#rogue doesn't have to see half this shit

[dragongodryss]

Truth or Dare

Characters: Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, Gajeel Redfox, Wendy Marvell, Natsu Dragneel

The Dragon slayers made a point of meeting at least once a month, typically on the 20th. It didn't matter if one or two couldn't make it or what they did together, what mattered was that they met. Sometimes they (Usually Natsu and Gajeel, occasionally Laxus) sparred, sometimes they played trained together, other times, they talked about their dragons and draconic culture in general.

Erik and Laxus were the most typical drop-outs, and Natsu and Wendy usually dropped out together. Sometimes, Sting had to skip out due to his master duties, but Rogue would make an effort to show up anyway.

They usually met in a clearing in the forest between Magnolia and Gazania when they weren't expecting downpour, but on days where rain was expected, one of them would host (Usually Sting and Rogue or Natsu).

Today was scheduled to be rainy, and as Natsu had hosted them last time and hadn't yet volunteered to do so this time, Sting had decided that he and Rogue would host their meeting this week. He ran down to the closest shops for enough snacks to placate seven hungry Dragon slayers while Rogue let the others know.

Rogue called Gajeel, the only one that could consistently be relied upon to answer his lacrima, first.

"Hey kid, what's up? Need me to arrest someone for you?" Gajeel picked up on the first try. He continued his cop bit on occasion, despite not having worked with the council for a while. At least he'd stopped threatening to arrest Sting, among many others.

"No, not right now. I'm calling to tell you we're hosting our meet-up today. Could you let the others know? Oh, and tell Kinana to tell Erik. I'll tell Sorano as well, so maybe he'll hear about it." Erik and Wendy didn't have communication lacrimas yet, so they needed to be told verbally.

"Alright, well, thunder-thighs is out on a job, so he ain't coming. But Salamander and little blue are in town. I'll let Kinana know. We doing this tonight?" Gajeel asked.

"Sting didn't say. He's out buying snacks. Be there at five, I guess." Rogue told him.

They showed up at six, they being Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel.

"Alright, what do we do?" Gajeel asked. Fighting was out of the question.

"Well, I was thinking," Sting started, never a good sign, "We could play truth or dare."

"Sounds good." Natsu agreed. Wendy tacked on an 'Okay'. Rogue supposed he'd be outvoted no matter what, so he shrugged.

"Let's go alphabetically." Sting suggested.

"By first or last name?" Wendy asked.

"You choose, I don't really care."

"Last." Wendy said, for obvious reasons. Which would be fine, if not for the fact that that meant Rogue was going first. "Rogue, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Boring." Natsu commented.

"When is the last time you apologized, and for what?" Wendy asked. Rogue thought for a moment.

"Yesterday evening. I bumped into the table and I was tired, so I apologized to it." Rogue admitted. Gajeel snorted. "Natsu, truth or dare."

"Dare." He had better, after his comment.

"Switch clothes with Sting for the rest of the game." Rogue said without wasting a moment.

"Fine. Let's do this." Natsu had not anticipated that this would be the day he wore thigh-high boots and a crop-top, but he had done far worse dares, courtesy of Erza. "Sting, you're next, right? Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Sting said. Natsu chuckled evilly.

"Go to Minerva's place, ask for the spiciest thing she has in her house, bring it back here and chug it." Natsu ordered. Sting grumbled but got up.

"I'd be scared, but I can't take you seriously in those clothes." Wendy told Natsu, quite unnecessarily, he thought.

"Yeah, imagine running a guild like that." Gajeel quipped, laughing when Rogue glared at him.

Sting returned with a small jar of a red-brown powder.

"Minerva says I have to bring this back, it's expensive." He told Natsu.

"So you're going to chicken out? How are you going to take care of Rogue if you can't even keep you word?" Gajeel asked.

"He can't take care of anyone if Minerva kills him!" Rogue protested.

"Rogue takes care of Sting!" Frosch, who was apparently in the next room, called out.

Sting chugged the spices. He was surprised by how little he felt it. Then:

"ARGGHHHH, CRAP THIs hurtsss. Ow. Ow. Water- Please..."

"Sting!" Lector, Rogue and Wendy all shouted. Gajeel tried to hold in his laughter at the sheer stupidity.

"Lector, we have milk in the fridge. Just grab the whole bottle and bring it here. Hurry!" Rogue ordered. Lector, who had entered the room when he'd heard Sting scream, flew off to get milk.

Once Sting was in slightly less pain, Lector and Frosch were sent to Yukino, who was supervising the Guild in Sting and Rogue's absence.

"Aright, next. Wendy. Truth or Dare?" Sting rasped.

"Truth. Please go easy on me."

"Last time you snitched on a guildmate and what for."

"That's not going easy!" Wendy protested.

"What gave you the impression I was in the mood to go easy on anyone?" Sting asked.

"Fine. I- I never told on anyone." Wendy hoped she would get away with the lie. From the doubt on everyone's faces, she hadn't. "Fine, I told Erza about Natsu and Gray smoking Bixlow's weed."

"That was you? I thought she smelled it!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Okay. Moving on. Gajeel, truth or dare?" Wendy panicked.

"Dare."

"Hold a plank until it's your turn again." Wendy said. Gajeel got up into a plank.

"Rogue, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Rogue hoped he wouldn't regret it.

"Keep your eyes closed for the next two turns." Gajeel told him. Well there was absolutely no way that would ever go wrong. Rogue shut his eyes.

"Okay, Natsu. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to let Sting write or draw whatever he wants, wherever he wants, with whatever he wants, taking as much time as he needs, on you." Rogue said. Sting deserved the chance to avenge himself.

"Ooh. Nice! Give me a minute." Sting scrambled off to get whatever it was he was getting. He came back a couple of minutes later. "Alright. Don't move, Natsu!"

"Why do you have glitter glue? Sting!" Natsu questioned. "Sting, you know I'm giving you a dare next. Sting!"

Rogue had no idea what the hell Sting was doing, since he couldn't see, but Gajeel sounded like he was trouble keeping up his plank while laughing and Wendy seemed concerned.

"Hurry up, lightbulb! I've been holding this damn plank for five minutes now." Gajeel complained.

"What is he doing?" Rogue asked Gajeel and Wendy.

"Writing 'I'm a jerk', 'Erza sucks' and, uhm... 'Please kick me uwu' in permanent markers and, uhh... Bluebird, go see what he's drawing, I can't move. He's using glitter glue for that anyway." Gajeel explained.

"I'm drawing dicks!" Sting happily called out before Wendy could get up.

"You're paying for this, Sting! Truth or dare?" Natsu growled.

"Truth." Sting said with what Rogue imagined to be the most unbearably smug look on his face.

"What is your most ridiculous fear?" Natsu grinned sadistically, planning on using the information against him next turn. By the look on his face, Sting knew it too. Served him right. Sting thought for a while.

"I don't know. They're all serious to me." Sting thought aloud. "Oh! Minerva said my fear of hospitals is ridiculous. So, that, I guess."

"That's normal though." Natsu said. "They smell like sickness and death and stuff."

"Well, Minerva doesn't think so, and she's going to send me there for the spice incident. So yeah. Wendy, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Of all of us here, who is your favorite?" Sting asked.

"Not you." Everyone, even his boyfriend, said in unison.

"Rogue?" He whined.

"Did you really think you were her favorite? After your last question?"

"Fine. I'm yours anyway. So who is it, Wendy?" Sting asked again, the matching looks of expectation on Gajeel and Natsu's faces erasing some of the hurt he felt. This was going to be fun.

"Uhm... Let me think." Wendy panicked again. Sting entertained himself with watching Gajeel suffer in his plank, so close to relief, yet so far.

"Come on, it's clearly me!" Natsu insisted. "You already said it's not Sting, and it's definitely not Rogue."

"What about me, you jerk? You wanna go?" Gajeel shouted.

"Why wouldn't it be Rogue anyway?" Sting threw in for good measure.

"If you wanna fail your dare, I'll fight you!" Natsu answered the challenge.

"Coward!" Gajeel insulted him.

"What do I do if I don't want to answer?" Wendy asked sheepishly.

"Then Gajeel has to stay in his plank forever." Rogue said evenly, ignoring the chaos. That gave Sting an idea.

"Nah. Then I give you a dare instead and we reverse the questioning order so you don't give anyone a dare this turn." Sting suggested, pretending to be merciful.

"Yeah, I like that." Natsu said.

"Sounds fair." The oblivious Gajeel agreed, Rogue's comment making him desperate for a resolution. Rogue and Wendy nodded,

"Alright Wendy, dare it is. Take this lacrima, call anyone you want outside this room and tell them that they are sexy and you are hopelessly in love with them. Then hang up before they answer." Sting dared her.

"That's mean." Wendy complained.

"Then answer the question." Sting suggested. Wendy gulped and called.

"ErzayouaresexyandIloveyoubye!" Wendy rattled off in one breath.

"Close enough. Alright, since we're reversing the order; Natsu! Truth or Dare?" Sting asked.

"Wait! What?" Gajeel roared.

"You agreed to it, plank boy." Sting dismissed him.

"Dare?" Natsu said, a little more hesitantly this time.

"Give Rogue and Wendy your wallet and let them go shopping unsupervised." Sting ordered.

"With my eyes closed?" Rogue asked, worrying about the many stairs.

"Wendy will take care of you."

"After the stuff you put her through, I wouldn't blame her for pushing me down the stairs to get back at you." Rogue told him.

The trip down the stairs went better than expected, thanks to Rogue's shadow travel. But now, the trouble was finding a shop while guiding a blinded Rogue in the pouring rain, which would give him trouble finding his way around.

"We really should have brought our coats." Wendy mused as she guided Rogue by the arm. She looked around. They walked the streets in silence, looking for a shop that looked interesting. She picked a jewelry shop, hoping to get a gift for Sherria. She looked in Natsu's wallet. Wow, did he have a lot of money. Something caught her eye.

"Hey, Rogue? Since you can't see, can I choose what we get? I want it to be a surprise." She asked innocently. Rogue agreed.

Meanwhile, in Sting and Rogue's apartment, Sting was stuffing himself with sweets. Natsu was doing the same, while wondering if he should have told Wendy that he had been holding on to the reward for their last job and that she could be spending Lucy's rent money. Gajeel, meanwhile, had been in his plank for half an hour at this point and was sick and tired of this game.

Cheerfully, Wendy guided Rogue back home.

"We're back!" She called out, soaking wet but smiling. Beside her, Rogue looked like a wet cat.

"What did you get?" Natsu asked.

"I don't know." Rogue answered.

"Give me a second. First, I got matching bracelets for me and Sherria!" She proclaimed, holding up two silver bracelets, one with a sapphire and tiger's eye heart and one with rose-quartz and sapphire. Expensive, but there would still be enough to make Lucy's rent and some money for the rest of the team to split. "And I bought this for Rogue!"

"It's beautiful! Put it on him." Sting exclaimed. Natsu couldn't see it yet, but he didn't need to be Carla to know this was not going to go well. "Oh, man. I wish he could open his eyes. It matches them so well."

Rogue felt some sort of circlet being placed on his head. It felt cold, like metal. From Stings awed commentary, he could guess some of it was red.

Natsu couldn't deny it suited Rogue, but the circlet killed any hopes of bringing back any money. His team would never trust him with the rewards ever again.

"Rogue. Truth or dare?" He asked numbly.

"Truth." Earlier, he had mocked Rogue's decision, but now, he saw the wisdom in his fellow Dragon slayers choices. He remembered something a drunk Sting had thought up while at a party.

"Have you ever had sex in a tree?" Natsu asked. Sting suddenly looked awfully sheepish.

"I have tried. Do you remember when I had that concussion?" Rogue answered honestly.

"Sting, you moron. What part of that is looking out for him?" Gajeel scolded.

"It was romantic until he fell!"

"Alright Gajeel. Truth or dare?" Rogue asked. Gajeel sighed in relief and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"...Truth."

"Where do you think you'll be in five years time?"

"What is this, shadow princess, a job interview?" Gajeel asked.

"It's a question, and what's with the nickname?" Rogue fire back.

"Ya look like a princess. Tiara'n all. But I guess I'll be in a meeting with you losers again. But I sure as hell won't be playing this stupid game." Gajeel answered.

"Okay, my turn! I pick dare!" Wendy said.

"Lick your elbow."

Wendy tried to reach, but her tongue would not stretch quite far enough. Scowling from the effort, she kept trying. Eventually, Rogue piped up.

"Shouldn't the dare be physically possible?"

"Fine. New dare. Hit Sting on the head." Gajeel agreed. Wendy obliged, carefully. "Ya had a free hit, and ya let him off easy. The jerk would've had it coming."

"Okay Sting, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Do you have vinegar?" Wendy asked. Sting liked where this was going.

"Yeah. Brand new bottle."

"Drink it. All of it."

"Good kid." Gajeel said.

"We have a new bottle for a reason." Rogue complained.

"I'm sorry, what?" Gajeel asked.

"We have a new bottle for a reason." Rogue repeated. "And that reason is that Sting likes sour things."

"I'm not surprised. Bloody Freak."

"Chug! Chug! Chug!" Natsu was probably chanting loudly enough to rouse the downstairs neighbours. Sting opened the bottle and gave it a swirl, putting it to his lips and drinking the whole thing in about 30 seconds.

"Alrighty, now! Natsu, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Have you ever said something you regret about someone in this room?" Sting asked mischievously.

"Yes."

"Well?"

"No. Rogue, truth or dare?"

"Truth!" Rogue opened his eyes as he spoke, blinking them a few times to get used to the light.

"What to you think about the circlet?" Natsu asked. Rogue went to look at a mirror. He came back shortly after.

"It's beautiful, but it must have cost a fortune."

The game fizzled out after that. Everyone crashed at Sting and Rogue's place for the night.

The Fairy Tail Dragon slayers returned to Magnolia to find Erza waiting for them.

"Wendy, I got your message. Are you alright?" She asked, concerned.

"Yeah. We played truth or dare."

"That explains... things." Erza said, her gaze sweeping the trio before her. Gajeel was rubbing his arms with numb fingers, looking absolutely miserable. Natsu, wearing what looked like Stings clothes, with marked skin and a deeply guilty expression on his face. Wendy, all things considered, looked the best out of the three. "Do the other two look worse?"

"No. We all agree that lightbulb is the worst though." Gajeel growled.

Back in Gazania, Rogue was surprised at how little clean-up was necessary. Looking at Sting's smug face as they had their morning coffee, Rogue knew he had been right.

When Sting had an idea, it was never a good thing.

[ew-selfish-art]

DP x DC AU: Tim had heard the phrase 'The wrong twin made it home' a number of times in his life, his parents were always very upfront about how the felt towards him. But... 'made it home' doesn't indicate death, does it? ...Tim ends up taking Danny's place by Sam's side in front of Congress to lobby the end of the Anti-Ecto Acts.

...

Tim has been up for hours passed when he told Alfred he would be resting and he's wrapped up his case files into neat little bows to deliver to Babs and the GCPD/Lawyers to do their jobs. Damian had made a comment earlier in their patrol that night about Tim being the wrong sibling to make it to his rescue and... and it got him thinking about that phrase. His parents were negligent with him, certainly, but they were always very clear about how he stood in their eyes. Praise and criticism were the two options, and very strictly limited passes of 'I love yous' that faded as he got older.

He's run his DNA before in the national databases- it was critical for maintaining his Alias' that multiple people didn't flag- but he's never searched in records before. About his twin. About the one who didn't make it home.

And its definitely the lack of sleep, and definitely the lack of brotherly affection he feels these days, but Tim just can't close the door until he's seen a death certificate. He's hacked Gotham General Hospital a million times for work, but doing it for his own gain feels wrong some how and he works with extreme caution. He finds his own birth certificate and... One Theodore Daniel Drake.

Tim snorts with a short ha, pretentious name alert and goes on to find not a single certificate of death or medical record of atypia. Oh no, what he finds is adoption paperwork meant to be closed to all wondering eyes and one Daniel James Fenton leaving the hospital instead. Tim blinks a few times, retraces his steps and then sure enough, learns for a second time that his TWIN was still alive.

Finding the Fentons was easy enough, their Lab address on all of their patents was seemingly also their home address. Danny had a much better hidden internet presence, it was good cybersecurity he'd have to praise him, but Tim had been trained better. Getting into his brother's files... Raised a number of new questions. Why was he compiling evidence against the government? What the fuck was he doing analyzing policy? Why did he have 'rogue' files???

Then Tim hacks into Danny's phone (he's learned at this point that Daniel was a no-go) and sees the conversations between his twin and his twin's best friends.

Sam Manson has an appointment with a Senator to Lobby for the end of the Anti-Ecto Acts. She wants Danny to join her, demonstrate something Tim can't determine, but he's refusing to leave and let his adoptive parents have even a moment to develop a new weapon without him there to destroy it. Someone called CW warned him about changes coming his way or something cryptic. Tim learns a lot from their back and forth, but stops reading once it gets to their personal squabbles.

Tim gets the meeting details and forwards it to Tam- If Danny can't make it... Tim will. And if Tim can't demonstrate whatever Danny was going to, it would at least help to throw around his name.

Tim writes an email to Danny- It's meant to go out after the lobbying appointment- and it explains that Tim found out about him and wants to connect if Danny does, and if Danny doesn't he at least wants to get him set up with his half of the Drake family inheritance. He includes a few personal facts, including that he too ended up adopted in life and had siblings, that he helped run a company and took on the world too soon. It takes a lot out of Tim to be so candid- but he doesn't want Danny to be too blindsided by the Waynes. He attaches a family photo with the label "you'll be able to tell which one is me'.

...

Sam is tapping her stupid, uncomfortable heels waiting for these dumbass, elderly politicians to get their shit together so she can speak. Sam was resourceful and surprisingly, the second she took on politics as a way to waste the family money, her mother Pamela was all for it. She's wanting Sam to run for president now... At least she doesn't complain when Sam organizes protests.

The door behind her opens, and while she knows its not going to be Danny behind her, a girl can feel a bit crushed. She really thought he would be behind her today, but Danny was being weird about this whole thing. Clockwork had him spooked about something changing today, and Danny wanted to be in Amity Park in case it was another Pariah situation or something. His parents had been on edge lately too...

"Sorry, I'm not late am I?" A voice asks and it's just so close but not- Sam turns her head to see Danny in a nice suit with long hair and eyebags way darker than she'd seen on him in a while. This... Wasn't Danny. She blinks, and then something in her anxiously decides that the universe is fucking with her and she will be fighting back.

"Everyone is late." She glares at him, appraising his every move. The woman behind him is typing dedicatedly on her tablet and the man himself looks like he might fall over while he shuffles his files in hand.

"Well, then I'm on time. My name is Tim Drake, I'm here to help your cause in getting the Anti-Ecto acts repealed and the parties responsible for it apprehended."

"Tim Drake? As in-"

"As in Co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises. And I've done a lot of research, so I hope you'll let me play a supportive role while you speak."

"There's no way you've been able to research if you've been out of Amity, The whole city is under a media blackout." Sam's glare looks like it could cut him.

"Not to brag, but that sort of thing doesn't slow me down these days. I've made physical copies of the things they're most likely to delete and I've sent everything to the Justice League, who in turn are sending it to the Lantern Corps." He states matter-of-factly and Sam finally stops being angry at the world to just be... stumped. What the hell was going on?

"How did you... Why?"

"Tam, tell Ms. Manson how passionate I am about human rights?" The guy sounds anxious, the woman rolls her eyes and says "Very." without stopping her typing.

The doors open and Sam has only a moment to decide that Tim can join her... He proves himself to be an asset, and his name alone gets them further than she had anticipated getting today.

....

Danny is watching Sam walk into the space via C-span, gasping when his own likeness follows behind her. What the fuck???

He can barely drag his eyes away as the clone (?) introduces himself as Tim Drake and proceeds to rip them into shreds for delaying Sam Manson of all people. Danny is transfixed and Tucker is blowing up his phone.

"DUDE ARE YOU SEEING THIS?" Tucker's voice loudly calls out the second danny blindly answers.

"Dude, I just, I don't even know? He cant be a clone right? But he's gotta be?" Danny hypothesizes.

"Nah dude, there's like, a whole lifetime of media presence for Tim Drake since he was like, tiny. This is so weird he looks just like you..."

"This is so weird." Danny dumbly agrees because he can't think of anything else to say.

Sam finishes her points, Tim submits the evidence to the court and they leave. Danny's phone pings with an email notification.

"Danny my guy, you should check that, Sam isn't responding yet. Her phone is probably still off."

He follows Tucker's advise and opening his email... Is a new message from Tim Drake.

"...I don't know what the fuck is going on?" Danny continues to say, and Tucker asks him just to read it out loud, "It's just... Apparently I am both adopted and a twin?"

"...My guy." Tucker sounds just as much at a loss.

...

Sam calls them both after Tim Drake is rushed away by his PA Tam (who she found herself admiring more and more), and is relieved when they dont immediately answer by screaming.

"So Danny, Tucker, you guys are traveling with me next weekend." Sam deadpans.

"Apparently shit gets twilight-zone level weird anytime you leave Amity!" Tucker exclaims.

"...What's next weekend?" Danny asks, hesitation in his voice.

"Your twin invited us, well, mostly you, to a Wayne Family Brunch. We're going cause those assholes have money and political influence, you're going because we all probably need to know what the fuck is going on with that guy."

[peachsayshi]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ domestic diaries

minors / ageless / blank blogs dni

ೃ⁀➷ notes: I saw this gif (top right image) & wrote a post about nanami getting turned on seeing his wife in an itty bitty tank, and I cannot get this out of my head. I need this man to **** ** until I'm ******* and ******. this is very self indulgent. forgive me lskjfd

ೃ⁀➷ tags: smut; masturbation; oral (f receiving); nipple play; p in v; rough sex; reader wears glasses

feb 3 - 8:31 pm

"look at how wet you are-" nanami exhales, a strand of gold kissing his forehead. the muscles of his strong stomach flexing when he unfastens the last button of his shirt. he pulls the fabric over his broad shoulders, taking in your hungry eyes roaming all over his body. rough hands instantly trail to the belt cinched around his waist. you whimper when he loosens the buckle, your fingers circle over your clit just a little faster as you watch him yank the leather band out from between the loops.

"n' you're hard..." you softly pant, licking your lips which only continues to exacerbate your husband’s madness to have you.

he palms over the prominent tent that's formed against his slacks, his length stiff from the sight of coming home to you earlier. you were innocently standing in the kitchen, wearing your black thigh high socks and a pair of shorts along with an itty bitty tank top that did nothing to cover you. midriff out, nipples prominent. your hair a mess, and your glasses resting comfortably on the bridge of your nose.

it was in that moment when the realization struck nanami. when he pondered when was the last time he taken you to bed. both of your schedules have been busy. neither of you have been in the mood for making love, too worn out from the stresses of every day life.

so, his reaction towards you shouldn't have been that much of a surprise. he just wished that he noted the dry spill that's hit your relationship a little bit earlier.

"hi, baby", you sweetly greeted with a smile, as he stood there dumfounded with admiration. "you're home late, I was worried you might miss dinner-"

nanami loosened his tie, swallowing the hard lump that formed in his throat as his skin scorched with heat. he can feel it prick the tips of his ears, singe the the highest parts of his prominent cheek bones, and burn it's way down his neck. he stalked towards you before you allowed yourself to get distracted, and circled his arms around your waist to pull you in for a kiss.

you were taken aback by the urgency, but you soon melted in his arms and found yourselves in the sanctuary of your bedroom.

nanami smiles - an angelic grin, full of reverie. you have to press your lips together to stop yourself from pathetically moaning at the gesture.

your husband doesn't make it easier by treating his exceptionally attractive self with such nonchalance. so completely clueless by the power he has over you.

he boldly stares at you, eyes falling to the peaks of your breasts, the tips furiously prominent against your tank top and begging for attention. he followed the path down the lower half your naked body, to the triangle between your legs where you were fingering yourself in anticipation. half your legs were still concealed by your thigh high socks, your glasses slowly falling down your nose.

he drops his shirt to the ground, bringing those fingers to push back that infuriating rogue strand of hair that carelessly fell. he cups your knees, his thumbs stroking your socks lovingly as he nestles himself between your legs. his jaw twitches when you spread your lips for him, your arousal strings of sweet sugar. nanami leans forward to peck you tenderly at the source of your desire, and the sound that travels out of your throat is so desperate he nearly cums on the spot.

"shit-" you curse, your hands moving to rest on your lower belly so nanami can touch you as he pleases.

he uses to fingers to spread the petals once again, before placing his tongue flat to broadly stroke up your slit. his eyes flutter close and the drawl of his hum is deep, sending a shiver up your belly. you bring one hand to the locks of his hair, massaging his scalp lightly as you keep the strands from falling over.

"haven't tasted you in a while, my love," nanami sighs. his hot, heavy breath fanning your cunt.

he dives in with no mercy, making your hips buck into his face while he fucks you with his mouth. he pays extra attention to your clit, sucking on the bud and flicking his tongue back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth...your fingers dig into his scalp, your upper body nearly off the mattress as you hold him close. when nanami slides two fingers in to stretch you out, your eyes simply vanish to the back of your head. you're so soaked by the time you orgasm, tremors shaking your clenched thighs that nearly squeezed your husband's head.

you taste yourself on your tongue when he kisses you. it's sloppy, wet. completely primal. nanami only stops to remove his slacks, rbefore eadjusting your position when he climbs on the bed.

"take your glasses off," he commands, and you oblige as you place them by your side.

he flips you over, lifting your hips and creating a lovely slope on your spine. his hands graze over the socks pinching the meat of your thighs, and he widens your stance before aligning the heavy tip of his cock to your entrance.

your words are reduced to vowels, and when your husband gradually pushes himself against your folds, you release a long cry as you grip onto the sheets for support.

"oh fuck,-" nanami purrs, before pulling back and rutting deep into you. "uh-you feel s'good, s'warm..."

"kento-" your whine out his name pornographically, which makes your husband thrust into you even harder, "kento, more...please, please, please-ah~"

your tank top rides up as your body rubs against the mattress, your sensitive nipples brushing over your cool bed sheets. he's usually so gentle when fucking you, calculative even - but not tonight. tonight, his movements are unrelenting. whenever that mushroom head hits your sweet spot it has you seeing a cluster of white stars in your eyes. the sound of skin slapping skin echoes all around you, with nanami's grunts following in harmony. he's rough when he holds your hips because he's unable to hold onto any self control, because you're sucking him in, and milking his cock.

you anticipate the soreness to come.

when you orgasm a second time, tears prick your eyes from relief - it's been so long since you've had your husband inside you that you forgot how pliable you become in the process. he's so close now too, his flow staggering as his hipsstutter, until he finally releases his full load inside you.

it takes you both a few minutes to gather yourself. you can feel your husband grow soft inside you. you turn around to face him when you finally detach. sitting upright on your knees as you circle your arms around your neck, and bring your face in front of his.

you moan into a kiss, his own hands cupping your breasts chastely, his thumbs swiping over your pebbled nipples.

he rubs his nose over yours, his lips finding your cheeks as he kisses you. "you okay, my love?" he asks, always the gentleman for checking in. "m'sorry if I was rough, I..." he sighs, stealing another kiss from your lips before whispering, "I didn't realize how long it's been..."

you sniffle, your body coming down from the rushed high. "m'okay, kento..." you dreamily reassure, your lips seeking his own for another kiss, "that felt so good..."

"yeah?" he smiles before nipping at your bottom lip with his teeth and tracing that dangerous mouth down the curve of your neck. "felt good for me too, baby..."

you're like sand between his fingers, slipping through the cracks of lust and love. nanami leaves a trail of kisses down your collar bone, moving further until his lips circle over the tip of your breast.

you hiss when he sucks on it, using his hand to cup the weight. the sensation of his thumb makes you pulse between your legs, and you gaze down to watch him slowly pull away to release the bud. his eyes stay fixated on your chest, a small string of saliva connecting from your nipple to his bottom lip. he uses his thumb to wipe it away, stroking the hardened peak.

"want to keep going?" he speaks in a hushed tone, lifting his head up and resting his chin against your chest to gauge your mood.

"yeah," you sigh, wanting nothing more to ride along this intimate dance until your bodies can no longer keep up. "yeah, let's keep going..."

[homunculus-argument]

I've never really had the proper opportunity to play, but I fucking love reading peoples' DnD stories online. Yeah the stories people end up sharing are just the highlight reels and the greatest hits in sessions that might not have been that fun all the way through, but I read them the same way that people who don't play sports watch sports on the TV.

Like this one I read years ago but still remember. There was a party where the only human was their Pretty Boy Idiot Bard (the funniest type of bard) with next to nothing in intelligence but wildly high charisma, making him vital as the murderhobo party's Public Relations in any kind of negotiations, but absolutely useless anywhere else. Nobody else but the DM and the bard's player enjoyed that stuff more than combat and dungeons so the DM peppered in a lot of opportunities for the band to literally get away with murder just because That One Is So Pretty.

And the party in question ends up entering a fairly standard-looking dungeon, in search for a specific item. The one telling the story was playing a tiefling rogue, and at this point she noticed that the bard's player and the DM had shot a few "I noticed that you noticed that I noticed it too" sort of trying-not-to-laugh glances, and suspected that something was up, but decided not to say anything, in-character or out.

They end up encountering a chasm on the dungeon floor, a seemingly endless ravine that none of them could jump or climb over, and stop to figure out how to cross it. Another player character - a half-elf - asks if any of them can see anything they could use as a tool, maybe something they could use to build a bridge. Before anyone starts doing perception checks, the bard speaks up.

"I don't know. I went blind, like, two hours ago."

And at this point the rest of the party realises that they don't have a torch, or anything that'd give them light. The bard is the only one in the party who doesn't have darkvision. He hasn't seen shit for the entire time they've been in the dungeon. And he's too damn stupid to figure out why.

[jinjeriffic]

DC x DP prompt/ficlet

Throwing my hat in the ring with this idea that has been doing the zoomies in my brain for days. The Tim/Danny Accidental Ghost Marriage to Fake Dating to Friends to Lovers AU:

Pariah Dark was a piece of shit. Before his imprisonment, mortals would sometimes manage to bargain with the Ghost King for scraps of power. One of the "standard" deals was to send PD a "Bride" to play with and feed on (because I HC he feeds on fear and pain) and what better way than a little mortal battery that couldn't get away from him? The deal was sealed with a cursed amulet. Now in one instance, the contract was never fulfilled (maybe the petitioner died before he could complete his half) and the amulet was lost. After Pariah was imprisoned and couldn't make deals anymore the knowledge of the rituals needed was gradually forgotten since they didn't work anymore...

Eventually the amulet gets dug up by archeologists (maybe in Egypt or Mesopotamia?) and ends up in a traveling exhibit in Gotham. A Rogue robs the place (Riddler? Two-Face? doesn't really matter). When the Bats show up to foil the robbery, during the fight with the goons a drop of Red Robin's blood gets on the amulet, there's a blinding flash of green light and the amulet is suddenly glued to him.

While everyone is dazed by the ghostly magic flashbang, Fright Knight pops out of a portal, yoinks Red Robin across his saddle and jumps back through the portal before anyone can stop him. Cue the Bats trying to frantically figure out what in the multi-dimensional occult hell happened and where RR went?!

Meanwhile, Danny is disturbed to receive a ghostly missive in his college dorm to tell him that his Mail Order Bride has been delivered to his Ghost Zone Palace and is awaiting him so they can consummate their Unholy Matrimony.

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

Danny: Wtf I have to study I don't have time to get MARRIED

Fright Knight: I'm sorry my liege, but according to the laws of ghosts, gods and magic you already ARE

Danny: Wtf. How did this happen?

RR: I would like to know that too

Danny: Oh shit, you're a superhero. Frighty, you can't just kidnap people! Especially not SUPERHEROES!

RR: While that's good to hear, I would really like to know about this supposed marriage..?

FK: I am not aware of the exact details, I was merely summoned to retrieve the Bride of the Ghost King. There used to be standard magical contracts for this, which went into effect when the Bride bled on the King's Token...

RR: Shit

Danny: Hold on, PARIAH got married? Multiple times??

FK: ...but we can always consult the Royal Archivist, if we can dig him out from under the several thousand years worth of paperwork that piled up while there was no King actively ruling...

Danny: Oh ancients, am I gonna have to deal with that?? I have exams to prepare for, dude!

RR: ...the dead still have to do exams? And paperwork?? *horror*

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

Some time and explanations later...

Royal Archivist: It took some digging, but I believe I have found the contract in question. You are one Timothy Drake-Wayne, correct?

Tim: Fml

RA: Ahem. The contract was sealed with your mortal blood, as is standard procedure. Congratulations, you are officially King-Consort of the Infinite Realms! Until death do you part, and all that

Danny: Can I see that contract? ...This isn't in English

RA: Oh dear, looks like we will have to schedule your Royal Highness classes in reading cuneiform/hieroglyphics

Tim: Okay, does it say anywhere in that contract how to dissolve it? What's the procedure for a ghost divorce? Fright Knight mentioned the previous king being married multiple times

RA: Well usually, when Pariah tired of a consort he would simply devour their soul...

Danny: Ewwwww I am so not doing that

Tim: I concur. I can't imagine my soul would taste good anyway

Danny: That's what you took from that??

RA: ...but when you die and your soul passes into the Afterlife proper, the contract will be fulfilled. As long as you're not resurrected again.

Tim: Nuts, there goes that loophole

RA: Until then you are the Consort and duty-bound to fulfill his Royal Highness' every whim; ghostly, spiritual, carnal...

Danny: *sinks through the floor in embarrassment*

Tim: Can't he just... release me from the contract? Take the amulet off me or something?

RA: Not without obliterating your soul, no

Danny and Tim: Fuck

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

Some time later, while Danny is away consulting other ghosts on possible ways of dissolving the contract, they discover the nasty little clause that if Tim isn't in regular physical contact with Danny the amulet starts draining his life force. To prevent victims from escaping you see... Danny really really hates Pariah right now.

They eventually return to the mortal plane to explain to the Batfam what the hell is going on and that they're still trying to fix it. In the meantime, Danny can't miss any more classes (studying areospace engineering at MIT or sth) and Tim has to stick close to him because of the curse...

Alfred: Oh dear, looks like Master Timothy will have to go to college after all *unflappable British Smugness*

Bruce pulls a lot of strings to fast track Tim getting his high school diploma and let him attend classes with Danny (he's not officially enrolled yet, but Money, Dear Boy). They never know when Danny has to respond to a ghost emergency or Red Robin to a Bat emergency, so they stay pretty much joined at the hip in their civilian lives. Of course there's gonna be rumors. Why did the Wayne CEO suddenly drop everything to go to college? So they make up a story about Danny and Tim having been secret boyfriends for a while and Tim becoming so smitten that he moves with him to Boston...

Cue the fake dates, interviews with magazines, couple photoshoots to really sell the bit... and the two young men gradually becoming friends... and then "Feelings?? But what do I do?? He was forced into this?" etc.

[spacebarbarianweird]

What do you think about some headcannons of a curious Astarion intrigued by Tav’s skincare routine ? :3

This is a funny request, to be honest, but who I am not to explore the topic of body image issues and curses that can fuck up the person's skin in a fantasy setting?

TW: Scars left by physical abuse

Astarion x Tav Who Has to Cover Her Face

Masterlist

Headcanons

Many years ago, you were unlucky to piss off a man who studied necromancy.

He was arrogant and cruel and didn't understand that "no" is a "no".

For your resistance, he mutilated you.

Attacking you with a spell causing necrotic damage.

The half of your face and the right side of your neck look burnt.

You also lost the right eye.

"Once you realize no one will ever want you to feel free to crawl to my bed" he wished you.

Well, you can't punish a necromancer, who was born into a noble family.

You ran away from home.

As far as possible.

You were many things. A beggar, a thief - you did many things to survive.

With time, you learn how to hide your face.

First of all, healing ointments can at least repair some damage.

It's still awful but more bearable.

And blessed be the circus people and spies to invent disguise kits!

It takes ages to apply the make-up, but in the end, you look as if nothing happened.

Life in the camp boosts your anxiety.

What if someone sees you?

And you have to get up really early to make your face look at least decent.

Astarion doesn't pay much thought to it. You like wearing make-up. So what?

One day, he shows up at your tent unannounced (finally feeling comfortable enough around you)

While you are unprepared.

You immediately cover your face, demanding him to leave.

Astarion is taken aback by your reaction, but something tells him something is wrong.

"My sweet, can I take a look?"

You shake your head. No. No one is supposed to see you like that.

But he grabs your hands and pulls them away.

You expect disgust but instead, his eyes glow with anger.

"Who the fuck did this to you?!"

"Who". He knows it was done deliberately.

You tell him everything. About harassment. Lewd words. Pain.

He caresses your mutilated cheek and kisses you.

You spend the rest of the morning crying in his hands.

Astarion doesn't pretend that your face looks "normal".

But he isn't averted by it.

He helps you to apply make-up in the morning and wash your face in the evening.

Sometimes people get rude around you, and Astarion beats the shit out of them (usually demanding apologies).

Astarion also takes care of your prosthetic eye. His rogue hands can deal with the mechanisms much better than you.

When having sex, you notice he always looks directly at you, never trying to close his eyes.

You feel loved. You feel desired. You feel beautiful.

And you feel safe.

If at any time in the future that abuser decides he can't wait anymore and tries to take you by force, he will have to fight someone immune to any form of necrotic damage.

--

Tag list

@tugoslovenka @marcynomercy @wintersire @vixstarria @not-so-lost-after-all @ashiro20 @theearthsfinalconfession @herstxrgirl @starlight-ipomoea @micropoe10 @astarion-imagine-archive @veillsar @elora-the-slutty-songstress @fayeriess @lumienyx @tallymonster @caitlincat-95 @tragedybunny @valeprati @lynnlovesthestars @marina-and-the-memes @waking-electric @ayselluna @connorsui @asterordinary @darkarchangel96

[oh-no-its-bird]

Dungeon Meshi Naruto founders AU

I want either Madara or Izuna as Falin. Thematically I think Izuna would fit best, but I kind of just wanna see chimera Madara more than Izuna. Also like, smthn smthn Madara's falcons smthn smthn bird boy,,,

Very torn between Tobirama being stand in for Marcille or for Thistle. Bc like, dungeon lord Tobirama with his chimera Madara goes so hard

Then again it's not like I have to do a 1 to 1 crossover, so. We can totally just work off of the setting and basic premise of "Oh no one of the party members got got by the dungeon and we have to go back for them" then do our own thing from there

OK SO DUNGEON MESHI AU WERE DOING THIS FR NOW LETS GO

(Note; Ive only watched the anime, so while I have seen a lot of different spoilers for the manga my knowledge plot wise p much ends w season 1)

The party;

Elf Hashirama as healer and plant magic guy

Half elf Tobirama as a heavy hitting mage

Tallman Madara on the physical front as their tank

Tallman Izuna as their secondary physical fighter who plays as a mixed support / dmg depending on the situation and what Madara needs most atm

Touka, undecided on race, similar dmg + support build to Izuna, also dabbles in rogue stuff

Hikaku, also undecided on race, party rogue / jack of all trades and armed with a crossbow

Ok so, Madara gets eaten by a red dragon right as one of the partys magic users (Hashi and Tobi) are using that return spell to go back to the surface

They wake up and Izuna is immediatley like "What the fuck happened to my brother"

Argument ensues! Hashirama and Izuna want to go back for Madara in the very rare case that he may be revivable. Tobirama and Touka thinks he's fucked and they should cut their losses here. Hikaku is somewhere between both parties but his loyalty to Madara wins out and he sides with Hashi and Izuna despite internally agreeing w Tobirama and Touka that it's probably too late.

They go back in and adventures happen!!

The whole time they're going down, Tobirama is grumbling about Madara and how this is doomed and the man is probably dead and blah blah blah. Finally Izuna snaps and yells at him ab why he's even here then, and Tobirama honestly doesn't even know why himself. He just goes dead quiet and has no real response, which satisfies Izuna

Queue internal conflict on Tobirama's part, who largley stops complaining ab their adventure from here on out as he asks himself that same question, then decides to fully commit to the party's goal.

Anyways, continuing on and !!! They find Madara !!! Only oh no he's a pile of fuckin bones!!

Tobirama, again, now fully committed to this shit, is like "I did NOT come this fucking far to turn back now" and breaks out the black magic.

P much everyone is on board with this except maybe Hashirama. Maybe we can have some fun plays with how he's like all about life and nature and ooo leafy elf man or whatever vs Tobirama's blasphemy against life itself necromancy jam

So they bring Madara back with the dragon meet and the power of Tobirama's undying spite, yay !!!

Madara is very confused at all of this, and very out of it. By the time he's started to really come back to himself dinner is over and they're all quietly laying in their bedrolls

I want a quiet confrontation between Madara and Tobirama when everyone's gone to bed. Madara needs some air and finds Tobirama by the seals used to bring him back to life. Madara says that it's not that he's ungrateful, but he is very, very confused at why Tobirama did this. Not only breaking several taboos and laws but doing it for him. Madara didn't even think Tobirama liked him, so why...?

Tobirama scoffs and says not to flatter himself, this was a choice he made for himself, not Madara

They hold very prolonged, silent eye contact surrounded by the blood and bones of the dragon. It's kind of gay.

Izuna appears to break up the staring competition with a well timed "What the fuck are you guys doing" (they'll just have to resume the staring contest later)

They go back to bed fr this time but just like in canon, Madara is woken up by the call of the dungeon master

Enter the mad mage; Mito

Instead of being the brother of the king of the golden kingdom she was instead the wife.

Oh right and the king was a little guy you may know of by the name Ashura. Which brings us a new oh no bc Hashirama is totally that guy's reincarnation and the second Mito lays eyes on him she loses it

But that's not for a little bit. Bc in this first confrontation, Hashirama gets to be conviniently absent till after Mito leaves (and Mito can only recognize him if she sees him in person bc I say so)

So Mito and Tobirama have a super cool mage battle as Izuna tries to shake a non responsive Madara back to himself. Good attempt, doesn't work tho sorry Izuna

Stuff happens, Madara and Mito fuck off, and the party is left back at square 1.

Madaraless :(

So the adventure continues!!

We get Kagami as Izutsumi to be our parties ninja cat boy (Kagami my beloved son,,) which is also extra fun if we wanna play into the parallels of Marcille trying to mom/big sister Izutsumi and Tobirama doing the same to Kagami (Kagami is soaking in the attention he is having a great time rn)

Stuff happens, chimera Madara appears, more adventures happen blah blah blah

Tobirama becomes new dungeon lord and bc I have no idea what goes on from dungeon meshi canon from there I'm just gonna leave that here.

Dungeon lord Tobirama and his pet chimera Madara he's trying to return human tho, that fucks so hard. Even once Madara is human again he still has all those cute feathers like Falin which I think suits him. When he gets all flaily and embaressaed now his feathers can fluff up with his hair too

Anyways, alternative kind of bad end where Izuna was the one who got turned into a chimera and we get definatley not brainwashed guys I promise toxic hashiizumito (Mito is living her best life with her reincarnated Not Kidnapped husband and Not Brainwashed pet chimera)

[syoddeye]

You convince the 141 to play Dungeons and Dragons.

Disclaimer: This is clearly for shits and giggles. I've GM'd for a few years now, and I had to combine my first love, DnD, and my current obsession, COD. I stuck to Basic Rules content.

Somehow, you've convinced the 141 to play Dungeons and Dragons with you. You reason there's enough downtime for a decent campaign, and it might be nice to have another outlet that isn't exercise-based. After all, DnD is a collaborative and creative game - good for the ol' brain, right?

Kyle bought the Player's Handbook, printed extra character sheets, and picked up a set of dice. He's read the handbook, planned for the first three levels of his character, and has a backstory with all the important bits highlighted. He's easily the most prepared. The most excited, too, though he's a little sheepish about it. His first character is classic and highly strategic: Half-Elf Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer, with plans to multiclass into Paladin, Oath of Devotion.

Soap is equally excited as Kyle - for different reasons. He went a little nuts at the local game shop. Does he need more than one set of dice at this point? No. Does he have three, just in case? Yes. He also bought a miniature that corresponds with his character. He was torn about his character for weeks but ultimately chose a reliable build: Mountain Dwarf Barbarian, Path of the Totem Warrior.

John is skeptical. This isn't really his thing, but he'll entertain it and give it a go for you. Doesn't stop him from grumbling about it every time you ask how character creation is going, if he has any ideas about what class he wants to try, what kind of character he can see himself playing...Makes it a sweet surprise when he turns up with a used copy of the handbook, several pages dog-eared, and a bullet-point list of his character's background. His character surprises you too: Dragonborn Tempest Cleric, with plans to multiclass into a Battle Master Fighter.

Ghost shows little interest, but John convinces him to attend Session Zero at least. And, like John, getting information from him is like pulling teeth. One night, while up to use the restroom, you actually catch Ghost hunched over a player's handbook. If you didn't know any better, he's a little embarrassed to be seen  'studying'. When you turn to leave him alone, though, he pipes up - he's got questions. At Session Zero, he wordlessly presents the character you helped him with: Variant Human Rogue, Arcane Trickster. He might take a level or two in Warlock if he keeps playing. (He does.)

[3gremlins]

feel like im having a DA2 experience again where I really liked it and was in my little "this is good" cocoon where i played it many times only to emerge from underground and find everyone else hated it (i mean ive found the other da2 cicadas since but at the time it got really slammed). i've been really enjoying DA:TV so far ( lol tho obvs have notes) here's an early thoughts review, may be a bit spoilery, def rambley, trying to stay vague on stuff still (i think i'm about half way maybe? im trying to not look things up and doing it blind on my first run through. it's hard to tell b/c i went hard on all the side quests and am now way over level for the msq)

the combat system is a little jarring at first and i still miss at least being able to switch to and play as party members if your character dies (instead of the god of war style of full wipe), but i've gotten used to it (it's more annoying for boss fights, regular combat it's very zippy and fun). the targeting at least on controller is kind of annoying sometimes- i'll think i'm pointing at one enemy only to have rook turn and fire at nothing or companions to hit an add instead of a boss. I wish we at least had more control over how it queued who it was hitting. some of the arenas are obnoxious design wise - there's bosses that teleport to you and they give you like a tiny little box to dodge around, not the most fun. i do like that you can punch way above of your weight class sometimes which reminds me of DAO a little bit (like how you'd just wander into a fight or hit a gong and be like oh no, those enemies have skulls over their heads, oh well YOLO). sometimes it doesn't work out but when it does it's very satisfying. It's nice to be able to conquer something mechanically even underleveled (smol fromsoft vibes) Having always been a big fan of the strange composition parties (i.e not just war/rogue/mage), i like that this is now even more viable (and not just me being cheeky "we're having a leather party!" of all squishy rogues). but like the main thing about bioware games is the companions/interpersonal shit and i'm enjoying the heck out of that .i only do main quests to get more side quests from companions (or more side quests in general so we can troll around for more banter). i like petting griffons (and cats and dogs) and playing games with manfred*. I wish the gift system was more interesting like DAO or DA2- i was so excited to see it again and then it was a little disappointing to have them barely react when you get them stuff.

my current fave party are rook and the poison boys (emmerich and lucanis) since they're a rogue too and we just stack necrosis, bleeds and other elemental effects on things till they disintegrate. i like the lighthouse, it feels much cozier than skyhold. I love that you can just wander up to companions having convos and awkwardly eavesdrop. I do miss the little interactions/quests you could get with cole esp*** i think the animations are a little lack lustery? Idk there's something with the face model morphs that sometimes feels weird but the voice acting is strong enough that I don't notice too much. i do miss some of the more bioware-y cheeky things like item descriptions or weird notes near random silly environmental tableaus (there's a little but i just want to read all the notes! there's some in the grey warden areas where i was just like WAIT I HAVE QUESTIONS but there was no plaque about them T.T). where are the stacks of cheese (i do appreciate the fereldens love cheese jokes tho and harding getting so excited when someone says something nice about ferelden) i was esp bummed that there were no random things to read in the black emporium and it's all codex entries instead (that's my favorite tiny bit in DA2 where there's junk you can click on and xenon says weird shit to you). i also wish more had been done with accents of npcs- like i wish all the antivans had similar accents or your crow rook had an antivan accent, stuff like that (having a lot of "ferelden" generic british accents everywhere is disappointing. takes you out of the immersion a lot) My biggest gripe is probably the pacing - I wish it had more horror/mystery pacing like dao and da2 had- the reason we're all scarred by the brood mother is b/c the build up to that was so so creepy (also the necromancer bit w/hawke's mum in DA2). They gave us time to be unnerved or afraid and I do feel the evanuris reveals have been a little rushed so you can't really feel that worried about them (some of the side quests get close to this but still not quite there**). I wish they'd let them breathe a bit more instead of rushing from one giant world changing event to the next. Some of the reveals have been not so great- like lore that the fandom has poured over for 15ish years explained in one line?? i wish there'd been more build up of rook as a character too, maybe even a time skip from a prologue to finding solas kind of thing. the first trailer made it seem like that's what was going to happen but then it in media res'd us in a strange way. the first 10 hours of the game are probably the weakest imho, it took it a bit to get rolling and feel more natural. I appreciate that the first major decision doesn't really let you scum save for it (bit of a jump scare for me lol).

I also don't really need this much varric anymore, i kinda wish we had a different narrator if we have to have one. He feels really awkward to just have there and not doing anything(and not just kill off or have something happen to him? he got stabbed by the dagger and harding only touched it is what i'm saying). at least let him get better pjs and slippers or something Idk it does feel like bits of previous iterations they were working on are still there and they don't completely serve the plot well. And ofc there's the decisions not meaningfully carrying over thing- which is a huge bummer. But in reality they've never been good at that- the characters from previous games we see in new games don't really carry through their plots/arcs that much (it's more like cameos or they're a new person now) and the world states are usually effectively the same just with aesthetic faction swaps. I was sort of hoping we'd get some solavellan SOMETHING but it doesn't look like we will get much at all past the stuff in minrathous. i feel like if they were going to only include the one choice it really should have had more impact on the story. (i am also still a clown and want to talk to solas constantly still even tho he has no reason to talk to my rook at all, i do not care, i love a sad woof. i wish we could just casually visit him in the fade. i wish we could switch to lavellan and visit him in the fade, idk something. need more gareth david-lloyd pls) the interpersonal character decisions have been the only ones that mattered much and then only within the constrains of their own games- the bigger world changing stuff is usually the illusion of choice. It would have been nice if they let us have one protagonist carry through but i can also see why they liked changing it up and felt stuck in that format. tl;dr: i'm really like it for what it is but it's def got flaws. Parts of it feel super polished while other bits do not- i think knowing how game dev works that they had to make decisions on what was going to get prioritized and some of it works while others not so much. I wish the pacing was better for sure but i love the characters/companions which is generally what bioware is best at. sad it won't get meaningful dlc, i don't really care about mass effect 5 tbqh. So far I like it better than inquisition for the most part- it feels like a bigger/more polished DA2 in a lot of ways if that makes any sense (with similar budget/pacing issues, but the environments are more fun). as i mentioned in my other post, i really appreciated the trans/non binary inclusion into the story/cc tho. like that can't be discounted, even if the rest of the game has issues. (all the holes in the narrative make me want to do fan art and fan fiction tho so idk, maybe that's an okay thing. maybe dragon age is best at inspiring us to sandbox around in it)

*side note, i am surprised at how much i like emmerich like holy shit what a lovely soft nerd of a man! going to have to play through a few times and romance him and also bellara for sure (romancing lucanis this time round) i find myself shipping my companions with each other more than i normally do too. I just want them to be happy! I wish they'd let us have polyamory, like i could see little polycules in this squad so easily. i need to give bellara hugs and lucanis head pats. taash deserves head pats too, but my rook will need a ladder.

**i am going to cry if they do with the griffons what i think they're doing with the griffons. like straight up, feeling like it was a cursed wish to have them now T.T *** do we think the caretaker is cole? the character design makes me wonder (like the hat/silhouette is very cole like but maybe not. maybe i just want it to be cole lol) there's def characters i want to see show up that aren't going to and then bioware is like "what about this fan favorite??" and i'm like "eh".

[gffa]

Dearest gffa, you are the only person I know whose been reading Batfamily comics. (Though I do read some of the fanfic haha). The destiel meme informed me that Bad Things just happened in the latest comics. Is there a primer to the latest drama? (Everyone seems upset). Are you ok?

Best wishes, your fandom neighbor on Star Wars Street

I assume this is about the Batman #148 leaks? I haven't seen a ton of drama (other than a couple of posts, including the Destiel meme notification that got me to go see what was happening) but if that's it, it's kind of funny, because okay. As far as I've seen (the issue isn't even out yet, so I can't read it until tomorrow, I'm only going on the leaked panels I've seen) what happens in the issue is that Failsafe-- okay, let me back up. In the current Batman run (written by Chip Zdarsky), awhile back Bruce created a super powerful robot that was meant to be activated in the case of him going rogue so that it could take him down, and it's very coldly logical, based on his patterns, so it knows him extremely well and is hard to beat. It's powerful enough that it apparently took out the Justice League awhile back (I haven't read that arc yet, so take that with a grain of salt), which means now that Failsafe has gone rogue in the current Batman series that Zdarsky's writing, Bruce is having a hell of a time fighting it, especially with his "backup personality" Zur-En-Arrh (Bruce is a paranoid shit and I love him the most) is also running amok in his head and he's fighting back against that. Back up further--in late 2023, there was an event called "Gotham War" that was basically, "Bruce has been through a lot of shit lately, so he was out of commission for several months, in that time Selina stepped up in Gotham and started training crooks to be cat burglars instead of rogues' goons, Bruce woke up, thought this was bullshit, despite that crime was down, and they basically had a turf war while Bruce was losing his goddamned mind because of what he'd been through and because Zur-En-Arrh was literally ratting the bars of the cage of his mind, and part of the fallout being that Bruce dosed Jason with a gas that basically made his adrenaline go wild any time he would do anything dangerous, so that he could no longer be in this life of crime or vigilantism, because Jason had killed a lot of people, but Bruce couldn't bear to send him to jail, so this was the only way he could live with taking Jason out of the life they lived". Gotham War was extremely controversial--I had fun with it, because it was BONKERS and I fuckin' love bonkers stuff in the "punching people in the face solves crime" genre, but a lot of people were really angry about how Jason was treated in the arc. Zdarsky co-wrote Gotham War, so this is a continuation of a lot of people's frustration and anger towards how Jason has been treated by DC especially by this author.

There's also a lot of lingering frustration and resentment in fandom because Jason is not always written well or frequently. He doesn't have his own solo book these days, half of what's written about him is written by authors with VASTLY different takes from the other half of the writers out there, and there's a lot of fanon that goes around with Jason's sub-section of fandom where I think it furthers the divide because the fic that's written about Jason delves deep into his character in specific ways that the canon doesn't match and I think it can set expectations for some fans that are just not matched by DC themselves, either because they see Jason differently or because Jason just doesn't have a lot of fans at the company itself, I couldn't say for sure. So, now comes Batman #148 leaks (it's not actually out until tomorrow), where Failsafe kills Jason and Bruce has a dramatic reaction to it, and a lot of people are furious that DC would kill Jason at all, much less with such little fanfare, after how little focus he's gotten over the last several years. The thing is, though, that Jason doesn't stay dead, he's alive again by the end of the issue (I've seen panels from later in the issue) and I'm not sure how many people are reacting just to seeing the posts flying around fandom versus how many people have actually seen the whole context. Because context is slowly rolling out, but people generally aren't soothed by that, given the lead-up to this moment. Basically, years of Jason not getting much focus in the comics + the events of Gotham War have led to a powderkeg of a situation and the contextless leaks (ie, without the panel where Jason's alive again) took a match to the whole thing. And that's what's going on, as far as I know! I personally am having a great time because I was extremely skeptical that they would actually kill Jason without any fanfare and also I like Jason as a hot mess with crunchy relationships with people and that he's done bad things and had bad things done to him/been a victim as well, so all this messy drama in the story has me living for it. (This would have been a very different situation if I'd thought Jason was really dead, but I didn't, so I'm doing fine right now. Also, my Blorbo is Dick Grayson, so I've already been through this wringer and I'm still mad at DiDio for it, so it's Jason-Blorbo's time now.)

[katyakurae]

Grab a drink and have a seat at the Hazbin Tavern! A DnD AU

Headcanons under the cut :3

Race: Tabaxi

Class: Bard and rogue.

Alignement: True neutral.

Goal: Work serving drinks at the Hazbin Tavern is a great way to run from his "ex-wife" and from some people he owes money, so...

When he was young, he was the "seduce the dragon" type of bard.

Until he actually seduced a dragon, his ex wife. Now he is divorced and with two half-tabaxi half-dragon children.

Always in a bad mood. Except, maybe when Angel Dust is around the tavern.

Has a lot of debt from bets. The guard of at least three cities is looking from him to make him pay.

Meet Alastor back in his bard/betting days. Alastor hired him for "protection"

(Husk is still wondering what the fuck means protection after seeing Alastor fireballing a mindflayer without bating an eye.)

After travelling together for a while, Alastor realiced Husk's game problem and offered him a deal so good he cannot turn it off. In exchange, Husk has to follow Alastor wherever the elf goes.

Some of Husku's garnements are imbued with Alastor's magic.

That's how he ended in the Underdark, working at the Hazbin Tavern. Doesn't hate it tho.

Usually, he just serves drinks, but sometimes, some really good nights (or when Angel needs it) he also performs.

Husk can play the lute, pan flute and the ocarine.

His favourite spell is Vicious Mockery. He used to get out of some bets and games by insulting his rivals until they were bleeding in the ground. Or dead. Shit happens.

Previous character: Alastor~

Next character: Angel Dust!

[tourettesdog]

I am having extremely specific and niche ideas I must share. Specifically headcanons for Danny Phantom characters playing World of Warcraft

I feel like Sam would have been the first of them to get into WoW. Something other to play than Doomed, with a heavier focus on questing. She'd play on a PVP server and would be something of a legend on her realm.

She'd pretty much do everything, from hardcore raiding, to achievement hunting, to a little roleplaying on the side with friends.

She'd have two characters she swaps between, a troll warlock and an undead rogue, and would have the most min-maxed gear she can possibly get at all times. A "for the Horde!" girlie all the way. The warlock has tailoring/enchanting for professions, and the rogue mining/jewelcrafting, and she's got every recipe she can get her hands on for both.

I could see Sam trying to get Tucker and Danny into WoW, only to be wildly disappointed with their character decisions as both of them cozy up Alliance-side on a roleplaying realm.

-

Tucker takes one glance at worgen and goes "I'm gonna be a fucking werewolf" and it's all over from there. His main would be a guardian/feral druid (tank and melee dps) with the corniest RP name you've ever seen, and he loves them dearly. He's always looking for new transmog to dress up with, and he takes his mining/engineering professions a little too seriously. He mostly plays with Danny, but probably has a horde alt Sam forced him to make so they could actually play together before cross-faction became a thing (I am being intentionally Vague about what expansions they'd be playing in).

Tucker's horde alt would be a tauren druid that ALSO runs engineering. Pretty much the same character, especially considering he spends 90% of his time in animal forms.

-

Danny would start off playing a night elf monk and would get more into the RP of it than he ever wants to openly admit. He loves all of the flips and shit the monks do, and he's all in on the night elf aesthetic. He swaps between mistweaver and windwalker (healer and DPS), depending on what him and Tucker need to get shit done. He doesn't really focus a lot on the professions, instead going for dual gathering with mining and herbalism so he just has a lot of rocks and plants to throw at Tucker or onto the auction house.

After the accident though, Danny takes a long, staring look at death knights and decides he needs to play one-- for the memes. He's dogshit at it after playing monk for so long, but you can pry his frost (dps) death knight from his cold, half-dead hands.

The DK is just another night elf and when he's RPing, Danny likes to say it's the same character as the monk.

(Also I specifically think that Danny would play a nelf instead of a draenei because, as a trans Danny truther, I feel like the too-buff male draeneis would be a little Much for him, and the femme ones would be too dysphoric.)

-

Val would very begrudgingly start playing WoW with them once she joins Team Phantom. She'd go Horde-side with Sam, with a tauren warrior decked head to toe in red. She quickly gets sucked into the game, and gets a little intense with farming for all of the things she wants-- mounts, cool transmog, some battle pets. She likes to do a lot of content alone, finding it fun to just go off questing, but she'll let herself be dragged into dungeons ever now and then. She just doesn't have the time or energy for raiding consistently.

Val winds up making a bunch of different alts eventually to keep collecting shit, and she gets scary good at gold farming so she can pay for her subscription with in-game currency. She's got a bunch of different professions she runs on her various alts, but the warrior's got mining/blacksmithing since the idea of making her own armor won her out.

-

Dani plays on a laptop bought with Vlad's money, on a subscription also bought with Vlad's money. She takes one look at Val and Sam playing Horde-side and decides there is no other side to play.

She mains a vulpera hunter and is a troll through and through. She lives up to the hunter stereotype of accidentally pulling everything, but makes up for it by being scary good at DPS and PVP. Her and Val do a lot of mog and mount farming together, and some of her favorite things to collect are the battle pets and toys. She's got Meerah's Jukebox (a toy that plays a song about alpacas before exploding) hotkeyed to drop at a moment's notice.

She winds up getting a little too invested in alchemy, insisting she needs to be good at making goop.

-

Wes would not play WoW, and would instead play FFXIV and would never shut up about how much better it is than WoW.

Bonus:

Lancer plays a lot of WoW during the summer when school is out. He's got a human mage who looks a bit like a buff version of him that he's been playing since the game released, and he's got all sorts of achievements and collectibles held onto from that era. He runs herbalism/inscription as a profession, and has every recipe for it under the sun. He still insists on riding his first horse mount that he ever got, and it has a Shakespearean name.

[downwithpeople]

bg3

bg3 was good. even if it wasn't good it's hard to deny that it became a key facet of my life for the past two weeks.

i'm gonna say bg3 isn't smart. it's like ordering a family meal from a fast food restaurant and slowly eating the whole thing yourself. it's a deeply stupid game and if it wasn't for how well it generally carries across the spectacle of the thing i think i would have written it off as a shameful attempt to remaster dragon age inquisition. the opening cutscene, with the nautiloid plowing into hell pursued by dragons, really got me hype for the whole thing.

i came into bg3 halfway through my second rogue trader campaign and bg3 feels much sloppier in the moment to moment play. this is because much like dnd 5e itself, bg3 is trying to be a simulation which sometimes makes moving around the map feel like herding four stupid cats. the plus side of this is that sometimes you can move and interact with the environment in a way that kinda feels like rennfaire hitman.

the mystery of the tadpole and all the weird mindflayer shit is cool. that it eventually becomes a fight against three evil power rangers combining their evil powers is a mark against it. i think the story as a whole suffers because instead of just focusing on the mindflayers, the emperor and maybe the githyanki, we have a separate bad guy for act 2 and two more completely different bad guys for act 3. it's like when an OVA for an anime comes out and it's all original story; yes the main plot is still important but let's spend 90 minutes fighting THIS guy! i also felt like the final choice the game presents you, to either side with the emperor or set prince orpheus free, is completely artificial. the emperor isn't stupid and he knows everything about you. he repeatedly insists that he wants to be your ally and your friend. all that, but he's still awfully quick to flip allegiance on you and embrace assimilation into the hive mind. for what? he's wrong about orpheus and stupid if he hasn't seen gale cast Magic Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

i found most all of the companion characters to be very likable. i romanced shadowheart and wasn't disappointed. i was set up to hate astarion and gale but the latter is fine and the former is one of the most well-written, well-acted characters in the whole thing. i didn't care much for halsin, because he's a boring druid guy. i also didn't care much for jaheira, who doesn't join your party until the final act of the game and who i know nothing about because i haven't played bg1 or 2. the same is true of minsc, but minsc is fun and not a fantasy CIA agent.

the pacing of the game is a little odd. act 3 should by rights be the shortest act in terms of mandatory boss fights. the reality is that if you're even remotely completionist you're going to spend half of your playtime there. it's densely packed with sidequests and punchlines for set-ups from 50 hours ago, and if you're invested in the characters at all then you feel obligated to see their shit through. you also have some of the worst fucking quests and setpieces in the game in act 3, like oskar's stupid ghost mansion or the disappointing fight against orin.

i just started my dark urge playthrough and i'm ready to durge all over these suckers

[nkn0va]

I know this idea was kinda done to death with the persona asks. But would you be willing to write some headcanons for Kaguya, Wagner, and Yuzuriha with an s/o who's an american gunslinger? Their s/o also has a reputation for being so fast on the draw, Noone ever sees them draw the gun, they only hear the shot.

Ok now this is actually pretty fun to think about in the context of uni, much more than Persona imo. I just find EXS powers more fun. And a buddy of mine also has a gunslinger uni OC and he's done some pretty interesting stuff with that which helps.

-Fellow gunslingers unite.

-Dating Kaguya, she is 100% going to make everything a contest whenever she can. Oh there's a Void 100 yards off? First person to shoot it from here gets treated to dinner by the loser.

-Oh, there's a rogue In-Birth causing trouble that you were both aiming to deal with? First person to apprehend them gets a favor from the loser.

-No matter how good you are, she seems to almost always be able to keep up with your skill. Half out of her natural talent and half out of you motivating her to become stronger. Though she won't let you know that, obviously.

-It isn't long before the mere mention of your names together starts striking fear in the Licht Kreis' enemies, scaring them all half to death about just randomly being shot from seemingly nowhere should they start causing too much trouble for their own good. You two have mixed reactions about it.

-While you're likely just trying to do your job and don't care, Kaguya almost seems to have slight sadist tendencies in the fact that you two can scare the shit out of people with your presence alone, even if you have no intention of hurting them. You need to remind her to tone it down.

-A very polar opposites attract case. A noble knight and an underhanded gunslinger who will kill the moment they have any reason to.

-One would normally think you two would hate each other, you're probably the only ones who can tolerate each other enough to be in a long term relationship. Mutual stubbornness is going to color the relationship a lot, yes, however only you two can understand each other in that way.

-Such stubbornness leads to a kind of loyalty most people would kill to have in their own relationship, you two are an unexpected power couple.

-You two cover each others' backs very well on the battlefield, she protects you from any would be harmers that get too close and your cover fire protects her blind spots, she has full faith in your shot no matter how many snide comments she may give you.

-You two enable each other quite a bit, perhaps a tad too much. Anyone who doesn't already know you two are too intimidated to walk up to you two when together.

-A very practical yet fun relationship overall despite what someone lookin from the outside may seem. Neither of you give a shit what others think of you though, you're all that matters to each other.

-Pretty much opposite backgrounds but for different reasons. An honorable traditional swordswoman using a traditional katana and a western/western inspired gunslinger. Your first meeting with each other is quite odd to say the least.

-Not to say it was awkward though. That kind of contrast is the kind of stuff Yuzuriha lives for. It breaks up the otherwise monotonous life she typically leads with something new and exciting.

-100 percent, jokes will be made about this, especially if you're the more serious type. She'll make over-dramatic non serious speeches at every possible opportunity in an attempt to get a laugh or smile out of you. You doing so will only encourage her.

-She will one hundred percent challenge you you to contests of speed. Specifically whether you can draw your gun and shoot a target faster than she can draw her blade and slice. You two have yet to definitely decide whose faster because the difference is SO minute but that only makes her more determined to find out.

-Yuzu demands you visit frequently while she's guarding the shrine. Says she needs a break for some eye candy every now and then. Which to be fair is probably accurate, considering she has a shorter than average attention span, not good for the kind of job she has.

[chirpingfromthebox]

Me just thinking out loud and inarticulately trying to wrap my head around my thoughts on the simmering dumpster fire that is my hometown team. Feel free to scroll on by.

I feel like something missing from a lot of the Curl discussion is the context it all happened in. Lots of articles and posts make it seem like the problem fans have is just that Curl got drafted at all. And I think the context around it all matters.

The league shit canned Natalie Darwitz days before the draft, wouldn't say why, acted like they aren't saying anything because they want to respect Darwitz, but meanwhile Darwitz seems like she would LOVE to talk about the situation.

To make matters worse there's all this talk and speculation surrounding the role Klee had in this, and amongst that he goes to the draft table with the emptiest table of any team, drafts Curl in the second round, (you can tell the league already was ready for bad fallout from Curl because they had a prepared statement locked and loaded to go out in the youtube chat seconds after it happened), and then Klee IMMEDIATELY makes things worse by purposefully staging her draft photo to be taken with St. Paul's mayor Melvin Carter (a black man) and the assistant coach (a queer woman).

Then Klee, the team, and the league decide to handle the fallout from everything in the most half-assed tone-deaf manner possible.

Before the Darwitz debacle I had mentally prepared myself for the eventuality that someone would draft Curl. But I had prepared myself for someone doing it in the back half of the draft.

A team would get her, but at least it would suggest Curl's actions had lowered her value considerably in teams' eyes.

Like, none of the craziness happened, and Darwitz had drafted Curl in the 5th or 6th round, made a proper acknowledgement of the situation and their plan for moving forward, and Curl had made an apology video that was written by someone who didn't go to the American Political School of Empty Statements?

I think the community could understand. We wouldn't love it, but we could live with it. It would be like seeing a big spider in the corner of my ceiling: I certainly don't like it, and I'm gonna keep my eye on this, but as long as it doesn't step to me any further we'll be alright.

But that's not what happened. And that's not how it happened.

And I'm still not sure what to do with my Minnesota fandom at this point.

At the moment I'm waiting to see what the final team looks like. If they re-sign their queer players I'm willing to put in the work to fight against Mr. Potato Head's attempts to sabotage my team, and try to at least make the fan community as welcoming and inclusive as possible.

But if Klee and co. don't bring back Minnesota's queer players? Then I'm out. For the good of my own mental health I'll go support a different team until they can get their shit together.

Because I do believe that people can change. Especially people in their 20s who were dumb-ass ignorant assholes in college. And she's not my main problem. My main problem is what does this team and this league want to be? Because someone like Curl coming into a queer positive environment is one thing. But her coming into a place with nothing but conservative ideals and a pinkwashed door? That's something else entirely.

And if the people at the top are going to fire the woman who built the team, put a dude in charge, give a person with a history of supporting bigoted ideas a position of influence, and become the only team in the league without any queer players?

And then have the gall to claim to be an inclusive?

Fuck that.

[also everyone wants to act like Minnesota is some rogue villain in all this and that isn't fair. This isn't like the big league male teams: there are no individual team owners here. The league controls it all and their fingers are in every pie. But that's a whole different conversation.]

[beatingheart-writingwoes]

Water in my Lungs and Guilt in your Bones

Description: DND inspired. Zephyr, the Tiefling rogue, and Van, the Reborn warlock, are trapped in a flooding room. Van doesn't need to breathe, so Zephyr makes a decision for the both of them that could cost him his life.

Warnings: Depiction of drowning, mild emeto warning, fantasy setting

This was quite possibly the worst job any of them had ever taken. It was supposed to be a simple go in, clear it out, get paid job. That turned out to be a crock of shit, because after getting separated from their other partymate, both Van and Zephyr found themselves in a terrible position:

The room they were in was flooding, and the door was locked.

An old and cruel execution method, if Van had to take a wild guess. There was an observation platform above, where they had heard their companion not even a few minutes ago. Dark eyes watched the maroon skinned Tiefling struggling with the door's lock, needing to stand on a fallen rock in order to reach it from its spot on the ceiling. Van ran a hand through his near white hair and gripped a handful as his anxiety rose.

Zephyr cursed under his breath as he ducked away from the water pouring in, slicking back his black, curly hair from his face. “I can't get it before the water gets too high. It's too fast.”

“Try again,” the warlock growled. He knew Zephyr was right, though, even as the rogue tried again. It was already rising to his knees and only getting higher.

Zephyr ducked away from the torrent again, sputtering. “Fuck! I can't–” A pause. “You're a Reborn. You don't need to breathe, right?”

“I don't see how that's relevant.”

“This is gonna be stupid, but… no matter how fast I go, by the time I get this gate unlocked, the water's gonna be over our heads. But you'll be fine.”

“And?”

“So I can take time actually picking the lock properly. Then, you can get me to the surface. La'hare's waiting up there on the observation platform, we heard him.”

“Take your time? But you'll drown.”

“But you won't. We can both get out, you’ll just… have to get La'hare to bring me back if things get bad. It'll be fine.”

Van stared at him, eyes wide. He opened his mouth to protest, but Zephyr was already working on the lock again and water slapped Van in the face.

Soon enough, like the rogue said, the water was quickly over their heads. Instead of wasting energy keeping afloat, Van let himself sink to the floor. Zephyr was working quickly, but he knew the rogue wouldn't last long. He could see him nearly double over several times as his chest and abdomen spasmed with the need to breathe. A few tense moments passed, and Zephyr finally pushed open the gate just as his body decided it couldn't hold its breath anymore and released the stale air in a torrent of bubbles.

Van was already swimming, grabbing the now drowning man and wrapping an arm across his chest. He was expecting Zephyr to be flailing, fighting and making this twenty times more difficult than it needed to be, but instead the man just held onto his arm as his body twitched.

They were nowhere near the surface when the rogue finally went limp.

After what felt like an eternity, Van broke the water's surface with an instinctive gasp, the unconscious Tiefling clutched close to his chest. He paddled to the platform where La'hare waited, the Elf kneeling down in preparation to help both men up. His tan skin was marked with bruises and scrapes and his dark hair falling free of its braids. “Van! Zephyr!”

“He’s not breathing,” the former human stated as he handed the dead weight off. He pulled himself up out of the water with a grunt. “The damn fool let himself drown unlocking the gate.”

To save him.

La'hare laid Zephyr onto his back. The young man's skin had taken a slightly lighter, more ashen shade and his eyes were empty, half-lidded and staring at nothing. His hair stuck to his forehead in thick wet curls. The cleric swallowed thickly as his fingers pressed to the pulse point in the other's throat. “My higher magic is spent, but we still have time. All he needs is air and a heartbeat.”

Quickly, yet carefully, the cleric tipped the Tiefling’s head back and pinched his nose closed before leaning down and sealing his mouth over his, breathing into waterlogged lungs. The young man’s cheeks rounded and his chest rose with the artificial breath. When he pulled away, the air was released with a passive exhale. Meanwhile, Van stripped off his sodden cloak and tossed it aside, watching the other’s resuscitation attempt with a hard gaze.

After five breaths, the Elf straightened. He stacked his hands on top of Zephyr’s chest, heel of his palm digging into the lower half of his sternum. Keeping his arms straight, he rolled his shoulders over his hands and thrust downwards. Release, press, release, press. He repeated the motions in a steady, somewhat fast rhythm, forcing the other's chest to sink about two inches before rebounding to its previous position over and over. Zephyr's shoulders shrugged inwards and his stomach bounced in opposition to the cleric's ministrations. A gurgling huff was forced out of him every time La'hare brought his weight down. The Elf counted under his breath each thrust.

Once he reached thirty, La'hare gave Zephyr another two breaths. Then he went back to pounding on his chest. He winced when he felt something give under his palms, but didn't dare stop. “Sorry.”

Another thirty count passed, followed by two more breaths. Van swallowed thickly and drew closer as the other restarted chest compressions.

“Allow me to help.  You're getting tired.”

La'hare nodded. “After this, take over. We'll swap every four cycles.”

The warlock looked down at Zephyr's face. He half expected the rouge to blink up at him and give him a cheeky grin while declaring he was right. Instead, he was still as death and the rogue’s half-lidded eyes showed no emotion at all. Once La'hare reached thirty again and moved to breathe for the young man, Van slotted his own stacked hands in the same spot. Two breaths, and he started compressions.

“A little harder. Not too quick– there, perfect,” the cleric gently coached.

Beating life back into a waterlogged corpse was harder than it looked. Coupled with the energy spent swimming with a dead weight, Van could already feel his arms and back hurting and sweat beading on his brow. The rib that had snapped shifted under his palms with every harsh shove downwards.

He stopped when La'hare said to, breathing heavily as the Elf pushed two breaths into the Tiefling.

“Wake up,” the warlock growled as he restarted compressions. This idiot was not dying for him. He didn't need it. He didn't deserve it.

Four cycles passed, and they swapped. Another four passed, and another swap.

“I… I don't think he's coming back,” La'hare said, voice low and thick with sadness. He sat back away from the Tiefling’s head as the warlock shoved down into his chest. Like the many times before, his chest sunk under the pressure and his stomach popped in a nauseating seesaw motion. “Van–”

Van ignored him, finishing up the thirty count and shifting to the rogue’s head. He tipped Zephyr's head back and pinched his nose closed before breathing into his mouth like the cleric was doing before.

La'hare placed a hand on the Reborn’s back, but he shrugged him off, returning to performing chest compressions. He hung back, letting the other man continue, while he gave a prayer.

“Wake up!” Van hissed. He pushed off on the thirtieth compression far harder than needed. He pressed his mouth to Zephyr's again, breathing into him roughly, and after two breaths went back to pounding on his chest. “You will not die for me, wake up!”

“He's gone, Van,” the Elf stated solemnly. “I'm sorry.”

“Fuck you,” snapped the former human. He leaned down and harshly pressed his mouth to the Tiefling’s again. The first breath went in as normal, the man’s cheeks rounding and chest inflating. He pulled away, and like before it was released with a passive exhale. Another breath. This time the rogue’s jaw moved. Van pulled away just in time to avoid a mouthful of water as the rogue suddenly lurched, water erupting from his mouth. Van scrambled back as La'hare quickly turned the other onto his side.

The Tiefling gagged and wheezed as he hacked up more water. A few seconds ticked by and the rogue finally sucked in a breath of his own, harsh and ragged but a breath nonetheless. La'hare pushed what little magic he had left into him, healing what he could. The magic was just enough, it seemed, for Zephyr to tiredly blink and glance around. Bright green eyes landed on Van and he gave the bewildered cleric and warlock a small grin.

“Told you,” he said, voice scratchy and rough.

It took every ounce of self control for Van to not strangle him.