#thank GODS that the survivor i was supporting had left by then i was so embarrassed

[jukeboxhound]

THE BAILIFF IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDER COURT THIS MORNING TRIED TO FLIRT WITH ME

[everythingne]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ ➛ double gold - gr63

the most undescreet mercedes fan makes her way to the olympics for team usa. people very quickly learn why she's very unhinged about her love for all things mercedes.

george russell x usa gymnast!reader / fc: suni lee

warnings/notes: reader is mentioned to have had kidney disease in the past/going through dialysis (shout out suni lee my WIFE) everytime i write a george win he either dnfs or disqualifies. i should stop. i also made this SO FAST. ignore any formatting mistakes.

liked by lilymhe, teamusa, alexalbon and others...

uruser: represented my team (USA) and my team (merc) and then promptly fell asleep on the bus bc my awe of being here is too much for my little brain :(

tagged: mercedesamg, teamusa, and two others...

lilymhe: literally boarding my flighttt !!! im so so proud see u soon !

⤷ uruser: pls tell me you stole alex's hoodie for me...

⤷ lilymhe: he'll never know

⤷ alexalbon: these are PUBLIC comments.

user1: every once and a while i forget lily is not only dating an f1 driver, but her cousin is literally an OLYMPIC FUCKING GYMNAST?

alexalbon: SO PROUD WE WILL SEE U AFTER THE GP!!

logansargeant: i love knowing one of the powerhouses the us sends to the olympics

⤷ uruser: aweeee love u too logannn <3 (US PRIDE THIS WEEKEND BITCH U BETTER NOT FINISH LAST)

⤷ logansargeant: yes ma'am i will make u proud

user2: good luck !!

user3: MAKING THE USA PROUD ONE NAP AT A TIME

mercedesamg: we love our biggest supporter <3

⤷ uruser: i love YOU mercedes

georgerussell: best of luck yn :)!!

⤷ uruser: thanks georgie :D!

⤷ alexalbon: hello?? what is this??

⤷ lilymhe: eyeing you russell

⤷ georgerussell: literally what have i done wrong

⤷ landonorris: nah you cant flirt with his future in laws

⤷ georgerussell: if saying good luck is flirting, i have news for everyone.

liked by logansargeant, simonebiles, teamusa, and others...

uruser: talked about it in an interview, but i struggled with my blood pressure all day. i've been lightheaded, swollen, and exhausted, but i did it. we fought through it, and ur girl is moving to finals!!

tagged: gk, teamusa

georgerussell: incredible work today !

⤷ landonorris: rooting for the enemy i see

⤷ uruser: thank you george <3

teamusa: that's our girl!!

user: so proud of u as a fellow kidney disease survivor <3

user1: girl had a bp of 140 and still beat like everyone. my fucking queen.

alexalbon: ez work queen get back to training

uruser: yessir

lilymhe: get ur meds and take it easy!! love uuu see u for dinner <3

landonorris: u make it look easy

uruser: trust. its so hard.

simonebiles: i dont know how you do it. ur so amazing.

⤷ uruser: coming from the goat herself ?!!!!

liked by uruser, susiewolff, alexalbon, and others...

georgerussell: left it all out on the track today. absolutely honored to do this a second time so soon.

tagged: mercedesamg, f1, barcelonagp

uruser: YAAAA GEORGIEEE!!! congrats!!!

⤷ georgerussell: thank u :)

user: GEORGE W!!!!

lewishamilton: amazing as always george. first half of the season crushed.

⤷ georgerussell: it's only up from here mate

simonebiles: the tears @ uruser shed for this win...

⤷ jordanchiles: we will finally get peace and quiet on weekends

⤷ uruser: shut up get a hobby both of you

alexalbon: incredible drive as always george

landonorris: ur so mean for not letting me pass :(

oscarpiastri: best fight of the season so far. looking forward to more.

⤷ georgerussell: hope to see you on that top step again mate

uruser: lets go george lets go george

⤷ georgerussell: my personal cheerleader <3

⤷ alexalbon: delete that heart or so help me god

liked by georgerussell, teamusa, simonebiles, and others...

uruser: this 'lazy' athlete skipped her dialysis today to win A FUCKING GOLD MEDAL!!!! YAAAAAA!!!! so so so proud of my girls for the team effort put together for this all around win. you are the greatest. (yes lily and alex, i am doing dialysis now.)

tagged: simonebiles, teamusa, jordanchile and others...

georgerussell: congratulations but please do your dialysis before alex finds out

⤷ uruser: its alright love, im all hooked up and dilating or whatever. thanks for the support as always russell <3

⤷ georgerussell: wow, no georgie?

⤷ uruser: gonna pout over it, honey?

⤷ user: is this not flirting?

alexalbon: YN. I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD.

user: SHE SKIPPED HER DIALYSIS FOR FLOOR??

⤷ user1: and they wouldn't move the schedule around her LIFE SAVING MEDICAL APPOINTMENT?

⤷ user2: no wonder the teamusa physicians grabbed her so quickly after the medal ceremony :(

alexalbon: DIALYSIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. IM GOING TO HIT WHOEVER SAID YOU COULDN'T DO IT.

⤷ uruser: IM DOING MY DIALYSIS RIGHT NOW WHY ARE YOU MORE STRESSED THAN LILY??

⤷ alexalbon: because YOU'RE A BABY

⤷ uruser: YOU ARE NOT THAT MUCH OLDER THAN ME FUCKER

lilymhe: alex is pacing but GREAT JOB BABYYYY YAAAYAYAYA SO PROUD OF UUU

user3: fire whoever had her SKIP MEDICAL TREATMENT.

liked by snoopdogg, usagymnastics, georgerussell, and more...

uruser: bronzed. sharing that podium with rebecca and simone is such an honor. up and up we go!! <3

tagged: simonebiles, teamusa, rebeccaandrade and more..

georgerussell: very deserved, as always

⤷ uruser: i swear ur obsessed w me (its ok just dont tell alex)

⤷ alexalbon: i'm starting to think none of you understand the concept of public comments

user: WELL DESERVED!!!

rebeccaandrade: você foi incrível!

⤷ uruser: obrigado! você também! (i hope thats right!)

⤷ user: YN LEARNING PORTUGUESE TO SPEAK WITH REBECCA HAS MY WHOOOLLLEEE HEARTTTT

landonorris: shiny !

logansargeant: AMERICAAA!!!!

⤷ uruser: RAAAHHH

liked by georgerussell, rebeccaandrade, lewishamilton, and others...

uruser: GOLD in beam. and y'all know how much beam and i fight. there are no amount of words to express the joy im feeling. wow. thanks to my lovely brit @ georgerussell for the support for his girlie across the pond <3

tagged: georgerussell, parisolympics, teamusa, and others...

alexalbon: i am so.

alexalbon: what the fuck?

⤷ user: LMAOOO

lilymhe: YAY!!! MY BABY DID ITTT!!! I UGLY SOBBEDDD AHAHA LOVE YOU SO MUCH BABES DINNER ON ME TNNN!!!

user1: george!!!!!! GEOOORRRGEEE!!

alexalbon: GEORGE???

⤷ uruser: was me liking mercedes a weird amount not enough of a hint for you?

georgerussell: so proud of you sunshine <3

⤷ uruser: love u georgie

⤷ landonorris: gross get a room (jk. very proud george got a girl just as talented as himself)

⤷ georgerussell: wow a rare lando compliment. i will cherish it for years to come.

⤷ landonorris: fuck you im never complimenting you again

lewishamilton: congratulations!! hope to see you in the paddocks soon in some merc gear this time

⤷ mercedesamg: oh we can handle that

⤷ williamsracing: you can pry yn from our cold dead hands

⤷ mercedesamg: babes. im gonna hold your hand when i say this williams, you've lost in the public eye after ur stunt with logan. we win yn in the divorce.

⤷ uruser: YEAH IM ON LOGANS SIDE DAMNIT!!! AMERICANS STICK TOGETHER!!

⤷ logansargeant: true patriot right here

georgerussell: still in AWE of my gf being a TWO TIME OLYMPIC AA GOLD MEDALIST

⤷ uruser: my boyfriend is a FORMULA ONE DRIVER. how fucking cool is that!???

⤷ georgerussell: cool enough for you to go to dinner with me?

⤷ uruser: always

⤷ lilymhe: they grow up so fast

alexalbon: GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL?

tag list for all works (open!)

@d3kstar (i hope ur tag works this time lovely!)

[houseofripley]

Save A Horse Ride A Cowgirl

Rhea Ripley x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS: SMUT 18+, Cunnilingus, Strap-On, Riding, Orgasm Denial, Fingering (for like 2 seconds. don’t blink), Light Degradation, Spanking, Backshots, Lil bit of a mommy kink.

WORD COUNT: 2,736

A/N: -panting and out of breath- honey! it took me 800 hours but your oneshot is finished!

seriously tho sorry for the mid! writers block was beating my ass during this for no reason

Survivor Series, the day the wrestling community waited months for. You were sat at the edge of the bed in your hotel room, staring into the loud TV, waiting for your girlfriend to make her appearance for her match against Zoey Stark. 

You were supposed to be there but of course Rhea’s magment had fucked up their dates, leaving you without a pass to the event.

It killed both of you knowing you wouldn’t be backstage to cheer on Rhea. 

Anytime a pay-per-view even came around you’d clear your entire schedule just to support and help Rhea prepare. She took such good care of you it was the least you could do. Although you couldn’t physically be at the arena you still flew out to Chicago to at least be able to spend a little bit of time with Rhea.

You were pulled away from your train of thought as Rhea’s music soon started blaring through the stadium, “And her opponent, representing The Judgment Day, she is the women's world champion, Rhea Ripley!” The announcer yelled out as Rhea made her entrance, wearing what was possibly the sexiest gear she has ever worn.

“Holy shit-” You mumbled to yourself, leaning forward trying to get a closer look. Rhea looked insane. Her hair was in a faux mohawk, stripes of eyeliner ran over her eyes in a lighting strike pattern, black lipstick was smudged onto her right cheek. 

Rhea’s eyes never broke contact with the camera lens as she made her way down the ramp, she knew you'd be right on the receiving end of her gaze.

Once Rhea made her way into the ring you were able to catch a good glimpse at her gear. She sported a black vest over a black and white plunge top that was split down the middle, her shorts following the same theme while her boots displayed a cow print. But the bread and butter of this outfit was the black assless chaps. 

This outfit had to have been the reason Rhea was so protective over her suitcase these past few days. 

You sat eagerly watching the match, which was short yet action packed. Rhea had thrown Zoey around like she was nothing the entire match, your mind couldn't help but wonder what it’d look like if Rhea had manhandled you in the same way.

Rhea had retained her title with ease, barely breaking a sweat during the length of her match. You were quick to pick up your phone and congratulate her,

Y: YOU DID IT LOVEEEE!!!! and you looked good as hell while doing it….

Rhea replied about ten minutes later with a full body mirror selfie to show off her look, this time with an addition of a black cowboy hat and her hair out of the faux mohawk.

R: thank you baby, my hair wouldn’t fit in my hat so we had to ditch that plan :/ 

Y:  god damn! ditch wrestling and become a cowboy! 

Y: it’s so unfair i don’t get to see you like that rn urghhh

R: i know baby, i promise i’ll make it up to you tonight. look, i gotta go do a few things, i’ll see you in an hour or two okay?

Y: you better…now shoo and don’t keep me waiting for you all night

You huffed as you dropped your phone down onto your lap. The wait for Rhea had officially begun. 

There was one match left before the main war games match. Knowing Rhea would make an appearance in that last match you decided to rile her up a bit beforehand. 

You made your way to your suitcase and began searching for the new lingerie set you had bought just days ago while Rhea was training. You pulled out a bra made of intricate lacing along with the matching crotchless panties and garter belt. 

Once you had slipped into the lace you stationed yourself in front of the mirror. You used your free hand to grope your breast as you snapped a photo and sent it to Rhea.

Y: excited to see mami on my screen.

R: naughty girl…

R: are you really trying to get yourself into trouble right now?

Y: well i just figured since mami sent me such a sexy pic earlier i’d return the favor. i can send another one if you'd like…

You didn’t give Rhea the opportunity to reply before you snapped another picture, this time slightly rotating to your side to catch the curvature of your ass.

Seen at 9:36 pm.

You stared at your phone waiting for her reply but attention was pulled away as you heard The Judgment Day being announced, Rhea was nowhere to be seen as they made their entrance. You pouted as you laid down in the bed, your knees slightly spread as you watched in anticipation for Rhea’s appearance.

After a long match, intense and still no reply Rhea finally arrived at the end of the match, she came barreling down the ramp, this time wearing her cowboy hat with Priest’s MITB briefcase clenched in her hands.

You quickly took the opportunity to send Rhea a picture of your hand resting in between your thighs as she paraded on the screen in front of you. 

Y: just remembered a quote, something about save a horse, ride a cowgirl…

Another waiting game began. As much as you loved seeing Rhea clearly flustered on the screen you couldn’t wait for her to get to the locker room and see the message you left for her.

After a failed cash-in and two surprise returns from Randy Orton and CM Punk the main event finally came to a close, meaning Rhea was finally able to return to her phone. You picked up your phone to view your previous message exchanges with Rhea.

A text bubble appeared, indicating Rhea was on the other side drafting up her response. You chewed down on your cheek eagerly watching your phone. 

The text bubble disappeared.

Seen at 10:24pm.

You whined to yourself, a wetness growing between your legs. You attempted to make multiple calls to Rhea, only for each and every one of them to be ignored. You slumped into the bed, giving up on making contact with the woman.

Just moments later a banner popped up at the top of your phone,

R: face down ass up. you have two minutes.

Rhea had finally given you the attention you were craving. You needed her touch badly, so you gladly obeyed her demands getting into position in the center of the bed. Your face sunk into your pillow while your bare cunt peeked through the gap of your crotchless panties as you took in the sensation of the crisp hotel air that kissed your wetness.

You soon heard the quiet unlatching of the door followed by shuffling fabric. You peeked over to see Rhea, in that damn cowboy hat, discarding her streetwear to reveal the gear you’d been fawning over all night.

Rhea’s gaze was fixed on your arching back as she crept her way towards you. 

“Such a little slut for me,” Rhea husked, her weight sinking onto the bed as you waved your ass in the air. She took a moment to admire the sight of your wet cunt glistening in the dimmed light. 

“Just the thought of Mami has you all worked up.” Rhea relished, her hands skimming over the delicate skin of your ass before dropping a slap down onto you, causing a muffled yelp to leave your mouth.

Rhea moved her pointer finger to your heat and began to trace the skin around your wetness. Her finger took its time inching towards your hole before being pushed into you at a painfully slow pace, making you whine out into your pillow“Mami, please.” 

“What a needy girl.” Rhea taunted, watching you squirm against her finger, “Such a wreck already...” She hummed in response to your whining when she pulled her finger out of you. 

Both Rhea’s hands took ahold of your ass cheeks giving them a squeeze before she brought her face just centimeters from your aching heat. Shivers snuck up your spine as her heavy breaths brushed against your wetness. Her lips wrapped around you, her tongue beginning to draw circles perimitering your clit.

Rhea then pulled back and spat onto your cunt causing a high pitched ‘fuck’ to leave your mouth. She hummed to herself in satisfaction while she took you back into her mouth. Her hands still clenched to your ass as she began devouring you, acting as if she was having her final meal. 

All you could do was cling to the bedsheets and cry out into your pillow as Rhea took as much of you as she could in her mouth, her tongue piercing reaching brand new places. Due to your current position the tip of Rhea’s nose was repeatedly brushing against your entrance, adding fuel to the fire that was burning inside you.

“Gonna cum, Mami!” You pulled your head up from your pillow and moaned out. 

You could feel Rhea scoff against you before prying herself off your cunt, “No you’re not,” She groused, withdrawing all touch from you. “Such a spoiled girl, thinking you get to cum after teasing me when I’m working.”

“Please Mami! I’ll do anything- Just touch me, let me cum.” You pleaded, turning your head to look back at her with scrunched brows.

“You can beg all you want…but we both know that you won't cum until I say so.” Rhea’s tone was smug as she stood up from the bed. “Now…stay there and don’t even think about moving.” She growled on, making her way into the bathroom before closing the door behind her. 

You humphed to yourself, letting your head fall down to your pillow. It took everything in you to restrain your hands from touching yourself, but you knew if Rhea ever caught you pleasuring yourself she would push you to your breaking point. 

Several minutes had passed, your orgasm that was once near had seemingly wandered off. Your eyes were focused on the bathroom door as the knob rotated and Rhea emerged. Her shorts had disappeared and been replaced with a black strap-on…yet her chaps were still on. The sight alone had you arching your back as she lurched towards you.

“Look at you…all ready for Mami’s cock.” She murmured, crawling up behind you. She spat onto the silicon and slowly began jerking herself off, spreading her saliva over the toy before prodding at your slick coated entrance.

“Mami-” You purred out as the tip of Rhea’s toy pressed into your needy hole. Your walls were soon engulfing the entirety of her length. 

You had little to no time to adjust to her girth before she started ripping into you, leaving you at a loss for words. One of her hands was clamped to your hip while the other delivered a sharp slap to your ass before grabbing a fistful of your hair. “This is what you wanted isn’t it-” She groaned out while your cunt pulsed around her toy. “Sending me pictures of you whoring around the room, you were just begging to be ruined.”

The only sounds leaving your mouth were jumbled vowels mixed in with moans, she had you completely unable to form a sentence. You were powerless as Rhea pulled you up by your arms, bringing your back to press against her chest. 

You threw your head back against her shoulder as her hand trailed down to your clit, massaging quick circles against your swollen bud while continuing her merciless strokes.

“Don’t even think about it.” She whispered as you squirmed against her, letting out constant whines. Her free hand reached to wrap around your throat as you began rolling your hips back against Rhea. “Already fucking yourself against Mami’s cock?” She harshly questioned, her fingers adding more pressure against your clit, forcing a scream to come from your mouth.

“Such a slut.” Rhea lowly stated, letting go of the hold she had on you before pushing you back down to the bed. Her thrusts came to a halt as you rocked yourself on her cock. Her hand dropped a bitter spank on your skin, signaling for you to quicken your pace.

Rhea allowed you to fuck yourself on her strap while she caught her breath and admired the view she had of you. But your motions were abruptly cut off by Rhea’s hands firmly gripping your hips. You whimpered as she pulled herself out of you, leaving you empty.

Rhea flipped you onto your back before pulling you to sit upright. “You wanna ride Mami’s cock don’t you,” Her hoarse voice spoke, her hand moving to place her hat onto your head. You nodded, looking up to her with needy eyes while shifting to sit on your knees. “Use your words, princess.” She warned as her fingers gripped your jaw, taking control over you.

“Please, I've been waiting all night, Mami.” You swallowed, your breath shaking in anticipation as your hips wiggled with excitement.

“That’s it, good girl.” She hummed in approval, dropping the grip she had on your jaw. She brought herself to the head of the bed, resting her back on the headboard. You crawled up to her lap and situated your entrance to hover over Rhea’s tip. 

Your hands clutched Rhea’s shoulders as you began sinking yourself onto her length while moaning her name. As your hips started gradually bouncing, Rhea’s hands found themselves resting against your waist.

Meanwhile the pairs of your lips collided into a sloppy kiss. You whined into Rhea’s mouth, the piercing on her tongue brushing against your lip as her hands trailed to cup your breasts. Your eyes were glued shut as swayed yourself up and down Rhea’s length.

The overwhelming sense of pleasure was already washing over you. The combination of Rhea’s lips wandering to your neck, her digits toying with your nipples, and her cock being swallowed by your insides had your stomach contracting. 

Your pace picked up in speed as you tightened yourself around Rhea’s girth. As you focused on the movements in your hips Rhea’s attention was centered around your neck and collarbones, working on scattering reddish-purple marks against your skin. 

“Please-Can’t hold on any longer.” You pleaded with the woman through whimpers, your nails beginning to sink deeper into her shoulders. 

Rhea pulled herself from your neck, her hands moved to force your hips all the way to the base of her length. “Just one more minute, can you do that for me?” She questioned, her hands guiding you to rock back and forth.

“Y-Yes Mami,” You whimpered out at the sensation of your clit rocking against the leather band at the base of Rhea’s strap.

As the end of the excruciating sixty seconds neared your motions got sloppier with each motion. Rhea was sure guests in the other rooms  could hear your moans but you didn’t care, your mind was only focusing on not cumming at the exact moment.

“Open your eyes, pretty girl.” Rhea’s accent was thick as she spoke. “I want you to look at me while you cum all over my cock.” She added on while her fingers softly danced around your jawline.

Your eyes darted open once you heard Rhea finally give you permission to release yourself. Your vision was blurred by tears as you stared into Rhea’s oceanic blues. “Fuck-Oh! Mami!” You had barely managed to choke out, just seconds away from your climax. 

“C’mon,” Was the last thing you hear Rhea egg on before your orgasm flooded over you, leaving you crying out moans. Rhea’s hands moved to stabilize your twitching and shaking lower half. Quiet praises left your girlfriend's mouth as she helped you come down from your high. Your swollen lips placed a gentle peck against Rhea’s cheek as insignificant tears fell from your eyes.

“You okay, Princess? I didn’t hurt you did I?” Rhea’s gaze softened while her hands hurried to cup your face. 

You shook your head, giving her a weak smile, “Mm-mm, just felt really good…” You quietly replied as your arms wrapped behind Rhea’s neck. You gave Rhea a gentle smooch as she carefully pulled you off her length, the once black strap was now covered with scattered strings of whiteness.

“Alright, let’s get you cleaned up, pretty girl.”

[beardeddetectivepaper]

$40,191/$80,000‼️‼️‼️

Unfortunately our old fundraiser deleted after collecting 82457€ , but our ultimate goal was 150000€ , so I’m asking you to read the last update before start reading my words to understand everything ❤️ My name is Abdulla Daoud , I’m a 4th year medical student at Al-Azhar University Of Gaza , I have 7 sisters , four of them are married, and have their own families , one of my sisters and her family were lost in this war I’m fundraising for me and my family , to survive our souls , and catch up the remains of our lost dreams , we fully lost everything we own (homes, works, futures, souls and loved ones) We were briefly displaced from our home which is completely destroyed , and moved to more than 7 places . One of this places was my Dear Sister’s home , Noura Daoud , which is already destroyed over their heads , and killed with her family , and the only survivor of this genocide her son , Muhammad shaheen ,with an eye injury , but thanks god for him , he had a medical transfer to Turkey , and unfortunately we couldn’t leave the war with him. Another place , my sister’s home , Hend Daoud , which we escaped death from a few minutes before its destruction . We reached another bad news about my dear sister, Heba Daoud , along with her husband and children, that they were under the rubble, injured, and there was no way to get them out, and they remained there more than 48 hours under bombs and fire belts, Her husband's family all killed , but by God’s mercy she escaped by walking on foot with her injured husband . I was dreaming of being a doctor such as my father , and already finished 3 years of the journey , which costs me 15,000 dollar per year, As like as My sister , Menna Daoud , was dreaming of being an architecture , and since 7th of October our academic education is stopped for unknown period. My father is a doctor lost his clinic and lost his job as a lecturer in Al-Azhar University which is also destroyed. A week after 7th of October was my sister's wedding ,Asma Daoud ,but everything destroyed .

The bombing is getting hard day after day, and the nights is getting worse and we cannot sleep safely anymore, we wake up every day and see the remains of martyrs being buried in the lands next to us , there is no place to live anymore , no memories, dreams, childhood, or even clothes left , and we all escaped death many times we hope you help us to get out of Gaza very soon , and if the war ends the rebuilding will take years and a huge amount of money. Below is a comprehensive breakdown of the expenses, provided for transparency and your clear understanding. Breakdown of Expenses * Rafah/Egypt crossing: 5000$ per person ( a total of 65,000$ for fourteen family members) * Visa application fees: $300 per person ( a total of $4,200 for fourteen family members) * ⁠Passport fees: $100 per person (a total of $500 for five children ) * Flight from Cairo to destination (one way): $650 per person (a total of $9,100 for fourteen family members) *My father treatment 30,000$ * Minimum living costs: $5000 per month (a total of $30,000 for six months) * My education : $20,000 per year ( a total of $60,000 for three years ) * My sister education : $15,000 per year ( a total of 75,000 for five years )

[luveline]

Jade, after the last zombie blurb I can’t stop thinking about like, r taking care of Steve’s knee. Poor boy does so much for everyone else and probably doesn’t think to take care of himself so r just wraps it for him or something. Feel free to use this as a prompt if you’d like, no pressure!!

thank you for the prompt beautiful, I thought it was a great idea!! steve zombie au — you wrap up Steve's injured knee and get ready to move out of your makeshift camp. tw for zombie apocalypse typical violence and gore

There's a misery in the air thick as coal dust. For five days now, you, Steve, and the rest of the survivors from The College have been holed up in an apartment building within the city that surrounds The Michigan–Indiana border. At first, you'd been scared that the raiders who ruined your community would follow the tracks and find you, but a handful of scouts doubled back to find the ruins of your community completely empty. Wrecked, but uninhabited. 

With no one to hide from, a new problem emerges. How are you going to feed this many mouths, support so many children who can't fend for themselves? 

You have to get back on the road. 

So people are packing up. You, amongst the injured, can only sit and watch, though your cuts and bruises get better everyday and this is more of a Steve-mandated bed rest than a necessary sit down. Meanwhile, Steve limps around on his hurting knee and pretends it doesn't hurt at all. You can see him across the room from you now, helping a young girl tie her borrowed shoes tightly. You'll be walking as far as you can tonight, which with little ones won't be very far, but to them will seem like miles and miles and miles. 

"How's that? Not too tight?" he asks, tying her laces.

"It's okay." 

"You need them nice and snug so you don't get blisters, I know it's not comfortable. You're being really brave, Debbie." 

"Is my dad coming home soon?" 

You're terrified for a moment that her dad is one of the people who didn't make it here with you, but luckily Steve must know who she means, and he says, "Any minute now, the river's not far. Do you want to come and sit with me and my girlfriend?" 

She nods to her left, where a book rests face down. "I'm okay. Thank you." 

"You're welcome. We're just over there if you change your mind, okay?" 

He points at you. Debbie and Steve notice you watching them, and you give them a friendly smile and wave. You know you don't look especially inviting. You have marks all over your arms, more on your legs though they're hidden by your pants, and your hair hasn't been taken care of in a week. Your wave falters, even as Steve waves back. 

You pull on the jacket you've been given and pull the hood over your hair before Steve gets back to you.

Steve sits down next to you and sighs.

"Ready to go?" he asks. 

"Yeah." It's not as if you have any possessions to pack. "Are you?" 

"For sure," he says, dropping his face into his hands. "No, god… I'm tired, I don't wanna walk. I wish we could stay here." 

"I know, I'm sorry." 

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and straightens up. You haven't had a whole lot to talk about with one another lately, but luckily love doesn't need a lot. Your hands meet like magnets and your fingers thread together, his palm rough as yours but pleasantly warm. 

You sit like that for a while. 

"Here, the boon you requested," Robin announces, dropping a little white parcel into your lap. "Did you guys need socks? Sarah said she'd swap me four whole pairs for one of my hoodies." 

Robin being willing to swap one of her hoodies for socks makes you wanna cry. You smile at her. 

"We don't need any socks. You need to stop trading your things away," Steve says. 

"I know you'll find me another one." She looks between you both and bites her lip, hands moving up to her hair. She scratches through it. "Maybe we could stay here tonight, catch up with everyone else tomorrow," she suggests, eyeing you both thoughtfully.

"No," Steve says, kind but firm. "We're ready to go." 

"Okay. Well, I'm gonna go see if Chloe needs a hand with baby Ada," Robin says. She makes a heart with her hand and pushes it down at you. You make one back. 

"She doesn't even like babies," Steve says as she leaves. 

"She's amazing. Okay, take your pants off handsome." 

Steve blinks at you. "Excuse me?" 

You hold the bandage Robin brought you between your index and middle finger. "Time to wrap you up." 

"I'm not cut." 

"I know, but we're gonna be walking, and your knee still hurts. The compression will help." 

Steve knows you're right, even if he isn't eager to be looked after. You shake the blanket over his lap and he slides out of his pants, baring his purpled knee to you unhappily. 

"The bruise is worse," you murmur, unwrapping the bandage from itself in looser circles around your hand. "But it doesn't look swollen anymore. How does it feel?" 

"I was shit scared it was fucked forever, but it was just sprained. It's definitely getting better," he confesses. 

"And if it was fucked?" you ask. He told you it didn't even hurt. "Were you going to pretend forever?" 

"As long as a I could." 

You rub your thumb over his kneecap and wince at his wincing. "Lame… This is gonna hurt, I'm sorry, but not for long." 

"How d'you know it won't make it worse?"

"According to Sarah's copy of Field Medicine for Injury and Disease, it won't. I'm gonna start on top so it doesn't chafe while we walk, and I'm going to pull it really tight, so tell me if it doesn't feel right." 

"Can I ask you something?" Steve says severely. "Who the fuck is Sarah?" 

You wrap his knee. One round of white bandages at a time with a continued pressure, your fingers as gentle as they can be over the stain of his contusion. He doesn't make a sound the whole time, though you know it aches. 

"Did Robin give you her last quarter?" you ask. 

"What, the oxycontin? No, I think she gave it to Jonathan. His burn is scabbing over."

"Then you have nerves of steel." You want to call him my love, or my boy, but you're not often like that, and not in front of so many people. While nobody's watching, you lean down and kiss his knee. You're embarrassed as soon as you've done it but you can't take it back; you sit up and finish tucking in the end. 

Steve takes your face into his hand unexpectedly. 

He might call you honey, or baby, but he's quiet. You miss him so much and he's right here —you don't need The College if he's with you, but you'll miss your bedroom, because there he'd talk for hours about whatever he wanted. You'd give anything to be back there even for a second listening to him re-explain the plot of Fast Times, or try to convince you that cheese didn't even taste that good anyways so don't bother missing it. 

But you're here, and he's gonna be fine. One day he's gonna feel like chatting his nonsense again and you'll be there to listen. Until then, you'll do your best to take care of him.

"Thanks," he says, rubbing your cheek with his thumb. 

He looks so pretty. Brown eyes, the lingering purple and yellow of the shiner he suffered nearly invisible under the dark shadows beneath them. His hair is limp and a tiny bit longer than he prefers to have it, kissing his neck on both sides. He doesn't look clean, and it doesn't matter. 

"You're welcome. Now put your pants back on, Steve. We have places to be soon." 

He squeezes your cheek. "I don't think I can stand up." 

You help him back into his pants, the both of you laughing, and shuffle on your butt so you can sit hip to hip with him, your arm curled behind the small of his back. 

"Put your head on my shoulder, please," you say. 

Steve complies. 

You smile to yourself when he starts to talk quietly, "Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I went to Switzerland? Skiing?" 

"No," you murmur back. "What happened?" 

"I fell on my face. So, I was seventeen, and my mom…" 

—

if you’re reading this, thank you so much! I know some of you are dedicated readers of the zombie au and it warms my heart completely, it makes writing for them so so rewarding and I couldn’t be more grateful <3 if you have any requests for them let me know if you’d like to! but thank you again either way!

[megamindsecretlair]

Be My Little Darling - Chapter 10

Chapter 9 Chapter 11

Pairing: Loki x Black!Fem!reader / Plus Size reader

Warnings: 18+. Minors DNI. You are in charge of your own reading experience. Some smut. ANGST. PIV, dirty talk, use of magic, and heavy mentions of survivor's guilt, negative self-talk, violence. Brief mention of suicidal ideation in a joking manner (It's never funny, please seek help), Soft Loki, bit of fluff and cute domestic things.

Summary: Loki is the exclusive owner of the hottest club in New Asgard. Dubbed the Nine Realms, each of the nine rooms represent a different realm. You are his second in command, working the floors and ensuring everyone is having fun. Loki is nothing if not a man on a mission to not only win your heart but also make some headway about this saboteur.

Word Count: 4,789k

Masterlist

A/N: I miss the Loki show already! I missed you lovelies! Something about this man just eats me alive. I can't believe we're halfway there to the end! Thank you so much for continuing to ride for this series! Likes are always awesome. Please consider commenting and reblogging to help support writers! I block ageless blogs!

Taglist: @cantstayawaycani @braverthanthenewworld @monaeesstuff @chaos-4baby @dayjlovesromance @soft-persephone @mybonafidefeelings @nerdieforpedro @browngirldominion

“Are you alright, Darling?” 

He knew fuck well you were not alright. True to his word, there was plenty more to come. Loki had stamina for days, waking you up periodically through the night so he could thrust back into you and deliver more orgasms. 

You moaned as he laid you on your left side, facing a mirror you hadn’t known was there. It figured that he’d have a full length mirror right next to the bed, the vain prick. 

He slipped back in and pressed his chest to your back. His face was near your ear so you heard every moan and sigh that escaped his beautiful mouth. “Look at us, Darling,” Loki moaned.

You opened your eyes and looked at the picture of you two. Loki was pressed into you, your right leg held up by his hand and pulled open for him to move inside of you. He had slowed his strokes so that they were deep and full. You felt every glide and every inch of him. 

“Gods,” you moaned. Your pleasure had been driven to heights you only read about. He kept you in a perpetual state of bliss. You almost didn’t mind the lack of sleep. If you were being awakened for dick, could you really complain? 

“Right here, Darling,” Loki said. He kissed your cheek and looked at your face in the mirror. You looked as well. You were thoroughly fucked out. Your hair was a mess, deep lines on your skin from the pillows and sheets. Your lips were swollen from all of his kisses. You were marked and claimed by him.

Your eyes traveled to him. His hair was all over the place, slicked back too many times in his desperate need to keep it from his face. You left deep, red welts on his shoulders and back from the times that he hit your G-spot and you were unprepared. 

After each time, he whispered, “one more”, and you were unable to form a denial. You wanted to please him. You wanted that look on his face. The face he was making now. As if in between your thighs was the closest to Valhalla he’ll get for now.

The wet squelches from your combined fucking was still like sweet music to your ears. It drove your arousal higher, pushed you to sink onto his dick hungrily. Greedily. Your pleasure built in your belly, cresting higher and higher. You raced after it, pulling it within your grasp.

“Oh Loki, Loki,” you moaned as the wave moved over you. You moaned his name over and over as your body jerked and twisted. 

Loki kissed your neck and cheek. He moaned your real name as he released himself inside of you for the hundredth time that night. Loki placed soft kisses to your shoulder and back as he softened and pulled himself out of you.

He dropped down onto the bed, out of breath and wrung out. You couldn’t move an inch. You panted and heaved as you looked at yourself post orgasm. You felt beautiful and sinful. You felt seen in ways you hadn’t for the past five years. He helped you do that. But it was still you. 

The parts of you that you hid deep down inside were still there. You weren’t broken. It wasn’t too late to become that woman again. You smiled tiredly at your reflection. Earth may not be Asgard, but Asgard had always been its people. And you were still here.

A warm cloth between your legs made you yelp. You were incredibly sensitive. One more fucking round and you’d simply die. Loki chuckled and kissed you while he cleaned you up. He toyed with you, going extra slow around your clit. You groaned.

“No more, please,” you begged.

Loki chuckled again and kissed your cheek. “I had five years to make up for, Darling,” he said.

“Liar. You didn’t start the club until a year after we arrived,” you said.

“And I wanted you before even then,” he said.

That did give you enough strength to roll over and face him. He faced you, head resting on his elbow, as he looked you in the eyes. 

“Bullshit,” you said. 

“All these years and you still don’t think I’m capable of the truth,” he said and shook his head. His finger idly traced patterns across your belly and thighs. You watched him closely to make sure he wasn’t trying to get you going again. Seriously, you couldn’t.

“You’re capable when it suits you,” you said.

“And it suits me now. You were in town, shopping, and I was securing my permits. I left the building and you were across the street, talking to the baker. You wore…a blue dress. Sandals. Hair pulled up and I thought you were the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen,” he said. 

You stared at him. You thought back to the dozens of times you went to the baker. He was Asgardian and made the pastries you liked. You were working a dead end job you hated, wishing for something more. The pastries were a luxury you really couldn’t afford but you couldn’t resist. 

“You remember that?” You asked. You usually had more situational awareness. Loki held a presence unlike any other. You’d be able to pick him out of a thousand clones. But you hadn’t realized he was on the street.

You assumed the princes were off doing…whatever princes did when there was no throne to rule from. Meetings, logistics, and the like. 

“How could I not?” He asked. “I remembered that the only thing I wanted to do was talk to you. But you looked so sad. And the pastries brought you such comfort. I didn’t want to interrupt,” he said.

Now, you sat up and turned towards him. His hand moved down to your hip, still tracing patterns. “Since when do you care about interrupting?” 

Loki smiled. “The way you speak about me, I’d think I was a monster,” he said with a cheeky wink. 

You rolled your eyes. “You’re not getting free compliments, so stop,” you said.

He grinned. “I stood there and looked at you. When you left, the sadness returned. I figured we were all still recovering from Thanos, so the last thing you needed was a failed prince to bother you,” he said.

You narrowed your eyes at him. You rubbed your head. There was just…no way that he saw you when you hadn’t known he was there. It bordered on stalking the way you would yearn for any glimpse of him every time you got to attend a feast at the palace. The way you would crane your neck and watch, transfixed, as he strolled in with shorter hair and his brother. 

He was always smiling, always grinning, always moving around without a care in the world. You used to pray to the gods that he’d look your way just once and see you. He never did of course. Too busy looking at Thor. Everyone always did. 

“So when I came in for the job and you hired me on the spot?” 

“I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to see you every day,” he said. 

“Loki! Did I get it because I was qualified or you wanted some ass?” You asked. You smacked his shoulder. He moved back as if you put any real weight behind it. He grinned at you.

“Because you were qualified. I am a reputable business owner and wanting a chance at that sweet, sexy pussy of yours would be against policy,” he said. Straight face and everything. 

You were probably going to have to see a doctor from all the squinting you were doing. This was insane. But…you chose to believe him. He could come up with a better lie than that. So…it had to be the truth. He did see you and wanted you way before you thought. 

Heat pulsed through you and you sank down onto the bed, feeling giddy. This was so silly. It was like you had a crush all over again. But you probably never really grew out of it where he was concerned. 

“Okay, I choose to believe you,” you said.

He leaned down and kissed your breast. “I’m glad,” he said.

“Don’t you start!” You said, moving away from him. He scooted closer. 

“I seem to recall you agreeing that I could have you whenever and wherever?” 

You were on the edge of the bed and there was no more room left to run. Loki crowded your personal space and kissed you, at his leisure, his hand back on your hip.

“That was the heat of the moment, can’t stand up in human court,” you murmured as he kissed along your jaw.

He nipped at your jaw and you hissed from the bite of pain. “Verbal contracts are still binding, Darling. You know that,” he said.

“Fine, twist my arm,” you said. 

Loki grinned. “I will have mercy just this once. But make no mistake. I will make good on my promises,” he said.

“Threats more like it,” you said. You tried to give him a stern look. But he was so damn cute laying there with his dark hair, in his home that smelled uniquely like him. You were truly in trouble here.

“Is it still a threat if I threaten you with pleasure?” He asked.

“How are you still capable of moving? I want to sleep for a week,” you said. Even now as you spoke and moved, you were thoroughly sore. The places that he gripped you were raw with his fingerprints. The places that he suckled and kissed you were patches of soreness. Your pussy still throbbed from all the pleasure wrung out of you. It was a miracle you were still awake.

“I have longed for this, Darling. I do not wish to see it end so soon,” he said. He didn’t look at you as he said it. Instead, his eyes were focused on caressing your hip. 

“Hey,” you said. You nudged him until he dragged his eyes from your hip. “No more running. I want this and I want you,” you said.

Loki smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners. This man really had no idea, did he? He could spin a thousand tales and you’d still want him. Crave him. Lo-like him. You bit your lip at that mental slip. 

“What’s wrong?” Loki asked.

You kissed him instead of answering. You ran your tongue across his lips. He moaned as his hand clutched your hip. “Thought you were done?” 

“Can’t I kiss you without it turning to more?” You asked.

“Never,” he said. 

You rolled your eyes. Your stomach chose that moment to rumble. Loudly. You buried your face in his shoulder with a groan. He only laughed. 

“I have been a poor host. I will make something for us,” he said. He kissed your head and ordered you to stay there while he left the room. You watched his ass as he moved about flawlessly. You couldn’t, you simply couldn’t, but damn if he didn’t make you want to hop back on his dick and ride him until sunrise.

You were almost asleep when he entered the room carrying a tray. On it, there was french toast, bacon, and eggs. “You didn’t have to make all of this!” 

“Yes, I did,” he said. He placed the tray on the bed and you shared the meal, talking about nothing and everything. After, you relaxed against the bed and talked some more until you were both too tired to keep moving your jaws. If only you could communicate by mind. 

You both climbed under the covers and you fell asleep in his warm embrace, content for the first time in ages.

In the morning, you slowly awoke to soft light coming through his curtains. Loki sighed and pulled you closer. You smiled and snuggled into him. 

“Careful, Darling,” he said.

Holy hell, if you thought his voice was sexy before? His sleep-rough voice would melt your panties if he hadn’t torn them off of you. While you wanted to tease him, you also knew that you couldn’t follow through. So you settled down and kissed his arm around you.

“Good morning, Loki,” you said sweetly.

“Good morning, Darling,” he said with a soft chuckle. He kissed the back of your head.

“Oh no,” you said. Dread pooled in your gut as you thought about the new day and what it meant. What the hell were you going to tell your crew? You could hear Honey’s laughter now. 

“What is it?” He asked.

“What are we going to tell everyone?” You asked.

“We can say however much you want or how little you want. But they will know you’re mine,” he said. He tightened his grip around your middle to emphasize his point. You rolled your eyes even though you squealed on the inside.

“Loki, be serious. What are you gonna do? Fuck me with the door open again?” 

“If I please,” he said. You could hear the grin in his voice and you rolled your eyes again. He really was incorrigible. 

“Loki…” You groaned. He didn’t understand. The rules for him were different from the rules for you. He was a god and could do damn well whatever he pleased. You on the other hand, people would only assume what you asked last night. Did you get the job on your knees or on your back? 

“It matters not. We’re not going in today anyway,” Loki said. 

You rolled over and he peeked at you. “We’re going to into town to speak with the King. She might know who we’re dealing with.”

“Why would she know?” You asked. 

“I’ve been looking at the cards left behind by our saboteur. Only two, same card stock. Magically created. The King was the foremost expert in Asgardian security, she might shed some light.” 

You lifted an eyebrow at him. “Nice to see you were resting while we sorted out the rooms,” you said.

He smiled and shrugged. “Seize the day. We could make a day of it,” he said.

“Loki, are you asking me on a date?” You asked.

“No. You’ll know when I’m asking you on a date. But I would like your company on this errand,” he said. 

You sighed and rolled your eyes to the ceiling. He was so damn infuriating. And yet…

“How am I supposed to get home without any clothes?” You asked.

Loki grinned and pulled back the covers to look at your naked body. His blue eyes got wider, taking you all in. You squirmed beneath his perusal. 

“Is it my fault you showed up without any clothes?” 

“I wasn’t expecting you to rip them off of me,” you said.

“You offer me a present and I don’t get to unwrap it? That hardly seems fair,” he said. He pouted and you slapped his shoulder with a laugh. 

“I’m being serious, Loki,” you said.

“As am I. Besides, can’t you conjure clothes?” Loki asked.

“What? No. I can only conjure weapons,” you said.

He looked at you and frowned. “Have you ever tried?” 

You opened your mouth to tell him of course you had, but…well, shit, have you? You had an affinity for weapons and that was all you ever knew. It didn’t occur to you to try different constructs. 

“I can’t remember,” you said.

“While we’re on about it, is that the only magic you know how to do? Are you more in-line with my power?” 

You scooted closer and planted a kiss on his cheek. “No one can compare to the oh so powerful, oh so dreadful, the charming and devilishly handsome god, Loki,” you said. You peppered kisses in between your words and Loki’s face lit up with delight. You could get used to him like this. Happy and open and carefree. You really liked seeing this side of him. 

“Flattery gets you everywhere, Darling. But I think we should make some time to see what you can do,” he said.

You shrugged. Why not? 

“In the meantime…” Loki got out of bed and held his hand out to you. He pulled you into the bathroom where he pleaded for, “just one more”, and you couldn’t resist him. Afterwards, he conjured a brand new black suit for him and a black plaid dress for you, with green and gold lines intersecting. He even conjured you up some kick ass boots that gave you some height but still nowhere near him.

He looked over your outfit with a manic gleam in his eyes. “Down boy!” 

He pouted as you left his place and walked towards your car. You offered to drive you into town and he refused. Something about being a proper host. Instead, he had his own car. A sleek truck that was too tall for you to climb into. He helped you into the passenger seat and then soon, you were on your way into town.

Once in town, he parked on the outskirts and you walked towards the main City building. People were bustling about doing their shopping. Tourists were in town sharing jokes and ales with the local Asgardians. It was…sweet to see everyone hanging out and talking and getting along. You missed this.

“Come along, Darling,” Loki said. He kept his hands in his pockets as you walked towards the City building. His shoulders hunched forward. Guess there will be no holding hands today. Was he the holding hands type? You weren’t sure. Why did you want to hold his hand anyway? It was stupid and childish.

You clenched your hands into fists and walked beside him. He held the door for you as you went inside. The atmosphere inside the building was homey and comfortable. A far cry from the glitz and glamor of the palace back home.

You looked towards Loki. Maybe that was his problem. Maybe he missed Asgard as much as everyone else. Except, he had no one to tell that to. He did so much shit trying to bring it down, embarrass Odin or Thor, or cause mischief. Maybe he thinks people won’t want to hear how he misses it.

Loki made a beeline towards the main hall. Inside, aides rushed to and fro as King Valkyrie sat at the head of the table. She looked positively miserable. 

She was gorgeous as always. Flawless skin, locs twisted up in a lazy hairdo, and a smart suit to rival Loki’s black one. He made his look classy and debonaire. She made hers look painted on, effortless, and sexy. 

She looked up as the brown uniform doors closed behind you. She smirked at you but her eyes turned icy towards Loki. 

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Her smooth voice called out. 

Loki smiled and opened his arms. The picture of innocence. Right. Like cats are innocent. 

“We have a dilemma that I was hoping you could help with,” Loki said.

“Is the club not keeping you busy enough as is?” King Valkyrie asked.

Gods, she was gorgeous. You were nervous as hell. On Asgard, you were lucky to attend a few feasts. You never would have gotten that close to the family, let alone Odin himself. To be this close to King Valkyrie was nerve wracking.

Loki produced the two cards with “Remember” and “Vengeance” written on it. The King stood up and took the cards from his hand. She turned them over and looked at Loki.

“What of it?” She asked.

“Do you recognize anything about it? Anything at all? There’s a…saboteur at the club,” Loki admitted. 

The King walked around the open space, light from the windows hitting her coral skin. She studied the two cards as she moved around, humming to herself. “A saboteur? You say?” She asked.

She walked closer to you and looked at you. “What do you think?” 

Your words died in your throat. You looked towards Loki who nodded. Like that fucking did anything. You took a deep breath. “Causing a lot of issues for us. It’s annoying. No one’s gotten hurt that much. But enchanting our customers, one of our performers’ legs went through the floor, and switched our rooms around,” you explained.

“Heavy magic involved. All to mess with…you,” the King turned towards Loki and pointed. 

“We know that already. But why the cards? My enemies are usually more direct,” Loki said.

“Now that you mention it, I’ve heard some of the locals talk about legends around here. But those are just stories,” King Valkyrie said. She moved back towards the windows and looked at the cards.

“What kind of legends?” Loki asked.

“Just stories, I’m sure.”

Loki smiled and rolled his neck. “My King, I am very desperate to catch this person.” 

King Valkyrie looked at you and made a surprised face. Yeah, you thought you’d drop dead before you heard those words from his lips. You supposed this was getting to Loki more than he let on. Once you had him to yourself again, you were going to make him talk to you. Keeping all this shit bottled up was going to eat him alive.

“Fine,” King Valkyrie said. She hopped onto the table and faced them. “There is a legend around here of a disfigured man who used to live up on the hill where the club now resides. The locals treated him as you would expect, horribly. They harassed the poor man until he went insane. They wouldn’t let him sleep. Kids would jangle chains outside his bedroom windows at night.”

As she spoke, you swore the clouds chose that exact moment to blot out the sun. The room turned a shade darker. Shadows played across King Valkyrie’s features. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say she had magic of her own. 

“You haven’t heard the chains yet, have you?” She asked.

You and Loki looked at each other and then at her. You shook your heads at the same time. 

“Good, that’s good. Well, you see, more bad things happened to this man until he vowed to take revenge on every living descendant who dared bother him. He prayed to the gods to make him as strong as Odin, as clever as Loki, and as bold as Thor,” she continued.

You stepped forward, engrossed in the story. That poor man. You couldn’t imagine being hounded like that. Your heart ached for him.

“I have no beef with a disfigured man from human history,” Loki said.

“Your club sits on his land. You mock him with your den of sin. His home. You flaunt your pretty boy looks and lure unsuspecting tourists to your club,” King Valkyrie said and shrugged. “Remember? Vengeance?” She waved the cards around.

Loki sighed and approached her, taking the cards out of her hands. “What’s the real story?” 

King Valkyrie broke into laughter and clapped her hands. “How did you know?” 

You gasped and looked towards the King. You quickly shut your mouth and made your face blank. You would not admit to anyone that you fell for her story. Hey, she was a freakin’ Valkyrie who told a good story. You’d believe her too.

“I am the God of Mischief,” Loki said. He tucked the cards into his coat pocket. 

King Valkyrie sighed. “Fine. It’s so dreadfully boring here. For the cards, I am stumped, same as you. Never came across the like. You might want to speak to Heimdall,” King Valkyrie said.

Loki hissed and rolled his eyes. You raised an eyebrow at him in silent questioning.

“Loki thinks Heimdall is still pissed about slipping his gaze,” the King supplied.

“Why am I not surprised,” you muttered. Loki shrugged with a smirk. You had no idea what you were going to do with this man. You walked over to him, careful to keep your distance, and looked him in the eye.

“Are we not desperate? What can Heimdall do now?” You asked.

“Do not underestimate him,” Loki said. 

Okay, you two definitely needed to sit down somewhere and discuss whatever the hell you’re missing there. You needed all of the gossip, like right now. You gave Loki a pointed look and he sighed.

“Fine, fine. Let’s go, Darling,” Loki said.

“Hey, come back and visit anytime. Bring a drink next time! Or a bloody sword to end my life,” King Valkyrie called after you.

You turned back and waved to the King and then felt incredibly stupid for doing so. You inwardly groaned. She’d never invite you back if you continued to do weird shit.

Loki stopped outside of the City building, frozen to the spot. You nudged him. He stared off into the distance, barely acknowledging your presence.

“Loki? What is it?” You asked.

Loki’s jaw clenched, continuing to stare off. You followed his line of sight, squinting into the sun. Some distance away, at a pub, Thor was pushed out of the doorway. He was laughing with someone, slapping the smaller man on the back. Each slap of his massive paw caused the man to bowl forward.

You hissed as you took in the state of your prince. He was chubby, wearing…checkered pajama pants that looked dirty and a sweat-stained sweatshirt. His once golden hair was now flaxen like wheat, thick beard unkempt and matted. 

“Oh,” you sighed. You hadn’t thought…you had no idea…

You looked towards Loki. He stared at his brother across the way, guilt etched into his features. Again, you felt out of the loop but that was for another time. You wrapped your hand around Loki’s arm. You nudged him.

“Hey,” you said softly. Loki shook himself as if emerging from a trance. He smiled at you.

“Come, we’ll see Heimdall tomorrow,” he said. He put his head down and started walking forward. You stopped him and moved until you could look at his face.

“Don’t you want to say hi to your brother?” You asked.

“Stay out of it, Darling,” Loki said. 

“But, he’s right there. Clearly hurting. How long has he been like this?” You asked.

“Leave it,” Loki said.

“But shouldn’t we help him? Has he talked to anyone–”

“I said, drop it, Darling! You’ve no idea what you’re talking about. None! He’s…fine. He’s grieving like the rest of us,” Loki snapped.

You took a step back from the vehemence in Loki’s sapphire eyes. “Darling–”

You lifted a hand. “I’ve tolerated a lot of shit from you, Loki. But you don’t ever speak to me like that.” 

“I’m sorry–” 

You lifted another hand. “I’ll find my own way home,” you said. 

“Please,” he said. He called your name and you turned away from him. You will not let this man see more of your tears. You knew on a rational level that he was not mad at you. It wasn’t personal. But that was no excuse to talk to you like that. You were asking an innocent question.

You looked toward Thor once more. He had a bottle of ale in his hand and he was stumbling down the road. The town drunk. You won’t presume to know what happened there or why he was like this now. It’s not like you two were friends or that you had checked up on him these past five years.

You’d asked about him plenty of times, since Loki always seemed so down after going into town. You assumed that sometimes he saw his brother. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe he spent these past five years hiding like everyone else. Trying to pick up the pieces left behind in Thanos’ wake. 

What did you know? Besides, Loki needed to cool down and you did not want to be around him right now. You were liable to truly hurt his feelings. Your own anger simmered. One night of bliss and it turned into such a shit show. 

You mentally kicked yourself. You knew sleeping with him was a mistake. Sex only ever complicated things and it was bullshit. Thinking with your pussy rather than your head. You kept your head down for five fucking years and threw it all away, for what? For one night of sexual gratification? 

Ugh. You were disgusted with yourself. You crossed your arms and walked down the road. You were aware of Loki’s gaze on you but you refused to turn around. You didn’t want to deal with this shit. You didn’t ask for it. And you certainly didn’t ask to babysit Loki’s hangups. 

You walked home more confused and angry than you knew what to do with. How could you face him now? How did you begin to fix this? Whatever the hell this was?

Masterlist | Chapter 9 | Chapter 11

[wannab-urs]

Carry Me

This is a request fill for @atinylittlepain <3

Pairing: Dieter Bravo x student therapist!reader

Summary: You’re overwhelmed. Being a student at a very rigorous university and interning as a therapist for the local DV clinic is all getting to be too much. You’re on the verge of a nervous breakdown for real, but Dieter is there to lighten some of the burden.

Warnings/Content: hurt/comfort, a rare non smut fic, general anxiety and frustration about being a student therapist, Dieter being kind of an idiot, brief mention of SA and DV (literally just the acronyms, no description whatsoever), Dieter is able to pick you up, Dieter calls you Shrink and baby, you and Dieter are roughly the same age, brief mention of oral f!receiving, no use of Y/N, WC: ~1200

Notes: Thank you so much to @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin and @theywhowriteandknowthings for the beta read <3 Love y'all bunches. I was so excited to write this fic AHHH

Dieter Bravo Masterlist | Main Masterlist | AO3 | Kofi

But you can carry me / I’m not heavy / I’ll grow extra arms / To hold onto your body Dig my fingernails / Into your shoulder / And you’re so steady /And you don’t tip over - Carry Me by Crooks and Nannies

You get home and look up at the stairs which have quite possibly never felt so daunting as they do right now. You had class from 8 this morning until noon, a 30 minute break in which you scarfed down some trail mix you found in your car and drove to the clinic, and then an extremely emotionally draining 4 hours of leading group SA and DV survivor therapy sessions followed by another 2 hours of paperwork. 

So now, roughly 12 hours after you left your apartment, you’re standing at the bottom of your stairs, feeling weighed down by your bag and by your life in general and dreading what you might find at the top. 

When you finally do make it upstairs, slip the key into the lock, push the door open, you’re desperately (delusionally) hoping to find a clean apartment. Maybe he cooked you dinner? Maybe he cleaned the living room and lit a candle? Maybe the bed is made and the laundry is put away? 

Of fucking course not. 

Dieter is sitting upside down on the couch, feet in the air and his head dangling off the cushion. He’s got a paintbrush in his teeth and a canvas propped against the coffee table. There’s a pile of laundry in the corner by the bed, dishes stacked precariously in the sink… 

“Dieter. What the fuck are you doing?” He drops the paintbrush from his teeth and you watch it clatter across the hardwood. Add paint on the floor to the pile of bullshit being heaped onto you today. 

“Painting!” He looks positively gleeful for a moment, but then he takes in your sagging shoulders, your wobbling lip, the way your eyes glint with tears. “Shrink? Baby, you okay?” Dieter does a surprisingly agile maneuver, rolling off the couch and onto his feet just as your chest starts heaving and the tears start to spill over. 

He crosses the room quickly, takes your bag and sets it on the floor of the entryway, wraps his big arms around you and pulls you into his chest. You crumple into him, letting him finally take your weight. He buries his nose in your hair, cradles your head to his chest and supports you with an arm wrapped tightly around your waist. Broken sobs and gasps for air are all you can manage, but he doesn’t ask you questions. He just whispers that everything is going to be okay, that he loves you, that you’re so strong. 

After a few minutes, you’re more sniffling than sobbing, and he grabs your face in his big hands. He swipes away a few tears, presses a kiss to your lips. You squirm away “Dieter I’m all snotty!”

“I don’t care, Shrink,” he kisses your tear streaked cheeks, your now fluttering eyelids, your forehead, then he sweeps you off your feet, picking you up bridal style. You shriek and stifle a giggle. 

“Oh my god, Dee, put me down,” you yell, trying to contain your giggles. 

“Sure thing, baby!” He dumps you on the couch, grabs his fluffy brown coat off the table and wraps it around your shoulders, sinks to his knees and pulls your sneakers off for you. He goes to the bed and pulls your favorite blanket from the tangled pile and tosses that over you too. “Here’s what’s gonna happen.”

“Di-”

“Nope, you’re listening to me, for once.” You roll your eyes and throw your head back into the soft velvet cushion of the couch. “I’m gonna make you a cup of tea, okay? You’re gonna drink the tea and you’re gonna make a list.” 

“A list?” You arch your eyebrow at him, a skeptical look in your eye.

“A list. You’re gonna write down everything you need to do for school AND everything you want to do this week. When you finish that, you’re gonna make a list of ways you can cut your workload. Can you do that for me, shrink?” You start to nod, but then you catch a glimpse of the laundry. 

“Dee the house–”

“Nope! That’s my problem, okay? Focus on your list. Tell me when you’re done.” He drops another kiss on top of your head and gets your bag for you, laying it on the table before running off to the kitchen. 

You pull out your journal and start making his stupid list and a few minutes in, he brings you tea, just the way you like it and in your favorite mug. He puts on a record at low volume and you can hear the water running in the sink. Dieter Bravo is doing the dishes. You never thought you’d see the day. 

You finish the first list of all the things you need to do for school and add Write and Watch a movie to the bottom for the things you would do if you ever had the fucking time. Dieter appears in front of you, reading your list upside down. 

“Knew you could do it, shrinky dink.” 

“Please stop calling me that.” 

“No. Now what can you do to reduce your workload?” He heads over to the bed and starts making it while you talk. 

“I could take this class as pass/fail instead of for a grade…” Your face pulls into a grimace at the thought.

“And why do you sound like that makes you want to die a little?” He says as he wrangles the sheet back onto the bed. 

“Because it feels like failing. Or cheating? I don’t know, D! Gina will hate me for it.” You toss your journal onto the coffee table and burrow into Dieter’s coat a little more. 

“Ok first of all, that woman adores you, but also,” he trails off as he focuses on stuffing a pillow back into its case. He sleeps like a tornado. “Also! There has to be something else you can do. Is your internship mandatory?” 

“I need to do it!” you drag your hands down your face and bang your head repeatedly into the soft cushion behind you. 

“Can you reduce your hours?” He’s next to you now, plopping down on the couch and pulling you over to sit across his lap. 

“Technically?” You bury your face in the crook of his neck, drape yourself over him and soak in his warmth, his steadiness. 

“Then that’s what you’re gonna do. And tonight, we’re gonna watch a movie. And then I’m gonna toss you onto our freshly made bed and I’m gonna eat you out til you’re so delirious you couldn’t think about your ‘workload’ if you tried.”

“What about the laundry?” 

“It can wait.” He kisses you softly again. You make an exasperated noise, but you let him grab the remote, pull up Netflix, put on a movie. You let him cradle you and kiss you.

Dieter isn’t perfect. He’s messy and forgetful and can’t hold down a job to save his fucking life. But he’s steady, soft, comforting. He’s understanding and kind and silly and a little bit brilliant.

You know that when everything gets too much for you to carry, he can carry you. 

[nicoleanell]

I would love to hear your meta on the scene from Renfield with the priest and the vampire hunter, if you’d be willing to share!

SURE, THANK GOD YOU ASKED.

My thing with that scene is it was peak Give Renfield A Hug and also the most irredeemable thing he does in the movie short of destroying some kid's ant farm, and that instantly made me fall in love with him.

I like the fact they made Renfield an aggressively sympathetic character and at the same time not wholly innocent. Robert Montague Renfield is neither a good guy or a bad guy but he deserves to be okay. (Also he may come off way more "sane" as movie Renfields go but he's not a well person lol, and the fact he's in an all-gender support group for abuse survivors very rapidly becomes not so much A Joke as it is the Entire Point of the movie.)

In the flashbacks, it's totes played for comedy and riffing on the 1931 movie and there's a little bit of an "unreliable narrator" vibe to it when Renfield's like, it was good we had great times etc. :))) We don't really know how in control of himself he is or how much he's whitewashing. But then we get the church/vampire killer thing and there's like... the first seed of something more real going on. The movie tells us upfront that the last time Dracula was almost defeated he stopped it, willingly, and it wasn't normal vampire enthrallment stuff as much as a very human emotional choice.

There's some heavy-handed manipulation happening and it's *completely* non-supernatural. They'll lock you away. I'll protect you. I care about you. And Nic Hoult's big woobie eyes hold all the sadness and isolation and genuine hope/desire to be loved, and it's unhealthy attention but there's nothing better out there for him. 🥺 <- emoji rendition of Renfield and also me.

Oh and for good measure his "he really means it this time" internal monologue is 100% meant to sound like toxic/abusive boyfriend stuff he's echoing from the support group, which is A Joke in this movie until it's not anymore.

(Side note, I saw you mention this in another post - the mental institution headcanon is Valid. I would've liked for it to be explicitly in there somewhere but as far as I'm concerned nothing *contradicts* it and it's one of like 3 facts people associate with Spiders Georg over here. So I'll take that crumb that the threat of him getting locked up is just as likely to be in an asylum (again) as a jail. And yikes the legitimate fear of that being WORSE than the hell he's currently in.)

And the second he does the thing, some priest *completely proves Dracula right* by immediately throwing more guilt and blame on Renfield and being like YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYONE ELSE HE KILLS NOW. Which, fair! But also, dude, you're being the opposite of helpful here! Lmao fucking Catholics. He knows this! It's why he can't get out! Of course he chose Dracula and he did it on purpose and he did it because of trauma and it *cemented* him being trapped forever. This is the climax of an entire other movie in which Renfield is probably not the main character but would definitely end up my problematic fave anyway.

SO YEAH. Between that and the reveal he left a whole wife & kid, there's such an interesting theme of guilt/shame on top of self-esteem and learned helplessness issues I was not anticipating in this movie. It's important for him to get to a place of: "I want to blame this legitimately awful monster but I also did SOME of this to myself, and when I can accept that without immediately going into a fetal position, it gives him less power over me."

Does not remove his power completely! 'Cause Renfield 2023 is also not, like, saying that you can just Easily Decide To Leave Your Violent Abuser. But the affirmations about being enough and deserving better and seeking better in spite of having failed or fucked up before are important.

[sassykinzonline]

Going off on a tangent (I’m lowkey obsessed with your blog so now I’m going to yell my thoughts at you)

I get so disappointed at the lack of any lore drops between Naruto’s heritages like obviously the uzamaki’s were exploited and basically had a like genocide (Karin’s backstory had me so fucked) and maybe it’s to show how normal it is in shinobi society to just brush anything under the rug when it comes to genocides and systemic issues which duh but I wish I could’ve seen more nuanced stuff like diaspora between the few survivors of lost clans, how they survived or heck how they try to preserve their culture.

Idk maybe I’m not making any sense but as someone who has like no ties to my origins (AA, especially growing up to ppl denying AA culture and how AA culture gets sold) I wished I saw that kind of relatability in Naruto since he himself is basically separated from his culture and didn’t even know who his parents were I feel like that could lead to some like deeper stuff. I feel like Naruto would try to preserve his cultures and clans (he does in way ig in boruto but I barely seen that anime and that’s a whole other discussion with how clans are treated)

And in a way I guess it’s the most realistic part of Naruto like yea the ppl in charge might give a nod in acknowledgement of how they were bystanders and that the system failed ppl (if they even go as far as to accept that) it’s just to make the ppl they exploit/ed shut up and be happy that they were even seen in the first place (working class, blm, Palestine, Native Americans etc)

But god do I wish Naruto dived into the isolation of the lack of culture or even the lack of your own ppl can have.

first of all thank you for your support and engagement, it gives joy. feel free to yell at me whenever, i have a naruto so im used to it.

this is also something that used to upset me and now just frustrates me. i technically wasnt the last uchiha until after the war, but itachi and i couldnt communicate, madara cut ties with the clan, and just like me obito left the village as a child. one of the worst things about the genocide was this crushing anxiety of "what will become of our history?" i was old enough to have pride in the concept of "uchiha" but too young to have a meaningful understanding of it. and i guess deep down thats what contributed to my steady depersonalization and increasing franticness-- i knew there was really nothing i could do to preserve my clan so at least i needed to preserve their honour (and this was also why i understand itachi's reasons for not sharing the truth).

all this to say, my heart breaks for naruto because he doesnt even know what he doesnt know. and like you said, thats mostly a function of how konoha chose to operate. i still dont understand why they couldnt at least tell naruto about his mom. i dont understand why jiraiya didnt come back to teach him sealing. but i do know why and its because the shinobi system works best if you dont see yourself as an individual first. everything you are and have needs to belong to the state, and if it doesnt, then they will eliminate it. konoha took advantage of the genocide in uzushio to essentially traffic their women and then say there was "friendship" between the two villages...then do nothing to preserve the uzumaki or uzushio history. disgusting.

youre making sense. ive actually thought that naruto's case is similar to children from asia who were trafficked and brought to western countries post-war, completely removed from their culture and often neglected and abused for a culture they couldnt even own. i think the uchiha are a bit similar to african americans given the systematic lack of consideration for contributions to the development of society, the war between respectability/assimilation and self-determination/anti-discrimination, and like you said the commodification and demonization of culture. and i do agree with you about naruto, but i think it also helps him sometimes. for better or for worse hes...simple. he doesnt think too much about things he doesnt know, and that helps him get through his days with less of a load. he does have his bad days, where hes...lost, but if he were any other way he wouldnt be naruto. luckily the boruto versions of us arent real, but even then i think they make sense given what they were trying to accomplish with that show (ie. dumb down everything for the Manly Men who didnt get what was happening the first time).

when i was traveling after the war i did try to do some preliminary investigation into existing uzumaki refugees and diaspora, but it was a bit difficult though due to their history. ive been thinking about putting together an extended campaign and mission for us to reunify the uzumaki, for his birthday. i just need to figure out how best to go about it. keep it a secret between us.

[atastypeach]

listen, Rolan's whole story just hits me really hard. Yes, this game is about breaking cycles, but I feel like addressing Rolan's cycle of abuse is something I gotta talk about because it's eating me up inside.

So through this game, we're told all about Cazador. Astarion isn't shy about making damn sure everyone knows just how much of a god awful wretch he is. And regardless of which ending you choose for Astarion - he gets to break free from his abuser. Sure, the cycle has a strong chance of continuing if you let him ascend, but this post isn't about it. It's about the catharsis of him killing Cazador. I think anyone who has been the survivor of abuse - in any form - may have found something truly freeing about Astarion getting to remove his shackles. But for me, something was missing. And what was missing was the secrecy of the abuse. I'm 33. I didn't face the worst of my abuse until I was 28. But that abuse went unnoticed by most people in my life. Came at the hand of my stepfather after my mom died of a terminal illness. Your tl;dr: I escaped his abuse in January of this year after years of torment. But it took people who loved me for me to realize what was happening. And I see this in Rolan too.

See, I failed at saving Rolan my first game. My game sequence broke. He didn't spawn until after I had completed Moonrise Towers and broke into the prisons. Saved him then but well. He turned on me in the end because I didn't save Cal and Lia. I'm sorry honey, blame the coding of the game being screwy, not me. But in Rolan I see a lot of myself. Not to be a kinnie on main (A/N: I am not a kinnie) but this young man shares an uncomfortable amount of traits with me, from being an overworking nerd, to being so desperately loyal to my loved ones, to drinking intensely when i can't cope with my emotions (I'm in therapy for this) and much more. And his story line has resonated with me as someone who has experienced hidden abuse. When we first meet him, he speaks highly of Lorroakan and his apprenticeship. The only real indication we get that Lorroakan might be bad news is from Gale who calls him a blowhard or something like that. We just know he's kind of a tool. But when we first meet Rolan - he's a tool. A match made in heaven, so what does it matter. But what we don't see is once we get to act three, how Rolan handles this apprenticeship with Lorroakan. And as someone who has seen both outcomes now...it hurts to see. If you fail to save Cal and Lia, Rolan follows Lorroakan blindly. He does as he wishes. He regards you with contempt and disdain. He sides with a man who we only know from a vague journal post in his bedroom that he may be experiencing abuse. He becomes Lorroakan's pawn doing precisely what he wishes. He dies for Lorroakan. A man we know has been exploiting, abusing and harming him. A man who likely knew he had Rolan wrapped around his finger because he is all Rolan had left. No family. No friends. No home to return to. Rolan is a nobody with only this wizard as his grounding point. There is no one for him, so Lorroakan has the perfect plaything. The perfect pawn. He can do whatever he wants to Rolan and there is no one to save him. And the worst part? Rolan was probably content to do just that. Sure, Lorroakan might be beating him, verbally harassing him and even worse -- but Lorroakan didn't let his family die. He wasn't the cause of Rolan losing the people he loved. And we never learn that he's being hurt until after he's already dead. But if you save him? You save his family? He recognizes his worth. He has family who see him for who he is. Who see his strengths. He has people worth living for and he has the opportunity for so much growth. He recognizes, likely thanks to the love and support he has from not only his siblings - but from you as a player, that he's being hurt. He's being exploited and used and harmed. He knows he is being abused and he wants to fight back, for his sake and for the sake of others - for his family, for Dame Aylin, for you.

IDK man, I just wanted to ramble about this. Because Rolan's own survivor story covers the hidden abuse that doesn't always get talked about. The abuse of someone who desperately is trying to remain strong in the face of it. I could probably keep rambling. Talk about how he was willing to die for Lorroakan because Lorroakan was all he had left, in his bad ending. But I think I've said my peace. I got him killed in my first playthrough, but in my second (which I'm still finishing) I feel like I'm doing myself a kindness in turn by offering him the love and support he needs. I love him. A lot.

[cocomuffy]

I watched Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017) because The Batman (2022) was too long.

7/10

spoilers, obviously. here are my live thoughts:

I THINK ITS A DICKORY MOVIE AND IF IT IS I WILL BE SO HAPPY YOU HAVE NO IDEA

Kory kissed him to learn English- I'm laughing so hard right now this is hilarious.

if i had watched this movie in 2020 i would have realized i was bi a lot sooner

The coloration of the "Five Years Ago" and "Now" text is messing with my designer heart rn

it's the red nightwing outfit!!!!!! i havent got to see that much. i much prefer the blue bc there's already like seven red batfam members but like i do think it looks stylish because its dick and dick pulls off everything

"Nightwing." "Nightwing." "Dick..!" "oh, yeah?"

OH THEY'RE SO CUTEEEEEEEE

"they're different..." trails off. "like kory will tell you." "noo, you go aheaddd..." "I've been studying them for years--"

I ALREADY LOVE THEM "robin stop complimenting the bad guys"

no they did not just got there (at 9:40)

damian is just such a brat i love him

kicking my feet, squealing, giggling, throwing up BECAUSE SHE HAS HIS NINE AND HE HAS HER SIX--

i took a fifteen minute break to do the math on how old dick and kory are and got 36?!??!?!?!

garfield has no rizz

i just got like... punched in the gut seven times??? "i just miss my son"

it's the fact that damian is like "i approve of your gf" and nightwing's like "okay???"

"You don't have to move a mountain to help people, Terra." - Probably the theme of this movie

i was not ready for the sexual jokes

oh no raven is on the groundddd

how stupid is damain?!?!??!?!?!?!! especially after the part that slade says about lazarus pits?! he has to know that there is no way he can feasibly win this! and terra isn't helping! which means that terra is probably working with slade!!! GUESS WHO CALLED IT!!!!!!!!!!!

oh god this slade and terra stuff is no good

please tell me that we were not about to get a dick and kory makeout scene

oh thank god for damian

oh my god imagine going into your surpise party thinking people are about to kill you :skull:

ugh i dont like this garfield selfie timeskip whatever

and hasn't anyone noticed robin isn't here???

im doing os much calculations rn for no reason at all

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW STARFIRE'S GOT SOMETHING TO SAYYYYYYYYYY THEY LOVE EACH OTHER AND THEY JUST WANT THE BEST FOR EACH OTHER I LOVE THEM

aw. beastboy being supportive

"Do you know why I'm an orphan?" "uhhh... your parents died?"

nooo terra and beast boy kissed absolutely not they are not for each other terra doesn't need any relationships periodddd

aww but bb is really cute after so ig it makes it a lil better

slade shut up this is supposed to be a nice moment

i will never get over dick calling kory babe its too precious i love them so much

i dont trust that gift. i dont trust that.

they're making their moveeeeee- they're taking all the titansss oh noooo

i think that leaves nightwing as the last survivor which is really nerve wracking because i love dick grayson so much??

gar youre so stupid

oh no kory i love you kory please be okayyy

dick just got shot in the chest oh my god, oh my god. screaming crying hyperventilating oh my god oh my god oh my god.

oh i shouldve known he'd be just fine htis is why i love him hes so dependable

OH MY GOD HE JUST RE-SET HIS SHOULDER ON A SUPPORT BEAM HOLY MOLY

"What did you do to Robin?" "I beat the crap out of him for being mouthy."

i have the stupidest sense of humor.

guys i love dick grayson so much and he's the only one left and mmmmm im so ready for this i love dick grayson hes my favorite

ohhh huh terra's getting betrayeeddddd (i never liked terra even though she makes sense she just gives me ickies)

eugh i hate slade he just likes to make sexual references to people that he should not be making those references to i know hes like a predator but it just doesnt make me happy

what is this machine even doing? is it draining their blood? you would need some sort of needle or something? ik that brother blood said something about life? is it draining their life force like some kind of dark crystal jim henson type stuff? what's going on with it? their powers? like... if they wanted nightwing then they weren't going for powers, and they did regular humans first anyway? i dont understand.

woah its the titans against a villian with similar powers!!!!!!!! /j

i like this first pairing of kori and jaime and gar and raven against brother blood and damian and dick against slade bc it feels really personal and also fair.

terra was obivously going to save them all there was no doubt in my mind.

and then teamwork and then they win because of course they do

woah she just shot him like three times that was excessive

oh noooo terraaaaa ( im not sad )

DAMIAN GOT A PUPPY EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD IS RIGHT WEONFOIEWFOIBEWOINFOWNEONFEW

"Terra Markov was like a diamond, the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."

no beast boy dont make me feel for her

i just realized that i think i called "jaime" "hime" for some godforsaken reason i swear to god my ears are stupid.

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

final thoughts:

this movie was a bit much for me on sexual innuendos and references, but most of it was plot relevant. i love to see dickory so im good with that. animation was good. characters were good. had to warm up to gar but that's okay.

7/10

[strawberrykidneystone]

chapter 1: once more from the top

summary: after choosing to destroy the reapers, cassandra shepard’s body is once again recovered and reconstructed, without cerberus' help this time. she woke up on a cold table with no memories except a sense of deja vu that she’s been here before.

a/n: AHHHH IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS SERIES!!! also happy N7 day!!! it’s my first one since getting into mass effect this summer, this game has literally changed my life i really do hope i do it justice in my writing <3 also i am not a doctor i am pulling this out of my ass

tags: amnesia troupe, angst, hospital, mention of me2 shepard death, destroy ending, earthborn/sole survivor! shepard

ao3 version

cold.

cassandra gasped awake on the cold steel table, immediately doubling over into a coughing fit. she was gasping for air while being blinded by the bright lights bouncing off of the completely white room, causing her to squint in pain. her lungs burned as she gasped for air, the coldness of the room felt like she was rapidly being stabbed with icicles at her every movement.

where the hell was she?

the last thing she remembered was…

what was the last thing she remembered?

she remembered being called onto the citadel by admiral anderson and… that’s about it.

what did he want to talk about?

why was she in a hospital?

where was anderson?

god she was light headed.

shepard quickly looked around to gather her surroundings, as any good soldier would in an unfamiliar situation. it was obvious that she was in some sort of hospital, but it was strange that she was on a metal slab instead of a bed. and why did she have a strong sense of deja vu lying here? she was hooked up to an iv in her left arm with a heart rate monitor on her finger alerting whoever that her bpm was too fast. as she looked around for something, anything familiar, her eye caught some get well soon cards, dead flowers in faded painted dust-covered vases, and- was that a happy 33rd birthday card? last time she checked, she was barely 29.

was she in a coma? how did this happen?

suddenly her eyes fell to the table next to her- was that a severed arm???? it clearly had biotics attached to it, yet it looked eerily familiar…

her breathing was still unstable, the beeping of the monitor falling on deaf ears as her chest heaved and she felt like she wasn’t getting enough air into her lungs. eyes rapidly glancing around the room, she couldn’t focus on anything.

oh god her vision was going blurry.

someone in a hazmat suit on came into the room and said something garbled that she couldn’t understand, all she could hear was her own rapid breathing. the stranger grabbed an oxygen mask and put it around her head. they grabbed a big needle off of the nearby tray table and injected something into her iv. she suddenly felt her eyes drooping, regretting not ripping out the iv when she was conscious. who knows what she just got put into her system? the last thing she saw was the bright light of the room glaring down at her.

if this was heaven, this sucks.

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

when she came to once again, much calmer this time, she could hear several voices talking in hushed tones all around her. she wasn’t on the cold table anymore, but a soft bed that had her sitting up in an almost completely upright position. there were about a million pillows supporting her head and back. despite the newly comfortable accommodations, she could feel her entire body aching like never before. she groaned and turned her head to the side, slowly opening her eyes as if for the first time once again, adjusting to the harsh lights a lot quicker this time. the voices suddenly stopped speaking as they noticed her waking up and she heard a female voice gasp.

“she’s awake!”

“oh thank the goddess.”

“can it be?”

“shepard!”

“cass, honey are you okay?” she felt two hands cup her right hand, only they weren’t human hands. there were only 3 fingers, was it a turian? or maybe a quarian? why were they holding her hand? they had a rough texture, so they had to be turian hands. yet the usually sharp talons were filed down. that was odd, sharp talons were usually a point of pride for turians.

she didn’t know any turians that closely, who the hell was this?

as she blinked away the bleariness from her eyes, her vision cleared up and showed the guests at her bedside. there was an asari, a few humans, a quarian- was that a krogan???

and of course as she looked to her right, she saw the turian cupping her hands. god he was beautiful, with the most brilliant shade of blue in his eyes she had ever seen. she could feel the anxious energy vibrating off of him, his hands tensely holding hers as if she would slip away at any moment. there was something so comforting about his hold, her chest felt significantly lighter with his hands around hers, even though she swore that she had never seen him before.

wait, did he call her cass? only her close friends called her that. and why was he looking at her like that?

she looked around the room with a bewildered look on her face. the asari was weeping and smiling so brightly at her. shepard felt her chest ache for some reason, she felt the urge to comfort her even though she had no idea who she was. a few of the humans had misty eyes as well, even the krogan looked a little choked up. that is, if krogan could even get choked up.

one of the humans noticed the look on her face and his brows knit together. she mused over his face and finally recognized him: kaidan alenko. anderson had introduced them once while the normandy was docked at the citadel. shepard awkwardly pulled her hand away from the unfamiliar turian's grasp, an uncomfortable smile gracing her face, “lieutenant, mind filling me in on what happened?”

kaidan’s confusion turned into shock as she addressed him, eyes darting over to the turian who was obviously very hurt by shepard pulling her hand away, his jaw hanging open in surprise. his hands were still seemingly stuck in the cupping position, maybe he was frozen.

kaidan cleared his throat and smiled as confidently as he could, the corner of his mouth betraying his false poise with an uncertain twitch, “it’s ah, it’s major now commander- never mind that’s not important. are you… feeling okay commander?”

shepard scoffed and laughed, shaking her head in disbelief, “commander? i think you’re mixing me up with anderson, major.”

suddenly, the room fell dead silent.

kaidan glanced around the room, unsure of what to say. had she lost her memory? why did she think that anderson was still alive?

“sorry uh- shepard, what’s the last thing you remember?”

sheperd rubbed the side of her head and her brows furrowed together in confusion as she tried to process everything that was happening. commander? was she promoted in her sleep? no that would be ridiculous, right?

“um, i remember anderson wanting to talk to me about an assignment but that’s about it… why? did something happen? and why did you call me commander?”

shepard’s questions hung in the air unanswered by the strangers that surrounded her, frustrating her even further. she didn’t know them, but something about them felt so familiar, she just couldn't put her finger on it. the turian next to her rushed out of the room, with the asari reaching out to him with a swift ‘garrus wait’ before following him out of the room. the rest of the followed group suit, albeit very confused, and quietly left the room.

kaidan was the only one staying behind. he tentatively walked to the side of the bed and slowly took a seat with only one thigh actually resting on the gurney.

“major, what’s going on?”

a dry smile tugged its way onto his lips and he lightly placed his hand over hers, “don’t worry about it for now shepard, just focus on getting some rest for now.” he didn't want to overwhelm her or go against any medical procedures for situations like this, so he opted to let her just recover for now.

she nodded slowly as her eyebrows pinched together, still confused but surprisingly put a lot of trust in his judgment, even though they had only just met in an informal setting. he patted her hand before swiftly leaving the room, closing the door behind him with a cringe as he heard the loud woosh of the decontamination air kicking in. he sighed and looked up, seeing his equally distressed peers gathered outside of the hospital room.

garrus was hastily pressing the alert button to the room, a million different things running through his mind, but he needed answers and needed them now. liara took the button out of his hand as they saw a doctor coming over and resisted scolding him for his immature antics. she couldn't tell what was going through his head, but she knew that wouldn't help right now. tali, had her arms crossed and was staring at the floor, unsure of how to feel about the situation. miranda had her eyebrow furrowed and was chewing at her bottom lip, fearing the worst that bringing shepard back once again had lost a huge chunk of her memory forever. she couldn't help but wonder if she should contact her former cerberus peers to see if anything could help with this side effect, but she knew shepard would be pissed if she did, and she didn't want to put herself or her sister at risk of being involved with that wretched company ever again. grunt was obviously irritated and liara quickly sent him outside before he could start to rack up shepard's medical bill even more.

thankfully a familiar face, doctor chakwas, rushed over at the constant notifications and before she could even open her mouth, garrus bombarded her with questions, "is she going to get her memory back? is this permanent? is she-"

"garrus let the woman talk," kaidan urged and placed a hand on his shoulder. garrus took a deep breath and sighed, looking at the doctor desperately for any kind of reassurance.

chakwas folded her hands together and looked around at the nervous former crew members, "the brain is... tricky. sometimes memories come back, sometimes they doesn't. and with this basically being her second resurrection from the dead, it's not particularly surprising. we will continue to monitor her in the following days, but i can't make any promises. i would recommend trying to bring items in that have a particular emotional memory tied to them that can help jog her memory. i would also advise against group visiting as to not overwhelm her, but as I've learned from being on the Normandy, you all will do whatever you want regardless of what i say."

there was a few soft laughs at the doctor’s small quip at the end, but the group fell into silence once again. chakwas patted garrus' shoulder and he nodded at her small attempt at comfort, grateful for the support.

"we uh... we should let her rest for today, we can start trying to jog her memory tomorrow once she's rested," garrus said somewhat shakily, his shoulder tense as he glanced into the hospital room at his peers- no, his friends. seeing her passed out with so many machines attached to her made him sick to his stomach, but he knew that there was nothing he could do at that moment that would be even remotely helpful, cursing his past self for not going into the medical field. spirits it killed him to leave her alone, but he was trying to think like her, she would want him to rest if the situation was reversed, so that's exactly what he's doing.

the others nodded in agreement and liara sprinted ahead of the group to go tell grunt the news, hoping in vain that the krogan hasn't destroyed anything major yet.

garrus hesitated and stayed back from the group, peering into her room as if she would disappear if he looked away. she had never looked so... small. the great commander shepard in a hospital gown who stood so tall looked so vulnerable and frail. he knew that she wasn't, but he couldn't help but feed into the voice in the back of his mind yelling at him that he had lost her forever. no, he wouldn't believe that, he couldn't believe it.

she was still in there somewhere, she had to be. there was no shepard without vakarian, and he was determined to make this right.

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

a/n: sorry about the dead silent joke, too soon?

chapter 2

[beardedmrbean]

[Huey Zoomer anon]

You know I been thinking about the handling of abuse and dysfunctional family and how for some reason a lot of people just realizing the generational trauma…is there any millennials abuse survivors around? Were you taught to be narcissistic as fuck?

Me getting in social media: Man I hope I can find other people like me- why the fuck do most supposed abuse survivors have MY abuser narracism and victim complex?

Also people complain about how many villains these days have a sob story or a “redeemable” enough…actually I think a figure out

You see a lot of leftists are upper middle class people who grew up in a black and white society. They didn’t see the flaws of America until the 08 crash and going to college. Hence why they bitch about American imperialism

But when you a black person who learn their grandmother was a crackhead…and seeing generation after generation of single mother raising…

The left: You know that America did a lot of evil shit?!

Me: I was born on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr ASSASSINATION! And my elders hammer down the rights I was born with were the PRIVILEGES during their childhoods

Sorry set up, so imo a lot of leftists grew up in the Hollywood oversimplified views of history, especially WW2, its miracle that allies didn’t start killing each other after Hitler died

But anyways, I think a lot of writers was to show that many villains have legit grips…but that like many fractions in history

Germany was fucked over by the Treaty of Versailles hence why Hitler and the Nazis gain power. Many criminals organizations was created to the lack of support and resources government created

Didn’t we all learn that but mid teens…or did these modern writers only knew the PG versions of historical events because of their shitty colleges and schools.

Thank fucking god assassin creed and hetalia encourage to research history and society more than the coastal fucks (not you) who make more in a month than I do in a year

There's trauma and abuse in every generation, we all just process it differently, tail end Gen-X and millennials were the ones who managed to finally make getting help a bit more ok, we still had things like Prozac Nation but managed some big strides there, but we were also guinea pigs for treatment and coping styles as well as classification.

There's that and the internet has a think about making all that shit currency you can trade for validation points.

Also people complain about how many villains these days have a sob story or a “redeemable” enough…actually I think a figure out

That's not new, though people have gotten more aggressive about it lately.

Post on here years back 'the only good nazi is a ex nazi' that one started up a whole world of discourse from the 'I want to hold people responsible for life' crowd, they get mad when someone turns their life away from hate and then proceeds to get other people to walk away too.

Not sure why, instead of one less nazi there might be dozens less as a result of their actions, some people would rather go with violence I guess.

Look at the folks that called Daryl Davis a white supremacist.

Sorry set up, so imo a lot of leftists grew up in the Hollywood oversimplified views of history, especially WW2, its miracle that allies didn’t start killing each other after Hitler died

Stalin knew better, given how much of his stuff was lend/lease.

Didn’t we all learn that but mid teens…or did these modern writers only knew the PG versions of historical events because of their shitty colleges and schools. Thank fucking god assassin creed and hetalia encourage to research history and society more than the coastal fucks (not you) who make more in a month than I do in a year

gotta look round and find the good stuff, then get other people involved in it.

If you do things like YT music or Spotify and take the free option you'll sometimes get a advert that's just some bands song, the record companies pay for that so they can wear people down and try to get that song stuck in their heads no matter how bad it is.

The idea crosses over into a lot of media, if they can make something seem like something everyone is involved with peer pressure and the need to be included takes over.

There's so much psychology involved in marketing, it's nuts.

Gotta manage to grass roots the actual good stuff, or at least the stuff you like and would like to see more of, if there's money to be made off of it someone will make it.

[devilofthehounds]

God Eater 3 Character Novel | Beginning of a Vow: Chapter 3

[image id: A novel cover. Hugo Pennywort from God Eater 3 is leaning against the bars of a prison cell. He is holding up his hand and looking at one of his armlets as if reminiscing. On the other side of the bars is a faded image of a young Hugo looking off into the distance. The text, when translated into English, reads “God Eater 3 Character Novel | Chapter 1: Hugo Edition | Beginning of a Vow”. /end id]

This is a fan translation. Original text here.

Masterpost 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Adaptive God Eater. AGE.

It was explained to us that we would be special God Eaters infiltrating the Ashlands, where normal God Eaters couldn't operate.

They gathered kids from all over who had no relatives, forced them to take the aptitude test, then threw the survivors into the Ashlands to gather information.

That was how Port Pennywort operated.

PW­–01407: Hugo Pennywort.

That was my new name after surviving the aptitude test.

I was put in handcuff-like armlets and thrown into a prison cell. Still in a daze from the aptitude test, my first instinct was to lash out at the guards.

"Hey, what about the others... Are there any others from the satellite base?"

"Oh, those energetic brats. They probably got thrown in a different block. If you're a good boy, maybe I'll let you visit them."

The guard was mocking me, but my heart started to fill with hope.

"Then everyone's here, huh? ...Alright... Alright!"

I wanted them to be safe at the base if possible, but the fact that they were all here reassured me more than anything else.

Everyone in the defense team, and Luca.

I wasn't alone. That awareness inspired me, even in this prison, anxiety swirling around me.

It wasn't at all the way I wanted it to happen, but I knew we could make our dream come true here.

Even with a God Arc that looked like it was cobbled together out of junk, I didn't feel anxious at all.

With this thing, I'd kick the Aragami to the curb. And someday, along with the rest of the defense team, we'd return to everyone who was waiting for us at the satellite base.

Then we could proudly tell everyone we loved that they wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore.

Clutching the already familiar Long Blade-type God Arc in my hand, I decided to make that dream a reality as soon as possible.

I couldn't meet up with the rest of the defense team, since they were put in a different block, but even as the days were filled with grueling training, I continued to work hard without a single word of complaint. Perhaps influenced by my example, more and more of the kids in the prison began to smile, little by little.

The budding sense of camaraderie bolstered my heart even more, and then—

The day came when I was assigned my first mission as an AGE.

The first mission was reconnaissance.

Infiltrate an area where the ash density had recently risen and bring back information regarding the Ashlands.

The ones assigned were me and Luca.

I was sick of being shaken by the dark truck like that day, but I was also excited by the prospect of a real battle, with real opponents.

"Finally, our first mission... Let's do our best, Luca. They're expecting a lot from us. If we get results, maybe the guards will change their tune!"

Luca nodded with a thin smile, but his face betrayed his anxiety.

"It'll be okay. If you're in danger, just stay behind me. I'll protect you from any Aragami!"

I'd be the vanguard. Luca would hang back and play support. I figured that would work best.

"...Thank you. I'll... I'll protect you, too, Hugo."

"Aw, thanks. I'm counting on you, partner!"

In his own way, Luca must have summoned all his courage to say that.

With those words, what uneasiness was left in my heart completely disappeared.

"Alright, pups, it's time. Get ready."

The guard's orders came through the radio loud and clear.

We got out of the parked truck, dragging along the heavy cases containing our God Arcs.

"So, this is the Ashlands..."

Since being welcomed into the satellite base, I had rarely seen the scenery outside the armored wall. It felt like it had been a long time since I'd looked out over the world like this.

A desolate landscape that stretched on endlessly. The black ash floating in the air stung my skin, making me feel sick.

"I am now releasing the restraints on Pennywort AGEs Hound 1 and Hound 2."

The conjoined armlets detached with a violent flash of electricity.

The small amount of regained freedom made that feeling of sickness grow even stronger.

"Come on, let's go, Luca! We'll make it back alive, together!"

We took our God Arcs and ran to the point where the ash concentration had risen, keeping a close eye on our surroundings.

After becoming a God Eater, my physical capabilities had improved remarkably, but the farther we went, the heavier the air weighed on my body.

"Hugo, look over there."

A few minutes after the start of the mission, Luca was the first to catch a glimpse of the enemy. It was still a long way off, but five Ogretails—small Aragami with tails like demon masks—were running around.

"...What should we do? It looks like they're heading in the same direction as us."

"Let's sneak after them. They seem to be traveling in a pack. If there's a nest or something like that, we can find it and report back."

We followed the pack of Ogretails, keeping a safe distance so as not to be noticed.

I had been able to calmly assess the situation and give precise instructions. I thought it was going well.

However, even though they were small, there were five of them. The tension of wondering when they would notice us, combined with the heavy air of the Ashlands, was starting to make me feel a little fatigued.

"Is that...?"

Suddenly, I stopped and stared at something out of the corner of my eye.

"Hugo? What's wrong?"

There was a large, rocky hill that had been eaten away at by the Aragami. Part of it was unnaturally chipped away.

I felt like I recognized that hill.

"...Huh?"

I looked around again.

This was the Ashlands. An unknown, dangerous place where flesh and blood could never hope to operate.

That was what it was supposed to be, but even so, I felt like I had been here before.

"That's right... I had to get over that weird, rocky hill... really quickly."

I remembered. How could I forget?

Having lost my family in the Calamity, I had desperately kept moving forward on my wandering journey in despair.

The endpoint of that journey was just ahead.

Driven by an ominous premonition, I started running.

I scrambled up the hill and ran desperately to find a spot where I could get a bird's-eye view of the area ahead.

And then.

"Why... How...?"

I was speechless at the view below me.

A place surrounded by a huge armored wall with a dirty wolf emblem engraved in it.

A small cradle where people huddled together.

It was a satellite base.

"A satellite base... all the way out here, too. But this deep in the Ashlands..."

I could hardly hear Luca's words as he caught up to me.

The entrance to the armored wall was completely open. The Ogretails we'd been following entered the base like they were coming home.

"Hey, what are you doing? Report back when you reach the designated point."

The guard's cold voice echoed from the radio.

"This... This is... the satellite base where I..."

"Yeah, that's why you were picked for this assignment. We figured you'd have the lay of the land. Don't go zoning out now."

"Then, the area swallowed up by the Ashlands..."

"You ought to be grateful. If we hadn't picked you up when we did, you would've been swallowed up, too."

"Wh... What about everyone at the base?!"

"Does it look like there were any survivors? If there were, it'd be the discovery of the century! Ahahaha!"

The guard's harsh laughter echoed in my head.

The deafening sound caused a dark ripple to spread through my blank, still mind.

"Did you... Did you know from the beginning that this place was going to be swallowed up by the Ashlands...?"

They were supposed to be God Eaters.

They were supposed to wield their God Arcs for the sake of defending humanity.

And yet—And yet—

"Why... Why didn't you save everyone?!"

I screamed the words so loud, it felt like my throat was going to tear open.

But what came back was the same inorganic, disinterested voice.

"Hmph, idiot. There's no way we could afford to feed dozens of adults with no chance of passing the aptitude test."

"Don't... Don't mess with me...! It's a lie... It's a lie, it's a lie! It has to be a lie!"

I fell to my knees on the withered earth. I couldn't stop my tears from overflowing.

Were they all dead? I'd never gotten the chance to repay them.

None of them deserved to die.

They'd been kind, warm, precious—we'd been a real family.

"How am I going to tell the others...?"

There was no way any of the defense team members at the Port knew about this yet.

I was going to have to be the one to deliver the news to them, to bring them this despair.

The very thought made my chest tighten even more.

"Oh, yeah. Now that I think about it, there were some other kids brought from that base. Guess I'm the one that has to break it to you—"

At that moment.

I learned the true nature of this world.

"They're all dead."

".........What?"

"All four of them failed the aptitude test. One of them even transformed into an Aragami. Putting that one down was a real pain."

I had thought I couldn't see them because they were in a different block...

I never saw them because... they weren't here anymore...?

The moment I realized it, the memories of the days we'd spent at the base flashed through my mind.

The five of us would fulfill our dream together and become a real defense team to protect the base.

We would become heroes and make a triumphant return, telling everyone that we were home.

"You understand now? Your lives are cheap. Do your best to be of use to the masters that saved you, you dog."

A dry gust of wind blew through the air.

The wind, coarse and mixed with ash, coldly caressed my cheek.

"Ah... Ah... Aaaaaaaaah!"

The kids in the prison had been much more sober about reality than me.

We were going to die. We were nothing special. We were only being used because we happened to be around. And we would disappear for nothing.

I finally understood that we were nothing more than miserable dogs.

"You... All of you..."

However, in the depths of my despairing heart, there was a feeling that burned fiercely.

Even if my life was worthless, I would be the one to decide how to use it.

That, at the very least, was a form of rebellion. It was my way of proving that I was still alive.

I ripped off my radio and glared down at the Aragami, coming and going from the base as if they owned it. My grip on my God Arc tightened.

"I'll never forgive you!"

Driven by my fury, I tried to jump down from the hill.

But before I could, Luca grabbed my hand.

"Hugo, wait! I'll go, too!"

"Don't follow me! Just get away from here!"

This was my problem. I couldn't drag Luca into it—I couldn't let him die.

I shook his hand away and started running toward the base.

The armored wall was open; everyone must have noticed the Ashlands approaching and tried to escape.

Do we stay locked up in the base and wait for the ash to swallow us?

Or do we find hope outside, one way or another?

Everyone at the base making that choice... They wouldn't have given up. They would've tried to live.

However, the base's single truck was crushed to nothing just outside the armored wall.

There were lots of small explosives lying beside the truck, waiting to be used as a diversion, as if there hadn't even been time to use them.

"Everyone...!"

The image of the base in my memory had been painted over without a trace.

Houses had been reduced to rubble. Dried bloodstains could be seen all over.

This place of memories, where I'd been surrounded by warm people, had now transformed into a nest of small Aragami.

"Damn it... Damn it! You... Aaaaaaah!"

Ogretails. Axe Raiders. Cocoon Maidens. Blast Spiders.

There were more than several dozens of them. It would be suicidal, beyond reckless, for even a skilled fighter to take them on alone.

But so what?

From the very beginning, this was the place to set my life ablaze.

"Grrrrrroooooh!"

The Aragami noticed me and all let out roars in unison.

I dodged some spikes from an Ogretail and swung my God Arc at its face.

It melted through the Aragami like a hot knife through butter.

I could fight. With these hands, I could avenge everyone.

Using an Aragami's corpse as a shield, you could block small long-range attacks. You could also safely restore your depleted Oracle by slashing at the corpse.

Ironically, Pennywort's training program had been excellent in building a fighting style that used whatever was available.

Maybe it was because I was so beat up, but my body moved so nimbly that it was hard to believe this was my first battle.

But then, a flash of red Oracle energy rose into the ash-filled sky. The laser of a Cocoon Maiden.

Two, then three red lights flew in succession from all sides.

"Crap!"

I couldn't deploy my shield in time. I got hit by the lasers and blown away.

Somehow, I managed to regain my stance. But then, the huge maw of an Ogretail was right in front of me.

"...! Waaaah!"

Reflexively, I unleashed the Impulse Edge, the secret weapon of the Long Blade-type God Arc.

The shockwave was so powerful, it depleted all of my Oracle in a single shot, crushing not only the Ogretail in front of me, but also all of the Aragami that had been approaching me.

However, the recoil was so strong that I was sent flying back, rolling on the ground, and slammed into the armored wall.

The impact knocked me unconscious for a moment, but my body moved reflexively.

To try and open a path, I stabbed my God Arc straight through an approaching Blast Spider.

Its body swelled up eerily.

"Uh-oh!"

At the moment of the Blast Spider's death, its activated Oracle Cells set off an explosion.

Propelled by the heat of the blast, my body was flung through the air and slammed to the ground.

A pain I had never felt before assaulted my entire body. My Oracle was more depleted than I could have imagined.

But still.

"It's still... not enough...!"

Mustering what energy I could, I stood on my trembling legs and tried to charge the Aragami. But then—

From the ground, countless new Aragami sprang up.

Zygotes. Even though they could fly, they had been hiding underground.

"Damn it... More of them...?!"

I was more than a little annoyed that something so troublesome had appeared, but that wasn't the end of it.

More Aragami sprang up one after another from the ground of the base.

Had they been hiding this whole time? Or had they only come to life just now?

In a matter of seconds, more Aragami than I had killed were writhing around in my field of vision.

It was like watching ants swarm over crumbs of bread. There were so many Aragami that there was no room to move, and they were all closing the distance towards me at the same time.

"Hah... Haha... You gotta be kidding me..."

Aragami were the embodiment of despair. And that was the reason God Eaters fought.

All around the world, there had been even worse despair than this every day, for decades.

The moment that reality hit me, the fear I had managed to suppress with my fury overflowed in my heart.

With the sound of my God Arc hitting the ground, the strength drained from my knees.

"Everyone..."

I wanted to protect this place.

I wanted to protect the smiling faces of everyone who had been kind to me, together with my friends.

But that dream could no longer come true.

If I died, would I be able to see them again?

"Sorry... Luca..."

Please, please, please survive.

I looked down and uttered his name in a small voice, a final prayer.

The next moment—

There was a loud explosion from a corner of the satellite base.

"Hugo!"

Something leapt out from the rising flames, attracting the attention of all the Aragami in one fell swoop.

Luca, wielding shining twin blades—a Biting Edge-type God Arc—flew through the swarm of Aragami like a meteor and landed in front of me.

"Luca, you... you idiot! I told you to run!"

I shouted angrily at his back.

There was no point in both of us dying here.

"...I already told you."

Luca turned and shot me a determined look.

"I'll protect you, too, Hugo!"

Upon saying those words, Luca transformed his God Arc.

What appeared from the blade in his right hand was a jet-black captive mouth that could have been mistaken for an Aragami.

"Hraaaaah!"

The God Arc flashed and, as if it were having a feast, devoured the Aragami that were rushing in, slicing them to ribbons. When the mouth returned to Luca's hand, golden Oracle energy erupted from his body.

"I won't run away. We promised we wouldn't die... We promised we'd make it back alive, together!"

As he shouted, Luca combined his God Arc's blades into a singular weapon.

"I'll keep that promise, no matter what. So don't you run away, either, Hugo!"

Luca raised his God Arc, now in glaive form, toward a Zygote swarming from the air.

Golden Oracle energy erupted from the God Arc's activated blades, drawing a beautiful arc like the moon and slicing the Aragami in two.

A torrent of Oracle energy spread out from Luca's back like wings, knocking the surrounding Zygotes to the ground.

"Whoa..."

Seeing wings of light that could make even Aragami bow in submission, I was certain.

This was hope.

That light. The will to survive. It was the only power capable of surviving in this world.

And I—we—swore to protect that light.

"...Yeah, that's right."

Grasping my God Arc again, I stood next to Luca, newfound strength rising within me.

"My bad... Let's do this, Luca!"

"Yeah, let's go, Hugo! The armored wall will close soon. Can you make it to the exit?"

As if on cue, the armored wall began to close with an earth-shattering rumble.

"You set the armored wall to move?! How do you even know how to do that?"

Letting out a small chuckle, Luca's next words were the most unexpected thing yet.

"...Lucky guess."

"...Ahaha! You're a riot!"

Regardless, it was a good move.

The reason the inside of the base had become an Aragami nest was simple: the door was wide open.

Following that logic, sealing off the entrance would trap all the Aragami inside.

The only question left was whether we could break through this many Aragami and escape the base before getting sealed in ourselves.

"I used all of the explosives from the truck outside to get in here. We'll have to fight with everything we've got."

"Don't worry, the two of us can do it! Let's go!"

We leapt forward, aiming for the gap in the closing armored wall.

Luca took the lead, tearing through the Aragami blocking our path.

I was right at his heels, making assists and protecting his back.

The formation worked surprisingly well. Every fiber of my being told me this was the perfect formation for us.

The armored wall was closing.

Everyone in the defense team. All the people who had been kind to me.

A precious place where, for the first time in my life, I had found friends and a dream.

This place, where so many happy memories lingered, was somewhere I could never return.

I grit my teeth and shook off the memories flooding my mind as fast as I could.

"Hugo!"

Luca, one step ahead of me outside the base, turned back and reached out his hand.

The gap was just large enough that a kid could barely squeeze through.

Without hesitation, I jumped through the boundary between the past and the future.

When I came to, Luca and I were lying in a heap outside the base.

Thankfully, there were no signs of Aragami around us, and there didn't seem to be any chasing us over the wall.

I didn't have the energy to get back up. As we laid together on the ground, I asked him a single question.

"...How could you be so reckless?"

Luca, still lying on the ground, reached his hand out toward the sky as he spoke.

"...That day. In the truck. I thought I was going to die. I felt so scared and alone. But then... you found me, Hugo."

A single wall separated us from hell. Even without making a single sound, every second spent in the Ashlands threatened to cut our lives short.

Luca seemed to smile in relief, even though he had to be covered in wounds as well.

The way he was talking, you would think he was the one who had been saved.

"Your promise from back then—it's been my hope."

He was just like me.

Thanks. Sorry. Both sounded wrong. So instead—

I gave him a small smile and lifted my arm. Luca responded in kind.

"...Wanna head back?"

"Yeah. Let's go home."

The sound of our armlets colliding echoed throughout the Ashlands.

Translator's Note

[ladyimaginarium]

Title: lemonade. Genre: Family, Friendship, Hurt-Comfort, Slice-Of-Life. Fandom: TWDG. Characters: Clementine Maria Jasmine Cree, Isis Onyx ( OC ), AJ ( cameo ). For: Aja / @creolejesus !! Summary: For the first time in a very long time, she felt soft. Feminine. Fierce. Beautiful. Magical. All her life, it seemed like she had to fight, but now, she can simply… unwind for what appeared to be the first time in forever. This was what peace looks like, she thinks, and she prays to any god that would listen that this won't be taken away from her like all the others before. Rating: 16+. Warning(s): Clementine discusses her experiences with antiblackness & texturism as a child in non-explicit detail. Overall, this is a very uplifting ficlet. A/N: this was a concept ficlet i'd& written a while back for my& dear friend aja where back when i& was in the rpc, clementine & isis were basically like a mother-daughter duo where isis would teach her hoodoo & black history & black feminism in the deep south in a ranch area with horses nearby a bayou !! keep in mind that all this was approved by aja who is a afro-indigenous ( specifically black cherokee ) writer who i& always know would make sure i& write accurately should she ever see something that needs fixing. i& write clementine ( & as she is also an introject in our& system ) as a afro-indigenous chinese two spirit nonbinary girl; isis belongs to aja & she is a black creole rootworker & witch from new orleans louisiana with a mysterious past. i& intentionally left this vague whether or not this was in the canon universe of the apocalypse or this is somethin' else but this was actually inspired by the visuals of beyonce's lemonade album, poc cottagecore ( or ig more specifically black & native cottagecore ) & like. i& always hced clem as like always having to codeswitch especially around nonblack and nonnative folx so that mostly white survivors wouldn't view her as a threat ( bc. antiblackness smh ) & so when she's around isis, she feels like she can let those walls down & be authentically herself; i& do my& best to respect the language & aja said i& did a wonderful job at writing it so correctly & with respect as yt folx are really out here doing the absolute most & acting like it's a meme language when it's a language w/ its own dialect, rules, history & culture. i always got like. warm colors & black cottagecore / black witchcore vibes w/ isis & i wanted to reflect that in the visuals bc clementine eventually does do natural protective hairstyles in the future when she grows out her hair so i& think it would've been cool if isis was the one who taught her how to do her braids & stuff like that !! this is all mostly headcanon & exomemory based on clem's part. i& only ask that out of respect considering that this is a gift for a friend that only aja reblogs it but anyone can like it. if you enjoyed this content & you want to leave a tip, you can do that here, while far more importantly, if you want to support black folx, especially queer black folx on juneteenth, you can do that here !! happy juneteenth, black folx who read this, you're so loved!<3333

"Well, ain'tcha' as sweet as a peach, sweetpea!" Isis shrills as her hands complete her latest masterpiece and holds a handheld mirror up for Clementine to see.

The sunlight filtered through the window as Clem's amber eyes gazed back at her reflection, mouth parting with no words coming out, a smile blossoming upon her lips. Her dark brown hair had been tied up in two beautiful afro puffs. "Thank you, ma'am, it's beautiful." Clem murmurs, feeling safe enough to let down her walls that she usually kept around nonblack and nonnative people, so many who had tried to look at her funny even as a child for even speaking in her peoples' dialect. A deep inhale as her eyes flicker over to baby AJ who was suckling on warm milk and honey in a bottle.

"When I was a girl, kids used t' laugh a' me when I went on the schoolbus, call my hair "nappy", look at me funny like I was a clown or Booboo the fool or somethin'," her voice wavers for a moment, trying to hold back the river of tears that was threatening to break the dam before her breath hitches, "an' then I used ta' come home from school cryin' sayin' I was ugly. My daddy never forgot that an' raised hell for all the city t'know, including that school. He used t' tell me every mornin' that I was beautiful and capable of doin' anythin' I set my mind to. I tried... God above, I tried to believe that message but I guess after a while I forgot 'bout it. Hell, I don't even even think I believed him."

Isis listened to every word she said quietly before her lips press gently over Clem's forehead. "You know, your daddy was right, baby. Look at your reflection fo' me."

Clem did as the older woman asked her and as they looked into the mirror together, her voice gently whispered into her ear. "That face is your ancestors staring back at'chu'. They love you, babygirl. Your eyes are as golden as the sun and your heart is even brighter, sweetpea. They're proud that you're here still livin' and breathin' here with me and baby AJ. How many kids your age know how ta' fight like a soldier? How many grown ass adults have the power you got? You keep holdin' your head high and don't let nobody play wi'tchu' 'cause you are that girl and you can be whoever you wanna be. Don't let nobody forget that, don't let nobody play wi'tchu, babygirl, you are not the one to be played with. Black is beautiful and so are you, baby. You hear me?"

The younger girl can't help but smile in the mirror, feeling the warmth of a thousand suns fill her heart, before she turns to the older woman who may as well have been a mother figure to her. She hadn't felt this way in so long that she wanted to cry. "I wanna make you AJ's godmother, miss Isis."

A golden smile graced the woman's features, a soft laugh as sweet as honeycomb filling the room in all its glory as the sun filtered through the window and illuminated her ginger curly locks, "I can be that for baby AJ, babygirl. Now," her doe brown eyes glinted in the sunlight, "you got the herbs I gotchu' to get fo' me? Lemme see. I'm gonna teach you a bit more on herbs and then we gon' ride on horseback together. How that sound, sweetpea?"

Clem nods, a grin revealing pearly whites, "Yes, ma'am," before she stands up and gets her wicker basket and unveils the basket to reveal rue, palo santo and ginger root, her white dress trailing across the floor of the cabin. For the first time in a very long time, she felt soft. Feminine. Fierce. Beautiful. Magical. All her life, it seemed like she had to fight, but now, she can simply... unwind for what appeared to be the first time in forever. This was what peace looks like, she thinks, and she prays to any god that would listen that this won't be taken away from her like all the others before.

[danceswithdarkspawn]

1 and 13.

Hello, and thanks for the ask! Oh my god I've forgotten how to be articulate this morning. I hope this doesn't sound unhinged lol

1. What is a piece of symbolism in your fic?

I use birds a lot in my writing, so much that they're a symbol, a motif, and maybe just a particular quirk I have (because my god do i love birds)

anyway, a direct example that comes to mind is a rosebush. This rosebush has absolutely no business being alive after the village gets razed to the ground by the canonical symbol for the Hubris of Man. Like there's no signs of life anywhere (aside from some survivors found in the church, the only building left standing, make of that what you will).

anyway, rosebush. Ariel finds herself in this decimated garden with her romantic interest, who shows her the rosebush, which has two roses blooming upon its branches. The roses in themselves symbolize a number of things; faith, rebirth, love and even the two characters themselves. I'll drop the passage itself under a readmore because words are escaping me.

13. Is there a transition in your fic you're proud of?

I'm not sure if this is a transition exactly, but I think about a slight segway that Ariel does in one of my more recent chapters a lot. Basically, she ends up accidentally injuring herself, and her LI is helping her patch it up (as one does, obviously), and Ariel says something to the effect of, "It's ok you don't have to." You know, "why are you doing this" basically. The LI responds with "Well, we're friends right? Friends help each other."

And Ariel just kinda...blue screens for a second and recalls a traumatic event from her childhood in which she nearly drowned and says at the end, "that's how I feel right now, I feel like I'm drowning" before going on with the rest of the patching-up scene.

From Chapter 10, The Dragon in the Chantry

“Before I stepped out of the cloister, I had a dream,” Leliana says, drawing me along. “In it, there was an impenetrable darkness, and a terrible, ungodly noise. I stood upon a peak, and watched as the darkness swallowed everything.”

“You dreamt of the Blight?” Her eyes flash over to me before going back down. “I’ve had dreams like that.”

She lets go of me to carefully gather her covering as she picks over debris. “I suppose I did. That is what the darkness was, no?” I reach out to offer support, but I stop myself short, snatching my hand back. I fold them behind my back instead. “When I woke, I came here as I always did. And I saw this.”

She motions with her head towards a corner of the garden. At first, I’m not sure what I am supposed to be looking at. Whatever greenery once decorated this place has long since been reduced to ashen sticks and branches. Ravaged and blight-riddled, unwilling to support life.

But two splashes of carmine rest amongst tangled and thorny branches. 

All the ugly emotion I feel—all the doubt, fear, anxiety; all of it flows away like water. Bewilderment blooms in its place instead. My lips part with a soft exhalation as I step closer to the bush. “Oh, wow.” The words tumble out and drift away on the morning air. 

A glove twists off. I thread my fingers beneath the sepals of one flower and tilt it lightly for further examination. Frigid dew collected amongst its labyrinth of petals trickles into my palm and down my wrist. I let my thumb swipe against its face, reveling in a texture akin to rich fabric. 

Leliana drifts into my periphery. She lets an index finger trail along the face of the other flower. “If you think it looks ungainly now, you should have seen it before the horde came here.” I watch silently, unsure of what she means. “Everyone knew it to be dead. It was grey and twisted and gnarled—the ugliest thing you ever saw. And yet there it was; a single, beautiful rose.”

“And now there are two of them,” I manage. I wipe my hand across my pant leg and stuff it into my pocket. I clench my fist tightly, digging my nails into my palm to distract myself from the stinging sensation lingering across my skin. “How can something like this survive the Blight?”

When I look back at Leliana, I find her watching me with a contented look on her face. Her chin dips when our eyes meet.

Her makeshift hood comes down, hair spilling forward. It catches sun rays, etching lines and shadows across her skin. Her hair is nearly golden in the early morning light, falling gently around her face. It’s textured and messy from days without washing, but it does nothing to detract from how beautiful she looks.

And it is her again, I come to realize; the too-beautiful woman I recognize. Soft, innocent and carefree. I know somewhere in my stifled heart that she’s anything but. Somewhere below rests a facade cut from steel and replete on calculation. It speaks of a life before the Maker, of a world I could probably never understand. 

My stomach flips, my throat tightens, and I look away to anything except her.

How, indeed.

“Who is to say?” Her tone is a whisper, almost reverent. “Perhaps it is the Maker stretching out a hand as if to say, ‘Even amidst all this chaos, there is hope and beauty.” She weaves an arm into mine, fingers gripping lightly. It’s a simple tether, but it dredges up and soothes some ache I did not know I possessed. “‘Have faith.’”