#see see see-- i'm thinking-- i'm scheming-- i'm concocting--

[ilbound]

small blog things:

kaen's windbreaker verse is added to the carrd and therefore viable to use. will i make one of my thesis posts about it ? ... ask me again in 3-5 months. but rest assured , it IS there now - officially ( thank you , jess ) - and CAN be used.

i've gone ahead and added both jin ( yu yu hakusho ) + izutsumi ( dungeon meshi ) to my roster for my own amusement. just as testing muses to see how it goes ( & to ensure they're not nearly as picky as knives has been ) . i'm already considering giving them different verses to make interactions more viable ( jjk , fandomless , etc. ) , because i love them both a LOT and i will hold your hand if you give me content for them.

lastly , NO , i've not forgotten about the ouroboros OC concept i mentioned 50 years ago by now ( in fact it's been haunting me ) -- but to be 100 with you , i am not within the realm of making a full character write up these days. so ... would you guys still interact with said muse if i just went off of the notes i had already ? and built him up from there as i went / used him ?

[neerons]

Some of Chevalier Michel’s best quotes

“You have plenty of time. Therefore, it’s not necessary to overload yourself to the point of harming your health just for the sake of learning. I’m not in a hurry. I’ll wait patiently for you to reach your full potential.”

“I don’t mind making you my woman.”

“If you value your life, trust no one.”

“Allowing their deaths to be in vain would be an affront to those who utterly devoted themselves to the kingdom.” (—Chevalier talking about the dead soldiers to Emma)

“That’s how values work. Just because two ways of thinking are incompatible doesn’t mean one is right and the other is wrong.”

“If you ever feel like crying, tell me. I’ll torment you so thoroughly that you’ll forget how to cry.”

“Until I’d met her, I’d never have considered letting another person touch me.” (—Chevalier’s thoughts about Emma)

“Can a man read in peace without you staring at his face?”

“Don't... say another man's name... so much. It grates on my ears.”

“You're quite graceless, you know? Your legs seem to be shaking.”

“You are my queen. It does not matter how many years go by, I have no intention of loving any other woman.”

“If the rabbit has time to spend with you, she'll spend it with me instead.” (—Chevalier talking about Emma to Clavis)

“I had no intention of letting anyone complain about a commoner being in a relationship with royalty, and it didn't bother me, either.” (—Chevalier's thoughts)

“What might your hand be doing in your pocket? I dare you to throw one of those concoctions of yours at me. Just know I will kick you into the next century.” (—Chevalier to Clavis)

“Maids are servants. They follow their master or mistress' orders, thus creating a clear discrepancy in power. But I do not wish you to be below me. What I desire is for us to be equals, serving each other in a cooperative and mutual manner.”

"...Now that I think about it, I was rather fond of you from the very beginning. (...) To begin with... is there any man who would barge into the room of a woman he doesn't like? The palace is huge. There are many places... where I could go to spend leisure time, instead of expressly going to your room."

"You look terrible. (...) There's no need to feel ashamed. Not everything that has value is beautiful."

"You're the one at fault for leaving the covenant YOU created so open to interpretation. A shame." (—Chevalier to Sariel)

"Currently, a servant manages the palace library, but he's no expert, so his work is sloppy. I've been dissatisfied with it for a while now, but... you're proficient at handling books, yes?"

"It's not that you 'can' stay by my side, it's that you 'will' stay by my side."

"(...) Do you think I would allow you to die so easily after you laid a hand on my lover? (...) I've said as much before, but dying is not what you should be doing. What you should be doing is returning home to your loved ones, no matter how shameful you look." (—Chevalier to Flandre)

"Ever since I was a child, love had been the one thing I was most indifferent to. (...) My one and only reason is that I wanted to know what love was. Ridiculous, I know."

"I'm not so famished that I'd eat something I don't need. ...I want you so much that I could just eat you all up right now."

"(...) Any guest of Emma's is a guest of mine as well." (—Chevalier talking about an enemy to Clavis)

"...If you stay with me, many things will be taken away from you, and you'll be limited in what you can do. Sometimes, you'll have to bear the heavy responsibility of royalty, and occasionally your life may be threatened. You'll be the target of scheming. Other people will look upon you either favorably or unfavorably—nothing in between. No picturesque world like those found in your romance books exists in a real palace. You'll see it for yourself. Despite all that, do you still stand by the nonsense you spoke of earlier?"

"When every man in the kingdom knows you're mine—they'll stay away from you, lest they incur the wrath of the Bloody Tiger."

"It wasn't in an official capacity. It was personal time. I simply wanted to have you with me as always. You should be grateful. You don't have much time left at the palace, and I'm going out of my way to spend time with you."

"Hurry up and prove the value of love, simpleton. While we're still able to be together like this."

"It doesn't matter to me what happens to them... But it matters to someone else." (—Chevalier talking about Luke, Rio and Emma to Clavis)

"On the battlefield, you belong to the second prince. Remember, dying would be foolish, and even getting hurt would be a transgression."

"I came to save you. ...Did you think that's what I would say, simpleton?"

"I'm not so idiotic that I'd let low-lives like those do me in. I'll cut down every last person who rises up against me."

"I never had any intention of letting an enemy nation have you."

"You faced the Brutal Beast... so that you could fulfill your duty as Belle. We couldn't understand each other because our values were polar opposites... yet you tried to meet halfway. You believed that the beast was a person and tried to discern his true nature. It was the first time I'd ever met... a woman with such strange tastes. Actually... even if I searched the entire kingdom, I wouldn't find anyone as eccentric as you. 'I want the person I love to live, no matter the cost to me. I want to be by his side... I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. (...) I feel the same way. You call this emotion... 'love', correct?"

"The king's lover will most likely face many difficulties, but unfortunately, I have no desire to bestow my favor on anyone but you."

"Emma, look at me. (...) You're no longer Belle, right? (...) Is that the first time I used it? It's not that big of a deal, is it?" (—Chevalier saying Emma's name for the first time)

"I don't want to be disturbed during mealtimes. I've decided to lock the door whenever you're here."

"Currently, only one woman is close to the king. There seem to be many fools who believe they can crush the leading candidate for queen and have their own daughter marry me instead." (—Chevalier talking about Emma to Clavis)

"Do I look like I care? And do you really think I'm going to do something as stupid as losing such a valuable pawn?" (—Chevalier talking about Emma, in Gilbert's route)

"Until now, the Obsidian royal family have had nothing but war on their minds, but through this we can rebuild our friendship. This is a sizable accomplishment. This accomplishment was achieved by just one woman... and we most certainly cannot disrespect what it means." (—Chevalier to Emma, in Gilbert's route)

"The only occasion I have spent time with another person and found worth in it... was with you." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Emma)

"She's eager to hear whether I like the fragrance or not. But it is her own scent. There is no way I could dislike it." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Emma)

"I don't need you to tell me my fool brother's worth. I knew it from the start." (—Chevalier talking about Clavis to Emma)

"As long as you were convinced you couldn't win, there was no way for you to unlock your full potential. That's why you never stopped failing. You were never going to win unless you believed in yourself." (—Chevalier to Clavis)

"People are fools. Everyone is contradictory in some way, because they're not perfect, and they can't be. But you and my fool brother are both fine that way. (...) Someone who is free of contradictions, who always chooses the right path... cannot really be called human. They're nothing more than a beast." (—Chevalier talking about Emma, Clavis and himself, to Emma)

"I learned how from watching you do it countless times." (—Chevalier talking about doing Emma's hair)

"They have the kind of decoration my fool of a brother would like." (—Chevalier talking about cookies with colorful and festive icing that Clavis would enjoy)

"...You're the only one. The only woman who would take pleasure in being at my side."

"Sometimes, you have quite violent coughing fits. I have a fool brother who gets ill a lot. The physician gives him this tea regularly, so I swiped some." (—Young Chevalier giving rose tea to his 'childhood friend')

"(...) keep cajoling him. You can shape the menace that he is." (—Chevalier talking about Gilbert to Emma)

"...I knew I made the right choice when I chose you as my pawn." (—Smiling Chevalier praising Emma, in Gilbert's route)

"An auction master working in collaboration with the Obsidianites had an official document from the king of Benitoite. That's quite a big catch, simpleton." (—Chevalier praising Emma's discovery, in Silvio's route)

"...I want you so much that I could just eat you all up right now."

"My clothes will be gone soon enough. After all, I have only one reason for locking a woman in a room like this. (...) Love me, Emma. This is an order from the king, and it's absolute."

"I recall you writing that you love hearing my voice. If that is what you want, you may hear it as much as you like."

"Hundreds of medical books, both domestic and foreign, are stored in my head."

"To have nerve enough to approach me... She's quite the woman." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Emma)

"That gaze of hers struck me as straight as an arrow, and unneeded emotions began to well up within me." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Emma)

"Don't be ridiculous. She would never be interested in the likes of you fools." (—Angry Chevalier talking about Emma and his brothers to Leon)

"I would far prefer to have you to myself than let that man have you." (—Chevalier talking about Gilbert)

"Indeed. I'm so vexed, I could throttle someone to death." (—Chevalier teasing Emma)

"You are our Belle. You spend your time determining our worth. Use some of those skills for yourself too." (—Chevalier telling Emma to care about herself more)

"I am not asking for a 'good' drawing. I am asking for your drawing."

"This is a Rhodolitian handshake. The more it hurts, the stronger your display of friendship." (—Chevalier to Gilbert)

"I don't believe I have ever seen Emma read it before. Perhaps I will recommend it to her. She cannot stay in the dark about it forever." (—Chevalier's thoughts while he's picking a romance book for Emma to read)

"If 'lovable' could be defined by any person, it would be her." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Emma)

"I had often read about this urge to dote, but I had not understood it until meeting her." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Emma)

"Theoretically, I have no use for romance novels now that I have Emma. However, thanks to her, I have learned how to enjoy them with no other motive." (—Chevalier's thoughts)

"I've become fond of seeing the variety of emotions on your face as you go through a book."

"Hm? Ah. Don't worry about the blood. I was just 'playing' with my brother who's made it his hobby to tease you." (—Chevalier's lobby dialogue)

"This absurdly lovely woman has my dearest affections." (—Chevalier translating his words of love from another language to Emma)

"The reason I still function so well despite having discarded my humanity is because I have my fool brother. And conversely, the reason my fool brother can do as he pleases is because he knows I'll always be there at the final moment." (—Chevalier talking about Clavis to Emma)

"Severing your Achilles tendon shall do the trick." (—Chevalier threatening Licht)

"I never had much chemistry with the twins. (...) They were just noisy children who cried if I so much as looked at them. However, one day, they stopped crying. No... If I think about it, there was a clear turning point." (—Chevalier's thoughts)

"It is true that you are useless right now, Licht, but you do not have to be that way forever. (—Chevalier's thoughts)

"Even with the first aid I have given you, it would be in your best interest to put on a convincing act for your twin if you do not wish to shock him." (—Chevalier to Licht)

"Oh? That was a much more thorough analysis than I would have expected from someone so heavily wounded. With some training, he could become an excellent commander." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Licht)

"Textbooks can be helpful, but not in the way that it obscures her lovely face." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Emma)

"I was never much one for drawing, but once during our childhood, Clavis pestered me to sketch something. Back then, I knew he suspected me to be a terrible artist, and asked me to do so in order to expose me. The resulting tantrum when his expectations were reversed was certainly memorable." (—Chevalier's thoughts)

"I would value this far beyond what any professional artist could draw. There is, however, something missing. (...) I must prepare a frame for this at once." (—Chevalier adding a little bunny on Emma's drawing of him as a tiger)

"I have never, ever laughed as much as I have with her. No wonder she is the one making my facial muscles exercise so much." (—Chevalier's thoughts)

"I want to do whatever it takes to see her entire spectrum of emotions." (—Chevalier's thoughts)

"Every second that ticked by was becoming another moment for me to cherish. I suddenly became overwhelmed by gratitude for being born the person I was. It won't be long before the entire collection of my memories is overtaken by you. And it will be just the way I like it." (—Chevalier's thoughts about Emma)

[hyunsvngs]

Juno can I get your thoughts about how skz are behaving at the club?? Who's just having a great time drinking and dancing w you, who is getting rabidly jealous, who is fckin u in the bathroom, who is drunkenly confessing, etc

Can be in context of a relationship or just friends/ flirtationship, your call!

HAHAH I LOVE THIS!! also the term 'flirtationship' i have never heard of JESUS i love that. that's me and all of my friends.

bringing the receipts in btw:

chan: i know it's a bit cliche but he's definitely the dad. he'd have a great time having a boogie with u but he has to keep an eye on everyone!! i'm p sure chan said before he doesn't rly drink much and then there's that one pic of skz where they all look BLASTED that chan took so like. i'm p sure he's keeping an eye on everyone but still having a good time!

minho: he seems like the type to get such a lovey drunk. i'm thinking about that one show where he's doing shots of soju and then he's telling hanhae that he loves him (5:24) LMAO like he's definitely an affectionate drunk. probs tries to kiss you and then vehemently denies it the next morning

changbin: god imagining changbin drunk is so cute.. like his cheeks all flushed PLEASE!! i think he'd be even louder than normal lmao and definitely loves a dance and perhaps also karaoke. he's a bit feral tbh. bounces off the walls but cuddles u when he crashes.

hyunjin: oh i know he's feral. dances like this and gets absolutely white girl wasted every single time. there's no 'tipsy' with hyunjin it's only sober and then black out drunk. definitely has drunk messy make outs with u and thinks he's the shit (he is). he'd cringe at himself the next day with crippling hangxiety but as soon as u reassure him he's fine <3

jisung: makes weird cocktail concoctions (refer to my hbs series HAHAH) and talks incoherently. massive lightweight too. passes out fully clothed. definitely the drunk make out kinda guy and 100% the type to jerk off before he goes to sleep but passes out halfway through with his hand on his dick (i'm sorry but it's true). definitely the type to try and fuck you in the bathroom

felix: definitely tries to hide how fucked he is. like he tries to claim he's not a lightweight but he just FUCKING IS!! i can imagine him getting dragged into a lot of jisung's schemes and the two just end up in a corner wasted lol. he's definitely the drunken confession type of guy too!! "i'm not drunk, i mean it, i really do love you!" and then the next day he's all "ok so.. i was drunk. but i do love you."

seungmin: he's definitely the jealous type. sees u dancing with someone else and he's like WHAT... and just sulks in the corner until one of the boys cheers him up. has to have u on his lap for the rest of the night!! tbh i can't imagine seungmin as a heavy drinker but i think he definitely gets a little tipsy and ends up a bit more cuddly with u <3 the boys will tease him for it afterwards

jeongin: speaking from someone who's two years younger than innie i think he's still young and will frequently take it too far. you might end up looking after him when he gets a little too drunk lol but he's cute so it's soooo ok <3

[malfiora]

I'm rewriting Jason's resurrection and reconciliation with the fam for my own sanity:

Jason dies tragically and horrifically at age 15

A year later, Superboy Prime punches through universes, collapsing two realities onto each other: one where Jason dies, the other in which he survives. Jason comes back to life but is semi-conscious. Talia finds him and takes him to the League

Jason regains full consciousness after a dip in the Lazarus. For two years, Jason trains and slowly regains his memories. Once he's 18, he decides to return to Gotham, despite Talia's wishes

Quickly becomes clear that Gotham hasn't changed much, which disappoints Jason. He decides to put his League training to use and control crime as a harm reduction tactic, and he goes back and forth on contacting Bruce, especially after he hears rumors of a new Robin

Joker pops up with a new scheme, and this is the last straw. Jason concocts a plan to kidnap and finally kill Joker and confront Batman about all the ways he's failed him and Gotham. When Batman refuses to kill Joker, Jason feints like he's going to kill Tim to "save him the trouble" since Batman clearly cares so little for his sidekicks. ("Hey, kid, at least I'll make it painless.") This gets a reaction from Batman, who incapacitates Jason and rescues Robin. Jason retreats to lick his wounds and reconsider everything

Jason takes time to ruminate on all of this. He's still hurt that his death meant nothing in the grand scheme of things but thinks about Batman's reaction to Tim being in danger and has to wonder if that's how he acted when Jason was in that warehouse

Out of morbid curiosity and a little bit of fanboyishness, Tim monitors Jason. Jason knows this and eventually confronts him. He feels bad for scaring Tim but has to maintain his edge so he tries not to be too scary. At some point, Tim speaks his mind and tells Jason that he has no idea what things were like while he was dead. "Batman was a mess, he almost killed people. That's why I became Robin. I had to put him back together, so you don't get to act like you know everything that happened the past 3 years because you been back a couple months." Jason takes this in. They part ways. (Jason: "Don't die." Tim: "Don't change.")

The Chemo incident happens. Jason rushes to Blüdhaven to make sure Dick is alive and okay, thus revealing he's alive to the Titans. After the dust settles, he and Dick talk privately so that Dick can react properly. (Dick: "No, Batman didn't tell me." Jason: "Yeah, he has a habit of doing that.")

Jason gets to ask if Tim's claim of Batman being a mess is founded. It is. He asks Dick if it's worth doing things the same way. "It is." That doesn't help.

Eventually Jason and Bruce have their equivalent of a heart to heart. Basically they both go, "I love you even if I think you're wrong."

Jason forms the Outlaws, but the moment he gets the distress call from the fam, he comes rushing back to help. He's offended that Bruce is surprised (Tim is hopeful, Dick isn't remotely shocked)

When Dick "dies," Jay comes back to take his place as Eldest Son. He sticks around through the end of the Robin War

Other important events that definitely happen but just don't fit neatly into a timeline:

Barbara and Jason team up on a mission shortly after Bruce tells Barbara that Jason is back. She's happy and immediately falls into big sister/mother hen mode and chides him for not seeing her sooner and makes him promise to stop by the clocktower regardless of whatever is happening between him and Bruce. She promises to help him upgrade his tech if he does. (Barbara has always been more lenient with killers and believes wholly in second chances.)

Cass stops Jason from killing someone who "deserves it," resulting in them fighting. Cass is better trained but she refuses to kill Jason, who won't stop. Eventually, they call a ceasefire and talk a bit. "All life has meaning," Cass says. Jason scoffs. "Even the Joker's?" "All life," she insists. Jason quietly disagrees but he respects Cass's determination. This starts a back and forth of him testing her anytime they're grouped together. ("Even this lowlife, Cass?" or "She's worth your own life?" or "They wouldn't spare you, why bother?") Each and every time she sticks to her principles.

Jay and Steph grab food together after a patrol one night and bond over being the family outcasts (i.e. the ones Bruce doesn't implicitly trust). Jason vows to make Steph his Robin if he ever becomes Batman. She laughs but is secretly touched

***I can never decide what to do with Damian. On the one hand, it's hilarious if Jason knows about him and keeps quiet about it. On the other, I don't see why Jason wouldn't tell Bruce about Damian's existence. Maybe once he's on speaking terms with Bruce again, he does tell him about Damian, which then prompts Jason to encourage Talia to let Damian meet Bruce. This is accelerated by Talia discovering Ra's' plan for Damian and wanting to get Damian away from the League

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

The Arcana HCs: M6 administering first aid when it's their fault MC is slightly hurt

~ this idea has been sitting in my drafts for forever and I got an ask or two for something similar, enjoy the fluff! - brainrot ~

Part 2 is here:

- to set the scene -

It was evening time, and the two of you were in your shared space getting ready to decompress after a long week of work. You had just finished your bath and were drying your hair, but you couldn't find your comb. You glance across the room to where your beloved is and notice that it's right next to them.

"Darling, could you toss me my hair comb?"

They smile, pick it up, and toss it gently in your direction. Except that it flies faster than they expect it to. And they put a little more push and spin into it than they meant to. And when the comb smacks you in the face, one of the prongs manages to nick your eyebrow. You only feel a slight sting, but it's when your fingers come away from your face with a slight smear of blood that you notice the horror on your beloved's face. Oh dear.

Julian

Torn between the deep despair of what he's just done and his doctor's instinct to FIX IT, FIX IT NOW

Scrambling to find something to disinfect it with and clean it up, berating himself the whole time and concocting a thousand harebrained schemes to earn your forgiveness

During his search the memory of your little scratch is multiplying tenfold, what if you need stitches, what if you're permanently scarred across the face -

- until he sits you down and passes the clean rag across your face and oh, it's already stopped bleeding. It doesn't even need a bandage

The sheer relief has him cackling hysterically with tiny tears in his eyes, burying his face in your shoulder and asking for your forgiveness between sobs of laughter

It's also the stress of a long week getting to him, once five minutes have passed and he's still shaking you go pour a glass of something strong for the two of you to share and take your mind off of things

Asra

Both hands clasped over their mouth, eyes wide with horror

You can see tears threatening to pool in his eyes, he hurt you, how could he hurt you

As soon as you make a move towards them they are dashing to your side and brushing a shaky hand across your face to get a better look at it

Using healing magic as soon as you give him permission and then double and triple checking that there's no mark leftover

You're able to pull them out of their little spiral by asking them to kiss it better

That makes him laugh, and then he's pulling you closer and covering your face with smiling kisses

Will apologize for hurting you, and then for not giving you more credit to handle it

They'll stop feeling bad about it if you get the elephant out if the room by teasing him about it

"Yeah, you say you like my face, and then you go slicing it up with a hair comb, call me crazy but I'm getting mixed signals here..."

Hides his face in shame with the prettiest blush each time, "I said I was sorry, MC!"

Nadia

Utterly horrified. How could she. You asked her to do the simplest thing and she injured you instead

Completely at a loss on how to respond. She doesn't know first aid, she thinks one is supposed to elevate the injured area, but it's on your face and you're already standing up

It's on your face. She's officially responsible for scarring the greatest living work of art in the world, she'll never forgive herself

Her facial expression is the kind you'd expect to see on the kid who broke the cookie jar, not the Countess of Vesuvia

You're making your way across the room, holding in a giggle at the unusual look on her face, trying to tell her that you're fine without laughing

She's not convinced until you take a damp handkerchief and dab away the little drop of blood, showing a barely visible scratch underneath

"... oh." *recomposes herself* "well I suppose you didn't defeat the Devil for nothing."

You can see the little smile playing at the corners of her mouth and you know exactly how to make it blossom

"You have quite the arm, my lady."

Muriel

Be kind to him, he has trauma and from his perspective the sight of blood is all he needs to think that his worst fear is coming true

The first thing you do is use the edge of your towel to wipe off your face so there's only the scratch left

Then you're pulling him by the hand to sit down while Inanna climbs in his lap to ground him

Right about now he's realizing that technically someone could say he's overreacting so now he's flushing red and embarrassed and thinking about ways to hide

Obviously you're not going to let him hide or belittle himself, a trigger is a trigger regardless of how small it may seem to an outsider

Once he's taken a few deep breaths he'll steel himself to look at you before you even plan to work towards that and assess the damage

Oh, it really is just a scratch. There's not even any blood visible anymore

You're not going to tease him about it but Inanna will

Portia

She's laughing before you can even process what just happened

Her preferred method of sisterly comfort is a fist to the gut, mostly she's impressed at the fact that she could throw a comb that dangerously

She's also got her handkerchief in hand, pressing it to your forehead while you both giggle at the ridiculousness of the situation

She'll put a little bandaid on it too

The rest of the evening will be "injured warrior" themed

"Oh no, my dear MC, you have returned from war with a most horrible disfigurement! Whatever shall I do!"

She's doing this with her version of a posh Vesuvian accent, which layers hilariously over her natural Nevivon pronunciation

She'll comb your hair for you as her version of an apology

Can and will threaten you, Pepi, and Ilya with the hair comb in the future

"You leave me no choice. You laugh now, but if you do not help me wash the dishes I will remind you what these prongs are truly capable of!"

Lucio

"Oopsie."

The irony hits you that for once this is the completely appropriate response for him to make to his mistake

He can tell almost immediately that you're fine, he knows what major head wounds can look like and this ain't that

Grabbing a discarded shirt and tiptoeing across the room to you Captain Jack Sparrow style, he's dabbing the blood away gingerly and squinting at the scratch leftover like it's offended him

"We should get rid of that comb. It's weirdly shaped so it can't be aimed."

He's honestly not that bothered. He knows you're made of tough stuff, he knows you both got worse scratches than this earlier walking through a thorny patch of underbrush

If you decide to give him grief for it he'll suggest you throw the comb back at him, just so you're even

If you do and he doesn't duck and it does successfully scratch him too he'll be very proud of your matching battle wounds

"You aren't actually mad at me though, right?"

[thegreymoon]

The Story of Minglan

Super hopeful we're now getting to the part where we finally get rid of Manniang 🙄 I am tired of her nonsense. She isn't even smart and her schemes are so vulgar and basic.

Tingye, please listen to Nanny!

***

Mmm... doubt that, but OK.

***

LOL, she seems unhappy at the prospect of doing manual labour for a living 🤣🤣

***

OH FUCK ALL THE WAY OFF 🤬🤬

This is rich, coming from a man who has never once made a decision in his life without consulting his dick first 🙄

***

LMAOOOOOOO, he couldn't sneak if his life depended on it 🤣🤣

***

Aww, Minglan, cutie, reaching out to make up with Gu Tingye 😢

***

Oh? 👀

Why not? They couldn't swing it after all?

***

I find it fascinating that all these high-born women were still expected to cook.

I can't imagine a European duchess or queen cooking anything ever unless it was a special hobby or something. When I think back on other harems in c-dramas I've seen, all the consorts/wives cooked. For example, in Nirvana in Fire we see Consort Jing being especially good at it.

Even in 2ha, Taxian-jun, who was a whole emperor at the time and had countless servants to prepare his food, insisted that Chu Wanning cook for him, even though he was terrible at it. He personally taught him to make that rice porridge and he ate it no matter what slop Chu Wannning ended up concocting. Of course, cooking and eating is Mo Ran's love language, so it made sense that he insisted on Chu Wanning doing this for him, because he desperately needed to feel loved by him, but it still seems like cooking was the norm rather than an exception among all high-level wives.

***

SHE WAS SELLING HIS MOTHER'S STUFF?

LMAO, oh, Manniang, you are so done! 🤣🤣

***

Honestly, Manniang is so embarrasing.

There she was, thinking she was fit to play on the big chessboard with the likes of Madam Qin and the rest of the nobles, but she got caught out like a rat by Nanny Chang through some elementary-level trickery. Truly pathetic.

***

How is he penniless when he has farmlands and shops in his possession?

Also, how is it even possible for some rando to sell land registered to another person without their consent?

***

Wait, who's alive?

***

How does anyone ever fall for this bullshit?

Why should he be the one to kill your treacherous ass and then carry you around on his conscience?

Fuck off and go die on your own terms, if you're so eager.

***

LMAO, classic DARVO.

Just boot her out already! I swear, men will stick their dicks into anything that comes attached to a pretty face.

She's not even a competent liar, Tingye! Please find some self-respect.

***

I mean, good, I am beyond sick and tired of her whiny, fake baby voice, but I'm worried she'll try to harm the kids.

Storywise, it makes sense, because we can't have competition for Minglan's legitimate offspring 🙄

***

With a mother like you, who needs enemies?

***

God, if she whines, "Erlaaaaaaaaang," once more in that slimy soft voice, I will break something, it grates on my nerves so badly.

I went down an ASMR rabbit hole sometime back and there were these women using this fake baby voice to narrate their shitty videos. It unnerved me so much. I can't even pinpoint the reason, it's just that all the alarm bells I have in my brain start blaring when I hear it.

***

LOL, of course she does.

[guzhuangheaven]

I'm rewatching Ruyi, and all I'm thinking is, "Why is Yanwan such a stupid person?"

She is surviving and thriving because of luck most of the time. How is it that her mother murders his child and Hongli thinks that maybe she is not evil because her mother didn't confess Yanwan's part but he spend over a decade hating on Yuyan because of an accessory and her ambitious son.

I feel the writer faltered and could have made her a more subtle and clever villain. Her only becoming a Consort because Hongli wanted to piss of Zhen Huan, I think sucked the most.

See, here’s where I think the writing is genius in terms of human psychology, because it shows just how utterly narcissistic both Qianlong and Yanwan and how much they see themselves in each other. Yanwan panders to Qianlong’s narcissism, so he literally willfully tells himself that a woman he favours can’t be that bad, to the point that he actually believes it. He wants to always forgive Yanwan whenever she pisses him off, because he can’t admit that he likes or gets turned on or whatever by someone so despicable, because what does that say about himself?

In the situation with Yongjing, he would rather believe astrology nonsense that Ruyi’s vibes killed Yongjing than consider there was foul play. He gets so hyped up with the idea of Yongjing being a good omen that when Yongjing dies he feels like he's losing face to ever have hoped so much. Face is a huge deal to a person like Qianlong, he can't deal with losing face like that so he turns it on Ruyi instead. Later he would rather deceive himself that yes somehow Yanwan’s mother can miraculously pull all off this huge feat of paying off midwives and people both inside and outside the palace to endanger Yongjing and frame Hailan in the process, than admit the obvious that she couldn’t possibly have done all of this without Yanwan’s will or involvement. And some people really are just so narcissistic that they would believe these excuses they tell themselves rather than think that they might be wrong.

Yanwan says it very succinctly in the end, he chose her, he raised her up, if she’s horrible, then what is he? That’s why he can’t ever admit to Yanwan’s worst actions until he can’t be in denial anymore, when it’s all shoved into his face in the end.

Yanwan basically spends her entire time as consort failing up because her benefactor (Qianlong) is too narcissistic to admit he was ever wrong and has the ultimate privilege to get away with that mindset. This happens in real life…

Anyway, I think while Qianlong is aware of Yanwan’s ambition from the beginning from the way she approaches him, and he nurtures that ambition to use her as a weapon against the empress dowager and Ruyi at times, he doesn’t see Yuyan (or do you actually mean Luyun and her hairpin?) in the same way. We see the Yuyan’s scheming private moments but I think for Qianlong, she’s just this plaything gift from a tributary state with a sharp tongue, and she is the equivalent of a sexy lamp to him. So he is blindsided when that toy dares have her own goals and uses her son to push her own gains.

If you mean Luyun, I always thought it was a perfect concoction of coincidences that sets up Qianlong’s suspicion of Luyun, from Langhua suddenly recommending Luyun as the next empress on her death bed even though she hasn’t shown any preference for Luyun before, after Qianlong just learnt that Langhua had supposedly done all these evil things, and then Luyun’s hairpin being found at the wrong place, then suddenly Luyun showing desire to compete to be empress that she didn’t have before and both Yongzhang and Yonghuang who were raised by Luyun acting up at Langhua’s funeral. With his tendency for paranoia of course he would be suspicious of her and he can continue to hold a grudge because Luyun isn’t a mirror to him the way Yanwan is.  

[formula1fanfiction]

Max Verstappen / Esteban ocon

Title: Something deep inside

Pairing: Max Verstappen / Esteban ocon

Characters: Max Verstappen, Esteban ocon, Charles Leclerc, George Russell

Prompt: could i ask for max/esteban enemies to lovers with bottom esteban?

A/N: I might make this into a bit of a series with the rest of the grid and see how weird the pairings can be. ;)

Bonding, that's what the fucking FIA had called it. Apparently there is too much animosity between the drivers, too much conflict which is causing problems on the track. They had come up with his brilliant scheme to make two drivers share a room for the night.

Max is a pretty chill guy, he gets along with most of the grid, of course he has had his spats with the others Lewis at Silverstone, George in baku but he wouldn't say he hated them, who he does hate is Esteban Ocon.

So when Max opened up that email and saw he had been assigned none of than Esteban Ocon, he had considered putting his red bull into the wall a high speed, but that really wouldn't be fair on his family.   

"Don't even look at me, let alone speak to me."Max rolls his suitcase into the hotel room, Esteban is laid out on the double bed, his hands behind his head with a scowl on his face. The horrible realisation hits him like a ton of bricks, there is only bed.

"I don't like you, either." Esteban stairs at him like he's just an annoying insect. "The only person worse than you is Pierre." Pierre is a good tactic, he can use him to piss Esteban off. "At least Pierre is a good driver of course, unlike you. I hope the floor is comfortable."

"The floor, what are you talking about?" What an idiot, he's obviously too stupid realise there is only one bed in the room. "The floor, what are you talking about and don't bring Pierre into this." The pure anger is radiating off Esteban. "I got here first, you can take the floor, Max."

"Absolutely not, I have a championship to win, you are a rubbish driver in a rubbish wheel barrow no one will even notice if you're shit." Max unpacks his suitcase, pushes all Esteban's clothes into a crumpled heap just to be petty.

They can't come to compromise regarding the bed. The hotel is offering drinks for the drivers downstairs, so he has two options get blind drunk so he won't care, or get Esteban so drunk he sleeps on the floor, hopefully option two. "Lets go down for drinks, Charles is waiting for me and i'm sure whatever loser tolerates you." Max chuckles, pulling on his jacket and leaving the room without waiting for a response.

He finds Charles with a equally solemn look on his face. "Who did you get, Charles?" Charles is staring at a blonde head, Max follows his gaze until it reaches Kevin, Max chuckles. "At least you didn't get your enemy." Charles can't help but laugh. "Hey, George got Lance and he's pissed off, see if you can switch." Max's very drunk brain thinks this is a good idea, George is weird but anything is better than Esteban.

"Hey, Russell." George jumps and whatever fruity concoction he's drinking spills down his crisp white shirt. "Fuck sake, Max." That really isn't going to help his case. "I heard you got Lance, I know the two of you don't really like each other, we could switch?" Max offers him a very charming smile, but George taking a step back like he's dealing with a rabid dog. "Rules are rules Max, as much as we might not like that." Max resists the urge to call him boring and runs off, drinking an extra five shorts to try and get him through the night.

The shots send him a little whoozy, he finds Esteban at the back of the club ad sits down next to him. "I hate Lance, he wouldn't switch rooms." Esteban informs him, he's also drunk his lips are glistening and look really inviting, what the fuck is happening. "I hate George, boring bastard, he would suck off the rules if they let him." Esteban chuckles, before he even knows what's happening their lips meet, everything is too much of a blur, in their alcohol clogged mind. "I'm taking you back to bed." Max can feel the tightness in his pants, and going back to bed with Esteban seems like a very good idea all of sudden, he allows Esteban to take him by the hand, sparks fly and send tingles up his arms.

He's all over Esteban, he doesn't waste a single second, as soon as Esteban slides down the key card, he pushes the Frenchman back into the room and presses their lips together, it's rough, it's passionate, it's everything. Their lips only break apart to tear away each other's clothing, until they are both naked and needy.

"Let me fuck you, please." Max pants into Esteban's mouth, they are still kissing as they make their way over to the bed. Esteban lets out a small needy moan, as his naked body falls back onto the bed. "Please. It's been so long since i've fucked anyone." Esteban's eyes go wide at this, yes Charles is a top, so what?"

"Please fuck me." Esteban presses a packet of lube, from who knows where into his hand. He doesn't waste any more time and pours the lube onto his fingers, Esteban has already positioned himself on the bed, his legs spread wide, just waiting for Max to touch him.

Max pecks Esteban on the lips, and guides his finger tips to the waiting entrance. Max swallows every whine, and moan from Esteban's mouth, and pushes two fingers inside. Esteban accepts his fingers much easier than Max expected, and prepping the Frenchman doesn't take long. Max rewards Esteban with a few strokes over his sweet spot, and only then does he let his finger tips slip out of Esteban's glistening entrance, he can't wait to be inside of it.

Max's own cock is throbbing and begging for attention. "Are you ready?" Esteban nods and wraps his long legs around Max's waist. "Fuck me, Max." That's all the invitation he needs, he presses the head of his cock against Esteban's lube slick entrance and slowly slides inside, both of them cry out as Max slides through the lube and thrusts himself to the hilt.

Max stalls for a few moments, he knows that he likes a moment to adjust. He waits until Esteban stops clenching down around him, which takes his all his efforts he just wants to fuck into the warm heat. He feels so perfect wrapped around Max, like he was made to be here. "Max please, come on." Max digs his fingers into Esteban's hips and starts to move.

Esteban takes his cock into his hands and strokes himself to the same pace, starting off slow and shallow but becoming harder and deeper with every thrust, all that pent up hate and anger builds up into a rough pace, with Max slamming into Esteban's prostate over and over again.

"It's you, it's always been you." Esteban tells him, Max's fucked out brain can't really comprehend that sentence because at that moment, Esteban loses it, his hips arching up off the bed as he comes hard, making a mess of his own stomach and abs. Esteban tightens ever so beautifully around him, pushing Max into his own orgasm, he cries out as he spills inside of Esteban. He blacks out with the force of it and falls asleep wrapped up in Esteban's arms.

When Max opens his eyes, he realises his cock is still buried inside of someone, and that someone is Esteban. He really enjoyed last night, but it shouldn't have happened and he doesn't know how Esteban feels about it, so he goes with a defensive mechanism instead. "Fuck you Esteban, how dare you take advantage of me because I was drunk." He can hear the pounding of his own heart beat from the guilt.

A look of pure heart break etches on to Esteban's features but quickly disappears. "I was drunk too, you utter arsehole." There are tears in Esteban's eyes, So Esteban must at least like him a little bit.

"Estie..." Max sits down beside him, and runs his hand down Esteban's bareback, he doesn't pull away, so Max continues. "I'm sorry acted this way, I felt something last night and I didn't know if you felt the same way and I panicked." Esteban smiles, it looks genuine.  

"Did you realise you didn't hate me as much as you thought, because that's how I felt." Max chuckles, because yes exactly that. "Yes, I think all this hatred built up into some kind of sexual tension, because I really like you." Max's cock twitches just remembering last night, he really would like to do that again. "So you don't hate me anymore?" Esteban asks with a shy smile and how can Max hate that face. "No, but.."

"Don't think I have forgiven you for crashing into me in Brazil and taking my win away from me." But he says it with a laugh as he dives forward and presses his lips again Esteban's in a soft passionate kiss.

[five-bi-five-mind]

Curious Little Thing

Fandom: Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Pairing: Drusilla x fem!reader

Genre: Dark fic and Suspense? Maybe?

Words: 5.8k+

Summary: Drusilla had never had a fascination like you before. She followed you until she couldn't take it anymore. Even if you didn't know it, you belonged to her. But how would you take it when she finally came for what was hers?

Warnings: Mentions of blood; Mentions of stalking; Kinda a dubious consent kiss; biting; blood drinking; this isn't smutty but it's kinda spicy if you know what I mean...

A/N: I thought this would be a good fic for Friday the 13th and also... I had fun with this. I think I'm like one of like five people who write for Dru, but I know folks had asked for her. Finally, I'm delivering lol

(gif not mine; credit to creator)

It all happened so unexpectedly. It was like one minute of her life or well… her afterlife completely woke up after god knows how many years of being utterly dormant. Things used to bore her. She had nothing to keep herself entertained. It was like she was going through the motions at this point. Hunt, kill, hide from the sun and repeat. 

Until she ran across you. See, Drusilla had decided that day that she would take this monotony she found herself in and change it all around. The only problem was: she didn’t know how, but she did have a wicked idea… It had been awhile since someone threatened to end the world. Not just a small, silly scheme either, but really threaten it. Dru couldn’t think of anything more exciting than literally having hell on earth. So why not try to concoct a plan? Maybe she could resurrect an ancient evil or create a demon army. She hadn’t really gotten those details down yet. 

The biggest flaw with that plan was Drusilla didn’t exactly know where to start. So, she waited until nightfall and slipped into a library of the nearby university to scour any old book she could come across. The goal was to pick the biggest baddest beasty and start her scheme to end the world. But then she met you there.

You were such an unsuspecting little thing. Dru was elbow deep in older texts about ancient evils when she heard footsteps. The library was long closed and the books she had her hands on weren’t exactly for the public. It wasn’t like Dru wanted or even needed to talk her way out of why she was there and what her intentions were. When she heard you coming her plan was to just kill you, take the books, and leave. She thought she could use a good meal anyways. Only, when you turned the corner to where Dru was busy studying away and your footsteps ground to a halt did she change her mind completely. When she saw you, you looked like the cutest little deer caught in the headlights. 

Drusilla’s eyes dragged up slowly from the page to where you stood frozen. You definitely weren’t expecting to run into someone this late at night. It wasn’t often when you stayed late at the library, but a perk of the job was you could stay as long as you’d like and enjoy your own research once everyone else had gone home. It definitely was a shock when you realized someone else beat you to some of the books you were going to study. And this someone, you definitely didn’t look like a college student.

When her eyes locked with yours, yours widened. There was something about her, something that wasn’t quite right. There were a lot of people who warned you about being out and about alone after dark, but you didn’t heed them any mind. Was she what they warned about? She had to be with the way her gaze made you feel. The instant her eyes fell on you, you felt this primal sense of fight or flight. It’s one thing to be worried about a trespasser, but it’s another to feel this kind of overwhelming terror. But even with this fear coursing through your veins, you couldn’t bring yourself to move a muscle. 

As Dru drank in your appearance, she cocked her head. Just as you thought there was something strange about her, she thought there was something awfully curious about you too. The feelings that filled her were… unexplainable to say the least. Peculiar is the word she landed on. You didn’t make any move to run when you saw her and people tended to do that whether she had her gnarled, demonic face showing or not. All you did was stare back at her, even when fear was written all over your face. Despite the evident fear, though, Dru found that she didn’t want to kill you. Even when she enjoyed the look of fear before closing in on her prey, she couldn’t even fathom harming a creature that looked as precious as you did in that moment.

Thus started her internal torment over the thoughts of you. The very moment she saw you, she let go of all her plans to bring hell on the mortal world. Instead, she was consumed by why she found you so curious. It disarmed her, and Dru was never one to feel disarmed. She couldn’t tell if she liked this feeling or not. She didn’t know why you elicited it in her, but she suddenly decided her new plan was to find out. 

That night she let you live. You watched in terrifying anticipation as she approached you, but all she did was breeze past you and disappear into the night. Logic wasn’t exactly something you had after seeing her. If you were smart, you would’ve called the cops, told them of the intruder. Even though you thought the cops wouldn’t begin to understand the way you’d describe her. Instead you just sat there for a moment, your mind racing a mile a minute, wondering who she was and why you felt so uncomfortable but also completely drawn to her.

Dru wondered similar things. Weeks had passed and she was still no closer to answering why she was so enthralled by your existence. You were like a nagging little bug that kept buzzing around her head. When she closed her eyes she saw your face; you plagued her dreams. She would lie for hours in bed, staring at the bleak ceiling and all that filled her mind was you, you, you. What could it mean?

She had had her fun following chosen humans before. She had brief little love affairs and obsession. Spike was a particularly long one, but it was all fun until it wasn’t and then she needed something new. She found that something new again and again, but it still was missing a certain spark. She had a small little tingle that ran up her spine when she thought about you though. Was that the spark she was waiting for? 

Curious little human, aren’t you? Drusilla’s interest in you was quickly growing. She followed you when you were foolish enough to go out after dark. You would check your shoulder and she wondered if you could feel her in the same way she felt you whenever she got nearer. It was like this exciting little hum in her body whenever she saw you. Even from the shadows, she swore she could feel the connection between the two of you. It was palpable– At least to her. 

Her stalking of you became somewhat known in the realm of demons. Other vampires knew, when you kept making your foolish night runs to that library you seemed to love so much, that you were not their prey to hunt. They didn’t know what you meant to Drusilla, but they knew that a vampire who held a decent amount of power had claimed you as her own. Not that she had actually made physical contact with you. It wasn’t time yet. Dru didn’t understand why she felt that way, usually she grew quite impatient, but she just knew. She had to wait, even if waiting made her longing for you even stronger. 

Despite Dru’s inclination to wait, she still had this feeling of possession over you. It took her a few weeks for her to realize, but it was like that feeling was there from the moment she saw you. Like the minute your eyes locked onto hers, your fate was signed and sealed to be intertwined with her own. You were just simply hers. Drusilla understood that like she understood her need to feed for survival. 

Whenever she thought more about it, the idea of what you were to her stimulated her in such a delicious way. Hers. Yes, Dru liked that idea perhaps too much. You were just an unsuspecting human, did you know that you belonged to her yet? She suspected that soon you’d find out. When the timing was right. 

Still was this really just another obsession Dru had? That crossed her mind once or twice when she was so close to you she could almost taste you. But you were definitely more than prey to her. She didn’t crave your blood (although she was curious to taste it), she just craved you. It wasn’t even that this felt like a little game of cat and mouse, like so many of her other encounters with humans did. Dru was notorious for loving the way she could turn a simple hunt into a twisted, extravagant event. That might be what others in the demon world thought you were to her, but she didn’t want that with you. What, oh what, did she really want? It tortured her, that thought. Her mind ran in circles until she physically felt dizzy just from the thought of you. When she had her hands on you finally, what would she even do? Would she drain you of your blood and your life to get this annoying little buzz out of her mind once and for all? 

She couldn’t help the curious thought she had of what she would do when she did taste you– and mind you, she absolutely planned to. You would probably taste just divine. The most decadent flavor from the most tantalizing being, human or otherwise, she’d ever come across. But she didn’t want to drain you. No, as much as she played with that idea, she couldn’t imagine the loss of you. But then she also understood that one taste of you could never be enough. Drusilla was baffled by that thought, especially having never tasted you before, but she was more sure that the loss of you would be the eternal death of her than anything else in her entire existence. 

Another thought crossed her mind too. One that was devious and selfish and made her again battle with her own thoughts. It wasn’t even a battle she had ever had with herself in her long afterlife. Not once did she hesitate to turn a human into a vampire. She saw it as a mercy; a gift. But she would often spend nights staring at your face, even if you weren’t aware, and thinking about how delicate it appeared. Then, when the sun eventually came or you moved to somewhere unreachable, she would return to the dark place she called home and stare at her own face in its true form. The way her fingers would dance along the twisted ridges of her demonic visage used to fill her with pride, but this time the feelings in her stomach felt all wrong. She thought about the way she’d turn you and your face would become an unholy thing like hers. Dru knew she wanted to touch and enjoy the softness that came with being a being with a beating heart, and she couldn’t quite imagine taking that away. She assumed eventually she would. After all, she had an eternity and she was beginning to think that that eternity was meant to have you by her side. Still, she wanted time to enjoy you when she finally made her move. She wanted to feel the warmth of your skin in the way that hers lacked it. She wanted to bask in the blood running through your veins and not see more than a drop or two fall from your skin. She wanted you as a human and not as her prey. 

When she finally realized this want was definitive; to have you both as a human and eventually by her side until the end of days, she decided it was time. There wasn’t much planning to do. Drusilla wasn’t feeling very patient about waiting anymore. Not when her need to know you became so unbearable. Her thoughts were so loud and she just needed you to finally quiet them. 

So, her plan was a simple one: Get someone to kidnap you. She could’ve done it herself, but then her warped mind thought it was better if someone took you against your will than her. Even if she was planning to keep you against your will, somehow it still felt different. You could turn your scorn and fear towards the ones she sent for you and then appreciate her for deciding to keep you alive.

Dru had made explicit instructions that you were not to be harmed. Grabbed, yes, but not harmed. If a single drop of your blood was spilled by someone that was not her, the consequences would be grim. 

You were definitely brought to her alright, but were her warnings heeded? No. She had thought she made it very clear, but they had given this excuse that you put up quite the fight. Your head had a small gash, no doubt they had knocked you unconscious just to make it easier for them to drag you into Drusilla’s dwellings. Still, she didn’t quite buy the idea that you’d fight hard enough against her goons to warrant knocking you unconscious. You were such a delicate little thing. Dru imagined that you had barely any fight in you at all. That thought surprisingly thrilled her. All these new feelings rose with the arrival of you and for the first time in a long time, she felt protective. She loved the idea that she was needed in order to protect such a fragile thing as you. Usually, she would consume all that is fragile, but not you. Never you. 

When the two vampires dragged your body into her own private quarters of their hideout, they dragged you with such disregard that her rage boiled within her at the sight. They had you dragged by your arms, your feet scraping against the ground behind you. The way Dru winced at the discomfort she imagined you felt was another curious reaction within her. Your beautiful face was hidden from her, as your head was limp and turned to the floor. Dru immediately snatched you from the two she had foolishly sent out to do what she now realized should’ve been her job. The way she grabbed you, with her demonic strength allowing her to cradle you like a child, shocked the two vampires who assisted her. This was the one and only time she showed anyone outside of her own four walls this sort of care and cherishment towards a human. 

“Stay,” Dru ordered, not even bothering to look towards the two vampires waiting for her. She was too busy petting your head, which had such an ugly gash that juxtaposed the beauty of your face. With the utmost care, she placed you on her extravagant, king-sized bed and stood back for a moment. 

There was anxious shuffling of the two vampires behind her, but she heeded them no mind. Instead, she admired the way your unconscious form looked upon her mattress. After a moment, her fingers traced the angry gash from your forehead. It still seeped out blood, but it was nothing dire. With blood on her fingers, she withdrew them from you and brought them to her face. She dare not taste you yet. No, she wanted you to be aware for that moment and she didn’t want it to be from an unfortunate injury. Still, she put her fingers close to her nose and took a deep inhale. This was the first time she had ever smelled your blood and just from that she knew she was right about her guesses. You will taste heavenly. Her eyes fluttered closed as she breathed you deep, resisting the urge to lick your blood from her own finger tips, but after a moment a nagging thought came to her. It filled her with even more rage than the mistreatment of your body did moments ago.

Her eyes opened slowly and her blood stained hand dropped to her side. She backed away from her bed and turned slowly to the two vampires still waiting anxiously for more orders. “Did you taste her?” Her voice didn’t seem as angry as she felt. No, it only held a sense of eerie calmness. Enough to disarm the two vampires that stood in front of her. 

“Only but a drop, ma’am,” said one.

“It was already on my hands,” said the other. 

And the rage boiled over. Suddenly, there was only one thought that drove her. No being that walks this earth must know the sweet taste of your blood. No being, except for her. 

She turned to her vanity where a rather pointed comb she had rested on it. It was an old relic made of bone, considered an antique, Dru would assume, in this day and age. She admired it for a moment, her face never changing to hint any type of malice. 

The two vampires still obeyed her orders to stay, but watched her closely through the mirror. Every demon and vampire around knew that Drusilla was mad, so to see a calm facial expression from her could be just as frightening as an angry one. For a moment, the room was still aside from your steady breathing as you stayed in slumber on her bed. She breathed in, smelling the faint scent of your blood still as she let her rage finally take over. 

In a blink of an eye, her face twisted to the demonic form she once admired and she turned back to the two vampires standing before her. With swift reflexes, she plunged the end of her once beloved comb straight into the chest of one and, before the second could react to his companion turning to dust, she turned and did the same to him. 

She watched with glowing eyes as their forms decomposed into nothing more than ash before her, the rage in her only a little satisfied with their demise. Her hand dropped the comb on top of the pile of dust that remained, suddenly disgusted by the item she once somewhat cared for, as if it was tainted by them. “Foolish,” she hissed as her face turned back to normal.

After two more deep breaths, she turned back to you. Still asleep, it seemed, but Drusilla didn’t mind. She wasn’t ready for you to meet her eyes yet again. Not when she had just carried out an act that she assumed you might find ugly, considering you still held onto your human morals. She would soon try to separate you from those, but she knew it was a step-by-step process. 

For now, as you stayed slumbering, she got to work on cleaning the blood from your head. While the sight of your blood excited her so, she still didn’t want to see you in pain or even worse, for you to think she caused it without your say. Once the blood was cleaned, the gash looked barely big at all. She was thankful for that at least, but she still ached at the idea that you felt fear and pain from two worthless beings that didn’t deserve to elicit that feeling in you. 

You remained asleep longer than Drusilla could stand, but she knew she couldn’t just wake you. So, instead she laid down next to you. Her head pressed to your chest as she lay and her eyes closed. There was a soft sigh that escaped your lips and Dru wondered if, in your unconscious state, you were still aware of her. Aware of the fact that you were finally where you belonged. 

She stayed with her head over your heart until you were ready to wake. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------

It was hours before you regained consciousness. When you did, you immediately were aware of the throbbing in your head and the pain that came from your forehead. Your hand tried to move to feel the source of your pain, but you realized the arm you tried to use was under what felt like a body. That’s when you also realized the weight on your chest and your eyes popped open. 

The last thing you remembered was walking home and it being dark. You pressed your mind to think harder, but everything came up blank. There was a flash of pain and that was it, everything went dark. Now you’re here… but where is here? The walls looked unfamiliar, the bed was certainly not yours, and you were most certain the person laying partially on you was not someone you knew. 

“Awake at last,” a voice mumbled from your chest. Dru had heard you waking up before you opened your eyes. The way your heartbeat accelerated told her the long awaited encounter between you two was about to begin. 

The voice sounded unthreatening enough, but when her head finally picked up from her chest to look down at you, that’s when real fear flowed through your body. It was the woman you once saw. The woman who plagued your dreams, nightmares or not. Ever since you saw her, it was like her eyes always followed you. You certainly didn’t forget her face, not when it was all you could think about, despite her being a total stranger. 

Fingertips traced down your arm lazily and for a moment you almost enjoyed this comfort. But then you realized this was the woman who frightened you so much and there was no way of knowing her motives. The one thought you had was that most likely they’d be sinister, but it confused you that while you had that thought you didn’t necessarily believe it to be true. 

Either way, you decided it was time to get up. When you sat up, Dru withdrew from you, hoping to see the beautiful eyes that consumed her thoughts. She quite strongly believed that once you woke up with her next to you, you would feel as calm and complete as she did. So, when she saw the panic in your eyes, it disappointed her. 

You jumped up so fast out of the bed and away from her that she even felt offended. It was quite strange, she thought, that it actually hurt her to see you reacting this way. She didn’t get her feelings hurt, it felt quite human to feel that. Here she was, though, staring back at you with pain in her eyes. 

There was a pause then, as yours met hers and you read her expression. The plan was to run the hell out of there, even though you thought your chances of surviving were next to none. Except, you couldn’t bring yourself to leave her. Not when she looked at you with such betrayal. The way your heart ached due to your own actions was confusing, but it’s what kept you rooted in place. 

When she finally stood from her bed, you had the thought if you had an ounce of self-preservation left you should be running. But you still felt like that was the wrong move for some reason. You still stayed frozen in place. “Who are you?” Your voice was barely above a whisper, but she heard you nonetheless. 

“Your voice,” she sighed with pleasure. “I’ve imagined it, but never been close enough to hear.” She didn’t answer your question, but her reaction caused your heart to jump.

“So, you were following me?”

“Did you feel me?” She stepped towards you, her tone filled with glee. “Did you know that I was near?”

“I- I’m not sure.” You didn’t know why you answered that. She had completely disregarded her question, and even if your answer was not quite a definitive answer it still told her well enough that she was right. “I think so.”

“Think, think, you think,” she repeated. “Oh, but it’s more than that, isn’t it?” She was taking closer steps to you, yet you still stood still. “Every part of me is drawn towards you. To have you, to hold you, to own you.” Her eyes grew dark at that and you couldn’t stop yourself from gulping.

“Please, I just want to go home.” Your survival skills were finally kicking in. The more she spoke the more you realized how serious this situation really was. 

“Home?” Dru took a step back as if your request physically assaulted her. “Home, but you’re here.” She began to step forward again, her arms outstretched towards you. “Home doesn’t exist anymore, my love. No, no, no… There’s just you and me now.”

“I don’t even know you!” The bite in your voice was probably a mistake, but your confusion for this whole situation was frustrating you. When you saw the way the eyes of the woman before you changed into something darker, demonic even, you realized that it definitely was the wrong choice. 

“But I know you!” Dru snapped back as she took a few more strides towards you. “You buzz, buzz, buzz like a gnat and worm into my brain.” Dru put a finger to her temple and twisted it. “Until all the nasty little thoughts I had are gone and all that’s left is you.”

Her tone grew angry as she spoke and her eyes shifted into a look of deep-seated desperation. “I don’t understand it,” she practically cried. “I liked the dark little thoughts that I had once. I hadn’t a care for life and reveled in death, but then your face came and poisoned my mind. I had such joy in the worst things, but now I don’t wish to destroy. I don’t wish to kill or even to die. I just wish for you.” 

You still just stood there, utterly frozen as she was right in your face now. The fear in your eyes was clear and Dru frowned at it. For the first time, she didn’t want to see fear in a human, so she tried to change her tone. She cocked her head to the side and tried her best to give a reassuring smile, even though to others it would come across as devilish. “But don’t worry, lovely,” she hummed. “You shouldn’t be scared. Not when you’re where you’re meant to be.”

“I don’t understand,” you whispered in such a pathetic, shaky voice. “Why me?” 

“I’ve run my mind in circles,” She said as she leaned in. You could feel her breathe on your lips and you looked down to her own for a moment. There was a pull that you couldn’t explain. Was she drawing you in on purpose or was this feeling genuine? Either way, it scared you. “But no answer is to be found. It just is.” 

“What now?” Your voice still shook as you spoke. “What do you want from me?” 

“Pretty little pet…” Dru cooed as reached out to your face. You flinched, but still she did not stop. Her fingers danced across your skin and there was fear yet again filling your gaze. 

“Shhh, shhh, shhh I won’t hurt you.” Her finger traced across your jaw until it moved to your lips. She pressed it to your bottom lip and you just stood there frozen. “I just want…” Her nail pressed to your skin until you winced and could feel the sting of its sharpness. “...to finally taste what’s mine.”

There was a trickle of warmth down your lip and you realized that it was bleeding. Before you could even react though, she closed the gap between you two. Her tongue came to your bottom lip and a growl that didn’t sound quite human rumbled in Dru’s chest. Another flick of her tongue and the growl turned into a satisfied moan. Your eyes squeezed shut and your body shook slightly at her actions, but it wasn’t totally unwelcome. Something told you, if you pushed her enough, she actually would stop. The only thing is… you didn’t want her to.

She took your bottom lip within her own and sucked ever so slightly. The way you tasted, it was like no other human she drank from. She had only had but a few drops of your blood, but she knew she could spend eternity drinking from it. Although, she much rather drink deeply from you now and still she wanted to indulge in a different part of you. So, with blood still on the tip of her tongue and smeared between both your lips, she released your bottom lip to finally press both her own to yours fully. 

The kiss was deep and full of hunger, but to both you and Dru’s surprise, it was also gentle and careful. Despite the fact that there was blood still slowly running from your bottom lip, it didn’t take away from the pleasure you found yourself feeling. When your lips parted, Dru’s hands came around you and pulled you until your warm body was pressed against hers. Another growl came from deep within her, but it didn’t startle you. Instead, your hands held onto her shoulders as you let her tongue run against your own. 

When Dru kissed you that primal feeling came back over you, only this time it was different. It wasn’t a primal fear, no it was a primal need. Never had you felt such intensity. The way the taste of her tongue mixed with the taste of your own blood didn’t disgust you had your mind reeling. All you knew was that you needed to give in to this kiss. You needed to give in to her. 

Your body had long since surrendered into her embrace when you started to deepen the kiss on your own accord, but before you knew it she was pulling away. Drusilla let out a laugh that would sound sinister to anyone else, but to you that fear you once had was gone. “That’s right,” she drawled. “You understand now, don’t you?”

You didn’t say anything, you just stayed willingly in her embrace as it tightened. To the outside world, you’d imagine it looked almost like a snake wrapping around its prey before life left its eyes, but to you it felt like the opposite. Suddenly, there was a sense of completion; like you were now whole. You didn’t even know that such a fundamental part of you was missing, not until the night you saw her. But here you two were, you were in the arms of what seemed to be a monster, and you didn’t even care.  In fact, you basked in it. Maybe you didn’t know who she was, but you knew she was something powerful and dangerous. So, to mean something to such a being as herself made you feel powerful in your own way too. 

“You belong with me, darling,” Dru whispered as she kissed down your jaw. “Right here…” Her fingers played with your hair as her lips began to run down your neck. The way you felt her hot breath against your skin made you shiver, but Dru kept on. “In my arms…” She continued as she placed a delicate kiss over your pulsepoint on your neck. Your eyes slipped closed and you wondered what was to come, but just as you lost all fear for her before, you lost all fear for your fate too. Whatever she did, even if you weren’t sure you were ready to understand it, you would accept it. “For all eternity…”

You felt sharp pain shoot through your neck at that and a gasp fell from your lips and echoed throughout the room. Dru’s teeth had finally sunk into you and all your questions on what she was were answered. It still didn’t scare you though, not when the pain was soon replaced with a feeling of pleasure that you didn’t understand or expect. 

Another rumble came from Dru’s chest as she continued to drink from you. It sounded almost like a satisfied purr. Usually, when Dru fed from a human, she was rough. She loved the way she could rip into her prey and indulge. That wasn’t what she was doing to you though, she would never treat you with such disregard. When her teeth sunk in and your blood flowed to her tongue, she tried to be as gentle as possible. It was quite hard when her instincts kicked in, but you were hers now and she had to treat you with the best care such a fragile thing like yourself needed and deserved. 

Her tongue ran across your neck and you couldn’t stop the small moan that left your lips. This feeling was intoxicating. It was like she was drunk off your blood and you were drunk off the way she fed on you. To your own surprise, one of your hands came up and tangled in her hair, pressing her closer as she lapped at the sensitive skin of your neck.

Drusilla knew though, that she couldn’t drink as much as she usually did. She wanted to keep your heart beating, at least for a bit longer. It was strange to her that she wanted to enjoy your humanity for as long as it would make sense before she turned you. 

Her teeth withdrew from you and as she looked on at you, she saw shock in your eyes. She didn’t understand at first until she realized that her true face was before you. You didn’t seem scared though, just surprised. Slowly, your hand reached out and touched her skin. Her eyes closed at the touch and all she wanted was to kiss you again, but she waited. When your hand fell back to rest on her shoulder she opened her eyes again and saw nothing but wonder in your own. It only took two deep breaths before her true face changed back to normal, but when it did your expression did not change.

“Will I be like you now?” Your question was a valid one for a human who only just discovered that things like her were real, but she chuckled at it all the same.

“Not yet, my pet,” she said as she wiped what was left of your blood off her lips. 

“But one day I will be?”

“It’s what was meant for you,” she said simply as her hand came up to press gently on your cheek. “It’s what was meant for us.”

“I’m not sure,” you mumbled as you couldn’t stop yourself from leaning into her touch, “that I want to be like you.”

“In time you will,” Dru replied. “You will live out your last days and then all that comes after with me, my love.” She leaned in again and her lips ghosted over yours, with just barely any room between them. “But for now…” She murmured against your lips. “I think I’ll keep your heart beating quite a bit longer.”

Taglist: @bisexualblckcanary @desperate-gay @lovelyy-moonlight @storiesofsvu @jareguiromanoff

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[swan-of-sunrise]

Three's Company (A Spellbinding-Verse Interlude)

Summary: A week before Christmas, (Y/N) and Loki help Peter maintain his secret identity and find themselves faced with a surprising addition to their happy duo.

Pairing: Loki X F!Reader

Word Count: 3k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: Hi there! Today we've got a little holiday fluff for our favorite newlywed couple, and I'm not even joking when I say that this is pure tooth-rotting fluff lol thank you all so much for reading, I hope that you enjoy! (And happy holidays!!)

Three’s Company December 17th, 2016 Avengers Tower, New York City (Spellbinding Masterlist)

After drilling the last screw into the wall, (Y/N) set the heavy power tool down on an empty shelf and leaned back to admire her handiwork with a proud smile on her face. “There! Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

The door opened and she glanced over her shoulder to see Loki saunter into their new shared suite, an impressed grin spreading across her husband’s handsome face when he spotted her fully assembled bookshelf. “Darling, while it’s commendable that you pieced together this infernal Ikea bookshelf all by yourself, why in all the Nine Realms didn’t you just use your Alf Seidr?”

“Because I wanted the satisfaction of having conquered this stupid piece of furniture with my own bare hands,” (Y/N) confidently answered back, drawing a chuckle from Loki as he moved to stand beside her ladder. “And besides, I lived almost all my life without resorting to magic to solve all of my problems; I hardly think it’d be right to start now, even if it meant spending an entire day assembling this damn bookshelf and missing out on-” At that exact moment, the shelf bearing her clunky electric drill collapsed and set off a chain reaction that saw each shelf fall one by one, the last of them slamming against the ladder’s leg and sending her toppling backwards into her husband’s waiting arms. “…Lunch.”

Taking note of the purple-hued glow beginning to emanate from the palms of (Y/N)’s hands, Loki hummed in sympathy and pressed a comforting kiss onto her furrowed brow. “You’ve lost this battle, darling, but you certainly won’t lose the war. How about I draw you a bubble bath and prepare dinner while you relax for a spell, and then the both of us can conquer the bookshelf after we eat?”

(Y/N) heaved an exasperated sigh but gave him a relenting nod, willing her magic away and giving her husband a thankful kiss before pulling back and flashing him a flirtatious smile. “Or…you could always order some take-out and join me in the bath? My arms are pretty sore, after all, and I might need a little help washing my back.”

“Are you trying to tempt me, darling?” Loki arched an inquiring brow as a mischievous smirk played on his lips, his emerald-green eyes alight with a burning desire that sent shivers of anticipation through her body. “Because if so, you should know that it’s working remarkably well.”

Giggling, (Y/N) looped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss, but a frantic knocking on their suite’s door caused them both to jump as the romantic atmosphere was shattered by the reality of their superhero lives. They exchanged matching looks of regret and once Loki carefully set her onto her feet, they both crossed the room to see who was on the other side of their door; when (Y/N) opened the door, her brows furrowed in concern when the panicked and pale face of Peter Parker was revealed. “Peter? Is something wrong?”

“You look as though you’ve seen a ghost,” Loki observed, throwing (Y/N) a worried glance as he opened the door wider and ushered the teenager into their suite. “You haven’t attempted to prank Romanoff, have you? Because I already warned you once that your young age won’t stop her from seeking swift revenge for whatever scheme you might dare to concoct.”

Peter shook his head as he began to quickly pace across their living room, and it was then that they both spotted the large cardboard box clutched tight in his arms. “No, no, of course not; if the God of Mischief himself warns me not to prank someone, then I’m definitely gonna pay attention.” The teenager carefully set the box down onto their couch and started to unfurl its lid. “I’ve got a pretty big problem that I could really, really use your guys’ help with.”

“Well, I’m sure that we can help you with…” (Y/N)’s reassuring words trailed off when a muffled bark emanated from the box and a moment later, the small black head of an excited dog popped up and gave Peter’s hand a slobbering lick. “A puppy?”

“While I was out on patrol earlier in Queens, I stopped a couple of jerks from jacking my neighbor’s car and beating him up and to thank me, he gave me one of his flat-coated retriever’s new puppies; I can’t keep him, ‘cause Mr. Rodriguez gave him to Spider-Man and if he sees me with this little guy in the apartment building, then he’ll start to suspect who I am and then he’ll tell Aunt May and then?” Peter sighed as he plopped down onto the couch beside the box and scratched the onyx-colored puppy behind his floppy ear. “Then I’ll be toast with a capital ‘T.’”

Taking a seat on the other side of the box, Loki confidently extended his hand out for the puppy to sniff and chuckled to himself when he began to lightly gnaw on his long fingers. “So, what would you like us to do?”

“Well, I texted MJ and she said she’d help me find a good home for him but she’s gonna be out of town for a week to visit her grandparents, so…could he maybe stay here until she gets back? Please?”

(Y/N) bit her lower lip in contemplation, torn between her desire to help the desperate teenager avoid accidentally revealing his secret identity to his aunt and entire apartment building and her uneasiness around dogs of all shapes and sizes; because of her aunt’s meager salary as a music tutor and their strict building manager, she never had a dog while growing up and very rarely had the opportunity to interact with one, leading to a reluctant but life-long wariness of them as a whole. But as she watched her beaming husband lift the puppy out of the box and cradle him in his arms while the puppy’s tail excitedly wagged in response to Peter’s ear scratches, her pursed lips softened into a small smile. “Well, since it’s only for a week…I suppose we can look after him for you.”

“Thank you, Miss (Y/L/N)!” Peter jumped to his feet and flung his arms around her in an overly-enthusiastic bear-hug. “I’ve gotta head home and finish up my Trig homework before Aunt May comes back from grocery shopping, so I’ll see you guys next Saturday!”

After giving a bemused Loki a fist-bump and patting the top of the puppy’s head one last time, Peter dashed out of their suite and used his web shooters to close the door behind him. Her husband shook his head in amusement before looking over at her with a pleased smile spreading across his face. “That was very generous of you, darling; I know that you’re not exactly comfortable around canines.”

(Y/N) shrugged. “Peter needed help, and I still owe him one. Nothing could ever repay him for saving my life, but working to keep his secret identity a secret for a little while longer seems like a good place to start.” A dark shadow crossed Loki’s handsome features as the abrupt reminder of her near-death experience in the wake of the Battle of Boston hung heavy in the air, and she leaned down to press a soothing kiss onto his cheek before moving to sit on the arm of the couch right beside him. “And besides, I was thinking that this might be a good opportunity to rectify my inexperience with dogs.”

“And you just couldn’t turn down this adorable little face,” Loki lifted the puppy so that their faces were side-by-side and playfully pouted, making (Y/N) roll her eyes at his playful teasing. “Could you, my love?”

A reluctant smile began to play on her lips and while her husband grinned in triumph, the puppy let out a joyful bark and licked the entire side of his face, causing his nose to scrunch up in displeasure as she giggled in amusement. “It looks like the God of Mischief has finally met his match!” Throwing caution to the wind, she stretched a hand out and ran her fingers through the thatch of onyx-hued fur around the puppy’s neck, her shoulders relaxing and her smile softening when she saw his tail vigorously wagging in response. “I think we’re all going to get along just fine this week.”

Loki, setting the puppy down onto the ground and wiping the dog slobber off of his cheek with the sleeve of his sweatshirt, chuckled to himself as he gently pulled her onto his lap and wound his arms around her waist. “It’ll certainly be an adventure; if this little one is anything like the hounds that Thor and I grew up around, then you and I won’t be getting much rest for the foreseeable future.”

“But he’s just a little puppy, sweetheart! How much trouble could he possibly cause?”

The sudden clatter of the ladder toppling over onto the ground caused them both to jump in surprise, and (Y/N)’s head whipped around just in time to see the rambunctious puppy speed by and clamp his small jaw onto the hem of their living room curtains. Loki’s emerald-green eyes sparkled with mirth as he glanced over at her, and his voice shook with barely-concealed amusement as he replied, “Oh, I’m sure he’ll come up with an idea or two.”

It was when (Y/N) and Loki were attempting to coax the puppy into letting go of the torn curtains and the puppy decided that it was the perfect time to relieve himself that (Y/N) started to realize that it would be a long, long week.

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

“I’m pretty sure I told you that the training bot was just for running your sword drills, Melisandre, not your Alf Seidr,” Tony joked as he yanked the dismembered torso of an Iron Legion droid out of the training room’s wall. “He’s only been rated to handle medieval-style combat; I haven’t figured out how to make him immune to Light Elf magic.”

(Y/N) tossed one of the droid’s legs into the pile of limbs and winced at the harsh sound it made. “Sorry, Tony.”

“What made you go all Cosmic Sorceress on the poor guy, anyhow?” Natasha asked, setting the fire extinguisher down and crossing her arms over her chest as her expression morphed into a look of concern. “Usually you have a pretty good handle on your emotions and your magic during your workouts and drills. Do I have to grab my Widow Bites and go have a little chat with that husband of yours?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not about Loki.” Giving the spy an exasperated smile, (Y/N) flicked her wrist and used her swirling purple-hued magic to repair the damaged wall before them. “It’s about that puppy we’re taking care of as a favor to Peter.”

The billionaire shrugged as he began re-assembling the dismembered droid. “Puppies are hard work; at least he’ll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow and you two’ll have a canine-free Christmas.”

“That’s sort of the problem…” Both Tony and Natasha frowned in confusion and (Y/N) continued. “He’s grown pretty attached to the little guy; he takes him for walks, plays with him for hours, and even cooks him fresh food for every meal. And look, this is what I woke up to this morning,” (Y/N) trailed off as she strode over to the nearest bench to retrieve her cell phone, opening her photo gallery and showing her friends the image on the screen; it showed a sleeping Loki sprawled out beneath their thick bedding, one arm tucked beneath her pillow while the fingers of his free hand were weaved around the onyx-colored fur of the snoring puppy that was curled up close beside him. “They’re adorable together, aren’t they?”

Natasha smiled at the photo. “I never knew that Loki was a dog-guy; I always figured that he’d get along better with cats.”

“Temperamental and aloof? Yeah, that’s our Reindeer Games,” Tony chuckled, tightening the bolts connecting the droid’s head to its neck and throwing (Y/N) an inquisitive look. “Sounds like the solution to your little problem is to adopt the pooch; the doggie gets a loving home with you two and Loki’s heart won’t be broken, so it’s a win-win.”

“Unless…” The spy tilted her head as she absentmindedly fiddled with the end of her long braid. “Do you not like the puppy?”

(Y/N) emphatically shook her head. “I absolutely love the puppy! It’s just that…well, Loki and I are Avengers with close ties to different realms; we never know when we’ll be assigned a mission or how long we’ll be gone from the tower, and we’re always traveling to and from Asgard and Alfheim. Wouldn’t all that combined make for an unstable and pretty lonely life for a dog?”

“If you and Loki were normal people with normal careers, yeah, but like you said, you’re both Avengers. You two’ve got a tower full of friends who’d love nothing more than to dog-sit for you, or do really anything for you, to be honest.” Natasha reached out and slung an arm around (Y/N)’s shoulders as she gave her a reassuring smile. “I promise you right here and now that that dog’ll never be lonely while we’re around.”

“And besides, you two’re pretty set on having kids someday, right?” A grinning Tony shrugged his shoulders in a playful manner. “Seems to me like getting a dog is the best crash-course in parenting to have before a little bundle of joy comes along.”

(Y/N)’s heart warmed in her chest at the helpful words of her friends, her earlier fears and reservations beginning to dissipate as she finally allowed herself to imagine their happy duo expanding into a more chaotic but even happier trio. “Well, in that case…it looks like Loki’s getting an extra Christmas present this year.”

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

On Christmas Eve, after they’d come home from the charity Avengers ice skating party at Rockefeller Center with the knowledge that they raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for a handful of children’s charities, (Y/N) and Loki bundled up in their coziest sweatpants, stockings and ugly Christmas sweaters and lounged on their suite’s couch together, where they basked in the bright glow of their illuminated tree and sipped their hot chocolate as they debated which Christmas movie to watch.

“It appears as though we’ve reached an impasse, darling,” Loki sighed dramatically, his long fingers fiddling with the fuzzy end of his Santa hat as he fought to keep the mischievous smile off his face; parting with the puppy they’d been briefly fostering earlier that day had been a subtle but significant blow to him, so it was nice to see that their evening of ice skating had helped to cheer him up. “It’s between a surprisingly faithful adaptation of Charles Dickens’ timeless tale of the true meaning of Christmas that stars the delightful Muppets, and a film that depicts the many misdemeanors and felonies that an eight-year-old commits after his rather neglectful family leaves him home alone for Christmas.”

“Mm-hmm. Decisions, decisions…” (Y/N) playfully pondered as she tilted her head to the side in faux contemplation, the colorful jingle bells decorating her reindeer antler headband sounding and making her husband’s eyes twinkle in silent amusement. “How about this: we can watch The Muppet Christmas Carol tonight, if…”

Loki arched a curious brow. “If?”

“If…you let me give you one of your Christmas gifts first.” She watched while he considered her offer, silent anticipation bubbling up within her as she continued. “There’s no catch, sweetheart; this is just the sort of gift I’d rather give you in private than in front of the others tomorrow morning.” His emerald-green eyes darkened with an all-too familiar desire and she shot him an exasperated look. “It’s not that sort of gift, Loki Odinson. So, how about it?”

“Well, I do enjoy receiving gifts and since you’re such an excellent gift-giver,” He grinned and shook her outstretched hand. “Then I graciously accept.”

With an excited smile on her face, (Y/N) extricated herself from her husband’s arms and hurried over to retrieve a small wrapped package from beneath their Christmas tree, plopping back down onto the couch and eagerly watching while a bemused Loki worked on opening it; when he removed the lid, he cocked his head and looked up at her with polite curiosity. “It’s…a tiny green sweater?”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you? This gift’s a two-parter!” Raising her hand, (Y/N) summoned her Alf Seidr and flicked her wrist, sending a ball of purple-hued magic across the room and using it to create a crackling portal, beaming as a familiar onyx-colored puppy dashed through and leaped onto a surprised Loki’s lap with a joyful bark. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

“But I thought…? Didn’t Parker come by this morning to take him away?”

Pleased that she’d managed to successfully out-trick the God of Mischief himself, (Y/N) smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “I may or may not have called him yesterday to tell him that we were considering adopting him; after he left, he dropped him off at the lab so that Bruce and J.A.R.V.I.S. could keep an eye on him until tonight.”

Loki’s eyes went wide and filled with an earnest emotion as his long fingers scratched behind the happy puppy’s ears. “My love, I…I-I don’t know what to say. Are you certain about this?”

“Absolutely,” She replied and leaned over to press a sweet kiss onto his smiling lips. “…But I do have one little request, if you don’t mind.”

“Anything, darling.”

“Can we name him Mischief?”

Before Loki could answer, the sound of shredding paper caused them both to look down and they laughed at the sight of the puppy vigorously tearing into the wrinkled wrapping paper. “It would seem as though he’s already decided that for me, doesn’t it?” (Y/N) giggled when Mischief barked and licked the side of her face, and Loki grinned before kissing her forehead and ruffling the onyx fur of Mischief’s fluffy neck. “Welcome to our little family, Mischief.”

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

A/N: See? I wasn't lying about the tooth-rotting fluff lol thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wx8TZwpDN0l33tES3W3Nk?si=5fcb3ef04de544e7

“Spellbinding” Masterlist

Tagging: @nexiva​​​​​​​​​​​ @ravenclawbitch426​​​​​​​​​​​ @cminr​​​​​​​​​ @confusedfandomwriter​​​​​​​​​​​ @momc95​​​​​​​​​​​ @nickkie99​​​​​​​​​​​ @austynparksandpizza​​​​​​​​​​​ @brooke0297​​​​​​​​​​​ @a-laufeyson​​​​​​​​​​​​ @outoftheregular​​​​​​​​​​​​ @itscomplicatedx​​​​​​​​​​​​ @0-artemis​​​​​​​​​​​​ @vivloki​​​​​​​​​​​​ @crowleysqueenofhell​​​​​​​​​​​​ @groovy-lady​​​​​​​​ @mostclevermiss​​​​​​      

[the-eeveekins]

The 18th Day of G-Witch: Precious Things

So, off the bat I get to address a complaint I saw about Miorine pop-up later in the show: Prospera never manipulates her into her bad choices, she makes them on their own.

And that's true, to an extent. Nearly every bad choice Miorine makes starting in this episode and into the next few were ultimately decisions she made. But in every case, it was Prospera's words that pushed her towards making those decisions. Prospera doesn't actually have to heavily manipulate Miorine into playing into her hands, she doesn't have to actually convince her to do these things, because she understands Miorine so well that she knows just what to say to make Miorine make those choices herself.

This is a perfect example of that. Prospera wonders aloud if Suletta will really give up Aerial and stay uninvolved in her schemes, thus pushing Miorine to concoct a plan to forcibly separate Suletta from Aerial. Time and again, Prospera hands Miorine the rope and she hangs herself with it.

These scenes make this episode so tough. You can tell Suletta has been waiting for Miorine, you can tell how excited she is to finally be reunited with her. And you can tell how excited she is that Miorine is about to turn 17 and they can officially get married. Look at her face, Suletta is so ready to marry Miorine as soon as possible.

This was essentially Miorine's last hail mary attempt to avoid something drastic. I think if she would have gotten a positive reply from Suletta, she would have asked Suletta to simply give up Aerial to Prospera/The Benerit Group and tried a different route of breaking Prospera's grip on Suletta. But Suletta's answers combined with Prospera's earlier words push Miorine into drastic measures.

Look, ultimately I don't like Guel and I disliked his character development and how much focus he got in S2 at the cost of more important characters. But at least the guy handles being rejected properly and accepts Suletta's response. Which makes the way parts of the fandom and even Bandai itself continuing to try and push this relationship so annoying and frustrating. He got rejected TWICE, accepted Suletta's rejection and moved on with his life. I feel bad for fans of his who keep getting stuck with merch trying to push that aspect of his character.

Also, there's nothing complicated about this scene, there's no love triangle going on. Only homophobes desperate to downplay a same-sex relationship would turn a scene where a girl clearly rejects a guy while explaining she has feeling for someone else (Miorine) into some sort of complicated relationship situation. Looking at you, Anime Trendz.

As if to drive home the fact that Suletta was talking about Miorine in the last scene, Miorine also reiterates that she doesn't want to lose the things precious to her (Suletta). I know it was frustrating when the show was airing that they never said "I love you," but given what we know in retrospect, I'm glad the staff still found ways to show that these girls loved each other. I'm so tired of people saying they had no chemistry or their relation was a weak one because they never said those exact words, when we now know that Bandai would have never let the staff do that.

Miorine is doing everything for Suletta's sake, even going behind her back and making decisions for her because she thinks it's for the best (just like her father did to her). This also begins the very frustrating trend of Guel silently sitting back instead of speaking out, because he clearly sees that what she's doing won't keep Suletta uninvolved. And considering his feelings for her, you'd like to think he'd push Miorine a bit harder towards a less drastic course of actions than the one that would hurt her so much.

This is a duel Suletta detractors love to point to when they say Suletta isn't skilled and is carried by the Aerial. "Override is cheating and Suletta was only about to win this fight because she cheated" was a common argument I saw. Setting aside that it's not against the rules, by the same vein, Guel is also cheating by using the AI assist to basically do most of the piloting for him. Funny how people are quick to disparage Suletta's skill as a pilot because they think Ericht controlled the whole suit (it was just the bits), but when Guel literally has an AI program pilot the whole MS for him, there's suddenly not a peep out of those people about Guel being a bad pilot. And sorry I know this is kind of a pointless rant but I've had to read too many sexists on Twitter and Reddit tell me how good Guel is and how bad Suletta is to not say anything.

Anyway, even though Guel had a newly repaired and upgraded Darilbalde against Suletta's damaged Aerial, Suletta still basically had Guel beat easily before the AI saved him and put Suletta on the defensive.

Like, I know Suletta doesn't literally say "Will you marry me?" but look at this dialogue and tell me with a straight face it's not a marriage proposal. If you think this scene is anything but Suletta asking Miorine if she'll marry her, you're either homophobic or have a horrible case of heteronormative you need looked at.

Miorine is a stronger woman than I am. After hearing that I don't think I would've had the strength to push that button, and you can even see her hands shaking in that moment. The anguish she must feel hearing Suletta say those words and knowing what she's about to do must have killed her inside.

Also...we saw what the GUND-BIT Rifle does to a mobile suit even in school regulation mode. Suletta was so determined to win and marry Miorine that I think she was seconds away from accidentally straight up murdering Guel here.

Honestly, this scene probably hurt me more than any Gundam death ever has. I was depressed for a long time after it aired, and it absolutely made in so much worse that there was a one week delay until episode 18 aired, making this the last thing we saw for two whole weeks until the next episode (which was more pain!) Even though this is my 4th time watching it, it's still difficult to sit through, and it's only made bearable by knowing there's a happy ending waiting for them at the end of this.

Lynn said in an interview that Miorine had to be as cruel as she possibly could in this scene because if Suletta had detected even the slightest hint of kindness or care for her in Miorine's words and actions, she would have held onto that and not let go.

I definitely agree that Miorine's actions here are awful to Suletta and I understand it when people say they wouldn't personally be able to forgive her after something like this. But also realize that:

Miorine never expected Suletta to forgive her or come back to her, and she was fully prepared to throw away her own happiness and her relationship with Suletta for the chance that she could break Suletta free of Prospera and let her live an independent, happy life.

For better or worse, as horrible as this is, it does work. This puts a massive dent into Suletta's belief that listening to her mother and following her motto will always lead to gaining positive things in life. And that dent is important in the next episode.

[manettheeternalelir]

A Practical Guide to Evil

So I've sat with it for most of the day, and while I think I'll be ruminating on it for much longer than that, here are my thoughts.

Obviously, spoilers.

First, Akua Sahelian. Even going in knowing that she was going to get a redemption arc, I was thinking that maybe I misremembered the name, that it was another character that was going to be redeemed. Especially after the demon at Marchford and of course the Doom of Liesse. I will admit to literally squealing when Catherine broke her fucking bones after 1st Liesse. As the story went on, I began to forgive and forget, and to be honest by the middle of Vol. 7 I was like get over it and kiss her, Cat. I guess I just never felt that bad about the Doom after the Everdark, despite the narrative's insistence on reminding me of it. Maybe that's good writing, that I liked Akua so much, maybe not, idk I'm just a little guy.

Hakram was a great character, with a perfect pivot from in Cat's shadow to becoming a man of his own. He was the button that EE could press to ignore all of the logistical issues when the army got big, so that was kind of annoying, but whatever.

Indrani. Around the time that she and Cat finally fucked I was screaming in my head for them to fuck, so that feels right. Really liked her characterization towards the end with the other Refuge refugees, especially the line where Concocter tells her it didn't have to always be a fight. Good shit.

Vivienne was hit or miss for me, she was her own character, but never really felt that important to me, despite obvious narrative importance. Never the same level of emotional connection to me.

Masego, my darling beloved. My sweet perfect boy. My autistic wizard son. I love him. There may be flaws in his character, maybe, but I will never see them. He is the platonic ideal of a wizard to me.

And then Catherine. She went though so many forms of anime magic. Guide truly cemented itself as a shonen to me, just by virtue of never quite knowing what she could actually do. Her characterizations were relatively constant, enough to ground her as a character anyway, but the way that she always had a hidden plan did get a little annoying. It wasn't quite Sherlock Holmes level unrevealed scheming, but there were definitely moments where I groaned out of annoyance, namely when she was take prisoner in Wolof. I'm probably overstating how much wasn't foreshadowed, and I'd guess that for a lot of people the excitement of guessing "how would Cat get out of this one" was fun, but by the end I was rolling my eyes half the time.

Overall I loved it, and I'm definitely going to reread it at some point. It will provide inspiration for my dnd campaign for years to come, and I will be shamelessly stealing characters forever. Kairos Theodosian was incredible, and probably my second favorite character.

My single biggest critique was that there were stretches of like 5 or 6 interludes in a row, which inevitably lead to me saying "Cordelia FUCKING Hasenbach" under my breath

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Your analytic posts are the best:) Could you talk a bit about the scene on the roof of the embassy between Inej and Kaz? I have so many questions. They might die, so why does Inej pick that moment to tell Kaz she is leaving the Dregs? Why not wait until they are on the boat? Also why does Kaz rub her wrist (through the gloves, of course) where the temporary menagerie tattoo is? Why does Inej touch Kaz's cheek? And why does Inej tell him she will die unafraid?

Kaz's POV chapter previous to this scene is the only one where he doesn't really think about Inej. He is totally focused on finding Pekka in the prison. So, I was surprised when he said to Inej "I want you to know..." What did he want her to know? (I'm sure with her hand on his face --the first positive physical contact he's had in almost a decade--and her question to him about dying unafraid, his mind was reeling. It's no wonder he couldn't formulate an answer to her question).

Hello and welcome to episode one of DK Finally Gets It Together And Answers Her Asks Because It's About Damn Time (working title)

I am so sorry you sent this such a long time ago, but thank you so much for asking it and I hope my terrible answeringness (that's a word now, I've decided) hasn't put you off my stuff, I promise I'm not ignoring you on purpose, when I first read this I thought it was really interesting and I needed some time to think about it and now it's so long later it might even be a year and yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm here - let's go!

So I think that the reason Inej chooses to tell Kaz she's leaving the Dregs in this moment is for the very reason you voiced: they might die tonight, and they might not see each other again before that happens. Inej comments earlier on in the book, when they get hot chocolate at a cafe in Djerholm and wait for Nina to return, that whenever she talks about Ravka or about going home Kaz turns away and tries to find another conversation - in this case I think he starts chatting to Jesper - so we already have this idea that he doesn't want to confront the truth of the situation, which is that Ketterdam is a very temporary part of Inej's life. For Kaz the city is what fuels him and he needs it to enact his vengeance, but he also never sees himself leaving it after Rollins is dead and I think that's really interesting because he almost doesn't know how to comprehend any other existence - I've spoken before about how I don't think that killing Rollins will ever be enough for him and that his revenge is essentially an addiction. It's possible that he will one day be able to find the future and the relief that he needs in Inej, but right now not only does he struggle to view himself as ever leaving Ketterdam but he also struggles with the idea of being alone there - as far as he can see Nina and Matthias will go home together/find a new home together, Wylan will make peace with his father over whatever their arguement was and return to the Geldstradt, Jesper will pay off his debts only to carry on digging himself in deeper whilst Kaz is forced to watch him destroy himself, and Inej will leave and let Ketterdam become a brief blip in her life. I think that, for all he doesn't want to care about the others, Kaz has a very real fear of being an impermanent, small aspect of the others' lives whilst they are such a big aspect of his. And the most frightening part of that for him is to not have Inej with him anymore, the one person he can confide in, seemingly the only person he talks to without specific job-related purposes except maybe Jesper, and the only person he can remove his gloves on front of - I think this inner conflict is really well presented in the Bathroom Scene when he thinks about how he'd concocted a thousand schemes to bind her to him, but that ultimately he knew he was in the wrong and so he paid off her contract with Per Haskell and returned it to her. But from Inej's perspective, considering she doesn't know how he feels about her at this time, I think this could almost look cold. He doesn't want to know about her home, her life, who she was supposed to be, and what she's going to do with her future, and she may even be internalising the idea that the idea she can pay off her debts then up and leave angers him because we know that she massively internalised his description of her as "an investment" with damaging psycological consequences including her belief that she would not come to save her when she was taken by Van Eck and this even extending so far as the quote "He'll never trade if you break me". This is a gut-wrenching moment in Crooked Kingdom, when Inej is forced to admit that she genuinely believes Kaz will not care about her anymore if he "has no use for me anymore", whilst the reader knows that Kaz is losing his mind over rescuing her.

And all of that, as Kaz points out to himself on Black Veil during the "I would come for you" scene, is borne of real actions he completes that, although in a far less intentional way, actually align with some of the abuse that Inej has endured; the dehumanisation she experienced from being "bought and sold like a bolt of cotton" and the way she was denied her own identity to the point that she almost cried when she heard her own name said aloud can both be directly linked to the multiple times Kaz refers to her as an "investment" and the way he doesn't want to hear about her life. And his intentions are never to hurt her in the way he does or in the way she was hurt in the past, but it is also more than possible that some of this is part of the way Kaz distances himself from the others and pushes them away. There's a quote I think about a lot when Inej is horrified to see that Jackal masks, sacred symbols to Suli religion and culture, are sold like "party favours" and worn by pleasure seekers in Ketterdam and Kaz dismisses her emotions, and he then says "In moments like that, she thought he might hate him". I remember reading that and thinking 'yeah, because you just defended the appropriation of her culture, which she herself was forced to appropriate for a year whilst enduring horrific abuse, it would be more than fair to be mad at you right now' but I wonder whether that's almost what he wanted? I talked about it in my "Treasure of my heart" analysis as well where he uses a sarcastic expression of his real feelings to mock her so that's she'll be upset and he come somehow justify that it's therefore not worth liking her because she doesn't return his feelings; it's a self-destructive mechanism, but without meaning to it has the potential to hurt Inej as well.

Wow, if there were awards for tangents I think I'd win them. But my point here is that I think this is exactly why she chooses to tell him in this moment, because she has to say it and she has to make him hear it in case they don't make it out the other side of this night. It's also possible that Inej wants to have her dream said out loud in case she dies tonight. Although she was unable to voice it to Nina because she didn't think it was ready to be shared, that was when they were still following the original plan. Now that everything has spiralled very quickly out of control and into a new, far more daring plan with a lot more moving parts, and that will directly involve revealing themselves to be infiltrating the Ice Court, Inej knows there's a very good chance she won't survive the night. And if she isn't going to make it, she needs someone to know what she intends to do, it needs to be said out loud so that it's real and it means something.

Wondering what Kaz wanted Inej to know is one of the things about these books that has at some point or other kept me awake at night, and honestly my personal final conclusion is that I don't think he knew what he was going to say, but that I think this could have been his first attempt at a confession. This scene bears explicit parallels to the Bathroom Scene in Crooked Kingdom, as you said it's the first time they touch and both of them are greatly vulnerable in each moment; this is a moment of fear, of trust, of realisation, and I think for both of them it arguable is to some extent a confession. I think Inej tells Kaz that she will die unafraid as almost the beginning of what eventually becomes "I will have you without armour", she is directly challenging him in the way he hides his emotions but she has still seen them, and she directly telling him that she is trying to heal and that they only have a chance if he tries to heal as well. Inej doesn't tell Kaz she will only have him without his armour to say that he isn't good enough for her as he is or that he needs to fix himself alone for the final goal of being with her, but she is saying that if he continues down this path and never lets anyone help him and never makes any attempt at healing, that she will not be able to stay with him because she has to try to heal as well and she knows she would have to pull herself away from that situation to be able to do so. I really hope this makes sense. But I think that the touching of Kaz's cheek and the touching of the temporary menagerie tattoo could very much be linked to this idea that the confession has begun or will be coming and I also think it bears resemblance to the Bathroom Scene and I really adore that as a paralell

Thank you so so much for your question, I am so sorry about how long it has taken me to respond but I hope that this was interesting and made sense. And I am planning on continuing to work through my inbox moving forwards, so stay tuned for episode two, and please don't be put off form keeping asks coming I promise I am making my way through them! <3

[poomphuripan]

thoughts on https://www.tumblr.com/bitacrytic/751139298231844864/we-cant-blame-tong-long-before-he-called-ming-to?source=share 👀👀

Was it mentioned explicitly in the novel?

hi anon 👋

first and foremost, a disclaimer: i gotta preface that i generally don't share most opinions with op but i'm also a novel reader/fan of actor up poompat who plays ming so my opinion may be rather biased so PLEASE just take my opinion with a grain of salt.

okay while i DO think the choice of "using the baseball bat to knock joe unconscious" was a bit extreme from the director's choice, i don't think that ming's action was some evil scheme concocted and prepped ahead of time.

so in terms of the novel, the way it went was that yan ming xiu (ming/ymx) refused to leave so zhou xiang (joe/zx) headed for the door himself. the only thoughts running in ymx mind was that he couldn't let zx go film that movie with lan xi rong (sol/lxr). so ymx tackled zx from the back aggressively and toppled him onto the floor, refusing to let him go, and since they were on the floor, ymx noticed that underdeath the coffee table, there was an old rope that looked like it hadn't been used for years, he quickly grabbed that and tied zx up. that's basically how it went and you can see that ymx was just suddenly powerful to the point he was able to overpower and tie up joe just to stop him from leaving.

now arguably, the series could have done pretty much the same thing but i've seen cfans discussed this headcanon (that i generally agree) that series!ming went with the bat because he knew he couldn't overpower joe so he just grabbed the nearest thing he could to knock him out. considering that joe is a stuntman, i'd imagine he'd be having all sort of sports equipment lying around the house so i wouldn't headcanon that it's some planned evil scheme.

now the house arrest and why does ming have chains lying around in his house? this one i just consider it as a plot hole for purely aesthetic purposes because of course it looks more expensive and shocking for viewers to see joe being chained up as opposed to being tied up with an old rope which would have been more realistic obviously. so i see this as a plot hole rather than reading into this detail to prove whether the house arrest was planned or not.

i think this question is really interesting because i'm actually writing a piece which also touches on the point of how would the breakup had gone if tong/sol never called ming/joe that evening. so thank you for this question op. i hope this answers your question (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

and most important, please remember THIS ↓

[thus-spoke-lo]

We know Doflamingo has a giant dick, it's practically canon, but who in OP do you think has a cute little dick? 👀

hmm. if i'm honest, that's not a thought i've really entertained, but let's see...

...i think Sanji is probably a candidate. Perhaps part of his over-the-top flirtations and demeanor around women is feeling like he needs to overcompensate? But of course, he has nothing to overcompensate for, and proves himself to be a perfectly competent lover. His size makes him especially ideal for a partner who perhaps isn't particularly experienced or who can't handle too much size-wise, and he's an absolutely gentleman in making sure his love's comfort comes first, always.

...Sabo could possibly be rocking a more compact package. I think he's probably incredibly skilled with his mouth and hands (especially those hands, the way he has to flex them for his dragon claw attacks!), and while I imagine he makes the most of what he has, he's far more focused on approaching pleasure with a more well-rounded perspective.

...I think Usopp could go either way for me (either small or stupidly hung for his proportions), but I could see him potentially in this category! I think he's been hyping himself up for so long about everything in his life (bravery, accomplishments, etc), that while he might have some hang-ups about it, he's probably concocted some passionately-delivered tale about how small-dicked men are actually the most powerful and desirable because they have better blood flow to the rest of their bodies for fighting and to their brains for planning and scheming (or something, idk--you know the type of boasting Usopp is capable of lmao).

[bacchanaliae]

BABY, YOU MAKE ARMAGEDDON LOOK SO EASY ⸻ introducing yoon eunseok, d7.

wait till you hear about this next nominee: YOON EUNSEOK, born on the 8th of SEPTEMBER, 1993 and bears a striking resemblance to SONG KANG. they’re a FOURTH year BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION student and ACED EVERY COURSE WITHOUT AN ATTENDANCE COMPONENT — impressed yet? rumor has it they’re hoping to be the COO OF THE YOON GROUP, but personally, i think they should aim a little higher — something like the king’s club, for one. now, that suits them a little more, don’t you think? guess we’ll just have to see if they’ve got the talent for it in our upcoming recruitment round.

hello!! i'm shrimps, (25, she/they) like the fried rice, and i'm very excited to terrorize your lovely muses with my lil guy eunseokkie! i'm hoping to get around to my dms soon-ish (i'm kissing your foreheads, btw), but feel free to leave a like and i'll appear in your walls! if you'd rather plot on disco, just lmk.

BACKGROUND

pretentious nonsense full bio

tl;dr : guy who's a supporting character in his own story suffers a minor existential crisis in deciding between (a) wanting to do his own thing and (b) fulfilling the role he was quite literally created to play. unfortunately, he's made this everyone else's problem.

this is subject to change if needed to fit with e2, but i imagined the yoon family to run a silicon mining business that skyrocketed in no small part due to eunseok's father marrying into a family that manufactures semiconductors.

eunseok's father . . . now there's a real schemer. everything he did was designed to gain control of the family company, and eunseok was no exception. eunseok has grown up acutely aware of this, and is completely normal and unaffected as a result.

eunseok wasn't always a menace!! eunseok always had a predilection for mischief, but genuinely tried to be the perfect heir as a child — though he soon realized that nothing he did really mattered. if he did everything he was supposed to do, fine. that was the minimum expectation. if he acted out, the consequences would just be swept away like the trouble never happened. yoon eunseok had a very particular role to fulfill, you see, and something like proper parenting wasn't going to get in the way of eunseok's father's plan to take over the family company.

and so a monster was born.

2013 (+ 2016) : invited to the club to terrorize the other initiates. wish i was joking about this one. driven to succeed because (a) he plays to win and this is the sort of environment he thrives in, unfortunately, and (b) as a fuck you to the other initiates in his class. interestingly, the actual benefits of being in the king's club are at most a tertiary motivation to eunseok — i guess one of the weaknesses of never concocting your own schemes is that you aren't great at long-term planning. throws notorious parties. kinda notorious, period — there are rumors that he'll hook up with anyone tall and beautiful, regardless of gender (this is true); that he races mclarens on the weekends (this is false); and that he bribed (true), slept with (false), and physically threatened (technically false) his way to the top end of the class. endlessly ambitious and seemingly insatiable, you might be wondering: what's the point, if eunseok's whole deal is that he'll trot obediently back to daddy's side when the man calls?

well, i'm not saying that it's the painful crash at the end. but i'm not not saying that, either. i don't think eunseok really knows, himself.

2024 : the pawn is put in play; the dog is leashed. placed as an evp somewhere, then named coo upon his father's ascension to ceo/chairman/whatever. appears to have chilled out dramatically, but time will tell whether this is maturity, resignation, or mere suppression. :)))))))

PERSONALITY

entj. waffles between chaotic neutral and chaotic evil.

character inspo/parallels include roman roy, sylvain gautier, dorian gray, the cuntier end of taemin's solo discography (stream eternal out aug 19!!!!), the weeknd's trilogy album, nero, and lestat de lioncourt. also my uni roommate's various finance-bro exes. lmao.

all of this to say: think of the most annoying guy you know. think of a shark in the water. think of a poorly-trained bloodhound let off the leash. think of blood, generally — something slick and thrumming and visceral. if eunseok wants something, he will take it, because honestly? eight times out of ten, the taking is what he really wants, in the end.

weirdly intense but deeply unserious lol.

he's no master manipulator . . . moreso a cudgel lol. does very little plotting for how often he seems to be Making Moves(tm). how things never really come back to bite him should be studied in a lab, or maybe made into a hbs case study, but he's smarter than most people give him credit for, particularly in actual business management (unironically i think he would thrive as a logistics guy), but he cares little for mind games and saving face and also likes baiting fights for fun so. yeah.

thinks everyone playing nice is a hypocrite and a dummy! comes across as super arrogant but like in his mind . . . he's just being honest? like, yeah. he's rich. he wins a lot. by virtue of him winning, someone else, e.g., you, are a loser. life is short so why are we wasting time pretending otherwise?

ooough i wanna punch eunseok just reading this back. ironically i'd still absolutely go to the club with him because despite it all you know our boy is good fun. also you'll probably leave with an insane story. but i digress.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

these r. rough but! i'm really very open to brainstorming!!

a childhood friend — someone who witnessed eunseok's various metamorphoses and who is probably the only person, other than eunseok's father, who was unsurprised when eunseok fell in line after graduation. i'm flexible re: the exact contours of the relationship (ride or dies for life! drifted apart! bitter enemies), but i like the idea of someone knowing eunseok better than he knows himself.

2024 : if yr muse is involved with electronics: i present to u the (pending) heir of korea's largest semiconductor manufacturer. mwah ok.

2016 : love, hate, whatever — the point is that eunseok is used to evoking strong reactions. your muse, however, doesn't seem to care at all, nonreactive to flirtation and fury, and that really doesn't sit well with eunseok. tensions are high; maybe this volatility comes to a head.

2016 : alternately, maybe an initiate who has gotten the idea of gaining eunseok's approval into their head (get well soon!). get ready to have your time supremely wasted, buddy.

2016 : another envelope-pusher. yeah, the king's club parties, but you two party, making recklessness a game.

2016 (+2024, maybe!) : the person whose door eunseok finds himself stumbling to when the party's over. in the haze between intoxication and sobriety, you get to see a eunseok that even eunseok doesn't get to see — one that voices insecurities and worries. it's a weird sense of trust, and not even one necessarily tied to fondness (though it could be!). it could also be fun, i think, if they didn't keep in touch but for eunseok drunk-dialing your muse. that'll make the reunion exciting, eh!!

friends. enemies. flings. i don't necessarily know that eunseok's capable of holding down a relationship but i think it could be funny to see him try. in 2024 his family's probably trying to set him up with someone, so that could be something, maybe?