#now i just dont see it- hopefully the fights are good at least

[drchucktingle]

my masks

hey there buckaroos. due to all of the attention the TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION situation has gotten i am going to take a minute to talk about my personal way as an autistic buckaroo. im going to tell you about my masks.

im doing this for a few reasons, some are good FUN reasons full of love and some are not so great. 

lets start with the GOOD STUFF. first of all, i am talking about this because speaking on my way can help other buckaroo feel more comfortable speaking on there own way, ESPECIALLY if they are good at ‘passing’ for neurotypical like chuck is. 

unfortunately the NOT SO GREAT reasons im talking about all this dang stuff are two fold. reason one: i have been put into a position of having to explain and justify my needs and boundaries by the TXLA. this is not something that i WANT to be taking up all of my time, but when large organizations do not make space for those who they have pledged to support, it puts us smaller buckaroos into position where were have to defend our existence. it is not plesent but it is necessary.

the second NOT SO GREAT reason is that ‘passing’ bisexual and autistic people like myself are ALWAYS just seconds from being gatekept from folks both outside and inside these communities. there will probably be a day on chucks deathbed where i take off my mask and say hello to this timeline (mostly so you can all see how handsome i am under here but I DIGRESS). i KNOW with absolute certainty (the same way other bi and autistic buckaroos are probably nodding along right now) that when that day comes i will STILL be accused of ‘not being real’ and ‘faking’ because i ‘dont look autistic’ and i have a beautiful ladybuck partner in sweet barbara.

ALL THAT IS TO SAY, i am taking a moment today to talk FOR THE RECORD about my neurodigence and my particular needs. hopefully i will not have to keep diving this deep every time an organization takes a discrimantory action against me, but i will also say this: at least it is a good fight on an important battlefield

anyway buds, here is the story of my way on the spectrum

when i was a young buckaroo i knew that my thought process was different. i could socialize easily, which is unique in contrast to many autistic buds (it is a spectrum after all), but my social ease was for an interesting reason. I ALWAYS KNEW WHAT OTHERS WERE ABOUT TO SAY. it was like a strange ‘human game’ where someone would say one thing and i would think ‘well you actually mean something else’ in a sort of logical way (this is why i later related to DATA from star trek so dang much). at first i remember thinking ‘well i am just NOT going to play along with this human game’. i quickly learned neurotypical buckaroos do not like this, that there is a BOB AND WEAVE to social interactions that must be learned. 

later i realized ‘actually if i WANT to make friends and prove love is real then i can do this like an expert because i can SEE the game where most cant’. this got chuck many buds and took me on many adventures. please understand, i am not saying these connections are not important to me, they are just different. they are full of love, but i express this in my own unique way.

HOWEVER, while growing up i felt disconnected from this timeline in other ways, like an alien or a reverse twin trotting along in a world that is not quite my own. i did not feel emotions the same way my buds did. they would get upset over the ‘human game’ interactions and i would not be moved at all, HOWEVER i could see the way sunlight hit a window and start crying my dang eyes out over the beauty. so my emotion was still there and VERY STRONG, i just felt it in more existential ways (like hearing the call of the lonesome train). these days that feeling has progressed to where i am pretty much in a constant blissed out state of cosmic emotional connection (make of that last sentence what you will, but it is the truth). when i make existential posts online i am not just FIRING OFF SOME CONTENT, i really mean every word. this is really my trot.

anyway as a young buckaroo these feelings made me worry sometimes. i thought about various mental health dianosises and marked the parts and pieces that matched with myself. am i this? am i that? sometimes, instead of just being’ different’ i worried i might actually be ‘wrong’. 

when i saw david byrne on letterman in my younger days i immediately recognized something connected to myself. i thought ‘wow this is the mystery being solved before my very eyes.’ i could hear it in the music of talking heads too. i started doing research and realized that i might be on autism spectrum, something that was later confirmed by a therapist (back then the diagnosis was called asperger's). it was a glorious and fulfilling moment. i was SO EXCITED TO BE AUTISTIC LIKE MY HERO. i felt very cool because of it, and i still feel very cool because of it.

one of the big reasons i talk so much about being autistic these days is because i want to make sure OTHER buckaroos can have that same moment that i did. they can see chuck and think ‘wow i really like this autistic artist, maybe being autistic is cool’

so what does an average day WITHOUT wearing the pink bag look like for me?

my thought process is exactly like ROSE from CAMP DAMASCUS, which is part of why i wrote the book. we have the same stim (complex order of finger taps), we prepare for social interactions the same way, we analyze things in the same logical trot that neurotypical people might think feels ‘detached’ but for me feels natural (certain reviews of camp damascus are very funny to me in this way. you can tell when a reader is just very confused by existing in an autistic brain for 250 pages.)

from the outside you would not be able to tell that i am on the spectrum. in fact you would probably find me very socially adept. 

the problem is, all of that masking can take its toll. i spent years trotting in and out the emergency room, talking to confused doctors who could not figure out the chronic phantom tension and pain that radiated through my body. i eventually accepted the fact that i would either live a life constantly on heavy painkillers or just stop living altogether.

eventually, however, i started noticing a correlation between the way that i felt, and the space that i allowed for chuck and the pink mask. i was exercising that tension, allowing my mental mask of neurotypical existence to take a rest. i started practicing physical therapy and this time THE RESULTS STUCK because i was approaching from two sides, MIND AND BODY. after a while, i got my pain down to about 5 percent of what it once was. i still have flare ups in times of stress, but the healing has been very real and life changing.

lets get VERY specific now. if i attended the TXLA confrence without a mask and gave my talk i can tell you this: i would do a dang good job. i can work the heck out of a crowd and (not to reveal too much about my secret way) I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO DO THIS ON OCCASION VERY WELL. however, going home from this event i would very likely be in pain. i would likely need to do physical therapy. i would likely need to stim for a while. i would NOT be emotionally fullfilled in the same way. in other words, without my pink mask i can charm the heck out of buckaroos, but THE SPACE OF CHUCK TINGLE IS NOT THE SPACE FOR THAT. the pink bag is a place for me to not have to put up with that tension. it is a place for me to unmask mentally by masking physically.

this pink bag space SAVED MY LIFE and i am not going to risk blurring these lines. if and when that ever happens it will be MY decision, not someone elses. that is my boundary. the part of me that neurotypically masks could handle a library conference in a purely technical sense, but the part of me that chuck represents absolutely cannot and should not be asked to do that without the pink bag. unfortunately, the complexity of this point makes it even MORE difficult for me to think about and takes up even more of my time, because it forces me to START QUESTIONING MYSELF and my own needs. to be honest, that is the most insidious part of other people questioning your identify and refusing to accept your accommodation needs without ‘proof’.

the thing is, while all of this discussion of disability and accessibility is important, i have a much larger point to make by writing these words.

a conference should not uninvite someone with an unusual physical presentation or a strange way of speaking REGARDLESS of it being classified as a disability. it does not matter WHY i look the way that i look and wear what i wear. i should not have to spend all day writing this post instead of writing my next book, just because my sensibilities are unique and my presentation is unusual. 

fortunately the solution is very simple: let other people be themselves. its not hurting you to simply accept and nod at the buckaroos you think look strange. let us exist

[fyodior]

DONT YOU UNDERSTAND?

★ pairing: husband!fyodor x reader

★ cw: DARK CONTENT AHEAD!! 18+, MINORS DNI. noncon, drugging, forced breeding, lots of breeding/pregnancy talk, vaginal sex, not enough foreplay, fyodor is evil!!

★ notes: breedtober fic #?? sorry the fics have been coming out so late, thank u for ur patience ily all <3

want more of breedtober?

DISCLAIMER: i do not condone noncon in any way, shape, or form. this is just fiction with no reflection of real life. please refrain from leaving hate comments, and just unfollow/block. or simply scroll away. thank u!

Dizzy – you’re so fucking dizzy. The room is spinning, your vision is dark and fuzzy around the edges, and you have no clue if you’re sitting or standing up currently. Because, worst of all, every part of your body is numb. You can’t move.  

All you can see is the normally gentle, sweet face of your lover that’s now marred with an expression one can only describe as evil.

You want to reach out, ask him what’s wrong, what’s happening, but you can’t. All movement and speech have been rendered impossible, due to the teacup that lay shattered on the ground, bathed in the liquid that made you like this.

It was completely normal, a routine at this point, to sit in the living room with Fyodor in front of the lit fireplace sipping tea out of teacups from his beloved collection of fine china. The tea varied – chamomile, earl gray, mint, oolong, just plain green. And the activities often varied as well. Sometimes teasing and laughing over a card game, sometimes long, difficult discussions about the future with stoic faces, and sometimes just comfortable silence. The night before you had been discussing marriage and children. But it was always just you and Fyodor with cups of tea.

This had been a night like every other, though conversation remained at a minimum. Jasmine tea as the fire roared a little hotter than usual. What differed was how the tea started to make you feel. It was slow enough that you wouldn’t push away the cup or become unable to drink the whole serving, but fast enough that once it came on, you couldn’t stop it – it was too late.

And now you lay limp in Fyodor���s arms as he laid you down on the chaise lounge you had been resting on with your cup of tea – the one had fallen to the ground once your strength had started to fade.

“W-wha-” you manage to get out, your vocal cords and lips fighting against whatever was paralyzing them.

“Shhh,” Fyodor soothes, petting your hair as he hovers over you. “This is for the good of our family, my love.”

Your slack face slightly contorts into a look of confusion as your fuzzy mind tries to make sense of his words, barely noticing the way he tugged down your pants until his fingertips circled around your clit lightly. Somehow you could feel that. You attempted to jerk away from the touch, but your body once again failed you.

“Oh, my love, don’t you remember?” he tuts before spitting on his fingers and prodding at your hole. He had little interest in foreplay right now. “Don’t you understand? How you saying you ‘didn’t want kids anymore’ was completely unacceptable.”

It suddenly starts to click, even in your fucked mind. The way Fyodor’s jaw tightened, and smile faded during your discussion last night when you admitted that you didn’t see kids in your future. You had paid little mind to his disappointed “oh”. But clearly, he hadn’t let go.

One finger pushes past your still tight ring of muscle, making you grunt. “In case you don’t, in case the drug has addled your conscience too much, I shall explain.” Another finger sinks in. “We will be having children. At least three, to be exact. You will be getting pregnant, and hopefully tonight.” His fingers pump in and out of you, faster and faster, scissoring apart to stretch you open. “Even if that means rendering you useless and unable to resist me."

Tugging his own pants down, he spits in the palm of his hand before gripping his half-hard cock, pumping it a few times. “I considered just pulling you ass up for easiest access, but I want you to see me – to watch what happens when you disobey my wishes so severely.”

Since you’re completely dead weight, Fyodor has to manually spread your legs wide in order to slot himself between them, his grip tight underneath your knees. Then his lips are on your as he leans over you, the kiss forceful since you’re unable to reciprocate – not that you would’ve anyway.

The leaky tip of his cock as he revels in your inability to fight back is proof that he’s enjoying this immensely, the sick bastard. You want to scream out, thrash against him as his length slides into your cunt in protest of how unfair this is, how he can’t just decide to get you pregnant, but you can’t. You’re completely stuck just… taking it. Until his balls are pressed all the way against your ass, the puff of hair at the base of his cock tickling against your clit.

And somehow, you can feel it on the inside. You can feel the sting and burn as he pushes in and stretches you out, but can also feel… the pleasure. Maybe it’s the way your slack jaw falls open further at his first thrust, your body twitching, but Fyodor can tell. The way your body is forcing you to feel good against your wishes.

You grunt pathetically with every single thrust, legs hanging loosely around his waist and tongue lolling out of your mouth with drool pooling out of the corner. Fyodor is going mad with how much he loves this, how quickly he’s getting off from just using you without your permission. His violet eyes shine fiercely and the sick smirk on his face only grows as he fucks you harder and harder.

"Going to look so pretty pregnant, my beautiful doll,” he coos, massaging the soft fat of your tits. “So round and so full of my babies, so swollen you can barely walk, can’t even see your feet. You’ll need your darling husband’s help to even walk down the stairs,” he babbles, clearly just talking to himself.

“Do you like it, pretty? The way I’m just using you? It turns you on, doesn’t it? You and your body are mine, you know. I own you. And I own the right to use you however I please, to make you whatever I please.”

Of course, Fyodor had always been a bit possessive, always liked to call you his, but never to this caliber. Never to the point where you thought he’d do something like this.

His thrusts get faster and faster with every sick and twisted sentence, and though your hearing was fuzzy too, the wet sounds of skin on skin echoed through the room. Too wet to only just be his precum… were you wet? From what he was doing to you?

The orange light from the roaring fireplace illuminated Fyodor’s face in the most terrifying way, highlighting his sharp features, and igniting his eyes and sweat that had begun dripping down the sides of his face.

He leans in close, whispering into your ear. “Are you ready for my seed, doll? Ready for me to cum so deep inside you your womb is forced to take all of it?”

You’re able to shake your head a bit, and Fyodor clicks his tongue.

“You’re ready because I say so.”

You can’t feel it, but by the way his eyes roll back and his hips stutter, cock throbbing inside you, you can tell he’s cumming. Filling you up with the seed he promised to get you pregnant with.

After pulling out, he kisses you deeply.

“Before we go again, I will fetch you some more tea, my love. It seems you’ve regained some ability to move, and I can’t have that.”

[handsomemilo]

norton and his hunter counterpart trying to fight for reader’s attention pls pls

Right my first attempt back into writing.. life is still crumbling but im hyperfixated on idv rn, hopefully I'll live..

W

Pairing/s: Norton Campbell (Hunter and Surv) x GN! reader

Warnings: none, just silly

-------

This happens every damn time. Don't get me wrong, I love Norton. Both sides of him. The second we're all in a match together though, chaos ensues and its not because Fool's Gold is particularly ciolent around me; I say me because he definitely does not hesitate to chair his survivor counterpart.

No, no, it's worse than that. I feel bad for the other two survivors who got paired with me and Norton. The second that Fool's finds out that I am here, he generally turns into a guard dog of sorts. Not wanting me to work so he wanders around with me, other survivors know that once hes latched onto me, they can pretty much run free as long as they dont come into his sights. He's like my sweet guard dog who is still trying to kill my friends but won't go out of his way to do it right now because he deems himself too preoccupied with me.

We are walking around the sacred heart hospital when I notice a certain prospectors magnet dropped on the floor. Unluckily, Fools does not see it and gets caught in its pull. Norton must be around the corner and drags Fools to it, making him hit his head. Dazed, he stands with a hand holding his head. Before I could check on him, though, I'm lifted over Norton's shoulder making me yell out in minor panic.

"Ah! Norton put me down! He wasn't going to do anything to me, you're just causing more trouble for yourself!" He grunts at me and runs away from the dazed rocky version of himself. Quickly hopping over a wall and ducking down while also forcing me to crouch with him. At least my feet are on the ground now..

Before I could fully register what was happening, I was shoved forward slightly just out of Fools Gold's collapse area. Norton however not so lucky and took enough damage for it to be a full hit. He gives me a quick peck to the cheek and an ever speedier "I love you, be safe." Before sprinting off to begin a kite against Fools Gold.

The hunter himself hops the same ledge we just arrived to this spot over, he picks me up off the floor and dusts off my shoulders before mimicking his survivors counterpart's actions. "I love you. I'll make sure he doesn't disturb us anymore. Dont you dare try to save him whenni chair him. You know I won't hit you." He scowls before kissing my forehead and making a quick dash towards where Norton just was.

What an idiot.

"Are they gone...?" I turn back and see a frightened Frederick peaking past a corner. This makes me laugh and nod at the confused composer. "Good, I'm partially afraid of both of them, especially around you."

-♡-

Done! Not my best work but something silly and fun to imagine. Also if anyone would be willing to commission me for any art or fanfics in exchange for skins/items on idv let me know and we can see about sorting something out

[sanjisblackasswife]

i was wondering how would the monster trio react if they randomly got a boner and bro im SURE sanji’s cock twitches 47 times a day given the thoughts he constantly has 🙄🙄 zoro gets them while he sleeps so he waits for his dick to calm down before standing up,, people think he’s lazy but he’s just hard and doesn’t want anybody to know🤭🤭

luffy’s dick gets hard when he thinks about being the pirates king 😒😒

“𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝔻𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝔾𝕖𝕥𝕤 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕕 ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕞𝕝𝕪”

All are very canon cuz i seen it for myself.

Ft. Zoro, Luffy, Sanji

Blk Fem! Reader in Mind

CW: Dick talk, established relationships because i wanna project and include myself😓

Luffy

When he gets hard it’s really rare and i feel like it’s partially because of his rubbery body….does that even make sense

He gets hard from very few things and they’re always so minuscule or random its hard to know if he’s actually turned on or if his body is just trynna be funny.

You once made him a dessert that you really wanted to try without the assistance of sanji and when Luffy ate it he not only fell in love with you, but loved the sweet pastry so much you noticed a tent grow in his shorts

Very shameless in the morning by the way.

Every man gets morning wood at least once a lifetime and when Luffy gets it

everybody knows.

“LUFFY PUT THAT THING AWAY?!”

“Calm down, Nami it’ll go down in a sec..😄”

Has been heard by the guys a few times with him jacking off late night when his hard on is just so bothersome.

“GO DO THAT SOMEWHERE ELSE—“

“OR GO SEE Y/N!”

“Dont wanna. Shes too far. Im almost done dont worry.”

Usopp ends up pissed the entire day.

His boners can ironically go down quickly if he eats meat.

You swear his dick has a mind of it’s own, all you did was tell him about how much higher his bounty would get after defeating Kaido and his dick started poking you in the back.

Now he is still a guy and guys also can be attracted to women so you being his girlfriend—you’re not necessarily excluded.

However he gets hard at the simplest things you do.

Taking his hat, Calling him captain, even play fighting with him he ends up getting hard so hopefully youre a good gf and willing to help him out when it happens😁

Zoro

He claims he can control his erections .

No he cannot.

If he’s in a relationship with you he’s more shy about letting you know about his dick problems because you dont want him to think hes a pervert.

He can’t control a damn thing his dick does which is why he blames you.

“I had more balance before I met you—“

“Wh—HELLO?”

“LOOK. WOMAN.”

All you did was hug him.

Like u said: When he gets morning wood he is usually laying around a little longer. He has tried jacking off while in the room with the guys as they slept but he heard Luffy sleep walking (with his own hard on) and immediately just went back to sleep.

He very rarely does get hard though. However you plan to find out every single thing that turns him hard and so far you only found 2:

The first one is kissing, hes a touch starved man and you can never help yourself when it comes to locking lips with him. Your tongue wrapped around his, your hands on his chest and straddling him as he gropes your ass, he’s so needy it’s almost too cute to handle. and the look on his face when you feel him poke you is absolutely EVERYTHING.

The one that shocked you the most was when youre arguing with him. He doesnt know why he gets turned on by how mad you get whether it’s at him or someone else but the blood flow of his dick is damn near on fire. Maybe it’s because you have an accent when you speak fast, maybe it’s because it’s a rare occurrence, or maybe zoro is a freak. But seeing you so pent up and pissed makes his pants tight

Zoro getting hard consist of him being irritable, quiet, and trying to isolate himself until he or you fix the issue

Sanji

He’s always half hard.

Wanna know something else, his blood fits he has (the ones that didnt turn into a fucking plot point) are representing each time he gets hard.

Anyways though, he masturbates regularly. If he’s not cooking or out with the crew he is in the bathroom helping himself.

His hard ons are easy to spot because he’ll hide himself behind a counter with blush on his face or stand behind you.

He is shameless with his hardons only when you’re around.

He can get hard just by seeing you smile so have fun with that.

But he gets incredibly hard(and even easier) after you both have had sex before

If you all are on the deck and you wanna wear another thin ass bikini of course he is going to get hard. Thinking about the things he’d do to you if you just gave him the green light.

Which is also why Sanji stares at you a lot.

So he will come behind you and bury his face in your shoulder or neck whining.

You don’t mind it. It’s cute to see him rut up behind your ass, his accent slipping through .

“May we..go to your room please?”

If you say yes he will walk SUPER close behind you tying to hide his painful erection, mumbling small praises and thanks for you being so understanding.

He’s so grateful for you :(

[gamblersdoll]

PUT MY NAME ON IT, NOW IT DESIGNER..5

cw: leading to angst, talks of intimacy.

“cmon ma, dont be that way.” he said, folding his arms and pouted for a quick second. “red is your color!”

“i know, its just dont feel like dressing fancy today, kin.” you said, folding your own arms. it was just his club, so no true reason to get all dolled up. he chuckled, putting his hands on your hips and kissing your head.

“coulda just said that, babydoll. you wanna be comfy then dress comfy, you still sexy as shit.” he said, rubbing your waist and hips. “you havent talked to that little boy recently huh?”

“nope, hes mad about me kickin him out for causing a scene.” you said, throwing on one of his shirts, obviously too big on you.

“does he know i blew bubbles on your pussy after he left?” he asked in your ear, taking a slight nibble. you shook your head no, clit almost throbbing from the recollection of your intimacy. “can smell your pretty pussy drippin’..”

“kinji!” you squealed, getting out of his grip and giggling. “we have to go!” you chuckled, fixing your sweats.

days at his club were somewhat fun and quiet. yeah sure, he would watch a boxing match or look over the scenery of his club, but they had noise canceling walls. you found that out when he had you bent over the couch and plowing into you and no one heard a thing- nor saw it.

and what hakari would do is always have a hand on your hip, kissing up and down your neck as he sat next to you and watch the fight, always but some winning bets he placed. however the room was cool, hakari hated being cold so he wore the thickest jacket so itd give him added on fever. but you hated heat, didnt mix well with it, so he has the AC on sixty nine for you.

“so whered your lil boytoy run off to?” he said, taking a swig at his drink. you shrugged then dropped your shoulders, not hearing from him since that very day, almost four days ago. “oh well.” watching his bet win the fight, winning the bet of at least twenty grand.

you would call it a good day without having to deal with sinji and just at peace. but things were always short lived.

New message!

“come home. we need to talk.”

and talks with sinji were never good. always a shouting match, so you mentally braced yourself. upon opening the door, there was sinji. just sitting, like he always did. hopefully when he did die they would lay him on his stomach to give his ass a break.

hakari helped himself to your home, he was obviously welcomed.

“i dont see why you brought… him.” sinji said, almost disgusted that you brought hakari. “and you cant even kiss me now?”

“not after last time, what you want?” you asked folding your arms. you were already inpatient, wanting this over with and tapping your foot.

“you know how we have that joint account, right?” you raised an eyebrow, along with hakari. hakari knew you dont share accounts, so why now? obviously this punk ass obviously made you do it, which made his blood boil.

“yeah? the one you made us get even though i didnt want to.” you said snarky. you saw sinji’s jaw clench, but it was short lived and pressed about it. “what about it?”

“you either spent twenty grand or someone has your information. and you can check my account too, i dont have anything.” he said, handing you his phone. you checked yours, him being correct and seeing that your saving of twenty grand had been taken out.

you felt your heart drop, pacing back and forth with phone in hand and borderline panicking. hakari tried to console you, yet to no avail.

“i would suggest checking that.. gamblers phone.” sinji said, pointing at him and then looking at you then him. “he should be the first person you ask, since it isnt his first rodeo.”

had hakari been one on one with sinji, if looks could kill, if he could strangle sinji to death, he would. because who the fuck was he accusing?

one thing hakari noticed was when you were frantic, panicking or just not even okay, you were easy to talk into things. a flaw you had, that unfortunately sinji took advantage of. the difference between them? hakari knew how to calm you. a nice bath, hed treat you to whatever sweet shit you wanted, made- no, demanded you to feel like a princess and order him what to do, would talk to you so sweetly and be at your leisure. as for sinji, hed coerce you to do things that can fuck anything up, and hakari could see that shit from next year.

“check his phone, girl.” sinji said, and then hakari rolled his eyes and handed you his phone. you reluctantly took it, knowingly that he couldnt have taken it, he was with you the whole time! and he was getting better… right? he did.

“passcode is yer’ birthday, mama.” he said, taking a swig at his water. he should be drinking a beer, because itll ease him up after beating this bitch of a boy to even think that he had even done it.

you had been wrong, you thought he had grown up. that feeling of when you are shaking because you dont know what youll find, and when you find exactly what you hope not to, your heart sinks. you feel clammy, you feel so sick, trust and honor being so broken because you had such high hopes for him. and hakari had caught on, knowing that look. hakari rushed over, snatching his phone and gawking at it, face scrunched up and dumbfounded.

“… you stole twenty fucking grand from me, kinji?”

[a-world-with0ut-dr34ms]

Would you write a smut fic with ghost x dom reader x soap??(reader can be fem or gn and make both boys submissive maybe a moment where they fuck each other and the reader watches them and controls them).IDK WRITE IT HOWEVER YOU IMAGINE IT. I just dont have the skill to write so i am requesting it here.I hope its not weird.

I got you (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Ghost x Dom!Reader x Soap

Ghost and Soap find themselves crushing on the same woman on their team, a friendly bout between two comrades to see who you'll choose, only your answer's not one they'd expected to hear.

NSFW 18+, Shameless Smut, Porn With Plot, very little plot, MMF, P in V sex, Tons of Teasing, Steamy Makeouts, Groping, Grinding, Double-Penetration, Anal, Ceampie, Explicit Description, Graphic Language, Dom!Reader, Sub!Soap, Sub!Ghost, Sexual Tension, Some Ghostsoap moments as well, Playful Banter, Bickering, Flirting, Build-Up, Jealousy, Soap and Ghost are fighting over the same girl, but it's friendly competition, ends in a three way too so, will do more proofreading I promise!

WC: 7k ~

Author's Note: This took me way longer to type than it probably should have. I hope it makes for a good read. It's total nonsense, and probably not very realistic (though I do try). It's not exactly like the anon, I'm sorry! But hopefully, it's still good. Please, please, please enjoy, and thank you so much for reading my things!

Masterlist

The front door shut close, leaving the living room just a bit more silent now that its previous company had just departed. You look back towards your remaining two house guests, the smile already unable to stop from forming on your face. You'd been hoping for some alone time with both Ghost and Soap, and it seems fate would smile on you tonight, for now, you had both of them here.

You invited the whole team back over to your place for the weekend, after having just come back from an op with both Price and Gaz, which lasted damn near over a month. The whole thing had been rather uneventful, to say the least; some reconnaissance and leads which went mostly nowhere (well, nowhere for your team; Laswell definitely had a heyday from the sound of things).

With how mind-numbingly dull the whole assignment turned out to be, everyone couldn't be happier to finally sit back and relax with some drinks and good company once back home. All night you spent recapping the events of the mission, including all the monotony which had conspired.

At one point, the most entertainment you could find out there had been both you and Gaz slowly "misplacing" Price's things -- unimportant items that wouldn't do any harm if left unnoticed. You had bets on how long it'd take for him to notice things slowly going missing everyday.

Surprisingly, you nearly got away with it for a whole week, until one morning when he finally questioned the funny look you two had on your faces when he'd been scratching his head, completely perplexed by the absence of his things. Price was in a better mood retelling the story than he had been in the moment.

Eventually, everyone started to disperse as the night went on -- Price got tired and left first, maybe an hour after that Gaz called it a night as well. Once they'd left, you found yourself in your living room with the only two mates you'd been thinking about all day, Ghost and Soap.

Only unbeknownst to both you and each other, both men had deliberately been trying to stick around, having shared the sentiment in wanting some long-awaited alone time with you... except the night keeps getting later, and they both keep giving each other increasingly odd looks, impatiently waiting for the other to leave so they could finally make a move on you.

Both Ghost and Soap have wanted you for a long time now, longer than either men cared to admit. Funnily enough, it was Ghost who'd caught feelings first.

It came to him as randomly as a Tuesday morning. You were just doing what you normally do. However, it had been your mundane actions that somehow drew him in initially. How you go about life with a smile and good attitude, the way you look at him when you found something funny, and the slight lilt to your voice when you talk and get excited. He would feel a lucky man indeed to be yours.

However, Soap had been the one to be more upfront about his interest in you, after developing feelings of his own. The Sergeant's likings to you came suddenly and without warning, but once they'd developed, it couldn't be more obvious that he was down BAD.

More often than not was he finding little excuses to touch you, whether it be a passing hand on the small of your back when squeezing by, or a congratulatory hug after a successful mission. Soap's suave charisma made it easy to do. And with the touching, it was always followed by some sly little line that would have you blushing and pulling at the fabric of your sleeve all shy-like.

He's slowly ramped the flirting up the more time passes, and Ghost knows if he doesn't at least say something now, then it won't be long before Soap takes the chance himself. Tonight had felt a perfect enough opportunity to finally make some waves, though, Soap was fast proving to be a formidable opponent.

"Jeez!" You stretch your hands over your head and yawn dramatically, both men's eyes luring a bit longer than they should have on you as you did so. "I didn't realize how late it was getting."

"Aye, same," Soap lets out a little yawn as well, making himself more comfy on your couch. "You don't mind though, no?"

"Not at all," you say. If only they knew how many nights you've spent letting one of the two men be your idle bedtime fancies into slumber. Wondering what it was they could be doing at that moment in time, and if they'd been thinking of you too. "I missed you guys."

"Aw, we missed you too, lass," Soap smiles at you, before his gaze drops over to Ghost's, who'd begun to glare.

He often forgoes the mask in more domestic environments like this with the team, the others having already seen him before. Though it didn't stop the man from forgetting not to wear his emotions on his face like he still had one on. You thought his eyes were expressive, but little had you all known it was only the tip of the iceberg.

Keeping calm and remaining stoic in combat is one thing, however, anger and disapproval came easy to him, in which case he rivaled for having the worst poker face you'd ever seen.

The Sergeant had taken this fouled expression for disagreement in his statement, even as the look had been for an entirely different reason altogether. Soap merely goes on, "Or, I missed you at least. Ghost might feel differently."

Bastard. Putting him on the spot like this; Ghost almost chuckles, the cheeky fuck. He knew what Soap was trying to do: subtly make himself look better in your eyes so that you choose him over the other.

Had he known better, Ghost would think Soap might actually be aware of the lieutenant's crush on you, by the way he smirked in his direction after saying it. He admits he hadn't expected Soap to partake in such petty games either; then again, this was a first, the two of them liking the same woman like this.

If this is how he plays, then Ghost thought only one thing -- Game on.

"Oh I'm sure you missed me too," you stand up from the couch now, twirling over to face him. "Right, Si'?"

"And then some, love," Ghost says.

Your smile brightens, and the man is ashamed to say that it gives him the warm fuzzies in these late hours. The way the living room lighting curved over your neck had also been a sight worth eliciting something deep within him.

Ghost takes a quick glance over at Soap, catching his less-than-excited reaction to the lieutenant's successful line. He has to remember not to grow too expressive at that moment. Not with you here at least.

You excuse yourself to the restroom shortly after, having paid no mind to the growing tension between your comrades. You'd all but taken the soothing atmosphere with you, leaving instead an awkward aura Ghost and Soap willfully drowned themselves in.

It's Ghost who speaks first, his dark eyes having watched your backside make its way down the hall and round the corner. The more drink he had in him, the less subtle his staring grew. Soap has noticed as much tonight especially.

"It's gettin' rather late." Ghost straightens up in his seat before finishing off his Bourbon and placing it back down on the coffee table. "Damn near one in the a.m. Yet you look proper cozy, mate."

"Aye, I am," Soap says rather proudly, further making his point by getting comfortable on the couch and taking another swig of his tequila. "Been too long since I been 'ere. Was startin' to miss layin' on the ol' thing," he rubs the cushion as though he were petting an old dog.

Ghost leans back in his seat now. "You stay over this late often, then?"

Soap pauses, having to double take that question, until his blue eyes fell on Ghost's brown ones, and he saw clearly what he was asking him.

He asks the man right back, "Do you, mate?"

A cocky little grin forms on the Scotsman's face. Had Ghost not been so wrapped up in you, it might have brought him to a pause there. Soap always did have a nice smile.

Soap didn't have to be a genius to know Ghost liked you though; he goes all but slack-jaw anytime you walk by him. Not to mention it wasn't a common thing for Ghost to be the one sticking around late during a get-together. He's normally the first to call it a night, in fact.

Only tonight, that hadn't been the case for him at all. No, Ghost was as planted in his chair as Soap was; they both might as well have sprouted roots. And they both had enough drink to muster up the right amount of bravado needed to keep this sudden, little interrogation going.

"I asked you first, Johnny," Ghost says, his deep voice laced with something more playfully cunning.

"And I answered you," Soap teases back.

"With a question."

"It's still an answer, no?"

Now Soap was just being deliberately obtuse. Ever since he knew he could do it, Soap's enjoyed pushing the lieutenant's buttons and getting a rile out of him. It's only increased tenfold over the last year, not that Ghost has tried to stop him.

Ghost leans forward now, resting his arms on his knees and furrowing his brow. "A'right, out with it, then," he says. "What's your game 'ere?"

Soap's brow furrows rather facetiously. '"I'm sorry, sir?"

"Don’t play dumb Johnny." The playful tone Ghost once used before has now since cooled, growing darker. "You know wha' I'm askin'."

Soap merely smirks, resting his arm back against the couch. "The same game you're playing, yeah?"

"And what game is that, Johnny?"

Soap can't help but laugh now, growing more and more cocky with each loaded exchange. On a normal day, Ghost might manage to intimidate the Sergeant every so often with his sheer presence, let alone his words. However, when it comes to women, Soap couldn't feel more in his element, especially up against his superior.

"One I'll beat you in."

Now it's Ghost's turn to have a laugh. A subtle thing, trapped beneath the burliness of his chest, though its deep rumble is audible enough, having warmed the Scotsman's cheeks at the sound.

"I doubt that," Ghost says.

"You underestimate my charm L.T."

Soap puckers his lips and kisses the air between the two men mockingly. As much as Ghost tried to hide it, the sight had made the air catch in his throat for a second. It's that usual, competitive nature about the Sergeant that really gets Ghost's blood pumping during these mutual bouts of bickering.

"My last statement still stands," Ghost chuckles. "So what? You thought I'd leave and you two would just go at it then?"

"I wouldn't say it like that," Soap says. "...But I was hoping to have some alone time with her, yes."

"And you figured on waitin' for the rest of us to vacate before making a move..." Ghost shrugs with affirmation. "...Clever man."

"Yeah, well, what about you?" Soap asks. "Clearly we're both still here for the same reason. What's your "game", L.T.?"

"It's not your concern."

Soap groans, sinking back in his seat, though he hadn't been surprised by his response. "Suppose it isn't, then," he says. "It's hers."

"That's right," Ghost agrees. "We can't both have her."

"Can't we?"

Ghost brings his eyes forward to Soap's, having thought his comment been a mere joke. However, once their gazes matched, Ghost could see that his Sergeant was dead serious.

Personally, Soap's never been opposed to the idea of a threesome. He'd even be lying if he said he hadn't fantasized about it from time to time, as boyish as it sounds. Adding Ghost into that equation hadn't tripped him up much in the slightest either; Lord knows the lieutenant would be next on Soap's list if you weren't at the top of it already.

Still, Ghost had a hard time even picturing a scenario where something like that could happen, let alone with all three of you. No doubt the man had been interested in you, and for a while, he'd even felt something for Soap as well, feelings that haven't necessarily gone away.

Something with all three of you would no doubt be perfect, however, it just seemed...

"Let's be real here, Johnny." Ghost leaves it at that.

"Suit yourself," Soap merely shrugs, before a light bulb moment suddenly lets off in his eyes. "How about we bring this to the source then? Hey Y/N!"

"Soap-"

"Oi, calm down, mate," he smiles at him. "No point in beatin' 'round the bush, aye?"

You reemerge from around the corner, having heard their voices vaguely through your door this entire time, but not being able to put full words together. Not without having your ear pressed to the wall. From the "uh-oh" look you had on your face, though, something told the two men you were already preparing for them to say something crazy.

"What's up?"

Soap gives Ghost a final look, waiting to see if the man will protest. However, when he sees that he doesn't speak, Soap grins, turning back to you.

"If you had to pick between Ghost and I, who're you choosin'?"

"Pick for what?" you ask, certainly needing clarification. "For battle?"

Soap bursts out laughing, just now feeling how awkward it was going to be explaining this to you. "No," he says. "Like if you had to pick one of us to... I don't know, go out on a date with, who would you pick?"

You keep smiling at Soap like he's joking, waiting to hear him laugh, but once you see he hasn't budged, you feel your heart begin to race.

Your eyes grow wide, now suddenly embarrassed to have the spotlight on you. "You're seriously asking?"

Soap nods. "I am."

You look over at Ghost now. Surely this was just another one of Soap's antics. "You too?"

Ghost shrugs. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious."

You were hoping he wouldn't say that. But, if they were asking, then may God be your witness as you answer them.

Placing a hand to your chin, you pout to yourself and look back and forth between your teammates, sizing both men up for every physical feature they had to offer.

Your mind immediately goes to the gutter, not being able to help it. You've found them both distractingly good-looking ever since you joined the team, and you've more than thought about this before. Just never in comparison. Or out loud.

Soap looks like he'd be fun to play with -- he's eager, energetic, and even better, open-minded. Not to mention he was cocky too; you always liked a man who could talk his shit and back it up. With those big arms of his, he could just box you in against the bed and pin you down good and firm, as he drills into you, cooing that sweet little accent of his in your ear like he would. It made your body tingle just thinking about it.

And then there was Ghost; if there was any voice you wouldn't mind having growled in your ear while being fucked senseless, it was his. Unlike Soap, you just knew you wouldn't get it rough like you would from Ghost. You've lost count of how many times you've caught yourself gawking at him during sparring sessions or while out in the field, watching that bulking mass of muscle of his he called a body, manhandle any and everything in his way. Having him do the same to you in a more intimate sense never failed to make the lower parts of yourself start to throb at the thought.

After giving both men a good, long look, you sigh, letting your arms fall back to your sides.

"I can't choose."

"Ah, don't be shy now, lass," Soap says. "If you're worried about hurtin' our feelings-"

"No it's not that," you cut in. "It's just not an easy choice, you know?"

Ghost raises an eyebrow now. "Oh?"

"Oh, don't act all surprised, Simon."

"You like us both then?" Soap asks cautiously.

"I'd say so." You begin to smirk. "Why? What's going on here?"

The two give each other a look, before Ghost goes to explain things to you.

"We're just trying to figure out which one of us has a shot."

"Figures you should be the deciding vote, seeing as you're the subject of interest, lass."

You imagine you look pretty stupid standing at the center of your living room all wide-eyed like you do, but frankly, this just feels too good to be true. It hadn't been one of them that was supposedly into you, but both of them. If you could do a backflip, you'd do twelve right now, no questions asked.

But before you get head over heels about this, "So you're saying you both want me then?"

"In more ways than one, darlin'," Soap teases.

You glance over at Ghost this time, having taken note of his sudden silence. "You too, Simon?"

He hadn't necessarily been prepared to confess his feelings to you, not like this, and much less in front of an opposing audience. Still, Ghost wouldn't have his own Sergeant show him up so easily. Plus, the way your eyes lured at him this whole time had a chill running down his spine, making it hard to concentrate. So he nods, "That's right."

A devilish smile slowly creeps over your lips.

"Well, can't I just have you both?"

"Aye, that's what I'm sayin'!"

"Problem solved then, right?" You laugh.

"If only," Soap says. "Ghost didn't seem up for it when I brought it up earlier-"

"You puttin' words in my mouth now, Johnny." Ghost cuts in.

"Oh, don't switch up now L.T.-"

"Boys," you cut in before they've started going back in forth again, a playful smile still painting your lips. You were eating this up, if you were being honest. "Relax," you say. "We can... get to the bottom of this, yeah?"

Both your eyes shift over to Ghost, who now sits awkwardly to himself on the couch, hands resting motionless on his large lap.

"Well Simon?" You ask him. "Are you down?"

"I'm not one for sharing, love," Ghost coos at you.

You slowly make your way over to the lieutenant, your eyes looming over him like a panther that's just found its next meal. Ghost feels himself hold his breath, watching as you've paused just in front of him, your back now facing Soap, though you can feel his eyes on your backside, taking in the nice view of you, and feeling himself grow harder in his pants.

This close, having smelt your scent on the way over, and felt the remnants of your breath in the air between you two, Ghost could feel his mind beginning to slip out from itself, heading into dangerous territories.

He could see in your eyes you knew exactly what you were doing too. Exactly what you wanted to do. The ball was in your park, and that made you in charge from this point on. The only thing they needed to do now was listen. And Ghost was sitting at the edge of his seat, waiting to hear you.

"Come on, Si'," you say so playfully. "Don't be greedy."

Ghost merely scoffs, an awkward smile forming. "How can I not?"

As though to then challenge the man, you step even closer, placing yourself right at the brink between his legs, having now rested your dainty hands over his muscular thighs like a ledge to lean on. The man can't even stop himself from letting his hands rest on your hips, your body naturally shifting just a little closer as he's done it. Every little thing you did had him ready to tear you out of your clothes and devour you whole.

No, the man knows he's too greedy for his own good. If he had even the smallest taste of you, he wouldn't want your attention on no one other than him. Howbeit, looking back over towards the Sergeant only made him want to throw that caution out the window.

Soap doesn't see the man staring daggers into him at first; his blue eyes have been glued to your ass since you turned your back to him. For the short second he does glance up at the lieutenant, he grins daringly. Taunting him to go home and tuck tail so he could have you all to himself instead. Make this easier for him tonight.

That's just what Soap wants, Ghost thought. Here the opportunity was now to have you, and he's fumbling it away all because he feels he can't share with Soap. Saying it again in his head like that gets him thinking though. If that's the only hurdle between him and you fucking, then it seemed easy enough to step over.

He won't back down that easily, even if he has to "share" you. If you want him like he wants you, then you'll have him, however way you like, just as he'll have you.

Ghost brings his hands down and lets his fingers graze your ass just enough for the Sergeant to see since he couldn't keep his eyes off you. Sickly enough, he hopes the sight is driving the Scot mad. God knows Ghost feels mad enough himself.

The minute you've felt his touch on you, you hum pleasantly, stepping even closer, so that he could take better hold of your bottom and have your small body caged between his large arms and legs like walls, his face only inches or so from yours.

Ghost could feel himself getting more comfortable with the idea of sharing. At least when he had you to himself like this. Especially with how your hands have begun to leisurely rest over his shoulders now, keeping the man just as close.

"I knew you'd come around," you praise, your words now having the man feeling giddy, ready to take them to further levels.

"Just takes the right convincing," he hums.

"I'm feelin' awfully lonely back 'ere," Soap chimes in, doing the best he could not to sink so low as to start touching himself before being given the OK by you first, wanting to hear the words leave your pretty, little mouth. Even as his cock was already throbbing in his pants for some relief.

You merely chuckle, cocking your head back to look at the Sergeant. "I haven't forgotten about you, don't worry," you coo. "You just be a good little lad and wait a moment, yeah?"

Though he wanted to protest, step over, and take you all for himself, Soap did as you told him to and stayed put, continuing to let his eyes have their way with the parts of your body he's all but only been able to steal quick glances at before. He could only hope his patience would be rewarded; and so long as you keep talking to him like you are now, he'll wait until the sun rises if he has to.

You turn your attention back to Ghost, not having forgotten about his hands which oh so nonchalantly groped the cheeks of your ass, kneading and massaging his fingers into the backs of your thighs. He wanted nothing more than to keep letting his hands roam until they've found the center of you, his mind already playing the short gasps and moans you'd make with his fingers knuckle deep in you.

He knew you'd only make him regret it if he so much as did anything without your say-so first.

You reveled at seeing both men so eager and receptive to listen, given how fast this all went down. Frankly, it's got your head spinning so fast that you feel like you've just been drugged. However, rather than let that adrenaline crumble you down, you instead use it as chaotic fuel to your lustful actions.

You climb onto Ghost's lap like a backward chair, straddling him down with your thighs and rocking yourself against him. As he's felt you grind generously so, a tattered breath escapes his lips. Broken and faint. His expression does all it can do to remain as still as possible, only to fail, as his gaze lowers, bouncing between your eyes and lips.

Having his hands grow a mind of their own, Ghost lets them slide to your back, encouraging you to keep moving against him, which you do gladly, the lust bubbling down your lower half like a chemical reaction.

"Fuck, love," Ghost huffs out. "You're really takin' me for a ride right now, aren't you?"

"Hope you're buckled in," you tease, following it with another smooth sway of your hips, giving the man a deep grind hard enough to leave him breathing heavy.

Just when he's about ready to kiss you, you look back over at Soap, smiling. Your index finger lifts innocently, beckoning the man. "Come along now, big boy," you say.

You don't have to tell him twice.

In a matter of seconds, the man is behind you, towering over you and keeping you now sandwiched between both him and Ghost.

When you see they're both waiting on your next word, you chuckle to yourself, the power now starting to go to your head. To think, you had two of the deadliest men on your team damn near drooling, ready to fuck you. How could you not let it get to your head?

"Well," you give both men a final lurid, look, and say, "I'm waiting."

Soap and Ghost exchange wary looks, suddenly unsure of what to do with themselves now that they had you like this. Evidently, despite you already sitting on the lieutenant's lap, it's Soap who swoops in for the kiss first.

You feel his large hand push past your hair and curve around your jaw, his fingers grazing your neck before he's cocked your head back to give you a proper eye-fucking, before he's leaned down and smacked his mouth against yours, Ghost be damned.

You wiggle on Ghost's lap, your legs tightening over his thighs in an attempt to keep balance as the Sergeant all but swallowed you whole, his hands cupping around your face, keeping you from escaping.

Using the Sergeant as further support, you stretch your arms over your head and let them rest against Soap's shoulders like a warm wall, your hands cupping his face and keeping him just as pulled in, your tongues trading the taste of each other and your body unconsciously rocking over Ghost's crotch, feeling two sets of arousal brim in you from top to bottom.

Having you bouncing over his cock like this was driving Ghost feral, getting off on just the sight of you. Of course, watching you make precise work with Soap's mouth soon had the lieutenant wanting more, growing impatient waiting for the Sergeant to let up.

Ghost instead lets his hands cup over your breast, groping and massaging them generously through your shirt. His mouth finds your neck bare for his teeth, sinking them in lightly each time before he's left a heated kiss in its place, letting his lips travel down your neck until he's felt his tongue graze your collarbone, complimenting the kissing Soap gave you above.

Your mouth may be occupied by the Sergeant's, but your body belonged to the lieutenant, so long as you continued to bounce on top of him like you were.

He lets one hand leave your breast, sliding his fingers and letting them dig against your clothed skin, until it's ducked between your legs, beginning to fumble with the buttons of your pants.

It's here you've parted your mouth from Soap's, the man looking down at your doe-eyed expression, hungering for more. You see the tinge of excitement that lights up in the sky-blue of his eyes as he watches your hands make their way toward his belt, swiftly undoing it and pulling it from his waist. If Ghost would have his way with you, then you would have yours with Soap.

Ghost has slipped his hand into your pants just as you've sprung Soap's cock free of its trouser, his large member sitting in your palm like a heavy, third limb. Soap can barely enjoy the sight of you holding him so close before you've let your tongue tease over the head of him, sucking lightly at the tip and tasting the remnants of his precum on your tongue.

Soap lets his head cock back pleasurably, groaning out to himself with a smile. "Ah," he groans, "You're too good to me, Bonnie."

Soap lets his hands rest at the side of your head rather brutishly, lightly nudging your mouth further down onto his cock, his abs tensing as he listened to the light gags you let out. Despite his persistence, you kept control of yourself, making sure that your movements had the man locked into your touch. It hadn't helped that your mind was caught in two places right now.

Ghost let his two fingers massage against your clit as though he were tasked with his life to see the job done properly. The tips of his fingers dip between your folds and tease your hole, before letting your slick lubricate him, soon to return rubbing against your bud in ways that made the entire lower half of your body feel sore with lust.

And it hadn't been enough to have his hand down your pants making a ruined mess of you. Ghost's other hand very much continued to pluck and roll at your nipple, having slipped beneath your shirt at some point during the interaction, holding against you as you rocked yourself against his hand, your moans humming over the Sergeant's cock and sending a wave of euphoria down him as well.

With one hand still free, you decide it's time that Ghost enjoys himself as well. He watches your single hand with hungry eyes, slightly shaken and erratic from both his fingering and Soap's cock a mere inch away from hitting the back of your throat, the man's groans of approval like music to your ears. Your hand travels down to his belt and undoes it with ease before you've slipped him free of his jeans as well, your fingers taking in the very shape of him.

Your thumb grazes his dripping tip, letting it slick down his shaft before you've begun to pump at him, feeling the man's body tense at your touch. It makes his fingers against your clit lose their rhythm, but only momentarily.

"Fuckin' hell," he breathes out. "Just like tha', love."

The Sergeant glances down at the lieutenant, catching his dazed eyes locked on your bobbing mouth, taking in a full review of your work on the Sergeant's cock.

He could see it in the man's eyes, he was jealous, envious that he had your mouth all to himself while he had to settle for your hand. Granted your fingers danced about his shaft like an angel in her craft, though even he couldn't resist the allure that was watching your saliva dribble down his subordinate's cock, imagining the warmth of your throat struggling to take his entire length. You've felt his cock throb in your hands just at the thought, his hips faintly chasing your purposefully coy grip on him.

Soap chuckles, not being used to seeing his superior so awestruck and drunk with lust, hearing all sorts of noises and groans from the man he could never have imagined.

"Enjoyin' the show there, L.T.?" Soap teases, quickly following it by readjusting his hand on the side of your face, taking light hold of you to help further steady your already perfect rhythm.

In response, Ghost slips a third finger in you, listening to the carnal noises your cunt made at each thrust of his fingers, watching your mouth twitch over the Sergeant, momentarily struggling to suck him off through the moans that clawed out of you. That gets you to put more attention back on Ghost, your hand taking better hold of his cock and dancing over the large girth of him, keeping a steady motion until you've seen the wave-like rising and falling of his chest.

Through his light panting, Ghost taunts, "Got the best seat in the house, Johnny."

"Oh, is tha' righ', mate?" Soap licks his lips, and lets his eyes drop noticeably down to the lieutenant's cock, watching your single hand continue to pump at him, barely able to hold it all in one hand. It makes the Sergeant let out a teasing groan. "Shall we put it to the test then, L.T.?"

Ghost stares at the Sergeant, hungry for the man just as much as he starved for you.

"Be my guest, Johnny."

Hearing the two go back and forth had you giddy to see what both men had in store for each other. However, it had you just as eager to join in on the fray yourself.

After what felt like an eternity of having your drool dribble itself over the Sergeant's cock, you let your lips part from him, and with your other hand, remove yourself from Ghost as well, giggling at their kicked-puppy-dog expressions.

"I have a better idea," you say. You reach for the bottom of your shirt before pulling it over your head and discarding it at the edge of the couch. Once removed, both men fell on the same page rather quickly.

Soap's hands hastily fumbled at the clasp of your bra, before the fabric has fallen loose and your chest now lay bare for Ghost's full perusal. He hardly any time to truly enjoy it before you've momentarily climbed from him to rid yourself of the rest of your clothing, now standing a dripping, naked beauty of a woman.

Both men could do nothing more but stare, hands subconsciously stroking oneselves at the sight of you.

"Now," you say. "I can't have you both feeling so left out while the other fucks me."

"It would be cruel," Ghost quips gruffly, his eyes having been glued to your chest since he's seen your breast bounce so freely before him.

You step back over to Ghost, retaking your place over his lap and letting his cock rest thick beneath you, your sopping folds hugging warmly over him, sending a shiver down his entire body. You grind slowly, letting your fluids paint him, and wetting yourself good for what you were dying to have.

Ghost leans in, letting his hand rest on the small of your back and his lips caress the shell of your ear. "This is much crueler," he whispers. His hands immediately cupped over your breast again, recapturing the feeling of you and letting his hips lightly rock, chasing every part of you he could.

You lean forward until you've felt his nose brush the tip of yours and his breath tickle your lips.

"Don't get pouty now, Si'," you coo.

"Aye," Soap chimes in. "You're the one goin' first."

You look over at Soap playfully, leaning forward to pull him back in close by the hem of his shirt.

"I already told you two not to be greedy," you let your hand retake hold of him, your fingers curving over his girthy length gently. It shuts him up quickly, coming back in so closely to you both. "You two can share."

"What's your plan then, love?" Ghost asks, already having let his hand dive back down between your legs, gripping over his cock so the tip of his head could tease at your hole, wetness and slick coating you both.

You take your hand and you rub it against yourself, making sure every bit of your parts below had been lubed. You bring that same, dripping hand back up to Soap, before dressing his cock with your warm fluids, massaging the man, and feeling the grooves of his veins against your fingers throb.

"Now be a good little spotter and watch my back," you say playfully, before letting your eyes dip back down to Ghost. "I think the lieutenant's got the front covered."

Soap chuckles to himself, before you've felt his large hands rest gently against your bare shoulders, his callous fingers running down slowly to take a hefty handful of your ass, gripping the cheek tightly. He spreads you roughly, his eyes growing large at the sight of you, already knowing his cock would be more than a tight fit for you and devilishly longing for it.

As you've felt Soap rub his cock between your ass, letting your cheeks hug him, his hand digging possessively into your skin, you feel Ghost's hand lock over your neck, holding you there gently in front of him. That way your eyes could stay on him as his cock continued to gently nudge at your hole, only a single thrust away from finally entering you.

"You sure you can take us both?" Ghost asks.

"Wouldn't want to hurt you, lass," Soap adds in.

You position yourself better over Ghost, ready to retake your seat.

"I can handle myself, boys," you say. "Now, show me who wants it more."

You lower yourself on Ghost's cocks, feeling your folds begin to stretch and the grooves of your walls run by every vein and shape of him. It's too much at first, and he can see it in your wincing face, however, you keep lowering yourself, powering through that initial pain and instead letting that pressure boil in you like nothing you've ever felt before. It was overwhelming, and it had your lips quivering with silent moans already.

Just as you've felt your pussy start to take the full length of him, you've felt Soap tease at your second hole, his cock rubbing playfully at you, the tip dipping in ever so slightly, giving you a completely new feeling altogether. His cock stretches you just as much as Ghost's, both men easing your body to the shape of them all at once, and both waves of pleasure complimenting each other in ways that had your body shaking over them, unable to string words together.

"Fuckin' Christ, you're tight, Bonnie," Soap groans.

"Don't... stop...," you say desperately, wanting to squash any reluctance they may feel. The pleasure your body ached for was just now beginning to reach its peak. "...I can take it."

Once your body adjusted, it hadn't grown long before this slow easing had turned into an organized attack, both men pounding savagely into you.

You sat, nearly sandwiched between two men, your chest pressed against Ghost's as he hugged you to him, his cock bullying into you powerfully, the base of himself smacking against your pussy at each thrust.

In rhythm, Soap rests his chest against your back, planting kisses at your spine each time he's let himself thrust just a bit deeper inside your ass. Your hole gripped his cock so tightly it nearly pulled at him each time he came out, only to crash another orgasm-inducing thrust into you, both him and Ghost going back in forth like well-trained machines.

"That's right lovey, there you go," Ghost praises you, his breath fanning your ear. "You're takin' us so well."

In the midst of both men's vicious pounding, it felt as though every bit of you all had been entangled in some way. Hands clumsily felt, hugged, and tugged at one another, chests heaving and moans forming an opera within your living room.

When your tongue wasn't dipping itself into Ghost's mouth, then you're head was cocked back, having a few more kisses be stolen from you by Soap. At some points even, when you're face was buried in Ghost's chest attempting to muffle your moans, you've felt both men lean in to keep each other company in the meantime, rough lips pressed harshly to one another in a passionate kiss you only wished to mirror once they've parted.

Mouths part just enough to concentrate on breathing, each gasp of air being halted by yet another thrust from both ends of you.

Both men have felt an animal-like fury come out of them at each orgasm they've pulled, feeling your body tighten over their cocks and your limbs shake with pleasure, drool, and tears leaking from you, your mind completely scrambled after eleven straight minutes of this.

It isn't until Ghost has opened his eyes again, finding your face twisted with pleasure, and seeing the Sergeant's love-drunk expression -- eyes half-lidded with lust, biting his lip -- that Ghost feels himself finally at his end.

His fingers claw harshly into your skin, his pace growing punishable. Seeing the lieutenant move so carnally clicked in the sergeant's mind quickly what that had meant, already being at the brink of a climax himself.

You hug yourself over Ghost's shoulders, your body so exhausted you could pass out right now before they've even finished. Even so, you couldn't get enough of this sensation; this could go on for another hour if they wanted it to.

"...I'm ready for it," you moan. "Give it to me..."

Both men's cocks pulsate in you, your holes being filled to the brim with their cum, as it drips from you sloppily once they've pulled themselves out.

With heavy huffs, everyone in the room falls back onto the couch, taking a moment to themselves to regain their air. You still couldn't believe that just happened... that any of this had happened.

"So," Soap pants out, about ready to crash on your couch again. "Which one of us did'ye think wanted you more?"

You give Soap a sly look, baffled he would even ask you that right now. "I don't know."

Author's Note: The behemoth has been slain! I'm NEVER typing a request that is longer than 3k words ever again (this took me almost a month and a half to type due to my schedule). However, I am open to any requests for prompts with the CoD boys, though preferably none that are straight smut (I'm kind of burnt out on it atm :/).

I do hope you enjoyed this, however, and please feel free to leave a comment or any feedback! Thank you again!

꒰ · ◡ · ꒱

[kineticallyanywhere]

Matt "I can and will remind everyone that Link is REALLY wierd about Normal with like no real explination at this point" Arnold out here like "let me see if I can underminine my entire point in this character arc defining interaction" and I unironically love him for it Link is SUCH a messy b word rn

(this turned into a long response, let's talk Fascinating Character Flaws!)

I dont think it's so much that he's weird about Normal, if I'm understanding what you mean by 'weird', especially in this episode. I feel like it circles back to what I keep thinking about, which is his newest teen fact. the one where he-- does this count as poisoning? he made other children ill in a fit of jealousy for anyone having any time with his dads.

listen, I've had many homeschooled friends. At one point in college I was the "actually went to public school" member of the friend group. People can go in and out of homeschooling and be... not whatever the heck Link has going on. I was excited for him when that fact started, like, "oh he was part of a cohort!" until uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!

(the following are thoughts that I'm still developing in my head as I type and probably after I post)

whether it's due to the overprotective parenting or just Link's nature or a Symptom of a Condition (op has their own Condition but is not a psychologist) Link's got an issue with like. not getting what he wants? not usually in super obvious ways, it's not spelled out, he doesn't throw tantrums or anything. unless you count the thing at Normal about Normal not wanting to do "cool plans." and most of the time he doesn't want anything complicated, his wants have been pretty straight forward and in line with what anyone would want in these circumstances. he wants people to not die is the big major one, he wants to not feel betrayed again, he wants his friends to stop fighting, he wants to get this over with NOW. and he's been going through so much of not getting what he wants (COMPLETELY REASONABLE THINGS TO WANT, IN THIS CASE. TRAUMATIC THINGS TO NOT GET) that he seems to not know what he wants at all anymore.

like, his understanding of the world has been rocked so bad that he's pretty sure all those things I just listed just aren't things he can have. in the past whenever he needled his parents or acted out or did certain things he'd get what he wanted. not to say that he's spoiled but uh... okay yeah I am saying that a bit. but mostly in the ways that it keeps him from developing the coping mechanisms for when you ask something from life and it punches you in the teeth instead.

So in a world where he doesn't know how to get what he wants and maybe he isn't sure what he even can want, he's kinda just shutting down internally. In the mean time, he may as well make sure his friends get what they want, and then maybe at some point he'll want something again. so, in a way, what he wants is to feel and want something, so that "wants what he wants" part of him snapped out again at Normal with "well at least you're feeling something." in other words, "you have the thing that I want right now, and I'm gonna sound pretty bitter about not having it myself" which is an effed up thing to say when that thing he's having is a mental breakdown.

Link. Buddy. Bud. Kiddo. Pal. you need Help.

tl;dr and conclusion: imo for their mental health the party should split into Link & Taylor and Scary & Normal again for an episode or two. Norm and Scary for hopefully obvious reasons; and Link and Taylor because while Taylor is unquestionably a rich kid spoiled for material goods who is very good at wanting things, he is also a kid who's mom knows how to say "No. Absolutely Not. Give me the knife right now I don't care what seppuku is" and who's dad left an emotional void for over a decade that he is clearly adept in coping with and he could give Link some pointers.

also because it would be a cool callback and parallel to early episodes to do those pairs again. see how they've changed and stuff

[adidegmez]

Bad batch s3 ep10&11 spoilers

First of all, These episodes were just dark.

Emerie is nice. She sees what they are doing is wrong.

And she gave lula to eva. 🥺

Tech's glasses and lula... 🥹

Hunter will be so mad. He and Crosshair might fight in the next episode(hope not).

Crosshair will feel terrible even now he feels terrible. He couldn't place the tracker.

Omega made her choice and sacrificed herself.

Probably Emerie will help her this time(hopefully)

And cloneX didnt make more damage. And he kept his promise. He might still be Tech i belive it i want it but at the same time i don't want him to be like that if there is no return. There is just 4 episodes left and i dont know how can they bring him and reunite him with bad batch end give them a happy ending.

I think we probably wont get an happy ending (i hope i am wrong) but if we don't get a happy ending at least let it be a less painful ending.

(People behind this show just want to break us. There is no other explanation. And they are doing a good job.)

4 episodes left and ı dont want it to end. I need more.

Edit: now that i think more.

hunter will be mad, yes. But crosshair will be devastated so hunter will say somethings but when he sees crosshair is so devastated he and crosshair will try so hard to find omega. And maybe they will call echo and rex.

[likeysoob]

I’m so blind by likeysoob

Episode 1

“You ever thought high school would be easy?” My mom looked up from her phone to answer me. “Oh no sweetheart. I always thought it was going to be hard.” At least I’m tying to look for some hope before high school starts. I look down at the table just being lost in my thoughts until my mom puts a plate of food in front of my face. “Thanks mom.” I said then begun to eat.

When I finished with my food, I went upstairs to lay in my bed. My eyes started to burn but I didn’t really feel sleepy. As the time rolls around 9pm, i decided to go on my laptop and watch some videos. I really dont have friends. They all left me for some reason. I guess i was boring? They were bad friends anyways. I have online friends but I dont want to talk to them right now.

My cat just lays on the floor by my feet. 2 hours pass by and i start to feel tired. I get up and change into my pjs then lay in my bed. My eyes slowly began to fall as i feel my cat snuggle by my feet. I hope that tomorrow will be a good first day of high school.

Well, i woke up not good. My body hurts and i really dont know why. My mom was yelling at me saying i was late and now…“ I CANT BELIEVE YOU SLEPT THROUGH 3 OF YOUR ALARMS Y/N!” Yeah…she still is. I didn’t say nothing back and just let her continue. Soon, we were close the school and she was talking about basic high school stuff. Once we’re here, i unbuckle my seat belt and open the door to leave. “Oh and! No talking to boys! No boys!” I turn around towards her and smirk, “wasn’t planning on to mom!” I watch her drive off and smile to myself. “That’s because i like girls…”

When i reached the main doors, i took a look around. “Why is this school so big?” “I know right!?” I jump back in fear. I turn my full view onto the person next to me. Holy shit. Who sneaks up on someone like that? “Oh sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” The random girl apologized. I dont give 2 shits though. “Um yeah…it’s whatever.” I say, the girl smiles at me, man she’s pretty. “I’m Ning Yi Zhuo but just call me Ning!” She takes out her hand for me to shake and i do. “This is my 2nd year here and I’m still not use to how big it is…are you new here?” Ning asks me. “Um yeah actually, i just got here and yes, i do know where my classes are.” She smiles at me. “Great! I’ll see you around! The bell is about to ring!” Ning runs off. I actually don’t know where my classes are, i just don’t want to talk to people right now. I walk inside the school doors and turn the corner to see some boys already fighting. “Man it’s too early for this shit..”

After running around this whole school, i bump into someone who was clearly right in front of me…why am i so blind? I should really get glasses. I look up and see this girl with short hair. Damn, shes cute, why are there so many cute girls here?! “Oh im so sorry!” She said and i shake my head, “no it’s my fault, I wasn’t watching where i was going!” God this is embarrassing. “It’s fine!” She says, we stand there in silence. “Uh, sorry i got to go!” I ran out of that situation the fastest i can. Where the fuck can I find this class?

I soon found the class. Should i go in? Class ends in 10 minutes. As I’m deciding, the door swings open and a student walks by me. I look inside and the teacher is staring at me. “Sorry I’m…late?” You know, it really looks like i was skipping from the teachers point of view. “I’m sorry, im new here? I was having trouble finding my class…” the teacher only looks at me. The fuck? Bitch speak. I give him a side eye and go sit on an empty desk, hopefully it wasn’t that persons desk that just left right now. The teacher continues on with his lesson, im not sure what class this even is. I turn to the right of me a see this girl with light pinkish hair. All she does is smile at me and looks up to the teacher.

The bell rings, i get up from my chair and grab my bag. Before i could take a step out the classroom, someone calls for me. “Hey! You!” I turn around to see that pinkish haired girl from before. “Yeah?” I respond to her, “I’m Rei, what’s your name?” Her voice is pretty, “oh um im y/n!” I say awkwardly. Omg my voice cracked, im going to die now. “Pretty name, you’re like really pretty! You like to sing or dance?” It feels so overwhelming what she just said, my name pretty? me being pretty? “Yeah i really love singing!” I itched my neck. Great i look like a fool who doesn’t know how to talk. “That’s great! Me and my friends are trying to gain members for this music competition and id like for you to join!” She says while pulling something out of her backpack to give it to me, it’s a flyer. “See you around!” She walks off. I look down at the flyer she gave me.

Wow…the girl on the flyer is really beautiful….like really. Wait, they don’t even have what day!? I guess I’m going to have to message them. I put the flyer into my backpack and go to my next class.

The rest of the day was boring. No one interesting in my classes, rude ass teachers, and nasty lunch. Didn’t expect to the lunch to be this shit when this school is so big. So now I’m in my bed just laying down waiting for my mom to come home. I think high school will be easy, like what’s even going to happen this year? My life is boring.

see all episodes | next episode ->

[victorluvsalice]

WIP Word Game

I was tagged in this by @dont-offend-the-bees in this post -- thanks for thinking of me, Newt!

Rules: You will be given a word. Share one sentence/excerpt from your WIP(s) that start with each letter of that word. Word assigned by Newt: BITES

Because I'm a rebel, I'm going to do a bit from both my current WIP "Londerland Bloodlines: Downtown Queensland" and my just-finished-posting-today Valicer In The Dark story "Start At The Beginning...Sort Of" --

B

LB:DQ -- Briefcase Guy nodded, trembling. “What – what if their case is full of newspaper?” he got out after a second.

“Then at least we get to watch your illiterate ass try to read it later for laughs,” the leader spat, giving him a shove. “I know they got the goods. Just don’t ass it up, or they’re gonna kill the lot of us. Now get ready, it’s going down soon.”

SATBSO -- “By practicing my v-vows down the wrong alley,” Victor replied, worrying his bottom lip. “I – oh dear…” He grabbed his spoon and had a couple of fortifying sips of soup. “It’s like this – I’m due to be w-wed to the daughter of Lord and Lady Everglot, courtesy of my parents. We had the r-rehearsal today, and I was such a n-nervous wreck I couldn’t recall my lines at all. Pastor Galswells, our officiant, finally lost all patience with me after one too many mistakes, and b-banished me until I’d learned my vows. D-desperate to get them right, I ended up roaming Brightstone at random, repeating them to myself to try and get them straight in my head. I finally said them perfectly in an old forgotten side street overlooking one of the canals…and the moment I finished, a g-glowing blue figure in a w-wedding dress burst from the water, declaring ‘I do.’ I s-screamed and ran, but she managed to c-corner me on a nearby bridge and tried to k-kiss me. I fainted when her lips touched mine, and w-when I woke up, I was…” He waved his spoon in the air, as if trying to capture the enormity of the experience. “On the w-wrong side of the veil.”

I

LB:DQ -- “Indeed – or you could avoid the issue entirely,” Cheshire said, floating his smile over to another ladder on the wall in the darkened bay, just barely visible in the gloom. “I’m sure Rabbit would approve of you taking a shortcut, especially in order to avoid detection by anything that might try to stomp you.”

“I’ve apologized for that!” Hatter put in. “And made him that new watch!”

“It was the least you could do,” Rabbit said, paws on hips.

SATBSO -- “I don’t know – I don’t think so,” Victor said, letting his hands drop. “But you’re right, it is very hard to tell time in the ghost field…I’m sorry too, Emily,” he continued in a quieter voice. “I – I shouldn’t have lied to you about w-wanting to see my parents. I should have tried to explain better what was really wrong. But I – I didn’t have the words, and I was so scared and hungry and cold, and…” He sighed heavily, pressing his fingers against his forehead. “And absolutely nothing today has gone according to plan.”

“I know the feeling.” Emily perked up, a hesitant smile tugging at her lips. “But – but we can still make this work, right? We can alternate which side of the field we’re on day by day, so you can still eat and drink and not have to worry! We can even find a nice place to set up house together – one that’s in good shape in both my world and yours!”

“I think anyone who sees you two house-shopping is going to call the Spirit Wardens on you,” Alice couldn’t help saying.

T

LB:DQ -- “True,” Alice nodded. “Which reminds me – at some point tonight, I need to drop in on a certain Sean Milton. I don’t know how much honor there really is among thieves, but hopefully he has very little and will be willing to give up Muddy without a fight.”

“We’ll see on that front – and back, come to think of it,” Cheshire remarked, tail swaying as he kept pace. “But one side-quest at a time.”

SATBSO -- The gondolier gave Emily, floating near the prow, a significant look. “They always go up when the dead are involved.”

“I haven’t done anything,” Emily said, tone sulky and sparks crackling along the edge of her veil.

“And don’t start now,” the gondolier warned, frowning. “I may not be a Warden, but every one of us has got a bit of the Whisper about us. I know how to handle you lot.”

E

LB:DQ -- “Even better – they’re real robots! Well, sort of. . .” Victor popped open a bin and picked out a blue butterfly at random, showing her a block with some buttons on the – thorax, she believed it was called. “They each come with a ‘brain block’ like this where you can input simple commands. Obviously I can’t get any of them to fly – though I’ve always hoped – but I can get them to flap their wings if I shine a light on them, or follow a light being held in front of them – even play with a ball.”

“Neat,” Alice said, grinning. “You’ll have to show me later.”

SATBSO -- Emily went still, a frozen figure in tattered blue. Then she rushed forward at a speed no living human could have ever managed, face contorted in pure fury. Barkis yelped and tried to get out of the way, but she managed to clamp one spectral hand around his arm –

And, suddenly, she wasn’t there anymore. A split-second later, Barkis bent double, shrieking. “What – stop! No!”

“Yes!” came Emily’s voice – from Barkis’s own lips. Alice stared as he straightened up, wobbling like he was unused to controlling his own body. “The knife dropped from his fingers with a clatter. “You’re mine now, Eddie!”

S

LB:DQ -- She got to the bottom of the slope and looked around. While the layout was roughly the same, the entrance to level two was noticeably darker, thanks to a busted light fixture in the nearest “compact” bay. It also had different guards – two fellows who looked to be Chinese, dressed in matching burgundy jackets and wielding machine guns. One jerked his head around as she snuck closer, causing her to freeze out of habit. “It’s too quiet,” he said after a moment, shaking his head. “I-I don’t like this – this place. At night it seems so – haunted.”

SATBSO -- Smiler sorted and pointed at their eyes, brilliant yellow in their pale face. “What, do you think I was born with these?”

“...actually, it has genuinely never occurred to me to question why your eyes are bright glowing yellow before now,” Alice confessed, cheeks heating up with embarrassment. “They just seemed – completely natural on you.”

“I – I mean, I noticed, but – given everything else that was going on, they – didn’t really register as that weird?” Victor admitted, also going pink. “Alice is right, they do suit you...I sort of thought they might be a side effect of that Joy Serum you showed me before, since you said you make it yourself.”

Tagging: @nebbychan, @thesatiricaldemon, @anonymoose-au, @ace-of-tales -- the word I'm picking is TIMES!

[hirik0]

Back to you part 4

Makarov/Yuri

Yuri is scrolling, sets over sets of photos not sure which one to purchase. Would his lawyer tell him to not do this, absolutely, is he trying to use a loophole that he technically didn't comided a crime, debatable. There are so much easier ways to hack your ex, then to cat fish him, asking a crime lord to do the catfishing for you in exchange to work for said crime lord. He just needs to find a set of pictures of a person his ex totally would drop his pants for. He has already prepared a bunch of fake profiles for social media, hiden malware in a link he just needs a face. "Just choose one, this woman are all fucking atractive", Yuri tells himself he needs to gets everything ready before he leaves for the fight ring, using the whore card Makarov gave him. Three weeks ago he got a dubious packet with a venetian carnival mask to wear to the ring, to keep anonymity for the spectators. A bit risky in Yuris opinion but well it's not his fight ring and it looks like its running really good, that way. He spins the mask that will cover the uper half of his face in his hand, being nervous. Its a yester, with a black base colour with white details, on the top of the mask a yester hat in black and blue. He takes a deep breath before closing his eyes, moving his fingers over the screen. He stops his finger and open his eyes he choose a very generic looking blond woman, for the photos he will use. He looks through the set, it's a big one with a lot of pictures for many scenarios and even he is a bit scandalised by the lewed photos this profile is providing. Its perfect, matching the sexual preferences of his ex perfectly. He finishes his purchase and is setting up the phone with all the photos setting up the Instagram account with some of the tamer photos using some silly caption he is coping from accounts of real people using the all the hastags they are using. He then turns the phone of and puts it in a box. He needs to get ready to leave. He walks in his bedroom looking at the dark blue dress shirt that matches the mask with a dark pair of jeans. He is unsure if he looks like he just want to join the normal partielife of Saint Petersberg like this, but well he already knows that a sertain dress up is expected at the main ring. A modern version of bread and circus like in ancient Rome, he already is working with someone in Makarovs organisation he just dont know whom, but this person is one of his best buyers so that hopefully will improve his chances to join. He walks back into the living room, looking at the box the masked arrived for the first time since he took the mask out, looking for any hints, to identify his contact or atleast not getting caught of guard at the ring. He nearly misses that fake bottom the box has only catching it, because he shaked the box and hearing something move in the box. He needed the help of a knife to get the fake bottom out. Seeing a now familiar card. A entry card for the ring on folded a piece of paper. This is the confirmation that the mask was not send to him with Makarovs knowledge, this could be a good or a bad thing, but now he dont have to use the whore card at least. He looks at the card noticing it's a bit different then the one he already has, like its to be expected by cards that Makarov hands out personally, wich means who ever controls the card upon entry likely also knows that Makarovs card is given to prostitutes and any woman he will fuck, Yuri feels anger heating up his face. Fuck his it's only a whore card if you give it back bullshit, fucking liar, he will keep the card. Next he opens the paper, reading the instructions.

Wait outsite at 19:35, wear something nice, I think I can introduce you to some people for buisness at the ring.

Z

Yuri checks the time its 18:50. More time for him to overthink everything and be nervous. He assumes Z is his contact in the organisation, but who is Z and what are his goals? Nothing is for free in the world of crime and having nothing to work with makes him feel uneasy. He paces from the couch to the kitchen an back for 15 minutes. Using his outdated knowledge about the Russian organised crime. Still around 30 minutes till he has to be outside.

How did the person even figured out where he lives? When he goes to the ring with somebody will he even be able to talk with Makarov. He sits down on the couch bouncing his legs, waiting sucks. He decides to play a stupid mobile game to pass the time, before he carelessly lets it drop on the couch to get ready. Like the last time he don't takes his phone with him, only money, his keys, cigarette, lighter, the card and the mask. He puts a jacket on, to hide the mask in a pocked on the inside where he also puts the card. He's getting picked up, nothing unusual people get picked up all the time, he calms himself down while walking down the stairs. He dont has to wait for long before a black limousine is holding infornt of him. He takes one deep breath before opening the back door and entering the car. "Ah the Magpie, nice to finally having a face to the name." Yuri is greated by a man, Victor Zakhaev. "Mister Zakheav" Yuri greats back, after closing the door. He thought about a lot of people that sent him the mask, but non of was a direct rival of Makarov. He is in deep shit, but its to late by now they are already driving towards the ring. "Didn't know the ring is that popular that even rivals attend." Yuri atmids having to suppress the urge to bounce his legs again. "Oh, some of the fighters are mine, you know it's like our own boxing league ", Zakheav explains bored, looking Yuri up and down, Yuri nods along to what's said. A illegal 'boxing' league organised by Saint Petersberg worst of the worst of society. "Do people die?", Yuri asks knowing 5 years ago that was forbidden. "Oh sometimes fighters die from internal injuries, but it's usally a accident. No direct deadly force allowed. You know its like the gladiators in ancient Rome in someway, popular fighters bring a lot of money if they die we lose it." Yuri nods again there is one question he has, how did Zakheav found him, he needs the answer but knows now is not the time, maybe on the way back. He should ask the answer can prevent from getting found by the police or worse. "You ever gone to on of the fights?" Zakheav asks intressted, very focused on Yuris body language. "I recently decided to stay in Saint Petersberg for a longer time, before that I lived here and there, so no", Yuri lies hoping the other don't catches it or if he does he is understanding enough to let him get away with it. "Really never the time to watch a fight?" Zakheav digs a bit deeper. "No, lived outside of Russia when the ring got really popular heard rumours for a long time but never intressted enough to go." This wasn't a lie because the ring only got popular 2 years ago. "I think you will enjoy it, ever meet Makarov before?" "I heared of him", Yuri lies pushing the thoughts of a half nacked Makarov down. "Of course hard to not hear about him." Yuri has the feeling Zakheav knows a bit more then he lets on, to Yuris displeasure. "For your own safety please stay close", Zakheav says before pulling out his mask. It is fully covering his face, with delicate blue drawings around the eyes, the same blue as Yuris mask so everyone will know he's here with Zahheav. Yuri also puts on his mask, not liking that he is that heavy associate with a direct rival of Makarov and that only half his face is covered but he assumes the full cover is reserved for VIPs.

They get in without anyone even asking for a card to enter and they are rather late, the ring that is in an abandoned public pool is already packed with masked people. Most of them like Yuri only wear one that is covering the uper half of the face, only a few he sees with a full face mask all of them with other colours. He will not find Makarov here, he has to hope Makarov finds him and even thats not ideal. They push themselves through the mass of people till they reach the VIP area, again nobody wants to see a card, the perks of being invited by one of the big names. They have a perfect view on the empty former pool from here, but Yuri is noticing the red and brown stains on the blue tiles. Somebody is walking towards them by the colour he's wearing he also belongs to Zakheavs men. "He's fighting to night, saw him earlier his absolute furious about something, it will be brutal to night. Excellent day to bring a guest." The men says before sitting next to Yuri. "Who?", Yuri asks having the feeling he asks the most dumbest question in this place. "The owner himself, Makarov."

Yuris mouth drops open at this at the same time he knows he will not be able to talk with his old friend. What a waste of his time, to come here. A woman in very short cloths is walking towards them and Yuri thinks its generous to even call it clothes. "What can I bring the gentlemen to drink?", the waitress asks them with a smile and Yuri is staring at her. "We take 3 whisky on the rock", Zakheav orders for them. The woman walks away and Yuri stars at her ass while she walks away. "The waitress are of limits, but there are plenty of whores here to fuck", Zakheav says to Yuri with a dirty smile. "Of course I was just looking", Yuri says and he was only looking, woman will never do it for him. "What happens if Makarov loses a fight?", Yuri asks intressted in the rules. "The person the fighters owns gets all the winning of Makarovs men", Zakheav explains exited, so today is a day one can make big money. "Can all bosses join the fighting?" "Few do and when only sending a substitute at most, Makarov is the only that is fighting himself." Yuri becomes the feeling he is uterly fucked, to come today to see a fight. "You ready to bet?" Zakheav men asks exited. "I wait till I get a feeling for the fighters", Yuri answers, he's so nervous he has to force himself to sit still and not throw up. Yuri looks around at masked faces see around 20 diffrent colors around ad still on spot in the VIP area is empty probably Makarovs place. His heart is beating heavily in his chest, he should be feel lucky that Makarov is not here but in the ring tonight, but somehow he has the feeling this is making everything worse. He should have come atleast with Milena even if she don't wears Makarovs colours she's a better option then fucking Victor Zakheav. A man with a blood red half mask is walking past them towards the empty spot, one of Makarovs men, Yuri assumes and his heart drops when he thinks he reconices the men. Andrei Nolan, if he reconises Yuri is fucked Makarov won't forgive him this. He should have ask Makarov if the mask is from him and not just assume it's from one of his men. Yuri turns away, his legs are itching now he absolutely has to supress all his tells to not get Andrei's attention.

The first rounds are starting and Yuri is getting more and more nervous about Makarov entering the ring, but also is picking up on the rules. Touching the wall means you lose, if you hit the ground you're out and the later you fight the harder it becomes because nobody care to remove the blood from the floor, causing a slipping hazard. He barely touches his drink in fear Makarov changes his mind about fighting today and shows up in the VIP area instead. "And now one the first of the most anticipated fights of the night Makarov vs Romanov", the announcers voice is coming out of the speaker. Yuri takes as sip of his drink keeping the liquid in his mouth the alcohol burning on his tounge before he swallows it when Makarov and his opponent enter the ring. This time way less tired Yuri even can see what the tattoos on Makarovs back are. The stars marking him as a thief's in law, the gigantic wolfs head that mark him as a leader, the church towers meaning he served prison time. Honestly seeing Makarov in the ring is even worse then waiting for his fight.

Makarov feels two eyes burning holes in his back and don't think much about it, a lot of people are trying to force him dead with starring. He needs to focus on the fight he can always send Andrei a message about this later. He and Romanov are circeling eachother waiting for the other to open their defence or slipping on a blood puddle, because the arena only gets cleaned after a rounds of fights are over. He is fuming today Captain Price shut down one of his operations before it even really began what must mean there is a mole in his organisation. Romanov is lowering his arms just a tiny bit and its Makarovs opening, he uses a hard right jab hitting Romanovs shoulder and instantly has to duck his head so he dont gets a left hook in the face. It's frustrating Makarov that Romanov, the champion of green, the Petrovs, is his first fight. The two are each others biggest rival, with Romanov having the best defence of all fighters and him as one of the most aggressive attackers it usally comedown who has more nerves and he knows that he dont has the nerves right now. They circel each other again and Makarov again feels the eyes on him, sending a nice feeling down his spine, but he knows better then to look for the person. Makarov trys a bluff pretending to lower his guard and Romanov is actually falling for it. Trying to use a left hook that Makarov can easy block and conter with cross, hearing the crunch when he hits the nose of his opponent, feeling the blood running over his fingers. Looks like Romanov is also not in the best head space to night and Makarov will use it to his advantage. They throw some punches that are either evated or blocked, nothing really happening but Makarov smelled blood now, literally and he gets a hook against his oponends left kidney, was it a dirty move sure but they were allowed. Romanov is stumbeling back nearly slipped on the wet tiles, using his arms to get balance back and Makarov hits him straight against the chin. Romanov falls back, hitting his head heavily against one of the walls, meaning he's out for tonight.

When Makarov is back in the fighters area Andrei is coming towards him, looking grim. He holds out a phone to Makarov with the table of Zakheav he is frowning. So Zakheav brought a guest he dont understand what the problem is with this, till Andrei shows him a video of said guest. The chewing of the bottom lip and the tapping of the foot, he would reconices this tales of a very nervous Yuri everywhere. His mood is getting worse, looks like he has to viste Yuri tonight, because what the actual fuck does he thinks he is doing. Yuri knows the moment Andrei is moving away he's fucked, he tried, he really tried to not be to invested in Makarovs fight, looked not even at the fight, but at a wall the whole time. His lower lip is bleeding from him chewing it to much and halfway through the fight he could not stop tapping his leg and he felt Andrei's eyes burning a hole in the side of his head, but he dont have to much time to worry for now because as Zakheav said in the note he has some people to introduce to Yuri. So Yuri try to ignore the stone in his stomach and be a professional and make some work deals, while he still can.

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Still Subject to Change Chapter 30 (NEW)

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Hello everyone! i decided to repost arc 1 of SSTC

(the chapters were way too long and had a bunch of typos but hopefully this will make reading easier)

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

if there are still any grammatical errors i’m sorry.

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“If you ever feel like stuff gets too much you can come to me and I’ll try my best to make time and help you, Does that sound good to you?”

He was silent for a bit and I worried if he even heard me but before I could repeat he finally spoke.

“That- you don’t have to do that, i can- i can deal with this myself”

He was clearly apprehensive about the offer and trying to disappear in one of the folds of my pouch.

“Well yeah, I guess so, but you don’t Have to deal with this alone.

Look, I’ve lived a majority of my life alone and I can tell you that needing help isn’t a bad thing, hell I would have loved to have had help sometimes.

I know what it’s like dealing with stuff alone and I think it sucks, Nobody should have to be alone when they need help.

Besides, I’m just offering you that if you do need help you can come to me and I’ll do my best to help and make time for you.

And now that we are at the castle i doubt i’ll have much to do anyway”

I patiently waited for his response, he didn’t HAVE to answer now though, He could take as much time as he needed.

And for whatever Reason, which I was going to blame the Ardua Bracelet on, being able to protect him like this felt right.

While he was there nothing could get to him unless it got through me first, literally.

And there was no way a spider could sneak in, so he didn’t have to worry about his phobia either.

He could just, relax and let someone else do everything, maybe that’s exactly what he had needed.

“Donovan? I don’t think i have enough brainpower to think about that today, Is it okay if I answer some other time?”

“Of course, take as much time as you need, i’m not going anywhere, at least not without you”

Adding a bit of humor at the end wouldn’t hurt right?

Besides he wasn’t feeling the best right now so maybe it would cheer him up a little bit at least.

He just snuggled deeper into my pouch and i had to keep from emitting a pleased hum, man, fuck those Ardua instincts.

This was NOT about me right now!

This was to help Robin, nothing else.

I carefully positioned myself so that my Pouch was shielded from all sides by my limbs and only my back and head were exposed to the night air.

This pose did have a lot of similarities to the loaf form I had taken earlier that day.

Now nothing could get to him, not even near him without me knowing.

Though, my self control really was being tested today wasn’t it?

For whatever godforsaken reason Robin had started rubbing the inside of my pouch, likely spaced out again even if I couldn’t see him.

The sensation practically made me melt like warm butter and I had to really fight to keep from letting out a delighted hum.

I did not want to startle him with a random sound, not when he finally wasn’t trembling anymore.

Instead I just froze on the spot, not moving aside from my tail swinging from side to side.

Then he started to knead into the walls even more.

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Robin had been right, this was helping.

He was just lying in a soft and dim room where the only noises he could hear, aside from Donovan speaking,

were the rhythmic whooshing of the lungs that somehow reminded him of a distant breeze through trees and the steadily thumping Heart that sent blood to every part of the Arduas body.

It was strangely soothing to be surrounded by something alive that had promised to never hurt him and listen to the muted sounds his body made just by being alive.

He briefly wondered why he had two hearts if only one was doing its job already so well, but he was a hybrid so things probably didn’t have to make sense.

And for some reason he actually felt safe in here, logically he shouldn’t, He knew that, but he also knew Donovan wouldn’t hurt him.

He’d promised that back when they were still in the forest, and he doubted he’d break that promise.

He was half Fae, and Fae was bound to their promises.

Somehow he didn’t think that the Fae thing was what made him keep this promise.

And after his… outburst, his energy was sapped, The soft and warm walls didn’t help that either.

He was more comfortable than he’d been in, well, ever, and the texture of the walls was like silk, if silk was even smoother and slightly damp.

Not that he minded that, at all.

And it was so, so soft.

Robin couldn’t help leaning into them and rubbing his hands over the surroundings just to feel how his fingers went over the smooth walls.

The texture really was like the smoothest silk had ever touched, if not better, so he steadily moved his hands over it from left to right, As well as up and down.

That got a reaction, the walls around him twitched in surprise for a second.

Robin huffed and rubbed at the wall again, causing the room around him to rumble and a new sound to surround him.

Donovan was purring… That was kind of adorable.

Encouraged by that nice sound that made his bones thrum, Robin pressed his hand to the wall and started rubbing in a circular motion, now with both hands, turning Donovan’s stilted vocalization into a steady purr.

Should he mention it?

They were all new to this, maybe it was something he wanted to know?

Besides, the sound was relaxing and made his bones buzz slightly.

He liked the sound, Donovan really was like a big cat in his Ardua form.

He decided to mention it and tell him that he liked the sound.

“You are purring”

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“You are purring”

What? What did the little ginger mean? I wasn’t a cat, I couldn’t purr, What was he talking about?

“No im not”

But even as i said this i became aware of the fact that there was a sound that DID sound a lot like purring, and the sound was coming from me.

“Yes you are,you’re doing it right now!”

He yawned as he said this and resumed kneading his tiny hands into the walls.

Damnit.

I really should ask Oakley if I could take a look at the book he mentioned.

“Go sleep already, i can tell you’re tired, and you just had kind of a bad time you should rest”

He yawned again and snuggled into one of the walls of my pouch.

“Hmmkay, i do like the purring though, its relaxing”

He did? Well, since there was no one else around I guessed I could just continue?

If the sound was calming for him maybe it’d help?

While I doubted that he was still shaken from his earlier panic, having some soothing background noise would probably be nice for him.

And I had to admit that this was actually pretty comfortable, somehow.

I was still lying on a rock outside at night while I had a living breathing human person IN my pouch.

Though while he was sleepily snuggled up in one of the folds of my pouch he was still absent mindedly running his hands over the flesh there.

Yeah, continuing to purr was not a problem like this.

Though he went slower and slower, likely falling asleep.

And somehow this was relaxing enough that I also got tired.

Well, it had been a long day, a weird one too, Now it was time for some peace and quiet, Fuck knew both of us needed that after the weird weeks we had.

I yawned and then felt Robin roll over, sleepily mumbling something and then curling up.

While I was kind of disappointed that the internal massage stopped, I was glad that he finally fell asleep, It was late and I knew he was not a morning person.

My own eyelids growing heavy, I let my head dip down to rest on the ground,

using one of my paws as a pillow and falling asleep content with the knowledge that my Friend was safe, even from his own fears.

At some point during the night I was briefly awoken by a rustling sound.

What now? I was tired, whoever this was could pester me with their bullshit tomorrow!

Still, I should probably make sure that this wasn’t a threat.

Looking over to where the sound came from I could see another silhouette stumbling over some bushes.

Oh, wait, in the dim moonlight I could actually see who it was after my eyes had adjusted.

It was Arthur, and he was stumbling his way over to me.

Man his eyes must have not adapted to the dark with how he kept bumping into things, then again it might be possible that Ardua just had better night vision.

Then he walked past me towards the cliff.

Oh fuck no.

I stood up as fast as I could while still being mindful of my worn out passenger.

I managed to snag the back of his shirt with a claw before he just walked off of the cliff.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Then I noticed it.

His face was flushed pink, like a lot so, he must have had a few too many alcoholic beverages.

Goddamnit, I knew what I was doing when I avoided anything alcoholic.

And it was a good thing that i had been out here and woken up when i heard him.

He could be dead by now, impaled by one of the spikes or drowned in the ocean far below.

That was a very frightening thought, one I did not dare entertain further.

But fucking hell, how much did he have intus?

Well, i’d say not my problem but apparently it was now since it was clear he did not know what he was doing.

I’d better make sure he would not run off again, or worse, and potentially kill himself.

I used a claw to hook his shirt and drag him back to the spot I had been in before but he wiggled out of it with some slurred speech that I had no hope of understanding.

Well, the hard way it was then, I grabbed the back of his shirt with my teeth and dragged him like that.

I did not plan on swallowing him though, he’d only disturb Robin and that was the last thing I wanted.

Speaking of the ginger, I could feel him sleepily shifting and hoped he wouldn’t wake up.

Also he was drunk as fuck, that could be actually dangerous, for both of us as he could injure someone.

Also I doubted he’d appreciate that.

So I carried him by the scruff like a kitten and went back to settling where I was before.

I carefully set him down between my arms and made sure he could not escape, but instead of trying to get out and leave he just settled in the crook of my arm which I had previously used as a pillow.

He was just lying there but before I could ask him anything he shoved a hand against the side of my head and slurred out something barely coherent.

“No, shut up”

Well, i didn’t mind him there, but if he puked on me or disturbed Robin somehow i would put him in a tree.

But I did hope that this was it for nightly disturbances, I needed sleep too.

Settling my head on my arm again I made sure that Arthur couldn’t just get up and wander off.

I did not want him falling of the cliff in his intoxicated state, that would be horrible.

And he kind of already tried to do that sooo, this was for the better.

Checking one last time that he wouldn’t wander off and that Robin was still comfortable in my pouch I rested my head and finally went back to sleep.

And if someone else decided they would wake me in the middle of the night I would chuck them through a castle window.

Luckily I was not disturbed again and could just sleep through the night and into the morning where I got woken by a very confused Arthur who did not remember how he got there.

Yeah, this was gonna be fun.

And now I actually had friends.

Friends that did not mind me being a weird shape shifting Fae Bastard.

Though the fact that I could eat people was probably not something we would talk about, aside from Robin maybe.

But the little rusthead did end up taking my offer of helping when he had a bad brain day.

From this point onward things could only get better, and as soon as Rikaad found that stupid paperwork I could also go to the city and explore without being immediately executed.

I’d wait for a few weeks though, just to be sure that everyone got the memo.

But it was nice to finally know that things would get better, and not just for me, with Rikaad as king it would get better for everyone.

Yeah, I was looking forward to that future.

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It had been a week now since we had started living at the castle, and the protruding rock on the cliffside had quickly become one of my favorite places.

It was a nice sunspot too, as confirmed by a cat that had showed up sometime and then refused to leave.

I liked the cat, it somehow had no fear of me and even tried to groom my fur.

At some point I even followed it for an entire day as lots of people had said I looked cat like I thought I’d go and see what an actual cat did all day, That had been fun, and now I had a feline friend that sometimes showed up and tried to clean my fur.

While i had spent time with the cat Rikaad had found the papers that dictated how much taxes had to be paid by the citizens.

He was righteously angry at finding out that the wealthy people only had to pay two percent taxes while the poorer people had to pay up to ten or even more.

He immediately put it at five percent for everyone as he thought that rich people should not have to pay less than poor people who sometimes couldn’t even afford to eat, In the end he made it so that everyone had to pay the same percentage.

In his words everyone was worth the same, and that poorer people had to pay for everything while the rich just kept getting richer was not fair.

Of course some of the rich fucks complained while the rest of the citizens cheered.

He then told the rich fucks that complained that they could leave if they wanted, but they had to leave their stuff behind and were not allowed to take what was considered ‘kingdom property’ whatever the fuck that meant.

Sometime after that the funeral for the old king was held, almost nobody attended and i had stayed behind with Robin while Rikaad and Arthur went even if they didn’t really want to.

To be completely honest I really hadn’t wanted to see the corpse of the old git that was majorly responsible for a lot of Misery, and not just my own at that.

Instead I had Worked to renovate the shed for my Ardua form with Robin, that had been fun.

Another day I had helped Barsen out in the garden. 

He had asked for help in uprooting a tree that had rotted from inside out and was a safety hazard as it was near a frequently used pathway and could fall on someone.

I had ended up dragging the thing that was longer than I was tall to one of the walls where it was out of the way, maybe they’d use it as firewood sometime.

And best of all was that now that it was warm again all the flowers had come back in full bloom.

I could only applaud Barsen as the Garden looked absolutely stunning with all the colors.

And Robin made flower crowns with whatever he was allowed to pluck, which meant he befriended Barsen on the basis of talking about plants.

Barsen had even complimented Robin’s name as apparently he was named after his favorite bird which I found a funny coincidence.

While there were a lot of flowers in the garden, not a lot of them were blue simply due to the fact the old king had not liked the color, maybe because it reminded him of Maringand.

But there was one place where i had seen a speck of blue petals, Which led to where I was now.

Standing in front of the cliff near the rock and looking at the spike with the tree on it.

I could see something blue right next to it and I wanted to get it.

Not for me of course, but I wanted to get them for Robin so he could make a blue flower crown.

He said he wanted to, so I’d try and make it possible.

“Mrow?”

At the sound I looked to my right where a cream colored cat with rusty ‘boots’ and tail sat, She was looking as disapproving as a cat could.

“Don’t look at me like that, i know this is a bad idea, but i want to do something nice for my friend”

She just blinked and then walked away, clearly signifying ‘not my problem’.

Eh, whatever, it would be fine, I had practiced jumping just for this and I wanted to get to the flowers before they wilted.

I didn’t even know what kind they were so it was possible that they wouldn’t bloom for long.

Taking a few more steps back until I felt a tree behind me, I made myself ready to sprint like I had learned from the cat.

We should find her a name sometime.

Before I could start to sprint though I was interrupted by a now familiar voice.

“What are you planning to do?”

I looked over to Barsen and saw him standing there with a broken wheelbarrow on his shoulder, he really should get that replaced.

“You already know that anyway, ’m trying to get to the spike with the tree and get those blue plants”

“if you are sure you can jump that far, just make sure to be careful, and bring me a few with roots while you’re at it, i might be able to plant them somewhere safer”

I nodded at him and he carried on with whatever he was doing, hopefully finally bringing that wheelbarrow to get repaired as he had it like that since i’ve known him.

Making sure there was nothing in the way, I readied my muscles and pelted over the ground towards the abyss that was the end of the cliff and jumped at the last moment, feeling the edge crumble under me, and near flying through the air towards the spike with the tree.

I landed perfectly with all four legs on the little island right next to the tree.

The flat top of the spike itself was shaped like a malformed and bent teardrop with the tree in the larger part of it.

But now that I was finally here I could see all the blue flowers, They were bluebells, pretty big ones too.

Robin would love these, so I shifted back into my human form and plucked as many as I could, half of them with the roots still attached like Barsen had requested.

I still left a sizable patch of them so they could regrow next year.

Gathering the flowers in a bundle I went a few steps away to shift back into Ardua form.

As soon as I did that i encountered a problem though, I had brought nothing to carry the flowers, maybe the cat had been right about looking at me like that.

Well, maybe I could carry them in my mouth?

I’ve carried stuff like that before and as long as I was careful not to squish them it should be fine, right?

Welp, only one way to find out, so i put them in my mouth and went to the edge of the spike opposite from the cliff face to get as much runway as i could.

Making sure that I wouldn’t squish the flowers I ran across the limited space and jumped back to the cliff.

Landing with my forelegs on the cliff I tried to heave myself up before the rest of my body followed and failed as my hind legs tried to find purchase on nothing and almost fell down till I could put my claws into the wall of the cliff and hold on like that.

Well, that was really fucking close.

Climbing up the little distance I had slid down I was back onto solid ground.

Only to have the cat stare at me.

I just looked at her with an annoyed expression and walked past her, making sure not to step on her, she really was tiny compared to me so i had no idea why she wasn’t afraid of me.

Well, at least I didn’t have to worry about spooking her on accident with my size as long as I was careful.

Now to bring these plants where they belonged, carefully getting them out of my mouth I shrank back into human form,

sorting the flowers by which ones had roots or not.

Finding Robin was easy, There weren’t many spots he hung out and I knew for a fact that he was currently at Oakleys tower planting some herbs that he found out the winged man liked.

No idea how he managed to though.

Oakley himself wasn’t there at the moment as he was busy sorting through his old stuff in the run down hut he lived in before, throwing everything he didn’t need away and bringing the useful stuff here.

Yep, there he was, making a little space for Oakleys plants and pouring new dirt in a neatly stone enclosed patch.

“Robin! Hey! Looks good, i bet Oakley is gonna love it”

He turned his head to me and I could see a very big grin on his slightly smudged face, he probably scratched his nose with his dirt stained fingers.

“You think so? Oh wait, where did you get those?”

He had jumped up as soon as he saw the bluebells I was carrying and I held a bundle upside down in his direction which he gladly took only to sit down and immediately weave them into crowns.

Yep, as expected, and judging by the wide smile on his face he was very happy about finally having some blue ones to work with.

“Where did you find those? Did you go out and search for them?”

Of course, he HAD to ask, and now i had to tell him that i jumped over the cliff to that spike.

I couldn’t lie after all, but maybe I could omit a few things.

“I got them from that spike with the tree, but don’t worry i practiced jumping and as you can see im fine”

I would not tell him that I almost slid off when jumping back.

“If you are sure, but you don’t have to do something so dangerous for me!”

“Eh Barsen wanted some too, with roots of course, see?”

I held up the bundle that had the roots still attached.

“Oh, that’s nice, but maybe you should bring them to him before they dry out and wilt?”

Looking at the flowers he was probably right, some of them had bent a little too much while I had transported them and I had no idea which ones were good to replant and which ones weren’t.

PREVIOUS / NEXT / OVERSIGHT

[hella1975]

Hi, I followed you for your fic and I saw you had some posts about having ADHD.

I'm also ADHD, could you tell me about your writing process? I get stuck with things staying in the notes app and they don't really get past that stage.

I'm not sure if it's an interest thing, if the notes fulfill the want so there's no need to put it together. If you have anything thoughts about how to keep up the consistency for fic that'd be appreciated.

Hopefully this isn't too serious of a question, I just have some trouble with wanting to write but not having a purpose for it and I was wondering if that was a brain thing/relatable.

Thank you in advance for any response ☺️ also good luck with your uni stuff~

thank you anon! and dw this isn't too serious at all. i think it's interesting that you ask about keeping consistency bc ironically the biggest tell of my adhd in my writing is my INCONSISTENCY, as you can see with the way updates happen. i wrote 200k words of taob in one year and now i update twice a year on average. i wrote 60k words of tams within a few weeks and now it hasn't been updated since july. and these are just my public projects where i at least have the added pressure of knowing people are waiting for an update, you should see the state of some of my original wips! basically my point here is that my adhd is VERY apparent with my writing habits, but these days i work with it instead of trying to fight it. even before i knew i had adhd, i was aware that my writing came in periods. id go a few weeks churning out insane amounts daily and then dry up for months on end, and each time id enter the 'have i lost it??? will i ever write again???' spiral until low and behold, something would inspire me again and id be back to typing like a madman. i used to seriously fight my dry periods bc of that fear of 'losing' my writing, but that never helped and honestly turning writing into a need instead of a want probably made it worse.

it's one reason - aside the fact it is rude and annoying, i dont want to pretend it isn't or put the blame on me bc that's not what im saying here - that constant demands for fic updates bother me so much, bc people dont realise that the writing style i have now where yes we unfortunately go long times without updates is actually how my writing comes out at its best standard. so yeah! it can be incredibly frustrating and even scary to feel physically unable to write, but if it's something you like and want to do i do truly believe it'll always come back sooner or later, or at least that's my experience :)

[heartwoodventures]

Potions Lesson

Ziv gasps at the setup, marveling at the little alchemy stations. "Ohh how lovely..."

Leo looks around. "It looks cozy."

Ziv nods. "Potions class could not have come sooner..." he grumbles with ginger pat to his side. "I am very eager to learn how to brew a good potion. The timing is...well timed."

Leo ponders over Ziv Zorasch.

Silaena: ..Why do you need potions, exactly?

Aislinn blinks owlishly and looks up from the cup of coffee in her hands as people begin to arrive. Clearly, wandering out from the maze of her thoughts, Aislinn gives her head a shake and waves people in. “Grab a spot at any of the tables. We’ll double up and share as need be.” She explains, her low, soft-spoken voice stretching in an attempt to reach across the room.

Leo: "Is it because you have something odd going on with you and you can't take healing magic right now?"

Nonoli looks around. "There's no stools...!"

Ziv: "Potions, they help with the pain of injuries, you see..."

Leo walks up to a spot and then starts to browse through things, looking at the bottles. and things on the table.

Ziv: "The tables are short enough, I think you'll do fine."

Leo nods to Ziv Zorasch. "It should be okay Noli."

Aislinn goes and sets her coffee down on the counter as she waits for people to settle in. To Nonoli's point, she tilts her head, considering. "If you need, I can go and grab one from downstairs."

Rising Lotus had already set herself up at a table, eyes looking over all the ingredients she sort of just wanted to, dump all together haphazardly. She was able to fight the urge for now though. "...isn't this jus' like cookin' but for shite you can't exactly eat some times?"

Nonoli furrows her brow.

Riylli waves eagerly to Aislinn as she enters the classroom. "Hey! I got a Starlight present for ya! I was gonna give it to you at G'lewra's but I guess y'couldn't make it? Ill wait 'till after the class though! Dont wanna disrupt the teacher."

Ziv: "Or just jump -on- the table." Ziv shrugs at Nonoli Noli.

Nonoli is frustrated with Ziv .

Leo smiles at Ziv.

Nonoli : "And block the love of science with my rump!? I don't think so!"

Leo: "That may not be a great idea. Want me to go find you a stool Noli?"

Aislinn eyes Rising as she takes in the ingredients and decides leaving the room might not be the best idea. She looks to Leo “Aye, if you wouldn’t mind popping downstairs and grabbing a stool. Then we can get started.”

Turning to Rising, she tilts her head. "Aye, it's a little like cooking. Except supposing if you get creative in the kitchen and add too much salt it probably won't hurt you."

Silaena: Hm. Mind terribly being my station partner, Ziv?

Ziv nods to Silaena. "Not at all, by all means feel free."

M'shara approaches a table and begins going over the supplies on it.

Nonoli seems lost in thought. "I should probably get a stool from downstairs... I'll be right back."

Leo Veldha ponders over Nonoli Noli.

Silaena runs her hands over the little station, clearly familiarizing herself with the contents. "Fair warning, every time I've tried to learn alchemy, it's exploded horribly."

Ziv: "Oh dear, well at least there will be healers nearby in case a flask explodes or something.."

Leo tilted his head as he examined the contents on the table. "Some of these look familiar. Do you recognize what they are Noli? Admittedly my time in Sillfane Glade was... well, rushed. So this is one of those holes I'd like to work on filling in."

Nonoli nods to Leo. "Of course! You're looking at the third best alchemist in Heartwood you know!"

Leo smiles at Nonoli. "I thought you'd at least be the best or second best. Who has you beat? Aislinn? She does know her stuff!"

Nonoli nods to Leo.

Rising Lotus: "Well hopefully we won't be makin' anythin' too complicated then. Every time I've cooked more than jus' puttin' meat over a fire I get pretty free form with the measurements."

Clearing her throat, Aislinn turns now, her assessing gaze sweeping over the room. Most of those gathered she knew. One of two, she didn't recognize. That didn't come as a surprise to her. She regularly had her head down involved in some project or other that she lost focus of everything else, eating, for instance. Let alone poking her head out of the clinic or workshop to *meet* people.  She takes a breath and addresses the room "Alright, let's get started." ....

M'shara: "Quiet down please."

Ziv motions joyfully to Aislinn.

Aislinn: "For those that don't know me, I'm Aislinn. I work in the clinic with Lewra and in the workshop on various technological projects. I'm also an alchemist which is why Lewra asked me to teach this class. She sends her apologies but is...occupied elsewhere." There was a minor hitch over that last detail but she has a great poker face and quickly moves on. ...

Nonoli ponders over Aislinn.

Aislinn: "Alchemy is basically, the creation of potions. Good and bad." She gives a half shrug. "Like cooking but more exacting. A little foxglove can strengthen a weak heart. Too much can cause a heart attack. You gotta understand and adhere to the rules before you go getting creative and experimenting." She explains. "But today we're going to make a basic healing potion. Nothing so dire but it should give you good practice with the basics."

Riylli raises her hand, then asks her question out loud anyways. "Can we make potions that give me lots of muscles?"

Ziv swishes his tail back and forth excitedly. "Healing potions, perfect! Maybe now I won't have to pilfer from Noli's stashes..."

Leo gazes upon Aislinn in deep reflection. "I see...  so it's an art of precision."

M'shara simply pretends she hears none of this.

Nonoli senses something amiss with Ziv .

Odile rushes into the room.

Aislinn eyes Riylli with faint amusement. "You can conjure golems from the earth. How much more force do you need at your disposal?"

Leo looked at the equipment in front of him with a newfound respect. It must have been a perilous art to develop.

Rising Lotus: "If you want to be strong like me you have to earn it the true way, not cheatin' with potions and magic."

Aislinn flicks her attention briefly to Ziv and raises a brow

Leo ponders over Nonoli. "Are you okay Noli?" He had missed Ziv's comment.

Aislinn: "Anyone here have any alchemical experience?" She ventures. Basically she wants to know who she can maybe not have to watch so closely in favor of who might possibly cause an explosion. Just in case.

Riylli: "I need enough to carry Mana around when she's old obviously!"

Nonoli: "I think I just discovered why my potions keep going missing..."

Leo is taken aback by Nonoli.

Nonoli: "I do! I do!"

Silaena: ..Do you have a potion addiction, Ziv? I know -how- alchemy works, but..Yeah, practical experience is explosive at best.

Aislinn nods to Nonoli and gives the lalafell a subtle smile. "Good to know."

Ziv is taken aback by Silaena.

Leo: "I learned to brew them before, but it was a -really- long time ago. I can't remember anything about it, so I figured it best to start from scratch."

Nonoli smiles in warm satisfaction before Aislinn.

Ziv: "A what?! Of course not--potions are merely useful to a warrior such as myself who does not easily take to healing magic."

Silaena furrows her brow at Ziv Zorasch.

Odile: "But healing magic is gentler than potion recovery Ziv."

Aislinn: "Alright. A basic healing potion is good knowledge for any mercenary to have. It ain't going to miraculously patch up a bullet wound but it'll shore up stores of depleted aether in the body and buy you some time until you can get to a medic of some stripe."

Rising Lotus shook her head. "I've only ever have bought or get that sort of stuff from folk. Seems complicated with all that measurin' an' all."

Ziv frowns at Odile. It couldn't be helped. He offered a slight shrug and returned his attention to the head of the classroom.

Aislinn tilts her head to Rising. "It can be, aye. But we're gonna go through this one step by step." And hopefully minimize any sort of surprises.

Aislinn "So." She begins and motions to the contents on the tables before them. She draws close to Rising and Riylli's table. "A basic healing potion consists of distilled water, mistletoe, a powdered mushroom called a chanterelle and powdered water and lightning crystals." All of which she holds up one by one off the table as she introduces them. "The first thing we're going to do is pour the distilled water into the crucible and turn on the flame. There's a switch under the pot to get it going."

Riylli: "We're gonna... drink the crystals? Ain't that dangerous?"

M'shara reaches forward to turn on the crucible then picking up the distilled water and carefully pouring it out into the pot.

Ziv nods. "Sounds simple enough." He begins by adding the distilled water to the pot. "I figured the crystals added extra flavor or bubbles," he said to Riylli's comment as he flipped on the burner.

Nonoli had to use all her willpower to stop herself from starting an "Ackshually" prompt after Ziv's comment.

Leo smiles at Nonoli. "I guess we're starting then? Should probably check the quantities."

Rising Lotus looks over the reagents, shrugging as she dumped an unmeasured amount of water into the pot before turning up the flame way too hot. "There's some soup they used to serve in Drybone that was cold, but then they served it to you with a fire crystal to heat it up. Never got sick or nothin' from it... well you didn't eat the crystal in it of course. Jus' the stew 'round it."

Nonoli: "Turn on the burner. I'll get the water set up!"

Leo nods to Nonoli .

Aislinn shakes her head at Riylli "They'll be regents to cause a chemical reaction imperative to the potion's creation later."

Leo did as was requested and turned on the burner. At the same time, he glanced through the recipe on the page. Seemed simple enough.

Riylli: "...Ah. Yes, of course." Riylli nods along like she knows what any of those words mean. "Er, are we supposed to be starting already?"

Odile climbed up the side of the table to add the pieces of the potion into the pot.

Aislinn eyes Rising's pot. "That's gonna boil fast. You need to watch it. The minute it does, lower the flame to let it simmer." She instructs the woman.

Ziv: "Oh...I wonder if our flame is too high also."

Aislinn: "You all seem to be able to boil water. Good." If she sounds sardonic, it's not on purpose. She has seen people explode boiling water. "Once the water is boiling, add three mistletoe berries. That should be all you have on the table, and lower the flame until the water is simmering."

Odile sets the flame to medium, to boil it faster.

Silaena seems to simply watch, humming. "Maybe. Guess we'll find out."

Rising Lotus: "Uh, right." she started to watch her pot, wondering how hot simmer is. "Alright Riylli add them berries, and I'll figure out how much to turn it down by."

Aislinn: "This is the first part of precision. Boil it too hot and the berries are ruined. Too low and the toxins in the berries won't boil out."

Odile turns down the Heat and adds the berries one by one.

Leo nods to Aislinn.

Ziv drops the three berries into the pot and keeps the flame at its current setting. The fire is on the low side, causing the water to bubble slightly as it simmered the berries.

Riylli nods and pops each berry into the cauldron. "I guess I've done somethin' like this before when I'm makin' my syrup... Y'don't wanna burn out the colour!"

M'shara watches Odile, nodding in approval.

Aislinn nods to Riylli in agreement

Leo took a look at the water. "Oh, I don't think it will be long... hey, where are the berrie Noli?" He looked around the table for them.

Nonoli: "They're right in front of you..."

While they work, Aislinn takes a moment and carefully watches the room.

Rising Lotus watches the water start to bubble, giving it a few moments before she cranked it down some. "I guess if it stops bubblin' 'we'll jus' turn it back up 'til we hit the sweet spot. Also what does color have to do with a healin' potion?"

Leo grabbed the three berries in the bowl and then watched as the bubble started to come up steadily in the cauldron. "Thank you." He dropped them in and then lowered the flame.

Odile: "Red for blood. For easier identification. in case of a rushed scenerio."

Nonoli closed her eyes and sniffed at the air. "Ah, the sweet smell of science." Nonoli smiles in warm satisfaction.

Riylli: "Vibes, Rising. Vibes. The red health potions taste the best! And, I don't know, maybe it'll mess with the ingredients too."

Silaena tilts her head. "Well. It -seems- to be working out, so far."

Aislinn: “It should end up smelling almost sweet. The liquid should turn a pale yellow color as the berries cook. If it goes dark or brown or smells sharp and acrid….well, you burned it. It happens.”

Aislinn: “That’s when you toss it out and start over. But so far, I’m not picking up any weird smells so, good on you!”

Ziv stares at the lightly simmering pot, barely beginning to turn a colored hue as the berries softened up. He adjusts the fire, turning it up just a little, because he couldn't fight the urge there was something wrong.

Nonoli nods to Aislinn.

Aislinn: “Alright! Next, add one level scoop of powdered mushroom using the small metal scoop on the table and mix it slowly into the liquid  you’ve got simmering. Again, be patient. Don’t just go dumping it in and whisking it to death.”

Aislinn's definitely not looking at Rising out of the corner of her eye when she says this.

Rising Lotus "I've mostly had the blue flavored ones. Wonder how we get to blue from these red berries...that turn the water yellowish?" she snapped her fingers. "Oh wait, water crystals are blue!"

Nonoli: "I'll handle this one, Leo!"

Leo nods to Nonoli.

Nonoli carefully pushed a measuring cup into the bag of powdered fungi and slow-dripped it into the simmering water.

Riylli eyes the powdered mushroom "Mm... Chanterelle... Hey Aislinn, do we need to use ALL of it in our potions?"

Leo took a step back, "All yours Noli, show me how it's done!" He watched closely as his tail swayed back and forth.

Ziv steps back for this part, looking intimidated by the more sophisticated ingredients. "Why don't you, Silaena?"

Odile takes the measuring spoon scoops up a good amount of powdered mushroom fungi powder and uses a gloved finger to scrape out the excess and keep it measured.

Aislinn tips her head to Riylli. "No, if you do, you'll ruin it. This is where you get to practice precision."

Riylli: "Good!" Riylli declares, dipping her finger into powder and sticking it in her mouth

Odile picks up the whisk and stirs gently.

Aislinn huffs out a soft laugh of amusement at Riylli

Rising Lotus finally seemed to have a good simmery pot going, and she was about to give it a big ol' scoop of mushroom dust when Riylli tasted some. "...What's it taste like?"

Aislinn nods in approval as Nonoli levels off her scoop of mushroom powder

Silaena nods, veery carefully leveling out a scoop, before stirring the whisk. Probably a little -too- slow.

Riylli: "You've never had it? It's a pretty regular part of the keeper diet. Try some!"

Nonoli: "... don't eat the reagents, Leo."

Odile: "Likely tasting like a spore sponge."

Leo laughs at Nonoli. "I wasn't planning to Noli. Have you ever eaten the ingredients when making potions before though?"

Ziv raises the flame a little, thinking it will help somehow. The cauldron boils steadily, producing some steam.

Nonoli: "It's smart to taste them, if they're edible. But that's just to make sure they haven't gone bad."

Leo nods to Nonoli Noli. "Makes sense to me."

Rising Lotus "Hmm....no. Maybe if it wasn't dust an' a mushroom still." She scoops some of the powered, shaking off the extra but still probably a pinch to much. "Get to stirrin'." she held the spoon out to Riylli.

Riylli frowns. "Y'should level off your measuring cups with your finger, that's what Mana always does when she bakes." She explains and begins to stir carefully. "But a little extra probably wont hurt! Im betting these are mostly here for the flavour anyroad"

Leo: "You know, I am a little surprised that you don't taste more stuff though."

Nonoli ponders over Leo. "Most of this stuff is toxic before it's brewed!"

Leo: "Yeah, but I just think about all the cookie batter you steal when Coco bakes cookies."

Leo winks at Nonoli.

Ziv looks at Nonoli in surprise. "How can something that heals you be toxic?"

Rising Lotus: "That wasn't a cup though it was a spoon."

Ziv: "I don't understand it..."

Nonoli looks at Leo in surprise. "I-I do no such thing!"

Leo beams with delight at Nonoli .

M'shara: "You've clearly never been healed by me before."

Riylli: "Same thing!"

Nonoli: "It's not toxic when you drink it!"

Riylli: "They got all sorts of cups and spoons when you're bakin', and Twelve help you if you mix up a tablespoon with a teaspoon"

Silaena: Most alchemical ingredients balance out the toxicity with each other. It's a science, like that. Or how they're prepared, too.

Ziv: "I see..."

Silaena: Some of them are even only in something to make it not poisonous, too.

Aislinn: “So now you’ve got all the ingredients for a proper healing potion. And you’ve simmered them long enough for them to integrate. Which is a nice soup. Now we need a strong chemical reaction to flash it into something more.” She inhales a breath as if bracing herself. “This is one parts water crystal and two parts lighting crystal mixed and added to the bunsen flame beneath your crucibles. That’s one small spoon.” She holds up the smallest spoon that hardly looks like it could hold anything of substance. “Of blue crystals and two spoons of purple. There are wards of shielding written into the tables and if something goes wrong just step back. Quickly. Please remember the estate was just rebuilt and I don’t want to have to go through that again.”

Leo is taken aback by Aislinn. "It goes into the flame?"

Aislinn nods to Leo. "Into the flame. This creates a quick, small flash of high heat needed to transform the ingredients into a proper potion."

Rising Lotus wiped her hands on her apron. "See this is why I don't cook 'sides from jus' puttin' things over a fire. Too much work. Or at least with cookin' you can jus' like, eyeball spices an' then choke it down if it's bad." she glanced to Linn as she gave the next explanation, looking much more excited for this one. "One of blue two of purple!"

Leo: "Okay..." He grabbed a small bowl and then the blue and purple crystals. "Let's see, one part blue, two purple..."

M'shara looks to Odile, "Did you get that?"

Ziv picks up the blue crystal. "Adding crystals to fire? It's certainly not what I expected but okay. I will add this one if you'd take care of the purples."

Riylli: "My turn!" Riylli declares, proudly taking each scoop and measuring them off with her finger. Into the fire each of them goes with a quick pop of energy, leaving Riylli with a little bit of purple residue on her finger. She looks at it. She stares at it. She contemplates it. Ultimately her intrusive thoughts win through and she carefully pokes the residue with her tongue to see what it tastes like. Just a little bit!

Nonoli: "You can do it!"

Nonoli strikes a triumphant─but not too triumphant─pose for Leo Veldha.

Leo motions joyfully to Nonoli.

Odile nodded. she looks to the crystals. She uses her aether to hover one blue, and two purple.

Leo: "Yes ma'am." he laughs.

Silaena nods once again, moving to measure out the purple crystal dust. The moment her hands come close to it, though, there is prompt little explosion of levin.

Leo carefully measured out the crystals. One teaspoon of blue and two teaspoons of purple. He tried not to pull any more than he needed and put them in as equal quantities. After giving them a good mix, he shrugged and added them to the flame. "Well, here goes."

Ziv looks surprised!

Rising Lotus scoffed as Riylli got to do the cool fire throwing part. She flicked a few more grains of purple in when Riylli was tasting the crushed crystal.

Odile adds the first portion of purple, then the blue, then adds the last portion of purple.

Ziv: "Well there goes our purple--!"

Silaena: ..Yep. Sorry about that. Should've let you do it.

Ziv: "It's' okay. We should try again, with two new crystals."

Ziv: "This health potion -needs- to turn out! I'm really starting to feel it now..."

Leo: "Look good?"

Nonoli seems lost in thought. "So far so good!"

Odile looks stumped.

Aislinn: “Riylli!” She catches the sight of the Keeper putting a finger of crystals in her mouth. Nymeia help her. She’s drawn next by the sound of the small explosion at Ziv’s table. Not enough to trigger the ward. “Alright, there?” She asks.

Silaena nods. "No injuries. Just a little explosion when I touched the lightning."

Ziv: "Umm...well...no. Yes, I think we just need to simply try again. Though I'm not sure why your touch would cause an explosion like that."

Ziv gazes upon Silaena in deep reflection.

Riylli smacks her tongue a few times. "Tastes like... tingling. Like there are bubbles popping on my tongue! They should put this stuff in candy..."

Aislinn hums in thought as she looks Silaena over. "Does...that usually happen when you interact with aspected aether?"

Silaena tilts her head. "Sometimes. Most times, really."

Ziv continues to fuss over their pot, stirring it steadily to prevent it from boiling over.

Aislinn quickly tosses over her shoulder, "Riylli, stop eating the crystals. Do you want aether sickness?"

Riylli: "N... No..." Riylli mumbles, properly scolded

Rising Lotus jumped a bit at the explosion, bumping some of their blue crystal dust onto the table. Her attention returns to Riylli as she describes the taste, flicking more blue dust into the flame. "Guess that makes sense, purple is lightning. Guess blue would taste wet then..." her hand got close to the blue powder when Linn called Riylli out, slowly pulling her hand back.

Aislinn returns her attention to Silaena. "Hmm. Try switching. Ziv, add the lightning crystals, let Silaena handle the water crystal."

Riylli: "Quit addin' more crystal!"

Silaena hums, nodding again. "Sure. Ready, Ziv?"

Ziv nods, exchanging the water crystal for the two lightning ones. "Yes, let's see if this way does better."

Silaena moves to measure out the water crystal. And, not a hint of explosion, it seems, as it goes into the fire.

Ziv drops the crystals into the flame like two ice cubes into a glass of water.

Rising Lotus: "Psh, it was like, hardly anymore than we needed." she went to give their pot a few stirs as she looked at the so far unremarkable hue.

Riylli: "No causin' trouble for the teacher! We gotta be EXACT! Otherwise the cookies will end up super salty! I mean, potions."

In the wake of the expected flash of heat, Aislinn studies Silaena with open curiosity. "Right, then. " As quiet as she is, she raises her voice over the room. "Your potion should now be blue in color and clear. Go ahead and pour it carefully into an empty flask using the funnel on the table to check it for color and clarity." She explains.

Leo gazes upon Nonoli in deep reflection. "Hey Noli, do you think Nolas may like this kind of thing?"

Odile: "Maybe, Leo."

Aislinn: "If it's purple. You added too much lightning and burned it. If it's still pale, it's fine to drink but I doubt it's gonna do you any good when you need it. If it smells bad...well, this is not a potion that should smell bad. Don't drink it." She ticks off the common problems found with making this potion.

Nonoli gently stirred their ingredients, glancing up at Leo before raising a brow. "I don't think kids like anything they can't eat. Potions are usually rather bitter too."

Ziv places the funnel over the flask and slowly begins to ladle the light blue concoction. Steam fills up the glass beaker as the hot liquid is poured into it. "This was not so difficult at all. With enough mistletoe and ground mushrooms this will be easy to make in my own room."

Silaena taps her chin. "Really not selling the lack of potion addiction there, buddy."

Rising Lotus gave it a few more stirs, wasn't quite as blue as ones she had purchased before, but it was a tone of blue at least. "Alrighty, guess we ought to dish it out. Get the bottle ready." she lowered the heat and went for the ladel. "...I guess we can add some blue to it to make it more blue..." she eyed those crystals again.

Leo closed his eyes. "Mm... I'd like him to try a lot of things to see if he has a hobby he likes. I guess you're right though, maybe I'll wait until he's older..." His ears perked up at Odile's words as he gave her a small smile. "Thanks Odile." He took a glance at the color of the potion. Looked blue to him!

M'shara: "Simply try not to blow up the house if you have a lab in your room."

Aislinn nods to Ziv as she eyes the color of the liquid he's pouring into the flask. "I think you've got the hang of this, Ziv."

Leo looks at M'shara in shock! "Good point... definitely when he's older..."

Ziv motions joyfully.

Riylli: "We added enough!" Riylli scolds while getting the bottle ready

Ziv: "It feels good to have the approval of a learned professional. Excellent! Perhaps next I can work on adding a grape flavor..."

M'shara checks carefully over the potion in the cauldron.

Silaena: ..Why grape, specifically?

Odile looks shocked.

Aislinn sidles up to Rising and Riylli's table and removes the vials of powdered aether. Definitely not because she overheard the plan to add more to the drink.

Riylli looks sad as her purple candy is taken away.

Ziv: "For flavor of course! Is there another fruit flavor that sounds more appealing?"

Nonoli: "I was creating alchemy fire in my room a summer ago, when Zoronado and I would go on our adventures. Napalm really saved our skins in more than a few pinches."

Aislinn gives Nonoli a look of approval. Nothing wrong with weaponizing what you need for defense.

Silaena taps her chin. "Blackberry."

Leo ponders over Nonoli. "What's napalm do?"

Nonoli: "It's like... an extremely hot liquid that ignites anything it touches. If you got it on your clothes you could leap into a lake and it would still burn!"

Leo is taken aback by Nonoli Noli.

Silaena Naellenar: Well, that's a marginally terrifying thing to be making in your room.

Leo Veldha bit his lower lip. "I think it's best Nolas stay far away from alchemy then. At least until he's much older." He cleared his throat. "Well all that aside, it does sound very useful." His ears perked at Silaena's words. "And terrifying, yes."

Nonoli: "I used every precaution!"

Ziv: "Oh...well that's a good idea as well. I will have to engineer a blackberry flavor as well."

Rising Lotus rolled her eyes at Riylli, trying to look all innocent as their crystals were confiscated. She gave the concoction one more stir before scooping some up and pouring it into the beaker until it was almost full. "How's it look. Blue enough?" she bent down some to inspect it a bit closer.

Nonoli: "There's all sorts of neat stuff you can make, with the right reagents."

Odile takes a beaker, a funnel, and ladle to fill the potion into the beaker.

Leo smiles at Nonoli.

Silaena: I think I'll stick with weapons and trinkets, myself. Alchemy clearly doesn't like me much.

Nonoli: "Potions of invisibility, elixirs of night vision, giantstride tonics. Potions of strength."

Aislinn: "Anyone have any questions regarding the state of their potion or about the recipe in general?" She asks as she sets the vials of aether on the counter and begins circulating the room, handing out papers "I have copies of the instructions here for you. Lewra and I will leave the set up here for you all to practice if you want. The clinic should have enough ingredients stored if you need."

Nonoli smiles at Aislinn.

Leo motions joyfully to Aislinn.

Riylli raises her hand again. "Is ours okay? It's not super blue"

Leo: "Thank you Aislinn."

Nonoli continued to stir the beaker to make sure nothing burned on the bottom of the glass.

Ziv takes a swig of their potion, happily accepting a leaflet. "Indeed, many thanks. This will be a skill I use most often, rest assured. No more bothering the clinic for simple potions."

Aislinn smiles and gives a nod to Leo before turning to Riylli's question. "Hmm. Let's see it?"

Leo: "Hey Noli, do you mind if I practice making some potions with you sometime? As a healer I feel like I should know more about them and, you know, not rely on my magic as much as I do."

Nonoli nods to Leo.

Leo smiles in warm satisfaction before Nonoli. "Thank you."

Rising Lotus "Yeah I've seen bluer. I'm tellin' ya it needs more blue." she eyed the crushed water crystals on the counter on the opposite side of the room as she was handed the paper.

Nonoli: "Of course! I don't... want to make anything in your house, though. Your beastly boy gets his greedy little hands into everything!"

Nonoli is frustrated with Leo.

Leo laughs at Nonoli.

Riylli nudges the bottle in AIslinn's direction. "I think we mighta just burned out the colour!" Riylli says, repeating the same phrase from earlier. She's clearly learned a new fun fact.

Leo: "He's a handful isn't he? But that's part of what makes him so fun. If you'd like we can move some things around in our old room here in Heartwood."

M'shara eyes the potion on her table. "A well crafted product if I can say."

Odile: "Indeed."

Nonoli: "Oh we still have our old room. Well... half of it. When we remodeled we had to fix the entire back end..."

Leo nods to Nonoli.

Aislinn carefully takes up the flask, eyes it and then gives it a sniff. She tilts her head, considering. "It's a little weak. Most likely boiled the mistletoe too hot." She hands the flask back. "It might be a little less potent than normal but it won't do you any harm if  you drink it." She stares up at Rising over the rim of her spectacles. "It does not need more ‘blue’." She states definitively. Giving them a taste of powdered crystals may have been a mistake. 

Nonoli: "All my potions... gone... gone!" Nonoli clutches her head.

Leo turned his gaze to Ziv for a moment as he smiled at Noli. "I'll help where I can..."

Riylli: "Ha! Told you!" Riylli is a teachers pet. "Y'should be the one to drink it though. How's your wound doin'?"

Ziv looks over to Odile and M'shara's table with hopeful eyes. "Are you two going to finish that? The potion?"

Nonoli: "I'm just glad I was in the clinic when it all went down... if I was snoozing in my room I'd be a pancake!"

M'shara: "What do you mean finish?"

Odile: "Yes and you are not getting one lick of it."

Ziv is taken aback by Odile .

Leo let out a sigh. "That was rough. I nearly lost it when Coco was caught up in that. It was all I could do to stop myself from slamming my body against that door instead of holding that... thing down."

Aislinn hands copies of the recipe out to Ziv and Silaena

Rising Lotus: "It's not my fault no one taught me what a simmer is." she took the potion from Aislinn, temperature testing it by tapping the side a few times. "An' it's gettin' better, should be gettin' the bandages off soon anyway. Ain't hurt as much to move." she swirled the potion a few times before throwing it back, letting out a light cough as it was a tad too hot for chugging but she managed it anyway.

Ziv: "Denying a wounded man treatment, that is cruel..."

Riylli: "...How is it? Feelin' healed?"

Odile: I had to lock up the potion cabinets after your little raid in the Med Ward."

Aislinn glances at Odile and Shara's flask and nods

Ziv shows Odile his utter disappointment. "Yes and it was not very appreciated--! I have suffered greatly..."

M'shara eyebrows slant downward in concern. "Are you stealing potions from people?"

Odile: "You are wounded mentally, not physically."

Ziv disagrees with Odile. "Supplies from the clinic were out, I was merely redirecting."

Rising Lotus smacks her lips. "I guess I feel sort of less sore, not the same kick as a normal potion though." it needed more blue.

Aislinn: "Thank you all for coming and learning a bit about alchemy. I'm thinking all of these potions turned out fairly well. Nice job." She nods

Odile: "You need a shrink, not a potion."

Ziv looks at Odile in surprise.

Riylli : "Thanks for teachin' us!"

Aislinn gives Riylli a slanted smile of appreciation

Ziv: "Oh it's nothing like that...Thank you professor Aislinn for teaching us, yes! It is good to learn self-sufficiency."

Rising Lotus nodded "Aye, thank ya. Probably will still rely on others for it, but it's fun to know what I can do with crushed crystals an' fire now!"

Silaena nods. "Mm. Thank you for the lesson. Sorry for blowing up your crystals, too."

Nonoli smiles at Aislinn.

Odile: "Ms. North I would suggest locking up all alchemy equipment from Ziv until he takes a psych test."

Nonoli: "Alchemy should be a mandatory course for any mercenary! A quick sip of a potion can be far more reliable than a proper heal!"

Leo ponders over Nonoli .

Ziv agrees wholeheartedly with Nonoli .

Ziv looks at Odile and buries his face in disbelief.

Leo: "If you say so."

M'shara clears her throat. "We can discuss those matters in private."

Aislinn turns her attention to Odile, her brow lifting. She catches Shara's reply before she can move to question the lalafell's statement and instead shares a look with the other officer. "Duly noted." She replies neutrally to Odile.

Rising Lotus rubs her chin. "Maybe I should teach a fishin' course or somethin' for folks...not that it's hard. But some of the finer details, an' how to know what fish you should eat or somethin'."

Leo: "But regardless, thank you for teaching us Aislinn."

Riylli: "Can we go volcano fishin' again?"

Ziv: "Why I've never heard such nonsense in my life. If you'll excuse me, I have much practice to do with my alembic."

Silaena: Good luck? Try not to get too into drinking the potions, I guess?

Silaena fails to understand Ziv Zorasch.

Rising Lotus: " I mean, /we/ can, but if I'm gonna teach a class or somethin' it probably would be more pratical an' like, survival trainin' an' all."

Ziv: "Oh do not listen to those overblown reactions. There is nothing wrong with taking medicine."

Riylli: "Volcanoes need survival training the most!"

Leo expresses his worry with Ziv .

Odile: "If the cleaning crew and I go into your room Ziv, tell me we would not find used potion bottles everywhere in there. We got rich last time just from bottle returns."

Silaena : Hard disagree. Too much is a dependency, Ziv. Those are a weakness folks can exploit.

Leo: "Ziv, I don't know what's going on lately, but you should take care of yourself."

Silaena: But you're a grown man. So it's not really like anyone can stop you, either. Just be careful?

Rising Lotus: "How often do we end up there though? The one time we went fishin', an' then when we returned for that hunt? Probably more practical to have like...cold places trainin'."

Riylli: "THEY'RE COOLER THOUGH! Y'gotta go somewhere cool to get students interested!"

Ziv turns a bit red from all the fuss over him. "Yes yes, I agree, a grown man indeed. There is no need to worry so much over nothing.."

Ziv looks stumped.

Odile: "We fuss, because we worry."

Leo nods to Odile .

Rising Lotus: "I mean this was pretty simple an' we were invested right?"

Ziv hurries off with his leaflet before someone tries to tell him he can't brew any potions. "Why thank you, that is very sweet. But humbly I must point to my track record. In any case, goodnight to all--I have important matters to attend."

Ziv bids farewell.

Riylli: "That's 'cuz Aislinn is cool." Riylli says, before something dawns on her. "Oh! Gotta go grab my gift for her! Be right back!"

Leo : "Are you about ready to head home Noli?"

M'shara hums along to the music.

Nonoli nods to Leo.

Leo: "Let's get going then, I'm sure Zoro and Coco are waiting."

Riylli rushes back in and right up to Aislinn, holding a clear jar full of purple stuff in her hands. It kind of looks like a potion with how purple it is, fittingly enough. "Here! This is a syrup I made outta my very own home grown sweet violets! Y'can basically use it in any cookin' you do that needs sugar if you want a bit more unique of a flavor. Mana likes it in her tea!"

Nonoli: "Let's go see what this 'cleansing ritual' your wife mentioned is all about."

Odile gives Riylli a big hug.

Leo expresses his worry with Nonoli. "It's not fun..."

Nonoli ponders over Leo.

Rising Lotus looks over the paper she was handed, trying to see any recipes that would catch her eye to try this again when Riylli came running back with the present. Something then dawned on her when she heard Nonoli mention the cleansing ritual. "Oh right. Hey Lin an' M'shara. There's a little voidsent named Zilmat that'll be workin' in the library."

M'shara: "A what now?"

Aislinn looks up from her thoughts of Ziv as Riylli returns. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at the jar. "Oh!" Something warm lights behind her eyes. "Violets. I get it. Can't say I've ever had the privilege of trying violet syrup." She says as she takes the jar. "Thank you! I'll have to try it in tea like G’manafa, then."

Aislinn stops and blinks at Rising. "I'm sorry, what? A voidsent?" Talk about whiplash.

Riylli grins proudly. "Good! The sweet violets are special violets because they're sweet, so they make a really good syrup!" Riylli states simply, before turning to Rising. "And don't you worry, you'll get my next batch whenever its grown, okay? Can only make so much at once, especially now that its winter." She explains, then moves off to the side to let Rising deal with the voidsent fallout

M'shara: "Are you entered into a pact with this voidsent or something that can control it?"

Aislinn hugs the jar close to her as she stares at Rising, her lips forming a thin, hard line. She's not thrilled.

Rising Lotus "Aw, thank ya. I'll find ya somethin' nice...but it'll be harder since it can't jus' be fish related..anyway!" she returned back to the other matter. "Long story short, Riylli, I, an' some others went to where that tomestone lead." she motioned to Linn "Was Jackal's hideout, an' with the tone of money he said I could have, half of which went to here to fix the place up, there was a little eye voidsent fellow that has to listen to me now."

Riylli: "I told her it was a terrible idea..." Riylli mumbles from off on the side

M'shara raised a brow at the last part. "It has to or -must-?"

Rising Lotus: "I think he has to. That's what the letter said anyway. He's pretty harmless an' a huge coward, think Jackal mostly jus' fucked with him most of the time, so things should be fine. Kept a good track of all of that bastard's books, an' liked readin' so seemed like a good fit."

Aislinn shifts slightly, clearly uncomfortable. She hated anything having to do with the void. Having one occupying space under the same roof wasn’t ideal. “Alright.” It was not alright. “But why does it have to live -here-?”

M'shara draws in a deep breath then exhales slowly through her nose.

Rising Lotus: " 'Cause that's where the library is. Doesn't really leave it 'less I come get him, an' still sort of jus' hides when folks go in there. Still workin' on that, wouldn't make much of a librarian if he ain't helpin' folks."

M'shara: "What it is eating?"

M'shara: "Are you feeding it?"

Rising Lotus: "He said Jackal used to feed him scraps, when we found him he was eatin' coffee beans. So jus' normal food for his size. Nysc gave him some aether wine once."

Riylli looks back and forth between them, then starts scooting towards the door. She did not want to get involved in this well deserved scolding. "Alright, I'm, uh, off for now. Happy Starlight all!" She says, then poofs

M'shara was a hard woman to read but the way she ran her fingers through her hair was telling enough. "Well then. I suppose it will have to be taken up with her."

Aislinn lets go a perturbed sound in the back of her throat, wordlessly but vocally backing up Shara's questions. "So Nyscera knows." She shakes her head, annoyed, among other things. "Fine. I'll add some wards to the lab. The workshop. The clinic." She murmurs under her breath. So much for stepping foot in the library again. 

M'shara: "I can assist with your warding."

Aislinn tips her head gratefully to Shara. "Not exactly my specialty. You're probably better at it than I."

Rising Lotus let out pfft and a dismissive wave of her hand. "You're worryin' 'bout nothin'. I'll let ya meet him sometime, he's too small to do any damage an' too cowardly to try. Plus feel bad for the thing, Jackal was an arse to him all the time, bastard wasn't ever there for me an' left me an' my ma." she shrugged lightly.

M'shara nods her head. "Yes, I understand how you feel about it but smaller more cowardly voidsent also tend to be opportunist who will consume something larger than them at the first chance."

Aislinn: "So you're saying the thing has a reason to hold a grudge against people, considering how it's been treated." She points out.

Aislinn lets go a breath "I can't say I understand your reasoning, Rising. And I trust you but I also..." She trails off and decides against explaining her reticence. "There's nothing good about the void. I've seen that much."

Rising Lotus scratched the back of her head as she pondered what was being brought forth. "I don't think so. Seems happy jus' to be able to read mostly. Didn't have much stories back in cave after all. In the off chance he does try somethin' I think he'll be squashed pretty quick, but that ain't gonna happen."

M'shara: "Well, it'll get taken up with Nyscera I suppose. In the meantime we do have wards."

Rising Lotus: "Things will be fine." she assured them once more. "I mean, I used to think nothin' good came out of Garlemald, but then I went there an' there were good folk. I'm sure the void has to be the same then...jus' probably much lesser. But there are them voidsent that work for the saucer an' all, so there ya go."

M'shara: "Yes, well, I'd be more at ease if it was bound by contract like those at the saucer."

Rising Lotus: "I think the contract was given to me when he died, I can get you the letter to be sure, an' calls me master an' all, well did 'til I told him to stop."

M'shara: "Certainly. In the meantime I'll help Aislinn with some wards. Then I need to go get my beauty sleep."

Aislinn nods distantly, casting her gaze across the room. "Aye, that'll have to do." Inhales slowly, her thoughts retreating back behind a quiet, closed door expression. "Aye, I'm going to go ahead and start cleaning up and get back to work. Thank you both for coming."

Rising Lotus "Sure thing, thanks for teachin'. I'll drag him out of there soon so you can get a good look at 'em!" she grinned before giving them a wave and heading out the door.

[saltymongoose]

Finally it's the not awaited time that i talk about hofnarr (hopefully thats how you write his dumb name)

He is just as obsessed as everyone else but he tries to hide it VERY hard (he is not doing a good job at that). He buys everything that the other nexus workers make about the player and his room is like 99% about the player and like 2 things about slaughter time (he needed to take a lot of things off of his room to make space for all his money spending on player "merch")

And what kills him once they meet? Well everything from the feeling of their bright eyes on him, their shorter stature (which they complained about since informing him of their expectancy of him being at least a little bit shorter than them. How wrong they were) their presence alone had him holding back from giggling like a highschool girl. But especially when they decided to lean on him and just stay there against him, tugging lightly on his lab coat. Usually like this:

(Guess who is next (totally absolutely never could ever be sanford oh I'd never specifically choose the people who i feel others dont obsess over enough oh never))

AAA Hofnarr content, I love to see it haha. :D He's so sweet, and it's honestly really funny to have an accurate visual showing how much bigger he would be than the Player (cause he seems so meek in the game). One of the more lowkey yanderes by far, if only because he tries so hard to hide it. Some of the Nexus personnel who sell merch of you might just think he's a loyal customer of theirs and buys all their stuff just to support their business (he was nice like that).

However, in reality, the scientist harbored a bit of a crush on you; a deep-seated admiration that stemmed from how much he liked your kindness and general goodwill. You were so genuinely nice, especially compared to everyone else in Nevada, and you helped them so much that it'd be impossible not to like you (in his opinion, anyway). He's quite the fanboy, hence all the merchandise; he just wants something that reminds him of you to be everywhere around him, from the keychain he keeps in his pocket to the prints he has framed and put up in his living space.

Is it an obsession? Perhaps somewhat, he'll admit that much. But as far as he knows, this is just what love for you is like. He's utterly infatuated with you, and he views his more...excessive behaviors with you to be normal since he can't recall loving anyone as much. It made complete sense that an elevated level of affection would lead to an elevation in the level of gestures he goes through just to experience/have something related to you.

He's a bit very jealous that Christoff gets to actually feel your control, but he can deal with that. You do have your reasons, and he's also helping his friend out as well, so if anything that'd make you both allies (it's a loose connection, but it makes him feel happy all the same). This only makes it better when you meet in person, and you subsequently give him a heart attack by getting in his personal space and leaning on him (muttering a small complaint about how tall he is in the process; cute).

Just experiencing your relaxing warmth up close, and feeling the weight of your complete attention on him was enough to make a giddy smile spread across his face, and he fights the urge to reach up to try and cover the bright blush that paints his features. Then you get closer, and he's trying not to let his crush on you be too apparent, because oh my god, you're right there. The person he's been fawning over for the past few months is touching him, showing him the same sweet affection he's dreamed about getting from you. (He almost squeaks when he feels your arms come up to wrap around him in a hug, which you find adorable.)

It's what he's been waiting for all this time, but now it brings to mind a more pertinent question: now that he knows you actually like him, what are the chances you could return all of these feelings he has? And how does he increase that probability?

[amemoryofwot]

Ok final TSR wrap up and thoughts moving into S3 below

Whatta book damn. RJ is genuinely funny to me and there’s a lot of like, physical and situational comedy that I hope carries through to S3 (Nynaeve throwing the collar at Moghedien, Elayne and her 2x4, nobody knowing what the hell anyone is ever doing). He’s also so good at just like, desperate crushing character moments, like the AoL Aiel, Aram taking the sword, the final Battle of Two Rivers.

Even more so than Rand this is really Perrin’s book. He has the most complete storyline, which is great for S3 but a challenge moving forward as he is literally not in TFoH, and doesn’t do much until Dumai’s Wells. He also fights a lot of Trollocs, like a lot. Every second chapter someone is fighting Trollocs. For timing purposes the show could easily cut it down to Perrin’s failed ambush, and the final battle. That would still get him to the Tuatha’an and the Whitecloaks while cutting out two or three skirmishes. Whether CGI or practical i’m sure the Trollocs would be expensive and they already got dragged for 1x08’s PS2 Trollocs, so i’d personally rather have them less but better quality. I could see him and Faile having a whirlwind “omg what did we just do” kind of wedding in face of all the Trollocs and not expecting to live, but I can also see that being pushed. I think this will be the bulk of the S3 time.

Rand’s storyline could really be two eps, there’s actually not a lot there once we get rid of the Stone (for now). One for Cold Rocks Hold leading to Rhuidean, and then one for the journey to Alcair Dal. Of course he’s gonna have more to do like argue with Moiraine about prophecy, and hopefully everyone will get some bonding time in Falme, but he’s mostly travelling which the show doesnt really focus on with their wild back and forth, and he also gets attacked by a lot of Trollocs. Lan also has nothing to do this book so sword and toxic masculinity lessons being pushed to S3 will smooth that out at least.

Egwene kind of has nothing to do this book so S3 will surely be her Dreaming, although I wonder in what capacity. Verin, Siuan, or the Wise Ones or even Aviendha could really be intro points. I also don’t believe she would pass by the Dominion Band two or three times without realizing what it is, so her intro Dreaming sequence is largely filler except for meeting Amys. Nynaeve has a line about Egwene waking up screaming from nightmares so i think she of all people would recognize it. She also has a few moments with Moiraine so Moiraine’s story will probably be focused on Egwene and Rand versus her own S2 storyline.

Much of Tanchico is through Elayne’s perspective, which pulls her into our main group. Nynaeve takes a slight backseat in PoV to balance it out. There will be a lot going on between Thom, Min, Liandrin, Moggy, and possibly Mat, (Egeanin?) but I think it will also be the smoothest to adapt as everybody has something to do already, instead of having to make stuff up to keep them moving together.

The leftover bit is the coup. Min not being there to rescue Siuan doesnt really matter except that someone will have to take her spot, as i dont think Siuan can do it herself. Gawyn seems a good choice to set up his inner conflict/indecision. The Blues could also just sweep them out on their way to Salidar. Siuan does spend a LONG time looking for Salidar, and as much as i love a good depression roadtrip this would cut time AND spare us Gareth if they could just go right there. Especially if LoC plotlines are coming in S4 we dont have time to wander the countryside and burn down a barn.

Anyways my inexperienced opinion is its actually not that much to get through, if you imagine one intro episode, 2 for each Two Rivers, the Waste, and Tanchico storylines, and maybe even one Andor/Tower focused. Two Rivers will wrap up in ep 7, and the rest in ep 8. I’m imagining the coup and Couladin will be the big season cliffhangers.