#little list of details i added + want to point out just for fun:

[hey-melissa]

rewatched equestria girls recently + felt inspired <3

[dreamlifebunny]

how to script your dream life and use it with any method!

hello friends! today i want to share with you how i personally script my dream life, and how this script is both my void list, states list, and precursor to almost every manifestation method i've ever used. i love scripting because it is not only a method in and of itself but it is also a simple list of everything you desire that you can now manifest using any method you love!

check back later for a link to my scripting templates. in the meantime, here are the steps to creating your perfect script from scratch with examples! all you need is a place to write it down.

step one:

time to brain dump! at the top of your page, write out every desire that comes to your head in list format. don't overthink it and don't worry if they sound silly or unrealistic; remember, absolutely anything is possible! you can write out a few desires to start or go hardcore and write out hundreds, whatever you feel inspired by. you can always come back to this step later. here is my example:

step two:

now its time to get organized! look at the desires you've written and figure out what subcategories they fall under. for example, "my eyes are light blue and gorgeous" could fall under the category of "appearance," and "i have $100,000 in my bank account" could fall under the category of "wealth and items." feel free to use any category name that makes sense to you.

step three:

now that you have a couple of categories written out and understand the structure of the script, your mind might start to have even more ideas. "ooh, now that i see revision is a category, there are a couple more things i'd like to revise..." or "why stop at one SP when i could have everyone chasing after me?" for step three, we go a little deeper into these categories and add more details of what our dream life will look like. you can also add new categories that pop into your head - in the example below, i've added "the world and society" and "skills and abilities."

note: the reason why i broke this up into multiple steps instead of just writing "write out all your desires at once" is because our brains can be mean to us and make us procrastinate if something isn't done "perfectly," so that's why adding an extra step is important to bypass the perfectionism.

optional steps:

because scripting is such a creative and expansive process, we might think of ideas we'd like to manifest in the future but not right now/not instantly. i like to organize my script further by adding another category: "future manifestations." these are ideas that i would love to manifest at some point later on but not necessarily while my dream life is manifesting right now.

another idea is separating categories even further into "instant manifestations" (manifestations that happen right now without things needing to unfold) or "perfect timing manifestations" (manifestations that slowly unfold naturally and linearly), if you want to get specific about how they show up in your life! however, these steps are completely optional and just fun details for specificity, and i can make a more detailed post on this later.

how you can use your script with any method:

scripting has been used as a successful manifesting and shifting method on its own forever because it specifically addresses one of the most important steps in the manifesting process - deciding what you want! by writing out what you want in your dream life, you can now decide that your script will manifest on its own or you can use any method under the sun to fulfill yourself within:

the void state: if you enter the void state to manifest, you could affirm "i have everything in my dream life script"

affirming: you can affirm "everything in my dream life script has come true"

visualization: you could create an imaginative scene where all of your desires from your script are fulfilled, or you can imagine looking at your script and smiling because everything came true

subliminals: you can create a very simple subliminal where all of your desires are included, or even a sub where the only affirmation is "i have everything in my dream life script"

the possibilities with scripting are absolutely endless. i hope that this guide has given you the inspiration and direction to write your own wonderful and unique script. now, go and get your dream life!

have fun! bunny 💕

[celestelunia]

I’ve been loving your fics so far! And I was wondering if you could write Jamil being poisoned/hit with a love potion and being all over gn!reader and they’re just kinda like really flustered (turns out the live potion only works on who ever the person already loves) so gn!reader confesses to Jamil once he’s back to normal! Ty!

Aw! Thank you so much! I'm glad you've been enjoying them! I've been having fun writing them lol

Sorry this took a while. Been slowly making my way through the list, but this is my first Jamil ask! I hope it came out okay and that you like it!

Warnings: None. Reader is GN.

"This....is just so weird...." You said as you sat on a cushion in the common area of Scarabia. A pair of arms were wrapped around your waist from behind as Jamil chin rested against your shoulder as he cuddled against your neck gently, causing you to blush.

"Ahahaha! I think it's cute! I've never seen him like this before." Kalim laughed with a grin as he placed his hands on the back of his head.

You didn't get all the details, but one moment you had walked into Scarabia to see your crush, and the next, he was suddenly all over you, showering you with affection.

Needless to say, you almost fainted on the spot at the sudden onslaught of attention from your long-time crush. According to Kalim, he had mentioned something had gone wrong in potions, and Jamil was hit in the face with a puff of dust and magic due to the mini explosion that was triggered by the event. Professor Crewel had mentioned that it would wear off in a couple of hours and to just look after him till it does.

Jamil had acted like nothing was wrong at first, and he seemed like his usual self, so Kalim figured whatever the professor might have been worried about was just a mistake.

That was until you walked into the dorm, and Jamil's personality did a 180! He turned into some kind of love sick puppy who couldn't keep his hands off of you.

"T-This isn't like him at all! I'm sure he is just being this way to me since I was the first one he saw when I came over! This isn't fai-ahhh!" You yelped when you felt Jamil warm lips against the side of your neck as he gave it a small kiss. Turning bright red, you had tried to free yourself, only to have your crush tighten his hold against you. This was torture!!

"Hmmm." Kalim hummed softly in thought as he paid no mind to your struggles. "I don't think that's right. He was with me the whole time and even saw a couple of students on our way back to the dorm, and nothing happened." He explained before pulling out his phone to check something. "We were trying to make a certain potion in class, but because I added the wrong ingredients, it completely changed the contents of the potion."

"So this is your fault?!" You yelled as you pointed at the housewarden who just laughed.

"Yep! I'm sorry!" Kalim grinned as he looked back at his phone.

With a pout, you huffed before looking back at Jamil, who was still happily cuddling against your shoulder. "This...isn't real, though. He wouldn't be like this with me if it wasn't for that potion..."

At hearing your words, Kalim looked up from his phone. He knew about your crush on his best friend, and you two often talked a lot when you were feeling down and frustrated about the situation. If he was being honest, Kalim thought you were perfect for Jamil. He needed someone like you in his life to balance him out. The housewarden paused for a moment as he debated on bringing this up. He really wanted you two to figure things out on your own, but maybe a little push wouldn't hurt, right?

"That's not entirely true." Kalim said as he watched you turn to look at him. "He only started acting this way the moment you showed up. The spell on this potion just amplifies feelings that already existed inside someone." He said with a warm smile.

At his words, your eyes widen. Was that true? If it was, that would mean...

At that moment, your whole face turned red as a puff of smoke appeared above your head as you were suddenly overloaded with this information.

Kalim grinned as he stood up from his spot in front of you. "He should be back to normal in an hour or so. Keep watching over him for me! Thanks, Y/N!" He said before heading off to give you two some alone time..

"Nooo! Don't you dare leave!" You had yelled, but it was too late as Kalim had disappeared somehow. How was he that quick!?

Over the next hour, you had managed to drag Jamil to his room, but he didn't make it easy. Having him being this clingy was killing your heart. As time went on, you noticed how Jamil was starting to get a bit woozy as you managed to get him on his bed in time before he seemed to fall asleep. Good. Maybe this was a sign the potion was exiting his system.

With a sigh, you pulled up a chair to the side of his bed as you waited for Jamil to wake up. At least now you had a moment to gather your thoughts.

If Kalim was correct, then that meant that Jamil felt the same towards you as you did him. Just the thought alone made your heart race! While Jamil did give you some special treatment from time to time, it wasn't really enough for you to figure out his feelings. He was a man who kept his cards close to his chest, after all.

Maybe you could be brave and finally open up to him about your feelings...?

After a moment, Jamil let out a groan as he slowly opened his eyes. Noticing the ceiling of his bedroom, he sighed before placing his hand against his forehead. He had a bit of a headache. What the hell happened? The last thing he could recall was doing potions with Kalim...

"You're awake. How are you feeling?"

At the familiar voice, Jamil's head snapped to the side to see you sitting next to his bed. Why were you here!?

"Y/N?" Jamil called out as he sat up in his bed. "What are you doing here?"

"I was asked to look after you. Do you remember anything?" You asked as you watched Jamil carefully.

At those words, Jamil frowned slightly, not liking how you asked. Why did he feel like something happened that he was missing? He didn't do something embarrassing in front of you, did he!?

Hearing his phone ding the vice housewarden reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Noticing it was a text from Kalim, he opened it to see a photo attached that made him almost drop his phone...

It was a picture of him with his arms wrapped around Y/N as he was basically cuddling with them from behind. 

What happened!? Was this real!? Feeling his face heat up, Jamil put his phone down before placing one of his hands over his face in embarrassment.

You, on the other hand, just watched as Jamil checked his phone before turning bright red. As you went to speak, you felt your phone vibrate, and as you pulled it out, you saw a message from Kalim.

"Jamil should be back to normal by now. I believe in you! You got this!" Was the text he had sent. In that moment, you got the feeling Jamil had received something from the housewarden as well.

"Jamil." You had called out as you got your courage together. When you saw him about to speak, you held up your hand to stop him. You were worried if he said anything that you might lose your nerve. "I like you." You had managed to get out.

At your words, Jamil froze up for a second before he suddenly turned his head towards you. His eyes full of surprise.

"I like you, Jamil." You repeated. "I know you have a lot on your shoulders, but it doesn't change that you're an amazing person. You're smart, a great dancer, and an amazing cook! I really love everything about you."

Feeling his cheeks warm up more, Jamil leaned his head back to look up at his ceiling. To think you would be the one to confess first. He really needed to step up his game...

"H-how about you stay over tonight for dinner? I'll make something special. Just for the two of us." He said before he looked back over at you with a grin. "Think of it as my way for saying sorry that you had to confess first."

At the offer, you blinked before you felt like your heart was going to explode. "Y-you really feel the same?" You whispered in surprise.

Jamil turned as he threw his legs over the side of his bed. "For a long time, but I kept finding excuses to not face this feelings. I shouldn't have put you through all of that. That potion mishaps just opened my eyes a bit more." He said as he made a mental note to give Kalim a lecture about being more careful in the future. He normally wasn't this open and honest, but he owed you that much after what he did to you. Maybe it was okay to be selfish for once.

"Come on." Jamil said as he gently poked your forehead before holding out his hand to you. "Let me treat you like royalty today."

You couldn't help but let out a small laugh as you stood up and took Jamil's hand. "Just be your normal self." You said happily as it felt like a weight had been lifted off of you.

To think a small mishap like this would work in your favor? You would have to make sure to thank Kalim later.

[wintfleur]

౨ৎ put a bow on it

°. — pairings ( Estella Hughes oc! X Rutger McGroarty )

°. — summary ( Stella wants to put a bow on her boyfriends bicep, she’s just a girl !!! )

°. — details ( g; fluff. w; pure fluff, it gets a little suggestive at the end. wc; 1.6k )

˖ ་ 💭 roro’s notes ( I don’t know what happened I just had the sudden inspiration to write this after watching this Tiktok, so this is definitely based off of that. I hope you guys enjoy !!! Please don’t be a silent reader !!! Also omg I can’t stop giggling about that picture of rut, I had sm fun making it !!! )

°. — ( feel free to send any requests of things you would like to see in this series, or if you just want to share some thoughts! I would absolutely love that! Please comment if you would like to be added to the tag list! )

au masterlist — you can find asks under #💌stellahughes!

°. — asks about stella and rut are under #⋆ ˚｡⋆୨🩷୧˚ stella & rut!

Stella giggled as she watched along to the TikTok video, her feet absentmindedly kicking in the air as she laid on her stomach in her bed. The video showed a girl trying to wrap her boyfriend's chest with a ribbon to make a bow. It was simple but it was adorable and now all Stella could think about was trying it out on her own boyfriend. 

Stella liked the TikTok before shutting off her phone and dropping it somewhere amongst her few plushies and pillows she had on her bed. She lifted her jaw that she had rested on her hand and tilted her head back to look at Rutger who was sitting at her desk, his laptop in front of him and his headphones on his head as he worked on his homework. 

He was wearing one of his gray compression shirts that drove her wild, to the point where Stella had playfully banned him from wearing them around her because she was afraid, she wouldn't be able to ‘control’ herself around him. Rutger wore them anyway . . . he loved her stares. 

Stella bit her lip as she watched her boyfriend who was oblivious to her stares, his shoulders flexed as he quickly typed his paper and his head occasionally bopped along to the song, he was listening to through his headphones . . . it was probably a playlist she had made him. It wasn't fair how effortlessly attractive he is. 

Stella sadly tore herself away from her thoughts of her boyfriend's very . . . very muscular shoulders and quietly slipped out of her bed. She felt the cold air of her dorm hit her bare legs as she left the comfort of her warm blankets to distract her boyfriend. Stella wrapped her arms around Rutgers shoulders and leaned down to rest her chin in his shoulder, she felt her  ⸺ his shirt rise up, she shivered feeling the cold on the back of her bare thighs. 

Rutger smiled and paused his typing, tilting his head to face her while he took off his headphones, setting them next to one of Stella's many sketchbooks that were stacked on her desk. “Hi pretty girl” he whispered before he placed a quick smooch on her jaw, Stella smiled and placed her own kiss on his jaw before whispering back “so . . . i have this silly idea.” 

“Oh? say more” Rutger turned around in her spinning chair to face her, his hands moving to her hips and bringing her to sit sideways on his lap while one of her arms were still wrapped around his shoulders. Stella smiled as she made herself comfortable in his lap, she fit perfectly against him. “Can I wrap a bow around your biceps for a TikTok?” Stella asked him quickly. 

Rutger couldn't help but have a chuckle of shock leave his lips at the strange request, but he could never say no to that pretty face, so he smiled and quickly pecked stella’s lips before saying “get your ribbon” Stella almost squeals in happiness, quickly placing a big kiss on Rutgers cheek before hopping off his lap and rushing over to her bedside table, opening the bottom drawer that had some of her arts and crafts supplies. 

Rutger bit his lip and leaned back in her chair as he watched her lean down and look through the supplies, giving him a good look at her panties. A hum of success leaves her lips as she pulls out a pretty pink ribbon, quickly turning back to face him as she holds it up. Rutger quickly looks up to her face and he smiles “Where do you want me?” 

“Just stand here and look pretty” Stella winked as she motioned for him to stand in front of her. He got up from her chair and stood where she wanted him to, watching as she got on her knees on her bed to look for her phone that got lost in the blankets and pillows. “That just so happens to be what I'm best at,” Rutger jokes, smiling when Stella giggles. Rutger stopped himself from grabbing onto Stella's waist and pulling her against him, once she found her phone and stood in front of him. 

“Would you mind holding this for me you stud?” Stella teased him playfully as she held her phone out for him to hold so she could tie the ribbon into a bow. Rutger felt his lips twitch into a smirk at the nickname Stella loved to tease him with, he grabs her phone and slides it into the pocket of his sweatpants. Stella smiled and grabbed one of his arms, wrapping the pink silk ribbon around it, humming along to the song that was playing from the TikTok she had watched. 

Rutger watched Stella with a fond smile as she tried to smooth the ribbon around his bicep so the bow would be pretty and neat. Her fingers were so gentle as she tried to tie the bow, he didn't understand why it drove him so crazy. Stella looked up from his bicep when she felt him flex under her touch, she looked up at him through her eyelashes “Stop flexing, I can’t tie the bow.” 

“I’m not flexing . . . i guess I'm just too muscular for your ribbon” Rutger smirked as he shrugged his shoulders, pretending like he totally didn't flex his arms so she could feel his muscles. Stella rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics before letting out a giggle when he flexed again as she tied the bow “I can literally feel you flexing” Stella rolled her eyes again when she saw the bashful smile on Rutgers lips. 

“Save the flexing for the video sexy” stella gave Rutger a wink, teasingly placing a kiss on his shoulder right above the pretty pink bow. Rutger bit back a groan as he felt her slip her hand into his front pocket to grab her phone, her hand teasingly lingering near the inside of his thigh for a few seconds before pulling her hand out and acting like nothing happened. Rutger chuckled and shook his head in disbelief as he watched Stella unlock her phone and find the perfect audio. She knew what she was doing. 

“What?” Stella asked Rutger as she looked up at him, batting her eyelashes innocently as she pretended to be oblivious. Rutger smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, he felt the bow tighten around his bicep and he held in a wince at the tight pressure. He watched as your eyes dropped from his face down to his arm, eyes widening slightly at the sight. Rutger clears his throat and gives stella a smirk when she quickly looks up at him, her cheeks flushed as he spoke “Are you gonna keep staring or are we gonna film the TikTok.” 

“Cause if not, i have an idea of something else we could film” Rutger smiled as he leaned his face closer to stella’s, this wasn't the first time Rutger had hinted at them making their own home movie . . . stella was always worried about their iClouds getting hacked . . . but stella had a perfectly good camcorder they could use. Rutger gave Stella a toothy smile when he noticed her breath hitch and the shy look that comes across her face at the thought. 

“Shut up and stand there please” Stella shyly mumbled as she grabbed her boyfriend's arm and moved it so it wasn't folded across his chest, her cheeks were burning, and she felt her heartbeat faster under Rutger's gaze. Rutger didn't look away from Stella's pretty eyes as he let her move his arm however, she wanted. “I love when you're so demanding. '' Rutger decided to close his mouth when Stella looked up at him with a heated glare, but he could see that his words were starting to affect her. 

Rutger kept his mouth closed as Stella started to film, he could hear the familiar sound of Lana del Rey playing from her phone. When he noticed Stella started to zoom in, he lifted his arm up and flexed, a gasp leaving Stella's lips when she heard the rip of her ribbon before it fell to her floor. Stella stopped filming, deciding it was long enough already, and before she could complain about her ripped bow Rutger was putting his hands on Stella's waist, pulling her flush against him as he leaned down to whisper in her ear “Wanna see something else wrapped in a bow?” 

“But your homework!” Stella exclaimed as she put her hands on Rutgers chest and softly pushed him back from her neck he was about to kiss. Rutger chuckles and slides his hands down from her waist and to the back of her thighs, effortlessly picking her up and moving to drop her softly on her bed. Stella giggled and moved her hips a little to get comfortable before Rutger was swiftly moving between her legs. 

“Consider it as helping me study my anatomy” Rutger breathed out before leaning down and taking her lips into his in a passionate kiss. Stella let out a sound of surprise at the rough kiss, but she was quick to kiss back, her mouth opening and his tongue smoothly sliding into her mouth as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Stella softly tugged on the hair at Rutgers' nape as his hands traveled her sides. Stella pulled away from the kiss to whisper as she caught her breath “You don't take anatomy classes?” 

Rutger smirked and slid one of his hands under her shirt, his warm touch sending shivers down Stella's spine as he softly moved his hand up her side. His thumb teasingly resting under her boob as he stared into Stella's pretty eyes. A smirk makes his way across his lips when he sees the look in his girlfriend's eyes. His homework was long forgotten in both of their minds. 

“I do now”

˖ ་ 💭 roro’s notes ( rutger, stella . . . and her camcorder . . . imagine 😵‍💫 )

°. — taglist ( @privatemythss @juraj-slafkovsky @cixrosie @toasttt11 )

[turtletaubwrites]

Numbers Game ~ Part 31

Could Never Stop

Pairings: Cross Guild Polycule x Fem!Reader x Shanks

Numbers Game Masterlist

Word Count: 7853

Ao3 Link

Ongoing Series Playlist: Youtube Music Link | Youtube Link

Summary: The Emperor of the Sea sets sail from Karai Bari Island. Can he make it to the banquet in two days? More importantly, can Shanks regain his confidence, and do what needs to be done to save the woman that both of his lovers love?

Let the games begin! 🏹

Author's Note: Thank you for the wait! This month has been extra, but I also spent a ton of time and research writing this one since the game is getting started. I hope you enjoy it! I have soo many plans 🥰😈

There's a yucky Uncle Cedrick scene, but from now on we'll just have to expect that. I will continue to bracket sections if heavier situations come up, but at this point, I hope that Uncle Cuntdick will be his own warning 😬 We are meeting Dr. Vorsan this chapter, and I've bracketed the scene with these symbols ~~~⚫⚫⚫~~~ so as not to jump scare everyone!

Alternate POV Symbols:

🌲 ~ Reader | 🐊 ~ Crocodile | 🗡 ~ Mihawk | 🤡 ~ Buggy | 🔴 ~ Shanks | ⏰ ~ Flashbacks for listed POV | ⚫ ~ Scenes depicting Dark Content as listed in Author's Notes

!!! SPOILER WARNING !!! Fic currently contains spoilers for up to the end of the Wano arc, and potentially current arc minor details.

Rating/Warnings: Author May Choose to Exclude some Warnings to Avoid Spoilers for Certain Chapters, Explicit Sexual Content, 18+ ONLY, MDNI, AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Use of Y/N, Dark Content, Blood & Violence, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Dissociation, Mental Illness, Grief, Toxic Family, Swearing, Alcohol, Cigars, Smut, Fluff, Angst, Guilt, Drama, Jealousy, Manipulation, Pet Names, Power Imbalance, Cross Guild boys are VILLAINS, Possessive Behavior, Teasing, Threats, Relationship Drama, Anal, Uncle Cedrick might just be his own warning, Doctors, Inappropriate Use of Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit Powers, Shameless Shameless Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

~~~⏰🔴🔴🔴⏰~~~

“Go away, old man,” groaned a frighteningly hungover pirate captain, who was still face down on the floor of his quarters. Sheets with too many smells had already been stripped from his bed, but the night had held too much liquor for him to replace them on his own, so he’d slept on the rug.

“I’d love to,” Benn snorted, rolling Shanks onto his back. “Is my captain done drownin’ his sorrows?”

“Dunno what you mean.” 

He cringed while he pushed himself up to lean against the wall, and couldn’t meet his first mate’s eyes. 

“You’re too kind hearted for this, captain,” the older man sighed. “Why don’t you find a sweet, little barmaid to dote on like a respectable pirate, eh? What about–”

“I don’t want bunnies. I want…” Shanks growled, but his anger fizzled out at the thought of predators and prey.

“Nah. The Great, Red Haired Shanks just wants ungrateful brats that leave him crying on the floor a few times a year.”

The Great, Red Haired Shanks pulled himself to his feet, only to stumble over to an uncorked bottle in the corner, taking a grateful swig when he found it full. 

“Just had too much fun is all,” he laughed, the bitter taste drowning out the sweetness of the wine.

“Well, next time that creepy asshole gives my captain too much fun, I’m gonna make sure it’s him that’s crying, ya hear me?”

“Sure, old man,” Shanks snorted, letting his first mate guide him to the shower, still downing that wine to fight off images of wicked, beautiful eyes. He wondered how long it would take this time for the cruel hint of gold to leave his mind. 

The Great, Red Haired Shanks didn’t need bunnies or hawks. He just needed the sea, his crew, and another fucking bottle. 

~~~⏰🔴🔴🔴⏰~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~

~~~

~~~⚫⚫⚫~~~

“It’s been some time since our last session. How have you been feeling, Y/N?”

Dr. Vorsan’s pale eyes always felt sticky. Puddles of too much glue, waiting to capture anything you let slip from your shaky fingers, your trembling lips. 

Breathe.

“I’m feeling well, Doctor,” you lied, keeping your voice soft. “I’m sure you've heard about my recent behavior… I believe the experience has offered me some much needed clarity.”

Everything about this man was pale and watery, and you reminded yourself not to frown at his beige suit. It would have seemed like the doctor wanted to fade into the background, if every boring detail about him hadn’t been so exquisitely tailored.

“That’s good to hear,” he praised, though the emptiness in his voice had you fighting to stay present. “Why don’t you tell me about it. You’re going through a lot of transitions, Y/N. Major life changes, even positive ones, can cause a lot of strain. Have you been feeling strained, Y/N?”

“Mmssorry,” you slurred, fighting your lips that had already frozen, not even five minutes in. 

“You stated that your time with the Cross Guild brought you clarity,” Dr. Vorsan noted. Those sticky eyes seemed to warm while your body left your control, until you couldn’t meet them anymore, couldn’t look higher than his elbows. “By putting yourself in such a dangerous–”

“I wasn’t–” 

You were heavy and loose now, your whispered denial draining the last of your energy. 

“You’re in a safe place, Y/N,” he promised while he pulled a shiny, gold pen from his jacket, propping up a notepad on his knee. “Do you know where you are?”

He asked again, voice so soft, until you nodded in agreement. 

“Good, Y/N. Just take some deep breaths, and we can stop whenever you need to. We’ll help you get clarity, so you can stay well. Do you want to stay well, Y/N?”

“Y-yes, Doctor.”

“Wonderful,” he purred, scratching a note onto the top of his page, the movement of his manicured hands holding your gaze. “Why don’t you tell me about the clown?”

~~~⚫⚫⚫~~~

~~~

~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🔴🗡️🤡🐊~~~

“With Sylvad’s cowardly level of security, I believe this would be too risky to use, but you should take it, in case the opportunity arises.”

“It’s so small,” Shanks hummed, inspecting Mihawk’s earpiece transponder snail, its tiny eyes blinking up at him slowly. “Maybe if I–”

“Save it,” Crocodile ordered, pushing away his untouched meal before closing the ornate shell container in Shanks’ palm, shutting those little eyes away. “Right now, the safest way to save our girl is for you to marry her. Don’t put that at risk by acting suspicious.”  

Shanks stared at the closed shell before tucking it away, looking up to find his old friend winking at him. 

“Don’t fret, love. We can have a belated bachelor party when you return,” Mihawk teased, combing his fingers through that bright, red hair.

“But Buggy—”

“I’m not thrilled about it either,” Crocodile sighed, standing to usher the other man out of the suite, “but it’s our best chance. That’s your mission. We’ll be listening, we have the location, and we can reach out to your crew if we need to share something vital. Can you do this?”

The two men stared each other down again, the swordsman’s hand dropping away to give them space. 

“I’ll bring her back,” Shanks swore again, offering Crocodile his hand. The larger man shook it, but the press of time killed their peaceful moment. 

The Emperor made his way into Adam’s room, waiting for Buggy’s permission to speak, but his clown looked pained, and Shanks couldn’t wait.

“What’s wrong, Bugs?”

Buggy’s hands were cramping from recording the pros and cons of the men that might marry his star. His throat was tired from swallowing nasty fears and guilt at the thought of Y/N actually finding someone she wanted to be with. 

“You’re leaving,” he whispered, letting out a sigh when Shanks nodded. Strong fingers were so gentle as they brushed hair behind his ear, pens not doing enough to hold up all of that blue. 

“I’m gonna fix this, Bugs.”

“She doesn’t believe…”

Though jealousy had turned him into someone he didn’t recognize, now when he saw that look of love in Buggy’s eyes for Y/N, Shanks wanted to burn all the oceans to bring them back together. 

“She loves me, but she thinks it’s over, Shanks. My star’s really looking for someone else.”

“That’s not gon–”

“Make sure it’s you, alright, shithead?”

Buggy pressed his last piece of hope into Shanks’ palm, before letting himself hold and be held by this beautiful man that had been so many things to him over the years. He sank to the floor, allowing soothing kisses to be left along his unraveling hair while slow, exhausted tears escaped him. 

Shanks opened his mouth to comfort, to promise, to share, but Buggy reached for the notepad again, mumbling about her “favorites.” After a rushed, bittersweet kiss, the red headed pirate was on his way, met by his golden eyed lover in the hall.

“Making sure I don’t run off with all your booze,” he tried to smile, feeling the weight of distance already crashing over him. 

“Something like that,” Mihawk teased. “I thought I’d send you off.”

~~~🔴🗡️🤡🐊~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~

“How was your session with Dr. Vorsan,” Uncle Cedrick taunted, filling the dining room with ice. 

“It went well.”

You’d managed to bring yourself back, to find your body and voice again before dinner, knowing that he’d be waiting to poke at you. 

“Excellent,” he purred, killing your appetite again. “He’ll be staying until the wedding, just in case you need the extra support.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” you hummed, forcing down a bite.

“So polite,” he laughed, touching your moms chin to lift her face up. “See, Delaine. A little time with the doc, and your daughter’s already feeling better. Maybe she’ll even stop asking her mama bird to chew up her food soon.”

“She can stop after the wedding,” you said coldly, not enjoying the cruel laugh he gave at her expense.

“Such a high maintenance bride,” he taunted, towering over you all when he stood from his seat, offering you his arm. “Come on, smarty. Let’s take a walk.”

Kat started to argue for you, but it was a pointless battle, so you left the other Sylvad ladies at the table, letting Uncle Cedrick guide you out to the lavish courtyard. 

“I know you’ve been reviewing the details with Kat, instead of your mother, but I expect you to be prepared tomorrow. You know the rules of the game?”

“The suitors have a month to win me,” you recited while he led you through the tables, dragging you to the beautiful, carved bench where the introductions would be held. “They’re not allowed to fight amongst themselves unless it’s for the game, and they have to leave grudges aside until after someone wins my heart. They’ll all have time with me as a group and in private, and they can woo me however they like, so long as it doesn’t endanger me, or take me off the island.”

The pride in his smile wasn’t for you, but he beamed it at you, nonetheless.

“Since you’ve been doing so well, I’m sure you can remember a few more rules. Think you can handle that, smarty?”

“Yes, Uncle,” you agreed, sending your rage down into the stone beneath you. 

“You need to remember that choice is a fucking luxury, Y/N,” he threatened, brushing the hair back from your face while he leaned too close, his cologne filling your lungs. “After the fiasco you could have caused, and after all these years of abusing my patience, you’re lucky I’m letting you play this little game at all.”

His hateful words were drawn out with lazy pleasure, and he kept his fingers in your hair, stroking you like a pet. Like his pretty doll.

“You’re going to give all of your suitors a fair chance. They’re here to enjoy themselves, so I won’t have you chasing anyone off too soon. You’re going to whittle them down slowly, and carefully, and with my approval. Your final two suitors will be offered a deal, and if they don’t accept it, they won’t get my blessing.”

“So…”

“So, do whatever you need to do to convince the men you like the most to take that deal.”

Nodding so you wouldn’t spit, you seethed when he tugged at your chin the way he’d touched your mother’s earlier. Your eyes were forced to his, and the stars above seemed to burn like acid as your face tilted up toward them. 

“I’ll do anything to protect this family,” Uncle Cedrick vowed as he rubbed his thumb across your snarling lips. “If there’s a man that can offer a better deal, then he’ll get my blessing, no matter your preference. So get ready to use this smart, little mouth of yours, niece. I wonder if you’re a good enough whore to convince anyone to stay? Though I have to confess, after all of your tantrums, I think my spoiled brat of a niece might deserve a man that can put her in her place.”

He laughed at your stifled hatred, wiggling your face before releasing you. 

“Give them all a chance to win you,” Uncle ordered, satisfaction dripping from his parted lips. 

He enjoyed watching you suffer. Enjoyed it in a way that made your skin crawl, but you could never fully hide your rage from him, no matter how skilled you became. He could fucking sniff it out. 

“If I catch you sabotaging any suitor’s feelings for you before I’ve given the approval to drop them, then I’ll make sure you get some extra special time together. It’s only fair.”

All of the acceptance you’d been building up was crashing down around you, and you held in your tears, not wanting to see the pleasure on his face if he tore them from you. 

You wanted to run away.

He found me. He could have had Karai Bari wiped off the fucking map, and Buggy…

“Well, niece, do you understand? Or do I need to—“

“I’ll fuck the one’s I like to make them take your deal,” you growled, almost losing your vision from the rage that was coursing through you. “And I’ll fuck the one’s I hate so you won’t know which piece of shit to trap me with.”

Cedrick Sylvad threw his head back, bellowing his cruel laughter up to the twinkling sky. 

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” he wheezed, before leaving you there with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Don’t stay up too late, niece.”

He didn’t leave you with a guard. There was no need. 

I’ll never get away. These are my choices. Pros and cons.

The silent courtyard felt like a cemetery while you struggled to move, to head off to bed, and end this shitty night. Your fingers found their way to your locket, the touch of warm metal helping to calm your breathing while you stared at all the cold, shining stars above you. 

“At least I have all those pretty daydreams,” you whispered, feeling like an empty doll as you floated off to bed. 

~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🔴🗡️🔴🗡️~~~

“Hawk Eyes.”

It had been a couple of years since Mihawk had stepped foot onto the Red Force, but his body had memorized every step toward the captain’s quarters, and they walked there without a thought. 

Until a tall, scowling man blocked his path.

“Good afternoon, Benn. How—“

“How about you get the fuck—“

“Hey now,” Shanks laughed, stepping between his first mate and the swordsman, who’d raised a brow at the threatening tone. “We’re good, Benn! He’s just seeing us off.”

“Well, I’ll see him off a fucking cliff if he makes you—”

Shanks cut him off, pulling Mihawk into his quarters while Benn narrowed his eyes, his arms flexing as he crossed them over his chest. 

“If I make him…” Mihawk asked, focusing on the hint of pink that was blossoming on Shanks’ cheeks. 

Cute.

“Benn, get the crew ready. We’re heading out soon.”

“Aye, captain,” he agreed, still leaning toward the swordsman through the doorway. Benn jerked his head to the side as unruly strands of long, gray hair escaped his tie, getting in the way of his glare. “If you ever make my captain cry again, I’m gonna turn those pretty, gold eyeballs into pretty, gold earrings, ya hear me?”

“Thanks, Benn,” Shanks shoved the man out, locking himself into his quarters with his wicked, old friend whose mouth was hanging wide open. He might have laughed at the sight if he hadn’t wanted to crawl under the floorboards. 

Fuck you, Benn…

“Cry?”

Shanks had watched those lips move. He’d heard that voice speak. 

Yet his mind couldn’t connect that trembling word to the deadly rival before him.

The sweetness that had echoed through Mihawk’s bones with every step beside his lover had curdled again, guilt and shame scraping up his throat, strangling the words he’d hoped to share.

I don’t deserve it. 

“You’re shaking,” the red haired pirate breathed as he reached for one of those dangerous hands. Everything was unsteady. Nothing in this world fit anymore, but Shanks tried to laugh it off. “Is Dracule Mihawk feeling jealous? I never had you pegged for the marriage type.”

“No,” he choked a laugh, brittle and stinging as he sat on the bed. The same, old bed they’d shared countless times. “I’m so sorry, Shanks.”

Those words again.

This “vacation” of his had felt like the most outrageous, delicious dream held hostage by a nightmare, and Shanks felt a sudden terror that he was about to wake up to find it was all gone. 

In case it was about to disappear, Shanks sat beside his vicious, old friend, and pressed a kiss to the man’s temple. Mihawk wrapped his arms around him, clinging, feeding into the unreality of this soft, lovely dream. 

“Are you alright, Hawk,” Shanks breathed.

Instincts would have sent the swordsman out the door by now. Every thought pushed him out, guilt, and fear, and lies, no longer strong enough to outweigh the need to keep holding Shanks against him, to keep inhaling his comforting scent. 

The need to run was fueled by his new piles of shame. An unconscious demand to leave. Leave. Leave. 

“I’m done…”

“What’s that,” Shanks tensed at the whisper. He fought his rising dread, tracing his fingers through that pretty, black hair. As they always had, Mihawk’s hypnotic eyes made his world pause, yet in this moment they seemed like true magic. The swordsman had once been blank, unknowable, giving no depth, though Shanks had reached and delved as far as his old rival would let him.

Now those golden eyes were hypnotizing not for their blankness, but for the swirling depths that pulled him in. Pools of molten metal, pain, and need, and other things Shanks couldn’t think clearly enough to try to understand. 

Mihawk couldn’t understand how this beautiful, glorious man could still stand to look at him, let alone offer him comfort. He almost talked himself out of the room again, but vowed that he was done being a coward. He would fight. He would never run. 

Never again.

“I know I…” Mihawk started, losing his train of thought while he stared at his old friend that could have been something so much more. 

What’s the point of being safe if I can’t even… 

“Hawk?” 

 “I love you. I know it’s too late. I’m sorry, I–mmn!”

All that dread exploded, leaving Shanks absolutely fucking high. None of this could be real, but what a dream. 

“Took you long enough, old friend,” he purred. Mihawk whimpered beneath him, shaking under his touch after Shanks had pushed him onto his back, kissing him as though he’d disappear if he stopped. 

“I’m s-sorry, Sha–”

“Are you lying? Manipulating me?”

He gripped Mihawk’s face, wanting to throw this fear off the ship. Gods, he wanted to believe it, to feel it. 

Mihawk let out a breath, a weak sob, as the gold of his eyes was dressed with diamonds. The monster was even more hypnotizing when he cried.

“I’m not lying,” he confessed. Memories flooded the swordsman now, filling the air around him with regret, and with the hope he was fighting to keep. He reached up, cupping Shanks’ face while he blinked away his salty fear. “You loved a coward, old friend, but I’m done running. I love you. I’m so sor–”

Shanks couldn’t tell if he was laughing, or crying as he fell onto the wicked, intoxicating man beneath him. 

“I love you too, Hawk. I still love you. Could never stop.”

“Shanks…”

“Say it again,” Shanks breathed while he kissed along Mihawk’s throat, dizzy while one of his dearest fantasies played out before him. 

“I love you, Shanks.” Mihawk shivered, clinging, reaching, falling to pieces. Shameful parts of him still screamed to run, still thought so many cruel, ungrateful things, but there was nothing like the satisfied sounds his lover made when he said those words. “I have loved you in my cowardly heart. I’m sorry I– fuck!”

The red haired pirate fisted his hair with vicious force while he rutted his clothed cock against him, chuckling as he watched those hypnotizing eyes flutter with need. 

“Why are you sorry?”

“I…”

Mihawk was already lost in him, and Shanks let that sweetness pour over his body, his breath relaxing as he decided how to take care of his lover. 

“You’re sorry because you didn’t say you love me, right,” he purred, kissing tingles into Mihawk’s skin as he breathed along his temple to his jaw. The swordsman gave a weak nod, and a little whine, so Shanks nibbled at his ear, telling his boy how to please him. 

“I don’t wanna hear another ‘sorry,' you hear me,” he threatened, tracing his thumb along Mihawk’s hip, dipping down into those low riding pants. “You’d better keep telling me what you should have back then.”

“Shanks,” Mihawk moaned, undoing the lacings of his own clothes before clawing at Shanks’, desperate beneath the sway of that crooked smile. “I love you.”

The Emperor of the Sea forgot.

Nothing to do. Nowhere to be. 

Shanks just had to make this man say those words again and again. It had been so fucking long. They touched and kissed every inch of each other in their mad rush to claim every moment before the dream faded away, until the swordsman looked over his shoulder, begging so pretty. So perfect. 

“I need you, daddy,” Mihawk relaxed, ready. “Need you, love you, want… mm, please…”

“I need you too, bright eyes,” Shanks hummed, fingers finding their way in, cool lube easing the stretch while he made his lover moan into the wrinkled sheets. “I need my pretty boy to let me love him. You finally gonna let me, Hawk?” 

“Please,” he begged. The press of Shanks’ cock teasing at him was too much, and he writhed, shoving himself back until he cried out, earning the full force of that powerful body. 

“Look at you. Knew you’d be so good for me, baby.”

His fingers caressed while he pressed that pale skin into the mattress, and Shanks let everything go, praising, taking, and hurting his lover until they both went fucking mad. Mihawk let himself feel safe in the pleasure and the pain.

Safe. 

His lover made him cry, and bleed, and come, before laying his own claim. Shanks’ heavy cock filled him, on and on, leaving Mihawk twitching and whining. There they stayed, breathing, sweating, and whispering those words until they remembered. 

“I’ve gotta go, Hawk... Will you still love me when I come back,” Shanks asked as reality returned, failing to hide all the true fear in his voice.

“My lover gone away to sea. I shall await thee,” Mihawk hummed, moaning when Shanks pulled away, his body still craving his touch. 

“Are you writing love poems already?”

Mihawk could have stayed in that bed for days, but she was there in his mind. Still trembling from love and pleasure, fear followed him while he helped Shanks clean the evidence of their selfish lust, low chuckles still warming the air around them through it all. 

“I’ll write poetry for you, my love,” he breathed, eyes fluttering at the new touches he’d earned. “But you’re right. You need to leave.”

Demands felt wrong, so the swordsman finished drying and dressing his lover, until the Emperor pulled him close, their foreheads pressed together while he tried not to succumb to his own selfish terror. 

“I love you, Hawk Eyes,” Shanks let out one more time, while the memory of empty eyes burned through his soul. Y/N had helped both of his lovers, had helped him find them again, to hold them again, had helped them open up.

I owe her everything.

“I love you too, Red Hair,” Mihawk gave a true smile, shaky though it was. The voice calling for him to run was easily ignored with the gratitude and desperation rolling through him now. “Please–”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Shanks laughed, kissing those lips again before leading his deadly lover off the ship. “If I can win over Dracule Mihawk’s icy heart, then there’s no beast I can’t charm.”

~~~🔴🗡️🔴🗡️~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~

“I’m fine.”

“Liar.” 

Kat managed to pull a laugh from you while servants buzzed around, swarming like bees as you waited in the courtyard for your new life to begin.

Whenever a big tree fell on Sylvad property, it would be easy to cart it away, to sell it into little pieces, but this courtyard was built to show off one of your favorite family traditions.

The last few generations of Sylvad’s had refused to let a fallen tree be scurried away like something to be ashamed of. If a tree fell on a Sylvad estate, it was to be celebrated to honor the hard work and creativity that made your family’s name synonymous with power, wisdom, and enough wealth and status to rival nobility. 

You sat on one of those dead trees, the trunk carved into a formidable, layered bench along the base of the manor, while the lantern lit courtyard stretched out toward the forest. On and on the bench seemed to go, covered with lifelike, and even life size animals trying to spring into your world from the fallen wood.

Childhood memories trampled over you for a moment, just like your little body had once tried to climb and claim this wonder of the forest. The obedient bees brought you back to the present, doing some last minute touch ups to your hair and makeup while they fluffed up your giant gown. 

Asking why you were in a white dress before your wedding day had sent you into rigid silence once the rest of the ensemble was forced onto you.

Don’t bite the help. Don’t bite the help… Do deer bite people?

“I’ll be right over there all night, okay,” Kat’s voice pushed through the mass of bodies. “Make that face if you need me to step in.”

“There’ll be no need for that, ladies,” Uncle scolded, his presence scattering the hovering pests around you. He beamed at your sister while he patted her cheek, before sending her to sit with your sulking mother. Kat gave you a weak smile, leaving you on that extravagant bench while your uncle managed to sit beside you without mussing your dress. 

The music may have been pretty. The lanterns lighting up beneath the golden, darkening sky might have been enchanting. 

It was even possible that one of the men in that crowd of guests breaking through the treeline onto the stone pathway would make a lovely husband. 

You tried to breathe, tapping nervously against the locket you’d stuffed into the corset of your dress since it hadn’t “fit the theme.”

What a feeling it was to finally know that love was real. Yet, such was your fate that you had to keep killing and burying the futile wish that you could have kept it for yourself. 

All of these men are here to own me. Every single one.

“Don’t forget to smile, dear niece,” Uncle taunted, leaning close enough to warm your cheek with his words. He laughed at his little joke, while you tried to obey.

You were the white stag. 

You were his helpless prey, whose sole purpose was to be hunted, mounted, and displayed. Nothing more than a tasty trophy.

The stupid, white antlers in your hair felt heavier with each moment while you watched your hunters stalk ever closer. The men had separated from their guests who were being seated so that everyone could watch your uncle’s little show, while the suitors formed a line.

“If you–”

“You already won, Uncle,” you cut him off, eyes scanning the edge of the forest while more figures appeared. “I’ll be well behaved venison from here on… what the f–”

“Smile.”

No fucking way.

Kat had followed your line of sight, and if your face matched the look on hers, you needed to shake it off now. The last thing you needed to do was offend one of these men that could squash you like a bug.

Sis was right. We should have asked for measurements. 

Swallowing manic laughter at the thought, you split into pieces, becoming the hunted. The truest part of you watched the show from a deep, dark hole within while you smiled at Uncle Cedrick, although your body couldn’t hide the shivers that broke through. 

“Smart girl,” he hummed, curdling your stomach before he pressed your hand into an old man’s wrinkly grip.

Your suitors had arrived.

“Giberson, lovely to see you. Let me introduce you to my niece. She’s—“

“The Cross Guild’s young CFO, if my sources aren’t mistaken? I can’t imagine there’s another Y/N Sylvad gallivanting about.” Giberson caught you off guard, and you were a deer in the headlights when his scratchy, white mustache tickled across your fingers. 

His words had left you frozen, and he released your hand, seeming a little wobbly while he balanced with his jewel encrusted cane. The old man adjusted his pin striped hat, making his tall body seem even lankier in the matching suit.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Uncle Cedrick laughed, clapping the old man on the back. “You probably know more about the competition than I do. So, have you decided to join the game, or will you just be staying for the entertainment?”

This old man is one of the Emperors of the Underworld… 

Giberson’s dossier had been the lightest you’d received, yet somehow that made him more frightening, along with his epithet; The Concealer.

“Hopefully I’ll have more luck at this wedding than I did at the last one I attended. Bodies just don’t recover the same when you get to be my age,” Giberson chuckled as he tapped his knee with his cane a few times. “Still, I may be old, but I can’t resist the offer to join in such a delightful game.”

“Happy hunting, good man. I’m confident that some time in Y/N’s company will put some pep back in your step,” Uncle encouraged, pulling an intricately carved arrow from a quiver at his back, adding to the vision of the dark hunter he exuded tonight. He handed it to you, giving you the illusion of choice.

You’d been told not to stand unless you absolutely had to, so you looked up at him through your lashes. Your painted doe eyes needed no help looking helpless, but you obeyed just the same. Giberson smelled of whiskey when he leaned down to accept the arrow from your grasp, a satisfied smile on those aged lips. 

“Just watch out, little lady. These young boys aren’t done fighting yet,” he stepped back, nodding subtly over his shoulder. “It would be a shame to see such a precious thing get caught up in the crossfire. I’d rather like to avoid that fate myself this time around.”

“Not to worry, Giberson, we’re all here to enjoy a more civilized kind of battle. Although, the betting pools have already added a few extra categories for all the possibilities this month presents.” 

The men ignored you now, but you had to keep your face mildly pleasant while you reminded yourself not to scratch it, so as not to risk fucking up the subtle deer makeup across your nose and cheeks. 

Humiliating.

You were the only animal at the banquet. The only thing on the menu. Everyone else got to be human.

Well, maybe not everyone… 

~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

“Are these supposed to be this fucking tight? This can’t be right…”

Shanks tugged and pulled at the dove gray pants he’d been gifted by Sylvad’s attendants, his head snapping up at the choked sound coming from his first mate’s throat. 

“What’s wrong?”

Benn had changed quickly, the banquet already getting started when the two of them had stepped foot onto the private island. The older man had lucked out, easily fitting into the borrowed suit that was such a dark blue it was almost black, although he’d rolled up the sleeves, and traded the jacket for his purple cloak. Having some breathing room around his muscular arms made him seem slightly less annoyed since their weapons had to remain on the Red Force. 

Benn was too distracted to care about their weapons at the moment though, wheezing while he watched his mighty captain try to stuff all of his bits into those tiny pants. 

“Did you try the other pairs?” Benn failed to hide his laughter, having to clear his throat and look away.

“They're all the same size– He can’t really expect me to wear this?”

His eyes were wide, unconsciously shaking his head while he gaped at his reflection. 

The tight, gray breeches seemed designed specifically to showcase every curve of his cock and balls. The soft fabric was tucked into black, knee high boots that a certain swordsman would have coveted, but Shanks felt like he was going insane with the urge to light the borrowed clothes on fire. 

“No. I’m not going out there like this,” Shanks resisted.

“You said you’d do anything for her, captain. Don’t you wanna get on the uncle’s good side?” Benn’s laughter vanished while he draped a black cloak over his Captain’s shoulders, fastening the high collar around his throat. His thick fingers trailed down over the frilly, white shirt, checking the small, black vest that was little more than a girdle, before tying off his captain's sleeve. “This bunny of yours worth the tight pants?”

“Emperor Shanks, sir,” came a soft voice beyond the door. “The banquet is underway, is there anything I can assist– Oh I– Oh…”

He forgot what he was about to ask this poor girl when he opened the door, because the look on her face gave him everything he needed.

“You doing alright, darlin,” Shanks purred, touching one of the girl’s bright, red cheeks.

Benn chuckled, pushing through the doorway, and onto the stone path, ordering his captain to hurry it up.

“Y-yes, I am, sir,” she trembled, letting out a giggle when Shanks winked, and the sweet sound brought him back. 

“Good girl. Why don’t you show us where to go?”

~~~

“You always strut, but I can’t remember the last time I saw you strutting like this,” Benn smirked. 

“I can’t help it! These boots have heels.” 

Shanks stuck out his tongue before they passed beyond the denser trees. 

“You have been invited to join the game, Emperor Shanks.” The servant bowed her head while she gestured toward the center of the decorated courtyard. “I’ll lead your guest to his table now, unless you’d rather not accept the offer?”

“Why not,” Shanks beamed at her, though the sight of his competition made him fight not to sway on those uncomfortable heels. 

“Looks like you and your tiny pants might be outmatched, captain,” Benn whispered, patting him on the back before following the pretty girl to a table full of enemies. 

Shanks had barely made it here in time, and felt a twinge of guilt return while the last suitors moved out of the way, but the sight of her stopped the blood in his veins. 

Twilight had crept into dusk, and the dancing light of the lanterns bathed her painted skin, her white dress, and ethereal antlers, seeming to glow from within. Y/N shone like a wounded star, bleeding out her light for all of these monsters to drink. 

“The clothes suit you well, Emperor,” Cedrick purred, making his niece flinch. She hid herself away before Shanks could decipher what he’d seen behind her mesmerizing eyes. 

“I had no idea that fashionable friends could be so generous,” he charmed, stalking closer and closer until he caught her cold hand in his. “Or that I’d have the pleasure of meeting such a gorgeous, little bunny again so soon. Sorry, you're a gorgeous, little doe, aren’t you?”

She stared while he pressed his lips to her knuckles, and he took in every detail, wishing he could just grab her and run.

She’s not wearing Buggy’s locket… 

Before new anxiety could set in, Shanks had to swallow his rage at the sound of that voice. 

“Either would make for a good hunt. The nice Emperor asked you a question, Y/N,” Sylvad taunted, tapping her thigh with a decorative arrow. 

“It’s alright, bunny.” He gave her a crooked smile while she gave him nothing, so he turned to the smirking piece of shit by her side. “From what I’ve gathered, we might get to spend some more time together soon. Do I have that right, new friend?”

“I treat my friends very well, but family is everything,” Cedrick vowed. “There'll be plenty of time to discuss details later, but if you’d like to accept the offer to join this little game, then you may get to enjoy more than just our famous Sylvad hospitality.”

Shanks bought himself some time by letting his eyes rake over her again.

I’m a villain. I’m not here to rescue her.

“How could I resist?”

“Go on,” her uncle beamed with triumph, shoving the arrow into her hand. 

The woman that had captured the hearts of the only two people Shanks had ever truly loved met her Uncle’s cruel gaze before looking back up at the Emperor of the Sea. Her eyes fluttered while she offered him the arrow, keeping her hands close to her face so that he felt her breath on his fingers as pulled the symbolic weapon from her grip.

His lips parted as he became trapped in her eyes again, although that haunting pull had been replaced by a desire so hot, it rivaled the stars. Y/N's bare need felt like a gift from the heavens. 

“Thank you,” he breathed, twirling the arrow in his fingers while he bowed his head at that fallen star, before winking at her captor.

“Happy hunting, Shanks.”

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~

Giberson had finally stopped gossiping with Uncle Cedrick, so you became the prey again, smiling up at your next suitor.

Suitors.

You couldn’t help glancing toward Kat while her favorite pick stepped up alongside his brothers. 

These men should have been intimidating, and they had been, for a moment.

Yet now, the three princes of the Germa Kingdom were all staring down at you like hungry puppies.

What the fuck?

“Welcome, Ichiji, Niji, Yonji. This is my niece, Y/N. It is an honor to welcome you to our humble estate.”

“The honor is ours,” one of the princes crooned, laying a kiss with almost too much pressure against your knuckles.

Ichiji. The red head is Ichiji. 

Your mind rattled through everything you could recall while his green and blue haired brothers took their turns, their loose shirts and billowing capes moving prettily in the light breeze. 

Somehow the word “prince” had made their blatant lust seem shocking, and you almost laughed at how fucking naive that was. 

They were here to buy you, just like all the rest, and their royal hands lingered on your skin when they accepted their arrows. 

~~~

“There you are, old friend!”

“Cedrick. It’s good to see you.”

“Mr. Iceburg?”

Excitement tore through you, and you almost leapt to your feet so you could hug your dad’s old friend.

Your uncle’s old friend… 

Iceburg, the Mayor of Water 7, and the CEO of Galley-La.

You’d had an embarrassing crush on the man, even before he brought all of those shipbuilding companies under one name seven years ago, creating his own empire. Water 7 was your company’s most powerful, and profitable connection, so you’d spent a lot of your childhood on that watery island while your dad made deals with this handsome entrepreneur. 

He’d always been kind, and funny, and had never ignored or patronized you like so many of the other business contacts dad had made you spend time with. 

“Well, Y/N, don’t you look stunning,” Iceburg hummed, leaning down close to kiss your cheek. It was something he’d done many times, but your skin still flushed with heat as it always had. “I hardly recognized my little numbers girl.”

With your mouth hanging open, you felt like a child come face to face with her dream, only to find that the dream carried a bitter aftertaste. 

But it still looked fucking good. 

Your eyes traveled up and down his tall frame, snagging on the black, leather pants tucked into knee length boots. He had rarely buttoned his shirts all the way before, but now the loose fabric of his rust-colored tunic hung wide open, and you found yourself blinking up at the lovely frame it made around his tanned skin, and dark, blue chest hair.

“Don’t keep our dear friend waiting, Y/N,” Uncle Cedrick urged, tapping your hands with the arrow until you snapped out of your teenage fantasy. 

“May I,” Iceburg asked, his eyebrow raising just a bit while he watched you nod.

He’s here to buy me. He wants to buy his friend’s daughter. Wants to…

His thumb traced over your wrist before he pulled away, the rough touch of a carpenter's hand making you shiver. 

“See ya, girlie,” Iceburg winked, wrecking you for the next hopeful. 

~~~

Luckily the next hopeful didn’t matter, although it felt like you’d just lost a safety net.

“I do apologize,” whined the most ‘boring’ candidate, Mr. Halvens. “I’m afraid I will have to decline. There are certain elements here that I cannot have my name associated with.”

“Not to worry,” Uncle laughed. “You’re welcome to stay for the banquet, although I'd recommend keeping your voice down if you plan to disparage my other guests again.”

The poor man went pale, and you were disgusted with your urge to laugh at his pathetic scrambling when your uncle’s laughter rolled over you first. 

~~~

“Prince Fukaboshi,” you projected, staring up at the massive merman. There was a ring of what looked like a bubble around his waist, and his blue, spotted tail seemed to float just slightly above the ground. 

You had prepared yourself for a merman. 

Not for a fucking giant. 

“I am looking forward to winning your heart, Miss Sylvad,” he charmed, although the effect was strange from almost two stories up. Fukaboshi's regal voice rushed toward you when he leaned down, and you tried to smile under that sharp face, that cloud of light, blue hair. 

The arrow seemed to shrink once his fingers pulled it so carefully from yours, before he joined his guests at the edge of the courtyard. You could still feel the prince's gaze, like a cool weight over your skin.

~~~

How the fuck… 

The fact that the next suitors weren’t even the tallest people you’d met tonight was insane, and you had to fight not to let panicked laughter escape while you were introduced to these two brothers. 

“Thank you so much for coming. This is my niece, Y/N. I know she’s been looking forward to meeting you both, Cracker, and Katakuri.” Uncle Cedrick smiled at the frightening brothers, seeming almost giddy when he handed you their arrows. 

Cracker leaned down first, and he had to be a couple of feet taller than… He also carried a fierce scar on his face, scraping across his right eye. When he grinned, his bright, pink irises seemed to eat you up, a near manic look behind them. 

You couldn’t make sense of his clothes, so you tried not to look at the giant fucking crackers hanging around his belt, or at his light, purple hair that was tied into long buns that seemed to be crackling with fire.

Katakuri was even taller, almost as tall as the merman prince, but he went to a knee to get closer to you. His clothes were all leather with scratches and spikes artfully placed to look even more ready for violence. Pink tattoos kissed along his bare chest and arms, and the color went well with his crimson hair and eyes, but you couldn’t see more of his face below the fur scarf he had wrapped up to the bridge of his nose. 

His eyes were intense, knowing, and the sheer size of him amplified his frightening, but lovely, features. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Y/N. I hope that our families can join their strengths soon.”

The Charlotte brothers left you breathless while the courtyard buzzed with the sounds of guests enjoying their drinks as they waited for dinner to start, celebrating the thought of you being claimed by one of these lucky suitors. 

~~~

Twilight had crept into dusk, and you let yourself take a breath, knowing that the line must be coming to an end. Everyone in your mom’s book was already here, plus Iceburg, and there couldn’t be too many last minute… 

Shanks?

The Emperor of the Sea stood framed by the growing night, dressed like a wicked horseman on the hunt. He stared at you as though he were surprised to find you there. 

As though this fucking traitor hadn’t broken his promise as soon as Uncle Cedrick had shown up. The image of Shanks leaning close, smiling, and flirting with your uncle at the Cross Guild’s party felt like molten metal through your gut. Then he’d run away. You’d seen him, that stupid, red hair slipping through the crowd, fleeing the vow he’d made to you. 

Liar. Liar. LIAR! 

Somehow you stayed very deep inside yourself after Uncle’s voice made you flinch, even while this filthy leech touched your hand. You couldn’t hear what he was saying while he talked to his new best friend.

You’re just another bitch for my uncle’s money, aren’t you? Disgusting trash.

You almost laughed. Almost let it out.

Uncle Cedrick tapped your thigh with the arrow, and the visceral image of shoving it into one of Shanks' poisonous, “soft,” brown eyes felt intoxicating. 

Pathetic. You’re just like all the rest. The Great Red Haired Shanks is no hero. Just another piece of shit that would betray his love for some berry. 

Rage and nausea battled for more space within you, until your uncle shoved the arrow into your hand, and you remembered.

I can't let Uncle see how much I hate him.  

A wave of desire and power burned through you, and you let yourself feel nothing but need while you offered Shanks that weapon instead of using it against him. It felt as though you were possessed, but you welcomed the chaos of mindless lust, relishing in it when those soft eyes went dark before he finally got the fuck away from you. 

Did he just fucking thank me?

Uncle started to address the crowd, and you knew you should be listening. You tried to be here, to survive. 

Traitor. Liar. Leech. Trash.

Breathing felt impossible. Your corset seemed tighter now, making the hidden locket dig into your skin, reminding you that Buggy was all alone. 

There had never been a chance for you to have true love in your life. Not the cursed heiress of Sylvad’s. Not with your Uncle’s plans.

Your sweet, lovely clown deserved better. 

But Shanks betrayed you both. He'd abandoned Buggy after one conversation with Cedrick Sylvad, just as weak and worthless as your first two "loves." 

Uncle offered you his hand, and you stood without knowing what was next, but all that came next was applause. Happy, little vultures excited for their next meal. 

“Did you hear me,” he hissed at you before shrugging for the crowd. “I think our white stag is feeling a bit skittish, but that's nothing a little chase can't fix. The first hunter to catch her claims the first date!”

Chase?

“Run along now, niece,” Uncle Cedrick smirked, nodding toward the trees. Night had officially fallen as he led you down that stone path, the eyes of all the hunters following your every step toward the darkened forest. “You’ve got a ten minute head start, Y/N. Better decide which arrow you'd rather be pieced with tonight.”

~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~

Likes, comments, and reblogs bring me much ✨dopamine✨ thank you!!

Author's Note: Yes, I dressed Shanks up like Jareth the Goblin King. No, I am not sorry 😅

Who do you think is going to catch our white stag? I'm having so much fun with this game! 🥰🏹 Check out the poll below, or you can just tell me what you think about our lineup! I've been going crazy over it, especially since I try to stick as close to canon possibility as I can for some weird reason, lol.

Tag List: @shewrites02 | @caniseethefourthsword | @hey-august | @chaoticqueen33 | @destinationmars | @novakitten0901 | @h0n3y-l3m0n05 | @dorky-birdie | @szired | @pinejayy | @laws-wife-things | @jadeddangel | @gingernut1314 | @urlocaltwink | @blue-rae18 | @bontensbabygirl | @bbnbhm | @0-sparkling-lace-0 | @ihearthazuki | @mikisspeak | @djloveyou3000 | @mercymccann | @horse-and-writer97

Part 32

Operation Olive Branch has compiled a working spreadsheet of ways to help families fleeing from the genocide in Palestine. If you enjoyed this fic, and are able, please click the link to find a list of GoFundMe's, as well as other ways to help.

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[omaano]

SW Hades AU May Status Update

I wanted to make a dedicated post about what I’m currently working on for the Star Wars meets Hades AU that looks more consistent than just sharing bits and pieces whenever I’m tagged in a Last Line Challenge. Because what else do I have but the poly sketch requests and this AU for my weekends? (If nothing else I know that the Hades AU has got me XD)

Other updates: June - July - August

For now Obi-Wan and Maul are stuck at the same stage: they are both lined, have their base colours down as well as the two adjustment layers of coloured lighting.

I suspect if I were ever to get through the agonozing few hours of shading Obi-wan’s face it would be mostly smooth sailing from there. The problem is that there are at least 2 - if not 3 - separate stages where the shaded face looks like I have no idea what I’m doing, and you need to get through the whole thing before it really comes together 😅 on the other hand Hades 2 has a lot of the directional shading I might need for his character art so that might help to get me there.

It also needs to be said that Obi-Wan comes with the extra disadvantage that is the entire background behind him. I’m really hyped to line it finally, it is quite a challenge, but at the same time I’m slowly coming to the realization that I have no idea how I will colour it. Hades backgrounds are so so pretty and full of details and gorgeous colours, and while I’m not delusional enough to think I could match that on first try… I still wish I could, you know? At the same time I will have to erase or recolour a lot of my lines, which will hurt quite a bit, I imagine. I’m so bad at killing my darlings 😅 also I hate laying down flat colours. I just find it very difficult to immerse myself in that process, while lining and shading can have their flow.

I had covered up so many lines and details in Maul’s spider parts it’s a miracle I didn’t cry XD However, tips on grouping my shadows and allowing the shape to speak for itself and the details in them are very helpful and on point.

Worrying over writing dialogue for them is also not as far down my to-do list as I wish it were. I have a good enough idea for a quip for Obi-wan, but Maul? He’d need a whole melodramatic rant of his own XD

Aphra has gotten some new lines and I had fixed the satchel I had forgotten the last time I shared the rough sketch for her, thanks to the new character art for Hades 2! Seeing Odysseus and Hermès’s updated looks were great helps here, so I might as well move on to lining her, and finally adding another female character to the roster on top of Ahsoka!

And then there is the biggest update on these little guys below! I will need to clean up the ones I had drawn for Cobb and Boba (and Din) well over a year ago, but with these my version of chtonic companions are done, and thanks to @lesquatrechevrons I have a full list of keepsakes for each character as well. I’m not very good at drawing these little tchotchkes (I say with Rex’s blaster right there LOL) but I hadn’t been very good at lineart or cell shading when I started this project either, so through forced practice I’m determined to change that :D

(It’s not a screwdriver under Boga, it’s one of Cody’s antennas. “It will grow back, don’t worry,” he says as he snaps it off his pauldron and hands it over to Din. Rex backs him up on that one without question. They can't lie for shit but trolling the shiny is their thing.)

Additional fun fact: the reason why I’d picked up the chtonic companions concepts was because I’d been poking at minor details in the background behind Maul (aside from the Chaos doors), and I started adding credits and recoloured nectar to the corner (before I realized that they wouldn’t be visible once the character interaction comes up oops), and I tried to figure out to whose keepsakes Maul would react favorably. I also mixed up companion dolls and keepsakes, so that’s why the Ahsoka doll came to being (I also forgot that that one belongs to Rex, and not Ahsoka herself but uh… they are close enough that they should count by proxy anyway. It’s not Obi-wan’s cup of tea and that should be enough!). Also bless @mapleowl18 for suggesting Lil Soka as companion for Rex ❤️

So this is the current state of this AU project right now. I have my lists and notes, a few scribbled pose ideas in my sketchbook for Sabine (she might be next, unless Bo and her Nite Owls make a comeback), Satine and Omega (with Batcher), as well as some angry scribbles and question marks for Quinlan (who has apparently made his way back into this AU even though he didn’t get a little icon of his own originally orz), and Obi-wan The Second that would stand with Cody post reunion, but I cannot make that one work for now 😅

[winterdaphne2]

Gay Easter Eggs in BBC Sherlock

(I trust the above requires no explanation.)

Perhaps someone has done this before, but I wanted to put together a compilation of gay easter eggs in the show that I’ve seen other people point out and/or have thoughts on myself. So here it is!

When I say “easter eggs,” I’m thinking of small clues that the show creators included in the set designs, music choices, and other details of the show to reference that Sherlock and John are in love. I’m thinking of things you could miss at first, especially little clues that often require a bit of extra information or require observations across episodes to understand.

Of course, there’s also lots of subtext woven into the show, moments where interpreting the dialogue or visuals in a certain way tells us something about Sherlock, John, and/or the state of their feelings for one another. I’m not sure if I can clearly define “subtext” versus “easter eggs” and explain what distinguishes them, but at least to me, several of the things I’ve listed here seem a bit different from what people often refer to as subtext. Maybe subtext is about uncovering the layers to a piece of dialogue or an action that takes place in plain sight and seeing how that impacts our interpretation of the story, but easter eggs are about spotting smaller, hidden details. I’m not trained in literary or film studies, though, and I’m not trying to be doctrinaire about this at all! This list is just for fun, anyway. (The above image might not actually count as an easter egg, but I couldn’t resist including it here. Indulge me.)

The more I read about this show and the harder I look, the more I think that hardly anything is there on accident. All these easter eggs must have been included on purpose. The creators knew they were telling a love story all along.

I’ve linked to the posts where I initially saw people point these out or to other good sources, and for some of these I’ve added my own commentary/observations/interpretations. I’m sure there are many other easter eggs that I’ve missed! What have you spotted?

John’s PIN in TBB – When John tries to pay for his groceries at the beginning of the episode, we see that his PIN is 743. In ASIB, Irene’s code to unlock her phone is SHER, which would be 7437 on a phone keypad. So, John’s PIN is a clue that he is or will be in love with Sherlock. Source: @loudest-subtext-in-tv, here.

Shaftesbury Avenue, 20m from Piccadilly Circus in TBB – While investigating in Chinatown, Sherlock and John bump into each other at what used to be a cruising spot for gay men in London. Source: @the-signs-of-two, here.

Archer the American in ASIB – In the scene where the American CIA agents try to get Sherlock to open Irene’s safe, the head CIA agent pressures Sherlock by threatening to have one of his men shoot John. The agent says: “Mr. Archer, on the count of three, shoot Dr. Watson.” Ordering someone named “Archer” to shoot John could be a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle’s poem “The Blind Archer,” which is about Cupid and describes Cupid shooting two men who sound an awful lot like Sherlock and John. Source: couldntpossiblycomment, here.

“¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?” in TEH – The song that plays during the scene with John and Sherlock’s disastrous reunion at the Landmark restaurant is a cover of the song “¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?” performed by the band Pink Martini. The Spanish lyrics to this song are about searching for a long-lost lover, which is fitting for the scene where John sees Sherlock again for the first time since his fall. Notably, the creators didn’t use the first of the two versions of this song that Pink Martini has released. The band’s first version appears on their 1997 studio album Sympathique and features a man singing about a woman. Instead of using that version, the creators used the version from Pink Martini’s 2011 compilation album A Retrospective, in which China Forbes performs most of the vocals. So, the creators deliberately chose a remade version of the song in which a woman sings about a woman. They chose a gay song about searching for a long-lost lover for Sherlock and John’s reunion. abrae (@tea-and-liminality on tumblr) has a meta with more to say about the use of this song here.

John’s “oscillation on the pavement” in TEH – In TSOT, John observes a potential client standing outside 221B and trying to make up her mind as to whether to come in. Sherlock tells John “I’ve seen those symptoms before. Oscillation on the pavement always means there’s a love affair.” In the previous episode, John came to visit Sherlock at 221B but hesitated on the pavement outside, staring at the door and trying to decide whether to go in. Sherlock’s comment, “I’ve seen those symptoms before,” is a hint that we, the audience, have also seen those symptoms before—with John in the previous episode. Source: @bidoctor, here. (I saw someone else point out that last part about Sherlock’s hint to the audience, but I can’t find that post, sorry!)

Lilac dresses in TSOT – While planning John and Mary’s wedding, Sherlock chooses lilac-colored dresses for the bridesmaids. When John tells Sherlock that he likes the bridesmaids in purple, Sherlock pointedly corrects him by stating that the dresses are lilac. Apparently, “In Victorian times, giving a lilac meant that the giver is trying to remind the receiver of a first love.” So by dressing the bridesmaids in lilac, Sherlock is trying to remind John of his first love: himself, Sherlock. My heart breaks. Source: @asherlockstudy, here.

Putting the horns on Mary and Janine in TSOT and HLV – In TSOT, there’s a shot where Mary gives Sherlock and John a thumbs up before they head out on a case. The way Mary is standing, the horns on Sherlock’s cow skull thing on the wall behind her are placed right over her head. (I always thought this shot looked pretty weird, but now I see that it must have been intentional!) In the HLV scene with Janine at 221B, there’s a moment when Janine steps in front of John in the frame to kiss Sherlock, and her movement positions the horns right over her head. “Putting the horns” on someone means cheating on them. So in both cases, placing the horns right above Mary’s and Janine’s heads indicates to the audience that Sherlock and John are the real relationship in this show. Source: this post from multiple users on the @sherlockmeta blog.

The architecture of Sherlock’s mind palace in HLV – In the mind palace scene after Mary shoots Sherlock, the architecture of Sherlock’s mind palace is based on locations from ASIP. Sherlock literally built his mind palace out of places from his first case with John, illustrating that his relationship with John is what grounds him and that it means everything to him. abrae has some very helpful screencaps of this here (and I would recommend that whole meta, btw!)

The glasshouse scene in TAB – In TAB, the Victorian John tries to ask Sherlock about his sexuality and sexual history while they’re sitting in a glasshouse. In Victorian Britain, “glasshouse” was another term for a military prison. So John, a military veteran, asks Sherlock about his sexuality in a setting that represents where he would have been sent if he had acted upon his homosexual desires at a time when homosexuality was criminalized. Source: @haffieliesel, here.

What do we say about coincidences? The universe is rarely so lazy.

[yennefer-of-vengerbergs]

Masquerade

Kinktober 2024 - (an extremely late) Day 16 - Formal Wear (from this prompt list)

Rating: E (18+)

Pairing: Astarion x Syanna (my Dark Urge OC)

Well...this was supposed to be a quick little one shot, but instead of that, it just went completely out of control, with me adding more and more to it, and expanding a bunch of stuff. And honestly? I want to expand it even more 🤭So this idea will most likely end up being reused and even more expanded in my fic series too😁(at a much later date, but still, at least I have this written down for when the time comes). It definitely wouldn't be the first one shot I want to rewrite/reuse to incorporate into it at some later point either 😁

Summary: Astarion and Syanna attend a masquerade as part of their search for a way for Astarion to walk in the sun once more. After their successful search, and an evening spent teasing one another, they indulge in each other.

Tags: sexually explicit content, inappropriate use of spider climb ability, clitoral stimulation, handjob, vaginal sex, PiV, multiple orgasms, vampire biting, vampire spawn Astarion, established relationship, post-canon, post-game

Word count: 5.3k

Dividers from here

Tag list: @iizven | @bg3-fanfic-reblogs

If you want to be added to my tag list, please let me know in a comment or message!

Read below or on AO3. Comments are appreciated so please feel free to leave them and let me know what you think 💖

Life after defeating the Netherbrain had been intriguing for both Syanna and Astarion - after all, there were still plenty of adventures to be had, a world to travel, and their goal of finding a way for Astarion to walk in the sun once more had certainly taken them to interesting places. Unique even. 

Or, simply put, it had allowed them to experience things they hadn’t had the chance before, one such example from those years being the masquerade that they found themselves in need of attending. 

Thrown by some noble or other, a collector of occult and magical curiosities, whose name they hadn’t bothered remembering, it was a lead on information that they needed, as well as a welcome change of scenery. 

And, if they were to be honest, it was also the perfect excuse for them to simply…dress up. Have some fun while they were there. 

Pretend to be the noble Lord and Lady Ancunín for an evening. 

At the same time, it was something which was not a common occurrence for them, and as such, they made sure that everything would go smoothly, planning their moves - or rather,  Syanna was the one who actually planned what would need to happen, from gathering any and all information she could on the layout of the estate during the day, to where they would need to go in the manor to search for the scrolls and books they needed, along with how to not get caught during the entire ordeal.

Astarion was still very much, ‘not a details person’, as he had always put it, hence why he hadn’t been as involved in that particular stage of their preparations. Even so, it did not mean that he did nothing. On the contrary, he was very much responsible for acquiring their invitations, which, quite naturally, he had done by pickpocketing them from someone who had been legitimately invited, during a night market, which he and Syanna had also coincidentally gone to. 

Then, there was also the matter of their outfits, masks and jewelry, which only meant that he had targeted the best stores he could find, his lockpicking tools granting access long after their doors had closed for the day, Syanna there with him, invisibility spells at the ready in case something went awry, which would have led to them needing a quick getaway. 

And he had been particularly pleased with the outfits that he picked out - his consisting of a dark teal jacket with silver embroidery and varying accents in a lighter shade of the same color, while Syanna’s was a dark green dress with gold accents and accessories throughout. Then, he chose gold jewelry and hair accessories for her, a pair of intricate ear cuffs, made of white gold for himself, followed by a pair of matching black masks, with precious stones and peacock feathers, as well as black ones framing them. 

He was absolutely certain that they would both look simply exquisite in them.

To complete their image of nobility, they also practiced certain mannerisms and habits that would allow them to better fit in for the evening, as well as a few dances that Astarion had picked up in his past life - a skill that had been required of him whenever he had to entertain palace… guests. Because of that, he had never cared for the activity since, but seeing as Syanna had no way of knowing whether or not she even knew how to dance, Astarion had taken it upon himself to help her with it.

As it turned out, they needn’t have worried much about that. 

“...now place your hand here and step…” Astarion paused, “Well, aren’t you full of surprises.” he noted.

Syanna looked at him, slightly confused.

“Why? Am I that bad at this?”

“Quite the contrary, my dear. I’m starting to think you’ve done this before.”

She scoffed. 

“Of course I did, because in between all the killing and plotting and the internal politics of leading a murder cult, there was plenty of time to dance around the temple of Bhaal.”

Astarion couldn’t help the giggle that left him.

“Oh yes, I can already picture it, you naked, covered in blood…”

“I thought this was about dancing.” she interjected.

Astarion gave her a pointed look for interrupting.

“…Dancing on an altar after a kill…” he sighed.

Syanna laughed, amused by how he seemed to be enjoying his little daydream.

Astarion cleared his throat.

“In any case, you’re no beginner. Rusty perhaps, quite rusty, if I’m being honest, but that’s nothing we can’t fix, especially with such a dedicated teacher as myself.”

A giggle left her as Astarion pulled her close. 

Finally, there was the issue of having to access the restricted area of the manor, where guests would not be allowed entry during the party, which only meant that Astarion would have another opportunity to show off his skills with lockpicking and - more likely than not - disarming traps. And, of course, Syanna would be at his side once more, ready to cast any spell they would require at a moment’s notice. 

With their plan in place, all that was left was to prepare for, and then attend the party.

And that had been a process all in itself. 

Using one of the many scrolls of Mirror Image that they kept a steady supply of, especially for him, Astarion carefully got dressed, paying particular attention to how everything fit and looked. 

Perfect as always, naturally.

And just as naturally, the mask complemented his outfit wonderfully, tying everything together. As for the finishing touch, he then added the pair of ear cuffs, which ran along the entirety of his ears, their design intricate, suiting him beautifully.

In Syanna’s case, watching her get ready had certainly been interesting, to say the least, from how she had summoned two mage hands, which were busy intricately braiding her hair - it still intrigued him, how she was always able to manipulate spells with such ease, and in ways that others versed in magic could not,  be it by extending their reach, casting them on multiple targets or by twinning them, suiting whatever need she had - to how she was carefully applying her makeup.

“Well, aren’t you a clever little multi-tasker?” he couldn’t help the little quip.

Syanna smiled, stopping briefly.

“Of course.” she turned to look at him, the mage hands following her movement, continuing their work. “You have to admit, it’s efficient.”

“Oh, certainly.” he agreed as he walked over to her. “And effective.”

“Hmm…” she looked up towards him, through her lashes, smiling softly, “Thank you.”

He leaned down to kiss her, distracting her just enough to cause her concentration to waver, both mage hands seeming to falter, as if they no longer knew how to go about braiding hair. Not enough to end the spell entirely, but it certainly made him want to tease her some more. 

Deepening the kiss, one hand brushing over her face before reaching her neck, his thumb gently rubbing the skin there, he was pleased to see how she melted into his touch, while her own arms went to wrap themselves around his neck. Pulling her up to her feet, Astarion drew her closer to him, his hands moving lower and lower over her body, enjoying everything about the moment they were sharing, from how velvety smooth the fabric of her dress felt under his palms, to how she sighed into the kiss, or how she pressed herself into him even more, wanting more of that closeness, and even the giggle that left her once his hands came to a stop on her ass, gently squeezing. 

“Really?” she couldn’t help grinning once she pulled away.

Astarion pressed another kiss to her lips.

“I don’t think you can blame me for that, love.” he gave her another squeeze, as if to prove his point, “You do look positively stunning in that dress, after all.”

“Why, thank you.” she was still smiling, “So do you. Very dashing, if I do say so myself.”

A chuckle left him.

“I should think so, seeing how easily distracted you were just now. Or did you not even notice your little mage hands disappearing?”

Astarion was smirking. 

Of course he was. 

And of course he was right - she hadn’t really paid any kind of attention to what was happening with her hair, or the mage hands, once he had approached and started kissing her. 

She laughed at the thought.

“Would you rather I was entirely focused on my hair instead of you?” 

Astarion’s reply was to pull her into another kiss, more passionate than before, his hands moving over her once more, taking full advantage of the deep slits her dress had. Reaching her thighs, he lifted her into his arms, her legs instinctively wrapping around him.

“Do perish that thought, darling.”

Syanna giggled, delighted by the moment’s playfulness in its entirety. 

“I think you’ll be fine. It wouldn’t be the first time you manage to distract me like this.” 

And it most definitely would not be the last, if she knew him at all.

“Then why don’t I distract you some more?” Astarion suggested, a sly look on his face as he walked them over to their shared bed, setting her down gently on its edge, so she was sitting, one of his legs settling between hers, running his hands over her arms. “I already have some ideas.”

She laughed again.

“We’ll be late.”

“Fashionably late, darling. It’s only fitting, if we want to blend in for the evening.”

“There’s fashionably late, and then there’s the hours we’d be late if we do this now.” She countered, although unable to contain the smile on her face as he caressed her. 

“Ah, and here I was, hoping I would get to tear that dress off you now.” He pretended to be wounded by the thought of not being able to do so.

“Then we’d never make it there. Besides, I actually like this dress.”

Astarion waved a hand at nothing in particular.

“I’d steal you a new one.”

“Ah, my hero.” she grinned. 

“Aren’t I just?”

It was such a familiar exchange between them, and she still loved it every time.

“Then maybe you can hold off on ripping this off until we get back? And then-” she leaned up, pulling him into a brief kiss, “-I can spoil you in whatever way you want.”

Astarion considered it for a moment, before looking at her with that look that could only mean he was up to no good.

“Or, we could sneak away during the party itself.” 

Syanna giggled.

“You’re incorrigible, you know that?”

”When it comes to you, darling? Always.”

She brushed her fingers over his cheek, her affection clear in the small gesture.

“I’m flattered, truly.” a sigh left her, even if she was still smiling, “But I really should finish up my hair, see how much of a mess it is and all that.” 

Ever the gentleman, Astarion helped her back to her feet, his hand still holding hers as he led her back to the small vanity she sat at before. He moved behind her, then noticing that there hadn’t been much damage done, besides a loose braid that had mostly come undone.

“Here, let me.” he said, taking the strands of hair in his hands, undoing them completely before starting over, with him taking his time, enjoying that small act of comfortable intimacy between them. 

After all, small things like that, those little moments of intimacy, so casual, yet significant, were still among his favorite things to do with her. 

Not long after, he had finished the braid, securing everything in place with the golden accessory she had passed him when asked, which he followed by holding a hand mirror behind her, so she could see the result. 

Smiling, she turned around to look up at him.

“It’s perfect, thank you.”

Once he handed Syanna her own mask to put on, they were ready.

After their arrival, they bid their time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to slip away and into the restricted wing of the manor. While waiting for said opportunity, they, quite naturally, had also decided to enjoy themselves as much as they could.

So, they danced, something which they never had the chance to do before, each step, each touch, each twirl, each glance in time with the music, each teasing remark and joke they made adding to their enjoyment of each other’s company and of the evening. 

What a difference the right dance partner, the right occasion made for him. With her, it was truly enjoyable.

They also sampled the most expensive wines, with Astarion mixing in some of Syanna’s blood to his when no one was nearby to see, to make it more palatable. In Syanna’s case, she also enjoyed the food, trying and tasting whatever caught her eye, both savory and sweet. 

And it had all been exquisite, with each drink and item of food a delicacy.

They also listened in to conversations for anything that sounded interesting, be it just gossip or a slip up or more about valuables. 

A passing mention of expensive jewels here, talk of rare and magical artifacts there, the absolute scandal that two women spoke of in hushed whispers…It was all intriguing, or at the very least, rather entertaining. 

All in all, it certainly had been a fun evening for them, a very welcome distraction from their usual ones consisting of long travels and searches, or of completing whatever contracts they would take on for money.

Then, it had finally been time to make their move, which they hoped would end in a resounding success. 

And following that, it would simply be a matter of making their way out, unseen and unnoticed. 

“Be still, somebody’s coming.” Syanna whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Astarion stopped what he was doing as she then whispered the incantation for an invisibility spell, obscuring them both as a guard did his rounds, walking past them. 

Once the guard was far enough from them, Astarion resumed his lockpicking, dextrous hands making short work of the locked door in front of them, finally allowing them to quickly slip into the empty room, thankfully unnoticed, shutting the door behind them. Only then did Syanna drop the invisibility spell

Both looked around the large room, assessing it. Something between a library and a trophy room, there were plenty of shelves and display cases to go through. 

“Now, if I were something that had information about vampires walking in the sun, where would I be?” Astarion mused. 

“I’m hoping the answer is ‘in its own dedicated section’.” Syanna quipped. 

Astarion raised an eyebrow at that, to which she simply shrugged.

“What? It'd be better than having everything thrown in at random, wouldn’t it?”

He couldn’t help the smirk that made its way onto his face. 

“I can’t say you’re wrong, darling. Maybe even a few direction signs to point us the right way.”

“See? Now you understand my vision.” she laughed. “So, what do you want to take?” she motioned in the room’s general direction, “Bookcases and shelves? Or the display cases?” 

“Hm, the display cases. Can’t have you clumsily trying to pick the locks, now can we, darling?” he looked at her smugly, teasing her about the time he had attempted to teach her how to pick a lock. 

Besides, there was a greater chance of the display cases being trapped, and he certainly would have preferred to be the one dealing with that risk, not her.

“Then maybe you should consider doing a better job of teaching me how to do it.” It was Syanna’s turn to smirk.

“Excuse me?” Astarion pretended to be deeply offended by her statement, “I will have you know, I’m a very dedicated teacher.”

She raised an eyebrow at that.

“Oh yes, you whispering filth in my ear was a very interesting lesson in lockpicking.”

“It’s an experimental method, darling.”  he retorted. 

She giggled in response.

“Of course, what else could it possibly be?” 

“Precisely.” Astarion leaned in, whispering to her, a hand brushing over her cheek and down her jaw, towards her neck.

So smug. With good reason. But so smug.

She shifted slightly, moving so that she would be looking at him, staying just as close to him.

“Well, my oh so clumsy self will be searching the bookshelves.” she leaned in, as if for a kiss, but stopped, “I wouldn’t want to distract you in any way, after all.”

She turned away, making her way towards one of the bookcases. She heard Astarion chuckle behind her.

“Cheeky.”

Syanna was certainly pleased with her search, having found the books she was looking for. Excited, she carried them back to where Astarion was. 

“Look what I found!” she grinned, lifting the tomes slightly, to show them off.

Astarion returned the smile, feeling the same excitement she did, or rather, even more so.

“Excellent, darling!” he continued to pick the lock of the last display case, “Give me just a moment and I’ll take those off your hands. They do look terribly heavy, after all.”

She laughed softly in reply, still giddy as she waited for him to finish. Moments later, the case was finally unlocked, with Astarion grabbing  what they needed from it.

“And…one more little souvenir...” he picked up the last of the scrolls from the case, adding everything into the bag of holding they had taken with them, before reaching for the books, “...now, let me take those as well…”

Once everything had been tucked away, the bag hidden in the pocket of his jacket, he pulled Syanna into a kiss, smiling and pouring all his affection into it as he drew her closer to himself, holding her there, leaving not even a semblance of distance between them. 

It was all so surreal to him, so thrilling, finally having promising information on being able to walk during the day once more. Even if he had learned to accept the shadows as a part of himself, it was still something that he missed and wanted to enjoy once more.

In their excitement, the kiss became more passionate, touches were suddenly filled with a need for even more closeness than before, with their hands roaming over each other, wherever they could reach, a need that was punctuated by how they gripped and squeezed and lingered. That, combined with the inherent risk of them being in a restricted area made everything all the more exhilarating, small groans of pleasure leaving them both as the kiss deepened. 

A sigh left Syanna as she pulled away, almost breathless. Astarion’s hands lingered on her as he went to kiss her neck instead.

“You know, darling, I think this counts as us sneaking away…” he trailed off.

She exhaled, an amused noise leaving her.

“That would be true, yes.”

Astarion hummed in further agreement as he moved, guiding her towards a wall until her back was against it, a small gasp leaving her as he pressed himself against her, one hand moving lower and lower until he could grip one of her legs, bringing it up and wrapping it around himself. 

“So…I was thinking we could take advantage of that…” he continued, leaning in closer, pausing when their lips were barely touching. 

Syanna nodded, her eyes half-lidded.

“We could.” she grew serious for a moment, “Is it-”

He kissed her again, smiling into it once more, before she could finish her question. He knew what it would be. And he loved her even more for it, something which always touched him, again and again, each time she would ask it.

It all made him positively giddy with excitement, which only made him want her more.

“Gods, yes.”

Syanna smiled as Astarion returned his attention to her neck, gently nibbling along it in between kisses. She, in turn, began to run a hand through his curls, gently letting her nails scratch along his scalp, enjoying the little hums of approval he let out at the sensation, all while her other hand came to a stop on his waist. A hum of her own left her lips as she felt Astarion lingering on a particular spot on her neck, especially paying attention to it as he kissed her there, his tongue teasing and licking, his fangs gently grazing, the question silent, before he uttered even a word. 

“May I, darling?”

She tilted her head to the side, fully exposing her neck to him.

“Always, yes…”

Placing another kiss on the same spot, he then bit her, his fangs piercing her skin, trying to be as gentle as he could, his free hand slowly caressing her, his touch soothing her. Even so, his bite still made her groan from the sensation, the pain mixing with the arousal that had started to slowly make its way through her. Her grip on him tightened as he drank from her, the leg he had wrapped around himself trying to draw him even closer, followed by her quickened breath, her racing heart, another gasp leaving her as she felt his own arousal growing, pressed against her as he was. 

Moments passed, and he pulled away from her neck, but not before applying slight pressure to the small wounds to stop the blood flow from them. 

Smiling, she looked at him through half lidded eyes before pulling him into a kiss,not caring and not bothered in the slightest by the taste of blood that still lingered on him. 

It all felt hazy, with nothing else mattering in that moment, only him and how he made her feel.

How tantalizingly close he was, pressing and grinding himself against her once he had hiked up the fabric of her dress, having moved it out of the way.

How he then went to run his fingers over one of her ears, making her shiver.

How, at some point she couldn’t quite pinpoint, his hand had left her thigh, instead slipping between her legs, lightly teasing her through the fabric of her lingerie, all while his other one made its way down from her ear to her throat, and lower still, until it reached her breast, palming and teasing and kneading it. 

How utterly breathless his kiss left her.

How their eyes didn’t leave each other, too caught up in one another as they were.

And, as was always the case, how she wanted nothing more than to reciprocate that, to spoil him in all the ways she knew he liked. So, she let her own hands roam over him, wherever she could reach, teasing touches lingering, insisting wherever he particularly enjoyed them. 

In turn, he was emboldened by it all, tugging at her underwear, moving it to the side before letting his fingers ghost over her. Teasing her for what seemed to be the longest moments, a soft moan left her when he eventually parted her folds, finally applying that exquisite pressure that he knew she enjoyed to her clit, followed by the way his fingers rubbed and then moved along her, making her moan yet again, something which was always most delectable to him. 

Wanting more of those noises from her, to see more of those reactions that always spurred him on, always adding to his own enjoyment, he began to tease her entrance. Humming in approval once he saw just how much of an effect he had on her already, he returned his full attention to her clit, rubbing circles on it as she moved her hips, chasing more of his touch. His mouth found hers once more, muffling the sounds of pleasure that left her as he continued to spoil her. 

And he so enjoyed spoiling her, lavishing her with his full attention whenever they made love…

So he did just that, his fingers continuing their ministrations, as he still kissed her, be it on her lips, along her jaw or even lower, on her neck until she was crying out for him, her climax having built and built until it finally washed over her, its intensity rippling through her as she held onto him, her grip on him tighter than before. 

Eventually, Syanna shifted slightly, letting her hands wander lower on him until they reached his trousers, where she began to tease and stroke him through the fabric, enjoying the way he groaned and pressed himself against her palm. Or the way he then moved towards her when she pulled her hand away, which only made her grin.

“Patience, love…” she teased, as she unbuttoned his trousers, lowering them alongside his underwear, finally freeing him. 

“You’re a-” another groan left him as she ran a finger along his length, with her then teasing his sensitive tip, “a cheeky little thing…”

“Only for you.” she smiled, kissing him as she carried on, spreading the precum that had already begun to gather before gently grasping him, her hand beginning to move along him. 

Slowly.

Deliberately. 

Intent on having him enjoy himself thoroughly. 

Listening to each moan and each sigh that left him as she continued her movements, pumping him in her hand, her thumb teasing his tip, her other hand on his chest. 

Astarion then took her by surprise - stilling her movements, he then gripped her, lifting her up, her arms and legs wrapping around him as he kissed her hungrily. 

He wanted so much more of her, to feel her warmth, her heat, everything that she was and that she would give. 

Pressing himself against her once again, he left no distance, no space whatsoever between them, wanting nothing more than that absolute closeness between them. 

And he kept moving in closer, kept pushing against her, until he was crawling up the wall and then onto the ceiling with her, something which made her let out a squeal, both surprised and delighted by the change, followed by the way she tightened her grip around him. 

“This is new.” she couldn’t help the grin that appeared on her face. 

“Well, I am a paragon of innovation, after all.” he smirked.

“Then-,” Syanna could only giggle, “-why don’t you show me what you had in mind?”

Astarion kissed her, his body keeping hers pinned against the ceiling, something which only made her moan softly as she felt him so close to her, his hips moving once more, grinding against her. 

Arousal gripping her once more, she moved one of her hands between them, reaching for his cock, taking and guiding him between her legs, to her entrance. Moans left them both as he pushed inside of her, so easily and so eagerly. 

Then, as he began to thrust into her, she found the sensation entirely different than usual, given their current position. While he was technically on top of her, it was also true that she was the one above him, which only made her want to meet his movements even more, eagerly matching his pace and rhythm each time, the intensity of it all enough to drive her mad. 

There were barely any coherent thoughts left in her, only the way that she focused on him, on each thrust and drag of him inside of her.

On how he too was starting to unravel, his movements becoming more erratic as he indulged in her more and more, his eyes not leaving her. 

How her body tensed, both from the sheer pleasure of it all, and from the strangeness of being on the ceiling, as if she was bracing for a fall at any moment. She knew that Astarion wouldn’t let that happen, that he would hold her there, safely and securely, she trusted him to do so, but the sensation remained all the same.

Then, there was the way in which the purr of his voice would bring him and only him back into focus once more.

“Eyes on me, love.”

She complied with his request, which only added to the overwhelming sensations and pleasure she was feeling. Seeing him that way, so genuinely enjoying himself, taking his own pleasure just as much as he was giving Syanna her own, hearing those amazing noises that he made in the moment - all the ways in which he would moan, or whimper, or groan - alongside the way he seemed to just want to bury himself in her until they became one…

It was electrifying, as if sparks would soon fly from the sheer fervor of it all. 

And he would not stop, making her moan so wantonly, louder with each thrust that reached that spot which always drove her mad, more and more, until finally, he brought her over the edge once more, with Astarion following soon after as his own release came over him and into her. 

Sparks were too insignificant a word to describe how they both felt.

Astarion couldn’t help the breath that he exhaled.

“Tell me something, darling…”

She looked at him curiously.

“...Why did it take us so long to try this?” he finished his question.

Syanna laughed.

“Well, you know they say, better late than never and all that.”

He hummed in approval, relaxing ever so slightly into her.

Then, he tensed up.

“Syanna, darling? You might want to hide us with one of your spells right about now.”

Nodding, she quickly cast an invisibility spell on the both of them just as the door opened.

The guard from earlier entered the room, muttering something about useless coworkers.

Astarion couldn’t help but grin at the man’s tirade.

“First that useless bastard forgets to lock this door, then there’s the weird noises coming from exactly this room…I swear, if there’s another possessed artifact here, I’m quitting tomorrow…Unless someone snuck in, then I’m getting fired tomorrow. Either way, good riddance.”

He then continued walking the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary, all while still ranting,  before stopping abruptly.

“You know what? Fuck this. I’m quitting tonight. If someone did sneak in here, good for them. And if something got stolen? That stuck up bastard had it coming.”

His mind made up, the guard turned around, leaving the room. Once the door behind him had closed and been locked - no doubt the guard covering his tracks - Syanna dropped the invisibility spell. Both she and Astarion were grinning before they burst into laughter.

“Well, goes to show what being a bad employer gets you.”Astarion quipped. 

Syanna was still giggling. She then cleared her throat.

“Good for that guard though. Now, let’s go, before someone less disgruntled decides to do the rounds.”

Agreeing with her, Astarion began to move across the ceiling and down onto the wall, with Syanna holding on to him for dear life, now that she was no longer distracted by him. 

Once back on solid ground, they both made themselves as presentable as possible before looking for a way to leave the room. 

After all, it wouldn’t do at all, to cause any problems for their friend, the guard. 

“I think the windows here,” she pointed towards the opposite wall, “actually face the gardens. With any luck, they won’t be too crowded.” she then turned to look at Astarion, “So I’m thinking we just fly out of here, and avoid anyone out there that way.” 

Astarion nodded, agreeing with her as he took out the bag of holding, searching for a scroll of Grant flight to use on himself. 

She then opened the window.

“Let’s go then, darling.” he pressed a quick kiss to her lips,”I can’t wait to get back to our room now.”

She grinned.

“Is that so?”

“Well,there’s plenty to celebrate, wouldn’t you say so? And you did mention something about spoiling me in any way I would want once we got back, didn’t you, darling?” he purred.

Syanna couldn’t help but laugh, a low, throaty, delightful  sound, which he enjoyed greatly when it came from her. 

Incorrigible, indeed. 

[tiklrdee]

I don't normally post about my session experiences (frankly bc I haven't had too many yet and I try to consult with all parties involved first) but I had to share my session from last night (with her permission ofc). More info under the cut bc it's a lengthier post

So last night, I got to session with @thaliatickleslut and that was a super fun night. This wasn't the first time I've gotten to meet up with her, but definitely a memorable one lol. We started things as usual with me just tickling her feet and her pretending like it didn't even tickle that much as her face is buried in her hands. That leads to tickling different places all over her and I'll spare some detail because it'd be way too long to type, but by the end, her whole face was red from laughter and she spent 95% of the time with her hoodie covering her eyes or burying her face into the ground, but she couldn't hide her laughing. I got to use some of the new tools I've been wanting to try. Some of them had better results than others. To switch things up, we played a little trivia game where I started off easy to give her a false sense of hope. By the 3rd question which I knew she didn't know the answer to, she was trying to list off every single character she could possibly think of to no avail. Then later to be even more sadistic, there was no bondage (aside from her being pinned by my own body) but at one point, I released her arms and made her hold them above her head while I relentlessly attacked her armpits. I also used her own words against her by reciting off some of the things she's said and posted verbatim and then proceeded to do those exact things irl.

Overall, we went for over 3 hours. I gotta give credit where credit is due though, she was a tough nut to crack in tapping out this time. In the past, we've gone about an hour or so, but tonight was 3x as long with me spending significantly more time in much more ticklish areas. I ultimately got her to tap out when I targeted one of her death spots relentlessly until she finally caved. Although I won't admit it to her, I was exhausted and my hands were SO tired after we finished. Only feedback was to use some type of lotion or oil next time bc of the amount of friction after hours of tickling. I know how ticklish she is without anything added, so I can't wait to see how much more it'll be when I add oil.

[prettypumpum]

Title: Crossed Dimensions I Logan Howlett x Reader

Summary: You were living an ordinary life until the day a portal throws you into the Marvel universe. Trapped between an unbearable Deadpool and a Wolverine as troubling as he is charming, you discover powers you didn't know you had and an unknown past with certain heroes. As your anxiety grows in the face of this new reality, will you be able to find your place and perhaps become the hero they need?

Warnings: strong language, mentions of violence.

Previous part / Masterlist

Chapter 2

“Rise and shine.”

I jolted awake to find Wade’s face uncomfortably close to mine.

“Why don’t you just teleport?” the mercenary asked, visibly disappointed.

“I don’t know, Wade, I can’t control my powers. But believe me, it’s in the top 5 of my to-do list,” I replied, getting up from the couch and rubbing my face.

“Leave her alone,” Logan grumbled from the kitchen. I joined him, grabbing the cereal box on the counter. I didn’t even recognize this brand. This universe was so different from mine. Oddly, the most disturbing part wasn’t that the Avengers existed or had superpowers, but rather the little details, like different logos or stores and restaurants in completely different locations.

“Do we have oat milk?” I asked, staring at the strange tiger on the box.

“We don’t even have regular milk, so forget your fancy whims, princess,” Al replied, fiddling with a small bag of white powder.

Great, so no milk, but we still had hard drugs. At least the household priorities were clear.

“We’ll add it to the shopping list,” Wade grinned, grabbing a small notepad and a unicorn pen.

“And with what money?” the old lady asked, outraged.

“About that, I was waiting for everyone to wake up,” Wade said calmly, fixing his gaze on me to emphasize that I was the “everyone.” “I called one of my contacts, Dopinder, and he found us a mission for our team!” he added enthusiastically, clapping his hands.

“What team?” Logan asked, clearly already on edge.

“Ours,” Wade replied, pointing at Logan and me.

“Hell no, I’ve got my own plans,” Logan growled, getting up to rinse his coffee mug.

“And what, you’re just gonna go back to living in the wild forests of glorious Canada like an animal until some old Japanese guy tries to steal your powers?” Wade asked.

“That’s exactly my plan,” Logan replied, not understanding half of what Wade had rambled but clearly wanting to end the conversation.

“I knew you’d be hard to convince, so I prepared a little PowerPoint,” Wade said, opening his laptop to show a slide titled, Reasons to Convince Logan and Lydia to Be My Best Friends (And More if We Feel Like It).

“Reason 1,” Wade said, pressing a key, triggering a star transition so tacky even Al cringed. “You’d really make me happy.” The image showed a little cartoon Deadpool hugging a tiny Lydia and a tiny Logan. “Number 2,” another horrid transition, “Disney saw the money they made off of us and they want a sequel, maybe with a love story. Reason 3: if you don’t come, you’ll ruin the whole team-sandwich aesthetic. People won’t get it if we lose the mustard,” Wade explained, outraged.

“I’m done with your nonsense,” Logan groaned, heading towards the bathroom.

“Reason 69: we’re out of booze and you’re out of cash!” Wade shouted, frantically looking for slide 69, which featured a little Logan looking delighted at a giant whiskey bottle.

Logan seemed to be weighing his options, but they weren’t any better than mine. He rubbed his temples, finally relenting.

“Fine, alright,” he grumbled as he walked into the bathroom.

Wade couldn’t have been happier. He was literally bouncing with self-applause, then turned his gaze to me.

“I have another PowerPoint for you, in 130 parts,” he said, searching through his files. “Here it is,” he said, opening a file titled, My Super Arguments for a Threesome with Logan and Lydia, Part 1: I Have Lots of Fun Toys. “Oops, that’s not it. You saw nothing,” he said to the wall.

“Why do you even want me to come? I’ll just slow you down.”

“Logan’s the muscle, you’re our emotional support, and I’m our brave and fearless leader, not influenced by Captain America at all,” Wade said as if it were obvious. “Come on, it’ll be fun. And most importantly, we need cocaine for Al; trust me, this place will get unbearable without it,” he whispered like it was a terrible secret.

I had two choices: go on this mission and, at worst, get shot, or stay stuck in this apartment with a coke-addicted grandma going through withdrawal.

“Alright, I’ll come.”

“Great!” Wade cheered. “You’ll see, it’s going to be awesome.”

Honestly, I doubted it.

It was not awesome. I’d been stuck in this damned forest for hours. At first, everything was fine. I’d met Wade’s smuggler friend, who talked way too much, and the mission was simple: we had to take out a drug lord with a bounty on his head. But we hadn’t expected the guy to be armed to the teeth with alien weaponry. We found out the hard way after Wade mocked the boss’s haircut, and the guy fired a laser that left a huge hole in Wade’s abdomen. Logan barely had time to grab him, and I managed to teleport us into the forest. The problem was, we didn’t know where we were and had lost track of our target.

“Do you smell anything?” I asked Logan.

“They’re not nearby. We can rest while this idiot regenerates,” replied the mutant, still on guard.

He didn’t seem bothered by the surroundings; his powers helped with that. Wade, on the other hand, still hadn’t regained consciousness. Watching his broken body was both fascinating and gross.

“Did you talk to Laura last night?” Logan suddenly asked.

“Yeah, we chatted a bit… she wants to spend some time with us,” I replied, a little uncomfortable with this conversation. Co-parenting was challenging enough, but adding a multiverse element made it insane.

“I know, she told me,” Logan replied. “If you’re not comfortable with it, don’t feel obligated.”

Honestly, I wasn’t comfortable with it. I started fiddling with my coat sleeves, avoiding eye contact, and instead focused on Wade’s wound.

“No, it doesn’t bother me,” I replied in a small voice. “But this whole situation is completely crazy.”

“Tell me about it,” he said, smiling.

He was really handsome. I’d never been a superhero fan, but I’d always had a crush on Logan, and seeing him in real life was pretty overwhelming. The TVA had offered to send me back to my universe, but I’d refused. That would’ve been even weirder—to be in a world without mutants, with teleportation and healing powers. That would complicate things, especially if I lived as long as Logan.

“I’m sorry for getting us lost,” I said, lifting my head. I couldn’t control my powers, and I didn’t even know if Dreamwalker was a real character in the comics.

“It’s alright. The most important thing is that you got us to safety. And the real problem is this idiot. He’s the one holding us back,” Logan said, pointing at Wade. He hadn’t enjoyed the plane ride, and it was a miracle Wade’s buddy was still alive.

“Do you still want to finish this mission?” I asked, a bit resigned.

“Damn right, we’re finishing this mission!” said a voice behind me. “Look at what he did to my suit. I just patched it up! People have no respect,” the mercenary said, examining the damage. “And look at you, Mr. Grumpy—there are bloodstains everywhere. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that out of this beautiful yellow suit I just stitched up?”

“By the way, how did you fix it? Because from what I remember, there was nothing left to save,” I asked.

“For convenience, I’d say it’s magic, even though I know you loved the old suit, you little pervert,” Wade replied.

I couldn’t help but lower my head, blushing. I could feel Logan’s eyes on the back of my neck. It was true, I’d had trouble forming a complete sentence after he’d disappeared.

“So, what’s the plan now?” I asked, hugging myself and trying to change the subject. But Wade kept staring, and even under the mask, I could guess his little smile and nonexistent eyebrow wiggle.

“We’re gonna kill that guy, then celebrate with mojitos. Come on, gang!” Wade said, clapping his hands and starting to walk.

I shot a small glance at Logan, who hadn’t taken his eyes off me.

“We’ll finish our conversation later,” he said. I nodded in response. “Not that way,” Logan yelled at Wade.

“I know, I was testing you,” Wade said, turning back. “Is it this way? No question, I totally know where I’m going.”

Logan groaned but followed Wade. It was the first time he’d gone this long without trying to maim the mercenary. And honestly, I already pitied the guy with the ridiculous haircut and his henchmen.

[ineffable-doll]

Tips on writing fanfic summaries

No one has asked for this nor has any reason to listen to me, but I see folks complain about this part of fic writing rather often, soooo here are some tips for writing fic summaries that I’ve learned after writing over 160 of them and reading many thousands of them:

-Keep it as short as you can, as long summaries can be daunting. If your summary is more than a few sentences, consider finding a natural place to break it into sections. If you include a snippet, don’t make it too long of one.

-Use a tone that matches the tone of the writing. This helps people understand what they’re getting into. E.g. if it’s a humorous fic, consider including a joke in the summary.

-Make your premise clear. The main point of the summary is to tell the reader what to expect (which the tags can elaborate on), so if your summary may leave a reader going, “Okay, but what’s it about?” then consider including more information. It’s good to build intrigue, but not to confuse. This is where a beta reader or a little assistance in a fandom Discord server can be useful.

-If the first sentence of your fic is strong/intriguing (your classic “hook,” basically), that often makes for a great summary.

-Don’t disparage yourself in the summary. Unsurprisingly, this makes readers not want to read it. Just don’t disparage yourself in general, in the tags or notes or on tumblr or anywhere, it’s a terrible habit and unkind to yourself and everyone who reads your words. It’s okay if you’re not confident, but bullying yourself isn’t going to help. (For the Good Omens fans: shouting at your plants won’t actually help them grow.)

-Feel free to provide several different versions of a summary in the summary. Such as, if you have a detailed explanation you worry may be overwhelming, you could include something underneath that lists keywords to catch the eye. Example: [long thing about your fantasy au] (A Fantasy AU with dragons, curses, and True Love’s Kiss.) I especially like doing the multi-summary trick with 5+1s.

-Read other people’s summaries and pay attention to what style of summary makes you want to read, and what makes you scroll. If you find a fic writer with summaries that you consistently like, go through their page and “study” what tricks they may be employing. Suspense? Humor? Snappy snippets?

-Bold certain words or lines that you want to have pop out. Like I’ve been doing this whole time! On AO3, this means adding a <b> and a </b> on each end of the desired text (or a <i> and a </i> for italicization).

-There are no rules do what you want forever

These are just my opinions, but I hope someone finds them helpful. Remember that this is fanfic, you’re not selling anything, and you should focus on having fun – but these tips can help you find your readers with more accuracy, and your readers to find you.

Feel free to add your own tips. <3

[the-irken-pony]

Compilation of disorganized facts (and derived headcanons) about The Henry Stickmin Collection's "narrator"

First thing’s first, since I typed more than I should’ve for a single bullet point.

Who is this “narrator” anyways?

In this post I’m talking about the implied source of the fail screens, bios, and certain other interactions in the game (which I’ll get into as we go. It’s implied that this character is the same across these different sources of meta interactions.

It is possible that this character is a self-insert of PuffballsUnited, but for the sake of this post we'll assume that this isn't Actually Puff. I feel weird tying my blorbo detail-plucking thoughts to an actual person and don’t want anyone making assumptions about Puff based on anything listed here, plus certain things may be added, exaggerated, omitted, etc. to the character for comedic effect in a way that further delineates the two. (tl;dr narrator ≠ author)

The wiki (derogatory) notes a theory that this character could be Wilson Stone. Granted, it’s not an entirely groundless theory: there is no message on the fail screen for D.E.B., which could be seen as a result of Wilson dying. I disagree with this for a couple of reasons: Wilson is referred to in the third person in his bio, the narrator makes a disdainful comment about the CCC having a surplus of nukes in CtM (there’s little reason for Wilson to be opposed to nukes but not a dark energy bomb), and Wilson’s voice is different from the narrator’s (I’ll get to that later).

The general fandom consensus that I've seen uses "the narrator", but this character/being/whatever isn't known by any name officially, nor any pronouns. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to this character as "the meta" or “the meta voice” and use they/them and it/its interchangeably for them (partly to distinguish from the large surplus of male characters). I prefer “meta” over “narrator” and “commentator” because it doesn’t really narrate anything, it gives more than just commentary, and just because it rolls off the tongue better.

More on the meta

It comments frequently on Henry’s stupidity, but it’s hard to truly baffle them. Not that Henry hasn’t managed to before in fails such as Cheese and Distract.

Getting the obvious out of the way, they’re known to crack jokes of all sorts, including memes, wordplay, references, & callbacks.

Lots of these jokes are at the expense of Henry, the player, or someone else. It frequently makes disparaging comments about the player or Henry in general; more common jabs include fatphobic comments toward Henry or making fun of the player’s poor skill.

Speaking of Henry and the player, it typically uses “you” for both you (the player) and Henry himself, but it does also differentiate between us and Henry, such as in the Duplicatorange fail and Toppy fails, even noting you to not be a stick figure

Not only are they aware of the player and Henry as separate, but they’re also aware that you’re playing a game.

The meta seems to have the most control over the timeline, including what counts as a “fail” and when a fail cuts off, as shown in the duplicatorange and invisibility pill fails.

It has a certain amount of control over the nature of the game itself. The slingshot fail in FtC has them creating various popups that the player must click through to get an achievement. This power isn’t limitless though: the CorrupTick fail in particular shows that things can fall out of their control.

They’re capable of summoning objects (this is implied in Dance Off v4 and outright confirmed in the Lockpick fail).

The free transform option also shows that it has the ability to directly alter people in-universe. The mind control fail implies that it may also be able to outright control people to an extent, but finds this difficult and thus avoids doing so.

They seem to exist in a flux state between being “the game master” and simply being a bystander. It knows at least a little bit about nearly every character in the game and has some control over the environment, but it also reacts to events as though it’s just a spectator and seeing things for the first time.

On a related note, they seem to be in a state between being “in” the game and existing outside of it. Things that would wipe out everyone in the vicinity have no effect on it, but things that alter things on a meta level (such as the corrupted disk, Goodball, and CorrupTick fails) do affect them in various ways.

They aren’t omniscient. They have info on nearly everyone, but they don’t know everything. A lot of their comments in fails seem to be guesswork, and their bios for some people, notably Ellie, are very lacking.

It can feel pain. They complain about their ears hurting from the high pitched sound of the sonic pulse. At the same time, it isn’t nearly as sensitive as Henry or other stick figures and can survive the subsonic wave with little consequence.

It can, supposedly, use the bathroom.

The duplicatorange and invisibility pill both imply that the meta voice has some sentimental attachment to Henry, triggering a fail screen whenever they lose track of Henry.

Related to the above, it seems to have a vested interest in keeping Henry alive, despite having killed Henry themself. Revenged is notable as an ending for the fact that Henry dies in every outcome, and The Betrayed isn’t much better in this regard.

It also shows mild concern for Henry’s wellbeing in RPE/RBH, asking him if his head is okay.

While it’s unknown if they know all languages, they do at least seem to know German, specifically commenting on Friedrich Spielen’s nonsensical German.

They can sleep and even dream; in the G-inverter fail they comment that they “had a nightmare like this”. It’s unknown whether they need sleep or if sleep is simply recreational for them.

I don’t know if the above indicates that they used to be affected by gravity or if they simply had a dream about being affected by gravity, but given their ability to simply hover at a point in the air or even outer space, they probably aren’t affected by gravity at any point that we know them.

The meta is aware of other timelines, making a reference to Charles during the helicopter fail in Toppat King.

While it doesn’t have a known physical appearance, it does occasionally emote with hand-drawn “emoticons”, some of which are even animated.

On rare occasions, it can conjure Twitch emotes or even a full animation of a stick figure.

Feel free to add if you think of anything!

[jimblejamblewritings]

the fake date plot | part 2.

Summary: Gryffindors, seventh years, classmates, unrequited love. Just a few things Y/N and James Potter had in common. When a brilliantly dumb plan is hatched the two end up getting something a little different than what they wanted.

Warnings for the Series: literally none that I can think of this is supposed to be just good fluffy fun

Pairing: James Potter x reader

Word Count: 4.7k

Previous Part | (Series Chapter List)

James passed a note to you after you sat down for Transfiguration. It was the start of a drawing. You added a few details before passing it back to him. The two of you kept doing that the whole class. It wasn’t really to make people think anything but every little bit counted. You could feel his friends’ eyes on the two of you, burning holes into your back.

You supposed you would be confused too but it’s not like the story was unbelievable. You and James were class partners and talked every day until you became friends and then something more. But were you guys moving too fast as friends? You didn’t have time to think about that because class was ending and James stood up before turning back to look at you. 

“Do you actually share a dorm with Lily, Marlene, Mary, and Dorcas?” 

“Yeah,” you said as you packed up your textbooks. “Why?” 

You and James were now walking through the hallways together. He shook his head. 

“No reason. They just mentioned it when I said I invited you to the party.” 

“Sorry again that I couldn’t go.” 

“Don’t mention it, not a problem. But you can make it up to me.” 

“Oh no, how?” 

“Ravenclaw’s having a party, come with the rest of us.” 

“Ravenclaw?” 

James raised an eyebrow as he answered you with a yes. He had sent you an owl yesterday evening to tell you the plan. You knew there was a party and you were going to say yes. Why were you suddenly acting like the entire plan didn’t exist? 

“I don’t really know, Xeno is gon—” 

“Y/N, stop.” James realized the problem. “We’re going to the party, you’re gonna show him how hot you are, and you’re going to be the baddest bitch at the party and make Xenophilius Lovegood want to show you how he loves good. Now say it with me.” 

“That was a horrible pun.” 

“Y/N, say it.” 

James swung his school bag over his shoulder and went to grab your shoulders. He shook you a little before moving his hands to cup your face, squishing your cheeks a little. He chuckled softly at you looking like a chipmunk. You looked him up and down as best as you could. Seeing him away from a school desk, James was taller than you thought. He always seemed like a short king when you were just class partners. He gave you a pointed look. You took a deep breath.  

“I’m going to be the baddest bitch at the party,” you whispered. 

“More confidence.”

“I’m gonna be the baddest bitch at the party!” 

“And?” 

“I’m going to make Xenophilius Lovegood… realize I’m a bad bitch?” 

“Good enough.” 

You went your separate ways at the top of the staircase, you going to History and him going with his friends to Charms. James ignored the others, not even bothering to fill Wormtail in when he entered the classroom. He was thrown off script and didn’t know what to tell them that would help the plan. They just saw him try to help you figure out how to get with Xeno. 

The other three weren’t focused on that. They were focused on James daring to call another girl hot in the public of the corridors. He was so head over heels for Lily that he would normally never dare someone misconstruing his words about another woman. You two must have been closer than they thought if he was willing to risk being overheard.

Of course they didn’t say anything when you waved to James at lunch before sitting with Alice and her roommates at the Hufflepuff table — sitting with James wasn’t supposed to start happening for another nine days. 

They did, however, say something when James started leaving his dorm early. Remus set down his book when he saw James putting on his shoes. 

“Mate, where are you going? The party isn’t for another two hours or so and you’re not dressed.” 

“Y/N wanted help getting dressed.” 

James ignored their laughing and went up to the girls’ dorm to find you. He knocked on your door only to be greeted by Marlene. 

“Why the fuck are you here?” 

“Hello, Marls. This is a new way of saying hi to me.” 

“Well, we’re in the middle of getting ready so we don’t have time right now, James.” 

“Is Y/N in there?” 

“She’s in the shower.” 

“Great. Are you all dressed? Can I come in?” 

Marlene swung the door open in confusion. James made himself comfortable on the only empty bed, assuming it was yours. He noticed the room looked like the Marauders’ dorm. You must have suggested it to them. He stared at the ceiling while the other girls watched his every movement. They all piled onto Lily’s bed to just stare at him. He turned his head towards the bathroom door when your humming turned into full blown sing-screaming. 

He looked at your nightstand, spotting a sewing machine and a book of patterns. James flipped through the book until you finally came out. You jumped when you opened the bathroom door. Still in your towel, you forgot you had asked James to help you get dressed. He sat up and immediately slapped his hand over his eyes. 

“Give me your best outfit,” he said. 

You went to your wardrobe and took out the outfit you had prepared. James took his hand away when you tapped him on the shoulder. You frowned when he didn’t clap. The boy in front of you shrugged. 

“Is there a second outfit?” 

You found something else only to barely step out of the bathroom before James shook his head. You kept finding outfits only for each to be rejected. Annoyed, you came back out in just a towel.  

“None of your outfits say that you’re hot,” James reasoned. 

“To you. What if Xeno likes it?” 

“Well, actually, I liked the last five outfits. Look, I asked Wormtail to ask the Dueling Club guys he’s friends with to find out what catches Lovegood’s eye at a party.” 

“You did?” 

“You’re welcome. And while you dress absolutely adorable for you, you just look cute.” 

“I don’t have anything else.” 

James opened the bag he came in with, dumping it out on your bed. “Which is why I am your designer for the evening. So, go ahead. Pick something.” 

You stared at all the clothes on the bed. James had a lot of random t-shirts and jeans. Very tight looking leather pants stood out the most. You were a bit curious what he could possibly do with those. You ended up putting on the pants, a Zonko’s t-shirt, and a hoodie. James clapped his hands before moving to your desk. He grabbed some white chalk and kneeled down in front of you. 

“Question.” 

“Answer.” 

“Do you want it slutty on top or slutty on the bottom?” 

“Um, I don’t really own any bras that make your cleavage nice.” 

James nodded as he marked the clothes. “Hot pants it is. I am so happy you have a sewing machine by the way.” 

He finished marking the spots on the fabric to cut before closing his eyes so you could take the clothes off and put a towel back around you. James moved to the sewing machine at your desk. You sat on your bed and watched him start cutting fabric. 

“Wait. You know how to sew but you can’t mend a hole in a jumper?” 

“Knits scare me.” 

“When did you even learn to sew?” 

“I’m an only child of elderly rich parents. I basically did everything with them when I was little… Here, is the hemming enough on the shorts or do you need the waist altered?” 

You laughed as you zipped them up. “You can see cheek!” 

“That’s kind of the point,” he said, turning around to check the fit. He looked up at your roommates. “Ladies, do you want outfits? Lily?” 

They stuttered through “no, thank you” as they just watched him, making note to definitely ask for an outfit later. You had to admit that James was a good wingman. He finished the outfit after what felt like forever to you but wasn’t very long at all.

Hesitantly, you put on the backless halter top made from the Zonko’s t-shirt and the leg warmers made from the hoodie sleeves. Your roommates made you blush with all the compliments they were throwing out as they found their own outfits. 

“You are full of surprises, James Potter,” you said as you searched your trunk for the platform shoes he suggested you wear. “What else can you do?” 

“Badminton, fencing, candy making, bowtruckle relocating, charm creating, bartending. Oh, I make an absolutely smashing saffron risotto. The trick is using gillywater instead of elf wine.”       

“Interesting.” 

James nodded as he took his own clothes into the bathroom to change. His outfit was much more understated, just jeans and a tank top. Over it was a thick corduroy button down that he left open with the sleeves rolled up because you told him you caught Lily staring at him at lunch when he had his uniform sleeves scrunched up past his elbow. 

He walked to Ravenclaw with you and your roommates, figuring the rest of the marauders were already there. Before you could walk off to go find Alice somewhere in the sea of bodies, James grabbed your elbow. He leaned down right by your ear just in case someone overheard. 

“Don’t forget, save me a dance towards the end of the night.” 

“Got it.” 

You patted him on the shoulder and went to go find your friend. Alice’s eyes widened when she saw you coming towards her. Heat rose to your face when she wolf-whistled. Your friend placed a bottle of gigglebeer in your hand. You took a swig, face scrunching up at the initial taste before a little laugh escaped you. 

“Do you want to dance? I want to dance!” 

You started jumping up and down to the music before receiving an actual answer. Another bottle was placed in your hands the moment you finished the first one. Your feet couldn’t handle the jumping in platform shoes anymore so you settled for swaying. You lost sight of Alice after twirling too much. Shrugging your shoulders, you tried to find your roommates or James. 

You incessantly tapped on the back of some brunette that was taller than you. The man stopped talking to turn around. Your eyes went wide at seeing Xenophilius’ friend — Xeno was the person he had been speaking to. 

“Sorry, I thought you were someone else… Have you seen my roommates?” you yelled over the loud music. 

Xeno eyed you up and down. You remembered what James said on the way to the party and turned around. While you pretended to look for your roommates, you gave your crush a view of your open back top and your leather shorts that had surely ridden up by now and exposed more cheek. A hand on your shoulder made you turn back around. 

“I like your outfit,” Xeno said. Up close, you could see his face was flushed from the alcohol. 

“Thank you! James made it for me.” 

“Potter?” 

“I don’t know any other Jameses.” 

“Where is he now?” 

You shrugged before pointing to his nearly empty drink. “Are you gonna finish that?” 

“No, I’m not really a fan of Phoenix Sours. I’m gonna get a firewhiskey from the table.” 

He handed you the drink. You were ready to dance again, happy that the music had picked back up. You grabbed Xeno by the bicep and tried to drag him to the middle of the room. 

“Come dance with me!” 

“Let me get a drink first.” 

“Okay! I’m gonna dance!”   

You watched him go to the drinks table but went to the middle of Ravenclaw’s common room. A large smile reached your face when you found the person you were originally looking for. 

“Jamie! Oops, sorry, too loud. Jamie,” you said in an exaggerated whisper. “Hi, Lily.” 

“Hello, tipsy,” she said. “James, I’ll let you know when the poker circle is finished or whatever we end up doing.”  

“Sounds good,” he said before turning his attention on you. “Glad you remembered that dance.”  

You both held each other’s free hand and just wiggled around for a little bit. You were on cloud nine from the gigglebeer. James spun you around so his chest was flush against your back. His hand rested on your waist as the two of you swayed and grinded to the rhythm. Checking to see where Xeno was, James angled the two of you to be in the man’s eyeline. 

Your eyes were closing until your dance partner suddenly stopped. With a pout, you turned around to find out why. His friends and your roommates were standing there, inviting the two of you to the small circle in the corner of the common room playing a mixture of truth or dare, who’s most likely to, and go fish. Xenophilius’ group was there as well. 

“Okay!” 

You stumbled before actually making it to the circle. James steadied you. He turned you around to see your eyes half shut.  

“Y/N, how much have you had to drink?” 

“I don’t know,” you mumbled with a shrug. “Like five?” 

“Like five?” 

“Yeah,” you said with a nod. “I love alcohol!” 

James laughed. “Is this your first time drinking?” 

“How’d you know?” 

You shuddered before dropping your head on James’ chest. He began to take off his corduroy button down. You sighed in relief at the warm fabric covering your shoulders, letting your friend move your arms into the sleeves of the shirt. 

“Alright, let’s get you someplace to lay down… Hey, guys, I think Y/N is done partying. I’m gonna take her back to Gryffindor.” 

The others pouted because James could be the life of the party but said their goodbyes. You wiggled out of his hold to say goodnight to everyone. Your roommates laughed as you gave everyone in the circle a sloppy kiss on the cheek, including Xeno and his friends. 

“Goodnight, everyone. I love you.” 

“We love you too, Y/N.” 

You stumbled once more. James stopped you. The party circle watched him kneel down to undo the straps on your platforms. James put the shoes in your hands, making you promise to hold on to them tightly. You nodded with the utmost seriousness. He turned around, still kneeling. 

“Okay, get on.” 

Clumsily, you did as he said. “Ooh, Jamie, you’re tall.” 

“Yes, bug.” 

“Jamie?” 

“Yes, bug?” 

“You’re very strong.” 

He laughed as you left Ravenclaw. “I’d hope so, I am captain of the quidditch team. Plus, I’m the one who carries Moony’s sorry ass back through the castle.” 

“Why do you have to carry Remus?” 

“Um, he’s a lightweight like you.” 

“I’m not a lightweight.” 

“Do you know how much alcohol is in gigglebeer?” 

“A lot.” 

“Not nearly as much as you think. Like I said, lightweight.” 

James was certain you fell asleep by the time he reached Gryffindor tower. Your head was slumped on his shoulder and you weren’t babbling anymore. He didn’t think letting you be alone in your room was a smart idea so he took the stairs on the right to go up to his dorm. You woke up when he set you down on the bathroom counter. 

“Accio Y/N’s bathroom stuff.” 

James started sorting through your stuff and you just looked at him. He organized everything in a row so he could get started helping you. James uncapped the tube of toothpaste to spread it on your toothbrush. You sighed as he ran the toothbrush under the running water of the faucet. 

“Jamie, you’re really pretty.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Not as pretty as Xeno.” 

“Well, I don’t think anyone’s beating Xeno in your eyes. Open.” 

You let him brush your teeth, looking him in the eye the entire time. James was careful as he washed your face. He made sure the foam cleanser didn’t get in your eye and that water from the towel didn’t drip all over you. He held you by the shoulders. 

“Can you manage a shower by yourself?” 

You took a breath. “No.” 

“At least you’re honest,” he muttered. “Do you want my help or do you just want to change? Y/N, understand me. It means you will be naked in front of me.” 

You nodded. “Help please.” 

“Okay.” He looked at the shower. “You aren’t getting in that without an accident.” 

James added the plug to the sink and let the water run until the basin was filled up. He told you, as he soaked a washcloth, that he was gonna help you wash the bottom half first and then the top half. James looked you in the eye, not moving his gaze from anywhere that wasn’t your face. He helped you into a pair of his briefs and his sweatpants before setting you back on the counter. 

“What’s so funny?” he asked while passing the washcloth up and down your back. 

“Most people stare at my boobs, Mary says they’re really nice.” 

“I’m sure they are.” He helped put his quidditch sweatshirt on you. “What did you say?” 

“I’m sorry I made you leave the party early,” you said once you popped your head out of the sweatshirt. 

“None of that. I didn’t realize you never drank before. I would’ve taken you out to Hog’s Head first to know your limit.” 

“But you were going to do something with Lily.” 

“It was just a card game with everyone else, nothing even remotely romantic. We’re in the same friend group.” 

“Oh, right.” 

“You need sleep.” 

James made sure you were actually in bed first before he went to take a shower and change. You snuggled into a pillow and listened to his singing. It was actually sweet sounding, very different from what you expected him to sound like. 

He was shocked, as he exited the bathroom putting on his glasses, to see you were still up. He held up your wand, telling you he was putting it on his desk at the head of his bed so you could find it in the morning. Your hand shot out from underneath the comforter to grab his wrist. 

“Don’t sleep on the floor. The carpet isn’t very soft.” 

“Are you sure?” 

You nodded. James set up a pillow barrier between the two of you and bid you goodnight. He set his glasses on the nightstand right next to him that blocked his face from the rest of the room. The two of you let the darkness lull you to sleep. 

The other marauders came in a little after midnight. They were going to ask James if he successfully got you to your room but the lights were off and their friend was already asleep. They’d annoy him in the morning. 

Peter was the first one up when the sunlight came streaming through the windows. Remus and Sirius were up when he came back into the room carrying a large tray of breakfast foods he convinced the house elves to give him. Remus looked over at where James was still knocked out. 

“Should we put something on the nightstand?” 

At the agreement of the other two boys, he set a plate down along with a cup of water and a cup of fizzy orange juice. The three marauders all sat on Sirius’ bed, talking and eating. Peter and Remus looked over when Sirius squeaked. You had risen up from your sleep, stretching with an audible pop from one of your elbows. Rubbing your eyes, you just sat up for a moment. 

“I hate alcohol.” 

With your eyes half-shut you went to go use the bathroom and brush your teeth. James woke up at the sound of the toilet flushing. He sat up, excited to see food on the nightstand. The marauders all locked eyes as you came out of the bathroom. 

“Good morning,” you said with a wave. 

“This is so weird,” Peter muttered. 

“Okay, I’ll say it.” Sirius set down his strip of bacon. “What the fuck is going on between the two of you? First you tell her to show Xeno how hot she is, next thing she’s sleeping in your bed wearing your quidditch stuff.” 

You and James looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Improv still wasn’t your strongest suit, even with a fake dating idea. You kind of planned on letting James fabricate the entire story from the start of your relationship to the eventual fake breakup. You flopped over to the bed, laying behind James and burying your face in the pillow.

James was fiddling with his fingers while trying to come up with any answer that wouldn’t derail your entire fake dating plot. There were still two weeks before you two were supposed to become more than friends and another weeks before he publicly asked you to be his girlfriend — there were going to be white roses and a performance featuring the singing toad choir. 

“We were going to ask him for a threesome.” 

Everyone’s eyes went wide. You pulled James down and threw the comforter over both of your heads. The other three men, still in shock, watched your hand stick out of the bed and pat the nightstand to find his wand. Shortly after, the curtains were pulled around the bed and the silencing charm was cast. 

“Did you really just say that?” you asked him.  

“I panicked.” 

“So we’re dating now?” 

“I guess.” 

“Our original story doesn’t work anymore. You haven’t seen me doing karaoke at Three Broomsticks with Alice and Dorcas before I dragged you on stage and we sang a duet that had so much tension everyone wouldn’t be surprised if we started dating.” 

“Right, right. Never mind then. I’ll figure something out.” 

“Like how you said we wanted to invite Xenophilius for a threesome?” 

“Do you trust me?” 

“I did until just now… Fine. Let’s do this.” 

You and James put the curtain back at the ends of the four-post bed. He scratched the back of his head while you decided to grab the plate and eat breakfast. 

“We were going to ask Xeno if he wanted to participate in relations with us but Y/N got too drunk so I just let her crash here.” 

Peter pursed his lips for a moment before speaking. 

“A threesome? But you’re a virgin, isn’t that a bit much for a first time? You haven’t even kissed someone.” 

“Well how do you think I was planning on losing it, Wormy?” 

Sirius scoffed. “Asking one of us would have been easier.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind next time.”

“Wait, Y/N are you a virgin?” Peter asked. 

You gave James the rest of the bacon in your hand. “Uh, yes.” 

“So, both of you as complete virgins were going to ask the most notorious manwhore to pop your cherries together?” 

“Having a lot of sex doesn’t make you a manwhore.” 

“Frank Longbottom has a lot of sex, Xeno is a manwhore.” 

Remus, Sirius, and Peter blinked when suddenly the curtains were pulled around the bed again. They could hear James grunt when you pulled him down before it sounded quiet. You probably casted the silencing charm. For good measure, you pulled the comforter over the two of you again. 

“This isn’t working,” you said. 

“Well, what do you want me to do?” 

“Lie better.” 

“You could try to lie too, you know.” 

“I’m not good at improv.” 

“And you think I am? We’ve been sticking to the script until now.”

You and James blinked at each other. He wasn’t wrong. James was a little playwright. Every purposeful interaction was written down on scrap paper and scrolls like a script, tucked in the back of his nightstand. This whole thing was his plan in the first place but the two of you needed to work together for it to be successful. You left the comforter once again to meet three sets of eyes that were waiting for an explanation. 

You got out of the bed, bouncing on the balls of your feet and wringing out your hands. The three marauders had different expressions on their faces. You puffed up your cheeks before taking a breath. Remus, Peter, and Sirius leaned their backs against the wall to let you know they were ready to listen. James’ mouth dropped open when you ran. 

“She stole my slippers,” he said while the others were howling in laughter. 

Your roommates jumped when the door suddenly opened. 

“Hi,” you said as you grabbed a bunch of stuff before leaving again. “Bye.” 

You came back to the marauders’ dorm with your hands full. They watched you set up an easel and a large notepad. 

“Why do you even have this?” Remus asked as you flipped to a blank page. 

“For pattern making but sometimes I let Charlotte borrow it. She makes portraits of all of us for practice.” 

You directed the three boys to sit on James’ bed while you pulled James up. The others were wondering what you were possibly doing because James blocked most of the board. Eventually, the two of you moved to the side. 

“James plus Y/N equals question marks?” Sirius asked. “So you’re dating?” 

“So you really tried to ask Xeno for a threesome?” Remus asked. 

You said yes while James said no. 

“Yes and no,” you tried to recover, seeing an out that would allow you to stick to the script. “Yes we asked Xeno for a threesome, no we aren’t dating.” 

“Sooo…” 

“It was a spur of the moment decision. Everyone makes it such a big deal and we just wanted to get it over with so we thought to just do it with each other.” 

“But neither of us know what we’re doing exactly.” James started to catch on. “So we were just going to ask Xeno since he definitely wouldn’t care.”  

Instead of writing your detailed dating plan on the next blank sheet, you made up a bunch of shit. 

“James wanted to explore his sexuality and I wanted to try a few kinks of sorts… These. So, yeah.” 

“Again,” Sirius said. “You could have just asked.” 

Remus stood up, placing hands on both of your shoulders. “Just because everyone teases you about being virgins, doesn’t mean you have to have sex. We’ll stop if it makes you feel better but I really don’t think a threesome is the right idea.” 

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” James muttered. “So, who’s feeling Hogsmeade?” 

“Me!” you said before grabbing your wand and leaving to go get changed. 

“You, especially. You need greasy food in your system or that hangover will be worse.” 

As you all walked to Hogsmeade, the rest of the marauders fell a bit behind you and James. You were listening to a quidditch story of his. At some point over the summer, the two of you decided being real friends was important to sell the story. You both couldn’t just laugh at the expected moments before people realized it was a script. It was important to actually hang out. 

“So do you think they’ve already slept with each other? We all know the threesome thing is a lie, right?” Remus asked as they watched James tie your shoe for you since you were in a short skirt. 

Peter nodded. “Totally a lie. But we would’ve known if they were a thing by now.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Prongs writes everything in his diary. The last time he did that was on the train when Lily gave him a thank you card for hosting the summer party. He would most definitely write a five page soliloquy if he finally had sex. Besides, Ja—” 

“Lily!” James yelled before leaving you to try and catch up with the redhead. You started walking back to them. 

Sirius frowned. “If you were embarrassed about passing out in his bed, you could have just told us not to mention it.” 

“I guess we didn’t think of that.” 

“Clearly.” Sirius threw his arm around your shoulder. “Come one, let’s go get you some cheesy pasta before you throw up on yourself.”

(part 3)

THIS TAGLIST:

@starsval @helloitsmeeeeeee @callsigndiamond @isabela30 @rachelccollier @siriuslycaptainofthedawntreader @mommymilkerfanclub @ghostkingblake

PERMANENT TAGLIST:

@venomsvl @peaches-n-sunscreen @summerellaz @supernaturallover2002 @sambucky8 @9daykrisr @thebitchinleo @23victoria @scarlets-widow @pagetpagetpagetpaget @lovexnatasha @awesomebooklover17 @1234-angelika @imatrisk @blackreaderatrisk @princess-jules47 @alexloveskili @a-marie-a @siriuslysirius1107​ @i-have-no-life-charlie

[diana-fortyseven]

Why not enhance your fanfic reading experience with a fun challenge?

Generate your own Fanfic Reading Bingo Card and try to finish it over a timespan of your choice (e.g. during your next family gathering).

Details & instructions under the cut

Generate a new bingo card until you're (mostly) happy with the results. You can re-roll every single bingo field separately by clicking/tapping on it. When you have a card that fits your reading habits (or takes you out of your comfort zone, if you want to challenge yourself), take a screenshot of the card to keep it. Closing the page and reloading it will reset the card.

There are no fanfic-negative or bashing items in the lists. This bingo card is meant to be a positive experience and celebrate fanfiction and fanworks in general.

It's just a little practice piece I made for funsies mostly over the weekend, with some finishing touches earlier today. I will add more content over the next few days and weeks (and let's be realistic, probably months), but everything that's currently in there should already work as intended.

The bingo generator is responsive, which means it should work on desktop and mobile. The mobile layout isn't ideal yet, I'm trying my best to make it better (but I'd also still consider myself a newbie and I'm learning by doing).

The platform I'm using, Perchance, recently added AI options for their generators. This is a regrettable decision that I don't condone, and I'd like to emphasise that this generator is 100% handcrafted chaos.

Leaving the NSFW checkbox unchecked should remove all NSFW tags and tropes, but you could still come across content you find objectionable. Leaving the AO3 Tags checkbox unchecked removes all tags, but you could still come across tropes you find objectionable.

If you run into any issues or come across any bugs, please let me know. If you find something that should be in the NSFW category, but isn't, please also let me know. It's possible that I missed a few tags when I worked through the list. (But don't ask me to remove content you find objectionable.)

What do the checkboxes mean?

NSFW is basically what it says on the tin. If you tick this box, the NSFW tropes will be added to the mix. If you also ticked the AO3 Tags box, NSFW AO3 tags will be added.

AO3 Tags is also what it says on the tin. It's a list with roughly 1,000 AO3 tags. Around 250 of them are currently marked NSFW and can only be generated if you ticked both the NSFW box and the AO3 Tags box.

Stats & Meta currently only includes the lists "length" (contains wordcounts ranging from drabble to >500k) and "meta", which currently contains items like "a work with a song lyrics title" or "a work in a series". I will probably add other lists to that category at some point.

The already populated lists are:

challenge (various challenges and events like Yuletide, Whumptober)

creator (items like favourite author, anon creator)

discovery (various ways you could've found a fic)

fandom (ranging from tiny fandom to megafandom, also options like old fandom, inactive fandom, etc)

length (wordcounts from drabble to over 500k)

medium (items like podfic, fandom meta, fic with fanart)

meta (a fic's front-end and stats, also "citrus scale for rating" xD)

platform (where you read the fic)

reader (your relationship with the fic; is it your comfort fic, or your first fic in a fandom?)

style (chatfic, iambic pentameter, custom workskin, stuff like that)

trope (roughly 100 tropes)

tag (roughly 1,000 AO3 tags)

Lists that are currently planned, but empty:

canon (probably stuff like anime fandom, video game fandom, etc)

category (planned to add the AO3 categories and maybe Archive Warnings to this list)

content (might be scrapped, might be populated with some items moved over from other lists)

genre (what it says on the tin)

setting (where or when does the fic take place)

It's possible that I come up with more ideas for more lists at one point.

I had lots of fun making it, and I hope that you'll have fun with it. If you're using it, let me know when you got a bingo! :D

If you have fannish accounts on there (or don't mind inflicting fandom on your regular followers), you can also share the Fanfic Reading Bingo on Twitter, Mastodon, and Bluesky! :D

[allastoredeer]

If it's not too much work, could you share what your outlining process is like? I always feel a little lost when I try outlining my fics and I know the process is different for everyone but I feel like it would help to know what others do. Every time I try to google help I get processes for original novel writing, and it doesn't feel as applicable to writing a short fanfic.

I would love to :3

There are actually a few different ways I outline, and sometimes it depends on the length of the fic and how complex the plot is.

I'll use one of my saved radiostatic prompts as an example (it also gives me an excuse to sit down and actually outline it hehe)

So, sometimes just the prompt itself is a good enough outline for me (this is dependent on how long I think the fic is going to be. If it's short, sometimes the prompt itself works and I don't need to go in-depth. I say "prompt" but that also can mean a specific scene in your head that you want to write, or a concept, or even a piece of fan-art that inspired you).

Here's the paragraph prompt I wrote for this radiostatic one-shot/short fic (spoilers, I guess):

So sometimes, just this is enough for me to start writing the fic (my prompts do tend to get a little big because I like to add a lot of detail - about the scene or concept that grabbed my attention - so that I capture all the vibes and emotions that I want to incorporate.

But sometimes, it helps to go more in-depth so I'm not overwhelmed trying to get to the part of the fic that I want to write (NOTE: It is totally fine if you write out the scene/parts that you want to write the most, even if it's in the middle or the end. You can always fill in the blanks after. Or you can just post the scene you wanted to write without adding more. It's up to you).

I like to figure out what scenes happen that lead up to the parts I want to write, so sometimes, I'll make a bullet-point list of chronological scenes, plot-points, and details. For example:

And etc... you continue on until you've hashed out the sequence of events that take place in the story. This doesn't have to be super detailed (it can be really brief and to the point) and doesn't it have to be super clinical either. Just have fun and write down whatever silly thoughts you have in your head.

You bullet-point list can be as simple as:

Alastor goes downstairs to do exercise.

Vox shows up to do the exercise as well (invited by Charlie)

They get into an argument about modern technology.

Vox leaves.

It's really just about putting down the sequence of events starting from the very beginning to the very end. You can keep it simple like the above example

OR

You can make it even more detailed by doing an in-depth summary of the fic, scene by scene, plot point by plot point, until you get to the end (this is what I usually do because it gets everything planned out and on the page, down to the smallest details). For example:

And then it goes on like this until I've outlined the entire fic. You can be silly with this. Just have fun. Let yourself ramble and get all you're ideas out. Don't try to stick to a rigid plan, let the story flow naturally.

Then, once I've finished my outline, I use it as a guide as I write the rough draft. The thing about outlines is that you don't have to follow exactly what you planned. It's okay to diverge or adds things or cut things out. It really is just a loose guide to help you through the events of the story and get your thoughts on paper.

Additionally: You don't even have to fully finish the outline if you don't want to. Sometimes you get half of it done before you want to start writing, and that's fine. The rest of the story will reveal itself as you go.

If I'm doing a multi-chaptered fic, sometimes I'll break the overall idea of the story into pre-determined chapters and summarize it section by section. Or, I'll just be a maniac and summarize the entire fic in one big, super long, super detailed block of text. Another staticradio fic I'm currently outlining is 16,152 words long and I'm not even close to being done. I expected this fic to get super long and complex, so writing it out in a very chronological and detailed manner helps it feel less daunting. AND now I have every plot point, twist, emotional scene, and bit foreshadowing planned out and already placed where I want it to show up in the fic. It's great. It makes me life easier when I actually buckle down and write the rough draft.

Just as a final note, I want to say that everyone's process is different. This is how I outline, but I know it won't work for everyone. It's all about finding what method works for you.

I'll say that one of the most important to do while outlining is simply having fun with it. Make it your hype list. Make every scene you jot down a scene you're excited to write. Make yourself want to write it so it doesn't feel like a chore to slog through.

Best advice I've ever recieved: If you're bored writing a scene, the audience will be bored reading it.

Have fun and write the story you wanna write 👉👉

Hope this helped!

[bellaxgiornata]

Falling For the Devil [Part forty: "The Secrets in Your Suitcase"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: You go shopping with Marci and Karen before helping Matt pack for the road trip the following night.

Or

You pack a few things in your suitcase and try to keep Matt from finding out what.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 2.5k

a/n: Just a fun little installment piece before we see Reader and Matt undertake a two part roadtrip with a smupdate at a hotel breaking everything up. You can find all the installments for this series on tumblr here.

Walking in step with Karen, you both followed behind Marci out of the store. Marci had been on the hunt for one last Christmas gift for Foggy, which she had just purchased, and then she’d wanted to grab some lingerie from a boutique a few shops over. The three of you had decided to spend your Thursday evening having a girl’s night out together while Foggy and Matt were finishing up a few things at the office before your Christmas road trip. You knew Matt had been busy today, which was why you hadn’t bothered him earlier about the interview you’d managed to last minute obtain with a representative for an influential investor in Wayland Corporation. You were hoping to avoid bringing that subject up until after Christmas.

“Glad that’s finally out of the way,” Marci said, drawing her coffee to her mouth and taking a sip.

The three of you managed to fall in step together on the sidewalk, Karen and Marci on either side of you. You all began the struggle to make your way down the busy sidewalk lit by countless Christmas lights towards the last store on Marci’s list for tonight’s excursion. Which you were thankful for because the foot traffic was terrible considering the hour and how close Christmas was–everyone was out doing their last minute shopping tonight apparently. 

“So lingerie is what’s left on the list?” Karen asked, glancing past you to Marci.

“Yes,” Marci said, shooting you both a coy smile. “I’m thinking about getting something festive for Christmas Eve. I want to find out how naughty or nice Fog’s been this year…”

“I envy you both for having an active sex life,” Karen muttered, drawing her cup of coffee to her mouth.

Marci nudged you sharply with an elbow, causing you to almost spill your own coffee that was warming your hands. You startled, shooting her a questioning look beside you.

“How is your sex life with Matt?” she asked curiously. “We haven't gotten a lot of girl time to discuss it lately and I need to know our boy is taking care of you.” She shot you a wink as she added, "Especially with those new presents from last night."

“And with how long we watched you both pine over each other,” Karen added, a mischievous glint in her eye. “So spill.”

Feeling put on the spot, you felt your cheeks flush despite the cold of the evening. It was like being bombarded by two Katies with these two.

“It’s good,” you said, raising a hand and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. 

Marci’s face fell flat and she shot you a pointed look. “Really? It’s just good?” she asked in disbelief. 

“We want details,” Karen pushed.

"Well, he uh, he certainly knows what he's doing," you said quickly, raising your coffee cup and taking a drink.

"So mind-blowing, earth-shattering, body-quaking orgasms every time?" Marci pressed.

You choked on your coffee, coughing and sputtering as both women stared expectantly at you while you all walked. You cleared your throat, trying to recover. 

"I mean, yes?" you answered awkwardly. 

"I knew it!" Marci said triumphantly, leading you all through the sea of people towards the lingerie store's entrance.

You followed her into the store with Karen, your eyes raking over the vast amount of leather and lace and silk everywhere inside. Your eyes widened at a few of the things the mannequins were dressed in. Marci seemed to spot exactly what section she wanted immediately and darted towards it. Karen and you followed slowly after Marci, your eyes still darting around to the various articles of clothing. 

"So how much fun are you having with him?" Karen asked quietly.

"We had sex on the kitchen counter at the end of last week," you whispered back. "While he was still dressed in the man in black outfit."

Karen's eyes went wide as her jaw dropped. Soon after she let out a quiet and restrained but excited squeal as she grabbed your arm. "Are you serious? I knew you had a dirty side to you!" she exclaimed.

You shrugged, drawing your cup back up to your mouth for a drink. "There's just something about that black suit…and I suppose Matt in general," you admitted a little sheepishly. 

"So how did he like your Halloween costume then?" she asked. "You never did give us the full details of that night."

You grinned, eyes dropping down to your feet as you moved, remembering that night at the bar and then everything that happened on his leather couch afterwards. "He definitely enjoyed it," you answered. 

"Like a lot or…?" she pushed. 

"Like so much that he asked me to sit on his face in it," you blurted in a rush before hiding behind your coffee cup again. 

"Oh my God !" she exclaimed excitedly. She turned, grabbing Marci as the pair of you approached her and spun her around. "You know how much Matt enjoyed her Halloween costume?" Karen asked her. 

"Karen," you whined, covering your reddening face with a hand. 

"Oh, this sounds good," Marci replied quickly, leaning in towards Karen.

"He had her sit on his face in it," Karen whispered, Marci’s eyes going wide before landing on you.

"You two have a naughty side in the bedroom!" Marci shrieked, a devilish grin on her face as you cowered into your scarf. "I knew there was more behind all those sweet kisses at Josie’s and the hand holding and little pet names! You are definitely going to try out those restraints and that flogger, don't lie."

Nodding enthusiastically beside you, Karen said, "You really should pack those with you."

You groaned, embarrassed. "Can we talk about literally anything else?" you begged. 

"No," Marci said, a hand darting out to grab your coat-covered shoulder, "because you should buy something here. Hide it in your suitcase and bust it out some time over your little vacation with Matt. Don't tell him, just let him realize you're wearing it. And then let him spank you with that flogger." She shrugged a shoulder, waggling her brows at you. "Or spank him with it."

"Yes!" Karen vehemently agreed with her. "You should totally do that! You're staying at a rented condo again, right? Not a family member's house?"

"Yes," you answered her slowly. 

"So you can fuck as loud and wild as you want without an embarrassing intrusion," Marci urged. "Oh come on, if he liked your costume that much he would love unwrapping you for Christmas." She shot you a wink and your cheeks burned further. 

"I don't know," you said nervously, eyeing the lingerie around the three of you. "Putting on any of this requires way more confidence than I think I have. I mean–" you continued, pulling out a piece on the rack beside you that didn't even have a crotch to it, "–I do not think I can pull this off. I have no idea how to be sexy." You frowned, putting the skimpy article of clothing back.

"Clearly you do if you're riding his face in a devil costume," Marci countered reassuringly. "No one's saying you need to give him a lap dance, just like…wear it under some clothes while it's just the two of you. Let him undress you and find it himself."

"Or change into it before bed," Karen suggested, "instead of what you usually wear. Just don't say anything. I'm sure his hands would be on you at some point before falling asleep and he would figure it out real quick."

Chewing the inside of your cheek, you contemplated what they had said. Either of those options did sound like something you'd be comfortable enough doing. And Matt's reaction to you surprising him in some lingerie was something you were now really, really wanting to witness. Especially after his reaction to your Halloween costume.  

Marci’s eyes narrowed at you, that coy smirk slipping back onto her face. “Your silence and that look on your face are telling me you definitely want to,” she said.

You sighed, rolling your eyes as you gave in. “Okay, yes, that sounds like it might be fun,” you agreed.

Karen quickly looped her arm through yours, steering you over towards an obviously tamer area of the store. Marci promised she’d be over to help you pick out something soon once she grabbed something herself.

“So,” Karen began, the two of you pausing in front of a handful of displays and racks, “what do you think your Devil would like?”

For some reason hearing someone else acknowledge Matt as your Devil had the hair on the back of your neck rising. You liked hearing that–knowing he was yours .

“Silk,” you answered, your eyes scanning the various lingerie pieces before you. “I know that man loves silk.”

“Then let’s find you something with silk,” Karen replied, her tone mischievous. 

________

“You really don’t have to help me pack, sweetheart,” Matt assured you, pulling out a handful of neatly folded shirts from his dresser. “You’ve got a long two days of driving ahead of you. You can just go relax.”

Shrugging a shoulder lightly, you continued organizing his sweatpants and fuzzy socks in his suitcase. “I don’t mind,” you told him. “I’m sure it’s a lot easier for you this way.”

He carried a stack of shirts over to the end of his bed, setting them down. One of his hands reached out, halting your movements of repositioning a set of socks in his luggage. Your eyes darted up towards him curiously. A smile slid onto his lips as he gazed down at you.

“It is, thank you,” he whispered.

He made his way over to his closet next, pulling out his neatly folded jeans from off of the top shelf. You began packing away his shirts next in the suitcase as he sorted through how many pairs of jeans he would need.

“So how much are you dreading being stuck in a car?” you curiously asked Matt as you worked.

“I’m not dreading it at all, actually,” he answered. “I’m looking forward to spending all that uninterrupted time with you.”

“Ever the charmer, Matthew Murdock,” you muttered as you finished packing away his shirts.

He set a stack of jeans down on the edge of the bed beside you. A moment later he was placing his hands on your hips as he stood behind you. “Only for you, sweetheart,” he murmured.

You felt him brush your hair aside and plant a lingering kiss on the back of your neck. Your eyes briefly fluttered shut, the warmth of him from behind you awakening something briefly inside of you.

“Oh,” he began, hands releasing themselves from your hips, “your laptop is still on the coffee table, sweetheart. You might want to pack it now so you don’t forget it.”

“Shit, thank you,” you said.

Exiting his bedroom, you made your way down the hall to his living room. Your laptop was in fact still sitting out on the coffee table, the little laptop case leaning against the side of the table. With a sigh you packed it up, double checking you had all of the cords you’d need for it. Then you made your way back down the hall towards Matt’s bedroom where he was currently packing up a handful of his black boxers. 

You grabbed your suitcase from where it was tucked out of the way in the corner of his room and pulled it over before setting it on the bed away from where Matt was working. You unzipped it and carefully pulled it open so nothing went flying out. Grabbing your laptop case, you maneuvered a few clothing items around, wanting to place the laptop between some clothes to hopefully keep it a bit safer while you traveled. But as you shifted a few things, your hand instantly came across the soft silk of the black lingerie piece you’d bought while you were out with Karen and Marci last night. Beside it was the red, silk rope wrist cuffs and the flogger you'd nervously packed. Your heart immediately sped up in your chest, heat rising to your cheeks at the thought of wearing the lingerie for Matt and possibly using the other items sometime soon. Out of your peripheral on the opposite side of the bed, Matt’s hands paused what he was doing. You saw his head slowly rise up towards you and you swallowed hard. 

“What was that?” he asked curiously, eyeing you.

“Nothing,” you answered quickly.

Slipping your laptop between some clothes, you hurriedly readjusted the contents of your suitcase before closing it and zipping it up. You moved as if he’d somehow figure out the naughty little things you had packed if your luggage was open too long in front of him. And who knows, maybe he would.

“No,” he said, drawing the word out as his hands entirely stopped what they were doing. “That wasn’t nothing. What’s got you so flustered in that suitcase, sweetheart? What is it you clearly don’t want me to know about?”

You could feel your heart thudding in your chest at his questions. If you answered one of them truthfully, could he still tell if it was a lie? Because technically you didn’t want him to know about your Christmas present for him. And also…the lingerie was also sort of like another Christmas present, right?

“I just, uh, don’t want you to guess your present,” you answered in a rush.

A cheeky smile slid on his face as he eyed you. “Unless you got me a cock ring, I don’t know why you’re so flustered.”

Your eyes grew wide and your jaw dropped. “ Matt !” you hissed loudly, embarrassed.

He laughed, shaking his head at you. “You really mean to tell me you’re going to get bashful joking about cock rings with me, sweetie?” he teased. “After some of the things we’ve done together?”

“I just–” you paused, trying to figure out how to drop the conversation as fast as possible, “–I don’t–I mean, I can’t, uh–”

“Relax,” Matt said with another laugh, resuming his packing. “If it’s got you this flustered I’m sure it’ll be worth waiting for to find out later.”

You sighed, pulling your suitcase off of the bed and setting it back into the corner out of the way. You were glad he wasn’t going to push that topic.

“Unless it’s anal beads,” he mused, your body going rigid, “because I know how much you love my ass, sweetheart, but I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

You spun on your heel towards him, cheeks turning red again. He was biting his bottom lip, fighting back a wave of laughter as he continued to pack clothes into his suitcase.

“Fucking hell , Matt!” you groaned, embarrassed. “I don’t have any anal beads in my suitcase!”

He glanced up at you, pausing as he held a pair of socks in his hand, shooting you a teasing grin. “If you say so.”

You buried your face in your hands, your cheeks feeling like they were on fire. “You’re going to make me regret two days in a car with you, aren’t you?” you grumbled.

“I guess we’ll see,” he teased, laughter in his voice.