comforting. The scent of fresh earth and exotic flora flooded his nose, made him dizzy, but in a pleasant way. Something wasn't quite right though. Something was missing.

Then Mountain had rounded the corner, clad in his silly old apron - pale blue and covered in cartoon daisies - toting a stack of terracotta pots. He'd smiled, broad and bright, and Dew's stomach had done a funny little flip.

Okay, maybe it wasn't just the greenhouse he enjoyed.

Since then, some things have changed. Rain came to be, for one. A new water ghoul for a new era of leadership. He was drawn to the same places Dew used to be, and moreso to Mountain. Their connection was as palpable as Dew's with Aether; while they were all a pack, Dew couldn't help the rusty growl that had bubbled up in his throat when he'd found them in the greenhouse for the first time. Couldn't help the way he stormed off with a faint stinging feeling at the backs of his eyes.

Mountain was having none of it. He'd found Dew soon after, smoking in the chapel. Had sat next to him, far enough not to touch, and told Dew in no uncertain terms that Rain's presence changed nothing. That Dew would always be welcome, and an important part of his routine. Dew had mumbled something about Rain being more useful, and Mountain had rested a gentle hand on his arm. Had assured him that anyone can hold a watering can.

Dew hadn't known how to express that it wasn't the greenhouse work he was worried about. It was Mountain. Dew had already experienced so much change, so much loss, he couldn't stand the thought of losing what he had with Mountain too. He couldn't get the words out, but Mountain seemed to know anyway. He'd taken Dew's chin in his hand, looked into his shining copper eyes, and had kissed him with such tenderness that Dew hadn't known what to do with himself. An unspoken promise that Mountain would always have time and space for him.

Dew thinks of that kiss often, especially during moments like this.

On his back, naked and watching the stars through the glass ceiling. High as a kite and utterly blissed out, his body spent and his mind fuzzy. At his side, Mountain snores softly. He's curled against Dew's side, head on his chest and his tail flicking every now and again. He always falls asleep quickly after these romps, and Dew doesn't mind it a bit. Dew drags idle claws over the other ghoul's shoulder, purring deep in his chest. His other hand rests between his legs, feeling where Mountain left him sticky and open, and his purr ratchets up a notch.

The sound rouses Mountain, who chuffs and presses sloppy kisses to Dew's chest. He brings a large hand from where it was resting on Dew's thigh and presses it over Dew's hand, wringing a dull groan from the both of them.

"Need it again already, firecracker?"

Dew hisses when Mountain brushes over his abused hole, but he can't deny the frission of excitement that slithers down his spine.

"Soon," he breathes, nuzzling Mountain's hair and inhaling the herbal, sweaty scent of him. Mountain presses the very tip of a finger inside and Dew's eyes slip shut as he clenches around it. "Can we?"

Mountain pulls back to look at him, eyes red rimmed and glassy, and they smile at one another. Mountain catches him in a deep, languid kiss as he works that finger deeper inside, and Dew sucks at his tongue in return. Mountain breaks the kiss and rests their foreheads together, rubbing noses in a show of sweet, stoned affection.

"Of course," he rumbles, "whatever you want."

"One more," Dew slurs, rolling his hips. "Just one more."

They both know one more is never enough.

[beah388love]

Wedding Bells

18+ Minors DNI!!!

Full Masterlist Legend Masterlist

Pairing: Reggie Kray x Fem!Reader

Summary: Going to the chapel’ and we’re gonna’ get married’…

Warnings: (I don’t think there are any? But if there are please tell me!!!)

“What do ya want?” Reggie asked you, a hand in your hair wrapped around his fingers. As you both looked up at the stars from the grass

“I want a four bedroom house with a beautiful garden, and three or four little us’s running around…and you.” You smiled as you looked at him cheekily.

“Oh yeah’?” He smirked, admiring your beautiful eyes staring into his own.

“Yeah” you nodded pulling him in for a kiss he gladly returned.

“That’s what’ you’re getting then” he gave you a kiss on your forehead embracing your lingering scent of heaven.

You giggled and sighed in comfort of being in his arms.

—

“Oi! Ronnie! Open the door mate!” Reggie knocked on Ron’s trailer door.

“What?” Ron opened the door rubbing his eyes and running his hand through his hair to tidy it up.

“I need your help…” Reggie said as he pushed Ron out the way and uninvitingly welcomed himself inside the trailer, about to grab a beer from the fridge but stopping himself.

“What is it?”

“Today’s the day ron, I’m gonna propose’ to y/n but I need ya help to organise it all”

-

You was reading one of your favourite books when all of a sudden you heard something hit your window, you opened it sheepishly.

“Reggie? What are ya doin throwing rocks at my window?” You asked grinning at his massive smile.

“There not rocks, there jolly ranchers” he said as he chucked one up to you and you caught it.

“Ooh! strawberry my favourite” you smiled as you unwrapped it and popped it in your mouth.

“What are you doin’ here then?” You asked cheekily

“I’ve got a surprise for ya!” He smiled knowing I hate surprises.

“Oh yeah? What is it?” I grinned back and he shook his head chuckling.

“It’s a surprise y/n’ that’s the whole point” he smirked

“Why didn’t you knock on the door?”

“You really think dolly’s gonna answer the door for me?” Reggie laughed pointing to the door.

“Nope” I said popping the P.

“You gonna climb for me again Romeo?” I giggled and he shook his head and began climbing the pipe up to my window, once he was up to my eye level I laughed.

“Oi what’s so funny?”

“Dolly ain’t here” I laughed before giving him a peck on the cheek.

He shook his head grinning “cheeky”

“What the surprise then Romeo?”

“Here’ this is for you…” he said as he handed me a bag, I opened it confused and it was a dress.

“It’s beautfiul…thank you Reggie, but what did you buy me a dress for and why are you all dressed up?” I asked confused as I just noticed he’s wearing a new suit not his normal ones.

“For the surprise!…now go put it on’ and get all ‘dolled up’ …I’ll be waiting out here” he said smirking and gave me a passionate kiss on the lips, staring at me lost in thought but after a couple of long seconds, climbing back down the pipe.

I was so confused but put on the dress anyway and got all ‘dolled up’ as he calls it, he always says how much he thinks I’m prettier without makeup.

Once I was ready, I left the house and saw him leaning on his car waiting for me.

He couldn’t take his eyes off of me, making me giggle.

“Y/n…you always take my breath away” he said as he looked me in my eyes.

“Well, you don’t look to bad yourself handsome” I grinned as he gave me a kiss on my temple.

“Where are we goin?” I asked

“It’s a surprise! God, is this whole night gonna be you being impatient” he laughed shaking his head and I nodded back jokingly.

Reggie took us to our favourite Place, it was a hidden fieldy area that no one knew about, we’d go there together all the time as kids up until now, it’s our favourite place to go to.

It was like a woody,grassy area with a little lake that we’d go in, in the summer.

He opened the car door for me and held my waist as we walked to the lake, there was a little corner near the lake we would always sit at.

And when we got there, there was a blanket and lights on the trees, like a picnic.

“Oh my gosh, Reg! Did you do this? Your so sweet” I couldn’t help but smile ear to ear and grab his chin and give him a massive kiss on the lips.

He had a massive grin on his face.

“Well I didn’t do it all myself, Ron and albie helped me” he said honestly and it made it even sweeter.

“Thank you so much Reggie” I said again when we sat down in the blanket together.

We stayed there nearly all day and night, until it was getting quite late so we packed everything up and went to go home when…

“Y/n? C’mere” Reggie said from the corner of the lake and I walked over to him and he was stood there and he looked anxious?

“What is it?” I asked and that’s when.

He got down on one knee and he sucked in a breath and opened a little velvet box with a beautiful ring inside.

“Y/n Y/l/n, will you marry me?” He spoke softly.

I gasped and forgot how to form words. I just felt tears prick at my eyes.

“Well?” He asked me and I just nodded.

“Yes! Yes! I’ll marry you! ” I beamed before he put the ring on my finger and then I threw myself into his arms nearly knocking him backwards since he was only leaning on one leg.

He laughed and was grinning ear to ear and gave me a massive kiss on the lips.

“I love you so much y/n” he said into my hair because I nuzzled my face inti his neck.

“I love you too Reginald” I smirked into the crack of his neck.

Making him chuckle.

“You little-“ he laughed as he began tickling my sides.

“Stop! Re-Reggie Stop!!! Im gonna pee myself stop!” I laughed as he tickled my sides and stomach.

Eventually he stopped and I was huffing and puffing as he laughed.

“Hang on, how did you get my ring size?” I asked confused and he began laughing even harder.

“It was so fucking hard y/n” he laughed

“I didn’t want you to have any clue I was going to propose so I spoke to Ron and albie to try and find an idea, and eventually we got one- remember when we went to Roy’s girlfriends place?” He said and I nodded confused

“And she showed everyone that thing that tells you your ring size? And the dress measurement and all that? That how I got it” he said smirking and I gasped.

“Woah I didnt even notice, your pretty smart”

“I know it was albies idea though” he grinned.

-

“Are you scared?” Dotty asked me as I did her makeup.

“A little…” i said and she gave me a little ‘really?’ Look and I sighed.

“…a lot”

“Don’t worry, you look absolutely beautiful and it’s gonna go Perfectly” she smiled and gave me a massive hug that I accepted.

“Thank you dot, I really needed that” I giggled as I put away the makeup things.

Reggie was standing at the aisle, Ron next to him.

And Reggie looked panicked.

“Oh god, my brain is fucking racing” Reggie muttered and Ron laughed quietly.

“It’s not funny” Reggie huffed.

“It’ll be fine Reggie” Ronnie whispered back as the doors opened for the bridesmaids.

I stood there with my dad, holding my bouquet and holding his arm with the other.

“Are you ready?” He asked me and I nodded.

“Before you go out there, I want your to know I love you so so much, and you are always going to be my little girl” he said giving me a kiss on the head and I smiled.

“I know” I rolled my eyes jokingly making him laugh.

The doors opened and we both walked down the aisle and when I saw Reggie, he had tears in his eyes.

“Your so beautiful y/n” he whispered to me smiling, I blushed and smirked “you don’t look to bad yourself”

“Reginald Kray, Do you take this woman to be your wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, to honour her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do”

“Y/n Y/l/n, Do you take this man to be your husband, to live together in matrimony, to love him, to honour him, to comfort him, and to keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do”

“Repeat after me”

“I, Reginald Kray, take you Y/n Y/l/n, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part”

“I, Y/n Y/l/n, take you Reginald Kray, to be my Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part”

“You may now place the ring on her finger and repeat after me” he says and Reggie follows his instructions.

“I give you this ring as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love” Reggie repeats softly as he puts the ring on my finger gently.

“You may now place the ring on his finger and repeat after me” he says and i also follows his instructions.

“I give you this ring as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love” i repeat and put the ring onto Reggie’s finger.

We hold each others hands and he says “i now pronounce you husband and wife”

He turns to Reggie and says “you may now kiss the bride”

He pulls me in and kiss me passionately, he places one hand on my waist and one on the back of my neck.

“I love you so much, y/n Kray” he whispers with a grin into my ear.

“I like the sound of that” I smile back.

[thelampisaflashlight]

A Nightlight For Your Pride

[Lamb meets the usually confident Swiss in a time of weakness and doubt. Short read, but a wholesome one.] Below the cut.

"You're just... not really my type."

It shouldn't bother him, Swiss knows.

Most of the time he can let that sort of thing slide, cause, shit, if he was everyone's type he'd be up to his ears in warm bodies to cuddle, but he thought...

Swiss thumps the back of his head against the stone wall behind him, running a hand down his face as the other fiddles with the cigarette pinched between his fingers, unlit.

"I'm sorry if I led you on, that wasn't my intention."

He really thought...

"I don't mind hooking up, but dating's a no."

He was so fucking embarrassed.

"No, it's, it's fine." He'd said, "No worries."

Fine.

No worries.

"Dammit..." Swiss groans, sinking down into a squat.

He'd kind of walked off after that, after saying it was fine, and just... kept going.

Honestly, Swiss had only meant to take a short walk to clear his head, but now he's here; The old chapel on the other side of the woods past the lake.

It's a place he's maybe been once or twice before, but never alone, and certainly not this late in the afternoon.

"Haahhh... Man, why am I so hung up on this?" he mutters to himself, rummaging through his pockets for his lighter, "I didn't even like her that much, I just..."

What had he been thinking?

"Stupid."

They just got back from tour, he should be celebrating, not getting hung up over some girl.

Some pretty, smart, talented girl, who made his stomach feel all wiggly...

"We can still be friends though."

Swiss lets the cigarette hang in his mouth and go to ash.

"I don't think... that's possible." he mumbles, then asks the air, "Do you?"

"I have... no idea." a voice from somewhere above his head has Swiss scrambling away from the wall.

"Who's there?!" he shouts, panicked, "Who-"

"The nightshift." says a little ghoul as they hang over the top of the wall, horns glowing bright green in the fading light, "I did not mean to startle you, but there was not a good time to announce my presence."

"The nightsh-Oh. Oh, shit! How late is it?" Swiss asks, patting himself down for his phone, but coming up empty, "Shit..."

The ghoul on the wall slinks down and crouches on the ground in a very froglike pose, reaching into a pouch around their waist and withdrawing Swiss' phone from it, holding it out to him carefully.

"You dropped this by the lake."

"You've been, uh, you've been following me that long?" Swiss chuckles nervously, wondering how he hadn't noticed them before taking his phone back, "You... you could have said something sooner."

"Mn, you did not seem like you wanted to be bothered." the ghoul replies, long, pale tail sweeping through the leaves on the ground, the eerie glow coming off the spade casting yet more of that strange green light, "Normally, I would not follow someone so far. I do not like wandering too much, but it will be getting dark soon."

"Wait..." Swiss stares at the ghoul for a moment, tilting his head, "Wait, do I know you?"

"I do not think so?" they reply, mirroring the tilt, "You do not look familiar to me."

"No, no, I..."

Swiss bites the inside of his cheek, thinking back on a conversation he'd had with Dew ages ago now...

What was...

“There’s only one other ghoul from that incident that’s still in residence here, but they live in the dorms with the human clergy, and they’re honestly kind of weird.”

“How so?”

“Walks on all fours all the time, glows in the dark like a radioactive sleep paralysis demon, dislikes other ghouls …except for fucking Aeth for some reason…”

“Why do you sound so bitter about that, hm~?”

"You're... Satanas I never did learn your name, but, I heard about you from a friend." he says finally, "You live with the clergy, right?"

The ghoul nods.

"I did not know whether or not I should be worried that people speak of me." they muse, "Or flattered."

Radioactive sleep paralysis demon...

"Ehn, it's subjective..." Swiss lands on, "So you are...?"

"Lamb."

"Lamb, okay. Uh, I'm Swiss." he says, offering his hand to them, "Nice to meet you."

"Swiss like the cheese, or Swiss like the country?" Lamb asks, giving Swiss' hand a gentle pat instead of shaking it.

"Oh, it's, I guess like the country kind, but it's more like, Swiss Army Knife, 'cause I'm a multi-"

...dislikes other ghouls...

Swiss pauses, biting his lip.

"-talented individual." he grins, "So, Lamb, um, care to escort me back to the abbey? Since it looks like the sun's going to set soon, and, ya know, can't see very well in the dark."

Lamb nods.

"Stay close then."

The walk back to the abbey is cathartic if nothing else.

Watching Lamb weave through the tall grass on all fours is silly, but something about the way they pause and wait for him to catch up, or look back at him, or warn him of dips in the path makes Swiss' chest feel warm.

"...Possibly rude question, but... why do you walk like this?" Swiss asks as they make their way round the lake, which Lamb stops at to lap at the water there like some kind of predator mammal taking a break from the hunt to hydrate, "Is it comfortable?"

Lamb peers back at him and hums.

"It's not particularly uncomfortable." they say, moving back into a seated position, "Feels safer."

"Safer?"

Lamb shrugs, then raises up, albeit not very high, standing at their full height.

They're really quite small, maybe around Aurora's height, possibly a smidge taller, but it's hard to tell without the ghoulette around to compare them to.

"I wasn't saying that to make you feel like you needed to stand up-" Swiss frets.

The ghoul gives him a confused look and carries on walking towards the abbey, their tail flicking through the grass, now brighter than before.

"Why..." Swiss starts, but cuts himself off.

"You can ask questions." Lamb tells him, as if sensing his hesitation, their tone shifting to a gentler one that puts Swiss strangely at ease, "I don't mind."

Swiss considers this, catching up to walk beside them.

"Why does your tail... glow?"

Man, he sounds like a little kid.

"I don't really know." Lamb admits, "But Omega said it's not hazardous or really... uh, toxic or anything of the sort. Although, I would not touch it."

"Why not?"

Yeup, little kid.

"It can get on your skin and stain it."

Swiss blinks.

"Really?"

And just like that, he's reaching out and-

"...Hey, Aeth, do we have any of the good dish soap?"

His hands keep that unnatural glow for two whole hours despite Aether almost scrubbing off a full layer of Swiss' skin, but it fades eventually.

And when it does?

He misses it.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Who would like their own 13th century hamlet about 125 mi. from Paris? It’s  990,000 €  $1.f080M

The priory is now the main house.

This is ancient.

It’s nice, though, isn’t it?

It’s actually a spacious open concept.

The stairs are kind of dicey, though.

The stable is very old and sagging.

Lovely cottage.

Look at the nice deck and picturesque building.

Pretty little lake by the barn.

What an idyllic property.

Like a fairy tale.

https://www.patrice-besse.co.uk/property-for-sale-France/pays-de-loire/priory-chapel-15th-century-perche-region/

[birgittesilverbae]

okay okay but get this. three sentence prompt: beatrice & shannon; about ava

went off the rails a bit. not canon to tmtl

//

Shannon tosses her a staff. "For old time's sake, Bea?"

Beatrice lets it fall past her hand, kicks it up with her toe at the last moment, catches it with an unnecessary flourish. "Ready to lose?"

"Oh, cocky Beatrice is out today."

"It isn't cocky if I can back it up."

Shannon makes a noise that's half agreement and half bemused laughter. "Fair enough. First to three touches?"

"Are you going soft on me? First to the ground." She flicks her wrist, spins the staff across the back of her hand. 

"You're on."

They're more evenly matched, now, Shannon's speed and strength boosted by whatever had happened to her on the other side of the Arc, but Beatrice's skill is still superior. She lands a thrust to Shannon's ribs, a strike across her back, but Shannon always stays upright, staff raised between them, grinning. Always grinning.

(One must, after all, imagine Shannon happy.)

They strike, block, parry, a partnered dance, steps memorised in long hours spent sparring each other here at Cat's Cradle. They know each other's tendencies, strengths, weaknesses. How Shannon's knee will buckle if she puts her weight on it the wrong way. How an awkward shoulder movement can cause the old pain of Beatrice's broken collarbone to flood in anew, leaving her open for a fraction of a second before she schools herself back into picture-perfect form. 

Back and forth across the dirt, strike and match, block and match, parry and match, until they're both soaked with sweat and bubbling with laughter. Beatrice's lip is split in two places, and there's blood dripping from her eyebrow. Shannon's arm had hung disjointed for a brief moment when Beatrice had gotten inside her range and leveraged her staff against Shannon's, but she'd only shrugged her shoulder back into place with the smallest grimace, a faint blue glow just visible beneath her shirt sleeve.

They end up at one another's throats. Shannon laughs first, a sound that fills Beatrice with warmth, and she can't help but join in. 

"You're losing your touch," Shannon needles, grinning. "Spending too much time getting your Halo Bearer up to speed, hey? Not enough on your own skills?"

"I'd still thrash you on an even playing field," Beatrice replies, "if there were such a thing as an even playing field."

Shannon knocks against her shoulder. "Glad to hear that lesson got through to you." They're seated, now, on the slope alongside the training ground.

She doesn't mean to say it, but it slips out all the same. "I think I'd be able to remember every word you've ever said to me, if I were pressed."

Shannon reaches up to pinch her cheek. "Oh, I'd forgotten about that! Little Bea with her little crush."

Beatrice ducks her head, her cheeks burning. "Before I learned how deeply uncool you were."

"Of course." Shannon glances towards the sky and her face falls. "We don't have long now, Bea."

"Don't have long until what?" Beatrice's foot slips, knocking one of the roof tiles free. It slides off the edge of the chapel and smashes on the ground below.

"Until you tell me about her," Shannon says easily. "Can't keep dodging my questions forever."

"Your–"

"I met her once, your Ava. Very earnest, very sincere. She wanted so badly to be helpful."

"That's Ava." Beatrice pushes the coffee cup across the counter to Shannon. 

"Your Ava," Shannon prompts, raising the cup to her in a mock salute. 

"My Ava," Beatrice says, because she can, because by the lake there's no one to hear but Shannon. 

"Was she, in the end?" Shannon weighs a rock in her hand, cocks her wrist back and sends it flying. "Helpful?"

Beatrice watches as the rock skips on and on and on. "More than she could ever know. She was the best of us."

"You loved her."

The stone beneath her knees scalds her through her jeans. "I loved her," she confirms, "for all the good it did her."

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength," Shannon quotes, tugging Beatrice to her feet and into a hug, "while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Have courage, Bea." Her lips brush Beatrice's forehead.

Beatrice stands in front of the Cruciform Sword, interred as a memorial. "Shannon?" She twists, but all she sees are flashes, glimpses. "Shannon?"

"Have strength."

The Sword thins to wisps, fades to nothingness. 

Her vision goes grey at the edges, then black. 

Beatrice wakes up blood-soaked and screaming.

[yandereseijuun]

Little sunshine

Yan!Dadam(Adam)xYui.K! Reader x Eve

Warning : It might contain some spoiler from DL , but it is not the same as the DL , here Yui! Reader tried to escape from The Sakamaki and Mukami siblings and live with the Tsukinami

For @kiannas-stuff srry if im extremely late

First off...ARE U AN ANGEL COMING FROM HEAVEN?

Dadam has found you , laying down in the forest covered in bite and many injuries . And he brought you to his home , patching u up before letting you go

Well....at least thats what we thought

During your stay at their home , Mama Eve and Dadam grew attached to you , even Cain and Abel !

Mama Eve isn't the one who can kill anybody if they hurt u , thats Dadam you should be careful about

They won"t let you go! Having a peaceful walk in the forest ? Darling , Adam will go with you , if thats not Adam , Cain or Abel will be with you

If you dare to escape...well you cannot hide anywhere in the world because you have three vampire familt who"s chasing you and a new family who won't let you go

During your escape , Eve is the first one who always caught you so she tries to guilttrap you so you can"t escape.

When its Cain , he'll get a lil bit agressive , tries to take you and bring you to Adam by force or by pity

When its Abel , same as his mother , but he grew attached to you so much that he cannot let you go to his parents

And when its Adam , he will ask you gently three times , if you accept everything will be alright if you decline , get ready to be chained and get hit til you're all bloody

Eve and Abel hate it when you're getting punished but the rules are the rules

One time you were praying in a old chapel , Laito came to you , biting you which Adam wasn't so much happier when he saw this . He got mad pretty mad first of all

Why are you praying God? He's the one who throwed Adam and his family away and you except him to help u ? Adam will make you forget the All Mighty God as you may call

He and Eve doesnt want to corrupt your little mind , your innoncence , they want to preserve it as they were protecting a diamond

Cain and Abel are big brothers to you , even tho Cain is a lil bit Tsundere sometimes

One shot time!

Running , running fast as you can , many bruises on your legs , shoulders . Even that you still kept running for your life .

What in the world was happening .

You were running from Shin (Tsukinami) and his wolves , well Shin was misbehaving again and you told him to stop to which he doesn't . Telling Carla (thats a man fr those who dont know) he answered that wasn't his buisness and shoo Shin and you outside so you two could deal with this problem.

Then you two went outside still arguing and Shin looked at you devilishly proposing a thing that was unpredictable

"Sooo human , we're playing hide and seek , if you won , i'll forgive you in other case i won you'll be my prey fr a moment"

Scared thats why you ran for your life , hearing wolves noises behind you , you kept running in the unknown , hopelessly finding someone who might help you.

Suddenly you felt and knocked yourself out , you probably hurted yourself against a rock.

You opened your eyes , and you heard a woman voice "Darling she would wake up?" A feminine voice asked "Yea she will ,we need to take care of her until shes fully healed" a man voice spoke .

After you woke up , you met Eve , she was the one who took care of you. Then you met their sons Cain and Abel

Everything was alright until you noticed their behaviour suddenly changing , when u walk near a lake alone you always felt someone was following you which it was Adam , Eve was always at this to burst in tears , begging you to stay at home and their sons Cain and Abel mostly Cain will not hesit to kill the persons who dare to speak or see you (He let his family live tho)

The thing you love now , Karlheinz hasn't sent his sons nor the Mukami to brought you back , some rumors are spreading that the Sakamaki and Mukami has found a new "Toy" human to play with , Shin still mad and also worried because he couldn't find you and who's gonna give him some peanuts ? Or let him drink some blood?

But now theres a new problem

The family has found a new little sunshine to brighten their lives and you cannot escape them

[this-daydream-is-dangerous-13]

Taylor’s use of 7 is Haylor, including seven: a thesis

Buckle up, friends. Ever since hearing the seven poem aloud on the Eras tour—with its explicit link to Wildest Dreams—it confirmed my long-held suspicion that *seven* is Haylor.

Some data:

- all track 7s post Red seem to be Haylor

- 7 is Harry’s number (added to hers you get 20, hence all the references to 20)

- seven is track 7 on folklore, the album Taylor released on 1D’s 10th anniversary. What? Harry had released Fine Line on her previous bday (#30, Dec 13/19) and she’d missed his Feb 1st day already.

But bestie, you might ask, how is it possible? Let me explain, drawing from details of the song.

We know that Anne and Des Styles divorce when Harry is 7. Anne has primary custody of H and Gemma in Holmes Chapel, but they remain close to Des whom they see on weekends.

But then, there is a period in their lives that no one knows much about and no one speaks about. Even this gem (which I am currently citing) - a 1D origin story has very little.

Harry has another stepdad whose last name is Cox (which was Anne’s name during 1D X factor time). His name was John. They family move to Great Budworth in the Cheshire countryside where Anne is landlady in a pub (and Harry talks fondly of ice cream runs and first girlfriends).

But then when H is around 12, Anne and the kids are back in Holmes Chapel. Anne eventually dates and gets serious with Harry’s beloved, now late stepdad Robin Twist. And Harry sometimes mentions his overwhelming desire to protect his Mom and Gemma at all costs.

No one ever mentions this guy. Ever.

Fast forward a few years to the magical December of 2012. After work commitments, Harry and Taylor spent 4 or 5 days in the north of England. They stay with Anne, and they Christmas bake and go on double dates with Gemma and her then boyfriend, and grocery shop and hang out with his friends. He takes her to the Lakes, where she’s dreamed of going.

It’s her 23rd birthday and be showers her with surprises and 23 thoughtful gifts (she’s not writing The Moment I Knew on his watch!). He gets her food from his childhood fave Chinese place and the bakery where he worked! He is showing her his life. It’s documented here…

Including their visit to a pub in Great Budworth and a drive around the area.

We have no idea what happened, but maybe Taylor does?

Taylor never got to take him to Pine Tree farm in rural PA, as far as we know. But in the depths of the pandemic, when no one could go anywhere, she paints him a picture of her PA childhood.

And in it, we find a fictionalized friend who has a difficult and maybe scary father figure. One from whom Taylor wishes she could save and protect her friend, despite crossing her heart and promising not to tell.

What a gift, to affirm the struggle this child went through, and to show her care and desire to *be with them in it*.

She wanted to scoop him up and take him away from the closet tears to play pirates and “run away to India”. What kid in rural PA wishes to go there? Come on! 😭😭😭

And then, here are the lyrics she pens:

“Passed on like folk songs, the love lasts so long”

“And just like a folk song, our love will be passed on…”

And most significantly - *love you to the moon and to Saturn* 🌙🪐 !!!!!

She wasn’t kidding in Gold Rush - “my mind turns your life into folklore, I can’t bear to dream about you any more.”

[v-e-l-v-e-t-g-o-l-d-m-i-n-e]

Lestat and Armand + Kisses

"No, no, my dearest one," he was whispering, "nothing but peace and sweetness and your arms in mine."

"You know it was the damnedest luck!" I whispered suddenly. "I am an unwilling devil. I cry like some vagrant child. I want to go home."

Yes, yes, his lips tasted like blood, but it was not human blood. It was that elixir that Magnus had given me, and I felt myself recoil. I could get away this time. I had another chance. The wheel had turned full round. - The Vampire Lestat

In a way, he made me think of a child doll, with brilliant faintly red-brown glass eyes—a doll that had been found in an attic. I wanted to polish him with kisses, clean him up, make him even more radiant than he was.

“That’s what you always want,” he said softly. His voice shocked me. If he had any French or Italian accent left, I couldn’t hear it. His tone was melancholy and had no meanness in it at all. “When you found me under Les Innocents,” he said, “you wanted to bathe me with perfume and dress me in velvet with great embroidered sleeves.”

“Yes,” I said, “and comb your hair, your beautiful russet hair.” My tone was angry. “You look good to me, you damnable little devil, good to embrace and good to love.” - Memnoch the Devil

We made our own small clearing, among the volcanic black roots and rather cool winter earth. The breeze from the nearby lake was brisk and clean, and for a moment there seemed little scent of New Orleans, of any city; we three were together, and Armand asked again: “Will you tell me what you’re doing?” He bent close to me, and suddenly kissed me, in a manner that seemed entirely childlike and also a bit European. “You’re in deep trouble. Come on. Everyone knows it.” The steel buttons of his denim jacket were icy cold, as though he had come from some far worse winter in a very few moments of time.

We are never entirely sure about each other’s powers. It’s all a game. I would no more have asked him how he got here, or in what manner, than I would ask a mortal man how precisely he made love to his wife. - Memnoch the Devil

I rose finally. I went back to him and I looked down at him.

Gabrielle said something to me. It was harsh and mean. I didn't actually hear it. I heard only the sound of it, the cadence, that is, as if her old French, so familiar to me, was a language I didn't know.

I knelt down and I kissed his hair.

He didn't move. He didn't change. I wasn't the slightest bit afraid that he would, or hopeful that he would either. I kissed him one more time on the side of his face, and then I got up, and I wiped my hands on the napkin which I still had, and I went out. - The Vampire Armand

At twilight, I rose, straightened out my clothes and returned to the chapel. I knelt down and gave Lestat a kiss of unreserved affection, just as I had the night before. I took no notice of anyone and did not even know who was there. - The Vampire Armand

Armand suddenly began to weep.

“Don’t do it, don’t trust him,” he said. “Lestat, he’ll just destroy you. And if you are gone—.”

Ah, such sweet words from one who only hours ago had been cursing me with his every breath.

[...]

Time to go.

The shrill ring of a glass phone startled me. Kapetria calling to assure Gregory that Rhosh’s fortune had been given back over to him and all the conniving tentacles of her internet reach had been withdrawn.

“For the last time,” Armand whispered. “I beg you—.”

I kissed Armand and rose to my feet. I embraced Gregory. - Blood Communion

[gemsofgreece]

📍Φραγμα Πειρου - Παραπειρου || Piru - Parapiru dam. A picturesque little church in the village of Toskes in Achaea has now been covered by water. It is the small church of Agios Theodoros that dominated the center of the artificial lake Asteri of the Piru-Parapiru dam. The water level has risen so much that the hill with the church and the trees are almost completely under water. From the tons of water an island was created with the chapel of Agios Theodoros standing desolately in its center and sinking over time. After the last rains, the little church disappeared completely. . .

Photo and commentary by Barakos Antonis.