#specific details that wouldn't be noticeable until the second read

[dangerous-advantage]

finally caved and just bought all of the heaven official's blessing books. look out for the myriad of long-ass analysis posts that are sure to follow

[fairlyang]

Ghostie III 🕷️

the beginning of miguel's obsession with you, he plays with you, & normal couple things

w/c: 3.8K

pairing: ghostface!miguel x f!reader

tags: 18+ smut. mention of murder, SA, dark web, blood, stalking. Instantly obsessed, jerks off, grinding, slight dry humping, marking kink, oral (f!receiving), exhibitionism mention, unprotected sex (don't do that), breakfast in bed, slight fluff, grocery shopping together, fluff (for funsies)

part one ~ part two

Miguel didn't exactly plan on going on a killing spree if anything he was trying hard not to, but some people pushed him over the edge and he was slowly losing his sanity.

He'd been a savior for a few women in the past, he once walked around the streets late at night when he heard yelling coming from an alleyway and he ran to go help. Some drunk men were groping and sexually assaulting a young woman.

He luckily was able to help her and after a good two months he got enough information about them, making sure they'd never do it again.

After he killed those three men, he told himself that'd be it. There was no evidence that'd lead the cops to him. Everything went perfectly and his new become friend, Grace, was relieved that those men won't be bothering other women but not knowing he was the one that killed them.

He told her she can sleep peacefully now and that she'd be safe. He kept telling himself that was it, that he wouldn't cover his hands in blood again.

That was until he noticed just how many awful and terrible people were freely roaming around the streets of his neighborhood, the absolute worst of the worst.

So after the first time, two weeks passed, he had found information on tons of people and had a strict day to day schedule on who he'd kill each day, what time, where, and how. He didn't think he'd get so invested on making sure to put an end to all these fucked up people.

It's like he couldn't help but want to take down all the shitty people he'd find out about. He'd go on the dark web and find different chat rooms where people would talk anonymously about the bad people in their life.

It took him a while to find people letting out their frustrations and concerns that were near him. He somehow ended up stumbling across sites for the movie series 'Scream', he found out it had a lot of crazed fans talking about how they'd be Ghostface and how or who they'd kill.

People went on in graphic detail and he was shocked he hadn't stumbled across it before. Some of the things were more calm, some saying how they wish they could be a victim like Sidney or some saying they've had dreams of being like Billy or Stu.

He wasn't a big of a fan like some fanatics out of there but he did appreciate the attention to detail in the movies and especially loved the intro scenes with the first girls. Just that alone had given him the idea to use the ghostface mask when he first started.

But some were unlike others, yours specifically stood out to him as you wrote about how badly you wanted to be used and played with by a Ghostface killer. He was drawn to the way you worded your biggest fantasy, the way you went into such specific detail of how you wanted everything to be done, what you'd do, how you'd seduce him...

Wanting to read more about this intriguing scream obsessed fan he went on to your page and found dozens of confessions. He couldn't contain his excitement and spent hours reading them all carefully and even reread his favorites.

He was slowly growing obsessed with this stranger not able to help the way his cock twitched under his sweatpants reading your posts, and quickly searched for your IP address, needing to know more about you, where you live, what you looked like.

He groaned when he saw you were using a VPN but found a post where he ultimately was able to find your address in a few seconds. He searched it up on google and felt so happy when he saw that you only lived fifteen minutes away from him.

He forgot all about his schedule of the next week and focused on a new plan, a new plan on how to find you on a day to day basis. He needed to know everything about you, where you studied, who were your friends, family, where you worked, if you had a boyfriend....

That last thought alone was enough to anger him and he groaned, fists clenching. Oh how fast he'd take care of it if you did have one.

He quickly found your socials including a twitter account and a public instagram. He went to your insta first, eyes immediately widening and his head falls back against the sofa cushion. He puts a hand on his bulge, lightly stroking it, his teeth lightly tugging on his bottom lip as he admired how pretty you are.

He knew he'd be attracted to you no matter what, but you being just his type was insane. It's like he was meant to find you.

He looked through all the posts you had up, only four but they all had multiple pictures which was very helpful for him and his hard cock. He clicks on a bikini post and immediately groans, zooming in on the picture looking at the sultry look you posed as well as how perfect your tits looked, and how pretty you looked on your knees, your thighs looking so fucking perfect.

That was the first time he came looking at your pictures, it wasn't the last time either. He'd stroke his cock looking at all your pictures more than he'd like to admit.

He ended up doing some more investigating on you and found you went to the nearby community college with a few of your friends.

And on the boyfriend aspect he was happy to find out through your tweets that you were recently single after a two and a half year relationship with a dickhead that cheated on you with more than one woman.

The fact that he would cheat on you was mind blowing to him and Miguel was already thinking of the ways he wanted to hurt him but it not being his first thought. His first thought was needing to see you in person.

He didn't know how, maybe look at you from afar at a grocery store? Maybe peep outside your bedroom window? Follow you around for a day? No, you're a scream fan surely you'd figure out you were being watched....

He sighed and tried to think of any possible excuse he could go see you that wouldn't make you suspect him of anything. He decided to go with the grocery store plan, but now needing to know when you go, he wrote down your address and thought of maybe watching over you for a bit, just to learn your schedule and know when's the exact day or time you go buy your groceries.

He felt himself become insane in a whole different manner, now instead of wanting to kill, he wanted to protect and obsess over a complete stranger he practically fell in love with at first accidental sighting.

He was already beginning to think of how he could make your biggest fantasies come true, he was already ready to make you the happiest girl possible.

I heard a knock on my window which made me jump but as soon as I saw just a glimpse of the familiar mask I couldn't hide the grin that appeared on my face.

I quickly got up from my bed and ran to the window then unlock it. I swing it open and step aside waiting for my new favorite visitor to come in.

"Y'know you don't exactly have to put on the mask when you come over anymore." I tease as he climbs in.

He stands in front of me and takes the mask off and shows off a wide grin, "well what would be fun in that?"

I shrug and give him a grin back, "maybe to not scare the shit out of my mom if she ever catches you...."

He scoffs and wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him as I wrap mine behind his neck, "wouldn't be the craziest thing in the world considering you have a scream shrine." He teases making me scoff.

"It's not a shrine-"

"Nena, half of your room looks like it belongs in those chatrooms you're in." he teased once again making me glare at him. (Sweetheart)

"You can't say shit about that though since you were on them too!" I said in defense but he just laughs and pressed my body against his, bringing me in for a hug.

"And good on me for finding them otherwise I would've never found my favorite girl." He says making my heart melt.

I move my arms and wrap them around his waist as I listen to his heart beat slightly racing. Crazy, mines doing the exact same.

"I was thinking what if we recreated my grand reveal?" He murmurs making me laugh.

"What miss that day so bad?" I tease and he chuckles.

"Maybe... let's not forget Ryan spoiled my original plan." He replies and I gasp.

I pull away from him and look up, "what was your original idea?"

He laughs and walks over to my bed plopping down before patting the spot next to him which I happily comply to and jump onto my bed then sit next to him.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I lay my head against his chest. "Alright so I'll start off by saying I simply couldn't wait to see you so I purposely went to the diner so you could see me-"

"And thus it technically wasn't Ryan's fault.... In other words, you ruined your own reveal." I say and look up at him as he looks down and rolls his eyes at me.

"Alright fine, maybe I ruined my own reveal but how was I suppose to know he would find me-"

"Well you found me easily.... He found you in a couple minutes by just using face recognition..." I say trying to fight off my laughter.

"Anyway. You, I think were on your back, and I was under your bed waiting for the perfect moment to pop out. I was going to climb on top of you and have my knife against your throat." He admits making me hum.

It is incredibly sad how fast that turned me on.

"I was then going to grind myself against you and remind you of the dirty things you were doing for me the night before." He whispers softly and I nod, putting a hand on his chest and laying my cheek against it.

"I just wanted to see your reaction, the look in your eyes, and hear the first words you would've said to me." He says and traces along my arm softly while his hand moved strands of hair out of my flushed face.

"I knew you'd get excited right away since you specifically said you wanted to be manhandled and thrown around like a rag doll." He murmurs as his hand trails along my jawline gently.

"Wanted you to feel how hard you had me, how I was already wrapped around your little finger before we even officially met." He purrs sending a shiver down my spine and makes me subconsciously squeeze my thighs together.

I felt my breathing getting heavier and I just knew he was taking notice or more like he was doing this on purpose to get a reaction out of me. But I didn't mind.

And he was already starting to read me like a book, which I also didn't mind.

My thoughts get cut off when I feel Miguel slip his hand down my thighs, lightly squeezing the right one then the left before he just rubbed circles against my skin.

"You're so fucking pretty." He whispers and leaves a kiss on my forehead.

He's truly the sweetest.

"Y toda mía." he says and brings his hand back up to cup my jaw, before leaning in and leaving a peck on my lips. (And all mine)

I peck his lips back and he just smiles then leans his forehead against mine. "Toda mía verdad mami?" He asks and I nod. (All mine right)

"Nomas tuya." I confirm and climb onto his lap, his hands already found their to my hips, pressing me down against him. (Only yours)

I bite my lip and move my hips against him, slowly grinding on him. He lays his head back onto the pillow and watches, along with helping me move.

He then decides to let me go which has me pouting for a solid second before he grabbed my hands and intertwined our fingers. The butterflies in my stomach were going insane and my face was burning hot.

How someone could change my life in under two months even though we met through the drastic way ever, was truly beyond my understanding.

Even if we met in "normal circumstances" I still felt like we'd have this strong bond, we had a lot in common and our personalities matched perfectly.

Maybe what one might call soulmates or just the phrase "meant to be" but I was so ecstatic nonetheless.

I then am knocked back into reality when Miguel flips us over and he's now on top of me. I smile and he gives me one right back before bringing his hand down to kiss my neck but soon enough just leaving some new marks.

I sigh and tilt my head back while I bring my fingers up to play with his hair. I felt my eyes flutter as he left new love marks all over my neck to replace the ones that were already fading.

One of his hands went down and started toying with the hem of my shirt but then brought it up my stomach and left it there. He pulled away from my neck and started bringing himself down between my legs.

I spread them wide enough for him to fit when he leaves the softest of kisses on my inner thighs making them shake in anticipation. He then wrapped his arms around my thighs, squeezing the skin as he started to gently suck on my inner thigh.

He's grown to love leaving marks anywhere he can, where people can see them, where only he can, the places he loved the most. He used any excuse under the moon to claim me as his.

Which again I didn't mind, as long as I was able to do the same.

Especially after I connected the dots that my best friends were drooling along with me for the same man, but I was the one that was living rent free in his head.

But still I almost felt like jealous of other women just looking at him, I couldn't bare the thought of other thirsty people like my friends looking at him like how we looked at him.

Them doing it is fine, none of us knew he was my secret ghostface, they still didn't know because i didn't have the guts to admit I fucked our town's killer. But hey he stopped just for me so that's the good news in that.

All they knew was I was getting treated really good in all aspects and that's all they had to know. Plus the so called love bites all over my body prove it.

He pulls away from my thighs and drops down, quickly taking my little thong off and throws it behind us. He settled between my legs and spreads them more before diving straight in.

I moan and immediately grip on to his hair, bring him as close as possible to my pussy. He looks directly into my eyes as he sucks on my clit, one of my weaknesses.

I very quickly learned what I loved the most when Miguel would have his way with me. The first being how vocal he would be, how fast his mood changes, the eye contact, and how down he was to try new things.

Just last week he fucked me in a forest wearing his ghostface attire, was probably the hottest thing we had tried next to when he made me sit in that shed we had in the backyard and watch him jerk off in my room.

He wanted me to see the torture he was in for months while I only had to do it for an hour, I couldn't stand it. He looked so fucking good and those moans on that specific day keep me up at night by how perfect they were.

"Miguel-" I moan and wrap my legs around his head, in a way trapping him there.

He moaned against my pussy making me whimper and tug on his curls harder. "Just like that baby- fuck! always making me feel so good." I cry out and buck my hips forward needing even more.

He wraps his arms around my thighs as he laps his tongue against my folds then teases my hole with the tip of his tongue. "Amor por favor- te necesito tanto." I whine and pout making him give me a wink. (Love please- I need you so bad)

I whimper and try to buck my hips forward but he holds me down, "fuck-"

I then see him buck his hips up and pull his sweatpants down along with his boxers. I smiled then quickly moaned at the sight once he started to grind against the mattress. Holy fuck-

"Mmm Miguel~ no pares por favor-" I moan and close my eyes, laying my head onto my plush pillow as he continues devouring my pussy.  (don’t stop please)

I feel my orgasm build up in my abdomen as he continues thrusting himself onto the mattress. Him doing that was leaving me an even bigger mess. Can he get anymore perfect?

Suddenly he pulls out making me spill out whiny little pleads as he lifted himself up and climbed on top of me. He lifted my legs up and spread them wide before pressing them back.

He gave me a look and I immediately took hold of my legs as he was teasing my poor hole with the tip of his already hard cock. "Miguel no juegues conmigo- te necesito tanto por favor ya-" (don't play with me- I need you so much please go-)

And he slammed into me without another word. We both moan as he let me adjust for a solid second before pulling back and slamming right back into me again. "Fuck!!"

"Pobrecita, me necesitabas tanto mami?" He grunts and I nod, letting out whimpers as grips onto my legs to help him pound into me. (Poor girl you needed me so badly?)

"Siempre te necesito-" I mutter and give him a smile before he starts going faster, thrusting his hips into me. (I always need you-)

He groans and starts pounding into me leaving me a whimpering mess as I tried my hardest to keep quiet. But as always he didn't care and always wanted me to be heard. So everyone knew who I belonged to.

"No te calles ahora nena-" he moans out and rolls his eyes back, "Mmm quiero que tus vecinos nunca se olviden a quien perteneces." he groans making me clench against him. (Don't shut up now baby girl- I want your neighbors to never forget who you belong to)

"Oh fuck!! Miguel- mmm Miguel soy toda tuya-" I cried out and felt my legs begin to shake. (I'm all yours)

"Yes you fucking are." He murmurs and fucks me deeper but slows down.

I then feel my orgasm nearing with every thrust, and I cried out for him, "Miguel! I'm gonna-"

"Cum for me pretty girl- be my perfect girl and cum for me." He moans and with one final deep thrust I felt him fill me up as my orgasm hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was on the verge of tears as my legs violently shook and I was completely breathless. Holy shit-

He was breathing heavily as he went down to kiss the back of my leg. I whimpered and clenched against him making him sigh. He then helped me bring my legs down and then slowly pulled out of me.

All his cum leaked out and dripped down to my asshole but I wasn't really thinking about that. He laid down next to me and wrapped his arms around me gently. I melted into his touch and closed my eyes, letting him embrace me as my breathing calmed down.

"Love and adore you more and more every day my perfect girl." Was the last thing I heard before I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to the spot next to me empty, it always made me sad how he usually slipped out when I fall asleep because he didn't want to get caught by either of my parents leaving in the morning.

But then I hear footsteps coming closer to my room and I wipe my eyes before letting out a yawn as my door opened.

In comes Miguel with a tray of food and I gasp, a smile forming on my face as he grins and walks over to your side of the bed. "You stayed." I say and grin up at him as he sets up the legs of the tray on each side of my legs.

"How could I not?" He says and pecks my lips softly before taking a seat by my legs.

He grabs a strawberry from the bowl and plops it into his mouth before picking up another and brings it to my mouth. I open my mouth and gladly take it, savoring it's sweetness before cutting up a piece of the mini waffles he made. "You're the best boyfriend ever yknow?"

He grins and shrugs, "only for you mami, now until forever."

My heart melts and I stare at him lovingly as I take the first bite of the waffles. "Forever." I say and grab his hand making him intertwine our fingers together.

"Tráeme un paquete de chorizo y queso fresco porfis!" I tell Miguel as I pick up some fresh veggies and he just nods, was about to head off when he looks over at a cucumber and nudges me. (Bring me a pack of chorizo and fresh cheese please)

"Me dio una idea....." he whispers into my ear and I just scoff and slap his shoulder playfully. (I just got an idea....)

"No empieces con tus tonterías aquí de todos lados." I whisper fast and stuff some bell peppers into a bag. (Do not start with your dumb shit here of all places)

"Porque?" He whined making me roll my eyes. (Why?)

"Ya sabes porque. Estamos en la calle..." I say and he smirks. (You know why. We're in public...)

"Eso no dijiste la última semana.." he says and I gasp, slapping his arm and glaring at him. (That's not what you said last week..)

[rosedforbes]

I've been working on this for an embarrassing amount of time, but i finally mustered the courage to post it! this a gift for @galvanizedfriend , my favorite autor, moot, and dare I say friend, on tumblr! Yokan, I'll never stop saying that your fictions are the only thing keeping me sane at the moment, and they've always been a tiny lantern during some tough periods of my life. I really hope you'll like this little Drabble about Kleve 🙏

DISCLAIMERS: Eve is NOT my character, she's from Yokan's series The Wolf ! also, this is my first time ever writing a fan fiction, and English is not my native language, so please, have mercy.

maybe there's a god, after all.

That's the thought that has been crossing Klaus' mind for sixteen years, every single time he looked at his little girl.

After his experience with Marcel, Klaus has realized that raising a child into his own reflection is not a smart move. In fact, if Eve had turned out like her father, it would've been the very end of the whole human - and inhuman - species. Luckily for everyone, his beautiful princess is essentially the mini version of the only woman who shares the custody of his immortal heart with her: Caroline.

They couldn't be more similar if they tried. Like mother, like daughter.

If it wasn't for some specific details that Eve couldn't have taken from anyone but him, Klaus thinks that people would start questioning if Caroline made Eve by herself, without the contribution that is usually required to create another living creature.

That, is all him.

Even if he's quite proud – and grateful — about how Eve's turned out just like her magnificent mother, Klaus can't help but smile when he witness the appearance of one those details he mentioned before: the fondness for art, the passion for swords duels — a voice in the back of his mind reminds him of something Caroline said about this specific factor, "it's called fencing, Klaus. You don't need to kill your opponent anymore to prove your victory." or something along those lines —  the constant presence of dark humor and sarcasm in any of her conversations, and her gigantic, stormy blue eyes that are accompanied by a pair of dimples and a wicked little smile whenever she got something on her mind.

Something that Eve clearly hasn't taken from him though, is her way of showing emotions. Just like his wife, Eve wears her emotions like a second skin, which leads to her being a terrible liar. If she's happy, then the room will light up as soon as she enters it, and everyone can't help but be drawn to her joyful behavior. On the other end, if she's feeling sad, angry, or any other kind of negative emotion, then... Well, she would keep her mouth shut and open it just to make salty remarks, keeping an annoyed — yet adorable, if you ask him — little pout on her face.

That's how Klaus knows that something is wrong.

As soon as he sets foot in the compound, he's greeted by a very common view: Freya and Eve, sitting around the table of the living room, reading and chanting spells.

Normally, Klaus would walk towards them just to make them aware of his presence and to steal a kiss on his daughter's cheek as a brief salute, but he soon realizes that Freya is the only one writing down something in witch gibberish, while Eve is just quietly looking at her aunt, with a frowned expression all over her face.

His little wolf is so caught up on Freya's doing that she doesn't notice him until he's behind her, trying to understand what kind of spell his sister is casting, with a hand gently touching her shoulder. Eve tenses up at the touch, turning her head to look at him almost as fast as a regular vampire. As soon as she sees him though, she relaxes a little bit, offering him a tight lipped smile.

"Hey, Daddy," she says, voice so quiet and hoarse that he probably wouldn't have heard her if it wasn't for his vampirism. " 'm sorry, didn't hear you coming in."

Hearing Eve talking with such a tired and low tone makes his heart explode with concern. She's pure sunshine, his daughter, this cloud of negativity does not belong to her. Nonetheless, he tries to mask his thoughts with a tight lipped smile, looking down at Eve, "Don't worry, sweetheart," He says, moving his eyes to his sister, who hasn't left hers from the grimoires spread around the table even as he introduced himself, "Freya, care to explain what's happening or do I have to guess?" He asks with a tone that indicates nothing but irritation.

Klaus arches his brows in confusion, his gaze switching between Eve and Freya, as to ask for one of them to elaborate what he just heard.

Freya finally looks up, if only to send him a not-so-friendly glare, but before she can snap right back at him, Eve takes word, looking at him like she's about to have a nervous breakdown "Apparently, I'm on house arrest until the Jury," she indicates Freya with her eyes, before turning her attention back to him, "tells me otherwise."  She concludes, and the exasperation of her tone is almost touchable.

It's Freya the one that, with a sigh, steps in. "Some witches have been messing around with a kind of magic way too difficult for them to understand, leading to an imbalance that covers all New Orleans." She explains, rubbing her hands on her temples. "Long story short: right now, every witch in New Orleans is having trouble controlling their magic, especially the younger ones like Eve. In addition, being the tribid gives her an enormous amount of power which is hard to control on a good day, so it's better if we keep her under control, in a limited and safe space."

Eve rolls her eyes as soon as Freya concludes, shifting her position to show him the magic-restraining bracelet on her wrist. "I haven't seen this freaking bracelet in years. I thought I was finally free, but no, some dumbass witch thought it was a good idea to mess with something way too big for them to understand, turning me into a fu-"

"Language." Both Klaus and Freya interrupts her, giving Eve a warning look.

she glares at both of them, visibly annoyed.

"turning me into a freaking bomb." she grumbles, looking down at the pages of the grimoires.

Christ, Klaus thinks, he's losing points as the cool parent.

"Dad?" Eve says, looking at him with an arched eyebrow, like she's expecting something from him. "Are you still here? You haven't threatened anyone since you heard of this, and it's more concerning than a bunch of low-level witches messing around." She concludes.

Klaus takes a long sigh, pulling out his phone from his pocket to send a message to Caroline and the rest of the family. It takes all of his willpower to not storm out and look for this gang of inconsiderate witches, accompanied by nothing but his fury, showing them the treatment that is reserved specifically to the ones that put his daughter in a bad mood, but he recognized the fact that this situation is already unsteady, and there is no space for his impulsiveness, yet.

Well, the sarcastic remarks are only funny when they're not directed at him.

"Trust me, Eve, I have lots to say, but none of it is appropriate in the presence of a child." he retorts, switching his attention back to Freya. "I've sent a message to Caroline and to our siblings, they should all be here in about 40 minutes."

Freya simply nods, gathering all the magic stuff from the table. "I'll call Vincent." she stands up, giving a kiss on Eve's head. "I'm pretty sure he's more informed than us at the moment. Besides, another witch would be helpful."

"what am I? a ghost?!" Eve snaps when Freya disappears in her own bedroom. "I can't use magic, I'm on house arrest, this handcuff is back around my wrist and I haven't even had my daily bignets!" she explains desperately, curling on herself, resting her chin and arms over her knees.

Klaus can't help the low chuckles coming out of his mouth, something that earns him a dirty look from his little wolf.

"I'm glad you find my misery amusing. Father of the year, really." Eve says, enunciating her pout even more.

"Not at all, sweetheart. To be completely honest, I would love nothing more than to go fetch those witches myself and show them what happens when someone dares to upset my daughter," Eve promptly rolls his eyes at that, but he sees how she's trying to bite back a smile.

"However, Your mother would eviscerate me if my impulsiveness took place in a delicate situation such as this one."

"Then what do we do while waiting for mom to come home?" Eve says, and truth to be told, patience has never been a strong suits of her.

"Well, I did get that new painting set you've mentioned lately." He says with a grin, observing how Eve's pout changes to a wide smile between record time.

"The pink one?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"You're the best!" she chirps, jumping from her chair to wrap her arms around his waist, the bad mood evaporating completely from her body. Klaus can't help but smile when he looks down at his daughter, holding her close to him. Oh, how he wishes time would stop, just to remain like this for at least a decade, with his little girl safe, sound and happy in his arms, where no bad intentions can reach her.

"Come on, sweetheart," He says, grabbing her hands "let's see if those colors actually blend on their own." he concludes with a wink, leading her towards the art studio. He knows this happiness is going to be short-lived, but the least he can do is to keep Eve's mind occupied, distracting her from the stress of this situation. As he enters the room, Klaus notices that he's running out of dark red acrylic.

Well, it appears those witches are going to be useful, after all.

[pomrania]

Time to actually start thinking about the Bestiaryposting creature of the week, if I want to get its design done today and the picture done tomorrow (because it was NOT fun, having to rush last week). This is the "narngreg".

Things actually mentioned about its physical description... it's beautiful, multi-coloured, "dabbed all over with very small circular spots [...] black and white colouring with eye-shaped circles of yellow", the young have sharp claws, gives birth to live young.

Things that are implied by what we're given.... Likely a mammal because of the whole "live birth" thing, but it could always be Something Weird (like a gryphon, which... honestly I'm not positive this isn't, like I don't THINK it's a gryphon but I can't be sure). It sleeps for a few days after eating until full. It's gentle and only has the dragon as its enemy... wait is this an elephant, because I remember reading that elephants were traditionally considered enemies of dragons in stuff like this; probably not, but I might use some elephant elements in this (claws and tusks are similar enough in concept, even though they'd be familiar with tusks from non-elephant animals because boars). Its breath smells sweet, and it's followed by other animals because of that, so it either naturally produces alcohol or it's a Disney princess. There's three offspring per birth, and only one successful pregnancy per animal.

...I'm kind of curious about how some bits are "Pliny says", "Physiologus says", and other bits are just plain reported as fact. @maniculum, if you've already information somewhere on this (that isn't a spoiler), could you please link it to me; otherwise, if you feel like rambling about what things were just described and what things had an appeal to a source, and why, I'd be interested in reading it. (No rush; I'll likely forget about this approximately ten seconds after posting, so I won't notice a difference between "near-immediate response" and "response half a year later".)

Most of the other features can be played around with -- even "sharp claws" is only specified for the YOUNG, it could be one of those things that falls off or gets blunted with maturity -- but the description is very specific about the colour and patterning. There's prolly a couple different ways to interpret it, but I've enough of a cognitive load with "designing an entire-ass creature based solely on vibes", so I'll go with what to me is the most straight-forward interpretation: the narngreg's base colours are white and black, in some combination, then there's yellow over it, like someone took paint to a zebra.

Now, what could the black and white stuff be like.... I mentioned "zebra", but I'm ruling that out for the very good reason of "I don't want to have to draw all those stripes". Dalmatian-type spots wouldn't fit the phrasing; something like pinto would, though, where it's large splotches. Looked up "tapir" because I half-remembered something, and that's definitely some black and white colouring; very distinct, white starting just behind the shoulders, continuing towards the rump, then stopping above the hindlegs (I can't tell if the tail is included in that area or not, and I don't care enough to keep searching further). "Orca" is another option, which has the added benefit of a light underside which is a feature I just keep coming back to because it is pretty.

"Eye-shaped circles of yellow"... I don't want to draw something that would LITERALLY look like an eye, because that would freak me out, which is undesirable for any piece I intend to spend time working on. Could be something like, I think the marking's called a "rosette", on a cheetah or leopard (can't remember which one it is). Could be almond-shaped; or, upon rereading the description, it might be something where the yellow bits are small enough I don't have to give them any detail.

So that's my rambling for the moment; ended up getting a few things figured out, and some other things where at least I've written down the possibilities so I won't have to go about it from scratch. Next update will be once I've gotten enough worked out in my mind that I can at least draw some options.

[chaoslinych]

come, let's sing the sailor song!!!!

yay another art plan is done (hoping to not lose all the other ones in my head)

at first i just wanted to make a post with only Zeefarer, and specifically tell a story about why a version of her as a sequencer is even scarier than ONE OF THE SCARIEST canon variants, and how did we even come to this

but another idea with this suddenly happened, and i love it so much too (i've had an idea of making references for fl/ss characters like i did for Kys, and i think that's when i'm gonna explain everything, THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF TEXT, AGAIN)

actually it's a silly trend that i've of course MISSED, but today i'm gonna talk about those two BECAUSE!!!! ABSOLUTELY SUDDENLY THIS PAIR TURNED OUT TO BE MORE INTERESTING THAN JUST A "HEEHEE I LOVE THOSE CHARACTERS, THEY'RE A COUPLE NOW"

at first it was actually like this, that's a normal situation for me

BUT HERE'S AT LEAST TWO SITUATIONS THAT MAKE THEM AWESOME

(I have to cut posts so often, I LOVE WRITING LETTERS SO MUCH)

if you've played through icarian cup, you know that the main thing about Zeefarer is her neverending lexicon of zailor speech, which is not just a fun detail, but also a part of her drama as a character, because the only one who understands her and is her only actual friend (and a translator) is a boot from Polythreme, but here's a thing, SHE LOSES IT TOO (by her own will) AFTER THE RACE (in our variant) as well as her crew, which could at least half understand her, and which probably ended up becoming sequencers

that's already a situation

BUT WE ALSO HAVE DIPLOMAT

who doesn't keep diplomatic notes in principle, either because of their boundless cunning, or because of their excellent memory, honestly I think both

AND LITERALLY, when they talk with Zeefarer, they could memorize her speech expressions and sooner or later start to understand her without any help

THIS IS VERY CUTE

i especially can imagine a situation in which the Zeefarer notices this herself, specifically when Diplomat translates her words for another person, just like the helpful boot in the ES (would be nice to draw this too but i'm not promising this)

AND HERE'S A SECOND SITUATION, that happens somewhere in the middle of the first one

as you could guess, in our variant the Zeefarer "wins" but manages to get saved, it's a spoiler, so i'm just gonna tell that despite being saved and the fact that the winner gets to their senses, is actually going through a sort of an adaptation (which is still a headcanon but takes root in many reasons, such as the fact that when he's saved, the Excursionist mentions that his dreams haven't went back to normal) and it's impossible to save them from becoming at least a normal sequencer

and i've already told that the Zeefarer is already in a situation, and that adds more to it, because even if the person can resist it, it's inevitable, and the more they resist the worse is their mental state and this makes it easier for a person to just break and get back to the machine (in our thoughts, you need to at least just get back to the geode)

unfortunately, it's not very easy to break Zeefarer despite the first half of her situation, and she could extend this until something really bad would happen

but thankfully there's a Diplomat who is an informant of the new sequence, they are clearly not allowed to know the true purpose of icarian cup, but here it's obvious that the one who disappears becomes a sequencer (BUT THERE'S A NUANCE, YEAH)

but anyway, we also have the Commodore, who's VERY good at reading people, and definitely knows how does the machine and the sequencers work, so he could understand that the Zeefarer's adaptation would be difficult, and to make sure that everything goes nicely (this is a new sequencer after all, and a useful one), it wouldn't hurt to send somebody to help her (and especially if it's a person who is not a sequencer, i think)

i don't have any ideas of how this dialogue would go, but definitely not that easily due to the Zeefarer's personality and her mental state, but in the end very effective

and despite this whole scary way, we actually come to a happy end, yay

(oh and she also gets her crew back then, not the ship from the race tho, which is kind of funny)

and thanks to Rinja for the help with translation, as usual, yay

[tgrailwar-zero]

I mean, you did call us the devil, wouldn't the company of a demon be pretty fitting?

You could practically hear him roll his eyes.

ARCHIVIST: "Mhm."

Any other attempts at banter were met with a brick wall. It seemed like he had said his piece, and didn't exactly care enough to hold a conversation.

It was at this point that you realized that AVENGER had also walked off.

...Guess that meant it was time to get going.

As you were shooed off by the ARCHIVIST (or left before he had a chance to, at least), it was just you and the cards.

The card really was self-explanatory. It had the name of the section blinking on it, and served as a quiet GPS to lead you there. It was very useful. And, when you found the second you needed, you noticed that the shelves moved and shifted and all you had to do was put in either the specific name of a book, or the topic, and it would get you started.

Reading was… well, uneventful if you didn't enjoy research, but great if you did.

There wasn't really much here that differed from what SIGURD had told you regarding the Moon Cell specifically, which wasn't a ton to begin with.

The Moon Cell was a natural phenomenon, Magi flocked to it, Holy Grail War, Titan attack.

It goes into some detail concerning a Great Lunar Ritual, with experience prompting that it was supposedly what the locals referred to the Grail War as. A free-for-all, with 999 preliminary participants that eventually got pared down to 128 Masters and Servants, fighting for the 'Holy Grail' within the Moon. Golden kings, massive mechanized warriors, so on so forth.

And then there was more of what SIGURD told you.

The Titan attacked, and the Holy Grail War went from a Free-for-All to an actual War, at least with the Servants and Masters both alive and willing to participate. An coalition called 'The Lunar Sea Council', headed by the heir to the West European Plutocracy, brought together Wizards and warriors alike.

In your research, you reach a bit of a hitch.

You find a message tucked in the data- opening it up. A knight, blond with shining armor, spoke quietly.

SERVANT: "I may get in some trouble for this…Caster, sorry, 'The Priestess' wants us to move on. Karna and I are the only ones that remember still. The others are new, fresh, told that this world is the only one that matters until she awakens. To sit on our laurels for now, and await her to gather up all of the power she can before engaging the Titan."

SERVANT: "I do not blame her. Our current situation is terrifying. They snuffed out Excalibur before it could even begin to shine, and my sword pales in comparison. To be told to sit and wait is irritating, but I can't argue. We're backed against a wall. Wanting a fresh start- a facade of normalcy... "

SERVANT: "Still… Leo… one day, I will return to the home front, and destroy that Titan for you. I won't move on- I won't forget. Not yet. Not until I can proudly face you when we meet again."

GAWAIN: "I, Gawain, promise you that."

The message ends. Quietly. You stew in that quiet for a moment, with the knowledge that the Servant in that message- as brave and caring as he was- never made it back to the Moon. The Interlopers and their Servants killed him. Culled him before his dream could be realized.

With that- you continue reading.

The rest of the reading is pretty straightforward. Again, mostly rehashing what SIGURD had relayed to you with some extra details.

A Heavenly Divinity, having reduced herself to the status of a Heroic Spirit, made a stand against the Titan. Using her immense power, she established a barrier between the remnants of humanity and the great titan, building a new world where life flourished- though the moon remained barren, kept ever vigil by the Lair Servants that protect the new barrier, the new world known as the 'Solar Cell' from harm.

If anything, the most interesting piece of information was the utter lack of information regarding the Moon. No True Names, no names of participating Wizards, no details about the Ritual or what exactly the 'Holy Grail' the magi were hunting for was. The titan attacked, but outside of it being great and terrible and that it had been deterred by the Heavenly Divinity, there really wasn't much else... which, considering how dense this Archive was, there should be something... right?

Regardless, that was all you could find for now.

You put down the books you had, before realizing you weren't alone. There was someone… very close to your immediate vicinity.

In other words, that was a lot of chest.

...You looked up at the head attached to the aforementioned chest.

PLAYBOY (NO SENSE OF PERSONAL SPACE): "Ga… wain…"

Now- running into a handsome, sensitive man in the library? If this was a different genre, this might count as a 'meet-cute'. Perhaps a 'romance flag'. For now, it was just a 'meet', and the 'cute' was really up to interpretation considering the opinions of your twisted amalgamated mind(s), and the color of the flag currently raised here was to be determined.

[biancatronic]

The First Meet the Seven Guardians

I decided to post parts for someone who doesn't have Ao3, so I'm going to do a poll for which guardian appears on side two.

Also, happy birthday, guardians of Lord X!

https://x.com/DaKittyfluf/status/1771737317763383770?s=20

Warnings before reading: Mockery of God and religion, minor profanity, mild and half light description of body horror.

Note: reader does not have a specific genre

Chapter one - Pray

You were running from your tormentor inside your castle where he takes you often and even to play with you, you took advantage of the game you were playing and ran with your life to have some gaming time with an old hedgehog from that horrible dimension, just one little peace without your executioner not breathing down your neck for a measly 3 seconds of peace.

You were sweating like never before and the tears coming out of your eyes showed how desperate you were to have peace in this world just for a moment, you kept running down each corridor turning every corner until you reached a specific corridor that caught your attention that you you hid without thinking about anything hoping that your something Lord wouldn't find them, taking a deep breath with each pause you looked around where they were and noticed the change in the environment around them the corridor was gray of different tones to a little white in certain details and pale with white candles lit the end that led to this running was different from the purple concrete walls and the floor of black and white checkered walkers you never saw this running the last time you were here, but the new place stops and interests you and with Afraid of finding something worse than your death, you curious people follow the instinct of curiosity and start walking in this mysterious new place.

Running was long and occasionally you looked back to see if anyone was following you, luckily no one has followed you yet since you infiltrate this new corridor, for now, thinking that this running only led to the long and torturous loop repeating the walk, finally this place led to a new place, the new room revealed a new curious and fascinating environment, the place you now arrived looked like, or rather was, a gray and white church surrounded by statues of slender dark gray hedgehogs with their hands up with their mouths abnormally open and black eyes, you walk cautiously in this unfamiliar place and you could have sworn you saw in your peripheral vision all of them slowly turn to fix their blank gaze on you as you passed by them you sometimes looked back to see and the statues moved but They didn't move at any point, maybe you were hallucinating.

[continue]

[snootlestheangel]

GazAlex Undercover AU Sneak Peek

Author's Note: I blame @stuffireadandenjoy for having me already working on this when I promised myself I wouldn't start another WIP until I finished at least one of them. But someone had to come up with the idea of Selkies!Soap and Gaz trying to seduce Ghost and Alex respectively...

Anyways, good reading to y'all and feel free to ask questions/for more snippets since it won't be a priority work.

If y'all want to suggest titles for the fic, I'm all for it. I know nothing but what happens below and like 2, maybe 3 scenes

A fucking cruise.

That's the last thing Kyle Garrick wants in his life.

He's good and well with ships and the water, but something about cruises specifically makes the sergeant want to cut his career short. His hatred stems from an unfortunate experience in his childhood, but the haunting memory of the incident has forever tarnished his ability to calmly step foot onto a cruise ship.

Needless to say, the sour expression on his face is enough to clue Captain Price and Laswell into his displeasure with the proposed undercover operation he's being assigned.

"It's only two weeks. That's the window we have on these guys, and they're using the cruise as cover for moving some items of interest." Laswell says in an attempt to ease Gaz's clear disgust. Gaz doesn't respond, just remains frowning as he listens.

"You'll be working with a contact of mine. We'll have you two meet and then we'll discuss the cover story." Laswell continues as she ignores the pouting sergeant in front of her.

But Gaz's problem isn't just the idea of being stuck on a cruise ship.

It's being in an undercover operation while stuck on a cruise ship.

Of course, Gaz's luck is just so that he's never done such an in-depth undercover operation before, and it especially doesn't help he's not even gotten a name for the partner he's been assigned.

"Trustworthy?" Gaz asks, and Price quirks a brow, mostly amused that Gaz would be bold enough to question the trustworthiness of Laswell's contact.

"I like to believe so. And he's done plenty of undercover operations, so he can help keep your head above water during the two weeks." Laswell answers, and Gaz's mood only worsens. The second to last thing he needs in life is a bossy, know-it-all "partner" telling him what to do. Laswell must notice his displeasure, as she shakes her head with a smile.

"Relax, he's not a bossy person. Far from it, if you had to ask me." Laswell's clarification does little to ease Gaz's frustrations, but it helps some. At least he might be treated more with respect and given advice, rather than be strictly ordered around. Gaz sighs, letting the tension fall from his shoulders as he slouches further in his seat.

"You can back out anytime, Gaz." Price mumbles, and Gaz glances over at him. There's no judgement, just concern, and it eases more of Gaz's anxieties.

"No, I'm in."

"Good. Tomorrow, you two will meet for breakfast and then head back here for a briefing on further mission details." Laswell hands Gaz a small piece of paper, the address of the place he's meeting tomorrow morning written across it. He takes it with a nod, the reality of his commitment starting to get to him.

Here's to hoping this works.

[metaldragoon]

hello! i love your gifs. how do you make them look so good? what settings do you use in photoshop? i'm a beginner when it comes to gifs and i could use some help!

How 'bout go fuck yaself, huh?!

Just kidding. Hello! Thank you for the message, I am easily swayed to do anything in the name of praise. Before I get started, although by the time you've read this I've already finished, feel free to IM me and I would be happy to very finely detail explicitly how I do things for anyone with the nose for knowledge in GIF making.

The first and most important thing is to capture whatever you can in as high as quality it comes in. 720p? Don't even waste my time. So anyways, you've got your crispy beautiful animation imported, it's time to resize it.

The two important things are to go slightly over the final canvas size you want (500px wide) and to adjust the resample to Bicubic Sharper (or Bicubic, I don't notice any difference). I'm sure it's not universally the best option to use Bicubic Sharper but I've never bothered double checking. Then adjust the canvas size, knock off at least 2 pixels to trim a pixel from the top, bottom, and sides of the GIF. Since GIFs are binary with their transparency, when you resize it the edges can get ugly-looking as some pixels are 100% opacity and some are 0% opacity, that's why I crop that extra pixel from each side. I happen to be using a pretty poor example with my Slam Dunk GIF I'm making since it's not a standard 16:9 ratio, so mine will actually be cropped to 500x268 instead of a standard 500x280. If you're working on something that's 4:3 which is like old school anime style, crop it before adjusting the image size so it's 1440x1080, then resize it and it should be 502x377, to which you would then crop it to 500x375. I actually often crop even wide screen things to a 4:3 ratio because it's usually just unnecessary space on the sides and it makes our focal point pop more!

This is less relevant with digital animation, it's much cleaner and doesn't have as much noise, but if we're in our hand-drawn era, frames be shakin' and grainy! We only have 256 colours so any non-vital frames should be removed so they're not hogging up our sharp colours. I have quite a small GIF here, 36 frames is no big deal, so the quality won't be necessarily important, but if you're doing something that's 200 frames it'll definitely losing a bit of colour and wasting a tonne of space.

Again, a tiny 36 frame gif isn't the best, but by picking out shaky frames or ones that have blips you can see a bit of a contrast difference specifically in the clouds in this example thanks to having those extra colours, and the start of the GIF doesn't shake as much. The first GIF is also twice the size (1.92 MB vs 954 KB) which means I could make a GIF twice as long with doing this before worrying about size issues. This is what my final timeline looks like:

Beyond that, I wouldn't really do anything. I specifically adjusted each frame to match the original speed just so they would sync up the same for my comparison but normally I would have just re-timed every frame to be 0.12 seconds and adjust it using my own personal eye test to see if I think anything needs to be sped up or can be cut out even further.

You can also add some overlay adjustments if you want, depending on the show I'll bother with that but usually it affects the quality, but dark scenes can sometimes need it. The only four I ever touch are brightness/contract, vibrance, hue/saturation, and colour balance. I don't have any specific numbers I use, I just slide them around until I'm happy with the result. Ultimately, I like to just keep shows as they were originally because my main goal is archival of things I like, but it can be nice to add some pop with brighter colours on shows with a dull palette. But yeah, feel free to message me in IM if you want more help. I'll help with a specific GIF so what I've said is maybe a little easier to understand how to apply things. There's lots of more other things you can do if you are more dedicated like blurs and sharpens but I don't really bother with that anymore.

[mywritingonlyfans]

You're dating Xavier Thorne. (Part1' Headcanons' Fluff!)

• Xavier's eyes on you were solemn, they always were. The greenish ocean would take you from top to bottom, no matter the occasion, memorizing every detail attentively. When he had you close, he would have his hands on you, like an involuntary and disturbing act, sometimes on your waist, pushing your hair away or pulling you closer to him so that your bodies are close and he can touch his lips to your temple (or place multiple kisses on the top of your head since he was much taller than you), all this with his eyes attentive to your movements and countenance; he would draw you as soon as he could in a sigh that he couldn't get enough of you. And you'd love that no matter what. You're his muse.

• It wouldn't take him long to notice some of your favorite things; like your flowers!!! (specifically tulips, as you had them in your earrings, hair accessories and fresh ones by your bed that the teacher brought to you as first gift; he knew that it reminded you of your mother and that, in his view sensitive artist, could see in your eyes how that sent you home). Therefore, whenever he had you by his side during classes, he would find himself absent-mindedly drawing clustered tulips in his notebook, hiding a goofy smile as he longed for your loving gaze before him, he would wait until the end of class and before you left the room, he would ask you to close your eyes, he would whisper in his husky voice so you wouldn't peek just so he could hear your warm laugh filling his ears, and he would make the flowers real, in seconds you would be jumping on his neck with open arms, crushing the tulips and squeezing him in an infectious smile that'd made his chest flutter in warmth, you would take the flowers in your arms and he would know that you would keep them in water in your room until he provided fresh ones; you would thank him immensely, always finding his gift one of the most fascinating, shower him with wet kisses that he would answer eagerly and you'd not fail to leave one of the tulips stuck in his hair before grabbing his hand and walking down the halls of nevermore. You'd love the eyes on you, people watching how in love you were with each other in goofy smile. You're his.

• Well, and since his love language, in addition to enjoying giving gifts, would be physical touch and quality time, he would never resist going to you, even if you refuse saying you don't need it, when you call him, during night or just after some class, and he realized from the call that you weren't having your best day he'd be coming to see you. Your meetings, secret or not, would be by some tree and bucolic landscape of the high school or in your own room, in which your roommate would gladly help to push Xavier there with you without anyone noticing because she knew that it would do you good and soon you would feel better. Xavier would present you with sweets, your favorites, some tulips that he would never let go of pampering you with them (and you always smiled goofily knowing that he was the one who designed them due to the plant's features, and you loved each second of that), without saying much, as soon as he lays down on your bed, you would snuggle into him, letting your ear make room in his chest and letting his heartbeat soothe you as he strokes your hair, you would stay that way for hours (sometimes even stayed overnight, only realizing you did this when your roommate came in and forced him to leave before you guys got into trouble, you would hate that but understand because you know she is always right). From time to time, you talk about future dates you need to have together, movies you still need to watch and books you two should read!!! and talking about books, something, most of the times honestly, he loved, as much as you do, how he knew how to cheer you up and calm you down in times of stress (like finals or karma from weirdos on nevermore), he just developed the habit of picking a book he knows you'd like from the library, and always at those dark times, he would appear with the book in hands, he would observe your affectionate smile that answered his before you, and he would pull you to his chest, resting his chin on your shoulder so that every inch of your body was in touch with his, then, he would have the book open before your eyes, and he would start to read with his calm and relaxed voice close to your ear (putting you to sleep), he would hear and feel your affectionate laugh in his chest, making him happy to make you feel better, as you sent vibrations through his chest at his failed attempt to produce some accent he thought sounded like the character he was reading at the moment. You always had a lot of laughs, sometimes you chose characters and read together and it always works to calm you down and even make you fall asleep in his arms as he keeps an admiring smile in front of you. He couldn't love you any less.

[imdoingaokay]

May I ask for DAI romance companions reaction to their lover making them a LOVELY piece of artwork for them??

Also if you wouldn't mind, Solas’ reaction as well?

Solas will always be included in the romanced companion dai lineup unless stated otherwise, so don’t you worry my dear anon. And so will Varric because I might as well do what Bioware was too much of a coward to do.

Sorry I've been gone for so long, I've been kept busy with nursing school. Good news, I passed my first semester! Woohoo! I'm hoping to get some more stuff out before I go back to school, wish me luck lol!

A rarely seen, but rumored skill that the Inquisitor had was art. Perhaps being raised the way they were, they got exposed to it and just had a knack for painting, more specifically, painting portraits.

If The Inquisitor’s friends were to glance at the leatherbound notebook they kept so tightly to their person, they would see multiple sketches of landscapes, animals, and the people The Inquisitor came across on their journeys. However, The Inquisitor kept this notebook tucked away in their bag or their jacket when they traveled, so it was seldom seen… almost.

One day, during a somewhat slow day of pomp and circumstance, the lover of the Inquisitor just so happened to come across the notebook… unprotected.

The pair had been taking some time away from stuffy nobles and constant threats to enjoy each other’s presence, except, when a messenger came by, claiming that Leliana had a report for the Inquisitor and the Inquisitor alone, they simply got up and left. Not before leaving a kiss on the cheek of their lover. The Inquisitor’s lover knew it was an invasion of privacy, but, it was the Inquisitor’s fault for keeping it there. So, curiosity bubbling over, the lover peered over to see what had the Inquisitor so fascinated moments before.

It was a sketch of them, of their face. A waist-up portrait of them.

Blackwall/Thom Rainer: Rainer couldn’t help but break out into a smile, he had been working so hard on the little griffon he had been making that he hardly noticed how furrowed his brow must’ve looked. His finger lingered on the subtle details spread across the page, some details so small he wouldn’t have noticed had he not picked up the piece of art and studied it closer.

Cassandra: Cassandra hadn’t even thought of the whole invasion of privacy, in a split second, she grabbed the notebook and stared at the Inquisitor’s work. The book she had been reading was long forgotten. And it had all but dematerialized when she saw the sketch of herself. She could feel a blush slowly creep up her cheeks until she was certain her entire face was red. At the slightest noise, she shoved the notebook back to its original spot, only to quickly pick it back up and inspect her lover’s handiwork.

Cullen Rutherford: He took the longest to finally look, pondering whether or not he would invade his lover’s privacy by taking the shortest peek.

He breaks, of course, less than a minute after he begins his internal debate.

He hurriedly flips through the pages and finds their most recent work, and his breath hitches. 

He traces the beautiful sketch and finds himself mirroring the facial expression The Inquisitor caught him in. He can’t help but get lost in the drawings his Inquisitor has created. Still, every time a soldier walks in, it breaks him from any immersion he had, resulting in an innocent soldier watching the Commander fumble with a notebook.

The first time it happens, Cullen decides against looking again, placing it back in its original place.

Dorian Pavus: The second the Inquisitor was out of sight, Dorian casually grabbed and flipped through the pages of his lover’s notebook happily before stopping, the last page was a sketch of him. He pauses for a moment before a cheeky grin spreads across his face. He inspects every stroke, line, and scribble that decorates the page for what feels like ages. And if someone were to walk by, he doesn’t put it away, a part of him wanting to get caught by his lover. Eventually, he hears his amatus’ voice from far away, and after some deliberation, he decides to return the notebook to its rightful place, positioning it to look untouched.

Iron Bull: He’s subtle, his fingers trace the sketch so gently he can barely feel the paper underneath. He hides the book well behind his large hands and smiles to himself as he traces the image with his eyes. He’s impressed with The Inquisitor’s knowledge of anatomy, as every muscle Bull has appeared to be on display in the portrait. 

He’s one of the only ones who keep the notebook in their grasp, watching his kadan tense up and begin to blush.

“If you wanted me to pose, you could’ve just asked me.” He smiles.

Josephine Montilyet: She takes a minute, and assures the Inquisitor is far enough away before she peaks at the sketchbook. A blush creeps up her face before she’s giggling and kicking her feet as she looks at her lover’s drawing. She’s convinced they took a few artistic liberties as she believes she looks far better in the picture than she does in real life.

Regardless, she becomes satisfied, places the sketchbook back down, and settles back in her chair, reinvigorated.

Sera: She’s immediate, completely snatching up the book before The Inquisitor even leaves, if her lover notices Sera, she attempts to hold it away, claiming they were asking for it when they left it out in the open. She does everything to get away, including climbing on the roof. But once she realizes what her lover drew, she pauses. 

Eventually, The Inquisitor finds her and watches Sera slowly look up, “You made this? I… I’ve never seen… a drawing of me before.” Before breaking out into a grin, she whispers, “Why would you hide this?! This is great!”

Solas: He looks, finding himself far too curious for his own good. Once he sees his portrait, he smiles and leans back in his chair, admiring the work his vhenan put into the piece. He waits for his lover to return, nonchalantly handing over the sketchbook and kissing his lover’s cheek.

“You should draw more often.” He says, “Or maybe I should draw you.”

Varric Tethras: This man read Hawke’s personal journal, The Inquisitor should’ve expected him to look. 

He takes a peak, which turns into a long stare, as he becomes enraptured by the portrait. Soon, he breaks out into a grin and waits for his lover’s return, holding the sketchbook like a trophy.

“Maybe you should do illustrations for my book from now on.” He suggests.

[imagine-silk]

hullo! May I please request varric dating a reader who acts a lot like a detective? (Basically they really like to solve mysteries and help people and be a bit eccentric)

A strange detective covers a lot of ground, so I went with a noir Sherlock Holmes. I don't know, the thought of a melodramatic noir detective in Dragon Age is so out of place it humors me greatly.

Art by Benjamin Carre

You first met in the Hinterlands when Berand asked the herald to find his lover. They found you over her body reading the letter and you quickly explained you found her like this and needed to find her lover. When they told you where he was you got really sad claiming the hunt and satisfaction of finding him was gone.

You joined them to deliver the news a little displeased but immediately perked up when the party off-handily mentioned this was the second person you were hired to find. Excited you asked who they were and joined the inquisition.

Through all of this Varric wanted to laugh. He knew he shouldn't think this was funny in the middle of a war but you were so strange and Trevelyan thought so as well.

Working for the inquisition satisfied your inquisitive nature. Whenever there was a person or object to find you were on the case and you solved them quite quickly.

Because of the ongoing war with templars and mages you were always busy. So much so you never really talked to the inner-circle or anyone really that much not until after Haven is attacked. During the journey to Skyhold it was Varric who checked on you. He had never seen you distraught about anything unrelated to your work. While everyone is getting settled he notices no one really checks on you so he takes it upon himself to do so.

He learns quite a bit during your talks. Proper checking for cause of death, deducting suspects, talking to the victim's family. You also have more personal talks explaining how much you enjoy your job, your extreme highs and lows, your close relationship with death, your need to figure things out and how all of these things make it difficult to be palatable to others.

You also learn about him. He doesn’t really say much about himself that's not cryptic but for you he doesn't need to. Not saying you fully understand, you probably never will, but you get a general idea. As much as you want to press for detail or find a paper-trail you know he wouldn't like that and a stepping stone in your relationship is you learning to be content with that. (And no, he won't tell you the story of Bianca.)

At some point he writes a book that is based off of you. It becomes very popular even to people outside of his fans because it is one of the only book of his where the main character survives and has regular wins, a lot of losses but consistent wins. It wasn't hard to write, he mostly just rewords what you tell him and embellishes it.

A lot of people saw the change of the MC over time. MC started as a strange excitable person obsessed with solving intricate crimes who was petty and difficult to deal with but later turns out to be a person isolated because of their eccentric nature and constantly working because it allows their mind to run as fast as it can without waiting for others.

Readers also noticed when there was a growing romantic tension, like they were suddenly reading this character in the most flattering light. But they had no love interest. It's not very clear if Varric was envisioning his lack of romance or yours. (Cassandra picks up on it and is ate it up)

The only real reason he allowed it to be published was because his beta-readers loved it to pieces and he knows you won't read it due to your lack of time and lack of interest in it. You hate when writers get something wrong but specifically in Varric's case you already knew what happens. And your right, your not going to find anything new other than things he embellished.

By then people have kind of sniffed out the growing interest you both have. An interest you both don't seem to want to act on. Varric's self-loathing is infamous, he would never give himself a happy ending and you know this. You also have reservations due to your very dangerous job and insane working habits. You both are quite content to keep what you both know unsaid.

It gets to a point the inner-circle start to intervene. They don't succeed but they try. Trevelyan gives you less work so you have more free time but having less work pisses you off big time. Cassandra tries to get you to read his books but you keep telling her no and Varric is irked by her attempts. Cole tries to fix your hurts but for both of you it's too little too late. Josephine and Leliana get you to social events but Varric is a socialite and entertains crowds and you are known as a very impressive detective and a main character in a book, you both occupied the whole night. Depending if your fem or masc, Sera or Dorian will ask if you need any advice for the bedroom to which annoyed you. Vivienne got peeved enough to invite you to a spa day and brought Varric along with her, apparently he was under the same impression, so out of spite you both enjoyed your time using her paid day off to do nothing. Even Blackwall and Solas try to ask if either of you are interested in someone, though they're a lot more teasing.

Funny enough Iron Bull is the only one content on letting things play out. He knows something would need to happen for the spark to turn into a flame.

The beginning of your official romance is not very romantic I'm afraid. You leave on a particularly interesting case and don't come back. And he panics. Fully thinks your dead but doesn't give up on trying to find you. He asks news from the scouts, checks taverns and towns when he goes out, even asks Cole if he knows where you are. Cole says, "Panicked, prancing like a headless chicken, they're probably scared as I am. Or maybe their fine. Or maybe their dead. Just another regret. My answer won't soothe your hurt no matter the what I say." He knows the kid is right. If he said you were perfectly safe he would doubt it and if he said you were unsafe or dead he would never forgive himself.

When you come back bloodied and bruised it's almost like you never left. No one reacts and you don't want them to. Because of this Varric doesn't know you’re back. He spots you sitting on the battlements and runs. You turn to see a flushed sweating dwarf staring at someone he's not sure is a ghost, like if he blinks you’ll wisp away. The conversation starts like all the others and for a long time you sit casually talking. A long pause is broken by Varric, "You scared me." to which you replied a quiet I know, and silence takes over once more. You put your hand on his and he pulls you into a hug. When you pull away you look at each other and with no words see everything unsaid. Neither of you knows who started the kiss but it's long and chaste, sweet and tenderly slow.

After that you're just an item, no real talk necessary. It takes a while for others to figure it out, y'all don't act mush different. All of your kisses are stolen, flirting is no more than usual. Varric takes things slow which is fine by you.

When your gone you send letters back and forth. It's a bit difficult because you're on the move constantly. Your letters mostly consist of current events but as the time apart grows it will detail how you miss one another, sometimes it's spicy.

In your extreme highs he listens intensely. Your excited nature making him feel like everything is right in the world. In your extreme lows he learns how to help you. Lack of work? He tries to get you to focus on doing something, like a puzzle or finding a specific item. Saw something horrible? He'll ask you to talk about it. Just down? He tells you it's okay and either does a little spa day and spends the day pampering and goofing off or he takes you to the tavern to have fun, which usually end in some 'fun'.

Varric is also a bridge to having a better social life. You don't stop being strange but he brings out your sweetness and humor allowing others to enjoy it as well. You are also the muse of his latest book and high society folk are nosy so in places like Val Royeaux you will be swarmed. But in taverns and the like it's just an good time.

[obeymehasinfluncedmythoughts]

Polyam!Mc With Thick Curly Hair

Honestly just wanted to write for a character who has thick curls because I know the hair care is so intricate. My family is half pin straight hair and half curls, so growing up it was always a mixed bag of who was going to get what.

Also, some of this might conflict with canon because I haven't played in a while. But I'm tRyiNg. Also also, I hoped this goes as I planned. I didn't get the curly hair gene of my family, but I did see my cousins grow up with it, and a lot of my favorite creators also talk about their hair care. It's always a cool thing to learn about, but I'm sorry if it's not super specific to one curl type or if I messed up.

Lucifer

He doesn't really think about your hair until he sees everything required to maintain it.

(IMO) He's the type to water hair care down to the very basics. He knows Asmo goes out of his way to be excessive, so he probably doesn't expect more then three products and a simple routine from most people.

Asks you if you need help.

^Tbh he's probably the second best brother to ask for assistance when it comes to these matters. Being the oldest, Lucifer has been exposed to a lot of stuff. Sure, none of his siblings have curls, but he's of the belief that nothing can be harder than that time Asmo needed help styling a wig.

(He's thankful that Lilith, while she was alive, was fairly self sufficient. He doesn't think he could have done that every single day)

Makes a mental list of everything you use but still doesn't understand what the hell everything is.

"What's the difference between volumizing and thickening?" "You're hopeless."

Mammon

Probably doesn't treat your hair much different, except for one thing: he likes to watch your curls bounce.

Sometimes pulls on your strands just to see them return to shape.

(He's is everyone's worst nightmare when it comes to personal space. Honestly give him like a slinky or something and that might get him to keep his hands to himself)

Also he definitely uses your stuff I'm so sorry.

If he likes how it smells, it doesn't matter if it's meant for his hair type or not. He's using it.

Which might be a step up from the axe spray and 3-in-1 body wash, but that's up for you to decide.

Leviathan

Very interested in how you take care of your hair.

(Cosplay opportunities pop up at random times. It wouldn't hurt to learn this skill.)

Might get intimidated by everything, but he is a quick learner.

He's also incredibly nervous about messing up your hair so like, Levi might shut down if you give him a task he deems too big.

If you use hair accessories a lot, he's probably going to get stuff for you that's related to the many fandoms he's apart of (Or he might make stuff for you if there isn't anything avaliable. Definitely would be the type to decorate clips and beads.)

((If you get your hair braided, he likes watching the process. Asmo does too but Levi most likely finds great satisfaction in such skilled work.))

Satan

Isn't really going to notice much.

Probably likes playing with hair though so if you do treatments you gotta be ready to tell him off.

(Or tell him off in general if you just don't want him playing with it. He'll understand, no hurt feelings here. Unlike Mammon who will act like you stabbed him and left him to die)

"I can't tell what's yours or mine in here" He says, as he searches through the shower filled with your hair products and his potions.

Asmodeus

Pays incredible detail to everything you do.

He wants to help! (And he's also nosey af)

((If you braid your hair this fucker is not the one to ask. I'm sure he's great in every other aspect, and can do cute, loose braids, but he does box braids and such so tight that you will need to redo them. Asmo sometimes takes the phrase "beauty is pain" a little too far and while you might have nice looking braids, your scalp will be dying))

Will absolutely get doubles of your products for his bathroom.

Probably reads too much hair care stuff for his own good. He might have your trying things out that you don't need.

Just tell him to shut up.

Beelzebub

No real interest in your hair care.

But he is very protective about people touching your hair.

(Whether you share your experiences or he simply witnesses someone doing it, he isn't going to like it.)

Also is like, on a journey to get you a baseball cap collection. Whether or not you want one doesn't seem to matter at this point.

Belphegor

Similar to Beelzebub. Doesn't like people touching you.

Probably uses your stuff out of laziness.

Also? If you use silk pillow cases? He's stealing them

You're going to have to share a bed with him to use them again.

He's fairly decent with simple hair styles tbh. But he'll rarely ever use that to help. Belphie doesn't really see the point when you look like you rolled out of bed looking amazing.

[demonslayedher]

Ramble on Exposition Serving the Plot

Writing is hard, let me just get that out there first. Developing stuff is fun, but writing--conveying that interesting stuff in equally interesting ways--is hard. Gotouge-sensei had so, so, so much to convey, while also keeping readers wanting to come back for more every week. And, with this being Sensei's first serialized work, it's unsurprising how much it improves once the characters have been established and the manga finds its flow. I could say (and have said, when asked) a lot about the writing flaws, but I find the flaws so endearing nowadays that I don't like to criticize this manga. KnY wouldn't be KnY without its inherent silliness.

But on the first time around, when I didn't know and feel everything I do now, I found myself disappointed with Inosuke and Zenitsu's introduction to the story. I hated them both at first, though I had come around to Zenitsu by the end of the arc. Inosuke, though, ugh. That fight between Tanjiro and Inosuke felt so unnecessary, and weird what with that 'your face is pretty' bit, and Inosuke bending like a circus performer just because he can, but then especially how there's so little tension remaining after the fight, like Inosuke was all bark and no actual bite. I didn't actually like Inosuke until I saw him moping in bed, hahaha. XD Looking back it's so typical Tanjiro and Inosuke though, isn't it?

That all having been said, I really appreciate some details in how the exposition was worked into the plot.

What got me thinking about this especially was that showing us Zenitsu and Inosuke's heightened senses was actually relevant to the plot. It's really easy to mistake Zenitsu's first mention of sound for a trite exposition drop about how we're liking up a cast of heroes that can be sorted out as easily as Power Rangers, not for what color they wear but what sense they have special abilities with.

But since they were going up against a drum demon, with the drum being played being the very indicator of a demon's power being used, it was the most relevant way to both have Zenitsu notice something that would be very in-character for him to notice, and to get us looking for how sound might be relevant in a demon's powers. This is a laying of exposition groundwork, a red carpet for us to walk on as we march in with our hands cupped and ready to receive worldbuilding info about the demon, as opposed to simply having it dumped on us.

The introduction of Inosuke's senses comes on much, much more subtle, we don't actually gain a good understanding of his abilities until Mt. Natagumo, at which point we've already gotten a good understanding of Zenitsu's hearing, as well as Tanjiro's ability to smell world-specific stuff like Lines of Interval. However, it's first hinted at while Inosuke is running down the halls, dodging right before he'd have been attacked. As first time readers, it's easy to dismiss this entirely as him just having a good reaction, but on second reads you get the "ohhhhhhhhh I know what's happening here" satisfaction.

But what really drives the plot forward is here, when Inosuke has followed the aura of a demon.

Had Inosuke not sensed Nezuko: --Inosuke would have otherwise not had any reason to interact --Zenitsu would have had no reason to protect the box, thereby not giving Tanjiro (and readers) the chance to appreciate an entirely different side of Zenitsu's character --Tanjiro would had been the only one injured to go on to the next arc, leaving him with still only Nezuko to do much interacting with

That's another thing that works really well about the choice to make Inosuke fight Zenitsu as a way of driving the plot--as we had just been introduced to Inosuke and Zenitsu, thereby realistically not caring about them as much yet as we care about Tanjiro, it was too early to give either of them any serious injuries in battle against demons. In their introductions it was crucial we get an understanding for how they function as capable demon slayers and what their fighting style is like. They were fighting zako-oni (random background demons of no consequence) so as not to overshadow Tanjiro's battle with Kyogai, and you couldn't have them get seriously injured by zako-oni.

But if you need them to have some reason to stay in a long-term recovery at the same time as Tanjiro so as to build some bonds with each other before the following arc...? Oh, have them survive their demon encounters only to go and break each other's ribs instead, yes. Excellent work-around. Throw in some Corp rules exposition while you're at it, sure.

As much as I love Kyogai and I believe that fight showed a lot of Tanjiro's maturation as a Demon Slayer (as well as established Gotouge as extremely creative and established Ufotable as very, very ready and willing to show off), the scuffle over Nezuko's box--made possible only by Inosuke and Zenitsu's unique abilities, as well as the two of them revealing aspects of their personality by the decisions they made--was the most meaningful interaction in that whole arc, even if the 'your face is pretty' thing came right after it.

[scolopendress-tag]

I said I'd make a post detailing my kid Asra working for Lucio theory in this post so here it is! 

So Let's get STARDED.

So! To start off, how it began. We do know when Asra and Muriel were kids, Lucio came to them each seperately with a deal.

Essentially: work for me, or I'll hurt your friend.

This was the sentiment he repeated for both of them. So, not wanting the other to be harmed, they both agree - unaware of the other's deal.

For Muriel, it was playing heel/excecutioner at the coleseium. For Asra, it was doing... Well, we never know, aside from he worked under Lucio. But that's what we are here to discuss in any case.

Continued under the read more, for the sake of people's dashes.

Now presumably, if I got my timeline right, Asra at this time would've been around 12 or 13. We don't know much about how Asra was when he was younger, other than that he has certainly changed.

It's also worth noting that it's not amiss to say they were both also still homeless at the time, and the hut hadn't come into the play until after.

Asra was still living on the streets.

This all isn't overly important for any of my claims later, but perhaps someone else could make something of it. It does provide us with some framing for the situation as a whole, though.

Now onto Asra's time under Lucio. I don't know that we have any indication of how long it was, but presumably at least a year if not more.

We do also know that Lucio knew who Asra was. Both in that he knew Aisha and Salim had a kid, and that he knew Asra was said kid.

This is bring this up because we know Aisha and Salim were incredibly talented, and likely incredibly powerful. Lucio wouldn't settle for any run of the mill magician or alchemist for the work he needed. So he must've had some idea that Asra may take after that power as well.

To top it off, he also interacted and talked with the dock kids he also used, (two of which would actually later become palace guards,) and seeing as this is seemingly how he learned of Muriel, it's not off to think that this is also how he heard of Asra again to start. The kids knew of Asra's magic, and roughly where he was, and could've even continued talking about both Muriel and Asra to Lucio for unknown amounts of time.

So now Lucio knows that the kid of his two powerful practitioners of magic is not only still around, but taking after them as well.

If Muriel's intimidating size and physical power are what drew Lucio to him, why wouldn't Asra's considerable metaphysical power and talents draw Lucio in as well?

We know how much Lucio loves power, and that he has an interest in magic because of it, as mentioned in the main story. (no ss sorry... If you have one send so I can add. )

Plus, homeless kid in a vulnerable spot. Easy pickings.

That's what I think this whole thing was about, really. It's all power. Though Asra likely didn't have the full scope of power he does in the current game, he was probably still considerably talented, and was only getting better.

What Lucio specifically probably wanted from Asra then was either to be taught how to use that power, to use Asra for things that required it, and/or use his power for entertainment akin to how he used Muriel.

I think out of these however, using him for his power was most likely. Why? (And teaching him now, more on that further down)

(Sorry for bad quality lmao it's a small image. Also thanks to @8-bit-space for showing these to me like months ago. As you can see I can't stop thinking abt it)

These are screenshots from the old prologue. While they're not canon any more, there's reason to believe they still hold merit as to how Lucio feels about Asra.

Two things to me are major here. First is the "powerful potent magic," and how it's the "real deal," equating to a large part of how he views Asra yet again tying back to a heavy interest in his power. Now, you could argue this relates to using his powers in the palace during the plague, but the second point stands out even more to me.

"The one who broke him for me?"

What this implies to me is that Lucio could never quite get all the way through to Asra or control him when he was younger, and he's been dying to do so. He wanted Asra broken, presumably so that he'll become essentially a tool for him to use for his skill and not put up a fight- something Asra likely did as a child.

Because it seems that Lucio for the most part relied on control through fear when it came to Asra, threatening to hurt Muriel, lying to him about how he executed his parents, likely other things as well. But things seem to point to that never quite working like he had hoped.

This could allude to this as well. Though "impossible" is something Asra's been called a few times, namely also by Julian, there's no reason to assume Lucio wasn't also including his work with him as a kid in "always". Impossible to hate could be his draw to Asra for his power, his talent, his skills, the prospect of which I'm sure Lucio found practically mouthwatering. Impossible to love could be his stubbornness or reluctance to do what Lucio wants, always pushing against him or being hard to deal with, both as a kid and during the plague.

And lines like this, where he calls him a coward. I find it hard to relate this to the plague ritual as he was for the most part willingly helping with that, so it could be resenment for when Asra eventually ran off as a kid, unwilling to put up with him any longer, or his reluctance to do certain things for him then in general.

We know, and it has even been mentioned by a character within the canon, that Asra can be incredibly stubborn, to back that up. Plus, he could've been even harder to work with then both being a kid and as I mentioned earlier he has changed from how he was then, so he could've had more spunk to him or such.

This also easily means that what Lucio was trying to get Asra to do then was something Asra was quite obviously opposed to. Being used for his power is already degrading enough, but there could be more to it.

You'll notice in the post that was linked at the top (the reason I'm writing this) I mentioned pushing Asra to his physical limits and magical extremes. This could be one of the reasons for a push back.

If Lucio was having Asra do things for him involving magic, it's not out of pocket to assume he'd practically run him into the ground- I'm sure he really wouldve loved testing the limits of what Asra could REALLY do.

Wether it be huge expendure of power all at once, or tons of smaller things one after the other, it would absolutely take it's toll. We are shown a few times that using magic can exhaust someone, and I don't remember if this is shown in canon ever (tell me if so!) but pushing it even further could definitely lead to other things such as passing out, (Or nosebleeds, for the aesthetic,) alongside likely being incredibly painful and draining, both mentally and physically.

Basically, abusing his powers and the body that commanded them. It's also possible that the stubborness to work with Lucio could also be partially percieved because of this- Lucio taking Asra's literal physical inability to continue as defiance.

Another reason for push back from Asra would be making him do morally compromising things. This is a little more vague, but intimidation is a common headcanon I see for what Lucio made Asra do, and that could tie in here. Other things could be meddling in things and business he shouldn't, but again, it's a vague thing. Make of it what you will. Fucked up stuff all around.

[EDIT - TEACHING LUCIO]

(THANK YOU @tea-tye for showing me these, and credits to @hangedman-magician for the video they came from!!!!!!!)

...I cannot BELIEVE I forgot this, I KNEW I was missing something. Especially when I was fairly certain I remember Lucio being obsessed with the idea of magic. SO, MOVING ON,

There's not terribly much to pick apart here as it's rather direct- Asra saying he has in fact tried to teach Lucio magic. So in my eyes this solidifies that this was a component of Asra's time under Lucio. I still think my points about Lucio treatment (pushing Asra to his limits) stand, as well.

This can also tie in the stubborness mentioned as, well, can you imagine teaching Lucio? Asra backs this up by saying nothing he has ever said stuck with Lucio, and you know how Lucio gets when things don't go his way. He would've blamed his inability to learn on Asra, likely.

Looking to other quotes mentioned: the 'broke him' line still rings to me like he was trying to use Asra in other ways, and the 'coward' line could go either way from refusing to teach Lucio certain things, or refusing to do certain things for Lucio when he was merely being used. The "impossible" line could also go for others, as trying to teach someone like Lucio would've undoubtedly caused some head butting.

This is certainly really exciting and interesting to me as it gives a more complete picture on the exact situation at hand here. I still stay by my reasoning for Lucio simply using Asra as well on top of being taught because it seems highly likely that Lucio would've been too impatient to learn to do certain things himself, and like I said as well, I don't doubt he also just wanted to see what Asra was REALLY capable of. Something he could've saw as a tantalizing insight into the kind of power he could aquire of this kid would just... work with him.

NOW we have a MUCH clearer answer as to what exactly Asra was likely doing under Lucio, or at this point, almost certainly doing. It's a sad picture for Asra of course, but with this you can draw some interesting points as to how he could've been affected by this, as I'm sure it would've left some kind of imprint on him.

Sure it may not have been as traumatic as what Muriel went through, but when you look at it, it's hard to say it DIDN'T leave it's scars. If we consider all the points presented in this post truth we have:

A 12/13 yo homeless child, threatened with his friend's life to work for the Count that he knew was the one responsible for orphaning him and making him homeless in the first place.

Said child believing his parents are still alive, and as we see in Travel at Night, could very likely still be trying to find them. In a situation like Asra's that glimmer of hope probably was a big deal in helping him push on. This may also be a reason he agreed on top of Muriel's safety.

While working under the count, he is told that his parents were executed, no doubt devastating. The manner in which this was mentioned is up for debate, and could affect exactly how it was taken. Options could be Lucio joking or bragging about it (treating it as trivial or an accomplishment), or using it to threaten Asra, (as in I killed your parents, I'll kill you too,) both would work when it comes to controlling by fear.

It is also mentioned that Lucio told him the reason for his parents execution is that they messed up his gold arm, so Asra also has the knowledge that his parents were killed over something so unbelievably trivial.

Being used as a source of power and nothing else, both for teaching and pure work/entertainment, all for the man who killed his parents, day after day.

Being pushed to physically painful and mentally draining limits, expending so much energy that he completely exhausts himself, day after day.

Likely taking all sorts of verbal abuse from Lucio, day after day.

Like mentioned earlier, it seems clear that Lucio wanted to break Asra, so some other form of trying to chip away at his psyche to make him more convenient for Lucio is likely as well.

Those points alone, to yet again a CHILD no less, seem more than enough to cause some traumatic impact, and depending on certain specifics of what exactly went on during that time, it could be worse. I may make a post looking into the long lasting effects of this on Asra, I may not. It would mostly be headcanon regardless. If you want to add your hc relating to this situation though, I'll gladly reblog it!

And now that we are closing out, it's time to revise my summary. So, without further ado, THIS is what I think was going on during this time.

Lucio knows of Asras existence and parentage.

Lucio learns Asra is around and that he's got power.

Lucio LOVES power, so he threatens Asra into working for him.

Lucio uses Asra for his power and to be taught how to use it for himself.

While using Asra for his knowledge and power, runs him into the ground by pushing his limits to physical and magical degrees, possibly even moral.

Asra pushes back against a lot of this, or is at least percieved to, frustrating Lucio.

Lucio does what he can to try and control Asra even more, primarily via fear, but can't seem to crack him.

Eventually it's too much, and Asra leaves. Likely when the plague hit like Muriel, but it's possible it could've been somewhat sooner. Lucio is PISSED, because he wanted that magical power all to himself.

Less related, I can see Lucio trying to brush it off and pretending to be fine with it, excuse being "he was too difficult to work with, anyways," or something.

...And then... years later, as far as Lucio sees it, Asra comes crawling back- and he's tamed down to a degree! He's actually working with him. Lucio might not know what or who did it, but Asra is finally broke for him, and I'm sure he was absolutely ecstatic to have that power back in his hands- and more than ever before.

Think of all of this as you would like!

At the end this is all still speculative, so definitely feel free to make your own points or say if you feel any different abt anything- expansions or counters on this theory/headcanon welcome!

And if you also have any other screenshots or info not here that could add to the theory or change the outlook of certain things definitely add them!!! I feel like I'm missing stuff for sure, and my memory has probably muddled some things (hopefully I didn't get anything wrong, though.)

And @asrascherry thanks for the offer in helping word my hcs also! I forgot to say that. This one is just so long I wouldve felt bad bringing it all to you 😔 it's probably still messy as a result but I tried lmao (worried it's repetitive or unclear 😬)

Uh yeah! That's mostly it for NOW.

+All the love to Asra for going through so much I'm so sorry bb,,

Thanks for reading!

[falcqns]

partner in crime lll

pairing: dad!august walker x daughter!ofc

summary: Maeve joins August at work, and he find out a little more about his daughter, which in turn reveals her mothers fate.

warnings: Angst!!! graphic depictions of death, violence towards and infant mentioned but no detail, mentions of sexual assault. 18+ ONLY.

a/n: if I missed anything in the warnings, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I hope you enjoy!

August was awoken a few hours later by his daughter screaming like someone was hurting her.

August shot up, and immediately sprung into action, looking around the room for the source of his daughter's distress, but found nothing. The only thing he saw was the little baby in her crib, wailing. Her chubby little hand was reaching out towards August, and she was screaming ‘mama.’

August took a deep breath, and scooped her up. He held her against his chest, and rocked her back and forth like he had seen Sloane do once with a little boy they had found at a crime scene.

“What happened?” He asked in the softest voice he could muster, but she only cried harder. Her hands became fists in his sleep shirt, and her tears soaked the cotton material as well. He rubbed her back, and offered her her pacifier. She took it, and her cries quieted, but didn’t cease. He tried to lay her back down, but decided against it, when she screamed again.

He sighed, and laid down with her in the bed. She settled on his chest, and he found himself enamoured by the pools of blue that were her eyes. He was able to see little specks of brown floating near her pupil. She lifted a hand, and placed it on his mouth, her middle two fingers burying themselves into his mustache hairs. August was unsure what to do, so he tried something. He kissed her hand.

Maeve smiled so big that her pacifier fell from her lips, and then she lifted her head.

“Mama?” She asked tentatively, and August paled. How do you tell a 7 month old that they can't have their Mama because she’s dead? August opened and closed his mouth like a fish, unsure what to say.

He saw her bottom lip wobble, and tears well up in her eyes. August noticed a flash of recognition behind her eyes, and she began to wail again, screaming as if she had a gun pointed to her.

Actually, as he thought about it, he realized that's the exact reaction that little boy had, the one that Sloane had held, when he had a gun pointed to his head by his parents' attacker. His heart dropped into his stomach, and made a mental note to check how exactly Maeve’s mother had died.

He pulled Maeve close to his body, and ran his hand up and down her back, occasionally traveling up to play with her soft curls.

Not long after, she settled down, and fell back asleep. August however didn’t.

Sure, it could have been a coincidence that she had the same reaction, but August didn't think it was. He grabbed his phone from where it laid atop the charger, and googled ‘PTSD symptoms in babies’.

Hypervigilance, separation anxiety, clinginess, emotional trauma when reminded of original trauma, fear or avoidance of places that remind them of event, troubles sleeping, nightmares and repetitive play were a few of the symptoms. Maeve didn’t have all of them, but he could only assume she had a nightmare, and the flash of recognition must be her remembering what happened. Was her mother killed in front of her?

The thought made August sick to his stomach, and decided to put his phone away, in favour of keeping the sleeping baby in his arms, 1) asleep, and 2), safe.

August's eyes opened, and instead of dead silence, he was greeted by his daughter babbling, and his phone ringing.

He glanced at his daughter, who was playing with one of his hands, and used his free hand to grab his phone. He saw it was Sloane calling, and swore mentally when he saw that it was 9 am, meaning he was over two hours late for work.

He answered the phone, and Sloane immediately asked where he was, and why he was late.

“I apologize. I got Maeve yesterday and she had a rough night. I overslept, but i’ll be there in less than an hour.” He assured her, and hung up.

He watched as Maeve weaved her fingers with his, and held his hand. He smiled slightly, and curled his fingers in the same way, grasping her tiny hand in his. She squealed in happiness, and August could have cried at the sweet sound.

He pushed the thought away, and pressed a kiss to her curly head before removing his hand from her grasp, and stood up.

“I have to go to work, and you’ll have to come with me. We’ll stop at the store on the way there, and get you a new outfit for you to wear. You need some new clothes.” August said, as he grabbed a diaper from the box that he had delivered yesterday. He changed her diaper, and pulled her pyjama pants back up before scooping her and her stuffy up, and placing her in the crib.

Or, tried to at least. The second he tried to set her in there, she screamed again, like she had last night.

He knew, in that moment, that whatever caused her mother to die, happened right in front of her.

He felt anger boiling up in his body, but not at Maeve. Never at Maeve. He felt a surge of love and protection over her, and he knew his first task of being her dad was to find out what happened to her mom and figure out how to help his little girl.

August had made it out of the apartment, to Walmart, and to his office, all under an hour. He had no idea how, but he had managed it. He swore he saw a smile on Sloane’s face when he walked past her office with Maeve on his hip, but couldn't be sure.

He entered his office, and had no idea where to put her. He had weapons hid all over, and didn't want her getting hurt. He couldn't put her in a crib or a playpen, she obviously had a trauma response to that. His only options were his lap, where he knew she wouldn't stay put, and underneath the desk, which seemed like the best option until he could figure something out.

He placed her under his desk, and handed her the toys he brought with him. She gurgled as she was handed her stuffy. August smiled, and got to work.

He pulled Maeve’s file out of his briefcase, and consulted it for her mothers name.

Adriana Amiens.

He barely remembered her. He glanced down at Maeve, and felt regret course through his veins as he realized if he hadn’t been so down on himself and selfish after the mission, he could have experienced everything, and could have stopped what happened to Adriana.

He went onto the CIA database, and typed in her name. Only one result came up, and he clicked on it.

August could have vomited at what appeared.

There were several pictures of the crime scene, and the actual crime. Adriana had been tied up, and the initials MA had been carved into her stomach, just above a small scar where her uterus was located. His eyebrows furrowed, and glanced at her file. His eyes found the word cesarean section, and all his questions were answered about that.

He moved the mouse over the picture, and a link popped up, attached to the scar. A link attached to the picture wasn't unusual, the database automatically linked relevant information to the pictures, so he clicked on it.

A wiki page popped up. There wasn't a lot of information, but he did note the last name. Amiens, first name Charles.

August read further. This man, named Charles Amiens, nicknamed Master, was apparently Adriana’s father. He belonged to a gang aptly named ‘The Amiens Family’. August had heard of them before. They specialized in arms dealing and murder for hire. Charles himself seemed to be responsible for over 1500 deaths in the Los Angeles area over the last 50 years, something that scared August.

August scrolled further, and found that Adriana was listed as his daughter, although there was the word ‘emancipated’ in parenthesis. August took note of the reason for emancipation being listed as ‘family differences’. August guessed that meant that Adriana wanted no part in the family business. Anais had mentioned in the original phone call that she and her family were very different, and to be wary of him, but he had no idea why, until he received the file later that day.

August clicked through the rest of the photos, his stomach churning as he looked at what the murderers had done to the poor girls body. She had bruises all over her body. She had two black eyes, a broken nose, and there was evidence of sexual assault and severe trauma to her privates.

However, the last photo is what made August throw up.

The murderers had placed Maeve, who didn't look any younger than she did now, in a crib. More specifically, they restrained her to it. There were chains attached to her wrists, bringing them straight out from her body, and attached to the crib.

The next few photos were screenshots from the security footage, and he had to shut off his computer immediately.

They had indeed pointed a gun in his daughters face.

He wanted to throw up, but also murder someone just for hurting his child like that. He felt a tear slip down his cheek, and immediately reached down for the little girl under the desk. He lifted her onto his desk, and took a good look at her arms.

He noticed that she had faint scars around her wrists, that he knew was from restraints. He stood up and took her to the bathroom. He stripped her from her outfit, except her diaper. He checked her entire body, and was thankful when he saw no other evidence of any harm on his daughters smooth skin.

He hugged her to his chest, and pressed a kiss into her hair. “I’m never going to let anyone hurt you. I promise.” She yawned in response, and August knew she was getting tired. He carried her back to his office, and by the time he had settled in his chair, she was asleep on his chest. He held her there, protecting her. He knew she wouldn’t sleep well unless she was in his arms, safe.

By the time August made it home that night, Maeve was miserable. She was exhausted, hungry, and in desperate need of a bath. He had no idea what to do with the crib situation, as it was very clear she wouldn't be able to sleep in there, and August wasn't going to force her.

He’d done some research on his lunch break, and found an alternative to the bed situation, but it wouldn’t arrive for another few days, so it looked like he’d be bed sharing until then. He wanted to get the crib out of his room, but that would entail either waiting until Maeve was asleep, or risk her seeing it and being thrown into a PTSD induced meltdown. She hadn't been diagnosed, but he recognized the symptoms. Not all missions went to plan.

Besides, he planned on getting her into a child psychiatrist as soon as possible to get her diagnosed and help her heal. He didn't want her childhood affected by this, and it was highly unlikely he’d ever tell her what truly happened to her mother.

He placed the diaper bag, his briefcase, and their dinner down on the counter before rocking her back and forth in his arms to soothe her to sleep. It didn't help that she kept crying out for her mama, the one thing August couldn't provide.

“I promise you, my sweet angel, that i will find out what happened to your mama and make sure that you never have to feel the pain you're feeling right now EVER again.” August said, tears flowing freely as his daughter wailed for her dead mother. Her dead mother that was killed in front of her.

A few minutes later, Maeve’s cries melted into whimpers, which bled into soft breaths escaping her lips. August smiled at her, and laid her down on the bed as he had done yesterday, before taking the crib out of the bedroom. He decided to hide it in the laundry room until he could sell it, because she wasn’t allowed in there.

He had managed to wheel it out into the kitchen area, and he took pictures of it. He posted them on facebook, with a price tag of $50. It was originally $270, but he wanted it gone as soon as possible. Maeve had been through enough already.

He’d gotten an offer from a lady less than an hour later, offering $100 for it, so he took that opportunity. An hour after that, the crib was gone, he was $100 richer, and Maeve was still sound asleep.

Next, he put an offer in for an apartment, and got it. He was just signing the contract as he heard Maeve waking up. He quickly finished signing his name and sending it in before going to find his baby girl.

She smiled and clapped as August walked into the room, and he gave her a smile back. “Good nap?” he asked, and she nodded and giggled. August gave her some Cheerios after she was placed in the highchair.

He warmed up the food, before giving her her plate, which she ate enthusiastically. He ate his food, and listened to Maeve babble and point to the front door. He looked out the door and saw another father walking with his son. “You wanna go for a walk?” He asked, and Maeve nodded.

August chuckled, and cleaned up. He wiped her down, and minutes later she was in the stroller and they were on their way out the door.

They made a few laps around the block, Maeve laughing and pointing at everything she saw, almost as if she was rarely outside. He made a mental note to check her file once more. Maybe there was something more to that.

They made one more lap around the block, and headed back to the apartment. He made a short pitstop at the leasing office to give his move out notice, and Maeve was asleep again by the time he made it back up to his unit.

Over the next week, August and Maeve prepared to move. August finally got Maeve on a relatively good schedule, and had the majority of her triggers figured out. Cribs, playpens, handcuffs (an unfortunate incident happened when she had gotten into his bedside drawer and found some fluffy handcuffs for some rather adult activites, and screamed bloody murder while August was prepping her bath. He also had to learn to hide his gun when he was in the office, and remind his coworkers to keep them out of sight when she was around because the sight of those also sent her into a melt down, further angering August, and making him more determined to find the people who did this to her.

Today was moving day, and August was nervous. He didn’t know how well Maeve would take the transition, but he reminded himself that she had been having a lot of abrupt transitions over the past few weeks, so whatever happened, he would deal with.

August woke her up, and carried her into the almost empty kitchen, where he sat her down into the highchair, and gave her her morning bottle and some oatmeal. August ate a protein bar, and looked around at his old apartment to see what still had to be taken to the moving truck that was still downstairs, and found it was only his mattress, and her highchair. sohosebHe had taken all of the furniture yesterday, including his bed frame.

Maeve finished up a few minutes later, and he strapped her into the baby carrier he got when he began to pack, as it was the only way he’d get any work done.

Once she was strapped in and her stuffy was secure in her hand, August rolled the highchair out of the apartment. Once it was secure in the moving truck, he went back to the apartment for the mattress. Maeve was having a fun time of smacking her hands on it while August looked around the apartment for the last time. He’d never thought he’d leave this place, but when he met Maeve, he knew his life was changing for the better.

He never thought that he’d make a good father, but here he was. He had a wonderful little girl, and even though he was raising her on his own, he knew he could do it. As long as she grew up better than he did, he knew he was doing something right.

“Take a look around, Maeve. This was yours and Dada’s first home together.” He said, a smile forming on his face as he called himself Dada for the first time.

taglist:

@kpopgirlbtssvt @nerdypinupcrystal @sohoseb @bieberhoodforever